Lots of Silver Propeller Points - four in four days!

 Well I said we were on a mission to gain silver propeller points and the title speaks for itself.

Just a warning that there are lots of photos on this update to our blog - there is a lot of interest on this part of the canal system. So let's start with something else - here is a family of swans with tiny cygnets which must be fairly recently hatched.

On Tuesday having spent the night on the Fens Branch for a silver propeller point, we set off up the 8 Delph locks. The bottom and top locks of this flight are a little separate but the six in the middle are in a dead straight line - a bit like the Caen Hill Locks on the Kennet and Avon. Each lock has a waterfall beside it as in this picture.

Now here is a strange thing. You will notice that this bridge is called Ninelocks bridge. But why Nine Locks when there are only eight? The answer is that there used to be 7 middle locks but these were rebuilt as 6 so making the total 8 rather than 9. If you look through the bridge the old course of the locks below Leo (which is in the top lock) used to go under the iron bridge to the left. Now it goes right to the new flight of 6.

Once up the Delph Locks we soon came to Merry Hill, a modern shopping centre built on the site of an old steel works. After buying Ian some new clothes to replace those falling apart, we carried on through "The Waterfront" shown here. This is a modern development complimented by the canal passing through.

A few miles from Merry Hill we came up Blowers Green Lock which at twelve feet deep is the deepest in these parts. Above here the main canal route on the Dudley no 2 Canal heads right. However in our quest for points we went straight ahead up the 3 Park Head Locks.

At the top of the Park Head Locks is the Dudley Tunnel which runs through the hill and comes out by the Black Country Museum. That would be a fine route except that the tunnel is too low to allow Leo through. So we turned round and moored for the night. The area around Park Head Locks is fascinating with various side branches and it used to be a hive of industry but is now a pleasant open area of grass well used by locals. A bridge by the top lock has photos and messages about a young chap who hanged himself from the bridge about a year ago. Very sad.

A few yards beyond our mooring was the entrance to the Dudley Tunnel with its very low profile and a gauge to measure your boat, though all passages have to be booked and no engines are allowed, so we would have to 'leg through' even if Leo would fit.

Here is the view under the old railway viaduct from the top of the Park Head Locks.

And here we are on Wednesday setting off down those 3 locks back to the main canal.

Along the Dudley no 2 Canal a number of figures give information or point the way. Here a miner shows Blowers Green one way and Bumble Hole the other. Aren't the names wonderful?

This is another example of a tunnel that was later opened out. This one is called Brewin's Tunnel.

Once through this 'tunnel' the canal is on the side of the hill with extensive views to the south west.

In the distance we could see the transmitter towers on the hill above Birmingham.

Distances are quite short and we soon came to Windmill End. Here there is a crossroads with turns apparent under the two bridges. Left goes to the short Boshboil Arm and right goes for nearly 3 miles to Hawne or Coombeswood Basin to collect yet another point.

Here is the signpost at Windmill End. We had come from Stourbridge and were heading to Hawne Basin.

About a mile and a half down this canal we came to Gosty Tunnel. Not only is this tunnel narrow and low (only one narrowboat at a time) but it was also very silted up so our progress was slow though the tunnel is only 500 yards long.

Much of the tunnel is quite high inside but there are two sections where the roof comes down to just above the roof of the boat as here. Some joker has put up a scary picture which comes at you out of the dark.

Finally we got through into the daylight. An old steel tubing works remains to the right but you can see the tiny tunnel entrance to the left.

And here we are turning the boat round outside the entrance under the bridge to Hawne Basin. The Dudley no 2 Canal now ends here but used to carry on through the Lapal Tunnel, a longer version of the low and narrow Gosty Tunnel to join the Worcester and Birmingham Canal south of the centre of Birmingham.

We liked this sculpture of a lad throwing a rope which is just outside Hawne Basin.

This canal was badly silted and had lots of rubbish in it. Here you can see the wheels of an upturned shopping trolley. Best not to get that wrapped round the propeller.

Here we are back at Windmill End. We went straight across at the crossroads into the Boshboil Arm where we spent Wednesday night. Again this is an old industrial site which is now a green area much loved by the locals. We walked from the boat part way up the hill above Netherton Tunnel that we went through on Thursday.

Above the canal is Cobbs Engine House which used to pump water out of the mines here.

Here is Leo on Wednesday evening moored on the Boshboil Arm in splendid isolation. This was the second night we spent on a disused arm which has the merit of not having boats going past, not that there are many boats round here at the moment.

On Thursday morning we left Windmill End and went through the Netherton Tunnel. Compared to the claustrophobic confines of the Gosty Tunnel, Netherton is like a cathedral with towpaths either side and the roof high above. This tunnel was a recent one having been opened in 1858. While there are towpaths and you can walk through, the one on the west is closed and both have puddles of water most of the way which might be quite deep, so wellies would be needed. The tunnel is about 3,000 yards long and took us about 30-40 minutes to get through. There is room to pass other boats but we saw none, though a headlight seemed to be following us and we passed another boat soon after we came out.

Here we are having just emerged into the daylight. Notice the drops of water on the roof, mostly coming down the ventilation shafts. Ahead of us is a bridge carrying the Old Main Line across this tunnel link.

Around Birmingham and Wolverhampton is probably the only place on the canal network where you do need a map to avoid taking a wrong turning. At the end of the Netherton Tunnel link canal we turned right onto the New Main Line, then right again in half a mile onto the Gower branch where three locks (two together in a staircase and one on its own) took us up to the Old Main Line. The latter was built by Joseph Brindley, and in travelling from Birmingham to Wolverhampton goes up 3 locks, winds around a lot and eventually gets there. Thomas Telford was later engaged to shorten the route and by means of embankments and cuttings achieved a shortening from 22 miles to 15 miles. His 3 locks up come closer to Wolverhampton so for much of the route there are two parallel canals - the Old and New Main Lines with the Old being 20 feet above the New. For a mile or so of the Old Main Line the M5 has been built above it on huge concrete pillars as shown in this photo.

Another short stretch on the Old Main Line and we made a difficult sharp right turn to the foot of the 6 Oldbury Locks. At the top (the top lock is shown on the left of this picture) is the Titford Pump House shown here which is also the headquarters of the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society (BCNS). We intended to moor overnight here, but first another silver propeller point beckoned.

A rather silted and rubbish filled canal goes for a mile beyond the top lock to the Titford Pools. This is the highest part of the BCN at 511 feet above sea level - higher than the summit of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal over the Pennines. After a slow and difficult mile a Y junction leads to a narrow entry onto the first of two pools. These are reservoirs which have recently been dredged to 7 or 8 foot depth and so are fine for cruising across in a narrowboat and doing circuits of the lake, much to the surprise of the extensive bird life. The strange concrete posts support the M5 which crosses this pool. You can, so we understand, even zigzag between the posts, though we didn't try this.

Up the other arm of the Y junction took us under the motorway and into the second pool. This is even bigger and just as navigable, though Helen had to pull the bow round by hand from the shore after our successful attempt to navigate round the island. A fallen willow tree made this difficult but the open water is fine.

We moored on the second pool for lunch. This would make a good overnight mooring but for the noise of the M5. Not only was it a good lunch spot but there is an Aldi and an Asda within a few minutes walk and accessible directly from the towpath.

We returned after lunch along the silted mile of canal and spent the night next to the Pump House where there are full services and a hospitable reception from the BCNS folk, most especially Phil Barlow who was a mine of information about where we are going next. We've decided that we ought to take Leo along some parts of the BCN that we have not travelled before, so today we have started out towards Walsall. But more of that in our next update.