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.

Up the hill towards Birmingham

 At our last posting we were heading south on the Staffs and Worcs Canal heading for Autherley and Aldersley Junctions. So this update takes us forward from there.

On Friday we first had to navigate the Pendeford Rockin'. This is a very narrow stretch of canal cut through solid rock where there is not enough room to pass another boat. There are 4 passing places but fortunately we didn't need to use them as we met no boat in the narrows.

At Autherley Junction the Shropshire Union Canal branches off to the right - in the direction of Chester. We went straight on towards Stourport.

Only half a mile further and we came to Aldersley Junction where a turn left takes boats up 21 locks to Wolverhampton and on into Birmingham. In the picture you can see the first of the 21 locks. This is the short route to Birmingham but we didn't go that way either. We stuck with the Staffs and Worcs for the time being.

Both those junctions are on the summit level of the Staffs and Worcs but at Compton Lock we started going down towards the River Severn at Stourport. Quite a few of the locks on this southern section of the canal have these intriguing circular weirs. The water from the canal above the lock goes down the hole in the middle and comes out below the lock.

Here at Wightwick Mill Lock you can see another fine example of a narrow bridge below the lock. The gouges in the brick arch were caused by tow ropes in the days of horse drawn narrowboats.

Some of the locks have vicious bywashes below, like this one at Wightwick Lock. These push the boat strongly to one side so you have to power through and hope!

On Friday afternoon we had a visit to Wightwick (pronounced 'Wittick') Manor. This was built by a Mr Mander in the late 1890s. He made his money from making paint and varnish. He was friendly with William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites and this is a real Arts and Craft house.

On Saturday we came down a few more ordinary locks and then came to the Bratch. This has three locks together dropping the canal by 30 feet. They are not quite staircase locks, having a short pound of just a few feet between the bottom gates of one lock and the top gates of the next. So how does this work? Here are the instructions, but in essence the short gap between the locks is joined by tunnel to a side pond to provide the water to fill the lock below you.

Here is a photo looking down on a boat in the middle lock. Note the blue paddles and go back to the instructions - "Blue before Red is what the man said." There was a lock keeper so we were not likely to make a mistake.

Here is a view looking back from the middle lock to the top lock. You can see the bottom gates of the top lock just the other side of the far footbridge. The little octagonal toll office next to the bridge is a feature of the Bratch Locks.

And here is the view from the bottom of the Bratch Locks with a boat waiting to go up.

The hawthorn blossom this year has been spectacular. This is looking back from Leo above Rocky Lock.

Rocky Lock is well named being cut into the solid sandstone. Sandstone cliffs feature a lot on this part of the canal.

On Sunday after Gothersley Lock the canal crosses the River Stour (as in Stourport and Stourbridge) on an aqueduct and we reached Stourton Junction where the Stourbridge Canal sets off up 4 locks towards Stourbridge and Birmingham. So on this signpost, an attractive one with fingers, we had come from Wolverhampton and turned off towards Stourbridge and Birmingham, leaving Stourport on the River Severn for another day.

Here Leo is coming into Stourton Bottom Lock. We were lucky as another boat was just coming out of the lock when we arrived. They are turning left towards Stourport.

Some of the little footbridges at the locks here are like those on the Stratford Canal in that they have a gap in the middle allowing ropes to pass through in the days of horse drawn boats.

Having come down 4 locks on the Staffs and Worcs and up 4 on the Stourbridge Canal we decided on Sunday to enjoy the sun and dry the washing, so we stopped soon above the Stourton Locks.

When we'd done a few jobs (a boater's work is never done) we went for a delightful walk along the Stour valley and crossed this meadow covered in buttercups.

On Monday we went up the 16 Stourbridge Locks. 16 is the most locks we've done in a day so far this year. Here you can see Leo coming into Stourbridge Bottom Lock.

The water foams easily here so it looked as if Leo was having a bubble bath.

Once we'd come up 4 locks of the16 we found the mooring free outside the Red Cone and stopped there to explore. This is one of only four remaining glass cones left in the UK and one of the best preserved in Europe. A furnace at the centre of the cone melts glass in 'pots' and the glassmakers who are also inside the cone but around the central furnace can make glass objects by blowing or moulding the molten glass. Neither of us knew much about the glass making process and found it very informative. There are also several small craft workshops with some lovely crafty sewing, jewellery and glass work (appropriately) going on. Coffee was followed by shopping and a return to the cafe for lunch.

After lunch we finished off the remaining 12 locks taking us 145 feet higher in total. Locks 9 and 10 share the peculiarity of the Bratch Locks with a short gap between the top gate of one and the bottom gate of the next.

Once again the mystery is that a tunnel connects the small intervening space with a side pond shown here next to the lockside cottage.

This is looking back down the flight from Lock 9 (they are numbered from 1 at the top to 16 at the bottom) and you can see the Red Cone clearly in the distance.

One reason for coming this way into Birmingham is that we aim to get a number of Silver Propeller points. I've probably explained this scheme before but I'll do it again here. The IWA (Inland Waterways Association) has a scheme to encourage boats to visit little frequented parts of the waterways. If you take photos of your boat at each one of the listed locations you visit and go to 20 of them then you get an award. Our tally stands at 16 or 17 so we aim to complete the job this year. Above the Stourbridge Locks a branch leads north to one of the Silver Propeller locations - the Fens Branch. So the picture shows us heading up the Fens Branch. The aim is to turn the boat by the two bridges and reverse under the bridge to the left and moor there.

So here we are having reversed down the branch off a branch and strictly this is the Stourbridge Extension Canal rather than Fens Branch. On Monday evening we explored the nature reserves around the two branches and found some lovely large lakes that form a series of reservoirs for the canals.

In the next few days we'll climb the 8 Delph Locks to reach Merry Hill (aka Merry Hell) and then seek more silver propeller points in the less frequented arms of the waterways, so do come back and view the next update in a few days time.