Up to Birnigum!

 Thursday 9 September Lapworth Locks (1.5 miles, 15 locks)

We have had nine days at home, sorting out house, garden, etc, plus fun visiting friends and family. Then we have had a lovely couple of days with Jo, Mark and our now six week old grandchild, Hope.

 

Liana loves Gas Street Basin in Birmingham, so we decided to go there via the North Stratford Canal.

Today, John backed Annie up to Kingswood Junction, with Liana looking out for other boats.

First, we entered the short link canal and went up the lock to the level of the lower reservoir/marina. The first half dozen locks are quite close together, going around a corner past this small marina, up to the Canal Shop and Swallow Cruisers little marina. Oncoming boats made life easier and more interesting. After this, a “thick” of nine locks, all very close and with side ponds (like at Devizes), took us up to four locks below the Birmingham summit level. Rain stopped play here, and we moored for the night.

Friday 10 September Lapworth to Gas Street Basin, Birmingham (19 miles, 4 locks, 3 swing bridges)

The Lapworth village main road parallels the canal here, usually thirty metres away. We slept well, though. We had help with the four locks up to the “fifty mile pound” as our friendly lady CRT volunteer called it, as she cleared up weed into a builder’s bag. We passed two oncoming boats, so this helped, too. Apart from occasional short showers, the day was quite warm, so John motored steadily along the twelve bosky miles to Kings Norton junction. The long pound was about six inches low.

First, we negotiated the two manually operated lift bridges soon after the top lock. The North Stratford Canal is largely lined with oak, alder, ash and willow, often with high banks, so it can feel like a long, winding cutting, broken by sudden intrusions of large new housing, eg around Hockley Heath and Dickens Heath. At the former, you pass by a short, weedy bridged arm, above which can be seen the large expensive Maclaren car showroom. Check your bank balance before visiting!

After passing under the noisy, fast M42, the EMYC boat club has been modernised. It was shallow here, near the feeder from the Earleswood reservoirs, where club boats are moored. John had to clear the propeller shaft soon after.

We had to wait at Shirley Drawbridge while men with a cherry picker maintained it, greasing joints , etc. We waiting boaters chatted with the men and each other, some having a drink at the neighbouring Drawbridge pub, but an Amazon delivery driver got upset.

Past gardens at Warstock and wooded cuttings, we entered the 322m Brandwood Tunnel and hollered our usual noises on the way through!

The guillotine gate of the stop lock 1 heralds the junction.

Once John had turned right at King’s Norton Junction, we had just four miles or so to go, largely with the railway line for company, so Liana waved at the passengers. Quite a few boats were moored on both sides by the visitor moorings at Bourneville  station, near Cadbury World.

At Selly Oak, we looked for the new Lapal canal arm at the new Sainsbury’s, but it was not there, as far as we could see. Plans must have changed? We soon passed the ArielAqueduct, university and hospital, famous for treating injured veterans of Gulf Wars and Afghanistan.

Edgebaston Tunnel is well lit. Entering the windy canyon before The Mailbox centre,   we turned right and moored in Gas Street Basin itself, right next to the Canal House/James Brindley restaurant, where we had an interesting meal. While not cheap, John enjoyed his Strawberry Mojito cocktail, only £2 dearer than the beer (about a fiver for 330ml!). 

We enjoyed the starter sharer, and the two sweets, sticky toffee pudding and Dark Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pot, were both chef made and excellent. Sometimes the money is worth paying!

After such a long day, we slept well!

Saturday 11 September at Gas Street Basin

Despite city noise and being moored next to the James Brindley/Canal House restaurant, we had a good night’s sleep, waking feeling well rested, thankfully. Today we will stock up with food, tour the city centre and visit lifelong friends Mike and Wendy tonight. What’s not to like? Oh, and we must use the local services before we move. 

We have had two walks around the newly modernised city centre area, being readied for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. New buildings, statues and tramways along Broad Street surround the older stone municipal edifices.