Into the Black Country

Barry arose early once again and had another walk around the basin, though this time he got caught in the rain ...

  The 'Away Group' of narrowboats - 'Away 2 Dine', 'Away 2 Cruise' and the 'Away Service Boat'

Plenty of colour around and opportunities to experience life afloat

An impressive statue opposite 'The Cube'

A shot from our mooring - very grey but strangely tranquil

 

 Our mooring in Gas Street Basin - alongside the now closed-down 'James Brindley' pub, such a shame

Continuing our rendezvousing with friends, we had lunch with Karen, who I went to school with from the age of five to sixteen - we were in a group of girls always getting into some sort of mischief!  I can hear those who know me thinking how that somehow doesn't surprise them ...

Karen and Sandra at the Brasshouse

We left Birmingham shortly after lunch, travelling through a sea of derelict industrial sites, the canal becoming darker as we approached The Black Country, so named as it was the most industrialised county in the nation, lying over the thickest coal seam in Britain with clouds of black smoke emitting from the burning coal.

Fortunately, prior to starting our journey, Barry checked the weed hatch and found this mangled mess

Passing through the stylish canalside apartments at Ladywood Junction

This shot is for John and Diane of the inside of 'The Roundhouse Building' - sadly the best I could get

Two of many abandoned working boats along the Icknield Loop

The imposing Winson Green Prison - not a place to stay around for long

Goslings in abundance - along with their very attentive parents

Beautiful old aqueduct straddling the Birmingham 'New Main Line Canal' at Sandwell

Up the three Smethwick locks and past the aqueduct turnoff to the Galton Valley Centre ...

...  then through the short 'Summit Tunnel'...

... and under the mighty M5 motorway ...

... which wants to completely dominate the poor canal 

We then traversed the 'New Main Line' canal on another aqueduct ...

... but still couldn't quite escape the motorway

At last - peace and quiet - the water became so clear on this stretch we could see shoals of fish swimming about

Sophie and Mikey take control

The entrance to the Netherton Tunnel seen from the aqueduct

Our mooring for the night at Dudley Port - it looked as though we were the only boat to have moored here for some time, judging by the seemingly undisturbed waterlillies

On Wednesday we're planning a visit to The Black Country Museum which I last visited when my youngest daughter was just a toddler.

Nine on a Narrowboat on Bank Holiday Monday

Barry went for a walkabout first thing Monday morning, as our teenage visitors weren't early risers, and took a few shots around Brindley Place ...

  Some of the restaurants and bars of Brindley Place

 There are all sorts of businesses being run from narrowboats around here

 Looking from the Worcester Bar to Broad Street Tunnel

 Some local, permanently moored narrowboats

  Looking along the 'Worcester Bar' towards 'The Mailbox'

 'The Cube' building by 'The Mailbox' - not quite finished but already in financial trouble

A bit of fun with reflections

Too many photo opportunities

My mum and dad caught a train and visited us for the day, as well as Maggie and Gary, Mikey's mum and dad, so at one point there were nine of us squeezed onto Northern Pride!  We didn't stay squashed for long, walking along to 'The Lord Mayor's Family Show' in Victoria and Chamberlain Square where there were bands and entertainment on all day due to the Whitsun Bank Holiday.  There was an out of this world robot roaming amongst the crowd at intervals during the day which made everyone gasp in amazement!

 

Part of the crowd by the Museum and Art Gallery, Town Hall and Chamberlain Fountain

   

All wrapped up for the chilly (last day of spring!) day

Which one of these characters is the lord mayor of Birmingham????

Fearsome robot

Even an old WWII spitfire with a not so old pilot

A window display promoting the world cup - hope he's not meant to be a kiwi ref cause they're entirely unbiased!!

Jamie left us early in the afternoon, and my mum and dad a little later, but Mikey and Sophie are staying until Wednesday. 

We also visited Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - it was too tempting not to as it's free admission!  We discovered the 'The Staffordshire Hoard' there, we'd never even heard of it probably due to the fact that we rarely watch TV or read papers!  This seventh Century treasure trove was found near to Tamworth, which used to be the capital of Mercia, one of the old counties of England, by a man and the metal detector he'd bought at a car boot sale for two pounds and fifty pence!  It's the largest hoard of Anglo Saxon gold ever found, and funds of 3.3 million pounds had to be raised to pay a finders fee and the landowner so that it could be kept in the West Midlands.

We had a very pleasant evening partaking of a few drinks and some tapas at 'The Mailbox' with an ex midwifery colleague of mine, and her husband.  We didn't leave Mikey and Sophie, they went to La Bella Italia for their own romantic date ...

Mick, Liz and Sandra in The Penny Black bar

A bit blowy in Birmingham!

It was lucky that we had a crew of five for the 36 locks from Bodymoor Heath to Gas Street Basin on Sunday - the predicted travel time was over 9 hours but I think we achieved at least an hour less than that and still managed a pub lunch to boot!

Our mooring at the 'Dog and Doublet'

On through the Curdworth Locks towards Birmingham

The sun shone for most of the trip, despite the very cool breeze

Luckily we had Jamie on top to distract the grumpy fishermen on the way There were about 60-70 of them involved in a fishing contest

Mikey and Sophie joined us half way along to make up our crew of five

The old gas storage tank frames make an interesting feature of the skyline.

Mikey, Sophie and Jamie all working hard on the locks

It was a chilly and extremely windy day and at one point I had a spot of bother at two bizarre locks that are so close together you can't actually get a turn on the boat until it's too late - and we almost ended up facing the wrong way in the side pond which could have been disastrous!  Barry informed me it was due to me not having sufficient speed on the boat to steer - he'd been in the cabin downloading his memory card at the time.  Jamie did get some shots of Mikey and I manically holding onto the stern rope before the others arrived to save the day, but unfortunately we forgot to retrieve them from her camera before she left on Monday afternoon :-(

Mikey, Sophie and Jamie all working hard on the locks

The canal meanders under buildings

Well into the centre of Birmingham now, looking back at the Post Office Tower

Must be a famous Banksy piece on the side of the canal

Farmer Locks and Mikey well in control

Cambria Wharf at the top of the 'Farmers Flight' of 13 locks, the culmination of our 36 locks for the day

Having lived in the Birmingham area for much of my life, it wasn't until I was travelling on the canal system last year that I realised it was actually built on a hill!  Here's another five fascinating facts about Birmingham:

1. It's the country's second most populous city at 1,016,800 (2008 estimate) - in comparison Gisborne in New Zealand, has a population of around 33,000!! 
2. In the early 7th century, Birmingham was an Anglo Saxon farming hamlet on the banks of the River Rea. 
3. It's commonly believed that the name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma inga ham", meaning farmstead of the sons (or descendants) of Beorma.
4. By the 1820's, Birmingham had an extensive canal system and apparently has more canals than Venice.
5. Believe it or not, it's one of the safest cities in the UK and has been for the past three years, having the lowest crime rate of the eight major cities of the UK.

I recall Sutton Coldfield, the place where I spent my formative years, becoming a part of Birmingham in 1974 and Suttonians, as they're 'affectionately' known, were aghast!  They'd been happy to be a part of Warwickshire thank you very much and had absolutely no desire to be labelled as 'Brummies' with all the negative connotations they felt that brought! 

World Cup football fever abounds! Yes, there is a New Zealand flag amongst them - yaay for the All Whites!

We arrived at our destination about 1930 and were fortunate to get a mooring at Gas Street Basin.  We had a walk up and down Broad Street - there were a number of incredible sights to be found of young women heavily made-up and scantily dressed on such a chilly evening; I'm so pleased I don't have to 'dress to impress' anymore!

  The old and the new at Gas Street Basin

 

The Council Chambers with the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi' fountain in the foreground

A refreshment stop in the Bacchus Bar at The Burlington in Birmingham!