BCN Cruise Countdown.

Monday 11th August.

Countdown to the BCN Explorer Cruise.

Another Monday morning, and now only a couple of days to go until we set off on the BCN Cruise. I am actually rather excited about it, and really don’t care what the weather throws at us over the next week. I know that Keith and I will still enjoy ourselves travelling in convoy.
So it’s Monday and we walked back into the city to the Tesco metro to pick up last minute bits, as this shop has to do us until we get to the IWA National Festival. Where there is a Morrison’s supermarket. With the sun out it was an enjoyable walk in and out of the city, especially watching all the people trudging their way to work, drinking their morning coffee on the hoof. None of them had smiles on their faces, but they were off to work ha ha ha. In the centre of Birmingham they have a big screen up with the Olympics showing all day, which I think is a fabulous idea, they just need to supply a few deck chairs and people would sit and watch. As we strolled past the GB canoeists, were showing their skills to the world, or in this case three people standing drinking their coffee.
Back on Hadar we needed to run the generator to top up the batteries for the evenings TV viewing. With the weather so unpredictable and chilly, none of the boaters feel like standing around chatting, so we all spend the evenings watching TV. We can but hope the weeks cruise will fair better as far as the weather is concerned, but according to the forecast it does not look promising.
I cooked a curry with egg fried rice for our evening meal along with Spring Rolls with a dipping sauce. The galley smelt like an Indian Take away. N.B The Third Lady arrived for the cruise and moored up alongside N.B Patience. Moorings are very scarce so breasting up is a really good idea. We all exchanged names, before retiring for the night.

Tuesday 12th August.

It was 4.30am and rain was thundering on the boats roof, loud enough to wake me up. Keith was still in the land of nod, totally oblivious to the heavy rain. I only wish I could have been the same. I lay and listened to it for ages, before getting up for a drink. When I did get back into bed, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, which means I always end up dreaming. The thing with my dreams is I always seem to remember them. This dream was a little odd. We were on the BCN Cruise and had got as far as Walsall. We had moored up under an old wharf building, which butted up against a shop. So we could see in through the shop window from the stern of the boat, and the shop owner could open her window and chat to us on the stern. Boats arrived and joined us, but they were like canoes, all tied together in a line, they breasted up alongside us, which did not bother us. What bothered us was the fact that they sat on the roof of our boat to eat their meals. All of them spoke a broad American accent, and thought it was their right to take over our boat. (I know I am odd). Some moments later I noticed a large black car arrive in the car park, the doors opened and out got the Queen and Prince Phillip (strange I know). I went over and introduced myself and welcomed them. I found out from the Queen that they had heard about the BCN Cruise and wanted to find out more about the trip and the canals. I spent some time chatting to them both, with a cup of tea before I woke up. That has to be the oddest dream I have had for a while ha ha ha. If there is anyone out there who reads dreams, can you tell me what it means?
So back to reality, we got up to a dark, sombre sky. It was drizzling, the worst kind of rain as it really soaks you. But Paddy had to be walked, so once again the waterproofs came out.
Eventually the sun came out; it was my chance to go and empty the loo and get rid of the last of the rubbish.A few more boats had arrived overnight for the Cruise including N.B Nanshe from Hockley Heath, so whilst passing I saw that Clive was sitting in the front of his boat, so I went and said hello. The list of narrow boats that have arrived for the Cruise reads as follows:
Hadar.
Gerald No13.
Patience.
The Third Lily.
Lotte.
Lenina.
Yorkey.
The Slender Delta.
Colehurst.
Bluemoon.
James Marshall.
Nanshe.
Kyle.
Alder.
Clover.
Kyle.
Temeraire.
Tenacious.
In all 33 boats are expected. And we will split into two groups, each taking different routes, but meeting up in the middle somewhere.
Whilst having morning coffee, we joined others on the bank to have a morning natter, all of us getting itchy feet. We all want to be on the move, no matter what the weather is like.
As the day wore on Brian Jarrett on N.B Kyle, moored alongside us to take on coal and to collect our barrels of oil, which he will run his Russell Newbury engine on, once it has been filtered. Brian will be staying a long side overnight. We enjoyed an afternoon of chatter with him and look forward to getting to know him over the next week. Whilst chatting N.B’s Clover and Alder arrived with N.B’s Temerbine and Tenacious. The weather has been decidedly up and down today, we had lots of sunshine early on, but as the afternoon turned into evening we were entertained by an enormous thunder storm. The rain was extremely heavy; it was bouncing off the surface of the canal.This evening all the boaters on the cruise met up, where we were given our Cruise packs and routes for the week, we are on route 2. It is getting quite exciting and we are looking forward to an eventful week. So see you over the coming days with what I hope will be a fun diary.

Relaxed Sunday.

Sunday 10th August.

It was a beginning to the day, with a breeze blowing down the canal. We once again had nothing planned for the day. Having had breakfast, I cleaned the brass in the back cabin; I wanted to clean the horse brasses. We then took a walk down to Cambrian Wharf, to see if Brenda and her husband were onboard their narrow boat Colehurst. Brenda has organised the BCN Explorer Cruise, so we thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves before the event. As we arrived at the Wharf, we could see that the doors to their boat were open, and were on board. Keith knocked on the boats side and Brenda came out to greet us both. We enjoyed a nice chat, before we were joined by Brian on N.B Kyle. N.B Kyle has a Russell Newbury engine, which runs on old engine oil. Brian collects it from anyone who has oil to give away; he then filters it to within an inch of its life and reuses it, so it was our chance to get rid of what we have in the hold. Brian would be collecting it on Tuesday.
It has been a day of boat watching, we have seen some of the boats joining us on the Cruise arrived, each one trying to find a mooring. If you’re not on the cruise you will be hard pushed to moor up. Even the Canada Geese were doing their best of keep out of the way. Every now and again they would swim past the boat honking as they went, wondering where they could go to get out of the way. By the time the evening was drawing in, so was the weather. One moment it was perfect sunshine, the next it was a deluge of rain. We sat and watched some of the Olympics, watching with pride as the Great Britain team fought hard in their events. Well done to Nicole Cooke on her gold in the cycling. It takes real dedication to work for years, so you can represent your country at the Olympics, and yet I feel that we do not always praise our athletes enough. It is so easy for us to sit in our arm chairs and say what they should be doing, but who are we to judge when we just sit doing nothing. Come on the Brits.

Still moored in Birmingham,

Friday 8th August.

Keith and I got rudely awoken from our sweet slumber at around 4.30am, by drunken youths passing the boat. I couldn’t possibly repeat what they were shouting about, it was way too rude. The problem with being woken up like that is it is so hard to go back to sleep again, so both of us dozed until it was time to get up. When I opened the galley window, it was drizzling heavily. It was my fault I put a skirt on for the first time in ages ha ha.
The only thing planned for today was to turn Hadar around, so she would be pointing in the right direction for the BCN Explorer Cruise on Wednesday. This was done with ease; I stayed at the mooring, whilst Keith took Hadar down to Gas Street and turned her. Having moored back up again, Keith did all the greasing of the grease nipples, whilst I pottered about in the galley. Another boat for the BCN Cruise arrived opposite us. N.B Gerald No13 is an old BCN boat and when I say old I mean old, she is 111 years old, but does not look her age. Gerald No13 is owned by Roy. We introduced ourselves with the usual boaters natter. Roy has done the BCN Cruise before so he was able to tell us what we were in for. We are really looking forward to the whole event.
Lunchtime and the sun was out yayyyyyyy. Over the past few days we have noticed the BW boat Aquarius cruising up and down the canal, with a small skip in her hold. Aquarius we have learnt is the equivalent to the Bridge Water Canal Water Womble. She cruises up and down the canal around Gas Street Basin and the Mail Box collecting rubbish from boaters and out of the water. No wonder the canal is so rubbish free. It seems she does this three times a day, keeping everything spick and span.

Saturday 9th August.

Someone remind me this is August. Because today it feels more like October. Even Roy opposite us has lit his fire. When we woke up it did not seem to bad. We wanted to walk a mile into the city to get a food shop done at the Tesco Metro. So having had breakfast and Paddy walked, we donned our rucksacks and set off. The weather at this point was not to bad, there was drizzle in the air and the wind was getting up. Having arrived in New Street, which was pretty quiet for a Saturday morning, we got our shopping done. On exiting the Tesco Metro, the weather was taking a turn for the worst, we would get a soaking on the way back to Hadar. Back onboard I put the shopping away and made us both a coffee, whilst we dried out. It is not a day for being out and about if you hate the wind and rain thats certain, but there are plenty of boaters on the move. We have hunkered down and put the TV on to watch the Olympics, we have no plans on going anywhere for the rest of the day.

Birmingham.

Wednesday 6th August.

A strange brightness appeared to be shining through the pigeon box port holes, it was something we had not seen for a few days. Yes the sun was shining yayyyy, a morning with sunshine, now that was a novelty. Marmite was doing everything she knew to get our attention, which included trying to dig up the vinyl flooring in the back cabin, climbing the exhaust on the engine, which meant getting her claws stuck in the insulation, so she was then meowing for help, so she could escape her capture. It has the desired affect though because I had to get out of bed to rescue her. So with us both up and the bed rolled up and hidden away in the bed ole’. Marmite felt she had succeeded in getting what she wanted more than anything else in this world, her breakfast. With her happily purring whilst eating, my attentions then turned to Paddy, who with a yodel announced that he would quite like to go for his walk, before his bladder burst. So having downed my cereal we set off along the towpath. Coming back from his stroll with the dog was Bryan from N.B No problem, we always seem to meet whilst walking the dogs in the morning. We exchange a good morning across the cut and are on our way. Back onboard Hadar, Paddy enjoys his breakfast biscuits, whilst I pour our morning brew. It gives Keith the time to do a crossword, whilst I read a few more pages of ‘The Water Road’. Come 10am we then don our jackets and are just heading off to the cinema again, when Elaine and David on board N.B Patience crawls past into a mooring in front of us. We discuss the fact that it is worth staying put now until the BCN Explorer Cruise and whether there is anything in Birmingham for a 4 year old to do, as their grand-daughter is joining them the weekend. I reckon any 4 year old will find something to do in Birmingham. We then say ‘we will see them later’ and head off into the city. As always it was teeming with people, who were eating on the hoof, or chatting on their mobiles, which looked like they were welded to the side of the persons head. Why is it no one ever looks where they are going?
You always feel like you are playing dodgems in a crowd. Not only do you have to watch the traffic you have to watch who is coming towards you like a missile. It is as though they do not see who is in front of them.
A busker was sat outside of the Tesco Metro, murdering a tune with his violin; he was not brightening anyone’s day with that racket.
The Emirates Beach was empty, Red and White Deck chairs, all lined up abandoned, they await the hoards who will come and play in the sand, especially as the sun was shining.
We only wanted to get to the cinema, but you felt like you had to push your way through, just to make any headway and I hate that. We were on our way to the cinema to watch, ‘The Mummy The return of the Dragon Emperor’. Due to the fact it was 11.30am, screen 4 was only a ¼ full for the film which was out in cinemas today. This evening it will be heaving probably. We settled in our seats with our popcorn and drinks. I know your thinking popcorn and fizzy drinks two days running ewwwww, but hey it was free and in this day and age you do not get anything for free very often.
The film was brilliant; it had all the leading actors from the other two films. The only difference was the actress playing Ricks wife, she is now Maria Bello and not Rachel Weiss. We both thought the special effects were fantastic as was the whole adventure. If you enjoyed the first two films ‘The Mummy’ and ‘The Mummy Returns’ you will definitely love this film. It has action, adventure and a few giggles. On leaving the cinema, it seemed like even more people were going about their day, with little regard for those around them. Pushchairs being thrust through the crowds like ram raiders. We are both people watchers and Birmingham is a people watchers paradise. You see allsorts of dress code, mannerism, behaviour and language. Whilst heading back to boat at Brindley Place, a man was sat on the steps looking slightly worse for wear, saying “God bless you this day, give me your small change”. I am not one to judge, but I think that he would be sitting there a long time before anyone is going hand over their hard earned cash.

Thursday 7th August.

Woooo hoooo the sun is out again, blimey that is two days in a row.
Is this a cause to celebrate summer maybe arriving ha ha. Actually the weather has not been that bad this summer. This is Britain after all; we never have wall to wall sunshine do we?
So we were up, breakfast done and dusted, Paddy walked, Marmite fed and I finished ‘The Water Road’ by Paul Gogarty. I would say it is a fantastic read, very informative, and thought provoking at times. I learnt a lot from the book, including why we saw coconuts in London and have seen the same here in Birmingham. It is all to do with Hindu funerals; it seems that coconuts are used as offerings along with rice and flowers, they are launched into the water as part of a Hindu funeral. So even at 46 not even I am too old to learn something new.
Having enjoyed breakfast and a read we then took off down to Farmer’s Locks, to see if we could find the Science Museum, but wouldn’t you know it, it has closed and the exhibits are located in other parts of the country. So we then walked into the city to the Museum, where we took in some culture and learned about the Bull Ring’s history. The Museum also has a large art gallery, with some truly stunning pieces in it.
Lunch was taken in the Chinese Quarter at the Big Wok Chinese Buffet on Wrottesley Street. When we got there it was pretty busy already, we were seated and ordered our drinks. We then went and chose our food, which was scrummy as always at a Chinese buffet. It seemed that this was the place to be at lunch time, it was filling up every second and there were a que people out of the door. Whilst eating we both tend to people watch, and this young man at the next door table with his sister and grand-mother caught our eye. Actually we could not miss him, because his jeans were hanging half way around his knees, showing off his cartoon boxers.
What is it with the young men of today that they have to show their underwear?
Maybe it is the fact that I am getting on, but it does nothing for me. We had no idea what was keeping his jeans up, and were waiting for them to crash to the floor, meaning he would have embarrassment written all over his face. Although if you’re wearing cartoon boxers to begin with, you wouldn’t be embarrassed at all probably. That’s the young for you. Another thing that struck us was the age groups that eat in these buffet places, they range from the very young, to the elderly and that I find really wonderful, and it is food for all ages.
We plod back to the boat pleasantly full, and just miss the steam boat President, who had moored up opposite whilst we were away. Still they are going to the National Festival so we will catch them there. We did spend sometime chatting to Elaine and David from N.B Patience, we soon realised it was 3pm and a coffee was called for. With the sun still shining it was a good chance to open up the boat and let some fresh air in. I wonder what delights tomorrow will bring forth.

Black Country Living Museum to Birmingham.

Monday 4th August.

Black Country Living Museum to Birmingham. 9.2 miles and 3 locks.

Neither of us had, had a particularly good nights sleep, we have no idea why though. Becky, Ian and the others all left around 6.30 am for their days cruising to Tixall. We went back to sleep for a while. When we did eventually get out of bed, it was time for us to leave the Black Country Museum, to head back towards Birmingham, ready for the BCN Explorer Cruise, so having filled up with water and emptied the loo, we said cheerio to Stuart, who we would see again at the Shackerston Festival. Keith turned the key and Hadar coughed into life. We then headed back out from whence we came. This time though we would take Telford’s Canal, where there would be less water weed. We had to clear the prop after we arrived, and found we had a carrier bag full of weed and rubbish around the prop. I had the three Factory locks to do, which were pretty easy, we did need the anti-vandal key to un-lock the paddles. We met a Black Prince hire boat coming up through the first of the locks and they told us that they got to the first lock and were stuck, as they had no anti-vandal key, so they had to ring the company and someone bought a key out, it seems someone had forgotten to leave a key onboard for them. I could not help but notice her attire, which was not really designed for boating, white trousers and top, with flip flops on her feet, but hey each to their own. I always wear good footwear, as I would hate to catch a toe or lose a shoe whilst stepping on and off the boat, not to mention the fact that it would be easy to slip whilst wearing flip flops. On our saunter we only saw four other boats moving, three of those were hire boats and the other was a BW work boat. It was so quiet on the water; the only other things moving on the water were the waterfowl. A juvenile heron took flight; it perched on a disused telegraph pole, as if on guard or lookout. The water had turned from a crystal clear pool, teaming with fish and aquatic plants, to a black nothingness. We could no longer see the bottom, which may have been a good thing.

No matter where you were along the route, you were never far away from either industry, a road, railway or Brindley’s canal, and yet even though there are parts which look desolate and probably moreso in the winter. With all the flora out in flower it was rather beautiful. We saw Foxglove, Evening Primrose, Golden Rod, Wild sweet Pea, Yellow Ragwort, Red Campion, Common Poppies, Tufted Vetch, Willowherb, Teasel and so much more. There was no lack of wildlife either, Heron, Mallards, Coot, Moorhen, Emperor Dragonflies, Butterflies the list could go on forever, so even though the outskirts of Birmingham may seem desolate, really its not, you just have to see what is underneath the surface. Even the derelict buildings had a purpose, they were home to the pigeons and the walls were home to Buddleia, Rowan’s, Nettles etc. Mother Nature has a way of putting things to a good use.

It is remarkable how well some of the cast iron bridges have survived the test of time and the elements, they stretch across the canal, having watched time change. If only they could talk, I bet there are many tales they could tell. As always Graffiti was never far away, if there was a blank space it was sprayed on. ‘John 4 Debbie’ I wondered if they are still an item or it was just wishful thinking on his part?

Ben 10 inch, was that his nose, his hair length what? (Ok I am not that daft really). Just because he was bragging did not mean it was actually true and if he has to brag then it probably means it is more like 4 inch.

It was not long before we were heading through Galton Tunnel and under Engine Arm Aqueduct.

We could now see Birmingham, with its high rise apartments and building cranes towering into the afternoon sky.

We found a place on the 14 day moorings and tied up; this will be home until we set off with the other boats on the BCN Explorer Cruise. The Sherbourne Wharf trip boat came past during the afternoon, giving its commentary of when the NIA was built. I wonder how many times they have given that same commentary and know it off by heart. Canada Geese had caught Marmites attention as she sat on the back counter. She likes to stalk something way above her station; still it kept her occupied for a couple of hours. There were piercing screams coming from the far towpath, so I had to find out what was going on. From the back counter it became clear it was no one in trouble, just a child enjoying the sound of her own scream. Her mother made the situation worse by shouting at her to stop, which clearly fell on deaf ears, as she continued until she disappeared out of sight. Now she is probably horse, so peace will rein in their household. If I had done that as a child, I would have been given a clip around the ear.

Tuesday 5th August.

Bleary eyed we are woken up by Marmite walking across the bed. She was announcing the fact that it was 8 am and she wanted her breakfast. Rain was thudding on the roof, which was not a good sign. This being August we were kind of hoping the sun would be shining. But it seems that the summer is never going to really get going this year, yet again.


We crawl out from under the covers, get dressed. Keith puts the kettle on, sets up breakfast, whilst I climb into my wet weather gear, to take Paddy for his walk. As usual I switch on the radio, we have BRMB tuned in, which is Birmingham’s radio station, announced on the news, was the serious road accident actor Morgan Freeman was involved in, leaving him with a broken arm, but he was going to be ok following an operation, which is good news. Marmite in the meantime was complaining loudly that she is not getting fed, so there is nothing for it, I give in, filling her dish with Tuna. She is soon silenced, head buried in her dish. Cats really do own their home and their owners. Paddy on the other hand just sits and waits for me to get my coat and shoes on so he can go out. He soon realised it was not going to be a dry walk. Paddy does make me giggle, because he will walk around every puddle, meaning I have to walk through them if I am not to fall into the canal. One of these days I will take a photo of his depressed expression when he is wet. Due to the weather conditions he was in a hurry to get back to the boat and his breakfast. I have to towel him down otherwise he showers the back cabin when he shakes the rain off of his long coat.


With the rain still falling, it looks like we will not be going far today. At present there are no other boats moored near us that are doing the BCN Explorer Cruise, but we are keeping our eyes peeled for them. Keith has written out the list of 33 boats supposed to be doing the cruise.
Having had lunch and spent best part of the morning on the net, the rain looked like it was dwindling, so we decided to make use of our free Nokia cinema tickets, to go and see ‘The X Files, I want to believe’. Neither of us saw much of the series, but the film looked good from the previews, so we headed for the cinema, handing over our tickets for seats and our free popcorn combo. There were only Twelve people in screen 7 for the performance of the X Files, twelve including Keith and I. The movie we thought was very good. Billy Connelly gave an excellent performance as a psychic, who was helping to find an FBI agent, who had been taken by a man to use for body parts. If you’re a Mulder and Scully fan then it is a must see. However if you are a little squeamish, when it comes to blood then be prepared for dismembered body parts and blood. I will say I am squeamish, and find I cannot watch anything horrific, but this film was fine, I really enjoyed it. By the time we came out of the cinema, it was clear we had, had more heavy rain, it was holding off long enough for us to get back to Hadar, where Paddy was waiting for his dinner. He knows exactly when it is 5pm and teatime, so he hates to wait. Keith took Paddy for his evening walk and we are now settled in for the evening listening to the weather report, which does not look good. A Canada goose is honking loudly outside our galley window, so he does not agree with the weather report either. There is very little on the TV again this evening, still we have the Olympics coming in the next couple of days, so there will be plenty to watch then if you are into sport. See you tomorrow.

Black Country Living Museum.

Saturday 2nd August.

Black Country Living Museum.

Having had the best nights sleep in a while, we were woken by rain tip toeing on the roof of the back cabin. This was not what we wanted, as we were going to spend the day looking around the museum. By the time we endeavoured to get out of bed however the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to put in an appearance. The Black Country Living Museum, tells a wonderful story of the history of the Black Country through the exhibitions and reconstructed buildings of the period. The place oozes with history, it gives you a real incite into life of the period.
We did the underground coalmine tour. We had to don hard hats, and then walked into the gloom, where we were told of the conditions they worked in, listened to dialogue and saw mock ups of how the men worked, to make it more realistic our torches were only the light of a candle. Miners lives were short ones, they only ever really reached the age of 30 years old. 180 men a year would die from mining accidents, which is really shocking.
A real must is to experience the taste of their Fish and Chips fried in Beef Dripping like the old days, OMG they were well worth the queuing and the £5 each.Whilst waiting for our Fish and Chips we were entertained by some street entertainment, this one involved an argument between two women over a man. (Nothing changes). The costumed characters are really friendly and play a huge part in making the place seem real. One of the real characters is the policeman, who really was a policeman in real life. He was great with his jokes and getting the public to join in.
Keith and I enjoyed a ride on the bus and tramcar around the village, which is free; they do ask for a donation though to help to keep the buses running.The buildings are really fantastic and so authentic, you can chat to characters in the houses, shops and the workshops, they even have a school, where the kids of today realise how cushy they have it these days.Not only can you eat their fish and chips you can also try their beer at the pub. But what ever you do, do not ask for a pint of lager.If you are going to go to the Black Country Museum, you do need a whole day to take it all in, as you need to walk around all the different places, the toll house, cottages, the village and much more.
Later in the afternoon, we moved Hadar towards the tunnel on a 49 hour mooring, behind Stuarts Blue Top working boat Anne, that way we were away from the road bridge and out of everyone else’s way who were trying to come in, as Sharpness the tunnel tug had moored opposite against two BW boats, so it was tight to get a boat in, especially if you’re a hirer and not so sure of your widths.
One of the things the Dudley Tunnel Trust does now is weddings in the tunnel.We were fortunate enough to bare witness to the Bride, Groom and wedding party coming out of the tunnel. Both the bride and groom looked stunning as did the bridesmaids. So if you fancy a wedding with a difference, why not try the Dudley Tunnel.
We had a fabulous day and will definitely come back again. They have new buildings going up, which should be ready in 5 years time, so we will have to come back again to see what improvements they have made to a wonderful place.

Sunday 3rd July.

A day in which we would be busy little beavers, plus make new friends.
It all began with us getting up at around 8 am, as we could hear people up and about outside and boats were leaving the museum moorings, so we felt it was time to get out of bed.
First duty of the morning was to walk Paddy, to do this we needed our BW key to take him out of the museum moorings area and onto some grass. He found what looked like a chicken bone, so I had to prize his jaws open to get it out of his mouth. Paddy was not giving in easily, but it had to be done, because not only are chicken bones bad for dogs, he has a very sensitive stomach, so I had images of upset tummies etc ewww. Back on the boat he did get his two breakfast biscuits as usual.
Keith and I then set about cleaning the boats brass, not only did we do the outside; we even did the brass inside the boat. Just as well I don’t like manicured nails, because they were as black as your hat by the time we had done. But the boat looked nice. By this time people were beginning to come in to the museum, as it opens at 10 am. Keith was in his element answering questions on Hadar’s engine, and I answered the questions on the back cabin. Parents would ask if their children would be allowed to have a look inside, to see how they would of lived in the olden days ha ha ha (we are still living like it, to a point). I was happy to sit them in the boatman’s cabin and explain the where for’s and what not’s. Some seemed shocked that there was no TV in those days and that they would be working from a young age. They do not know how easy they have it these days do they?
We spent a fabulous day, chatting to the public and those people who work at the museum. Just as the opening time at the museum was drawing to a close. Ian and Becky on N.B Marcellas came thudding into the museum moorings and we invited them to moor alongside us, which they duly did, followed closely by two other boats owned by Becky’s sister and brother.
We ended up three abreast, completely blocking the way to the tunnel, just as well no one was going through.So there was us on the inside, then Marcellus and Working Boat Seaford. We spent the rest of the day chatting to them and their families. There are not many what I call real boat families around any more, but Becky was telling me her parents had been boating for more than 50 years and it is in the blood. Kenton, Becky and Verity have followed in their footsteps and kept the tradition going along with their partners and children, which I think is fantastic. If any of them are looking in to the diary. Thank you for the most wonderful evening, we really did enjoy all the banter, it was so wonderful to see the children playing, whilst we all nattered and ate our dinners on the back of the boats. It turned into quite a little gathering, because N.B Patience also moored up and they are going to be on the BCN Explorer Cruise with us.The time got on and it was soon 8.30 pm, it was time to all descend into our own boats, as the children would be getting ready for bed and infect the evening had turned decidedly chilly. So we said good evening and disappeared. They would all be off early in the morning.

Birmingham to the Black Country Museum.

Friday 1st August.

Birmingham to the Black Country Museum. 8.5 miles and 3 locks.

Last night we had very heavy rain, which kept me awake. Keith on the other hand slept really well and at times was even snoring. Nothing was going to wake him from his slumber.
It was dull and windy when we got up, there was a whiff of rain in the air, but we were ready to leave at 8.45 am. We said cheerio to Chris on Fleur de Eau, as he peered through his cabin window.We set off along the Birmingham level main line and having left all the new apartments we were reminded of what was once Birmingham’s industrial age, which has sadly long since gone. The now desolate land has now given way to Mother Nature and her flora and fauna. We saw Buddleia, Wild Daisies, Golden Rod, Japanese knot weed, Chinese Balsam (policeman’s helmet), Honey Suckle and many more species of plants. The Heron was very evident as well, although it was getting a lot of grief from the seagulls, who kept dive bombing them.We past Winson Green and under the Winson Green Turnover Bridge, where lies what is left of a gauging booth, it is now more like and over grown island, and for those who do not know its history, they would think it was just an island.
There was no shortage of joggers on their daily run, with their puce red faces and pained expressions on their faces, they constantly remind me of why I never took up jogging. I have never met a happy, smiley jogger. Have you?
The weather was not really up to much, we had a constant gusty wind, with drizzly rain on and off though out the mornings cruise.
We did the 3 Smethwick locks, joining the Birmingham Level Main Line to the Wolverhampton Level. To operate them we needed the handcuff key to undo the locks.As we reached the top of the 3, we met our first boat of the day, which was a hire boat. The lock was already full and in their favour, so I opened the gate to let them in and proceeded to help them do the lock operation of which they were very grateful. I felt as if I had done my good deed for the day. At the top lock there is the Toll House, which has sadly been defaced by mindless vandals, not only have they spray painted rubbish on the walls, they have even tried to rip the tiles off of the roof. Shame on them.The Birmingham canal is like a rabbit warren it has lots of other canals off of it, that branch off in all directions, we hope to cruise around them all some day.After the locks we then went through Galton Tunnel 122 yds long.We were then in the shadow of the M5 for quite some distance. It became our roof and shelter from the wind and rain. It’s imposing pillars, standing like giants holding the roof up. Continuing along the Wolverhampton Level we edged past, Round’s Green, Brades Village, Tividale. At Tividale we stopped on the aqueduct to empty the loo, but it was blocked up with leaves and had been vandalised, so we moved off heading to Tipton Junction, where we had to turn left to head for the Black Country Museum. That proved somewhat problematic as the wind was blowing straight across the canal, so the bow was doing its own thing. Not only that two lad were out in two rubber dinghy’s, paddling around having lots of fun. Now they did not get in our way as such, but due to the windy conditions they were something we had to keep an eye on whilst manoeuvring around the bend. It has to be said when I asked to keep well away from the boat, they did comply.
We made it to the Black Country Museum and found a mooring, during the afternoon we took a boat trip into Dudley Tunnel on one of the trip boats.It was really awesome and well worth doing if you ever come to the Museum. Nigel who was our guide, gave us a lengthy talk as we took the 40 minute trip, he even got a couple of volunteers to do some legging on the way out. If you are planning on getting married and you want somewhere completely different to your friends, then why not book Dudley Tunnel. Yes they perform weddings actually in one of the caverns. Also whilst in the tunnel you get to watch a short film about how the limestone was formed, plus all about the tunnel itself.
The evening was spent on and off the boat, enjoying the evening’s sunshine. Tomorrow we look forward to looking around the Museum.

Alvechurch to Birmingham.

Wednesday 30th July.

Alvechurch to Birmingham, Bridge 88.

6 am the alarm goes off, and Marmite walks over us, meowing to make sure we know we have to get up. Having had a night of heavy rain tap-dancing on the roof of the boat, we were not surprised to see it was still raining, albeit only a few drops. Poor Keith had been awake since 4 am, and was just dozing off when the alarm sounded, so he was not for jumping out of bed.
Paddy was not for walking this morning because of the wet conditions, but a dog must do what a dog must do, so we set off along the towpath, we had only gone a few yards and he did what he needed, then did an about turn and legged it back to the boat. He is such a wimp when it comes to getting wet.
6.45 am we left our over night mooring, scaring a heron into flight, it’s wings beating furiously as it tries to gain height to miss the trees. A fisherman is out early to catch the first fish, with his flask of hot tea to hand. A Kingfisher scurried ahead of the boat, a flash of blue as if to show us the way. Even on a dull, damp morning, nothing could dampen our spirits, especially when surrounded by such beauty, which is then only spoilt by the M42 and its rumbling traffic, and the graffiti in huge black letters scrawled on the bridge walls ‘Stop Eating meat, be a Vegan’. My reply to that was ‘Stop your graffiti, its spoiling the countryside’.
It was not long before we delved into the darkness of Wast Hill Tunnel (ear plugs firmly in ears). Its imposing walls and ceiling running with water, leaving lime scale deposits, like coloured pictures. Some Twenty minutes later, I saw an arrow and the 900 metre sign pointing to the exit. As we exited the tunnel our eyes had to adjust to the daylight, albeit overcast. We arrived King’s Norton Junction, and carried straight on towards Birmingham.We were now in a much more built up area, with factories and lots of graffiti everywhere you looked, but very little rubbish in the canal, mind you we could not see what lurked under the water. In amongst the graffiti, we have seen a lot of flora, wild Honeysuckle, Golden Rod, Ragwort, wild Sweet Pea, and much more, it has been a real eye opener.We had the railway for company as we passed by the Bournville Station, and Cadbury Bournville Chocolate Factory. That is a place we want to visit, go and look at Cadbury World and its history of chocolate, a must for any chocolate lover.I was really surprised how pretty it was going into Birmingham, I imagined it would be much more built up, but most of the canal side is taken up with Birmingham University, which has a vast site along the canal. They even have their own Hydrogen Boat. We skirted past Selly Oak and still the railway followed us like a limpet attached to a ship.There were trains every couple of minutes going in both directions, we then headed into Edgbaston Tunnel 105 yds long and lit.We were soon approaching the end of our trip, having reached The Mailbox, so we found the first available mooring, near the sanitary facilities and tied Hadar up for the day, the time being 10.45 am.The last time I can remember coming to Birmingham was when I was about 9 or 10 years old, I came with my parents to a family wedding. My mother and her family are from Birmingham, I still have an aunt and uncle who lives in the city, sadly my Nan died a few years ago, at the age of 90, but she had lived in the city all her life. I cannot remember what the city centre looked like, so was really interested to see what it was really like. Keith last cruised this part of the system in 1996 and said everything had changed such a lot. It is now all café’s and bars. First on the things to do was get some food shopping done, as the fridge was almost empty, so we found a small Sainsbury’s and stocked up on a few things. We later realised there is a Tesco Metro in The Mail Box. We then had lunch at Kinnaree a Thai restaurant, £4.95 for a lunch, it was really good. Having had lunch we then took a walk into the city, to look around and find our feet a little. I have never seen so many people, which I found quite intimidating. I was only to glad to hold on to Keith’s hand as we walked to the Bull Ring and around the shops. It was then my phone went off and who should be on the other end but Nick Owen from Midlands Today. We had been in touch with Nick through Myspace, and had remained in e-mail contact despite the fact that none of us keep our Myspace pages up anymore. I had e-mailed Nick saying we would be arriving in Birmingham and would love to meet up, so the phone call was to arrange a time for us to get together.
3.30 pm and Nick Owen came and met us on Hadar, he was all dressed up in his suit and tie ready for the news program that evening. Keith said “You really should not have dressed up just for us” which made him laugh. We welcomed Nick onboard, and gave him the guided tour of the boat, telling him some of her history and the reasons for the boatman’s cabin being as it is to this day. I think he was a little amazed at how much we have fitted into such a small space.It was wonderful to meet Nick in person, we have watched him since the days when he did the breakfast show with Anne Diamond, and now when we are in this neck of the woods we watch him on BBC 1's Midlands Today. Nick if you are reading this. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and see us, we really appreciate it. Due to time constraints Nick was unable to stop long, and we wished him well as he left to go back to work.
The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting to other boaters, including a couple on N.B Talisman who we met way back in February at Harecastle Tunnel. They recognised the boat and so we caught up on all the news and gossip. Our evening onboard was continually interrupted by a woman shouting at the bow of the boat, we did our best to ignore it. I noticed a community officer on a bike having a few words with the woman, so I reckon someone from the apartments had asked for assistance in getting her to keep the noise down.
I took my last photo of the day as the evening was closing in at The Mailbox.Thursday 31st July.

I had had a wonderful nights sleep and only got woken up at 6.30 am by a seagull calling out. For a moment I thought I was by the sea and not in Birmingham. Keith however had been kept awake by the boat in front of us. They had probably been to the pub and were drunk, they spent a fair while he said arguing and banging what he thought was wood on something, and he thought they may have even been hitting each other. We had been told about this couple by one of the residence in the apartments opposite their boat. He said “It was like watching a soap opera”. He told us they would come back from the pub in the early hours totally out of their heads and stand on the path rowing. So Keith was not so wide awake when it came to getting up at 8 am. We decided that we would take a walk into Birmingham and have a proper walk around; we went to the indoor markets, the Bullring and up and down all the other streets. Because it was just after 9 am, it was still quiet and it gave us a chance to enjoy the architecture before the hustle and bustle began. I am not one for crowds, I guess it comes from being bought up in the country, oh and the fact I am only 5 foot tall and hate people towering over me ha ha ha. Some of the buildings old and new are really beautiful. The old ones survived the blitz and are here to tell a story. The new ones do their best to compliment the old ones, so it is a good mix. We even sat and had a coffee outside at one of the street cafes.Once back onboard Hadar we thought we would move her from The Mailbox mooring and moor up near the NIA, where hopefully it would be quieter and Keith would get a decent night sleep. So we slipped off the mooring and through Gas Street Basin.The mooring was already quite busy with other boats, so we knew we would be safe with others around us. Having had some lunch we then headed off to The National Sealife Centre, as we had a free ticket for one of us to get in, unfortunately it would cost £15.50 for the other, so we qued up behind the masses and then paid the entrance fee. Now if we had, had to pay for both of us there is no way we would have gone in, because we felt it was over priced. But with one of us getting in free that was fine. The fish were really beautiful and the Rays were fantastic, we got a real feel for what lies beneath the oceans of our world. The highlight for me was seeing the Sea Otters, because I am passionate about them, oh and the walk through the tunnel where the fish swim over you, that was good as well. They have two giant Sea Turtles in the pool, they are magnificent. Basically we paid £15.50 for an hour and a half’s enjoyment.Whilst back onboard Hadar, I nipped up to the Tesco metro to get a couple of things we needed, and Keith stayed on the boat chatting to passers-by. By the time I got back he was nattering away to Chris who owns a cruiser named Fleur de Eau, I soon discovered that Chris uses the same boat forum as we do Boats and Canals, which I have to say is a very friendly forum for all boaters. It was lovely to meet Chris and his wife Mia; they are out on a boat club cruise, so we are surrounded by the Cheshire Boat Club boats this evening. We stood in the rain nattering away totally oblivious that we were getting wet. But who cares when you are in such lovely company. Keith and Chris soon found out that they had both been on Ashtac the same time back in the 1970’s and we most probably working on the same patch as well. It really is a small world.
The weather today has been showery, which was forecast, but even though it has rained on and off, it has not really been enough to get us soaked. Tomorrow we will be heading off to the Black Country Museum.

Tardebigge to Alvechurch.

Monday 28th July.

Tardebigge.

Yesterday was spectacular day weather wise, giving us the chance to do other boat jobs. In between painting and varnishing, we enjoyed chatting to other boaters, who either pulled in for water, or moored up for the night.
Today yet again we woke up to a bright, sunny and very warm morning, but the weather forecasters were telling of thunder storms during the afternoon, so any last minute painting had to be done during the morning, so having had breakfast, walked Paddy and drank our morning cuppa, we set about finishing off the painting. It turned out to be just in time as late into the afternoon as forecast, the dark clouds gathered and the humidity creep to sweltering levels, along with this, the rain pelted down. Thankfully the paintwork we had done had dried in time.
We have enjoyed the Tardebigge mooring; we even took advantage of using the shower at the sanitary station, which was very good. I languished in the shower for sometime, making the most of the facility, even though we have our own shower onboard.
By the time Keith bought Paddy back from his evening walk, we could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, and not long after rain pitter pattering on the boats roof, it was to continue until gone 9pm. someone up there was having one hell of a fight. Still it did clear the air some before we headed off to bed.

Tuesday 29th July.

Tardebigge to Alvechurch. 3.3 miles.

After a night of heavy rain, we woke up to a dull, damp morning, but it felt somewhat fresher. There was no hurry to be up or moving as we were only going back to Alvechurch today, so we ate breakfast, Paddy got his morning stroll and then we moved Hadar off of her mooring and over to the water point, where we took on water, emptied the toilet cassette and got rid of all our rubbish at the refuse point.
We eventually left Tardebigge at 10.05 am. Keith was still enjoying his coffee as we headed off towards the tunnel.As you can see there were dark clouds looming in the background, so it did not look hopeful for a dry hop, skip and a jump to Alvechurch.We slipped into Tardebigge tunnel, as another boat was coming out. I stayed in the engine room with my ear plugs firmly pushed into my ears. Tardebigge tunnel is really quite amazing as most of its length is carved out of the rock, it really is very impressive. It made me think of how many men it took to dig their way through from one end to the other, and how many lost their lives, so that we today can enjoy this spectacle? Tardebigge tunnel does not have a towpath, so you have to walk over the top if you want to get to the other end by foot. Until the turn of the century a tug would pull all boats through the tunnel. As we were just leaving the tunnel, the Mikron Theatre boat was entering, Keith called over ‘morning’ and we were then on our way, out into a wooded cutting, with sunshine streaming through the trees, it was quite delightful, we slipped past the Anglo Welsh hire company, which had very few hire boats still in their moorings. Most of those out had past us during Friday, Saturday and Sunday.The canal wound its way through the picturesque Worcestershire countryside, where the fields are paved with gold at this time of the year, waiting to be harvested, if we get enough sunshine to dry the crop out that is. Onwards towards Shortwood Tunnel, but just before reaching the tunnel there is a grass airstrip in a farmers field, it runs alongside the canal. We saw the plane on the way up to Tardebigge; it was being readied for take off.
I wonder how many boaters actually know the airstrip it is there.
As we drifted towards the tunnel, we could see a figure descending the steps at the tunnel entrance, he was lowering what looked like a canoe into the water.My first thought was ‘Which way is he going’? Then ‘I hope he doesn’t fall in’. As we moved to the tunnel entrance, we exchanged pleasantries, before we were both on our. We carried on through Shortwood tunnel and were soon greeted with views over the valley, which were much clearer today, down below somewhere the River Arrow was meandering it course.
Now we both love to see fishermen going about their hobby, but why do they sometimes have to hide themselves in the reeds and bushes?
Keith spotted a fisherman just in time to slow to tick over speed as we always do when passing them by. The only thing to give him away was his rod. Then no more than 6 feet further on was another sitting in the reeds. I said ‘good morning’ to which he replied ‘Cor that’s a noisy UN in’ it, you’ll end up with one of these you know’ He produced his hearing aid. Keith then produced his ear plugs and said ‘That’s why we have these for the tunnel’, the gentleman laughed. He then told us ‘I could hear ya comin way back there’. With that we said cheerio and continued on our way. We meet some real characters everyday. That is half the fun of cruising the waterways; you never know who you will meet up with next.
We arrived at Alvechurch Marina, where pretty much all of their hire boats were out too, we moored up outside of the Chandlery, and so I could go in and buy some paint to replace what we had used, since we have been out. Unfortunately there were no mooring spare on the towpath opposite the marina, so we carried on to the moorings near the Crown Inn and found they were totally empty, so there was nothing for it, but to claim our mooring before others should do the same.
The towpath got quite busy with walkers and cyclists and whilst I was reading my book ‘The Water Road’ by Paul Gogarty, I found myself listening to their accents. One couple walking past the boat, I could hear them talking to Paddy with a Brummy accent. Paddy was on the back counter soaking up the sunshine. The couple then started to call him off of the boat. Now Paddy knows he is not allowed off the boat unless we say so, but he was stood tail wagging, as if wondering could I get away with it just this once. The answer to that was NO, because we called him back into the boat quick smart. Neither of us would ever call someone else dog off their boat without permission. Not only that we do not know the temperament of someone else’s animal. Maybe we should have a sign up. ‘Please do not call our dog off of our boat’ ha ha ha ha. Since mooring up the breeze has certainly got up, at times it is very gusty, but the sun still keeps putting in an appearance through some dark clouds. Tomorrow will see us head for Birmingham and another first for me. To date we have covered over 777 miles and done 643 locks. We have seen some awesome scenery and met some lovely people. I am now looking forward to the next chapter in our journey.

Rowington to Alvechurch.

Monday 21st July.

Rowington to Hockley Heath. 4.6 miles, 19 locks and 2 lift bridges.

Having spent a pleasant weekend on the moorings, we were off and running by 8.50 am. Destination Lapworth Flight first of all on the North Stratford Canal.
We started off with a wooded cutting, which was bathed in sunlight.

It really did look quite glorious in the morning sunshine. The variety of trees was quite breath taking, with some very old oak and ash trees still standing tall and proud. I can imagine that in the autumn they put on quite a show.
We turned onto the Stratford Canal, at what is a pretty tight corner. Lucky nothing was coming the other way.We pulled in to empty the toilet, and I then walked ahead to set the first lock on the Lapworth Flight. We were lucky with some of the locks going up due to the fact that other boats were coming down.It certainly makes life easier, and it gave me a chance to chat to other boaters. One such boat was in the capable hands of a couple of elderly gentlemen, we had quite a conversation about boating. He told me of a cruise he did on the Trent and Mersey Canal in a hire boat some years ago, and they were coming up to a lock, when a private boat took the lock from them despite the fact that she had seen them coming. When the gentleman walked up to the lock to tackle the woman over lock pinching, her reply was “We do not give way to hire boaters”. Has very little changed today I wonder?
I wished them well and we were both on our way.
There really are some stunning views on the flight, which is not really that heavy going as they have double bottom gates.Another interesting thing we have noticed are the old cast iron split bridges. These bridges were built in two halves, with an inch gap so that the towing rope between horse and boat could be dropped through the gap, so the boatmen did not need to disconnect the horse.All the way up we were followed by Autumn haze, so as we were leaving locks, if there was no one coming down, I was setting the locks for the couple.
We finally exited the top lock of the Lapworth Flight, which is numbered number 2, as the old stop lock at King’s Norton is number 1.Now we would carry on to Hockley Heath and see if we could find a mooring, but before getting there we had two lift bridges to get through.They are not difficult, you wind them up with the windlass and then wind them back down again. I was beginning to feel like I had done enough work, and it was not even lunch time yet. We found a mooring just past The Wharf Tavern which overlooks the canal; it sits above a small arm that once served a coal wharf. Having tied up, we enjoyed a well deserved lunch. The weather and the locks have been kind to us today.
Not having visited Hockley Heath before we thought we should investigate the place. Firstly we discovered that the Wharf Tavern does a carvery meal for £4.25 each Monday to Saturday. The Nicholsons Guide tells of a useful garage, well it could not have been that useful because it has closed down and is all boarded up. There is a useful One Stop convenience store, Dentist, Post Office, small Hardware Store and hair dressers, so some useful places if you are in dire need. We were going to make use of the Post Office, by having our mail sent Poste Restante to them. As we need the information from the IWA about the National Festival, which we are attending in August. Tina at Roger Fuller’s boat yard was very kindly going to post all mail for us, she is a diamond, and she really is. We count ourselves lucky to have her as a friend. So not much to see or do in Hockley Heath historically wise, but as I have had it pointed out to me by a fellow boater from N.B Nanshe, Hockley does have more to offer than I first wrote. Apart from the garage that is now closed there is another old fashioned one just a short walk away opposite the 2nd pub, the Nags Head which does a varied menu every day. There is a very good butcher that I did not mention and they also sell veg & cheeses. There is a Chinese take away and an Indian restaurant that also does takeaway. So Hockley Heath is a place to stay if you are in need of any of these facilities. I would like to thank N.B Nanshe for the in put, and we look forward to meeting them on the BCN Cruise. It is always lovely to get feedback.

Tuesday 22nd July.

It is 6.40 am and we are woken up by the start of a boat engine, my guess was it was the Black Prince Hire boat moored in front of us. I stupidly imagined that they must be making an early start, so tried to go back to sleep, only to fail miserably as the engine continued to strain into life. So I got up and made us a cup of tea and settled back into bed. The engine was eventually turned off two hours later, only to start up again after a further 10 minutes, with the sound of their mooring hooks being pulled from the barrier. Now I have a lot of respect for people hiring boats for their holidays, after all some have been hiring for many years and they pay a lot of money for their holidays. But to charge batteries up at 6.40 am and wake us and probably the home owners lining both sides of the canal as well, was a little to much. We did eventually climb out of bed to a cloudy morning, the sun had not put in an appearance yet, but the forecasters promised us a warm sunny day. So before the sun drove the clouds away, I wanted to get the starboard side of the boat T Cut and Polished, so it matched the Port side. Keith set about painting lettering on my board for selling coal. I found the plastic board hiding in a hedge on the way to Hockley Heath and immediately saw its potential. After a couple of hours of hard work Hadar was now gleaming. Our For Sale board was looking good, so all was well with our world. It has been a day of lots of activity on the canal, most of it from hire boats, most of the boats carrying families who are now in the school holiday mode. So we look forward to 6 to 8 weeks of busy waterways no doubt.
With the sun finally putting in an appearance late in the afternoon, it meant that we could get the paint dry on the notice board. Paddy and Marmite have been sat out on the back deck watching the world go by, and as I speak Marmite is sitting on the gunwale by the galley window. She still wears her harness and lead, when we are on busy towpaths; I have a fear of her wandering off and not knowing how to find her way back to the boat. We prefer to play safe, as we would hate to lose her. Tina sent us a text saying she had sent our mail, so with luck it may arrive tomorrow and we will be on our way. I took the opportunity to finish reading ‘Birmingham Friends’ by Annie Murray. I am a huge fan of her books and have her complete collection. Having finished reading the last two chapters. I then picked up a book which Merleen gave me. ‘The Water Road’ by Paul GoGarty. It is the story of Paul’s four month journey onboard NB Caroline, around the waterways of the UK. So far I have got to page 21 and find the book very entertaining and informative. He has been on the Thames and came back through Brentford, which we did as you may have read a few weeks ago. I am now looking forward to reading about other places we have been too through his eyes, and see what his thoughts are on the places he visits.

Wednesday 23rd July.

A beautiful start to the morning, after we got a really good nights sleep. There were more boat jobs to be done and they included varnishing the galley windows and painting the hand rails on the roof. Keith finished the notice board for selling our coal. That now takes its place on the cratch board on the bow. The post that Tina kindly posted for us yesterday arrived safely, so we now have an up to date licence ready for the IWA Festival in Wolverhampton, we also received confirmation from the festival organisers of our mooring for the event, we have E8A which is somewhere past the Wolverhampton Boat Club. So we now know where we are going to be moored for the weekend. We are both looking forward to the event. Also in the post were our arm bands for the Shackerstone Festival which is a week after the IWA Festival.
I know your thinking; they are going to be busy. Yep we sure are.
The very best part of getting the post was a letter from the Environment Agency, which included a refund from the agency for our time on the Thames. We can now afford to eat out tonight ha ha ha. There have been many boats moving today, some stopping for lunch and others stop for some shopping, the only boat to stop for the night was Tam Lin. Keith and I enjoyed a carvery at the Wharf Tavern, it was well worth the £4.25 each. We even found room for a pudding as well. Debbie and Wayne certainly make their customers feel welcome, I would say one of the best pubs we have eaten at. The perfect end to a good day.

Thursday 24th July.

Hockley Heath to Alvechurch. 15.1 miles, 0 locks and 1 draw bridge.An early alarm call at 5 am, so we could leave at 6 am. Our Destination would be Alvechurch. The morning began misty and cool, so I felt a little chilly in my shorts. We spent much of the best part of the trip in wooded cuttings, edging the canal were many large oak trees, which made me think of the tree beards in the ‘Lord of the Rings’. They really looked very imposing bowing over the water.We were soon heading underneath the M42 for the first time today and onwards past Waring’s Green. Just after the M42 road bridge, at bridge 20 you can walk 100 yds up onto the road and find Wedges Bakery, which supplies fresh bread, cakes and some boater’s supplies.
Although we were heading for the outskirts of Birmingham, you really would never have known it due to the wooded cuttings and open farm land. We saw plenty of wildfowl, including a couple of Herons, a tufted duck with her two young and plenty of Mallards, again with young families. We arrived at Shirley Drawbridge, which is operated by the BW Sanitary Key. That was the only real work I would have to do for the day.Alongside the drawbridge is the pub of the same name.
We were once more on our way, through a more built up area. There are many more new buildings than Keith came through her last, many of them new waterside apartments.
We arrived at Brandwood Tunnel 352 yds long, and had only seen two other boats moving and they were BW boats off to do a days work.After the tunnel there is a swing bridge which is left open as is the King’s Norton Stop Lock. The Stop Lock is unusual as it is a guillotine lock; it has two wooden guillotine gates, mounted in iron frames, and is balanced by chains and counterweights. They are now never used, so we could pass underneath without having to stop. When private canal companies were in operation the stop lock was very common, as the companies would wish to conserve water on their stretches of the canal from any newcomer who may pass through.We arrived at King’s Norton Junction at 10.10 am and we actually saw our third boat of the morning wooooooo.We turned onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, where we stopped to empty the loo cassette, before heading on towards Wast Hill Tunnel, which at 2726 yds long, is one of the longest tunnels in the country. It is also known as the King’s Norton Tunnel.We made our way past Hopwood and enjoyed views over the Lower Bittell Reservoir. There are two reservoirs Upper and lower, they were built by the canal company, the upper one feeds the lower reservoir, which was built to keep mill owners happy, after the loss of water due to the construction of the canal. For the second time today we then past under the M42, with its loud traffic and congestion. Just after the motorway we meandered past the Crown Meadow Arm, which is not accessible to boats anymore as it has been turned into a nature reserve.
We arrived in Alvechurch and found a mooring near the Crown Pub, tied up had lunch and then took a stroll into the village. The town is below the canal and is a little bit of a walk, if you are not walkers like Keith and I. It has some nice old buildings, along with a Co-op, butchers, post office, hairdressers, pub and St Lawrence Church which sits on top of the hill, it is of Norman origin, but was rebuilt by Butterfield around 1861. We walked back to the boat along the towpath having visited Alvechurch marina. Having enjoyed a nice natter with other boats owners, I then set about rubbing down the Port side galley windows ready for varnishing on Friday. With the sun out now it was extremely hot, so we called it a day and tried to chill out, until bedtime.

Friday 25th July.

With another beautiful day weatherwise, we stayed put at Alvechurch and did some more boat jobs, paintwork and varnishing. Then enjoyed an evening sitting watching the world go by.

Salersford Arm to Rowington

Thursday 17th July.

Like any other live aboard boater, there are always jobs that need doing and due to the fact that we were on the electric at the mooring, I thought I would take the opportunity to get a few jobs done that had not really been done since we left Stone. Firstly I used the laundry in the Arm to wash our mattress cover, as it was too big for our machine, whilst that was washing I washed the sheets in our machine. They have two washing machines and two tumble driers. The washing machines for a quick was cost £1 and for the drier a 12 minutes cycle costs 20 pence, what a bargain. So washing done and dry it was then onto task two, which was to Hoover the boat out from bow to stern. Keith kindly fished the Hoover out of the hold for me and I was well away. It was really refreshing to be able to get such jobs done. With that achieved we had lunch and I then walked down to Sainsbury’s to pick up a few bits, just making sure we were topped up with food, as our next big shop would be in Birmingham. The brass was the third item to do, but with showers throughout the day, I saw little point in cleaning the brass outside of the boat, so had a shower instead.During the evening we were taken to the Cape of Good Hope Pub by Merleen and Paul off of NB Lady Celine, where we enjoyed a fabulous meal and an evening of very entertaining chatter. It was so nice to catch up with them and hear all their news and we told them all about our adventures to date. The meal was excellent as was the service. If you ever eat there, do try their Mango Sorbet it was out of this world, as was the whole meal. What made the evening special though were the company, so thank you Merleen and Paul for a lovely time and we hope to get to Switzerland.Having got back from the pub, we then gave them a guided tour of Hadar before they headed back to their boat for bed. The two Shelties in the photo are Kyle and Kory and they are 11 year old brothers. Kyle has been a very, very poorly boy, but hopefully is now on the mend, we all have our fingers crossed.
A good day as far as getting the jobs done and an even better evening spent in the company of good friends.

Friday 18th July.

Saltersford Arm to the top of the Hatton Flight. 2.8 miles and 21 locks.

Awake early thanks to Marmite, who lay on Keith’s chest, purring loudly as to wake us both up. She looks at you with sorrowful eyes; you know the ones like puss does in Shrek, so how can you fail to go awwww. So with that we got up and had breakfast. Paddy got his walk and we then started to get ready to leave the arm. We had agreed with Margaret and Colin on NB Seeburg that we would do the Hatton flight together, as it definitely makes life a lot easier. So I filled the water tank up, emptied the rubbish bin, whilst Keith paid Ian the arms manager for our stay, plus we picked up a few items from the shop there. Having thanked Ian for his warm welcome and enjoyable stay we set off at 9.30 am out of the arm. Waving to Merleen and Paul as we left under the bridge. By the time we reached their first of the 21 locks, Colin had already set the lock and Margaret was heading into the lock chamber, by this time it was 9.45 am and we had a busy time ahead.

Keith and Margaret did the steering of the boats, whilst Colin and I did the lock work, which meant walking between the locks. We would take it in turns to set the lock ahead each time, making short work of the hard graft. We had a good system going and it worked well for both of us and for Keith and Margaret.Unfortunately some of the locks are pretty leaky, so we did find that although boats had come down, which should of meant the lock was in our favor, by the time we got there it was half full, which meant emptying it all over again. We now have muscles like Popeye.When you actually looked up the rise of locks it did look awesome, so very impressive. I actually began to wonder what it must have been like to put these locks in and the work it must have to taken to achieve this wondrous sight.Almost near the top of the flight is this wonderful sculptor of a dragonfly. It really is beautiful, in the middle of a pond.During the journey up the Hatton Flight we did meet boards coming down the flight, which was very fortunate, as it made our life much easier. As you approach the summit of the flight, there is a café for anyone who is in need of immediate refreshment. We reached the top lock of the Hatton Flight at 12.15 pm and prepared to find a mooring just above the lock, just as we exited the lock, there were spots of rain falling on the surface of the canal, we had timed it to perfection it seemed. Luckily we had no problem with a space just before bridge 55 St. John’s Bridge, Margaret and Colin pulled in behind us. We then had a well earned coffee onboard the stern of Seeburg, whilst we ate our lunch, the shower came to nothing.
Keith and I then took off to the Craft Center and farm for a look around. To get into the farm it is £6.75 for adults and children, we did not bother with the farm side of it as it was geared towards children, with play areas around the site. It is a great place if you want to entertain the children for a few hours. We spent our time walking around the shopping outlets and farm shop; we also spent time in the antiques arcade, but found nothing that caught our eye. We did however have a mint chocolate chip ice cream mmmmmmm. By the time we got back to Hadar, the showers had become prolonged so it was time to close up the boat and sit in front of the computer. There is no proper TV signal, so we would be enjoying a DVD instead.

Saturday 19th July.

Top of Hatton Flight to Rowington. 2.9 miles and No Locks.

We had a disturbed night due to the heavy rain, which probably sounded worse than it was because we were under trees, nevertheless it kept us awake, so we were in no hurry to get up this morning. Once up we decided we would move to Rowington in a hope of a TV signal and a more open mooring, where we were was very dark with all the trees and the high banks. So we got Hadar ready for the off and said cheerio to Margaret and Colin, who said they may follow us up.

The forecast was for sunshine and showers, and wouldn’t you just know it that as we set off down came the rain. No sooner had it started though it stopped and the sun was out and with it a strong breeze. We made our way to Shrewley Tunnel 433 yds, where another boat had already entered.The tunnel does take two way traffic so we made our way into the tunnel behind them, headlamp on so any boat coming in the opposite direction could see us and we could see where we were going.As it turned out another boat was coming in the opposite direct. Shrewley tunnel does leak a bit and the boat in front of us made me giggle as they put their umbrella up, to avoid getting wet ha ha ha.We exited the tunnel to sunshine once more.What is interesting about Shrewley Tunnel is the fact that the towpath runs alongside the tunnel and has a tunnel of its very own, which the horses used to be taken along. You will see many a painting and post card with this scene on.It really is very beautiful.
Having left the wooded cutting we soon found ourselves looking at views across the valley and a perfect place to moor up. So we pulled in, Keith knocked in our mooring pins; we turned Hadar’s engine off and made a coffee. As I sit typing this John Jackson has just gone past on his coat boats Roach and Gosport. Margaret and Colin have arrived and moored up as well. We will now look forward to a peaceful weekend. See you next week.