This morning Jo and I visited the Jewellery Quarter, and then the new Birmingham Library, from which we could see Hadar.
Then we had another Chinese buffet at the Big Wok.
Last time we came to Birmingham, by train from Warwick, I took a photo of Jo sitting on the bench in ‘The Cube’ with the statue man sitting reading a paper, but for some reason my camera didn’t record the photo, so she posed again for the same photo today.
Keith.
We moved the short distance from Granville wharf to Sheepcote bridge, our favourite mooring opposite the Barclaycard Arena, formerly the NIA.
We then walked into the City. We wandered around the Birmingham market looking for some material Jo was after to make some blinds for the galley, and she found some. Jo wanted to see the National Trust Back to Backs, which are near the Chinese quarter, which was rather handy.
The BBC were there for filming, and waiting inside the Trust shop was Adrian Chiles and Birmingham historian Carl Chinn waiting to start filming.
We then went to our favourite Chinese buffet, the Big Wok, which was just around the corner.
We then went back through the indoor markets as Jo was looking for some new netting for the galley which she also found.
We then walked around a part of Birmingham we had never been to before and found the Birmingham Cathedral.
We watched the old library being knocked down.
Which has now been replaced by the new library in its new location.
We even found the eye shaped screen above New Street station.
Keith.
A good trip today into Birmingham, and we are now moored at Granville Street Wharf, Birmingham. The mailbox is in front of and to the right of us.
We did stop at Bournville for a while and wandered around part of the Bournville village. We passed on Cadbury World as it would have cost over £27 for the 2 of us!
Our temporary mooring at Bourneville with the Cadbury factory in the background.
Staff sales shop at Cadbury’s.
Bournville Baths
Bournville Baths again.
Cricket clubhouse.
Cadbury’s factory as seen across the playing fields.
Quakers church, the Cadbury family were Quakers.
The shops at the Green.
The Bournville Rest House, now the visitor centre in the middle of the Green.
The Carillon on top of the school. There are 48 bells of varying sizes out in the open underneath the weathered copper roof. The largest bell weighs 7.5tonnes.
Keith.
Jo and I visited Lapworth church this morning.
This is the new stain glassed window which was installed last year.
Keith.
No moving today, so still moored above Lapworth top lock. Unloaded some of Jack's garden furniture which we have carried for her from her mooring to her cottage.
Keith.
Now moored above Lapworth top lock, Jo steered Hadar through a few locks today, she is getting quite good at it now.
Keith.
A short run today to ‘Tom o’ the Wood’ at Bridge No.63. After lunch Jo and I had a nice pint of Doombar each at the ‘Tom o’ the Wood’, and the weather was so nice we sat in the garden to sup it. Later Bob and Kate on Glenfield arrived and have moored up in front of us, heading towards London.
Keith.
Today we set off on our travels for this year. We had arranged with Tom & Lynn on Moonstone, who were winter moorers at Saltisford, to share the locks, which made life a lot easier. Their friend Denise had walked down the locks to meet us and help us with the locks. We had to stop in lock 36 to await the final clear up at lock 38 by CRT where they had been working on the lock as part of the winter stoppages.
We sat in the lock and had beer, coffee, wine, coffee & walnut cake, crisps and popcorn. We were only held up for 1hr 30mins , so not too bad. At least it was a pleasant day sitting in the sunshine with good company.
Approaching the CRT yard near the top of the flight.
The Café and the top lock, we had left Moonstone 2 locks down as they were going to go into the dry dock, but Lynn and her friend Denise helped us up the last 3 locks.
Moored up for the night on the visitor moorings at the top of the Hatton Flight.
Keith.
This morning Jo and I have finished the tasks on the outside of the boat in preparation for our setting off on our summer cruise this coming Friday. This included removing the winter front strings and replacing them with the summer ones, fitting the trivets to the top of the pigeon box, lowering the solar panel from it’s winter position to it’s cruising position and getting the keb and mops out of the hold and into place. There are a few more jobs to be done inside, but not too many as most of them have already been done. We are now getting fidgety to set off and cannot wait to get moving.
Keith.
When I built my ‘0’ gauge layout Holmehurst I made a mock model out of paper to work out where everything went, especially as the main layout was on 4 boards, which for transporting were paired together with the scenery inside the resultant box, with the ends of each pair held as a box by pieces of plywood utilising the bolt holes to join the sections together. To make each box as small as possible it was important that all the buildings, etc. interlocked between each other.
With this experience behind me, I have made 3 models of the new layout I hope to build in the hold. Each model is 1/10th scale.
This is model No.1. The actual size will be 12ft long by 2ft wide. It is not the complete layout, but the main scenic part. It is part of a complete circle with a 12ft by 1ft wide section on the opposite side of the hold, both parts will be linked by 3inch wide sections at each end, with hinged parts to allow pedestrian access through this section of the hold. The 1ft wide section will be a large ‘fiddleyard’ section with multiple storage tracks where prepared trains will be stored ready to be used on the layout. I want to incorporate a canal scene in this layout so that I can include the rather nice scale model that someone made for me of ‘Hadar’. The blue painted area is the canal which is a terminus, with the canal disappearing into a tunnel. The lines are the railway tracks and the dotted lines are the continuation of the tracks underground. If you follow the lines you will see that it is a figure-of-eight scheme. there is also a line running into the hill side to supposedly a mine. I did originally draw this scheme with a platform in it, but since making the model I decided that I wouldn’t have a platform on the layout, it makes it too congested, and the passenger trains would just run straight through the layout. So primarily it is a railway/canal interchange.
However I was not particularly happy with this design, especially as I have always wanted to model a canal lock and to allow narrowboats to wind at the end of this terminus, the width of which as can be seen takes up a lot of space. Also it seems a tad short from the terminus to the tunnel, although this can be found in real life at Froghall on the Caldon Canal at it’s terminus, but there is a lot more space available at Froghall. So I redesigned it and produced Model No.2. However as soon as I finished it I was not happy with it, as the canal lock ended up parallel and very close to the railway track, approximately where the platform is on Model No.1 above. Hence immediately on it’s heels came model No.3 below.
Model No.3 of my proposed new model railway layout. As can be seen I have taken this one a stage further by painting it. The blue is obviously the canal, yes I know canal water isn't blue, but I have to distinguish it from the grassy/woodland areas. The grey is the railway track, the black is a road, the red is brick walls and tunnel entrances and of course the green is grass/woodland. I am much happier with this design, although the actual shape of the landscape may well change once I start building it.
Keith.
The high level line which emerges from the mine again constructed from balsa wood with tipper wagons on the mine track, which tip the material mined into the larger wagons below.
