Dates: Sunday 21st June to Sunday 12th July
Overview: We have an extra week on the boat thanks to Ian and Joy not using their second week. Over three weeks we plan to take the boat into Birmingham and explore that region. Much will have to be made up as we go along, as repair and engineering works keep closing various sections of the canal network. We are expecting a severe heatwave, and will have to take this into account also. Andrew and Jackie, on the boat before us, reported the boat failing to start. The dodgy alternator is coming back to haunt us.
We get off to a good start, arriving at Aston Marina before noon and loading the boat. Because this is the UK I have bought one bag of logs: although a heatwave is forecast for the coming week, what happens in ten days hence is always a mystery. Vera discovers that she has not brought enough drugs to cover our three week trip. This necessitates me undertaking a two hour round trip to collect additional supplies. We are not off to such a good start. I use this time to get as much energy into the starter battery as possible by connecting this to the domestic batteries using a jump lead
It is nearly 5pm by the time we eventually slip our mooring and head south on the Trent and Mersey canal, through one lock, stopping by bridge 82 close to the village of Salt
The Holly Bush Inn has a claim to be the oldest inn in Staffordshire, and with its thatched roof and nice beer garden looks very promising. However, it has been greatly extended, with a focus on food, and the beer was sub-standard when we visited. The garden does boast a large pizza oven, and it might be good to call in when this is fired up. As it is the menu holds little appeal, so we return to Venture for some Al-fresco spaghetti carbonara
It also happens to be Father's Day, a fine and noble institution, and I have a week's supply of chocolate
and some tasty beers to enjoy in the warm summers evenings
The following day takes us to Rugeley, a town that always seems to disappoint. It doesn't help that we are here on a Monday evening, when most restaurants decline to open. We do however find the Vine Inn, which is an excellent and friendly pub and means we will continue to return. The landlady recommends an excellent Thai restaurant. Unfortunately it is Monday and we find that it is closed. Spaghetti carbonara again tonight
We are now in a period of hot weather, with red weather warnings for extreme heat. We are mindful that we are living in a large steel can, so are plan is to travel in the morning and hope to find a shady mooring during the heat of the day. Ravenshaw Wood just before lock 20 provides the hoped for shade and we defer the final mile and three locks to Fradley Junction until as late in the day as possible. This has risks of course, as when we arrive at Fradley and turn onto the Coventry Canal all of the mooring spots seem to be taken.
We manage to squeeze onto the end of the line of boats, but a shelf keeps us off the bank. The boat behind us is running a noisy generator and I'm not happy with where we are. I walk further up the canal, and probe the water with a handy stick, finding somewhere with enough depth and enough tree cover for us. I move the boat, in the last vestige of sunshine and tie off onto our mooring pins
We will stay here for three very hot days. The temperature inside the boat climbs to nearly 30 degrees during the day, but the shade given by the tree means that we avoid the worst of the heat. At night we leave our doors and hatches open, and the heat slowly dissipates. We aim to move towards Birmingham once the heatwave has passed, as we wouldn't want to leave the boat so open in the centre of the city. A sudden downpour in the early hours of the morning shows the dangers of leaving everything open. Luckily I had closed the sliding top hatch before the rain, but stuff by the side hatch got rather wet
Staying in one place for three days also means that we can appreciate the rate at which little ducklings grow. When we arrive we feed a mother duck with three chicks. The babies are too small to handle the floating duck food, but three days later they have visibly grown and hoover up the food like they have not eaten for a week
Enjoying an evening drink. We made good use of the Swan at Fradley Junction, it's a lively pub with good food.
After three days it's time to move, and we cruise the 13 lock free miles to Middleton Lakes Nature Reserve on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
It's an idyllic setting
the broad expanse of the nature reserve on one side
and a walk through pleasant woodland to Middleton Hall on the other. A local theatre company is putting on a production of She Stoops to Conquer in the Hall garden and we have front row seats. Later the same evening we are strolling by the lakes and see a barn owl hunting, flying low and silent over the reserve grassland. Wonderful
We stay two days here, and then it's time to head for the bright lights of the big city. We also have to move due to an impending toilet crisis. I had neglected to empty our full cassette back at Fradley Junction, imagining there were service facilities at Fazeley. These facilities turned out to be just a water point, and the Elsan disposal point at Fazeley Marina was no longer open. The next Elsan point at bridge 68 did not exist either, so our planned overnight stop by the White Horse at Curdworth was not happening as we had to carry on to find somewhere to empty our by now two full toilet cassettes
Instead we moor just before Minworth Top Lock, with its Elsan point. Probably the worst sited mooring of the whole trip, next to a busy main road, and being the only boat there does make you feel more vulnerable. So happy to make an early 8am start the next day, for our 25 lock climb into Birmingham
Going under the M6. The route into the city is surprisingly pleasant. I had been imagining gangs of feral youth and such, but as so often with the canals it is calm and peaceful,
with the occasional graffiti reminding you that you are in an urban environment
We make good progress through the locks. I find that a flight, where the next lock immediately follows the previous one, makes for fast lock working. You can get into a rhythm, setting the following lock while the current one fills.
We are all tied up by 2pm, and ready to explore the city centre. The aquarium is a disappointment, but the National Trust back to back houses are very interesting. I had last stayed in Birmingham 40 years previously, on assembler language training courses. The city centre has improved hugely in that period, with traffic free areas making the streets much more enjoyable. There were good pubs 40 years ago, and there are still good pubs today.
The Colmore does good beer in very stylish surroundings, and also pizza, including gluten free pizza much to Vera's delight. It was here that we met a troupe of Morris dancers visiting from Minneapolis in Minnesota
We followed them around for an hour or so, as they played their music and danced the evening away
Next we travel along the Birmingham Main Line canal to Dudley. The water in the lower Birmingham level is amazingly clear, with an abundance of fish. At the end of this we climb up to the Wolverhampton level. The water here is just as crystal clear, just as full of fish, but also full of water plants which are very slow to move through and continually foul our propeller
We tie up at the secure moorings next to the Black Country Museum at Dudley. The nearest food option is at Mad O'Rourkes Pie Factory, which specialises in enormous pies. The next day is spent at the museum, which covers a huge site and is well worth a visit. Visiting a 1960s sweet shop and realising how mars bars have shrunk in size over the years is eye opening. The fun fair was fun, and the traditional pubs very relaxing
Getting a demonstration of the craft of nail making at one of the many live demonstrations
The canal between Dudley and Wolverhampton is full of vegetation and very slow going. I have to stop to clear the weed hatch on numerous occasions, when reversing the engine doesn't clear the fouled propeller.
There are people putting up fairy lights in the Coseley Tunnel. The Wolverhampton half marathon will soon be coming through. Half an hour later we see the first runners, to who we cheer encouragement, and for the next hour groups and streams of athletes come past. We clap, we cheer, we encourage, we toot our horn.
Wolverhampton is as far as we are going today, as next up is a flight of 21 locks. I have also ordered a replacement alternator, which due to a mix up will arrive in Didsbury later today. I realise that there is time to get two trains to home in time to intercept the delivery, and return in time for tea.
We venture into the city centre, and get settled into the Lych Gate Tavern. It has great beer and is a very sociable pub. But unfortunately no food, so after a few pints we return to the boat for Vera's corned beef hash
We spend a quiet and peaceful night in a delightful mooring. City centre canals are surprisingly calm. The The next day we descend through the 21 locks, turn right onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, and travel three miles to moor up by the Fox and Anchor in the village of Coven.
There's a leather worker on a nearby boat: I buy a belt to keep my shorts up, and Vera buys a maple leaf hair bun holder to keep her locks under control. I'm up bright and early the following morning, ready to fit the new alternator. Which I find is a subtly different fitting to the old part, and will not fit. I phone the very helpful people at the Alternator and Starter Motor Company, send after a bit of correspondence work out the required model and the best way to get that to me. I will send back the wrong alternator once I get back home.
The next alternator will arrive in Stafford in two days time. So we move slowly on, staying overnight in Penkridge and then by the Radford Bank Inn at Radford. Penkridge has good pubs and useful shops, although the bakery opens rather late, and its bread comes out of the oven at nearly 10am.
I walk into Stafford early morning, pick up the alternator, and take the bus back.
Another heat wave is on its way, and we plan to sit this one out in the leafy surroundings of Tixall wide. We love this tranquil location,
and it's where I finally get the new alternator installed. It's a relief to have the electrics working normally again. We also visit the farm shop at Great Hayward junction, and buy a very smart portable barbecue
We haven't needed to use the woodburner during some of the hottest weeks of the year, but the wood has been very useful for al-fresco cooking on the back of the boat
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