Monday 16th May
Birmingham to Compton Locks
This weekend has been about moving the boat ready for the BCN Marathon Challenge at the end of May. Please click on the Greyhound in the top left corner for more information and our sponsorship page.
Looking back to our overnight mooring spot (on the right)..
We were up quite early today with the intention of getting to the bottom of the Wolverhampton 21 by the end of the day. Richard set off on his bike to catch a train from Birmingham Snowhill (Richard says that the back entrance is much more convenient than the main) to Shirley to collect the car. In the meantime I set off along the New Main Line towards Tipton locks.
I really enjoyed my cruise – I find the New Main Line fascinating – there’s always a lot to see and the canal was entirely deserted as far as Pudding Green Junction, where I saw my first boat of the day turning towards the Ryders Green Locks. I didn’t catch the boat’s name, but the helm gave me a cheerful wave, as did the fishermen at the junction.
As I got closer to the junction with the Netherton Tunnel Branch, I suddenly encountered four oncoming boats – nb Hakuna Matata, nb Syrus, nb Alison and nb Just – we met nb Just on the last BCN Challenge. I did wonder how many of these boats were moving into place for this year’s marathon challenge – we’ll find out in a fortnight’s time!
Once I passed Netherton Junction I was what for me are uncharted waters – unfortunately the next stretch was pretty trashy and the prop felt slightly sticky but it was good enough! I spoke to some more cheerful fishermen along here – it was a very friendly cruise. I did curse though, the camera’s memory card had filled up about half an hour before so I wasn’t able to capture the interesting scenes from the aqueduct at Dudley Port. But I wasn’t without the camera for long – Richard had parked in Tipton and cycled back to meet me. We had enough time for coffee and to sort the memory card before we reached the surprisingly neat and attractive Factory Locks at Tipton. There was a boat coming down the flight, giving us time to moor up, walk the dogs and clear the prop of a very good collection of plastic bags. The oncoming boat emerged from the lock just as we got sorted – the helm warned us that the bottom gate of the top lock wasn’t opening properly so we’d need to take our fenders up – too late, our side-fenders have long gone!
Interesting landscape - I love the buddleia at the top of the chimney...
I used a spring to get the bow off the lock moorings against the wind – all was going well, but then the prop stopped as if a blanket had been thrown over it. With no steer, the bow headed straight for the lock wall – what a bang. I have to admit that I didn’t have such a good day on the helm today, though I’ll plead mitigating circumstances! I was wondering how I’d get her into the lock when suddenly the prop cleared and she was in. We filled the lock and Richard checked the prop again – there was a twig and a small amount of weed around the prop – we suspect that I’d just picked up a mat of weed which had washed/floated off as the lock filled, or was possibly it was shaken off when I crashed!
Ty got off for a rummage here, as did all the dogs – all on-lead though as the road is very close to the locks.
By the time we’d come up the second lock, a BW team was already tackling what was blocking the gate at top lock – the conclusion was that it was probably a brick but they also moved some of those concrete bases that you get under ‘heras’ fencing. We had a brief wait while they cleared the obstruction – it was all very efficient. As Indigo Dream reached the top of top lock I suddenly realised that Richard was getting his bike ready for the next stage of the car shuffle – cue some frantic preparations in readiness for more single-handing – trip to the loo, stock the deck shelf with diet coke and chocolate, put raincoat and hat within easy reach, likewise camera. When we were all ready I headed off along the Old Main Line while Richard took the car to somewhere in Wolverhampton (he eventually left the car in the vicinity of Compton) .
I am very fond of the Old Main Line – I’ve always wondered about overnight moorings here – there is abundant green parkland along the towpath, perfect for hounds, and it seems so quiet. I particularly like the stretch surrounding the Coseley Tunnel – it’s positively rural. There is graffiti around, but one group had helpfully dated their daubs – 2003 – where are they now I wonder?
You can find wildflower meadows in the most unexpected places 🙂
I was musing on whether we should do a recce one day, with the appropriate precautions of course – mooring chains, mooring pins and electric fence fittings to give a deterrent shock to anyone interfering with the boat! Of course, we’d need some sort of metal grilles over the windows and maybe we’d need to borrow some more demonstrably ferocious dogs as guards. I’ll let you know if we ever undertake this important research 🙂
I had the canal to myself, though there were signs that boats had passed this way. In many places, the water was clear enough to see the fish flashing through the fronds of weed growing in abundance in the deep water. But for long stretches blanket weed covered the canal, apart from a clear channel that some obliging boater had carved through for me. I was determined not to go down the weed hatch so the minute I felt the slightest resistance I cleared the prop using the reliable burst of reverse – burst of forward – burst of reverse. I also used two other techniques – coasting through the worst of it in neutral so that the prop wasn’t turning to pick up debris, alternating with bursts of high revs to get the boat moving and to turn the prop quickly enough to chop up any weed. I don’t know whether these techniques worked or whether I just got lucky, but I didn’t need to clear the prop at all – unlike a narrowboat that I overtook later on – they’d stopped three times to clear the prop and when I passed they were busy removing yet more handfuls of weed. I was amused and alarmed to see that the man of the boat was wearing the sort of long rubber glove that I associate with vets and cow’s bottoms!
The one thing that won’t trouble you on the BCN is having to slow down past moored boats – there simply aren’t any! I was therefore surprised to see two hire boats – nb Much Ado and nb Cymbeline moored on the tidy rings outside a new development at Coseley/Ladymoor. I think they were just stopped for lunch, but I’d love to know whether they stayed the night. Soon after I met another two hire boats – one Viking boat and an Away2 boat – both at bridge holes of course. The wind was very unhelpful but Indigo Dream is very responsive to the helm so there was no drama, though the hirers looked worried!
There are signs of brush fires at regular intervals along the new main line - hard to tell whether deliberate or accidental...
I was approaching the outskirts of Wolverhampton when Richard turned up. With the crew on board we got some food and coffee underway and soon passed into more new territory as we cruised past Horsley Fields Junction. We stopped briefly for lunch at the Broad Street moorings – we had no idea that there were great moorings and services here. We met an old friend at Broad Street – nb Felonious Mongoose – sadly the crew weren’t on board but it was good to see her – I wonder if they’re taking part in the challenge.
We had a quick lunch and set off down the Wolverhampton 21 – the flight was busy – we benefited from two locks set our way as one boat came up, for the next nine or so we followed a boat down, though as came down there were rumours that there were five boats coming down behind us. I was very impressed with the flight – it’s far greener than I imagined and very dog-friendly. The first three locks are flanked by the railway and the towpath is well-fenced so perfect rummaging territory. Further down, the flight is flanked by extensive parkland – more perfect rummaging, though with a little more supervision!
Richard met a fascinating lady at lock 6 – a wiry retired working boater walking her dog. She carries her own windlass with her and set a lock for us. She reminded us a little of John, the gentle man who often helps boaters down the Delph and Stourbridge flights. But this lady is made of tougher stuff – she walks the Wolverhampton flight every morning and logs any damage done by vandals overnight and corrects it where she can, hence carrying a windlass. She may walk the flight several times in a day, helping boaters along with her ex-asbo but now completely reformed rescue dog.
I was feeling very well-disposed towards the flight when we met some nuisances – two lads, probably in their early 20s, who seem to have finished their education and mental development aged 3. They started off genially enough but soon they were sitting on the lock gates as Richard pushed them open, one hopped onto the front deck (but did hop off when Richard told him to), rudely stared through the boat windows, pushed at the lock gates while I was trying to get the boat through and were a general pain in the arse. I felt very uncomfortable with them around – they didn’t seem to have any boundaries and, like all three year olds, I didn’t know whether a “NO” would result in a tantrum!
The Engine Arm aqueduct - sadly defaced by graffiti but a fine structure nonetheless...
I was afraid that they would accompany us down the whole flight and I have an unworthy thought to confess – we were following nb Spangle down the flight but they stopped at one of the locks and let us overtake because they were waiting for their friends, in a following boat, to catch up. We still had our unwelcome hangers-on at this point and I heartily wished they’d go and bother nb Spangle instead – sorry! But the lads finally scarpered a few locks down when Richard finally got fed up with them and told them they were taking the piss when they were asking about how to get hold of a windlass, anti-vandal key and how to operate the locks. Richard brilliantly told them that you were only allowed to buy windlasses (for £25) and keys if you showed the shop your boat licence! In the end they did no harm but they really took the shine off the afternoon. I got flustered and did some truly dreadful lock entries – not helped by the dual forces of the brisk wind and lively flow from the bywashes.
But once I’d convinced myself they were gone I started to relax and by the time we got to the last few locks the canal changed character, as if the spirit of the Staffs and Worcs were reaching up towards the city. The surroundings became green and wooded, and the neat suburbs were replaced by wild meadows – more perfect rummaging.
We had a magic moment at lock 18 (two locks above Dunstall Park Bridge) – Lou and Lynx had gone rummaging in the wilderness off the towpath – Lynx emerged, got confused, and ran towards the next lock looking for the boat. We yelled at him to come back and he ran full pelt up the towpath towards us; at the same moment, a group of horses thundered by on the offside – accompanied by smears of colour from the jockeys’ shirts as they flashed past. We’d been fortunate to arrive just as a race was taking part at the adjacent racecourse…….
We soon got to the bottom of the flight where we faced a decision. It’s a long story but I’d contacted the local moorings officer for advice on safe moorings – he didn’t ring me back as promised, so chinese whispers ensued as the office relayed messages between us. We were advised to moor above Compton Lock, but when we got there we found that they were only 5-day moorings and we need 14-days. We went down the lock and started looking at alternatives – we found a nice spot just below Compton Bridge (59), where the permanent moorers on the offside (by Limekiln Chandlers) invited us to moor opposite them – they promised to keep an eye on the boat for us – perfect.
There's great scenery along this canal - the juxtaposition of the various bridges is tremendous...
We had some entertainment at the moorings – Richard talked to the crew of nb Oasis Too – we’ve seen her a few times in our travels though we’ve never chatted to the crew (apparently she’s a share boat so we may never get to the know the crews). Later on a hire boat came in to moor – they did such a neat manouevre onto the offside bank that I thought they had a mooring there, but no, they’d just missed the towpath, by the width of the canal! As they finally managed to get into the towpath one of their crew fell off the front deck – between the boat and the bank – eek! It seemed to take him a long time to twig that maybe it was a good idea to get out of the canal and out of danger – he was dawdling about in the water looking for his contact lenses and flip-flops! He eventually got out and seemed to be unhurt, though I’ve no doubt he’ll find a few bruises later.
Richard cycled back to get the car and I packed the boat up – we’d decided to drive home that night and spend a quiet day at home for my birthday on Tuesday. But we were weary and hungry – luckily Compton is surprisingly well equipped with a pub, restaurant, Spar shop and, most importantly, a unique Thai/chinese takeaway. The Tiger Wok 01902 743242 (cross over the canal and it’s on the right behind the permanent moorings) is an eccentric place with an enthusiastic owner – we had a bit of a wait (for which the owner gave us a complementary bottle of beer) but we had a very good takeaway. With a few calories on board, we finally felt equal to driving home.
We had a ridiculous drive home – we got sucked into satnav hell and spent ages meandering through Wolverhampton and Birmingham – how could we spend so much time on minor roads in two cities so surrounded by motorways? We actually cheered when we found the M42!
We got home at 11.30pm, totally exhausted. But the effort was worth it – I spent my birthday loafing around in my pyjamas, apart from when Richard took me out to lunch and when I went to the singing group in the evening. Richard and the dogs were equally catatonic so we had a blissful day of doing next to nothing…..
Happy Anniversary Indigo Dream…..
We’re not ones for anniversaries as a rule, but this was worth marking – Indigo Dream was launched (well, dropped into the water) on the 16th May 2006. By chance, I had my 2006 log book on me over the weekend, so I was able to read my very understated thoughts – I can guarantee that I’d have had a LOT more to say if I’d been blogging at the time 🙂
“Indigo Dream was finally launched this afternoon at Hilperton Marina in Trowbridge. It was great to see her in the water after such an anxious slog to get her built. When we went aboard we found a lot of work to be done and spent the evening diligently cleaning . Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get her to a habitable state so spent the night in a B & B.”
A quiet start to what has been the most amazing five years of cruising – we’re so delighted that we took the big step to buying our own boat – here’s to the next 5 years!
Photoblog:
Interesting fittings on the bridge columns - I assume they're reinforcement of some sort - oh and it is an attractive bridge!...
What a view - to arched road bridges, an aqueduct and the giant legs of the M5 motorway bridge...
Can't resist another view - it's not only the canal branches that have become defunct - this bridge now goes to nowhere...
I love these information plaques - there's still a small basin here which is home to a surprising number of narrowboats...
View down the Factory Locks in Tipton....
Talking about brush fires... there's be more than a few scorched leaves if this lot went up!
The Broad Street moorings with nb Felonious Mongoose.....
Wolverhampton top lock - it won a national 'lock and bridge' championship in 1999 - the lockside flowers give the place an unexpectedly 'cottage garden' atmosphere...
The monumental Stour Valley viaduct - the view from the previous lock was even more impressive but I was too distracted by our unwanted hangers-on to take a photo - next time...
I loved this lock bridge - the railings are so ornate...
Showing its age - ancient rope cuts on this lock wall....
The canal changes its character towards the bottom of the flight...
Aldersley Junction is really beautiful with its elegant turnover bridge...
