We slipped lines and left at about 12 noon and made our way
to Park Head Junction. Through the first
lock and there were loo emptying, rubbish disposal and water facilities so
rather than taking the boat through three more locks to the gauge to see if we
would fit through Dudley Tunnel, whilst Steve and Lou attended to the emptying and filling I walked
up to see whether I thought we would fit – very doubtful and I think it would
be extremely claustrophobic in there so we decided to abandon that idea and
head for Netherton Tunnel instead which is 3027 yards but is a high, wide
tunnel with a towpath each side, not that I would fancy walking through there –
we did see a few cyclists but nobody walking.
As we entered the tunnel we disturbed several bats whom came
to say hello! There were a few ventilation
shafts which provided us with a soaking as we passed underneath. This is definitely the largest tunnel we have
been through and despite its length you could see the other end when we entered. We didn’t meet any boats coming the other way
and it took us 50 minutes.
Once through the tunnel the weather was completely different
which was weird, when we went in it was a mix of sunshine and clouds, when we
came out it was very overcast, cold and threatening rain. We crossed over the Wolverhampton Level and
turned right onto the Birmingham Level Main Line – the tiller arm was juddering
quite a bit so we pulled over and sent Steve down the weed hatch to check the
prop – just as well as we had acquired a few lumps of plastic bags. Once removed we were on our way again passing
under the M5 and a railway station that was on a bridge over the canal – quite
funny hearing the announcement that 16.47 was delayed!
Eventually we arrived in Birmingham City Centre at about 5pm
and found a lucky mooring right in the heart of things looking up the canal to
the Mailbox – three floors of bars and restaurants. We got changed and went in search of a
Chinese. Unfortunately there wasn’t one
so we settled for a restaurant called Red Peppers. |
| Shopping! |
 |
| Out through Dudley. |
 |
| Steve and Lou dealing with the poo! |
 |
| There's the gauge for the Dudley Tunnel. I will just get a bit closer. |
 |
| Glad we didn't waste time doing the last three locks as there is no way we will get through there! |
 |
| It's pretty narrow around here. |
 |
| Did someone say Autumn? |
 |
| Coming up to Netherton Tunnel - notice the colour of the sky! |
 |
| Going in - Lou's first tunnel. |
 |
| There goes a cyclist. |
 |
| You can see the towpaths either side and we have a bit more head room than usual in tunnels. |
 |
| That's the other end! |
 |
| Are you smiling - it's very dark in here. |
 |
| Glider - see the sky now! |
 |
| Birmingham Main Line - long and straight. |
 |
| Suburbia and countryside beyond. |
 |
| The latest prop clear out! |
 |
| M5. |
 |
| Under the M5! |
 |
| That's a railway station up there! |
 |
| The outskirts of town. |
 |
| Birmingham - that's the library that looks like a cake! |
 |
| That's where we will go when we leave Birmingham. |
 |
| The ICC and Hyatt Regency. |
 |
| The start of lots of pubs and restaurants... |
No comments:
Post a Comment