Sunday 7th April
2019
We have been moored on the Digbeth Branch for five nights now, very
quiet and we have seen just the one boat that passed us yesterday afternoon,
heading down the locks.
We left the mooring at 9am for the final climb into Birmingham.
Birmingham sits on a plateau and, no matter which direction you approach from,
there are locks to climb. But from Salford Junction they all come together in
two flights over just 2 miles, the 11 locks of the Aston Flight and the 13
locks of Farmers Bridge. We had already climbed the Aston Flight and still had
the Farmers Bridge Flight ahead of us.
We reluctantly left the ball fender behind, it was still jammed
between the boat and the bank and was still effective, and motored to Aston
Junction where we turned left for Birmingham. It was a ½ mile until the first lock,
but after that there was just a boats length between most locks. The ½
mile saw more derelict looking factories backing onto the canal and more arches
that would have led to long since disappeared wharves but also a lot of new developments
mainly office blocks.
There is a lot more development taking place just after the attractive
Barker Bridge and beyond the building site, St. Chad’s RC Cathedral is dwarfed
by the tall, modern high rise buildings.
The approach to the second lock is very unattractive and could be
intimidating. Indeed, we had heard many stories of the goings-on here. The
approach is beneath a wide bridge carrying many rail tracks into Snow Hill
Station, and is akin to a tunnel with lots of high arches inside. Home to God
knows what and is probably best left to the imagination. With the confines of a
tunnel, and a lock gate directly in front it is also cold, damp, dark and
uninviting.
Arches of
Snow Hill Bridge and the approach to the second lock
Between locks 5 and 6, the BT Tower rises into the sky right beside
the canal. However, from the canal you don’t see it as the waterway passes
beneath a block of apartment flats and it isn’t until you emerge at the other
side that you realise the tower is now behind you.
While during the 5 days spent on the Digbeth Branch we saw just one
boat, we met no fewer than six coming down the flight and had at least two
boats that we could see, coming up behind us. Passing each other was tight but
luckily, all the boats we met were experienced and we passed without mishap.
The canal and all the locks so far, had been virtually subterranean,
passing below numerous high rise buildings and old factories, the pounds that
were clear were so enclosed they also appeared dark. However, beyond lock 5 the
canal remerges into daylight and the last locks are well maintained and quite
pretty. A direct contrast to those that preceded them. Saturday Bridge, at lock
4, is so named as this was where the boaters of old gathered on a Saturday to
be paid.
At the top lock is Cambrian Wharf and all the old canal side buildings
which are still in use, well maintained and attractive. The whole area here is
lovely with many, many tourists about. We stopped at the service point here,
watered up and took the opportunity to do a wash, empty the loo and dump
rubbish. Cambrian Wharf has the look of a private marina. While watering, I
noticed a boat leaving and, when asked, they told us that most of the moorings
within the wharf were public 14 day, free moorings. Unbelievable in a secure
wharf in the centre of a city. There was no signage indicating this at all and
it must be one of the best kept secrets on the cut surely.
However, we had run out of coal and were told we could obtain more at
Sherbourne Wharf. This meant us going straight across the Old Turn Junction
into the Oozells Street Loop, a thing I had always wanted to do.
Passing from the Birmingham and
Fazeley Canal to Oozells Loop across the BCN Main Line.
Very exciting stuff.
This part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations has an interesting past.
James Brindley originally built what is now known as the Old Main Line as a
twisting contour canal. This was improved upon by Thomas Telford between 1823
and 1838, when the New Main Line was constructed as a straighter canal that
reduced the route from Birmingham to Wolverhampton from 22½
miles to just 15. This left numerous “loops” and at Smethwick, the two canals
run alongside each other for 2 miles but with a height difference of 20
feet.
The Old Turn or Deep Cuttings Junction is a canal crossroads complete
with an island in the middle. Here the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and one end
of the Oozells Loop join the Main Line directly opposite each other. The
crossroads is surrounded by the Sea Life Centre, the NIA and Brindley Place
with its many bars and restaurants. It was very exciting passing across the
Main Line in the loop with literally hundreds of people watching, videoing and
photographing.
We passed the full length of Oozells Loop as Sherbourne Wharf had
moved their chandlery. There are lots of permanently moored boats within the
loop, the channel became very narrow, and we must be one of the very few boats
to pass through here. The actual Sherbourne Wharf was originally the home of
the very famous Fellows, Morton and Clayton Company of canal carriers and their
headquarters building still exists, now converted into apartments.
At the far end of the loop the chandlery was to the left but the angle
of the exit was such that we could not turn so we reversed the 100 yards down
the canal. We loaded just two bags of coal as we do not want to be left with
any on the roof once we dispense with the stove for the summer. However, we
were now facing the wrong way and so cruised for a few hundred yards before
winding in an old, disused arm.
We had been told there were 14 day moorings at Gas Street Basin and
beyond the Worcester Bar. This meant us again passing through the Old Turn
Junction and through all the bars of Brindley Place, beneath Broad Street
Tunnel and into Gas Street Basin. Very exciting.
However, all the 14 day moorings were filled so we winded at the
Mailbox Wide and retraced our steps through Gas Street Basin to the Old Turn
and into Cambrian Wharf. Brilliant, a real high.
Our mooring in Cambrian Wharf, Bridge
Street on the right
Weather: a cold start to a lovely, spring day.
Day Total: 13 locks; 3 miles; 2 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 4.3
Overall Total: 402 locks; 795 miles; 39 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours
516.9
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