Lovely and sunny right from the start this morning, and when I took Macc for his early walk at about 7.30 a boat moored in front of us and going our way was just setting off. Beyond the bridge is a field with horses, but Macc was very unsure about them.
The water levels had recovered a bit overnight so we were no longer sitting miles out from the bank. Macc was settled in his crate so we set off at about 9. As we rose in the bottom Minworth Lock, a couple of CRT guys arrived and asked if we were stuck. We weren’t, and hadn’t called them, so they went in search of the people who were. When we got to the middle lock, the CRT staff were there and so was the boat ahead. They’d been unable to get the bottom gate open enough to enter the lock. Once the CRT guys had got their keb from the van, they managed to move a plank from behind the gate. Unfortunately they didn’t manage to actually get it out, so although the gate opened enough for the boat ahead and us, it could well happen again.
We stopped to the water point below the top Minworth Lock to fill the tank. The tap seemed pretty fast, but this site no longer has any rubbish disposal and we couldn’t even get the door to the Elsan open. After the top lock there’s a long stretch which has little to recommend it; it passes industrial units and warehouses, but then there’s a factory built out over the canal.
Soon after that the M6 is next to the canal on a high bridge, with lots of signs for the A38M. Then comes Salford Junction. Straight ahead is the Tame Valley Canal, first left is the Grand Union to Star City and eventually Knowle, but we were taking the second left, which in spite of the turn means we were staying on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.
There were workmen putting scaffolding round some of the motorway pillars, and no sooner had I made the turn at the junction than I was met with a temporary bridge over the narrows.
I had to come to a halt pretty quickly, and then try to stop being blown around by the wind while the bridge keeper called someone to come and help him. He pulled the actual bridge part over to his side, while another guy removed the two bits of wood it was resting on to the opposite side. We could then go through the narrows, which are actually an aqueduct over the River Tame. A little further on, Cuckoo Wharf now has just one boat on it and looks very unloved. Then the Aston Locks start, with the bottom one under a railway viaduct.
There’s various industry all around, including some place with a very shiny chimney.
In days gone by, we’d have done last night’s mooring to the middle of Birmingham without a thought, but these days we have Macc to think about. Ideally he’s in his crate asleep while we’re working locks, but that only lasts so long; and as I said yesterday, if we have him on the back of the boat, he gets a bit distressed when one or other of us goes to work the lock. So we’d earmarked the Aston Business Park as a stop, three locks up the Aston flight. The moorings are on the offside, next to office buildings. There were a couple of spaces, so we picked the one opposite the central water feature with its fake lock gates; there’s also a sign telling us (among other things) that the Thames is 150 5/8 miles and 138 locks away.
The mooring rings here are oddly spaced (they are far too far apart) so we’ve had to be a big imaginative with tying up. Again, it’s not the prettiest mooring, but it’s quiet, in full sun, and serves a purpose.
6 miles, 6 locks. (80 miles, 53 locks)