Hopwood to Kingswood Junction

Mon 17th Sep  Hopwood to Dickens Heath

We had a fairly late morning. There had been rain in the night.

We reversed to the water tap and found it broken!  A few years ago British Waterways decided to replace many of the cast iron housings for their water points with flimsy aluminium things that are quite sharp at the edges, and it can be difficult to connect the hose to the tap. It must have cost a lot of money for very little gain. However, in this case the tap itself had been broken off.

The unusable water point

James placed the coloured stone outside the pub for someone to find. We will never know the outcome. Then we set off through Wast Hill Tunnel, which took 30 minutes.

Wast Hill Tunnel

The middle

The other end

As we emerged from the tunnel we were in a different world. Gone were the fields and woods, replaced by housing, graffiti and litter. Every bridge had rubbish which had been thrown from above. We stopped at the water tap at Kings Norton. Two boats were just leaving so we filled up.

Litter chucked from the bridges

The water point

We passed Betty D just before the junction, where we turned to the right into the Stratford Canal.  Almost immediately comes the old guillotine lock, not used now, but there to protect water supplies and to slow craft down to collect tolls.  It is now covered with graffiti.

Kings Norton Junction

Guillotine Lock

We passed through Brandwood Tunnel where we saw bats. The canal was very shallow and therefore we made slow progress, stirring up all the muck on the bottom.

Brandwood Tunnel

We spotted a lifeboat, which was wider than a narrowboat, so it must have been craned in. Shirley Drawbridge (Unusual surname!) soon followed. Hazel operated it with a key.

Lifeboat

Shirley Drawbridge

It felt as though we had something on the prop, so James went down the weed hatch, but it was clear. It seems we were just on the bottom.  As we were trying to leave, but struggling to make way, a family came out of the pub and started up the engine of their hire boat, and pulled out behind us. At the same time another boat (Cygnet) arrived from behind and operated the lift bridge. So there were now three in a row with us in front.

Convoy

The progress was very slow, almost stopping at times. Fortunately we did not have far to go. We tried to moor at Dickens Heath but could not get in. We let the two boats pass us and then we couldn’t get out again. 

Look, no ropes

Eventually we did, and travelled very slowly to the far end of Dickens Heath where we found we could moor, with Cygnet. They have the same draught as Gabriel and were also having difficulty.

Moored near Dickens Heath

We checked the restaurant reviews and decided to go for either Italian or Indian in the new village of Dickens Heath. When we got there we decided that the Italian was a bit pricey, and the Indian was nothing special. We went instead to a new Turkish establishment doing kebabs and similar. It was very nice.

Dickens Heath is a new development, and the streets are narrow and the buildings are tall, making it feel very cramped. There are also huge concrete balls on the pavements to stop cars parking there, which makes the pavements restrictive for pedestrians. Outside the Turkish restaurant these have been attractively yarn bombed.

Yarn bombing

We called in at the very well stocked Tesco Express before returning to the boat.

We had brought a torch and we needed it on the way back to the boat as the path was uneven. We discovered that poor Hugo was locked out as we had not undone his cat flap.

0 locks, 10 miles, 1 lift bridge

Tue 18th Sep  Dickens Heath to Bridge 31 (near Packwood House)

Cygnet left before we did. There were no locks to begin with, so there was no rush. We had had rain in the night and a strong wind. We discovered that one of our pots of marigolds had blown over, almost into the canal, and was lying precariously on the edge of the roof.

The most memorable feature of today’s cruising was that it was like crawling. It was very shallow and we were stirring up all the sticks, stones and mud as we went along very slowly. If we tried to speed up, the stern would sink down further and it made things worse. There was one point when two hire boats were coming towards us, and they went out of control, one colliding into the other, while we got stuck in the mud alongside them.

Ditch crawling

We stopped at Wedges Bakery by bridge 20. This time we were disappointed.  They no longer sell fresh vegetables as they have turned that area into a tea room. We came away with a pasty and a samosa.

We passed under the M42 before skirting Hockley Heath without stopping, despite the good Indian Restaurant and the One-Stop.

M42 Bridge

The Wharf Tavern at Hockley heath

There are two lift bridges just after Hockley heath. For some reason one is called a draw bridge and the other is called a lift bridge. They both require a windlass and some effort.

Lift bridge

Just after the second one we passed Cygnet moored up, and then we reached the top lock of the Lapworth Flight. The first of these locks is called Lock 2, because way back at Kings Norton Junction is Lock 1, the guillotine lock that is now permanently open.

Lapworth Top Lock

Old bricks on the locks.

Wood and Ivery was a firm of brick makers at the Albion Blue Brick and Tile Works in West Bromwich in around 1876.

We stopped after four locks, soon after bridge 31, just before the locks begin in earnest.

It was all peaceful until a lady returned to her boat in front of us and started shouting and swearing about something, really loudly, for about 15 minutes. Her dog looked terrified. We guessed she had had a few drinks. It quietened down soon afterwards, and we thought she had probably gone to sleep.

Everything felt a bit damp so we lit the fire.

4 locks, 5 miles, 2 lift bridges

Wed 19th Sep  Bridge 31 to Tom o’ the Wood

We made an early start as bad weather was forecast for later in the day. There were three other boats on the moorings that were pointing in our direction, but we were the first away and into the flight of locks.

Leaving the mooring past the angry lady of yesterday

Lock 6, the first of the day

A low pound at Lock 7

A split bridge, typical of the Stratford Canal.

Despite a very low pound between locks 6 and 7, there was a lot of water coming down the flight. Most of the locks had side ponds. We met no boats at all on the locks, although we saw another boat coming down behind us about six locks back. They had extra crew, and so could set the locks in advance.

Side ponds

Mile post

Looking back up the flight

Some of the paddle gear was very rickety, and needed a longer reach windlass to operate it. At one point the paddles had a hydraulic mechanism. These take ages, and require just as much effort to lower the paddles as they do to raise them. They would be on our list for Room 101.

Hydraulic paddle gear

When we arrived at the triangular canal junction known as the Lapworth Link, Lock 20 was out of action, so we used lock 21, and went round two sides of the triangle. We paused at the facilities to empty two cassettes. Then three boats appeared from the direction of the Grand Union, one of which (Eliza) wanted the facilities, and the other two were going up the locks we had just come down. We went through to the Grand Union and turned right towards Warwick.

Eliza going to the facilities

The Lapworth Link

Kingswood Junction

Signpost to Warwick

We went a mile further and moored on rings near Tom o’ the Wood pub, where we intend to sit out the forecast rain and wind tomorrow. The first place we stopped had a wasp nest so we moved on a short distance. The wind was very strong as we moored, and it caused us a few problems getting into the side. This was the remnants of storm Ali.

Tom o’ the Wood moorings.

High wind

We went for a meal at the pub. They had Orchard Pig Explorer cider which was a great start. The food was more than just pub grub – a fairly limited menu but everything we saw or tried was very good. The scotch eggs as a starter were lovely, and the swordfish steak was perfectly cooked. Hazel’s veal chop was also good. We had no room for desserts.

15 locks, 2 miles

Next: Sitting out a rainy day tomorrow, then on Friday tackling the 21 locks of the Hatton Flight into Warwick and Leamington Spa.