Tardebigge

Today's Canals - Stratford, Worcester and Birmingham

We awoke to another bright autumnal day. There had been a touch of frost overnight.

Alongside our mooring we noticed a very large field of what we presumed would be another year's Christmas trees. They looked a little too small for this year. We would see another, even larger, field just a bit further on.

We wanted to give ourselves a possible chance to reach Tardebigge Wharf by the end of today - so that we can get as far down as possible tomorrow - so we set off around nine but, as there was a lift bridge immediately beyond our mooring it needed bot of us to get going. This one proved to need a lot fewer turns than the similar one yesterday.

Whilst there was a chill to the air, especially in places exposed to the wind, it was beautiful cruising day. We stopped briefly at Bridge 20 so that Christine could pop to Wedge's Bakery for some cakes and bread - they are well known in the area for the quality of their produce and this is not the first time we have called here. In fact it is becoming an obligatory halt whenever we come this way.

There is quite a substantial building project underway at Lady Lane Wharf, home to Earlswood Boat Club. The moorings are very much still in use but the club house business had become very run down and we heard around a year ago that it had closed and was being sold for demolition. We have nit yet discovered whether the new building will re-open the club house or whether it will be a private residence.

Shirley Drawbridge carries a public road and so is much heavier than the accommodation bridges. Fortunately it is now electrically powered - but we only caught two vehicles, disappointing.

We suddenly realised that we were passing Annamarie and Kath's boat (The Narrowboat Experience). As they vlog, rather than blog, we do not always manage to catch all of their updates when we are on the boat so it was a bit of a surprise. We paused to say a brief hello but we are not sure whether they recognised our boat! It was not an ideal place to stay alongside and we needed to move along so it was very brief.

The morning remained bright if chilly as we continued on the way towards Kings Norton. We stopped to fill up with water at Bridge 5. There is a handy Co-Op close by where Christine went for a paper and a few food items.

As we passed Lyons Boatyard we were amused by this notice - Beware of Golf Balls. In fact, on the opposite bank is the Cocks Moors Woods Golf Club so perhaps some moorer had had an unfortunate experience with a shot that went very wrong.

This towpath bridge at the entrance to a short arm beside Limkiln Bridge seemed to suggest that there might have been something interesting lurking behind. However, our later study of old maps shows nothing special so perhaps it will just have to be 'an interesting bridge'.

Brandwood Tunnel, like all four of today;s tunnels is both straight and wide. The figure above the portal is said to depict William Shakespeare - not sure why!

Again, we hoped that we would find that this building had a particular use - its architecture is very different from the houses around and is curved to follow the line of the canal - but it seems that it is 'just' yet another apartment block. Some of the flats have great view of the canal.

The unusual guillotine lock just before he end of the Stratford Canal maintained only one inch difference in the level of the water but prevented one company from stealing the other's water! Although it was restored in 2012 it is now only decorative and boats pass straight through.

The former Toll House (owned by CaRT) at the junction suffered a major fire at g the start of this year. It is a listed building but it is not accessible by road. This made the task of the firefighters much more difficult but also limits the potential for the building which has been empty for some time. We could not see whether the scaffolding was merely protective or whether some repairs are already in hand.

Next came the longest tunnel today - Wast Hills - which took us 27 minutes to complete. It is just possible to see a pin point of light at the other end.

A little further and we noticed a sign on the towpath warning us of dredging works and that we might have a 30 minutes delay.

Just as we were coming to a stop beside the towpath (and discovering why dredging is needed!) the digger operator waved us on as he moved everything out of the way. It was amusing to see him move the boat just with the excavator bucket looking like some very weird giant insect!

Later we passed an empty pan on its way to the dredge site.

And then, just before Alvechurch, where the pans are emptied into waiting lorries where the waste silt will be taken away to a controlled tip. Altogether, it is quite an expensive process, especially when the dredgings cannot be left alongside the canal.

Mike was allowed a spell inside to warm up whilst Christine continued, taking us through the two mid length tunnels, Shortwood and Tardebigge.

The wharf at Tardebigge is immediately after the tunnel - we pulled in very briefly just to empty the elsan and dispose of rubbish before loving to the visitor moorings above the locks on the other side. We know what faces us tomorrow . . .

18.7 Miles - 0 Locks