Alnwick's Autumn Cruise

[NB Alnwick]

We set off from Cropredy on Tuesday, 8 October 2024. The first part-day took us as far as Fenny Compton and by the second day we reached Napton and tied-up below the bottom lock. We had other commitments on Thursday and when we started out on Friday morning the top of the boat had a nice coating of frost - as shown in the above image - possibly the first frost of this season.

Friday was a super day with a clear blue sky all day long. Surprisingly there were very few boats about - at Stockton Locks we started to descend with nb Orpheus, a magnificent replica of an inspection launch, but unfortunately the lady who had been working the locks slipped in the mud and injured her wrist. So for the remaining 20 or thereabouts locks, Graham was single handed (Jane was working) and he tied-up just below Bridge 33 near Radford Semele.

 

On Saturday, 12 October 2024, we made the short trip from Radford Semele to Leamington, mooring beside Lidl's supermarket so that we could enjoy the town. Just after exiting Radford bottom lock, we encountered a sunken boat in the channel - very sad photographs below.

 

Again we saw very few boats moving and the long stretches of canal through Leamington Spa, with dozens of mooring rings, were all but deserted. This is such a shame because Leamington is a great place to stop for a couple of days with magnificent parks and gardens and so many great places to eat and drink.

 

Edited October 13 by NB Alnwick

[Lady M]

How lovely to read about a bit of boating.  

[Stroudwater1]

Good to hear you are out and about. Autumn is a lovely time with the leaves turning. 
 

The boat that’s sunk is the Severner Don, it was for sale earlier in the year. How sad. 
 

 

[ditchcrawler]

47 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Good to hear you are out and about. Autumn is a lovely time with the leaves turning. 
 

The boat that’s sunk is the Severner Don, it was for sale earlier in the year. How sad. 
 

 

Dont tell me Mr Frost got his hands on it

[NB Alnwick]

We had a day off from boating yesterday so that we could attend our local Harvest Festival service and communal lunch back in Cropredy.

Today, Jane had errands to do and also was required to spend the afternoon at work, so after returning to the boat, Graham continued single handed negotiating 23 wide locks to eventually tie-up beside Hatton Station which, if all goes to plan, is where Jane will arrive by train from Banbury on Tuesday morning to continue with our cruise heading towards Birmingham via Kings Norton on the Stratford Canal. The six mile journey (including Hatton Locks) took nine hours but there was some help - after working through Cape Locks and the first twelve Hatton locks, Alnwick was caught up by another boat with an experienced crew - as a result sharing the last few locks became very much more efficient!

[NB Alnwick]

Tuesday went exactly as planned! Jane arrived by train at Hatton Station bang-on time (courtesy of Chiltern Railways) and we were underway at 10:00.

We stopped briefly on the Lapworth Link to take on some fresh water and empty our waste bin. It was disappointing to find the sanitary facilities locked up and out of use - apparently awaiting repair. There were two very active volunteers working on the Lapworth Lock Flight so we made good progress and tied-up just above Bridge 15 on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal on Tuesday evening. We hope to reach the centre of Birmingham during Wednesday afternoon.

As previously noted the GU main line was practically deserted - apart from a few moored or abandoned boats that were clearly unoccupied (including two sunken hulks) we didn't see any traffic until we reached the junction with the Lapworth Link where we were greeted by a convoy of three C&RT/Rothen Group maintenance boats. By contrast the Stratford-on-Avon Canal was busier and we met at least half a dozen boats as we ascended Lapworth Locks.  We really cannot understand why there were so few boats using the Grand Union main line - it is a very attractive wide waterway (albeit sometimes lacking in depth) especially above Hatton - as some of our photographs below prove.

Also included is a photograph of our home-made mop - traditionally, boaters used pieces of worn-out donkey jacket but we have found strips cut from an old sweatshirt work so much better and are not as heavy to handle. We are very pleased with the result!

The last photograph shows Alnwick tied-up on the Lapworth Link where we stopped to fill our drinking water containers.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15 by NB Alnwick

[ditchcrawler]

Hope you didn't spend to long dredging a channel into Birmingham this morning

[matty40s]

Dont you just love Indian Summers...

Earlier on the GU..

 

[NB Alnwick]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Hope you didn't spend to long dredging a channel into Birmingham this morning

Good to see you today! We  had struggled on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal but found the Worcester & Birmingham Canal slightly better - especially above Edgbaston. The biggest challenge was making sure we were moving just slow enough to keep the skeg and prop out of the silt.

 

We tied-up at 14:30, just beyond Old Turn Junction near the Lego Giraffe. This evening we are going to live-it-up at one of Birmingham's famous Indian Restaurants - well it was our Wedding Anniversary yesterday!

 

The image below shows the guillotine lock at the start of the Stratford-on-Avon Canal.

 

Tomorrow we plan to head up to Wolverhampton - hopefully using the original route via Oldbury Junction. There appears to be plenty of water - so (fingers crossed!) it should be deep enough. Some years ago someone on these forums asked why we thought it may be an advantage to have a deep draught - the advantages are very few but the disadvantages are many. Unfortunately, a deep draught was essential to accommodate our Kelvin engine and gearbox with a decent sized prop. OK, it is nice to have a boat that has plenty of headroom inside without sacrificing our air draught. And, as many have commented, the boat does feel a lot more stable/steady when one comes aboard or moves about inside the boat. However, for those minor gains, we have sacrificed speed and manoeuvrability on all but the deepest channels. We can also get stuck on the bottom but with all the rain we have had, we hope that will not happen on this trip.

 

 

 

The writing on the cast sign is as follows:

"The water level on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal has to be kept 1 inch above that of the Stratford on Avon Canal.
It is my job to open and close the lock gates and let boats through"

Canal Lengthman 1810

Edited October 16 by NB Alnwick

[nicknorman]

8 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

Good to see you today! We  had struggled on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal but found the Worcester & Birmingham Canal slightly better - especially above Edgbaston. The biggest challenge was making sure we were moving just slow enough to keep the skeg and prop out of the silt.

 

We tied-up at 14:30, just beyond Old Turn Junction near the Lego Giraffe. This evening we are going to live-it-up at one of Birmingham's famous Indian Restaurants - well it was our Wedding Anniversary yesterday!

 

The image below shows the guillotine lock at the start of the Stratford-on-Avon Canal.

 

Tomorrow we plan to head up to Wolverhampton - hopefully using the original route via Oldbury Junction. There appears to be plenty of water - so (fingers crossed!) it should be deep enough. Some years ago someone on these forums asked why we thought it may be an advantage to have a deep draught - the advantages are very few but the disadvantages are many. Unfortunately, a deep draught was essential to accommodate our Kelvin engine and gearbox with a decent sized prop. OK, it is nice to have a boat that has plenty of headroom inside without sacrificing our air draught. And, as many have commented, the boat does feel a lot more stable/steady when one comes aboard or moves about inside the boat. However, for those minor gains, we have sacrificed speed and manoeuvrability on all but the deepest channels. We can also get stuck on the bottom but with all the rain we have had, we hope that will not happen on this trip.

 

 

 

The writing on the cast sign is as follows:

"The water level on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal has to be kept 1 inch above that of the Stratford on Avon Canal.
It is my job to open and close the lock gates and let boats through"

Canal Lengthman 1810

 

We draw 2' 8.5" static, never found the old main line a problem, it seems to be better than the new main line in places! It was a bit slow through Tipton last time, but it was summer and lots of weed.

[NB Alnwick]

Today, Thursday, 17 October, we set off at 8:00 from our overnight mooring next to the Lego Giraffe in central Birmingham.

 

We really struggled in two locations - the pound below Smethwick top lock was low and there were underwater obstructions near the entrance to the lock - we think it may have been the remains of a wheelbarrow or cart because Alnwick's prop severed a wheel that was thrown out of the water. We only managed to get into the lock by opening the top paddles and using lots of Kelvin brute force!

 

Our next obstacle was Lock Number 12 on the Wolverhampton flight: the top gate would only open for about 10 inches and then stuck firm - we tried several times to close and re-open it without success and, in the end, we resorted to using our bow line tied to the end of the gate and with Graham's weight on the balance beam with some Kelvin grunt full astern we shifted the obstruction.

 

These delays meant that we completed the last of the Wolverhampton 21 in darkness and we tied-up opposite Oxley Marine on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at 19:30. We can only applaud those who have descended the Wolverhampton 21 in less than four hours although, to be fair, we did find all the locks (apart from the top lock) completely empty. On the plus side, we did enjoy favourable weather as our photographs testify.

 

The first image is of Smethwick Top Lock after we left it. The second image shows our approach to Summit Tunnel on the BCN Wolverhampton Level. The third was taken during our decent of the Wolverhampton 21 before we encountered the troublesome top gate.

 

Tomorrow, we plan to reach Penkridge!

 

 

 

Edited October 17 by NB Alnwick

[matty40s]

It was indeed a pleasant sight to see the sunshine at last.

[junior]

Some good pubs in Penkridge. Cross Keys used to be decent. 

[Jon57]

8 hours ago, junior said:

Some good pubs in Penkridge. Cross Keys used to be decent. 

Seconded. Cross keys has got a good selection of ales. Plus the best cobs I've come across at a very reasonable price £3👍

[IanD]

2 hours ago, Jon57 said:

Seconded. Cross keys has got a good selection of ales. Plus the best cobs I've come across at a very reasonable price £3👍

The Horse and Jockey is better -- excellent beers, also pies and cobs, though the greedy bu**ers had eaten all the cobs by the evening... 😉 

 

 

[Jon57]

8 hours ago, IanD said:

The Horse and Jockey is better -- excellent beers, also pies and cobs, though the greedy bu**ers had eaten all the cobs by the evening... 😉 

 

 

Your right it was the horse and Jockey. So many pub's can effect ones memory 😁👍

[NB Alnwick]

Today, Friday, 18 October, went nicely to plan and, after leaving Oxley at 09:30, we tied-up beside The Boat Inn at Penkridge at 14:30. That gave us plenty of time to do some shopping and visit the local pubs. We have booked in for a meal at The Boat Inn this evening - we know there are other excellent places to eat but we considered the advantage of being able to get straight back on the boat without getting lost on the way!

 

Unlike our experiences on the GU and the BCN, we have seen plenty of boat traffic on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. We are pleased that we didn't meet anyone else in 'Pendeford Rockin' - a hastily taken picture of this narrow sandstone cutting is included below.

 

The next photograph was taken as we left Gailey Top Lock and we have often wondered what that round turreted building is having noticed it many times in years gone by when we used to use the A5 (Watling Street) to drive up to North Wales. Apparently it was built that way so that the lock-keeper could get a good view of approaching boats!

 

The final image show an ingenious (and we hope temporary) repair to the top lock balance beam at Brick Kiln Lock - it is fabricated from lengths of steel angle held together with threaded rods and nuts! The original wood was almost completely rotten!

 

 

 

Edited October 18 by NB Alnwick

[Rob-M]

1 hour ago, NB Alnwick said:

The final image show an ingenious (and we hope temporary) repair to the top lock balance beam at Brick Kiln Lock - it is fabricated from lengths of steel angle held together with threaded rods and nuts! The original wood was almost completely rotten

You will see a few more of these on your travels.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

12 hours ago, Jon57 said:

Seconded. Cross keys has got a good selection of ales. Plus the best cobs I've come across at a very reasonable price £3👍

I think your right, they do do some of the best cobs,

and they’ll do you a grand beef cob, can’t remember the price though,

I drink the Stella in there, not a fan of their selection of ales,

the horse and jockey’s good, part of the Black Country pubs chain 

[IanD]

We ate at the Boat and weren't impressed with either the beer or the food -- but it is near the canal...

Edited October 18 by IanD

[ditchcrawler]

On 16/10/2024 at 16:50, NB Alnwick said:

Good to see you today! We  had struggled on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal but found the Worcester & Birmingham Canal slightly better - especially above Edgbaston. The biggest challenge was making sure we were moving just slow enough to keep the skeg and prop out of the silt.

 

We tied-up at 14:30, just beyond Old Turn Junction near the Lego Giraffe. This evening we are going to live-it-up at one of Birmingham's famous Indian Restaurants - well it was our Wedding Anniversary yesterday!

 

The image below shows the guillotine lock at the start of the Stratford-on-Avon Canal.

 

Tomorrow we plan to head up to Wolverhampton - hopefully using the original route via Oldbury Junction. There appears to be plenty of water - so (fingers crossed!) it should be deep enough. Some years ago someone on these forums asked why we thought it may be an advantage to have a deep draught - the advantages are very few but the disadvantages are many. Unfortunately, a deep draught was essential to accommodate our Kelvin engine and gearbox with a decent sized prop. OK, it is nice to have a boat that has plenty of headroom inside without sacrificing our air draught. And, as many have commented, the boat does feel a lot more stable/steady when one comes aboard or moves about inside the boat. However, for those minor gains, we have sacrificed speed and manoeuvrability on all but the deepest channels. We can also get stuck on the bottom but with all the rain we have had, we hope that will not happen on this trip.

 

 

 

The writing on the cast sign is as follows:

"The water level on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal has to be kept 1 inch above that of the Stratford on Avon Canal.
It is my job to open and close the lock gates and let boats through"

Canal Lengthman 1810

Which Indian did you end up in?

[matty40s]

2 hours ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

 

The final image show an ingenious (and we hope temporary) repair to the top lock balance beam at Brick Kiln Lock - it is fabricated from lengths of steel angle held together with threaded rods and nuts! The original wood was almost completely rotten!

 

 

Between Brentford and Stoke.Bruerne there are about 20 of these...mainly wood fabricated rather than external support.

Get used to it, the new normal.

[NB Alnwick]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Which Indian did you end up in?

 

We went to 'Qavali' in Brindley Place. Very smart but we may have enjoyed a nicer meal elsewhere for much less.

[ditchcrawler]

7 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

We went to 'Qavali' in Brindley Place. Very smart but we may have enjoyed a nicer meal elsewhere for much less.

We have been to Bara Jee a few times Barajee Restaurant | Indian and Bangladeshi | Birmingham (restaurantbarajee.com)

[NB Alnwick]

29 minutes ago, IanD said:

We ate at the Boat and weren't impressed with either the beer or the food -- but it is near the canal...

That is what we did and why!

We had a sirloin steak that was nicely presented and very good. Afterwards, as a desert, we chose the cheesecake - also nicely presented and delicious. That may have been produced by Jaspers bakery in the village because, earlier, we had seen an identical cheesecake in their shop.

The beer was acceptable but the choice was severely limited.

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

We have been to Bara Jee a few times Barajee Restaurant | Indian and Bangladeshi | Birmingham (restaurantbarajee.com)

Yes - that is the one on the bridge over the canal - we have eaten there in the past and it was very good.