Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Saturday 12^th September 2020

Although we were in the centre of England’s second city (the first is Manchester, obviously) we had a good night – it was noisier in Willington last Sunday, to be honest. We were in no rush to start – after the epic yesterday we had a fairly easy day planned, and we started by taking a walk around the centre with the dogs, up past Gas Street and the Mail Box. In the end we finally set off at about noon.

The New Main Line runs dead straight (and very wide) out of the centre of Birmingham towards the north west. The Old Main Line is still visible in this section in the form of several winding loops which head off to one side or the other. These are still navigable, and often used by the trip boats from the centre, and again we plan to come back and explore them all – for now we were taking the straight route out. At one point we saw a boat coming towards us, weaving from one side to the other. All was explained when we met and the guy asked if we were passing on the correct side, as he had only bought the boat that morning.

An odd feature of this stretch of the canal were four islands which we met at intervals. In each case they sat in the middle of the canal, leaving a channel each side just wide enough for a narrowboat. On the island were the remains of buildings, and docks, each the size of a lock – so just right for one boat. I assume that these have something to do with assessing tolls on passing traffic, from the time when canals were very big business.

After a couple of miles dead straight the canal curved slightly one way and the other. The loops of the old Main Line are still criss-crossing on either side, but here beyond Winson Green junction the loops are all disused. A mile further on, though, at Smethwick Junction, the Old Main Line proper takes off to the right, and goes up three locks. After running parallel for a mile or so it crosses over the New Main Line on an aqueduct at the same point as the M5 crosses over much higher up, quite a spectacular bit of engineering.

Just after passing these bridges we came to Spon Lane Junction, where a link from the Old Main Line comes down three locks and joined us from the right. At this point the canal curves slightly right, and there is another of those mid-stream islands. I was aiming to pass by on the right hand side – this is normal and also was the shortest route around the curve. However as I approached the narrow channel I was unhappy – it was overhung with vegetation on both sides and the water looked doubtful, so I put us unto reverse and stopped before we got far in. I reversed out and went around the island on the “wrong” side. Probably there was no issue with the other channel – there was no warning sign – but I just didn’t like the look of it.

At this point the canal started to get rather messy, with a lot of debris blown by the wind. We came around a corner to find a wide curve with most of the surface covered with stuff, everything from blown leaves to cans, barrels, bits of wood and unidentifiable remnants. It was no doubt caused by the way the wind was coming around the curve, but we took it very cautiously, not wanting to get anything around the prop, and also not wanting to ground on the outside of the bend, which looked very shallow. Happily we came to no harm and the New Main Line straightened out again for another couple of miles drawn with a ruler.

This was a dull and desolate section, through a flat and deserted landscape. The only interest was a number of branches heading off in each direction. First was the Wednesbury Old Canal, going north from Pudding Green junction. It climbs eight locks and then enters a complicated system of canals in the northern part of the Birmingham Canal Network. One arm comes down to meet the main line at Wolverhampton, while others head up as far north as Norton Canes – another branch winds up at Salford Junction under the M6, where we saw its mouth yesterday.

A little further on a short branch goes left, where it heads up three locks to join the Old Main Line. Another branch on the same side has a more interesting course – it goes under the Old Main Line and then into Netherton tunnel, 3000 yards long, which emerges into the Dudley canal and the southern parts of the Birmingham network. We will have plenty of exploring to do when we return.

As we headed along this stretch we noticed that the water in the canal was becoming clearer, so that we could see well down the bank below the surface, and eventually we found we could see the bottom, mostly green leafy weeds swaying in the currents as we passed. It was still clear when we came to the only locks of the day, the Factory locks at Tipton, a flight of three taking us up at last to the same level as the Old Main Line.

When we emerged from the top lock we turned sharp left and started to look for a mooring. Still enjoying the clear water we went through Tipton Green and passed the mouth of the Old Main Line, heading back east towards the city centre. We kept on a short way further though, along a dead end to the Dudley Black Country Museum.

Although I called it a dead end, strictly speaking the canal goes on through the Dudley tunnel, emerging further south on the Dudley Canal. However this has an extremely low profile, and normal boats will not fit in – it is really a part of the limestone mines, and special low boats were used to get the stone out. Some of these are still there, and the museum uses them to run tours into the mines. As far as normal canal boats are concerned though, this is the end of the line.

Mooring at the Dudley Black Country Museum

Water as clear as the Med

It was, however, an excellent spot to moor, by contrast with the rather uncertain suburb outside. There is a small basin, with public moorings for about four boats, and locked gates once the museum has closed – there was just one other boat there with us overnight. There is a CRT station there where we filled up with water, and we had moored up by mid afternoon. We took the dogs up the hill for a walk in a nice bit of rough woodland, and later on I walked up to a local Aldi for our supper. It was a bright sunny day and the water was clearer than ever – I believe that this is because of the limestone in the mines, so this is the clearest spot of all – it was like looking out of a glass bottomed boat in the Med. We had been spotting fish as we sailed along, and there were more than ever here, dozens and dozens of them in shoals, lots of little ones and up to about a foot long. Because the site was fenced in (to keep the public out) we were able to let the dogs off with no worries, and we spent a very peaceful evening.

TODAY: 3:00 HOURS. 9.2 MILES. 3 LOCKS.

Voyage: 53:40 HOURS. 96.4 MILES. 79 LOCKS.