A chilly cruise to Hopwood

Thursday 6^th October; Birmingham to Hopwood

The morning was very cold and very windy as we left Birmingham.  Apart from a few mooring restriction notices and a security barrier that hadn’t been removed there was no trace of the security operation of the last few days.  We had avoided the faff of security checks by leaving today, but it would have been interesting to see a sniffer dog at work – not sure what Meg would have made of it though!  The cross-winds on the approach to the Mailbox turn were strong, but whichever way we were pointing the chilly wind seemed to be in our faces and although the sun was shining it hadn’t risen above the trees beside the canal.

Ain't as warm as it looks

There have been changes since we were last this way.  New buildings have appeared, the University station is being rebuilt, and the new winding hole at Selly Oak has been completed, ready for when the new Lapal Canal will join the Worcester and Birmingham.  The Dudley No 2 canal used to join the Worcester and Birmingham nearby, but that stretch was abandoned after a tunnel collapse and the railways took the trade. There are bollards along the edges of the winding hole and for now you can moor there, so we did.

There is a newly-planted park area for strollers to enjoy too.  We walked over the road bridge to Sainsburys and the new retail park, following the route the canal will take. 

It's through that dark tunnel

I used the bike-wheel channel up the steps to help get my heavy trolley back up. We unpacked the shopping then had a stroll under the railway bridge and down Selly Oak High St just to have a look.  Apart from an Aldi and a Tesco Metro, the shops were almost exclusively small restaurant/take-aways (well over a dozen), with a few hair salons and nail bars.  The average age of the passers-by must have been 20 or younger – there are several schools and colleges in the area.  We cut up along a path under the railway and came out at the far end of the little park.

It turns out that we should gone back towards Sainsbury’s, as then we could have seen the work that the Lapal Canal Trust has already done.  Next time!  Anyway, we set off again, discovering straight away that there is better mooring online just past the bridge, where you don’t need to use the steps to get to the supermarket.   Again, next time!  Then as we pottered on towards King’s Norton Junction, and as we have found in several places this trip, there was plenty of leaf soup to be negotiated.  We have had to come out of gear several times a day to clear leaves from the prop.

Soupy

There were a lot of boats moored on the offside near Bournville station, where it appears to be somewhat less dodgy than it used to be.  The purple Cadbury paint at the station is looking faded.

We carried on to King’s Norton junction, where the toll-house is being worked on again, though today the garden was being cleared.

There does seem to be monster Himalayan Balsam behind the fence – to start with I thought it was giant bamboo.

It looked to be 10-12' tall, though I suppose it may have been growing on a heap of earth behind the wall!  It infests the area alongside the brook that runs between the towpath and the park.

We moored up for lunch, then Meg got a good walk in the park before we carried on through Wast Hill tunnel and moored for the night on the approach to Hopwood.  It’s been a windy and cold day with the sun mostly behind the trees, but at least it didn’t rain.

8½ miles, Wast Hill tunnel