In between all the rain, I managed to get the stern decor finished, just the other side to do next! Bank Holiday went past quietly because of the weather, but the quantity of passing boats was astounding, as we were just down from 2 large hire boat firms.
Not long after we had moored up at Hopwood, narrowboat 'Go for it' http://go-for-ithobbs.blogspot.co.uk/ pulled up behind us and we spent a few days together chatting and learning about their live aboard life. They are moored behind us on this picture, not that you can see.
Early Tuesday morning all of us filled up with water and proceeded towards Birmingham with the intention of mooring in Gas Street Basin.
The last obstacle on the remaining stretch of this canal was the Wast Hill tunnel (2726 yards long).
The light behind me in this picture is Colin and Tina on their boat.
Reaching King's Norton junction, we went straight onto the stretch of the Worcester and Birmingham canal to take us to Birmingham.
Bournville is just up from the junction where Richard used to blow sugar in from British Sugar, as he kept telling me (on the train previously and on this occasion)....
We think this new building, below, is a part of the university...
Graffiti is rife on this canal up to Birmingham unfortunately, but some is actually quite good! Not good when it is all over historical structures.
This was the approach to Edgbaston tunnel, above, with the aforementioned graffiti.
The end of Gas Street, where we had turned a ninety degree bend from the main canal. Behind is the famous 'Mailbox', full of cafes, boutiques and restaurants and the Cube on the right, with Marco Pierre White's restaurant right at the top! Suffice to say, we didn't partake in this 25th floor eating experience!
We wanted to turn the boat, so that the butty was facing the right side of the towpath, and for returning back down the canal. Richard endeavoured to turn at the roundabout but decided it was too tight, so we turned off down Sherborne Wharf, which is a loop.
Unbeknown to us, the main canal at the end of the loop was not wide enough to turn the boat, so Richard dropped me and the butty at the side and turned further up. I span the butty around and we linked back up and then moored in Gas Street as planned, next to Colin and Tina.
We only spent one night in Birmingham, as some Eastern European's got on the boat early hours, and tried to liberate us of some items unsuccessfully! Richard warned them off as they said they just 'wanted a photogragh', yeah right, like we are completely stupid!!
All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Brum and had visited the Bullring, the markets and saw other attractions and will pass through later in the year.
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