Touring Birmingham from a distance

I am writing this blog as we sit in a nice mooring at Kingswood Junction. The canal sits on the edge of Lapworth village. This will be our mooring for the next few days so that we can catch up on our sightseeing.

Our pockets are a little lighter for having moored over night at the Star City moorings which are a canal side floating pontoon right beside the Star City Complex which incorporates a casino. My guess, thirty or forty tables and perhaps the same in poker machines, small by Australian standards but still very effective! There seemed to be more croupiers than patrons while we were there, a pleasant change to the hustle and bustle of Melbourne's Crown Casino. There was an entertainment complex linked to the casino which was equally deserted...very eerie. We picked up a snack and a coffee there and headed back to the boats. I went back later that evening for a chocolate run and what a change, the place was humming, people everywhere.

It was interesting getting into the Star City moorings. The canal, as we have come to expect from city canals, was littered with rubbish. Most of the rubbish seemed to be plastic shopping bags and plastic bottles, the odd plank of wood and dining room chair floated by. In the centre of Birmingham the canal wove its way between city fly-overs and buildings before making a sharp turn at Salwood Junction to skirt the outer part of the CBD.

We moved off from Star City moorings at 10am after a pleasant stay ready to take on the ten locks between Star City and Catherine-de-Barnes. The locks are in two sets, an initial group of five locks called Garrison Locks and a second group just after Bordesley Junction, Camp Hill Locks. The Lock Keeper's Cottage at Garrison Locks has seen better days, a real shame.

The cruising was rather uneventful but with a need to be vigilant as the odd two seater settee floated by, soccer balls, more bottles and the odd stop to relieve the propeller of a shopping bag. The canal improved with every mile we put Birmingham behind us. By the time we had got close to Catherine-de-Barnes the canal had returned to normal with just the odd bits and pieces that had found their way into the canal.

An overnight stay at Catherine-de-Barnes, we cruised off as usual at 10am. Nice cruising for an hour with the odd sight along the way, this nice dutch barge caught our eye.

While our daughter was over staying on our boat she suggested that we rename Serafina to Jessica, after her. We told her we liked the name, after all we chose it, but no, not for our boat. We stopped above Knowle Locks for a water tank fill and lunch while we waited.

During lunch an ambulance drove down the wide tow path to the bottom lock. We thought something may have been going on but we couldn't see a boat, the ambulance arrival confirmed there was something going on so Rachael and Kevin (from Dunslavin) went off to investigate. Fifteen minutes later and the Air Ambulance was looking for a place to land. Rachael and Kevin reported back to us that a woman from a day boat had jumped off a lock gate and seemed to have twisted her ankle, the Air Ambulance obviously confirmed something far more serious. With all the commotion over we set about negotiating the five Knowle double locks.

It was a little windy so with no boats going down we were able to cruise (together) out of one lock and straight into the next one which sped up the process considerably. Still hard work winding those hydraulic lock paddles, once moored up we headed for The Navigation Pub, two hundred metres away, to recover.

Our mooring for the next few days is at the junction of the Stratford Canal and the Grand Union. A few days of sightseeing in Birmingham traveling back and forth by train should do the trick, Rachael is yearning for a large shopping area. The small convenience stores for bread, milk and eggs aren't doing it for her.