Three canals in one day, or was it four?

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Three canals in one day, or was it four?

Saturday, 21 January 2012 18:41

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal ends at Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. Here narrowboats cross the Worcester Bar onto the Birmingham Main Line Canal.

Worcester Bar

But we had a third canal to go to, or to be accurate, a fourth - the remains of an old branch ......

I said yesterday we had more surprises to come on our way into Birmingham and our first one was the new bridge. Bridge 81a is not really in keeping with the adjacent University Station Bridge and I was puzzled.

It took me a while to work out what I was seeing!

At first I thought it was to keep the students and Dons dry as they enter via the Westgate of the University of Birmingham! But apparently what my eyes found difficult to work out is a pipe bridge, an elaborate stainless steel waste heat transfer bridge carrying a pipe from the University's energy generating plant to heat the Medical School. Amazing! It was only built in March last year but as per usual the graffiti "artists" have been out.

The Ross Barlow

The Ross Barlow, the University Hydrogen Boat was on her usual mooring. We have never seen her on the move, but she does get away from the Worcester and Birmingham! The idea of greener cruising does not seem to have caught on, apart from the few electric diesel hybrids (the lovely Felonius Mongoose included) and solar boats that have been built.

We were treated to a rainbow at the Vale Bridge

Passing through Edgbaston Tunnel the sky over the centre of Birmingham looked ominous - the sun on the buildings made an interesting photo though

Skyline

Ah - here are Brindley's Accountants - sorry couldn't resist that one and I made you wait to find out what I meant in my blog of the 19th January!

What's in a name?

So we arrived - stopping for the necessaries at Holiday Wharf. The waste disposal facility was "out of order" with a permanent looking sign - huh? The nearest one is Cambrian Wharf! We crossed the divide at Worcester Bar in the rain and turned right at Old Turn Junction. We went the long way around the roundabout as we wanted to have a peek at Oozells Loop - the iron bridge in the photo below is where we wanted to go!

Turning at Old Turn Junction

This junction has been variously named and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal "ends/begins" here. But it was not always so. The Birmingham and Fazeley was our third canal of the day, but years ago it would have been the Newhall Branch and the B and F began at the Farmer's Bridge Locks. Our mooring is on what remains of the Newhall Branch; "More Canal Traces" explains all!

We moored up in a dreadful hail shower - heavy and sharp with a wind behind it, what fun! But we are where we wanted to be, at Cambrian Wharf, a familiar mooring from our ice-in in 2010.