A Visit to the Curly Wurly.

Monday 31st July 2017 moored back at the Dudley Black Country Museum.
A lovely sunny morning at the Dudley Black Country Museum.

On Wednesday, we have to go home for the weekend as we have booked to visit the Shuttleworth Collection. MM has been booked into Sherborne Wharf Marina in the centre of Birmingham, which we used four years ago, so we had a spare day today and we decided to go and visit one of the less popular canals in the Birmingham Canal Network (BCN). We are going to explore a bit of the Wyrley & Essington Canal, colloquially known as the Curly Wurly because it is very twisty!
As we left the Dudley Museum moorings, the reflections in the water made a pretty picture.

The water on this stretch of canal was still crystal clear, but the downside was that it was full of reeds and lilies, which kept on getting caught on the propellor - just like the leaves in autumn.

The entrance to the Curly Wurly is about six miles west, very close to the top of the Wolverhampton Flight of 21 locks. On the way, we passed through the Coseley tunnel. Once again, it is hard to realise that we are in the middle of a huge industrialised city.

At Horseley Fields Junction, we turned on to the Curly Wurly.

It was not picturesque! It was pleasing to see the proliferation of water lilies, both white and yellow, but sadly the lilies were losing the battle with plastic and tin detritus in the water - bottles and cans by the thousands.

After a couple of miles, we arrived at Rookery Bridge where there is a very large retail complex and the site of one of the few places where we could turn MM round. Halfway through turning around, the engine cut out as we picked up something on the propellor and we drifted helplessly into some sycamore trees on the far bank. R grabbed the long pole and poled MM around and back to the towpath side.

Once MM was tied up, R went down the weed hatch to remove an upholstery cushion and its evicerated stuffing from the propellor - although M said it looked suspiciously like a Womble!

On our way back to the main line, we passed an unusual "bridge" sculpture made of stainless steel that reflected our passing underneath - literally!

Back at the junction there was another reminder of the juxtaposition of the different forms of transport as we watched the train crossing above us with a road bridge in the distance.

The junction is less than half a mile from the top of the Wolverhampton flight of locks, which we haven't yet done but have long wanted to. There is a short canal "arm" marked on the guides - but not a turning point. So, M walked along to the top lock to see if there was room to turn MM, as we would have liked to go down there and turn around. On her way, she passed this example of the old architecture alongside the new - which seemed to work well together, unlike some of the examples in the city centre.

At the top lock, M concluded that it would be very tight to try to turn MM in the space available, but at least she did get to see the Wolverhampton top lock, which looked very pretty. We will save that lock flight for another time as, for now, it would take us in the wrong direction.

We had planned to do this flight in 2013 but it was closed for repairs as one of the lock side walls had collapsed.
There are acres and acres of abandonned industrial sites all around Birmingham. If you wanted to build two hundred thousand homes, you could build them all here without encroaching on any greenbelt or flood plain. Most sites are just flat - this one had the skeletal remains of a mobile crane, stark against the sky.

If it wasn't plastic bottles and tin cans floating in the canal, it was semi-submerged shopping trolleys, this one had one leg sticking up like a periscope.

Two former working boats passed us, a motor and a butty with what seemed to be Scouts and Guides on board. It appeared they were camping in the holds - the boys on the motor and the girls on the butty. It looked like they were having fun!

As good safe moorings are not common around here, we went back to the Black Country Museum and moored up there again for the night.

On board, we toasted the Curly Wurly with one of Cadbury's free gifts!

Today: 16 miles, 0 locks and 7.2 hours (2 days).
Trip: 148 miles, 141 locks and 117.4 hours.

The Dudley Black Country Museum.

Sunday 30th July 2017 at the Black Country Museum.
A sunny start to the day, moored outside the Dudley Black Country Museum.

After breakfast we set off down to the Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust's brand new multi-million pound visitors' centre. M remarked that it looked a bit like a tunnel ventilation shaft - or maybe a canal "round house". The north portal of the Dudley Tunnel is visible - but it is far too low to allow MM to go through! A trip boat operates tours into the tunnel and we did that trip when we were here four years ago. Sadly, the new visitors' centre was a bit underwhelming - a rather sparsely stocked shop and a café upstairs. Not very inspiring. We felt that much more could have been made of it.

The Museum site, on the other side of the canal, opens at 10:00am and we were there as soon as the gates opened - just like when we were here four years ago.
Where to start? There is so much to see. M's favourite is the cobbled street of old cottages and small workshops with their warren of little back passages and each with its own fully stocked back garden. The houses are all fitted out as they were in their time, which varies from the early 1800s to the Second World War.

There are also many shops, including this ironmongers who seemed to specialise in "fork handles". The two Ronnies would have appreciated that.

Many of the cottages have costumed staff in them who can tell you the history of the house. Behind one house was a typical "chain making" workshop where the woman of the house made light chain twelve hours a day, six days a week - helped by children as young as five. This lady was demonstrating in her tiny workshop. She said that an experienced chain maker could make 60 links and hour or one a minute!

Nearby Cradley Heath was the country's chain making centre where, in the 1800s 95% of the country's chain was made, much of which was exported. The women made the light chain in small workshops behind their houses, as above, while the men made larger chain, but still in small workshops behind their houses.
Round the corner, this man was demonstrating making larger chain. He said that an experienced chain maker would make 30 links an hour, or one every two minutes!

He said that each link of the chain for the Titanic's anchor was made from a 6in diameter bar and weighed a quarter of a ton.

The sweet shop still has its original moulds and presses for making different shaped sweets.

 

We don't normally eat sweets but we did buy an almond tart for our tea from the baker's shop next door. It was delicious!

While most of the buildings have been moved here from elsewhere and re-built, three industries are in their original locations - the coal mine, the lime kilns and the canal basin. The coal mine is a drift mine where the coal seam starts at the surface and runs at an angle underground. We took the guided tour, following the guide with very dim torches emulating candles to light our way. It was fascinating and, at times, very dark!

The canal arm, that leads up to the lime kilns, houses several historic working narrow boats including iconic steam driven nb "President" with its butty "Kildare", which are based here when not out on the cut going to shows. Nb "Stour" was the last "Fellows Morton and Clayton" narrowboat to carry a commercial load. Now it is very much in need of refurbishment and efforts are being made to raise the necessary funds.

"Stour" was built to carry the tar residue from the process to make coke and gas from coal.
Lunch was varied! R had coffee and cake in the Working Men's Institute while M had traditional fish and chips from the renowned shop of "Hobbs & Sons". Very good too!

As darkness fell, we noticed that the street lamp overlooking MM was a proper old gas lamp! Not often that you see a real gas lamp - it gave a lovely soft light.

Today, MM had the day off.

Across Birmingham.

Saturday 29th July 2017 at The Dudley Black Country Museum.
M had been a trifle uneasy about  being moored under a pedestrian bridge in the middle of Birmingham; however, we passed a peaceful night, no doubt the heavy rain kept the yobbos at bay.
A sunny morning dawned so we ran the washing machine and then pegged out the washing before going out for a stroll.
The east end of Gas Street Basin is very buzzy and pleasant now. What a contrast from the same view in the 1970s!

The steps on the right brought happy memories for R as it was here that we all disembarked from a hire boat on Charles' stag night.

This is the night club where we spent the evening with a scantily clad Charles dancing in the window on the right and attracting all the hen parties to join us!

In the centre of Birmingham is this marvellous life-sized gilded trio. Unfortunately, because of the construction work we could not see who they are supposed to represent. R remarked that it was strange that the gilt had not yet been nicked!

There was a huge amount of construction going on all around. We were not sure that all of the new buildings sat comfortably with the old. Some of the architectural styles made strange bedfellows.

We found a breakfast boat! Another treat, we had a super breakfast with a lovely view of one of the floral bridges.

We eventually "let go" at around 2:00pm and set off west in the direction of Wolverhampton. There are two ways to cross Birmingham east to west, Brindley's original wiggly "contour" canal, which was originally 22.5 miles long, and Telford's later "New Main Line" that goes in a direct straight line and is only 15 miles long. In places, you can still see where Brindley's original canal crosses the New Main Line, crossed by a graceful, and rather colourful, bridge. As you can see, the local graffiti artists have decorated it in tasteful style (not!).

Further along, we turned on to Brindley's original line and went up three locks, as this part is higher than the New Line. We had enthusiastic help for the first two locks.

MM got stuck in the pound between the second and third lock as the "bottom was too close to the top". Luckily, there was a trip boat coming down the third lock and so he let some more water in - just enough to float MM.

Above the third lock was a sad sight, the burnt out remains of a reconstructed toll house, which had been targeted by hooligans. How dispiriting for the C&RT, who try so hard to make these canals attractive and interesting.

Much of the canal goes through lovely countryside. It is hard to believe that you are right in the middle of a big city!

But then we came upon the M5, which straddles the canal for about a mile and a half. Nothing grows under this concrete carbuncle - just scaffolding!

At one point, Brindley's old line crosses above Telford's New Line, which you can just see below, while above both runs the railway and above that the M5. A layer cake of transport - canals, then railways then roads - what next?

As we neared the end of the M5's coverage, there was a sad sight of a classic old canal bridge dwarfed by the monstrous M5.

R down the weed hatch again; this time the culprit was a pair of  jogging trousers and a bunch of plastic.

Finally, we arrived at the Dudley Black Country Museum, where paradoxically the water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom - and the fish!

Today: 9 miles, 3 locks and 3.7 hours.
Trip: 132 miles, 141 locks and 109.9 hours.

Cadbury World and Into Birmingham

Thursday 27th and Friday 28th July 2017 at Bournville and Birmingham.
Our original plan had been to go to Cadbury World on Thursday but, when we tried to book tickets, we found that they were sold out! Change of plan. So we booked for Friday morning and decided to go into Birmingham by train today to do some shopping. Bournville station is painted in Cadbury colours!

Having arrived in the centre of Birmingham, we headed for M&S where we had a snack lunch before getting a "few bits". Luckily M&S was not far from the station in Birmingham and MM was not far from the station at Bournville. A relaxing afternoon and evening followed.

Friday dawned sunny and we made an early start to get to Cadbury World by 9:30 when it opened. Cadbury World is just on the other side of the canal and railway, but it's a long walk all round the huge factory site to get there!

We were here four years ago on MM, so we knew what to expect. The "experience" starts with the history of chocolate and the story of the Cadbury brothers. In one area, Stephen Davies and Michael Huggins were promoting a nine-day charity cycle ride that they are doing in September from John O Groats to Lands End, raising funds for seven good causes. They happily posed for M's camera.

Everywhere you looked, everything was painted in Cadbury purple - even the bannisters on the stairs.

At one point there is a ride through a fantasy cocoa bean world - a bit like "It's a Small World" at Disneyworld but populated with anthropomorphic cocoa beans! It was great fun.

In the demonstration area, a young man was showing how chocolates are made by hand and proving that they won't fall out of the mould by inverting it over chidren's heads. No doubt the children would have been delighted if they had fallen out! Of course, because of the "Elf", no-one was allowed to taste the demonstration chocolate - shame.

We were fascinated by the lady making chocolate fashion shoes, pouring a measured amount of liquid chocolate into a mould and then swirling it around to make sure the mould was evenly coated.

The basic shoes looked beautiful and are eventually hand decorated before being sold in the shop.

At the end of the tour is the "World's Biggest Cadbury shop" stuffed with every kind of chocolate, sweets and memorabilia. Bliss.

M offered to buy R an 850g Milk Chocolate bar (at half price) but R decided that he would resist the temptation. (note from M: "Why?")

M was equally taken with the chocolate tea pots. "They are not useless" she said, "because they are delicious". But she too resisted temptation (note from R: "Why?"). 

We had lunch in the cafeteria, which offered very good food at reasonable prices, before making our way back to MM with the free samples and just a few purchases.

Back at MM, we set off for the centre of Birmingham, which took us about an hour and a half, and arrived just before the forecasted rain started.
Right in the centre, between Gas Street Basin and Brindley Place, is the "Worcester Bar", which is a seven foot wide strip that separated the Worcester & Birmingham Canal in Gas Street Basin, and the Birmingham Canal Navigation in Brindley Place.

For years the BCN would not allow there to be any direct connection between the two canals and everything had to be unloaded from the boats on one side of the bar, carried across the bar and loaded into boats on the other side of the bar! Eventually common sense prevailed and an act of Parliament in 1815 forced the BCN to make a connection so that boats could cruise from one canal to the other.

We found a mooring on the western end of Brindley Place and, to our surprise, discovered that we had moored right underneath a Costa, so a visit seemed to be in order!

The sign on the wall was very welcoming!

While looking on the internet, we discovered that there was a Wagamama restaurant within a couple of hundred yards of our mooring. As it is M's favourite restaurant, we braved the rain and went out to dinner there. A rare treat as we do not often eat out.

Today: 4 miles, 0 locks and 6.4 hours (2 days).
Trip: 123 miles, 138 locks and 106.2 hours.