Saturday 7th September 2013 Ramble 23: Olton, Bridge No. 84 to Gas Street Basin, Birmingham.

Saturday 7^th September 2013

Ramble 23:  Olton, Bridge No. 84 to Gas Street Basin, Birmingham. 

We set off along the towpath with John, Julie, Sue, Jem, Hugh and Margaret, all in good spirits and aiming to cover the eight or so miles to Gas Street Basin.    We were especially glad that the weather had improved from yesterday for this, the last leg of the Grand Union Canal walk, having started from Little Venice, near Paddington, London in March 2012.

To start with, the canal looked nice in dappled sunlight with greenery all around. Surprisingly, there were many wild flowers too.

 Gradually, as we walked further on into areas such as Tyseley, Small Heath and Bordesley, the surrounding areas, with their history of industrialisation and subsequent decline, was one of increasing dereliction and neglect. Mostly, there was a strange quiet emptiness with few people, boats or wildfowl around. Many large buildings were empty and bricked up; some were burned out, much graffiti and weeds growing through them.
 

 

We stopped for picnic lunch by the first of the five narrow Camp Hill locks. Nearby, a party of volunteers were sprucing up the lock gate arms with some new paint. We sat and watched and chatted. Once refreshed we continued on, taking the Digbeth Branch canal at Bordlesley Junction. 

We went past the stop lock and toll house by the old Geest banana warehouses at Warwick Bar and over the river Rea aqueduct. Looking down here we saw Japanese Knotweed flowering and much rubbish. 

The whole area is a conservation area and part of the Eastside regeneration scheme due for redevelopment.

After seeing the Typhoo Basin going off to our left we went through Curzon Street tunnel that passes under mainline railway lines.

 Around here the remains of the Co-op Furniture factory dominate the scene one side of the canal.  As a listed building, it was due to be part of the re-development plans, but in 2007 three-quarters of the factory was destroyed by fire and a week later further damage was caused by high winds. Now what is left stands surrounded by fencing and plans for it seem unclear.

At Aston Junction (with Birmingham and Fazeley Canal) we turned westwards towards the centre of Birmingham.
 There seemed to be more activity around Aston Science Park and University areas, certainly there was more brightly coloured fencing and newly laid grass, but few people.

 The surrounding buildings loomed higher and higher along here, until the canal seemed small and closed in, in comparison. So small at one point that it actually goes under the 1970s decommissioned BT Brindley House telephone exchange tower block. Now there are luxury apartments in this 17 floors high block, above the stilts surrounding the canal, locks and side pounds.

The towpath twists and turns along here by the 13 Farmers Bridge Locks; uneven in places with old brick features, which is quite a contrast with the surrounding blocks of new flats.

 

John spotted the spanking new library between other buildings. Opened just a few days before, we gathered that the £190m library is already a big hit with people and could see some exploring the secret garden on the outside of the 7^th level!

The toll office built in 1783 remains by Cambrian Wharf and a little further on at Old Turn we crossed the bridge to the last stretch of towpath before Gas Street Basin.


 
 

Along here it was very busy with people walking, shopping, whiling away time in cafes, restaurants, bandspeople spilling out of the Symphony Hall entrance for group photos, boats taking wedding reception guests along, etc ,etc. It took us a while to make our way through, under Broad Street Bridge and on into Gas Street basin. Again, there is the contrast of new and old here with the landmark Cube building (apartments, offices and rooftop restaurants) dwarfing the centuries old canal and industrial buildings. We took our group photos and made our way to the recently opened Pickled Pig coffee bar for a drink. We were told the building was once a farmhouse (!), then offices and warehouse for a business dealing with marble and more recently used as TV studios before conversion to a restaurant.

We were very pleased to finish this series of Grand Union Canal walks and they were even more enjoyable by the good company of our many companions along the way. We have many happy memories. We now look forward to starting the Oxford Canal walks in early 2014.

Friday 6th September 2013 Ramble 22: Kingswood Bridge (Bridge No. 65) to Olton (Bridge No. 84)

Friday 6^th September 2013

Ramble 22:  Kingswood Bridge (Bridge No. 65) to Olton (Bridge No. 84).

We set off again along the towpath with John, Julie, Peter, Sue, Hugh, Margaret, Sue and Jem.  This time the weather was not so kind to us and the towpath was wet and slippery in places. The wet conditions hadn’t stopped the mower man cutting the grass along the towpath, but the wet cuttings stuck onto to the canal boat sides causing hands with small brushes to reach out from under tarpaulins to clean them off!

We had the canal pretty much to ourselves; very few people were out walking and hardly any boats were moving.  Everywhere looked very green; leaves and pots were shiny with rainwater on them.

For several weeks before now the weather had been sunny and warm, but today it was markedly cooler and wet. It caused a slight mist or haze above the water and the reflections in the water were beautiful, especially of boats and bridges.

We kept up a good pace in the light rain. Sometimes it didn’t rain and the umbrellas came down but mostly it was steady, gentle rain. 

After passing the Black Boy Pub we saw the Black Buoy Cruising Club with a boat in the slipway (for repairs perhaps). 

 

 

In 1974 the club site was split by the ‘new’ county boundary which is down the centre of the canal at this point. The clubhouse is in Warwickshire, whereas other parts are in the Metropolitian Borough of Solihull, part of the West Midlands county. 

The Heronfield Animal Centre seemed to be providing some nice conditions for rescued goats, chickens, pigs and alpacas alongside the canal as we approached Bridge No 70 where the Warwick Road passes over. 

A little further on are the series of five Knowle Locks and by the bottom lock a canal boat was turning around (the first boat we had seen moving for some time). As it wasn’t raining at this point we decided to break for a picnic and while sitting beside one of the side ponds, watched some gulls squabbling. 

Soon we were pressing on and made good progress (we all had trains to catch afterwards, some of us to local accomodation and some were going back home). It was really quiet and countrified along here with many sections of cuttings, green with overhanging trees. 

In the distance we heard the drone of traffic noise which gradually became louder and eventually we passed under the M42 Barston Lane motorway bridge. We had been seeing herons standing beside the canal in front of us that flew off as we approached.  Then we thought that perhaps it was just one heron we saw several times, but by the motorway bridge we definitely saw a different heron that was much darker in colour fly off.

After the canal passes over the River Blythe via a small aqueduct and a couple more turns we went through the village of Catherine De Barnes, known locally as Catney Barnes, often abbreviated to Catney. It is from this point onwards that the area beyond the canal corridor becomes very built up, as it enters the outskirts of Birmingham.

To us just by the canal, it still appeared mostly very green and tranquil, especially in the cuttings. In some places gardens had been extended with staircases down banks to improvised landing stages constructed from scaffolding. Ducks seemed to enjoy using these.

We completed the walk by the canal, estimated to be between 9 and 10 miles, by mid-afternoon and went off in search of a nice drink and Olton Railway Station.

Saturday 17th August 2013 Ramble 21: Bridge 46, Warwick to Kingswood Bridge (No. 65).

Saturday 17^th August 2013

Ramble 21:  Bridge 46, Warwick to Kingswood Bridge (No. 65).

The weather was, as yesterday, unsettled when we set off again along the towpath with John, Julie, Peter, Sue, Bill, Mary, Hugh and Margaret.    Being a Saturday, there was much activity turning around the hire boats in Kate’s Boatyard immediately by the start of our walk. 

Aboard a narrowboat, by the first lock we came to, a 90 year old was celebrating her birthday. Just by the lock is the Cape of Good Hope pub and restaurant and the Get Knotted rope workshop, making boat fenders (what names!). 

We passed the entrance to the short stretch of restored canal that is now the Saltisford Arm of the Grand Union Canal and went under the A46 road before reaching the first of the locks of the Hatton flight. This is an amazing sight, even though you cannot see all the locks at once and we were not in a boat having to face the prospect of climbing the 21 locks in less than two miles. It was originally opened in 1799 with narrow locks, but in the 1930s, with a workforce of 1000 navvies, the locks were widened to be able to accommodate two single narrowboats.    It was called ‘the stairway to heaven’ by boatmen due to be paid at Camp Hill not much further along the GUC in Birmingham. 

We just strolled up the rise of 45m to a café, in a building where horses were once stabled overnight. The five teabags came in a small teapot with plenty of jugs of hot water and we were left to make five suitably strong cups of tea. This whole area is lively with walkers, cyclists, tourists and boats. There is plenty going on, exhibits to see and information available. 

 

Walking on further we went through a lovely section of embankments with views and a well-wooded cutting to get to the Shrewley tunnel. Recent work had obviously been carried out to clear the area around the tunnel entrance and a clear footpath led up and over the tunnel. A hill on our normally so flat path! After crossing a road with houses directly over the tunnel (!) we came down to besides the canal again. This entailed going through our own dark, steeply down tunnel where some of us spontaneously burst into song. 

The M40 motorway noise was apparent at some points along here and we saw brief glimpses of the railway line that we were due to travel on later, back to Warwick.

A brick wall by an overflow outlet provided a good picnic/lunch spot and although the skies threatened rain, very little fell.

We carried on past the village of Rowington and stopped at Turner’s Green to admire a farmhouse very close and lying low to the canal. It was as if time had stopped still here; with a hand water pump in the garden and no modern features on the old beamed house. 

After passing a goat farm we came across more information points with maps. Bill provided the power for the audio presentations.

At Kingswood Junction, where the GUC joins with the Stratford-on- Avon canal, we stopped on the bridge to feed the young ducks who appeared exceptionally keen on pieces of bread. 

At the next bridge (No. 65) we turned off towards the railway station. We were pleased to have completed another 10 miles of towpath walking. Our goal of reaching Gas Street basin in Birmingham seems to be within our grasp, if all goes as well as it did this last couple of days.