Tuesday, 13 May 2014

13th May. Day 11. Leicester => Birmingham Ring. Fradley Junction to Curdworth Top Lock.



















Drayton Manor Footbridge.

Overnight mooring after Curdworth top lock looking back to M6 Toll.

Curdworth Tunnel.

We have decided we are going to branch off the Leicester Ring and go to Birmingham and Gas Street basin then return to Rugby via King's Norton junction. To achieve this we wanted to get to the small area after the top of Curdworth locks before the conurbation of Birmingham starts. This meant a long day so we set off at 8.10. 

The weather was much better today. At one point I took off a warm layer after walking with Daisy to a lock and Rachel didn't recognise me and thought I was a boater from the opposite direction. There were of course some showers!

We stopped to fill up with diesel at Streethay Wharf after bridge 86 for 15 minutes at 9.20. 81 litres of diesel (£91), a mooring pin (£10.06) and a mooring "big safety pin" (£7.60).

We had planned to stop for lunch at Fazeley Junction and fill up with water at the same time. I nearly missed seeing a water point on the non tow path side at Peel's Wharf but backed onto it. Stopped at 12.45. Got water, got rid of refuse and went into the Canals and River Trust office to ask about mooring in central Birmingham. The Birmingham staff member was in Fazeley that day and was able to mention Star City moorings at Salford Junction which I hadn't found in my internet searches (but too soon with are current plans).

Left lunch mooring at 13.25 and turned right onto Birmingham and Fazeley canal.

The Curdworth flight of 10 locks took us about 2 1/2 hours although I tried to moor for night between locks 1 and 2 but the banks didn't have enough water depth. We actually moored at 17.15 after the top lock well towards Baylis Bridge to put us as far from the M6 toll as possible. As I sit inside the boat now I'm getting 40 dB noise on my iphone  (which it says is "quiet home") and the birds and the fridge give a higher reading than the background traffic when they kick in.

Today I have again been surprised that its been almost totally rural feeling.

16.75 miles 11 locks = 27.75 lock miles. 8 hours 10 minutes

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