BIRMINGHAM
I know that I have rambled on and on about
the locks on the canal. They are both a fascination and sometimes even a challenge
for us. But what a simple and ingenious
system! To think that miles of canal were
constructed 300 years ago and chiseled out by picks, axes and shovels amazes us
each day. Most of our time has been a breathtaking
journey through farmlands and small villages. Today we ventured into the bowels
of Birmingham.
We left at 8 am once again trying to beat the rain and wind. We got through two locks of an 11 lock “flight” and on the 3rd one, the lock was locked. The paddles had been blocked. David had to back out of the lock, tie up and call the emergency hotline. He reached a very charming woman who was quite sympathetic and said that she would contact the local authority. She took our number and we waited. After an hour passed, David called again, and she connected him directly to a local entity.
Another delightful woman was so apologetic
because she tried to contact us, but her phone would not allow international
calls. She was quite upset over the situation that she vowed to bring it up
with “the powers that be”. She believed
our problem was that the paddles had a “vandal proof” lock on them. She said, “Sometimes
we are dealing with anti-social behavior, and we have to secure the locks.”
She asked if we had the special key that
would unlock it. We knew nothing about such a key, and she went on about how
important it is for rental companies to provide that key. She ended up contacting
a young man in our vicinity, and we were told that he was going to meet us at
the lock with the key that would cost us 5 pounds. We didn’t care.
We got the key and instructions on how to use it. We were told that vandals have opened the paddles on occasion as a prank and drained the locks, so it was necessary to secure them. He told us that we would probably need to use the key again traveling through Birmingham, but we only used it that once. I said to David, “You know we are going to find a key in our equipment closet.” When we ended the day, sure enough, there it was on the shelf. Even if we had noticed it, we would not have known its purpose. There were just a couple of details left out during our orientation, both regarding keys. But no harm done other than our journey was delayed almost 2 hours.
We operated a total of 24 locks yesterday
heading to the city center. At first, we traveled through dark ugly spaces
under the streets of Birmingham. The locks seemed very neglected. People would
walk by and were surprised to see a boat coming through. One fella said, “I
have never seen a boat come through here! Why do you want to go to Birmingham?”
When we reached open air, we were meandering throughout the city. People were gawking at us, taking photos, standing by the lock or on bridges watching the whole process. Very few onlookers offered to help even when it was obvious that I was struggling. Two Irish gentleman stopped to gab, and I recruited them to shut the gate for me. They were more than willing to come to my aide. Dave and I worked out an efficient system, but it meant that David had to climb in and out of the boat to help with paddles and gates. He was a real trooper. One woman shouted from the bridge, “I think he’s letting you do all the hard work!” Not at all. We both slept well that night.
We are now moored at a marina in the heart
of Birmingham surrounded by apartment buildings. We will be leaving it here
while we travel abroad. We were amazed that we found our way here after
navigating a junction with 3 possible turns and then a roundabout for boats. We
treated ourselves to a wonderful Italian dinner last night celebrating our
accomplishment.
Our view from our mooring
Today we did a walking tour of much of downtown. It was heartening to see the beauty of Birmingham after our gruesome first impression. We found an outdoor apparel store that was going out of business. We think we finally solved our glove problem with the purchase of insulated waterproof gloves. We also bought some long johns and waterproof “over pants” for the never-ending wet weather. November has been mild compared to the average temperatures here and yet we have been really chilled. We want to be as prepared as we can be for December and January.
We walked through a Christmas Faire that had all the markings of a German Faire with bratwurst and schnitzel along with a variety of German beer. I enjoyed a hot toffee cider drink.
The Christmas Market
To end our day, we stopped at a Distillery right on the canal for a traditional Sunday roast dinner. This establishment is known for its gin, and we sampled a couple of gin cocktails that were mighty tasty. We watched as the chef poured gravy over the entire plate of beef, veggies and Yorkshire pudding using a funnel with a release valve. The perfect gift for David.
A highlight was zooming with my pal, Jan, on her birthday. What a treat. Happy Birthday, my dear friend.
Canal side businesses
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