Birmingham.

It was another splendid sunny morning when we set off, so we were glad of the shade that the cuttings and trees gave us en-route.

 

We ventured into Wast Hill Tunnel which had water dripping from all the stalactites above us. Luckily, through all the three tunnels that we went through, we hadn’t met any other boats.

 

Until we reached Kings Norton Junction we hadn’t decided which way we would go. As it had been over ten years since we visited the city on a hire boat,  we went straight on. We stopped briefly on Cadbury’s Wharf for a restful coffee break. From what looked like a fairly new Aqueduct we could see Birmingham University with it’s tall clock-tower. 

    

As we approached Edgbaston the towpath became much busier with cyclists, joggers and walkers. The railway had run alongside us for some distance  and it went under a bridge just to the left of the canal bridge. We admired the design of the strong archways wall on the left made from blue engineering brick. I wonder what is in these bricks which makes them so tough and durable.

We turned left at The Mailbox where there was a big screen showing the progress of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Onwards through the bustling Gas Street Basin,

The narrows,

under Broad Street,

past the Pitcher & Piano at Brindley Place.

by the Malt House with many gongoozling diners,

to moor between the Sea Life Centre and National Indoor Arena by Farmers Bridge.

Not long after we had moored and were munching on our salad, there was a knock on the side and it was Alan and Debbie from nb Keeping Up. They came in for a drink and told us that they were here a boaters wedding. Next, along came Ange and John, nb Iona followed by Jan and Dave nb Aquagem. So, it seemed that we had arrived in time to see the wedding purely by accident!