Black Country Museum & Wolverhampton level

I couldn't believe how many boats were moored at the museum when we arrived. This picture was taken next morning when most had departed but needless to say a channel a boat width wide was the only way we could get through to wind round yesterday. We tied up our stern rope to the boat behind but as we moored in the winding hole Ian had to throw out our mud weight to hold the front in. ( We had permission from the boat club to do this ) We pushed over as soon as we could in the morning. 



The moorings.

The first trip through the Dudley Tunnel was at 10.30am and I was very glad not to have waited for a later one as hordes of people had arrived by the time we got back and from only  7 people on the first boat, the next was full to capacity. 


Backing out of Dudley tunnel




Emmmm..... which one will he take?



Inside Dudley tunnel

Its a shame our boat was to high to fit through the entrance, but the boat trip was well worth the £5.50 each. To go round the rest of the site and see the miners village from pre gas light through to the 1930 's only cost £13 and a visit to the pub plus fish and chips traditional style set us up nicely for our trip down the coal mine. Very scary as we only had low light torches to show the way through, plus the roof was so low in places that its a good job we all wore hard hats!

The School kids dressed up and, with no play station in sight, had to make there own entertainment. A skipping rope gave them a lot of pleasure. Bring back the old days!!



Spon Lane Junction

  The trip to Old Turn ( deep cuttings ) Junction in Birmingham took longer then I thought, although we were able to get a good move on as the canal was deep and relatively free from weeds. We left the Museum at 2.30 and didn't arrive at the junction until nearly 6pm. On the way we passed Spon lane Junction with the locks on Birmingham main line canal. I found the picture below  most bizarre. A small canal bridge being dwarfed by the Motorway concrete columns.



Smethwick Pump house was used to bring water from the Birmingham new main line to the Wolverhampton level. I'm not sure if its still used today.