5th April 2016. We skirt round Birmingham.

We have decided to go around Birmingham this time and go around to the south and west towards Worcester.

The city began at least a mile earlier than our map said, with new developments appearing long before we expected them to.

There were no locks today, although we did go through one guillotine flood lock which, perhaps fortunately, was not operational.

The rather scary guillotine flood lock. Note the graffiti, rather a feature of todays travels.  

There were three swingbridges. The joggers in the distance stopped to take photos of Harold, and appeared delighted with him. What a celeb!  

Robin operates the swing bridge while superstar Harold flouts his way through.

There were also two tunnels, one short and one long. The designer of this bit of canal chose to use cuttings and tunnels rather than locks to manage the landscape.

The entrance to the Wast Hills tunnel. There is a boat coming the other way but the tunnel is wide enough
for two, unlike the locks and bridges.

After travelling through the built up areas around the south of the Birmingham conurbation, old and new housing developments backing onto the canal and tower blocks in the distance, we reached Kings Norton junction and the end of the Stratford on Avon canal. We turned south onto the Worcester and Birmingham canal and shortly after the Wast Hill tunnel we were in open country; the Hills themselves seem to mark the edge of the city. We moored near the Alvechurch fisheries and took walks to admire the countryside, which is different in character again.

We travelled 13 miles today in around 6 hours. What a difference no locks make. However, there are 36 locks in the next 3.5 mile,s so progress may be a little slower tomorrow!