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| We were going to stay over a day after 2 long days and 1 quite long day.......BUT Geoff had a plan! |
He decided we should explore the Dudley No 2 Canal which turns off just before the entrance to the Netherton tunnel, so instead of my rest day he suggested that after shopping we set off......what can one do but agree.......
In fact I had visited the shopping centre yesterday and M&S didn't have what I wanted and Smiths didn't have the book I wanted.....so what the heck....might as well go....
We did have a leisurely start to the day however and then shopped in Tesco's...the only downside of that being the fact that Geoff had to carry the wheelie trolley up umpty umpt steps.
After coffee we set out, with Barney and I planning to walk to the only lock of the day at Park head Junction. We immediately go past the Waterfront which is not as exciting as it might have been. There are only two restaurants, a Brewers Fayre and a Wetherspoons, no little shops. The rest seems to be offices or vacant.
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| Brewers Fayre |
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| Wetherspoons |
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| Some more visitors moorings on the left but not as nice as where we had been |
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| Some permanent moorings ahead |
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| Ahead are 3 more locks at the entrance to the Dudley No 1 canal (no longer navigable) but we were turning sharp right aiming for Windmill End and the junction with Dudley No 2 |
No more locks so I retreated to the bow to survey the world going by. However the sun had disappeared, it became chillier and the canal was shallow in parts and to add insult to injury we picked something up on the prop again. By the time we were nearly at the junction Geoff's enthusiasm for exploring had waned somewhat so we decided to moor on the quite pleasant looking moorings. Plenty of grass for Barney and it was late lunch time by then.
Later (after his siesta!) when Geoff checked the weed hatch he found a large amount of plastic...
So no Dudley No 2 this year as tomorrow we will go on to Birmingham centre.
Total distance:3.94 miles
Elapsed time:1h56m26s
Locks:1
Bridges:21
Average speed:2.03 mph (2.54 lock/mph)
Average speed:2.03 mph (2.54 lock/mph)
2 comments:
We've never done those 'back of the map' bits of the BCN, like Delph and Netherton -- in spite of planning to do them a couple of times. However, they're still on the list. I understand the Dudley No 2 through Gosty Hill Tunnel is quite interesting and the moorers at Hawne Basin are very welcoming. I also understand they sell diesel at a pretty good price down there, to make the trip worthwhile!
well we still haven't done the Dudley No 2 either...chickened out because of time. If the sun had been shining yesterday we might have persevered.
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