Friday, August 3rd, Fradley Junction - Alvecote Basin

Why is it that on straight bits of canal you don’t meet any other boats, but when you get to narrow sections with moored boats and overhanging trees or bridgeholes on blind bends you meet the canal equivalent of the rush hour on the M25?

That’s what we had today. In spades!

It all started so promisingly when we set off from Fradley Junction on a lovely sunny morning.  The new industrial development on the old airfield at Fradley is thankfully hidden by a thick screen of trees. I wonder what the figure of a headless figure in a flying jacket that apparently haunts the old wartime airbase makes of it all.

The initial tranquillity of the surroundings is soon overtaken by the raucous roar of the racetrack otherwise known as the A38 dual carriageway. The road, which follows the route of the Roman’s Ryknield Street first roars overhead and then parallel to the canal as it approaches Streethay Wharf. How the inhabitants of the cottages and mobile homes that lie by the canal bridge cope with the constant noise is a wonder.

Mind you, it didn’t seem to affect one chap in a mobile home who erupted out of his home, clad in nothing more than his paisley dressing gown and gave us the campest greeting we’ve ever experienced!

Junction House at Huddlesford Junction

Streethay Wharf was remarkably quiet as we passed it, but I suppose most people were still getting up. It had only just gone 8.00. Moored boats affected the length from here to Whittington with one boat moored underneath the West Coast Main Line railway bridge at Huddlesford.

Passing the old junction with the former Wyrley & Essington line to Ogley and the BCN (hopefully on its way to being restored at some stage in the future) we set off for Whittington without any idea of the chaos that awaited us.

There is a long straight section with piled banking that has been a popular mooring place in the past. However, the overhanging tree growth on the off-side has narrowed the channel significantly and when, as happened now for us, boats converge from opposite directions it calls for some deft handling if nudges and knocks are to be avoided.

We had seen the trouble the boat in front of us was having passing an oncoming boat and so pulled in to a convenient space to let the oncoming boat pass. We then pulled out and just as we were passing the first moored boat, another boat appeared coming towards us. This time we kept going and managed to avoid going aground and collide with the oncoming boat as he managed to avoid us and the moored boats.

We were just about to breathe a sigh of relief as we reached the last moored boat, situated just before Whittington Bridge and the right angled bend immediately after when a boat came roaring round the corner with no idea of what he might meet. By this time our bow was in the bridge-hole and I was dam*ed if I was going to reverse back into the narrow channel behind.

He had slammed his brakes on and managed to more or less stop, but not before colliding with the towpath wall. We managed to pass each other in the bridge-hole itself – not normally recommended on a narrow canal as the bridges aren’t usually wide enough to admit two boats. Whittington Bridge is, however (and thankfully) a fairly modern rebuild and just takes two boats side by side.

Now we breathed that sigh of relief as we turned the corner and left Whittington behind us.

The polytunnels that always adorn the next length were all out protecting crops this time as we passed. We couldn’t see what was being grown in them, but adjacent to the tunnels was a large acreage of asparagus now waving its tall fronds in the breeze as it grows on after the short cutting season.

From here to Hopwas was remarkably quiet given the mayhem we had already experienced and we passed through the narrow section in the village without difficulty. Mind you, we had to stop twice at bridgeholes between Hopwas and Fazeley to allow boats to come through. They were both that situation where you’re not sure whether you would get to the bridge first or whether the other boat would. Knowing we can reverse, stop and mawmble pretty well, we normally take the line of least resistance and stop.

Fazeley Junction looking towards Birmingham

Elaine got off at Fazeley to walk ahead to get a paper while I crawled past all the moored boats. Although we have never stopped there, I quite like Fazeley. It is a former small industrial town with two seemingly out of place textile mills alongside the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal that meets the Coventry Canal in the shadow of the former A5 road bridge. The place has long since been by-passed.

Junction House at Fazeley Junction

New/old development at Fazeley

The junction is graced by a lovely old canal house, faced on the opposite bank by a redevelopment that is not only starting to blend in with the surroundings but has also incorporated an old warehouse as part of the development.

Past the junction I pulled in for a couple of minutes to allow Elaine to return, and then we set off across the Tame Aqueduct for the two locks at Glascote. There seemed to be a lot more boats than normal at the Tamworth Boat Club’s base at Kettlebrook Basin, but it turned out they were getting ready for a big weekend party for their 50^th anniversary. Good for them!

We had a reasonable run up the locks, just having to wait for a boat to go up before us. Then it was a case of ploughing on through the endless suburbs of Tamworth. Glascote and Amington seem to go for ever through a long line of brick bridges. It is interesting, however, to admire the efforts most people have taken to make the canal a feature of their back gardens!

Finally, once past the built up area and out onto a high embankment we decided to call it a day (particularly as the black clouds were gathering) and we tied up in a new place for us, just before Alvecote Basin & Marina. We have often seen moored boats there and thought we would give it a try. After one aborted attempt due to depth, we managed to get alongside in a good deep mooring.



Mooring at Alvecote basin