Black Country Living Museum to Merry Hill

Well, The Waterfront to be precise. The day started by attempting to fill our water tank at the BCLM, but the supply was so slow it would have taken about 3 hours. So we abandoned that idea and went into the BCLM. An amazing place and such a lot to see. We can highly recommend the fish and chips, and the ale in the Bottle and Glass is really good. This must be the only pub in Britain where there is sawdust on the floor. (Unless you know of another). Could have spent nearly a whole day in there but we had to move on to be at The Waterfront before dark. First things first, the water situation had to be sorted, so we moved TQ over to the other side of the canal where there was another water point. We had to moor alongside another narrow boat and the owner was more than happy to let us scramble accross his boat for access to the tap.

What a journey - back to Tipton Junction, on to Factory Junction and down Factory Locks, along the Main Line to Dudley Port Junction, under Tividale Aqueduct, (we went over it yesterday), through Netherton Tunnel, (at 3027 yards, this is a big bore tunnel. Wide enough for boats to pass and two towpaths), along the Dudley No. 1 canal to Blowers Green, through the lock and all the way down to The Waterfront. What a strange place, all these modern buildings seem to offer promise of something, I don't know what, and at the time of writing this all the lights are on everywhere, and there's not a soul around. The only secure moorings are the private moorings, but with so many cctv cameras around it ought to be safe-ish. The place is free of graffiti and litter, and is spotlessly clean, so that must be a good sign. There is a boy racer driving around an empty car park nearby. Its been dark for hours now, and the birds are still singing their hearts out. Its all a bit creepy.

Hardly a soul around

Something annoying has cropped up, I can't upload even the smallest photo to this blog as my connexion is too slow, so I'll have to wait untill I get home, but I'll still keep taking the photos and writing it all up.

Update: We've got ourselves a 3G dongle for the laptop and hey presto, broadband, and I can upload my pix, So I'll update where appropriate.