Merry Hill to Symphony Court

Had another lazy start today, left TQ moored on the quay side at the waterfront and strolled over to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. Wow, it is huge, two miles of shops ranging from clothes shops and shoe shops to phone shops and food shops. A whole range including a model shop selling radio control aircraft (see my other blog). We looked at the possibility of going 3G for faster internet access when on TQ. Found some useful gen, and conned ourselves into buying a usb lead for our existing phone as it is alledged that Bluetooth slows down the delivery speed of a dial up connection. What crap.

OK, lets see if I can upload some photos tonight...

Sorry, it won't have it!
UPDATE: Got ourselves a 3G dongle thingy. Can upload photos, now.
So, got back to TQ shortly after noon, and winded right from where we were moored and made our way back to Blowers Green Lock. Unbelievably the lock was in our favour, so it was a case of open the gates and drive straight in. After raising the 12 feet depth of the lock, Lin steered TQ around to the water point at the top of the lock. We continued our way back to the Netherton Tunnel and turned right at Dudley Port Junction. Now we're on the home straight back to Symphony Court. I noticed that a lot of engine revs were needed to make normal progress along the cut. This meant a visit to the weed hatch, but I resisted the need until we got to our destination.

Netherton Tunnel Northern portal viewed yesterday from over Tividale Aqueduct

Netherton Tunnel Northern portal viewed today from under Tividale Aqueduct

This is Blowers Green Lock, but this pic shows the journey to Merry Hill.

Arrived at Symphony Court at 17:05hrs and moored up in our favorite spot. First things first, switch off the engine, remove the ignition key and place it in my pocket. (LOTO). Then open the weed hatch by loosening the tee bolt. Worryingly, it wasn't very tight. Any way, I removed the hatch to find the propeller was well tangled with plastic from old rope, plastic coal/fertilizer bags, and even some knicker elastic. Enough to 1/4 fill a dustbin bag. Not much in the way of weeds, though. Managed to get it all off using my "Bargee Kev" spade tool. Placed the hatch back on and tightened the tee bolt down reasonably tight.

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.