Birmingham

We had a long but not too difficult day getting into Birmingham and the 38 locks along the way. Luckily most of them were in our favour and we seemed to be on our own so no queueing. Plus the weather was glorious and nobody bothered us on our slow passage through the city. Which lead us eventually to Gas Street Basin slap bang in the middle of town. Full of clubs, pubs, bars and even a lap dancing club, what were we thinking. We found a quiet corner and did some people watching. The night passed fairly peacefully.

In the morning we set off for Dudley, passing of all things a roundabout in the canal !



We left behind the des res's and bright lights and passed through the industrial areas. These too soon faded away and the old industries have long since gone and nature has reclaimed the banks.


The canal is a proper bit of Telford engineering, "Right lads we are here we need to be there build it STRAIGHT and wide". Bit like an old time equivalent of a motorway. He even remarked on the existing canal as " that ditch"

The weather again was beautiful and apart from the occasional grand bridge passing over head you could have been anywhere in the countryside. Which brought us to Dudley where we visited the Black Country Museum. A living museum with a whole village to explore and staff dressed in period costume.

and a recreation of the old industries that made the black country. Chain making was it's biggest business, supplying 90% of all of the country's chain. There was even a chain making demonstration.



The museum goes from the the industrial revolution right up to the 1930's and you can find a little bit of each period around the site. We even got to ride two trams.




Highly recommended if you find yourself in the area.

Tomorrow we head for a bit of peace and quiet and green. Cities are interesting to visit but you wouldn't want to live there would you.