At the end of the Stratford we turned right onto the Worcester and Birmingham canal. This was a bit wider, lined with factories instead of trees and quite shallow in places. A railway follows the canal all the way into Birmingham. A mile further on we stopped at Bournville.
The ‘secure’ visitor mooring on the off side provide space for 2 boats and was already occupied. So we were obliged to moor outside the security fence. That night we felt quite vulnerable as youths gathered nearby at 2 am, talking loudly with the ‘f’ word in every sentence.
Even the train station is painted purple, for it is here that Cadburys chocolate is made.
We walked into Bournville in the morning to see some of the huge new factories and original buildings from the 1900’s. All the fences and street lamps were painted purple. We had the feeling that something was about to happen in the streets. The evening news reported that the new owners are to keep the Bournville production going. Good news indeed.
Back on the boat we set off for Birmingham and beyond. We are not city people and regard them as ‘concrete jungles’ even though in reality there is more brick, steel and glass than concrete.
We took the direct route along the main line and were happy to find trees and grass once through the centre.
After 12 flat miles we arrived at Factory locks which climb up to the Wolverhampton level.
1 comment:
much of the land and old buildings are trust land and thankfully nothing to do with the tender mercies of Kraft who now own cadbury.So hopefully no theme parks.i am astounded at how often i hear the F word throughout the population in Birmingham even amongst them that should know better.
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