Birmingham and the Canals

Arrived in Birmingham up the Worcester / Birmingham Canal on Friday, 5th June to meet up with the other 8 boats who were in the Cotswolds Narrow Boat Cruising club which Martin and Sue belong to and who were exploring part of the Birmingham canal system for the next week.

It was only 5 miles from where we left the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal and was completely different from that canal.  We went through mainly residential and industrial countryside, a lot of cleared and derelict land.  The canal had become quite dirty with a lot of rubbish in it.  Some of the landmarks included Bournville where the Cadbury factory is, the huge university of Birmingham and Edgbaston where the cricket is played.

 

Boats coming into Cambrian Wharf in Birmingham City (I am in the second boat).  We had a meal in The Malthouse, the old pub above the boats, at the top of the photo.

View of canal from one of the many footbridges over the canal in the centre of Birmingham.

We moored at the Cambrian Wharf, right in central Birmingham.  The canal coming into this part of Birmingham had bars and old restored buildings along it combined with modern buildings and apartments.  After mooring we went for a walk around the city centre.  They have a large covered indoor arena at the ICC Convention Centre where indoor athletics often take place plus concerts and other sports right beside the canal, a huge new cultural centre with a Symphony Hall, the City Hall and Museum and the Gas Street Basin where a lot of narrow boats are moored plus a lot more.  The city was very busy with people especially young teenage girls that were going to the "5 seconds of Summer" concert in the Arena the night (an Aussie band I had never heard of, I must be getting old !!  There were thousands of them.).  We had a typical pub meal at The Malthouse that night, just along from the mooring. 

 

The Birmingham City Hall

It was off again on the boat early next morning after a noisy night in the middle of Birmingham