In her 1992 Christmas message, the Queen popularised the term "annus horribilis" to describe the year that had just been. I think that we can say that the 25th of June will be remembered as this trip's diem horribilis.
The forecast for the day ahead was 32 degrees and it was already uncomfortably warm when we set off. Seven hours later - it should have taken less than five - we arrived in Walsall - sunburnt, mentally drained and physically exhausted.
Our memory of that day holds countless images: a canal that was reduced to a one-boat width due to the encroaching weed and built-up silt; duckweed and water hyacinth so thickly coating the surface that at times when looking ahead, there was no water to be seen; stopping out of the sun under every second bridge to de-foul the prop of its load of plastic, weed and discarded clothing; running aground in foul-smelling liquid mud in the middle of the channel, the prop chocking on a tracksuit top; chugging over an aqueduct at 1200 revs but travelling at only one mph.
Perry Barr Top Lock Visitor Moorings - this was to be home for a night.
Choice spot, right opposite the toilets and Elsan facility. Note the duckweed on the canal.
Where half of the crew spent most of the day - down the weed hatch.
Despite the heat, long pants and long sleeves were required to protect the Scottish complexion.
Although we seriously doubted it at times, we made it out alive, sustaining only minor damage to the boat, when our prop connected with a metal road sign that had been tossed into the canal. "Diverted Traffic", it exhorted; "Hilarious", we chortled, "wished we'd seen that one at the start of the day and we'd have taken another route!" I think by this stage we were suffering from the effects of both heatstroke and dehydration.
The damage to our prop could have been far worse; at least we missed the car body, the washing machine, the engine, and the sofa. We also avoided the mattress (just), the countless shopping trolleys, the wheelie bins and the industrial skips. And why would you toss six fire extinguishers into the canal?? Unfortunately, we connected with numerous plastic shopping bags (all supermarkets represented) many of which were eerily suspended from the bottom like the jellyfish in Finding Nemo; and a large, sodden cushion that took some persuading off the prop and out of the canal.
When we ploughed over one of these signs in the canal, we decided that this was the one piece of advice that we should have paid attention to that day.
Amazingly, in the midst of all of the weeds and mud and filth, there were fish.. thousands of them, and in pursuit of the fish were fisherman. Surely, they couldn't have been fishing for their dinner? No-one could be that desperate.
There were some stunning moments though ... chugging across an aqueduct that spans the M6 was almost as disconcerting as travelling under it at Birmingham. I wonder if anyone ever sees the boats cruising overhead?
The aqueduct that traverses the M6
View down onto the M6. Crazy!
An aerial view showing the canal and the aqueduct
These are clearly not my photos, but those of you who have been paying attention will already know that as I stated at the outset that we were due for a 32-degree day. These pictures show another type of day altogether and one that we would encounter soon enough. Our day turned out to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest June day on record.
Although desperate to reach Walsall, we were now very apprehensive about what we'd find there, given the filth in the canals and the fairly seedy nature of some of the estates that we'd passed. Our fears were to be unfounded; amazingly, this is what we discovered at journey's end. A large, clean basin with plentiful moorings and finger wharves, right in the centre of things.
We were the basin's only occupants and unsurprisingly, given the condition of the canal, no other boats appeared over the next four days. Our only companions during this time - a large flock of Canada geese.
Some local kids, who clearly had no fear of contracting leptospirosis, were cooling off in the canal whilst others sat on the edge and paddled their feet. This was to be the weekend of the Bournemouth debacle.
The next morning, we woke to rain and winds that increased over the next few days to around 40 mph. These two factors were influential in our decision to stay put and recuperate in order to prepare for what possibly lay ahead of us on the final leg into Wolverhampton. We had set out in ignorance from Birmingham - we were to continue with our eyes wide open.
The Captain, The Commodore, and Mrs Chippy
Comments