Onto the Stratford.

We have pulled ourselves from the fleshpots of Brindley Place, Whenever we leave  I always feel that I would like another day in Brum but all good things come to an end.

The new aqueduct on the Worcester and Birmingham, like Chirk and Marple, has a railway bridge running alongside but somehow lacks the grandeur of those two. At least we captured a train crossing it.

A little further on we passed the sight of Selly Oak Junction where the Dudley No.2 canal joined, there are efforts being made to re-open this canal but it looks like a major undertaking, I can only wish them luck.

Just watching the boats go by.
You cannot go down this stretch of canal without mentioning,

, so I won't.

Kings Norton Junction where we were turning off onto the Stratford on Avon Canal, the old toll house,

with its 1993 reproduction of the 1793 toll charges,

still stands sentinel.

The old stop lock with its guillotine gates, now sadly decayed and graffitied.
A little further along is a site of major importance to the canal preservation movement, Lifford Lane Bridge, in 1947 the Great Western Railway, then owners of the Stratford Canal, fixed the former drawbridge at a level that prevented the passage of boats. After questions in parliament and a notice of intention to navigate by Tom Rolt the G.W.R. were forced to jack the bridge up to allow Cressy to pass.

I believe this is the site of the bridge, now totally removed.

Old Will Shakespeare stands guard over the entrance to Brandwood Tunnel.
We are now moored by Dicken's Heath, just past the major new housing development

that even has its own water feature.

Watch this space..............