Aug 25

I toured to the end of Dudley #2 canal, and have descended from Windmill End junction along the length of the Dudley #1 canal to the bottom of the Delph flight of locks.

Stopping for major shopping, provisioning, and their installation, at the monster Merryhill Shopping Center (rivals West Edmonton Mall in shopping size, but without the ice arena, waterpark, etc). This was the site of one of the larger steel mills that closed in 1980’s. The whole area was very depressed with the departure of much of the heavy industry, and so there has been a significant attempt bring in lighter industry, and facilities like this one to provide economic stimulus to the area.

I got new LED lighting for much of the inside of the boat, which will make the increasingly dark evenings brighter without the same drain on the batteries. Installed the new composting toilet- which I know probably doesn’t rate with most readers of this blog, but for boating people, toilets are a very big deal. Taking toilet facilities for granted is pretty much my experience on land, but that has all changed on the boat. The composting idea makes lots of sense to me, rather than the only other two options, but there are mixed reviews on effectiveness. I will post my evaluation as things go.

The Delph flight was hard work. Single-handing (operating the boat and locks alone) makes for a great deal of too-ing and fro-ing back and forth. It was also very windy yesterday while doing the locks, so one had to tie up all the time, or hold the lines to make sure the boat didn’t get blown away from the sides of the pounds (the ponds betweeen the locks). Swimming was NOT on my agenda! There are 8 deep locks, and it took me 2.5h of really constant effort. Holding the lines while operating the locks and making sure all was correct made for really focussed effort. The fishermen ensconced along the canal edge had lots to watch and comment upon.

The next canal bit is the Stourbridge canal. This area is the glass-making center of Britain, and a great deal of the glassware for everything from utilitarian pub glases, through the finest Sturat crystal glass was made here. Most is now gone as well, and I will see  what I can of that which is left. The canal was an essential transport method, as breakage was significantly reduced compared to shipment by wagon on the roads. I have lots of locks to do as well so it will be a busy couple of days.