The plan was to travel from Gas St, West on the Birmingham Main Line traverse the Soho Loop then back on the Main Line to Smethwick Junction then take the Old Main Line on the right to Bromford Junction where the old and new canals merge. Our route required us to negotiate six locks.
Another hot sunny day so off we set. The canal to the Soho Loop was mostly clean of visible debris but after turning onto the loop there was crap everywhere and on one side derelict factories.
Soho Loop... Vacant broken buildings one side, flats and graffiti the other....
After turning onto the Old Main Line we climbed up three locks and the garbage in the water got worse... In places the smell in the air from chemicals and extractors wasn't too flash either...
Before you eat your chicken bun for lunch you have to go down the weed hatch and fish around in the sewer to free the prop...
Only a thick plastic bag large enough to hold a duvet.... Nearly stalled the motor...
It appears most NB,s stick to the New Main Line.... No Bloody Wonder....
On the pounds between the Spon Lane Locks the weed was like artificial turf mat...
Under the M5 Motorway on the Old Line at Spon Lane Locks...
An old very disused bollard for tying working boats awaiting No 2 Spon Lane Lock...
Turning at the Bromford Junction to join the New Line and head back to the city we all but got stuck mid stream, shallow and so much rubbish on the bottom...
Back under the M5 on a different canal..... New Main Line...
Under the cast iron Telford Aqueduct, see the water trough, which carries the short Engine Branch Canal...
Who would be a Gardener?......
To summarize the Soho Loop and Old Main Line, CRAP, same as is in them......
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