Sherbourne Wharf to Minworth

7.5 miles:  27 locks

We left Sherbourne Wharf in drizzle but the weather forecast promised better and by mid-morning it was sunny and it remained like that till the end of the day.

I knew the first day out of Birmingham was going to be very hard.
It looked like a minimum of 27 locks!
I planned to go down the Farmer's Bridge Thirteen and the then the Aston Old Eleven and then the Mimworth Three unless I found mooring before then.
Hallmark arrived at Old Turn Junction and the start of the Birmingham and Frazely Canal just after 8.00am.
Frazely was a couple of days away or to put it another way 15 miles and 38 locks away!

Just before the first lock is Cambrian Wharf which has some 14 day moorings.
But what wonderful reflections.............

There are thirteen locks in the Farmer's Bridge flight and we had dropped the 70 feet to Aston Junction by 10:30am.

It is a good run down though the Jewellery Quarter.
You literally go under some of the modern buildings adjacent to the canal.
You go through a one of a pair of tunnels at one stage.
But going right under Snow Hill Station in a cavern of a bridge caps the lot.

But the Aston Flight was closed as the bottom lock had been damaged and British Waterways said it could be a four hour closure.

So I decided on a diversion that would still get me to Salford Junction.
This involved taking the Digbeth Branch and then the Saltly Cut.
There were still 11 locks made up of six at Ashted and five at Garrison.
Much of the detour was grim and a bit scary.
There were stretches were just full of grime and graffiti.

The canal  was criss crossed  by  bridge after bridge of railway lines.
There were highlights like the Warwickshire Bar and some 'handsome' warehouses.

We finally got to Salford Junction where the Aston route joins about twenty yards back.
Being underneath the M6 and the A38 at Spaghetti Junction was amazing.
The canal is totally overshadowed by the elevated sections of motorway.
They seem to be bearing down on you.

The Birmingham and Fazeley now begins it's long run out of Birmingham.
For mile after miles there seems to nothing but factories.
They ignore the canal and go about there business regardless.
Then come the last three locks of the day.
The Minmorth locks all need vandal proof keys as the pound has been frequently drained overnight in the past.

There are three pubs along the canal all with moorings and judged safe overnight stops.
After a long day I chose the middle one with it's Hare and Hounds  non-canal name.
But the food was good and the mooring quiet.