The Black Country

 

So to the Black Country

Spend half the night listening to a dog in the distance that was howling pathetically. Quizzing a dog walker in the morning she said that there was a big bungalow with a makeshift kennel attached. Keith rang the PDSA and left a message but they didn't even bother to ring back!
So, we set too to begin the climb of the Stourbridge 16 passing the famous Redhouse Glassworks bottle kiln (Stuart Crystal)

closely followed by Dadford's Shed that is the business home of the painter Phil Speight. We booked our previous boat Anna of The Five Towns that was Roger Fuller's first boat, in here for a repaint but we had to withdraw when we found that she needed some serious overplating. Before we bought her she sat next to a salt factory at Rumps Lock in Middlewich and the brine took its toll.
Half way up the flight a walker with a windlass began helping us with the locks that were all set in our favour so we were able to zoom up in glorious sunshine. He was justly rewarded with a can of Old Speckled Hen!
Two years ago we moored at the top of this flight and were just settling down for our evening meal when we were slipped by some helpful lads. We promptly moved in the dark to a safer location.

Barbed wire should have given us a clue!

The pretty Delph Flight

 

Hey Ho!!

 

We were soon at the Merryhill shopping Centre and it felt as though we were on the top of the world after climbing to a level of 450ft since leaving Stourport (40 locks) with commanding views over the surrounding countryside.

We made use of the facilities at Park Head Junction when it decided to rain for a while.
Adjacent to the lockside cottage at the end of the Grazebrook Arm was parked a beautiful 2.2Ltr Morris commercial wagon. It was restored in 1991 by Steve Bingham; it took 18 months.

We moored for the night at Windmill End in the Black Country ready to embark on the passage through the 3027yd long Netherton tunnel in the morning.

 

 

When Keith first started boating back in the late 1900s there was a pub here named the Dry Dock Inn where they sold locally produced "Desparate Dan" pies complete with horns. Sadly it has now been converted into flats but the name lives on!