The next leg of our journey took us out of Birmingham city centre, passed offices and industrial buildings. Straight out of Birmingham were 12 locks falling steeply out of the centre.

We travelled a short distance before coming to a second set of locks at Aston Junction. There were another 11 locks here. I walked the majority of this journey as there is only a short distance between the locks, so it was easier to walk than keep getting on and off the boat.

This is a very built up area and although the locks and canal is very pretty the route is surrounded by factories and busy roads. It’s amazing to see the old world canal wending its way through the city centre and modern industrial buildings.

Excellent team work

By now we had got into a really good routine for opening and closing all the locks. One to open the paddles, two pushing the gate open. Drive the boat in, shut the gate. Two then winding the paddles to let the water out to lower the boat. Push the gate open, drive the boat in, close the paddles and the gate.

Because it was such a lovely day and the pace of the boat is virtually walking speed, there was lots of time for banter and enjoying the sunshine, so it certainly doesn’t feel like hard work.

A pretty place to stop

Later the canal made its way back out into the countryside, with beautiful pathways, cottages and gardens. It was such a beautiful day that I again walked on the tow path. There were another three locks in this section too.

We moored for the night in a lovely little clearing at Curdworth. This is a pretty little area, with a pub a short distance from the canal. Once we’d stopped we opened a chilled bottle of prosecco and enjoyed a lovely rest, before getting ready to go out for tea. The prosecco was well deserved after all those locks!