For our first joint outing of 2021, Nick and I carried on where our two most recent adventures had left off, hence we set about investigating more of the Grand Union Canal's Solihull sections. We'd covered Knowle Locks in October and Lode Lane to Damson Parkway in December, so now it was time to join up the dots in between...
- Wolverhampton Station Redevelopment -
Thursday 8th April 2021 and the trip starts out at Wolverhampton railway station which continues with its grand redevelopment scheme. It had been a few months since I last caught up with progress here and the old 1960s breezeblock frontage has vanished from view as the second phase of the rebuild gathers momentum. Automatic ticket barriers have been installed and the facility already feels much brighter and more approachable. In time the Midland Metro will terminate outside, better linking up the different modes of transport.
- St Alphege's Church -
Enough of that Wolverhampton stuff, this should be a Solihull post so let's crack on with the main event. Meeting a bemasked Nick on schedule at 10:25, we plot a course around the edges of Solihull town centre. Homer Road is where many key facilities are located, including the registry office, the police station and one end of the Touchwood shopping centre. We narrowly avoid gatecrashing a wedding then take Church Hill Road up to St Alphege's, looking absolutely spectacular when framed by pretty cherry blossoms. The church is over 800 years old and is dedicated to a martyred Anglo-Saxon former Archbishop of Canterbury.
- Towpath Turpin reporting for duty -
The canal is calling to us so Malvern Park, Hampton Lane and Damson Parkway combine to get us to Elmdon Heath amidst an encouraging amount of sunshine. From Damson Parkway Bridge we take the towpath eastwards, effectively running parallel to Lugtrout Lane; the Grand Union has an appealing tree-lined aspect here, and although we're in something of a cutting we can still get glimpses out over the fields towards Bickenhill. Conversation is peppered with thoughts of cricket, Covid and Scottish independence as we approach Catherine-de-Barnes, long lockdown hair also being a major talking point!
- Bridge 78, Catherine-de-Barnes -
Sure enough we reach the place which sounds more like a Tudor noblewoman than a Solihull village, albeit the colloquial name for the area is the altogether less-glamorous-sounding 'Catney'. We briefly leave the canal at Bridge 78 in order to check out some of the principal features on Hampton Lane, notably a Nisa convenience store, Longfellows restaurant and the Boat Inn (resembling a building site while the outdoor spaces are made ready for the resumption of trade from April 12th onwards). A narrow track to the rear of the pub passes a clutch of cottages to reveal the whereabouts of the local cricket club, a nice discovery.
- River Blythe Aqueduct -
Back on the Grand Union, we meander in a roughly southerly direction to encounter Henwood Bridge (No. 77) close to Henwood Mill Winding Hole. We then cross above the River Blythe on an intriguing two arch aqueduct - the river is a significant water course, rising near Earlswood Lakes and winding its way past Cheswick Green, Brueton Park and Hampton in Arden before meeting the Tame at Coleshill. We scamper down a set of wooden steps to survey the brickwork prior to contemplating Copt Heath Wharf (a fuel pump, an outhouse and several moored narrowboats seem to be the sum of its components on this occasion).
- Castle Bridge, Knowle -
From Copt Heath it isn't too much further to Knowle, the scenery improving again once we get beyond the M42 motorway. A couple of field bridges keep the camera occupied (No. 74 being a fine example) until we reach Kixley Lane where Bridge 72 marks our exit point, just as it did in October when we'd walked up from Chessetts Wood. There's time enough for a Penguin pit stop at Knowle Church - other chocolate biscuit brands are available - then the final leg into Dorridge has us discussing our favourite culinary moments, Banbury schenkstroop and Hockley jambalaya chief amongst them. Dorridge station brings the curtain down for now, but fingers crossed we'll be seeing more of Nick/Towpath Turpin on the blog as lockdown eases.
No comments:
Post a Comment