Thursday 11th August 2016

A few more locks and then we turned right and headed round Brierley Hill and tackled the 8 lock Delph locks. Again we saw no boats and were up the flight very quickly. It rises 85' and here are the views from the bottom and then looking back down.

I was steering the boat and each lock had an incredible amount of plant growth. It looked like torn velvet curtains.

Suddenly after the top we rounded a bend and there was an enormous shopping complex - Merry Hill.

We ate lunch, had a quick look around and stocked up the fridge before travelling on to Park Head junction where the Dudley tunnel opening is. We are travelling to the Black Country museum at the exit of the tunnel but have to take a detour and pass under the hill through a different tunnel as diesel powered craft are not allowed through the Dudley tunnel and the roof height is very low. 

This sign caught my eye.

Effort is always needed when closing lock gates - although these last few days we have had some of the best gates we have ever had to work.

We moored for the night at Bumblehole Bridge near Netherton and ate in a local hostelry previously known as Ma Pardoes but now renamed The Old Swan. A very quiet mooring and it is hard to believe how close we are to the second major city in the country and in an area where coal mines proliferated and the air was black with dust from the steel foundries.