Let’s think positive.  Today we will (hopefully) get past Salford Junction and be back on our original route, albeit a little behind schedule.  Although our overnight mooring was relatively quiet, the towpath still backed onto a housing estate and in the distance we had the constant rumble of the M6 motorway.  All being well we should get out of the suburbs and industrial parts of Birmingham and into some open country by tonight.

Shortly after setting off, we arrived at the group of four locks between Aldbridge Road and College Road bridges.  We cleared these and the following mile before our final two locks (the last being lock 13 - Perry Barr bottom lock) fairly quickly.  Whilst sitting in the lock chamber just before College Road Bridge, I spotted a Halfords sign about 100 yards away.  Although I had purchased unleaded petrol at the start of our journey, in the rush to unload the car, I realised that I had left the petrol can in the foot well behind the passenger seat.  As expected, the little bit of fuel that had been in the generator had run out this morning whilst caching up on the BBC news and weather on TV.  I had therefore planned to be on the lookout for a petrol station on our route today with the intention of buying a new petrol can (and of course some petrol).  Spotting the Halfords store, although not solving the petrol problem, would at least allow me get the petrol can.  So off I popped over to Halfords.  Whilst I was there I also picked up a new 12v DC to 230v AC inverter (to replace the one that had recently thrown in the towel), a spare fuse for the battery charger (which had mysteriously blown) and a 12v interior bulb for the engine room wall light.  All in all, a very useful stop.  The only downside was on asking at the store, the closest petrol station was a few miles away, although there had previously been a filling station on the opposite corner to the store until it closed down a few years ago.  I would therefore just have to keep my eyes peeled for a filling station en-route.

When we had originally planned the route, we had been looking forward to reaching Salford Junction as this would have meant completing the highest density of locks on the route (25 locks in 8 miles), with the remainder of the journey of 40 locks being spread out over 52 miles.  Of course, having had to alter our route to come down the Tame Valley canal had added a few more miles (and 5 more locks), but still, reaching Salford Junction was seen as a milestone in our journey.

In and out of lock 12, then passing under Deykins Avenue Bridge and into lock 13.  Once the chamber was empty, I opened the starboard side gate and went to open the port side.  Unfortunately, it would only open about half way – not quite enough for us to squeeze through.  After about ten minutes of using the boat hook, pole and grappling hook on a rope, and with only a road cone base pulled out to show for it, I guessed it was going to be another call to our friendly BW Emergency number.

On raising the call, I realised the operator was the same gentleman who I had spoken to a couple of days earlier regarding the dewatering of the Old Line Spon Lane locks.  He thanked me for raising the call and said that engineer would call me back shortly.  Within two minutes a French accented lady from BW returned my call to report that an engineer would be with me with fifteen minutes. 

No sooner had I put the phone down, I saw a white BW van with two personnel on board working their way down the towpath toward me!  That could hardly have been 3-4 minutes after I made the call!

Anyway, between the three of us we managed to pull out a rigid plastic road works fence and a frying pan (neither of which cleared the blockage) followed by a number of rocks (one which looked like a large piece of coal) and the gate was eventually opened.

Thanking the BW guys for their speedy response and for clearing the lock, we were once again on our way.

With the prospect of a long day ahead of us, we got up quite early and I took Max for a walk, returning via Farmer’s Bridge top lock.  What I did not expect to find was a sign on the lock reporting the locks were closed!  Ahhhhh!

Fortunately, the BW information office is right alongside the closed lock, so I returned there at 09:00 (when it was due to be opened).  I was greeted by a very helpful BW lady who confirmed that Farmer’s Bridge locks were indeed closed due to work being undertaken on Brindley House.  I must admit to having seen this stoppage on www.waterscape.com, but ruled it out as the work was reported to be being done on the house, not the canal.  Unfortunately, the work being carried out necessitated in having scaffolding over the canal.  Next time, I will not make presumptions!

With the help of our BW lady, we agreed that the next best route would be to return the way we came (although on the Main Line rather than the Old Line), before turning at Pudding Green Junction onto the Wednesbury Old canal, passing my first ever mooring at Ocker Hill in Tipton then turning right onto the Tame Valley canal to rejoin the Birmingham & Fazeley at Salford Junction.

Of course, by having to re-plan our route, back tracking along the route we had already done yesterday and taking a longer route to get to Salford Junction, we had already added 1½ days to our journey.  Thankfully, we have plenty of spare time!

A bit of déjà vous as we returned along the Main Line, but at least when we turned onto the Wednesbury Old Line, we felt we were now making progress.  Within minutes, we were at Ryders Green top lock.  I got Bev into the first lock and set off on my bike to prepare the next couple of locks.  As I got to the second lock I say a BW van at the 4^th lock.  I worked my way down to lock only to see the lower pound totally drained, and one BW chap working in the lock chamber.  My heart sank as I approached another BW chap on the towpath.  Fortunately, there was nothing major wrong, just a blockage preventing the lower lock gate from closing.  Although they had tried to remove the blockage with hooks and rakes, this had failed and they had to empty the pound to get into the chamber.  It wasn’t long before we were able to re-water from the upper pounds and were on our way again.

At Tame Valley Junction, we passed the entracnce to the Ocker Hill moorings. The place I had stayed on Tastoma from Sept. 2003 until the completion of the refurnishment of the Titford Pumphouse and Oldbury locks.

Later in the afternoon at Perry Barr top lock, another BW chap suggested that for our safety, we either moored up at the top lock or below the 7^th where there was a ½ mile gap before the next 4 locks, after which there was large estate which we would not be able to clear before darkness.

With it starting to get dark at around 17:45, we took his advice and moored just after the 7^th lock - before the M6 motorway.