Birmingham, BCN Main Line – Tuesday 3 July 2012
Relaxing evening and slept through night - woke at 08:00.  Started out at 09:30 with a very sharp turn to get onto the Worcester & Birmingham canal, a quiet run with no other boats for about two and a half miles then at a blind bridge I met with the first.  He joked about nothing until a bridge as well.  Although the canal passes through industrial areas it is only approaching the area called ‘The Mailbox’ that it feels like a city centre.  Until then the canal had been sheltered by a railway on one side and trees on the other.  I have only travelled six miles today, I moored near Gas Street Basin in Birmingham in order to get the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) special water conservation key.  Eventually found one at Sherborne Wharf but it appears to be the same as the BWB anti-vandal key which I already have, so I didn’t buy one.  Then went sight-seeing round the City Centre, there is a ‘Music for Youth’ festival on so lots of schools around the place.  No rain while cruising, but no sun either.  Water still dripping off trees, but the rain has started as I write this.