Black Boy Bridge (No. 69) to Knowle (Bridge 72) (Grand Union Canal)

Passing the Black Boy Pub

Passing the King's Arms

We are on the move again today and we have 5 locks to do, so we had a reasonably early start, 9.20am, well its early for us!  We chugged under the bridge and past the Black Boy pub and the Black Buoy Cruising club which has boats both sides of the canal.  Just before the next bridge is The King’s Arms pub and just a short way past there we came to the bottom of Knowle locks.

Approaching Knowle Locks

Up Knowle Locks we go!

This flight of five wide locks used to be six narrow ones, until the 1930 improvements;  the remains of the old ones can still be seen alongside the new, together with the side ponds (originally built to save water).

Into the next one Kev goes

A boat had not long come down so we were hoping that the locks would be set for us and the first one was so I opened one gate and Kev brought the boat in.  The lock seemed to fill quite quickly so soon we were on to the next one, but this one was full which seemed a bit odd but never mind, it emptied quickly and soon we were on to lock No. 3 and this one was full as well.

Remains of old lock

I opened the paddle to emptied but it seemed to take for ever and then I noticed that one of the paddles on the top gate was fully up, I ran down and quickly closed it before the pound was completely empty.  Goodness know how long it had been left open and obviously that the was the reason this lock and the one below was full, wish I had looked before, but as there were no boats in sight I didn’t even think about it, I just wish people would check before they leave the lock. 

One in, one out!

The next lock was empty so we were soon through that one and then there was a boat in the top lock coming down.  It was a boat belonging to the Sea Scouts, we had met them at Lapworth when we were there last weekend.  One of the lads told me the boat is moored at Alvechurch so they brought one lot of sea scouts down to Birmingham then they went home and the next lot came by train and they were taking the boat back to Alvechurch.

Kev came out of the lock and thought they would come out of the top lock but they said they would stay in the lock until Kev came in for some reason so Kev chugged in and they chugged out!

The lads stayed and helped me shut the gates which was kind of them.  I filled the lock and soon we were going out. There was a boat waiting to come in and two day boats so we left the gate open and stopped at the services at the top of the locks to get rid of rubbish,  get water, etc.

Our Heron Guide

Knowle Church

Then on we went to just before Bridge 72 (Kixley Bridge) and moored up there in a lovely sunny spot. We had a heron guide for some of the way from the locks, its always nice when they fly in front leading the way.

We had lunch, then walked up over the bridge, along the lane and came out by the church which has been there since 1402.  It was open so we had a look inside then we walked out on to the street and had a look around the shops. There is several shops in Knowle, most are independent shops.  We found a chocolate shop called 1683 Chocolate Place.  It is an artisan chocolate shop, selling couture chocolates, handcrafted on the premises by 16 year old Chocolatier  Joseph Vaughan so obviously we had to go in and buy a small box!

Knowle High Street

There is also a nice deli and a traditional butchers and plenty of restaurants and cafes.  We stopped for coffee at one of them, then walked back to the canal via Bridge 71 and along the canal back to the boat.

It was very chilly this morning, but the sun came out this afternoon and it warmed up nicely.  We are staying here tonight and tomorrow as well.

Moored at Knowle