Birmingham (Birmingham Main Line) to Bumble Hole (Dudley No. 2 Canal)

Baby Geese

Navigating the narrow bits

Galton Tunnel

Going under the M5

We are on the move today and to pastures new.  We are going down the Netherton Tunnel Branch and through Netherton Tunnel which will take us onto the Dudley No. 2 Canal and then onto the Dudley No. 1 Canal which in turn goes into the Stourbridge Canal and eventually onto the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.  We haven’t gone this way before out of Birmingham so exciting.

Heron on towpath

We set off along the canal leaving the mailbox behind us.  It was a lovely sunny morning and much warmer today, thank goodness as it has been very chilly the last couple of days.

Onto the Netherton Tunnel Branch we go

We saw some baby geese, the first we have seen this year and there was quite a few herons around as well.  We chugged on and in places the canal gets very narrow and you have to squeeze through.

In Netherton Tunnel

We came to Galton Tunnel, it is only 122 yards but quite an impressive tunnel.  Through there and after a while we went under the M5 and before we knew it, we were turning down the Netherton Tunnel Branch which leads to the tunnel.

Not far to go now

Cobbs Engine House

Netherton Tunnel is 3,028yds long and is a huge tall tunnel, about 27 ft wide and has a towpath each side and built of brick, it is really impressive.  We chugged through there and came out into glorious sunshine and moored just up from the tunnel opposite the Visitor’s Centre.

This area is Bumble Hole Nature Reserve and is really nice.  We had lunch then went for a lovely walk along the canal and into the reserve and up to Cobbs Engine House.

Top Pool

Swan on nest

Swan Pool & Engine House

This Engine House was named after the local farmer.   The engines have been removed but in its heyday water was pumped out of the nearby Windmill End Colliery into the canal.  The stationery steam pump, built around 1831, its shaft 525 feet deep, pumped 367,000 gallons of water a day for over 100 years.  It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and part of the nature reserve and is the earliest surviving example of its type.

We walked up to the top of the hill where there was a lovely pond and a swan sitting on a nest, then back down the hill to Bumble Hole pond.  It is such a lovely area.  We had a walk out onto the road and managed to find a shop to get an ice-cream then we headed back to the boat.

We are staying here tonight then off a bit further tomorrow.

Moored at Bumble Hole