Monday 25 November 2013

24/11/13 - Staffordshire Bull Terrier Appreciation Society

Distance - 5.8 Miles
Geocaches - 3
The BrummieRingPhase5
Start - Wednesbury Parkway
Finish - Hamstead

I am back adding a new section to the BrummieRing.

Thanks to a combination of Micky Flanagan performing at the NIA and me having some Holiday Inn points to use up, I am doing this leg in the way that it was intended.  I am starting in the centre of Birmingham, saying my goodbyes to Sonia as she gets the Kidderminster Train from Snow Hill and I get the Tram to Wednesbury Parkway.

With both our modes of transport leaving at 9:30am, we are chasing each other out of the station.  I don't get a wave.

25 minutes later, I am disembarking at Wednesbury.  Its grim on an overcast sunday morning.  To start, I have some road walking to pick up the canal, which is my main walking footpath.

A diversion for a cache brings me to an appreciation society for the most frequently spotted canine on this odyssey.

Most favoured type of dog seen on Brummie Loop
You couldn't make this up, could you.
After passing a pub and a couple of shops (lollipop and water purchase), I pick up the Tame Valley Canal.

Tame Valley
Canal all the way to the end of Phase 5
The canal is my walking superhighway to end of this leg.  It does provide much nicer walking than the previous canal stage.

I am elevated, which often provides good views.  I also cross several aqueducts, the most impressive being the M5 slip road onto the M6.  Countless times I have driven under here without realising a canal crosses it.

Over the M5 on a Canal
A Canal Runs over it
The canal becomes increasingly leafy.  There are two types of fishermen on display, the human worm danglers and a more impressive natural hunter, which I stop and watch for a while.

heron
Great Hunter
As I progress towards Hamstead, I have some great views over Birmingham.  First time we have seen it since stage 2.

Views over BRM
Birmingham - in the Sunshine
Have a bit of a disaster with the last cache of the day.  It is dangling from my exit bridge on a bit of fishing wire.  The wire is all tangled up in a plant on the side of the bridge.  My gentle attempt to retrieve results in a snap and the cache disappears to its doom, never to be seen again.

A log of shame coming up.

Hit Hamstead.  The chance of refreshment is thwarted by it being on only 11:57.  But this is good news, as the trains only run once an hour on a Sunday at 11 minutes past.

Refreshment Stop at End
Too Early on a Sunday
Glad that the next phase has only a little bit of Canal Walking.  They have got a touch monotonous.

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