Tamworth to Birmingham Walk

A wonderful day's weather here in the West Midlands.  It was due to start with frost and even as I ended my walk 6 hours later, ice was still visible in shaded areas of the towpath.  

My plan was to catch two trains to Tamworth and then walk the length of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, before catching a further train back home.  There was an element of nostalgia at various points along the route.  I'd worked for North Warwickshire Council in the 1980s and I made a point of diverting slightly to check out a farm that had literally been the bane of my life during my time with the council.  Back in the early 80s it was the location of an arctic fox farm.  I could still make out the area that housed the cages for the foxes, although the business has long gone.  I'll always remember the smell, as the cages were mesh on all surfaces, even the floor, and the animals 'waste' would accumulate under for periods of weeks and sometimes months before being cleared.  I was always conflicted by my visits.  At the time it was acceptable practice to house the animals in this way, and our efforts were mainly focused on things we could do to protect their welfare, rather than couldn't.  The site was constantly entered by animal rights protesters, as a public footpath crossed the land.  I'm certain some of the foxes escaped, though they were ill equipped to cope with the local predators.

The other bit of nostalgia was passing an old childhood friend's property, formerly a pub at Bodymoor Heath.  The area is now more famous for being the location of Aston Villa's training ground, but I'll always have fond memories of messing around on the canal near the home.

When I reached Salford Junction, which sits under Spaghetti Junction on the M6, I was surprised to find an alternative canal route into town.  For whatever reason I hadn't appreciated that another canal also headed towards the city, running parallel to the last section of Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.  It finally joined what I knew to be the Grand Union Canal, before rejoining the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.  This image looks at the junction, with the graffitied wall in the image being the T junction.

When I got home I researched this section only to find it was an extension of the Grand Union Canal, built to join the other canals at Salford Junction in 1844.  It makes sense as it cuts out 15 additional locks that would need to be negotiated by going the other route.

Day Miles: 19.4 miles

Total Miles: 119.9 miles