The Gower Branch Canal

The Gower Branch Canal is a short canal that links the old and new Birmingham Main Lines. The half mile long canal branches off the Birmingham New Main Line at Albion Junction.

The other end of the canal connects to the Birmingham Old Main Line at Brades Hall Junction via a triple "staircase" lock or 3 locks close together anyway.

The canal was built in 1836 and allowed boats coming (or going to) the Netherton Canal to get to the old main line without a long detour. I visited the canal (walking it's entire length didn't take long!) back in 2010, you can see my photos here.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford, well its like a second home. Mind you i only visited twice last year so must try and up that in 2015. So the first visit of the year, it was a nice dry day so i spent most of it walking along the river and through the old town. I also took a closer look at the former railway carriages on the Greenway. One is a bike hire shop and the other a cafe. There is another one further along the Greenway i must try and get to later in the year. As usual i took some photos.

Leicester

Continuing my series of visits to East Midlands cities... I went to Leicester for the first time (in memory anyway, my Mum says i went as a baby) and very nice it was too. I went mainly to take some photos at the railway station (which can be seen here) but did also pop into town. It was a bit windy though do i didn't explore too much, i must return in warmer times.

Selling typewriters

The market for typewriters (new that is not vintage gear sold to obsessives and crazies by Etsy and eBay) is a bit small these days but back before the days of personal computers typewriters were big business. I've always had a liking for typewriter adverts, here are 4 i've scanned from a calendar of "60s" adverts. More lovely typewriter adverts can be seen here.

The Limehouse Cut

The Limehouse Cut is a short canal in East London open since 1769 that connects the Lee Navigation to the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin. The canal begins (or ends depending on your point of view) at Bow Locks.

It then travels 2 miles through Tower Hamlets until it meets the Regent's Canal at Limehouse Basin which is where the canal joins the Thames. Originally the Limehouse Cut connected directly onto the Thames but that was changed in 1968 because of the need to replace the river lock. Instead a new short length of canal was built to connect the Limehouse Cut to Limehouse Basin allowing traffic to use the river lock there instead.

Nowadays the canal is used for leisure of course. Part of the Limehouse Cut was used during the final Olympic baton relay in 2012 due to the proximity of the canal to the Olympic stadium. I've visited the canal twice and walked its whole length. You can see my photos here and here.

Back to Nottingham

Lets start the year's trips with a return to Nottingham, or as the Tunes advert said...

And it was very nice to return to this fair city too. I didn't explore the canal this time but ventured further into the centre. I took a few photos too of course. Quite a few of them were of buses, i struggled to contend with the strong low sun which was playing havoc with my iPhone's camera today!