Adventure to Europe & UK 2025

A chilly winter’s morning at the very southern end of the Shropshire Union Canal. This morning was a gift… ice crystals on the boat rooftops glittering in the rising sun,   boots crunching through thick frost on the grass, while the mist was rising lazily from the canal giving everything an ethereal look. I was actually leaving the boat first thing in the morning on the very unromantic mission of taking our rubbish up to the disposal area, but as soon as I opened the hatch onto the deck, I was greeted with this beautiful view. Instead I climbed back inside the boat to collect my camera and set off along the canal to try to capture the magic. Isn’t life like a box of chocolates!

From the early 20th century, the Black Country region was one of the most industrialised parts of the UK with numerous coal mines, iron foundries, glass factories, brick works and more dominating the landscape. It was famously described as ‘black by day and red by night’ because of the constant black smog by day and the fiery glow of the furnaces by night. Almost every house was it’s own little factory, with cottage manufacturing happening alongside the mining and other industries. It was a tough, noisy and dangerous place to live. At one time the average life expectancy was just 17 years. Children started work at the age of 5 or 6, as chimney sweeps, or fetching and carrying in factories. Housing was very basic and without sanitation. Living conditions were harsh and the houses would be considered slums today. Many homes were affected by subsistence from the mining going on below them, and sank at odd angles into the earth. The museum is...

Leaving Birmingham, the temperatures reminded us that winter has arrived. The morning dawned crisp and clear, with frost on the grass and ice on the mooring lines. There was aromatic smoke drifting from the chimneys of narrowboats with solid fuel heaters, and we definitely had our diesel heater fired up.   We firstly stopped to fill our water tanks, then set off along the canal heading to the Black Country Living Museum about 10 miles away. We had perfect blue skies as we glided along the canal, through the more industrial parts of Birmingham. A little further along we travelled a couple of kilometres directly below the   huge M5 freeway, which was quite a surreal experience. At one stage there were four layers: the river below, the canal we were travelling on, the freeway above us and above that the railway line. Val kindly gave me these photos, as  I was skipper for the morni...

After spending the past few days exploring Birmingham, we have found all kinds of weird and wonderful things to do.  The Coffin Works is an industrial revolution factory still filled with all the stock and machinery that was left when the business ended last century. Supplying the funeral trade, they didn’t make coffins, but rather the metal handles and ornaments that the Victorians loved, since a funeral was like a wedding or baptism in that it was a big event and it was important to impress other people. The Coffin Works also manufactured shrouds, as well as the fancy linings for the coffins. The women who worked on the sewing machines were also paid piece work rates, so again, speed was vital. Attention to detail was also important, because it was the custom to have the coffin at home for a few days for people to pay their last respects to the recently departed, and so this was an important advertising opportunity for t...