Beers, Boats and Boozers, 2018. No. 39

We like Birmingham and there is much to see. We had also arranged for a visit from an old friend and his wife. As it was such a nice day we took them round the loops and back.

Our daily commute was through Brindley Place and it always nice to see boats moving.

We went on a very interesting walk around the New Library and other places of architectural note around the canal area, including the Cube of which this is the interior all though the art work doesn't come out very clearly.

With our friends in tow we left our moorings on the Oozells Loop and out on to the Main Line.

We were soon making our turn into the Icknield  Port Loop. This has no towpath so the only way to view it is by boat. The turn is a little tight so you keep your fingers crossed nobody is on the way out.

The whole island has been earmarked for development for a long time but has been on hold since the 2008 crash. It seems to have started in earnest now. I complete new village is supposed to be being constructed here. I wonder bow it will turn out.

At the end of the loop is the dam for the Edgbaston Reservoir and all the way round are intriguing little remnants of factories that are starting to revert to woods. I wonder how green it will be when fully developed. Proper gentrification I suppose.

As you approach the western entrance to the Icknield Port Loop the bridges mark the New Main Line passing from right to left at Rotton Park Junction. Straight on is the route of the Old Main Line contour canal and that is now the Soho Loop.

 It is very quiet, off the beaten track and very green. I have been picking blackberries down here in the past.

Hockley Port is half way round the Soho Loop where there are factory arms aplenty. I have never been up to have a look as it is residential moorings now, but next time I must go and see for myself. A little further round is Winson Green Prison, with its own canal access. (No longer though).

As we approached Brum again out popped 'Leo' being towed by 'Nansen II' on a C&RT jolly It was a lovely day so we were quite content to follow them to our mooring and say farewell to our friends after a bite to eat.

We revisted a pub we had been to in Beers, Boats and Boozers No.4. This is the main entrance on Pinfold Street and there is a small entrance direct from new Street too. As the name  suggests it is in the basement. In a past life it was a post office building and then a pub called the Royal Mail until about 2009 when closed. It was remodeled and reopened in 2011 and is a great little place with six hand pulls about ten poly pins of cider and hundreds of bottles of beer, selected from a menu!

I had a pint of Salopian Lemon Dream that I have tried before. Salopian was set up in 1994 in North Wales and was called Snowdonia Brewery. When the proprietor moved to Shrewsbury he changed the name to Salopian. I tried Lemon Dream 4.8% and this pint wasn't really up to scratch.

I tried a beer from Fixed Wheel Brewery that is found in the Blackheath area of Birmingham. The owner is a cycling enthusiast, hence the name. He also likes his real ale too. They seem to be expanding and winning trophies too.

I tried the Blackheath Stout, 5%, that was very nice indeed. It has won in the stout category with CAMRA last year. It poured with a lovely white head and black body. The charcoal tasting malt and barley. The alcohol was carried well and was not in your face at all. Well worth the £3-90 that seems to be the going rate in the centre of Birmingham.