Tom grew up in Birmingham, but I met him in the United States. It was through Tom that I originally became interested in the Birmingham canals. This is an old photograph of the Icknield Port Loop, hanging in the office of the boat yard.
Tom came out for a ride by himself at the end of the day.
I thought maybe he would be sick of the boat -after helping me construct it last month.
But he still wanted to go.
And it had turned into a pretty afternoon.
I never noticed that before.
We came out onto the New Main Line,
and decided to go a way that I had never taken before.
From here you can see how the canal is above the level of the street in some places.
There is a towpath along this section, so I decided to practice pulling the boat along, for when I take the boat out alone for a longer trip this weekend.
I asked Tom to experiment with the position for a fixed rudder- for when I am pulling the boat along by myself.
He didn’t think that I should try and take the boat along by myself. Especially at night, outside the city.
OK, fine.
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