Tunnel Vision

This morning I set off on my bike, along the Birmingham Fazeley Canal, in the opposite direction I normally take to get to work, to see how long it would take to get to University that way. Unfortunately, not far beyond Minworth, the canal path was sealed off and there was a notice saying Emergency Closure. I've had a quick google at home and can't find the reason for this.

I attempted to head up and bypass the obstruction by road, but when I surfaced, on one of the old brick bridges which cross the canal, I found myself in a very unwelcoming part of Birmingham. There was litter everywhere which an old homeless gentleman was filling a shopping trolley with and every available surface seemed to have been covered in graffiti. The road onto which I would have been headed was peppered with hooded youths loitering aggressively, and the tall fence surrounding an industrial estate on the other side of the bridge was lined with barbed wire and security cameras. I didn't feel very safe so I turned around and went home.

Earlier on the route I had to pass through the Curdworth Tunnel which was quite exhilarating. Being a long tunnel it quickly gets very dark and feels extremely narrow, added to which the uneven cobble stones create the sensation that the slightest wobble will pitch you into the black water. Scary!