Hatton again

Thursday was another Hatton day.  This time to help Derek & Dot on Gypsy Rover and Derek & Carrie on Uccello climb the locks.  Arriving at Warwick Parkway station at 09:20 it was just a few minutes walk to the waiting cup of coffee on Gypsy Rover.

It was still raining, so we decided to wait and I spent the time updating Dot & Derek on where to go around the Birmingham Canal Navigations.

By 11:30 the train had stopped and we were heading up the flight.  Gypsy Rover leading the way most of the time, with Uccello close behind.

I think I’ve more photos of Dot steering other peoples boats than steering Gypsy Rover.

A quick fill up with water at the top, then on to Hatton to moor close to the station.

I was plied with sticky buns and carrot cake from the two boats, with plenty of coffee.

I spent the following night on our own boat in Birmingham before more locks the following day.

Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 14:27        Comments (1)
Category(s): Blog Readers , Bloggers , Grand Union Canal , Warwickshire Ring

Helpless Caxton

Sitting at home during the winter months I sometimes watch the progress of other Bloggers, then appear with a windlass to help them through the longer flights of locks.

I left a comment on Caxton’s blog to offer my help with the Aston and Farmers Bridge locks when they said they were coming to Birmingham.  But they cheated and sneaked round the edge without doing Birmingham properly to head south on the Grand Union Canal.

Then they blogged to say they were "knackered of Knowle" having done just the first five broad locks.

They also blogged that they would be doing Hatton on Friday so I hopped onto a train on Friday and walked up the flight, expecting to meet them near the top as they came down.

There was no sign of them at the top, so I had a coffee in the cafe, then left a comment on their blog, the only way I had to contact them, to ask where they were.  Lesley phoned a few minutes later to say they had given up near Bridge 63.

Later I walked past their boat and, as they weren’t on board, I lifted the corner of the rear cover to leave a copy of our BCN DVD on the seat so they can see what they missed.

I had a great day out with lots of exercise and I don’t mind them changing their plans – they didn’t know I was coming – but that makes them "very kkkkknackered of Hatton" with no extra help.

Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 10:52        Comments (1)
Category(s): Bloggers

Moving Hosts

We our moving our main website, www.waterwayroutes.co.uk between hosting companies.  This should be a seamless transfer with no down time – but we all know what the real world is like.

We have already moved the alternative address www.waterwaywalks.co.uk to the new hosts so please try that if you have problems.

They both access the same content and the page structure is just the same so you can edit the address bar in your browser to change "routes" to "walks" if you get desperate.

Otherwise, please be patient and try again later.

The pictures may go missing from the blog during the change

Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 14:17        Comments (0)
Category(s): News

Cheshire Ring

Another great pair of canal DVDs are released from Waterway Routes covering the Cheshire Ring.

We travel clockwise from Hardings Wood Junction, first passing under the Poole Aqueduct as we descend the locks of Heartbreak Hill to reach Middlewich Junction.

We meet our first broad lock as we leave Middlewich before our long, lock-free section to Manchester, interrupted only by the stop lock at Dutton.  We divert to visit Runcorn and again to cross the Barton Swing Aqueduct to visit Leigh.

The Rochdale Nine Locks start our climb, which continues with the eighteen of the Ashton Canal and the sixteen of the Marple Flight to reach the upper Peak Forest Canal where we continue to Whaley Bridge and Bugsworth Basins to take in the splendid views.

Our return is along the Macclesfield Canal, descending the Bosley Locks

These are 1 hour DVDs retailing at £12.95 for the Popular version (rather like a television programme) and £7.95 for the Bowcam version (a speeded up forward facing camera for a little fun).

There’s also a Combined version at £19.90, with both Popular and Bowcam in one box saving £1 on the separate prices (and at least 75p postage).

They are in stock now, just waiting for you to order them, or any from our great range of canal DVDs.

Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 12:24        Comments (2)
Category(s): Ashton , Bridgewater , Cheshire Ring , Macclesfield , Peak Forest , Rochdale , Trent & Mersey

Ice Breaker

With the snow and ice melting almost everywhere these scenes will soon be a thing of the past.

With many of the canals completely frozen, and some of them several inches thick there haven’t been many places with boats moving anywhere.

The centre of Birmingham has been no different, with just one exception.  One of the trip boats has been making daily excursions from its base on the Oozells Street Loop to Gas Street Basin and back.  But why?

George, the Floating Coffee Shop, is run by Sherborne Wharf and it need to be supplied with water from time to time, and to visit Sherborne Wharf occasionally for diesel and pump out.

The only way to be sure of access is to break the ice daily with a return journey by the trip boat.  If they missed any day it would soon freeze too thick to get through when you needed to.  The trip boats are being lifted out for blacking in the next few days so ice damage to them isn’t a worry.

Posted on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 19:24        Comments (2)
Category(s): BCN

Let sleeping geese lie

With the canal frozen, what can the Canada Geese do?

With most of the canal through Birmingham (and much of the country) frozen over there’s not much you can do if you’re a Canada Goose.

Around here it’s 2 inches (5 cm) thick and there are a few silly humans who have tried walking on it but the Canada Geese just slide around like we do and don’s seem to enjoy it.

There are a few thin bits where the ice has been kept thin by one of the Sherborne Wharf trip boats moving each day to ensure they can still reach George, the floating coffee shop, with supplies.

So, this morning the geese were unusually quiet, with their heads tucked under their wings and just sitting on the ice.

They must have a good layer of insulation in their feathers.  I don’t think I’d like to sleep like that for very long.

Posted on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 16:06        Comments (0)
Category(s): BCN

Snow on the canals

With snow all around the country we just have to follow everyone’s examples and post our own pictures of the snow, just in case you haven’t seen enough.  After all, our readers from New Zealand and Australia won’t be having weather like this at the moment.

The frozen Rochdale Canal in Manchester, and the BCN in Birmingham and at Sherborne Wharf.  There’s more pictures in the photo gallery for January 2010.

Posted on Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 11:11        Comments (0)
Category(s): Recent

Canal Voyagers Hotel Boats 2010 Map

Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 20:05        Comments (0)
Category(s): Hotel Boats

Thank You

Thank you to all our customers, friends and family for your support throughout the year.

We’ve had lots of fun producing DVDs and posting them out before Christmas.  I do hope they’ve all arrived – nobody has said they haven’t.

We’ve enjoyed meeting you all too, while we’re out cruising and filming, at exhibitions, or elsewhere.

Posted on Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 08:52        Comments (0)
Category(s): News

Epiphany goes up in the world

I’d arranged to help John and Fi on Epiphany climb the locks towards Birmingham and the BCN last week.

I stayed on our own boat at Sherborne Wharf the night before and caught the train to Stourbridge Town to meet then moored near the end of the Stourbridge Town Arm.

John was just opening the rear doors as I was approaching with the camera.

Unfortunately Fi wasn’t too well and was unable to help but John and I made good progress up the Stourbridge Sixteen and the Delph locks.

Twenty four locks in around five hours with two crew and help part way from Stephen it was exceptionally good going – some would say motorway mode.  Every lock was empty and I didn’t need to raise any of the bottom paddles so that saved a lot of time.

Unfortunately Fi didn’t see much of the journey but you can read more on their own blog.

Posted on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 22:41        Comments (3)
Category(s): Bloggers , Stourbridge

Christmas Presents (and holiday planning)

Christmas is not far away and if your stuck for a idea for a present then look no further than our great selection of DVDs.

There’s still time to order them for UK delivery and we post them first class so you get them quickly.

They are good for holiday planning too, ready for next summer’s cruise.

So, whether you are considering a gift for someone else, a treat for yourself, or planning next year’s holiday then look at our our full range of DVDs.

Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 10:39        Comments (0)
Category(s): News

Selly Oak Aqueduct

One reason the stop gates were being maintained in the last blog was probably because of the new work at Selly Oak, just a few hundred meters away.

A new bypass is being constructed and will pass under the canal and railway, requiring a new bridge for the railway and a new aqueduct for the canal.

The canal will be temporarily slued onto a new cut closer to the railway (where the diggers are) while the aqueduct is being constructed.

When it’s finished it will be put back onto its original alignment passing over the new aqueduct.

With the pound stretching to Tardebigge and Lapworth in one direction, and to Tipton and Parkhead in the other there’s an awful lot of water to flood Selly Oak with if something should go wrong so it’s a good idea to check the stop gates.

I’m puzzled by the carefully prepared towpath diversion around nothing – yet !  I wonder what’s going to be there.

Posted on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 21:29        Comments (0)
Category(s): Worcester & Birmingham

Stopgates

There are stopgates positioned under bridge 82 on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, between Edgbaston and Selly Oak.  Most of the time they are folded back, out of the way an nobody notices them as they steer through the bridge.

Most of the time they serve no purpose – they are there just in case.  In the event of a breach in the canal they can be closed very quickly to stop the flow of water and minimise the length of canal which is drained.

They work rather like lock gates, and look rather like them and, just like lock gates they need maintenance and occasional replacement.

Here, stop planks have been used to form a dam each side of the bridge and the water has been pumped out to allow full access to the gates.  Normally all we see, even if we are looking, is just the very top sticking out of the water.

These new gates have been made to measure as each set are unique to their location.

Unfortunately, drawings of what was built hundreds of years ago don’t always match what you find then you drain the water out and there’s a little head scratching going on here.  I’m sure it will all be fitting well before too long, but, unless there is a breach, nobody will even know they’ve been here in a few weeks time.

This is one of the longest pounds in the country, permitting one of the longest lock free cruises so there would be a lot of water to drain if it wasn’t controlled somehow.

The winter stoppage season is a good time to do these works and there’s a particular reason for working on these gates now and making sure they work – but you’ll have to wait until the next blog post for that.

Just alongside were the workboats used to bring the materials to site and to take away any scrap material and spoil afterwards.

By putting the stop planks close to the gates the digger can reach over to help when required.

Posted on Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 22:36        Comments (0)
Category(s): Worcester & Birmingham

Finding our DVDs

With our increasing range of DVDs it’s gradually becoming harder and harder to find the one you want.

Experience boaters looking for the Middlewich Arm, for example, might spot it’s covered by the Four Counties Ring quite quickly but newcomers might not.

First we’ve added a list of canals and branches and which DVDs they appear in.

Search this site

Then we’ve added a search box, which appears on the top right of the page to help you find anything on our website and blog.

Give it a try, it surprises me how much it finds.

Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 12:57        Comments (0)
Category(s): News

Latest Ordering Dates for Christmas

It’s 25th November and Christmas is just one month away.

More importantly the latest posting dates for Christmas are less than one month away.

The latest ordering date for our customers in Australia and New Zealand is just one week away.

We have a great range of Canal DVDs for Christmas Presents and we have plenty of stock of them all.

The latest dates for ordering for delivery before Christmas are:-

Thursday 18th December for UK

Wednesday 10th December for Western Europe

Monday 8th December for Eastern Europe, Japan, USA and Canada

Wednesday 3rd December for everywhere else.

If you order later than these dates we will still dispatch promptly but it is unlikely the order will arrive in time for Christmas.

Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:20        Comments (0)
Category(s): Christmas & New Year , News

Caldon Canal DVDs released

Another great pair of canal DVDs are released from Waterway Routes in time for Christmas.

The Caldon Canal, considered by some to be the most scenic of canals, is cruised from Etruria Junction to Froghall where you can see if our boat fitted through the low profile of Froghall Tunnel or if we had to complete our journey on foot.

We also cruise along the Leek Branch, something that’s temporarily impossible after the breach earlier this month.  It’s a good job we filmed in September while it was still open.

Now these DVDs are the only way you can reach the terminus of the Leek Branch with a boat.

These are 1/2 hour DVDs retailing at £9.95 for the Popular version (rather like a television programme) and £5.95 for the Bowcam version (a speeded up forward facing camera for a little fun).

There’s also a Combined version at £14.90, with both Popular and Bowcam in one box saving £1 on the separate prices (and at least 75p postage).

They are in stock now, just waiting for you to order them, or any from our great range of canal DVDs.

Posted on Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 23:00        Comments (0)
Category(s): Caldon , News

Small Bridge Signs

For some time the bridges around the centre of Birmingham have had temporary signs stuck on them.  Mostly encapsulated paper ones but large enough to read and adequate for a sign that wasn’t to last long.

It’s important that bridges and other landmarks are clearly identified so that boaters can easily report problems and they are logged with the emergency services so they can quickly identify the scene of an incident.

On my last trip to Birmingham I was pleased to see the temporary signs had been replaced by permanent ones, but very disappointed at how small they were.

They are far too small to be read by a boater needing to report a problem, and impossible to see there’s a sign there from the opposite towpath.

Just look at the lower picture, it’s not the sign on the bridge (which is the makers plate) nor the white sign at each end for walkers but set back on the right hand pillar.

Posted on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 12:41        Comments (0)
Category(s): BCN

Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVD is Released

Another pair of DVDs have just been released by Waterway Routes.

The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVDs have hit the streets in both Popular and Bowcam formats.  As with all our other pairs of DVDs they are also available combined in one box.

They cover the Scottish Lowland canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow and, as a bonus, the Popular version also includes a trip along the River Clyde aboard the paddle steamer Waverley.

You can see extracts from the DVDs on YouTube from the links on the right.

Highlights of these cruises include

• Rotating on the Famous Falkirk Wheel
• Descending the Staircase Locks at Falkirk
• Passing through the Dalmuir Drop Lock
• Lunch at McMonagles (watch the DVD to see why this is a unique experience)

You can see more about these DVDs on their own page and see our full range of DVDs here.

I’ve just had the comments back from the proof watchers on the Caldon Canal Canals DVDs so I can finalise those over the next week or so, to make sure they are all ready for Christmas.  The Caldon Canal was filmed before the breach on the Leek Branch this morning.

Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 22:42        Comments (0)
Category(s): Forth/Clyde Union , News

Past and Present

Andrew Denny, in his Granny Buttons Blog entitled Jumping Joe Darby, and who’ll be the new Baron De Coubertin of the waterways?  mentions an archive video from 1972 and asks where it was taken – hoping a blog reader can identify where.

It took a little detective work and careful watching of our BCN Bowcam DVD to identify the location but there are several clues in the video and I’ve visited the site today to confirm where it is.

The pictures show four extracts from the video paired with four pictures from today.  Some things have changed since 1972, while other are unchanged for hundreds of years.

The video is shot somewhere in the Black Country.  It shows a straight, wide canal with towpaths on both sides which narrows it down a little.  It shows a lattice sided footbridge with an almost flat base and not arched at all which narrows it down further, probably to the Tame Valley Canal.

I thought it was about 3/4 mile from Tame Valley Junction on the North bank between Jones Bridge and the former Railway Bridge.  The pairs of shots seem to match pretty well.

1. Shows the commentator – the bridge and building are still there but the trees have grown a bit over the years.

2.  The building is still in the background, although it’s had new cladding on the end in a different colour.

3.  Look at the reflection of the pylon and the corner of the building, matched in the two shots.

4.  The former railway bridge in the background is now painted pink and used by the trams and it has a footbridge added immediately in front, but it’s the same bridge.

Well, Andrew, have we identified the location well enough for you?  If you would like to stage a re-enactment then I’ll offer to come and film you getting wet.

Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 22:44        Comments (2)
Category(s): BCN , Bloggers

Great for Christmas Presents and Holiday Ideas

Once we pass 25th October, with 2 months to go, I start to think about Christmas.  I think others start much earlier, and some are already planning their holiday for next year.

Have you spotted our advert on page 142 of the December Issue of Waterways World?  It will be in Canal Boat magazine too.

Our full range of DVDs are great for Christmas Presents and Holiday Ideas for anyone with an interest in canals and waterways.

Posted on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 15:35        Comments (0)
Category(s): News