Dragon Boat Racing

We returned safely to our home mooring at Sherborne Wharf by early afternoon.

Then we set off with cameras at the ready for the heart of the BCN - the short section of canal between Old Turn Junction and Gas Street Basin.

This is where the Dragon Boat racing was taking place.

It wouldn’t have taken much effort for a stranger to have found the racing, simply by following the sounds of cheering and shouting from the course where everyone seemed to be having lots of fun.

There was a BW marshal at each end of the course who simply stopped the passage of narrowboats for the two minutes or so each race took.

Boaters would hardly notice the delay and many wondered wondered why they had such a welcome to Birmingham.  All good publicity for the canals with an event like this.

Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 16:40
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Boat washing

Last night it started raining, gently at first with heavy rain forecast so I thought it was time to try the advanced Balmaha boat washing technique (see end of post).  I soaped the roof with very artistic swirls, then the sun came out and dried it all up instead of the rain washing it off.  The instructions for making it rain seemed to be missing from the post.

Tonight it was raining lightly again with more heavy showers forecast so guess what.  A repeat performance.  I guess I’m not up to the advanced Balmaha technique after all.  Perhaps they will give me a practical demonstration when I eventually meet them.

Tomorrow I think I’ll have a go at the No Problem boat washing technique (see August 13th Post) with a hosepipe and see if I can get the hang of that.

Today we spent 6 hours climbing the Wolverhampton 21 which should have only taken 4 hours.  There was a party of 6 or 7 boats going up ahead of us, not very quickly, and a single handed boater sandwiched in the middle of them.

Now moored near the top of the flight, aiming for Sherborne Wharf tomorrow to watch the Dragon Boat racing.

Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 20:36
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Birmingham Babies

Two proud parents were introducing their young to the centre of Birmingham.

The youngsters kept so close to their parents that most photos only showed one of them, with the other completely hidden.  At least I managed on and a half babies in this shot.

The parents were so protective, making lots of noise and flapping around as soon as anyone came past on the towpath, or any ducks came near.

On the opposite bank were the parents of slightly older triplets.

They were much more relaxed, allowing the youngsters to move away from them as they searched for food along the edge.

And no screeching and flapping around whenever anyone walked past on the towpath.  A much more relaxed attitude to life.

Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 08:18
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Happy Birthday to Waterway Routes

Waterway Routes (the boat) is one year old today.

It was on Good Friday 6 April, 2007 that we started our maiden voyage, heading southwards along the Southern Oxford Canal from Fenny Compton to reach Oxford.

We’ve been to lots of places since then, including Llangollen (twice) and around the Four Counties Ring, the Cheshire Ring and the whole of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN).

During that year we’ve done 1,307 miles, 754 locks and 84 lift/swing bridges and consumed 1154 litres of diesel at an average of 51p per litre.

Most of the winter has been safely tucked up at Sherborne Wharf while we spent a little time working on the boat to prepare it for this summer.

Our summer cruises will be to the south and west of Birmingham, including the Avon and Stourport rings so watch out for us that way.

Posted on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 00:01
Comments (0) Category(s): BCN , Build our Boat

BW advise of canal closure 32 hours late

Visiting our boat in Birmingham I tried to walk along the towpath from Gas Street Basin to our home moorings at Sherborne Wharf.

As I approached the canal there were police everywhere and I wondered what was going on.  I started to walk along the right hand towpath but that was closed with barriers and police on duty.

I had to retrace my steps and cross the bridge to walk along the left hand towpath where I could look across and see all the police standing there.

Between the Mailbox and Gas Street Basin the canal was closed with a floating boom across the canal, the sort that’s usually found to protect weirs.

The there was a boat from Dorset Police with divers checking the canal and quite a row of spectators watching from the bank.

Then at Old Turn Junction there was another floating barrier across the canal stopping boats entering the stretch towards the Mailbox.

I still didn’t know what was going on, although by then I had discovered that many of the local roads were closed too and had been for some time.

Then I got an email from the BW stoppages service sent at 14:16 on 29 February which said the canal and one towpath would be closed from 06:00 on 28 February to 16:00 on 2 March for the Labour Party conference.  An event like this must have been planned in detail many months in advance so I’m disappointed the BW notice was 32 hours late instead of weeks in advance.

Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2008 at 10:36
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Birmingham Boat Parade

We went to watch the Birmingham Boat Parade yesterday.  It takes place between Old Turn Junction and the Mailbox every year in early December.

There are 15-20 boats decorated with Christmas trees, lights, and all sorts of Christmas Decorations.

Thousands of people line the towpaths along both sides, braving the cold and the wind, to watch the convoy make its way slowly past.

There are commercial entries and private entries, but whichever they are they’ve all put such large efforts into decorating their boats.

A few are even animated, the bird on Aquarius, the British Waterway’s boat even flapped its wings.

There’s several bridges, including a low one under Broad Street so this limits the height of the decorations.

Look out for next year’s parade.
 

Posted on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 21:52
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Walsall Lock 8 Top Gate Replacement

Winter is the time for British Waterways to close sections of the canal for repairs and maintenance work.

Locks 6 and 8 of the Walsall Flight on the Birmingham Canal Network (BCN) are both closed this week for replacement of the top gates.

The photos are of lock 8 (lock 6 being very similar).

The work was nearly finished when I visited.  The red crane had already been used to lift the old gate out and to lift the new gate into position.

The security fencing is to deter vandals, while the scaffolding round the edge of the lock is to make the site safe for the workers.

The pound above the lock had been drained so the area around the top gate was (almost) dry for them to work and so they could see and access all the parts normally underwater.

They had the gate moving freely and were just trimming the edge to make a tight fit against the stonework of the lock wall.

They were going to fill the pound in the afternoon to check for leaks before making final adjustments to the gate.  Then all that remained was to tidy the site and remove the scaffolding and fencing.

From the Monday morning start to the Friday afternoon finish the locks were closed.  With two teams working in parallel the flight would be reopened by Friday afternoon with new top gates on both locks 6 and 8 and the minimum of inconvenience for boaters.

Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 12:06
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Warwick Bar Stop Lock

We headed up the Garrison Locks yesterday and turned right at Bordersley Junction.

This would take us through the former stop lock at Warwick Bar where two different canals used to meet.  Originally they were not connected so neither company could steal water from the other.

Goods had to be transhipped between boats moored each side of a narrow strip of land - the “bar”.  Later these were knocked through, often with gates to stop water flow if necessary.

Worcester Bar, at Gas Street Basin is another example, and that’s how Perry Bar got its name.

Warwick Bar gates are always chained open but the vandals had removed one set and the far end gate was shut.  There was over 1.5 inches difference in water levels so we couldn’t open it.

We couldn’t shut the gate at the other end and use it as a lock as that was chained open.  We called British Waterways who said help would be there within 30 minutes - and it was.

By then we had opened the paddle - despite being unable to turn the windlass all the way round because of the poor gate design and the ratchet pawl being seized up as its never used.

We were lowering the pound above, including Typhoo Basin.  With the water nearer level and help from two passers by we opened the gate.

Eugene, who had helped at Smethwick last week, and Mark arrived just afterwards and padlocked the gates open yet again.

Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 at 20:33
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Going Straight

Today was the day for the Tame Valley Canal.

Setting off from Tame Valley Junction we headed East, initially retracing our cruise from yesterday afternoon.

We were filming again, all the way along the Tame Valley Canal, capturing everything going east.

The canal consists of long straight sections connected by the occasional bend.  It was one of the latest canals to be built to avoid the bottleneck of the Farmers Bridge 13 locks.

Built with towpaths on both sides, and almost straight it must have seemed like a motorway to the early canal users.

There are 13 locks at Perry Bar, sometimes known as the new 13, the old 13 being at Farmers Bridge.

We had trouble with the water levels in some of the pounds being too low and having to let water down from above.  Look how low we are in the lock, and the top gate is open so that’s how low the pound was.

I was amused to see all the bollards at this lock - sometimes you can’t find one when you need one, then 11 come along at once.  They were really there to keep road vehicles away from the lock, so it wasn’t British Waterways being extra helpful.

We’re moored at Star City. tomorrow we head up the Garrison Locks, visit Typhoo (Digbeth) Basin, then up the Ashted Locks on a circular cruise, after our curly and straight days.

Posted on Sunday, September 9, 2007 at 17:20
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Curly Straight Day

We left Anglesey Basin a little later than expected this morning as there was a light drizzle, rather than the forecast sunshine and we needed better light for filming.

Ogley Junction signpost shows two examples of good thinking.  The route to Huddlesford Junction is being restored and the word “Being” appears to have been stuck on so it can simply be removed when the restoration is completed and you can cruise all the way.

Look carefully at how the three fingers have serrated tops and bottoms allowing them to be set at the right angle on the post, but stopping the vandals rotating them to random directions.

Catshill Junction has its own finger sign, but opposite it this unusual sculpture.

We continued south along the Dawn End Branch of the Wyrley & Essington (Curly Wurly).

Further on was this unusual bridge sign - self explanatory really.

At Longwood Junction we met the end of the Rushall Canal - a modern canal built with long straight sections - quite the opposite to the Curly Wurly.

A right turn at Rushall Junction took us to Tame Valley Junction where we are safely moored overnight.

Tomorrow we will head back to cover the whole length of the Tame Valley Canal.

Posted on Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 18:26
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