The last trip of the season

Hockley Port to Longwood

October 2018

It's a bitter sweet moment when you pick  up your boats knowing that the forthcoming trip will be the last of the season.

Hockley Port towards the site of the Soho Works

You will have gathered that this spring's blacking turned out to be something of a disaster so we reluctantly booked the motor in for some more treatment, this time at the dry dock in Hockley Port which happened to be free for the week following Parkhead.

One of the Hockley Port interchange basins

The motor was left high and dry on Monday and, with the water drained away, the extent of the damage was apparent. Huge swathes of blacking has come off and the decision to return it to dry dock was absolutely the right one. The butty was also left at Hockley Port, locked up on the visitor moorings. To be honest, I was more concerned about the butty than the motor but we returned to find it just as we had left it.

The dry dock was refilled on Friday morning and we took it in turns to winch up the guillotine gate, which was incredibly stiff. I settled my dues with Sherborne Wharf and took comfort from the positive comments made about the condition of the hull, which is nearing 20 years old. I was accompanied by Mr Whateley, my ever supportive relief crew member and having hooked the butty on the back we set off.

Entrance to Hockley Port

Hockley Port is one of those secretive little pockets of the BCN which I have only ever visited once before. Its off the little used Soho Loop and was originally the entrance to Matthew Bolton's Soho Works, manufacturers of many steam engines. The extension to the works at the end of the basin is long gone but the two broad railway transhipment arms have been cleaned out and now support a thriving residential boating community. Its the presence of the community that gives me pause for thought before entering through the low arch as it feels like an unnecessary intrusion unless visiting the dry dock. (£10 a foot for pressure washing and 3 coats of blacking).

Ryders Green Locks

We were soon back on the New Mainline and, with company on the back of the boat the miles flew past, we were soon at Pudding Green Junction, gateway to the northern reaches of the BCN. The canal immediately becomes narrow and weedy with offside vegitation nearly covering the channel. Then there is the murky entrance to the Wednesbury Old Canal (not a place to venture) before setting too on the eight locks of the Ryders Green Flight. Ray and Lesley on Morgana had been through just before us so it was no surprise to find them all empty. What we did notice was the large amount of debris which had been hauled from behind the lock gates. I later discovered that Raleigh has been through the day before and as an original BCN day boat with a beam of 7ft plus they had struggled, taking 2.5 hours over the last couple of locks. Their efforts were to our advantage and we were down by 4.00pm. 

The plan was to stop for the night at Ocker Hill, but as the evening was lovely and the forecast foul we decided to press on, eventually reaching the bottom of the Rushall Flight (aka The Ganzies) where we ran out of both light and water.

A rather dry bottom pound on the Rushall Flight

We know from long experience that the bottom pound is problematic and, as usual, it was completely empty with grass growing from the bed. The problem here is that all the pounds are short and getting enough water to make it up the next seven locks can be a long and tedious business of running water down. But we had a cunning plan which involved friends in high places. Martin was on his boat at Longwood Boat Club so he happily agreed to lift half a paddle in the evening and by first light at 7.00am I peered out of the window and sure enough, there was a flow on the canal and the by wash was bubbling away.

Loads of wet stuff after running half a paddle all night!

The temperature had also fallen to 6.5c and a steady rain has set in driven by a northerly wind, so we wrapped up well and set to work on the nine locks and three miles which separated us from home. With water running over all the weirs the canal was at maximum depth and we fairly flew up the hill, making light of the usually challenging mile pound. To be honest, the depth was so far up I was a bit worried about overtopping in places. 

And so we passed through Rushall Top Lock (aka The Moshes) and emptied the boats, shutting them down for the winter.

The boats may not be moving again before next April but that is far from the end of our canal interest. I have big plans to revisit the lost 60 miles as soon as the vegetation dies down, but more of that another time.

High tailing it to Hockley

Back to Hockley Port

October 2018

You may remember that back in March we had the motor boat out of the water for its periodic underwater repaint (known as blacking). Well, on that occasion the Beast from the East Mk 2 hit us and after applying the first coat in a balmy 13 degrees the temperature plummeted to minus 7 overnight. The upshot of this was that the blacking  didn't cure or adhere to the metal, and by the time we got to Liverpool it was apparent that it was flaking off in sheets exposing the bare steel beneath.

Setting off at dawn

Bridge at Dudley Port Junction

I tried to persuade myself that it was all right really, but by the time we reached Leeds it was blatantly obvious that all was not well. We cant leave the steelwork exposed like that and I have neither this time nor the inclination to go through the process again, assuming I could find somewhere to get the boat out at  such short notice. I gave Sherborne Wharf a call to see if their dry dock at Hockley Port would be free in October and as luck would have it they had a slot free the week after Parkhead. Its not DIY, but at £10 a foot for three coats of bitumen its not a large premium, and it gets the job done before winter.

 Misty Island Line at dawn

Sunrise at Albion Junction

And so, having reached Tividale on the Birmingham side of the Netherton Tunnel it was just a matter of getting up at dawn and pressing on to Hockley Port in the Soho Loop. I was up by 6.00am and moving before the sun was over the horizon. 

 Misty past Chance's Glassworks

And looking back...

It was a blissful three hour trip during which I saw just two other boats, both people I knew making tracks from Parkhead. I have never travelled in this direction in the light of an early morning and I took the opportunity to get some unusually lit images of familiar structures.

Mirror calm at Smethwick Junction

Our travels will resume on Friday when Martin and I pick the boats up and bring than back to Longwood for the winter.

Twin arches at The Cape Arm

Onwards to Parkhead

Parkhead Historic Boat Gathering 2018

September 2018

Whilst I was at the CRT meetings on Wednesday Helen was attending a routine hospital appointment and returned home for a couple of nights, leaving me to move the boats to Parkhead, ready for our last trading event of the season on The Jam Butty.

Parkhead 2018

I took the direct route down the New Main Line and soon passed a large group of volunteers clearing the toll island at the end of the Soho Loop, and was also overtaken by Bob on Bimble whohad been moored outside the Birmingham Arena for a few days.

Clearing the toll island

My approach to Smethwick Junction presented me with something of a first - I overtook another narrowboat! No, it wasn't moored, broken down or indeed moving in reverse. It was a bona fide boat which was travelling extremely slowly. Now its true I have overtaken boats whilst I have been towing before, but one was a narrowboat pulling a broken down 70 footer and the other was a pair of fully loaded coal boats. As most of you will know, my pace on the water will never trouble the speed limits, but at normal towing speed (probably 2.5 mph in this case) I inexorably caught up with this craft and in the end signaled I would pass. Of course, it turned out he was following the old line and I the new, so I could have bided my time had I known. Well, reports of the manouver gave the guys in the beer tent something to laugh about that evening!

Last outing for The Jam Butty this season

I made it through the Netherton Tunnel without a scrape but was thwarted in my efforts to refill with water at Bumblehole because someone has nicked the tap fitting. I pressed on down the Dudley No2 Canal and was caught by the Phillips on Aquarius as I passed the southern end of the Two Locks Line. With just under a mile to go to Blowers Green it was touch and go if I should try and let them past, but the canal in this area is very narrow and shallow and the likely end result would be us both stemming up (aground). They didn't press me so be crawled along and they finally overtook at the Pumphouse where I stopped to use a still serviceable tap. 

 Emu arrives passing Joey Boat No65

The three locks up to Parkhead Basin were well manned by volunteers and I simply managed the boats as the locks were worked around me. The harbour master was operating from the office at the bottom lock and I was advised that I would be mooring on the northern side of the Pensnett Arm.  Armed with this knowledge we decided to pull the boats back into the arm on ropes, later shuffling them about with the motor on the outside of the butty to maximise the bankside for the other trading boats.

Boats in every nook and cranny

It was great to catch up with Barry and Sandra on the Homebrew Boat and Friday night was spent at Ma Pardo's in Netherton to celebrate Sandra's birthday. 

Birthday celebrations with Barry and Sandra

The festival itself is a lovely affair, comprising a retro collection of historic boats, vintage cars / motorbikes, stationary engines and even  three local steam engines, plus of course a wide range of stalls, trade boats and the obligatory bar stocked with Ma Pardo's finest. The festival also showcases horse boating with demonstrations of a Joey Boat being hauled up the locks using all the pulleys and posts which adorned the lock flights in the area. All this against the backdrop of the splendid wooded basin which was restored in the 1990's.

Steam engines taking centre stage

On Saturday the sun shone and offered a warm and still day, but on Sunday a chill wind blew in and we were left in no doubt that autumn is upon us. Sadly, in spite of all it had to offer, the crowds didn't really materialise and the site lacked the bustle of previous years (it takes place every 2 years). One face in the crown I should have recognised was Fuzz from Car SOS. I met him on the bridge, recognised his face, exchanged greeting and figured he was a customer.... Dur.

Horse boating on the locks

Helen had arrived by car and we look the opportunity to get the first load of our stuff home on Sunday morning. I had a chilly afternoon on the stall with few customers and managed to have it all down and packed away by 5.00pm. The harbour master had a schedule of boats leaving and I was the last out at 5.30pm, following Kew which moored up at Bumblehole.

Steve Bingham's wheels

I needed to get to Hockley Port on Monday morning so pressed on in the gathering gloom, negotiating my way across Bumblehole using my tunnel light and then into the two mile Netherton Tunnel. There is something a bit spooky about using these long tunnels at night, probably because you cant see the end and you don't really know where you are till you emerge. I timed my passage and Neterton seems to take a very consistent 45 mins when towing, which isn't too bad as the motor boat alone would still take 35 minutes.

I moored on the bollards just beyond Tividale Aqueduct, a regular stopping point and had an uninterrupted night.