A boaty catch up

Boating catch up

May 2014

After all the excitement of last weekend you would think it would be a quiet, boat free week - but far from it.

Wednesday had more than a touch of ground hog day about it - 12 noon found me back on the site of Patent Shaft, again, meeting about 20 boaters, again, and taking them f

or a walk along the Bradley Branch to the Lock Gate factory and back via the Gospel Oak Pub and branch canal, again.

Its odd how groups differ. Last week everyone was all kitted up and ready for the off at noon sharp but this week it was all much more laid back. Canal time had set in and we had a leisurely introduction to the history of the area all washed down with a very acceptable pint of Bumblehole, which commanded a ridiculously low price of £1. I suspect that a deal had been struck for the last few pints in an open cask at the Titford Gathering the previous weekend - and I was very happy to be a recipient.

A gate in a crate

The weather was scorching hot, which makes three sun kissed Explorer cruise walks on the trot and certainly shows off the area to its best advantage.This time I gave the participants a copy of a map of the lost canals and this helped them engage with their surroundings, asking lots of questions and giving me plenty of opportunities to wax lyrical about the BCN in general.

Map on the wall of the Bradley works

The staff at the lock gate factory always seem happy to turn off the tools and show parties around, explaining how gates are made and letting the visitors see just about everything. Somehow you will always find a few of us (mainly Stuart) gathered round the skip extracting interesting and invariably heavy souvenirs. On my last visit I was disappointed to miss out on a 2010 gate plaque but this time I picked up half a dozen big gate bolts which will cut down nicely to form part of the false floor on the butty.

The new floor on the hold of Montgomery

And that offers the perfect Radio 2 segway into an update on the Jam Butty. This Bank Holiday offers a great opportunity to crack on with the new boat but sadly the weather on Friday didn't want to play ball. Helen demanded my muscle down at the wholesale market at 6.00am so I was up and about arriving on site at 8.30 and immediately set about installing a floor. As usual, nothing was square but I got there in the end. 

Mid morning the Truths arrived to take Wand'ring Bark out to Etruria via Middlewich so with them gone I moved Montogmery into my main mooring slot where I had a supply of power and grabbed my opportunities to get some red undercoat onto the boat. The raim showers kept coming over but in the end I managed to pain the bows and the cabin roof plus the hold bulkheads / doors. Its great to see the boat taking shape.

No boat work on Saturday, but with the BCN Challenge taking place there should be lots to photograph during today's photographic workshop based at the Titford Pumphouse. No doubt the end results will be published tomorrow.  

Good luck to all you Marathon Challengers and Crick attendees!

The Jam Butty finds a new home

Back to Calf Heath

May 2014

If our trip along the Shroppie represented the sea trials, our return along the Staffs and Worcs from Autherley to Calf Heath was the time trial. Not that we were out to set any records but rather we just wanted to get an idea of how much extra time we would need to allow for regular trips.

The movement along open canal was fairly brisk, with the boat moving sufficiently fast to generate a trail of bubbles from the bows. This is a good indicator that we are approaching max speed on the S&W, so not far off the pace. The Pendeford Rockin was another matter altogether. Its always a slow process but with a butty adding drag it passed with glacial slowness.

Perhaps the best time trial was the stretch between the Fox and Anchor at Coven and the marina at Calf Heath. This is a very familiar trip and one we usually complete in 50 mins or so. With the butty in tow we managed the distance in a creditable 1hr 5 mins suggesting we need to add 10 to 15 mins for every standard hour. It certainly slows us down but not to an unacceptable level.

The arrival back at the Marina was always going to be something of a spectacle. All the guys knew we were coming and gave us a standing ovation as we swept majestically into the lagoon and straight onto our mooring slot as though we didn't have 5 or 6 tons of iron and steel hanging on our stern. In fact the butty very nearly did a perfect self entry into the mooring beside us which would have been great but for the fact that its someone else's spot! 

So we moored Wand'ring Bark and I jumped onto Montgomery armed with the boat pole to push her to the designated mooring on the far side. As I stood on the bows, pole in hand I found it impossible to resist a loud rendition of "Just One Cornetto" but soon found it easier to control by poling from the hold. Ultimately we hope to get the boats into adjoining moorings but for now the craft sit apart and so it will stay whilst the renovation work is undertaken, ready for its first outing to the Birmingham Floating Market in late June.

The Jam Butty

The First Trip
May 2014

Yesterdays journey didn't really qualify as a proper test as it was all past moored boats so Sunday was its first journey unfettered by its surroundings.

 Montgomery passed her first lock at Autherley

The throttle was open up to the usual cruising revs of 1400 and Montgomery settled into the twin towing straps, most of the propwash sliding under her bows with some creaming away on either side, fanning out in a splayed V of froth. Progress seemed to be scarcely impeded, until we reached the narrows at Chillington. This is a shallow bit and its here that all the thrust is squeezed either side of the butty and progress slows to a crawl.

 She fits!

We also passed the Bywater hotel pair running on a short line, attracting many curious stares and an exclamation the "that has to be the shortest butty I have ever seen". Progress was steady and my initial caution became more laid back eventually moving into a Waynes World period of extravagance:

 Towing - its childs play!

Autherley stop lock represented out first lock - would the calculations be right and would both boats fit in together. The stern was counted down as I watched the bows approach the top gate. In the end there was one foot of clearance with fenders down and elum straight out - Phew!

The Jam Butty's first voyage

Montgomery's sea trials

May 2014

Well this is it. It's 12 long months since we commissioned the Jam Butty to be constructed from a replica Josher back cabin mated the the stern of a 100  year old BCN day boat and today we finally took possession of this little cut and shut gem.

Moving into towing position

The delivery date has swung too and fro and but with the weather set fair for the past few days we settled on 17th May a D(elivery) Day. She was shot blasted, two pack epoxy'd, red leaded and finally craned into the the water at Keith Ball's Stretton wharf.

Our first glimpse of her was as we approached, low in the water and tucked in behind a working boat. And what a difference a lick of red lead and some blacking makes. Suddenly the rusty pile is transformed into a coherent little boat ready for the off.

Splicing

Of course, there was the small matter of the payment and then it was on with the fenders and a crash course in splicing by Barney to let me make the cross straps. This wasn't terribly easy but we got there in the end.

Let towing commence

Then came the moment of truth. Would it tow? This was a pretty crucial question as a negative outcome would be annoying, costly and embarrassing. But I shouldn't have worried because it towed behind like an obedient little dog. The good natured relationship between the two boats was apparent by the time we reached Stretton Aqueduct, 400 yards to the south. The butty slides along in the center of Wand'ring Bark's wake and its huge elum and fine rear swim keeps it straight without recourse to a steel pail over the stern.

Celebration time in Brewood

Our first journey was short - just as far at Brewood where we moored up and toasted the event with a bottle of fizz left by some friends who I took out last Sunday. No sooner had we moored than a trickle of the curious came to visit and find aout more about the odd little craft. So that was my second fear dissipated - would it attract attention and have a bit if "wow" factor to it. People came, people chatted and would have bought jam if we had thought to pack any!

BCN Explorers

Explorer Cruise A 2014

May 2014

Each year BCNS facilitates two guided tours of the backwater canals of Birmingham and The Black Country, better known as the once mighty Birmingham Canal Navigations.

Moorcroft Moorings at capacity

Its a remarkable to see a convoy of 20 or so narrowboats threading their way around the remaindered sections of the Northern BCN, their crews becoming inspired by the diversity of these remote and underused waterways. Its even more remarkable to approach the "moorings" at Moorcroft Junction packed with boats resting three abreast under the blue skies of summers day. If I am honest the Walsall Canal almost looked beautiful - almost!

The big thanks go the the Sharratts who host these annual pilgrimages but we all like to do our bit to sing the praises of these underused waterways. My contribution is to provide a guided tour of a fragment of the abandoned canals, taking the group beyond some of those mysterious blocked bridge holes and showing them a glimpse of what used to be, and hopefully adding an extra historical dimension to the region which you can only get by walking the line and feeling the cinders beneath your feet.

This year it was a walk up the Bradley Locks Branch, a visit to the lock gate factory and then a walk back along the line of Gospel Oak / Dumaresq Branch taking in some liquid sustenance at the Gospel Oak along the way.

All in all it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Five hours in the company of BCN enthusiasts visiting some of my favourite haunts and seeing the usually deserted canal brought to vibrant life.

Thank you for letting me share a of the abandoned network with you.