Previous Year : 2017 The Bona Boater's Trips Following Year : 2019

2018 - The Northern BCN.

Crew : Alan, Pete W, Pete M, John, Chris & Dave (BTS1)

Boat : Danny Boy

From : Anglowelsh, Tardebigge.

Route : Tardebigge > Birmingham > Black Country Museum > Wolverhampton > Walsall Town Basin > Pelsall > Anglesey Basin [w] > Daw End > Tipton > Netherton > Delph [w] > Netherton > Birmingham > Alvechurch > Tardebigge.

Coverage : 104.7 Miles and 52 Locks.

Notes : Due to illness, Stan would be unable to join us this year, but Dave who had not been able to join us since 2015 would, which meant that the crew would remain at six. The original route as planned included a further trip down The Stourbridge Town arm from Delph. It was felt however that this could be a bit too far (32 extra locks) just for a one evening visit. The last time we did this run, we arrived in Stourbridge too late to find food. It would also have entailed an early start next morning straight into the locks, so we decided not to go to Stourbridge but instead to wind at Delph. This also gave us a bit of extra time, which we would use to visit Netherton instead. This would turn out to be a good decision. We would have been hard pressed, or even unlikley to make it to Stourbridge due to the delay on The Ryders Green Flight. The weather for the whole week was absolutely superb. Wall-to-wall hot sunshine, in fact rather like our first trip in 1992 - well, apart from the Friday when it rained very hard most of the morning.

Saturday 19th May

Morning : Alan had rung the boatyard earlier in the week to find that our boat was already out on hire. This meant that it would have to be 'turned round' - i.e. cleaned and prepared on the Saturday morning, along with all the others. This in turn meant that an early getaway was unlikely. We agreed to meet at The Boatyard at 13:00 to see if it was ready. Pete W took Dave, and had to pick up Pete M at Trowell Services on the M1, arriving at the boatyard at about 12:50. They were eventually told the boat was ready and they began to load. John & Chris took Alan, but due to a slight confusion, they were delayed. They confused Tardebigge Wharf, which isn't the boatyard with Tardebigge Old Wharf which is. They eventually arrived at about 13:20 while the two Petes & Dave were still loading. After the handover we were finally ready to go at 14:00.

Afternoon : No pub stop. The original plan had included a stop at The Weighbridge at Alvechurch, but only if we were to be away well before 14:00. As we left at 14:00, and it would be about five hours to Birmingham, we decided not to stop. As we passed by Br.60, the pub looked very busy, and we could see & hear some Morris Dancers performing. As we found out later, this was the pub's Beer Festival, and with hindsight, it might not have been the best time to go anyway.

A rather strange resident to find lurking alongside a canal in Birmingham !

Evening : Birmingham. We eventually arrived in Birmingham at about 18:30 to find no suitable moorings available on the main line. There was only one, but at 70 feet, we were a bit too long to fit. Fortunately, there was still one space available on our usual spot just below Tindall Bridge next to the NIA. In a neat manoeuvre, John reversed along the Main Line, reversed round the junction & roundabout and reversed past the ice-cream boat (..under the intense gaze of the ice-cream boat man..) and pulled in just behind it. We moored up and went to The Prince of Wales for a pint, only to find the pub closed and up for lease... Shock ! Horror ! What could we do ? Luckily, there was an event on at the NIA and there were lots of people arriving by taxi, so we grabbed one and went to The Bartons Arms at Aston Cross where we had a superb thai meal and plenty of Oakhams (and other) ales. On returning to the boat, we found that the event at The NIA had just finished and that many of the nearby roads were choked with taxis leaving, so the taxi driver dropped us a couple of streets away and we walked the last bit. On returning to the boat, we partook of the now traditional nightcap of port & Stilton.

Inside The Bartons Arms at Aston Cross.

Sunday 20th May

Lunch : The Black Country Museum. We departed from The NIA at 9:00. We did not follow the loops as we usually do, but instead stuck to the main line and climbed Smethwick Locks to The Wolverhampton Level. We arrived at The Museum at 12:00 and moored up. We knew we had to buy tickets for the Museum, but we found the actual ticketing arrangements somewhat ill-signed and rather confusing. There is still the same old sign by the visitor mooring advising that tickets should be purchased in The Bottle & Glass. Indeed, this is what we had always done in the past. This time however, there was another smaller sign on the gate into the Museum saying that tickets should now be purchased at The Dudley Canal & Tunnel Trust shop over the footbridge. That shop however has automated ticket barriers which appear at first sight to be there to prevent entry, and this caused further confusion. We did eventually manage to find our way in, paid, got our tickets and got out again and into The Museum, but the whole procedure could really do with some much better signage and clearer instructions. We decided to have a pint or two in The Bottle & Glass whilst we decided what to do. As it was a beautifully hot day, we decided to meet back there by 15:30 for a pint (.. or earlier if anyone wanted more..) before aiming to leave at 16:00. We all had a good long look round the museum. After Pete M had winded in the boat dock entrance, we departed at 16:10.

We moored up at The Black Country Museum..

The sign explaining how and where to pay was still there, except that it's wrong.

The new Dudley Canal & Tunnel Trust,

This is where you now have to pay.

In the distance, The Bottle & Glass, where we used to have to pay.

Evening : Wolverhampton. After leaving the Museum, we returned to the Main Line and passed through Cosely Tunnel. After an otherwise uneventful trip, we arrived in Wolverhampton at 18:20. We took on water in the basin, winded, moored and went to The Great Western. After several pints here, we decided to go looking for a curry. Pete W was given a recommendation by the barman - a place called The Hooded Ram, but according to its website, it was shut on a Sunday. We decided to see what we could find so we set off towards what we thought was the city centre. We seemed to walk for ages through various seemingly identical underpasses. Part way, John decided to 'retire hurt' and returned to the boat for a cheese & jam sandwich, while the rest of us eventually found a place called the Mystic Grill Dosa on Market St. The food was superb. After eating, we made our way back to the boat for our usual nightcap.

We took on water at Wolverhampton...

... before repairing to The Great Western for a little rehydration therapy.

Monday 21st May

Lunch : Walsall - and the first delay of the week. We left Wolverhampton at 08:00 expecting to arrive in Walsall at about 12:30, but this was not to be. We turned on to The Wyrley & Essington Canal at Horsley Fields Junction, and headed towards Birchills Junction and Walsall. As we arrived at Rayboulds Bridge, the boat ground to a halt. No amount of power forward or astern would shift it. Eventually, we somehow managed to rock and haul the boat back off the obstruction - or obstructions - plural. We managed to pull two-and-a-half shopping trolleys and one mattress out of the cut. There was also a settee which we could not pull out as it was large & waterlogged which made it very heavy, and was breaking up under it's own weight with the strain of being lifted. Instead, we dragged it clear of the bridge-hole and left it in situ alongside yet another shopping trolley, which Alan then also removed from the cut, bringing the total trolley 'haul' to three-and-a-half. There was still a car tyre and another trolley which we could not reach.

Just what is the mentality of these people - destroying such a valuable local amenity just because they can't be arsed to take their rubbish to a tip.

Raybould's Bridge.

Having already pulled two shopping trolleys and a mattress out of the cut, the crew is now trying to haul a settee out

After about a 30 minute delay, we descended the eight locks down to Walsall Junction and eventually moored up in Walsall Town Basin. On arrival in the basin, Pete W had to perform a slightly ungainly reverse-wind and stern-first mooring while also trying to avoid the one moored boat and also avoid shoving the nose of our boat through the windows of the cafe which is situated right alongside the basin. With the wind completed successfully, we moored up and went to The Black Country Arms. What a superb pub. Excellent range of Black Country Ales (BCA) beers plus guests. After numerous pints of Pig on the Wall mild (4.3%) and Fireside (5%) we returned to the boat. On returning to the basin, we found it full of boats. It was a BCN explorer cruise. After a bit of a chat with those other hardy souls willing to brave the detritus of The Walsall Canal, we set off for Pelsall.

The bar in The Black Country Arms, Walsall.

The crew outside The Black Country Arms.

Evening : Pelsall. We left Walsall Town basin, climbed back up the locks and passed under Rayboulds Bridge again, but this time without incident. The original plan had been to stop at The Anchor at Anchor Bridge, however some of the crew suggested that trying The Fingerpost by Yorks Bridge may be a better bet, so we decided to stop there instead. We arrived there at about 18:30. Pete W made a quick recce into the pub only to find that they don't do any food on a Monday. To make matters worse, there were three visible handpumps, of which only one had a pumpclip on, and that pumpclip was turned round - so there appeared to be no beer either. With no beer or food available here, we decided to walk into Pelsall to see what else we could find. About ten minutes down the road we came across The Old House at Home. A pretty standard looking Marston's pub, but it did have a range of OK beers and good value food, so we ate, drank and stayed there. One comment made by both John & Pete W was that their steaks were superbly cooked, i.e. as they should be - properly rare. All too often, a so called 'rare' steak is not so, usually being too overdone to be rare. It is refreshing to find a chef who can actually do a rare steak properly.

The Fingerpost at York's Bridge, Pelsall Common.

No food on Mondays, and apparently no beer either..

Tuesday 22nd May

Morning : Anglesey Basin. We left Pelsall at 08:30 and arrived at Anglesey Basin at about 10:00. It was rather disappointing as there was nowhere to stop, no moorings, not even a pontoon, so we couldn't even get off the boat. We had hoped to be able to get a look at The Chasewater Reservior. Unable to moor, we winded and continued on towards Daw End.

Lunchtime : Daw End. We arrived at Daw End by about 12:45, moored up and went to The Manor Arms. What a superb pub. The front room has no bar counter as such, and the handpumps are set on a shelf on the wall in the room. We had numerous pints of Banks's. Replete, we set off for Tipton.

The bar in The Manor Arms, Daw End.

There is no bar counter.

A sign in The Manor Arms.

I wish we had one one where I work !

Evening : Tipton. We left Daw End at about 15:10, descended Rushall Locks down to Rushall Junction, where we took The Tame Valley Canal towards Ocker Hill, then turned onto The Walsall Canal and headed towards Pudding Green Junction. We had intended to stop at Moors Mill Lane Bridge, but luckily we spotted some bollards nearer to Hempole Bridge, so we stopped there instead. We walked to The Rising Sun on Horsley Street. Another superb BCA pub. They don't do food but had some huge cobs in cheese & onion and ham & tomato. We bought six cheese & onion (one each) and three ham & tomato (half each) which Alan cut in half with his penknife. We also had numerous pints of beer, but sadly none of their superb Pig on the Wall mild.

Dave eating a cob...

or is it the cob eating Dave ?

Wednesday 23rd May

Morning : Ryders Green locks - and the second delay of the week. We left Hempole Bridge at 08:00. Adding a little time in to stop for water at Tividale Aqueduct, we had aimed to be at Netherton by about 12:00 but we got no further than Ryders Green Bottom Lock before the problems started. Pete W drove into the first lock. As it filled and the gates opened it was obvious that the pound was at least 18" (..or maybe even more..) down. The boat barely scraped and bumped over the cill, and came to an immediate stop. The lock crew went on to run water down from the upper pounds, but some of these were already low too. After about thirty minutes, there was just enough water for the boat to start moving again, albeit very slowly and still ploughing along the bottom. Not much further on the boat stopped again, this time with juddering from the prop, so it was time for another round of "Down The Weedhatch". There wasn't much weed, but there were plastic bags, half a traffic cone, some clothing, a mains power lead complete with both plugs, some rope and all tangled up in barbed wire.

Pete W down the weedhatch.

That's only part of the haul, and it's not all out yet. The toaster and the barbed wire have yet to see the light of day.

After twenty minutes of struggling up to the elbows in mucky black water that looked and smelled more like black paint, the prop was eventually cleared. Luckily, that twenty minutes also allowed the pound to rise by another couple of inches, so at least we were afloat and able to move again. The next obstacle was yet another shopping trolley sat right in the middle of the cut - right in the deepest bit of the channel where the boat would have to stay. Luckily, Alan managed to haul it up into the well deck.

Yet another shopping trolley, dripping muck all over the well-deck.

Although this left an awful stinky muddy mess on the boat, at least we were moving again. As we climbed, the pounds got successively better as Pete W had by now handed over the tiller and had walked up right to the top and was running water down all the way.

Lunch : Netherton. Having finally beaten all the rubbish that the residents of Ryders Green could throw at us, we returned to the main line and headed for Netherton Tunnel. We stopped to take on water at Tividale Aqueduct, but we could not find the tap that we were sure we had used in the past - in fact there is a photo of the boat taking on water there in 1997 . A boat emerging from Netherton Tunnel stopped to tell us that the water point had been removed when BW had sold off the former keepers cottages. After a chat, and recounting our adventure on Ryders Green, he gave us some strong bin-bags for the weed hatch haul. As breakfast had been cooking since Ryders Green Locks, we decided to moor up and have a leisurely breakfast before entering Netherton Tunnel. After breaking our fast and passing through Netherton Tunnel, we eventually moored at Bishtons Bridge at about 13:20. We walked into Netherton to The Old Swan Inn (aka Ma Pardoe's) where we had numerous pints of Original, Swan Dark and Bumble Hole.

A life-size replica of the anchor of The RMS Titanic.

The original for the ship was made locally.

The front bar of The Old Swan Inn, Netherton.

Evening : Delph. We left The Old Swan Inn at about 15:10, walked back to The Boat and set off for Delph at about 15:30. We arrived at the top of Delph locks at about 17:00, and were moored in the small basin alongside lock 8 by about 18:10. There seemed to be an unusually large volume of water flowing over the famous sloped bywashes. It transpired that this was arranged for some canoeists. We ate in The Tenth Lock then walked up the hill to the Bull & Bladder where we had numerous pints of Batham's Mild & Bitter.

Canoeists can easily paddle down the bywashes...

...but it's still a bit of a drag getting them back up to the top again.

Thursday 24th May

Lunchtime : Netherton. As it was only about three hours back to Netherton, we decided to leave at 09:00. Pete W winded the boat in the mooring pound and we climbed the locks. We stopped at Blowers Green to take on water as we had totally forgotten to do so the previous day, despite having left time in the schedule for it. We eventually arrived back at Bishtons Bridge, mooring up at 12:10. We walked into Netherton (again), went to The Old Swan Inn (again) and had numerous pints of Original, Dark Swan and Bumble Hole (again). We left The Old Swan Inn at about 15:00 and departed for Birmingham at about 15:20.

The Old Swan Inn, Netherton.

The new art-deco bar.

One of the back rooms in The Old Swan Inn

Evening : Birmingham. We left Netherton, passed through Netherton tunnel and headed on to The Main Line. Somewhere between Smethwick Junction and Galton Bridge, a passing cyclist shouted to us to beware that there was someone in the water ahead. He said another cyclist had just ridden into the canal. By the time we got there both the cyclist and his bicycle were out of the water. He had his shirt off and a woman with him was dipping it in the canal and using it to wash the muck off the bicycle.

The Engine Arm Aqueduct, Smethwick.

This fine aqueduct carries the Engine Branch over The New Main Line.

Galton Bridge.

I don't like the new style lamps !

We continued on towards Birmingham, arriving there at about 18:20. We pottered slowly along the main line looking for a mooring, but we could not find one. We had passed the NIA and Worcester Bar before finding a mooring just beyond the trip boats in Gas Street. By this time, the breeze had got up, and Pete M had to make three attempts before he finally managed get the boat in to the side. We eventually moored up at 18:35. We then went to The Barajee on Broad Street for a curry. As The Prince of Wales was shut, we decided instead to go to The Tap and Spile on Gas Street. It was deserted apart from ourselves. There was a big screen telly blaring out "Paul O'Gradys For the love of Dogs". We asked the barmaid to switch it off - which she did - eventually, but only after the second request and even then not without protest. Despite 'succeeding' in getting the TV turned off, the music then began to blare out instead, and it got progressively louder with each subsequent track. Fed up with the noise, we had just one drink there and left. At this point, Pete W decided to 'retire hurt' and went back to the boat. Meanwhile, following the disappointment with The Tap & Spile, Pete M used his phone to locate another suitable venue. The Wellington (another BCA pub) was found to be nearby so we set off in search of it only to find the tramworks in the way. After consulting the conveniently placed streetmaps, we were soon heartened by the welcome sight of 18 handpumps, which made the trek worthwhile. After numerous pints here, we returned to the boat. Luckily Pete M had noted a shorter route back which avoided us having to walk through the bars in The Mailbox. After our epic trek, we revived our flagging spirits in the usual manner with more port, Stilton & black pudding.

Friday 25th May

Morning : Torrential Rain. As we now had about half a day to spare, we discussed trying to find somewhere else to go. We looked at The Blue Bell Cider House at Warings Green on the Northern Stratford Canal, but at almost six hours each way that was deemed too far. We also considered The Drawbridge at Shirley, but even at only about five hours each way, this would still be a long drag. However, the decision was finally made for us by the weather. At the scheduled departure time of 08:00 the rain was utterly torrential. Not being in any desperate rush to get anywhere in particular, we decided to stay put. We only had to get as far as Alvechurch (approximately five hours cruising time) by the evening so we had plenty of time to spare. Once the torrent had eased off a bit, we eventually left Gas St. at about 10:15, had a leisurely breakfast on the move, and were moored up in Alvechurch by 14:15.

Lunchtime : Alvechurch. On arrival in Alvechurch, we went straight to The Weighbridge for some Hobson's Mild as we knew the pub would close at 15:00. We recalled from previous visits that the pub was always very busy with food on a Friday evening so we decided it would be prudent to book a table now for the evening's meal. We booked a table for 19:00. As the pub is closed between 15:00 & 19:00, we returned to the boat for some soup and a cabaret. The visitor moorings at Alvechurch are right opposite the marina, and we had arrived back from the pub just in time to watch two boats being lifted. One boat was lifted from the marina hardstanding into the cut, while another was waiting in the cut to be lifted out onto the marina.

One boat being lifted into the cut while another waits in the canal nearby to be lifted out.

No doubt a gut-wrenching twenty minutes for the owner.

Once the cabaret was over, John, Chris & Alan stayed on the boat while the two Petes & Dave walked into the town, where they went to The Swan (see 1992) for a few pints. On the way back, Pete M called into the railway station to check on train times before they all returned to The Weighbridge just in time for the meal and evening session.

Evening : Still in Alvechurch. We went back to The Weighbridge at 19:00 where we had another excellent meal and several more pints before noting that the The Token had managed to find its way back to its maker ready for its next outing next year.

Saturday 26th May

Morning : Boatyard. We left Alvechurch at 08:00, arriving at The Boatyard by 08:50. We loaded the cars and set off home. Pete M's original plan had been to travel with Pete W & Dave up to Bradford for a curry at The Karachi, then get a train back to Nottingham from there. However, due to strike action scheduled on Northern Rail Services, he decided to travel directly to Nottingham from Alvechurch, so Pete W dropped him at Alvechurch Station before heading up to Bradford with Dave for the now traditional post-boat curry at The Karachi and visit to the Al Halal supermarket.

Previous Year : 2017 The Bona Boater's Trips Following Year : 2019