BCN Exploring part 1

So here we are, joined with 10 other boats to explore the Birmingham Canals Navigation (BCN), held under the guidance of the BCNS, the Society promoting the BCN.

We all gathered on Friday night, for a meal, a talk by local canal historian Phil Clayton, and a general opportunity to meet up with the other crews.

First time we have been in a bank of 4 moored boats!

We were all off promptly as we had 11 miles and 3 locks to get through. Alison BRAVELY took us through the Netherton Tunnel, very wide, very high, and a disgrace should I have touched the sides but the fourth longest currently open in the country.

We had to retrace our cruise from Wolverhampton until the junction of the Wyrley and Essington,  or the Curly Wyrley.. it's an early canal that preferred keeping to one contour,  thus avoiding locks, but extremely twisty as a result.

It's beautiful. 

It's a built-up area all around but the canal itself is a green corridor. I have never seen so many coots, Swans, ducks all competing for nesting sites.

Plenty of fish too, several shoals of roach for sure.

But it is shallow, and full of rubbish. We hoped to get to our mooring before heading down the weedhatch, but we were losing so much power that we had to stop and clear the Propellor a couple of miles short.

Saturday's mooring was at a Greene King pub in Wednesfield,  where a local Councillor gave us a talk about his campaign to protect and improve the Curly Wyrley,  knocking on boats to find out how much they had spent in the area so he could present the economic case to the Council, getting it declared a nature reserve and getting funding and infrastructure improvements. Crime has gone down and boats are back, there's a festival and other community enterprises.. what a friend to the canal. He then presented a book of local history to the boat that had come the furthest to join the cruise.. us! We were stunned but delighted. 

Excellent meal and the best Abbot Ale I have had in an age. Then back to the boat to stare in astonishment at the Eurovision Song Contest and to listen in awe to the Liverpudlians in full cry.

Sunday morning dawned lovely and much of the convoy was gone by 9am. We were tail end Charlie and went peacefully on our way half an hour or so later.  More birds, nests, chicks, rubbish.. back clearing the prop within the first hour.

No complaints though.

Two more visits to the prop later,

we passed two of the convoy, paused for lunch and weedhatch operations. So not just us! Unfortunately our long pond gloves have both developed holes and are leaking canal water in. A new pair of Gauntlets was ordered and collected from Screwfix this afternoon as we passed.

The locks down to Walsall were slow and quite a bottleneck as the convoy bunched up. 

But each lock had a volunteer from the BCNS to help us through.. much appreciated. 

Andrew had a nightmare,  picking up huge amounts of weed and rubbish on the prop. Those gauntlets have seen plenty of service already!

But at last we were all in place.

Time for a swift half at the Black Country Arms, dinner, and a film.. We had earlier booked to see The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, not expecting to be quite so frazzled. Glad we went though, extraordinary film.