Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch

Argh! I'm getting behind with my blog posts, not helped by being unable to upload photos last night. Blogger was slow, or my broadband connection was slow, or my computer was slow. Or I was slow.

I've nowhere finished writing up our April two week cruise, and now there's the just-completed four day trip with my brother to talk about. At least I have plenty of photos to share.


Back to 6th April 2011, then, and my personal BCN challenge. We have just come off the Tame Valley Canal and tied up by the facilities at the junction with the Walsall Canal. Wanting to explore the Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch I walked across to talk to the residential moorers there to sound out the possibility of going to the ends of the arms.

Come on in, they said, but mind the low bridge (this one, at the entrance to the branch, wasn't it - it was the next one along).


So we squeezed past the moored boats, squeezed under the low bridge, and squeezed as much silt out of the way under the bows as we could before reversing back. This is as far as we got. I was disappointed not to see any evidence of a tunnel mouth, but I suppose it's been many decades since it was last in use.


To turn the boat we reversed into the other arm, and then tied up at what we were told was a visitor mooring just before the main line.


Curiously this was completely cut off from the towpath. Even the facilities were the other side of the branch. At least it was safe, not that we suffered any form of banditry anywhere on the BCN.

I've just reread what I wrote at the time. It's interesting how I've forgotten lots of detail in just two months:

Our destination was Ocker Hill. I didn't know what I'd find there. Nicholson's suggested there'd be some sort of services, and also maps the Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch, just a few yards south of Doe Bank or Tame Valley Junction. I walked over the towpath bridge over the entrance to the arm, and, by leaning over the bridge, could read a BW sign "Welcome to Ocker Hill residential moorings". Nothing saying "Private moorings: Keep Out", so I was hopeful that I might be able to explore. I accessed the moorings (still by foot) with a BW key and asked a residential boater if there were visitor moorings there. He said yes, by the entrance. Excellent! I reversed Shadow to the junction and went in, all the way to the end of the longer of the two "fingers", then reversed and winded to come back to tie up where indicated, right by a water point. Very convenient (for water, not so convenient for the facilities block!)

That shows me how important it is either to write up as soon as possible after the event, or to make extensive notes. I can't trust my memory!