Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally 2018

How did I get so far behind with my blog posts? It's been far too long and much has happened. The trouble is, I'm beginning to forget what we've done - and the blog is for recording just that. Perhaps this post will be the start of another spurt of online activity.

We had contrived to be in Braunston over the weekend of 23rd and 24th June to coincide with the Historic Narrowboat Rally.

The parades, as always, were pretty chaotic.

It was good to meet many friends at the event. Sarah and Jim were there with Chertsey; Jim entertained the neighbours with some 78s.

There was much washing and polishing before the event got under way.

Well-known boaters Prunella Scales and Timothy West did some readings at a service on the Sunday morning. The service commemorated Braunston people killed in the first world war and in subsequent wars.

I had the privilege of steering Kew on most of one of the parades.

And now an update on where we are: Northampton. We have started our foray onto new waters, that is, the Nene, the Middle Levels and the Great Ouse. We're heading to St. Neots for the IWA Festival at the end of August.

Black Country Boating Festival 2017

We didn't get to Windmill End as early as we had intended this year for the Black Country Boating Festival. Our delay was on account of all the work we were doing at the Birmingham house, mostly painting. We left Cambrian Wharf in time to arrive at the BCBF at 1100; we immediately got stuck in to helping.

At one point we were asked to move the boat from its original mooring at the junction to just a little further on, opposite the main festival site. There we are, with the bunting up (such as it is).

Galileo was looking very good.

On the Sunday (10th Sep) Jan led a short BCF service in the beer tent. This year, for some reason, the local churches didn't get involved and the congregation was consequently small.

We had a good time at the festival despite the showery conditions, and resolved to do it all again next year. When the rain really fell down on Sunday afternoon that was the signal for the crowds to melt away - if that's the right phrase, dissolve might be more appropriate - and for the traders to pack up.

Here are David and Mary leaving on Kew.

Now I must go on the BCBF website and book 2018 ...

Braunston Historic Boat Show 2017

We took a break from working on the house in Brum to drive down to Milton Keynes to visit Ally, Ben and Josiah yesterday. We had a lovely time during which Ben tested my eyes.

This morning we drove up to Braunston to catch some of this years Historic Boat Show, seeing among others Sarah and Jim (Chertsey), David, Mary and Richard (Kew), Terry and Chris (Grace), David (Trimstone), Stephen and Gwyneth (Chyandour) and Alan (Tranquility).

We saw only part of the last parade, which seemed less chaotic than in the past. Perhaps fewer boats were taking part, although there seemed to be plenty there ...

... tying up six abreast at the entrance to the marina.

I wonder if Jules Cook would like this one of her.

Kew, prominent as ever, is in the centre of this photo.

I was able to admire Chertsey's freshly blacked hull.

Next: how aluminium burns.

Getting a full length narrowboat stuck in a winding hole ... in the dark

We had some adventures this evening. We were assisting David and Mary on Kew, their 71' 6" "River class" boat, in the illuminated boat parade. I had helped David rig his lights, all 240V, earlier in the afternoon. They were mostly strings of Christmas lights, with two floodlights of probably 300W each. This was powered by a (noisy) generator running from a gas cylinder on the cabin top. The floodlights illuminated a simple wooden cross with a mechanism for lowering to pass under bridges.

The parade started at 9 pm, when all six participating boats set off at short intervals from Pelsall Junction. As the Boaters' Christian Fellowship boat Kew carried a small group of musicians and singers in the open hold at the front. We sang hymns and choruses - to applause - as we travelled past the moored boats.

All went well until we tried to wind just before Fishley Lane Bridge. This is marked as a winding hole in Nicholson's, with no restrictions as to length of boat, but after an hour of heaving on ropes etc. we had to give up. There was no way a full length boat could wind there. All this time we were trapping another of the illuminated boats; when we gave up trying to wind the other boat was able to return to its mooring, taking one of the singers. The rest of us walked back: it was only about 1/4 mile for most of us. David and Mary will go on in the morning to try the next winding hole.

This is Kew jammed across the canal, not that you can really see it.

The day had started with a service in the entertainments marquee for boaters, traders and site staff.

In the afternoon a piper playing Amazing Grace heralded the start of the open air service for the public.

I counted 64 people at this short service.

Jan and I fitted in two hours of volunteering each; programme dishing out for me and children's work in the WoW (Wild over Water) marquee for Jan. Tomorrow should be slightly less busy!

Budgerigar comes for an unexpected ride

Just below Lime Kiln Lock on the Staffs and Worcs Jan was most surprised when a budgerigar flew down from the trees and landed on a solar panel in front of her.

Budgie stayed for the ride up the lock and showed no sign of wanting to fly away, even when we got close in order to take photos.

Just as we were wondering what to do with it a cruiser arrived to go down the lock. As I started cycling on to the next lock I mentioned to the crew of the boat what had happened, expecting them to be slightly interested but no more. I was as surprised as Jan had been when Budgie turned up to learn that Sue on the cruiser was not only very interested, but was known as the "bird lady", having an aviary at home with as many as 500 birds at one time. Sue looked at the bird and diagnosed that he had probably run out of seed and was therefore hungry and weak. Being a domesticated bird he did not know how to forage for food in the wild. She picked him up and took him back to her boat (Lapwing) to care for him.

What are the chances of a) a budgerigar hitching a lift on your boat - in the middle of nowhere - and b) the very next person you meet being a bird expert? Astonishing!

Earlier we had tied up below Rodbaston Lock, within earshot of the M6, to have lunch. We are travelling for a few days with NB Kew.

We passed Tycho at Hatherton Junction. It was interesting to see some fibreglass "blue tops" - as on Kew - incorporated in the boat. But what is the curious fender extension thingy at the bow? Does it do push tug operations somewhere?

More tea, vicar?

All right, it's lunch, not tea, but there's never any shortage of food at a BCF Barbecue, especially when it's at The Taft. And you won't be surprised to learn that there are a few retired vicars and other church ministers in the Boaters' Christian Fellowship. I can think of at least three who were at this year's barbecue weekend.

Before lunch Martin (one of the retired vicars) led a service of communion in the marquee. I'm sure God was laughing with us (and Edwin) when Martin drew attention to Edwin in his Sunday best suit.

Later, David B. presented Peter and Julie, our hosts for the weekend, with a teapot. It was actually one of their teapots, but filled with cash donations from all of us who had enjoyed their hospitality. And we all had.

As the weather was so good, David L. took to his canoe for a paddle on the canal.

Then he went for a dip in the neighbouring River Trent. He reported the current as being too strong to swim against (we had noticed a couple of days ago how much water was in the river).

Tomorrow we'll leave The Taft and head for the Black Country Boating Festival. We've left it too late to book a mooring, so we'll have to hope we can tie up beyond all the booked boats somewhere - and get wristbands for the evenings. We have now planned our schedule for the rest of our six month jaunt; it sees us return to the south midlands for some work to be done on the boat and to be near our winter mooring. Neither the work nor the mooring has been finalised yet.

Not another lost prop? Er ... well ... read on!

Prop's away - take three

I had cycled ahead to set Stoke Bottom Lock on the W&B and, while waiting for Kew to come along, I watched what was going on at the boatyard.

The man on the bank tied a rope to a boathook and poked it under the back of the boat. The man in the boat, reaching through the weedhatch, grabbed the rope and tied it to the propeller/propshaft. Then he pushed the propshaft backwards out of the boat, presumably stuffing something into the hole to stop too much water coming in, and the man on the bank pulled on his end of the rope.

This is where things went wrong. As the prop and shaft broke the surface the knot came undone - and the heavy metal fell into the canal.

The man poked around with the boathook for a while but was obviously getting nowhere. I suggested to him that a Sea Searcher might be what he needed, so he went off to get one.

I was beginning to get involved. He didn't seem to be having any more success with the magnet, so I offered to have a go. Even with my proficiency (I have hauled out a fair few ferrous objects in my time) I couldn't raise the slippery blighter. The magnet found it, oh yes, but would not lift it out of the mud. We found lots of other metal detritus, most of which was flung back.

By this time Kew had been through the lock and tied up. I got Kew's Sea Searcher to add to the boatyard's to see if double the strength would make sufficient difference. It did not.

Step forward David, who is used to getting wet. No point in pussy-footing around, let's just go in and get it.

In an instant he was in and reaching down ...

... before triumphantly hoisting aloft the prop and shaft.

Familiar-looking pictures?

Here's a flashback to 2010 and my retrieval of our lost prop from the bed of the Thames.


(Brings a smile to my face every time I see that photo!)

One of the reasons the Sea Searchers didn't work on the propshaft was that it was covered in grease: the magnets simply slid off the end.

While David went off to have a shower the boatyard boss handed over a decent paper thank-you, and the excitement was over.

Until the next time.

Shivering ducks!

It's a good job we weren't trying to cruise in this.

The view from Kew after we'd tied up in Worcester last Friday. We'd already dodged some showers, but this was something else.

Even the ducks looked cold and confused.

I expect is was the first time they'd been bombarded with hail.

During the storm the canal was covered in nuggets of ice. It hung around in the undergrowth by the towpath for several hours afterwards.

In yesterday's post I mentioned that there was another interesting event to come. This hail storm wasn't it. Maybe tomorrow.

Crash! That was the bike falling in the lock.

Kew: Hanbury Junction to Worcester, Friday 27th June 2014

For the last few locks of the trip David invited me to steer. This meant that he could get his bike out and do some lockwheeling himself. At Gregory's Mill Bottom Lock David lowered his bike onto the boat, but we were descending possibly a little too quickly. Before I had time to whip my camera out there was a crash - and the bike had disappeared.

Oops!

I was thinking boat hook ... Sea Searcher ... but, amazingly, and you wouldn't know it, one of the pedals had caught on the very edge of the boat, and Richard was able to haul it back on board.

Now, admit it, you thought that was going to be my bike falling in, didn't you?

Before this incident another strange thing happened. We were pootling along nicely, when a boat pulled out just in front of us and proceeded to reverse, slowly, in our direction. The man steering it must have had a very good reason for doing this, but I don't know what it was. We had to stop and drift into the bushes while he completed his manoeuvre. No, we weren't in a hurry but, surely, he could have waited a few seconds for us to pass. In the bridge hole he hopped off and pulled his boat in to a mooring there. Perhaps he just wanted to be sure that we weren't going to nick it ourselves.

There was an even more interesting incident which happened on this leg. I might tell you about it tomorrow.

What a 71' 6" boat with wooden 'ellum has to do in a lock

Kew: Tardebigge to Hanbury Junction, Thursday 26th June 2014

Before attacking the Tardebigge flight Kew moved across to the other side of the canal to access the elsan point.

As Kew is a full-length boat with a large wooden 'ellum (or rudder) the tiller has to be removed and the 'ellum swung round before the top gate can be closed. While descending the boat has to be kept as far forward as possible so that the 'ellum doesn't become dislodged by the cill. David uses the shaft for that purpose, pushing against the gate and then the cill itself.

Tardebigge Top Lock is the deepest on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, having originally been planned as a boat lift.

From top lock to bottom (30 locks) took 3 hours 45 minutes. Not the speediest descent, on account of following a slowish boat down. Yes, every single lock was against us, and I set every one. I must have cycled about three times the actual distance between top and bottom - but I'm not complaining. I love doing locks!

I thought it would be good to get a team photo at the bottom of the flight, so I rested my camera on a handy post ... and here is the result. David, me, Richard and Kevin.

Of course, this wasn't the last lock of the day as Stoke Locks follow Tardebigge with hardly a pause. When we tied up at Hanbury Junction for the night we'd done 42 lovely locks.

Electric cables in Wast Hills Tunnel

Kew: Aston to Tardebigge, Wednesday 25th June 2014

After climbing the rest of the Aston locks, where some pounds were a little low, we headed straight up the Farmer's Bridge flight.

We stopped at Holliday Wharf for some shopping at the (Mailbox) Tesco Express, but found the range there severely limited owing to refurbishment of the store. We made use of the shower and continued down the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.

Wast Hills Tunnel has the remains of electricity cables hanging off brackets attached to the roof. According to Nicholson this is evidence of telegraph lines which used to run through the tunnel. They do have that feel about them, with the porcelain insulators, but is there an alternative theory which suggests that it was something to do with an electric tunnel tug?

I think the telegraph cables option is more likely; for an electric tug there would have had to be a means of picking up the power continuously as the tug made its progress. Here the insulators would have got in the way.

Being at the bow I was able to take a rare pic of the outside world as seen from the tunnel mouth as we emerged (on our boat I'm usually steering through tunnels).

We tied up for the night at Tardebigge, opposite the facilities point just above the locks. We went to the pub in the village, a "Fayre and Square" establishment where we ate reasonably well. The pub isn't marked on Nicholson's: it's half a mile south east, under the bypass. We took the footpath across a field by the church to get there.