 My interest in canal narrowboats started back in 1980 when I discovered that the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme owned a narrowboat, the "Lewis R Jenkins" based at Snaygill Boats, Skipton in Yorkshire on the beautiful Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Since then, I have taken a number of annual holidays on the canals around Birmingham aboard the RAF narrowboat "Duke of Rutland". A feature of these holidays is that we always maintain a 'ship's log' detailing the journey - here for your amusement is a copy of such a log made in 1994. Day 1 - Sat 23 Apr 1994
Brian 'winded' the boat round whilst Barry went off to set the first lock immediately outside Fradley. Pat, Jen and Gareth sorted out the inside of the boat making sure that everything was stowed where we wouldn't be able to find anything ever again. By this time, we had decided to 'do' the Warwickshire Ring through Birmingham although we anticipated making a final decision when we reached Great Haywood junction. The journey to Little Haywood was fairly uneventful; a nice gentle cruise with only three locks on the way. Moored in Little Haywood at 1942hrs for a cold meal washed downed with gin and tonic for Barry and rum and coke for Brian. Day 2 - Sun 24 Apr 1994
Soon after setting off, we started the second ritual of the week - bacon butties and fried egg butties on the hoof - compliments of the galley slaves! Moored up at Great Haywood Junction for water. Girls and Gareth went off looking for craft shops. Pat found her Rosie and Jim dolls but didn't buy them (we ended up spending the rest of the week looking for them and finally ended up buying them from Toys R'Us in Ipswich on the way home!) From here, we left the Trent & Mersey Canal behind and turned left onto the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. This canal was completed in 1772 by James Brindley at a cost of £100,000 and stretches 46 miles from Great Haywood to the River Severn. It was originally used to bring goods from the Potteries down to Gloucester, Bristol and the West Country. Within a mile, we were travelling along the Tixall Wide - a part of the canal which is about 3 times wider than normal. The canal was widened to form an artificial lake in order to placate a local landowner who feared that the canal would spoil the view from his residence - Tixall Hall from where the canal is in full view of the gatehouse and the hall. Pat and Brian went off the boat to work the locks at Tixall. As Pat opened the top paddles, an enormous geyser of water came up through the pressure release hole and Pat got soaked! Not satisfied with one soaking, they both did the same at the next lock down! Brian and Pat opened the gates to one of the locks and Barry attempted to drive in. However, a strong crosswind drove the boat to the left bank and Barry was having extreme difficulty getting the boat into the lock. Without a moment's hesitation, Brian LEAPT over the lock gates, RAN along the towpath, JUMPED onto the back of the boat, SPRANG onto the roof of the boat, SPRINTED along the roof, GRABBED the long pole and PUSHED the boat away from the bank and into the lock. I've never seen him move so fast!! Stopped for lunch for 2 hours (and our third ritual of the week) at 'The Moat House' by Bridge 92 at Acton Trussell, a Bank's real ale pub with private moorings. Very nice pub but didn't serve Sunday bar snacks. Before coming away, Pat had been dreaming of having her faggots and peas but was to be disappointed. Somewhere along this stretch, Barry was driving and Jen was sitting in the bow (the 'sharp end') when Barry decided to be a bit gung ho about going through a narrow bridge. The result was a bump on the bow of the boat and a very large (and I mean large) bruise on Jen's rear end as she fell off the edge of the boat. Also as Barry was driving, we passed another boat in which the skipper was absolutely resplendent in a proper Skipper's Hat with all the gold braid and things and the word CAPTAIN printed in the middle. Barry felt really miffed that we looked like a boat load of scruffs and bemoaned the fact that HE didn't have a proper skipper's hat. Never mind - shortly after, Pat bought a Skipper's Hat for both Brian and Barry to wear - which they did for a short time to cries of 'what a plonker' from other boat users. On approaching the first lock at Penkridge, Barry bumped the boat fairly hard on the lock approach. Since he couldn't possibly have been at fault, he blamed Pat for giving him wrong directions! Not to be outdone, Brian bumped the boat at the next lock and, since he too couldn't possibly have been at fault, blamed the wind blowing across the lock! On approaching Bridge 86 at Penkridge, we found a very old wooden barge (unpowered) across the canal. This was an old working barge that had been rescued from British Waterways and one guy (on his own) was trying to move it to Runcorn! He claims it is the oldest wooden barge still in existence. We helped him pull it through the lock just beyond the bridge.
It was raining so hard after coming out of Filance Lock that we pulled over at 1625 hrs for tea. Fortunately, the rain soon left off and we continued after 1/2 hour in drizzle and cold wind. Passed by Hatherton Marina at around 1915 hrs. The former Hatherton Canal joined the Staffs & Worcester at this point but is now derelict and used as private moorings. Since we hadn't had lunch, we rang the Rainbow Inn and the Anchor Inn from the boat and established that the Anchor Inn was serving evening meals and very nice they were too. For future reference, Brian suggested that we could have guaranteed a good service by phoning before we arrived along the lines of 'Hello- is that the Anchor Inn? Oh good, Duke of Rutland here. We'd like......'. The landlord was very friendly and offered to show Jenny and Pat the way to the nearest postbox so they could send off their postcards. By the time we'd returned to the boat, we had decided to go through Birmingham but to take a detour along the Staffs & Worcester Canal to Stourton Junction before turning towards Birmingham. This would take us along a fairly rural part of the canal skirting Wolverhamption to the North West. Day 3 - Mon 25 Apr 1994 Managed to get through Bratch Locks and locked up through Bumble Hole Lock (what a super name!) before stopping off at the 'Mount Pleasant' by Bridge 45 for another 2 hour lunch. It started raining just as we stopped and stopped raining just as we were ready to start again after lunch. The galley crew did not believe that this was good planning on the part of the navigator! Still no faggots and peas on the menu! Left Houndel Bridge at 1510 hrs. We came to our first staircase lock (2 only) at Botterham with a total rise of 20 ft 3 ins. Brian and Jenny who were off the boat had left the locks perfectly set so we got through with no problems - this was Barry's first time through a staircase lock! Beyond Swindon, the boat engine appeared to be straining a bit for the next hour or so but it wasn't until Barry was driving out of Greensforge Lock that all steerage way was lost and we realised we had a problem. We managed to punt the boat across to the towpath where Chief Engineering Office Brian whipped the prop cover off. The amount of rope wrapped around the prop would have been unbelievable had we not photographed it! Stopped for a well earned tea until 1804 hrs. The captain and first mate realised that we were still making good time and could turn left at Stourton Junction and tackle the Stourbridge Canal locks before stopping so this is what we decided to do. At this point, the below decks crew mutinied and insisted that we stop at Stourton Junction as they had had enough for one day. The ship's officers dealt with this mutiny immediately, firmly, without hesitation and in true military fashion - they agreed!!! So we tied up at Stourton Junction and went for a walk instead. Since starting out on Saturday, Barry and Pat had been pulling out the bed at the rear of the boat and locking it into place - or so they thought! However, some time during the night, Pat climbed over Barry to get out (I can't think what for!) and both of them collapsed on the floor in a melee of duvets, pillows and paroxysms of laughter. After that, Barry learnt how to fix the bed properly! Day 4 - Tue 26 Apr 94
We immediately turned left at Stourton Junction onto the Stourbridge Canal and up through 4 locks. The boat owners cannot accuse us of not looking after the Duke of Rutland properly - we gave him a bath in the lock first thing in the morning. We turned left onto the Dudley No 1 Canal at Wordsley Junction with the prospect of 16 locks over the next 2 miles. Had a brief halt at the fourth lock and took a stroll to the Redhouse Glassworks. We carried on over the remaining locks working as three teams - Barry/Brian driving the boat, Barry/Brian and Gareth getting the locks ready and Jenny/Pat locking up the boat. All went well up to Leys Junction and we were averaging about 6 minutes per lock and then..... At Stourbridge Top Lock, another boat coming down was stuck in the bottom of the lock as something was preventing the gate from opening. Eventually, the guy on the front of the boat managed to boat hook it out of the way and got his boat out. However, the obstruction (which we later believed to be a rather large lorry or tractor tyre) prevented the gate from being closed after Brian got the boat in. Since another boat was also on the way down, the top of the lock soon had a rather large number of people standing around all puzzling out how to remove this obstruction. Brian eventually backed the boat out and we opened the top paddles in an effort to flush the obstruction through but without success. The obstruction was obviously too big and heavy to lift out so we embarked upon a splendid military exercise in teamwork. Barry hung over the front of the boat and hooked the obstruction, Brian drove the boat gently forward and backward in response to shouts from Pat relayed from the front of the boat. Once hooked, Brian went into full reverse thus using the boat to tow the obstruction into the middle of the pound accompanied by rounds of applause from the top of the lock. Barry was left with the bruises to show for it! We informed British Waterways and they said they would come and sort it out thereafter but we and the boat above successfully got through the lock. Superb RAF teamwork! By the time we got to the bottom of Delph Locks, we were all ready for lunch at 'The Tenth Lock'. This was a bit of a rough old pub inside but by this time, it was so warm we went into the garden and had lunch there. Still no faggots and peas! The Delph Locks raise the canal through 85 ft in 8 locks - the Nine Locks Bridge at the top serving as a reminder that at one time there were 9 locks. Seven of the locks were rebuilt as six locks back in 1858. From here, we continued up to Blowers Green Lock, the deepest lock on the Birmingham Canal Navigations at 12ft. From out of the lock we had to make a sharp right turn to avoid going through the Dudley Tunnel as we were aiming for the parallel Netherton Tunnel. The Dudley Tunnel has no ventilation shafts so boats with engines are not permitted. If anyone is really fit, the Dudley Tunnel is opened between 1000-1100 hrs on even dates in the month when it becomes possible to 'leg' the boat through the old-fashioned way; it's reputed to take about 2 1/2 hrs. Soon after we came to Merry Fields - a modern development of large hypermarkets scattered across a wide area and linked by a monorail. They've also re-built the canal around the Waterfront and have a created a very smart looking basin to moor up in. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single ice cream to be had anywhere! By this time, we were debating whether to go through the Netherton Tunnel or moor overnight before getting there; we had heard conflicting stories of how good the mooring was either side of the tunnel. In the end, we moored up just before the tunnel at Windmill End Junction on the opposite side to the towpath and Cobbs Engine House - the prominent sign to the 'Dry Dock Inn' had absolutely nothing to do with this decision! This is also the junction with the Dudley No 2 Canal which terminates in a dead-end at Hawne Basin. An interesting feature at the junction was a Toll Island where presumably boats had to pay their dues as they passed the island. This was a fairly common feature on the BCN as we discovered the next day. The surrounding area was designated as Birmingham Urban Forest and was open space and parkland. Pat and Barry went for a longish walk through the park but Brian and Gareth climbed the hill over the Netherton Tunnel and walked almost across the top of it. When Brian asked one of the local natives where the tunnel mouth was the reply was 'What tunnel?'.... | Brian and Barry decided they fancied a pint at the Dry Dock and, with the crew's permission, wandered off in the direction of said hostelry. The inside of the pub is quite remarkable! The bar is made up of the bow and stern of a salvaged Runcorn six plank hull set inside an imitation galleon. Even more remarkable was the food. For £4.95, they were serving Desperate Dan Cow Pie. This was absolutely monstrous in size being some 9in diameter, 3in deep and with a huge crust and two ears above. And for the same price, guess what? Yes - faggots and peas; 4 huge faggots on an oval platter literally swimming in gravy just as Pat likes it. It was just a pity we'd all eaten but we'll definitely have to go back there some time. Day 5 - Wed 27 Apr 94 Day 5 meant an early start as we anticipated having to get through Birmingham as far as Curdworth if we didn't want to spend the night moored in an industrial area. The trip through the Netherton Tunnel was slow and wet at times but we managed to stop for water and bacon butties on the other side. From Dudley Port Junction, we turned right onto the Birmingham Main Line and followed an almost dead straight canal through to Bromford Junction. At this point, we were planning to fork left and lock up 3 locks to the Wolverhampton Level which runs parallel with the Birmingham Level. However, one look at the state of the first lock and we changed our mind. The gate was completely blocked with rubbish, grass and reeds growing etc. The gates were decrepit and the paddle mechanisms were all rusted. Assuming that the other locks were in the same state, we thought discretion the better part of valour so continued on the Birmingham Level. The state of the canal as it passed through Oldbury and Smethwick was remarkably clean and the canal banks were tidy. Considerable sums are obviously being spent in maintaining the canals in Birmingham. Through Ladywood and we stopped for water outside the Antiques Centre in Gas St Basin. Brian managed to 'wind' the boat round in reverse as we had to go back the way we came.
Leaving Gas St Basin, we turned right onto the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The exit from the Basin has a roundabout and Barry jokingly said to Brian that he should go left round the roundabout. This he did and managed to hit the bank on the other side! Almost immediately, we were faced with the 13 Farmers Bridge Locks taking us right through the heart of Birmingham although it was difficult to tell! Again we went through in remarkably quick time by setting the locks in two teams. Brian experienced the 'friendliness' of a large number of school children as he drove the boat under the one of the bridges upon which they were all sitting. Several hundred of them (or so it seemed) then followed us through all the locks. Pat and Jenny had a glass of wine each on the side of the boat which they used continuously for refuelling after each lock and which Brian kept topped up. Barry had a slurp out of each of the glasses - everyone was feeling quite merry by the time we reached the bottom. Following soon after were the 11 Aston Locks dropping the canal another 70ft towards Salford Junction where we had to turn right under the M6. The journey to Minworth Locks was fairly uneventful being through mostly built up areas and housing estates. One interesting feature was the large estates of mobile homes with many double units having their own private moorings. At Minworth Top Lock, Barry was driving the boat down as Pat and Jenny were operating the paddles. Two workmen operating a pneumatic drill on a wall by the side of the canal decided that the view of Pat's rear end was a lot more interesting. The last Barry saw of them as the boat descended was one guy helping off the other one who had dropped the drill on his foot - serve him right!!! By the time we reached the pub at Wiggins Hill Road Bridge (not Broad Balk Bridge as listed in Nicholsons), we were all a bit frayed and were tempted to stop for the night. However, we were still in a built up area and decided to push on through the first 9 locks at Curdworth. Curdworth Top Lock, right outside the Lock-keepers Cottage, was a sight to behold. In the mouth of the lock was a raft made up of a palette on two large gas bottles and floating just below the water was a three seater settee. A matching armchair was lying on the canal bank. We heaved out the raft but the settee was just so water logged it was impossible to move so we pushed it into the lock intending to flush it out the other side. Once we opened the bottom gate, Jenny sat on the bow of the boat and pushed the settee out of the way with the boat hook. However, at one point when trying to unjam the settee from the side of the lock, the settee shot forward taking the boat hook (and Jenny) with it. Having to make an instant decision as 'is it me or the boat hook?' Jenny decided in favour of staying dry and let go the boat hook. However, just as the boat was edging forward and bending the boat hook, Jenny leaned over and rescued it! What a hero!
Through the remaining locks and we moored up at 'The Dog and Doublet' in Curdworth. We had been cruising for 13hrs 13mins, covered 21 miles and 34 locks - no wonder we just about managed to stagger to the pub. Barry had his third heart attack when he walked up to the bar and the landlord said - 'sorry - sold out of beer'. The landlord came very close to extinction before he shouted 'no, no - just joking'. Had a reasonable but not brilliant meal - still no faggots and peas! Personal note on Curdworth - Pat's mother's mother Annie Elizabeth CORN (base born 11 Jun 1879 to Martha CORN) at Graveley, near Cambridge (near to the Grand Union Canal) married a Joseph THOMPSON at Curdworth on 30 Sep 1895 and then lived at Dunton Hall where Joseph was a labourer. On 7 Mar 1895, just prior to marrying Annie, his daughter Annie (born 4 Sep 1882 at Lea Marston) from his previous marriage to Mary and aged 12, was drowned in the canal at Curdworth when she fell through the ice. In 1881, Joseph and Mary with their other children Rhoda, William and Florence were living at the Beehive Inn in Curdworth - mentioned in Nicholsons. When Joseph died in 1898, Annie married Pat's grandfather Harry JERROMES at Coleshill and eventually died in Hatton Asylum at the top of Hatton Locks. From cradle to grave, she was always close to a canal!!! Day 6 - Thu 28 Apr 94 After the previous day's marathon effort, we had the bacon butties whilst still moored up and didn't start until late - Barry suddenly thought the holiday had started!Having experienced some steering difficulty on the approach the night before, we once again stripped the prop cover and found huge quantities of plastic bags and other debris wrapped around the prop. Barry then spent a happy five minutes wondering why the engine wouldn't start until Chief Engineer delicately pointed out that the engine STOP switch on the throttle was set - oh dear - Barry had a red face! Since we had two days left before having to be back at Fradley, we decided to go off down the Coventry Canal towards Hawkesbury Junction and back. Up through the remaining two Curdworth locks and then turned right onto the Coventry Canal at Fazeley - Barry was being a bit enthusiastic and managed to hit the bank on the sharp right turn. We kept going and up through the two locks at Tamworth before mooring for lunch at the 'Anchor'. Pat and Jenny did some shopping and then decided that they would settle for a bottle of wine on the boat whilst Barry and Brian had a couple of pints at the Anchor. The pub was a bit rough but the meals looked very good and cheap. After a couple of pints, Barry tipped £15 out of the fruit machine on the strength of which Brian had a double Bootlegger rum (at only £1) and we bought Jenny and Pat a bunch of flowers (and a pound of cheese!) the only debate being who was going to carry the flowers back to the boat - Barry lost! From Tamworth there's a longish and straight-ish stretch through Amington, Polesworth and Grendon. Between bridges 68 and 69, we came across one of the canalside houses that had been turned into a canal craft shop. Moored up there for 1/2 hour and had a pleasant chat with the owner who spent most of his time painting buckets, churns etc. He also explained the difference between the two different types of kettle favoured by bargees; the angled spout (Turner pot) and the flat spout (Buckley pot). We bought a whole load of souvenirs (but still no Rosie and Jim!) before departing. Gareth was so taken with the painted churn that he spent the next 48 hours in financial wizard mode trying to work out how he could get the £50 needed - even going so far as to suggest that he would go without dinner and put the money towards it!. Finally came to the bottom of the 11 locks at Atherstone. Pat and Jenny were working the locks and, at one of them, commented on the length of time it was taking to raise the boat. However, the problem was solved when someone noticed that one of the bottom paddles was still open! Having got through these locks and past Mancetter, it was becoming obvious that we weren't going to make Hawkesbury Junction so settled for Hartshill instead.
Eventually moored up at the 'Anchor' by Bridge 29. The pub was quite reasonable although the landlord was a miserable old f--t. Barry tipped another £10 or so out of the fruit machine which further boosted the drinks kitty. Having got back to the boat, we all sat around debating the day but Brian didn't seem to be a part of the conversation; not surprising since he had his eyes closed! In response to ribald comments of 'wakey, wakey' from the crew, Brian casually informed us that he was wide awake but was inspecting the inside of his eyelids! What a load of old rhubarb! The boat was moored just past Bridge 29 next to a gravel works; no problem when we arrived but made a great alarm clock the next morning. Hence, we were up and away before 8 o'clock. Day 7 - Fri 29 Apr 94 Started out from Hartshill and carried on to the winding hole just past Bridge 28. Brian winded the boat round quite successfully - average score 5.8 for technical merit and 5.6 for artistic impression! Back through Hartshill to the BWB yard at Atherstone Road Bridge for watering by 0825; the yard is distinguished by a splendid clock tower. The canal water is a rusty red - looks horribly dirty but is in fact caused by the local earth.For about the tenth time this week, we passed another boat with an ALL MALE crew. This particular one had various males in various states of undress although it was still early morning. Barry, being of suspicious mind, totally unfairly renamed the Coventry to the Fairy Canal! Back through Mancetter to the Felt Hat Factory at Atherstone by the top lock. Had a stroll round but the factory was open until 10am and Pat/Jenny didn't think the hats that worth looking at so decided to stop for coffee before pressing on down the locks. After the 6th lock down, we met up once again with the two boats carrying about 18 children. Apparently, they were a long way behind since, on the day before, one of the boats had grounded. Since they did not appear to be aware of floating off by putting all the kids one side of the boat, they'd decided to try and use the other boat to tow off the stranded one!!! Not too surprisingly, this ended in grief when the tiller was ripped off and the nearest boatyard refused to replace it until the old one had been recovered from the canal. Finally cleared the last lock at 1202. As a change for lunch, we stopped alongside the canal for lunch just past meadow Lane Bridge. Enjoyed one (or two) bottles of wine and a snack. Gareth seemed to be spending an awful long time (and more than a penny) in the loo and, of course, started getting some ribald comments from the crew. He finally appeared, red faced, after we all told him that the boat was going down by the stern and would he please stop whatever he was doing! A slow and gentle cruise, with wistful looks at the Anchor as we passed it at Tamworth Locks, saw us back at Fazeley. Somewhere along this stretch, Brian opened the throttle wide - I've never seen such a huge bow-wave from a narrow boat. This was accompanied by shouts from the crew about a narrow boat behind us and why did he have a blue flashing light on the top? Had to stop in Fazeley since we were still looking for Rosie and Jim dolls but nothing doing. Fazeley being the home of the British Waterways Regional HQ, we pulled across to the BWB and got rid of the rubbish. From here, it was a gentle cruise up to Huddlesford Junction where we moored for the last night by the Plough Inn. Had our last meal out - but still no faggots and peas!!! Came back to the boat and opted for a late night coffee. Having waited half an hour for the kettle to boil, we eventually suggested to Jen that it would boil quicker if she lit the gas! Day 8 - Sat 30 Apr 94
The last day and nobody seemed particularly anxious to get started even though we were due back at 0900hrs. Finally got under way at 0820 expecting an hours' cruise but which ended up at 1 1/2 hrs. Pat and Jenny were reading all the rule books about returning the boat on time and telling us it was going to cost £50 if we were late! We finally arrived back 50 minutes late but no-one seemed particularly bothered. Went through the last swing bridge before Brian made a superb job at docking the boat alongside all the other moored boats. Having unloaded (and had another look for Rosie and Jim dolls), finally started off for home at 1100 after a brilliant week's holiday. The weather had been the best all year and, in 7 days, we covered 117 miles and 125 locks in 73hrs 5mins; an average of 3.3 lock mph. |
As Jenny was about to close the top gate after towing his barge out, he was being a bit over-enthusiastic and started opening the bottom gate paddles. Barry suggested to him that perhaps we ought to let Jenny close the top gate BEFORE we started letting water out of the lock otherwise the force of the water going out could have forced the top gate closed rather rapidly and thrown Jenny into the lock. He looked distinctly sheepish! 
Pat and Jenny rushed off to find SHOPS but were disappointed not to find any. They decided to come back to the Antiques Centre whilst Barry and Brian settled for a pint at 'The Crown' for lunch. 
Just the other side of the lock, we came across two boats carrying 18 children and 4 adults between them. The children appeared to be unsupervised as we were passing them and four of them were just about to heave a large rock into the canal until Barry shouted 'Don't even think about it' as we passed. 
The approach into Hartshill proved interesting in that there seemed to be a large number of canoeists around. Typically, one of them seemed determined to pretend that he hadn't seen us and paddled around in the direct line of the boat until the last moment before paddling away. Frequent use of the hooter whilst approaching bends seemed to be called for but having rounded one bend preceded by a long blast on the hooter, we nearly ran straight into a canoeist who had capsized. I swear our hooter had nothing to do with it but we did get some dirty looks as he walked along the canal bottom clutching his canoe! 