Nic

Wednesday 17th March (okay its been a while since I posted the last piece, but now on it again) Today we would be leaving Birmingham and heading onto the Staffs & Worcs. We start off at 10am from our overnight moorings on the Engine Arm and keep on the Wolverhampton level taking the Old Main Line route to Wolverhampton. Its lockless until you get to Wolverhampton locks, winds around a bit but seems quiet as many people probably go the new main line route through? We head underneath the M5 motorway and continue doing so once we passed Spon Lane Junction (where we'd come up the previous day). We pass Titford Branch (which we haven't been along), Gwer Branch (which we have) and on through Tipton to Factory Junction where it merges with the new main line. We reach Wolverhampton visitor moorings shortly before 2pm, and now simply have 21 locks to do. Baring in mind its March, would this be pushing it? It turned out not as we operated a method of getting one crew member to set the lock ahead to minimise wait time and we cracked through them all in 3 hours. The video is on Youtube

Roger, (sorry for the year delay, lol) I used to use a Ricoh camera before, an R6 and then an R8, (my older video's were done that way). The advantage is they come set up, but unlike some camera's (e.g. some Nikon's) there isn't a limit on the number of shots. The only downsides were that the minimum interval is 5 seconds, which in its self isn't bad as if you turn it into 12fps you get 1 hour cruise = 1 minute timelapse, but a shorter interval allows a higher frame rate for the same time compression, and power supply in that they are mostly battery only (that said my R8 has a notch in so you can use a powered false battery type set up and I know someone who created their own using a DC transformer and two batteries (to act as a buffer for the charge). So for my earlier videos I used to just change the battery every 2hours, and used 3 over all (one charged, one charging and one in use). For mounting the camera, I use a suction camera mount and attach to the inside of the window. Using one outside the boat would mean you need some form of waterproofing.

Sorry its been a while following up. Just got back into the vids. Here is a new version of my 16th March cruise using a variable speed throttle to allow me to zoom at over 300mph along the Tame Valley Canal with a new mapping SatNav to ensure I don't go up the wrong branch. As usual click on the image below to be taken to Youtube

You have to book passage by the latest 10am on day of travel - locks open noon-2pm only, so overnight is a must unless you're really, really, really fast LOL. The Ellesmere arm is quite popular a stop off for the night prior - supply stop in the form of a Tesco's at the end of the arm and a walk into town is short for a variety of pubs.

On the 16th March we were cruising through Birmingham, my previous post described our trip along the Tame Valley Canal, and now the diary continues. The cruise along the Tame Valley was very straight forward, and at the junction we turned south towards Pudding Green Junction. Last July we had taken the TVC route and turned north at this junction up to Walsall itself and it had been slow going due to a lot of vegetation growth making the canal shallow, this time I was hoping the southern section was more used – indeed it was and we soon reached Ryder’s Green Locks. There are several decent mooring spots around Birmingham and my “plan” was really to see what time I got to Puddling Lane junction and choose then. On reaching the first lock we found some rubbish inside, not to be unexpected as there is a fairly strong wind so the odd bit will be blown in. I must have snagged on something in the lock as the boat handling felt strange as I went into the pound above. I did try shaking it off with a few blasts in reverse, but it wasn’t helping and as the entrance to the next lock was in a bridge hole it was fairly easy to stop there and clear the weed hatch out. It turned out to be a fair bit of plastic, fishing line, and assorted rubbish. Once cleared we carried on, opened up the lock gate to be welcomed by a blanket of discarded cans and general litter. Its almost as if someone tipped a bin liner full in! I guess its a case of proceeding with caution then. The pound above the second lock was fairly low, as its a short pound could easily be done by someone letting water out “for a laugh” or maybe just a leaky lock below? We went fairly quickly through the rest of this flight of eight locks using the leapfrog locking method of one going ahead to set the next lock whilst another operates the lock we’re in, as there was no other traffic about, exiting the top lock at 16:25. Above the locks the canal junctions onto the Wednesbury Old Canal, and although I did contemplate going up the Ridgeacre branch we carried on to Pudding Green Junction and onto the Main Line (Birmingham Level). Rather than go all the way into the city centre I thought I’d head on up to the Wolverhampton Level as there’s mooring spots there. So at Bromfield Junction we went up the three Spon Lane locks. The entrance to the first had a carpet of rubbish, oh joy was this the litter trap for the Birmingham Level Main Line? It was a scene repeated at all three locks though, maybe they haven’t been used much recently? We left the top lock onto the Wolverhampton Level at 17:30 and decided to head for the Engine Branch moorings. I think some of that rubbish at the locks had become attached, so we just took our time. The Branch isn’t that far away and we reached the top of Smethwick Locks just after 6pm. There is secure mooring spot here, but its secure as in no-access to the surrounding area, but I wasn’t sure if there was accessible mooring at the end of Engine Branch (after all Ocker Hill is supposed to have secure visitor mooring), so we moored whilst I took a walk up the branch. I found there was long term mooring with a footpath gate accessible with a BWB key, so I quickly went back to get the boat as it was starting to get dark. We went up the branch and past all the long-term moored boats to find visitor moorings at the end. Very nice they are too with a “Sanitary station” with washing machines and showers. As usual here’s a nice video version: ^^ clicky ^^

I enjoyed my trip down the Avon in 2008. Its easy to rush through, so hope you enjoy your trip

Tuesday 16th March We had spent the night of 15th moored at Cuckoo Wharf, and can recommend it as a secure site, though off-site amenities are limited – there’s a take-away and a Working Men’s Club for food, though I suppose you could walk to Star City and go to the cinema. We set off just after 9am, initially thinking of reversing the whole way back to Salford Junction, but a boater on the long term moorings at the wharf saw what I intended to do and informed me that you can wind at one of the old wharf bridges below the wharf. I hadn’t even thought of trying as usually many of these have been blocked off. So, thanking him, I set off, turned round and headed back to Salford Junction. Once we got there we turned onto the Tame Valley Canal. We had done TVC in July 2009, but as the camera I was then using for time lapse had bust shortly after we started along the canal, I wanted to try again. On this trip through Birmingham we were aiming to head up through Wolverhampton Locks and onto the Shropshire Union Canal. My planning, as such as it was, mainly consisted of segmenting the whole route to see roughly where I’d need to be after each day’s cruise, tomorrow’s cruise should take us up Wolverhampton Locks so tonight I needed to stay somewhere after coming off the Tame Valley and before them. Okay, bravado license, I’d actually spent a fair bit of time finding out where was good to moor, I just hadn’t chosen specifically where to stop. This was because reality can be different from information on the web, and what at one point may have been a good place for visitor mooring may not now be. It is possible to get from the City Centre out to Aldersley Junction in a day, so I was thinking that I could take a route back towards the centre and check out possible points along the way. Tame Valley Canal starts from under a mass of M6 motorway bridges, with massive pillars lodged in the bed of the canal, which gives you a dilemma “which side” – you can religiously stick to one side or maybe weave and alternate between. Once through we got to Perry Barr bottom lock, the first of 13 on this flight that change the hight of the canal by 103 feet. I say flight, its all the locks on the Tame Valley, the first pair are closed together then there’s a long pound of over a mile before the next lock, so you’d expect the first pair to be named differently. After going through the first two whilst we are still in an industrial part of Birmingham it doesn’t seem to encroach onto the canal ans its a pleasant trip, there are even locals out walking along enjoying the sunshine. Next up we pass under the M6 motorway again, it seems the canal and motorway are entwined as it crosses over the canal a few times until the full flight of locks takes us high enough that it runs parallel with us for a section. The canal now has a towpath on both sides of the canal, or so the map says, I suppose its more accurately to say you can walk along either side but one has a wider path. Perry Lock 3 starts the flight proper and we progress up four locks passing another iron bridge in the towpath showing that at one time there was a wharf there, before saying hello to the M6 as it passes over once more as we continuing on. Perry Barr locks 7 to 13 are all together within about half a mile of canal. We haven’t met any boats on this canal so far and the locks seem to be set against us, so on this section we operate a method of setting the lock ahead, that is opening the paddle to empty whilst we are ascending the lock below. It does involve more walking, but not much as the locks are close, and does speed up progression through the locks. We got through Perry Barr Top Lock, the last on this canal, at 12.40pm so we were doing quiet well. There’s a small supermarket not far from the top lock, so we despatched a crew member to get some supplies whilst we went through the final lock. From here we have a long lock-less stretch, allowing us to have lunch on the go. The canal above the locks starts off in a cutting though land drops down to canal level every so often to give you a glance of life beyond, making this a well hidden canal. This all changes after the junction with the Rushall Canal (which takes the BCN on its most northerly, still navigable, route) as the hills fall away and you can see out across the residential areas of Birmingham. The M5 motorway passes over the canal just before the junction, and under the canal just after as it has its own junctions with the M6. The M6 travels parallel to the canal for a while, and can be seen best when you pass over an aqueduct. Indeed, if you time your passage right you could wave to drivers stuck in one of the frequent traffic jams as you cruise on by . We continued along the canal and then reached Tame Valley Junction by 2.30pm and turned left onto Walsall Canal. Here’s a time lapse video covering the length Tame Valley Canal, compressing over 5 hours canal time into under 10 minutes. <<<< clicky image Follow-up on some posts... No they weren't, good job really. A nice quiet and pleasant canal, or was it because we did it in the morning . Can you moor at Ocker Hill? Both times I've been past they have had wood across the entrance - not very inviting. I've just got myself a Netbook 2nd hand and cheap and unexpectedly won an ebay auction for a 320GB ext HDD (put in a speculative bid for about 2/3rds what they were normally finishing on expecting to be be outbid and won! 250GB's by the same seller went for more an hour later ). So maybe Llangollen will be done in HD? Wonder if I can get one shown at IMAX

Do you think we'll see "canal closed due to volcanic ash" in the news then :lol:

Spending a fortnight there this August, so shall keep an eye out on this thread.

Paul's post seems to explain what I would have said

I do find it strange some people are using the demise to say "it was expected" or typical of shared ownership etc. I haven't got all the facts, and won't until next Saturday, but it doesn't seem that the money was stolen purposely, but decided to use all the money sloshing around in bank accounts on schemes that didn't pay off. Doing this secretly was illegal and immoral, but it is different to directly stealing. I suppose many people thought Ownerships, managing 100+ boats, was a stable company, but it may well be that Allen Mathews never let it out of his own control. It looks like the money's gone, and the company will be wound up, but there will be something coming afterwards as there many owners still wanting to continue shared ownership.