MGSteve

Wow, that's quite a jam. Hopefully it doesn't put people off coming down next year :/

That may explain why I've seen about 20 boats go towards the workshop and only 10 or so return! Ah, I've just seen you go past! The Owl is looking good as always

Can I just add as an canal side resident along the Bradley Arm, its fantastic to see so many boats on the canal today, more than in both the previous years, since we moved in. I think just about every boat in the challenge must have come past today.

After last year's challenge I did offer a free beer or two to every boat who came down the stretch to Bradley! Actually, we're planning the next residents BBQ, it may well be a good day to hold it, we're going to hold it next to the canal.

Hi, we're thinking of a short weekend break on the Canals and would quite like to navigate the canal by our house during the trip (on the Bradley Arm / Wednesbury Oak Loop), so this really rules out going up & down the Wolverhampton 21 Locks. Does anyone know of anywhere that rents out boats on either the Birmingham or Wolverhampton levels, as I unless anyone can correct me, I don't think its too arduous to get from one to the other, there's only 20ft difference between them. Any suggestions appreciated

Yup.

Seems like you've made it onto a timelapse now.. (@ 1:25ish)

Thanks for the boaters perspective, I'll be sure to raise it with the CRT when we speak to them. Also thanks for the photo, I did look into what would be required for having a small boat (i.e. rowing boat) on the canal, turns out a very reasonable £40ish a year. Wifey said no until the garden's done though!

The thought had gone through my mind!

Please feel free to ask her to get in touch if there is anything we can do help each other. (stevec@chestnutwalk.org) Don't get me wrong, not everyone who has moved in feels the same way about the canal, but you can see from the turnout for the clean up - there's a sizable number who do (and there's still 80 houses or so left to be built!)

Not yet, but I know of them. Other than looking on their Facebook page, I didn't know you could join them! I'll look into it later today, thanks Thanks also for the other replies. I agree, it does seem to be what some people do these days, move next to something and then complain about it! Its a bit like moving next to an airport and then complaining that the planes make a noise! The canal was the main reason we picked the particular house, I've got fond memories of my Aunt & Uncle's canal boating holidays when I was younger and its something I want to do with my family when the youngest is old enough to work a lock But I also appreciate the history the canals have in this country and its great living next to a piece of that history. Its one reason we love the Black Country Museum

Hi Guys, I just wanted to get it touch. We moved into our new house along side the Bradley Arm Canal (or the Wednesbury Oak Loop, I see it has two names) last October and between then and May we had precisely 0 boats past, then on one weekend I think we had about 5 go past as part of the Challenge.! It was fantastic to see and you're welcome to come back at any time On a more serious note, one of the goals of the residents group we've setup is to improve our section of the Bradley arm from Banks Bridge down to Pothouse Bridge. I see alot of you were commenting about the weeds - its our main gripe and one we're actively discussing with the Canals Trust about how to clear up. Talking about clear ups, the Residents group had our first organised clear up on the 8th of June and we managed to fill a barge supplied by the Canal's Trust and probably could have filled another - I think they completely underestimated the feeling within the group! We had over 30 people turn out. We managed to get a range of rubbish out from 3 tyres, a shopping trolley, lots of general detritus and a section of metal fencing that looked like it had been in for around 10 years! Sadly, as you can see in the photo, even with the amount of weeds we removed, we barely dented them The Bradley Arm is mentioned in the Bilston Urban Village proposal as a key asset for the area, so hopefully as the development gets going, they'll work on improving the canal as they go - we'll certainly be putting pressure on them to make sure they do. It may be outside of our 'area' as it were, but its pointless having our area nice & tidy if the rest of the arm is going to be a mess and put traffic off from coming down. Long term we'd like to do whatever we can to get the link reinstated to the Walsall Canal as this can only be a positive for the area. Its going to be a hellofa job, but hey, I guess someone's got to try. (I'm sure they have before, but there's nothing quite like a residents group representing 160 houses as a force for good). Anyway, I'd just like to say thanks again to those who came down the Bradley Arm / Wednesbury Oak Loop, next year we'll offer a free beer or 5 to every boat who comes past us - that should get more boats to come down our way! Great video! If you're interested, our 'patch' starts at 10:21 and runs to 10:36, we're the last house on the left. I actually got a pic of you as you came back up & passed another boat just near our house! I only just managed to get that photo as I heard the one boat, noticed the other boat and thought "omg, I'll never see this again, two boats passing next to our house" and legged it upstairs with the camera and lent out of the window! And another one a bit further down