Francis Herne

Just so. Draft is a bit over 2ft in the tunnel, falling to 18" where Lark is stuck. Not too much debris, in particular no sign of anything under where the gate was.

A much smaller railway swing bridge is located on the Tat Bank (or Rood End) branch of the BCN. First is 1937 photo, from the "Britain from Above" collection via Duncan Moore's excellent website https://lostbcnimages.blogspot.com/2022/05/oldbury-and-titford-area.html Other two are mine. The bridge still exists, with swing mechanism intact if rusted solid, but can't be reached by narrowboat. You can visit it by canoe. There's no access by land as it's within the BIP site.

Lark in a very unusual place for a narrowboat. @Captain Pegg this is the mark to beat on the Challenge I think! 😀 (only shallow-drafted boats need apply)

I suspect I know who this is, in which case good luck to him. Have been told by more than one moorings operator that they'll have nothing to do with him based on past reputation. If so cost is definitely a consideration. Otherwise, Longwood has quite a bit of space. There are some vacant spots at Titford Pumphouse likely to come up for auction soonish. Withymoor is full, Hawne too (unless you're a certain person with connections, it seems).

Seconded on the BCN being dead currently. I was moored on the New Line at Smethwick for over a week, on the boat almost all the time, and saw three other boats. Two of those were Dudley Canal Trust boats being taken for blacking and the third was a friend I'd arranged to meet with. The Old Line locks are closed of course, so that's every movement between Birmingham and the rest of the BCN. Wolverhampton and Staffs & Worcester closures can't help. Similarly at Withymoor and Windmill End the week before I saw four boats in a week, two of whom I knew. On the other hand, before Christmas there were *three* unconnected boats in Ryders Green flight at precisely the same time - with the canal frozen over! I'm told that's more typically the number of boats per month down there in winter...

The roof was in a very poor state when I went on a tour in May, they were planning to have it repaired or replaced ASAP. There was also mention of installing a larger CNC machine (also requiring reinforcements to the floor slab) to replace the current aged equipment and reduce manual work, but that seemed a more long-term scheme.

Current stoppage dates are 3rd-24th January, then 13th February to 17th March. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/22196-lock-5-wolverhampton https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/22195-south-of-top-lock-between-lock-7-and-8-wolverhampton So "early February" should be okay.

That's below the junction, so not a problem for bypassing the main line stoppage. BCN -> Stourbridge -> turn right at Stourton -> Aldersley Junction or the reverse. Needed anyway as the 21 is closed for lock repairs for most of the next couple of months.

A cold day on the Walsall, about three weeks ago. Crunching through the first day of ice in company with Nb Temujin.

Were I choosing the stove's location it would be near the middle of the boat and nowhere near the end windows. It might move there next time the flue pipe needs replacing, or if I ever succumb to temptation and buy a stove with an oven. In the meantime I see a lot of boats with the chimney in that front corner and very few of them are on fire!

(reminded to ask by the bin bags) I have a stove in the same place, and curtains across the front windows. There when I bought the boat; the surveyor reasonably pointed them out as a fire hazard. I make sure to slide them over to the far side of the boat when burning wood, but tbh with a low coal fire overnight I shut them fully including the window near the flue. Since that's pretty dubious and it's a common stove location, what's the correct practice? Curtains or shutters made of some non-flammable material? Heat shield between the stove/flue and window? Just leave the window clear? (last one not ideal because that would let both light and the gaze of passers-by into my bedroom!)

Looks pretty, acts as a stovetop thermometer (gauge speed at a glance or from the pitch of the faint whirr), I find it an elegant concept and enjoy seeing it. Mine at least is minimally effective when it comes to actually moving air though.

2ft sounds about right for the Wyrley & Essington. Did that in company with Nb Temujin to go around this stoppage, not a particularly deep-drafted boat but he could barely manage 2mph from Horseley Fields to Sneyd. Lark thankfully draws next to nothing so alright for me!

I've just gone around Horseley Fields junction. Main Line is closed south, there's a policeman at the junction warning off boats and towpath users. Access between Wolverhampton and the Wyrley & Essington is possible. They're still spraying the fire from a large cherrypicker, big cloud of steam. Urban Moorings and other things in that area are cut off by road currently.

I stopped there earlier this year. Locals very friendly, invited me to the pub round the corner which is quite good. You can't get out on foot without a non-standard key but I was lent one to do some shopping. "Visitor" moorings were full of workboats so I moored on an unoccupied residential spot for the night. Mind the low bridge if you're doing that!

Pretty sure we just met at Titford, there can't be many "Vulpes" based at Droitwich!

I have a squeegee as used by window-cleaners - rubber strip on one side, cloth on the other, spray bottle built in which helps to lift dry stuff like dust or bird shit. Water on my panel makes about a 10% difference with the sun low in the sky. At higher angles there's no difference; if the weather's hot it might even help by cooling the panels.

That sounds right to me, at least the BCNS characterisation. Not sure if the OP meant Birmingham centre or the area more generally. One time I made the mistake of referring to the whole Black Country as "all Birmingham really" and got threatened with a good lynching...

There's a "boat gathering" of the BCN Society at Titford Pumphouse (Oldbury) this coming weekend. Nominally Friday and Saturday, but there'll be people and boats around for a day or two either side. Do come by if you can. I met several really helpful people at the last one - being newish to the canals it was the first boating event I'd shown up to - and am heading back onto the BCN for it this time. At Kings Norton so far.

Mooring in the docks is currently suspended due to a silt buildup. Llanthony Bridge is being opened for access to/from the lock only, by the lock keeper. The river has been so low this summer that the pumps have been pumping up mostly mud, so the dock basin is inches deep in places and even narrowboats were getting stuck. Dredging is scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Sadly I didn't get a photo, but learned the other week that the bridges can display both red and green simultaneously if the keeper forgets to switch one off!

The Explorer cruise happened as planned, after traversing Wednesfield etc. they all turned up at Bradley just before the BCNS event there. Here's a photo of the flotilla just after arrival.

The one on the Severn at Diglis beside the basin locks -- not particularly important with the other point a few hundred yards away, but I was surprised to find it locked up despite being on the online map and marked with shiny blue signs. They've since taken it off the map, but left the signs up so that future visitors can share in the confusion. EDIT: and the floating one at Upton, replaced by an agreement to use the marina's. Seems more straightforward really.

Does depend where you are. I've seen quite a few wind turbines on narrowboats in the Fens and they're usually spinning fast. So long as the pole lifts them above the bank, the rivers are the highest point for miles in any direction!

Well, that's a surprise...clearly one hand not talking to the other in CRT given what I was told a couple of hours ago! Good news, anyway - looks like I'm on my way whenever the rain stops.

I wandered down to have a look, but at the moment there's nothing happening and no-one on site but the lock keeper. There's a shiny-new-looking collar on the affected gate which is still strapped in place. Keeper didn't know very much - still no progress on getting a crane down the lane, but there's pressure from Above to get it sorted "pretty imminently". Not sure how to square that.