Wolverhampton 21, + Birmingham & Fazeley canal

[Neil2]

On the two occasions we've tried to do the Wolverhampton flight we've had to reroute owing to vandalism/water issues.   So I think we may be off on a box ticking exercise next month which will include the Wolverhampton flight and possibly Farmers bridge and the Aston flight as well.  Anything we need to be aware of?

[nicknorman]

Not particularly, we have never had a significant problem with any of those flights. They are slick, quick and well designed, with minimal forward pull going uphill. Mooring-wise personally I don’t like mooring near the top of the W21, so I would plan to start from Autherley area in the morning and continue at least to Tipton, either the museum or the John-the-lock moorings (or opposite them).

Obviously good moorings in the city centre. FB is a fab flight, usually takes us about 1:25 if there are no sluggards in the way. We sometimes stop for lunch just after Aston Jn on the right (University area) and then reverse back 50yds to the Jn. Or if we’ve got up at a reasonable hour, have lunch at Crystal wharf which is 3 locks above Aston bottom of memory serves correctly. Mooring at Cuckoo wharf is a possibility but better to continue to just beyond  Minworth - approaching or in Curdworth.

[Quaffer]

The only problem with not stopping at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 is you will miss out on The Great Western,one of the great pubs of the West Midlands.I always moor for the night there and have never had any issues,the offside is quieter and you may well find other boats will moor there overnight as well.

 

All the flights you mention are in good condition and a joy to operate.Have a good trip.

[Neil2]

Thanks guys that's really useful info.  the Great Western looks interesting - is it dog friendly?

[Captain Pegg]

Concur with comments above. Mooring at Wolverhampton top is a personal preference thing. I’ve heard many people say they’ve done it with no problem but there is always an outside chance of someone daft acting to type in urban areas.

 

You may find empty pounds in Wolverhampton if you start early but I think a CRT maintenance operative visits every morning to attend to any problems. You could happen upon low pounds on any of these flights. It’s generally easier to cope with when going downhill but be careful not to set too far in advance if the lower gates or paddles leak badly. If you find a lock that’s empty when those ahead of it are full(ish) that could be a clue.

 

Farmer’s Bridge lock 9 top gate binds on the bed of the canal between 75% and 100% closed. It will move with some grunt but it’s a pain. I reported it sometime last year and was told even then that CRT were aware.

 

Otherwise BCN locks are amongst the quickest and stablest on the system but the top gate paddles tend to be stiff.

 

JP

[Peter X]

It's not the prettiest journey you'll ever do on a boat, for that you either need the Thames, or some of the canals over the Pennines (not done them, but at least they look good from afar). But going across through Wolverhampton and Birmingham is a fascinating trip, and one every boater should do at some point. As with any long flight of locks, an empty pound due to leaking gates or vandals somewhere is always a possibility, and I remember waking up on a 10 degree sideways slope one morning after mooring in the pound below lock 16 on the 21. But CRT soon let some water down and we were on our way.

 

Going down Farmers Bridge locks is fun, there's the feeling of descending into some sort of underworld below Birmingham. About 5 or 6 locks down there's a basement office directly alongside and overlooking the canal, where they clearly do some utterly fascinating job; I've never seen anyone in there look out of the window, if you go by during office hours see if you can manage to get them to do it.

 

The Aston locks are a contender for the title of Ugliest Place on the canals. There's no polite way of saying that, they just are.

[Neil2]

48 minutes ago, Peter X said:

It's not the prettiest journey you'll ever do on a boat, for that you either need the Thames, or some of the canals over the Pennines (not done them, but at least they look good from afar). But going across through Wolverhampton and Birmingham is a fascinating trip, and one every boater should do at some point. As with any long flight of locks, an empty pound due to leaking gates or vandals somewhere is always a possibility, and I remember waking up on a 10 degree sideways slope one morning after mooring in the pound below lock 16 on the 21. But CRT soon let some water down and we were on our way.

 

Going down Farmers Bridge locks is fun, there's the feeling of descending into some sort of underworld below Birmingham. About 5 or 6 locks down there's a basement office directly alongside and overlooking the canal, where they clearly do some utterly fascinating job; I've never seen anyone in there look out of the window, if you go by during office hours see if you can manage to get them to do it.

 

The Aston locks are a contender for the title of Ugliest Place on the canals. There's no polite way of saying that, they just are.

Interesting that you should reference the trans Pennine canals, - when I consider contenders for the Ugliest Place it's the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Leeds Liverpool that spring to mind.  Poolstock locks in Wigan, and the start of the HNC in Ashton would be high on my list.  It will be interesting to see how Aston compares.  

 

 

[Quaffer]

3 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Thanks guys that's really useful info.  the Great Western looks interesting - is it dog friendly?

Yes dogs are welcome unless they support WBA !

Edited May 27, 2019 by Quaffer

[Peter X]

59 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Interesting that you should reference the trans Pennine canals, - when I consider contenders for the Ugliest Place it's the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Leeds Liverpool that spring to mind.  Poolstock locks in Wigan, and the start of the HNC in Ashton would be high on my list.  It will be interesting to see how Aston compares.  

 

 

As with a lot of places way up north, I've never been to Wigan. And I don't even know where Ashton is! I had in mind pictures I've seen which must be better bits of those canals, maybe high up at the top of the Pennines. My only boating up there was a bit of the eastern end of the Rochdale, i.e. Sowerby Bridge to just west of Hebden Bridge. It all looked quite nice but it was raining a lot.

[nicknorman]

8 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Interesting that you should reference the trans Pennine canals, - when I consider contenders for the Ugliest Place it's the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Leeds Liverpool that spring to mind.  Poolstock locks in Wigan, and the start of the HNC in Ashton would be high on my list.  It will be interesting to see how Aston compares.  

 

 

Anywhere on the BCN is much nicer than anywhere near Ashton! Aston may not be beautiful but it’s perfectly OK. And the BCN locks are in much better condition than anything on the HNC.

Edited May 28, 2019 by nicknorman

[Philip]

55 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Anywhere on the BCN is much nicer than anywhere near Ashton! Aston may not be beautiful but it’s perfectly OK. And the BCN locks are in much better condition than anything on the HNC.



That's a little unfair! It sounds like you are referring to the Ashton area in the early 90s when it was a dump. Whilst not brilliant it has improved markedly since then. And I'd say the Lower Peak Forest into Portland Basin is a good bit better than from Smethwick to Deep Cuttings Junction.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Philip

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

That's a little unfair! It sounds like you are referring to the Ashton area in the early 90s when it was a dump. Whilst not brilliant it has improved markedly since then. And I'd say the Lower Peak Forest into Portland Basin is a good bit better than from Smethwick to Deep Cuttings Junction.

Yes I was thinking of the start of the HNC. The LPF is fine. The difference between the BCN and the likes of the HNC is that there is far more use of the former by locals for walking, running, cycling and generally enjoying it. This doesn’t seem to happen much on the Ashton area of HNC, giving it a more derelict and slightly threatening feel than the BCN - those people one does encounter are mostly up to no good, Plus some of the paddles are ridiculously stiff (and rusty!)

[Neil2]

 

9 hours ago, Peter X said:

As with a lot of places way up north, I've never been to Wigan. And I don't even know where Ashton is! I had in mind pictures I've seen which must be better bits of those canals, maybe high up at the top of the Pennines. My only boating up there was a bit of the eastern end of the Rochdale, i.e. Sowerby Bridge to just west of Hebden Bridge. It all looked quite nice but it was raining a lot.

To be fair, the canalside at what folk like to call "Wigan Pier" is vastly improved and overnighting there is no longer the risky proposition it might once have been.  But the exit towards Leigh through Poolstock is dire.  

 

7 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Yes I was thinking of the start of the HNC. The LPF is fine. The difference between the BCN and the likes of the HNC is that there is far more use of the former by locals for walking, running, cycling and generally enjoying it. This doesn’t seem to happen much on the Ashton area of HNC, giving it a more derelict and slightly threatening feel than the BCN - those people one does encounter are mostly up to no good, Plus some of the paddles are ridiculously stiff (and rusty!)

I think that's a very good point. 

 

I'm from Yorkshire so what I am about to say will come as no surprise, but I think with all the trans Pennine routes the ambience is much better once you cross the watershed (going East) the Leeds Liverpool in particular improves dramatically once you get to the top of Barrowford locks.   

 

Having said that, just to show I am not totally partisan, for scenic beauty I think the Lancaster canal is hard to beat, and it's one of the few that is pretty throughout its length.  I can't think of an unpleasant spot anywhere on it.

 

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

As always when the HNC is being unfairly denigrated, I will leap to its defence!   Of course it doesn't help having to go underneath a large supermarket at the western end, but after that it is much, much better than it used to be.  In the past 5 years many locks are much improved, and even singlehanding has got easier despite increasing age (on my part).   'Derelict and threatening'  it definitely is not nowadays.  Even Staleybridge  has improved since I was very rude about it here a few years back.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Mac of Cygnet

[Neil2]

3 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

As always when the HNC is being unfairly denigrated, I will leap to its defence!   Of course it doesn't help having to go underneath a large supermarket at the western end, but after that it is much, much better than it used to be.  In the past 5 years many locks are much improved, and even singlehanding has got easier despite increasing age (on my part).   'Derelict and threatening'  it definitely is not nowadays.  Even Staleybridge  has improved since I was very rude about it here a few years back.

I'm glad to hear this.  Stalybridge was one of the biggest disappointments of all our boating experiences, largely because the description of the town in our 2003 Nicholson's guide bore no resemblance whatsoever to the reality.  In fairness it is a good few years since we last did the HNC so it's due a revisit.  I am a little concerned though that our Sea Otter might not pass the tunnel guage, I have heard through the club that others have been turned away though not sure on what specifically.  The locks at Uppermill might be an issue too.

[Dave123]

3 hours ago, Neil2 said:

 

To be fair, the canalside at what folk like to call "Wigan Pier" is vastly improved and overnighting there is no longer the risky proposition it might once have been.  But the exit towards Leigh through Poolstock is dire.  

 

I think that's a very good point. 

 

I'm from Yorkshire so what I am about to say will come as no surprise, but I think with all the trans Pennine routes the ambience is much better once you cross the watershed (going East) the Leeds Liverpool in particular improves dramatically once you get to the top of Barrowford locks.   

 

Having said that, just to show I am not totally partisan, for scenic beauty I think the Lancaster canal is hard to beat, and it's one of the few that is pretty throughout its length.  I can't think of an unpleasant spot anywhere on it.

 

 

What about Preston? Haven't been but heard negative things about the stub of the Lancaster into Preston...

14 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

I'm glad to hear this.  Stalybridge was one of the biggest disappointments of all our boating experiences, largely because the description of the town in our 2003 Nicholson's guide bore no resemblance whatsoever to the reality.  In fairness it is a good few years since we last did the HNC so it's due a revisit.  I am a little concerned though that our Sea Otter might not pass the tunnel guage, I have heard through the club that others have been turned away though not sure on what specifically.  The locks at Uppermill might be an issue too.

Yes the lock at Uppermill is particularly narrow, (21W if my memory is correct) and has no sign warning about this. We got stuck briefly a few years ago and have no problems at Hurleston/Napton etc

[Neil2]

9 minutes ago, Dave123 said:

What about Preston? Haven't been but heard negative things about the stub of the Lancaster into Preston...

Yes the lock at Uppermill is particularly narrow, (21W if my memory is correct) and has no sign warning about this. We got stuck briefly a few years ago and have no problems at Hurleston/Napton etc

 

Fair point, but when we were last there the Lancaster effectively ended just beyond the Ribble link junction owing to thick weed so we never took the boat down to the end.  I have walked it though and would agree it isn't worth the bother. 

 

We've just moved our boat onto the Middlewich branch so not far from Hurleston and I was hoping that would serve as an indicator as to our chances of getting through Uppermill.  The problem with Sea Otters is the thick rubber strakes that I have heard on some boats will catch on very narrow locks.  We are only 32' though so I am hoping we can fit. 

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Neil2

[system 4-50]

An aside: How are the rubber strakes attached to the hull?  I've always been curious.

[Neil2]

1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

An aside: How are the rubber strakes attached to the hull?  I've always been curious.

They are glued on with a special contact adhesive.  It's a bit of an issue now as a number of Otters have had the strakes torn off and of course with Sea Otter being defunct it's a case of trying to get something made to match, but I think the nearest anyone has come is a rubber/synthetic compound that doesn't glue as well as the original pure rubber.  The strakes are a nice idea but I think if I lost mine I'd just clean up the hull and use detachable fenders. 

[Ferd]

On 27/05/2019 at 22:33, Quaffer said:

Yes dogs are welcome unless they support WBA !

Would they be boxer dogs, then ?

[Quaffer]

On 29/05/2019 at 10:57, Ferd said:

Would they be boxer dogs, then ?

They tend to be shitzu's   ?

[matty40s]

5 minutes ago, Quaffer said:

They tend to be shitzu's   ?

Skegness has a shitzu, no lions, or elephants, just a couple of monkeys and donkeys.