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The Curly Wyrley


The Dreamer

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A bit of a Curate's Egg from what I remember. Grotty at either end but in the middle there are some nice bits. But the that was some years ago.

 

It was great fun waving at lorry drivers stalled on the A38 (?) ina log jam as we chugged past almost alongside.

Very much a case of cruise it or lose it.

Wouldn't it be lovely if you could access it again from the S&W??

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Having said what I just said.......

 

The Walsall Canal is worth triple points on the BCN Challenge, and scoring twice by going along it it one direction and then the other.

We did that a few Challenges ago. My crew, Madcat and Little Else of this 'ere parish then mutinied and demanded we high tail it into Brum for, ahem, refreshment.

And who was I to argue? :unsure:

We made the Wellington for last orders.

 

:cheers:

 

 

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I can’t agree with the OP at all. Many parts of the W&E are surprisingly pleasant and there are very few moored boats so you can cruise normally for decent spells although it is shallow so you won’t necessarily be particularly quick. It can seem to take ages to get to wherever you are going.


Urban canals are as much an essential part of the network as the picture postcard places and it’s nice on the W&E that the local folk are genuinely pleased to see a boat.

 

The Walsall has few redeeming features between between Ocker Hill and Walsall Junction (few being a gross exaggeration) and is very shallow and dirty but it’s due to feature on the BCN Challenge route. The point of the Challenge being to ensure these canals are used.

 

Averaging 2.5 mph is possible on the W&E but last time on the Walsall averaging 2mph was a struggle.

 

JP

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10 minutes ago, dave moore said:

I’m sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, of the bad press put up by boaters with unrealistic expectations.

I don’t have unrealistic expectations of urban canals, in fact many of my favourite parts of the network are in cities and towns (and not just the gentrified and developed bits).  My issue with the W&E, and especially the length from the Cannock Extension to the Mainline, is that it is abused by the locals, frankly it is strewn with rubbish, most appearing to flow from both back gardens and factory yards. 

20 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Urban canals are as much an essential part of the network as the picture postcard places and it’s nice on the W&E that the local folk are genuinely pleased to see a boat.

Maybe local folk should take more care of their canal, and they might see more boats!

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1 hour ago, The Dreamer said:

I don’t have unrealistic expectations of urban canals, in fact many of my favourite parts of the network are in cities and towns (and not just the gentrified and developed bits).  My issue with the W&E, and especially the length from the Cannock Extension to the Mainline, is that it is abused by the locals, frankly it is strewn with rubbish, most appearing to flow from both back gardens and factory yards. 

Maybe local folk should take more care of their canal, and they might see more boats!

That’s not my experience. It’s not so great around Birchills Junction and the canal goes through a rough estate to the east of the junction but it’s generally well fenced between the gardens and the canal. Never had any trouble in a number of trips along the entire length in recent years.

 

Last year @Rob-M , myself and a couple of others cruised the entire length plus the branches before and during the BCN Challenge and throughout the journey there were people coming out to watch us pass. OK we were on board the CRT Heritage boats and they would have heard us coming but it was joy to cruise the canal despite also getting a complete tennis net around the blades that ultimately required one of crew to don his wetsuit and get in the canal.

 

Most people seem to enjoy having the canal pass their home but it does pass through some pretty deprived places and it shows in places but mostly it’s not like that at all. Pelsall Common and the Cannock Extension are an excellent canal location.

 

JP

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The Wyrley is a bit difficult  but not as difficult as the Walsall.  Both were much better in 2018 than they were when we went to the first IWA Pelsall rally (94?).  

 

Both these W's will get better still if folks go use them.

 

The BCNS BCN explorer cruises are a wonderful opportunity to do that,  in company  so there is mutual support for that really bad bladeful.  Going

this year on 13 and 18 May.  An unbeatable good fun way to see the BCN.

 

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3 hours ago, dave moore said:

I’m sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, of the bad press put up by boaters with unrealistic expectations.

I don't know how many times last year I had to tell folk that it was not "asking for trouble" to moor in central Birmingham after they'd been told by other boaters that it was unsafe and they should avoid the place and certainly not stop if they had to pass through. Usually they quoted Facebook as their source...

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It's lovely up here at Pelsall. Might go to the Finger Post for some food.

I was amazed at how little we got round the prop on the way here from Wolverhampton.

Thought we might go back via the Rushall flight then along the Tame Valley and go and see what all the fuss is about at Walsall. I've heard the art gallery is good?

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11 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Having said what I just said.......

 

The Walsall Canal is worth triple points on the BCN Challenge, and scoring twice by going along it it one direction and then the other.

We did that a few Challenges ago. My crew, Madcat and Little Else of this 'ere parish then mutinied and demanded we high tail it into Brum for, ahem, refreshment.

And who was I to argue? :unsure:

We made the Wellington for last orders.

 

:cheers:

 

 

Only triple points? We went down there in 87 to a campaign rally, towing Gosport ( josher butty) .

At one bridge we ended up with a line to our chain winch tied vertically to the abutments, from the engine hole rail, to lift the back over a lump.

the iwa campaigners were behind us moaning like stink about us slowing them down, and asking silly questions.

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8 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

It's lovely up here at Pelsall. Might go to the Finger Post for some food.

I was amazed at how little we got round the prop on the way here from Wolverhampton.

Thought we might go back via the Rushall flight then along the Tame Valley and go and see what all the fuss is about at Walsall. I've heard the art gallery is good?

There seems to be a general acceptance that you’ll be stopping routinely to clear the prop if you attempt the northern reaches of the BCN but it’s a bit of a myth. I can’t recall any issues on the trips I’ve done with my own boat on the W&E. You can snag things in any urban area and the worst I’ve had around Birmingham and the BCN was at Holliday Street Wharf.

 

Of course if you plough headlong at full revs into bridge holes and through shallow or weedy sections then you will collect stuff. I’ve never done the W&E in a boat that has a weed hatch and that might be a reason for collecting less.

 

I wonder if @The Dreamer hasn’t yet learnt how to avoid getting stuff wrapped around the blades.

 

Although I’m sure the Walsall is better than in 1987 I still would expect to accumulate at least some low level rubbish that will ultimately require cleaning off the blades on any trip along that canal.

 

JP

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6 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I wonder if @The Dreamer hasn’t yet learnt how to avoid getting stuff wrapped around the blades.

That might assume that The Dreamer hasn’t been boating for over 20 years, and before last week hasn’t had the weed hatch open more than half a dozen times!  Oh, an a fair chunk of my experience is on the Basingstoke, which hardly ever has more than 3ft of water in it...

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7 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Did Tame Valley and a bit of the Walsall 4 years ago, nothing on the blade but we took 4 days to do it. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

If the bit of the Walsall you did was south of Ocker Hill then that’s a lot more used than north of Ocker Hill and is a lot easier.

 

JP

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8 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

It's lovely up here at Pelsall. Might go to the Finger Post for some food.

I was amazed at how little we got round the prop on the way here from Wolverhampton.

Thought we might go back via the Rushall flight then along the Tame Valley and go and see what all the fuss is about at Walsall. I've heard the art gallery is good?

Totally agree, from the Fingerpost to the end of the Anglesey is well worth the effort.

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2 minutes ago, The Dreamer said:

That might assume that The Dreamer hasn’t been boating for over 20 years, and before last week hasn’t had the weed hatch open more than half a dozen times!  Oh, an a fair chunk of my experience is on the Basingstoke, which hardly ever has more than 3ft of water in it...

I think many of the folk who complain of opening the weed hatch ten times on the first day of the BCN Challenge have generally been boating for years. Longevity isn’t particularly relevant if it’s on a different type of canal. You don’t snag things on the BCN because it’s shallow, it’s generally because the bottom is lined with rubbish.

 

Was it really just that a few of the locals don’t care about their own environment that annoyed you about the W&E or did you have trouble making passage?

 

JP

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23 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Was it really just that a few of the locals don’t care about their own environment that annoyed you about the W&E or did you have trouble making passage?

I’ve nowhere especially to be, so slow passage is not a major issue, no my observations are genuinely more about local respect for the environment.

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20 minutes ago, The Dreamer said:

I’ve nowhere especially to be, so slow passage is not a major issue, no my observations are genuinely more about local respect for the environment.

Put it down to being January. I genuinely thought the general view of the W&E was that it’s mostly nicer than expected. Try it again in the spring one day.

 

JP

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1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

If the bit of the Walsall you did was south of Ocker Hill then that’s a lot more used than north of Ocker Hill and is a lot easier.

 

JP

But he would have to cope with the Asda trollies in the bottom pound of Ryders Green

 

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In terms of prop fouling I would say the W&E has got a lot better over the last 10 years, but there is still a lot of unsightly floating debris, which is a real shame.   

 

The Walsall improved after it was dredged about 8 years(?) ago, but does seem to have gone downhill since then, which is disappointing.
 

Whilst the BCN Challrnge is about making good progress, I back off or even go into neutral going through bridge holes, as that is where you mostly pick stuff up.  I think I only cleared the prop 5 or 6 times on last year challenge, not bad for what in normal terms could be considered a weeks boating. 

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