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Team "Whisky Galore" Virtual BCN Challenge 2020 Cruise Log


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Team Whisky Galore cruise diary day 5

 

 

 

Well we spent the night at Spon Lane junction, not a location to moor at if we are in the 2020 as the M5 motorway is overhead. So lets go back a few years to around 1950 when it would have been more peaceful apart from the noise of industry. Shergar was brought out from the stables and tacked up and we were off.

 

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A short length of the Old Main Line took us to Oldbury Locks Junction where we turned left and climbed the six lock of the Titford canal to the highest navigable canal in Birmingham. We passed the short Tat branch and the old pump house.

 

 

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Oldbury junction

 

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Oldbury locks

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The engine house and entrance to the Tat branch.

We then continued past Langley maltings to the current head of navigation at Titford Pools. These have recently been dredged so not so many boats get stuck in them.

 

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Langley Maltings

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Titford Pools and the M5

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Spoon dredger of the type that would have been used until mechanised ones took over.

 

 

We now slip back in time and turn left to explore the Causeway Green Arm. This long abandoned arm has been almost totally obliterated by the construction of the M5.

 

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Boats being loaded in the Causeway Green branch

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Another view of the Causeway Green Branch

Returning to Titford Pools we then explorer the Portway branch. This was built to service Churchbridge and Samson collieries;- the latter by a tramway. Whilst underground work was usually done by men and boys women were used to sort the coal – this was heavy and dirty work.

 

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Map of part of the Portway branch

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Portway branch

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Typical Black Country mine

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Colliery girls sorting coal.

 

 

We then returned to the locks and descended them to Oldbury Locks Junction. We then explored the short Houghton arm. This arm saw some of the last carrying on the BCN. It was private arm servicing various works including a chemical factory. Phosphorus waste was carried to Bradeshall tip. This was quite corrosive and gave off dangerous fumes but it was still carried in open boats!!.

 

 

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The Houghtonor chemical arm

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Phosphorus waste being carried in open boats.

Our time machine – courtesy of the BBC- took us back to around 1900. We then took the loop round Oldbury. This loop was cut off around 1820-21 as part of the improvements to the canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton when the New Main Line was created. The loop remained in use until the 1950s.

 

 

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Remains of the Oldbury loop with echoes of Lincolns Glory Hole.

The next arm to be explored was the Valencia Arm. Little is known about the history of this arm. But in recent years it was the home of Les Allens boat building yard. The Allen family were a well known Black Country family. After Les retired his sons carried on the business. Les’s brother Jack was an interesting character. He made a fortune by building skip lorries and refuse collecting vehicles. The Allen family bought ex US army vehicles at the end of the war and converted them into skip lorries – they were the first of what has become a ubiquitous vehicle on our roads. I know Jack’s son John in a professional capacity as the firm branched out into waste processing and I was the architect for the many schemes they tried to build and the one that did! John was one of the last of the great British businessmen, he wore bespoke suits, had flowing white hair – he didn’t call a spade a spade but an f….g shovel. He was great to work with. He lives canal side near Knowle on the Grand Union canal.

 

 

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Valencia arm

 

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Valencia arm

Continuing along the Old Main Line passing the site of Claytons yard we soon reach Brades Hall junction where we turn right on to the Gower Branch where there is the only surviving staircase locks on the BCN which are followed by a single lock. The staircase locks are among the shortest on the BCN so all the fenders had to be lifted and the tiller tied to one side to save a cilling!!

 

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Claytons yard Oldbury

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Brades stircase locks.

 

 

Alongside the locks is a very large and ornate Hindu temple.

 

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Hindu temple adjacent to Brades locks.

 

 

There is also a low bridge so the cry goes out to clear the crap off the roof of the boat!!

 

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Roof crap

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This happy couple will also have to get off the roof to get under the bridge!! I think we recognise them its the forums very own Matty40s and his new bride Kathleen Bridget Austin-Smith

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And so will one of our stowaways!

 

 

At Albion junction we turn right along the New Main Line. There is still some industry along this stretch. European Metal Recyclers have a large plant which deals with waste from cars. A gasification Plant is used to process complex components which have different materials in them e.g. dashboards and seats; – volatile gases given off when the waste is heated is used to generate electricity and the metal waste is recycled.

 

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Albion Junction and the New Main Line

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Old and New mainlines from the air.

 

 

We soon reach Pudding Green Junction and make the difficult turn onto the Walsall canal – its more than 90degrees from this direction.

 

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Pudding Green junction

Saw load of ducks in a garden on this stretch.

 

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Breeding ducks

We quickly reach Ryders Green junction our destination for the evening. Shergar is unhitched and lead into the nearby stables.

 

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Shergar being stabled.

 

 

Today is VE Day so the local houses have been decorated to celebrate it. And to our surprise the Red Arrows did a fly past for us!!

 

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It’s now time to slip back in time to 1945 and to join in the victory celebrations; -We spend some time getting dressed up and then head into Birmingham city centre. We walk down the locks to Great Bridge station for the train into Snowhill and the city centre. Telegrams stating the war is over are around.

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Great Bridge South station

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Crowds in Birmingham city centre

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Street party

 

 

Whisky of the day - Keeping a European theme Amorik from Brittany

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Music of the day –

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Vera Lynn singing Till we meet again is this obvious, but being a pacifist I think this is more appropriate

Strangest Dream

 

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again

 

 

And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

 

 

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

 

 

Recorded by many people including Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger who you can listen to here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZU-9TBP2NY

 

Cake of the day – Again a European offering, this gateau was for my birthday a few years ago. It was bought in the patisserie in Esperaza, a village about 35kms south of Carcassonne in the foot hills of the Pyrenees. It is also an excellent but largely unknown wine making area.

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Owl of the day – Long eared owl

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Edited by Richard T
to remove duplicate pictures
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8 hours ago, cheshire~rose said:

We clearly have some problems with copyright issues with this supplier because everyone knows this is a tardis and NOT a Automat Sensucht.

 

That is one supplier we won't be using again ?

I think your complaints were heard, we woke up this morning and found this replacement Automat Sensucht which operates the same way as the old one.

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2 minutes ago, cmt1375 said:

I think your complaints were heard, we woke up this morning and found this replacement Automat Sensucht which operates the same way as the old one.

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Have you been raiding the Prime Ministers' wine cellar?

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Team Whisky Galore cruise diary day 6

 

Boy what a night we had celebrating VE Day – the centre of Birmingham was buzzing. We did manage to get a few drinks so this morning with the exception of Shergar we are all feeling a bit fragile!!

 

 

But we have to get moving if we are to get to Bradley by 18.00hrs. Having tacked up Shergar we set off for a brief explore of the Ridgacre branch. Today boating is discouraged because it stirs up the horrible cocktail of chemicals that are in the silt at bottom of this canal. On a previous challenge we did go up it for a short distance – the smell was horrendous and the water quickly became covered in an oily film. Going back in time it’s not much better as heavy industry was present along the branch. This was the last bit of the BCN to be closed to navigation – unless dredged it will remain that way. Dredging will be expensive as the spoil will need to  be processed to remove the toxic elements in it.

 

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Aerial view of the Ridgeacre branch

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A very cold looking Ridgeacre branch

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Another view of the Ridgeacre branch

 

 

Returning to Ryders Green we set about descending the locks. Fortunately all the intermediate pounds were full and we made good progress down them. Not quite as quick as when we were on Auriga the last time we did the challenge – we did them in 32minutes!!

 

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Ryders Green locks

 

 

From the bottom of Ryders Green locks it’s only a short distance to Doe Bank or Thame Valley junction where we slipped back in time to navigate the Toll End Canal to Watery Junction. This involved a climb back up 7 locks these are fairly we spaced out so we sent our stowaways on riding their bikes lock-wheeling.

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Doe Bank (Thame Valley) Junction

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Our lockwheelers on the way down the flight.

 

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Toll End canal map from about 1900 and the current view.

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Moat Farm bridge - Toll End Cana

At Watery Lane junction we turned right onto the New Mainline and up Factory locks.

 

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Watery Lane Junction

 

 

We shortly came to Bloomfield junction where we turned onto the Wednesbury Oak loop. This is a very winding stretch of canal with numerous basins to explore off it.

 

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We couldn't find an image of the canal junction so heres one of the railway with a class 37 hauling a train of liquified gas. The canal would have been in the marshy area below the embankment.

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The forlorn looking Wednesbury Oak loop.

 

 

Before long the Ocker Hill branch appeared on the right and we turned up it. There is a short tunnel on the branch which we had to leg through whilst Shergar was walked over the top. This took us back to a point only a few yards from where we had been several hours ago at Doe Bank junction!!

 

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Ocker Hill power station dominates the view around here. It was commissioned in 1901 and demolished in 1977

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Legging through a tunnel

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The northern end of the Ocker Hill branch is still in water and is used for moorings. We took advantage of the services here.

Slowly moving along the Walsall canal – its bottom is always too close to the top even for a horse drawn boat. We took a minor diversion into the Monway arm – its badly silted up when going back in time and has today disappeared apart from a widening of the canal at is junction with the Walsall canal.

 

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Map of the Monway branch showing the heavy industrial sites it was built to serve.

At Moorcroft junction we turned on to the Bradley Locks branch. This canal is almost straight with a kink just above the bottom lock where the railway crosses it. There is then a flight of 8 more locks to Bradley junction. Apparently the locks were just buried when the canal closed and the line preserved as a public park. This means that it would be a relatively simple exercise to reinstate them. A feasibility study has been done see this link https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/restoration/restoration_resources/portal/pdfs/bradley_locks_feasibility_study It was compiled by Magpie Patricks (CWDF Member) company.

 

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Moorcroft Junction

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Bradley locks prior to infilling and landscaping

 

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Bradley locks today

 

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Bradley lock 7

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Bradley top lock

You can see from the map how much mining and heavy industry there was in the area of this branch canal.

 

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 Map of Bradley

 

 

At the bottom we turn right and head for our final destination – Bradley workshops. Here we can meet up with our fellow competitors and share a dram or two and a bit of cake. As for Shergar we let him return to wherever the IRA buried him!!

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Bradley Workshops

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Lock gates being made in the workshops

The current end of navigation

Our cargo of maps has been delivered successfully. The stowaways have been returned to their parents and the boat returned to its owner and repainted with its proper name.

 

It’s been an interesting cruise we have learnt a lot about the Birmingham and Black Country canals. Maybe next year we will take part in the real BCN Challenge!

 

 

Whisky of the day – To celebrate we have two single malts today. Speyburn cask strength a lovely smooth Speyside. To complement this we have Talisker which has a gentle peaty aroma that befits its origin on the isle of Skye.

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Music of the day – Joan Baez singing the classic We Shall Overcome. It seems appropriate given the hazards we’ve encountered on the virtual challenge.

 

Cake of the day – We’ve had a bit travelling outside of the BCN for todays cakes. They are from two of the best canalside bakeries. First we have scones from Wedges at Hockley Heath – we had those with morning coffee. For afternoon tea we have cherry scones from Jaspers at Penkridge. Both are laden with cream and jam and were delicious.

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Scones from Wedges at Hockley Heath

 

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Scones from Jaspers Penkridge

Owl of the day – Eagle Owl

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We would like to thank the organisers of the Virtual Cruise – they have put a lot of effort into making it a success. Our crew have enjoyed the trip including the stowaways.

 

We would also like to thank Andy Tidy for supplying many of the photographs used in the diary. We have not been able to trace the owners of many of the images so they must not be used for commercial reasons without contacting the copyright holders for permission.

 

In real life we are frustrated boaters - all this lovely weather and we can't go boating!!

 

Apologies for any odd images at the end of this post - although I delete them still reappear!!

 

 

 

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Edited by Richard T
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Well the crew of Whisky Galore went shopping this morning and in thes difficult times what you see above is what we bought.

There's a chicken, a cauliflower not a calorifier theres no point in having one of them on a boat without an engine, couscous, oats, potatoes, a box of stuffing, chilli sauce, balsamic vinegar etc. Needless to say the store cupboard on board is full of things that are shortly to become out of date!! So food is a sort of lucky dip. You will notice that there are two bottles of red wine included in the haul so we will not go thirsty.

Given the weather we thought a BBQ was in order the menu as follows:

Starters - those bags of crisps that are just about crisp from the cupboard and some dips that are just about edible,

Main course - chicken marinated in chiili sauce and balsamic vinegar and then BBQd Cauliflower steaks grilled. There is a french loaf to go with it. But no healthy salad - the cucumber at the bottom of the fridge had turned to mush and the peppers had got more hair on them than RichardT!! As for the lettuce - well that makes a good filling for pancakes so thats what we are doing with it!!

Pudding - oats, prunes, apricots as a crumble with squirty cream. This topped with a few bags of Haribos for those with a sweet tooth.

 

Shergar gets the apples and the remains of the oats.

 

The stowaways mother runs Guides and she had a problem with the sink drains after they had had a cookings session. They were blocked solid - the Guides had washed couscous down them. This had absorbed water and bingo blocked drains!! Moral don't ever put uncooked couscous down your drains!!

 

 

 

 

Our boat with its proper name. Thanks to Peter Scott for the photo.

 

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Edited by Richard T
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Out of interest, did anyone in your team calculate the total miles and locks you covered during the challenge? If you have already mentioned it in the thread somewhere forgive me, I am asking because I am too lasy to go through 14 threads to find if the information has already been shared

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10 hours ago, Richard T said:

I have been corrected the loco in this picture is a Peak not a class 37. I should have looked more closely and counted the wheels!!

 

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No. It’s neither. It’s a Class 40.

 

Trying to work out where that is. Heading toward Tipton from the Coseley direction possibly.

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