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Birmingham & Worcester to the Shropshire Union


Dawdlemoor

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29 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

You didn't over indulge in cider then 😀

Wrong Blue Bell? (Kidsgrove, not the cider house one near Brum)

I certainly didn't under-indulge in beer, but find I rarely get a hangover from the good stuff...

Edited by IanD
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26 minutes ago, IanD said:

Wrong Blue Bell? (Kidsgrove, not the cider house one near Brum)

I certainly didn't under-indulge in beer, but find I rarely get a hangover from the good stuff...

@Victor Vectis referenced the Blue Bell on the North Stratford and as you replied to that post I presumed you were talking the Blue Bell cider house.

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I wouldn’t have thought mooring at Autherley would be problem. 
It’s simply I like to get to Brewood. 
Usually from Wolverhampton, and that’s a comfortable stint of boating on me own. 
 

Other than stopping for an ice cream or the water tap at Autherely, I didn’t  think there was much to stop for?
Mind, I didn’t know there was a supermarket nearby. 
 

There’s the club I’d like to try where they sell the diesel before the junction. 
If it’s still there. 
 

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If your end-of-driving-day coincides with Autherley, stop at Autherley. If its at Brewood, stop at Brewood; and if its at Compton, stop at Compton. There really is no bother with any of those places, and there's other moored boats there if you don't want to be lonely. Without knowing the details (from an independent observer) of why Philip was stoned by youths, we can only take his personal experience with a pinch of salt, maybe it was something he said after all? We are here NOW and its fine!

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1 hour ago, Paul C said:

If your end-of-driving-day coincides with Autherley, stop at Autherley. If its at Brewood, stop at Brewood; and if its at Compton, stop at Compton. There really is no bother with any of those places, and there's other moored boats there if you don't want to be lonely. Without knowing the details (from an independent observer) of why Philip was stoned by youths, we can only take his personal experience with a pinch of salt, maybe it was something he said after all? We are here NOW and its fine!

 

Why would you take it with a pinch of salt, when I've already said I was minding my own business? They asked for a ride on the boat as I went past, I politely declined (I did not rant or insult them in any way just so you know) and then the next thing I knew a stone lashed the boat and was lucky not to hit either myself or a window. I was furious but kept my head and didn't say anything to them, if they'd smashed a window then it may well have been a different story!

 

An area which has gangs of youths terrorising boaters from the towpath doesn't deserve a good review. The area on the offside of the stop lock is also a dump - full of dog crap and rubbish.

Edited by Philip
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Just now, Philip said:

 

Why would you take it with a pinch of salt, when I've already said I was minding my own business? They asked for a ride on the boat as I went past, I politely declined and then the next thing I knew a stone lashed the boat and was lucky not to hit either myself or a window.

 

An area which has gangs of youths terrorising boaters doesn't deserve a good review.

While not in any way condoning what they did, some yoofs throwing one stone which caused little or no damage -- even if it "lashed" the boat -- hardly justifies being called "terrorism", except maybe in the Daily Wail.

 

Maybe if a gang of masked youths had boarded the boat, tied you up and demanded a ransom or they'd post chopped-off body parts to Richard Parry, that would have qualified it as bandit country... 😉

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4 hours ago, adam1uk said:


Staffordshire actually.  Brewood, Wheaton Aston, and Norbury are all in Staffs.  Only a relatively short part of the Shropshire is actually in Shropshire, either side of Market Drayton.  By the time you get to Audlem, you’re out the other side into Cheshire.

Good point well made. I apologise to you and the local populace for my over blown generalisation. I did know that, my home mooring also being in Staffs, so I have no excuse. :)

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16 minutes ago, IanD said:

While not in any way condoning what they did, some yoofs throwing one stone which caused little or no damage -- even if it "lashed" the boat -- hardly justifies being called "terrorism", except maybe in the Daily Wail.

 

Maybe if a gang of masked youths had boarded the boat, tied you up and demanded a ransom or they'd post chopped-off body parts to Richard Parry, that would have qualified it as bandit country... 😉

 

I said 'terrorising boaters', how else would you describe chucking stones at people? It certainly isn't a laugh and it's the intent that is the issue, regardless of where it hits. People don't do it to others in the street, but some go to the local canal to do it because they have nothing better to do and boats are seen to them as an easy target, and this doesn't reflect well on the area.

 

Just to add, the guys at one of the boatyards there once recommended not to stop between the stop lock and the boat club, so it's not just me.

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5 minutes ago, Philip said:

 

I said 'terrorising boaters', how else would you describe chucking stones at people? It certainly isn't a laugh and it's the intent that is the issue, regardless of where it hits. People don't do it to others in the street, but some go to the local canal to do it because they have nothing better to do, and this doesn't reflect well on the area.

 

Just to add, the guys at one of the boatyards there once recommended not to stop between the stop lock and the boat club, so it's not just me.

 

I wouldn't describe throwing one stone which caused no damage -- your description, not mine -- as "terrorising", it certainly wouldn't fill most people with a horrifying fear for life and limb. Terrorism is what is happening in the Ukraine, not Wolverhampton...

 

Several people already advised to avoid the area between the stop lock and the boat club, but you seem to be arguing -- against the experience of others -- that opposite the boat club wasn't safe because you got stoned there. Which doesn't seem to be strictly true anyway now you've given more details...

 

Scaremongering about the perils of the canals -- like calling one stone "terrorism" -- is simply going to make people feel unsafe unnecessarily, especially newcomers. Please don't do it... 😉

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18 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I wouldn't describe throwing one stone which caused no damage -- your description, not mine -- as "terrorising", it certainly wouldn't fill most people with a horrifying fear for life and limb. Terrorism is what is happening in the Ukraine, not Wolverhampton...

 

Several people already advised to avoid the area between the stop lock and the boat club, but you seem to be arguing -- against the experience of others -- that opposite the boat club wasn't safe because you got stoned there. Which doesn't seem to be strictly true anyway now you've given more details...

 

Scaremongering about the perils of the canals -- like calling one stone "terrorism" -- is simply going to make people feel unsafe unnecessarily, especially newcomers. Please don't do it... 😉

 

I said 'terrorising' not 'terrorism'...you know there's a difference in the context. The incident happened under Blaydon Road Bridge, which is out of sight from the boatyard.

I wouldn't call it scaremongering, rather caution from personal experience to counter against one or two up-thread who are basically saying to treat the whole stretch (including the bits that aren't next to the boatyard and boat club) like any other area of canal. 

 

 

Edited by Philip
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I remember meeting a boater who 

immediately told me what a tough time they’d been having. 
Listing all the places where they’d been stoned or sworn at. 
When I said other than on the rare occasion I’d never come across much bad behaviour. 
She accused me of calling her a liar and began a fair abusive rant. 
I turned my back and walked away while she carried on hurling abuse. 
Yep, I thought, I can see why you get a hard time. 😂

 

(I’m not for one moment suggesting the same of you Philip.)
 

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1 minute ago, Goliath said:

I remember meeting a boater who 

immediately told me what a tough time they’d been having. 
Listing all the places where they’d been stoned or sworn at. 
When I said other than on the rare occasion I’d never come across much bad behaviour. 
She accused me of calling her a liar and began a fair abusive rant. 
I turned my back and walked away while she carried on hurling abuse. 
Yep, I thought, I can see why you get a hard time. 😂

 

(I’m not for one moment suggesting the same of you Philip.)
 

 

I didn't think you were and in fairness I can't remember experiencing any other similar incidents, so this stands out more as a result.

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9 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I remember meeting a boater who 

immediately told me what a tough time they’d been having. 
Listing all the places where they’d been stoned or sworn at. 
When I said other than on the rare occasion I’d never come across much bad behaviour. 
She accused me of calling her a liar and began a fair abusive rant. 
I turned my back and walked away while she carried on hurling abuse. 
Yep, I thought, I can see why you get a hard time. 😂

 

(I’m not for one moment suggesting the same of you Philip.)
 

 

I find it very strange that in all the time I've spent on the canals over the years the worst we've ever suffered is having a lifebelt nicked off the roof and being untied one Halloween, in spite of having travelled through all the areas people keep saying are horribly dangerous, sometimes several times *and* during school holidays. Maybe it's because I don't treat teenagers as potentially thieving scum but say "Hi" to them? And it often turns out they're actually quite interested to know about boats and the canals, if only you talk to them like they're human beings...

 

I've also been asked a couple of times if they could have a ride on the boat, and had to sorrowfully say "Sorry lads, but it's only insured for us" not just turn them down flat. Maybe they did want to come on board so they could nick anything not nailed down, or maybe they just wanted a ride on a boat, how would I know? 😉

 

I'm not saying that all teenagers are innocent and that nasty incidents don't occur, just that the fear of them can be far more negative than the small number of actual incidents which get magnified out of all proportion on the internet...

Edited by IanD
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I came through a swing bridge on the Leeds Liverpool and there were 2 lads waiting to jump on my boat. 
I gave them a bit of a smile

and gently shook me head and said don’t do it. 
So they jumped on the boat coming through behind me 😂😂 

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I have also found that smiling with a nod or a wave generally gets a positive response - I think it's harder to throw a stone at someone who you have just waved back to. The few occasions we have had problems have been with children/teenagers who have been deliberately avoiding such engagement, usually hidden out of sight or up on a bridge as we pass and then throwing something from behind - one was at the very top of the T&M, another on the S&W heading towards Kidderminster I think and the third just north of Chester in an area which is probably now all new housing estates but at the time was derelict wasteland. None of these were specifically known blackspots.

 

We did have a good one heading in to Liverpool. We reached the locked bridge that you have to give notice for, having rung the BW office in advance and been assured we did not need to book and that the BW key would open the bridge. Of course it didn't so we rang the office again and they sent someone out, but we were tied up waiting by the bridge right at school lunchtime when a swarm of kids crossed the bridge heading home for lunch and of course spotted us. We must have had close to 50 of them around, all talking, all asking questions. We had closed the doors but otherwise just chatted with them, accepted that they would walk on the gunwhales (advised them not to but not much you can do about it) and fortunately they were too small to easily get up on the roof and could be stopped before they made it. I suspect a lot of them didn't get lunch, and were probably late back to afternoon school, but they were generally fine, if somewhat of a handful to keep an eye on, but they certainly didn't mean any harm and when we finally got let through there was a lot of cheerful waving as they finally headed back into school.

 

Alec

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There's a difference between groups of youths who are genuinely interested and ones up to no good and you can often tell by instinct beforehand. On this occasion, I could tell beforehand that they were up to no good so I didn't invite them on, just as very few would in the same scenario. 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Paul C said:

I had someone very interested in our boat and asking loads of questions on Saturday night.....so I invited him on and showed him round it!

 

Would you invite a gang of late-teenage, hoody-wearing lads onboard who are hanging out under a bridge, particularly if you're on your own?

 

 

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On 26/06/2022 at 20:13, Goliath said:

Hi All,

Firstly I would like to thank everyone for their contributions and advice but in particular Sea Dog as we took your tip about Tipton onboard.

Secondly, I wasn't anticipating the bun fight that ensued, as a newbie, I'm still finding my sea legs and am not quite sure what counts as fair game but one has to laugh at some of the banter eh!.

Thirdly we have now completed our journey through Birmingham which was not without incident... however we experienced ONLY a very friendly and helpful bunch of individuals throughout. Everyone was great, we moored near some other boats alongside the rail track at Bournville which was fine but tricky for Dylan our dog but we sought out some grass for him to run, sniff and do his business. We then pushed on to Tipton and found a mooring opposite the Fountain Inn where there was plenty of grass and smiling faces and felt so comfortable we stayed for two nights (incidentally should you be in the vicinity, try Mad O'Rourkes Pie Factory). Leaving before 08:00 we made it to the Wolverhampton 21 in good time and were helped through the flight by our 3 locky's John, Brian and Stuart plus a few Asian lads who were happy to help and chat, in fact we went through in 2hrs and 22mins. I'm writing this to the sound of bird song about a mile south of Brewood where we moored in the middle of nowhere... just lovely.

Our incidents consisted of an awful lot of bricks which I added to, called Wast Hills Tunnel, did no one feel the need to prepare us? We also encountered some gusty winds around the water point before Gas St basin and I cut a lot of weeds and plastic off the prop. Apart from that it was all kushty and I think we are going to enjoy this CCing lark and the forum.

 


No sleep til Brewood !

😃

Thanks Glenn, the stories we hear from well intentioned friends prompted my question but feeling better about things now.

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