Birmingham Boating community

[segy]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping to find some people who live on the canals to hang out with and find out a bit more about the boating scene in Birmingham and maybe make a few pals.

[Graham Davis]

I would think your best bet is to walk the areas you know there are moorings and TALK to people.

[MtB]

21 minutes ago, segy said:

Hi,

 

I'm hoping to find some people who live on the canals to hang out with and find out a bit more about the boating scene in Birmingham and maybe make a few pals.

 

Have you considered visiting Birmingham, where these people you want to find, are?

 

A wander along the towpaths will bring you into contact with lots of them and they are, by and large, friendly and welcoming. Also, try going into the boater pubs. Once you get your eye in, you can spot a boater at 100 paces. Scruffy dress, beard like Harold shipman, and stinking of diesel. 

 

Hope that helps...

 

 

 

 

[Tim Lewis]

45 minutes ago, segy said:

Hi,

 

I'm hoping to find some people who live on the canals to hang out with and find out a bit more about the boating scene in Birmingham and maybe make a few pals.

 

There is an active Facebook Group called ' Love the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Clean It and Use it!!' and although not being specifically for live aboard boaters is a good start

 

Tim

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

Scruffy dress, beard like Harold shipman, and stinking of diesel.

 

That describes some of the blokes too ...

[robtheplod]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Have you considered visiting Birmingham, where these people you want to find, are?

 

A wander along the towpaths will bring you into contact with lots of them and they are, by and large, friendly and welcoming. Also, try going into the boater pubs. Once you get your eye in, you can spot a boater at 100 paces. Scruffy dress, beard like Harold shipman, and stinking of diesel. 

 

Hope that helps...

 

 

 

 

.... and thats just the women, you should see the blokes!!!         

[BEngo]

Join the BCN society.  Go to their events. Meet peeple.

 

N

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Are you really sure you want to meet boating people in Birmingham?

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

2 hours ago, BEngo said:

Join the BCN society.  Go to their events. Meet peeple.

 

N

you’ll make friends quickly if you join in on their work parties.

Very very knowledgable people, you’ll learn a lot from them.

I know there’s a couple of live aboards amongst them.

 

Otherwise Cambrian Wharf is a possible place to head for, 🤷‍♀️

theres a water point and services so boaters will be in and out of there all the time

 

you ain’t said if you have a boat or no?

good luck

[mrsmelly]

12 hours ago, Graham Davis said:

I would think your best bet is to walk the areas you know there are moorings and TALK to people.

 Godness gracious old bean. TALK to people!! Havnt you heard about farcebook? Do you mean actualy meeting and talking to  REAL people 

[OldGoat]

If not already done so - there are lots of videos on youtube to get a general idea of the area and possibly wher it might be possoble to moor (which I guess is your prime concren - or it should be...

[nicknorman]

Is there actually a “boating community”? The term implies some degree of uniformity and cohesion, but apart from the few small groups of boaters who seem to travel and moor together, boaters are defined more by their differences than by their common attributes.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

Is there actually a “boating community”? The term implies some degree of uniformity and cohesion, but apart from the few small groups of boaters who seem to travel and moor together, boaters are defined more by their differences than by their common attributes.

Probably in Gas Street and also Oozells loop, Soho has residents as well 

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

Is there actually a “boating community”? The term implies some degree of uniformity and cohesion, but apart from the few small groups of boaters who seem to travel and moor together, boaters are defined more by their differences than by their common attributes.

There is definately a community with liveaboards, deffo less so hobby boaters. We are friends with ( still ) several boaters we have known as long term live aboards through the country. On the saarrff Oxford where we spent lots of time, there is a big community of friends that moor twixt Banbury and Kidlington, many of whom meet on a regular basis.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

7 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Is there actually a “boating community”? The term implies some degree of uniformity and cohesion, but apart from the few small groups of boaters who seem to travel and moor together, boaters are defined more by their differences than by their common attributes.

It’s a good question.

I know of lots of small boating communities.
But only  boaters that are settled with home moorings and live aboard.

Some with a very strong community spirit, like those by and at Hebden bridge.

 
As a continuous cruiser travelling through the winter I find it’s possible to find yourself as part of a casual/temporary community.

With journeys getting shorter and less frequent, and with boaters wanting to be close to good services then they kind of naturally gather and shift (or shuffle) along to the same places.
Personally I like the winter because I do see more of a community spirit amongst boaters. 
 

 

 

 

[Francis Herne]

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.

[Captain Pegg]

To me the boating community in Birmingham itself are the folk that operate and maintain the boats that provide the canal and boat services in the city centre. That’s the folk who live/work at Sherborne St and Gas St providing the trip boats and boater services. They are intertwined with the permanent moorers at those places.

 

There are a handful of identifiable liveaboards that can be seen somewhere around the Birmingham area at any given time, and occasionally further afield but the city centre is thankfully not colonised.

 

Gatherings like the one at Oldbury will be folk that love and care for the BCN as a whole. These are a mixture of liveaboards, leisure boaters and just plain enthusiasts and their natural habitats are places like Hawne Basin, Withymoor and Longwood.

[Francis Herne]

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...

[ditchcrawler]

I don't think he is really interested as he hasn't been back

[harrybsmith]

I liveaboard in Birmingham (resi mooring), feel free to message me, unless you're another person trying to put me on telly 

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

I liveaboard in Birmingham (resi mooring), feel free to message me, unless you're another person trying to put me on telly 

Se my posting above

 

[harrybsmith]

33 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Se my posting above

 

Saw that,  a week and a bit since asking isn't ridiculously long, also with folk being encouraged to search for previous threads before asking a question it may help someone else.

 

That said, I think you're right

[enigmatic]

On 31/10/2022 at 13:40, ditchcrawler said:

I don't think he is really interested as he hasn't been back

Maybe he's busy talking to boaters in Birmingham!

[segy]

This thread is brilliant, thanks all! Hope to meet you along the canal then! Haha I hope I don't blend in too well! Haha

[Francis Herne]

On 31/10/2022 at 10:32, Captain Pegg said:

...

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