Why are we ignoring Walsall wharf ? ? No one stays there!

[Laurence Hogg]

For the last week I have monitored the wharf in Walsall to see how many boats

are using it. I havent seen a single boat yet alone anyone staying overnight and this is the main holiday weeks.

Why isnt anyone coming here? Its a safe mooring these days, surrounded by new

apartments, a pub and the srt gallery. BW have carried out dredging on the

Walsall canal let no one comes. I may have missed a boat but its sad no one stays.

Use it or lose it?

[Mark Beach]

I'll be there in a couple of weeks... Been several times before if only to show that it is possible! Anybody want to meet me there?

[adam1uk]

We've stayed there in the past. On the way we passed a boat who didn't know you could push the boom out of the way to get in. They thought it was closed.

[RLWP]

Because it is bleak and unfriendly?

 

Richard

[john6767]

The basin does feel a bit exposed to me. If I were on my own I think I would stop on the offside moorings on the arm instead. The other things is, and this is perhaps the bigger issue, how may boats venture on the Walsall canal in the first place.

 

However, I can at least say that I have moored there, right by the pub. Admittedly it was after the BCN challenge and the basin was a bit fuller. Pub was noisy though.

[pearley]

Moored there several times but at present in Yorkshire. Be back there next autumn. Pity there is no real ale in the pub now. A water point wouldn't come amiss though. Perhaps the council could be persuaded to fit one to the outside of the art gallery. Fantastic views from the top by the way.

Edited August 10, 2011 by pearley

[Laurence Hogg]

The basin does feel a bit exposed to me. If I were on my own I think I would stop on the offside moorings on the arm instead. The other things is, and this is perhaps the bigger issue, how may boats venture on the Walsall canal in the first place.

 

However, I can at least say that I have moored there, right by the pub. Admittedly it was after the BCN challenge and the basin was a bit fuller. Pub was noisy though.

The offside mooring pontoons are going as virtually no one uses them and there is no official access to the street. The basin will in a short time be fully surrounded by new buildings as the long awaited hotel is now being started. It should make the place much more friendly. Even now it is far better than it was and certainly not as "bleak and unfriendly" as some will remember. The Walsall isnt my favorite BCN canal by far but it has inproved a lot since the dredging and deserves more use.

[RLWP]

Apart from being full of BCN challenge boats the last two times I was there, I couldn't find anything to attract me to the place. It's a rectangle of water surrounded by modern buildings and building sites.

 

Richard

[john6767]

Moored there several times but at present in Yorkshire. Be back there next autumn. Pity there is no real ale in the pub now. A water point wouldn't come amiss though. Perhaps the council could be persuaded to fit one to the outside of the art gallery. Fantastic views from the top by the way.

 

The mild was good, enjoyed a few of those post BCN challenge.

 

 

 

[dove]

We have stayed a couple of times, as part of the BCN Challenge and on our own.

 

Had a walk round the town and found plenty of shops, friendly people and a couple of pubs including a Weatherspoons. The Red Lion I found a little too friendly?

 

Saturday night near the Wharf pub soon went quiet with no trouble at all throught the night.

 

I would stop over again, the only problem we have is getting there, that dam mattress on the Tame valley and Walsall canal depth/weed.

 

Andrew

[Laurence Hogg]

Apart from being full of BCN challenge boats the last two times I was there, I couldn't find anything to attract me to the place. It's a rectangle of water surrounded by modern buildings and building sites.

 

Richard

 

 

If you had walked 300yards in the right direction and knew what to look for you could have purchased a new three bell terret for the pigeon box or a whole load of other "not made anymore" boaty stuff. Theres real ale too with a couple of hundred yards, along with a bus and rail station. As for traditional industry you would be amazed what is on the doorstep of that basin.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Laurence Hogg

[RLWP]

If you had walked 300yards in the right direction and knew what to look for you could have purchased a new three bell terret for the pigeon box or a whole load of other "not made anymore" boaty stuff. Theres real ale too with a couple of hundred yards, along with a bus and rail station. As for traditional industry you would be amazed what is on the doorstep of that basin.

 

So, Walsall Town basin is brilliant, as long as you are 300 yards away from it?

 

Sorry Laurence, I'm a great BCN fan, and the Town basin leaves me cold.

 

Richard

[Richard T]

Worth going to visit one of the best art galleries in the country. The collection is eclectic and different - it is based round artefacts and paintings donated by JacoB Epsteins widow and mistress - known as th Garman Ryan collection. The building is pretty impressive as well, I think Caruso St John did a really good job designing it. Its modern yet very relevant to Walsall and its heritage. Its great to come down the Walsall arm and be confronted by a masterpiece of modern architecture

They also designed Nottingham Contemporary which I'm not so convinced by but each to their own.

[Odana]

I agree w others that the basin doesn't feel like a place I'd moor if it wasn't for the bcn challenge. Bit too exposed given the locals I met around it. Even tho I quite like walsall as a town. If there were basic services it might encourage a few long term moorers to fill up the place-it's certainly convenient!

If I approached and saw the boom I would assume the basin was closed.

The art gallery is amazing by the way. Even if art isn't your thing it's definitely worth a visit

[Speedwheel]

If you had walked 300yards in the right direction and knew what to look for you could have purchased a new three bell terret for the pigeon box or a whole load of other "not made anymore" boaty stuff.

 

Can you give us more details please?

[Laurence Hogg]

Can you give us more details please?

 

Hmm ...... No go and visit!

[jelunga]

To be honest, I have not been that way before. However, now you have mentionwd it, and posted a photo showing how pleasant it looks, it will be on our "to visit" list. 

The Coventry Basin seems to be treated the same. Not many visitors but a great place in the centre of Coventry when you get there. 

 

Sent from my IPod

[lydfordcastle]

For the last week I have monitored the wharf in Walsall to see how many boats

are using it. I havent seen a single boat yet alone anyone staying overnight and this is the main holiday weeks.

Why isnt anyone coming here? Its a safe mooring these days, surrounded by new

apartments, a pub and the srt gallery. BW have carried out dredging on the

Walsall canal let no one comes. I may have missed a boat but its sad no one stays.

Use it or lose it?

 

We've stayed there in the past. On the way we passed a boat who didn't know you could push the boom out of the way to get in. They thought it was closed.

 

We've stayed there in the past. On the way we passed a boat who didn't know you could push the boom out of the way to get in. They thought it was closed.

 

To be honest, I have not been that way before. However, now you have mentionwd it, and posted a photo showing how pleasant it looks, it will be on our "to visit" list.

The Coventry Basin seems to be treated the same. Not many visitors but a great place in the centre of Coventry when you get there.

 

Sent from my IPod

Please ignore this post. Trying to attach a photograph and failing miserably. Have now watched the very useful video on how to attach a photograph so will try again later.

Edited August 11, 2011 by lydfordcastle

[lydfordcastle]

We've stayed there in the past. On the way we passed a boat who didn't know you could push the boom out of the way to get in. They thought it was closed.

 

 

Here's my picture at last just to prove that OAP cruising boats do visit Walsall (my original home town) Wharf. Although I don't think I was the one mentioned above, I have to confess that I too didn't realise that my bow would open the boom, so we moored outside the wharf overnight and only moved into the mooring shown in the picture early the next morning, just to prove we'd been there. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant stay, the staff in the Pizza Hut on the other side of Wolverhampton Street were particularly nice and helpful and the pub wasn't noisy at all. I also recall that a very nice Polish gentleman fishing on the yowpath at around midnight, gave us a couple of shots of his truly delicious Polish Vodka.

[Speedwheel]

Hmm ...... No go and visit!

 

I've been and a few times by car but never found any interesting shops. Will have to look closer.

[Midnight Rider]

Went to the Leather Museum in Walsall many years ago.

 

Amazing what sticks in the mind. The guide told us that in the old days the leather was softened by treating it with dog shit.I suppose that the first step on the career ladder in the leather trade was being the dog shit collector.

[RLWP]

Went to the Leather Museum in Walsall many years ago.

 

Amazing what sticks in the mind. The guide told us that in the old days the leather was softened by treating it with dog shit.I suppose that the first step on the career ladder in the leather trade was being the dog shit collector.

 

Certainly not! Dog shit would have been collected up by hunt kennels and shipped in barrels by train.

 

Richard

[MartinClark]

Went to the Leather Museum in Walsall many years ago.

 

Amazing what sticks in the mind. The guide told us that in the old days the leather was softened by treating it with dog shit.I suppose that the first step on the career ladder in the leather trade was being the dog shit collector.

 

Maybe the leather industry grew up around Walsall so that they could go out along the canal towpath with shovels and collect all the stuff left behind by the dog walkers?

[alan_fincher]

I suppose that the first step on the career ladder in the leather trade was being the dog shit collector.

And after a couple of probationary years in the job, you were then lucky enough to get issued with a shovel ?

 

If anybody is looking for a job creation scheme, we could do with some "collectors" up on the Caldon, where we are right now.

 

We are moored in the middle of nowhere, where it appears that standard practice for many dog owners is not to pick up at all, or even "flick". The towpath is pretty disgusting frankly.

[Tiny]

An old leather joke says that it takes ten years to tan the hide of a hippo but no-one has mananged the large number of years needed to tan the hide of a politician. Our MP was the MD of a leather tanning firm before he joined the true blues funnily enough.