BCN Challenge 2014 - 24 & 25th May

[cotswoldsman]

Funniest comment so far, but also the saddest. Part of the reason for the challenge is to make sure underused parts of the system are visited. However it is no good just passing through and thinking I've done my bit. If we don't want to lose mooring places like Walsall basin then we have to make sure they are used as well. We were the only boat that moored overnight in the basin. Given the number of real ale pubs in Walsall (The Black Country Arms - with more than a dozen hand pumps - alone is worth a visit) I'm surprised that some of the beer drinkers on this forum didn't plan their challenge so that it included an overnight in Walsall - more interested in clocking up points I suppose.

I will look forward to seeing you in Walsall for our volunteering, boating and trading weekend on 21st and 22nd June a number of people from this forum will be there promoting this underused part of BEN just PM your details and I will book you in

[the barnacle]

I will look forward to seeing you in Walsall for our volunteering, boating and trading weekend on 21st and 22nd June a number of people from this forum will be there promoting this underused part of BEN just PM your details and I will book you in

 

Sounds interesting - can I ask what happens over this weekend?

[dmr]

Funniest comment so far, but also the saddest. Part of the reason for the challenge is to make sure underused parts of the system are visited. However it is no good just passing through and thinking I've done my bit. If we don't want to lose mooring places like Walsall basin then we have to make sure they are used as well. We were the only boat that moored overnight in the basin. Given the number of real ale pubs in Walsall (The Black Country Arms - with more than a dozen hand pumps - alone is worth a visit) I'm surprised that some of the beer drinkers on this forum didn't plan their challenge so that it included an overnight in Walsall - more interested in clocking up points I suppose.

 

I believe there is going to be a huge gathering of boats in Walsall in June.

Its going to be tricky to please you but we will do our best, a trip to the Blackcountry Arms to drink a bit of real Ale (16 of them last time I was there) then quietly back to our boats well before 10pm.

From earlier posts on this thread, it appears to be some of the residents of Walsall who are the problem rather than visiting boaters!

 

...........Dave

Edited May 28, 2014 by dmr

[cotswoldsman]

 

Sounds interesting - can I ask what happens over this weekend?

I will give a full answer when on my laptop it is a fun social weekend that includes a few hours volunteering on the Sunday there are a number of trade boats going the idea is to have fun at the same time promote Walsall and BCN

Oh and go drinking with dmr and a few others hehe

[cheshire~rose]

Funniest comment so far, but also the saddest. Part of the reason for the challenge is to make sure underused parts of the system are visited. However it is no good just passing through and thinking I've done my bit. If we don't want to lose mooring places like Walsall basin then we have to make sure they are used as well. We were the only boat that moored overnight in the basin. Given the number of real ale pubs in Walsall (The Black Country Arms - with more than a dozen hand pumps - alone is worth a visit) I'm surprised that some of the beer drinkers on this forum didn't plan their challenge so that it included an overnight in Walsall - more interested in clocking up points I suppose.

 

Very public spirited of you to spend a night there just to keep the basin open!

 

We overnighted there in March. There was another boat arrived to join us on that occasion. We enquired with a couple of parking wardens passing by whether we might get a disturbed night if we stayed there. They assured us we would be fine because it was not a student night at the bar. In fact the bar closed at 10.10pm the night were were there and the place looked wonderful after dark:

 

I am sure a few moments disturbance by a boat turning is unlikely to have upset the residents when they are used to 2 or 3 nights a week of rowdy students outside their flats.

Edited May 28, 2014 by cheshire~rose

[john6767]

Here is an account of our BCN Challenge for those interested.

 

On Friday evening we relocated from central Birmingham to the End of the Engine Arm, ready for the 8:00AM start on Saturday morning. Coming up Smethwick bottom lock we had the most serious incident of the whole weekend, and piece of timber 8in x 3in by 6in or so, had gone between the prop and the uxter plate, the prop was embedded well into it and jammed solid. After thinking, that's our Challenge over before we even start, I decide to use the mooring hammer and knock the piece of timber out. Luckily it worked and no damage was done, but a bit of a scare. A very peaceful night from them on, but the smell of Smethwick does take some getting used to (think burned out clutch).

 

Up at 6:30AM Saturday, and make preparations. Leave the mooring at 7:30, and move to our actual start location at Engine Arm Junction at the top of Smethwick Locks.

 

As 8:00Am approaches the tension builds and the logistics team (Sally and Caroline) are in the boat hovering over the sealed envelope, as we hit 8:00AM they open the envelope and Barry and myself start working the boat down Smethwick Locks. We went down the 3 locks incident free in about 10 mins, and out onto the Main Line at speed with a long blast of the horn.

 

There are clues on both loops as we had hoped, so first it is Soho Loop, and hopefully we got the clue. Then it is across the Mail Line at full speed on to Icknield Port Loop, and the clue at the CRT yard. Back onto the Mail Line and to Cambrian Wharf and the Farmers Bridge flight. The rain is already heavy, a fact that was to dominate the weekend.

 

The scoring system this year did not allow you to collect points for both Farmers Bridge and Aston flights, so we take the Farmers Bridge, Ashted, Garrison route to Salford Junction, and answer another clue on Garrison. Surprisingly we pick up other Challenge boats on both Ashted and Garrison locks. We arrive at Salford Junction (under spaghetti junction) having done 27 locks. We answer the clue at Salford junction, but subsequently I know we got that one wrong.

 

Then it is time to start going uphill with Perry Bar locks. We were following another Challenge boat, who kindly let us go ahead of them, the rules do state that slower boats should let faster ones past, and it was nice to see that happen in practice. The rain is still coming down hard, but suddenly we get a break while going along the Tame Valley to Rushall Junction, but unfortunately it did not last long and was raining again by Rushall Locks.

 

Out of Rushall top lock at around 4:30PM and that is 51 locks in 8.5 hours so far. The Daw End is very much better since dredging, and overall we have made very good time to this point, such that approaching Catshill Junction, we are in a position being 1hr 30 min ahead of schedule to add the Anglesey Branch in which was not in our original plan. We stop at the outflow from the reservoir and I do the weedhatch while they get the clue, but which time Tawny Owl arrives and we have a competitive turning competition.

 

We get back to Catshill Junction bang on our original planned time, so we really were able to make up enough time to fit Anglesey in. Our planning for sections that we have not done before on the challenge was based on 3.2mph and 10 locks per hour, and we smashed that. Sections that we have done before are based on our previous actual times, which of course things like the dredging of Daw End make a big difference to.

 

So round to Pelsall Junction where the Explorer Cruise boats are tied up for that night, and up the Cannock Extension, getting the clue by the bridge and turning at the Basin. Then back to Pelsall Junction.

 

It is now getting dark, and the next part is the bit in the plan I am not looking forward to, we go round the W & E to Birchills Junction in the dark, and then onto the Walsall Canal and arrive at Walsall top lock that around 11PM, to find the all 4 paddles on the top lock are open. First instinct is vandalism, we drop the paddles and find that the pound below the lock has flooded over the towpath, but it quickly goes down and we are able to check down the locks and find that it was not vandalism, there is another Challenge boat coming up and they had found drained pounds, and there trying to refill. We started to make our way down, and luckily we did not see another soul on the towpath except the 2 Challenge crews. We get out of the bottom lock at 12:10AM, go into the Town Arm get the clue and to the pontoon at the end of the arm for our very short night. We stop at 12:20AM, which is actually 20 min behind our plan due to the time taken on Walsall Locks.

 

The alarm is set for 4:00AM, which the intention of being off at 4:20AM, giving use a rest stop of 4 hours as planned.

 

At 4:20AM we set off and at least it is not raining at this point. The Walsall is its usual depressing self, but we did get some entertainment at 5:00AM, when we can across a couple, naked under a bridge going at it hammer and tongs. They we clearly in the zone and did not notice the boat until the bow was almost to them when I let rip with the horn, and the lad almost had a heart attack, or perhaps something else happened….. The girl grabbed any piece to clothing to cover herself up leaving the lad naked curled up against the side of the bridge, he very sheepish said “sorry” as we passed. After a suitable distance I looked round to see them walking off, I think the moment had gone.

 

No more entertainment as we ground along the rest of the way to Ocker Hill. As we passed the Junction we could see Tawny Owl approaching along the Tame Valley.

 

At Ryders Green we went up ahead of Tawny Owl, and had Richard Perry helping us with the locks, at the top we too had to move the floating weed island out of the way.

 

At Pudding Green Junction, we turned left onto the New Main Line, and along to Bromford Junction and up Spon Lane Locks. At Spon Lane Junction we made the hard right turn onto the Old Main Line, and were followed by Red Wharf to Oldbury Junction and then onto the Titford Canal. It was very busy going up the locks with boats going in both directions and crossing in the short pounds. It was then down to the end, picking up the clue on the way, and back to the locks, again crossing with boats on who were on the way up.

 

At Oldbury Junction, turned left onto the Old Main Line to Brades Hall Junction, then turning right onto the Gower Branch and going down Brades Locks. Brades is made up of a staircase of 2 followed by a single. The single was our last lock of the Challenge, so I celebrated by doing the weedhatch.

 

We were now on the home run, turning left at Albion Junction onto the New Main Line for the short distance to Dudley Port Junction where we turned left onto the Netherton Tunnel Branch, and through the Netherton Tunnel to Windmill End.

 

Windmill End was actually our planned finish point, ie where our 24 hours travel time would be up. The plan was that we should arrive there at 12 noon, giving us 2 hours on non-points scoring to make Hawne Basin to be certain of getting the finish bonus. We actually got to Windmill End with 19 min still to go on our 24 hours travel time, so we were able to include part on the Dudley No. 2 as points scoring, but as expected it was a slow moving convoy of boats, so poor value.

 

We were nose to tail with other boats going through Gosty Hill Tunnel, and then the final short distance to Hawne Basin and the tight turn in through the bride to moor as instructed next to Chalice.

 

So it was a very adventurous route for us taking in a lot of locks, but that as far as I could work out was the way to get the maximum points for a short (50ft) boat, but what is possible is far short of what can be achieved by a longer boat. Even a 55ft boat would have got 25 points more than us for the same route, and a 70ft boat 70 points more, so we know we have no chance of winning, and the satisfaction is purely in achieving the best that we could. The crew was content that we did that.

 

I make our tally to be 58 miles, 83 locks, and not including clues or finish bonus, 335 points.

[David Mack]

Most people on the challenge don't aim for pubs to stop, if you are aiming for points then the stop hours are usually spent asleep.

When Fulbourne has taken part in the challenge we have made a point of taking our stop time during pub opening hours and carrying on boating through the night. But we are usually mob-handed so can sleep in shifts.

[BrumSaint]

We winded in Walsall Basin at about 12:15AM, there was one boat in the basin on a pontoon I believe. What is wrong with boats using the canal, its what it is there for, goodness knows the Walsall needs them.

Hi John,

 

Did you paddle in? because you didn't disturb us, unlike the boat at 10pm. Which is what this is all about, inconsiderate behaviour by one boater.

[David Mack]

the smell of Smethwick does take some getting used to (think burned out clutch).

 

Much of the BCN used to smell like that when the banks were lined with metal-bashing industry. Mostly gone now.

[john6767]

Hi John,

 

Did you paddle in? because you didn't disturb us, unlike the boat at 10pm. Which is what this is all about, inconsiderate behaviour by one boater.

No, I did not paddle in!

 

I assume this was you taken from the web cam on our bow as we came in. We take an image every 4 seconds that will be stitched together to form a time-lapse video. The image timestamps show we were in the basin for 2 mins so did not hang about turning either. We then moored on the pontoon at the end of the arm.

 

[BrumSaint]

No, so what?

 

10pm is hardly late now is it? Why try and sully a thus far very pleasant and informative thread with a little whine, particularly when it seems you haven't even got your facts right.

It's not me that has the facts wrong. It now appears that Junior of Albion posted a wrong time from which I made an incorrect assumption (which I have apologised to Albion for) about which boat caused the problem in the basin. The facts about the inconsiderate behaviour of the boat in the basin at 10pm are correct. As I've said to Cotswoldman would you like me to rev my car engine outside your place at 10pm?

[the barnacle]

Hi John,

 

Did you paddle in? because you didn't disturb us, unlike the boat at 10pm. Which is what this is all about, inconsiderate behaviour by one boater.

 

I think your valid point has been well made about the 10pm boater - time to move on from this I think.

[Guest]

It's not me that has the facts wrong. It now appears that Junior of Albion posted a wrong time from which I made an incorrect assumption (which I have apologised to Albion for) about which boat caused the problem in the basin. The facts about the inconsiderate behaviour of the boat in the basin at 10pm are correct. As I've said to Cotswoldman would you like me to rev my car engine outside your place at 10pm?

So... it seems we have a few minutes of disturbance at 10pm, as I said not really that late.

 

It now transpires the location is one that is shared with some bars, where things might get a bit rowdy now and then, certainly longer than the mooring and turning of a narrowboat can cause.

 

Is your surname Meldrew by any chance?

[nellieD]

Hi Paul,

 

I'm not complaining about boats that came into the basin in general, several did and not one had to rev their engines or caused a disturbance and I've just read about a boat that came in at mid-night (they must have paddled in because we didn't hear them). My complaint is about the uncaring attitude of the boat that came in at 10pm and the disturbance this caused for some local residents.

I think you've made your point. It is such a shame that the BCN Challenge is causing such an unpleasant thread of comments. We have moored in Walsall Basin in the past while passing through & found it difficult to sleep before 2am due to the noise from the pub, usually live music so it best to moor on the off side as you enter the arm.

[BrumSaint]

No, I did not paddle in!

 

I assume this was you taken from the web cam on our bow as we came in. We take an image every 4 seconds that will be stitched together to form a time-lapse video. The image timestamps show we were in the basin for 2 mins so did not hang about turning either. We then moored on the pontoon at the end of the arm.

 

Hi John,

 

Yes that's us. Calm down, the 'paddle in' comment was meant to be a humorous comment and a complement on how quiet you must have been.

[alan_fincher]

The people in the flats, next to the basin, were not taking part, so why is it acceptable to disturb them?

 

Part of the rules say that "Participants should be courteous to other canal users..." what is courteous about revving your engine at 10pm at night? I bet you would soon complain if I drove to your place and starting revving my car engine outside at 10pm.

It seems you are so on the case that despite the moan you accuse completely the wrong boat of this behaviour.

 

If it is so serious you are going to "name and shame", at least invest enough effort to go outside and find the name of the boat involved.

 

Sheesh!

[Dave_P]

The last time I moored in Walsall basin, there was an open mic night on in the bar next to it. The noise was such that at 11.30 we cast off and went to the pontoon down at the junction for some peace. My home mooring is gas street basin so I'm generally unconcerned by a bit of noise, but Walsall basin was NOISY! If you want quiet, here's some tips:

1. Don't overnight in Walsall Basin.

2. Don't enter the BCN 24 hour Challenge.

 

It's the one time when you can expect boats to be noisy throughout the night. That's the whole point! Would you prefer it's to be sanitised down to 8.00am-8.00pm? Come on! When we passed Notos on the way into Hawne Basin, you were moaning about this, and I thought you were joking!

Edited May 28, 2014 by Dave_P

[Guest]

Hi John,

 

Yes that's us. Calm down, the 'paddle in' comment was meant to be a humorous comment and a complement on how quiet you must have been.

You are starting to come across as a 24k nugget, you are the one that needs to 'calm down'.......

[BrumSaint]

 

I think your valid point has been well made about the 10pm boater - time to move on from this I think.

Agreed.

[Dyertribe]

The people in the flats, next to the basin, were not taking part, so why is it acceptable to disturb them?

 

Part of the rules say that "Participants should be courteous to other canal users..." what is courteous about revving your engine at 10pm at night? I bet you would soon complain if I drove to your place and starting revving my car engine outside at 10pm.

The people in the flats presumably noticed the canal when they bought said flat?

Isn't there a bar/pub there? Do people leave there on tippy toes and in silence?

If you live next to a road is it reasonable to expect all traffic to stop at 10pm?

I wasn't involved in the Challenge unfortunately but to be so churlish over a bit of disturbance once a year is really over reacting

[MtB]

You are starting to come across as a 24k nugget, you are the one that needs to 'calm down'.......

 

Greenied.

 

People getting on their high horses on behalf of other people (i.e. flat owners) who haven't even complained really get my goat.

 

MtB

[The Bearwood Boster]

well we moor at Titford and frequently go into town vía Smethwick locks.We have never encountered strange smells.Perhaps it's different at night as we're usually there in the day. Are we missing an experience ?

Trina

Ps Richard-what have you done to Nobber-he's my hero...?

[Starcoaster]

You are starting to come across as a 24k nugget, you are the one that needs to 'calm down'.......

 

/\ Love it.

[Magic Potion]

You are starting to come across as a 24k nugget, you are the one that needs to 'calm down'.......

He is, as my daughter would say, the end of a bell.

[RLWP]

He is, as my daughter would say, the end of a bell.

 

He is also someone who got himself involved in the BCN Challenge, and is a forum member.

 

Richard