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Tividale Quays


Dave_P

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Following a conversation about the sorry state of Tividale Quays in the chat room, I happened to be passing it on Sunday and I decided to brave the waterlilies round my prop and went in! I felt like a naughty boy for some reason but the locals loved it (including the fishermen!) and even brought kids out to wave at me!

 

It got me thinking that nobody ever, ever moors here despite regular threads about good moorings on the BCN. Why?

 

And how would people feel about arranging a group of boats descending onto the 'quays' one weekend? It's actually quite a pleasant place to moor, what with all the waterlilies and the clear water with shoals of fish.

 

For those who don't know, Tividale Quays is on the old mainline (Wolverhampton level) near Tipton and is a modern housing development with a large canal basin. The original plan was to install pontoons and basic services and have permanent BW moorings in there. However, the planning application was refused because a few nimbys were worried about noise and disturbance from the boats and about parking issues. Since then it's like a watery ghost town. There are mooring rings all the way around the basin and along the side of the canal for the whole length of the development.

 

The details of the planning application are here: http://webcaps.sandwell.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HMUKVHNRG1000

 

 


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A couple of pics
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And how would people feel about arranging a group of boats descending onto the 'quays' one weekend? It's actually quite a pleasant place to moor, what with all the waterlilies and the clear water with shoals of fish.

 

Sounds like an excellent idea. Count us in.

 

But not until 'RW' is back on the BCN which, the way things are panning out might not be this side of bonfire night!

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Sounds like an excellent idea. Count us in.

 

But not until 'RW' is back on the BCN which, the way things are panning out might not be this side of bonfire night!

If some notice is required, then next Spring could be an option.

 

A 'sedate' banter was in my mind. Part wants to prove to the locals that boaters are generally a decent and considerate bunch and not all dodgy water-gypsies.

It's also less than 5 minutes walk from the 'Silk Route' all you can eat Chinese buffet which is pretty decent.

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I've always eyed that up and wondered if mooring was allowed there. As you say, seems a pleasant spot but certainly never seen a boat there. What a waste! Yes we'd be up for something in there if it coincided with us generally being in the Birmingham area.

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We heard the same story about locals not wanting boaters there.Rumour was that they were not keen on the idea of tatty boats belching out smoke and turning the place into a watery Steptoe's yard !As we moor at Titford and go past there quite often-I've always fancied the idea of going in with a yell of Wahoo we're here ! ! I'd be up for some sort of gathering just to show the residents that boaters are quite nice really ...

Trina

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Aren't there people who pay good money in garden centres for water lilies to go in their garden ponds? Instead of wrapping them round your prop, could they be lifted and sold? CRT property I suppose, but maybe they could farm the things as a sideline?

 

Or, to paraphrase Obi-wan Kenobi's famous line on TV tonight, is it that "these are not the water-lilies they're looking for"?

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  • 3 years later...

I stayed inside the basin for about a week in June 2018.  I moored directly opposite the entrance which means that I was moored next to a gap in the fence by the road and next to a private car park.  The locals were all very friendly. One told me that a person used to permanently moor his boat inside the basin, but about 10 years ago he sold his house (poesumably with the mooring) and moved to Stourport. Since then very few boats have moored there. Another told me that when he purchased his house (a decade ago) the council were selling permament moorings for about £2,000.

 

I talked to some of the active local fishermen. They have recently cleared a lot of the water lilies  and are keen for boats to visit the basin as they are aware that it will help to prevent it silting up.

 

In all there were about 60 rings in the quays along the bank of the Birmingham Old Main Line canal either side of the basin entrance and next to public footpaths, and around 50 within the basin, so it is unlikely that there will be a need to double moor! There was no CRT or council signs on the canal bank or in the basin. This is a Sandwell wide problem that a Sandwell council sponsored report highlighted because it deters visiting boaters ("Canals in Sandwell: Report of the Partnerships and External Scrutiny Panel", page 29).

 

The water was clear so it was possible to see down several feet. Most of the basin appears to be deep enough to take narrowboats as do the moorings along the bank of the canal either side of the entrance to the basin.  There were two places where the mooring appeared to be problematic thanks to rubbish dumped in the water causing it to be shallow. At the far left of the quay and the far left end of the basin (as seen when entering the basin left/port side) .

 

There are also similar rings on the Birmingham Old Main Line canal at Tipton Junction (to Pitchfork Bridge) just to the right of the entrance to the canal that leads to the Dudley Tunnel and Black Country Museum. At the CRT moorings next to the Black Country Museum, and on the towpath leading up to them, there are CRT signs that prohibit mooring for more than 48 hours. So I assume that due to the absence of signs that a boat can moor at Dudley Port/Tividale Basin or Tipton Junction- Pitchfork Bridge for two weeks per to the usual CRT mooring policy.

Edited by Brad
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MoominMama chatted to the chap from CRTs moorings devision at Braunston, and he said that CRT have ambitions to get some residential moorings in there, as part of a strategy to increase availability of same in the Birmingham area.

 

MP.

 

 

 

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We had a night moored there last year. The locals were very friendly and pleased to see it being used. The few fishermen around seemed fine with it, and we moored a decent distance away. 

 

Theres a big Tesco Extra within walking distance. Overall a good spot to stop. 

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It is nice to see boats using this part of the canal. The BCN Old Main Line, in general is worth the diversion from the New Main line, that many boaters prefer to use. There is also the various heritage features, such as passing over the Stewart and Groveland Aqueducts, travelling through the Brades, the site of a former steelworks.

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  • 10 months later...

The plan for this years Explorer Cruise is to merely visit Tividale Quays as we are mooring at Tipton to visit the Pie Factory & the library for an illustrated talk about the history of Tipton & Tividale. Maybe a change could be made next year.

  • Greenie 1
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1 hour ago, RLWP said:

It seems to be a place that would enjoy a few boats, much like the Bradley arm

Challenge accepted.  Both of them in fact! :D

 

We are currently outside the Black Country Museum at Dudley, so we will use the services in the morning and go and moor in Tividale quays tomorrow.   We saw the basin last week and I was tempted to go and spin in there, but we needed to get down to Old Turn to pick our crew up, so I wussed out.

 

The boat we are moored next to is doing the Explorer cruise next week, and that includes a tour of Bradley workshops on week-Thursday , so I am going to see if we can blag along for the Bradley tour as well.

 

If there are 20-odd boats doing the Walsall and the Curly Wurly this Friday, I might go round that way before then!

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52 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Challenge accepted.  Both of them in fact! :D

 

We are currently outside the Black Country Museum at Dudley, so we will use the services in the morning and go and moor in Tividale quays tomorrow.   We saw the basin last week and I was tempted to go and spin in there, but we needed to get down to Old Turn to pick our crew up, so I wussed out.

 

The boat we are moored next to is doing the Explorer cruise next week, and that includes a tour of Bradley workshops on week-Thursday , so I am going to see if we can blag along for the Bradley tour as well.

 

If there are 20-odd boats doing the Walsall and the Curly Wurly this Friday, I might go round that way before then!

The explorer cruise can be a really good event and Bradley workshop is very interesting, maybe you could gatecrash the whole explorer cruise?  Blackcountry Arms in Walsall is a "must visit" pub.

 

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

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24 minutes ago, dmr said:

The explorer cruise can be a really good event and Bradley workshop is very interesting, maybe you could gatecrash the whole explorer cruise?  Blackcountry Arms in Walsall is a "must visit" pub.

Explorer cruise is booked solid, but I don't think we need our hands holding on the BCN this week! :D

 

There are a whole list of talks/trips/events that the lady on the boat next to us was showing us earlier that look really interesting, but there is a "Pirates and Mermaids" thing on at Dudley Tunnel & Canal Trust later this week that looks interesting for Bob.  I think @Tom and Bex might be coming up for it as well, so we will see.

 

We will try the Blackcountry Arms on the way past, but we might be meeting @Dr Bob again to give him some beer instead of just drinking his ... he probably wants an update on the duck thing too!

 

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