RNR 2005 Rally
The 2005 rally took place from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th June
at Parkhead, junction of the Dudley No1 and Dudley No2 Canals
of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.
The boats were
moored in the basin between the eastern portal of
Dudley tunnel and the top of the three Parkhead locks.
This includes the truncated remains of the Pensnett Canal
and the Grazebrook Arm.
The workshop events took place in the
Blowers Green Pumphouse, the HQ building of the Dudley Canal Trust.
Other activities around the site took place over the weekend
as part of the Dudley Canal Trust's open weekend.
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Triple moored boats on the Grazebrook Arm - 10 June 2005
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A total of thirty-three boats, with a combined crew of 66 people and a combined cylinder count of
65 in the 32 RN enginges were present. One particularly welcome boat was
Bellatrix, a former GUCCC Star class boat which is fitted with its original RN engine.
The rally was the guest of the Dudley Canal Trust (DCT) and coincided with their open-weekend.
The RN boats adding extra colour and interest.
We were able to use the upstairs rooms of the Blowers Green Pumphouse, DCT’s head-quarters,
for our workshops and the evening entertainments.
The technical workshops this year covered
Emissions
Water Pumps and Cooling
Cylinder Heads
Boat Electrics
Diesel Engines for Ladies
the last was a very well attended session.
The craft workshops included
Bead Braceletes
Corn Dollies
Canal Art and Signwriting
In the later workshop, local artist Dave Moore showed how easy it is to produce
traditional roses and castles paintings for the inside of a pair of back cabin doors.
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On the truncated remains of the Pensnett Canal - 10 June 2005
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Friday evening commenced with a fish and chip supper before a trip through the Dudley
Canal Tunnel in a pair of the DCT’s electric trip boats. This included a full circuit
around the singing cavern.
On arrival back at Blowers Green a firkin of Olde Swan (Ma Pardoe’s) Original Ale was
consumed, rather more quickly than anticipated. Consequently the beer order for Saturday evening
was tripled! The Saturday evening entertainment got off to a great start with magic and
illustion by David Oakley followed by music sessions from Don Smith and his group, Kevin McNiff
and various items of impromptu poetry, prose and dancing. This included
Anoraks composed by Rob Davies.
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Almost as many geese as RN boats,
viewed from the Parkhead portal of Dudley tunnel - 10 June 2005
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One unfortunate event ocurred late on Saturday night, a local engineering works was
vandalised causing thousands of gallons of lubricating oil to enter the canal by the
portal of the tunnel. Although the Environment Agency placed a boom around the souce on
Sunday morning, the whole pound was by then covered. This meant that working the boats
down Parkhead locks on Sunday afternoon was spaced out in an attempt to dilute the oil entering
the pound below and eventually the Stourbridge Canal.
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Reflections in a thin film of oil, from a
vandalised industrial unit - Sunday morning 12 June 2005
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Prior to the rally, some member's boats took part in
the Northern BCN campaign cruise.
This cruise, oraganised by the
Inland Waterways Association (IWA)
and the
Birmingham Canal Navigations Society
(BCNS), took place over the
late May public holiday weekend Saturday 28th to Monday 30th May.
Following on from the above, Ian McKim Thompson and Bob May organised
a BCN cruise for RNR members.
This commenced on Tuesday 31st May at Old Turn Junction
(National Indoor Area, Birmingham for those not that familiar with the BCN)
and finished on Wednesday 8th June at Parkhead.
Whilst the majority of boats enjoyed a relatively trouble free
cruise to and from the rally, a number did pick-up large
items of rubbish on their propellors.
These included:
A car tyre which fitted exactly over the blades
A bedstead
A matress
A large wooly blanket (described by the boat owner as a wooly bear)
To assist those unfamiliar with the toplogy of the BCN
(Birmingham Canal Navigations)
here is a simplified diagram of the
currently navigable canals.
2006 Rally | 2004 Rally
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