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.
Russell Newbery Register
2005 Boat rally
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
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.
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.
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:
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
