Victor: Mooring problems

THOUGH the Black Country was devoid of moving boats, the northern part of the Staffs & Worcs, that is part of the Four Counties Ring, certainly made up for it, with lots of boats moving, but alas mooring problems.

It was exactly 20 years ago when we first cruised the Staffs & Worcs in a hire boat from the then Water Travel at Autherley Junction, and our subsequent log book shows we have travelled it 15 times since then, with the result we have our own favourite mooring places, but alas no longer—they are crammed with what I can only imagine is the upsurge in people taking to living on the water—call them what you will.

Always tell

You can always tell when approaching a village, for the first thing you see, especially if there is a bridge, are the moored boats. But there was one 'clutch' of such boats, well away from any bridge or village, right in the middle of nowhere (pictured) with not a single licence amongst the lot.  Where? If the Trust with its declared multitude of enforcers can't be bothered to find them, then I'm not telling!

All the villages have their number of moored boats, with an unheard of 17 boats below Penkridge, with not a hire boat amongst them, so we carried on to find a suitable mooring which itself is now a problem even with the large amount of piling, as the Veg Pledge is now very much a thing of the past. But the pound between bridges 93 and 94 above Acton Trussell was not too bad, being able to trample down the vegetation, so that is where we stayed with the company of others

So as many of you must know it is a battle with the vegetation and a fair share of nettles to get anywhere near the bank.  As perhaps I have mentioned, the Trust has more important things to spend its money on, and we saw an example—silly poetry carved into a lock beam and well covered with graffiti, that perhaps made more sense.

No longer bothered

But not only rampant vegetation, but the only mown grass we saw was at Teddesley, perhaps done by the Teddesley Boat Company or Midland Chandlers. Even Gailey, something of a show-place, had not had its grass mown or the vegetation trimmed, the Trust is obviously no longer bothered.

On the Sunday, with a bit of sunshine out came the 'anglers' in force, with us coming across no less than three matches taking place. I don't know how the fishermen of today can call themselves anglers. I always thought anglers moved around whether at a pond, canal or river 'angling' for a bite with reel and float. But not so today, as boaters will well know, they just sit there surrounded with a multitude of equipment with just a rod with a line and bait on the end, with neither reel nor float.  The need for all the equipment baffles me. Little wonder they have earned themselves the name of 'danglers'.

Locks in good condition

The locks however were in good condition, with geared paddles making them easy to operate, and the gates gave no problems, but there is always the exception, and this time it was the one at Otherton Lock (pictured) with both the top and bottom gates leaking enough to drop the pound overnight by a good 15 inches. But as this was the only one, in this day and age we certainly cannot grumble.

Met one boater from the Staffordshire Boat Club who summed up the problem of boating these days, telling that if he could not get more than four weeks on his boat in a year he would be financially much better off hiring, even admitting that instead of his poorly equipped boat, he would have one with all conveniences including a shower.  We both agreed this could be one reason for the downturn in ownership.

New word?

The fella added to my dictionary with the word Brassy Yapper.  Meaning those that spend all their time polishing brasses and telling of their wonderful adventures.  I must say I have met the type.

We usually moor at Tixall Wide nearer to the lock than the actual 'wide' to escape the generators and running engines, but this time there was no way, as I could just see Jan's head above the vegetation, with no chance of getting in anywhere, as the picture above well shows.

Another thing I espied were two boats obviously permanently moored on red 'trade plates' on the Staffs & Worcs.  Now this is in direct contravention of the rules as such plates are used as they are in the motor industry—for getting a boat from one place to another, and certainly not in place of a normal licence.

Easy three days

Our time of eight hour days are now way past, having cruised every major waterway in the country, some many times, with the exception of the Lee & Stort and the Wey, so it was an easy three days on the Staffs & Worcs, and as there was no way we were going to battle with the undergrowth at Tixall Wide, we turned right (one blast!) on to the Trent & Mersey, knowing of a decent mooring just past Shugborough.  Oh no! Those moorers had taken over there too, as pictured above, but we just managed to squeeze in at the end, and only hope for a bit of peace.

I should imagine the genuine continuous cruiser is getting worried about the worsening mooring situation, with the every increasing number of such licences being issued by the Trust to, it seems, people who have no intention of continuously cruising, but just as somewhere to live.  I know it affected us though only out for two weeks, so for someone out for the year they must cause a real problem.

Victor Swift