BOATS OF THE BIRMINGHAM CANAL NAVIGATIONS.

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Day Boats.... ......... Wharfe Boats.............. Tugs.............. Ice Breakers.

The Birmingham Canal Navigations developed in the period from 1770 to 1840, and both developed and served the growing industrial area of Birmingham and the Black Country. As well as offering a through route from North to South via Birmingham, the system of canals eventually totalling over 160 miles, and consisted mostly of short haul traffic, connecting industry with essential supplies, and easy transport for the products. The boats built to transport the goods on the BCN, numbered in the thousands, with boat builders constructing and repairing, in the hundreds.

Day Boats, or Joey Boats.

The most common type of boat to be found on the BCN, and made initially of wood, and later iron, with an exception being Bantock boats; composite with a wooden lower side plank as well. They were 70ft in length by 7ft beam, pointed ends much the same, with generally vertical stem and stern posts. Many of the boats were double ended; in that the rudder could be hung at either end to save turning; indeed many of the arms and basins could only be entered from one direction, as the canal width prevented turning in many instances. The boats were either completely open, or had small cabins at the stern end, with a sharp angle of tumblehome to the cabin sides.

....................................................................................................Stewarts & Lloyds day boats at Coombes Wood, 1976

Construction; wooden boats.

Wooden day boats were built of pine, deal or larch, side planks of 2" thickness, and bottoms of 3". Planks were either 9" wide or 12" , giving 4 or 5 planks to the boat side, and a depth of around 4ft. Side planks were spiked to large knees, at 3ft spacings and these in turn were spiked to the bottom planks. A keelson joined up all the bottom planks to prevent vertical movement, and the width of the boat at gunwale level was held by beams dovetailed into the gunwale. Side planks were scarf jointed, and always spaced apart to prevent weakness. At each end of the boat, 3 extra guard boards were added; one at waterline in oak, one mid way in elm, and another oak board on the second plank down. Iron guards at both ends protected the woodwork from the inevitable rough handling these boats received. Cabins were constructed in deal boarding, were 5ft 6" long, with a headroom of 5ft 3". The sharp tumblehome was necessary to pass through the many small entrances to basins off the main canal. Inside the cabin, a bottle stove was on the left, and a bench on the right and across the cabin bulkhead. As the traffics on the BCN was short haul, the day boats were never intended to be slept in, hence the small size.

Iron boats from 1860.

Construction. Lowesmoor iron, in small plate sizes made up the hull sides and boat bottom, being rivetted together. The sides were joined to the bottom with a chine angle, on the inside of the plates. Knees added strength between the sides and bottom consisting of OMEGA pattern rolled iron. An angle similar to the chine angle formed the gunwale, with an additional guard iron rivetted on top. Beams made from plate and angle (3 of) kept the boat to width, and guards of OMEGA pattern were rivetted to the outside bends of the boat. If the boat was single ended, plates would overlap to trail in the forward direction.

.......Iron day boats in use at Stewarts & Lloyds, Halesowen.

A small deck was positioned at each end of the boat, and BCN gauging plates fixed under the gunwale on the Starboard side. The many different shapes of iron day boats, came from the numerous builders of these craft on the BCN canal system.

BIRCHILLS Currently perhaps the best known example of a BCN Joey boat is the BIRCHILLS built by Ernest Thomas at Walsall in 1952. The boat is a single ended cabined boat. Note the wooden headstock to the right of the rudder, for tying to a following boat when in a train behind a tug. The rudders usually had the owning company's initialls carved into the stock to deter theft. The bar that folds across across the back doors had an angle that projected into the cabin where a padlock could be fitted; locked from the outside through a hole in the woodwork, but the padlock being on the cabin inside.

Tugs.

ATLANTIC; BCN tug built by W. Harris of Netherton. 40ft long with ice breaking bows, and constructed for Yates Bros. Sold by BW in 1978 at auction, to Alfred Matty of Coseley. Sold by Matty's in 1983. Re cabined in steel, and now fitted with a Lister JP3. Based at Aylesbury. Attended Braunston in July 2000.

CHRISTOPHER JAMES; Built for Leonard Leigh Ltd; Wooden tug by L. Alan & Sons at Spencer Abbots Dock, Saltley. Elm bottoms with Oak sides. Worked commercially until 1965; and powered by an Armstrong Siddeley AS3 Diesel.

EARLYBIRD; BCN tug.

HELEN; Built for Leonard Leigh Ltd; Iron rivetted tug by W. Harris of Netherton. Still powered by the original 3 cylinder Bolinder full Diesel engine, (1053).

HURRICANE; BCN tug.

JOAN II; Wooden Tug built at Worsey's dock Walsall in 1936 for Leonard Leigh Ltd. Launched April 16th 1936. Engine thought to have been a lamp start 2 cylinder Ogle. Named after Leonard Leigh's daughter.

JAMES LOADER; Built for Leonard Leigh Ltd; Fleet No 8. Wooden tug by Worsey's of Walsall in 1945. Elm bottoms with Oak sides. Powered by a marinised Ford Major Diesel in commercial days. Now privately owned, and powered by a Gardner 2LW Diesel.

JUDITH ANNE; Stevens and Keay tug, built by Keay's in 1944. Powered by a Lister JP4; formerly a Ruston 4VRH. For sale Summer 2000, and now on the Oxford Canal.

LION; Harris's of Netherton tug built for Hardy Spicer's in the 1940's. Recently on dry land at Booth lane, and has now moved to Barthomley for re-building. About 20ft in length, originally powered by a Lister JP3, with a 3 blade propellor.

SPITFIRE; BCN tug.

TEMPEST; BCN tug.

TYPHOON; BCN tug, based at Hanwell.