"Ah, Keith, I'm a bit short of crew members, fancy a weekend on a narrow boat" asked Nick Haynes, my boss. Sounds great thought Dawes...a weekend on the canal, sun bathing on the upper deck, lots of good pubs, fabulous food and nice comfy cabin. "Yes we'll be there, what time shall we pitch up"? "Early evening on the Friday" say's Nick, "We have to load 3 tonnes of coal".

"Er, sorry, what was that..." - "The coal..... we have to put it on the boat ......then you have to load some of it into a hopper & push it back so that the driver can shovel it into the fire box, which heats the water and makes the steam .....Oh and you have to dress up in traditional clothing".

So, somewhat apprehensive we decided to "crew" for President, a 1909 Fellows, Morton & Clayton steam powered narrow boat, along with the butty, Kildare, built in 1913. Arriving at the Black Country Living Museum around half seven on the Friday evening we had a pleasant surprise, not only had the coal been loaded but both boats had been taken out of the museum & on to the canal, which would save us valuable time on the Saturday. This was to be the first leg of a trip that the boats were undertaking to London's Little Venice. We were taking the boats from the Black Country Living Museum to Hatton Workshops, which would take two full days.

So that Friday evening our gear was loaded, and myself, Jo Playford my partner, Nick Haynes, the Captain & our Driver, Simon Nuttall, set about getting a vintage narrow boat ready for business. Simon's first job was to set about getting the fire lit, as it would take some time to generate enough pressure in the boiler to allow us to get under way. I quickly learnt how to load bags of coal into the hopper & push it back into the engine room, seven bags in all.

The next morning we were up by about seven, but poor Simon had been up since five tending to his beloved fire & boiler. We were then joined by additional crew members, Pat and Brian Empsall, Dave Cleverly and Dave Parry & later in the morning another Keith Rogers. We set off just after eight.

I did not realise just how much interest a boat such as President generated and very soon we had been photographed numerous times, asked where we were off to, and why were we towing Kildare, had it broken down? People stopped & watched as we steamed past, all of us now in our traditional clothes. We made really good time and were soon in the centre of Birmingham and negotiating the 13 locks at Farmers. All was going swimmingly .......quite literally as Dave Cleverly took an early bath as he walked straight off the towpath into the drink .....I know its cruel, but it was so very funny.

Dave was duly dried off, given some fresh clothes by various members of the crew and off we went again.

The plan was to make it to Camp Hill Top Lock & spend the night there, but we made such good time that Nick decided to push on. A very brave decision as the crew that joined us earlier exited tow path left & Jo & I were now in charge of the butty. I say a brave decision because I had never steered a narrow boat in my life before today. I have to say we soon got the hang of things and really enjoyed ourselves. Again were we making really good time, until we got stuck exiting Bridge 81 near Solihul. It took a little time of careful manoeuvring to get us free. It was now just after eight and we decided to moor up for the night. We were joined by Neil Ratcliffe and David Goodman, our driver for Sunday. After a fish & chip supper, washed down by a good red wine, we all turned in.

Now, Sunday mornings..... Laying in bed, reading the papers, nice cup of tea...... bliss. Not on the Grand Union Canal on a steamer ......Seven o'clock, and yes I was shovelling coal again, this was never mentioned in the brochure, I must have a word with that travel agent.

So off we set, the country side was beautiful, the weather fine & lots of wild life to see, a really peaceful way to spend the day. On reaching Knowle locks we breasted the butty up with President and descended the flight. On the way down we took the opportunity to fish around the prop as Nick thought that something might be wrapped around the prop. Sure enough there was all sorts of stuff we pulled out, and Nick was a happy man again.

As we approached the end of our journey another boat tagged along just behind us. Now here is a lesson for those of you out there...if you are following President & Kildare, and you are near Shrewley Tunnel, hang back.

The poor guy was very soon lost in a great cloud of steam, we watched as he tried to use a lamp, but that was soon enveloped in the darkness as well. All we could hear was him crashing into the tunnel sides and muttered cursing about why can't they afford a diesel. He emerged much further back and some time behind us later, much to our amusement. Nick, steering President also complained he couldn't see anything either, but he doesn't count.

Not long after we were through Hatton locks & into the workshops, where we disembarked and another crew would take over to make their long way onto London. It had been a great weekend, a great bunch of people & a truly magnificent boat. Would I do it again? Ask me after a hot bath & a few beers.

Keith Dawes - Sunday 18th April.

Captain's Note:

Keith was requested to join this journey as, unfortunately, Richard Thomas was unable to find enough volunteers from existing members. As you can see those that missed out could have seen what, in President terms, was an easy run. Museum to Hatton in under 18.5 hours down the 10 mile.

What Keith didn't mention, was that it took an hour to clear the prop at Knowle and another 15 mins delay when we put Kildare's rudder back in after a sharp corner near Lapworth.

Nick Haynes