Tucana@Millfield

[Millfield]

Hi. This is my first post on this forum but felt compelled to write as I have been looking back through archived posts relating to Tucana's restoration and journey. I'm lucky enough to work at Millfield (Tucana's new home) and last week myself and two other colleagues took her along the W&E canal to Chasewater for our Helmsman's Course. It was a thrilling experience albeit punctuated with regular stops to clear her prop of rubbish and waste. When we are awarded our Helmsman's certificates, we are fully intending to use Tucana as a moving outdoor classroom.

[Heartland]

Not being up to that stretch recently, I presume Millfields is on the BCN near Bilston not far from the vast Bilston Steelworks site, now demolished and replaced by industrial units and housing. If that is the case has anybody considered the origin of the name. It was near hear also that Bantock had his boat dock. It was also here in the 19th Century that the Millfield Furnaces existed. Yet the origin of the name is earlier. It is generally believed that, and the is archive evidence to support it, that a stream flowed through here and this was dammed and a millpool created. This pool provided the water to turn two overshot wheels of a corn mill and rolling mill that existed before the canal and was associated with Bilston's enamel industry.  The waters then flowed on joining with others to form Bilston Brook that flowed eventually in the River Tame.

[Laurence Hogg]

1 hour ago, Heartland said:

Not being up to that stretch recently, I presume Millfields is on the BCN near Bilston not far from the vast Bilston Steelworks site, now demolished and replaced by industrial units and housing. If that is the case has anybody considered the origin of the name. It was near hear also that Bantock had his boat dock. It was also here in the 19th Century that the Millfield Furnaces existed. Yet the origin of the name is earlier. It is generally believed that, and the is archive evidence to support it, that a stream flowed through here and this was dammed and a millpool created. This pool provided the water to turn two overshot wheels of a corn mill and rolling mill that existed before the canal and was associated with Bilston's enamel industry.  The waters then flowed on joining with others to form Bilston Brook that flowed eventually in the River Tame.

Millfields is in Brownhills just half a mile above Catshill Junction on the Anglesey branch. There is extensive wharfage outside the school grounds next to the old mill and the Standhills private branch came off opposite.

[Laurence Hogg]

1 hour ago, Millfield said:

Hi. This is my first post on this forum but felt compelled to write as I have been looking back through archived posts relating to Tucana's restoration and journey. I'm lucky enough to work at Millfield (Tucana's new home) and last week myself and two other colleagues took her along the W&E canal to Chasewater for our Helmsman's Course. It was a thrilling experience albeit punctuated with regular stops to clear her prop of rubbish and waste. When we are awarded our Helmsman's certificates, we are fully intending to use Tucana as a moving outdoor classroom.

As the person who oversaw the complete restoration of "Tucana" to the point of delivery to Millfields I feel the need to comment.

I reckon you had a pretty inexperienced boat instructor. First you have a deep drafted boat swinging a 27" x 19" prop and that and its hydrodynamics need to be considered.

Did he ask you to slow and coast through bridge holes?

Did he teach you to engage astern for a moment and throw off?

Did he teach you to be "in tune" with the engine sound and vibration to know when something goes on?

Did he comment about the colour of exhaust smoke?

Did he teach you to go astern in control of the boat?

My reckoning is he did not, because he probably hasn't the experience to know.

You follow the channel in that type of boat not as the RYA advise "staying a set distance from the towpath, that advice will get you into trouble for sure.

 

Tucana also has a large fast access weedhatch which will save you hours when properly fouled up. You have a Harland & Wollf "Balanced (against prop walk) rudder which should now be set up properly (allowing 180 degrees turn), Yarwoods rudders were inferior to the H&W ones which is why I had it made and fitted.

Whatever you do PLEASE go boating to get very used to that boat and its handling BEFORE ever taking children on board. Remember she has rounded chines not square ones and WILL roll if not handled correctly. She is a super restored craft, well up to a new lifetime of service, but you need to get to know her, its the most essential ingredient. Best of luck.

[alan_fincher]

4 hours ago, Millfield said:

Hi. This is my first post on this forum but felt compelled to write as I have been looking back through archived posts relating to Tucana's restoration and journey. I'm lucky enough to work at Millfield (Tucana's new home) and last week myself and two other colleagues took her along the W&E canal to Chasewater for our Helmsman's Course. It was a thrilling experience albeit punctuated with regular stops to clear her prop of rubbish and waste. When we are awarded our Helmsman's certificates, we are fully intending to use Tucana as a moving outdoor classroom.

I am thinking all is not quite right if that trip required frequent clearance of the propeller.

Quite a number of us ventured from Brownhills up to Anglesey and back as part of the recent Historic Narrowboat Club Easter gathering, and I would say the Anglesey branch was one of the better, cleaner waterways up in those parts.  I am not aware of anyone getting a serious prop foul up there.

You have a bonus on having a boat modified with a weed hatch - a luxury not afforded to most of the boats built for the same fleet, including both of ours.  If you had to clear the prop without a weed hatch you would be using every trick in the book to try and avoid it getting fouled in the first place.  If you are to enjoy boating on other bits of the BCN, you will quickly tire of it if you get a prop foul every few miles.

Here is a view of Tucana as we passed......

 

And here are some other views up near Anglesey

 

 

Taken from our blog post here

 

 

Edited April 30, 2017 by alan_fincher

[AMModels]

2 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

I am thinking all is not quite right if that trip required frequent clearance of the propeller.

Quite a number of us ventured from Brownhills up to Anglesey and back as part of the recent Historic Narrowboat Club Easter gathering, and I would say the Anglesey branch was one of the better, cleaner waterways up in those parts.  I am not aware of anyone getting a serious prop foul up there.

You have a bonus on having a boat modified with a weed hatch - a luxury not afforded to most of the boats built for the same fleet, including both of ours.  If you had to clear the prop without a weed hatch you would be using every trick in the book to try and avoid it getting fouled in the first place.  If you are to enjoy boating on other bits of the BCN, you will quickly tire of it if you get a prop foul every few miles.

Here is a view of Tucana as we passed......

 

And here are some other views up near Anglesey

 

 

Taken from our blog post here

 

 

My dads house backs onto the canal about 200 yards beyond the bow of Tucana in your pic Alan, he landscaped the canalside. He did it for fishing but Ive got my eye on it for a mooring... one day.  

[X Alan W]

 I think Laurence & Alan F's posts probably sum up the  situation, the  guy instructing had no or limited experience with an ex commercial boat & possibly the niceties of knocking out of gear for bridge holes  Chucking back at the instant a change of engine note/exhaust smoke & other deep drafted boat idiosyncrasies  raise there heads.  He has possibly never had to deal with these problems as they don't occur on the shallow drafted leisure boats, also the channel following( if there is one) is of late a dying art, as in most boating circumstances today it's not required,while all canal boating is somewhat similar the deep boats on the ever shallower canals require a bit more knous possibly in a few years from now the 18" draft boats will have to do the same & the in boat will be one with zero displacement - now that would get interesting when it's windy

[alan_fincher]

15 hours ago, AMModels said:

My dads house backs onto the canal about 200 yards beyond the bow of Tucana in your pic Alan, he landscaped the canalside. He did it for fishing but Ive got my eye on it for a mooring... one day.  

Ah yes saw some of those houses now exploiting rather than neglecting the canal - fortunately very much a growing trend on much of the BCN that we visited this trip.

All in all this is not a bad waterway to my mind, and easier to navigate than what it is immediately attached to.

I like this particular trip, and our dog Odin loves it, because he understands a swim (or twenty!) will usually be part of it.  I have no qualms about him meing in the basin at Anglesey, the water has to be some of the cleanest on the BCN.

As an aside, Tucana, (which may or may not actually be Tucana, I believe, as identities of several of these full length boats were lost at one stage), is one of only 8 "Middle Northwich" motors.  Only 4 remain full length, (Radiant, Taygeta, Tucana & Zodiac), the other four, (Sextans, Sickle, Theophilus and Tycho), having been turned into 40 foot ice boats in 1942.  We of course own "Sickle", which would have started life identical to Tucana.

[Millfield]

Hi, thank you for the replies to my post. I originally posted to let everyone know that Tucana had found a new home at Millfield where she will be cherished and enjoyed both by children and the staff.  Just by reading some of the conversations relating to Tucana on the CanalWorld Forums I understand how highly regarded Tucana is and so just wanted to let you know that she will be well cared for.

Please do not think that we are going into the Helmsman’s training lightly, we realise we have an awful lot to learn - both about how Tucana handles and about the stretch of canal that we will travel on. On our first journey we found a rug, a roll of carpet and a length of netting all wrapped around the prop so I understand how lucky we are to have the weedhatch that you had fitted. We would welcome any advice and would be honoured if you felt that you could visit the school and pass on any of your years of experience in how to handle her on the canal.

The children of Millfield (and other local schools) have already had loads of fun on Tucana as over Christmas they visited “Santa on the Boat”. This was a huge success and we hope to do it again this year. It is also planned for the children to carry out a history project based around our canal system and if they can research Tucana’s history that will be an added bonus. Again, if anyone wants to get involved with this - or has any photos that we could use – that would be great.

Thanks for sending the  photo of Tucana as you went passed – I had read about the Historic Narrowboat Club’s meet whilst looking on BrownhillsBob’s site – perhaps we could get involved somehow with that next year?

[David Mack]

3 minutes ago, Millfield said:

 

Thanks for sending the  photo of Tucana as you went passed – I had read about the Historic Narrowboat Club’s meet whilst looking on BrownhillsBob’s site – perhaps we could get involved somehow with that next year?

Why not join HNBC and get involved in other events too.

Www.hnbc.org.uk

[FadeToScarlet]

I really recommend Chris Deuchar's "A Boater's Guide to Boating" as a very valuable book to read- he really covers well what is a wholly different way of steering a boat, compared to a modern narrowboat 

On 04/05/2017 at 20:15, David Mack said:

Why not join HNBC and get involved in other events too.

Www.hnbc.org.uk

Very much worth joining. But then I would say that, being on the committee...

[cuthound]

6 hours ago, FadeToScarlet said:

I really recommend Chris Deuchar's "A Boater's Guide to Boating" as a very valuable book to read- he really covers well what is a wholly different way of steering a boat, compared to a modern narrowboat 

Very much worth joining. But then I would say that, being on the committee...

Despite not owning an ex-working boat (but my first two canal holidays in the early 70's where on "camping boats, so I have steered them), I found Chris Deuchar's book an excellent explanation of the physics and there interaction with any boat,  so I would recommend it to all boat owners.