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Early doors. Cold, crisp early morning in winter.
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Committee 2025/2026
| Commodore | (vacancy) |
| Secretary | Graeme Bryan |  |
| Treasurer | Tony Lancaster |
| Committee members |
Steve Edwards
Tony Fellows
Austin Jones
Andrew Laycock
Simon Roberts
Nigel Stanley
Sheila Stanley
Barrie Stanton
Jon Yeomans
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Other Posts
| Webmaster | Andrew Laycock |  |
Moorings
Please note that we do not offer residential moorings and the size of craft permitted at the site moorings is:
……Maximum length 18.902m (62 feet)
……Minimum length 4.877m (16 feet)
……Maximum beam 2.134m (7 feet)
Services
Water:
Regrettably, mains water is not available on the BBCC site, however there
are CRT water points not far away:
- Going north towards Birmingham at Bottom of Knowle locks (cruising time from club 20 minutes) on towpath side
- Going south towards Kingswood Junction at Rising Lane (cruising time from club 35 minutes) on towpath side.
If this is out of use, the next one south is at Lapworth Junction on the Stratford on Avon canal just above lock 22 (cruising time from club 1 hour)
Refuse:
Regrettably, the club does not have a refuse facility. Please do not use the
skips belonging to the Black Boy public house.
Chemical toilet (Elsan) emptying:
- Top of Knowle locks (accessible 10 minutes by road or about
an hour by boat!)
- Lapworth Junction, above lock 22 on southern Stratford
Canal (cruising time from club about 1 hour).
DIY Pump-out:
Lapworth Junction, above lock 22 on southern Stratford
Canal (cruising time from club about 1 hour)
For up to date location of boating facilites, such as water points and refuse disposal, consult the
CRT map for the Grand Union Canal.
Boat yard facilites:
Refer to the
CRT directory for nearest facilites including
diesel and gas supplies.
Diesel is also available locally from Gamble’s, Lane End
Garage, Meer End, near Kenilworth (Junction A452/A4177).
Turning round:
The club has a winding-hole adjacent to it on the off-side at the
Knowle (north) end of the moorings. The maximum length of boat that
can be winded here is about 62feet. Larger boats will need to wind
at the bottom of Knowle Locks. Going north, above Knowle Locks the
next winding hole is on the sharp bend south of
Catherine-de-Barnes. After that there is no winding hole until the top of
Camp Hill Locks in Birmingham.
South of the club boats can wind at Kingswood Junction
(approximate cruising time from club 50 minutes) where the arm
linking the Grand Union to the Stratford Canal joins, but beware
the shallows just opposite the arm! After Kingswood, boats
journeying south on the Grand Union can next wind north of bridge
55 about ¼ mile above Hatton Top Lock (approximate cruising
time from club 2¼ hours).
Access to the club site:
Access is over bridge 69, reached from the drive leading to the Black Boy pub
off the A4141 between Knowle and Warwick.
It is approximately 3 miles south of Knowle.
Post code for Sat-Nat usage is
B93 0EB.
Public transport:
The nearest railway station is at Dorridge, this on the line between Birmingham
Snow Hill and Leamington Spa. It is served by
West Midlands Railway trains from
Birmingham Snow Hill (and a few from Stratford upon Avon) and by
Chiltern Railways trains running between
London Marylebone and Birmingham.
Arriva Cross Country trains
serve Leamington Spa.
Berkswell on the Coventry to Birmingham New Street line is served by
West Midlands Railway trains.
From Dorridge station there is a bus service
on route 188 Solihull Town Centre to Coventry Transport Musuem via Balsall Common. This passes near to Berkswell Station.
This bus route passes the Black Boy pub, but the bus stop is located at the junction of Watery Lane, the timetable shows this as Temple Balsall.
The bus stop SMS code is nwmtagja. It is between Knowle Green and Chadwick End.
Buses run approximately every hour during the mornings and afternoons of
Monday to Saturday. Note there is no evening or Sunday service.
See the
Transport for West Midlands
bus information web site for
latest timetable or
contact the operator
Stagecoach Midlands, phone 0345 241 8000.
Walking time from Dorridge station to the BBCC site is around 35 minutes.
Car parking:
Car parking is available at the club at owner’s risk and is
relatively secure. Members are advised that the Black Boy pub
operates a sophisticated security system between the hours of about
11pm and 7am whereby the driveway to the pub (and to the
BBCC site) is secured by means of rising bollards (affectionately
known by club members as ‘bullbars’). They are designed
to prevent un-authorised entry to the pub and theft of vehicles
parked on the pub car park, during the wee small hours. A procedure
is in place within the club for the bollards to be lowered in the
event of a REAL emergency. West Midlands Police Manpads Neighbourhood Policing Team have a 24-hour contact phone number 0121 712 6151.
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Early spring morning at the BBCC. [April 2001]
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Other essential services
Pubs!
The club is ideally situated between two fine hostelries
Johnny Rigby's Black Boy to give it its official
title, (generally known as the ’The Black Boy‘) and
The King’s Arms
(once known as
”The Heron’s Nest“,
”Bridgewater Hotel“,
”The Cat in the Window“,
”Blue Boar“.)
Both serve food all day,
have canalside gardens
and offer a wide choice of liquid refreshment.
Going south towards Kingswood Junction you will come across
The Navigation
at Lapworth (approximate cruising time from club 45 minutes).
Locally known as the ’Navi‘, this is on the off-side, there are limited
moorings available for patrons alongside the garden. If full, there is plenty of room on the towpath side.
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Passing the moorings by the Navigation at Kingswood. From the BBCC site this is an ideal short cruise for a winter's day, as here, or on a summers evening.
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Approximately 15 minutes more cruising south on the Grand Union is the
Tom o' the Wood, named after a now demolished windmill which stood locally.
The best moorings for this pub are north of bridge 63 on the tow-path side.
Originally the pub name was ‘Ye Olde New Inn’.
Interesting the
Hatton Arms
at Hatton was once the
”New Inn“ (and more recently the ”Waterman“).
The pubs page on the
Solihull branch of CAMRA's site has more details of the
pubs in Knowle, alongside the Grand Union Canal from Catherine de Barnes
to Lapworth and alongside the Stratford on Avon canal
between Earlswood and Preston Bagot.
The
Heart of Warwickshire branch of CAMRA's site lists pubs further south.
This includes the
Cape of Good Hope at Warwick,
an ideal stopping point one day's cruising south of the BBCC and the
Hatton Arms
at Hatton, an excellent stop at the top of Hatton locks.
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