The first “trip” of the 2006 season was a little unusual as it didn’t involve President at all.

On Friday 24th March, Dave Speer, Babs Parkin and I stayed overnight at the newly refurbished Brooke St flat after an evening in a rather strange pub in the locality which insisted on taking your pudding order with your hors d’ouevre !! Equally strange was that a Ghost Hunting night was going on at the Bottle and Glass as we returned to the museum, but we felt a bit too solid to qualify !

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, which was a novelty after all the rain in the week and breakfast was soon disposed of (thanks Babs !!). Meanwhile Dave Stott was doing a car shuffle with Nick Haynes at Dadfords Shed where Ian Kemp’s boatyard is.

By 08.30 the crew were starting to assemble, with Brian Empsall and Tony Tibbins making an appearance, as well as the aforesaid David and Nick. Bab’s very active Alsatian Tarn was on heat and correspondingly very flirty so Babs decided to stay on the bank and meet us at certain points along the way.

The crew of tug Bittell hailed us from the over bridge and the lift bridge was manhandled with even more resistance than usual, biting Dave Speer in the process. Bittell reversed in under the lift bridge, 10ft line hooked on and Kildare moved slowly out onto the Arm, picking up crew as she went.

Leaving at about 08.45, we made good progress down Factory three and passed Caggy’s yard with greetings passed to Ralph and his staff there. As Netherton tunnel hove into view, Brian jumped ship to head off to Bristol in the afternoon, leaving five on board. From Windmill End an hour or so brought us to Parkhead, where a group of lads were having the workings of the lock explained; we provided the practical demonstration !!

A good run through the manic shopping experience that is Merry Hill on a Saturday, brought us to the top of Delph locks where we had expected Bittell to turn back. But being true gentlemen, they insisted that they come down with us and take us on to the top of the Stourbridge Sixteen. Lunch was taken at the bottom of Delph being an excellent soup with lumps plus crusty bread,( again courtesy of Babs ) which set us up for the rest of the day.

A swift run to the top of the Sixteen and then Bittell did a one point turn and departed back for the BCLM with our thanks. Thankfully the Sixteen are fairly compact so not too much bow hauling, particularly as it started a light drizzle around here.

By 15.45 we were down the locks and breasted up alongside the other working boats in Ian’s very busy yard. A quick chat with Ian, who had been ill the previous week, confirmed that he was running behind schedule, but he hoped to get us on the bank in about two weeks time.

Return to the BCLM via Nick’s MPV was swiftly accomplished and most of the crew departed for home. Babs, Dave Speer and I had a very good evening in the Pie Factory in Tipton with good beer and a quite good Irish singer making our way to bed in Brooke St, a little worse for wear.

Sunday was a President work day and we set about removing the front of the firebox and taking out the firebars. Babs being our proverbial mucky duck, was then soon inside the firebox tube, removing the refractory brick wall, which had been damaged by some very strange coal last season.

A quick tug on the fusible plug confirmed that it was b. tight !! so next time down I will bring the LARGE socket set which we can hang a scaffold pole on if we need to. Hopefully it will be less of a problem than last year when we had to freeze the plug to be able to loosen it !

Clearing out some muck in the smokebox lower lobes led us to find a hole in the plate at the low point. Clearly condensation had run down and the shroud has rotted through. As it is near the tube plate itself we will now remove the whole smokebox shroud to check the corrosion has not spread. Another unexpected job !!

Finally, at least while I was there, we removed the exhaust pipe from the diverter valve to the funnel and confirmed that it seems the gas flow is impeded by a narrow section of pipe which we believe causes the “bark” at higher revs. I brought the pipe home to see if it can be re-engineered such that larger diameter pipe can be used, at least for the section where it turns up the funnel and provides the draw on the fire.

As I was leaving Dave and Babs were threatening to start taking the bolts out of the smokebox shroud ready for lifting it out at a future date. It is a heavy and awkward structure so we may need the museum dock crane to swing it out of the engine side door

Working Parties will be a regular feature for the few months, so if you can help please watch out on the Web or the Yahoo Group for notification.

Bob Crompton