News
This page is no longer maintained with new content. Please go to the Events Diary page for photos and reports on recent events
Visit to Fisherwick Farm for a Tractor Ride
Tea Party 17 January 2015
Huddlesford Heritage Gathering
A joint weekend event with Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust
On 21 / 22 September 2013, the Huddlesford Junction site was thrown open to the public for a major festival to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the formation of the L&HCRT trust.
A selection of Doug Swain's pictures from the weekend.
A selection of Bob Smythe's photographs of the heritage boats taken over the weekend event.
Trip around neighbouring Sheepwash Farm and Fisherwick Fisheries - with free strawberries & cream
After helping out a neighbouring farmer with his irrigation, the Club had the offer of a tour of his 3,000 acres plus as much strawberries and cream as we could eat. Our Commodore fixed it up for Friday evening, 26th July.
We were picked up from our gate, entertained, educated and fed, with the help of several million potatoes, acres of wheat, a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, poly-tunnels full of strawberries, fields of asparagus, rotating solar cells, a fishery and too many other features to remember.
Celebration of Bryan and Janet Ralph's 50 years at Lichfield Cruising Club
Bryan and Janet's membership actually pre-dates the current name of the Club, but they have had a boat at this site since 1963.
Over the weekend of 13 / 14 July 2013, at the height of the much awaited heat wave, a string of events was planned. Guests from other local boat clubs, Towpath Talk and RNLI were invited to join in and many camped on site for the duration.
On Saturday, a midday barbecue was organised with Sangria and a special real ale available extra to the normal bar. A 25 strong ukelele band (Go Ukulele Crazy) provided entertainment with lots of audience participation, followed by a full barbecue meal, a performance in two sessions by Chase Mist, a five piece band, followed by a fireworks display. On Sunday, members and guests enjoyed a full English breakfast, and the usual opening of the bar.
Manchester Ship Canal trip - 13 April 2013
Summer Barbecue
The Club is not just about providing moorings. We pride ourselves upon organising many social events during the year which bring together the members, their guests, and visitors from other local boating clubs, to enjoy the facilities that the Club offers. On 7th July 202 when there was a brief hold in the otherwise continuous rain, members, friends, family and visitors from Tamworth Cruising Club and Ash Tree Boating Club all got together and had a thoroughly enjoyable barbecue, as you can see :
President and Kildare cruise past Lichfield Cruising Club
On their way to the Thames for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant, 'President' , the world's only steam powered narrowboat still cruising, and the butty, 'Kildare', cruise past the clubhouse at 15.45 on 22nd April 2012. A keen group of members brave the rain to cheer and wave.
Work Party Weekend - Spring 2012
Spring Weather favours another successful Work Party weekend
Chairman, Allan Pennicott (centre), and Maintenance Directors, Doug Swain (right) and Roger Hartley (left) celebrate a very successful, sunny weekend, when as many members as could make it got together to improve the Club's facilities, by splashing out on extra nuts and bolts.
Huddlesford Gathering 2011
The Huddlesford Gathering 2011 took place on Saturday, 17th September, organised by the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust in conjunction with Lichfield Cruising Club. Flyer found here.
For more photos, see www.minorshill.co.uk/huddlesford 2011/index.html
Sunbathing Fish
Sunday 26 June 2011 was a good day for the residents of the mooring to get in a bit of sunbathing.
Does anybody know why they swim near the surface when the sun is shining ? What sort of fish are they ?
If you can throw any light, e-mail : theknot@lichfieldcruisingclub.co.uk
Workparty 26/27 March 2011
Saturday saw a record 82 members / volunteers mucking in to knock the Club surroundings into shape.
Winners of the November Skittles match
The winning team of Tarzan & Jane
alias Dave Preston and Lynda Gilbert.
Dr Samuel Johnson Walk
The recent Dr Samuel Johnson 300th birthday celebrations included the 165-mile walk from Lichfield to London by Professor Peter Martin and Dr Nicholas Cambridge, dressed as Samuel Johnson and actor David Garrick, commemorating the journey that the pair made 272 years earlier. This involved a 10-day trek along the towpath to London, meeting up with civic leaders en route, before they were welcomed by the Lord Mayor of London at the capital's Guildhall.
The walk included walking the length of the Club moorings, arranged in conjunction with the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust, before joining the Coventry Canal towpath at Huddlesford Junction.
(Posted 20/3/09)
Save Our Waterways Meeting
Lichfield Cruising Club will be the venue for the next SOW meeting, to be held on Saturday, 11th October. Doors will open at 10.30 for an 11.00 start. There will be a break for lunch around 1.00pm, with the afternoon session commencing about 2.00pm.
John Edmonds, Chair of the Inland Waterways Advisory Council, will set the tone for the meeting with a talk about the role of the IWAC, and how the 1999 paper, "Waterways for Tomorrow", has taken a central role in current and future government policy. There will also be oportunity to discuss current and future campaign strategy. Non-members are welcome.
(Posted 26/9/08)
Stoppage now ended
The BW stoppage outside the Club has now ended. The work to the culvert was completed ahead of schedule, despite the start of the stoppage being delayed several times.
Initially the contractors had planned to start the stoppage on November 5th, but this conflicted with the date of November 12th published by BW in their stoppage list. The published date had to be honoured, and by the time the error was spotted, the contractor was unable to re-schedule the intallation of the temporary dams until the 16th. When the dam installation team started, however, they discovered that the planned location for the dams was too deep. The alternative dam locations chosen necessitated the moving of more of the boats off the main line moorings, which meant that the dams were not finally installed until November 20th. The photo here was taken during the first abortive attempt to install the dams in our oh-so-deep canal.
Despite these early difficulties, the contractors, Morrison Construction, have completed the bulk of the work to get the canal open again ahead of schedule, whilst at the same time causing minimum disruption to Club members. Well Done!
Those Club members who moor on the main line can now sleep easier at night in the knowledge that their boats are not likely to disappear "down the plughole", which undoubtedly would have been the case had the culvert failed!
(Posted 19/12/07)
BW Stoppage affects Lichfield Cruising Club
Members of Lichfield Cruising Club have had their cruising seriously curtailed since the middle of November as British Waterways carries out vital repairs on the Coventry Canal. A hundred metre long stretch of the canal outside the LCC Clubhouse has been dewatered while a culvert - an under-canal tunnel - which safely routes a brook, is repaired. As well as preventing members from cruising up towards Tamworth, the work has meant six members' boats have had to be temporarily moved from the main-line and breasted up in the Huddlesford Arm.
The project is expected to take a month and it is hoped the canal will be open again in time for Christmas. Meanwhile some of those members who moored in the spot have been seen desperately trying to find a variety of objects previously lost in the canal. One member wanted to recover a hard rubber dog toy and a chinaman's hat, without any success.
The work is being carried out by Morrisons' Construction on behalf of BW, and they have installed a works compound on the Club field and large pumps to carry water from the brook while the work goes on. It had originally been planned to dewater only a short stretch but as the dams were being constructed it became clear the canal was much deeper than expected and they had to be re-positioned.
(Posted 6/12/07)
LCC Website goes live!
The Lichfield Cruising Club website is now live. Some areas are still unfinished, and these will be enhanced over the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have any constructive comments, or are experiencing any difficulties, please e-mail the webmaster (see Contact Details page).