"It will not turn there mate!"

Published: Wednesday, 28 June 2017

THAT was the advice of a passer-by to the steerer of a trip boat attempting to turn in a space shorter than his boat.

A boat full of tourists on a trip out were left marooned on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal near the Mailbox in Birmingham when the narrowboat became jammed  after attempting to turn, Alan Tilbury reports.

Stuck SherbourneSleeping bag

An embarrassed representative from Heritage Narrow Boats told that it was not the steerer's fault but was caused by a sleeping bag caught in the boat's stern gear, and that this was a regular problem owing to the amount of litter in the canal that is no longer cleaned out.

However, the boat is equipped with a weed hatch, that as all boaters know is used for the purpose of clearing whatever in wrapped around the stern gear, but the representative stated that someone would possibly have to enter the water to free it, explaining why the boat was stuck for so long, stopping other boats from progressing.