Atlas returns with strong link to past

Narrowboat Atlas is making the journey from Ellesmere Port to its home at Hawne Basin, Halesowen.

But the boat will make a special delivery to Titford engine house in Oldbury along the way – the original pump which used to power it.

The boat, a diesel-powered vessel built in 1935, is expected to arrive in Oldbury this week, although predicting an exact arrival date for a canal boat is notoriously difficult.

"One closed lock can put you back by days," said Jenny Maxwell, publicity officer for Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a charity set up to preserve and protect the waterways in Birmingham and the Black Country. "But equally, three more eager volunteers could jump on board and power along in half the time – that is the nature of narrowboats."

Atlas, alongside a butty boat called Malus, has been moored at the Coombeswood Canal Trust's base in Hawne Basin, Halesowen, since November. They are currently on loan from British Waterways at a peppercorn rent in the region of £1 per annum as part of British Waterways' Heritage Working Boats Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"British Waterways has had to reduce its collection in recent years, which is quite sad," said Jenny.

"But this is the best possible home the boats could go to, so it is not all bad news."

Atlas, originally built by London boat builders Harland and Wolff as part of the Grand Union Canal Carrying Boat Company's order of a new fleet, has undergone extensive repairs since her arrival at Hawne Basin. And she is in good enough working order to have made the journey to Ellesmere Port in Cheshire to collect the pump and bring it home.

"There is a big narrowboat museum in Ellesmere Port which has been a good home to the pump since it came out of use," said Jenny. "But they are now looking to take some new exhibits and needed to create some space, so it was an ideal time to get the pump back. The BCN is actually based out of the engine house, so we agreed to have it back where it once belonged."

There is no hope of restoring the pump to working order, so BCN volunteers hope to display it in the Titford engine house.

Atlas and Malus will be on display as part of the Coombeswood Canal Trust open weekend on May 16 and 17.