By James Vukmirovic

Copyright expressandstar

The Black Country Boating Festival saw the fields around Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve in Netherton turned into a full-on festival site, with a stage, beer tent and food vendors set up, as well as various stalls selling arts and crafts.

There was also a fun fair run by the Harry Jones Company and the opportunity for people to get onto boats and take a ride up the Dudley No.2 Canal, while volunteers from organisations such as the Canal & River Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust chatted with people as they visited the stalls.

The festival, which started on Friday (September 12) and ran over the weekend, was also an opportunity for canal boat owners from across the region to showcase their boats, with many covered in decorations and set up with ornaments and goods such as chutney, cheese and apple juice for sale.

Organiser Pete Brant said it was an event which always drew a large crowd, saying that around 12,000 to 15,000 people were expected to attend over the weekend, and spoke about what it was that made the festival so special.

He said: “We have the real ale bar, which helps to finance the event, as well as the fun fair, run by Harry Jones, and about 120 charity stalls along with the stage and the live entertainment.

“We’ve got a talent show on the Sunday where local people who’ve never been on the stage before can get up and perform and the weekend is all about celebrating the heritage of the boating community in Dudley.

“The heritage of the canal is as important as ever, being the area where the ironworks that made the Titanic’s anchor was built, and it’s such a nice, green and well-maintained area that is well maintained by the conservation people.”

Big events on the weekend included the talent competition and a unique dog show, with owners competing for prizes such as prettiest dog, best rescue and waggiest tail.

For those who use the canals around Bumble Hole, the festival was a great chance to come together, meet other people and show off their boats, with Julie Tonkin having come down from her home in Netherton to sell her canal art.

She said: “I’m a canal artist and I move around the canals doing art and selling it, so I’m here to the sell to the public and I’m very local, so people come every year to find me.

“I only live down the road and when I come here, I see all my friends and school friends and I know a lot of people, so have a lot of regular customers who come to visit when the festival is on.

“The Black Country is great for canals and we have more than Venice, so it’s really nice and the boating community is really nice as we’re so close and one big family and it’s a nice festival to be part of.”