Firefighters feel the heat as lock runs dry
A team of fundraising firemen were left high and dry on a sponsored canoe trip through the Black Country.
The group of six firefighters joined forces to paddle the route from Kings Norton to Walsall for The Fire Fighters Charity.
But they ended up having to carry their boats for half a mile after hitting a drained section of the canal in Great Bridge.
However, that didn’t stop the determined firefighters who still raked in £1,200 through their fundraising campaign, which sparked the Twitter hashtag #smethwicksplash. And the donations are still coming in for the group from fire stations including Smethwick and Perry Barr.
Crew commander Lee Richardson said: “We hadn’t even considered it, but it gave us a bit of a rest from rowing.”
“I really enjoyed it as a bit of a team building exercise, we’re quite a close Watch anyway.
“We have got a guy from Sheffield, a guy from Worcester, so for us to get any time together outside of work, it’s quite a bit of a effort, it’s just nice to see everybody together working.
“None of us are really canoeists, it’s just something we spoke about over a coffee before work one day.
“We found that first day quite easy, but our muscles began aching the second day but it was all fairly plain sailing.
“This is all thanks to Alex, he did all the work to get the canoes, he contacted the companies about potential donations.”
Firefighters Alex Wilson, Edward Smith, Chris Mason, Samuel Miller-Hodges, Richard Morgan and Green Watch Smethwick crew commander Mr Richardson tackled the route, which saw the team canoeing from Kings Norton to Smethwick and then Smethwick to Walsall on day two – 24 miles in total in three canoes over two days. The crew had to negotiate eight locks that had been drained of water, around a half-mile stretch near Great Bridge which had been dried out, forcing the six men to have to carry their canoes longer than expected.
It is suspected that maintenance work was taking place and the cause for the lack of water.
The Fire Fighters Charity offers invaluable support to firefighters and their families nationwide, whether it be in mental health, rehabilitation, nursing and advice and support.
