28th & 29th February
I forgot to mention a milestone last time. At about the same time as I started this blog, I started using to Sitemeter to count the number of hits my main site had, and a little later I added the feature to the blog. During the weekend, the count passed 10,000 hits – small beer by the standards of the mega blogs, but very gratifying to me.
Incidentally, as it says at the bottom of this page, I don't use Sitemeter to identify individuals, only their approximate location and stuff like which way they arrived at the site, such as from a Google search or by clicking through from another blog.
Yesterday we made another prompt start, and had a glorious day's boating, especially after we'd got clear of the light industry around Woodbourne. Next stop was Swindon (no, not the one in Wiltshire), where we got bread and a paper before going on to Stewponey for lunch.
That is not to suggest the nature of the lunch – the name comes from an old hotel, now gone, which in turn was approximately named for Estepona, a place which featured in the Peninsular War.
After lunch we went on to Kinver, finding a mooring below the lock. Odd thing – Kinver is a really nice place to stop for a few days – there are walks you can do, and the village itself is really interesting, but all the visitor moorings are 24 hours only.
Despite being well exercised after working 12 locks, Sheila then cut up a bit of firewood before we settled down for a quiet afternoon and evening.
This morning we took the cratch cover into Wilsons at nine, and were told to go away and they'd ring us when it was ready. We went into the village to get supplies – there is a good, genuine family butchers, where we got some prewar sausages as well as a chicken. Apparently, sausages used to be bound with bread crumbs, but in the wartime shortages, butchers went over to using wheat rusk, and have never gone back.
We also called at the bakers for a nice loaf of bread, and were just finishing off in the Co-op when the phone rang. It was Wilsons to say that the cover was ready. We called in to pick it up on the way back to the boat – they've done an excellent job of the repair, and, what's more, didn't charge us. Because the cover is less than five years old, it's covered by the warranty. All praise to Wilsons, not the cheapest on the market, but great after sales service.
We got back to the boat with most of the day ahead of us, so decided we might as well set off back. Sheila steered down to the winding hole, and then back to the lock, whilst I made mugs of coffee.
After locking up, we tied at the service block and did another pump out, getting rid of the sludge from the bottom of the tank that I had loosened when working on the Tankwatch sender the other day.
We got to Stewponey just as the rain started, and we've tied by Stourton Junction for the night. After lunch I did a full engine service, and I've just uploaded the website to its new home at www.nbsanity.me.uk.
Friday, 29 February 2008
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Good boating but bad Vispa
26th & 27th February
Main theme for the last two days has been the continuing non-performance of my ISP and web host, Vispa. Having gone down early Sunday morning, an old version of the website finally came back at lunchtime today, and the email has only just (4.45) made it back.
Vispa have offered a lot of excuses about data corruption and cross contamination of the back up disks, but surely that's what we pay professionals to avoid? Anyway, like a lot of their clients, I suspect, it's finally prompted me to look elsewhere. Moving the registration of nbsanity.net was going to be a hassle, as it's a US domain, so I've registered a new one, nbsanity.me.uk, with my new web host provider, Dataflame.
It's going to be a lot cheaper, and unlike Vispa, they provide 24/7 support. I didn't just pick them out of the blue – they were recommended by my good friend Will Chapman.
For the time being, the nbsanity.net site and email will continue to work – there will be a substantial overlap period, and I'll announce the switch over both here and in my email signatures. Please don't adjust your sets yet! However, if anyone has emailed any of us at the nbsanity.net address in the last four days, it will have been lost, so please send it again.
The backup email address that some people use which ends @mac.com has not been affected.
Meanwhile, we've also been doing some serious boating. On a bright and breezy morning yesterday, we filled up with diesel at Wheaton Aston at 57.9 ppl, and also topped up the water tank. Then we boated off up the newly refurbished lock to Brewood, getting there in time for lunch. On the way we were startled to see a pair of mating frogs in the water just by the lock. I wouldn't have thought a canal a good place for frog spawn, but there you go.
BW had been doing some forestry on the bank of the cutting above the moorings at Brewood, and left the wood for all to take, so we loaded up the roof with some useful sized bits of branch, leaving the sections of trunk for those with chain saws to deal with.
Today we made a prompt start, heating on at seven and away just after eight. Before ten we were through Autherley Junction and on our way down the Staffs and Worcs. We got to Compton by 11, checked out Lime Kiln chandlery but didn't buy anything, and got some stores at the Spar in the village.
Moving on a bit to below Wightwick Lock, we stopped again for lunch, then boated on to the Bratch. It was still a fine day, so we've come down the flight and moored on the towpath below for the night.
It's more built up down here than we remembered, but all the walking traffic seems to be dog and push chair exercising, so hopefully we won't be disturbed in the night. Tomorrow we'll do another decent day to Kinver, ready to get the cratch cover repaired on Friday.
Main theme for the last two days has been the continuing non-performance of my ISP and web host, Vispa. Having gone down early Sunday morning, an old version of the website finally came back at lunchtime today, and the email has only just (4.45) made it back.
Vispa have offered a lot of excuses about data corruption and cross contamination of the back up disks, but surely that's what we pay professionals to avoid? Anyway, like a lot of their clients, I suspect, it's finally prompted me to look elsewhere. Moving the registration of nbsanity.net was going to be a hassle, as it's a US domain, so I've registered a new one, nbsanity.me.uk, with my new web host provider, Dataflame.
It's going to be a lot cheaper, and unlike Vispa, they provide 24/7 support. I didn't just pick them out of the blue – they were recommended by my good friend Will Chapman.
For the time being, the nbsanity.net site and email will continue to work – there will be a substantial overlap period, and I'll announce the switch over both here and in my email signatures. Please don't adjust your sets yet! However, if anyone has emailed any of us at the nbsanity.net address in the last four days, it will have been lost, so please send it again.
The backup email address that some people use which ends @mac.com has not been affected.
Meanwhile, we've also been doing some serious boating. On a bright and breezy morning yesterday, we filled up with diesel at Wheaton Aston at 57.9 ppl, and also topped up the water tank. Then we boated off up the newly refurbished lock to Brewood, getting there in time for lunch. On the way we were startled to see a pair of mating frogs in the water just by the lock. I wouldn't have thought a canal a good place for frog spawn, but there you go.
BW had been doing some forestry on the bank of the cutting above the moorings at Brewood, and left the wood for all to take, so we loaded up the roof with some useful sized bits of branch, leaving the sections of trunk for those with chain saws to deal with.
Today we made a prompt start, heating on at seven and away just after eight. Before ten we were through Autherley Junction and on our way down the Staffs and Worcs. We got to Compton by 11, checked out Lime Kiln chandlery but didn't buy anything, and got some stores at the Spar in the village.
Moving on a bit to below Wightwick Lock, we stopped again for lunch, then boated on to the Bratch. It was still a fine day, so we've come down the flight and moored on the towpath below for the night.
It's more built up down here than we remembered, but all the walking traffic seems to be dog and push chair exercising, so hopefully we won't be disturbed in the night. Tomorrow we'll do another decent day to Kinver, ready to get the cratch cover repaired on Friday.
Labels:
Brewood,
The Bratch,
Wheaton Aston
Monday, 25 February 2008
Some days, all your plans gang agley
24th & 25th February
Sunday was a day of two halves, with a relaxed start and a dramatic afternoon. We'd planned on the relaxed bit for the whole day – Elanor had stayed overnight, we'd had a good night the night before, and so we lay in a bit in the morning.
Things started to unravel around 11 o'clock, when the toilet tank suddenly announced it was full. The Tankwatch gauge has four lights – green for empty, yellow: starting to fill, amber: half full and red: it's running out into the cut. The amber light hadn't come on but the red one did – clearly the sensor for the amber had stuck, always a bit of a problem with toilet tank gauges.
Fortunately Elanor was pretty well ready to leave, so we saw her off, and shot into the village to get fresh supplies, with the aim of an early lunch and an afternoon trip to Wheaton Aston, rather than leaving that until today.
This plan started well, and we were underway by 12.30. As we approached Cookley Tunnel, which is the exit from Gnosall, we saw some activity by the cliff face on the offside that precedes the tunnel mouth. Some kids were climbing around on it and shouting, and a woman was standing on the towpath shouting back.
It turned out that an 11 year old lad had fallen or jumped off the top of the 15 foot high cliff, and was now lying in a heap at the bottom, moaning. Sheila was steering, and put Sanity's bow onto the offside so that I could get off and see if he was hurt.
Even the most cursory exam showed that although he was conscious and breathing easily, his legs were injured, so I called across to the woman on the towpath to dial 999. Then it was a matter of keeping him covered with a blanket off the boat until the first paramedic got there about 15 minutes later.
Access for the emergency team was at the bridge back at the moorings, along the towpath and then across Sanity, using her as a pontoon bridge. After half an hour or so we had a good collection of ambulance crew, paramedics and police, and a helicopter had been summoned.
When the casualty had been duly stabilized on a spinal board with neck collar and all, they loaded him onto Sanity's bow and we pushed across to the other side so that he could be carried to the chopper to be taken off to N Staffs Infirmary, the nearest major trauma unit. It seemed possible that he'd managed to break both femurs and perhaps a knee cap.
It just shows how much damage you can do falling off a comparatively small height.
It was gone 2 o'clock before we were on our way again, and we got to Wheaton Aston at around four. Here we discovered, as we'd hoped, that the facility is suitable for self pump out, and we took about an hour pumping, rocking and not ooching* but flushing with a good high pressure spray.
Despite all this the green light didn't come on, but we'd clearly got as much out as we were likely to. I reversed Sanity back through the bridge to a visitor mooring handy for the landing for the garage on the road above, which has always sold some of the cheapest red diesel on the system – 57.5 p per litre at the moment.
Today we decided to stay put and sort ourselves out after yesterday's excitement. We've invited my nephew Michael over from Germany to stay a few days with us in May, paying for his air fare as an 18th birthday present, and I wanted to use the Moneygram facility at the Post Office to send him the cash.
This proved to be easy to arrange, so back at the boat I emailed him the magic number and the URL of Moneygram's website so he could find a bank at which to claim his dosh.
Then we swept and washed the floor before lunch, so as to be able to stand the mattress on it without getting it muddy. After lunch we took all the soft furnishings off the bed, and Sheila retreated to the saloon whilst I removed enough of the bed base slats to access the top of the sender for the Tankwatch gauge.
Removing it demonstrated that a mixture of sludge and toilet scale was stopping the sensors from moving easily, thus explaining the erratic performance of the gauge. After cleaning it up (what a world of horror can be contained in a few short words), I reassembled it and satisfied myself that things are now working properly again.
After washing ny hands several times, and putting the bed back together, we planned to have an early cup of tea. Checking email produced one from Michael – there are no Moneygram agents in either Osnabruck, his local town, or Munster, where the airport is.
Back the PO I went, where the guy assured me that he'd never come across that phenomenon before. Anyway, because it was the same working day, I got all the cash back, including the (not small) fee. I'll just have to send him the money via my bank, which is more longwinded, but they can send him a check direct to his house.
Meanwhile, my main email address is out of action today – major server failure at Vispa, my ISP. Vispa is cheap, but we do have difficulties like this from time to time.
The good news is that the stoppage at Wheaton Aston lock has come off early, so tomorrow we can head off to Brewood, and subsequently down the Staffs and Worcs to Kinver where Wilson's will restitch a zip in the cratch cover.
*yacht racing joke for Peter Mason.
Sunday was a day of two halves, with a relaxed start and a dramatic afternoon. We'd planned on the relaxed bit for the whole day – Elanor had stayed overnight, we'd had a good night the night before, and so we lay in a bit in the morning.
Things started to unravel around 11 o'clock, when the toilet tank suddenly announced it was full. The Tankwatch gauge has four lights – green for empty, yellow: starting to fill, amber: half full and red: it's running out into the cut. The amber light hadn't come on but the red one did – clearly the sensor for the amber had stuck, always a bit of a problem with toilet tank gauges.
Fortunately Elanor was pretty well ready to leave, so we saw her off, and shot into the village to get fresh supplies, with the aim of an early lunch and an afternoon trip to Wheaton Aston, rather than leaving that until today.
This plan started well, and we were underway by 12.30. As we approached Cookley Tunnel, which is the exit from Gnosall, we saw some activity by the cliff face on the offside that precedes the tunnel mouth. Some kids were climbing around on it and shouting, and a woman was standing on the towpath shouting back.
It turned out that an 11 year old lad had fallen or jumped off the top of the 15 foot high cliff, and was now lying in a heap at the bottom, moaning. Sheila was steering, and put Sanity's bow onto the offside so that I could get off and see if he was hurt.
Even the most cursory exam showed that although he was conscious and breathing easily, his legs were injured, so I called across to the woman on the towpath to dial 999. Then it was a matter of keeping him covered with a blanket off the boat until the first paramedic got there about 15 minutes later.
Access for the emergency team was at the bridge back at the moorings, along the towpath and then across Sanity, using her as a pontoon bridge. After half an hour or so we had a good collection of ambulance crew, paramedics and police, and a helicopter had been summoned.
When the casualty had been duly stabilized on a spinal board with neck collar and all, they loaded him onto Sanity's bow and we pushed across to the other side so that he could be carried to the chopper to be taken off to N Staffs Infirmary, the nearest major trauma unit. It seemed possible that he'd managed to break both femurs and perhaps a knee cap.
It just shows how much damage you can do falling off a comparatively small height.
It was gone 2 o'clock before we were on our way again, and we got to Wheaton Aston at around four. Here we discovered, as we'd hoped, that the facility is suitable for self pump out, and we took about an hour pumping, rocking and not ooching* but flushing with a good high pressure spray.
Despite all this the green light didn't come on, but we'd clearly got as much out as we were likely to. I reversed Sanity back through the bridge to a visitor mooring handy for the landing for the garage on the road above, which has always sold some of the cheapest red diesel on the system – 57.5 p per litre at the moment.
Today we decided to stay put and sort ourselves out after yesterday's excitement. We've invited my nephew Michael over from Germany to stay a few days with us in May, paying for his air fare as an 18th birthday present, and I wanted to use the Moneygram facility at the Post Office to send him the cash.
This proved to be easy to arrange, so back at the boat I emailed him the magic number and the URL of Moneygram's website so he could find a bank at which to claim his dosh.
Then we swept and washed the floor before lunch, so as to be able to stand the mattress on it without getting it muddy. After lunch we took all the soft furnishings off the bed, and Sheila retreated to the saloon whilst I removed enough of the bed base slats to access the top of the sender for the Tankwatch gauge.
Removing it demonstrated that a mixture of sludge and toilet scale was stopping the sensors from moving easily, thus explaining the erratic performance of the gauge. After cleaning it up (what a world of horror can be contained in a few short words), I reassembled it and satisfied myself that things are now working properly again.
After washing ny hands several times, and putting the bed back together, we planned to have an early cup of tea. Checking email produced one from Michael – there are no Moneygram agents in either Osnabruck, his local town, or Munster, where the airport is.
Back the PO I went, where the guy assured me that he'd never come across that phenomenon before. Anyway, because it was the same working day, I got all the cash back, including the (not small) fee. I'll just have to send him the money via my bank, which is more longwinded, but they can send him a check direct to his house.
Meanwhile, my main email address is out of action today – major server failure at Vispa, my ISP. Vispa is cheap, but we do have difficulties like this from time to time.
The good news is that the stoppage at Wheaton Aston lock has come off early, so tomorrow we can head off to Brewood, and subsequently down the Staffs and Worcs to Kinver where Wilson's will restitch a zip in the cratch cover.
*yacht racing joke for Peter Mason.
Labels:
Gnosall,
Wheaton Aston
Saturday, 23 February 2008
Walking in circles can be fun
22nd & 23rd February
Friday morning arrived with a phenomenal amount of wind, causing us to rethink our plan to move to Gnosall – the Shelmore embankment is no place to be in a strong cross wind. The visitor moorings were still half empty, so we didn't feel too guilty about staying an extra day.
In order to avoid a totally lazy day, we explored a circular walk after lunch, starting just across the road from the boatyard. We walked across some fields to a very minor road, eventually turning off onto a bridle way which brought us round to the road which crosses the canal via the High Bridge over Grub Street cutting. Then it was a case of walking back along the towpath to the junction. It took us about an hour all told, just right for a postprandial stroll.
Apart from that it was a pretty quiet day, really, except for the noise of the wind. The major intellectual exercise was composing a rejoinder to Adrian Stott's piece in the latest Waterways World, wherein he argues for continuous cruisers being charged an additional £1500 per annum, to make up for the extra use they make of water points and the like. We've submitted it to WW as a letter to the editor – if they don't use it, I'll post it here in due course.
Today we made a prompt start – the heating was set to come on at seven, and we were boating by about 8.15. It was a calm but cloudy morning, but we knew that the wind was due to get up again later, hence the unusual alacrity in getting going.
It's about than an hour's boating from Norbury to Gnosall, so by 9.30 we were on the water point topping up the tank. There's no Vodafone signal in this village whatsoever that I can find, so we've had to put the Orange Pay As You Go SIM in the phone in order to liaise with Elanor on her way over to see us.
Once we were sorted with a mooring and the washing machine had finished doing its thing, we took a walk to get some supplies and to remind ourselves of the layout here. There are actually two villages – the canal is at Gnosall Heath, and Gnosall proper is about a mile away, so quite walkable.
There's a decent range of basic shops at Gnosall Heath, and a few more plus a Post Office at Gnosall. You can walk along the road from one to t'other, or there's a footpath along an old railway embankment to Bridge 35A, enabling another circular walk to be made of it.
As I write this the wind has indeed come up again, so we made the right decisions (makes a change). The forecast is for a calm day on Monday, but windy again Tuesday and Wednesday, so it looks like we'll move on Monday and then sit tight again for a couple of days.
Friday morning arrived with a phenomenal amount of wind, causing us to rethink our plan to move to Gnosall – the Shelmore embankment is no place to be in a strong cross wind. The visitor moorings were still half empty, so we didn't feel too guilty about staying an extra day.
In order to avoid a totally lazy day, we explored a circular walk after lunch, starting just across the road from the boatyard. We walked across some fields to a very minor road, eventually turning off onto a bridle way which brought us round to the road which crosses the canal via the High Bridge over Grub Street cutting. Then it was a case of walking back along the towpath to the junction. It took us about an hour all told, just right for a postprandial stroll.
Apart from that it was a pretty quiet day, really, except for the noise of the wind. The major intellectual exercise was composing a rejoinder to Adrian Stott's piece in the latest Waterways World, wherein he argues for continuous cruisers being charged an additional £1500 per annum, to make up for the extra use they make of water points and the like. We've submitted it to WW as a letter to the editor – if they don't use it, I'll post it here in due course.
Today we made a prompt start – the heating was set to come on at seven, and we were boating by about 8.15. It was a calm but cloudy morning, but we knew that the wind was due to get up again later, hence the unusual alacrity in getting going.
It's about than an hour's boating from Norbury to Gnosall, so by 9.30 we were on the water point topping up the tank. There's no Vodafone signal in this village whatsoever that I can find, so we've had to put the Orange Pay As You Go SIM in the phone in order to liaise with Elanor on her way over to see us.
Once we were sorted with a mooring and the washing machine had finished doing its thing, we took a walk to get some supplies and to remind ourselves of the layout here. There are actually two villages – the canal is at Gnosall Heath, and Gnosall proper is about a mile away, so quite walkable.
There's a decent range of basic shops at Gnosall Heath, and a few more plus a Post Office at Gnosall. You can walk along the road from one to t'other, or there's a footpath along an old railway embankment to Bridge 35A, enabling another circular walk to be made of it.
As I write this the wind has indeed come up again, so we made the right decisions (makes a change). The forecast is for a calm day on Monday, but windy again Tuesday and Wednesday, so it looks like we'll move on Monday and then sit tight again for a couple of days.
Labels:
Gnosall,
Norbury Junction
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Photography at Norbury Junction
20th & 21st January
After another cold night, we weren't surprised to find that it was very misty in the morning. In fact, it must have been a freezing fog, because every twig on every tree, along with pretty well everything else in sight, was covered in white rime. It was a magical sight, and lasted for a good part of the morning.
Sheila was steering as we set off for the run to Norbury Junction, and after a while complained that she kept thinking it was starting to rain, when in fact it was the rime slowly beginning to melt and run off the trees above.
We passed Knighton depot, from where boatloads of chocolate crumb used to be taken to the Cadbury's factory at Bourneville. The approach from the north means that you see from some distance away the canopy of the loading shed over the ends of the pair of carrying boats that are always tied there, very atmospheric on such a morning.
Then it was the chug across Shebdon embankment, looking very smart after some good work by BW on the offside. It just shows what can be done with adequate funding. After the Anchor pub, there followed a truly incredible length of offside linear mooring. On and on it went for miles, virtually the whole way to the start of Grub Street cutting, with its double arched High Bridge. Emerging from the cutting, the towpath side long term mooring on the approach to Norbury follows immediately. It meant that what should have been about two hours boating, max, took us from 9.45 to 12.15, and we were well ready for lunch when we got there.
At Norbury there is this stretch of LT mooring, then a good chunk of 48 hour visitor mooring, which at the moment is full of winter moorers (either that or some people are giving a good but cheeky impression of same – in the absence of BW issuing any standard means of showing that you've paid for a winter mooring, it's impossible to tell.)
We finally found a bit of free mooring in front of the pub, and dropped onto it whilst we got some lunch. Afterwards, I explored forward, and found that the VM that runs from the services block towards Shelmore embankment was still available, and had plenty of spaces. (By the way, does anyone else have trouble remembering which is Shebdon and which Shelmore?)
So we stopped on the water point to top up, and then tied in one of these spaces, in a very pleasant spot with views across the fields below the level of the canal. A trip to the shop and chandlery yielded a tub of stern tube grease, 5 litres of oil ready for the next oil change, a copy of Waterways World and an Independent.
During the morning, I'd responded to Phil Hynds's comment on the last post, asking if he could come and see us in connection with a photo piece on retired liveaboards he's preparing. We agreed to meet at Norbury this morning.
Today, a complete change in the weather had manifested itself. It was mild and cloudy, but a steady breeze, gusting at times to a serious blast, made it feel just as cold as when it was frosty. After breakfast I set off to take some recycling to the bins by the cafe and chandlery at around 9.30. Just by the junction I saw a bloke with a tripod and serious camera bag, and thought that Phil must have turned up early to get some background shots for his piece.
On enquiry, however, this guy turned out to be one of a large number of students from the Defence Photography School at Cosford. On hearing my explanation of why I'd approached him, Jim, for such was his name, promptly asked if he could come and take some pictures as well.
Back at the boat, I alerted Sheila to the situation, and we had just about finished giving Sanity a quick clean when Jim arrived. Since Graeme's current job involves a bit of services photography, we had an interesting natter with Jim, who had just finished taking photos when Phil rocked up.
What a busy morning – who says winter is a quiet time on the cut?
We had a good session with Phil too, first of all being interviewed and then showing him through the boat, and then more photos. This finished just in nice time for lunch, and was followed by a quiet afternoon – a bit of wood was cut, some internet banking done, newspapers read and the like.
Tomorrow we will brave a windy forecast to do the short run to Gnosall for the weekend, and hopefully a rendezvous with Elanor.
After another cold night, we weren't surprised to find that it was very misty in the morning. In fact, it must have been a freezing fog, because every twig on every tree, along with pretty well everything else in sight, was covered in white rime. It was a magical sight, and lasted for a good part of the morning.
Sheila was steering as we set off for the run to Norbury Junction, and after a while complained that she kept thinking it was starting to rain, when in fact it was the rime slowly beginning to melt and run off the trees above.
We passed Knighton depot, from where boatloads of chocolate crumb used to be taken to the Cadbury's factory at Bourneville. The approach from the north means that you see from some distance away the canopy of the loading shed over the ends of the pair of carrying boats that are always tied there, very atmospheric on such a morning.
Then it was the chug across Shebdon embankment, looking very smart after some good work by BW on the offside. It just shows what can be done with adequate funding. After the Anchor pub, there followed a truly incredible length of offside linear mooring. On and on it went for miles, virtually the whole way to the start of Grub Street cutting, with its double arched High Bridge. Emerging from the cutting, the towpath side long term mooring on the approach to Norbury follows immediately. It meant that what should have been about two hours boating, max, took us from 9.45 to 12.15, and we were well ready for lunch when we got there.
At Norbury there is this stretch of LT mooring, then a good chunk of 48 hour visitor mooring, which at the moment is full of winter moorers (either that or some people are giving a good but cheeky impression of same – in the absence of BW issuing any standard means of showing that you've paid for a winter mooring, it's impossible to tell.)
We finally found a bit of free mooring in front of the pub, and dropped onto it whilst we got some lunch. Afterwards, I explored forward, and found that the VM that runs from the services block towards Shelmore embankment was still available, and had plenty of spaces. (By the way, does anyone else have trouble remembering which is Shebdon and which Shelmore?)
So we stopped on the water point to top up, and then tied in one of these spaces, in a very pleasant spot with views across the fields below the level of the canal. A trip to the shop and chandlery yielded a tub of stern tube grease, 5 litres of oil ready for the next oil change, a copy of Waterways World and an Independent.
During the morning, I'd responded to Phil Hynds's comment on the last post, asking if he could come and see us in connection with a photo piece on retired liveaboards he's preparing. We agreed to meet at Norbury this morning.
Today, a complete change in the weather had manifested itself. It was mild and cloudy, but a steady breeze, gusting at times to a serious blast, made it feel just as cold as when it was frosty. After breakfast I set off to take some recycling to the bins by the cafe and chandlery at around 9.30. Just by the junction I saw a bloke with a tripod and serious camera bag, and thought that Phil must have turned up early to get some background shots for his piece.
On enquiry, however, this guy turned out to be one of a large number of students from the Defence Photography School at Cosford. On hearing my explanation of why I'd approached him, Jim, for such was his name, promptly asked if he could come and take some pictures as well.
Back at the boat, I alerted Sheila to the situation, and we had just about finished giving Sanity a quick clean when Jim arrived. Since Graeme's current job involves a bit of services photography, we had an interesting natter with Jim, who had just finished taking photos when Phil rocked up.
What a busy morning – who says winter is a quiet time on the cut?
We had a good session with Phil too, first of all being interviewed and then showing him through the boat, and then more photos. This finished just in nice time for lunch, and was followed by a quiet afternoon – a bit of wood was cut, some internet banking done, newspapers read and the like.
Tomorrow we will brave a windy forecast to do the short run to Gnosall for the weekend, and hopefully a rendezvous with Elanor.
Labels:
Goldstone,
Norbury Junction
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Two more days at Drayton, then away!
18th & 19th February
My, but that was a cold night! We were indeed iced in on Monday morning, although there were open patches of water about as well.
There was also a lot of ice on the inside of the Houdini, which became a bit of a problem, as we'd set the Eberspacher to come on automatically (saves me hopping shivering out of bed to push the button). As we lay there. listening to the welcome roar, the ice started to melt and drip onto the bed.
We keep an old cycle cape to cover the bed under these circs (ex free gift from RCR the other year – useless as a cycle cape, but great for this purpose, and for using as a hairdresser's cape when cutting hair) so I had to pop out of bed anyway. Once out, I went through and relit the Squirrel and made a cup of tea.
Once actually up and about (some time later) we had breakfast and did yet another shopping trip before lunch. Regular readers must wonder why so much shopping at the moment. The thing is that once we leave here, we're going to wander down the rest of the Shroppie – Norbury Junction, Gnosall, Wheaton Aston, through to Brewood when the stoppage comes off at WA – and there are no further serious shopping opportunities.
We'll use local stores as usual for milk and the like, but anything more than that is out of the question. Then we're going down to Kinver, before backtracking to Great Haywood, so the next town of any size will be Rugeley in about three weeks time.
After lunch we went through onto the water point, filled right up, and then winded with care. There was ice still in the winding hole, and a couple of cruisers, one GRP, one wood, at the far end, and I didn't want to shove sharp edged sheets of ice into their delicate sides.
The task was made a little more interesting by Blue Crystal, who'd chosen to spend the night moored across the end of the hole, on a mooring clearly marked "Water Point only". No excuse, really – there's loads of room at Drayton at the moment.
After these exertions, we went back onto the mooring through the bridge for one last night (hopefully) and had a quiet afternoon.
Today was cold, misty and murky at the start, but strangely the cut was free of ice. We went into town yet again, and had a really successful last session. The post we needed had turned up at the PO, and we found things like more thermal socks (Seconds Ahead), secondary double glazing film to experiment with next year (Homebase) and even creamed coconut block (not in Morrisons or Lidl, but 50p, would you believe, in a little independent health food store).
Back at the boat, Sheila dealt with the finance stuff while I made a coffee, and then I shot into town to post the result (of the finance stuff, not the coffee).
Then we had a quick lunch, and by one o'clock we were off again, heading up Tyrley Locks. As we approached, an OwnerShips boat, Inglewood, came down, so we had the flight with us all the way. This meant it was just two o'clock when we got to the top, so we came on through Woodseaves cutting on a glorious winter's afternoon.
There were serious icicles hanging down the rock side in places, and the sun struck through the branches of the overhanging trees in spectacular style.
Moored at Goldstone Wharf, we had a cup of tea whilst I wrestled with the internet connection. It's not good here, and prone to cause strange glitches in Mail and Firefox. On one occasion nothing would do but to do a cold reboot, i.e. shut it all down and start again from scratch. As a Mac user, I'm not used to having to resort to such drastic measures – it quite reminds me of my Windows days :-}
Tomorrow we'll probably move on to Norbury Junction for a couple of days, then to Gnosall for the weekend.
My, but that was a cold night! We were indeed iced in on Monday morning, although there were open patches of water about as well.
There was also a lot of ice on the inside of the Houdini, which became a bit of a problem, as we'd set the Eberspacher to come on automatically (saves me hopping shivering out of bed to push the button). As we lay there. listening to the welcome roar, the ice started to melt and drip onto the bed.
We keep an old cycle cape to cover the bed under these circs (ex free gift from RCR the other year – useless as a cycle cape, but great for this purpose, and for using as a hairdresser's cape when cutting hair) so I had to pop out of bed anyway. Once out, I went through and relit the Squirrel and made a cup of tea.
Once actually up and about (some time later) we had breakfast and did yet another shopping trip before lunch. Regular readers must wonder why so much shopping at the moment. The thing is that once we leave here, we're going to wander down the rest of the Shroppie – Norbury Junction, Gnosall, Wheaton Aston, through to Brewood when the stoppage comes off at WA – and there are no further serious shopping opportunities.
We'll use local stores as usual for milk and the like, but anything more than that is out of the question. Then we're going down to Kinver, before backtracking to Great Haywood, so the next town of any size will be Rugeley in about three weeks time.
After lunch we went through onto the water point, filled right up, and then winded with care. There was ice still in the winding hole, and a couple of cruisers, one GRP, one wood, at the far end, and I didn't want to shove sharp edged sheets of ice into their delicate sides.
The task was made a little more interesting by Blue Crystal, who'd chosen to spend the night moored across the end of the hole, on a mooring clearly marked "Water Point only". No excuse, really – there's loads of room at Drayton at the moment.
After these exertions, we went back onto the mooring through the bridge for one last night (hopefully) and had a quiet afternoon.
Today was cold, misty and murky at the start, but strangely the cut was free of ice. We went into town yet again, and had a really successful last session. The post we needed had turned up at the PO, and we found things like more thermal socks (Seconds Ahead), secondary double glazing film to experiment with next year (Homebase) and even creamed coconut block (not in Morrisons or Lidl, but 50p, would you believe, in a little independent health food store).
Back at the boat, Sheila dealt with the finance stuff while I made a coffee, and then I shot into town to post the result (of the finance stuff, not the coffee).
Then we had a quick lunch, and by one o'clock we were off again, heading up Tyrley Locks. As we approached, an OwnerShips boat, Inglewood, came down, so we had the flight with us all the way. This meant it was just two o'clock when we got to the top, so we came on through Woodseaves cutting on a glorious winter's afternoon.
There were serious icicles hanging down the rock side in places, and the sun struck through the branches of the overhanging trees in spectacular style.
Moored at Goldstone Wharf, we had a cup of tea whilst I wrestled with the internet connection. It's not good here, and prone to cause strange glitches in Mail and Firefox. On one occasion nothing would do but to do a cold reboot, i.e. shut it all down and start again from scratch. As a Mac user, I'm not used to having to resort to such drastic measures – it quite reminds me of my Windows days :-}
Tomorrow we'll probably move on to Norbury Junction for a couple of days, then to Gnosall for the weekend.
Labels:
Goldstone,
Market Drayton
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Back to Drayton, and a sealing task
16th & 17th February
The morning dawned bright and cold once more. The night before we'd had a post call from Elanor which had revealed some problems with a couple of finance things, such that we needed to get the relevant letters sent on to us. The obvious address to use was Market Drayton PO, but at 5 o'clock they weren't answering their phone to confirm that they accept Poste Restante.
Accordingly, we tried again at 9, but still no joy. Thinking that perhaps they didn't open until 9.30, we set off on the return trip to Drayton, Sheila steering and me trying to ring from time to time. We'd also had some trouble with the internet connection last night, though it had been all right, if slow, before. However, it at least was now working OK – I even downloaded some email and uploaded the last blog as we slid into the depths of Woodseaves cutting.
We got to Tyrley just behind Ysbryd Rhydd (= Free Spirit in Welsh), but they stopped on the water point, only to make the same discovery as ourselves two days ago. This did mean that we passed them and set off down the flight, but it made no odds, as it was against us anyway.
Notwithstanding, we made good time down it, and before 11 we were on the water point in Drayton. Sheila left me with the boat, and set off into Drayton to ask in the PO if they would take a Poste Restante letter.
I'd just finished watering and was reversing Sanity back through the bridge 'ole to moor when she came back, a little out of breath, but with good news (and a newspaper). Having passed this info on to Elanor together with the address of the PO, we had lunch and went back into town for a successful shop for a mixed bag of stuff, including a new warm shirt for me (factory outlet shop), various bits of cleaning stuff (Wilko's) and some silicon sealant (Homebase) as well as some general groceries from the Lidl.
We need the sealant for the shower tray – the current bead is looking a) tired and b) mouldy. I'd been putting the job off, as I hate using sealant, but Sheila volunteered to have a go, which, as it's more like piping with Royal icing than anything else, seemed fair enough.
Today again dawned cold and bright, indeed even colder and brighter if anything. The cut wasn't actually frozen across, but there were thin sheets of ice drifting down. As we weren't planning to boat anywhere, we decided to skip our usual argument about whether such conditions would damage the blacking, and got on with getting breakfast.
Before setting off to shop again, we took it in turns to strip out the old sealant from around the shower tray. It proved to be well stuck on, so hadn't been leaking, at least, but it was good to get rid of the nasty black mould that seems to form even when we are punctilious about drying off the walls and tray of the shower after every use.
After a trip to Morrisons, we had lunch and then resealed the tray, Sheila wielding the gun, and me being the mate, handing things to her and taking them off her. It looks much better for the work, though Sanity filled with the niff of the acetic acid that is given off as the sealant cures – next time we must do this job in high summer, when we can have all the hatches open to ventilate the boat.
The rest of the afternoon's been taken up with the weekly IT housekeeping, knitting, cooking and running the engine whilst doing a washload.
The forecast is for a freeze again tonight, so it's not clear if we'll get away from here tomorrow. If we can, we'll go back to Adderley for the night and come back on Tuesday, by which time the stuff from Elanor should have arrived at the PO.
The morning dawned bright and cold once more. The night before we'd had a post call from Elanor which had revealed some problems with a couple of finance things, such that we needed to get the relevant letters sent on to us. The obvious address to use was Market Drayton PO, but at 5 o'clock they weren't answering their phone to confirm that they accept Poste Restante.
Accordingly, we tried again at 9, but still no joy. Thinking that perhaps they didn't open until 9.30, we set off on the return trip to Drayton, Sheila steering and me trying to ring from time to time. We'd also had some trouble with the internet connection last night, though it had been all right, if slow, before. However, it at least was now working OK – I even downloaded some email and uploaded the last blog as we slid into the depths of Woodseaves cutting.
We got to Tyrley just behind Ysbryd Rhydd (= Free Spirit in Welsh), but they stopped on the water point, only to make the same discovery as ourselves two days ago. This did mean that we passed them and set off down the flight, but it made no odds, as it was against us anyway.
Notwithstanding, we made good time down it, and before 11 we were on the water point in Drayton. Sheila left me with the boat, and set off into Drayton to ask in the PO if they would take a Poste Restante letter.
I'd just finished watering and was reversing Sanity back through the bridge 'ole to moor when she came back, a little out of breath, but with good news (and a newspaper). Having passed this info on to Elanor together with the address of the PO, we had lunch and went back into town for a successful shop for a mixed bag of stuff, including a new warm shirt for me (factory outlet shop), various bits of cleaning stuff (Wilko's) and some silicon sealant (Homebase) as well as some general groceries from the Lidl.
We need the sealant for the shower tray – the current bead is looking a) tired and b) mouldy. I'd been putting the job off, as I hate using sealant, but Sheila volunteered to have a go, which, as it's more like piping with Royal icing than anything else, seemed fair enough.
Today again dawned cold and bright, indeed even colder and brighter if anything. The cut wasn't actually frozen across, but there were thin sheets of ice drifting down. As we weren't planning to boat anywhere, we decided to skip our usual argument about whether such conditions would damage the blacking, and got on with getting breakfast.
Before setting off to shop again, we took it in turns to strip out the old sealant from around the shower tray. It proved to be well stuck on, so hadn't been leaking, at least, but it was good to get rid of the nasty black mould that seems to form even when we are punctilious about drying off the walls and tray of the shower after every use.
After a trip to Morrisons, we had lunch and then resealed the tray, Sheila wielding the gun, and me being the mate, handing things to her and taking them off her. It looks much better for the work, though Sanity filled with the niff of the acetic acid that is given off as the sealant cures – next time we must do this job in high summer, when we can have all the hatches open to ventilate the boat.
The rest of the afternoon's been taken up with the weekly IT housekeeping, knitting, cooking and running the engine whilst doing a washload.
The forecast is for a freeze again tonight, so it's not clear if we'll get away from here tomorrow. If we can, we'll go back to Adderley for the night and come back on Tuesday, by which time the stuff from Elanor should have arrived at the PO.
Labels:
Goldstone,
Market Drayton
Saturday, 16 February 2008
A pleasant visit and cruise
14th & 15th February
After several days of very lazy starts, we got up reasonably promptly yesterday, and were away by 9.30. Tyrley Locks appear almost as soon as you've left Market Drayton behind, and they were with us, so we made short work of the five.
We'd planned to top up the water at the service point above the top lock, but after we'd put the hose out, the tap proved to be dry. There was no notice warning of a problem, so later in the day I emailed BW to ask if they knew it was out of action.
Then there was the steady chug through Woodseaves cutting. It was especially dank and gloomy on a cool grey day – we'd wondered about coming back this way with Jennie and John who are visiting today, but decided going on would be better.
Goldstone Wharf was reached in nice time for lunch. The pub here, the Wharf Tavern, had been recommended by a number of authorities, and we were pleased to see it was serving lunch during the week. A quiet afternoon followed – I emailed BW about the Tyrley water point, and sent a letter to Waterways World on the subject of BW's policy with regard to self pump out at their sanitary stations, but at the time of blogging haven't heard anything back from either.
Today we made another decent start (well, by 9 o'clock, anyway) so as to get Sanity looking nice and tidy for our visitors. It was a dull, cold morning, but not so windy as had been forecast, which was something.
Jennie and John turned up just before their expected time of 11, and we had a pleasant chug to Soudley and back, with the guests taking it in turn to steer.
The Wharf then lived up to its advance billing – a very decent pint of Bombardier, and excellent food at a reasonable price. Back at the boat we had a coffee before Jennie and John set off home.
For some reason we then sat around trying not to doze off (in my case successfully). It's been a quiet and relaxing pair of days – brighter weather is forecast for the weekend, but with a risk of the cut icing up, so we'll go back to Drayton tomorrow.
After several days of very lazy starts, we got up reasonably promptly yesterday, and were away by 9.30. Tyrley Locks appear almost as soon as you've left Market Drayton behind, and they were with us, so we made short work of the five.
We'd planned to top up the water at the service point above the top lock, but after we'd put the hose out, the tap proved to be dry. There was no notice warning of a problem, so later in the day I emailed BW to ask if they knew it was out of action.
Then there was the steady chug through Woodseaves cutting. It was especially dank and gloomy on a cool grey day – we'd wondered about coming back this way with Jennie and John who are visiting today, but decided going on would be better.
Goldstone Wharf was reached in nice time for lunch. The pub here, the Wharf Tavern, had been recommended by a number of authorities, and we were pleased to see it was serving lunch during the week. A quiet afternoon followed – I emailed BW about the Tyrley water point, and sent a letter to Waterways World on the subject of BW's policy with regard to self pump out at their sanitary stations, but at the time of blogging haven't heard anything back from either.
Today we made another decent start (well, by 9 o'clock, anyway) so as to get Sanity looking nice and tidy for our visitors. It was a dull, cold morning, but not so windy as had been forecast, which was something.
Jennie and John turned up just before their expected time of 11, and we had a pleasant chug to Soudley and back, with the guests taking it in turn to steer.
The Wharf then lived up to its advance billing – a very decent pint of Bombardier, and excellent food at a reasonable price. Back at the boat we had a coffee before Jennie and John set off home.
For some reason we then sat around trying not to doze off (in my case successfully). It's been a quiet and relaxing pair of days – brighter weather is forecast for the weekend, but with a risk of the cut icing up, so we'll go back to Drayton tomorrow.
Labels:
Goldstone,
Market Drayton
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Recovered from our exertions, we go on to Market Drayton
12th & 13th February
Yesterday was another case of a seriously lazy start, as we'd decided to stay another day at the top of Adderley, enjoying the fine but cold weather in the morning. We dismantled and cut up for firewood the louvre door we hauled out of the cut some time ago.
The engine was run during the morning, allowing another washload to be processed. By the time we'd done all this, any lingering mist had burnt off, and it was becoming positively warm – warm enough, in fact, to let us sit out on the towpath, and indeed eat lunch out there.
The boat tied behind us was deploying a solar panel, and the guy off it told us that he was getting 4 amps into his batteries in these conditions, and would expect to get 6 in the summer.
This led Sheila to do some rough calculations on the basis of say £1500 for purchasing and installing such a large panel, and then saving between one and 1.5 hours engine running every day. It's very rough stuff, but the indications are that the installation would pay for itself in about 12 years.
With the high demand our fridge freezer makes on the batteries, we would never get to a point where we didn't feel the need to run the engine most days, but a boat with simpler electrics might well. I understand that the panel may be expected to have a life of around 20 years, so it is a long term but feasible proposition on economics alone, in addition to the reduction in hassle.
Note, however, that the production of solar panels itself results in a lot of CO2, so the environmental case is by no means as straightforward.
After lunch we took a walk along the towpath, just to aid digestion and enjoy the amazing weather.
Today was another slow start on a frosty but sunny morning. By 10.15 we were underway, heading for Market Drayton to shop and get water. First call was the Victoria Wharf and coal yard, where we bought five bags of Excel at £6.95 a bag. Excel isn't my favourite fuel, but it's good to have some reserve on the roof – we can expect to be using the stove for another few weeks at least, and we were down to the last two bags of PureHeat.
On the way we passed a small mystery, a boat called Hannah, whose signwriting described it as built by Les Allen but painted by Braidbar. We've never seen a boat claiming to be painted by Braidbar before – must check it out with the Braidbar Owners list.
After mooring on the 5 day moorings just north of the bypass bridge, we did the shopping, lunching and shopping routine. It's a decent walk (about 10 minutes) to the Morrisons from those moorings, much better than from the recommended town moorings further on.
All this being done, we decided to go onto the water point this afternoon, and then moor on the visitor moorings the other side of town, by the playing fields and further away from the road noise of the bypass.
Yesterday was another case of a seriously lazy start, as we'd decided to stay another day at the top of Adderley, enjoying the fine but cold weather in the morning. We dismantled and cut up for firewood the louvre door we hauled out of the cut some time ago.
The engine was run during the morning, allowing another washload to be processed. By the time we'd done all this, any lingering mist had burnt off, and it was becoming positively warm – warm enough, in fact, to let us sit out on the towpath, and indeed eat lunch out there.
The boat tied behind us was deploying a solar panel, and the guy off it told us that he was getting 4 amps into his batteries in these conditions, and would expect to get 6 in the summer.
This led Sheila to do some rough calculations on the basis of say £1500 for purchasing and installing such a large panel, and then saving between one and 1.5 hours engine running every day. It's very rough stuff, but the indications are that the installation would pay for itself in about 12 years.
With the high demand our fridge freezer makes on the batteries, we would never get to a point where we didn't feel the need to run the engine most days, but a boat with simpler electrics might well. I understand that the panel may be expected to have a life of around 20 years, so it is a long term but feasible proposition on economics alone, in addition to the reduction in hassle.
Note, however, that the production of solar panels itself results in a lot of CO2, so the environmental case is by no means as straightforward.
After lunch we took a walk along the towpath, just to aid digestion and enjoy the amazing weather.
Today was another slow start on a frosty but sunny morning. By 10.15 we were underway, heading for Market Drayton to shop and get water. First call was the Victoria Wharf and coal yard, where we bought five bags of Excel at £6.95 a bag. Excel isn't my favourite fuel, but it's good to have some reserve on the roof – we can expect to be using the stove for another few weeks at least, and we were down to the last two bags of PureHeat.
On the way we passed a small mystery, a boat called Hannah, whose signwriting described it as built by Les Allen but painted by Braidbar. We've never seen a boat claiming to be painted by Braidbar before – must check it out with the Braidbar Owners list.
After mooring on the 5 day moorings just north of the bypass bridge, we did the shopping, lunching and shopping routine. It's a decent walk (about 10 minutes) to the Morrisons from those moorings, much better than from the recommended town moorings further on.
All this being done, we decided to go onto the water point this afternoon, and then moor on the visitor moorings the other side of town, by the playing fields and further away from the road noise of the bypass.
Labels:
Adderley,
Market Drayton
Monday, 11 February 2008
A bit of extra boating
10th & 11th February
The plan being to go to Audlem for Sunday night, I'd set the heating to come on at 7, and by 8.30 we were away. It was a very misty morning, and for the first half hour we ran with the tunnel light and navigation lights on. It was a classically fine morning of late winter or early spring, and superb boating weather once the mist had lifted.
By 10.15 we were at Hack Green, home of the Secret Nuclear Bunker, and a little later we passed Madasa-soles (no comment) at Coole Pilate moorings. One of the great things about the Shroppie is the number of mooring places (in this case complete with picnic tables and barbeque stands) funded by the Shropshire Union Canal Society.
After a short wait for a Challenger boat to finish winding below lock 15, we worked up 15 and 14 and tied on some very quiet visitor moorings by 12.30. What a good day's boating we thought, all of four locks and all, little knowing what was in store...
After a leisurely lunch, we strolled back down to the moorings below the bottom lock, as Braidbar 96, Leonard, was tied there. We thought there might be someone aboard, but there was no sign of it, although the presence of a couple of pairs of boots drying on the roof suggested that they hadn't gone far away.
As we headed back, the guy on the boat next to Leonard, Director's Cut, whom we know slightly, popped his head out to warn us that with lock 15 stopped tomorrow, BW would lock the entire flight, as there was nowhere to wind once on the way down. This meant that we needed to be up the other 13 locks by the end of the day.
Since it was still a beautiful day, we weren't desperately upset, and soon had Sanity pulled forward onto the water point to top up the tank before going on. There was a boat moored for the winter just by the water point, and they told us that there was a good chance that BW would lock Adderley flight as well, as there's nowhere to wind between the two flights.
It was now 2.30, and we had 18 locks to do to be sure of being clear of the stoppage's effects. Although a bit of a challenge, it's nice to be able to demonstrate that we can do some serious boating on occasion, and indeed we weren't found wanting.
The locks were busy with gongoozlers, it being a sunny Sunday, which always adds to the fun. By 4.15 we were out of Audlem flight, and had time for a quick cup of tea before Adderley hove into view at 4.30. Just on 5.30 we came out of Adderley top and moored on the visitor moorings beyond the winding hole. We'd done 22 locks between 8.30 and 5.30, with two hours for lunch.
I admit that we were a bit tired, but there was a great sense of achievement. It's in these situations that I'm glad of my habit of freezing spare portions of meals. We were able to have beef stew with mashed potato and peas without too much preparation time, which was just as well. A quiet evening followed.
This morning we had a relaxed start, feeling rather stiff – what it's going to be like tomorrow when the DOMS* sets in, I don't know. After breakfast (at about 10 o'clock) I strolled down to the top lock – it wasn't locked. Heigh ho – better to have done too much than not enough – if we'd stopped below Adderley, neither of us would have slept well last night.
As may be imagined, it's been a quiet day today. Some necessary financial things have been done on the net, and after lunch we took a walk to Adderley village, just for the exercise to stay awake, really. There's nothing there these days, except a Post Office that opens only occasionally, and is rumoured to stock some supplies, but it was all shut up this afternoon.
Still, it was a nice walk in the sun, and stopped us from seizing up altogether after yesterday's locks.
*DOMS = Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
The plan being to go to Audlem for Sunday night, I'd set the heating to come on at 7, and by 8.30 we were away. It was a very misty morning, and for the first half hour we ran with the tunnel light and navigation lights on. It was a classically fine morning of late winter or early spring, and superb boating weather once the mist had lifted.
By 10.15 we were at Hack Green, home of the Secret Nuclear Bunker, and a little later we passed Madasa-soles (no comment) at Coole Pilate moorings. One of the great things about the Shroppie is the number of mooring places (in this case complete with picnic tables and barbeque stands) funded by the Shropshire Union Canal Society.
After a short wait for a Challenger boat to finish winding below lock 15, we worked up 15 and 14 and tied on some very quiet visitor moorings by 12.30. What a good day's boating we thought, all of four locks and all, little knowing what was in store...
After a leisurely lunch, we strolled back down to the moorings below the bottom lock, as Braidbar 96, Leonard, was tied there. We thought there might be someone aboard, but there was no sign of it, although the presence of a couple of pairs of boots drying on the roof suggested that they hadn't gone far away.
As we headed back, the guy on the boat next to Leonard, Director's Cut, whom we know slightly, popped his head out to warn us that with lock 15 stopped tomorrow, BW would lock the entire flight, as there was nowhere to wind once on the way down. This meant that we needed to be up the other 13 locks by the end of the day.
Since it was still a beautiful day, we weren't desperately upset, and soon had Sanity pulled forward onto the water point to top up the tank before going on. There was a boat moored for the winter just by the water point, and they told us that there was a good chance that BW would lock Adderley flight as well, as there's nowhere to wind between the two flights.
It was now 2.30, and we had 18 locks to do to be sure of being clear of the stoppage's effects. Although a bit of a challenge, it's nice to be able to demonstrate that we can do some serious boating on occasion, and indeed we weren't found wanting.
The locks were busy with gongoozlers, it being a sunny Sunday, which always adds to the fun. By 4.15 we were out of Audlem flight, and had time for a quick cup of tea before Adderley hove into view at 4.30. Just on 5.30 we came out of Adderley top and moored on the visitor moorings beyond the winding hole. We'd done 22 locks between 8.30 and 5.30, with two hours for lunch.
I admit that we were a bit tired, but there was a great sense of achievement. It's in these situations that I'm glad of my habit of freezing spare portions of meals. We were able to have beef stew with mashed potato and peas without too much preparation time, which was just as well. A quiet evening followed.
This morning we had a relaxed start, feeling rather stiff – what it's going to be like tomorrow when the DOMS* sets in, I don't know. After breakfast (at about 10 o'clock) I strolled down to the top lock – it wasn't locked. Heigh ho – better to have done too much than not enough – if we'd stopped below Adderley, neither of us would have slept well last night.
As may be imagined, it's been a quiet day today. Some necessary financial things have been done on the net, and after lunch we took a walk to Adderley village, just for the exercise to stay awake, really. There's nothing there these days, except a Post Office that opens only occasionally, and is rumoured to stock some supplies, but it was all shut up this afternoon.
Still, it was a nice walk in the sun, and stopped us from seizing up altogether after yesterday's locks.
*DOMS = Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Back to Barbridge
8th & 9th February
One of the big problems of boating on an otherwise delightful waterway is the "Shroppie ledge". Much of the Shropshire Union towpath is edged with a concrete casting which has a ledge just below the waterline. Regular moorers often invest in a pair of old motor wheels, complete with tyres, which, when tied to the boat as fenders, hold it out from the bank far enough to avoid the ledge, but such are too bulky to be practical on a continuously cruising boat.
We usually cope with it by attaching the piling chains to the fender eyes on the gunwale, and then hanging our largest fenders off a link in the chain, so that they hang below the water, between the bottom edge of the hull side and the dreaded ledge.
We'd tried to do this on our mooring at Hurleston, but obviously hadn't got it quite right, because during the evening, one of them popped up above the ledge, and the boat bumped at irregular intervals through the night. This didn't make for a restful night's kip, and another lazy start was the result.
Fortunately, we didn't have far to go yesterday, just back to Barbridge, so starting after 10 was not a problem. It helped that it was a fine day, and that the forecast was quite encouraging. No doubt there is more bad weather to come before winter has entirely finished with us, but it is nice to see the sun again for more than a few minutes at a time.
On arrival at Barbridge we were able to get a mooring just through the bridge and nearly opposite the pub car park, handy for Peter and Jan today. Inspired by the weather, we washed the bow and well decks and the hull and cabin sides around them, so that Sanity is beginning to emerge from her winter mud splashes.
This morning was beautifully bright, with the promise of a fine day, subsequently fulfilled. We got up in good time, for us, for a Saturday, and gave the inside of the boat a quick tidy and titivation in readiness for our visitors. Peter and Jan duly arrived just after 10, bearing various goodies for us, like the repaired VHF radio. By 10.30 we were underway for our tootle to the top of the Bunbury staircase and back.
Peter took the helm for most of the trip, including the winding at Bunbury, and coped with the only two boats we met coming the other way, both in bridge 'oles, naturally.
We got back to Barbridge by around 12.30, and found a mooring without too much trouble, although they were much busier than when we left. You could tell that it was a sunny Saturday at the beginning of Spring half term.
The Olde Barbridge Inn was quite quiet, however, and we were able to get a table in the gallery that overlooks the canal. An excellent lunch was had by all, washed down in the case of the men with pints of Everard's Tiger – it's unusual to see it this far from its home in Leicester.
After coffee, sitting out on the bow of the boat, Peter and Jan tore themselves away, and Sheila and I settled to a quiet, not to say somnolent, afternoon.
One of the big problems of boating on an otherwise delightful waterway is the "Shroppie ledge". Much of the Shropshire Union towpath is edged with a concrete casting which has a ledge just below the waterline. Regular moorers often invest in a pair of old motor wheels, complete with tyres, which, when tied to the boat as fenders, hold it out from the bank far enough to avoid the ledge, but such are too bulky to be practical on a continuously cruising boat.
We usually cope with it by attaching the piling chains to the fender eyes on the gunwale, and then hanging our largest fenders off a link in the chain, so that they hang below the water, between the bottom edge of the hull side and the dreaded ledge.
We'd tried to do this on our mooring at Hurleston, but obviously hadn't got it quite right, because during the evening, one of them popped up above the ledge, and the boat bumped at irregular intervals through the night. This didn't make for a restful night's kip, and another lazy start was the result.
Fortunately, we didn't have far to go yesterday, just back to Barbridge, so starting after 10 was not a problem. It helped that it was a fine day, and that the forecast was quite encouraging. No doubt there is more bad weather to come before winter has entirely finished with us, but it is nice to see the sun again for more than a few minutes at a time.
On arrival at Barbridge we were able to get a mooring just through the bridge and nearly opposite the pub car park, handy for Peter and Jan today. Inspired by the weather, we washed the bow and well decks and the hull and cabin sides around them, so that Sanity is beginning to emerge from her winter mud splashes.
This morning was beautifully bright, with the promise of a fine day, subsequently fulfilled. We got up in good time, for us, for a Saturday, and gave the inside of the boat a quick tidy and titivation in readiness for our visitors. Peter and Jan duly arrived just after 10, bearing various goodies for us, like the repaired VHF radio. By 10.30 we were underway for our tootle to the top of the Bunbury staircase and back.
Peter took the helm for most of the trip, including the winding at Bunbury, and coped with the only two boats we met coming the other way, both in bridge 'oles, naturally.
We got back to Barbridge by around 12.30, and found a mooring without too much trouble, although they were much busier than when we left. You could tell that it was a sunny Saturday at the beginning of Spring half term.
The Olde Barbridge Inn was quite quiet, however, and we were able to get a table in the gallery that overlooks the canal. An excellent lunch was had by all, washed down in the case of the men with pints of Everard's Tiger – it's unusual to see it this far from its home in Leicester.
After coffee, sitting out on the bow of the boat, Peter and Jan tore themselves away, and Sheila and I settled to a quiet, not to say somnolent, afternoon.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Nantwich, and a new plan, Baldrick
6th & 7th February
Fellow Braidbar owners Graham and Beryl Johnson report having trouble trying to book themselves a trip across the Ribble Link to cruise the Lancaster Canal. You can't do it from the website, they have to snail mail a form to you, and you have to supply proof of your Boat Safety Certificate and insurance. Thing is, you can't get to either end of the Ribble Link without a BW Licence, and guess what you have to produce to get one of those?
That's right, a BSC and proof of third party insurance cover. It would be funny, if it didn't demonstrate just how far BW has to move to start achieving some obvious economies.
Meantime, they have at least responded to the licence fee consultation in a way that shows they have been listening a bit. The increase for next year is to be 5% plus their cost inflation, making 8.3% overall, instead of 8% +, and they've agreed to consult the British Waterways Advisory Forum on the other issues raised and on the subsequent years' fees.
It does suggest a modicum of sane management (not before time) and we can only hope that the trend continues.
We had one of our consolidation days yesterday, in that we spent a good chunk of time in Nantwich Town Centre shopping in the morning, and then after lunch Sheila cut my hair, or rather clipped it short. The weather was pleasant, and indeed the forecast for the next week or so is looking up. It certainly is beginning to feel like a touch of Spring in the air after all the rain and wind.
We've been rethinking our cruising plans in the light of the Llangollen stoppage. (My sympathies to Mukiwa, who have the same problem.) There's a window this coming weekend when the Audlem flight will be open, as the work on Lock 5 has finished, and Lock 15 doesn't start until Monday. The stoppage at the other end, at Wheaton Aston, comes off at the very end of this month.
We're meeting Peter and Jan at Barbridge on Saturday, to have a bit of a cruise and a pub lunch, as well as relieving them of some stuff we've had delivered to them (thanks folks!), but we can still put in a serious (for us) day's cruising on Sunday and get through Audlem 15 before it stops.
That would give us three weeks of pottering on the Shroppie between Market Drayton and Wheaton Aston. After that, we could nip down the Staffs and Worcs to Kinver. Our cratch cover has developed a minor problem in that the stitching of one zip is coming undone, and Wilson's of Kinver, who made it, have a good reputation for while-you-wait repairs of such things.
Then we'd be free to head for Alrewas a bit earlier than planned, which is just as well in view of the state of my dentition.
So today we did yet another shopping trip to get the stocks right up to scratch, and had an early lunch. Sheila steered round the Nantwich embankment to the winding hole at the other end, and we came back to the service block where we pumped out and watered.
So now we have fulfilled the basic conditions for boating happiness. The water tank is full and the diesel tank nearly so, and the toilet tank is empty. The weather continuing bright and breezy, we boated back to Hurleston for the night, and will pop on to Barbridge tomorrow ready for our rendezvous on Saturday.
Fellow Braidbar owners Graham and Beryl Johnson report having trouble trying to book themselves a trip across the Ribble Link to cruise the Lancaster Canal. You can't do it from the website, they have to snail mail a form to you, and you have to supply proof of your Boat Safety Certificate and insurance. Thing is, you can't get to either end of the Ribble Link without a BW Licence, and guess what you have to produce to get one of those?
That's right, a BSC and proof of third party insurance cover. It would be funny, if it didn't demonstrate just how far BW has to move to start achieving some obvious economies.
Meantime, they have at least responded to the licence fee consultation in a way that shows they have been listening a bit. The increase for next year is to be 5% plus their cost inflation, making 8.3% overall, instead of 8% +, and they've agreed to consult the British Waterways Advisory Forum on the other issues raised and on the subsequent years' fees.
It does suggest a modicum of sane management (not before time) and we can only hope that the trend continues.
We had one of our consolidation days yesterday, in that we spent a good chunk of time in Nantwich Town Centre shopping in the morning, and then after lunch Sheila cut my hair, or rather clipped it short. The weather was pleasant, and indeed the forecast for the next week or so is looking up. It certainly is beginning to feel like a touch of Spring in the air after all the rain and wind.
We've been rethinking our cruising plans in the light of the Llangollen stoppage. (My sympathies to Mukiwa, who have the same problem.) There's a window this coming weekend when the Audlem flight will be open, as the work on Lock 5 has finished, and Lock 15 doesn't start until Monday. The stoppage at the other end, at Wheaton Aston, comes off at the very end of this month.
We're meeting Peter and Jan at Barbridge on Saturday, to have a bit of a cruise and a pub lunch, as well as relieving them of some stuff we've had delivered to them (thanks folks!), but we can still put in a serious (for us) day's cruising on Sunday and get through Audlem 15 before it stops.
That would give us three weeks of pottering on the Shroppie between Market Drayton and Wheaton Aston. After that, we could nip down the Staffs and Worcs to Kinver. Our cratch cover has developed a minor problem in that the stitching of one zip is coming undone, and Wilson's of Kinver, who made it, have a good reputation for while-you-wait repairs of such things.
Then we'd be free to head for Alrewas a bit earlier than planned, which is just as well in view of the state of my dentition.
So today we did yet another shopping trip to get the stocks right up to scratch, and had an early lunch. Sheila steered round the Nantwich embankment to the winding hole at the other end, and we came back to the service block where we pumped out and watered.
So now we have fulfilled the basic conditions for boating happiness. The water tank is full and the diesel tank nearly so, and the toilet tank is empty. The weather continuing bright and breezy, we boated back to Hurleston for the night, and will pop on to Barbridge tomorrow ready for our rendezvous on Saturday.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Hurleston to Nantwich
4th & 5th February
It was a calm and cold morning yesterday, ideal for boating. We got away at 9 and went up Minshull Lock. I'd dipped the diesel tank the day before., and reckoned we needed about 60 litres of diesel – the level was between half way and three quarters of a 200 litre tank.
We'd not planned to stop at Venetian Marine, hadn't been sure they'd be open on a Monday in winter even, but they were, and had diesel at 63.9ppl, so we went in and got some. The tank actually took 94 litres, which seemed a bit odd, but there you go. Propane is now over £20 for a 13 kg bottle, so by the time I'd paid for one of those and the diesel, I found myself handing over £80 in cash (Venetian doesn't take plastic).
On we went up Cholmondeston Lock, planning to water at Barbridge when we got there. In the event, Sorrel was on the water point and had only just started, so we decided not to bother – there was about 45% in the tank still, enough to last to Nantwich the following day (i.e. today).
At Hurleston Junction, a dredger was working by the bridge, so we stopped on the moorings on the Barbridge side, rather than going through to the ones on the far side of the bridge. As soon as we'd moored, there was an almighty rain storm, so another case of good timing, methinks.
After lunch we took a wander up the Hurleston Locks, just to get some exercise and to see if there were any photos to be taken. We found a bit of seriously broken down mooring by the water point, but the flight itself is in reasonable nick, although famously, the bottom lock is only just wide enough for 6' 10" beam. Many a boater in the pernicious habit of boating with the fenders down has regretted not taking them up before attempting that lock, only to get jammed in there.
Coming back towards the top of the flight after wandering along the towpath for a bit, I idly read a stoppage notice taped to the balance beam of the top lock top gate. It said that Baddiley n0 2 Lock is stopped from 7 January to 7 March as an extra stoppage. This means that we can't do the Llangollen this month as we'd planned, which is a bit of a sierra oscar delta, but there you go. We'll just have to think of another way of passing the time until we can get southbound.
Not a good move to put the notice only on the top gate either – if we hadn't happened to walk up there, we'd have worked up four locks before discovering that we couldn't go much further. Thanks BW.
When we got back to the bottom of the flight, the guy on the dredger was working on its hydraulics – it looked as if one of the legs that braces the flat on the bottom of the canal was giving trouble, as he'd got the hose off the fitting. He'd clearly spilt some hydraulic fluid (brake fluid, basically) into the cut, as it had all washed down and around Sanity in an unholy mess. Careful examination of the blacking today didn't show any damage, thank heavens, but it wasn't a clever thing to have done.
Today we made a more leisurely start on a bright and breezy day, but were still away by 9.30 for the short run to Nantwich. We passed another dredging site, an interesting challenge in a strongish cross wind, and got onto the service point and watered without too much hassle.
There was a handy space in the visitor moorings before the aqueduct, and we'd no sooner arrived than S.K.I. turned up (SKI = Spending the Kids Inheritance). We'd not seen them for a bit and we all had a good natter, including some of the other continuous cruisers on the moorings. We are all in the same boat (not literally), as the opportunity to do the Llangollen when it was quiet had looked too good to miss.
After lunch we made a trip into Nantwich to start the shopping bit again – Nantwich is a great little town, with a decent range of shops, so we'll stay here for a couple of days, doing a variety of shopping and generally catching up with stuff.
It was a calm and cold morning yesterday, ideal for boating. We got away at 9 and went up Minshull Lock. I'd dipped the diesel tank the day before., and reckoned we needed about 60 litres of diesel – the level was between half way and three quarters of a 200 litre tank.
We'd not planned to stop at Venetian Marine, hadn't been sure they'd be open on a Monday in winter even, but they were, and had diesel at 63.9ppl, so we went in and got some. The tank actually took 94 litres, which seemed a bit odd, but there you go. Propane is now over £20 for a 13 kg bottle, so by the time I'd paid for one of those and the diesel, I found myself handing over £80 in cash (Venetian doesn't take plastic).
On we went up Cholmondeston Lock, planning to water at Barbridge when we got there. In the event, Sorrel was on the water point and had only just started, so we decided not to bother – there was about 45% in the tank still, enough to last to Nantwich the following day (i.e. today).
At Hurleston Junction, a dredger was working by the bridge, so we stopped on the moorings on the Barbridge side, rather than going through to the ones on the far side of the bridge. As soon as we'd moored, there was an almighty rain storm, so another case of good timing, methinks.
After lunch we took a wander up the Hurleston Locks, just to get some exercise and to see if there were any photos to be taken. We found a bit of seriously broken down mooring by the water point, but the flight itself is in reasonable nick, although famously, the bottom lock is only just wide enough for 6' 10" beam. Many a boater in the pernicious habit of boating with the fenders down has regretted not taking them up before attempting that lock, only to get jammed in there.
Coming back towards the top of the flight after wandering along the towpath for a bit, I idly read a stoppage notice taped to the balance beam of the top lock top gate. It said that Baddiley n0 2 Lock is stopped from 7 January to 7 March as an extra stoppage. This means that we can't do the Llangollen this month as we'd planned, which is a bit of a sierra oscar delta, but there you go. We'll just have to think of another way of passing the time until we can get southbound.
Not a good move to put the notice only on the top gate either – if we hadn't happened to walk up there, we'd have worked up four locks before discovering that we couldn't go much further. Thanks BW.
When we got back to the bottom of the flight, the guy on the dredger was working on its hydraulics – it looked as if one of the legs that braces the flat on the bottom of the canal was giving trouble, as he'd got the hose off the fitting. He'd clearly spilt some hydraulic fluid (brake fluid, basically) into the cut, as it had all washed down and around Sanity in an unholy mess. Careful examination of the blacking today didn't show any damage, thank heavens, but it wasn't a clever thing to have done.
Today we made a more leisurely start on a bright and breezy day, but were still away by 9.30 for the short run to Nantwich. We passed another dredging site, an interesting challenge in a strongish cross wind, and got onto the service point and watered without too much hassle.
There was a handy space in the visitor moorings before the aqueduct, and we'd no sooner arrived than S.K.I. turned up (SKI = Spending the Kids Inheritance). We'd not seen them for a bit and we all had a good natter, including some of the other continuous cruisers on the moorings. We are all in the same boat (not literally), as the opportunity to do the Llangollen when it was quiet had looked too good to miss.
After lunch we made a trip into Nantwich to start the shopping bit again – Nantwich is a great little town, with a decent range of shops, so we'll stay here for a couple of days, doing a variety of shopping and generally catching up with stuff.
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Croxton to Church Minshull
2nd & 3rd February
We woke yesterday to find that it had been snowing overnight, and the boat was covered with a light coat of the stuff, now frozen on. However, we wanted to take advantage of the break in the bad weather, so made an effort and were away just after nine.
First stop was the water point below Big Lock, where we refilled the tank whilst running a washload. Then we worked up the lock and stopped again at the town mooring to shop and have a cup of coffee.
Next, up the Middlewich three we went. If the Anglo Welsh yard had been open, we'd have refilled the fuel tank, but since they weren't, and the alternative source at Kings Lock Chandlery was surrounded by boats, we didn't bother – I estimate we'd have taken on about 70 litres into a 200 litre tank, so we're a long way from desperate.
As I made the turn into the arm (technically the Wardle Canal) a couple of kids on the road above tried throwing snowballs at me, but without much success. It was the usual fiddle to get round into the arm – it's not the turn itself, but the very deep bridge 'ole over it that makes it fun – but the lock was empty and open, so I was able to go straight in.
As Sanity rose in the lock, Maureen came out of the lock cottage for a chat. Maureen is a bona fide boatwoman, born on a boat, and now living in the cottage so as to keep in touch with the cut. She's a great old girl, always full of anecdotes and advice.
On this occasion, she told us about some kids who'd come banging on her cottage door late one evening last autumn. A group of three, a 16 year old and two younger lads, they'd kept ringing her bell and banging the knockers on the door, occasionally stopping to shout through the letter box "Are you frightened yet?"
Maureen was, a bit, but that didn't stop her arming herself with a windlass and coming through a side door at them. A couple of dog walkers saw what was happening and came to her aid, and between them they restrained the three and marched them back to their parents. The ringleader, when confronted with the police, could only say in aggrieved tones "She hit me, but I'm not telling you where."
Maureen said "my old Dad always said, 'Hit 'em where it hurts'" and she made gestures of a rising blow between the knees. "I bet he was bruised the next day". The school had followed up the incident, and as a result there's been less trouble with kids around Middlewich since.
Maureen also said "If you see Water Rat on your way, tell him I've got a parcel for him" Later on, we did indeed see Water Rat tied on one of the excellent Shropshire Union Canal Society moorings, and passed on the message – a classic example of the towpath telegraph at work.
Before that, we'd stopped on the visitor moorings above the lock for lunch, it being 12.30 or so. Setting off again, we passed Nackered Navvy, Sue and Roger Burchett's boat. Roger was steering, and after exchanging greetings said that Sue was off in Reading, where they have a house.
We moored in Church Minshull by around 2.30. Church Minshull used to have a full range of amenities, and is where Tom and Angela Rolt spent part of the Second World War whilst Tom was writing the seminal classic Narrowboat and working at an aircraft engine factory nearby.
Now it doesn't even have a pub, and is a pretty lifeless place from our point of view. But the moorings are good, and it makes a useful half way point on the Middlewich Arm. It was still very pleasant winter weather, sunny but cold, so we spent a bit of time cutting wood before retreating into the boat.
This morning the weather was back to wet and windy, so we had another seriously late start. At least here we are tied to rings, and can set out a spring at the stern, so the boat is bouncing about a lot less.
We've spent the day cleaning the boat, baking bread from a kit, and I cut Sheila's hair. Tomorrow we hope that things will be a bit easier weather wise, and we can move on to Barbridge, then Nantwich on Tuesday.
We woke yesterday to find that it had been snowing overnight, and the boat was covered with a light coat of the stuff, now frozen on. However, we wanted to take advantage of the break in the bad weather, so made an effort and were away just after nine.
First stop was the water point below Big Lock, where we refilled the tank whilst running a washload. Then we worked up the lock and stopped again at the town mooring to shop and have a cup of coffee.
Next, up the Middlewich three we went. If the Anglo Welsh yard had been open, we'd have refilled the fuel tank, but since they weren't, and the alternative source at Kings Lock Chandlery was surrounded by boats, we didn't bother – I estimate we'd have taken on about 70 litres into a 200 litre tank, so we're a long way from desperate.
As I made the turn into the arm (technically the Wardle Canal) a couple of kids on the road above tried throwing snowballs at me, but without much success. It was the usual fiddle to get round into the arm – it's not the turn itself, but the very deep bridge 'ole over it that makes it fun – but the lock was empty and open, so I was able to go straight in.
As Sanity rose in the lock, Maureen came out of the lock cottage for a chat. Maureen is a bona fide boatwoman, born on a boat, and now living in the cottage so as to keep in touch with the cut. She's a great old girl, always full of anecdotes and advice.
On this occasion, she told us about some kids who'd come banging on her cottage door late one evening last autumn. A group of three, a 16 year old and two younger lads, they'd kept ringing her bell and banging the knockers on the door, occasionally stopping to shout through the letter box "Are you frightened yet?"
Maureen was, a bit, but that didn't stop her arming herself with a windlass and coming through a side door at them. A couple of dog walkers saw what was happening and came to her aid, and between them they restrained the three and marched them back to their parents. The ringleader, when confronted with the police, could only say in aggrieved tones "She hit me, but I'm not telling you where."
Maureen said "my old Dad always said, 'Hit 'em where it hurts'" and she made gestures of a rising blow between the knees. "I bet he was bruised the next day". The school had followed up the incident, and as a result there's been less trouble with kids around Middlewich since.
Maureen also said "If you see Water Rat on your way, tell him I've got a parcel for him" Later on, we did indeed see Water Rat tied on one of the excellent Shropshire Union Canal Society moorings, and passed on the message – a classic example of the towpath telegraph at work.
Before that, we'd stopped on the visitor moorings above the lock for lunch, it being 12.30 or so. Setting off again, we passed Nackered Navvy, Sue and Roger Burchett's boat. Roger was steering, and after exchanging greetings said that Sue was off in Reading, where they have a house.
We moored in Church Minshull by around 2.30. Church Minshull used to have a full range of amenities, and is where Tom and Angela Rolt spent part of the Second World War whilst Tom was writing the seminal classic Narrowboat and working at an aircraft engine factory nearby.
Now it doesn't even have a pub, and is a pretty lifeless place from our point of view. But the moorings are good, and it makes a useful half way point on the Middlewich Arm. It was still very pleasant winter weather, sunny but cold, so we spent a bit of time cutting wood before retreating into the boat.
This morning the weather was back to wet and windy, so we had another seriously late start. At least here we are tied to rings, and can set out a spring at the stern, so the boat is bouncing about a lot less.
We've spent the day cleaning the boat, baking bread from a kit, and I cut Sheila's hair. Tomorrow we hope that things will be a bit easier weather wise, and we can move on to Barbridge, then Nantwich on Tuesday.
Labels:
Church Minshull,
Croxton,
Middlewich
Friday, 1 February 2008
Windbound at Croxton
31st January & 1st February
I forgot to mention last time, Sheila says, that on Wednesday she spotted an unusual couple of birds over the field alongside the mooring. After careful inspection through the binoculars, and cross checking our bird book, she concluded that they were redwings. These are a winter visitor in these parts, and also a class of restricted design sailing dinghies formerly popular at Fishguard Bay Yacht Club.
Yesterday morning we made what can only be described as a seriously lazy start. The weather was sounding awful, we had no plans to go anywhere by boat, so we stayed put in bed until thirst for tea drove me forth to make some.
My main worry was the sound of the mooring lines creaking as the boat was blown about by the wind. I knew after our encounters with Cat Flap and Tinky Mac's yesterday that they weren't gripping the ever soggier mud desperately well. Checking after breakfast, however, confirmed that they were still hanging in there.
When we came back from a shopping trip into Middlewich, I set out the centre line as additional security. At first I just used one pin, but this immediately started to pull out (the wind was still blasting away something fierce) so I resorted to multi pinning, driving another through the eye on the top of the first one, and a third through the eye of the second, so that there is a splayed trident of pins holding the line down.
As may be imagined, the afternoon was spent in the boat: knitting, watching a DVD with a claim to have the daftest plot of anything Audrey Hepburn ever made (Paris when it sizzles) (both Sheila) and playing around with alternative ways of making web photo albums (me). I have three alternative strategies, using iPhoto, PhotoShop and Dreamweaver (which actually borrows Fireworks for the job)
The first is the simplest, but as iPhoto has only limited editing options, it means exporting the images, cleaning them up in PhotoShop and then reimporting them to iPhoto to make the album. As I've commented before, PhotoShop itself produces a very bloated set of files, much of them unnecessary since I'm adding my own templates in Dreamweaver.
The Fireworks/Dreamweaver bit has its own problems – the original images aren't rescaled, so you have to save them in web format in PhotoShop first, and then the result still needs faffing about with after the event. On the whole, I suspect iPhoto has it for simplicity of result, leaving me with plenty of options to play around with things in Dreamweaver afterwards.
The only other distraction yesterday was a stoppage notice from Waterscape.com which referred to the boating season (as opposed to the stoppage season, presumably). I sent an email back asking if, as we weren't in the boating season this month, I could have a refund on my licence.
This morning saw much of the same, really. Another seriously lazy start, on the same excuse, followed by a quick trip into Middlewich and then mucking about on the boat. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow, which is probably just as well, as we're getting short of water, and beginning to feel just a touch of cabin fever.
While I was off the boat, Sheila took a call from Karen at BW as a result of my email yesterday. I think they may have missed the point, as it was to reassure us that the stoppage referred to was coming off by the end of next week. Oh well, at least they're listening, all we have to do now is make them understand...
I forgot to mention last time, Sheila says, that on Wednesday she spotted an unusual couple of birds over the field alongside the mooring. After careful inspection through the binoculars, and cross checking our bird book, she concluded that they were redwings. These are a winter visitor in these parts, and also a class of restricted design sailing dinghies formerly popular at Fishguard Bay Yacht Club.
Yesterday morning we made what can only be described as a seriously lazy start. The weather was sounding awful, we had no plans to go anywhere by boat, so we stayed put in bed until thirst for tea drove me forth to make some.
My main worry was the sound of the mooring lines creaking as the boat was blown about by the wind. I knew after our encounters with Cat Flap and Tinky Mac's yesterday that they weren't gripping the ever soggier mud desperately well. Checking after breakfast, however, confirmed that they were still hanging in there.
When we came back from a shopping trip into Middlewich, I set out the centre line as additional security. At first I just used one pin, but this immediately started to pull out (the wind was still blasting away something fierce) so I resorted to multi pinning, driving another through the eye on the top of the first one, and a third through the eye of the second, so that there is a splayed trident of pins holding the line down.
As may be imagined, the afternoon was spent in the boat: knitting, watching a DVD with a claim to have the daftest plot of anything Audrey Hepburn ever made (Paris when it sizzles) (both Sheila) and playing around with alternative ways of making web photo albums (me). I have three alternative strategies, using iPhoto, PhotoShop and Dreamweaver (which actually borrows Fireworks for the job)
The first is the simplest, but as iPhoto has only limited editing options, it means exporting the images, cleaning them up in PhotoShop and then reimporting them to iPhoto to make the album. As I've commented before, PhotoShop itself produces a very bloated set of files, much of them unnecessary since I'm adding my own templates in Dreamweaver.
The Fireworks/Dreamweaver bit has its own problems – the original images aren't rescaled, so you have to save them in web format in PhotoShop first, and then the result still needs faffing about with after the event. On the whole, I suspect iPhoto has it for simplicity of result, leaving me with plenty of options to play around with things in Dreamweaver afterwards.
The only other distraction yesterday was a stoppage notice from Waterscape.com which referred to the boating season (as opposed to the stoppage season, presumably). I sent an email back asking if, as we weren't in the boating season this month, I could have a refund on my licence.
This morning saw much of the same, really. Another seriously lazy start, on the same excuse, followed by a quick trip into Middlewich and then mucking about on the boat. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow, which is probably just as well, as we're getting short of water, and beginning to feel just a touch of cabin fever.
While I was off the boat, Sheila took a call from Karen at BW as a result of my email yesterday. I think they may have missed the point, as it was to reassure us that the stoppage referred to was coming off by the end of next week. Oh well, at least they're listening, all we have to do now is make them understand...
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