Windy at Nantwich

No, we're not scared, it's just a bit breezy here, so as we'd planned (in plan D1.6 or so) we've stayed put and done a good bit of restocking. As well as the banal stuff at Morrisons, we went back in for a second load from Clewlow's the butchers and Julian Graves.

The former supplied us with sausages, mince, chicken and an excellent Hunter Pie for lunch, and the latter supplied lots of nuts, dried fruit and liquorice. (I apologise to those reading this who are trying to diet ;) )

For the rest of the time, we've lurked in the boat, doing IT stuff and generally having a day off boating.

Defra have published the consultation document on the move to a National Waterways Charity; I had a bit of a problem downloading this in Google Chrome, not helped by the fact that the 3 connection here was a bit dodgy yesterday, though it's been much better today. As a result, I've gone back to using Safari, the native web browser in Mac OS; it's not quite as fast with downloading a page, but is more functional in other ways.

We also wanted to scan a cartoon from today's Independent, and remembered that our HP psc 1210 printer/scanned/copier doesn't scan under the version of Mac OS on our new machines. I found a third party bit of software, VueScan, but don't want to pay the $40 to buy the full version. The trial version puts a watermark all over the scan, which was fine for the present purpose, but not for much else. The thing is, it would only be around £50 for a new machine, and if we got an Epson we'd be able to buy the inks as individual colours, rather than having to buy the three colour cartridges that the HP uses.

Looks like my birthday present problem is solve for this year; we'll just about have used up the stock of cartridges for the HP by October...

Wetly on to Nantwich

After yesterday's lapse, we had a quick dinner and an early night, but still got up in rather more leisurely fashion than usual this morning, partly because the forecast of rain overnight meant that we left the Houdini closed in the bedroom and the bung in, so didn't have the early sun in our faces.

We still managed a half eight start, with around three hours to do to get to Nantwich. First off, we stopped on the water point below Lock 13 and topped up the tank; the last few times we've filled it, we haven't wanted to hang around for one reason or another, and have stopped filling as soon as the gauge showed full, rather than waiting until the tank was brim full. This time, we gave it the full distance, and didn't get going again until around half nine.

I left Sheila bundled up on the stern for most of the run; it started off cloudy and cool, but gradually the rain came in, until by the time we got to Hack Green Locks, it was fairly tipping it down. We neither of us had put waterproof trousers on, so the wet ran off our jackets and soaked our trousers, not helped by the need to push balance beams and the like.

At last Nantwich hove into view; we've tied on the first set of visitor moorings, dropped the cratch for the first time for a few weeks and spent the afternoon snuggled up to the Squirrel. The Briar Rose came by after lunch with Geoff steering and Helen walking the dogs on the towpath, and a bit later, Autumn Years and Acen caught up with us and carried on by. They are heading up the Llangollen, so we won't see them again for a while.

We'd planned to shop this afternoon and go on to Barbridge tomorrow, but in view of the forecast, we'll stay here instead, and do two shopping sessions, one to Morrisons and one into town.

Late post from Audlem

At least, I think that's where it is...

We made our usual prompt start from Market Drayton this morning, after an uproarious evening with Calolrann, Josesphine, Jhono and Grime - I should say that John has now corrected the spelling of his wife's name on their blog, but that seems to be no reason to give up on such a creative idea.

We had a very pleasant cruise through Betton Wood (supposedly haunted, but we've never seen anything) and down Adderley Locks. This is a really nice flight, excellent position and so on, but sadly in need of maintenance. On we went, Sheila managing to do the breakfast washing up and make a cup of coffee before we arrived at the top of Audlem.

We were followed down that flight by an Anglo Welsh boat doing the Four Counties in a week; starting from Great Haywood on Saturday, they'd made it to here by Tuesday, and were planning on Barbridge for tonight. It sounds like an impossible schedule, frankly; they are half way through the week and nothing like half way round the ring, but I expect they'll make it up somehow.

We tied above Lock 12 at 11.45, four hours after setting off and had a leisurely lunch (the Anglo Welsh crew nipped into the Shroppie Fly for a quick pint before going on).

After lunch we went for a walk to see where the new Overwater Marina is, and on our return, thinking fondly of a cup of tea, found Acen and Autumn Years tied behind us. So we had the cup of tea on Autumn Years, and then seemed to start drinking red wine for some reason.

As a result, here I am cooking dinner and doing this blog post at nearly seven o'clock.

What a merry life.

To and fro to the shops

It's been a heavy burst of retail therapy today, with another two trips into town, first to Morrisons for more groceries, and then to the town centre. I got a prescription filled at Boots, and we found the home made chocolate shop, Tuesday's, where £11 was spent effortlessly; other visitors to Market Drayton, you have been warned!

Back at the boat, I started the engine whilst we ate lunch, so that things were warmed up enough to run a washload by the time we'd finished. The weather had been very foggy and chilly all morning, but by the time the washing was done, it was another glorious day, ideal for drying.

We'd been forewarned by text, so were not surprised to see Autumn Years and Acen turn up in the early afternoon. We've had one good old natter already, and Carolann and Graham, and Jo and John are coming round for a drink tonight. Amongst many other things, we learnt that John is now keeping a blog, though I note from my first viewing of it that he's a bit unsure about the spelling of Jo's full name ;).

After I've posted this, Sheila is going to cut my hair, giving me time to get a shower and to cook and eat dinner before our guests arrive.

Market Drayton once more

To my surprise, it's over three years since we were last here, when we had an entertaining time in the cold weather, with a bit of ice floating around (ha!). It's one of our favourite canalside towns, with loads of facilities and good moorings.

Thanks to the the hour going on this morning, we were able to get up and get going by eight without feeling we'd been lazing around.

It was Sheila's turn to steer, and I can't say I was sorry, as the cold easterly wind continued to make life quite bracing on the back. In these circumstances, we go for the multilayered look these days; woolly jumper, fleece sleeveless gilet, fleece jacket and then a waterproof over it all, more to keep the wind out than because we were expecting precipitation.

I took over from time to time to let her go below and thaw out a bit; this is where the combination of the Squirrel warming the saloon and the engine supplied central heating warming the back of the boat really makes a difference.

We had a bit of a fright at Woodseaves; Sheila had lined up to go through the first bridge when a green painted boat popped out from behind the abutment and occasioned much reversing and swinging about to get out of their way. It was the only boat we saw in the cutting, however, so could have been much worse. We scraped past the site of the rockfall waiting to be cleared away – there's a bit underwater between the towpath and the boom which Sanity Again just got over.

Once clear of the cutting, we chugged on to the top of Tyrley and followed the ex-Ownerships boat Sandpiper down the flight. We've both moored on the first set of visitor moorings in MD, the ones on the embankment. This gives a longer walk to Morrisons, but is much quieter than the ones further along.

By now it was officially lunchtime, so I made the remaining two rolls from yesterday into Ben Gunn's favourite meal, cheese on toast, and we had a mug of soup with it. This restored us sufficiently to walk to Morrisons and get a couple of pasties for part 2 of lunch.

Since then, I've submitted our census form online, and taken phone calls from Andrew Denny at Waterways World, and from Elanor.

Andrew tells me, with some justified irritation, that the business about the HS2 route intersecting with various bits of canal has been being researched by him for several weeks now, hence the very complete FOI reply that Chris Wells got out of BW. Because Chris has been able to put it out on his blog, Andrew's piece in next month's WW will look as if he's lifted it from Chris, when in effect it's the other way round.

It's a hard life, though the fact that the Granny Buttons blog used to run stories like this all the time makes it something of a poacher turned gamekeeper situation.

Elanor filled me in on Sally's first encounter with the shower. Whilst rummaging in her favourite field last evening, Sally made a misjudgment about wading in a pond, and fell in. She came back to Elanor covered on pond slime, and had to be showered off when they got home. Sally didn't appreciate this; the shower is over the bath, and Elanor described her standing in the bath with her head hanging over the side in abject despair.

Elanor doesn't have any dog shampoo in the house at the moment, so Sally is still a little odiferous, not helped by the fact that she also found the very old remains of both a goose and a swan, and scoffed some of the bones from both.

We're going to stay here tomorrow, stocking up and loafing about, then we'll probably amble on to Nantwich.

Suddenly...

... it's turned cold again. The problem with this is that, after the improbably warm weather of the past few days, it feels really chilly, although it's probably not actually all that cold for the time of year. It's given us an excuse to stoke up the fire and have a mug of soup with lunch, so it's not all loss, I guess. Nonetheless, it was strange to be back in multiple layers of wool and fleece, and the fleece beanie rather than a baseball cap.

We took a bit more time to get going today, as we wanted to get a pump out from Norbury Wharf, which was only about an hour's boating away. Not much to report from the trip; not bad, not special, just a steady chug through gradually improving conditions.

We stopped on the water point, as the tank was down to about a quarter full, and I checked that we could get a pump out (some hire yards are a bit iffy about doing private pump outs on a turn round day, but not this one).

It took a bit of manoeuvring to get Sanity Again onto the service wharf the right way round, especially as there were a lot of other boats about, but it got done without too much drama, and we duly got pumped out. An average job, reasonable rinse out, nothing special, which would have been fine if it didn't cost £17 (£20 if you have "blue"). They may be very reasonable for docking and blacking, but that's a bit of a rip off, frankly. A 13 kg cylinder of propane was the standard £25.49, so no complaints about the deal there, even if gas is getting to be horribly expensive.

Then came the challenge of coming back off the service wharf and winding to carry on towards Market Drayton. I decided to put the bow into the arm that leads to the dry dock; this would have been fine, but just as I was lining up, a privateer came zooming through the narrows by the water point. I stopped, and one of the guys on the other boat asked if I was OK.

With commendable restraint (no rude words at all, honest) I explained that he'd just made my life a bit more complicated than I wanted. As they wanted to turn as well, we ended up doing a little doh-see-doh, and finally got round, but it would have been so much easier (as so often) if he'd just had the common to hold back and let me finish my evolutions before starting his own.

We'd planned to go on to Goldstone Wharf today, but realised we'd have a pretty late lunch if we did, so we've stopped at the Anchor at High Onn for the night; an early start tomorrow will still get us to Market Drayton in time to get a loaf of bread for lunch.

Meantime, Chris Wells on his blog about Bella points out that the plans for the High Speed Rail link will sever the Trent and Mersey to navigation just above Fradley, with two crossings at 1.5 and 1 metre above water level. I've alerted various folks to the situation; hopefully a sensible solution will be forthcoming, assuming that the wretched vanity project ever goes ahead, of course.

FOI stuff here, if you're interested.

and now, it's Gnosall

Just as I was finishing off the blog last night, who should appear but Windsong and Serenity. We knew they were coming up from behind, so weren't too surprised to see them. It's always nice to catch up with fellow bloggers, and we had a good old natter in the wonderful sunshine.

The mooring at Bridge 7 would be absolutely idyllic, were it not for the M54, the noise from which can be heard as a continuous gentle roar, dying down a little at night. It's not as bad as many locations, but it is a shame that so many of our most rural stretches of canal have been affected by motorway construction.

Notwithstanding the background sounds, we had a decent night's kip, and were up even earlier than before, setting off at half seven to take advantage of the morning's beauty. As we were working down the lone lock of today's programme, Wheaton Aston, Sheila got into conversation with Jim and Sheena off Arlanza, who are thinking about their next boat, and admitted to an interest in getting a Braidbar. The upshot was that we stopped on the towpath below the lock and showed them round Sanity Again.

They made all the right noises (what judgment! what taste!), and we hope to see them again at Crick Show. This took up a bit of time, and a bit more was spent on the nice new wharf at Turner's, filling up with red diesel at 74.9 pence per litre for domestic use.

It all put us back a shade, schedulewise, so we had lunch on the move, or rather, I did, and Sheila was just starting hers when Cowley Tunnel appeared in the distance. We've tied on the first set of visitor moorings; there's a good 3 signal here, but almost no Vodafone one, unless you prowl up and down the towpath or climb the bank alongside it, when a measly single bar appears on the phone.

It takes you back to the bad old days, when mobile phone networks were just spreading out from the towns. No matter, it's another great location, with a butcher and a general store just down the road. It's going to be pork "escallops" (the butcher's name for them; they look like loin chops to me) with garlic marinade, mash and sweetcorn tonight.

Onto the Shroppie

Fine night, early start, this is getting to be a habit (yes, please). By ten to eight we were on our way on a morning which had been quite foggy at six, but which was just settling down to be another beautiful day as we set off.

The summit pound was quite low, and has been dredged here and there, but with seriously shallow bits in between. I had a hard time getting Sanity Again round a couple of the tighter bends, with the bow and stern both trying to stem up, whilst the centre bridged the silt that always builds up on the inside of the bend. At one point, I was standing out on the stern deck with my posterior shoving the helm down as if it were the balance beam of a particularly heavy gate.

No matter, things improved as we reached Coven, and on some stretches she was fairly flying along. Yet another washload was run, taking advantage of the good drying weather whilst we've got it. Life got a bit tricky when we got to Autherley Junction, or Cut End. Coming from the north, you have to turn back on yourself to get into the end of the Shroppie, and it's hard to see if there's anything coming up the stop lock. Sheila was on the bow, standing on the locker, in fact, and initially gave me the thumbs up, so I started to make the tight turn. Half way into it, she signalled a boat coming out, so I decided to complete the turn, then back down the Staffs and Worcs to let him out.

This worked reasonably well, considering that this was one of the undredged bits, and we lay against the towpath beyond the junction. Once the other boat had emerged, some more work was  required to get the bow into the hole again, especially as we'd run aground just off the towpath. After a bit of A-level swearing we made it, and emerged onto the Shroppie.

This is the scene of the 2008 IWA National, and my feet felt damp just looking around. We stopped on the towpath by Bridge 2, and Sheila went off to Morrisons in search of bread and a paper, leaving me on anchor watch. This isn't an area where I'd leave my boat unattended, or stop overnight, though others of more robust disposition do.

Just as Sheila came back, who should come through the bridge hole but Scoobie and Rita on Festina Lente. They pulled up alongside and we had a good old natter. They were cruising in company with Snowgoose, and had got off half an hour ahead of their partner because they wanted to do some boat washing and then fill up with water at the water point.

By the time we'd exchanged all the goss, most of this time had gone, I fear, and we met Snowgoose opposite Wolves Boat Club, just one bridge further on. Nonetheless, it was great to meet up with them; one of these days we'll actually be in the same place overnight and can do the job properly.

We've come on to the SUCS moorings at Bridge 7, an excellent spot, nicely out in the countryside, and with good mobile phone and (I'm told) TV signals. We've had a quiet afternoon, though Sheila picked up on a casual remark of mine, that the end of the long shaft could be prevented from making a mess of the roof by putting a Turk's Head round it, by doing just that in white nylon cord.

Up the Staffs and Worcs

In the continuing fine weather (who says we never have a summer?), we've come up the final locks onto the summit of the Staffs and Worcs. On the way we passed Otherton Boat Haven, where we left Sanity on one occasion to take a train across to Lincolnshire.

It doesn't look to have changed very much; I commented at the time that it was no more than average, with not particularly welcoming staff, and limited opening hours in the office. One of the more laid back operations, I said; ramshackle would be another word for it, frankly.

We'd been warned that Rodbaston Lock was leaking badly through the top cill, but when we got there, a share boat steered by Alan Sensicle was just coming out of it, and he shouted across to me that they'd had an emergency stoppage yesterday and fixed it. It was indeed no problem today :)

On we merrily chugged; I was lockwheeling and walked the last few up to Gailey, where we found a Fire and Rescue crew practising pumping water out of the cut and then squirting it back in again. The canal was very congested past the mooring above the lock; Viking clearly don't have many boats out yet either.

Then it was a case of the gentle cruise past the chemical works at Four Ashes to the mooring by Long Moll's Bridge that we've used before. It's just a bit before Hatherton Junction, where the pub is still trading, but doesn't seem to have moved on past the advertised Stage 1; the "temporary sign" is still promising all sorts of goodies like a shop and boatyard services, but there's not much sign of them yet.

We took a walk past there this afternoon; if you go on to the next bridge, you can follow a farm track across to the minor road that leads to Long Moll's and so back to the boat.

For the rest, we've been sitting out on the bow, drinking tea, reading and enjoying the sun. Sheila at one point threatened to change into shorts, but we agreed that this would constitute "casting a clout" and there's no sign of hawthorn blossom yet. (I believe in the floral rather than the calendular interpretation of the saying.)

We've also filled in most of our census form on line; I'm just waiting to see if we do indeed end up at Market Drayton on Sunday as I've predicted before submitting it.

Summer continues in Penkridge

Another night with the Houdini propped open, another early(ish) start saw us heading for Penkridge, getting a cheerful wave from the guy in the very small GRP cruiser tied in front of us who came round to borrow a jar of granulated last night (I kid you not).

It was pretty straightforward boating in ideal conditions, no wind, blue sky, warm sun. And it's still March, the clocks haven't even gone on yet...

There's been a certain amount of traffic about, though most of the hire boats are still in their yards. BW were loading a workboat at the foot of Park Gate Lock, by Midland Chandlers and Teddesley Boats, but as soon as we'd gone past and into the lock they winded and set off in the other direction. MC had had a Freaky Friday discount day last Friday – are they feeling the pinch and having to discount stock to get it moving?

There was plenty of room on the moorings below the lock; we'd started a washload on the way, and had to leave the engine running for a bit whilst it finished rinsing and spun down. It's mostly out on the whirligig now, drying in the continuing fine weather, though it's clouded over a bit this afternoon. Another three boats have rolled up this afternoon, so I think we'll be making another early start tomorrow.

We did a good shop in town, finding the other butcher on the main road (I went off the one nearest the Co-op last time I was here on my own, when he short changed me, and I found his meat a bit average into the bargain).

The real turn up for the books is that BW have repaired the towpath on the lock landing below Penkridge Lock. This was the one they'd fenced off, the collapse was getting so bad, so it's a real boost to see that they can still find the cash to do some much needed repairs.

Elanor phoned this afternoon; our census form has arrived, and she's texted us the number code to use to fill in the census online.

And finally... as I was typing this post, Sheila was outside cleaning the windows. A group of three came past, Mum, Granny and small child. They were carrying a mallard duck, and explained that they'd rescued it "because two drakes were trying to drown it". As Sheila says, how do you start to explain? There's a photo here if any of you haven't a clue as to what I'm on about...

They carefully put the stunned looking duck in the water in front of Sanity Again, and were very concerned because the two drakes had, of course, followed it, and got right back to work, as you they would in the circumstances.

I'm reminded of the Noel Coward story of his being asked by a young relation why there were two doggies in the street with one climbing on the back of the other:

"Well, you see, the doggy underneath is blind, and the one on top is showing it the way home..."

Feels more like summer

Last night was so mild that we slept with the bedroom Houdini cracked open for the first time this year. During the cold weather, the condensation on the Houdini frame is too much to put up with, so we close it, and cover it with the square bung. This means sleeping in a very dark room, and we much prefer, when it's feasible, to keep the hatch just a little open (propped on a wine cork) so that we get the benefit of the early morning sun.

In turn, this means that we are up and about earlier, and can start boating earlier, always a good idea during busy periods on the cut.

Today, we were off at eight; Sheila winded Sanity Again in the Wide and took her back to the junction to get water. We had planned to wait until Penkridge, but a bag full of accumulating washing changed our minds. Sheila executed a neat turn and reverse in the junction, so that we ended up on the water point facing back the way we had come. Her task was made more interesting by a collection of Anglo Welsh boats tied on some of the water point moorings; they really should try renting some out to make some money and space on the moorings.

I popped into the village to get a paper, and came back to find the tank half full and a queue forming for the two water points.

Once filled up, off we went again, back round the junction and on to Tixall Lock. I worked us up, then started the washing machine as we were now on the long pound round Stafford. The bridge at Radford Bank is now much easier to negotiate, the crazy girdering on the offside having been replaced by a neat bit of banking.

By midday we'd passed Stafford Boat Club, who now have an impressive new iron bridge across the entrance to their marina. You can tell it's new, there are still netting barriers across the ends of it, presumably whilst the paint dries.

A boat passed us going the other way as we left SBC, and so we found Deptmore Lock with us. You can tell that the Staffs and Worcs is an old canal by the way that the lock depths vary. Tixall is quite shallow, and Deptmore is one of the deepest on the system. Later canals, such as the Shroppie, have locks all about the same depth, so that the same volume of water accompanies you down the canal.

We tied just above Deptmore in glorious sunshine, and hung the washing out to dry on the whirligig before eating a slightly late lunch. We'd not long finished when Free Spirit came by, crewed by fellow blue shirts from the IWA Festival team. We gave them a hand to work down the lock. As we did so, I realised I'd not bothered to put my jumper back on, having been sitting in the boat in my shirt sleeves.

It felt seriously summery, really quite strange when it was so cold in the easterly wind just a few days ago.

It must be this supermoon they keep on about ;) .

A short trip

As I tweeted, it turned out Sheila didn't need to go to Lincoln after all, so Elanor and Sally came across just to visit this afternoon, and we boated round the corner from Great Haywood to Tixall Wide. This means that the young ladies will walk back to the Farm Shop Car Park in a while, giving Sally a bit of a walk in the process.

Sally was very excited to be boating again, standing on the bow locker lid and bawling insults at any passing ducks. A couple of guys on the towpath wondered if she was the product of a Jack Russell/Doberman cross, which leaves the mind boggling slightly. Maybe they were feeling cheerful for substance related reasons...

Otherwise it's been a pretty quiet day, though we did get the bed changed this morning (gosh...)

The other positive was that Elanor brought the repaired barometer with her, and I've restored it to its rightful place on the galley bulkhead. All in all, excellent service from FCC Precision.

Tomorrow, we'll head on down the Staffs and Worcs, probably to a mooring between Deptmore Lock and Acton Trussell, then on again to Penkridge the next day. We had planned to water at Great Haywood, but the water point was pretty crowded, with Anglo Welsh boats tied on the junction end of it blocking a clear view of just how much length there was to tie on.

We've got between a quarter and half a tank (OK, we've got three eighths of a tank), so we should last until the next water point at Penkridge, the one at Milford Wharf having gone.

Sitting (and working) in the sun at Great Haywood

It's possible that Sheila might be needed as an emergency babysitter over at Lincoln tomorrow (no alarums, just a sudden change of plan for Graeme, who's had to go away suddenly), so to make the logistics simpler, we've stayed at Great Haywood today, enjoying the warm, sunny weather. That way, Elanor can pop over here, collect Sheila and take her over there.

We took advantage of the situation to do some serious spring cleaning. Sheila ran a washload whilst the engine was running for battery charging purposes, and hung it out on the whirligig to dry. After lunch, we swept and then washed the whole floor, and I polished the shelves and panelling with Pledge.

After a break to recover, we cleared everything out of the well deck, and Sheila washed it whilst I took a load of recycling to the bins.

We're now just waiting to hear from Cathy if she needs Sheila over there.

It means we're not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow. If Sheila goes off, I may put in an extra night here, and then gently single hand towards Penkridge on Monday. If Sheila's still here, we'll do that tomorrow instead.

A bit further than we meant

We left just a bit later than I'd meant to this morning, after a quiet night at Handsacre; a mooring to be recommended. It was very pleasant boating; Spring seems to be back again, and we made good time to Rugeley, arriving at half ten.

Morrisons supplied a lot of fresh stuff we needed, and the hardware shop produced a flue brush for £4.99, a lot less than we'd have paid at Midland Chandlers, methinks. Back at the boat, unpacking and stowing away was interrupted by a knock on the roof; it was one of Tim Tyler's guys, who lives nearby and had recognised his own work in the shape (literally) of Sanity Again's josher bow.

We had a good old natter, then settled down for lunch. By one, we were ready for the off. I'd planned to stop at Wolseley Bridge tonight, through the bridge where it's sunny, rather than under the trees. There was just the one boat on shady side, but a huge collection where we'd planned to stop. We might have squeezed in, but a lot of them had gennies poised menacingly on their sterns, so we decided to go on at least to Little Haywood.

Up Colwich we went, and lo and behold, lots more of the usual suspects at Little Haywood. So we've come on to Great Haywood, tying above the lock for the night. Good phone signals here, unlike the prettier bit below the lock, which is screened form the local masts by the railway embankment, I guess.

We've had a go with the High Strength Stain Remover, and it has indeed cleaned off the tar run from the side of the cabin. It's also been very effective at removing staining from around the exhaust outlet, so a useful product. It's taken the polish off, as we were warned it would, so that's a job for the morning.

A different mooring and some overseas stuff

If not thrashing on, the trip from Fradley to the far side of Rugeley usually takes us two days, and that means we have to think about having enough fresh stuff on board. This time, we knew that we would be short of bread, so before we set off this morning, Sheila kneaded up a batch of dough from a bread kit (Allinson's Multigrain) and I put it in a just warmed oven to rise whilst we worked up Fradley.

All went smoothly, so that before ten we were up Woodend and the rolls were nicely risen. I popped them in the oven, and Sheila suffered torments steering on a chilly morning with the smell of baking bread drifting out of the cabin.

Lockwheeling duties done, I whiled away the time checking email and having a look at where the recent hits on the blog had come from. To my surprise, two of them were from Tokyo or its environs. Whoever you are, I'm glad if browsing my websites gives you some relief from your present anxieties, and I hope that all turns out well for you and yours.

Another person reading from far away is Jacqueline, from Pullman WA, and whose comment on Tuesday's post confirms much of what I already knew about the dangers of an American style healthcare system. It always amazes me that such an advanced nation is still so scared of anything smacking of "socialism" that they put up with one of the most expensive yet least effective health services in the developed world.

As I said at the time, this isn't a political blog, so I've probably said enough!

Instead of stopping at Kings Bromley, we've come on to Handsacre for a change. There's usually quite a crowd of lurkers here by the Crown Inn, but we're on our own for once. There are some shops a short walk away from here, so I've been able to get a paper today.

A good news story to finish: the other day, my precious clock barometer, 60th birthday present from the offspring, jumped off its fixing on the galley bulkhead and fell to the floor via the worksurface. The clock survived, but the barometer was clearly very sick. I emailed the manufacturer, FCC Precision, and they told me to take the barometer bit off the back board and mail it back to them. We did this yesterday, and today I had a phone call from Tessa to say that she's been able to fit a new movement in the case, and for a charge of just £12.75 would mail it back to me.

That's service!

One last day at Fradley

Things are coming together here. We sold a book (Pratchett's Going Postal) on eBay yesterday, so we walked into Fradley this morning to send it off, and to buy a paper (surprise!). The rest of the day has been spent in the boat; it's dull and grey outside, with what little wind there is from the East, so it's been chilly too.

This morning, we had a nice phone call from Susan Mason at Braidbar to discuss the arrangements for Crick Show. It's just amazing how winter seems to drag on forever (especially this year), then, suddenly, it's all bustle and we're thinking about stuff for the end of May.

By then, we'll have been right up the Shroppie, hopefully, come back to Norbury Junction for our blacking, then back to Alrewas for dental check ups. We're thinking of going on past Crick to Market Harborough after that, just to use up some time and probably meet with Jo and Keith on Hadar somewhere along the line.

This afternoon, Elanor arrived with Sally and some post, especially the bottle of High Strength Cleaner. The invoice for it noted that the line has been discontinued, which is a shame if true and it's as good as we've been told, and would also explain why the first supplier couldn't get hold of any.

There was also a confirmation from Mercia Marina of our booking for a winter mooring next year; they seem much more organised than Great Haywood. It'll be interesting to see how it works out in practice; we've even been told our berth number already.

To celebrate getting away properly, we're going to have a meal in the Swan tonight; any excuse to get out of cooking. ;)

Long day's boating to Fradley

We're still expecting a couple of items in the post to Elanor's, so don't want to leave the area too quickly. Accordingly, we've had an easy trip to Fradley today, leaving Alrewas at nine, and arriving here by half ten. Sheila was lockwheeling, and as Sanity Again rose in Hunt's Lock, she walked ahead to set Keepers, all the locks having been against us from Alrewas.

When she came back to close the top gate of Hunt's, she looked grimly at me (can't blame her, really) and observed that there was a problem on the visitor moorings. My heart sank, as it would have been a real bind to have to go on to above Shade House.

She then said "We've got to choose; moor above the boat that's already there, or below it?"

There was indeed just one other boat here. Quite a contrast from our arrival in January, when the moorings were crowded with lurkers.

We settled down above the other boat; there's been a bit of coming and going since, and I've dispensed an old bread crust (high quality multi-seeded, good for them, not like white Spontex type bread) to some of the amazing range of ducks that hang about here.

They all have mallard in them somewhere, with a varied admixture of Aylesbury and ruddy, I reckon. At any rate, it makes for an interesting variety, that's for sure.

We've spent the rest of the day catching up with emails and the like. I chased up one of our expected packets, the International Paints High Strength Cleaner, and it's on its way, hurray.

Now: I don't often mention political type stuff here; it's not that I don't have firm views on some things, but this isn't that sort of blog, and anyway, all are entitled to their opinions and to advice about living on the cut, but I am seriously worried about this government's plans for the NHS, which seem to me to open the back door to a creeping privatisation.

If any of my readers in the UK feel the same, there's a petition you can sign on the 38 Degrees website. This is the organisation that mounted such an effective campaign against selling off England's forests, so they do achieve their goals at least some of the time.

Finally finished with Alrewas (for a while)

It was an early start this morning, so that I could be on the doorstep of the surgery at ten past eight. This meant that I got an early appointment to see the GP, and was all done by nine. Sheila was getting sorted as I came out, so by half nine we'd finished with the whole health bit for the time being. I'd not hesitate to recommend Alrewas as the boater's GP, and once the new arrangements are in place,whereby you'll be able to register at any practice of your choice, they'll be ideal for the continuous cruising liveaboard.

Back at the boat, we ran the engine and did a washload, and Sheila hung it out to dry on the whirligig. Although it's no longer the weekend, there has continued to be a parade of passers-by on the towpath, taking advantage of the spring sunshine.

The moorings emptied and refilled during the day, so here at least, at the moment at least, the system is working reasonably well. Having said that, some of the new arrivals are well known to us as local lurkers, so I may be being my usual optimistic self.

As planned, Elanor and Sally turned up after lunch, and Sheila took Sal for a walk whilst Elanor and I went to Morrisons and stocked up on the heavy goods like wine, milk and rice. They're going to stay for dinner, and then go on to the obedience class which is held nearby.

Tomorrow, we'll head off towards the Shroppie, going in gentle stages, probably only as far as Fradley for starters.

Gosh, it's Alrewas again

We had a good morning's boating, despite the weather, which was wet and cold to start. As the day went on, the rain eased and the sun began to peep through, and now, as I type this, there's a bright sun, though still with a cool breeze.

We stopped at Barton Turn to water, then toddled on past a number of boats coming the other way, to finish at Alrewas just after midday. We'd thought that we might have left it a bit late to get here (the optimum, we reckon, is between half ten and half eleven, after folk have set off boating, but before they stop for lunch) but there were several spaces on the moorings between the river lock and the water point, next to what used to be Rebel's field.

After a well earned lunch, we cut up some wood that Elanor had brought us (the remains of a redundant bed) and actually sat out in the bow reading for a bit, without even wearing coats. It was, to be honest, just a tad too cold for that, but it was very pleasant all the same.

The rest of the afternoon has been spent indoors, but enjoying the sun streaming through the portholes and side hatches, and seeing lots of folk strolling by on the towpath taking a Sunday afternoon constitutional.

Tomorrow, we both have business at the surgery, and Elanor is coming over in the afternoon to deliver post and take me to Morrisons for a mega shop. Then on Tuesday, hopefully, we'll at last get away altogether, destination Norbury Wharf in just under a month's time.

Pottering at Branston

We've had a quiet day at Branston, pottering about, with a trip to Morrisons first thing, then internet stuff and reading the paper back at the boat.

We did stir ourselves after lunch, it being very pleasant out, and washed the port side of the boat. It still has a long streak of tar down it where stuff from the chimney has run back along the gutter and dribbled down the side, but once the stain remover arrives we'll be able to get rid of that, hopefully. At least the dodge with foam between the two skins of the chimneys has worked a treat; we've had no further eruptions since then.

Big event of the afternoon, just after lunch, in fact, was seeing Granny Buttons passing by. Not only was iconic blogger Andrew Denny steering, he had as crew the fons et origo of the Pearson's Canal Companions, Michael Pearson himself.

Being Andrew, photos were taken of me leaning out of the side hatches waving a handful of the guides, all good fun and the kind of thing that makes life on board so worthwhile. You'd be unlikely to look out of your lounge window on a Saturday lunchtime in Spring and see someone whose work you've admired for years passing by, would you?

Springtime Boating

After a good night’s sleep – the first bit of visitor mooring after the road bridge is the best in Willington, I reckon – we were up betimes and boating by half eight. Rather than try to wind in the rather congested winding hole by the service block, we went on to the marina entrance and winded there. It’s about 10 minutes boating each way, but worth it for the lack of hassle.

A pleasant morning’s boating was only marred by the cold wind in my face. The sun was shining, and it generally felt like Spring, just very chilly. On the way we crossed with Sunset Song, who follow this blog; good to see you!

We went into Shobnall for a pump out, and got three 25 kg bags of Mixed Ovals for a very reasonable £9.50 each. Hopefully, that will see us through this month, as our fuel use is declining with the warmer weather.

We’ve tied at Branston again, right on the eastern end of the visitor mooring, the first bit you come to after the lock, where the 3 signal is useable, just about.

We’ve had a quiet afternoon, and plan to stay here tomorrow, going on to Alrewas on Sunday. I chased up our more-than-week old order for International Paints High Strength Stain Remover from Marinescene. They’ve now admitted that they can’t source it, so I’ve cancelled that order and reordered from Mailspeed Marine; let’s hope that they do have some in stock as they claim on their website!

Windy Willington

It was indeed a good move to stay put and beg a lift for Sheila from Elanor today; the wind has been quite dramatic at times, real boat rocking stuff. Nonetheless we had a peaceful night; there were some kids charging about and shouting during the evening, but never in a particularly threatening way, and anyway, being part of a long line of moored boats is itself reassuring.

Today, we pottered about, getting a paper from the Co-op and both Canal Boat and Waterways World from the newsagent/Post Office. This meant that we found out that for the third year in a row we've been in the money entering Martin Ludgate's Christmas Quiz, so that's another bottle of Famous Grouse to dispose of.

Sigh.

Doesn't anybody else enter this quiz? For the second year running, they only gave out two prizes, though the original offer was that the best three, or three out of the hat if there's a draw, would get a prize. Counting up the scores, we reckon we got 67 right out of 70, one of our best yet.

Elanor rolled up after lunch and took Sheila away whilst I took Sally for a walk along the towpath. All this went well, and Elanor has just gone off again to take Sally to agility.

We'll have a quiet night, then back to Branston tomorrow, stopping at Shobnall for a pump out and maybe some more coal.

Noisy night, windy day, nice marina

After a reassuring visit to the clinic, I got back to the boat just as Elanor and Sally turned up. They hopped on board, and we set off in the direction of Willington. It's been a while since Sally was actually boating with us, and she thoroughly enjoyed it, standing on the bow locker shouting insults at the ducks and, when she saw other dogs on the towpath, sitting down with her nose in the air as we glided past.

They abandoned ship as we passed the Mill House pub, so that they could have a good walk back to Elanor's house, and we chugged on. We'd originally intended to get just out of the built up area, stopping at Egginton wharf, say, but it was a lovely afternoon for boating, with the forecast not nearly so good for today, so we decided to go a bit further, leaving ourselves less to do in poorer conditions.

We stopped near Bridge 25, by the big ex-gravel pit there; we've stopped there before, and it seemed like a good idea to do so again. With hindsight, we should have gone just a bit further on, through the bridge, despite the lure of the Armco on the Burton side (you have to use pins on the other side).

The mooring was affected by both the road noise from the A38, and the train noise from the Burton – Derby line. What's more, as the night went on, Sanity Again snuggled up to the bank a bit more and sat up on a rock, so that there was a grinding noise from below the stern all night.

It didn't encourage a good night's sleep, and we were glad when the dawn arrived. A quick chug took us on to Willington, where there was plenty of space on the 48 hour mooring. The original plan had been to reverse the route tomorrow, as Sheila has a clinic appointment in the afternoon, but with winds of 25mph gusting 48mph forecast, we're going to sit tight and get Elanor to provide a taxi service.

If things have calmed down by Friday, we'll go back to Branston then, probably.

Meantime, we took a walk to Mercia Marina this afternoon, since we had it in mind to spend next winter there. It is indeed a very nice place, and a moorer we spoke to in the laundry was very enthusiastic about it. The facilities look to be even better than Great Haywood, with the services blocks closer to the pontoons.

What's more, if we booked straight away, we'd get it at this year's prices, slightly less than we've just paid at Great Haywood, so that's what we did.

On to Burton

Better than going for a Burton, anyway. The internet connection at Branston was quite tedious to deal with. I'd bought a 24 hour pass from O₂ the day before yesterday, and that ran out just after lunch. I didn't want to cough up another couple of quid for the afternoon, so used the Vodafone phone as a bluetooth modem.

That costs 50p for 50 Mb, so just what's needed for a bit of fill in coverage. The problems were, a) it took a while to persuade Sheila's MacBook to agree to use the connection via my Mac Mini, and b) it was very slow, and got slower as the day went on. In the end, we just gave up. It was too much hassle, knowing that we would be back in a good coverage area today.

Apart from that, it was very pleasant at Branston. The sun shone, we pottered about, and in the afternoon Elanor drove over with a bunch of books to swap for some of ours on the boat. (She keeps a library for us at her house.)

She ate dinner with us and went on to obedience training with Sally. She continues to wrestle with the problem of persuading Sally to recall when there are bunnies about, but apart from that she's coming on well; they achieved the Silver Good Citizen standard last week. The trainer at Capable Canines reckons that hunting dogs will hunt, and that there's only a limited amount you can do to persuade them not to.

Today, we made a relaxed start, then ambled through to Shobnall, tying by Jannel cruisers yard first off. I took some recycling round to the tip, then we both walked up the road to the Marston's Brewery Shop for some supplies.

After a coffee back on the boat, we chugged on to Shobnall Fields for the afternoon. I can easily walk to the hospital for my clinic appointment from here, but we won't stop overnight. Instead, when I get back from the hospital, we'll carry on out into the country a bit for the sake of a quiet night.

This is where the IWA National Festival will be this year. We remember the last one here, in 2004, very well, but it's still hard to see just where all the boats will fit in this time round. I'll be blogging about it on the dedicated blog, now called Shobnall Fields Forever, so you'll be able to see from that just how the Waterspace Team manages it.

A busier day

Lots to talk about today; we've come down to Branston, as planned, stopping to water on the way. Not a very good 3 signal here (in fact, virtually none) so I've set up the O₂ PAYG dongle instead. We'll stay here tomorrow, then go on through Burton, stopping for my clinic appointment on the way, on Tuesday.

We were down to our last scuttle full of coal (actually smokeless fuel, but you know what I mean) so called in at Barton Marina to get some more. They were almost out as well, but I've got three bags of coal briquettes to keep us going.

Not cheap at £10 for a 20 kg bag, but with any luck buying them will mean we now have unbroken warm weather until October.

Well, I can dream.

Some funnies to celebrate Spring:

1) Elanor brought our BW renewal notice which arrived the other day, walking Sally here from Stretton. It had indeed been printed on the 21 February, as we were told at Fradley, but the envelope franking showed that it hadn't been put in the post until 2 March.

2) We got a card to send to Graeme and Cathy for their wedding anniversary. It was in a cellophane sleeve, which had a sticker on it: "Remove wrap before sending"

3) When we arrived at Barton Lock, it was  empty, and Sheila, who was lockwheeling, could see a boat approaching, so opened the bottom gates for them. Nonetheless, they tied on the lock landing, so she went down and asked if they were planning to lock up.

"Yes", they said, "but only when it's our turn".

Bless.

4) Maffi has found a photo which suggests that the PM may not have his mind on the job all the time.

5) Finally, we passed the place that does Llama Treks at Tatenhill today. It always reminds me of the story about the previous attempt to run such an enterprise, which really struggled. The llamas just wouldn't work very hard, strolling along, stopping, turning round to see where their mates were and so on.

Then one day, one of the lads heard one of the llamas singing softly to itself:

#"My old man said foller the van and don't..."

and he realised what the problem was.
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They'd got Dally Llamas.

See you tomorrow, maybe.

Dull and damp...

...weather, that is, a return of wintery conditions that's not unknown in early March, even when we've had a better February than this year's was. No matter, we had a merry evening in the George and Dragon last night; it's the first time for a long while that Jane has felt well enough to join our socialising, so it was a great opportunity to catch up on many a thing.

The food was great, too, an amazing choice of pies, large or small portions to suit, and, praise be, decent chips. I'm pleased to report that the Crown has started trading again, so there is once more a choice of four eateries in Alrewas: the Jaipur Cottage (upmarket Indian), the William IV (now offering two for one lunches, but no recent reports on quality, which had been appalling) the Crown (just restarted) and the G&D (the best, but doesn't take plastic, YHBW*).

A gentle start this morning, then, with no encouragement to rise and shine from the weather and no particular programme in mind. We did a bit of shopping and then retreated indoors. With the upcoming Census in mind, I went onto their website to find out what we needed to do.

We are officially a Mobile Household (fair enough) and we need to get an extra form delivered to Elanor to fill in on the night. Can you order this online? Oh no, you have to ring the 0300 helpline and ask for one. I'm sorry to say that this wasn't a very reassuring experience. I got an "adviser" who seemed to be on her first day at work and had just had a book of instructions shoved in her hand.

I told her clearly what the situation was, expecting to be asked for the boat name and an address to which they could send the form. Having done ten minutes research on their website, I clearly knew vastly more about it than she did. I was put on hold three times and finally managed to give the address, even though she misheard the postcode at the first attempt.

(What part of Delta Echo one four,  two Sierra Xray is hard to grasp?)

Finally, she closed by saying that the forms won't be sent out until Monday, and if we haven't had ours after ten days or so, I should ring again. Highly confidence boosting. She then asked me to do a simple feedback survey. Right monkey, I thought, but it was a) automated and b) didn't work.

I had another look at the website, but guess what, there's no email address there, just a snail mail one.

The Office of National Statistics has contracted the process out to Lockheed Martin, and I've got a very bad feeling about it all.

The rest of the day has drifted by, rather. We're getting very low on coal, so I hope we can get some from Barton Marina when we pass by tomorrow.

*You Have Been Warned

Settled at Alrewas

It's still quite bitterly cold out, a result of a nor' easterly airflow that looks set to continue for a few days, worse luck. So we've not been tempted to go out and about much, though I did make it to the surgery for a blood test this morning, and we're off out for our Pie and Pint evening tonight.

It's given us a chance to catch up on internet stuff and the like, so not all bad, but we hope to manage a bit more activity over the weekend.

Last night's rabbit stew went down OK; I found the meat a bit tasteless, to be honest, but Sheila said she enjoyed it (it was farmed rabbit; wild would have been more gamey, I believe). I did it with root veg and apple juice, as well as traditional herbs like parsley and marjoram. There's quite a bit left over, which I'm thinking of making into a pie in due course, perhaps inspired by tonight's fare.

Alrewas again

After another relaxed start this morning, we ambled down to Alrewas, Sheila steering and your correspondent locking. We know this route so well by now, we barely need to think about it, so try to take extra care to avoid that silly (or cilly) mistake that would be so embarrassing.

Alrewas is amazingly quiet. At first we thought that the river must be up and preventing access from the hire bases at Mercia Marine and Sawley, but no, it's just quiet. The river is in fact well down in the green bit of the marker. We've found a mooring above Bagnall, on the upstream side of the road bridge.

In fact, we could have gone into the space we left a month ago in the ice; Poacher is still just where she was behind us then, seemingly not having moved since.

Some culinary matters:

1) In an attempt to increase our consumption of oily fish, and following an article in the paper the other day about trying some of the smaller kinds of fish, I bought some sprats in Morrison's the other day. We had them grilled last night, with a cajun sauce. Mistake. They took an age to prepare (we didn't fancy eating them with the heads on and full of guts), tasted very fishy and crunchy, and the boat still smells like a fish quay today, despite boating with the bow doors open, spraying through with air feshener and throwing out everything that contained fish remains.

In short, I can't recommend them in a narrowboat.

2) Tonight, we're having rabbit, a farmed one I got from the butcher in Rugeley. I've found a recipe in my favourite cookbook, Michael Barry's Food and Drink. It's called Mr MacGregor's Stew, after the frustrated farmer in Peter Rabbit, and I'll let you know how we get on.

3) The George and Dragon is doing a Pie Night tomorrow, so we're going along and meeting Will Chapman, and hopefully Jane Howarth, there. It'll be good to catch up with them, and it gives me a night off after all this culinary experimentation.

BW are helpful

Praise where praise is due is the motto of this blog (well, it could be if it had a motto, which frankly it doesn't need, any more than a mission statement... Sorry, I'll get back to work)
:)
We had a good night's kip and set off just before half nine this morning, aiming to be at Fradley Junction between half ten and eleven. It turned out to be just on eleven when we got down Junction Lock, all of them having been against us. The weather, though dry, was very cold, the wind still being in the east, so we were glad to get tied up.

Lyra was tied above Shade House, and Bob and Kath walked down to the flight just as we were finishing, so we joined them in the cafe for a cup of decaff (me) and hot chocolate (Sheila) and a piece of apple pie each, as a reward for coping with the cold.

Once refreshed, we went into the information place to ask about our licence renewal. They were able to tell us that the renewal notice had been posted out on the 21st, so it was a bit strange that it hadn't yet arrived. However, they printed off another copy for us on the spot, and I was able to pay there and then.

I must say, this is very good service, and makes one less thing to worry about. The shop at the junction, however, now only opens on Thursdays and Fridays; maybe it will open more often after Easter.

We've spent the rest of the day lurking and pottering, as it remains very cold out there. On the other hand, the signs of Spring are all about; the willow trees are greening up, and flowers are appearing in sheltered spots. We've seen loads of snowdrops, but also a few daffs and even some primroses.

Tomorrow, we go on down to Alrewas for the weekend.

Through Rugeley again

Despite opening a bottle of cava last night, to celebrate the proper start of the 2011 cruising, we managed to be up in good time and were away well before by nine. We didn't need much ordinary shopping, but raided Rugeley Wilko's for storage boxes to improve the arrangements in a couple of the lockers that don't have them yet. We can really recommend using these beasts. Made of polythene, they're only a few pounds each, and keep things organised and safe from damp and mildew.

I also found a trad hardware store in Albion Street, where I got some heat tolerant expanding foam to fill the gaps between the inner and outer skins of the two chimneys (one long for when moored, and one short for cruising. In each case the inner part hadn't been making a good seal with the inside of the chimney collar, allowing yucky tar to leak out onto the roof, along the gutter and eventually down the side of the boat.

Much of it can be cleaned off with a mixture of first white spirit and then, if necessary, Ecover cream cleaner, but some places will need a touch of 3M Finesse-it cutting compound to really clean it off. Note: only use gentle cream cleaners for this. Something like Bar Keeper's Friend will take the gloss off the paint.

We boated on through lunchtime, taking it turns to guzzle Morrison's excellent Cornish pasties (not that they'll be allowed to call them that much longer), and fetched up on the towpath just before King's Bromley Marina.

We've done the chimneys and deployed the new boxes, so a successful day all round. Tomorrow, we plan to moor at Fradley (if there's room...) and go on to Alrewas on Thursday.