Wetter than expected

For once, cunning observation of the weather forecast let us down. When I checked it again this morning, it was showing rain at eight o’clock, which said duly materialised, so we’d have been better off moving yesterday. Ah well, can’t win them all. We made an early start anyway, so the wet period came between Beeston and Tilstone locks. Sheila had suited up for it and I survived by wearing a light waterproof jacket and popping out to work the locks.

We were on our own up them all, so it was pretty slow going. The drill was for me to open both bottom gates – the by-washes are something fierce below the locks and that made it much easier for Sheila to have the larger target to aim for as the boat was shoved around by the flow. Once in, I took the extended centreline from her, passed it round a bollard and back down.

Then I closed the bottom gates and cautiously drew the same side paddle, just three rotations at first, check that the boat is being held against the lock wall by the combination of the water flow bouncing off the opposite side and tension on the centreline, then another two or three turns, check again and finally draw the full paddle. In between, I kept checking that the bow fender was not snagging on the wall of the cill. Finally, it was possible to draw the offside paddle, again cautiously.

Working this way, we made it up Wharton’s (that’s in a truly awful condition, leaks all over the place), Beeston Iron, Beeston Stone and Tilstone. I had help from Peter the volockie at the Bunbury staircase. He was a pleasant and chatty type, though inclined to order me around and do things his way, which I know is not what he was trained to do. Nonetheless, we got up the staircase OK, the last broad locks we’ll work this year. No doubt dealing with all the novice hirers from the Anglo-Welsh yard at the foot of the staircase makes him a touch emphatic…

A boat was just leaving the visitor moorings here at Calveley as we arrived a bit before half ten, having taken a whisker over three hours for the run. We had a leisurely coffee and then went to explore the new shop that’s been opened, along with a cafe, at the cheese factory. They had a great stock of cheeses and a variety of other stuff. It’s a bit like a farm shop, a moderate range of groceries but rather expensive. It makes a useful topping up location on a stretch otherwise short of shops.

We got a couple of nice cheeses and what proved to be a very tasty granary loaf. It took us a while to get back to the boat. First off, we met blog readers Paul and Mary on Katy, just tying on the shop mooring, and had a right old natter with them. Then we saw Finisterre, Braidbar number 63, with her Kiwi owners, filling up on the water point and had to have a rabbit with them too, naturally. Finally, who should we see across the cut but John and Pat heading for Drum Solo II, Braidbar 156, and had a briefer shouted conversation with them.

We’ve had a quiet afternoon after all this excitement. Tomorrow looks a bit wet again, but we’ll just have to suit up and get on with it. We’ll nip through onto the water point first thing and eat breakfast whilst filling up, then head off round to the Middlewich Arm.

Location:Calveley

Down to the Shady

We’d estimated the run from Calveley to the Shady Oak pub at around three hours, and would have been about right except for the interesting folk that we met on the way. In particular, we found ourselves sharing down most of the locks with an engaging family on a hire boat, Dad and three young daughters having three days boating for the first time. Sheila did a fair bit of teaching about lock working to the girls to help out.

It was all good fun and, given that the weather was calm, warm and sunny, not a great hassle. When we got to Beeston Iron lock, which can’t be shared because the sides have distorted, they went on ahead and must have found another partner down Wharton’s, the last lock we will be working towards Chester. We were at Beeston for some time as there was another boat ahead of us when we arrived and one came up before it was our turn to go down.

Having set off at half seven, it was gone eleven by the time we arrived at the Shady where there was, as always, loads of room on the VMs. Sheila had been told by another boater that the pub is having one of its good times at the moment (it’s been up and down several times over the years), so we decided to try their Sunday lunch. A phone call established that Bill and Eileen were up for it too and a merry meeting ensued. The food was indeed just fine and reasonably priced and there was a good selection of beer on offer – Sheila and I both had the Cambrian Gold summer ale.

Bill and Eileen came back to the boat for coffee afterwards so it was a great session of chat, cross talk humour and reminiscence.

We’ve been quiet since they left, as may be expected. Tomorrow, a straightforward run to Christleton where we’ll probably stay for a couple of days.

Location:Tiverton

Into the storm

We ended yesterday in a not-spot, one of those increasingly rare areas where there are no phone signals at all. Apart from that, things went reasonably to plan; we made an early start, Sheila steering, and chugged back along first of all the flat bit, then up a handful of locks.

The chug is slower than it might otherwise be because of the incredible length of offside linear moorings at Hargrave. This is Golden Nook Farm – we've always said that if there'd ever been a Carry On Boating, the moorings could appropriately be called Golden Nookie Farm…

/wahaha

No matter, eventually we arrived at Wharton's Lock. It was still early, and although the wind was getting tedious, it remianed manageable. As we approached the lock, Brian and Ann on Toucan Do It asked if they could join us. It's always easier to work up a broad lock with a companion boat, of course, so we were very happy to agree.

That lock went just fine, but we needed to work up the next, Beeston Iron, on our own. Its iron sides are distorted, and although two short boats can usually get away with sharing, it's not a good idea with a full length one.

I made a bit of a mess of managing the ropes, frankly, and nearly catapulted Sheila off the wrong side of the well deck by releasing a rope she was swinging on at the time, but we got up OK in the end and waited above for Toucan Do It to join us.

It was now threatening to rain, so we decided to stop after sharing up Beeston Stone Lock, there being lots of visitor mooring above; just no phone signals.

/no

I walked back as far as the Iron Lock to get enough Voda signal to text the kids and Twitter, then we settled to an afternoon on the boat incommunicado. It has indeed tipped it down off and on all afternoon.

The time's not been wasted – we've tried making a variant of Yvonne Olver's flapjack recipe, using chopped stem ginger, and we watched the second half of the Campion we started last week.

Today, we're on our way back to Barbridge Junction, where we'll turn left onto the Middlewich Branch, stopping near Cholmondeston.

Lots of photos

I don't normally put loads of photos on this blog; there are lots of other canal blogs that do, so I largely leave it up to them, but just once in a while it's nice to show that the camera does get some use around here. As we've not been this way since I started blogging, I thought that I'd try and show why we reckon this is just as scenic a canal as the more popular ones like the Llangollen or the Caldon.

First off is this superb garden we saw whilst walking to Bunbury village, where we had a pint in the Dysart Arms.

Then this is the canal just below Bunbury Staircase Locks, and this

is the approach to Tilstone Lock, probably one of the best locations on the system. Mind you, the locks were quite tricky in a 70' boat, only just long enough. It was easier to work Sanity Again down on the diagonal, and in a couple of cases, we had to fiddle around a bit with the gates to get her out.

Just below Tilstone is this really different boat; she has a slipper stern and wheel steering

These deer appear to be grazing on one of the rolling hillsides that make the canal so attractive, but in fact underneath there is a huge underground oil storage depot.

And this isn't really a house; it's the control centre for the WWII Operation PLUTO (PipeLine Under The Ocean). The oil stored safe underground here was piped all the way south to the Channel coast, and thence under the Channel to supply fuel to the D-Day invasion forces' beachheads.

Yesterday, we climbed up to Beeston Castle:

It's about 400 feet above the canal, and can be reached from Wharton's Lock. It costs over a fiver to get in, as it's run by English Heritage, but the views from up there are stunning:

That's the Cheshire Plain, obviously.

For something built in the 14th Century, the quarrying is quite remarkable. This is literally the last ditch, a final line of defence between the outer ward and the inner bailey.

It's a long, long way down the steepest side.

The path approaches from the south, and there are easier routes and slightly steeper ones.

Nearby Peckforton castle is a Victorian imitation, but still pretty convincing…

And that's the canal in the distance, about a mile away. You can just see Wharton's Lock. The railway in between is the line from Crewe to Chester and on to Holyhead.

Today, we've carried on to Christleton, which is as near to Chester we'll bring the boat this time. It's just not worth slogging down the final six locks. We've been to Sainsbury's, about 30 minutes walk away.

Tomorrow, we'll walk down into Chester, do a bit of retail therapy at Lakeland and possibly catch the bus back.