Gently to Middlewich

It’s been another pretty successful day, though I did manage to trap my thumb in the bow doors earlier and now have a pretty blue line under part of the nail. You’d think after over thirteen years living aboard I’d have learnt to keep my fingers out of the works, but not so seemingly. It’s settled down now, so no need to drill a hole through the nail to let the pressure out or anything…

We made a very lazy start to the day so as not to get to Middlewich too early. We must have judged it right as we crossed with a few boats as we approached the town. Setting off at nine for the hour’s run meant we got here just on ten and found spaces on the visitor moorings through the first bridge. It’s pleasantly open here but the pound tends to rise and fall quite a bit with Stanthorne Lock above it and Wardle below. It needs dredging out as every time Wardle is worked we settle onto the mud and lean over very slightly.

As soon as Stanthorne is turned, up we come again. If both bottom paddles at Stanthorne are raised at once, a single wave, a soliton, comes charging down the pound. It’s quite dramatic if you happen to be heading towards the lock – it’s not normal for a narrowboat’s bow to rise and fall with a wave passing under it.

It’s possible to walk to the shops from either bridge 28 behind us or 29 ahead of us. 28 is better as it leads to a footpath for the first section rather than a busy rat run with speed humps. After a quick coffee on arrival, we went first to the Lidl (not Aldi, wrong again yesterday, Bruce) as it’s further away and did what shopping we could there. We got back to the boat in nice time to stow it all away and take a short rest before lunch.

This afternoon, we repeated the trip as far as the Tesco, where we got the stuff we didn't fancy at Lidl. It’s been a relaxing afternoon since, recovering from our exertions. Tomorrow, I’ll make a further expedition to the butcher before we drop down Wardle lock and across the junction to get a pump out. Then we’ll start the haul up the Cheshire Locks, stopping above Booth Lane, probably. We quite enjoy the so-called “Heartbreak Hill” – it’s only a problem if you are trying to do the Four Counties in a week and need to get up the lot in one go.

I spent an idle moment working it out the other day. There are 203 lock-miles in the Four Counties Ring and a week’s hire is just six days and a widgy bit, given that you lose most of the start and finish days at the yard. At 3 lock-miles an hour, that’s over 67 hours cruising, at least 10 hours per full day. And still the hire yards tell the punters it can be done, no problem…

Location:Middlewich

Going a bit further than we meant

Things seem to have gone to plan today, albeit that we modified the plan a bit… We made a cracking early start, having woken in very good time, and were on the water point by seven. Having eaten breakfast as the tank filled, just a bit of pottering was required until the water started coming out of the breather and we could get going again.

The weather has been very off and on, sometimes warm sun, sometimes short but heavy showers. It was an uneventful cruise back to Barbridge and the turn onto the Middlewich Arm, achieved without spectators and therefore faultlessly. It’s then a bit of a plod past the lines of moored boats but the cut was still very quiet and no-one was waiting above Cholmondeston. Once down the lock, I took it gently along the next stretch whilst Sheila got the washing machine going, finishing before we arrived at Minshull Lock.

It being a fine morning, we decided to carry on past our original planned stop at Church Minshull, especially as the wash load wouldn't be quite done, and to aim for Blackberry Wood. We thought of stopping short on the towpath, but there was nowhere quite as nice as the view from the SUCS moorings at the Wood. We did try to get into the side once, just before there, but it was too silty and we’ve ended up on the VMs anyway.

Amazingly, the rings are appropriately spaced for a 70 footer and the Armco is exactly the right height for our fenders. As we were getting sorted, I commented that it was all going so well there probably wouldn't be a phone signal, but Sod’s Law has failed to apply and we have 4G signals on both 3 and Vodafone.

It’s been another quiet afternoon. The weather isn't reliable enough to put the whirligig out but we’ve no complaints apart from that. We’ve even finished a Jigsaw Sudoku that’s been defying me for several days. In the end, I got Sheila’s expertise onto it but it still took a bit serious cogitation before the last numbers were triumphantly inserted.

We should have an easy day tomorrow, an amble along to Middlewich to do a thorough restocking from the choice of three supermarkets on offer, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi. The day after will be a later start, too, as we need to get a pump out at Kings Lock.

Location:Blackberry Wood

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

A quiet day at the Shady

It’s not in fact rained as hard or consistently as had been forecast, but tomorrow still looks a lot better so we’ve still stayed put. We’ve not been totally idle and have taken a couple of walks, mostly in the dry. This part of the world looks after its footpaths well, with good signs and well maintained gates. Cheshire East and Chester is one of the better off local authorities, of course.

This morning we explored the Sandstone Trail in the opposite direction to the route up to Beeston Castle. Neither of us felt energetic enough to attempt that, though we have done it in the past and it’s well worth the effort for the views from the top. The other direction climbed gently for a while, crossed the road which leads to the Shady Oak and then met another road after crossing a further field. After that it seemed to head off along that road, so we turned back having done most of a mile.

This afternoon, we just rambled back the way we’d come along the towpath. There are the early signs of Autumn visible already, no doubt brought on by the unseasonably chilly and damp conditions (ho, ho – when was August ever any different?) We saw some ripening sloes on a blackthorn bush and a tree full of crab apples that were starting to blush pink. Back at the boat, we had to open side hatches and doors as the sun had come out and it was now very warm. It looks as if that’s going to be the pattern for the first half of this month, wet and windy mixed with warm and breezy.

Tomorrow, we’ll work back up the six locks to Calveley, then press on towards Church Minshull next day having stopped to fill the water tank again.

At Calveley.

On a Saturday.

An early start, that day, methinks, which at least should mean we get to Cholmondeston Lock in good time, another busy location on a Saturday in summer. Oh well, it could be worse, we could be queueing for hours at some Mediterranean airport because of the new rules on passport checks in and out of the Schengen area.

Location:Shady Oak

Celebrating and starting back

We finally got round to celebrating our wedding anniversary last night with a trip to the Ring o’ Bells in Christleton village. The Cheshire Cat was closer, of course, being just the other side of the towpath – it’s OK as a pub, but very much part of the Vintage Inn chain (“Inn keeping with Tradition”, say no more), whilst the Ring is very individual – and the food is better.

As usual, we went early, just before six, and had no bother getting a table. It is a very family friendly pub, so if you go at that time be prepared for lots of small children and proud young parents. No doubt it’s a bit different later in the evening. We ate and drank well, though moderately abstemiously as regards the booze. The food comes in good size portions; the While you Wait items make perfectly good starters and I suspect you could have a good meal on one of those plus an official starter and a sweet.

As a result of all this indulgence, we didn't sleep terribly well, too much salt, probably, and had an early start this morning. It was perfectly possible to wind by the towpath works – I had maybe a foot to spare between the stern of Sanity Again and the work boat tied across the new piling. In twenty minutes we were back at our overnight mooring and setting off for the return to Barbridge. It rained for much of the way, so that I was very grateful for my waterproof overalls and Sheila prudently stayed down below doing various housekeeping jobs.

To be honest, it was a thoroughly dreary sort of morning, grey and damp and windy at times. I enlivened the dullness by measuring the length of the Golden Nook moorings with the Garmin, making it just 1.4 miles from one end to the other, though it feels a lot longer. We got to the Shady just on half ten and tied well along the visitor moorings.

Things have picked up weather-wise this afternoon. The sun has now come out and is drying the towels Sheila washed as we boated along. We’ll have a quiet night tonight and probably stay put tomorrow, as it looks like another wet day in prospect. It’s one thing to cope with such weather boating along a pound, but we’ve got the six locks up to Calveley to do next. Friday promises to be a better day for that sort of activity, and we’ve plenty of time in hand on our schedule.

Location:Shady Oak

Staying put 'cos it's persisting down

Looking at the forecast this morning, we decided to stay put after all today, have a quiet day on the boat after our exertions of yesterday (mostly) and make an early start tomorrow to return to the Shady Oak or thereabouts. It’s going to rain again then, probably, so it will by my turn to kit up in the rain suit for the long chug past Golden Nook.

We did make an expedition to Sainsbury’s, walking down the canal to the bridge at the second lock, turning left onto the road and carrying on to the mega-roundabout. Here we crossed several roads with the aid of light-controlled crossings until we came to the local road that goes past the Brewer’s Fayre pub the Twirl of Hay. Sainsbury’s is just beyond there on the other side of the road and we were able to get some of the heavier stuff we avoided yesterday, as well as an excellent loaf of bread.

It rained a bit on and off as we went, but had mostly stopped by the time we came out. We were feeling moderately well exercised by the time we got back to the boat, so the rest of the day has been for pottering and reading and doing odd jobs. The sun has come out now, but we’ve had some extremely heavy showers this afternoon.

One good thing to report: the Braidbar built community boat Pot of Gold, which moors just outside the Cheshire Cat here, has been out for a run and went down to the winding hole and returned without bother. Since she’s a 70 footer, we shouldn't have any trouble tomorrow.

Location:Christleton

Final stretch to Christleton

We’d estimated another three hours boating from the Shady Oak to Christleton and wanted to arrive at around ten, so we got going just after seven, or rather Sheila did whilst I ate breakfast. She’d rather drawn the short straw again for her day to steer, as it rained fairly steadily for much of the time. Clad in her rain suit, they weren't impossible conditions, just soggy. I fear the forecast for the next couple of weeks looks to be much the same as we’ve been having for the last few days – occasional spells of bright and warm weather interspersed with varying amounts of rain.

A chunk of the trip was spent plodding past what must now be around two miles worth of offline mooring at Golden Nook farm. It’s always hard to remember over the gaps of four or five years at a time, but we’re sure that there are more boats there every time, making a nonsense of the CRT plan to reduce online moorings.

Despite all that, we made good time. It seems likely that this stretch has been dredged recently as Sanity Again was charging along at over 3.5 mph when it was possible to open the throttle to 1200 rpm. As a result, we arrived just after half nine, having only just finished the wash load. Since we had a good bit of time in hand, and as the rain seemed mostly to have cleared away, we decided to have an early coffee then walk down into Chester, shop at the new Waitrose and get a sandwich lunch there, then mooch about Chester for a bit before taking a bus back.

Mostly, this went to plan. The new Waitrose is very handy, towpath side with dedicated shopping moorings not long after the last lock, Hoole Lane. We’d checked the numbers of the buses to catch back and only had to find a stop in town at which to catch one. Sadly, Chester doesn't do much in the way of helpful maps in the centre to assist with this process. There are quite a few fancy map displays, but they are all concerned with the various cycle routes around the place.

We finally found a more general one and, with the aid of that and some advice from a council staff person we spotted in the street, finally got to what Chester rather grandiloquently calls the Chester Bus Interchange or CBI, what the rest of us would usually refer to as a bus station. The 41, 41A and C56 all leave from Stand C there (this year at least) and make their way out of town along the A41 that passes the Jolly Trooper Harvester pub where you can hop off and access the towpath.

CRT are doing a bit of towpath improvement near there, right opposite the winding hole we plan to use tomorrow. We’ll just have to hope that the workboats tied to the towpath alongside don’t stop us from getting 70’ round…

Location:Christleton

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

Fun and games on the Chester cut

We were last on this bit of the cut in August 2012, the only other time we’ve been here in Sanity Again. I don't know why we don't visit the Chester canal more often, it’s a very pleasant stretch of water. This is only the fourth time we’ve been here since moving on board, and on one of those, the last time we were here on Sanity, we only came as far as the top of the Bunbury staircase, winded and came back. We were regular visitors in the days when we had shares in two boats based at Acton Bridge, so perhaps we felt we’d seen enough of the place then and never got back into the habit of going straight on at Barbridge Junction as we did today.

It made for a very pleasant morning’s cruise, though there was a bit of a scrum at the service wharf here at Calveley, something to do with it being Saturday. In addition, there are very few water points between here and Chester. There are some at the Anglo-Welsh yard at the foot of the staircase, but they charge £2 a tank to use them and they aren't available on turn round days like today. The next chance to water, unless you go into the marina at Tatenhall, is beyond the winding hole at Christleton.

So there was nothing for it but to breast up alongside the boat that was already watering and wait our turn. There are two taps there and by the time we’d finished there were a total of five boats either filling their tanks or waiting to do so.

Once done, we just ambled through the bridge and found plenty of room to tie on the moorings on the other side. The only other boat actually on the 48 hour section was an Aqua boat we didn't know, Althea by name. We didn't have a chance to chat to them as they set off by the time we’d finished eating lunch.

We’ve had a walk up to the Bunbury locks to watch the happy hirers getting ready to start their holidays – it’s very good to see so many folk visiting the canals. When we got back, I finally got round to sorting the bow fender, which has developed a habit of sliding round off the stem post when up against a lock gate. I’d expected to have to replace shackles and stuff, but for once it turned out more straightforward than that. Shortening one side by one link of chain looks to have got it back tight again.

I also took the chance to partly sever one side of a link on each side, using the new bolt cutters. This is a safety measure – if the fender hangs on the gate when rising in the lock, the links will part rather than force the bow underwater.

Tomorrow, we plan to go on to the Shady Oak where we hope to meet our good friends Bill and Eileen, former Braidbar Owners now living in Nantwich when not gallivanting about the world in their camper van.

Location:Calveley

To Nantwich

It’s very much been a day of two halves. We set off as planned just after eight and boated merrily on to Hack Green, where we had to wait a little for the boat ahead to go down and a hire boat to come up. The wait was enlivened by making the acquaintance of the crew of Waka Huia, two couples from New Zealand including fellow blogger Marilyn.

Once down, it was another good run to Nantwich, arriving there a bit before ten. We found a neat 70’ space in the first stretch of visitor moorings on the embankment and had an early cup of coffee before setting off to do some shopping. Sheila has been wanting to get an unusual size of circular needle to make the knitting of the Guernsey sleeves easier and she recalled that there was a wool shop in one of the side streets here. She did a bit of Googling and soon found it, discovering a shorter walking route to town from here in the process.

Rather than trekking all round the outside of the houses, you can cut through the middle on Millfields to come out by the park. It’s then a pleasant walk to cross the river and go up the side street we wanted. Sadly, the wool shop was a pale shadow of its former self, mainly being concerned with selling miscellaneous fancy DIY stuff and doubling as a coffee shop. Sheila will have to wait until we get to Poynton and a usable address to order the needle online. Apart from this disappointment, we were able to get everything else, including some meat and pies for lunch from that excellent establishment, Clewlows.

Even with our new shortcut, it was a good walk back to the boat, including that final little pull up onto the embankment, so we felt well exercised and ready for lunch. This is just as well, as it’s been raining quite hard for most of the afternoon and activities have been confined to the boat.

The forecast looks a lot better tomorrow, so we’ll press on to Calveley and have a break from the traffic on the Four Counties for a bit.

Location:Nantwich

Another two days in one

The plan for today was to set off in good time and boat through to the top of Audlem before it started raining at ten. If there were no moorings left there, we would slog on down the flight and carry on to the SUCS moorings at Coole Pilate. Accordingly, Sheila got us going just after half six (it was her day to steer anyway) and I ate breakfast whilst she took us through the various visitor moorings of Market Drayton. It meant that when I took over I had a brief bit of quicker boating before we got to the last stretch of offside moorings before Betton Wood.

It’s not the most atmospheric of the Shroppie cuttings but is supposed to be haunted by a shrieking ghost, though that may well be confusion with another Betton Wood which features in a Gothic poem. Sheila took the tiller back in good time for the Adderley flight. The weather continued pleasantly warm and calm as we worked down, meeting several boats coming up. Their crews reported that Audlem was already pretty crowded with boats ready for the Festival of Transport on Sunday and that the visitor moorings were now suspended through the village.

This led to a bit of a rethink about the plan as clearly the situation was not going to improve tomorrow. Accordingly, we decided to adopt plan B regardless of the situation at Audlem Top. Since I’d already worked five locks, Sheila said she’d do the first five at Audlem and we’d work our usual five and five about that we use for long flights.

We could have found room to tie either above the top lock or in our preferred spot two locks down, as it happened. On we went down – we’d not long changed over again at lock six when it started to rain in earnest, about 15 minutes early according to the Met Office. In fact, it fairly bucketed down for the next hour. Things went pretty smoothly, nonetheless, though there were indeed a lot of very trad type boats tied on the moorings below 12 and again below 13, mostly breasted up. The only real problem I had was tucking onto the water point by the Shroppie Fly to allow a boat to come up 13.

We crossed with boats at almost every one of the 15 locks in the flight but almost all were well mannered and no one attempted to turn a lock in front of us. It was just after eleven when we finally emerged from the bottom lock. The rain had already moderated a bit and it pretty well stopped altogether by the time we got to Coole Pilate. There’s plenty of room here and we’ve had a reasonably peaceful afternoon, though a strong wind has given the passing boats a bit of bother.

There have been a fair few more ex-working boats going up, at least one with a proper Bolinder engine. They are unmistakable because of the hit-and-miss regulator that gives the engine note a strikingly uneven beat – pomp-pomp-pom-pom-pom- -pomp-pomp and so on.

Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Nantwich. We’re now four days ahead of ourselves so may take an extra day there, depending a bit on the weather forecast.

Location:Coole Pilate

Sitting out the rain

It did indeed rain a great deal this morning, so we did well to stay put. We pottered about in the boat until half eleven, by which time the rain had largely cleared away, when we set out and walked to Morrisons via the town centre. There was a street market in progress, but our main interest was the chocolate shop which had sadly disappeared, boo.

We had lunch at Morrisons, thereby both giving me a break from cooking tonight and us a respite before shopping and walking back.

It’s been a quiet afternoon, so there’s not a lot more to say. One of the things I did this morning was a piece about judging the riskiness of moorings spots, stimulated by a thread on the subject over on CWDF. I’ll include it here so that you all don't feel too short changed today ;)

Nowhere is completely safe, of course, odd things have happened in even the most secluded spots, but there are undoubtedly safer and less safe places to tie up. In addition, a place that is ok for a quick shopping stop may not be good for leaving your precious craft unattended for a week. It’s important not to get hung up on these issues or boating will cease to be a pleasure – in addition, attitudes to risk vary from person to person and those who are of a robust mentality should not decry those of us of a more nervous disposition, nor should we who show wise caution in our choices of overnight mooring deride those for whom being untied is all part of the challenge of boating.

Even in the riskiest locations, chances are that a night can be spent unmolested – there’s probably never more than a 5% chance of trouble in any but the dodgiest spots. In addition, these things go in bursts and the dangers of a location change from year to year, partly with shifting fashions amongst the local youth and partly as a result of campaigns to improve safety such as Canal Watch or just extra police or navigation authority attention.

Danger signs to watch for are (in no particular order)

Graffiti
No other boats moored nearby
Moored boats but with protective covers over the windows
Litter, especially drinks cans or syringes
Local knowledge that the location is on a walking route to and from the town centre or local pubs and clubs
Large housing estates alongside the water or close by

Finally, perception is everything. A bad experience in a spot may be enough to persuade you to avoid it in future. There is nothing worse than fretfully lying in bed in the small hours listening for suspicious sounds outside.

Location:Market Drayton

A long morning's cruise

We started a bit later this morning – it was 6.45 before Sheila started off. I’m not sure quite why we felt more relaxed about it, as we knew that, if anything, we had rather more to do to get to Market Drayton. As it happened, it was quite a bit more to do, for two reasons. The first was that curse of the Shroppie, the online mooring. I manage to forget in between times just how frustrating the endless lines of offside boats are.

I know boating isn't about dashing around, far from it, but passing mile after mile of usually rather boring looking boats at 2 mph is just plain dull. It doesn't help that the long straights which Telford’s cut and fill techniques made possible make it a much less interesting canal to steer, just as motorways are inherently less interesting than winding country roads (and are built with those selfsame cut and fill techniques, of course).

The deep cuttings are the only relief from the boredom, frankly. The spectacular embankments must have been too, once upon a time, but are now so tree shrouded you need the map in front of you to remind you that you are up to 80 feet in the air.

The other source of delay came right at the end of the morning in the shape of Tyrley locks. We were pleasantly surprised not to find a queue at the top, but there was sufficient traffic up and down to make everything a bit slow, so that we took well over an hour for five locks. There was one volockie on, but he was staying at the second lock down, presumably because its top gate was leaking like a sieve. I’m not altogether sorry he stayed there – he was a bit gung ho winding the bottom paddles and certainly didn’t check with me as steerer before he did so. In a 70’ boat, that’s not good practice.

We finally got moored on the aqueduct VMs a little before one and flung ourselves on our lunch. Having rested and recovered a bit, we made an expedition to the Aldi that I recalled not far from the Morrisons. Actually, it turned out to be a Lidl, but as we said, aldigether it makes lidl difference.

Apparently, there’s a canal festival in Audlem this coming weekend and the moorings are already filling with ex-working boats, steamers and the like, so we need to think about cruising strategy when we leave here. We’re staying put for tomorrow, anyway, whilst the storm blows through.

Location:Market Drayton

A cunning change to the cunning plan

One minor mystery of the cut – how come you can moor apparently in the middle of nowhere, like where we were last night, and, all day and all evening, joggers come pounding past? I mean, obviously, there must be housing nearer than you think, but it’s really quite unusual not to see joggers and dog walkers, wherever you tie.

Ah well, no matter. We had a very peaceful night and woke in good time this morning, such that we were on our way by 7.45. It had stopped raining, but was still very windy, something that’s going to be an issue for a couple of weeks, seemingly. Sheila steered and reported that the wind was tedious but not impossible, especially as it was on the bow for much of the time. We had a good run to Wheaton Aston, locked down and went on the water point.

Whilst the tank was filling, only moderately quickly, we considered our options in the light of the forecast for a storm on Wednesday with the high winds continuing into Thursday. We were running two days ahead of the draft cruising schedule, which only estimates two hours cruising per day. If we carried on to Gnosall today and to Market Drayton tomorrow (the last really fine day this month, it seems) we’d be able to take a couple of days out at Drayton and still be ahead of schedule.

So that was decided upon, as Stanley Holloway would say. We made it to Gnosall just on noon and found a good spot on the first visitor moorings after the tunnel, just a bit before the road bridge. As regular readers will recall, Gnosall is short for Gnosignall, though there’s now a decent 3 connection but still no Vodafone.

We’ve walked up into the village to get some supplies, partly to make sure we’ve got enough for lunch tomorrow and partly just to top up, the Co-op here being nearer (and a downhill walk back to the boat) than Morrisons in Drayton. Obviously, we’ll do some serious shopping there over the next couple of days as well.

Location:Gnosall

Through Cut End and up the Shroppie

As planned, we made an early start this morning, though since it was Sunday, we didn't actually start boating until 6.30. It’s another situation where for one reason we want to get away early and for another want to time our arrival at the planned stop for mid-morning. In the event, it all worked out well. Sheila steered at first whilst I got some breakfast, then I took over and did the rest of the trick.

The weather wasn't much to write home about, raining softly from time to time but not very windy. We got through Pendeford Rockin’ without meeting anyone coming the other way and similarly had no difficulty at Autherley stop lock. The main challenge is the turn from the southbound Staffs and Worcs onto the northbound Shroppie. As usual, I didn't quite achieve a contactless turn, laying the starboard side on the fendering on the towpath capping and motoring her round.

It’s a very shallow stop lock, one of the smallest on the system – I suppose the main justification for leaving it in place is the sheer length of the pound leading away from it in all three directions. We didn't see any problem children, not that we expected to at that time in the morning, but there were just one or two boats starting to move as we headed along the wide and deep channel of the Shroppie.

Arriving at the moorings beyond Bridge 7 a bit after half nine, we were pleased to see that there was plenty of room, though there were quite a few boats here. One of them was Timewarp and we’ve had another natter with Tony this afternoon. That was while we were washing the roof, which badly needed doing, still being covered with dirty smuts from the winter in Mercia, exacerbated by material washed down off the trees during the recent rain storms.

Before that, we’d given the boat another quick sweep through, so we are once more filled with a sense of virtue.

And cream crackered.

It’s a lovely, peaceful mooring here, far enough away from the M54 not to be troubled by it but with decent mooring rings and Armco piling. Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Wheaton Aston, or perhaps a little beyond. As usual on the Shroppie, there’s no guarantee that we’ll have a usable data signal every day, so don't be surprised if the occasional blog post doesn't get made…

Location:Brewood

Curvily to Coven

I’ve not got a huge amount to report today, which has gone pretty much according to plan. We’d estimated 2 hours from Gailey to Coven, so left just before eight, expecting to need to give time for people to leave the moorings by the Fox and Anchor before we got there. It’s one of those sections that’s hard work for the steerer, being very curvy, but the crew has little more to do than hang about in the well deck, spotting oncoming boats.

Mostly this worked out alright, though some of the aforesaid boats were less considerate about sharing the width of the available channel than they might have been. We just managed to fit a wash load in as in the event we made it in a bit under the two hours. There were very few boats on these moorings, interestingly, though it was still before ten o’clock. Admittedly, those heading south might well have done what we intend to do tomorrow, that is leave very early so as to get through the Rockin’ in good time and pass through the dodgy area around Autherley Junction whilst the little horrors who throw stuff at you from the bridges are all still in bed.

We’ve walked into the village and got a good selection of meat from the butcher. On our return, we found an ex-OwnerShips boat, Hawksmoor, tied just in front of us and had a good old natter with her steerer about the joys of shared ownership and like topics.

It’s been a quiet afternoon. We’ve been able to sit outside in the well deck for some of the time, though an occasional shower drove us indoors in the end. Tomorrow, round onto the Shroppie and on to the moorings at Bridge 7.

Location:Coven

A quiet day indoors

It has indeed been a rather grotty sort of day, windy and damp, though not as damp as it was 46 years ago in Aberdeen. On our wedding photos you can see Sheila’s footprints in the red carpet as she walked into Kings College Chapel…

We never make a big deal of anniversaries, except for the milestone ones, and today has been no exception. In any event, we’ve tried the pub here and weren't impressed. We will have a meal out at some point, when we get to a pub we like, probably on the Shroppie.

As planned, we’ve had a quiet day staying put in the wind and rain. There have been a good few boats back and forth, including the hire boats turning round at the yard. We’ve caught up with both desk work and cleaning and tidying jobs, so are feeling quite virtuous. The boat looks clean and tidy and clothes have been sorted in the drawers.

Tomorrow, we’ll amble round the summit pound to Coven for the night.

Location:Gailey

Getting to Gailey

Looking at the weather forecast for the next couple of days suggested that Friday might not be a very good day for boating in this part of the world. Not much in the way of rain, but winds in the high teens gusting up to nearly 30 mph. We’d planned to stop below Gailey today and work up tomorrow, getting a pump out and diesel from the ABC yard above. But if we didn't move tomorrow, that would mean looking for these services from a busy hire yard on a Saturday.

Also, today’s forecast was for heavy rain first thing followed by slowly improving conditions, making the early start and breakfast on the waterpoint plan less than optimal. So we changed it, making a leisurely start then setting off at around half eight. It was, in fact, still raining, but with a fine mizzly rain. I togged up in a waterproof top and shorts (skin dries faster than trousers) and off we went, not stopping to water.

There was a steady amount of traffic about, so Sheila had help at every lock of the eight we had to do today, at the cost of me hanging about below hanging onto Sanity Again. Things went pretty smoothly except that my radio died. Knowing that they were coming up for a change of batteries, I swapped it for the spare in my pocket, but that died too. I got Sheila to take over steering whilst I did an all round battery swap, but it didn't help. It seemed likely that the fine rain was defeating the damp protection of the loudspeakers, so I gave both the problem radios to Sheila to put in the airing cupboard and we managed with hand signals for the rest of the trip.

We’d remembered Gailey as being a good place to get services, but were rather deceived in that. We got a very basic pump out for £18 and filled with just under 110 litres of diesel. The yard only offers a 60 propulsion/40 domestic split unless you are prepared to claim 100% domestic, something you should only do if moored on a residential mooring nearby. On the other hand, their base price for domestic was 64 ppl, so declaring 60/40 rather than my usual 40/60 probably worked out much the same as it would have at a yard charging around 75 ppl base price.

Nonetheless, we’ll try and avoid the place in future. The thing is, the next yard on our direct route is Napton Narrowboats at Autherley who are no better. Our alternative, since the toilet tank probably wouldn't have lasted to Brewood, would have been to go on to Oxley Marine beyond the junction, then wind at Aldersley Junction to come back to Autherley.

After all this, we pushed across to the water point to fill that tank which was getting very low. It’s a slow tap there and, as it was now past twelve o’clock, we ended up lunching rather than breakfasting on the water point. Once all done, we chugged along to the 48 hour visitor moorings at the other end of the straight. We’ve found a nice spot, peaceful (apart from the other boats mostly tanking past) and not too shady or under a tree.

We’ll sit tight here tomorrow, catching up with some jobs inside the boat that have been getting neglected with all this charging about. The good news is, the radios have fully recovered, showing the benefit of having an airing cupboard that gets properly hot thanks to that bit of finrad in the engine coolant return from the calorifier.

Location:Gailey

Pottering at Penkridge

Despite the comparative proximity of the M6, it’s always very peaceful when tied above Deptmore Lock and last night was no exception. We even overslept very slightly, but since there was plenty of time for matutinal coffee drinking whilst boating to the first lock, this was of no consequence. It proved to be another very pleasant couple of hours’ boating through Shutt Hill, Park Gate and Longford Locks to tie in our usual spot opposite the park homes of Penkridge.

We were all sorted by ten and had another coffee before setting out to visit the village centre. After a call at the bank, we explored the Wednesday Market, but didn't buy anything. It’s a fairly average sort of weekly market and well patronised by the locals. Visits to Sainsbury’s and the Co-op met our shopping needs, plus a call into the pharmacy actually found some moleskin.

It’s interesting that in the course of a phone call from son Graeme last night, he’d agreed that moleskin wasn't often available these days, the more modern Compeed products being preferred. Soldiers, of course, are experts in the care of the feet and the management of new boots, so I’ve no doubt he is right. Apparently, the squaddies use plain zinc oxide plaster as a prophylactic against sore feet.

So, the great moleskin hunt is over. Can't seem to find Chinese leaf anywhere, though…

We’ve been loafing in the boat during the afternoon, rather, reading and doing puzzles and Sheila advanced my Guernsey a little further. The weather has been ok so far, but looks rather threatening now – I shouldn’t be surprised if we have some heavy showers in the next few hours. Hopefully, such rain will reduce the number of small flies plaguing us here. We’ve had to rig the fly screens in all the hatches for the first time this summer.

We need to fill the water tank, so plan to lock up onto the service point first thing tomorrow and eat breakfast whilst the tank is filling, as we did last time we were here in April.

Location:Penkridge

Up to Deptmore

I’ve probably remarked before that the first part of the Staffs and Worcs is a mixed bag, scenery-wise. You start off with one of the more lyrical sections before and after Tixall Lock, including the mysterious mansion with immaculately tended grounds on the offside immediately after the lock and before the right angled bend onto the Sow Aqueduct. Is it a private house, belonging to some millionaire? Is it a very upmarket care home? A small hotel, ditto?

Anyway, once over the Sow, things begin to become more robust, with the West Coast Mainline hanging menacingly above you and then the run of moorings at Milford. Milford village has a claim to fame beyond being a handy access point for Cannock Chase – it still has the first ever Wimpy hamburger bar in the country.

There follows the rather utilitarian stretch around Stafford with the park home estate replacing the railway line, the industrial estate that's home to RCR, then Radford Bank (where there were a number of Mercian boats tied up) and finally the greener section towards Stafford Boat Club. After that, things become much more rural again until Deptmore Lock is reached, incredibly deep just as Tixall is incredibly shallow.

By starting before eight, we managed most of this without meeting too many other boats, though we had one close encounter at a bridge, contact only being avoided thanks to Sheila’s warning from the bow and a hoot from our klaxon. This canal does specialise in bridges on blind bends and it’s a very good idea to ease off before each on the assumption that you may have to stop. Sanity Again has a well set up prop and good swims, of course, but her 23 tonnes takes a bit of slowing down, even from 2 mph.

We’ve tied in our usual spot just beyond the lock. It’s turned very breezy, though the sun is still beaming down. We’d run a wash load on the way (there’s just nice time for it if you start it at Milford), but there was no question of rigging the whirligig. However, it being very warm, dry and sunny, Sheila put most of the stuff on hangers in the engine room and the rest on the sock dryer. By leaving the slide, both Houdinis and the bow doors open, we’ve had a very pleasant breeze through the boat, keeping us cool and drying the clothes in double quick time.

Tomorrow, a few more locks, possibly in the rain, past Acton Trussell and on to Penkridge.

Location:Deptmore

Colwich to Haywood to Tixall

We were very pleased with last night’s mooring, far enough out of Rugeley to be very peaceful, despite the occasional train on the West Coast Mainline, and just short of Bridge 69, so not within range of the agricultural smells of the pig farm. After a good night’s kip, we made the planned early start at half seven and had a good run through to Wolseley Bridge and so on to Colwich. Sheila steered and I did lookout – there wasn't a lot of traffic.

Colwich lock was with us and on we went to Great Haywood without incident, getting there just after nine. Here, the lock was against us but with no boat in sight I started to turn it. No sooner had I drawn a bottom paddle than a boat appeared coming round the corner, so I dropped the paddle I’d just raised and refilled the lock. They were ever so grateful, though I’d given Sheila quite a bit of hassle as she’d got Sanity Again lined up on the lock and now had to back off onto the lock landing.

Once we were up, I set off to walk to the junction to see her through, but got waylaid by Ivor Bachelor who was standing by their boat Lepus, displaying Mel’s decorated canal ware, and who wanted a good old natter. (No change there, then.) I managed to get away just in time to check for boats approaching along the Staffs and Worcs as Sheila started the turn.

Plenty of room here on our favourite moorings, Tixall Wide, I’m pleased to say. After we’d tied and had coffee we set off to do some shopping. Dave on Anon was tied just before the water point, having his fuel polished, so after a fruitless hunt for Chinese leaf in the Farm Shop, we stopped to buy Sheila a new belt. He really is very good value. A belt with her choice of buckle and chosen from a selection of decorative styles, made to measure by fitting the buckle after she’d chosen the belt, cost just £16.

We wanted to continue the search for moleskin in the pharmacy at the other end of the village, so stopped on the way for a further and better natter with Ivor. He warned us that the little general store next to the pharmacy has closed, but we carried on in that direction anyway. No moleskin, perhaps not surprising as that pharmacy is managed by the same people as the Alrewas one.

On we went up the village to the other store where we got a few bits and pieces and headed back to the boat. All this had taken long enough that it was now lunchtime, since when we’ve been taking it pretty easy in the warm sun.

It’s been a bit of a birdy day. I heard a yaffle (green woodpecker) yakking at me as we passed the woods by Wolseley Bridge and then spotted a buzzard sitting hunched on a power line pole. Shortly after that, the electric blue flash of a kingfisher was seen flying across the cut towards the river.

Tomorrow, a lazier start heading for Deptmore Lock.

Location:Tixall Wide

Ruggedly through Rugeley

When we were boating earlier in the year, the weather tended to be fine in the morning and any rain fell in the afternoon, which was largely the right way round. This month, it seems to be the reverse, with damp mornings and dry afternoons. It mizzled down most of the time I was steering today, though it only got serious towards the end. (I’m not sure if mizzled is a verb in a meteorological context, though I’m sure you all know what I mean. Its other use is a piece of thieves cant from between the World Wars, meaning to abscond, vide the Doctor Thorndyke stories of R Austin Freeman.)

Anyway, off we went just on half eight and had a pleasant trip past the thrills of the Armitage Shanks plumbers porcelain factory and the gothic romance of Spode House and Hawksyard Priory, Staffordshire’s miniature Gormenghast. (Q: What does the Armitage factory have in common with the Palace of Westminster? A: you can get promoted in both for making a right bog of your job.)

We got to the shopping moorings by Bridge 66 just on half ten, so a pretty accurate estimation of travel time. We’ve done a successful bit of shopping, though for some reason Dr. Scholl’s moleskin for sore spots on your feet is no longer available anywhere we try. Very odd.

Off we went again just after eleven. The original plan had been to stop on the Brindley Bank visitor moorings, but they were very busy and we had some time in hand, so we’ve come on closer to the Taft Wharf moorings, stopping on a handy bit of Armco just short of the pig farm. It means that we’ll get to Colwich Lock even earlier than planned tomorrow morning, always a good thing when the cut is as busy as it is today. Naturally, once we’d committed to going on, the rain started in earnest.

Humorous wildlife note: ravens may be incredibly intelligent according to a recent report, but pigeons are definitely much less so. We saw a pair billing and cooing near the power station today, one each side of a two metre high mesh fence…

Location:Rugeley

Handily to Handsacre

Alrewas to Handsacre is a longish day by our standards and we knew that, it being a Saturday in July, Fradley would get pretty frantic later in the day. Accordingly, we set off not long after seven having eaten breakfast but not had a coffee. It was Sheila’s turn to steer and mine to lock, so I walked through the village (now totally chock-a-block with boats) to Bagnall Lock. A boat had come past the other way as were setting off and sure enough the lock was empty and open and there was a space on the towpath above.

All I had to do was hang around until Sheila arrived in Sanity Again having crept past all the other boats. We made good time to Common Lock, crossing with Crafty Foxes out of Mercia on the way. In theory this meant that Common should be with us, but we could see that there was at least some water in there as it was draining through the mitre of the bottom gates. Sheila dropped me on the lock landing and I found that the top gate was leaking so badly through one of the upper boards that the lock had half filled.

It’s a pretty shallow lock, of course, so it didn't take long to drain it down again and on we went, your correspondent walking from there on to the top of Fradley. Here, things were rather busier, starting with an odd sort of bloke in a very small splitter GRP cruiser who emerged single handed from Keepers as I got to Hunts. This last was completely empty and Sanity Again was not far away, though now creeping past the boats on the long term moorings below the lock, so I didn't try to turn it and he had to wait for us to work up.

He didn't seem to mind, though seemed very vague about where he was or where the next lock was. I did my best to explain, whereupon he said he was on his way to Leicester “through Nottingham”. He knew that he had to turn right when he got to the Trent, though, so I said, yes, that’s right. It was only later that it occurred to me that if he turns right immediately on joining the Trent, that is, below Derwent Mouth lock, he’ll find himself going upstream back to Shardlow, but I expect someone will sort him out when he gets there.

Meantime, we carried on up the locks, waiting for just a little below Junction for a minor traffic jam to sort itself, and were soon rising in Shade House. As soon as we were clear of that, I nipped below and got a wash load running – I’m sure regular readers will be relieved to hear that…

There wasn't a lot to do apart from making coffee once we were above Woodend. I spent a bit of the time pondering what a loss it will be when the classic mixed English wood that gives the lock its name has been raped by HS2. It’s not an important or specially significant wood, as far as I know, just a typical mixture of oak and ash with a bit of beech and holly, providing accommodation for a broad assortment of native animals and insects.

Mind you, just as I thought these very words, I realised I was staring at a huge bank of rhododendrons…

We got to Handsacre just after eleven and had no trouble finding a towpath mooring a bit beyond the winding hole. Things have filled up now, though there’s still space opposite the pub. We’ve been taking it easy this afternoon, apart from when we were taking a stroll. Lots and lots of boats have gone by, mostly well behaved, though one seniors booze cruise tested the quality of our moorings quite ferociously. No hire boats have been seen today – it’s probably turn round day for most of them.

Tomorrow, a later start as we want to do a bit of shopping in Rugeley and the supermarkets won’t open until ten.

Location:Handsacre

And it's Alrewas Again

We’ve had a very pleasant day of it, despite the weather being much cooler. In fact I actually wore a fleece whilst steering, the first time I’ve had one on for several weeks. Expecting to take three hours to get to Alrewas, we set off in very good time, so that we were locking up Tatenhill by eight o’clock. As it was, there was a certain amount of traffic about, though we didn't have to queue for a lock until the last one, the Alrewas river lock.

In this case, Sheila doing look out in the bow saw a boat leave the lock as we came round the bend by the weir, but by the time we got to the second bend onto the final straight a boater was turning the lock and I had to pull onto the lock landing and wait. Sheila was muttering a bit since she reckoned we were visible by the time he was drawing the top paddles, but it wasn't worth making a fuss.

As it was, we’d made good time and it was not yet half ten. The moorings immediately above the lock were almost empty, with just the one boat at the far end, so we tied bow to bow with them. They’ve proved to be a very pleasant South African couple who spend a few months of the year over here boating. Needless to say, the moorings have all filled up now (5 o’clock), pretty well the whole length through the village.

After a quick coffee, we made a shopping expedition to the butcher and the Co-op, treating ourselves to pasties for lunch. I’m having a lazy day of it since we plan to get some fish and chips for dinner, the Alrewas Fryer being one of the better chip shops round here.

Two other bits of good news – my fix behind the rev counter seems to have worked and indeed the engine heater plugs are performing slightly better as a result. They’d started to drop off a bit, needing eight seconds preheat to get a start on the first turn, but just five seconds today did the job. Since the repair included the negative from the heater plugs relay, they must have been being starved a bit.

Even better, Sheila has just had an excellent dry trim from Ann Sutton of Haircuts Afloat on NB Eclipse – and for only a tenner at that. They are presently on their way up the T&M to Etruria, but are thinking of coming into Mercia for the winter having just had a good couple of days there. I’m sure there would be plenty of demand around the marina if they do so… Meantime, if you are the Stone/Stoke on Trent area over the next couple of weeks and need a haircut, you could do worse than ring Ann on 07900 146042.

Location:Alrewas

Busily to Branston

It’s always a bit noisy on the Willington visitor moorings, what with the railway to one side and the traffic on Findern Lane on the other. Findern Lane is a bit busier than it used to be, of course, owing to this successful tourist “destination” just the other side of the level crossing. ;) Nonetheless, we managed a reasonable night’s sleep and woke in good time this morning. My appointment at the surgery was for 9.30, so it was a leisurely start before ambling down there.

Sheila took the opportunity to visit the Co-op for some last minute supplies whilst I was out. I was seen ten minutes early and Wendy the phlebotomist made short work of extracting 5ml of blood from me, so it was not long after half nine that we were setting off, most of our fellow moorers having already left. I feared that this would mean queues at the locks but, although there was a fair amount of traffic, we only had to wait a short while at both Dallow Lane and Branston. We will adopt our early start, early finish tactics from here on in – if it’s this busy down here, it’s going to be pretty brisk on the approach to Great Haywood and then round the Four Counties.

We got to the Branston VMs at half twelve to find no-one else here, though a couple of boats have since tied in front of us. Construction work proceeds apace on the new road, bridge, school and 2,500 houses they are building. Sheila got chatting to a local towpath walker as we were tying up and was told that the presently closed approach road is scheduled to reopen at the beginning of next month. The Bridge Inn is pretty fed up with it all. There is a diversion in place to reach it, but it’s six miles round over Henhurst Ridge, so not encouraging for people in Branston village thinking of a night out, especially in view of all the other pubs they would drive past to get there.

It’s hard to believe that a better solution couldn't be found. We can understand the need to replace the old bridge, which was seriously weight-restricted and couldn't have taken the school buses, but that sort of situation is almost routine, surely? It’s a tough enough life trying to run a food pub these days without suddenly finding yourself isolated at the end of an extra six mile drive.

We’ve had a quiet afternoon, though I did take some time to investigate the cause of the rev counter needle bouncing around again. When I discussed its foibles with Peter Mason during the Crick Show, he’d advised checking out the earth wiring and, sure enough, a gentle tug on one of the black leads pulled it out of its spade terminal. I’ve remade the joint with the aid of my terminal crimper and we’ll see if that’s turned the trick tomorrow, when the plan is to go on to Alrewas on what’s forecast to be a breezy day.

Location:Branston

Getting ready to go again

We’ve moved back onto the boat over the last couple of days after a very pleasant stay in the lodge. This was characterised by a family event, namely the visit of my sister from the States and a family day on the Sunday. Graeme, Cathy and the grandsons came over from Lincolnshire and Elanor and Sally joined us for the day.

Some of the rest of the time has been spent at Elanor’s new bungalow, helping get it ready for her occupation. It’s benefited from some building work and general repairs and will amply repay the effort and expense she’s put into it.

I’m booked to have a (hopefully) routine blood test first thing on Thursday, so we’ll leave the marina tomorrow and tie on the towpath in Willington. After I’ve been to the surgery, we’ll set off for Branston.

The cruising plan is to head clockwise round the Four Counties ring, with a side trip towards Chester, probably stopping at Christleton as we’ve done in the past, rather than working all the way down into the town. Returning from there, we’ll carry on round the Four Counties, climbing the Cheshire Locks to Red Bull and turning off onto the Macc as so often before. We aim to get to Poynton towards the end of August, have a couple of jobs done to Sanity Again and then take part in the Braidbar Owners’ Weekend and Open Day over the 9th and 10th of September.

Sheila did the regular announcement of that on Sunday – we already have most of twenty people and four or five boats booked in, so it looks like it’s going to be as popular as ever.

I won’t blog again tomorrow, there won’t be much to say, but after that will get back into the swing of reporting on our boating each afternoon.

Location:Mercia

Stewing gently

It's been a week of getting things together after ten weeks cruising and, latterly, trying to keep cool. It's possible to open doors and windows throughout the lodge, as well as the Veluxes, so as to get a through draught, but even so, sleep has been difficult most nights.

Of course, if this sort of weather was a regular occurrence, it might be worth investing in a standalone air con cabinet, but since we probably won't have it like this for another twenty years, it's not worth it.

We're looking forward to my sister Jane visiting from the States this weekend. We'll have a family day on Sunday when the gang from Lincolnshire come over. It's due to be cooler and, knowing how it is, probably wet...

Location:Mercia

Boating home

It was a good run yesterday in decent weather. We left at half seven and made it back by half one, about standard for the Alrewas to Mercia run. Things were very quiet at first, but we found boats queuing to come up Tatenhill and from then on there were boats going in both directions. After the grotty weather over the weekend and Monday, everyone had clearly come out to play.

We had an interesting time getting back to the pontoon, starting with trying to remember which one it was... Fortunately, Fallen Angel was still in so we knew where we should be. Having been coping well with manoeuvring in the wind, I completely muffed the turn onto the berth. Mind you, the Mercia wind waited its chance and started blowing in an unhelpful direction once I was committed to the turn.

Still, we made it in without crashing around and were soon shifting stuff up to the lodge, having done a good bit of packing whilst boating. It helped, too, that we'd left the lodge stocked with all the non-perishables and with a lot of stuff duplicated to reduce the amount to move.

Today, we've had a walk round the marina and carried on with moving stuff about. We've also done a big Ocado order to bring both boat and lodge stocks up to requirements.

We've now got to hang about waiting for the surgery to call me for a blood test, then once that's sorted it will be hi-ho for the Four Counties and Chester. Probably.

I'll try and blog once a week, just to keep folk updated about when that's likely to be.

Location:Mercia

Too busy to blog

We're back in the marina safe and sound and have been busy moving stuff into the lodge. We've also spent a big chunk of time catching up with folk and hearing all of the gossip/scandal.

I'll do a proper blog post tomorrow, when I've got time to think about it!

Location:Mercia

How many volockies?

The mooring on the towpath outside Kings Orchard is very handy but not as quiet as you'd expect. For one thing, both the A38 and the West Coast Main Line are within earshot and, although it seems to be out in countryside, dog walkers come past at regular intervals. In addition, the marina is only just over the hedge and so odd disembodied voices are to be heard from time to time.

None of this is a problem, you understand, it's just an interesting example of the way what seems to be the back of beyond isn't.

Another start just before eight found us chugging along the cut to and through Streethay Marina. There were folk about already in the yard and plenty of signs of industry going forward. It's an "interesting" bit of canal from there to Fradley village which for some reason is always a) shallow and b) overgrown on the offside. It's not quite in African Queen territory yet, but if CRT don't do some dredging and vedging soon, it will be.

As it is, the steerer has to stay alert for oncoming craft. Fortunately, there weren't too many of these for the first hour, though once we were into Fradley village it got very busy indeed. There were volockies on both Junction and Keepers Locks and nothing coming up as we arrived. I managed another smooth evolution out of the Coventry, round onto the T&M and into the lock without touching reverse, a source of quiet satisfaction given the watchful eye of the lockie.

We crossed with boats at each lock on the way down to Hunts, following another down the last two. Sheila was chuckling as she rejoined me after Common Lock – apparently the chap on the boat in front had taken her for another volockie. In fact, he thought she was two volockies as he didn't realise that she'd walked down from Keepers to Hunts. He said he thought her double at the first lock had been a bit older...

I think she's still trying to work out if that's a compliment.

Although there was so much traffic on the move, there were lots of spaces both here above Bagnall, where we've tied for the night, and on the village moorings, as we found when we walked along them on our way to the shops. One boat we did find was Soda with Colin and Maureen, fellow lodge owners from Mercia. We were sorry to hear that Colin had been taken ill whilst they were tied on the Wedgwood moorings (they've been up to Chester and back) and had had to spend three days in hospital. They are taking it easy travelling back to Mercia and have already had offers of help from fellow moorers there.

The notice above Bagnall still says that the river section is in the yellow, Proceed with Caution, though in fact it's way down and the notice by the lock itself says Normal Conditions. I'll check them all and then drop another email to CRT when we get back. It's not good enough – if they are going to have the notices at all, they should be kept up to date. Of course, there are few staff at either Fradley or Peel's Wharf Fazeley now, since the abolition of the Central Shires Unit, and this is the result, I reckon.

Tomorrow, on to and into the marina.

Location:Alrewas

Getting near home

Sutton Road Bridge is a reasonably safe mooring, not least because the Audi dealers alongside has substantial CCTV coverage, but it was a bit noisy last night with (presumably) youngsters racing cars around the car parks. It did go quiet eventually so we got some sleep, if rather erratically.

Off we went at what seems to be our usual time these days, a bit before eight. Sheila steered in rather more wind than we'd been hoping for, though she coped well, naturally. I did lookout, mostly, with occasional breaks to get the washing machine going and the like. Hopwas came and went, then Hopwas Woods. They've replaced the Firing Range warning notices with rather sterner ones and erected big gates at the access points.

Indeed, the flags were flying today and from time to time we could hear the sound of firing, a mixture of rifle fire and some heavier stuff, mortars I suspect. I seem to remember having been told that the range is mostly used for TA training these days, so presumably what we could hear were the activities of a summer camp for part-time soldiers.

Whittington seemed very quiet as befits a village that's running out of pubs, sadly, and there were few lurkers in the vicinity of Huddlesford Junction. We passed Farne sitting quietly on her mooring. The guy who was trying to set up a business by the railway bridge seems to have given up, though there was a part-completed boat tied under the bridge. Even the visitor moorings at the Plough were almost empty.

I took over for the last stretch to our target mooring by the entrance to Kings Orchard marina. It's continued windy for much of the afternoon, though it seems to be easing down at last. The forecast is much better for the next couple of days, warmer and calmer, but at present it's scheduled to get breezier again on Thursday.

If it stays that way, we may well trim a day off the cruising plan and do Alrewas to Mercia in one day on Wednesday, rather than trying to get onto our pontoon in a severe draught. Meanwhile, Jo and I have co-ordinated an Ocado delivery for Friday morning.

Location:Streethay

Steadily to Fazeley

We were tied almost straight across from the Samuel Barlow pub last night, which seems to have changed its character a touch since we were last there two years ago. It was certainly trading quite well and there were sounds of Muzak from the upper floor all evening, together with much merry laughter from a party on the upper veranda. It wasn't impossibly noisy but we were quite glad when it all quietened down by midnight.

Apart from that, we had a peaceful night, despite the proximity of the West Coast Main Line, and woke refreshed in good time this morning. As a result, we were on our way rather before eight for the plod through Amington. It was a pleasant morning, though it clouded over as the day went on. The Glascote Two were against us but were in better condition than they've been on other occasions and Sheila had no problem turning the locks.

Once down, it's a steady run through to the junction, with very little traffic on the move despite it being the weekend. We got to the Sutton Road Bridge moorings by ten, to find that they were all but deserted. It's one of those stretches that is either empty or full of liveaboards, just depending on where the local boats have roosted for the time being.

We had an early coffee then set off to Sainsbury's armed with a mixed shopping list. For once, we made something of an impulse buy in addition. We've been thinking for some time of getting a second handheld blending wand. The Bamix I've used for many years is excellent but now lives in the lodge where it gets put to use in the winter in the production of stocks and soups, mostly. The big Sainsbury's here has a substantial home goods section including a variety of such appliances.

I settled on a Breville beast complete with a chopping bowl attachment. It's a 500 watt motor so should cope with anything up to and including ice cubes (not that I often have cause to produce crushed ice, but you never know). It does mean that any substantial use will be better with the engine running, since pulling over 40 amps from the batteries for any length of time is not a good idea.

It's turned very breezy indeed since lunch – we're glad not to have to move this afternoon. Tomorrow, we'll carry on along most of the remaining Coventry canal, probably finishing near the new Kings Orchard marina.

Location:Fazeley

It's Alvecote

Sheila was just saying that the stretch from the foot of Atherstone to the Fazeley side of Polesworth is quite hard work for the steerer and I know what she means. It keeps it interesting but it's quite serpentine (though not as bad as the South Oxford) with bridgeholes and narrows galore to keep you awake. In addition it was Saturday so after the first hour or so there was a bit of traffic.

Having worked down the last two locks, we stopped briefly on the service point to dump rubbish then carried on towards Polesworth. I made coffee and started a wash load as we went, in between doing look out.

We stopped briefly at the first Polesworth moorings to see if we could help the crew of Bobtail, whose engine wouldn't start. The electrics seemed to be completely dead despite a spare battery connected by jump leads and I couldn't see any obvious cause. In the end, I had to admit defeat. They passed us whilst we were moored here at Alvecote, so presumably they found a more competent source of help.

We've had a quiet time here since arriving with not a lot to write about, frankly. I brought the BOG Pub Guide up to date and Sheila has progressed my guernsey a bit further, otherwise it's been the usual reading and puzzling activities.

Tomorrow, on down Glascote and to our preferred Fazeley mooring at Sutton Road Bridge. We'll need to get there before lunch as we've run out of bread, pretty well. A Sainsbury's shop should see us right, the last supermarket shop we'll do before getting back to Mercia.

Speaking of Mercia, Rampant Rhubarb passed us some time after we'd tied. She's a Mercia boat that's been to Debdale for blacking (they do fancy kinds of blacking at Debdale). One of her owners has been taken ill, however, so the Mercia folks have arranged relays of people to bring her back to the marina; the plan is to do the whole trip in five days, which is some serious boating.

Location:Alvecote

A good evening and some interesting locking

We had a very good evening at the Anchor last night, though it's a bit of a strange pub. We went in via the canalside pub garden and at first thought the place was closed, as all the rooms we could see into downstairs were in the midst of redecoration. However, the upstairs area, that on the level of the road, was in use if sparsely staffed. There was good beer and an interesting menu, once we'd managed to find some to look at. We ordered a bit before seven o'clock but didn't get our food until nearly eight.

OK, so it's all home cooked and delicious, but that seemed quite a long time to wait. No matter, the company of Des and Gill was as good as ever and the evening passed very pleasantly.

We got away at around eight this morning and chugged merrily round to the top of the Atherstone flight. It was my turn to steer and the flight passed pretty uneventfully at first, until we got to lock 4 in fact. A boat was leaving 5 as we came down 3 and, seeing us, left the top gate of 5 open for us. 4 was with them, so we crossed above it and Sanity Again was soon descending 4. Then the fun began.

As the bottom gates of 4 were opened by Sheila, I could see a lockwheeler drawing the towpath side bottom paddle of 5, though the top gate was still standing open. I warned Sheila what was happening, though there was little she could do as she was on the offside of 4. I sounded the klaxon again and again, until Sheila started to complain of earache, but the woman nonetheless crossed the lock and drew the offside bottom paddle as well, never looking at me as Sanity Again charged down the intermediate pound, still sounding like mad.

Eventually, she noticed the situation and with difficulty wound down the bottom paddles. She then went to the top gate and started to close it...

Sheila had now arrived at the lock and remonstrated with her. Incredibly, the woman explained that she was closing the gate as the lock was only half full and she meant to empty it. This with Sanity Again about three boat lengths from the lock in a pound which was now about a foot down. Finally she was persuaded to let us in and asked "Should I let my husband know you will be coming out?"

Well, yes, seems like a good idea since he'd brought the bow of their boat up to the bottom gates. I won't identify the boat, but it was very shiny, trad engine, loads of brass bling and all the rest. Like they say, shiny boat, no brains.

Having finally got below 5, we tied, shopped and had a coffee before carrying on. There was a volockie on 6 (pity he hadn't been on 5!) and he helped Sheila to work us down. As we were doing so, Farne appeared having caught us up whilst we were shopping, so we had the further pleasure of their company down the flight, Des locking and Gill and Shona steering. We've stopped above 10 as usual whilst they were carrying on to Whittington for the night.

Tomorrow, we'll do the last two locks and chug round to Alvecote or thereabouts. After that, there will only be the two more at Glascote before a couple of lock free days along the remainder of the Coventry canal to Fradley.

Location:Atherstone

On to the Anchor

We didn't want to start too soon this morning as there was little point in getting to Boot Wharf before they opened, so it was just on eight when we set off. It being Sheila's turn to steer, I divided my time between making coffee, tidying up the recycling and keeping a look out. Although neither as windy or wet as had been forecast, it wasn't terribly inviting outside, so a fair bit of the looking out was done from within, through the bow doors.

Charity Dock was looking its usual weird mess, partly entertaining in the use of old mannequins and other props, partly just disgusting as a marine junkyard. You feel sorry for the people living in the houses across the cut from it.

There was a gaggle of lurking type boats just before Marston Junction, including one that had comprehensively sunk. It's always been a bit of a spot for such boats, though usually on the other side of the junction.

Things didn't go quite to plan when we got to Boot wharf, as they were craning boats in. Seemingly, Thursday is their day for swapping over the boats they've had out for blacking, so not a good time to go for a pump out. We carried on through the chaos and out the other side and went to Springwood Haven instead. Here we paid £18 for an adequate but not special pump out. We could have tried to hang on until Fazeley Mill, but that might have meant doing an extended day or two, so an extra three quid seemed worth it to avoid the hassle.

There was plenty of room here at the Anchor Inn when we arrived just a bit before noon. After lunch, we had a walk along the towpath to Hartshill, where there were more boats but still spaces – June is a good time for visiting some of these more popular waterways. When we got back, Des and Gill on Farne had tied behind us, so we'll get a bit more socialising in tonight. ;)

Tomorrow, down Atherstone, stopping to shop between locks 5 and 6 as usual, then probably on down to spend the night between 9 and 10.

Location:Hartshill

Still windy but not actually raining

The weather was better today – it wasn't raining. Indeed, the wind was a little less but still pretty challenging. Fortunately, the run from Newbold to Hawkesbury is pretty straightforward apart from the little swing bridge at Stretton Stop, the Rose Narrowboats yard. Sanity Again, being 70' long and comparatively deep draughted for a modern boat, swims well as long as she's moving steadily and so doesn't blow sideways very easily.

It was a case of being well wrapped up and plodding steadily on. Oncoming boats at awkward moments kept it interesting but we had no bumps or bangs. A passing boat fairly early on said that there was a tree down at Bridge 4, Tusses Bridge, adding to the uncertainty. When we finally got there, it proved to be across about three-quarters of the channel from the towpath outwards. There was a guy already cutting it up, and we were able to squeeze by on the offside.

At Sutton Stop, there were two boats waiting for the stop lock but the water point before it was free so we dropped onto that, got the tank filling and, as it was just on 12, made and ate lunch. We'd not long finished and washed up when the tank started to overflow. Sheila worked the stop lock and I took the boat through and round the tricky junction in one move. Sheila afterwards told me that there had been a fair audience outside the Greyhound watching, so it's odd that I didn't mess up the turn. Maybe the fact that I deliberately didn't look that way helped.

There was plenty of room on the moorings round on the Coventry and we were glad to take a bit of time to chill out after the exciting morning. However, steering and keeping look out, whilst tiring in their ways, aren't really physical exercise, so we took ourselves for a walk after a bit. We went on along the towpath to the first bridge, crossed the canal and the remains of the Newdigate Arm just there and walked back through the public open space that's been made of the old colliery grounds.

It was a solid walk, a good hour and over 7,000 steps according to Sheila's pedometer, so we're now entitled to feel weary. Tomorrow, the forecast is for rather less wind but more rain. We'll carry on through Bedworth and Nuneaton, aiming to fetch up at the Anchor Inn. We'll probably stop at Boot Wharf for a pump out on the way. The tank's got a bit of room in it yet, but this is the most convenient service wharf for us now before we reach Mercia.

Location:Hawkesbury Junction

A stormy day and an unexpected visitor

It has indeed been a day of horrible weather, raining and blowing like mad. Few boats have been past, mostly hirers and one day boat. We've spent most of the time indoors, as you'd expect. Sheila caught up with a lot of banking type admin whilst I mostly loafed about reading the newspaper and doing puzzles.

It had moderated enough in the afternoon to venture out to dump rubbish and to walk down to the Co-op for a loaf of bread to keep us going until we get to the next main shopping opportunity, Atherstone.

We'd not been long back when a knock on the roof proved to be Adam of Briar Rose. He had happened to be passing, remembered from reading the blog that we were here and called in on spec. We've had a good time sharing gossip from Crick and the wider boating world.

The sun has actually come out now, so hopefully things will be better tomorrow as forecast, though it will still be pretty windy, I suspect. Nonetheless, we'll have to move on. We're getting low on water and these are 48 hour moorings. If possible we'll stick to the plan to do a long day to Sutton Stop.

Location:Newbold

Stormy weather

By and large, today has gone as planned though the weather has been less than helpful. Expecting to have a dry morning and a wet afternoon, we got going in good time, postponing the post-breakfast coffee until after the locks. However, by the time we reached the bottom lock, I'd had to put a waterproof on to keep the spitting damp out.

I was able to retreat to the cabin whilst Sheila stoically boated round past the Clifton yard to Brownsover in heavy rain and rising wind. Here we found that CRT are indeed installing a good set of rings along the towpath side, where until now it's been necessary to rely on bits of rope strung through the railway line waling on the concrete piles. We found a mooring on the park side and headed off to Tesco to get stocked up.

For the first time we tried using the Scan and Go system installed there, making it possible to bag everything up in the trolley. Naturally, since we were first timers we had to have a brief double check but even that didn't take too long.

Back at the boat it was still persisting down. As usual, Sheila set off to boat whilst I stowed away and made us coffees. It is at least a short and simple run to Newbold where there was a good choice of mooring spaces.

It's turned downright chilly, such that we felt justified in having mugs of soup with lunch and I've had to light the Squirrel to drive the damp chill out of the cabin. Considering it's the fifth of June, that's a bit much, frankly. What's more, the forecast doesn't look any better for tomorrow, with if anything even more wind than today.

Our next sector, to borrow an airline phrase, is a long one for us, to Hawkesbury Junction/ Sutton Stop. We might well leave that until Wednesday if the weather doesn't pick up – we've a couple of days in hand in our cruising schedule, as always.

Location:Newbold

North to Hillmorton

It's been another day of two halves. We got away in good time and checked with the other boats moored above the lock that none were planning to set off just then. So we worked down the top lock alone and then waited for a boat to come up the one below. This allowed Penguin to catch up with us, having come through the tunnel whilst we were locking down.

They proved to be excellent locking partners, very experienced and relaxed in their boating. Indeed, the steerer had been boating for 60 years and had a fund of stories of the last years of carrying. We crossed with several other boats on the way down and reached the bottom by half nine.

Sheila, who had been lockwheeling, rejoined and did lookout through Braunston, which was pretty quiet for the time of year. My only problem was a boat awkwardly tied on the offside service point just beyond Midland Chandlers. Its bow was projecting into the fairway such that I only just managed to thread Sanity Again through and had to come perilously close to the boats tied on the towpath to do so. I managed without touching any of them and we were soon headed out into the countryside north of the village.

The weather was bright and sunny, though breezy and cool, for most of the trip. Sheila got the washing machine going as we went, though the forecast rain meant little chance of drying the load outside. We calculated that we'd likely arrive at Hillmorton top just on 12, so Sheila took over steering for a bit before then to let me get outside a peanut butter sandwich to keep me going.

The rain arrived early, as we were getting close to the boatyard by the Old Royal Oak, so we got togged up in waterproofs and kept going. However, when we got to the locks, there was yet another queue extending back onto the visitor moorings and it was indeed midday. Amazingly, there were no boats actually tied on the VMs. Normally, these are pretty full, which is why we always plan to work down and tie at the bottom.

Under the circumstances, there was no reason to do so today, especially as it meant getting wet and hungry in the process, so we've stopped at the top again. As I write this, we're still the only boat here, very strange.

We've taken advantage of a gap in the showers to walk down the flight and dump some rubbish. Tomorrow, we'll lock down, stop off at Brownsover to go to Tesco and then merrily on to Newbold for the night.

Location:Hillmorton

A bit further than we meant

You may be able to read this today (that is, Saturday), or you may have to wait until tomorrow. I'll explain in a bit. We had a very good start to the day after a peaceful night. Setting off just on eight, we got to the top of Watford 20 minutes later. The lockie told us we were the first boat of the day and that, though he knew we were experienced, he'd work us down so as to check the state of the flight.

At half past, Sanity Again entered the top lock. In the event, the lockie left us to it just above the bottom of the staircase as another boat had arrived at the top whose crew had never done the flight before. Although the pound was low between the last two locks, Sheila had no trouble in steering down, indeed her boat handling was exemplary throughout.

It was still a pleasantly sunny day, though rather fresher than recently, and boating was a real pleasure. This led us to ignore possible early stopping spots like the Armco outside Welton Hythe marina in the hope of getting a mooring at Norton Junction, but it was not to be. Those moorings were very full apart from the first bendy and gloomy bit.

I was steering in expectation of mooring, so I took us through the junction (no-one looking so another flawless performance, ahem) and we tried to tie a bit along the GU.

Not a chance, great lumps of fallen towpath coping underwater. I had a job to get Sanity Again back off and had to reverse well out into the middle of the cut in the end. On we went. We thought about stopping on the Armco at Welton Wharf, but decided we might as well carry on to Braunston and get our meat shopping done today rather than late tomorrow morning.

Sheila took over the tiller again for a rather fraught passage of the tunnel, which was very busy. At the other end, there was a substantial queue for the locks, at least eight boats ahead of us. It was now half eleven, so we tied where we were, back in the cutting, and stopped for lunch.

There is just about a 3 signal here, though nothing else, of course, so we've decided to stay put until tomorrow morning. After lunch, we shuffled the boat forward a length to a slightly better bit of towpath. We then walked down the flight to the Admiral Nelson and into the village along Dark Lane, a bit of a trek in the warm sun.

Shopping at the butcher and the BB shop was done before using the field path across the back of the houses to the bottom lock. Still feeling warm, we halted for an ice cream apiece from the shop there and then ambled back up the flight, passing several of the boats which had been in the queue before lunch, still working down.

If the signal is co-operating, I'll post this now, otherwise it will have to wait until tomorrow at Hillmorton.

Location:Braunston

Heading back and a scary story

We were a bit worried about getting round in the winding hole beyond Bridge 28, thanks to the boat tied by it, so set off in very good time this morning to get it over with. This despite the temptation to make extended use of the good 3 signal before getting going. Thanks to Adam for making me check it again, this time with the iPhone mobile data turned on! (I'm sure I never turned it off, must have done it for itself.)

In the event, I made it round with about 6" to spare. Fortunately, the actual winding hole was good and deep, so Sanity Again turned without too much trouble. I even avoided the overhanging tree to one side.

After half an hour we were chugging back past the overnight mooring having drunk our breakfast coffee on the move. It was a very pleasant morning for boating. Back at Crick, we tied a bit closer to the road bridge than we'd been for the past 10 days and popped into the village to top up the supplies. If there had been any sort of data signal, we might have stayed put, but there was nothing on either 3 or EE, and of course Vodafone is not available for data to us now, curses, curses.

So we carried on through the tunnel and found a mooring just before Bridge 9. It's a bit shallow and there's only just a 3 signal, but it was getting close to lunchtime and my mood was deteriorating with my blood sugar levels.

We've had a quiet afternoon pottering about after the exertions of the morning. Tomorrow, down Watford once more.

Meantime, here's a horror story to make you buy a carbon monoxide alarm or two:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/591058f840f0b67b04000002/MAIBInvReport9_2017.pdf

It's the MAIB report on the double fatality on the Broads cruiser Love for Lydia. New boat to them, told they should have a CO alarm but hadn't got round to it, first day out on it, left the engine running to charge the batteries. It was cold, so they had all the windows shut and the aft pram canopy closed apart from one panel. The exhaust from the inboard petrol engine found its way under the canopy and forward into the forepeak living area.

Next day, the passing ice cream boat wondered why they were still moored on the short term moorings and took a look inside...

If you don't have at least one, preferably two, CO alarms on your boat, get some. They cost around £20 each, but it's your life and that of your family we're talking about here!

Location:Above Watford

Back to normal

Well, what passes for normal on this narrowboat. After a relaxing and recovering day yesterday, we got away just before eight this morning on a beautiful day. By half eight we had arrived at Yelvertoft. Dunwyngyn was already on the water point, but it's a double tap with quite good pressure, so we tied in front of them and ran the 30 metre hose out. I started a wash load running whilst Sheila swept hawthorn bits off the roof.

Dunwyngyn left before us – it took a good 45 minutes to fill the depleted tank. Off we went again along this quite delightful bit of canal, winding gently, mostly, through nowhere in particular. The towpath just before Bridge 28 had been recommended to us by Adam off Briar Rose and it is indeed an excellent mooring. There's quite a bit of it once you are through 27. There are even mobile phone signals, though the 3 signal doesn't have data. However we have a strong EE connection which I'm using for this blog post.

The whirligig has been deployed to dry the towels. There's still a bit of laundry to do, about a load and a half, I think, the next batch of which will probably be done on Saturday. After getting pretty run down by our standards, the batteries are nearly back to full charge – the tail current was below 4 amps when I stopped the engine today, less than the magic 1% of the bank's nominal capacity. We may get it down even further over the next week's boating.

We've had a walk this afternoon, along the towpath which is in only moderate condition. The winding hole is just through the next bridge, 28, and looks just about usable despite the boat tied on the towpath immediately before it.

Finally, a word of warning about the villainous practices of mobile phone companies, Vodafone in this case. I'd bought an extra 2Gb of data per month for £10 since it was the only viable data signal at Crick and pretty iffy at that. Today, I checked online that we'd not used it all up and noted that if I turned off the request they'd stop charging with effect from next month. Stupidly, I thought that meant that I'd still have the use of the remaining data for this month, so turned off the switch so as not to forget later.

Of course, what they do is stop the extra data allowance immediately even though you've not exhausted what you'd bought. We can manage without it now – we'll carry on through Crick Tunnel tomorrow on our way back, having just stopped to shop in Crick, and there was an EE signal on the other side – but it's still sharp practice. This priceless warning doesn't come when you go to turn the switch off, only if you open an explanation box next to it.

Does the application form for jobs at Vodafone ask if your parents were married, I wonder?

Location:Bridge 27, Leicester Section