Hotter still and hotter

Haywood and Colwich locks are notorious for getting very busy indeed in the summer and we were two hours away from Haywood where we were at Weston. So another early start was indicated, Sheila setting off at 6.20. I just had time to grab breakfast before we reached Weston Lock, which was against us.

I worked the boat down and then the curse of Weston struck. Coming up, Sheila had run aground on the towpath side and the offside is always shallow because of the silt carried down in the by-wash, so she took care to keep in the middle as she emerged.

And promptly ran aground again. It took a fair bit of back and forth to persuade Sanity Again to unstick, but after around five minutes we got away. Clearly more dredging is needed there – when we reached Hoo Mill the by-wash was nicely on weir, so the pound was not especially low. Apart from this contretemps, we had a good run. It was cloudy and cool again, to the extent that Sheila took to wearing her fleece for most of the morning.

Haywood lock was no trouble and Colwich was just getting busy as we arrived, with a boat emerging, one waiting to go down and another arriving below as we were working down. By the time we were clear, there were two more arrived, one above and one below. This was not long after half eight, so I dread to think what it was like later today.

We got to Brindley Bank after a straight four hours cruising and found a good slot just ready for us. This is one of the spots where I'm always sure it's a 48 hour mooring, but there are no signs or even any sign of totems, must be my imagination. Maybe it's because it obviously should be 48 hour, so popular is it with its nice new rings and decent dredged depth.

Despite the heat, we tried going up the Bloody Steps. There's no sign of an old pub at the top, just a superb example of a Victorian pumping station. After some roaming around, we took advice from a passing native and found the Co-op, which is quite a large specimen of its type.

To get to it from the aqueduct, walk up the Bloody Steps and alongside the pumping station. Keep going straight on to the main road, which cross by the traffic island just to your left. Walk up the left side of the play park and keep going straight on through the housing estate until you come to another through road.

Note the name of the side road you are on – Jeffrey Walk – and turn right. The Co-op is may be 100 yards on your side of the road and is air-conditioned, oh bliss. We bought a loaf of bread and found our way back (this is where having remembered the name of the side road helps...)

The humidity has gone up a bit so we've been lurking in the boat all afternoon, sweating. We've even dropped the side of the cratch cover to keep the sun off the bow doors.

Tomorrow, on through Rugeley to Handsacre or may be a little further since we don't need to stop to shop, Kings Bromley, perhaps.

Ra Ra Rugeley

No, it's not quite what Kate Bush was on about, I know, but ever since I thought of that title above, I've had "Rasputin" going on and on in my head as an earworm. Oh well, if all else fails, there's always Elanor's trick for dealing with such mental irritations... "Rupert the Bear"

Oh, no, what have I done? "Rupert, Rupert the Bear, everyone knows your name..."

Aaargh!

Must be the heat. That's right, it's been very warm today. I'd be tempted to leave my vest off tomorrow, if it wasn't for that wise old saw about ne'er cast a clout 'til may be out. Note the lower case 'm'. I firmly believe that the saying refers to the hawthorn blossom, not the month, since it appears when the weather has warmed up properly.

Any road, what about today? We made an early start having decided to top up the tank at Spode House after all. The cold weather meant wearing lots of layers which leads to lots of laundry and lots of water use, so we were down to half a tank already. Sheila steered and I did look out on a very pleasant morning, setting off as soon as we'd eaten breakfast and drinking coffee on the way.

Spode House and Hawksyard Priory were in fine Gothic form and we were soon tied on the water point which turned out to have a decent pressure today. Once filled to the brim, off we went again, meeting not many boats until we got to the shopping mooring at Bridge 66. It was now ten o'clock, so after another coffee, we made an initial trip to Smiths and Wilko, followed by an excursion to Tesco.

Here we surpassed ourselves. We don't often use a deep trolley, but the list was quite long, virtually Ocado standard, so there was nothing else for it. We did find almost everything we wanted and as a result filled the new wheelie bag, two day sacks and two folding bags. It was just as well that we'd been able to tie at the ideal spot, just through the bridge and right by the path to Tesco.

By the time we'd got it all put away, it was twelve and time for lunch. Once fed, we boated round to the visitor moorings at Brindley Bank where there were a couple of spaces.

I've done a bit of boat fettling this afternoon. The rev counter had started playing up again, so I took the engine panel off and found, sure enough, that the same earth leads as last time had come loose in their terminal. I've refixed them but the crimped sleeve of the female spade connector is getting pretty shaky. It will hopefully keep going until we're at Braidbar in September where they can do a better job than I can, having more potent crimping tools.

When I'd put it all back, I tested all the switches on the panel, just in case, and sure enough, the horn had stopped working. Pulling the leads off the back of the klaxon and sticking the multi meter test leads in the connectors showed that there was plenty of voltage getting through. After brooding on it for a bit, I tried scraping the connectors clean, especially the male spades, and got the thing working again.

It's in a pretty exposed position in the middle of the roof and is showing the results of our wet winter and spring. I think I might play safe and buy a backup, a handheld gas powered horn from Midland Chandlers as we pass on the way to Penkridge. With Harecastle, Barnton, Saltisford and Preston Brook tunnels on the schedule this summer, I don't want us to find ourselves with a dumb boat.

Tomorrow, on to Great Haywood and Tixall Wide, which should be just idyllic in this mini heatwave.

"We're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave..."

Oh strewth, not another Ohrwurm!

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

Roaming round Rugeley

You can visit a town over and over again and still find something new in it, even one like Rugeley, not the first place to spring to mind when listing noteworthy places in Staffordshire. It's main claim to fame until recently was the power station, by no means the largest in the Trent Valley, but important in its own way as a "cold start" station, that is one that doesn't need input from the National Grid to get fired up.

Only a few years ago it was the site of a mega-million flue gas desulphurisation project, including the construction of a brand new chimney stack, but it's been closed down now as part of the move away from coal firing to cleaner fuels.

Anyhow, as regular readers will recall, we almost always stop there on the way through, mooring at Bridge 66 and visiting the new Tesco and often the Wilko's nearby. Today, though, we had another reason to do so. Many years ago we bought a hair trimmer in Aylesbury and Sheila has cut my hair with it ever since. Recently though, this sturdy device has been succumbing to old age. The combs have started breaking up (and the new set we bought it soon gave up the ghost) and the nice soft grip handle has turned sticky and 'orrible. It's had to be wrapped in cling film for the last couple of outings.

Some online research discovered that Argos were selling a very similar model, also a Remington, for not much more than the last one cost and that Rugeley has a branch of Argos within walking distance of Bridge 66. So, setting off at 8.15 this morning, we found a premium mooring spot right by the bridge and set out to find it. (Leaving the binoculars at home, Jo.)

It took a bit of roaming around, but we finally spotted it tucked away next to one of the town's many car parks. I should comment that the Luftwaffe seem to have done a very piecemeal job on Rugeley so that the modern replacement buildings are shoe horned in around the surviving old shops in a higgledy-piggledy way. A bit of catalogue searching turned up the beast I'd chosen and, as the store was very quiet, we were soon in possession and on our way to Wilko's.

There we bought another of a our favourite boating items, a lidded polythene 30 litre crate for storing surplus clothes under the dinette. Previously, we've used a big sports bag for this, but that's back in the lodge doing a similar task there. The weather's not yet warm enough to wear short sleeves and the drawers aren't large enough to hold both long and short sleeved shirts at the same time.

Back at the boat we off loaded these purchases and grabbed a mug of coffee before raiding Tesco for some bits and bobs. It was now half eleven and Sheila set off steering whilst I stowed the booty. An hour's boating saw us tied on the new rings at Brindley Bank. These are proving very popular these days, so well done IWA Staffs Branch who put them in.

We've had to light the fire again but the sun has now come out and the wind is due to go round to the west by tomorrow, which should make things feel a lot milder than the last couple of days, hooray. Tomorrow, on to Tixall.

Location:Brindley Bank

What a good day

It's been a spiffing day's boating today, though hard work in some ways. I always misremember how long Brindley Bank to the Tesco mooring takes, probably because we used to tie at Bridge 69/the Pig Farm/Taft Wharf, which is about 30 minutes away from BB. Anyway, we set off a bit earlier than planned, at around five to nine and got to the mooring just 30 minutes later. It didn't matter because a) our favourite spot just this side of the bridge was free and b) although it was Sunday, Tesco opened for "browsing" half an hour before the official start of trading at ten.

We took fifty minutes to do some serious shopping, including a couple of bottles of one of our new favourite wines, Yellow Tail Jammy Red. Back at the boat with loaded daysacks and carriers, Sheila set off whilst I stowed the goodies away and made coffee. I then took the helm back for what proved to be an exacting morning's cruising. It was a sunny Sunday at the end of the season, so lots of folk were having a day out.

The route from Rugeley to Handsacre features some narrow bits, of course, including the Armitage "Tunnel" and a couple of tight bends with bridge holes. We managed to meet boats coming the other way at most of these, so Sheila was kept busy on the bow, radioing warnings back to me.

There's a thread on CWDF at the moment about the difference in approach between the UK and French authorities on the subject of licensing steerers of canal boats. France requires the Europe wide CEVNI qualification (unless you are a hirer, in which case you don't need one, thus making a mockery of the concept) whereas in the UK anyone can buy a boat and set off without any instruction at all. And frequently do, usually heading for London.

One participant in this debate was arguing that an advantage of a licence requirement would be that steerers would be better at using sound signals at blind bridges, bends and junctions. At the moment, there's little point as most other boaters wouldn't have a clue what was meant by say four blasts, a pause, then two blasts ("I am turning round to port", if you're wondering.) The problem with this is a) there are so many blind spots on the narrow canals, there'd a be a cacophony of sound and b) most narrowboats have sad little car type horns that don't sound like a boat and can't be heard over an engine anyway.

The futility of the idea was demonstrated when we got to the Ash Tree bridge and bend, a 90º bend immediately after a busy road bridge, going in our direction. As we approached, Sheila radioed that she thought she'd heard a horn, but it could easily have been a car on the road. I thought about a blast on the klaxon, but we were right by the pub at eleven o'clock on a sunny Sunday, so I just throttled right back.

As Sanity Again's bow entered the bridge hole, another bow appeared, doing a fair lick the other way. There was no way he was going to be able to stop, so I went hard astern and backed out of the bridge hole (I should really have sounded three times, "My engines are going astern" but I was too busy keeping her straight). As a result, we were able to pass without contact with each other, though the other guy did clip the towpath a couple of times.

My return for this piece of skilled boat handling was a scowl from the other steerer. No doubt he thought that, having sounded his horn, he should have been able to carry on regardless. Note that Sheila was unsure if she'd heard anything and I hadn't heard a dickie bird.

Ah well, no bones broken and it was a fine morning. We got to Handsacre just on 12 o'clock after a few, less exciting encounters. We've had a quiet afternoon, reading and puzzling. Tomorrow, we go down Fradley and will probably tie above Bagnall.

A chug to Brindley Bank and lighting the Squirrel

The weather duly improved overnight, so that in the small hours we were able to take the bung out of the Houdini and prop it open on the cork. The light of a full moon came streaming in. We got going just before eight, Sheila winding in a great sweeping turn on the Wide. There was nothing moving on the Trent and Mersey, allowing her to swing round the Junction with aplomb and a good bit of throttle.

Haywood lock was mostly empty, but with nothing in sight I was able to fill it straightaway. By the time we'd got Sanity Again into the chamber a boat had arrived at the bottom and the cut has been pretty busy since. We collected a couple of followers on the run to Colwich, showing the wisdom of our prompt start. Two hours boating in all got us to the outskirts of Rugeley and the moorings at Brindley Bank. There have been a fair few fishing parties about all day, together with some Pokemon hunters.

We're not alone here – a couple of other boats are tied behind us. Although the weather has been fine and dry if cloudy, Autumn has definitely arrived. Sheila had a good session tidying up the plant troughs, which we'd lifted down into the well deck yesterday to keep them safe from the wind. Once she'd done that and put them back on the roof, I got the chimney and ash carrier out of the bow locker and lit the Squirrel. We've been glad of the warmth this afternoon. Hopefully, the scuttle of coal we've got will be enough to see us back to Mercia.

Tomorrow, there'll be no point in setting off too early as we want to be able to get a mooring by Tesco to do some stocking up for the last time. We wouldn't tie there overnight on a Saturday, but I've no doubt that the hire and share boats will.

A good night and a good day

The mooring at Handsacre was quite gloomy but, possibly for that reason, we both got a good night's kip. Knowing that we didn't have a long cruise scheduled, we lay in a bit and it wasn't until gone eight o'clock that we set off. It was a pretty routine chug through Armitage and the "tunnel" and past Hawkesyard Priory, presently largely hidden by greenery.

As planned, we went straight through the usual shopping moorings at bridge 66 and tied instead on the VMs at 67. This was, frankly, a bit of a mistake. There are very few rings and we could only just get in to the side. In future, we'll tie in the usual place and walk up the road to visit Aldi. However, we found everything we wanted when we got there, including the Squirty Squash concentrate that's much better value than the Robinson's equivalent. It tastes better, too.

Back at the boat, Sheila set off whilst I stowed away the goodies and made coffee. I then took over for the last stretch so that Sheila could put her foot up. When we got to Brindley Bank, Margaret Beardsmore and her merry IWA team were tidying up the moorings and they kindly warned us that they were about to start strimming. So at their suggestion, we moved across to the other side and tied on chains – the canal has towpath on both sides here.

It's been raining on and off ever since we got here but hopefully will be drier in the morning. There has continued to be a niff of diesel after turning off, so I lifted the engine boards again. Sure enough, there was still an ooze from the problem joint. I got the self-amalgamating tape out and wrapped it which has stopped it completely.

For those who don't know, self-amalg is a non-tacky stretchy silicone rubber tape that only adheres to itself. It's excellent for waterproofing electrical connections and for emergency repairs of split pipes. You stretch it a lot as you wrap it round the joint and it forms a sealed tube gripping the target. Being non-tacky, it's easy to remove when you come to make a permanent repair.

Tomorrow, tally-ho for Tixall.

Long day's journey into Rugeley

At nine o'clock last night, we all looked at each other and agreed that bed was the best idea. (Sally had been spark out since finishing her tea.) As a result, we were positively bright and breezy this morning, though one of Sheila's flying starts was not feasible with Bagnall Lock lurking just round the corner.

So I made tea at half six, we all got dressed and breakfasted by about half seven and were ready to set off fifteen minutes later. It was my turn to steer and the locking crew consisted of Sheila, Elanor and Sally. We'd tied on the Rebel's Field mooring; as the gang walked through Wharf Bridge, Sheila radio'ed back to warn me that another boat was pushing off from the towpath on the other side.

This was Flint, whose steerer very decently stopped and let me by. They followed us up through the seven locks to the top of Fradley, chatting cheerfully with us as they did so. It was a great example of proper boating spirit, which is not as dead as the doommongers of CWDF would have you believe. Flint is a lovely boat, too, a RW Davies Northwich Trader.

The weather became bright and sunny as we went, helping the generally positive mood of the day. The wind's got up a bit now – I was glad of a mug of soup as we passed through Rugeley, as my back was getting quite chilled.

Elanor has been taking a turn at steering, reviving the skills she's built up over the years, having been boating since the age of minus 6 months.

We'd originally planned to go on to the pig farm, but that would have given us the same problem as this morning, with Colwich lock quite soon after we set off. So, after six hours boating, we stopped on the new visitor moorings by Brindley Bank and ate a much delayed lunch.

The afternoon will be devoted to a range of quiet activities – in Sally's case mostly with her nose tucked under her paws. On to Burston tomorrow is the cunning plan

 

Heading for home waters

We're getting to be quite fond of the Brindley Bank moorings, but the main challenge when heading south is timing your departure so as to arrive at the shopping mooring when there's a space. Although there's still a fair amount of traffic about, it's not as frantic as it was during the school holidays and we guessed that they probably wouldn't have been full overnight.

In the end, we set off just on nine on a rather breezy day but otherwise fine and mild. Sheila made short work of the trip through Rugeley and we got to the shopping moorings a bit before half past. The controlled moorings were all full, but there was plenty of room beyond. We did two trips, the first to pay in the cheques from the charity auction and to visit Wilko and the second to Tesco.

It was a very successful trip to Wilko where we bought a curious range of stuff from some spray polish and three big sponges to a new broom for the roof, the current one having started to rust. On the way back to the boat, we stopped for a natter with Terry and June Pam on Rooster's Rest, last seen at Barton Lock.

After a bit of restocking at Tesco, we set off again, Sheila steering once more and myself stowing the stuff and doing the breakfast washing up. From time to time I would nip out onto the bow for the various blind spots; I managed to finish in nice time for the Ash Tree Bridge and then the Armitage Tunnel the other side of Spode House and Hawksyard Priory (I do so love that name!).

By now it was twelve, so I grabbed some lunch whilst still doing sporadic look out. I'd just about finished in time to take over the helm for mooring at Handsacre. There was plenty of room when we got here, but it's filled up quite a bit since. We've had a pretty relaxed afternoon, though I did get a couple or three chores done.

Firstly, I used some of the washing soda we got the other day to clean out the galley sink drains. I closed the seacock, chucked a bit of soda down each plughole and poured a kettle of boiling water over the lot. After waiting a while, I reopened the seacock and was gratified to see the water drain smoothly away. I don't know why people bother with the sinister nasties they sell for drain unblocking, I've always had success with washing soda and of course it's much better for the environment.

The next job was to recoil the 20 metre line we used to get off the mud at Poynton, which has been drying on top of the engine box ever since. The plain end had started to unravel a bit, so I rebound it with self-amalgamating tape – it's a kernmantle (climbing) rope, so it can't be back spliced as I would with the other lines. Having done that, I emptied and repacked the steering step where it lives. Finally, we found that the sponges worked well as covers for the prisms, which are inclined to condense and drip in the cold weather. They are a bit cheaper than having fancy ones made – 30 pence apiece.

Veal casserole and mash tonight, Alrewas tomorrow.

Steadily to Rugeley

Technically, we set off too soon this morning, getting away just after eight. We had a steady run to Rugeley, taking just over 90 minutes to the shopping mooring. I was quite worried that we wouldn't find a space before ten, but there was a lot of room, several boats having left early, apparently. We did an initial trip to Tesco; not for a lot of things, it being not that long since the last Ocado order, but we got some perishables and a few bottles of wine. We need to get the cellar fully stocked before we get to Poynton and it's a nice short carry from that Tesco to the boat.

It didn't take long to put it all away, then off we went again into town. We needed to visit the Halifax branch in connection with some bonds which are maturing later this month. They are internet bonds, but the Halifax seems to have missed out on the essence of the concept, as withdrawing the money involves a bit of form filling and a visit to a branch in person, with ID, in order to sign one of them. Why we can't do that online, I don't know.

We tried to make these points to the woman behind the counter, but she wasn't having any of it. As usual, she hid behind the necessity for "security", despite the fact that we've operated non-internet accounts with other banks without so much hassle. Ah well, it's done now. Let's hope the money actually arrives in our current account in due course...

Apart from this (it took a good 20 minutes to deal with) we had a good time picking up some other bits and bobs, mainly in Wilko. When we got back to the boat, the moorings were very full, though you could still have got in at the far end towards the railway bridges. I got Sanity Again on her way once more whilst Sheila attended to making cups of coffee and doing the breakfast washing up.

Loads more boats were tied on the towpath all along the way to Brindley Bank, including Tootling by Gently from our pontoon in Mercia. Once round the bend and over the aqueduct, we found loads of room on the new visitor moorings on the other side. Indeed, we were the only boat here for quite a while, though another couple have arrived since.

It's been raining on and off all afternoon, with bright sun in between. Crochet and breadmaking has taken place, along with newspaper reading and some email chat. Tomorrow, on to Tixall Wide in the sun, hopefully.

Two days in one

As I said yesterday, the plan was to go to the mooring at bridge 69 today and on through Rugeley tomorrow, stopping at Tesco as we did so. Accordingly, we set off at half seven for a trip expected to last something under two hours. However, the forecast for tomorrow is for another day of unremitting rain, suggesting that we might end up sitting it out by the pig farm. Instead, we decided to do two days' boating (by our standards) in one day and carry on to Handsacre today.

This proved to be a good move. Although the wind has continued to blow coldly from the North, it was a very pleasant day for boating, so making the most of it made sense. We got to the shopping mooring in Rugeley just before half ten and were fortunate to find a space just before the bridge, the closest approach to the supermarket. We expect to be back in Mercia about midweek next week, so our shopping today was concentrated on getting enough stuff to last until then, when we shall be able to restock courtesy of Ocado.

This was wholly succesful and, after seeing Sheila on her way through the traffic jam of the moorings, I spent some time in the galley stowing the supplies. After that, it was a case of doing lookout, first through the tricky bridge by the Ash Tree, then through Armitage "tunnel" and finally round the twists and turns the canal takes between there and Handsacre. When we got here, there were no other boats tied at all, but a few have turned up since.

We had a slightly belated lunch and have spent the afternoon loafing in the saloon mostly. It's the kind of day which looks much better from inside the boat than if you try to sit out. As I say, we'll probably stay put tomorrow, then work down to Alrewas on Monday. The rain isn't due to start until ten, so an early get away should see us miss the worst of it. It might well be wet again on Tuesday, but it's no hardship to spend an extra day in Alrewas.

Getting hotter

It's a good job we got everything done that we needed to do this morning, because this afternoon it's been a case of staying as still as possible in the shade. We timed our start exactly right for once, setting off at half eight and getting to the shopping mooring in Rugeley just after ten. It was a very pleasant morning's boating with a bit of traffic about but not enough to cause problems through the various bottle necks around Armitage.

Spode House was looking grand as ever and has lost the horrible advertising banner that used to disfigure its frontage. There are a lot of gaps in the long term moorings there; hopefully CRT will rationalise those one day to close them up a bit. Between those and the Ash Tree moorings just through the bridge you spend a lot of time in tickover.

A visit to Tesco replenished our supplies of perishables and we got one or two other bits and bobs at the same time, including another pair of pyjamas for yours truly, short sleeved and short legged ones for these hot nights. Whilst I put stuff away, Sheila went into the town to get a puzzle book from WH Smith and some lens cleaner from SpecSavers. We don't use their glasses any more, but the cleaner is the best value around.

We'd planned to go on to Bridge 69 as I said yesterday, but have decided to stop on the new visitor moorings just beyond the Brindley Bank aqueduct. It's a bit noisier here with the ring road bridge just beyond, but distinctly less smelly in this heat. Braidbars spotted today: Bessie Surtees again as we leapfrog with them towards Great Haywood and Martin and Anna on One Day heading the other way through Rugeley.

Tomorrow, on to Tixall Wide, probably. It's 30º in the shade here now, so not a lot more is going to get done. All the doors and hatches are open and mostly fly screened and we've put the porthole bungs in down the sunny side. Definitely another night for salad, methinks.

Moving along

We've done a regular day's boating today, setting off from Taft Wharf at eight and getting to the shopping mooring in Rugeley 45 minutes later. We had to go through the bridge to moor as there was an old, unconverted Josher occupying most of the straighter mooring on the north side. It was only tied by its centreline, which made getting past from the narrows before it interesting, but I managed without disgracing myself.

We got a serious shop done at Tesco, went back to the boat to offload, then had another trip into town. Main stuff was done in Wilko's and Morrisons, the latter for their new wheat, spelt and rye loaf and two of their delicious pasties.

Off we went again, Sheila steering and your correspondent stowing the goodies once we'd got clear of the constricted bit past the moorings and through the first bridges. I'd just about finished as we reached the Ash Tree club moorings, so I went on the bow to see Sheila through the bridge hole and dogleg in the canal.

We stopped on the water point at the start of the Spode long term moorings. We only stayed long enough to fill to the three quarter level as Peggy O'Neill was waiting behind us. We'll fill again at Fradley having run a wash load on the way.

Time was now getting on, so we decided to stop in Handsacre. There was a goodly amount of traffic coming the other way; by the time we'd passed Armitage Tunnel, there were three boats queuing on the far side.

There was plenty of room beyond the Crown at Handsacre; we've tied a bit beyond the pub moorings, about half way between the bridge and the winding hole. Here we've been loafing after lunch, frankly. We had one bit of excitement when a privateer, reversing to get into the space in front of us with perhaps more enthusiasm than prudence, picked up a hay net on their prop and suddenly found that they couldn't slow down or manoeuvre.

Their stern hit our bow rubbing strake a right clang, leaving a chunk of the paint from their tunnel band decorating the blacking. Comastic beats yacht enamel every time. They were very apologetic and produced the remains of the hay net as proof of their difficulties.

Terry Robertson of TR Training says that the most frequent word on his lips is "gently"; if you don't hurtle about with the throttle well open, things go much more smoothly even when in difficulties.

Serious boating

Well, by our standards, anyway. We set off at half seven this morning and by nine were tying in Rugeley. Loads of room on the 48hr VMs at that time, indeed loads of room on all the moorings we passed pretty well.

The new Tesco is enormous and has a pedestrianised route to it from the towpath, would you believe. Morrison's is going to have to work hard to compete, though things like their pasties are still much better. We stocked up on perishables like fruit, veg and bread, then set out again.

We'd normally only go as far as the pig farm at Bridge 69, sorry Taft Wharf, but today we wanted to get to Great Haywood to get a good choice of bedding plants before they all sell out this weekend. As a result, it was gone one o'clock before we'd tied on Tixall.

Loads of room here, too, which is odd. On a BH weekend, it would be packed out by now in previous years. Where is everybody?

We have indeed got exactly the plants Sheila wanted. We got them at £1.15 each rather than £1.25 because we were buying nine. 

We plan to stay here for the weekend, planting up the troughs, washing and polishing the starboard side of the boat and generally watching the world go by.

Then it'll be heigh ho for Crick, boating in easy stages as usual; all this dashing about doing five hours a day can't be good for you.

:)

A bit dopey but still boating on

It was another early start this morning; we were quite bleary eyed as a result of a poor night’s sleep. No idea why, just one of those things, I guess. Anyhoo, we set out at half seven, aiming to get to Rugeley by around half eight, shop a bit and then be at the bank when it opened at nine.

This worked brilliantly; having stocked up with bread, paper and cucumber, we were at the door of the Nationwide at three minutes past the hour. Pity it’s Wednesday today. Like a lot of banks, Nationwide doesn’t open until half nine on a Wednesday. Staff training, you know.

/floor

Back to the boat we went, unloaded, checked out email and stuff and I popped back for half nine. To be fair, the staff training must be pretty good; courteous greeting, straight to a teller and I was out of there by 9.33.

One change is coming to Rugeley; a huge 24 hour Tesco is almost complete just on the other side of the canal from Morrisons.

Sheila was all ready to start cruising when I got back and off we went again, round the bit that really really benefits from having a look out. Apart from Armitage Tunnel, where the crew gets off and walks through first to stop boats trying to come through the narrow tunnel in the other direction, there are a succession of bridges and pinch points where forewarning of an approaching boat makes all the difference.

As always, Sheila managed the various manoeuvres required with aplomb, despite having been reading half the night. Her temper began to fray just a bit towards the end of her stint, near Kings Bromley. A small boat was pottering along in a very slow tickover ahead of us, keeping pace with the lady of the crew and two scatty spaniels walking the towpath.

For one thing, this woman was initially encouraging the dogs to jump in the water in front of Sanity Again, until Sheila was constrained to sound our klaxon. The thought of running a dog down is just horrible and a boat owner really should know better.

We’ve no problem with people taking their time along the cut, it’s what boating is all about, but it’s only considerate to look behind from time to time and wave through a boat that can’t go as slowly as yourself.

Fortunately they turned off into Kings Bromley marina.

I had part one of lunch (a Morrisons pasty) just before this, and then took over the helm for Sheila to do the same. She returned to steer down the locks whilst I waved a windlass about. We crossed with other boats at almost all of them, so the work was well shared.

There was a volunteer locky on at Junction Lock, a helpful chap even if he did leave a top paddle up whilst emptying the lock for the boat in front of us. (Whoops, been there, done that, haven’t we all? It’s so easy when you’re chatting and explaining something to get out of the routine.)

We’ve got a mooring below Junction for the night, towards the lower end where the mobile signals are useable. It’s meant that I’ve been able to donate the proceeds of the charity auction to the Anthony Nolan Trust, which is better off by over £1100 as a result.

We had planned to go all the way to Mercia tomorrow, but the forecast isn’t very good for the middle of the day; we may content ourselves with a run to Alrewas, getting there around 10 as the rain sets in, and then carry on to Mercia in the finer weather on Friday.

Warm and windy

We didn't make a seriously early start this morning, but still managed to be on our way before nine. The wind was at first no problem; indeed with a bit of sun around it was very pleasant indeed. Mind you, by the time we got to the fiddly bits between Handsacre and Spode House/Hawkesyard Priory the breeze was enough to give me a bit of a challenge.

Hovering by the Plum Pudding to let Sheila walk through the tunnel and make sure it was clear I got blown over towards the towpath enough that I ended up brushing it with the stern as I set off. Apart from that, there were enough boats on the move to keep it interesting; none were met in the narrow sections.

We stopped at the water point beyond the Spode House moorings to top up the tank and drink a coffee. Setting out again, I had an uneventful trip to the shopping moorings in Rugeley, arriving just on 11.15. This was just nice time for a canter round Morrisons and Lowndes fruiterers before lunch.

We treated ourselves to the scrummy Morrisons' traditional pasties, despite it being meat free Monday. No matter, I got a nice looking cauli in Lowndes, so it's cauliflower cheese tonight. I must report a striking first for the year; when we got back to the boat, it was too hot inside just from the Squirrel ticking over very slowly. Both Houdinis went on the cork (ie propped open with wine corks) and the doors left open.

Sheila ran a washload on the way to our overnight mooring here at Bridge 69, aka the Pig Farm. We've dropped the cratch in anticipation of the serious wind again tomorrow; it's warm enough inside it as a result to make the well deck a good place to stand the rack full of wet washing.

Flies have appeared, sufficient to require deploying the swat, and Sheila has just had to usher a wasp out of the side hatch. Spring is definitely with us, despite the wind.

We're going to sit tight here tomorrow, almost certainly, then chug or zig zag our way to Tixall on Wednesday.

Hot dog boating

I was going to get Sally to do this post but a) she's having a bit of a sulk and b) she's really too hot, which certainly makes a change this summer.

With a bit to do today, we managed a variant of our flying start. After a bit of early morning snuggling, Sheila got up and started boating; I gave Sal her first thing walk whilst Sheila got the boat into cruise mode, then I made two mugs of tea, gave one to Sheila on the helm and took the other back to bed with me.

I was promptly joined there by Sally, who snoozed away on Sheila's side of the bed with her head resting on my shoulder. Apart from the dark hair and big pointy ears, I hardly noticed the difference from having Sheila there…

/wahaha

We stopped on the water point by the Spode House moorings, and filled the tank right up. Sheila had started a washload already, and had another ready to go for after we'd stopped at Rugeley. We got to the shopping mooring by just after nine. Not being able to take Sal with us meant several solo trips, but we got it all done, including getting some  more plants for the troughs and pasties for lunch.

It was now half eleven, so I took Sal for a comfort break walk (it was too hot for anything else) then we had an early lunch. By half twelve we were on our way again, second washload running and She and Sal sunning themselves on the bow.

We've tied by Bridge 69, and will stay here tomorrow, probably. The washing is out to dry on the whirligig, and I've topped up the batteries again, the bank having fully charged by the time the washing was finished.

Before I go, a big hi to the crew of Four Goldens, who passed us in Rugeley and follow this blog. Have a good trip!

/hihi

Familiar boating

It's quite pleasant, after the dramas of Hatton, the Stratford and the BCN, just to plod along waterways we know so well. With a fair bit to do (by our standards) we made a decently early start, ie before half seven, and I steered the long level pound through Handsacre, Armitage and past Hawkesyard Priory into Rugeley.

Hawkesyard Priory

Sheila kept a bright lookout on the bow through the various twiddly bits, and the radios continued to show their worth, especially at Armitage Tunnel. Meantime, I gave myself over to philosophical speculation, narrowboating style. This included pondering deep questions such as why does the landlord of The Crown at Handsacre advertise "Fresh Cobs daily: selection of fillings"?

Would anyone buy an unfilled cob to eat with their pint? Or does anywhere sell cobs with just the one filling? ("Sorry, it's cheese today - if you wanted ham, you should have been here yesterday.")

Why does Hawkesyard Priory disfigure itself with tatty banners over the magnificent archway? Today's was promoting the use of the place for weddings. I mean, fair enough, they have to make it pay its way, but surely they would do better with more tasteful adverts rather than something that looks like it was nicked from a cheap pub?

And finally, (this one from Sheila): why, whenever we see Waterlily, are they either going in the opposite direction, or else the crew is nowhere to be seen? My explanation is that Nev is carefully avoiding us so as to be able to drink in peace ;).

After a good shop, we came on to Bridge 69 for the rest of the day, where we've frankly been loafing. The sun has finally come out and warmed the place up, so Sheila is crashed on the bow, and I'm in here typing away before getting a shower and then joining her.

It's pork steaks with garlic marinade tonight, fresh from the Rugeley butcher. Hum - possibly another reason for Nev to avoid us, all that garlic we eat...


Quick afterthought: I've added another permanent page, this one warning about the Staffs and Worcs con man.

Steadily North

17th & 18th September

We are obviously winding down and relaxing after the excitements of the summer; we've both had a decent night's sleep for the last two nights, which has added to the pleasure of some steady but undemanding boating.

Yesterday we chugged through Handsacre and Armitage, past the delicious Spode Priory, to Rugeley. There was a moderate amount of traffic, but nothing like that reported further north in some other blogs. We did two shopping trips, either side of a cup of coffee.

The first took in W H Smith (ream of copier paper, newspaper), Wilkinson's (rubber doormat to form core of new side fender) and Morrison's (food shopping). The second concentrated on Morrison's. Where our first trip had focussed on healthy eating with items such as houmous and their gorgeous multigrain bread, the second redressed the balance with bottles of wine and similar.

By the time we were back on the boat for the second time, it was half an hour short of lunch time. We therefore pottered about putting stuff away until it was nearly time to eat, and then we ate.

Then it was off again. We'd postponed a decision about exactly how far to go each day when planning this final cruise of the year, but since the going was good we kept going as far as Wolseley Bridge. I'm glad we did so, as in the early evening we had a knock on the roof and there were Andy and Lyra of Lyra's Adventures.

We had a nice chat, only disturbed by odd noises from the towpath. Andy had insisted on leaving Lyra outside, saying that she was muddy, though she looked remarkably clean to me. Lyra had got a bit bored with waiting and was conducting an investigation of the construction of the rammed gravel of the towpath by digging a hole in it.

Fortunately, being a softish material, it went back quite easily and it was soon hard to tell where she had been working.

Andy had reassured us about levels of traffic, so we postponed our departure this morning until seven o'clock. Nonetheless, even at that time we soon found boats coming towards us. There were no delays at either Colwich or Haywood, though, and by half eight we were on the Great Haywood water point topping up the tank.

This did allow some boats to pass us and there was a queue of three at Hoo Mill when we got there. The spacing of locks on this section from Great Haywood to Barlaston means that once you've queued for one lock the boats tend to stay spaced out, so that as long as you don't thrash along too quickly you seldom have to wait very long below each of the subsequent locks.

That's how it worked out today; there would often be one or two boats waiting above each lock but we were delayed very little. We'd planned to stop at Salt, between Weston and Sandon, but since it was such good boating weather, calm and mild, we kept going and found a mooring new to us about half way between Sandon and Aston.

We've had a very pleasant afternoon here, with the weather improving all the time. I checked that the sludge pump was still working, since it's been out of use for a few months and we may well get a chance to use it shortly.

Apart from that, I've advertised Sanity for sale on the web site and to the canals list. By coincidence, there will be three secondhand Braidbars for sale at the Open Day a week on Saturday. The hire boat Skye, the show boat the year after Sanity, is on the market as Peter Mason is building a replacement for her this winter. And we've just heard that Essence, the show boat the year after Skye, is also up for sale.

So anyone coming to the Open Day can see the show boats from 2004, 2005, and 2006 and buy whichever of them takes their fancy.

Tomorrow we'll do another early start and hopefully get up the Stone locks before it gets too busy. We plan to moor above Newcastle Road, on the rings with their individual solar powered cat's-eyes, just to make a change from our usual mooring below the winding hole at the bottom of the flight.

Heading back to Rugeley

4th & 5th August

After I'd posted last time, we discovered a down side to the mooring just to the north of Acton Trussell. I don't know whether there was a herd of cows nearby, or whether it was just the consequence of continuing warm, damp weather, but we were plagued by flies that evening, and the fly swat had to be wielded with skill and vigour to keep them under control. It didn't help that the weather took on a pattern of showers with quite pleasant interludes, so that we kept opening the bow doors and side hatches and then closing them again after a new battalion of flies had entered.

We used to use one of those electric tennis racket type high tech fly swats, but in the confines of the boat it seemed quite large and clumsy, and a 50p basic fly swat from Aldi now meets our needs. It helps to know that flies can't see behind them, so the trick is to bring the swat down through that blind spot.

We made a prompt start yesterday morning in pleasant enough weather and were soon working down Deptmore Lock. Out of curiosity, I timed us through the lock, which took ten minutes from start to finish, as opposed to the fifty it had taken coming the other way on a busy Saturday.

Although the water tank was still half full, we decided to water again at Milford Wharf, so as to save complex manoeuvring at Great Haywood. Accordingly, we tied once more on the rather broken bank next to the underpass beneath the West Coast Main Line. Having got Sanity settled, I got the hose out and handed it to Sheila who was standing on the bank. As she turned round, we both realised what was missing from the scene. The water point which we had used just three days before was no longer there; indeed it was hard to tell where it had been, since the area beneath its former location was covered in woodchip.

To be fair, it was always a slightly odd water point, consisting as it did of a tap inside an ammunition box fixed to the stone facing of the railway embankment and secured shut with a length of chain and a BW padlock. There was, however, a sign saying "Mooring for water point only" together with another pleading with dog owners not to let their animals foul the area. Both of these signs have also disappeared, to be replaced by quantities of dog poo.

I'd always assumed that the tap was primarily for the benefit of the Milford Wharf moorers; perhaps they are to have water supplied directly to the moorings in future.

Disappointed and just a little surprised, we plodded on over the Sow aqueduct and down Tixall Lock. Tixall Wide had ample choice of mooring, again in marked contrast to the weekend before. As soon as we'd tied up, Sheila found herself engaged in technical discussions with two women from other boats about her port hole doilies and the TripleFlex synthetic whalebone with which we mount them in the portholes.

It was one of those off and on discussions where people went away and told their friends and the friends then showed up at the side hatches with further questions. It was just about petering out when Jo and then Keith from Hadar showed up for a natter. We'd been discussing whether the boat we could see arriving further back down the wide was Hadar so we were not entirely surprised when they turned up.

Since it kept trying to rain on us, we retreated to the cabin for cups of coffee and a thorough catching up session. They'd had a good Canalway Cavalcade, and told us that they are likely to be trading on the Leicester Section next winter.

After they'd gone I popped into Great Haywood for a newspaper and some pasties to eke out the bread supply from the day before.

Since the weather continued damp, we had another afternoon of lurking in the cabin. Sheila is still producing crochet as fast as she can, and we did some more work on the quiz for the Braidbar Owners' weekend. It's very nearly finished; the main need now is to sort out the images for the picture round.

I've also decided not to use a question I was quite looking forward to, as I couldn't find independent verification of the answer from any of my sources. The question was going to be "If the M in MG stands for Morris, what does the R in PRM stand for?"

I'll leave this one as an exercise for the reader.

We made an early start today as we now needed to water at Great Haywood and then work down Haywood and Colwich locks before they got busy. Sheila steered along the rump of the Staffs and Worcs while I ate breakfast and then took over on the helm. Fortunately, it was a flat calm and since it was not yet seven o'clock there were no gongoozlers about. Under these circumstances I did a perfect reverse turn onto the water point. Sheila ate her breakfast while the tank was filling, and I got rid of the rubbish and recycling.

Then we went merrily on, having Haywood to ourselves and crossing with an Anglo Welsh hire boat at Colwich. We've tied just beyond bridge 69 between Wolseley Bridge and Rugeley and had finished the day's boating just after half nine. The batteries not being fully charged, we ran a wash load straightaway whilst I checked for local geocaches.

There was one back toward Wolseley Bridge, so once the socks were washed we set off to find it. As a result we found a curious brick tunnel with a blind end between the river and the canal. It's not mentioned in any of the guides as far as I know, and it's hard to know what can have been its original purpose.

Having succeeded in finding the cache, we carried on back to Wolseley Bridge and then walked up the road away from the canal and river to the service station which is also a Post Office and general store. There we were able to buy a copy of The Independent before heading back to Sanity to lunch off some baguettes I had baked earlier.

The weather has steadily improved this afternoon and is now very pleasant. It took a real effort of will to come in from dozing on the bow to write this blog post.