I think we’ve done more miles and locks in the last three days than in the last three weeks! Still, it’s so good to be on the move again. Especially in such fine weather.
We stayed the night below Grindley Brook on Monday, then set off on Tuesday morning, with no particular destination in mind. Perhaps as well as it turned out.
A bit dull when we got going but it improved later.
Poveys and Willymoor Locks were descended without problems, we had a single-hander ahead so I closed up for him, and a boat following closed up for us, so we made good progress. But it was at Quoisley Lock that the wheels came off. Remember that lump of wood that wedged the prop at the bottom of Grindley Brook? I said it had done no damage but I was wrong. Approaching a long queue of boats at the lock (more on that in a minute) I noticed the bilge pump was running, something it never normally does. We tied up and I lifted the hatch to see water in the bilge and all over the plates either side. It had pushed up past the seal and was spraying out as we cruised.
Now, normally it shouldn’t get that far, but lifting out the weed hatch assembly I could see why that log had actually bent the bottom plate which normally fills the hole through the uxter. So there was nothing deflecting the water thrown off the prop. I hadn’t noticed when I cleared the prop on Monday afternoon.
The top plate which normally seals to the weed hatch trunk was also slightly distorted which compounded the problem. Nothing that the judicious use of a big hammer and straight-edge couldn’t sort out though. I replaced the seal while I was at it, then mopped out the remainder of the water that the pump wouldn’t clear.
Queue at Quoisley.
By the time I’d got this done CRT had resolved the problem that caused the long queue I mentioned. A paddle had failed on the lock but it was fixable without a full stoppage. Rather than carry on in convoy though we decided to stay put for an hour or so to let the traffic ease. I think there were 15 boats waiting to go down… And more to come up.
So we finished up just a mile or so further on, in a pleasant, sunny spot.
Evening mooring.
This morning we were on the move at around half-nine, brighter than yesterday but breezier too.
Marbury Lock was 20 minutes away, and timed well with a boat just leaving the lock and another waiting below when we left it. Then we had about 50 minutes to Wrenbury Frith Lift Bridge. We dropped lucky here too, the bridge was being lifted by the crew of an oncoming boat so we were waved through.
No such luck at the mechanised bridge next to the Anglo-Welsh base, but now it’s been updated with automatic gates and an operating plinth on the towpath side it’s a lot easier to use. Church Lift Bridge takes us back to manual operation, then we pulled in for me to make a quick trip to the village for bread and a few more bits (cream cakes for Mags!).
A bit of a curfuffle at Church Lift Bridge
We toddled on for a little while longer, pulling in just above Baddiley Locks.
I’d picked up some logs earlier in the day, a chopped up branch that had fallen across the towpath a few days ago. So this evening I set up the chainsaw and cut them up into rings. Not easy though, I hadn’t realised it was oak! Still, it’ll burn for some time once it’s dry. And it’s got all summer to do that!
Dropping down Baddiley and Swanley Locks tomorrow, intending to moor above Hurleston ready to drop down onto the main line and head to Nantwich on Friday.
Locks 4, miles 7½
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