Seyella's Journey

The North Wind doth blow….

2012-02-19T19:11:00.000Z

...And we shall have snow.

Snowy Ellesmere.It's our first dollop of snow for sometime, in fact we have not seen any since November. It wasn't much, maybe an inch or so.

Meg always enjoys herself in the snow.

Snow dog.

She also gets quite ambitious about the size of stick she can manage....

Big stick.

It's been a fine day today, blue sunny skies this morning, but a bit more cloud and a cold wind this afternoon.

It was about 11 o'clock by the time we got away from the services. The gulls had breakfast while we filled with water.

Hungry birds.

Leaving Ellesmere services.

After leaving the moorings behind we had the 87 yard long Ellesmere tunnel to negotiate before running alongside the meres.

Out into daylight from Ellesmere Tunnel.Blake Mere appears on the left first…

Blake Mere…..Followed by the larger Cole Mere. Sitting around 300 feet above sea level, these were left over from the last Ice Age.

NBs Shropshire Lass II and Shropshire Lad will be leaving their home moorings in May, to make the trip down to London. Part crewed by disabled service personnel, the Lass will be taking part in the Queen’s Jubilee Flotilla on the Thames in June.

The ”Shopshires” at Lyneal WharfI do like the paragraph from the Shropshire Star article “More than 1,000 boats are expected to take to the water, led by the Royal Barge baring [sic] the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and other senior royals. “
Should be an interesting spectacle. I hope it’s not too cold…..

The canal crosses a valley on the sweeping Hampton Bank, giving long views towards Chester and The Wirral.

Looking north from Hampton Bank.
Fine views indeed, but cold too! That’s where that fresh wind was coming from!

Shortly after we crossed Whixall Moss on the straight embankment that keeps the canal above the nature reserve. Looks like good wood foraging there, too.

Over Whixall Moss

At the end of the straight we turned right onto the Prees Branch, under Allman’s Lift Bridge and moored behind Moore2Life.

Moored on the Prees Branch.

All the snow has gone, now. The last bit melted off our roof as we passed Bettisfield.

Tomorrow we’ll head down to Whixall Marina, at the end of the navigable section of the branch, to fill up with fuel.

Locks 0, miles 7

Return to Ellesmere

2012-02-16T19:51:00.000Z

We decided to up-sticks and move on to Ellesmere today. Charles and Ann on Moore2Life were there already, and George and Carol on Rock’n’Roll were stopping at New Marton another day.

It’s been a fine day, mild earlier but getting a little cooler when a northerly breeze blew up later.

A canalside householder near the junction has a wry sense of humour….
You don’t see many of those up here!

They’d been a few boats about in the morning, but by the time we got going the traffic seemed to have eased. Just as well, with the blind bridges and tight bends around Val Hill to contend with.

Twists and turns near Val Hill

Someone needs their fringe cutting…

Nearing Ellesmere there’s a trio of young swans, two of them are not quite confident enough to share their patch of water with a noisy lump of tin…

Lift off!
I was ready for them, as they’d taken off in front of us when we went up a couple of weeks ago. It was still a bit of a snatched shot, though. I always find amazing the amount of effort that goes into getting off the water.

Arriving at Ellesmere we pulled in one the moorings near the sanitary station for a change, instead of going down the arm. Moore2Life and Jandai are just around the corner.

Chas and Ann and Molly, and Meg and I had a walk along the canal to the footpath across to the mere, chatting with Colin and Tina on NB Go-For-It on the way. Then on the way back, walking along the arm, I spotted a boat that looked familiar. We’d not seen Glen and Nigel on NB Ami Bovard (say it out loud…) to speak to since we met them in Paddington Basin over two years ago. They’re passing through on their way up to Llangollen.

I picked up our mail from the Post Office on the way back, so now we’ve got our voting papers for the C&RT boaters representatives. I think we’ve made our choices…

We’ll stay here tomorrow, then move out on Saturday, weather permitting.

Locks 0, miles 3

Different Agendas

2012-02-15T20:50:00.000Z

We all spent a windy yesterday tied up below New Marton Locks. There were a fair few boats out braving the elements, though. Mostly hirers out of Ellesmere or Trevor.

Today we had a chat and we’ve all got different priorities. Charles and Ann wanted to get to Ellesmere to pick up some mail, so they got off first.

Moore2Life gets under way….

With no urgency we decided to toddle along for a bit and moor at Frankton Junction, leaving George and Carol behind. George was still making repairs to Rock’n’Roll’s damaged rear canopy.

We follow a little later, leaving Rock’n’Roll behind.

Leaving New Marton
There’s a gap behind R’n’R now as well, Jan and Dai had also set off this morning, heading for Frankton.

Last night we had six boats moored along here, a hire boat had moored at either end of our four. We’ve left George and Carol in splendid isolation now.

The canal seemed unusually low today, I’ve no idea why.

Dry overflow weir near Bridge 9W
You’d have thought that low water levels would be the least of this canal’s problems, with all that water coming down from the Dee.

Lower Ridge Farm seems to specialise in black lambs….

By 13:00 we were tied up at Frankton Junction. NB Jandai is moored here too, as expected.

Frankton Junction moorings

After lunch Meg and I took a walk down the locks onto the Montgomery Canal.

Looking down from the top lock
The top two are a staircase, followed by two individual chambers. Access to the Montgomery is restricted as a lot of the navigable length is a SSSI, so the locks are chained up and have to be pre-booked.

Looking back from Lock 4

The Montgomery was proposed to take advantage of the Ellesmere Canal, joining it at Carreghofa on the Llanymynech Branch.
The Ellesmere’s original route was from Chester to Trevor, then to Frankton, turning right at the junction, down the locks then heading off towards Shrewsbury. The Llanymynech Branch left the main line just below the locks.
The Chester to Trevor bit was never built, the difficulty of the terrain would have made it uneconomical. And it never actually got as far as Shrewsbury either, terminating at Weston Lullingfields, 8½ miles short.

The Montgomery was seen as a link from Carreghofa to Newtown, to carry limestone and agricultural produce up to the main line. The project was under-capitalised, and it was not competed until 1821, having taken 30 years to build. It was never really profitable and effectively closed following a major breach in 1936.

Below the locks, the main line comes in from the locks on the left and heads away to Weston dead ahead, while the Llanymynech Branch heads off under the bridge from where the photo was taken.

Llanymynech Branch Junction

This branch has now become known as part of the Montgomery Canal, and the original main line of the Ellesmere Canal is known as the Weston Arm. This now ends at the building in the distance.

End of the Weston Arm, the original main line.
There are good moorings and sanitary facilities here. The line of the navigation from here is now a linear nature reserve, mostly dry.

Up to a couple of days ago the moorings here were completely iced up. Not a sign, now, after the mild weather we’ve had.

Back up onto what we now know as the Llangollen Canal, looking east from Bridge 1W, the main line comes from Trevor (behind) and makes a right turn down the Frankton Locks. Straight ahead is the route to Ellesmere, Whitchurch and finally the junction with the Shropshire Union Main Line at Hurleston. This was intended only as an arm to Whitchurch, but was extended to the (then) Chester Canal when the Chester to Trevor section of the Ellesmere was deemed impractical.

Frankton Junction from Bridge 1W

The Montgomery, as we know it, was reopened to navigation in 1987. It’s currently viable to Gronwyn Bridge, 6½ miles from Frankton. There are several disconnected sections along it’s 32 miles, the challenge now is to join them up!

Locks 0, miles 3

Not much happening…..

2012-02-13T19:39:00.000Z

It’s all been a bit quiet on the activity front. We spent the weekend moored just outside Crick, only 10 minutes over the border into England. The weather has turned around, cold, frosty nights and sunny days have been replaced by mild nights and days. It’s supposed to stay like this all week, giving some hope to those other winter cruisers who’ve been iced in for several days.
We’ve been OK, the constant flow of water down the Llangollen keeps it ice-free in all but the most severe of conditions.

Well, almost ice-free….

A few bits of thin stuff near Moreton Bridge.

Just around here there was a sight that made me want to get the saw out again, but it was on private land behind a barbed-wire topped fence…

Enough there for all winter!

There are quite a few boats about at the moment, it’s half-term so some families are getting an early season break in. We’re between two hire bases, Blackwater Meadow Marina at Ellesmere is home to a few Canal Cruising Club boats, and Trevor basin has an Anglo-Welsh base. So we’re seeing hire boats from both directions. And there’s the odd intrepid crew who’ve come all the way from Wrenbury!

We had an uneventful short trip today, filling up with water above New Marton Locks before dropping down them and mooring below. Jan and Dai (NB Jandai) are here as well.
After a cup of tea and a bite to eat I set to with the chain saw and sliced up the logs on the roof. The rings are now back on the roof, but looking a lot tidier!

We’re now starting to think about short-term plans. Long term we’re heading for the Fens, but before that I’ve and event in Liverpool in March, then another in Manchester in May. So we’ll be hanging around north Cheshire till then, before making a bee-line south and east to Northampton and the link to the River Nene. Sometime we've also got to get Seyella dry-docked for hull blacking. Not sure whether to go for a DIY job or pay someone this year. Anyone know of any covered dry docks for DIY use around Middlewich or Northwich?

Locks 2, miles 3

Wood and Mud.

2012-02-10T19:19:00.000Z

This morning Meg and I had a walk along the towpath towards Chirk Tunnel. Contractors are repairing and resurfacing the towpath along here, and they’ve had to widen an existing path to get the plant to the site.
The path ran through trees and they’ve had to remove branches and even cut down some smaller trees to get through. I spotted a suitable length, and so when we got going I made a point of shouting across to a couple of the guys. “Take as much as you want” was the reply. We pulled in to the muddy bank and I set off, trusty bushman saw in hand.

Muddy towpath where the contractors are moving machinery.

Over an hour later, with an aching back and sore shoulders, I’d a roof full of logs of varying sizes. There was a lot more about than I‘d first thought!

A good roof full

We got going again with difficulty, the extra weight had sat us more firmly on the bottom, but with a bit of judicious tiller wiggling and gentle throttle we pulled away.

Another 10 minutes and we were approaching Chirk Tunnel. Just as Mags decided to build the fire up……

Smokey chimneys and tunnels are not a good combination!
We got through without too many bumps, not bad considering I couldn’t see where we were going, had frequent coughing fits and watering eyes. I felt (and smelt) like a kipper when we got out the other end!

Back out into fresh air, onto Chirk Aqueduct

At the far end of the aqueduct our sojourn into the Land of the Leek comes to an end…

Border crossing (again)

A little less than a mile and we were pulling in behind Moore2Life just after Gledrid Bridge. I was glad to get tied up, after getting hot and sweaty cutting and hauling the wood, I’d got cold on the counter. Still, a hot cuppa and a warm in front of that blazing log fire put things to rights.

After thawing I was back out again, cutting up some of the smaller bits and rearranging the rest into neat-ish piles on the roof. We’d travelled for the last 45 minutes with a bit of a list to the left…

We’ve not seen much of George and Carol today, they’d collected guests for a trip across Pontcysyllte, and didn’t get to join us till nearly 18:00. I don’t think they enjoyed the last half-hour in the dark. Tunnel lights are OK in tunnels, but are woefully inadequate for night-time cruising.

Locks 0, miles 2½

Leaving Llangollen….

2012-02-09T19:55:00.002Z

We’ve had an enjoyable few days in Llangollen. It’s a pleasant town, with a good range of shops and some interesting buildings. But we didn’t spend all our time there; not when there’re are equally interesting but more remote places to see….

On Wednesday, under cold grey skies we heading off on foot up the last 1½ miles of the canal to Horseshoe Falls. Very shallow in places, this is not navigable by private boats, but, during the season, a pair of horse drawn passenger boats go from Llangollen Wharf to Chain Bridge Hotel, just a few hundred yards from the source of the water that runs the 46 miles to Hurleston Junction.

The first sight of the start of the canal is a bit underwhelming, a flow of water bubbling up below a building which houses the metering and valve systems, controlling the volume of water extracted from the River Dee.

Start of the canal.

Just step around the other side though, and you’ll come to the weir which holds back the water to provide a head for the canal. This is Telford’s Horseshoe Falls.

Horseshoe Falls. Beauty and functionality combined…

Meg just HAS to sample the water….

The water for the canal is diverted off to the left, and disappears under this disreputable looking bunch….

We didn’t hang around for too long before setting off back, it was pretty cold!

There were some who were prepared to endure the cold water, quite a few hardy souls were in canoes on the river and on the canal.

Canadian canoes on the Dee.

Yesterday was a bit more exerting, we decided to go up the hill to Castell Dinas Bran.
It’s not far from the canal, but it’s almost the same distance vertically!

From near the canal basin

Maybe halfway up, the steepest bit is to come…

That’s it, the view from the top, looking up the Dee valley.

And down the valley towards Trevor
In the middle of the picture is Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, 3 miles away. Another 2 miles and there’s the A5 crossing the Dee.

As you can see, it was a far better day than the previous one!

Panorama over the valley to Llangollen

Apart from the magnificent views, it’s worth the climb to see the ruins of this 13C fortress.

George in pensive mood…

Meg looking for rabbits…

It must have been tough living up here….

Very atmospheric.
What a very good couple of hours!

In between walks and visits to the town I managed to install the components of Project Cosy Toes…

Micro-heater fitted next to the calorifier.
Run from from the heater pipes on the engine, these are designed for kit-cars or classics where a heater was an optional extra. I’ve tee’d off the flow and return lines to the calorifier, with valves so the unit can be isolated. The large air hose leading off at the top of the picture leads to a vent….

……on the steerer’s step.
Cracking! Warm feet!

After another very cold night which left a thin skin of ice on the surface of the basin, the day warmed up and turned to rain. Typical Welsh rain. Persistent, insidious, penetrating. Though, having spent a fair proportion of my youth up in the Welsh mountains, not unfamiliar.
Not a good day to cruise, but we did anyway.

We had to make a stop at Llangollen Wharf to meet a delivery of 10 bags of solid fuel from the local hardware store. It’s a private wharf, used by the trip boats, but the horse drawn ones are laid up at Froncysyllte, and the Thomas Telford had left for a trip across Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and back. I’d already checked that it’d be OK, as well.

Approaching Llangollen Wharf

Fuel loaded, we moved on a short distance to the service wharf to empty a poo tank, then set off in pursuit of the rest of the convoy.

It is recommended that a crew member be sent ahead on the single-file sections leading out of town to warn of approaching boats. But, to save Mags having to be out in such damp weather, George had agreed to let me know if there was anyone coming the other way. As it turned out we didn’t see another boat till Trevor.

We’d expected to meet Thomas Telford heading back to Llangollen somewhere just this side of the aqueduct, but a phone call from Ann, then another from Carol, warned us of a potentially “interesting” encounter. Yes, she (he?) was heading back, but was towing the two horse boats back as well. That must have been a sight to see, coming over the aqueduct!

I took it very slowly over the last few hundred yards, expecting to see this “train” appearing round a bend, but didn’t see them till we came under Rhos-y-Coed Bridge, at the end of Trevor Basin.

James Brindley was being poled into the dry dock…

….William Jessop was (almost) tied up out of the way.
Thomas Telford had slotted in between the hire boats.
The horse boats are double-ended, the rudder can be hung either end. They can’t be turned around on the feeder, so they just hook the horse up to t‘other end and tow it back again.

With these obstacles out of the way, we had a clear run across the aqueduct.

Not that we could see the far end anyway….

Certainly murky in the hills.
Two miles further on and we caught up with Rock’n’Roll and Moore2Life moored near Chirk Marina.
The Rockers are facing the other way as they’ve guests tomorrow and they’re going back over the Ponty. I hope the weather is a little better than today’s.

It’s been a pretty dismal sort of trip, but I’ve had lovely warm feet!

Hi John and Liana. Thanks for the comment. Weather looks a bit grim for the next couple of days, improving early next week. There's no ice on the main line, but there might be a thin layer in the off-line marinas and basins. We'll keep an eye out for you as we head back. Enjoy your trip.

Locks 0, miles 6½

Young Scroats and Welsh Weather

2012-02-06T18:59:00.000Z

Got a phone call from George and Carol last night soon after eight o’clock. They’d just pulled the boat back across to their mooring after having the bow rope cut, allowing it to swing across the channel. The call was to alert us to potential trouble.
We stayed up till midnight, just reading so we could hear any activity outside, but were undisturbed. This morning though we were greeted by the sight of several of the hire boats adrift, ropes cut or untied.

Boats adrift, luckily they can’t go very far…

Apart from those obviously cast adrift, there were a few more that had been released but had stayed put. These included the charity trip boat for the disabled, moored in front of us, and a private boat, NB Bunbury Castle, moored behind. I sorted these out while the yard dealt with their own. The Police were called, statements taken and CCTV at the shop checked. They seemed to have an idea who it might have been…..

Anyway, that sorted we made our way out from the basin, between the lines of re-moored boats, at around 11:00.

Back through the “chicane”.
From here there’s a sharp right turn into the last section of the canal.

Heading towards Llangollen

This last 4½ miles of the navigable canal hangs on the side of the Dee valley, and has been breached several times. £5m has been spent on making it secure, but it also makes it rather spartan, with hard concrete edges along most of the route. Quite narrow and twisty, you get tantalising glimpses of the Welsh hills ahead and the River Dee down in the valley to the left.

Tail end Charlie again….

Looking across the valley

The day started grey and got progressively greyer, till we finished our trip, of course. A steady drizzle accompanied most of the journey, with odd outbreaks of heavier rain.

Between Bridges 41 and 42, the first of the one boat-width sections. Castell Dinas Bran is almost visible through the low cloud on the hill dead ahead.
This is a 13C fortress built by Eliseg, Prince of Powys. Built on the commanding site of an Iron Age fort, it had a short history, being burnt by the retreating Welsh army in 1277 during fighting between Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales, and Edward I. It was this war that finally defeated the independent Wales, leading to it being annexed to the English Crown.

Just before the second and final (and longer) narrow section there are good views down to the river.

Down to the river

It’s slow going through the shallow narrow bits, with the flow from Horseshoe Falls trying to push you backwards. The section from the Falls to Trevor was never really meant to be navigable, it was intended as a feeder for the rest of the canal and Hurleston Reservoir.

Following R’n’R through the narrows near Llangollen The hillside here is very steep, dropping sharply to the valley floor.

There are two sets of moorings at Llangollen, those on the line, given over to winter moorings, and those in the relatively new mooring basin a little further on. We watered and emptied loo tanks at the services, then pushed on, above the town, to the basin.

Looking down on Llangollen from the canal.

Moored in the basin
We’re the only ones here, although there are maybe ten boats on the winter moorings. The basin has been iced over but the milder weather over the last couple of days has thawed it out. We’ll be away again before the next cold snap later in the week.

If you've ever wondered how the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was built, you've got to watch this animation. Thanks, Graham, for the comment and the link.

Locks 0, miles 4½

Toddling around Trevor

2012-02-05T20:21:00.001Z

We’ve stayed here in Trevor Basin for the weekend. Unlike a lot of other boaters we can’t post any pictures of snowy scenes, we’ve not had any! Just some sleety stuff yesterday afternoon.

It has been cold, though, up until yesterday. When I walked back across the aqueduct to meet Chas and Ann on Thursday afternoon, I crossed under the Froncysyllte end of the span and spotted this.

Impressive icicles!
And on the other side too…
I had a chat with the BW area engineer on Friday in the basin. Apparently this happens during cold spells. The iron trough contracts enough to pull away from the clay seal in which the ends are bedded. The gaps seal up again in warmer weather.
The trough is just over 1000 feet long, so, taking linear thermal expansion of iron as 1.2 x 0.0001 /°C that’s a change in length of around 2 inches from around 0°C in a cold period (like now) to a summer water temperature of maybe 15°. No wonder it dribbles a bit!

We’ve had a few good walks, most taking in some part of the aqueduct, either above or below.

Looking along from the Trevor end

And from the bank of the River Dee below.
You can tell why the design was met with scepticism when it was presented. Compared to contemporary structures it looks impossibly light and flimsy.

Big boots planted firmly in the river bed.

The nineteen support pillars are mainly hollow and carry the trough 127 feet above the river. At the top of each, webs of cast iron arc out to support the span.

The structure took around ten years from conception to completion, and opened in 1805. A foundry was specially built at Plas Kynaston to cast the ironwork. Cost then was about £47,000. Adjusted for inflation, maybe £3bn in today’s money. A few banker’s bonuses, then.

Thomas Telford has been credited for much of the design work, but there was also considerable input from another very able engineer, William Jessop.

Jessop was actually Consulting Engineer for the Ellesmere Canal Company, and supported Telford’s appointment as Resident Engineer. Jessop had cut his canal building teeth in Ireland, supervising the completion of the stalled Grand Canal from Shannon to Dublin. He re-surveyed the route, proposed changes and ensured that the canal could be finished. During the construction of the Ellesmere Canal (now the Llangollen) he was Chief Engineer to the Grand Junction Canal, now the Grand Union Main Line, from Braunston to Brentford. This was probably his most successful canal project, ninety miles long with two tunnels.
After this he moved on to design and construct the West India Dock in London, and then shifted his talents to railways. He is credited with the building The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the first passenger railway, in 1802. Although horse-drawn, it predated the Stockton and Darlington by 23 years.

We are moored in what is know as Trevor Basin, but it was intended to be the main line of the canal to Chester.

Trevor Basin, with Seyella and M2L moored middle right. The canal ends just a few yards behind the last boat….

Yesterday we had visitors, Val and John and their daughter Carol, very good friends. They brought our mail and my parts for Project Cosy Toes, so that can go ahead now. They also brought the two Dachshunds, Harry on the right, and Jeffrey Raymond Kenneth (don’t ask… ) on the left.

Carol, JRK, John and Harry.

John, Val and Carol
No, it wasn’t cold in the boat (as if!). They were just about to head home. Good to see you all.
Incidentally, Carol is the “Pizza Lady”. She makes and sells chocolate pizzas as boxchoc.co.uk. Excellent they are too. I can now recommend from first hand experience. The orange and chilli flavour is AWESOME! Go on, give it a try. You know you want to….

This morning I gave George a hand to straighten the frame on their pram hood. Why, you ask, did it need straightening? See here.

Moving on tomorrow, four miles or so to Llangollen and the end of the line.

Locks 0, miles 0.

Two Tunnels, Two Aqueducts and One Lift Bridge

2012-02-02T19:46:00.000Z

What a busy day, and all crammed into less than 4½ miles!

Another cold night, down to below -6°. My 5 mile run this morning was, I reckon, the coldest I’ve ever done in 10 years of training. Breathing hard makes the throat raw in these low temperatures, so I’ve got a persistent tickly cough. Roll on Spring!

The Rockers and I took Little Molly and Meg down to the pasture below Chirk Aqueduct this morning. We met Ann and Big Molly coming back, she’d had the same idea…

As impressive as the canal aqueduct and railway viaduct are from above, they are awesome from below on a bright morning.

Chirk Aqueduct and Viaduct.
We’re on the Welsh bank of the River Ceiriog here. So I should say Afon Ceirog, shouldn’t I?

The viaduct is the higher by 30 feet
Spectacular, aren’t they.

George and Carol suitably impressed, Molly obviously isn’t!

We pulled pins at around 10:45, for a change with us at the front and Rock’n’Roll at the rear. George was aboard alone, Carol had returned to the meadow below the aqueduct to get a picture of us all crossing into Wales. You'll have to go to their blog to see it.

Into Wales

There’s Carol!

Chirk Tunnel comes immediately after the aqueduct, 460 yards long pushing against the flow coming down from Llangollen.

Moore2Life emerges into daylight at the north portal of Chirk Tunnel

George waited for Carol to catch up at the other end, then came through to find somewhere to moor for a visit to Chirk. We and M2L pushed on till Chirk Marina, where Chas and Ann peeled off to top up the diesel tank.

Chirk Marina.

The main line of the canal is still ice-free but any backwaters or basins are frozen, about ½ an inch of ice on the water. The staff here had broken the ice up so Chas could manoeuvre to the pump. This off-line freezing gave us a little trouble later on…..

The second tunnel today was Whitehouse, only 190 yards long.

Whitehouse Tunnel
Both of the tunnels and both aqueducts are narrow, allowing only one-way traffic at a time. All tend to be bottlenecks during the busy Summer months. Not so today though, only a couple of other boats moving.

After the tunnel the canal bends to the northwest, following the Dee valley, cut into it’s southerly slope.

Over the Dee.
You can just catch a glimpse of the railway viaduct through the trees.

The concrete-edged canal is fairly straight to Fron Lift Bridge, below the village of Froncysllte rising up the valley side.

Through Fron Lift Bridge.

There’s a right hand bend, a short straight (past a water point not mentioned in Nicholson’s Guide), then the vista opens up as the canal moves onto Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Telford’s “Stream in the Sky”.

Onto the aqueduct

The water is carried in a cast iron trough, sat on top of stone pillars. This revolutionary concept was met with doubt, but after 10 years of construction and over 200 years of use the design has been thoroughly vindicated.

Looking down on the Dee.

There’s a railed towpath on one (the eastern) side, but the other is completely unprotected.

Just the original cast iron trough to keep you on the straight and narrow….

Gulp! Don’t look down!

Looking east towards England
The aqueduct doesn’t really sag as you go over, the bend in the towpath rail is an unfortunate effect of my photo splicing software….

Off the aqueduct the route to Llangollen takes a hard left under Rhos-y-Coed Bridge, but we carried straight on, through the narrow gap between the laid-up Anglo Welsh hire boats, to find a mooring in Trevor Basin.

Looking back on the “chicane”
You can see ice on the water here, this had been broken up by the boatyard’s staff moving boats about, but no-one had moved in the upper basin for a couple of days.

It took a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to break up the surface enough to allow us to wind and moor up.

Moored in Trevor basin.

Moore2Life arrived an hour later, and with the shortage of space here, have breasted up alongside.

We’ll be here for the weekend, now. Visitors on Saturday.

Locks 0, Miles 4½

Almost over the border….

2012-02-01T19:45:00.000Z

With a dry day “on the bank” I got all my firewood sliced up and a fair quantity split and stored in the cratch. And we had that barbeque…..
A cold, overcast day, but we had a good time nevertheless. George cooked the meat, Carol provided jacket potatoes and rice, Ann came with veg and a pudding and we provided the plates, somewhere to eat, and did the washing up afterwards!

It was full dark by the time we’d finished, so the pooches didn’t get much of a walk.

After another cold night (we’ve been having -5°) it was a fine bright day today. I’d got a bit more wood to cut before we left, and Jan and Dai arrived on NB Jandai before we were ready to go. They had booked to go onto the Montgomery, and were at the junction a couple of days ago. They had a walk down the Frankton Locks and changed their minds about the trip. A short distance below the flight the canal was completely iced over. That’s a big advantage of being on the main line of the Llangollen. The continual flow down to Hurleston Reservoir helps keep it ice-free.

We got away around 11:00, and had the two New Marton Locks to ascend almost straight away.

Tail end Charlie (again) going into New Marton Top Lock.

Filling the water tank above the locks.
Welsh lumpy bits can be seen on the horizon now.

At St Martin’s Moor contractors were busy putting new fendering under the bridge, ready for the “crash bang wallop” season to commence.

Fender fitting

Approaching Chirk the open views of countryside are swapped for nearer horizons as the hills start to rise on either side. Roads start to encroach on the canal as they share the best route through the valleys.

Near the Poacher’s Pocket Inn, approaching Chirk Bank

We pulled in just before Bridge 21, on Chirk Bank.

Moored near Monks Bridge, No 21.
We’re only 5 minutes walk from Chirk Aqueduct, so we took the dogs for a walk to see what’s in store for tomorrow.

Chirk Aqueduct and Railway Viaduct.
The aqueduct was completed in 1801, but is now overshadowed by the railway viaduct, completed 57 years later.

Looking down the water trough.

In the distance can be seen the third major feature here, the 460 yard long Chirk Tunnel.

Chirk Tunnel
This end of the aqueduct we’re now in Wales, the border follows the River Ceiriog, spanned by both the canal and railway.

Looking back to England

Shadows of both crossings on the field below.

It’s going to be another cold one tonight, then tomorrow we’ll push on across this and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to Trevor. Two aqueducts and two tunnels. Exciting, eh!

Locks 2, miles 3½

Getting Colder…..

2012-01-30T20:10:00.000Z

No snow yet, though. At least where we are…. It did try last evening, sleety stuff which didn’t last long.

Just before 8 am yesterday.. red sky in the morning.

We had a little guest for a couple of hours on Friday night, George and Carol went into the town to meet a friend for a meal.

Where’s me Mum?
We’ve had a good weekend, some good walks around Ellesmere.

Looking over The Mere from the castle mound.

Ellesmere Basin, now tidied up and “gentrified”.

The whole area is being developed, with the new Tesco out of shot on the right, and retirement homes to be built behind the old company warehouse.

The company warehouse is looking a bit shabby, but it has been saved from demolition.

We all had a last shop to do before we left this morning, but Carol went a step further….

A trolley as well?
No, she took it back afterwards. Shame, it might have been useful toting logs along the towpath….

For a change we were ready to go first, and were out of the Arm and filling with water at the depot when the rest of the convoy emerged.

First came Rock’n’Roll, backwards of course………

……..followed by Moore2Life, in a more conventional manner.

We had a chat with Colin from NB Go For It while we were filling up, they’ve been down at the far end of the Montgomery Canal, doing a bit of restoration work.

All full, we set off, for a change in the van of our little convoy.

Looking back at Ellesmere Maintenance Yard.R’n’R and M2L are still filling up.

The far building, beyond the dry dock, is Beech House. During construction of the canal this was home to Thomas Telford, engineer for the navigation. Then it was used as the canal company headquarters till it was sold and converted into separate dwellings.

Beech house, looking from the Ellesmere Arm
Although a bright and sunny morning, it was cold in the breeze. Still, the beautiful countryside was a distraction from any discomfort.

Near Stanks Bridge

Structures on the Llangollen Canal are very prone to damage from boat collisions. The canal is rightly very popular, and there are several hire bases here.
The volume of traffic, often blind bridges and lack of experience of some steerers means that some of the arches get clouted on a regular basis. BW have come up with a novel method of protecting this one…

Coachman’s Bridge with steel plate bolted to the vulnerable area under the arch and on the leading edges.

There are some pretty sharp bends as the canal winds it‘s way around Val Hill.

One of those blind bridges, Val Hill No2

Three miles after leaving Ellesmere Frankton Junction appears on the left.

Frankton Junction

Dropping down a double staircase and then two single locks is the Montgomery Canal. At the moment it runs to Gronwyn Bridge, 6½ miles from the junction.
But restoration is ongoing and there are several isolated lengths as it heads towards Newtown. When all linked up it will be a fine 19 mile cruise. We’ll visit it on the way back, but for today we pushed on towards Llangollen.

From Frankton the bridge numbering starts again from Bridge 1, the previous sequence continuing down the Montgomery, demonstrating that the line to Newtown was indeed the main line.

The first bridge after the junction, towards Llangollen, Bridge 1W.
The “W” suffix has been recently added to differentiate it from the other Bridge 1, way back above Hurleston Locks.

Maestermyn Bridge is home to another large hire base and The Narrowboat Inn.
Ann counted 30 hire boats laid up for the winter here!

The blue sky started to turn grey around 1 o’clock, clouds building up from the west and the temperature dropping rapidly.

Sunbeams over Shrewsbury

This boat has been a “project” since our first trip this way….

We’d decided to stop above the first of the pair of New Marton Locks. I remembered it being very pleasant here last time we stopped. I was pleased to arrive; I‘d lost all feeling in my feet!
Should soon be a thing of the past, though. Look out for Project Cosy Toes, coming soon!
The rest of the convoy came into sight as I was defrosting.

The other 2/3rds.
All tied up we regrouped for tea and cakes on Rock’n’Roll.

We’ll stay here tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a fine day, I’ve got a load of wood to slice up and George mentioned something about a barbeque….

The BBC did a report on the re-gating of the Bingley 5 Rise staircase locks yesterday morning. It's on the website here. You forget how deep these locks need to be when you're floating on the surface....

Locks 0, miles 5½

Last leg to another Arm

2012-01-27T20:33:00.001Z

Lots of anatomical references recently. Can’t wait to get to the head of the navigation!
Today we finished what we intended to do yesterday; get to Ellesmere. It’s been a far better day, still cold but the wind has been a lot quieter.

We got off soon after 10:00, leading Rock’n’Roll away from Hampton Bank. We’d spotted some logs looking lonely on last evening’s walk, so we had a quick stop to load up, before moving on again. Carol took some pics, so you’ll have to look here to see us struggling with them….

Leaving Hampton Bank.

At Lyneal Wharf is the base of the Lyneal Trust, dedicated to providing boating holidays for disabled people.

Lyneal Wharf

There are two boats here, both with optional wheel steering.

From here the canal enters an area of shallow meres, left behind by the last ice age. The largest is Ellesmere, but there are two large expanses of water right alongside the canal.
Cole Mere appears on the left of the navigation first, the second largest of the meres.

Cole Mere

Blake Mere comes next, with just the narrow strip of towpath separating it from the canal.

Ellesmere (or just The Mere) is the largest of nine, at around 110 acres in extent. Cole Mere comes in second, at 66 acres.

Just around the corner from Blake Mere the canal dives into the confines of Ellesmere Tunnel, only 87 yards long but slow going against the flow coming down from Llangollen.

Ellesmere Tunnel, the (prettier) eastern end.

In contrast the western portal looks a little spartan…

Ten more minutes and we arrived at Ellesmere, where the short Arm goes off to the right into the town. But first we needed to get onto the service wharf just past the junction, so swung around and reversed onto the wharf. Chas and Ann were just pulling off, also in reverse to go back to the Arm, so we did a gentle Do-See-Do around each other. Not easy with two 57 foot narrowboats in the breeze that had blown up, but we managed.

Tanks filled and emptied we followed Moore2Life and Rock’n’Roll (they’d arrived while we were filling) and moored in the Arm. First a trip up to the Post Office for mail, then the first of what’s likely to be several visits to Tesco at the end of the arm. This area used to be occupied by a dairy, but all around the wharfage is now being redeveloped.

Down the arm, passing M2L and R’n’R. We went to the end to turn around before mooring.

The Llangollen Canal, strictly speaking the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, started life as the Ellesmere Canal, but has changed out of all recognition from the original scheme.

In 1793 an Act was passed, allowing the construction of a navigation from Netherpool (now known as Ellesmere Port) on the Mersey to Chester on the Dee, then via Ruabon and Chirk to head south-eastward to Shrewsbury on the Severn. An ambitious project to link the three main river navigations, with several arms leading to sources of mineral wealth.

Compromises and economies chopped and changed the route, the final section to Shrewsbury was never completed, although it did make it to Weston Lullingfields in Shropshire. This is the now abandoned Weston Branch running from the Montgomery Canal just south of Frankton Junction. Nor was the Chester to Ruabon link built. Instead, the proposed branch to Whitchurch and Prees was extended to link up with the (then) Chester Canal at Hurleston, and a narrow feeder to supply the locks driven along the Dee valley from Trevor Basin to above Llangollen.

So up to Frankton Junction we’re on what was intended to be the Whitchurch and Prees branch, from there to Trevor we’re on the original Main Line, then on to Llangollen it’s the navigable feeder, built to supply the locks.
It’s probably the most modified route in the history of canal building!

Locks 0, miles 5½

Plan? What plan?

2012-01-26T19:56:00.002Z

Today we were continuing our trip on to Ellesmere. Rock’n’Roll needed diesel, so George and Carol headed off down the Branch to Whixall Marina. Ann and Charles were ready next so Moore2Life moved off, down the main line, and we followed on about 30 minutes later.

There’s another long straight just after passing the junction, stretching for a mile on a wooded embankment above the moss.

Leaving Prees Branch junction.

Looking over the flat Whixall Moss

We made a short visit to Wales today. The canal is now tending generally westward with the border to the north, but here it (the border) does a short deviation south, forming a peninsular taking in Northwood and Bettisfield.

Crossing the border. What, no passport control?
Two miles later we were back in England.

Coming out of the shelter of the woods the full force of the SW wind hit us, pushing us sideways and making steering difficult. Going through Cornhill Bridge we got pushed into the bank and it took a bit of heaving to get unstuck. After heavy overnight rain the flow on the canal had increased as well, making progress, especially through the bridge ‘oles, hard work.

We passed NB Armadillo near Bettisfield, they’d passed us yesterday before we left Whixall.

Graham and Jill, NB Armadillo.
We’re leapfrogging this boat, as well as NB Jandai. They passed us yesterday afternoon after we’d pulled over.

Jan and Dai passing yesterday.
Jan taking a picture of me taking a picture …..

By the time we’d negotiated the high, windy embankment at Hampton Bank I’d had enough. We pulled in a little before Bridge 50, after doing just 2½ miles.

I sent a text to Chas and Ann ahead of us and George and Carol behind us, explaining where we were. Chas texted back, they’d given it best at Cole Mere, a couple of miles further on, and shortly afterwards Rock’n’Roll arrived and pulled in behind us. Not just me being a wimp, then! We’ll all congregate at Ellesmere tomorrow.

Moored near Hampton Bank before the Rockers arrived.
It’s been a bright day, but cold in the wind. Pretty much the same tomorrow, according to the forecast.

On a completely un-boaty theme, I run the Great North Run every year for charity. It’s always to raise funds for a cancer charity, often Cancer Research UK although this last year it was Macmillan Cancer Support. Anyway, Macmillan has the chance to become a charity partner of Poundland for 2012, the organisation to be supported selected by public vote. It’s worth potentially £300,000 to the successful organisation. All you have to do is follow this link and click to select the charity of your choice. No registration, no commitment. Just one click. Of course, I’d prefer it if you’d choose Macmillan, but there are lots of good causes in contention including Cancer Research. Just choose one, eh. Or both, or several. Deadline Monday 30th.

Locks 0, miles 2½

From an Arm to a Branch

2012-01-25T19:28:00.000Z

With a slight improvement in the weather today we decided to push on a little further. We got away about 10:30, under the main road bridge and past Whitchurch Marina.

Leaving Whitchurch
Passing Whitchurch Marina
Like Wrenbury this is a hire base under the umbrella of the ABC Leisure Group, only this one has a Viking Afloat fleet. There are a lot of hire boats here, like Wrenbury they probably choose not to hire out of season, concentrating on maintenance and repair instead.

With only room for one-way traffic, it was unfortunate that this chap chose this time to come the other way!

Not a good place to meet…..
Luckily Carol and Ann were walking ahead and told them we were on the way so they pulled over and held the boat to the bank while the convoy passed.

There are 2 lift bridges shortly after leaving Whitchurch; Hassel No1 and Hassel No2. I imagine they are quite a hassle too, during the season. The girls had decided to walk down to open them so we could cruise straight through.

Ladies-In-Waiting I – Ann at Bridge 33

The convoy comes through….

Ladies-In-Waiting II – Carol at Bridge 34

I pressed on wanting to get to Tilstone Lift Bridge in time to get it raised ready for the troops, but Carol had other ideas. Yomping along the towpath she overtook us and was waiting with the bridge up as we arrived.

A glimpse of the sun near Dudleston Bridge

Looking back through Old Man’s Bridge

After Tilstone the scenery changes as the canal emerges onto the flat Whixall Moss. There was a shop here near Platt Lane, The Shop in the Garden, but it looks like it may be no more, with an estate agents sign on the canal side.

This guy must have been shifting to miss the bend……

Onto Whixall Moss, used to be The Shop in the Garden.

The Moss is a raised area of peat bog and is classified as an SSSI, important for it’s populations of rare flora and fauna. The canal changes character across here too. Gone are the meanders as the course follows the folds of the land. There aren’t any here so long straights are the order of the day for the next 2½ miles.

I got my first go at a lift bridge when we arrived at Morris’s, Bridge 45. It took 85 turns of the windlass to raise the blessed thing!

Through Morris Lift Bridge.

We moored a little further on, just before the Prees Branch heads off to the south-east.

After lunch of home-made soup and hot rolls we all (bar Mags) set off to have a look down the Branch.

Looking down Prees Branch from the main line

The branch actually never reached Prees, it ran out of steam after getting to Quina Brook. So instead of being around 5¾ miles long, it was shortened to around 3½. Now though there is only a bit less than a mile still navigable, running to Whixall Marina. After this the channel is still in water but is un-navigable.

Allman’s Lift Bridge, one of two on the Branch

End of the navigable section at Whixall Marina

We followed the towpath to Bridge 4, Waterloo Bridge, where the canal has been filled for easier access for farm vehicles.

Back towards the junction from Bridge 4…..

….and the channel continues for another few hundred yards.

Walking back we passed a flock of sheep clearing the remains of a harvested turnip field.

Turnip munching

Taking a drink from a trough were a group of dark brown sheep, but I got the camera settings a bit wrong…..
Zombie sheep!

Whew, that’s better!

Locks 0, miles 5

In search of an Arm…..

2012-01-24T20:32:00.001Z

After my passing mention of the Whitchurch Arm in yesterday’s post, I decided to try and trace the route into the town, or at least as much of it as is accessible.

Ann, George and I set off on what was initially a pretty fruitless quest. The current limit of the Arm is just before what would have Bridge 1, although there’s no number on it.

End of the arm – restored bridge.
Looking back from under the modern concrete bridge a little further on, you can see that the line of the canal would have headed off to the left of the footpath…

All this area has been infilled for housing, in fact the canal is buried several yards deep under this car park.
The canal ran parallel to the road for a few hundred yards….

Under these houses…..
……before veering off to the north as the road rises. There were no locks on the arm, it stuck resolutely to the 192 foot contour, so had to swing around the rising ground.

A ¼ mile further on it swung back in towards and under the road, somewhere near these back gardens.
This would have been Sherryman’s Bridge, and the end of the line from 1808 till the terminus was established at Castle Well 3 years later.

The arm reappears from under the road into the open area of Jubilee Park, and from here it’s easy to follow although there is no surface evidence.

Ann is standing next to a group of manholes, presumably to access some sort of watercourse, and there’s a fenced-off boggy area just beyond.

The level runs straight towards the right side of the tiered brick buildings in the distance.

Looking back from near the end of Park Avenue…..

.....and forward towards the terminus basin, now being built upon.
The route is under the footpath.

From Mill Street, the new development on top of the old terminal basin.

It’s obvious that restoration of the original line is unrealistic. There is, however, a limited project intending to build a new channel to a small mooring basin where the car park sits alongside Chemistry (picture above). Any further into town would involve considerable effort. A further proposal involves flooding the valley below the arm on the north side, creating a mooring lake and connected to the arm by an inclined plane.

We had a walk up to the church at the top of the High Street, and was pleased to see it open.

St Alkmund’s, Whitchurch

Built in sandstone, it replaces a 14C building which collapsed in 1711. With tall broad windows, the interior is light and airy.

Fine altar

There’s a side chapel containing the tomb of Sir John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who died at the Battle of Bordeaux in 1453. He’d fought for King and Country for 24 years, and asked that he be buried at Whitchurch.

Side Chapel

His embalmed heart was returned first, and is buried under a stone in the porch. His bones came later and are in the tomb on the right.

Tablet under the porch - Click to enlarge

Above the entrance to the chapel is a dedication to William Henry Egerton 1811-1910, rector here, following in his father’s footsteps. There’s an interesting canal connection. Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, is a relative. Known as the father of the modern canal system after building the Bridgewater Canal in 1761, he died childless and the Dukedom died with him.
A lesser title, that of the Earl of Bridgewater, was transferred to a cousin, John Egerton, Bishop of Durham, who became the 7th Earl. He was William Henry’s uncle. John also died without an heir so the title went to his brother Philip, who became the 8th Earl. William, being Philip's 4th son, didn’t inherit the title and did what most younger sons did; joined the clergy. It was generally either that or the military.

We headed back down High Street and had a sandwich and a pint in the White Bear.

Looking down High Street

Tucked away down an alley, this pub looks old from the outside but has unfortunately been “modernised” on the inside. Still, can’t fault the food or the pint of Greene King.

A quick visit to Tesco, then we headed back to the boats.

Moving on towards Ellesmere tomorrow.

Locks 0, miles 0.

Change of Scene

2012-01-23T20:23:00.000Z

We waited out the gale force winds, moored above Grindley Brook Locks. And it certainly was windy. Not cruising weather, as most other boaters agreed. We only saw one other boat moving over the weekend, a hire boat out of Norbury Junction.

With the wind easing and larders running low we headed off to Whitchurch today. There’s a lift bridge about a mile on, and Ann chose to walk up with the dogs to open it.

Ann, Molly and Meg heading off down the towpath.
Meg is normally unwilling to go off with anyone else, but with us on the boat following along she was OK. She did keep looking back to make sure we’d not disappeared, though.

Moore2Life coming through New Mills Lift Bridge, we’d already gone through.

Rock’n’Roll was a little way behind, still filling with water, so we got both boats tied up near the end of the arm into Whitchurch.

When R’n’R arrived they had a hand mooring up….
Well, actually two hands and one mouth…

And that was it for today. From here it’s a bit nearer to the shops in Whitchurch, but still a fair trek.

It’s supposed to be wet all day tomorrow, so we may or may not move on. Winter cruising, eh. No schedule, no rush.

The best way into the town is along the short stub of the Whitchurch Arm. It now only runs to the first bridge from New Mills Junction, where the Chemistry road comes close alongside. It was originally built to Sherryman’s Bridge (the next bridge crossing on the map), then extended the final ¼ mile to Castle Well in 1811. There was a narrow triangular basin built here, and prior to the extension being completed unloaded boats had to reverse back down to the junction.

Whitchurch Arm before 1950's development filled the majority of the line.

The current limit of the Arm

Google maps view of the terminus area shows some link to the past.

View Larger Map
A large corn mill was built near the basin, hence Mill Street, and a new development called The Wharfage has appeared. Though I think there's a degree of licence been allowed with the name. The basin was on the west side of Mill Street.
There's lots more information on the Whitchurch Waterway Trust website.

Locks 0, miles 1

We CAN move when we want to….

2012-01-19T19:52:00.000Z

Plan A was to get to the bottom of Grindley Brook Locks today, and then to go up the locks to Whitchurch for the weekend. But overnight rain which carried on into the morning and a rising wind made us doubt the sense in doing this. Plan B involved doing nothing till the weekend, hoping for an improvement. A sort of non-plan, really.

In the end we went for Plan C, get going and see where we finish up. It’s not as daft as it sounds, there are several very pleasant mooring spots between Wrenbury and Grindley Brook, if the weather turned particularly nasty.

We’re glad we did, the sky cleared and the wind wasn’t as bad as anticipated. In fact we went considerably further than expected…

A fine but blowy morning.
Looking forward towards Wales…..

….And back into England

There are four locks to ascend between Wrenbury and the final flight at Grindley Brook, the first at Marbury about 40 minutes away.

Marbury Lock
The lock cottage here is looking good after renovation.

One of those pleasant mooring spots I mentioned earlier. M2L in the distance.

The next is Quoisley, alongside the busy A49, where you often get tooted at by wagon drivers going past.
Remember Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday? Mags was doing her impression today, but with a narrowboat instead of a motor-scooter.

Hepburn impressions……

But I’m no Gregory Peck….

Just a short way on we came to Willeymoor Lock, with the Willey Moor Lock Inn alongside. We caught up with Chas and Ann here.

M2L in Willeymoor Lock

One more lock, Povey’s, and we arrived at the bottom of Grindley Brook Locks. By our reckoning we’d already done more than a day’s travelling, but the weather stayed fine and we’d made good time so off we went up the flight.

Through the railway bridge just below the locks.
There are 6 locks here, 3 single chambers and the remainder making up a triple staircase. In the summer this can be a major bottleneck and a pair of lock-keepers arbitrate. But today not another boat was moving.

Mags tackling another ferocious bywash, this one below Lock 5, the middle of the singles.

Lock 4, below the staircase.

While Mags was coming up in this one, I walked up to have a look at the situation on the staircase.
Rock’n’Roll was in the top chamber, and Moore2Life rising up in the bottom, so I waited for them to move up one, then drained the bottom chamber.

Looking down Grindley Brook Staircase.

Mags was able to go straight into the bottom lock after she came round the sharp corner under the road bridge.

Seyella at the bottom.

Looking up to where Chas is just moving M2L out of the chamber above.
The gates are a bit leaky!

All three boats clear, we watered and emptied as required then pulled onto the moorings just up from the locks.

The original lock cottage is smart but now in private hands…..

The duty lock-keepers now have to use this.
A bit of a come-down, eh!

We just about made it before the predicted rain blew in from the west. Strong winds and rain for tomorrow, brighter but still windy over the weekend, so we’ll play it by ear. After all, we’ve done well today….

Locks 10, miles 6½

It’s all go…..

2012-01-18T18:53:00.001Z

All change with the weather today. At 07:30 it was 10° warmer than the same time yesterday. There are daffodils coming up on the verges!
Trouble is the frozen towpath has now returned to mud, so we decided to move at some point today, to the other side of the village where the towpath is drier. After a walk to the shop we stopped to chat with the BW chaps working on the bridge, and arranged to go through at around 14:30.
But at a quarter to two George was knocking on the window, they (the engineers) had just been down and it would be better for them if we were able to go through straight away. Now. Immediately.
It looked a bit like a WWII fighter scramble, crews out untying ropes, engines starting up, tiller bars fitted and we were all moving inside a few minutes. It usually takes a bit longer than that!

Off we go…

Rock’n’Roll was first through……

Followed by Moore2Life…….

……finally followed by us as tail-end-charlie. It was a bit tight lining up with the bow of that hire boat stuck out.

NB’s Armadillo and Jandai had arrived earlier today, but decided to stay put the other side of the lift bridge.

There’s another black-and-white lift bridge at Wrenbury Frith, but this is normally open.

R’n’R through Wrenbury Frith Lift Bridge.

We moored shortly after, on the SUCS moorings near Thomason’s Bridge.

Moored near Thomason’s Bridge

There was a substantial blown down branch in the hedge bottom, and it seemed a shame to leave it there, so it’s now in 4 bits on the roof.

Locks 0, miles 1. Cracking on, then!

Pewter skies…

2012-01-17T19:13:00.000Z

Another cold night last night, down to 4 or 5° below zero. But, unlike the last couple of mornings, the sky was covered in thin grey cloud, preventing the sun from breaking through till this afternoon. So it stayed considerably colder, still -1° when we pulled in this afternoon.

Grey skies, white fields as we head for Baddiley Locks this morning.

George and Carol on NB Rock’n’Roll were ready first, so they’d set off 10 minutes before us. They’d cleared Baddiley Lock 3 by the time we arrived, but George had lifted a paddle to drain the lock ready for us, so we could go straight in.

After the cold night, the still water in the chamber had frozen, ice about 5mm thick that Carol had to break up as she pushed R’n’R in. Some was still hanging on the lock sides as we went in.

Ice shelf
The three locks at Baddiley raise the canal about 20 feet and are all close together.

Mags approaching Lock 2, the fierce bywash clearly seen.

The vast majority of canal locks have a bywash channel alongside, to carry surplus water from the pound above which would otherwise weir over the top gates of the lock. A notable exception is the Rochdale Nine out of Castlefield Basin in Manchester, and these are notoriously difficult. The bywashes would normally only carry water from a lock above being emptied, but on this canal there’s a continuous flow running down from the River Dee to feed Hurleston Reservoir and the ever-thirsty taps of Manchester. So the bywashes have a reputation for being particularly rapid, making lock approach tricky.

Mags made this one with only a gentle scrape on the bow.

Lock 1, top lock, was just around the corner.

Seyella approaching Lock 1. The sheep looked surprised to see so many boats on the move….

From the top of the flight it was only another twenty minutes to Wrenbury, just time for a cup of tea.

Wrenbury Church Lift Bridge is one of the signature bridges of this canal, and George was on hand to lift it as he saw us coming. We’d dropped back a bit, having stopped to liberate a bit of wood, so had Chas and Ann on Moore2Life close behind.

Wrenbury Church Lift Bridge, with George sitting patiently waiting for us…

We pulled in behind R’n’R, just as the sun finally broke through the cloud cover.

Moored at Wrenbury, Meg’s new ball (retrieved at the locks) is on the roof.

I was cutting up my recently acquired fuel when a chap walking his dog stopped for a chat. I was dismayed when he told me that the electrically operated Wrenbury Lift Bridge, just around the corner, was closed until the weekend for maintenance. Didn’t spot that one on the stoppages list!
We had a walk that way with the dogs this afternoon, and it turns out that the crew doing the work will lift the bridge for passing boaters on request. So that’s all right then.

We’ll be here until Thursday, anyway. The weather is due to change to milder and wetter for a couple of days, before turning cold again next weekend.

Locks 3, miles 2. Dashing along, aren’t we!

Winter cruising at it’s best.

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000Z

What a fantastic day it’s been today. First bit of good news – Meg is so much better. Apart from one trip outside at around midnight, she had a very settled night, not waking till I got up at around 07:30. She started out a bit listless, but has got livelier throughout the day and was her old bouncy self by the time we took all three canines out for a walk this evening. Thanks for all the good wishes.
It was a bit of a surprise, her being so poorly. She’s always so robust. We were trying to remember when she’d been ill before, and couldn’t! Yes, she’s had the odd cut and scrape, and her dew claws are sometimes a problem, but we don’t think she’s actually been sick before. We’re so glad she seems to be over it.

It was another cold night, but only -2°. Still low enough though to leave small areas of cat-ice on the canal in sheltered spots. We weren’t in any rush to get off, and it was nearly midday by the time we pulled pins.

Chas and Ann were filling their water tank as we came past.

A little further on we came across the first batch of anglers.
With the number of boats going past this morning the maggots have spent more time out of the water than in!

There was a fishing match going on as we headed to Henhull Bridge, but the towpath was clear as we came out onto the wide section opposite the long term moorings.

Henhull Wide

It was only a couple of miles to Hurleston Junction and the turn up the lock flight onto the Llangollen Canal. So we’d decided that we’d go up today, and look for a mooring later. As we approached we could see George and Carol on Rock’n’Roll heading up the flight.

R’n’R going up Lock 3

It’s a sharp turn left at the junction, straight into the bottom lock of the flight of four, and George kindly came back and set the lock up for us.

Cheers, George.

We made short work of the locks, with George starting to empty the chambers they’d just left, and me doing the same for Chas and Ann.

Looking down from Lock 1
Cracking, isn’t it! Mags is in L2, Chas is in L3.

R’n’R was taking on water at the services, so we queued up to wait our turn. M2L went past, they’d filled as we left Nantwich, but we passed them again as they’d stopped for diesel at Swanley Bridge Marina.

NB Jandai followed us up the flight, and I went back for a quick chat as they reached the top.

The Dai half of Jandai, with Hurleston Reservoir in the background. Jan had just moved out of shot…
There are two or three pleasant spots to moor in the next mile, but we decided to press on a little further, through Swanley Locks, and moor near Bridge 12.

Beautiful scenery near Burland

Manoeuvring below Swanley Lock 1…..

….And in Lock 2
Mags had a bit of trouble getting into this one. She coped with the fierce bywash at Lock 1, but with the low sun directly in her eyes this one wasn’t quite so easy!

Still, it was the last today, another twenty minutes saw us moored near Bridge 12, opposite the village of Ravensmoor.

Tonight’s mooring

It’s been one of those days that are a joy to appreciate from the water. Days like this make me realise how lucky we actually are to be able to do this.

Locks 6, miles 5½

Sick as a dog.

2012-01-14T18:42:00.001Z

We had an unsettled night last night. Meg was desperate to go out at just after midnight, climbing all over the bed. So I got up and she shot straight out, down the bank alongside into the rough grass. She was a bit of a mess when she came back, diarrhoea doesn’t mix well with hairy dogs. No, I take that back, it mixes TOO well! After a wash down she went back to bed, only to wake us again at 2 o’clock. And this was the theme for the night. About 90 minutes between visits to the great outdoors, followed by a clean up. One thing came out of it, I got some good pictures of the sunrise!

Half past seven this morning.

Of course, she had to choose the coldest night for some time to get the trots. I barely had time to warm up before we were back out again.

She seems a lot better now. A small portion of chicken and rice at lunchtime stayed down, and she had more of the same after a walk this evening. Looking good so far… touch wood!

As a precaution we’ve kept away from big and little Mollys, it’s probably just something she ate, but it might be a bug of some sort. I don’t think the Rockers or the Lifers would be pleased to have their dogs go down with the trots too!

Ann and I toddled off to Morrisons this morning, getting back around noon. It’s a fair trek, considerably longer on the way back…

I mentioned yesterday that canal aqueducts always look more spectacular from below, and Telford’s here at Nantwich is no exception.

Nantwich Aqueduct
The banner is advertising “Holly Holy Day”, which celebrates the lifting of the siege of Nantwich by Royalist forces in 1644. Parliamentarian troops under Sir Thomas Fairfax marched down from Lancashire and defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Nantwich on 25th January. The engagement took place to the north and west of the town, around the Acton and Henhull areas.

Assuming Meg is OK, we’ll move on to Hurleston tomorrow, though whether we go up the locks onto the Llangollen Canal remains to be seen.

Locks 0, miles 0.

Cracking weather, busy day.

2012-01-13T19:34:00.001Z

We woke up to a beautiful morning. A sharp frost and bright clear skies heralded a fine day. Barely a breath of wind as well, in sharp contrast to yesterday.
The weather brought out the boats. I don’t think we saw one all day yesterday, but today we had three or four past before we even got off.

NB Armadillo was first away from Coole Pilate, at around 9 o’clock.
Rock’n’Roll was next out of the gate, but, hang on, they’re going backwards! It turned out they’d decided to have a pump-out of the loo tank, so were heading back to Overwater Marina.
Moore2Life was next, with us bringing up the rear (as usual!).

Heading towards Hack Green, M2L in the distance, nicely smoking chimney in the foreground.
There’s a pair of locks at Hack Green, near the (Not So) Secret Nuclear Bunker. I really will have to visit it one day…

These two locks are the last on the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and as such are the last narrow ones on the way to Chester. The B&LJ ends with a connection to the Chester Canal at Nantwich. From this point, heading north, the canal is designated as broad, with wide locks and bridge-holes.
These two canals, along with the Llangollen, Montgomery and Middlewich Branch, plus several smaller branches, were merged under the umbrella of The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in 1845. The initial plan was to fill the canals and use the route for track bed, but the decision was luckily deferred as the canals were still making money. The plan was finally abandoned in 1849.
The Shropshire network remained in profit till WWI, but then the inevitable decline set in as transport was switched to the developing road system.

Mags leaving Hack Green Lock 1
Bridge 86, between the locks, is suffering from serious health issues.

Charles delicately threads M2L’s canopy between the footboards on the lower gates of Lock 2.
Ann, big Molly and Meg look on with interest…. Will he, won't he....

Another couple of miles saw us coming under Marsh Lane Bridge, onto the long embankment which runs to the west of Nantwich.

Coming onto Nantwich Embankment.

The embankment crosses the A534 Chester Road on a fine cast iron aqueduct, which, as always, looks better from underneath.

Over Chester Road

M2L pulled in soon after the aqueduct but we pushed on a little further, first to the services, then to reverse down to Basin End and the fuel wharf of Nantwich Marina. Ann was on hand to fend off from imminent collisions (narrowboats don’t steer well backwards, unless you’ve a bow thruster like R’n’R), but she was only needed once to put us back on the straight and narrow.

Into Basin End.
The Main Line runs under the bridge, heading south. We’re heading backwards to the right. This is the original terminus of The Chester Canal, before the B&LJ joined up in 1835 over 50 years later.

We wriggled into the corner of the busy basin, took on diesel, gas and solid fuel, then replaced all 4 of our domestic batteries. I’d decided to “bite the bullet” and change the lot. Two of them were over 2 years old, and one of the others is the dodgy one I identified some time ago. What the hell, it’s only money. And I’ve just received a tax rebate from 2006….
Access is good so I had the whole lot swapped and reconnected inside 20 minutes. We motored back out again to the spot above, then reversed back through the bridge to moor on the end of the visitor moorings.

Leaving Basin End, the fuel wharf is on the far right.
Busy old spot, init!

The clear skies have allowed the temperature to plummet, after a high of 12° in the sun, we’re now down to –0.4°and it’s only 7o’clock. Could be a nippy one, methinks.
Still, it’s worth it for days like today.

Locks 2, miles 4

Fair-Weather Boaters?

2012-01-12T19:09:00.000Z

Well, we certainly were today! Maybe we’re getting soft with all the mild, fine weather we’ve been having, but one look out of the window this morning convinced me to delay moving to Nantwich till tomorrow.

Yuk!

Still, I’d plenty to occupy myself, a good book, varnish to slap on the stool I made, sweep through and clean the floors. The rain moved off around noon, so Meg and had a grooming session outside this afternoon, then George and Carol, Ann and I took the three canines on a circular walk for an hour or so, getting back just before sunset. And a spectacular one it was as well.

Sunset. Red sky at night….. It’s supposed to be fine and sunny tomorrow.

Donald faces forward when we're cruising….

So, Nantwich tomorrow, and the wallet has to come out of hibernation….

Locks 0, miles 0.

And then there were four……

2012-01-10T19:58:00.002Z

All on our lonesome last night, but we’ve company for tonight.
It’s been a fine day, but just got a little breezy later.

Looking forward to Bridge 84 this morning.
Marvellous, isn’t it.

With such fine weather it would have been a shame to spend it indoors, so I didn’t. Played ball with Meg then emptied the well deck, cleaned it out and brushed or scrubbed the mats. Played ball with Meg then I cleaned the rubber mats on the counter and mopped it over. Chopped a bit of wood and played ball with Meg. I’d some spare wood from when I refitted the bedroom, so I got my gear out and set to making a stool. In between playing ball with Meg…

The first to arrive was NB Moore2Life, at around noon. Meg was pleased, Molly to play with and Ann to throw that ball. Then NB Armadillo cruised by and pulled in a little further along. Finally George, Carol and little Molly arrived on NB Rock’n’Roll. Suddenly the tranquil mooring was transformed, with dogs running after balls and each other, me using power tools and folk milling about drinking tea. I said this mooring was popular……

We were pleased to see everyone, but George especially. He came bearing salvation in the form of a tube of white silicon sealant. I dug my tubes out this morning to finish the work on the shower cubicle and they had all “gone off”. All except the black of course. Even I would draw the line at sealing white tiles to a white shower tray and white folding door with BLACK sealant!

Luckily George had a new tube in stock, so I owe him one. We’ll stop here tomorrow, if the weather is as kind as today it’ll be another outside jobs day.

Locks 0, miles 0.

Peace and Quiet

2012-01-09T19:38:00.001Z

After a weekend amidst the bustle of Audlem we decided to head out into the countryside today. BW were quick off the mark, we’re proudly displaying our go (almost) anywhere Gold Licences now.

2012 Gold Licence

The Rockers had hired a car for the weekend, so they took Ann and I on a shopping trip to Stafford yesterday. We were able to stock up on heavy items like dog food and spuds, which are difficult to carry any distance.
When we returned to Audlem we dropped all three boats down Lock 12 and moored almost outside the The Shroppie Fly. We were all through and moored up in about 15 minutes, the most activity the village had seen all weekend! It has been really quiet, just 2 or 3 boats on the move each day.

Moored so close to the pub, it seemed churlish not to take advantage of it’s hospitality, so we all piled in there for a few pints and a meal. Very enjoyable it was, too. We were joined by friends of George and Carol who have a boat in Overwater Marina.

The gang
Al and Dot are on the far left, the rest you should know….

Audlem Wharf at 11:00 last night.
There’s a very pleasant 40-50 minute circular walk from Audlem, up the locks then returning along tracks and through fields. Descending back into the village there’re are good views of the houses dominated by the impressive church of St James standing on it’s mound.

Looking down on Audlem

Audlem Wharf this morning.

A few last minute bits and pieces from the Co-op and bakery this morning, then we pulled forward to fill and empty the appropriate tanks before dropping down the last three of the Audlem Locks. Ann volunteered to help set up the locks as we were following another boat, so we made short work of them.

Audlem Bottom Lock. No 15.

Moore2Life and Rock’n’Roll are staying in Audlem another day. They’ll catch us up before Nantwich.

Leaving the village we chatted to a chap walking the towpath with his shopping, him telling us that he’s also got an Orchard Marina boat. I assumed he was from one of the two boats near the winding hole, but he walked past these. I asked him how far he was going and he told me Overwater Marina. So we pulled over and gave him and his groceries a lift. It made it a little easier. The marina is on the off side, so he’d have had to walk up to the next bridge to cross over, then back across a muddy field.

Our passenger for a short while. We were so busy talking I forgot to ask his name! Anyway, happy cruising!
The photo looks a bit murky because this is how the weather turned out. After a bright, promising start it turned damp around noon, but did clear up again later.

We didn’t have far to go, pulling in on the SUCS mooring at Coole Pilate.

Coole Pilate moorings.
With picnic tables, barbecue stands and a grassy towpath these are popular moorings in the summer. Today we’re on our own here.

After a cup of tea and the compulsory ball session with Meg, I set to dismantling the shower enclosure. We have as leak in one corner, staining the cabinet work. From experience I know that shoving a bit of silicone sealant in the suspect joint is a best a short-term solution, so I removed the bi-fold doors and frame and scraped out the old sealant. I’ll leave it overnight to dry thoroughly before reassembly tomorrow, bedding all the joints on fresh sealant.

No showers for 24 hours – good job we’re on our own!

We had a fine sunset as the skies started to clear. Red sky at night.....

Locks 4, miles 2½

Dodging the Dredgers

2012-01-06T18:53:00.001Z

What a pleasant relief to wake up this morning to calm! It’s certainly been wild and woolly these past couple of days. Not cruising weather, so we stayed put at the bottom of Adderley Locks.

We moved out today around 10:30, leaving behind NB Armadillo. We hadn’t had a chance to chat, what with the weather, but this morning we discovered that they also blog. They’re heading the same way as us, up onto the Llangollen Canal, so we should have a chance to meet up.

Fellow bloggers, NB Armadillo.
It was a fine bright morning, but did cloud up a bit later.
It’s just over a mile to the top of the 15 Audlem Locks, but we had to run the gauntlet of workboats involved in dredging and bank repair work.

Dredged spoil is dumped here, and spread across an adjacent field.
(I’m pleased to see that the towpath has been protected from the machinery and mud)

And this is where it comes from…

The pans are loaded by boat-mounted digger, then moved to the unloading area by push tug.

Just around the corner and under the next bridge bank repairs are under way, after which back filling and dredging will take place.

I wonder which of these guys lost the toss? One of the pairs of waders leaks, apparently!
Some we’ve done earlier.

The fabric sheeting, supported on timber posts, is backfilled and quickly colonised by vegetation. This gives a much softer and more natural edge to the navigation than armco piling. And it’s considerably cheaper….

After all this excitement we arrived at the top of Audlem Locks.
The first 3 are spaced out along the gentle gradient, then get closer together from Lock 4 on, as the hillside steepens.

Dropping down Lock 1, push tug in the distance.

Meg found a playmate between L1 and L2…

A Beardie dog, he was only 7 months old and daft as a brush. So daft in fact that he fell in the canal just above Lock 2, and I had to quickly haul him out before he got sucked into the sluice!

At Lock 3 we had a bit of a pause while a boat came up, then it was plain sailing down to below L11.

From Lock 4 the locks get closer together.

Halfway down there’s a lock-keepers “refuge”.
A grate would have kept the hut warm in winter, and the bywash underneath provided running water!

Well on the way down, Mags lines up for Lock 8, Meg is starting to get bored.

That’s it, last lock for today, No 11.
The sun has come out again, too!

We moored up below the lock, had a belated lunch then after a bit of a sit down Ann and I took the dogs for a short walk to Moss Aqueduct where the canal crosses the Weaver.

Looking down on the River Weaver as it heads north to Nantwich.

It was starting to get dark as we walked back up, so I had a bit of a play with the camera, set on long exposures.

Lock 12 and bywash.

Looking down the bywash from above
The long exposure makes the flowing water look milky.
The same photo, taken using flash, captures the flow of water.

The windy weather claimed a narrowboat up near Doncaster on the Aire and Calder. The couple were lucky, the canal here is wide and deep, straight and running west/east. The flat land would have allowed the waves to build up. It must have been hairy out there….

Locks 11, miles 2½

Off we jolly well go….

2012-01-04T18:54:00.001Z

Well, after a fortnight in and around Market Drayton we’re on the move again. The Rockers (NB Rock’n’Roll) moved out yesterday, we followed on today after waiting for the Lifers (NB Moore2Life) to return after a trip south to see the family.

It’s been good here, useful for shops and facilities, but a bit limited on the dog walking front. It’s good to be cruising again, though. I couldn’t put up with a Winter Mooring, being in one place for four months would drive me to distraction!
If we’re pleased, imagine how Sue and Vic on NB No Problem must be feeling! At least we had a choice….

There’ve been no more swan fights, but Dad has been patrolling up and down looking mean, just in case.

If you were a swan looking to move in, would you take this on?

We got away around 10:30, leaving M2L to reverse to Talbot Wharf for diesel.

Under the bypass bridge out of Market Drayton.

The last outpost of civilisation is Victoria Wharf, with a diverse collection of narrowboats in various stages of renovation.

Victoria Wharf

From this point on it’s countryside for three miles, all the way to Adderley Locks. We had a short stop to cut and load some wood I’d spotted while walking Meg, then we pushed on to the locks.

The towpath changes sides at Bridge 67….

I very nearly hit the towpath edge here. On narrow canals you can line up the tow path side roof rail with the keystone on the bridge, and you’ll slip through without touching the sides…. just like in the photo. But then I “lost the plot” and moved across to line up the left side rail with the keystone, only realising at the last moment we’d swapped sides. Tiller over and a quick squirt on the throttle and a substantial crunch was avoided.

Adderley Top Lock appears about ¾ of a mile on.

Adderley Top Lock through Bridge 69
These 5 locks drop the canal 31 feet in less than ½ a mile and are the second of the three flights of locks on the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. Rather than have locks scattered haphazardly along the length of the canal, Telford realised that grouping them together will speed up operation and leave long pounds in between. So there are flights at Tyreley (5 locks), Adderley (5 locks) and Audlem (15 locks). There is also a single lock at Wheaton Aston and another 2 at Hack Green, to accommodate minor changes in contour height.
Like all of the locks on the B&LJ, these are narrow. The broad locks are on the Chester Canal, from Nantwich to Ellesmere Port.

Adderley Locks

Adderley Bottom Lock

We moored below the flight, behind NB Armadillo which can be seen in the distance.

It’s been a blustery day, but at least mainly dry. Tomorrow is supposed to be better, we hope so. We’ll be tackling 13 of the 15 Audlem locks. It’s a bit miserable locking in the rain.

Locks 5, miles 3½

Swanning around….

2012-01-01T17:31:00.001Z

There’s a resident pair of swans in Market Drayton, the ones that came for breakfast the other day. They have 5 cygnets, almost fully grown, now. In fact they’ve been doing “circuits and bumps” down the straight section of canal opposite the pontoon moorings.
Unfortunately, as soon as they can fly, the parents evict the youngsters from their “patch”, and 2 were shifted yesterday, with the cob chasing them off further up the canal. To make matters worse a pair of juveniles have appeared today, obviously looking for somewhere they can call home. The residents were having none of it; no-one one was sharing their bit of canal.

The first I knew about the commotion was a bump and scrabble on the back deck, going out to look I saw one of the local young birds on the towpath, having used our counter to get out of the water. The dad was cruising up and down, feathers fluffed in a threat display, so it looks like one of the evicted cygnets had tried to return home.

He waddled off up the towpath, then all hell broke loose down near the bridge. The two interlopers had turned up and were being chased off by the local adults.

One of the newcomers took the hint and slung his hook, the other didn’t get the chance.
Mobbed by both of the locals, they proceeded to try to drown him, holding his head under the water and standing on his back.

Even when he tried to escape onto the bank there was no reprieve.

The three remaining local juveniles joined in as well…

But he did manage to get away and climbed out onto the towpath behind Seyella. I had to shoo the other birds away, they were all for carrying on the persecution onshore.

Bedraggled and exhausted, he took a few minutes to get his breath back before he too set off up the towpath away from the area.

He still had enough energy to threaten Meg, though. She pointedly ignored him…

And they look so sweet don’t they, serenely cruising along the waterways. Actually, they are pretty nasty, attacking boats large and small, drowning ducklings that have the misfortune to be competing with cygnets for food, and beating up towpath users if they stray too near a nest site.

One of the local dog walkers told me that this pair had killed one of their own offspring last year because it wouldn’t leave the nest site.

Today started bright enough, but it became showery by mid morning. George and Carol were having visitors so reversed back to moor near Bridge 63. With the wet weather the towpath alongside us here is rapidly turning into a morass. So we’ll move both the remaining boats back to join them tomorrow.

Locks 0, Miles 0

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T09:45:00.000Z

Hope you’re not feeling too rough this morning.
Incidentally, the official name for a hangover is veisalgia, derived from the Norwegian kveis meaning uneasiness following debauchery, and the Greek algia, for pain. Pretty well sums it up, don’t you think?
"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink" (Isaiah 5:11). Oh, stop being such a spoilsport!

We had a good night, the Rockers joined us for a drink (or several) and we saw the New Year in, watching the spectacular firework display in London. Certainly kicked off 2012 with a bang!

All the best for 2012, may you have all your locks set for you, and plenty of water under your baseplate. May your hulls never rust, and your fenders stay firm.

Locks 0, Miles 0.

What’s in a name….

2011-12-30T10:52:00.001Z

With the imminent changeover from government control to charitable status, and the change of name from British Waterways to The Canal and River Trust, I’ve been thinking about what shorthand to use.
The new name is a bit of a mouthful, so I think I’ll refer to it as Crust. By extension this makes employees of the new charity Crustys, and us clients will be known as Crustomers.

Out with the old….

…..and in with the new.

I think I preferred the old one…

It’s been pretty wet these last couple of days, with more on the way it seems. Unfortunately the towpath alongside is now turning a bit muddy. Still, it is winter.

Looking forward to next year, we sent off for a Gold Licence on Wednesday. This will allow us to cruise on the Fens without having to pay for an Environment Agency licence. It does, of course, cost more than the standard one, about £300 more, but the break even point is about 5½ weeks. If we bought a short term EA licence it would cost about the same for 40 days, then we would be paying more than the £300 to stay longer. And it does also give us the opportunity to go down onto the Thames for nowt later in the year.

We had visitors for breakfast today… Mr and Mrs Swan and the kids.

This is Dad, a fine upstanding figure of a …..cob.

And this is Mum and the kids giving our hull a weeding.

I guess the young ‘uns will be leaving home soon.

Locks 0, miles 0

Just a Quickie….

2011-12-29T17:27:00.001Z

To say that we’re still around!

We had a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas, each of the 3 boats taking it in turns to host the evening party. By Boxing Day (our turn) we were having to scratch our heads a bit to think up some game ideas, but I reckon we managed.

Meg got all dressed up for Christmas Night….
…but she didn’t stay that way for long. The 2 Mollys laughed at her, but Meg reckons they were just a bit jealous…

By Tuesday water tanks were looking empty and loo tanks were looking full, so we upped sticks and cruised through town, stopping off at the sanitary station on the way.

A bit of a queue to empty the loo!

It’s OK, NB Rock’n’Roll has just pulled out leaving room for us just before the bridge. NB Moore2Life is still filling, as is NB African Star in front.

We didn’t get so far, pulling in just past the bypass bridge.

The good weather has finally fled, leaving us with wind and rain. Ah well, the rain will be appreciated by Sue and Vic on NB No Problem, still stuck in drought conditions down on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

There’s a bit of boat traffic about, 3 or 4 boats daily. We had a bit of an incident yesterday. I’d got my nose in a book and am pretty much out of it as far as the rest of the world is concerned when I’m reading. But I did hear Mags say “That boat’s going a bit fast, and so is that one!” I replied with a grunt. It was only when I got up to put the kettle on 15 minutes later that I realised we’d a different view out of the cabin window. We were now diagonally across the canal, bow still tied up but stern on the far bank.
With a bit of a struggle against the wind I got us back against the bank, and double pegged the stern rope. M2L’s bow rope had also pulled it’s pins but not completely out, so I repositioned them and made sure that they were firm, too. The spot where we’d put the pins in was particularly soft.

That’s probably it till after the New Year, so have a good one and I’ll see you all in 2012.

Locks 0, miles ½

Tomorrow's the shortest day….

2011-12-21T18:45:00.001Z

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. It's usually on the 21st, today, but this year it's tomorrow. Sunrise is at 08:19, setting at 15:56. That’s just 7 hours 37 minutes of daylight. Then we can look forward to the nights drawing out again, but it will be a while before we see much difference. And we’ve still a winter to come!

We all toddled off into town today to have a look round the market and pick up some bits and pieces. Drayton was awarded it’s market charter in 1245 by Henry III, acquiring it’s “Market” prefix soon afterwards. There’s been a settlement on the spot since around the 10c.
As you’d expect at this time of year the market was well attended, with stalls selling produce as well as clothing, toys electricals and phones. There also seems to be a good selection of shops on the High Street. We had a good look round and Mags was glad to put her feet up with a cup of tea when we got back. We’d been out for nearly 3½ hours!

We had a phone call from Mags' grand-daughter Zoe, up in the frozen wastes of Middlesborough. She's received the chocolate pizza we'd had sent from our friend Carol who makes them in Wales. She's delighted, but having to fight off the rest of the family!

I had a look at our battery installation when we got back, before it got dark. We’ve been running short of power in the morning, after my customary 2½ to 3 hours per day charging routine. I think (in fact I’m almost convinced) that we’ve got a dying battery. It’s reading ½ a volt lower than the other 3 when they’re all discharged, I’ll give them a charge in the morning, isolate them all and check for voltage differences again. But I think I know what I’ll find. The annoying thing is that the dodgy one is one of two that I replaced last January. The other two are over 2 years old and still going strong.

Seyella’s battery bank
The problematic one is on the left, next to the green starter battery. The Sterling A to B charge controller is at the top of the picture, and there’s a Mastervolt 2000/100 inverter/charger on the right. Eat your heart out Bruce, I can get at my batteries!

Best wishes to all our readers, have a great Christmas and an extremely prosperous New Year. And to the boaters among you, we wish you all ”a good road”!

A half decent day and a bit of windlass exercise.

2011-12-20T17:48:00.001Z

As expected yesterday was very wet. It finally eased a bit mid-afternoon, and Ann and I took Molly and Meg for a walk around Knighton Woods.The forecast also said it was going to be mild, I’m not sure I agree. It still felt cold to me…

After a frost-free night (so it must have been warmer) we were ready for the off soon after 10 o’clock.

M2L ready to go, R’n’R disappearing into the distance.

Open countryside with wide views from the embankments took us steadily north and west under grey skies, but at least it was dry.

Finally leaving The Wrekin behind

New Brighton Farm with dovecote and collie.

There are more extensive linear moorings around Goldstone with an unusual modification to be seen on NB Panacea. I guess he needed more space on the counter.

NB Panacea with modified stern

Soon after Goldstone Wharf is another of those impressive constructions that the Shroppie is known for. This time it’s a cutting, the deep and narrow Woodseaves. It’s amazing to think that all these earthworks were completed without the benefit of machinery.

Entering Woodseaves Cutting at Cheswardine Bridge

Like Grub Street, Woodseaves also has a High Bridge. No telegraph pole in this one.

Landslips on the steep sides are common, the cutting was closed for a while a couple of years ago after the channel was partially blocked by fallen debris.

Landslip

Rowan berries give a bit of colour to a grey-green winter scene.

Leaving the cutting it’s only a short distance to Tyreley Wharf and the top of the flight of five locks.

Tyreley Wharf

We caught up with the Rockers and the Lifers here. The drinking water supply here has been out of action for a couple of years, but they’ve got it working again now. Pity about the water pressure, though. It took over an hour to fill all 3 boats, and we didn’t need that much. A point to remember for the summer.

We were tail-end-charlie again, following the other 2 down the locks but Ann was opening a top paddle for us as M2L left each lock.

Mags seems to be happy to be in Lock 1

The flight starts in open fields…..

….and finishes in a steep rock cutting. Lock 5 in the distance.

We were helped by a chap called Andy, who was out taking his windlass for a walk on the off-chance there were some boats about. If it hadn’t been for us he’d have been disappointed!

Andy and sculptured tree roots at lock 4.

From the bottom lock it was only 15 minutes to the first lot of moorings at Market Drayton.

Market Drayton

We pulled in behind Rock’n’Roll and Moore2Life, then Carol, George, Ann, Chas and the pair of Mollys joined us for homemade soup and hot rolls. Market day in the town tomorrow.

Locks 5, miles 6½

Busy day after a couple of lazy ones…

2011-12-18T19:10:00.001Z

We spent the last two days just pottering really, nothing specific to do, just bits and pieces. We had cold nights but reasonably bright days, although yesterday was a bit damp with a bit of snow and sleet.
First thing on Friday was very pleasant…..

Norbury Junction and Wharf.

Looking down the Shrewsbury Branch
A thin skim of ice on the water down there…

Smoky Chimneys

We intend to be at Market Drayton on Tuesday, find a spot on the 14 day moorings and spend Christmas there. At this time of year it’s 2 day’s travelling, after 3 hours it starts to get a bit cold on the tiller. So we decided to set off today, take tomorrow off (the forecast is a bit grim), then finish off the trip on Tuesday.
But first there was a bit of “housekeeping” to do. Both Seyella and Moore2Life had to go back through the bridge to take on water, and Charles decided to top up M2L’s diesel tank as well. The Rockers had got a Tesco delivery due, and they also wanted to top up the tanks, so we had a bit of a staggered start.
We were off first, but I’d planned a stop just a short distance on in Grub Street Cutting. There was the remains of a beech tree with my name on it….

I’m a lumberjack and I’m all right….
I got five good rings off the stump, that’ll keep us going for a few days.

High Bridge with it’s curious telegraph pole in the middle is in Grub Street Cutting.....
....as is Double Culvert Bridge, carrying a footpath and a stream.

Out of the cutting the popular moorings at The Anchor Inn are next. In the summer it’s difficult to find a spot here.

Anchor Inn

There’s a long line of linear moorings between here and Shebdon, keeping boat speed down to tickover. But it gave me a chance to admire the fantastic skies as heavy clouds blew over.

Wow!

Although it looked as though someone was getting a dousing we almost got away with it. Just a few minutes spattering of hail.

Beady eye….

Shebdon Embankment is another huge earthwork, around the same length as Shelmore but not quite as high.

Shebdon Embankment

At the end of the embankment is the Knighton Creamery. Originally built produce chocolate crumb, a basic ingredient of milk chocolate, it was ideally placed to take advantage of the dairy farms in the area and the canal for transport of the product to Cadbury’s at Bournville. Now operated by Premier Foods it still produces dried milk based products, including Drinking Chocolate and custard powder. In fact I’m sure I detected a faint aroma of chocolate in the air as we passed by….

Knighton Creamery
There’s usually one or two historic boats under the preserved loading canopy.

We pulled in a little further on, just past Black Flats Bridge. We had to shuffle about a bit to find a deep enough spot to get in.

Moored near Bridge 47

We were joined later by both Moore2Life and Rock’n’Roll. While I’d got the chain saw out I sliced up the logs I’d acquired near Gnosall a few days ago, then split up a fair amount ready for the stove. I was ready for a sit down with a mug of tea and one of Ann’s mince pies when we were joined by the Rockers and the Lifers at around 3 o’clock. Then Meg got a quick walk as it got dark so I’m going to have to stack the cut logs back onto the roof tomorrow. That’s if no-one purloins them in the night….
It’s handy that both Rock’n’Roll and Moore2Life have diesel fired heating. Any wood we spot while cruising together is all mine!

Locks 0, miles 5

Norbury again

2011-12-15T18:17:00.001Z

We had an uneventful trip back to Norbury today. There was rain in the early hours, and more forecast for later, so after a trip to the shops we got away around 10:30.

Converted warehouse near Gnosall Bridge

It was a lovely day in the sunshine, warmer than yesterday, but you noticed the difference when the sun went in.

Fine day, but grey clouds ahead.

A bright splash of gorse.

We filled and emptied the tanks at the junction, then motored through the bridge and moored just beyond, behind NB Moore2Life.

We met up with the rest of the convoy, then I sat down to lunch, a large chunk of very tasty pork pie from the butcher’s in Gnosall.

Yummy, pie……

Locks 0, miles 2½

Mail run….

2011-12-14T18:57:00.001Z

First off - Happy Birthday Carol!

Back to Gnosall today, to collect the rest of the mail waiting for us at the Post Office.
It was another cold night, frozen puddles again on the towpath but no ice on the canal. Pushing my luck now, aren’t I! We left NBs Rock’n’Roll and Moore2Life at Norbury we’ll catch up with them on the way back.

Leaving Norbury on a fine, sunny morning
Heading onto the Shelmore Embankment, sun in the eyes.

Towards lunchtime the sky got a bit hazier, so at least I could see where we were going!
It was very pleasant on the embankments, but by heck it was cold in the cuttings where the sun didn’t penetrate.

Back into the sunshine at Castle Cutting

The 48 hour moorings at Gnosall seem to be occupied by the same boats as when we left….

We had another 1½ miles to go before we could turn around at High Onn. We used to have the same problem when we (frequently) got lost towing a caravan…

Winding at High Onn Wharf
We’ve now got the sun behind us, but of course it’s turned dull now. We retraced our route, tried unsuccessfully to get a decent picture of the resident kingfisher in Cowley Cutting, and moored just above Boat Inn Bridge.

Sunshine and shadows in Castle Cutting.

Could this be the remains of a Norman Motte and Bailey? The cutting must have been named for something….

Back at Gnosall. We moored this side of the bridge this time, the towpath is cleaner.

I did my good deed for the day on the way up to the Post Office. A taxi driver was having trouble with his car, it wouldn’t start after he left it with the lights on. So we pushed it back up a shallow slope and bump started it on the way down. In return he saved me 10 minutes walk by dropping me in the village. Pity he wasn’t still around when I came out of the Co-op with a rucksack full of provisions….

Looking at the map it would have been quicker to walk to the P.O. from Norbury. The 6½ mile round trip would have taken me about 2½ hours, and it would certainly have been warmer. But I’d still have had to run the engine to charge the batteries, so we may as well cruise.

Locks 0, miles 7

Just rambling….

2011-12-13T17:23:00.001Z

I mentioned yesterday, under a poor photograph of High Bridge, that I sometimes get the settings on the camera wrong. It’s to do with the automatic focus more than anything else; it has a “multi auto focus” which picks up several focus points, or a fixed, central focus point. Unfortunately the single point setting is not available on “Smart Auto” and the camera sometimes selects a different focus point than I would!

So today I decided to try various scenes at different settings to see which works best for me. I discovered that manually set to Landscape, with multi auto focus, works well on scenes with a lot of detail…..

Norbury Wharf this morning
But tends to overexpose high contrast scenes……

High bridge this afternoon
At least it’s in focus!

Better results in the same situation are obtained using Smart Auto.

Same picture, camera set at Smart Auto

Finally a long distance shot, set on Landscape, single point of focus with zoom….

The Wrekin, all of 13 miles away!
I expected the foreground to be out of focus, especially as you can see the “Wrekin Beacon” on the top, but it ain’t.

So there you have it, or not as the case may be. Different settings for different conditions. Maybe I‘ll just leave the thing on Smart Auto after all….

About The Wrekin… it stands in splendid isolation above the Shropshire plain just the other side of Telford. Rising to 1335 feet it’s the highest point in the county.
Legend has it that a Welsh giant by the name of Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Mynyddmawr (we’ll just call him Gwen) had had a disagreement with the burghers of Shrewsbury. By way of getting his own back he decided to dam the River Severn and flood the town. So Gwen set off with a giant-sized shovelful of earth intending to do just that, but met a cobbler on the road. The cobbler, carrying a large sack of worn-out shoes, got talking to Gwen, and discovered what the disgruntled giant’s intentions were. “It’s a long way yet, you know”, said the cobbler, “look how many pairs of shoes I’ve worn out coming this far!” Gwen decided that maybe it wasn’t worth the effort after all, and dumped his shovelful where he was. It’s since been known as The Wrekin.

We put the Christmas decorations up this afternoon, with a CD of carols on to get us in the mood. Bah, Humbug!

We’ll be toddling back to Gnosall tomorrow, the mail should be waiting for us by now. We’ll catch up with NBs Rock’n’Roll and Moore2Life later in the week.

It’s been cold, but we’ve seen no ice on the water yet, unlike some of the other boating bloggers. Famous Last Words!

Locks 0, miles 0

Going nowhere fast… or slow!

2011-12-12T18:35:00.001Z

We’ve had a steady few days since I last posted. On Friday we all took a bus into Stafford, to get a few last minute Christmas gifts and to have a look around.

St Mary’s, Stafford
It was a bright but cold day, so Mags and I wimped out and took a taxi back to Gnossal rather than wait for the bus when we’d got what we wanted.

Saturday we just chilled, that being an accurate description of Friday night/Saturday morning. Meg and I had a fine walk over the frosty fields then returned via the canal towpath.

Quarry Lane leads to…..
…..a quarry at the top of Cowley Tunnel.
I guess that’s where a lot of the stone for the bridges in the village came from.

Frosty fields just starting to return to green as the sun clears the trees…

Meg loves rolling in the frost… or snow… or wet grass… In fact she just loves rolling!
Luckily for both of us she generally avoids the cow pats!

Back onto the towpath, under Bridge 32, the way the builders laid the stone blocks to compensate for the bridge being askew over the canal always fascinates me…

Bridge 32

We followed the long cutting to Cowley Tunnel, and I managed to get some shots inside.

Looking north at where the stone lining gives way to rough-cut rock

Faults in the rock structure led to the tunnel being shorter than intended.
Out in daylight, straight cut walls to the cutting….

….And more evidence of quarrying on the offside.
A splash of colour near Boat Inn Bridge

Yesterday I dipped the water tank in the morning and found we were well down, so we moved from our spot near the Boat Inn, filled the tank then pulled in again just before the disused railway bridge. Then we had Chas and Ann round for lunch, and very convivial it was too. Roast beef and Yorkshires, with apple crumble to follow. Thanks Mags! George and Carol missed out; they’d gone to son Mark’s for the day.

Today dawned bright and sunny after another sharp frost, but grey clouds rolled in soon after we set off for Norbury Junction, and we even had a short shower.

Leaving Gnosall, under the railway bridge.

Here come those clouds…

Just before Norbury the canal passes over Shelmore Embankment, just over a mile in length and up to 60 feet high.

Onto Shelmore Embankment.
The stop gate protects the navigation in case of a breach. There’s one at either end of the embankment.

This structure and others like it enabled the canal to maintain a straight and level course, improving traffic speed considerably over the old contour canal. An incredible achievement, they were also a big problem as the sides often slipped during construction. Shelmore was the last to be completed and indeed the final stretch of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. It took 5½ years to build.

Cruising over Shelmore

At the other end of the embankment is Norbury Junction, very busy with boats at any time of the year.

Norbury Junction and Norbury Wharf

We pulled in to empty the loos and dispose of the rubbish, then waited while another boat was filling with diesel on the wharf. Meanwhile NB Rock’n’Roll came past and pulled across to have the loo tank pumped out, so we had to wait for them to get out of the way as well before we could fill the fuel tank. At 77.9p per litre it’s worth waiting, though.

Rock’n’Roll being depooped.

Early in the afternoon the clouds mostly cleared, so it’s been quite pleasant. A bit of a breeze has blown up now, though.

We’d turned around in the basin before filling with diesel and reversing to moor just past Norbury Bridge. We’ve got to go back to Gnosall to pick up some more mail from the Post Office, but that won’t be till Wednesday.

We took the pooches for a circular walk, getting back at around 4 o’clock before it got dark.

Ann, George and Carol, me, two Mollys and Meg set off towards Manor Farm.
Hi-ho, Hi-ho.

The moated platform which used to support the 14c Norbury Manor
The Manor was demolished in the 19c.

We rejoined the canal at High Bridge, the much photographed structure with a telegraph pole on web in the middle.

High Bridge
Sorry, slightly out of focus. Every so often I get the settings wrong on the new camera...

Locks 0, miles 2¼

I’m glad we’re not in Scotland….

2011-12-08T18:44:00.001Z

It’s blowy down here, but they’ve got 100 mph gales up there! Certainly not boating weather.
It was difficult enough getting unstuck this morning, the wind was almost broadside on from the other side of the canal.

George gets going…

Chas had already gone, we followed on a few minutes later. There was no point travelling in convoy, when we got to Gnosall the plan was to fill with water before mooring, so we’d only be queuing for the tap.

NB Pheasey has an unusual but elegant schooner stern
High Onn Wharf is just the other side of High Onn Bridge. Private moorings and a winding hole occupy what must have been a busy little dock, judging by the large warehouse.

High Onn
We’re going sideways again….

The towpath swaps sides over Turnover Bridge No 26.

Bridge 26
These bridges were designed so that horse drawn boats didn’t have to drop the tow line when swapping sides. The horse would have followed the towpath under the bridge on the left, then up the ramp, over the bridge and back down on the right.

And the grammar still hasn’t been corrected…

We had another sideways moment just before Castle Cutting….
….Then had a welcome respite in the cutting itself.

Cowley Tunnel sits just before Gnosall. At only 81 yards long it it’s not worth putting the light on for. It was supposed to be a lot longer, but the loose nature of the rock wouldn’t support the roof safely. So now there’s a long cutting on the approach from the south.

Cowley Cutting

Ferns and mosses adorn the damp cutting walls

The southern portal is a conventional brick arch, but the northern end is rock cut and unlined. The rock must have been more solid here!

North portal, Cowley Tunnel

Coming out of the tunnel George got hold of me on the phone. The moorings beyond the water point were full, so M2L and R’n’R were filling up then reversing to moor this side of Gnosall Bridge. I didn’t want to have to back up too far in the wind, so we pulled in just past Boat Inn Bridge.
We’ll pick up water on the way out of the village, maybe Sunday. Or else leave it till we get to Norbury. It’s only 2½ miles further on.

Locks 0, miles 3

Short term plans…..

2011-12-07T16:56:00.001Z

Well, we’re all together again, tied up at Little Onn Bridge. We were going to move on yesterday, but a chance encounter with a couple of felled trees took priority.

NB Rock’n’Roll caught us up on Monday afternoon after receiving their Tesco order at Wheaton Aston. Then yesterday NB Moore2Life arrived, now fully crewed with Ann back from seeing the family. Both Chas and Molly were pleased to see her.

Anyway, we were going to head off yesterday, alone, to be at Market Drayton for the weekend market. But when I was returning after a walk with Meg I spotted these trees about 400 yards behind us, up on the embankment. Never one to pass up on opportunity for free fuel, I walked back with my old bushman saw and cut several sizeable logs. These I left above the towpath, then came back and reversed the boat to pick them up, George giving me a hand to lift the heavy lengths onto the roof.

I was part way through slicing them into rounds with the chainsaw when M2L arrived, so I broke for lunch then finished off afterwards.

It was well worth the effort, at this point I’d already split a load to store in the cratch. This lot was destined for storage on the roof.

By the time I’d got finished it wasn’t worth going anywhere, and anyway we’d an invite for drinkies with Chas and Ann. So, over a glass or two, we decided that we’d hang around this section of the Shroppie till after Christmas, then head north and onto the Llangollen Canal. So we’ll be mooching up and down, maybe up to Nantwich and back, waiting for the icy weather to descend on us. It looks like we’re going to get a taster this coming weekend. Tomorrow we’re going all the way to Gnosall (2 miles!), then into Stafford by bus on Friday. After that we’ll see what happens…

With no particular hurry to get anywhere I took the opportunity to get my head down in the engine ‘ole today, giving the “donk” a fresh dose of oil, new filters, and even changed the oil in the gearbox.

Nice pink “red” diesel out of the fuel filter.
No sign of the dreaded “Diesel Bug”. I’ve used an additive called Fuel Set since we set out on our journeys, and, touch wood, we’ve kept out of trouble so far.
I adjusted the stern gland, oiled and greased all the linkages, checked the alternator belts for wear and correct tension and repaired a wobbly support under the back step. A good job done. I shouldn’t have to do any more than basic checks now until the next oil change in March.

Locks 0, miles 0

Cuttings, embankments and amiable anglers.

2011-12-04T18:56:00.001Z

By the first half of the 19c most of the long distance water routes had been established. Construction was still progressing, but this was mainly confined to arms and branches linking to the main routes, rather than extensive new projects. Investment had, to a degree, dried up as the good financial returns from the original canal schemes started to dwindle, and entrepreneurs started to look elsewhere for ways of making money. There was a new-fangled transport system slowly appearing, the revolutionary railway.

Early in the century several collieries were using steam trains locally, and it was only a matter of time before someone had the bright idea of long distance haulage by rail. George Stephenson built Locomotion No1 to run on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and it was an immediate success.

Picture courtesy Wikimedia Commons

On it’s inaugural run on 27th September 1825, it pulled 33 wagons carrying a mixed load of coal, flour and passengers the 26 miles at up to 12 mph. The writing was on the wall; the death knell had sounded for commercial waterborne freight. By 1850 6000 miles of track had been laid in England, often linking destinations in direct competition to the established canal routes. The boats couldn’t compete and for many canals carrying swiftly declined. There were some co-operative enterprises, railway companies bought up some canal routes to operate them in tandem with rail. And some routes were never going to be replaced by railways.

Some large canal projects were still in the future, notably the Manchester Ship Canal and the South Yorkshire Navigations, but for the narrow canals that enabled the Industrial Revolution to get started the end was in sight.

There were, however, some people who could still see a future in canal carrying, and a proposal was made to build a new waterway to link up Birmingham with the north. From the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to the old Chester Canal at Nantwich, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal would use the latest construction techniques to build a straight, fast water route for goods to and from Birmingham and the north. Out was the winding contour canal like the Staffs and Worcs, in was a straight route, with embankments and cuttings, and the necessary locks grouped together in flights as far as was practical to speed up traffic. An act to build the canal was passed in 1825, and construction finally finished in 1834.
It could have been a railway, but support for the, at the time, untried transport system was reluctant. The investors must have been crying in their beer with hindsight, but without that decision we would have been deprived of a great canal network, The Shropshire Union Canal.

Our little convoy has broken up for a few days. Chas took Moore2Life on almost to Wheaton Aston yesterday afternoon, leaving us and NB Rock’n’Roll at Brewood. We moved on today, leaving George and Carol to meet son Mark.

It was another bright start which rapidly went downhill, blue skies turned white then grey, and by 3 o’clock it was chucking it down. But we were tied up by then.

Just through the first bridge we encountered a fishing match, the first of three today. Often the anglers resent the intrusion of boats, but they were friendly and chatty.

Fishing match near Brewood
There was almost of mile of them, from Bridge 15 right up to Stretton Aqueduct.

Stretton Aqueduct over the A5

That way is Gailey wharf, all of 3 miles away. It’s quicker by road….
There were some more fishermen lurking in Lapley Cutting, but these were generally pleasant too.

Lapley Cutting

This chap wasn’t very communicative, but at least he didn’t clear off like most of his family are wont to do!

We arrived at the top of Wheaton Aston Lock, giving Chas a toot on the horn as we came past. He wanted to go down the lock, so we sent him down first….

M2L in Wheaton Aston Lock
….Then we followed.

We both pulled onto the services, then, tanks topped up and emptied as required, we pushed on, leaving Chas to moor opposite Turners Garage. Ann is due back tomorrow afternoon, and she’ll meet him here.

We gave NB Go For It a shout as we came past. Another blogger, we’ve been seeing them a lot recently as they’re heading the same way as us.

NB Go For It

Santa comes early to Wheaton Aston…..

Two miles on, across one of the high straight embankments, we slowed down for yet another batch of anglers in Rye Hill Cutting, then pulled in just before Little Onn Bridge. We’ll stay here for a couple of days, to reassemble the convoy.

High embankment…..
….Long straight

Locks 1, miles 5

A good walk, short cruise, and visitors.

2011-12-03T17:48:00.001Z

It’s been a most enjoyable day today. It’s been fine and sunny, fairly mild, with just a bit of wind. Meg and I set off this morning soon after 8 o’clock to walk the circuit to Giffard’s Cross and back. At around 3 miles, it’s a pleasant hour or so (depending on how fast you walk!). Back to Bridge 7, along the edges of 2 fields to pick up the lane, turn right and follow it all the way to the car park on The Avenue. Then make a short detour to the left to see Giffard’s Cross and Chillington Hall in the distance, before following The Avenue back to the canal. The Avenue carries on to the Brewood/Coven road, but at the ornate Avenue Bridge you can drop back down onto the canal towpath and return, or stay above but parallel to the canal till Bridge 9, joining the towpath there.

Giffard’s Cross Chillington Hall
The Avenue to the Hall is still usable, though a little more overgrown.

Walking along The Avenue

Avenue Bridge, with it’s ornate balustrade, crosses the canal

Winter wheat in the field above the canal
The Avenue continues through the belt of trees.

Back to the mooring between Bridges 7 and 8.
Meg is off to meet George and Molly.

Chillington Hall is the family seat of the Giffard family, and has been since the 12th Century, although the present house dates to the 18th.
The family crest incorporates a panther and an archer and the motto “Prenez haleine, tirez fort” - “Take breath, pull strong”. This refers to Sir John Giffard, who in 15—something, shot a panther which had escaped from his menagerie and was about to attack a mother and child. Giffard’s Cross marks the spot where the beast died.
Sir John was very much a “King’s Man” supporting Henry VIII through most of his reign. He died in 1556 at the ripe old age of 90!

We toddled off soon after 10:00, tail end charlie again. Heading into Brewood we passed under Avenue Bridge this time.

Avenue Bridge again

St Mary the Virgin and St. Chad, Brewood rises above the village.

Brewood village is a handy spot to stop, with a well stocked Co-op for shopping. But from a boater’s point of view it’s let down by a soggy towpath. In a cutting overhung by trees it’d be hard pressed to be anything else, but it’s a shame nonetheless. TV and phone signals are pretty well none existent here as well.

But we weren’t intending to stay overnight, we were here to meet Lesley and Joe, currently of NB Caxton, soon to be of NB Yarwood. They’d come up from Stourport by road to Penkridge, and stopped to say hello on the way back.

Lesley, Joe, George and Carol
I don’t know what Mags has just said, but it seems to have surprised Lesley!

We had a joint effort for lunch, Mags had made a pan of soup, Carol provided the hot bread rolls and Lesley brought doughnuts for pudding. Very good it was, too.
They left us to travel back to Stourport, and we headed out of Brewood, to moor just a little further along. It’s out of the cutting here, so we’ve a drier towpath and a lot more light.

Lesley and Joe.
A bit of an unfortunate backdrop!
Good to see you both, hope everything goes well for the launch of NB Yarwood.

Past countrywide Cruisers, Brewood.

Chas hasn’t been with us today, he decided to carry on to Wheaton Aston. Ann is due back from her family visit down south on Monday, and I think Chas wanted to make sure he’d got a mooring to meet her there. We'll catch up with him in the next couple of days.

Locks 0, miles 2¼

Round the corner….

2011-12-02T19:15:00.001Z

There were several empty bottles to go in the rubbish this morning. With all the talking we’ve done this last couple of nights we had to keep the vocal cords lubricated, didn’t we.
After a day spent tied up (for us, anyway) we decided to head off today, down to Autherley Junction then back up the Shropshire Union a short way. It had been a good frost overnight, giving us a bright and sunny morning.

Gailey Roundhouse at sun-up.
RnR, M2L and Seyella moored up. Meg is waited for Molly to come out to play.

A smoky chimney is always a welcome sight on a frosty morning.

By the time we’d got all three boats up Gailey Lock, then watered up, it was close to 11:00. Unfortunately the day’s bright start didn’t fulfil it’s promise, high cloud just leaving a watery ghost of a sun visible, with no heat in it.

Tail end Charlie up Gailey Lock

Lots of “Yellow Perils” (Viking Afloat hire boats) laid up at Gailey Wharf

As an early contour canal the canal winds it way around the countryside, staying at the same height. Between Gailey and Calf Heath it describes most of a figure “S”, before finally making it’s mind up to head south.

Hatherton Marina

The Hatherton Branch Canal heads off eastward alongside the marina. Once a link to the northern BCN at the Cannock Extension Canal, the navigation ends at the second lock, now converted to a dry dock.
The branch was built in 1841 to Churchbridge, primarily to carry coal. When the Cannock Extension Canal was completed in 1860 it included a link down 13 locks to connect to the end of the branch.
The Hatherton Branch and Lichfield Canals were both abandoned in the 1950’s and parts of both have been lost to road building and development.
There is a proposal to re-open the branch, but it involves a diversion at the far end as the Churchbridge locks have been destroyed by open-cast mining. If achieved this would provide another route up onto the Birmingham plateau, and if the associated Lichfield Canal restoration also went ahead it would also give access to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford. A variety of cruising rings would become available, and the northern BCN would become busier.
The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust (a bit of a mouthful, that) is spearheading the project.

Hatherton Branch Junction

Heading fairly reliably south now, the canal passes through or past several small settlements, often with wharves.

Slade Heath Wharf

As if!

Passing under the M54 at Coven Heath pretty well marks the boundary from the mainly rural section to the suburban sprawl of Wolverhampton. At Ford Houses the canal engineers encountered a ridge of hard stone, difficult to cut through, so they adopted the solution of only removing the minimum necessary.

The narrows at Ford Houses. M2L is visible in the distance About half a mile long, this single width section must have been a major bottleneck in commercial days. There are a couple of passing places, but they wouldn’t have accommodated a working pair.

The narrows end at Marsh Lane Bridge, then there’s around 15 minutes of wide canal before reaching Autherley Junction.

Autherley Junction

We had a change around in cruising order here. George had tied Carol up(!!) and gone ahead to work Chas through the shallow stop lock, so we overtook RnR as well.

NB Rock’n’Roll following us through Autherley Stop Lock
We’re now heading roughly north, on the Shropshire Union. Passing the Woverhampton Boat Club moorings and Pendeford Bridge the canal moves back out into the countryside.

Wolverhampton Boat Club. No sign of the Guard Goose today….

Pendeford Bridge and the stop gates just above.
The gates are designed to shut in the event of a breach on the Staffs and Worcester. Looking at the state of them, though, I’m not sure they’d be that effective. There’s 8 miles of canal to the next lock at Wheaton Aston. That’s a lot of water to lose!

The Shroppie is wide and deep this far south, apart from where the navvies came across that rock outcropping that confounded the S&W at Ford Houses. Even though construction techniques had improved considerably in the intervening 60-odd years, the solution was still the same!

Narrows near Bridge 5, only dig out what you need to!

Most of the canal looks like this, though.

We ducked under the M54 for the second time today, and moored up on the SUCS moorings between Bridges 7 and 8.

NB Moore2Life moored up…

…..and NB Rock’n’Roll arriving

We all piled on board Seyella for a cup of tea and a mince pie, and to defrost after what seems to have been a long, cold cruise. Just a short hop tomorrow into Brewood, hopefully to meet Lesley and Joe off NB Caxton who are driving up from Stourport.

Locks 2, miles 12

Together again.

2011-11-30T16:44:00.001Z

Well, almost. Ann has had to go “dahn sarf” for a few days, leaving Molly and Chas to look after M2L. But the rest of the gang who were here at Gailey last year through the ice and snow are here again.

I had a mooch around the market at Penkridge this morning, picking up a few bits and pieces, then, after a bite to eat, we set off heading for Gailey.

Filance Lock was just around the corner, then there was around a mile before we got to Otherton Lock. We caught up with another boat here, and it was here as well that we met George, Carol, Chas and the 2 Mollys, who’d walked down to meet us.

George and Carol opening the lock gate, Chas on the right, M2L Molly chasing froth.
I’d been instructed to stay on board, so had an unusual view of the inside of a lock chamber…..

Chas joined me on Seyella, Mags retired inside out of the wind and George and Carol walked to Rodbaston Lock. After this one we had a swap about, Carol took the tiller and Chas and I took the towpath.

“It’s 35 years since I steered someone else’s boat”

The girls aboard as we head away from Brick Kiln Lock

Gailey in the distance

We pulled up behind Moore2Life and Rock’n’Roll just below the lock. This evening is a get together with George and Carol, and Chas to catch up with what we’ve all been doing. The odd glass may also be consumed….

It’s been a fine, sunny day (that’s why some of the photos are over-exposed) and the wind has been lighter than yesterday. It’s also been a quicker, quieter and less stressful trip than the last time we came this way…

15th December 2010

Locks 5, miles 3½

Windswept but dry.

2011-11-29T15:19:00.001Z

That’s how we were when we arrived at Penkridge this lunchtime. The rain has since turned up as expected, but I’ve been up and done the shopping, so I’ve just got Meg to walk in a bit. Not that she’ll want to go far, she’s feeling a bit sorry for herself. Somehow she’s snagged her dew claw in her left fore, so it’s pretty tender. She’s done it before and it’s healed cleanly, but we’ll keep an eye on it for a few days.

We got away at 09:30 this morning, so we could get here in the dry. Although windy it wasn’t too much of a problem, just the odd exposed stretch being “challenging”.

Acton Trussell was passed on the left hand side, an old village noted in The Doomsday Book but now lost under new housing. It’s handy for commuters either north or south, with the M6 only a short distance away.

Acton Trussell, 20c housing…...
….and 13c St James’ church.

Shutt Hill Lock appears after the village, the first of 4 for us today.

Shutt Hill Lock
Now crossing on the concrete bridge below the lock, the road from Acton Trussell to Penkridge originally went over just behind the lock chamber. The gate marks where the road ran, and you can see the tarmac behind it.

Park Gate Lock comes next, with Midland Chandlers in a handy spot alongside. The lock is so called for the lane running into Teddesley Park.

Setting up for a quiet morning’s fishing
Although maybe not. We were just going under the M6 bridge when I took the picture…. Maybe he’s ~~audialy challenged~~ deaf.

It was a bit breezy above Longford Lock….

Choppy canal.
but then got calmer as we entered Penkridge.

Up Penkridge lock and we pulled onto the services for the usual emptying and filling, then moored up on the 48 hour VM a little further on, with a sense of deja-vous.

Moored in Penkridge today.

Moored in Penkridge 29th November 2010.

Notice the difference? Of course. We’re using a shorter aerial mast…

For whom it may concern – Mags has made a ginger cake today. It smells yummy.

Locks 4, miles 4½

Two canals, three rivers

2011-11-28T19:49:00.001Z

We didn’t quite get a frost last night, although the temperature dropped to 0.3° We woke to a cold grey morning, but at least the wind was still blowing elsewhere.
Away at 10:00 we had around 40 minutes to cruise to Colwich Lock, but I had to pull over to liberate some logs against the towpath. A tree had blown down recently and been cut up where it lay. I wasn’t the first to take advantage of this bounty, all the easily portable bits had gone, leaving some large or long logs. Still, with a bit of determination (and a lot of grunting!) I got some good bits aboard.

Just above the lock we had to arbitrate between 2 swans. The older of the pair was doing it’s level best to drown the other, holding it’s head under water and standing on it’s back. I imagine it was a territorial dispute.
But whatever the reason we couldn’t just let it happen. So as we got alongside the pair I gave several sharp blasts on the horn, which startled the aggressor. Then I could sneak the boat between combatants, allowing the fledgling to climb onto the bank.
I kept the older bird moving forward, getting behind him if he tried to turn back, and managed to herd him through the next bridge a ¼ mile away.

Swanherding
It probably won’t keep them apart indefinitely, but at least the younger one had a chance to get his breath back!

Little Haywood village is where we left the swan, and it was also home to JRR Tolkien’s wife, Edith. During his service at the front in WW I he contracted Trench Fever and returned to England to recuperate. He stayed here with Edith in a cottage on the Teddesley Park Estate. He was never well enough to return to the fighting, but instead spent the remainder of the war in various postings in England. Tolkien, in case you’re from Mars, wrote The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. These are the most well known of his work, but he also wrote several children’s short stories and essays on other authors work. He retired from his final post of Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford in 1959, and died in 1973.

Haywood Lock was our next landmark, followed by a left turn at the junction.

In Haywood Lock, logs on the roof…..
….and on the counter
I couldn’t lift this one but I wasn’t going to leave it behind!

Haywood Junction, we turned left onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

It’s definitely out of season now, all of the Anglo Welsh hire fleet seem to be home.

Green Machine

Tixall wide is a broad section of the canal, reputedly dug to make the canal appear more riverlike to a local landowner. It’s a popular spot for mooring, and even now there were several boats taking advantage of this pleasant spot.

Tixall Wide

Sitting on the rising ground to the north is Tixall Gatehouse, all that remains of the Tixall Estate. The hall itself was demolished in 1929.

Tixall Gatehouse

Chas on NB Moore2Life commented that it’s very similar to Swarkestone Pavilion (right). The gatehouse was built around 1580, the pavilion in 1632. Both were built in the Jacobean style. It’s likely that the Harpurs of Swarkestone would have visited Tixall at some point, as both were important landowners. Maybe the gatehouse’s design influenced the Harpurs when they had the pavilion built.
Incidentally, The Aston’s of Tixall were related to the Levetts of Wychnor Park, who I mentioned a few days ago.

The very pretty Tixall Lock is a mile or so beyond the wide, then the canal does a dogleg as it crosses an aqueduct over the River Sow.

River Sow Aqueduct

The electrified West Coast Main Line can be seen across the field, just before it ducks into the tunnel under the end of the ridge.

The canal does a loop around the high ground of Baswich and Weeping Cross, then heads south, leaving Stafford to the west. We’re now following the third of the river valleys we’ve used today. We followed The Trent to Great Haywood, then crossed it and followed The Sow till we started to head south, and now we’re following the River Penk.

Near Baswich is a closed off junction where a short branch dropped from the canal to the River Sow. The river used to be navigable from here up into Stafford, but trade fell early in the 20c and the branch to the river became derelict in the ‘20s. The line of the branch has been infilled but is still visible. The Stafford Riverway Link aims to reinstate this connection, enabling boats to navigate into the town.

Site of the Stafford Branch to the River Sow.
The remains of the towpath bridge can be seen at either end of the weir.

The day started to get colder as the wind got up, but at least we had a bit of weak sun, too.

Our last lock of the day was at Deptmore, and was the deepest so far.

Deptmore Lock, 10’3” deep.

We pulled in for the night just around the corner you can see ahead, and I set to slicing the wood up into rounds ready for splitting. I was just clearing up when these 2 chaps came paddling along…..

Not a sight you see every November…..
They are in training for a Paddle Board competition on the Dutch canals. I think I’d stick to UK canals, the boats you’re likely to meet will be smaller!

Locks 4, miles 8½