Back down two locks and our first lambs of the season.

It’s been another fine day, good sunny spells but a cool breeze. No rain, that’s good. I got back from my morning run looking forward to a good hot shower, only to find that the water heater had failed to start up. Bugger. So I started up the engine and finished up with a luke-warm shower 20 minutes later.
I checked the diagnostic readout on the control panel and it indicated a dosing pump fault, and when I tried to start it up again there was no characteristic thonk-thonk-thonk as the pump primed the burner.

I do have a spare Eberspacher unit, an older D4W that was a non-runner that came out of Sue and Vic’s No Problem before it was sold. It was replaced by a Webasto, and I was offered the old one for parts. The pumps in both units are the same so I was prepared to swap them out in the hope that it would solve the problem. But before I started dismantling plumbing, fuel lines, exhaust and electrical connections I thought I try it again. And, you’ve guessed it, it ran up sweet as a nut and kept going till it switched off on the timer an hour later.

I subscribe to the policy that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So it’ll stay in if it returns to it’s normal reliable self.

We were on the move at around half-ten, heading to New Marton Locks.

Looking back towards Wales across St. Martins Moor.

We topped up the water tank above the New Marton Top Lock, then dropped down the two locks separated by about a quarter of a mile.

A little arched bridge crosses the bywash at the top lock

It took a while to empty the top lock, only one bottom paddle was in service and there was almost as much water coming in the top as going out the bottom! 

When we got to the bottom lock that pile of logs was still there, over the bywash. I’d told myself that we don’t need any more, it’s Spring, we’ve plenty of solid fuel to see us through, blardy-blardy-blah. But when push came to shove I just couldn’t resist.

I didn’t take much, just a token really to appease the avaricious monster lurking in the background, and there’s still plenty for next year…




We often stop below the locks, it’s open here and the grass towpath is reasonably dry, but the weather was still good so we carried on, finally mooring just past Maestermyn on the moorings after Bridge 4W.

I’d have missed them, but Mags was keeping me company and spotted our first lambs of the new year through the towpath hedge.
They look a few days old.

Maestermyn Cruisers hire base and the Narrow Boat Inn
Harrison Ford and his wife Calista Flockhart hired a boat from here a few years ago.

Fine open mooring near Bridge 4W. The solar panels went up as soon as we arrived.

Rain tomorrow will keep us here, I guess. We’ve plenty of time, the next port of call is Ellesmere for the weekend.

Locks 2, miles 5½