A short cruise towards Baddiley locks

Thursday 30^th May; Swanley Bridge marina to bridge 12/13 below Baddiley flight

We awoke to rain but by the time I was leaving to drive to Northwich it had almost stopped.  Sadly it wasn’t feasible to take Jessie so Dave stayed behind with her.  It was a pleasant drive towards Northwich – rather than sending me by the main A road, the satnav sent me along the B road past Venetian marina and through Church Minshull.  I drove round Middlewich, and saw signposts to various other canal-related places such as Hassal Green, Wheelock, Croxton and Rudheath.  It was lovely meeting up with my sisters and cousins - as we always say at funerals it’s such a shame that one person couldn’t be with us. 

Meanwhile, Dave had finished fitting the floor to the cupboard above the cooker and given the dog two good walks.  As I arrived back at the boat soon after 3, he was using some magic stuff on the port side of the boat - T-cut Colourfast, a milder version of standard T-cut for black paint, apparently if you use it on light-coloured paint it stains!   We left the marina just after 4 in sunshine and a stiff breeze, turning right towards Llangollen.  A boat had passed the marina just as we left, so Swanley bottom lock was set in our favour.  It was a slow lock though, as one top paddle was chained off and the offside bottom paddle gear was so stiff that the previous crew hadn’t realised that they hadn’t fully lowered it.  In fact it was so stiff it took me two goes to sort it out.

In the bottom Swanley Lock

The bywashes were very vigorous, because of the flow on this canal.  Water is taken from the river Dee at Llangollen and flows down the whole length of the canal, being collected in the reservoir at Hurleston Junction for Cheshire water supply, and the rest keeps the Shroppie topped up.  We saw a recently hatched little family, maybe her second brood this year.

Little fluffy snacks for pike

We didn’t go much further – we moored between bridges 12 and 13, ready for Baddiley locks tomorrow, when we hope the wind will have dropped a bit.

Two Chas Hardern hire boats passed at about 8 o’clock.  They must be on a tight schedule to be travelling so late.  

2 miles, 2 locks

Back again

Wednesday 29^th May; in the marina

Apart from a tedious crawl at the M5/M6 junction we had a straightforward run up to Swanley Bridge and had unloaded the car and got the kettle on by 2.30.  But we’re not cruising today – sadly we have needed to come up early for my cousin’s funeral tomorrow in Northwich.  It’s a long journey, especially for the poor dog, though we do get to visit the Gloucester services which has great dog-walking areas.

But she needed a proper walk too, so Dave took her out this afternoon.  What did I do?  Well, first I walked over the footbridge to the office for a card to open the gate at the vehicle entrance – if you don’t have one you have to buzz for someone to open the gate.  There is a windsock at the marina entrance to show the wind strength.

A bit breezy today

And then I had another job to do.  We have been having trouble with our bed.  The mattress is extremely comfortable and we love it – but it is also deeper than a typical mattress and our fitted sheets will not stay put!  Every two or three mornings the corner of the sheet by Dave’s pillow has come adrift and we have to pull the entire mattress out to put it back, as it is a very tight fit between the various bulkheads.  This is my first try at a solution; at each corner of the mattress I have stitched an elastic loop, which is hooked over a button sewn to the sheet.

Will this work?

As I sewed the last button it occurred to me that tapes attached to the sheet and tied through the loop might be more secure.  We’ll see how it goes.  But for now, we have had a very busy couple of weeks, with a darling new grand-daughter to be visited as well as boring old medical appointments and other commitments, so it is a relief to be sitting in the dinette now with a glass of wine and a moussaka in our tummies.

Turning onto the Llangollen to complete our trip

Wednesday 2^nd and Thursday 3^rd May; Nantwich to Swanley Bridge marina

We were up in good time for Dave to leave for Nantwich station for the journey back to Droitwich to fetch the car.  At 8.30 he set off – it’s a tidy walk to the station.  A bit later on Jess and I walked the half-mile to the footbridge that gives access to the facilities block near Nantwich basin to dispose of rubbish.

Some of the wooden sculptures that have been in place along the towpath for years are beginning to show their age, but the horse is still in pretty good nick.  We strolled back towards the aqueduct in sunshine, and the weather was getting increasingly warm for a change.  Lovely!

Get a move on Mum

I got on with some tidying and called Swanley Bridge marina to confirm our booking for the next few weeks.  Jess needed another walk after lunch, so we went a bit further than this morning, but not by much as I am still recovering from that chest infection.  By now it was lovely and warm and the wind had dropped.  I was forced to ditch the thermals and lined trousers for much lighter-weight clothes before we left!  I met a couple of CRT chaps who were talking to passers-by about the canals and raising interest, rather than asking for money.  They said people were on the whole friendly and interested, which is obviously good.

Jess adored them, as they had a large box of Gravy Bones.  By the horse sculpture was a brass model of the sculpture trail, with little versions of the various sculptures.  Rather difficult to photograph.

What the horse said

Dave got back at about 4, after a long and weary trudge from the marina where he had left the car.  There used to be a little area below the aqueduct where you could leave your car, but it’s not there now.  He  dressed for the cold this morning so he got very hot.  The cloud started to come over and it was raining by 6, but we didn’t need a fire.

Moored on the embankment

On the Thursday we were away by 8.30, dressed warmly as the air was cold, but the heat of the sun was enough to bring out the flies to bother these horses – their tails swishing and skin twitching all the time.

Near the Henhull moorings we saw CRT recovering a cruiser.  They were all uncommunicative and serious, which made us wonder if there had been a tragedy.  We had to wait at Hurleston bottom lock for a single-hander, who I helped down the lock, before Dave brought Bonjour in.

As I walked up to open the second lock, I was spotted by the volunteer who had just arrived, so we made speedy progress, removing various layers of clothing as we did.

Volunteer helping at the third

We marvelled at the long stretches of vacant mooring along the first stretch, though I don’t know what the depth was like.  The flow of the water which characterises the Llangollen canal, especially the closer you get to Llangollen itself, was not apparent.  It wasn’t long before we were turning into the marina and slotting into our berth.  They are lovely people here, very welcoming.  The boat will be here for a few weeks as there are various things to be attended to at home.  We left the marina at 2.30, in t-shirts and a hot car.

Under the aqueduct this time

We stopped at Gloucester services, where it was nothing like as warm, and by the time we got to Devon it was jolly cold!  It’s a long drive, but the traffic wasn’t too bad and it was a good journey.

Today's journey; we rose up 4 locks and covered just over 4 miles.

TRIP STATS

Waterways: Droitwich Junction, Worcester & Birmingham; BCN Main Line, Wolverhampton level, Engine Arm; Staffs & Worcester; Shroppie and Llangollen.

80 miles, 4¾ furlongs of narrow canals; 1 mile, 7¼ furlongs of broad canals; 102 narrow locks.  The short section of broad canal is from the basin entrance at Nantwich to Hurleston Junction, as the northern locks on the Shroppie are broad ones.

8 tunnels (Tardebigge (580 yards long), Shortwood (614 yards long), Wast Hill (2726 yards long), Edgbaston (105 yards long), Summit (103 yards long), Coseley (360 yards long), Wolverhampton (109 yards long) and Cowley (81 yards long)) – a total of 2 miles, 5¼ furlongs underground.

5 non-minor aqueducts; Stewart and Engine Arm over BCN Main Line, Tividale over the Netherton tunnel brach, Stretton and Nantwich (on the Shroppie).

Thanks to CanalplanAC

Two hours at Hack Green

Tuesday 30^th April; Audlem to Nantwich

The wind had really got up overnight and was bumping us about on the exposed embankment.   

Windy mooring on the embankment

We walked up to the village for a few things before we left, and having a quick browse round the canal shop before getting away soon after 10. 

c

River Weaver  winding down below

Dave wasn’t sure that the last pump-out had been very effective, so to be on the safe side we called into Overwater marina for another.  The wharf is right by the entrance, but with that strong wind keeping us off the wharf we were glad to have assistance from a couple of other boaters to take the ropes.  We cruised on in extremely gusty conditions, past the popular and extensive Coole Pilate moorings which had just one boat moored – in the summer this is often crammed.   Then we were lucky enough to see a couple of hares chasing about in a field.

There was a boat ahead of us at Hack Green locks, so we stopped for an early lunch and relaxed in the sunshine.  We visited the Secret Bunker (clearly signposted) a few years ago, so didn’t fancy another visit just yet.  When a boat came up the locks we took the opportunity and set off again.  This first hour or so was delightful.  The top lock was all ready for us, and was a doddle to operate.

Leaving Hack Green top lock

Mysteriously, as a boat had only recently come up and no-one had gone down, the bottom lock was nearly empty.  I opened the top paddles and waited.  After a while I went to check that the bottom paddles were fully closed – they were, but there was an awful lot of leakage from the bottom gates.  The levels just wouldn’t equalize.

Meanwhile the wind had blown Bonjour across the canal towards the bywash and the stern had gone aground.  It took us a while to get her back across the canal and tied up.  With the levels not equalising there was nothing to do except empty the lock again to see if any obstruction could be dislodged, before refilling and trying again.

I’m bored Mum, what’s going on?

This time it did work though Dave stayed off the boat in case he was needed to help open the gate.  The weather had really warmed up by now, although the wind was still very strong.  We were impressed by this boater’s ingenuity, though I suppose it wouldn’t work everywhere!

A good drying day

Some of the mooring spots along here are very sheltered and we saw the first towpath chair of the season.

Apart from the wind it was a very pleasant potter into Nantwich.  We wanted to moor fairly close to the Aqueduct as Dave plans to go and get the car tomorrow, otherwise we might have stopped out in the country.

David’s Bridge, no 90

We moored half-way along the embankment, where there was plenty of space, and sunshone for the solar.

2 locks, 5½ miles

 

Yummy scones at Audlem

Monday 29^th April; Market Drayton to Moss Hall aqueduct below the Audlem flight

It’s a lovely quiet spot to moor at this end of Market Drayton, though it’s popular with dog walkers. Straight after breakfast I started boiling up the bones from last night’s chicken for stock, so that we could dispose of the remains at the facilities not far away.  I prefer to pay a bit more for a free-range or ‘room to roam’ chicken as they are a different breed from the cheap broiler chickens which have been bred to grow so quickly that their bones can’t support them, which I think is poor animal welfare.  The more expensive option has a lot more flavour too.  I cut enough meat off the carcase for two more main meals (each) and, at least 2 rounds of chicken sandwiches.  We trundled up to the water-point for a top-up and the messy rubbish could be disposed of.  No recycling here, sadly.  It was after 10 by the time we left, in overcast weather and a very cold wind, even though it was now from the south.

It was sheltered in the woodland and almost warm

Dave walked Jess for a bit before we got to Adderley top lock, where a boat was going down.

Striding out

I went to close the offside gate for the boat in front, Sapphire.  They had only had their boat for three weeks, having made the bold decision to continuously cruise after one holiday on the Chesterfield ten years ago!  They knew what they were doing, but were still getting up to speed so they were pleased to have some help.  The top gates have gate paddles as well as ground paddles, but they project quite a long way over the footboard so after one crossing where I only just avoided getting oil on my waterproof I didn’t bother to use the offside paddle at all. 

The extra time needed to fill the locks didn’t matter as we were so close behind Sapphire and kept catching up.  They pulled in for lunch below the locks, so we carried on, and stopped at Coxbank, an excellent mooring spot below the top two Audlem locks.  The presence of a volunteer at the top lock meant I had plenty of time to buy a pork pie, two scones and some flapjack at the top lock.  This pound is quite open, and once we got going again Bonjour was getting pushed around by the strengthening wind.

From the third lock it was more sheltered, with the locks close enough for locking ahead and our downhill system to be deployed.  Most locks had drained a bit, but were never less than half full so we made reasonably good progress.  There were plenty of dogs for Jess to play with, including one who knew we were close by an excellent field for playing chase.  It took the two owners a little while to get them back from their fun!  The volunteers had not made a reappearance, so we assumed they had come for the morning especially to help the Chamberlain fuel boat and butty up the flight this morning - we swapped the top 2 locks with them.  We met two other boats in the lower part of the flight.  The bywash at lock 12 is legendary.

Fierce bywash above the narrow bridge hole

A pole has been placed opposite the bywash to help boats avoid getting stuck below the lock.

No-one was drinking outside the Shroppie Fly, it was far too cold and windy to sit outside.  We decided to finish the flight today, although there was mooring space between each of the bottom 3 locks.

Bee or fly?

The rings below the last lock were all occupied, or with git gaps, but we were able to moor on pins just beyond, with no bumping on the shelf.  Three swans flew over and round to land in the lake below the embankment.

After a cold and tiring descent we deserved a little something with a hot cup of tea.

Last mouthful of two delicious scones

We were in plenty of time to wander up to the Shroppie Fly for a beer, disposing of recycling on the way.  We had already established the pub is dog-friendly throughout.

The famous bar

It was very warm and comfortable, and we were tempted to eat there, but I thought I might fall asleep into my pie so we ate on the boat.  Jessie behaved herself – it’s the first time we have taken her into a pub, maybe even the first time in her life.  We lit the fire as the cold wind got even stronger, rocking the boat.  Then it started raining, so we were glad we hadn’t stayed at the pub to eat.

20 locks, 6½ cold windy miles