NB Bonjour: No delays at Grindley Brook

Saturday 1^st June; Above Willeymoor to not quite Roundthorne bridge 44

The sun was lovely as I took Jess out at 7.30, and first there was a blackcap singing, then I heard and saw a lapwing trying to mislead a crow which was probably after its eggs or babies. One of the boats behind us, Nee Naw, was away before 8.30. I wonder whether the owner had been a copper, a firefighter or a paramedic? We were ready for the off at 8.30, by which time the cloud had come over. The lapwing was still valiantly fending off the crow.

Povey’s lock with the lapwing field

I got off at the next bridge and walked Jess to the Grindley Brook locks, where we put her back on the boat – there is a sign asking dogs to be on a lead, but she’s too enthusiastic about meeting people where they are gongoozlers, and she gets in the way. There were no other boats around, but the bywashes were as lively as we remembered.

Approaching the second lock at Grindley Brook

As we rose up the third, I was spared the trek to find the lockie by his appearance from round the bend; please would we wait for the boat coming down the staircase and tell him as soon as they were out? He warned us that progress up the staircase might be slow – there is such a lot of leakage that he usually has to top up the levels in the top two chambers. Just as well he was on the ball – Dave couldn’t get Bonjour over the cill between the bottom two chambers of the staircase until he had let some water down.

I love a bit of word-play

It wasn’t long before we were up. One year we foolishly cruised the Llangollen in August and had to wait a couple of hours here while frustrated hire-boaters grumbled and seethed (well one of them did, anyway, miserable so-and-so). We pulled in on the visitor moorings and walked back down the flight in sunshine, disposing of the rubbish (but only glass recycling, annoyingly), getting the Saturday paper at the garage, failing to buy a book at the little second-hand book stall, and finally stopping in the café on the way back to have coffee and enjoy some lovely cake!

Back at the boat, we sat and read the paper for a while, then had some lunch before setting off again. At Whitchurch, a hire boat kindly let us through the lift bridge. Hassel’s no 1 was fixed open.

Hassel’s lift bridge

Then it was Hassel’s number two. It took a lot of winding to open it. I could probably have stopped at 60 but did a few more to make sure there was enough headroom for the boat. But it only took 20-odd turns down, strangely. I waved the following boat through, a share boat. But bizarrely they waited for us to go on ahead. Then Dave got off at a bridge to walk Jess, and because I am a much slower driver than many, I waved the share boat past me. I was pleased that went ok, no running aground or getting stuck, and I managed to negotiate a bridge, some moored boats and an oncoming day-boat without touching anything.

Dave and Jess striding out

Dave had his windlass, and shared the work at Tilstock Park lift bridge with the hire boat. It’s the first time I have taken the boat through a lift bridge, and although I needed a touch of reverse to control my speed I got through without touching anything. Phew! The sun finally came out properly as we came into the mosses area, and we moored in a lovely spot a few hundred yards past Platt’s Lane bridge on the 48-hour spot.

Dave carried on with the T-cut, which is making a fair job of reducing the white streaks on the black paint and it is polishing up well. Then he came in and cooked a beef stroganoff for tea.