Slow going … it must be Golden Nook

Wednesday 10^th July; Beeston Stone lock to bridge 116

We had an excellent night’s sleep, undisturbed by the nearby railway.  It wasn’t raining as we had breakfast, and though we weren’t planning on a particularly early start, we snapped into action when Dave spotted a boat coming up Beeston Stone lock.  It would be daft to miss a lock ready set for us, especially these doubles.  So we were off about 9.20.  Stone Lock was easy enough, although quite heavy, then it was Beeston Iron lock.  Although it was built as a double lock, it’s now recommended for single boat use only.  The information sign tells all.

Rather weathered

As the sides have bulged a bit, there are recommendations for safe usage.  We did as recommended, with a rope over a bollard and careful raising of paddles, but had no problem.

British Waterways advice notice

The iron plates

The gates were heavy, and the winding gear for the paddles is uncomfortably high for a short person like me, but it was fine in the end.  We passed Beeston Castle – the views are much better from the Chester side, but with the sun in the wrong position this is the best I could do.

Beeston castle

Wharton lock was the same as the others, heavy but OK.  Then we passed Tattenhall marina.  We left our old boat Chuffed there for a few weeks in 2012, when Dave had the prop checked as it had felt ‘not quite right’ on our first cruise on her.  Just as well, as work had needed doing.  But on a windy day like today we were glad not to be negotiating a marina like Tattenhall.  The next excitement, though that is definitely not the right word, was the Golden Nook moorings.  These offside moorings stretch for over a mile and are very tedious to pass.  At least the weather was fine, the wind was manageable and there was the occasional amusement …

Yeah, right

By the time we had got through, it was nearly lunchtime.  Neither of us had remembered to time the transit, which was annoying, so we’ll have to remember on the way back.  Anyway, it was time to stop so, after a bit of a delay while we found enough depth to get in to the side, we moored just before bridge 116.  After lunch, we decided to stay put for the rest of the day.  I made a cake, and then unclogged the drain from the draining board using the bicarb and vinegar trick that Jaq (NB Valerie) blogged about many years ago now.

Bubbles

Taken from bridge 116

Dave took the dog for a decent walk in spite of his dodgy knee and then spent quite a while trying to get a signal on the TV for tonight’s England match against the Netherlands in the semi-final of the Euros.  That’s football, if you’re wondering what I’m talking about.  Anyway, after he removed about 6’ of superfluous coax cable it seemed to work much better than it has been.  As well as her walk, Jess got some fun time with her frisbee.

The bright green frisbee appears to be beside Dave's right foot

A light drizzle had started to fall, so I closed the cratch cover but it disrupted the TV signal!  Disaster!  So we have a damp well deck, but that doesn’t matter, as England won the match and are through to the final.  Olly Watkins, who scored the winning goal, used to play for Exeter City and Dave saw him play at St James’s Park many times.  An entirely successful evening!

6½ miles, 3 locks

 

 

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