The Bunbury Shuffle

Tuesday 9^th July; above Hurleston locks to above Beeston Stone lock

Don’t believe that old saw ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’ – it would need a very perverse shepherd to have relished last night’s constant rain which lasted until breakfast-time, followed by a couple of hours of intermittent drizzle!  We took our time over breakfast, eventually leaving around 9.45 in a dryish spell.  We had planned to stop for water above the Hurleston flight, but with a boat about to leave the top lock we decided to fill up later.   We had a bit of help at Hurleston top lock, but not much – it must have been coffee time for volunteers.  The dry weather lasted until Hurleston bottom lock, where we waited in the rain for a boat coming up.  The steerer was a chap helping a very new boater move her very recently bought boat, NB Tadpole, to the marina at Ellesmere (I think – he was quite vague).  The owner was getting lock instruction from a CRT bod.  She had never boated before and looked as though she might be recently retired – well done madam, a bold decision!

Farewell to the Llangollen

Making the turn towards Chester

I crossed the bridge at the junction and Dave picked me up further along.  The rain had stopped by now and it began to warm up a bit.  It is many years since we have cruised this area – the only time we have been to Chester was 2012, our first year aboard Chuffed!  The water point at Barbridge junction is long gone, although the 30-minute waiting signs are still there, as well as the bollards which now provide a handy mooring spot. 

Barbridge junction and the non-water point

We pulled in briefly at bridge 103a, where Dave held the boat on the centre rope while I scrambled up the slippery wet bank (muddy knees) to cross the busy road to the garage for some milk.  It has recently been refurbished and now has a fairly decent little supermarket.  It didn’t have our paper of choice, so I got a Times instead, with the idea I might channel Inspector Morse later on and tackle the crossword.  Back down the slippery bank (muddy bum this time, good job I still had my wet weather trousers on).  We found an excellent mooring just before Calveley services, and walked along to the Cheese Shop (now with café) where we bought some delicious cheese and various other bits and pieces.  It’s a dog-friendly shop too.

Yum!

After lunching on a tasty pork pie and the excellent Cheshire cheese, we moved along to fill the water tank.  I noticed a slight smell of gas from the gas locker, so Dave investigated.  He found a tiny bit of grot that must have got caught in the screw attachment when he changed the bottle yesterday.  A hire boat was on the other tap - a dad with three teenage children on their first trip.  I was deeply impressed with the young people's calmness and efficiency in mooring and giving their poor dad instructions on helming to get into a fairly tight space - they had all learnt to do everything and the only thing the kids hadn't tried was winding the boat - they left that to Dad!  We got going again in t-shirts and it wasn’t long before we were approaching Bunbury staircase locks.

The old stables at Bunbury locks

I started to fill the top lock, as it needs to be filled whether you are going up or down.  Then I went to see if anyone was at the bottom of the staircase.  They were, and another boat was coming up behind them.  As we would be alone, would they be amenable to doing the Bunbury Shuffle?  The first boat, a hire boat, had done it before and was happy to – the second, a private boat had not but was persuaded to give it a go.  And I’m pleased to say it worked perfectly.

Shuffling

The blue boat almost completely out of view had moved into the space next to Bonjour, and once the ABC hire boat had shuffled across to their left Dave could move into the bottom lock.  The blue boat meanwhile was shuffling to their right so the ABC boat could slide in next to them.

Shuffle completed

Very satisfying.  At Tilstone lock a boat was just about to start up.  It seemed to be taking forever to fill the lock – eventually we realised that neither bottom paddle had been fully closed.  The paddle gear on the bottom gates is housed and the top of the upright bit (is that the ratchet?) is hidden within the housing long before the paddle is fully closed, so were they misled, careless or just lazy?  Meanwhile  a hire boat had arrived behind us so we had company for this lock, and very efficient we were too, and being sure to fully lower the bottom paddles before we left!  They carried on down Beeston Stone lock but we moored just above, shortly before 5.

It's a shame that the vegetation on the offside was fringed by large mats of floating pennywort.  Thunder rumbled around for an hour or so, and eventually there were a couple of longish showers during the evening, but no storm.

6½ miles, 7 locks