UK Canals - Journey reports

Harefield

We woke at the usual time (early) to heavy rain.   We didn't rush.  However, this turned out to be just the last of the night's rain and by daybreak things were looking up.  We set off soon after realising that had we moored on the other side of the canal arm we would have had rings, all neatly painted white.   It is just that the bridge 200 is close to a pub but seems to be the haunt of strong beer can canalside drinking and I wouldn't really want to spend a night there.

We continued on, passing a dead dutch barge shell being propelled by a tug at Cowley and a number of other boats.  Frays, the gravel barge, was being readied for loading at Denham, but the rest of the journey was uneventful.  We got home before the worst of the rush hour.

River Thames and Hanwell Flight

After a night of heavy rain the day dawned bright and sunny.  The strong winds had moderated considerably. Our guests arived in good time and after a trip down the weed hatch to remove a large batch of mixed plastic bags and other routine preparations  we motored to the lock at 9:45.   The lock keeper had already cycled the lock to blow out the mass of rubbish which collects outside, but advised us to pass through that which remains in neutral. The river was relatively calm, ususal for a Sunday morning before trip boat operations, but the catarmarans were operating with their consequent long swell of a wash and we leapfrogged one alternately overtaking at landing stages and being overtaken between.  Bridge closures meant that we slowed him down when we got ahead.  The roughest water was around Blackfriars.  We had a headwind, but blue sky and sunshine for the whole trip and it couldn't have been better.  We allowed 2 and a half hours for the river cruise, so in theory we would arrive at Thames Lock an hour before high tide there. With a 6.6 metre tide one would expect Brentford Bridge to be impassable at some point.  Indeed, arriving at 12:45 the lock keeper suggested weaited for the tide to fall.  We only had 5 feet air draft available.  As we moored up, the tide turned and 30 minutes later, after a quick visit to "The Brewers Tap" nearby, the level had fallen a foot and we had enough room at the bridge.  Carrying on up the canal, the River Brent was in flood, but not a problem save for the rubbish which it produces.  Hanwell was in good condition and with a large temporary crew we shot up. We reached the bridge (200) giving access to the railway station for our guests to leave at 17:10 in the dark of course.  A good day all round.

Paddington to Limehouse

We left at 7:00 am. Shortly after we arrived last evening, as forecast, the wind got up.  The canal which had been smooth was running with white topped waves and the boat was banging against an underwater shelf.  Even the large fenders didn't seem to work and we had to resort to the wheelbarrow wheel which I normally use in the marina. Most of the night the rear doors were rattling away and the rain which must have been heavy if I could hear it.  So there was some concern that we might be being stupid continuing with the cruise having had bad experiences in high winds on the Regent's Canal in the past.   However, Sunday's forecast for the river was quite good and today was showing heavy showers with the worst of the gales passed.  So we set off, again in the dawn twighligt. The weather gave us no problems, save for one heavy shower at Camden.  After Victoria Park the canal opens out, losing the tall buildings which up to now had shielded it and yes the wind was waiting for us - and the rain which set in really heavily until Limehouse.  Johnson's Lock is the worst as there is a street of high rise flats close along the towpath with little on the opposite side.  This seems to funnel the  wind making mooring up for the lock tricky.  We reached Limehouse at 13:20.  At Limehouse we found a spot on the wall next to the lock and again had to deploy the large fenders to stop the boat surging back and forward and banging against the wall.  A visit to the lock office confirmed our arrangements for the morning but the river looked very threatening. For the evening we tried the gastropub "Narrow Street" for the first time.  Nice food but very expensive for our tastes.  

Thoughts on visitor moorings on the Regent Canal.

We expected to have no problem mooring at Paddington as this is a 48 hour limited mooring and we are past the high season, however it was almost full.  Islington Visitor moorings were a joke  I have never ever seen any possibilities for mooring here as a visitor.  They seem to be packed with resident boaters.  Likewise Victoria Park where the moored boats packed the bank on both sides of the bridge right up and onto the lock landing leaving us no alternative but to put the boat into the "armpit" of the lock gate to get off to work the lock.  This means for the most part that as a visitor one is denied the opportunity of actually visiting. The canal becomes just a transit route.

Harefield to Paddington

This morning it was still raining.  The weather forecast does not look good for the weekend, but then when did a bit of rain stop us?  So we were off at 7:15 in the twilight, MIke wearing the "yachty" over trousers which come up to the chest, three layers on top plus the waterproof hi-vis orange from the railway work site.  At Uxbridge we were surprised to see Terry on "ARUN" going opposite direction en-route to Ricky. At our combined speeds of passing there was only time for a few seconds of Mini-Gig.   The rain eased off until we emerged from Tesco at Bulls Bridge, when it set in again with a vengence, but again had stopped at Greenford with a hint of sunshine for a few moments, then gloom.  Nothing else seems to be moving, so we are hoping to be in Paddington by 4pm.

6:00pm update

We arrived at 15:50. There were no moorings on rings at Little Venice. It rather looks as if the whole line is occupied with winter moorings.    So we pressed on into Paddington basin and again, at first appearances, it did not look good.  However as we drifted down the line one space did appear, half under the office bridge.   A quick visit to the weed hatch before closing up produced a clutch of ripped plastic bags of various descriptions.  Finally much to or surprise, we have a good digital freeview (terrestrial) signal even though our little stick aerial is on the front of the boat right under the bridge.

I telephoned Brentford and Limehouse today to book our passage up the tidal Thames on Sunday.  No potential problems apart from a river closure for a race Mortlake to Putney starting at 13:15.  We should be at Brentford by then.  High Tide London Bridge is 12:30.

The London Ring - Preparations

This time I remembered to turn the heating on before leaving home, yet when we reached the boat at around midday, an hour and a half later, the temperature in the boat was still only 60 degrees.  Got the stove going on wood to start with - it burns up quicker - and did a few chores, like filling with water.  Pat then stayed in for the afternoon and Mike went to Watford.  By early evening the promised rain had arrived.  Some of the local roads were becoming flooded, probably leaves on the road!  Made ready for an early departure in the morning.

Back to Harefield

A change in the weather this morning with light rain.  So we didn't rush.  We saw a boat coming up in the lock so I suggested we went and asked if he would leave the gate open for us, but Pat said  don't bother.   A while later, the boat was still there so I thought I would take a look to see if he needed any help.  In fact, the boater was in the process of asking a fisherman for help and didn't seem to be getting an enthusiastic response.  The boater and I went to have a look at the scene.  The lock was about 3 feet down and had been there for a while.  The chap was telling me that he had enjoyed the Oxford Canal and the Thames with its orderly Locks, but was having a bit of a problem with the Grand Union.   Ironbridge as we know is a difficult Lock but not this bad.   I believe it is on the schedule for new gates this month.   A quick look and the problem was obvious.   The bottom gate paddle was half up.  So we were both soon on our respective ways after a lot of grunting with the top gate that is!   Naturally when we reached Cassio Lock the water was weiring over the gates.  Below Cassio we were hailed at the wharf by a resident boater warning us about two boats ahead, one being towed, but out of control and very abusive.  We rounded the corner and there they were, the narrowboat across the cut blocking the canal with what looked like a pontoon houseboat behind it, but in the bushes. We waited.  The bloke on the boat moored on the right of the picture emerged and we asked if he knew what their problem was. "Oh! Theyr'e just inept" was his only comment.  There seemed to be about four people on this assembly and gradually they straightened up and with a blast of water from the stern of the narrowboat they were moving again.  Then the problem became clear.  The towed boat was not being steered, so as it swung haphazardly, it was pulling the stern of the towing boat over and making that uncontrollable.   They saw us behind and waved us on and as we passed, the lead boat was driven under branches on the offside coming to a standstill despite fountains of water coming from the stern and the other boat crashing into its stern.    I put our boat into warp drive (warp factor 6) and left them to it.  We never saw them emerg round the corner at the end of the long straight leading to Common Moor Lock.

At Rickmansworth, there were signs of activity on the towpath suggesting that there might be a race in progress.  Sure enough, at Stockers Lock the first of the runners appeared with quite a gap before others.   Halfway down to Springwell we were watching the main body of runners, some obviously struggling lost in their world of pain, others just running together chatting and greeting us with smiles.  It was a half marathon apparently running from Uxbridge to Watford.  We passed that last straggler by the sewage farm, closely followed by a cyclist removing all the signage.  Soon we were back at Widewater.  Time for lunch, and give the bilge a washout.  (I use a wet vac and dispose of the washings at home in case you are concerned)

Harefield to Ironbridge/ Cassiobury Park

Today turned out to be sunny and pleasant, but at 7 am it was cold with frost on the vinyl cratch cover.   I had forgotten to set the central heating on in advance so first job was to get the stove going.  It still took an hour for the boat to get warmed up, but by then we were ell on our way.  No locks in out favour today it seemed, all had to be turned round.  At Stockers we came up behind a barge just leaving the lock mooring to go up.   So there was a bit of a delay, but fortunately in a way, we needed shopping at Tesco, so we would not be held up again until we caught up with it.  Pat was grumbling when finally after half an hour she emerged from Tesco.  She just wanted to get a few bits and pieces, but it was Saturday and the crowds were all dawdling and dithering.  She gave up waiting at the deli counter and did the rest of the shopping and returned to find the same woman there still dithering.  At least it gave the barge time to get ahead.  So Batchworth was full and needed to be turned round, then round the corner, below Lot Mead Lock, there was the barge moored up!   Lot Mead has one ground paddle out of action and the pinions were slipping on the rack on the same top gate.  The pound above was a foot down.  No problem until reaching the lock landing for Common Moor where we were just aground.  Emptying the lock sorted that out.  Then goody, Cassio Lock was open and waiting for us.  We decided to moor up above Ironbridge Lock, as the TV reception was OK there on a previous occasion, but getting through the Lock was a challenge with a massive leak at the bottom and no gate paddles to speed filling.  It took the two of us to force the top gate open after a long wait.  Winding above the lock was difficult on account of shallow water and silt opposite and mooring there is always "off the bank" for the same reason.  A community boat arrived about half an hour after us and ended up about 3 feet off the bank.  Good fun for the kids of course who had to walk the plank.   This evening, fireworks in the park!

The last day

Yesterday I mentioned the ungainly Thames barge that had delayed our progress to Bentford Basin.  We understood that the intention was to moor this barge at the bottom of "the flight", by which we assumed Hanwell Flight.   Seeing how difficult it had been to manoeuvre this vessel we didn't really want to get stuck behind it, so this morning we set off early, just at dawn to be precise.  There was just enough light to see the first bridge hole.   The second lock lies behind a large weir on the River Brent and is notorious for receiving lots of detritus washed down by heavy rain.  Well there hasn't been any significant rain for almost two months, so levels were down a few inches and the rubbish not too bad, consisting mostly of clumps of decaying towpath cuttings.   As we approached the bottom of the lock flight we were relieved to see the barge still moored up, but the tug/safety boat was already on the move ahead.    Lock 97 is a bit of a mess.   One bottom hydraulic gate paddle was u/s as was one top ground paddle.  The pound above was very low as the gates appear very leaky.   It is not unusual on this flight to find one or other pounds empty first thing in the morning and I have been known to take the bike to the top first thing and let a bit of water down.    However, once through, we had no further trouble and the folk working the safety boat had emptied a few locks ahead of us to ease our passage.  It was pleasing to see that our vegetation concerns on the offside have been dealt with now and all locks are accessible easily.    Once at the top, we settled down to the 90 minute cruise to the bottom of Cowley passing firstly the broadbeam school barge and later a loaded Denham Gravel barge on the way.  The second gravel barge was idle at its moorings above Cowley Lock as was Arundel, the narrowboat that also participates in the traffic above Uxbridge.  Soon we were at our moorings and keen to get unloaded as soon as possible to miss the rush hour traffic.   So ends our summer cruise.    Further plans?  All being well, we will do the London Ring in November and there might be other moves, who knows.   Then its winterisation all over again.

Brentford

Yesterday, at Teddington we waited for the tide.  With high tide at London Bridge given as 15:22 and adding an hour for Teddington we reckoned to leave at about 16:05.  It's pretty well slack water at that time at the top and one picks up the ebb at around Richmond with plenty of time to get to Brentford before the lock closes (today at 17:45).  Another narrowboat, however, left the moorings at 15:30, too early in my view.  As we were getting ready to leave there was a knock on the window.  The skipper of this boat had a problem.  His alternator failure light was comming on at high revs.  Could I help?  He admitted that his alternator belt was probably a bit dodgy so I suggested that if he used no power to run the battery down, the engine would run OK and we could go down in company.  WE left the lock together at 16:05 and arrived Brentford at 17:00.  The problem was that a large Thames Barge (actually a puppet theatre on the way to Little Venice) as ahead of us.  Because of its deep draught it had a safety boat with it and was very slow.  Finally we arrived at the basin.  One of the gauging locks was out of use.  The only mooring was outside the BW office, so we breasted up there.

On the way to Brentford

What a contrast with the weather.  A gloomy morning, slightly misty with persistent rain developing early on.  We are making for the late afternoon tide and are booked in at Brentford at 17:00, so no rush.  We were the only boat locking down at Sunbury, but joined three others at Molesey.  Approaching Teddington long moorings, which were empty by the way, a small trip boat came up astern and I moved over to give it room.  Some fishermen were hiding behind a moored boat with lines out and one caught a very large steel fish!  We could see his line reeling out, caught on our bows, but nothing we could do I suspect.  The look on his face as he tried to reel us in!

Walton-on-Thames

All straightforward today.  Of course, being early,  Boveney and Romney Locks were self operated with no problems.  The early morning sun made the castle quite a picture across the Home Park, set against the first of the autumnal changes in the trees.  Chertsey Lock was unmanned and we shared that with a cruiser, splitting the work.  And now here we are at Walton on Thames by the Anglers.  There was a chance to get a little maintenance done, this time sewing a patch in to repair some torn stitching on the cratch cover.  One of Pat's fabled curries tonight!  Yum!

Windsor then Boveney

The wind got up overnight as forecast.  The bottom plate was banging on an underwater obstruction that had us about 2 feet off the bank.  Temple Lock (automated) and Marlow Lock (a winder) were negotiated before the lockies were on duty. In Cliveden Deep we passed Mike Wooding out walking the dogs with Draco and Janna nearby, the former bearing all the plants and looking like the hanging gardens of Babylon.  I wanted to get some battery water thinking that after 10 weeks cruising the batteries needed some, but both Bray Marina and Windsor Marina seem to have no chandlery now.  Googling around I found a car parts shop in Windsor that did, so as we have plenty of time we made for the main road bridge and dealt with that.   We could have stayed there, but Pat being a "Strictly" fan needs TV tonight and this mooring was no good.  So being crazy as we are, we turned round and returned through Boveney Lock to the little mooring by the tiny church in the field.  Peaceful away from the road and reasonable TV from Crystal Palace.

Hurley

A clear blue sky promised a lovely day although it was very cold.  Cold air streaming off the meadows was mixing with the warm moist air over the water and creating a low lying mist which in some cases was rising in swirls.  It was just like cruising above the clouds.  Whitchurch Lock was unmanned as we reached there about 08:15.  It takes about 25 minutes to turn around and descend an old unautomated lock by winding the handles.  We were joined at Mapledurham, now thankfully manned,  by two cruisers.  Then the long haul to Reading and Caversham Lock, deep in shade and cold out of the warm sunshine.  Tesco moorings were less than half occupied, so a brief stop here to restock. We continued on past Henley.  I thought it best to call Brentford now and book our passage on Sunday.  Bad news!  Sunday is the one day of the year that the Thames Barrier is being tested and so there will be no water and passage will be impossible.  Just our luck, so now we must seriously slow down.  With that in mind we decided to stop at Hurley, below the lock.  It is £4.00 a night and further on moorings are, in our experience, a bit haphazard.   Shortly after stopping, clouds appeared and the wind is getting up.  Tomorrow is forecast stormy.

Goring

While we were getting organised a boat passed us heading for Osney Lock. The boat had all the characteristics of live-aboard seasoned boaters, so we decided to hang back and let them get through as we were not then ready to leave. 20 minutes later, they were still at the head of the lock, so we decided then to join them. They were in fact new boaters, had recently bought the boat and this was their first encounter with the River Thames. They couldn't make the automated controls work. Having been in that situation myself I explained that there was a totally logical sequence that must be employed, one part of which was that gates are left closed with the paddles up. Sure enough, the bottom paddles were up and closing them of course solved the problem. They followed us to Iffley Lock which has not been mechanised yet for out of hours use so we set about winding and had just finally started to close the exit gates when the lock keeper arrived. Surprisingly he seemed very grumpy and took over asking why we couldn't have waited for him. He said that he had been boating on the Thames for 20 years and had never used a lock without a lock keeper in attendance. When our fellow boaters offered to buy a licence, they said he was charming. We wondered if he thought we were all trying to sneak through without licences. Clifton Lock was our first unmanned lock after this being lunchtime, but opposite boaters told us at Benson that all had been unmanned. This proved to be the case from here on. At Benson an upcoming single handed narrowboater caused chaos by emerging from the middle of the queue before all boats had left the lock and spent most of the time on his mobile phone. It is true that a lock-keeper would probably have put him and another narrowboat in first to get more boats in the lock. As it happened, the second narrowboat had to wait. In my view,losing lock-keepers on the Thames will result in a lot of problems at busy times. WE passed Wallingford at 16:00, but decided to go on to Goring. There is plently of mooring space everywhere.

Osney Bridge

As usual, we had the canal to ourselves for the first few locks.  At Heyford the boaters were stirring.  We passed a hire boat with four elderly gentlemen busy round the boat with mop to hand.  "Last of the Summer Wine" came to mind.  Meeting other opposite direction boaters at locks many were asking if we had seen this boat.  Seemingly they were slow but had obviously created a big impression.  As had the boat ahead of us, seemingly impossibly slow.  We caught up with this slow boat above Bakers Lock, and they invited us to go first, thankfully.  Pressing on we decided to go for Osney Bridge.  Thrupp was full and there is nowhere decent after that.  A long day again, but we moored up on nearly deserted moorings at 16:50.

Aynho Wharf

We are, as you've probably guessed, making our way back to our moorings at Harefield via Oxford and the Thames.  Teddington is a pinch point because of the tides, so we have put this into the Canal Planner and come up with 8 days at 9 hours per day.  Actually, this should get us to Brentford if all works out nicely.   Normally we reckon to travel faster than the Canal Planner predicts if we have locks with us and no hold ups.  So today we were a little surprised that with a clear run down the Claydon Flight and no hold-ups to Aynho, we were exactly to plan.  The weather was sunny intervals with little wind.  We stopped at Banbury briefly to get some shopping, but that's it!  Manicured visitor moorings at Aynho are sparse with only room for about 4 boats opposite the boatyard and two on the otherside of the bridge.  Masses of permit only moorings of course.  Good Freeview from Oxford.

Fenny Compton

After extricating the boat with the help of our neighbours from the raft, I set off for the first lock under the bridge and round the corner.   Pat had gone ahead but was just beginning to empty the lock.  A Canaltime that had set off 3/4 hour earlier had left a top paddle partly up and the pound above was quie low.  The BW lengthsman was sending water down and checking the flight.  Two more of our group, nb Levick and nb Pilgrim were following.  The BW lass had opened the first few gates for us and our friends were happy to see us out of the lock so we made rapid progress.  With Pat roving ahead we soon became independent and managed two opposite directions without hold up.  At Calcutt, Levick joined us. The canal seemed quiet and we were looking forward to a seamless climb of Napton Locks, but this was not to be.  We were quickly up the first lock, but then found ourselves behind another boat in the pound above and it stayed that way to the top.  At each lock opposite direction boats were either descending or waiting.  Mostly private boats, it seems that it was very busy yesterday and a good number thought it would be clever to "wait at the top until the morning".   It appears that to many had the same idea.  By the time we reached the top the rush had died down and we passed only a few boats all the way to Fenny Compton arriving there at about 16:10.   Time then to get a bottle of milk from the pub shop and for me to put some rust treatment on more rust spots appearing on the roof.  A good freeview TV by the way from Sutton Coldfield.

Up early and before others had appeared I started to polish the boat and finish dealing with some largish rust patches that had appeared on the roof.  Pat set to making a batch of samosas for communal lunch which inevitably involves a production line, one making, one deep frying.  Our numbers were swelling with road arrivals and by the afternoon there were about 30 present.  Our afternoon event was samba band training.  The Cutweb Samba Band was due to perform later that evening (if we only had known!).  Loony of course, but great fun, just like a load of school kids having band practice.  The weather was kind again, and after our banging and bashing session (ear plugs provided) we enjoyed tea with masses of cakes of all shades and sizes on tables set up round the lawn.

The evening began with a performance of "Mary Rose - A boat of Ill Repute" by Kate Saffin, herself a boater.  Then a magnificent buffet and our usual raffle but this time speeded up with prizes predetermined.    Finally the samba session.  Goodness knows what our audience really thought!  We enjoyed ourselves.

Calcutt Marina Rudder Repairs

After a bit of a lie-in and a cooked breakfast I followed up our discussions yesterday and phoned Calcutt.  After a very brief phone call an appointment was made for about 75 minutes later to fit in between two boats having blacking done.  We duly arrived and the problem was checked by one of the senior engineers and I went off to register at the office.  My cake was waiting!  Half an hour later the boat was up on the slipway.  As the picture shows, the rudder stock was bent.  All attempts to separate the rudder using the sledge hammer failed, so the gas torch was used to heat up the bent bit and a couple of whacks with the hammer had it back in line.  All in all an hour and a half later we were on our way. I have to say that I was very impressed with the whole operation.  The office communicates with the marina staff by radio.  As soon as the boat was in the water, I had walked to the office. The invoice was waiting and by the time I returned the second boat was already up on the slipway being washed down.   We then called our friends to say we were on our way and on arrival at the top of Stockton Locks a posse was waiting and we shot down to Blue Lias in 30 minutes.  What a team!

 

Cutweb Rally

A real lie-in this morning. Pat went off to visit the small convenence store in the housing estate reached through the hedge two locks down and I washed the side of the boat available on the bank. Then a very pleasant day chatting over coffee, scones clotted cream and stawberry jam, then wine and beer as more members arrived and the boats started to be rafted out. A pleasant meal in the pub in the evening.

Bridge 18 Rendezvous

We tootled down to Calcutt Top Lock and moored at the water point.  As we needed gas, a recce showed the Wharf at Calcutt Marina, one lock down, to be clear, so once the water tank was full we went down.  Very friendly and helpful service, so we took diesel at the same time.  I got tangled up in the obscure calculation necessary to make a declaration for HMRI and left behind a cake that I had bought at the same time.   Too much going on!   Leaving Calcutt, we locked down to find nb Pilgrim waiting shortly joined by tug Levick and we proceeded to our rendezvous by Bridge 18.  Lunch, and afternoon of chat and a barbecue followed, joined by nb Goosander.  Chatting over a drink I explained my problem with the rudder and was advised to give Calcutt a try as they have a slipway and can get boats out and back in very quickly.   Better than having to use a crane as I was expecting at Uxbridge.

A broken alternator belt

The wind is getting up, but otherwise looks like a decent day in prospect.  Pat went off to get some last minute items from Tesco while I took advantage of the last decent mobile internet signal for a week before we left.  In one's mind's eye, Hillmorton Locks are not very far, but in reality it is quite a long cruise.  So when we arrived there, things were on the move.  At the second lock pair Pat chose to wait for a boat coming down and got chatting to a couple from Australia who had just started their first narrowboat experience with Black Prince and, to quote, hadn't a clue how to proceed down the locks.  They were moored up near Blue Haven Marina and had walked down to see what was in store and how to work the locks.  We were soon at the top and carried on in the strengthening wind facing opposite direction traffic at regular intervals.  Reaching Braunston Turn we were faced with a boat manoeuvering with difficulty in the wind and had to slow, then being blown wrong side to take the turn.  This resulted in a burst of high revs which set an engine alarm off.  We stopped just after the turn to investigate and found the reason for an odd tapping noise that had occurred shortly before.  The alternator belt for the small alternator had broken.  So we moved forward to a more sensible mooring and had lunch.   This allowed the engine to cool a bit and within the hour I had the spare belt on.  We carried on and finished up about half a mile before Napton Junction,in good situation for our destination tomorrow.

Hawkesbury Junction

No crises today then!  We were first up Atherton Locks and had the benefit of the help from descending boaters for the last five.  I discovered the working side pond at lock six and it actually works.  The pond was at bywash level when I opened the paddle and actually dropped a foot filling the first half of the lock. It might have dropped more, but Pat had already opened one top paddle.   Pressing on, without overdue haste, we reached Hawkesbury Junction by 14:30 and found a mooring on the Oxford side just being vacated by another boater.   And I made the turn in one!

Polesworth

Woodend Lock was our first target for today.  We were first in line again to our surprise although again had to wait for an upcoming boat.  Chatting at the lockside we were reminded that this was the weekend of the Huddlesford Rally. The skipper told us of his experience passing through yesterday. Boats went on for "miles" and there was only a seven foot passage left for passing boats.  The two locks at Fradley gave us no trouble and we were off up the Coventry before long looking forward to momentarily joining the rally.  It was nowhere near as bad as portrayed, although slow, the only contentious bit was at the junction itself from where President was moored, in steam, smelling as nostalgic as ever, to about 100 yards past the junction where working boats seemed to feature. Groups of participants gathered at intervals with chairs on the towpath reminded us of our own gathering next weekend.  We are glad, though, to be ahead of our plan now, for tomorrow many will be leaving and Atherstone Locks will be a nightmare!  From Huddlesford Junction we pressed on and reached Fazeley (more shopping and a water fill) before tackling Glascote Locks.  No queue here either.  Strange, but probably the Rally we passed earlier was acting as a filter.  So Polesworth looked like a possible overnight spot.  The good moorings there were basically full, and as TV reception there is poor, due to the nearby hill in spite of being only 9 miles from Sutton Coldfield transmitter, we carried on monitoring the signal as we went using our short stub aerial.  Good digital signals were received just before the railway bridge, so we had our mooring on some decent piling.  17:00 hrs and a good day's cruise.

Rugeley and Armitage Tunnel

Haywood Junction is always a busy point on the network.  It's a popular mooring place and the discrete locks mean that queues are very likely.  So although we would not normally see moving boats until 8:30, we met out first opposite direction boat at Hoo Mill Lock, our first lock of the day.  Passing Haywood Junction itself we passed nb Sanity on the way to the Braidbar Boats open day next weekend.  We were first in line for Haywood Lock but had to wait for the first of a queue to lock up.  At Colwich Lock we were third in the queue, then we had a free run to Rugeley where the supermarket beckoned.  We considered staying there the night as we are well ahead of our schedule, however, noise from a nearby building site put us off, so we moved on to a spot just before the Armitage Tunnel and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the sunshine.

Weston Lock

Just under an hour saw us at the top of Stoke Locks.  We had them all to ourselves except the last where there was a queue waiting to come up.  We took our turn and then began the first of the long pounds to the first of the sporadic locks.   Pat wanted some shopping which she got at Burlaston, but we were overtaken by a green Stone hire boat and when we reached the top of Meaford Locks this boat was still waiting.  Oak and Ash, the Reed Hotel Boats were in the process of negotiating the locks.   The "Guvnor"  got them into the lock between his motor and the following butty.  We just watched with interest.   Finally our turn came just as a pair of BW types appeared probably doing an inspection.  I screwed up big time as one always does when being watched, as the boat was left in tickover reverse and the rudder caught on the cill, knocking it out of the skeg and probably bending it as well.   Good thing we know that the boatyard couldn't get it off when they attempted to change the bearing, so there is little danger of it dropping off now.  This will probably be an expensive mistake!  At least we can still steer the boat OK, though it needs a little more skill!   We carried on through Stone, "Birthplace of the Trent and Mersey Canal", so the sign informs us.  Finally coming to rest below Weston Lock.  Pat is now busy preparing a Bolognese from scratch.  Good Freeview here.  

 

Harecastle tunnel

We are aiming to be at a barbeque near the Blue Lias on Wednesday.   Nick Atty's Canalplan software tells me that we need to do about 9 hours per day to get there, however, we have three hours in hand as the clock starts ticking today.  We left Macclesfield at 7:05 and reached Bosley Top Lock at 9:15.  A hire boat which had leap-frogged us at the Royal Oak Swing Bridge was ahead, but with opposite direction traffic now and then we were not delayed.  Reaching Harecastle North at 15:00 we had to wait for 30 minutes and then we were off again.  Just as we went into the tunnel something seemed not quite right with the prop and I was convinced that we were going slower than usual for the given rpm.   Come what may we got to the stop sign at the end in 35 minutes, well ahead of a single hander "pop-pop" boat with smoky exhaust that followed us in.   Stopping to examine the propellor when we came out I found that the weed hatch cover had become loose.   We have a "wet" weed hatch so this is of no risk to flooding, but does affect the performance.   Pressing on we found a mooring at Westport Lake Park, so we have done nearly an hour extra, but are actually now nearly 8 hours ahead of schedule.   Soon we qualify for a day off!

Back on the boat - Macclesfield

We rejoined the boat after 10 days back in London, arriving early afternoon.  We met up with the owner of the boatyard to discuss the work that had been done and moved the boat to the water point.  When all was settled, we set off for Macclesfield, desperate really for some provisions as the larder had been cleared when we returned home.  The canal is shallow and speed was slow.  There was the niggling thought that there was rubbish on the prop slowing us down, but it was never bad enough to motivate me to stop and look.   We finally reached Macclesfield at about 19:15 and were surprised that there appeared to be plenty of moorings.  Our target was Tesco, down the hill and much further away that we had remembered.  So with a huge weight of shopping, it was a taxi back whcih the store arrnaged for us and was quick to arrive.   So back on the boat we settled down to a pizza supper, bottle of red and a reasonable TV picture on the stub aerial.

Higher Poynton

We left early, anxious to get to Braidbar Boatyard at Higher Poynton before the bank holiday closure. Just after the lifting bridge round the corner we passed two boats, and then saw nothing moving until the bottom of Marple Flight.  The 16 locks in this flight are deep but easy to work.  Arriving at the top it was mayhem with boats everywhere.  I am sure that we have seen more boats moving in this short stretch of the Macclesfield Canal that we have seen moving for the last two weeks.  However, I suppose it is the bank holiday weekend!

The boat is booked in at Braidbar Boats for some maintenance.   Full report on the Maintenance Section when details are available.

Stalybridge and Portland Basin

Our moorings at Uppermill were in heavy shade alongside a bank.  The towpath in consequence was mud.  It had begun raining when we arrived and the boat was two feet out from the bank.  Rain continued on and off through the evening.  However, better weather this morning with broken cloud.  Really, the journey down to Stalybridge was uneventful passing only one boat just before the Scout Tunnel and a second just before the top Staylybridge Lock.  The canal is clearly very shallow, but going downhill we are bringing th water with us, so no problems with depth.   Going the other way, uphill as we were on the Yorkshire side might be another matter.  There is a large Tesco here, so good access to stores.  We felt very uneasy here.  No trouble but just too many people about and so decided to move on to Portland Basin.  Lock 2 has some highly geared paddle gear on the gates which make winding very easy in comparison to the rest.  Presumably to fool upcoming boaters into thinking that they will all be like that.  Opening the gates on the hydraulically operated lock one was much more tiring and left me hopelessly short of breath.  Good quiet moorings up the Peak Forest, just beyond the junction.

Standedge Tunnel and Diggle Flight

Boat preparations did not take long.  I had already removed the navigation lights at the suggestion of Fred, our BW guide and chaperone for the tunnel.  We had met him already at Lock 1E getting us floating again.  The top of the boat was cleared and water tank filled.  Hi-Viz coat and lifejackets are needed as well as hard had (I had two or three strikes in the tunnel).  BW like the engines warmed up to reduce fumes, so with all this done and clearance given from tunnel control (it seems to be run just like the railway) we set off.  A van can use the redundant railway tunnel which connects with the canal at intervals including four large evacuation points which also serve as reporting points where we had to stop briefly.   The first part was brick lined and fairly uniform with adequate headroom apart from occasional brick arches.  Then the walls became unlined rock with jagged edges and some pinch points.  Fred, our guide knows the tunnel like the back of his hand and could advise where it was appropriate to slow down for some of these narrows where it would be easy to strike the handrail.  There is also an 'S' bend near the middle where the initial tunnelers got it wrong.  Throughout the journey Fred was talking almost constantly about the history, and the features within especially the association with the railway tunnels.  For the most part the tunnel was dry, except for water coming down the ventilation shafts, in some cases copiously.  Changing airpressure caused by the passage of trains also causes brief misting in the air, easly visible in the tunnel light.  All in all, this was a great experience, and thoroughly recommended.   Having exited the tunnels we moored up and were quite happy to stay overnight.  However, we were advised that our next opportunity to descend the Diggle Flight would be on Friday, two days away.  So, in company with YESDEAR, we set off to get through lock 24W.   Descending and taking the water with us we had no depth problems at all and apart from finding one or two inoperative paddles the locks were no problem either.  We continued on to Uppermill, to find a mooring in a glade of trees and settled down to a late lunch.

Slaithwaite to Tunnel End Marsden

Today it took 7 hours to do the 2 3/4 miles and 19 locks to Tunnel End.  The mechanism for lock 24E has broken, so a BW team of three or four have to lift it with an electric winch.  Once past here we were told to wait at lock 26, of if nb "YESDEAR", which we have been partnering on and off since Dewsbury, had gone up 27E, go up, but not take the water if they were in the pound.   BW were going ahead to let water down from the Sparth Reservoir.  In fact nb YESDEAR had got as far a lock 28E when we emerged from 26E and so we went to wait n the bottom of 27E.  We took the opportunity to consume one of the pork pies purchased from the  butcher in Slaithwaite.  Magic!  The boat ahead had nearly filled their lock when BW reappeared, and told them to close the paddles immediately and wait.  The pound ahead was pretty well empty.  Then they slowly sank down in the lock.  By then, we had filled our lock too, so decided to close the top gate again and drop the paddles.  We too sank down, so effectively wasting two locks of water between us.   Below, there is a stream entering the canal which keeps the water levels up down to below Slaithwaite.  Above the canal is dependent on the reservoir.  So wasting two lockfulls was probably critical in our very slow progress from here on, scraping along the bottom, getting stuck, poling off and as a last resort, feeding water in from above, ideally as a wave to just lift the boat enough to get over the obstruction.  Getting out over the cill of the top gates meant getting off and pushing in most cases.  The worst shallows were mostly nearer the lock ahead.  Andrew, our BW shadow was most patient in getting us over these obstacles.  In many cases the pounds were over 2 feet down.  At lock 33E we came to a juddering halt with the bows by the gates.   It took about half an hour to sort this out.  Lock 33E is apparently the narrowest on the flight, but seemed that something was stopping the gate fully opening below the waterline.  When this was clear we sailed in.   The locks are uniformly deep and the last few create a very steep gradient.   Finally tunnel end appeared.  We were asked to wait for the tunnel trip boat to emerge before finally mooring up.  Rain seemed to be setting in, though cleared enough for us to visit the Tunnel End pub - a warm welcome and beer £2/pint.

Slaithwaite

After our 4 night stay at Huddersfield, we set off for Slaithwaite up the recently restored Huddersfield Narrow Canal, a whole different experience from the wide canals we have become used to. A very slow day.  It took us 8 hours to do the 5 or so miles to Slaithwaite.  We left the basin though what looked like a culvert and soon found lock 1E.  Keeping the boat well back the lock (and all subsequent locks) was very docile.  Reaching the top we found the pound about 2 feet down.  "Nothing ventured nothing gained" came to mind so we set off gingerly, but after 100 yards, and still fortunately by the towpath section, we became solidly aground.  So at about 8:15 a call was made to the emergency BW number and within about 45 minutes Fred and Nick appeared.  Nick went ahead to let some water down and when it came like a flash flood, the boat set off backwards. It was a struggle to make any headway against the flow.  Fred stayed with us through the first tunnel and then joined Nick to see us up the next few locks.
When we heard that the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was shallow we didn't realise that it meant we would be bumping on the bottom most of the way.  A low pound would be a special problem.  Above lock 6, although the water was well up, we ran aground in the narrows, but reversing off managed to find another inch of water.  Above lock 7 the water was too low to let us leave the lock over the cill.  Pat tried to let down a lockful from above, but needed help of a strong passer by to wind the bottom gate paddles.  She then had to let down more as we ran aground again later in the pound itself.  We found ourselves on the bottom again within lock 11, even though the bywashes were running.  We gave up on attempting to reach "lock landings".   The only way was to put Pat off from the front at the lock throat.   One dud top paddle at lock 12 and leaking bottom gates needed both of us and two passers by to get the top gate open.   Being Sunday there were many walkers out there and many taking an interest in our progress, astonished that we got there from London.   Fishermen were for the most part cheerful and chatty. The scenery, once it opened up near to our destination was on a grand scale with the isolated mills part of the landscape.
It was with some relief then that we arrived at the visitor moorings at Slaithwaite (Slawit to the locals).   Once tucked up it started to rain on what had been a very pleasant, if tiring, day.

Arrival at Huddersfield

An interesting couple of days!  Basically we were way ahead of our schedule, so there would be short days ahead.  Dewsbury Marina was very quiet and we seemed very welcome there.  Calder Valley Marine has all the services and there was no charge for the mooring.  Leaving the Dewsbury arm the next lock is immediately on the right after the bridge.  My instinct was that a turn into the lock would not be practicable, so I turned left onto the very wide canal by the visitor moorings with the intention of turning there where I judged there was plenty of room.  It turned out that I only had about 6 inches spare to make the turn.  We had arranged to pick up Philip, a railway friend, at the Perseverance pub, as the nearest reasonably certain point to Ravensthorpe station.  There is a recognised mooring there, but the pub looked derelict and certainly not very attractive from the outside.  Nearby were apple trees and blackberries, so when Philip and his dog Sam arrived we went picking.  Steve Atty's Canalplan software had put us at Coopers Bridge that evening, but there being no obvious mooring there according to our guide book, and with moorings and pubs at Mirfield, we decided to stop short there.  Good choice!  There is a Lidl canalside and the Navigation pub opposite the moorings had a good choice of ale.  Sam took to the boat very quickly and throughly explored it, becoming very proficient at getting on and off to command.  He did have a tendecy to wander, or explore the local scene but always returned on call.   The next morning we set off to reach Huddersfield.  The remaining Calder and Hebble Locks were cleared without problem, although it has to be said that the river locks all sit right on the river, so that the lock moorings, some better than others, are on the river itself and entry to the lock would be fun in a strong stream.  The locks too were of varying size, but again no problem. At Coopers Bridge there are good moorings, though as we suspected, no facilities.   We made the almost 180 degree turn in one to gain the river leading to lock 1 of the Hudderfield Broad Canal.  It was tightly packed with duckweed.  Naturally, Sam thought it was a nice lawn and fell in. Then he did the same, minutes later above the lock where the weed was similarly thick, blown down by the wind.  All the Huddersfield Broad Locks were consistently short, requiring bows on the cill and then moving the stern round behind the opposite gate in order to shut the entry gate. The shortest, the last but one gave us only about 3" clear.  I used a bungee to hold the rudder right back and keep it clear while the boat was rising in the lock.  It also proved more reliable to rope the front up and keep a centre rope ashore to move the boat this way and that to keep the bows from fouling the top gate and the swan neck from fouling the bottom gate walkway.  Not all the paddles were working or existed, so the rope at the front kept wild swings of the boat in check. Thus we arrived in warm weather at the loco lifting bridge.   I hadn't realised that it is used as a regular short cut and is quite busy.  It is mechanised, with interlocking gates requiring the key of course.  Philip went to perform the operation while I cast off.  Putting the boat in gear there was a nasty sound and no prop wash.  The wind was quite strong and the boat was now moving towards the opposite bank.  A bit of reverse got some action and enough forward propulsion to clear the bridge but with an ominous rasping sound.  Mooring up again a visit to the weed hatch revealed the prop frozen solid with masses of wire round the shaft, with a fleece attached to some of it.  Attempts to free it over half an hour or so using wire snips produced only cuts to my fingers, so withdrawing gracefully, I called River Canal Rescue.  Dave and Karen from Bronte Boats at Hebden Bridge arrived in about 45 minutes and set to work.  It took a very long time, slowly snipping the wire, strand by strand, but after possibly 2 hours, there was still a long way to go. As we were only yards from our intended mooring, Dave decided to return and fetch his dry suit to tackle the problem from the ouside.  This proved beneficial as with the waterproof torch throwing some light on things from above to direct the attack it was possible to make more rapid progress.   There appeared to be a skein of what appeared to be wire rope around one of the blades and removing this helped considerably.  Finally, after another half hour the job was done.  A visit to "The Aspley" and a beer followed.

Dewsbury

We set of early this morning.  Pat really wants to get some laundry done and there is a hint in the Nicholson Guide that the boatyard there has that facility.   Broad Cut Top lock was negotiated wthout incident.  No problem with a 60 foot boat here.   Nearing Figure of Three Locks were passed a moored boat who asked to join us locking up.  Subject to us getting into the lock ourselves.   The first of the two needed the fabled Calder and Hebble handspike which our companions had.   I thought I would check our makeshift one out and it fits perfectly.   The ground paddles at the next lock proved immovable and the gate paddles nearly so, but we won in the end.  Who said that the K&A was hard?   No problem with the 60 foot boat at either of these locks, but Mill Bank Lock was the real deal.  We went in first, but it was necessary to do the diagonal trick and so the other boat had to wait.   The gate paddles were again very stiff and open above the water so the fill was of necessity rather slow at first.  We stayed behind to help the other boat through and the ground paddles, worked with the handspike proved a better solution.  One of the pounds had a really bad infestation with the floating pennywort. (see picture) At the next locks (Thornhill Double) we left our friends to it and disappeared up the Dewsbury arm.  The basin at the end was stuffed with boats, but the boatyard was very friendly and helpful and found us a pontoon mooring.  There is indeed a token washing facility with dryer, so Pat got to work after I had walked to ASDA (10 mins) to get some powder.   These appear quite safe moorings and definitely worth the trip up the short arm to reach them.

Broad Cut Locks - Navigation

We are ahead of schedule, so a slow start this morning.  Shortly after leaving the mooring, the squealing alternator belt reared its head again, so progress really did become slow as the only way to suppress it was to keep the revs more or less at tickover.   Our first two Calder and Hebble Locks were passed without incident.  We got the boat in fine without any gymnastics.  Eventually we arrived outside the Navigation, a rather spartan looking pub with a large untidy looking garden looking onto the river.  There was a gate and fence to keep the patrons safe, although the towpath walk seemed very popular later in the afternoon.  As it was Sunday lunchtime we thought we would go in and see if they did Food.  Seeing a sign on a door marked "Restaurant" we went in.  The interior was in stark contrast - a recently reburbished dining area and helpful staff, a proper pint of John Smith and best of all a carvery (£7.95).  The strange thing though was that there were very few diners.

Later, ater a rest, I had another go at the alternator.  It seems that the belt tightening really relies on two hinge bolts being really tight.  A run was OK, but how about tomorrow?

Wakefield

When we woke the water was mirror like.  By Woodnock Lock the wind was getting up and at the next lock it was troublesome to the extent that I had to tie the TV aerial down on the roof.  Castleford Flood Lock was open and at Woodnock Lock we came up behind a boat just exiting.  This is a deep lock and roping up in the wind was difficult.  Had we known it ws a side fill lock, we could just have sat on the opposite wall to the pedestal and not bothered.  This was the same at the next lock where we joined Myrtle, also destined for the Huddersfield Narrow and the tunnel next Wednesday.  The wind by now was most unpleasant, unimpeded by the open nature of the canal.  At Stanley Ferry we had our last chance to aquire the mysterious Calder and Hebble handspike, allegedly necessary to work the locks.  There was nowhere to moor apart from the water point several hundred yards from the marina.  Reaching the chandlery required some gymnastics to get round the locked pub doors.  The chap in the chandlery said not to waste our money. Just use a mooring pin with the 'D' end.

The visitor moorings at Wakefield are not inspiring.

Castleford

A disturbed night, though not in any nasty way.  The boat bumping while we were asleep at midnight woke Mike who put up the periscope and determined that a large boat must have passed on the main canal as waves were making their way down towards us.   Then at about 1.00am the sound of big engines and a propellor signalled the passing of a large boat by us on the South Yorkshire Navigation followed by the bump.

Up at our normal time we set of for Castleford.  Long straight open sections of the canal were all ours and we didn't see another boat moving until above Whitely Lock where dredging was in progress.  Later we came up behind a spoil barge with its attentdant tug.  Slowly the scenery became more enclosed as the Kellingley Colliery came closer until at Knottingley we found towpaths full of garden flowers and a limestone cutting.  The Ferrybridge flood lock was open and we joined the river section, past the coal wharves of the giant power station and finally though planted greened slag heaps to Castleford.  Shortly after mooring, the oil tanker Rix Phoenix passed us as we sat inside having lunch.  It just seemed to last forever, but no banging around on our moorings this time.  I have deployed the massive fenders.

The New Junction Canal

A very slow start this morning.  Not being in any rush we set off at 8:40am.  The alternator belt was squealing again.  This has been happening intermittetly since leaving Torksey.  Methinks the run down the Trent has stressed it a bit.  However, now it was a problem even at idle revs, always worse in the morning anyway because of the demand of the depleted batteries.  While Pat worked out how to operate Thorne Lock (on a yellow light) I did a quick tighten up of the belt.  No change!  So having worked up the lock and being caught out to find that it is only 61 feet long we then wrestled with the means to operate the swing bridge, finally realising that the key must remain in the lock pedestal all the time.

Our next surprise was to get a red light for the holding tank.  Had we really drunk so much?  Our last pump out was only 6 days ago.  Squealing our way out of the lock we saw a rare wharfside pump-out opportunity at Staniland Marina, so moored up there.  While waiting for that I had another go at the alternator belt, again with no result.  With a very thorough pump-out done (£14.50) we moored opposite and I replaced the belt with our spare.  Result!

Pat then heard some twittering coming from the cratch where we found a fledgling sparrow.  Poor thing couldn't get enough altitude to clear the gunwale.  A helping hand was needed after it had done a tour of the boat, getting ever lower.   With all that out of the way and having only managed half a mile in 2 1/2 hours we set off.

Passing a very respectable looking pub with moorings at Stainforth we soon arrived at Bramwith Lock which had us puzzled because it had two sets of bottom gates, presumably to give an opportunity of use to longer boats. Moreover it was not automated and Pat had not taken the windlass. Turning onto the New Junction Canal one is faced with a succession of swing or lifting bridges, each with its attendant  irritable motorists.  The light relief was a posse of senior cyclists in the most vivid lycra gear who almost piled up as they rounded the corner to find the barriers falling.

Sykehouse Lock was one that all boaters love with the swingbridge in the centre.  Approaching the lock pedestal we could find nowhere to put the key in.  This is because we missed the large sign which read "Approach the bridge pedestal".  There it was.  A separate pedestal with just the key hole.  This enabled us to swing the bridge and until it was done, the lock pedestals were inoperative.  Lots of walking to and fro and a 230 foot long lock at that.

Finding neat moorings at the end of the canal at the junction with the Aire and Calder, we stopped for the night.  A large commercial barge has just passed ahead of us as I write. Better stay sharp tomorrow as we head for Castleford.

Thorne

A leisurely start again.   We did not have a long way to go today and as our first obstacle was the sliding railway bridge I thought it best not to leave too early anyway.   Not that actually that should have made a lot f difference.    We drifted up the canal expecting the bridge to open but it didn't.  No help for it but to moor up and investigate.   Actually, a good idea, as it would allow an opportunity to see how it works.  The bridge was dotted with men in Hi-Vis clothing and hard hats, so clearly some maintenance was going on,so probably we were going to have to interrupt them.  On reaching the deck of the bridge via the towpath gate we could see that the track was up.  Enquiring from the nearest chap how long it would be before we could go through, he replied "Anytime.  You have the right of way.  Go and speak to the signalman".  The signal box was very interesting with pictures of the orignal bridge from which the design was taken.  He told me that the bridge work was really a side issue to a major project to renew foundations on a section of track that was sinking into the marsh.  Millions had been spent on piling and a concrete raft further on.

The picture below shows the trackbed with the concrete base

Our journey was stopped by a series of swing bridges. Some hand worked, but all requiring a key.  One was interlocked with the adjacent level crossing for the railway which adjoins the canal for a substantial part of the way to Thorne.  It was necessary, therefore to get the crossing keeper out of his box to deal with the hinged railway crossing gates before the bridge could be unlocked.  Most of the manual gates had interlocking barriers that needed to be set correctly before the bridge can be turned. Only the large lifting bridge at Wykewell was fully automatic.

Keadby

We rose at 6:00am, our usual time and were moving by 6:55. A call to Cromwell Lock advised the lockie of our approach and the gates were ready for us on arrival. So by 7:55 we were on the tidal river. The high water flow coupled with the falling tide gave us an immediate 6.6mph on 1600 rpm, so we stuck with this. We passed a loading gravel barge very soon after, but otherwise we had the river to ourselves all the way to Torksey. Sunken islands in the river were well signposted, so sticking to the axim of keeping right on left bends and in the middle for right hand bends we had no trouble with shallows. The turning at Torksey was easily identified by a large sign and we joined the lock approach easily. We winded first and then backed onto the transit mooring for our expected 1 hour layover. Pat was anxious to find a shop which Nicholson Guide suggested was near the lock. She returned disappointed. Our guide is 9 years out of date. At the appointed hour we set off again, this time accompanied by a small cruiser and two other narrowboats. The tide was now against us for the first hour, but sticking to our 1600 rpm we were making 3.6 mph. The gravel barge, now fully laden was approaching the lock approach as we emerged and soon overtook everyone creating little wash. Slowly we overtook the two narrowboats and later two or three cruisers came up behind going much faster. After about an hour the tide was clearly on the turn and our ground speed slowly increased to about 6.6 mph, then after Gainsborough maxing out eventually at 8 mph nearing Keadby. I was first in line for the lock which was ready, perhaps lucky, because I failed the Keadby Test big time. Embarassing really because I thought I had it all worked out and it was going well until the last minute and the stern just would not go over resulting in a large bang on the upstream wall. Seemingly the correct way is to gently put the nose on the same wall, reverse back briefly, blow the stern round and then make a clean entrance. Keen to turn the lock round for the two narrowboats behind, we were let out to wait before the swing bridge, before it was opened for all four of us. We are moored on the visitor moorings. A long day!

Newark Nether Lock

The day begain lazily.  No rush.  Phoned Cromwell Lock for advice about timing of the journey to Keadby.  We had decided that in view of our attempt to arrive at Huddersfield on the 19th, and back tracking the dates from there, we should do the Cromwell Lock to Keadby tidal Trent over two days around the 11th to 13th.  Best not get distracted by side trips either on the Fossdyke or Chesterfield Canal.  We can do this another time.  The Lock Keeper at Cromwell sugested differently.  If we could depart Cromwell Lock at 8:15 tomorrow, we could stop at Torksey for and hour to wait for the tide, then continue on and arrive Keadby at 16:15.   From the tide and Lock availability time point, this would be ideal.   So suddenly, instead of a leasurely day arriving at Newark tomorrow, we are now having to get there today.   This is the advantage of a plan with inbuilt recovery time.  We can easily make Newark today.

This we did.  Once past Meadow Lane Lock (in process of being rebuilt) all the locks from now on are Keeper operated.  Holme Lock was ready for us.  At Stoke Bardolph we had to wait for the lock to be turned round.  At Gunthorpe there was a very long half hour plus wait as one of the paddles is damaged aparently and the lock keeper was waiting for opposite direction traffic including a single handed narrowboater.  Things improved timewise after that, Hazelford and Newark Town Lock passed with minimum delay.   Our Nicholson Guide is out of date, so the expected water point above the Town Lock is no more, but we were directed to the floating ponton visitor moorings further down.  There was a small space available there by the water point and a posse waiting, telling us that the mooring had the equivalent of the German towel for a cruiser that was coming.   We explained that we were only there for the water if the cruiser could wait a short while....  In the end, the cruiser went away and we got our water.   Continuing on we thought it best to transit Nether Lock before tomorrow, rather than have unnecessary delay potentials in making Cromwell Lock for our expected locking out.  There is a mooring below the lock for overnight.  It is right beside the East Coast Mainline which crosses the river here.  Many would turn their noses up.  We are train buffs.  No problem, the trains lull us to sleep.

Castle Meadow - Nottingham

Although we didn't suspect it at first, today was a critical day.   There are other critical days that we know of like getting the 60 foot boat into a 57 foot lock, but this one we had overlooked.  There had been a lot of heavy overnight rain it seems.  Our first inkling of trouble was an opposite direction boater at Derwent Mouth Lock telling us that the River Soar was closed and the River Trent on yellow boards.  Our belief was that most of the rain had been to the east, so the Trent catchment would have escaped.  This was probably true, but we had overlooked the contribution of the Soar.  Sawley Flood lock was closed, but we certainly got there quickly.  Reaching Sawley we determined that the mooring arrangements for the pumpout were no good for us, so moored up for lunch opposite.   We then carried on. The lock keeper at Sawley Lock advised that we could certainly get into the Cranfleet Cut but he had no firm details about the Trent below there.   As it turned out, the river was on orange boards, so not actually closed.  Boats coming up river were struggling a bit, but going down river proved to be no problem except for the noticable pull of the Beeston Weir when we got towards the lock.   Once through, on the Beeston Cut we were sure now of reaching Nottingham.  Our last but one duty was to get a pumpout.  Our last chance was at Castle Marina for which we had to negotiate a tight narrow entrance and then hover for the pontoon to be vacated.  At least we got a good clean job with adequate flush unlike the BW machines which cut out too soon.  With the ship's bowels now emptied, we rejoined the canal and found a pretty mooring at Castle Meadow.  The last duty?  A visit to Sainsbury!

Willington

We must be getting lazier.  7:15 departure this morning. We were chased down the first few locks by another boat - handy as the lock operative was very helpful in closing our exit gates for us. The river section below Alrewas was quiet, "normal levels" the board said. At Shobnal Marina, we reversed into the entrance to refuel.  97 litres from Harefield although not filled to the actual brim. 64p/l and £1.10.  All in all a very uneventful cruise really with the highlight mooring up at Willington in front of a row of benches full of gongoozlers.  I asked them how many marks out of ten and was told "Quite good so far", but with the polite observation that I had just successfully moored right opposite the winding hole.

Alrewas

This morning it was raining hard, so we were a little slower getting the boat ready for today's leg.  However, by 6:50 it had stopped.  Pat went to get a morning paper and we left the moorings at 7:12.  As usual with early starts we met only one or two boats until we reached Huddlesford Junction.  Then opposite direction traffic came in waves.  At Fradley Junction a passing towpath walker opened the swing bridge for us and we counted ourselves lucky that we were just third in line for the first lock down.  Opposite direction boats meant plenty of help for the lock, but by the next lock we had an extra boat - a day hire from Barton Turns.  GRadually, though, with the next three locks the queue got smaller.  There were moorings at Alrewas and we tied up just in front of the hire boat. The occupants had already left.  Fifteen minutes later it was adrift.  With another neighbouring boater it was recovered and made secure.  Chatting with our neighbour it turned out that they were in trouble with water in the fuel, had had to call out an engineer three times and were now waiting for the injectors to be returned after cleaning.  Their last fuel was obtained at Shardlow.  It turned out to be a lovely warm afternoon with sunshine.  I took the opportunity to remove some rope from the prop, rub a bit of brass and prepare the Cobb barbecue for baked potatoes and chicken.

Fazeley

There had been rain overnight, but although the clouds looked very threatening, the day passed with only a few light showers.   We arrved at Curdworth Top Lock and were reminded how attractive they are.   The grass cut like a lawn, flowers at every lock and good well maintained lock landings.  The threat of rain must have kept the boaters off the cut because we passed only one moving boat by Fazeley.  We turned up our nose at a mooring by the Watling Sreet Bridge and were just about to negotiate the bridgehole when an opposite direction boat appeared.  So we backed into the mooring space to let them pass and then it seemed a shame to move.   Fortunately a boat behind had only stopped for shoppig and moved off leaving us a ring and a bollard.

Minworth

Today we continue on our journey north. However, we started later than usual as Pat needed to visit the post office and it didn't open until 9:00 am.  We needed water so the slow fill was started while she was away.  Aidan, who had volunteered yet again to help us down the three lock flights to the Minworth "Boat" pub arrived just as the tank was full and Pat returned.  A later start was actually helpful as we had missed the early rush hour of three boats going down and had the flight to ourselves with just one boat coming the other way on Farmers Bridge.  Ashton flight was passed quickly and we reached the bottom 2 hours 45 minutes from Cambrian Wharf. Aidan stayed with us, giving a description of the local canalside scene as we went.  The now shrunken Dunlop factory, Jaguar and SU carburettors to name but a few. The mooring at the "Boat" is considered safe. Good to have the pub close by.  We retired there on arrival for a few beers and as good as his word Aidan reappeared with some carrots and potatoes from his allotment.  Delicious and definitely beyond the call of duty.

Cambrian Wharf

The boat is still at Cambrian Wharf.  Our Australian Cricket fan relatives have departed; they only had tickets for two days, but have enjoyed Birmingham.  Pat returns today after a sojourn at home and it is raining hard as I write this.  The leg injured more than a week ago is still painful, but only when standing at first, I guess due to the sudden pressure change.  It needs to be kept elevated.  So we might make a move on Monday on our journey north.

Birmingham - Cambrian Wharf

We left our overnight mooring 5 minutes early at 06:55.   Our expectations of a slow difficult journey through the Solihull cuttings fighting through rubbishh were unrealised.   No problems at all, so there have obviously been some work done there since our last visit.   Consequently we were a little earlier than expected reaching Camp Hill at 9:20.   We moored up by the modern service block and began taking on water.   While the tank was filling we had a look at the facilities which are very clean and tidy with lots of helpful tourist information leaflets.   We didn't look in the laundry room.   Apparently, we were informed later, had we done so we would have found that the washing machine is not there, possibly stolen.  We missed our anticipated rendezvous with Aidan, a local historian, so carried on regardless.   It took us 3-1/2 hours to get to Cambrian Wharf where he was waiting.   One of the crew of a following boat helped us get started at Camp Hill by closing bottom gates as I was ostensibly single handed, Pat having gone ahead setting the next lock.   A bunch of locals on a bike tour, following a demonstration of how the lock works helped at the third and then we were so far ahead of the following boat that we closed our own gates.      At the bottom of Farmers Bridge flight the expected gaggle of nearby homeless hostel residents greeted us with a cheerful "Welcome to Birmingham" and one offered to help Pat through the first lock for the price of a cup of tea.   This lass, sleeping rough, has just lost her boyfriend 3 days before.  He had fallen in the canal, high on drugs, and drowned.  All the locks on the flight, bar one leaky, were in our favour.   We were guided to an available pontoon where Aidan was waiting.  A welcome visit and a few pints at the Prince of Wales nearby.  A real pub where we received a warm welcome.

Catherine de Barnes

We are at Catherine de Barnes and should be at Camp Hill Locks tomorrow at about 9:30.    Hopefully the weather will hold off until the afternoon.

We had a very smooth climb up the remaining 19 locks of the Hatton flight in 2 hrs 45 mins.  One of the Norwegian crew of an opposite direction boat asked why Pat wanted their offside bottom gate closed when they left the lock ahead of us. Surely it will only open again when you go into the lock".  "No!"; said the english group leader. "It won't  They have an english boat!"

Today was warm and sunny with scattered cloud, but still that chilly wind persists.  Knowle Locks are so exposed and the boat blows around at the most inconvenient times.  Ever onwards arriving Catherine de Barnes at 14:15.