UK Canals - Journey reports

The IWA National Festival

I'm a bit late writing this up, but time is needed for my brain to reflect on what was an enjoyable weekend.   Yes!  There are those who grumble about the distance of moorings from the event itself, but I realise now, after Burton-on-Trent, that this is to be expected and infact enjoyed the walk two or three times a day.  I felt fitter as a result.   Thanks to the advice and help of our local harbourmaster, we moored stern to stern with our neighbour, Omega, and getting dogs and Grannie on and off was not too much of a problem - they were unscheduled guests as it happens.   I had volunteered for duty and was assigned as a cashier for three three hour stints.  This was fun as well as useful.   There was always experienced help at hand for the difficult customers and the most taxing thing about it was the question of working out the cost of multiple tickets with full price and concessions - and then giving the right change.   Steamboat President was of course in attendance as always.   We had already had a chance meeting.   The picture was taken as the boat cruised up the main Bridgewater Canal to Keckwick Bridge to carry the Mayor and other dignitories back for the official opening.  (Click to enlarge).   The trade was well represented, some for the first time and there was plenty of entertainment on hand all day for the visitors.   It's just a pity that the weather on Monday morning was bad, but by the afternoon the sun was out and numbers picked up.   Highlight for me was the horse boating harnessing demonstration by Sue Day and her presentation in the Festival Theatre late on Monday.   The Horseboating Society was well represented by both Queenie and Bonnie, the horses, and the boat "Maria" with her cargo of limestone loaded at Bugsworth.   I think it was Sue's lecture that persuaded me to visit Bugsworth this trip.

Anderton Boat Lift

We awoke to an overcast windy looking sky after overnight rain.  Today's task was to find a lauderette - and there was one listed at the Anderton BW Services.   By the time we got there it was raining heavily, I was soaked through, not having put on the heavy weather gear in the first place.  The mooring was occupied by a boat taking water.  So we breasted up and waited a few moments to finish, and then moored up in front of the pump out machine.   The washing machine was flagged "out of order".  So - went below and put on the full wet weather gear and a change of clothes, which instantly caused the rain to cease.  It always does!   I ran the pump out and filled the water tank, maybe our last fill before the festival and we moved on looking for a mooring.  We found one just before the Anderton Lift and the sun came out.   After lunch we strolled up to the bridge overlooking the lift access arm and was surprised to see steam boat President with its butty appear out of the lift covered of course with its "hangers on" (literally of course).   The two boats, breasted up, started to emerge from the bridge.  A blast on its whistle is meant to mean "All other boats keep out of the way - this is President coming", but the oldtimer on "Druid" (Warship Class the nameplate says) was having none of it and stood his ground.  Picture, taken from the bridge, by mobile phone, so apologies for quality.   President gave way and continued to the winding hole and turned.      I must say that I found the lift, and visitor centre excellent.   I didn't realise that the control centre is in the visitor centre itself and not in the little hut on the top, and how modern and sophisticated it is.   The whole area is beautifully landscaped and the old weights from the 1908 conversion made up as a maze in the grounds.  Amazingly, we could have been accommodated in the lift today, but consultation with the crew turned the offer down, so we will have to keep a visit to the River Weaver for another day.   It now looks as if we will reach the festival site a day early, unless we can find another mooring site on the way tomorrow.

Middlewich

We left Wheelock late, nearly 9 am.   Well it was only a few miles to our next destination and only a few locks.   However, after reaching Elton Moss Bridge we caught up behind an incredibly slow boat, so slow that I had to go into neutral at times to keep pace.   Then it ran aground briefly, slowing us further - not that we were in any hurry of course.   Anyway, by the time we reached Crows Nest Lock 67 we he was at the head of a queue of six boats, and for the next 4 locks we hit the up traffic taking locks ahead of us, so it was midday when we reached the outskirts of Middlewich.   I had, some weeks ago, downloaded supermarket info from the Narrowboatworld web site and this informed us that there was a good TESCO store to be found from bridge Cledford Bridge 168.   Nicholsons lists the bridge as 166, but reassured by the road names we found concurring with the directions, we headed off, only to find that it was only a TESCO Express, and of little use to the sophisticated culinary needs of the head chef.   Plan B was to try the Somerfield supermarket accessed from below bridge 172, but it took us about 3 hours to get there.  Firstly, traffic at the junction was milling around, secondly I found DIESEL at 41p/litre at King's Lock Boatyard too good the turn down, and thirdly there was a long queue at the three locks not helped by a dead shell being bow-hauled though the locks.    Somerfield was definitely the better of the two and we settled in for the night.    Talking of vegetation growing in lock gates, I couldn't resist a photo of this tree (a beech I think) growing in the gate of lock 68. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Barlaston

To our surprise, there were quite a few boats moving when we set off at 7:30.   So we were second in the queue at the first lock.   At Haywood Junction the reason was apparent, all the hire boats returning.   However, the queues persisted from then on, so progress was slow.   At Stone, Pat & Gemma went shopping while Chloe and I continued up the flight watched, of course, by countless gongoozlers.  At Meaford we were following a single handed boater - a teacher on a six week cruise - so she went ahead for him and we made excellent time with little coming the other way.   Barlaston was the chosen site for our night mooring today.   It is within reasonable timing for Gemma to catch her train home tomorrow morning.   Then we will have to slow down to reach Preston Brook on Friday.

Wolesey

A long day finishing off the Coventry Canal, Fradley at 13:00 and on through Rugeley to a rural mooring for overnight at Wolesey.    A hot day in the end, with a crowd of purposeless teenagers at the sharp corner by the aqueduct over the Trent.   They were throwing stones at the BW notice on the otherside of the canal, but not seemingly at boats.  We escaped unscathed for which I am glad, otherwise I would have had to have gone to the enormous and possible fruitless task of getting a crime number from the local plod, before reporting it all over again on the BW form.   Supper in house again with a delicious lasagne and salad with real plum pie for afters.   Mouthwatering!

Polesworth

Given that we have to be in Stoke-on-Trent early on Sunday there is some pressure to speed up progress.   So we left our overnight moorings at 7:00hrs and pressed on.   It is, however, difficult to make any real speed over 3 mph, so progress was slow.   Nowhere near as slow as Atherstone locks.   We joined a queue of two boats at the top, interlaced by upcoming boats.   The locks empty fast enough, but filling is as slow as I remember from our last visit.   There were so many upcoming boats that closing gates was largely unnecessary.   This placed us at the bottom at about 15:30 and with a decision as to how far to go before finding an overnight mooring.   I did not want to stop in Tamworth and it seemd unlikely that we would make Hopwas, so Polesworth it was.   Good moorings there.   We have two questions today like: Why are bridge holes always on bends? (We have had several emergency stops today);  Why do BW yards look so derelict? (These appear as prime sites for BW Customer service bases) 

Braunston

Lovely weather today.   After the initial cruise to the bottom of Buckby flight we met an almost constant stream of opposite diection boats, so that at pretty well every lock we were waiting.  We stopped at the top for lunch at the New Inn.   Seemingly there had been a death there last Friday.  Apparently after a fight on the lockside, the victim fell in the lock not to re-emerge alive.   Continuing on we passed 4 boats in the tunnel and again down the Braunston flight a continuous stream of boats going south.   Moorings at Braunston were empty.   A raiding party has been sent out to investigate the pub scene.

Yardley Gobion

A very leisurely journey today.  We left Great Linton early, visited TESCO at Wolverton and picked up crew as planned.   Then at tickover to Cosgrove where the water tank was filled, the lock negotiated and the Barley Mow pub visiyed for lunch.  A slow ride to the moorings at Yardley Gobion opposite Baxters Boat Services and two visits to The Coffee Pot pub in the village.  Supper on board was salmon rosti, fillet steak with orange and madeira sauce, saute potatoes and vegetables, and cholate fondants with ice cream.  Several bottles of wine.   Well we push the boat out for our guests!  Oh dear!

Great Linford Manor

This afternoon we managed to get plum position on the Great Linford Manor Moorings - a managed mooring part of Milton Keynes Parks Trust.   The view is magnificent across neat lawns, down an avenue of trees to the Nags Head pub.   I'll try and publish some photos later, but uploading via GPRS is a pain.

Grove Lock

I had a quick look around the BW yard to see if pump out facilities are there.   In a word, No!   The office is now vacated, but the yard itself seems operational still.  I would say a bit of development in customer facilites here might be a good thing.   Not that we are desperate yet.   So we continued out meanderings down the hill and arrived at Grove Lock at lunch time.   There is a nice bit of new mooring here above the lock with space for two or three boats, one space occupied by a certain nb Two Hoots which was there last time we passed.   I expect the chap has paid for a permanent mooring, but there are no signs.   We had the unusual experience of lunch on the grass bank, in the sunshine, after which I put a bit of black on the gunwale.   Looks much better now.  In the evening we patronised Grove Lock pub-restaurant.   More a restaurant than a pub, from recent beginnings when the building was aquired from BW and renovated it seems to be doing very well for business now.  Interesting really because it appears to be in the back of beyond from a road perspective, so little passing trade I suspect.

Marsworth

Coming down Marsworth flight this afternoon the locks were against us.  So flush with crew, Pat volunteered to walk down and set one lock at a time ahead for us whilst Chloe worked the locks leaving me being bored at the helm.  Halfway down, lock 42 is at a sharp angle, thus invisible from the lock above.  I had just entered the lock above and Chloe had just started draining the lock when a woman appeared at "our" bottom gate and a boat appeared to shoot out of this invisble lock below coming to a screeching halt on the corner finding the lock against it.  Chloe then gets a mouthfull of abuse from this woman saying "Tell that friend of yours to look properly before wasting a lockfull of water". I found out later that this was a mild rebuke in comparison to what Pat had had to endure as the two had passed at the lock below.
Quite apart from the rudeness, was she right to say that we had "wasted a lockful of water"?  My contention is that it makes no difference where or how the boat's paths cross.   A boat takes a lockful of water with it on its journey along the canal when descending, so if we did waste water it was by filling the top lock and not waiting for an upcoming boat to do it for us.  Meeting a boat coming the other way is irrelevant IMHO.

No problem mooring up at the bottom of the flight and very little traffic passed us after 3pm.  Whilst preparing supper later on we heard a bang from the boat in front and saw a drop of water rise up to land on the boat.  Curious we went forward to see a man climbing out of the canal.   He was too embarrassed to look at us, in spite of our expressions of concern.  He must have hurt himself, though, to have made the bang, but didn't appear to be injured.   His partner came to the rescue.

Berkhamsted

A very slow start this morning - we left Hunton Bridge at 08:00 having done some housework sorting out the store cupboard. Dawdling along, doing the locks the slow way, we got to Apsley at 10:10 where Pat went shopping and I filled the water tank. We gave two overtaking boats a head start and then continued on to Winkwell for Diesel. 48p per litre. They had just had a new delivery of £4000 worth. I asked them what the plans are likely to be come the end of red diesel and they had no idea and really didn't seem to have given the problem much thought. Stopped at Winkwell for lunch then on to Berhamsted. No problems. One thing that has struck us is the paucity of traffic. The Apsley moorings were empty and we must have passed less that a dozen boats opposite direction. We are moored nearly outside the Crystal Palace pub. Quite a bit of noise from the railway line here, but it doesn't usually bother us much. It has been quite a hot day. Much discussion about how to take two days to get to Leighton Buzzard. Perhaps we'll stop for the night at the bottom of Marsworth. Stopping early does at least give me a chance to do the boat maintenance - today I cleaned the brass. Rain now guaranteed.

Start of cruise To National Festival.

It will be a slow start. We have 4 days to get to WOLVERTON then the same to rugby. So tonight hunton bridge.