The Final Countdown: Day 1

We are now heading south, on what is in all likelihood our last major trip before we get our new boat.  We’ve spent so much of this season around the Nantwich area it seemed quite emotional as we set off from Hurleston Junction.

When we got to Nantwich we stopped on the water point.  There was a boat already there, but there was room to pull in ahead of him, and when he’d finished our hose pipe even reached the tank (although it was unwound to the max).  I walked down to the chandlery, but they were out of bags of logs, which was less than ideal.  The moorings in Nantwich were much quieter than of late, but then we are two thirds of the way through October.  At times it rained, sometimes just drizzle, other times more persistent, but every now and then the sun tried to come out.

We’d passed a few boats going the other way, and as we approached the Hack Green Locks a boat was just coming out the bottom one.  They left the gates open for us, so I swung the stern in towards the towpath so Adrian could jump off, and went straight in.  There was another boat waiting above, and as we rose another boat came down the top lock and also left the gates for us.

It meant we fairly flew through the locks, and we were soon mooring up at Coole Pilate.  Our plan actually had us at Audlem, but we like it here and Adrian has a call to do and we know the signal is good.  There was only one other boat here.  Just after we moored, there was some heavy rain, but during the afternoon the sun has been out and it’s been much better than expected.  I’ve done a bit of baking, and Adrian had been doing some of his charity duties.

6 miles, 2 locks.

Chester again: Day 10

We’ve moored up three times today, and ended up exactly where we started.  And I do mean exactly, because we’re on the same rings, just facing the other way.  We were in no rush this morning, and eventually set off bound for Audlem.  We then turned around at the winding hole before the locks and moored in the first available space, before taking a walk up into the village where we mooched around the shops and bought a couple of things.

We set off again on our return, and went just the short distance to the piling through Bridge 80.  We had lunch, then walked over the bridge to the back entrance to OverWater Marina.  We were going there to have a chat with Andy Russell, who’ll be doing our sign writing.  We found him outside the paint shed, where he’s repainting a couple of boats for BCBM, and had a chat about colours and style, shading and scrolls.  To get back, we walked the other way round the marina, which included going over the bridge over the entrance.

The mobile signal is much better at Coole Pilate, and Adrian has an online meeting this evening, so we set off again for another short hop.  Bridge 82 has obviously had plenty of damage over the years, and the repairs show very clearly.

Lots of the boats on these moorings have changed since this morning, but the space we’d left a few hours earlier was still free so we went back into it.  Moored a little further back were the people who were breasted up against us at the Crick Show in May, so we went to have a chat and find out what they’d been doing since then.

4 miles, 0 locks.  (48 miles, 24 locks)

Chester again: Day 9

Adrian had a hair cut booked in Nantwich at 9.30, so headed off for that — while I followed about half an hour later.  We met up and went to Morrison’s for a top up shop.  It meant we didn’t leave our moorings until around 11.  We headed south out of Nantwich, for once going past the winding hole!  It’s a pleasant but unremarkable journey to the two Hack Green Locks, where a boat was just about to emerge from the bottom one.  There were more boats coming down, so we had people waiting to help us at both.

There were loads of boats moored at the Hack Green moorings that we’d had to ourselves a couple of months ago, but our intention was to carry on a little further to Coole Pilate.  There was plenty of room, and we’ve stopped in a very similar place to last time.  Yesterday I’d made some spiced roasted butternut squash soup, so we had that for lunch, then popped out for a walk to get our steps up.  It’s been really quite sunny this afternoon, and fairly warm with it.

3 miles, 2 locks. (44 miles, 24 locks)

Floating about: Day 2

A heatwave was forecast for today, but to be honest it didn’t look much like it first thing, with heavy cloud and then a shower or two of rain.  We had booked tickets for the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, just back along the canal — as we’ve passed this way many times but never been to have a look.  So mid morning we walked back along the towpath to the correct bridge, and then just two minutes up the lane.

The site had been an RAF radar station for decades, but throughout the 1980s and into the early 90s it was used as a nuclear bunker, and would have been the regional centre for government had there been a nuclear attack.  There’s all sorts of tech, which of course now looks hopelessly out of date, which would have been used to keep things going in the event of Armageddon.

A couple of rooms of particular interest to me were the BBC office and studio, with a desk which clearly came from Radio Shropshire.

I used to work with the much-missed Radio 4 announcer, Peter Donaldson, and one of his claims to fame was that he’d recorded a load of announcements which would have been broadcast in the event of a nuclear war.

We had very nice toasted sandwiches in the NAAFI canteen (mine was cheese and Marmite!) and then wandered back to the boat.  As soon as we left the underground complex we realised it had got very warm outside, and it has continued all afternoon.  There has been a half-hearted attempt at a shower, and it was actually quite nice being out in it.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (6 miles, 2 locks)

Floating about: Day 1

Another lovely sunny morning, and we set off just before 9, heading south and with exciting plans to go beyond Nantwich!  (Not far beyond though, so maybe not that exciting).  A bit chunk of the journey has to be done on tickover because of all the moored boats.  As we reached Nantwich, a hire boat was just coming off the water point, which was a welcome sight as we wanted to go onto it.  

We filled the tank, got the washing machine going, and got rid of rubbish and recycling.  While we were there, a woman came along on a tiny Springer, spun it round in the width of the canal, and moored in front of us.  She must never need a winding hole.  Before long we were on our way again, going over the aqueduct.

There were loads of spaces on the moorings beyond the aqueduct, which is unusual for Nantwich.  We continued south, with quite a few boats coming the other way.  When we got to the Hack Green Locks, a couple of boats had recently come down and another was on the way, so we just had a very short wait until they emerged and we could go in.

There was another boat waiting to come down the bottom lock and another coming down the top one, so we could go straight into that one too and there were two boats waiting at the top, with more approaching.  It all meant we had a very quick passage through the pair of locks.  On the moorings at the top, there’s a CRT flat that gives every indication of having been there for some time.

We carried on to moor at Coole Pilate, where we haven’t stopped since our Debdale days, 2009 in fact.  As we moored up, a swan came to inspect the bow, then came along to the stern as I tied that end.  Since then, he’s also aggressively demanded food from the side hatch.

This afternoon, Adrian has had a call, and I’ve been sitting out on the towpath reading.

6 miles, 2 locks.