Floating about: Day 16

We’d decided to have a non-moving day today, so we’re in no rush to get up.  It was still quite sunny though.  We needed shopping, so walked to Morrison’s.  It’s a bit further from this part of the canal to the shops, but still only about 15 minutes walk.  We went via the next bridge, which has a fence and a sort of style arrangement at the top of the steps, which we’ve not seen before.

I’ve also been doing some planning for future podcast episodes, and setting up interviews.  In the afternoon I walked down to the junction and along to King’s Lock, to see the start of the section that’s been closed for several weeks.  The water was very low, with all the permanently moored boats out of the water.

We’ve also been having a problem with the gas hob not burning properly, and Paul from Floating Holidays down at Middlewich Wharf, who’s gas registered, came to have a look.  It seems it’s just that the hob is over 20 years old, and various bits are corroded.  We’ve ordered a new one, but it might be a week before it arrives.

0 miles, 0 locks.   (90 miles, 20 locks)

Floating about: Day 15

Sunny again this morning, and we set off at 8.30.  We stopped again shortly afterwards at the service block, where we filled the water tank and got some washing on, leaving there on the dot of 9.  The next section is quite familiar now, going through Marbury woods, along Marston New Cut, and past the Lion Salt Works.  As we weaved our way through the boats at Wincham Wharf, I was just thinking that I’d never seen a train go over the railway bridge, when one did: Manchester Piccadilly to Chester.

The chemical works looks even more industrial in this direction, probably because so many pipes are visible.

As we approached Oakwood Marina, one of their day boats had just set off and come through the bridge.  Then for some reason it veered across the canal right in front of us and hit the bank.  It took him a few moments to sort himself out from being across the canal, and we snuck round him.  The tea room at the marina was busy, and so was their camping field, which borders the next, larger, flash.

Bramble Cuttings had the full complement of three boats moored, so we couldn’t have stopped there even if we’d wanted to.  As we approached Croxton Aqueduct, a boat looked as if it was getting ready to set off, and asked if we were going up Big Lock and could he come with us?  We were, and he did.

A hire boat had just come down, and said the pound above was very low and they’d been told to stay in the middle.  We’d originally planned to stop by the park, have lunch, and get some shopping.  But having seen how low the pound was we thought it might be better to go up the next locks as well.  It was a real struggle to get through the bridge hole on the corner, and the Andersen hire boats were on a bit of a tilt.  A small boat had come out of the bottom lock of the Middlewich three, so we couldn’t go in.  The problem was that the pound above was about two feet down.

When the lock was full I gingerly took the boat forward, but couldn’t get over the cill.  I reversed back into the lock and Adrian went to run some more water down.  I waited until the level had gone up by a couple of courses of bricks, and could then get out.  Of course running water hadn’t done the pound above any favours, so that one was also taken very carefully.  Even above the locks, the hire boats (from the somewhat ironically names Floating Holidays) were aground at the edges.

Adrian had walked up to the junction, where a boat had just come down Wardle Lock.  It meant he could just open the gates and I could go straight in.  He also took a little video of me making the sharp turn under the junction bridge.

We moored a couple of bridges along the Middlewich Arm.  It was nearly 2pm, so lunch was a bit late.  We chose a spot with a bit of shade.  However, we were pleased we made the decision to return to the land of reasonable water sooner rather than later.  Big Lock and the Middlewich Locks are due to close on Thursday, but the water situation is only likely to have got worse by then.

The antibiotics I’m on have a side effect of making you susceptible to sunburn — so I’ve been liberally applying sun screen.  However, my hands have still got really burned and are quite painful.  This afternoon a few Andersen hire boats have been past, one of whom came into the side of us when he inexplicably slammed the boat into reverse, and then went on to hit the next boat along too.  I popped out to make sure they were ok, and gave them a few pointers.  With a whole load of boats coming up Wardle Lock, the level here is now a bit lower than it was, but hopefully some of them will be going up Stanthorne Lock as well this afternoon to send come water down.

10 miles, 5 locks.  (90 miles, 20 locks)

Northern Exposure: Day 10

It’s been a lovely sunny day today, and even a little bit warm in the sunshine.  We set off about 8.15 straight into the Hassall Green Locks.  The lower of the two has the M6 only yards away; I always look out for this lock from the motorway — if you’re going south, it’s not far from Sandbach services.

The next bridge could hardly be more different from the M6 bridge just a couple of hundred yards behind.

We had a good road down the locks, with almost all of them in our favour.  Only the non duplicated one, number 62, was completely empty.  The bottom lock at Wheelock is overlooked by a pretty cottage.

There’s a three mile section before the next lock, and hundreds of new houses have been built along the canal.  When we got to the lock, a boat was just coming out — and the same thing happened at the next one.  It’s been good to see a few boats on the move, because the past couple of days it’s felt as if we were pretty much on our own on the system, with the country in the grip of coronavirus fears.  Several of the boats have been hire boats, so it seems other people are having normal holidays too.

On the approach to King’s Lock, a boat drifted out in front of us and was soon right across the canal.

Adrian jumped off to pull it back in, and it turned out there was actually someone on board.  It was a shared ownership boat, and there was a tale of a boater being rushed to hospital and the boat being secured in a hurry.  Adrian and a chap from another boat tied it to rings rather than pins, so at least it’s now properly secure.  Once that was done we went straight into King’s Lock as a boat had just come up.

We found another boat coming up the top of the three Middlewich locks too, which also meant the middle one, which is round a ninety degree bend, was also in our favour.  We moored up by the park and had a lateish lunch, before walking to a supermarket for some food for the next few days.  There were a few signs of panic buying, with no pasta or loo rolls to be seen, not that we needed any.

We’ve had various interesting emails today: updates on stoppages that we’re interested in, and news that the Crick Boat Show has been postponed — it might happen later in the year, apparently.  A number of boats have been past, and one of them turned out to be the fuel boat, Halsall, so we flagged down Lee and filled up with diesel and got another couple of bags of coal.

8 miles, 18 locks.  (132 miles, 94 locks)