Home alone: Day 1

Adrian is spending a few days down south seeing various family and friends; he left about 7 this morning to get on the road.  I have a few boat jobs to do.  This morning, I untied, went along to the winding hole, and came back to exactly the same spot.  It all took about 40 minutes, which also helped put some juice back in the batteries.

After lunch, I walked down to Nantwich Station, as I was seeing someone in Whitchurch for a podcast thing.  There’s a little two-coach train that shuttles back and forth between Crewe and Shrewsbury.

When I was dropped back at the station I had a bit of time before the train was due so went for a look at the old Joyce clock makers building.  It’s now the home of Trevanion Auctioneers.

It was a much nicer train on the way back, and as it didn’t stop at Wrenbury only took 9 minutes.

1 mile, 0 locks.

October Braidbar visit

On Saturday, we moved the car close to the Nantwich embankment so it was ready for today’s trip to Braidbar.  We left about 8.15, and it was about an hour and a quarter’s drive.  There’s a full report on what’s been going on with the build of Kingley Vale on the NBKV blog.

On the way back we stopped at Morrison’s for a top up shop while we had the car with us.  Then we still needed a lot of steps for the day, so we walked along the canal and down to the railway level crossing — and as I still needed more I headed off the other way and explored the footpath across the fields from Bridge 96.

Chester again: Day 13

Adrian’s birthday today, so there were presents and a limited number of cards; now we’re living on board, there’s nowhere to send them to!  It was also very foggy, and hadn’t cleared all day.

We didn’t want to get to Nantwich too early in case people hadn’t left yet, so we set off around 10 into the murk.

In fact there were loads of spaces on the moorings, so we picked a convenient one just over the aqueduct.  We’d booked lunch out, so walked into town, to Nine Mill Street.

The Sunday roasts were excellent, and as I’d put it note on the booking, a little extra turned up at the end.

We walked back through the park and the residential area were explored the other day.

2 miles, 0 locks.  (55 miles, 26 locks)

Chester again: Day 11

We were re-tracing our steps from a couple of days ago today, leaving our lovely moorings at Coole Pilate and heading back into Nantwich.  The two locks at Hack Green both needed a top up, but were polished off pretty quickly and we were back on the embankment overlooking the rooftops by mid morning.  Once moored up, I got the bucket out and washed the roof of the boat, a job that badly needed doing.

After lunch we had a walk through part of Nantwich we’ve not been to before, mostly residential, with one or two much older houses.  This turns out to be the only photo I have taken all day.

This afternoon I have made another podcast for release in a fortnight’s time.  One came out today, which even though I do say so myself, I think is quite fascinating.  It looks at the way water is brought down the Llangollen Canal to Hurleston Reservoir, and then becomes drinking water for the people of Crewe and Nantwich.  Have a listen here.

3 miles, 2 locks.  (51 miles, 26 locks)

Chester again: Day 8

Another quite long day, by our new standards.  We set off about 8.30, with Adrian walking up to set Wharton’s Lock.

The trees are suddenly looking very autumnal, with the leaves changing colour.

There was a boat coming down Beeston Iron Lock, and it didn’t seem so difficult today to get the lock to level as we rose.  As we went up Beeston Stone Lock, a boat arrived at the top so we could leave the gate open.

At Tilstone Lock, there were two more boats to come down, so we had help.  Both were on a one way hire from Nantwich to Anderson, and were doing Chester as a side trip.  They were planning to be in Chester this evening, back to Barbridge tomorrow, and then Anderson on Thursday evening.  It all sounded very rushed to us!  As we approached Bunbury Staircase Locks, there were lots of Anglo Welsh boats in.

As we went up the lock, I popped into the shop and bought a couple of bags of coal.  We stuck them on the roof until we were near the top of the upper lock, when they could be moved into the well deck.  Yet another boat then arrived to go down.  We stopped at the services at Calverley to catch up with washing and top up the tank, and it didn’t take long given that we’d also filled up yesterday.  A boat passed us there, and there were three more going the other way once we set off again.  After that is pass straight past the junctions at Barbridge and Hurleston, and past the entrance to the basin at Nantwich.

Nantwich was very busy, so we ended up round the corner past the aqueduct.  There have been quite a few boats past during the afternoon.

10 miles, 6 locks.  (41 miles, 22 locks)

Welsh waters: Day 29

A beautiful autumnal morning, with mist over the fields and the water, and the sun breaking through.

We set off from Baddiley a little after 8.30 and were soon at the two Swanley Locks, where we met boats coming up at both of them.  Then we stopped at Swanley Bridge Marina for diesel; the price went up the other day to 95p basic, but that’s still reasonable — and there’s a pump on the canal frontage so it’s easy to get to.  It’s self service, then you just go into the office to pay.

The next stop was before Bridge 1, from where we walked up to our friends, Billy and Sheila, for a coffee and to pick up a parcel we had delivered there.  Back at the boat we had lunch, then headed for Hurleston Locks.  A boat had just come up and there were four volunteer lock keepers on duty.

With the locks being set ahead, we made rapid progress down, and exactly 20 minutes later we were leaving the bottom lock.

We carried on to Nantwich, which seemed really busy — so where there was a suitable space just past the aqueduct we grabbed it rather than going to turn around first.  We then tacked the job of getting the old headlight and horn off the cratch board, and installing the new LED one (which was the package we’d just picked up).  It doesn’t really have the look, but it will certainly light up tunnels.  We also walked up to the chandlery to get a new chimney, as the current one has massive holes in the inner skin, so is depositing tar on the roof.

6 miles, 6 locks.  (114 miles, 58 locks)

Floating about: Day 21

Another sunny start with the promise of rain later.  We headed into town this morning, as Adrian needed to pick up an order from M&S and a prescription from a pharmacy.  The food festival stalls were just getting going, but a lot weren’t yet open.  We did a bit of shopping for the next few days, and then lugged the rather heavy bags back to the boat.  There had been one of two very light showers, but nothing that actually made anything wet.  But then we wanted to get the bedding washed at the laundrette at the marina, and as we walked up there it threw it down — although further away there were blue skies.

The laundrette was quite busy, and I liked their special basket for mislaid socks.

Adrian went for a coffee in the cafe next door, while I returned to the boat to edit some more interviews and put together the next podcast.  At various times it rained really heavily, and then a little while later the sun would be out.  Miraculously, Adrian managed to walk back from the marina without getting wet.

This afternoon I have finished and scheduled an extra podcast episode which will be out on Friday, and then we went for a walk along the canal to complete our steps.  There will soon be a chicken put in the oven to roast.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (104 miles, 23 locks)

Floating about: Day 20

The weather forecast for today had been pretty bad, but we woke up to bright sunshine.  I had an interview to do for a podcast, and then we walked down to where the car was and headed up to Chester to see my dad.  He’d had a bit of a fall yesterday, so we wanted to check on him, and also took him out for lunch.  We went to the Okells garden centre cafe, where we met up with my sister and nieces, and had a very nice bubble and squeak.

My sister took my dad back to his flat, and was then going to buy school supplies, because it’s back to school next week.  We returned to Nantwich, put the car back in its place, and walked down the towpath to the boat.  At Bridge 93 I noticed a footpath sign I’d not noticed from the boat before, with finger posts in all directions.

The forecast had improved, but it was still supposed to be raining this afternoon, but we managed to get back with only the merest hint of rain in the air; it didn’t properly start raining until we were back at the boat.  As I keep saying, we need rain but even when it’s forecast it seldom seems to come to much.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (104 miles, 23 locks)

Floating about: Day 19

We had a really nice evening last night.  We’d walked up to our friends, Sheila and Bill, for a chat and ended up staying for a Chinese takeaway with them.  Of the many things we talked about, one was the problem with our hob, and Billy suggested a gas engineer in Nantwich to give us a second opinion.  We contacted him first thing this morning and he said he’d be free to come and have a look when we got to Nantwich.  We set off about 9, and did the couple of familiar miles down to the water point.  The fuel boat, Mountbatten, was just about to leave when we got there, so we were soon filling our tank.  Setting off again, we passed the fuel boat serving a customer, and scouted out the mooring situation.  There was nothing right by the aqueduct but plenty further round, so we decided to go and turn around at the winding hole and come back.  As we returned, we passed Mountbatten again.

We tied up on the embankment and I sent Mike the gas man our location.  He arrived about an hour later, first checking that our regulator was working properly, and that our pressure was correct.  Then he took all four jets out of the hob burners and gave them a thorough clean.  Lo and behold, every one now works properly again — in fact it’s probably the best it’s ever been.  So if you’re in the Nantwich area and need any gas work done, or a BSS carried out, we can recommend Mike Bickley of MTB Boat Safety Solutions.  I then cancelled the new hob that had been ordered.

This afternoon, we waited for a sharp shower to pass over, then walked into Nantwich where there’s the annual food festival on.  It was much bigger than we expected, in three different parts of town.  We could have spent a fortune — but didn’t.

As well as stalls on some of the streets, there are two big marquees, there’s live music, and another tent for cookery demonstrations.  It goes on all weekend.

3 miles, 0 locks.  (104 miles, 23 locks)

Floating about: Day 5

I think there was a bit more rain in the night, certainly things looked a bit wet outside this morning.  We got the washing machine going before we set off, and untied from our mooring at about 8.45.  We were straight into the Hack Green Locks.  The top one was full, and didn’t even need a top up.  The bottom one needed just a couple of inches of water added.

As we went down the second lock a boat arrived to go up, so we could leave the gates.

We then plodded along in the sunshine, wondering what the mooring situation would be in Nantwich.  I thought we might be arriving slightly too early to guarantee a space, but needn’t have worried: there was masses.  We picked a spot on the embankment before the aqueduct, right after the boats already there.  Since then it has filled up in front of us.

Adrian has been doing stuff for his charity trusteeship, and this afternoon we walked into Nantwich for a small top-up shop.  I walked back to the boat while Adrian went for a haircut.  The latest podcast episode is out, recorded at the Floating Market in Market Drayton a couple of weeks ago.

3 miles, 2 locks.  (14 mikes, 4 locks)

Greater Cheshire: Day 14

Our plan for today had been to just go round the corner to close to where the car is being kept, but Adrian had booked a hair cut in Nantwich, so we decided to go there instead.  It was a lovely sunny morning and we set off about 9.15.

There were plenty of boats about, including one just in front of us.  When we got to Barbridge Junction, he made the turn north towards Chester.

He’d indicated that a boat was coming south, so I crept towards the junction, with Adrian acting as lookout.  The boat had waited, as they wanted to turn into the Middlewich Arm.  So we came out of the junction, and then they went round.  I was able to tell them the coast was clear.

At Hurleston Junction, the start of the Llangollen Canal, a boat was waiting to go up, and a boat was going into the bottom lock to come down.

We carried on south towards Nantwich.  The bridge across the mainline at Nantwich Marina (this used to be a junction) has the mile post for Nantwich being zero miles.

We slowly passed all the moorings and went across the aqueduct, then passed all the moorings to the south, noting where the gaps were.  There’s a winding hole through the next bridge, and it turned out the boat in front of us wanted to turn around as well.  There was a boat coming the other way, so they waited for them to come past first, then turned.

We were now in a procession of three boats, plus a day boat behind, but the spot we’d identified on the approach to the aqueduct was still free.

After lunch, we walked into Nantwich, which has some very interesting buildings and a large church, nicknamed the Catherdral of South Cheshire, apparently.

We visited the little museum, which has sections of salt making, the Romans, and Cheshire cheese!  After drinks in a cafe, Adrian went off to the barber while I walked back the long way round, following part of the Nantwich Riverside Loop, which goes along the River Weaver, then cuts across the fields, crosses the railway lines and returns to the canal towpath.

6 miles, 0 locks.  (70 miles, 20 locks)

Restocking

Adrian did a stock take — we took more stuff home than usual at the start of lockdown — and went shopping.  Later, he went for a walk down the canal and chatted to Sandra and Barry on AreAndAre.  Tomorrow he’s driving back to Milton Keynes.

Adrian on board

Adrian arrived mid afternoon, ready for a boat prep day tomorrow.

Post lockdown visit

I came up to to Nantwich after an early shift, and the three hour journey from London was very easy. I arrived about 5.30.  Apart from being full of spiders, the boat seems fine.  She has spent the lockdown moored in front of the cafe, but Bill had moved her back to the end of the basin for ease of access.  This was the view from the side hatch.

I turned everything back on, did a quick change of the loo (after more than three months of warm weather it was the driest I’ve ever seen it), and made the bed.  The Eberspacher started first time, which is always a relief, so I have hot water for the morning.

This evening I walked up to the bins, then crossed over the bridge and walked down the canal to the aqueduct.  I went down the steps and returned via the road.

Tomorrow, I have a boat test to do nearby — so I hope the wind has dropped a bit.  It’s really blowy here.

Northern Exposure: Day 19

Another beautifully sunny day, which got really quite warm later.  It would have been fantastic going across the Pennines in weather like this.  We set off at 7.45.

There are lots of nice mooring places along the Middlewich Arm, and many of them had boats sitting out the lockdown.  At Minshull Lock a grey wagtail posed on the bridge railings.

We passed a hire boat going the other way just above the lock, so sure enough Cholmondeston Lock was in our favour.  Just above it it we paused to have a chat with Pip and Mick on Oleanna — at a safe distance of course.  In fact the distance got safer and safer as we slowly drifted past!  They are in a good place, with quite a few miles of lock-free water for a change of scenery, shopping and services at Nantwich, and three water points.  With the day’s two locks out of the way, we had our final mid-morning hot cross buns of the trip.

There were more lines of moored boats up to the junction, where the Jolly Tar pub has been replaced by new houses.

We turned left onto the Shropshire Union Mainline, and soon reached Hurleston Junction, the start of the Llangollen Canal.  The bottom lock has been rebuilt over the winter as it’s been getting narrower and narrower.  Below the lock we passed the coal boats, Mountbatten and Jellicoe, who told me the lock should open on Friday or Monday.  They used to do the coal run on the Llangollen, but came down the locks some time ago and then couldn’t fit back up.

A boat going on tickover the whole time waved us past, then we soon arrived at the entrance to Nantwich Basin.  We cruised and the guys told us where we could moor.  I turned the boat around and reversed in.

We caught up with Bill (at a safe distance) and he then gave Adrian a lift to Crewe station.  He’d already bought a ticket which was downloaded on his phone so he didn’t have to touch any ticket machines, and after a slight pause at the barrier while he refunded that one and bought one for the correct day (!) he caught a train to Stoke (which went alongside the Cheshire Locks) and then onto Milton Keynes.  A taxi took him to our marina where he picked up the car and drove back to Nantwich, arriving just before 4.30.  We’ll pack up and head home tomorrow.  We’re very grateful to Bill for his help in fitting us in and making the car retrieval so much easier.

8 miles, 2 locks.  (261 miles, 105 locks)n