Narrowboat Firecrest – Page 10 – Coddiwompling with Narrowboat Firecrest

Holidaying From Liverpool – part 1

Don’t they say “when in Rome do as the Romans do”, now we’re in Liverpool, its no longer just enough to Ferry across the Mersey, the Historic waterfront is now a major cruise destination. Last year my Sister in Law, Amanda asked me join her on a cruise to Iceland. I was about to jump ship from our lovely little narrowboat onto the Fred Olsen Borealis, for a 10 night trip in search of whales and waterfalls.

MS Borealis, our cabin was directly 2 decks above the C

Neither of us were too sure what to expect, what to wear, how to act, would we get seasick, or bored, What was my tag line going to be? “no I’ve never cruised before”, or actually, “well I’m a continual cruiser, beat that”. But we needn’t have worried, we soon fell into being waited on hand and foot, a very easy existence to get used to. And the whole atmosphere was very welcoming and friendly, and we were given something appropriate to wear.

Glad we don’t have to wear these on the narrowboat

And we quickly discovered what food and drink was on offer

And I think we had more room in our cabin than I have on Firecrest

Although after our initial walk around I didn’t think we’d be spending much time in the cabin

I think we were the only passengers who had someone come and wave them off as Eric stood on shore and waved us off

He was going cruise out of Salthouse the following morning and moor up near Maghull to wait for me, interesting to see the Stanley Flight, tobacco warehouse and Titanic Hotel from the opposite side.

In the mean time Amanda and I had to dress for dinner, (it was more casual most nights)

And then settled in for the cabaret, although we decided that was a bit cheesy so most of our evenings were spent dancing with the band, bogeying with the piano guy or just chilling with the vocalist

I wish I had a band like this on board my boat

We had 2 full days at sea before we reached Iceland, but no shortage of things to do Bar billiards,

Table tennis, (it was too windy for the paddle tennis and the outdoor deck sports)

And there was the gym, the jaccuzi, the spa, and beauty salon, We attended lectures about Whales and Icelands geology and history, we joined the Orca team on the observation deck looking out for whales,

But although the sky was blue, the wind was so strong they had to close the deck shortly after this, it was nigh on impossible to stand upright, let alone watch for whales. We did however have several sightings, although most were in the distance, our on board experts said we saw Orca, Blue, Fin, Humpback, Pilot and sperm whales during the cruise.

One of our highlights was seeing the Midnight sun not setting

Another was dressing up in the sort of sparkly clothes that aren’t my usual cruise wear

There was so much to do see and enjoy on the ship, that we realised by our 10th night we still hadn’t explored the whole ship or sampled all its delicacies, yet we weren’t returning home feeling fat and lazy, but energised and invigorated.

And that was just the cruise, we still had to explore Iceland.

Our first view of Iceland at 6am on the Monday morning

(Please forgive the number of photos I’m sharing, this is as much my own diary for me to remember a great holiday, I hope you can enjoy them as much as I enjoy recording them, but its without expectation.)

Holidaying in Liverpool

One of the things we laugh about with the passers by on the towpath, is that now we live on a boat, we never go on holiday. But that just isn’t true. Sometimes when we’ve reached our goal destination, in this case Salthouse Dock in Liverpool, it just creates that carefree mood that makes it feel like a holiday. And let’s face it, how many times do people say “but its nice to get home and sleep in my own bed”, we have the best of both worlds, we take our home on holiday with us. And so we settled down to make the most of a secure mooring right slap bang in the heart of a vibrant city, and a city still buzzing with the echos of eurovision. Of course our week started in typical Salthouse Dock style when the heatwave broke with a mega thunderstorm.

I’m surprised those raindrops didn’t take the paint off, it was ferocious.

But once the rain stopped we could see the jellyfish swimming about the dock (even though the reflected clouds make them hard to capture)

Moon Jellyfish frequently seen in Salthouse Dock

Of course a good holiday needs good food and our first treat was a trip to our favourite Albert dock bakery, Rough Handmade. I called in to ask for their spinach and feta rolls

Picture swiped from Rough Hand Made website

but they were still in the oven, come back in half an hour, so we went back in 45 minutes, sorry still not ready. So off we went to do a bit of sight seeing, and when we came back guess what, they’d sold out, but to our absolute delight, the owner had put two aside on the off chance we’d return. Now that’s what I call service, of course we gobbled them down straight away.
And threw the bag away carefully, sadly not everyone does and we saw this seagull wandering around rather smartly dressed.

Best bib and tucker and to be fare, the seagull might have been scavenging in the bins, (and it’s not RHM packaging)

Whist we might have spent 8 months in Liverpool in 2019/20, we weren’t able to visit the attractions, so top of our list was to do the tour of the Liver building. Built in 1907, it isn’t actually all that old compared to much of our countries heritage, but its ground breaking because its one of the first buildings to be made from reinforced concrete.

And with 360° views from the top

Bertie the Liver Bird, (Bella looks out to sea) and Anfield home to the best football team way over in the distance

And if the trees weren’t in leaf, we’d be able to see Firecrest in Salthouse Dock

We weren’t the only ones enjoying the liver building as Sky Arts landscape artist of the year was being filmed this week,

If was quite an eye opener seeing how the competitors were asked to pose whist painting, and I heard Stephen Mangan call out times up at least three times. I think the show is to be aired in January and there’s a high chance I’m in shot at the end, although I didn’t realise so at the time-honest.

…. and will the artists please put down your paint brushes

It seems people watching is a favourite pass time for many in Liverpool and we did love this exhibit in the museum

As our week was drawing to a close, our sister in law Amanda joined us, ready to start our next holiday, a cruise to Iceland on Fred Olsen’s Borealis. And what better way to start a holiday than with cocktails in the Albert Dock

The final leg, The Liverpool Link

With our new lock buddies, we set off down the Stanley flight. It was
Helen and Russell’s first journey onto Liverpool Link canal – We
felt like old pro’s, this is the third time we had
done this trip.

With many thanks to the willing volunteers for seeing us both down the Stanley Flight locks

Basking in the glorious weather we cruised towards the bascule bridge

Begrudgingly admired the brand new Everton football ground being built on the reclaimed waterfront

I suppose there’s room for two clubs in Liverpool although only one worthy of lifting the silverware

We slid along Sid’s ditch

Sid the volunteer synonymous with the link canal

Saluting the Liverbirds

Perhaps not the best viewing angle of the Liver Building, but its a privilege to be able to cruise outside its front door

Through the tunnel under the museum

We provided a photo opportunity for the tourists on the bridge into the Albert dock

And finally out into Salthouse dock

And mooring up on our favourite pontoon

It feels like we’ve come home after spending nearly 9 months here, after taking a 2019 winter mooring and then getting locked in for covid in 2020

Our covid padlocks are still there albeit a bit faded, we’ve kept in touch with our lockdown buddies although sadly Angie is no longer with us,

Our Journey has taken us from Leighton Buzzard on 1st January up along the Grand Union canal, through Braunston, Warwick, Birmingham, Stourbridge, past Stafford, through the Harecastle tunnel, down Heartbreak Hill, onto the Bridgewater canal and finally onto the Leeds and Liverpool and Liverpool Link to complete our journey. We’ve had a few delays for canal maintenance, weather, being frozen inn, and a few long stays for family visits, we’ve had to revise our route a couple of times to avoid getting stuck, we’ve met old friends and made new friends, laughed and cried, I even fell in, but no photos and no blog posts about that.
The journey has been 281 miles long, and we’ve done 219 locks, 23 swing or lift bridges, and cruised on 15 canals. Canal planner suggests its 143 hours cruising, we did it 6 months and 10 days.

And now I think we deserve a holiday. But more of that later

Almost there

Getting through Wigan was proving to be a game of chance, will there or won’t there be water in the locks, or inbetween the locks for that matter. So we formed a queue at Scotsmans Flash with several others to await the go-ahead.

At the time the Wigan Flight was just about still open, with daily updates and horror stories about boaters reaching the top few locks only to have to reverse all the way back down. As I write this, I fear the maintenance of the system is just so overwhelming that the powers that be will just give up and close sections like the Wigan flight permanently. But it’s not a black and white issue and I’m glad I’m not the one making the big decisions. And to get back to our journey, we made it through at the second attempt. Past the iconic Wigan Pier

I have to say, I’ve seen bigger and better, but this one always makes me smile

We do like the section between Wigan and Burscough, there’s some nice peaceful moorings.

And if I’m lucky I’ll see my favourite trade boat – the wool boat

For most of the way there’s also the railway within walking distance of the canal, so I took the opportunity to hop on a train and head up to the Lakes to see Mum,, actually it’s where my dentist is, but don’t tell him about the icecream

Whilst I was there, the Westmorland County Fest show was on, I was expecting to see sheep

But we got giant Madagascar tortoises as well, who live on a farm in westmorland

From Burscough through to the Stanley Flight is a bit more tedious, the canal ploughs through the cottage garden of the North, but instead of bridges, the fields are crossed by swing bridges. It’s not too bad working through these with a crew, but I feel for the single handed boaters, negotiating overgrown landings and inconsiderate boaters who tie up on the bollards is hard work.

But we made it through to Litherland, staging post for the Liverpool link

what’s the rush

What’s the rush,

I’ve been somewhat distracted over the past month or so. Now we were on the Bridgewater it felt like Firecrest was within touching distance of its final destination, Liverpool. So close to the Mersey, yet from Preston Brook to Salthouse Dock, it is 74 miles and another 14 locks and we had a whole month to complete our journey.
We have cruised the Bridgewater before so we knew roughly where we wanted to stop. We enjoyed a day in Lymm but behaved ourselves so we didn’t get locked in the stocks,

We explored the house

and grounds of NT Dunham Massey

We stopped for breakfast at the fabulous https://www.waltonperk.co.uk/ Walton Perk NB cafe and enjoyed a Bridgewater special, basically a bacon butty but in a toasted teacake with gherkin and mustard.

Before we crossed the incredible feat of engineering, the Barton Swing Bridge

And we were lucky enough to snag the prime mooring spot with an uninterrupted view of the Packet House in Worsely. And whilst it might be a stunning 18th Century building, it’s effectively was just the ticket office and station platform for those wanting to travel along the Bridgewater into Manchester

Ive always fancied a house with a garden mooring

Whilst we were moored in Worsley we took the opportunity to walk to the newly opened RHS gardens, making the most of our years membership that we purchased last year whilst we were on the River Wey at Wisley. Being end of May, the gardens were dominated by Alliums and Iris. The gardens is obviously still being developed over its huge site, so it will be fun to return in years to come and watch it grow. We added a comment to the suggestion box…. Where’s the visitor mooring! It might only be a mile from Worsley, but its practically a mile to circumnavigate the car park from the towpath.

and I’d like a garden with flowers like these

With our 7 days of permitted time on the Bridgewater, it was off up to Scotsmans Flash on the Leigh branch for a few days

Although with the recurrent lack of water issues at Wigan we did fear we might get stuck there until monsoon season returned but another Pondstock Lock is invariably drained overnight, vandalism or leaky gates, who knows, we were able to get through and into Lancashire, only 35 Miles to go

Bluebells, Breaches and Bridgewater

Back in 2012 the Trent and Mersey suffered a significant breach in its structure at Dutton, the T&M society have a very interesting summary with some dramatic photos.

the Dutton Breach, photo taken from the T&M society website

And whilst the plaque marking the spot is understated,

the consequences of the repair are some of the best moorings in the vicinity, with views over the Weaver valley and the impressive rail viaduct

And if you’re lucky a rainbow as well

A few hours earlier the sun had been cracking the flags and we took the opportunity to walk up to the Bluebell Cottage nursery, a small family business, that also opens up the garden on Wednesdays to Saturdays in the summer.

And yes there is a beautiful bluebell wood

We’d booked our passage onto the Bridgewater canal from Monday so on we went.

The Bridgewater canal is owned by Peel Holdings, rather than managed by Canal and River Trust, so we had to doff our caps and book a week’s passage before we were allowed transit through the tunnel.

Sweet and Salty

Aren’t they sweet,

Our journey from Middlewich took us through Cheshire’s salt heritage, a merry mix of beautiful countryside and gentle cruising,

I think this swan wanted to see us off his aqueduct over the river Dane

Although when we saw those black clouds rising we made straight for the next available mooring

We still got drenched in the minutes it took us to stop and tie up.

It didn’t last long but we didn’t trust the clearing sky

It didn’t look that much clearer when we reached the Tata Chemical factory at Northwich, although some of that is steam not cloud

It feels a bit alien travelling through a site like this

The site now includes the UKs largest carbon capture plant recycling 40,000 tonnes of CO2 opened in 2022, I wonder if they will need a new bridge symbol

It’s not that much further on to the Anderton nature park, one of our favourite moorings

Two day mooring at the Anderton nature park, time to take down the coronation bunting

We didn’t decend the Anderton Boat lift this time

But descended on foot and walked into Northwich along the River Weaver,

Last time we were here Firecrest’s generator had suffered a catastrophic malfunction and due to a number of reasons we ended up stranded in Northwich Marina for 8 weeks, (lovely marina though) and missed out on exploring the river. But Northwich has several millenia of providing salt for the country so we thought it only right to enjoy a bowl of salty popcorn

And a little more sweetness

Heading for the Kings Lock

Just as the coronation takes place a while after the accession, likewise this blog rarely gets written the day it happens. first we said goodbye to Reginald

And picked up some sound advice about our planned route up past Braidar on the Macclesfield- don’t bother it’s already desperately short of water and closures are expected. Mind made up, it was through the tomato soup tunnel, aka Harecastle tunnel.

Strong tea, tomato soup, or just plain old Iron deposits

And instead of turning left onto the Macc, we would carry straight on, staying on the Trent and Mersey.

Sadly the Macclesfield canal will have to wait until there’s a bit more water

The added advantage would be knocking 20 locks from our route, but we would have to descend “heartbreak hill” the 31 locks between Harecastle and Middlewich.

We’re never quite sure what this stretch has done to deserve this title, because it really is a very pretty section

and there’s plenty of of opportunity to moor up over the 12 miles. Which is what we did at Lawton, just below the Red Bull bottom lock.

Firecrest was suitably adorned in its finery, complete with a knitted golden crown

And we settled down to watch the coronation

Before taking another few days enjoying the cheshire countryside

And moving on to Middlewich for King’s lock fish and chips, deceptively good.

And finally through Kings lock

A few days of treats

We enjoy several spring time birthdays in our family, so declare whichever days are appropriate to celebrate a royal birthday, any excuse to eat cake and see family.

We picked up ‘Rito and Nova in Stone and set them to work doing the locks,

And we rewarded them with yet more ducklings

Can you ever see too many ducklings? What a daft question

No cygnets yet though

But we did see our first goslings in Etruria

We stopped to fill up with water under the watchful eye of James Brindley at Etruria junction

And moored up outside the Middleport pottery.

Where we had the good fortune to meet up with Reginald on her(?) way down to the Crick show, we might be biased but, it’s a beautiful boat, and full of some very clever innovations, not to mention James exceptional woodworking skills.

Always a nice treat to see friends and family,

Spring in our step

Time to push on. After two lovely days enjoying James and Helen’s company we set them off Firecrest as we reached the Meccano Bridge so they could walk home along the Valley Park footpath.

The Meccano Bridge over the disused railway

we were passing through some lovely rural countryside, through Penkridge, (great butchers and bakery), up through the Tixall wides and onto the Trent and Mersey canal

although it did get a bit narrow in places, even the ducks thought it safer to stick to the towpath, hope we don’t meet anyone coming the other way

But it wasnt all narrow, sometimes we had to duck as well

we met some thirsty cows

and some frolicking lambs

And some wagging wagtails

We also encountered a very aggressive swan at Weston, it chased us off its patch for over quarter mile, it even tried biting Eric’s leg. Funnily enough, we had the same thing happen 2 years ago in exactly the same spot. It must be the same swan-athough they all look alike to me,

If he’d asked nicely we’d have given him a lift

We seem to have settled into spring at last

we had a night on the Tixall wides but with it being a bank holiday weekend we decided to take the first available mooring, which was peaceful and just as pretty