Narrowboat Firecrest – Page 3 – Coddiwompling with Narrowboat Firecrest

The Past is our Key to the Future, National Memorial Arboretum

Alrewas has a real community atmosphere. And had it not been for enduring the second heatwave we would have taken advantage of joining in a few more communal activities. We’d enjoyed the Open Gardens on Saturday and Sunday. We quite fancied trying our hands at bowling on Monday but gave that a miss, especially as our friends on NB Peru cruised past and were able to stop for a glass of something cold. But the local walking group that meets on Tuesday mornings promised to be finished in time for a pub lunch so off we set to meet the group. I’d emailed the leader in advance so they were expecting us. What the website
didn’t tell us is that the group is subdivided – the striders and the strollers, thankfully the striders had sensibly set off early to beat the heat so we weren’t faced with the embarrassment of wimping out of doing the full 6 miles. The group had decided to show us, the newbies their pride and joy, the National Memorial Arboretum, roughly a 3 mile round trip and with the advantage of lots of shady trees. We walked and talked and shared stories. And as promised finished off with lunch at the Crown. which I’m happy to say, was a very good lunch.

I decided to go back to the Arboretum the day after for some personal contemplation. It’s a large site that is constantly evolving with new memorials being added all the time.

I did wonder what the stick man was commemorating, but he was there to add appeal for the youngsters, as he tries to find his family hiding in amonst the trees. I’m sure the kiddies love it but I thought there was enough awe and wonder in many of the military memorials to keep everyone interested

Not all the memorials are regimental. Many acknowledge civilian and political efforts to create peace,

But many are so poignant that they stop you in your tracks when you think about the tragedy of war. And what it makes leaders do to their own people.

I stood a while at this garden Memorial, not because it was the most impactful, but because Eric’s family, served in the GPO during WWII

And this Memorial made me smile, as I never imagined I’d be crossing the Suez canal

Were those Egyptian pyramids across the water, oh no, it was more gravel extraction that is happening all around this area. And once this pit is exhausted I believe the lake will become part of the NMA site.

There were many many more sculptures, plaques and gardens on site, recognising selfless acts of service or suffering not aligned with the armed forces. I’d say this is a place everyone should visit at least once, it packs a punch where youre least expecting it, and it made a lasting impression on us. Back in 2018 I wrote 3 blog posts about the NMA which has a bit more information.
but for today I shall leave you with this image.

National Memorial Arboretum part 1

What a Show

With Firecrest safe and secure in Shobnall marina for a few days, we hired a car and drove up to the Lakes. Its always a treat to stay at Mums, even if shes no longer with us. This is where I used to play as a child, no wonder I love living on the water now.

I was booked in to go to The Cumbrian Wool Gathering, and for a yarnie like me who loves knitting and spinning and crochet and felting infact anything textile, two whole days of woolly magic is my idea of heaven. Whilst a yarn festival might be my idea of heaven, Eric dutifully handed over the credit card and left me to it so I could take advantage of some very talented people showcasing small businesses from studios in Cumbria and some a bit further afield.

All things considered I was quite restrained in what came home with me

When we got back to Firecrest we cruised back towards Alrewas. We were admiring the open countryside around Branston lock, when a walker told us to make the most of it. This green space is due to have 100’s of houses built on it.,

Going upstream on the River section was a bit of a struggle, it might have looked a lovely day, but the wind was fierce and the flow was fast, it felt like we were trudging through treacle.

Luck was on our side to get the last available 14 day mooring and we settled down to enjoy village life.

We were in for another treat as it was Alrewas Open Gardens weekend.

There were 32 gardens for us to visit and they ranged from postage stamps and wild flowers right through to some Chelsea showstoppers

Impossible to pick our favourite garden, but some of my favourite flowers

And of course no village show would be complete without a bit of yarn bombing

Love it or Hate it, a few days in Burton

Burton upon Trent is the home of Marmite and was, at its heyday, the home of beer brewing in England. Sadly for us because Eric loves a pint of Hobgoblin as much as I love the dark sticky stuff, Burton’s manufacturing industries have shrunk to almost none existence in the town, leaving it with a rather run down neglected feel. That said the mooring is excellent, with a newly laid and well used towpath.

Breweries dominate the sky

A common sight around Burton, the old and the new side by side

And there’s never an advertising opportunity missed

Marstons is the oldest brewery still in Burton

Brewing was the predominant industry in Burton, the high mineral content of the local water created a good flavour and when it was discovered that hops were a natural preservative, Burton became a leading brewer of India Pale Ale, so named because it was exported for the British troops in serving in India. Of course the canals also contributed to this commercial success because the beer could be transported easily to the sea ports. Even the canal took advantage of the local industry when the extremely hard wearing Staffordshire Blue bricks were used to line the locks and build bridges.

The Burton Boat Company owned warehouses on the river, known as Bond End. They tried to persuade James Brindley to amend the planned route of the Grand Trunk Canal to include these warehouses but for whatever reason- probably money, it didnt happen. So the short Bond End canal terminated at what is now Shobnall marina. Companies were forced to unload their goods at the Shobnall Bar and reload them onto the Grand Trunk boats. After much political wrangling and shenanigans, the railways took over as the preferred transport system and the Bond End canal fell into neglect but the mid 1800’s. Eventually it was only the basin that was left and in 1973 Jannel Cruisers took ownership and created Shobnall marina as we know it today. We filled our diesel tank for 81p/l and booked ourselves in for 3 nights mooring so we could leave Firecrest safely whilst we went off visiting family. There is a detailed history page on their website, it’s worth a read, even if you only look at the photos of how it was to how it is now.

Bit of a tight squeeze getting in, but the fuel price is worth it

Whilst I was looking at Burtons history I discovered that the name Marmite is taken from a French term. A marmite is a large earthenware covered cooking pot, just like the one you see on the Marmite label. Of course I should say other savoury spreads are available …. but they’re nowhere near as delicious. Do you think I could become an “influencer”?

Five and a Quarter Miles

Another week of gentle cruising- although I should say one day’s cruise and a week of watching the world go by. Before the heatwave hit us the weather was a bit iffy. We’d moored up in Alrewas under a rainbow.

Looking towards Bagnall Lock at Alrewas, the river navigation board is on green, good to go

Not only do rainbows require rain, so do rivers, and if CRT get lucky, they get a lot of rain, but at Alrewas that means the short quarter mile section where the river Trent and the canal merge, it’s prone to fast flow and unsafe navigation. We didn’t want to hang around and wait for that to happen, so we donned our life jackets

And set off through Alrewas Lock past the “Quarter Mile Bridge” which the Trent flows under

Leaving Alrewas Lock to cross the River Trent

and across the canal where the water suddenly becomes clear enough to see the bottom- or you could if there wasn’t a garden of green down there

Makes a change from the usual muddy water

and out the other side around the floating barrier that prevents narrowboats getting swept the wrong way over the weir.

At this point I want to recall an incident we witnessed the day before at Alrewas Lock, as a reminder of the need to take Lock safety seriously. A boat had entered the lock to come up the canal. The crew had wound up to let the water in, and were walking across the top lock gate ready to open it. but there was a big splash, they had fallen off the lock gate into the canal. Not because they were being careless but because the boat had shot forward and hit the lock gate with such force that it shuddered and knocked the lady off. We rushed to help but there were enough people around that we weren’t needed and the lady was hauled out with only her pride injured. If the lock had still been filling she could have been sucked under never to be seen again. What we then found out was that the driver of the boat had left the helm and climbed off the boat because their dog was misbehaving on the bank, so there was no one actually controlling the boat, and the lady who had been knocked in was actually from the previous boat who had stopped to help. We all know accidents happen, but could this have been prevented if there had been someone at the helm? who knows. This time everyone lived to tell the tale and learn some lessons, – control your dogs, don’t bash into the lock gates and hold on tight when you cross a lock gate.
Anyway, back to our own story. Although the Trent isn’t a mile wide at this point, we think the bridge gets it’s name because it runs parallel to the canal spanning the flood plain for a Quarter Mile, between the Lock and just beyond the weir.

After the river section, we passed through Wychnor lock. The canal is quite busy at the moment and there was a crew waiting to come up in the next boat. They were already in position and offered to work the lock for us, hence a rare opportunity for me to post a photo of Firecrest leaving a lock

It’s about 5 miles down to Branston from Alrewas, and it feels like half of it is running parallel to the A38, its tedious and noisy, but we make it to one of the pretty locks, Tattenhall Lock

And find ourselves a pleasant mooring at the Branston water park

Just in time for another rainbow, whilst we were here, Adam and Adrian cruised past on Briar Rose, just enough time for a quick hello- must make it longer next time

And yes, Branston is the home of…..

Although it’s no longer made here.

And with it being a water park, no shortage of youngsters enjoying themselves

meandering slowly

We’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by all our to-ing and froing and exciting adventures over the past two or three months. Our next fixed commitment is to visit the dentist in Kendal in the second half of June. With Firecrest still being super shiny, we aren’t ready to leave our beloved boat unoccupied on the cut so we’ve booked a few nights into Shobnal Marina, at Burton. As its only 21 miles away and we’ve almost 21 days to get there, we are in meandering mode.

Through Colwich lock with its beautiful cottage, I wonder what it would be like to live in a cottage lock side,

Over the Brindly Bank Aqueduct

Which crosses over the River Trent, which is now quite a significant River and in need of some wide flood plains

.
And around the corner at Brindly Bank Corner. This particular spot is also infamously known as the Bloody Steps, (obscured by trees on the right.) after the dead body of Christina Collins was hauled up them. In 1839, Christina was a young woman travelling as a passenger to London. At Stone she made a complaint at the canal company offices that the crew were harassing her, but she continued her journey. By the next day she had been raped, murdered and thrown overboard. Two of the crew were found guilty and executed, a third was deported. The legend was used by Colin Dexter for one of the Inspector Morse stories.

I always look forward to this next little stretch because the owners of narrowboat Dancing Sheep, have a family of mannequins inhabiting their garden. Each time we see them, they are up to something different. This time they were campaigning to Fund British Waterways, a national campaign to highlight the urgent need for funding to keep this precious resource maintained, safe and accessible. https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/sites/fund-britains-waterways-overview
There is a link to the petition on the website

We had a night in Rugeley as there is a very convenient Tesco, canal side, we also took a bus ride into Lichfield for a bit of a wander, it’s a lovely city and I’m sure we’ll do it again. After Rugeley comes Armitage, which, thanks to the Staffordshire clay pits, was known for making clay pipes. In the 1850’s the small pottery had moved on to making sanitary ware. In 1867, the congregational minister Rev Edward Johns bought the business which went on to become Armitage Shanks. Athough the company is now based in Dubai, toilets are still made here. Sadly like many factories backing onto the canal, it’s not a particularly pretty site.

But the canal is lovely here, under its canopy of big trees

Unless of course you are wanting some sunshine on your new solar panels

Through the Armitage tunnel…. which is missing its top half. This is where I get off and walk ahead with my red and green stop go boards

There’s some lovely old woods around here, sadly some were sacrificed for the building of HS2, which has been abandoned. Much as I hated the destruction of the landscape for its route, and to some extent I questioned its necessity. I was not for abandoning it. Too much had been spent and we’ll never get back those ancient trees or hide the scar its left.

the rhododendron avenue survives though

And onto Fradley junction with its flight of 5 locks and helpful volunteers

Shugborough Hall

We woke to a perfect cruising day. I was determined that as we passed Great Haywood Junction, where the the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal meets the Trent and Mersey Canal, we would moor up so I could visit Shugborough Hall.

6 or so miles travelling south, under one of my favourite bridges, Salt Bridge, (named as it leads to the village of Salt- where you’ve guessed it, they mined Salt).

The junction was busy as always, but we managed to get one of the last spaces on the 2 day mooring. Eric had some work to do, so I left him to it and went for a walk. The estate is reached by crossing over the 16th century packhorse bridge, Essex Bridge. This where the Trent and the Sow meet and the Trent becomes the major river. This is another of my favourite bridges, although only 14 of the original 40 arches remain.

Essex Bridge, worth stepping off the towpath at Haywood lock to see, even if you don’t go onto the estate.

Although the estate is a National Trust property, the grounds are open to the public to enjoy, with monuments and follies hidden amongst huge trees.

The Chinese house and bridge over the River Sow

The cat monument celebrating Lord Anson’s Persian cat and his flock of Corsican goats built in 1750. And of course some beautiful flowers in the garden

The next day Eric and I set off to explore the house

The estate lands were owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until Henry VIII threw a spanner in the works, and seized their assets. In the 1600’s the Anson family bought the estate, knocked down the manor house and built themselves a stately home. The rest they say is history

Over the years, wealth was amassed through commerce and marriage, the house was extended. They travelled extensively

And many “treasures” and design styles were brought back to the house. We particularly liked this one, a Chinese garden seat, which was was filled with potpourri to help disguise odours emitting from the sitter. Personally we thought it was a forerunner to a USB charger socket

Battles were fort and won on behalf of the crown, and titles were awarded. The most prestigious was in 1831 when the family were given a hereditary peerage, and Thomas Anson became the 1st Earl of Lichfield. However even members of the aristocracy still need to wash their smalls, or employ a small army to do it for them.

Shugborough Hall was given to the National Trust in 1960 in lieu of inheritance taxes, but the 5th Earl was granted an apartment to continue living in. He was the photographer Patrick Lichfield, and many of the items on display were photos he’d taken. This wing is now open to the public which was fascinating seeing it filled with familiar, albeit now retro, crockery and appliances-the sort of thing that savvy shoppers can pick up at car boot sales, and some of us are still using- like our trusty Kenwood Chef. We weren’t permitted to take our own photos in this wing. After so much grandeur and a picnic in the grounds, we were quite happy to return to our little narrowboat to enjoy some natural landscaping along our canal.

Well Well Well

Back in the day, (1500 years ago give or take) the area we are cruising in now, was in the Kingdom of Mercia, the post Roman, Anglo Saxon region, not the rather trendy Marina south of Derby.

It’s a bit hard to pin down the specifics as literacy didn’t seem to take priority over Kingdom building. And to be honest, I still can’t make sense of who owned what or when. But if you look on Google maps there’s a purple historical landmark pin where we are moored. Well, well, well, as soon as the rain had stopped I needed to go and investigate. Right next to the canal is where you will find St Rufin’s Well.

Alas, it’s not all that remarkable at first sight,

And there was a nice circular route around the buttercup meadow, through the hamlet of Burston that would get me back to Firecrest.

Next to the village pond was an info board that told me a bit about St Rufin’s Well and the little chapel tucked away behind the cottages.

Rufin and his older brother Wulfad were the sons of the Pagan King Wulfhere. They had the “good fortune” to meet a prominent monk called Chad who converted them to Christianity. It is believed they were baptised here, in this well. However their father the king was furious and ordered them to be killed, an action he immediately regretted. He went on to meet with Chad and was also converted to Christianity. Chad went on to become the Bishop of Mercia, and both he, Rufin and Wulfad were all canonized for their martyrdom. This all happened in the 7th century and there are many legends and storys about what went on at this time. The power struggles between the Christians and the pagans led to many more slaughters. St Rufin’s Well was also known as the Druids well.
Whilst I was out researching a bit of history, Eric was communicating with his porthole spirit. Just like Aladin polishing his lamp, Eric was polishing his brass when his genie appeared.

This is obviously a spiritual place, there are many churches and memorials dedicated to Rufin, Wulfad and Chad, and there is a recognised pilgrimage walk between Lichfield and Chester cathedrals.

and the water levels are still causing a problem

After an action packed 10 days moored in Stone, which saw us sticking on the solar panels, witnessing a near disaster at Meaford Locks, and taking advantage of us still having our car to explore a little further afield, we were ready move on. I drove the car back to our daughter’s- who had lent it to us back in January for all our toing and froing and utilised my brand new rail card to catch the train back to the boat. Was normality about to be restored? at least the water levels seemed to be OK.
Or so we thought.
There are 4 locks in Stone. As we passed through the first, we noticed the replacement beam was not made of the traditional oak but a plank laminate. Questions were raised about its durability, but at least for now it didn’t look like it was going to collapse.

We passed through Star lock, where, at the Star Inn, James Brindley and his investors met to plan the construction of the Grand Trunk Canal, now the Trent and Mersey Canal. We had gone in earlier to pay homage, where we discovered that, not only was the Star Inn famous for its canal building patrons, it also has an entry in the Guinness book of records for having the most floor levels of a public house. 13 – which is due to subsidence- which doesnt sound healthy for a canal. (Or for anyone having had one too many)

We knew the water levels were still low, but as Eric tried to drive the boat out of the lock, we all heard a horrible crunching. Were we caught on the bottom? Not knowing quite what was underneath of us, I closed the gates and let a few inches of water back into the lock, sufficient to refloat us. And then enlisted some passers by to lend me their muscle power to re open the gates for us to escape. We think there must have been a stone that was just proud enough to catch us, cause after a moments panic, we were OK. The lock needed dredging, and although I did report our incident, CRT are running in crisis management mode and there’s no time or money for preventative action. After a quick stop at the M&S water point, which ironically was fast flowing and easy, we were on our way. The next mile down to Aston Lock was hard work, we needed to keep in the middle of the channel otherwise we were scraping the bottom. Passing boats was a struggle but the word coming up was that the levels were improving.

Below Aston Lock, 45.9 miles to Shardlow, 46.1 to Preston Brook

Due to intense conversation with the upcoming boater – comparing notes about water levels of course, I forgot to take a photo of the mile marker. Aston Lock is the half way point on the T&M. 46 miles to both Preston Brook and Shardlow.
We were travelling on just another half hour because the storm clouds were gathering and we’d had enough excitement for one day. Even the sheep were heading for home

Yes that looks a good mooring

And we made it just in time to tie up before the heavens opened.

warning low water levels

Notices had been coming through thick and fast from CRT about water shortages and closing lock flights. One of the Stone locks was closed for a couple of days for repair, Heartbreak Hill was padlocked temporarily. Those poor holiday makers, how frustrating to have planned to do the four counties ring in a week, only to find themselves unable to plough on with their 9 hour cruising days. Poor hire companies as well for that matter. We’d already felt the bottom at Whitebridge lane as lock usage drained the pound, (section of canal “impounded” between two locks) but as we were sitting in our nice comfy dry boat eating our tea, the heavens opened and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Eric and I shared a sympathetic smile with boat going past us at 6.30pm in the pouring rain. “Why on earth don’t they moor up here where there’s space and call it a day?” we thought, they’ve got to get up the 4 Meaford locks in the rain now, where’s the fun in that. No wonder we didn’t see any more boats that day. Just before we turned in for the night I checked my emails, oh no, another closure….. boat sunk in Meaford locks, rescue squad arriving to assess at 9am…..was it those poor bedraggled holiday makers, or had they got through.

Only one way to find out, as soon as we’d had our first cup of coffee we walked up to the flight. Bottom Lock all clear,
Second lock, the pound looked low,

Mmmm, not much water going over that overflow

Oh dear as we rounded the corner we saw a sight we didn’t want to see again

It was our unfortunate holiday makers,

There was already a gathering of CRT men, I suspect they were the local volunteers and the hire company staff on sight

Not what you expect to see in the engine bay.

The engine had obviously been under water

Theres a lot of weed where there shouldn’t be weed

But the bow was clearly stuck on the cill,
No one could be quite sure how it happened, apparently it happened very quickly. The lock had obviously been full as they had been able to open the gate and had started to leave the lock, when probably due to low water levels they had caught on the cill. Unable to close the gate to add more water as the leaky lock gates then drained the lock and the boat tipped back. It must have been terrifying. Apparently they all got off safely.

And with the top gates open the pound above drained completely.

You can see why it’s so horrible cruising when the water levels are low with so many stones on the bottom.

We debated about whether or not it was acceptable to post pictures of a boat in distress, but as neither the crew or the boat are identifiable we decided it was a salutary lesson to us all. We don’t think the crew was actually at fault, possibly just inexperienced, What they should have done, was let more water into the pound above the lock to refloat their boat. But would we have thought quickly enough to do that in the heat of the moment, who can say. The RCR (river canal rescue) turned up at 9 and they set about planning how to sort it out. So we returned to Firecrest for some breakfast. We planned to walk back up later to see how they were doing, but we couldn’t quite believe it, by lunch time the boat was rescued the pound refilled and boaters were on the move once more. The hire company even managed to get the engine running on the sunk boat and were cruising it back to base.

4 new solar panels

Having realised how much the boat’s solar panel array enhances our lifestyle, (eg saving hundreds of pounds on diesel not running the geni) we really wouldn’t want to be without it. The original 4 panels that we fitted in April 2019 were showing some signs of delamination, there were tiny air bubbles under the surface. Although we hadn’t noticed any reduction in efficiency (although that’s hard to quantify with 7 panels and the British weather). We decided to replace them now while the boat was repainted.
Of course technology doesn’t stand still and the identical panels were no longer available, but Photonic Universe is.

Eric put in hours of research browsing for what would fit, what would match, and most importantly which would give us the maximum power output. Photonic Universe came up trumps again. He did contact other companies, but one failed to reply to the email, and another company had done something daft like listing the size of the transport packaging rather than the panel itself. Whereas we’ve had good service from PU in the past, and they have enough choice to find something to tick all our boxes. Unfortunately, we found some panels go out of stock, and there’s no guarantee that the exact panel will reappear. So decisions were made and panels ordered back in the autumn, and had them delivered back home. Eric unpacked them, checked for faults and consolidated their packaging for easier storage until the time arrived to fit them.

We’d already had a few false starts with mooring locations being unsuitable for DIY or it being too wet or too hot. But goldilocks eventually found the golden spot at Whitebridge Lane moorings in Stone. We set to washing the roof of the boat, -again.

Panels were unwrapped on the bed for final inspection before fitting

Frog tape was applied to the roof carefully marking out the exact position the panel was to go, and glue was applied to the back of the panel. Eric is using “Sticks like sh*t” this time because the last time he used CT1, his glue of choice, he felt it handled differently and had lost its grip. Rumour has it that there’s been change in the formula and in our opinion, it’s no longer so good.

Working together and at speed, cause there’s only 15 minutes before the glue starts to cure, we flipped the panel into place and meticulously smoothed and weighted it down, ensuring the glue came right to the edge. There are two schools of thought, some installers like to leave a few mm gap between roof and panel. Eric thinks this will make the panels less stable to walk on, and potentially problems with rain/condensation getting underneath. So we have opted for bonding the panel firmly to the roof without a gap. The frog tape was removed and the edges checked that no glue was visable on the roof.

The weights we using are our moveable balast. We have 140kg in 10 and 20kg weighs. They usually live under the well deck and very rarely need to be moved, but they do come in handy for jobs like this. Because we’ve only got this many weights we can only do one panel every 8 hours or so, to give it time to set.

We certainly felt like we’d done a thorough workout after shifting all that weight. My job was to tape anti scratch protection to the weights (ie cardboard) which we realised we needed after the first oops. One of the nice things about the Whitebridge moorings is that there is a winding hole, which meant we were able to work on both sides with the safety of the bank. .

It took us 4 days to put all 4 panels on (rain stopped play inbetween 2 and 3) . Anxious, intense and tiring work. We had bought a 5th smaller panel, intending to put it cross ways between the dog box and the cross strut, but when we looked at the extra power we’d gain and the aesthetics, we both felt we could live without it.

Of course having the panels stuck into place is only half the job. Eric will have to wire them in before we can take advantage off them.

The new panels 170w each, and will be wired in pairs
The 2 older panels at the front are 350w each
Giving us a total of 1380w.
In the summer this means all our cruising power comes from solar, (Admittedly being liveaboards, we don’t cruise every day and we rarely cruise for more than 3 hours in any day), and we run the generator maybe once a month.