Addendum to last years trip to Iceland, part one

After the disappointment last June when Amanda (my sister in law) and I had our whale and puffin watching excursion cancelled,

All togged up but our trip was cancelled at the very last minute

we promised ourselves we’d go to see some British puffins this year. And oh boy did we see puffins, we felt like mini David Attenboroughs.

And as we can see this little puffin is busy lining their nest with bracken


We booked ourselves an AirBnB in Milford Haven. Not your usual chocolate box seaside holiday destination, but actually there’s a very nice promenade overlooking the harbour that draws the eye away from the oil and gas refinery. Its all newly built and above the shops and fancy restaurants there’s some rather nice apartments.

The view from our appartment

We were all set for our trip to Skomer Island. We’d booked 2 trips, the first was a sunset cruise around the island. We togged up very well cause although the sun was shining, the wind was also competing for supremacy.

in our icelandic sweaters of course


We were amazed by the number of puffins we saw both flying and bobbing around. My camera skills and equipment doesn’t quite make BBC standards for wildlife photography so you’ll just have to believe me that there were not hundreds, but thousands of these comical little birds, entertaining us,  crash landing into the sea, cause they arent the most graceful fliers.

I think these are guilemots

And we didn’t just see puffins, but many other seabirds as well, kitiwakes, manx shearwater, gannets, gulls, storm petrel, fulmar, guillemots and razorbills. Or at least according to our very informative guide we saw them all. We also saw a peregrine falcon, a blackbird and a Robin.

Puffins in the water and I think kitiwakes on the cliff


And we saw common grey seals and harbour porpoise

Apparently the week before there were over 200 seals on this beach

It was an exhilarating trip

We got what we wanted, we saw puffins the sunset and Wales


The next morning our beautiful view was somewhat obscured,


But it didn’t dampen our spirits because one of us had a birthday to celebrate

One thing we discovered, that as a tourist, the Pembrokeshire coast is heavily geared towards outdoor attraction (and quite rightly so) we drove over to St David’s and enjoyed the cathedral but the rain was coming down in barrel fulls and even exploring the little streets wasn’t much fun. Outdoor attractions need sunshine, cause despite there being lots of castles in the area, non of them still have a roof.

St David’s Cathedral

And of course as soon as we called it quits and trudged home for a nice meal in one of the fancy restaurants,

the sun came out and provided a bit of a sunset

And we went to bed looking forward to the night day tomorrow

Soaring into Leicestershire

So much for my good intentions suggesting we take the Leicestershire route, down the River Soar. I’d checked all the relevant websites and confirmed that the Soar was no longer in flood, but I had forgotten to check that short stretch of the River Trent between Derwent Mouth lock and Sawley marina, and yes you’ve guessed , we were still hovering on red and the flood gates were closed.

Dewent Mouth Lock in the red

Luckily it only held us up by 2 days, and our friend Jo popped in to say hello whilst we were twiddling our thumbs. Jo has recently discovered the joys of drumming and took me to her group that meets in Nottingham.

And I’m happy to agree that it was a great way to spend an evening. But when the sun rose the next morning and CRT gave us the go-ahead we weren’t hanging around, we were off, hurtling through the swirly currents at a heady 6 mph, under the M1,

Where the Derwent River and the Trent cross paths


Throught the Sawley cut, waving to the Erewash canal and turning off before Nottingham’s cranfleet cut.

Make your mind up time, which way shall we go…


And onto the River Soar.

Turning right onto the Soar, cruising up stream, does that look a bit autumnal to you, have we missed summer?


We quite enjoy river cruising, its usually wide and has a sense of greater freedom, although we were glad to be off the strong currents.

We made it through to Loughborough, and who should we meet but Jo and her trusty windlass to help us through a lock.

Always ready to help

We were making good progress so didn’t stay long,  We wanted to moor up at Birstall,

Words fail me, not my idea of fun at all.

This is where Jo had moored in December, and why we don’t cruise rivers in the winter. But as she says, she had a whale of a time and lived to tell the tale. In the mean time we took advantage of that nice solid edge and the sunshine to do some spring cleaning.

That looks fun

Just in time to welcome another visitor, my friend Carol from back in the day when we were student nurses together

Having had an enjoyable day we got ready to cruise into Leicester but guess what Birstall Lock had problems,

That doesn’t look good

It had been knocked off its hinges and although CRT said it was still operable with care, it took ages to empty and we had to enlist the help of 4 burly young men to help us open the gate to let us in. It didn’t take long to fill and we got through safely but not surprisingly the next day CRT changed its advise and closed it for a week until it was repaired.

But we’d made it to Leicester and within walking distance to the train station cause I was jumping ship for my next adventure

Anchor out, Life jackets on and into the flow and away we go

We weren’t wasting any time, and as soon as I’d got back from an obligatory trip to Coates Butchers we donned our life jackets and set off.

Woman on a mission

We got swept along the mile between Alrewas and Wychnor where the River Trent and the canal compete for supremacy.

Alrewas Weir

It’s an interesting experience when you’re not used to a flow. But once you’re past the weir it’s time to enjoy the the view of St Leonards Church on the hill.

We weren’t the only ones keen to get going as we met an oncoming boat

I’d like to say the canal carries on peacefully but the A38 becomes the dominant feature as it runs parallel to the canal nearly all the way to Mercia marina.
And I don’t think these swans were bothered by the noise

Sharing the responsibility

And the lovely lambs weren’t that bothered either

We stopped off at Shobnall for some of the best value diesel on the cut, just under £1 a litre if you need over 50 l.
Then moored up at Willington enjoyed fish and chips for tea and called it a day.

I don’t believe it

I don’t believe it….. We finally get cruising, and ….. the memo comes through from CTR that there’s been a landslide and trees down ahead of us stopping navigation for at least 2 days. Not only that but the weather is perfect cruising weather.

We were sitting at the Fazeley Junction

Sitting at the junction, waiting to turn onto the Birmingham and Fazeley canal



Our options included staying put until we got the allclear, detouring through Aston and centre of Birmingham, or …. back tracking back to Fradley Junction, and carrying on along the Trent and Mersey then up the River Soar. Rightly or wrongly, we didn’t fancy sitting it out, or facing all the Aston locks with unknown mooring options, so we winded and back tracked.

So near yet it wasn’t to be



We’ll do the Fazeley canal another time. As I’d just had another few days off the boat sorting out mum’s affairs, we were  desperate to be cruising again, and my reward was seeing our first ducklings of the year.

12th April

I had an easy lock free day, and even when we turned right at Fradley the volunteers were ready and willing to help us through,

Fradley Junction

Then we got to Alrewas, such a pretty place,

Until you see this

“Oh no, A red warning sign”

It didn’t take us completely by surprise to see the red warning signs but we’d spoken to the lockies and we knew the river levels were falling. Much to the consternation of a holiday boater we went through the lock knowing we could moor up on the other side of the village and await our go ahead.

We walked along the towpath to see what awaited us



Sure enough, CRT came along and removed the padlocks giving us the all clear ride the rapids. Several boats were itching to go through ASAP, but we decided to wait until the morning.

I think those fields would be more suited to water buffalo than our cows



Thought for the day

Well said Ratty

Speed Boating

Speed boating, or Endurance boating, ….Well it felt like it for us. We rarely cruise for over 3 hours a day, but with so many delays both Eric and I were keen to push on. 5 or 6 hours cruising on a few days.

Approaching Aston Lock, below Stone

Back in mid December, a few days before the breach at Scholar’s Green halted our journey south, we treated ourselves to a Gold Licence intending to spend the season cruising the East Anglia waterways. 10 weeks later we finally broke free and sailed through to Kidsgrove.

Almost at Kidsgrove, still on the Macc

10 and half weeks later I got the phone call to return home, but now 4 weeks later we’re finally on the move again. We dutifully checked our route maps and CanalPlanAC says 115 miles, 69 locks, 57 hours.. Kidsgrove to Northampton.
But no, there’s been a major landslide at Brinklow and our direct route is blocked until mid June. We’ll have to travel via Birmingham, 125 miles and 128 locks and 68 hours. That’s almost twice as many locks to do. (James if you’re reading this, be warned we’re coming via Hatton.)
But we all love locking, especially when the sun’s shining, and we’ve already done 23.

Approaching one of our 128, somewhere below Stoke


We got very lucky with the Easter Bank Holiday weather, and we had some perfect cruising weather from Stoke. Even the occassional heavy showers ended with a rainbow

No one offered to swim across to find the pot of gold

We were surprised at how quiet the canal was, despite it being the start of the hire season and a 4 day weekend,

Dead quiet, This person obviously spent too long on their mobile


Perhaps the wild swan at Weston had seen everyone off. We’ve cruised this way a couple of times and for the past few years, this territorial swan has chased us off his patch, pecking at the boat. This time we were brave enough to moor overnight in Weston and saw him attack several trespassers.

Pick on someone your own size, mate


The much nicer Swan at Fradley was doing a roaring trade and has provided a photo fit for next years self print calender

Leaving the Trent and Mersey at Fradley junction, and joining the Coventry canal


What Eric hauled up from the prop wasn’t quite so pretty,

It could have been worse, only a rope fender this time

And talking of pretty


We had a rained off day, so we caught the bus into Lichfield to have a wander around. The weather didn’t make for good photos, but we did both enjoy our mooch. It’s quite a historic place, in the 7th century, Chad established his Bishopric, and it became the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. Unfortunately the famous 3 spired cathedral was wearing scaffolding so not looking its best.

Lichfield cathedral



One of Lichfields other claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, who complied the first English Dictionary


But whilst I might enjoy words, not a lot beats sunrise on your own boat.

Sunset on the boat

An Experiment and a request

Eric and I love cruising, it fills us with a sense of peace, and a sense of joy as we enjoy the countryside around us. Most of the time I’m happy to share my photos, but occassionally I record a video as we travel. I’ve realised I can share these on our blog, however I’d like to know how you, the reader, receive them. We don’t have comments enabled, (we had a bad experience a few years ago). So I’m asking friends and family who have my private contact details to drop me a line with some feedback, letting me know if the quality and size etc works OK for you, and if it’s something you’d like to see more of.

Bridge 58 below the Bosley flight, Macclesfield Canal

thankyou,

A month ago

A month ago….

we had made it down the Bosley Flight, and we both rejoicing and bemoaning to be heading south… straight into the morning sun.

We meandered our way into Congleton. I met up with one of my many knitting friends scattered around the country. Gilly introduced us to fantastic little place, called the Wonky Pear, wine bar/pub/coffee stop just up from the canal off Park Lane, they don’t usually do food, other than cake, but they had a pop up evening of Thai Street food. And if we were local, we’d definitely make if our local. But we were on a mission, so set off as soon as the sun rose, we ignored the dire warning from the red sky in the morning and the frost on the ground (it was still the end of february)

looking towards the railway from the Congleton Aqueduct moorings


And we set off, but it was cold cruising, so we stopped near the Ramsdell Railings and went for a brisk walk up to Mow Cop which certainly warmed us up.

Mow Cop


This old ruined castle is actually an 18th century folly where the gentry came for picnics. You can see for miles and it’s the intersection of the counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It’s also the first meeting place of the Primative Methodists, a breakaway revivialist group wanting to refocus on the socialist aims of Christianity, caring for the community, being part of the trade union movement and taking an active role in women’s emancipation. I offered my prayers of thanks for such a  place and we carried on journeying south. Where we also gave thanks that the culvert breach from Mid December had finally been fixed

And onto the Hall Green Stop Lock at Scholar’s Green

Before our travels came to an abrupt stop at Kidsgrove

Cherished Memories

Having got back into the swing of posting every few days, everything changed at the beginning of the month. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, it’s rarely good news. Sadly, I had lost my mum. It was sudden, unexpected, and thankfully peaceful.


We had a very close relationship, lots of love and laughter, she loved visiting our floating home

I shall miss her forever,

Better Late than Never

We are now cruising we should have been cruising 9 weeks ago when the culvert collapsed and stopped navigation.  Better late than never.  The change of scenery above and below Macclesfield is quite dramatic, We’re no longer in the Peak District, and we do miss the hills, but the view is made a lot better with the promise of 4 days of sunshine on the forecast.

Looking back towards Sutton, south Macclesfield

Although looking forward, those clouds ahead seemed a bit heavy

just above the Bosely flight

And sure enough 2 minutes after we’d moored up, the heavens opened

And we woke to the warning red sky in the morning and a heavy frost.

So much for 4 days of good weather

But the sunshine quickly warmed us up and we were ready to go down the Bosley Flight.

A promising start

12 locks over the next mile, not the longest flight but one of the prettiest, and all was going well until we got halfway down. The pound was sadly lacking in an essential element – water. We don’t know if a paddle hadnt been dropped, or it could simply have been a very leaky lock,

We reckoned it would take 3 or 4 locks worth to refill the pound. It took about 20 minutes

We managed to run through enough water to float our boat and I’d gone back to  check all the paddles were down, when I heard an almighty bank on the bridge above me. Two cars had collided, thankfully there weren’t any serious injuries to the drivers, although I’m fairly sure both cars were written off.

Almost there, Lock 11


The rest of our journey down was uneventful, until lock 12 when we got chatting to a family out for a walk, of course we roped them in to work the lock for us and as a reward, we treated our young gongozeler to a ride. (If you’re reading this, thankyou for your help)

Emerging from lock 12 at the bottom.

All done in 2 hours and 5 minutes, roughly 10 minutes a lock

And Eric had his reward, better late than never, boaters breakfast for lunch.

The Many Mills of the Macc

Even though we are now heading south at a vast rate of knots, okay roughly 2 miles an hour, we still look up at the Mills with a sense of wonder. Goyt Mill in Hawk Green, Marple is the youngest of the three that stand out for me. Built originally in 1905 by the Goyt Spinning company to produce cotton fabric was a major source of employment in Marple until 1960. Nowadays it predominantly houses antique warehouses, fun to wander around reminiscing about all the junk you threw away when clearing great aunt maud’s house. There is a fascinating memoire in the Marple website worth browsing if you scroll down.

Approaching Goyt Mill
Can you imagine loading and unloading your wares here?

Once through Marple we were back to enjoying some rural tranquility

We wondered if that sunny day we had last week was summer and we’re already experiencing Autumn.

Before stopping for fuel at Baileys

Where we picked up a hitchhiker again, -remember the cat that came to say hello last month, we also popped in to say hello to James and Donna and the team at Braidbar.

Not sure this little newt was quite ready to emerge from hibernation, we pulled him up on our tyre fender, so I carefully returned him back into the bank.

Then on to the oldest surviving Mill on this route at Bollington,

Approaching Bollington and Clarence mill


Clarence Mill was built in 1834 and specialised in spinning sea island cotton, which, for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of cotton, is an extremely fine long stapled cotton variety used for making lace and muslin. It is infact supposed to be the rarest form of cotton and can make a luxurious (expensive) silk like fabric.


I missed the photo of the next Mill on our route south, the Adelphi Mill on the southern side of Bollington because I was in the galley cooking bacon butties. Aldelphi Mill began spinning cotton, it progressed to throwing silk, and finally spun man made fibres for Courtaulds until 1970s. Nowadays it houses offices for the nearby pharmaceutical company, Astrazennica

Which leads us nicely onto my third Mill, the Hovis Mill in Macclesfield itself.

The Old Hovis Mill

This is where grain was ground to make flour. The technique used produced a distinctive flavour and any baker using this flour is able to call the bread a Hovis loaf. Milling only took place here from 1898 to 1904 because demand grew and the company moved to bigger premises at Trafford Park, Manchester. They did however keep the building. It was renamed the Publicity Works, where they made the paper wrappers to wrap the bread in. Nowadays it’s a rather nice place to live. One interesting feature is the iron ballustrade along the eaves that survived being removed and smelted down during the second world war efforts. I don’t think I’d have liked climbing up there to remove it.

There were of course other mills, and industries along the canal and rivers that dominate this area, Macclesfield was known particularly for silk production, Bollington had a thriving hand made button industry, there was coal mining and sheep farming, to name but a few which helped make it a prosperous place to live.
The Macclesfield canal society website if you want something to talk about.