Narrowboat Firecrest – Page 8 – Coddiwompling with Narrowboat Firecrest

South by NorthWest

With the culvert fully repaired we finally got the go ahead to travel south, and we’re facing the right direction

But of course to get off the Peak Forest Canal back onto the Macc, we had to travel north. Confused? Yes, perhaps this is what happens when you hang around too long.

And this canal really gets its grip on you

Is this art? Or does someone just have too much time on their hands?

There’s definitely some odd characters on this canal

But we were happy to finally be cruising with a purpose, and it was mild enough not to need our thick coats on. No more sitting around, watching the world go by

Just enjoying the views

And at last turning south back onto the Macc

Enjoying some old Infrastructure

There’s something very special about narrowboating in this area, we love seeing the industrial heritage of the our country. Bugsworth Basin is a prime example of how the canals were a significant structure for the communities they served. It’s now listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the Bugsworth Heritage Trust oversees the area making it an interesting and informative place to visit.

The Peak Forest Canal was completed in 1804 to transport limestone and gritstone from the Derbyshire quarries down to the Ashton Canal where it was probably went on to help build Manchester.

Looking towards Manchester, about 15 miles west of Bugsworth

It was hoped that the canal would go further into the peak district but alas building the necessary locks wasn’t economically viable. A terminus was created at Bugsworth which, when it was built, it was Britains largest inland port. (Aparently, Eric and I can’t agree what defines an “inland” port) Equally impressive was the 14 miles of gravity and horse powered Tramway system that was built to bring the stone down from the quarries. You can still walk the tramway, but it was too wet and muddy for us this week. Not only was the basin a storage and transhipment port, it was the hub of a thriving village where the lime was processed in huge kilns.

The Middle arm is considered the prime mooring spot, and although it was originally all under cover, the stone sheds have long since been dismantled and repurposed and all that’s left is the short arm, a bit of wall with 2 arches and a base of concrete- where an enterprising local build a pigsty. The working life of Bugsworth Basin remained until the 1920s,

Our favourite moorings spot, Mr Sattersfield branch,

Nowadays it’s not trade that keeps the canals viable, but as with all waterways, natural or man-made, they need a constant supply of water. And whilst we might be getting a generous contribution from the heavens this week, direct rainfall isn’t sufficient without careful management. You’ll usually find a reservoir near the head of most canals with pumping stations along the route. Combes reservoir in the High Peaks was built to feed the Peak Forest canal, but it wasn’t sufficient and in 1838 the Victorians completed Toddbrook reservoir at Whaley Bridge. As with most reservoirs, Toddbrook suffered its fair share of leaks over the years but in August 2019, after a particularly wet summer, part of the modern concrete slipway collapsed. It was feared the whole structure would give way with catastrophic consequences. 1500 residents of Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale and New Mills were evacuated whilst Chinook helicopters dropped 400 tones of aggregate to help prevent a disaster. CRT has been working on the repair ever since, with some interesting modernisation, shown here.

The project is supposed to be completed this year, so we took a walk up to see what was going on. Most of the dam is still fenced off from the general public so we weren’t able to get up close, but we chatted to a few of workmen and peer through the site gates. They aren’t so convinced the work will be finished this year. Neither are we.

There’s plenty of information online about the dam but I found this short little case study interesting.

Thankfully the effect of the of our current structural failure – the culvert collapse which had closed navigation on the Macclesfield has been repaired and reopened. We’re pointing in the right direction and ready to start cruising.

Mooching the Macc and Peak

The past 2 months have been somewhat frustrating. Having the culvert collapse somewhere around Scholar’s Green just a few days before we about to cruise past, somewhat put a halt to our plans. Instead of spending the New Year in Stone, we were stuck on the Macc and our first cruise of 2024 was made heading north not south as planned.

Heading out of Bollington, past Clarence Mill,

New Year’s day 2024, going north past Clarence Mill

Stopping for fuel at Baileys trading post,

And whilst Eric tried to stiffle his cat allergy sneezes, our new friend tried to work out how to get off Firecrest to return to their own ship

Not knowing how long the breach was going to take to repair we settled down to await the delivery of more updates from CRT

Hearing that the next update wouldn’t be until end of January, we packed up and went home to see the family for a belated Christmas

We had to cut short our visit home because the forecast changed drastically and temperatures plummeted,

And the next day the snow arrived

One of the good things about a big freeze, is that Ice makes for some fascinating patterns

And the ground is solid so going for walks is a treat, not a muddy quagmire.

We thawed out eventually and made it up to Marple

Looking towards the junction onto the Peak Forest

We were getting quite annoyed now, updates from CRT telling us what they were doing to fix the breach, but nothing about how long they expected the work to take. Should we turn around here or go onto the Peak forest Canal. We emailed CRT and got quite an apologetic reply acknowledging their oversight in not giving a predicted completion – it should be done by END of March… oh my goodness, that would be over 3 months to fill the hole. At least we could pace our meanderings, Whaley Bridge, here we come.

Looking back towards New Mills from Furness Vale

Through the lifts bridges

Past the swizzles factory,

We walked from Furness Vale back into New Mills, admiring the amazing skill of the people who built the bridges

and finally we cruised into Bugsworth Basin

One of our favourite destinations, Bugsworth Basin.

Christmas on the Macc

With all our commitments complete, it was time to consider our cruising plans. We’d like to explore East Anglia next summer, which means moving south. CRT”s planned winter maintenance on the locks around Etruria meant we needed to off the Macc and beyond that point by New Year. Or we’d get caught by the stoppage till end of January. Fate had other plans. Making good progress, we stopped off in Macclesfield on 13th December to pick up provisions, only to recieve the notification that same day that there was a leaking culvert at Kents Green Bridge, (South of Congleton). Stop planks had been installed to stop the leak and navigation was closed from the Bosley locks. But was it fate? If we had been one day earlier, we would have been stranded on a rural section with no facilities nearby to keep us fed and watered. Updates were promised on the 18th December so we sort permission to overstay on the Macclesfield pontoon. A friend sent us this image from a FB post, it didnt look good.

And that was just the surface…. who knows what lies below.

With some potentially some grim cold, wet and windy weather on its way, we already knew in our hearts that the likelihood of the repair being complete was slim. Although technically possible to cruise 20 or so miles in 2 days to reach Etruria, it wasn’t going to be a fun challenge. We braced ourselves for the worst scenario. We were stuck. Instead of feeling glum, we made the most of Macclesfield and set about decorating the boat for Christmas.

I think our lights were outshone by the sunset

And I took advantage of the quick train into Manchester to meet up with Mum and Aunty for the day.

The promised update arrived on the 18th and alas as we feared, the repair was still ongoing. Our decision was made: we’d turn around and stay put -OK not actually stay put, but stay north of Macclesfield on the Macc and Peak Forest canals until we were able to cruise freely at our own pace. Even if that wouldn’t be until February. We considered the practicality of buying ourselves a house, this one had a certain appeal.

But first, Christmas in Bollington. A place we always enjoy returning to.

We were lucky to get a mooring on the aqueduct looking towards Clarence Mill. Although the view wasn’t always quite this tranquil as storms hit us and most of our 14 day stay was wet and windy, though thankfully not cold. And whilst we didn’t see that much sun, we did enjoy another spectacular moonbow

We enjoyed some good food at the Vale Inn, washed down with beer from their own brewery – well worth returning to.

that’s a Christmas dinner burger, yes it even included gravy in the bun.

We joined the community singing carols around the tree on Christmas eve.

the singing enhanced by mulled wine and a brass band

A scrumptious turkey for Christmas day thanks to Heathcotes butchers, -definitely a place we’ll return to

We decided to spend New Year’s Eve on the boat and thanks to the aqueducts elevation, thought we’d enjoy the towns fireworks at midnight. The weather got the better of us and it was just too wet to be outside although as the celebrations continued for over an our not everyone was bothered. Personally I prefer early mornings to late nights.

New Year’s Day 2024 didn’t disappoint.

What better way to start a new year than a cruise.

The latest CRT update came through yesterday. The canal is still closed at Bridge 85 and the next update is on 10th January.

Happy New Year,

Goodbye Autumn Hello Winter

Autumn seemed to arrive late and disappear early this year, or at least we think so. But what we did see of it was worth it.

With several more commitments off the boat we needed good access to public transport. Half way between Middlewood and High Lane provided us with good options, and a lovely walking route.

We couldn’t resist a cruise down memory lane either as we decided to go onto the Peak Forest canal for a week or two.

And we managed to get a perfect view of the Halo Moon

But of course clear skies make for a frosty morning

Our neice has just moved to the area so she came to see us and enjoyed the cruise into Bugsworth Basin

We took the opportunity to catch up with several friends that we made in 2017 when we’d moved onto Firecrest but weren’t able to leave the Braidbar

We said our goodbyes to Buggy and the Sunny,

And before we knew it winter had arrived

The canal was frozen for a week and the only boat daft enough to break the ice was a CRT work boat travelling at speed. We were livid, and wish we’d thought to take a number down to complain. The snow didn’t last long, unlike the snow that fell at mum’s up in the Lake District, they got 12 inches most of it falling in just an hour or two. No wonder it took them by surprise. I caught the train up a few days after and although most had gone, the views remained spectacular

and going back to wake up to my favourite view from my teenage bedroom

Time to turn the heating on

We turned onto the Macclesfield Canal during the last week of October. Apart from a few chilly mornings, the sunshine had provided enough heat to keep the boat warm, and an extra hour under the duvet had kept us warm up until now.

Autumn at Stanier Bridge 62, on a warm day

Although the boiler drinks more diesel than Eric drinks beer, it’s not economy that fuels our reluctance to enjoy a hot radiator, but a stubborn streak of perverseness that eggs us on to hold off for as long as possible. Not to mention the wardrobe full of handknits to wear. Mooring up at Ramsdell Hall, we thought we were going to make it to the beginning of November

Rowndes Bridge 86 (ramsdell VM) Tuesday evening

But the following morning, enough was enough, we both agreed the time had come.

I’d been invited to attend a concert in Liverpool so we needed to reach the train station at Macclesfield. So despite the fog, we pushed on to do the Bosley flight before the rain started. No volunteers to help at this time of year, but we still managed all 12 locks in under 2 hours

We were unlucky with the mooring in Macclesfield, as most had been taken, and the visitor pontoon has a 2 day restriction all year round. We would have liked to have stayed longer but we had just enough time for us to visit the monthly treacle market – which in my opinion is one of the best street markets in the country with a combination of nearly 200 artisan foods, art and handicraft stalls. And then I caught the train to Liverpool.

Our “plan A” had been to overwinter in Salthouse Dock, , so we could be close to family and all the fun and culture Liverpool has to offer. But alas it wasn’t to be, we’ll enjoy the greater freedom of cruising more – and I can spend our mooring fees on train fares. Aunty lives near the Formby coast which is great for sunsets

Even better when you have a cousin to share it with

We all went to the Phil to hear Vikingur Ólafsson to play the Bach Goldberg Variations.

If only I were allowed to post an audio of the concert, it was magical

After my frivolities it was time to settle down to some hard work Our son was having to move house, don’t get me started on the relationship between landlords and tenants, we’ve experienced good and bad from both sides. Nowadays young people don’t have that magic box automatically ticked on their drivers licence that allows them to drive a van, which meant we were called upon to hire the van … and put in the man power to help with the heavy lifting. It’s a bit ironic that for “Plan B” we’d chosen to cruise up the Macclesfield canal so we could spend some time with him, but hopefully he’s settling in to his new abode now even if it’s nowhere near a canal now.

At least for us living on a boat means we’re well used to moving our home. We found ourselves mooring back where Firecrest was built, near Braidbar Boats, nice to pop in and say hello to some good friends. As well as enjoying the expanse of the wides.

Braidbar wides, (probably not the official name)

We seem to be spending more time off the boat than on it this month, and we topped it off by celebrating a 90th birthday in the Lake District but the old dog likes his privacy so here’s the young one enjoying the festivities.

And we got to spend a week at “home” (where the central heating is on all year round and we get too hot)

Mooving from the Middlewich to the Macclesfield

Time to set off up Heartbreak Hill and give the old lock muscles a workout. But before the aches set in we decided to take a detour on foot, to explore the lovely little market town of Sandbach. It’s a familiar name on the M6 junction signs, but we had never taken the time to visit it before, and I’m glad we did. It has lots of character, independant shops and some real medieval history, I have a feeling we will come here again. (If only to visit the Cafe on the Square for another Handmade sausage roll)

Fortified, we set off under bridge 152 at Wheelock bottom lock to tackle the 6 miles with 26 locks.

But unlike the hire boaters who do the whole flight twice in one week, we stopped off at the top of the Wheelock stretch

Waking to a fabulous sunrise, we set off nice and early, just cause it felt so good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.

Red sky in the morning, sheperds warning

But whilst we were enjoying the sunshine and just a few flooded fields,

At least the canal hasn’t burst its banks here

our family in Suffolk were half a mile away from the devistation left by Storm Babet, luckily high enough up the hill not to be in need of their own boat.

The River Deben, the nearby houses were badly flooded (photo swiped from internet)

And whilst the country was still reeling from the mindless act of vandalism that destroyed Sycamore Gap, we’ve been enjoying some beautiful trees on our route.

From setting off at sunrise we were moored up at Church Lawton for sunset

With only 5 locks left to complete the flight we took it easy on day three, stopping for water at Red Bull before flying ove the aqueduct at Hardings Wood Junction, where the Macclesfield canal crosses over the Trent and Mersey Canal

Hello Macclesfield Canal,

Hall Green stop lock on the Macclesfield

Hampered or Enhanced

In the true spirit of Britishness, the weather continues to dominate our cruising plans, yet no matter how carefully we study various forecasts nothing beats looking out the portholes for accuracy. The bad days have been so awful we’ve battoned down the hatches and stayed snug inside. With no photos to prove it, yet the good days have seen blue skies and dramatic clouds that have done nothing but enhance our love of this out door lifestyle.

We were to spend the next week travelling down the 10 miles of the Middlewich branch,

Autumn hadn’t quite arrived when we were here mid October, and the garden at Minshall Lock still held some jewels.

Stanthorne Visitor Moorings were a nice place to stay for a few days

And our local family came to say hello

5 minutes after they’d left the view changed dramatically and the heavens opened

Whilst we were moored at Stanthorne we were puzzled by what looked like a stationary boat approaching the bridge. Curiosity got the better of us, two boats had had their mooring pins torn out and were floating free in the middle of the channel. We were able to do our good deed for the day by asking a passing boater to nudge them close enough to the bank for us to get on, and rescue the ropes which thankfully still had the pins attached. The ground is so soft with all the rain it’s hardly surprising the pins didn’t hold.

The moral of this has to be. If you can’t moor on rings or armco, use a cross pin to brace the rope holding pin, use a springing line to help hold the boat still, and always thread your rope through the pin ring and most importantly SLOW DOWN past moored boats, infact throttle down before you reach the moored boat so that you are actually going slowly when you pass them. Apologies for getting on my high horse there, but it really does matter.

And back onto the Trent and Mersy at King’s Lock Middlewich

6 weeks on the Shroppie

The Shropshire Union Canal is definitely one of the prettiest, although the double locks are heavy going, but it’s worth it to get to Chester.

Chester is one of our favourite cities and we were lucky to get moored at King Charles Garden, under the wall. ( that’s Charles I, we’re still waiting for an invitation to moor in our current King Charles garden)

It’s so close to the cathedral that I managed to almost managed to fit in a whole years worth of soul refreshment into one week

And we still had plenty of time to explore the city as well,

Of course it became a daily challenge to walk the wall

Looking up to the wall to Eastgate clock

Thankfully we had left Chester before storm Babet arrived and flooded all the rivers. The river Dee still looked a lovely place to stroll along outside the wall.

We took advantage of being able to stay 14 days in Chester before we turned round to head south, like the Airbus dolphin that flies to Toulouse everyday delivering parts from its Cheshire manufacturing plant and headquarters.

One of the Airbus dolphins flying above us

Lots of idyllic rural mooring

Although we knew we’d be cruising straight into that sun after breakfast and we wouldn’t be able to see a thing.

We stopped at the Shady just in time to avoid a torrential down pour, and took advantage of eating out, although it was a nice meal, neither of us thought it justified the price,

Bates Mill Bridge 109, with the Shady pub just the other side

As it didnt entail any more locks, we decided not to turn off onto the Middlewich Branch straight away, but to go on to Nantwich for a few days. And contrary to what we saw in the shop windows Nantwich really isn’t a dead end place

It’s a very interesting historic town, and if all the mooring wasn’t restricted we’d have stayed a whole week,

As usual I made a beeline for the local church St Marys , besides the deep spiritual calm, they are some of the most accessible historic buildings usually full of hidden gems. This time I couldn’t tear myself away from the two hanging embroideries, worked to commemorate both the queen’s silver jubilee and the people of Nanwich.

Nantwich also has a very good cheese shop, several craft brewery’s and a good market. Not to forget also mentioning some nice mooring, although it’s 2 days throughout the entire stretch of the town.

Goodbye British Summer Time

And time to catch up on a long overdue blog post. It’s been a funny old summer, the excitment of my trip to Iceland then the frustrations of navigation closures and broken locks which meant several changes of plans, not to mention the weather and one or two family distractions. I can’t even say we are back on track yet, but hey, that’s boat life for you. The best laid plans have to include course alterations.

So where were we back in July, heading down the Bridgewater, through lovely Lymm, despite glorious sunshine in June it felt like the sun had packed its bags and gone on holiday.

Blue sky would make a perfect jigsaw picture

Not sure what Eric had done to deserve this but it was too good an opportunity to miss.

We left the Bridgewater at Preston Brook,

And onto the Trent and Mersey, we managed to moor up at the the Dutton breach moorings and enjoyed looking down towards the Weaver valley

Which meant of course, the opportunity to explore the Weaver, down the Anderton Boat lift, which we frequently hear is breaking down, and one day those repairs will become economically unviable so we knew we had to take advantage whilst we were passing.

Last time we came onto the Weaver, it was Firecrest that broke down, when our generator decided to throw a wobbly and needed to be craned out for a major repair. (That was September 2020 if you want to look back for details)

Hope we never have to do that again (Sept 2020)

This time it proved to be one of the locks on the River that was out of action, meaning we could only explore downstream towards Runcorn. We found the beautiful rural mooring known as the Devils Garden and settled down to watch the world go by. Having lived on Firecrest for 7 years now, it’s not often that a boat takes us by surprise, but we were quite taken aback when we saw a sea worthy catamaran cruising towards us. How or why we will never know.

And then there was the Historic steam ship the Daniel Adamson. Originally a steam tugboat boat built in 1903 to haul barges from Cheshire and the Potteries to Liverpool, but as transport needs changed so did the Danny’s role,

And she became a pleasure craft for the rich and famous, beautifully fitted out in the best art deco style of the 1930s. Sadly that era was also to come to an end. In 2004 the Danny was in such disrepair that it was due to be scrapped until an enterprising enthusiast negotiated a deal to buy her for £1. And the story is well told on their website We were lucky enough to find a crew on board who let us on for a nose around. And of course we got to see the Dutton Breach from the bottom of the valley,

Looking up to the site of the Dutton Breach

We ended up spending a whole month on the Weaver as we made trips to visit family and had a mini holiday ourselves, when we caught the train for 2 nights in Llandudno to see the sea and to climb the Great Orme and eat fish and chips on the beach,.

And much to Eric’s pleasure we visited the Penderyn Whisky distillery

Eric’s reward for Posing in the stocks at Lymm

Once we were back onto the Trent and Mersey canal we continued onto Middlewich branch and headed off towards Chester for the autumn.

heading photo is looking towards Snowdonia from the Great Orme, llandudno