birds – Narrowboat Firecrest

New Directions

Despite some lovely cruising and fabulous scenery, we hadn’t really wanted to return to this part of Cheshire for a while. But when we realised our portholes were leaking last October, (almost the first heavy rain we’d had since Firecrest was repainted in the March) Nick drove out to see us and assess the problem. Between us we came to the conclusion it was to do with the lacquer Eric had used to polish the brass adhering to the sealant. The solution would be to remove the portholes and clean off the offending compounds, and reseal them. A job best done at the Paintshed, Uplands Marina. So this has been our first destination of the year.

Not a scratch on that beautiful paintwork

At this point we’d like to stress that we in no way blame poor workmanship for the problem. Nick and his team have been nothing but helpful and have our absolute confidence. Lessons were learnt by all of us, and the team patched us up beautifully in just a few hours.

Very important discussion in progress, probably about the solar panels

With our necessary maintenance seen to, it was decisions time. Plan A was to be on the Leeds and Liverpool by April, going via the Macc, through Manchester and back onto the Bridgewater before hitting the Wigan Flight. But it was now May and we’d already “enjoyed” a dryish April so what with our slow pace we were unlikely to get to Wigan before end of May. Plus I’ve got some commitments which will restrict our cruising in June. With those time constraints and the Leeds and Liverpool being a canal that invariably suffers with low water levels, our conclusion was that we’d missed the boat. We almost certainly would be able to get onto the L&L but would we be able to get off later in the year? A risk we weren’t willing to take this year.
We would turn right onto the Middlewich branch and aim for the Shroppie

Goodbye T&M, hello Wardle canal, aka the Middlewich branch

I love this stretch of canal it’s quite wide, and theres some pretty moorings with good views.

Those clouds look like they’ll test the new seals …. and they did and all was good.

the locks are easy, although in previous years, I recall us being in a 10 boat queue to get up through Minshull lock

And the locals are friendly. Mr Toad’s self defence is to freeze, which although I had no intention of eating him, or kissing him for that matter, makes him easy to photograph.

Everyone wanted to watch the world go by, the crow was happy to watch while I worked the lock

I always have to look up the difference between a crow and a rook. Crows are all black around their heads, Rooks have a band of grey feathers on their face

And the cows were triptrapping over the bridge.

But the funniest bird of the day was this swan, who tailgated us for about 15 minutes. It became very obvious he was enjoying riding the wake, if Eric moved the tiller, swanny would move to the otherside where the water was more turbulent.

And when we cruised past Ventetian mariana, their famous big fish were basking in the warmth at the surface. They looked a bit like koi carp, probably 20 inches long and 20lbs and were enjoying being fed by someone from the cafe.
We’d taken 3 days to do this 10 mile canal, and reach the Shroppie, we’d planned to go south….

Yes there is room for us to squeeze through

Gloucester

It’s always a mix of emotions arriving somewhere new. An exciting adventure, somewhere new to explore, would we find Dr Fosters puddle….

We’d just completed a journey down the tidal section of the River Severn, albeit a very tame tide but still a big river for our little canal boat. We were faced with this huge space, surrounded by 18th century warehouses and a choice of mooring.

But we’d heard that Gloucester had some extra magic awaiting Firecrest – electric points. So our first goal was to recharge our batteries. It’s never a given that the shore power advertised by CRT will be available and in working order, or for that matter that we would be able to access one of the several payment methods used along the cut. And Gloucester was no exception- you need a prepaid card, which are sold at the museum, which is closed on a Sunday, the day we arrived. Luckily we had one squirreled away from a trip up the Trent in 2018. Once we’d hooked up, between the big boys, we set off to explore.

Yes, we’re down there somewhere, getting on and off the boat was somewhat undignified, but it entertained the passers by.

The dock complex has undergone extensive gentrification since it became superfluous to requirements for the transhipment of goods.

The warehouses that once held corn from Ireland salt from Worcestershire and timber from Canada have been restored and now hold a mixture of vibrant restaurants and rather nice apartments.

We wondered if the seagulls outnumber the people

That look wonderful at night

One of the smaller docks has become a residential marina

And there’s still areas for commercial dockyard enterprises with dry docks and mooring for historic boats

It reminded us of Liverpool’s Albert Dock complex and ironically the warehouses were used to film the Liverpool based Onedin Line tv series.

Mooring in the dock is free for the first 48 hours and although we enquired about staying longer, no one seemed to know who we could pay or how much an extra night would be. It seems a shame that so few boats were moored there.

We explored the town centre, but with a few exceptions,

There’s a growing number of rainbow crossings although they aren’t without controversy

It all felt a bit modern and soulless although the cathedral complex was stunning.

It didn’t surprise us to recognise it as part of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts

Luckily we didn’t see any Basilisks, but the giant seagulls strutting their stuff next to out boat were a bit scary.

We would have liked a few more days here cause I’m sure there’s a lot more to see than just the modern city centre. But next stop the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.

Addendum to Iceland part 2, the main event

Today was the day we had been looking forward to for several months.

We were going to land on Skomer Island and go puffin hunting. Clad in our most waterproof clothes we set off on our 15 minute boat trip, determined to enjoy our day.

No sooner had we left the boat when the puffins were hopping up the stone steps with us. Posing for photos.

We were welcomed onto the island by the assistant warden, who told us it was a good day to see puffins because, unlike us, they enjoy a bit of wild weather. Our main instruction was to stick to the paths because most of the birds on the island live in burrows only a few inches under the ground, and whilst they didn’t want any twisted broken ankles, they really didn’t want any squashed puffins. It was roughly 4 miles to walk around the island,

Skomer had been inhabited by farming families up until 1950s. The earliest archeology dates back to the iron age and there was clearly some historical structures still standing.

Nowadays there’s a year round warden and seasonal researchers studying the wildlife. Most people visit the island on a day trip. The puffins are also just visiting, and make their annual visit between April and July. And we were treated to far more than just the puffins, the island was covered in beautiful bluebells and I imagine there will be more flowers and heathers throughout the season

And the scenery was spectacular

But it was the puffins we really wanted to see

There are roughly 40,000 puffins visiting Skomer each year and I think we saw most of them

We were given clear instructions to stick to the paths so we didn’t damage the puffins burrows, the puffins were free to wander, and we really did have to be careful not to tread on them.