Cheshire – Page 2 – Narrowboat Firecrest

Ta Dah, Introducing the New Look Firecrest

We’ve gone green.

Firecrest

Although we loved our original colour scheme, of dark blue with a maroony red trim, it didnt take us long to realise just how much heat a dark coloured boat holds when it’s baked under the summer sun. Yes I’m sure we could fry the proverbial egg on the sliding hatch if we’d been daft enough to try. The red had worn through and faded badly. The blue had become blotchy with patches of the red mix showing through.(It was an old style coach paint)

Still an attractive boat, if a little battered and bruised

The pale grey roof paint washed off and ran down the sides causing grubby streaks, and we couldn’t wash the sides without ending up with a blue cloth. There were flakey bubbles and rust spots. In short Firecrest was looking shabby. But professional boat painting doesn’t come cheap. We debated long and hard, shall we splash the cash or not. OK it was actually an easy decision, we don’t know how long we shall continue to live aboard Firecrest, but we wanted a smart looking boat. In October ’23, we had seen enough lovely boats bearing the PaintShed logo that we approached Nick from N.B. Marine Services and asked him to repaint Firecrest. 2025 was completely free, so we booked ourselves the March slot.

The Paintshed in January

Of course we had no idea what colour scheme we wanted, only that it had to be paler than the original. Over the next 15 months I filled up the memory card on my phone camera, snapping boats in all colours of the rainbow. Eric refused to allow me to go Barbie pink, but some pretty shades of purple were considered, teals and turquoises are always a head turner, but they didn’t quite fit our name Firecrest. I was adamant I wanted a joyful bright coloured boat in preference to a subtle but elegant one. Brunswick Green seemed to fit the bill.

Not sure how a picture of a steam train made it into a post about Firecrest, but hey, look at the colour

Then of course we had to choose which of the three Brunswicks, light, mid or dark… and a contrast trim. We settled on
Light Brunswick Green, BS225 for the main colour,
Sea Green BS217 for the panels
Current Red BS539 for the Red accents (I’m sure that ought to be currant red, but it says current on the tin)
Biscuit BS 358 for the coach lines
And Coat Grey BS 7076 for the roof.
Mixed from Supertune Automotive coach enamel

In January we booked into Uplands Marina, where the Paintshed is based.

Just in time not to get stuck on the cut

And whilst we were waiting for our slot we (Eric) did some serious tinkering on board, enlarging cupboards (thankyou Kevin for your help here), tackling some blackened woodwork, and removing 5 of our solar panels. The panels were showing signs of deterioration so it was an ideal opportunity to replace them. We loaded the car more than once with boxes and boxes of “stuff” with the intention of sorting, and decluttering while we enjoyed the home comforts of “unlimited” storage. And as Nick and Lee were going to remove the portholes so they could apply the spray paint, we took them home so Eric could polish and lacquer them.

Now there’s a man who takes pride in his work

We met with Robin Wagg our sign writer, and agreed upon a stylised image of a Firecrest to add to our name panel. We’ve decided to remove the Braidbar logo panel and replace it with something more descreet. We think Rob’s done an amazing job.

And of course, we also needed new canopy sides to complete the look. So Kinver, who fitted our original covers were called in to make us some more.

Smart green canopy sides

The green fabric isn’t a brilliant match but its good enough, As you can see we have a Yorkshire rose emblem on the bow. I wanted a Lancashire rose painted on the other side and a tudor rose on the button but was talked out of it. Despite dire warnings about choosing paint schemes at Eric is proud to be a Yorkshire man, and we both liked the simplicity of the design so I accepted defeat.

After a glorious few weeks of perfect cruising weather while we were under cover, we were finally ready to wave goodbye to Uplands Marina and the Paintshed, dodging the showers under grey skies.

Finally on the move again

But we weren’t downhearted. Neither of us can stop smiling each time we look at our shiny boat.

A picture paints a 1000 words

Roll on many more years cruising the canals. Give us a wave if you see us. Many many thanks to Nick and Lee at the Paintshed. You’ve done an amazing job and we’re a pleasure to work with.

Bye bye blues.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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)