Tag: Clouds

Turning Right

True we thought we’d be going south, but the lure of a week in Chester proved too much, so we turned right at Barbridge Junction. Onto the Shroppie and headed the 15 miles north for a bit of a holiday

Turning right onto the Shroppie

We spent a night at Calverly getting to know the resident swans offspring,

before tackling the 11 heavy double locks. As this was before the recent heatwave we were playing chicken with the rain clouds and gale force winds. One minute it was beautiful blue sky, then those heavy laden cumulus clouds appeared over the horizon and in true Hollywood style we rushed towards each other and got soaked.

Will we get wet or not

But we mustn’t complain, the canals and the farmers still need the water.

Green shoots

However we got lucky with the heavy locks and buddies up with some happy holiday makers who were more than willing to share the load, so we made good progress mainly in the dry. We broke our journey with a good view of Beeston Castle through the round window.

Beeston Castle from the boat

We did attempt the obligatory treasure hunt but the ground had become so soggy that it wasn’t much fun and we assumed that the missing royal gold, Richard II is said to have tossed into the castle’s 370′ deep well must have dissolved by now. At least his reign as monarch dissolved as he was defeated in battled and Henry IV siezed power in 1399

Beeston Castle from the canal

Beeston Castle might be a lovely place to moor for the views but alas we get lousy WiFi reception there which isnt much fun when its too wet and windy to cruise. At least we got a nice sunset on our second night there.

We gritted our teeth as we cruised at tickover through the Golden Nook Farm linear moorings. There are roughly 130 boats moored along this mile and a half stretch, and unlike the endless scruffy boats that hog approaches into London, this does look like a nice friendly place to live. With a lovely view of fields over the canal.

That’ll be the Welsh hills in the distance

They even have their own bus stop, although I’ve yet to see a red double decker cruising this way.

Is this the most photographed bus stop on the canal- probably

Again we got lucky sharing locks on our final approach into Chester, and even luckier finding a spot on our favourite mooring. Under the walls at King Charles garden-Charles I that is not the III.

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.

Ribit ribit.

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.

Moo to you too

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.

One happy swan

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

Let’s go to Lymm

“…Shall we hang around at Anderton or shall we nip up to Lymm for a few days?” Bit of a no brainer really. The canal is relatively quiet, probably due to the Bridgewater Breach blocking navigation so unless you’re happy to wind and retrace your steps, what’s the point of travelling this way…. because in spring it’s alive with new growth and full of potential.

Especially in the sunshine

Entering Preston Brook tunnel

Even the storm clouds lend sense of anticipation

Although I wont deny I wasn’t relieved to see a clear sunrise

We ran the gauntlet of a fishing competition. Sorry guys

We waved and tooted our horn for the kiddies crossing the bridge

And we discovered narrowboats arent the only floating home, although im not sure a floating nest is the safest abode for your chicks

And when it comes to transporting your animals and your business, this mobile florist had set up her stall in Lymm, her pet pooch even had its own sunshade

Lymm ticks all the boxes for us to declare it a holiday destination

Centred around the 17th century stone cross, the village itself was a hive of activity. Originally agriculture was the predominant occupation, but a Slitting Mill also produced iron nails for the wider community. The arrival of the canal in the 1750’s again increased the prosperity of the growing town. And during the industrial revolution trade became focused on cloth, with the production of fustian, a fabric similar to corduroy. I’ve written about Lymm in several previous posts if you want to know more.

But like us the Victorians recognised its charms and escaped here to stroll through the leafy woodland around the dam

While we were walking around Lymm dam, we saw our first cygnets of the year.

And coots on the canal

And of course as we were in holiday mood, we got to dine out. Someone was celebrating her birthday and the waiter got to hear about it, so my dessert arrived in style. There are several nice restaurants in Lymm, this time we chose Elmas, who make the nicest Tiramisu I’ve had in a while

But alas, we had to get back to the Paintshed so we couldnt linger longer at Lymm, back through more lovely leafy bridges

Under magnificent trees,

And past curious cows

back for one last mooring on this particularly pretty stretch of the Trent and Mersey Canal, before we get our necessary jobs done.

This week’s cruising has been a real pleasure.

The New Plan A

It was a ridiculous sense of relief to have, having finally given up on the East Anglian Adventure. We were back on the Grand Union and had a plan, not one we were going to allocate to the second half of the alphabet, this is the New Plan A. We are now heading towards Gloucester and Sharpness. We will enjoy the journey and embrace all the new opportunities it throws at us. The DIY tweaks and improvements intended to be done whilst close to home (and Eric’s much missed workshop) will get tackled another time. We’re heading west, towards the sunset.

As we’d only just come down the Grand Union, we decided not to dwardle on this section of our journey. Although we did take time to pay hommage to our two service heros deep in thought at bridge 21. I dont know if they have official names but we call them Tim and Prue, always impeccably turned out, although missing a large glass of red today.

Tim and Prue marking the 80th anniversary of D Day at Bridge 21

We struck lucky at the bottom of the Buckby flight by meeting a lovely couple renovating an old boat. They had minimal boat handling experience but were happy to follow our routine.

Company up the Buckby flight


Experienced or not it still makes double locks easier if you can share the load. As we gazed longingly at the lovely cottage a at Norton Junction a familiar face approached us, well familiar to me, unless he can magically see out of the TV not my face to him as it was Robbie Cummings from the Canal Diaries tv show.

Norton Junction

We didn’t stop to exchange autographs although I thanked him for an entertaining show. The storm clouds were gathering so we opted for a good nights sleep before doing the Braunston tunnel and flight. As luck is now on our side we buddied up again for the locks into Braunston

And found a mooring before the next storm clouds hit

We’ve spent many an hour mooching around Braunston, it’s got history, culture and butcher who sells the Best Braunston Bangers.

Braunston marina

However, we might be in good spirits but what had happened to summer.

Somewhere around Bridge 100, the meeting point for many marina dwellers over a weekend G&T


But when dark clouds amass, the only thing to do is get the knitting out and try a bit of reverse psychology. Having knitted a boat chicken for Firecrest,

Meet Nen the Hen, knitted in Northampton where the Nene is known as the Nen

It was time to finish a wooly jumper for me in case the weather never improved

But you know what they say, it only rains when you forget your umbrella. Let’s hope the weather warms up

And sure enough we woke to blue skies and the temperature soared.

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,

Minshall Lock

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

Stanthorne Visitor Moorings



And our local family came to say hello

Kevin Jane and Bob the dog

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

it looks like autumn now

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.

that’s not a good place to drop anchor.

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.

Swan Patrol reporting back

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

Middlewich junction