Making progress means working through locks again, so out came the tools of my trade as we worked our way into and out of Wigan. The past 3 or 4 months have been a nightmare for anyone trying to cruise through this junction. With restrictions due to water levels and the Wigan flight being closed for several weeks for both a sinkhole and a blown cill. But the end was in sight and passages were up and running again. But after months without water, we got caught in a monsoon and had to halt our progress. We pulled in at the first available mooring outside Wigan Athletic FC. A bit of a mistake, lots of families out walking, one who thought it was acceptable to encourage their kids to climb on to the roof of our boat for a photo opportunity. I wish they’d fallen in when I stuck my head out to yell at them, and why is it that we only think of witty and wise comments after the event, like for instance, “how would you like it if we climbed on the roof of your car, and potentially scratch the paint or break the windscreen wipers” ah well perhaps there won’t be a next time.
we didn’t waste any time the next day moving on through Wigan, past the pier
there are some fabulous old mill buildings in Wigan,
and onto the flashes, we moored up at Scotsmans Flash
the Scotsmans Flash, a wildlife parkland created after the mining industry collapsed
it was close enough for me catch a train to spend the day with my family celebrating Aunties birthday
Quite a family gathering
And with Mum and Mike having driven down from the Lakes, I took the opportunity to go back with then for a few days amongst the mountains
The Old Man of Coniston
We even found a pretty waterfall, not on quite the grand scale of the ones I saw in Iceland but never or less, it made me smile.
Just as beautiful, just not quite so awesome as the Iceland waterfalls
Almost as much as seeing this reserved parking space
Sadly they had packed up for the day just as we arrived
And as always lots of laughter around
And I was soon back on the flashes ready to continue our journey
Fortunately not all good things must come to an end and it was lovely to see my little boat and Eric again. Eric had cruised out of Liverpool the day after Amanda and I set off on our epic Iceland adventure, so once we picked up the car, she dropped me off back at our little boat.
I think my hand looks like it’s missing a cocktail glass
Eric had had a good 10 days, but was complaining bitterly about how hot it had been so he hadn’t been able to complete any of the chores he had planned to do…..but he had gone to town preparing some fine dining for me, I decided to dress for dinner
no space for a full length glamour shot
Just so I could show off my sparkley toes
And I was treated to a magnificent salad served with a cocktail and a chocolate dessert for afters
I think he had missed me but is in no doubt I’d like to go again. That said we set off to cruise into Lancashire instead. The canal is full of a yellow waterlily -which is all well and good until you meet a boat coming the other way.
Occassionally there are more ornate lilie
They might look, beautiful they they have stems like rubber under the water that wrap around your prop if you’re not careful. But who knows what’s going on underneath, we got to one of favourite mooring spots next to the Halsall Navvie.
We love this guy and all he represents, building the canals back in the late 1700s was hard hard work, and we shall always be grateful to them and the engineers ingenuity for devising our network.
a delivery of flowers from my mum and Mike wishing us a memorable holiday
What a fantastic holiday, Iceland really is a place I’d like to go back to, more things to see and do and more things to see and do again, But Amanda and I had 2 whole days of cruising left to enjoy, and yes I’d quite happily become a continual cruiser on a bigger ship than Firecrest. But what’s to stop me having crispy bacon, pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast every day on Firecrest?
Just because we could…and I didn’t have to make it myself
And I’m not sure I would really want a dining room quite this big
And I discovered the pleasure in having a pedicure, we’ve been back in England 3 weeks now and my toes are still sparkley
We tried to persuade the sommelier to come home with us to keep the fizz flowing
We were supposed to be heading for a game of table tennis but when someone stops you with a glass of fizz you don’t say no
Infact Julius our lovely cocktail waiter told us he could cook and clean and quite fancied coming home with us
Amanda was very tempted to smuggle him out
I’m not sure I smile so much when it rains so much in an English summer
Standing over the great divide, between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates
And it was very disappointing when our whale watching trip got cancelled at the last minute
So disappointing, all dressed up and nowhere to go
But we really did get to see some magnificent sights in Iceland.
Gullfoss
The rain didn’t dampen our spirits
Gullfoss
Dressing for dinner was fun
And cocktail of the day was a must, although we tried to hold off until 5pm when we had a plate of canapés delivered to our cabin
And nothing beats live music
Sean the vocalist,
It’s been hard to pick out the best bits, I think perhaps Goðafoss was my favourite waterfall
my favourite waterfall Gullfoss
The lupins were my favourite flower on the island
lovely Alaska lupins, brought in to help reduce the soil erosion
The sunsets were memorable
This was the not quite midnight sun
And the company was the best,
I wish that Amanda had been able to share this with David as they’d planned back in 2022, but his memory travelled with us and this holiday was dedicated to him, his love of life and his love for Amanda. Thankyou Amanda for letting me share it with you.
There are many “must do” sights in Iceland and when we were planning our trip, visiting the golden circle, the 140 mile spectacular route was one we had to see, and didn’t we just pick the day with the weather.
It’s out there somewhere
But nothing was going stop Amanda and I making the most of every single minute, including shrieks of amazement when our tour bus was leaving the industrial harbour and I saw a Firecrest painted on the side of unit.
The Firecrest might be the smallest bird in England, but that’s definitely the biggest bird I’ve seen in Iceland
Luckily the perceived wisdom about the weather in Iceland is to “hang about 10 minutes and it will have changed completely”. So as our tour bus arrived at one of the magnificent waterfalls, the mist parted to reveal Gullfoss, “the golden waterfall” Of course being part of the must do tour of Iceland meant we weren’t the only ones enjoying the view.
Gullfoss
Gullfoss could be counted as two significant waterfalls, each worthy of a million photos
Back in the early 20th century an enterprising English man wanted to buy the waterfall from its owner, Tomas Tomasson, a sheep farmer. The plan was to use it to generate hydro-electricity. However Tomas refused to sell “his friend” but did agree to lease the land. This led to years of legal battles, because there was a loophole that Tomas hadn’t forseen. His daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir fought hard and sacrificed much, she frequently walked the 62 miles into Reykjavik to After much expense and uphill struggle, to the point where she threatened to throw herself into the falls if construction started, Howell pulled out and in 1929 Gullfoss returned to the custodianship of the Icelandic people. Sigríður is recognized as Iceland’s first environmentalist
Sigríður Tómasdóttir
I wonder if I have a bit of Iceland in my heritage, wearing plaits.
But there’s no way I’m going to throw myself down there no matter how special it is.
We could have stayed and marvelled all day at Gullfoss, but our excussion was ready to move on. We didn’t have time to visit the Langjökull Glacier,
Langjökull Glacier
it was only after a closer look that we realised it was ice not cloud
We fancied something a bit warmer so it was off to visit geysers
Our geyser is Stokkur, and you can see the comparison to other globally famous geysers
With dire warnings not to go into the water as it was coming out of the ground between 80 and 100°C we all dutifully stood around the discreet barrier
Wait for it……
And were rewarded with several very dramatic expulsions of water and steam as Stokkur revealed its glory
Wow, that was impressive
It’s little brother, appropriately named Little geyser was spluttering mud most of the time
Again as we have seen throughout our visit, despite it being height of tourist season and the number of visitors, we never really felt the crowds spoilt our own enjoyment.
No throwing coins in the pool please,
We had one final location to visit on our golden circle tour. Þingvellir, (thingvellir)This area is strangely unique as it forms both part of Iceland’s political heritage, and a significant geological feature. The newly arrived settlers gathered together at this site to decide how to live as a community. The Alþingi, general assembly was founded in 930 and continued meet until 1798, it is still revered as a national shrine.
the Assembly Plain
However impressive the sense of pride the Icelanders have of their country, we were fascinated by the fact that these rock formations were actually part of the earth’s tectonic plates. On one side we were able to reach out and touch the Americas,
Yes it was raining again, but who could resist touching America
whereas on the other we were in no-man’s land for the eurasion plates were now some 4km away and shifting by 2.5cm a year.
Thankfully thats only 0.07mm per day and we didn’t think the ground was going to swallow us up before we got home.
I’m glad we couldn’t see what we were walking over
We made it safely back to our ship in time for an early evening departure from Iceland. As we said our farewells we cruised past the Imagine Peace Tower, the right hand small white structure on Viðey Island. It is a memorial and symbol of international peace, erected by Yoko Ono in 2007,
One of the things we laugh about with the passers by on the towpath, is that now we live on a boat, we never go on holiday. But that just isn’t true. Sometimes when we’ve reached our goal destination, in this case Salthouse Dock in Liverpool, it just creates that carefree mood that makes it feel like a holiday. And let’s face it, how many times do people say “but its nice to get home and sleep in my own bed”, we have the best of both worlds, we take our home on holiday with us. And so we settled down to make the most of a secure mooring right slap bang in the heart of a vibrant city, and a city still buzzing with the echos of eurovision. Of course our week started in typical Salthouse Dock style when the heatwave broke with a mega thunderstorm.
I’m surprised those raindrops didn’t take the paint off, it was ferocious.
But once the rain stopped we could see the jellyfish swimming about the dock (even though the reflected clouds make them hard to capture)
Moon Jellyfish frequently seen in Salthouse Dock
Of course a good holiday needs good food and our first treat was a trip to our favourite Albert dock bakery, Rough Handmade. I called in to ask for their spinach and feta rolls
but they were still in the oven, come back in half an hour, so we went back in 45 minutes, sorry still not ready. So off we went to do a bit of sight seeing, and when we came back guess what, they’d sold out, but to our absolute delight, the owner had put two aside on the off chance we’d return. Now that’s what I call service, of course we gobbled them down straight away. And threw the bag away carefully, sadly not everyone does and we saw this seagull wandering around rather smartly dressed.
Best bib and tucker and to be fare, the seagull might have been scavenging in the bins, (and it’s not RHM packaging)
Whist we might have spent 8 months in Liverpool in 2019/20, we weren’t able to visit the attractions, so top of our list was to do the tour of the Liver building. Built in 1907, it isn’t actually all that old compared to much of our countries heritage, but its ground breaking because its one of the first buildings to be made from reinforced concrete.
And with 360° views from the top
Looking down onto the museum and canalThe cruise ships and new Everton groundBertie the Liver Bird, (Bella looks out to sea) and Anfield home to the best football team way over in the distance
And if the trees weren’t in leaf, we’d be able to see Firecrest in Salthouse Dock
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the liver building as Sky Arts landscape artist of the year was being filmed this week,
lights camera action….
If was quite an eye opener seeing how the competitors were asked to pose whist painting, and I heard Stephen Mangan call out times up at least three times. I think the show is to be aired in January and there’s a high chance I’m in shot at the end, although I didn’t realise so at the time-honest.
…. and will the artists please put down your paint brushes
It seems people watching is a favourite pass time for many in Liverpool and we did love this exhibit in the museum
As our week was drawing to a close, our sister in law Amanda joined us, ready to start our next holiday, a cruise to Iceland on Fred Olsen’s Borealis. And what better way to start a holiday than with cocktails in the Albert Dock
Getting through Wigan was proving to be a game of chance, will there or won’t there be water in the locks, or inbetween the locks for that matter. So we formed a queue at Scotsmans Flash with several others to await the go-ahead.
Wish they’d clean up after themselves
At the time the Wigan Flight was just about still open, with daily updates and horror stories about boaters reaching the top few locks only to have to reverse all the way back down. As I write this, I fear the maintenance of the system is just so overwhelming that the powers that be will just give up and close sections like the Wigan flight permanently. But it’s not a black and white issue and I’m glad I’m not the one making the big decisions. And to get back to our journey, we made it through at the second attempt. Past the iconic Wigan Pier
I have to say, I’ve seen bigger and better, but this one always makes me smile
We do like the section between Wigan and Burscough, there’s some nice peaceful moorings.
somewhere east of Appley Bridge
And if I’m lucky I’ll see my favourite trade boat – the wool boat
For most of the way there’s also the railway within walking distance of the canal, so I took the opportunity to hop on a train and head up to the Lakes to see Mum,, actually it’s where my dentist is, but don’t tell him about the icecream
Whilst I was there, the Westmorland County Fest show was on, I was expecting to see sheep
But we got giant Madagascar tortoises as well, who live on a farm in westmorland
love at first sight
From Burscough through to the Stanley Flight is a bit more tedious, the canal ploughs through the cottage garden of the North, but instead of bridges, the fields are crossed by swing bridges. It’s not too bad working through these with a crew, but I feel for the single handed boaters, negotiating overgrown landings and inconsiderate boaters who tie up on the bollards is hard work.
But we made it through to Litherland, staging post for the Liverpool link
We enjoy several spring time birthdays in our family, so declare whichever days are appropriate to celebrate a royal birthday, any excuse to eat cake and see family.
We picked up ‘Rito and Nova in Stone and set them to work doing the locks,
And we rewarded them with yet more ducklings
Can you ever see too many ducklings? What a daft question
No cygnets yet though
But we did see our first goslings in Etruria
We stopped to fill up with water under the watchful eye of James Brindley at Etruria junction
And moored up outside the Middleport pottery.
Where we had the good fortune to meet up with Reginald on her(?) way down to the Crick show, we might be biased but, it’s a beautiful boat, and full of some very clever innovations, not to mention James exceptional woodworking skills.
Dreaming of a White Christmas
Moving closer to town was a good move because as the temperatures dropped , the ice got thicker and we became well and truly stuck fast. Ironically when the ice is thinner it feels worse, because as it moves we hear the cracking, creaking and groaning as it moves against the hull. We try to smash the ice that’s close around the boat to give us a bit of wriggle room to float freely in but we were fighting a loosing battle.
We’ll not get through that
We could tell it was getting colder because the hoar frost was looking so pretty.
Hard to tell, Hoar Frost or Snow
And then we woke up to snow.
That’s a lovely sight to wake up to
Of course I wanted to go out to play instantly, but it was barely a few inches deep, if that.
Not quite deep enough for a snowman
the rough ground made it difficult to build a snowman so I gave up and walked into town instead
Leighton buzzard
Leighton Buzzard is a pretty town, with a good market on Tuesdays and Saturdays and at this time of year the salvation army band are playing carols as well.
But of course its always nice to come back to a snug warm boat
Amanda came for a visit as she lives reasonably close
Ladies that lunch
An ideal opportunity to go for a pub lunch at The Grove and a catch up
The forecast is set to warm up drastically, so its unlikely that we’ll get our white Christmas, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s still too much ice in the canal for us to break free
With our week on the Eco mooring drawing to a close, we decided to move on to explore the Lee and Stort Navigation. But first we had the treat of being joined by my cousin Diana and her children for the last remaining 3 miles of the Regent’s canal. First stop the water point
Thats Diana awarding Eric 5 points for his dancing skills
Then the excitment of working the locks
I think this is one for the caption competition
And the thrill of being permitted to drive the boat
I think Eric’s worried he’ll be out of a job soon
And finally the reward of lunch together
Diana, Rose, Gabe and Bea
Before they had to say goodbye.
It had taken us nearly 3 hours to do less than 2 miles, but it was a perfect start to the day. We glibly thought we’d moor up soon….
….but that was before we had fully comprehended the dire state of mooring on the Regent’s canal. We were crawling along past double moored boats for as far as the eye could see, past Victoria Park and onto the Hertford Union Canal. With the infamous Hertford Union Bottom lock to transit. We had been warned it was flooded….
Yes thats all from the overflowing lock
But usually the bywash of a lock has its own dedicated offside channel not shared with the towpath.
I had no choice but to wade through this dirty canal water, not knowing what was in it, or if i would be able to empty enough water out in order to open the gate.
Hertford Union Bottom lock
Miraculously, we managed to get through, sympathizing with the local’s who informed me, with resignation that “its been fixed” At least there were still some things to smile about,
Street Art at the Junction
but we were now on the Lee and Stort Navigation, heading north. We ploughed on, which seems an inappropriate word for a canal but the density of duckweek and debris meant it really was hard going, the double moored boats continued but eventually, 3 hours after we had wanted to stop, we found a 60′ gap to squeeze into, baton down the hatches and fall asleep exhausted.
There have been so many highlights during this years cruising, its been hard to keep up with our adventures. Many years ago, we lived in Surrey and had membership to the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley. So when we realised we could moor only 30 minutes walk away, we leapt at the chance to visit. And also to meet up with our family to relive some of the happy memories of mum and dad who used to come here most weekends. Wisley is full of iconic vistas which will be very familiar to people who visit often.
Looking up the rockery
But its not a garden that stands still in time. So much had changed since our last visit. They are currently digging a huge new reservoir which will be disguised as a “lake” to help them manage that most precious of resources. And as Eric is from a family of engineers , this was worth a close inspection.
It just looks like a giant sand pit to me
And despite the general current shortage of rain, the gardens have been maintained and the borders are spectacular.
The cool Herbaceous border
And much to my amazement, the big glass house was pleasantly cool to walk around even though it looked like a dessert
and we spent some time chatting in there, and wondering what they had done with the old orchid house that we all remembered
Just some of the family
Its not really orchid season, but still some in flower in their new tropical home
And it wasn’t all cactus
Once we left the glass houses we were treated to a walk through the South African velt
The Heather garden had only just been planted 30 years ago and at the time it looked, quite frankly, boring, but not any more, although there’s not too many family gardens that are big enough to copy this in its entirety.
One of the places Mum and Dad used to love spending time (besides the cafe) was the rockery
Which again is on such a scale that you couldn’t transplant it all into the average garden, but when Eric and I moved to Suffolk, and attempted a bit of landscaping in our new garden, we took a lot of inspiration from the Wisley rockery.
One of the things I miss in our boat home is not having a garden to grow vegetables so we were fascinated by the concepts being researched at Wisley in their “veg plot”. They are currently trialling a “no dig” policy for their veg, and these two comparison plots showed just how beneficial it can be to avoid digging. Mind you I think the benefit is enhanced by the amount of good quality mulch applied each year.
Identical planting, but the top bed has been dug and the lower one has been mulched
But as all the gardeners world presenters remind us gardens aren’t just for working in, relaxing with friends is just as important. Not only did we enjoy a day on our own, and a day with family. We were also treated to a surprise visit from our good friends from Suffolk
And a day with one of Eric’s work colleagues and his family
Wisley isnt the cheapest garden to visit as a one off, but it offers exceptionally good value membership deals, which give access to several other RHS gardens and partner gardens. And as Wisley covers such a huge site, its definitely worth breaking a visit into 2 or more days to be able to appreciate it all.
But as I frequently remind Eric, you can never see too many roses.
And what’s more the mooring is next to the Anchor pub who did very good wood fired pizza.
We werent the only ones who enjoyed visiting Wisley our friends and family did too, and we even got the youngsters to help out with the locks when we took them for a mini cruise
I think thats next years holiday idea sorted
apologies for the number of photos today, this is only a fraction of what we took.
on significant dates it is lit with 15 searchlights and prisms that appear to create a tower of light reaching 4000m into the sky
