locks – Page 2 – Narrowboat Firecrest

And he marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again.

Do you ever get the feeling we should have seen the writing on the wall. We’d moored up in Northampton, keen and eager to get into East Anglia, ready to enjoy some river cruising on the Nene. The drizzle had stopped so we set off on foot to speak to the team in the Enviroment Agency office around the corner at Northampton Marina …..as we were stepping off Firecrest we could see someone “doing something” at Lock 17. That “doing something” turned out to be turning the boards from green to red, indicating strong flow, navigation not advised. Undeterred we started a conversation with the man who just so happened to be from the marina office. We picked his brains as we walked along hoping to glean some local knowledge…. the board would probably be up for 4 or 5 days depending on the weather, and Warmington Lock (between Oundle and Peterborough) was closed for winter maintenance until 30th of May although that was likely to be extended and Salters Lode lock was closed for the foreseeable, at least all summer, meaning we wouldn’t be able to get to Ely or Cambridge, both being anticipated highlights for our summer. As we returned to the boat through the town it appeared that the “whole” of the centre was being dug up, there were barriers “everywhere”, not somewhere you’d explore for pleasure. We felt totally dejected. I didn’t even take any photos. At least the red boards would give us some thinking time and Aldi and B&Q were only 5 minutes walk from our mooring.

Looking towards us at Cotton End, Northampton

It wasn’t all bad, the train station was also convenient and I’d got chores to do in the Lakes so I could go home from here

But as they say, it never rains but it pours. A CRT notification arrived by email, the beam at Lock 11 on the flight has suffered a catastrophic collapse and there could be a major delay in its repair. So now we were well and truly stuck, can’t go forward and can’t go back either.

Fortunately CRT was actually on the ball and once they had done their assessment, they instigated an emergency evacuation plan before they shut the whole flight down in order to do a full repair. There was a very helpful CRT officer called Abby who was keeping us personally informed. By this time Eric and I had decided to cut our losses and make a run for it.
1)We couldn’t leave Northampton whilst the boards were red, and talking to locals it seems there were only 2 people authorised to make decisions about the river levels so if they weren’t on duty, the red boards got left up longer than necessary.
2) we didn’t know how long it would be before Warmington Lock winter maintenance was complete, for that matter when would winter be over
3) we wouldn’t be able to get to Ely or Cambridge at all, because the “authorities” were playing politics
4) and now we risked potentially getting trapped by the Northampton Arm closure, because the oak beam had rotted through.

So we turned around, this time going up the locks

Back under the M1

Back through the well rotted lock 11, which instead of being airlifted by helicopter, CRT had actually cobbled together quite a substantial temporary fix,

Then traipsing through the long grass offside to work the locks Come on CRT, you might claim this is nature friendly, but this is not boater friendly, it’s downright dangerous: the ground is uneven with rabbit holes, you can’t see the bollards or the edge of the lock, its swarming with bugs that bite in the sun and soggy and wet in the rain. It might be due to lack of funds but its neglect, and negligent. And no, more signage warning us of potential trip hazards isn’t enough, one strip of mowing would suffice, then boaters and wildlife will happily share the space.

But despite my grumbles it was a very pretty journey back up the flight

And we ended the day feeling more confident now we were back on the main canal network

Spitting distance

After sitting down last December and deciding to purchase a gold licence so we could spend the summer in East Anglia, we are on the final few days of our very protracted and frustrating journey, we set off with spring in the air and a spring in our step.

Only to have it clouded over by the time we reached Gayton Junction. We picked up some fuel from Blisworth Marina, (about 15pl cheaper than nearby marinas ) and off we set up the Northampton arm.

Gayton Junction going onto the Northampton Arm

Only 17 locks down

The first 12 are a flight so easy for Eric and I to work as a team, I set the lock, he cruises in, whilst I walk on to set the next one, by the time he’s let the water out I’m usually back in time to close up as he cruises on. And thankfully there’s only one lift bridge which is usually raised.

And as we were working our way down the flight, my adventurous Sister in Law was in South America ticking off her bucket list visiting the Iguaçu falls in Brazil, Lock 9 did its best to impress….

There’s some interesting art work along the 5 miles between Gayton Junction and Northampton

And the M1 motorway thunders overhead .

And another friend was visiting Chelsea Flower show as we made our way down the flight. Sometimes simple is just as good.

And we made it. Well almost, the heavens opened just as we reached Cotton End in Northampton, which is still on the canal, and under CRTs management and there were rings so we moored up. Our final, lock, Lock 17 is within spitting distance . Once the rain stopped we thought we would take a walk up to the Marina office and talk to the Enviroment Agency about river etiquette, buy ourselves the required access key, and prepare our anchor etc ready for the River Nene after a good nights sleep…..

This is a trip of 165 miles, 1½ furlongs and 137 locks from Macclesfield Visitor Moorings (Pontoons) to Northampton Lock No 17. And had we cruised for 7 hours a day (which admittedly we wouldn’t even contemplate let alone achieve) we could have done it in a fortnight. (Screenshot swiped from AC Canal plan)

Some Perfect Spring Cruising

After my little jaunt away living the highlife, counting puffins Eric had moved Firecrest through Leicester and was waiting for me at Kilby Bridge. The weather was perfect and we were keen to be on our way.

Sometimes there’s no need for lengthy details as we watch the world go by

Sometimes the scenery and tranquility just speaks for itself as others just watch us go by, whilst we disappear into the tunnel

Sometimes quite a lot of people watching us go by, but what do you expect going up Foxton Locks on a sunny Sunday afternoon

Just so long as they evenings are peaceful

But its in the tunnels that you really hope you don’t meet anyone,

Mmmm that looks like 2 boats coming towards us, hope they move over. Crick tunnel is two way

But meeting a lockie on the Watford flight is always welcome.

The Watford flight would be very pleasant if it weren’t for the M1 thundering alongside the canal

And finally, Norton Junction. We’ve arrived at the point where our current Plan xxx route and our original plan A route rejoin, and we thought we’d have been here in March.

Soaring into Leicestershire

So much for my good intentions suggesting we take the Leicestershire route, down the River Soar. I’d checked all the relevant websites and confirmed that the Soar was no longer in flood, but I had forgotten to check that short stretch of the River Trent between Derwent Mouth lock and Sawley marina, and yes you’ve guessed , we were still hovering on red and the flood gates were closed.

Luckily it only held us up by 2 days, and our friend Jo popped in to say hello whilst we were twiddling our thumbs. Jo has recently discovered the joys of drumming and took me to her group that meets in Nottingham.

And I’m happy to agree that it was a great way to spend an evening. But when the sun rose the next morning and CRT gave us the go-ahead we weren’t hanging around, we were off, hurtling through the swirly currents at a heady 6 mph, under the M1,

Where the Derwent River and the Trent cross paths

Throught the Sawley cut, waving to the Erewash canal and turning off before Nottingham’s cranfleet cut.

Make your mind up time, which way shall we go…

And onto the River Soar.

Turning right onto the Soar, cruising up stream, does that look a bit autumnal to you, have we missed summer?

We quite enjoy river cruising, its usually wide and has a sense of greater freedom, although we were glad to be off the strong currents.

We made it through to Loughborough, and who should we meet but Jo and her trusty windlass to help us through a lock.

We were making good progress so didn’t stay long, We wanted to moor up at Birstall,

Words fail me, not my idea of fun at all.

This is where Jo had moored in December, and why we don’t cruise rivers in the winter. But as she says, she had a whale of a time and lived to tell the tale. In the mean time we took advantage of that nice solid edge and the sunshine to do some spring cleaning.

Just in time to welcome another visitor, my friend Carol from back in the day when we were student nurses together

Having had an enjoyable day we got ready to cruise into Leicester but guess what Birstall Lock had problems,

It had been knocked off its hinges and although CRT said it was still operable with care, it took ages to empty and we had to enlist the help of 4 burly young men to help us open the gate to let us in. It didn’t take long to fill and we got through safely but not surprisingly the next day CRT changed its advise and closed it for a week until it was repaired.

But we’d made it to Leicester and within walking distance to the train station cause I was jumping ship for my next adventure

I don’t believe it

I don’t believe it….. We finally get cruising, and ….. the memo comes through from CTR that there’s been a landslide and trees down ahead of us stopping navigation for at least 2 days. Not only that but the weather is perfect cruising weather.

We were sitting at the Fazeley Junction

Sitting at the junction, waiting to turn onto the Birmingham and Fazeley canal

Our options included staying put until we got the allclear, detouring through Aston and centre of Birmingham, or …. back tracking back to Fradley Junction, and carrying on along the Trent and Mersey then up the River Soar. Rightly or wrongly, we didn’t fancy sitting it out, or facing all the Aston locks with unknown mooring options, so we winded and back tracked.

We’ll do the Fazeley canal another time. As I’d just had another few days off the boat sorting out mum’s affairs, we were desperate to be cruising again, and my reward was seeing our first ducklings of the year.

I had an easy lock free day, and even when we turned right at Fradley the volunteers were ready and willing to help us through,

Then we got to Alrewas, such a pretty place,

Until you see this

It didn’t take us completely by surprise to see the red warning signs but we’d spoken to the lockies and we knew the river levels were falling. Much to the consternation of a holiday boater we went through the lock knowing we could moor up on the other side of the village and await our go ahead.

We walked along the towpath to see what awaited us

Sure enough, CRT came along and removed the padlocks giving us the all clear ride the rapids. Several boats were itching to go through ASAP, but we decided to wait until the morning.

I think those fields would be more suited to water buffalo than our cows

Thought for the day

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.

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

Heading for the Kings Lock

Just as the coronation takes place a while after the accession, likewise this blog rarely gets written the day it happens. first we said goodbye to Reginald

And picked up some sound advice about our planned route up past Braidar on the Macclesfield- don’t bother it’s already desperately short of water and closures are expected. Mind made up, it was through the tomato soup tunnel, aka Harecastle tunnel.

Strong tea, tomato soup, or just plain old Iron deposits

And instead of turning left onto the Macc, we would carry straight on, staying on the Trent and Mersey.

Sadly the Macclesfield canal will have to wait until there’s a bit more water

The added advantage would be knocking 20 locks from our route, but we would have to descend “heartbreak hill” the 31 locks between Harecastle and Middlewich.

We’re never quite sure what this stretch has done to deserve this title, because it really is a very pretty section

and there’s plenty of of opportunity to moor up over the 12 miles. Which is what we did at Lawton, just below the Red Bull bottom lock.

Firecrest was suitably adorned in its finery, complete with a knitted golden crown

And we settled down to watch the coronation

Before taking another few days enjoying the cheshire countryside

And moving on to Middlewich for King’s lock fish and chips, deceptively good.

And finally through Kings lock

A few days of firsts

We could happily have stayed a few days soaking in the tranquility at the lower end of the Stourbridge canal. But we were ready to continue our journey north.

just four more locks before the junction

And onto the Stafforshire and Worcestershire canal.

This canal was built in the 1770’s to service the potteries around Stoke on Trent. However trade declined when newer canals provided a more direct route between Liverpool and the South. In order to remain competitive the canal company increased the lock opening hours and reduced the tolls. Now there’s an interesting idea. It’s a very pretty canal that cuts through the red sandstone rock in places, and follows the meandering rivers and Smestow Brook.

Within minutes of turning north, the smell of wild garlic hit us, so I leapt off to gather a bunch to make pesto our first spring foraging treat.

You just need to harvest the leaves, but make sure you identify what’s garlic and what isn’t, everyth8ng looks lush and green right now

Our next first was seeing our first ducklings of the year, 24th April. Out of interest I looked back to last year and my first duckling photo was on 23rd April.

there were another 5 who were a bit camera shy

And another first, this time for James Brindley in 1770, as he managed to combine a lock and road bridge in one crossing.

And whilst we were ticking off firsts, we realised that this was the first time we had done the Bratch Locks in sunshine. It was raining so hard last time we had to bribe the lockies to leave their toll booth to help us

It’s an amazing feat of engineering, originally a staircase lock of three, the water level changes by over 30′. Although technically its now individual locks it still needs to be treated as a staircase and there’s usually a lock keeper on duty to make sure no one sinks. Sadly James Brindley died a few months before it became operational.

The locks are fierce and powerful, we often chat to the families watching at locks and always remind the children never to play close to the edge because of the undercurrents. We had never seen a whirlpool as big as this one at a lock

The vortex was between 8 and 12 inches across.

Finally something we’ve come to enjoy peaceful mooring

Locking down

After 28 glorious lock free miles we were about to be brought back down to reality. We waved goodbye to the beautiful Bumblehole.

And set off, only one lock at Blowers Green pump house where the Dudley 2 meets the Dudley 1. (If we had turned right we would have reached the dudley tunnel which is restricted access only)

Blowers Green lock, junction of Dudley 1 and 2

And just as we were safely in the lock, we heard sirens and a police car skidded to a halt, 2 officers leapt out, luckily they didnt consider our windlass a deady weapon, they were chasing a suspect on a motorbike last seen on the towpath, fortunately not by us, and they declined a ride on firecrest when they realised they could walk faster than we cruise. We carried on south for an overnight stop at Merry Hill because despite the beautiful blue sky we were being buffeted around by some force 9 gales.

Tempting though the M&S food hall is, if you have too much of a good thing it stops becoming a treat. And sadly we also experiences some unwanted attention from the locals. We heard a suspicious sound outside the boat and found 6 lads in their 20s sitting on the roof taking photos. There was nothing malicious in their intent, just obliviousness to it being our home. They were very apologetic. And then a school kid, who was with his family decided to kick the boat as he walked past, he got yelled at and ran off before I got the chance to throw a bucket of water over him cause he was anything but apologetic. Where are the police when you need them – chasing proper criminals we hope. We’ll give this mooring a miss in future. But now fully fuelled with adrenaline, we set off. The plan was just to do the Black Delph flight,

can’t see the bottom, but its only 8 locks

8 locks dropping 85′ but we struck gold with 2 volunteers and between us preparing the lock ahead meant we were down in well under an hour.

We thought we’d found a safe place to moor

But the sun was now shining and we were intent on going down not up. The Stourbridge 16 isn’t the most salubrious areas at the top,

But again we struck gold, not with an official volunteer, just an old guy with a windlass who liked to work locks, he didn’t stop to chat, he just walked ahead to prepare the next lock leaving us to work our way down. We did persuade him to accept a pint to show our thanks, because not having that extra step of having to fill the lock ahead, made all the difference between us enjoying the journey and it becoming a hard slog.

The flight drops 145′ and it does get prettier and the industrial heritage more interesting. Stourbridge was known for its glass making and the Red House Cone is a prominent feature. Built around 1790 the 100′ chimney is designed to draw the heat from the furnaces below so the temperature reaches 1000°C. Originally the glass was used for windows but in the 1830s production changed to bottles and tableware. Stuart Crystal was made here until 1930s.

The Red House Cone, one of the last remaining chimneys.

There is visitor mooring outside the cone, but with the last off the locks in site we decided to make the most of our helper and continue to the bottom.

24 locks over 5 miles all in 1 day. I could have done with a fish and chip super, but we made do with a dine in for 2 from M&S instead. 158miles to go and 118 locks