Ten years ago today we stepped off our shareboat, NB Winding Down for the last time. Well Mick visited her again when showing prospective purchasers around. But the 30th March 2013 was the end of a three week cruise when we’d moved her from the then Carefree Cruising base at Elton Moss near Sandbach to a new base at Welton Haven on the Leicester Section.
We’d really enjoyed our near four years as shareboaters. Four weeks a year onboard the same boat (despite every owner bringing and leaving their own cling film!) had been made the most of.
A March trip when we had to buy ourselves sun hats and suncream and ventured down the Anderton Boat Lift onto the River Weaver. We hope to return this year to spend more time on the river.
The odd extra week came our way that other owners couldn’t use. Hmmm!
It was an affordable way to spend our holiday weeks from work afloat.
Ten years ago we didn’t know where to go for breakfast after packing the car to set off back home, we ended up on the bridge over the M1 at Leicester Forest East Services. Following three weeks of the tranquillity of the waterways the chair scraping noise from mid morning diners was SO loud it had us in stitches.
In the last ten years we sold our share, bought NB Lillyanne to keep us going until we had Oleanna built. The start of our original build wasn’t so good and we had to start all over again, but it was certainly worth it, as Oleanna is a far better boat than she would have been.
NB Winding Down we think is now based at Aston Marina outside Stone. Originally she was blue, then green and very recently she has returned to being blue again, just as we’d got used to spotting her in bright green. Maybe we’ll pass her this year and be able to say hello again.
Up in Scarborough it’s been a busy time. The back bedroom has been decorated. New curtains made for the living room and dining room on one side of the house. The sample of the front cloth for panto last year is now stretched on a frame and hung on a wall. The room may now have to be called the wave room as it also contains a set of photos of wave dodgers in the North Bay here in Scarborough.
Last week we had a day out to Bempton, hoping to see Puffins. Despite both of us having lived in Scarborough since the 1990’s neither of us had been. Sadly it was far too windy for the Puffins so we had to make do with thousands of Gannets instead.
The duvet that sprung holes last year now has a new cambric cover. My painting dungarees have had an upgrade, new elastic, a patch and new pockets for extra kneeling pads, which I’m hoping to make out of some giant mug yoga mat offcuts. They are now considerably more colourful and maybe a little bit in theme for this years Chippy Panto. Yes, I am returning for my fifth panto at Chippy. I can’t say any more about it at the moment as they haven’t announced anything yet. But it promises to be very colourful and toe tapping, it may have the audience dancing in the aisles!
The house is a very full house at the moment with two lodgers and tonight it will be opening night of Comedy of Errors at the SJT. We’re heading along to see the show and await to see what a lobster has to do with the Shakespearian comedy!
#unit21 played it’s last two shows at The Storyhouse in Chester last week. What a show! It was a shame to not be there for the final performance, but Chester is a long way from Scarborough. I’ll be meeting up with some of the Dark Horse actors in a few weeks time on a different project.
We keep in touch with the waterways. Our friend Chris on NB Elektra has a live bowcam so we can get a pootleing fix. He’s currently on the Shropie and it looks like it’s been raining this morning. We tend not to watch so many vlogs, but do pop by The Pirate Boat to catch up with Heidi every now and again. It’s nice to see a few bloggers are back out and about on the water too. NB Bonjour, NB Briar Rose, NB What A Lark, NB Hadar, NB Ali’s Dream to name a few. I’m getting quite home sick.
Our planned cruise now has slight alterations due to a family get together and work commitments for me. So we now have a firm date for when we’ll need to be back on board and heading towards the Pennines.
Saturday will see me taking up route on the sofa or my Mum’s nursing chair to knit. My Sockathon will start after breakfast on the 1st April. I need to average a pair of socks every three days, hopefully I’ll manage more, but we’ll see. Donations of yarn are starting to arrive. I’ve collected my sock yarn stash together along with needles and the patterns from last year. I just need to work out what gauge each yarn will knit up at, I’m hoping I can do this by comparing yarn using wraps per inch rather than knitting a swatch for each yarn. Fingers crossed, or should that be needles crossed! Any suggestions of things I can listen to or watch whilst knitting would be appreciated. We don’t have Netflix or anything you have to pay for.
I’ve promised myself a walk each day so that I keep moving, I can’t cease up, there are lots of locks to do soon. I will also be helping Tilly to make her Hot Paw Buns as Easter is getting close.
Fundraising so far? I’ve just about reached two thirds of my target! Thank you so much to those who’ve donated already. Still a way to go once I start knitting. If everyone who’s visited the blog this last week chipped in £1 I’d be sailing towards my target of being able to train up an Admiral Nurse with the skills and knowledge to support families affected by Dementia.
A list was made of items I still needed to purchase for #unit21, including a 3m length of plastic pipe! I nearly ordered it along with elbow joints online from Screwfix, but decided to see if there might be a DIY stall in Derby Market. Derby Market Hall is currently undergoing refurbishment, but I was aware of The Eagle Market, the front doors of Derby Playhouse open into the Market. The website suggested a couple of fabric stalls, time to catch the bus.
Mick had made the decision to fit the new alternator this morning and was already down in the engine bay. I required a hack saw so collected one on the way past. The Skylink bus picked me up and whizzed me into town. I made note of a Tool Station next to the big Royal Mail building where there was a handy bus stop, a much better location than Screwfix.
The Eagle Market has seen better days, I’d say only about a third of the units were occupied. I found a couple of fabric stalls and most of what I wanted and ended up having quite a chat with the lady who lives on a boat in Shardlow Marina. Sadly no-one had any navy velcro, that will have to be ordered on line.
We’ve missed Wind in the Willows
No DIY stalls. I had a wander around Derbion the big shopping mall, nothing of use in there, just a sandwich for lunch. Much of Derby Centre stands empty, the bright lights of the shopping centre, being out of the rain has pulled customers and retailers inside. Such a shame. But I believe Derby Council are hoping to rejuvenate the area, refurbishing the market hall being part of the plan to try to pull retailers back into the streets and make it a destination. Well that’s the standard blurb used for such places nowadays!
After a visit to Wilko I walked back to Tool Station taking note of a low wall just by the bus station. Pipe, elbows and cement purchased I headed for the low wall. Here I pulled out the hacksaw and cut the 3m length of pipe in half, no problem getting on the bus now.
Shardlow is getting quite full
At the water point in Shadlow there were three widebeams. WB Lazy Days had moved across from the pub moorings where now sat two C&RT skip boats. Then there were the two widebeams that had been moored above Derwent Mouth Lock, one having a wash, the other on the lock landing. Later on in the evening we could see tunnels lights and hear spikes being hammered in, we presume the widebeams had moved to above the lock, freeing up below.
Back at Oleanna Mick had been working hard to fit the new alternator. Three bolts and three wires, simple! Except things on the old one had settled in nicely, a touch of corrosion on the negative terminal made getting the nut undone a touch troublesome. Time and patience was required. One bolt was in an awkward position and when it came to fitting the new alternator things didn’t seem to marry up as they should do. It turned out there was a bush on one of the holes that needed adjustment. A tap with a hammer sorted this.
Power restored
All bolted in and connected the engine was fired up, things checked over. Everything working as it should. Hooray!
Time to pack Christmas away, well the lights outside could wait for light tomorrow. The tree was stripped and then given a good soaking in the sink. It will get a day or two inside before being popped in the cratch.
The neon bunny was just about finished off this evening. All limbs sewn on and body stuffed, just a fluffy tail needed. Although I may want to give him longer ears as he’ll be a magicians rabbit. Tilly wasn’t enamoured with it, I may have to hide it away so it doesn’t get beaten up!
A Sausage Day! Was I going to like it? Well yes! But I still don’t know what it means as it involved no sausages what-so-ever! Not sure She even knows what it means. But I’d be quite happy to have more sausage days.
Checking on the solar
As soon as Tom was up and dressed the back doors were opened, She recited the rules to me and I was off into the friendly cover. I think She said something about 8 hours, but I wasn’t listening at that point! Who would when it’s a Sausage Day!?
I came back quite a few times as requested. My ‘Thank you for coming home‘ Dreamies however have been reduced in number! Apparently we are on an economy drive, therefore my Dreamies allowance has been cut by 33%. She and Tom have cut their wine allowance by 57%. I wonder where this economy is that we’ll drive too, hopefully we won’t be going by car!
The underside of the weedhatch
The weedhatch cover was removed and laid out on the towpath and given a good scrub all over to remove silt and then left in the morning sunshine to dry off whilst we had breakfast. As just about all of it had been blacked previously I held back with the Danboline, I’ll use this for the handles which sit above the water line and use blacking below.
Once it was dried I scraped away any loose paint and grease, gave it a sand and a good brush down before applying a coat of blacking. This was then left in the now fading sunshine to dry off for as long as possible. Too sticky to do the handles these will have to wait for another day.
Shall I put that screw somewhere handy for you Tom?
Mick spent a bit of time looking at the freezer drawer, trying to remove the back as access was needed to replace the handle that became detached earlier in the day. Either the back is glued in or has a screw or two from the bottom which currently is impossible to access as the drawer no longer comes out fully.
Weaving ends in
The afternoon was spent weaving ends into my first three pairs of socks, daylight a must for such a job. For the next few pairs I’m changing yarns, from DK to 4 ply. This means more stitches to knit and more rows, so each sock will take a touch longer. New patterns were worked out and in the evening the next sock was cast on.
A wheel of socks
Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored me. The target on my Facebook page today was reached and another donation from two of Tilly’s friends has brought my Justgiving page to 75% of my targeted amount. I may have to buy some suitable yarn for baby socks when we get back to Goole as I don’t think I have enough suitable yarn to knit premature baby socks.
View from the stern
Today official news has come through regarding the stoppage at Thorne Lock on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. This was originally meant to be in place by now, opening back up around Easter. We have planned the beginning of our cruising year around this, then when re-open we would head up stream on the Trent, a fast route down the country.
Did someone mention sausage!?
But today in sausage terms we’ve been dealt a Cumberland Sausage! The lock will now close on April 4th and be closed for six weeks, reopening 23rd May. This would have us leaving the area at a similar time as last year when we’d been held up by the breach and covid, therefore not making the most of our Gold licence.
We could of course leave the area before the stoppage starts, but that would mean cancelling various commitments we’ve now made. What to do? We have several options.
A back door open kind of day, until it rained!
Leave via the Pennines, Leeds Liverpool, Rochdale or Huddersfield Canals. None of these would get us south for a while. The there is the other option, Trent Falls. We did this last year and if everything fell into place, weather, tide, locks, we’d choose this option. Mick even suggested seeing if we could do Naburn to Torksey in one day!
The jury however is still out.
For anyone interested in travelling the Trent there is a newish Facebook group Trentlink – Safe Navigation of the Tidal Trent. The aim is to encourage people to use the Tidal Trent in a safe way, offering advice and maybe even buddying up with more experienced boats for the trip.
Other news, Selby Swing Bridge which has only just been reinstated has broken down. From 14th March passage will be possible with 48 hours notice, C&RT will manually operate the bridge for you until the running gear has been refurbished.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 sausage day, 8 hours towpath freedom, £50 donations, 1 coat of blacking, 2 patterns, 7th sock, 1 happy cat, 1 less handle, 16 not 15mm Forstner bit, 1 Cumberland Sausage, 2 boaters needing to come up with an alternative plan.
Well it’s been two weeks now since I returned to Scarborough. From rushing around on panto for five weeks calm has now been restored.
Different sticker this time
The day after I got back we both had our Covid boosters. Mine was at the Rugby Club where I joined another 1399 people being jabbed from my doctors surgery. Mick headed to a nearby church to get his and was offered a flu vaccine at the same time, so he had one in each arm. Five days later I got my flu jab at Boots. Mick ached a bit and we both had sore arms for a while, but nothing to complain about really.
Normally after opening Chippy panto we have a few days relaxing in Oxford before heading northwards dodging stoppages. The first year we got to see quite a bit of a festival of light around the city and two years ago we watched the Thames rise and rush past moored boats on East Street, we were glad to have been on the canal!
This year being in Scarborough didn’t stop us from what now has become a bit of a tradition, sitting on the sofa recuperating and watching a few episodes of Morse. I think two years ago we started the box set at the very beginning, the first episode and first murder having taken place opposite our mooring in Jericho. We decided to carry on where we left off, this years first episode being ‘The Last Bus to Woodstock’ Quite apt as I’d avoided that situation the other week when returning from visiting the London Leckenbys. There had been an old lady on my bus, but I doubt she was as nosy as the one in Morse.
The valley in the spring
Then ‘The Last Enemy’. This started with a narrowboat pootling along in the sunshine, quite badly steered, which ended up in the off side vegetation. Immediately our brains started to whirr, where was this? Short pontoons on the off side, slight bends, a building in the background. Hang on, the body was found just about opposite to where we’d moored at Thrupp a few months ago! Thankfully the inaccuracies of the canal system quickly struck (as they do in Morse) with talk of divers searching at the next lock. This would either be Shipton Weir Lock which is upstream or Roundham Lock which is quite a long way for body parts to have drifted to. It was nice to see Thrupp back in the 80’s, I wonder if any of the boats on the moorings are still the same? The Boat Inn certainly has changed a touch.
By the seaside
Our first Sunday walk in Scarborough had us waving to Jaye and Duncan on the way down to the South Bay to have a look at the sea. Not the longest of walks, but good to see that Scarborough was still there and have a few cobwebs blown away.
Reviews of the panto have been coming in. So far everyone seems to love having panto back on stage. Chippy is a favourite with many, I even get a mention or two! Sadly a week after I left a Pippin tested positive, the companies PCR tests all came back negative so the show could go on after a days cancellation.
But at the beginning of this week one of the main cast had two lines show on their lateral flow test, everyone was sent back to Banbury for another PCR. Unfortunately a second positive was found in the company. The shows have been cancelled this week and so long as no-one else gets two lines the understudies will go on next week, I bet they are busy in their living rooms rehearsing. JJ who plays the Dame seems to be catering for those affected and leaving tuperware food parcels on door steps, I so hope they all stay well.
Hello! It’s me!!!
I have a shadow where ever I go, Tilly occasionally goes out to explore, but more of her time is spent moaning and complaining. I ask her every day when we’ll be back on the boat and moving the outsides again, so far She hasn’t given me a reasonable answer!
What are they doing to that TREE!?!
Thank you for the messages from people regarding the weather last weekend, I believe Scarborough was on the news. It was very windy and we had snow in town, plenty more up on the moors and wolds. Footage of wave dodgers filled social media as always.
Our street ended up being closed to traffic as there was a tree happily rocking away in the storm on Saturday. The council came to check it over, but it was too windy to do anything about it. They returned on Sunday to start to chop it down and on Monday afternoon it was ‘Timber!’ So much boaters gold!
Red Onion and Feta Quiche
Mornings have been spent doing a bit of work for #unit21 which will be here before I know it. Plenty of costume shopping and rearranging the build budget. The green light for the build was pressed this week so it’s all systems go, well for my friend Graham. I’ll do a days costume fitting before Christmas and then that should be it for me for a while.
We’ve had deliveries, smokeless coal, 2 veg boxes (so far) and the milk lady is back delivering three times a week. Our Christmas food order is in, just needs a final tweak. Now present deliveries are starting to arrive.
I keep making a mental list of which jobs need doing in the house this winter. One corner of the kitchen needs attention from where the leaking roof has left it’s mark. We’re not convinced all is sorted in that corner yet, the guttering hasn’t been clipped down fully so waved around in the storm and some roofing felt now encourages drips down onto the window sill below! We’re waiting for the roofer to call us back! The cosmetic side of the repair will wait a while longer.
That experiment turned out to be a bit messy!
I decided to give my knees another week off before getting on with some decorating. Sanding all the woodwork in the hallways is going to take some doing before I can give it a fresh coat of paint and some of the wallpaper needs replacing. One pair of curtains also need lining , if this is all I manage to get done this winter it will be fine as right now we don’t have the money to do more major decorating jobs. A plumber has been to check the two boilers over, the old one needs some work which hadn’t been picked up during gas safety checks when the house was rented out. So money is better spent there this year.
Just a bit of extra ventilation!
A couple of days ago Mick caught a train down to Thorne to visit Oleanna. A final oil change before winter hadn’t happened, so he was wanting to get it done sooner rather than later. He was prompted to visit as Sarah at the marina had called saying that there was a kitchen window open. Had we left this open on our brief visit? Or had someone else opened it?!
Train timings meant he had time to pick up some oil from Boyes in Goole on his way. Sure enough the window was open, thankfully the weather last weekend must have been blowing from the port side so had avoided coming in. It certainly looks like it was us who left it open. Unfortunately in amongst the new filters onboard there wasn’t the one needed for the oil. So other than running the engine for an hour and closing the window Mick had had a bit of a wasted journey.
I’ve been trying to go for walks everyday to keep my knees working. Walking in the footsteps of the local yeti and seeing the sea is a good thing. My left knee seems to be behaving other than feeling a bit stiff. Hopefully this will pass and I’ll do my best not to kneel when I start decorating.
Hello Frank
After being back for ten days I dropped Frank a message and sure enough he was round for a cuppa the following day. There were slight complaints about the lack of biscuits on offer! If he times his visit well this week he’ll be able to try out the sample batch for this years Christmas biscuits. It was very good to see him and hopefully Mick has planted a seed or two about some carpentry jobs we’d like him to do on Oleanna this winter.
We now have two bookings for our house next year from the SJT, which is great. If anyone fancies a few days relaxing by the sea in Scarborough we can highly recommend our friends house, Friths. Fleur and Ruth have worked their socks off over the last year making their house cosy, quirky and very welcoming, it has just recently opened for bookings.
Mike from Alchemy has spotted Oleanna on Google Street view, when she was out for blacking earlier this year at Goole Boathouse. That means that both our boats have appeared at one time or another. A shame we weren’t in shot this time, we were certainly around as the stern doors are open.
Mushroom and cabbage risotto
The latest news on the towpath grapevine regarding the breach on the Leeds Liverpool Canal is that it will reopen hopefully March next year. The latest C&RT notice says they are installing more secure dams either side of the breach. Designs for the repair are well developed and structural works are in the detailed design stage so that materials can be ordered ready for the new year. We’re not as yet sure which way we’ll be heading when we set off, but having the Leeds Liverpool as an option would be good. In the meantime we need to decide on whether we should be buying a Gold Licence for the coming year. These run from January to December, we’d trade in our standard licence for the few months remaining on it and then we’d be able to spend more time on EA waters during the year. We just have to decided where we’ll be going.
Candlelit Chinese take away to celebrate our 19th year together
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 failed oil change, 1 closed window, 2 weeks of resting, 9 costumes bought, 1 budget rejigged, 2 veg boxes, 1 emergency rug, 2 tax returns submitted, grade 3, 1 box of filters, 4 jabs, 1 bored cat, 1 street view, 3 Morse’s, 1 new variant, 1st waterways painting, 2 go Gold or not? 1 Pip glad to be cooking again, 19 years with my fella.
Over the last few days there has been plenty going on at the Leeds Liverpool Canal breach. A dam has been put across one bridge hole and I think stop planks have gone in on the other side of the breach. There is a lot of footage available on Youtube. Here’s a link to some drone footage.
A group of lads also went down to where the dam has been put in. Their theory, before they got there, was that the water was going down into a disused coal mine. Bare with the swearing, they get quite a bit of information about the collapsed wooden culvert that has caused the breach. They then go to explore the breach site and below it. I do not condone their actions, but it is quite interesting to see below the canal.
Several boats have been affected including NB Mr Blue Sky, the boat we shared locks into Manchester with a couple of years ago. I so hope the boat is safe along with others that have been caught up. Sections of the canal are now getting water back in them and boats are being re-floated. Other sections will take a while longer as water needs to be pumped round the breach site to reach them. is now cut off. Refloating those boats will take longer.
The Leeds Liverpool isn’t the only canal with problems.
Down on the Grand Union Canal the levels dropped between Copper Mill Lock and Cowley, a C&RT notice was put out yesterday with an emergency navigation restriction. On Tuesday night Widewater and Denham Deep Locks were closed due to low water levels. Several boats have sunk because of this in the marina there.
15W ten days ago
Then on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal yesterday a significant leak had been discovered between locks 14W and 15W, where we had been moored last Tuesday. Today a method of repair has been established and repair works will happen over the weekend.
On this side of the Narrow someone has left a paddle up at Lock 14E. This doesn’t sound too bad, half emptying a the pound above. The eastern side of the Huddersfield Narrow has limited water resources and the refilling of this pound will have a knock effect to the lower end of the canal.
Over the last couple of mornings Mick has been in the engine bay trying to solve our power problem. This morning he succeeded in getting things working again. Hooray!!! The lap top now has 100% power.
We’ve been able to keep moving so there is plenty to write about, well most of it is written in long hand so I didn’t forget it. Plus there are hundreds of photos to sort through so it will take some time to catch up with ourselves whilst still moving!
In other news however there has been a breach on the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Yesterday afternoon the following C&RT notice came through
A closure to navigation and towpath is required between Bridges 109 (New Barn Bridge) and 110 (Aspen Bridge) on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Rishton, while our engineers investigate significant leakage through the bed of the canal.
Due to the volume of water loss, please be advised that water levels between Barrowford Bottom Lock (No.51) and Blackburn Top Lock (No.52) may be affected and lower than normal. We advise against unneccesary travel through this area until repairs have been completed.
Then this morning it was followed with this
Our teams have been working throughout the night to try and stabilise the significant leak between Bridge 109, New Barn Bridge and Bridge 110, Aspen Bridge, Rishton on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, unfortunately, during the early hours of this morning the canal bank has breached.
Dams are currently being installed onsite and our teams are organising a method of repair, including pumps to be able to pump water over the affected area to maintain a feed to the lower section of the canal.
To help conserve water in the surrounding areas, the following Lock Flights are closed:
Barrowford Locks
Blackburn Locks
Johnsons Hillocks
Wigan Flight
Another update will be put out tomorrow. This all seems very familiar to us. We obviously really feel for those affected and hope there is a speedier solution than there was on the Aire and Calder. We’re also glad we decided against going that way just over a week ago.
Wool Road Winding Hole toDiggle, the summit of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal
It looks good over there!
As we got ready to leave this morning the chap from the boat in front appeared with a billy can full of coal which he proceeded to give to me. He’d taken his stove out several months ago, so had no need of it.
Good Luck with Gypsy
He bought his boat in May as a project boat and was due to have a new stove fitted before now, but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened. I suggested he might want to hold onto the coal to help keep warm, but he still wanted to give it to us. I suspect it was in his way. He grew up around Tunnel End in Marsden, before the tunnel was reopened he and his mates used to play in it, he says there is graffiti from the original navies who cut the tunnel. We wished him good luck with the work on his boat, his next aim is to get to Marsden, then who knows!
Time to climb the last few locks. The last nine locks to the summit are all relatively close together, infact today we only moved a mile horizontally but 94ft 6″ vertically.
Lifting the paddles
The angled paddle gear wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, several of them having had hydraulic mechanisms added to them. Six years ago we had enlisted crew to assist due to me not being able to use my right hand at the time. Using a windlass wrong handed was a challenge as I tried to do my bit. Today my long reach windlass was only needed some of the time.
Will that be enough water?
Our main problem today would be the low pound between locks 26W and 27W. As I arrived to open the gates into 26W above looked really rather low, would there be sufficient water left after filling the lock to get Oleanna over the cill? The bottom gates leaked, she rose, we pushed the gate open, it was touch and go from my reckoning that there’d be enough water.
Gradually making her way forward
I walked up to 27W, the level above much healthier, in fact the bywash was running. I lifted the paddles on the bottom gates and then the top gates and let water run down through the lock. I made note of where I thought I could drop the level above to for us still to be able to get over the cill of this lock.
Will she get over the cill?
Below Mick had closed the gate again, hoping to stop the pound from draining as much as I was filling it. He then refilled the lock, opened the gate and gradually inched his way out of the lock and over the cill. A big thumbs up was given and I could now drop the paddles at the top end of my lock.
There was now the pound to cross which took quite sometime! As Oleanna approached the bottom cill of the lock Mick gave her quite a few revs before cutting them and thankfully gliding into the lock at a slow pace. Now to see if I’d let too much water down to be able to get over the top cill of this lock. There was just enough! Phew!
Nearly there!
Onwards and upwards we worked, the single bottom gates meaning less walking round, but heavier to move. The last pound between 31W and 32W was also a touch low, but thankfully passable, no need to draw on the 3 plus miles of the summit pound.
As the top gate opened of Lock 32W Oleanna had reached the highest point on the Canal Network, tomorrow she will bag her next wonder of the waterways, but getting this far is a wonder in itself.
We pulled up in front of NB Idleness a tug who will also be going through the tunnel tomorrow, Kim and I had been in touch through facebook over the last week. So there was plenty to chat about on our arrival. They are longer than us at around 60ft and had been asking how easy or hard it would be to go down the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
Good hunting friendly cover here
Tilly came out for an explore as we chatted, but after a lady walking by mentioned she’d just seen a couple of Mink I decided that maybe Tilly should return indoors. After seeing how quickly a mink grabbed and dragged a pigeon down a tree earlier this summer I thought it would be safer.
BUSY!
After lunch we walked down hill slightly to Grandpa Greens for some celebratory chilled medication. Signs all around the building suggest that they have had queues round the block, but today we only had to wait for one other person to be served. Sadly no gluten free cones so I had to make do with a tub instead.
What a choice!
Mick had Belgium chocolate and Salted Caramel whilst I had Raspberry Ripple and Nutella. Both very nice and a fitting celebration for reaching the summit of summits.
Yay! Summit medication!!!
The Huddersfield Canal is the highest canal on the network at 645ft above sea level. Next is the Rochdale at 600ft, followed by the Macclesfield and Peak Forest at 518ft, Titford Canal BCN at 511ft, Leeds Liverpool at 487ft the last two surprising us not to be the other way round.
Taking down her smile
The afternoon was spent preparing ourselves for tomorrow. The highest point on Oleanna we know to be the horns at the front, the chimney used to be similar until we had some cut off. Mick undid the supports that the horns sit on and tucked them under the bracket that normally holds them off the cratch cover. This will have gained us at least another 3 inches clearance, which we might be glad of if someone else drives Oleanna through the tunnel.
One day I’ll repaint that bracket
Another job today was sussing out whether we’ve been charging enough for our house. We’ve already had an enquiry for a few weeks next year. Now that we have been paying the bills for a full year we know what it costs to run the house.
A Summit Robin
I made up a chicken and roast carrot risotto with the last of our Sunday roast and popped it in the oven before I got together with my Scarborough chums for our weekly catch up. It was good to see those who could make it and today was the first time we’ve had two people on boats, me and Sue who is currently on holiday in Greece sailing.
9 locks, 94ft 6″ climbed, 1 mile, 32 locks up, 645ft, 1 summit pound, 1 billy can of coal, 1 dodgy pound, 1 foot of water, 2 boats waiting for the tunnel, 3 by the end of the day, 2 scoops each, 2 horns lowered, 2 hours shore leave, 2 mink! 5 chums, 1 pot of oven risotto, yummy!
The yarn shop I’ve just spotted on the map at Warth Mill has been added to the ‘next time’ list!
Two years ago we crossed the Pennines from east to west via the Rochdale Canal with Clare and Graeme on NB Mr Blue Sky. Last year we crossed via the Leeds Liverpool visiting friends and family in Skipton and Leeds. Earlier this year we dodged the hills by taking the route south via the River Trent. There is one other route which we have only done once before, six years ago, the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad Canals.
Snake bridge
Recently all routes have had their problems. Lock floors, stuck boats, lack of water etc etc. The Huddersfield Narrow has problems with water levels towards Huddersfield on a good year, but this year those problems have been greater. Then over the last month the bottom end of the Huddersfield Broad Canal has been found to be empty on several occasions.
And another
The C&RT stoppage notices that come from this area are far more informative than you normally get, they explain what has happened and what measures are being taken to rectify the situation. However what we wanted to know was, was the situation going to improve or would Oleanna be stuck in Huddersfield all winter if we went that way.
I think we’re going to see a lot of the chap on the right
The amount of work needed to reach the summit, the tunnel passage and then working down the other side is more for those who like a challenge than those who prefer a life on the flat with a glass of wine in hand. Before we committed to this route we wanted to talk to someone on the ground with local knowledge. For the last week Mick has been trying to call Standedge Tunnel Control to speak to someone, but with no luck. Today however was different he got through.
This year the canal has suffered more from the lack of water as one of the reservoirs has been drawn down for inspection and maintenance (several others on the system have also been lowered). But the rain we are having has been doing a good job of filling the canal up. The chap sounded positive, which is what we wanted to hear. Decision made before we’d even got out of bed this morning. Huddersfield Narrow it is!
We’ll be going right please!
About a month ago we’d booked our passage through Standedge Tunnel and our cruising has been planned for us to reach Diggle portal the day before. We have also booked a ranger to assist for a day on our descent from Marsden, then you also have to book for Lock 1E to be unlocked to let you out the bottom and into Huddersfield.
Time to get moving!
A boat came past, possibly the boat that had followed us down Marple yesterday, at speed. They then met a Black Prince hire boat at the next bridge, we just waited for both boats to pass before untying. The Black Prince boat might just arrive in time to start the flight before midday.
They’ll need warp drive to reach the locks in time!
Soon after pushing off ourselves we were approaching a big bend when the bow of another Black Prince boat came charging round it. Thankfully it seemed that the person at the helm had some experience as we narrowly avoided a collision. If they could keep their speed up we reckoned they would miss the locks by about ten minutes! Not good if you are trying to the Cheshire ring in a week!
We pootled along at a reasonable speed through the long winding wooded valley. A chap was blowing leaves off his astro turf. Maybe it’s best to keep on top of such things, but what a never ending job!
M67
Under the M67. Was this the face of a local graffiti artist on the wall here? Was this going to be the local ‘Ghost’? It was, we were to see plenty more pupilless faces today.
We caught the boat ahead of us up at Duckingfield Lift Bridge. Here you need an anti-vandal key, or handcuff key to get the lock off the mechanism and they hadn’t got one. The chap was tinkering with the lock as the lady knocked on a boat to see if they could help. We pulled in for me to hop off just as they got the lock unlocked. At least it saved me doing all the winding, but I did make sure it was locked back up once it was down again.
Mick asked them which way they were going. ‘To Ancotes’ was the reply. He pointed out that they would need a handcuff key for the locks. But the lady said they wouldn’t be doing the locks today. They’d still need a handcuff key no matter what day they were doing them.
Dukinfield Junction
They turned left at the junction, we turned right onto new waters for Oleanna and Tilly. Under the Asda Tunnel and out passing moored boats and three flying ducks.
Then on towards Bridge 111, the first of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, just below 1W Ashton Lock, the first lock of the canal.
Broken even with the price tag still on it!
Now six years ago we’d just bought ourselves a long reach aluminium windlass. I was nursing my lack of little finger so was at the helm, off went Mick to set the lock. He soon returned with the brand new windlass in two pieces! The advantage of the longer reach no longer available he struggled with a standard windlass. A while later we replaced the broken aluminium windlass with a long reach one made from steel, now my best friend.
Lock 1W finally open!
Today it would be me working the locks and 1W made itself known quickly. The lock was full so I went to empty it. The towpath side paddle being extremely stiff took some work. A couple of clicks, then adjusting the position of the windlass to give me more umph! Eventually it raised. I then tried the off side, this just slipped every half turn, so I left it closed. The gates were stubborn too, one side with a cranked beam. If this was to be the case at every lock we were going to be working hard for the next few days!
Plantation and Tame Lock were much easier. Hills just in view ahead and old mills alongside the canal.
River Tame
The River Tame aqueduct took me by surprise, I nearly had to do a Giles as I’m not too keen on having nothing on one side of the boat!
Now we cruised through overgrownness on both sides approaching Stalybridge. Railings and lamp posts hide in amongst the sideways trees. At one time someone thought the canal would be a popular place to walk, it is but only on one side, the other left to grow over and collect rubbish.
Salt shaker vent
The canal was built over 17 years, originally opening in 1811 Standedge Tunnel being the last stretch to open. For a while the canal was profitable being a shorter route connecting Manchester to Leeds than the Rochdale, but bottlenecks were created at the tunnel where it took four hours to leg a boat through! In 1845 the canal was bought by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company who’s route was to follow the canal up the Tame and Colne Valleys. Standedge Tunnel was used to remove the spoil when they built the railway tunnel. Once the railway was open there was no need for the canal which fell into decline and ended up closing in 1944.
In 1974 the Huddersfield Canal Society was formed with the aim of re-opening the canal. Whole sections of the cut had been filled in, built over and several bridges had been removed. Volunteers with the support of local councils worked hard and by the 1990’s all sections that had not been filled in were restored. The Huddersfield Canal Company was set up to co-ordinate the reopening of the remaining sections, one of them being a half mile through Stalybridge which had been filled in and partly built over. But in May 2001 the canal was reopened. Plenty photos of the building work here.
4W mossy but new
Lock 4W is more or less where the major works in Stalybridge started. A whole new lock was built with it’s approach under a road. I’d remembered this and the railings which meant dropping crew off to work the lock had to be done at the start of the tunnel/bridge.
The bottom gates were problematical to close. In fact after pushing and bumping the gates there was still a six inch gap between them. We tried adding water pressure to the equation, but all that was going to do was deplete the pound above. The paddles were closed, gates reopened, Mick tried prodding around with a boat hook but the water was too deep. The gates closed a touch better and water pressure did the rest of the job for us, up the 11ft 1″ Oleanna rose, the pound above looking a bit short on water.
Looking back to 4W
I walked ahead and dropped the water from 5W which aided our need to get over the cill. Mick decided to leave the ground paddles open until Oleanna was safely across the cill, this would help water move around her should I have needed to let more water down. Once clear of the gate he then dropped the paddles. As on quite a few of the Huddersfield Canal Locks both ground paddle mechanisms are on the same side as the gate beam, handy as there are no walkways over the top gates.
Stalybridge Civic Hall and hills
We had a similar problem at 5W with the gates closing. An extra nudge and water help again. Now we could see the Civic Hall and the hills behind as we made our way through the new cut to 6W.
Nice trees, a shame about the weeds
Up at lock level there is masses of paving everywhere, a municipal feel to the town centre, all revamped when the canal came back through town. Once exciting I’m sure, but now it feels just a touch soulless. An art installation sits near the lock, Holy Trinity and Christ Church a little behind it. Then once up through Lock 6W Tescos takes over, car park on both sides of the canal. We pulled in where another boat was moored right opposite the checkouts. The chap on NB Texas Star had a very pretty dog and he was trying his best to get a coat of paint on the back of his cabin just as it started to really rain.
Two paddles and Tescos ahead
After a late lunch we put together a big shopping list, enough supplies to get us into Yorkshire. This must be the closest we’ve ever moored to somewhere you can leave your trolley and get your £ coin back. The only problem is the railings between the car park and boat. I passed the shopping through and Mick popped them on the boat. It was then either a walk round for me or a scramble through the railings.
Look what they’ve just bought!
This afternoon we’ve had the following through from C&RT
Huddersfield Narrow Canal – Water management information Starts At: Lock 1 East, Stanley Dawson Lock Ends At: Standedge Tunnel
Monday 4 October 2021 14:30 until further notice
With the support of the EA, during the 2021 boating season we installed a temporary river pump at Britannia bridge, in Milnsbridge, abstracting water from the River Colne into the Huddersfield Narrow canal to aid continued navigation on the canal. We have unfortunately been unsuccessful in gaining an extension on this abstraction from the EA which we had hoped would continue until the end of the 2021 boating season, so as of 30th Sept 2021 we have ceased abstraction for this year.
The canal is currently looking healthy and we are relying on supply from our reservoirs, natural feeds and of course wet weather to maintain water supply, with the recent rainfall proving beneficial. The local team will continue to do their best to manage water levels in order to support safe navigation and if we are faced with the need to implement restrictions or closures, we will update the notice accordingly.
At least the rain is doing some good to the east of the Pennines, here it has stopped us from heading out for an explore, instead we stayed by the stove keeping dry and warm. Outside it was someone’s birthday, maybe they were having a car park party! Thankfully they quietened down after a while leaving us with the car park lights and the very raucous Canada Geese!
Today we have learnt something that we’ll never forget. Did you know that a Moorhens skin type is fur ?! No we didn’t either until we were checking what juvenile Moorhens looked like. Check this link if you don’t believe me!
6 locks, 61ft 3″ climbed, 5.89 miles, 1 lift bridge, 1 boat held up, 1 right, 2 canals, 1 Asda tunnel, 6 furry Moorhens, 1 pretty woofer, 6437 giant spiders, 1 car park mooring, 1 box, 2 bottles wine, 1 trolley almost to the boat, 1 very damp evening, 0 shore leave.
So our route today
Murrys Winding Hole to opposite Tescos, Stalybumbridge, Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Over the last few months our aim has been to get to see family. Heading to London meant we’d be able to see all our siblings bar one with relative ease. But what about that missing one, Anne! How could we get to see Anne?
Anne isn’t in the south. In fact Anne is quite a lot lot further north. This would take some planning.
The first part of our route would see us leaving Rembrandt Gardens and retracing our steps back to Fradley Junction. Here though we would turn left and head up to Great Haywood, Stoke, Middlewich. Onto the Bridgewater Canal (you have to book that online now), up to Leigh and join the Leeds Liverpool Canal. West to the Rufford Branch, turn down there to Tarleton. Another booking would need to be made to cross from the River Douglas to the River Ribble, then up Savick Brook and The Ribble Link on to the Lancaster Canal.
Up to Glasson
Just over 22.5 miles of the Lancaster Canal would bring us to the Glasson Branch where we’d head down the locks to the Basin. This portion of the journey would amount to 315 miles 2.75 furlongs and take us through 197 locks so a bit more effort required than our trip to London from Goole. According to Canalplan this would take us 153 hours and 36 minutes, so at 7 hours a day (which we rarely do) it would take us 22 days, add in a few days off for bad weather, waiting for the tides to be right crossing to the Lancaster Canal, so make it 29 days.
Then our journey would require a touch more planning, mostly on the food and wine stakes as I’m not too sure whether we’d find many shops on route. We could visit The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse before we left, their smoked goods would last us a while.
Glasson across Morecombe Bay
Choosing a suitable tide we’d exit through the lock out onto the River Lune, keeping to the channel away from the numerous sandbanks, heading southwards before we turn to the west, crossing Morecombe Bay and heading to Barrow-in-Furness where we’d pull in for a night at West of Duddon Sands Windfarm.
Up to Barrow-in-Furness
This would be 19.42 miles, so at 6mph 3.25 hrs cruising time, we may however have had to wait for the tide to turn so as to avoid all the sand banks on Morecombe Bay.
Barrow to St Bees
Continuing northwards we’d pop out alongside Sandscale Haws National Nature Reserve, hugging the coast passing Sellafield to near to St Bees, where the coast to Coast walk starts. We’d beach here for the night. 32.6 miles, so a 6 hour day.
Passing the nuclear coast
Still hugging the coast we would pass Whitehaven and pull in at Harrington Marina. A short day with only 10.5 miles, 1.75 hours. I think we’d have a meal at The Lifeboat Inn, except it doesn’t look like they serve food, so it would be smoked salmon again!
To Brighouse Bay
From here we’d set a course to the North West and Scotland. Yes we could pull in to Kirkcudbright but I’d rather beach at Brighouse Bay a favourite bay from my early college years. 25.75 miles , 4 to 5 hours cruise avoiding the rocky headland.
Our course would now be South West, crossing to the Isle of Whithorn, just over 11.8 miles, 2 hours, but there is a small harbour here and a Post Office with a shop where we could pick up some milk.
Brighouse to Isle of Whithorn to Cairnryan
From here we’d go back out to sea, cross from Cutcloy to the Mull of Galloway, then hug the coast, keeping an eye on the lighthouses at Crammag Head, Killantringan and Corsewall, popping into Loch Ryan to moor up with the P&O ferries at Cairnryan for a much needed break after the 69 miles of concentration taking 11.5 hours.
To Ailsa Craig
An almost due north course of 20 miles, 3.3 hours, would have us pull up on Ailsa Craig, where we’d make use of the little jetty.
Overnight at Troon
Heading back to the west coast near Turnberry we’d skirt our way northwards to pull in at Troon. Here we’d stock up on a few bits and bobs at Morrisons and check in with the RNLI. 28.25 miles, 4.75 hours.
Ardrossan to visit the castle
From Troon we’d cut across the bay avoiding the SSSI of Bogside Flats and what looks like a lovely beach. Hooking round into Ardrossan Harbour, an Asda and a Castle to visit here, well it’s only 9 miles so we’d have to fill the rest of the day.
Maybe we’ll stop off at the islands on the way back
We’d keep along the coast then to the east of Little Cumbrae and Great Cumbrae where we would take advantage of the Clydeport Road which stretches out into channel. 10 miles, maybe 2 hours to avoid larger vessles.
We’ll have a kip at Kip
Northwards to Inverkip where we’d seek shelter in Kip Marina, hopefully they have a visitor mooring suitable for a narrowboat. Just over 11 miles, so 2 hours cruise.
The final leg
Round to Gourock where it looks like there is a pontoon in the bay. Tilly may have to swim ashore for supplies. 6 miles, so we might just add this onto the day before or after, all weather dependant of course!
Our Destination
From here a North Easterly course will bring us across the mouth of Gare Loch and Helensburgh Ferry Terminal, 4 miles, so under an hour. Hopefully we won’t get in the way of the PS Waverley for a few days. From here we are kind of hoping that Anne might just come and pick us up by car as I think they live up the hill a touch.
Route round to Scotland
So in total we would have 45 hours cruising at sea, over about 12 days, so back to our more normal cruising times, with one long day.
So Anne we’ll see you around the 11th 12th August. Hope that’s okay!
198 locks, 572.7 miles, 41 days, 4th sister, 1 plan, or maybe we could go up the east coast!
In amongst our Christmas presents this year we got a lot of books. Most were canal orientated along with Nigella Lawson’s latest cookery book (thank you Emma), a book on bike rides (thank you Anne) and one on teaching your dog the classics somehow sneaked in there. My friend Nick has a weird sense of humour, his friend wrote it. Well that was the excuse he gave and he is very much a dog man.
Christmas goodies
I’m looking forward to reading Murder on the Oxford Canal and Mick has already started on Water Ways. So far the writer has been learning the ropes with Kate Saffin on her boat and they have just arrived at The Folly, Napton where Alarum Theatre Company will be performing their show Idle Women. I wonder if Heather from NB Bleasdale will get a mention along with NB Tench? Thank you Christine.
Tilly likes the look of the Canal Pushers
The Yorkshire calendar came from Kath and has several canal related photographs, mostly around the Skipton area. How apt that May (Mick’s birthday month) happens to be of bridge 186 in Kildwick, the bridge where we have photos of Lillian leaving and Oleanna approaching. Thank you Kath.
The Bridge from the other side
There’s not much to report regarding the breach this week. I suspect Oleanna has risen and fallen with the level, pretty much as she has done the last few weeks. Aerial photos are few and far between as people are staying home and until work starts there isn’t much new to see.
But yesterday there was the following C&RT notice.
Notice Alert
Aire & Calder Navigation Main Line Location: Culvert 14, Don Drain – Aire & Calder Navigation – Towpath closure at Breach Site Starts At: Culvert 14, Don Drain Ends At: Culvert 14, Don Drain
Monday 18 January 2021 08:00 until Sunday 27 June 2021 18:00
Type: Towpath Closure Reason: Structure failure
Original message:
Following a breach over the Christmas period adjacent to culvert 14 on the Aire & Calder, an area of the canal is to be dewatered to enable investigation works and a permanent solution to be constructed. To enable safe working the towpath is to be closed.
Towpaths tend to stay closed for longer than the navigation, but this gives us some idea of how long they are thinking the breach may take to fix. 23 weeks for the towpath. It looks like we will end up leaving via Goole Docks out onto the Tidal Ouse.
