Category Archives: Uncategorized

Circling Buzzards. 28th November

Whixall Moss Roving Bridge to England Wales Border again.
P1180411smWith no rush to get anywhere and the sun out Tilly was allowed a morning of shore leave. When she came back would determine what we did for the rest of the day. This is a little bit risky as around about a year ago at Poynton, on the Macc, she went out first thing and didn’t return home until it was very dark, there had been no sign of her all day. But Mick has re-done the calculations for how much cruising we need to do a day and it has reduced from 40 to 30mins. So it wouldn’t be that hard to catch up a day or two if we needed to.
P1180408smP1180422smMid morning Mick spotted a couple of what looked like large birds of prey. They sat high on sawn off trees, surveying all around them. What were they? Exactly how big were they? Were they partial to black and white cats? We think they were Buzzards. No sign of Tilly. Were they resting letting a big feast settle?
P1180436smAfter an hour or so, we were wanting to make a move, but we were still without our second mate. Mad cat lady was needed and now that the boat ahead of us had pulled away I was happy to walk up and down the towpath shouting and meowing. The Buzzards had moved, one was sat high in a tree squawking in reply to my shouts. After some time I heard Tilly’s bell which was followed with ‘I’m here’ Meows. It took Tilly quite a while to make her way back across a stream and the sheep field. Towels were quickly deployed, why did I get white ones!
P1180443smWe pushed off and decided that we’d head straight on instead of heading down the Prees Branch, we’d come back and explore down there later, along with having a walk on the mosses. The square house at the junction stood proud showing off it’s Christmas Wreath to all boats that pass. Just round the bend a chap was hanging out his washing, if the sun didn’t dry it it would freeze, just hope he doesn’t snap it taking it off his whirligig tonight.
P1180454smP1180469smA long straight lay ahead of us and in the distance we could see a boat coming towards us. We were in England, they were in Wales, soon we’d swap countries. The border isn’t obvious, no customs or flag, but we think a walkway onto the mosses possibly marks it. The canal sits slightly raised and the land spreads out either side almost like an African plain, no elephants out there, today.
P1180474smP1180478smAt Bettisfield we pulled in for water by the bridge. This water point isn’t marked in our Nicholsons, but was in Pearsons. We are now into the time of year when you never pass a water point without topping up. Oleanna is looking decidedly muddy, which can’t be helped with the towpaths as they are. A good wash is what she needs, but only the stern counter got a good scrub today. This of course became muddy as soon as we both stepped back on board, oh well, at least I know it was clean for five minutes.
We pootled along a bit further now looking for somewhere to pull in. The embankment twists it’s way out of Bettisfield and has great views across the fields. A couple of other boats had already grabbed the best spot and one chap was busy with his chain saw, so we pulled in further along. The last half mile or so had been slow going, the bottom was getting close to the top of the canal. Here the bottom was too close and we couldn’t get close enough into the side, so we carried on round the next bend, back into England before pulling in more successfully.
Oleanna’s prop hadn’t sounded too happy, but nothing was found round it, it just must be shallow here.
P1180486smAfter an hour or so more of shore leave Tilly arrived home and jumped onto the roof as she does to announce her arrival. The engine board rocks slightly as she jumps up from it. Other than that it was all quiet, to quiet. Where was her bell? Where was her collar? Where was her visa allowing her shore leave?  The circling Buzzards had caught up with me, tried to pick me up, only to get a beak full of collar! Luckily we have a spare collar, which was easy to find, but her spare cat tag was nowhere. An old one will have to do for the time being. But I don’t live on Lillian anymore! A woofer does!
0 locks, 2.65 miles, 1 straight on, 2 big birds, 1 cat too much of a beak full, 2 border crossings, 0 elephants, 1 full water tank, 1 attempt at stove top potatoes failed, 1 new red collar, 1 reindeer bell, 5th pair socks started, 2 new tags on order.
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Skirting Round Wales. 27th November

Bridge 37 to Whixall Moss Roving Bridge 46

A chilly and windy start to the day, so with padded trousers and extra layers we pootled along. Hoping for a couple of phone calls I kept my phone out the back with us on charge to the socket on our Nicholsons shelf. The signal was very intermittent but I still had chance to make arrangements with my friend Jaye from Scarborough. The other calls we hoped for didn’t come.

P1180357smWhere we had moored last night was only 500m from the Welsh border, today we were to get as close as we could without crossing it. A line of trees showing where a stream runs is the border for a while. It swings around getting closer, 60m, and then drifts away again. At Tilstock Park Lift Bridge 42 the border joins the towpath. I’m fairly sure that as I walked up to the bridge I managed to stay in England, but any further on and I’d have crossed the border.

P1180366smP1180367smFor the next kilometre we ran right along the border, the towpath now Wales but the water in the canal still English.

P1180387smP1180392smP1180382smWe are starting to make mental notes of road access at bridges, Finesse will be making us a visit at some point so parking and ease of reaching a mooring will be important. Platt Bridge was a possible, but just a short distance further on at Roundthorn Bridge 44 there was a perfect place. Here there are 48 hour moorings and even a layby right next to it. The road not too busy for us to let Tilly out whilst the chaps are with us. The only downside is that the bridge looks like a large slice of Emmental cheese at the moment. C&RT are carrying out repair works to it and have taken over quite a large part of the layby for their works, but there is still room for a van.

By now the wind was quite strong and biting, after an hour and a half we needed a warm up, so we pulled in to have some lunch. Once defrosted we pushed on some more, our hope being to reach the Prees Branch today. We were now surrounded by low flat land Whixall Moss which is part of Britains third largest lowlands raised bog. The 948 hectares are visible from space. There is plenty of wildlife here, but today was not the day to go off to see any as it was so bitter.

P1180399smThe long straight of the canal has one bridge that crosses it, Morris Lift Bridge. Is this a low bridge? Is it a bridge? It has no air only water under it. The roadway actually sits into the water and by eck it takes a lot of winding!

With the wind now quite strong and straight ahead any deviation from straight meant the bow being pushed off line, Mick had difficulty in straightening Oleanna up to come through the bridge. We were soon to arrive at the junction with the Prees Branch, as soon as we turned we would be pushed into the bank so progress wouldn’t be so easy especially with there being more lift bridges. So we decided to call it a day and pulled in at some moorings just short of the junction.

P1180404smThis outside had plenty of sheeps. They all kept running up to one end of the field and disturbing my friend hunting, then they would go back again! One of them had what looked like my harness on, but no-one was holding onto a lead. A while after we arrived so did another boat, this had a woofer with it. Once they’d tied it to the outside the lady gave the woofer a wash with a spray. This is just another thing that proves cats are far superior, woofers can’t wash themselves! Stupid!!

I would just like to say that Tilly’s views are her own and do not necessarily constitute the views of this blog writer. I apologise to any woofer dog owners for any offence caused.

DSCF7114sm0 locks, 4.08 miles, 2 lift bridges, 1km next to the border, 1 chilly day, 1 slice of Swiss cheese, 4 paw spa, 38 sheeps, 1 marker pen, 1 changed plan for Christmas, 8 snowflakes, 0 more wool, 4 pieces of sticky chicken on the stove.

Winding And Lifting. 26th November

Whitchurch Arm to Gridley Brook to 1/4 mile north Bridge 37

A cooked breakfast to start the day before we walked up to Sainsburys for a few bits. Pushing off we winded managing not to disturb the ducks. Today would be full of turning around.

P1180311smP1180313smAt the end of the arm we turned left only to wind at the winding hole so that we could head back to Grindley Brook. Once through the lift bridge we cruised along ready to pull in to pick up some wood. But just as we thought, we’d been beaten to it.

P1180319smTwo boats were moored up along side the mountain of wood which was gradually migrating onto their roofs. We don’t often burn wood, but the odd log late on an evening is nice, so we were only wanting a bit, but we decided to leave them to it as they seemed to be better kitted out than us for log chopping and storage.

P1180320smAt Grindley Brook we filled up with water, disposed of rubbish, I had a shower and we emptied the yellow water tank before winding again at the top of the locks. All we need now is for the coal boat to come past so that we can stock up on diesel and coal. They are due to start their run up to Llangollen tomorrow, so we’ll see them in a day or so.

P1180326smWith all the winding done for the day we then carried on with lift bridges. Back through New Mills where a young lad was transfixed by Oleanna and wanted to know if the bridge was hard work. My answer was ‘Yes and No’. It’s not hard to turn the windlass, but after 49 turns you are glad to stop whilst your boat goes through, only 28 turns to lower it though.

P1180337smBeyond the winding hole we managed to go straight on and pass Whitchurch Marina. Plenty of hire boats in and I made a note of their diesel at 88p domestic. We’ll be using the coal boat when ever we can, but knowing what else is about may be handy.

P1180348smFurther up another two lift bridges, but nobody to hold up. These bridges give access for footpaths or to moorings, so no big roads to hold up. The sun was starting to get low in the sky so we pulled in along a stretch of armco and let Tilly out to explore. I had a swift walk up and down with her to stretch her legs before she went off hunting somewhere. I wonder how far she would actually follow me if there were no dogs about. She quite happily gallops along behind or in front for some distance. But I turn round before I think I’m getting too far away so as not to encourage her to wonder great distances.

P1180353smOur mooring is in one of those blind spots for mobile signal. These are likely to get more frequent the further we go. I received an answer phone message from my brother regarding plans for their Christmas visit in a brief glimpse of signal. My text replying took three hours to find another glimpse. Internet is also getting patchy. So if you don’t hear from us for a few days we will still be here, just not in the internet ether.

DSCF7114sm0 locks, 3.39 miles, 3 winds, 4 lifts, 1 done twice, 197 turns to go up, 116 turns to go down, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 clean pooh box, 0 bread, 1 rustic sliced white loaf, 2 scavenging boats, 0 for us, 2 hours in the dark, 1 freezer getting low, 1 margee email, 1 almost but not quite phone call, 5 snowflakes.

Half Pebble Dashed. 25th November

Whitchurch Arm

P1180203smThere was certainly the sound of sleet last night hitting the roof of Oleanna, but this morning it had turned to just cold rain and quite a lot of it. Tilly was allowed out to explore whilst we stayed inside by the warmth of the stove, Mick braving the elements for a newspaper. The dry stone wall by our mooring was very soon scaled (this is the cat who managed to climb the high wall in Marple last year) and the vista on the other side was heaven to Tilly. She was gone for hours only to return during a particularly heavy down pour.

The day gradually brightened up, so with some mince, onions and other things gradually cooking on the stove top we ventured back into Whitchurch. Sadly my thought of going to the Heritage Centre was thwarted by it being closed on Saturdays! So we decided to have a wonder around and loiter to see the Christmas lights get turned on.

P1180266smToday we walked along Chemistry into town and through Jubilee Park. We then had a good look around the town finding the Heritage Centre that we’d missed yesterday (when it was open!). Whitchurch is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire.

P1180268smP1180270smPip 6 1972 cTown was packed, today the Christmas lights would be turned on. There was a small fun fair. The local Rotary club had a wagon with a queue right across the street for people to visit Santa. I usually insist on calling him Father Christmas but when someone dresses up as him with a bad plastic wig and beard they become Santa. Being born on Christmas day Father Christmas used to make two visits to my house, one at the usual time when we were all asleep and an earlier one, to my birthday party. So I can tell a fake when I see one.

P1180297smWe soon found a charity shop that had some towels, so we now have a full complement for when Tilly comes in covered in mud. She refuses to wipe her paws on the mats provided and just jumps over them instead! Then we wondered away from the throngs to see what we could see. Some wonderful buildings and others not so wonderful. This is the first time I’ve seen a half pebble dashed house, I’m hoping it will be the last.

P1180278smP1180289smP1180285smWonderful windows of all shapes styles and sizes.

P1180296smIf you fancy a project there is an old pub that stands at the back of the church, currently it is unsafe so would most probably need pulling down, but what a great site. We stopped off to look in a couple of shops and un-secretly bought invisible things for in a months time.

P1180309smBack onto the High Street we looked at stalls all showing their Christmassy wares. People were now starting to congregate for the lights. Looking around us we decided that we were unlikely to be amazed at the display, it wasn’t going to be anything like Newarks market square, that was special. Even the mulled wine didn’t entice us to stay another half hour. Instead we headed back to the boat leaving everyone else to have a good time and get chilblains.

23905228_1603325893059308_5099655519822155981_n23915630_1603322276393003_6081107607595535372_nMore of my goods went on sale today on my friends Etsy shop. Two have already sold, so maybe we’ll be able to afford a duck for Christmas.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 cold wet sunny wet day, 1 dripping cat, 2 extra towels, 1 secret present, 7 hours cooking for mince, 1 crumble, 1 near ruin, 3 days a week, 11 snowflakes, 1 cardie, 2 pairs socks finished, 1 cosy boat.

A Sea Of Golden Pies. 24th November

Grindley Brook to Whitchurch Arm

P1180163smP1180161sm

The water tank was very low after all the washing we’d done yesterday, so Mick laid out our two hoses to top it up. As we’d had the central heating on for a while this morning I used the hot water and had a shower so that we could leave our mooring with a full tank and a clean me. Tilly was back on form as the bath mat was thoroughly murdered! The small amount of white fish had been picked out carefully from the rice she got for breakfast and so far it has all stayed in her tummy, fingers crossed that the system reset has worked. I think I’d like fish everyday from now on, pink food is nowhere near as good!


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Before going to bed last night I had found my other type of double sided tape. I applied a layer of this on top of the original tape. The original had stuck very well to the porthole, but not so well to the carry mat. This other type didn’t look that different but had worked with the carry mat on our freezer. So foam layer applied we waited for it to pop off over night. It didn’t! The temperature had dropped over night and the foam had done it’s job. No condensation running off the frame, I just need to add some more bits to the brackets that the window rests on as these were dripping.

P1180177smTime to move on. Not far, but onto new water for all of us, not much new water, but new. The sun was out making it a chilly but bright morning. We pootled past the Winter Moorers. A short distance on a dog walker was drawing our attention to a large pile of logs freshly cut. He was of the opinion that it was Ash but the tree surgeons further up said it was Elm, much harder to split than Ash. We may go back for some.

P1180192smP1180199smA mile on and New Mills Lift Bridge sat waiting to be lifted. This bridge sits at the end of the Whitchurch Arm which goes off to the left quite sharply, not enough room to turn Oleanna in. A short distance further along there is a winding hole where we turned and made our way back down onto the arm. We pulled into one of two gaps as a Kingfisher dashed overhead (our first sighting on the Llangollen), tied up and retired inside to warm up and have lunch before going to see what Whitchurch had to offer.

It’s about a mile walk along what used to be the old line of the canal. There are plans to extend the canal and build a basin on waste land, but this will no doubt take years to achieve. Plenty of new housing is going up. Opposite our mooring is busy with houses being built and then along the path further towards the town there is a new estate. Signs by one house suggest you should ask about the pumping station before you buy it! Maybe there are issues with water levels here.

P1180216smP1180224smWe had a brief look round the town, sadly we’d missed the Friday morning market but there was still plenty to see. Half timbered buildings, new small arcade leading to Tescos.

Down Watergate Arcade there wasn’t much to see at first, a dog grooming parlour, but then a window that we couldn’t but help stop and look in. This was Powells Pies. Inside there were three people gradually working away making pork pies. A chap, grandson of the original Powell butcher, was raising the hot crust around wooden dollies. A lady sat opposite weighing out the pork then packing the correct weight into them. Another lady sat crimping the lids onto the pies. Ovens lined the back wall and cooling trays were crammed with a sea of freshly cooked pork pies. What a shop window! There was a small sales counter so it would have been exceedingly rude not to have gone inside and buy a pie.

P1180219smP1180221smPowells Pies sell mostly at farmers markets across North Shropshire and Cheshire and earlier this year won  a Bonze Medal for their pork pies at the Great British Pie Awards. Mick is looking forward to sampling his pie tomorrow.

P1180234smNext we found a cross between Boyes and Barnitts (if you ever go to York Barnitts is worth a visit). Colour Supplies has almost everything under one roof, sewing, bikes, skateboards, gardening, diy, bedding, Christmas, paint, lights etc. We had a good look round finding some high ball glasses (down to only two now) and something else that Mick paid for but has immediately forgotten about (Christmas is only a month away!). It being Black Friday we got money off too.

P1180243smWalking back we popped into the church on the hill, St Alkmunds Church.

P1180245smP1180248sm

In the late afternoon sunlight it glowed and the patterns on it’s large arched windows drew us in to have a look. It is the forth church on this site since White Church was founded in 900AD. It is the first neoclassical style church in Shropshire and was built in 1713. When first built all the windows were just plain glass apart from two crosses made from glass for the previous church. The Victorians had a love for stained glass, so parishioners set about filling the windows with colour. Warrington designed the windows which are very fine. One has been removed for essential restoration in Chester leaving a large scaff tower in it’s place.

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A lady busied herself arranging flowers so that the church can look good for the Festival of the Crib tomorrow.

P1180249smDSCF7121sm0 locks, 1.02 miles, 1 lift bridge, 2 rights, 1 wind, 1 full water tank, 1st Kingfisher, 0 soya mince, 1 of many pork pies, 6 for the price of 4 and 20% off, 1 chopping Christmas present, 1 much better cat, 2nd type double sided better, 1 dry window, 2 dripping supports!

System Reset, Again! 23rd November

Grindley Brook

This will not do!!!!!!

So I feel like I needed a bit of a lie in this morning, not feeling like I want to have much for breakfast. Well I didn’t get any anyway!

They said I needed a system reset, again! This meant no food ALL day!!!!!!!!!!

P1180147smThey were lazy, not moving the outside and leaving the inside sat on the services and it wasn’t even that blowy!

Normally when there is no outside moving I get to go out into it and explore, find friends etc. But today the doors were kept firmly closed, all part of the System Reset apparently. Well I don’t like System Resets they can go do one.

As this evenings ‘Ding Ding’ approached I couldn’t find my bowls, they had vanished. So I took their place and gave the floor there a good clean. There wasn’t much to be had just a pink biscuit tucked away right in the corner, a bit stale and dusty. How is an active cat like me meant to survive with no food!

Then she has the audacity to cook something that smelt incredibly nice right in front of me! The smell pulled my nose up into the air and my insides rumbled in protest. Apparently it was fish, I’ve smelt it before but today it smelt even betterer. Still a very empty space where my bowls live and inside me!!!

P1180155smShe said that I’d get to try some fish in the morning if my insides behaved better. Well my insides are starving and I am wilting. This is pure cruelty.

Only one thing for it. I need new crew. Please apply to this blog. Ding Ding serving and outside moving and door opening skills a must along with warm comfy knees and feet required to sit on. The ability to read my user manual is not required.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 boat bound cat, 0 food, 7 long sleeps, 1 tiny miniscule pink biscuit all day, 1 mouth full of fluff, 1 big bowl of fish, 0 bowls for cats, 1 twitching nose, 1 comfy knee to sit on, 1 warm box, 6am wake up, 1 cleaning of floor at least I missed the bed, 3 loads of washing, 2 loads of drying, 1 hire boat moving all day, £800 to hire it next week that’s with discount! 1 short walk, 1 fish crumble, 1 improving Tilly, 1.5 socks, 1/4 water tank, 0 exclamation marks left.

We Wouldn’t Normally Move. 22nd November

Grindley Railway Bridge to Top of Grindley Brook Staircase

Today started wet and windy, very windy. On days like this we normally have found a place to tie up without too many trees, shame we needed to move.

We gave ourselves plenty of time to move up to below the locks. Pushing off took both of us on the bow as the wind was holding Oleanna firmly to the bank. Below the locks a bridleway crosses over the canal, this is accessible by car/supermarket delivery van. The only down side is that to be able to moor you are virtually on the lock landing. We tied up to the last bollard and Mick found a ring for the stern. There was little likely hood of anyone coming up or down the locks as it was so windy, but we stayed alert should anyone need assistance.

Mick walked up to the garage to meet the delivery chap who was quite happy with our location, although he didn’t want to reverse up the bridleway. By the time everything was on board and stowed away I had done a full step aerobic workout and the delivery driver had decided that he’d go home and persuade his wife that they needed to buy a narrowboat.

P1180124smDecision time, do we reverse or more likely pull Oleanna back to the visitor moorings we’d just come from, or do we go up the locks and moor above where there is water. We decided on the latter as tomorrow may well be as bad and the water tank was getting low.

It was strangely quite warm but despite the rain having passed over we put full waterproofs on, just in P1180130smcase, they’d at least keep the howling gales out. Two boats had headed up the locks yesterday late afternoon so we wondered how water tight the gates on the locks were. Lock 6 was full, water tight gates, the two above, 5 and 4, almost empty. On windy days like today the last thing you want to be doing is treading water waiting for a lock to be ready. So I headed off once Oleanna was rising to set the next lock and open it. Once open I’d walk back down to close the gate on the previous lock so that Mick could bring Oleanna straight from one lock to the next. But strangely enough it wasn’t the wind that caused the most problems, it was the mass of leaves in the water and the amount of water coming down the bywashes. Leaving locks was seriously hard work.

With Oleanna rising in Lock 4 I headed up to the staircase. There was nobody wanting to come down, not a surprise as no one in their right mind would be moving today! Each of the chambers was full, or just about. This was a bit of a surprise after seeing them empty yesterday. There had also been a comment on a Facebook group about someone having left a paddle up on them which had drained the water. The paddle won’t have helped, but we had suspected that the gates leaked. Maybe when the locks are full the gates seal better (more water pressure) than when they are empty.

The middle lock was actually so full that water was flowing over the bottom gates. Now that had to mean that water was coming from somewhere and sure enough there was a paddle just open, enough to keep the chambers topped up. Mick had now joined me so we set about setting the chambers, most of which was already done. We lifted a paddle on the top chamber to keep that topped up to the level of the pound above and then emptied the bottom chamber. To go up a staircase of locks, you need the bottom chamber empty, then the next chambers above to be full, each one in turn empties into the one below raising the boat so that it can pass into the next chamber when level with it, the last chamber gets filled from the pound above.

P1180135smWith everything ready Mick went back to get Oleanna, she’d been left in the lock below with the gates open. Two very short ponies came out from behind a fence to check what was going on, I wonder if in the summer they sit on the swing and watch the hire boats come and go.

P1180136smWe worked Oleanna up, when the water was level to move from the second chamber to the third it looked like it was a bit low, around 16 inches lower than when it had been full. Would this give us enough water depth to get over the cil into the top chamber? Not wanting to risk it I opened up a top paddle to let more water down and bring the level up. Mick kept an eye on the level and signalled when it was back to full.

P1180143smOnce up we went straight to one of the four water points. Washing machine was filled and the water tank filling as Oleanna rocked around with the blustery wind outside.

P1180144smUp ahead there wasn’t quite enough space behind the last boat on the moorings for us, anyhow there were a lot of trees. Further along there was space but more trees. So not wanting to go far in the wind we decided that if we pulled back we could position ourselves so that there was space for boats at the pooh sucky machine and lock landing behind us and that we were a boats length away from the first water point. We couldn’t be classed as being in the way, especially as no one else was moving. The weather is meant to be similar tomorrow, we may stay put, but we’ll see.

DSCF7114sm6 locks, 3 of them a staircase, 0.52 miles, 100ft backwards, 0 25% off, 1 full wine cellar, 1 boat full of essentials, 0 cheese twists, 2 diddy ponies, 1 full water tank, 1 pair socks finished, 1 pair socks started, 3 hours playing in fields, 1 boat hoping not to be in the way, 1st Welsh accent.

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Leaf Porridge. 21st November

Middle of nowhere to Grindley Railway Bridge

With the weather set to get wet this afternoon we moved off quite early after emptying the yellow water tank. Not far ahead was Marbury Lock which was sat empty waiting for us. Just as I pushed the gates open a boat appeared up ahead meaning we could swap over once we’d ascended.

P1180084smP1180086smJust before bridge 24 there were a couple of chaps trying to haul a large branch out from the cut. A chop with a chain saw meant they could haul the section of branch out of our way. It looks like several trees are being felled along this stretch and piles of Boaters Gold are sat waiting to be picked up.

P1180104smFor the last week or so I’ve had an image in my head of a pub right by a lock with a car park on the off side, I couldn’t for the life of me think where it was. Well today we passed through it, Willeymoor Lock and Willeymoor Lock Tavern. Maybe we’ll pass by when it’s open on our way back next year and stop to sample their wares.

P1180103smP1180110smWe must have been the first through the locks today as below each one was a mass of leaves, then above them there were more, leaf porridge. As I opened up paddles the leaves were sucked through and the whole of the lock became a mass of whirling leaves. Once the top gate was opened Mick fought his way out of the lock. No matter how much power he used Oleanna only just managed to glide out. Even blasts of reverse weren’t enough to clear the prop as there were so many leaves. I reckon we’d have been quicker bow hauling her out!

As the Grindley Railway Bridge came into sight we pulled over onto the end of the visitor moorings, the only boat on them again.

P1180115smA walk up to the locks to have a look. We have a supermarket delivery booked for tomorrow and wanted to check where we were hoping to have it delivered to. The A41 passes through Grindley Brook and between the first two locks there is a petrol station with a gate that leads to the towpath. Our delivery details were for here, we would work our way up the first lock and wait, helping any boat that came through. But as we walked around a better place to wait was just below the first lock where a van can get to the side of the canal by a bridge.

P1180116smHere there is a staircase of three chambers. Between April and October they are manned by a Lock Keeper and volunteers, but now they are unmanned. The bottom chamber was half full and the top two were empty. When I say empty I mean that we could actually see the bottom of them. Ideal for checking a bow thruster tube! We won’t be emptying them that much as we go up.

Outside a house by the bottom lock were two large boxes of wind fall cooking apples with a large note attached saying they were up for grabs. Not being greedy I picked up three hoping we had enough eggs to make a cake. The heavens then opened so we retired to the boat to let Tilly out and to bake. I decided to use gluten free flour which has worked out well, however the top of the cake caught just a little bit in the top oven. I don’t know if this was to do with the flour or our oven was just a touch too hot.

P1180121smStaying indoors whilst Tilly got very wet we deserved a slice of still warm Dorset Apple Cake with a cuppa. Very nice it was too.

DSCF7121sm4 locks, 3.91 miles, 4 lots of porridge, 1 monolith of stock defrosting, 2 empty chambers, 1 shopping rendezvous altered, 3 apples, more if there’s any left tomorrow, 1 apple cake still warm, 1 soggy moggy.

Two Miles To Nowhere. 20th November

Wrenbury Church Lift Bridge to the middle of nowhere between Bridges 22 and 23
Sadly even before we went to bed last night the carry mat on the porthole and the double sided tape had decided to repel each other. I pushed the foam back on, knowing full well that it would pop back off during the night, and closed the curtain. Maybe the tape I used wasn’t up to the job, even though it stayed put on the frame. I have some different tape so will give that a try and see what happens. I could of course stick it on with glue, but I’d rather not go down that route as it may take some removing.
Sure enough this morning when I pulled back the curtain the purple O was resting against the curtain. Last night hadn’t been cool enough to create any condensation anyway, there will be plenty of other nights to see if it works.
Whilst Tilly spent the morning getting more and more bored of this outside, I spent it packing things up. By the time I made it to the Post Office the Parcel Force collection for the day had already been, so the lady at New Mills Marina will have to wait another day for her new blinds. No sign of the fluffy cat this morning, so Tilly didn’t have to worry about sharing her cat walk (gunnel) with anyone else.
P1180012smAfter a bite to eat we pushed off, there in front of us was our first Llangollen lift bridge, the first of quite a few. There is a sign warning you that it is a low bridge! Really!!
P1180025smThis was soon followed by Wrenbury Lift Bridge. I did the honours with a key of power, making sure I read all the instructions before I started. A lady we’d talked to the other day had had difficulty with it as they came through. She closed the barrier (only one on this bridge) then nothing happened, none of the lights on the control panel were illuminated. She didn’t know what to do and ended up going into the mill to see if anyone could help her as the traffic was mounting up. An engineer came out to help her, he pressed both lights which reset the system. She did admit that if she’d fully read the instructions then she’d have been able to do this herself. Today the bridge worked just fine, only disappointment as that I only held up one cyclist and not a line of cars.
P1180031smThe next stretch was very narrow, boats moored on both sides. Half of the hire fleet from Wrenbury Mill were moored up on the off side  with a few on the towpath. There was just enough space for us to follow the bend round between them all. All those holidays waiting to happen next year.
P1180042smP1180046smWe tried to work out which farmers field NB Blackbird had once had as a mooring. Was it the one with all the tractors? Or the one with the short legged curly wooled sheep?
P1180032smWe weren’t wanting to go that far, just a change of scenery as tomorrow we would like to reach Grindley Brook and it’s water point. Soon we realised that the towpath would change sides at the next bridge, so we pulled in. It’s a lot easier to empty the yellow water tank when the towpath is on the port side and that is a job for tomorrow.
P1180014smP1180016smMick showed me the pipe that had to be replaced when we got our filter sorted. The small scuff marks on the brass ( right hand photo) are what made the temporary join leak. Not much really, but enough. Luckily we are starting to loose the smell of diesel from the engine bay now.
P1180071smTilly and I had a good walk up and down the towpath. This outside isn’t very good. There’s only a narrow strip of land, not much space for lots of friend finding. There are some trees but they don’t have enough branches. Then there are a few mounds of earth which could do with being dug in case something is under them, like a hole to put my arm in. She wasn’t that impressed, but happily ran along and played with clods of freshly cut grass and did looney  fruit cake sideways running with her tail all puffed out, just not quite enough to wear her out for the day.P1180075sm
DSCF7114sm0 locks, 2 miles exactly to nowhere, 3 lift bridges, 1 already lufted, 3am, 3.15am, 3.30am etc. 1 bored cat, 1 long parcel, 1 squashy parcel, 23 short legged curly sheep, 6 decaying tractors, 1 long strip of unfriendly land, 2 new spaces onboard.

Sold At Last! 19th November

Wrenbury Church Lift Bridge


P1170989smA day of pottering as other boats drifted by and Tilly gradually got bored of this outside. When she came back for some treats we decided that it was our turn to go out and check what fresh veg the Spar shop had. So with Tilly left in charge we crossed over the field to St Margaret’s Church.

P1170932smYesterday when we’d been for a look round we were accosted by a bushy black cat who had a really high pitched meow. He was ever so friendly and had crossed over a road aiming for us weaving around a moving car. One determined cat! For a while we thought he was going to follow us home, but then just as quickly as it had appeared it vanished. Today as we reached the graveyard there he was running over to say hello again. Such a fluffy cat. We wondered what Tilly would think if we brought him home for a treat or two. Really! No way is anyone having any of my treats!

P1170925smThe shop provided us with some veg and bits to keep us going for a couple more days. The church was open as we made our way back so we popped inside to have a look round. Services for the day had finished and we’d heard the bell ringers (two down today) practicing this morning.

P1170941smP1170965smSt Margaret’s is one of nine churches in Cheshire to have box pews. They were installed in 1608 to allow the congregation to sit draft free during services in an unheated church. With the sides being four foot high the congregation would quite often be found asleep or amusing them selves with games out of view from the pulpit. At the back of the church by the door is the Dog Whippers Pew. The Dog Whipper ( known as The Beadle from 1826) would remove any unruly dogs from the church, well behaved dogs were welcome, he also would prod members of the congregation who had fallen asleep during the sermon.

P1170951smP1170973smP1170971smA pretty small church. The Tower Captain and helpers spend 20 minutes winding up the weights of the clock each eight days. Mooring where we are the church reminds you of it’s existence every fifteen minutes. Just a shame it’s three minutes slow!

P1170980smSomeone stole our table! All of a sudden it had disappeared, where was I to clean my paws? We moved the table so that I could attack the window frame around the dinette window. Keeping the gullies around the windows clear form leaves necessitates removing the glazing. Our taught curtains make this a little bit tricksy, but with an extra pair of hands the whole window comes out and everything can be cleaned. Whilst the table was down we had a look at how the spare bed folds down as we will have guests to stay next month. There is one section which doesn’t fold, meaning that one end of the bed is 1m wide, the other 1.2m wide. This most probably made sense to the builders, but with a small modification, four screws removed, a small piece of ply and some four inch foam we can make the bed full width. Just need some foam and ply.

P1170990smP1170996smWhilst able to access the section under the dinette that houses my work bits I got out my big compass. The porthole above our bed is prone to condensation, if we stopped breathing it would help. So I set about making a covering for the aluminium frame. First I cut a template out of thin card and then cut a large O from the carry mat we’d bought to help insulate the freezer. This I have temporarily fixed in place with double sided tape. If it works I’ll look out for something similar that isn’t bright purple!

P1180001smMy next lot of knitting and crochet was complete. All that it needed was blocking to shape and size. This involves pinning out the pieces of knitting and then steaming them, this evens out the stitches and gives a better finish. So the engine was popped on to help the batteries with the power draw and the flip down end of our bed became a good surface (covered in a towel) to pin the huge sontag to. With this all done it and a couple of hats and pairs of gloves can go in the post tomorrow freeing up some space on board.

P1170986smAnother thing that will be going in the post tomorrow is our spare blinds, well the ones we bought that were the wrong size! Last year I tried selling them on ebay a few times with no luck. We found a handy place for them to live on Oleanna, but that would also be a handy place to fix our third fire extinguisher, so last week I relisted them. I must have timed it well as this time they have sold! A lady at New Mills is getting an absolute bargain, but what is more important we are gaining that little bit more space on Oleanna.

0 locks, 0 miles, 6 hours, 1 outside needing changing, 1 fluffy bum, 1 large batch of black granite, 13 white, 10 brown, 3 carrots, 1 squash, 1 more window cleaned out, 15 inch O, 1 sontag, 2 wrist warmers, 2 hats, 22 snowflakes ready, 2 blinds finally SOLD!