Bimbling About. 8th to 13th February

Chester with a day trip to Scarborough

Over the last week we’ve been bimbling around Chester keeping ourselves occupied with bits and bobs.

Last Thursday we spent an enjoyable hour at an Organ recital at the Cathedral. Andrew Wyatt was the organist, a local chap who played five pieces which varied from Jehan Alain to Benjamin Britten and my preferred piece was by John Ireland. The recitals happen every Thursday at 1.10pm and last around an hour. The chap at the reception desk wouldn’t let Mick pay full price and then insisted that we both got in on a concessionary rate, I wasn’t going to argue. It was nice to hear a performance rather than just a practice on such a large organ.

We called into the Tourist Information centre to see if we were missing out on any good museums. Picking up a leaflet of things to do in and around Chester we seem to have ticked off most things that would interest us. Back in 2011 we spent a day at the zoo, so there is only Cheshire Oaks to visit which we may do this week.

Just outside was a stall for The Dogs Trust. We walked past not thinking much about it, but then I had to take a second look. Was that Dante? The dog I had once worked with? The last few times coming down the Trent and Mersey Canal we’ve spotted him, he’d fallen in with a bad crowd and lost his way (see previous post here). So seeing him today all clean, spick and span, yellow neckerchief tied proudly around his neck I was relieved. However he didn’t seem to want to acknowledge me, staring away into the distance, one ear constantly alert, mumbling ‘Must Trust in the Trust’. I so hope that he hasn’t found himself joining a cult of some sort!

Saturday we had a slow day. We sauntered up to Waitrose to do £10 worth of shopping to be able to get a free Saturday paper. We then finished our shopping at Tescos. Mick took the majority back to the boat whilst I went to pick up my glasses that had arrived. It didn’t take long to fit them and my bi-focals are proving just the thing for my crochet or knitting in front of the TV, I just have to remember that I don’t need to look over the top or below them any more.

Tilly spent the afternoon outside helping me to clean windows and give the well deck a thorough clean out now that the coal stocks were getting low. Meanwhile Mick walked to Maplins to buy a new aerial. Our TV signal has been intermittent and the thought was that it might be the aerial. He returned with a Moon Raker DTV1000. This is a small black box which comes with a suction mount. First it was plugged into the socket at the stern to check for signal. Immediately this was a vast improvement to our omnidirectional one that we got with Oleanna. Mick has since fixed it to the magnetic mount that came with the old one. So far the signal has stayed constant.

To celebrate we had pizzas and homemade gluten free dough balls. These I made up from a packet of white bread mix. The dough is so sticky though that it was hard to make small balls, so they became more like dough dollops! They tasted good with some garlic butter, so it didn’t matter in the end.

Sunday was a miserable day. Cold with hail showers, although the stones are really quite tuneful pinging off our mushroom vents!

NB Halsall was due through, so we didn’t want to venture far from the boat. New crew, Lee and Roberta, have taken over the coal boat and this would be our first meeting. So we pottered around the day until they arrived in the afternoon. The strong wind was not helpful to them and not being able to identify the other boat they were meant to be delivering to also didn’t help. They filled up our diesel tank and replenished our coal stock giving us chance to have a chat with them. We’ll be seeing them again in the next month before we head out of their patch.

On Monday morning Mick walked to Enterprise to pick up a van for the day. As quite often is the case, certainly during school half terms, hiring a small van is cheaper than their cheapest car. But when you go to pick it up they don’t have a spare van so you end up with a car for the same price. However occasionally this doesn’t happen and you end up with something a little bit bigger than you expected. Today the van we should have had was delayed due to the weather, more hail had fallen overnight, no cars were available so we ended up with a minibus! I did consider asking if anyone nearby fancied a day trip to Scarborough for a tenner.

Routine medical appointments were taking us back across the Pennines. The western side of the hills were very white, but as soon as the M62 started it’s descent down into Yorkshire the snow vanished. We had a very romantic lunch sat in the car park at Sainsburys before Mick dropped me off for my appointment in the hospital car park! I was squashed and scanned with great efficiency and sent on my way.

Good job we’d not brought anyone else with us as they’d only have had a couple of hours before we set off back, no time to see the sea or have some proper fish and chips. We did however get to watch the sun setting in front of us as we crossed the Vale of Pickering.

Today we have had a visit from old friends of Mick’s, Jeremy and Sarah, who came over from New Brighton to see us. After a coffee on board and a guided tour we walked up into the city and visited Marmalade for lunch. Soups and Herby Lamb casserole all went down well followed by some rather tasty cakes (every one gluten free). Just a shame that the upstairs room was a touch chilly. We had a few hours of catching up with news before they headed off to catch the train home.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 non OAPs, 2 Hammer House, 1 Battle of Britain, 1 brain washed dog, 1 free paper, 2 new pairs of glasses, 2 many TV channels, 12 dough dollops, 2 pizzas, 107 litres diesel, 8 bags coal, 2 new crew, 1 small van! 3rd month in a row, 2 squished boobs, 0 dirty macs, 2 car parks, 23 tonnes of glue, 2 soups, 2 casseroles, 16 weeks wait, 2 old friends, 7 logs left.

Taylor’s Boatyard. 11th February

Chester

Whilst we waited for paint to dry on Friday we were invited by Yvette to have a look around Taylor’s Boatyard.

Taylor’s Boatyard is the only remaining traditional boat building yard of it’s kind left in Great Britain. The facilities were originally built around 1845 by the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company who owned the canal and a large fleet of boats. At that time the yard provided a Blacksmith’s Shop, Sawmill, Offices, a Dry Dock and Slipways. These services were added to in the late 1800s by a Travelling Crane, Flat Shed, Carpenter’s & Painter’s Shop and a canopy for the Dry Dock.

In 1921 the Shropshire Union Canal Company finished canal carrying and the yard was taken over by the London & North Western Railway a year later. Then in 1926 J.H. Taylor leased the slipways and dry dock and by the 1930s had taken over all buildings that is now known as Taylor’s Boatyard. Taylor’s thrived, building wooden boats into the 70’s when the fashion for steel hulls took over.

When we first passed on our very first cruise on NB Winding Down in 2009 the yard looked in a sorry state. Unloved, the slipway area covered in rotting boats and more sat gunnel height in the water. At that time British Waterways ran the graving dock, but this was rarely used by anyone. To hire it you had to provide railings around the site to protect the public, this cost was on top of hiring the dock. So a few locals would club together and hire it out for a several months at a time to spread the additional cost of the railings.

By 2011, we noticed someone was on site at the boatyard as things were starting to look a touch more cared for. The sunken boats had been removed and the place had a tidier look to it. Pete and Yvette had taken over the yard after lengthy negotiations with BW and have returned it to a working yard. In between the usual work of a boat yard, restoration work has been taking place on the Grade 2 Listed site.

The first job was to paint the pillars and trellis iron work over the slipways. This has been done in London and North Western Railway colours. The roof lights of the main shed needed replacing and timber of the right period was used from an old mill in Manchester.

Work rebuilding the Carpenter’s Shop and the Blacksmiths Shop are on going.

The old wooden sawmill which originally housed a steam driven circular saw bench was my favourite and has had work done to stabilise it.

Three small wooden boats sit in the main shed. Here the Shropshire Union Canal boats would be built and launched into the canal sideways on sleds of greased timber. The canal has a sort of beach on the yards side creating a short slipway. The current boats were hauled out from the canal on metal rails, this doesn’t happen often and there are a lot of boats to move when it does. Pete works on fitting boats out and a grey primed cruiser stern narrowboat sat in the water nearby.

Pete and Yvette also look after the Graving Dock and Lock and the moorings below on the Dee Branch. They bought their own fencing to surround the Graving Dock which does the job and no more. The name comes from the verb ‘to grave’ a ship’s bottom by burning off accretions and applying tar to it, ‘blacking’. It was built in the 18th Century for wide boats and was open to the elements at the time, having it’s roof added in the late 1800s. The lock down into the Dee Branch is known as a graving lock. This could also be used to grave boats for short periods of time only as it closed the navigation to the Dee. Wooden planks were inserted into slots in the side of the lock which as the lock emptied the boat would rest on so that work could be done on the hull. By the 20th century there was a sliding roof on rails that could be used to protect boats being painted . Through 2017 this lock had a lockage count of 72 one of the least used locks on the system where as Locks 2 & 3 Hillmorton were counted 9552 times, the highest lockage count.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 interesting visit, 1 last historic working yard.

A Dry Bottom. 9th February

Taylor’s Boatyard Graving Lock

Today has been a busy chilly day.

At Taylor’s Boatyard you can hire out the Graving Lock for blacking, surveys and checking to see what is stopping your bow thruster from working. They do 6 day hires Saturday to Friday morning and on Fridays they tend to hire the Lock for a single day. We’d called them a few weeks ago to see if there was any chance of us having it for a day. Originally we’d tentatively booked it for last Friday, but because of the extended stoppage on the Llangollen and strong winds we moved it to today, which was just as well as the boat that had hired it that week over ran.

So this morning at 9am we were ready to move the short distance into the lock. First a charity boat needed to be raised, they’ve been busy blacking all week. This didn’t take too long and once they’d moored in the basin past us we pushed off and pulled into the dock. Pete and Yvette were on hand to lower Oleanna down onto the bearers and make sure we were safe in the dock.

Once in the lock, bow and stern lines were tied to railings holding her roughly in position above the bearers below the water. The lock gates were closed and then a paddle at the other end was lifted a bit. The lock drains out into the Dee branch, it is done slowly so as not to jostle the boats moored there and so that Oleanna could be gently positioned correctly. Pete then has to seal the lock gates, they leak a lot. So thick plastic sheeting is held by water pressure over the gates and extra bits and pieces are added in between so as to hold as much water back.

Gradually Oleanna lowered and soon we could see that she was resting on the supports, the water continued to empty. The whole process took half an hour. The lock empty of water, any leaking in through the gates drains away around a trough either side and the lock floor is slightly convex in shape to help shed the water. With a ladder tied to the bow we could come and go as we wished through a gate and the newly revealed steps.

The main purpose of hiring the lock was to see what if anything was caught around the bow thruster prop. Pete had a quick look down the tube, followed by myself and Mick.

None of us could see anything in there that shouldn’t have been. The grills came off, the prop turned. Mick removed the prop, checked it and fixed it back in position. Next he changed the blown fuse and went to the back of Oleanna to power it up. We’d checked with Finesse that it would be alright to run the bow thruster out of water, which it was. The prop worked fine, in both directions, in fact it was a bit of a shock when it changed direction and blasted droplets of canal water into my face.

So with nothing obstructing the prop and it working in mid air, Mick decided not to open up the workings. If it didn’t work in the water then it would be a warranty issue with Vetus.

Meanwhile I made the most of Oleanna being out of the water, there was the black band on the tunnel band still to go black. Once the red rubbing strake was sanded down I gave it a good wash. Whilst this was drying off I gave the rest of the water line a good clean down. As I worked along the boat I also cleaned off where there was the odd scrape along the blacking.

Masked off, the tunnel band took little time to paint with a careful coat of black multiforte.

The sun was out and dried off the hull quite quickly, so I then touched up any scrapes above and below the water line with some blacking. Ideally it would have been good to have stayed in the dry lock until tomorrow so that the paint could have cured more, but the noise of the water would have kept us awake. So we left it as long as possible before Pete returned to refill the lock.

Just where had they moved the outside to? I could see them out of the window but they had shrunk! They were way down there and I was way up here. I was very relieved when they came back inside and they were still normal sized.

We on the other hand were totally thrown by the boat not rocking under our feet! Being totally stationary in your home that normally moves is very disconcerting. Also doors and cupboards react differently as there is a slope through the boat from bow to stern (being lower). We found ourselves almost tripping up on nothingness.

Pete closed the paddle that had been open all the time we’d been in the lock, he then moved to near the gates. The leaked water started slowly to fill the chamber. With the tarpaulins removed more water was added, then the gate paddle was lifted and the level started to rise at a greater rate. It took around 14 minutes for the lock to level with the canal pound. Here is a link to a video I took of Oleanna coming up. I thought of it a bit late to sort out angling the camera to catch all of Oleanna, but I’m very glad I refrained from sitting it on the top stone step from the lock as this became submerged too.

Once we were level Mick powered up the bow thruster. From where I was stood it seemed like it worked, but apparently it stopped having blown a fuse again! No celebratory pizza for us tonight.

With the gates opened, I hopped back on board and we reversed out from the lock, headed back into the basin, winded and returned to where we’d left this morning. Tilly was ever so excited, now she’d be allowed out again. I made her stand on her shelf to see that we had brought back the one treed Chester outside that she hates so much. One day we’ll be in the countryside again.

1 graving lock, twice, 0.13 miles, 2 winds, 1 reverse, 30 minutes down, 1 spinning prop, 1 boat finally fully painted, 1 touched up hull, 3 hours, 14 minutes up, 1 more blown fuse, 1 outside with shrunk people and no water, 2 times bad boring Chester, 0 pizza, 2 disappointing portions of fish and chips, next time in Scarborough we must remind ourselves that fish and chips can be jolly good, 1 year since breaking my ankle.

One Tree In Chester. 7th February

Chester

A frost greeted us Wednesday morning. Down on the Dee Branch there was a layer of cat ice. Around us was still fluid but back towards the staircase lock there were patches of ice. This is why we’ve stayed put in Chester, waiting for the chilly spell to pass and for the canal to remain liquid so that we don’t get stuck up towards Ellesmere Port. Of course this morning was the morning that Tilly decided to be that little bit more adventurous and manage to cross the towpath, I hadn’t spotted the ice when she went out! I’ve been looking at the one and only tree in Chester for days, weeks, years now! It’s a bit spikey but at least I conquered it. This didn’t take long and anyhow it was cold!

As we had our breakfast a chap appeared with a windlass from down on the Dee Branch. He proceeded to empty the lock, crackling the covering of ice as the levels altered. We first thought that maybe the level gradually drops on the branch, so he was topping it up. Then another chap appeared and pushed open a gate as a boat was reversed, with difficulty, thorough the ice to the chamber. They brought the boat up backwards and reversed it from the lock where it has been sat all day, maybe waiting for some work to be done on it.

A tourist day for us. Grosvenor Museum seemed like a good place to head.

Opened in a purpose built building in 1886, the Grosvenor Museum houses artefacts from both Chester Society for Natural Science and Chester Archaeological Society. An extension was added in 1894, by 1938 the City of Chester took over full control of the museum, looking after the collections and displays. This and admission being free shows somewhat. The building is grand from the outside (peacocks decorating the gables) and the mosaics on the floors and under the dado rail must have taken some work.

The Romans are to Chester what the Vikings are to York, a large tourist attraction. A large collection of Roman gravestones fills one room, with information on those portrayed in the carvings. A video tells the story of one centurion and his wife, lots of interesting detail on what he wore and their life at Deva the Roman Garrison that became Chester. A large model shows you the layout of the garrison and how it compares to the city’s layout today. Hot water pipes and roofing tiles fill more display cabinets. There is plenty to read, just a shame nobody seems to have proof read it.

Behind the main building is a link into a period house, 20 Castle Street, which was saved from demolition and it’s first period room a Victorian Parlour was put on display in 1955. The house jumps around with it’s displays, Victorian, Stewart, 1920’s, Victorian again, Edwardian, 1970’s all very higgledy piggledy. As we climbed the stairs we felt like we were in a hall of mirrors as the walls and landings didn’t marry up, the floors changing angle every which way possible, it’s possibly the most seasick I’ve felt in a long time.

Back in the main building are collections of stuffed animals and a very large silver collection just down the corridor from the Honourable Incorporation of the King’s Arms Kitchen. This was a drinking, gentleman’s club dating from 1770 and took up residency at the King’s Arms Kitchen public house. This recreation of the room is now used for school parties to have their packed lunches and tours to await their guide.

This chap sat very patiently for me to take photos of today.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 tree! 5 minutes off the boat, 1st cat ice, 1 reversed lock, 1 museum not to add to John’s list, 1 loud speaking lady, 1 fish crumble for tea.

A Gurney And A Cinema Inside A Cinema. 5th 6th February

Chester

Chester Cathedral was extensively rebuilt from 1250 and took around 275 years to complete. The red sandstone gives the interior quite a dark feel, good job there are lots of lights, it must have quite eerie just in candle light.
As we entered the organ stuck up with a very capable organist at it’s helm practicing several pieces, air could be heard circulating up to the pipes from below. Music is always a good thing in such big churches, not only is it nice to listen to (when in good hands), but it makes the place more welcoming and less like you have to tiptoe around so as not to disturb other’s prayers.

Works were on going on a lego model of the Cathedral, the higher parts of the building either not built yet or just removed to be able to see the interior. For £1 you can add a brick, but there was nobody around to enable us to build one tiny part.

Dotted around are large black stove like things, radiators. Closer inspection revealed them to have a hinge on the back and the start of a pipe from the rear. The Gurney Stove was developed by a surgeon, Goldsworthy Gurney, who had an interest in engineering. In 1825 he patented a steam carriage, going on in 1842 to patent a system of heat recovery from light fittings. In 1852, Gurney was appointed to investigate the ventilation problems in the House of Commons where he flashed off large quantities of gunpowder in the chamber to observe the motion of the air currents, he was said to have posed a greater risk than Guy Fawkes!
His interest in heating led him to invent a new type of warm-air stove. It was described as a metallic vessel having a number of plates extending from its outer surface, standing with the plates vertical in a shallow trough of water. This provided humidification to counteract the drying feeling caused by the warm air. He soon sold the rights for his invention to the London Warming & Ventilating Company which advertised itself as ‘Proprietors of the Gurney stove’. The largest sized stove was 1 m in diameter and 2.7 m high. It consumed about 200 kg of coke a week and was said to be capable a heating a space of 120 000 ft3. By 1897 an advert claimed ‘over 10 000 churches, schools, government and other public and private buildings successfully warmed by our system’. Some working examples still exist, some in Chester Cathedral. We considered getting one installed on Oleanna, but that would mean the ballast needing to be altered and the only space big enough would be in the bathroom with both doors open or closed all the time!

The West Window catches your eye when you first enter with it’s predominant blue, The Holy Family by W.T. Carter Shapland in 1961. The Westminster Windows also stand out. Three windows installed by Alan Younger to mark the 900th anniversary of the founding of the Benedictine Abbey on the site. The windows were a gift from the 6th Duke of Westminster and replaced 19th Century glass that was damaged in WW2.

In the Chapter House is an installation by the artist Liz West, Our Colour Reflection. This piece takes up the whole room. Over 100 circular coloured mirrors sit at differing heights on the floor, reflecting coloured light from the windows up to the ceiling and in turn showing to the viewer dots of coloured reflection. It’s a rather mesmerising piece and deserves a visit whilst it is here.

We had a second visit to the Storyhouse on Tuesday, this time to visit the cinema to see Darkest Hour. A very good performance from Gary Oldman as Churchill and an enjoyable film. Artistic licence has been used when Churchill uses the tube, which apparently wasn’t the right sort of carriage for the line in question.
The cinema itself was interesting. Going into the older part of the building up the original staircase to what is now called the mezzanine, the skirting boards reminded me of what I would have been doing at this time of year at the SJT in Scarborough over a decade ago, giving the front of house some TLC with a paint brush. I have to say I prefer the colour scheme here to the original Odeon salmon pink. The cinema itself seats 100 and is a pod like box which has been installed where the circle used to be. Walkways for the library curve round it with work spaces retaining much of the feel of the balcony and the restaurant and bar being sited underneath.

Inside the pod the red theme of the building continues. You enter either side of the screen and step down to your spacious seats. These seats have plenty of leg room and for those with little legs who find their feet dangling there are extra cushions available to assist. By the end of the film I wished I’d picked one up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays before 5pm you can get cheaper seats if you are over 60. Mick decided to age himself by a few months to make use of the saving. With no Box Office as such in the building you purchase your tickets online or at one of the kiosks in the building, so self service really, having your ticket checked in entering.
Sat behind us were two visually impaired people who were being given head sets for the audio description of the film. The staff were setting up their headsets and said to let them know if they had any problems. Sadly and awkwardly we had a problem, the headsets leaked sound. So all the way through the film it sounded like someone was listening to loud music through headphones as they do on trains. At one point I thought that there must have been a technical problem as the noise coming from behind didn’t sync with the film and was getting louder and louder. This of course was actually the very good sound system in the cinema with an effect very similar to the head sets. As we left we managed too have a word with one of the ushers, not a complaint as we believe in accessibility to all, just that maybe someone should look at the design of the headsets. Unless you sit near someone with them on, you’d never be aware of the problem.

Our other observation was next time we will book seats nearer to the screen. Because access into the cinema is from either side of the screen you are aware of anyone sneaking out to the loo, ushers checking people are okay and the occasional library user who has lost their way whilst trying to find 851 in the Dewey Decimal Classification. Maybe entrances at the back of cinemas were a good idea after all.

Sometimes post finds us all by itself.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 loads washing, 18 inches of blanket, 100 mirrors, 6 giant black stoves, 1 not so naughty seat, £1 lego bricks, 500g dried plums, 2 tea balls, £2.50 off for 60’s, 3 stepped skirting, 1 booster block required, 1 blanket also, 851 Italian Poetry, 1 invite accepted, 1 snowy day in Chester.

Eyes, Walls And Puddings 3rd 4th February

Chester

It’s that time of year again when we get our eyes tested. During the week Mick had booked us both appointments at Boots. Our thought was that should either of us need new glasses then we’d be able to pick them up in a couple of weeks on our way back from Ellesmere Port and we’d be able to keep ourselves amused in the meantime.

Going to the same brand of opticians (but in different towns) each year, we thought would give us some sort of continuity. But that will only happen later this year when all their customers records will be accessible from any branch. So when my optician pointed out the little wiggly veins in my eyes he only had my word for it that they are always there and my blood pressure is okay. And I am also assuming that the wiggles haven’t got any worse over the two years since my last test and since the last time my blood pressure was checked.

My prescription had changed, especially for reading (which I was aware of). So new glasses. Before we moved on board I tried out varifocals, but these just made me constantly feel like I was about to get a migraine, so they went back and I’ve been living with two pairs of glasses since. Now that I spend my evenings knitting in front of the TV, I end up choosing one pair and either peering over the top at the TV or under at what I’m making, not ideal. So I’ve decided to go for a pair of bifocals and a new pair of distance glasses for outdoor use.

The lady who looked after me did her best to get me to part with large amounts of money on new designer frames, walking straight to those that don’t have a price tag on them! I hate this process and would so much prefer to be left alone to make my selection having had a little bit of guidance as to what frames would be best for my prescription. If I could reuse my old frames I would. It took a while for her to get the message that I wanted simple, none twiddly glasses, most definitely not pink! The first pair that I let her price up for me came up at over £450 with everything added, most of which I don’t feel are necessary for my life style. I think my reaction, which wasn’t of surprise, got the message across and she started to look at the priced range. Mick did better than me and successfully managed to put off the need for new glasses for another year.

The sun met us on Sunday morning and after breakfast we decided to make the most of the day and go for a walk around the city walls.

Each day they open up the doors for me, but still no change! It is hardly even worth stepping off the boat here, other than to gain access through the side. Watching from inside the pram cover is different, but all really rather pointless. I’m beginning to realise why the Cheshire Cat grins, he’s grinning and bearing it!

We joined the circular walk just by where the new Inner Ring Road punched a hole through the walls in 1966. The footbridge over the road is certainly of it’s period and slightly strange adjoined to Roman Walls of pink sandstone at either end. Views over the basin gave us a glimpse back to Oleanna opposite the new student accommodation. These new buildings from this angle looked quite warehouse like but with a modern feel to them.

Walking anticlockwise we soon came to the racecourse. In Roman times this was the port of Chester, busy and thriving, second only to Bristol on the west coast. By the Middle Ages the river had gradually silted up and the area became known as the Roodee. The first horse race was held on 9th February 1539. Henry Gee was mayor of Chester at the time and because of his surname horseraces became known as ‘Gee-gees’.

Next came the Castle, it’s red sandstone standing out against it’s grassy bank. The first timber castle was built here in 1070 by William the Conqueror. In the 12 and 13th Centuries a stone castle took it’s place and was extended by successive Earls of Chester.

The views over the river come next, the walls dipping down to the bank, never really reaching the heights that the Bar Walls get to around York. Here there is a weir holding back the tidal waters below, although the tide was in, so the weir was submerged. At one time there was a gate added to the weir to allow boats access to the non- tidal river above. This sits just alongside the Old Dee Bridge and a precarious cat ladder leads down to it. The gate is now out of use, but there is talk of building a lock to replace it along with work on the Dee Branch of the Shroppie to enable boats access to the river.

Approaching Newgate the architectural styles of the city sit close to one another. The NCP Pepper Street car park a testament to the times it was built. Sitting on the very top of the stairwell was what looked like a stone lion. We shall have to return for a photo from below as it turns out that the car park was built on the site of the Lion Brewery. When demolished the Lion that had sat high on the building was removed, looked after and later positioned up on the top of the stairwell surveying all around it.

Eastgate Clock Tower is just as pretty close to as it is from below. The views along Eastgate with all it’s tall half timbered buildings is wonderful, although we seemed to be the only people stopping to have a look.

As the city wall popped out into the open again at the back of the Cathedral we were greeted by the overwhelming noise from the bells being rung. In 1975 a new bell tower was built to rehouse the bells from the cathedral. The building, another of it’s time, was the first free standing bell tower to be built by an English cathedral since the 15th Century and it is now Grade 2 listed.

From here we dropped down into the city for a bit of shopping. I headed to Abakhan for some wool for my next project before finishing off the walk around the walls and heading back to the boat.

We’d been made aware that today was Yorkshire Pudding Day. Oleanna was built with a double oven with Yorkshire Puddings in mind. So along with our roast chicken (no need to only have them with beef!) I had a go at gluten free puds. They came out much better than I’d expected, but definitely need eating straight away as they get a little bit tough as they cool. My Mum however wouldn’t have approved. Her Yorkshires were the very best, cooked in 1lb and 2lb bread tins and served before the meat with homemade gravy. They would rise right to the very top of the tins and curl over still having greasy bottoms (which was a test set by my Nana to see if she was a suitable girl for my Dad). Never would she have produced her Yorkshires in muffin tins let alone served with the meat! She would however have liked the rise I achieved, it’s all to do with the eggs and really really hot fat.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 eye tests, £450! 2 pairs for less than half, 15 minutes to choose wool, £5 Tesco Indian, 1 wall walk, 1 racecourse, 1 castle, 1 river, 1 pants artist, 3 giant balls, 1 roast chicken, 6 Yorkshires, 1 new project started, 1 cat sliding into depression!

Into Chester And Everything Goes Wrong 1st 2nd February

Cheshire Cat to Tower Wharf

When the weather arrived on Thursday, with the ducks surfing the waves past Oleanna we knew we’d made the right decision to stay put. Only one boat went past us all day and Tilly became an inanimate cat, she really wasn’t enamoured with it here!

At 2.20pm our delivery from Sainsburys arrived with a very jolly driver, Gilly. He chatted away as we unloaded our shopping at the stern, no pressure from him ‘You take your time’. One substitute today which hadn’t been put in a substitute bag, so when I came across flaked almonds we handed them back, as I’d wanted ground. Gilly handed them back to us after scanning them, we’d get a refund and get to keep them, I suspect it takes a bit of time at the end of the day to return things to the store.

So now our stocks were replenished and we had choices of what to eat again. The wine cellar was full with cat food, cereal and some wine.

We pottered away the rest of the day. I had a go at knitting a toe up sock for the first time which was mostly successful once I’d got the gist of the pattern. I think on the second one I’ll do some slight alterations and hopefully improve the finished result.

The sun accompanied Friday morning and the wind had died down. We got ourselves ready for our finial approach into Chester. This is when we hoped that our timings would work out as I’d given our friend Sue a time we thought we’d be leaving the Cheshire Cat and when we thought we’d arrive at Northgate Staircase Locks. A message part way through the morning suggested that she’d try to meet us at the staircase as she was working her way through petty cash.

At Christleton Lock a boat was just entering the lock to come up. So I popped down to see if I could help. Having been this way only twice in our earlyish boating days we never really got the hang of how to come up these locks other than very slowly. Using a rope to hold your boat into the side and opening the same side ground paddle works a bit on some of the locks, but not all and your bow can move pretty quickly across the chamber to hit the other side. So when the chap asked for me to open the paddle slowly I did as I was asked and the boat stayed put at the side.

It soon became obvious to us that the couple must be fairly new to boating. Plenty of fenders hanging off their gunnels to get caught and drop off into locks. They thought they had got to the basin in Chester and hadn’t known about the staircase. The next locks were set in our favour, but we soon learnt to check all the paddles were fully down as Greenfield Lock was taking an age to empty. The paddle had been lowered but the last two inches, which is hard to see had been left up.

The buildings by the locks are lovely. The rather grand cottage by Tarvin Road Lock and the interesting buildings by Hoole Lane Lock. No donkeys though today, only duck houses on the off side.

The levels are rather high at the moment, most probably due to all the rain of late. So along one stretch instead of walking I hitched a ride, saving having to paddle. A couple who had recently moved to Chester stopped by the last lock to watch, they had recently moved up from living by the Solent and knew very little about canals and narrowboats, their knowledge being about sailing boats. We both chatted away to them and suggested that they should also walk down towards the basin and visit the museum at Ellesmere Port.

We were ahead of schedule, so we pulled into the new 2hr Stop and Shop mooring outside the new Waitrose. Here I picked up some ground almonds and stocked up on Verde Lasagne (my favourite which is hard to find anywhere else). Then we were back on our way. There was plenty of space along this stretch where we could moor, but the number of bars here would make for a noisy weekend.

The canal bends round and follows the line of the City Walls which sit high above whilst you travel through a deep sheer sided cutting through stone. Then up ahead the staircase.

The top and bottom chambers were full, the middle one empty. So I set about emptying the bottom one whilst Mick brought Oleanna into the top. We disposed of rubbish at the bins here which stalled our descent long enough for Sue to arrive. Sue is a keen sailor back in Scarborough, but also didn’t understand the mechanics of locks, never having to use them. Once the principle was explained it all made sense.

Slowly we worked our way down the three chambers. This time I made sure everything had been set correctly before we started and kept a close eye on proceedings, whilst chatting to Sue. The last time we were here a paddle had been left slightly up on the bottom chamber which hadn’t been spotted by us or our fellow locking partners, more water had to be let down, conversations were too interesting, too much water was let down and we had to wait a long time for levels to equalise! Basically we’d messed it up, got everything wrong! But today all was fine and Sue had just enough time to hop on the back of Oleanna to travel round into the basin with us before having to return to her paperwork.

We’d heard a week ago that down here was rather full, but as we rounded the bend there were only two boats, plenty of space. So we pulled up on the nearest mooring to the water point. Shame we’d not thought to put a load of washing on earlier in the day as it would have had a good go at drying on the whirligig this afternoon. It’s changed a lot since we were here in 2011, I’ll see if I can find some photos.

Please can we go back to Welsh Wales! It was good there. Everywhere in this Chester outside is boring. This one doesn’t even have any trees, just a stupid woman who fed the flying rats right by our boat. You would have thought having all those birds about Tilly would be engrossed, but around a hundred pairs of flapping wings were really quite scary.

This evening we went along to the Storyhouse. Opened last May in a converted Odeon (sounds familiar) this is a really interesting building. Here is the library, two theatre spaces, a cinema, restaurant and two bars all pretty much intermingled. The old cinema auditorium is now the foyer, library, restaurant and bar space with the original curved ceilings and new walkways added. The 800 seat theatre sits at the back of the 1930’s building in a new purpose built extension. It felt like a mix of the Lowry, HOME and Birmingham Rep and library. A very welcoming space for all, young and old, even the dressing up boxes had clothes for all sizes.

We’d come along to see The Play That Goes Wrong that Sue is working on. She’d managed to get us two tickets for the show which is playing to sell out audiences across the country. We knew that these were restricted view seats so before making ourselves comfortable we made sure we had a look at stage right of the set so we knew what there was. The show is not High Art, but with that title you’d not expect it to be. But if you want a couple of hours laughing at the sheer slapstick farce of it all then go and see it. Winning the Best New Comedy Olivier Award in 2015 and the set won a Tony it is slick, fast paced and a reminder to any theatre professionals of all their anxiety dreams rolled into one, anything that could go wrong does time and time again!

After the show Sue met us and showed us around back stage seeing all the workings of the set as stage management tidied up. A few drinks in the pub next door with her rounded off a very good day.

The temperatures are forecast to drop in the next few days to below freezing. So we think we’ll stay put for a while by the water point instead of heading off to Ellesmere Port.

8 locks (3 a staircase), 3.24 miles, 0 donkeys, 3 boxes green lasagne, 200grams ground almonds, 1 Sue, 1 pole position mooring, 3 days of pants outsides! 2 comp tickets, 1 new theatre, 1 blank spot, 2 pink pills, 1/3 stage not visible, 1 very physical show, 1 long interval, 2 glasses wine, 1 sunny lovely day.

Life Without Technology. 31st January

Beeston Stone Lock to The Cheshire Cat

Being in a Black Hole meant not being able to log onto the internet this morning. Over breakfast I usually catch up with boaters blogs that I follow, but not today, no checking facebook either! We had been taken back to pre mobile phone days. We’ve often wondered how life would have been cruising the canal network with no means of contact other than the phone boxes marked in Nicholsons. Maybe we’d have talked to our family more, ringing in every couple of weeks so that they knew we were still alive and roughly where we were. Of course then we knew no different. Would we have felt isolated? I wonder if we’d still be cruising or have headed home to the comforts of regular post and the telephone. Trying to get hold of my Mum, 30 odd years ago, with news that one of her best friends had passed away when she and Dad were on a holiday touring Scotland proved impossible even though we knew their vague itinerary. Yet today in 2018 I heard of the passing of Mick Hughes the day after. I know what friends are up to all across the world and how wintery showers and gusts of wind have inhibited boaters moves all whilst eating my cereal.

However today, well over breakfast, I read the inside of the label from my yoghurt pot! Quite a nice recipe for Chicken Tikka Kebabs, might check their website out too, when we get the internet back. Along with keeping in touch we also rely on the internet for information, maps for shops, good pubs, history and the weather. We usually watch the news and weather on TV every evening, but with no signal this meant we had to rely on our memory for the days forecast. No knowing whether we should wait till 11.30am for the big cold front to have gone over before pushing off, what we did know was that it would be cold and we had a pub to reach four hours cruise away.

So with breakfast finished, much quicker than normal, we pushed off. The boat ahead of us had beaten us to the locks this morning (maybe they didn’t have a yoghurt pot to read!) so they all needed filling. The sun was out but the wind was biting.

First was Beeston Stone Lock made from, Stone. Large blocks form the chamber. Next was Beeston Iron Lock made from, Iron. Around this lock there are signs warning boaters not to share the lock as the chamber walls are contorted and your boat can easily get caught. NB Blackbird and others we know have shared the lock but taken care, keeping an eye open for any problems before they become serious. Today we couldn’t share as there was nobody to share with. As Oleanna descended Mick’s phone sprang into life, emails, texts, the rest of the world was back at our finger tips.

Through the next bridge is Chas Hardens Boat Hire. The brightly painted boats two abreast with a third boat tied up waiting for some attention, it’s owner sat at the stern. At first it looked like the chicane was going to be too tight for Oleanna to pass through, but she managed it, if she’d have been any longer it would have been really tight.

The hills surrounding the canal now open up, the nearby railway line elevated along the flat valley and Beeston Castle looking down from it’s craggy perch. On our way back we’ll hopefully stop near here and walk up to admire the views.

I left Mick at the helm and retired indoors just as the first wintery shower hit. First a chilli was put on the stove top to slowly cook. Now we had done all the locks for the day there was no danger of it being dislodged and covering the cabin floor. Next computers were updated, yesterdays blog uploaded and the label from the yoghurt pot (having now served it’s purpose) put in with the recycling. I arrived back up on deck with hot drinks just as we started to pass the long long line of boats moored at Golden Nook.

Our last trip up to Chester, back in October 2011 we didn’t recognise any of the boats here. But now several were familiar, some more than others. NB Bergen Fjord was the boat we hired to do the Cheshire Ring for Mick’s 50th ten years ago. It now has a stove and is most probably quite cosy on an evening, back then we sat in coats on the high dinette, my legs dangling, whilst we enjoyed our holiday with snowy showers and used three bottles of gas for the central heating. A few gaps in the moorings brought the total number down a little to 117, yes we did count. The blog post I wrote back in 2011 I believe was the first to include my list of numbers rounding up the day.

The wind was quite strong so we had to pass a little bit quicker than we normally would. Meaning that we couldn’t pull up alongside the most familiar boat and leave a little present under the pram hood for it’s owners. Wintery showers and dark dark skies ahead kept us forging on to our destination The Cheshire Cat.

This should be an ideal mooring for me, but NO! An ivy clad wall with loads of cars behind it. Some trees to climb, but too many woofers about to be able to reach them. I did manage to scale the wall and popped out when the hatch was opened, having to make a very swift dash across the towpath as a stupid big pompom woofer charged after me. The pub needs renaming, The Cheshire Woofer!

During the afternoon we did a big online shop to be delivered to us tomorrow. Our stocks are low of just about everything as we’ve had to carry food distances or not had much choice in what to buy for a while. Having been able to refer to a weather forecast we shall stay put tomorrow avoiding the strong winds, just hope they aren’t too strong as our mooring has a big old tree hanging right over us!

This evening we met up with Bridget and Storm for a drink at The Cheshire Cat, which is a nice pub despite what Tilly thinks. A lovely evening with a few pints and lots of conversation as ever.

3 locks, 8.7 miles, 0 emails, 25 emails, 1 chicane, 1 vat of chilli, 5365754 turns of a windlass (I still hate those very low geared paddles), 117 boats, 29 mins 32 seconds, 107, 4 boxes only, 1 fed up cat, 0 to hunt, 2.5 pints each, 3.5 days for Blackbird, 135 days for Oleanna, 1 party invite, 100% phone, 100% TV, 100% internet, 100% caught up, 1 black guiding light delivered.

Farewell To The Llangollen. 30th January

Stoneley Green Bridge, Llangollen to Beeston Stone Lock, Shropshire Union

Tilly was first up, pretending to admire the sunrise, but I think the dawn chorus was more appealing to her sat in her curtain hammock.

No dashing away, but no dillydallying either this morning, we had a proper days cruise ahead of us. Plenty of layers on to keep warm. Swanley Lock 1 was just ahead and we soon made it down the two locks and wound our way back towards Hurleston.

At Bridge 4 Mick was a spoil sport and wouldn’t let us moor. The signs to Snugburys made me plead with him. A third visit would mean a much more considered choice of chilled medication, but he wasn’t having anything of it! On the moorings NB Higgler sat waiting for it’s crew of Old English Sheep Dog and Corgies, bet they’d been allowed medication! This was really the first boat through the bridge yesterday, before it was officially opened. They had passed us at Wrenbury on Saturday and must have been waiting for the dam to be removed and waved on.

Traffic cones stood on ether side of the top lock at Hurleston. Two chaps then walked across the lock wheeling wheelbarrows! It looks like the lock cottage will be having an extension this year and two chaps were busy with the ground works, everything having to be carried across the lock. They lifted their walkway to let us into the lock and put it back again as soon as Mick was out of the way. So far they’d had to move it only three times, but they certainly weren’t looking forward to the start of the boating season, I suspect it could add a month to the build schedule.

We worked our way down and soon we were being followed by another boat.

New ladders were evident at the second lock, not having had chance to get discoloured yet. The last lock, the narrow one, we took slowly, only lifting one paddle to empty the water, keeping an eye on Oleanna descending, not wanting to get stuck. There were signs of the investigation works that were carried out in November to see if a total rebuild is needed.

Then with the bottom gates open, that was our time on the Llangollen over. We’d headed up the locks on the 17th November and have enjoyed our last two months immensely, but we are looking forward to being in a big city soon.

Mick turned Oleanna left at the junction and waited for me to cross over the bridge and join him. We were now back on the Shropshire Union Main Line, it suddenly got busy! We’ve got so used to only seeing one boat moving a day that all of a sudden it felt like we were on the M25! The first bridge hole and there was a boat coming towards us. Blimey where had all the traffic come from? Well three boats.

Being back on the Shroppie I made sure my camera was handy for all those kingfishers. Not long to wait as one flashed it’s blue back at us just before Barbridge and then obliged by sitting in a tree as we passed.

A brief pause for lunch before the junction and then we topped up the water tank and dealt with rubbish at Calveley.

Arriving at Bunbury we were a bit disappointed that we’d not be able to do the shuffle, no other moving boats in sight. This is our first wide lock since we came down from Wigan last year (that’s if you don’t count Big Lock in Middlewich). So much water, so much space, huge and heavy! Quite a shock to the system really. Bunbury is a staircase of two wide chambers, so you can fit two boats in at once. Should a single boat want to be going in the opposite direction they can enter the other chamber, the water is then moved from top to bottom, the central gates opened, then the Bunbury Shuffle can take place. One of the two boats moves into the gap in the other chamber, the single boat then moves into the new gap, the third boat into the next new gap. Gates closed and boats carry on up and down at the same time.

Another lock was worth doing today and as we approached Tilstone Lock we could see a boat that we thought was waiting, we could share! But no they were moored up. However at the lock there was activity, a boat was coming up. Such a busy world! I recognised it as a Carefree Cruising share boat and chatted to the lady. It was only their second week out and they were loving it, apart from the tent that they’d picked up around their prop yesterday which meant they didn’t have long to explore Chester.

We pootled along the wide canal, it felt like a river after being on the Llangollen for so long. Above Beeston Stone Lock we took advantage of the 48hr moorings and pulled in for the day, letting Tilly have the last hour of daylight to stare at the little twitches coming from the ivy clad hedge next to us and to practice her pouncing.

We’ve been this way twice before back in our share boat days, so somethings we’d forgotten about. The lovely little pepper pot buildings at the locks, the wideness of the cut, however we had remembered the total lack of phone, internet or TV signal by Stone Lock. Oh well that’s more we’ll have to catch up with on the internet, hope EE reset our allowance early again!

9 locks, 8 miles (rounded up), 1 left, 1 straight on, 1 tasty looking robin, 1 stunning sunrise, 10 minutes that’s all, 0 chilled medication, 1 big meanie Mick, 1 kingfisher, 5 moving boats so busy, 0 boats to shuffle with, 1 mooring close to road and rail, 0 signal of any sort! 0 map.

Three Minutes Ahead Of C&RT. 29th January

Grindley Brook to Stonely Green Bridge 10

The water gauge was showing half a tank this morning so just in case we ended up sitting around a while longer waiting for the bridge ahead to open we decided to visit ABC boat hire at Wrenbury Mill to top up. The forecast was for rain this morning, but it would stop between 11 and 12 midday, so when the rain had stopped for a while we pushed off and headed to the lift bridge. As I turned the key of power in the panel it started to drizzle, then rain, then drizzle, good job we’d put on our waterproofs. Four cars and a dog walker held up, Mick swung Oleanna into the gap between boats moored up at the Mill.

The hire base was busy, a delivery of new mattresses was being moved on board the boats. For the use of their tap we’d been quoted £3 but when it came to ringing it into the till it said £2, £2 well spent for peace of mind.

We reversed out managing not to leave any marks on the newly blacked hire boat we’d breasted up to, then we turned towards the last lift bridge of the Llangollen Canal. Once through we waved goodbye to Wrenbury. Our aim for today was a 48hr mooring just before the closed bridge, from here we’d hopefully be first through once it opened.

In places the water table was higher in the fields alongside the canal than it was in it. Plenty of rain had fallen overnight, today in parts you would need water wings to walk the towpath!

All three locks lay empty before us, but all the paddles are easy on this canal, so it didn’t take much effort to fill them for us to go down. As we waited for the final one to fill I could see a gang of high vis heading in our direction. Nine or ten chaps were walking the towpath heading towards the closed bridge. Could it be that they had had a lunch break and were heading back to carry on with repairs? If so then they certainly were throwing men at the job. Or could it be that this was the clear up team? The works were complete and they were here, mob handed to remove the pumps and damns. We pootled along behind them and pulled in to tie up.

It looked like the navigation was open, certainly no dam across the bridge hole. Just as we’d stopped Oleanna, and Mick had stepped off to tie up we were give a wave on by one of the chaps. It took a bit of effort to get Oleanna away from the side as the wind was pushing her in. We thanked the chaps as we passed, one saying that we were the first boat through. Another fella stood tapping something into his tablet as we passed, wonder if that was the Notice Update saying that the canal was now open, it popped into our inbox three minutes after we’d gone under the bridge.

The scaffolding supports of a dam sat on the extremely muddy towpath, the tarpaulin sat on the back deck of a work boat. A huge yellow pump and giant pipes filled another boat. As the Llangollen Canal feeds a reservoir that serves Crewe and Nantwich the flow cannot be turned off on the canal, it is really a bit of a river. So when a damn blocks the navigation the constant flowing water has to be taken around it. Quite glad we didn’t have a couple of days moored near the big pump going 24 hours a day.

Once through the bridge Oleanna proceeded to go aground, right next to the workboats! A good blast of reverse and one chap pulling on our centre line got us free and we slowly inched our way past them. As soon as we had cleared them boats were moved, blocking the bridge again so that they could get all the pipework back on board. We’d timed our arrival perfectly, even though we expected to have a two day wait.

Pushing on a short distance further, we pulled in just before Stoneley Locks and retired inside for a very late lunch. There is a ten hour cruise ahead of us to reach Chester, so we should be able to meet up with our friend Sue and have a drink with Bridget and Storm too. Perfect. Thank you C&RT.

3 locks, 3.73 miles, 2 lift bridges, 4 held up, £2 water charge, 1 quagmire, 10 yellow and orange clad chaps, 0 damn, 4 work boats, +15 lengths of giant pipe, 3 minutes before it opened, 2 days ahead, 4 seriously muddy paws, 1 chimney sweep tail.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna

Bimbling About. 8th to 13th February

Taylor’s Boatyard. 11th February

A Dry Bottom. 9th February

One Tree In Chester. 7th February

A Gurney And A Cinema Inside A Cinema. 5th 6th February

Eyes, Walls And Puddings 3rd 4th February

Into Chester And Everything Goes Wrong 1st 2nd February

Life Without Technology. 31st January

Farewell To The Llangollen. 30th January

Three Minutes Ahead Of C&RT. 29th January