Travels on Narrow Boat Tranquility

Our first Committee Meeting...

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000Z

...Held at Napton Village Hall today (8/1/12),was very productive. The date has been set for the official transfer to self management, and the Agreement and Schedules have been discussed and modified and will be put forward to the membership for approval.
After the meeting we went to Wigrams Marina where we met managers Gillian and Kerry and made our choice from the available berths. We'll be bringing TQ here from Elton Moss within the next few weeks, but first there are some minor issues with the paintwork that need to be finished off, and some "I"s crossed and "T"s dotted.

Bridgwater and Taunton Canal on BBCs Countryfile

2012-01-08T19:32:00.001Z

This is my local canal, such a shame its landlocked. I'd love to park my barge on the banks of my works back garden.
Don't miss next weeks thrilling installment on Sunday 15th January when the B and T Canal will be featured. Can't wait? Check out the preview here.

It's finished

2011-12-28T07:04:00.000Z

The ring is now complete and awaiting fitting.

Pressing the brass rod into a ring.

The finished article.

I'll fit it to TQ when I'm on holiday in April '12.

A posh accessory

2011-12-24T14:40:00.002Z

Some while ago it was requested that a ring be placed in the seating area on the inside wall of the semi-trad stern on Tranquility. This is for the dog owners of the syndicate to tie their best friend to and keep them under control. A galvanised steel item was purchased and fitted, and it looked awful, it was the sort of thing that would be at home on a farm for tying your prize bull to. At the AGM earlier this year it was asked if a brass one could be located and fitted, but this option had been sought in the past and procurement of such an item had drawn a blank. I waited until the conversation came to a critical point and volunteered (what was I thinking?) just before the fingers started pointing, to make one and nearly got my hands bitten off. Everyone in the syndicate knows I'm an engineer, so if I didn't volunteer I would have been volunteered. I don't mind really, if anyone wants something made I'll try my best to oblige.

Here's a pictorial progress report:-

First, mill two sides square. Re clamp, then mill the other two sides
square and to size using a 10mm slot drill.

Mill a 1/8" chamfer all round. Done with a 45 degree
countersink/chamfer tool seen in the top of the photo.

Stage one completed.

Stage two is drill and countersink four holes to suit No.2 BA screws,and
then drill and reamer two holes 1/4" diameter to accept the brass loop.

The next bit is a little more complicated. I need to make some tools on my lathe to bend the loop and the ring. This will consist of three rollers with a 1/8" radiused groove to accept the 1/4" brass rod. These tools are then set up on the milling machine and I'll use it as a press to bend the brass rod.

Three rollers set up to produce a curve in the brass rod.

A dry fit of the loop in the base plate.

Heating it up to apply some silver solder.

After soldering the dag ends are cut off ready to be machined flush.

Well that's it for today, I'll finish it after Christmas. Which just leaves me to say have a really great Christmas and lets all look forward to some wonderful cruising in the coming season.

2011-12-09T21:39:00.000Z

TQ after wash and brush up!

Last day on TQ until March.
We couldn’t believe what a nice day it was, when we looked out, after all we’d heard! Blue skies, fluffy clouds and sunshine.. Wonderful! We were working Wardle Lock at 1030, then stopped to fill up at the water point round the bend. Nipped over to the Kings Lock chandlery as we couldn’t find any Brasso on board . (Had tried another shop previously and the young chap at the counter said, ‘Brasso? What’s that?’) As the weather was still good, we stopped after Kings Lock so that the captain could continue with the cleaning of the exterior of the boat after all the rain yesterday afternoon. We had lunch there and left at 1320, when we could see very dark clouds gathering not too far away. The wind was still very gusty and the boating was a bit tricky at times, but we were very lucky as the rain, though chasing us, did not catch us until nearly three o’clock. It wasn’t too heavy then until we got to Crows Nest Lock, where we also had sleet and hailstones! After we had tied up at Elton Moss at 4pm, at the end of our holiday, the heavens opened again and we’ve had more showers this evening. All in all, it was a good trip and we enjoyed it. We were extremely lucky that the weather wasn’t far worse for us; we were definitely in a part of the country that missed the extremes of the weather.

2011-12-08T21:59:00.001Z

TQ at Stanthorne Lock

So, we were expecting an even worse day (weather-wise) than yesterday, after having listened to a few weather forecasts, but we were really very lucky.
The morning was reasonably bright and although you couldn’t actually say it was warm it was a higher temperature than it’s been all week, i.e. not freezing! We set off for the lock about 9:30 and were pleased to find that the gusts of wind were no worse than yesterday, though of course they were bad enough then, as you may remember reading.
Although there was some use of the barge pole and holding off from the banking etc., we got through the locks without too much trouble and only a little light rain and by 1315 we had tied up in the last section before Wardle Lock. Soon afterwards, the heavens opened and the rain lasted for quite a while. We walked to the town about 4.30 -when it had stopped raining- and came across the Post Office on the way, so I managed to post the last of the Christmas cards. Great, all finished! The town now has a few coffee shops, whereas last time we were here there wasn’t one. There are more eating places too (sign of the times) and we went to The White Bear. It was an old pub but had been closed for two years. It has been modernised and has only been open for two weeks. We enjoyed our meal very much. The lamb shank was huge!
The air was rather icy as we walked back to the boat but fingers crossed it will be warmer by morning- we live in hope.

2011-12-07T19:36:00.005Z

A wet but shiny TQ

It was another wet and windy night, this time next to the aqueduct at Nantwich. Every now and then the boat would shake as a strong gust of wind caught her. However in the morning the sun was out and there was only a little rain, so we set off in the direction of the Middlewich Branch of the SUC. We didn’t get that far -at least not in the time we expected to- as we were blown into the banking near Henhull, where the gusts were extreme. After an awful lot of effort and exasperation we managed to leave the banking behind just one and a half hours later! Continuing to Barbridge we decided to stop there as lunchtime seemed to have come around quickly. (Far more quickly than our escape from the banking). Mooring at Barbridge wasn’t particularly easy either but the cap’n managed it and after our sandwiches we moved further along to take on water. Took these photos of TQ there, as people had asked for them, but neither the place nor the weather were really suitable so we promise we’ll take more if the weather improves before Saturday.
Round the corner into the Middlewich branch at last and we tootled along there until we arrived at Cholmondesten, mooring just before the lock about 3pm. We decided to cross over to the Venetian Marina and see if anything had changed since we were last there. Thought we might have a coffee but the café was closed and it was a bit too long to wait until it opened…..the date to wait for was February 2012. We didn’t feel like browsing in the new (to us) Treasures and Antiques shop at that time, so went into the quiet, very small chandlery shop and had a chat with the lady there. She said she was glad to see us and it must have made her feel it was worth going in to work today, even though we didn’t buy anything. After all that excitement we went back to TQ and got ready for a cosy evening, with our own coffee and evening meal.

2011-12-06T22:01:00.003Z

Warm welcome at the Crown Hotel Nantwich

It was a very wet and windy night again, but a sunny morning. Very quiet at Barbridge and still very cold. We had a lazy morning and set off at 1050 for Nantwich. No problems and the temperature actually went up a bit, so the trip was quite pleasant. We were very well wrapped up of course! Not too busy at the Nantwich moorings so after checking out spaces, we went along to the winding hole and came back to moor quite near the aqueduct at 1230.
After lunch on board we walked down to the town, enjoying the sight of all the lovely old buildings on the way. We had a look round the old (14th/15th century) cathedral-like church, with its very fine old and modern stained glass windows and some amazing needlework displays. Waited in the long Post Office queues to get cards for abroad weighed and then went for a coffee, to pass the time before the pubs opened. We went to the old Crown Hotel and it was a very good choice! For the last hour or two before we went there, it had got a lot colder again, so it was great to see a roaring fire. We enjoyed a most delicious meal, the Cannon of Lamb. Can heartily recommend it! The atmosphere of the place was perfect for a winter evening and afterwards we were ready for the walk back to TQ and hopefully to write the last few cards.

2011-12-05T21:49:00.003Z

We arrived back on board Tranquility on Saturday. She is looking really good after the new painting job, lovely glossy finish! Have already had comments from strangers about how great she looks. By the time we had unpacked and got sorted, there wasn't much time before darkness would set in so we decided to wait till the next day before moving away. We had enjoyed a good meal at the Big Lock pub at Middlewich on the way to Sandbach, so just stayed on board for the night.

On Sunday we got up quite early- ooh, cold!- and set off at 0810 towards Wheelock, in order to turn around. We moored back at Elton Moss by 9am, then left by car for Sandbach so I could go to Mass in the small, old St Winefride's church. We got back to Elton Moss by 1140 and left soon afterwards for Middlewich. It was cold and wet and we wondered why we had decided to use this week of our allocation instead of staying in a warm, cosy home....We moored before Rumps Lock, for lunch, then continued up to the moorings before Kings Lock, where we stayed for the night. Short days in Winter!

There were very heavy rain showers in the night and also some this morning and it was VERY cold. Steve went out for his newspaper and I went out later to post the Christmas cards I'd been writing. We went through Kings Lock about 10am and Wardle afterwards. Very icy. Quiet down the Middlewich Branch but we did meet 5 boats altogether. Apart from a rain shower to start with, we had beautifully sunny weather all day, but it was perishingly cold. (Hot water bottles were good for improving the temperature of frozen hands). We arrived at Barbridge just after 3.30pm and filled up the water tank, then tried to moor further along. Plenty of space but, as at other times, difficult to get near to the banking. We were intending to have a meal at the Barbridge Inn, but it didn't look too hopeful when there weren't any lights on at 6:15pm. However, we decided to have a look and discovered that the place is closed for refurbishment. (Loved the live Jazz there on Thursdays). We carried on walking to the Jolly Tar across the very busy main road, to see if they were offering food. Fortunately yes and it was very good, though the place was nearly empty. Back to TQ early, so time to write the blog!

Change of management. A New Beginning...

2011-11-12T21:24:00.001Z

Its AGM day today and some radical decisions have been made. Firstly we had a meeting at Olympus Narrowboats to check out the new paint job. Its not finished yet, but progress is being made and should be finished by Wednesday. So far it all looks good and the paint has a deep lustre and thickness which makes it look rich. All that's left to do is the black gunwales, red handrails and panel coachlines.

The green is a shade darker

Looks good here, even better to touch it

Name plates ready for "Tranquility" and "No. 8" with the Swan insignia

The cream is non slip

Then we had the AGM where the big decision is that we're going "self management". The meeting lasted more than two and a half hours, and I think most people are happy, although the voting was not unanimous. It all seems a little bit daunting at this stage but Artie from Carefree says he will help us all he can with the transfer and if it all goes belly up, he'll have us back in an instant. I think he didn't want us to feel that we'd burned our bridges. The transition will take several months and Artie says he'll guide us all the way. There is one thing we're going to learn about from this and that's all the wheeling and dealing that goes on in the background and the planning, finance and maintenance. One thing on our side is that we have all the skills in the syndicate to do it. So here we go head long into a new era with TQ.

Time to go home.

2011-10-09T21:38:00.000+01:00

Its been so busy in the Braunston area, we've seen more boats on the move in this spot that during the whole time spent on the River Nene.

Seen along the way:-

I had to take a photo of this, I wonder how long its been there.
I'd guess since 1979 when their album The Wall was released.
It's lasted well.

This is the only piece of graffiti I like, it's plain, simple, uncluttered and I have to say because I'm biased, (they produce some of my favorite music) this should be a listed building, not that appendage, that wart sticking out of the middle of Northampton.

Our final journey of this holiday with TQ was quite short and our first stop was at the water point just above the lock to fill the water tanks, fore and aft. Then it was through the lock and moor up stern end on to the quay, unload all our junk onto the car, fuel up and pump out TQ, pay our dues and make our way back home.

So, summing up, would I go down the Nene again? Yes, absolutely. Its a beautiful river and gets better after Wellingborough, I wish circumstances could have been different and we could have explored the Middle Level, but that will have to wait for another time. The drawbacks - You need an extra visitors license (if you don't have a BW Gold license), and it's not cheap. Additionally you'll need a special EA key to operate the locks and obtain water. This will cost £10, but on the up side, pump outs are FREE - YES FREE! You just have to help yourself. Facilities are scarce, the only pump outs being at Peterborough and Northampton. The facility at Rushden and Diamonds has been closed, moorings only, not even any water. There are some nice places to moor, you just have to find them as they're not always obvious.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to read my blog over the last three weeks, our next adventure is due in January 2012, though I think we may not be taking it after our last Winter escapade. We'll have to wait and see how the weather pans out.
Cheers for now, K & L

Our last day

2011-10-08T21:47:00.000+01:00

We took a walk around Braunston today, and discovered Dover from the TV series Narrow Boat Afloat presented by Alan Herd. To be honest she looked a bit neglected, being mounted up on sleepers and having plates welded on to the hull. I thought they did all that in the TV series, seems I was mistaken. We continued our walk to the bottom lock where Lin went into The Boat Shop and bought a loaf of bread, and then we crossed the canal walked through a field to the main street of the village.

Dover - out of the water.

Vulcan - on the water

This is on the footbridge over the entrance to Braunston Marina

When we came back to TQ we set off towards Braunston Junction and turned left onto the Oxford Canal. At bridge 102 we stopped for lunch and had soup with some of the bread we bought earlier in the village. Later we pushed on to between Bridge 108 and Napton Junction where we moored up and started cleaning TQ and making ready to vacate tomorrow morning. I polished the brass again and cleaned the gutters around the lockers, deckboard and rear hatch. I also cleaned the front deck and lockers. Then it started to rain - thanks for that. Never mind, at least I know the job has been done.

Fully loaded stern tube greaser

I also filled the stern greaser and looked at why the engine is sluggish to start sometimes. I think I've found out why, there is a badly corroded connection in the starter circuit which needs attention. I tried to loosen the nut but not wishing to break the stud off I thought it best to leave it to the engineer at Calcutt. I gave it a dose of WD-40 to help give it a fighting chance.

Corroded connection to starter motor

Tomorrow morning we head for Calcutt and unload all our chattles into the car, and then its a cross country journey to the M5 and back home. Really looking forward to that - not.

A quiet day, non-eventful and normal.

2011-10-07T22:08:00.000+01:00

I must say it's good to be back on the canals, you can moor pretty much anywhere and you don't have to plan your stops/moorings and have a contingency plan if plan "A" fails for what ever reason.

We popped into Whilton Chandlery at the bottom of the Buckby Locks and got ourselves a new aerial. They had one at a knock down price, so we had to have it to replace the old one which gave up the ghost and it's now up and working.

Our new aerial, installed and working.

We're back in Braunston again and, as luck would have it, moored outside The Boathouse. There was just enough space to get in. It's quite a nice pub for a chain pub, very clean, not what I'd call a sticky pub, (where the tables are sticky), it has a friendly service and the food is good too. Lin had Hock of Ham and I had Pork Loin served with mashed potato and vegetables, and the sweet was good too, Apple pie and Custard for me and Soft Centre Chocolate Pudding for Lin.

Later, back on TQ, we watched TV. Well, the new aerial had to be tested.

Stray boats and fallen trees

2011-10-06T20:05:00.001+01:00

There's never a dull moment on the cut, apart from the wind making steering difficult and uncomfortable, there are events that occur as a result. Leaving Bugbrooke this morning we intended to get to Buckby Wharf but, canals being canals, there are often many things that can hinder your progress. Two things today, first we stopped to fill our tank with water at Stowe Hill. When finished we were just going to pull away when a boat appeared and going quite fast through the moored boats, then another two boats at a more sensible speed. Then we noticed a boat moored ahead of us had moved out across the canal, not quite able to fully turn in the width and became stuck in the shallow water on the off side. And there it stayed until enough blokes gathered to heave on the centre rope to haul it back to the canal side. The owner was asleep inside and was woken by someone on his boat finding a decent rope to heave on. We all eventually managed to get the boat to the side and the canal was open again. It all happened because someone was going too fast and pulled the mooring pins out of the ground, such disrespect.

Then we hadn't gone far when we were stopped by a boat moored under bridge 23. "Stop, there's a tree down" they hollered, but by that time we were too far ahead to stop and were through the bridge when another boater kindly said to moor alongside his. So that's what we did. And there we waited for British Waterways to turn up which they did after about an hour and a half. Just the one guy on his own who assessed the situation and made a phone call and then said their contractors will be along when they can.

Tree down just North of Bridge 23

We thought this could take hours and decided to take matters into our own hands, so we moved the purple boat and another moored in front up the cut about thirty metres and managed to squeeze a narrowboat throughthe gap. Then another and another until the queue had gone. Free at last. By now it was mid afternoon and the wind had taken its toll out of us so we found a nice spot just up a little ways and moored not too close to the M1. If we went much further we'd follow the M1 very closely for around two miles including the along the Buckby Flight, not so comfortable for a nights' peaceful mooring.

More tomorrow.

And yet more wind!

2011-10-05T20:00:00.001+01:00

We started off early again today and moved up to the services near the moorings for a pump out (FREE - YES, FREE) which meant winding so that the port side of TQ was nearest the quayside. When done we went back to the moorings to wind again. Whilst we were filling with water, Lin spotted some of those Signal Crayfish easily seen in the shadow under the nearby bridge. They seem to spend most of their time fighting and hiding in the holes eroded in the bridge foundations. Shortly after we negotiated the last lock on the Nene, Northampton Town Lock and made our way toward the junction with the Grand Union Canal and up the seventeen locks in the Rothersthorpe Flight.

No, I can't put a caption here!

The first four locks are well spaced but then the next thirteen are very close, close enough to set the next lock ready.

Lock 17, River Nene behind, Grand Union ahead

On the way down some two weeks ago we spotted some logs in a pile between Locks 12 and 13 and thought we'd have some of them on the way back if they're still there. Well they were and I set to with the chain saw and cut up two logs into rounds in about ten minutes. Best leave the rest for someone else.

So I turned a couple of these...

...Into these.

Now we look like real liveaboards.

Two weeks ago at lock thirteen all the land adjacent to the canal appeared to be a site dedicated to nature and I was quite horrified to see this:-

The site is massive and the dust being whipped up by the machinery and the very strong wind is phenomenal. I am convinced the councils and governments of this country will not be satisfied until every square inch of this green and pleasant land is covered in concrete. It is absolutely criminal.

The Express Lifts Tower

Here's another odd structure. Would you believe some idiocrats have made it a listed building? It's not even slightly glamourous and even looks unfinished. If it had a designed top and was open to the public, then maybe it could qualify, but as it is?

As I said earlier we're back on the Grand Union and we ended up at Bugbrooke and have been in The Wharf for an evening meal. We had Steak and Ale Pie. It was delicious and very filling. Back on TQ and it's now raining, something we've not seen since the 19th September. Tomorrows forcast is dire, very strong winds and heavy rain. We could be tempted to stay here.

More tomorrow.

You wouldn't believe this...

2011-10-04T20:31:00.001+01:00

Oh! yes we would!

We left Billing Aquadrome at 08:00hrs this morning after dropping our mooring fees through the letterbox in the reception. Then made our way toward the exit which is diagonally across the lake, first by reversing away from our mooring, then once far enough away from the other boats, engage forward gear and 1/3 throttle and rotated TQ around to face the exit. It's a bit tight here, the angle is quite acute and there is the road bridge to contend with. All my concentration is required to get TQ heading in the right direction.

The Clubhouse at Billing Aquadrome

Reversing away from our mooring on the far left

Our first lock is Billing Lock, and it's just around the corner. Not much in the way of weed today which is a great help. At Weston Favell Lock it all happened, or didn't would be more correct. Once in the lock I needed to select reverse to help position TQ along side the lock wall. Reverse gear engaged OK, but there was no throttle response. None whatsoever. The throttle cable had broken. We managed to get TQ through the lock and moor up on the lock landing where I went to work to investigate exactly what was wrong and if there was anything I could do to repair it. No such luck this time and a phone call to Ken meant a two hour journey for him from Sandbach to find us and do a twenty minute job. While he was on his way I removed the old cable and made ready for fitting the new one. If we'd had a spare on board I could have done it all myself and saved a call out. Hey - ho!

The broken throttle cable.

The photo shows the mechanism on the back of the control lever. The part in my left hand had the cable crimped into it. You can't "uncrimp" it and re crimp a shorter length, a new cable is required.

Here's some scenes from today at Weston Favell Lock

There's nothing like having a good scratch

"So tell me, why the long face?"

"'ere, your bowthruster needs more horsepower"

I hope you don't mind, I'm having a lunch break.

More tomorrow.

WWW - Wild Windy and Weedy plus a couple of confessions.

2011-10-03T20:38:00.000+01:00

Oh! what a day, started off fine but as the the day wore on, things got more and more difficult. We slipped our moorings at 08:00hrs and started what was to be a long journey to Billing. Our first stop (barring locks) was Wellingborough where we went into Tesco to do some (no, a lot of) shopping. We came out with four brimming bags and they were heavy, toddled off across a busy main road and nearly got knocked down twice, they drive like maniacs around here, back across the parkland to the Embankment where we moored TQ earlier. The wind was beginning to pick up by now, but nothing too serious yet. Onward, and as we left the comparative shelter of Wellingborough the wind picked up and blew quite hard, I reckon around 30 mph gusting to 40mph at times. Although the wind was mainly head on, any slight angular crosswind made manoeuvring at locks very difficult. As if that wasn't enough, there was a lot of weed about and one boater we spoke to said he had to call out the Environment Agency to clear it for him as he couldn't get into the lock. All the locks from Wellingborough to Billing have had weed to some extent, but three of them were so choked we had to fill the lock without TQ in, open the top gates and let the wind blow the weed into the lock and empty it again and then, with the lower (guillotine) gate raised, open the top gate paddles to flush the weed out of the chamber. In other words, we had to operate the locks twice each, once to let the weed through and once again to let TQ through.

After the weed had been cleared

In these large locks, going upstream, we find its best to tie up TQ fore and aft to the bollards conveniently placed on the quayside, and open the paddle only on the same side as TQ is tied and by one third to start as some can be quite fierce. This way the water enters the lock across the bow of TQ and hits the opposite wall keeping TQ pinned to the quayside. There may be some forward and back movement, but nothing the engine can't handle.

You'd never believe it could be so windy

We've had to contend with chunks of weed like this jammed in lock gates.

Now Lin and I have a confession each to make. First mine - I lost control of TQ in the wind today. Well that's a slight exaggeration, although Lin would disagree. What happened was, Lin opened the top gate of Doddington Lock and I tried to get on the lock landings on the starboard side while Lin emptied the lock. (All guillotine locks have to be left empty). The wind blew me across the river toward some sticky outy branches, so to avoid broken windows I opened the throttle and went forwards away from the lock and got stuck against the bank where I thought Lin could walk to and board TQ there. Not so, it happened to be someones garden and access was impossible. So I went forwards again, of the end of a headland where the wind caught me good and proper and forced me to do a 180 so I then headed back into the lock landing and just managed to pick up Lin on the bow of TQ. Then I had to back out into the area where I did a 180 earlier and somehow do another, without losing it again down someones private backwater. This time it was successful and I managed to miss all the obstacles and head off in the right direction.

Now for Lins confession. We entered Cogenhoe Lock and I was just mooring up on the starboard side, Lin was on the roof with the centre rope ready to jump up onto the quayside. Instead of waiting for me to get TQ closer she decided to go for it and jumped up onto the quay and then discovering she didn't have enough inertia to get her all the way there, did a half turn in mid air and landed back on TQs roof now with too much inertia, and only just managing to stop herself falling off the port side. Lucky or what?

We're tucked away safely in Billing Marina now. Hopefully nothing much can happen to us here. Its been a long day, maybe tomorrow will be better.

The heatwave continues and we make up some distance.

2011-10-02T19:38:00.001+01:00

An early start and we topped up with water and slipped our moorings at 07:50hrs. Thats early for Lin, half the morning's gone for me.

Early morning mist at Wadenhoe Lock.

The sloes are in the hedge at the lock landing.

We made passage through ten locks today, and there was low water along the stretch between Titchmarsh and Islip Locks, apparently an automatic weir had acted on a malfunction and lowered letting thousands of gallons of water out of the pound overnight. Some boats tied up at moorings had a bit of a list on.

Big locks here.

This is the biggest - Irthlingborough Lock

Our stop for the night comes shortly after this lock.
I tried to get our new satellite system working again today but it seems to be configured for the foreign market as reception from the Astra 2 satellite is not possible. So its back to the old piece of welding rod bent into a circle. It works.

I'm going to watch the rest of the Star Trek film - more tomorrow.

October 1st and temperatures are soaring.

2011-10-01T21:37:00.000+01:00

Its been really hot today, so we made only a short journey to The Kings Head near Wadenhoe Lock. The intention was to stay for lunch and then press on in the afternoon. We had a round of sandwiches and a pint and it was so pleasant in the pub garden we decided to have a meal there in the evening and leave early in the morning. Lin had cod and chips and I had belly pork with crackling and potato gratin. It was delicious. When we came through here before we stopped and picked sloes next to the lock. They're now steeping in gin and it'll be ready for Christmas.

On the way...

The Mill at Oundle - posh! We didn't patronise.

An early start in the morning, we've some catching up to do.

Work to be done.

2011-09-30T18:24:00.001+01:00

Just a short cruise today to Oundle Marina as I have some work to do. On arriving I went into the chandlers to get a new TV aerial, but they had none in stock. I'm told the signal here is very poor so no TV for us again tonight.

Just after sunrise this morning.

I got down and dirty in the engine 'ole today, and fitted the new Webasto which is now up and running. A check on the antifreeze content will be required back at Calcutt.

This is how I did it:-

The first job - fit the mounting bracket

There's no thread in the holes and self tapping screws are supplied. No tapping fluid, so I had to make do with WD40. At least the screws shouldn't go rusty.

This is where it's got to go.

Next is to offer it up to where the old one was and check to see if the holes line up. Luckily they do, and using the three original stainless wood screws, (there should be four) attach the unit to the wall.

Unit fully installed and working.

Then fit the exhaust using assembly paste and tighten up the retaining clamp. Attach the air cleaner and supply tube, this is a push fit and no clamp is supplied in this case. The cleaner fits in a flexible clip screwed to the wall. Then the fuel supply, simply push on and tighten clamp. Fit coolant return hose to the pump and tighten the Jubilee clip, and then push on the coolant supply hose only so that there is a small gap at the top. this is to allow the air to escape when I open the two red handled valves. When coolant is ejected, push hose fully home and tighten Jubilee clip. Press in the two electrical connection blocks, replace the fuse and cover, and now its ready to test. Turn on the fuel cock and switch on at the usual button, and success, it fires up nicely. There's a lot of gurgling going on so I removed the cover from the head of the radiators where there is an air bleed cap. I unscrewed it slightly to let the air out, and then screwed it back down again when the coolant came through. I needed to do this several times while I ran the system for the first hour. After that it was fine. Last job is to check and fill with water to just over half way, the header tank in the wardrobe. Thats it, job completed, we now have heating and hot water.

The next job is to repair the light over the mirror in the shower room. First things first - SWITCH OFF THE MAINS SUPPLY. Remove the diffuser and Oh! what's this? The lamp had been pulled out from one end to prevent it from working. Presumably because it was "broken" in the on position and couldn't be switched off. OK two wood screws and remove the light from the wall. Using a meter confirm there is no mains potential at the supply point. Disconnect the mains supply wires from the terminal block on the back of the unit. Clean the unit inside and out. Re attach the pull chord into the switch lug and tie a bigger knot. Re assemble unit and fit back on the wall. Fit lamp and diffuser. Switch the mains supply back on and test. Hey, it works. Another job done.

I don't know how I do it for the money!

It's got busy here this evening, There's been no one here all day then this turned up:-

Busy, busy.

More tomorrow...

You never know what you might see - CHECK THIS OUT...

2011-09-29T20:55:00.000+01:00

When we left our moorings it was in thick fog, and there was a log jamb in the water next to us. A mixture of logs and weed had floated down during the night and parked itself next to TQ. No problem getting out though, and we made or way upstream in the fog toward Water Newton. The fog had nearly lifted by time we got there and the sun was gently warming the Autumn air.

Water Newton

Photos don't do it justice

Cobwebs in the lock gate

After Water Newton and in the distance we could see steam rising in large quantities. Its Thursday, the Nene Valley Railway can't be running steam today can they? They surley can, and what a surprise too.
Cop a load of this:-

Introducing The Duke of Gloucester

Apparently, His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester visited the Nene Valley Railway yesterday and today the locomotive was doing some photographic work for the railway enthusiasts. It can't be denied, this is an amazing piece of engineering, it has a weighty presence that I find is quite astounding. You can sense the power and ability even though it was only trundling up and back the line a few times, easy work for this giant. There are steam engines and there are real steam engines, this falls into the category of the biggest and best steam engines.

There are some quite nice properties around here.

This one's empty, probably for sale.

Very Wisteria Lane

Oh! look, two blokes wearing the same hat.

It's a sign to indicate canoe portage. There's a lot of this goes on down the Nene.

TQ moored near Ashton Lock

As the Sun sinks slowly in the West...

Its been another steaming (literally) hot day today, and it looks like tomorrow is going to be much the same. Red sky at night - shepherds delight, red sky in the morning - shepherds house is on fire!

There again and back again

2011-09-28T20:26:00.002+01:00

'Twas a foggy morning this morning, though it soon cleared and we've had wall to wall sunshine all day, and its been very warm. This is the first time we've had decent weather since we've had TQ, it makes a terrific difference.

Tonight is the first time we've seen TV as the aerial is broken so I've cobbled together an aerial from the base of the old one and a piece of welding rod I use for cleaning the gutter drain tubes under the deck board and weed hatch. It works perfectly.

The perfect bodge

The perfect result

Good news, the new Webasto is now in our possession and I'll fit it later in the week. More good news, the repair to the exhaust is still holding out. Even more good news, the bow thruster still works, though we only give it minimum use.

What have we done today? We've been back into Peterborough again and this time we went to Peterborough Boating Center to pick up the Webasto and fill up the diesel tank. Then we filled up the water tank on the Embankment. Then Lin went shopping in Asda again, more on that later. We ended up back at Alwalton Lock in exactly the same place (within a few millimetres) of where we were this morning. It's a lovely spot, only marred by the noise of the A1 trunk road, though we've experienced worse.
Now, shopping at Asda. We had steak tonight, finest rib eye, with onions. Unfortunately, Asda didn't have any disposable barbecues ("the season's over, you know") so Lin had to cook it in the grill. It was delicious, cooked right through and tender on the inside, with caramelised juices on the outside, all washed down with a glass of Abbot.

More tomorrow.

More trouble - minor this time.

2011-09-27T18:38:00.002+01:00

We're not too keen on The Embankment, only really due to the Fairground, which isn't there all year round. The shining sun made things a bit better but it wasn't long before a mist rolled in and most of the morning was shrouded in cloud. We slipped our moorings and made our way to the sanitary station for water and a pump out. And the PUMPOUT IS FREE, YES FREE! The pump on button has to be pressed on the wall of the toilet block to get it to work, and it switches off automatically when done. When we left our moorings we did a 180 to get to the sanitary station, another 180 to ensure the port side of TQ is on the Embankment, and another 180 when we left to head out of Peterborough. The river is plenty wide enough here and its possible to turn in one, so its all very easy. To Asda then, to do a bit of shopping, (gotta be dun), and onward to Orton Lock, stopping at Alwarton Lock for tonight in the backwater beside the lock - ideal.

By lunchtime the sun came out and it turned quite hot this afternoon, there's a light breeze to slightly chill the suns heat - a bit of relief, really.

I decided to get down and dirty and investigate why the bowthruster has failed. So first things first, read the book, and I learned a lot from that. So off with the lid to see what's inside. Oh! dear, how sad, never mind.
There's 30mm depth of water in the bottom. That can't be doing it much good.

The bow thruster motor.

There's a cavity with the thrust tube and mounting for the mechanism which is bolted to the mounting. Various wires lying loose round and about, so I unplugged the control supply and the contacts inside are covered in verdigris. Not good for conducting electricity, a squirt of WD40 should help here. Next the fuse (checked - OK), cleaned contacts and replaced.

Too much verdigris here

Then check the brushes, Aha! here's the problem, the wire bonded into the carbon brush has burnt through very close to the brush. So how am I going to get around this I ask myself. Then I had a light bulb moment. Place the remaining wire under the retaining leaf spring where it touches the carbon brush. The spring will clamp the wire to the brush and make electrical contact. Right lets test it - on with the control panel, press starboard - YES! Port - YES! bodge accomplished. Hopefully it will do 'till we get back to Calcutt. Note to self (and anyone else who would like to know), Brushes as fitted:- 4 x Vetus part # BP1133. Note this brush appears to be for a 24v system, identified by it having one wire as in the photo:-

Also the brush holder appears to have melted slightly.
(This is one of the remaining good brushes)

Now I've a feeling the wrong brushes have been fitted, as it says in the manual all 12v systems have twin flyleads fitted to the brushes. This stands to reason as 12v systems draw twice as many amps as a 24v system, and therefore requires more wire to carry the load. The correct brushes should be Vetus part # 1134, with twin flyleads. Am I right or am I wrong?

I've placed the cover back on and noted one of the bolts has a stripped thread. Lets hope it all holds out.

We're here at Alwalton Lock

Back to Peterborough tomorrow to collect a parcel.

Its a lovely evening, me and my beer are going to watch the sun go down - cheers!

We're in Peterborough with time to kill.

2011-09-26T20:21:00.001+01:00

We left Wansford this morning in bright hazy sunshine and slowly meandered our way to the first of three locks, Water Newton Lock. This is a very pretty place and the waterside church even has its own boathouse.

Just imagine the Bride arriving by steam launch

Gate open ready to go in.

Going up srteam you needn't open the paddles.

Water Newton Mill

Next is Alwalton Lock. This is quite pleasant here too and there are moorings in the bywater right next to the lock.

The final lock today is Orton Lock. Here the first signs of the city are evident. there is a golf course on one side and Peterborough Yacht Club moor on the South Bank. There's a lot of boats here, all tied up and no one about. The Nene Valley Railway terminates here aswell. Onward and still quite rural, there's no sign of Peterboroughs river heritage until we get to the railway bridges.

Spectacular cast iron railway bridge over the Nene

We moored on The Embankment next to a Fun Fair (not good) and in the afternoon there was some very loud thump thump ~~music~~ noise, so we picked up our mooring ropes and moved up through the High Road Bridge. There's a few more narrowboats here but the mooring rings are widely spaced and its a job to find a place suitable. I've had to join ropes together in order to make them long enough to reach.

A parcel has been posted to arrive at Peterborough Boating Centre on Wednesday, so we'll have to hang around 'till then to collect it. It's a new Webasto heater.

We've not had any TV since we've been on board (the aerial has gone open circuit) and I thought I'd try out our new satellite system. I think, no I'm sure I found the dot in the sky, but the receiver says no. I'm going to need to work on the configuration.

More tomorrow.

So much happened today...

2011-09-25T20:21:00.000+01:00

What a day its been, we left our moorings at Fotheringhay at around 09:40hrs and chugged down stream without much in the way of plans.

Fotheringhay Church

First we spotted some red kites. How do I know? They've got white patches under their wings and black wing tips. Also there's that distinctive vee tail. Impossible to take a photo, though. Whilst staring into the sky, we spotted some parachutists further in the distance. The aircraft doing the dropping was flat out all day making sortie after sortie with more parachutists.

It was very windy again today, you can tell by the way the trees are bending.
Paul McCartney sang "The willow turns its back on inclement weather"

At Yarwell Lock we moored up on the landings there and a fellow from the boat already in the lock said that the mechanism had broken and the guillotine gate had stuck half way down. He couldn't get his boat out of the lock because the gate was down too far, and he couldn't fill it because the gate wasn't down far enough. He'd phoned the Environment Agency and they were sending someone to fix it. After the risk assessment and the method statement had been written a work permit was applied for. Then a job sheet had to be issued and overtime at 2x rate (Sunday) had to be authorised...No, I'm kidding, they got on with it straight away and it wasn't long before we able to go through. Apparently a shear pin dropped out, its a mechanical fuse.

EA engineers at work. Well done fellas and thank you.

Our mooring for the night (48 hour)

A bit of additional information for you.

View over the railway bridge

Wansford Signal Box

Shortly after we arrived...good job I had the camers ready.

The driver is waving at Lin on TQ - He's pulled!

An aerobatic display

And to cap it all off, we had our own private aerobatic display by this pilot in the bi-plane - The perfect end to the day.

Day Seven...

2011-09-24T20:09:00.001+01:00

Another smashing day today, it started off misty with clear skies and then clouded over for much of it until around 3pm when the sun broke through again, and it was warm.

The view from TQ at 07:00hrs today.

The very pretty Lilford Lock

The Church at Cotterstock

They like their churches around here, they're all large and well looked after, and so many of them. I'll blog a photo of Fotheringhay Church tomorrow.

Our current location

Its lovely here, you could hear a pin drop.

I didn't realise how long the River Nene is. CanalplanAC reckons we could go as far as Ely on the River Great Ouse, but we have to turn back on Wednesday as that is our halfway point time wise. In addition we have to pick up a parcel from a boatyard in Peterborough on Tuesday/Wednesday, and then I have to fit the new Webasto heater. All this is going to take time, so we're going to call it quits and fore go the Middle Level and the Great Ouse this time.

One thing I've noticed today, there are more moorings along this stretch of river than further South-West, some even have facilities.

By the way, the exhaust is still holding its own.

Don't miss another exciting episode tomorrow. (Hopefully).

The best day so far.

2011-09-23T21:22:00.001+01:00

The exhaust is holding up nicely and the sun shone for most of the day - and it was warm with a lot less wind. First things first and Lin did some shopping in Wellingborough and posted a parcel while I washed up the breakfast dishes. When she came back we left our mooring and made our way to the first lock of the day, Wellingborough Lower Lock. This is unusual in that there are two ground paddles on one side and none on the other.

This viaduct is known as High Rail Bridge

There's some spectacular scenery on the Nene and some secluded places too.

Big sky country

Seen at Rushden and Diamonds Football Club

Take no notice what any of the books tell you, there is nothing here for the boater. In fact we're lucky to have moorings, and this goes for most places along the Nene. The books say there are moorings with services in many places, but in reality very little of it exists.

Irthlingborough Lock - Deepest on the Nene

Winding me wheel

It has to be said the weather has really made today, this doesn't happen to us - ever, so lets hope tomorrow is similar. I've just checked the forecast and it bodes well, although windy at times, and Wednesday is going to be sunny, 26C and 14mph winds from the South. No, that can't be right.

Tonight we're moored on the first public moorings we've seen with water available. It's at Islip on a little backwater very close to the main road bridge and only big enough for two narrow boats. Also, across the road is The Woolpack, (nothing to do with Emmerdale), where we had excellent fish and chips, two for less than £10.00. Might call in on the way back.

Weed, weed and more weed.

2011-09-22T21:34:00.000+01:00

We'ed (accidental pun) been making good progress and enjoying the scenery when we came upon this:-

A bit of a problem

Unable to fully open the gates here!

OK here's the plan. We fill the lock, and open both gates to get in as it's impossible to get one gate fully open. Reverse TQ off the lock mooring and go back far enough to line up with the entrance. Give the engine a bit of gun and develop some speed (not too much, you need to stop the other side of the weed), power over/through the weed and place the engine in neutral and coast through the rest of the way to prevent the prop becoming entangled. Once stopped in the lock, tie up well to the bollards and engage forward motion and carefully increase engine speed to "blow" the weed back out and clear of the gate entrance. Now we can close the gates and operate the lock normally. However, we had to do this after:-

Down the hatch!

There wasn't much, but it was enough to make steering difficult.

Our mooring for the night is in Wellingborough on The Embankment. It's OK but the flourmill is a bit noisy.

Tonights mooring

Testing day and EA license

2011-09-21T21:38:00.000+01:00

Today we tested the repair to the exhaust which Kevin expertly bodged for us. More of that later but first I have to purchase a temporary license, a special windlass for one lock and a key for most other locks, from the shop at Gayton Marina. I also purchased a guide for the Fens. Over £180 ouch, we won't be doing that again. So much for the 50% out of season discount. I think I may have been over charged and I'm going to query it with the Environment Agency. I needed to top up the water tank and we helped ourselves to the supply at the quay side. I found our new flat cassette hose ideal for the purpose as it rolls back into the cassette so easily and stows away as a flat pack.

Onward, and we made our way down the thirteen Rothersthorpe Flight Locks after the which the canal becomes very narrow and reedy. The water is crystal clear and you can see the bottom of the canal, and its quite shallow but we didn't get stuck. through the remaining locks and we join the River Nene into Northampton. We moored just after the pedestrian bridge to do some shopping in Morrisons and then onward into Town Lock. This is the first of many on the Nene and a key is required for this one. One thing that is a bit strange to us is that you can leave the gate open at either end when you leave the lock. The first three Locks have the more familiar gates and it's not until you get to Weston Favell Lock that you find the guillotine type at the lower end. EA insist you leave this open irrespective of the direction you're travelling.

We struggled to find a mooring for the night and the first place was in Northampton and we didn't fancy that, so we pushed on to Weston Favell where there were decent moorings but they were full, so we had to go on further to Billing where there is plenty of room in the secure Aquadrome. (£6.50/night).

Nice Marina

Open surroundings

Its been very windy especially on the more open stretches and after preparing/positioning for moorings at Weston Favell and finding I couldn't get in there, I had to back out and because of the wind, do a 360 to align TQ up for the lock.

Oh! yes, and I have to mention, Kevins superbodge has worked a treat. With a clean air filter and no more smutty exhaust gas, TQ is performing well again. I just hope another hole doesn't appear until the unit can be replaced.

Schmokin'

2011-09-20T19:25:00.001+01:00

Well it all happened at once. The Webasto water heater failed, so no hot water in the mornings and no central heating at night, not that we need it, its been reasonably warm. Actually its been failed for some time The engine failed, or to be more precise the silencer failed and has been for some time it seems. There was a big hole in it and Kevin from PBS Pittams Boat Services came to repair it for us. And what a stirling job he did too, with fast and friendly service. Of course a new silencer needs to be fitted, in fact its just as well to replace the whole exhaust system, and that will be done at some point. What happened was...as I've said the silencer was holed and diesel fumes and smut filled the engine 'ole. This means the engine is drawing in its own (nasty) smell and reprocessing it, making the smell even nastier. As it draws air in the air filter captures all the smut which builds up and eventually blocks the filter. Now the engine can't breathe, but the same amount of fuel is metered into the cylinders with a reduced quantity of air hence the lack of power and the thick black smoke.

Air filter totally choked with soot

Kevin hard at work mixing the paste

That piece of tin next to the paste pot was formerly a beer can. Recycling at its finest.

Trouble with TQ and an emergency!

2011-09-19T21:54:00.000+01:00

It's Monday morning and it's cold. Guess what - Webasto central heating doesn't work, so no hot water until the engine has been running. That's something else I have to look at. The other thing is the engine exhaust. It's leakng - badly. This means the engine is breathing in its own fumes. This is not good, your car would not pass the MoT and your aircraft would be grounded. But for our boat it's OK - NOT!

We left Braunston after taking a look around Midland Chandlers, (I bought an exhaust bandage to fix the leak), and made our way down to Braunston Locks, through Braunston Tunnel, straight on past Norton Junction to the Buckby Locks. As we approached the locks at Braunston there was a helicopter circling above and eventually it landed in an adjacent field. Turns out there was a bit of an incident going on at the canal side ahead. Apparently a woman had stepped off a narrowboat, slipped and fell hitting her head on the concrete quay side. All was well in the end, she was up and walking after the paramedics had done their bit.

We met up with a smashing couple today, Raymond and Jane aboard N.B. Kathleen Margaret, we twinned up with them to go down the Braunston and Buckby Locks. There are currently notices on most of the locks requesting that you wait an hour if there is just one boat, for another to come along so you can share the locks and save water.

We went ahead of our new found friends and moored up at The Wharf in Bugbrooke where they passed us shortly after. Hopefully we'll meet again soon.

I had a look at fitting the bandage on the exhaust but unfortunately I couldn't find exactly where it was leaking so I had to abandon that idea. The problem is, there is black smoke filling the engine hole and blocking the engines air filter. This means the same quantity of fuel is getting into the engine but with a drastically reduced air content resulting in reduced power and thick black smoke. (Even more to block the air filter). We're heading out onto the River Nene tomorrow, but not until the engineer at Carefree has been consulted first.

Air Ambulance in a field near Braunston Top Lock

Pretty country property at Norton Junction

OK then its Plan 'C'

2011-09-18T21:24:00.000+01:00

Fenlands here we come. I've done some research and the necessary extra Environment Agency license is 50% off after September 1st - a bonus. (See this). According to CanalplanAC its 276 miles and 150 locks. All we have to do now is work out how long we'll be on EA waters and purchase the appropriate length license.

The journey to Calcutt was uneventful although our first real attempt at using our sat nav had a hiccup and I think that was our fault. Once sorted it was all fairly straight forward. This is our first visit to Calcutt and I'm very impressed with the service. One of the engineers even offered to lend us a special windlass needed at one particular lock, but unfortunately he couldn't find it. I've discovered there is a leak in the exhaust system, it's not noisy but fumes fill the engine room which can't really be good for the engine. Also there is soot everywhere and an unpleasant smell. I'll see if I can get some Gun Gum and a bandage to seal it up. Midland Chandlers are just around the corner, so I'll see what they've got. I also need some silicone sealant to stick the roof headlight back on and some 40mm plastic pipe fittings for my pump out waste hose.

This afternoon there was a tremendous amount of canal traffic, we had a hotel boat and butty leading us all the way into Braunston. There was quite a queue trailing, and we managed to get a space outside The Boathouse. Of course we had to go in and we had a very pleasant meal, two for one.

This mornings packing session

The old Pump House at Braunston

TQ moored at The Boathouse

Sunset at Braunston

We took a stroll down to the lock to see if BW had locked them to save water but they are all open, which means an early start for us tomorrow.

According to the BBC...

2011-09-13T05:58:00.001+01:00

...It looks like Plan B will be in operation if their long range weather forecast is anything to go by. That coupled with the water shortage restrictions oop Naaf indicates a better trip dan Saaf. This is what they say at the BBC:-

Monday 19 September 2011 to Sunday 25 September 2011

A weather split

During this week we will start to see a bit of a split developing in the weather. Low pressure will dominate across the northwest of the UK, whereas more settled weather will take hold of the southeast. This means the northwest will feel very autumnal and can expect to see wet and windy weather but the southeast should see some drier and brighter spells.
The only spanner in the works could be the remains of further ex-tropical weather systems getting caught up at our latitudes, which, as we're seeing this week, can be a feature of the weather at this time of year.

Monday 26 September 2011 to Sunday 9 October 2011

The first frost?

As we head into October and our nights have become longer than our days, we will probably start seeing our first frosts in some sheltlered, inland spots.
Whilst rainfall and sunshine amounts are likely to be about normal for this time of year for most places, it does look as though western Scotland will see more rainfall than usual with eastern Scotland likely to see a little more sunshine. The southwest of England on the other hand may be in for a rather cloudy couple of weeks.

The decision has yet to be made.

Preparing for the start

2011-09-11T05:30:00.000+01:00

Lots to think about this week, cat, vet, cattery, food, clothes, equipment etc. Roll on Thursday at 16:00hrs, "Yabadabadoo" as Fred Flintstone would say, Then its twenty five consecutive days holiday, twenty one of which will be chugging around the Leicester Ring, The Ashby Canal and the Market Harborough Arm. At least thats plan A. Plan B is to head on down to Limehouse Basin in London and back. Hopefully there'll be loads of rain this week to fill the reservoirs and canals and hopefully all of it will be at night so that it doesn't spoil the current users holiday.

Food grade flat hose cassette

We're going to try one of these, I'm fed up with wrestling that length of spaghetti from the front locker every time we fill with water. Yes, I know you have to unroll it all, but you have to do that with the spaghetti. We'll let you know how we get on.

Another thing I've invested in is a manual pump for the black tank. (Why do they call it black when its brown?) I refuse to pay £24.00 for a pump out when I can do it for free. Six pump outs and it will have paid for itself.

Self pump out kit

A new boat on the B & T

2011-07-16T17:01:00.001+01:00

If you were wondering, the B & T is the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. Spotted today was Future Perfect launched on the 30th April 2010.

Future Perfect on the B & T

I just stepped out of our works canteen at break time today to take this photo.

2011-07-11T10:20:00.003+01:00

NB Submarine?

Catch-up time again.

On Friday we stayed at the Braunston mooring. In the morning we did some cleaning inside and out, in between showers- that is, of the heavy rainfall variety- and managed to finish off polishing the outside of TQ.

After lunch we took a walk into the village. Went into two chandlers but unfortunately neither had the appropriate bulb to fit over the bathroom mirror. Got a newspaper, but missed the coffee shop/Poppy's Tea Rooms by two minutes, drinks and food not served after 4:30pm. We were lucky to be able to see the interior of the church even 'though it was then about 4:45 as the secretary had just gone in to do some photocopying! Enclosed a photo of the church inside, Also of one of the very pretty cottages and the old timbers exposed on the end of another. Had a meal at the 'Boathouse' on the canalside, which was good.

Saturday was our last day on the boat and it was a lovely day, nice and warm with no showers. We cruised along the Oxford and stopped in a quiet place, (plenty of good mooring available on a long stretch), for lunch and to start getting packed up etc. Passed this sunken boat- and another half-sunk on the other side of the canal. Back to Calcutt, filled up with water just before the Top Lock, helped with the locking for Dragonfly (CC) and another boat before going through ourselves and tying up in one of the only two spaces available at that time. After a chat with Dragonfly's owners we got to work finishing packing as much as we could and transferring it to the carin preparation for Sunday morning. Had a meal on board and reminisced about our lovely two weeks! Our next trip on TQ is supposed to be in December.....

2011-07-08T22:45:00.003+01:00

Watford Top Lock

Crick Tunnel Exit

On Thursday we left Crick at 0810, heading for the tunnel. At the top of Watford Locks- (the photo doesn't do it justice; the grounds are beautifully kept and very colourful with all the flowers)- we checked in with the lockkeeper at 0905. Another chatty lockkeeper and we got through the seven locks in only an hour today. The staircase lock operation is different from other ones we've been to and works very well as long as everyone does the right thing!

The second photo was taken when we were emerging from Crick Tunnel, after the twenty minute trip in the dark. Decided to have lunch before the big locks at Braunston, then waited to see if another boat would come to share the locks with us. After five minutes a boat appeared- and it was one of ours! Jenny Wren, with Edward & Elizabeth Hughes on board. There were a few showers that afternoon, but though some were heavy, they were short-lived. It was a yo-yo game with putting jackets on/off in the heat as we worked the locks together. We parted at the Bottom Lock and soon after, we moored TQ opposite the Boathouse restaurant. Went for a walk to the village later, where we sheltered a resident under our big Windbrella for five minutes and learned a little about the village life.

2011-07-08T13:58:00.003+01:00

Continuing problems with the laptop and dongle mean either new laptop or new dongle! (Or sometimes, a mooring place nearer a mobile phone mast.)

On Wednesday, we set off in bright sunshine. Shortly afterwards we went through Crick tunnel, up past the marina, then turned to find a mooring place near Bridge 14. We tied up there at 1045 and did some jobs before having lunch. Afterwards we walked into the village and came upon a Post Office quite soon- great. Except it was Wednesday afternoon, so the post office section of the shop was closed! However, stamps could be purchased in the shop, which was well stocked. We went to see the very old church, St Margaret's, which was undergoing a lot of restoration work. Have enclosed a photo- unfortunately the scaffolding and plastic rather spoiled the outside of it. We passed the three pubs and some very pretty cottages. On the way back to the boat, we went to look at 'The Moorings', a restaurant at the canalside near the bridge. It -and the menu- looked good so we booked a table for later. On the way back to the boat we met a couple with two miniature ponies walking on the towpath- as seen on photograph. Cute.
The restaurant used to be called 'Edward's' - as stated in Pearson's, but I believe it isn't so long since the 'new' owners changed the name, although they have been there for six years. The meal we enjoyed there was first class!

2011-07-05T20:26:00.005+01:00

The Watford Staircase.

Beginning of the Leicester Section at Norton Junction.

Again a bit late, as the signal was very poor yesterday evening. We set off at 0815 and arrived at Br.58 just before 11 o'clock. We moored there as we needed to stock up on a few items, after our trip up the lovely, quiet Ashby canal with its dearth of shops! It was sweltering again as we made our way to Tesco- and also when we were going through the Hillmorton Locks later. We moored for the night near Br.87, (the idyllic spot again), and sat out for an hour enjoying the beautiful evening.

Today we left the mooring at 0810. Took a photo of the beautiful spot but it doesn't do it justice because the bright sun threw shadows over the canal. Filled up water at Braunston, then went into the Marina to do a Pump Out. Shortly afterwards we arrived at the locks and were delayed quite a while because there were a few boats waiting. Also, as TQ and Downeaster were preparing to go to the first lock, we discovered that the boat in the lock was not moving- the lady from the boat having decided to visit the canal shop and hold up proceedings. When she eventually returned, her husband finished his coffee before the lock procedure was continued.
Downeaster and TQ went through the six locks together, which made it easier- and we had a good chat along the way of course!
Tied up after the sixth lock, to have lunch, then made our trip through the long Braunston Tunnel. We reached Norton Junction about 2pm and into the Leicester Section of the Grand Union. Stopped after Bridge 6 and made a quick visit to Watford Gap Services, having read about this possibility in 'Pearson's. Managed to get a newspaper at the garage shop!
Arrived at Watford Locks about four o'clock, in a little rain. A few boats waiting at each side, so it took a while before we got in the first lock. I had received a message from the lockkeeper to say we could go through the first two locks but then had to wait to do the staircase locks. The lockkeeper there organises all the movements of the boats to make sure everything is done correctly! (A good idea!) It was six o'clock when we left the last lock, after a long wait in the second pound.
About twenty minutes later we decided to call it a day and tied up along the towpath. Good decision as it rained more heavily after that. The sheep in the field opposite all suddenly went running- literally- for cover under the trees.

Idyllic Spot

Newbold Tunnel againj!

2011-07-04T13:46:00.001+01:00

Canalside Artwork!

More Artwork!

Battle of Bosworth Monument

Battlefield Line Steam Engine on the move

Griddle Carriage, next to the bar!

TQ at Ashby Canal Terminus

Stoke Golding

Continuing problems with the computer, I’m afraid, so have to catch up when it’s possible.
On Friday 1st July we set off at half past nine in sunshine. Just after Bridge 27 we tied up at a BW mooring place, which is actually on the opposite side from the towpath. We walked along the road into Stoke Golding- only a quarter of a mile. It is a lovely village with an old church which we would have liked to look at- but unfortunately a funeral was taking place at the time so we could only see the outside of it. There was a general store and also a Post Office and two pubs!
Saw so many fluffy moorhens and tiny ducklings today, as we have done for the whole trip, but every brood is a pleasure to see.
Continued on to Shackerstone, a small village (without a shop- but with a Victorian Railway Station and line) and moored near Br. 52 at 5pm. Just a short walk from the mooring to The Rising Sun for an excellent meal.
No problems at the mooring overnight and at 0815 we set off to complete the Ashby Canal. A very tranquil cruise to the terminus, in lovely weather again, and we arrived there at 0945. The Ashby Canal Association members are rightly proud of the restoration work of a further section of the canal which was completed last year and are hoping that the whole of the original canal will be restored eventually. There is a small cabin/shop at the terminus, as well as a bric and brac section nearby.
We left there soon after 10 and were back at Shackerstone by 11:20. We then went to the Railway station, which has a café and a museum, and enjoyed bacon baps before crossing the line for the 12:30 to Shenton. A mixture of different coaches on the steam train, some dating back to the Fifties. (Hopefully the photos will appear on the blog!) Only 20 mins to Shenton, but a good ride. There is a walk from there uphill, but not a long way, to the area where the Battle of Bosworth was fought- and where Richard the Third was killed. Back down to Shackerstone on the Battlefield Line and back to TQ. Set off at quarter past three and arrived at Stoke Golding at 1845. Moorings were full at Br. 27 so we moored near Br. 26. A bit of a walk along the towpath to the bridge, then followed the main road up to the pubs. The Indian restaurant attached to The Three Horseshoes served excellent food.
Today, (Sunday), we set off at 0920 and an hour later came across an old boat straddled right across the canal. It was empty and we presumed that someone had untied the mooring ropes during the night. After that, the canal continued in its peaceful, very rural surroundings. We moored at lunchtime on the towpath near Br. 2. No other boats around and nothing in sight but water, trees and fields- gorgeous.
Unfortunately, later on, as we approached Marston Junction, a lot of reeds/grasses got caught up in the propeller. Fortunately we stopped in the very narrow section just before the bridge, so I was able to hold TQ while the captain had the difficult job of removing the offending material. Twenty five minutes later we were off again and eventually moored a little before Br.26, only four boats here, and we had a barbecue!

2011-06-30T22:52:00.005+01:00

Managed to get some joy from the Dongle tonight! Took ages though. The Smallest Bridge?

Coventry Canal Artwork

The Greyhound at Hawkesbury Junction

Ah! Note the Mountain Goat!

Light Show in Newbold Tunnel

Off to the Ashby Canal

2011-06-30T18:45:00.004+01:00

Unfortunately we're still having trouble with the dongle so unable to upload the promised photos yesterday- and we are still in the same boat today.... in more ways than one.
However, we are on a different canal, having left Coventry Canal Basin at 0755 in lovely sunshine. Weather ok; stopped at Bridge 10 to go to the nearby PO/General Store.We entered in to the Ashby Canal about 11 o'clock. It is a lovely quiet canal- great! Moored near Bridge 15 and after lunch we walked all the way into Hinckley, had a coffee and then got a taxi back! Tonight we are going to sample the delights of the Lime Kiln pub.

Catch up time!

2011-06-29T20:18:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately, we have been having Dongle trouble recently but it seems to be ok at the moment so here goes.....
Back to Monday, when we set off from our idyllic spot at 8am, with the temperature rising fast. Suitable weather for a strappy top even at that time in the morning. What a change! The canal passes through a very peaceful, rural area for quite some time. The Hillmorton locks are duplicated, so we went through quickly and then continued on to Bridge 58, where we tied up and walked the short distance to Tesco's for a couple of items. As it was lunchtime and there was a cafe, we decided to have a panini, which was very tasty and also reasonable. Although it was extremely hot and humid, and looking as if it were going to rain any second, we were very lucky and missed the terrible weather which many places endured that afternoon.
The Newbold tunnel- only 250yards - gave us a surprise with its unusual coloured lights display, some of which can be seen in the photograph. We moored at 5pm near Bridge 14 at Ansty, where we later went over the bridge to the Rose & Castle and enjoyed excellent meals! Two different sea bass main courses -and both superb!

Yesterday we set off at 9am for the Coventry Canal. Soon afterwards, we saw some animals at, and on, a haystack in a field. There were lovely, kid goats and some donkeys and they made a very pretty picture. As I was watching, one kid jumped on the back of a donkey and walked along it!
We continued along to the stop lock to the Coventry Canal, where we had quite a delay as a crane had been transferring a wooden bench from one side of the canal to the other. Eventually there were four boats waiting at each side to use the lock when the operation was finished. (We were the third on our side). The Hawkesbury Junction was very pretty with its two iron bridges and the renowned Greyhound pub. Haven't tried it yet...
As we cruised down the Coventry canal we noticed a lot of artwork, including metalwork on bridges, sculptures along the canal side and decorative fencing. Photos enclosed.
We passed through the urban area before squeezing under Bridge No. 1 and into the Coventry Canal Basin. This bridge is the smallest one in the canal system- and we had to bend down to almost the same height as the boat in order to avoid serious damage to our heads. Even holding the camera up to take the photograph was a bit of a risk!
We tied up there at 1pm; there are about eight or nine available moorings in the Basin but there were only four boats here when we arrived.
Later on we went into the town, only a few minutes' walk away, and had a look round the old cathedral ruins. We were impressed with the way in which the craftsmen, artists, parishioners etc. had worked together to make the theme of reconciliation and forgiveness so visible to visitors. It was rather too late to visit the 'new cathedral' by that time, so we managed to find one of the two Pizza Expresses and enjoyed a good meal, before returning to the boat and sitting out in the lovely evening sun. We met the owners of the boat moored next to us- Herbie- who also write a boating blog.

Today, Wednesday, we went into town again and visited the modern cathedral. I had heard about this very new cathedral all those years ago, from a College Lecturer who was fascinated with it. The students were shown many colour slides and we were told so much detail about it that I felt I knew it. All those years ago and today was the first time I'd seen it. We loved all the old buildings here too and were glad we decided to make this a part of our trip.

2011-06-28T22:58:00.001+01:00

Braunston Junction

Sunday 26th June
Half packed the car on Saturday evening, in preparation for our forthcoming trip on Tranquility. Completed the job on Sunday morning and we left home at 10a.m. for our second trip down to Calcutt. Had only travelled for twenty minutes down the motorway when the car ‘informed’ us that something was wrong and that we should ‘go to the workshop’. So, we went back home and transferred all our gear into our other car and by the time we left, for the second time, it was 11a.m. Not the best start for our two-week holiday but the journey to the boatyard passed without further incident, fortunately.
It was extremely hot when we arrived at Calcutt and inside the boat it was sweltering. Not easy getting everything unpacked again and put away in the right places!
We set off into the lock at 4:15p.m. in the direction of Braunston Junction. We were told that it was still very busy there; a boat rally had been held there this weekend and 120 boats had taken part in a parade. Most boats were of the old cargo carrying type- very interesting, with Fellows, Morton & Clayton boats, GUCC etc. The canals were indeed very busy all around that area.
We continued on down the Oxford canal and moored in a very quiet, peaceful area about 7p.m. Only the cows with their little calves, sheep, coots, flying geese and other birds with their songs kept us company- it was beautiful. We had a meal outside on the boat and we sat there in the wonderful tranquillity until after 10pm. Super!!

...And home again. (KLT)

2011-04-09T20:42:00.050+01:00

A very pleasant journey from Middlewich to Elton Moss in brilliant sunshine, in fact the best day weather wise for our entire holiday. Arrived at E.M. around 11:30 and unloaded TQ while the quayside crew did their service schedule. By the way, a pump out here is £20.00 + VAT @ 20%. That must be the most expensive anywhere on the cut, it's certainly the most we've ever paid. Especially when you consider Sherborne Wharf in Birmingham charge only £9.00 inc. VAT...
Then its the quick sprint down the M6 and M5 to Somerset, for about three hours.
Well, that's it for this holiday, thanks for reading my drivel, so until the next time...

And so to Middlewich. (KLT)

2011-04-08T21:39:00.001+01:00

Today we came down through Malkins Bank, Wheelock, Etilly Heath, Elton Moss and ended up in Middlewich. Moored up on the PVM along side the main road :( and cleaned and polished TQ to within an inch of her paintwork, from roof to just below the waterline. Once we'd done the port side I winded TQ in the wide bit and moored up in the same spot facing the other way. We then cleaned and polished the starboard side, and now TQ shines like a star.
Couldn't resist a visit to Kings Lock Chandlers while we were here, and only went in to have a look, and came out with a self pump out kit to save on the extortionate cost of a boatyard doing it for you. Will put it to the test when we are on board next.
So the point in coming to Middlewich was not only to polish TQ and visit Kings Lock Chandlers, but to again sample the wonderful fish and chips from across the road. And again they didn't disappoint.
Tonight is our last night aboard, we have to cut our holiday short by one day as TQ is needed back at Elton Moss to have a new gas regulator fitted and also there is going to be a viewing for some potential customers of Carefree Cruising.
Pix of today:-

What a poser! Lin lock wheeling in Wheelock

Cob seeing us off.

The pen was on her nest at the end of a garden in Wheelock and the cob was hovering nearby. He was quite angry when we passed and he followed us for some considerable distance. I splashed him by opening the throttle but he was not perturbed by this and kept on at us. Lin distracted him with some bread and we managed to disappear around the corner. For him it was mission accomplished and a meal to boot.

Our base at Elton Moss.

Shiny TQ in Middlewich.

Today...

...and from earlier times.

More tomorrow...

An early start and an early finish! (KLT)

2011-04-07T21:08:00.002+01:00

The alarm went off at 05:30hrs this morning, but I was awake well before then. By 07:05hrs we were on our way out of Stoke and heading for the Harecastle Tunnel. We filled the water tank while we waited, about forty minutes and then we were allowed in for the thirty-five minute journey through to the other end. It started to drizzle while we were waiting for the tunnel, and by the time we got out it was drizzling quite heavily, so we made our way to the moorings near the BW depot at Red Bull, and moored up to wait for it to stop which it did very soon. Tonight we're moored between Hassall Green and Malkins Bank, the wind is from the North-ish and we thought to be North of the M6 is a good idea as the wind direction will reduce the noise overnight.
Were going to Middlewich tomorrow to clean TQ inside and out, and have fish and chips for tea and then on Saturday we'll wend our way back to Elton Moss for the turnaround checks and to have a new propane gas regulator fitted as the one we have at the moment has developed a leak.
As for the early finish bit, we planned to go home on Sunday, but we'll probably finish up on Saturday instead as the turnaround can't be done on Sunday.
More tomorrow, in the mean time some pix:-

Taking on water while waiting for the tunnel.

The old original tunnel entrance.

A second tunnel was built because the amount of traffic caused considerable delays. The two tunnels ran together for some years until the original one collapsed by which time trade had dropped off and reinstatement of the old one was unviable.

Lin locking in the drizzle.

Plenty of water in the Trent and Mersey.

Locks 49, duplicated along this stretch.

Sunset from our mooring.

Fred Dibnahs double decade at Etruria

2011-04-06T22:09:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely time last night in the China Garden with Steve and Sheilagh from NB Harlequin and some friends of theirs joined us and we all had a meal together. Great carvery, Lin and I had the roast beef, it was delicious and very tender.
This morning Steve and Sheilagh left us to head back to Chester and we went to the out of town shopping centre behind the China Garden. Its quite large with many sheds containing Toys 'R' Us, Muck Donalds, Mothercare, PC World et al. We popped into Halfords to see if we could get some spare belts for TQs engine, but even though I had the part numbers they were unable to help. Then we went into B&Q to get a cassette hose, and they too didn't have what I was looking for either. So it was back to the China Garden for lunch and then we walked down to Etruria to visit the Industrial Museum. It's only £3 to get in and its well worth a visit. It shows the process how bone china used to be made and there's some machinery which is working and in steam once a month.

Yep! It just so happens dear old Fred was here twenty years ago today.

We've moved out of the marina today and moored just North of the China Garden. Brass polished this afternoon and the engine 'ole gutter cleaned of debris to stop it flooding into the bilge when it rains.

A busy day with just one lock (KLT)

2011-04-05T20:48:00.000+01:00

First thing was to fill up with diesel and have a pump-out as we're going to Stoke on Trent to the China Garden for an evening meal. So through Hall Green Lock, all twelve inches in depth, over Red Bull and Poole Aqueducts, at Hardings Wood Junction turn right and head for the Harecastle Tunnel. We had to wait three quarters of an hour for a boat to come through, and then it was our turn. Once through the Tunnel (35 mins.) we headed on down through Longport, Middleport, and then to Festival Park where there were loads of moorings all taken up so we asked if we could stay the night in the marina. No problem, they said and at £6 a night for 58ft, a bargain. I bet a Premier Inn would be a bit more expensive.

Some pix from today:-

Harlequin is last out.

Steve aboard NB Harlequin

More pix from today:-

Lots to do and an early start (KLT)

2011-04-04T22:23:00.000+01:00

Well, early for us, so we took on water at the top of Bosley Locks and then made the descent through the locks, all of which were in our favour. Had a stop in Congleton for some shopping (Morrisons is about 15 minutes walk), and then back to TQ for lunch. The rain wasn't as bad as forecast but its been quite cold and breezy, and by the time we moored up the rain had stopped. I took advantage of the weather window and polished the brass, and then I found some matt black paint and touched up some of the scrapes along the gunwale. I just need to do the port side, and it'll be a job well done.

Railway viaduct from the canal aqueduct/embankment in Congleton

Our mooring for the night

Taken from Bridge 81

More tomorrow when we'll be going through the Harecastle Tunnel.

Back to Bosley in appalling weather (KLT)

2011-04-03T22:06:00.001+01:00

It had been raining just before we set out this morning, and when the sun shone it was really quite warm. It wasn't to last and the storm clouds gathered and it turned cold and then it began to rain. And the heavens opened, heavy rain, 'kin' hail, and thunder and lightning. Lin went inside the cabin and left me to it, and with just an umbrella as a meagre defence against this, I had to find a bridge 'ole to shelter under. Once the rain had slowed we took a chance and tried to make some progress, but it wasn't to last and another bridge 'ole needed to be sought. Anyhow, we arrived at the top of Bosley Locks, still raining, and moored up.

Shrouded in cloud.

This is the view from our front door this evening, at the top of Bosley Locks after the rain had stopped.

Back on the Macc. (KLT)

2011-04-02T21:16:00.001+01:00

Had a late-ish start today, and our first stop was to pick up water at the entrance to Bugsworth Basin, then its moor up at the junction with Whaley Bridge and visit Tesco for some groceries. It's very handy being right on the canal (not literally), if you can find a space to park yer barge. Two swing bridges and two lifting bridges later and we're back at Marple Junction, a turn left and we're on the Macc. Tonight we're moored South of Higher Poynton and North of Bridge 16.

TQ in the dark.

We've come to the conclusion we like the Peak Forest Canal, there's certainly some very nice scenery along here, with stunning views and some quaint little properties.

Still here. (KLT)

2011-04-01T16:47:00.000+01:00

Just a short one today, as we've had a lazy day. (Too much overindulgence last night).
Its been very windy and rainy here in the basin this morning, but as the day has gone on it has abated some. The sun even showed its face for a short while.

Sporting new livery.

More tomorrow when we go back to Marple and head South on the Macclesfield Canal.

Whaley Bridge and Bugsworth Basin - a fascinating place. (KLT)

2011-03-31T18:21:00.102+01:00

Moved up to Marple and filled with water at the Junction. This tap is really slow, I think they hope you'll get fed up with waiting and only part fill the tank.
At the Junction we turned right onto the Peak Forest Canal and headed for Whaley Bridge. BW have really got to get the mooring situation sorted out here, nearly all the mooring is for long term license holders only with room for two or three visitor moorings which have collapsed into the cut and can't be used, and there are no visitor moorings near Tesco. WHY?
So for us it was wind at the end and come straight out again. Over to Bugsworth Basin, then. Plenty of mooring here, pick your spot. This place is amazing, they were absolutely right to restore this area. It's all about lime shipment and limestone quarrying and kilns. I won't spoil it by saying any more, you'll need to discover it for yourself, and there's no substitute for actually being here. The only thing that knocks the edge off it a little is the close proximity of the main road.
The weather has been pretty windy today with a little rain, but it hasn't made things difficult manoeuvring TQ as most places seem to be sheltered. We're taking a beating in the Basin, though as the wind seems to come in gusts.
We patronised the Navigation Inn (as it would be rude not to) and we both had steak with all the trimings. It was all rather yummy.
Todays pix:-

Approaching Disley

Rail viaduct in the distance

Pretty cottages at Furness Vale

Whoops! I cut off its finger tip

In Bugsworth Basin

More tomorrow...

Not far today. (KLT)

2011-03-30T17:24:00.000+01:00

Bollington to Grimshaws Bridge No. 18. It's been a miserable day with regard to the weather, so we decided to walk into Bollington and do a bit of shopping. A newspaper, batteries for the camera, a loaf of bread and a whole roasted chicken. I don't know how Lin managed to carry it all back to TQ. Just as we got back it started to rain and it rained for most of the day. Then some water dripped onto the seat next to me. It came from the loudspeaker in the ceiling, so it seems we have a leak. We placed a basin there to catch it. Luckily it has stopped raining now and the sun has come out.

Our location taken from Bridge No.18

The Boat That Guy Built is on telly tonight - Don't miss it!

Bosley, Bollington and a breakdown! (KLT)

2011-03-29T23:02:00.004+01:00

Arrived in Bollington after the twelve Bosley Locks, and a very pleasant days cruising. The weather held good and at one point it was rather warm. We filled with water at the top of the locks and continued on our way through Macclesfield and on to Bollington. Nearly in Bollingtonand a change in engine sound was noted. A slight metallic rattle. Didn't sound serious enough to stop so we waited until we moored. On investigation I found the alternator securing bolts had dropped out into the engine bund and was on the verge of becoming detached fron the engine. I recovered the nuts and bolts and secured the alternator to the engine, adjusted the belt tension and tightened the retaining bolts. Tested - OK.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) the weather forecast looks dire so we might hole up for the day and explore the town. We may move on if the weather brightens up later.
Todays pix:-

Us in Bosley Locks

Alternator nut and bolt missing (centre of picture)

Nut and bolt found in the engine bund. (Which needs cleaning)

...And on to the Macc. (KLT)

2011-03-28T21:30:00.000+01:00

Woke up late this morning, I won't say what time, but understandable when you consider the long day we had yesterday. Opened the curtains and we were cloaked in a thick blanket of fog and I could barely see the other side of the canal. Later the sun burnt it off and it turned out to be a nice day.
We made our passage to Hardings Wood Junction and turned right heading off to Hall Green Lock where the Trent and Mersey Canal becomes the Macclesfield Canal.
It's been surprisingly busy today, with many boats heading South looking for an escape from the forecast weather, perhaps.

Pool Lock Aqueduct. That's where we'll be going. Under and over.

Hall Green Lock

A rich mans retreat, just outside Congleton

...And on the other side...

Tonights location

A milestone just in front of TQ tonight

More tomorrow.

An early start, and a new colour scheme. (KLT)

2011-03-27T21:31:00.000+01:00

The alarm bleeped its pesky racket at 04:30hrs this morning and bearing in mind the clocks jumped forward an hour overnight, we had packing to finish, although we did most of the packing yesterday. By six o'clock we were on our way to Sainsburys to fill up with petrol and I have never spent so much on one tank full at £78.00 and I'm told its the cheapest fuel for miles. Had a good journey up to Sandbach, no hold ups or road works, although we stopped in Michael Wood Services as the trip computer was telling us to check the oil level. I did check it and it showed nearly full but not low. I bought 4 litres of Castrol GTX which added £20.00 to the £675.00 service bill of last Tuesday, and poured in about a litre. That stopped it. Arrived safely at around 09:00hrs and proceded to load TQ. We were soon ready to go and headed South along the Trent and Mersey Canal, and twenty locks later we've stopped at Church Lawton just South of Church Locks on Public Visitor Moorings. Its very pleasant here and there's excellent TV and 3G reception. Here's some pix of the new livery:-

Todays location, Church Lawton

New livery

Moored just above Church Locks

Near Hassall Green

Oh! By the way, unlike our last trip, everything is in good order and working well.

More tomorrow.

Off again soon. (KLT)

2011-03-20T22:39:00.004Z

TQ has been repainted and with a change of colour too. We've decided on Brunswick Green as the main colour and Cream for the panel and roof. There'll be some photos soon as it's our turn on TQ near the end of this month.

As usual the weather has been good for the last fortnight, and I'm sure it'll be good for the coming week, but after that I fear it's going to break down (according to the Countryfile Weather forecast). We decided to take our holiday earlier this year to coincide with the better weather which has preceded our holidays for the last six years, but it looks like it has beaten us again by peaking even earlier. I'll be viewing the latest BBC monthly outlook when it appears tomorrow. It would be nice to have some fine weather for a change, but as long as TQ performs well and the Webasto keeps us warm I don't mind too much.

Not sure where we're taking TQ this time, but it looks possible that we're going oop Naath. However, if the weather forecast looks poor, then we could be heading dan Saaf.

Spring has sprung?

This sailed past my works when I was having a lunch break yesterday. The last time I took a photo of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was back when it was frozen over and there was snow on the ground. See the video in the previous log below.

Roll on Summer (KLT)

2010-12-20T19:53:00.001Z

Yes, it's all very pretty and fun for the kids (and some adults), but its been hanging around for long enough and I can't wait for it to thaw. Tranquility is still iced in at Barbridge and there is no sign of a rise in temperature to melt the ice. There is some work to be done on TQ before she embarks on her next journey, a new alternator is required for charging both the starter and bow thruster batteries, and another for charging the domestic pack. Also the Webasto heater requires looking at to prevent it flooding with fuel. Hopefully all this can be sorted once the ice has melted and TQ can be taken to Aqueduct Marina.
I find it a bit ironic that you don't hear much about Global Warming these days, but you hear so much more about Climate Change instead. Is it because the "Authorities" have changed their minds and are now not sure whether it's going to get warmer or colder? I think cleaning up our act and reducing emissions is the right thing to do but it's become a band wagon for certain "Authorities" to jump on and make multi millions out of us.
Lin and I took a stroll down to our local canal today, the Bridgwater and Taunton and although there is some ice it looks navigable. Here's a short video:-

Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Bathpool

From bad to worse (KLT)

2010-11-29T14:27:00.003Z

Woke very early this morning (Sunday), before 05:00 hours. We ran the engine all last night again and didn't get much sleep, exasperated by there not being much heat in the cabin due to the failure of the Webasto heater. By 08:00 we were on the move toward Hurleston Locks and the ice got thicker and thicker. At Hurleston Junction I had a job to turn TQ in the ice and I had to reverse several times and ram the ice to get TQ pointing in the right direction. Made it to Barbridge and that is as far as we were to go. I did a recce up the Middlewich Branch on foot, and the ice was 30mm thick or more so there was no way TQ has enough horsepower for that. I left Lin to do the housework and packing as we had decided to go home, and walked the 3.5 miles to Aqueduct Marina to collect the car, and brought it back to Barbridge Marina where we were able to load up near the water point. I then reversed TQ back to the mooring and went through the stages of shutting down the systems. I estimate that by this time the engine had been running for about 60 hours continuously. We made our way to Aqueduct Marina and handed in the keys, and then it was back to Sandbach and the M6/M5 to Taunton. Home at last. I hope our next holiday aboard TQ is is somewhat better than this one.

Here is a list of "happenings":-

Canal closed at Trevor in addition to Llangollen (not made clear by BW)
Flat engine starter battery
Alternator failure
Domestic alternator failure (Low output)
Even more "sluggish" bow thruster
Webasto failure (Valve left closed)
Webasto failure again (Flooding (fuel))
Being told that TQ wouldn't pass the BSS
Having to leave the engine running all night (2 nights)
Frost all over the inside of the windows (2 mornings)
Canal frozen solid
Kevin and Linda well teed off (and we don't play golf)

It's so cold... (KLT)

2010-11-28T06:33:00.017Z

After overnight light snow its been quite a good day weather wise although its very cold. so far we seem to have got away with most of the white stuff.
We've been a bit tired all day due to us not sleeping very well. We have to leave the engine running all night because if we stop it we won't be able to start it again. We're not moored near a boatyard so there is no one nearby to help if things get dodgy. We tried to get water at the top of Grindley Brook Locks but our hose is blocked with ice and the water pressure at the tap was not enough to push it through. We're not desperate for water yet, but it would have been peace of mind to have filled up.
Due to our battery problem we're not able to leave TQ unattended with the engine running which means we can't stop for lunch at the Willey Moor Tavern so we have to keep going until the cold beats us. We're moored on PVM (public visitor moorings) at the top of Baddiley Locks about 4 or 5 hours from our mooring at Aqueducd Marina, but I fear there's going to be some thick ice on the cut tomorrow morning from Hurleston onwards which might delay us.

The Webasto heater stopped working again tonight and it refuses to start, so the only heating we've got is the stove and its not enough to keep the boat comfortably warm. We're having to leave the engine running all night again and we've decamped our sleeping arrangements to the saloon so that we're nearer the stove and further away from the engine noise.

I took some video today:-

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

A very frustrating day (KLT)

2010-11-26T21:24:00.001Z

We over slept this morning, not getting up 'til 08:00. Ice on the inside of the windows again was a sign of things to come. Switched on the Webasto heater and it fired up OK but I was worried the current drain on the starter battery might mean the engine won't start. My fears were realised when I turned the ignition key to heat the plugs, as all the control panel lights went dull and when I tried the starter and the engine groaned as it tried desparately to compress the air in the cylinders. Then something odd happened, I took the key out of the ignition switch, and the engine tried to turn over again. I just put it down to air compression in one of the cylinders expanding and turning the crank shaft. Rare, but its posible. (You can tell I have an interest in engines can't you. Check this out). So I went into Blackwater Meadow Marina and asked if they could help and they were very happy to do so. Their engineer came out with a power pack and when he removed the battery cover the starter motor engaged and tried to turn the engine. So there's an electrical short somewhere there. Anyhow the engineer (Sorry I didn't get your name) easily managed to get the engine running and then tested the current being produced by the domestic alternator. I sense more trouble here, its only producing 20 - 25 amps where it should be closer to 100 amps. He recommended not stopping the engine until we get to our destination preferably near a boatyard. Well we've ended up at the top of Grindley Brook Locks, on the PVM (public visitor moorings) away from everyone else as we have to run our engine 'til very late. We passed the Viking Afloat boatyard at Whitchurch and I asked if they were open tomorrow morning, (Saturday) unfortunately at this time of year its Monday to Friday only. So now it looks like we'll have to keep the engine running all night, to ensure we can move tomorrow morning.
Our holiday is now becoming just a little bit of a chore now, and we're beginning to want to go home...after having arranged to extend it by two days!
On a brighter note we saw three kingfishers today, and we had some snow...just a light sprinkling, but I dare say there may be more in the morning. I hope the cut doesn't freeze up too much, though I fear the Shroppie Main Line and the Middlewich Branch are more likely to freeze as they don't flow like the Llangollen does.
Sorry there's no pix today, after this mornings caper I forgot and didn't feel like getting the camera out.
More tomorrow.

Ice on the cut...and some snow (KLT)

2010-11-25T18:23:00.000Z

I banked up the stove before we went to bed last night, and it promptly went out. So it was cold all last night and we woke early as a result to ice on the inside of the windows. The Webasto heater started OK but I was concerned about the capacity of the batteries being able to start the engine. It started on the second attempt and then it was only just. We slipped our moorings at 07:30 hours and cut through the ice in Trevor Basin and along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. From the end of the aqueduct there was no more ice for the rest of our journey today but wasn't it ever cold.

Our location for the last couple of nights.

Notice the light dusting of snow.

Its Hurleston for us today.

Looking back along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

The football ground under the aqueduct.

Industry - the saw mill between Trevor and Chirk

I did the two New Marton Locks on my own as it was a bit cold for Lin and I found them easy but of course we're going down hill now so it would be easy anyway. We didn't stop until we got to Ellesmere and we had to go down th arm and seek out a mooring but there was only one space big enough and there was a dog (possibly barking later) on the boat in front so that was a no no. We chugged up to the end and winded (turned around) and came back out again. Lin said there was a space just outside the arm on the left in the evening sun but when we got there it was taken up. We moored a few yards further up but not long after we arrived a dog started barking in the big house opposite. Lin went to do some shopping in Tesco and when she came back the dog was still barking so we slipped our moorings and moved on to a spot just around the corner past Blackwater Marina. As we pulled away the dog stopped barking...Arrgh! Anyway its quiet here and if we run into engine/battery trouble tomorrow morning the marina is right here.

On the way we saw this:-

Frankton Top Lock on the Montgomery.

Bridge 69 at Frankton Junction.

And this crept up behind me:-

It was a lot closer than it looks in the photo!

It was so quick I quite litterally pointed and shot! and I'm quite pleased with the result, the cloud is well defined and everything else is near sillhouette and the sun hasn't made a white line from top to bottom. Taken with a Canon Powershot A470.

Things didn't quite go to plan. (KLT)

2010-11-24T19:48:00.000Z

There's never a dull moment when boating. Last night the diesel heater decided to switch itself off. OK, fair enough, it was warm in here so I didn't think any more of it. I just switched off the control panel when we went to bed. This morning it wouldn't fire up despite voltage meter reading over 12 volts. I thought I'd fire up the engine and try again. Guess what? Starter battery dead flat despite running the engine 'til 20:00 hours last night. Now as it turned out, the two faults were not connected. The alternator that charges the starter battery is ph^(<3), and together with last nights frost the battery refused to play the game. So I phoned Paul and spoke to Ken. (Don't ask). He said as we were in Trevor Basin ask Anglo Welsh if they could help, (saving a call-out fee), and they were happy to help. Tony from Anglo Welsh jump started the engine from the domestic batteries, and tested the alternator while the engine was running and this confirmed our thoughts. The quickest and easiest way around it was to connect a link between the domestic and starter batteries, and let the domestic alternator charge the starter battery aswell. We now have to be careful not to let the domestic set run down too much.
Next, on to the Webasto heater. Oh! dear, how sad, never mind. The rubber water supply and return hoses connected between the heater and the water circuit had collapsed stopping the flow to/from the heater so the pump had stalled and the water in the boiler had over heated hence the auto switching off last night. Tony removed one of the supply hoses and there was no water in it. I checked the water level in the expansion tank and that was 3/4 full, it was then I noticed the valve under the tank was off! Of course, that's it! With the valve off the water cannot expand with the heat so the rubber hoses expand and probably there's some loss of water, possibly through a pressure relief vent. When it all cools the water contracts and hence the hoses collapse. So the solution was simple, connect it all up again, turn on the valve and try again. Success! after a smokey start it was away. Tony fitted some curly wrap around the hoses to help re shape them and re terminated one of the hoses removing the flattened part. And it was all serviced last week, I reckon someone forgot to turn on the valve again. A big thank you to Tony from Anglo Welsh for getting us out of a sticky spot.

The vacated Llangollen Marina - a sorry sight.

Llangollen Town

On to more normal things and we'd planned to go by bus into Llangollen today- we did, but much later than expected. After lunch in the Corn Mill (very nice) we did some shopping in the town and its not change much since we were here some four years ago. The old coach company next to the canal has gone and flats have been built in its place, and that's about it. The rest is much the same, which is good in my opinion. The canal is still closed at Trevor, but on our bus trip which runs next to the canal for some way we could see no evidence of any works being carried out, and the canal is full all the way. There are no boats up there only the trip boats, and there were no boats in the marina either.
Back to TQ and I stoked the stove and tested the heating, all OK, and then I went for a walk across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to the lifting bridge in Froncysyllte and back on the other side of the cut to the aqueduct, then under it and back up to the towpath again. A lovely late afternoon stroll.
The weather forecast doesn't look good, there's a high possibility of snow over the next few days, we'll have to keep a watchfull eye on it.
More tomorrow - hopefully.

Tuesdays blog...Llangollen, well not quite (KLT)

2010-11-23T18:23:00.002Z

DON'T MISS OUT ON MONDAYS BLOG, IT'S BELOW.
Made an even earlier start today and lifted the hooks shortly after 07:00 hours and proceded up to the first of the two New Marton Locks. I was hoping to do this one on my own but Lin emerged from her pit in time to steer TQ into the lock. The scenery is becoming more interesting the further we go and is quite dramatic as we approach Chirk.

Crossing Chirk Aqueduct

We couldn't have wished for better weather to do this in, in fact for once the weather has been kind if a little chilly, but we can put up with that.

The thing is with this part of the world there is more excitement just around the corner, quite literaly as we cruise the aqueduct and then into Chirk Tunnel. Who would believe an aqueduct high above the valley then straight into a tunnel...amazing. The railway is on the adjacent viaduct and the canal bends left through the tunnel under the railway. There is so much going on here. As the canal follows the contour of the hills it bends and narrows as it flows through Froncysyllte, throught the lifting bridge around the bend and across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. This is 1007 feet long, and 216 feet above the River Dee. Not for the feint hearted as there are no railings on the offside.

We turned left in Trevor Basin only to be stopped by BW workers who told us the canal was closed so we had to back out the hundred yards or so back into the basin where we moored up. This is the end of the line for us, so we went for lunch in the Telford Inn and very nice it was too. We had Telfords Steak Pie with potatoes and peas. As much as we could eat.

As we can go no further on the cut, we plan to catch the bus to Llangollen tomorrow.

I'll upload some more video when I get home as although our 3 connection is fast here in Trevor it takes about 30 minutes to upload a video like the one above. So here's some pix:-

Approaching the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

The edge of the aqueduct is 2" wide. 50.8mm in new money.

And that's 126 feet down into the River Dee!

T is for tall!

1007 feet long.

From the River Dee.

Not quite straight as a die, but that's the railings.

Mondays blog... (KLT)

2010-11-23T16:03:00.001Z

Another long day today as we slipped the rings at Whitchurch at 07:30 in the rain and set the lifting bridge so we could pass under. Something that surprised us was the length of drain pipe stretched across the entrance to the Whitchurch Arm with a sign saying "Arm Closed". We saw a boat enter the arm yesterday evening, so what that's all about, I haven't a clue. There's another sign in complete contradiction saying "Welcome to Whitchurch". Maybe its been handed over private moorings, I guess that's most likely. A short way past Whitchuch and we're on new water for us. We've been to Llangollen many years ago but not with TQ. We stopped briefly at Bettisfield to fill up with water, and it took half an hour so we were pretty low. I remember the last time we came this far we decided to stop for lunch at Cole Mere and the weather was so hot we had to move the boat up to a shady area and we had lunch in the cratch. Today, in complete contrast was very cold and damp. Needless to say we didn't stop for lunch this time. We were considering an overnight stop at the Jack Mytton but its closed until Wednesday evening. Perhaps we'll visit on the way back.

I thought it strange that the bridges are numbered 1 from Hurleston to 69 at Frankton Junction, and 1W from Frankton Junction to 49W at Horseshoe Falls. I guess the W means West.

Tonight we're moored between the Jack Mytton and New Marton locks having set the mooring hooks in at around 16:30.

First bridge past the Frankton Junction marked 1W

Sorry I couldn't put this up in time but there was no 3 signal at all.

Nine hours to Whitchurch (KLT)

2010-11-21T21:17:00.002Z

Untied the rings at 07:30 this morning and headed off toward Hurleston Junction. Made the turn to go up the four locks where British Waterways ask you lift your fenders. I heard Lin laughing and looked around to see her pulling up her trousers. "How rude", she said. Cruising on and there is a new marina opened up since the last time we were here at Swanley. It's huge as can be seen in this photo taken from Swanley Lock No.2.

Marina from Swanley Lock No.2

When we were on Tranquility in September we managed to pick some sloes to make sloe gin for Christmas. I noticed there is still some on the bushes, the birds haven't eaten them and I wonder if this is a sign that its going to be a hard Winter.

Sloes...and so many.

We arrived at Whitchurch without any hitches as it was getting dark and we're moored on the public moorings just short of the lifting bridge No. 31.

After nine hours cruising the batteries ought to be well charged so its X Factor tonight (not again).

Lin just asked "have we got to get up at stupid O'clock tomorrow?". "Oh! yes" I replied.

Thats it for now, will blog again tomorrow.

What a day! (KLT)

2010-11-20T20:07:00.001Z

It seems a long time ago the alarm went off at 04:00 hours. We finished the packing with the last minute items and by 05:45 we were on the road. Then it started to rain and became progressively worse the further North we travelled. The M5 was awash between Bristol and Gloucester, it hammered down. Just North of Gloucester it was dry and further North the sun tried to shine. No hold-ups along the way and we were in Sandbach by 08:45 after a short stop in the motorway services. Met up with Artie at Elton Moss and he kindly gave us a lift to the AGM in Middlewich. We didn't want to leave our loaded car in an unsecure car park so we left it at Elton Moss.
The AGM went well, it had an easy atmosphere about it, and some radicle decisions were made about the inside and the outside of TQ. After the February maintenance slot TQ should look very different. Watch this space! A lot of work has already been done, the Webasto heater has been serviced, Bubble stove has been blacked and chimney swept, galley floor has been sanded and two coats of varnish applied, a new stern button fitted, shower resealed, and woodwork inside the windows resealed, engine room degreased and cleaned, anti-freeze checked and topped up, etc. etc. etc.
After the AGM Artie brought us back to Elton Moss and we made our way across country through the lanes to Church Minshull and on to Aqueduct Marina. Poped into the reception (very posh) and enquired about the keys for TQ. Guess what, they couldn't find them, further they didn't know where TQ was. An engineer was called and he knew where TQ was and he showed me where and we looked in the gas locker and lo and behold there were the keys. We unloaded the car and awaited a visit from a prospective share purchaser and he turned up early - ideal. He just wanted to have a look around TQ with a view to buying a share.
All that done, we chugged our way out of the Marina and headed to Barbridge where we're moored for the night. Had a good meal in the Olde Barbridge Inn, nice, although its looking a bit careworn in places.
Sorry there's no photos today, haven't unpacked the camera yet. Not only that the 3 connection is a bit, no, very slow here so I doubt photos would upload anyway.
More tomorrow - hopefully!

In preparation (KLT)

2010-11-07T08:10:00.001Z

Thoughts are now turning to our holiday. I've been watching the stoppages and found the only route we can take is from the new Aqueduct Marina on the Middlewich Branch to Llangollen. We have temporary moorings at Aqueduct Marina and this is where TQs maintenance is being carried out as Elton Moss is locked in by the stoppages. TQ has been moved from Alvechurch and will stay around the Church Minshull/Elton Moss area until the Spring when she'll be moored at Calcutt. At least that's the plan. Our AGM is on the 20th November so we'll know everything for sure by then.

I've a feeling we won't get to Llangollen due to the shorter daylight hours at this time of the year, but you never know. Lets just hope the weather holds out.

Oozells Loop to Alvechurch (KLT)

2010-09-11T21:19:00.001+01:00

We paid a visit to David and Brenda aboard NB Mr David this morning and after a quick sarnie for lunch we slipped our moorings and headed on down the W & B. On the way we negotiated the diversion at Selly Oak and it hasn't changed much since our last passage in January, except that the new aqueduct is beginning to taking shape.

Heading South in the diversion. The aqueduct is on the left.

The channel is over between the reinforcement bar cages

Looking back at the temporary lifting bridge. (Left open at weekends).

Saw a heron struttin' his stuff just past Selly Oak.

OK everyone sees a lot of these but we don't often get an opportunity to take a photo. They're usually airborne before we get close enough.

So TQ is back on her Alvechurch mooring and we've been busy cleaning, packing and preparing to go home tomorrow morning.

Its been a great holiday, we've been to some places new to us and we look forward to our next holiday in November.

Merry Hill to Oozells Loop (KLT)

2010-09-10T21:40:00.002+01:00

We left Merry Hill after the rain stopped this morning and made our way toward Blowers Green Lock where we took on water just around the corner from where where we are in the photo.

In Blowers Green Lock

Lin was nervous about steering TQ around to the water point so she made me do it!

There's a festival on at Windmill End Junction this weekend and we got caught up in some of the traffic. Not too much of a delay, just a boat in front going along at a moderate engine speed, but with TQ on tick over, we kept catching him up and we had to stop and let him go on a bit before catching him up again. The festival was a sight to behold with loads of working boats, just a shame we couldn't stop as I have to go back to work on Monday. Here's a few pix from our passage through:-

On the approach

Then it was through Netherton Tunnel. This must be the biggest bore on the cut, two way traffic and a towpath on both sides. We passed five boats in the tunnel, all heading toward the festival. It was quite busy.
So under Tividale Aqueduct and a short stop for lunch, then a right turn at Dudley Port Junction, and just keep on chugging 'til we get to Oozells Loop. This bit always seems a long way, its about seven miles, but always seems longer. I pulled a fast one and dived in the back way into Oozells Loop (Western end) to save turning around and reversing back onto our favourite spot.

Our current mooring safe, under the CCTV camera

Stourton Top Lock to Merry Hell Shopping Centre (KLT)

2010-09-09T18:34:00.002+01:00

I worked all TWENTY FOUR locks in two flights today, the sixteen Stourbridge Locks and the eight Delph Locks. Phew! - exhausted... and now Lin wants me to go shopping with her! I must say all the locks were a pleasure to do, and I need the exercise to help reduce my pie retention. The Stourbridge canal is as picturesque as the Staffs and Worcs Canal up as far as Wordsley Junction where it turns more a shade of industrial mixed with housing. Then, of course, there's the locks. All the way to Leys Junction where a right turn is negotiated and then a respite in the locks department to allow some lunch on the swim. Its not long before Delph Locks require attention, and if it weren't for lunch they would have been a struggle.

Currently we're moored on the embankment near the Merry Hell (sorry, Hill) Shopping Centre. Its quite secure here with CCTV and a local Bobby patrolling. We were advised by a BW locksman not to moor in the basin, not because its less secure, but because local the night clubs turn out late at night and there can be a bit of late revelling.

Our current location.

View from our starboard window.

Foot note:- The problem with mooring in places like this is that passers by like to gawp in through our windows, so the curtains are drawn well before dark.

Stourport-on-Severn to Stourton Top Lock, Staffs & Worcs Canal (KLT)

2010-09-08T20:59:00.001+01:00

We had another look around Stourport this morning and picked up some odds and ends we forgot yesterday. Then we took on Water at the water point in the basin and proceeded up York Street Lock, the first one of fourteen in today's itinerary. If you've not been up (or down) the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal before, then I recommend you do because it is beautiful, akin to parts of the Llangollen.

Kidderminster Lock

One thing that didn't happen today is rain. Not a drop, in fact its the best day (weatherwise) we've had on the cut for some years. Its been a long sunny day, just like Swallows and Amazons.

Tonight we're moored above Stourton Top Lock just past the winding hole.

Caldwell Lock

Internet connection is getting dodgy, I'mgoing to have to sign off...

More tomorrow - hopefully.

Worcester to Stourport via The Severn (KLT)

2010-09-07T20:38:00.002+01:00

Today went very well apart from a minor blip which spoilt things ever so slightly, but we won't get down hearted about it, I'll explain later.

We left Diglis Basin this morning at 09:30 and I turned left to "do a donut" and moor on the river pontoon facing upstream in order to pick up Lin as there is no access to the river from the upstream side of the junction. Lin was well impressed with my manoeuvring skills.

We did Gloucester last year, today its Stourport

So we start the journey to Stourport and this river is so much more interesting in this direction. Here's some pix near Worcester:-

In Pearsons Canal Companion the locks are described as automatic which may lead one to believe they are unmanned. Not so, all the locks on the Severn are operated for you by BW staff and Bevere Lock is the first one North from Worcester.

Holt Lock

I took this because Andrew Denny of Granny Buttons fame featured something similar a while back. Shame I cut the top of the mirror off.

Note the life jacket - Lin an I are not the best swimmers so we wear these on the rivers just in case.

The thing that slightly spoiled the day was that it rained very heavily for quite some while and it was accompanied with thunder. There's nothing you can do except put up the umbrella and keep going.
All in all its been a good day and I have to say the Severn is much more picturesque North of Worcester.

Our location this evening in Stourport Basin next to the BW office

Start as you mean to go on. (KLT)

2010-09-06T18:38:00.009+01:00

Woke up very early on Sunday morning to find it raining in Somerset. Thought - We've been here before. Last week was beautiful sunny days and warm with it. This week will be cold wet and windy. Well today is Monday and its wet and windy. The weather always seems to know when we're on holiday, and throws its worst at us.

The journey to Alvechurch was dire, heavy rain and as soon as we got onto the M42 the traffic came to a standstill. I switched off the engine for twenty minutes and eventually it started to move. Slowly and occasionally at first and then gradually faster and faster. There was no suggestion as to what the hold up was, and by Jcn. 2 it was all clear.

By the time we arrived at Alvechurch the rain had just about stopped and allowed us to get TQ loaded with all our boating stuff. We left Alvechurch by about 13:45 and headed toward Tardebigge. By 14:45...

...We were here...

...And by 18:45...

...here.

Not the quickest we've done it because a lot of locks were against us and a few even had their bottom gates left open. If it were'nt for a kind soul with a windlass going the same way we would have taken longer so many thanks to him for his help.

There being no "3" signal at the Queens Head (bottom of Tardebigge Flght) there was no blog yesterday...sorry!

Monday turned out to be a nice day although the gale force wind spoilt things a bit, at least it was'nt cold. We made our way to Worcester stopping off at the Eagle and Sun for a carvery lunch which was excellent, and at £5.99 each I thought it was a bargain.

Whilst making our passage through Offerton Locks the BW lengthsman helped us through by filling the next lock for us and opening the gate. All this while cutting the grass and lubricating the paddle gear. A helpful chap indeed.

As we approached the Commandery in Worcester it started to rain and by the time we arrived it was hammering down, and tonight we're moored on public moorings between Sidbury Lock and Diglis Locks. Tomorrow its the Severn and hopefully we'll reach Stourport and with a bit of luck we'll have time to look around the town.

Visit to Coughton Court

2010-09-04T23:22:00.003+01:00

St.Peters, St.Pauls & St.Elizabeths

View from the tower

Today we went to visit the National Trust property, Coughton Court, near Alcester. We enjoyed our time there, learning about the history of the family who had lived there for six hundred years. The house was very interesting and there were lovely gardens. We climbed the narrow spiral staircase to the top of the tower and were rewarded with a wonderful view. St. Peter's C.of E church next to the house is about six or seven hundred years old- can't remember exactlyat this time of night!- and was originally a Catholic church until the Reformation. Seeing the priest- holes and reading about the designer/builder and his eventual fate (on the rack) really brings home how frightening those times were for some people. A 'new' Catholic church-only one hundred and fifty years old- was built further down the lane and seemed to be in use, as well as St. Peter's, so I enquired at the Hall if they knew the time of Masses. A very willing lady went to find out and told me there was a Mass at 5pm today, so I duly went down to the church in time. However, although the organist was playing then, he told me that Mass wasn't until six o'clock, so I had a long time to wait!
After that it was time to get back to the boat and carry on with the sorting and cleaning in preparation for leaving in the morning and saying Goodbye to TQ until next year!

'Home' Early.

2010-09-03T21:11:00.005+01:00

Another nice day. Deck cleaning and exterior polishing at Hopwood before we set off for Alvechurch. It was rather quiet; we had been expecting it to be very busy this week, because of the Bank Holiday/last week of school holidays. We tied up at the marina at 1p.m. and after lunch we had a long walk down the canal bank up to Tardebigge reservoir. Great view over the countryside from that point. There were some boaters working their way up the last few locks of the Tardebigge flight; they were a little weary (so we lent a hand!) but very happy with the weather. Later we had a good meal at the Weighbridge Pub next to the marina. Fortunately we had remembered to go across and book before we went walking.

'Bye 'Bye Brum!

2010-09-02T21:37:00.004+01:00

Another beautiful day... We didn't rush to leave the mooring early. Got the newspaper and then we made our way round to the BW Water Point near the Mailbox. The water tap was in use when we arrived so the Captain took the opportunity to use the touch-up paint on the starboard side while I nipped over to Tesco Metro for a couple of things, then kept an eye on the flow of water into the tank. We set off at midday and enjoyed a peaceful cruise past the university area, on to Bournville and eventually into Wast Hills Tunnel. Even in this weather it's always cold, with plenty of drips! We always make sure we put on the waterproofs before entering the tunnel; it is quite eerie really, with the passage lasting about twenty-five minutes. Didn't meet anyone coming through this time. Still beautifully sunny when we emerged, as you can see from the photo. We arrived at the Hopwood moorings before three o'clock and started on the exterior cleaning and touch-up. The crew had some 'time off' and continued working on the needlework sampler for our fourth granddaughter. It's almost three years since it was started and we have been very busy since then!! We enjoyed a good meal at the pub later.

Retail Therapy.

2010-09-01T22:30:00.003+01:00

Wednesday 1st September.

We had a quiet night at Oozells Loop, as on previous occasions, and woke to a beautiful morning. We decided to have a quiet morning on board, with an early lunch then off to the shops for some new clothes. The shopping centre was extremely busy and the open spaces were full of people enjoying their lunches and chats outside, amidst the lovely floral displays. As well as acquiring some new clothes, I also had the nice surprise of choosing a ruby ring to celebrate our Ruby Wedding Anniversary which is coming up in October! We arrived back at TQ about six p.m. and left about 7:15 for the very short walk to Pizza Express. All the restaurants were busy, with most of the tables outside being occupied. Quite a buzzing atmosphere. Back inside to the blog and a bit of reading.

Back in the City.

2010-08-31T21:17:00.003+01:00

Tuesday 31st August.

We left the Bournville mooring at 0950 and set off to Birmingham. It was fairly quiet and we encountered no problems; even the Selly Oak diversion seemed easier to navigate- but maybe that's because we're getting used to it after having passed through several times! The construction work is coming on and we could see quite a difference since we were there in June. We arrived in Birmingham about 11 o'clock and were very pleased to see a mooring space in Oozell's Loop so were all tied up by 1110.
After lunch we went to the shops and decided to have a meal at the Yo! Sushi bar in Selfridges. We love Japanese food and have been to this bar before. Tonight's meal was equally superb as the previous one we enjoyed there. Brindley Place looked as pretty as ever as we walked back to TQ and I must say that it was really lovely to see all the beautiful flowers and plants everywhere we walked, on this last day of August.

Family time!

2010-08-30T20:30:00.004+01:00

Monday 30th August

It was a great day! Stephanie, Chris, Tamsin and Sasha arrived at 10:45 and we had such fun. It was their first visit to TQ and we enjoyed a leisurely cruise to Bournville. The weather was fine- quite a miracle for Bank Holiday Monday- and all went well. The girls thought it was very exciting. We moored the boat at the BW site opposite Bournville station and left TQ late afternoon to walk with them to the station so they could get the train back to Alvechurch to get their car. Sorry to see them go...
Afterwards we walked into the town and it all seemed rather quiet. However, we found Selly Manor to be open on BH Mondays (until 5pm) and were delighted as last time we were here we arrived too late to visit. Well worth visiting. We walked round the village a bit more before returning to the boat and having a meal on board and a quiet night.

Last Trip on Tranquility This Year.

2010-08-29T21:18:00.002+01:00

Sunday 29th August.

We arrived back at Alvechurch this afternoon, on a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, for a week's holiday. It was good to see Tranquility again. We've decided to take it easy this week as we've had a very busy year and could do with a rest! After unloading the car, we went down to the local supermarket but were thwarted when there was a power cut and the alarm went off just before we finished our shopping- everyone had to leave the shop at that time. We waited a few minutes for the All Clear and went back in to continue where we'd left off. However, shortly afterwards the same thing happened, just as we were making our way to the cash till. Having been turfed out again, we decided to hedge our bets and go on to Sainsbury's instead. Just made it before closing time.
Staying in the marina tonight as our daughter, son-in-law and two gorgeous granddaughters, aged five and three, are coming tomorrow to have a little trip on the boat with us! It will be a new experience for them so hope they'll like it.

The last leg.

2010-06-05T20:08:00.003+01:00

Spent the morning chatting to people in between carrying on with cleaning - or was it the other way round?? Steve also went up to the winding hole so he could reverse TQ back to our spot in order to see to her other side. I walked up to the garage as I’d found out that they now sell newspapers- very handy, as is the postbox next to Hopwood House Inn!
As I cleaned the oven this morning, I discovered that the top oven/grill is missing the inner door glass. This, of course, is the new cooker which was only installed on 16th May. I do not use the cooker very much and hadn’t used the top one at all, so I hadn’t noticed this before.
Another visit to the winding hole so we could set off for Alvechurch about 5.30pm- just after the gas bottle ran out. Tranquility’s berth was waiting for her, so we are now into the last stages of packing up so that all will be ready for an early start homeward bound.
Very much enjoyed our trip as always and look forward to the end of August.
Final tally: Stourport Ring (almost!) and Black Country Ring (almost!!), 127 miles, 149 locks in about 78 hours of travel.

Notice the shine on TQ

Oozells Loop to Hopwood

2010-06-04T23:06:00.002+01:00

Forgot to mention that when we were doing the Aston Locks on the way into Birmingham, we crossed paths briefly with Firefly going the other way. This morning the weather was fine, so Steve cleaned the exterior of TQ. I walked to the Mailbox to get the newspaper and a Get Well card and discovered there is a postbox if you go down one floor from Tesco Metro and turn right out of the side door of the Mall.
We cruised round to Sherborne Wharf for a pump-out (£9) and water; also ice creams as it was really hot by then! It was about 12 when we left the wharf and started back towards Alvechurch. We have been through the canal diversion at Selly Oak a few times now, so have noticed the progress of the works. In spite of the lovely weather, Wasthills Tunnel was still very cold and wet… We arrived at Hopwood about three o’clock and moored in the last space available before the water point. As we pulled in, we met David & Margaret ( TQ syndicate members who also have a share in a different syndicate. )
After mooring, Captain continued the work on the exterior while I began on the inside. Later we had a barbecue and pleasant sit down in the evening sun.

Day of rest?

2010-06-03T22:26:00.001+01:00

We had a quiet night with no disturbance, followed by an easy-going morning, (apart from his lordship cleaning the outside of TQ!) then went to town. It was lovely and warm so we joined many others and sat outside for lunch. Summer weather…. The three hours of shopping only increased the aching in the bones, which had started after the 36 locks had been completed yesterday. No more locks till next time now. By the way, if you are in a hurry, don’t go to the Post Office in the centre of town. I had to have a card weighed and went to get an ‘order of service’ ticket from the machine, but was given a ticket (Number 127) from a customer who’d got tired of waiting. On it was printed that there were 86 people in front of me! In fact by this time of the day that wasn’t correct as there were only 37. However I quite soon got tired of waiting too, what with the heat and backache- and just put two First Class stamps on the envelope and hope that our son gets the card in time for his birthday on Sunday. I’m sure he’ll be very understanding if he doesn’t. By then we’d had enough of the High Life we’re not used to, so returned to TQ for the evening.

A June morning..

2010-06-02T23:14:00.002+01:00

A misty start!

As you can see, we set off on a foggy morning (7a.m.). It was very quiet and not too cold -for a change- and by 0920 we had finished the Curdworth locks, only bumping (figuratively) into people at the last lock. Not too long afterwards we came into the urban area and I took a walk at Dickens Bridge in order to get a newspaper. This entailed a walk alongside a very busy road, plus a complicated detour over to the far side of the traffic lights in order to be able to cross the road safely, as there was no chance at all for pedestrians at the first crossing I came to. Having purchased the paper and some milk, I retraced my steps over this busy, noisy road but made a slight detour to a post box as I had a birthday card to post. (Always looking for a postbox!) Unfortunately in the excitement of finding one, I made a slight mistake in the choice of the two roads available and ended up on the wrong one, heading towards a roundabout that I didn’t remember. Only a few minutes’ delay, though, as I could se the Captain on the canal bank from where I was.
Oops, back to the blog. We were out of the Minworth locks at 1130 and ate our sandwiches on the go before cruising under all the motorway roads of Spaghetti Junction. What a delight that is- although at one place there were some beautiful wild lupins in the middle of it all. From Aston locks I walked into Birmingham while the captain cruised. We shared the lock work and had no problems apart from BW chaps painting some of the lock gate handles, though they did help work the locks at one place. By afternoon the weather had changed and it was very hot; of course we were then on the Farmer’s Bridge locks, which were rather difficult to say the least, but we got through them and tied up in the only place available in Oozells Loop at 1645. Quite a busy day followed by a good meal and good wine at Pizza Express in Brindley Place.

Easy, easy, easy...

2010-06-01T23:08:00.002+01:00

The prettiest footbridge on the cut? (Drayton Manor)

Tuesday 1st June.
We spent a quiet morning on board at the mooring as heavy rain had been forecast and we didn’t set off until 2pm. It was still raining, but a bit lighter. Went through Fazely Junction into the Birmingham & Fazely Canal. At 1710 we moored after Bodymoor Heath bridge. We had tried to moor before the bridge but the water was too shallow to get alonside. Went to the ‘Dog & Doublet’ at the next lock; had a delicious meal and enjoyed chatting with some fellow boaters who were on their last trip after 25 years of boating.

Busy, busy, busy....

2010-06-01T23:02:00.003+01:00

The Swan at Fradley Junction

Bank Holiday Monday.
Very peaceful when we set off at 0720, but gradually got busier. Didn’t seem to be many boats around until we approached narrow bridges, aqueducts and locks; amazing how that happens. At Great Haywood Junction we turned into the Trent & Mersey and had an interesting time in the Narrows, with a queue of boats at each end. In Ravenshaw Wood, the masses of beautiful purple rhododendrons were a delight to see. Fradley Junction was extremely busy, not only with boats but hundreds of gongoozlers gathered round the locks. In the evening we found a mooring space right outside the Tame Otter at Hopwas, where we had a good meal. Incidentally, a very quiet place to stay in spite of being so close to the pub’s big car park. (25 miles, just 6 locks).

A Long Day…

2010-06-01T22:49:00.002+01:00

Round House at Gailey

Sun 30th May.
Set off at 0720 and before long, reached the highest point on the canal at Compton. As we came to the junction with the Shroppie, a boat turned out of it in front of us- and went rather slowly for a long way! The canals were a lot busier today, probably because of school holidays and Bank Holiday. We passed a boat where there was actually a BBQ burning on the aft deck! Stopped for water at Gailey and a visit to Eileen in the roundhouse shop. We moored after the lock and walked down to Dobbie’s for lunch and a new waterproof jacket! Got the newspaper from the small shop at the roundabout there. No trouble with any locks but as usual it wasn’t easy to find a good mooring so we finally tied up near bridge 98 at 2040, having covered 19.6 miles and done 14 locks.

Up to date at last!

2010-05-29T20:56:00.003+01:00

Wightwick Manor

Up at 0600 and moved the boat up to first position for the Bratch locks. Open at 8, we were told. However, another boat arrived at the gates at 0720 and the lockkeeper let him through - and us afterwards- and he helped us a lot on our way through. Unfortunately, this was the rainy day and it was quite heavy at times.
At 1020 we tied up near Bridge 56, in order to visit Wightwick Manor, which was just a short walk away. This is a National Trust property and well worth a visit, very interesting. The tearoom does not serve hot meals like some NT properties do, but the soup and sandwiches were delicious.
Later on we walked along the towpath up to Compton to a supermarket near the traffic lights there; we were very lucky as we managed to get our bit of shopping done a few minutes before the shop closed at 6pm. Back to the boat to eat again!

The best made plans........

2010-05-29T20:40:00.001+01:00

Friday 28th May.
Well, we were up early as usual but the morning did not go to plan. Unfortunately the Captain was not feeling at all well, tummy-wise, (probably the sausages from the evening before) and spent all morning lying on the bed. He still didn’t feel right when we finally left the mooring at 2pm in glorious sunshine. Combined with the Crew, who has had back trouble since the day we left home for Alvechurch, we made a sorry pair struggling with the locks and tied up at The Bratch at 4.30. We used the moorings on the left side and then went for a (slow) walk to Wombourne, where we got a newspaper and cold drinks. There was a pub nearby, which would normally have inspired us to go back later for a meal, but of course Steve didn’t feel like eating, so it was cup-a-soup time on the boat and an early night for a change.

Barbeque Day!?

2010-05-29T20:36:00.002+01:00

Thursday 27th May.
We set off at 7am, round to the water point first just before the lock for leaving the basin and entering the Staffs. & Worcs. Canal. (For anyone like me, who always seems to ‘need’ a post box, don’t miss the small one in the wall of the last building in the basin.) We soon came across swans with seven gorgeous little fluffy babies!
At Kidderminster on the right hand side, there are several shops including Tesco and M&S, then a little further on there is Sainsbury on the left, both with mooring places. We got a good cup of coffee at the latter and food for a BBQ in the evening- the weather being good again.
We were delayed in our travels today as we ended up at one lock behind three boats which were all close together, so at the next six locks we had a long wait. We were hoping to moor at Greensforge but found that there was actually only one visitor mooring, which was occupied, so we had to carry on. There wasn’t anywhere suitable to moor for a long time- until we were near Hinksford Lock, so we stopped there. It was a very quiet area but not particularly good for a BBQ and by that time (8pm), it had gone cooler so we decided to cancel the eating out experience and try out the new cooker instead. All was ok.

The magnifficent Severn

2010-05-28T21:33:00.003+01:00

Wednesday, 27th May
TQ on the Severn at Worcester

Our night at The Commandery mooring was without disturbance, just as it was two years ago.
At ten past seven we went through Sudbury Lock, then on into Diglis and out into the Severn. It was so peaceful with beautiful trees lining the river. We saw a kingfisher in flight- a glorious sight! Hadn’t seen one for a long time. We arrived at Stourport about 12 o’clock and went through the two sets of staircase locks into the basin, which is quite large and accommodates wide beam boats as well as narrowboats. There were a few visitor mooring berths available.
We walked into town to see if we could find a restaurant for the evening, but didn’t find anywhere we liked; just did some shopping and had a coffee at the Courtyard Café - a great place with friendly staff and nice coffee. Came back to the boat to eat onboard.

Arrive Worcester

2010-05-28T21:24:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 25th May.
It was much cooler this morning when we set off at 0720, stopping at bridge 25 about an hour later to walk into Tibberton village. I like the artist’s postcards on sale at the post office/village shop. There wasn’t a lot of movement on the canal again today and we had a fairly quiet day with just 13 locks to get through. We arrived at The Commandery in Worcester at 3pm and TQ was the only boat moored there until late evening, when another one turned up.
We had a quick walk into town and bought some caps, as ours appear to have been left at home. If anyone else has that problem, we found good plain beige lightweight baseball caps at M&S, in the Men’s department. Later on that evening we went back into town for a delicious meal at Pizza Express.

Tardebigge here we come

2010-05-26T22:12:00.002+01:00

Monday 24th May.
Set off at 0640 for the first lock of the day. It was a scorching day, so not the best weather for getting through 42 locks! Traffic was quite light and the ‘journey’ was fairly uneventful except for one crazy lady. Steve had prepared the lock ahead, with gate open and waiting for TQ’s grand entrance. As I walked down and had almost reached the lock, the said Crazy Lady got her windlass in position to open the paddle and let the flood begin. Fortunately she heard my third shout and stopped. Couldn’t believe it. She said she hadn’t noticed the other gate was open.
Apart from a quick coffee break, an hour for lunch and forty five minutes for filling up the water and getting a newspaper, we were busy all day until we stopped at 1820 at Hanbury Wharf, where we enjoyed a very good meal at the Eagle and Sun- and we were very glad to get to bed that night.

1st day of holiday

2010-05-26T22:07:00.001+01:00

Sunday 23rd May.
Arrived at Alvechurch about midday in searing temperatures and found TQ looking in a far better condition than on our last trip. As we began loading everything but our kitchen sink onto TQ, we had a visitor. It was the Boat Safety Inspector, who had carried out a check the previous Sunday on account of the installation of the new gas cooker. He said that the boat had failed on a few points; he then reassured me that this is the usual case which involves a re-check. After he had finished the check, he said that everything was fine now.
We set off from the marina at 1530 and arrived at Tardebigge an hour later, tying up before Top Lock and enjoying a delicious BBQ in very peaceful surroundings. The extreme heat had abated then, so the temperature was very pleasant.

Our last day.

2010-05-15T21:07:00.006+01:00

I moved TQ to another mooring this morning with intent on polishing the port side and I'd picked my spot but there was an underwater obstruction preventing me from getting close to the quayside. So I did a "180" and moored in the same place, and got to grips with the polish and elbow grease. I'd been at it for a while when David from NB Mr. David came by and said hello. We had to laugh, a chap from the narrowboat moored some ways back strolled up and said "Excuse me, I wonder if you'd mind doing up my zipper for me." I looked, (not wanting to) at his zipper and seeing it was already done up (phew!), and then looked at David to see he was looking at me, and then this fellow showed us his plaster cast around his wrist and thumb, and clearly he was unable to grip the zip on his jacket. David zipped up his jacket for him and we all laughed when the guy saw the funny side of what he was asking. (All in broad daylight as well).

While I finished off the polishing, Lin disposed of the rubbish, went shopping, and filled the drinking water supply, and when she came back we strolled over to see David and Brenda aboard Mr. David for a chat.

Then it was Alvechurch bound, I fired up TQs engine and we headed off up around Oozells Loop and up to the former transhipment yard where we winded and cruised back to Old Turn Junction where we turned right, through Broad street Tunnel and the Worcester Bar and down the Worcester and Birmingham Canal to our mooring at Alvechurch. There is a temporary diversion in place at Selly Oak where there is a new road being built under the canal. Great care should be taken here as there are a couple of dog leg turns to negotiate through the diversion. The lifting bridge is still in place.

Approaching the first dog leg, Birmingham side.

View down into what will be road

The narrow bit before the next dog leg.

So now we're back on our mooring at Alvechurch, cleaned TQ through inside and out and partially vacated. Lin went over to The Weighbridge and brought back a couple of pints. There was a beer festival going on there and all the festival ales were sold out by 2o:oohrs (they'd been open since noon) and the queue for the pub ales was outside the door. What a way to finish our holiday. Tomorrow its finish off the cleaning odds and ends and packing the car and then a sprint down the M5 back to home, picking up the cat on the way.

Thanks to you all for reading this drivel, until the next time...

Busy going nowhere.

2010-05-14T19:02:00.004+01:00

Took a stroll into the City Centre this morning, and paid a visit to The Bull Ring and the adjacent market. Picked up a few odds and sods, and then we went to O'Neils in Broad Street for lunch. Graham and Jill from NB Matilda Rose, went in there when they were here in February. So we thought we'd try it out. We had Blackened Chicken and Bacon Salad, and it was great. We'll be going back in there again, I think.

Spent the afternoon polishing the starboard side of TQ and I also cleaned out the hatch gutters and drain pipes. Lin ran round with the vacuum cleaner and cleaned the windows.

Showroom shine? Well almost.