Locking fuel cap

During the summer our friends Anne and Ray on Jennyanydots unexpectedly ran out of diesel while we were out. There was no way they had cruised far enough since they last filled up to have run out when they did. The only thing we could think of was that they had had some diesel syphoned. Other people then told us of incidents that they had heard of concerning syphoning diesel.

Although the towpath telegraph often exaggerates incidents, with the increase in cost from 1 November we decided to look at ways of securing our diesel cap. Anyway, we came across the fuelock web site and ordered a locking diesel cap. It came within a couple of days and took just five minutes to fit. Problem solved. We can now be sure that our full tank stays full until we next go for a cruise.

A weekend out

At last, we have managed to get a whole weekend free! No one for tea, no taxi service for family, no house clearances, in fact no one asking us to anything at all. So forget the housework and the washing, lets take the boat out.

So on Friday 31/10/08 at 9:45 we left the marina and headed up the Bridgewater towards Dunham. We thought that we might go into Manchester, but the countryside was so beautiful that we decided we would rather stay out of the city. It was a lovely crisp autumn day. Very cold, blue sky, hardly any wind and lots of sunshine. The trees and bushes along the banks are so colourful - green, red, orange, gold, yellow and brown. Lit the fire early so that the boat would be toasty when we moored.


We stopped of at Thorne Marine to fill and empty the relevant tanks. It was the last day for buying diesel before the new tax rules took effect. We filled the tank at 75p per litre. It was going up to £1.01 per litre the next day for people declaring the 60/40 split, which is the split we will probably declare. So at least we will get our winter cruising and heating at the lower price.

When we got to Lymm, we were amazed to find that there were hardly any boats moored there. We moored up for lunch. While we were having lunch, the Mikron Theatre boat passed. Not sure where they were coming from/going to as according to their website their last night was Saturday 25 October in Huddersfield.

We moored for the day at Dunham around 3:20 and settled down by the fire with the papers. It was a beautiful evening.

Woke up on Saturday morning to a clear frosty morning. The fire stayed in all night so the boat was still warm and the kettle was almost boiling as it had sat on the stove all night. Carl took Maccs for his walk, while I tidied up an made the bed. After breakfast we headed up to Timperley, where we decided to turn round and head back to the country side. Emma phoned to see where we were, but we weren't sure exactly where we were. We were in the middle of nowhere, with no roads anywhere near. That's the fun of boating! A bit later on we moored back at Dunham as there is space for Maccs to play without bothering anyone. There were plenty of joggers and walkers about today.

Woke up on Sunday to a cold, grey, cloudy morning. We set off at 9:00 and headed for Lymm to buy bread and papers. While we were moored in Lymm, a large number of boats from the Lymm Cruising Club passed. They were on a club outing to the Star for lunch. Matthew Corbett passed on Midnight.

We carried on after lunch and had a leisurely cruise back to the marina, arriving about 4:00.

All in all a lovely peaceful weekend to help us unwind. Possibly the last cruise this year, but you never know. Perhaps we will get another one in.

Canal Art by Terence

Look what arrived in the post today. Another beautiful piece of decorative canal art by Terence Edgar. Unfortunately the photo does not do it justice. I will try to get a better photo to upload. We love Terence's work and we have several of his pieces on board Blackstone.

Castlefields to Dunham

Last night there was a very inconsiderate boater, who ran a noisy generator from mid afternoon until about 10.15pm. When we passed the boat this morning we found that it wasn't even displaying a licence!

Had a lie in this morning. Didn't get up until 7.30! We had breakfast and sat around watching life in Castlefields. There are two Bull Mastiffs living on a top floor balcony opposite our mooring. We watched last night as the woman took them for a ten minute walk and then locked them back out on the balcony. The man arrived home later and took them out again for about twenty minutes. They were then back on the balcony, before being put into what looked like a shed on the balcony for the night. They were given another ten minute walk this morning, then left on the balcony for the day. I don't know why people like that bother to have dogs. It's cruel.

We watched boats shuffling around. As one boat left the moorings, another moved from it's original mooring to take the place of the one that had just left. I don't know why one mooring was any different from another.

We set off around 10.00 towards the road bridge near TDG. Both Carl's daughters work for TDG and we always text to let them know when we are passing. If they can get out, they come and meet us. Suzy was not able to get out today, but Emma took her break and came down to the towpath to meet us. We had a chat, before carrying on towards Dunham.

Manchester Ship Canal Company must have been having a clear up of the canal. We passed a work boat full of all sorts of junk that was obviously from the canal.

We moored at Dunham at 1.40 on the non towpath side, just passed the entrance to Dunham Park. There was a lovely sunset this evening and a rainbow.

10.5 miles. 0 locks

Portland Basin to Castlefields

We knew that we had a lot of locks to do today and that the first flight has a reputation for trouble so we set of at 6:30, turned onto the Ashton Canal and got to Fairfield Junction at the top of the locks at 7.20. We filled up with water before going down the locks. The water was in a tricky place and Liz made a complete mess of mooring on the water and then getting from the waterpoint to the lock!

This is not the easiest flight of locks we have been down. With broken paddles, no walkways on the top gates, paddles that go down by themselves, badly hung gates and having to unlock then re-lock the paddles with a handcuff key, Carl had his work cut out. Liz had to contend with fierce winds and weirs/bye washes trying to stop her getting the boat into the locks. There were also some very low bridges, one of them knocked our chimney over and moved the chimney stack inside the boat where it was attached to the stove! It took four hours to get down the flight of eighteen lock. We didn't have any trouble with "bandits". A few people stopped to watch or talk, but they were all friendly and didn't pose any threat to us. One silly schoolgirl said to her boyfriend "lets jump across the boat", but he pulled her away, giggling.

There are a lot of new waterside apartments, especially around Eastlands, Manchester City Football ground. there is also a lot of building going on as you go through Ancoats on the way into Manchester.

The next set of locks was the Rochdale Nine. These are nine wide locks that take you down through Manchester. The canal goes underneath some of the buildings. There was so much water flowing down this flight that it was flowing over the lock gates with so much force that it was very hard to open the gates.

We got to the bottom of these locks and moored up at Castlefields just before 2.00. The moorings were very busy, but we found a lovely spot next to some grass, between two weeping willow trees.

7.5 miles. 27 locks.

(Photos added 12 Sept)

High Lane to Portland Basin

Another early start this morning. Pulled the pins at 6.40. For the first time in days, we could see the sky, rather than just a grey blanket up there where the sky should be. The day stayed mainly fine, with just one heavy shower around 10.30. The sun even put in an appearance during the afternoon. We don't trust the weather enough to let the fire out though!




After filling up with water at Marple, we turned left onto the Peak Forest Canal and started down the Marple Locks. There are 16 of them, all within walking distance of each other. Most of tehm were against us and had to be filled before we could go in. The ones that were already full were the ones that leaked the mst so they filled on their own. There was a lot of water on this flight. Some of the locks were so full, they were almost overflowing. It was difficult getting the lock gates open as the water was coming over the tops.


We had the flight to ourselves until we got almost to the bottom. A couple arrived at the lock with windlasses and helped us through. They had set the last lock for us and helped us through that one as well. Their boat was moored at the bottom and they started up the flight as we came out. It took us just short of two hours to do the locks.

The stretch from Marple to Ashton-under-Lyne is quite pretty in most parts. The second half of the canal follows the river Tame, although for most of the way, you can't see the river. Although the canal goes through Romily, Woodley and Hyde, the towns don't encroach on the canal for long. Most of the stretch is rural.




There are a few old mill buildings still standing along the canal. Some have been converted into offices. There are also walls along the side of the canal showing where other mills and wharfs must have stood.

We arrived at Portland Basin, Ashton-under-Lyne just after 12.00, just as the sun came out. There was one other boat already moored there whe we arrived. During the afternoon several more boats arrived and moored up. After shopping at Asda, we had a quiet afternoon reading, sewing, snoozing and listening to the radio. Brilliant signal here. Nearly as fast as cable at home.


9.25 miles. 16 locks. 2 tunnels.

Bosley Locks to High Lane

We got up extra early this morning to make sure that we were first up the locks. We set off at 6.40 - everyone else was asleep. When we got to the first lock, the last boat down had left the bottom gates open so we went straight in. As we went up, we found that the bottom gates of the first seven locks had all been left open. This was great as it certainly helped speed us up the flight. This flight is unusual as it has double gates top and bottom. The top gates don't have a walkway on them, so there is a lot of walking backwards and forwards. Luckily we work well as a team and both opened the top gates, which saved Carl some walking! All but two of the locks were empty. The other two must have leaked badly to fill up over night. It was very wet going up the locks as the rain was heavy again. Had to light the fire to dry ourselves out.

There are some beautiful views from this canal, looking out towards the hills. We watched the rain clouds blowing across the top of the hills and hoped they didn't blow in our direction. The wind was very strong and we were travelling into it, so it seemed like we were hardly moving. There are not many mooring places along here. The banks are all overgrown and the canal is very shallow at the edges. Most of the time you can only get in at the official mooring spots.

We passed Gurnett Aqueduct, which was where Maccs first joined the crew just over five years ago. Carl's daughters bought him for father's day and we picked him up while we were out cruising. We had to make a detour to pick him up. We told him this was where he came from, but I don't think he remembered.

We came through Macclesfield, Bollington and Higher Poynton and moored at High Lane at 2.00.
14 miles. 12 locks.

Westport Lake to Bosley Locks

It is one year today since Liz's Mum died. Still missing her very much. As she's buried in Kent, we can't visit her grave, so we bought some flowers for the boat in her memory.

We've hardly had any rain today. It must be the driest day so far, with just a few showers. There was a huge black cloud just as I put the washing out to dry, but it passed over without any rain.

We set of just after 7.30 this morning and got to Harecastle Tunnel just before 8.00. This tunnel is one way and there are tunnel keepers who control the boats going through. They count the boats in at one end and out again at the other. We were lucky as our side went through first. When all the boats are in the tunnel, the doors clang shut behind you and a massive extractor fan starts up.

This tunnel is 2926 yards long (2676 metres for the youngsters). It's profile changes regularly throughout it's length, getting very low and narrow in places. At one point it gets lower and lower and each change in height is painted white. It looks like you are travelling under the ribs of some great beast. We got through safely, without meeting the "boggart". After 35 minutes underground it is a relief to come back out into daylight.

We turned onto the Macclesfield Canal and crossed over the Trent and Mersey. Moored on the Aqueduct while Liz did a spot of shopping in Kidsgrove. Carried on to Bosley Locks and moored below the bottom lock at 2.40. The sun came out for a while, but it soon went back in again!

12.5 miles. 0 locks. 1 tunnel.