Wednesday 30 May 2007

Wonderful memories

The holiday is over, but the memories will linger on. We had such a wonderful time. Plenty of sunshine, good food and laughter. We will have to investigate better ways to connect to the Internet while we are on the boat. There were too many days without a signal and even when we did have a signal trying to connect was very frustrating when it took 10 minutes to log into the blog and then the mobile phone disconnected and we had to try again. Anyway, here are a few of our memories.




Tuesday 29 May 2007

Day 13 Tuesday 29 May 2007

Last day today. It rained all night again and the rain carried on all morning. We came back through Preston Brook Tunnel at 11.00 and when we got out the other side, the sun was shining! Back in the marina, filled up with water and moored by 12.00. The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds and the sun was out. A bit different from the last couple of days.

Day 12 Monday 28 May 2007

Minshull to Bridge 206 on the Trent & Mersey canal. It rained again during the night, but it had finally stopped by the time we set off this morning. It was cloudy and quite cold. Luckily the fire stayed in all night so we put a couple of logs on and we soon warmed up. We stopped for provisions in Middlewich and had to wait ages to get through Big Lock. It started raining around lunch time. We moored by Billinge Green Flash for lunch and then carried on through Anderton and the tunnels at Barnton and Saltersford to just past bridge 206, where we moored for the night. We saw another kingfisher along this stretch. It was near the Northwich Victoria football club. Would you believe it, the signal kept disappearing when I tried to update, so this is late again.

Monday 28 May 2007

Day 11 Sunday 27 May 2007

Up early this morning to help clean the dog hairs out of David and Cathy’s boat, Jennifer, before they took it in. It rained heavily all night and it looks as though it is set for the rest of the day. David and Cathy were back at Empress for 9.30. David reversed the boat into the bay successfully. We helped them unload and said goodbye and then turned our boat round and headed for Barbridge Junction and the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire union canal. Volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Society were manning Cholmondston Lock. They do this regularly on bank holiday weekends as it raises money, which they use to help install mooring rings along the canal. They are also active in the Montgomery restoration. We bought some stuff from their stall and gave them a donation for seeing us down the lock. We carried on through Minshull Lock and then moored up around lunch time for the rest of the day. It has rained all day and we were cold and wet, so we lit the fire and the inside of the boat was soon lovely and warm. We had soup and bacon sandwiches so our insides were soon lovely and warm too.

Sunday 27 May 2007

Day 10 Saturday 26 May 2007

Grindley Brook to just past the Henhull moorings on the Shropshire Union canal. 13 locks today. The sun was out again this morning. We sat on the towpath eating sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomato and scrambled egg for breakfast. It got cloudy as the day went on and it started to rain a bit around lunch time. Just short showers. We stopped at the Dusty Miller in Wrenbury to quench our thirst and to set us up for all the locks we would be doing later! We turned at Hurleston and moored about half an hour further on, just through bridge 95. It’s David and Cathy’s last night tonight, they have to take the boat back to Empress holidays by 9.30 in the morning.

Sorry for being behind with the updates. We have had no mobile phone signal for a couple of days.

Day 9 Friday 25 May 2007

Blake Mere to below Grindley Brook locks. We had breakfast at a picnic table by the mere. We put a table cloth on it and sat eating bacon sandwiches and drinking coffee. Everyone walking past commented on how civilised we looked. It was not as warm today, the sun played hide and seek for most of the day. It was very warm when it was out, but there was a cool wind. We saw herons, canada geese, greylag geese, crested grebe and shell ducks at the mere. There were several cows and their calves on the towpath just past the Whitchurch branch. We moored for the night below the Grindley Brook locks. There were a pair of kestrels nesting in the hollow of a tree in the field opposite us. They were both in and out with food, so they must have had chicks. A jackdaw had made it’s nest in the same tree, just below the kestrels. There were hardly any clouds in the sky and we had a clear view of the stars.

Friday 25 May 2007

Day 8 Thursday 24 May 2007

Maesbury Marsh on the Montgomery canal to Blake Mere on the Llangollen canal. Yet another wonderful day full of sunshine. It was already warm at 7.00am. We set off fairly early as we had to make sure we were back at the locks at the top of the Montgomery canal in time to go through. There were a lot of boats going through the locks both ways. Whe we stopped for lunch, Maccs was so eager to get of the boat that he did not wait until we were moored properly. He jumped while there was still a big gap, missed the bank and ended up going for a swim! We decided to stop at Blake Mere again for the night as it is so beautiful. We had a barbeque and watched the bats again. There was an owl on the other side of the mere. We couldn’t see it, but we could hear it calling.

Thursday 24 May 2007

Day 7 Wednesday 23 May 2007

Blake Mere to Maesbury Marsh on the Montgomery canal. Opened the curtains this morning to the most beautiful view across the mere. We sat out having breakfast watching the great crested grebe, kingfisher and heron on the lake. It’s so peaceful here, we could have stayed all day. We got to the Montgomery canal just after 12.00. You have to book with British Waterways to go onto the Montgomery canal as it is a site of special scientific interest and the number of boats allowed to cruise it is limited. The locks at the entrance are only open between 12.00 and 2.00. It’s a lovely quiet, peaceful canal with spectacular views of the hills. We went to the end of the navigable part of the canal, turned round and moored near the Navigation pub, where we had a delicious meal with Cathy’s sister and her boyfriend.

Day 6 Tuesday 22 May 2007

Grindley Brook to Blake Mere. Yet another beautiful day. Plenty of sunshine all day. We had another leisurely day sitting around on the towpath until 11.00, before setting off. No locks today and only about 12 or 13 miles cruising. We moored in a lovely spot overlooking the Welsh hills and had a late lunch then moved on towards Ellesmere where we found a spot with a spectacular view over Blake Mere. We sat out by the mere for the evening. As dusk approached the bats came out and we watched them swooping down to the water to catch the midgies. We saw a kingfisher today and heard a cuckoo.

Tuesday 22 May 2007

Day 5 Monday 21 May 2007

Swanley to Grindley Brook. About 9 miles and 13 locks today. Plenty of sunshine again. Despite the locks it was a leisurely day. There were plenty of boats going our way and we had to wait at most of the locks as they were all against us so that we had to empty them before we could go in. There were not many boats going the other way, but when we got to Grindley Brook staircase locks, we had to wait for two boats going down. You have to be careful at staircase locks as each lock empties into the next one. You have to make sure that they are set correctly other wise you either don’t have enough water to get through or you flood the cottages at the bottom! We had a great barbeque on the towpath and sat out until 11.00 again.

Monday 21 May 2007

Day 4 Sunday 20 May 2007

Nantwich to just above Swanley Locks on the Llangollen canal. It was a beautiful day today. There was a mist on the water first thing. It soon disappeared and was replaced by sunshine. We cruised just down the canal a short distance until we could turn round, then came back to the same mooring to wait for Liz’s brother David and his wife Cathy, who are picking up a boat from Empress Holidays this afternoon. Sat out on the towpath cleaning all the horse brasses.
David and Cathy arrived around 3.00ish and loaded up the boat. We all set off onto the Llangollen. We moored above Swanley Locks and sat out on the towpath eating, drinking and chatting until 11.15.

Day 3 Saturday 19 May 2007

Minshall Lock to Nantwich on the Shropshire Union canal. The day started out cloudy, windy and a bit chilly. We had showers on and off all morning. There were several boats going the same way as us this morning, but we didn’t have to wait at either of the locks. We stopped off at Kates Shop at Venetian Marina and bought some new First Mate’s Guides. They are very useful as they show where there are shops, doctors, dentists, vets etc close to the canals. We moored at Nantwich at 12.00, had lunch and then walked into Nantwich for some shopping. The sun came out this afternoon and the wind dropped a bit so it was quite warm. The moorings are very busy, with plenty of boats moored, including two sets of hotel boats - Oak & Ash and Duke & Duchess. I hope they are not going the same way as us. They will certainly cause queues at the locks!

I was going to include photos in the blog, but they take too long to upload via the mobile. The mobile keeps ending the call before the uploading has finished.

Saturday 19 May 2007

Day 2 Friday 18 May 2007

Acton Bridge to Church Minshall Lock. Mainly sunshine all day. Cloudy for about an hour just before lunch. We managed to miss the rain today, probably because it was so windy. It’s been blowing a gale all day. Whenever the wind drops it is quite warm. The countryside is gorgeous at this time of year. Lots of different shades of green interspaced with pink and white hawthorn blossom. The banks are full of wild flowers, including wild garlic, which has a very pungent smell. We have seen plenty of ducklings and cygnets. We also saw a kingfisher, a pair of buzzards, plenty of swallows, herons and a sparrow hawk.

Friday 18 May 2007

Day 1 Thursday 17 May 2007

Preston Brook to Acton Bridge. We set off from the marina at 3.20. It was a bit overcast and very windy, but not too cold. We arrived at Preston Brook tunnel at 3.45, just too late to go through. You are only allowed through between half past and twenty to the hour. We unpacked while we waited to go through. We are only out for two weeks, but I think we have brought enough food for a month! By the time we moored just through Acton Bridge, in a lovely spot overlooking the River Weaver, the sun had come out and it was reasonably warm. We sat out on the towpath with our pizza and beer, listening to the birds . This is the life. Tried to put update the blog only to find that the laptop would not talk to the mobile. It must have been because the mobile battery was low. Now that I have charged it, everything is working again.

Wednesday 16 May 2007

Connected at last

We have finally managed to make the laptop talk to Carl’s mobile phone using the Bluetooth thingy, so we will hopefully be able to keep the blog up to date while we are cruising. Fingers crossed that it all works when we are in the middle of nowhere!

Sunday 13 May 2007

Preparing for the first cruise of the year

This weekend Carl has changed the oil and filters, we have renewed our subscription to River Canal Rescue (the RAC of the waterways) and we have bought some plants for the top of the boat. All we need now is plenty of beer, wine and food and we will be ready to set off. Only three more days at work and then almost two weeks of cruising.