Day Four:- Castlefields to Dunham

More sunshine today, but not as warm as there was quite a wind. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of noise last night. The last time we stayed here there was a nightclub that went on til the early hours of the morning. There are apartments her now. There were a couple of bar/restaurants, but they were not too busy and they closed at a reasonable time.

There is a mixture of old and new around here, with Beetham Tower, new apartments and the old railway bridges.

We didn't set off until 9.15 as we knew we were only going to Dunham. We stopped near TDG in Trafford Park to say hi to Carl's daughters, Emma & Suzy, who both work there.

We stopped at Stretford Marina for water. The tap on the canal side is useless, hardly more than a dribble. We ended up pulling the boat back to the tap inside the marina, which involved Carl climbing round a fence. This tap was much better.

We stopped off at Broadheath so that Carl could walk home to get his spare specs. He's happy now, he can read again. Liz walked over to Aldi to pick up some shopping. We moored at Dunham on the non towpath side just over Dunham underbridge. A total of 10 miles today.

Day Three:- Dover to Castlefields

Another scorcher. Up early again and the sun is already hot. Definitely need plenty of sun cream today. We sat around in the sun for a while before setting off about 8.30. Not so many people around today, but a few dog walkers. This stretch of the canal has a good towpath and is very good for walkers and cyclists.

We saw a kingfisher along the stretch between Dover and Plank Lane. It was too fast to photograph and didn't settle anywhere. There was, however, a narrowboat called Kingfisher sinking in a winding hole that I managed to snap!

We were through Plank Lane just after 9.00 and then it was a leisurely cruise through to Manchester, through Trafford Park and past Manchester United football ground.

We moored in Castlefield Basin and sat out in the sun people watching. It's not often that we moor in cities or towns. Total travelling today was 17 miles.

The laptop crashed several times while I was trying to update the blog so I have typed it in word and pasted it into blogger. I decided it would be quicker that way. I then had another go at resolving the problem and removed the GPS software that I loaded before we left home. Touch wood, it hasn't crashed since and it is letting me upload photos. I am now going back to upload photos to the previous posts

Day Two:- Dunham to Dover

A brilliant signal on the mobile broadband today, much faster than yesterday. The trouble is that my laptop keeps crashing. I used XP for years without once seeing the dreaded blue screen. This laptop has vista on it and I've had the blue error screen about ten times over the last three days. I probably won't be able to solve it until we get home.

Anyway, back to cruising. We got up early this morning and the sun was already out. Blue sky, with hardly any clouds. We set off just before 8.00. it was already warm enough for shorts. As we passed through Altrincham to Sale, we met loads of rowers. There is a rowing club at Walton Park in Sale and they are always out early on a Sunday morning practising.

There were also lots of fishermen about, including some fishing matches. Almost all of them were friendly. We have found this along the Bridgewater Canal. They often chat to us as we pass. not like some other waterways where they make every effort to avoid looking at you.

We turned onto the Leigh branch at 10.00. The stretch through Trafford park always amazes me. You can see the warehouses and factories at first, but there are many stretches where you would not believe you were surrounded by industry.

When we got to Barton Swing Aqueduct, it was closed off! There was a ferry coming down from Manchester, but they were having trouble with the wedges - they were stuck. They finally got them sorted and swung the aqueduct for the ferry. We had to wait nearly an hour before we could cross. It was worth it though as it's the first time we have seen the aqueduct swung for a boat - we once arrived too late to cross and found it already swung for the night and had to wait until morning.

We stopped at Worsley for lunch. We had read that the canal was being filtered to take out the iron ore that makes it red. It didn't look any different to us - it still looked like tomato soup. Through Astley, the water is very clear and you can see all the fishes swimming about in the weed. You can also see all the carrier bags and beer cans on the bottom! There were lots of damsel flies along this stretch.

We moored at Dover for the night. A total of just over 21 miles today. Maccs managed to knock Carl's glasses into the canal. Although we tried fishing for them, we didn't find them. A trip to the opticians when we get home.

Day One:- Preston Brook to Dunham

Well, I'm impressed with the mobile broadband so far. Mind you we are not all that far from civilisation, so I would expect to get a good signal. It's certainly a lot faster than last May when we used bluetooth, the mobile phone and a dial up connection! It's great not to have to worry about how long I spend typing this up as the charge is for the amount of data uploaded/downloaded, rather than by the minute. It will be interesting to see what the coverage is like in July when we go for a proper cruise.


We set off from Preston Brook at 10.30 and had a leisurely cruise to Dunham, a total of 14 miles, stopping at Thorne Marine for a pump out and at Lymm for a paper. We have moored slightly further on than normal, just past the Hall. It is peaceful sitting here listening to the birds singing.

Although it has been overcast for most of the day, it has still been warm enough for Carl to wear his shorts. The sun has managed to peek out from behind the clouds a few times, but no burnt shoulders today, thank goodness.


There were lots of boats heading the opposite way to us. It's Middlewich Festival next weekend, so I expect that some of them were heading for that.

After trying three times to upload a photo, I've given up! I don't know if it is Blogger playing up or whether it is the mobile broadband. I'll be disappointed if I'm not able to upload photos on the move as that was one of the reasons we bought the mobile modem thing. I'll try again tomorrow.

(added 9/6/08 - managed to get the photos on today)

Getting ready for a short trip

We are setting off tomorrow morning for a short break. We have stocked up on the important stuff, beer, cider and wine and a bit of food! Just got to throw a few clothes in a bag and we will be ready to set off early tomorrow morning.

We are not going far. We are heading north for a change. Along the Bridgewater and on to the Leigh Branch probably as far as Dover Lock. We probably won't go further than that as we haven't the time (or inclination) to go up the Wigan Flight this time.




We have bought one of these mobile broadband things from Three. It was £49.99 and is on pay as you go, which suits us much better than a monthly contract. We only need it when we go out cruising. You get 1GB for £10, 3GB for £15 or 7GB for£25. Each top up is valid for 30 days. Hopefully we will have better luck updating the blog while we are out than we did on our trip last year. We are actually trying it out now but it has disconnecected twice already, and that's in a good reception area. Let's hope it works on the cut other wise thats £49.99 wasted!

Another weekend at Dunham

According to the weather forecast the weekend was going to be sunny, so we decided to spend time on the boat. We left the marina about 10.30 on Saturday 31 May after getting a few bits and pieces from the supermarket on the way. The weather was glorious, warm enough for shorts. We stopped at "Sam's Tree" to see if Liz could find the geocache that is hidden there. This is the first one she has tried to find on her own. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the GPS showed that she got within two feet of the cache, she did not spot it. We will have to read the description again and have another look next time we are passing.

The hawthorn and wisteria have faded now, but the rhododendrons are out. There are lots of them along this stretch of canal and they are spectacular. There are also plenty of laburnum.

We saw our first cygnets of the year and also some brand new ducklings.

We had to stop for water at the Old Number 3 as we had not filled up since I don't know when! We tend to let the water tank get low over winter. our idea is that if it freezes there will be plenty of room for expansion. Haven't a clue if this is right, but we haven't had a burst yet. We spent 45 minutes at the water point and then gave up, even though the tank wasn't full. The water flow here is so slow and made even slower when another boat turned up to use the other tap.

We went through to Dunham Hall, but there were a lot of boats moored there so we turned round and moored in our usual place opposite the old corn mill. We sat out on the towpath drinking beer (Carl) and white wine (Liz).

Woke up on Sunday to a dull cloudy morning. It soon started to rain, so we lazed around reading the papers and listening to the radio until lunchtime. As the rain was obviously set for the day, we decided to set off back in to the marina after lunch. We had originally decided to stay out until Monday. Carl volunteered to get wet at the tiller, while Liz did a bit of brass cleaning inside. There is no point both of us getting soaked! Maccs divided his time between the two of us, trying his luck every now and then by getting up onto the bed, but being told off every time as he was wet. Got back to the marina about 5.00pm.