Sunday 28 December 2014 Festival Park Etruria

Last night was cold, -4° but today has been wall to wall sunshine. The first section of iced over canal we uncounted was not until we were back on the T&M where it was about ¼” thick, this was after we had broken it.

We pushed off at 10 am and the other boats moored here had left before us so we knew the locks would be against us, not that it makes much difference with a stair case as you always have to turn one chamber  regardless of which way the last boat was going.

CaRT have tried protecting the off side brickwork on some bridge with wooden battens but even these are getting split at the ends.On one of the bridges they have actually fitted sheets of material to protect it. 

Ivy house Lift Bridge goes up much faster that it comes down, you can see the control box tucked away to the side. For some reason the bleeper sounds before the barriers go up as well as down which seems a bit excessive for the people living nearby.

The new houses built along the offside have a communal area with some steel bull rushes growing out of the brick weave and even here someone managed to find a Lifebelt and rope to play with.  

We remembered bridge 9 and removed the exhaust, Dickinson chimney and back cabin chimney in good time, as you can see its a low one. Just beyond here on a sharp left hand bend I met an ex working boat, he was coming into the bend and I was going round when I first saw him coming out of the very bright, low sun. I am sorry to say I caused him aggravation, something I didn’t chose to do but the only course I could see was go wide round him, maybe my first response of slowing down was wrong and if you are reading this I am sorry. This was my last view of him across the bend. If anyone can Identify and knows the boater please apologise for me.

I still cant get my head around the difference in capacities of the two chambers of the stair case locks, Was the overflow cut lower to save flooding, or where the walls raised by two foot leaving the overflow channel at its original level, the brickwork suggests the latter.

Back out on the Trent and Mersey canal we carried on north to Harecastle Tunnel. On the way we uncounted the first frozen canals we have come across this winter.  We passed the site of the old Burslem Port on our right with just a sign to say where it was. There are ambitious plans to restore the arm and port which can be found HERE and also the buildings of Middleport Potteries which does factory visits see HERE.

After winding at the tunnel mouth, (there is room for a 62ft boat to get round if there is nothing moored in the way) We headed back to Westport Lake where we had planned to more for the night, but considering how clear the sky was and how cold it was last night we decided to continue to moor outside the Toby Carvery at Festival Gardens. Well if it does freeze hard where would you rather be stuck? 

Today’s Journey 1 normal lock, 1 Staircase Lock, 1 Junction 2 canals, 11¾ Miles in 4½ hours.

Saturday 27 December 2014 Milton

It was reasonably warm last night but froze hard this morning which meant all the soggy snow was now ice and I couldn’t open the rear slide as it was about half an inch thick. but the morning was bright and clear with no wind.We set off at 1030 am and met several dog walkers and even some toboggans, The polypropylene  ones seem to work well on a thin layer of frozen snow. There was a boat moored just ahead of us last night so all the locks were against us.

The chaps doing the tow path surfacing have found a good way  to stop speeding boat, they put chicanes in the canal, There is about 40ft between the bow of the offside boat and the stern of the towpath one and then again the other side.I wonder if they will do the same for cyclists.

We met our first boat of the day as we approached bridge 31 where the contractors are moored double breasted, it involved me reversing and then us passing on the wrong sides. Just through the bridge are the CaRT services where we stopped to fill with water. That is where I sent yesterdays blog from. Once full I dropped off the bow line and wandered down to the stern, undid the stern line and hopped onboard, never looked behind after I hoped  and pulled away, it was then I heard a bow thruster. The boat we had met earlier must have winded and came through the bridge behind me as I stepped back onboard.

He caught us up at Stockton Brook locks and I apologised for pulling out in front like that, but he got the best of the deal as I back set all the flight of locks for him.

The boat is still on the lock moorings that was there before Christmas when we went up,he is not even at one end, but bang in the middle with one unused bollard each end. We didn’t see the following boat after this and it was at this point it started to rain. We were considering mooring below the locks but decided to continue on into Milton for the night, to improve the timings for tomorrow. We arrived at Milton at 2 30 pm and found two boats already moored there, we did drop in between them but noticed an overhanging tree which was right over our cabin, if you get light rain this leads to water torture with a constant dripping onto the roof, so we moved to the front of the line. needless to say after we moored up it stopped raining.

Today’s journey 9 locks, 6½ miles in 4½ hours

Friday 26 December 2014 Cheddleton Mill

Firstly I am sorry that this is a day late but there is no internet signal on the Cheddleton visitor moorings so it was not posted until Saturday.

Last night Diana cooked us a lovely Christmas dinner with turkey, sprouts, roast potatoes, carrots, pigs in blankets and bread sauce, this was followed by Christmas pud and Brandy sauce. It was a candle lit meal apart from the fairy lights.

We were as expected all alone, well that is apart from the owls, there was more than one. As you can see there is room for 8 boats against the pontoons, they are a bit short for Narrowboats but that gives more room to swing in the basin. The Uttoxeter canal will leave in the far left corner where the bridge is at the moment.

When we woke this morning there was not a breath of wind and setting off at 1030 AM the mist was hanging in the hills. We returned through Froghall tunnel this time without touching the sides and headed back up towards Flint Mill lock. On the way we pass through Cherryeye Bridge. This is a bit unusual for a canal bridge as the arches are not normally shaped like this. Also unlike most bridges that had irons to protect the stone work from the tow ropes this one has hard wood edgings.

Just before Flint Mill lock there floating in the water about 100Mt below the lock all innocently was yesterdays wooden log that caused us the problems, still it well out of harms way now and I expect someone will fish it out and give it a loving home until its dry enough to burn.

On to Black Lion railway bridge, here the tow path that runs under the bridge has collapsed just as it goes under the bridge so the area is barriered off and you have to walk round via the pub and I assume crossing the railway line.

Just passed the weir at Consall is a water point, there are no bollards or rings to tie to, its ether put a stake in or tie to the water point its self. We opted for the stake method but when we tried to fill with water the pressure and flow was so poor it wouldn’t go through the kinks in the hose, so we gave that one up as a bad job. As steady push up the Churnet which was still behaving its self we were soon at Oakmeadow Ford lock, here on the edge of the lock was some poo, to me it looks full of fish bones so I wonder if its a Mink or an Otter. They say you can tell by the smell but I didn’t fancy getting my nose that close.

As we passed the Churnet Valley Railway this diesel unit had its engine running, there were a few people about but we hadn’t see any sign of life further down so I don’t know if it was just maintenance of if they are running a service this afternoon. We did the two Cheddleton locks, passed under the workshop that bridges the canal and moored on the visitor moorings by the old flint mill for the night. We had been here about half an hour and it started to rain, so our timing was spot on. I have also had the freshwater pump to pieces and fitted a new diaphragm so hopefully it will not continue leaking.

As I couldn’t send this blog a couple of updates.

Firstly the pump still leaks, so it will have to be a new one.

Secondly we missed it being a whit Christmas here by 18 hrs. but I think it has to snow in London to be an official White Christmas.

Today’s journey 2 canals, 1 junction, 6 locks 5¾ miles in 3¾ hours

Thursday 25 December 2014 Uttoxeter Basin

We decided to wait until the sleet stopped before setting off at 10 AM but it was still raining. I reversed back through the bridge  to the junction where Diana had the top lock ready for me to drop back down the Caldon canal. There are three locks in the flight and it rained all the way down, but then stopped. We met a few dog walkers to wish Merry Christmas to.
At times the sun even peeped out for a look but there were always clouds in the distance.

Every boy wants a train set for Christmas and at Cheddleton we passed a big one, but there was no one playing with it today.

We met the only boat we have seen moving on this canal at Oakmeadow Ford Lock where we dropped down onto the river Churnet for a bit. They timed it right as Diana spotted them just as I started to move out of the lock. The river level was well down in the green and we were able to make good speed down to the Black Lion. We were making good progress until we reached Flint Mill Lock. The water was slightly down so I did what I normally do and put the bows against the top gate for Diana to top it up, I then just draw back very slightly so she can open the gate, at which point I drive in. Today I got just less than a third of the way in and stopped dead, we were wedged solid by a floating branch about 250mm long and the same round. The boat was held firm, I couldn’t knock the wood out of the way. We spent some little time in full astern, followed by ahead, repeated lots of times in quick succession before we finally started to move backwards. I really didn’t want to have Christmas dinner stuck in a lock.
However had I have stopped earlier and let Diana off to set the lock I would have been going much faster when I jammed and would probably still have been there.

At the bottom of Flint Mill Lock the C&RT have hung a PVC strip curtain to show the clearance of Froghall Tunnel. As you can see we just clear it.

From here it is not far to Froghall Tunnel and there is a similar gauge curtain hanging there but some of the pieces are missing, which is just as well because once the front of the boat passes under the curtain it is not possible to see where it is so without being able to see where the missing bits are you would have no view of the tunnel at all, as it is you cant see the front corners of the cabin which is how I again scraped the paint in the same spot as last time.

Less that quarter of a mile  the other side of the tunnel you come to the locks on your right that will one day take you to Uttoxeter at the moment they just drop to the basin, which is where we are moored for the night, we are the only boat in here on the finger pontoons. The blue line shows our route from the tunnel to the moorings.  Had we have continued straight on along the Caldon Canal we would have come to the terminus about 100 yds beyond bridge 55. You can see the Uttoxeter canal going off to the right.

So this is Christmas and we will spend it moored her by ourselves. The turkey is in the oven and the pudding has been steaming. Diana made our Christmas cake which we have already started on. No sooner had we moored up and it started to rain again.

Today’s Journey 7 ¾ miles 2 junctions (one backwards) 2 canals. 9 locks in 4¼ hours.

 

A very Merry Christmas to all who read these blogs.

Wednesday 24 December 2014 Hazelhurst Locks

Nice and quiet last night other than the sound of the rain, thankfully all the geese cleared off early evening, that just left the sound of the rain.

This morning was bright and clear, but colder than yesterday. The sun was up and very few clouds to be seen. We pushed off at 9-15 AM and straight into the Bedford Street staircase locks.
The bottom chamber has a very large overflow, maybe it was enlarged because people operated the lock incorrectly and flooded the lower chamber? I am sure that with a shallower overflow very little water would be lost over it with correct operation.

We passed notices appealing for sighting of the poor chap that was found in the canal on Monday near the park. 

We had a slight misunderstanding with bridge 9, I lowered the exhaust but the bridge was about a foot lower than I realised so it wiped out the weather station and ripped the chimney from the diesel stove which rolled off the roof into the cut before I could catch it. We did manage to find it again feeling around under the bridge with the boat pole and once located managed to retrieve it with the boat hook. I was pleased to get it back as its a twin walled stainless steel one costing about £250. I was quite surprised that under the bridge in the centre of the canal I was unable to touch the bottom with the boat hook. The chimney required a slight bashing with the windlass before I could get it to fit on the stub again.

Over the course of the day the wind picked up and the temperature seemed to drop a bit lower and we even saw a rainbow this afternoon so someone was getting a bit of rain from all the dark clouds that had been gathering.

One thing that has changed since we were last this way is that Ivy House lift bridge has been recommissioned and is now normally down again. It now has nice automatic bleepers, barriers and a stainless control panel that works on the tow path side just north of the road, it is hidden away a bit. I think it now opens faster than it closes.

 

Today our luck with locks ran out and they have all been against us. We found a boat moored on the lock moorings just below the top lock of the Stockton Brook Locks, he didn’t moor at one end, but right in the middle. Just through the bridge above the locks CaRT have been piling the bank and installing new lock moorings (where the work boat is moored) The strange thing is that they have edged it with what looks to be 4” galvanised angle iron with the angle sticking out over the water.It should be an interesting edge.

The Foxley pub at the old Foxley Junction was quite nicely lit, it was here that the Foxley Branch joined the main canal   We carried on to the top of the Hazelhurst locks where we turned right onto the Leek arm to moor for the night. As you can see at 3-30 PM the sun was well down and just catching the top of the hill across the Caldon Canal. Tomorrow we will back up to the junction and continue down the Caldon to Froghall    

We had not been moored long and there was a tap tap on the porthole, looking out there was Rachel who had walked down to find us. Her partner Richard follows our blog and from our travel pattern had correctly worked out where we would be tonight and sent her down to find us. Congratulations Richard.

Today’s journey 9.3 miles 2 canals, 1 junction, 7 normal locks and 1 staircase lock in 6 hours.

Tuesday 23 December 2014 Etruria

last night we had a great meal at Pasta Di Piazza, the main course pasta dishes were only £6-99 the same as the starters and good sized portions of very tasty food, however I thought the wine a bit pricy at £16+ for a bottle of house Rose.

The boat is now decked out for Christmas with 360 flashing LEDs and a mini Christmas tree with another couple of dozen.

A much quieter night and this morning we were off just after
9-15 AM. A boat had just come down the locks and set the scene for the day, we only had to turn one at Meaford. Many years ago the canal use to run further to the west from the bottom lock at Meaford, rejoining just below the top lock. 

The first boat we met who had just left Trentham lock told me they follow this blog, but I failed to get the boat name but am fairly certain it had Melbourne after the name, so was a long way from home. I hope you moored OK in Stone.
CaRT have done a lot of work reducing leaks on the bottom lock gates, this has involved fitting new wooden strips where the mitre faces come together. They are working quite well at the moment and if the fitting adjustments have been made on the lock gates and not the new trims they when they wear they can easily be replaced with standard dimension new ones with minimal adjustment.

I was rather impressed with this carving in front of a canal side bungalow in Trentham, I hope it doesn’t crack and split being outside.

I don’t know if they make railway wheels in Stoke or whether they assemble the bogies but there is a yard full of them by the canal, some are shiny like these and others rusty.

It always makes me smile passing the Dolphin with their name board, I can see how some of the items go together, but Country and Western line dancing?

I worked us up the 5 Stoke locks with Diana driving and two elderly ladies enquired if the locks were still operational at the first one we came to. I walked ahead setting and as I rounded the bend to Stoke Lock 39 I could see it was full and a chap by the top gate, it was another boat coming down, so after nipping back and indicating for Diana to hold back I helped them down, it turned out they were with friends who were on a hire boat just setting the top lock so that upped the number of boats on the move today to 4. We passed the second boat between the two locks and once at the summit turned hard right onto the Caldon canal mooring on the 48 hr moorings in front of the museum. The boat behind informed me that the canal was closed yesterday while they retrieved the body of a chap they think drowned himself at one of the locks. The details are here.

Today’s journey 9.5 miles, 14 lock, 1 junction and 2 canals in just over 5 hours.

Monday 22 December 2014 Stone.

It was a tad windy last night, not continuously but some very strong gusts. We were away this morning shortly before 10 am. and were soon at Colwich lock where we met the first boat of the day which of course put the locks in our favour and we only turned one all day.

On the long pound above Colwich lock someone has gone to the trouble decorating a living Christmas tree on the off side, it must have been a good half mile walk for them.

We stopped in Gt Haywood to fill up with water, by now although still breezy it was quite warm and I was steering without a coat on. When I say breezy we have recorded gusts over 40 mph today, but it hasn’t caused us any problem.

Once full or water it was straight on up the T&M through Hoo Mill lock. Along this stretch of canal we have seen several old gipsy vans and horse drawn delivery vans, I think most have been put away for the winter now, but this one was still out. A little further on was a large pile of old lock gates, the most I have ever seen in one place. There must be a use for them if it was only to salvage the iron work. As we approached a moored boat a lady waved us down and asked if we thought it safe to move as they had been moored there waiting for the wind to drop, as we had met a couple of boats who seemed to be doing OK I told her I thought it would be OK.

On the land to the off side of the canal there are a few ponds and a couple of them have some interesting looking duck houses, this one looks as if it is tethered in the centre of the pond by an overhead cable run between the bank and a tree. I will try for some shots of the others on our return.

By now the sky behind us was quite blue and bright but ahead was quite overcast and threatened rain, we felt the odd spot but other than that it stayed dry but very dull, I misjudged the time by an hour.

We arrived at Stone just on 3 pm and the first mooring we found was a 48 hrs one just before the winding hole below the locks and there was just the one space, so we have tucked in there for the night.

We walked to Morrison's and bought a Turkey crown for Christmas diner. I would guess there will be some bargains to be had in a couple of days time looking at the stock levels.

Today’s journey 12 miles, 1 junction, 6 locks in 5 1/4 hours

Sunday 21 December 2014 Wolseley Bridge

The new Thetford Bypass definitely speeds the journey from Norwich to the A14, but we saw one car that couldn’t handle the high speed facing way on the grass verge with the front pulled off.

We arrived at the boat a few minutes before 12 o’clock and after unloading the car I refilled the fresh water system on the boat and got the stove alight, even doing that we slipped the moorings at 12-30 pm and headed out onto the canal turning left towards Rugeley.  The first obstacle was an off side tree across the cut, but someone had cut the end branches so there was just room to get a Narrowboat passed on the towpath side. We actually met a couple of boats, one just passed bridge 55 nicely in the open but the second was as we passed the boats on winter moorings at Handsacre where there was a branch sticking out from the offside that made is presence felt in her cratch and down the right hand side of her boat.

I just managed to get a photo of this heron before he headed for pastures new.

A clear run through the tunnel and at the far end I was able to get a full photo of this chap as the boat that is normally moored here was out.

We had planned to fill with water at the end of the long term moorings at Armitage but there was a boat there already and we have half a tank, so a job for tomorrow.

On the outskirts of Rugeley there are two adjoining gardens each with birds of prey and today they were sitting on the lawn, I managed a shot of the second of the pair. he obviously didn’t like the look of me?

There were a few boats moored in Rugeley  but plenty of space for anyone who fancied stopping. At the North end of the town on the off side there is a chap who has a dummy speed camera pointing out across the cut, he now has someone keeping an eye on things.

We pushed on over the aqueduct and passed Taft Bridge where diesel is now 75p lt. I hope he is open on the way back.

We arrived at Wolseley bridge at about twenty past three and moored on the first bit of piling, there were another couple of boats a bit further towards the bridge. We had been here about an hour when two more boats came by in very poor light and moored ahead of us. One of them I recognised from Handsacre when we passed.

Also since we have been here I have discovered that the water pump I repaired last time we were out is not repaired at all and still leaking, I did get a new diaphragm kit for it while I was at home, but I have tried tightening the bolts a bit first to see it that cures it.