Stats for 2016

Although this year we were on board for six fewer days than 2015, and only went out 5 times rather than 7, we cruised over 70 miles further and went through 28 more locks.  Yet strangely we seemed to spend more time taking it easy.  How did that happen?

A shady spot at Wedding Bridge, South Oxford

 

Miles about 589; 373 miles 6 furlongs on narrow canals, just over 134 on broad canals, and just over 82 on small rivers.

Narrow locks: 330, broad locks: 210. 

Moveable bridges: 48, of which we only had to open 19.

Major aqueducts: 2; Edstone on the South Stratford, twice.

Tunnels; 18, the longest being Wast Hills (2726 yards).

Days on board: 89

Strong winds on the Edstone aqueduct.

Waterways

We stayed in 3 different marinas; Droitwich Spa, Calcutt and Fazeley Mill, and cruised on various waterways, some of which were very familiar and some totally new.  The new ones in the list below are in italic.

Canals;  Droitwich Junction, Worcester and Birmingham, North and South Stratford, Grand Union including the Leicester Section and the Market Harborough arm.   North and South Oxford, Ashby, Coventry, Erewash, Trent and Mersey, Birmingham and Fazeley and several parts of the BCN ……

Birmingham Canal Navigations; Main Line, Wednesbury Old canal, Walsall, Walsall Town Arm, Tame Valley, Wyrley and Essington from Birchills Junction to Catshill Junction, Cannock Extension, Anglesey Branch, Daw End Branch; Rushall.

Rivers; Upper Thames, Soar, the Trent between the Soar and the T&M.

Moored at Lechlade

Places visited included Birmingham, Stratford, Market Harborough and Walsall, and we went up the Watford and down the Foxton flights.  We attended the Crick show for the first time too, and saw this artwork at Lowsonford on the South Stratford.

The weather was the usual mix of hot, cold, sunny, gloomy, wet and windy, with hail thrown in for good measure.  Though we’ve heard lots of people moaning about the terrible summer, we thought it was rather good – we certainly had a lot of luck with the weather if you ignore the few off days.

A beautiful day in May near Braunston

  and some rotten weather on the Ashby

Meg enjoyed herself whatever the weather.  Here she is in a rare contemplative mood.

Unlike last year, when we did exciting things for the first time (the highest summit levels, deepest locks, Standedge Tunnel, Anderton boat lift), this year we just pottered around taking in some new waters and generally just having a lovely time. 

Best bit?  Far too difficult to choose one. We loved the Upper Thames, and enjoyed visiting Stratford and Birmingham again, but also the Erewash canal and the northern bits of the BCN we hadn’t seen before.  There are still a few bits of the BCN we haven’t been to yet, such as the Gower branch between BCN old and new lines, the Titford canal and Wednesbury Oak loop.

A beautiful evening at Pelsall Junction.

Worst bits?  Getting jammed on a trolley on the Walsall canal, and losing our keys in Shipley lock on the Erewash.  Not really so terrible though, in the grand scheme of things.

Stuck fast on the Walsall canal!  Just close enough to the edge to get on and off at the stern.

We might grumble about CRT sometimes but their response to our plight was fantastic and they had rescued us within an hour of my call for help!  Engine power plus two strong men did the trick; luckily there was nothing near the prop.

 Chuffed is semi-winterised at the moment.  The Makuni heater came home with us for some work - de-coking, replacement of the wick and some gaskets.  Dave also bench-tested the water-pump so we know that works ok.  I took a couple of photos on my phone, but then proceeded to drop it on a concrete floor and it is unusable.  I put the Sim card in Dave’s old phone which is fine for calls but has no USB cable so I must wait till the new phone arrives before I can get at the pictures.

Where will we go next year?  Who knows – lots still to be explored!

That’s nearly it for this year …..

Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th November

On Wednesday morning, after a wet night, it wasn’t quite as cold as Tuesday.   Yesterday Dave spoke by phone to a Mikuni engineer, so as the rain had stopped he went down the engine hole to try what the engineer suggested; still no good.  So he carefully extracted the heater, not an easy job, to take home for some careful consideration and also to use the web for info – we have no signal now we have a boat moored each side of us.  We got on with various jobs for the rest of the morning.

After lunch, I took Meg over the top lock behind the Calcutt reception office and we walked along the towpath to Napton Junction before turning left towards Lower Shuckborough.  Meg leapt lightly over this poor section of towpath though I was less athletic!  The “path” to the right of the picture slopes alarmingly towards the water.

The sun came out and I began to feel overheated – that is, until I turned round at Nimrod Bridge and started to walk back into a keen wind.  At least there was some late sun.  Impossible to get a picture without my shadow in it though.

Meanwhile Dave had called in to see if the chandlery had any adhesive.  The plywood panel under the sliding hatch has rotted, and he had prepared a new one at home, but the glue he had turned out to be not up to the job.  They didn’t have any, so he came to meet us instead.  The sun was so lovely we felt really sad we hadn’t taken the boat out.  These crab apples were just catching the last of the sun as it went down.

By the time we got back to the boat the sun had gone and it was very cold again, so in we went to light the fire and eat cake.

On Thursday we went home.  In the morning Dave put a coat of bilge paint on the engine compartment and polished the brasses, adding a coat of wax to help protect them over winter.  The water tank is nearly empty but we haven’t completely drained the system yet.  I emptied the galley cupboards and we brought all the bedding home, so when Dave goes up during the winter he will be roughing it a bit!

Saturday 12th November; Dave called our friend Chris, who had a narrowboat for many years, and used to do all his own maintenance.  Together they poked around with investigated the Mikuni.  The bit that needed to be unscrewed was facing the side of the boat and just a couple of inches away, so it couldn’t possibly have been investigated with the thing in situ.

The little pile of soot you can see was not apparently enough to have prevented the heater working – that would be the broken mantle, which goes in that hole – or maybe is still in that hole.  I am not very techie when it comes motors and engines.  Can you tell?

Anyway, the part will be ordered!  As will the broken gasket below.

In default of a cruise, and working locks rather than just walking across them, I made do with the latest canal poem from Luke Kennard which at least reminded me of being in a lock; this is how it starts.

In the roar of 80,000 gallons to a lock
The engine thrums through my bones
from ankle to temple.

I thought that was rather good.  He wrote it on a trip between Skipton and Greenberfield on the Leeds and Liverpool.  If you want to read the rest of it, you will find it here if you scroll down about five screens’ worth.

My last boat job for this year is to calculate our totals of miles, locks etc for 2016.  Maybe next year I will keep a running total as some other bloggers do – it must be a lot less work as long as you remember to do it.

Fair-weather cruisers?

Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th November; Calcutt marina

Oh dear, that turns out to be us …..

We drove up to the marina in bright sunshine but the temperature was definitely wintry when we arrived.  With only an hour of daylight left for cruising it made sense to stay in the marina and get the shore line plugged in to get the batteries charged up.  The boat was bitterly cold and it took three attempts to get the Mikuni heater going.  There was an interesting article a while ago in one of the magazines suggesting that degraded diesel in the fuel line would be the culprit;  whatever the cause, we were soon warm and once the water was hot we turned the heater off and lit the fire for a comfy evening in (just a minor hitch when the gas ran out just before the tea was cooked, so that Dave had a fun time in the icy dark changing the bottles).

However, on Tuesday morning the boat was freezing (literally in the case of the condensation on the window frames), with thick frost outside.  And the wretched Mikuni just would not get going.  This was surprising, as after a few false starts it ran perfectly last night.  The light on the switch, which has different combinations of flashes according to the problem, just flashed regularly, which isn’t in the manual.  Then Dave discovered he had left half his thermals at home, and with the sun behind a thick layer of cloud, and a slight but keen wind, the thought of standing on the back of the boat for a few hours was just too much, so for the time being we are staying put.  Until we light the fire, we can at least plug a halogen heater in as we are still on the shore line.

Meg is lying in front of it on her Noodle Mat.  We bought the mat in the spring to help dry her feet when she comes in wet and muddy but as it feels warm to the touch she loves to lie on it as well.  It’s not cheap; the makers were selling it at £25.99 but we got it online from a garden centre in Scotland for £14.99. It works pretty well – we just have to get her to stay on it while we get her towel!  Effective for shoes too.

Dave went up to change the gas bottle, by car as we are a long way from the office and wharf, and in the process discovered that Mikuni no longer makes the model we have got, and spares are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.  Anyway, he thought he would at least put the new exhaust bandage on and check out the bits he could actually reach.  As you can see, it is not exactly well placed for easy maintenance.

After some warming soup for lunch we drove to Braunston, where we parked behind the church and walked down the footpath to the North Oxford at bridge 89, surprised to see two boats on the move.  We walked towards the locks and passed Ferndale (Ray and Diane) moored opposite the Boathouse, but it didn’t look as though anyone was home.  Sadly the Gongoozlers’ Rest was closed by the time we passed but we could pick up Towpath Talk from the stand on their boat, which was good as there were none in the office at Calcutt.  The Boat Shop was open so I called in for some milk and got Tillergraph as well.  Lovely and warm in there.  We went to the top of the locks and back, meeting a hire boat who we helped with a couple of the locks, but they only had one windlass so there wasn’t a lot we could do.  It was much gloomier than the picture shows and the poor hirers were freezing.

We crossed the canal at the marina and walked up Nibbitts Lane for some sausages at the butchers, and then back to the car.  It was dark when we got back to the boat, and we just lit the fire and hunkered down for the evening, except when Dave (lucky man ha ha) had to don full wet weathers to take Meg out before bedtime!

We ran the engine for some hot water, but didn’t cruise.

Calcutt again

Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th October; Fosse locks to Calcutt marina

It was a misty start on our quiet little mooring.  Meg and I walked up to set Wood lock.

We started off on our own at Wood Lock but a boat appeared behind us as we rose, so we waited for them at Welsh Road lock then shared with them all the way to the top of Stockton locks.

NB Ruby was crewed by Jo and Stuart, professional boat movers WeMoveAnyNarrowboat.com.  They are liveaboards on Nb Norma Jeane.  We made a fine team.  We heard some interesting tales of the boats they had moved – or not, such as the widebeam in Manchester whose new owner was most aggrieved when they told him they couldn’t move it down to the marina he wanted in the south!  (For non-boaty types – narrow locks get in the way!)  As you would expect, they have moved some lovely boats and some which are not so good.

A boat had started preparing to come down the staircase at Bascote locks, so we waited for it in the lock below before proceeding.

If we hadn’t had company we would have had an early lunch before tackling the bulk of Stockton locks but we made such an efficient team that it would have been foolish to stop.  Just as well really as there were a few low pounds near the top and no boats coming down. 

The paddles (which let the water into or out of the lock) are normally well below the waterline.  Bottom paddle on the left, top on the right – you can see in the water the mud which has been pulled off the mud banks in the pound above.

 

When I opened one top gate of this lock the boats’ roofs were still level with the top of the lock wall.  This pic was taken as Jo had started letting water down from the next lock.

I spotted a chap on a bike clearly lock-wheeling behind us so went back down to warn him what was happening.  Then Jo spotted a boat coming down and very quickly the water levels were resolved.   The boat behind us is waiting further back for the boat above us to come down, which is why the top gate behind Chuffed and Ruby is still open.

In spite of the water level problems we made cracking time and were in the top lock by 1.  We said farewell to Jo and Stuart and stopped for lunch.  The ‘stealth boat’, which people got so excited about a few years ago, is moored at Stockton Top marina.

We moored briefly a short way before the entrance to Calcutt marina, and Dave went to do the admin in the Calcutt office above the locks.  I took Meg for a short but long-awaited walk – she had chosen to stay on board up Stockton locks, possibly because cake and biscuits were being handed around….  The birds have a feast this autumn.  Folklore says it will be a hard winter!

We were moored up by 4 and getting on with a few jobs.  The basin tap in the bathroom has been dripping, meaning that the water pump keeps cutting in and we have had to turn it off at bedtime for the last couple of nights.  Dave couldn’t get the tap undone to reach the washer, as the tap started to turn against the basin top as soon as it came under strain.  It needed a ‘bit of wood or something’ to hold it steady …..

The Calder and Hebble spike was perfect, braced between the tap and the shower wall.  Job soon done!

16 locks, 6 miles

On Wednesday Dave walked up to Napton for the bus to Leamington and the train to Fazeley to fetch the car, and we were away home before evening.  We haven’t winterised Chuffed yet; just left the water tank unfilled and the taps open.

This is why Meg likes Calcutt so much.  She jumps across to the grass from the pontoon where we are moored.

Trip stats;

Just under 110 miles; 75 on narrow canals and 34¾ on broad.

85 narrow locks, 48 broad, 5 tunnels; Curdworth, Factory Tunnel (the covered area below the works on the Birmingham and Fazeley), Galton (twice) and Shrewley. 

New waters this trip; Tame Valley canal, Wyrley and Essington from Birchills Junction eastwards, the Cannock extension, Anglesey and Daw End branches, Rushall canal, Grand Union from Salford junction to Bordesley junction.  We think we have been from Kingswood junction to Bordesley junction on a hire boat or our share boat Padworth, but we can’t really remember.

Clean roof at last

Monday 10th October; Cape locks to above Fosse locks

Another chilly start, though once we left the deep shade of our mooring it was much warmer.  We dropped down Cape locks with Khayamanzi then waved them goodbye as we were in dire need of a water top-up.  As the water filled, Dave took the opportunity to refill the stern tube, I did a bit of washing then between us we gave the roof a sweep then a good scrub in warm sunshine.  It had dirt and grit from the centre ropes, tree debris and unidentifiable grot over most of it.

Back to fleeces and hats when we started cruising down to the big Tesco though, and again after our shop.  We pulled in for lunch in Leamington Spa, then walked up to Jephson Gardens which we have never got around to visiting.  Unfortunately for Meg dogs have to be kept on leads but at least we could take her into the Glasshouse, which is a modern-design greenhouse planted up with exotics such as banana, loquat and bougainvillea, the pink climber in this photo.  Free too.  It was warmer out of the wind and it’s a nice place for a little wander.  Only one picture though as my camera is playing up and neither of us had our phone. 

It was a bit chilly to enjoy the gardens and the beds had all been cleared of their summer flowers.  It must be a wonderful place to linger on a hot summer’s day.  The team of gardeners was busy planting out the bedding for spring, with trays and trays of plants on tall wheely trolleys like the ones you see in B&Q and garden centres.  It should look fantastic in spring, though it is very bare now.  This should look good when the autumn colours kick in.

There is a building project going on at the mooring but whether it is offices or flats or a residential home we couldn’t tell.  The hoardings have been decorated by local college students.

It was after 3 before we set off again, but as we hope to be in Calcutt marina by tomorrow night we wanted to get closer to the Stockton flight before we stop for the day.  It’s not pretty here and not good for the dog either.

We were on our own up the locks, though as we left Radford Bottom there was time for a quick hello to Trish and Dave on Traveller’s Joy, who were approaching – they used to live in our village.  Fosse locks were in our favour.  We collected plenty of kindling from fallen ash twigs around the locks, and I also managed to pick another little bowlful of blackberries.

We moored on a nice patch of piling in a sheltered spot halfway to Wood lock.  We had our second roast in two days – an excellent bit of beef from the butcher in Knowle and Yorkshire pud made with a recipe from one of the boating magazines which worked better than the recipe I use at home.  Yum.

6 locks, 6 and a half miles

Heavy Hatton

Sunday 9th October; Kingswood to Cape Locks

Golly it was cold this morning.  The sun was up though there was still mist over the canal and fields.

These boats on the way to Shrewley tunnel are getting more and more like a nature reserve with a young alder tree now growing on the closer one.  I thought the car on the bank meant someone might be looking after them but Dave said there was a fishing lake behind.

Shrewley tunnel was extremely wet which was unfortunate for our cups of tea.  At Hatton locks a boat was waiting for a companion, so rather than taking on water we joined Jenny and Michael on Khayamanzi.  Nearly every lock was against us but we were a good team with Jenny locking ahead and me closing up.  Gongoozler central though!  Groups of cyclists and walkers were already at the café, and strolling, but people were not hanging about to chat as the top three locks were still in chilly shade.  But the sun was breaking through so gradually all our warm layers came off and the shorts came out again.

There was a boat in front of us who had refused Jenny’s offers to close up for them so we kept catching them up even though we were only opening one paddle and gate at a time.  Before long the towpath was busy and we had a family with two little boys to help with the gates.  The parents were interested in hiring a boat now the boys seemed to be old enough to be sensible.  They worked so hard that Dave offered them a ride between locks and of course they had a little look inside too.  They were thrilled!

There were only two volunteers today but they were helping a hire boat which was finding the flight difficult.  So as the weather was hot, and the paddles seemed stiffer than earlier this year, both crews decided we would have a lunch break on the long pound near the bottom. 

We finished the flight together, then moored above Cape locks at about 3.  We were in full sun till nearly 5 and just sat about drinking tea and reading the paper which I’d bought at the handy garage by Ugly Bridge.  We had Sunday dinner in the pub later on as we felt disinclined to cook after the day’s locking – and we like this pub so didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.

21 locks, 8 miles.

The last of the blackberries?

Saturday 9th October; Catherine de Barnes towards Kingswood Junction

It was a quiet and sheltered spot last night and as it was Saturday there was little traffic on the nearby road, so we overslept till 9.  Well we did have a very long day yesterday….

We didn’t leave till 10.30, not planning a long cruise.  We stopped at Copt Hill Wharf for diesel, and Dave checked the weed hatch which turned out to have some souvenirs of Birmingham still wrapped around it.  Convenient for the bins!  The BW wharf round the corner seems to be their equivalent of a council recycling centre.  The skip in the foreground is full of trolleys.

We moored at Kixley bridge and walked up to Knowle, which we have never visited before.  We were pleased to find a good butcher, but no greengrocer though of course there was a Tesco Metro so we could get everything we needed.  On the lane from the bridge someone had put out a box not of apples for people to take but of conkers!  So I took a couple as I love conkers, and as they are reputed to deter spiders from your boat I had a good excuse.

We had lunch, and then I spent ten minutes picking blackberries – we had moored right next to a little patch with enough for a bowlful.  I had thought we had seen the last of them for this year.  On we went to Knowle locks.  After a very chilly morning, the sun suddenly came out and after hauling a plank out of the water above the top lock, and then a fabric growing bag complete with its compost and the finished crop – rather heavy that one – I changed into shorts.  While the lock filled I emptied the compost from the bag into the rubbish and kept the bag.  I rather think someone may have lost it overboard rather than thrown it away as they can be re-used many times.

Look at that lovely sunshine!  Knowle locks are well-known for being windy even on an otherwise still day, so you need to get the gate open before the boat arrives as it makes life much easier for the steerer.  The paddle gear was extremely heavy on these locks and I started to worry about Hatton which we shall do tomorrow.

We could see a widebeam coming into the bottom lock so Dave sat tight in the lock till they were ready to come out.

Although these locks are pretty and it was a sunny Saturday afternoon there were very few people about.  The towpath is a long way from the locks as the overflow weirs are between the towpath and the locks.  But the two families who were walking up were interested enough to come over and both lent a hand.

We had been very lucky with the weather.  As we left the bottom lock the cloud had started to build up again.

Before long we were back in fleeces and hats and by the time we moored near Kingswood Bridge it was cold.  Dave was pleased to find a good strong TV signal … all except for ITV, which is the channel the England match was being broadcast on. Ah well, it’s on the radio.

5 locks, 6 miles

A very long day indeed and our 10th canal in two weeks!

if you count the Cannock Extension, Anglesey Branch and the Daw End Branch as separate canals.

Friday 7th October; Perry Barr to Catherine de Barnes

Grey and chilly all day.  Well wrapped up, we were in Perry Barr top lock before 9.  We were hoping to see the CRT guy who is based here, to tell him about the dodgy bottom gates we encountered yesterday, but he wasn’t around so I sent the details by email later on.  Unfortunately the first 10 locks were against us but we got a good system of shared work going.

We eventually met a boat coming up and the bottom two locks were set for us.  A rather phallic lone chimney stands preserved amidst the new industrial units.

Spaghetti Junction seen from the north looked little different than from the south, but the planning and logistics involved is still impressive.

Beside the railway bridge that crosses under the roads is this dignified memorial, which you can see is kept clean and tidy and there is no graffiti unlike the rest of this area.

Detective Constable Michael Swindells was killed in the line of duty in 2004 just here, below Gravelly Hill interchange (as Spaghetti Junction is more correctly known).  He and his colleagues had been pursuing a mentally ill man who had been threatening people with a knife and DC Swindells was stabbed.  He was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.  The enquiry established that the murderer had not been taking his medication, though the police had been told when they enquired before the tragedy that he was not considered a cause for concern.  You may wonder how much has been learned from this.

We rounded Salford junction onto the Grand Union and moored at Star City.  We have not been on this little stretch before and hadn’t believed other bloggers’ description of it as a reasonable mooring.  But there is grass for the dog, and the Star City complex effectively blocks the noise of the M6.  This is a bit of an ‘estate agent’ photo though – it makes it look quite rural although a road, Star City and a car park are directly behind the hedge!

We had an early lunch and then dithered over what to do next – stay amid the wafting odours of MacDonald's, or crack on to get out of the city?  It was only 1 o’clock so we went on.

Garrison locks were all against us, but we made steady progress.  It was quite chilly and very grey but not unpleasant, and Meg pottered about happily.

Soon we were at Bordesley Junction.  Dave dropped me off before the bridge so that I could go ahead and prepare the first of the Camp Hill locks.  Someone's got their eyes on you!

I started to empty the lock then noticed something large and white roiling around just below the surface.  So it was a hasty rush to the junction to warn Dave of a builder’s dumpy bag in the cut.  It was too far out for me to reach it, and as Dave crept carefully round the junction it crept ever closer to Chuffed before sliding gently underneath.  You can just see it to the right of the boat in the picture below.  Not so much an urban jellyfish (plastic bag to the uninitiated), more a giant squid!

With a judicious mixture of neutral and slow ahead he managed to get past and into the lock, then handed me the boat hook so I could retrieve it.  By now it was drizzling so we had a fun time going up Camp Hill with our little extra.

Luckily there is a facilities block at the top lock so we could dispose of it, along with a large ‘bag for life’ that was lurking at one lock.

Then it was get a brew on, crack out the cake and get going on the long haul out through the Birmingham suburbs.  Small Heath, Sparkbrook and Tyseley were not so lovely, Yardley rather more salubrious.  The drizzle had stopped but the cloud cover was still low.  In spite of this the autumn colours, just starting, stood out in the gloom.

From Yardley, the canal runs in a deep wooded cutting.  The leaves are (mostly) still on the trees, so the housing and industry is pretty much hidden.  But enough leaves were in the water to regularly foul the prop, so although the canal is deep and wide, allowing a decent rate of progress, we had to go into neutral every now and then for the leaves to drop off.  There was a lot of other tree debris too to avoid, ranging from long thick twigs which caught on the bow to short chunky bits of branch.  We only saw three boats on the move today – one going up Perry Barr locks, one coming from the Farmers’ Bridge direction at Salford junction, and finally a hire boat just as we were shaking off the suburbs.

We moored at Catherine de Barnes at about 6.  We haven’t had such a long day for ages and were heartily relieved to stop.

24 locks, 13 miles, 8 and a half hours cruising.  Quite enough for one day.

What about those 10 canals?  Birmingham and Fazeley, Tame Valley, Walsall, Birmingham Main Line, Wyrley and Essington, Cannock Extension, Anglesey branch, Daw End branch, Rushall Canal, Grand Union. And quite a lot of it for the first time.