Birthday…. Moving on.

Yesterday was my Birthday and so we spent it at Anderton.

We spent the day walking around the Anderton Nature Park and at the lift itself. It was a cracking day weather wise and for taking photographs of the bird life. In all we covered over 8 miles during the day.

Keith took me out for my birthday meal at the Stanley Arms, which was nice. The food and beer were very good, unfortunately their card machine was broken, so it was just as well we had enough cash on us. So like the Queen another Birthday has slipped by, mine was somewhat quieter than her majesties day, but I dare say he had a lovely time, I know I did.

We left Anderton and headed off on what was a chilly start to the day. We soon got through the three tunnels and Dutton Stop lock at Preston Brook. Midland Chandlers was our first stop to buy a new handle for our bathroom door, because the old one sheared off in my hand. Handle bought we headed off once more in the hope we could moor up at Bollington over looking Dunham Massey. we arrived late in the day and were glad to see there was still room, although we have had to moor on pins, which we do not like doing, because with Hadr being heavy, pins can pull out. Boats along here do not slow down, so we have made sure they are secured with our rond anchors as well.

All moored up, dinner was had and then a nice hot shower. it has been a long day having done over 19 miles today. This will be our mooring for a couple of days.

Harecastle Tunnel to Wheelock.

We had a sunny day which started chilly after an over night frost, but it soon warmed up. We had an 8am start through Harecastle tunnel, we were the only boat, so we had it done and dusted in 30 minutes. Whilst Keith took us through the tunnel, I got a wash done and did some hand washing as well, because his cords are to heavy for our washing machine.

 

A good run down through the bulk of the Cheshire locks, 26 done today. We had company. Linda and Gerald on NB Millie Anne were ahead of us, so we shared all the lock work on the paired locks. It was an absolute joy and it did not feel like 26 locks. Whilst waiting at one lock a lady came and gave me some wool and t-shirts for our blankets and rag rugs. Which was so sweet of her.

We are now moored between Bridge No. 156 and No.157, just west of Wheelock.

Stone for the weekend.

 

Oh the joys of waking up in the early hours and listening to the rain thumping on the roof, knowing full well the cap was not on the chimney and there for the rain would be washing the tar down the chimney, which would then run on to the stove top. Yes that is what greeting my thinking at round 4 am. Not being able to then sleep, I had to get up and put the cap on the chimney, just for my own piece of mind. Of course to do this I had to climb over Keith, who was also woken up mainly by me being on the move. Chimney covered, there was only one other thing to do and that was make us a brew. Thankfully after a brew, we both managed to settle back down beneath the duvet and get some sleep until 7 am. I am sure that with mature age comes the problem of sleeping some nights.

Because we were awake, Marmite wanted us to know in no uncertain terms she was feeling chilly, because I had allowed the saloon stove to go out, because we were getting to warm and because I had cleaned the fire out and replaced the fire rope around the chimney I did not bother to relight it. Because Marmite was feeling he cold, she crept beneath the duvet for a warm before I got up at 7.45 am.

It was still raining when it was time to take Paddy out for his walk. Paddy’s face said it all really, he was not a happy boy. He has never enjoyed getting wet, but needs must, so I dragged him off the boat and took him for a quickie.

Once the rain had desisted, we took a stroll into Stone to see if there had been any changes and it also gave us the chance to catch-up with people we know. The town has certainly changed and we did not feel for the better. There were empty shops and the ones that had been empty were now taken over by charity shops. Stone is a small canal side town and yet it now has ten charity shops. This to me is way too many for such a small place and it does actually over power the town. Stone is now a town of charity shops, barbers, hairdressers and places to eat. The pet shop which we liked went about a week ago and a Heron Foods shop which opened three years ago has already gone. Sadly the town has lost it friendly feeling, which it always used to have. Something is now clearly missing. Having spoken to someone in the know, I was told that the rental on the shops was so high, no one could afford to take them on, but charity shops are rental free. There has to be something wrong with that surely?

There are some very good independant shops still in the town, but they are being over powered by the charity shops etc.

Having been depressed with what we saw in the town, we walked up the canal towpath back to the boat, calling in to Canal Cruising to say “hello” to Pete, Karen and Charlie and then onto to Stone Boat Building to say “hello” to Kath and Brian. It seems that all in their own way are stepping back from their businesses and letting the next generation of their families take over. I guess we are all of the same age, when getting on with living is more important than money and business. Some of it has been bought on by the fact that we have lost people we know this past year and it really brings home to us that we need to make the most of everyday. Work and money are not the be all and end all.

We are still in Stone having caught up with lost of people we know including Roger (boat builder)and Teresa. We went out with Tina and Rob for a lovely meal on Friday night in Wetherspoons, it was Fish night, so it would have been rude not to have had the Fish and Chips, which was excellent. Unfortunately going to bed on a full stomach did nothing to help my Hernia. But never mind, we hd a lovely evening catching-up.

Saturday we walked into Stone, as I wanted to get some fruit and vegetables from All Seasons and Keith wanted a compass, which he needed for his new railway layout design. he is now on design number four.

Today being Sunday I got to catch-up with Clare on NB Foxglove, before Keith joined us and then Roy, Clare’s husband came and caught up with us, he has been working on their Historic Working Boat Admiral. Beautiful day today, after a very heavy frost this morning.

Tomorrow we are heading off.

13-04-2016 Great Haywood to Stone.

A foggy old start to the day. It was like pea soup when we left our mooring at just past 8 am. Our friends Dawne and Stuart came and saw us off and helped with Great Haywood Lock. We then stopped at the water point, to top up with water and get rid of rubbish. I had removed the nappies from under the floor, so we were able to dispose of them as well. I do like to get everything done in one go if I can. With the fog still thick, we headed off into the eerie gloom. Being back on the Trent and Mersey (Motorway), we met a few boats coming towards us. Three made me giggle, because they had their tunnel lights on. They are absolutely no use at all in the fog, so I could see no point in them having them on. Funny thing though if they were doing it so on coming boats could see them, then they should have also had a fog light on the stern for those boats following them LOL. Waste of time having your tunnel light on in the fog. Hoo Mill Lock we had a boat coming down as we did at Sandon Lock as well. The boat going up before us also had me giggling under my breath. He lady working the lock, said “Please do not do the lock for us, because the lady on the tiller likes me to do it”. My reply was “That is absolutely fine”. So I stood back and watched. She then said “ I get told off if I do not wind the paddles really slowly”. So there she was winding the ground paddle so slowly and then the steerer shouted “Its to fast” So the woman winding the paddle shut it down. If she had gone much slower we would have been there all day. Honestly I do wonder why some people are on the cut. Of course I understand when people want to work their own lock and I am only o happy to stand back and let them get on with it, but some people take the biscuit.

We had thought of stopping above Sandon Lock, but it was only around 10.30 am and with the sun now out and warming the skin, we decided to carry on to Stone. We were chased by a male swan. He had a go at our back fenders and my trousers. It does not bother me at all, after all he is just protecting his mate and nest. This was not the Aston one, who was happily sitting on the nest. For those who do not know the Aston Cob is known for chasing boats and anything that actually moves when he and his Pen are nesting.

Up through Aston lock and on to Star lock, which was with us as a boat had just left it. We met Nick on Aldgate, so I left the lock ready for him, whilst I walked up and got Yard lock ready. Newcastle road lock and Lime Kiln lock were also with us with a boat descending Lime Kiln lock. We moored up opposite Roger Fuller’s boat yard and the birth place of our boat. After getting a few things done, we walked round to the boat yard and had a coffee with Roger. It was lovely to catch up with him and to find out his plans for the future, because Roger is not building anymore new boats. He is going to take a step back and enjoy life a little more. He will still be taking on other work though and we reeled off a few things we needed looking at whilst there. I got to catch-up with Tina our boat painter and good friend. It was so wonderful to see that some things never change. The Stone part of the cut looks like it has been stopped in time, because nothing had changed. I had a quick chat with Nigel on Enseebee. Nigel is selling his lovely Dutch Barge after many happy years of cruising. It was also lovely to see Clare and Collie Wish. I expect we will see Roy over the next few days.

We will be staying for a few days, so lots more chatting and catching-up to do I expect.

Rugeley to Great Haywood. 12-04-2016.

After an evening of rain, and possibly rain over night, we woke to a very over cast morning. Birdsong and traffic noise woke me and so at 7 am I slid out of my nice warm bed to make a cuppa. Marmite had not bothered to come and wake us. Marmite was way to busy watching for prey through the port hole. Of course she would never have the chance to catch it, because as a boat cat she does not go off the boat on her own. I am not entirely sure she would know what to do with the prey once she had caught it, or maybe instinct would kick in, anyway she and I will never know.

Having got the back cabin stove going, I turned my attention to doing some hand washing, whilst Keith went off to Tesco to buy some toothpaste with a voucher he had. Tesco were offering £1.15 off of the toothpaste which we use, so it was well worth the walk back down the towpath and it gave me the chance to get the boat jobs done. I washed Keith’s corduroy trousers, shirt and pullover, which were all to heavy for our compact washing machine. Washing hung in the bathroom to drip dry, I turned my attention to getting the boat ready for the off.

We left our over night mooring and headed off towards Great Haywood. I do so love the countryside on the run to Shugborough, it is set out in the huge Shugborough estate and lovingly looked after. At Colwich Lock we met another boat coming down, which was great. The towpath was so incredibly muddy up and around the lock, thus making it all a bit slippery. It is made all the worse by the cattle which are in the field right on the bridge and where they have been trudging across the bridge the mud was particularly bad. Lock done, we headed off to moor at Shugborough. With a great deal of surprise there were only four boats moored up and so we decided to moor on the visit moorings below the lock. After a quick cuppa, we walked across the river bridge and into Shugborough Hall grounds we were hoping to see the walled garden.

We first saw the walled garden when they had just dismantled the green houses and the gardens were all over grown, so it was work in progress. We visited it a few years later and all the beds were in place and full of vegetables and flowers, they also had a Blacksmith making garden furniture and other items there. The greenhouses were still not repaired, but it was an ongoing project. So the point of this visit was to see if they had done any further work. Much to our disappointment we discovered that it is closed on a Tuesday. The place is only open Wednesday to Monday 11 am to 5 pm, darn and double darn we were going to miss it this trip. There was nothing else for it but to head back to the boat and for me to do us a stir fry for lunch, using up the cooked chicken we bought yesterday.

After lunch I suggested we go for a walk up the canal to see who was about above the lock. There were only a couple of boats moored up and neither of them we knew, although one of them was a trading boat who did clocks and barometers, which we had not met before. We walked up past the water point and on to the road. We crossed over to the Canalside Farm Shop, where you pick your own Strawberries. As of two years ago they have built a Café canalside and a fabulous shop which sells all local produce. It had amply parking and really well set out, so well worth a visit. Having left the Farm Shop we turned left and walked into the village and then back to the boat.

I wanted to go and try and take some photographs of the bird life, so headed off out again with my camera, only to be spotted by our good friends Dawne and Stuart on NB Teazel, who were moored the other side of the bridge from us. We were invited for a cuppa, which turned into two cuppas and of course we put the world and his wife to right and yes the topic of toilets was spoken about as is always by boaters. Dawne and Stuart are so lovely. We always look forward to spending time with them. Dawne makes the most wonderful things she is making bags at the moment. Stuart does beautiful painted items. I did a book swap with Dawne and came away with a lovely knitted bag as well, which was a gift. The time today has really flown by so fast. Looking forward to our cruising again tomorrow.

Kings Orchard Marina to Rugeley. 11-04-2016

We have had a busy old time, but with not having any data allowance left I have not been able to post until now, I apologise.

Having enjoyed a lovely weekend outside of the Kings Orchard marina it was moving Monday. A chilly yet dry start, so whilst I like just cruising in shirt sleeves, I did put my donkey jacket on.

Over the weekend we had sold some coal and met up with people we knew. On Saturday the historic working pair Nuneaton and Brighton stopped. Barry, Colin, Peter and Peter’s son all stopped for a cuppa. The cakes I had made earlier came in handy for the hungry men. Peter had also made some cookies which were yummy. They left us mid-afternoon and we then got chatting to a lady who moors in the marina, she was bored and thought she would go for a walk, her walked stopped with us. It turned out she was on the same Facebook group as me. Over the weekend we sold a few bags of coal some of it to Bobby and Tom on NB Rowan. I know Bobby from a Facebook group I am on, but this was the first time we had met for real. I also got to meet up with NB Tawny Pipit II, who we have been leap frogging. On Sunday Mike on Historic Working boat Victoria, he was heading down towards London, to take on a towing job. It is always lovely to catch-up with people and it makes for a wonderful weekend.

But as I said at the beginning, it was time to make a move for Rugeley. It was lovely going over old water and seeing the changes of which there were many, mainly due to lots of house building going on. We had a couple of close encounters with shared ownership boats, one on a tight bend and the other coming out of a bridge ‘ole. Just as well we knew what we were doing, because they certainly had no real idea.

At Fradley Junction we met up with Dawne and Stuart on NB Teazel and Nigel on NB Eagle. Stuart very kindly opened the swing bridge for us and whilst Keith did the turn, I walked up to the lock and had a lovely natter with the lock keeper who was on for the day. His usually partners were not there due to the fact he had been taken ill and was on his way to hospital. So I hope all was well with him. At Woodend lock it was nice to see the cottage bring lived in again because the last time we came through it was empty and looking sad. Unfortunately the lock is now sad because there was only one paddle top and bottom working, this made for slow going.

As I said before, around Rugeley there is a lot of home building going on. Family homes of 3,4 and 5 bedroom homes. I just wonder if they are affordable for the average wage earner?

We arrived at the Rugeley moorings and I walked ahead to see if there was anything nearer the bridge, we were in luck there was a space big enough for us, so having moored up, we locked the boat up and set off for the lovely new Tesco, which is right near the canal on the bank. I wonder if Morrison’s have noticed a difference, now Tesco and Aldi are in Rugeley. Tesco is a lovely big store with a café and selling everything from food, clothing and garden stuff. We had shopped with in an hour and so whilst I put the shopping away Keith moved us further out of Rugeley and onto a ringed mooring, which would do for the night or so we thought. Having had a rest we decided to take a walk into Rugeley. I usually remember places we visit, but Rugeley seems to escape my memory and I have no idea why. The only bit I can remember is a small indoor market, which has an eclectic taste in stalls. The rest of Rugeley is a blur. Like so many towns and cities it has a lot of empty shops and is looking forlorn. Hopefully with all the house building going on, it will bring life back to the town. We did our usual thing and that was we visited all the charity shops. I am looking for a wooden box to use for my sewing bits and bobs, because my old one is falling apart. I have not found anything yet, but I live in hope.

We arrived back at the boat at 4.30 pm to the sound of a machine running in the nearby factory and it was right by our back cabin. We both thought if this machine runs all night, we will be getting no sleep, so we moved out boat to the other side of the main road bridge and onto piled moorings, it was going to be much quieter.

Dinner was a curry we bought from Tesco on the cheap shelf and very nice too. After a lovely shower we settled down to watching ‘Brave Heart’

Barclay Card Arena, Birmingham to Wiggins Hill Bridge, Minworth.

Today was the day we left Birmingham, having had a wonderful time all told. Although some youths threatened to change that last night. We were happily watching ‘The Woman in Black’ when I felt the boat move and noises on the roof. So I was out the back cabin door quicker than you can say Boo. Fove of the little darlings were trying I think to remove our life buoy, but having shouted at them they thought better of it and ran off.

This morning the sun was shining and all was well with our world. We set off at 7.40 am on a trip that I had not done down the Birmingham and Fazeley and as you will read on Hadar’s Blog, it had been a long time ago since Keith had come this way, but we had a wonderful cruise down Farmers Bridge locks, Aston Locks and Minworth locks, 27 in all and non of them to difficult.

I cannot post photographs at the moment, because my data allowance is low, but you can see a few on Hadar’s blog.

Catching up to do.

I apologise for not posting, but we have had a busy few days, what with all the fun of fair being in Birmingham and then Hawne Basin. Tipton, Bradley Workshop and back to Birmingham, so if you want to catch up with what we have been up to. Go to our boats blog. You can find out all the latest news.