A 10 hours day today.

24th April 2019

Himself was up and set off while I dozed on. The sun also struggled to get up today, it was past noon before it made an appearance and shone on us. There used to be a golf course or similar on the offside just North of Alvecote marina, now its an enormous building site.

We passed through Glascote locks and headed North through Fazeley, Hopwas and Whittington towards Fradley junction where we turned left onto the T&M. The weather decided to rain as we approached the swing bridge immediately before the junction and remained on and off for the rest of the afternoon.

As we were ascending the first lock at Fradley, a grandma and granddad accompanied by a young girl were watching us pass through. Grandad was trying to explain how everything worked to the young lass but was a bit out of his depth. We offered them all a lift into and through the second lock which they accepted. Having briefed them and settled them into the front well deck Graham explained things as we passed through the second lock before disgorging them above the lock and continuing on to Woodend lock.

By the time we arrived at Armitage the weather had turned to shipping forecast style ‘squally
showers’ (aka bank holiday weather :^) We continued on past this shed at Rugely which appears to be gradually collapsing to eventually moor for the night at Wolseley Bridge.

Graham was amused that the special reserved swan area at the Taft was being completely ignored by the swans who had made a nest at the other end of the moored boat. Obviously they cannot read the sign.

A ten hour day to do 29 lock miles.

Tonight's dinner was a chicken and veg curry; the Pataks butter chicken jar was dated best before 2015 but was still OK; was it OK to accompany it with Staffordshire oatcakes and call them Roti Staffs?

Brenda

St George’s Day

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 (however the Church of England thinks different)

The day started with Owls (or an Owl) dominating the dawn chorus at 5:30am. We were not moored in ‘Hooty Wol Woods’ so that is definitely not fair!

Graham was up and at-em early in the engineering department.The water had not been getting hot when the engine was running so he suspected so it was time to investigate. After much deliberation
he turned cardiac surgeon and decided that there must be a one-way valve in the system that was interrupting the flow. He opened ‘her up’and found that there was a valve in the bottom connector on the new calorifier and that it was clogged up with rubbish carried in the cooling water and so was effectively a ‘no way’ valve. Our hot water system had a heart attack. No scrubs needed, valve and muck removed and circulation restored. Unlike humans, no replacement valve was needed.

Things one can buy canalside – for the person who has everything, Alpaca poo at only £3 per bag. It must be good stuff at that price. The woods approaching Atherstone are full of Bluebells – a lovely sight.

We made a shopping stop in Atherstone after the 5th lock. Everything we wanted was available except DIY wubber gwubs – a lovely place to shop. No Alpaca poo though.

Completed the flight of locks, dumped our rubbish at Grendon Sani-station and then carried on to Alvecote where we eat in the Samuel Barlow this evening – the steaks were excellent although there was an acute shortage of ale on the handpumps – I suspect they had a very busy bank holiday weekend in the lovely weather we were blessed with.

Brenda

That Deja Vu feeling

Monday 22nd April 2019

Glory be – sunshine and warmth all over Easter which is so unusual for a Bank Holiday.
I had a couple of last minute jobs to do as well as filling the water tank, doing a pumpout and depositing all the ‘not wanted on voyage’ stuff in the car.

After a couple of hours I noticed that the pipes from the engine feeding the lower coil on the calorifier didn't seem to be getting hot. I tried disconnecting them at the tank end and there was water there so I decided there must be a one-way valve in the bottom of the coil so we pulled over and I swapped the two pipes over. After that the feed pipe started to get warm but still

did not heat up the water enough. There was an unusual duck adjacent to Charity Dock - looks like a black Indian Runner duck as it's stood upright. It would appear that Jemima Puddleduck was also an Indian Runner duck.

We continued on, through Hawkesbury junction and up the Coventry canal to Springwood where we moored for the night. I tried bleeding any air out of the pipes but there is something wrong with the engine circuit. The Alde circuit works well and so we heated the water up with that so Brenda could have a shower this evening.

This evening’s mooring is accompanied by lots of bird song, one of Brenda’s favourite sounds.
Graham

Easter Weekend work party

Saturday/Sunday 20th & 21st April 2019

When you go somewhere exotic for a holiday, the first couple of days are fine then it’s days spend in the bathroom – why should Jannock be any different?

I was up early, washed, dressed and ready to ackle – no change there then. Sufficient water stored, I went to turn off the water pump and found that it was leaking as well. Luckily we always carry a spare for that – currently sat in a soggy carboard box beside the leaking pump.
All three water system components have failed at once, what are the chances of that? At least all can be fixed whilst we are at the mooring with a car handy if more items are needed.

Old calorifier removed and new one installed in order to get the water back on as soon as possible. Then remove the old Alde boiler. Chimney connector was welded in place to the top of the boiler by internal corrosion so it had to be cut off in order to get the boiler out. New aluminium pipe required. Rang Midland Chandlers, they have one in stock so arranged to go and fetch it in the morning. Replaced water pump and turned it on to refill the system – only
one weeping joint which sealed itself when I wiggled it. OK we’ll test the new immersion heater – it’s brilliant and meant that I could have a nice hot shower at the end of a hard day’s work.

In the evening Pat and Mike (nb Nuggler) popped round for an evening of home brewed beer and sewing natter. As they left we spotted a fabulous red moon rising.



Sunday morning and I went back to Braunston to get the chimney extension pipe. They had said on the phone yesterday afternoon that they opened at 9am. They actually open at 10 am on a Sunday and so breakfast was an cerial bar and a cube of juice from the emergency stock kept in the Touran while I waited. Then back to Brinklow to rebuild the new Alde heat exchanger unit into the old case and fit into the narrow gap beside the airing cupboard. The chimney still had a large lump of aluminium tube stuck in the bottom of it which needed extracting. Then refit it onto the roof and the boiler. Talk about a boatman’s holiday ;^)

Deep joy, the new calorifier is so well insulated that there was plenty of hot water available in the morning even though the immersion heater had only been on for an hour or so. Hopefully in future there will be no requirement to run the engine for several hours in order to have a morning shower.
While we were eating dinner in the cratch one of the local ducks hopped onto the front of our neighbours boat and started tapping the glass obviously expecting to be fed - they've gone away for Easter mate :^)
Graham

Day two and we’re back where we started from.

Friday 19th April 2019
Last night, when I turned on the Alde boiler, the unit made some horrible cracking noises as the flame started heating the water jacket. A while later all we could hear was air bubbles being circulated in the radiators. I tried bleeding the radiator and topping up the header tanks but with no joy. Investigation in the ‘black hole of Calcutta’ (aka the heating cupboard) revealed that not only was the Alde losing water but also the hot water tank was sat in a puddle of it’s own. After discussion we decided that tomorrow we would turn and head back to Brinklow where I could sort out these issues with access to parts and transport if needed for fetching bits.

This morning investigation revealed that a guy named Graham Cutmore in Northampton sells exchange refurbished Alde boilers but he’s on holiday and not back until 24th April. Midland Swindlers Chandlers at Braunston had the calorifier in stock that I required.

So, having been embracing the luxury of having an extended cruising season it a bit like one step forwards and one back again. We cast off and proceeded to the first winding hole, just after bridge 18, turned and then made our way South back to Hawksbury junction and a hard left onto the North Oxford canal for the run back to Brinklow marina. I spotted this old BCN spoon dredger moored just before Stretton Stop – I suspect it must be owned by the Rose Narrowboat peeps.
Back on the mooring, with little wind luckily, and straight out in the car to Braunston. The man there was very knowledgable about all this plastic plumbing and so proffered lots of little bit I would not of thought of to help connect the new calorifier to our old plumbing – we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. It also turns out that Midland Chandlers also sell the Alde boiler water jacket as a spare part so I’m hoping to move all our other bits from the existing boiler onto that once I’ve got the hot water on again.
On our way back to the mooring we did shopping at Alde and Screwfix and then collected Fish and Chips for tea from Brinklow chippy (under new management since I last used it but still as good) Brenda was pleased that they used cardboard boxes rather than polystyrene to contain the fish and chips – far more eco-friendly.
There may not be a blog post tomorrow as I’m likely to be up to my armpits in plumbing tomorrow.
Graham

The 2019 cruise has finally started.

Thursday 18th April 2019
We arrived at Brinklow yesterday and spent the afternoon preparing Jannock for starting a new cruise. Life has been very busy since I retired from work on 31st January and so we are looking forward to a bit of extended cruising in 2019 now that life has calmed down a bit.


We left Brinklow marina at 10:15 today and headed North towards Coventry. The trees in blossom are absolutely lovely at present.

At Stretton we had to stop immediately before the bridge to allow 5 southbound boats to squeeze their way passed boats moored three abreast at Rose Narrowboats wharf. We finally got through the bridge to find yet another southbound boat coming through the narrows. Luckily the footbridge was being left in the open position to ease passage.


Wildlife of the day – Water Voles (and very plump they were too) spotted either side of Ansty on the offside. The sign pictured is nearer Hawksbury on the disused power station site.


We turned North onto the Coventry canal at ‘Suttons’ and headed to Bedworth where we stopped alongside nb Grace and had a chat with Christine and Terry R. when they joined us for tea (or beer) and cake onboard Jannock. We said our farewells just after 5pm and continued on  past Charity Dock and Marston Junction before mooring for the night near bridge 16 (Arbury Park bridge)

Graham

More hop picking in the morning.

Sunday 16th September 2018

As we looked out from our mooring spot it seemed sad that there is only a single radio mast left at Hillmorton.

The locks were not open until 9am so while I slept on, Graham was off picking more hops – this time the ones we found late last night on the offside. The level of the pound was about half a metre down on normal level and the back pumps were running flat out as he walked down the towpath – I’m not sue how much closing the locks overnight helps.

The memorable part of our evening walk last night were the lovely smells coming from the Indian Restaurant in Hillmorton – must give that a try next visit. Just walk up the road from the bridge above the locks and it’s on your right at the top of the hill.

Four keen boaters passed Jannock before 9am and were patiently queued when Graham returned. We had a cooked breakfast before setting off and found ourselves with no queue and following the fourth boat to go down.

We passed steam NB Hasty going the other way below Hillmorton locks. I bet the stoker has a cozy, if not a bit warm, seat.

Come midday, just after Newbold tunnel, we found lots of Blackberries on the offside so Graham moved Jannock across and we harvested about a litre of berries.

Into the marina in a howling gale, Graham managed to get into our berth in one without even giving our next door neighbour a glancing blow. Yah!

Brenda

                                    The haul.

An evening picking hops.

Saturday 15th September 2018

Due to an excess of summer, and family commitments, Jannock has had a rest at her berth at Brinklow marina for most of July and all of August. During this time Graham has managed to do a lot of work that has been on the ‘to do’ list for about 10 years on her whilst she was located at a relatively secure location.

The rear doors were removed and taken home so that new wooden door liners could be manufactured and installed. Having completed them he then made a new liner for the front door as well. Before and after pictures are shown below. Doors and security are much improved now and the interior brightened up by the light colour.

   

               Before                                                                                   After

He finished by repainting all the poles and the gang plank.

The planned Soddit cruise this weekend was cancelled as Ian has got shingles and so we decided to have an extra weekend pootle in the sunshine.

As there is no Cutweb rally this year we had a pico rally (a cuppa and cake) with the Nuggler crew before we set off. They are out for two weeks unlike our two days.

Heading south out of the marina, we passed through Newbold and Rugby. Unfortunately, there were no plums at all on the trees just passed Clifton Wharf – Shame! When we arrived at Hillmorton locks it was obvious that we were present on a hirer laden day and some had no idea what they were doing or common sense to help. One lock crew member seemed to think she’d be useful just holding a windlass. She got away with it at the bottom lock because the vol-lockie and Graham helped, but after that it wasn’t a very good stategy.

We spotted the hops either side of Hillmortons top pound and so we went on to the winding hole at Tarry’s bridge where we turned and returned to moor up for the night above the top lock.

We walked down past the top lock and harvested hops from the bushes on the towpath before returning to jannock for dinner. We then went for an evening walk, during which we found more hops on the non towpath side that appeared to have a better aroma before heading to the Stag and Pheasant for a pint.

Brenda

And back to Brinklow

Saturday 7th July 2018

After a leisurely breakfast we approached the turn and lock, almost home.

The lockie information officer chatted as we worked the lock. This morning a hire boat from Braunston had been given a copy of every map that he had available! They had plans to go to Leicester, thing is they had gone the wrong way when they left the base and so they thought they could just “make a turn at another canal junction” to get back on track. Oooops, why would anyone set off on a canal journey without maps when they are new to the system. I wondered where they finally ended up.

Our plans are twarted ‘AGAIN’, by football. OK, England, World Cup and all that. We’ll not be able to fill with diesel and do a pumpout when we return to Brinklow marina as the ‘guys’ have better things to do apparently.

We may knock off early and go home rather than spend a hot sticky night having had no shade to bring the cabin temperature down from 30 degrees C at bedtime. When we moored up at our berth at 2pm, the cabin temperature was 31C and was sure to rise in this exposed location as the sun would be out for another 4 hours at least.

So – TOFFEE VODKA .  .  .  .  .    we decided to toast a good fortnight once home. We and neighbours all gave a shot a go and all found it to their taste – not unlike a thinner, less sweet ‘Baileys@ – recipe please?

Brenda

We tackled Atherstone flight early.

Friday 6th July 2018

Birthday of the day – Irina in Spain.

Graham was up and cruising at 8am again today whilst I had extra time in bed before we reached the services at Grendon (Bradley Green) to dump the rubbish and refill the watertank. Graham wasn’t sure what these wispy things were in the sky as we’ve not seen anything like that since we started this trip.

We then set off up Atherstone flight, G riding the trusty lock wheeling bike for the first seven locks as they are quite spaced out. We finished the flight with the aid of 3 CaRT VoLockies at the top lock in exactly two hours. Pleased with that for a boat with 2 crew.

As we passed nb Mr Blue Sky today, we have decided that there are enough boats named after music to create a “Boaters’ collection of music to cruise by” which would have a varied playlist. NOT like Andy Williams’ “Music to watch girls by” – a different cruising!

We notice as we travelled along the Coventry canal that it was obvious, by the little coloured marks on the towpath bank, that CaRT (or their contractors) have been out surveying and identifying faults to fix and offside trees to trim or remove. There has also been much removing of growth either side of bridges for instance to allow the surveying to occur as well. A lot of work already done and a lot more scheduled for the winter no doubt.

We moored near Springwood Haven, under a large shady tree, and ‘shock horror’ – got out a disposable BBQ. We had a lunch of lamb steaks, corn on the cob, roasted peppers and cous cous salad (OK – leftovers). Mango, banana, apricots and jelly for dessert.

A couple of lads came by in an inflatable canoe (LALDLI last week I think). Graham noticed that they only had one oar and remembered that we still had a wooden one in the engine bay that we found floating in the cut a couple of years ago. They were pleased to be offered it and accepted immediately. Graham noticed that they had an ingenious outboard (see picture) that consisted of a battery powered drill with a long shaft and a computer fan fitted to the end. When demonstrated it seemed to work very well. There are some young engineers out there – off to the pub it would seem.

We continued on after 3:30 and made our way down through Nuneaton and Bedworth before mooring for the night just before Hawksbury Junction. Graham decided it was better to stop before rather than risk going through the lock to find no space available on the moorings after.

Brenda

Onward down the Coventry canal

Thursday 5th July 2018

Wildlife of the day – Kingfisher ahead of us through Pooley country park.

Captain was up early and off! Crew stayed abed, claiming insect bites had prevented restfull sleep and she wasn’t wanted anyway. Bacon and egg sarnies were delivered to the steerer by 10am though ;^) On through the sunshine and the odd occurrence (for us) of being able to see both the sun and a half moon in the sky at the same time.

Saw this aptly named day boat moored at Streethay wharf.

Why is it that some live aboard boaters have lovely gardens of well kept flowers and vegetables growing on their boats yet appear to live in filthy conditions themselves. With curtains in tatters and so much dirt that you could boil a kettle on the smoke and tar residue as well as rrisking lung disease from the moulds growing.

We moored up for a couple of hours under several large trees just before Fazely and sat out most of the midday heat on the towpath. At 2:30 we set off again and passed through the two locks at Glascote before pulling over to visit the Coop store there. It appears that we can only spend our fortune saved on our Coop divi card at stores North of Stone as the Glascote one is like Thame, a separate Coop group that doesn’t honour the Blue card. Oh well, next time I travel North for work I’ll be getting in all the Christmas booze from a store that does take the card.

Approaching Alvecote we spotted this tyre floating in the canal and decided it must have been the inspiration for the new CaRT logo. After Alvecote we moved across to allow working boat Ling to pass in centre channel as he was travelling at speed heading North.

As we were passing Pooley Boat Services we were hailed by our friends Christine and Terry, from nb Grace, who were visiting their friends at the boat yard there. We stopped mid canal for quite and had a chat before continuing on.

We continued on and found the visitor moorings at Polesworth were not only empty of boats but also in the shade from the sun due to the high trees on the opposite bank – result.

We went to the Little India restaurant (above the Bull Inn) for our evening meal, excellent food with an unusual and excellent selection of beers for an Indian. Brenda even ended up giving the head waiter flower arranging lessons as the delivery they had received did not sit in the vase very well.

Graham

Southbound on a mission

Wednesday 4th July 2018

Birthday of the day – Happy Birthday sister Julie

Wildlife of the day – a family steak & kidney sized Terrapin basking on a tree root.

Plant of the day – a Monkey Puzzle tree in flower – never seen that before.

Graffiti du jour – “No licence hike, No gentrification of the canals!” Oh, so when the licence price goes up it has nothing to do with the rising costs of maintenance then. It’s just a ploy to get less well off boaters off the system then. Perception – what’s that all about?

We set off from Great Haywood just as a boat pulled out of the marina in front of us. We followed them through Gt Haywood lock and shortly afterwards arrived at Colwich lock where we were 5th in the queue to go down.

As we passed Spode Hall online moorings we noticed that CaRT appear to have rebranded their on-line moorings operation as well. There is a boat and a mooring on it, no ambiguous circles. Just does what it says on the tin! It can be done then? Any-one can see what this logo is about, we wonder if it was a buy-one, get one free offer. At least it’s clear what this one is unlike the sunken tyre.

Shopping stop at Rugely a restock of Jubblies, we’ve eaten a weeks supply from about two years ago in this weather ; Gin, the slippery slope and a reduced price beer kit – happy days.

We then continued on through Armitage, where we spotted this wonderful washing line, onto Fradley where we passed down through the three locks and turned onto the Coventry canal (pedant bait) to fill with water and then look for an overnight mooring. No luck so we tried a bit further on but the sides were too shallow to get close in.

We finally moored up on a stretch of piling about half a mile south of the junction. It’s quite close to the A38 so ranks as our noisiest mooring this trip. We normally dine in when it’s hot but tonight we sat out in the foredeck, in the marginally cooler air, and eat on the cratch table avec Deet!

Graham & Brenda

Plan Q is hatched and actioned.

Tuesday 3rd July 2018

An odd day, Graham was up at 6:30am to help our neighbours cast off for their trip back to Aston marina, they had a lunch appointment at a nearby Rose garden.  This was a trip that we were considering but cancelled when the Di Blasi was declared dead. Tony was still in his pyjamas as he set off, at least Graham was dressed for the occasion..

Graham drove the car back to Brinklow marina with a dead Di Blasi in the back, leaving Stone at 7:45 and taking just over two hours to get there. He had purchased a single train ticket from Rugby back to Stone on-line for seven of our English pounds (the prices for the single ticket varied from £7 to £42.30p depending on what time train you wanted to catch) and so needed to be at Rugby station for 12:30 for the 12:42 (cheap) train. Whilst asking Eric, at the marina, about the best Taxi company to call to get from Brinklow to Rugby station, he offered to take hime there in his own car. That is just one example of how friendly our fellow moorers are there.

The train took just over one hour to reach Stone, not quite the train trip we had planned last week but a train anyway. I spent the morning on Jannock doing various jobs, took a picture on nb Cactus pulling a sparsely equipped butty shell up towards Star lock (I loved the butty steerers seating arrangement – not a lot of protection from the sun). I then went shopping in the town and walked up to meet Graham at the station.

A late lunch, paid for by me, was taken at The Poste of Stone, conveniently situated at the end of Station Road, before returning to Jannock and setting off South at 3:45pm.

We travelled down through Aston, Sandon, Weston and Hoo Mill locks to moor up opposite Great Heywood marina at 7:30 pm. Time for a late tea and to catch up on the blog posting whilst listening to adjacent moorers cheering the England penalty goals in the World Cup match against Columbia.

Brenda & Graham

il Di Blasi e’ mort

Monday 2nd July 2018

We awoke, breakfasted and set off down through Trentham and it felt like going home. Odd since we haven’t actually been anywhere that we’d planned as a final destination for this trip.

All was fine and dandy, down through Barlaston and Meeford locks until we got to Stone, then time appeared to slow down as we joined a queue of 4 boats for the top lock. Every lock took an age, not helped by a boat-bobbing-breeze that made holding the boat whilst a lock was being filled very difficult.

We stopped at Stone Chandlers and Graham chucked 60 litres of diesel into Jannocks tank as he didn’t think we’d have enough to get us back to the marina. We had a late lunch of cornettos as proper lunchtime had long gone.

Down through Star lock and I held Jannock in a space on the 48 hour mooring next to the waterpoint whilst Graham went to see if there was a shadier space available further down. There was but by the time he’d let me know and then returned to keep the space another boat was about to pull in. Luckily they allowed Jannock in and continued up the line of moored boats on the promise of a 70 foot space available where I had just moved from. In our new mooring spot there was plenty of shade and it was close to the pre-postioned car.

Graham started investigating the Di Blasi as it had ceased running just as he returned to Jannock in Cheddleton a couple of days ago. Whilst working on it, he was approached by an old gentleman who said that he wanted to bring his boat up from Aston marina, to visit the Star that evening, and could he breast up to Jannock as there were no other spaces. Graham agreed and off he toddled. The Di Blasi was declared dead, no spark evident at the spark plug, and so another plan would have to be hatched to get both the boat and car back to Brinklow.

We were pleased to have a visit from, and share a beer with, Ian C (aka Norman the Narrowboater), it’s a pleasure to catch up with friends, always. We were then joined by Tony and Frances (nb Warwick) who breasted up, allegedly to visit the Star pub. After a beer or two, and Ian rushing off to his evening appointment, the chat continued on the towpath and it appeared that Tony’s pub visit idea had been abandonned. Finally we had to make our excuses and go inside Jannock for our late dinner. They gave us a bottle of Toffee Vodka which is claimed to be brewed to the standards of Student hygene – we’ll let you know. Then Tony went up the Star leaving Frances in the boat.

We heard him return later but we were preparing to retire for the night so the session was not resumed.

Brenda

Bye bye Caldon

Sunday 1st June 2018

Sun in our eyes woke us, Graham had his private sunbeam piercing through a gap in the rear slide whilst mine was coming through a roof vent – we must be pointing West then.

We set off and passed down through Engine lock to move into Milton where we stopped for a shopstop. You know you are a ‘special’ person when you hand over your Co-op divi card to use you credit rather than cash to pay and the till operator is so impressed he shows the other staff the balance details on the card. It was the most they had ever seen available to spend on a card, the divi earnt from our pre-paid funeral plans that we purchased earlier in the year. “ Become famous, or a somebody, before you die! “ could be a slogan for a future Co-operative funeral plan advertisment.

Brenda spotted this sign on a wall in Milton that amused her.

On our approach to bridge 13 we noticed a heavily laden cherry tree on the offside, ripe for the picking. It was not on private property so we pulled over and helped ourselves to 1 3/4 lb of lovely cherries – no scurvy this trip!

At Ivy House lift bridge there were too many boats on the moorings for our liking. Another stoppage at this bridge? CaRT had been called and apparently were on their way so we pulled over ready for a long wait. Immediately the first CaRT person arrived and used the ‘engineering’ panel in the equipment box to work the bridge. Then, as we passed through, a second person arrived to assist so no delays (apart from waiting for the two northbound boats to pass through) at all. Thanks ‘Sunday Call-out Men’ for your prompt response.

Dissapointment of the day week month, the Indian street food and sweets shop at Planet lock has closed. I hope it was because it was a success and bigger premises were needed!

We moored for a late lunch in the shade of the trees just after Bedford St staircase locks. NB Molly Rose passed by and Graham noticed the steerer had a snazzy hat retaining strap, windy days for the use of. We got talking to his wife and so they breasted up against us as they wanted the mooring for a couple of days once we had finished with it.

They are New Zealanders who visit for 5 months every summer to use their boat but are now selling nb Molly Rose because they want to move on to other things having done as much of the UK canal system as they have been able to do. We had a good chat and an un-ashamed Gongoozle as three hire boats tackled the staircase. No one got into peril and we just watched as they sorted themselves out. The most dissadvantaged were a Japanese crew who had difficulty benefitting from others advice as both their boating experience and language skills were very limited. All achieve safe passage and we had a lovely lunch stop. Thankyou John & Diana (nb Molly Rose) I’ll be making some hat clips soon.

We moved onto the Etruria services for a waterfill and rubbish disposal, then followed two other boats down the Stoke flight only meeting one boat coming the other way. Graham used the bike so we had a fairly swift passage although we did catch up nb King Arthur at every lock.

We then went continued on to Trentham to moor for the night as Graham had booked us a table at the Toby Carvery for our Sunday dinner.

Brenda

Farewell Consall Forge

Saturday 30th June

There is a lot to be said for mooring in a an English summer woodland. Waking up in dappled sunlight to the sound of the woodland birds chorus. Another plan thwarted today, we’d been told it was the Rail-Ale weekend on the Churnet Valley railway but it seems that is next weekend, not this. No steam trains running because of the fire risk so we decided to leave and head back up to Cheddleton.

I tried winding Jannock where we were moored but she was too long so it was down to the end of the wide to wind there, not an official winding point but we know from past experience that Jannock can turn there. Graham also now knows that it’s not possible any further up the river.

Exiting Cheddleton top lock I had to negotiate my way past a prosecco fueled ladies day-out day boat tied up between the lock and the bridge-cum-tunnel. As we passed they were shouting “it’s gonna it us! it’s gonna it us!” – fortunately we didn’t and passed them to find a shady spot to moor on the 48 hour moorings past the flint mill.

Graham went off to Bosley on the Di Blasi to fetch the car (and also pick up some shopping in Leek) whilst I did reluctant housework and cooking. We had lunch when Graham returned and then he took the car to Stone. I took a wander around the ‘closed – yet again’ Flint mill and took some pictures.

On his return, we set off again and ascended the Hazelhurst locks onto the summit and then descended the Stockton Brook flight before mooring for the night just below them. Another lovely day which needed our midday shady break.

Brenda.