Worsley and a rush to get past Poolstock Top Lock closure

A day of some waterways wonders as we crossed the Barton Swing Aqueduct and stopped in Worsley.

This photo of the Packet House I took with my new camera. I'm still very much in the learning-how-to-use-it stage.

We moved on to Astley Green; now we might move some more tonight in order to try to beat the stoppage at Poolstock just before Wigan, having just read my stoppage alerts. Shame - I was hoping to look at the Astley Pit Museum.

Would there be room in Castlefield Basin?

We were a little late setting off from Little Bollington as a phone call from Jan's dad confirmed the date and time of his sister's - Jan's aunt's - funeral in Truro. I then immediately set about researching and booking a train journey to get us there from Liverpool. We will have arrived in Salthouse Dock only the day before. At least the boat should be reasonably secure while we're away. We'll end up having all of one whole day to explore the city before our booked passage out.

It took me two and a half hours to book the right splits - a right palaver! Still, it got the cost down from about £400 to £165.80 with our Two Together railcard.

Back to today. We cruised the rest of the Bridgewater Canal to Waters Meeting in Stretford where we turned left so I could go to the Trafford Centre and John Lewis. It was easy to get to by bike from Parkway Bridge - south west along the path and turn right at the traffic lights onto another cycle path until you see it in front of you.

Back on board we retraced our steps to Waters Meeting (we'd tied up near a winding hole) and turned left towards central Manchester. The Manchester Ship Canal gets very close; this is Hulme Lock Pomona Lock which connects to it.

As we approached Castlefield Basin we could see end-to-end moored boats. Would there be room for us anywhere?

Well, yes, right at the end. Behind us the water gets pretty shallow.

That's Jubilee on the right, under a clanky metal footbridge!

This evening we walked along Deansgate to Albert Square and St. Peter's Square. Tomorrow I'd like to visit Salford Quays. Perhaps we'll cycle along the towpath to Throstle Nest Bridge and cross there.

edited to correct error - thanks Debby of nb Chuffed

Red bottoms and blue bottoms

Until today I had seen only black hulls. But then, obviously freshly done, appeared this red-bottomed boat.

And then these blue bottoms.

(Sorry the photos are so dark; I don't know how to lighten them in Paint.)

We left Moore and continued east along the Bridgewater Canal, stopping at Lymm for lunch and a look round. The canal goes through some lovely wooded bits.

I was just thinking how much more pleasant it is that it's not raining when the drizzle started.

It stopped when we did at Lymm. We walked up to the church, which was open for electrical safety checks; then we walked to Lymm Dam. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. The dam was built when the toll road was routed to carry what became the A56. Water flows from the lake thus created under a bridge and through the "Dingle" woods to the village centre.

We tied up for the night at Little Bollington just past the water point. We had a barbecue, then walked to the Swan with Two Nicks pub as the nearer pub, Ye Olde No. 3, had shut at 9 pm. It always does on a Monday, apparently.

Tunnels and trains

Today we left the Trent and Mersey Canal and entered, via Preston Brook Tunnel, the Bridgewater Canal and widebeam country. Well, we saw one, in Preston Brook.

Our first tunnel today was Barnton Tunnel. Here you are asked to check that there is nothing coming towards you and enter only if that is the case. As we neared the portal we could see that the coast was clear, so I switched on the tunnel light and nosed in. But now there was a tunnel light at the far end! Was this a boat already in the tunnel or was it merely approaching with its light on? There was no way of knowing, so I bottled out and reversed back into the basin.

The chap the other end also reversed - we found out later - but came through when we vanished from his view. Three more boats followed him. It seemed to take ages until we were clear for entry. All this delay, though, meant we were in the time window for Saltersford Tunnel and had to wait only five minutes or so at Preston Brook.

I had completely forgotten the part of the T&M west of Barnton. There is some very pleasant farmland looking splendid under the fluffy clouds.

We stopped at Preston Brook for some milk from the Spar shop. Jan held the boat on the centre line while I walked to get it. Ignoring - this time - the Runcorn Arm we continued on the main line past the Daresbury Science Park to moor at Moore.

After tea we walked into the village and crossed the two railway lines a few times. At one bridge I was interested to see a diesel-hauled excursion train approach, go under us and stop at a red signal. This is the best photo I took.

Apologies if you were hoping to see the train! When the signal changed the loco made a wonderful noise as it slowly pulled the ten coaches and spare loco up the hill.

Back at the canal I did manage to get one semi-decent shot of the science park "water tower".

Apart from the occasional plane flying out of Manchester Airport this is a very quiet spot. (Just before the village moorings.)

Boating weather

Yes, I know all weather is boating weather, but -at last - there's a decent amount of rain falling out of the sky. Well, there is in Norfolk, anyway. Very necessary for the canal system, and the rest of the country. Although I'd rather it didn't rain too much when I'm cycling to and from work! But, when it rains, Jan and I often say to each other, "Boating weather!"


I think this stems from early boating experience when it always seemed to rain. I never minded the rain: the act of being in charge of a narrowboat on a canal was so absorbing that I almost didn't notice the weather. Now we're better protected against the wet. My leather hat is one of the most useful weapons in the battle to keep out the rain. If it's really chucking it down I wear my "greens", a waterproof jacket and overtrousers given to me years ago by Jan's dad. They were intended for use in the garden, but they work really well on the boat!


Nearly all our boating so far has been "against the clock" to some extent. Warwickshire ring in a week; Four Counties ring in a week, that sort of thing. I still like to cover a decent amount of ground (water) when cruising, hence the need to be out in all weathers. But I'm envisaging slowing down a bit in retirement - when that comes - when we have our own boat: stopping for lunch, maybe, and not being in quite so much of a hurry to get going if it's raining, perhaps.

I haven't many pictures of rain on the canal as my camera isn't as waterproof as I am. The top photo is of the Staffs and Worcs Canal during a cloudburst in Kidderminster in July 2011 taken from the shelter of (I think) Kidderminster Bridge 16. The second photo is on the Bridgewater Canal at Stockton Heath in July 2008.

More boat thoughts

approaching Manchester on the Bridgewater Canal

A few days ago I wrote that we were considering buying a boat for our daughter and future son-in-law to live on (temporarily) next year. I've been looking at boat ads and musing on the possibilities. Should we go for our ideal boat and see how they get on with it? Or should we ask what they want/don't want and take it from there? There are other considerations (apart from the obvious one of cost, that is). Jan and I have slightly(!) differing opinions on what's desirable in a boat.

I was drawn by one ad for a 55' trad - with a BOATMAN'S CABIN!!! And an engine room. In the (small) photo the boatman's cabin looked superb. On the downside (for me) was the loo (pumpout); on the downside (for Jan) was the trad stern. Yes, I know. She says that trad sterns aren't as sociable as cruisers or semi-trads. And to some extent I agree with her, but don't the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? There's more internal space, and work on the engine can be under cover. Yes, I know that a trad stern is also more "authentic", but the boat won't be a working boat, nor will it really pretend to be. We will use it for cruising the waterways of Britain for pleasure, and if that pleasure increases with the amount of space at the back, then that has to be taken into account.

Another boat ad was for a 56' cruiser stern which had been used as a liveaboard, complete with 3.5 kVA generator and washing machine. I have to admit the photo of the boat with a pram hood cover put me off! I know it can be easily removed, and it would give more useable space for A+B. And the washing machine would be useful to them...

And then there was the ad for a boat with my ideal layout: rear galley, forward saloon.

Of course, I haven't even started thinking about moorings yet.

(edited to add photo)

Eggs and Bingley

I managed not to tread on these large eggs, which were outside the services at Castlefield Basin, Manchester, when we were there in July. The Nicholson's is there for scale. Are they heron's eggs? There didn't seem to be much of a nest: it was as if someone had just put them down and then forgotten about them.

Stockton Heath to Marston

Thursday 17th July 2008

Woke up to rain. There's a surprise! This was the view from Willow at 0735.


Spent the morning in the drizzle under London Bridge working on the charging problem which had been with us since the start of the holiday nearly two weeks ago. Even though most of the boat was under the bridge I still got wet as the wind was blowing the rain in. I chose dampness over darkness (if I'd moved the boat further in I might have been drier but I wouldn't easily have been able to see what I was doing. One alternator belt had arrived (the other, spare, was ordered and came quickly) so I fitted it. I have already described the symptom and the diagnosis here, here and here so I'll cut to the chase and reveal that it was an intermittent battery isolation switch all along.

There are fears that Thorn Marine will be forced to close. The owners of the freehold, Peel Holdings, apparently want to demolish the shop and build houses. In 2003 the Northwich Guardian reported on a boaters' protest against closure. We came away after lunch with a couple of "Save Thorn Marine" window stickers.

Here's an interesting phenomenon: a patch of canal ahead is glassy smooth, whereas an adjoining patch of water is disturbed. The junction of these two areas is clearly defined, but there seems to be no obvious reason for the difference. Must be wind, I suppose, but there was no discernible (to my eyes) shelter difference between the two locations.


Approaching Preston Brook a large brick or stone structure dominates the skyline to the north west. Presumably a water tower. Am I right?


Claymoore Navigation operates from Preston Brook. A pity their signwriter didn't check the spelling of Consall Forge before committing the paint! Their website gets it right.




I like the corrugated roof over the stop planks at Dutton Stop Lock. Sort of narrowboat proportions. Why have the words "Dutton Stop Lock" been painted out, though? Is BW renaming it?




Just after passing through Saltersford Tunnel (or was it Barnton?) there was a very loud bang from under my feet and the engine stopped dead. Fortunately we were creeping slowly past moored boats and we didn't hit anything. We came to rest on the offside, though, but pushing with the boat shaft brought us safely to the towpath. Was it the engine? The gearbox? Thankfully, neither of these, as a feel in the weedhatch revealed. The most enormous semi-floating log had managed to get between a prop blade and the boat. Getting it out was surprisingly easy once I'd stopped pushing it into the clay puddle: it semi-floated away and I hauled it out of the cut. Don't want any more of these, thank you.


Tied up at Marston for the night: looked round the Lion Salt Works and patronised the Salt Barge pub.

Manchester to Stockton Heath

Wednesday 16th July 2008

My first photo today is timed at 0806 so we must have made a reasonably early start, although Hulme Locks were only just round the corner from where we were moored. The locks are in a very poor way, and can't have been used for decades.




A few minutes further west is Pomona Lock, looking rather more serviceable.


After turning left at Waters Meeting, Stretford, we stopped by the shopping precinct for a newspaper. There's a useful Poundland here. Our next stop was at Bollington Underbridge so we could investigate The Swan with Two Nicks for lunch. It seemed a bit pricy, so we ended up at the other pub in Little Bollington, which, according to my copy of Nicholson, is called Ye Old No. 3 (where is my log when I need it?). But I'm getting ahead of myself: by Bollington Underbridge were two men bending over backwards to ... well, just bending over backwards really. Was this muscle stretching before a run? The yellow T-shirt has "Manchester Marathon" printed on it. I wasn't sure: they held their pose for a long time.


By the pipe bridge was moored a Cara Cruiser (Andrew Denny posts about a Cara Cruiser here)


We got to Thorn Marine at Stockton Heath before it closed. No alternator belt of the right size in stock, but they ordered me a couple and promised they'd be there in the morning. That's Willow, sheltering under the bridge.


We ate in the London Bridge pub. Too long ago now for us to remember much about it (oh, for the log!). I cycled down to the bridge over the Ship Canal and took a couple of piccies. Here's one, looking towards the Thelwall Viaduct, which is just visible beyond the locks.

Horizontal and vertical

Disaster! I can't find the notebook in which we logged our recent boat trips. Perhaps we left it on Shadow, in which case I should be able to get it back some time. Meanwhile, in order to continue the write-up of said recent trips, I'll have to hope that the photographs I took will remind me what we did and where we went.

Back to our two weeks in July, then, and here's Elk again, in Castlefield Basin in Manchester on 15th July 2008, under the Hilton tower.

Manchester and MOSI

Tuesday 15th July 2008

Woke up to a wet Worsley in the wain. I mean, rain. Went to the convenient newsagent for a paper. Set off at 0930 and had an uneventful run to Castlefield Basin in Manchester. Watered up at the sanitary station, winded in the arm and moored up near Owl, who had overtaken us on the way. To try to get some wi-fi for the laptop we walked up Deansgate to a Wetherspoon's pub, The Moon over Water for lunch. Having been assured that, yes, there was wi-fi, we ordered our drinks and food, and were then told, sorry, it's not working today. Oh well. After a not particularly memorable meal we walked to Salford so I could see my old university. The Maxwell Building, where I had most of my lectures, was still there, but with a fancy glass pyramid on top of the new reception.


the Maxwell Building, University of Salford

Next to the Maxwell Building. where the art gallery used to be, was a new glass and brick building, with a huge Salford Uni badge slapped over the front. Disconcertingly, the sign over the doors welcomes you to Salford Young People's University. Hmm. I wouldn't be very welcome now. Don't they take mature students any more?


From here we tried to follow the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal to its junction with the River Irwell. The MB&B, still only a dry depression as it was three decades ago, runs right past the university campus. We couldn't get down to it, and there didn't seem to be a towpath anyway, so we trudged around back streets trying to spot signs of it. Eventually we came upon the Middlewood development, where the canal, with a couple of locks, is being restored as the centrepiece.


the slab-sided Hilton Hotel building towering over a new section of the MB&B








looking from the Irwell towards the MB&B

Then we found the Museum of Science and Industry. Fascinating. I could have spent two weeks here, never mind the rest of the day.


The attention grabber, visible through the ground floor windows, was the array of old mill engines and other devices in steam.


Entry is free these days (hooray), and while Jan settled down with a cup of tea and free wi-fi in the cafeteria I looked at a few of the exhibits. Exhibits? That makes it sound stuffy. But they've made a good stab at making it non-stuffy: the engines in steam were wonderful on their own. And it was an ordinary Tuesday too.


And there were recreations of scenes from the past, brought to life with convincing projections of actors onto what I assume were glass plates, inside the case of what would otherwise be a boring static display. The museum itself is the site of the Liverpool Road terminus of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, well preserved, with tracks still connected to the network; and with early railway era warehouses, looking like transplanted canal buildings.


Just a few minutes walk away was the boat. Back we went for a salad tea, eaten outside to make the most of the (by now) dry weather. After the morning rain the sun had actually shone: it felt fleetingly summery.

Parbold to Worsley

Monday 14th July 2008


The morning started fine. Fine drizzle, that is. So yesterday's sun was an aberration, a short-lived reminder of what summer should have been, but wasn't. Went to the shop for a paper and pain au chocolat. Did the usual engine checks. Weed hatch clear. Perhaps today would be when I would get a new alternator belt (but it wasn't).


Set off at 0820 and turned right in Wigan, doing the last of the self-operated swing bridges and locks of this holiday (apart from Dutton Stop Lock).

Lunched at Dover Lock Inn and enjoyed more good food - thanks Bob. This time I had the braised beef for £6.95; Jan had the lamb hotpot for £6.50. Oh, and I then had a banana split for £3.00. The fact that the placemats were stuck to the table really didn't matter.

On the way to tonight's mooring back at Worsley I started polishing the mushrooms.


before


after

"Owl" was also back at Worsley: we've seen this lovely boat a lot over the last few days. It has a 1954 Armstrong Siddeley engine.

Parbold and the post office going nowhere fast

Wednesday 9th July 2008


We left Crooke at 0900 and tied up at Parbold at about 1100.


On a walk round the village we spotted the stationary post office.


And later, at Stockton Heath, there was a handbag shop with a wandering apostrophe.

Unofficial dredger gets in scrap with BW and EA

Tuesday 8th July 2008

Worsley to Dover Lock Inn for lunch

it rained

After the fun and games replacing the split charge relay at Bridgewater Marina we carried on to the end of the Bridgewater Canal at Leigh. We watered up, and continued on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (Leigh Branch) to Dover Locks. Here used to be two locks before they were "moved" to Wigan to counter mining subsidence.


As we approached Dover Bridge we saw a man repeatedly casting a grappling iron into the bridge hole. He stopped to let us pass, and we saw on the bank what he'd been dragging out: an astonishing pile of old bicycles. We tied up just after the bridge by the Dover Lock Inn and ordered food. While that was being prepared I went back to talk to the man, who told me that he was removing the scrap in order to sell it. What he was doing isn't sanctioned by BW: indeed it is strongly discouraged, despite his claim that he was doing BW a favour, as it didn't do any dredging any more. He was working his way up the canal, putting his haul in his van as he went. The Environment Agency also frowns on his activities: apparently resting the bikes on the bank before putting them in his van is littering. He told me that his record for one bridge was 40 bikes. Forty? How do forty bikes chucked in at random not form a mountain above water level?


He's pulled at least six bikes from one side of this bridgehole, so I suppose it's just possible. He gets £200 for each van load of dredged scrap.