Upper Peak Forest and Early Winter Cruising

Another fortnight and we had a bit of bad news after our last cruise when we went to top up the diesel; tank filled a fortnight ago and when we checked, we had just less then a quarter of a tank, so someone had siphoned about 120 litres of diesel - a sad sign of the times.

We have moored near woodland adjacent to Swizzells Matlow sweet factory this week, in order to stock up on wood - Chris has been hard at work collecting logs all week and we now have at least three weeks supply - will go back there this week and get some more. It helps the coal consumption as we burn wood during the day and put coal on to keep the stove in overnight.

We cruised up to Bugsworth Basin today; there are two views of New Mills, Derbyshire above - the Upper Peak Forest Canal is probably our favourite - the views over the Peak District are spectacular and then you get to the end at Whaley Bridge  and get views like these.

 Upper Peak Forest Canal

 Sunset over the Basin

 Teapot cottages on the way into the basin

Whaley Bridge Basin.

We have worked out to be back up here for Christmas, when I have 10 days off and if it's OK, we might even go cruising - if it isn't raining or icy!

Have a good one everyone - Christmas will be here soon enough  

Happy Anniversary Gracie

This weekend marks a year since we moved aboard Gracie.

Bollington Festival - working boats

We have had a lovely couple of days cruising down the Peak Forest Canal and onto the Macclesfield Canal. We moored just outside the village of Bollington and Fiona experienced the Bollington Pudding! (try it at the Plaice Restaurant on the main road to Pot Shrigley, past Clarence Mill).
Bollington has a festival for a fortnight,  this weekend was the Working Boat display and Nb Alton, Maria, Badger, Swallow, Joel were all there. Our followers will know Nb Alton is our coalboat and it was nice to see the working tradition still going.
It was also our goodbye to Fiona, who has gone to stay near her Dad's family til she goes back to NZ on Tuesday. We didn't get a photo, so a job for Tuesday (hopefully, Stella will have shifted the summer cold she developed overnight!) as Stella has to go back to hospital for them to check her wrist over.
We have enjoyed having Fiona with us and hope it is not another nine years until we see her again.

The Marple Flight

A beautiful spring day; sunny, warm and a bit of a breeze, but not so you'd notice it. We set off from.just before Marple Aqueduct and did the flight in three hours.
We then cruised slowly down to Disley, mooring just behind old friends and sat in the sun, chatting and generally chilling out after our journey.
It does feel like home turf on this section and coming up the flight was so easy, bizarrely though, the two locks repaired over winter now have to be left empty. Now,  is this because they haven't been fixed properly, or to stop them breaking?
Tomorrow,  we will be off to Bugsworth Basin, to show Fiona the biggest inland port in Britain.

The Journey Continues

Today we thought we would travel to Portland Basin and then onto Marple tomorrow; however,  Portland Basin is awful, no moorings, canal bank perished and so we stopped long enough to nip to the big ASDA and get dog and cat food and then out of there.

Did some washing whilst engine was on, a beautifully sunny warm day - the warmest so far,  due to a lack of wind - even Jo, our elderly black cat sat and enjoyed the scenery and we finally moored up just through Hyde Bank Tunnel.

Manchester is a funny place to cruise through - children's toys dumped in the canal,  although it was nice to hear parents telling children off for dropping the bread bag and at the first bridge being helped through by local lads who operated it for me,  much to their delight. Maybe that's the answer is to show these people what canal life is like; maybe, if enough had an appreciation of it, they would be more thoughtful.

Altrincham Bound

We spent the night just after the Anderton Boat Lift and set off in heavy showers, removing the cratch cover ready for the tunnels.

We stopped at Northwich Services for water, emptying Elsan and rubbish. Chris had a shower (not as good as the ones in Bosley). Then, we did the three tunnels - one each. Fiona did Barnton, Stella Saltersford and we let Chris do Preston Brook! We were in a convoy of four boats through Preston Brook (we were third in line, followed by a Scout Group, who had a wonderful weekend and saw a goat at the Barnton Stoplock!)

We all took turns on.the tiller and managed to get as far as Dunham Massey,  before mooring up, putting the cratch cover back on and having chilli and rice. A good day and after Barnton; no rain, but very windy all day. It has been really enjoyable having three people to share the steering; Stella has yet to do the steering in a lock, but this trip and Fiona has given her the confidence to steer Nb Gracie. We will go to Altrincham tomorrow and let Fiona catch up with her Dad's family.We will be mooring where we used to take the dogs walking, so it will be interesting to see their reaction.

So all in all, a successful day and life on NB Gracie is very chilled.

No, we're not going up Llangollen Canal

Well a few days of not a lot happening; we moored up just up from.Wardle Lock in Middlewich and awaited the arrival of Stella's daughter. The following day, we headed off towards the Llangollen; however,  after 4 hours cruising the heavens opened,  so we decided to pull in at Sykes Hollow mooring for the night and wait out the rain.
This morning,  it was off to Barbridge and Hurleston Junctions, to start our journey. Gracie, however,  had different ideas! Despite a survey giving our beam (width) as 6foot 10inches, she would not go into the lock and became wedged in the lock. We tried flushing her out and she wouldn't budge. So, the boat behind us had to pull us out, like a cork from a bottle! So, where to go? We thought of Chester; but the wind caught Gracie and we decided the locks would be horrendous,  plus we thought that moored boats and Gracie has a penchant for kissing every boat in the wind that it wasn't worth it and we would continue our journey round the Cheshire Ring. This then gave Chris the,chance to show Stella's eldest how to steer and once she had the hang of it to let her take over, culminating in her handling Gracie in the last lock of the day while Chris & Stella did the lock. As  we came up, Stella then decided that she would steer as well (no moored boats and not many trees!) and so we have a steering rota now!
All in all, a good day and week as we finally got the stop cord refitted and the water hoses replaced with heat resistant piping. So, we have a working engine thanks to Middlewich Boats of this parish.
We continue up, planning to be up towards Manchester mid-week and then on and up the locks!

Heartbreak Hill

Well, we went from Red Bull Services to Wheelock Services today, down 22 locks, mostly double locks. Very windy,  but picturesque all the same.
I did notice a lot of new orchards being planted, interesting that this is occurring.  More money in fruit?
Heartbreak Hill, as it is known, is a series of sets of locks,  most of them paired locks, enabling two boats to go up/down simultaneously. You pass under the M6, which always amuses me- the juxtaposition of speed.
The dogs were very good today, excited about new smells,  they come off the boat to supervise,  although Simba barks a "Don't forget us" at you! It was very windy across the top, but fortunately,  not that cold. I bought jam, scones and marmalade from a lady selling homemade items to raise money for local children's hospice.
We are enjoying the journey, we are where we want to be ready for Wednesday, when Stella's eldest arrives back from Spain and joins us on our cruise. Gracie has behaved beautifully, although in one lock, she got stuck on something at the bottom,  so had to run water through, she started to float out, got stuck again and then a fellow boater arrived to see if we were Ok and opened the top paddle very fast and she zoomed out! A bag of sawdust or similar we think.
We are now having curry and rice, curry made yesterday and has now marinaded for 24 hours - bliss!