The Ashton 18

We set off today, after taking a collection of rope, carrier bags & a pair of trousers out of the weed hatch. An old friend came to see us with her little 15 month old daughter. We waited for Fiona to come back after having a silver fern tattoo on her wrist.

After a further cup of tea, we set off up the Ashton Flight. This canal skirts the Manchester City Stadium, Sport City and the Velodrome and takes you through some of the more colourful areas of Manchester. Their idea of recycling seems to be to dump everything in the cut, so we had to reopen the weed hatch and remove a sweatshirt caught on the prop.

We finally finished the flight at 8.15, 5 hours of slog, but at least we didn't hit anything big, or find anything nasty in the weed hatch. We are currently moored in Audenshawe and will head off to Ashton-Under-Lyne in the morning.

Day off from locking tomorrow,  there are only so many aches and pains, you can take!

The Rochdale Nine

Well the Rochdale Nine,  we did these last year and it took us hours; this year,  we came equipped with a crew! We needed to empty the Elsan, so took the opportunity to reverse round, empty the Elsan and take on water in Castlefield and then onto the Nine! The first three locks were Ok, tough and very hard work. Then Lock 88, we couldn't close the header gate - call Canal & River Trust and they fished out a metal fence, which we thought was quite awesome!

Then three of our crew had to leave us and so Fiona, Stella and Chris finished the last four locks on our own (with assistance from some passers-by opening lock gates).
There was one funny incident involving a goose and three goslings, who had got seperated because Mum & goslings were on towpath and Dad was in the canal, so shooed them back to the canal,  but not before she threw her wings out to protect the goslings from the dogs, who wanted to say hello!

We finally finished after 5 hours, moored on the Ashton Canal, ready for another 18 locks tomorrow! We will check the weed hatch again in the morning,  as NBGracie was very sluggish coming out of the last lock.
So, not quite, crying and cursing, but another good day. Sunshine, reasonably warm and NOT raining!

Castlefield Basin

Today was spent sorting out and heading for Manchester. We had planned a stay overnight in Manchester and on a gloriously sunny day, we left Altrincham and the dogs' friends and Stella steered NBGracie to Castlefield. I didn't remember that we went so close to Old Trafford Football Ground, passing right next to the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. We picked Fiona up on the way past and headed into Manchester City Centre.
When we were here in August last year, it was very busy, but today there were plenty of moorings; although we went straight past the Elsan Point without realising it and so will have to reverse up in the morning.

Meeting old friends for Simba & Shiva

We have had a successful day; washing & cleaning plus found blown down trees, now sawn and on the roof. The location is beautiful and you wouldn't know you were two minutes from the A56, it is so quiet. Chris made a sultana cake today, very nice with a cup of tea!  

Simba & Shiva met some old pals today and had a thoroughly enjoyable day.
We are off to Manchester tomorrow, by way of Chris's niece, to have a bath (probably the only thing we miss).
There have been some funny boats to see including a proper camouflage boat.

Altrincham

We cruised down from Dunham Massey to Broadheath, Altrincham (Stella steering); we will probably stop here until tomorrow and then head for Castlefield Junction.
Weather is nice, but a cold wind - funny to see places again. Houses are all built where Linotype was, Budenberg Bowling Club now is all houses and of course that is next to the canal now.

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!