Wandering Canuck

The weather has continued cool and unsettled, so it is back to having the stove lit, and wearing layers with waterproofs.

I cruised onto the Runcorn arm of the Bridgewater canal, which is part of the oldest ‘proper’ canal in Britain. Still owned by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, there is very little commercial traffic, and the connection to the ship canal in Runcorn was abandoned in the 1960’s. Runcorn is therefore a somewhat derelict town, though trying to rejuvenate. I had intended to ring here, but the church was locked up, with no sign of anyone, much less used for ringing (at least at the present). Sad, because the church is in a prominent place, with the large light green arch bridge across the Mersey overtop, behind. Very pretty, but…

I made my way back to the main part of the Bridgewater canal to Grappenhall, where I waited for my friends Nick and Chris in Pendragon to join me. I was able to ring their on their 8, with a very active band including 3 teenage girls. It is a lighter ring of bells, so they were quite quick! After adventures with electrical things, Pendragon arrived, and we enjoyed a pub meal in the pub on a cobblestone street, complete with stocks outside for those who indulge too much! These are really left over from active use, in front of the pub and church.

Grappenhall village, with St. Wilfred’s church. Stocks formerly used for miscreants in white fenced area, right.

My bell on Wandering Canuck- not a usual accessory for canal boats!

Wandering Canuck and Pendragon, in lovely green ‘tunnel’ at Grappenhall

A week of change!

I explored the Weaver Navigation, which is the Weaver river but altered and ‘refined’ for navigation. There are weirs and locks to allow easy movement of big vessels, but there are almost none still using this waterway. There are certainly remnants of all sorts of mining and heavy industry along the river.

Having descended the Anderton lift, I went upstream on the Weaver, as far as Winsford Flash. This is a term for lake or slough, usually caused because of subsidence because of mining. This one is shallow, and therefore not for narrowboats except at your own risk just at the lower end. No sweat for me: I just  turned around and re-entered the river. There was no good mooring, so back to Vale Royal, where the mooring was a magic, quiet, restful place. The loudest things were the pitter-patter (or outright downpour) or raindrops. I stayed overnight there, then back down the locks (2) to Northwich, where I made arrangements to keep the boat for a couple of days as I fetched the car and went to the boat show (more anon.). Getting the car meant an ‘interesting’ journey Friday. It was pouring. I cycled to the train station in Hartford (the Northwich one is on the wrong line). About 5km. No biggie, except I was quite wet on my feet, as the water drained into my shoes. I have great waterproof clothes- except shoes. Then a 15 minute train ride to Crewe, and a 30km cycle to the marina where my car was stored. The rain eased as I cycled along, and the ride was relatively easy as this part of Britain is mostly flat (like Sask. though for those of you who understand coulees and draws). The last 3km were miserable as I faced a howling thunderstorm wind and torrential rain. I arrived at the car, stuffed everything in and changed wet things. Then, off to Braunston to get mail and all. Good drive, though the motorway (freeway) was like a parking lot at times: this is a bank holiday weekend (long weekend), and friday afternoon… Oh well, I was not in a rush (good thing!). Then back to Coventry where I could get an hotel (everything near Braunston was fully booked for the boat show.) Only about 30km back, but most people here would be aghast…

The boat show… Hmmm. I awoke to leaden skies, and fully, 100% humidity and that penetrating, soaking, continuous rain that doesn’t let up. Oh well. Off to Crick, where I arrived at 0945, for a 1000 opening. I parked in the ‘parking swamp’ and, returning my feet to the soaked shoes of Friday, squelched to the queue (line-up), and waited, and waited… At 1015, people were getting a bit cranky, because they had delayed the opening to lay down coarse straw-like stuff to make things dry. Well, a little less muddy perhaps, but definitely not dry. In the meantime, the large number of waiting people were standing in up to 5cm water/mud, so dry was a moot point. Finally, they opened, and into the show . This is the ‘big’ canal boatshow of the year, and the idea is to have an opportunity to see lots of different boats, styles, and techniques, s well as shop for stuff, see what is new, etc. However, because of the rain, the exhibit boats required you to remove shoes, put on booties, fold umbrellas, remove coats, then tour, but reverse the process on exit. Thus each tour took about 3 times as long, so there was just no way to visit many boats. By 1600h, I was done, cold, wet, and ready to leave. I had thought of staying over somewhere, and then meeting friends in Braunston/Daventry/Fawsley, etc. but there was absolutely no easy way to make that happen, so back to the boat I went.

Sunday morning led me to Hartford where I rand at St. John’s of the Open Door with a band that was about at the same level I am, with one experienced teacher. It was interesting not being the rawest rookie of the group. The church is evangelical, and not my taste, but they were welcoming and lots of families there (200+ people). It was still cold and raining, so I decided to stay onboard the boat. I lit the fire, and did odd jobs. Yea!

Today was MUCH nicer, so a good call on staying in yesterday. I went back up the lift, and after an unproductive jaunt following erroneous suggestions, I am north of Northwich, having gone through the Barnton and Saltersford tunnels, on the trent and Mersey canal. I’ll finish that tomorrow at Preston Brook then onto a brand new (to me) canal.

NOTICE: If you are new to my site, and/or have forgotten, just underneath the main picture are links. The first shows a map of where I am last reported to be. Canal Junction is a site with lots of info and very good maps of the canals. Jin Shead’s page is also a great site with lots of maps and good info about the canals. I try and update my location regularly. Hope this helps you navigate in the fog of distance and unfamiliarity with canals!

And now for something different…

I am in Northwich, having moved north on the Trent and Mersey, overnighting above the junction with the Weaver River navigation, and ringing in Northwich at the very prominent St. Helen’s church. The day was again a wonderful spring day, with only hints of the solid day of rain forecast. I rode through a beautiful country park, and was only a little apprehensive about the towering thunderhead clouds. Great ringing, my first time doing plain hunt on 8 with no cover bell, and the rain held off until the middle of the night.

Today, in the rain, I got to the Anderton boat lift. This contraption/edifice (?) was designed to rapidly lower boats to the Weaver River from the Trent and Mersey (or really to get the loaded boats back up so they could carry loads of salt and materials to the potteries). The lift is right opposite a major (huge!) chemical complex that is still using the salt resources that are underground.

Going into the lift is straightforward: you wait for the operator to signal go ahead, and you go into this large bathtub suspended in space, with another boat. They close the gates behind you, and then the large tub sinks gradually downward with both boats floating gently like ungainly rubber ducks. The lift has two of these tubs, and as our descended, the other (with only one boat) rose. The engineers would appreciate the balancing that is involved. The lift originally used water in the hydraulic rams that control the balancing, but this corroded, so they switched to huge iron weights and electric motors. In the recent (2002) restoration/renovation, they switched back to the original hydraulic system, but use oil rather than water to prevent the corrosion problem. The weights have been removed, and now form a maze for people to explore in the grounds. All a grand testament to the efforts used to move boats up and down and facilitate the use of boats as a major transportation network, which made the canal system I have the privilege of visiting. It is SO impressive.

exiting the lift at the Weaver River level

upper level of the lift

in the lift, waiting for the guillotine gates ahead to allow us out at river level

Rang at Middlewich Parish Church this morning: an 8 but there were only 6 there, so just the front 6. Nice bells, and great people. Spent a lovely quiet day doing boat stuff, then late this afternoon, after the hire boat traffic had died down for supper and/or finished for the night, I headed north, and am moored in a delightful picnic spot, where the loudest noise are the birds singing. I can handle that! Tomorrow, I expect to get to Northwich/Anderton boat lift and have a much more canal-eventful day. It is so delightful to have such a variety! This evening is shorts and t-shirt weather, so a picnic supper is really a treat.

Wow.

Here I am in Middlewich, all cool and laid back… Met Nick again: he is on his boat on the Trent and Mersey at Stoke, and this is his old home town. He has a car, so journeyed up to Middlewich so we could visit and plan. Had a great day visiting with some of his ex-neighbours and friends. Then a quiet  (?) night. Great mooring and all to be anticipated for a quiet night. Then at 0426h, the sound of something going into the water just by my ear. On the boat? someone fell in? A duck? Nope, much less familiar with the water… I arose and went to the front of the boat, and there was definitely SOMETHING in the water, on the canal side. I stuck my head out, and then a small bedraggled head met mine, climbing sort-of, up the  starboard bow fender rope, but not really successfully. I reached over, and grabbed a smaller, bedraggled, and VERY excitable cat by the scruff of the neck and heaved it inboard. Recalling that I really didn’t have a great time to get fully dressed (!!), I tried to prevent serious damage from the frantic claws of a frightened kitty. It went across the front deck, only caught me once on the arm with a back claw, and off it went, one less of it’s nine lives intact. I hope it can dry out and calm down without further trauma!

I tried to return to sleep (it WAS 0430h!) but that was not very successful, and so on to boat projects… I now have the preparation for a new bathroom floor: insulation and vinyl. Now, all is needed is a remote rural location to set up the saw to deal with the hardwood.

Middlewich is such a canal town: the major junction between the Trent and Mersey, and the Shropshire Union, plus 2 hire boat companies, means there are lots of boat movements, and  the support in the town. All great news. I’ll try and ring tomorrow, then move along towards Northwich where I hope to establish a base for a couple of months for mail, and parking my car.

Thanks for your input, feedback and support. I appreciate your comments.

Well, today was an adventure of a different sort, albeit still on the canal and boating. I stayed overnight in the shadow of Beeston Castle (the ruins thereof).

There was a quaint hotel/inn/pub mentioned in the guide book (my book is 5 yr old- the pub burnt down 4yr ago). The start of an interesting (?) time. I wandered according to directions from others to the next place with a pub (now a laundry), and then to the next place (now 4km walking). Tarporley. A nice village, with lots of amenities, and a great Indian food pub conversion. Tried that. Great!Then back to the boat- and found that the rail line was under repair. British rail lines are SO much quieter than Canadian, I don’t really mind mooring near them, but this was intermittent loading of a rail car with large gravel stones, then screeching brakes, and… This ended by 9pm, so not a big deal. Then I discovered that the WW2 fortifications across the rail track, are also used as a deer farm, and the deer came out to feed in the twilight. Scores of deer. It was neat, amongst the fortifications from this fuel storage place (according to the guidebook).

I hung the bell on the bow of the boat, and installed clapper, and method of ringing from the stern.

Signal box at Beeston Castle (beside Beeston Iron lock), now used for maintenance.

paddle removal at Cholmondeston Lock. Note stop planks on right blocking water so they could climb down to replace the paddle

the worn elm wood paddle. Gouge on right allowed paddle to fall out of track, preventing the paddle from stopping the water flow.

Today, I intended to travel across the Middlewich branch to Middlewich. I had been working the locks with 2 couples from Australia, and getting to chat with them was great. We turned the corner onto the Middlewich Branch, and at the first lock at Cholmondeston which is a narrow lock (only one boat at a time) had the upper paddle fall out of it’s track, therefore preventing it closing, which meant that it was VERY difficult and slow to operate the locks. There were 8 boats in the lineup (queue, in Britain). The engineers were there, and tried to solve the problem, then simply plugged the paddle hole temporarily, until they could get all the people and parts together, and have their lunch. Boats slowly made their way through, each boat taking at least double the time. Down to 1 boat ahead of me, then the workers sprang into action, and blocked off the lock completely, so they could drain the water from the offending area, and effect a replacement of the paddle. You can just see the old one at the feet of the one worker. They are made of elm wood, which is hard, doesn’t rot underwater, and is self-lubricating when wet. However, sliding up and down hundreds of times in a steel track does wear at the wood, and you can see the gouges along the right hand side. In any case, old paddle out, another old one they had as spare, in, and an hour later, the lock was working at normal speed. Really only held me up for about 2.5h, and I had a chance to have lunch with the Auzzies (thanks!), chat about stuff, and observe. It was an adventure- which is what I am here for. There WERE some annoyed folk, but I just thought it an interesting variation of a day on the canal- and it was a nice day- no rain, and scattered clouds. T-shirt weather for the first time, really.

I am in Middlewich, where I hope to spend a couple of days doing more boat stuff, and trying to decide what to do with the car. All good.

I’ve toured north to Ellesmere Port, which is a really industrial,…port. Duh! You would think I would have clued-in from the name (though in Britain that could refer to anything over the last 2000 years…). In any case, that is the end of the Shropshire Union Canal, and where this canal joins the Mersey River (and the Manchester Ship Canal). I had momentary thoughts about taking the ship canal upstream for about 12km, where I could again join a narrowboat canal. Hmmm. 48h notice, get a certificate of seaworthiness, pay, and then, dodge tankers and container ships. I’d need binoculars to even see the bridge of those things, and they would go over me without even noticing the tiny thump. I passed on that opportunity.

Ellesmere Port has the waterways museum, with lots of old narrowboats- some restored, lots just rotting away in the water, and a few on display. It would have been fascinating, but, after living aboard one for a while, there really isn’t that much new… It was a good visit, though, and worth the effort. I stayed overnight in their basin, but the weather was intermittent (every half hour or so) deluges, so getting out and about was less fun. This was just across the Mersey estuary from Liverpool, and had I not been planning a trip into that area later, I’d have parked the boat and made the effort to tour a bunch more. THis morning, deluge again, with promises of rain all day. I decided to treat myself to a lazy morning, so did plumbing, and worked on the bell fittings. By mid-morning, the weather seemed to be clearing some, and the Port was noisy and not really nice, so I headed back to Chester. I’m moored under the city walls again, in that spectacular place I was on the weekend, and happy to be here. For an old(er) guy, I still get around some…

Thanks to all for your wishes today. I’m off to celebrate with a pint and a meal.

Chester.

This is a most remarkable place. I arrived after a gentle approach because of the rain and wind. Doing the broad locks singlehanded with a crosswind is really challenging- requiring lots of bump and grind along the way as the boat gets blown sideways. In any case, I arrived in Chester yesterday, and wandered into the city center. I moored at the designated place (the last one I could see), and, having also moored in Birmingham and Wolverhampton, was not surprised at the noise potential. I went to evensong at Chester Cathedral which was magical: the girl choristers sang, and normally that would have been less impressive for me, but these girls were brilliant. Their unison work was perfect and the setting went from unison to 4-part close and dissonant chords. They were spellbindingly great. When I left the cathedral, there were huge crowds (thousands) of people all in suits and dresses everywhere. I initially thought the end of friday work, or a large convention, but there were WAY too many people, all obviously having had a good time for quite a while!  There were also several paddy wagons and a large police presence. I asked one of them, and it turns out I arrived in Chester at the busiest day of the year, as they have their major horse race event, like Ascot, but Chester style. All dressed up and 20,000 people into the city just as I left the cathedral. Hmmm. Busy evening, and me moored in the center of it all. Turned out not bad at all, and I got a reasonable sleep. Today, I wandered along the towpath, and found that 500m from where I was there was the most spectacular mooring I’ve seen. I moved immediately, and this is the result

Then, wandering along the street. there was a parade of re-enactors, from Roman, Napoleonic wars, WW1, WW2, and modern military, with 3 Red Cross nurses and some scouts, parading through the old city.The Romans were first, and by far the most demonstrative, wildly brandishing their swords, hollering at all in the way, and the one fellow blowing the horn furiously. Very cool. The other pics are from the city streets that are just thronging with people- either left over from the horse races, or just tourists, but VERY busy. This is a must visit destination- which may explain all the people!

A few pics of the time with Nicole.

Nicole enjoying time on the boat

Nicole and Dad: the best!

Warwick Castle

View from the ramparts of Warwick Castle

If you are facebook friends with Nicole, there are lots more pics there.I still can’t do that well!

Warwick Castle

I’m on the move again!

Headed north on the Shropshire Union Canal main line, I’m bound for Chester and Ellesmere Port. The canal changes just north of Nantwich, back to a broad canal. Good for maneuvering (not the single lane passageways of the Llangollen) but back also to broad locks which are a pain by myself. Not even anyone else to share passage with, as the canal was almost deserted. However, the canal is gorgeous, and I passed Beeston Castle today. No good pics- it was pouring rain.

I was fortunate to spend time on Monday with the bell ringers of Daventry (and Byefield). They had a field trip outing, and by a fortunate coincidence, were in the area of Nantwich on their return from Barrow-in-Furness, where one of the fellows (Geoff Pullin) was instrumental in getting a restoration project completed. I joined them at the leaning tower of Cheshire at Wybunbury, which is all that remains of a church that failed because of soft ground, despite many attempts at stabilizing and rebuilding. We rang there, then off to another tower at Barthomley. Here they have a ring of 8, but there are fluorescent lights with exposed tubes on the ceiling of the ringing room. Nice, even lighting- until the sally (furry thing on the bell ropes) hits the tube above be, the tube comes crashing down, and there is a little confusion. The thing bounced but didn’t smash, so we just put it aside, and carried on ringing. Seems like lots of these funny events happen around me when I ring…

I am presently in Christleton, a pleasant village, but really an upscale bedroom community of Chester. If the rain holds off, Chester should be amazing. I’m looking forward to that.

Well, Nicole has returned home, and I am back in Nantwich trying to finish some of the things that need doing but just didn’t get done before I headed north. I will be trying to hang my boat bell on the front of the boat, and rigging a way to ring it from the stern.

I was fortunate to be able to meet with a former student of mine from Vancouver, and spend a little time visiting in the Brixton market area of London. A very eclectic area that I wouldn’t have experienced without meeting him.We had a great chat, and hopefully will be able to meet again as he travels. Note to any others that read this: I appreciate the chances to meet and chat wherever and whenever, hearing what is new and exciting as your careers and life experiences develop. Drop me a note!

I will be here for a couple of days, and then off towards Chester (I think). I will keep you posted!