Author Archives: Ed Mortimer

About Ed Mortimer

I'm a retired school teacher, now living on my Dutch cruiser in France. I'm touring as much of the canals and river systems as I can. This blog describes what I do and where I've been. I did spend 5 years on first a narrowboat, and then this boat, in Britain.

Oct 3

We are moving on, and have finished the section of the Trent and Mersey canal that connects the Macclesfield and Staffordshire and Worcestershire canals. After doing the Caldon canal from Etruria to Froghall and back, enjoying the vintage restored railway … Continue reading

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Oct 1

For Mortimers:  PPFOTM (It’s a Mortimer thing- you wouldn’t understand!) We toured up the Caldon canal to Froghall, and back. A nice diversion, with great valley scenes. I had done part of this canal in 2009, and what a difference … Continue reading

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Sept 28

We went through the Harecastle tunnel, the second one that was dug (3km) (the first succumbed to mining subsidence (partial cave-in because mining locally caused the land to sink). This passed us from Cheshire into Staffordshire and we noticed an … Continue reading

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Sept 26

Pat and Kerry Coxen arrived today, starting their new adventures in retirement, in Britain. We’ve travelled before and have always planned to make Wandering Canuck our travel base for shared adventures for a while. I’ve had a few days of … Continue reading

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Sept 22

What a wonderful couple of weeks. We’ve ended Anne and Mike’s boating adventure with two more days of sunshine and warm temperatures. We spent last night in Congleton, with one of the most moving ‘remembrance’ ceremonies I have ever experienced. … Continue reading

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Sept 19

Finished the Peak Forest Canal this evening, and what an experience. The canal is perched on the edge of steep hills, and provides great views throughout. We went to Whaley Bridge overnight, and moored in a very noisy basin (busy … Continue reading

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Sept 18

Wow! We finishes the 74 locks and 32 km of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, and it lived up to its reputation as a wonder of the canal system. Spectacular views, amazing engineering, the Standedge tunnel, and all. Only the last … Continue reading

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Sept 15

Sorry about the delay for the past few days. As we ascended the Huddersfield Narrow canal, we found ourselves in a beautiful, remote, picturesque valley (the Colne River valley). Awesome and really pleasant- but no internet service- even in Marsden. … Continue reading

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Sept 11

Anne and Mike arrived, and we spent the first day exploring Huddersfield, and going to the National Coal Mining Museum. The mine museum was great, and included an underground tour of the actual mine works. Very different than mine tours … Continue reading

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Sept 9

Arrived in Huddersfield after a really gruelling day: only 11 locks on the Calder and Hebble and Huddersfield Wide, but they are really heavy, slow, and VERY tight for my 60′ boat (I knew that- they are advertized at 57’6″- … Continue reading

Posted in bell ringing, canal experiences, Yorkshire | 1 Comment