Hurleston Junction to Whitchurch

Hurleston Junction to Whitchurch

Monday 8th June 2009

You may remember from my last blog, how I said that we’d been running the heater, at least twice a day since Thursday and that it seemed to be working just fine. This morning, in accordance with Sod’s Law, I switched it on and nothing happened.

It just so happened that we’d decided to go to Nantwich for diesel and pump-out prior to tackling the Llangollen, so off we trotted. Nick, the guy who serviced the heating last September, was there to check out the batteries, of which we have six for domestic use and one for the engine starter. Ever single domestic battery was at very low power, several as low as 50 %, so we were now faced with a problem.

According to Nick, simply relying on the alternator to keep them topped up, especially as we live on board, is not enough. Apparently the do need a good charge from a 240 volt domestic line otherwise they simply deteriorate over time. Also, living on board, as we do, it’s not unusual, especially if relying on the alternator, for the batteries to be in need of replacement after two or three years.

Anyway, after having a chat with the manager of the yard, we moored up by a power point and will be here for two nights. On Wednesday morning Nick will stop by and check the batteries again. Hopefully they’ll be as near to fully charged as makes no difference.

The moral of this story is that, when cruising find a boatyard or marina that allows overnight moorings and give the batteries a good boost. We’ll probably have to do so about once a month or so, otherwise, at £70 to £80 a go, we’re looking at between £420 and £480 to replace them all.

Sheila, as was her intention once we’d decided to stop here to have the batteries checked, has popped off to Nantwich for a little shopping. Actually, the one good thing to come out of this is that I can have an ice cream. As you know, I don’t get to walk very far these days and, asking Wifey to bring one back from shopping would be pretty dumb. But this place has a chandlery that does a pretty good selection and it’s only a short walk away. Yummee!!

Wednesday 10th June 2009

Guess what, we’re back at Hurleston Junction having spent two nights at the marina in Nantwich. We went there on Monday in order to have our heating system checked which, as you know, has been giving us a bit of trouble of late. Nick Bancroft, the engineer who serviced it last September, was pretty sure the heating was OK and suspected that the batteries were not sufficiently charged. Unfortunately he was proved correct, and so we stayed there for two nights, with our inverter/charger hitched up to the mains. This improved things quite a bit, but the batteries still need a bit more of a charge. This we will do on our way down the Llangollen and again on our way to our moorings. With luck our six months stay there will fully charge them.

It is really tipping it down with rain at present, but we’re hoping the weather improves by tomorrow morning so we can start making our way up that Welsh stretch of water.

Thursday 11th June 2009

Hi there good people, and a very good day to you all. We are, at last, on the Llangollen Canal and moored up just past bridge 12. We spent yesterday afternoon and evening at Hurleston Junction, which joins this canal with the Shroppie, having finally received a clean bill of health where our batteries are concerned. We may have to stop at another marina on our way home, just to make sure they are still OK, but that’s really no hardship.

I received something of a shock today, from my surgery in Harlow no less. I placed a repeat prescription request online yesterday and was told today, by telephone from the person who sorts out such things that, unless I have a Diabetic Check Up immediately, my doctor will not issue further medication. The stupid man must have got out of bed on the wrong side, because his behaviour could cause serious problems. Without insulin I could quite possibly lapse into a diabetic coma. This is especially true since he’s also refused me the test strips that tell me how my blood glucose levels are and how much insulin I need to inject.

I now have precisely 20 days worth of test strips and about 35 days of insulin. However, after the 20 days it really doesn’t matter how much insulin I have left, I won’t be able to inject it for fear of overdoing it. In short, despite my GP being happy to write prescriptions for three months at a time in 2007 and 2008, since he refuses to do so in 2009, I’m pretty much stuffed.

So, what to do? Well, I’ve emailed back to the person in charge of medication, asking her to explain to my dear doctor, that I had a check up shortly before we left in April and that, if he still refuses, I will have to go to a local GP, explain the situation and hope he or she will write a prescription. In fact many live aboard boaters who continuously cruise the waterways, don’t even have a regular GP and simply register with the nearest one, on a temporary basis, then move on to the next one. Not an ideal situation, I agree, but the only alternative left open to some folks. Once we get to Pillings Lock Marina we will register with a new GP and, hopefully, he’ll be a sensible fellow who understands the quirks and foibles of us crazy boaters.

It would be a crying shame, don’t you think, if we were to allow a jumped up, high and mighty, gold dripping GP to spoil our oh so relaxing lifestyle?

Saturday 13th June 2009

Well, the problem with my sill GP is sorted. Knowing how low I am on certain medication, he has agreed to write a prescription, but it comes at an enormous price. I now have to email my blood glucose readings once a month, which covers his rear end at a legal level. The fact that he was totally unconcerned about the legal aspect last year and the year before, doesn’t seem to matter. Naturally it’s all my fault for swanning off into the wild blue yonder without so much as a by your leave. He emphasised the fact that, just as soon as we return to Harlow, we must make appointments to see him for all the usual tests. Sadly we will be unable to comply since we’ll be in Leicestershire by then. All’s well that ends well then!

Today, having spent two very peaceful days and nights at our previous moorings, we’re now at Wrenbury, just before the first lift bridge, of which there are several along the Llangollen. Fifteen years ago, when we hired a boat for a week, these bridges were hand operated. But, since the Shropshire Union Canal Society took it in hand, most are now operated by using a windlass or electrically.

Apparently one of the canal-side pubs has been converted from a warehouse, whils the former mill is now occupied by a boatyard. We walked into the village this morning and, I must say, it really is a delightful place. The walk from the canal took us through the churchyard and onto the main thoroughfare, where we turned left to find the Village Shop cum Post Office. I was surprised to see, along the wall outside, an enclosure with differing sizes of gas bottles, along with coal, kindling and logs. The shop also had a pretty good assortment of foodstuffs, including pies and bread and, most welcoming, an ice cream cabinet.

As with the Shroppie there are plenty of good moorings along this canal, all with proper mooring rings set in concrete. They also seem to be much closer together than on other canals, catering, I suppose, for all the various boat lengths. On most canals, even where they have rings, the distances between them often mean having to tie one rope to a ring and the other to one of our hooks.

We had thought to move along from here to the canal-side pubs but, when Wifey returned from walking the dog, she told me that there’s a campsite by one of them, which doesn’t bode good for noise levels, especially after the pubs turn out. So, here we will stay until tomorrow when we’ll head off to Willeymoor Lock where there’s another pub called the Willeymoor Lock Tavern. Perhaps we’ll give one of the Wrenbury pubs a look in on our way back, but only if it’s midweek when many of the campers will have gone home.

Monday 15th June 2009

We spent yesterday at Willeymoor Lock as you all know, and we strolled down to the eponymous public house at lunchtime. The pub is right by the lock, with tables and chairs and parasols, so we could sit and watch other boaters strutting their stuff for a change. At the end of the day we were the only people moored there for the night. I can’t think why, because it’s a really peaceful spot. I can’t say I was particularly pleased with the taste of my first two pints of Guinness though. It very rarely happens with Guinness, which is why I rarely drink anything else, but it had a bit of a twang to it. The third pint however was completely clear of the taste. I did mention it to the barmaid of course, but she couldn’t understand what the problem might be. The possibility of un-rinsed glasses could be a cause, what with the dishwashing liquids they use nowadays, or it could be whatever they clean their beer lines with. They really should learn to pull off a couple of pints before they open, especially if they have just cleaned the pipes through.

Anyway, this morning we set off for Whitchurch, which took us out of Cheshire and in to Shropshire once more. There’s a short arm that runs off the Llangollen and used to go right into town, but it’s now down to about 200 yards or so. It has a turning point; or winding hole, as they are correctly known; and this is about half way down the arm, so it’s simply a matter of turning around and mooring up ready for departure in the morning.

Incidentally, if you’re not familiar with canal boat terminology, there is a good reason for a winding hole to be so-called. That’s winding, as in wind with the ing on the end, not winding as in “ are you winding me up?” The name goes back to the days of horse drawn boats when certain parts of the canal were widened sufficient for a working boat to turn around if required. On a windy day the boater would use the wind to help him turn the boat. Depending on which direction the wind was blowing, he would pull his bow line and let the wind to push the much broader stern.

So, after seven locks, three of which were staircased with an attendant lock keeper, we finally arrived at the Whichurch Arm and prepared to catch the bus into town. Today I had my first experience of using my national bus pass and, I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There’s nothing quite like getting something for nothing. It’s a bit like politicians expenses I suppose, only on a much smaller scale and all paid for by you, the tax payer. Good on yer I say!

Talking about politicians expenses, have you seen what the Kinnocks have been picking up during the 15 years as MEP’s! My God, the mind boggles and the blood boils. Their pension pots alone are astonishing. What a beautiful gravy train they’ve been on

Apart from the amount of pubs we walked past, Whitchurch is not unusual as towns go. It has all the usual mult-nationals, like Tesco, Smiths and Boots and so it doesn’t differ much from Harlow or Stortford. The locals are pretty friendly though. After shopping at Tesco we sat outside waiting for the bus and I struck up a conversation with an elderly woman who was waiting for the same bus as we were, although I didn’t know it at the time. Anyway, I offered her one of my fruit pastilles, which she happily popped into her mouth and we carried on chatting. Imagine our surprise when, just as we were about to get off, she said, “You’re on the canal then?” We said we were and she promptly handed me a packet of chocolate raisins. Now, that’s what I call friendly.

Being near a good sized town you would expect us to be able to access the Internet, and you’d be right. So, without further ado, I’ll post this blog. Have a good week all you working stiffs, and those who’ve quit the rat-race.

Love from Dave, Sheila and Rusty.