Whitchurch to Bridge 176 on the T and M

Whitchurch to Bridge 176 on The Trent and Mersey

Saturday 4th July 2009

The last time we passed through Whitchurch we moored up on the short arm off the main canal, because we wanted to go into town and, as you all know by now, the shortest walk I can get away with the better. This time though, since we didn’t need to go into town, and we didn’t want the problem of having to return to the main arm in order to turn around and continue in the same direction, we chose to moor opposite the arm.

This was not the best of decisions because, at about 1.30 am Wifey heard some people walking along the towpath. At that time of the morning they were either boaters returning from a pub that we weren’t aware existed, or they were up to no good. As we discovered this morning whilst preparing to leave, the latter was the case, because they stole a stone figure of an otter that (used to!) adorn the roof of Shiralee. What they proposed to do with it goodness knows, it really isn’t worth anything except sentimental value.

Having passed through Grindley Brook Locks after topping up with water, and after Sheila walked back to the local shop for milk and a paper, we passed through Povey’s Lock and moored up just before Willeymoor Lock, which is where we moored on our way to Whitchurch on the way up the canal.

This short stretch of canal, between Whitchurch and Willeymoor Lock, a distance of about 2 ½ miles, seems to house a few morons. We hadn’t been here more than a couple of hours or so when Sheila noticed a boat drifting past us. Obviously nobody was on board and, quite naturally under the circumstances, it was pouring with rain, because we were the only other boaters around and, therefore, the job of pulling it in and mooring it up was down to us.

Quite obviously, since the boat had been secured with two hooks and a mooring pin, somebody had deliberately untied it. Equally obviously, since it was chucking it down by the bucket load, those responsible had not stayed around to observe the result. Which begs the question, if they were not around to laugh at whoever retrieved the boat and tied it up, what pleasure could they possibly have gained by untying it in the first place?

Ah well, such is human nature, I suppose!

I’ve not jumped on my soapbox for quite a while now, but I really couldn’t resist doing so here.

Is the American government paranoid or what? If you have read any of the daily papers today, especially the Daily Mail, you would have noticed the story about the autistic man whose extradition is being sought for allegedly hacking into US defence computers. Bear in mind this happened over seven years ago and, as anyone with any common sense can see – except the Americans of course – they are just making themselves a laughing stock around the world. What a coup for extremists, they must be having a good chuckle at the Yanks now that this story is headline news.

The American government are so paranoid that, not only do they want this believer in Little Green Men to stand trial in the States, they want him to serve about 60 years for this heinous crime. What they should really be doing is employing him as a computer security expert to ensure their systems are not broken into again. Beside, what possible use can be served by putting this unhappy individual in jail?

If anybody reading this agrees with me on this, simply go to the Daily Mail website and fill in their form. Our own government has no business extraditing any British citizen, to any other country, no matter what the crime. They should be tried here and serve their sentence here. Do the Yanks really think they own the world and can dictate to everyone living I it? The fact is, that for every US citizen extradited to the UK, two have gone the other way and stood trial in a US court. And, remember, the USA has six times the population of the UK.

Now, that’s what I call a fair extradition treaty!!

Enough said. Tomorrow we will, once again, enjoy a drink at the local watering hole. Hopefully we’ll be left in peace tonight and tomorrow night and not be set adrift by the Mindless Morons of the Llangollen Canal.

Monday 6th July 2009

And here we are at Wrenbury Mill, just around the corner to the Alvechurch Hire Boat Company, many of whose boats we have seen on our travels along the Llangollen. The plan is to stay here for the full 48 hours as allowed by BW then, on Wednesday, we’ll cruise to an out of the way spot until Thursday morning, when we’ll leave the Llangollen and get back onto the Shroppie.

Yesterday we paid a visit to the Willeymoor Lock pub and sat outside as time honoured gongoozlers. At the risk of repeating myself, this is the term used by seasoned boaters when referring to other folks who see boating as a spectator sport.

You may remember the last time we were there, that I commented on the peculiar taste of the Guinness at that pub. Now, I don’t know what causes the odd tang, but I suspect it has something to do with the cleaning fluid they use for the glasses. Either that or whatever they use to clean the beer pipes through. Whatever it is it’s not so powerful as to completely ruin the taste of the beer, but it is a nuisance all the same. Needless to say, if we ever pass through this canal again, we’ll stop further up and sample the beer at The Horse and Jockey.

When we set out in April we knew we would be doing the Llangollen and Mongomery canals but were unsure as to where we would be going after those. Well, now we know. According to the Oracle we’ll be going down the Andrton Lift, which joins the Trent and Mersey and the River Weaver. We really didn’t have the time last year but, since we don’t need to be at our new moorings until the end of September and, since they are only about 120 miles or so from here, we have plenty of time.

We’ll also return to the Bridgewater Canal and travel as far as Lymm, just to pass the time. Lymm has a really good bakery cum delicatessen and several pubs, one of which we’ll try to fit in. As you all know, apart from the ends of the Bridgewater, there are no locks to impede our travel and there are plenty of good moorings along the way.

Friday 10th July 2009

I have totally overlooked anything to do with this blog since Monday. As I recall, we had left Willeymoor Lock and made our way to Wrenbury Mill, which is where most of the hire boats on the Llangollen come from. Not a lot happened during our overnight stay there, other than Wifey walking into the village for a bit of shopping. One thing I do remember is the heavy rain during the night, heavy enough to wake me up and that’s for sure.

By the next morning it was dry enough to get moving again and we made it to Halls Lane Bridge, which is a place we moored up at on the way up the canal. It’s nicely out in the open countryside and very peaceful. Unfortunately no pubs around, at least, none that I could possibly walk to, which is one good reason for having my knees sorted out. I’m also missing out on loads of interesting places to visit. It’s all well and good cruising all these waterways but, if you can’t take a stroll into the nearest town or village, quite a bit of te enjoyment is lost.

On Wednesday we made our way to Barbridge, only this time we decided to stop opposite the Old Barbridge Inn, which is a pub we visited about 15 years ago and had promised ourselves another visit. Here we enjoyed a baguette and a drink. The only problem with mooring along that particular stretch, is the ledge that runs along the towpath side. It’s too deep for a fender to rest against, and it’s too shallow for the boat to drift over. Consequently, when moored up there is a gap of about four inches between the boat and the towpath. With the best will in the world it’s impossible to tie up in such a way as to prevent the boat from banging against the ledge every time another boat passes.

We stayed at Barbridge for an extra night so as to take the bus into Nantwich for a humungous shopping trip. I could have let Sheila go on her own but, as sure as eggs is eggs, she would come back with a trolly and two bags full and be completely knackered. We called into the town last year, but we didn’t have bus passes then and, having taken the bus from the Nantwich moorings, it cost us about £2.00 each. From Barbridge it’s a much longer ride, so I hate to think what that would have cost.

Thursday nights at The Old Barbridge Inn are supposed to be live music nights but, apart from a bit of loud juke box music around 6 o/clock, we heard nothing out of the ordinary. This may be because the pub is up for sale and the live music has been suspended until a new manager takes over. Whatever the reason, we had a peaceful evening and, once again, the whole stretch of canal was chock full of boats. Is it summer or something? I heard on the radio that some schools have already broken up, that can’t be right surely? Perhaps it’s just the senior pupils who have finished their GCSE’s?

It’s now Friday and we are, once again, miles from nowhere and just a couple of miles from Middlewich. Hopefully, assuming the weather forecasters are wrong and it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we’ll make it to the Trent and Mersey where, it just so happens, there is more than one pub. That depends upon another unknown quantity, Wifey. She just might want to go on from there and be nearer to our next big stopping point, The Anderton Lift and the River Weaver. I can’t say I’m that keen on rivers, not after our escapade on the Soar in 2007 but, hopefully, we won’t be subjected to floods this time.

Actually our new and permanent moorings are very close to Kegworth, which is where we spent 10 days in the flood lock. Fortunately the marina is on a short stretch of canal that connects to the Soar through a lock, so it is not prone to flooding. Hallelujah to that!

Saturday 11th July 2009

And that pesky starter motor has come back to haunt me! Over the past few days the engine has refused to start without a kick up the starter motor with a 4 lb sledge hammer. This takes us back to late in our cruise last year. At the time all I could think of to do, was to check out all the wiring associated with the SM and, lo and behold, it continued working for a few weeks. Eventually we called in River Canal Rescue but, as was the case when I was a TV engineer, they never go wrong when you want them to.

It seems we’re back to square one again and, if I don’t improve matters tomorrow morning, without the aforementioned fine tuning, then the Anderton Lift and River Weaver are out of the equation. Getting ourselves stranded somewhere along about 25 miles of river will not be much fun.

But, I digress, we left our moorings on the Middlewich Branch this morning around 8 o/clock. We were expecting rain, because that’s what we were told by the nice weather lady yesterday evening, but it was not forthcoming. Instead, although cloudy, it’s been pleasantly warm. So, we stopped at Middlewich for Wifey to go shopping and I stayed home to take care of the pooch.

Fortunately she took her mobile with her, otherwise there’s no telling if or when she was likely to return. When she did phone it was to ask me for directions back to the boat. Now, we were moored between two bridges, the roads over which would both take her into town. Unfortunately, after turning right out of Tesco, she walked past the turning that would have brought her back to the canal.

Being the kind and caring husband that I am, once she’d told me where she was heading for, I walked back to the bridge I expected her to appear from. But, as you would expect, as with any good sit-com, she appeared from the opposite direction. What would I do without her to give me the occasional chuckle?

Eventually we got moving again and finally, after five locks and as many miles, we pulled in just opposite a pretty little mooring spot that we used last year. The area I’m talking about has been cleared and had proper moorings put in by a boat club about three miles away. Today, it seems, they’re having a little get together because, where there is barely enough room for three boats to moor, there are now four, with one boat doubled up with another.

Tomorrow, with luck and a tail wind, and assuming the rain doesn’t come later than forecast, we’ll move on to the nearest pub, which is the Old Broken Cross. If we’re not impressed with that, we’ll move on to The Salt Barge at Marston, which is a pub we stopped at last year. At the time it was the currant licensee’s last day, so all beer was half price. But first I’ve got to have a go at the starter motor.

Lucky old me, we’re in the middle of nowhere and I’ve managed to get online, so I’ll post this blog.

Cheers me dears.

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.