Shiralee Cruise 2011 #2

Friday 15th April and we’re off to Weston or Stone. The final mooring spot for today depends upon whether or not we can get in at Weston. If we can then we’ll stop the night there and move on to Stone for the weekend. If not, then we’ll have to go on to Stone today and try to moor up on the five day moorings. But first we have to fill up with water and pay a visit to the local marina for gas and to empty our cassette loo.

Left Great Haywood at 0800 and arrive Weston at 1030. On previous occasions we’ve had problems finding a mooring spot here, but we are still in the early part of the boating season and, to our surprise, the place was deserted. Not a boat in sight.

Last time we visited; when I had my old knees; it was a bit of a struggle to walk to the local shop. This time, no problem at all. I really am getting rather good at this walking lark.

After our walk, with doggy in tow, naturally, it was simply a case of settling down for the rest of the day, with visions of Stone for the weekend.

Saturday 16th April and guess what, off we go cruising again. But we don’t cruise at weekends!!.

Anyway, we made an early start at 0730 and, with just two locks and six miles to go and not too many other boats about, we were moored up and drinking our first cuppa at Stone by 1015.

Now, whilst I have walked into the town before, it was only really to visit the pub on Sunday. There are two such within easy walking distance, one is The Star, which is right next to the lock and the other is The Swan, which is just across the bridge.

This time however we not only walked through the town, but right around to Morrison’s and did a good bit of shopping. And most enjoyable the walk was too.

Sunday 17th April and another lovely day, plenty of sunshine and as calm as can be.

On our previous visit we were so disgusted with the service at The Star that we had just one drink and crossed the bridge to The Swan.

This time was different, but only by good fortune. We left the boat a wee bit early and, in the belief that pubs don’t open until 12 noon, we sat by the lock for a while. However, much to our surprise we saw people already drinking at The Star and, since the place looked much improved, decided to give it another crack.

It seems the place has had a complete refurbishment since our last visit and, what’s more important, enough staff to cope, that we sat in the garden and whiled away a good hour and a half.

This was not such a good idea, bearing in mind my diabetes. On Sundays, if we are able to get to a pub, I usually take a reading before going out then, when I return, I take my Insulin. In this instance the reading was taken at about 1130 but, since we stayed a while longer than normal, we arrived back at the boat somewhat late and, as sometimes happens, I forgot my injection until about 2.30 or so. We then had a bite to eat, just a half sarni each and simply sat around for a couple of hours.

Around 5.30 we decide on an early dinner and that dinner was rather low on carbs. So, having taken another reading – I do this four times a day by the way – we had dinner and I again gave myself my usual dose of Insulin.

If you know anything about diabetes you can imagine what happened next. Yep! A Hypo and not just a minor one either. I broke out in an awful sweat and felt most peculiar. It took a few Jelly Babies and some Dextro Tablets before I was anywhere near normal again. What a bummer and what a plonker. And all because I injected only about three hours after my lunchtime one.

Monday 18th April and we decided to stay in Stone for another day. This is because we need to arrange to pick up some mail from the Post Office on Wednesday at Barlaston and also need to give Alan time to post it. The moorings there are only 48 hour so we’re leaving on Tuesday morning so as to pick up our mail on Wednesday.

Wednesday 20th April.
Left at 0800 yesterday morning and arrived Barlaston at 1130. The water point just past our moorings at Stone, which is just before the first lock, had two boats tied up there so no hope of topping up at that point. This is really infuriating. Everybody knows the rules. You do not moor up overnight at water points. Such ignorant pigs should be shot.

Fortunately water points are not scarce and we topped up at the next lock along our route. We also allowed a working boat to pass through that lock ahead of us. They had to get to Etruria that same day. (Don’t ask, I have no idea where Etruria is)

So, even though we had four miles and eight locks to go, and we had let another boat through the lock, and we had a holiday boat ahead of us as well, we still made Barlaston in 3 ½ hours. Not bad going at all.

I am getting so much better at walking long distances that I said I would go with Wifey to the Post Office. Had I known and had she remembered, that there was a pretty steep hill involved, I probably would have left it to her. As it was though, and much to my surprise, I made it there and back without difficulty. I can’t wait to get to the end of the Llangollen Canal and walk down to Horseshoe Falls and through the town as well.

Thursday 21st April and it looks like being another lovely day. I’m sure we’ll pay for it later, the weather people reckon we’re in for a very wet June.

Today, according to the resident slave driver here, we have six locks and eight miles to get to our next stopover at Westport Lake, which is about a half mile short of Harecastle Tunnel and about two miles north of Stoke on Trent. This should take about 3 or 4 hours, assuming we don’t have holiday boaters fouling things up for us.

The south side of the tunnel is clear water but, due to the rock strata which, I do believe contains lots of iron, the north side is a pretty orange colour. Also, with it being almost 3,000 yards long and not controlled by lights, it has an attendant at each end to monitor boats going through. When traffic is passing from one end to the other, a gate is closed so that boats are prevented from entering from the other end. This, presumably, is so that the tunnel keeper doesn’t have to stand around waiting for boats to clear the tunnel, before sending the next lot through. Anyway, we should be at the lake by midday.

Etruria, by the way, is just past the junction with the Caldon Branch of the T&M.

Friday 22nd April and today we are going to brave the rigours of the 3000 yard Harecastle Tunnel. The rigours of same because, being almost 1¾ miles long and with several fans extracting diesel fumes along the way, it can be pretty chilly going through there. Also, it being only just wide enough for one narrowboat, it becomes necessary to take it a wee bit slower than normal cruising. It can therefore – if my maths is correct – anything up to a half hour to pass through. Blooming ‘eck, one could go down with hypothermia in that time!!

Anyway, after the tunnel we have Kidsgrove with plenty of shops, including Tesco’s and, we hope, a DIY store. Having taken the back off the telly yesterday, I have decided to buy a soldering iron and solder and try to correct the problem myself. I’m pretty much convinced that the aerial socket has a dodgy joint. After all I was once a TV engineer and that, as you all probably know, is how I met Wifey. I was working for Granada TV and went round to her flat to repair her ancient B/W set, spotted she was not hitched up to anyone in particular and the rest, as they say, is history. We have now been together for over 30 years. A spectacular triumph of hope over experience!!

Saturday 23rd April.

Yesterday was a real fun day and, considering the fact that we are now enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend or, if you like, depending upon the cut of your cloth, a religious festival, the weather remains very pleasant.

We headed for Harecastle Tunnel at about eight am and, upon our arrival found that five boats had recently been sent through. This meant a wait of almost an hour before we could be on our way, along with the two boats that arrived soon afterwards.

During our enforced wait I had a chat with the Tunnel Keeper and mentioned that the boater behind us, who regularly used the tunnel, experienced problems with his boat ‘fishtailing’ through the part of the tunnel that narrows down a bit. His immediate answer to that was, “He’s going too slow. In order to prevent this happening in any tunnel, you should keep your speed to 3 to 4 mph”.

Now, we’ve been through many tunnels, including Harecastle, and we’ve never experienced this kind of problem. Perhaps we have been doing it right all along. Whooppee!!

Anyway, knowing that we were faced with parts of the tunnel that were a bit narrow and also with a lower ceiling, we removed our ‘window boxes’ and flower pots before going through and it’s just as well we did because, had we not done so, we would surely have lost them. As it was, we didn’t have much clearance above the top box.

All went well apart from me forgetting to don a decently warm coat. This tunnel, being almost a mile and three quarters long, is prone to some heavy diesel fumes, especially when several boats go through together. There are heavy duty fans inside that remove as much of the fumes as possible, as a result of which it can be pretty cold inside. It took us just 30 minutes to reach the other end and nobody was more pleased to see daylight than yours truly.

As I believe I mentioned earlier, we have been experiencing problems with the telly. In short, little or no reception, either digital or analogue. Yesterday I finally nailed down the problem, the aerial lead in the back of the set.

When we stopped off at Kidsgrove I had intended to walk to the nearest shops and try to purchase a soldering iron and solder, because I felt sure the problem was a dry joint on the socket. However, the shops were too far away for even me with my new knees, so we gave it a miss.

As luck would have another boat moored up behind us at Red Bull Basin and, later in the day whilst talking to Bob and Jane, I recounted our problem. What a nice man, Bob had a soldering iron and solder and, without further ado, he loaned them to me. Sadly, after stripping the wretched thing down and toching a wee drop of solder to the offending article, we ended up with no reception at all.

Bob then came up with an alternative plan that, he thought, might solve the problem, a Digi-Box. My experience with television repairs, which ended soon after I met Sheila, did not prepare me for modern electronic technology. However, our new friend offered to show me how it worked and, after much jiggery-pokery, discovered that his idea would not work.

Unfortunately, despite all the added plugs and sockets and scart leads that abound with media units these days, using the Digi-Box would still have meant using a co-axial lead as well, which also meant running through the TV tuner which, as you now know, is totally defunct.

Our only option now it seems, is to see if I can track down a new tuner, which may be a wee bit difficult. If that doesn’t work I’m afraid it’s a new telly. More expense.

Later in the evening we heard rumbles of thunder which, as you would expect, were followed by a smattering of rain. Indeed we were treated to quite a downpour for a while but, luckily for Sheila, it had stopped by the time she took Rusty out for her last walk of the day.

Today we are off to Rode Heath, which is just two miles away, on a stretch of the T&M that we haven’t travelled before, with a total of nine locks on the way. The weather is dry but a little overcast, so it should be a good trip and should take no more than a couple of hours.

Good morning good people on this Easter Sunday, 24th April 2011, I do hope you are having as enjoyable a weekend as we are.

We left Red Bull Basin at about 0745 and were all moored up, here at Rode Heath by 0945. That’s just one hour to complete two miles and nine locks. Incidentally, the formula for calculating the time it will take to get from point A to point B is locks + miles divided by 3, so 9 + 2 divided by 3 = 3.66 hours. Two hours for the trip yesterday is pretty good.

The pub for today’s lunchtime repast is called The Broughton Arms and is, according to my pal Alan’s wife Chris, the better of the two. This is just as well since we have no idea where number two is located. Lucky old us we are only a few minutes walk away from said watering hole and, judging by the noise coming from there yesterday evening, it’s a popular place. Hopefully, with it being Easter and the majority of family types are away with the kiddies, it won’t be too busy.
Apart from said pub the village of Rode Heath has a Post Office cum mini market and of course the other pub. It also enjoys a quite idyllic village setting, with a line of houses across from us on the canal side and a lock just a few yards further along. Indeed, this stretch of the T&M is the final stretch for us and, when we get to the Middlewitch Branch on about Wednesday, we would have completed the Trent and Mersey, at last.

I can’t say I’m particularly lost without the television, we really don’t watch that much anyway. But I have really been looking forward to watching ITV’s offering at 9 o/clock on Monday evening. The programme is called “The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher” and is a murder mystery base upon a true story, as recounted by Kate Summerscale in her eponymous book.

So now, having sought help in the matter from my dear brother who, in this instance has failed me miserably, is there anyone else out there who can record said programme for us???? We really would be most grateful. We might even grovel a bit.

Now, having completed nine pages of this marathon blog, I feel it is time to post. Please, please, do consider my plea for a recording of “The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher” very seriously. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. We might even have to purchase a DVD of the thing, assuming ITV make one in the not too distant future.

Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend.

Kind regards and all sorts of wonderful wishes.

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.