N.B.Shiralee: Shiralee Cruise 2012 #7

Audlem to Hurleston Locks

Wednesday 9th May (contd)

Despite having come down 11 locks, the moorings between locks 11 and 12 are still about 60 feet above the houses. On the opposite side to the visitors moorings lies a stretch of BW moorings, although there do not appear to be many boats there at present. This is probably because many of them have moved to the new marina, which is below lock 15, and at which we stayed last year for a couple of days. We will also be calling in there tomorrow to pick up some coal. Yes indeed, it is still not warm enough to let the fire go out.

The pictures posted in Blog #6 are all from last year and were taken by Wifey with her Fujica. If the weather stays reasonable today I’ll try to take a few more with the Olympus. Not that there’s anything wrong with those that Wifey took last year, it’s just that we have none of the moorings and locks, nor of the Shroppie Fly pub, which is where we should be this afternoon for a lunchtime snack. We also only have the one photo of the town, and that’s of the church, so we do need a few more.

We have a new, free magazine called The Tillergraph, a copy of which we picked up at Audlem Mill gift shop yesterday. Inside the magazine is an article entitled Liveaboard Life, which concentrates on blogging. It’s written by a boater named Kevin Blick, who lives aboard his narrowboat ‘Star’.

Kevin has some pretty good pointers regarding blogs and what to put in them and, more to the point, what not to include. For example, moaning about anything to do with boating is a definite no-no, as is the dreary and hum-drum stuff that everybody has to do in a normal day, like shopping and cooking etcetera. He also suggests that a drop or two of humour goes a long way to ensuring the success or otherwise of the blog.

So, from this day hence I will try to avoid the mundane, in so far as it probably holds little interest to you, my avid readers, and will try to inject some more interesting info with, if possible, a dash of funny/peculiar/odd happenstances as they crop up.

Of course, this means that some of the daily entries may be a little short or, if nothing of interest occurs during that day, no entry at all. Perish the thought!

There, that’s almost two full pages added to the previous blog. Who’s a clever boy then?

Thursday 10th May.

Unlike most days for us retirees, yesterday was full of stuff to do. The first of these was a walk to the bottom of Audlem Locks where we know there to be a canal-side shop. Last year this little cabin-by-the-lock didn’t have a great deal to offer; just eggs and a small amount of fruit and veg. This year has shown a vast improvement and includes a whole range of meat products, funny ornaments, such as Bill and Ben Flower Pot Men on strings and a peculiar Corn Dolly.

It seems that the young owner and his missus have some kind of competition going as to who can find the most bizarre item to put up for sale. One item is a bright, glass bowl with a long, thin stem to it. I thought perhaps it was for adorning the roof of the boat, whereby it would catch the rays of the sun – when we finally get some – and sparkle. But no, the darn thing is for filling with water and sticking into plant pots so as to water the plants. How weird is that when we have all this rain?

Talking of which, by the time I had taken 45 photos along the canal and in town, collected paper and milk, and enjoyed a snack at the Shroppie Fly, the heavens opened up and it didn’t stop raining for the rest of the day. But, once again, the rain gods were smiling upon us, because we only had to suffer a mere dampening, as opposed to the drenching we would have had to endure had we stayed in the pub any longer.

I have to say though, that I was a little disappointed with the pub this time around, because it didn’t really live up to its reputation or our expectations. We arrived at about 12.30 and found only a few customers there, so we were served quite quickly. There was only one young man behind the bar, with the boss/owner/manager, sitting at the customer’s side of the bar fiddling with his iPad. When he finally moved it was to disappear behind the scenes – possibly to do the cooking? – never to be seen again.

I wasn’t impressed with the food either because, although it was tasty enough, it could have been hot rather than just warm. Also, and unfortunately for him, the lone barman was left to cope with the gradual influx of customers all on his own for the next hour that we were there. Nobody came to help him and we could see him becoming more and more frustrated with his situation.

Oh no, nothing like the normal state of affairs, where there would be at least two people serving and, on busy days, another taking orders for food.

Today, unfortunately, we have heavy, leaden skies and drizzle which, by the time we get moving – if we actually do – will probably increase to a downpour and we won’t be going anywhere. Our plan is to pass through the remaining four locks, call into the marina for coal, then move on for a couple of miles and moor up in the sticks for a night or two. We really would like to be in Nantwich for market day on Saturday. Wouldn’t it be nice to get some decent Spring weather?

Incidentally, and changing the subject somewhat, we have only erected out aerial twice, with the intention of watching just one programme – Country File on Sunday evening – and we haven’t missed it at all the rest of the time. I am now seriously considering getting rid of the telly and replacing it with a decent record deck, or even a Hi-Fi unit that also plays LPs, of which we have quite a few nestling underneath our dinette.

Saturday 12th May

Yesterday was a disaster cruise wise, we actually managed to move about ½ a mile and had to pull in due to high winds. You had to see the waves rippling down the canal to believe the strength of the wind.

Our initial intention was to visit Overwater marina and pick up some coal but, with the wind that strong and knowing the layout of the marina, we decided to wait until we reached Nantwich and get some there. Unfortunately this will mean a long-ish walk with our barrow, but it’s better than negotiating the marina.

Anyway, where we moored up there was already another boat about 50 yards ahead of us and, later in the day, when the wind was even fiercer, they tried to move off. Their efforts failed miserably, as we knew they would because, as fast as they pushed the front out with their pole and before they had a chance to get moving, the wind pushed it back in. At times it was quite comical to watch. Eventually they gave up and stayed the night.

Today is bright and sunny and we’re moving on to Nantwich, with a bus ride to town and the Saturday market. It’s only four miles away with two locks, so won’t take us very long.

Monday 14th May

We have just spent a really great weekend at Nantwich, mind you, it was a bit of a job getting here. After leaving our overnight moorings just a short distance from Overwater marina, we hit some pretty high winds again and decided to stop again, this time at a picnic area called Coole Pilot – sorry, the book doesn’t tell us where that name came from – and, after about half an hour and a cuppa later, with the wind easing off somewhat, we moved on and finally made it. The wind did seem to pick up again along the way, but we gamely pushed on and finally arrived at about 11 o/clock.

A walk into town was next on the agenda, mainly because we wanted to visit the market for new plants for our boxes, and a further walk into Morrison’s which, as you would expect, is as far away from the canal as it is possible to be. Shopping over we caught the bus back and my legs gave me a good telling off later.

For the most part the weather was fine on Saturday and most of Sunday, when we took another walk, this time to a pub called The Star in the village of Acton. From our moorings this is about a mile away and means a long walk along the towpath, crossing a bridge, walking through an estate and back along the main road. The layout of The Star is somewhat different from most village pubs, in that the bar to the left of the entrance has been set aside as a restaurant, whilst the bar to the right is split into seating and a games room.

This pub boasts a few real ales and cider, along with the usual lagers and such. It also has a monthly Wine Evening where meals are £20, accompanied by the wines of course. Must be a good deal because this month’s meeting is already fully booked for the 28th. Assuming we return this way, we’ll probably stop off for a meal, only we’ll try to moor up closer to the bridge.

At one point yesterday, whilst we were enjoying a cup of coffee, I chanced to spot a water vole swimming along the opposite bank. The animal seemed somewhat panicky and was trying to find some way of leaving the water. This canal in particular is lined with huge stone slabs, which are probably about 6 or 8 inches high, so impossible for such a small animal to climb over.

However, just opposite our boat is a section of stone that has broken away at some point, leaving a chunk of stone resting on the canal bottom, with a small gap between it and the other piece. On the first pass the vole didn’t seem to consider this a possible point of egress and, having come back and passed it a second time, we really thought it was going to die from exhaustion but, it eventually turned around again and climbed up into the crevice. It stayed there for quite a while, cleaning itself up and resting, after which it climbed to the top and disappeared into the long grass. I did manage to take a few snaps of the creature but, with the stone crevice being quite dark and not having a powerful enough telephoto lens, I don’t hold out much hope of anything decent.

Today we have to leave these moorings but, since we didn’t arrive until late morning on Saturday, we’re going to take a bus ride into town again. This time I need to pick up some bits and pieces that will enable me to re-position our TV aerial. After that we’ll be off to the bottom of the locks that take us onto the Llangollen Canal. At present the rain has stopped and the wind from last night has calmed down, so, with luck we’ll get going today without having to fight more gale force winds.

Tuesday 15th May

…..and another wet start to the day, when will it end?

Yesterday morning we had intended to take the bus into Nantwich for some bolts, which I wanted to use in building a framework for the aerial to sit on the roof. But, being the tight fisted wallah that I am, I decided that the 2 ½ inch screws in my tool box would do the trick. We therefore left at about 08.15, with the intention of topping up with water and going on to Hurleston Locks and the Llangollen canal.

When we arrived at the water point we had to hover in mid stream whilst another boater finished what he was doing, after which I pointed the nose in the right direction and moved in to moor up. Just as I was easing the bow in to the hard-standing we heard an almighty bang, looked up and saw that the boat in front, which was already half way under the bridge, had been rammed by another boat coming the other way.

Now, the boat under the bridge was barely moving at the time, so the other boat must have been going at a fair old lick for the bang to have been so loud. Obviously the offending boater didn’t even bother to slow down when he saw the other boat coming towards him.

Anyway, several minutes later, as we were topping up with water, the owner of the damaged boat came running past in pursuit of the other boat. He eventually caught up with it and, when he came back, asked if we might bear witness to the event and I duly gave him my mobile number and name and thought no more about it.

So, when we arrived at the moorings below Hurleston Locks, what with there being a queue of boaters waiting to go up, we pulled in and moored up, by which time the wind had picked up again and so we decided to stay put until this morning. Methinks this was probably a big mistake, because it is now teeming with rain. Still, this is the beauty of being retired and living on board our boat, we are in no hurry and, if necessary, we’ll stay here for another day.

I’m waiting now for the rain to ease off so that I can take the pooch out.

Back to yesterday, where the saga of the head-on battle between ‘Percy’ and ‘Snowgoose’ took another turn. Some time after mooring up, along came the damaged boat, ‘Percy’ and, after the owner spotted me waving to him, he pulled in to show me the damage. Now, although I couldn’t see the dent to the offside, Dave Mullina, the owner, invited me in to see the damage caused to the inside.

Apparently the force of the impact was so severe as to cause cabinets and his shower stall to detach themselves from their fixings. So much so that, after asking the local boatyard people at Nantwich to give him an idea as to costs of repair, discovered that he was looking at about £3,000 worth. Naturally I gave him my email details too, since I would have no way of receiving any insurance forms by post until we returned to Mercia.

Apparently, when Dave caught up with the old idiot on ‘Snowgoose’, the fellow said to him, “So, I’ve been hit by holiday boats before, it’s no big deal”. To which Dave replied, “You’re not on a holiday boat, and what does that have to do with it anyway?” At that point he hadn’t had a chance to inspect the damage otherwise I think he would have thumped the man. Fortunately Dave does not live on his boat, which begs the question, what would we do if it happened to us?

All for now, and here are a couple of extra photos that I took at Audlem.