Friday 29th June
My apologies for the lack of photos in the previous blog, although the signal was somewhat stronger than that at Whitchurch, I didn’t feel it was sufficient to be uploading photos to Blogger. Also, as much as I would like to offer some new photos of this trip, the weather has been against us for the most part. Excuses, excuses!!
It does not look too promising for our planned trip down Grindley Brook locks and on to Wrenbury this morning, it’s far too windy and, I suspect we’ll be in for a soaking if we attempt it. But, if it stays dry, we will at least be able to cover the rust preventative on the port side with red paint. Also, since Wifey had a dicky tummy yesterday, we might be able to celebrate the birthday and anniversary today, rather than wait until we finally get to Wrenbury.
Regarding the blocked chimney, having asked our friend Andy; who’s still at Mercia finishing off some work before him and his wife Sandy go cruising; how best to remove the blockage, he has asked around and informs me, that the only way to achieve a complete clearance, is to take the chimney out and work on it from both ends.
Both the top and bottom ends of the stack are secured bu a wide collar and heat proof filler, so this removal is not going to be an easy task. However, having been advised by Sandy, that her good old hubby has already tackled the installation of four such stacks, we’ve decided ‘horses for courses’ and Andy can have the job when we return to Mercia. Well, somebody has to give the lad some work after all that relaxing cruising, don’t they?
Saturday 30th June
Not much to report for yesterday, except still more rain and high winds that prevented us from moving on. We had hoped to be in Wrenbury, but the incessant rain put a stop to that.
However, with Fedderer on centre court, we did at least have something to watch in the evening and, what another corker! After two sets down and looking decided dodgy on the third, we fully expected another shock defeat. But, as usual, he kept his cool, despite the Frenchman’s efforts at delaying tactics and illegal use of his trainer for an impromptu massage. All’s well that ends well.
This morning we’ve had some rain but, with the sky considerably lighter and a very light breeze, I’m hoping to get away before there’s a queue at the top of the staircase locks. Under normal circumstances, during the hours of 8am and 5pm, the lock keeper is in attendance but, if we can get away before 8, we can do the job ourselves and won’t have to worry about holiday makers holding us up.
Now, I know I said we wanted to be at Wrenbury but, about half way down there’s a little village called Marbury that we have yet to visit. It’s only about half a mile walk from the canal and, according to Nicholson’s Guide, is well worth a visit. And, besides, it also has a pub that we haven’t visited either. So, instead of waiting until Barbridge to celebrate our recent anniversary and birthday, we might stop off there instead and investigate. If the pub doesn’t suit, there’s always the one at Wrenbury or the Barbridge Arms.
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| The Church at Marbury on the Llangollen |
Sunday 1st July
Another miserable and wet day yesterday, in which no work was carried out on Shiralee. Instead we decided to take a walk into Marbury, the South Cheshire village near which we moored in the morning.
About 150 yards ahead of us is Marbury lock and the road that runs up to the village. Beside the lock is a big notice inviting boaters and other passers by to visit The Swan pub and local Norman church, so, even with the threat of rain, off we trotted, brolly in hand, for the half mile, uphill stroll, and were very glad that we did.
At the top of the lane and on the left hand side, are older houses whilst on the right is a fairly recent estate of newer properties. From here it was a short walk around the corner to aforementioned church and pub, opposite which is an oak tree on the green, surrounded by a wooden bench seat.
With trusty new mobile in hand I even managed to take a few photos and will try to include them in this blog.
With nothing better to do and with the possibility of paying the pub a visit on the morrow, we took the plunge and stepped inside. To the left of the main entrance was another door leading to the restaurant, whilst to the right a door to the lounge bar. The lounge is a simple oblong shape, with a raised deck and seating at the furthest end, whilst the serving area joins bar and restaurant. Pictures and ornaments adorn the walls, with a definite leaning towards horses and the hunt.
We enjoyed a couple of drinks and a packet of crisps, at not too exorbitant prices, with me adding a pickled egg to mine, something I have been unable to do for many years, because so few pubs offer them for sale nowadays. We’ll be returning tomorrow for Sunday lunch.
We erected the aerial, in hopes of watching some tennis but, as is often the case in rural areas, were unable to find a decent signal. When we did get a signal we found the picture was breaking up, so we abandoned the idea. No matter, we still have another week to go.
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| The Swan at Marbury |
Monday 2nd July
How sad that, having delayed our usual birthday cum anniversary celebration due to Wifey’s upset tummy, we were presented with a less than satisfactory meal at The Swan in Marbury.
Equally sad was the fact that, being somewhat timid creatures, we chose not to complain. At our ages we don’t want a stand up and knock down confrontation with a less than happy chef.
As Sunday lunches go the lamb was very tender, but appeared to have been prepared very early in the day, because the whole meal was at rather less than room temperature. What is more, at the overly inflated price of £9.95, the meal consisted of just two slices of meat, one portion each of red and green cabbage, one small spud quartered, and about half a carrot, the slices of which were piled on top of each other. Even the gravy was barely warm.
In Derbyshire we have two pubs that offer a Carvery, one at £5.95, the other at £6.25, with two types of meat on the same plate, plus vegetables and roast potatoes, all of which are kept hot and all of which you can pile as high as you like.
We actually paid the pub a visit on Saturday, at lunchtime and, even though we knew of the inflated price, we still decided to give it a try, expecting a far better meal than we were given. It’s no wonder that, by the time we left at about half past one, the restaurant was empty. We had been the only diners on the day so far.
Today has dawned fairly bright, but with a pretty strong tail wind and we’re hoping to move on the two miles to Wrenbury.
On Saturday, as I think I mentioned, I took some photos of Marbury with my new LG Mobile. This morning I thought I might download them to the laptop with the intention of including a couple when I post this blog.
So, having plugged the wretched thing into the laptop, via its very own connector cable, I waited a while, but nothing came up on the screen. Not to be defeated just yet, I consulted the User Leaflet – no proper manual with these things – and discovered that I first needed to visit their website and download their PC Suite.
Having accessed the website, I then discover that I need to log in. But I do not have any log in info, which probably means I will first have to register the product. This also means that they will want to know where and when I purchased the mobile, which, at this moment in time, is beyond my capabilities regarding my internal memory. Thankfully my dearly beloved has a far better memory than I do and, with the aid of our Money programme, will be able to help me achieve the objective. Thy will be done some time later today because Wifey has yet to surface and face the world.
Ah, ha, but then I can be just as sneaky as the next guy. How about I simply enter PC Suite in the Search Bar in MS Internet Explorer? There it is! Easy peasy, downloaded in a couple of seconds. All I need to do now is install the prog. Job done! Who’s a clever boy then?
Tuesday 3rd July
What a bummer, here I am with the phone prog installed, but with no Internet access at all. In fact the indicator panel is telling me No Service, and that is most unusual, even for this neck of the woods.
Yesterday? Well, yet more rain, so nothing done on the boat. We did walk to the shop and we did throw out a bottle of milk that had turned, and we did call into the local hire boat company chandlery but, no paint. So, a rather dead day.
Today, depending upon the weather, we’ll either take the bus into Nantwich, or move on to Burland. With the weather still not settled, I rather suspect the former and, since the timetable is such that we will only have ¾ of an hour in town, we won’t be out very long.
Wednesday 4th July
You will not be surprised to learn that yesterday was yet another wet one, but we did manage to take a bus into Nantwich to deposit a prescription at the chemist, to be collected later in the week.
Our plan for the next few days is, firstly to move off from Wrenbury to Burland this morning, tomorrow morning, through Hurleston Locks and on to the Shroppie to Nantwich, where we’ll take the bus into town, either that same day, or on Friday morning. On Saturday morning we’ll trot off to Barbridge and stay the weekend, with a Sunday visit to Barbridge Inn at lunchtime. Since there are no pubs within walking distance on our next stretch of canal, the Middlewich Branch, the Barbridge stop is essential.
Now, having downloaded the necessary programme with which to transfer my phone pics to the laptop, I’ll leave this and get on with that.
Thursday 5th July
Boating does have its downside at times, and yesterday was one of those mornings. We left Wrenbury at about 08.15 and passed through the two lift bridges and, about 15 minutes after that, ‘snap’ went the fan belt. Now, I knew we had a spare, but I also knew I would not find it easy to fit, but do we stop immediately to fit it, or do we carry on to Burland?
Such difficult decisions are very much the norm as any live-aboard boater will tell you.
Anyway, after much oooing and aaahing we decided to press ahead, mainly because we didn’t want to be stuck miles from nowhere without domestic power. At least, if we moved on to Burland, we would be close to a marina and could spend the night there if necessary.
After arriving at Burland and allowing the engine to cool down, down into the bowels of the engine bay I plunged and proceeded to struggle with the new belt. Well, even after giving it a good soaking in hot water, that thing would not do as it was told.
Next stop the telephone. Wifey called Swanley Marina who obligingly gave her the local engineer’s number. She spoke to a very nice man named Eric, who promised to be along within the hour. After 2 ½ hours with no sign of Eric, I phoned him again and the conversation went something like this:
“Hi, is that Eric?”
“Speaking”
“My wife phoned you about two hours ago about our fan belt?”
“Did she?”
“Yes, and you said you would be along in about an hour”
“Oh my God, so I did, I’m ever so sorry, I can’t apologise enough, I’m afraid I got sidetracked and completely forgot you. Look, I’ll have to finish up here but I’ll be along in an hour or so”
“Well, look, if you can’t……..”
“No, no, I’ll definitely be there, don’t worry, I won’t let you down”
With that he disconnected and we sat and waited. Well, true to his word Eric turned up and was all apologies again. Apparently, he was on his way to us, via Morrison’s, when, just as he was leaving he received another urgent call and went straight there, completely forgetting about us.
Anyway, to cut a very long story just a wee bit shorter, although he did manage to fit the belt, with an almighty struggle I have to say, he realised that the belt was the wrong width and that, as a result, the alternator could not be given enough of a gap away from the throttle cable. Even at the correct width he reckoned it would still have been a problem.
It seems that all belts have a serial number, which denotes their length. What I wasn’t aware of, is that they also come in varying widths and, where we needed a 10mm wide belt, what the previous chandlery had given me was a 13mm one.
Eventually, with another struggle, Eric removed the offending item and fitted a temporary one, just so we could charge the batteries overnight. “I’ll order a couple this evening and they’ll be here in the morning. If I’m not here by 10 o/clock, give me a bell”
We now have to reverse the boat back to the nearby winding hole and await his arrival. The winding hole has a car park beside it and will make it easier for Eric to access the boat, rather than hiking down the towpath.
Incidentally, I still haven’t downloaded my phone pics to the laptop. Why is this? Well, having installed the programme and ‘transferred’ the photos, I then discovered that they were not in the designated folder and, what’s more, they had not been ‘transferred’. So, I opened the programme again and, lo and behold, there were my photos. They had not been ‘transferred’, merely copied. I now have to attach the mobile to the laptop, open the programme and drag and drop them into the designated folder.
And that's it for this blog.
All abreast until next time
Dave, Sheila and Rusty
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