Shiralee: Cruise 2013 # 9

Ellesmere to St. Martin’s Moor

 Saturday 18^th May

 The day dawned bright and sunny but, by 7.20 am we now have cloud cover. I rather suspect we’ll have more rain before long.

 Once again our Rusty had us up in the early hours, this time it was 4 am, but at least we’d been abed for 6 hours. She is now lying on the floor fast asleep, having been out again at 5.30, just after I got up.

 We are having trouble figuring out just what’s causing these tummy upsets. I think that the only thing to do is, take her to a vet at the earliest opportunity, along with samples of the food we’re giving her. Perhaps he/she will be able to offer some advice regarding what she should be eating at her age.

 So, back to today, we will take another walk into town and suss out an alternative pub for tomorrow. Last time we were at Ellesmere we took a walk down to the local mere, where we took a few photos and had an ice cream. At that time I feel sure we used a pub near there, but Wifey disagrees. She thinks we took Rusty with us, and we don’t normally take her in pubs. If there is a pub where I think there is; and my memory does play tricks on me from time to time; then we will use that one.

 This year, rather than go down the Montgomery first, we’ll push on to Llangollen and do the Monty on our return trip. If we can moor up at the Queen’s Head, we can take the bus into Oswestry, which we did last year.

 Sunday 19^th May

 Today has dawned bright and sunny, which is just as well, ‘cos the fire has now gone out. OK, so I like my home comforts, there’s nowt wrong wi’ that, so there. It’s only gone out because I put some coal on to the burning embers, thinking it would pick up, instead I succeeded in snuffing it out altogether. As it happens, the sun is now high enough to warm the boat up, so we should be alright, assuming it doesn’t turn cold again.

 Our Rusty seems OK this morning. We are eliminating certain items of food from her regular intake, hoping we can at least lengthen the gap between each bout of tummy upset. Her main diet seems OK but, having tried her on fresh chicken and turkey; cooked, of course; both of which didn’t seem to agree, we are now eliminating her treats, one by one. It doesn’t take long for her to bounce back from one of these upsets, but it would be nice to eliminate them altogether.

 Wifey and I have had a slight dispute about our visit here last year. I say we called into a pub at the top of a lane that leads down to the Mere. Until we walked around the town to that pub, she still wasn’t sure but, now that she’s seen it she feels sure she mentioned it in her diary. I think that, due to Rusty’s age and the fact that we were going for our Sunday beer and chat and don’t take her in pubs, she thought we had Rusty with us when we walked by the Mere. And there was I thinking I was losing my marbles!

 Today, of course, with it being Sunday, we’ll visit that pub again. We might even take a walk by the Mere again and enjoy an ice cream. Whether that enjoyable repast will come before or after the beer, we haven’t decided yet.

 I discovered something very interesting yesterday, something I have not been made aware of until now. A boat pulled up behind us yesterday afternoon, just as I was walking Rusty. The lady had problems getting down from the stern deck and, when she finally did so, she then had trouble pulling the boat in. When I spotted the man getting off using a pair of crutches, I thought it would be a good time to lend a hand.

 After tying up I asked how long they were staying, to which this gentleman replied, “As long as we can get away with it”. I replied, “But surely, this is only 48 hour moorings, isn’t it?” To which he astonished me by saying, “No, this stretch of canal is within the local parish boundary and, as such, you are entitled to moor here for 14 days.”

 This rule applies whenever a stretch of canal lies within a parish. I don’t know which parish this area comes under, because that’s not made clear in our Nicholson’s Guide but, on the other side of Ellesmere Tunnel, which is almost a mile behind us, that stretch is covered by Welshampton and Lyneal parish. It’s possibly that Ellesmere is a parish in its own right, but then the Ellesmere Arm would also be 14 days, unless they have a separate bye law dictating otherwise.

 This information is interesting in that, wherever a stretch of canal falls within a parish boundary, regardless of any notice boards stating otherwise, 14 days is allowed. If there is a notice erected by the local parish warning against lengthy stays; something I have never seen; then, regardless of what BW/CRT says, 14 days it is.

 This is how some of our continuous cruisers get away with moving from bridge to bridge; bridge hopping they call it. They move from one parish to another and stay two weeks at each location, and BW/CRT can do nothing about it. Who can blame them, especially if they are still working and have kids still at school? Why pay the exorbitant marina fees when they don’t need to? Hmmm, very interesting!

 Monday 20^th May             

 Wouldn’t you know it, yesterday was gloriously sunny, this morning we have rain. It’s stopped at the moment, but you can bet your cotton socks it will be raining when we move on.

 Yesterday and Saturday I had no problems with the WiFi unit, this morning it’s running with a reduced signal. I particularly wanted to change June and Keith’s email address at Google, but I can’t seem to find the page where this is done and, when I get to my blog I have trouble signing in. Not to worry though, I’ll get there in the end.

 We walked down to the Red Lion pub yesterday and discovered that it’s very much like the Dragon at Willington, nowhere to sit and have a quiet pint because almost all seating was reserved for diners. You can guess who won’t be visiting that pub again. Surely they are not so greedy for people who want to eat, that they can’t allocate seating for those who want to use it as a pub! Thankfully such places are rare but, having walked all that way only to find reserved notices on all but one table came as something of a shock. Next thing you know drinkers will be barred from pubs unless they also have food. Now, there’s a thought!

 This morning, come rain or shine, we’re moving on. I won’t know where until Wifey gets up. Destination is her province, I just drive the boat.

 Tuesday 21^st May

 We are now at the top of Frankston Locks but, rather than go down and onto the Montgomery, we’ll be heading for Llangollen and will probably stop at St. Michael’s Moor for a night or two. We’re planning to arrive in Llangollen for Saturday and stay until Monday morning. We figure that, by the time we arrive in Llangollen the holiday boaters will be leaving and there will be plenty of space.

 This canal does seem rather quiet this year and, where there would normally be a good half dozen boats along this stretch, there is one other boat here. Several boats passed through yesterday, but none of them stopped here and, as far as we could tell, none went down the locks either. We suspect that some holiday hire companies are not doing too well this year.

 We have now omitted some of the stuff we give Rusty and are alternating her meals and, just by doing those two things, she’s perked up over the last couple of days. Hopefully she’ll continue that way.

 About our WiFi unit:

 Sandra kindly reminded me that their email address had changed, as a result of which they are still receiving our blog at the old one. Now, mobile broadband is not quite as reliable as Ethernet, or whatever you landlubbers call it. Therefore, when we are cruising there are times when, even though I am able to send and receive emails, it is not always possible to access the WWW. This morning is a case in point and, although Sandra’s message came through, I can’t access my Google blog account. No doubt all will be well at our next port of call. Alternatively it could be a whole lot worse.

 There is also the problem of actually locating the area of my blog where changes to automatically sent blogs can be made and I have yet to find that page!! But, have no fear we’ll get there in the end.

 Wednesday 22^nd May

 Crumpet Day.

 Ah, ha, methinks I have managed to alter those addresses, so Sandra and June should get this blog, which I’m posting from St. Martin’s Moor on the Llangollen, where it’s very windy and threatening rain.

 So much for Summer!

 Cheers me dears from,

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty, whose tummy I can hear rumbling even as I type. Looks like we’re in for another of her bad days.

Shiralee: Cruise 2013 # 8

Wrenbury to Ellesmere

 Tuesday 14^th May

 Yesterday morning at Wrenbury the day started out really well, with bright sunshine and just a light breeze. However, since we were short of coal and logs, we decided to wait until the hire boat chandlery opened at 8.30 before going on to Grindley Brook.

 By the time we had pulled in opposite the boatyard, down came the rain, which didn’t look good for our chances. But, since we needed the coal anyway, we bought a couple of bags, along with a bag of logs, by which time the rain had stopped, so off we went.

 Grindley Brook is about 4 miles from Wrenbury, with two lift bridges and a lock in between but, by the time we got to the lock at Marbury, the wind was much stronger and very much colder. Needless to say we didn’t make Grindley Brook, instead we pulled in just above the lock and enjoyed the rest of the day, which was a mixture of wind, rain and sunshine.

This morning has again started out bright and sunny, with just the hint of a breeze, so we just might get to yesterday’s destination.

 For only the second time since we left Mercia I am unable to access the Internet, but this is a bit iffy. When I first booted up everything was fine, but then, just a minute ago, when I tried following a link in an email, I couldn’t access it.

This WiFi unit has a little triangular indicator in the System Tray that tells me if I’m online. When it is not possible to access the Internet, that icon shows a yellow mark, which is what it did a few minutes ago. However, having moved the unit, just slightly, everything seems OK now. Ah well, that’s modern technology for you!

 Wednesday 15^th May

 We arrived at Grindley Brook at about 10 am yesterday and took a quick walk to the local garage for milk and Daily Mail. Later in the day; unsurprisingly considering the heavy clouds about; down came the rain, and it hasn’t stopped since. After the fairly light stuff, when we could still walk the towpath without tracking mud into the boat, the rain became much heavier. By 9 pm it was coming down like stair rods and it’s still doing so at 7 am. The towpath is now all but impossible to walk along, with deep puddles and muddy bits. Yeuk!

 We had intended to go on to Whitchurch this morning and take the bus into town; our food stocks are getting pretty low; but this weather has put the kibosh on that idea. Still, if it clears up later, as the ‘experts’ told us last evening, we might move on later today.

 I forwarded an email earlier but, maybe because my Avast programme was still updating, that email didn’t go through. I do hope I’m not about to have more problems with ‘3’ because, if I am, I’m not going to be a happy bunny.

 Thursday 16^th May

 Well, yesterday carried on pretty much the same as Tuesday, mostly wet and windy, until late afternoon that is, at which point the wind eased off and the rain stopped.

 This morning, although cloudy, is calm and mild and the wind seems to be in the opposite direction. With a little luck we’ll be through those locks and moored up at Whitchurch before more rain hits us.

 Friday 17^th May

 Arrived Whitchurch at about 10am and, after walking Rusty and partaking of a cup of coffee, we caught the bus into town. Had we been aware that there was a new Sainsbury’s a reasonable walk away and, had we known exactly where it was, we would have shopped there. But, since the only store near to the bus stop in town is a Tesco, that’s where we went.

 Actually, when taking the bus to town, with only Tesco in mind, the bus terminus is right outside Tesco’s door. Anyway, on our way back from Llangollen we’ll probably give Sainsbury’s a try.

 Having arrived back at the boat, laden with a week’s supply of goodies, we settled in for a pleasant afternoon. And it was very pleasant, all sunny and warm, just right for warming the cockles! However, by about 2.30 we were feeling our itchy feet and decided to move on and enjoy a coatless cruise and set off at 3pm for ‘The Shop’.

 This part of the Llangollen used to have a small shop, which sold general goods; such as milk and tinned stuff; but it closed down a couple of years ago. However, the 48 hour moorings are still there and, unlike some canals, the grass along the towpath is kept to a reasonable length. So, here we stopped for the night.

 Of course, the good weather couldn’t last and, later in the evening we were subjected to thunder and lightning, along with heavy rain. This morning is dry and calm, no rain yet but, judging by the heavy cloud cover, we’re in for some later. We want to be in Ellesmere for the weekend, so we really do need to move a few miles nearer today, otherwise we’ll have a pretty long haul tomorrow.

 Rusty, poor wee thing, has taken sick again. This time she had us up twice during the night, 12.30 and 2 am. This is not like her, so we suspect she’s either picked something up whilst out walking; as dogs tend to do; or something we’ve given her didn’t agree. But, since she has been eating the same combination of foodstuffs for quite some time, we can’t see that as a possibility.

 The only thing that’s changed is one of the small treats we give her. She doesn’t seem too keen on some of the harder biscuits, so we’re leaning more towards soft and meaty treats. But, as usual she’ll be nagging for her breakfast just as soon as Sheila gets up and, later on she’ll be running around like a puppy.

 Saturday 18^th May

 After getting washed and dressed yesterday morning, I had my first cup of tea, after which I took Rusty out and messed around on the laptop for a while and then gave Wifey her first cup of the day, along with my second, never dreaming for one minute that it would be my last of the morning.

 Wifey deigns to join us most mornings at about 7.30 and, after she too is washed and dressed, I usually prepare breakfast, which where, yesterday morning, things started to go somewhat awry.

 Like a good, domesticated chap, as soon as Wifey gets up I put the laptop away and get on with it. Unfortunately, having connected a new gas bottle only about three days before, the darn thing ran out. Normally they last about six weeks when we’re cruising but, alas, this one was probably leaking away without us being fully aware of the problem.

 Funnily enough this has happened before but, on this occasion, even though Wifey had said she could smell gas, when I checked I discovered I had left the valve open on the old one and assumed that was where the smell came from. Wrong, because, when I put the kettle on for the third time that morning, very low gas.

 Thus it was that, by 08.00 we were on our way to Ellesmere, seven miles away.

 Now, about half a mile from the moorings lies the Preese branch, at the end of which is a small marina. However, from past experience we know the chandlery there only opens for a couple of hours in the afternoon and so, even though their nearby sign says they now open from 9 until 5, we weren’t about to waste the time, so we carried on to Ellesmere, where we finally arrived at about 11 am and by which time we were gagging for a coffee.

But first we had to trundle our two empty bottles to the marina, load them and a bag of coal onto one of their flat trucks and get it all back to the boat. With the very generous help of a nearby boater named Andy, we finally had the gas re-connected and a kettle on the boil at about midday.

 While we were trundling said empty bottles to the chandlery, Andy remarked about the lousy weather and how he was undecided about buying another sack of coal. He was down to just a few lumps and, after he had left us to walk into town, Sheila thought it might be a good idea to leave him some coal before we also walked into town.

 Some folks would have been offended at this gesture, but we decided to risk it and leave a note for him. However, before we could get our coats on and leave, we spotted Andy coming back and, far from being offended, he was quite pleased. So, all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

 Actually, we had spoken to Andy a couple of weeks before, when we were at Gnosall, talking about the lousy weather and lack of phone signal there. Parts of the Shroppie and Llangollen are pretty remote and phone and Internet signals can be a bit weak. Here at Ellesmere we have no phone signal, but the Internet is working just fine.

 So, now that we have ample gas and coal, we’re going to tempt the fates and stay until Monday morning. This stretch of moorings is only 48 hours and, if there are any CRT wardens about, we’ll be told to move on tomorrow morning. But that won’t be a problem because, if we move the boat down to the nearby arm, we can moor there again because that stretch is 72 hours.

 Happy days! Take care you lot and enjoy your weekend.

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty.

Shiralee: Cruise 2013 # 7

Overwater to Wrenbury

 Tuesday 7^th May (cont)

Now then, after imparting the info about those thieving boaters – yes, even though living on a boat is supposed to be cheaper, we do have our share of villains – I’ll continue with the mundane stuff.

We left Audlem on Sunday afternoon, as you are aware and, since we didn’t want to try mooring up at Nantwich on a Bank Holiday, we decided to stay here at Overwater for two days.

From here to Audlem is about 1½ miles walk along the towpath and, since it was such a lovely morning, we decided to take a walk into town, for a newspaper and anything else that took our fancy. The round trip took about 1½ hours and, contrary to expectations, my legs didn’t suffer for it. Normally after such a walk, I can expect my legs to give me grief later in the evening, but all was well this time.

 For the rest of the day we took it easy, although Wifey did have a stab at cleaning our brass tunnel light, with some considerable degree of success. I had intended to sand down some rust patches on the stern deck but, after that walk and because it was such a great day, I took the easy way out and rested up for the rest of the day.

This is a pretty isolated spot and we only had one neighbour, and he was quite a distance away from us, so we let the engine run longer than usual, just so that we could watch a later programme. Vicious! With Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, this gay comedy is well worth a watch. Ordinarily I wouldn’t consider watching anything of this nature – old fashioned, I guess – but these two brilliant actors really do show their comic sides. With Francis de la Tour and an additional foil to their wit, along with the unassuming Ash, this is a joy to watch. Hopefully we’ll always be in a good enough signal area to watch further episodes.

 Wednesday 8^th May

There was I, thinking we were in for a lengthy period of sunshine when, overnight it rained. We even let the fire go out but, it’s now pretty windy and it’s chilly in the boat, so I’ve had to relight the fire. Still, we have at least had some sunshine, even if it did only last a few days.

 Yesterday we moved along to Nantwich and we will take the bus into town this morning. If we get no more rain today and if that wind drops, we’ll move along to the Llangollen canal, which will mean the four locks at Hurleston.

 Our wee pooch has recently taken it upon herself to pee on the carpet. She is getting on a bit but, since she manages to go up to 10 hours overnight without doing so, I’m of the opinion that she’s becoming lazy. Either that or she simply hates being manhandled when we take her out. Being somewhat weak in the legs now, we have to lift her up the back stairs and then lift her back down again.

She’s so sneaky about it too. If we’re sitting at the dinette, she holds it in, although she does let us know when she wants to go out. However, if we’re sitting in our armchairs, and out of sight of the galley, she’ll pee on the rug by the cupboard there.

I suppose we should be grateful that she only pees!

 Thursday 9^th May

We had a pretty good day yesterday, all things considered. Although a wee bit windy in the morning, we decided to walk into Nantwich early, rather than wait for the bus. The bus means waiting until 9.30 before we can use our passes, whereas walking only takes about 20 minutes. In any case we were hoping the weather would stay dry for us, so that we could push on to the Llangollen. Sadly rain marred much of the day, so that was out.

 We spent the rest of Wednesday simply chilling out but, with nothing better to do, we walked down to the chandlery and bought some new cratch cover retaining bungee cords. These are short, looped cords with a plastic lump at one end and are threaded through two holes at each side of the cover and are then used to strap the cover back when closed. They stop it flapping in the wind, don’t you know?

 I did say ‘all things considered’ when mentioning yesterday. This is because our Rusty was not her usual buoyant self and spent most of the day mooching about or sleeping. She really seemed under the weather. This culminated in a bout of sickness at 2am, with Wifey taking her out for a walk, where she threw up again. She eventually settled down on her bed; Rusty, that is; and she’s still on her bed as I type.

 As for me, well, since I was now wide awake, I made myself a cuppa and got down to some painting of those back panels, returning to bed at 3am.

 Yesterday evening, before all this happened, the weather calmed down, but it was then too late to move on and, as I would expect, it is now windy and raining. However, having spent our 48 hours here, we’ll have to move on this morning, bad weather or no.

 Friday 10^th May

 Yesterday saw us spending another day at Nantwich, due to high winds and rain, something we had no wish to repeat today. So, having taken pooch out at 5.45 this morning, Wifey got up much earlier than usual and, after a quick cup of tea, we set off at 6.15 and, after passing through the four Hurleston locks, we had moored up at Burland by 9.45 and then had breakfast. There’s a lot to be said for an early start.

 We’ll probably stay here tonight and move on to Wrenbury tomorrow morning.

 Saturday 12^th May

 As predicted, we left Burland yesterday morning and took it nice and easy up to Wrenbury, where there is a hire boat company, two pubs and a small general store.

 We arrived at about 10.30, having covered 4 miles and 5 locks in 2 hours and, just as we finished tying the boat up, down came the rain. Indeed, later in the day we had a mighty blast of hailstones, thunder and lightning or, as our European partners would say, ‘donner und blitzen’. Of course that may not be the correct spelling, but I know a man who will correct me if I’m wrong!

 We took a walk up to the chandlery that is part of the boat hire company but, since they didn’t have the rope we have been looking for, we came away with another of those small ‘Favourite’ recipe books, of which we now have 21. Each book, which is about A6 in size, concentrates on a different theme, such as Boating, Cakes, Stews, and Regional and, within the pages are black and white depictions of rural paintings. We buy one of these at most of the shops that sell them and they range in price from about £1.50 to £1.99. We’re getting up quite a collection of them now.

 Lunchtime today, of course, will see us in one of the local pubs. Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? It is Sunday after all.

 Monday 13^th May

 Today should have been Friday, it really should.

 Yesterday, when I switched on the laptop and due to the earlier crash, up came a black screen telling me that Check Disc was about to check for errors. Not wishing to sit there all morning waiting for it to do so, I pressed Enter and went to Windows start up.

 This morning the darn thing did it again but, as I didn’t have much to do on the laptop anyway, I let it continue checking, with the following result:-

 As you all know by now, I have a programme called Typeitin on this machine, which carries all the websites and email addresses I need, so that instead of having to type the address into the address bar, I simply open the necessary group and click on the name I want, at which point that address will appear in the address bar. This programme had all information removed during the Check Disc process. I now have the dubious task of re-entering all those groups and addresses, so, if you don’t receive any emails from me for a few days, it’s because I’m rather busy re-entering all that info.

 Ye gods and little fishes, why that programme? I’ve actually made out all the groups but have yet to enter all the addresses and, on previous occasions when I’ve had to do this, I’ve also had to re-register the programme, and that can be a nightmare.

 Other than that wee problem, everything is fine and dandy and we’ll be moving along today, possibly to Grindley Brook, but that’s assuming the weather holds. Right now it’s bright and sunny!

 Of course that could change before we leave here and, on that happy note I’ll post.

 Have a good week folks.

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty.

Shiralee: Cruise 2013 # 6

Market Drayton to Overwater

 Friday 3^rd May

Did you spot my silly mistake at the start of the previous blog? I only spotted the double reference to the two pubs at Gnosall Heath just as I was posting. Sorry about that.

 Saturday 4^th May

On our run down to the bottom of Adderley Locks yesterday morning, quite a strong wind picked up and it’s still with us this morning. The forecast was for rain in the early hours, but that hasn’t turned up yet but, if this strong wind keeps up we won’t be going down the 11 locks to Audlem, which means we will miss the Saturday paper and therefore the TV progs.

 Our wee pooch has, as you all know, a rather weak tummy now and, at 4.45 this morning, just as I answered a call of nature, there she was just waiting to do the same. So, no going back to bed for yours truly. I suppose we should be prepared for this, what with her being almost 16 now. This equates to about 102 in human years and so, even with her rickety legs, she’s not doing badly for her age.

 Sunday 5^th May

 Yesterday morning started out very windy but, as many boaters will know, the bottom of Adderley Locks can be like wind tunnel, with just a light breeze seeming like a raging hurricane. Well, we left there at 8am and, no sooner had we rounded the left hand bend about 100 yards away, than the wind disappeared.

We thought we were in for a cushy ride but, after a couple of the 11 Audlem locks, down came the rain and it continued until we moored up between locks 11 and 12. However, the rest of the day was quite pleasant, with plenty of sunshine.

 This morning we have dense cloud cover and a cool breeze but, according to the ‘experts’ we can look forward to mid-teens temperatures. Hopefully they are right because, instead of using the Shroppie Fly; which is now under new management; we thought we’d give The Bridge a try. Although, having said that, with all draught beer at £3 a pint at the Fly, we might just investigate to see if the new people have made any changes.

 From our own visits to the Fly, we can only hope they’ve brightened it up a bit. Although, since they’ve only been running the place for a short time, they may not have had the opportunity to do so. Maybe we’ll find out today!

 This morning, rather than painting my latest pastel; a scene I photographed at Gnosall; I decided to add some colour to the back panels. Now, although the paints I’m using are fairly quick drying, I am still only able to add one colour at a time, so this could be a long process.

 Monday 6^th May (Bank Holiday)

 Yesterday, as I mentioned, we decided to give The Bridge a try. Compared to the Fly this is far more open and spacious and, despite the Fly selling all draught beers for only £3 a pint, I was perfectly happy to pay £3.09p for my Guinness.

 Later in the afternoon; about 2.30 or so; I had one of my very rare senior moments and suggested to Wifey that we make a move. So, we upped sticks, topped up with water outside the Fly; where there was much rowdiness going on; passed through another four locks and moored up just past Overwater Marina, where it’s quiet and peaceful and the boat is not sitting on a ledge.

 That’s the only problem with mooring between locks 11 and 12 at Audlem, the ledge just below the water. This means that there are times when, as the water goes down when lock 12 is emptied, so the boat drops just enough to sit on the ledge, and the boat tilts slightly. One of us then has to go outside and push the boat off the ledge.

 We’re staying at our current moorings for today, because it promises to be dry and bright and we want to get some paintwork done on the stern deck, which is looking quite patchy.

 Tuesday 7^th May

 Ordinarily I wouldn’t post such a short blog but, in this instance and because I have some info that could prove important to my fellow boaters, I will post this today.

So, if you are a boater, or you know somebody who is, please read and pass the following along.

 Our friend Sandy, who is still at Mercia while hubby is working, telephoned yesterday to tell us about a boat and its occupants. This is what she told us:-

 There is a narrow boat patrolling the canal near Mercia, at night and without lights. This boat is in camouflage colours, as are the occupants. The engine on this boat is very quiet, so nobody can hear it coming. The occupants of this boat are patrolling the canal and stealing anything they can lay their hands on. At the moment they only seem to be stealing from the top or beside the boats, but it won’t be long before they become bolder and start breaking in and stealing more valuable items.

 Do please pass this along, either by word of mouth, text, letter or email. There’s no doubt that these people will wander further along the system. It could be your turn next!

 Cheers for now and please enjoy your week, now that the Bank Holiday is over.

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty

Shiralee: Cruise 2013 # 5

Gnosall to Market Drayton

 Monday 29^th April

 Yesterday, just for a change, we walked into Gnosall to the Royal Oak for our Sunday drink. A very clean and tidy pub with plenty of space, unlike the two pubs at Gnosall Heath, where there are two pubs, The Boat and The Navigation Inn.

 When I say we’re mooring at Gnosall, the visitor moorings are actually at Gnosall Heath as that’s where the canal passes through. The main shop is also in Gnosall Heath and, by studying the poster on canal side, Gnosall doesn’t even boat a shop, only a chemist and a fish shop. So, Gnosall Heath is by far the better place to moor up, since there are no moorings at Gnosall.

 I do hope all the above is clear!!

 Today, assuming we are all rained out now; we had plenty of it yesterday afternoon and evening; we’ll move on to Norbury Junction, where we’ll stay for just one night.

 Tuesday 30^th April

 Next weekend sees the annual festival at Norbury Junction and, funnily enough we came through here just short of that time. At the time there were enough spaces for visitors to moor up, although there were signs all along the visitor moorings advising boaters that the whole length of moorings had already been booked.

 Now, just because of the utter chaos caused by these festivals, we never bother to visit them. In the first place it is always necessary to book a berth well in advance and, if you are not very careful, if you do decide to visit you’re quite likely to have another boat moored alongside.

 When we arrived here yesterday morning at about 10.15, we could only find one space, and that was right at the end. So it seems that some visitors to the festival next weekend have already arrived.

 

Personally I don’t object to festivals as they can probably be fun events but, what I do object to is not being able to visit the place at all while there is a festival going on.

 For winter moorings later this year we are looking around for something nearer to Harlow, although not so near as to be outside our budget. At Mercia we have been paying just over £200 per month, plus the very low cost of electricity. Since we only stay for five months, well, you do the math.

 On the Oxford Canal there’s a new marina opening this year at Cropredy and, as any fan of music will know, this is where they hold a music festival every year, which was started many years ago by Fairport Convention who, although with a different line up, still attend every year.

 The rates at the marina are £150 per month, which would set us back £1800 per year, which is still a little steep, but it might still be worth it for a permanent base. We’ll see.

 Soon after we arrived at Norbury Junction yesterday, Wifey decide to do some washing and, for what it’s worth, she now does so on a cool wash, thus saving on battery power. Anyway, having checked the reading on our panel, she noticed that, even though we had been travelling for an hour and a half and the engine was still running, there was only just 12.4 volts showing on the domestic side, whereas the starter battery was way above that. Further investigation showed that the new alternator/charger remote unit was not alight. Oh dear! What the heck had gone wrong now? As usual in these circumstances, I threw a fit and berated the blessed thing.

 So, before phoning Andy and giving him the bad news, I took another look in the engine bay, but all connections seemed intact; I’d been down there before leaving Gnosall and suspected that, just maybe I had pulled a lead out.

 Andy suggested that we might have a dodgy alternator and promised to come along, all the way from Willington, later in the evening.

 Now, it just so happens that we do have a spare alternator, so we fished it out and I donned my scruffy work jeans and climbed down into the engine bay, all togged up and ready to swap alternators, saving Andy a journey and us more money.

 Lo and behold I immediately found a lead hanging off the alternator which, because it was simply dangling down unsecured, was easy for my clod hoppers to pull apart.

 When I texted Andy with the good news, he replied “You sure know how to age a man”. Hmm, I would have thought that was his wife’s job!! Anyway, all’s well now, until next time, when we probably won’t be so lucky.

 It’s a beautiful morning, although it started with a frost layer on the boat. If it stays bright and the promised rain doesn’t arrive, we’’ be off to Shebdon Wharf. But first we’ll walk down to the chandlery cum café and buy a paper.

Wednesday 1^st May

 It’s crumpet day today, after which we’ll be moving on to Market Drayton. Fortunately for us it’s Market Day today and that’s something we’ve never been there for, so we could be in for a treat, especially if the weather stays fine for us. We have eight miles and five locks between us and the town, so it could be a long trip.

 Yesterday was quite good too, although our run to Shebdon Wharf was rather chilly. Apart from The Wharf pub, which only opens in the evenings, there’s nothing here but a boat repair yard, so it’s been nice and peaceful. That situation will change when we get to MD, as that is a pretty busy town.

It is a gorgeous morning, so the eight miles and five locks should be a pleasure.

 Thursday 2^nd May

 The eight miles and five locks to Market Drayton took just three hours and all in bright sunshine. What a delightful change from some of the runs we’ve made this year. Still, it is early days yet, we could still get more snow!!

 The bad news is, the fire went out last night and I’m sitting here with a cardigan, scarf, fur-lined boots and winter coat on. Nah! Only kidding. The reason the fire went out is because of the dodgy bag of coal we bought earlier this week. I won’t say where because, generally they offer a good selection of coal and we’ve had no problems with them in the past.

 I only opened this bag od Anthracite yesterday evening and what I found inside surprised me somewhat. Although there were proper cobs in there, it mostly consisted of misshaped pieces of, what I can only assume was house coal, which is OK for an open fire, but not a lot of use in a solid fuel burner.

 Anyway, despite the fact that it was also wet, I topped the fire up before retiring to bed but, since it didn’t seem to be taking hold, I opened both vents and waited to see if it would burn. Wifey took a look after a while and assured me it was burning as she could ‘hear’ it. Well, who am I to argue, I’m only a man after all. Well, the result of closing the vents and going to be, was a very cold boat this morning. However, the sun is now up, the mist is rising on the canal and we should warm up soon.

 Meanwhile, since our chimney needs a thorough clean, we’ll set to on that job after breakfast and relight the fire. Light my fire, light my fire!!!!

 Yesterday morning after we arrived here and had our coffee, off we walked into Market Drayton and, fortunately for us Wednesday is market day. This is a street market and takes up the whole length of the main road right through to the cross roads, which you would cross if you were going to Morrison’s. This market sells just about everything you could wish for, from food stuffs to hardware and back again and is highly recommended by the Chamberlain family.

 Today we’ll be popping into town again for our main shopping, but this time we’ll call in to Asda’s, which is a whole lot nearer than Morrison’s.

But first, that pesky chimney!!

 Friday 3^rd May

 Before setting to with clearing the chimney, we walked into town for our main shopping. The town shops are a good half a mile away, so, by the time we got back from shopping, we had walked over two miles in those two days.

 Happily the chimney was not such a struggle as the last time, when it was choked up with solidified ash and soot, which I eventually managed to chip away with a long and pointed piece of steel rod. This time I simply removed the worst of it with the rod and then shoved the brush down it. Job done!

 Talking about which, with 6 pages of gumpf, I suppose I’d better post. Have a good weekend folks.

 Dave, Sheila and Rusty.