Through Middlewich to Drayton

Wednesday 27th October: Billings Green Flash to Barbridge Jc
After yesterday's rain Wednesday dawned bright and clear at Billings Green Flash

Dawn at Billings Green Flash

In fact, the sun was a bit of a problem, being bright, low in the sky and shining straight into my eyes. Even with a l.ow brimmed hat and sunglasses I had to proceed for long stretches in "Adolf Hitler Mode" i.e. with outstretched arm and raised palm to try and deflect the glare!

My promised crew member, Martin,met me as planned at Middlewich having  journeyed from the Lake District by train and bus and, after a quick lunch  we set off up the town's locks and onto the Middlewich branch. 

At Cholmondeston lock Martin was reminiscing about a trip almost exactly ten years ago when he took a picture of Class 37 diesel hauling a passenger train on the line that crosses the canal here. Class 37s were on their way out even then and I was just telling him that I thought I read somewhere that there were only three left in service when two of them hurtled across the bridge with a nuclear flask train from Sellafield!

The visitor moorings at Barbridge were almost full when we arrived at six o'clock, but my years of training in mooring Starcross at Norbury Wharf stood me in good stead as I neatly slotted my 51ft boat into a 52ft gap in the line of moored boats. Needless to say there was nobody about to witness it.

Thursday 28th October

Barbridge Junction to Market Drayton

An easy day, for me at least because Martin insisted on working all the locks! He said it was to make sure I didn't over-exert myself as I'm still on some heart medication but later admitted it was because he was worried he'd bash the boat about too much in the locks. He needn't have worried as I think I must have nudged just about every lock wall on the way up.

The first locks were at Hack Green, where new lock gates are waiting to be fitted during the winter stoppages:

We were lucky at Audlem with empty locks and oncoming boats and managed the top 12 in a hundred minutes, including two lengthy delays behind another boat at the very top. Adderley locks came and went without really noticing and we tied up at a prime spot at Market Drayton's visitor moorings at 17.30.

Another two excellent days' boating.

And Some Days it Rains

Tuesday 26th October:
Preston Brook to Billings Green Flash
After yesterday's brilliant sunshine this was the scene that greeted me on emerging from the boat this morning:

With my new-found status as a gentleman of leisure I should have been able to stay put, light the fire and settle down for a day's reading or listening to the radio, but I've been offered a hand for the locks between Middlewich and Market Drayton which will be welcome company. The only problem is that it is dependant upon being in Middlewich on Wednesday morning.
I don't mind the rain too much. You soon reach a position of maximum wetness, after which you might as well just carry on and enjoy it. I stopped at Barnton, after the tunnel, for shopping and some lunch and so did the rain. . .

Not raining at Barnton

. . .but it started again as soon as I did and continued for the rest of the afternoon. At some point I gave an approaching boat too much passing room which allowed an overhanging branch to catch my coolie hat, lift it from the chimney and deposit it in the cut, it thus becoming the first piece of equipment to feature in both sections of the "Lost and Found" box on the left hand sidebar.

The scenery on this section of the Trent & Mersey is, shall we say, varied. Here are some idyllic canalside cottages at Anderton:

but here is the less-than-idyllic view from the back garden:

By four o'clock I'd had enough and tied up for the day on the peace and solitude of Billings Green Flash, after which it promptly stopped raining!

Perfection

Manchester to Preston Brook

Ready for the off from Castlefield

Some days everything goes just right. Today was one of those days. The sun shone, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the air was clear and crisp, the canal was wide and deep,the boat went well, the Cheshire countryside drifted slowly by and at the end of it a good mooring spot for the night.
What more can one ask?

Manchester

Despite the weather we had a great weekend in Manchester. On Friday night I went round a few of my old favourite city centre pubs - all still thriving I was happy to note. Hilary came up from Hereford on the train on Saturday morning (feeling very pleased that she is at last entitled to an age-related concession: An over-55s special offer on Arriva Trains Wales!
That evening we went to a concert at the Bridgewater Hall, just a few minutes walk from Castlefield moorings. Its quite impressive and certainly better than the Free Trade Hall it replaced, but I have to say I don't think it has the "wow-factor" (or the acoustics) of Symphony Hall in Birmingham.
Today has been warm and sunny and perfect for entertaining a few friends who still live locally (or reasonably locally) to belatedly help me celebrate my 60th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Many of those present knew this area of Manchester thirty to forty years ago when it was a decaying post-industrial wilderness with very little public access and those who hadn't been back before were amazed at the changes and how pleasant it now is.

Good view of lock 92 from the Hilton Tower

Every waterfront development must have an iconic footbridge!

Middlewich Narrowboats' Beech" wasn't the only hire boat to visit Castlefield to day. This morning we were approached by the crew of an Alvechurch boat that had navigated to the end of the arm and back and asked to tell them "the way to the Cheshire Ring! (Answer: round the corner and up those locks you've just come straight past!)

Retirement Trip: Day 7

I've only been in Manchester a couple  of hours and, guess what?: It's raining!

Castlefield in the rain

It hasn't been like that all the way from Lymm. In fact until I got to Stretford it was a lovely sunny day - started clouding over as I passed Old Trafford. . .

 .

Old Trafford football ground from the Bridgewater Canal

. . .and came on to rain just as I finished giving Starcross her annual all-over wash (but before I started with the polish!). Now to enjoy a weekend in the big city!

. .

Retirement Trip: Day 6

Anderton to Lymm

 Bridge Cottage, Lymm

When I lived in inner-city Salford, we always regarded Lymm in Cheshire as being insufferably "posh" - not that anyone ever went there, of course. And, yes - it ceratinly has a well-to-do air about it: upmarket shops, expensive restaurants and classy pubs, such as the Spread Eagle:

Spread Eagle, Lymm

From Anderton to Lymm involves three tunnels and one lock. At the first tunnel, Barnton, I had to beat a sharp retreat as I spotted a boat entering the other end. It was 50/50 who had right of way, but I was happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, as I tied up to wait for them it started to rain!

Saltersford tunnel has a system of timed entry due to its crooked nature meaning that except for a brief glimpse as you enter you can't see if anything's coming the other way. I was lucky to hit it bang in the middle of the 20-minute window that occurs hourly for northbound boats.

I only met two other boats all morning, one was at a blind bridgehole and the other was stemmed-up on the inside of a sharp bend. (I offered to help they said they were OK, but as I left I could see the crew trying hard to push both ends off at once!

The stop lock at Dutton effectively marks the junction between the Trent & Mersey and Bridgewater Canals and is a curiosity, being wider than a narrow lock, but narrower than a broad one (if you see what I mean

It's certainly awkward for a single-hander, who has to open both bottom gates, but can't step across from one to the other while doing so, having to walk round and over the top gate, repeating the process when closing-up afterwards. I knew entry to Preston Brook tunnel for northbound boats was restriction to the first ten minutes of each hour, but was determined not to look at my watch in case I was tempted to rush the lock and make a mistake; but with the bottom paddles up and the lock emptying I couldn't resist: It was 12:04! By the time I was through and had closed the gates behind me it was 12:09, but the tunnel is only just round the corner and I entered at exactly 12:10!

The rest of the journey was a rest cure by comparison. The Bridgewater is wide, deep and because of this you don't have to slow down so much when passing moored boats, of which there aren't very many anyway. After a lunch stop at Moore, outside the very handy Post Office and Stores (with phone box, bus stop and recycling point) I whiled away the afternoon standing at the tiller and watching the pleasant, if unspectacular, Cheshire scenery pass by.

Retirement Trip: Day 5

Middlewich to Anderton Lift
Woke up to a very cold boat, having made no attempt to keep the stove lit all night. Even so, I was surprised to find a layer of frost on the roof - the first of the season!
Had to make a trip to Tesco  before setting off -not to buy anything you understand, it's just that my toilet needs emptying if I use it, and theirs doesn't.
The frost brought clear skies and a bright sun that was obviously causing problems to boaters coming south. The flashes on this section of the Trent & Mersey rival Tixall Wide in attractiveness or surpass it if you factor in the lack of boats (at least in October)

I was reminded of a trip along here one foggy winter's day in the 1970s in a 70ft hire boat with a lookout on the front indicating directions to a relay man in the centre hatch who passed them on to the steerer, who couldn't see the bow!
The Lion Salt Works, the last open pan salt works in England and the subject of a preservation project that appears to have stalled was looking very sad:

The fine weather continued all afternoon and I eventually stopped for the day at the top of the Anderton Lift, about half an hour after the visitor centre had closed, which meant that this was the only viewI  could get.

I'm also getting used to this mobile internet thingy, although it's not always straightforward, is it? Tonight's post is brought to you courtesy of balancing the laptop on a stool on top of the kitchen table with the dongle hanging out of the window - the only way I could get a signal!

Retirement Trip: Day 4

Cholmondeston to Middlewich
A change in the weather today, with rain overnight and heavy showers this morning, one of which manifested itself just as I emerged to untie and set off through Cholmondeston lock. Also manifesting itself at that very moment was a Teddesley hire boat, which overtook me and took the lock. It was all for the best though as it allowed  the following boat Harlequin to catch up and its very helpful crew assisted me not only through Cholmondeston but through the next lock as well.
One of my dream homes is situated at Church Minshull lock. I've no idea what its like inside, but the location and the views in both directions along the Middlewich branch are fantastic:

The "branch" is one of my favourite stretches of canal. All the advantages of the Main Line, wide, deep, generous bridgeholes, but without the long lines of moored boats that detract somewhat further south.The embankments, although not as high or spectacular as those on the main line are largely free of tree growth and in many cases provide better views and I stopped for a while on the embankment overlooking Church Minshull to enjoy them.
I was looking out for another landmark on the branch. A large metal sign in BW Blue and Yellow corporate colours announcing to passing train passengers on the adjacent main line that they were about to cross the Shropshire Union Canal. I remember it from my early boat trips in the 1970's (it seemed archaic then) and it was definitely there last time I came this way in 2006 but today all that remains are the posts that carried it.

It's a shame it's gone, but I doubt whether passengers on today's high-speed services on the West Coast Main Line even noticed it.
There's another great lock cottage at Wardle lock at the junction with the Trent & Mersey in Middlewich,

but no sign of its well-known occupant, ex-boatlady Maureen Ward who, I understand is unwell.


In the spirit of more leisurely boating appropriate to my new situation I decided to call it a day at Middelwich, but not before getting one last soaking working down the town's locks and tying up just before the park.

Retirement Trip: Day 3

Monday, 19 October: Audlem to Cholmondeston
Hilary had to be back at work this morning, so we had to set the alarm for 6.30 and she was away 45 minutes later, hoping to make a 09.30 meeting in Leominster. Despite the early start, I made myself have a lazy morning. When you have only limited time for boating the tendency is to try and cram as much in as possible and now that I suddenly have lots of time I have to learn to slow down!
So it was a lazy breakfast, followed by a visit to the shops and then an hour polishing brasses before getting away at 11.30. (The old working boaters would be highly amused to know that just because they used to polish a few chimney bands and the odd brass bedstead end modern-day boaters still feel obliged to polish every single bit of brass on their boats.)
At Hack Green locks I met two boats local to Norbury or thereabouts. The crew of Ysprid Rhydd ("Free Spirit" in Welsh) were particularly helpful, even tying up their own boat to help me - unasked - through the top lock, and I also passed Dorothy Goodbody which was particularly apt as my retirement do last Friday was well lubricated by the delicious ale of that name!
Old readers of this blog may now realise that for the first time it is being written and posted "in real time" thanks to my retirement present to myself of a new laptop and 3G "dongle" which means I can post from the boat as I go along. It took me about an hour whilst tied up at Nantwich for a late lunch to work out how to do it, but it seemed to work and if you are reading this then it worked again at Cholmondeston on the Middlewich branch, which is where I am tonight!

The Retirement Trip - Days 1 and 2

Saturday, 16th October: Norbury Junction to Market Drayton
After a wonderful "official" retirement send-off last night involving a special bus to pick me up at the door, an evening in my favourite Hereford pub, some great beer and food and the company not only of my current office colleagues but also people I'd worked with over the years who came from as far away as Northampton, Manchester and even the far north of Scotland it was unsurprisingly not a particularly early start to this fortnight's trip that I've been promising myself for the start of my retirement.
We eventually got away from Norbury at 13.15 or at least I did, as Hilary took the car into Newport to stock up on food and drink for the weekend. She met me at the top of Tyrley locks and we worked down the flight together in 45 minutes, with two in our favour and three "against". By now it was nearly five o' clock so we called it a day at Market Drayton 


Sunday, 17th October: Market Drayton to Audlem
My sixtieth birthday! - getting off to a good start with a wonderful Autumn morning of mist and sunshine.

At Adderley locks we bought some free range eggs from the cut-side stall at the top lock

The five locks here took us fifty minutes, but that did include buying the eggs and borrowing a bicycle pump from an uphill boat to pump up the tyres on Hil's folding bike before she rode back to Market Drayton to collect the car. We met up again at Cox's Bank, just below the top two locks of the Audlem flight where, after lunch, Hil completed her painting of the long shaft and gangplank thereby redeeming this promise made last Christmas!

The remaining thirteen locks of the flight took two-and-a-half hours. On the way down we passed narrowboat "Kind of Blue" which I expected to be crewed my an old friend, Trevor", but it appears he has sold it. Tying-up at the bottom we walked back to the Shroppie Fly for a pre-dinner drink - both pub and beer being rather nicer than I remembered them - and then Hil cooked my birthday dinner - Tagine, followed by Jamaican bananas and Roquefort cheese (which only comes out for birthdays, retirements, election victories etc!

Essex - with barges

From Harwich, we continued our cycle tour along the coast to Walton-on-the-Naze, from where we enjoyed a fascinating boat trip watching the wildlife of the marshlands and islands of the Hamford River

Spot the seal competition

From there it was swiftly through Frinton and Clacton and on to Brightlingsea, which still has a working harbour, with very active Harbour Commissioners who also run a foot ferry across to Mersea Island. I'm a sucker for any sort of scheduled transport, but particularly enjoy using these little ferries, especially when they  run to offshore islands such as Mersea (although whether its strictly an island any more is debatable as its joined to the mainland by a substantial causeway at the western end.

Landing on Mersea Island off the Brightlingsea ferry

The penultimate night of the holiday was spent at Maldon where, next morning we came across this magnificent array of Thames sailing barges at The Hythe

Many of them still earn their keep as commercial craft, although the cargo these days is passengers rather than freight. It made a fitting end to our tour of what turned out to be a surprisingly rural, interesting and attractive county. The train journey home went without a hitch (we even managed to make a three-minute connection at Newport!) and now, after a few days at home I'm getting ready to take Starcross out for a fortnight or so, heading north towards Manchester, before returning for Norbury Wharf's annual open day and "end-of-season" (what season?) boaters' party at the end of the month. It's a grand life being retired - I think I could take to it.

In Praise of. . .Essex!

As expected, there wasn't much of waterway interest in our cycling "Tour de Essex" although as it turned out it wasn't totally lacking.
A whole series of problems with the train journey from Hereford led to us abandoning the rails at Broxbourne and cycling up the towpath of the Lee Navigation instead.

The first half of the tour was along the Exxex/Suffolk border and Constable Country where we saw pretty villages

Lovely old churches, like this one at Thaxted:



Historic buildings, such as Thaxted Guildhall

and found our way following some superb old signposts

We followed the Stour valley all the way to the coast at Harwich, where we were in time to catch the annual Sea Shanty Festival at the towns 1911-built Electric Palace cinema. It's the second-oldest surviving purpose-built cinema in the UK - we've also been to the oldest, which is in Campbeltown, Scotland.





Can I Go Boating Now, Please?. . . .er, NO!

My retirement is supposed to be giving me a lot more time to go boating and I always envisaged that immediately I finished work I'd sail off into the sunset on Starcross, at least for a week or three, but it's not working out like that!
My last day in the office was last Thursday, but there was too much to do at home to go to the boat for the weekend. Then we are off for a week's cycling holiday, cycling being my second most popular pastime and, to be honest, Hilary's most favourite. There won't be much of waterway interest during the week (so I won't be boring you with the details) but we may just catch a glimpse of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation on our way from the Lee Valley round the top of Essex and through "Constable Country" to the sea at Harwich and then along the coast to Burnham-on-Crouch.
After we get back I've got a second leaving-do from work to go to! Apparently this one was arranged for the day I actually retire (Friday 15th October) some time ago and before I announced that I had a fortnight's leave still to take. I had a very good send-off last week, but how typical for a bus planner: You wait 40 years for a retirement do and then two come along together!
Finally, I should be free to set off for a fortnight's trip up to Manchester and back, but what's this? The estate agent has just rung to say we've had a very good offer on the house, which after 5 months on the market we can't afford to refuse; but the buyers have nothing to sell and want to move quickly. . . 
In view of the market conditions we haven't even started looking for a house in Lancaster, which is where we plan to move to and its not as if we can just pop up from Hereford for the afternoon to look around!
So I may not get away on Starcross after all, although we might end up living aboard for a while!

Sorry, Not in Service

This was the sight that greeted me on my arrival at the office yesterday:

The traditional poster attached to the office door announcing a significant birthday or, as in this case, the retirement of a member of staff. Those of you who use public transport may recognise the phrase "Sorry, not in service" having seen it on the front of those empty buses that drive maddeningly past you whilst you wait at the stop!  So, after 34 years in local government public transport and about 5 before that in the bus industry itself I have switched off my PC and am about to float off into the sunset!
It all feels a bit strange, although after only one day I just feel as if its the start of a long weekend. I'm glad I chose public transport as a career, but I'm also glad I'm getting out now. Effective public transport requires a significant input of cash to keep it viable and it's pretty obvious that that's not going to be forthcoming in future.  Ironically, despite all this time organising buses and spending the last two years implementing the government's national bus pass scheme  locally, involving overseeing the production and issue of 33,000 bus passes, changes to the eligibility rules mean that I don't qualify for one on my 60th birthday, but will have to wait until next May! I just hope that there will still be some buses running to use it on.
Anyway, I got an excellent send-off and I was pleased to see that most of the people I have been working with, including my boss and our Director, were happy to totally disregard the organisation's ban on lunchtime alcohol to celebrate at "The Britannia" a back-street pub near the office, recently acquired and much improved by the excellent Wye Valley Brewery.

I don't intend to move aboard Starcross and become a continuous cruiser, but I will certainly be spending a lot more time on the cut in the years to come.