At the end of the day

Here we are, still at Church Minshull for what will be our third night. We will be staying tomorrow too but, alas, will have to move to Middlewich on Sunday if we want milk on our cornflakes. We absolutely love this spot and will definitely be coming back next year. Today, we sat out all afternoon just gazing out over the Weaver valley before enjoying a nice circular walk to The Badger for a quick pint and to book a table for tomorrow. It turns out the pub is aptly named judging by the number of badger setts we walked past as we returned to LottieD through the woods.

On the way back, Elaine missed her step off a stile, had her shoe fall off then grazed her leg as she stepped into nettles barefooted. Quite funny, but not in the same league as her earlier combat roll when she stood - then slipped off - a cushion as she was hanging out the washing. She went down so fast, I was looking for a sniper on Bridge 12! It was a salutary lesson to both of us, her to watch her step, me to keep my iPhone handy!

A lofty perch over Church Minshull

This will be our resting place for the next couple of days, and what a spot it is

The towpath here is nice and wide plus there are benches, rings to tie up to and even metal BBQ stands. We will get the laundry done and nail down our portable clothes line on the grass in the hope that the sunshine and slight breeze continues. The next job on the list is sweeping the chimney and tarting up the wood burner. We haven't used ours for a while but have seen smoke curling from a chimney or two recently. As Autumn approaches I'm looking forward to a cosy evening fire already!

In the centre of the photographs can be seen the square tower of St Bartholomew's church. Possibly of some interest to some of you, others may wish to know that The Badger Inn lies just to the left as you look down from our mooring. I'm definitely heading back there for a second helping of their steak in red wine pie - absolutely delicious!

About turn

We winded (that is, turned the boat around) at our Chester mooring on Sunday to head back the way we came. On Saturday night it absolutely lashed it down with enough lightning about to make Elaine cringe. Fortunately, by the time this happened we were safely back on board, having eaten out then promptly returned. We had intended on going for a drink or two but the state of the race goers staggering about the place dissuaded us.
As we did on arriving at Chester, we managed to share the five locks out of the city which certainly sped things up. And all in glorious sunshine, I might add! Our companions decided to stop just after the locks so we were alone again and looking forward to the tranquility of a rural mooring after two days of Chester. We spotted this near Egg Bridge..

We made it to an area called Brassey Green and made ready for a peaceful night in the middle of nowhere. No such luck! We had fields of Fresian cattle on either bank of the canal, each herd being the personal harem of a magnificent Herefordshire bull. They couldn't see each other across the canal but clearly knew of each other's whereabouts! They started bellowing at each other around teatime before quitting for a rest as night fell. They resumed hostilities at 11pm for a while, then started again at 5am. We had a quieter night outside The Lock Keeper pub in Chester and they had a metal band on!
We had to move a short distance on Monday so that Charlotte could meet us at the Beeston Locks, the plan being to go through Beeston Iron Lock and stop in the pound between that and Beeston Stone Lock

Cottage at Beeston Locks

We had to queue for a while but duly made the passage through the first lock then tied up for the day

What could go wrong?

All seemed well as we chilled inside the boat for an hour or so but when I stood up I realised we were tilting alarmingly. Dashing outside, we found the water level had dropped a good 18 inches and we were tilting towards the centre of the canal, hanging off extremely tight lines.

We legged it to the upper lock to let some water through and took the opportunity of moving the boat out of the pound to a more stable mooring. The problem was that the upper lock could accommodate 2 boats at a time whereas the bottom lock had distorted over time and was now just too tight for 2 boats. Therefore, one lock full of water let 2 boats in, but 2 was required to let them out, hence the pound running low.

So, we stayed in our "emergency" mooring with no TV or Sky signal because of trees and no phone signal, let alone internet access. Of course, walking is always available so we headed here for a pint or two

Wild Boar Hotel, Beeston

As for the rest of the day, we had to revert to talking to each other, what a strange evening that was (joke)!

After Charlotte delivered us back to the boat on Tuesday afternoon we moved a little further along to an area between Tilstone Bank and Bunbury Staircase Locks, no phone, no internet but at least we got Sky tuned in. This afternoon we made it to Church Minshull and will be staying here for a couple of days getting some laundry taken care of. Four bars in the phone, 3G available and a clear satellite signal, something has to go wrong soon!

Two laps around Chester

Friday we trawled the centre, including the cathedral. To my mind the experience wasn't enhanced by the Alice in Wonderland displays scattered about the place. What they have to do with a place of worship is anyone's guess.

Similarly, they are trying to tap into a popular theme by building a Lego replica cathedral. For the princely sum of £1 you get to buy a brick to add to the model, which will probably make it as expensive to build as an actual cathedral! All going to a good cause, of course

We had a look around the Town Hall which we found more interesting than the cathedral, then gave the inner shopping areas a good going over. Our favourite place was this wine shop, we could have spent all day - and a small fortune- in here

Today we walked the walls, having paid close attention to the weather forecast. So, with Berghaus in hand and shades left behind we set out, only for the weather to turn out to be very pleasant indeed. I don't mind inclement weather but do mind innacurate forecasts. Still, the good weather was a blessing for this lot as it was race day at the Roodee.

Go for it, ladies!

I'm not interested in horse racing in any way but must admit the scene was perfectly set

 We leave Chester tomorrow, expecting sunshine and a strong breeze in our face, which may determine how far we get. Mind you, if tomorrow's forecast is as accurate as today's, the canal could be frozen over!

Chester

Well we arrived bang on schedule, 5 hrs after setting off. With the ruins of Beeston Castle dominating the skyline even after we had gone quite some way, Peckforton Castle (not really a castle in my opinion) was next to spring into view behind us as the weather threatened to unleash its worst upon us. However, our luck with the weather held as we passed Tattenhall Marina. This was initially our chosen marina for LottieD, back in the days when berths were mighty hard to come by. It's hard to imagine this was the case just a few short years ago, given the proliferation of new marinas since.

Also, the leaden skies did little to enhance the mile long crawl by at Hargrave, where a motley collection of vessels stretch on, seemingly unending as far as the eye can see.

Boring!

Once beyond this, and the mowers and strimmers labouring away to clear the towpath, the weather broke for a time and normal service resumed

In fact, as we started to pass the lovely bankside houses before Egg Bridge it was easy to forget the gloomy morning

Shortly beyond here there is a flight of five locks down into Chester and we were fortunate to catch another boat up, whereupon we paired our way down the wide locks in quick time.
So, it's city centre hustle and bustle, excellent internet access and I've even managed to shoot the Sky dish over some houses. Get the evening meal out of the way then watch the Giants hopefully beat Saints! More tomorrow as we explore the city.

Drying out

Had no network coverage until today so here is a catchup as we sit beneath Beeston Castle with our coats dripping in the shower.
We enjoyed excellent weather on Monday as we made our way to Wincham. The run to Saltersford and Barnton tunnels was everything we hoped for as the sun shone down on us.

A wooded retreat

We saw a boat from our marina heading back home as they came past in a mini convoy, which happens when you have to wait for Saltersford Tunnel to become available. Letter, we passed a boat with no name who had previously kept us company at Plank Lane on the Leigh branch of the L&L.
So, on we went, sighting Jay, Kingfisher and Bullfinch along the way before arriving at the first tunnel entrance.

In you go

And out you come

Having availed ourselves of the facilities just past Anderton Boat Lift we stopped for the day near to The Salt Barge pub.

We then proceeded to walk done to Northwich, a four mile round trip in all. What a disappointment! The polar opposite of my expectations, it left us both dismayed. Whereas Stockton Heath surprised us with its wine bars and bistros, Northwich caught us unawares with its charity shops and Pound Bakery. Not a single restaurant in sight!

The next day we pushed on to Church Minshull via Middlewhich, where we pulled in for provisions (both sorts, red and white!). The trip showed the T&M in all its guises - wide, narrow, beautiful and terrible.

See what I did there?

At Middlewhich we eventually negotiated all of the locks to join the Middlewhich branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, though we had quite a queue at the last lock. Not a bad as the day before, apparently, when a boat caught the cill and sunk in the lock. That'll liven your holiday up!

The run to Church Minshull was brilliant, with the view down to the Weaver simply spectacular at one point. Again, we'd love to stay here, maybe on the way back? We ate at The Badger, the only pub in the village and the food was excellent. After such a long day (8.30 'till 6) we both eventually fell asleep in our chairs!

This morning, we had no sooner set off than a boat came up fast behind us. Mindful that the first lock wasn't too far away, I sped up to keep him behind me. Fine, but when we got to the lock we were behind this lot

It took us an hour and a half to get through and then the weather changed from sunshine to this....

... And stayed that way all afternoon, but not before we had several great views of a Kingfisher as it skipped in front of us. Also, worth pointing out that we saw a mink today, right at the side of the boat on a timber rubbing strake beneath a bridge.

To be honest, there have been some beautiful stretches today, even though we only caught them at their wettest. Never mind, it's only water!

So, as I said at the beginning, we rest tonight beneath the looming edifice of Beeston Castle, as pictured from our mooring. Tomorrow, we hit Chester!

First day on the T&M

What a good day's cruising that was! Diesel at Thorn for only 62p then off we go in glorious sunshine. The cruise down to Preston Brook was a real delight and it's been so long since we came this way it was just like doing it for the first time.

Walton Hall cutting

There are plenty of great stopping places but if we stopped at every turn we literally wouldn't get anywhere so we pushed on, always aware that we will come this way again.

Yes, it's a winding hole!

An unremarkable pic but this turning point is as far as we have ever come in this direction so, in a way, it's all new from here on in.
There was quite a bit of traffic coming the other way, especially out of the Runcorn branch. We decided to give this a miss, mainly due to the fact that Norton Priory is having some work done so we thought we would visit there next year.

Runcorn arm

Once past Claymoore Holiday Boats and Preston Brook Tunnel comes into view. We just missed our turn through the tunnel (from half past the hour to twenty to the hour) so we had time for lunch and to visit the library...

What a nice gesture!

Half past came soon enough and it was our turn, with another boat behind us

Biding our time

You can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it is actually far from straight and steering adjustments are constantly required. Still, we emerged after 15 minutes with no mishaps after three quarters of a mile.

Spot the face in the water! 

Once on the T&M and there is clearly a different feel after the wide open Bridgewater and L&L with lots of twists and turns and, in this area at least, a lovely rural feel.

Today's mooring

That's our view looking down towards the River Weaver. Quite a nice spot!

Overnight near London Bridge

That's the one over the Bridgewater at Stockton Heath rather than the one over the Thames near HMS Belfast, naturally! We stopped here yesterday to do some shopping and ended up staying the night when LottieD refused to fire up again. It was nothing more sinister that a parted plug on the wiring loom, probably resulting from me rummaging around the engine bay when tightening the stern gland packing. River and Canal Rescue soon fixed us up but we decided it was a little late to be moving on.
Actually, silver linings and all that, we were given some very useful information about our engine by the repair man, who also works for our engine manufacturer Beta Marine. Long story short, we have 2 alternators, one of which is a 170 amp job for charging the battery bank. We have, therefore, 2 pulleys on the crankshaft and the resistance from the big alternator puts a hell of a load on the connection to the larger pulley. Running at less than 1200rpm when charging the batteries is a big no no, apparently, and I know have a warning sticker from Beta Marine telling me so. Should this pulley work loose it could require a new crankshaft at mucho dinero to put things right so it's no more charging on tickover from now on plus big revs when using the washing machine.
Having walked down town, Stockton Heath is quite a smart place with thriving bars and restaurants. We will probably stay here again in the future but, for now, it's a diesel fill at Thorn Marine then off the Bridgewater and through Preston Brook tunnel. Better take the sat dish down just to be on the safe side!

Thanks for the early morning call...

Raining at Lymm, Lottie to the right

See the boat on the left? Well, that moron pulled up directly behind us yesterday, ran his generator until 9pm, then fired up his engine at 7.30 this morning before moving over there at 9.30. It's bad enough that the ignorant git ruins things for us but he was also tied up outside a house (actually, Matthew "Sooty" Corbett's house). There have been many instances of mooring privileges being removed due to householder complaints and should Matthew get his finger out (geddit?) we might all suffer the consequences of one selfish idiot's actions.
Apart from the weather and the activities of Captain Pillock of the good ship Balqueen, Lymm is a great place to spend a couple of days but we must be moving on again tomorrow. We've decided to aim for Chester then head back to Middlewich to rendezvous with Charlotte for a day trip back home for health checks for us both on the 24th. After that, who knows?

Dunham on Wednesday

Having got through Trafford Park, Sale and Broadheath, this is more like it! Not a cycle way in sight but, strangely, people were still able to enjoy the canal!?

Happy days

To give you an idea of where we are, the next shot is of Dunham Massey Hall and all I've done is rotate 90 degrees to my right.

We stayed here for two days and enjoyed every second. Even with getting a bit of boat maintenance done plus laundry duties we had ample time to chill, visit the local farm shop - and The Axe and Cleaver! - and walk through Dunham Massey before dragging some tiddler roach out of the canal (Elaine caught one!), all on the first day.

Since using the fishing whip and bread punch I have never fished and come up empty (that's fate well and truly tempted!) but I almost did on Wednesday. I was getting nowhere with a piece of bread then, luckily, Poppy the black lab ran up and ate my bait, much to the embarrassment of her owner! A change to a plain white roll caught 2 decent roach so, due to Poppy, my 100% record remained intact.

Earlier that afternoon Charlotte and the boys came down and we barbecued at the far side of the towpath, away from the boat and next to a small stand of trees. This provided the boys with an ideal hunting ground and Logan, ably assisted by Wilson, ran amok in the trees, hunting imagined big game (perhaps he has a future as a Texan dentist?). It's uncanny, really, but judging by Logan's get up you'd be forgiven for believing he'd had a premonition of our location!

He wore this to the BBQ

As I write this and get back up to date we are on the visitor moorings in Lymm, having had a gentle cruise down, broken with a water stop at Ye Old Number 3 where we managed to get the roof washed as well. That's as busy as we like to get these days!

Given the forecast for this evening and tomorrow we may well only move on during Saturday. As usual, we won't be going too far!

Tuesday 11th August

Playing catchup due to having no signal, so this is all about Tuesday. Having left the Trafford Centre (having walked a total of 5 miles to, from and around it, our total purchases were a lemon, a bottle of soda water, a pack of sausages, 2 croissant and a loaf!),  we headed towards Dunham.

The Trafford Centre from our mooring

This was a strait forward 3hr run and we set off mid afternoon, being the last of the four boats moored at the Trafford Centre to leave. At Waters Meet the only option was a right turn due to the Bridgewater being closed before you get to Manchester should you have turned left.

Waters Meet having turned right

Up through Sale and past the rowing club and it's easy to see why they picked this stretch of water, it's amazingly straight!

A rower's paradise

As you head through Broadheath you pass these apartment blocks lurking by the canal side. On even a moderately breezy day these can catch you unaware as they create strong localised winds that have pushed many an unprepared boater into the bank. No problems today, though.

Who lives in a home like this?

Perhaps the most disturbing thing we saw was the latest section of the Bridgewater Way under construction.

All in the name of progress?

The aim is to create a leisure route for walkers and cyclists (funny how boaters don't get a mention, despite paying their annual fees). Don't Peel Holdings know that there is an existing leisure way in place? It's called the towpath! If they achieve their aim of paving the entire towpath they will take away a huge element of canal's charm in its rural areas and great swathes of the canal will be swamped with MAMILs (look it up) charging up and down the towpath at 20mph. So much for peace and tranquility but we can't have people running the risk of getting mud on their shoes, can we?

Anyhow, at least they haven't got around to destroying the towpath at Dunham quite yet.

And off we go

So, having had a great night out with friends Wayne and Emma (Smiths Bistro, Leigh - highly recommended) we eventually pulled pins on Sunday afternoon and commenced our leisurely run to the Trent and Mersey. Of course, this means a trip over much travelled areas of the Bridgewater Canal before we plunge into Preston Brook Tunnel, probably towards the end of the week (if anyone from Peel Group is reading, we will definitely be gone by Sunday, unless we have a "problem" and have to stay somewhere really picturesque for an extra day or so...).
Given that we rarely move for more than a couple of hours at a time (just enough to charge the batteries) we made our way to Boothstown Marina and managed to snag a spot outside The Moorings pub and settled in for the evening. We hadn't been down here for five weeks or so and at that time we were "clocked" as having a C&RT licence only and reminded of our status as visitors, only allowed to stay on the canal for seven days. So, it came as no surprise to see that numerous boats around us had Peel Group warning notices attached to them. Don't they know they can get a Bridgewater licence for a mere £40 per week? Yes, you can stay on the Bridgewater for the eye watering sum (pro rata) of two grand a year! Of course, you could argue that it is people leaving their unregistered boats where they don't belong that has lead to this hardened attitude...
Anyway, having lunched with Charlotte at the pub we headed off again, stopping to use the facilities at Worsley. Worsley is a favourite of ours, with good walks and plenty of eating options but we weren't staying today as the run from Boothstown was simply too short.

A rather wonky Worsley Packet House!

As happens so often with us, we had a couple stop as they walked past to ask us a myriad of questions about the boat, the lifestyle, yadda yadda yadda. The lady hopped on board for a quick tour which prompted another barrage of questions but, eventually, we managed to get moving again through, to my mind, the dreariest stretch of canal we are likely to encounter at Monton and Patricroft. Just increase the revs and get it over with!
Once over the Barton Swing Aqueduct (Elaine no like!) the canal opens up wide and straight as you head towards Trafford Park and the smell of Cornflakes (allegedly) from Kellog's. But that olfactory delight must wait until tomorrow as we are tied up on the visitor moorings outside the Trafford Centre.
So, could we be in for a spot of retail therapy tomorrow?

Our "garden"

Plank Lane in bloom

One of the beauties of this lifestyle is that your surroundings constantly change even if you don't move (not that we intend staying in one place for too long!). I believe these are Ox-eye daisies, and they certainly bring something to our current mooring.