(Thursday)

This morning we certainly knew we were back on the main line of the Shroppie (Shropshire Union Canal) when the speed boats started rushing past.  One was so fast it dragged our “sinking” fenders out from where they’d been trapped to stop the boat banging on the Shroppie Shelf (a ledge which runs along the canal side) and pushed the boat up onto the shelf.  As usual the speeders were all private boats.

It’s nice to be back on the mainline as there’s so much more to see.

We passed this unusual colourful boat.

Did you notice the open window?  This character was on guard.

There's a large wooden statue beside the bridge at Nantwich Basin

I think this is stating the obvious don’t you? If you can't read it, it says "Beware Obstruction"

These ducklings were cuddled up having a sleep in the bridge hole till we went past.

We’re now moored at Coole Pilate leisure area and as it was such a nice afternoon we made good use of one of the picnic tables and removed the cratch cover for cleaning.

I just love watching men work!

After washing off the muck, we used this product on the outside of the cratch.  It brings it up really well and leaves a good, shiny, water repellent finish which will last through till next Spring.

I always think the boat looks strange without the cratch cover but while it was off I cleaned the inside of the bow and then renewed the spider protection spray.  I was a bit dubious when I bought this last summer but it really works. 

We used to get lots of spiders both in the cratch and in the boat, but since I’ve been using this we hardly ever see any at all.  It’s not easy to find in the shops so the easiest way to buy it is on the internet.

Hurleston

When we got up this morning another two of the sheets had blown off the bridge and were floating in the canal. They can’t have been fastened down very well as it wasn’t particularly windy at all last night.

It was a bit chilly first thing so Chico wore the new coat I'd made him for Christmas.

We carried on up the locks and after a drizzly start the weather brightened up considerably. This afternoon it was lovely cruising weather, quite mild and sunny.

There’s certainly no shortage of water on this stretch of the Shroppie as all the bye-washes were like torrents.

We’ve seen quite a few moving boats today and the guys at the Anglo Welsh hire fleet at Bunbury were busy getting several of their boats ready to go out, probably because it’s half term.  We’re now moored just before Hurleston Junction and will turn up onto the Llangollen Canal in the morning.  Before it went dark we took Chico for a short walk up the locks and then crossed the top lock gate to have a look at Hurleston Reservoir which is fed with water from the Llangollen Canal.  You can’t make them out from the photo but there were hundreds of gulls bobbing about on the water.

the feeder from the canal

Beeston

Yesterday we moved on to Beeston. We're moored on 48hr moorings opposite Chas Hardern's hire boat yard from where we hired a boat 13 years ago. It was a small 4 berth boat and to say it was cosy would be a gross understatement. It came with a stowaway, a tiny field mouse which lived in the wardrobe. Our dog Charlie was terrified of it, our son thought it was a great fun trying to catch it and our daughter spent the entire weekend on the phone to all her friends trying to get someone to come and rescue her and take her home. Despite that, we had a great time and it was shortly afterwards that we started building boats.

Christleton

Tuesday night saw us moored back in Chester. This time we used our new security feature to make sure the little loves couldn't untie us again. Roger bought some plastic covered wire rope and made a loop at each end. The plastic stops it rubbing the paintwork and the loops mean we can pass it through mooring rings or pilings and back up to the centre mooring ring to fasten the 2 ends together with a padlock. Job done for less than a tenner!

On Wednesday we carried on up the 5 locks out of Chester to moor at Christleton, outside the Cheshire Cat pub.  It had been a bit breezy but had again been a bright and sunny day, perfect for cruising.  This all changed however, as the gales and heavy rain settled in for the night, so much so that it was too windy to carry on on Thursday. We spent yesterday cosy and warm indoors, Roger trying to mend his laptop and me knitting Christmas presents, while the gale raged on outside.

This morning all's quiet again and the sun is shining once more. We're moving into Tattenhall Marina again, just for the weekend, while we go off to a Christmas party in Macclesfield.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, see you again next week.

Into the middle of nowhere

We were down to our last bag of coal this morning and didn't know of anywhere to buy it until we get back to Tattenhall Marina. Roger went on the internet to try and find somewhere in Ellesmere Port we could pick up a bag of fuel. He found this company Golden Coals which sell biomass fuels and deliver for free.  By phoning them we were promised a delivery of 3 x 15kg bags of wood briquettes at 1pm and dead on the dot they arrived. Total cost £17.50. The only draw-back we can see so far is that they have to be kept dry as they swell up on contact with water, which means we have to store them in the cratch rather than on the roof. I've just tried them for the first time and using just 4 briquettes has given us a nice hot fire. The manufacturer claims they are 100% carbon neutral and you can even add the cold ashes to the compost heap, or in our case the nearest hedge.

As soon as we'd stowed the bags of briquettes we set off again. This morning the weather was dreadful with hail, rain and strong winds, but this afternoon it's been lovely.  The wind was still cold and gusty but we've had plenty of sunshine and clear blue skies; no sign of snow round here!

We're now moored in the middle of nowhere, on one of the excellent lengths of 48hour moorings provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society. Thanks guys! We joined the society a couple of years ago. It's only £10 a year and helps towards the upkeep of all these mooring spots.

Ellesmere Port

The weather hasn't been as nice today. We've had a few heavy showers and gusty winds but it didn't keep us indoors for long. We went to B&Q via the very handy sub-way underneath the motorway and then had a walk into the town of Ellesmere Port but, to be honest, there's not a lot there. Because it's Sunday, almost all of the shops were closed and the town itself looked quite run down. There was, however, quite a nice arty sculpture at one of the cross-roads.

The upper canal basin where we're moored is separated from the Manchester Ship Canal by a car park and beyond that is the River Mersey Estuary. One of the many ships using the Ship Canal obligingly went past just as I was taking these photos.

The tide went out later and all you could see was sand beyond the Ship Canal. You can just make out Liverpool Airport across the estuary.

Looking up-stream you can see the huge Stanlow Oil Refinery.

Ellesmere Port

This morning we set off to Ellesmere Port.  The sun shone all day and even though the wind was a bit bitter at times it was perfect cruising weather; the sort of day that makes me glad we're not holed up in a marina yet.

The canal follows the city walls for a while and this section of the towpath is well used by walkers, but is a bit of a rat- race for cyclists.

There's a staircase of three locks which take you down onto the Ellesmere Port section of the canal and the views of the Welsh Hills from the top lock are quite spectacular.

I didn't enjoy taking the boat down the locks as they're VERY deep. When we come back next week, Roger can steer and I'll do the work; much more fun!

We passed this field full of rare breed Jacob's sheep. Unfortunately my freezer is full, otherwise I might have been tempted to stop and buy some.

The ram in the field had been having fun. Several of the ewes had his red mark on their backs and there were plenty left for him to service.

We arrived at Ellesmere Port around 3pm. We hadn't seen any other moving boats all day and there was only one other moored boat in the basin.

This boat had a winter mooring permit in it's window so must be here for the duration, which only leaves one space on the visitor moorings, now occupied by us. It's quite an unusual layout for a boat as it only has windows on one side. In all our years building boats we were never asked for anything like that. I'm intrigued as to the internal lay-out so might have to get chatting to them tomorrow.

Chester

We've been back in Chester since Wednesday, Christmas shopping and seeing our son.  The weather's been pretty good but we do seem to be lucky in that respect as other blogs I've been reading are talking about rotten, dismal weather but we've had mostly sunny days and it's lovely and bright again today.

The only problem we've had here was on Thursday night when we were woken at 1.45 by a knocking on the side of the boat. It was David from the boat behind telling us someone had untied us. When he'd looked out of his window he'd seen our stern end a couple of feet out into the canal and had just managed to grab the stern rope before it went into the water. They'd untied the bow rope as well but had left it through the mooring ring so the bow was still in against the towpath.  Last night we had the centre rope on as well and stuck a padlock through it so no-one could untie us again. It hasn't put us off Chester and although we're heading off today to Ellesmere Port we'll still moor here when we return next week.

Back to Tattenhall

We both have dental appointments tomorrow so we cruised back to Tattenhall so that we can collect the car from the marina in the morning. It was a lovely day to be cruising as it's been quite sunny, but with a bitter twist to the wind at times.

donkeys at Chemistry Lock 

The only draw back to the section of canal between Chester and Tattenhall is the extremely long line of moored boats.  At slow tick-over speed it took us over 3/4 of an hour to get past them and by the time we arrived at the 48hour moorings outside Tattenhall Marina it was just getting dark, so no mooring photo tonight.

moored boats as far as the eye can see

Chester

Today we moved on to Chester and moored opposite the Bingo Hall.

I thought this was a really good name for the restaurant boat which was moored outside the Mill Hotel.

Christleton

We left Tattenhall Marina this afternoon after nipping to Morrisons to refill the fridge and cupboards. The marina is only half full and, apart from the noise from passing trains, is VERY quiet, too quiet for us to want to stay any longer.

We’ve moved on towards Chester and are now moored at Christleton outside The Old Trooper which is a Harvester pub/restaurant and is where we’re going for dinner tonight.

Bunbury, Beeston & Tattenhall

Yesterday we moved on to Tattenhall. We had a good journey and passed a few other moving boats.  It’s about 6 years since we last came this way but little has changed.

At Bunbury Staircase Lock we met a boat coming up, so as we were going down we passed in the middle. That certainly speeded things up and I was glad of the help with the lock gates which are heavy on all the locks on this section.

At Tilstone Lock there’s a memorial under the holly tree. What a beautiful spot to bury a beloved pet.

The land at Beeston is very soft sand so when the canal was built in 1787 the banks kept collapsing. To solve this problem, one lock was built from stone slabs and the other built from iron plates.

double click on the photo to read the details

The lock cottage beside Beeston Stone Lock used to sell wonderful home-made pies, cakes and preserves but closed down a few years ago.

 Behind the cottage there’s a large rabbit warren in the sandy hill.  There were lots of bunnies scampering about.

We moored outside Tattenhall Marina on the 48 hr moorings ready to move in tomorrow morning. Like the moorings at Calveley, these are also dedicated winter moorings and there are already a couple of boats here paying BW for the privilege.

I won't be posting a blog  for a few days as we're going to visit our daughter. Hopefully I'll be able to give you a photographic tour of Newcastle when we get back. Have a good weekend everyone.

Calveley

After the Grand Prix yesterday we carried on for about an hour to moor just past Calveley.  These 48 hour moorings are available to rent from BW as designated winter moorings but they’re not very nice. The towpath is a quagmire and full of dog poo and it’s about 500 yards to the nearest water and pump-out which would be too far if we got iced in.

the view's not bad, field full of cows

field full of Alpacas

Today we took the car to Tattenhall Marina and arranged to leave the boat there for a week while we go to stay with our daughter.  They were very welcoming and didn’t mind us leaving the car there until we arrive with the boat later this week. In fact, the guy in the office was so friendly he took us via a short-cut out the back of the marina to the nearest bus stop, which saved us a mile walk to the bus stop in the village. It took us 2 hours to get back as we had to get a bus into Chester and then another one back to Calveley but at least we got to see some of the pretty local villages on the route home.

Chico isn't too impressed with these early dark evenings. He objects to having the light on over his bed so has started pulling his blanket over his eyes so he can get to sleep!