Croperdy to Thrupp.

Monday 10th March.

Due to a wild night on the water, we had no intention of moving, the winds were still gale force, leaving our TV Ariel lying on the cabin roof. The bracket has now died a death, so we will have to find a new one. By the time it was Paddy’s walk the sun had come out and the winds had dropped to a dull roar, so he would at least get a wet free walk. Something I have noticed more and more whilst we have been out are the amount of wild violets growing on the towpath verges. The last time I saw wild violets I was a child, so yes that was a long time ago hahaha. We have had the pleasure of not just seeing the purple ones, but also white violets.

As the weather got progressively throughout the day, we got a few boat jobs done inside. It was not a day to be outside, so there is very little to report.

Tuesday 11th March.

We were up and on our way at 9am leaving Cropredy behind on what was a breezy morning. The first lock was at Slat Mill, onwards to Little Bourton and the lock there, which in the Nicholsons guide describes the lock and cottage as beautifully kept. I am sorry to say that is no more. The cottage is boarded up and the lock unkempt, it is in a very sad state.
We then cruised under the M40 listening to the roar of the traffic over the sound of Hadar’s engine. I know the sound I prefer and it’s not the traffic. It was then we could smell the scent of coffee coming from somewhere and it was very strong. It was then we past Grimsbury Wharf before mooring up on the other side of March Bridge on 14 day moorings in Banbury. Having eaten lunch Keith and I took a walk into the centre of Banbury and the Castle Quay centre. Keith needed to sort out his new mobile phone with O2, as it is not charging and he only got it on the 18th Feb. So off to 02 who were absolutely no help at all, they would not do a swap or give him another battery. I found their service very lacking. The best they could suggest was we got to their service centre, in the town to see if they could help. So off we trekked to find this shop and they were a little more co-operative, they took the phone in to test the phone and the battery for us, so we would go back tomorrow for the results. In the mean time we headed to T-Mobile to check out their Web and Walk deal £15 a month for broadband speed internet connection, we had been told about it by boating friends, and as our 02 connection was dismally slow we though in for a penny, in for a pound lets give it a go. So we are now on T-Mobile. We spent time looking around the stores and enjoyed a coffee in one of the numerous cafes. We both really enjoyed our day in Banbury. On our way back to the boat we met Mark on NB Dusty, the coal, diesel and gas boat as he was delivering to his regular customers. Back at the boat I had just put the kettle on for a coffee when there was a knock on the boat. It was Peter from NB Sonflower paying us a visit. Peter had recently under gone a knee joint replacement operation, so has not been able to spend much time on the boat, but all the same it was nice to catch up with him and to see him looking so well. We first met Peter in 2005 when we came to Banbury. The mooring we were on was pretty quiet and we had no problems at all. The joy of where we were was the park and wooded area, so Paddy had plenty of places to run.

Wednesday 12th March.

We had another wild night of high winds, so I made sure that the fire was dampened down with ash, so our fire did not go into overdrive. The morning was bright and sunny, but the winds were still strong. Having done all the usual morning jobs, we then had a food shop to do at Tesco, which we past when we came into Banbury, so backpacks on we set off to Tesco and the Maplin store to see if we could find a new Ariel bracket. We did find a bracket which we mounted on the top plank. The Tesco is a 24 hour store and it has a second floor, to get to the second floor you take your trolley up and escalator ramp, it was brilliant. I had never used one of them before and as I am not a lover of escalators was a little scared, but it had to be done hehehe. Having done shopping and enjoyed some lunch we went back into Banbury to collect Keith’s poorly phone, but they could do nothing with it, so it has gone back to 02. Let’s hope they either sort it or send him another one, we will called back to the shop from Oxford to see if they have it back. We took a walk around the town’s museum, which is really very good and totally free. It is not often you get anything for free these days hahaha. The museum is opposite Tooley’s boatyard if you want to pay it a visit.
Whilst in Banbury I thought I would try and get my hair trimmed, so as we walked around we looked at the hairdressers and their prices. OMG I was horrified at the prices these places were charging for a cut and finish, anything from £50 to £75 arghhhhhhhhhh. I called into one of the shops to ask about a dry trim and was told it would cost me £19, bloody hell there is no way I am paying that, when in Stone I paid no more than £8 for the same trim. I will look for a hairdresser on the canal and give a fellow narrow boater my trade, so if you’re a hairdresser on a boat let me know hehehe, and if I am coming your way I will come and get my hair trimmed, but not at an extortionate price LOL.
So it had been another nice day and one that certainly made me think. It was another quiet evening on the boat.

Thursday 13th March.

Not being in any hurry to get away we took the time to clean the boats brass outside, I like to see clean brass if the weather allows. We set off at 10.45am hoping to get diesel from the Sovereign Wharf, but soon discovered that it was closed due to illness and would not be open until Monday, so we moved off under the lift bridge in the centre of Banbury and down through the lock to the sanitary station. I will take photos of Banbury on the way back.
Lift bridges are prominent on the Oxford canal. Many are already open which is a huge help.

The locks also change from double gates to single gates at both ends, which is fine but some of the gates can be very heavy, so I need to use brute force on some of them.
We left Banbury behind, following the river Cherwell and the railway; we approached Kings Sutton Lock and its lovely cottage, where I got into a conversation with the cottage owner and his lovely dog Eddie. Having done a further two locks we decided to moor up for the day opposite Aynho Wharf. We took a walk over the bridge to the shop to check out their diesel and gas prices. Back at the boat I relit the saloon stove as it had got quite chilly, the weather at the moment is so all over the places, one day warm the next cold, so it is difficult to know when to let the fire out. Keith in the meantime did a couple of jobs in the back cabin. We managed to get a really good TV signal, so enjoyed a quiet night of TV programs before heading to bed at 10pm.

Friday 14th March.

Up and on our way at 7.45am, destination Thrupp. At this time in the morning everything is so quiet, only the wildlife is stirring, squirrel, heron and the farm animals, ewe’s with their lambs. There was a time when twin lambs was headline news on local TV, but these days twin lambs are the norm.

We approached Somerton Deep Lock, so called due to its 12 foot depth; it has a stunning cottage on its edge as well. Its bridge still has its original number, harking back to the modernisation of the 1820’s. At Heyford Lock we were met by BW guys working on the lock and cutting back vegetation, we were fortunate to take on some of the logs which the guys had stacked up by the lock. The one thing we have noticed is the amount of work being done by the BW guys on the Oxford canal, they are very evident.
Continuing south along the Cherwell Valley, having done another lock we approached Dashwood Lock and it was clear something was amiss with the balance beam on the gate, someone had clearly hit the beam very hard, splitting the beam right the way through, so having proceeded with caution Keith rang BW to report the problem. By the time we got down to the next lock, we noticed two BW guys walking up the towpath, destination Dashwood Lock, now that is what I call a prompt call out. They had been notified by phone of the problem. We skirted the Village of Kirtlington down through Bakers Lock and onto a short stretch of the River Cherwell, which Hadar clearly enjoyed the deep water and the currant, she picked up a bit of speed on this section, before we reached ShiptonWeir Lock, which took us back onto the canal. The final task of the day before mooring up was to do Aubreys Lift Bridge at the BW yard in Thrupp. Cruising on we were then met by a hello from Maffi who was on the NB owned by Mortimer Bones, we agreed to meet later on. We then moored up behind The Jolly Boatman Inn. I contacted Steve with the DM3, who popped over later in the evening and we went to the pub to meet up with Bones and Maffi, a fantastic evening was had by all as we chatted and had a really good laugh. We ended up going to bed after midnight as we sat up and watched a bit of Sports relief. We are going to stay here for a few days.

Saturday 15th March.

With no movement taking place over the weekend, we enjoyed a cup of tea in bed before getting up. I walked Paddy as usual on what began as a dry sunny morning, it was even mild. Having had breakfast, a knock came on the boat, and who should be standing there but Maffi, he had come for his coffee and a piece of Victoria Sandwich that I had baked yesterday. Maffi had seen Bones off, as she was on her way to Banbury. It was lovely to meet Bones last night, she is a lovely lady and we cannot wait to catch up with her again. We were enjoying a natter, when Mark on NB Dusty came past with his bell ringing for his customers to come out and give him their orders. It was then that Steve DM3 arrived to take some photos of Hadar’s National DA2 engine, he and Keith had plenty to natter about, as they discussed our engine and of course Steve’s engine which he is rebuilding. The time certainly flew past as it always does when you are having fun, as it was 2pm before we realised the time.
We had our first hire boat run in, when one of the Oxfordshire Narrowboat came past the moored boats at break neck speed. Keith put his head out of the engine room, and asked them politely to slow down past moored boat, which they did, but Maffi’s boat was already adrift at the stern, so he had to leg it down the towpath to rescue his boat, before the bow pin pulled out. The silly season has now begun hahaha.
A late lunch was bacon sandwiches, the forecast rain had now descended upon us and it was set for the rest of the day. We were sat down watching the F1 qualifying session for the Australian GP, when there was a knock on the window. A gentleman handed me a free Towpath Talk, it has been donkey years since we had a paper delivered to our door, or should I say window hehehehe.
The rest of the day was sat in front of the TV, because the weather really had turned awful, Paddy and Keith had a very wet evening walk.

Sunday 16th March.

We have reached another Sunday, where does the time go?
Wet, wet, wet is the best way to describe this morning. Over night we had very heavy rain and gusty winds, but inside our back cabin it was hot, hot, hot, as the stove went into overdrive LOL, so we had a very disturbed night. With there being no hurry to be up Keith made a cup of tea which we drank in bed, whilst I told him of my odd dream about Hadar. It began with us moored at the top of hill. Keith went off to the pub to a tree planting party for friends of his who were leaving the cut for good; I was on the boat trying to get a poorly generator going as we needed to charge the batteries. In a field opposite the boat Army Cadets were setting up camp. The next thing I realised was that Hadar was moving at great speed down hill, with two army cadets standing on the gunwale, one a boy the other a girl and they were laughing through the galley window. I was helpless to do anything because Hadar was no going so fast our engine would never have stopped her. She careered into moored boats on the way down, heading for a bend in the canal, which had a brick wall at the bottom. Yes we hit the wall, demolishing it as we came to a halt. At this point two BW men ran to my assistance, catching the two army cadets at the same time. They dragged them into the boat and made them sit down and write an essay on why they had let our boat off. Keith arrived back at the boat puffing and panting as he had run the whole way. Yes I know it is an odd dream. What mazes me is that it is still so clear in my head even at 10.15am hahaha.
So at 8.45am we got up as Paddy needed his walk in the wind and rain, there was no avoiding the puddles as the towpath was covered in them. It is going to be a day of boat jobs, such as washing and baking I reckon, not to mention watching the F1 GP.
Washing was done, our boatman’s cabin looked more like a Chinese laundry hahaha, I had bedding drying all over the cabin, but because the stove was also cooking our dinner, it did not take to long, I then had the bed remade and put back in the cupboard. Keith and I watched the F! GP, congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, lets hope this is his season. The evening was as always a quiet one watching the dancing on Ice final. Suzanne Shaw was a definite winner on the night, she was stunning all the way through, although I did feel a little sorry for Chris Fountain, as he had shone all through the series, still someone has to lose. It was off to bed after Lewis for a good nights sleep.
See you all next weekend hopefully.

From Atherstone to Cropredy.

Welcome to the second week of our journey, sorry there are no photographs as yet, our connection is not very good, we are about to change supplier and move to T-Mobile which other boating friends have recommended. So photographs will be appearing soon.

Monday 3rd March.

Despite the wind which was still blowing, but not quite as strong, we were going to try and move as we wanted to get to Hawkesbury Junction. So we were up early, Paddy walked, breakfast sorted. Keith started the engine and arghhhhhhh it would not pick up. Having stripped it down we made a phone call to Roger who very kindly offered us some ideas as to what it maybe, which included bleeding the fuel as he reckoned it could be an air lock. Hey presto it worked Thanks Roger. So having put everything back together we set off at 10.30am and got no more than 500 yards before we pulled over again, due to something around the prop, when I say something I mean lots of things. 4 different plastic bags, blue nylon rope, some purple material as used in a jacket and reeds. It took us 15 minutes to get that lot off. Having sorted that we were finally underway to the first of the Atherstone Flight and who should we see but N.B Blackbird Carries boat, but she was no where to be seen. Sorry Carrie see you again sometime I dare say. We were following another boat, so progress was slow and the wind did not help at all. But slowly we made our way, the boat in front pulled over for lunch so we made headway through the last 3 locks. Having reached the last of the locks, it gave us the chance to empty the loo and dispose of a bag of rubbish. We knew that making Hawkesbury Junction today was not going to happen, so we decided on a stop for the day at Hartshill. The sky was already darkening and it looked like rain, but did we get a surprise when sleet and hail stones poured down, so much so the roof was covered, but the weather has never stopped us moving, unless of course it is gale force winds, so we carried on to Hartshill where we moored up at 3.10pm near the BW yard after what had been an eventful day. We were both starving so had a very late lunch.

Tuesday 4th March.

Brrrr it was a very chilly morning as we had a frosty night, but the sun was up and to brighten our day even further Keith spotted a fox running across the field on the other side of the canal. It was a beautiful sight to see and the first fox of this trip, it one one of my things to see wish list.
We set off at 8.20am under the bridge where the BW yard is to see the wonderful old clock it was then off into the countryside and the Judkins Quarry which has its very own mountain called Mount Judd. The Quarry heaps have been transformed into nature reserves, so you really would not recognise them now.
We continued onto Nuneaton and through the town as it is not a place we would stop. Next came the junction with the Ashby canal, where we were joined in front by another boat. The one thing that you really notice on this part of the canal is the amount of allotments, there are loads of them, some of which are very well kept and others could try harder hahaha.
We skirted around Bedworth, to see two men Electro Fishing with wet suits on, I could not help but feel the water must have been freezing brrrrrrrrr. It was then we passed Charity Dock, it still had piles of old scrap everywhere and shop dummies dressed up, which do make you, giggle. We arrived at Hawkesbury Junction and turned onto the Oxford Canal, through Sutton Lock and past all the moored boats. It was a beautiful day with the sun out and the wind non existent. It was at this point we passed by Brinklow Marina, where Andy has his NB Khaymanzi, we knew he would still be at work and there were no places to moor for us to go and see him, so sorry Andy maybe another time.
Our day finished at 3.50pm when we moored up on the south side of the Newbold Tunnel, with a meal at the Barley Mow on the menu. Keith walked Paddy at 6pm and we then went to the pub for what was a very nice Prawn Curry with Rice and naan bread. We got to have a lovely chat with the new owner Tina, who only took over the pub 3 weeks previous with her husband, so we wish the very best of luck. I recommend stopping there it is very nice indeed.

Wednesday 5th March.

-7.3 C yes that was how cold it got over night, so the boat was covered in a hard frost. Paddy got his walk back through Newbold Tunnel, so I could get a better look at the rainbow lighting. The lighting is actually turned off at Dusk so it does not interfere with the bats flight path for feeding, which is very considerate I reckon. 8.25am and we set of to destination undecided, we were beginning to see other boats and they were hire boats, so the season is underway for some. We firstly knew we would stop at Rugby to get some food shopping done at Tesco and some other bits. It was when coming into Rugby and to the mooring we met a boat coming the other way, we were over half way through the bridge hold when this boat saw us but did nothing to reverse to let us carry on through, which meant a head on collision. He was clearly at fault but that did not deter him from continuing, saying nothing we just carried on through and found a spot to moor. I won’t discuss the shopping as that is boring, and is like any other food shop LOL, so we set off again at 11.25, I made coffee and put the shopping away whilst we were on the move. Hillmorton Locks loomed in front, and our chance to empty the loo. Lunch was eaten on the move as we had decided we would stop at Braunston for the night, so we could pick up supplies at Midland Chandlers. Moored up outside the Mill Pub was NB. Valerie and Les came out to say hello. We moved on past and to the marina to turn around before mooring up for the day. We made for the chandlery to buy a gang plank and other bits. I had the lovely task of cleaning the saloon stove chimney as it appeared to be blocked; we knew that because the Carbon Monoxide Alarm went off the night before. So sleeves rolled up and chimney brush at the ready I did the dirty task. The chimney was blocked and now the fire is working properly yayyy. We spent a quiet evening on the boat and look forward to what tomorrow brings.

Thursday 6th March.

There was no hurry to be up and about, as we had shopping to do at Midland Chandlers. So having had a cuppa in bed, we got up had breakfast and then Paddy got his walk up the towpath. Keith and I then headed for Midland Chandlers with our list of things to get to hand. No matter where you shop for boat things these days, it costs an arm and a leg, but needs must.
Having done all of that we then paid a visit to Les on NB Valerie, who was moored up outside of The Mill Pub. We enjoyed a lovely chat and a cup of coffee; it was nice to finally meet up with les having read his blog for such a long time. Having got back to Hadar, we decided to make a move, collecting water on the way outside of the BW Stop House. We then made our way to the Braunston turn waving goodbye to Les as we past him by. On the towpath opposite Les was NB Moore 2 Life, sadly we did not get to meet Chas and Ann on this visit, but maybe in the future. We turned onto the Grand Union Canal to head for Napton, we had gone no more than a mile, before we saw a couple of old working boats, which were now abandon. One of them had been burnt out. It was a sad sight. Now as many of you know I have a wish list of things I would love to see, one of the things on my list is the Barn Owl. Today not only did we see one Barn Owl, we saw 2 both of them in different places and flying in the daytime. The first one was seen at 2pm in the afternoon, the other about half an hour later. I can only think they were hunting to feed their families, it certainly made our day. We passed by Napton Junction and the Napton Boatyard, before mooring up near bridge 111 at the Napton Bridge Inn, which is said to be haunted, so that was our day full of wonder at the sight of the Barn Owl.

Friday 7th March.

On waking up we could see that the sun was shining, after a night of wind and rain. We decided to make a run for Fenny Compton, whilst the weather was so good. There were 9 locks to do, with the wind increasing we pressed on regardless to Naptons bottom lock. Over looking the locks was Napton’s Windmill on top of Napton-on-the-hill, the hill dominates the landscape, but has a beauty all of its own.
The locks on this flight were so easy to do, it was a real pleasure not to have to struggle to do the paddles, so many locks these days are difficult to work, and I am pretty fit, even if I do say so myself hahaha. The last lock of the day was at Marston Doles, which is a tiny village; it owes its existence to the canal, because the towing horses used to be stabled there. The views away from the canal were really stunning; you have to be there to really enjoy them. The Oxford Canal is a little twisty, but still stunning. We then came upon the Medieval Village of Wormington, which no longer exits. The new village of Wormington has a 13th Century stone church; there is also a row of Victorian mock-Tudor cottages. There was very little in the way of wildlife today and no sign as yet of the Kingfisher on this trip. Our mooring was Fenny Compton, just south of the Wharf Inn, the weather closed in and by the time Keith took paddy for his walk it was raining and blowing a gale. Keith became an Uncle today. His sister’s daughter had a little girl awwwww.

Saturday 8th March.

7am and wide awake, so I made us a cuppa and we sat nattering in bed for a while before getting up. We were not moving so there was no hurry to get things done, but Paddy always needs his early morning walk. We finally got up and dressed, Paddy got his walk down to Fenny Compton Marina, whilst Keith did us Mushrooms on toast for breakfast. The wind was very gusty, so not a day for moving.
We took a walk to the chandlery to check out their diesel and gas prices and then took a walk into Fenny Compton, where there is a small Co-op store and houses, so if you are stuck for food you can walk to mile into the village. Back at the boat Marmite found a new playmate, it was a fly. She was running up and down the boat after this fly like a loonie, but she had no hope of actually catching it. Both Keith and I got a few boat jobs done, we then spent the evening watching the TV, so a quiet day for us.

Sunday 9th March.

Now we had said we would not move at weekends, it would be a chance to stay put and get things done, but with the weather supposedly closing in we changed our mind when we saw the sun was shining this morning, and the wind was light. So we were up early setting off for Cropredy at 8.15am, we were joined behind by Adderbury, who we did the locks with all 9 of them. The journey was a quiet one; we arrived at Cropredy at 11.40 am, moored up and got chatting to other boaters on Alnwick and Jenny Rose. I even sold some coal today. Cropredy has a very good Spar shop, which has everything you could possibly need in the food and drink department. The moorings are really good either 24, 48 or 14 day moorings all ringed. We will probably stay here whilst the stormy weather is upon us. The forecast for Monday is dismal. I made a chicken in white sauce pie for dinner, and for pudding pancakes in a lemon sauce. Stop drooling now hahahaha.
See you next weekend.

From Stone to Below Atherstone.

Tuesday 26th February 2008.

So the journey we have longed for begins on a cold, windy but bright morning. We left Stone and the boat yard, saying goodbye to our friends as we headed south. It was 9.45am and already as we left we were in a queue behind a Challenger boat. It made Roger laugh; he could not believe that we would have to queue as we set off on our dream cruise and the season has not begun yet hahahahaha.
Having negotiated the locks through Stone with them in front they pulled over below Star lock to chat to another owner of a Challenger boat, due to the collapse of the company Challenger share ownerships have a lot to talk about at the moment.
We stopped at Weston for lunch before heading off again at 1.50pm. Having had a quiet cruise we stopped for the day at Great Haywood at 3.30pm. It was nice to stop as the wind had increased, meaning it had begun to get chilly. Having warmed up with a coffee, we took a walk over to Anglo Welsh to see if Viv the owner of Monarch was a round, but just our luck she was on her day off, oh well such is life, we will no doubt catch her some other day.
To end the day I made an Orange sponge cake, as there is no cake onboard, just as it was cooking the gas bottle ran out grrrrrrrrr.
It is wonderful to be underway at long last. This is fulfilling Keith’s dream of almost 40yrs and that makes me so pleased for him.

Wednesday 27th February.

The morning was lovely, bright, but a little chilly. Before heading off from Great Haywood, Keith and I polished the brass, we also got chatting to a gentleman from N.B Whintangle. 9.40am and we set off down through Great Haywood Lock and onward past Shugborough Hall. The second lock of the day was Colwich Lock, the cottage there looked as though it was having a lot of work done on it, BW have also put new gates on the lock.
On such a beautiful morning, it was a surprise to not see any boats on the move; we seemed to have the cut to ourselves. Passing through Rangeley made me think of where we got Paddy (collie) from, he came from the Border Collie Trust. Rugeley has seen some changes since we last passed through in 2006, they have a new bypass now which looks quite impressive. At Armitage we passed under the narrow tunnel, it was nice to see all the rubbish we saw in 2006 had been taken away. Shame on boaters for dumping their rubbish. It could only be boaters, because there is no footpath through the short tunnel. We reached the locks at Fradley which would be the end of our day. Woooo we had boats coming up through the locks, the first we had seen on the move all day. Fradley Junction was hectic with boats moored 2 deep both sides, but Keith had no problem turning into the junction and onto the Coventry Canal, whilst I opened the swing bridge. We then moored up for the day in front of N.B No Problem which belongs to friends Sue and Vic. Having had a quick natter with Sue and Vic we were meeting Pam and Andy friends from the boats and canals forum at the Swan Pub on the junction. We settled down with our drinks outside and enjoyed a couple of hours of chatter, time flies when you are having fun. At which point a voice called out “Hello, what are you doing here”, I looked up to see Jackie standing there. She and her husband have a share in Challenger Boat Vulcan and were heading to Kings Bromley, but would moor above the locks over night, so having said our hello’s Jackie was off to do the locks. We said our goodbyes to Pam and Andy and made our way back to the boat and dinner. Our evening was spent in the pub with Sue and Vic, it was a most enjoyable evening, catching up with news over a pint or two. A really enjoyable day of cruising and catching up with friends, what more could anyone ask for.

Thursday 28th February.

We said our goodbyes to Sue and Vic on N.B No Problem, before untying the boat and setting off at 9.20am on what was a chilly, frosty morning. The sun was doing it’s best to warm the chilled air.
Yesterday we had seen hardly anything moving, well today was the complete opposite, everyman; woman and their dog were out on the move it seemed, thankfully in the opposite direction to us. Where ever we looked there was so beautiful views, even with the railway dominating the countryside, it was still lovely. We cruised past the disused airfield and were soon joined by N.B Greenwood behind, who seemed in somewhat of a hurry, but with bridges and narrow places we could not allow him to pass. Streethay Wharf was on our left with the marina full of boats. It was then onward through Huddlesford, where they were still working on the railway. At Hademore we could finally pull over enough to allow N.B Greenwood past, so he could go on his merry way. As we were passing through Tamhorn Park, coming towards us on N.B Aslan was Pauline and Trevor, who we got to know which in Stone, they were pleased to see we were on our way. Due to the Army firing ranges you cannot moor in this area. We were then approaching Hopwas and stopped at 12.40pm between the Tame Otter and the red Lion. Later on we took a walk around what is a tiny village, they no longer have a shop, but they do have a beautiful church which was built in 1879. We had a visitor to the boat; she was a small tabby cat, smaller than Marmite but ever so pretty. She loved it on the boat inviting herself on through the engine room. Mog and Dog did not meet her, I am not sure they would have appreciated her visit. The evening was spent in front of the TV, before an early night as we were both tired.

Friday 29th February.

The mooring overnight between the pubs was lovely, it was very quiet. We were awake at 7am so got up. Having had breakfast, I took Paddy for his walk whilst Keith got the boat ready for the off at 8.20am. It was a very chilly morning, overcast and with a breeze. So I was wrapped up well in my donkey Jacket, gloves and hat. We made a stop at peel’s Wharf to empty the toilet. There are good ring moorings there and a lot of development with new apartments and a few private basin moorings. We noticed that Euphoria and Blue Rinse Menagerie were moored up; we knew them from Stone as I had sold them coal a couple of times. It is a small world on the canal I have found. We said our hi’s and bye’s and headed off for Fazeley Junction. At Fazeley the Coventry meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. Over the impressive Tame Aqueduct, where there are good views of the River Tame We were then at the Glascote locks, the only two locks I would do today. The area has changed somewhat with new apartments being built along side the canal, but somehow it still looks sad and always has. We passed by the Hudson Boatyard, where there were a lot of Hudson shells built ready for fit out. Next was the Alvecote marina, where you can also see the remains of a Benedictine Priory. On approaching Polesworth, there is a piece of reclaimed scrubland which is now a golf course, and we became the target of a golf ball of course hahaha, it flew over the boat and just missed the boatman’s cabin Stove, before we heard the plop as it dropped into the water, it passes Pooley Hall. We decided not to stop at Polesworth, so continued on, the wind was getting strong and had become very gusty, so we decided to moor up above bridge 49 a mile and half from the Atherstone Flight, which will be done on Monday morning weather permitting. We are going to stay put for the weekend.

Saturday 1st March.

1.45 am and we were woken up by the extremely strong winds. The rudder was flapping around in the water creating a racket, so Keith got up and secured it, whilst I got up and made a cup of tea. Not only did we secure the rudder, we also removed a large JCB oil drum which was banging up against the stern, we have no idea where it came from.
The wind continued to blow right up until we woke up at 7.45am, having got up I walked Paddy in the howling gales, and he was not for staying out to long. On returning to the boat the fires were tended to and the back cabin stove was dampened down with ash to stop it roaring away, as it had been doing over night. Keith cooked his usual yummy breakfast as we will not be moving over the weekend.
As it was the 1st of the month Keith did the maintenance checks on the boat, only to discover that we had diesel in our oil grrrrrr. So we set about stripping the engine down to check the fuel pumps and piping only to discover that their was a blockage in the pipe work so the diesel had over flowed into the oil, not to difficult to sort out and give the engine and oil change, but a little frustrating that if anything is going to happen it seems to happen to us hahahaha. I managed to get a load of washing done and cooked a turkey casserole with dumplings for dinner. Even though we have had sunshine all day the wind is still blowing a gale, so it will be another evening in front of the TV for us.

Sunday 2nd March.

Having woken up early again to the rudder again. We did eventually get back to sleep on yet another night of high winds, it will not give in. We were up at 8.30am to sunshine and yes you guessed it strong winds. But Paddy needed walking as always, so it was a quickie as he was not that impressed to be running the towpath in the winds. As we would not be moving, I set about doing my Sunday baking; on today’s menu was a lemon meringue pie and a chocolate cake. Keith was in engine cleaning mode, I had the brass work to do outside, but the wind was putting me off hahahaha, it would get done later in the afternoon however, I hate looking at dirty brass. I know there is more to life hahaha but I like to keep a tidy boat. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV movies and drinking coffee. There were still boats struggling out in the wind as we stayed put. Later in the day the wind did drop and Hare and butty Fazeley passed us by. We had a lovely day, so here’s to week 2 of our journey.

The Journey South Begins

Today we finally set off at 9:45am, leaving Stone and our friends behind us. We stopped at Weston for lunch, and then carried on and arrived at Great Haywood at 3:30pm and moored up for the night above the lock. It is so good to be finally heading south at long last! It is 3 years and 1 day since we first arrived at Stone on Misty Lady.

Keith

Week Three of our time away.

Monday 11th February.

It was a very cold and frosty morning with temps down to -3C over night, so it gave for a breath taking start to our day. As we were heading back to Wheelock.
The canal always looks too beautiful on a frosty morning with a gentle mist rolling along the cut.

We stopped off at Middlewich to do some food shopping, before heading off again.
At Rumps Lock I was shocked to see a large amount of dead fish, so we called BW to alert them to the pollution. It seems that someone dumped something in the Trent and Mersey and BW are trying to do something about it.
We had a fabulous days cruising, and moored up just below Wheelock. We sat out on the boat drinking coffee as we watched the sun go down.

Tuesday 12th February.

We were awake early so got up and enjoyed a beautiful frosty morning yet again.
The sun was coming up and having had temps down to -3C last night it was a hard frost. Paddy as always enjoys a good walk when the weather is crisp, especially as we were near his wood. Yes there is a wood named Paddy’s Wood

We were heading for Hassel Green and a mooring if there were any to be had.
We always see interesting things on our travels, and today we saw one of the best duck houses we have ever seen. I actually wonder if any ducks use this designer home.

We were followed all the way by Honeystreet, so we set the locks for them as we left them, it is always something we have done, and it’s a polite thing to do for a fellow boater.
When we reached Hassel Green at lunch time we moored up opposite the Romping Donkey, and thought we would have a meal there later.

Having had lunch we took a walk to the local pottery to see what was new there, as we have bought mugs from there in the past, we then went to the shop at Hassel green at Lock 57 and bought our first ice cream of the year mmmmmm. We also learnt that due to government cuts their post office is closing in a couple of weeks. Village life will never be the same again.
We paid a visit to the local "pink" church.

Yes this is a church and it is in use and it is pink.

The weather has been so calm that the water has been like a mirror.

For February it has been a really warm day, so warm that Keith and I have been in our shirt sleeves, long may it last.
Marmite took another step closer to freedom from the boat, and loved every minute, she still has to wear her harness though.

We spent some of the afternoon cleaning the brass; we were then treated to a fantastic display by the starlings, who gathered for roosting over night.

They are so majestic in flight and the noise was quite amazing, there were hundreds of birds flying in formation.

The last sunshine of the evening was then seen setting over the M6. We had planned to eat at the Romping Donkey, so we got poshed up and walked round to the pub, only to find it was being revamped and they had a new Chef, so they were only doing cold food grrrrrrrrrr, not what we wanted on a cold night. This is the second time this has happened to us at this pub, so there will not be a third time. So we thought ok never mind we will go to the restaurant lock 57 for an evening meal, you guessed it. It was shut for the winter season, only opening in the mornings for coffee etc. Not our lucky evening. I ended up cooking a chicken curry with cous cous and naan bread. Oh well never mind.

Wednesday 13th February.

We did not have to rush up this morning as we did not have far to travel. Our plan was to head for Rode Heath, which meant I only had 4 locks to operate. It was a bright morning; we had been blessed with another hard frost as the temps dropped to -3C last night. With the boat icy at the bow care had to be taken when untying the boat, but we set off at 8.55am for our short cruise in lovely sunshine.

The water on the canal was so still this morning as there was no wind about. We had a trip which had no real highlights, so as we moored up at 10.25 opposite the Broughton Arms, coffee was first on the agenda. Our day was filled with boat chores, looking around the village, which has a fantastic little shop, full to the brim with all your grocery needs, it also has a post office. Once again we ended up chatting to people passing who showed a big interest in our boat and her engine. We decided that the evening meal would be had at the Broughton Arms, as last nights meal attempt had been so disappointing.

Through out the day the pub had been very busy with people eating and drinking outside in the sunshine, so we thought it boded well for our evening meal, so we set off at 6.30pm feeling very hungry and looking forward to a good pub meal. Mmmmm well we had the meal but it was not as good as we expected. Keith and I both had cottage pie with seasonal veg. The cottage pie arrived in a small dish and the potato I am pretty sure was not real, it tasted like smash if you have ever tried it, not only that it was a very small portion, as for the veg it was not cooked very well and came in another small dish on the plate with the cottage pie.
What ever happened to just putting the food on the plate?
It left both of us wanting something else as the portions were very small. So not the best meal we have ever had. We went back to the boat and ate cheese and biscuits as we were still hungry. I begrudge paying £3.75 for cheese and biscuits in the pub LOL. We settled in to watch the TV for the evening before another early night no doubt.

Friday 14th February.

We were awake at 7am, but we had gone to bed at 9.30pm, too shattered to sit and watch the TV, not that there was much on anyway, so being awake early meant we got up and had a cuppa with breakfast, before I took Paddy out across Rode Heath Rise for his run. In the spring and summer the meadow is full of wild flowers apparently; the only thing it was full of at this time was grass and mud. Once back at the boat I made up the fires and did a few chores before we set off at 8.25am to do 6 locks close together for us to stop at Church Lawton. The locks are not really too bad and there is some wonderful views. We met up with Ivor on his boats Mountbatten and Jellicoe; they are both from the Admiral Class boats built between 1957 and 1960.

There were only a few of this class actually built; it is lovely to see them still working hard. Ivor and Mel sell diesel, coal, wood and painted canal ware.
On the whole I am the one who does the lock work, winding up the paddles, opening and shutting the gates, whilst Keith moves the boat. I enjoy the exercise, as it can be quite physical, you also get to do plenty of walking between locks.

Keith with his boating face on hahaha, as he waits for me to close the gates behind him and the boat. I could not resist this photo.
Having negotiated the 6 locks for the day we moored up again at Church Lawton, which is below the Redbull flight, we have that to do tomorrow before the tunnel.
So we moored up at 9.50am, the kettle was already boiling on the back cabin stove so coffee was first up. We then took a walk into Church Lawton such as it is. It has a church and an elderly people’s home, plus Lawton Hall which seems to have been turned into apartments.

What interested me at the church were the surrounding grave stones. I think you can learn a lot about a places history from its church yard. For instance it seems that between 1848 and 1860 a lot of very young children were dying, one as young as 4 months to a family who lost 4 children between 1848 and 1865, even the parents died young in their 40’s. Through the church yard there were graves of very young children from that time frame.
So what happened in those years to cause so many deaths? Because it seemed that there were many older adults who were living into their 70’s and 80’s?
Also a young man died on the railway at Red Bull Wharf, having been involved in a collision back in the 1800’s. It was all very fascinating. Church Lawton does not have a shop or pub, but the walk was nice and I felt I had some things to look up to learn a little more about the places history.
Having got back to the boat I then took a walk back to the Lawton Locks to take some photos of the disused locks.

All the way up this morning the locks are in pairs until you get to the last remaining locks and one of the pair has become disused for some reason. It is such a shame in this day and age that these locks are left like this. It is a little depressing that these have been left to rot. The only things using them now are the birds and other wildlife. I can imagine in the summer there is somewhat of a bottle neck here, because both locks are not in use. Hopefully one day one of the canal groups will find the funds to replace the gates and give these locks a new lease of life.
So lunch has been done and we have also cleaned the boat brass. I like to give it a wipe over every other day to keep it shiny looking. Mog and Dog are out on the back of the boat enjoying a somewhat fresher day. Tomorrow we have the Redbull flight to do in order to make it to Harecastle tunnel for 11am. We want to do an early dash before the bandits get up, this being half-term, so see you tomorrow.

Friday 15th February.

Up early for the cruise to Harecastle Tunnel for 11am. It was a cold morning with no frost, but the wind chill made it raw. Paddy had his walk whilst keith moved the boat to the first lock. It gave me the chance to set it for him. Because it was only 8am no one else was about, so quiet and peaceful. As we assended the Redbull flight, BW (British Waterways) were hard at work on their veg pledge, trimming back the bushes and trees on the flight. It does look lovely and tidy. We stopped at the Redbull sanitary station to empty the loo before tackling the next lock by the Redbull Pub. Moored just above the lock were the owners of Narrowboat Sam, who had become stranded due to the loss of their prop the night before in the pound below the lock. Apparently they had emptied the pound over night to see if they could find their prop, but it would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack. So their only hope was to either get a tow or bow haul Sam to the boat yard on the Macc. We would of offered them a tow if we had been going that way, but we had to be at the tunnel. It shows not everything goes according to plan when cruising. They both seemed calm about the whole thing, enjoying a breakfast before getting down to some hard boat pulling up through the next lock.
We carried on our way to Harecastle Tunnel and arrived at 9.50am, so plenty of time for coffee and a chat with the owners of Narrowboat Talisman who moored up behind us. We passed the time until the BW guy came and checked us in.

We were supposed to be going into the tunnel at 11am, but a change to the plan as boats from the south end were coming through, so we did not actually get through until 12 noon. On exiting the other end we moored up to take on water and eat lunch, some 20 minutes later we were on our way again.
We arrived at the Etruria locks and had come down in the first lock, only to find boaters emptying the already full 2nd lock which was in our favour grrrrrrrrrrrrr. They seemed totally oblivious at the fact that they should of left the lock for us first. I won’t name the boat, but it was a shared ownership boat. It always pays to check who is either going up or down in the next lock if you can physically see the lock, don’t take the lock if it is in the other boaters favour.
For all the football fans reading this we passed by the Britannia Stadium, where Stoke City Play.

The rest of the cruise was pleasant and quiet. The only thing moving was the Canada Geese, who always panic when they see a Narrowboat coming.

Normally they all climb out of the canal, but these had to fly up to escape LOL.
We passed our friends place, but there seemed to be no one at home, so we headed for the last lock of the day Trentham Lock, where I had a couple of young lads willing to help with the gates. We moored up at Wedgewood bridge at 5.20pm so it had been a long day. We settled down for a sausage and dumpling casserole for dinner which was well earned.
The following day we were back in Stone, where we have been ever since. We have got some shopping done, picked up a list of supplies we will need on our trip down South, so if you see us give us a wave. I am sure you wil hear Hadar long before you see her.

What I have found wonderful is the amount of people interested not just in our boat and engine, but in life on the canal. Some people want to know how difficult it is to live on the boat and others just want to know all about how we cope. Keith has really enjoyed talking to people about the engine. We have received some wonderful comments on the sound of our engine, even other boaters have popped their heads out of their boats, and said how wonderful it sounds. So the credit for that has to go to Roger and Keith for doing such a great job in rebuilding the engine.

I will sign off now and will be back on when we start heading south. Do not worry if you do not hear from me straight away, I will post when I can. Thank you to everyone who reads our travels, we look forward to meeting you for real maybe sometime.

Week Two of our time away.

Monday 4th February.

The morning got off to a frosty start, but with the sun out and the wind dropped it was an ideal day to head off again, so at 8.50am Paddy and I set off to the first lock to set it for the boat, this would end up being the first of 20 locks for the day until we reached Wheelock. Because of the frosty start, everything was icy so it was a matter of being careful where you put your feet, especially on the bow of the boat we saw Mountbatten and Jellicoe owned by Ivor and Mel Batchelor, and neither was on boat as far as we could see. Having done the first 10 locks we had thought of stopping at Hassell Green but it was only 11.30am, so we made the choice of moving onto Wheelock, as we got into Hassell Green lock the skies blackened and the sleet began to fall, along with the sleet the winds picked up. But we had decided to continue so it was a matter of battling against the wind and sleet. To be honest it does not really bother me much, once you’re wet you’re wet. We saw three other boats, 2 were hire boats from Anderton and the third was a Challenger share ownership boat. As we left the last lock for the day a mooring was insight yayyyy. I knew I had done 20 locks; I was so out of practice having not been out at all last year. We moored up at 1.35pm and first thing on the list of things to do was have some well earned lunch. Dinner was going to be at the pub later I announced, I reckon we have earnt it. It had been a good day.

Tuesday 5th February.

The weather this morning was looking good, so we were going to make a move towards Middlewich. Having walked Paddy through the mud on the towpath, he was only to glad to get back on the boat. We took on water, emptied the loo etc before heading off at 9.35am. There was a breeze but nothing which bothered Hadar to much. I had a total of 7 locks to do today and at Rumps Lock we meet up with an Anderton Hire boat. They seemed very lost as to what to do at a lock. The lock was empty they coming up so it was their lock, but they had no idea about this, so I spent 10 minutes explaining to them how locks work, and what the do’s and don’ts are at a lock. I do sometimes wonder if any of this is every really explained by the hire companies. Having reached King’s Lock at Middlewich we turned onto the Shroppy and through Wardle Lock where we were hoping to see Maureen at the Lock Cottage, but she was no where to be seen, so we moored up further along the towpath at 1pm and had lunch. Keith wanted to go to Kings Lock Chandlery, but the rain began to fall so it was a wet walk to and from the chandlery. We had thought we may do a shop in Middlewich, but with the weather looking like it was set for the rest of the day we decided not to bother. Half an hour later the rain had gone and the sun was out. We untied the boat and headed for the flashes and a winding hole to turn Hadar around. We found the winding hole, but it did appear that although the hole was large enough to wind a 70ft boat, it needed dredging a little to make the boat actually wind. Keith was up for the task and with a little persuasion Hadar did her own dredging. We moored up for the day at 5pm over looking the flashes. It has been a long day but a nice one.

Wednesday 6th February.

It was a truly beautiful morning, cold but the sun was rising as I opened the galley window.

I could hear the geese and swans on the flashes calling to each other. We treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast, before setting off back to Middlewich. The railway crosses the canal; it gives you a view of life in the fast lane.

I am always talking about the wildlife, because we are so very lucky with what we see each day and today began with a Kestrel looking for her breakfast. We saw the usual ducks, swans, moorhens and squirrels. You do see some funny sights and this morning we spotted these wellies upside down on sticks at a mooring.

After reaching Wardle Lock Keith had to turn Hadar at the junction, but the wind got hold of her bow and she was not a woman for turning, it took a lot of effort on Keith’s behalf to get her around the turn. We were lucky enough to see Maureen from Wardle Lock Cottage on our way down the locks and she was delighted in our new boat. Narrowboat Alice Rose was coming down behind us, so I set the locks for her owners as we descended the flight. We moored up before Big Lock in order to do some food shopping at a Tesco express store and had lunch before heading off again for Anderton Lift moorings. We passed by Croxton Flash and Billinge Green Flash, which even at this time of the year look amazing. The weather today despite being cold has been lovely. We arrived at the moorings at 4.50pm.

Thursday 7th February.

It was a cloudy start to our day and because we were awake at 7am we got up for an early start.
We set off at 8.15 am for Preston Brook and Midland Chandlery, where we wanted to stock up on light bulbs, bought a couple of new chimneys and other odds and sods. We had 3 tunnels to do.

Balterford Tunnel, Salterford Tunnel and Preston Brook Tunnel.

We have armed ourselves with ear plugs, which are needed in our case as our engine is a thumper, so through a tunnel we need protection.

One beautiful thing we saw today was a rainbow, but thankfully the rain stayed away. We did meet a couple of other boaters out and about. We also saw some old working boats on our trip to and from Preston Brook.

Having been to the chandlery and bought our bits and bobs, we made the return journey through Preston Brook Tunnel and Dutton Stop Lock. It has to be said that there is some fantastic scenery, which includes the river Weaver. Which you can get onto by going down through the Anderton Lift, which is where we moored up again, this time for the weekend. We will do the river Weaver at some point but not this year. It was a lovely days cruising with fantastic views, with the wildlife thrown in for good measure.

Friday 8th February.

We were woken up at 5.30am by two men talking outside of our boat grrrrrrrrrrrrr. They were chatting about how boats get down onto the river. I really cannot see why they were there at that time as it was still dark, but neither Keith nor I got up. Instead we made a cup of tea and drank it in bed before nodding off to sleep again. We then got up at 8.30 to a grey morning but mild. We decided having had breakfast and walked Paddy that we would move the boat to the other side of the Anderton Lift footbridge, where we moored up infront of Lindsay and old working boat still used by BW.

Having done so we got chatting to the owner of Florence E, he was waiting to go down in the Anderton Lift. He told me about the local village store, where I wanted to get some bacon from so I headed off to the shop whilst Keith did engine maintenance and odd jobs. The village shop is poorly stocked, many of the shelves and fridges were empty, however you can buy your paper and milk there. The gentleman off of Florence E also told me of a fresh fruit and veg shop just down the canal, so having had lunch I took Paddy for a walk there to see what they had on offer. It was brilliant. They have as I said fruit and veg; they also do pet foods, and all groceries. I would totally recommend it if you are short of supplies. I bought some fruit, veg, organic eggs and other bits. To get there you walk down the towpath after the Anderton lift going North past the Stanley Pub on the right, to the concrete bridge where you walk left. A short distance down the road is an industrial estate, which you enter. A short distance into the estate you come to Dave’s Fruit and Veg Shop, it is also a garden centre. We spent the day doing jobs on the boat and chatting to walkers passing the boat who wanted to know about the history of the engine and boat. It is always nice to chat to others, especially as they show such an interest. One gentleman was a fisherman on his own trawler down in Cornwall and has a love of engines, he was really interesting. All in all we have had a fab day.

Saturday 9th February.

The weather today was beautiful after a slight frost, everything was fresh. There was no breeze at all and as the sun came up it soon warmed the air. Having taken Paddy for his walk, we settled down to a cooked breakfast cooked by Keith, and planned our day which began with a walk to Marbury Park and around the Anderton Nature Park, if you have been moored up by the Anderton Lift but never taken the Nature walk I recommend you do so as it is really fantastic.

One of the walks takes you along the River Weaver, and even though there is industry right beside the river it does not detract from the rivers beauty.

Through out the park there are boards telling you about what wildlife can be seen. It is a well laid out nature haven for many species of wildlife, although today there was very little to be seen.Towards the end of our walk we approached the Anderton Lift in all its magnificent glory. You cannot visit the centre lift until March as they are doing maintenance, but it still looks fantastic and boats have been using it now that it is open to boats again.
After we got back to the boat, the chores needed doing, and on the list for today was a boat wash, polish and brass cleaning, never a dull moment. I did the cleaning of the brass and the boat, whilst Keith was doing all things electrical. We also spent time chatting to the passers-by who were interested in our boat and her history, it has been interesting that many think she is an old boat revamped, we of course tell them she is new. Having had another lovely day we settled down for an evening on the boat with dinner, when there was a knock on the window, and who should be standing there but Andrew Denny off of Granny Buttons, he had come from Preston Brook where we had seen the boat a couple of days previous and moored up for the night up in front of us. So having had dinner we paid Andrew a visit for a couple of hours, we enjoyed a pleasant glass of red wine and conversation. It is always nice to catch up with Andrew. So a great day.

Sunday 10th February.

Last night was a heavy frost with a river mist as well, so the morning was amazing. I took Paddy for his walk with my camera to hand for any good shots of this beautiful morning, with the sun coming up.

We walked past Granny Buttons; Andrew would have still been in bed as it was early. I then set off into the park.

There is something very mystical about mist on the water.

It is a photographers dream. I am not a professional but enjoyed taking these photos.

It was breath taking just to be out on a wonderful morning. The rest of the day was spent again doing boat chores and chatting to people including our good friend Andrew from Granny Buttons. Week 3 to follow.

Week One of our time away.

As anyone reading this diary of Hadar knows were were off North for a few weeks until Yard Lock in Stone was open.
This is an account and photographs of our adventures. We were away 3 weeks so I will give you a week at a time, before adding another week in a day or two.
Many thanks for all the messages left for us, it is lovely to know people have been in and read our diary.

Monday 28th January.

The day finally arrived when we would be starting the first day of the rest of our lives aboard Hadar, continuously cruising the waterways of the UK. Neither of us could not wait, as more recently we have had the urge to get moving, but as you all know we have had engine problems and it has taken time to repair being a 1945 engine, you cannot go and buy the parts off of the shelf like with the newer engines in boats today. But as our boat is a working boat based on a boat my husband used to work on, we needed the engine to look the part and now it does. So today I had a visit to the vets with Marmite for her check up after she had been spayed, thankfully all was well, she was given the all clear. So having done a few things, including ringing the BW people to book a passage through the Harecastle Tunnel, we set off at 10.30am heading for Wedgwood bridge. The weather was lovely, there was not a breath of wind and the sun was out for most of the journey. We did not encounter any other boats on the move it was all quiet. We did the Meaford Locks and past through Barlaston, before mooring up at 12.50pm the north side of Wedgwood Bridge. We were greeted by the Canada Geese, who were pairing up ready for breeding. I heated up the homemade Vegetable soup I had made the night before and we had that with chocolate cake for afters. Keith and I then decided to have a walk around the Wedgwood factory.


We last went for a visit some 3 years ago, so it was nice to see that it is all change at the site. They have built a brand new Museum which will be open later on this year. They now also take you by mini bus to the production line at the factory, where you can walk around a set route and see how the china is made. It is truly amazing to see the process and the paintwork that goes into the final product. I spoke to one gentleman who has worked their since leaving school. He was painting Pegasus with a warrior onboard. He was telling me that it takes 50 hours to paint and £12,000 to buy, but it is a limited edition. We both found the place wonderful and will go back again sometime once the new state of the art museum is open. I reckon it is well worth the £8.25 entrance fee.
The day ended with us watching a little TV before having and early night.

Tuesday 29th January.

We had no plans as to what time we would leave our mooring at Wedgewood Bridge, but having woken up early we had breakfast and set off at 9am. I walked Paddy to Trentham Lock so he could do what all doggies do. I then set the lock for our boat. On through Trentham our friends Sheila & Chris were out in their garden as we passed by so we had a quick natter before heading on towards Stoke, we passed by the Britannia Stadium the home of Stoke City Football Club. Although it was a dull morning again there was no wind and it felt very mild. We arrived at Stoke Locks with a cruiser named Pickled Egg following us and a surprise awaited us at the lock as there was a scaffold plank wedged across the lock entrance, so unless Keith had taken a run at the lock there was no way of removing it or breaking it, the only way to remove it was to tie the bow rope around the plank and reverse the boat, this pulled the plank free and allowed us into the lock. As the cruiser was heading the same way we were, I set the locks for him as we exited them, he was on his own so it was the right thing to do. We had a pleasant cruise through the locks up to Etruria and on towards Harecastle Tunnel where we moored up for the night. We are booked to go through the tunnel in the morning. It turned out that we moored up just in time as the rain began to fall.

Here was my rant for the day. The one thing that was evident on our trip today was the amount of rubbish in the canal; some of this rubbish was from a couple of building sites close to the canal. I seriously think that something needs to be done about building contractors who allow their rubbish to pollute the canals. There should be fines in place for such disregard for the environment and wildlife. We came across, large plastic sheets, timber pallets, insulation and much more. It really seriously annoys me that they get away with this, not only that, coming through Stoke there are some warehouses, and they have allowed plastic and wooden pallets to fall into the canal. Surely someone out there should be making sure this does not happen again and that they are made to pull them out of the water. Ok rant over for today.

Wednesday 30th January.

Both Keith and I were awake early but did not get up until 8am; we could hear the rain pounding on the cabin roof, so we knew we were probably in for a wet trip once out of the tunnel. At 8.45am came a “Hello anyone on board” it was the tunnel guy, who had come over to check us in, give us a leaflet on tunnel safety, which we already knew from previous trips through Harecastle Tunnel, but it never hurts to re-educate ones self on the do’s and don’ts. He wanted us ready to go through the tunnel for 9am and was going to set the fans going to blow out the cobwebs, his words not mine. Paddy had a quick walk to relieve himself, whilst Keith did the boat checks, putting on the rear light, headlight and lights inside the boat, before starting the engine. As asked we were at the tunnel entrance for 9am, the rain was now pouring down.

Behind us was the little cruiser Pickled Egg who had followed us the day before. He was asked to go behind us as he had a petrol engine. Keith put in his ear plugs (yes you read right) because we knew that our engine would be very loud through the tunnel. We should have supplied the guy on the cruiser with some hahaha. So off we went, I stayed inside taking photos from the engine room. I was also watching the cruiser who at times was right up our stern. The problem with that was he was getting our wash, constantly he kept hitting the sides of the tunnel, his boat was weaving from side to side, at one point I heard a loud crack as his bike which was on the bow of the boat hit the tunnel wall, maybe next time he will stay further back as told by the tunnel keeper. Keith was more than happy with the way Hadar went through the tunnel, he said “she handled like a dream”. This was more than could be said for the cruiser behind us. As we exited at the North end of the tunnel the sun was out, it was like a different world, we moored up to put the chimneys back on allowing the cruiser to pass. He had an awful lot of damage to his cabin top corners, I could not see if his bike had suffered as well, but it would not have surprised me.

So the tunnel was behind us as we headed for Harding’s Wood Junction onto the Macclesfield Canal,

The cruiser was heading on down the Trent & Mersey canal thankfully. Moored up on its permanent mooring was our old boat Misty Lady, which we had sold last year. Andrew her owner was no where to be seen.

The Macclesfield is such a beautiful canal, lots of fields and trees, plenty of beautiful scenery including a distant view of Mow Cop. It looked as though BW had been busy over the winter as there was a new towpath along the canal; they had certainly made a lovely job of it. Our destination was Congleton to see friends, who live there but also have their own boat Pavo. I only had one lock to do at Hall Green and that is only about a foot deep so it was no hardship, before we cruised onto Congleton. We had our first sighting this year of a Kingfisher.

With no leaves on trees and bushes they are so much easier to see. With their vibrant plumage it was easy to spot. Throughout the journey we only met one other moving boat Willow an Elton Moss boat heading in the other direction, it was so peaceful. There were a few fishermen on the towpath who commented on how wonderful our engine sounded. It is so nice that the thump, thump of this 1945 engine is enjoyed, by others and not just us.

We reached Congleton at 12.50 pm and a mooring at the Wharf, there was no other boat there so we had the place to ourselves. The only noise we could hear once we turned off the engine was someone practicing on their drum kit. They probably got it for Christmas LOL. Whoever was playing the drums was actually pretty good. After some lunch I rang Win and she came and collected us to take us down to Morrison’s to get some provisions, we also had a look around the town, which has quite a few charity shops, our favourite shops LOL. We spent the evening at Ian & Win’s, Win cooked a lovely meal, whilst we caught up on all the news. It really felt quite odd being in a house for any length of time; we are so used to visiting friends on their boats. I know for sure I could not live in a house again, but one should never say never. It was a wonderful evening and we know we will see them on the cut when they take their boat Pavo out during the warmer months

Thursday 31st January.

Omg it was blowing a hooley outside. The forecaster said it would be bad that day and they were not kidding. I was woken up in the early hours by the waves on the canal lapping against the stern of the boat. The rain was lashing down, so I dressed for a wet walk with Paddy. Just as we were about to exit the boat the heavens opened with rain, hale and gusts of wind which would have knocked me off my feet, so we waited for it to blow over. Some 10 minutes later the sun appeared and Paddy and I made our way out of the back cabin. On the back counter the hale stone had piled up against the door, brrrrrrrrrrr it sent a shiver through me. Paddy looked very unhappy with the fact that he would have to walk in all of this, but a dog has to do what a dog has to do, so with a huge leap he jumped off of the stern. Walking in new places is always lovely and even Paddy gets to enjoy new smells. After his 30 minute walk we were back on the boat in the dry and warm, with breakfast ready and waiting for me.
Due to the wind we were not planning on moving, so it was a good time to get some chores done. Keith was busy in the engine room checking pipe work for any leaks and making sure joints were all done up. I on the other hand, made a stewing steak casserole, plus a bread and butter pudding for afters. I then had some washing to do, so we ran the generator for half an hour. It also gave us the chance to charge up our laptops and torch. We have been listening to the local radio and on the news it told of the death of Jeremy Beadle at the age of 59, geesh that sure puts life into perspective. I used to love watching him on his TV programs. They also gave out the weather forecast for tomorrow it is not great, they are forecasting snow yipppppeeeeee. We have already had a heavy snow shower.

I was so looking forward to having some snow on Hadar, for those wintry photographs. I want to get together enough photos for my next poetry book, which will have Hadar in it and on the front cover. But these things take time as I want the photos to be right. So bring on the snow yayyyyyyyyyyy. The washing finished so I had it hanging in the back cabin which was very hot, as I was cooking the casserole in the oven, as for the rest of the washing it was in the engine room, and would dry in a day or two depending on whether we have the engine running or not. Lunchtime consisted of Cheese on toast and a cup of coffee, the remaining bread went to a pair of swans who seem to know if they tap on your window they will get fed.

The cob actually had his head in through my galley window, making noises at me as if to say "feed us, come on, we know you have bread over". They even took the bread out of my hand, so it is fair to say they are used to this sort of thing from other boaters. .

Friday 1st February.

It may have been the beginning of February, but that did not improve the weather prospects. Constantly throughout the night I was woken up by the howling wind. My biggest fear was that if someone cut our ropes or untied us we would be blown into the wharf building on the other side of the canal. Stupid I know but one never knows these days. Anyway we were awake at 7am, so I got up and made us a cup of tea to have back in bed. We sat drinking tea and listening to the wind. It was certain we would not be moving again as the forecast was for strong winds and snow showers. Paddy however needed his walk, so it was waterproofs on and off we wet with the wind in our faces. To my surprise whilst walking back to the boat, I saw in the water a Koi Carp.

It was swimming close to the surface, on its merry way. It had to be at least one and half feet long, and goodness knows how much it would have weighed. It looked well fed hahahaha. Paddy found it very interesting. Back on the boat Keith and I decided that we would take a walk down to Congleton town centre for a change. So we donned our coats and hats for the short walk. As always when we are out it was the charity shops that we were interested in more than anything else. So I was pleased to pick up a white cotton tablecloth with around 4 metres of lace around the edge. Just what I was looking for to go in the back cabin, and at £3.50 it was cheap, as lace can be expensive at times. Keith bought brass cooking utensils and a rack that you hang them on, which is now hung in our galley looking very smart. We went to the Bread and Basil deli for a coffee and hot sausage roll. It is all very relaxing now that we do not have to be anywhere at a certain time, which is how canal life should be. Having been out for a couple of hours we walked back to the boat just as it began sleeting. The wind was definitely picking up so we were glad to be back in the warmth of the back cabin.

Keith had to run the generator for an hour to charge the batteries, and we will not be moving far for the afternoon as it has turned foul and Hadar is being thrown about a bit in the strong wind and hail falling.

Saturday 2nd February.

The forecasters got it right yet again, we had snow overnight, so as I opened the back cabin doors and saw a blanket of white yayyyyyyyy. Hadar has her snow blanket. It looked really beautiful when I left the boat with Paddy for his walk.

Paddy loves the snow. He loves to run around getting his nose covered in the white stuff. He has little thought of what maybe under the snow. When it snows everything always looks clean and fresh and brand new.

We were going to head back this morning as the strong winds had calmed down thankfully. So Keith got the boat ready for an about turn.

The plan was to head back to Harding’s Wood junction and head north down through the Red Bull flight. The canal had ice on it in patches. Hadar bow ploughed through quite happily.

We stopped for lunch at 12.25pm on the aqueduct, before heading to the junction at 1.00pm, where little blighters were waiting on the bridge with snowballs. I was armed with my camera as always. But they thought it funny ducking down on the bridge. We then left them behind as we went down through the first lock, we stopped at the Red Bull sanitary station to empty the loo and get rid of a bag of rubbish, before heading to the next lock, in the distance we could see another boat coming up so I left the gates ready for them. As they approached we could see it was Satellite a small Woolwich, built in 1935, she was then a butty, and these days she has a new top and is no longer a butty. We cruised on watching Mow Cop disappear into the distance. At 2.40pm we decided to call it a day as the wind was getting up. We moored at a designated mooring place just below the Red Bull flight at Church Lawton. I got a few boat chores done we then settled in for the evening. Come 6.30pm the church bells began to ring out, we thought it must be bell ringing practice for tomorrow’s service. The weather forecast was not promising for Sunday.

Sunday 3rd February.

There seems to be no let up in the weather, with yet more strong winds this morning. We decided not to move down through the locks at Church Lawton. Paddy enjoyed a good run in a field alongside the boat; it gave him a chance to stretch his legs.
Back at the boat we had breakfast and then did a few boat jobs. Keith was sorting the thermostat; he ran the engine for a couple of hours to see if he could get it to work properly but to no avail. The engine was running way to hot, so it meant stripping it down again and we will run her cold without the thermostat until we get back to Stone. I on the other hand did some baking, making a lemon cake and some chocolate crunchies. I also managed to make a few cards for birthdays and next Christmas. I love to recycle old cards and bits and bobs, to make brand new homemade cards. After that it was time for lunch and then an afternoon of movies. I was going to take a walk up to Church Lawton Church, but the weather is so cold and foul, I had second thoughts. Later we ran the generator for a while so I could have a shower, whilst I showered we did a bedding wash, the bedding will dry in the engine room. Because we are running the engine cold we have no hot water to hand so I have the kettles on both the back stove and the saloon stove to use for washing up and making drinks. It actually works well because if the kettle is already hot it takes less time to boil on the gas, so that helps us to save gas. I brought some logs in from the hold to burn on the salon stove, although to begin with the wind was blowing so much, it was blowing the smoke back down the chimney and out into the saloon (cough, cough). Burning logs saves on coal, even though we have a hold full, the more we can save the better. Logs are easy to find because when BW cut back trees and bushes they usually leave the logs for boaters to pick up along the way. We have a chain saw and an axe for anything to big.
Our first week out over and it had been fantastic. Stay tuned for week two.