Monthly Archive: August 2012

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Heads on The Cloud

Dane Aqueduct to Bidulph Valley Aqueduct (3.37 miles canal cruising, 4 miles walking) Have you noticed how a glimmer of an idea gradually grows to become a wish and then a hope and then a compulsion? It’s probably ten years since eyes were first clapped on a particular hill as travels were made between Macclesfield Daughter and the Bedfordshire home base. Then in 2008 Cleddau first came this way, on an April move from the K&A moorings to Lyme View...

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Busy at Bosley (and 2 picture puzzles)

Lyme Green to Bosley Bottom: 4.29 miles, 12 locks             It took a couple of hours to trundle along to the Bosley Locks this morning. There were to have been two points of action en route, the two swing bridges. At the first, no action, the Broadhurst Swing Bridge had been left open for boats. The second one, at Oakgrove, by the Fool’s Nook pub, is usually an interesting location. There will never be as much road traffic...

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As never seen before

Higher Poynton – Lyme Green, 9.6 miles You know how it is – you live in a neighbourhood or you travel a particular route very regularly and your antennae twitch when you realise that you’re seeing something a bit different, whether it’s a road diversion or a property for sale or a change in some way. It was after midday when Cleddau really got under way, after a wait at the water tap for another boat and then another long...

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To the plague village

Saturday, 18th August       Jaq (American friend now living on a narrow boat) had expressed a long-held wish to visit Eyam. This is the village in the Derbyshire hills noted for its courage during the virulent plague that swept the country in 1665 and 1666. Of course, you cannot always get to where you want to by boat… and so a plan was hatched. Since the Cleddau crew had a car parked nearby why not make a road trip?...

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Against the odds

New Mills to Higher Poynton: 8 miles, 1 swing and 2 lift bridges “Shall we stay here then?” asked the Captain this morning. He’d been gazing at weather forecasts and met sites on the computer. “There’s a 98% probability of heavy rain today,” was his solemn pronouncement.  Should the Cleddau crew surrender, incarcerate themselves all day inside the boat on the canal above New Mills, seek out crosswords and cross-stitch and Trivial Pursuit and quiet games to keep themselves entertained…?...

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Missions accomplished

Bugsworth to New Mills: 2.31 miles, 1 swing bridge             It has been a day when no rain has appeared – yet! After two nights tucked up in Bugsworth Basin it was time to move on, but to where? How far? While the Captain waited to access the water tap this morning the Edale Activity Centre team reappeared. Soon a raft of canoes was stretching across the Middle Basin and a crowd of youngsters were taking land-based instruction in the...

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Not playing the game…

Moored at Bugsworth Basin In a previous “life” Boatwif used to run a weekly Drama Club. It was never the intention to produce West End stars, Hollywood babes or would-be celebrities (although there was one past student who did gain an Equity Card before reinventing himself as a CDT teacher).  Drama Club was about developing self-confidence, becoming a reliable team member, being imaginative, developing ideas, learning to respond on cue, participating in productions. At the start of each Drama Club...

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Just Perfick

Tuesday 14th August, 2012 What a glorious morning to take a short cruise of about two hours duration along this stunning canal, the eyes always drawn east into the Peak District … Ducks dozed on the canal bank, young Canada geese embarked on swimming practice, a heron perched and gazed into the deep, piglets snoozed in their enclosure beside the towpath, a young horse was walked roadside at Whaley Bridge. By 10am nb Valerie had headed back to Marple, intending...

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Sharing waters

12th and 13th August 2012 When setting off on a Cleddau cruise it is usual for there to be a detailed plan: Canal Planner  AC and Excel will have been deployed, ultimate destination, canal and river routes, overnight mooring places, sights to be seen and visitors expected will all have been taken into account, a daily itinerary subsequently produced. The resulting plan becomes a psychological prop (“we know what we’re doing”) but also a choke-chain (“Why are we starting up...

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A flower bedecked boat…

Saturday 4th August, 2012 “You’ve got to photograph it – you know you collect weddings!” called Relief First Mate. She knows how, apart from attending wedding ceremonies as an invited guest, Boatwif has, over the years, come across weddings in unexpected places. There was the wedding party marching around the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria; there was the Canadian bride and her gang of bridesmaids pouring out of a vintage car outside an imposing church in...