Boatwif

Double jabbed. Booster jabbed. How fortunate we are to be living in times when scientists have developed Covid vaccines and in a health system where vaccinations are administered free and according to priority. So, jabbed as above, off to Cleddau-land went the Cleddau crew, set to enjoy family gatherings (more later) and favourite views (more on that later too). Both the media and the wider population are alert (and sometimes averse) to vaccinations. As the Cleddau crew returned to their...

The weather would be good next week, they said, ‘they’ being the BBC Met experts… A plan was formulated: north from Bedfordshire via Matlock for a chiropractor appointment for the Captain, (an on-going saga) and four full days afloat on the boat. With the promise of good weather in north Cheshire there would be chance to valet the boat before winter, to paint the boat poles – and maybe start the engine to have a little cruise… Oh, the optimism of...

                                      Harecastle Tunnel (South Portal) to Higher Poynton:                                                     25¼ miles, I tunnel, 13 locks, 2 swing bridges ”Best be ready for quarter to 8…” the Harecastle Tunnel Keeper had said on Thursday afternoon. The next morning the...

Cleddau‘s been down the Caldon Canal, (nearly) to the end and back again… The Caldon Canal was opened in 1779, its purpose being to allow limestone transport down from the Peak District to the Potteries and to the Midlands. For her first night on the Caldon Canal Cleddau had moored just below leaky Engine Lock. There had been reports of the water level being shallow along the nearly 5 mile pound between Planet Lock and Engine Lock. Waiting to work...

                                              Higher Poynton (Macc Canal) to Milton (Caldon Canal):                                                35 miles, 16 locks,  3 movable bridges, 1 tunnel Predictability – and unpredictability: these are the dual components of an interesting cruise. There are habits formed...

For many boaters this year’s season has been determined by the level of restriction – both coronavirus restrictions and canal restrictions: breaches, culvert collapses, lock closures, water shortages, landslips… What affected Cleddau? Well, there was the three month saga of the culvert repair in Macclesfield, the landslip at Anderton (channel eventually reopened to one way passage), the water supply affecting lock opening hours at Bosley and staff shortages affecting the operation of the Weaver locks. Elsewhere there’s been a major...

If it weren’t for other matters this final post might be titled: The Tale of Three Bosleys . By mid-afternoon (Saturday 14th August) Cleddau had been moored at Ramsdell Hall Railings. Little did they know it but the company from the other side of the railings provided free open air therapy. Watching and listening to the quiet tugging and munching of grass by the very good-looking young cows was an exercise in  mindfulness, while the glowing sunset that followed provided...

Breakages seem to have been a recurring theme in recent days. Remember that bit in Tales of the Unexpected about the aborted visit to The Lion Salt Museum?   Late on in July the Cleddau crew had “camped out” (moored outside) The Lion Salt Museum at Marston, toured the outside exhibits, paid the entrance fee – and then been banished from the site due to a COVID notification. Safely back up from the Weaver Navigation (Wednesday 11th August) Cleddau continued her...

It was a wet Saturday in Northwich. Mooring at Northwich can be incredibly easy (as on Tuesday morning, 10th August) – or very difficult (as on Saturday 7th August). The lengthy pontoon in front of the new(ish) cinema and retail area at Baron’s Quay could take half a dozen or more narrowboats,    but if it’s full the options are the opposite side of the river, further away from the town centre (though closer to Waitrose) or The Wall. With...

Would it be right or left on the river at the bottom of the Anderton Lift? The owners of Ruby Ann, the little boat also in the descending caisson, planned to go left towards Northwich until talked out of it by the lift keeper. “Lots of traffic on the river up there,” they’d been told. The Cleddau crew had already decided to head downstream first. So Cleddau followed Ruby Ann away from the Lift and both boats turned right. For...