Stafford boat club

What a fabulous place. We were made very welcome and we even had an electric hookup. It didn't cost us a penny to moor here because we belong to the AWCC but at only £8 a night I thought it good value for money.

Loads of fish

Finally I managed to catch more then just a few fish. We had moored at Stafford boat club for a few days because Ian had to go to Nottingham to see the consultant. As I stayed with the boat and looked after the dogs, I took the opportunity to do a days fishing. These are just a few of those I caught. My best fish was a perch. Unfortunately I have no record of it as just as I was about to weigh it with a flick of his tail he jumped out of my net and back into the water. Now I am sure he would have weighed well over 3lb. He filled my landing net and it took me nigh on 15 minutes to get him in. This is not a fishy tale I promise you!!!

Wheaton Aston

As we haven't a picture of this place Ian decided to add this to our collection. Yes its me in my silly hat!

Fallen tree

It was Sunday morning and the predicted storms had arrived. If only we could have sat it out but unfortunately we had to get the boat to Stafford boat club for us to leave it there for a few days before the place shut. I had already mentioned to Ian that I was worried about the trees coming down, when lo and behold we came across this one by bridge 92 on the Staffs and Worcester. As there was no way I would risk our paintwork and push our way through, Ian said he had just the tool for the job and proceeded on making a passage through

As usual Ian carries everything you could possibly want on board (quite where he puts it all is a complete mystery to me and one that I don't even think to ask him), and out came the trustee tree saw and secateurs. While I maneuvered the boat so he could reach the outer most branches,. he cut and sawed till all you could see was bits of branches flying in all directions. After he had finished it was a quick phone call to BW to inform them of the situation.

Us creeping past

Looking back to show Ian's handywork

Not another fallen tree!!!

On leaving Deptmore Lock we came across yet another tree down but this was just a baby compered to the other one. No work was needed for us to pass by so Ian could put his "tools" away again

Kingfisher

Spot the kingfisher. I think every one must gather by now that this is my favourite bird!!

Autumn Mist

The sun was coming up and I thought this to be pretty spectacular.

Looking through the bridge

Fallen branch

On our way to the Autherley junction we spied something across the bridge hole. On closer inspection it turned out to be a blooming great branch. Ian did his bit by removing it from the canal.

Fallen branch

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Tyrley Locks

Is this Health and Safety going to far?

Working on the embankment.

After the breach on Shebdon Embankment BW has started work here by bridge 55 hopefully to avert disaster and stop the Sroppie from closing again!!

Not quite the traditonal look.

Somebody has spent a lot of time and effort on this boat.

Probably the most photographed bridge

Unique bridges on the Shroppie

Autumn on the Shroppie

Perch and Roach

Finally I managed to catch some decent fish This roach weighed in at nearly 2lb and put up quite a fight.

Whereas this roach was 2lb 9oz and came in like a wet lettuce. Shame I couldn't have a good picture of me holding them but Ian was away at the time so I grabbed the camera and made the best of it.

Bunbury staircase

When we reached Bunbury locks two boats had already entered the top lock. We had already seen another pair of boats pass on these staircase locks, and so we entered the bottom lock and when both locks were level one boat came in next to me and the other boat pushed across allowing me to pass and enter the next lock.

This was taken at twilight looking over to Cholmondeston Lock.

Getting ready to fish

Me setting up my rod ready for an afternoon session at Tilston Lock.

Face in a tree

Someone having a joke!

Green Goddess

Do they know something we don't know?

Hitchcocks, The Birds??

On our way back we came agross this lot. They seemed to be eyeing us up. I wondered if our roof and us we be covered in their sh******t.

River Mersey & Manchester Ship canal

The tide was out on the River Mersey, and you can just see the Manchester Ship canal in the foreground.

Manchester Ship canal

The cruise liner being towed by the tugs.

Two tugs on their way to escort a large ship out to sea. We were just to late to see them towing the boat.

Waiting for restoration

The boats were all in a very sorry state and desperately in need of some TLC. Unfortunately funding is a real issue here and the boats will probably rot away before any money can be spent on them.












This is Ethel which is beyond repair. All that is left is the bow and stern. The middle is missing.















Some of the boats have been restored and very well done.

Grass or water?

There are signs up warning the public that green stuff in the locks should not be walked on!!

Ellsmere Museum

We arrived on Friday lunchtime and after a quick look around went to the museum. The prices seemed very reasonable, £8 . 50 each but when we were asked for our money, she only charged us £4.50 each instead. She thought we were pensioners!!! Do we really look over 65???

Arriving at the museum

Northgate Staircase locks

These locks in Chester have paddles on one side only which means they take an age to fill. We arrived in the pouring rain and thought we would have a really miserable time going through them, but luckily the rain stopped and stayed away for the rest of the day.

Venetian Marina

After leaving Milton Keynes we returned to our boat. We had left it at Venetian Marina on the Middlewich arm of the Shropshire Union. We had some time to kill because we were still waiting for the Sroppie to re open after the breach on Shebden enbankment,so we decided to head for Ellesmere Port.

Oscar's birthday party

We had a break from the boat and travelled to Milton Keynes to see Colin and Iwona. They had asked us to look after Oscar while Iwona was away for a week and Colin worked, so two very terrified grandparents took over the running of the house and looking after one very lively toddler. I must it wasn't as daunting as we had thought and realised that like riding a bike, you never forget how to look after them. When Iwona came back and took over the reins we had a well deserved break and watched how it should be done. If I listen to one more verse of In The Night Garden I think I might slit my throat!!! During our stay Oscar had his first birthday party and these are some of the photos I took.





Oscar, Colin, Joshua (Christine's baby) and Iwona

Christine and Joshua

Kevin Me and Joshua

Trevor basin

Keith has gained loads of experience during the 2 weeks away. He turned the boat like a pro and reversed it back brilliantly.

End of the holiday for the Pat and Keith but for us we have to do the Llangollen all over again. Next stop for us is Milton Keynes where our son Colin and Iwona live so we can do the baby sitting, grandparent thing!!!

The pontycillty aqueduct

The final stage and the end of the 2 week holiday. Only 1 more hurdle to get through for Keith and that is to wind the boat round so he can reverse into Anglo Welsh boat yard.

Back to Trevor

Keith negotiating the last lift bridge before the pontycillty aqueduct

Come on Pat, make haste!!!

Misty autumn morning

Breakfast at the lake

Again we had another dry and reasonably warm day and as we had this picnic table on our doorstep, so to speak, we decided to have a breakfast fry up before setting off again.

before and after

After having a great game in the lake,Simba decided that a good roll was just what she needed.
The end result was pretty spectacular as you can see.

Jade and Simba

When we stopped near a lake the dogs went nutty enjoying the water. They are discouraged from swimming in the canal, but any lake or river is fair game to them.

Family visit again!

This is Joshua our latest grandson.

And this is Christine and Kev on a visit to show him off. (personally I think we only had a visit because Kev wanted to go fishing!!!)

Our normal past time.

Nice Perch!

Yes sometimes I do catch fish instead of eels!!!!

head first

Nothing more to say!!!!

Managed it at last

Winding round

We never did get as far as Chester. Time was against us so Keith had his first go of winding the boat round. He got it a bit wrong the first time.

Keith needed to reverse the boat back to get into a mooring space for the night. I jumped on board in case he wanted any help, but as you can see he managed very nicely, thank you very much .

Huge fungi in a cavern

We had walked to Beeston Castle and came across these huge mushroom type fungi. The picture doesn't show just how big it was but I would say it was more desert plate size.

This is interesting

Judy and Jade found this deep hole and just had to find out what was in it.

Our two boats

Simba took to the boating life brilliantly but she would keep jumping of every time they got to near to the bank. Poor old Keith had to continually attempt to maneuver back to pick her up

Keiths first double lock

I took a sequence of pictures because I was hoping to capture Keith making a right mess of it. Proved me wrong!

Simba

This is Pat and Keith's dog Simba. She also just happens to be one of Judy's pups by her second litter. Now you might say "why is she yellow" and the answer to that is because Judy's mum was also yellow . She had been mated with a black dog and consequently had a mixture of black and yellow puppies.

What that over there?

Never did find out what he had seen.

Onward to Chester

Having succesfully decended the Hurlston Flight we headed of in the direction of Chester on the Shroppie. At long last Keith could relax because this canal is so much wider then the Llangollen. He had almost mastered the art of steering although we still had what we call "his senior moments" when he would miss judge the bend and end up half way across the canal! It all added to our enjoyment.

Drinking again

Ian (left) then Keith and Pat We found a really quiet mooring at the marshes. Next morning we decided to go for a walk. The three dogs were loving it until disaster struck when Jade decided to stray from the path and fell into the deepest ditch we have ever seen. It took the combined effort of Ian and myself, both laying flat on our stomachs, to actually crab her collar and heave her out. If she hadn't been wearing her collar goodness knows how we would have managed.

Fishing again

My usual activity as soon as we moored every evening!!!

Wasps nest

I know that everyone has said that this was a bad year for wasps, but I have never seen so many nests on one small stretch of the canal. This one was where we had moored in Wrenbury and when Keith pointed it out to us we moved post haste. In all I counted 8 in a 2 mile stretch.

Ellsmere Festival

September is always the time of the boat festival. This caused Keith to panic big time when he had to pass all these moored boats just as another boat came in the opposite direction. We needed to use the facilities so told Keith to turn right at the junction and wait for us at the first convenient mooring. I must say that after a bit of trepidation this is exactly what he did. Good on him!!!

On holiday with Pat and Keith

We eventually arrived at Trevor to meet Pat and Keith. They were taking our other boat "Merlin" from Anglo Welsh for a fortnights holiday. Merlin had previously been red as you may have seen in early blogs but to keep the hire fleet colours she had been painted green. Anyway after a smashing lunch we left the base at around 3.30pm and headed for Hurleston Junction again. This was the first time Keith had charge of a boat and I think he was quiet apprehensive. Both Ian and myself took turns in helping him get to grips with the steering and before long Keith had got the hang of it.

Kingfisher

I cant believe this kingfisher stayed long enough for us to take these photos. We usually see a flash of blue skimming the water so this was a bonus.

Autunm Canal morning

There is something magical about this time of year. These pictures were taken at 7am when the sun was just coming up and not a breath of wind anywhere.

Blasted eels again

We had finally arrived at Hurleston Junction after 4 days of getting up early and travelling for 8 hours a day. We moored just above the Hurleston flight on the Llangollen and I did my usual of setting my rod up to do a bit of ledgering. As the Llangollen flows all the time I thought this would be the best way of fishing. What I didn't realise is that a static bait at the bottom of the canal attracted eels!!! In fact in all the five years of fishing this canal I had never caught an eel and didn't even think there were any in it. I was very shocked to see this one especially when I thought I had a really good fish on. I must say it put me off a for at least 5 minutes!!!!! It didn't put me of for any longer.

Leaving the Festval

We left on bank holiday Sunday in the afternoon. As we had to make the Llangollen canal by the 9th September an early get away was essential to avoid all the boat traffic leaving the site on Monday and Tueasday. These are just some of the boats along the river bank.

Chain ferry

The big problem of all the boaters that was moored above lock was that they were unable to get to the festival site without having to cross the river. There was a walk which took you across a farmers field full of cows, avoiding all the cow sh****t on the way, negotiating a style which unless you were really agile had no hope of climbing over, over the bridge at Red hill marina, through a car park and up a long lane and eventually to the festival site. Total walk of 1 mile approx and a good 35 minuets duration. The organisers arranged for a chain ferry to run at certain times during the day. That was fine until you wanted to go to the evening entertainment. They stopped running at 8pm. The only way back to our boat after this time was to catch a mini bus that the organisers had laid on. Again fine except the bus only had room for 8 passengers and only made 2 trips. As there must have been over 50 boats above lock I don't think anyone can make the sums add up!!!

Harbour master

One of Ian's jobs was to be harbour master for the E moorings. He had to count the boats in as they arrived and make sure they moored correctly. Unfortunately he also got the brunt of all the moaning when the boaters didn't agree to where they had to be moored.

The workers!!

During Ian and my stay at the festival we were all put to work. Ian on scaffolding and pontoons, and me helping to feed the waterway recovery group by preparing the sandwiches for their lunches. On the photo is Heather and Margaret sitting down, and Joan standing at the table. I must say we worked extremely well together. Joan halved the rolls, Heather buttered them and Margaret and myself filled with ham, tuna, egg, sausage, cheese and baked beans! Yep that's right, baked beans!! Apparently a favorite with the workys.







Chris Bayliss seen by the table, prepared the fillings in the kitchen with the help of Maureen and Val.

The whole gang together. Heather and Margaret sitting down and standing at the back is Maureen, Val, me, Joan and Chris.

Lavender boat

Because there are no facilities on these moorings to empty our cassette toilet, we had the so called Lavender boat visit every day. The rubbish is also collected at the same time. All I can say is the lady emptying our loo must have no sense of smell. and to think she had already been round most of the boats on site doing the same job!!

NB President

To all you working boat boffs, I took this as she came out of Radcliff lock. Most impressive.

On E moorings

After we arrived at the E moorings above Ratcliff lock we decided to make an effort and dress the boat up with my home made bunting. As you can see the bank was quite difficult to get onto especially for our old dog Judy. She needed a "bunk up" every time she wanted to go out.

Rainbow

Leaving our temporary mooring

On the Wednesday before the bank holiday we were told to vacate the pontoon mooring and head off to the mooring above the lock. These pictures show Heather, Dave, and Dennis moving boats to allow us to leave

Before we left for our official moorings, Christine and Kev decided to join us at our BBQ. Luckily between Margaret and myself we managed to feed them. (Although Christine did bring burgers and rolls.) Kev went fishing and introduced me to ledgering. I'm now a big fan!

















Dennis and Christine in some deep and meaning conversation.

Our new Grandson

Christine and Kev came to visit while we were at the festival and brought Joshua for Nanny to cuddle.














Their dog Echo had nowhere to sleep so she decided to use Joshua's crib instead. I took this photo because it looked cute but we told her of after the photo was taken so she wouldn't do it again.

Who is it?

This is Carole going mad with the secateurs. All the foliage along the river had to be trimmed so boaters could get onto the bank. Carole took this to be her mission.

IWA Festival on the River Soar

We finally made the journey back to Redhill Marina and moored as near to the site as possible. Our actual moorings during the festival are above Radcliffe lock, but from that mooring we would have had to walk nearly a mile As the chain ferry wouldn't be running until the festival started, it was decided that we would take the first available space and stay there until we were told to move.


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This is the Erewash work party fixing scaffolding to stop the poontoons from moving onto the bank in case the river flooded

BW at Derwent Lock

While we were moored back at Shardlow again we were informed by a BW worker that the lock had been damaged by a boater. He had not realised that his bow had slid under the rails and when the lock was filling it took the gate up with it and lifted the gate out of the cup. Consequently the next boat to use the lock found they couldn't shut the gate. BW was phoned and give them their due, they come out immediately and sent there crane boat up from Sawley to sort the problem out. Well they tried and tried and couldn't quite get the two gates to marry up. This meant that no matter what they did the leakage through the gate was pretty bad. After 5 hours they decided to get at least some of the boats through, which went pretty smoothly considering the amount of water coming in from the top gate when they emptied the lock.

This is a series of pictures showing the process.

carp

While we were on our travels I spied this unusual fish pond in a back garden. I thought that putting a window in to view the fish was a brilliant idea.

I have taken this shot to prove to all who know Margaret that she does occasionally take the tiller.

Damaged Bridge Trent and Mersey

Last year a tractor went through the bridge here. BW has had to put a temporary bridge across because the land owner still hasn't fixed the bridge.

Willington

We arrived at Willington on Friday afternoon and did what we always did best, relaxed. Ian tried to repair our chimney only to find the inner lining had perished. Looks like more expense to purchase a new one!













Looking back along the Trent and Mersey at Willington

Stenson

Jade hoping for scraps from Dennis and Margaret.

On leaving Shardlow we picked up a boat in front of us that couldn't or wouldn't go faster then crawling pace. The journey to Stenson took us 6 hours. Unfortunately we were unable to get passed them so to pass the time I got my spinning rod out and did a bit of trawling.

Trent and Mersey Aston Lock

Margaret and Ian

Setting the lock for us and Ian being an idiot at the same time. We had finally left Shardlow and was heading for Stenson to have a meal at the Bubble Inn. When we got there it was closed until the 31st August. Sooooo :- we had another BBQ instead.

Garden Party

John and Shelia have a unique feature in there garden. A small steam train and tram running around the parameters of their property and onto the neighbours ground as well. We all had a fabulous time riding round and round and the wine and beer made it all the more memorable.

River Trent

Our moorings opposite John and Sheila.

We finally left Langley Mill on Wednesday 5th August. After stopping one night at Sandiacre we headed for Trent Lock to see if the river levels had returned to normal after the rain during that week. They hadn't!! In fact the river was still rising so we stayed where we were Thursday . On Friday all looked promasing as the levels were just into the amber so we decided to go for it and head up to Sawley. Although the river was running fast, we had no problems getting into Sawley lock and moored up by the marina. Saturday morning we headed off to Shardlow where we were due to meet John and Shelia Cook for a garden party. When we got through Shardlow stop lock we were informed that there was no moorings to be had anywhere so we had to make do with a mooring full of stingers and foledge and planks to get the dogs on and off.

Snow at Langley Mill

The Great Northern Basin and start of the disused Nottingham Canal.

We are on the bank side next to the working boat "BATH"

When I finished my last blog, it was still November. Since then Ian found out he was to be under the NHS for the foreseeable future and all our plans went haywire. Now this put us into an awful position of where do we moor that's near to Nottingham City Hospital. Our own mooring at our bungalow was out of the question as we had let the property and there were no facilities available for us to use. (We couldn't really ask our tenants to let us empty our cassette into their loo!!) Luckily we belonged to the ECPDA society and they found a space for us at Langley Mill.
We arrived on a very cold day at the end of January and to our delight woke up to this scene the next day. We were moored on the inside of a traditional working boat "Bath". As there was no water or electric on this side of the basin, we ended up having to run the electric cable over our boats and onto the other side. You can just see the cable in the picture. When we wanted water we attached the hose to rope (which was attached to our cratch board) and pulled it across the basin. Luckily the water in the hose or taps never froze, and although it was a bit cumbersome, we managed very well.

Swans breaking the ice at Anchor Bridge on the Erewash canal

The dogs, Jade and Judy, enjoying the snow.

Summer moorings at The Great Northern Basin, Langley Mill

Most of the perminant moorers were out on there summer trips. The ECPDA (Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association) said we could move across onto the pontoon where we had water and electric readily available. We are due to leave this mooring on the 5th August and head of to an open day at Shardlow with other boaters, and then onto the IWA festival at Redhill on the River Soar to help at the site. I will carry on my blog when we leave Langley Mill with Dennis and Margaret on their boat Icing.

BBC Inside Out arrive

Looking at my perch.

Ray the presenter coming over for a chat.

While I was fishing below Shipley Lock on the Erewash, a film crew arrived to film and speak to Anglers along the canal. After asking if I would give them an interview, I was duly "microphoned up" and asked some questions on fishing and then asked if I had caught anything. Luckily I had just caught a really small perch and the only fish I had in the net! Ray Gosling the presenter, then held the fish and went all girlie on me and let out a high pitched scream when the fish flapped about. He claimed it had "bitten" him. The producer Tony then asked if we could do another take and so we had to do the whole thing again including Rays scream! All in all we must have done four or five takes until Tony was happy with the result.

Back to our mooring

And so here we are back home. This will be my last blog until we set sail again in January. To all who have followed our adventures we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and we look forward to continuing our epic journey next year.

River Trent in flood

As we made our way back to our home in Sandiacre we knew we had to travel part of the way along the river Trent. On the Sunday we arrived at Derwent Lock to enter the River and noticed it was up slightly. By this time it had been raining for ages and I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't make Trent lock before the flood gates went on. We got to Sawley and to say we were drenched is an understatement. Ian wanted to stop at Sawley overnight but I had this feeling that the river was going to rise rapidly and persuaded him to continue along the last mile and get to the Erewash Canal that night. When we entered the river we were swept along by the fast current and did the mile in record time. We turned the boat against the flow to enter the canal when Ian noticed that the lock landing which had steps going up to the bank, was already underwater. This meant I would have to somehow get him off the boat before entering the canal and while we were still on the river. I managed to get near enough to the bank for Ian to jump of with the windlass and then with a final push of the throttle sailed the boat into the lock.
After we had moored and got dried of, we made our way back to the river to see if it had come up any more. These pictures show the lock and just how much water was flowing when we got there.
We stayed at Trent lock on the Monday and set of for our moorings on Tuesday morning. I still cant believe how quickly these 6 months have gone but now we look forward to spending Christmas with the family and most of all our new grandson Oscar.
t

Damaged bridge

While we were on our travels we heard of a stoppage on the Trent and Mersey. Looking on BW's web site we found out that a tractor had gone through a bridge. This is the bridge!!! The tractor luckily had been removed from the canal and as far as we know no one was hurt.

River Trent at Alrewas

We entered the River Trent at Alrewas and even after all the rain we had had, the river levels were normal. There is a story attached to this part of the river. On the journey out last year Ian pushed the boat of to enter the lock and unfortunately he somehow put his foot on one of the side fenders which was up on the gunwhale and promptly fell in!!! The boat was heading toward the weir and Ian was in the water. I panicked and rushed down from the lock to see if I could do anything. Of course there was nothing I could do but luckily Ian managed to climb back onto the boat and stopped it from going over the weir. He was very pleased to find his glasses were still on his head but his hat was bobbing along in the current and heading for the weir. Somehow I managed to retrieve his hat so all in all nothing was lost!! only Ian's pride!!!

Hay stack?

I assumed this was supposed to represent some sort of sculpture but I just cant see what it is!!

Fradley Trent and Mersey

Top lock at Fradley.The wind was blowing hard and the thought of negotiating through these boats made my apprehensive to say the least. \Luckily there was a lull in the wind ferocity so I managed to get into the next lock without hitting any of the other boats.

Colours of the cut

The changing season brings some spectacular colours. I thought this view said it all

Tixall Lock at Tixall

Today is November 5th. As both Judy and Jade hate fireworks and are reduced to quaking quivering wrecks we decided to moor as far away from civilization that we can. Lets hope its far enough!!

Tixall Wide

While we were moored at Tixall Lock we decided to take a walk into Great Haywood for some provisions and more important my fishing bait. Ian said "its not far" Nearly 2 miles later we eventually reached our destination. This is Judy dragging her heels on the way back no doubt wishing we had left her at the boat.

Heron

Big Chub

I caught this chub on Monday afternoon. It was the only fish I caught and I had to ask Ian to help me land it. My landing net is a good eighteen inches across and the fish only just fitted. I estimate the weight at about 5lb.

Shropshire union canal

After leaving the Llangollen canal we turned right and headed up the Shropshire union. Most of this canal is dead straight and quite boring but there were a few interesting bits namely Tyrely Locks which we had to negotiate through very narrow cuttings. We had to find really rural moorings because as it was the first weekend of guy Fawkes the dogs being terrified of fireworks would have probably hyper ventilated and had panic attacks!

October snow on the Llangollen

We had sailed through wind hail and rain and then the snow arrived! It was freezing and I for one was very glad to get moored up.

My Kingfisher

I was ecstatic when this kingfisher landed just a few yards from the front of the boat. I hoped that it would stay put and eased the throttle back to slow done while struggling to find my camera which was conveniently at the back of the boat. Ian had been below and came up to see why I had slowed down. It was a good job he did because he managed to divert disaster which had been about to happen when the boat headed for the bank. I was to intent on capturing the picture of my kingfisher to see what was happening!

Adrift

One of the so called "Dosser" boats adrift on the Llangollen. Needless to say we didn't bother to bring it back to its mooring because we object strongly to these licence evaders. They seem to think they can use all the facilities that BW provide for nothing.

our two boats

We bought Merlin in 2004 as a sponsor boat to go into the hire fleet of Anglo Welsh waterways holidays. The boat was designed to our spec with only a few criteria from Anglo Welsh because it was going to be in the hire fleet for at least 5 years. After this time we could take her back or leave her in the fleet. We find she is very useful for letting our family take her out and giving them a cheap holiday. When Christine and Kev decided to take her out we arranged to meet them on Free Spirit and join them on their holiday.

crossing the aquaduct

We met Christine and Kev at Anglo Welsh boat yard at Trevor in Wales so they could take our other boat Merlin for a week. Also joining us for the weekend was Kevins dad big Kev and his mum Gunda.

Pontcysyllte Aquaduct

crossing the Pontcysyllte aguaduct

To get our two boats together was really difficult. In front was a day boat and being cheeky I asked if I could jump across their boat to get to the other side. Luckily they agreed I managed to get a few photos

View from the aquaduct

Heading toward Chirk aquaduct

big Kev had a go at the tiller. Little Kev was at hand to make sure he didn't crash into the bridge!!!

I












In the distance is the first tunnel. As there was a boat already in the tunnel heading towards us we held the boat until it was clear for us to go through.















We also got held up at Chirk Aquaduct

On Chirk Aquaduct

I had wondered if big Kev was doing his Kate Winslet impression, but then I realised he was pretending to be Merlins figurehead instead.

Kevin looking really smug

Gunda, big Kev and little Kev

Gunda and big Kev

Gunda, little Kev and big Kev. (gets a bit confusing does'nt it!)















Gunda





















Big Kev

Chimney pots

After crossing the Aquaduct we left Wales and entered into Britain again. Only on seeing these chimney pots did we realise just how high the canal is.

Which way did I need to move the tiller?

Gunda took over the steering. I wanted to get a picture of this as she really wasn't sure about taking control of the boat. On board both boats we had walkie talkies and I radioed for Gunda to turn around and give me a wave. unfortunately in doing so she pushed the tiller in completely the wrong direction and consequently nearly hit the opposite bank. Christine came to her rescue in the nick of time.

Chris and Kev on Merlin

Our doggie guests

Echo and Cain (Staffy ) joined us. Cain had a very fetching life jacket on. On enquiring why he had to wear it we were told he couldnt swim. Now as far as Im aware all dogs can swim, but when big Kev and Gunda took him to the Broads they thought htat it was high time he did more then have a paddle and consequently gave him a gentle nudge in slightly deeper water then he had been used to and sank!!!! When they realised he wasnt coming up big Kev panicked and luckily managed to grab hold of him and bring him to the surface.

Montgomery Canal

There are two staircase locks leading from the Llangollen canal to the Montgomery. Big Kev and Gunda had never seen this kind of locks before so we decided to have a stop and show them. On the side of the canal was a basket full of apples. No one appeared to be around so I helped myself to a few and made a lovely apple crumble that night!!

Lift bridges

Christine took the dogs off for a run but then realised that they would have to get back on at the lift bridge. Kev did a good job of positioning the boat so the dogs could jump back on.

Lowering the bridge

Yet another lift bridge

The three woofits

From left to right, Judy, Echo and Jade.

By the lake

Autumn had definatly arrived. By morning both boats were covered with leaves. As we had had rain during the night it was extremly difficult to scrape the leaves from the roofs.

Turning the boat.

After several failed attempts Christine finally managed to wind the boat around. I don't think it helped with me shouting instructions at her. More of a hindrance I say!!

Washing the boat

Here I am with Ian doing our daily chores. I have a rather trendy pinny on dont you think?

Lovely Autumn morning

We moored at the junction of the Llangollen and Montgomery again on the way back to Trevor. Kev and I fished intensely again and even I only caught one small Perch!. Very disappointing.

Keep trying Kev

I don't think I have ever known anyone to try his hand at pike fishing and failing miserable. For the whole week we were away he never had so much as a nibble!!!!

Colin and Echo

This is how Colin was dressed before he decided to have a dip in the canal.

What a muppet

Colin and Iwona came to visit us on Merlin with our first Grandson Oscar. This picture was taken of Colin after having fallen in the canal whilst pushing the boat of the bank. As he had no other clothes with him he had to change into a pair of Ian's tracksuit bottoms. As you can see hes quite a large lad and consequently they were a bit small to say the least.

Oscar and Colin

Proud Grandparents

Oscar was born on October 3rd 2008. This is the first time we had seen him and we were delighted to hold him for the first time. I know all parents and grandparents are bias to there own offspring, but I can truly say he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.
Iwona and Oscar

Trip to Llangollen

Colin still in his rather fetching outfit catching the sun rays to try and dry out a little.

Oscar

Iwona and Oscar at their home in London

Colin looking ever the proud dad





















Bath time


















and play time

Chirk Tunnel

Chirk aquaduct

Lovely views from the aquaduct.

Our sick boat

At Whitchurch lift bridge our engine started making peculiar noises. On closer inspection Ian discovered our fan belt had split. As usual Ian carries spares of everything and duly came up with a new belt. What he hadn't realised is that he was sold the wrong one and this one didn't fit!!! Of he went into Whitchurch armed with engine number and came back clutching a new belt. Guess what. This one didn't fit either!!!!! Soooo Ian being Ian decided he would modify the linkage to make it fit, and you've guessed it, it did.

Grindley Brook

At Grindley Brook we found a garage next to the lock selling diesel at 58p a litre. Ian then got his 20 litre jerry can out and filled our tank with trips to and fro to the garage to save us a few pence further up! After about a hour of this we decided that enough was enough and although our tank wasn't full we would see if we could find a marina that was selling diesel as cheap but with less strain on the back.
Staircase locks.

Red sky in morning

Spectacular sky. Is it shepherds warning?

Wrenbury

Lift bridge at Wrenbury is motorised and Ian had to stop the traffic to allow us to go through. I'm sure it gives Ian immense pleasure to stop the rush hour traffic for us to slowly meander through.

At the hotel Cairndale

Our Ireland adventure had begun. We were officially on Shelia's Gadabout tour, We met the coach at 9.30am at the Ramada Jarvis on junction 25 of the M1. This is some of us at the first hotel in Scotland before we left for North Ireland.

Who's the poser's

Don't we make a handsome couple. ( Okay were only joking )

On the ferry

We left Stranrar and caught the 11 am ferry for Ireland. As it was a high speed ferry the journey across only took us an hour and a half.

Waiting for our guide at the Causeway

Dennis just had to get in the picture again!!

Giants Causeway

This was one of our excursion while in North Ireland. The weather was glorious and the walk to the stones was brilliant.



Photo Shoot with some of the "Gadabouts"

Onwards and Upwards

After the walk to the Causeway some of our party decided to climb the 162 steps to the top to admire the views. Are we mad or what!!!!

Views

The views from the top were fantastic. Well worth the climb to the top.

Shanklin Road

While we were in Belfast we took an open bus tour down the Shanklin Road. The paintings on the side of the houses depicted the feelings during the Northern Ireland conflict.

By the canal at Enniskillen

Enjoying a picnic with Margaret,Dennis, Carole, Mick and Ian

Ramada Jarvis Hotel Helipad

Wheres my chopper gone?

Ramada Jarvis Hotel

This was a fabulous hotel. We spent two nights here. Food great, rooms great and hot tub fabulous as you can see by the enjoyment of some of the "Gadabouts".

Donegal Castle

L

Lord of the Castle

Dissused Locks at Parkwest

While we were waiting to board our coach to take us to the Port we walked to these locks on the Grand Canal.

waiting for the ferry at Dunloghaire

Just made it

. We had all had breakfast and had put our bags on the coach in readiness for catching our ferry back to Holyhead when Shelia informed us that Carole and Mick couldn't get back into there room to fetch the last of there luggage. Apparently the lock wasn't reading the key card so the manager was called and after a lot of head scratching decided that they would have to send for the assistant manager who had the master card that would bypass the locking mechanism. As time was tight the decision was made for thew rest of the coach party to proceed to the ferry port without Carole and Mick and hope that the assistant manager would get them into the room and then to the ferry in time. When the coach reached Dublin Port we were informed that without the two missing passengers we wouldn't be allowed to board the ship. These picture are of Carole and Mick arriving with minutes to spare. They did manage to get into the room but only after destroying the room door!!!

Canal Morning

To Ian and me this represents what canal mornings are all about. This was taken at 6.40 am and I still maintain that you cant get better then this. We will leave our boat at Wheelton today for tomorrow we head home and get ready for our trip to Ireland. Hopefully when we return from Ireland we will at last be grandparents. Colin and Iwona's baby is due on the 21st but I have asked them to hold on until we get back from our trip. Here's hoping hes late!!!!

B W across the cut.

As we rounded a corner we suddenly came upon a B W butty right in our path. After a mild panic and a quick reverse we stopped up against one of those "dosser" boats. On enquiring what was going on I was informed that B W were retrieving their grabber bucket which was in the canal. I laughed and said how typical of them to drop the bucket over side, only to be told that last night thieves had detached the bucket from the grabber and placed all one ton of it on a wheelbarrow hoping to wheel it away. The chap in the dosser boat had found the barrow on the towpath and phoned B W to find out what he should do. B W's reply was "chuck the bucket in the canal. That will stop the buggers from making off with it!!"

Top dog

Jade looking down at me in the lock.

Foulridge Tunnel

We arrived at the tunnel entrance at 7.45 am. Waiting to go through was another boat called Marbeck Phoenix. As the lights were on red we had to wait a further 15 minutes for them to change to green before we were allowed to proceed. Dead on 8 am the lights changed and we donned our water proofs, switched on all the cabin lights as well as headlight and nav lights and entered the tunnel. Yes it was wet but very easy to navigate through and we made the whole length in 15 mins.

Very wide beam!

Just as I was settling down to an afternoon of fishing, Cloudy Bay turned up. I'm surprised that it could even get under the bridges. Definably larger then anything I have seen on the canals that's for sure. I should point out that he did assemble the wheel house after he had moored up.

Bingley 5 rise again

Us on our own and waiting at the bottom of the flight

Whats this??

is this a goldfish or a roach? I think its a new species which I have called a groach!! If anyone can tell me what it is please do!

Leeds derelict buildings

Even the vandals would probably leave this one alone.

That's it, we are no longer on the BIFs cruise. Not how we wanted it to end but none of us expected the weather to be against us. We've had the most wonderful few months enjoying the company of Dennis and Margaret and Dave and Heather and not forgetting Oliver. We've had some great adventures together so role on next year when we all meet again to go up to Chesterfield for their IWA festival.

River Lock

Dennis and Margaret walked up to the first two locks to help us on the way.

Farewell Clarence Dock

Leaving the dock after the gates had finally opened.

Locked in

We had been marooned at Clarence dock for 6 days when finally the River Aire came down to normal river levels. BW opened the gates on Wednesday morning to allow us boaters to leave. We had a bit of a problem though for on the previous Sunday morning little Oliver was taken ill. He had chronic sickness and diarrhoea and at eighteen he certainly couldn't afford to be off colour. Dave was very worried and decided to go home for a few days so that his own vet could look after him. The vet wasn't sure what had caused the problem but thought he might have a virus. When the boat got soaked and all the carpets got wet it was quite possible that Olly may have picked up something from the canal water. Dave phoned us the next day to say that Olly would have to be put on a drip because he had become very dehydrate, therfore he wouldn't be returning to the boat until the Friday. Now this caused us somewhat of a dilemma. We had planned to be back on the Erewash Canal and to our moorings on the 11th or 12th of September because both Dennis and Margaret and ourselves were due to go to Ireland with the E C P & D A ( Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association ) on one of Shelia's "gadabouts" on the 21st. Dave had also mentioned that as we had been due to return via the tidal Trent to Nottingham, the tides were now all wrong and there was no hope of us getting back in time. So..... we decided that the best thing for Ian and myself was to return the way we came and head for Wheelton were we had arranged to leave the boat for 10 days. Hopefully our first grandchild will also be born during this time. As we were also due to go onto the Llangollen in early October this was the only sensible thing for us to do. This would take us about 6 days so with a heavy heart we said farewell to Dennis and Margaret on the Thursday morning. We didn't see Dave or Heather as they wouldn't be returning until a day later. Both Dave and Dennis would continue on there journey down the River and hopefully leave their boats at Heck just outside Goole. They would then return after the Ireland trip and take their boats back to there moorings at Langley Mill.

Clarence Dock

After the drama of the last view locks, getting onto the river and then into the docks was very welcome. We were very impressed with the docks. Every thing looked new and very clean. The docks had been developed between 2000 and 2007 and very well thought out. We had electric and taps on every berth and we were all looking forward to spending a couple of days here.
We arrived on Wednesday 3rd in torrential rain. Dave lit his fire to try and dry out the carpets that had been soaked earlier by the locks and then we all disappeared to the pub. The rain carried on all night and we were a bit concerned about the river Aire rising. Thursday dawned grey but dry so we all went to the outdoor market in the morning. By the afternoon the rain came again and this time it rained persistently for the rest of the day and into the night. Sure enough when we woke the next morning BW had closed the flood gates and we were well and truly marooned in the basin. This now is to be our home until the river goes down. Goodness knows when that will be!!!!

Fishmans tale

While in the dock I decided to go fishing again. I found a tackle shop in Leeds and stocked up with bait . I really didn't expect to catch much but to my delight the fish here are all a good size. This chub was over 2lbs and the perch weighed in at nearly a pound. There has been reports of very large carp and Ian said he has seen them, so I'd better get the sweetcorn out and do some serious fishing.

The moorings where I caught my fish.

What a life

Isnt it wonderful not to have a care in the world. Judy at what she does best.

Balls!!!!!!

On the corners of the pedestrian walkways we found these balls. I loved the reflections and just had to take a photo. We're not sure why they are here but we found them amusing.

Armouries museum

On Thursday we visited this museum. It was about 100yds from where we were moored. The theme was mainly about weapons through the ages which I didn't really find interesting but these exhibits were brilliant.

Before the floods

This was the calm before the storm. When the rain came boy did it rain!!! This is the river lock which we had hoped to negotiate on Friday. The weir seemed quite tame at this point but when the river rose you could hardly see where weir begun and river ended!

Flood gate into the dock. We woke on Friday morning to find we were well and truly "locked in"

Floods

The river Aire rose very quickly and by Friday evening had reached the towpath and was weiring over the river lock. I was very thankful that we were safely in the dock
The towpath!!! Jade was a bit bemused but being a typical Labrador decided that it was just to good to be true and tried to go for a swim. The water was up to her chest but that didn't deter her one little bit. Note the swan in the distance.

Small leak at Forge lock

Some of the locks on the Leeds and Liverpool canal are diabolical. This picture was taken at Forge staircase lock after we had descended to cill level. As you can see the leakage was horrendous and both Dennis, who was in the lock with "Icing" and myself knew that we were in for a soaking. I didn't realise just how much though until I had to reverse back to allow the gate to be opened so I could exit the chamber. There was nothing that I could do except try to shut the back doors quick. Unfortunately the force of the water was so great that it came in under the doors and into the engine compartment. Both Judy and Jade had their beds here as they liked to lay where it was warm and also to keep an eye on us. The surprise they must have had when the water came pouring in must have been priceless, but all I was concerned with was grabbing the camera to record it so we could send a report into British Waterways show our disgust at the state of there locks. What happened to all the maintenance they were supposed to be doing?