Up and Down and around the way

Saturday 17^th November to Sunday 18^th November 2012

2 Miles, 5 Locks for this period

Totals: 1431 Miles, 1160 Locks, 46 Tunnels, 24 Lift Bridges, 96 Swing Bridges

With the car packed and the lodge checked to ensure that we didn’t leave anything behind we dropped the keys back at reception and we were off back to Stone.

As has been our case for a while now we decided against the fastest route i.e. the motorways and instead favoured the less well-travelled A roads to lead us home.

We realise it is a bit slower, but it does allow you to see so much more of the countryside and enjoy the scenery without it flashing past before there has been any chance of recognition of its beauty.

There has always been something about driving a long distance on a Saturday morning and more so when it is colder outside and the roads are a little less cluttered – of course it needs to be before everyone else is up and racing off to do their Saturday morning shop.

For us we simply had to leave around 8:30am and all was fine – a bit of a slight fog (nothing of any concern), a touch of the cold and virtually no traffic.

Driving along roads that are not perfectly straight and aligned to within a millionth of a decimal place of a degree of latitude or longitude gives you a chance to feel the road and move with the car – provided of course that it doesn’t wind too much to cause the navigator to throw up – we were in luck.

We stopped along the way when we wanted – for morning tea and the related rest stops that go with the intake of liquids and although about an hour longer, it was without any stress and without being quite so tired as dealing with the constant speed of the motorways.

This of course leads me to wondering why, in cars registered to be driven on British roads, that it is a requirement to have

a.       a left hand indicator – so many cars don’t seem to have them working (only the right hand ones work) – whether it be turning a corner; changing lanes; wishing to pull over to park – none of them work

b.      speedometer – my understanding of the motorway speed limit is that it is 70 mph and on A roads it is 60 mph – the cars that were passing by us didn’t seem to have their’s working – surely they would have realised that the 40 mph limit was just that and not the 60 mph limit outside the village limits. The same on the motorways – cars in the outside lane hurtle past at 90+ mph – I can’t understand why there is any defined speed limit it seems to just be ignored.

Of course the odometer is important – so that people will know for what distance they have travelled without being anywhere near the correct speed.

We arrived back at the boat just after lunch and unloaded the car back to a very cold boat.

Rob had been in contact with during the week as there had been a couple of problems with the servicing of the Mykuni heater which we had asked to be done – one of the parts needed for the servicing was not immediately available so we knew that the boat would be cold but you are never fully prepared for it.

We had thought about what we might do but not knowing at what time we would actually arrive back we made no definite plans.

Friends Elly and Mick on nb Parisien Star had arrived in Stone the previous day so we thought that we would move down a few locks and moor with them.

It can be a funny world sometimes and Elly messaged Diane that they had decided to move to the marina as their Eberspacher was on the blink and they too had no heating on board.

Decision made, we would follow suit and head to the marina – problem was that after settling the account with Rob and chatting with him and booking the next blacking (never too early to plan for the next one) it was now 3 o’clock and there were 2 miles and 5 locks to negotiate and a fading light.

There was also the matter of moving the car back to the marina, so we started the first lock at 3:15pm and exited the last of the four locks through Stone about 4:15pm – care being taken with a newly blackened boat – but under the expert control of “she who must be obeyed”.

That part done I relayed the car back to the marina and headed on foot to Aston Lock – a quick phone to check on her progress, to be greeted with the words “the boat has died” – I was able to garner from her that the engine had stopped and she was pulling over to the side by bridge 92 – so no choice but to hoof it off to there and see what the problem was.

Diane had expertly guided the boat in and was waiting – she explained that the engine just died and a check of that confirmed it – it sounded like a fuel problem but with, by now, almost no daylight left we did two things – rang Rob Paramore to explain the situation and see if we could get the engineer who had serviced the boat to visit the next morning (Sunday) and secondly to pull her back through the bridge hole to be able to moor up even close to the edge.

Rob had made the arrangements and Chris (the engineer) rang and we spoke about the problem – he would be with us in the morning – we were very glad to have these two available and able to help.

Our immediate problem was being able to keep warm enough for the night which was predicted (and starting to feel like it) to fall as low at freezing and maybe a bit further.

We survived the night; boat temperature inside was down to about 2C; fortunately we had enough in the batteries that we could still do all of the important things the night before (a.k.a. being able to watch Strictly Come Dancing) – my desire to see Match of the Day was delayed until Sunday morning in case there was not enough battery power left.

not for sitting on just yet - unless you want to get frozen to it

the mist off the water

freezing but not frozen in

ice on the roof - when the snow arives the ski jump will be
installed

it's a winter wonderland - only colour (almost) is white

Chris arrived and starting working on narrowing down the problem and not long after a couple of stragglers along the towpath stopped to have a chat and in need of a hot drink – I, of course, refer to Elly and Mick who walked up from the marina (you need to read of their adventurous night with power and then lack of it and wrestling with a stubborn power card).

It took probably about ¾ hour for Chris to fully find the problem – a blockage in the fuel line close to the fuel filter – we had originally thought it might have been water in the line (no pre-filter in place).

Now having a clear fuel supply the engine kicked in immediately- we made the necessary arrangements with Chris to return this week to install a pre-filter and the we were off.

Back into the marina; then did a pump out and fuel top-up and moored back in place.

Lunchtime had arrived and beckoned us to seek out another Sunday roast – this time Diane knew exactly where – The Wayfarers on the A34 – too far from the canal to walk unless need arises; so an offer of lunch to Elly and Mick and the four of us were away.

The food was perfectly fine, but in the big scheme of Sunday roast scoring it did not rate so highly as other establishments that we had visited, but I enjoyed the Vegetable Wellington and would have that again.

Return to the marina, now fed and with everything else now taken care of we could all relax – the end of an up and down and around the way weekend.

Always trust the Navigator (maybe)!

Wednesday 14^th November to Friday 16^th November 2012

 Wishing to see much more of the south-west of Wales we headed off on Wednesday to explore the northern area of this region, but the navigator was busy giving instructions and directions that took us through some very narrow country lanes – all the time assuring me that this was indeed the main road and that there was just a slight detour along the way.

Picture of a Chocoholic - maybe a good name for a book

Slight Detour !!  I don’t think so – there was something about needing to support local business, which I agree with entirely – but in this case is was the support of Pemberton’s Chocolate Shop/Factory – the sweet tooth strikes again.

Back on the road after a short (well longish break for chocolate) we made our way back to the proper main roads and onwards to Cardigan.

The bridge at Cardigan over the river

Further down from the bridge and boats moored in mid-river

Not too difficult to find the main shopping area – travel over the bridge and below the castle and up the hill (one-way street) – found the parking area and the indoor market.

Morning tea at one of the cafes – food and drinks were lovely.

But we still had more to move on to and see so we were off again – this time towards Aberystwyth (that’s about the right spelling – I think!!).

This is a university town and it could easily be seen as such.

The local museum is always worth a visit as it shows so much about life in that area and how the town developed.

The seaside was very lovely indeed – reminded us a bit of Blackpool and also Llandudno – except the sand / grit was charcoal in colour – someone had forgotten the yellow paint.

Her first "pole-dancing" lesson and practice session

A longer view of the foreshore area

The remains of the castle on the headland, where the war memorial was also located was a focal point for many students; other locals and tourists alike – some extremely lovely views of the bay and the harbour inlet.

Part of the remains of the castle at Aberystwyth



View to the northern healand - a cable tram operates to the top
in the warmer months

Every evening thousands of starlings arrive from all points to
participate in a huge fly past

We were a bit late heading back and a quick stop at Tesco’s (Carmarthen) on the way back for a few things, but we were back in time for “she” to be able to see It Takes 2.

With the weather reports indicating that Thursday was going to a better day than Friday we decided that it would be perfect for a trip to St.David’s.

There were no detours past cheese factories, chocolate shops or boiled sweet outlets and we enjoyed the lovely weather along the way – so lovely in fact that we both questioned exactly where we were – was this really Wales in November – should have brought the suntan lotion.

One of the locals looking down on Aberarth - note the sunshine

Visit to the cathedral – such a magnificent structure and with a long long history in this location – a dedication to the patron saint of Wales.

St.David's Cathedral

Surprisingly it was set down in the valley rather than the usual place at the top of the hill, where you see most churches.

down in the vale rather than  a higher vantage point

 A bit more travel – this time to the beach area at Whitesands – to give it a more official “title” – the surf beach. It is fair to say that the king of the waves titles at Bondi Beach and Bell’s Beach are both safe.

"Huge" waves but not one surfer - did they not know what
they were missing out on

It was still however a very sunny day and sitting down in the sun for lunch was such a pleasant experience – rather than sheltering from rain and wind – walking along the wide and sandy beach was an unusual experience for this time of the year.

An idyllic location

Sun, sand , "surf", hills, walking trails - it is all here...

Diane had her little dip in the water – I guess it would have been more special if she had actually taken boots and socks off.

...even the bathing beauty

Friday was very much a stay in and do very little day as the morning mist moved in and only got more dense as the day went on – it is our last day here so consequently it was also laundry day.

Plenty of reading and relaxing – holiday almost over and tomorrow we will be driving back to Stone to pick up the boat.

Happy Birthday Becs

Wednesday 14th November 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBECCA

Its the birthday of the first born daughter, so have a good day and we are looking forward to seeing you at Christmas time.

Cannot say how old you are, but it is over 21.

Hope the weather is good in Auckland.

love from both of us.

Laughing at Laugharne

Monday 12^th November to Tuesday 13^th November 2012

Holidays are for rest and relaxation and we have encompassed this for a couple of days now.

Looking out over the estuary - this a view from our lodge (virtually)

Monday we did a little more than just a little bit – managing to not use the car and confine our movement to a bit of walking and visiting some very close attractions.

In a town / village the size of Laugharne it would be expected that there should be not a lot to see and I guess you would be correct – save for the fact that Laugharne is the place that one of Wales’ famous children came one day on the bus and didn’t leave – that would be Dylan Thomas.

Just down the hill from where we are actually staying is both his home and the small hut where he worked – both overlooking the estuary – it is understandable how the view could inspire the great works.

The hut

The hut is not open and indeed it started life as a garage before being commandeered for his writing; the house, however, is open and for a nominal charge you can see around inside and read more about this most famous poet of his time.

It is interesting to note that although Thomas was Welsh he did not write in Welsh.

In an effort to be able to photograph both house and hut together – bearing in mind that the hut is some metres above the house on the hillside, Diane suggested that I move a bit further out onto the “rocks” that were exposed by the outgoing tide – softest rocks I have ever seen – the result was mud almost up to my ankles and some sniggering from the safety of the concrete path.

The house (bottom) and the hut (top) - where Dylan Thomas
 lived and worked

Mud - less than glorious mud

Fortuantely the tide will wash away the evidence of the silliness

With a bit of cleaning up in a clean water pool beside the path, shoes were again presentable (but the sniggering remained) and we were off to lunch – The Fish ‘n’ Chip café was the order of the day (can’t remember the exact name) – one serve of cod and another of faggots – both are highly recommended.

The inner side of the castle - not open at this time
of the year but we could see past the locked gates

The old Town Hall

All of this excitement was followed by a leisurely afternoon of reading and a DVD or two.

We did go out for short walk down to the swimming pool – the water temperature being around 25-30C – satisfactory for a bit of a dip and we followed this up with a spa, which was considerably hotter and then a plunge back in the pool to be completely refreshed.

A brief look see in the bar area and Diane found a person there accessing the internet with the free WiFi and instantly started chatting – he was here at present sans-wife and we all chatted for a short while – he introduced himself simply as John – and reminded us of the trivia night that evening – now we certainly love a good pub quiz – John suggested that we form a team for the night – we were on.

With the promise of free soup and bread upon the purchase of a drink over the bar we were also fed for the evening and without much delay we were ready for the questions.

As we have limited knowledge of a great many things British, save for historical and geographical information – certainly no idea about any soaps or past Briatich sporting achievements -  we are usually at a bit of a disadvantage.

As luck would have it, between the three of us we were able to fashion an answer for each question and at the end of it we had a winning score by a margin of just 1 point.

There were some lucky guesses and no use of google at all and of course the majority of the answers were from our large pool of combined knowledge (i.e. lesser guesses).

A formidable team - John is on the right

These are the answers - won't show the questions
- we don't need to show those that we didn't know

Cash prizes as well – all to be used in the bar/restaurant – we will be eating well for at least 1 day.

We all had a very good night indeed.

Tuesday morning arrived and we had a night of intermittent sleep – for the second night in a row we were woken by the sounds of what could be best described as cows outside the window – I did say best described.

The day was truly a lazy one – neither of us venturing outside – most of the day was simply taken up with reading – what a lazy life this is – and for the sake of two children (wherever they currently are) I have managed to finish a full book in 2 days – about to move onto another.

We were able to trace the menace to a seal around the window not being as airtight as it should – the maintenance person arrived and with caulking gun in-hand dispensed some of the sealant both inside and out. Here’s hoping for a better night.

We're all going on a winter holiday!!!

Thursday 8^th November to Sunday 11^th November 2012

No travel this week

We changed the throttle control and rudder for four wheels and a steering wheel.

Off to Watford at a little after 8:15am – into Stafford to pick up some floor tiles for the kitchen and the bathroom for the upcoming renovations.

All I can say I that it is so much better being on the boat and only having to travel from the bedroom to the dinette – all of 6-7 feet – to get to work; I could not put up with the traffic and the wasted time moving nowhere – but what the heck, I’m on holiday.

A little bit of motorway and a little bit of A5 seemed quite OK and we stopped off at St.Albans for lunch and a bit of a look around Verulamium – we had been here in 2000 with the kds, but it was a bitter Boxing Day then so this one was much better. The museum was great and informative – even the school kids “around” the place were pretty well behaved.

It had been a long enough day and we were pleased to arrive at the Premier Inn and be able to relax and do nothing.

We caught up with Maggie and Paddy the next morning and made arrangements to go out for dinner later that day; also sorted through a modicum of mail that had arrived for us – not much of any note – save for the medical stuff.

The Clocktower at St.Albans

We had decided to return to St.Albans for a longer look around but we seemed to spend a bit longer than originally planned looking around the cathedral – dating back to 1077 and with incredible architecture and ornamental carvings as well as the stained glass – this ranks up with a few others that we have seen – as I have said before, viewing the churches gives a master class in the history of the area and in this case almost 1000 years of it.

St Albans Abbey

This is the original gateway to the Abbey complex - still in
very good condition after over 600 years

Only downside was the café – not only lost our order but by the time it arrived Diane’s was correct and mine not – lost all desire for food because of it and despite the  waiver of the bill I declined any food.

Dinner was considerably better than lunch and as well as Maggie and Paddy we also had Jessica there – she is such a delight and so very very bright.

In complete reversal of what I would normal do, Saturday morning arrived and even come 8am I was still in bed – just so relaxed and comfortable about not having anything to have to do.

Driving to Wales we broke the trip at Chippenham for lunch and a bit of a look around – especially the markets.

When parking, we waited patiently for the space was cleared by its occupant and then able to move away to allow us in, when another car thought they might try and pinch it – toot of the horn and they vacated it pretty quick smart – saved me having to advise them that they would be wise not to leave the car unattended.

The butter market at Chippenham

One of the favourite taunts that I have at Diane’s expense is the usual description of the weather in Wales – I have to say that there are so many that back this up (beit they are all English) – the approach on the M4 to the border (via the bridge) showed sunshine in abundance, so much that her alongside needed to shield her eyes from it.

The M4 bridge over the Severn Estuary - called
The Second Severn Crossing - notice those ominous
clouds in the near distance

Alas however, approaching the Cardiff turnoff (so a little way into the country) the heavens opened up and I could only just smile smugly – anything more and it would have been a left cross from the passenger side.

It may not be Kansas but if it is raining it must be Wales

The travel time was a good 4 hours plus, but we made it relatively fresh (thanks to the stop).

The resort was quite well set out with individual lodges set upon a hillside and overlooking the water, and other views which are quite spectacular.

Our lodge has all that we need for a week away from it all.

Laugharne Castle

the small bridge over the stream just in front
of the castle

We spent Sunday doing a little bit of touring but not before a shopping trip back into Carmarthen to pick up some things that we would need over the next few days, but we made use of the journey to check out a few things along the way.

We wanted to head down to Tenby to see a National Trust building which was owned by a Tudor Merchant. With our newly received NT cards we wanted to take full advantage of them - these visits are giving us a better understanding of the local history and also an understanding of the manner in which Britain developed.

The Western Gate (now known as the Five Arches) to the town
of Tenby

Tneby and the older part of the town

The Tudor Merchants House

Tenby was a walled town on the seaside and part of the wall remains as well as many other buildings including the one we were visiting.

Tenby is a seaport but much better when the tide is in

Church at Tenby

Fishing boat on its way out from the harbour at Milford Haven

Milford Haven harbour

All sorts of preparation

Thursday 25^th October to Wednesday 7^th November 2012
3 Miles, 5 Locks for this fortnight
Totals: 1429 Miles, 1155 Locks, 46 Tunnels, 24 Lift Bridges, 96 Swing Bridges

It never seems to take any time whatsoever between the ending of one event and the start of the next one.

In retail terms that amounts to easter eggs appearing on the shelves on Boxing Day – I just think that 27^th October is way too early to start seeing Hot Cross Buns – seen in Heron Foods in Stone.

For heavens sake – we haven’t finished with the feasts of Halloween and Xmas yet – let there be time to finish those first without such a substantial overlap.

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen the new James Bond movie Skyfall, then rest assured I am not going to let any of it out of the bag here – suffice to say that, yes we have seen it; it is different to any other of the movies; there is a surprise at the end; and it hasn’t put me off the London Underground.

The most interesting part of the movie experience was the ticket purchase – as is normal Diane takes care of this – we always go on a Tuesday (some would say tight-a**e Tuesday), but it is cheaper – anyway, the tickets for this Tuesday were cheaper than normal and not seen on the displayed prices – not going to look a gift-horse etc etc; I did suggest to Diane that maybe the young girl (should I say very young girl) behind the counter may have thought that my lovely wife also qualified for an aged-discount and didn’t think she needed to produce any proof of such.

I ducked just at the right time to avoid the whack that I probably deserved for suggesting it.

These cold and frosty mornings are certainly quite wondrous as the sun comes up in a clear blue sky and then glistens off the ice on the roofs of the boats before finally removing all trace of the overnight deposits. In itself the sun is so very warm and it remains so in the open air – just so long as there is no breeze, because when that comes up the cold air just seems to rip right through.

We must enjoy this whilst it remains because we are sure that it won’t be that long before it is all gone.

 Spotted something very weird and strange whilst we were walking along the towpath in Stone - the Canal Cruising Company had all of their boats out their boat yard - this is in the last week of October - business sounds like it is very good - admittedly the weather has been a bit on the better than not so good side this time of the year.

Look! No boats - at the end of October - worthy of the photo

Lyn and Phil, whom we know from our summer adventures to and from Liverpool this year and who live here in Stone, very graciously invited us both to Sunday dinner. Very eager to enjoy their company we accepted and had such a great time – and the food was lovely as well. On top of that they picked us up and dropped us back to the boat. I think we can include this in our must-do-again list.

They are very dear people.

We are still umming and ahhing about the kitchen and where to source the everything – the quote from the local suppliers was way way out of the ballpark – double the price of others – sorry but no business their way.

We think we have the right package at B&Q so now just a matter of ordering the worktop (which we have done) and picking up all of the base units, doors, drawers, handles, hinges, end caps, end panels etc etc etc (oh a packet of screws – I am sure we will need that).

We will take care of the pick up when we return from our week away to south Wales, whilst the boat is out of the water being blacked, engine and Mykuni being serviced with Tina and Rob Paramore here in Stone – Banjo is off to the kennels for the time.

The short cruise up to Stone through the 5 locks was just the thing to clear out the need for a little bit of a cruise – just took our time; sharing the lock duties and just a few miles in total by the time we headed on a bit further to wind just before the Meaford locks.

Very glad that Diane steers and handles the boat so well – I think she is the better at handling it all and that leaves me to just look after the locks – unless there are lots of moored boats as there is between locks 28 and 29 (at Stone)

Very luckily (although we know it was planning) we managed to moor up just as a few spots of rain appeared and we were quite happy inside watching it rain outside.

Off to Wetherspoons for her Tuesday steak dayout and to the chandlery for some stove parts – the burner plates that arrived were the wrong size so hopefully this can be rectified. 

Wednesday arrived and passed like clockwork – move the boat into position; the sling was put into place and the boat gently lifted out of the water and placed onto the sleepers without incident. (Although it is always a bit of a nervous time as you see your home up in the air.)

Slings in place and starting to lift...



up she goes and almost in place.

after the water cleaning - not looking too bad at all

no blistering and the anodes will last another two years

a little work to be doe on the rudder - packing required in the
cup holding the rudder to stop some of the vibration

after the first coat - the botom looks pretty good - so
does the model at the top

The car was duly picked up and Banjo was dropped off at the kennels.

The job done – we spent the night on the boat and off and away on Thursday morning.