She who must be obeyed returns!

Friday 10^th February to Friday 17^th February 2017

I had a very important engagement on for Friday morning and certainly could not afford to be late – simply to make it to Birmingham Airport to pick up my lovely wife – nothing could be easier – could it?

In my defence, just let me say that when I arrived she had only just come through from Border Control and Customs – the plane arriving 30 minutes earlier than scheduled – but all appeared forgiven (and the bruising has now subsided to a dull yellow).

Naturally Diane was a bit tired after coming all the way through from Brisbane in the 23 hours – but with some sleep on the first leg of 14 hours – she had managed about 5 hours, being able to stretch out in her unoccupied row.

She was remarkably awake and lucid – more so than usual – but we had a busy weekend planned, with a trip to Manchester; a two-night stopover; a visit to Old Trafford and catching up with "Mad-Eye" Paul Macey.

 

A frosty and cold sight to wake up to - it had snowed during
the night, but we were snug and warm inside the hotel

There certainly was snow on them thar hills

Macclesfield behind us and the snow had melted away to leave a bit of slush around

Even the local constabulary got into the swing of things -
there's Paul between two nags

just part of the action on the field

and some after match celebration - at least Paul was happy

It was just so great to see Paul again - it didn't matter about anything else

It really was a super weekend and we had a great day on Saturday – well at least Paul and I did – with Man United beating Watford 2-0 (we didn’t say too much in the car on the trip back for fear that we would have each got a good clip around the ears from the lone Watford supporter in the back seat – Diane – but she was a good sport about it all).

Follow that match up with a lovely meal out at Paul’s favourite Thai restaurant in Macclesfield and it was a great day.

Paul’s main visit back to the UK started out as a desire to see a game at Old Trafford, but it was tinged with sadness to begin with – his mother was in hospital and would not have too many more days left (as it transpired she passed away on the following Thursday morning).

We had met Margaret on a number of occasions whilst we were moored in Bollington a couple of years ago and got to know her reasonably well and understand how determined and strong willed she was – a trait that Paul had with the women in his life – and now she is no longer with us.

It has not been a good start to the year.

Sunday came and this meant the trip back down to Rugby where we had left the boat – we didn’t meet up with Paul – he was already on the road to see his mum – but we took the opportunity with having a car to pop in to meet up with Dot and Gordon at Aston Marina where they were moored up for a couple of months.

An obligatory trip to The Echange in Stone and a couple of drinks (sitting at the old table in the window – our favourite) before back to their boat for a wonderful meal and just simply enjoying the company of two very good and lovely friends.

 

Back in their favourite seats The Exchange

There never seems to be enough time and so it was again – we needed to get back in time to run the engine and charge the batteries on the boat before the 8pm curfew – which we made.

Monday and Tuesday were occupied with mundane things like Diane unpacking and putting stuff away; shopping to more fully replenish the pantry and fridge; sorting out a few things in town before the inevitable cruising would begin.

We said our goodbyes to Carolyn and Gary (nb Inca) who had kept an eye on the boat and again compared our cruising schedules for the year to see where we could catch up again (and there are times and places in there).

Finally we untied on Wednesday morning and started heading south, making it as far as Braunston for the day, where we moored up – took a walk up into the village for Diane to visit the butcher; Thursday we continued on our travels, turning right at the junction, filling with diesel along the way and negotiating the Calcutt Locks and moored up outside Ventnor Marina – we had never moored here before – such a lovely, nice and quiet place – would like to do it again; finally Friday and we were off again, this time down the Stockton locks before settling for a mooring below the end of the flight.

Back cruising again - it was still quite chilly out

She hasn't lost it - still able to control the boat as usual

Just a lovely shot of the sun over Braunston, the church
on the right and the tree reflected in the canal

Some years ago we were in the village for their annual beer festival, which I think no longer happens, and wandered around taking in the sights – it has been a while and took us a little time to sort out where everything was but it was a lovely day anyway with the sun shining just to wander and enjoy.

It sadly is just another village to us without the hustle and bustle of a festival and something for the locals but we enjoyed the walk and the drink at the pub before retiring back to the boat.

Our intentions are to head into Birmingham, so we will be heading that way – how long it will take us we cannot be sure; how long we will stay there we cannot be sure; where we will head to afterwards is something we do know.

Our cruising schedule for this year will be the tidal Trent taking in the canals and waterways that run off from it; we will be heading further northwards to York and then west over the Pennines (somewhere) to do the Ribble Link (and the Lancaster Canal) before a last trip into Liverpool docks – after all of that we are not exactly sure, but we do intend to be somewhere around Stone for Xmas.

19 miles, 16 Locks

YTD:  60 miles (97 km), 21 Locks, 2 Tunnels, 2 Swing Bridges

Total: 4692 Miles (7551 km), 3172 Locks, 126 Tunnels, 66 Lift Bridges, 174 Swing Bridges

It's a long trip north and longer to get home

Saturday 25^th June to Sunday 26^th June 2016

The vehicle was hired, the accommodation was booked, bags were packed and at about 8am we bundled ourselves into the people mover, Andy set the sat-nav and we were off heading northwards to Macclesfield.

The purpose of the trip was that we all needed to see Paul and Elaine and how they were doing.

Such is the bond within this group that almost no matter where we are, we would drop everything to see one another and this was just such a special occasion.

As everyone who has read Paul’s blog will know, Elaine is battling cancer and now has gone into a Hospice in Macclesfield.

We called into Aston Marina along the way, only to have a break and to meet up with Roly and Bev who would also be joining us for the weekend, but in their own vehicle (dogs and all) and after this fuelling-up break we continued on our journey northwards.

No they weren't drunk in the back, but you have to worry about what they
were up to in the back seat.

In the cafe at Aston - fuelling the bodies - as if that was really required

Timing was important and we did well on that score, pulling into the carpark at the hospice at around 2pm – the time that Paul had asked us to be there and we spent a fun but emotional couple of hours with Elaine.

She is such a lovely person who cares more about everyone else around her rather than herself – we just love her so very much – just a few tears around.

Happy hats at the ready - our lovely ladies all together

...and the 4 of us behind - what a contrast

It was clear to us that she was starting to get tired and again we timed it well with Paul’s arrival with Wendy (from Mojacar).

We were all going out for dinner later with Paul and Wendy so we needed to freshen ourselves up a bit.

Off to Sutton Hall for a lovely dinner and a chance to try and cheer Paul up a bit – he has desperately needed something to smile about and we hoped that we could do just that – he was in good form throughout – I guess having so many friends around has helped for some time.

Friends for dinner? - just a few of us

The boys have the shoulder down technique going well here

It was not an early night, but it was also not a late morning getting up.

Debdale Park and quite a number of these lovely
wood carvings around

After breakfast and a bit of a walk around Debdale Park, we headed back to the hospice at the arranged time – 11am – Elaine was much perkier, having had a good night and we joked around as we have done countless times before.

It was more painful this time to say goodbye to Elaine.

We drove over to where Paul was staying and had a cuppa and cakes/biscuits with him before we left.

The sun is out and we do so enjoy each other's company

We have had a theme of rabbit ears going throughout the trip and here they are again

The drive back was a bit more quiet than the one up to Macclesfield the previous day.

It may have only been two days but it seemed like a week to most of us – we were exhausted.

Great thanks to Andy who did all of the driving, and a great job he did with it too.

A visit and then we cruise again

Friday 6th March to Saturday 7th March 2015

We had a very welcome visit on Friday from Bev and Roly - it has been a few weeks since we had seen them.

It was a late morning call as Roly needed to be home and rest up before he went out on a brewery tour (read as a p___-up) - a total of 9 were going out for the "tour", including Sue and Andy, Dot and Gordon, Sharon and Richard, Vinnie and Rob.

By the look of the photo on facebook it looks like they had a good time, although I suspect that may have been early on in the evening - they were all still standing.
Bev meanwhile was quite happy and looking forward to her "double-Corrie" on the TV and looking after the dogs.

We all caught up with Elaine and Paul and after Bev and Roly headed off we had a cuppa with E and P to say goodbye as we were heading off the following morning.
After nearly 2 months on the Macc around the Bollington area and north of there, it is now time to head off ourselves.
It was a bit sad in saying our farewells after such a long time but we have been able to help both with looking after the dogs and chatting with them about what they would like to do and anything else - sometimes just to do something different; they have helped us with transporting us here, there and almost everywhere.

I would be loathe to say it but have to admit that James Ward played a great match in the 2nd Davis Cup rubber to defeat John Isner - we watched the final set - Diane got her tennis fix in the process.

And so it was that Saturday morning arrived and we were ready to go and just after 7 am we pushed the front out and engaged the warp drive - we were off.
We also turned the Reflecs off for the first time in almost 2weeks - it is a sure sign that it is getting warmer.
Whilst it was still early, the temperature was quite mild, just a gentle breeze and after a while the sun came out - it really felt like an early spring day and you started to get the same feelings that you have with cruising in nice weather - "it's good to be the king".

Onward towards  Macclesfield; we have found this section to be uniformly shallow for us, but one thing we have noticed in our recent travels - here and our return from Bugsworth - is that there is less rubbish through the bridge holes.
That is a result of more traffic, which suprisingly we did not encounter this morning.
 

a bit of a nuisance if you need power

definitely unfriendly

consideration is reciprocal - it seems to us that Macclesfield
is a bit unfriendly towards boaters and their money.

We stopped for water at the CaRT yard - as we have done before. It took a while to fill as Diane had showered on the way as well as running the washing machine and then I joined in whilst stopped and showered as well.
 

me thinks that a discount might be needed to complete the sale

It was just another mile or so until Gurnet Aqueduct where we moored up in full sunshine - it was almost summer-like conditions by this stage and it was not even 10am.
 

I simply love this bridge - a fine example of a snake bridge

fine sunny weather 

Off we go shopping into Maccelsfield - an Aldi visit; proper coffee; to the markets looking for books (although we have about 20 still to read); and to Poundland.

We have snuck another fasting day in this week - after Paul's revelation (read as admission) of his weight-to-power ratio, we confirmed our need to reduce the intake, and more walking.
However, we popped into Weatherspoons on the return leg for a light lunch - which it was - Diane even had a salad.

Back on the boat and Diane cleaned the chimney and we stuck the new extension on, which is now working a treat in the wind - eliminated the problems.

Settled in towatch the Aston Villa v West Brom match and after seeing about 75 minutes the signal just vanished - not only BBC1 but for all channels.

No problem we saw the last bit on iPlayer - a deserved win to Villa - James will be happy.

So for now we will be free of TV for the night - I have been trying to write this blog under extreme duress - Diane is playing Trivia Crack against Paul and also Dot - and she gets very excited when she wins - which apparently she is doing quite often.

4 miles
YTD: 91 Miles, 25 Locks, 1 Tunnel, 2 Lift Bridge, 5 Swing Bridge
Totals: 2985 Miles, 2146 Locks, 99 Tunnels, 36 Lift Bridges, 157 Swing Bridges

Dogs, Gonks and the Pub

Monday 2nd March to Thursday 5th March 2015

Almost the full working week has gone since I last sat down to go through what we have been up to - it probably is a good guess that we haven't done quite so much this week as others.

Indeed it has been a relatively quiet week for us.

But what exactly did we get up to - for the life of me, I am struggling to actually remember.

We have spent a bit of time with Paul and Elaine this week as we had a dog sitting day on Wednesday - the boys were almost fully recovered from their visit to vet the previous day for teeth cleaning; there was a Chinese meal at the end of it after P and E returned home.

We have spent both Tuesday and Wednesday in the Spinners Arms watching football this week - both games ending in very late winners - firstly Aston Villa over West Brom and then ManUnited over Newcastle.

We have been out just occassionally this week for short walks - we have been quite lazy that way - not the ideal preparation for cruising - we will be heading off on Saturday on our Plan A - having checked with CaRT about stoppages.

Probably the highlight for the week has been the arrival of packages for us this week.

It is great to have a nearby postal address where we can arrange for things to be sent and we can get them almost immediately, but even then we missed two of the packages that arrived - they were carded and we then needed to pick them up from Macclesfield parcel office.
Paul generously provided the transport and so I presented myself there to collect said packages.

The first one was for Diane and was the following, which she had purchased on eBay
 

A family of Gonks, which she bid on as a bit of a laugh,but
then her competitive nature took hold and she didn't want to
lose the auction.

The second was much more practical - an extension for the Reflecs chimney to help reduce the effects that high winds have on the flame in the stove.

So that's been about it - we are both looking forward to tomorrow and catching up with friends; to Saturday to start cruising again (but not to saying goodbye to Paul and Elainefor a while); Diane is looking forward to next Wednesday; and I have my Life in the UK test to study for.

The best news for the week is that our son Mitchell finally has a date for his interview with the US people at the consulate in Sydney to finalise his US visa to live there - we are so very happy about that - the end is in sight now for him and Sara to finally start their lives in America - so April 7th is marked on the calendar.

Crew defects - nicer life on the other side...

Sunday 8th February to Monday 9th February 2015

Diane and I were looking at something in the paper - I cannot recall exactly what it was, when suddenly looked up and there were people right up close to the window looking in - but not just any old souls - Elaine and Paul out for a walk.

A cuppa later and we were talking about various things but eventually got around to visiting the pub later that day - why? - West Ham v Man United - 4 pm kick-off - perfect.

Not that long after they left and my stomach was churning over and the rest of the morning and most of the early afternoon I was good friends with the inside of the bathroom - not a pleasant sight.
Surely too unwell to contemplate venturing to the pub for the match.

Diane, apparently, was pretty keen to go down and watch the match and encouraged me to feel a bit better - she even gave me some sympathy - not sure if that word is in her knowledge bank.
"You might even feel better just having a tonic water or a coke" said she - some people will say anything to go down to the pub.

Anyway we ventured down there, picking up Paul along the way and lo and behold I did start to feel a lot better -  two reasons for that.
Firstly, the coke did help to settle the stomach, and
Secondly, Paul had been feeling just as bad as I had - a shared complaint.
 

I opted for the coke, Paul with a stronger disposition went for the Bass

Anyway the match was looking lost for most of the second half until a late equaliser and we snared a point - better than nothing.

Monday was dog-minding day for us and Bombo and Sammie were dropped off pretty early in the morning - 7:15am - and they had been already taken for a walk - what time must their cruel masters have taken them out of their nice warm and cosy beds for all this to happen.

Paul and Elaine had an early morning meeting so we volunteered our services.

We got them inside, dried off and warmed up.

Poor puppies were so tired that they literally dropped straight off to sleep as their heads touched down on the bed.
 

Two very tired puppies - what mean parents getting them up so
early!!!

We let them sleep for as long as we could. The ice had started to melt and disappear and we decided that sometime we would need to wind the boat - we were going to be heading the other way later in the week - the nearest place was close to Macclesfield so we headed down to the town intending to fill the water tank and perhaps moor overnight.

 

They sleep just about anywhere...

The boys were awake and wanted to help out as best they could, so we found spaces for them topside and they took it all in.
 

...but wide awake when on the job - here keeping a lookout
as we pull away from the mooring

Bombo was the eagle eye in the crow's nest and Sammie was keeping everything under control on deck.

Now in their assumed roles,but with
plenty of time for a photo-op

We did the round trip to Macclesfield including filling the water tank and getting a couple of extra showers in to boot, in 3 hrs 45minutes.
 

With home in sight, Bombo had a chance to catch on some more
of early morning lost sleep

We decided against mooring overnight in Macclesfield as we just didn't feel completely comfortable about the moorings between the water point (at Sweetenham Wharf) and Bridge 36, so we headed back.

There were patches of ice which we had to do a bit more than just move out of the way, but nothing of any great problem.

We moored back in the same spot, facing the other way.

Bombo and Sammie were picked up about 7pm by Paul and Elaine - neither of the dogs were that fussed about leaving us - I think that they found life on the other side just a bit more interesting and nicer - but we cannot tell Paul and Elaine that.

7 miles
YTD: 58 Miles, 25 Locks, 1 Tunnel, 1 Swing Bridge
Totals: 2952 Miles, 2146 Locks, 99 Tunnels, 34 Lift Bridges, 153 Swing Bridges

Lie in again - what's that all about then?

Saturday 31st January 2015

Tennis day again this morning, but first there was a bit of a lie in - again.

Anyone who knows me will simply attest to my reluctance to stay in bed after waking up - I do not mean that they know first hand seeing me get up early all of the time - only Diane knows that, but she is quite happy to tell all.

Today, however, for the second day in a row I was more than happy to have a cuppa in bed - Diane having the honour of turning provider again.

The reason for such extravagance was quite simple - the Australian Open Women's Final would be telecast and with Diane watching it intently, I could set about taking care of anything I needed to do during that.

I did get a bit of work done, but most will wait until tomorrow - I think that I may have become a bit of slacker.

One other reason for the tardy start to the day was that we had enjoyed a lovely evening last night with Elaine and Paul - first a fine meal at The Church House Inn here in Bollington - very good quality and a fair price - followed by a visit to The Spinners Arms and a cuppa back at their house before heading back to the boat at an unusually late hour for us.

Following the tennis we caught the bus into Macclesfield to wander around and get a few things - certainly managed to spend some more money but picked up some interesting items.

Arriving back to the boat we found that Brian and Anne-Marie (nb Alton - Renaissance Carrying Co.) had been through - we had texted to them that we might be out but could they top up the diesel tank and cans and swap a gas bottle - it was all taken care of, so just had to tidy these few things away and back inside to relax - day over and done and really nothing else to say.

Wish all days were this easy - I fear that there will be a need for a bit more work tomorrow.

Cometh the train, cometh the woman!

Saturday 24th January to Sunday 25th January 2015

She did return as planned on the mid-afternoon train.

But before all of that Diane had a chance to visit Camden markets in London but judging by the weight of the case that she brought back she didn't add much to it of the pockets of stallholders there.
Looking forward to seeing these when we make it there at the end of the year.

Camden Locks 

inside the markets

Diane says this photo is for Paul

We had arranged that I would take the bus to the station and then we would come home the same way.

I was also thinking that there was a large market on in Macclesfield on Saturday, so that being the case I would go in early, have a good look around before the train was due and then be able to meet Diane and if the stalls were still around we could then have a look together.

Unknown to me Diane and Paul had been texting to each other, with Paul offering to take me in and then drive us both back - Diane arranged it all and forgot to tell me until I was already there.

It wasn't a problem and I met up with Paul at the station after I had dropped into Tesco for a chance to remove some items from the shopping list.

Whilst we both waited for the train, we had the chance to think that it would be a great job to drive the trains on these long distance journeys - say Manchester to Bournemouth or longer - a bit of a lapse to childhood when we might have thought that when we grow up we could become train drivers; probably not firemen - neither of us have the physique for the calendars.

Anyway the train duly arrived; Diane alighted from said train - very glad to see both of us there and Paul drove us back to the boat - this was such a lovely thing to do.

Oh, the market was not on for Saturday - it was scheduled for Sunday.

Next morning (Sunday) we paid a visit to the new Bollington services block for a lovely hot shower - no facilities for emptying cassettes, but the toilet was lovely and clean.
After this we did catch the bus back into Macclesfield and wandered around the outdoor market stalls - rather more extensive than those we were used to in Stone and Stafford - probably more of the size that I have seen in Nuneaton.

There were a couple of things that we purchased from them; more so we took in the Aldi store and cleaned up the remainder of the shopping list.

A coffee each and Diane couldn't go past The Silktrail Fryer - chips and gravy - back on the bus to Bollington and onto the boat to watch the FA Cup match being televised.

The weather for the weekend has been pretty good - no snow; little rain; sun was out; air was coldish - hardly seems like winter - more like mid-late April.

One consequence of Diane returning is that the radio has been returned to Smooth FM after a brief renaissance on Classic FM.

The skipper has returned; the weather is good; sun onto the solar panels and all is right with the world again.

From Bosley to Bollington

Monday 12th January to Thursday 15th January 2015

Late start today - we were waiting for Paul and Elaine to join us for the trip up the Bosley Locks.
In the end only Paul arrived as Elaine was not feeling the best - and we sympathised for her.
But Paul was looking ready for it - a huge smile on his face - but looked under protected for the weather that we were sure would come.

Quickly we found a routine between the three of us, with each taking a turn on the boat and before we knew it we were at the top of the locks, moored up and taking on water; emptying the cassette; dumping the rubbish; drying off and enjoying morning tea.
A brief rain storm hit us halfway through and Paul got a bit wet; so he needed time to warm up and dry out a bit.

We know of Paul's love of TimTams so they remained well hidden - saving them for another day - it was just sausage rolls, brownies and chocolates - and a doggie bag for him to take home to share with Elaine.

No matter where it is, help through locks is always appreciated and this flight and this was most welcome.

We carried on for a few more miles with our aim being Gurnett Aqueduct, where we have moored before and quite enjoy, but primarily we wanted to visit Sutton Hall again - I suspect that Diane had long planned to eat out there that night.
She was very keen to head off after we had moored up and sitting by the open fire, warming up and enjoying a drink was a perfect pre-cursor for a meal.
We were pleased with the meals - the prices perhaps a bit dearer than some other places but it was lovely.

We explored a bit of Macclesfield on Tuesday - markets, visitor centre, farmshop - and spent another night there, returning again to Sutton Hall, this time only for drinks with Paul and Elaine, who was feeling much better.
Paul had dragged her only on a route march during the day - probably didn't start off to be so far but 6 miles later, even the dogs were exhausted.
Anyway it was very good to see her - in fact to see all of them - Bombo and Sammie included.

We woke to find a light covering of snow - it was quite cold and snow had settled hard so it stayed around all day.

One thing we have definitely noticed about cruising at this time of the year is the need to keep an eye on the weather reports and with strong winds and very low temperatures on the way we headed off towards Bollington.

From the top of the Bosley Locks we have had problems which seem to be best described as low water levels or the canal bottom being too close to the top of the water and therefore really struggled moving - this continued to Bollington but now we were picking up crap when going through every bridge hole.
The usual fix of reversing the prop worked most times but on one occasion I had to resort to lifting the weed hatch and sticking my hand down into freezing water - I cleared away some plastic and after a while I couldn't feel anything else around the prop - in fact it was so cold I just couldn't feel anything at all.
Finally made it in not such a bad time, moored up on the aqueduct and then went off to visit Elaine and Paul - Diane, of course, went via the chippy.
They have a lovely house and very comfortable and we spent a warm couple of hours with them.
The high winds are causing a few problems with the Refleks stove but nothing insurmountable - will be checking on whether an extra extension piece is best or a H-down draft cap is better.
Anyway it is lovely and warm inside the boat; the football is on the TV and all is right with this part of the world.

9 miles, 12 locks, 1 swing bridge
YTD: 36 Miles, 25 Locks, 1 Tunnel, 1 Swing Bridge
Totals: 2930 Miles, 2146 Locks, 99 Tunnels, 34 Lift Bridges, 152 Swing Bridges