trevb

Just noticed this strand. There was an abandoned sunken and very decayed wooden butty called 'Adelaide' (mispelt 'Adeliade') on a bend of the northern Trent & Mersey in the late 1980s, in company with an un-named wooden motorboat in similar condition, and I believe I took photos at the time. Neither were there when I revisited a couple of years ago and I assume they were pulled out and scrapped. I don't know if this is the same boat referred to as being on the Harefield list.

Further to my earlier reply, it surely depends what people want out of a holiday - some want a challenge, some want a leisurely cruise. 'Heartbreak Hill's' fairly tough and probably best done at the start (ie going anti-clockwise). The Audlem locks are always a pleasure to use. Not having boated for a long time, I worked out my timings in advance on the lock-mile system from the Nicholson's Guides. This suggested 20mins per lock, with an average cruising speed of 3mph, which would have meant at least 10 hour days for the 6 full days of hire. In actual fact, the locks took on average half that time, many were set for us, and everyone from the various boats helped one another in any case. The exceptions were the entrance lock to the Middlewich branch, and 2 locks on the same section, which took rather longer because of queues (they will be quieter in September). Also, because water levels were high, and dredging seems much better than a decade ago, the average speed was nearer 3.5mph (the considerable force acting against the rudder made it unpleasant to go much faster than that anyway, in answer to the person querying whether we were breaking the speed limit!). It was possible, therefore, to make very good time on early stretches like 'Heartbreak Hill', which put us well ahead, leading me to revise the timetable. The first 2 days were a little more than 10 hours each, but the next 3 were relaxed, with plenty of stops, and an average of about 7-8 hours cruising. The final day was more frantic, because of the unexpected stoppage at Gailey locks, but still only 6 hours. To summarise, working out an efficient way of working through locks is the single most effective way to save time and energy - definitely not opening up the throttle, which can actually slow you down, and does the engine and unprotected banks no good. We found the lock-mile system (and Canalplan) to be overly-pessimistic, while the times in the Anglo-Welsh brochure were pretty spot-on - this suggests 54 hours, which can be broken down as 3-4 hours the first Saturday afternoon, 8 hours a day Sun-Fri, and 30 minutes or so on the final Saturday (from Tixall Wide to base). I would still recommend a couple of long days at the beginning to get through the tunnel and Heartbreak Hill, build up some contingency for unforeseen obstacles and allow more time to explore the villages and pubs on the Shroppie.

Went through Gailey on Friday 18th Aug. The section between Gailey and Penkridge was shut for the whole of the morning owing to what looked like fermented algae in the inflow immediately below the top lock. There had been heavy rain overnight and the water not only turned bright green, it stank - it may have originated in or around Gailey reservoirs. BW to their credit turned out quickly along with a lady from the Environment Agency. All the moving boats within the section were allowed to leave, but none were allowed in to avoid spreading the mess through lock movements (although one boat ignored instructions). We were eventually allowed through after the EA lady trested the water, spotting dead fish on the way, while the locks contained thick foam clinging to the sides and gates. An unusual side effect was that farmers reported rats and voles leaving the area and crossing their fields. A partly-disabled gentleman whose boat was attempting to leave the top pound at Gailey unfortunately fell in below the lock and injured his back as well as swallowing some of the water - we managed to pull him out and get an ambulance. Hopefully he's OK. I scrubbed my arms down immediately afterwards, the algae seemed to dry the skin surface, although there was no rash. Nasty stuff, and obviously a recurrent problem at Gailey....

By coincidence we have just (Sat 19th) completed a week on Anglo-Welsh boat Lady Carol, which is similar to Jade (which returned to the base the same time) - all AW boats are good and comfortable, so you should have no worries. We were 2 adults + 2 children, and completed the 4 Counties in a week going anti-clockwise. My wife and me are experienced, but had not boated since 1993. To give you an idea how possible it is, basically, we picked up the boat and set off not much before 4.00, stopping at Little Stoke (near Bridge 90) about 7.00. As the top lock at Stone had suffered a partial collapse, and was shut for several hours, pressing on further wouldn't have helped anyway. Setting off about 8.15am Sunday, we reached Harecastle about 3.30 and were in the last convoy northward, stopping north of Kidsgrove near Bridge 135. Monday was very lock-filled, stopping for water at Middlewich Junction, before ending the day on the Middelwich Branch of the SU near Bridge 26. These were quite hard days, but Tuesday saw us reach Audlem, where we moored in the flight below Bridge 78. By this time we were well over half a day ahead of itinerary, which meant we could relax for the rest of the week, stopping at High Offley (too busy as Mikron were there) and mooring at Norbury on Wednesday. On Thursday we stopped near Bridge 73 on the Staffs & Worcs, but there was a half-day stoppage Friday due to toxic algae between Gailey (where we helped pull out a man who'd fallen in) and Penkridge. We still made Tixall Wide to moor at 6.00pm, however, so easily made it to base on Sat at 9.00am. You should be OK - although the kids (8 and 13) helped a bit, we could still have managed easily enough, despite 45 min queues at some of the locks on the Middlewich, and the long stoppage. Good boating!