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gatekrash
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Posts posted by gatekrash
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We're now sat in the Whitchurch arm, I'll come and find you ! We had to wait quite a while for the fuel boat in Ellesmere, and then when he got there took the last 50 litres he had, he says he's been really busy.
Our hire boat hell was yesterday. We were waiting about 50 yards short of a bridge hole for one to come through, when he came through he steered to his left straight at us, instead of right. Despite us rapidly reversing it looks like he panicked and rammed it into full throttle straight into us. He's taken the signwriting off the bow and buckled the bow panel above the rubbing strake on the port side. Anglo Welsh have had to come out to assess the damage ☹️.
We're thinking of going up to Chester for the weekend before heading home.
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Today 2023
Aston bottom lock Montgomery canal.
Previous limit of navigation
Bridge 82a
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1 minute ago, john6767 said:
Good to see the new section open, I look forward to getting down there. I have seen some stuff on Facebook about the next section to be restored and that might be much simpler than this one as it has not been subject to subsidence, I don’t know if that will take it to the Welsh border. Has the work started on the Welsh section that was awarded funding from the government?
We walked down a bit and chatted to one of the volunteers (who was shocked to see boats on the moorings as nobody had told him it was open!). They're working on rebuilding bridge 86 now, but they have a slight issue with a badger sett in the middle of that next section at the moment. But they've definitely started on the top end clearance.
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Winding hole and moorings at Crickheath
New limit of navigation at bridge 85
Previous limit of navigation at bridge 82. Ignore the sign he says...
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Resurrecting an old topic but I can confirm it's open as of last week, came through Frankton this morning and the lockie told us we could go all the way through to Crickheath Wharf, as long as we didn't mind the weed. Lovely moorings put in and a bonus of really good 5g! I'll put some pics up later when I've shrunk them down to size.
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I reckon you're moored in the same spot we vacated on Thursday morning!
Basin had been fine today, a few hireboats coming in for a few hours and leaving again but not too busy. We're here until Monday then disappearing up the Montgomery on Tuesday/Wednesday.
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Ahhh if I'd known it was a forum user I'd have gone to the cratch and taken the pee 🤣. We were having breakfast anyway.
Definitely busier down this end. It's been mad with hireboats today, we must have gone past about 15 in a half hour spell near Ellesmere, then much quieter this afternoon until we got to Chirk at about 3, and now it's the Black Prince / Anglo Welsh shuffle as they go to/from the marina for changeover.
Hopefully the far end is quiet, having kept an eye on the forum the general consensus is that weekends are quietest down there. There is still space on the 48hr moorings in front of us at bridge 21w so fingers crossed.
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We're now at Prees as the Mrs wanted to visit the nature reserve. No queue to speak of at Grindley, just one boat going up with us and a couple in the bottom locks below the staircase.
Turners put his price down a couple of pence since we went past earlier this week !
Chirk for us tonight hopefully.
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17 minutes ago, gabble said:
I would observe that 6x is perhaps quite a traditional tasting beer (not hop overload).
This 100%. Don't want to get drawn into a discussion on personal tastes in beer but 6x is what I'd call an old fashioned pint. First proper beer I drank after some really rough Bass in the 80s and loved it. We stopped at the Anchor yesterday, since it was open and the 6x was as I remember from my youth, clear and bright and was definitely not off. But it was the end of a bank holiday weekend so they may well have shifted a decent amount, the campsite was certainly busy.
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We're sat in Audlem now at the Fly, which is definitely open. 6 real ales on and apparently the food has a good reputation under the new owners so we will see shortly. So far the beer is good.
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14 minutes ago, Goliath said:
You did alright then 👍
I made Cambrian Wharf for 2pm
now at Brindley Place
only one here
I do like it, there’s very little footfall past the boat
It was even quiet past the boat there on Friday and Saturday night, I'm always amazed that in a city as big as Brum it is so dead by half ten at night!
The Mrs did comment half way down the Wolverhampton flight that she could have done with one of the ice creams you were advertising 😁
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We're on the way there as well, left Droitwich on Thursday, in Brum on Friday afternoon (dead quiet there, only 1 in oozells and 3 of us on the brindley place moorings), left this morning for a long day before it rains tomorrow. Waved at @Goliathas we passed in Factory and now sat at Brewood. Might stay here tomorrow looking at the forecast!
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Spit works well, apparently the enzymes in it help dissolve it. Discovered that one after learning that's how the national trust clean their paintings/furniture if they get a bird trapped in a house. Works a treat on car paintwork too.
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12 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:
Good job I went through there last Sunday.
And good job we decided to go up the shroppie from Droitwich via Brum, rather than the S&W, unlike someone else from the marina who's now stuck below the bridge!
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7 minutes ago, Loddon said:
South West Water have been fined £2,000,000 today for sewage dumping
However that's less than one weeks profits.
Just as well they aren't restricting our use of water by extending the hosepipe ban which hasn't been lifted since last year, from Cornwall to the rest of Devon.
Oh. 🙄
Still, at least all the grockles will have water for their Airbnb hot tubs this summer.
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Went to look at a Hobbit stove last week, they're made just up the road from us. They're good stoves and the people who make them will help you plan the fitting. But there's a 3 month lead time on them at the moment. And the guy that makes their boat fitting kits - roof collars etc - has just retired so you'd have to source those bits elsewhere.
If you're ordering one of them I'd wait for a couple of weeks until after I've ordered mine so that you're not in front off me in the queue 😬
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I've found having a Mrs who's a lot smaller than me helps...
We've also got a very large integral water tank, more than 1000 litres, still access isn't too bad.
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14 hours ago, Mike Todd said:
Last week we passed a section of towpath just above Worcester which was being upgraded. Despite notices saying that it will be closed for a long period, as much as possible was open and was well used!
We went through there a couple of weeks ago. There were big notices and barriers saying 'footpath closed'. The cyclists were just ignoring them and cycling around them anyway then expecting the guys with the mini diggers to get out of their way. We had a chat with the workers and they said they didn't bother challenging anyone because of the abuse they got.
So the closed towpath was open by default!
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6 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:
Shoe rack.
We've got an extendable curtain rod screwed to the woodwork below the gunwales in exactly the same place and it's so the Mrs can wedge numerous pairs of shoes in there, so I'm agreeing with the shoe rack vote.
My boots aren't allowed in the rack and get relegated to the rear steps, usually to be found with condensation dripping into them from the hatch...
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19 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:
What other way is there. I've had builder's bags and they aren't particularly tightly packed
One of my local suppliers will do it in uncut lengths, 4 to 6 foot or so each, process yourself. You need to buy a reasonable amount off him though as it has to be over the 2m3 cutoff for dry wood sales as there's no way he can guarantee it being dry at that length. Works out about 2/3 of the price for the same amount I'd get loose in dumpy bags. Still extortionate compared to what I was paying when we put the stove in 25 years ago though and firewood was at giveaway prices to take it off people's hands!
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Just run down to Diglis for a couple of days and went to stop on our favourite mooring just above the waterpoints before you get to the basin knowing there wouldn't be many boats there today, only to find that CRT have kindly painted "2 hour max stay" on the entire length.
I know it's only 3 extra mooring spaces and there are a few more above the bridge but in the summer that area is rammed, and every space is full. I fully understand the waterpoint being better marked but there is absolutely no reason why the other spare spaces there should be restricted.
Unless of course it's something to do with the posh flats next to them complaining, but then nobody would buy a house next to a canal and then complain about the boats, would they...
CRT have my complaint already...
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On 17/02/2023 at 17:27, Peanut said:
I had a courtesy car, with a penalty charge if it needed any cleaning on return. The car was sea-gulled on the bonnet on a hot day while I was at work. I tried everything available and succeeded in removing it. Standing back, to my horror I had abraded the paint and it looked awful. Mindful of the impending charge for damage to the car, I dropped in at a local car valet. They put a mop on the bonnet for beer money, and advised that in future I should put a wet sponge on it, keep it wet, and leave it to soften. When it comes off without a problem. If left, it is likely to mark the paint.
My Mrs uses that technique too.
I use an alternative method which is to cover the bird poo with spit and leave it for a bit. Something in the enzymes in your spit dissolves the bird poo away.
I learned that one from the National Trust, apparently they use the same technique for cleaning furniture etc if they've had a bird get into a property and poo all over it.
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I was in Crapstone at the weekend. Lovely little village.
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Years ago when I was helping run the bar at our local yacht club we had new swan necks installed when we changed breweries and they came in to instruct the bar staff on keeping their beer. One of the things that stuck in my mind as a serial glass retainer myself was that we were specifically told not to reuse the same glass due to the hygiene risk of transferring germs from the glass back into the sparkler when pushing the inside of the glass against it to get it under the swan neck.
Llangollen possibly
in Cruise Diaries & Reports
Posted
I reckon you sabotaged that elsan point just to stop us !
We're now at a place called Tiverton, just past Beeston. Fairly quiet here, shared the locks all the way down from Bunbury with another boat, so easier work all round.
Barbecue is lit, sausages and burgers we bought from the Deli in Ellesmere are sizzling nicely and a few hours run into Chester tomorrow before we start heading back down the Shroppie on Monday back towards Droitwich.