Mac of Cygnet
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Posts posted by Mac of Cygnet
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From the article: A Walsall driver and his dog had a rude awakening when they took a wrong turning into the town's canal lock.
The implication being that they were asleep at the time?
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3 hours ago, Adam said:
Day 5 -
CRT apprentice arrived on time to see us through the Marsden flight (42e-32e) the top lock is locked with combination padlocks. In all fairness it makes sense it is a assisted passage through the locks, they are very close together with odd sized pounds making the water levels fluctuate,but if this is their procedure they should update the stoppage page with a "booking advice"notice. Current procedure seems to be the office knows your coming with either a 1e or tunnel booking and call to make arrangements, passage is restricted to Tues Thurs Saturday (probably negotiable?) and it isn't a volunteer exercise it's CRT maintenance staff penning you through, see below. Note the bottom paddles on this flight have restrictors on the bottom paddles so empty slowly, restrictors are to stop you overcoming the bywash and flooding the towpath. Note the locks usually are found empty and leaky gates start a little here but nothing serious. A few stiff paddles and one not working - promptly reported by CRT man.
The whole excersise of the assisted passage seems to be due to a blocked bywash In the pound between 32 and 33 . They have the bywash from the pound above diverted to the resovoir so there is no feed to the pound below, our CRT man filled the pound enough to scrape us through - note top paddles of 32 are locked off - again not on any stoppage notes. This I what I meant above about being ushered through, the freedoms of boating are stripped a little on the Eastside. Notwithstanding it is a very pleasant canal to boat down.
CRT left us after 32 and we moored on 31 lock landing for lunch, we struggled to get the stern In here but I have seen several comments of mooring In this pound opposite the winding hole. It would be a good place to stop over if you don't fancy continuing another 10 locks to Slaithwaite I'm sure you could get in to the side somewhere here. We continued after lunch, the locks between here and Slaithwaite are a awkward distance apart i.e too far to go and open a paddle but not close enough for the crew to get back onboard. I guess this section would be time consuming single handed. Pleasant run down anyway. Don't bother with lock moorings nudge your bow into the lock and reverse back a touch to open the gate. 26e has a few boat moored above on the offside and they need to keep their boats quite far into the channel for depth, one of the guys from here helped us through the lock.
There is towpath side moorings at the top of 24E (guillotine lock) but too shallow on a couple of bits I tried. Regardless below the lock they have replaced the wash wall and they were finishing off moorings for approx 7 boats, the moorings are separated from the road a little now and will be great moorings when finished. Should be deep too they have extended the wash wall into the canal a few feet.
We had a hassle with the guillotine lock as expected. Had a cuppa with he bow nudged against the top gate while the lock filled - well didn't the guillotine gate wasn't closed properly. Drained the lock and tried the gate up and down to get it to seat properly, had to flush water through with the gate a few inches off its stop to clear the debris. Even with the guillotine on its marks the lock doesn't fill more than a couple of inches from level. Local resident told us a boat coming up a few days ago recruited 5 people to force the top gate. We tied our bow to the top gate and pulled it open. With the messing around we had had filled the pound below up a fair bit, very tight on the lock Tail bridge and the 2 super low bridges after the next lock. This is the only lock we have had any bother with other than the odd stiff paddle - well greased they just need used!
We dropped down to below 22E and moored up In the basin. Few boats here one guy has been stuck here since last summer with stoppages / water shortages. Note 2 water points here, one below 22e and one above 21e. Space for about 7 boats on the less used towpath side here. Boater's facilities are good, noted what I guess was the bin store locked off and empty and replaced with a kirklees council bin nearby - sure I read a thread about CRT trying to get the local councils to provide the refuse service for boater's. Slaithwaite is nice, Stopping here for a few days waiting for the stoppage at 5e to clear - advice from CRT man is don't go below Slaithwaite untill you can get through to Huddersfield.
And did your grandad enjoy Standedge? I've just made the connection, Adam! Was talking to your mum and Dave in the Cross Keys tonight. You don't mention that they accompanied you on the Marsden - Slawit stretch in the pouring rain.
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2 hours ago, dmr said:
I think the moderator role should only be open to boaters, ex boaters just cause a load of trouble 😀
Hey!
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My solution when singlehanding the L&L was to get towpath walkers to operate the electric bridges. Everyone was delighted to get to play with them, except for one Asian lad who took one terrified look and ran away!
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18 hours ago, M_JG said:
Its a bit of a uphill walk up to the actual village from the moorings...
I've walked further uphill than that to check out pubs. The Sair Inn is a prime example, often mentioned here - it even brings us back on topic!
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46 minutes ago, SandyD said:(the reason I ask is I have an 18Ah battery for running my moth trap
This surely must be a first in the thousands of battery topics on CWDF.
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Coming back to Sprotburgh, there is (or was) another pub up in the village with its own cricket pitch. I remember one Sunday evening sitting on the verandah watching the cricket to the sound of church bells, supping beer at £1.50 a pint (A Sam Smiths pub, so very cheap, and a few years ago). Paradise.
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4 hours ago, IanD said:
The moorings in Stalybridge on the offside just above 5W (down from the Chinese restaurant) are a lot better than near Tesco, that's where we've stopped more than once -- quieter, less goose sh*t, and fewer drug dealers and shaven-headed pit bull walkers...
Still love the HNC though, always assuming you can get onto it and through it... 😉
Those moorings are the only ones in 30 years boating where I have been set adrift while on board (in the middle of the night). Which goes to show that a one-off experience should not damn a place. I too loved the HNC when I was fit and gung-ho enough to enjoy a challenge. The comments from the OP were from the time of my earlier trips on the canal, and I don't recognise some of his complaints, although parts were tough. It appeared to, on average, get rather easier over the years and transits (5 with crew, 7 singlehanded), both because of genuine improvements and increasing knowledge and better techniques. It is a great pity that some of the genuine improvements seem to be being reversed.
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6 hours ago, perfectlydressed said:
a pre app shows recreational use would be favorable,
This from the original post. Perhaps the OP could find out exactly what this means - it would certainly clarify things.
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Looks like I experienced the best days of the HNC. There were some restrictions on the Marsden flight the first couple of times (2007 and 2008) and of course you had to be pulled through the tunnel by electric tug, but for most of my time I just went where and when I liked. There were closures and obstacles and other problems of course, but I never planned so it didn't matter. I did it in less than 5 days once singlehanded. Another time I took a month over it, not because I was stuck, but because I liked the HNC so much. And left my boat for a week at a time both on the East and West. With the various restrictions that seem to be in place now, I don't think it would have been my usual route South and back over the years.
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9 hours ago, nairb123 said:
In my house in the defra multi fuel stove, there is an opening at the rear of the stove at the lhs at the bottom. It cannot be closed, and so the stove can only be shut down a certain amount. It gobbles fuel and runs the flue hot. There is reduced control over the fire. In truth, it's probably more expensive to use with the gov approved fuels than to have the gas fire heating on. I did modify the stove so its much better to use. Of course it's now no longer a defra stove but can be put back as one within 5 mins. I also found that burning smokeless fuel removed the smoke issue, but it won't pass the councilman's inspection as is. But the fuel lasts much longer.
My son, finding his stove couldn't stay in all night like mine, heard there was a 'secret screw' that would allow him to shut it down completely. So he phoned the manufacturers, and they cheerfully told him where it was and how to do it!
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10 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:
One seemed very hire fleet turn round orientated, so maybe you tried on a turn round day. Luckily for us we were only half an hour or so away from the Prees branch so filled up there.
In late Feb/early March?
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As no-one has said they've reported it, I've done so.
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3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:
This is one of the reasons I have bought in Wales. The population density of England as a whole is 434 peeps per square foreign thingy, in Wales it is 150 so moocho better. The county I live in is actualy only 40 people per square foreign thingy 😀 absolootely fabulouso
Perhaps you should have come here, then:
(Scottish Borders 21 per sq. km)
Population mid-2011 Population density (pop per sq. km) mid-2021 England 53,107,000 434 Wales 3,064,000 150 Northern Ireland 1,814,000 141 Scotland 5,300,000 70 -
1 hour ago, Adam said:
Some good suggestions in there, just unsure if it is still relevant.
I would think all of them are still relevant. I've moored at lots of other places on the HNC, too, but my boat was only 27ft.
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On 28/02/2023 at 20:34, Adam said:
Hello, found a post from 10 years ago listing Deep ,/ Safe / Suitable moorings from Marple to Diggle. Has anybody done this recently and can advise on go / no go points.
Thank you
Could you link to the post from 10 years ago? I've probably moored on all of them over the years (and a lot more, especially on the HNC).
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Well I've never graduated to 3G, having only dumbphones (3, actually) so I presume they will continue to work (but not here, where nothing does).
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4 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
It wasn't just Ford. Here is an actual 1970's training film for Chrysler salesmen (and it is definitely men), introducing them to the terrifying possibility that girlies sometimes buy cars.
Brilliant! I didn't think I'd watch it to the end when I saw how long it was, but it was laugh-out-loud several times. And cringeworthy at the same time.
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Well I didn't like to say anything given the cries of woe about the closure in the link, but I agree that the Linfit beers were variable to say the least. If they can get in other local alternatives it would be great. Like Osset Brewery.......... mmmmmmmm
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6 minutes ago, Goliath said:
That’s a shame
Just googled it, looked a good pub
Never visited it,
and never shall now ☹️
The pub isn't closing, just the tiny brewery. It's quite a haul up the hill from mooring at the lock near the Titanic Mill. A beautiful little old-fashioned pub. The parlour is very similar to our living room 70 years ago.
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So what caused the explosion? I remember once while camping trying to cook potatoes in petrol, which had been stored (not by me) in a similar container to the water. We were very, very fortunate to notice in time.
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:
Male ducks have one of the longest willies of all animals compared to body size. They can be as long as 9 inches (according to the drake).
This diminutive lake duck has a big little lad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_duck
ETA underestimated it.
16.7 inches. Crikey on a bikey..
My mind has just boggled. From the link:
It is theorized that the size of their spiny penises with bristled tips may have evolved in response to competitive pressure in these highly promiscuous birds, removing sperm from previous matings in the manner of a bottle brush.
Although most male birds have no penis,[6] ducks have a long corkscrew penis, and the females have a long corkscrew vagina, which spirals in the opposite direction.[7] The males often try to force copulation, but the complex mating geometry allows the females to retain control—most forced copulations do not result in successful fertilization.[8]
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3 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:
Just come across a totally new pancake recipe involving no flour or milk - just mashed banana and egg. Going to try it tonight.
Well, that wasn't entirely successful. Didn't hold together well - certainly couldn't have tossed it. And a peculiar greyish-yellow colour. And the taste was only redeemed by the home made strawberry jam. Thank you, Raymond Blanc. I hope RobM's daughter had more success.
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Just come across a totally new pancake recipe involving no flour or milk - just mashed banana and egg. Going to try it tonight.
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Perfect cc mooring., maybe not
in General Boating
Posted
Yes, much pleasanter down in the lower basin if there's room. And Brighouse has the best selection of small shops of any town I've moored in, as well as the cheapest department store (Boyes).