Peter X Posted June 28, 2019 Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 I just took my seat on a train at King's Cross on my way to crew for @Lingy, and realised I have nothing to do for just over two hours until we get to Leeds. Aha, let's post some rubbish on Canal world! As mentioned in other topics, he needs his boat moved from near Dewsbury down to near Nuneaton, and after some discussion of whether to brave the tidal Trent, we've settled on doing the HNC then going south via Stoke. Lingy has had to duck out, so the skipper will be Stephen, who I'll meet at Dewsbury this afternoon. We'll be doing Standedge tunnel on Monday, but I've already done the longest tunnel on my journey; the Northern Line from Tooting Broadway to King's Cross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted June 28, 2019 Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 19 minutes ago, Peter X said: I just took my seat on a train at King's Cross on my way to crew for @Lingy, and realised I have nothing to do for just over two hours until we get to Leeds. Aha, let's post some rubbish on Canal world! As mentioned in other topics, he needs his boat moved from near Dewsbury down to near Nuneaton, and after some discussion of whether to brave the tidal Trent, we've settled on doing the HNC then going south via Stoke. Lingy has had to duck out, so the skipper will be Stephen, who I'll meet at Dewsbury this afternoon. We'll be doing Standedge tunnel on Monday, but I've already done the longest tunnel on my journey; the Northern Line from Tooting Broadway to King's Cross. Just two hours from London to the edge of civilisation. Trains are brill-yunt. Hopefully you’ve arranged to meet for a pint in the refreshment room at Dewsbury station. Don’t think overpriced station cafe franchise with weak milky tea and poor espresso. This is the proper independent thing with good beer. Are you heading out of Savile Town basin? If so be careful that the newer cross girders on the first railway bridge over the arm don’t fall off and clang you on the head. Designing those was one of my first jobs as a young engineer. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5098590 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 Being from south London my instinct is that civilization ends when you go north of the river. But it looks OK up here so far, just coming into Leeds where I change onto the local train. I don't know exactly where the boat is, I assume Stephen does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBiscuits Posted June 28, 2019 Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 55 minutes ago, Peter X said: Being from south London my instinct is that civilization ends when you go north of the river. But it looks OK up here so far, just coming into Leeds where I change onto the local train. You'll be a convert when you've done the trip. Make sure you try the beer, and have fun in the heatwave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted June 28, 2019 Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Peter X said: Being from south London my instinct is that civilization ends when you go north of the river. But it looks OK up here so far, just coming into Leeds where I change onto the local train. I don't know exactly where the boat is, I assume Stephen does. The north is fine, I lived there for a few years. I was only talking about Leeds. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 We'll, I'm on the boat at Shepley Bridge, we've checked it over and all the vital stuff seems to function, and Stephen will be back in the morning for an early start. Most importantly I have a cup of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 Making steady progress... A little bit of the Calder and Hebble, sharp left turn and now on the Huddersfield Broad canal. Slight problem at lock 2 just now; winding the paddle down, got all the way to the end then the bar thingy (the ratchet?) just kept going, coming to rest with about the top two feet still sticking out of the water. That wasn't in the script. Called CRT and reported it, didn't get on far before we lost steering. Stephen opened the weed hatch while I made tea and coffee, and he's just finished clearing a lot of vegetation off the prop. It's a hot afternoon and I get the impression this canal is not an easy one. But things could be worse, I have tea and biscuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 More trouble. At lock 3 we found that our handcuff key's diameter was too big, so it couldn't open any of the top gate paddles. After much searching of tools, Stephen found a piece in a socket set that could open one paddle, but not go far enough into the hole to open the others. So we slowly filled the lock and were on our way. But now we can't open any bottom paddle at lock 6, so I'm minding the boat while Stephen walks into town hoping Apsley Marina can save the day. They can! Stephen met the owner who's coming down the canal. It turns out our handcuff key is an old imperial size and there's a smaller metric one that does the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBiscuits Posted June 29, 2019 Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 39 minutes ago, Peter X said: At lock 3 we found that our handcuff key's diameter was too big, so it couldn't open any of the top gate paddles Is it one of those black ones? They are about a quid cheaper than the official CRT ones but as you have found don't fit all the locks. We discovered this when trying to stop a boat sinking in a lock! MrsBiscuit had a bad one, I had a good one that fitted just in time to stop it being nasty. CRT sell the proper ones for a fiver. I strongly recommend anyone who has a black alloy key to either bin it or downgrade it to a spare and get some proper ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 Yes, life is better now that we can open all the paddles. Except the ones on lock 1E of the HNC, which we find are padlocked shut overnight. Grrrr! No further progress is possible until some CRT person turns up in the morning. Still, it's a pleasant enough spot here. We appear to be in the middle of a University. Only 42 locks to do tomorrow to be ready for Standedge tunnel on Monday morning, what could go wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBiscuits Posted June 29, 2019 Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 Just now, Peter X said: We appear to be in the middle of a University. Only 42 locks to do tomorrow to be ready for Standedge tunnel on Monday morning, what could go wrong? Well you could accidentally find your way into the Rat & Ratchet which is a bit less than a mile from you ... that rarely helps! The other possibility is that you will have run out of water at 1E tomorrow morning and have to wait for it to be filled up again ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer McM Posted June 29, 2019 Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 15 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said: Well you could accidentally find your way into the Rat & Ratchet which is a bit less than a mile from you ... that rarely helps! The other possibility is that you will have run out of water at 1E tomorrow morning and have to wait for it to be filled up again ... Got lost round there, I thought that I'd walk to the next lock, but there's a stretch with no tow path, I got lost trying to work out the directions to the canal, and of course the boat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2019 It's a funny old adventure boating through this Huddersfield, anything can happen. There was another trip down the weed hatch for a plastic sack, a very odd lift bridge where not just one end but the whole section gets hoisted up, and a low road bridge followed by a lot of unavoidable weeping willow overhanging the whole width of the canal. As a non drinker with a lot of locks to do tomorrow (and no idea where anything is) I'll give the pub a miss and get to bed now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 It's a quiet Sunday morning here at the University of Huddersfield, in fact it was a quiet Saturday night. Don't students drink much nowadays? Awaiting CRT unlocking lock 1E, rumoured to happen at 9am; is that correct anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 Lock just opened 8:45 am, but CRT guy says there's a problem with lock 29 which might delay us. Wassup there? Anyway, we're off; Slaithwaite has been suggested as a possible place to wait if lock 29 is troublesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PD1964 Posted June 30, 2019 Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 You should of went the Trent route, once past Stanley Ferry all locks(except Kirk Bramwith) electric to Nottingham and most manned by CaRT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer McM Posted June 30, 2019 Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 4 hours ago, Peter X said: Lock just opened 8:45 am, but CRT guy says there's a problem with lock 29 which might delay us. Wassup there? Anyway, we're off; Slaithwaite has been suggested as a possible place to wait if lock 29 is troublesome. We had to let a lot of water down to lower the water in the pound in Slaithwaite, to get under the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted June 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2019 Lock 21 was leaking a lot of water between the bottom gates, so by the time we got it filled enough to open the top gates the pound above was rather low anyway. Following local advice we've stopped early for tonight above lock 24, as we gather we'll need CRT to open padlocks on lock 29 for us in the morning. Still hoping they might be able to schedule us through Standedge somehow on Monday, once we've had the opportunity to do the last 18 locks up to the summit. Despite all the odd difficulties it throws at us, I'm enjoying this trip. It's rather different to the GU/Oxford/Thames where I do a lot of my boating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 15 hours ago, Peter X said: Still hoping they might be able to schedule us through Standedge somehow on Monday Unlikely I would have thought. There's a tree down between 33E and 34E. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/15592-locks-33e-and-34e-huddersfield-narrow-canal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted July 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 So we have learned. Now moored just above lock 31E awaiting tree clearance, but also broken down with overheating engine. The tree blocks the towpath too, but we just walked into Marsden using a diversion path which goes through a lot of undergrowth and some mud but is passable. I've heard there's a topic somewhere about our engine problem; possibly a blockage in the water cooling or trouble with its pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Bob Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 Keep up the good work Peter. Watching the continuing stooooory with great interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted July 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 Some progress! Lingy turned up, replaced the water pump impeller which sorted out the cooling, and both fan belts because he felt they looked likely to fail. CRT cut off some foliage from the fallen tree above lock 33E and boats can now get past it. But I had to do some gardening there. Slowly going up the remaining locks, but we have to let water down at every lock. Currently waiting for enough water to enter lock 38E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted July 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 In Marsden at lock39E, only three more to the summit and hoping to get through Standedge in the morning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted July 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 Now stuck with bow in entrance to lock 41E! Tried to reverse, control lever stuck in reverse and boat could not move. This might be our mooring for tonight... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBiscuits Posted July 2, 2019 Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 If you see an Albatross, don't shoot it! For details see The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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