Audlem to Market Drayton

[Rod a mod from Tod]

I wouldn't normally bother about how long a journey takes but we are hoping to meet some friend in Drayton having overnighted in Audlem sometime next week. Although we have done this trip a couple of times neither of us can remember how long it takes.

 

Canalplan :- This is made up of 5 miles, 7½ furlongs of narrow canals; 16 narrow locks. This will take 4 hours and 36 minutes. For calculation purposes this is taken as 1 day.

 

Lock miles :- Just over 7hrs

 

Suppose the sensible thing to do is split the difference but Canalplan on default is usually near the mark for us but then again so can lock miles.

 

I'm presuming it's going to be quiet this week and we usually set off at the crack of daylight this time of year so the question is, is there anybody who does this run often enough to be able to say which is the closer. Canalplan or lockmiles.

[Pete of Ebor]

I wouldn't normally bother about how long a journey takes but we are hoping to meet some friend in Drayton having overnighted in Audlem sometime next week. Although we have done this trip a couple of times neither of us can remember how long it takes.

 

Canalplan :- This is made up of 5 miles, 7½ furlongs of narrow canals; 16 narrow locks. This will take 4 hours and 36 minutes. For calculation purposes this is taken as 1 day.

 

Lock miles :- Just over 7hrs

 

Suppose the sensible thing to do is split the difference but Canalplan on default is usually near the mark for us but then again so can lock miles.

 

I'm presuming it's going to be quiet this week and we usually set off at the crack of daylight this time of year so the question is, is there anybody who does this run often enough to be able to say which is the closer. Canalplan or lockmiles.

 

As far as time to Market Drayton goes,I'd go with canalplan. I do seem to recall however, that Market Drayton isn't exactly canalside - there are visitor moorings but it's still quite a long walk to the town centre. On our last visit, one of our less able crew even had to get a taxi back as he said he couldn't walk both there and back...

[by'eck]

As far as time to Market Drayton goes,I'd go with canalplan. I do seem to recall however, that Market Drayton isn't exactly canalside - there are visitor moorings but it's still quite a long walk to the town centre. On our last visit, one of our less able crew even had to get a taxi back as he said he couldn't walk both there and back...

 

The small Asda supermarket in Market Drayton is half a mile from the nearest 48 hr moorings opposite the boatyard fuel point and adjacent to the water point. It surprised me by being open at 5pm on a Sunday.

 

FWIW I single handed comfortably in a day to Coole Pilate moorings north of Audlem after leaving Market Drayton at 10am.

Edited October 19, 2012 by by'eck

[john6767]

Given the 16 locks are in a flight, lock miles is going to grossly over estimate the time taken in my experience, you are more likely to be doing 6 locks and hour than 3 in a flight, without any significant queuing of course. So 3 hours for the locks, plus 2 hours for the miles, say 5 hours would be how I look at it. The time you get from canal plan can be whatever you like, that is only based on the locks per hour you have set and the speed. Isn't the default setting 10 mins for a lock in a flight, ie 6 per hour anyway?

[Jo_]

I always find Pearson's timing is just about spot on. Got one with you? I'm not at the boat at the moment so don't have mind. But maybe someone else could look it up and tell you what Pearson's says.

[matty40s]

I did this last Friday single handing.

Left Overwater at 1.15pm and moored in Market Drayton at 6.30pm.

 

The bywashes were even more fierce than usual following Thursday nights storm.

[LoneWolf]

I've done that trip loads of times in the past couple of years & the time can vary quite a lot depending on how busy it is going through Audlem.

Single handing it usually takes me about 5 1/2 hrs

 

Dont forget there are several places on the Audlem flight where you can moor so if you're worried about timing you could always put the hours in the previous day & overnight towards the top of the flight - its only a mile and a bit from the top of the flight to the pubs

 

 

oh, and its only a 15min walk if that from the canal to the shops in Market Drayton

[Keeping Up]

The last two times we have made that trip, this summer and last summer, each took just over 5 hours. However I see from our log book that on both occasions we commented about being slowed down by slow traffic ahead of us. At this time of year I'd reckon that CanalPlan is about right, unless you are unlucky and get stuck behind a slower boat (it only needs one, and he'll probably pull out in front of you as he sees you coming up through the lock that he's moored just above!)

[Rod a mod from Tod]

Thanks for the replies all. We've arranged to meet at half one, given our earlyish start time, so neither of us should to long to wait for the other.

 

Shops on this visit are going to have to take a back seat. This visit is purely social. My mate, sadly, is a beer/pub ticker and has yet to do Market Drayton, so, we are starting in the excellent Red Lion, where hopefully he can use the car park for his camper overnight, then a bit of a mooch around town and back to the Red Lion for more top drawer Joules ale and a bite to eat.

 

Looks like Wetherspoons beer festival starts, by pure coincidence, on the day we have arranged to meet so this could end up getting a bit messy.

[Zayna]

Not sure how long you're planning to stay but just to let you know there are stoppages on 5 November, Audlem locks 1 - 15 and Woodseaves cutting.

[Rod a mod from Tod]

Not sure how long you're planning to stay but just to let you know there are stoppages on 5 November, Audlem locks 1 - 15 and Woodseaves cutting.

 

Cheers, I had noticed. Be well through by then.

[Paul C]

I did this last Friday single handing.

Left Overwater at 1.15pm and moored in Market Drayton at 6.30pm.

 

The bywashes were even more fierce than usual following Thursday nights storm.

 

I've never quite worked out how you're supposed to enter that lock (uphill) without hitting some infrastructure. Do it slow, and you're pinned against the left wall. Do it quick and that weir sends you a bit off course and you get an almighty whack on the left wall. Can't steer into the weir due to the bridge hole not letting the stern of the boat swing out, etc etc. Suggestions on a postcard!

[JerryP]

I've never quite worked out how you're supposed to enter that lock (uphill) without hitting some infrastructure. Do it slow, and you're pinned against the left wall. Do it quick and that weir sends you a bit off course and you get an almighty whack on the left wall. Can't steer into the weir due to the bridge hole not letting the stern of the boat swing out, etc etc. Suggestions on a postcard!

 

Line your boat up off centre and let the wash push it over ,keep the power on........simples

[john6767]

Line your boat up off centre and let the wash push it over ,keep the power on........simples

 

Whilst that would be my normal technique in this type of situation, if it is the lock I think it is, I don't see how you do that. Where the picture is taken from is a bridge hole, so you don't really have the choice to that, as Paul C said.

 

 

 

[Keeping Up]

One technique that I've been told was common with working boatmen, though I've only heard it third-hand and have never tried it, is that as you charge through the bridge-hole at ultra-high speed, a crew member quickly and fully opens the top paddles. This temporarily stops the flow through the by-wash as the level above the lock is lowered by a few inches (you can see this effect when you are waiting below any lock) as well as providing a flow of water through the lock to bring your boat to a standstill from its headlong charge.

 

Has anybody tried it, or seen it done?

[dor]

I'm generally pretty good at dealing with sidewashes (plenty of practice on the Llangollen!), but on this lock I usually just gently move up to the wooden pole and let that guide me in. There just isn't enough room on the approach to do the usual trick of steering into the sidewash.

 

That wooden pole is there for a reason...

[JerryP]

my boats quite heavy ,maybe that helped ,but i don't recall having a problem.

[Paul C]

Its possible you did it with much less bywash? The picture shows it quite fierce, when I did it it was noticeable but not as strong as in the pic. I declined the "charge at full speed" technique, but have heard it suggested by others.

[Philip]

Well I went up through this lock the other day on a cruiser, the level was high so the bywashes were more fierce. As a result I just couldn't get in using power so had to rope it in - and it was quite heavy against the wash! The boat simply wasn't heavy enough to get past without being pushed onto the side. I've found under normal circumstances the cruiser fares quite well with the bywashes because of the shallow draft. Nonetheless I find the best way to handle most of them (this one aside) is to give it some welly to get past then back right off on the throttle before reaching the lock wall. I suppose maximum revs may have worked but I didn't fancy trying that with only fibreglass protection in the narrow channel! Think I'll try the top paddle experiment next time.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Philip

[Dalesman]

Well I went up through this lock the other day on a cruiser, the level was high so the bywashes were more fierce. As a result I just couldn't get in using power so had to rope it in - and it was quite heavy against the wash! The boat simply wasn't heavy enough to get past without being pushed onto the side. I've found under normal circumstances the cruiser fares quite well with the bywashes because of the shallow draft. Nonetheless I find the best way to handle most of them (this one aside) is to give it some welly to get past then 'back back back' on the throttle before reaching the lock wall. I suppose maximum revs may have worked but I didn't fancy trying that with only fibreglass protection in the narrow channel! Think I'll try the top paddle experiment next time.

Think you passed us at the bottom of the Audlem flight.

[Philip]

Think you passed us at the bottom of the Audlem flight.

 

Ah right - well I came through last Wednesday mid-afternoon, went to the pub for a pint after mooring then back home! Had a chat at the pub with a couple who I'd seen at the bottom lock if that was you?

[Dalesman]

Ah right - well I came through last Wednesday mid-afternoon, went to the pub for a pint after mooring then back home! Had a chat at the pub with a couple who I'd seen at the bottom lock if that was you?

Yes that was me indeed.

[Rod a mod from Tod]

Canalplan was 6mins out so either Canalplan or ourselves need to buck our ideas up.

 

This is also true of my mate who got the start date of JDW beer festival wrong by a day early.