Four Counties Ring May-June 2014

[Cruising Mike]

HI all,

 

Below is a diary of the week aboard Summer Breeze. it was a fantastic holiday and wish it wasn't so quick!!

 

Also here are the pictures from the week if anyone wants to see:'-

 

https://www.facebook.com/michael.myerscough/media_set?set=a.10152483171853608.1073741840.813238607&type=1

 

DAY 1 (31^ST MAY):

Overwater Marina to Tyrley Top Lock visitor moorings.

24 locks

After picking up Yoav from Stafford train station we arrived at Overwater Marina just before 11.30am. After finding our way round we managed to agree with Cheshire Cat to pick up the boat at 1pm. Once we had a proper English breakfast at the marina’s café, we were ready for orientation on the boat and heading out the marina by 1.30pm.

After being introduced to the first set of locks by the boat company we were well on our way and got stuck in worked our way through the locks one step at a time. The weather started off dark and grey, but the clouds gave way to the sun which set the tone for the rest of the day.

We managed to arrive at Tyrley Top Lock visitor moorings at 7.30pm but sadly were to find no mooring spaces available so we heading on through Woodeaves cutting. We moored up at the other side in relative isolation and called it a day.

DAY 2 (1^st JUNE):

Tyrley Top Lock Visitor Moorings to Oxley Marine Boat Club (Wolverhampton)

2 locks

I had woken up at 6am due to excitement of the day ahead and realisation of where we are, I went to sit out the front with a cuppa and watched the wildlife waking up amongst the mist on the water.

Once the other two had been woken up we set off at 7.15am and cruised non-stop all the way in glorious sunshine. With only two locks and a large number of miles on undisturbed canal, we opened the taps and kept on going. I got off about half a mile away from the double bridge with the telegraph pole to get some exercise and soaked in the experience of being amongst nature and let Summer Breeze and the other boys sail ahead.

We stopped off at the Bridge Inn in Brewood to sample some lovely pints of Sunbream ale. After getting a few ‘nice motor’ and ‘It certainly is summer breeze today’ remarks, we set off again.

After arriving at Autherley Junction we then only had a few hundred metres to find Oxley Moor Boat club. Wishing to be facing the right way before heading up the Staff & Worcs canal the next day, we cruised a bit further down towards Wolverhampton Bottom lock and winded the boat (Expertly, I must add) and moored back up at Oxley Marine Boat club at 5pm. Once we were all showered and dressed, we got a taxi into Wolverhampton for a curry and some American pool before calling it a night back on board.

 

 

DAY 3 (2^nd JUNE):

Oxley Marine Boat Club to Acton Trussel

10 locks

We gave ourselves less hours to do today in order to give us a peace of mind the night before, so we booked a taxi for 9am back into the city centre to drop off Yoav at the train station. Once gone, myself and Russell headed into ASDA to stock up of food and booze for the rest of the week and were back on board by 11am and made haste straight away.

While Russell was indeed being a dutiful house-wife unloading the shopping and getting the dinner into the slow cooker, I was immediately thrown into a tricky situation. Just after passing by Autherley Junction and onto the Staff and Worcs I was confronted with a nightmare! Although it doesn’t say so in the Nicolson’s guide book, the canal is EXTREMLY narrow. With three bridges in a short distance and barely enough room to pass oncoming boats we spent just under an hour navigating this stretch. After passing under the first bridge I was coming head on with another boat heading through the next bridge towards me so I had to literally put our boat into the bushes on the right side to let them through. Once through another boat behind me had thoughtfully moored up to let us through only to find that another boat behind them also coming through. As a result, I managed to hit the bridge gently but the momentum broke off the plastic side fender. All in all, we had 3 boats in front of us going the opposite way and 3 boats behind us. Thankfully the boat in front of us agreed to reverse back out for around 50m to let us and the other boats behind through. Certainly was a unique experience but it was a good one.

After doing all that we needed a pint of local ale so we stopped off at the Cross Keys, Penkridge where we both had a pint of Hobgoblin which was just what we needed.

From there it was pretty straight forward to Acton Trussell. Although this stretch of canal was very bendy with a lot of blind corners which added to the fun. And once moored up we settled down to some slow-cooked Chili-con-carne and watch a DVD.

 

DAY 4 (3^rd JUNE):

Acton Trussell to Star Lock Pipe Bridge (Stone)

7 locks

Setting off at 7.30am we stopped for breakfast at Tixall Wide around 10am when, conveniently, it started to rain quite hard. The rain and grey skies followed us for most of the day.

Once we had turn left and headed up the Trent & Mersey canal, we started to see more civilization and more old buildings which made quite the contrast to the previous 3 days of cruising. We started to see a lot of salt making factories and disused mining factories.

The best thing about today was the fact that we moored directly under the pipe bridge that we had penned down as our stopping point. Talk about getting it bang on!

Here we popped into the Star Lock Inn and spent a few hours playing darts and drank a few more pints of Jennings and Hobgoblin. We met a lovely couple who were heading in the other direction and chatted to them for a while. Headed back to the boat for a few games of cards before calling it a night.

 

DAY 5 (4^th JUNE):

Star Lock Pipe Bridge to Red Bull visitor moorings

16 locks

Today we woke up lazily due a slightly heavy night before and set off at 8.30am after loading up on teas and coffees. But nothing was going to put us down because today we were going through Harecastle tunnel. Harecastle is just shy of 3000 yards long (1.7miles or 2.7km) and is pitch black once the close the doors. The only light you have is the boat light at the front and the boat interior lights. By the time we had reached the south entrance it was already just gone 3pm and we were the only boat ready to go through. Upon our approach the member of staff (forgot his name so let’s call him Bob) opened the door and asked us to stop just inside. After taking our boat name and giving us a few pointers, he then mentioned the emergency procedure. If there are any problems inside the tunnel we should sound the horn every 30 seconds and then the staff at the other end would sound a horn in return stating that they have received our distress and would be coming in to find us. Since we are both deaf, Russell pointed that out to Bob and he said good point and was straight on the phone to CRT and his immediate superior Carl. After about 20 minutes Bob came back and told us the options. First one was to wait for another boat to turn up who can then travel behind us (which never came), second was to turn around and go back the way we came which was not convenient due needing more time to get back to the marina. Third option was for someone at CRT to come on board with us. Since Bob wouldn’t be able to do so, it would mean someone would have to come down from their nearest office and would have to wait till morning. The reason for his concern, understandably, was because of the unfortunate fatality a couple of weeks prior where someone had fallen off the back of his boat after banging his head on the low ceiling. We understood his nervousness and respected that and he said that we were the first ever deaf only people to travel through and would be something they will look into for the future. Eventually Carl, Bob’s superior, came down and said simply “Look, I don’t want to stop you going through, so if you are comfortable enough then you may go through”. We suggested that if we weren’t out within 1 hour 15 minutes then something is wrong (Average is 45mins). So once we all agreed we were finally on our way through and what an experience it was! We made it through in just shy of 40mins and it’s safe to say the bloke at the other end was rather happy. Annoyingly, since we had been going so straight for 40minutes the sharp bend at the other entrance took me by surprise and nearly got the boat stuck on the bank.

Due to time wasted at the tunnel we headed straight for our moorings just before the Red Bull Top lock. I cooked us some dinner and chatted the night away.

DAY 6 (5^th JUNE):

Red Bull visitor moorings to Rookery Bridge no.159.

26 locks

Today was lock heavy so we got an early start we worked our way through the locks. Funnily enough we were in the middle of 5 boats all going the same way with no one coming up. We met a few nice people along the way that day and was a very pleasant experience. Not quite the hard work we were expecting.

Once we got to Middlewich junction we were only behind one boat and only had to wait a little while before we could enter the lock heading back down the Shropshire union branch. Whislt waiting though, another boat coming from the northern end of the T&M actually had tried to push in front of us. Thankfully our new ‘friend’s’ who were currently in the lock ahd helped us to tell them to back off.

A rather comic entrance through the junction and into the lock though. I was waiting at the lock gates entrance looking down through the bridge waiting to see our boat come through (See video). I saw the boat coming from the right but to my amusement Russell kept going straight on! After a couple of minutes the boat finally came through from the left and into the lock. After Russell was in the lock he explained that due to breasted up moored boats he couldn’t immediately turn into the junction so had to go the long way round. In the process he managed to do a little butt-bump into the boat who had tried to push in!

The rest of the day the rain and grey clouds continued as we made way through the rural countryside coming very close to numerous cows drinking the water. We arrived at Rookery Bridge at a reasonable 3pm which was a shame since it was raining but made the most of it with each other’s company watching DVDs and playing cards.

 

DAY 7 (6^th JUNE):

Rookery Bridge no.159 to Hack Green Top Lock.

10 locks

We woke up with a slight hint of sadness knowing that it was going to be our last day on the boat and wished that we had more time, but all good things come to an end eventually. We had hoped that it was going to be sunny and we got lucky as the rain that had been with us for the last 3 days gave way and we had some lovely sunshine all day. Since it was our last day we spent the whole time on the boat and in fact took longer than we expected. Nearing lunchtime we found ourselves stuck behind a real slow coach. Going past moored boats, he practically cruised in neutral for the good part of two hours. I know that on canals there is no reason to rush but he really took the biscuit. Thankfully we approached Barbridge junction where we had planned to have a pub lunch at the Olde Barbridge Inn. In the Nicholson’s guide, it stated there were two pubs around here and we thought that it was the one directly on the junction. So in a last minute panic after realizing it wasn’t, I managed to get the boat jammed between both sides of the junction. After a good 10 minutes or so we manged to break free and moored up just outside the Jolly Tar. Some fab food and a pint later we set off again. We past another Cheshire Cat boat named ‘Little Star’ which only served as another reminder of where we were.

As we approached Hack Green locks we both looked at each other and realization set in that these were going to be our last 2 locks. So we each shared duties for each lock then moored up. This mooring spot was excellent, nicely manicured grass with picnic benches and ample room for a couple of deck chairs and a BBQ. If we had known this beforehand we would have done so. But not all was lost, as we got our chairs out, got some drinks in hand and watch the sun set down beyond the boat on the other side of the canal. Wonderful views and lovely warm evening weather.

 

DAY 7 (6^th JUNE):

Hack Green Top Lock to Overwater Marina

0 locks

Since we were only a 30 minute cruise away from the marina we woke up at 8am, and to our surprise it was absolutely chucking it down with rain, like a shower. So for the first time during this holiday we both put on the waterproof trousers and jackets provided and set off for the marina. We arrived at 9.05am and was greeted by the boat owners, and after having a slow-motion style crash into the pontoon we were finally back.

 

Thanks:

A huge thanks go to both Linda and Mark who own Cheshire Cat Narrowboats.

From initial booking right to the end they were both fantastic. Booking was made very simple with Linda and in the build up to the holiday was greatly helpful with any questions we had. Mark was very clear and concise with his orientation and his know-how helped us with the first few locks. Furthermore, his assistance with any technical issues throughout the week has been warmly received.

I would definitely recommend to anyone interested to hire a boat around the Cheshire area to use Cheshire Cat Narrowboats as their boats are beautiful and well maintained. Great value for money for what you get.

Website: www.cheshirecatnarrowboats.co.uk

[Burgiesburnin]

Thanks for a great account of the trip. My wife and I did the same ring three years ago and you reminded me of a few places that I had forgotten. Will get the drop box open and revisit the pics.

[muddywaters]

Really enjoyed reading this.

Although I've never done the four counties, something I aim to change when I have my own boat.

It brought back happy memory's of the two rings I have done