Author: Chris

I’ve had a busy few weeks, keeping myself occupied with various projects on the boat.

The Power Station

The meters which monitor battery charging had become unreliable, so when the chance came of buying a new Clipper BM2 monitor for less than a third of the retail price I grabbed it and set to work fitting it along with two digital “Hall Effect” ammeters which just need the sensor to be slipped over the relevant cable.

 

I now have a redesigned monitoring panel for the electrical system

 

Testing Testing

The Boat Safety Examination certification expires in November and as it is permitted to be tested up to two months early I contacted the examiner who did the first test in our ownership of the boat as he was not too far away. The purpose of the BSS is to help minimise risks to third parties rather than to advise on the “seaworthiness” of the boat and is valid for four years.

In preparation I resealed the stove’s flue pipe with high temperature silicone sealant, cleaned & resealed the glass and gave the whole thing a coat of paint.

 

The day came for the test and the examiner was very helpful, fixing minor issues as he went along, A couple of cables needed a protective sleeve to prevent chafing  (a small piece of water hose sufficed), a length of wood (a piece of decking board) to prevent the batteries moving inside their box, a label on the gas locker to say “Gas shut off under” and a clip to secure a gas pipe behind the cooker. The only further item was to secure the stove to it’s plinth (strangely a recent requirement) Our neighbour Barry came up trumps with two angle brackets which I duly modified and painted black to match the stove. The only expense incurred was the purchase of masonry bits to drill through the tiles on the hearth.
So now we are certified (certificated?) until November 2026!

Ding Dong! (in the immortal words of Leslie Phillips)

This bell has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, I first saw it at my grandparents’ home where I spent a lot of time as a small child, I inherited it when my mother died and it has been in our homes ever since both on land and water.

This week I decided it was time it was put it to practical use as a door bell.

 

 

Delving into my “come-in-handy-box” I found a Kensington laptop security cable, which is a plastic coated steel cable intended to secure a laptop to a desk. Following the route of the solar cables it was threaded through the workshop cupboards and through a redundant hole to the back deck of the boat.

 

Now all that was required was a nice brass knob to operate it, but a trawl around all the charity and antique shops in town failed to find one so a brass plated reproduction was found at B & Q.

To obtain the correct jangle the cable length was adjusted and a makeshift balancing weight added. I can see further investigation of car boot sales to find something more attractive will be required!

 

 

 

Tuesday July 12th – Whittington to Wolverley

A more civilised start time today of 9:30 as we had only 3½ miles to cover and 3 locks.

As we arrived at Wolverley Lock it started to rain so we tied up, but as soon as we did, it stopped and a boat came up the lock so we took advantage of that and went down to find a vacant mooring immediately.

Wolverley Lock is in a desperately poor condition with the top gate paddle having been out of action for a couple of years to my knowledge and today one of the bottom gate paddles was out of action too, making it a very slow job. The balance beams on  the  lower gates are rotting away but C&RT don’t seem to want to replace them or even do a decent repair with steel reinforcement plates.

We saw Leigh & Malc briefly in the afternoon and had a drink with them at The Lock Inn this evening after Joy had cooked a Spag Bog but were tempted to have a desert at the pub too!

Wednesday 13th July – Wolverley to Stourport

No rush to get away today, we had arranged a ‘Click & Collect’ grocery order from Tescos at Kidderminster but we still arrived too early so we visited Sainsburys and bought me some new T-Shirts and got a voucher for 5p/litre off diesel (for Jinty). I had an early lunch of a Scotch egg while Joy decided to wait for a bit.

Down through Kidderminster Lock, with the church bells ringing out, to moor outside Tesco and Joy cooked herself scrambled egg while I fetched the groceries. It wasn’t immediately clear how to ‘Click & Collect’ without a car, but I was advised to go to Customer Services and they kindly brought me our purchases there to load into our shopping trolley.

A couple more locks and we were entering Stourport stopping outside Lidl to get some Sea Bass, which Tesco didn’t have, needless to say I came out with more than that!

Down through York Street Lock and we swung easily onto our mooring as so many boats were out cruising. So at at a quarter to four we were greeted by our neighbour Leah who had been left on her lonesome and we settled back into familiar surroundings.

Joy had her Sea Bass for tea while I had Cheese & Onion Crispbakes. After watching a bit of early evening TV we had a game of Scrabble, the tidying, washing and hoovering can wait ’til tomorrow!

Sunday 10th July – Compton to Swindon

Yesterday afternoon we were joined on the mooring by nb Galene (Γαλήνη ) which unsurprisingly was owned by a Greek couple. [Wikipedia tells us “Γαλήνη Galênê means ‘calm weather’ or ‘calm, tranquillity’ in ancient Greek religion was a minor goddess personifying calm seas”] and Joy took this snap as we  set off as quietly as possible at quarter to seven to get our journey done in the coolest part of the day!

By 9:15 we arrived at Bratch Locks where mercifully there were volunteers on duty to direct traffic & assist with the locks.

At Wombourne there was a massive car boot sale going on in the distance, but we had no time for that.

Onwards through Bumblehole Lock and down the Botterham Staircase, through another fishing competition, to find ourselves a mooring with a bit of shade at Swindon by midday.

 

Almost immediately we were greeted by a friendly moorhen who tried to flap up onto our gunnel, almost coming in the kitchen window, but he fell back into the water, so we rewarded him with some snacks which he took back into the reeds to eat.

We caught up with our church service on YouTube during the afternoon and idled away the rest of the day, which was no more than we deserved after 14 locks!

Monday 11th July – Swindon to Whittington

Another uncharacteristically early start again, at 7:30, as today promised to be even hotter. Only seven locks today though, all but one needed filling as not many boats seemed to be headed north. Through the diminutive (25 yard) Dunsley Tunnel and by 11:00 we had achieved our goal of getting through Hyde Lock which is due to be closed for three days on Wednesday.

We topped up our water tank at Kinver Services allowing the boat which had been following us for the last few locks to pass. It was then though Kinver Lock and we encountered a large group of kids in canoes, I would like to see their organiser’s risk assessment because they had no idea they were supposed to keep to the right and there didn’t seem enough instructors to to keep them under supervision. Two of them even stopped right in front of us causing us to do an ‘Emergency Stop’. The consequences of hitting them doesn’t bear thinking about.

And relax! By noon we reached Whittington Horse Bridge and found a quiet mooring. During the afternoon a nap was in order and later I got my bike out and cycled back to the Co-op at Kinver for some shopping, unfortunately my phone fell out of my shorts pocket and damaged the screen, although it might have been worse if it wasn’t in a case.

After I returned, the tooting of a horn announced that our friends Leigh & Malc had caught us up. There was room here to set up table, chairs and sunshade later in the evening where we sat out and had our evening meal.

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley” as  Rabbie Burns wrote!

Monday 4th July – Fazeley

Our plan was to continue our cruise to The Lime Kilns Inn near Hinkley for our Golden Wedding celebration, but a ‘Stoppage Notice’ from CRT advised that “We are currently experiencing low water levels on the Ashby Canal”. Given the fact that The Ashby is always shallow and another notice advised the same for the Coventry Canal above Atherstone Locks. Apparently the reason for the low water levels is because “the Griff Brook, where we pump water from, has run dry”.

In view of this we decided we couldn’t take the chance of getting marooned there and so we are headed back to Stourport and will be taking our camper van Jinty instead.

Tuesday 5th July – Fazeley

Today we went up to Fazeley Marina to top up with diesel at the excellent price of £1.31/litre before tax (Who would have thought that £1.31 could be described as excellent!). We also filled the water tank and emptied what is euphemistically termed the Black Water tank!

After lunch we called a taxi and visited Tamworth two retail parks, Ventura & Jolly Sailor! The return journey was problematical as we couldn’t get a cab and in the end took our first Uber ride.

Wednesday 6th July – Handsacre

We set of at 8:30 intending to stop at Fradley, but there was not a mooring to be had, so turned left onto the Trent & Mersey canal and went up two locks and moored at the top next to nb Felix with whom we had an adventure on the Severn last year that you can find here. Before we left Brian last year he took his dog to the vet as she seemed a bit off colour, turns out she was pregnant so this year we  met two of the six puppies Brian’s dog had produced and they are as big as their mum now.

HS2 is making it’s mark hereabouts and much activity was going on.

 

Since it was only lunch time we pressed on to moor for the night opposite The Crown at Handsacre at 4:30pm.

Thursday 7th July – Rugeley

No need for a early start today as we only travelled to Rugeley employing the same trick of following another boat through the Armitage Tunnel who sent a crew member ahead to check it was clear. As our friend Cookie said later “It’s no good getting older if you don’t get craftier!” Cookie & Linda had just arrived back on their mooring yesterday after a trip in their camper.

Joy’s art class was done this afternoon whilst I finished some work I had done on the bowthruster control panel and went and got some groceries, we are fortunate to have Morrisons & Tesco both within a few hundred yards here.

We spent the evening watching ‘The Saint’ and a 1954 film, ‘ Murder by Proxy’ on Talking Pictures

Friday 8th July – Penkridge

We have decided to step up our pace today as there is a lock closure (Hyde Lock near Kinver) scheduled for Wednesday for 3 days next week so we covered 15 miles and 10 locks today landing up at Penkridge moored outside the Cross Keys.

We were going to get a cooling drink there but there seemed to be a wedding reception or some-such being held there and we couldn’t get near the bar so saved our money and had a cold one from our fridge!

Saturday 9th July – Compton

Another longish day today but only 5 locks up out of Penkridge, we stopped to top up our water at Gailey and cruised the 10 miles down to Compton with no locks to worry about.

Arriving at Compton Visitor moorings we saw a boat moored in the only shady spot, it was our neighbours Barry & Julia on nb  Stolen Time, but they had only stopped for shopping and we moved into their space when they left.

 

 

 

Wednesday 29th June – Shugborough to Rugeley

I forgot to say that, yesterday, at Great Haywood Junction we joined the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Just a short hop into Rugeley this morning with only Colwich Lock to work through, I tried to get a photo of Shugborough Hall as we passed but it hid shyly behind the trees.

Going into Rugeley we noticed the family of manikins was growing at Naomi’s Landing and the fake speed camera was still there to deter speeding boats.

After some lunch we went shopping at Morrisons & the greengrocers then debated whether to spend the night here. We did and it was relatively peaceful for a town centre location  only being disturbed by one group ‘shouting the odds’ in the early hours.

Thursday 30th June – Rugeley to Handsacre

We decided to move on to Handsacre this morning where we anticipated a good internet signal for Joy’s art class this afternoon.

We stopped to fill our watertank at Spode House moorings and tagged on behind nb Gordon Bennett to go through ‘Armitage Tunnel’ which isn’t a tunnel at all anymore but is only wide enough for one boat.

The Armitage-Shanks brand of ‘sanitary ware’ might be familiar to some of you, we passed their factory and soon arrived at Handsacre where there was a mooring conveniently opposite The Crown Inn, which we visited after lunch.

Joy’s art task today was a black & white portrait of Susan Hayward, a 40s film star. Stuffed peppers where cooking for tea while she was thus engaged and Micheal’s Fish Shop provided some chips to accompany before the rain set in for the night.

Friday 1st July – Handsacre to Fazeley

We set off at 8:20 this morning as we wanted to reach Fazeley today, so by 9:30 we arrived at Wood End Lock just as a boat was exiting so we went straight in and the crew of nb Dunslavin kindly closed the gates after us.

Help was given at the next locks by volunteer lock-keepers and by 10:15 we were turning onto the Coventry Canal. From thereon there were no more locks today.

Streethay Wharf, Huddlesford Junction, Hopwas all came and went and by 3:30pm we were moored at Fazeley avoiding the forecast rain.

Within a few minutes we were chatting to our friend Peter who lives canalside and have already arranged to share a Chinese meal with them tomorrow.

We will be staying here for a few days so you’ll have to wait for the next episode.

7 hours to do 15 miles & 3 Locks, phew!

Friday 24th June Whittington to Swindon

We left Whittington at 8:30 this morning and had a very good journey with most locks being empty ready for us, our second lock was at Kinver after which we stopped to re-fill our water tank and and empty rubbish.

The weather was overcast and it threatened to rain from time to time, but Joy kept the rain away by putting  a coat & hat on! So we covered the 7 locks and 7 miles in a little over 4¼ hours. The only hiccup on the journey was when the lock-keeper at Stewponey (the only lock with a lock-keeper) decided to close the gates as we were just going to enter! There was a boat coming the other way  and to be fair there was a bridge blocking his view, and he let us in when I remonstrated with him, after all it made sense to use the lock and save a lock-full of water.

We thought of stopping for lunch at Greensforge, but the rain held off and we pressed on to Swindon (Staffs!) where I made carrot & coriander soup and walked up to the local shop for a few essentials.

Saturday 25th June Swindon to Compton

This morning we were off before 9 am and by 11 we had negotiated the Botterham Staircase (two locks which lead straight into each other) and arrived at The Bratch where unusually there were no lock-keepers on duty. I was told by the crew of an exiting boat that one of the lock gates had jammed and couldn’t be closed, but it had been reported to CRT who were sending someone out.

I went to investigate and with the help of a passer-by we managed to close it, so after checking no boats were waiting to come down we started up the flight. This coincided with the arrival of the CRT guy who accompanied us up, and at the offending gate asked if he could come onto our boat to investigate the problem. After much probing about with a ‘keb’ (long handled rake) he admitted defeat and we went on our way, but not before another boater appeared and accused me of stealing his place in the queue, quite how I don’t know as he arrived after I had started up the locks!

As we arrived at Awbridge Lock a fisherman was preparing to set up of the lock landing (obviously not a good idea ) as I was emptying the lock a lady from a moored boat asked if I was ‘Steve’ but I didn’t get a chance to find out why!

We had to empty most of the next locks as many of the top gates and paddles were leaking. At Dimmingdale Lock it started to rain so we tied up at the nearby visitor moorings for a lunch hour, finishing off the vegetable korma I made yesterday.

Just two more locks saw us arrive at Compton where we found a mooring right outside The Fiume Italian Restaurant. After a while I went shopping at Sainsburys but omitted to take Joy’s carefully prepared list or my phone (Doh!) No matter we both walked down later to get the items I didn’t remember and visited Pep’s Plaice on the way back for some sausage & some unique Black Country orange chips for tea. (read about them here)

After tea the music and chatter from a group of ladies celebrating someone’s birthday on the restaurant patio got a bit intrusive so we decided to do Compton Lock and moor in the contrasting peace there, disturbed only by birdsong.

 

Stourport to Whittington

The start of our Summer Cruise this year has been delayed by several factors, Chris has had a number of hospital appointments to attend and Jinty our camper-van’s MoT was due to run out at the end this month and she needed some major repairs which involved visits to Dursley and Rochdale!

 

Eventually the MoT was obtained and a hospital appointment in Birmingham was arranged which we could access from near Tamworth meaning that there was nothing to delay us any longer.

Tuesday 21st June

On returning this afternoon with a shiny new MoT we were so excited that we topped up the boat with diesel and set off for Lidl for some shopping. Two of our neighbours, Barry & Leah, kindly worked York Street Lock for us and after our shopping stop continued to the ‘Bird in Hand’ for a refreshing pint and spent the night moored outside.

Wednesday 22nd June

An early(ish) 9:30 start this morning took us up to Kidderminster to visit Sainsburys for all the things Lidl didn’t have in stock and have a spot of lunch on board.

Then were off again, headed for Wolverley where we tied up in the shade of a tree for the rest of the day. Joy’s phone signal was non-existent but internet was OK, as was the TV signal.

Thursday 23rd June

This morning we resolved to make and early start to avoid the heat, just one lock Debdale Lock where we met a boatload of Americans, and through the short Cookley Tunnel. In the end the heat wasn’t that bad and we were greeted by a frog when we  arrived at Whittington where we knew there would be good internet for Joy’s online art class this afternoon.

The forecast rain hasn’t amount to much, but we will spend the night here.

 

Tuesday 19th April

After a top up with fuel, we set off down to the river this morning headed for Worcester, we had help at the staircase locks from Malc & Ben from the boatyard and from a volunteer lock-keeper so we were spoilt.

There are just three river locks en-route and they are all manned so not much effort there either.

Against the odds (and the forecast) the trip started in sunshine but got cooler  and as we approached Worcester there were a few spots of rain, however it held off until we got tied up on the pontoon opposite the weir and by 6 pm was quite sunny again.

 

 

Wednesday 20th April

This morning we didn’t leave until half past eleven then we joined a hire boat to go up the two large locks to the canal. They had a large crew so once again we didn’t need to do much work!

We found a space just a few hundred yards up the canal (Worcester & Birmingham) and settled in with good phone & TV signals and passable internet.

I found myself a couple more jobs to do on the boat including blogging!

Thursday 21st April

This morning we both had haircuts at Le Salon, just a few minutes walk from our mooring and were very pleased with the results.

When we returned we moved back to the water-point to fill up our tank and then tied up a few yards further on to make the most of the sunshine on our solar panels.

 

 

 

This afternoon Joy was able to join her on-line art class while I did some accordion practice.

This evening we treated ourselves to a Greek Takeaway from Eat Greek who delivered to the boat (their first time to a canal boat, apparently)

 

We had Keftedakia Meatballs (Tomato Sauce Traditional Greek Meatballs)  and a Kolokitho Meal,  battered slices of courgette both served with Greek Pita Wedges, Salad, Chips and a dip. It was very nice and there’s some left over for tomorrow.

Friday 22nd April

We had a quiet morning, with a visit to dispose of rubbish and pick up some milk & bread from the local convenience store at the Texaco Garage.

https://youtu.be/bkfqK1E4xf4

Lunch was an international affair consisting of our Greek leftovers & a Scotch Egg and sustained by that we boated up two locks to Lowesmore where we turned at the winding hole returning to tie up at George Street Bridge, near Asda, Home Bargains, Wickes et al.