Pushing Weed

A rare sunny morning on the
Leeds & Liverpool 

This year we have discovered the seven wonders of the canal boating world, four of which we have visited this “summer”. Though I don’t think we can really call it a summer. There are few days we have not had a coal fire in the evening and my shorts have barely seen the light of day. Lucky for Mum, we had pretty good weather when she joined us for the first of the wonders, and even managed dinner outside - by way of contrast, during our first summer on board, we did not use the breakfast bar, except for breakfast! Her trips seem to extend by a day each year(!)and for her four day trip this year, we chose to cross the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, heading to Llangollen . 

Crossing the Pontcysyllte Aquaduct 

It is as impressive as it looks in the pictures, and quite freaky when you are just 6 inches of metal away from the edge and a very long drop. The Llangollen canal is extremely pretty but fairly busy with hire boats and so narrow towards the end that you have a very ad hoc one way system where you have to walk ahead of the boat for over half a mile to stop other boats coming towards you. Very handily my aunt and uncle live close to the canal in Wem, and we were able to drop mum off to extend her holiday, before continuing northwards.

With Judy, Gerald and Mum

This year’s adventures began in and around Birmingham, with two important celebrations. First up was a ceilidh to celebrate the 60th birthday of Ian’s best friend from Uni, Clare. She and her husband Paul also spent a day with us working the 20 lock Hatton flight from Warwick  - we have often wished we had stowed them away to help later in the trip! After a short diversion to Worcester, we headed back to Solihull to Tatiana and Robert’s wedding. Delicious Sri Lankan curries graced the reception, which was conveniently less than two miles from where we were moored.  60th birthdays have been a bit of a thing this year. Ian celebrated with a chef’s table at Inati in Christchurch followed by a stay amidst the vineyards on Waiheke island off the coast of Auckland. 

A tapas picnic on Waiheke

When mine came along, we had just passed through Stoke on Trent! Luckily we found a smart restaurant up the Calder canal, with a Great British Menu chef (we binge watch GBM ever spring) and Tom and Lexi joined us for dinner and a night on the boat. 

Tom & Lexi

Central Birmingham proved to be a delight; the outskirts with copious broken locks less so.  We also hit our first of several water shortages a few miles north of there. We passed boaters who had been stranded for four or five days, before hitting our own backlog of boats waiting for the pound ahead to have sufficient water to enable passage.  We were lucky, as we have been a number of times in the four months, and only had to wait a night for levels to rise. Stoppages can last for weeks, and there is nothing you can do. Very good for zen habits. The other challenge to our progress has been oceans of Pennywort, particularly on the run up to Ellesmere Port and the top of the Wigan flight. Pushing weed with our bow was hard enough, but at one point we had a rug about 6m sq woven into our prop. With inordinate patience Ian managed to break it away, and the weed island floated off no doubt to foil yet another boater following in our wake.

Pushing weed - pesky Pennywort

We encountered the second wonder on our new favourite waterway, the Bridgewater canal which circumvents Manchester. Wide and lock free, it passes through pretty towns, and at one point crosses the Manchester Ship Canal on a once moveable aqueduct. 

Aquaduct over the MSC

We were duly impressed as we crossed over, though did not recognise it as a “wonder” at this juncture. Burnley Embankment similarly. Much as we enjoyed the clear straight run, after weaving through the Lancashire countryside, we failed to appreciate that we were cruising some 60ft above the town on an impressive feat of engineering. It may be because incredible engineering becomes an everyday occurrence on the canal system. We are constantly amazed by the structures built over 200 years ago. 

Fabulous bridge in Chester

Other summer highlights include RHS Bridgewater garden, with its tomato greenhouse invoking childhood memories of my grandfather’s greenhouse in Northern Ireland, and the cathedrals of Worcester, Chester and Blackburn. The latter also sports a larger than life statue of Barbara Castle. She is a fellow alumnus of St Hugh’s and agreed to speak at my student Law Society event if picked up from her home in High Wycombe. If she was surprised when Richard’s Fiat Panda appeared at the door, she didn’t show it, though she was quick to remind us how she had introduced legislation to make seat belts compulsory.

A hot day at the Modern Pentathlon 

Though planning can be problematic on the boat, it had not stopped me booking Olympic tickets 15 months in advance. We took nearly two weeks off in August to enjoy the velodrome cycling, golf, hockey and modern pentathlon in Paris. A real treat which brought back happy memories of London 2012. The second week in London was glorious. Lucy’s flat was a perfect base for meeting up with family and friends and a birthday visit to a fabulous production of Fiddler on the Roof at Regent’s Park Open air theatre with Linda and Nigel.

Three days ago we descended the 4th of the seven wonders and our final one of the summer. The locks on the Leeds & Liverpool have proved heavy and energy sapping, but the Bingley 5-rise staircase lock was a delight. On a staircase each lock drops into the next one directly, making it challenging to operate. Consequently Bingley is fully staffed and we beat our record of most double locks in an hour - eight on this occasion. Earlier in May we managed 31 locks in 3 hours 35 minutes on the Tardebigge flight, predominantly by ourselves.

“Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus”
Ian on the Tardebigge Flight

Admittedly they are narrow but I was very chuffed when the CRT helper at the top said that our speed could only be achieved by an expert helm! We are now moored by the pretty model village of Saltaire and David Hockney’s Salts Mill. 

In a week we pop the boat into its winter home, this time in Thorne Marina, South Yorkshire where Lainy Cain, our trusty boatbuilder, will spruce up a few bits for us. After an autumn in Scotland and Spain, we will return to London for the winter ….. though who knows, it may prove to be warmer than a summer in the north!