Narrowboat Adagio

A boiling hot day but time to move on. Mooring up in a town is good for shops, pubs and pubs but not good for solitude and a nice view. So onwards to Northwich. Chugging through large lagoons caused by the salt extraction and then a visit to the recently restored Lion Salt Works – now a museum & exhibition. Then on to a very quiet spot near Marbury country park for a few days of Rest & Recreation plus Make n Mend. We left Middlewich via the Big Lock:

An odd and eerie site – an aqueduct

Navigating these expanses of open water . .  or flashes as they’re called

It was a beautiful day … even sailing through the Tata chemical works

A lunchtime stop at the Salt works . .  a fascinating place and lots of exhibits too, see http://lionsaltworks.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk/visit-us/  both our parents can remember having a block of salt in the larder!

And then a mile further to our designated quiet zone

With plenty of sunshine to top the batteries up, we stayed a second day. Steve wandered off to buy a new stern gland for the boat, which we have now decided to have fitted later when the boat comes out of the water late August/September. It was then time to restock at Tesco’s and have a look around the town. It seemed we had missed the best pubs … The White Bear was great and had a good spread of beers, friendly staff and knowledgeable locals:

 Lazy Haze (Tatton), Captain Pigwash (Potbelly), Solstice and Pale Lazy Bear (Beartown) – the best one! Off tomorrow towards Northwich and the Lion Salt museum and then somewhere rural to stop for a few days.

Well, Wheelock wasn’t great.  Not a lot there. The Cheshire Cheese pub was a rather old fashioned boozer with Hyde’s bitter. We had a Chinese take away, our first take out meal – this was great and did us for lunch the next day. A lazy start but away by 10 ish – towards Middlewich.

Our mooring at Wheelock. The Trent & Mersey on from here was narrow and twisty … with some unusual beasts

Just a few sporadic locks – this one on the outskirts of Middlwich, showing the huge Tata chemical works.

A long and straight section bring the boater into Middlewich. The next lock is Kings Lock and home to the chandlery and the T-junction with the Shroppie. We had planned to stop here but the road was a tad noisy plus Steve Wedgwood at the Chandlers was very busy . .  so we pottered on . .  queuing behind 3 other boats for the final 3 locks … which took 2 hours to get thru

The manic junction

We finally tied up at the visitor moorings and in need of some refreshment

And on for some further refreshment . .  at the Big Lock pub which turned into dinner as well

Is it the angle or is he putting on weight?

We had a very damp afternoon and evening on day 15 but found that the nearest pub, the Broughton Arms to be excellent. Not only did they have a dozen or so beers but two pints cost £5! Must make sure we stop here on the way back.  It was also raining heavily the next day so we didn’t set off until after 11. Our plan was to get to Wheelock for the afternoon – so just a few miles but 14 locks to get through.

Unusual to see a mason’s mark on a stone in one of the locks

The rain soon went as did a brief meeting of the canal and the M6

Lots of bird life about as well as quite a few heron

We met a few working boats on their way back to Braunston (the Nuffield et al), this one was towing the next one

It may have only been three and a half hours but it was tiring work.

Narrow but very deep locks

One of the last locks and onto the visitor moorings at Wheelock. A bit of a rest and then over to the huge pet shop to get Toby yet another ball (he’s lost 2 so far) plus some of those dried sausages, I noticed a Chinese take away so that was our supper sorted. We stopped off at the Cheshire Cheese pub for a pint of Hyde’s bitter – hmm, rather old-fashioned soapy beer, never mind plenty back on t’boat.  Tomorrow – Middlewich!

Having met the very friendly & chatty tunnel master, Derek, last night. He said he’d be on at 0800 the next day, so we got going early and arrived at the portal around 0900. One boat had just gone through and then there’d be three coming the other way – so a good hour’s wait, time to put the kettle on!

Then it was our turn ….  into the gloom … with the tunnel getting narrower and lower the further you go …

Utmost concentration required …

I told you it was like a ghost train ride – here’s the skeleton

Phew, some 40 minutes later and we made it!

Out of the northern portal and the ochre coloured water

The plan was to chug on for a while, have a look at the CRT facilities at Red Bull and then do a few locks before finding a good mooring spot for the night (pub please!)

Viv did a few locks and then after a lunch stop, Steve did six more making it 12 locks today. Most of these were duplicated, i.e. there were two locks which eases the traffic flow . . 

Some of these were quite deep – note the wee bridge with the gap in the middle? This was to take the towing rope from the horse.

We moored up at Rode Heath – nice rural spot with two pubs and even a Chinese take away … here’s a view of the guide book we use . . (we’re going right to left)

A busy day today, away by 0950 – that’s early for us and finish by 3 ish. Six locks, which Viv boldly worked- most of em very deep and very heavy. We sped past the Wedgwood factory – for, yes, we are in the Potteries now! And on to Etruria, Stoke and finally Westport Lake. A good resting point for two reasons – adjacent to the Harecastle tunnel for tomorrow and by a lake for Toby!

And some very Midland sounding names . . 

Some of the Trent & Mersey was covered in oil – shimmers of oil came thru the surface as we chugged alone – not nice. It’s said it dissolves the protective bitumen paint on the hull. Some quaint bridges too

The Stoke locks were not very pleasant – low bridges, deep locks …

View from … the boat

More reminders of the kilns for the potteries

Finally, reaching Etruria and the Bone mill, where posh bone china was made from, er, bones – some human bones too apparently!

Etruria junction, where a right turn goes down the Caldon canal

There are some potteries still in action, like this one.  It even had a cafe outside. Nice. See http://www.princes-regeneration.org/middleport-pottery/visit-us

According to the guide books and our peeking at Google maps – Westport Lake seemed to be a good mooring point. Visitor moorings with rings. Fairly safe and just a 15 minute chug to that Tunnel. We walked around the lake, saw a giant carp being landed and it gave Toby his promised chill time – a swim. We then carried on walking to the portal; no, not some quantum wormhole that connects us with our Mother planet but the southern portal of the Harecastle tunnel 2926 yds long and a 45 minute journey in the dark!!

Our mooring point and opposite, the lake (boat is hidden – good idea!)

Here’s the guy catching his carp

And here’s our Boggle chilling out

It was a mile on to the portal but it was a grand day so on we went

And lots of info about it … it always reminds me of the fairground Ghost Train, as they let you in they the shut the doors!  It’s to draw the fumes out, I think.

We saw this boat emerge as 3 Black Prince hire boats waited their turn, here comes John & Diana on Molly Rose – two New Zealanders, enjoying their UK Summer holiday. One of the best things about this boating lark is meeting other people – especially folk from overseas. We met a boat full of Swedes in Stone and then a Danish couple at Hilmorten – who had hired a boat for 3 months. Shame this country is so paranoid and xenophobic (as seen in this EU referendum) because these guys are fascinating and you can learn so much from them.

Another milestone, we are edging ever so slowly onwards to the end of the Trent & Mersey

Ah, the orchids are flowering

And some local art work … quite like this! And the spikes help.

We ran the engine for around 5 hours which meant we could run the slow cooker and cook our Sainsbury’s Gammon joint! Left in the pot for another hour and it’s ready – yum! Open the Albariño and let the party begin!

A few hours chugging thru 8 locks and onto the Plume of Feathers at Barlaston and a birthday luncheon at Neil Morrissey’s place

Taking on water in Stone before the Stone 4 locks – flying Viv’s flag

Viv drove for four locks – lots more confidence now

An arty shot of the ground paddles – winding these up lets water into the lock.

Bridge 99 – one of the many scenic bridges we encounter

Just had to take this photo – it was the false eyes!

Oh, another day off from chugging and another Victron Multiplus problem solved. Owing to the lack of sunshine, there was little solar power to charge the batteries, so the engine had to go on for 2 hrs. Chance then to do some washing. Such fun. But, oh why does the system take so long to charge up the batteries? Two and a half hours later and it’s gone from 67 to 76% ??

Meanwhile, off round the town . .  here’s TWO boats fitting into one narrow lock – you don’t see that every day!

And where to? Yes, the Royal Exchange, a Titanic Brewery pub. It has no TV and hence was empty (there’s some kind of footie match on at 1400, England v. Wales). 

The very welcoming Michelle was on hand to welcome us . .

There were 7 of their own beers on plus another 6 guest beers – lovely. Viv had a pint of Steerage (3.8%) and “one of the best session beers I have ever tried”. I had a mixture of Plum Porter and Steerage – a Plummage, apparently! Nice.

Yes, we give the town of Stone a good thumbs up. Very welcoming and full of interest.

Now to that techie problem … the manual for our Victron Multiplus, invertor/charger says we should limit the amount of charge the batteries get to 10-20%. The charger side of this gadget is 120 amps and for some reason the previous owner had configured it to just 25% – i.e. 25% of 120 amps.  This means the batteries only get 30 amps max. No wonder it takes ages to recharge. I took the front panel off and nervously reconfigured the dip switches so that it was now charging at 75%, i.e. 90 amps. We have a 600 Ah battery bank so, 10 to 20% would be 60 to 120 amps, so I guess 90 is OK.

Running the engine again, just for an hour saw the % charge zoom up to 90% and go into absorption mode. So, success I think. We’ll see how we go when chuggin along tomorrow.

Welsh flags out tomorrow as it’s Viv’s Birthday … yeeeeeeeaaaaah!

Such a nice place is Stone. So we really slowed down by staying put.

But first … a 3-egg omelette with chopped sausage and two rashers of smoked, dry-cured bacon. No meagre ship’s rations here.Lots of sight-seeing, shopping and pub hopping today. A day of hot sunshine then more rain!!