A week out at last!

It had been our intention to take Michelle along the Trent & Mersey from Fradley Junction to Nottingham on the Trent, and back. We'd planned to meet her at Fradley, where she would park her car for the duration. This called for us to spend five days travelling to Fradley, and five back, of course. We'd arranged for Caroline to come and see us there the day we arrived. Caroline is an old friend of Madeline's we'd been reacquainted with at Madeline's funeral.

The problem was, I'd messed up some dates in my calendar, and we couldn't actually afford the five days for the return journey at the end of the week. We changed plans, then.

Michelle arrived at around midday on Sunday, and we set out soon after. It was a lovely afternoon, and there were lots of boats about. Moving on after lunch just above Watford Locks, we had a short wait at the busy flight. Chatting with the husband-and-wife vollie team, we discovered that they both used to live in Boreham Wood, the town of our birth, and that the wife had been born there, too. Small world, huh?

We arrived at the place of the rusty butties - Norton Junction approach - at about 5:00, and were glad to find just one mooring space. It was here I had something of a painful surprise.

Monday morning was breezy. The dawn chorus was fabulous - they'd rehearsed well.

Braunston Tunnel would have been fine but for a very timid skipper in front of us who moved very slowly, and bounced off the wall several times. He even reversed at one point. We're generally patient, but slowing down means less control over the steering, so it made things a bit more challenging for Grace, let's say.

Boats were queuing at the top of Braunston Locks, as they were below and, no doubt at each successive lock. Most travelled in pairs, which made the whole matter that much speedier and more efficient. One of the boats was a party of Norwegians on NB Rock Thrush who were on their fourth annual two-week UK canal holiday. They considered themselves quite expert, but I didn't have the heart to disabuse them of that idea. We were to meet up with them several times over the rest of the week, since their itinerary was much the same as ours. They planned to stop and visit Braunston.

"How big is the city?" they asked.

One balance beam at Bottom Lock bore a CRT sign I'd not seen before.

"Warning! Bee activity in balance beam!"

It's amazing how often we come this way and find Roy and Lee of Days Afloat inside Roy's boat having morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea... And still they manage to get their work done!

Just beyond Braunston, on the Oxford Canal North, we had a bite to eat. It's a lovely place to stop at.

On we went afterwards. Willoughby, Barby, then Hillmorton Locks. We'd hoped to moor above the locks, but there was no room, so we made our way down, and tied up just around the corner after Bottom Locks. It had been a longer day than we'd expected.

Back onto the Trent & Mersey

Friday morning saw us heading into Lymm, with stops for water and Elsan on the way. We had to wait a while for water. Another boat had beaten us to it, and the flow from the tap wasn't best. The crew of the other boat had found a lay-by café van at the side of the nearby main road, and were filling their faces with the hugest breakfast baps I'd ever seen. I walked up behind one of them, and asked him how long he thought they'd be, unaware of the fact that he was eating. When he turned around, he simply couldn't speak because of the bap.

“It's OK,” I said, “we're in no hurry.”

We moored in Lymm, not intending to be long. We needed a few things from Sainsbury's there, and would look for some DVDs in the charity shops. TV at the moment seems to be all Olympics, Proms and repeats. 

The shopping took us longer than we'd anticipated, so we had lunch at the San Fairy Ann narrowboat café before continuing our journey.

Most excellent ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches, chased by first-class cappuccino and tea. Fare which matches easily that served at Braunston's Gongoozlers' Rest.

It was very windy all day long, becoming particularly gusty mid to late afternoon. So we got blown down past Grappenhall and Thelwell, Stockton Heath, Moore and Preston Brook. There were far more boats about today, the GRP cruisers finding the wind rather hard going. Grace was now enjoying this rather more varied and interesting stretch of the Bridgewater Canal, having largely disliked it before.

Surely, moored boats CAN'T slow down!

At Preston Brook Tunnel, we joined NB On Reflection whom we'd met back at Plank Lane. They were waiting to go through, and we joined the queue behind them. The skipper's an interesting guy, having cruised a lot of the UK system, including the Ribble Link and Lancaster Canal - which I think we might well travel, now he's put our mind at rest about the rather scary-looking River Ribble! He and his wife live in an old lock-keeper's cottage that they bought at auction. It needed a lot of work doing to it, but they love it.

We had half an hour to wait for our allotted time for passage through the tunnel. Two boats emerged from the opposite direction in the last ten minutes, then through we went.

There's a shallow stop-lock at the other end that's a bit of a mystery. It's wider than a single lock, but too narrow for two boats to go in together. Very odd!

At this point, we were back on the Trent and Mersey Canal, leaving the Bridgewater behind. We hadn't been chased by Peelers, or stopped and fined. Grace breathed a sigh of relief.

After a search for good mooring at the end of the day, and after a couple of failures where the bank was too rocky or the water too shallow, we tied up in Dutton, between bridges 212 and 211.

I love the Trent & Mersey, too!

We left our Fradley mooring at around 10:30, and turned left at the junction. We were now in waters previously unexplored. There were two locks to ascend, with a vollie at each. The first was having issues with clouds of midges and his hi-vis jacket. They must have thought he was a flower! He quickly ripped off the yellow garment, dropped it, and ran away from it.

T

he next vollie had the midges, too, but wasn't doing the flower impersonation. He thought they just liked the way he smelt. He recommended that we take some time to go up the Caldon Canal on our way to Liverpool. Really beautiful, he said. Unfortunately, we probably won't have the time, since we have a day and time to keep at Liverpool Docks, but it sounds as though we ought to cruise it some time.

It was from this vollie that I learned the story of The Swan pub at Fradley. Back in 2011, the powers that be (whoever they were) told the proprietor to clean the place up. The vollie spoke of the place smelling of stale, sour beer all the time, and the food being dreadful. I read on the web customers reporting extreme rudeness from the staff - and the smell, and the lousy food. Well, it seems they never did get their act together. The pub closed, but was under new management from last December. The vollie says the new people are making a go of it, and things have improved. I hope so. Fradley and its visitors need a really good pub.

On up the Trent and Mersey now. One more lock, Wood End, and off into gorgeous countryside again.

The canal was busy, not with boats, but with swans, ducks, coots, moorhens and geese, all with their young. It was a lovely sight.

Now, Grace and I have been on Kantara for nearly five years. Before that, we'd done numerous holiday weeks on the canals. And never in any of that time did we see so many women at the tiller of their boats. It's a new phenomenon to us, new since we started out last week. And I'm not talking just one or two women a day, it's several. Very strange. But very welcome!

When we needed lunch, we didn't really get the choice of beautiful spots, but Armitage village served the purpose.

Armitage Tunnel is odd. The original roof of the 150 year-old, 130-yard long tunnel was removed in 1971 because of the dangers of subsidence due to coal mining. It now has road bridges over much of its length. The cut is only wide enough for one narrowboat, so boaters are warned that a member of crew needs to go down to the far end of the tunnel, to make sure no-one tries to enter while their boat is coming through.

Approaching Rugeley, the scene became more and more urban.

Bishton Hall - now a school

Does anyone know who this is?

We finished the day in Rugeley, just before bridge 56, and very close to a large and useful Tesco store. Time for more shopping!

Crazy garden shed!

 

This is where we spent the night.

Fradley Junction, and new waters!

Our journey to Fradley Junction was uneventful. There was very little traffic, no locks, no tunnels, no swing- or lift-bridges. No shopping to do, and no services needed. Boring? No way!

The countryside continued to be beautiful; the canal wide and stately.

Arriving at Fradley, we weren't sure of being able to get a mooring beyond the junction itself, so we happily moored about 100 yards away from it, in a pleasant, wooded spot, with several other boats.

We strolled down to the junction, turned left onto the Trent and Mersey Canal and walked up alongside the locks to see if there were any moorings available there. But there weren't, and we were glad that we'd taken the first spot we'd seen.

Back down at the junction, we found the gift shop closed, possibly closed down. Grace had been hoping to buy a hat or two which would suit her boaty lifestyle. Nearby, The Swan (aka "The Mucky Duck") was open, but displaying no menu. We had previously considered eating there this evening, but there was nothing to suggest that it was any better than it had been back in 2011, when reviewers on the web had been unanimous that it was not a good place to eat. (Please note, however, as I will say in greater detail in my next post, that the pub has been under new management since December last year, and it is now reputed to be much improved.)

There is a holiday chalet site here at the Junction, with a large and attractive câfé. I think it's been developed considerably since we were last here. A path runs through it to a Nature Trail created by CRT, really nicely done, with paths winding around a woodland area, good signage and seating, and an ancient lake made easily accessible from a path around it.

I love the way CRT are working to make the canals a place of interest and enjoyment to those who aren't boaters. This whole site epitomises that focus.

Looking west from Lock 17

and looking east from the same place

 Unfortunately for us, the old BW yard was closed, apart from the câfé, and we didn't want anything there. We'd wanted the Information Office. The old BW works van isn't there any more. 

Where could that have gone? It'd been there for decades!