Crew - Graham, Brenda & Matt

A late start by any standards after a very quiet night despite the policeman's warnings. Perhaps the promised Yoofs dont come out when it's chilly. nb Albion (not Roger's) passed us. Beautiful, wonderful flower boxes and roses and castles. The steerer admired our Terry's work, so that's a huge complement to Mr Smith. Finished up a Brewood and converted Jannock to Cap'n Beeky's pied a l'eau for a week or two.

Crew - Graham, Brenda Simon & Matt.

What a beautiful afternoon. A fitting start to the Golden Jubilee weekend. Simon has arrived from Salford and Matt is having a break from GCSEs.

It all got very scary when we got to the only lock of the day and found 16 "girls" out for a hen weekend. All well oiled and only one of them listening to the excellent instruction that they were being given by the hire company representative. "I don't know how anyone expects women to do this" was comment of the day from a girlie sitting in the front well of their boat, drinking archers, and watching her friend tackle the vagories of a windlass.
Lapley sanitary station is self-pumpout friendly but we're facing the wrong direction.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon & Matt.

Thame Carnival Day .... our float this year .... "The Narrowboat" (Sorry)
Weather is here, wish you were wonderful, it is sunny and warm and the day very enjoyable. This is the life! The cutting immediately prior to Cowley Tunnel was very impressive. The whole day was spent in wonderful scenery surrounded by birdsong.

Norbury Sanitary Stn. is not self pumpout friendly and Anglo Welsh are doing turnrounds. We're now getting in dire need of a pumpout and we finally found the BW card machine at Market Drayton. The £5 card emptied the tank OK. There were lots of boats preparing for Market Drayton carnival (& boat parade) tomorrow and so Brenda rigged our bunting for the weekend, tied along the handrails so that we dont get any surprise bridge or branch reactions.

Good teamwork sped us through the locks catching up the boat in front. Stopped at Audlum for the night and went for a walk, then had a couple of pints at the Shroppie Flyboat but left when the evening's (very loud) live entertainment started.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon & Matt.

The day started with better weather than forecast and we left Audlum accompanied by the sound of church bells. Not a minute too soon as the Mill had some wonderful canal paintings for sale. Never mind 3 figures, the Crossley palette knife canvasses are so lively. Onto Nantwich and were lucky to find a convenient mooring for lunch and Simon & Graham did a car shuffle. Brenda walked into town, it was closed except for football fan packed pubs, but she got no clues as to who had won England vs. Sweden.

We set off on the second leg and the heavens opened for 10 minutes, a veritable downpour but still our only rain of the day. We arrived at Burland having passed through the 6 locks at the start of the Llangollen canal and bade farewell to Simon who was going parachuting on the Bank Holiday Monday.
We got chatting to a fisherman and his attendant wife (I've noticed that happens a lot up here!) who was very cold so we made them both a cup of tea. I hope that act of kindness doesn't mean we'll get thrown out of CutWeb! We had a very quiet night at Burland and in the morning discovered the good shop just over the bridge.

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Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon, Pete & Pat.

We seemed to avoid the rain SOMEHOW today!
Once we had passed through Bunbury staircase, we found our Canadian friend moored at the Anglo Welsh base. They were waiting for approval from the Oxford hire base for the engineers to replace the broken engine mounting on his boat. Later we passed a dredging crew whose equipment and clothing was absolutely covered in mud, but they were exceedingly cheerful considering the state they were in.
When Pete and Graham went to 'car shuffle' they assured us they drove through nil visibility and floods; but do we believe them? All we saw today was a half hour shower.

We were recommended 'The Albion' in Chester & persued the thought. The pub looked good, bedecked with William Morris wallpaper and plenty of Jubilee paraphernalia et al, BUT, they said meals stopped at 8ish; we arrived at 8.03 pm to be told quite pointedly that the kitchen had closed and the cook had gone.(a dubious excuse since there were people who were only eating their starters!) They seemed surprised that we didn't want a pint even though they made no effort to find any grub at all. So....summer in a tourist town.... do they want customers? We tried Telford's Warehouse instead, had a superb meal; loads of youngsters and Salsa lessons and dancing downstairs. Good fun, to be recommended.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon, Pete & Pat.

After a morning in Chester we set off towards Ellesmere Port. Had to avoid lots of floating yetis. We arrived at the museum and proceeded to flood the lower lock by emptying the top lock into it. We were quite concerned, but the friendly museum staff assured us that this was normal and the punters would have to paddle about in it. We paid up to become museum exhibits overnight and then realised that we were locked in with Sid the Swan, of M54 fame. Apparently the motorway was jammed for MILES because mad old Sid mistook it for a canal and landed on the fast lane a while back. Now he's just prowling around the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port, fighting with another pair and their 9 cygnets.

(Brenda) I have been inventing things!
To solve the narrow single bunk and duvet problem; viz, you can't tuck it in and the weight of the overhang pulls it off.... take 1 double duvet cover and sew a line of stitching down the length where a single duvet will fit. The duvet fits in the single cover sized bit, the remaider tucks in like a sheet to anchor it onto the bed. OR sew a half width of sheet along the very edge of a single cover. Fill cover as usual, tuck sheet bit in. ( I have converted our bunk duvet covers by the latter method. Even Matt can keep his duvet on at night, and his bed remains almost tidy by day. 10/10)

Even better, for twits like me who are stupid enough to wear flip-flops on board... To avoid losing a clog or flip-flop overboard you should attach a string to each shoe, like the idiot mittens we used to wear. Pass the strings up yer trouser legs, et voila. ( Haven't actually tried this one.) Move over Trevor Bayliss.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon, Pete & Pat.

Today I have mostly been feeling really rotten, but not as awful as the rain!

Yesterday's cruising rerun! Back to Chester from Ellesmere port after all night in the rain, the morning in the rain, the afternoon in the rain and finally it stopped at about 5.30 pm. We stopped at a boatyard near Stoak and put 90+ litres of diesel in the tank. We also lit the heating (in August??) to dry the clothes. Back outside Telford's Warehouse, where it was jazz night tonight, free entertainment!
Pete and Pat had taken the train from Ellesmere Port to Port Sunlight this morning. They reported an enjoyable day, despite the rain. They brought us some Sunlight Soap, a blast from the past, and we were amused to find it is now made in the Czech Republic. We had intended to take said train, but going into Liverpool taking in the Mersey Ferry. I really wasn't upto it, so another time...

As we left the mooring at the Ellesmere Port museum, a wedding celebration was in full swing in the hotel backing onto the basin. First the children came to watch us at the window, then they took the attention of their 'growed ups', and eventually most of the guests were more interested in Jannock winding round outside than the speeches inside. If it was your wedding breakfast that was held up for 15 minutes while the guests went to the window, I apologise. I was wearing my boatwoman's bonnet, so at least I was dressed up for the occasion.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon, Pete & Pat.

An overcast start turned into a day of misty-type rain. Brenda took the tiller and became soggy person number 1, being out in the weather for most of the day. A car Shuffle took place at Egg Bridge and Pat and Pete drove ahead to investigate our final mooring of the holiday. Arrived at 4.00 pm. Refreshing showers all round revived spirits and then a 'blow out' at the Oak Room, previously the Poacher's Pocket, completed the day.

It was a really good experience for both Pete and Pat and both would like to commend Brenda and Graham for their generosity. Looking forward to the next time. Pete

Food notes:
Pete and Pat visited the Icecream Farm whilst car shuffling. They treated us to a large tub of rhubarb and custard icecream. It was delicious. We recommend a visit there, all the myriad of flavours sound superb.

The vegetarian options on the menu at the Oak Room were very disappointing, so Pete asked if they had anything that wasn't PASTA! The waitress returned with a verbal list of options that exceeded those on the menu in both quantity and imagination. Pete's ultimate choice, an aubergine bake, was declared delicious by all who tried it. We left having suggested to the management that they included all of the options on the menu instead of hiding them.

And (finally Ester), at Ellesmere Port market we bought the biggest baps/barm cakes we'd ever seen, known locally as 'bin lids'. Lovely soft bread and made the biggest salad rolls we've ever eaten. Yum.

Crew - Graham, Brenda & Matt.

Arrived at the boat after MOTing the Britax (earwig?) ( Graham has swapped the very pink Monkey bike with Mr. T, for a Britax folding moped. The aim is to have transport aboard, making car shuffling easier. It quickly became known as The Fleeing Fly.)

An uneventful afternoon cruise, although we did promote a (large) degree of anxiety in a German crew who realised that we were going UP in the staircase they were going DOWN in. Vorsprung dur and all that, WE have the technology (we're just waitng for the Lego parts!). The old keepers cottage at Beeston Stone lock sells yet more yummy ice-cream. Honeycomb is my recommendation there. A wonderful array of pies and preserves were for sale, shame we had the rations under tight control!

Crew - Graham, Brenda & Matt.

The engine had a pre-breakfast oil change and overhaul. We just pootled along. Brenda took some photo's of the swallows nesting in the roof beams of the new sanitary station at Calvelly. Earwig has had its first outing and proved its worth, retrieving the car from Tattenhall and moving it to Henhull.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon, Matt & Cara.

Matthew was out of bed by 08.30 hrs!!! Cara arrived at 09.00 hrs, coffees all round and then off. Straight forward until we reached Audlem, just 5 locks in as many miles. We led a procession from Nantwich, which got broken up by Hack Green Locks. Some of the 'fertiliser' smells coming from the fields were particularly 'orrible. Simon and Brenda picked damsons at the locks near Bagley Bridge. ( And they made very good damson brandy I am happy to report.) Stopped at Audlem and went to the picture shop. Brenda wouldn't let me buy another Alan Firth print. Made Market drayton by 18.00 and moored near Betton bridge. Earwig transport back to Nantwich to collect the car.

Crew - Graham, Brenda, Simon & Matt.

Met up with nb Florence Rose ( see Kennet & Avon 2001 ) at the water point. Caught up on 1 year's gossip, they'd sold their house, Simon had got his A levels etc. Met some people at Tyreley locks, who required a demonstration of Dad's new workhorse motorbike ( the Flying Flea or Fleeing Fly) as they wanted to buy one. 5 locks without hassle, as we'd lost the drunken hen party who were behind us, and then a thin cutting where boats had trouble passing. When the polishing and painting was completed, the boat was emptied of breakables/edibles ready for the NEXT CREW! (yay, them) Simon's double entry book-keeping course (the BW expenses logbook!!) completed- earning him a headache.

Post A level Crew re-united
- Simon, Kevin, Stuart, Jo, Cara and Gemma.

(Jo) It smells of poo here, we can only find one of the 3 way speaker system, hold on, Gemma's just found it, and it's raining. YAY- WE'RE BACK!!! Fat badgers.

(Stuart) After a grand total of about 6 hours on board, I can already feel the gentle ebbing away of our precious sanity. I managed to read 'Jubilee Hall' as 'Jumble Hotel'. Never mind, eh?

(Gemma) 14 months of trying to fit back into society went down the pan in minutes. Yummy dinner.

(Cara) A lazy day. I finished my book. Stu's lost it and Keens' humour has infected us all. Help me.

(Simon) Oh dear, we're back, and cabin fever has reinfected. Lazy day, only 1 lock, but some hard work tomorrow.

Cat grooves on down! (That's our trusty ship's cat, 50p from Oxfam, lives aboard permanently on guard, I presume.) Where's my cardboard fish? ( identified as Cat's thought for the day)

Post A level Crew re-united
- Simon, Kevin, Stuart, Jo, Cara and Gemma.

(Jo) Locks, tunnels ,weed and flags, hmmm....I suspect alien forces are at work. I drove through a tunnel and only hit the side once! And now I've eaten too much, definately superior forces at work here.

(Simon) Another dull hour on the Shroppie, with a highly boring lock going up 1-2", before attacking Wolverhampton 21. Got stuck behind 3 slow boats and took an hour longer than we should to get onto the BCN New Main Line. Jo and Cara conquered Netherton tunnel before we stopped at Windmill End for a bar-be-que. Also demolished 2 bottles of wine. (how unusual ;-)

(Stuart) Well, I thought I drove quite well today, although someone on board just mocked me all day. All day I have done stuff and now I can't think what to write about what I've done all day. Never mind, on the upside I played the didgeridoo, although I just realised I haven't practised my trumpet. Bugger!

(Kev) Well hello, long time no see, let's think??? I have cooked today and that seems to be about it. Now, it's either me going insane or it looks like this boat is leaning more and more, but that could have been the more we drank throughout the day. (Watch this space for developments, Ed.)

(Cara) I finished my book & saw some coconuts floating down the canal & drank lots of alcohol today. Gemma and Jo made ice. (The coconuts are religious offerings cast into the water by Birminghan congregations, there is a move afoot to have part of the BCN designated as a holy watercourse (Ganges tributary?), as many find it too expensive to return to India to perform necessary rituals in the Ganges. Honest. Ed.)

link to BCN page to continue!

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