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Archive 2002

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Building Snecklifter

July 10 2001	Offer on house accepted today. We have until September 7 before final go-ahead for building *Snecklifter.*
July 13	Visited Bryn Jones on *Driftwood 75* at Whaley Bridge and met John and Yvonne on **Gipsy Queen. They travelled down Huddersfield canal together. They were very enthusiastic and helpful in pointing out what to choose - and what to avoid - in a boat.**
September 7	The house was finally sold today when the cheque from Helen Parker was paid into our account and we moved into *Birchfield* to stay with a friend for a few months.
September 12	Travelled to Mirfield for a planning meeting with Dean at Heron Boats. Start delayed for a couple of weeks and **Snecklifter will now not be ready for us until early February. The one consolation is that we will at least miss the worst of January's cold weather.**
September 15	Detailed layout for *Snecklifter* arrived this morning. Dean has made an excellent job of it incorporating all the ideas that Liz and I had put forward. He has allowed 24 feet of shelving for my CDs with a wider top shelf that will hold 61 videos or a mixture of videos and books.
November 5	At last ! The base plate laid today - the building of *Snecklifter* is under way. First payment of £10,000 made.

March 29	Left Mirfield en route for Skipton but had teething problems with Mikuni central heating so tied up at Horbury Bridge within shouting distance of the Bingley Arms pub - excellent Tetley's cask ale and excellent landlord,Andy. Stayed nearly a week before moving on to Stanley Ferry (April 6) where we will moor until Monday morning to be at Castleford when BWB offices open - we still need our licence etc. Another good pub, The Ship. Hardship, nothing but hardship.
April 8	Arrived Castleford this afternoon after marvellous weekend at Stanley Ferry. Our licence is in the post from London (second class) so we should get it tomorrow and then we'll head north west up to Leeds and Skipton. BWB officials have been and continue to be extremely helpful.
April 10	Left Leeds with Judd and Maurean Wall on *Piggiwig* who helped us up through double and triple locks, through difficult areas like Kirkstall and on to Rodley. Jud said we could go with them up to and through Bingley Locks and we accepted the offer with alacrity. They have been tremendously helpful as well as marvellous company, and Jud has also watched over me as I did my first 50-hour oil change. Hope I can remember the boatmanship I have learned from him before they travel on alone to their new moorings and we head for Skipton to meet our friend Linda Pelc.
April 14	As Jud and Maureen wanted to call at Puffer Parts chandlery for a new front fender we continued in their company, up through Bingley 3-rise and 5-rise staircase locks, through innumerable swing bridges, fetching up at Kildwick yesterday afternoon. We all decided to stay here for the weekend and were joined this morning by Brian and Kath Wild on **Oasis. Another good pub, The White Lion, a few hundred yards away.**
April 17	We've been at Skipton since yesterday, a lovely town at the heart of Airedale. *Piggiwig* is still here but expected to leave tomorrow. We'll stay on until Friday before going on to Gargrave where Linda will be able to park her car for up to a week at the Anchor pub. Tonight we met the very first people to recognise the boat from reading about us on the internet - the Potter family of Hartlepool holidaying on **June, a Shepley Marina boat. Creating and keeping up the website seemed all the more worthwhile when you realise you are not working in a total vacuum.**
April 21	This is our third day at Gargrave where we've shared a few towpath bottles of wine with Fred and Julie Boreham of *Wingletang* (named for a bay in the Scilly Isles where Julie was born) and Brian and Ann Steward of *Jacob. Both couples have spent years on the Cut so they have been able to advise us about pleasures and problems to come. We've just heard that the Trent and Mersey is closed near Anderton until at least the end of June and that there is not enough water to go through the centre of Manchester. As we have no intention of retracing our route back through Leeds, Castleford and then down the Trent, our only routes south are blocked. We may have to stay on this lovely section of the canal, dragging ourselves from one great pub to another. My idea of a supportable disaster. Meanwhile we are still receiving emails from people following our journey - from Bill and Michelle Johnson in the USA, from Ralph Freeman in Derby, Jud and Maureen's son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Tracy Wall, Mike Hecken on* *Ronarosa* (who has his own website), and even our butcher in Bakewell, Alan Bakel, as well as some of our many friends and ex-neighbours back in Derbyshire and my old newspaper colleagues who have moved on to other papers or television. One of the first to reach us came from another American, Steve and his young daughter Sarah who, I think, live in South Carolina, though that could be North. Steve's original email got lost in the confusion of moving aboard, so if he reads this perhaps he'll contact me again and I'll update this entry so I get the facts right.

April 28	Our friend Linda Pelc joined us for a six-day holiday last Tuesday and the following day, after repairs to *Snecklifter's* electrical system, we set off for Skipton, stopping near Thorlby for the night. We had a delicious barbecue of pork chops and sausages (both fat and thin varieties). From there to Skipton for the night and then on to Kildwick through rain and wind that made negotiating swing bridges a problem. Settled at Kildwick, Linda began painting acrylic roses on our plank - see photograph to see how marvellous it looks - and promises to finish the end pieces with castles when she next comes to stay with us. The latest e-mail to reach us comes from Derek and Dorothy Canvin of New Zealand who hope to have their own narrowboat soon.
May 1	Rain and gusting wind made cruising difficult but we left Kildwick yesterday, mooring overnight at Skipton and pressing on this morning to reach Gargrave just after lunch. We are moored right behind Sue and Mike Richardson on Shania, the couple we will travel south with next week. In the meantime we can relax until Sunday when Liz's Pack Horse "crowd" - six of them including Pat and Ralph Paulet - arrive bringing with them a picnic and an invitation to an evening meal. Ain't being poverty stricken great !
May 2	Sat down with Mike and Sue for a coffee about 10 this morning, were later joined by Trevor Cooper-Tydeman of *Zungeru,* and suddenly found four hours had passed. Few of our chores were finished but nobody seemed worried by it. I wasn't even sure what day it was but Mike said it was Saturday - and we agreed, if he wanted it to be Saturday we were not going to argue !
May 6	Popular holiday spots are invariably invaded by tourists over Bank Holidays and we were no expection, with six friends from the Packhorse folk club at Little Longstone descending us on for the day. Rather than eating us out of boat and home, however, they brought a sumptuous picnic and then took us out for an evening meal at the Masons Arms in Gargrave. Four of us - clearly the most intelligent who remain nameless - topped off a fantastic day by winning the Sunday night quiz at the pub. This morning, we were hailed by Simon and Carol Jenkins of *Waimarie. Simon has been following this website since November when Snecklifter started building and seemed to know as much about our progress as we did. Very enouraging. Later, on the way to the Old Swan, we talked with Reg and Carol Aspinall of Odersfeld II,* who were so supportive at Horbury Bridge when we were waiting for engine repairs and then Alan and Sandra of *Margaret Rose* passed by on another boat being tested out by a couple of their friends. No doubt we'll continue to renew old acquaintainceships as we travel the 2000 miles of this very small canal world. Finally, an e-mail from Jenny and Tony Miller who take delivery of their new live-aboard 70ft S M Hudson boat in the next month or so. Hope to meet up with them later in the year at Burton Turns marina.
May 7	After three weeks of sculling between Kildwick and Gargrave we have at last moved into new territory, travelling up from Gargrave to East Marton in company with Mike and Sue Richardson of *Shania.* Nine locks and four miles later we have moored in idyllic surroundings and close to an excellent pub called the Cross Keys. The plan is to move on tomorrow towards, Burnley, Blackburn and the Wigan 21-locks flight, although we could take weeks rather than days to get there.
May 8	Just a short run today to bring us to Barrowford Locks with a long run down tomorrow to the far side of Burnley. The highlight was the mile-long Foulridge Tunnel which presented no problems and gave Liz a fabulous acoustic for her folk songs.

May 10	Long run today through the seven locks at Barrowford (luckily set for us by the lockie) and then through the outskirts of Burnley. Surprisingly the scenery was attractive most of the time and even through the industrial sections there were some magnificent old mill buildings to admire. Short hiatus when *Shania* got some string around her propellor but Mike and Sue quickly had the boat moving again and led the way to moorings at Hapton where we found a welcome laundrette and shops. We stay here now until Sunday to enjoy the sun and get some cleaning and painting done, especially our long pole and boat-hook.
May 16	We have come down through Burnley and Blackburn, with some surprisingly lovely countryside despite a great amount of human detritus in the canal. The section of canal around the locks in Blackburn was especially impressive with the best facilities we have yet seen. The local BWB officials should be very pleased with themselves and the efforts of their workforce. We stayed at a delightful mooring at Johnson Hillock Locks, only 100 yards from the Top Lock, best CAMRA pub of the season with seven real ales on offer. We decided to stay until we'd tried them all. Today we cruised gently down to Adlington, mooring just below White Bear marina and close to the Bridge pub. Met Alan and Gillian Williams of *Viking Lady*, one of the first Heron boats to be fitted out six years ago in a Tim Tyler shell - and still going strong. It was featured in Heron's original promotion video. The Williams clearly love the life and plan soon to spend all their time aboard. They have made some changes - adding washing machine for instance - but their boat looks great in its original paint scheme (with, of course, much touching up of inevitable scratches). Alan just poked his head in through the hatch and gave us a Heron mug for the boat, a collector's piece we will guard carefully through the bumps and thumps of locks to come.
May 17	A short run to excellent mooring at Red Rock had put us within striking distance of the 21-lock Wigan flight which we start descending with *Shania* on Monday morning. We now have a two and a half day break in idyllic countryside to catch up with boat chores and in Liz's words "just blob out."
May 20	Another milestone today - we completed the 21-lock Wigan flight. It might have been the easy way, travelling down, but Sue Richardson and Liz did a trojan job until they were joined for the last few locks by a couple of British Waterways lockies. We entered the first of the locks at 8.20 am and left the last of them at 12.20, exactly four hours for the flight. We stopped briefly at Dover Bridge but the pub was closed all day so we pushed on to Astley Green for the night, giving us a shorter run in to the centre of Manchester in the morning.
May 22	Change of plan. As the observant will see, we are at a small village called Dunham Town on the Bridgewater, a short distance from Lymm, instead of working our way up the Ashton flight towards the Macclesfield. We arrived okay in Manchester but with Liz's foot playing up we could not face another 27 locks so soon and decided instead to opt for spending a few weeks more on the Bridgewater, cruising to Anderton and checking the canal breach out for ourselves. This meant we had to part company with *Shania* and say goodbye to Sue and Mike Richardson who have been our good companions since leaving Gargrave on May 7. We will certainly miss them - are already missing them - especially Mike's unstinting practical help and Sue's excellent photographs which appear elsewhere on this website (not to mention her unfailing good humour and steady supply of icecreams or toasted teacakes when they were most needed). No doubt we'll meet again somewhere on the Cut.
May 25	Arrived in Lymm on Thursday and moored right alongside the market and within two minutes walk of the Spread Eagle pub (J W Lees bitter). Good spot but noisy late at night so we'll moor on the outskirts of the village each time we come here, which is likely to be often over the next months. We now hear that the Anderton breach might not be repaired until late July rather than late June - but with an 18 mile stretch of lovely canal to explore, with excellent pubs and all facilities, see if we care ! Our youngest son Jonathan and daughter in law Sharon arrive this morning for their first visit to the boat. If it's fine we will give them a run back to Dunham. If it's wet, well there's always the pub.
May 27	Back at Lymm after a two-day cruise with Jonathan and Sharon to Dunham Town. Despite heavy rain yesterday they seemed to enjoy their stay and both liked the boat. They arrived with stacks of food on Saturday morning and then treated us to lunch at the Spread Eagle in Lymm before setting off for London.

June 2	Decided to get out into the country to avoid the noise surrounding the overlapping World Cup and Jubilee celebrations so we are again moored at Dunham with a marvellous view of Dunham Massey from the side hatch and the memorial needle directly opposite the house on our other flank. We will be staying here until Wednesday when we return to Lymm and then venture into new territory around Moore and Stockton Heath. Discovered a new pub, the Vine, with Sam Smith's cask bitter at £1.22 a pint. No that is not a typo. £1.22. On our way back here we watered at the Old Number 3 and found Alan and Gillian Williams on *Viking Lady* had moored there overnight. They had come down Wigan Locks with Harry and Linda on *Kerry Blue* who duly arrived at Dunham later that day. The third blast from the past was Ian Preston on *Vita Nova II* who we had met at Woodlesford on our way up from Castleford to Leeds. He is still moored up a short distance from us but will be on his way to Liverpool in the next day or so. Meanwhile e-mail continues to arrive from new and old acquaintances, some of whom are buying or thinking of buying a boat : Norman and Jo Hargraves who we passed and hailed on the Bridgewater several times over the last few weeks - their lovely boat *Eninjay* is being featured at Crick this year. Nick Lowe and family who were encouraged to take the plunge and should be living on *Gypsy Lyz* by now. Nigel Brace whose Heron boat *Stravaig* features in our launch picture - waiting in the yard for repairs while Snecklifter is lifted over her. Derek and Dorothy Canvin of New Zealand who are talking to Heron about having new boat built. Our thanks, too, to Roger Morgan, Ralph Freeman, Paula Chitty, Deborah, Tony (last names not known) and the many others who have kept us in touch with the real world out there.
June 8	After weeks of exploring the Dunham Massey to Lymm stretch we pushed into new territory and arrived yesterday at Moore, a delightful mooring between Stockton Heath and Preston Brook. Just six minutes walk away from the Red Lion - Greenall's best bitter on the pump. Watered and topped up diesel at Thorn marine in Stockton Heath. Since leaving Lymm have seen another old face from Gargrave, Trevor Cooper-Tydeman on *Zungeru.* He told us about a vicious attack on his boat as he passed through Sale, with eight youths hurling stones and half a bottle of wine at him, damaging the paintwork. What upset him so much was the absolute fury they showed - not at him but presumably at what he and the boat represented. Another telephone call from Sue Richardson on *Shania*. She and Mike have gone down the Macclesfield canal and are now in the Middlewich area on the Trent & Mersey, generally enjoying themselves hosting more of their friends on a short run. Glad they are keeping in touch.
June 16	It's been more than a week since my last note but our life is a little repetitious at the moment - even though it is still immensely relaxing - wandering back and fore on the Bridgewater and visiting places like Daresbury, birthplace of Lewis Caroll, where the church boasts stained glass windows with characters from Alice in Wonderland. But there are three linked items worth mentioning. BW have officially given July 5 for reopening the canal at Anderton. Alan of *Viking Lady* rang us early yesterday to urge us not to try the Ashton flight - he and Harry and Linda on *Kerry Blue* had taken 11 hours fighting their way through muck and rubble, around a car that had been dumped in the water, and Alan himself had taken an hour and a hack saw to clear a fouled prop. He was ringing everyone he knew to advise against following them up. We needed no further persuasion to stay put on this beautiful stretch of canal and be patient. Finally we had another call from Mike and Sue on *Shania* who are now on the Shropshire near Wolverhampton and gradually heading south, away (they hope) from the wet weather. One final point of interest. A lot of fellow boaters on this canal had recommended we visit Margaret and Brian at Thorn Marine who would help us sort out some minor problems - and they were right. Extremely helpful and as Margaret herself put it, it was something of an experience to shop in their well-equipped chandlery - though not in those actual words.
June 20	We've had an exciting couple of days after weeks of calmly cruising the Bridgewater. Yesterday we left Lymm, stopped at Grappenhall for a couple of hours to do our laundry and then set off for Stockton Heath. Ten minutes into the journey, two of our batteries blew up on us. We moored, telephoned Heron at Mirfield, and Dean said he would be with us the following morning. We then walked to Thorn Marine, about 20 minutes along the towpath and told Margaret what had happened. Within a couple of hours, Brian and son Nigel had come out to us with one of their day-hire boats and carefully towed us in so we would be more easily accessible to Dean and near to shops etc. Brian refused payment - part of the service, he insisted, but it was service above and beyond the call of duty, in my opinion. Typical of this excellent company which deservedly has such a high reputation on the Cut. Next morning, Dean turned up early with two new batteries - Elecsol had agreed to replace them immediately, sight unseen - and by mid-afternoon he had installed them and completely rewired the battery set-up to make access easier and improve safety. How many boatbuilders would have responded so quickly ? It was also good to catch up with news from Heron and Dean was enthusiastic about the reception they had had at Crick with *Laissez-faire,* completed just before *Snecklifter.* Now we are back at Moore for a quiet, uneventful weekend (hopefully). Everything seems to be working fine and I've just done my 250 hour oil change without any obvious hiccups.
June 27	Two more of the regulars from the Packhorse folk club in Little Longstone joined us at Dunham yesterday for a short cruise down to Lymm and back. Lesley Swain and Alison Farthing, who live at Bradwell in Derbyshire, brought us a stack of excellent food to eat on the day, as well as a feast of goodies to indulge ourselves with over the next week or two. They thought some delicacies we would be unlikely to buy ourselves, plus several bottles of Snecklifter, would be a better "boat-warming" present than wine or flowers - and they were right. The cruise was a great success with Alison taking the tiller on the way to Lymm and Lesley bringing us back most of the way to Dunham. At each end of the run we sampled local brews at the Spread Eagle and The Vine (soft drinks for driver Lesley) and they didn't set off for home until nearly 10.30 pm. A marvellous day that made me wish I had met them long ago. On Tuesday the 25th we celebrated our first three months living on **Snecklifter. Meanwhile Mike and Sue Richardson last contacted us from Birmingham.**
June 30	Arrived in Moore on Friday to spend a long weekend in the country. This lunchtime, Ken and Mary de Ville from Ashbourne rang to say they were coming out to see us. The last time we saw them was at Gargrave with the Packhorse folk club crowd. Again they brought a picnic for us to share but with rain fairly steady outside, we ate most of it inside the boat. The rest will do for tomorrow.

July 8	At last we are moving south, down the Trent and Mersey towards the Midlands. We left Moore early this morning, passed through Preston Brook tunnel and then the two smaller tunnels, eventually reaching the now-sealed breach just above Anderton Lift at noon. Still a lot of repair work being done on the left-hand bank opposite the breach. Stopped briefly at Marston to visit the Salt Barge pub and have a look at the old Lion salt works museum. We are now moored a few miles from Northwich, at one of the Flashes, a large lagoon extending outwards from the canal - and judging from the derelict a short distance from us, not safe for navigation. We don't regret the five plus weeks spent on the Bridgewater, however. We got to know the section between Dunham and Moore as well as many of the regular boaters in the area, especially Brian and Margaret at Thorn Marine. When we topped up with diesel for the last time and said our goodbyes Margaret gave Liz a special Thorn bottle opener to remember them by - as if we could ever forget! We hope we will return to this beautiful canal in a year or two but in the meantime it is good to be on the move into new territory.
July 9	After a very early start this morning we returned to the land of locks, cruising through extremely narrow stretches of Trent and Mersey canal, to Wheelock Wharf where steady rain and tiredness persuaded us to stay for the night. Nice place but two of the three pubs were not to be recommended. The third, the Cheshire Cheese, was a different story - excellent Hydes Anvil beer and cheerful landlady. Have seen a number of boats that had become familiar up and down the Bridgewater.
July 10	Set off at 7am to tackle at least half the locks between Wheelock and the Macclesfield canal, but we actually kept going and by 5.30pm we were drinking Robinsons ale at the Bleeding Wolf in Scholar Green on the Macclesfield. The reason for this titanic effort was twofold. First of all we were lucky to be following Carl Gordon-Loveridge and Liz Barman on Blackstone who set many of the 27 locks for us. And secondly, we travelled most of the way until we reached the Red Bull facilities at the junction of the Trent and Mersey with a quartet of youngsters from Sydney, Australia, who did a tremendous amount of the locking for us. Kate and James Jackson, Lisa Mitchell and Jason Rudd, who have been spending a week on a hired narrowboat *Aston* before moving on to France, were also marvellous company. James originally came from St Albans and had spent many family holidays on the canals before moving to Sydney nine years ago.
July 11	Came a couple of slow hours to Congleton. The reduced speed on this shallow canal, enforced by a boat travelling at gentle pace ahead of us, gave us the chance to enjoy the lovely countryside. Nicholson's guide keeps talking about "lonely" and "solitary" waterway but it is wonderfully rural, with little of the close building you get on parts of the Bridgewater. Getting closer now to Ashford in the Water and our old friend Brian Parker is already organising a visit to *Snecklifter* by our ex-neighbours.
July 12	Another excellent day, leaving Congleton early and clearing the 12 Bosley locks by 11.15am. Again we were lucky to have two groups of Swedish holidaymakers behind us. One of the group - Lil from Stockholm, who spoke perfect English with only a trace of accent - was extremely helpful, closing gates and dropping paddles behind us so that Liz could go ahead and prepare the next lock. We are now moored in an idyllic spot at Gurnett Aquaduct, with a good pub the Old King's Head only 100 yards away. This will be the perfect setting for the Ashford contingent's visit, especially as the road from Macclesfield is just a short distance from the canal.
July 16	Still at Gurnett where we've waited for our old Ashford neighbours to visit us. Brian Parker brought Dora Eyre and Terry and Sheila Bettney over to see the boat and we had an excellent lunch at the Old King's Head before a short visit to Macclesfield Garden Centre. They obviously enjoyed themselves and it was good to hear all the gossip. Earlier this morning, coming back from walking Bess I was about to get aboard when a chap from another boat came towards me. Brian Macdonald, who lives near Glasgow, said he had been enjoying this website for some time, checking in about once a week to follow our "adventure." He seemed really chuffed that he had come across us. So was I, of course. A pleasure to meet someone else who actually reads this diary. He made one good suggestion which was that I should date new pictures. I will do this in future.

July 21	We arrived here at Poynton on Thursday and will stay a few days until our friends Clive, Joy and Linda visit us on Monday and Lesley makes a return visit to us on Tuesday. We feel we are back where it all started. When we decided to sell the house last June we came out to Poynton by car to look at boats and get some idea of what to look for in our planned *Snecklifter*. We walked the towpath almost down to where we are now moored - not quite because the foot and mouth crisis was not entirely over and there were only a few boats here. Today we are almost nose to tail on the popular mooring section alongside the playing fields. The pub, The Boar's Head, is more than acceptable and serves a decent pint of Boddingtons. The shops are a good 25 minute walk but at least we were able to get back to the canal, heavy laden, by bus.
July 25	We have travelled up from Poynton into the Peak Forest Canal with Trevor on *Zunguru* who arrived behind us unexpectedly at Gurnett and then joined us at Poynton on Tuesday to travel as far as Whaley Bridge. Tonight we are moored near bridge 21, overlooking the beautiful Goyt Valley near Strines. Hills form a backdrop to factories that stretch into the distance - the nearest of them the old Strines printworks that was once the economic heart of the valley and is now let out as smaller units. The narrow Macclesfield canal has been replaced by even narrower stretches after Marple, and the water is so shallow close in to the towpath that we have struggled to find a decent mooring. The difficulties of navigating tight corners and turns through bridges have been worth tackling, though, for the beauty of what is Trevor's favourite canal. On both sides, wild flowers skirt the water and the birdlife is still prolific, especially the ubiquitous heron. A new attraction just below Higher Poynton is a small picnic and rest area developed by Hagg Farm to commemorate Lesley Hayes who died in her early 40s. A delightful little backwater with rustic table and two seats, close to the towpath, it's an ideal spot for long distance walkers and boaters stretching their legs to rest and enjoy the tubs and vases filled with flowers. Lesley Swain spent another day with us on Tuesday and yesterday she returned to take Liz to sing at the Packhorse folk club - her first return to Little Longstone after nearly four months on the boat. She returned this morning in time to set off for the Peak Forest.
July 27	After a fascinating day at Whaley Bridge we have come back to a wonderful stretch of the Peak Forest close to New Mills and overlooking the Goyt Valley, across which we can see one railway while another passes 30 or 40 yards above and to the other side of us. Yesterday at Whaley, Trevor took us walking up the Bugsworth canal to the basin, one of the most remarkably preserved old working sites on the system. The canal has not been open since 1999 and we are told it will be 2004 before the money can be raised to seal the leak that has made it unnavigable. Trevor was lucky to have spent a couple of days moored in the basin just a month before it was once again closed. We'll certainly visit the area again, even if we have to walk that last mile or two especially to sample the excellent ales at the Navigation Inn. But we are in no hurry to return to Whaley itself, a nice village, but with mooring mostly under trees, it will be remembered as rather dark and dreary. We did want to see it, however, because it's the nearest spot to our old home in the Peak District and we visited it a year ago to see Bryn Jones and his Heron-built *Driftwood 75* to get ideas for our own boat. Now we face the prospect of three or four days sitting here in the sun with a wonderful panorama of valley and hills before us and with bottles of wine and cold beer to sustain us. Beats working for a living.

August 2	Travelled through heavy rain yesterday to reach Higher Poynton about lunchtime. When we left New Mills - with Trevor on *Zungeru* staying on for a few more days - there was little more than drizzle but after watering and rubbish disposal at Marple the weather closed in and we were very wet and cold by the time we moored up here for the weekend. Cruising back along the Peak Forest it was clear why Trevor likes this canal so much - stretches of tree and wild-flower lined water suddenly opening up into short sections from which you see the hills and lush valley. But the trouble is there are so few places near these "views" where you can actually moor, even when your draught is only two inches over two feet. The Macclesfield is not as impressive but it is still very picturesque and is far more open and airy. We plan to stay at Poynton until Liz sets off for the folk festival at Sidmouth next week and then I will take the boat down to Gurnett to meet Brian Parker and his grandchildren who are coming for a picnic and a short cruise. The run down to Gurnett aquaduct will be the first time I have handled Snecklifter on my own but when you see so many fit 70 and 80 year olds handling their live-aboard boats alone you gain a measure of confidence. Whether that confidence is well-placed will be revealed next week. This diary now ends with its first-ever cliffhanger !
August 3	It rained again yesterday morning but then the sun appeared in time for a series of visits, the first by Lesley Swain who was later joined by Alison Farthing and Ken and Mary de Ville. We all enjoyed an excellent meal at the Boar's Head, a pub whose charms are rapidly growing on us. Today has been quieter and I spent the morning cleaning out the engine space and doing various other regular maintenance chores. This evening we had a surprise visit from Tony Standring from Oldham and his seven year old son Shaun. Tony has been following the website and first e-mailed us in mid-May, hoping to meet us at Portland Basin - our planned destination after Manchester. When we changed our minds at the last minute and elected to spend five weeks on the Bridgewater canal rather than face the Ashton flight we thought the chance to meet had disappeared. Also telephone calls from Trevor on *Zungeru* who has been back to Whaley Bridge and is now again near New Mills and from Sue Richardson on *Shania* to tell us that she and Mike were just mooring up at Banbury on the Oxford. I can't see us getting that far south before early next year.
August 6	We are still at Poynton where I will now stay until Liz and Pat Paulett return from their three-day visit to the Sidmouth folk festival. But I will be in good company because *Snecklifter* is moored not far from Barbara and Mick Hill of *Vavara* who we first encountered at Marple and then got to know quite well at New Mills. They have much the same approach to boating as we have - moving around the system very slowly and stopping for days at a time when the mooring and the company are good - but they've been doing it for five years and are more experienced and confident than we are, staying out each winter without a qualm. When we first met, Barbara had just walked the length of the Macclesfield and most of the Peak Forest and Liz has now started doing the same - especially stretches of towpath between swing or lift bridges - giving herself and Bess a little extra exercise. Mick has been very helpful with practical advice and help when I've asked him for it, but his best advice so far has been to listen to what others say and then do only what we think is right for us. It certainly echoes a recent e-mail from Jon Hunt of Heron, who settled a few doubts about charging batteries that had been planted in our minds by helpful and, no doubt, well meaning passers-by. A few of his words are worth quoting for the benefit of other boaters faced with the same conflicting opinions: "The canals are full of people who for various reasons will offer unsolicited opinions on your behavior, more so than in any other walk of life. If you were painting your fence at home you would not normally expect passers by to tell you that you are using the wrong brush or paint but on the canals this seems to be the norm." Mind you, it is all part of the fun. It's just in future we must not be so easily swayed by opinions that conflict with manufacturers' advice.
August 9	The weather was fine yesterday for Brian Parker's second visit to the boat, this time with four of his grandchildren - Kayleigh, Nicola, Adam and Katy. Although I didn't fulfil my promise of August 2 to run down to Gurnett single-handed, I did wind at Poynton and moored up for water alone before taking the visitors up to High Lane and back. No difficulties at all and the kids enjoyed the trip. Today it has rained persistently ! Several more emails have arrived over the last several days including one from Shaun and his dad Tony (see above). Julia Cory and Steve Bacon of Wadebridge, Cornwall, hope to buy their own boat soon and moor in the Midlands, Paul Forest and his partner Phyl (in the same age group as Liz and me) are weekend boaters at the moment but want a 60 ft boat so they can spend four to six months on the canals and the rest in the Spanish mountains. Meanwhile Mike and Di Bridges have launched their new Heron boat Quinquireme at Mirfield and hope to be on the Macclesfield the second half of August. We'll probably still be in the area so will look out for them.
August 11	We left Poynton early this morning and have returned to Gurnett Aquaduct, a mooring spot we like very much. We'll wait here until tomorrow when Terry Betney is due to visit us to fit a frame for our side hatch. Sorry to say goodbye to Mick and Barbara on *Vavara* but no doubt we'll see them again.
August 17	Snecklifter has a new crew member - four and a half year old Jack Russell bitch, Molly, who is an absolute delight (photograph will be posted soon). She had to leave her previous family who included Matthew and Laura Swain but Liz and I promise them we will do everything possible to make Molly happy. She is already settling in, barking less at passersby on the towpath - both human and four-legged - and she and our border collie Bess are establishing a stand-off routine. There have been a few snarls and jealous barks but so far no teeth involved. Our friends from Ashford, Terry and Sheila Bettney, duly arrived on Monday - my 65th birthday (an OAP I do not feel ! ) bringing with them the splendid frame with toughened glass that Terry had made for our side hatch. It was a perfect fit. Since then it has been given four coats of varnish and looks great. The other ash frame was intended for hot, steamy weather and we intended fitting some fine clear mesh to it to keep out flies etc. However, with the arrival of Molly I've covered it temporarily with green mesh from the garden centre to stop the dog leaping out of the open hatch. Varnishing will come later. Terry also cut the large deckboard covering the engine space so that it now much easier for this old man to remove. It has transformed my life, allowing me much easier access to the weed hatch and the greaser. Not surprisingly we have renewed acquaintance with Mick and Barbara who have moored two bridges on from us and I have updated their pictures on this site.

August 19	Ready for watering, we left Gurnett this morning, took on water at Higher Poynton, winded at High Lane and then returned to Poynton where we are moored almost exactly where we stayed on our last visit. Molly and Bess are settling well together and we have received a smashing e-mail from Molly's last owner, David, wishing us well with them both. As I write this, Bess is lying contentedly on the floor of the bedroom, Molly half snoozing on the bed itself. Both have walked for miles today as Liz left the boat at Macclesfield canal centre and led them both along the towpath for about three miles. At Poynton for only an hour or two, we were hailed by a passing boat which turned out to be another Heron craft called *Quinquireme*. Owners Mike and Di Bridges had kept us in touch with their building progress and after their launch on August 5 said they would look out for as they travelled down the Macclesfield canal. We thought that wishful thinking until they actually breasted up this afternoon to invite us in for a drink with them and their two friends. The boat itself is lovely, another fine product from Heron and with the interior largely fitted out by our carpenter, Jerry, it seemed so familiar yet very different. The one thing I envied them on their boat was the excellent decorative rose panels made by Mike and painted by Di. Although they will not be living aboard, the Bridges have promised to keep in touch.
August 23	We returned to one of our favourite mooring places at Gurnett three days ago and within an hour I spotted one of the area's special residents. Talking to another boater I glanced over to the far end of the weir at the back of the aquaduct and saw a fox come out of the undergrowth to eye up the Mallard ducks. He stayed in view for only a minute or so but was clearly a beauty. Last night another "beauty" turned up - **Zungeru, fresh from a roof repaint. Trevor, his wife Janet and dog Ziggy, are heading south and when they do I'm sure we'll meet them again. Zungeru has been a recurring feature in our lives since Gargrave in May.** Meanwhile we will stay in this area until after the August holidays and then take our friend Linda Pelc southwards to the Harecastle Tunnel and, if there's time, to the Caldon canal. I am still enjoying the presents she and the Throwers, Joy and Clive, sent to the boat for my 65th birthday, especially the onions from Ibbotsons' of Ashford, pickled in honey by Ken Ibbotson, and undoubtedly the best I have tasted. They almost make me nostalgic for our past life - but not quite! Left Bess and Molly alone on the boat today for the first time without the cage which we felt would restrain Molly. No obvious barking or noise, and so far no chewing of our lovely woodwork. We're keeping fingers crossed tonight when we are treating ourselves to crispy duck at the Old King's Head - in company with Trevor and Janet.
August 26	Alan and Daphne Binns visited us yesterday and we walked up over the Hollins before lunch back on the boat. It was the first time they had seen *Snecklifter* since bringing Liz from Ashford to join me at Mirfield, the day before we set off on our journey, and I think they realised how much a home it has become - and how happy we are living aboard. They have a busy month ahead but hope to spend a couple of days with us in mid-October. This morning I said goodbye to Ian and Vicki Harley on *Pem No 6,* who we have met several times on the Macclesfield. An easy to talk to couple who have been very helpful, they've been living on their boat for 14 months and seem settled. They are heading south early tomorrow morning before turning north up the Trent and Mersey and then down the Shropshire Union, so we should meet again some time in the next two months. This evening we spent an hour or so enjoying a drink with Wendy and Ken Brown in their delightful cottage which looks out towards the canal - when the foliage dies back in winter they can see moored boats from their bedroom. Over the last five weeks of cruising back and fore to Gurnett, we've got to know Wendy on her twice a day walks along the towpath with dogs Scrappy and Scooby, and tonight we had a chance to talk more with husband Ken. Their invitation for drinks was rather special but their friendliness on the towpath has been typical of people wherever we have travelled in the North and Midlands. Both boaters and local people have stopped to talk and offer practical advice about where to shop, eat and drink - and most of them have been supportive of our way of life. I hope I'll be proved wrong, but I can't believe we'll meet the same warmth in the south - we didn't find it on our last two canal holidays three years ago but to be fair we "raced" down the Oxford, along the Thames and up the Grand Union, with little time to stop and pass the time of day. I should be able to report with greater authority a year from now.

August 30

At 6.30 this morning, with our guest Linda Pelc on board, we headed south from Gurnett and are now just a short distance from the Trent and Mersey and the Harecastle tunnel which we plan to get through early tomorrow morning. Two thirds of the way down Bosley locks we met Mick and Barbara Hill coming up - not with their boat, but intent on helping us down. We then joined them for coffee and tea before pushing on. We will certainly miss them both.

Yesterday Linda arrived with Clive and Joy Thrower and their three grandchildren Daniele, Natalie and Kieran and they enjoyed travelling up to Macclesfield canal centre and helping us load a new gas bottle and top up with diesel. In the evening, we received another e-mail from regular correspondents Tony and Jenny Miller who brought us up to date with stoppages either side of Barton Turns marina where they live and where we will spend the winter. A southerner himself, Tony jokingly hoped the stoppages wouldn't stop us coming south. But he did make me wonder if my recent musings about the relative friendliness of northerners and southerners might alienate everyone south of Braunston.

What I meant to say - and said badly - was that I'm sure other boaters in the south would be friendly, that people living close to the canals would say a cheery "hello". But would they spend hours chatting to us on the towpath, telling us their life stories and listening to ours', would they invite us to their home one night and then offer us the use of their washer-dryer two evenings later as Wendy Brown did at Gurnett ? Would they bring us punnets of new potatoes as one allotment holder did at Stockton Heath or take a full evening to transfer good moorings from their Nicholsons to ours ? If they do I'll be quick to say so in this diary. And in the meantime I'm keeping my big mouth shut !

August 31

A later start this morning - 8.45am - that brought us to Harecastle Tunnel by 9.40 with a 50 minute wait to travel through its 2926 yards. As Trevor had warned us, the roof did get lower and lower towards the middle of the tunnel but was still well above us and we found the experience exhilarating after the initial apprehension had passed. There was just one boat in front of us and none behind so there were no problems with fumes but it was still good to exit the south portal into brilliant sunshine. Back on the wider, deeper Trent & Mersey we reached China Gardens at Etruria by lunchtime and decided to wait until tomorrow morning before entering the Caldon Canal. Instead we enjoyed watching the Black Prince boats starting out to tackle the Four Counties - 10 of them queueing for the locks at one point.

September 1	A shorter day today as we travelled from Etruria, into the Caldon canal, through three locks, along stretches of narrow, winding water to just below Engine Lock. With our friend Linda Pelc still aboard, we planned to get above the five Stockton Brook locks but when we arrived here mid-morning there was a queue of boats waiting to enter Engine Lock. We decided instead to stay here for the day, enjoy the sun, get some needed rest and have a barbecue in the evening. We'll push on to bridge 28 at Stanley Moss tomorrow, close enough to the Travellers Rest pub to walk there.
September 4	Since we've been on the Caldon, mobile telephone reception has grown steadily worse and I have not been able to update this site or receive/answer related email. We are now at Cheddleton, just about the twin locks, and I still can't update but I thought this should be written before the immediacy is lost. We reached Park Lane bridge on Monday - unable to moor near Stanley Moss - and waited overnight for our friend John Thorpe to visit and to give Linda a lift back to Ashford and her normal life. The facilities there were excellent and Liz was able to catch up on laundry at a reasonable price. This morning we cruised the rest of the Caldon that is open to traffic, turning above Consall Forge after a disappointing visit to the Black Lion. We had heard so much about this pub and had planned to spend the night close by but it turned out be most unwelcoming - I have never seen so many "don't do this" and "no this or that" signs in a pub, including no dogs, don't use toilets unless you're a customer, and please return all glasses. We didn't. The one sign that was clearly missing was "no customers, thank you". So we returned up four locks to Cheddleton and found another Black Lion up the hill close to the church. One of the oldest pubs in Staffordshire it is a total contrast. Unspoilt interior, excellent Marston's beers and a landlord and clientele who were friendly from the moment we walked in. We will return tonight. As for the Caldon I'm not sure we will return. It certainly is a beautiful canal but it has been an obstacle course from the start, winding and twisting, extremely shallow - we've been aground more times in the last three days than we have in the previous five months. One thing that has made it a little easier is meeting up again with Carl Gordon-Loveridge and Liz Barman on *Blackstone* who helped us down the "Heartbreak Hill" locks on the Trent and Mersey. Again today Carl put his strong right arm to use on several locks, especially the two Cheddleton locks where the water in the linking pound was very very low. Anyway we now have a photograph of the pair which is posted under latest pictures.
September 8	We are now back at Engine Lock and for the first time in a week we have a strong enough signal to access the internet, catch up on email and update this diary. We'll stay here until tomorrow morning and then set off early for Etruria before turning south to Stoke and Stone. From Cheddleton we cruised back to the Hollybush inn at Denford, a superb pub with good beers - Bass, Inde Coope and Fuller's London Pride - good food and a welcoming atmosphere for customers and their dogs. The next day we made the sharp turn into the Leek arm and travelled for an hour until we found the canal getting more and more narrow with moored boats at difficult spots. So we turned round and came back to Denford, this time mooring next to Hazlehurst aquaduct rather than below it. The extra height gave us wonderful views and a weak signal that allowed us to phone a few friends but not the web. This morning we set off early, watered and abluted at Park Lane, Endon, and came down Stockton Brook locks in fine, sunny, weather. We'll be sorry to see the last of the Caldon's beauty but it will a relief to get back onto wider, more easily navigable waters.
September 10	We have been at Etruria for a couple of days, unable to move on down the Trent and Mersey because Liz has been ill and has had to see a doctor in Hanley. If her medication works reasonably quickly we will set off on Thursday for Stone and may well attend our first-ever meeting of the Residential Boat Owners Association on Saturday. This sudden dedication to furthering the cause of residential boaters - it may not last - is the result of meeting today the RBOA's chairman Ivor Caplan and his wife on *Bilbo Baggins* who have been moored up with us outside China Garden. They introduced us to Mike and Val Lee on *Thistle, who look after publicity for the association - also worth talking to because they moor for the winter at Barton Turns marina where we are headed at the end of October. The Lees offer short-break holidays on their 70 footer so if anyone out there is interested there is more information on their website - a short cut can be found on our Links* page. I've also added a link for the RBOA which is keen to build up membership among the estimated 15,000 people living afloat.
September 12	With Liz still suffering a lot of pain and only two days into her antibiotics, we are still at Etruria. She is certainly not well enough to cope with the locks between here are Stone so it looks as though our good intentions about the RBOA meeting on Saturday will come to nothing. She has been cheered up a bit by a smashing email from friends Lesley and Alison. However, this enforced stay is giving us the chance to see how we cope at a time of stress. So far we have stayed more or less as long we wanted to in any one spot and moved on only when temperament and weather dictated. We are moored in a reasonably quiet spot considering the main road into Hanley is a few minutes away and we can actually walk into the town in 20 minutes at the most. One plus is finding an autospares firm from which I bought oil and fuel filters for less than half paid at a high street outlet in Stockton Heath a few months ago. Another is that we are close to BW facilities - that always makes life easier.
September 16	We finally left Etruria on Saturday morning and I took over some of the locking, driving the boat into locks and handing over to Liz to drive it through. We had an excellent run down to Barlaston where we moored up for the weekend, spending the first evening with one of Liz's ex-colleagues Lynn Kemp and her friend Terry. Sunday was spent quietly eating and drinking. Another early start this morning brought us to Stone well before lunchtime and here we'll stay until Wednesday. For the first time since leaving Etruria we have a decent mobile telephone signal so we can catch up on email and I will update these notes - as well as upload a picture of Liz looking well pleased with herself in a lock (justifiably so!)
September 18	After two pleasant days at Stone - we enjoyed most of it except for the Star Inn which was disappointing - we have travelled on down the Trent and Mersey, turned into the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal and are moored at Tixall Wide, a spectacular spot with fields on one side and the wide navigable stretch of water on our right. Liz has continued to improve in the locks, taking the boat in and out through several of them, so I have had my wish to do some locking. Got a feeling I'll be stuck with a lot more of it. The further south from Stone the prettier and more rural the canal has become, still very wide much of the time but narrowing and twisting enough to make it interesting. This is all new territory for us but old friends are still "with us" in one way or another. As we left Stone we were hailed by *James Brindley* - the boat not the canal engineer - who said he had recently been with *Vavara* and had heard about Liz's illness from Barbara and Mick. How was she ? We even had an email from Michelle Johnson in North Carolina asking after Liz. To all wellwishers our thanks - Liz is very much better. Then as we watered at Great Haywood a head poked over the fence amd a familiar voice wanted to know "Are you following me ?" It was Trevor of *Zungeru, back from a short break at home with his wife Janet. They have also travelled up to the Wide and are moored ahead of us for the one night before Trevor takes her back to the car and he continues cruising alone for a while. I have corrected my day count on our home page, by the way. Somehow I had got it well into the 200s and we are only just coming up to our six months travelling at the end of this month.*
September 19	A quiet day today at Tixall. I washed one side of the boat, rubbed down rough patches, undercoated the rubbing strake and the bottom of the boat to the waterline, glossed the strake and bitumened the bottom. Liz cleared out all our food and crockery cupboards. We both feel very tired and very smug. Tomorrow we intend walking back to Great Haywood with the dogs to do some shopping and find a pub and then we'll turn the boat around and start on the other side. But we've still had time to talk with other boaters and enjoy the countryside here, with kestrels and hot air balloons hovering for ages over the fields, and deer spotted at the far side of the field heading into the trees. Will probably stay over the weekend before heading on towards the Shroppie. In the meantime we've heard again from Mike and Sue on *Shania* who are at Burton on Trent, not far from our winter moorings, so we hope to meet up again somewhere around Fradley Junction before November or in that neck of the woods if we get away from Barton Turns for a week or two at Christmas. It'll be good to see them again.
September 22	Still busy at Tixall - the other side of the boat is virtually finished and most of the evidence of my bad driving has been covered up. I'm sure it'll be badly marked again after a couple more locks. But it has been a very rewarding few days here and we've had a lot of help from neighbouring boats. On one side is *Lady Kate* with George and Kate Harper aboard, on the other William and Pam Pughe of *Chickasaw* - and the level of activity from all has been high. A passer-by yesterday wondered if it was national boat-painting day ! William was especially helpful when our engine failed again, suddenly spluttering to a halt when George and I were turning the boat for painting. The last time this happened was about seven weeks ago at Higher Poynton and that time I changed the fuel filter and all was well, but I couldn't understand how the filter could be clogged up so soon. William had been a diesel engineer before he began living on a narrowboat and was convinced when he saw the plum colour of the diesel that the fault was not in the engine but came from the diesel bug that had been causing problems over the last few years. Trevor of *Zungeru* had also pitched in to check the amount of dirt in the bottom of the diesel tank and he agreed immediately with William about the bug. I will now have to get hold of the additive that clears it up. In the meantime I changed the fuel filter and that did the trick - the trouble is I don't want to be changing these filters at £6 or £7 a time every six weeks.
September 24 September 28	We are still at Tixall Wide even though we were supposed to move on this morning. Last night we had a call from Mike and Sue Richardson on *Shania* to say they were moored four miles away from us so we stayed put and they reached us about mid-day today - just four months and two days after we parted company in Manchester. It was wonderful to see them again and we spent most of the afternoon reminiscing and bringing each other up to date on our lives since May. Tonight we plan a visit to the Clifford Arms in Great Haywood to catch up a bit more. Incredibly, 20 minutes before *Shania* arrived, two familiar figures came toward us along the towpath heading for the shops in Great Haywood. It was Jud and Maureen Wall of *Piggywig, who we hadn't seen since Skipton - their departure more or less overlapping our first meeting with Mike and Sue. Jud helped me a lot with boatmanship as we travelled up from Leeds to Kildwick and Liz learned a lot about locking from Maureen. We hadn't expected to see them again until Barton Turns Marina where they have moorings. Meanwhile we said goodbye to Trevor on* *Zungeru* who is travelling north rather than south. We may not meet up with him for a year or two but as sure as eggs is eggs we are certain to see him again - he has been a recurring leitmotiv since we first met at Gargrave in May. Since our long stop at Tixall we have been moving along steadily, mooring first at Penkridge and then at Cross Green before coming onto the Shropshire canal and settling for the weekend at Brewood (pronounced Brood). The rest of the journey on the Staffs and Worcs was busy, with plenty of locks and fairly constant queueing to get through. Our last hour before Cross Green was unpleasant because we had a boat behind us determined to stay close to our rear, even though we were travelling fairly fast - certainly for us! Normally we pull over and let boats in a hurry pass us but there was another behind him and it would have meant two overtaking us and then perhaps claiming the last few moorings at Cross Green. Next time we will pull over anyway - it's not worth the pressure. I never drove a car but now I know how Liz felt on those narrow country roads when another motorist was close up to her exhaust. It has been a much more pleasant day or so on the Shroppie. Just before Autherley lock we picked up the treatment for our diesel bug from Oxley Marine who were kind enough to act as poste restante and then we had a text message from old friends Julie and Fred Boreham on *Wingletang* who half an hour later pulled up behind us above Brewood. We hadn't seen them since our first visit to Gargrave in April but a bottle of wine soon bridged the intervening months. They were very helpful to us as raw beginners. With good shops in the village and a pub that serves excellent beer and food - The Bridge, whose landlady Victoria Beresford still has a narrowboat, though she no longer lives aboard - we are happy to stay here now until the beginning of the week.

October 2	We left Brewood a couple of days ago, continuing up the Shroppie to Wheaton Aston where we winded before travelling back towards Tixall Wide to meet our son Jonathan and daughter in law Sharon at the weekend. On our return journey we have almost retraced our steps exactly, stopping the first night at Cross Green, the second night at Penkridge - for an excellent cheap meal and good beer at The Boat pub. Today has been different, however, with a much later start at about midday and a shorter run to below Deptmore Lock which is a few hours from Tixall. The mooring is quiet and open with rough fields to one side and pastureland to the other, but without an animal to be seen. If the weather stays reasonably dry we will slowly make our way to Tixall tomorrow and spend a couple of days cleaning ship before our visitors arrive. It needs it.
October 5	Back at Tixall and the weather has deteriorated - a sharp wind is blowing across the Wide but so far no rain and it's reasonably mild. Jonathan and Sharon arrived today, both looking extremely fit. As expected at Tixall we have run into some earlier acquaintances and met up with some new. Moored behind us are Jenn and Jim Thornwell of *dire straits* who were here a few weeks ago and were then near us at Brewood - although they were off visiting family so we didn't make contact. Chatting yesterday at the Clifford Arms with another boating couple, Ken and Stephie Collins of *Definitive* we discovered they moored at Barton Turns and lived in the nearby village of Barton Under Needwood. We look forward to meeting them again and having a drink together sometime during the winter months. In fact we are getting to know so many people at the marina - without having visited it yet - that we are expecting it to be a fairly sociable winter lay-up !
October 9	Our stay at Tixall was again outstanding, with Sue and Mike arriving on *Shania* a full day before we needed to leave. Out came the table and chairs, coffee and cake - and on one occasion a drop of brandy to accompany tea. We don't need Sue and Mike to lead us into idle ways but they don't half help. Before leaving Tixall, Jenn Thornwell on *dire straits* showed me some of her cards and bookmarks, hand-made using a painting on glass technique. They really are very good and I bought two cards and a bookmark. Early Tuesday morning we finally left the Staffs and Worcs canal, took on diesel etc at Great Haywood and set off south towards our winter quarters. We spent most of the afternoon at Rugeley catching up on three loads of washing at the excellent laundrette and provisioning at Safeway, before another short run down to The Ash Tree at Bridge 62. The beer was fine but the less said about the food the better. Another early start brought us to Fradley Junction where we called in at BW office to get a stoppages list. A lunchtime visit to the Swan with its three fine beers - Burton ale, Ansell's bitter and Pedrigree - convinced us we should stay until tomorrow when we will travel down the Coventry and Birmingham and Fazeley canals as far as the locks to explore possible short trips we can take during the winter months.
October 10	A much shorter run today and we have moored at Huddlesford, within spitting distance of the Plough Inn, recently modernised but reasonably tastefully and only re-opened on Monday. They have three excellent beers including Speckled Hen and Pedigree and the staff is very friendly and efficient so we will stay here over the weekend and catch up on some overdue housekeeping. On one side of us is a low hedge that limits the view but on the other we look out over large wheels of hay after a recent harvesting. The dogs will love it here.
October 14	I’ve not been able to update the site as planned because on Friday morning we discovered an electrical problem that has meant not running the engine until our favourite engineer Dean could get out to us from Heron. He arrived this morning and soon discovered a burned out fuse that was causing the acrid smoke that had worried us. We are now back in business and tomorrow will continue down to Fazeley a day later than planned. Meanwhile we have made more friends in this linear village along the canals of England. Word soon got around about our problem and Ronnie Slater from *Robert Mylne* offered to lend us his 2kva generator and took me into Lichfield to get more petrol to run it. Then Dave Dressler from *Anon …* (who among other things makes the most beautifully decorated windlass holsters in fine leather) said he would disconnect his own “plumbed-in” battery charger and wire it into our system until Dean could fix our problem, even though he and his wife Liz were planning to move on over the weekend. He said he would be back in the area in a couple of weeks and we could get the charger back to him when we could. Remarkable really - but not all that surprising on the Cut. So we’ve had more or less full power over the weekend except for a shower — not enough hot water — and I have kept off the computer. Thanks to the kindness of other boaters it has not been all that stressful. And we intend getting a generator and sophisticated battery charger of our own for future emergencies. The charger will also mean we won’t have to run the engine every day while we are at Barton Turns marina.

October 15	Heavy rain this morning changed our minds about moving so we are staying here for another day. It has given me the chance to re-design my website which has cobbled up badly in the last few days, largely due to my messing about with addresses etc. It will take me several days to upload all the material to start again so please bear with me. Obviously the text pages are now corrected so our diary will be fully up to date.
October 16	A much longer day as we cruised down to Fazeley Junction to water etc and then turned right up towards Birmingham for three miles, winding just before the locks. We took on diesel and gas at Fazeley Marina - excellent lass helping there and diesel only 24p a litre - and then returned to visitor moorings at the Junction where we'll spend the night within walking distance of three pubs. Tomorrow we hope to spend an hour up to Hopwas and stay there for lunch or even the rest of the day before getting back to Huddlesford for the weekend. After yesterday's heavy rain, the weather was much better today - certainly better than forecast - cold but dry, and the hope is that this will continue.
October 18	As planned we are back at Huddlesford for the weekend after a pleasant day at Hopwas (pronounced Oppus, according to locals) where we had an excellent meal and several good beers at the Red Lion. We might have stayed another day but the weather this morning was splendid and the forecast for the weekend not good so we have moved back into an ideal spot close to the Plough. Ronnie on *Robert Mylne* had moved on but he popped back to see us this afternoon and once more took me into Lichfield by car for some shopping.
October 20	We are still at Huddlesford and normally I would not have updated yet but yesterday afternoon our leitmotiv - Trevor on *Zungeru* - tapped on the side of the boat. We had a beer together at the Plough and then this morning he invited us for a glass of wine early this evening. Knowing him, it will be good wine. Tomorrow we expect the Throwers who are bringing their grand-daughter Danielle for a short holiday. The threatened rain has arrived but as yet it is not torrential.
October 21	Our new crew member (temporary) arrived this morning when old friends Clive and Joy Thrower brought their grand daughter Danielle to spend three days with us. Danni first visited us when we were at Gurnett Aquaduct and enjoyed herself so much she wanted to spend part of her half-term holidays on Snecklifter. The weather has been pretty dismal but we hope it will brighten up tomorrow when we plan to head up to Fradley Junction. Two earlier visitors today were Tony and Jenny Miller who have kept in touch with us from early on in our cruise. They have been living on their own boat *Jenny Rose* moored at Barton Turns since June and have been very helpful over the months. Now on a week's cruise to Birmingham they were moored above us at Huddlesford last night and called in for a cup of tea and chat this morning. We look forward to getting to know them better when we settle down for the four winter months at Barton.

October 23	After a very wet night, Tuesday morning was bright and clear so we set off early, stopped at Fradley Junction facilities to take on water and get rid of rubbish, and then cruised to Alrewas, visiting the local shops and an excellent pub, the Crown. After lunch we travelled on and moored for a short while outside Barton Turns Marina where we will be spending most of the winter months. We immediately saw George and Kate off *Lady Kate* and they showed us where they were moored. There was a spare slot five boats away from them so we have now been booked in at number 43, which means a much shorter walk to empty cassettes etc - important for old'uns like me ! The facilities are first class, with free showers and reasonably priced laundrette, the chandlery well-stocked, diesel low-priced and the owners very friendly and helpful. These are obviously first impressions but we are at least far less nervous about committing ourselves for four months than we were before seeing Barton Turns. And we will be close to friends like George and Kate, Tony and Jenny, without being on top of them. Neither of the boats flanking us are live-aboards so there will be a greater measure of privacy. Danielle - see Latest Pictures - seems to be enjoying her stay with us, helping with the locking and mooring, but we must be exhausting her because she was ready for bed by nine o'clock on the first night out. To be fair she was awake early yesterday morning and again today, which has been an easier day all round. We set off from Barton about eightish and were moored up at Shobnall Basin by 10.30 - just as well because it has been rainy and windy. A trip into Burton on Trent in sunshine brightened us up in the afternoon.
October 24	Our guest Danni left us this afternoon to travel back to her home in Derbyshire with her grandparents Clive and Joy Thrower and her sister Natalie. We will miss having her about the boat - she was always cheerful, always helpful and despite being tired out by the fresh air, very good company. This morning for the first time she slept in late after another early night, a sure sign that life on a narrowboat encourages a relaxed attitude as much in the very young as it does in the old. Hopefully we'll see her again soon. Meanwhile we have taken the rest of the day easy. No point in rushing off. Tomorrow we'll cruise gently towards Willington and spend the rest of the month up and down this part of the Trent and Mersey until we head back to Barton Turns marina.
October 27	We have been at Willington since Friday, close to three pubs and a very noisy railway. Plans to move on fairly swiftly were suspended however when the weather began to deteriorate. Today, the wind is howling outside and the rain beating against the windows, but we've used the time to catch up on our chores. If it brightens up we will turn around tomorrow and slowly make our way back towards Barton Turns. As long as we get on the right side of Dove Aquaduct before November 4 we can get to our winter mooring at any time.
October 31	With an improvement in the weather we set off from Willington on Monday morning and moored up close to Jannel Cruisers - a very friendly and helpful marina -for a couple of days, picking up mail and doing some urgent shopping in Burton on Trent. The trip to Shobnall was problematic at times, with branches and, in places, trees down in the canal. Just below Dallow Lock we had to stop the engine and push the boat through the narrow gap between a fallen tree and the silted-up side of the towpath. By Wednesday the weather had cleared and we ran for an hour or so to Branston bridge, mooring close to the water park and a couple of hundred yards from the Bridge Inn, a splendid, unspoilt pub with Pedigree on the hand pump or from the cask - the latter absolute nectar. So we've had a couple of very pleasant days to finish our first season's cruising and tomorrow we are setting off early for Barton Turns and our winter mooring. It's nice to know that if we do get fed up with the inactivity we can always pop down here to Branston for a couple of days and from mid-December we'll have Fradley and Alrewas - if the weather permits.

November 2 2002

We arrived at Barton Turns marina yesterday morning - on Elizabeth's birthday - and spent most of the rest of the day getting to know the place. Liz caught up on some of our laundry backlog while I connected up to shore-based electricity and switched on our new battery charger. This was the first time I had done anything like this but George from Lady Kate looked over my shoulder to see that everything was okay - he had already met us at the entry to the marina to help me steer the boat backwards into our mooring slot. In the evening we reacquainted ourselves with the excellent Pedigree at the Barton Turns inn - where it is also available from the cask.

Today we walked the dogs around the large lake behind the marina and then walked into Barton under Needwood to check out some of the seven pubs there, settling on a return visit to the Shoulder of Mutton for a late celebratory birthday lunch. We can look forward to trying the others before settling