archiveJulyAug06

July 4

The Hatton flight? Easy! Peasy! The first time we tackled it in March 2005 we locked up in excellent time once Liz had worked out that the best way with these big, broad locks was to open one gate and one paddle - the one on the opposite side of the lock to the boat so that the inrushing water held Snecklifter firmly against the side. Coming down the flight yesterday morning we moved quickly again thanks to Bruce and Hilary Lagden whose boat Tree Sparrow caught us up just at the top of the flight. Bruce was tireless, going ahead to set the lock ahead (almost every one of them was against us) and then returning to help Liz with the paddles and gate of the lock we were working. Hilary and I had plenty of time to exchange brief life stories - they live near Sevenoaks in Kent and bought their ex-hire boat from Alvechurch two years ago. Until she told me, I would not have guessed it was ex-hire but as she said, perhaps because it was only 45 ft long and slept only two comfortably it had probably not had many children aboard. In any case, its short length meant we could still negotiate the locks easily with only one gate open and we were both happily moored up in shade above the second lock from the Cape before the sun became too hot. They moved on in the late afternoon. We stayed the night.

This morning we set off about 6am, reached the Tesco at Warwick before 7.30 and found another well-shaded stretch of mooring in a wooded cutting below bridge 35 by 10am. We passed Tree Sparrow a few minutes before we stopped and they passed us about 20 minutes later.

This heatwave is certainly making life uncomfortable on board because neither of us is a sunworshipper. We stayed longer at Turner's Green than planned, mainly for the shade. As promised, Brent and Carole Walker arrived on Saturday afternoon with Carole's mother Edna, plus a bottle of wine, a bottle of Sneck Lifter and a home-made banana loaf. All three have been greatly enjoyed and we are looking forward to visiting them at their home in Braunston this weekend, especially as Carole has offered me another bath (if the heatwave has abated by then). She knows a bath is one of the few things I miss since leaving a house for a narrowboat. Showering is not the same.

We still have the Stockton flight ahead and that's going to be tougher than the Hatton. So a quiet day reading under the trees is essential.

July 7

After the heatwave the thunderstorms - and the torrential rains that soaked us through in just a few minutes. We needn't have worried about the Stockton locks, getting through two earlier locks and the eight in an hour and 10 minutes thanks to a group of holidaymakers on an Ashby hire boat and the luck of the draw in finding all of them set for us. Unfortunately, shortly after clearing Stockton top lock and following the Ashby crew with the intention of getting through the Calcutt three with them, the heavens opened. We followed for about 10 or 15 minutes but, soaked to the skin, we eventually gave up and pulled in to the side to moor on metal pilings. I had intended to ask the holiday boaters their names to thank them in this update but they vanished into the driving rain and we have not seen them since.

The thunder and lightning were tremendous, lasting nearly four hours, but by 11.30 we were on our way again and lucky, lucky, we met up with another boat to negotiate the Calcutt locks and found two other boats on their way down so there was little work to do again. Another hour of cruising and we had settled for the rest of the day just above bridge 101, a lovely isolated spot that was ideal for us and the dogs. It was a later finish for us - after 1.30pm - but at least we were in striking distance of Braunston.

This morning we set off a little after 9.30 and were tied up at Braunston right next to the permit holders' section and a hundred yards or so from the tollhouse, helped in by a friendly live-aboard boater called Arthur Sharpe on Blue Angel. We are heading for the Old Plough at lunchtime - we've never been to Braunston on hire boats or on Snecklifter without enjoying a pint there. This afternoon Liz will be heading for the laundrette in the marina while I prepare a new package of photographs of Sienna that I hope to post this weekend.

July 9

This has been a near-perfect mooring with the weather fine enough but not too sweltering hot for us to sit out with Arthur Sharpe and his wife Pam (see Well Met on the Cut), watching the weekend boaters, the dog-walkers and the gongoozlers go by with cheery smiles and friendly chat. Braunston on a fine day has that sort of effect on everyone. On Friday we fulfilled our rite of passage and drank a pint or so of Adnams at the Old Plough, meeting up with Harry and Linda of Kerry Blue, first seen at Gargrave in our first few months of travel, last seen at Dunham Massey in 2005.

Yesterday we spent a quiet morning and afternoon before an enjoyable evening with Carole and Brent Walker at their home in Braunston. Carole's mum Edna was there for the weekend so we all sat out in the garden for a superb barbecue cooked by Brent - sausages,chicken kebabs, chicken thighs, mushrooms with herbs, succulently tender steak and a variety of salads and new potatoes, followed by a strawberry-based trifle that lives in the memory as I write. We moved indoors for coffee as the evening cooled and left with a "goody bag" of home-grown broad beans, spinach, potatoes and herbs. Is anyone surprised we love returning to Braunston?

Today we are having lunch at the Plough with old boating friend Mike Hecken and his son Lee who are driving up from Romsey for the day. We'll move moorings tomorrow morning (don't want to overstay our welcome even though the local warden Jenny was happy for us to stay a third night through Sunday) but can't go far until Tuesday when a replacement part for our control panel is arriving from Isuzu. It was ordered for us by the local Isuzu agent, Wharf House Narrowboats - Sue could not have been more helpful, phoning them straight away and putting me on to describe our problem directly to the Isuzu chap.

July 12

Thanks to a delay in Isuzu sending the replacement stop button for the engine we stayed four days on the 48 hour mooring at Braunston - a latitude for which we have to thank the understanding attitude of moorings warden Jenny Tunningley, who also runs the Gongoozlers' Rest cafe near the tollhouse. When the part still didn't turn up on the fifth day we turned the boat and cruised a short distance to the 14 day moorings on the North Oxford canal.

The enforced stay was no real hardship because we were able to enjoy the company of Arthur and Pam Sharpe for that bit longer - plus Izzy, their daughter Vicky's spaniel who is staying with them on Blue Angel for a three-week holiday. We couldn't have found better temporary neighbours. I was able to use Arthur's long-line hose to water on our final day and when another boater with health problems consulted him and couldn't find a doctor to help out Arthur drove the sick person to Rugby hospital.

The visit from Mike and Lee Hecken on Sunday went well. Together with Liz they enjoyed a good meal at the Old Plough. I was disappointed at what I have always thought of as an excellent pub. My gammon was mostly gristle and fat and when I returned it a member of staff came out and asked what I would like instead - they could not guarantee that a replacement gammon would be any better as the meat came in measured, packeted portions. First time I've ever been told that a chef could not give me an edible version of the meal I wanted.

This morning Liz walked back to Wharf House and picked up the overdue stop button before returning via the village where she bought more milk. We set off as soon as she returned and within 15 minutes we'd moored again above bridge 88 under the shade of trees. It was nearly midday by then so we saw no point in moving on in full sunshine but plan a very early start in the morning that should take us through Hillmorton by about 8.30 am.

I'd just settled in front of the computer to finish this update when a knock on the side of the boat announced the arrival of Sarah Levick and Andy Jury on Arcadia. They had left their mooring at Streethay on Saturday and were heading for the Leicester arm of the Grand Union. This was the first time we'd actually met up when they were cruising - their earlier visits to us have always been by car - and we had time to sit out and enjoy coffee and some fresh banana loaf baked by Liz last night. I'll post some new photographs of them when I receive Sarah's promised account of their travels some time next week.

Email update : Another delayed message from Vicki and Ian Harley on Pem No 6 to tell us that one of their lovely Boxers,Tia, had recently died. "Our visit to Oxford & the Thames has been postponed for this year," Vicki wrote. "We have been loitering around the T & M as one of our dogs was suddenly taken ill & sadly died two weeks ago. We are heartbroken & still getting used to not having her around. We love our dogs & they form our life afloat. If the mooring is not good for the dogs we move on, we rarely leave them on their own & they only ever give us pleasure. Bella has been very unhappy. Tia was her sister & they have never been apart. She just sits looking up the towpath, which makes us even sadder. But we will get used to it I suppose."

We know how they feel and grieve for boating friends when they lose dogs - we know how much dogs mean to us and how devastating it is to lose a loved pet. Dogs (and not only your own) play a major role in life on the Cut. It's often through them that we first get to know their owners, whether they are boaters or local people who walk the towpath regularly. And it's sometimes the dogs we remember and first recognise when we meet up again months or years later.

July 14

We're back on the Ashby canal at our traditional first (and last) mooring just below bridge 3 - more than 15 months after we left here for the 2005 cruising season with the intention of returning for the winter. But that's life afloat. Plans change and we settled down instead to spend six months on the Macclesfield canal. But now we have some compensation with a full month ahead of us on this favourite canal before we take the boat into Springwood Haven for a week's holiday in Spain for us and a bottom blacking for Snecklifter.

Our progress up the North Oxford has been deliberately rapid, taking just two days over what is usually a six or seven day trip for us. We left our quiet mooring at bridge 88 at 5.30am yesterday morning (I use poetic licence when I say "we" because Liz was still in bed until we reached Hillmorton locks) and found another quiet spot under trees a few hundred yards above Yates boatyard and bridge 43. This morning was almost a repeat, with Liz hauling herself out of slumber in time to open the small footbridge at Stretton stop next to Rose Narrowboats. And she remained remarkably good-tempered when she found it had been left open overnight. I got an earlier cup of tea than expected.

Five hours after setting off we turned into the Ashby canal and in 15 minutes were tied up near bridge 3. There's little or no shade here but we've been kept reasonably cool by a stiff breeze that has blown in through our open cratch cover, down the length of the boat and out of the open back doors.

Tomorrow we'll leave early enough to reach Trinity marina for water, gas and diesel and then it's on to Stoke Golding where we'll spend the next four or five days. Time enough for Liz to get a repeat prescription from our doctor and for me to have my hair trimmed by Tammy. Can't wait!

July 18

There has been plenty to write about over the last four days but the boat has been too hot to sit in for long, especially in front of the heat-producing desktop computer I use for this website.

Firstly, the best laid plans of mice and me ... etc. I brought Snecklifter away from bridge 3 at 6am on Saturday morning to carry out the itinerary described in the last paragraph of the July 14 entry (Liz still slumbering, of course). A little under an hour later as I approached Hospital Bend between bridges 6 and 8 (there is no number 7) I spotted a boat that reminded me of PEM No 6 but there was no name on the side. I still came to a stop just beyond it and looked back to see Ian Harley poke his head outside the cratch and with his help I moored within a few minutes. We stayed there for two days.

Although there was little shade apart from the large umbrellas produced by Ian and Vicki and by us, it was relaxing to sit for hours (see Latest pictures),chatting about the way our cruising lives had gone different ways since we first met on the Macclesfield nearly four years ago. We had seen them briefly in passing, of course, the last time above Abingdon on the Thames and had exchanged emails. But we had not had time to stop and talk. Liz and Vicki soon discovered they had a common interest in genealogy and while they spent time on the internet finding lost relatives Ian and I talked engines etc.

It was also well met for another reason. I had been worried about the way our batteries suddenly lost power to read below 11 on our internal voltage gauge and wondered if they were dying on us. Ian knows about these things : armed with his multi-meter we tested each battery separately, isolated an obvious dud, and with the promise that he would catch us up around Stoke Golding and help fit it, we set off yesterday morning to reach Trinity in time for diesel, gas, a new battery and water. We were successful in all but the last. Trinity no longer supplies water for passing boaters. We still had a three-quarter full tank so this was no great problem and we continued our journey until we reached a lovely mooring sheltered by trees through most of the day - just below bridge 22. And here we will stay until this present heatwave looks like ending. We love the Stoke Golding towpath moorings but there are only one or two spots where there's shade and they could well be taken.

Yesterday we spent mostly sitting under the above-mentioned trees, reading and drinking tea. This was changed to coffee when a passing boat suddenly ground to a halt beside us and we were hailed by John and Elizabeth Bolton on Helen Louise (see Well Met on the Cut). They had been following the website for some time, had come over last year from their home in Blenheim on New Zealand's South Island for a holiday on a hire boat to see if they would like the life, decided they would, bought their own boat, and are now here for perhaps three or four years. These serendipitous meetings really do cheer us up - further reminders that our journeys on Snecklifter are interesting to many beyond the immediate circle of family and friends it was originally designed for.

This morning, more excitement. At 5.45am I was making a cup of tea when a thunder of hooves outside announced the arrival of a lovely cream-coloured horse, with brown patches not really large enough to make it a palomino. For the next couple of hours it wandered up and down the towpath, whinnying to another horse in a nearby but unseen field. During that time it came right up to Molly and Bess who were being walked on leads and they sniffed each other in friendly fashion. It stood and nuzzled me as I sat on the back deck and had a good look inside the boat through the side hatch. Some of this is chronicled on Latest pictures.

July 22

The heatwave has continued and we are still here, under the trees, a hundred yards below bridge 22. But even though we have not moved there has been little time for boredom. A few days ago Ian and Vicki Harley on PEM No 6 caught up with us and despite the heat, Ian did trojan work in helping me fit the new battery - in fact I helped him because his was the skill and knowledge. But I watched closely and, armed with a new multimeter, I will be able to isolate and detect failing batteries in future.

Most of the rest of the time, until they cruised on to Market Bosworth yesterday morning, was spent sitting out talking without repetition or hesitation but with much deviation. As we wandered from subject to subject I wondered how we could chat for so long without drying. But we managed it. The day or so since they left for Vicki to visit friends and family over the weekend has been fairly dull.

Until today, that is. With the weather cooling a little, Liz set off early to catch the bus to Hinckley. Ten minutes before she was due back another familiar boat hove up and reversed into a mooring behind us. We've met Julia Cory and Steve Bacon on Even Balance several times on the Ashby (they keep their boat at Trinity marina) and the last we heard from them was an email with a photograph of their 11 week old Cairn terrier puppy Jess (see Archive for April 5, 2006). Son James was with them again this morning and we sat out under the trees drinking coffee or tea and admiring the antics of Jess, now six months old, as she played with Molly and Bess (see Latest pictures). Less than an hour after their left an almight storm began with rain pounding down on us. I just hope Julia, Steve and James thought the couple of hours they spent with us were worth the soaking they must have had.

July 23

At last it's cool enough to sit in front of the computer and edit another batch of pictures showing Sienna's development up to a month ago. They are now posted on Sienna's page , including a larger version of the one on the right which I think is one of the loveliest so far - though I'm sure there are more to come as she grows.

The rain yesterday was truly torrential but with cooler conditions we are planning on moving up the canal tomorrow. We will certainly need water in the next few days and it would be nice to reach Stoke Golding eventually, even if it's a week later than originally planned.

In the meantime we continue to receive emails that cheer us up, including this from Bob and Laura Brock on n.b. Acorn who we've seen several times over the last year or so: "Since we first bumped into you (not literally!) last year (I think outside the Anchor in High Offley, though my memory is weak…) it’s always been a pleasure to get a cheery wave when we pass. You’ve obviously been following a similar path to us for the last couple of months, as we spotted you in Stratford, and again somewhere near Cathiron on the North Oxford – and now I know you're headed up the Ashby while we carried on (very slowly in this heat!) to our base at Kings Bromley.

"We’ve popped home for a few weeks to catch up with the chores (the children seem happy to live in the house, but mowing the lawn is more of a problem), but will be out and about again in mid-August, popping down to Braunston (or somewhere close) to get a new cratch cover fitted before heading north for September – probably heading for the Stone, the Macc, and then down the Shroppie again in September. Don’t forget that cheery wave if you see us!"

Another new correspondent Tony Collins emailed us after passing us on the Ashby - I certainly remembered his boat Dawdler because it remined me at the time of Plodder, mentioned many times on the site. Chrissie and Richard Adams are still walking the canals at the moment but hope to be afloat sometime next year while Dave and Chris briefly left their boat Isis and switched for a day to two wheels: "We have been following your progress 'dahn sahf' on the website," they wrote. "As usual your many meetings with other boaters make for an entertaining time and clearly the offer of cakes or even a bath seem real winners (we'll remember that for next time).A few weeks ago we decided to go back to Macclesfield with our bicycles to ride the Middlewood Way. We found the start of the trail by Macclesfield Station completely by chance while we were looking for the local tourist information office. It was Sunday and, when we did eventually find it, the tourist office was about as much use as a chocolate fire guard - closed! However, it was a beautiful day and we had a good ride up to Marple in the shade of trees most of the way. At the end of the trail we turned right and cycled up Marple High Street as we figured we would reach the canal eventually! When we did, we rode back to Macclesfield along the towpath. When we reached 'the Stumps' we found die Fliedermaus and companion, Barleyfirth, moored there so we stopped and said, 'hello'. They were most friendly, provided us with a much-needed cold drink and boaty talk. Unlike us they had more time to appreciate and enjoy the delights of the Macclesfield and Upper Peak Forest canals. One day!

"This week we are on holiday and have been on a gentle run to Ellesmere Port. The canal from Barbridge Junction to Chester is not well used and Tower Wharf to Ellesmere Port, even less so. Many boats seem to be put off going to Ellesmere Port by tales of weed, trouble from the locals, high mooring fees in the museum basin, and so on. Whilst the canal is weedy and progress is enacted by a general flapping about under the stern rather than from real rotary motion, it is not impossible and a few blasts in reverse every now and then clear much of it. The reward is a very rich wildlife and clear water, something not often seen on a canal. Of course, everything looks much nicer in good weather and this week has been a real scorcher. So pleased I've not had to sit in an office all week!"

July 27

It's been like old times - winter times, that is. We left our mooring under the trees below bridge 22 and cruised up to Sutton Cheney for water, passing Ashby Boats because there was no room to get in for diesel etc, and settling for a spot on the plastic "wooden" jetty at Sutton Cheney. There we waited until Tuesday morning when Susan Lane, her daughter Christine and gorgeous grand-daughter Abigail arrived to spend an hour and bring us up to date with Plodder's movements (now in a new marina on the Llangollen canal). Abigail was almost as lovely as Sienna - given that no baby is going to be more lovely at the moment!

As soon as Susan and family left we headed up the canal to hide under the trees at the battlefield mooring, only to find little shade on the right hand side and no depth on the left. We finally squeezed in a hundred yards or so above Shenton aqueduct and spent the rest of the day in shade, planning a 5.30am getaway next morning to wind at Market Bosworth. Unfortunately it was raining and it was 7am by the time I got moving. It was still fairly quiet, however, with little on the move except for the voles. After many, many months of not seeing one I spotted seven in just three hours of cruising. Some reassurance for those of us who feared they were disappearing from the waterways. We arrived mid-morning at Dadlington and found some shelter that increased as the afternoon moved on.

Today we will probably stay here despite the strong smell of chemical manuring carried out late afternoon yesterday in the field behind us. I'm convinced it's personal. It certainly happened to us when we stayed here during two winters on the Ashby. However, Liz wants to catch the bus from the village into Hinckley and will call at the supermarket on the way back to pick up much-needed dog food, fresh fruit and veg and replace the bread and milk that both go sour so quickly in this heat. Our usually efficient fridge cannot cope.

"We had the best holiday ever with three weeks of sunshine although like you we often found it far too hot - better than rain though. We adjusted our day to suit and got up very early several times to do the locks. We found that we had extra time in Oxford so we also had two unplanned but fantastic days on the Thames. On our return journey we did the Hatton locks very early on our own and weren't fortunate enough to meet up with another good team like we had on the way down!"

P.S. We've also received a full account of her latest holiday travels from Sarah Levick on Arcadia and that can be seen on From Our Friends. As always she's good value reading!

July 29

At last. We are moored near Stoke Golding, where we had planned to spend the weekend almost a fortnight ago. But we are still under the shade of trees that at least cover the front of the boat for most of the day and cover the stern in the late afternoon and early evening. It's less than a mile from our last mooring at Dadlington but as soon as the boat occupying it had moved on yesterday morning we came here immediately. The weather is hot but a cool breeze has made it tolerable and if forecasts are correct and we are going back to normal summer conditions we'll be happy to stay here until the middle of next week when we have visits from friends and trips to the doctor and hairdresser to brighten us up.

August 2

Although we are still at Stoke Golding we've actually moved twice since the last update - the first move to the official 48 hour mooring so that our friends from Ashford in the Water could get to us without walking up one side of the canal, over a bridge and then down the other, carrying food and heavy toolboxes. The food came with Clive and Joy Thrower and their granddaughter Natalie who arrived in time for a lunchtime sandwich and then helped prepare an excellent buffet spread at tea-time when we were joined by Linda Pelc and John Thorpe. The toolbox was John's who came prepared to help me fit a new stop button on the control panel. In fact, he did it all himself in less than 10 minutes. I would probably have cocked it up! Anyway, we had a most enjoyable afternoon with a full boat - it was too cool and wet to sit outside, I'm pleased to report.

The cooler weather followed us when we moved at midday yesterday after visits to doctor and hairdresser when Tammy did her usual excellent job in shearing me of six months/one year of growth, depending on when we last visited the Ashby. We are now on one of our favourite SG moorings, with a view straight out of the hatch up to the church, and in front of us is PEM No 6 who caught up with us as we were about to leave Bath Piece. Vicki and Ian Harley joined us on board in the afternoon to catch up on happenings since we parted company a week or so ago at bridge 22, which will probably be continued sometime today. Tomorrow we hope to fill up with diesel and water before settling on this stretch for the next week before we are due in at Springwood Haven.

E-mail update: A very sad note from regular correspondents Joseph and Janet Cresswell on Barleyfirth who we last met with their three Scottish terriers when they were heading north on the Shroppie. Joseph's words will strike a deep chord with all of use who love our pets so much:

"We are now at home, although the cruise ended in a very sad way. Whilst sailing on the Caldon canal we were moored outside Leek when we decided that we needed to sail home because Pippin had slowed down considerably and she was not eating or drinking properly. In Rugeley we took her into a vet and he confirmed that her health was declining. An operation to remove the cyst on her side could enhance her life but nothing was guaranteed. We took hold of the very flimsy straw for Pippin and before we had got her back to our moored boat we had phoned our vet at home. She contacted the Rugeley vet and exchanged the notes of Pippin's examination. Our vet confirmed that they would conduct the surgery on Pippin if she had the strength to undertake the operation. We booked Pippin in two days later for her operation. Our next series of phone calls was to a marina to book the boat in for a fortnight and then a call to our son in Leicester. Julian collected us the following morning from the marina near Lichfield and Pippin was operated on the next morning by our vet. The operation was sucessful and we brought her home. She ate little amounts of many different types of food and titbits. The wound from the operation was healing very well. After Pippin took a short walk the following week I went up to the marina to bring home the boat with a friend. Sadly Pippin's health very quickly deteriorated. Her heart could not support the demands her body made upon it. Pippin, our very best Scottish Terrier, is now buried in our garden."

P.S. While we were still at our first Stoke Golding mooring we had a passing visit from Barry Connor who keeps his boat Bacarelle at Dadlington Wharf. We had hoped to see him while we were at Dadlington - as we did the winter before last when he walked regularly his dogs along the towpath. Anyway, he spotted us from the window of his house the morning we left and sent us an email to which I replied saying where we would be for a few days. He arrived with a bag of cherries from his garden and sat with us for nearly an hour over a cup of coffee. We enjoyed the cherries over the next couple of days.

August 9

I know I've been remiss in not updating the website for a week but although it has been a busy time we have not really done anything exciting. We've moved again - to our old Stoke Golding winter mooring spot under a willow tree - cruised up to Sutton Cheney again to empty cassettes and get rid of rubbish and we're now back under the willow making the most of the weather by washing clothes (Liz) and repainting our coach-lines (me). With only a hundred yards or so between us, Ian and Vicki on Pem No 6 have visited us several times on Snecklifter and we've been back to them for coffee or cold drinks. They left yesterday to fill their water tank at Sutton Cheney or Market Bosworth but we hope to see them again before we leave the Ashby at the end of the week. In any case, we'll miss them when we go our separate ways for the rest of the season.

Among visitors to the boat have been Pete Adcock and his partner Val,Henk and Coby Schrijver of Double Dutch who were driving from their home in Coventry to Yorkshire where they are baby-sitting for their son and daughter in law, and the young moorhen on the right who was a persistent but not unwelcome caller when we were moored at Sutton Cheney. Pete was a great help during our two winters on the Ashby, visiting us on his boat Tiger M (now sold) and lending us an excellent table-top washing machine. Sadly he reclaimed it on his latest visit - he's going to need it when he lives in a camper van on his new job in Dorset. We were lucky to enjoy its use for nearly two years and hope he gets as much use out of it as Liz has. We wish him the best for his new job, as well.

E-mail update: First the bad news. Our regular email correspondent Mike Bridges who has recently rescued his almost-completed Quinquireme 2 from Mirfield after Heron collapsed has suffered a heart attack and has been in Weston super Mare Hospital for over a fortnight. The good news is that his prognosis is excellent and his wife Di told us this morning that he is being transferred to Bristol for a routine operation and will then return to Weston.

August 14

We have left the Ashby canal behind for another year and have just moored in Springwood Haven marina, ready for our trip to Spain (and for the boat's bottom to be blacked while we are away). This will be the last update to the website until we return somewhere around August 25/26. The great advantage of having a couple of days here before we go and a day or two after our return is that we have plug-in electricity and the people who run the marina have been marvellously friendly and helpful. They've even welcomed the dogs.

Our last few days at Stoke Golding were most enjoyable - I got more painting done on the outside of the boat and PEM No 6 turned up while we were below bridge 22 so we had the bonus of seeing them again before we all moved off in different directions. The beginning of the trip down to Springwood Haven, however, was appalling. After all the sunshine we've enjoyed when we didn't have to move, the rain came heavily on the first day that we had to. I set off in reasonable weather - the occasional spatter of rain - at around 7am but within an hour I was getting pretty wet despite wearing a rain jacket and overtrousers. By the time Liz got up I was sorely in need of a fresh jacket and another layer under it to combat the cold. We were relieved to find our previous spot at Hospital Bend was free and we moored for the day around 9.15 am.

This morning another very early start before 6am brought us through Nuneaton and into the marina before I felt the first signs of drizzle. We can now relax before the trek to Mallorca begins on Wednesday morning. Liz leaves before me to catch her flight from Coventry while I travel more leisurely from Nuneaton to London by train, and then with my son Jonathan from London to Paris on the Eurostar and from Paris to Barcelona on the overnight hotel train. On Thursday we'll have a day in Barcelona before catching the ferry over to Mallorca. On the return trip Jonathan will be flying to Edinburgh so Liz will be travelling by ferry and train with me. I know - it seems a hell of a performance. But I will not fly. I love train and sea journeys, however, so it will be part of the holiday for me.

August 24

We're back. In fact, we've been back aboard Snecklifter for a couple of days but we've been so busy collecting the dogs from kennels (they were in excellent shape),and shopping at Morrisons and in Nuneaton (we had no fresh food left after a week away) that it's only today I have had time to update the website. It seemed sensible, however, to stay the extra day here while we are still plugged into mains electricity so that I could spend the four or five hours it has taken to write this diary section and edit all the pictures that appear on a special page that recalls our Spanish journey (see Mallorca Report ). Tomorrow we expect to leave Springwood Haven marina where they've made an excellent job of blacking the boat's bottom and painting the cream and red counters. And if the weather is fine we might travel a mile or two to Hartshill or a lovely country mooring just beyond where we can "hide away" for the bank holiday weekend. After that we have two months to make our slow, gradual way back to the Macclesfield canal.

The visit to Mallorca was outstanding in so many ways. The journey from Nuneaton to Barcelona was especially enjoyable because it gave me plenty of time to spend with my son Jonathan who joined me at Waterloo. He was good company on the long train journeys, showed me around his favourite spots in Barcelona and bought me an excellent lunch at 4Cats, the celebrated restaurant associated with Picasso, and was then very understanding when I was sea-sick on the four-hour ferry journey to Mallorca. I was mortified. After two years in the Royal Navy when I travelled much of the world out to the Far East and all around Africa, followed by 30 years as a newspaper journalist when I went to the West Indies on a banana boat and into the Arctic Circle on a frigate that was on fishery patrol, plus a number of ferry trips to Ireland and back, I used to boast that I had never been sick. Occasionally a little queasy but never physically sick. That boast died on the Mediterranean last week. I felt as though I would as well! Thankfully the return trip was very smooth.

August 30

After nearly five days of comparative idleness, we've had one of our longest cruises (by our standards) in many weeks. I brought the boat away from Hartshill at 6.15 am and Liz got up 30 minutes later in time for the first of the Atherstone locks. We had planned to do just the first nine and if there was a decent mooring above the final two locks before you drop down to Bradley Green we would stop for the rest of the day and get on with the boat painting that had been delayed at Hartshill by wind and rain. Although every lock was set against us, all went to plan and we tied up just three hours after our early start. I managed to get one side of the boat painted from gunnel to rubbing strake while Liz did another batch of washing. Since returning the borrowed tabletop washing machine to Pete on the Ashby, Liz had found another new one at Springwood Haven and has been more than happy ever since! Doesn't take much.

While I was lying more or less flat out to reach with the paint roller and brush, the chap from a boat behind us wandered past and started asking about the boat's name. For once, someone knew exactly what a sneck lifter is and he was able to throw new light on it. He told me in the pub in his Saddleworth village a man would arrive every Saturday night with a variety of snecklifters for sale - bunches of flowers, chocolates etc that he had picked up cheaply in the local market that day. He was offering them to the carousers at a profit of course, proving that snecklifters can work in many ways - they not only get you into a pub, they can get you back into your own home if you've had a few too many!

P.S. A few afterthoughts. I forgot to mention meeting Jim Boardman of Tabitha and his lovely greyhound Billy while we were near bridge 22 on the Ashby. While he was still tied up on a lead, Billy was attacked and savaged by a passing Alsatian dog wandering free. He had damage to his hind quarters and lost muscle as well as a lot of blood. We were delighted to meet him again at Springwood Haven when Billy was looking much his old self despite the scarring on his upper thigh. (A week or two after the attack we were back at bridge 22 and the Alsatian was still being walked off the lead)

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