From Tim_Boddington@compuserve.com Mon May 3 18:56:02 1999 Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 09:48:27 -0400 From: Tim Boddington Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: NGc canals contribute AA Subject: Trip report - Blue Heron part 1 (long) [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Thea and I, plus Thea's mum (Oma - Dutch for Grandma), have had the great pleasure to move Stan & Judy Voets' Blue Heron from her winter mooring at Macclesfield Marina to the start of their summer cruise at Braunston. For us, this was our first cruise for 11 years, since we sold our own boat TREKKER. During those years I steadfastly avoided taking a canal holiday despite occasional requests from the children because I feared being hooked once again. Now that the children are independent or nearly so, and I have largely retired, I felt it safe to venture out once again. A key purpose of this cruise was to see whether Thea could be sufficiently enthused with canal cruising once again for it to become a regular thing. Ged & Marilyn Layfield have been looking after Blue Heron through the winter and she was in spick and span condition when we loaded up on Wednesday evening (6th May). We finished by loading all the Voets' property from storage into my Landrover to be locked in my garage for the week. The taxi arrived at 7.45 on Thursday morning and whisked us off to the marina, with the two Thea's in the back piled high in bed clothes, the whole event providing amusement to the bemused driver. DAY ONE (7/5) Macclesfield to Hardings Wood We moved out at 8.40, manoeuvring between the moored boats without touching any of them - desperately keen not to wake Ged & Marilyn who deserved a good night's sleep after their superhuman efforts the previous day. It was dull, dry and there way a stiff wind - something that would plague us most of the week. The most obvious effect of the wind was that it drove the fumes of the wonderful cabin fire down the flue and almost gassed us out. Regrettably we had to allow it to extinguish. The only days we didn't have a wind were Friday and Saturday when it was so hot we didn't need the fire anyway. So we never re-lit it throughout the week. I learnt long ago that certain unusual tools could be very useful on a canal boat and I took some of them this time too. I used always to take a long crowbar but refrained on this occasion. First use of the long handled pruners was just after br.47 (the swing bridge) when a low branch threatened the welfare of the row of planters along the roof of Blue Heron. The exposed location of Bosley locks brought home to us just how windy it was - about force 4 or 5 from the SW. Thea soon got the hang of steering this bigger boat in and out of the locks. We passed 2 or 3 boats in the locks and I sold one copy of the new 1998/9 Guide for the benefit of the society. It was here that we started the process of explaining to Oma how we are able to go up and down hill using the locks. By the time we reached Fradley she seemed to understand how we were going down hill but when we started going up hill at Glascote all was lost and she never has cracked it. Of course, she has never come fully to grips with the fact that we live in a hilly country! Mind, you don't have to understand the technology to be very useful at opening and closing gates, and she was. This first day proved to be the big day of the year for Mayflies (Dave Kitching may wish to expand on this - he is the noted expert). We cruised along in a solid cloud of zillions of them; I have never seen so many, mile after mile of them. Many finished up in the water which took on a black sheen - so many that the fish were presumably sick of them for I never saw even a single one taken. I don't think we have ever boated in May before and we were struck by the stunning beauty of the canal side; in particular the massed bluebells in all the woodland places such as just below Fools Nook and later in Hopwas Woods. On arrival at Hall Green stop lock I undertook a couple of duties - empty The Macclesfield Canal Society collection box (our thanks to all who have donated to our funds), replenish the box with leaflets and then check the gate positions in the disused lower stop lock. Our historical group needed confirmation that the gates really did face downhill to prevent water flowing from the T&M in the event of loss of water in the lower pound of the Macclesfield. They did. While I was doing this Blue Heron was in the lock with the water flowing out. I came to open the gate only to discover that it wouldn't open wide enough to pass the boat. Probing with a pole indicated that there was something round like a sunken log on the bottom of the lock. What I needed was a skeg to drag it out. By this time an audience had accumulated. It's funny how people always seem to appear from nowhere when something goes wrong no matter how remote the location! No one knew where the skeg was kept. One chap knew exactly what to do - it was about 5.30 and that was when to call the BW emergency number. I pointed out that a) they wouldn't be interested in such a minor event, b) I expected to be able to sort it myself anyway. It didn't stop him calling. In the meantime I went looking for a skeg and searched two BW work boats being used for the piling that is being carried out above the lock but with no luck. On return I had a look between the two lock cottages and hey presto there was the magic skeg. It then turned out that the chap who knew exactly what to do not only lived in the lock cottage but also knew the skeg was there! It took me 2 minutes to fish out a wide variety of obstructive material, but not the 'log' which proved illusive. Once the gate opened I called it a day and we were on our way. I phoned Duncan Davenport, the Macc Canal Supervisor, the following morning to tell him what had been going on. I was aiming for the newly refurbished Blue Bell Inn at Kidsgrove. They were kind enough to advertise in the Guide and I wanted to respond by giving them my business. We planned to take our evening meals in appropriate pubs and this seemed like a good start. We moored on the bollards right outside being the last available space. I know, these are for use in locking not for mooring up but it was 6.15, the tunnel was closed for the night and the likelihood of anyone coming off the Macc and starting down the Cheshire flight at that time was remote. I was then not best pleased to discover that the Blue Bell didn't open until 7.30 and there was no evidence whatsoever that they served food; indeed, a local confirmed my suspicions. The Tavern opposite was not recommended even by the locals! Reluctantly I had to convince the ladies that a short walk would need to be taken to the town to find something to eat. We found the Harecastle Inn (or was it Hotel), supposedly the best place in an altogether miserable town. The lounge was empty, dull and dingy and I dreaded what the food might be like (remember I'm trying to convince Thea that we should do this more often!) But when it came the food was perfectly good. The licensee was an interesting chap too who was so busy that he spent at least 20 minutes telling us his life story - we began to wonder how we would ever get out. When the opportunity arose we left - without having any pudding. There is a fine line between welcoming customers and getting them to spend money, and so occupying them that they can't spend money. The ladies retired to the boat and I went to take issue with the licensee of the now open Blue Bell. The instant I passed through the door my intentions were forgotten. This is the best beer drinkers pub since the late lamented Bird in Hand closed. Dave & Kay Washbrook have a remarkable selection of ales and lagers. I didn't record the precise selection while I was there (too busy drinking it) but the local CAMRA newsletter 'Potters Bar' records the opening selection in April - Thwaites Bitter, Burton Bridge Porter, Burton Bridge Spring, RCH Pitchfork, Butcombe Bitter and Butcombe Wilmot's. There were several foreign brewed lagers including a Czech and a couple of Belgian and a wide range of bottled lagers. The Blue Bell is closed all day Monday, Tues- Fri closed lunchtimes, open eves 7.30-11, Sat 12-3/ 7-11, Sun 12-3/ 7-10.30. Very highly recommended! Now do you understand why the boat needed to be moored to those bollards right outside!? When I started this I didn't think there was much to say and I've only completed day one after 1500 words! Does anyone want part 2? Tim Boddington 'The Macclesfield Canal - 1998/9 Guide' Now published at UKP1.95 or UKP2.50 post paid in UK 'Preparing for BS 7799 Certification' Now published by BSI DISC at UKP27.50