From ann@waterways.freeserve.co.uk Mon Oct 18 18:39:10 1999 Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 22:47:00 +0100 From: Ann Harvey Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Re: Amos' Summer Holiday Part 1 [ 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. ] At last I've got round to typing out the trip report of the summer hols. Skip if not interested, but I thought that it might bring memories of summer, as Autumn is setting in and many of you won't be able to be out and afloat again till next millenium. AMOS^Ò SUMMER HOLIDAY 1999 FRIDAY 13TH Not an unlucky day for us, as we began our holiday. After arriving at Ashwood with fish and chips we unpacked and spent a hilarious evening in the club, followed by an early night. Pat and Penny on Koinonia, and Ike and Güdrun on Joanne are going to accompany us for the fortnight. Güdrun has a hospital appointment on Monday, so they will catch us up. SATURDAY 14TH When I woke at 9 am it was a warm, sunny morning. As Ken was still sleeping off the effects of the week^Òs hectic schedule, I did the last minute shopping. We set off at 11 am, and arrived at Swindon at 12.30 and waited there for Pat and Penny to catch us up. They had set off before us, but unable to turn at the marina entrance they had to go down to Gothersley and then come back up. We spent the waiting time at The Old Bush with a cob and a pint. Leaving Swindon at 3.10 pm we moored at the Round Oak, just below the Bumblehole lock at 4.30 pm. We had sunshine and showers all afternoon, but these were short-lived and not cold. The weather turned sunny and breezy in the late afternoon and early evening. We enjoyed a tour of Koinonia which Patrick has fitted out himself, a job we all know never ends. The evening was spent with them in the Mount Pleasant just up the hill. A nice gentle start to the holiday, instead of the usual rush! :-) SUNDAY 15TH I woke early and got up at 7 am, and Ken crawled out at 8.15. At 8.40 am I left him to starting the engine and set off to prepare Bumblehole lock. I opened the gates ^Ö and in came another boat. Apparently they came round the bend as Ken was untying the ropes, and didn^Òt realise that they^Òd pinched our lock until they were in it. They were most apologetic and helped me by backfilling. They had been cruising continuously since April and had done most of the canals, and were of the opinion that this one was the best. They even told Cliff and Graham (BW) at Bratch. We arrived at Compton at 12.30 and filled up with diesel at 15.9p per litre, then I took advantage of the nearby freezer shop and newsagent. Pat and Penny arrived on Koinonia at about 1.25 pm. We set off up the last lock for the day at 2.15 and had a very pleasant run up to Autherley Junction. There is an incredible amount of traffic about. Even though it is August for the last few years we have not seen this much boat movement. At the Anchor at Coven Heath the boats were moored for a very long way each side of the pub ^Ö all except the moorings right outside the pub on the bend. Lessons must have been learnt here. ? The weather has been sunny but breezy all day, with none of the forecast showers. We moored up at Calf Heath Marina visitor moorings at 5.30 pm, with Pat and Penny not far behind. We enjoyed a pleasant evening in the on-site pub/restaurant. Monday 16th We cast off at 9.40 am on a lovely sunny morning, with a ^Ñwindows wallpaper^Ò sky ^Ö it reminded me of home and work. :-) We took time out to stop at Otherton lock to see Stuart Cole at his boatfitting unit, to admire the cruiser he is desperately trying to finish for the Worcester show, and to be shown round the narrowboat he is fitting out for a client. Said client is not in any hurry, so Stuart has been taking his time with this project, and it shows. A really attractive looking boat, and nice design features inside. Perhaps I^Òll do the lottery this week. We pulled in just past the Cross Keys pub, just as it began to rain. Off to the pub. :-) After an enjoyable meal we took a stroll into the village. The showers were fitful, and not unpleasant, but it^Òs longer than you think into the village, and I^Òm not very fit. So it was sleep off the walk and the showers for what was left of the afternoon, then back into the Cross Keys for the evening with Pat and Penny, as they waited for their extra passengers to arrive. Patrick^Òs brother, sister-in-law and 2 year old twins duly installed themselves in the dark, and Pat and Penny sneaked back into the pub and left them to settle the twins into their cots. Tuesday 17th The rain showers continued this morning on and off. We walked into the village for a few essentials, bread, newspaper and cash. We set off eventually at about 11.30 in a thin drizzle. Leaving Penkridge lock we passed Joe Jones, with an apology for the lock being turned so quickly against him, but the crew of the following boat DID go down and look as far as the bend to see if anyone was coming up. It^Òs just that the bend is very close to the bottom of Penkridge lock, so an upcoming boat can^Òt be seen until it^Òs at the lock. We paused at Acton Trussel for a cuppa and a sandwich and then on to Stafford Boat Club. We moored up on the new moorings, but there wasn^Òt a soul about, and there was no way to get over to the clubhouse side as the gates were locked. I had just lit the fire, and that was the signal for the sun to come out, so both crews decided to press on to Great Haywood. It was a pleasant trip in hazy sunshine but the wind kept the temperature cool. We passed Sid Arkless just before Tixal lock, but were unable to introduce ourselves properly, as there was a wind and a bend, so all attention had to be given to steering the boats as we crossed. On arrival at 5.30 pm at the junction we were obliged to use the trip boat mooring ^Ö just enough room for Amos and Koinonia ^Ö so we^Òll have to vacate these promptly in the morning. Güdrun phoned to say that she and Ike were at Penkridge. If we can wait a while in the morning, they may catch up. Wednesday 18th We had a little rain early on ^Ö but then some pleasant sunshine. We took on some more water and set off at 12.30. When we arrived at Hoo Mill lock we found quite a queue, as there was a fault with one of the gate paddles, so they were only working slowly. We had a 2-hour wait here before we were able to enter the lock. Most of this time was spent hanging onto a moored boat that was being fitted at the adjacent boatbuilding yard. We had looked forward to seeing where Amos was ^Ñborn^Ò and Ken wished to speak to the builder, and ask a few questions about how things were fitted, but the original builder, Mike Heywood had moved so we had no luck in that direction. We made it to Weston at 2.50 for lunch. It had been a lovely sunny trip, but as we tied up it began to rain again. Ike and Güdrun caught us up and we have decided to stay here for the night. Rain continued to be intermittent. The pub is almost canalside, just a few yards away past a small row of cottages. On our way there for a drink on the evening we had to pass these cottages, and the first one was almost invisible under baskets and tubs of flowers. On a table outside were some plants for sale. They looked healthy and were reasonably priced so I couldn^Òt resist, as my early season pansies had suffered quite badly on top of the boat in the summer when I wasn^Òt there midweek to water them during the very hot spell. Thursday 19th I walked a long ¼ mile to the post office to get bread and a paper. On the way back I bought another couple of fuschias and planted them in my tubs. We untied and set off at 9.45 and left Sandon lock an hour later. The weather was cold, windy and overcast and as we left the lock it began to rain. We are looking out for wood having left all ours at home and the coal bucket in the boot of the car, as we won^Òt need a fire in August will we? I will buy some coal as soon as I see any. We reached Aston lock at 10.45 and proceeded to Stone. The weather continued cold and overcast with some light rain from time to time. At Stone boatbuilders we bought a new boatpole and a bag of FUEL. ? I can now light the fire. The fire didn^Òt light properly and I didn^Òt have time to see to it right away and lo and behold! It has now gone warmer. Ike and Güdrun had gone ahead to search for petrol and we caught them up above Stone locks and we then locked together up to Barlaston. We originally planned to go a little further on to Trentham, but we collectively decided to stay here instead near a pub. My original idea was to have an evening together round a barbie perhaps, but outside in the warm evening sunshine till we lit candles as it grew dusk, eating drinking and chatting. It just isn^Òt that warm and anyway Pat and Penny were feeling rather crowded aboard their boat and welcomed the chance to come out to the pub. That was the pub with the lady with the batteries (the sort whch power the drumming bunnies) who decided that we^Òd make an excellent audience. She was a very nice lady but just didn^Òt stop talking and no-one could get a word in edgeways. We came out feeling shell shocked. When we returned to our boat Ken told me ^Ñby the way^Ò one of the boats that had passed us while I was in the galley had told him we were going the wrong way to the GIG (at Stafford Boat Club this weekend). Ken didn^Òt know the name of the boat, so I don^Òt know who it was. Friday 20th We all set off at 9.00 and had a good run into Stoke in fine sunshine. We didn^Òt stop till we got to Harecastle Tunnel at 12.30. Ike and Güdrun got there first and could have gone through with the previous convoy but waited for us. We entered the tunnel at 3.20 and came out at Kidsgrove at 4.15. I had taken the flowers off the roof in case there was a tight fit with the gauge, but the canal is about a foot down so the roof was higher than usual. Ike in the cruiser went through first, then us then Pat and Penny and all. The little twins thought it was great with the lamp and the echo and kept calling hello ^Ö about the extent of their vocabulary so far. At the Kidsgrove end of the tunnel a BW tug was standing by, presumably to haul off any boat that got grounded and blocked the tunnel. Levels were difficult, even for us and Koinonia grounded several times. The plan was to stop here and go into town to buy supplies (and to look at the town which we have never visited), but the queue of boats waiting to enter the tunnel from this end made mooring impossible. We stopped by a bank too high to climb up, with a waiting boater catching the rope. When Pat^Òs boat came out we all agreed that it would be impossible to stop here. There were at least 10 boats waiting to go through, and the chap who^Òd caught our rope for us had been given a time of 5.00 pm for his boat to go in, which was likely to be the last lot of the day. The pause to confer allowed another boat to get ahead of us on the locks, which delayed our passage a bit. The lower levels of water also made passage slower so we stopped just below the third lock down for the night and moored by the water point. We are out of fresh food and getting low on cash, which we had planned to replenish first at Stoke, then at Kidsgrove. There is apparently a Spar-type shop down the road, but I^Òm too tired to go. Pat^Òs brother and family left us here, being collected by another member of the family. Pat and Penny now have their boat to themselves again. We spent the evening in the Red Bull. Hope you weren't bored - I'll send part 2 tomorrow. Regards Ann --- The UK Waterways Network - http://www.ukwaterways.net/ * bringing the inland waterways community together * You are currently subscribed to canals as: george@adiva.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-canals-407N@ukwaterways.net