nb Bridge Street

Saturday 30 th June 2018 Sandra called with a shopping list of electrical parts we need to upgrade the boat. The solar panels do not appear to be working so a new controller is required. Also having separate voltmeters for monitoring condition of both start and leisure batteries. At present the only monitoring of batteries is the leisure batteries via the solar panel controller. The cost of all this will be just under £500 but it will be well worth it, for peace of mind if nothing else. So we are in Orchard Marina until Tuesday at least when Sandra should be able to do the work. The marina itself is basic with no rubbish disposal which could become an issue with us no longer having a car. As with the other marinas we have experienced, it too, has its share of characters. It is good of the management to let us stay until the work is completed, however, neither of us wanted marina life, no...

Friday 29 th June 2018 Again, we had a fried breakfast outside. Bramble Cutting has to be one of the prime spots on the canal system. The two boats that were moored with us had moved on by 7.30 and so for an hour we had the place to ourselves before another boat moored. It must be a continual coming and going of boats here, certainly in the summer.   I fitted door stops to the side doors so they no longer open again the cabin sides. Every job we do now is an improvement for the boat. Brenda picked all the masking tape off the gangplank, a laborious task. We went for the same walk across the fields behind Bramble Cuttings but this time crossed the bridge over the canal and walked up to see the boat from the opposite bank. It is not often you get a view of her from afar. On the way back there were lovely views across towards Middlewich in the distance, nestling as it does i...

Thursday 28 th June 2018 We were both awake at 5am to witness a beautiful dawn. There was mist on the surface of the canal and the moon just going down in the south west. When we awoke properly, we had a full fried breakfast outside on the picnic benches. The sun was shining, birds singing and boat slowly passing by. It doesn’t get much better. We spent the day lazily doing our own thing. Brenda cleaned the boat throughout. She looks so much better. I suppose we have been that busy it has been getting neglected. I washed and polished the starboard cabin sides. Ever since Swanley we have been moored port side to and so haven’t managed the starboard side. The boot tops were also blackened on this side, so at least on one side, she looks as though somebody cares for her. The brush and mop handles and boat pole were primed and painted light grey to match the colour scheme and the boarding plank was painted an...

Wednesday 27 th June 2018 It was lovely last night, hearing the church bells from St. Michael and All Angels Church ringing out on their Tuesday night practice. So today seemed yet another day of chasing around, arranging and buying things. First thing, I bought and fitted a new door lock. Had to fit big spacers behind the lock plate which is what was wrong with all this time. At least now the lock works although the job will have to be made to look tidy at a later date. I walked around to the cemetery to try and catch Dennis, the sexton. I have been tracing Tracey’s family for a while now and have tried countless times to catch Dennis, who knows all there is to know about Middlewich cemetery. He is semi-retired now though, and increasingly hard to find. Before leaving though, while taking the rubbish bag out of the bin, the bag split. An awful job and an awful smell. We went shopping to Tesco’s. Bought loads of stuff, all of which had to be carried back to th...

Tuesday 26 th June 2018 Went off to Aquafax to exchange several bits and pieces and fitted hooks to both back doors. Feels much more secure now. Vents were fitted to the gas cooker so that is now fully compliant. Brenda sat outside for a while and fitted fabric to another black out panel for the front doors. These are looking really good. The dog went to the vets for his annual injections. After showers, Martin picked us up and we were privileged to see Abbs off to her prom in a Fire Engine. She looked gorgeous but only our Abby could get away with wearing a lovely dress and matching coloured Doc Martin’s. Good on you girl.              On the way out the key snapped in the door lock. This has been very stiff ever since we moved onto the boat and now, obviously, it will need changing. We called in to see Tracey and the kids on the way back and...

Monday 25 th June 2018 At last we are on the move again, albeit for less than a ½mile. We fuelled up before leaving the boat yard, 91.3 litres, £85.99 including our electricity. The 3 locks through Middlewich leak badly. Most often the pound between the first and second lock is empty in the mornings, made worse with the breach on the Shropshire Union Middlewich Branch, and consequently, the whole of the pound above them and the Kings Lock become very low. Such was the situation this morning and water had to be run down from above Kings Lock before we could move as we were sitting on the bottom. We moved down through Middlewich, doing the three locks and moored up at the Moorings. We intend to stay here a few days before heading off.                        An idyll...

Friday 22 nd June 2018 We are still sitting at the Kings Lock Chandlery although the repairs that were to be addressed here are now complete and we could move. However, Steve, the owner of the chandlery has kindly agreed we can stay until after the weekend. The holes in the gas locker, now having been welded up, have been painted. Numerous jobs have been done by ourselves and it is good to have the opportunity of doing them in Middlewich where we know the local shops and are not having to move on all the time. We decided to call in the guy that had done the original gas test to sort the gas supply to the cooker. After all he had passed the installation as being fit for purpose. He readily admitted he had not visually inspected the installation although he had signed to say he had. The pipework was then altered and a new flexible hose fitted, he being watched like a hawk the whole time. The cooker now works...

Tuesday 19 th June 2018 The Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival was a lot quieter this year. People were blaming the breach in the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. For whatever reason, there was not the same number of boats or stalls this year and no Morris Dancers. The opening parade was very small. However, the music was the same and, although there did not appear to be the same numbers of people as in previous years, the pubs were all crowded. The Festival is always good for Middlewich and the town comes to life. Let’s hope it continues and this year was just a glitch.    We enjoyed it though and it was good to get together with friends. There were many people turned up at the boat for a look-see. Friday we met up with Martin and Michelle, had far too much to drink and finished up back at the boat with Kebabs. Saturday we saw the opening parade and had a walk around the festival before coming back to the boat to meet up with Sarah who h...

Haven't posted anything for quite a while now as we lost our internet connection as soon as we left Swanley Bridge Marina. Martin again came out and sorted it today, so there are almost two weeks of catching up. Thank you Martin, we do gratefully appreciate your efforts.

Tuesday 5 th June 2018 Andy turned up again followed not long after by Graeme. More jobs were attended to although all were jobs that should have been done before the boat left the workshop. The only job that could be considered a snagging job was the curing of the leaks on the water tank filling and vent lines. This turned out to be no more than jubilee clips and screws had not been tightened up. 12 ballast bricks were added under the sink unit along with my apprentice piece engine and a further 3 bricks in the bilge beside the cabin bilge pump. There is still a slight list but these were all the bricks Graeme had. I then went to see Malcolm in the reception to say our farewells as we are, hopefully, staring to move tomorrow and he is not working. It was Malcolm that we saw in September 2016 after I was made redundant and, through him, we were put in touch with Graeme. Both Malcolm and Andy at the brokerage have seen us through a lot. I then took Phil next door,...