Tuesday 1st October 2019

It had rained heavily all afternoon yesterday and throughout the night. However, the morning was clear and so we decided to move through Fradley Locks to involve Aaron with the boat and for his help.

First we had to water-up, dump rubbish and empty the loo. It started to rain, lightly at first, just as we started. We passed quickly thorough the swing bridge and the two Fradley Locks, and moored just above them.

Ian and Carol-Ann called shortly afterwards, to say they were moving on and heading south on the Coventry Canal, but ultimately, towards London. Friendships on the canals seem to be funny things. You meet with some people, hit it off and become friendly, but then you know that, once you part, you are not going to see them for some time. Safe and happy cruising to them.

Aaron left us at 2pm for his drive home. It had been nice to see him, but a short visit. And so, again, it was just the two of us. The boat always seems a bit empty, and the mood flat, whenever people leave us.

We put the pram hood back in place in the afternoon. No easy job but we had been missing the space and the opportunity it provides to take wet clothing off without first entering the boat. 

We then hunkered down with the heating on.



Weather: a dry spell during the morning but largely rain all day and windy late afternoon.



Day Total: 2 locks; 1 mile; 0 Tunnels; 1 Swing Bridge; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 3.2

                                                                                                  (including running for hot water etc)

Overall Total: 726 locks; 1288 miles; 50 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 11 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 807.7hrs






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Thursday 22 nd November 2018 We were awake during the night and watched a lovely, bright, full moon in a clear sky with a thick ground mist. When we woke this morning the world was white after a hard frost. Apparently it got down to -4 ˚ overnight. The stove has remained light since its first lighting on 19 th October. This morning was no exception and the boat was cold but not overly so, the stove having been damped down overnight. However, we did turn the heating on for ½ hour to warm the boat up while the stove was heating up. We haven’t had the heating on for some time but the times we have, has been when the boat has become cold. We still haven’t yet mastered the regulating of the heating. If it is left on too long, the boat becomes oppressively hot and remains so for a long time.   We went for a walk to the nearest village, Stockton. The walk was along a main road to begin with and was not pleasant with all the traffic and narrow verges to walk on. We w...
Read more
Image
Sunday 14 th July 2019 We went for a walk around Avoncliffe before a slow cruise covering the 1 ½ miles back into Bradford and were, yet again, lucky enough to find a place on the 48 hour moorings. Avoncliffe is a tiny, delightful place and a very popular stop for walkers and cyclists. Around the Cross Guns pub are a few cottages, all staggered towards the river bank and dominated by the Aqueduct. However, looking at signs from the past, it had once been a thriving small-scale industrial centre with water mills and factory mills concerned with the cloth industry. The up-market Avoncliffe Villa apartments bely their past as, first the Bradford Workhouse, then a convalescence hospital for injured First World War troops and later a hotel. Right our Bradford moorings, down a small embankment, is Barton Farm. The farm buildings are all Medieval and consist of a Manor House, a Granary, one of the best examples of a Tithe Barn and several other buildings. Today, the Tithe Barn ...
Read more
Image
Monday 30 th July 2018 We ambled about in the morning. Brenda did some housework and I walked up into Winsford for some shopping. The day was not good, a lot of cloud and threatening rain. Matt brought Manny and Eva out to us at 3pm. Just as they turned up the heavens opened with heavy rain. It was great to see them both, they are here for a week, so hopefully we won’t get sick of them and make them swim home. Once Matt had gone we waited a short while for the rain to stop and then set off. We passed under the two bridges that make up the roundabout at the bottom end of Winsford which we have travelled over countless times by car. As soon as you pass under the first bridge you are off Canal and River Trust waters. We winded at the entrance to the marina being careful not to venture too far into the flash because of the danger of shifting, shallow sandbanks and then started to retrace our route. This now put us right at the start of the Weaver Navigation and by th...
Read more