Friday 29th November 2019



The roof was encrusted in ice this morning and Harvey was on the bed early with the cold. We left the mooring at 9am, winding beside Cow Lane Bridge and heading out of Chester. Although very cold to begin, the sun was shining brightly.

We passed through the now familiar locks gradually climbing out of the city. Then followed the 8-mile lock-free cruise to the Shady Oak pub where we moored just below Wharton’s Lock.







We called into the pub, recently refurbished to a high standard and looking much better for it. The barmaid lives on a boat in Tattenhall Marina, beside the boat that was fitted out after Bridge Street. It seems they too, have had a lot of issues and are still requiring visits from the builder for remedial work. All too familiar.



Weather: very cold and frosty with bright sunshine. 



Day Total: 5 locks; 10 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 6.1                  (including running for hot water etc)

Overall Total: 844 locks; 1453 miles; 53 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 17 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 920.9


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday 22 nd June 2020   Brenda went to Devaney’s, the Middlewich butcher’s first thing, only to find them closed on account of a family bereavement, so went instead to Morrison’s. I stayed on the boat, readying to move and doing more work on family history. On Brenda’s return we both went to Morrison’s for a mega shop. Such hard work lugging loads of shopping back to the boat. We have decided we need to buy a second sack trolley. After the shopping was unpacked and stowed away, we had a cup of tea and some lunch and left the mooring just before 2pm. It felt so bloody good to be off cruising again, picking up where we left off when we left Middlewich on 10 th February, over 4 months ago, supposedly on the start of the cruising year after spending most of the winter static, in and around Middlewich, before the Corona Virus lock-down stopped us, and everybody else, dead in our tracks. We had an uneventful trip as far as Aqueduct Marina where we moored. When Bridge Street wa
Read more
Wednesday 24 th June 2020   Again, last night, the farmers were cutting and turning grass in the nearby fields but then, about 10pm, a heavy dew came down and stopped them working. And gave us a quiet night. We left the mooring just after 9am in order to arrive at Venetian when Susan opened at 10. We passed up Minshull Lock, such a pretty place. The lock-keepers cottage here, we nearly bought when we first moved back to Cheshire in 2000.                                          Minshull Lock-Keepers Cottage                                                    Marina Dwellers at Syke’s Hollow   Syke’s Hollow had been reclaimed by the marina dwellers, Gazebo Wharf as they term it, 6 boats in all. Good for them. I suppose they will be there now until the end of the summer. At the marina, we took on fuel and a gas cylinder, bought some goods and Brenda had a well-earned ice-cream. Susan was pleased to see us
Read more
Image
Friday 22 nd February 2019 The fog first thing this morning was so thick you could see no more than 50 yards. A harbinger of a nice day it turned out. We were on the move by 8am for the mile run-in to Atherstone and we moored just before the top lock near a road bridge that is very convenient for the town. We are opposite the derelict factory of Wilson and Stafford. This was a felt hat making enterprise that made hats that were exported all over the world until closure about 35 years ago. Apparently, slaves on the West Indies sugar plantations all wore hats made in Atherstone. The factory is a blight on the town. It has been sold several times for housing development and would make desirable apartments. The frontage of the building is listed but the problem lies inside. There are many chemicals absorbed into the fabric of the building including mercury, a heavy metal used in the making of hats and asbestos. It would cost a fortune to demolish or develop, including clos
Read more