Joey Found

You will be please to know the Joey stolen in Birmingham recently has been found at the top of Brades Locks

Canal Boat Stolen in Birmingham

Sometime in the last few days the boat in the right of this picture was stolen. If you are in the Birmingham area please go for a walk on your nearest bit of canal and keep a look out for it

Contact Mike on

ansonpowell63@gmail.com

if you see it

Gecko's New Home

A fairly lazy morning ahead. We are only 4 miles from our destination with a couple of swing bridges to negotiate.
As we passed through Bursgough we admired this old mill, now converted into flats - sorry, apartments.



Away at 6.30 and ready to open the bridge an hour later. Unfortunately Crabtree Bridge did not want to play - the wedges had stuck and we had to call an engineer out.  Two hours later he had it open and we resumed our passage.

The chap who lived opposite the pub was not impressed."when we had the wooden bridge, they came twice a year to remove the weeds and give it some grease. This broke down three times last week"

It seems that vehicles over the 7.5 tonne limit (what's wrong with an English ton?) damage the sensors.

By 11am Gecko was safely moored in her new home which is only 10 minutes by bus from Southport.

Whio Meet Again

Bank Holiday Monday. After three days of peaceful cruising today is something else.

A charming setting with abundant  blossom. This is a long and deep lock with attitude. Much of the lock gear is inoperable and it took us 45 minutes to fill it.  Usually, if conditions are still,  I sit in the channel and wait for Margaret to prepare the lock. Here I moored up and had a cup of coffee. If there had been any bacon on board I may have made a second breakfast.

When the lock was ready, the boat was not. The lock had taken so much water that Gecko was now aground.
At one time an alternative pair of shallow locks had been built to accelerate passage  but these are now defunct.
 
At Parbold the world seemed to wake up and we found ourselves in the middle of a parade of nine boats all headed our way. This made passage through the swing bridges interesting as the first boat crew would operate the bridge for all of us  and then rejoin the flotilla at the back.

Along the Kennet & Avon Canal there are a string of pillboxes built in WWII for defense from invasion. I did not realise that invading forces were anticipated so far north as to require such preparation along the L&L.

This two-storey pillbox reminded me of another war-related construction.  Whilst seeking out prefabs in Hertfordshire in the 1980s I discovered some two-storey ones which was a surprise to me.
As we progressed boats joined our flotilla: some out for the day, others headed for Liverpool to attend the IWA rally.

When we reached the junction with the Rufford Arm we decided to call it a day and moor up .
This is the route for those wishing to navigate the Lancaster Canal.  The canal joins the River Douglas before its confluence with the Ribble which has to be crossed to enter the Millenium Link on the north side of the river. As soon as you turn into the Rufford Arm you start your descent  to the Douglas valley.

Hopefully with more success than this cruiser.

This  junction shows evidence of being a busy commercial site in the past. This derelict dry dock was large enough to accommodate two Liverpool Long Boats simultaneously.
Maneuvering  such craft  in through the entrance at the far end of this picture must have been quite tricky. Once inside the dock, the first boat in could not leave until the second boat moved.

We picked a spot to moor and started washing the salt off Gecko whilst the Bank Holiday gongoozlers  strolled past with ice creams.

Later in the day we were accosted by Don, a kiwi we know who moors his boat in Aylesbury. He and Val cruise the summer over here then return to New Zealand for the summer over there. In all the activity of extracting ourselves from the flotilla and mooring we had not noticed that their boat Whio was moored 25 yards behind us (the blue boat in this picture) And so we spent a pleasant evening with Don & Val before they set off for Lancaster Canal and Liverpool.

The WHIO is a blue duck from New Zealand

Gecko on the Move - Plank Lane to Crooke

Another bright and dry morning. Away at 6.30 heading for Wigan. Not to climb the daunting flight of locks towards Leeds but to turn left towards Liverpool. This is new territory for us.

The first lock we encounter after our left turn has a fairly new road bridge over it. There is no footbridge on the lock so to get from one side to the other Margaret has to climb up to the road, cross this bridge and descend the other side. I can't imagine it would have added much to the cost of the road bridge to add a footbridge to the lock, but who cares about canal users?

As we descend the three locks in Wigan we pass Kennet, an original Liverpool Short Boat which worked the canal in its commercial days. It now belongs to the L&L Canal Society and is used as a floating classroom. As 2016 is the 200th anniversary of the canal opening it will be busy this year. The locks between Wigan and Leeds are 60ft long and Kennet was built to operate this route.

Immortalised by George Orwell, the legendary Wigan  Pier occupies a tight turn for us and we head westward out of the town, descending more rural locks.

Here and there the May blossom is pink

In this fine weather and lack of boat traffic we are making good progress so decide to moor up early enough to explore our locale.

As we approach Crooke we pass this extraordinary construction. It appears to be a communal area for three houses providing a sheltered quayside retreat. Notice there are doors in the back wall - beach huts?

Cruising through the village, we find a lovely peaceful spot just out of sight round this bend and tie up before noon.
There is no traffic in this area o f the village and the whole atmosphere is somnolent which, after our early start, is tempting.

Our exploratory walk reveals that, away from the main road, it is indeed a charming village with a small marina and a substantial pub - The Crooke Hall Inn. We decide to treat ourselves to Sunday dinner here later.

When driving on roads we have learned that it is pointless asking directions from service station staff as they are all clueless. Being unsure of our actual location, we asked in a local shop which village we were in and the shopkeeper did not know! He printed off a till receipt with the address of the shop for us but this, I think, was the registered office address.
The meal and service at The Crooke Hall Inn was excellent. I was immediately impressed by the bar staff who recognised the intention of another customer to jump the queue and deftly ignored him until his allotted turn. Margaret had the roast sirloin whilst I had liver and bacon. Both meals were generous and perfectly prepared, as was the selection of vegetables. The rich gravy on my dish had whole mustard seed in addition to the traditional onion. Very tasty.

Out in the pub garden the Liverpool Long Boat Ambush was moored. This operated between Liverpool and Wigan but is too long to take the route to Leeds. It is now owned by Derek who plies his trade of fuel supplier along this section of the canal. The sister boat, Victoria, is permanently moored on his wharf at Bursgough.

Gecko on the Move - Lymm to Plank Lane

A bright sunny Saturday morning, so up at 6 and away by 7am. A good two hours cruising before we see another boat moving and then not another for a further hour.

We have not traveled this way for some years so are interested to resume acquaintance with such buildings as the old Linotype works at Sale

The first time we passed this building in 2006 it had been burnt out. No evidence of the damage is apparent now.

This gate for Infant Girls intrigues me as it is clearly from a different era than the current school buildings.


We are now skirting the west of Manchester and landmarks are frequent.

Soon after stopping at Stretford to empty the toilet and top up the tanks we pass the junction where we could turn right for the city centre and Old Trafford.

Around 11am we pass the Kelloggs factory but it is too late for breakfast so we don't stop.

Don't fancy shopping at the Trafford Centre, either so push on.

At Barton we cross the Manchester Ship Canal on an aqueduct similar to the road bridge next to us. These pivot in the centre to allow ships to navigate the Ship Canal.

From our elevated position we can see one of these ships moored a short distance away.

We are not totally devoid of nature here as evidence of Spring is all around us.

Whilst the swans, which mate for life,  are tending to their brood.....

.....the Canada Geese have twenty goslings to contend with. If there is one immigrant I would be happy to deport it is the Canada Goose, but the little ones do look sweet.

I do not know the story behind this lighthouse.

As we approach Worsley we are flanked by new houses - and large ones, too. These were not here on our last passage.

It is comforting to see that not everything has changed here in the town where Canalmania was born.

When we arrive at Plank Lane to moor for the night we find the newly-created but unused basin is being surrounded by house building also.




We are now on the Leigh Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool  Canal and tomorrow we will have locks to contend with.

Gecko on the Move - Anderton to Lymm

In the last 21 months we have cruised Gecko for one week only. Since last July she has reposed in Uplands Marina at Anderton which is just across the River Weaver from the Tata plant. This used to be Brunner Mond but despite the change in name, ownership and nationality, it still produces salt. And since July last year it has been depositing a proportion of its salt production onto Gecko. Today we have come to the rescue and are moving her further north to Lancashire. I feel we are also rescuing ourselves: despite the wonders of Preston, we would rather be out on the canals.

We topped up the water tank last week after flushing out the potable antifreeze. Fuel  is sufficient for about 200 hours so once we have extracted her from the marina we can get on our way - just turn left onto the T&M  and go.

First we have three tunnels starting with a short one and each subsequent getting longer. By the time we have cleared these we are in Preston Brook on the Bridgewater Canal with a lock-free run ahead. 

 After the wet but warm winter, the weather is beautiful: sun shining and barely a breeze.

It really feels like summer with May blossom so abundant. 

And Flag Irises creating a golden border to the channel.

Occasionally we are treated to a bank of Rhodies

Not everything, however, is rosy in the garden as we find several clumps of Japanese Knotweed when we moor up near Lymm. 









But a glorious summer evening keeps our spirits on a high  as we settle down for the first night on Gecko for a very long time.

Brexit - The Truth

With both sides of the argument employing the same tactics of presenting opinion as fact and supporting this with spurious statistics, The Truth is difficult to locate. I do not claim to be impartial - in 1975 I read the Treaty of Rome and voted against remaining in what was then the Common Market because it is clear that the ultimate aim is a political union which I do not support. I think this must be the only point on which I have agreed with Jeremy Corbyn.  So I offer the following biased points for your consideration.

It is obvious that we cannot trust any statement made by

• a politician
• someone employed by or benefiting from the EU       

Parliament designated a ten week campaign period and allocated £7m to an approved campaign group on each side in the interest of equality. A week before this period commenced the government spent £9m on a leaflet supporting the campaign to remain in the EU. The government should be giving us the clear facts for both sides of the argument so we can cut through the campaign spin.
Let's take a brief look at the main points made by the government leaflet

• An important decision for the UK - True
• A stronger economy in the EU - Opinion not supported by trade statistics
• Improving our lives - Very subjective and individual opinion
• Uncertainty if we leave - True
• Controlling our borders - Will not be made more difficult by leaving EU
• Benefits of EU membership - Do we want to be a super-power?
• Once in a generation decision - Probably true

In all it doesn't add up to a bag of beans so why was the government so keen to compromise its integrity by publishing such a partisan document?

Can we afford to leave?
We currently pay £350m per week into the EU but we receive benefits of £190m per week including Farm Payments and regional support. So our net contribution to the EU is £160m per week. Any claims that we could not afford to support agriculture or the steel industry or the NHS were we to leave the EU does not, therefore stand up. This net contribution equates to about £3/week for every adult in the country. The government's offer to support the steel industry may be scrutinized by the EU, and could be stopped as unfair competition. If we leave it would be solely our decision. (EDF the French power company is 85% owned by the French government: is that fair competition?)

No-one will trade with us
Consider these figures which I gleaned from the ONS:

• Our largest export market is USA.
• Export to USA increased 55% from June 2014 to June 2015, 
• We have no special trade agreement with USA at present. Neither does the EU.
• In the same period exports to China (No 3 export customer) rose 37%.  
• About 44% of our exports currently go to the EU which means that 56% go to other countries.
• Exports to EU fell 4.2% in this period whilst imports from EU rose 10%
• Non-EU exports rose 12% and imports from these countries rose 2.8%. 

If we look at the trends it is clear that the EU is becoming less important to UK whilst UK is becoming more important to the EU. Is this influencing anyone's stance on our possible exit?
Forecast growth from now to 2020 made by OECD shows the EU as a group declining in GDP whilst USA, Russia, Brazil and many other non-EU are expected to grow. Should we tie ourselves to the slowest growing economies in the world or the most dynamic? 

What  about Obama?
If the Special Relationship puts us at the back of the queue then it's about time we relinquished it.
Let's consider the attitude of USA to EU.  The population of most countries in EU  can visit USA on their Visa Waiver Program (sic) . However citizens of Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania require a visa. The EU gave USA two years to rectify this which they have not done and so EU is now considering a retaliatory regulation requiring USA citizens to provide additional documentation.  And Mr. Obama wants us to believe that a trade agreement with EU as a whole is imminent? Pull the other one chappie. Of course he may be banking on the EU ability to fudge issues when they become problematic.  I worked in international trade all my life and one thing learned very early on is tat there is one law for USA and another for the rest of the world. They do not conform to international standards in documentation and they apply US laws to activities in other countries.

Difficulty and uncertainty of leaving
In the 1970s following our joining the Common Market there was considerable uncertainty about the future and considerably  more  work. Before then we imported sugar cane,meat and cheese amongst other things from our  former colonies under preferential trade terms.  Harmonisation of import duties took about ten years. During that time the business I was in had to accommodate not only ad valorem duties which increased  each year but also a levy based on the net weight of product which changed unpredictably every quarter. Try managing a business in that climate:  I think we are capable of managing anything the EU exit would involve.
There have been scare stories about what would happen when we leave. Under  Article 50 of the EU any country leaving the EU has a grace period of 2 years during which nothing changes.

Reduction of roaming charges in Europe
This has been all over the papers and radio news today hailed as a great  benefit  of EU. membership.
This applies to the EEA (European Economic Area) also, except Switzerland, so is not exclusive to EU members.

Make up your own mind about EU membership but do not take anything at face value: check the credentials of anyone giving advice  and bear in mind that the internet is probably the least reliable source of  independent information. The truth is out there somewhere but it may take some finding.

Good luck  

Blackburn Canal Festival Will Flourish

Four years ago we visited the Blackburn Canal Festival and wrote a short piece on this blog.
We have just received an invitation from the this year's organisers  to return to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Leeds - Liverpool Canal.  Any event with so much enthusiasm deserves to flourish and we will be revising our cruising plans to see if we can get to Blackburn for July 23-24.

Click here to read my original post

  

Click here to view the Blackburn Canal Festival Webpage

Watch the video

 

A Visit to Braunston

Ask any driver you meet in UK and it is unlikely you will find many who know Braunston in Northants: ask any canal boater and it is unlikely you will find any who do not know Braunston.
It occupies the centre of a large letter X formed by the intersection of the Oxford and the Grand Union Canals. It is a great place for meeting other boaters as your paths cross. Last weekend we selected Braunston as the location for a non-canal meeting.

We drove down from Preston in Murvi and slept the night at The Boathouse pub. As it was closed for refurbishment and not due to reopen as a carvery until the Sunday we were not obliged to dine there. This was fine with us as we were lunching at the far superior establishment up the hill in the village - The Old Plough. From our experience it is not possible to get anything less than excellent food and service here.  The test I use for a first encounter with a restaurant is to order ham and eggs.  If the ham is plastic and the egg yolks the colour of primroses then you can expect freezer to microwave food. The menu at The Plough is standard pub grub but the standard they set for quality of these dishes is excellent. Before we ate we had to fill the water tank on Murvi and decided to do this at the BW water point next to Midland Chandlers on the A45. Here were two surprises for us. First we popped into the chandlery to browse and bumped into Darren who had been managing Severn Valley Boat Centre when Gecko was built.
After gossiping with him for a while we returned to Murvi to get on with the job in hand only to find the Stewarts & Lloyds tug Atlantic moored there, engine running. When we called through the open door for Derek a reply came from behind us. He was following us from the chandlery.
So more gossiping ensued.

After lunch we took a brief look at the old windmill before walking down to the marina across the phytle. On our way we met the Cleggs returning from provisioning  Balador for a journey to Anderton. Judy was the compiler of The Launderette List which was published by Aylesbury Canal Society until they took Balador to France  when IWA assumed that role.

Gossip, gossip

So Braunston is apparently a good place to meet people whether traveling by road or canal.