Lost in the Post

As we are wintering at the other end of the country from our PO Box I recently set up a redirection for the mail to come to our winter mooring. This should have commenced two weeks ago but no mail has arrived.  I tried to call the sorting office where our PO Box is held but they are ex-directory. So I called the Redirection Team somewhere in the Royal Mail organisation.  They gave me a complaint number.  But still no mail.  So I took a train 200 miles to visit the sorting office personally.  Here I leaned the procedure for setting up a redirection:
1) Take the customer's money - DONE
2) Confirm to the source address the details of the redirection - DONE
3) Confirm to the destination the details of the redirection - DONE
4) Instruct the sorting office concerned and supply address labels -??????
It transpires that the labels from Royal Mail redirection Team to the Royal Mail sorting office are LOST IN THE POST.
I can only suppose that this level of performance is being developed in preparing Royal Mail for sale into the private sector.  If I were the queen, I think I would insist on the Royal tag being removed from the organisation.

Everything Everywhere but not For Life

Four years ago I was offered Free Home Broadband for Life by Orange as part of my mobile phone package. This week the new owner of that company - Everything Everywhere has disconnected my broadband and will only reconnect it if I agree to subscribe to one of their home phone packages.  They justify their blackmail on a clause in the terms and conditions which reserves the right to withdraw the offer at any time. A lawyer on BBC Radio Four last week expressed the view that the headline offer of Free Home Broadband for Life could not be withdrawn in this way as it would be considered by any cour as an unfair condition. But they have gone ahead and cut off my broadban. This reminds me of the often misquoted message scribbled by Mark Twain -
"... The report of my illness grew out of his illness, This report of my death was an exaggeration."
So, be warned: if you sign up with Everything Everywhere they cannot be trusted to honour their contract.

Remembering John Whitehouse

John was quietly passionate about several things - railways, canals, local industry, photography, and above all, Tipton.
In this film of his some of this passion is expressed . In his typically modest way the only name absent from the credits is his own.
If you knew John this will remind you of him: if you did not know him perhaps it will give you something to think about.

A Visit to the Circus

We had a busy weekend with jobs to accomplish and people to visit in Bath, Oxford, Aylesbury, Penn, Prestwood and Hyde Heath.
Whilst in Aylesbury we made a brief detour from our programme to take a look at the site of the new marina at Circus Field.

Work has started already on the marina to replace the moorings in the town centre basin.
By next summer there should be boats here.

Reedley Marina

We arrived here for the winter on Tuesday since when it has been rather hectic: what with grandchildren and Hallowe'en and bonfire night and berth holders meeting.

There is a webcam at the marina just click the link.  We have now moved from the  short jetty and are no longer visible on the webcam..
As we will not be taking Gecko out over the winter I will try to catch up on some of the posts I did not get round to making during the season so keep visiting the  blog.

John Whitehouse RIP

We have just learned that John Whitehouse has died.
We have little information about the circumstances and are too upset to write more.
The blog may be off air for a time.

Back on Track

Today we left Manchester and joined the Bridgewater Canal and after an hour were back on our original route. The diversion from Middlewich has been quite a trek but we have enjoyed it, even the last few days which we had some qualms about beforehand.




As we left Castlefield we took one last look at the Hilton hotel and the annexe for posh ducks.







There is a phenomenon well-known to canal boaters and was propounded as The Law of  Passing Boats viz:  two boats travelling in opposite directions on the same canal will only meet when there is too little space to pass.

We met our first boat at Waters Meeting where they  joined our arm and we joined theirs

We met our second boat at Barton Swing Aqueduct........

As you can see from this picture, we were first ones across.

No trip through  Worsley, the home of the Bridgewater Canal, would be complete without this illustration.

And from the sublime to the  other thing......

Longest Narrowboat Journey in the World

A couple of years ago when visiting our friends Paul and Chris (not forgetting Ivy) on their narrowboat which they live on near Arras we watched a film of the longest narrowboat journey in the world.  This was undertaken by Nick Sanders in a specially prepared narrowboat and butty.  (Were they names Unspoilt by Progress I & II?) Their journey was intended to go from the Black Country to the Black Sea but the butty sank somewhere on the Danube, I think . I believe the butty was eventually raised and joined the motor boat but my mind is a bit hazy on this point.

I have been unable to find a copy of the film but was reminded of it as we passed through Bollington on the Macclesfield Canal last week.

There on the bank was this motor boat with a head poking out of the side hatch.  Unfortunately the head disappeared and I was unable to verify whether this if the original boat or not.


Perhaps someone with a better memory or a copy of the film could clarify this.

The Rochdale Nine

For the uninitiated I should explain that the Rochdale Nine, although infamous, are not victims of some miscarriage of justice.  These are the nine broad locks which take the  Rochdale Canal down from Dale Street to Castlefield  within Manchester.
I have only negotiated them once before: it was 1977 when we had to stop at a little wooden hut and buy a day licence for the privilege of subjecting ourselves to the risk of a hernia.



The first couple of locks are underneath buildings. At least some lights have been installed in the last 35 years.









When we last came down here we were walking in six inches of water.











There are no bywashes for excess water to escape so it cascades over the gates and adds to the build up of water which emanates from the leaks.




At some points there is no towpath so access to the locks can only be achieved via the landing stages:  these, too are a novelty to us. Thirty five years ago we had to climb from the bows directly onto the lockside.




At one time access would have been made from the street, via the steps but these are no longer accessible:  they have been blocked off and a glass and steel barrier installed along the wall to prevent any more drunks falling into the canal.

Again, safety of the reckless is more important than that of the  careful.

Bandit Country

We left the Portland Basin Marina at 7.30 this morning and we were not the first boat away.  Another boat breasted up with us last night and they left 30 minutes before us whilst it was still dark. The Ashton Canal from Dukinfield to Manchester Picadilly has a reputation for being unsafe for mooring so boaters tend to traverse this canal in one day.  It is not long -6 miles  - but the  18 locks are slow to operate as every paddle is locked to prevent mischievous operation. As we were following another boat we had to fill every lock.  It was a shame that the preceding boat locked up everything as they left the locks thus doubli ng their work and ours. I am pleased to say that we encountered no bandits and everyone we met was friendly.

The area around Picadilly has been subjected to considerable renovation - most involving demolition.













There are some unusual buildings




















But moorings are sparse.