Leicester Ring - Post No 1

Friday 14th May 2010 - Great Haywood to Colwich
A busy journey down to the boat (what with the schools being back), having left home circa 3.00pm we arrived at Great Haywood around 6.00pm.
Waster no time loading up (as we had readied the boat the fortnight earlier) and we were out of the marina by 6.45pm and locked through Great Haywood and passed the moorings along the 'Shugborough straight' to moor at Colwich where we were more sure of a satellite TV signal. Although we had been cruising at 4mph for an hour my mind was still running at 100mph after a very busy week. It will take a little longer to get into the narrowboat mood.

Saturday 15th May 2010 - Colwich to Alrewas
A reasonably early start with bacon sandwiches on route. The smell of bacon wafting out of the rooftop Houdini hatch an a still morning with the blended smell of the log burning stove is priceless. Walkers crisps are clearly missing a trick if they don't bring out a grilled bacon and log burning stove flavour this year!
Stopped just above Woodend Lock to watch the Grand Prix qualifying before heading on through Fradley.
'Frantic' Fradley Junction lived up to it's name; it seemed to take an age to negotiate all the locks and the junction - all the time being watched by hundreds of gongoozlers!
Travelled down to Alrewas and moored 50 yards from the place we had moored two years previously (to the day). We discovered the fantastic character of this beautiful little village on our first trip down from Sheffield when the boat was brand new. If only I could afford to live here.
After dinner we had a gimble around the village to burn off some calories. We discovered an indian restaurant called Jaipur (the same name as an Indian restaurant we enjoy visiting near Easingwold when we are back home). Although we didn't try it it did look more 'E.coli' than 'Egon Ronay'.

Sunday 16th May 2010 - Alrewas to Swarkstone
Slipped our mooring just after 8.00am. Stopping for lunch at Stretton (between bridge 28 & 29) to watch the Monacco Grand Prix. Mark Webber (Red Bull) won. Another good result for the Milton Keynes team. Jenson Buttons chances were thwarted by his own 'pit lane buffoons' who left a bung in his side pud that overheated his engine on the way to the grid. (I think the bung was a fibreglass stopper not a rolled up wad of tenners - although we didn't get to see it on the telly!).
During the race the excitement in the boat peaked when a can of diet coke exploded in the fridge. This was partly a result of me turning the fridge up to full power last night (for no good reason) and partly due to the fact Elaine had packed the fridge solid with everything M&S had to offer in the chilled isle! This forced the drinks to be pushed onto the back wall of the fridge freezing them on contact. Anyway I am sure Elaine would agree - it took some cleaning up!

A Quiet Mooring Outside Swarkstone

The 18th Century Swarkstone Bridge

After a fantastic fillet steak on the boat we walked into Swarkstone and viewed the 18th Century five arch stone bridge and the elevated causeway that carries traffic over the Trent flood plain, before returning via Swarkstone Lock.

Monday 17th May 2010 - Swarkstone to Zouch
Travelled down through Swarkstone Lock alone but soon paired up with 'narrowboat Waimaru' who travelled with us down onto the Trent and up the River Soar before we both moored next to the lower flood lock pound at Kegworth for lunch. The journey, paired up with the crew of nb.Waimaru was very rewarding and we very much enjoyed the company of the other boat.
After a walk into Kegworth to visit the local co-operative store we pushed on the Zouch leaving them to relax in the sun.

Lunchtime mooring at Kegworth

The weather today has been fantastic. A typical Monday; you might say; but today we have been off work to enjoy it.
Mooring for the evening, just as it begins to spit-on with rain, opposite the Rose & Crown rounds off a great day.

An April Weekend

Apologies to followers - it has been a while since I updated.

This is an update I drafted at the time but failed to publish earlier.

Friday 9th April 2010

Arrived reasonably early evening after a good run down the motorway from the North East and skirting around Derby with minimum delay. What a difference - travelling during the school holidays.

Wasted no time at the Marina topping up the water tank and pulling out of the marina with adequate time to cruise up to Tixall Wide and moor just beyond the Broad Water before dark. The nights are getting lighter again! Hip-hip-hurray!

Moorer just west of the wide water at Tixall

Saturday 10th April 2010


After an early start we fired up the engine to here that the domestic battery alternator belt to be squealing on the pulley. Very annoying. I guessed as it hadn't been called up to do any work for some time (this was the first time the belt was under load since before the winter break) it was groaning a bit. Although the noise could only be detected at tick-over it soon subsided.
Cruised up through Tixall Lock and Deptmore Lock to wind and moor outside the Moat House at Acton Trussell. After a walk around the village to admire the area we returned to the boat to firstly update our Nicholson Guide with the fact there is no longer a village store, and then set off back down the canal to moor opposite Stafford Boat Club Marina for the evening.
Elaine & I walked up into Wildwood to explore the local supermarket and drinking establishment - both worth the walk if not a little too far.

Sunday 11th April 2010

During breakfast the boat club provided plenty of entertainment with boats being winched back into the water and boats being pulled back up the slope of their dry dock. Obviously a great community as all hands were on the winders!

On the return back to the Marina, in the vicinity of the aqueduct, we spotted a buzzard that was soaring high on the thermals - an amazing bird that we had seen the day before but we were unable to identify it.

After a brief exchange of greetings with Ned from Cabincare, we arrived back at the Marina in time for lunch.

Escapology Stamps!

Thursday 18th January 2010

Today we received a set of 10 First Class Stamps from the post office. Not normally an event of significance; however these are not just any first class stamps they are "Narrowboat Escapology First Class Stamps"! I ordered them from the Royal Mail website as a novelty! We intend to use the stamps when we post letters and cards back home when we are out cruising. Although we like them; they are unlikely to be sort after or collected by philatelists around the world!!

A sheet of Narrowboat Escapology stamps!

A Cold End To January!

Saturday 30th January 2010

We had initially planned to travel down to the Marina tomorrow (Sunday), for the day only. However, we took the opportunity to spend a full weekend at the marina as our plans for lunch 'back home' with friends (Joan and Bob) today was unfortunately postponed. Joan has been struck with shingles which is causing her some acute discomfort - get well Joan. We will reconvene for her birthday celebration once she is feeling better.

Left home at approximately 8.20am following a covering of snow during the night. Arriving at a sunny (but cold) Great Haywood at 10.45am. The marina was still frozen over but thawing fast in the sunshine. We lit the fire and clicked on the central heating and decided a trip by car to Trentham would give the boat time to warm up while we had a wonder along the shops.

Immediately on our return, Elaine reheated some homemade soup and this was delicious; going nicely with the crusty loaf we had bought from the farm shop. After lunch I decided today was a good opportunity to swap over the gas bottles. The boat only uses gas for cooking; so a 13kg bottle lasts about 6 months at current usage rates. I had switched the last bottle over in October and was therefore acutely aware we didn't have a spare ready for use when the current bottle expires. I had been putting off the purchase as the empty bottle we had was one of the original bottles supplied by Jonathan Wilson when the boat was new and was not of Calor origin but supplied by some obtuse welding supplies company from Sheffield, and therefore a new bottle agreement on top of the cost of the gas would not be cheap (£29.99 plus the gas). Anyway; a trip across the marina for a top up of 3 of the boats 'fuels' was required. (£10 Electric top-up; £10.oo bag of coal; and a £67.69 for gas.) Soon the bottle was fitted and we are now in the comfortable position of having a spare to rely on (because you can bet your boots it will be cold and raining when the bottle runs out); so a quick switch over is now available.

Watched a DVD and a bit of TV before stocking up the fire and going to bed. Although it was toasty in the boat it was clear to see that the weather was very cold outside as the ice on the surface of the marina was glistening in the crisp moonlight!

Sunday 31st January 2010

Woke today to find a covering of snow across the marina. Spent the morning testing out a 3G extension aerial on Elaine's laptop with an 02 card. It noticeably boosted the reception on her 3G card but still fails to deliver the signal strength she was receiving from the standard Vodafone card she had previously. No surprise there then I here you say!

A Covering of Snow on the Frozen Marina!

Travelled back up North during the afternoon; stopping briefly at Sheffield to drop off the empty propane bottle (at least Jonathan can get his deposit back on the bottle) and have a wander around a cold Victoria Basin. We did feel a little out of place as we weren't wearing our hoodies and had failed to bring our aerosols with us! An environment that was a stark contrast to that, that we had left behind at Great Haywood.

Frozen In

Sunday 27th December 2009

Left Teesside under snow at around 9.30am. The traffic was much busier than we had anticipated. We guessed this was as a result of travellers returning home on mass after Christmas visiting friends and family.

We arrived at the marina around 12 noon and were surprised to see that our neighbouring boat, ‘Bovett’s Harvest Too’, was occupied. Before Christmas the owners had mentioned they would not be at the boat over Christmas as they were visiting their son and his family in York. However, it soon became apparent that the boat had actually been sold just before Christmas, and the new owner had arrived to take it to her new mooring at Tewksbury.

This was the new owner’s first boat and although she had received a quick walk-around by the previous owners it was very much a new experience as her previous knowledge was only from time spent aboard hire boats, that are in many ways quite simplistic, and not half as complicated as a purpose built bespoke boat. I assisted in filling the gaps in her knowledge where possible. Her itinerary to get the boat to the Tewksbury mooring would be quite challenging as she would need to make good progress to beat the planned start of stoppages on the Staffs and Worcester. Her first unscheduled delay was that she would not be able to leave the Marina until the temperatures rise as we were all frozen in! Her plan was therefore to return tomorrow in the hope of some warmer weather conditions.

Elaine and I also intended to ‘go out’ but instead opted to buy the Sunday papers and chillax for the rest of the day on the boat.

The weather forecast confirmed that it would only get colder towards the end of the week – not the prediction our new neighbour was hoping for.


Monday 28th December 2009

I ventured out early, from the warmth of the boat, onto the jetty to get a feel for how cold it really was. I can confirm it was BL***Y COLD. In the search for a photograph for next years Christmas card I had a walk around the marina in freezing fog to take a few shots. Although we don’t have images of a snow covered boat the photos hopefully look cold and wintry enough! The white frost on the ropes and fairleads, against a backdrop of a frozen marina was proof-positive of subzero temperatures.

Frosty Pole, Plank and Boat Hook!

The frosty bow - very cold ropes!

White hoar-frost built up around the fairleads.

After breakfast Elaine and I then walked over to the Marina Office and asked Mike (the marina manager) if there was an opportunity for us to move berth to the neighbouring berth that would soon be vacated. This mooring has the advantage of being the other side of the jetty, on the side of the prevailing wind. Although there are no other advantages over the position we already occupy, it is hoped this will make mooring a little easier in strong winds. Mike confirmed he was happy for us to move across after ‘Bovett’s Harvest Too’ had vacated.

As it now looked unlikely we would get an opportunity to ‘go out’ we opted to head back home at around 3.30pm, arriving back home to the same snow covered ground.

We will need to return to the marina soon to move berth.

A Crisp Weekend Cruise

Friday 11th December 2009.
We arrived at the boat well after dark in temperatures hovering just above zero. It took about 90minutes to get the boat up to normal cosy winter temperature employing the services of both the central heating and the solid fuel stove. I guess a steel boat gets cold it takes a little longer to warm up than a house made of bricks and mortar – however the boat floats an lot better than the house ever would.

Saturday 12th December 2009.
It was our intention this weekend (as a minimum) to at least turn the boat on its moorings in order to re-orientate ourselves with the marina. The boat was opposite way round from our normal orientation (a necessity brought on by strong winds last time we moored up) and Elaine & I were struggling to come to terms with this 180 degree disorientation (particularly after a bottle of wine).
However, it was a lovely crisp winter morning with clear blue skies and no wind; an opportunity to go for a short cruise that we couldn’t miss.
I wasn’t sure what winter hours would be worked by the marina staff so before we departed I thought it prudent to get a new bag of smokeless coal from the shop as I had just emptied the last bag into the coal scuttle. Pulling out of the marina at about 11.00am we travelled down to Wolseley Bridge for lunch; (The Wolseley Arms looked busy so had lunch on the boat). Then we cruised a little further toward Rugeley before winding above Bridge 68 and mooring just before the ‘Boaters Christian Fellowship’ near Bridge 69. An excellent rural mooring that we had not stopped at since October when we joined narrowboat ‘Tramper’. Elaine prepared a wonderful meal while I…………..er……..…read the paper; (A very important task)!
Across the canal a family recently bought a field and have been busily spending weekends creating a smallholding, rearing alpacas, pigs, chickens, etc. The young lad from the family crossed the bridge and walked along the towpath past the boats shouting “eggs for sale” swinging a basket. We couldn’t resist giving him some business (despite the fact we had just bought eggs that morning from the farm shop) and bought a dozen eggs from the young man. He acknowledged they had only owned the land since June or July and he said the worst thing about the winter was travelling down to the smallholding in a morning to unfreeze the livestock feeders. The eggs were only small but that didn’t spoil the transaction – we vowed we would ‘taste-test’ them in the morning.

Sunday 13th December 2009
A slow start on another fantastic clear sunny day (although it was very cold). Elaine prepared scrambled egg and bacon. The eggs were delicious. We travelled up through Colwich Lock (finding it difficult to spot any improvements after the recent stoppage – in fact the gate paddle ratchet was jammed open and the bottom gate wouldn’t stay shut). Then we slowly dawdled along the canal past Shugborough Hall exchanging the usual greetings with moored boaters, and up through Haywood Lock.
Just before arriving back at the marina, we approached a line of maybe eight fishermen, so after passing an oncoming boat, I opted to take the middle line between moored boats and the towpath. At tick-over, this would hopefully create least disturbance between the fishing areas they had chosen to fish (i.e. both against the towpath side and against the moored boats on the opposite bank). To no avail – although some fishermen exchanged pleasant greetings one guy who shouldn’t go fishing if he can’t cope with the cold and was clearly too annoyed at his own poor performance shouted, from behind a massive brolly. Suggesting we drive down the middle – a position I was already in (if only he used his eyes). It is therefore now quite clear to me that you can never keep all fishermen happy. It is therefore now no longer my intention to try! If it wasn’t for the canal boat they wouldn’t have a canal to fish in. Why do fishermen feel canal boaters should exercise such caution and observe such etiquette when passing them? When in fact the majority of fishermen fish on white bollards, fish opposite moored boats, fish near locks and bridges and their licence is chicken feed compared to the charges we pay in order to maintain the canal.
Overall a great weekend.

Robert & Suzanne visit the boat.

Monday 23rd November 2009.
We booked a days holiday from work to travel down to Great Haywood with Robert (Elaine’s son) and his fiancée, Suzanne. This was the first opportunity they had had to see the boat. The weather was dreadful! Lashing down with rain from the minute we passed Leeds on the A1 and strong winds only worsened the experience as we got closer to Great Haywood. Never the less they seemed impressed with the boat and its facilities.
Robert already had first hand experience of the local canals around Great Haywood as he had spent many a holiday with us on Anglo Welsh boats in the past; (before it became un-cool for teenagers to go on holiday with their parents)! So, instead of going on a ‘cruise’ we went for a ‘booze’ (well something like that) to one of our favourite local pubs: The Holly Bush at Salt. (Great meals and an excellent atmosphere). We then called at Trentham and visited the garden centre and retail outlets on our way back home.