Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thaw Please........
Monday, December 27, 2010
Rain Not Snow!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas Everybody



Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas Eve Eve ( according to Chris Evans)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Lots More Snowy In Snowy Ellesmere
Monday, December 20, 2010
Yippee- A Boat Safety Scheme Certificate
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Brr It's Cold!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Snowy Ellesmere
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
We're Floating!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A Brief Thaw Then Its Cold Again
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
A Cold And Frosty Morning (Again)
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Icy Days And Nights!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
December's Here- A Little Snowy Weather In Ellesmere
Monday, November 29, 2010
Ice, Frost But No Snow Yet
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Good News! Update On The Wrist.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Falling About But Not With Laughter
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Just Hanging Around
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Another Weekend In Ellesmere
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Back Onboard
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Hello Shush!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
A Little Further To Ellesmere
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Hello Henry!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Stormy Weather Rocks The Boat
Thursday, November 11, 2010
About Turn- Back To Whitchurch
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A Short Cruise To Grindley Brook
The Mikuni heater didn't stay on long so we knew we needed diesel- it aways fails when we've about 80 litres left as the outlet is higher up the tank so you don't run out of fuel for the engine. Eric got a couple of cans of red diesel from a local garage to keep us going. The heater started after a few attempts. Phew we thought something else had gone wrong!
Monday, November 08, 2010
A Little Further- Moored Opposite This Tree
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Meandering -Ellesmere To Prees Junction
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Back In Ellesmere-There's Room On The Arm!
Monday, November 01, 2010
Weekend In Llangollen
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Over The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Or 'Bendy' In The Sky
Saturday, October 30, 2010
A Trip To Wales- Across The Chirk Aqueduct
Friday, October 29, 2010
A Short Cruise To New Marton Locks
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Slowly Does It- Just To Hindford
On Wednesday we didn't go far briefly stopping at Maestermyn to get some black paint to touch up the scrapes on the gunnels. Ben and I walked with the boat as far as Hindford, where Jack Mytton's pub is canalside. We met NB Shush on their way to Ellesmere and moored up for a chat. Boats continued to pass us by heading for the locks at New Marton. Alan and Eiddwen mentioned the queues to go through the locks so we decided to stay put at Hindford. Perhaps it will be quieter tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
'Manic Monday'- Ellesmere To Frankton Junction
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Back To Ellesmere- Meres And Sculptures
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Nine Locks Today- Above Grindley Brook
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wet, Wet,Wet -Wrenbury To Quoisley Lock
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
No Leaks At Wrenbury
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Cold And Frosty Morning At Wrenbury
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Hurleston Junction- Hello NB Shush
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sun Rise At Coole Pilate Then Water Troubles!
Early this morning the central heating cut in- it was 12 degrees C on the boat and my nose was cold. I waited for it to warm up a bit before leaving my warm bed to take Ben out to water the hedge. We'd had a frost and the roof was white, there was a low mist and the sun was rising shining on the side of the boat, so I took a photograph.
Back inside I wiped the dripping windows before getting up. Eric said 'Have you put the washing machine on 'cause it looks as if it's emptying?' Then we realised it was the wrong side of the boat and it was the cabin bilge was pumping out water like we'd never seen before. Where do we start to find the leak? Well we started at the water pump under the sink and yes it was leaking rather a lot. A phone call to Mark Edwards and he came to us at Nantwich with a new pump that afternoon. Eric was worried if he tried to fix it we'd end up with a flood!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Moving On - The Audlem Flight
This morning we were sat having our breakfast in our dressing gowns watching a few boats go by- one called NB London Future caught our eye and they waved. A few minutes later there was a knock on the window as the rear of the boat was stuck in the mud and they needed help to pull it off. There we were pulling in our drssing gowns- what a sight.
We finally got up to begin our descent down the Audlem Locks- fifteen in all. Leaving it until 11am to leave had it's advantages as there were boats coming up meaning the majority of the locks were ready for us. We stopped before the last three to get a few bits and pieces at the Co-op before going down a lock to moor next to 'The Shroppie Fly' to fill up with water and use the service block. The sun was shining and lots of people were about walkingg.eating and drinking.
Two more locks and we were on our way to Coole Pilate Leisure Area provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society. Basically it's a mooring with picnic benches with barbeques out in the countryside. We passed 'Overwater Marina' which is a lot fuller than a few months ago. A boat passed us which we didn't recognise crewed by Sue and Mac. NB Cabinessence is for sale in Chirk Marina and they were out in their new boat NB Barney.They usually spend the winter on the Llangollen Canal too.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
A Visit To Audlem
Friday, October 08, 2010
Onwards And Upwards To Coxbank
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
It's Autumn- Norbury To Market Drayton
Monday, October 04, 2010
A Day At Norbury Junction
We found the night much quieter than our previous mooring place as there are no major roads or motorways in ear shot. The forecast rain arrived but had eased a little by ten thirty so Ben and I set out for a walk heading south along the Shelmore Embankment. About twenty fishermen were out so our path was blocked by the long very expensive poles/rods and large umbrellas. I had to duck to get under the umbrellas and wait for them to move the poles if they weren't happy for me to step over them, but Ben just went over or under depending on the height of the pole. A few were grumpy telling me that they cost £1,500 pounds so wait for me to move it. I thought it would have been easier to fish from the other bank as that's where the end of the line was! Some were chatty and one said he was happy to sit in the rain all day to be out of the way of his wife. As Ben and I turned around to walk back to the boat we had to go past them all again.
Back on the boat Ben had a rub down while I hung up my wet gear to dry. I read the Sunday paper and then began to cook some lamb for dinner. I always enjoy a Sunday roast and I don't mind cooking it. We had a lazy afternoon and then the sun went down with a very pretty sky which made me think of the rhyme 'red sky at night shepherds delight'. The weather forecast is good so we'll be moving in the morning.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Rain Stopped Play -Cruising and Golf !
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Back On The Shroppie ( S.U.C)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Deptmore Lock To Gailey Lock
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
It's Tixall Wide (Staffs & Worcs Canal)
NB Bendigedig on Tixall Wide
We've been moored at Tixall Wide but this morning it was time to move on. We turned around in the Wide as we wanted to go back along the Staffs and Worcs Canal rather than the Trent and Mersey Canal route. Ben and I enjoyed our walk, first of all working the boat through Tixall Lock. Rather a damp and dull morning but we had the muddy towpath to ourselves. We got back on board near Radford Bank and cruised another mile to Deptmore Lock. I had to turn the lock but we were soon through and moored up above the lock. A good spot as I had a 3G signal to download the trial version of Microsoft Office 2010. Now I can read some boaters' blogs- the signal was very slow at Tixall Wide.