Cruise Data Year 2008 Annual Mileage 1085 Locks used 390 Engine hours run 1214 Diesel (Ltrs) used 1467 Cost of Gas £164 Cost of Coal £519 Cost of Pump-Out £273 Maintenance Costs £1245

20 December 2008

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year, and next week it is Christmas, followed quickly by the New Year, 2009, what will that hold for us all.

Take Five and crew are now moored up at Alrewas, on the Trent & Mersey (T&M) canal, just below Fradley Junction, where the Coventry canal joins the T&M. Having completed our cruising for 2008, we are now preparing to go and visit the family for the festive season, so it’s all ashore for a couple of weeks and enjoy some family time, good food, lots of wine and maybe some presents from Santa.

So what have we been up to since my last ramblings, well, we continued our cruise down the Atherstone flight of locks, the day before they closed for winter repairs, and made a stop at Fazeley Junction. Not a place we have stopped before, but we found a good mooring and took full advantage of our free bus passes and went into Tamworth, again somewhere we have not been before. We were pleasantly surprised with what we found, it even has a castle, but of course it was closed when we visited, maybe next time.

We then headed north up the joint Coventry and Birmingham & Fazeley canal to the next junction, Fradley. After a short stay, we decided to head up the Trent & Mersey towards Stone where we stopped for shopping and then it was time to head south before they closed some more locks for winter repairs. We spent some time at Great Haywood and the weekend (by ourselves) in Tixall Wide, on the Staffs & Worcester canal, where we got frozen in. Another bus trip was made to Lichfield and another to Stafford on our way back to Fradley Junction. Next we decided to head for Shardlow, a trip we had made earlier in the year, but never managed to get to the end. And we didn’t this time either, only making it as far as the second double lock at Swarkestone, where we decided it was to cold to be bothered with these big locks. So we winded (turned round) and headed back to Burton upon Trent, and some more Christmas shopping (it has to be done, so Janice tells me).

The weather during this cruise varied from cold to cold and wet, with lots of ice on the canal and even some periods of fog, but yes I know it is winter and we should not expect anything else.

Take Five is still performing well, as is the stove, thank goodness, we have had a little difficulty obtaining coal, but as yet have not run out, the price has certainly gone up since last winter, maybe we will have to resolve to burning wood like everyone else seems to do.

There are still a few boats moving around, but more seem to spend there time tied up to the towpath, we hope British Waterways are keeping an eye on them, I’m sure they are.

The winter wildlife are all busy eating and keeping warm, it is nice to see the flocks of birds feeding in the fields and doing their formation flying, we have seen flocks of Thrushes, Lapwings and Starlings, and lots of Blackbirds, Tits, Swans and ducks, even some small Black Necked Grebe swimming in the canal.

Well it is time to put some more coal on the fire, so we both wish you all a very happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

6 November 2008

Take Five and its crew are now moored at Hartshill, on the Coventry canal, preparing to head into Atherstone tomorrow to do some shopping and to get our hair cut. Then we will be going down the flight of locks and heading for Fazely Junction and then up to Fradley Junction and onto the Trent & Mersey canal for a months cruising before Christmas.

When we left Ely, on the Great Ouse we had a nice cruise down the river Lark, where we just managed to wind at the Judes Ferry House Inn at the end of the navigation, there was just enough room for Take Five to turn round. We then headed back to Denver Sluice and took a short detour down onto the Relief Channel. This is a very wide waterway which is designed to take away the excess water when the river is to full. We cruised down to the end of navigation and on the way saw another seal heading back towards the sea after a summer on the river.

Our short cruise across from Denver Sluice to Salters Lode lock went well and our entrance into the lock went without a hitch, much better than our last attempt. this part of the cruise is the part that every boater dreads as it is thwart with difficulty, but it is always worth the effort as the rivers around here are so good to cruise.

It was then a quiet cruise across the Middle Levels to Peterborough, where we then turned right and headed down to the Dog & Doublet, which is the end of the river Nene navigation before you go onto the tidal part of the river down to Wisbech. Then we winded and headed back up the river to Northampton and up the flight of locks back onto the Grand Union canal. We enjoyed the return trip up the Nene, even though the weather had changed and it was getting cold with some rain, but the river was kind and did not flood.

At Bugbrooke, Janice left me for a week and went home to see the grandchildren, I cruised down to Whilton Locks and back and on the way had to fit a replacement gas regulator as I lost the rubber seal off the old one and could not get a replacement seal, it was an expensive mistake.

When Janice got back we cruised up to Norton Junction and took a trip down to the top of the Foxton flight of locks on the Leicester Arm, it is a nice stretch and takes in the Watford staircase flight of locks.

Once moored up at the top of Foxton flight we did some sight seeing and visited the museum, this flight of locks is well worth a visit as there is lots to see and do, so if you get the chance go there.

Our next task was to get back to Braunston to have our new cratch cover fitted, so we headed off down to the Grand Union and through the tunnel and locks down to Braunston. There we had a short visit from our friends Ann & Eric and we also met up with boating friends, Klim & Tina the crew of nb: Strathmore, who we had not seen for a couple of years. So after a good social break we got our cover fitted and headed off out of Braunston and onto the Coventry canal at Hawksbury Junction.

Autumn is slowly turning into winter, but the display of leafs on the trees has been spectacular this year and it has made Autumn even more special than normal. The stove is now lit and will hopefully remain that way until the end of March next year, keeping us both warm on the cold nights to come.

1 September 2008

Ely, yes that’s where we are today, we finally made it down onto the Fens and the Great Ouse, how did we get here well via the Ashby, Coventry Grand Union canals and the river Nene.

Once we had stocked up the larder in Rugby we hightailed it onto the Ashby canal, where we spent just over two weeks cruising to the end of the navigation and back. during that time our son and his family came to visit us at Market Bosworth, and we spent a nice weekend together with Owen, our Grandson, learning how to “take the helm”.

We then went on the Coventry canal and headed into the centre of Coventry, mooring up in the basin for a couple of days and doing some more shopping, well the larder was empty again.

Then it was time to make for the Fens, so we set off down to Braunston, along the Oxford canal and onto the Grand Union. On the way we stopped at Clifton Cruises and got ourselves two new rear door panels fitted. This meant we could then display the lovely painted panels that our friends Tony and Jess had made for us last Christmas, They have the traditional castles and swans on and look great.

After a short cruise down the Grand Union we took the flight of 17 locks down onto the river Nene at Northampton. Our trip down the Nene was slowed down by high water at Thrapston, the place where the river changes its name from the “Nen” to the “Nene”. The high water prevented us from taking Take Five under some very low bridges. But once we got under way again we enjoyed the rest of the cruise down to Peterbourgh.

Then we took the direct route across the very flat (and boring) fens, stopping off in March for one night, and finally arriving at Salters Lode Lock. There we dropped down onto the tidal river Great Ouse for a very short cruise to Denver Sluice. There we joined the non-tidal part of the river, and our summer cruise really started.

Take Five enjoyed cruising on the wide deep water and so did we, our first short cruise took us onto the Little Ouse and down to the end of navigation, Brandon, a lovely little town, but it does have a very busy road running through it.

We then made for Ely, where Janice’s sister joined us and after they had explored the town and cathedral, we cruised down the river Cam into Cambridge. There we gave Take Five a rest and took a punt to see the town (I was glad to get back to Take Five).

Once we had dropped Jean off again in Ely, we set off for Bedford, the river gets more attractive as you get past Earith, where for a short time we had to drop down onto the tidal river again.

We were pleased to find that diesel only cost 0.90p at the Westview marina, much less than we expected, we had topped up in Peterbourgh for 0.80p per litre. at Ely it was on sale for £1.30 per litre.

Our daughter, Wendy, and granddaughter, Samantha, joined us at Great Barford, and we all went for a cruise down to Bedford.

This is when things started to go wrong, the weather had been very showery for the three days before we set off and the river was high and the current strong. When we got into Bedford we found the bridges were to low to get into Bedford Lock, so we had to turn (wind) the boat and head back. But the current and wind were too strong and forced Take Five into a tree. this caused a lot of damage to our cratch (the cover over the front of the boat) cover. This was not helped by hitting the bridge on the way back, the river water level was just to high. So we now need a new cratch cover.

Once our daughter had left we had a happy week with our granddaughter, well apart from loosing one of Janice’s favourite plants off the roof. We lost it in a strong wind whilst cruising in strong winds and heavy rain, something we don’t often do.

Whilst Samantha was with us I managed to teach her how to do a “gate vault” a skill I am sure will be of great value to her in her future life.

After she had left us we set off back downstream towards Ely, stopping off at the places we hadn’t seen on the way, St Neots, St Ives, and Godmanchester, which we particularly liked.

Overall we have enjoyed the rivers here in East Anglia and would recommend them to anyone, although we did find the locks very slow to operate and some of the moorings leave a lot to be desired.

The weather has not been that good with lots of rain and not much sun, strong winds and the temperature has ranged from cold to cool, with some short humid periods.

Having said that I did manage time to clean and paint the roof of Take Five, and I have also managed to paint the inside of the two storage bins in the bow of the boat.

Take Five has been running well, I have done one major service and had to replace the starter battery, she just refused to start one morning.

As far as wildlife is concerned we have seen grass snakes swimming in the Nene, lots of Kingfishers, Herons, Egret’s and a Seal, yes a Seal it had taken up residence in the Westview marina, apparently it stays there during the summer then heads out to sea in the winter. I also was lucky enough to observe a Sparrow Hawk take a young Swallow in flight and then the rest of the Swallows bombard it to try and make it drop it, but it didn’t.

We are now heading for the River Lark and then making our way back to the main canal system, we hope to get a new cratch cover fitted in Braunston, before doing the Thames ring and then settling down for the winter.

16 May 2008

We are now in Rugby, on the Oxford canal, moored near bridge 58 and not to far from Tesco and the retail park, well we are in for a wet weekend so we need something to do.

Our cruise to here has been in fine sunny weather, for most of the time, we even let the fire out and got our shorts and sandals out. But it seems that was a mistake we now have the fire lit again and our winter clothes on again, still its only May and not summer yet.

Take Five has now become ‘famous’, and people keep sending us e-mails, texts and congratulations, even other boats stop us and tell us that they have seen us on the front cover of the June edition of the Waterways World, fame at last. We discovered the fact when we pulled into Saltisford Arm to moor up, having just completed the Hatton flight of 21 locks, when I booked us in for the weekend, Ian (the keeper of the Arm) showed me the magazine and asked me how many copies I wanted.

We never got to Shardlow, the reason being we got down the Trent & Mersey as far as Stenson Marina, where we hoped to get a pump-out (it was getting desperate). But having told us on the phone that morning that it was working, when we got there they told us it was not (talking to other boaters it would seem that they do not make anyone welcome there - so stay away). So then we had to make a decision whether to go on to Shardlow or turn around and head back to Burton upon Trent and Janel boats. Well Janel boats won as there were less locks and it would only take a couple of hours, so we abandoned our cruise to Shardlow and decided to head off anti clockwise around the Warwick Ring and turn off onto the Ashby canal that way.

The cruise back along the Trent & Mersey went well with no distractions apart from lots of new ducklings, goslings and cygnets appearing on the canal, we also heard our first Cuckoo of the year.

At Fazeley Junction we joined the Warwick Ring and turned onto the Birmingham & Fazley canal and headed for Birmingham, well skirting around the edge of it.

At the beginning of May we went down the Knowle flight of five locks, these are not our favorite locks and once again they got to us, so we were glad to get through them and on our way to the Hatton flight.

We stopped at Kingswood Junction for a couple of days and visited a National Trust property, Baddelsy Clinton, an old moated house, and found it very interesting, well worth the walk from the canal.

Our trip down the Birmingham & Fazeley had been very quiet with very few boats passing us in any direction, people don’t seem to like going that way, maybe its all the locks or just the fear of vandals, well we had no trouble at all and enjoyed a lazy cruise, well apart from all the locks that is.

Our son and his family are coming to visit us at the end of this month, on the Ashby canal, so we will continue our slow cruise up there to meet him. Then we will turn our attention to heading for the Great Ouse via the river Nene and the Fens.

17 April 2008

The sun is shining and a cold wind blowing, and we are expecting more rain and an even colder wind tomorrow. Take Five is moored on the Trent & Mersey canal near Branston (where the pickle originated), we are on our way to Shardlow at the bottom of the Trent & Mersey.

What have we been doing since my last update, well we did get our bottom blacked (or should I say the boat did) and since then we have been trying to avoid hitting anything, but as all boaters will know, that is impossible on a canal. We have managed to avoid moving in the ice and snow though, well we haven’t had that much of either.

March was a very busy month for birthdays, the crew of Take Five came of age, again, and our son achieved the age of forty. He also got married to his partner Susan, that of course was the main event of the month (if not the year). We hired a car and took Janice’s sister Jean up to Newcastle for the wedding. It was nice to see all of the family and to meet even more of Susan’s family and friends, the actual day was dry but grey with the sun coming out occasionally. That didn’t stop us getting lots of photos though, or enjoying ourselves, it was a great day and we wish the happy couple all the best for the future.

Back on the cut we set off after Janice’s birthday down Bosley locks, discovering on the way that a wall had fallen down in Macclesfield, blocking the tow path but not the canal, thank goodness.

Once on the Trent & Mersey we made for Handley and then Barleston, where we visited the local launderette and did our Spring cleaning, the weather was not good whilst we were there being very cold and windy and we even had a day of heavy snow.

By now the canal was getting very busy, with lots of share and holiday boats out vying for space with all the continuous cruisers who were starting their summer cruises. This did involve a few misses at bridge holes, during the winter we don’t have this problem so it takes some concentration when the spring comes.

It has been nice watching the Spring flowers growing along with the hedges and trees, but the wildlife is being a little more cautious. The swans are busy sitting on their nests and other birds building them, but so far we have only seen one family of ducklings, and that was during a visit to Litchfield.

We have met up with a few boating friends, Jean & Reg on Smudge, David & Janet on Cinnerbar, and Maureen and Roger on Rammyshome. Eric and Ann our friends for many years came to see us for a long weekend and we all managed to go to the National Memorial Arboretum, near Alrewas. The new Armed Forces Memorial is very impressive, it was only opened last year by the Queen and commemorates all those members of the British Armed Forces who have given their lives, in the service of their country, since the end of the Second World War. The Arboretum is well worth a visit, at present all of the trees are just young saplings, but form part of the new national forest and one day it will be a very beautiful place.

Once we have got to Shardlow, we will be turning around and heading back up to Fradley Junction and onto the Coventry canal heading for the Ashby canal, where we will see the Spring out, and hope our son and family will be coming to visit us.

16 February

The school half term is with us, and Samantha, our granddaughter, is on her way down from Newcastle, with Janice, to join us for a few days. It was the Angel of the North’s twentieth birthday on Thursday, Janice and I remember going to see it when they put it’s last wing on.

The weather here last week was like Spring at the end of April, warm and sunny, all of which is helping the Spring flowers come out and allowed us to sit on the towpath and enjoy the warmth of the sun. It’s a bit different this weekend, the blue skies are still with us, but so is the bitter wind and ice, yes the canal was frozen this morning when I woke up. Luckily for the local ducks some intrepid boaters have broken a path through, so they can all float around again making a noise, which they seem to like doing.

Next week I am going into the dry dock at Furness Vale to get Take Five’s bottom blacked, it hasn’t been done for three years so I am interested in seeing what she looks like below the water line. Janice will be going back to Newcastle with Samantha, leaving me to do all the work, well at least watch the men do it.

We have been down the Upper Peak Forest canal and spent last weekend in Whaley Bridge, the weather was lovely so we had a bus ride to Buxton, a very nice town up in the hills. We also walked around the Todbrook Reservoir, which is one of two reservoirs that feed the Peak Forest Canal. The Peak Forest is well worth a visit if you are ever in this part of the world, lots of beautiful scenery.

18 January 2008

Well 2008 is now well under way and if it keeps up like this it is going to be a very wet one, and we may have made the wrong decision in buying a Gold License for the boat. That’s the joint British Waterways/Environment Agency license and gives us access to all of the waterways managed by these two organisations, going on last years weather we may end up in a flood, but what the heck, that’s part of boating.

We went away for Christmas, first to see the family in Newcastle and then to a nice hotel in Sidmouth with our friends Ann & Eric for the Christmas holiday, all of which was very nice and certainly a change from living on a boat.

The New Year was celebrated on the boat, quietly, well apart from everyone else’s fireworks, the canal is now closed at both ends and will soon be closed in the middle, so we are spending most of our time in the south and then will move to the north in February and stay there until the locks are open at the end of March. We will also be getting the bottom of the boat blacked at Furness Vale before we leave for our summer cruise.

Summer 2008 will be spent cruising (hopefully) on the Ashby canal and then onto the river Nene and Great Ouse, where we hope to spend most of the summer. We will then make our way back to the Grand Union and go down to London and the Thames, which we will navigate to Oxford and then head back onto the canals for the Autumn.

Well that’s the plan, we watch the weather with interest, global warming seems to have caught up with our retirement plans.

19 November 2007

The last time I wrote we were on our way into Manchester, on the Bridgewater canal, that was towards the end of September.

Well as you can see we are now in November, so I’d better bring you up to date with what we have been up too.

In Manchester we moored up in Castlefield and enjoyed a visit from Janice’s sister, Jean. We all went to the Museum of Science & Industry which is free and just behind the moorings. It is well worth a visit as they have some wonderful displays, including the first computer, which unfortunately was in pieces when we saw it.

On our way back down the Bridgewater, we went up to Worsley and on the way I had to rescue a small dog from the canal. I don’t know how long it had been struggling to get out of the water, but it was being annoyed by a pair of swans, which is what attracted my attention to it. Once I got it out and dried off, I found a tag on it’s collar with a phone number on, so I called the number and a very grateful owner turned up and took it away. Much to our relief as we didn’t really want a dog to look after; we have enough trouble looking after ourselves.

We made our way back through the Preston Brook Tunnel and onto the Trent & Mersey canal, back past the Anderton Boat Lift and through Middlewich and up Heartbreak Hill. Some boaters don’t like all of the locks on Heartbreak Hill, and seem to find them hard work, but we like them and enjoy the cruise back to Red Bull Basin.

There we turned onto the Macclesfield canal and took a slow cruise back up to Bosley locks, and after a nice weekend on the Dane Aqueduct we set off up the flight, it was a bit wet and cold but there was no wind, which is unusual for these locks.

Once at the top we cruised along to Higher Poynton, and were pleased to see that not much has changed since the Spring when we were last here.

I went home and left Janice on the boat for a couple of days, this was to collect my new laptop, yes toys for the boys, I know.

When I got back, Janice went home for the Half Term holiday and Samantha’s birthday and left me for a week to play with my new toy, which I did.

Once she got back we cruised up to Whaley Bridge on the Upper Peak Forest canal. Again nothing much seems to have changed since our last visit, but we did notice lots of new boats moving around, so hope the canal is not going be too busy this winter as many of the boats we saw seem to be people who are living on their boats and working locally. BW do seem to be patrolling the canal and recording the progress of boats so hopefully this will keep everyone moving and not taking up all of the decent moorings.

The Autumn is certainly in its full stride and winter is well on its way, with snow on the high ground this weekend and we have already had some heavy frosts which have not been good for Janice’s garden on the roof of the boat.

This weekend our son and his family came to visit us at Lyme View and we had a nice time together despite some very cold and wet weather.

You may have noticed that I have changed the format of the our web site, well a change is as good as a rest, but I hope you like it. I will not be doing updates once a month anymore but instead posting regular updates of latest news, well when something interesting happens that is. As for photos I have posted some new ones on the “some photos” page and will add more as we go on.