Cruise Data Year 2004 Annual Mileage 1106 Locks used 555 Engine hours run 1235 Diesel (Ltrs) used 1367 Cost of Gas £110 Cost of Coal £336 Cost of Pump-Out £253 Maintenance Costs £601

We left the Macclesfield at the end of March and cruised down the Trent & Mersey and along the river Trent as far as Newark. There we turned around and headed back to Trent lock where we turned North and did the Erewash. By now it was the end of April, so we headed off down the river Soar; it flooded but on we went. Next was the Grand Union through Leicester, calling in on the Market Harbourgh and Welford arms on the way. Not forgetting Foxton Locks.

Then it was down to Norton Junction where we turned West towards Braunston Junction. From here we decided to check out the intended winter cruising area, the Ashby, Coventry and Oxford canals. We enjoyed these and will go there next winter.

We headed back to Braunston Junction, and, being June it was getting warm. We cruised off through Warwick to Kingswood junction, then turned down the Stratford upon Avon canal and headed for Shakespeare’s home town. Next, having paid our licence fee, we had a lovely cruise down to Tewkesbury on the River Avon.

Then it was time to go on a real river, the Severn, and we had a good run into Gloucester. We spent six weeks on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal: it was great, you must go!! By now it was September so we headed off back up the Severn and onto the Worcester and Birmingham canal. We climbed up the Tardebigge flight ending up in Birmingham, which lived up to our expectations. We then spent some time looking at the BCN and had a visit to the Black Country open air museum (well worth a visit).

But it was getting near time to head off back to our chosen winter cruising area, the Macclesfield and Upper Peak Forest, so we got ourselves onto the Staffs and Worcs canal, and after a short detour down to Worcester and back we made the Shropshire Union by the beginning of October. So we had four weeks to get to the Macc before the stoppages. We decided to go via Manchester, using the Trent & Mersey, Bridgewater, Rochdale, and Ashton canals to take us onto the Peak Forest and approach the Macc from Marple. All in all it was a very good year’s cruising, the boat went well Janice did the driving at the locks and I did the hard work! The weather could have been better but it didn’t stop us doing anything.