Cruise Data Year 2007 Annual Mileage 827 Locks used 427 Engine hours run 1012 Diesel (Ltrs) used 1233 Cost of Gas £125 Cost of Coal £193 Cost of Pump-Out £283 Maintenance Costs £1555

This years cruising did not go to plan, this was brought about by a combination of bad weather and a late departure from our winter cruising area. We did manage an early Spring foray onto the Caldon canal, which we found much improved since our last visit there, the scenery is still beautiful and the end of navigation now boasted a fantastic basin and moorings. But due to Janice having to go home for several visits to the doctors (she is fine and well now though) we did not manage to get off the Macclesfield until the last day of May.

Then we made all speed for the Llangollen, hoping to miss the early hire boats, and we did. We enjoyed the trip up Heartbreak Hill, on the Trent & Mersey, arriving at Hurlston locks five days later.

The Llangollen was most enjoyable, not to busy and plenty of free moorings, we stayed for a month and also visited the Montgomery canal, which we managed to get down as far as Maesbury Marsh, the new end of navigation. The new moorings at Llangollen are fantastic, and well worth the £5.00 a night you have to pay.

It was now July, and the weather throughout the country was turning very wet and cool, so we headed off down the Shropshire Union, fully anticipating going on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal, as originally planned. But the further we got down the Shropie the worse the weather got and the threat of flooding was becoming a realisation. So we made the decision not to go on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal, but instead go to Birmingham.

So after a visit from the family, which we all enjoyed and the weather even stayed fine for us, we set off for Autherley Junction, filling up with lots of cheap diesel on the way.

There we headed up the Wolverhampton flight of locks and made for Birmingham city centre, where we attended a friends wedding, in glorious sunshine. We then decided to cruise the northern reaches of the BCN and found them devoid of traffic and very nice. That was until we turned back towards Wolverhampton, and being the middle of August, found the weed in the canal too thick for us to make any kind of progress. I have never spent so much time down the weed hatch removing it, every few yards we had to stop. But apart from that experience we really did enjoy the BCN, more people need to go there to improve the state of the navigation, so get yourselves up there.

We then cruised up the Birmingham & Fazley to join the Coventry canal at Fazley Junction, again a nice canal, and it was here that we saw the first evidence of the floods and the damaged they had caused.

The remainder of the summer was spent cruising around the Trent & Mersey, Shropie and Staffs & Worcs canal’s. This also included a trip down the Anderton Lift and a short cruise on the Weaver.

We also fitted in a cruise along the Bridgewater canal into the centre of Manchester and then up to Worsley, then it was time to head back to the Macclesfield for the winter.

Overall we had a good summer despite the change of plans and the weather, and the fact that we had to light the fire in September to keep warm, well we do live in the UK, we should expect it.