Four and a Pigeon

Last night we had the good fortune to pay a visit on Adam and Adrian aboard Briar Rose who had stopped off at Chester on their big trip having completed their passage along the Manchester shipping canal the other day.  They  made Chris and I very welcome and we chatted away the evening but was surprised how the time had passed.  We had talked about all things boaty and our plans for AmyJo.  As it was getting late we said our goodbyes and, as they were moving on today, Chris can I volunteered our services to help lock them through the Chester staircase locks.

Just remembered a photo of Adam before we left.

So hence the title of this post.  Its the answer to Chris's comment, how many people does it take to lock Briar Rose up Chester staircase locks.  The answer was 4 people and a pigeon.

The bottom of the staircase view is marred by the railway bridge

This morning Chris and I were up early and arrived at the locks to find the bottom and top chambers full but the middle one empty.  Adam text us to say he was on his way so Chris and I emptied the lower chamber in readiness after checking no boats were coming or waiting to come down.  We had bought the windlasses we purchased for AmyJo so have now christened them on the very locks that started us of on our adventure to own a narrowboat (The Beginning)

Right on que Adrian arrived with Briar Rose as we opened the gates

Whilst starting to work the lock another gentleman who's name we did not get, offered his assistance as the bottom gates were a trifle hard going to move and Chris was struggling a bit with her one.  He then helped us with the others.  If you are that gentleman reading this we did not get chance to thank you so, sir we were grateful for your help.  Thank you.

Chris chats to Adrian and a council worker gongoozles

So that was where four people came in to the story, not including Adrian in Briar Rose as he was helming her, but Chris, Adam, the unknown gentleman and myself working the locks

But where does the pigeon come in to the story I hear you ask?  Well here it is

The pigeon of our story

When Chris and I arrived it was sitting on the top gate of the lower chamber but as we emptied out the water it flew down to the lower gates.  There, it proceeded to keep a wary eye on us and sat still whilst the chamber filled and we opened the gate.  Then, when the gate was fully opened and without a noise, it flew back to the upper gates and sat waiting patiently.  We were astounded when we opened these gates once more it sat still until the gate was fully opened and then it set off for the next gates.  It would seem our pigeon enjoys joy riding on the lock gates!

With out much ado Briar Rose reach the upper level and we bade the boys farewell promising to meet up again at Crick next year.

As we started home this sculpture caught my attention.  Chris and I have been to the locks several times but I don't recall seeing it before though from the look of it it must have been there for some time.  I wonder how many boaters lock through without realising it is in plain view to them?

Putting a dead tree trunk to good use as a stack of cups and plates.

Canal boats on the River Dee cont.

Hi all,
I reported the other day about the possibility of navigating the Dee branch Locks and onto the River Dee.

I've been researching this and emailed the Chester council on the subject and it looks like such a possible passage is unlikely for some time.  I did receive this internal email back from the council forwarded on to me.

Subject: Re: FW: River Dee cruise by Narrowboat

Andy

Good afternoon,

I think that sadly this will not be possible, Ian is correct in so far as the Dee branch lock were removed about 5 years ago and C&RT do not seem to have any plans to repair them, it might be worth the boater speaking to the C&RT waterway manager at Northwich.

Should the lock gates be re fitted then it would be possible but with great care, narrow boats have often been stuck on the weir when the tide does not quite act as predicted, also an inexperienced crew could easily panic in the fast moving water.

I would be happy to advise should this become a possibility.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Brian

I have omitted address etc from this email to protect the senders rights etc. I will certainly be contacting the Manager of the Northwich C&RT for more information.

After a bit more research I came across a Chester Heritage trust (Click here) vision for the waterways report. It paints a not so pretty picture of the state of the Dee Branch as the Tuesday Club blog did. The report shows photos of the current state of the locks, which are in a sorry state to say the least and in describes the poor condition of them. Very depressing.

Interestingly the report quotes "A canal boat on the Dee – brought by road this simple fact underlines how Chester is failing to make the most of its fascinating waterway system" and I have to say I agree with the statement.

All this said there is still a glimmer of hope, the locks may some day be restored to their former glory. The local IWA volunteers have a working party on 21st September to tidy up the area around the locks and some dredging may take place whilst the dredger is working in the Tower wharf area. I have offered to help so will post some photos of the day.

In addition, working together, the council, IWA and C&RT are looking at ways to raise funds to restore the locks back into working order and a paper has been put together with a proposal, nothing new as it has been proposed before, but now its more likely to be looked at with the resurgence in water sports and activities in general. Whether this actually comes to fruition will remain to be seen.

At the moment is is just possible, on a high tide, to traverse the bottom lock stop planks onto the river but such passage should not be undertaken lightly at present.

So for now Chester is loosing out on a huge potential to rejuvenate the town's visits by joining up its unique waterways together, the lower tidal Dee, the upper non tidal Dee and the Shropshire Canal running through the town. Shame on you Chester Council and C&RT.

The secret door of Chester's Weir on the river Dee

Hi All
Our regular readers may know Chris and I are frequent dinghy sailors on the river Dee at Chester.  For some time now we have often been jokingly asked if we are going to bring AmyJo onto the river.  

At first I laughed at the quip and was sceptical but the more I thought about it I did start to wonder if it was actually possible after all I have seen a narrow boat moored on the jetty at the Groves upstream of the weir.  My thinking was as follows :-

We would have to wait for a high spring tide as this is the one time the tidal section rises high enough and back flows over the weir making passage possible for shallow draft craft.

We could lock down onto the tidal part of the River Dee from the Dee branch locks near Chester basin.  

then pass over the weir and moor at the Groves before travelling upstream to Farndon.  We would then retrace our steps back to Chester Basin.

It turns out this is not as far fetched as it seems and that it might actually be possible if the lock gates are restored to use as they are unusable at present.  However it would not be taken lightly and would require quite some planning and rely on the fact all the equipment worked and timing perfect.

Narrow boat crossing the weir at Chester

This trip was mentioned in a comment on Waiouru's website by one of Tom's readers after he posted about the Dee Branch locks. (click here) and it would seem the trip has actually been made.  Tom's reader posted this link that I found fascinating and has fired my imagination to perhaps try one day.  It makes interesting reading and alludes to a little known aspect of Chester's weir that I doubt many know about.

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_04/Tour04_11.html

This has prompted me to do a little more research into the possibility and I'l report what I find out if anyone is interested.

Birthday Meal and canal fix

Yesterday was Chris's birthday but as I was out most of the day I made it up to her and treated her to a meal out.  Chris did not want anything fancy so we settled on the Old Trooper at Christleton just down the road from us.

The Old Trooper.  The canal runs just behind the fence and the building

The old Trooper backs onto the canal on the outskirts of Chester and after the meal we wanted to have our canal fix and have a walk along the tow path.  We knew Tom and Jan on Waiouru were nearby so had arranged to meet them after our meal.  We have been reading their blog pretty much since it began and had followed their experiences both good and bad so it was a real pleasure for us to meet up with them at last.

We spent a lovely few hours chatting about boat things and Tom gave us some very useful information on the best places to buy diesel that we are most grateful for.  Before we knew it it was getting late so not wanting to out stay our welcome we bade them farewell and promised to meet up again another time.

Thank you Tom and Jan for allowing us aboard Waiouru. She is a lovely boat and we enjoyed chatting with you immensely. 

Was a tad dark when we left so apologies for the quality of the photo.

Little Red Pig and Coloured Cobwebs

Hi all,
Chris and I have just got back from Fernwoods and are happy to report AmyJo's build is coming along quite rapidly now.  We had a look over her and were very pleased with progress so far.  In fact we were pleasantly surprised at how much was done.

This was the scene that greeted us when we walked in to the workshop.

AmyJo's panels were masked off and Ken was finishing of the last panel ready for the paint.  We can now see them for size and they looked great.  I think I worried Ken a bit though when I said I quite like the gold cabin sides with light grey panels. For some time now we have worried over our choice of greys, especially the darker one.  Its one thing to see then on the internet or on a colour swatch board but it another to actually see them for real. 

We had originally chosen a different shade of grey for the panels but on the internet it looked too light, so had asked to change it to a darker one but then we worried if we had done the right thing.  Ken had been very thoughtful in this for us and had prepared a small area on AmyJo's cabin side to show us the colours we had chosen.  We need not have worried though as they are just what we wanted.

He had also painted a section of the piping in three colours for us to choose from.  What amused us was the little splash of red he had used as an alternative option, that if you click on the picture to enlarge it,  looks somewhat like a pig.  We had a giggle at that and we'll reveal which colour we chose later but would love to hear which you prefer.

Things are moving on inside, most noticeably the floor base is down and the first fix of wiring was in.

More amusement ensued when Chris commented the wiring reminded her of coloured cobwebs, now I can see we're going to have a few more analogies like this before AmyJo is complete so I apologise in advance.

The waste tank has been installed and the fresh water tank is ready to go aboard.  It looks a good size to me so we're quite happy as we do have a slightly lower well deck so knew this would restrict the tank size.

Meanwhile the boys have also been very busy with the joinery and already made the bed carcase and the roof panels though these are still to be finished off.

We spent quite a while finalising more of the design details for the log burner area and hifi cabinet etc, so now they have pretty much everything they need to crack on.  At the end of the visit we could not help but just stand soaking up AmyJo's presence not wanting to leave, but leave we had to.  Even now we still cannot believe that boat is really ours.

Our next visit will be in 4 weeks time and by then AmyJo's painting externally should be nearing completion and the joinery going in.  In the meantime we have a new, even bigger,shopping list and as we have the next few days off we're going out is see what we can tick off.

Act One Scene One

Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour draws on soon,
Four happy days bring in another moon;
But O methinks, how slow the old moon wanes,
Like a step-dame or a dowager, doddering with her canes.

Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly, like dreams, take flight,
And then the new moon, like a silver bow bent on high
Shall behold the night of our solemnities draw nigh.

OK  we've not gone all Kultcharall.  No not really...... well sort of I suppose.  Chris and I went to the Grosvenor Park open air theatre (http://www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk) last night to see a performance of Shakespeare's Mid Summers Night Dream.  The theatre is in the grounds of the lovely Grosvenor Park in Chester and is modelled on a small Roman amphitheatre complete with overhead canopies.

The Grosvenor theatre in the Park

  I'd never really given Shakespeare much of a look before now, though I am aware of his plays, but as I work for Essar UK and they were sponsoring the whole event we were lucky to be given two tickets to attend a performance so we thought why not.  I had an idea what Mid Summers Night dream was about so booked for that performance and that came with a picnic hamper to enjoy during the show as well.

The two of us enjoying a picnic hamper before the show

Well I have to say the performance was spectacular and the acting absolutely fantastic.  The actors played their parts so well it was easy to forget they were not the actual characters they portrayed.   They clearly enjoyed their work and entertained everyone immensely.

Helena receiving amorous attention from spell bound
Lysander and Demetrius whilst the fairies look on

The whole play was carried out with much humour, so much so many of the audience, including us, had tears, streaming down our faces with laughter through most of the show.  We have never laughed so much at a show for a long time.

The final act was particularly funny.  Peter Quince and his band of performers stage a play in front of Lord Theseus with side splitting comedy

ending with a Morris dance like none other that had the audience in hysterics whilst clapping in time to the music.  A great night in all and well worth seeing if you can.  If you are ever in Chester next year whilst the theatre is running you must put it on your to do list, I assure you  you will enjoy the performance greatly.

Celebrity Boats

We went to Crick Marina last week to see Ferwoods latest boat launched.  Sorry no pictures just yet but I'll post some later.

There was also another reason for the visit and that was to check out if a winter mooring would be possible for AmyJo as we found out its looking like November/December for launching if all goes to plan.  Our plan was always to launch at either Debdale Wharf or Crick and cruise AmyJo home to Tattenhall.  The launch date means this would not be possible at that time of year so our thinking at this stage is leave to AmyJo at either Debdale or Crick until the spring and the stoppages are over.  May even try to stay for the boat show if they will allow us but I doubt it.

We arrived at Crick a little early so decided to have a coffee in the local brewery across the road in the moorings pub.  Was too early for a beer so coffee it was.  Umm must be getting old, was a time it was never too early for beer.

Afterwards we had a walk back via ABNB boats and spotted this well known boat moored in the marina

Not sure if Alan Herd was around but last time we saw Dover she was for sale in Braunston Marina.  I wonder if she now has new owners?  We also spotted other bloggers but did not have chance to talk with them.  Herbie was just leaving Crick marina as we got back.

Our next visit to see AmyJo is planned for next week so we'll have more news on her progress.  We understand all is going well and really look forward to seeing her again.

Bit of Retail Therapy

Hi all,
Chris and I started to look at our shopping list the other day and on Saturday we had a run out to Preston Brook to Midland chandlers to get a few items for AmyJo.

We want to cruise on the rivers at some point so AmyJo will have a set of Navigation lights installed.  We found Chromium ones similar to these and so bought Port, Starboard and stern lights

Not sure how often they will be used but we thought best have them should we do the rivers, one never knows.  

Whilst there we picked up a couple of Windlasses and some Folding roof steps as the cabin height is just a tad too tall for us both to easily climb onto if needed.

Whilst researching MIFI routers I came across a router that we can use with 3G and 4G just by replacing the SIM card.  The router I'm thinking of getting is a Proroute H685 4G LTE M2M Router

The router can take two external antenna, one for WIFI hotspots andi if none in range it uses the second to pick up the 3G signal.  I did not much like the look of the mag mount antenna so managed to source these which have a better gain and are more robust

After this Chris wanted to visit an upholsterers near Tattenhall to look at curtain material and discovered one she quite likes.  We'll be visiting Fernwoods in the next few weeks so will add this to the growing pile of samples Chris has acquired   I'm convinced she is going to make a patchwork quilt out of them at some point as there are so many.

Complete or finished?

No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between these two words: complete and finished.

In a recently held linguistic competition held in London, England, and attended by the best in the world, Samsundar Balgobin, a Guyanese man from Bachelors Adventure, was the clear winner with a standing ovation which lasted over 5 minutes.

The final question was: How do you explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy to understand. Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED.

Here is his astute answer .... 

when you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE. When you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED. And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!

New Drinking Warning

NEW DRINKING WARNING JUST RELEASED

         Vodka and Ice will ruin your kidneys

         Rum and Ice will ruin your liver

         Whisky and Ice will ruin your heart

         Gin and Ice will cause brain damage

         Pepsi and Ice will ruin your teeth

Apparently Ice is lethal

Warn all your friends: Lay off the ICE. Just drink everything straight.

Forward this immediately, you could be saving a life.

Don’t under estimate Ice, just remember what it did to the TITANIC!!!!!!