Riley Green to Wigan Top Lock 29th JUly

After posting last night we took a walk and turned left as we left the cut.  After 5 minutes walk we came to the Royal Oak Pub.  I have to say if you are ever in this neck of the woods you simply must stop for a meal here.  Representing excellent value fo money it is one of the best meals we have had for a long time together with attentive and friendly staff - a must do if travelling this leg.

This morning we rose early and were underway at 8:30am.  We simply cannot get over how quite the cut is for the height of the season.  During the whole trip today we passed only 3 moving boats and whilst expcting a queue for moorings at Wigan top lock only two boats were moored up there.  Maybe the water shortages are putting folk off coming this way.

On the way here we locked down the lovely Johnston Hilllock locks at Heapey to emerge in a pound where the houses, whilst small, were beautifully manicured with one having a sun terrace at the water's edge complete with fully stocked bar, pumps and optics and all.

We then stopped for lunch outside the Bottany Bay Shoppong Mill and had some lunch

We eventually arrived at Wigan Top lock at 4pm but unfortunately it was to late to decend then.  If we do so it will not leave us time to get home so, with regret we'll have to mke do with walking down them before we start our jouney back to Silsten in the morning

For now we'll spend the night here before heading back

Rishton to Riley Green

Hi folks
Today dawned with the sun and lovely temperatures.  It was Alan and Katherine's turn to manage the boat today and their helming improving with every minute.  After getting a few groceriesand the Daily Express in the local Co-op we left Rishton at 9am and headed for the locks in Blackburn.  After the detritus in Burlney, Blackburn was quite a surprise.  The canal and tow path were well kept with only the occasional graffiti. Just before the locks we stopped to pick up some extra shopping in a canalside Asda.  Looking at the mooring you would not think we were in the middle of Blackburn.

The locks in Blackburn were not in good condition and some of the gate paddles were slipping gears or were are tagged out of order.  Whilst this slowed our pace we still made good time through the city .  Catherine discovered she could stand on the boat roof and lasso the central bollards,   After two locks she became quite deft at  it.  Progress was not helped by the two idiots in Stargaser that had rammed us last night and now were ahead of us, leaving a paddle open whilst descending the 3rd lock flooding the British Waterways building and nearly emptying the pound

Slowly we left Blackburn behind and passed through a stretch of canal that reminded me of parts of the river Thames with lovely waterside gardens and leafy stretches andthrough here we even managed bacon, sausage, mushroom and onion batches underway.

We are now moored just Wigan side of Bridge 91a at Riley Green and looking forward to trying out the local pub for a meal, recommended by several people along the way here.  Hopefully all being well we hope to make Wigan top lock tomorrow and traverse them on Saturday.  Trouble is we have to turn back on Saturday so it's going to be a grueling day going down and then up them.  Still it will be well worth it.  I doubt we'll ever get a chance again for some time.

Intenet connection problem but a great cruise

Having manage my first ever blog on the cut we moved Isla's Drum out from Skipton.  All went well until I tried to update the blog that evening and low and behold we could not get a connection.  Three days later moored up in Rishton and finally I get a connection!

Skipton to Bank Newton locks 24th July
I have to say the Leeds Liverpool canal at this stretch is absolutely wonderful.  The serenity of the cut soon sooths life's stresses in under a mile.  Isla's Drum is performing as one would expect a hire boat to perform and I have to say she is well maintained too.

Not A Soul in sight and so quiet no wonder live aboards love this life

Gargrave was an absolute delight and lunch in the local pub was well worth every penny. 

Probably the most photographed shop in Gargrave.  Those of you who have travelled this route will most likely tried their sweets!

We then carried on to Bank Newton but stopped a time was getting on.  As we pulled alongside the words of an old boater came to me.  If you are in a hurry don't go by canal boat so we stayed the night



Bank Newton to Barnoldswick 25th July

Alan and Kathrine working Bank Newton Lock though Katherine looks like she may just watch

Allo up there!  Chris keeping a close watch as Alan enters the lock

First two done, 5 to go

8am saw us working Bank Newton Locks.  Just after the locks the canal takes on the form of an alpine road with it's own versions of hair pin bends so tight its as well only 60ft boats can use this section of the cut or they would never get round.  Isla'sDrum only just got round and at a creep of speed at that.  At East Marton and the now famous twin arched bridge we found a delightful spot to moor for lunch just past the bridge in a shady wooded area. 

We then moved on to Barnoldswick a rather quaint town but did not appeal as the youths abounded, however we did find a spot further along the cut resulting in a pleasant night stop over.

One thing that has struck me whilst cruising is the attitude of people walking the tow path, young and old alike, most gave a cheery wave and hello, even engaging a conversation with us, often giving uncolicited advise on best mooring spots and where to eat.  If any of you do get to read this we thank you.

Barnoldswick to Reedley 26th July
We have been really lucky with the weather so far and the only rain was over night.  All of us are getting a great tan that would rival that obtained from the Cosa Del Sol.  We decided to take daily turns at the helm and it was Alan and Katherine's turn to work the boat whilst Chris and I worked the swing bridges and locks.  As this was Katherines first Narowboat trip she took to it like ducjk to water and Alan managed the Foulridge tunnel without mishap.

Reedley to Rishton 27th JulyToday with no locks to contend with we covered a lot of ground ad traversed the Weaver's Traingle at Burnley.  The Burnley embnkment whilst imposing on the town dos not let you see just how high it is until Tescos hoves into view near the Rishton end but you will not be disapointed. 

The cut along this section is like most inner city sections and is abundant with mans detritus, in fact at one point we had to slow to allow a childs plastic pedal car to cross our bows and avoid it being caught up in the prop.  Amusing to see this 3 foot toy wobble across the cut as we passed it, one could almost wish Toad would appear at the wheel and get a move on, but alas the only passenger was a malard to lazy to swim. 

Once past Burnley the you pass under a bridge on a tight bend and suddenly, without warning, you are back in the countryside high above the valley with stunning views only to realise you have traversed the valley in almost a big circle.

Clayton le Moors and Church swim by at a bling of an eye even going at a cedate 3mph but you may well miss them as you will be spending much time freeing rubbish from the prop. An one point as we moored at Rishton Alan managed to untagnle a complete keep net from the prop shaft.

One surprise as we rounded one corner with stunning views across the valeswho was mored on the tow path?  K2.

Unfortunately we saw no sign of her owners save a glimps through the window.  So ow having caught up on our travels we are settling down in Riston to have a Beef stew cooked by Alan.  As I type a thump from behind herralded the arrival of another boat, Stargazer, whos crew seem to think it was funny until I took their license number and showed them the mooring ring our mooring warp had ripped out of the pontoon, their smiles soon vanished then.

So thats it for now, hope to post again tomorrow after getting through Blackburn and Chorley.  Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weather

On the Leeds Liverpool at Skipton

At long last our holiday has arrived and we have travelled from Silsten to Skipton for the evening on our first night.  Isl'a Drum is a good boat if a little cramped but she swims OK and is in good condition for a hire boat.

Ils'a Drum moored at Skipton just up stream of bridge 177

 

 

 

 

Whilst on our way we waited for this bride to have her wedding photo taken on the swing bridge we wanted to pass through.  We waited patiently as we did ot have the heart to ruin her day and the sun was shining at he setting idilic.


 So now it's a meal of Mexican mince and a bottle of white the off to explore Skipton for the evening and look at the work boat moored in the arm.

Advise needed

Hi All,
Hope the rain has not dampened your spirits too much.  Who have thought we are in the middle of summer eh?

Can I ask for a little advise please?  I need some help on mobile Internet for our holiday trip.  I know some of you use mobile Internet dongles and wondered where it is best placed on the boat to pick up a signal.  I've seen some in plastic bottles under the cratch cover but Isla's Drum wont have a cover so that is out.  I want to blog whilst on holiday so wondered what your experiences are in solving the dongle position problem. 

How long a USB lead can it cope with?  I'll be using a pay as you go Vodaphone USB mobile internet dongle which work well enough at home but in a steel boat I do know there are problems.

Time for a makeover

I was trying to get used to the new blogger format (which I absolutely hate)  and realised our blog may be very slow to load for those of you on mobile internet connections.  So with that in mind we have changed to a much simppler layout that we hope loads quicker for you.

Oh and hopefully the comments form works better too

All Quite on the Western Front

Hi Folks,
   Well its been a quiet couple of weeks with not much going on.  We had another viewing today but I doubt much will come of it.  I did however use up my christmas gift from Amy and Joanne that consisted of a 15 minute helicopter ride over Chester

Preparing for take off

Take Off

Chester City Centre and the River Dee

Our Sailing Club with juniors out in toppers

So now we are looking forward to our two weeks on the Leeds Liverpool in two weeks time.  We plan to pick up "Isla's Drum" from Silsten boats near Skipton but are unsure which way to go.    Trouble is do we head East towards Leeds or West towards Liverpool?  Any suggestions from those of you who have done the trip please?  I guess we'll only get as far as Wigan and then have to turn back If we head West or Leeds and back if we head East.  Sadly I doubt we'd have time to do the circular route.

Waste of time

Hi folks,
Having spent best part of Saturday finishing of the ex pond landscaping we ended up with the garden looking like this, not bad if I say so myself.

 I'm quite please with the result but hope the patchiness of the new turf will eventually blend in with the rest.

We worked hard all morning to get the garden done for viewing and the couple turned up for their second viewing just as I laid the last turf.  They spent a good while nosing around and then left.

Two days later I got a call from our estate agent with an offer 60K below the asking price.  You can imagine I was pretty miffed at being played the fool and naturally refused the offer with some terse words to the agent never to waste my time with ridiculous offers like that again.  The couple were obvoiously time wasters and I can only assume they were trying it on to see if we would be gullable enough to accept, grrrrr I was so annoyed.

I wonder if those of you on the cut that sold their homes to buy your boats had the same problems?  We know the price is right as we are getting the viewings but I do wonder if we are going to sell at all.  We've been told by several estate agents our price is right so who knows, we still have hope.  Did you struggle to sell?  What did you do to get that sale we all want?

Fingers Crossed

Hi all,
   We have been looking back at the feedback from our house viewers wondering why we have only had one offer (and that was a joke).  Many are complementary and none negative so I could not help wondering what was putting them off.

I rang the estate agent the other day and put to him our Koi pond might be the reason.  Many viewers had young family in tow and I'm guessing the pond was putting them of.  The agent agreed this might be the cause as many had commented on the pond.  So, with heavy heart and mind made up, last weekend we went from this

with the help of Jo's boyfriend Tim and our friend from Essex, Derek (back for another weekend stay) to this 24hrs later

 Have no fear the Koi are now housed in an 8foot by 4foot by 4foot tank we built round the side of the house and the hole left by the pond is slowly being filled in.  On Friday a ton of top soil and 5 square meters of turf are due to arrive to landscape whats left.  The area to the right of the Blue line being made a flower bed and the left side turfed.  I loved sitting for hours by the pond watching the Koi and now I miss it and fret about my water puppies in that tank.  They will be fine though I worry something may leak or the air pump fail so I'm keeping a close eye on it, but, if it helps to get a sale.....


Today whilst at work I got a call from the estate agent to say one of our viewers has sold their property and now want a second viewing on our house.  As you can guess we're pretty excited as this is the first time anyone has asked for a second viewing. They are coming on Saturday so I'd better get my skates on and get that garden sorted!  I recall them being very complementary but worried about the pond so we have our fingers crossed they put in an offer now the pond is out of the equation.  I'm not getting my hopes up to high as they too may put in a ridiculous offer.  We have to hope that is not the case.

Crick, Orm and Monty

Hi Friends,
  Well we have had yet another busy couple of weeks starting with the weekend at Crick.  What a great event!  We thoroughly enjoyed wondering around the boats and had the honour of meeting James and Doug on nbChance who made us more than welcome showing us around her. I have to say the photo's on their blog do not do Chance justice.  She looks much better when you go on board and she is a beautiful boat. We would like to say congratulations to them for coming runners up in the best boat in show competition (between you and me though I reckon they should have won).

You can just make out Doug showing an interested member of the public the info sheet for MGM boats

There was so much to see and do but the highlight for us was meeting up with those we have blogged with, James and Doug. Lisa who is having her boat built by Fernwood and also seeing Fernwood's latest creation. As usual the craftmanship was second to none and interest in the boat was frenetic with appointments booked out by midday Saturday, so for those not lucky enough to go aboard here is a peek

 Whilst we enjoyed our stay at Crick our friends Derek and Vicki came up for a weeks stay and were house sitting for us when we got home.  With lovely weather all week Derek helped me with some DIY jobs that needed an extra pair of hands and in between we took days out on the Welshpool Railway

The Earl preparing to take us through some lovely countryside

and a great day out on the sumit of the Great Orm at Llandudno.  If you ever find the time a trip up the Great Orm makes for a great day out if the weather is favourable.  The views from the summit are absolutely fabulous and you can see for miles.

Derek and Vicky prepare to launch

Yours truly enjoying the view from the cable car to the summit

While Chris enjoys the sunshine

On the way home we stopped alongside the Montgomery canal  to have a look though if anyone could tell us what part of the canal this is we would be grateful

Finally before calling it a day we decided to stop off at Bunbury locks as Derek and Vicky wanted to see locks in action and good job we did.  We came across these two hire boats in the locks.

Whilst descending the locks they had correctly drained the bottom chamber but had not shut the lower paddles and had started to drain the top chamber.  Fortunately Chris spotted this and we rushed to close the lower paddles for them to grateful thanks from the crew.  Could have been a bit embarrassing for them had we not been there.  Would have been interested to see how much of the cut they drained before realising their mistake.

Hope everyone else made good use of the lovely sunshine over the last few days, shame it had to end today.