A happy New Year to regulars and first time readers.  With 2012 several days old it is time to move on to a new page and a new adventure.  Click HERE to go on to our 2012 page.

Thursday 1st December - Portland Basin Marina, Dukinfield - How quickly we adapt to changed surroundings.  Ramyshome has sat on her moorings for over a month now, except for a couple of forays inside the marina to take on water.  With her engine no longer turning each day our diesel central heating boiler, idle for most of the year, now kicks in each morning to remove the early chill and provide hot water for the morning's ablutions, laundry, etc.  The stove is burning 24 hours a day and we have already gone through two lockers full of coal.  With short and often grey days the solar panel is not producing much electricity but we have a shoreline alongside the mooring so power is not a problem.  We disconnect each morning after breakfast and let our domestic battery bank do its work until bedtime when we connect back to the mains and re-charge the batteries.  As a consequence we are more careful with the use of water than electricity.  A new digital t.v. aerial has enabled us to reconnect with the pictorial world and the internet connection is strong enough for us to reload Skype communication software.  We may even invest in a computer camera soon.  Having a car means we can go places more quickly; lunch at one of our favourite pubs with Roger's Mum; Carol T's big birthday bash where we are able to catch up with several people we haven't seen for 12 months or more; plus, of course, trips to Harrogate.  A car also means we can buy more at the supermarket - because we don't have to carry the bags all the way home.  However Ashton Market has proved as good as its reputation with several butchers, bakers and greengrocer stalls.  So we still carry half our food before we eat it but it's an easy, flat 10 minutes walk at worst.  Roger has been busy with his RBOA work and sorting out his parents finances, the latter nearly completed after 12 months effort.  Maureen has spent quite a bit of time in Harrogate supporting daughter Heather settle in to a routine with baby Charlie.   After concerns he wasn't putting on weight he is beginning to make progress now but Maureen expects to be on call for a few weeks yet.  Not that she will be complaining!  She has also been looking again at her family tree, adding another couple of 19th century branches that grew not 5 miles west of here.  The days fly by and although we have ticked off one or two of the winter jobs we have had little time to get to know the other marina dwellers or to explore much beyond the towpath.  Still plenty of days left to do all that and no ice or snow to battle with here as yet.  So different from 12 months ago.                            

Sunday 30th October - Portland Basin Marina, Peak Forest Canal - The end of the line, quite literally for the Peak Forest Canal which makes its junction with the Ashton Canal just under the Horse Bridge.  Back from the bridge, cross the Aqueduct over the River Tame and there on the left Ramyshome sits on her new mooring waiting for winter to come and go.  The River is also the county boundary so as last year we are moored in Cheshire but there the comparison ends.  Heritage Marina is set amongst the rural countryside as Cheshire slides towards Staffordshire.  Portland Basin Marina is tucked away within an industrial landscape that includes converted mills and modern, functional factory units offering accommodation to a mix of business activities.  Surprisingly though the towpath side of the canal bounds a green track before the land drops away down to the river winding its way south west to become the River Mersey.  Over hung with trees and crossed by a tall railway viaduct it could be a rural hideaway rather than an industrial  green lung.  It provides a good place for a dog to run and adds a little colour as the leaves take on their autumn hue.  This part of the North West is not renowned for grand autumnal displays but with occasional light frosts and light winds we may get a better display than usual.  The centre of Ashton under Lyne is an easy 10 minutes walk away through the back streets.  At its heart is the market square and the market hall which offer an interesting mix of stalls including several good looking butchers, delicatessens and fruit and veg sellers.  Recession has had a significant affect on the town, it is clearly not a Nantwich or a Garstang but the centre still appears reasonably prosperous.  Sadly Roger's former place of work is now empty, up for sale and slightly forlorn.  Life moves on although Ramyshome will be stationary for a few months.  In that time we hope to explore a little wider and prepare Ramyshome for another year's voyage.

The Horse Bridge at the end or start of the Peak Forest Canal

Monday 17th October - Marple, Macclesfield Canal - Well, we have moved a little more this week and even seen a little of the sun.  After another damp day on Wednesday the two of us came back the mile and a half to Marple on Thursday morning in readiness for the return of the third crew member. It was good to have her back , well we needed another pair of hands to carry the shopping and she did bring a little sunshine with her.  On Friday, under brightening skies we turned around at the junction and headed back along the Macc a full five miles to the visitor moorings across from Lyme View Marina.  Although the hire boats have almost all gone this week, there are still quite a few shared and private boats on the move including Nb. "Halcyon Days", with one half of the Altrees on board.  In the sunshine of Saturday Ramyshome's exterior got a good wash down removing the dirt and leaves that have collected over the last few weeks.  In the evening both Altrees, Andy and Sue came calling with wine and nibbles; we like those sort of visitors!   Having made a start on cleaning the brassware that afternoon we were not surprised to wake to rain again on Sunday but before Carol Trasler arrived for lunch there was a hint of blue in the sky.  This stretch of canal, from Higher Poynton nearly to Bollington, feels very isolated with only occasional views of distance rooftops and towers hinting at its true location on the south eastern edge of Greater Manchester.  It is a place to escape the pressures of suburban living as evidenced by the many joggers, walkers and general strollers.  Once the "visitors" have left the quietness of a hideaway place returns.  Today we have sailed back the 5 miles to Marple with the thought that we may not be back this way again for some time.  Hopefully, absence will only make our hearts grow fonder of one of the prettiest canals.  Temperatures are finally falling, days are shortening and the weather back to the uncertainties we have experienced all year.  Fellow boaters are beginning to settle in to their moorings, some already wrapped up for the winter to come, others holding out for one last fling at half term.  But Ramyshome is still on the move, if slowly and not extensively, for one more week - at least!                    

Tuesday 11th October - Windlehurst Hall Moorings, Macclesfield Canal - Our big adventures were never meant to be about just cruising the canals and rivers.  It was always our intention to explore rather than just pass by the next town or village, at least as far as we could travel away from the water.  Nevertheless it is very unusual for Ramyshome to remain stationary for seven consecutive days.  The last time was in Liverpool but that was a bit special.  We have of course been awaiting the return of the missing crew member, Maureen, but even with her on board it is unlikely we would have moved very far, if at all this week.  The weather has been so awful.  If it's not raining it's drizzling, always under dark grey skies, no sign of the sun that shone so brightly a fortnight ago.  The depressions in the towpath have filled with water and footpaths through the adjacent fields turned to muddy tracks.  On days like these it would be easy to hide away but one of the crew requires regular exercise so two of us get wet, again.  Each evening we light the stove to dry out ready for tomorrow's soaking but although it is damp it is not cold so we sit with windows open, gently steaming.  Stillness does not mean idleness.  Two or three jobs have been crossed off the "to do" list, the bathroom now gleaming after a re-varnish and clean up.  However, with the sky a lighter shade of grey and to avoid us taking root today we have cruised a whole mile and a quarter to the next winding hole, turned around and come almost all the way back again.  Of course, the sky was just teasing us and we got very wet before we were moored up.  Well it gives us a change of scene.   Surprisingly we are not alone.  As well as the regular towpath dwellers, who hop from one good mooring to the next every few days, we are rocked from time to time by a passing hire boat.  Such a shame they picked the wrong week for their holiday.  Come again when the sun shines, the canal looks so much better.  But then 34 years ago this week we were on our first canal holiday, cruising the Macc.  The weather was only a little better and much colder, the boat poorly insulated and no stove.  We dried socks in the oven.  After we had eaten!  Will today's cruisers still be on the water in 2045?  We hope a few of them will be, we can recommend the life even on dull days like these            

Sunday 26th September - Poole Aqueduct, Kidsgrove, Macclesfield Canal - Heartbreak Hill is the name the old boaters gave to the series of locks that carried their boats up from the Cheshire Plain to the edge of the Potteries.  26 Locks in less than 8 miles, it is not difficult to understand why it was named thus.  Starting at the pleasant village of Wheelock the journey is through typical Cheshire countryside and it is only in the last mile that industry edges near.  Sadly the M6 Motorway slashes across the canal about a third of the way up and although the cars and lorries are soon gone from sight the noise assaults the senses for many a mile.  It is possible to make the climb or descent in six to seven hours but for those who value the health of their lockworkers there are useful stops at Hassall Green and Rode Heath.  The former has a posh restaurant alongside but suffers from the closeness of the Motorway.  The latter has a pleasant canal-side pub and big field for running energetic dogs.  It's hard to imagine this was once a busy commercial highway, cargoes going up to the Potteries or down to the Mersey Estuary.  To ease congestion a second lock chamber was built alongside the first.  Sadly a few of these have gone, derelict or even infilled but there are sufficient to make the transit a social exercise with one crew working alongside another as their boats rise and descend before heading on to the next lock.  Few crews get the opportunity, or indeed have the desire to work the locks on consecutive days but this week Roger has spent quite a lot of time on the Hill.   Once again Ramyshome had a "follower" as we pulled away from Middlewich, Nb Endeavour in our wake.  With Maureen helping her crew, Sarah & David, to negotiate the locks Roger went ahead intending to prepare the next one but with lots of boats on the move he never got the chance to pass through a lock single handed.  One day!  By early afternoon we had reached Wheelock where we had planned to moor; a boaters' service block and a good pet food store being the main attractions.  Endeavour's crew however wanted to make a start on the locks so we left Ramyshome to rest and helped them work up the first ten to Hassall Green.  There we found Nick & Wendy aboard Nb The Hunky Dory.  It was 6:30 pm before we started out on the two mile walk back to Ramyshome.  The next morning Roger walked back up to Endeavour's waiting crew then wound paddles and pushed gates all the way up the hill and on to Heritage Marina on the Macc.  It was gone 7 pm when Sarah drove him back.  A very tired boy.  So on Thursday just for a change, we started up with Ramyshome but called it a day just beyond Hassall Green, finding a rural mooring out of sight if not earshot of the motorway.  Friday we managed another four locks to Rode Heath but found the energy for a four mile walk through the neighbouring countryside.  There on Saturday we welcomed Roger's cousin John & Joy who joined us for another 9 locks, afterwards walking two miles back to collect their car.  Finally today they have come up the last three locks with us and round onto the Aqueduct.  We always knew we would be going up in the world one day!                    

Monday 19th September - Middlewich, Shropshire Union Canal, Middlewich Arm - Where have all the blackberries gone? The damsons and sloes hang heavy, the hedgerows full of rose hips and red thorn berries but blackberries, barely a one.  And then on Thursday we found just enough for a decent crumble.     It has been a slow week, even by our standards.  Having finally tracked down the source of a leak in Ramyshome's cooling system we called in at Nantwich Canal Centre where a kind man made a repair to one of the rubber hoses.  It was quite a struggle getting to their base, being at the end of what was the old Chester Canal and with too sharp a turn to get round when approaching from the south.  With the wind blowing a gale we had to reverse Ramyshome between all the moored boats and onto a pontoon mooring.  We made it, much to the surprise of the receptionist who was busy dealing with cancellations from less intrepid boaters.  And we didn't touch another boat!  Roger took the hire car back to Enterprise's base in Crewe and on his return we headed off, still very carefully, out to the mainline then north a couple of miles to moorings we had spotted on our way down, just before Hurleston Junction.  We spent the next three nights there letting the wind slowly ease back and giving Ramyshome a spruce up.  One afternoon we took a 5 mile walk, first along the Llangollen towpath, then across fields to a road leading into the village of Acton and finally back to the Shroppie towpath.  Early on Thursday morning coming up the canal was Nb Endurance, one of the RBS Inland Waterway Club boats.  The Lawrence's were on their way to Chester before heading back to the Open Day and made a breakfast stop to catch up with our news.  After they had gone on their way we slipped our moorings and travelled a mile or so to Barbridge Junction where we turned back onto the Middlewich Arm to moor a mile further on above Cholmondeston Lock.  If that seems a short day on Friday we dropped down the lock, took on diesel and a gas bottle at Venetian Marine then slipped under the railway bridge and moored just a few yards beyond.  At least a quarter of a mile travelled.  We added to that by walking another mile along the towpath before turning around, which is when we came upon the blackberry bushes.  Saturday we managed another mile or so cruise plus another lock to arrive at Aqueduct Marina, the venue of the Open Day on Sunday.  However, we got a call from the crew on the other club boat seeking help so Roger and David Foulkes rushed off by car to offer assistance.  The sun shone for a little while on Sunday which helped to make for a modestly successful Open Day, somewhat marred by the problems with Nb Endeavour, which limped into the Marina after lunch.  Now Ramyshome's crew are tasked with helping her crew get her back to home mooring at Heritage Marina where full repairs can be carried out.  That means working two boats through the 33 locks from here to the Macclesfield Canal this week.  But at least there is the blackberry and apple crumble to look forward to.                                   

Sunday 11th September - Nantwich, Shropshire Union Canal - Just as in the early days of 2007 we came to Nantwich because we could and because we had time to kill.  But that does an injustice to one of the nicest and most prosperous towns we have passed through this year.  Good moorings, recently extended, the required boaters' facilities block and, although a good stretch into town, the walk along Welsh Row is rewarded with a mixture of architectural styles, some interesting shops and lots of places to dine or just drink coffee.  Of the three Cheshire "wiches" Nantwich is certainly the best.  Its black and white buildings, its open rectangle beneath the imposing, red sandstone church and, at this time of year, the pretty floral displays around the town centre all make for a very pleasant visit.  The local council is called Crewe and Nantwich; they must make strange bedfellows.  Having helped the Corkes work Nb Brindley up the four locks that lift the Trent & Mersey around Middlewich, said our final goodbyes for the year, then restocked Ramyshome's food cupboards we slipped away from the town to find rural moorings above the River Weaver.  Michael Pearson, in his excellent canal guide, makes comment that the Middlewich Arm should not be relegated to "an unspectacular but necessary link".  We would agree.  It is an  agreeable, rural cruise across the Cheshire Plain.  At times, high above the Weaver Valley the views are expansive, the first hills of the Peak District away to the east, west the Peckforton Hills separate us from the Dee Valley and bring the Plain to a stop.  Barely 10 miles long with just 4 locks the Arm is an easy day's cruise but a journey best savoured slowly.  We did, it was Wednesday lunchtime before we came to the Shroppie main line at Barbridge Junction.  Here we turned north heading for the service block at Calveley and just beyond, good moorings we had discovered in 2007.  This time we also found a circular walk through the fields to the pretty village of Bunbury, its great church seeming to stand on guard above the huddle of cottages.  Coming back along the road we arrived in time to watch a little boat negotiating the two lock staircase which marks the start of the canal's descent into Chester.  Sadly, we don't have time to go that way this year, instead we cruise back to Barbridge.  Within two miles we reach the next junction at Hurleston where the Llangollen Canal strides up and away to Wales.  Again we carry straight on, another two miles to reach the moorings at Nantwich.  With the assistance of Enterprise Car Hire Roger drove off on Saturday to his RBOA meeting in Loughborough, leaving Maureen and Molly to enjoy the space, the town shops and, fortunately, the sunshine.  If variety is the spice of life then ours is red hot this week but then that's the joy of living on the waterways.                 

Sunday 4th September - Middlewich, Arm of Shropshire Union Canal - Plans are made for changing.  So we did.  Instead of a stop start cruise along the Bridgewater Canal we decided to push the throttle forward a little more and race (?) on to the Trent & Mersey.  The Bridgewater is a very pleasant canal to cruise seeming to mark out the boundary between rural Cheshire and the industrial spread of the Mersey Valley.  Plenty of moorings but limited boaters' facilities.  Lymm is a bit of a mixture, in parts a typical Cheshire village but a with sprawl of ordinary housing, much of which is hidden from the canal.  We had intended to stop here a couple of nights and we did make a few purchases from an excellent butchers.  However the town moorings, although sat up above the village centre are nevertheless a bit dark and unappealing.  So after a walk around the dam, on the far side of the village, we cruised on to find a rural mooring with just the drone of the M6 Motorway to spoil perfection.  Very soon the next day we were into suburban housing, first Grappenhall then Stockton Heath, both of which now appear to be dormitories of Warrington just across the Manchester Ship Canal.  Green fields soon return but our evening mooring had probably the most unusual view of all.  To the west a corn field, beyond Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, far enough away not to be overpowering.  To the south low hills dotted with houses and topped with Norton Water Tower.  But to the east the modern-ish structure that is Daresbury Research Laboratories, its green lawns forming one bank of the canal.  What goes on inside better brains than ours can explain.  From there we walked round a triangle (is that geometrically possible), crossing through fields from the main Bridgewater Canal to the Runcorn Arm then along to where the two meet at Preston Brook.  The third leg of the four mile circuit (if circuits have legs) we shared with a man and his dog, walking from Wolverhampton to Morecambe.  If we had met them three months ago we could have given them a lift.  The cruise to Anderton includes three narrow tunnels none of which are straight and require close attention of the steerer.  Fortunately two have timed passages so only the last one at Barnton allows the opportunity to meet a boat coming the other way.  We didn't luckily but suddenly this canal is busy with boats.  There are a number of hire boat bases round about and it is still school holidays.  Anderton Lift is one of the wonders of the waterways, not on our route this year but rising up on Friday morning came Nb Brindley, the Corke's having enjoyed their week's cruise on the River Weaver.  The area around the canal and the lift has been transformed from industrial waste to an extensive country park with lots of paths, trees and fishing lakes to explore.  Perfect for an energetic dog.  Having welcomed both Anne & Doug Shields and Carol Trasler on board on Friday we were on our way south again yesterday skirting Northwich, salt city, stopping overnight at Billinge Flash, the most quiet rural mooring one could hope to find; exchanging that today for a mooring amongst the houses of Middlewich, a useful shopping spot but not much more!  Here we shall finally say our goodbyes to the Corkes tomorrow as they head up the hill to Stoke on Trent.  Or at least that is the plan - it may change.          

Sunday 28th August - Dunham Town, Bridgewater Canal - After the excitement of the last month or so this week has been fairly slow but in the end colourful.  We finally said goodbye to the Corkes on Monday evening with a celebratory meal in the marina pub at Boothstown.  It's been a long and enjoyable journey.  The following morning Nb Brindley slipped her moorings and headed south just as we were rising.  Two hours later Ramyshome was following in her wake to Worsley, past the Monton Lighthouse, across the Barton Aqueduct, through Trafford Park to Waters Meeting.  By then green fields had long disappeared replaced by industry, wasteland and urban living.  Where Brindley had turned to starboard Ramyshome crossed to port and took the arm back into Castlefield Basin, Manchester.  Still busy with boats but room to select and the following day change our mooring, here we stayed until this morning.  Some retail therapy, a train trip out for a barbecue with friends local and antipodean and a chance for Roger to go visit his parents.  It's nice to be back on such familiar territory.  But in all the years we have lived and worked in this area one thing we had never seen was Manchester Pride, the Gay & Lesbian Festival.  The Saturday Parade through the streets was a fascinating sight full of colour, noise and some interestingly attired people.  Everyone having fun, including Ramyshome's crew.  By contrast, after the parade had gone by we went into the Science & Industry Museum and spent an hour or so in the Textile Hall.  We watched a demonstration of the various cotton industry machines, which got us thinking again about Maureen's ancestors who would have been very familiar with such machines and processes.  More family research is being scheduled in for the winter.  On Thursday we were joined in the Basin by Nb Lilypad with whom we travelled in to Liverpool.  Carol & Ian had been pottering since then and are not rushing to go "home" for the winter.  We were invited in for drinks and table games on Saturday evening and had a very enjoyable time.  Saying our goodbyes this morning we headed back out to Waters Meeting, stopping again to empty toilet cassettes and take on water.  The route south through Stretford and Sale to the edge of Altrincham is almost dead straight, the best part of four miles.  From industry, past urban housing and on to suburbia the steerer struggles to maintain concentration and the bend at Broadheath is a welcome relief.  After the next bridge housing and local industry stops abruptly, almost as though a line has been drawn that must not be crossed.  Fields of corn are back to add colour and another mile on we moor on the edge of what turns out to be the local boat club's bank holiday rally.  The National Trust property, Dunham Massey, is a short step away from our mooring and we spent the afternoon, dodging the occasional shower, eating ice cream and wandering the woodlands that are home to a herd of deer.  Well, it is Bank Holiday Weekend.       

Tuesday 16th August - Ashton Basin, Preston, Lancaster Canal -  Our last full day so a good time to present some reflections on the Lancaster Canal.  The abiding memory we took away after our first cruise was how much the Lancaster resembled the Macclesfield.  With hills to the east, a rolling plain to the west and generally a rural aspect they have much in common.  Yet in the wooded cuttings it could be the Shroppie and occasionally it has a feel of the Staffs & Worcestershire.  But all that would be unfair to the Lanky for like a Lancastrian it is its own "man" and like all canals has a variety of parts, all of which look better when the sun shines.  Sadly the start and end of the canal don't do justice to the big bit in between.  It begins, or ends, abruptly just to the north of Preston.  The Lancaster Canal Trust and the city fathers have a grand plan to take the canal back to a park on the edge of the City centre but in the current economic climate that seems years away.  The first mile and a half is much like any suburban canal trying to escape the city and it is at least another mile beyond the junction with the Link before fields border both banks.  From here the canal strides off towards the sea.  An early plan was to build a canal to Fleetwood but this was soon abandoned and in seeming disgust the canal turns around and heads back to the shelter of the hills.  The first "stop" is Bilsborrow, although there is not much to it beyond three pubs, a small shop, a boaters' service facility and visitor moorings.  Very soon the railway and motorway crowd in from the east and stay close by most of the way to Garstang.  Beyond these two the Bowland Fells mark the eastern horizon; to the west the rolling farmland of the Fylde with herds of black and white cows encourages the comparison with Cheshire.  Garstang is one of the Lancaster's jewels.  An ancient market town with many old buildings, an enthusiastic civic society, a pleasant circular walk along the banks of the River Wyre plus good shops, a service facility and a long line of hard edge moorings.  What more could a boater want.  Garland it all in flowers as Garstang does and the place is near perfect, so consequently very popular with weekend cruisers and visitors alike.  Going on north the motorway and railway find their own ways and whilst the A6 keeps company all the way to Lancaster this area is quiet and very pleasant.  With the Fylde left behind the western landscape becomes more undulating but just before Galgate there is a first glimpse of Heysham Power Station and the sea beyond.  Here the Glasson Arm heads off down its 6 locks to the mouth of the River Lune.  The locks are hard work, very hard and at this time of year the canal is full of weed but your efforts will be rewarded.  Glasson is a fascinating, beautiful place with views out across the sea, south to Blackpool Tower, north to the Lake District hills and east to the highest point in Lancashire.  Beyond Galgate the canal enters into a deep, wooded cutting to emerge two miles on at the edge of Lancaster.  There are good, if popular moorings and all the facilities the boater requires.  Its castle perched on one hill, the Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park on another, Lancaster is architecturally interesting.  The little Maritime Museum beside the Lune is worth a visit but like many northern towns the present financial difficulties are taking their toll.  The canal goes north to cross the River Lune on a grand aqueduct, which sadly is in need of some TLC but work is underway.  Taking a sharp left turn the canal now heads to the sea and gets very close at Hest Bank.  Can Morecambe Bay be called the sea, there is certainly lots of water and at low tide an awful lot of sand.  Pick the right mooring and it's possible to see the sea from your window.  Those views and ahead to the Lakeland Fells are repeated as the canal wends it way around the Bay to Carnforth.  Once a railway town Carnforth seems to have lost its way but still offers some moorings and supermarket shopping, the last before the northern terminus.  Turning away from the sea the canal crosses the motorway and winds its way for the final four miles to Tewitfield where sadly it ends with the M6 literally the other side of the fence.  If you can stand the noise then its a short walk to view the 8 locks taking the canal up to its final level and for the energetic it is possible to walk the 14 miles into Kendal and its original terminus. Again there's a grand plan to restore these "Northern Reaches" and the line of the canal is secure but many millions will need to be spent.  So don't hold your breath, turn around and enjoy the 41 miles back to Preston that are already navigable.  Two of the engineers who constructed Lancaster Canal were William Crossley and Benjamin Outram.  They went on to build the Macclesfield Canal so its perhaps no surprise that the Macc resembles the Lanky - not the other way around!

The way down the Glasson arm with those hard work locks

Tuesday 9th August - Hest Bank, Lancaster Canal - We have travelled many miles in the last 10 days but barely eight by boat.  Our trip to the family wedding in Cheshire went well, the bride and groom, Roger's nephew, both blooming in the sunshine.  To get there, on Wednesday Roger took the train from Carnforth to Leeds and onto Harrogate to pick up our car.  Back to the boat we drove to Kendal on Thursday and walked a mile or so picking out the line of the canal to its terminus just below the town.  The Lancaster Canal Trust have much to do if they hope to re-connect these Northern Reaches with the canal at Tewitfield.  Early Friday morning we headed off down the M6, M61 & M60 to pick up Roger's mum then on in to Cheshire.  A later start on Saturday but on south to Alrewas, near Burton on Trent so Roger could be inducted into the ways of the Residential Boat Owners Association's Membership Secretary.  He is now officially that man and Ramyshome is a little fuller with all the associated paperwork brought on board.  Finally on Sunday we slipped our moorings, emptied loo cassettes, filled the water tank, turned around and headed away to the south. We managed a mile to moorings at Capernway up a little arm that appears to have once been a quarry wharf.  We were back at Tesco Carnforth by Monday lunchtime and having restocked the cupboards we came on to Hest Bank and lovely moorings with views across Morecambe Bay.  Another bus trip for Roger as he went back to Tewitfield to pick up the car.  And today we have walked round the Bay to Morecambe town.  In sunshine, with views once again across to the tops of the Lake District mountains it was a lovely walk and the town provided a very pleasant reward for our effort.  Very colourful floral displays, some interesting architecture and a genuine seaside resort feeling, it meets with our approval.  We got the bus back!  But what a journey, surely the best views from a bus in England.  And tomorrow, if the weather is not as bad as forecast, we shall be walking out across the Bay with the Guide.  Nine miles looks a long way.      

Sunday 31st July - Tewitfield, Lancaster Canal - The most northerly and one of the noisiest places on the English canal system, Tewitfield falls some way short of the kind of terminus the Lancaster Canal deserves.  The Ashby Canal Trust could show them how termini should be.  If and whenever the final 14 miles to Kendal are restored Tewitfield will be just another brief stop on the way to better things but for now, and for a long time to come, this is as far as Ramyshome can go.  This week has been about sea and weed.  It started as we left Glasson on Tuesday, heading away from the Lune Estuary.  We had recognised as we came down to Glasson that the arm was very weedy but at least then there was water in the canal.  It soon became apparent there was now a severe shortage of the wet stuff as we headed out from Lock 6.  We inched our way carefully through the pound to Lock 5 and found the next pound comfortably in water.  The journey to Lock 3 was slowed by increasing amounts of blanket weed but above the lock there was a distinct lack of water, at least two feet of it missing.   In such circumstances we have learnt to call B.W. before doing anything.  No reply from Wigan Office, even the Watford Office couldn't raise them so Maureen & Tina walked on to Lock 2 and started bringing water down from the pound above.  Eventually the flow reached the boats and we pushed gingerly forward.  Several times Ramyshome came to halt as the bow stuck on the bottom and several times we had to pull back and find a deeper stretch or just wait for the canal to fill a little more.  There are six locks in the almost three miles up from the Basin to the main line.  It took us the best part of three hours.  But with the sun shining and now in deeper water we decided to carry on four miles to moorings in Lancaster and a good rest for lockworkers and steerers both.  The smallest of the cities on our 2011 cruise, Lancaster is nevertheless an interesting place but sadly we didn't really do it justice.  Castle and cathedral are all worthy of visits but we only made it the Maritime Museum, with a fascinating exhibition of old maps, then a walk along the riverside and returning through the narrow streets of the town.  By Thursday we were back at the seaside again, or at least another part of Morecambe Bay.  Hest Bank this time.  After a brief shopping stop at Carnforth we finally made it to Tewitfield on Friday evening.  The Corke's were joined by their family so yesterday we left Molly in charge of Ramyshome and via bus and train went to Arnside.  More seaside on the Kent Estuary that flows into Morecambe Bay.  Another of those somewhat faded English seaside places, Arnside retains much of its charm and proved a pleasant spot to spend an afternoon in glorious sunshine.  Beyond the road that stops the canal Tewitfield's eight locks climb up to the original summit level of the canal.  Right beside the M6 Motorway it makes for a noisy walk but interesting walk.  Passing Lock 6 we cross the boundary into Cumbria.  Looking at the restoration work needed it will be a long time before this county has its canal back but if it's in our lifetime we shall be back to cruise it.                  

Monday 25th July - Glasson Basin, Lancaster Canal -  Liverpool Docks to Glasson Dock.  If we had turned left at the confluence of the rivers Douglas & Ribble we could have headed out to the Irish Sea and worked our way past Blackpool and Fleetwood into the River Lune and up to Glasson Dock.  It may have been a quicker journey but it would certainly have been much more uncomfortable and we would have missed much of interest on the Lancaster Canal.  Sadly the wet weather stayed for another day and it was gone lunchtime before we headed away from Swillbrook on Monday.  We cruised just a few miles to Bilsborrow where we were able to empty toilet cassettes, fill the water tank and enjoy an excellent meal in a pleasant pub just below the visitor moorings.  In improving weather we carried on north on Tuesday to Garstang where we said goodbye to Ken Fountayne, our additional crew and official photographer of our Ribble Link crossing. (We are still sorting all the photos).  In 5 hours by bus, train and tube he was back home in London.  Before then we had explored the little town that stands on the River Wyre where it escapes the Bowland Fells and heads out to the sea at Fleetwood.  The people of Garstang have embraced the Britain in Bloom competition.  Regular winners, they have also won a gold medal in the European Competition and with beautiful floral displays across the town they must be expecting more success in 2011.  Even the kitchen showroom had a display of flowers, in a washing machine.  We re-acquainted ourselves with Booth's Supermarket, a northern Waitrose-style group offering high quality at prices only a little more than those of the Sainsbury's across town.  After a rural mooring on Wednesday evening, we turned off the main line just before Galgate and straight into the first of six locks.  They demand much effort of the lockworkers and the canal being heavily weeded in parts it was slow progress as we descended to Glasson.  Finally we emerged into the Basin, a huge expanse of water part of which hosts a marina full of yachts and other sea going boats.  The visitor moorings on the far side of the Basin provide a very pleasant resting place for two boats with a view across to the sail boats, very unusual on a canal.  Glasson has an end of the world feel.  From the Basin a lock drops boats into the dock and once the tide gate is open they can head out into the Lune and away to sea.  Two pubs, a cafe and a village shop surround the dock with most of the housing above the West Quay.  The dock is still operational with the occasional small freighter bringing in grain or taking supplies across to the Isle of Man or Ireland.  Either side of the dock the river is edged with salt marshes home to many wading birds, swans and even cattle.  With the tide out it is a good place to get out the binoculars to study the wild life.  When that pales then look at the views, from Blackpool Tower in the south to the Lake District hills in the north.  In between boats appear to be picking their way between the huge wind farm out in Morecambe Bay.  With one of the crew having a special birthday at the weekend Glasson also proved an excellent place for a surprise party with friends and family under blues skies.  Nice ice creams too.  We shall be sorry to move on but that is the lot of itinerant (ageing) boaters.                     

Sunday 17th July - Swillbrook, Lancaster Canal - It is unusual to see a canal boater wearing a life jacket, they are likely to be a non-swimmer and maybe fearful of the water. The instruction to ensure all crews have donned life jackets indicates how different the Ribble Crossing is to the normal canal journey.  Exciting, adventurous, uncomfortable.  However one describes it, it is certainly not ordinary.  For one thing the crossing is made against the tide so the boat engine is working hard for over seven miles.  The journey begins by pushing out into the River Douglas.  With the tide out it is a narrow, muddy ditch but by the time of your departure the water is rushing in and as soon as the lock gates open it's hammer down and here we go.  The revs are up but progress is instantly slowed as the incoming tide tries hard to force you back.  Forty five minutes later the battle is almost over and in surrender the river lays down and spreads itself wide. This is the time to relax and take in your surroundings.  The land is flat but not uninteresting and there are lots of wading birds to see.  However keep an eye out for crocodiles (the large logs that are occasionally drawn up the river) and another eye for your water gauge to check the engine is not overheating.  By the time the Douglas merges with the Ribble there is an awful lot of water around and under your hull.  Turn left and you will be in the sea within perhaps another hour;  Lytham St Annes is looking out for you coming her way!  Fortunately, your route is to the east up the River Ribble, with the City of Preston in the middle distance but first there is a lamp or perch to go around in a clockwise direction.  If you are lucky you will be cruising on top of the tide for a little while but if like us you are last to leave Tarleton Lock, then the tide will already have turned and as you round Asland Lamp your speed over the water will drop again.  If too the wind is blowing in from the sea you will be in for a rocky ride as the wind battles against the outgoing tide causing waves to break around you and the boat to pitch and roll.  It is three and a half miles, counting off the distance poles as we go and it seems forever before the entrance to the Savick Brook appears across to the left.  There is a green light inviting you in but it is not easy to see, and not always working!  Keep wide to avoid the sand bank that has built up on the west side of the entrance and we are in, free of the rolling river.  A half mile along to the open sea lock and there are the other boats awaiting our arrival and the tide to drop low enough for us all to slide under the road bridge ahead.  Being last there means we are first of the six to head up the Savick, an even narrower ditch than the Douglas, with twists and turns that demand more concentration from the steerer.  The B.W. staff welcome us into the first lock and then we are off with Nb Vera B making our way through four more wide locks towards the Lancaster Canal.  The Link is functional rather than pretty but the Himalayan Balsam has softened the edges and the neighbouring golf course adds a little green.  And finally, a three rise staircase of locks to lift us up to the waiting Canal.  But the Link is different, so we go up backwards, the winding hole below too tight to enable boats beyond 50 feet in length to make the required 270 degree turn.  The rain is starting again as we head along the Lancaster Canal and within a couple of miles we find mooring space for Ramyshome and Brindley.  Their engines can rest at last and the crews too are glad to be stopped for the day.  It has been a long seven hours, wind and rain making the experience a good deal more unpleasant than when we came this way four years ago.  And a month from today we are booked to do it all again - in reverse.      Pictures will follow after our return crossing.                           

Sunday 10th July - Salthouse Dock, Liverpool - From Albert Dock to Waterloo with lots of eXtras in between.  The Yorke's have been busy exploring Liverpool this week whilst Ramyshome has rested on her pontoon mooring in the Salthouse Dock, her bow tied to Nb Brindley's across the pontoon.  The view fo'ard, the warehouses that surround the Albert Dock, to port a big Ferris wheel, to starboard the Liver Building with its birds up top, above our stern the Hilton Hotel that fronts Liverpool One, the new shopping centre.  Centrally located is definitely the correct description.  Like many cities Liverpool has its culture with several theatres, music venues and art galleries; its grand architecture with two World Heritage sites and two cathedrals; its many visitor attractions and shopping experiences; but it is the docks and the waterfront that give it another dimension rarely found in the rest of the UK.  The river is constantly in movement with ships of all shapes and sizes going to and fro.  After finding our bearings on Saturday, we walked up to the Anglican Cathedral, climbing its tower for a great view out across the City to the Wirral on the far side of the Mersey and beyond there to the Welsh Hills.  A short walk along Hope Street led us to the Catholic Cathedral, a very different structure but impressive in its on way.  Finally a stroll downhill through Liverpool One brought us back to the water.  On Sunday we took a late ferry across the Mersey to Seacombe then walked a couple of miles along the restored promenade to New Brighton where we feasted on fish and chips before catching a train back under the river.  Although far from satiated we escaped the city on Monday, by boat again as we joined the Mersey Ferries cruise up the Manchester Ship Canal.  It had taken us six days to come from Manchester to Liverpool but we were back in Salford Quays in just six hours.  In glorious weather it proved to be a fascinating journey, cruising by the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port, the River Weaver & Weston Canal and Runcorn, all places we had come to aboard Ramyshome during our first adventure.  Just before arriving at the Quays we watched as the Barton Road Bridge and the Barton Aqueduct swung to let us sail by.  To either side cars and narrowboats waited to cross over the water.  We shall be back crossing the Aqueduct again before the end of August.  Back to Liverpool by coach and a change in the weather but not enough to halt our explorations.  To the Pier Head again on Tuesday morning but turning away from the river we strolled up Water Street and Dale Street past some of the grand buildings to probably the grandest and certainly the largest.  St George's Hall is a monster of a place that has had many uses over the years, from County Court to Palais de Glide.  Across the road is the Walker Art Gallery, another striking building, walls hung with pictures to suit all tastes.  We managed the 20th Century rooms - after the cafeteria!  By contrast the Tate Gallery at the Albert Dock was perhaps a bit too modern for our tastes but the Maritime Museum was a hit with us all and required three visits to do it justice.  The 100 Anthony Gormley statues on Crosby Beach sadly didn't hold our attention for long but they were just a small part of an evening of good food and good company with Audrey & David Foulkes who live just a few stone throws from the sands.   Nine busy but very enjoyable days.  Just two complaints, one the exorbitant fee of £5 per cassette charged by Liverpool Marina to empty our toilet; two, because Salthouse Dock is sea water the salt has been attacking Ramyshome's anodes, which are not made of Zinc.  There dear reader is the A-Z of Liverpool. You should come.

Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral

Tuesday 5th July - Salthouse Dock, Liverpool - The western end of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal from Wigan to Liverpool must be one of the most under used stretches of canal, yet it is as pretty as many more popular routes.  The locks are wide and in the company of another boat are relatively easy to work.  Having escaped the rather drab outskirts of Wigan, by Crooke the landscape becomes heavily wooded as the canal follows the growing River Douglas.  We stopped at the B.W. Office in Wigan to buy the special electricity cards required for Liverpool Docks then cruised on to moor close by Gathurst.  We should have stuck to the original plan and gone the half mile on to Dean Locks where the valley opens out a little and there are pleasant moorings despite the presence of the M6 high above.  A short hop on Tuesday took us to Parbold and moorings just beyond the decapitated windmill.  Parbold stands as the guardian of the Douglas gap, the land beyond flattening towards the sea, the Douglas turning north to meet the Ribble.  A short exploration revealed a tidy village, obviously a place to escape the suburbs of Liverpool, Preston or Wigan.  However it was nothing as compared to Burscough whose centre has been transformed since we were last here in 2007.  We had heard the service block had been demolished.  It had but in its place was a brand new one, part of a restored wharf complex with little shops, eateries, even a chandlery.  Having re-stocked the larder we headed on through several swing bridges of varying degrees of difficulty to find open moorings at Scarisbrick.  From here the canal turns south on its final run towards Liverpool.  We motored on under clear blue skies, the Welsh Hills clearly visible on the western horizon but never seeing Liverpool Bay that divides us from them.  The landscape is a little like the Fens except here the canal sits above the fields.  Finally, after another swing bridge we come to Lydiate the beginning of suburbia and a last long line of moored boats.  Maghull provides activity for the crew with four more swing bridges.  After the first we catch up with Nb Lily Pad so it's just one each thereafter and soon we are mooring below the little village of Melling perhaps better known for its Road that the Grand National horses cross at Aintree.  Before long we three boats become six, tomorrow's convoy into Liverpool now complete.  In 2007 it was just us with a team of B.W. staff to keep an eye on us.   Today they want us to start an hour and a half earlier than planned so soon after 7 am six boats slip moorings to make the 40 minute journey to a meeting with the B.W. team.  They work the first swing bridge creating a long queue of cars either side, drivers no doubt cursing us for holding up their rush to work.  The Canal Turn fence comes into view and we follow the line of the National Course.  However, we go under the Melling Road before reaching another swing bridge and the waiting B.W. team.  This time it's we six who have to hold up so as not to delay the kids on their way to school.  Don't think we were popular, again!  Nevertheless the locals are pleased to see us, everyone waves and several express delight at seeing boats passing through.  We stop at Litherland to empty loos and clear props; still far too much rubbish in the canal but at least it is easy to spot in the clear water.  In 2007 we sailed on under the final bridge to moor in the Eldonian Village, a mile from the City Centre.  This time we turn right to a refurbished set of four locks that takes us down through green(ish) to Stanley Dock.  At the far end of the third dock there are huge lock gates separating us from the River Mersey and here we turn left into a narrow channel that has been cut out of the infilled Trafalgar Dock.  At the far end of Princes Dock is a lock, wide but seeming very small in these big waters.  This lock is required to take us down under a roadway and when we emerge from the tunnel up above us is the first of the Three Graces, The Royal Liver Building.  A second, short tunnel and the Cunard Building and the Mersey Docks Building come into view.  Ahead of us is a third tunnel on top of which is the Fourth Grace, the brand new Museum of Liverpool.  So new it opens the week after we leave!  The B.W. team are back to lock us down into Canning Dock then its left, left again then right into the Albert Dock and finally right once more to the pontoon moorings in Salthouse Dock.  We have arrived in the centre of Liverpool, all the tourist attractions, shops and the Mersey Ferries within walking distance, ready for us to discover.  What a fabulous trip, probably the most dramatic canal journey in the country.  Well we enjoyed it.  Obviously.                Click here to view pictures of the Link Journey                 

Monday 13th June - Bollington, Macclesfield Canal -  Ramyshome and Nb Brindley have been hopping along this week, cruising one day sitting on their moorings the next whilst the crews go exploring or catching up on a few jobs.  We stayed a second day at Westport Lake, which gave us the opportunity to do a little shopping, including a visit to what must be one of the largest charity shop warehouses in the Midlands.  The moorings at Westport are easily the best in Stoke, not over popular; a circuit of the lake providing gentle exercise for man and dog.  Sadly, however, they do little to improve our general disappointment with the city.  It is clearly still struggling to find a prosperous future now its old industries have gone and its potteries little more than museum pieces.  Another transit through Harecastle Tunnel on Tuesday.  At least it was a good place to escape the rain but it too is not on our favourites list.  The narrowness and the low ceiling, especially the central section, make it feel very claustrophobic.  But we were out in less than 45 minutes with no new scrapes to Ramyshome's gunwhales and the sun was trying to shine as we emerged.  Quite why we feel we have arrived in the North when we exit Harecastle is difficult to explain.  Kidsgrove, the town immediately beyond the tunnel is still in Staffordshire, although certainly not one of Stoke's six towns.  The architecture is much the same and at this stage the geography is little changed.  Within in a mile we are crossing the border into Cheshire and whilst many, like us, view Cheshire as a bit of a soft northern county, arriving back "home" is definitely the uppermost feeling.  Very quickly the hills start to arrive. Mow Cop, then Bosley Cloud, on past Crocker Hill and Teggs Nose to Kerridge Saddle and White Nancy.  We moored on Tuesday just short of Heritage Marina where we had spent the winter and it was good to catch up with the staff and some of the marina residents.  80 days since we headed out on 9th March, it seems quite a long time ago now; 250 miles travelled and 190 locks worked in the meantime.  Not rushing then!  We had intended to walk up Mow Cop again but an injury sustained by Klim Corke and indecisive weather held us back.  4 miles on to Shaw Aqueduct at Congleton on Thursday, one of the nicest moorings on the Macc with open views to east and west.  And a good place to make an ascent of Bosley Cloud which we did on Friday, despite Klim's multicoloured knee.  The way up is steep in parts but on a clear day the reward is a spectacular 360 degree panorama.  Our third ascent and this time the views were complete, the Long Mynd in Shropshire (?), the Berwyn Hills in Wales, Rivington Pike in Lancashire and Holme Moss on the Yorkshire/Derbyshire border all clearly visible; our way to Liverpool during the rest of June almost all laid out in front of us.  Saturday morning we were off to Bosley Locks and as usual we had arranged crew with daughter Heather and husband Chris joining us.  The rain almost held off but as forecast it came in abundance on Sunday.  Whilst the Corkes hunkered down for the day we welcomed more visitors, Carole Trasler and Andy and Sue Altree who helped to make a very wet day into an enjoyable one.  As two of those three went back to work today we journeyed on first to Macclesfield where we took on a few more supplies.  Then, under brightening skies through Bollington to open moorings just north of the town.  It is all so familiar and yet so pleasant to be cruising this canal again.  The third time in 8 months but only the second ever in June.  How different it looks adorned with its latest summer coat.  Perhaps soon we shall be able to pack away our own winter fleeces but the forecast is not promising too much sun.  But we are back up North.                         

Sunday 5th June - Westport Lake, Stoke, Trent & Mersey Canal - June already, the days stretching out, the nights getting shorter and shorter so that as we go bed it's hardly dark and the sun has been shining several hours before we rise.  We, for most of this week has been just Roger & Molly as Maureen has been up and away to the South France for a family party. Typically it was warmer and drier in Stone than Perpignan and she brought the cooler weather back with her.  In Maureen's absence Roger has replaced Ramyshome's water pump, under guidance from Klim Corke, and continued the never ending paint touch ups.  Two more jobs crossed off the list.  But there was still time for a few walks and ball chasing, by Molly, plus a trip to Morrisons to re-stock the larder ready for the journey to the North.  The moorings at Stone have been very busy with plenty of boats moving through.  It remained so on Saturday as, with a full crew compliment, we started the climb up the 4 locks around the town plus a further 4 a mile beyond.  Filling the water tank, emptying toilet cassettes, waiting for boats coming down or going up in front of us, it was nearly 3 hours before we made three miles but the rain held off until after we had moored up below the Wedgwood Visitor Centre near Barlaston.  After the busyness of Stone these moorings are quiet and rural despite being just a few miles outside Stoke on Trent and with the M6 motorway just over the hill.  We took an evening stroll across the fields to the top end of Barlaston village and discovered some very grand houses, the grandest of which being the 18th Century Barlaston House.  Built of brick, presumably from local red clays, it bears a likeness to many rural mansions in this part of the world; we shall see similar at Kent Green on the Macc.  Today we have come on through Stoke passed the modern football stadium, new road bridges and the old potteries with their bell kiln chimneys.  At Etruria we were in amongst a Boat Festival with many working boats.  As we ascended the two deep locks we became the main event with the audience crowding around the locks.  We managed to avoid swiping anyone into the water with a lock beam, just, and hopefully we have excited the interest of some future boaters.  What could be better on a sunny June day than chugging slowly through the countryside or delving deep into an old industrial landscape.  We shall have all that to come this month.  Lets hope we have some more sunshine as well.                

Sunday 29th May - Stone, Trent & Mersey Canal - It is not uncommon for two small villages bearing the same name to be found on the same page of the map book.  The inhabitants of the two Astons and Westons on Trent probably lived rural lives in blissful ignorance of their namesake villages barely 40 miles apart until the Trent & Mersey Canal came along towards the end of the 18th century.  A first time boater coming from Shardlow or Stone must initially have thought he had been going round in circles, not least because in either direction Weston first follows Aston before later directing the canal on to the second Aston on Trent.  However for Ramyshome and her crew, who arrived back to the T & M at Great Haywood on Wednesday, it is only the western villages that have come into view this week.  Weston, or more accurately, towpath moorings about half a mile north of the village, proved to be a pleasant location for an afternoon and evening socialising on Wednesday and a place to hide from Thursday's rain, the worst day's weather we have had for many weeks.  A blue sky interlude encourages us to take a stroll around the village as we did in early April but the rain came again and gave us a good soaking.  In the breeze on Friday we progressed another two miles and one lock to more fine moorings by the milestone above Sandon Lock.  A new spot for Ramyshome but a favourite of Brindley's crew, the towpath is again wide enough for us  to sit out and watch the flying displays of lapwings without blocking the way for the occasional walker or jogger.  It also provides the perfect base from which to explore the remote and pretty villages of Burston and Sandon and the parkland surrounding Sandon Hall.  A very easy 4 hour walk through mixed countryside with occasional views off to the west to the volcanic lump known as the Wrekin, near Telford. The busy A51 only a brief, noisy interruption we have to cross twice.  Two miles on today to Aston Lock where the milestone confirms this is the halfway point of the T & M, 46 miles in both directions.  We may make the northern end in September.  The new marina below the lock still has lots of empty moorings but is looking more established and welcoming.  Another mile on is the first of Stone's four locks but we have to moor a good way back using our pins for the first time this year.  The official moorings are full of boats and music spills out from the town confirming the annual Stone Festival is still underway.  Tucked between houses and the open fields bordering the River Trent these moorings lack the rural charm of Weston or Sandon but are much closer to shops and transport.  So here Ramyshome will stay for the next 5 days whilst Maureen goes a travelling to a Catalan village whose name is not repeated this side of La Manche.                    

Sunday 22nd May - Tixall Wide, Staffs & Worcestershire Canal - For the lockworker who wasn't previously aware Wolverhampton stands on a hill, ascending or going down the 21 lock flight will quickly acquaint them with that fact.  It's a long, slow slog and whilst descending the steerer can assist by closing a gate, turning a paddle, the anti-vandal mechanism on each of the four paddles hinders the workflow, slowing progress still further.  The additional benefit going downhill is the steady improvement in surroundings.  From the noisy, slightly grimy urban and industrial landscape as we begin the descent, well before Lock 21 there are green fields and a hint of the rural aspects to come.  Having spent so much time under or amongst motorways during our BCN jaunt there is little irony in the fact that the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal passes out of the West Midlands into Staffordshire just at the point where it dives under the M54.  Although it flirts with the M6 on its way to and through Penkridge we are finally done with such expressways until Hyde in Greater Manchester.  This northern section of the Staffs & Worcs is a complete contrast to the BCN.  Greenery extends far beyond the canal corridor; suburban Penkridge and Stafford stand well back from the water; industry confines itself to just a short stretch north of Calf Heath.  Although now overrun with modern housing, Penkridge's centre retains an old fashioned feel with lots of small, local shops and provides a useful stopping off place to re-stock the cupboards. A recently opened, Asian fusion restaurant offers an extensive and very tasty buffet that more than rewards the 15 minute walk from the canal and proves to be an excellent place to celebrate Tina Corke's birthday.  And so we return to Tixall Wide to complete our southerly loop; 185 miles and 102 locks in 44 days.  To welcome us back are the crew of The Hunky Dory, Nick & Wendy, boating friends of Brindley's crew who we came across last year on the Thames.  For the last few days we have got to know them better over drinks and barbecued food but like the ships in the night we all are, we four have waved them goodbye today as they sailed away en route for the Llangollen Canal. We look forward to coming alongside them again, somewhere, sometime.  For now we are crossing off a few of the jobs on the "to do" list and enjoying the stillness that comes from not moving in a green environment.  Just a shame the breeze is increasing towards gale force but at least there are no locks for a few days more.                          

Sunday 8th May - Curdworth, Birmingham & Fazeley Canal. - Locks and rain have come with a vengeance this week.  Fortunately not at the same time and not before we were able to welcome on board again John & Val Cobb who made the short journey from their home just north of Leicester.  We drifted round the bend below Stoke Golding, took on diesel at Ashby Boats wharf and then cruised on the half mile to the picnic site moorings.  No barbecue this time but a pleasant lunch on board and a chance to catch up with John & Val's news.  On Wednesday we sailed on passed Hinckley overnighting just a mile short of the junction with the Coventry, almost reluctant to finally leave the Ashby Canal.  We have enjoyed it immensely.  By Friday lunchtime we were back at Atherstone for another shopping expedition to re-stock the larder.  The rain came so hard on Saturday morning that we pulled up at Alvecote for an hour or so to wait the return of the sunshine.  On down the two Glascote locks, 100 done this year; within another week we shall be up around the 150 mark.  Back into Fazeley to empty toilet cassettes and refill the water tank before turning onto the Birmingham & Fazeley, our sixth canal this trip.  Having escaped from Fazeley the B & F becomes very green, especially now the gravel workings along the River Tame have gone.  By the time we turn off it we shall be amongst motorways and old industrial buildings.  Kingsbury Water Park provides entertainment for birdwatchers, sailors and walkers alike across its 600 lakes formed from the old gravel workings. The Canal forms its northern boundary and here Nb Brindley with Klim and Tina Corke were awaiting our arrival.  By 9 pm the rain was coming down hard and continued on through the night.  We certainly need the rain with restrictions already being applied on the Leeds Liverpool Canal but we shall be content if it always falls overnight.  A rather noisy cuckoo, the first of the year, greeted a brighter morning today.  The flight of 11 locks leading up to Curdworth would be one of the best in the country, the views becoming more rural and expansive as we rise up but the drone from the neighbouring M42 motorway is a continuing distraction until it finally parts company with us as it meets the M6 Toll Road.  Here we have taken our rest, discussing the summer cruise with our fellow travels finally settling on the route through Birmingham and away to the North West.  24 locks over the next two days will keep the crews well occupied and the weather forecast looks not too bad.              

Monday 2nd May Stoke Golding, Ashby Canal - Twenty two miles, one tunnel, no locks, very rural.  The established, concise description of the Ashby Canal but now an inaccurate one.  For ten years there has been one lock with a mile and a half of unconnected canal north of Measham. As of last September, as a result of sterling work by the Ashby Canal Association there is also one swing bridge and almost 100 extra metres of canal at the present northern end of the cruiseway.  So in the spirit of exploration that came to signify Ramyshome's first great adventure, on Easter Monday an A.C.A member swung the bridge and we proceeded gently forward until Ramyshome's bow could go no further; our first new water in almost a year.  As we prepared to reverse back another A.C.A member decided it was time to move off and so we were able to take up a mooring for two nights on this new stretch.  The Association has done an excellent job.  Good solid edges, mooring bollards in the shape of Midland Railway boundary posts and a pleasant stretch of lawn, just perfect for a dog to chase a ball.  As before we walked the line of the still to be restored canal but with new waymarkers the route is now much clearer and it is evident how much work has still to be done just to return the Ashby to Measham.  Talking with the members the determination is there even if the money is still to be found.  Whilst we wait there is much to explore and enjoy over the existing 22 miles and so here is an appreciation which we hope you will appreciate: The rural part of the Ashby's description above certainly remains true.  Turning off the Coventry at Marston Junction Bedworth's housing estate is immediately shed and for the next few miles all is green, or yellow rape, with just a smattering of houses and farms.  Crossing into Leicestershire as it ducks under the A5, the Ashby skirts Hinckley, skirts Stoke Golding and slips passed Market Bosworth up on the hill to the east.  Whilst in 2006 Hinckley seemed to have little to offer us beyond groceries for the mile walk into town both Stoke Golding and Bosworth are well worth exploring.  The moorings south of Bridge 22 are a good place to meet visitors with the picnic site betwixt boat mooring and car parking suitable for barbecuing - in April!  We found a pleasant walk from here across the fields to Stoke Golding, returning along the towpath. There are moorings at Shenton giving access to Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre and from there all the way to Shackerstone your cruise may be accompanied by the hoot of steam trains on the Battlefield Line.  Climb perhaps 30 feet up from the canal and the view across the fields expands to reveal a colourful, undulating landscape. Beyond Shackerstone and once clear of the wooded section, the crests of those undulations seem a little higher and in the far distance there are maybe glimpses of the first northern hills, across the Trent Valley.  Finally through Snarestone Tunnel comes a perfect ending to this cruise.  But later this month those determined navvies start digging out the next 100 metres of canal.  Which means sometime soon we shall have to come back to sail another stretch of new water.  The hardship of it all!

Cruising through the May on the Ashby Canal   Click on the picture to view more scenes of the Ashby

Sunday 17th April.  Atherstone, Coventry Canal - There are three challenges when trying to paint a boat from the towpath.  First, nettles and other foliage create a health and safety hazard.  So preparatory actions include a spot of gardening; Ramyshome's manifest includes two sets of garden shears for this purpose.  Second, the boat moves, especially when other craft cruise past, no matter how slowly and many move faster than we appreciate.  Thirdly, it is highly dangerous to attempt to paint the non-towpath side of the boat unless there is a convenient winding hole to turn her around.  Sadly, this was not the case at Huddlesford Junction so Ramyshome is now shiny black below the gunwale on the port side but still spotty with red lead on the starboard.  And no immediate sign of the towpath changing sides.   These waters still feel very familiar.  Huddlesford and Fazeley Junctions are barely more than a day's cruise from Barton Turns Marina where we moored until 2005.  Little has changed over the years, just a few more moored boats and it remains an enjoyable cruise especially in the good weather which continues on - no doubt until the bank holidays arrive!  At Fazeley we were joined for the day by Anne & Doug Shields who drove down from New Mills.  They are getting better at finding us; one day maybe they won't get lost at all.  By contrast last Sunday we drove all the way to Shillingford for a very sociable lunch with old friends beside the River Thames.  Strictly it was the RBS IWC Ltd AGM (almost an alphabet) but the official bit lasted barely an hour.  Lunch was followed by a very interesting talk from an ex-river pilot, Captain William Wells.  Like us he has spent time cruising the Thames tideway, just a few more times and in somewhat bigger boats.  The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz for one.  Altogether well worth the four hour round trip by road.  On Tuesday Maureen delivered the car to daughter Heather in Harrogate returning to Lichfield by train.  Now we are car free for the summer and it really feels like we are on our way.  Eight locks up out of the Tame Valley today and we are back into the swing, taking just a little of the new paint off the portside rubbing strake.  The clue is in the name and there's always some bit of Ramyshome waiting for some paint.                   

Wednesday 6th April.  Fradley Junction, Coventry Canal - Like the Thames, the Trent & Mersey Canal is a waterway of several distinctive parts and the transit down the valley of the juvenile River Trent is probably the best of these.  Having escaped the drab corridor of Stoke on Trent, crossing an insignificant brook that is in fact the infant Trent, the roofs of the modern football stadium recede as the green countryside re-emerges.  Bounded by low hills to the west, the eastward view becomes increasingly expansive although always in the foreground is the West Coast Mainline to Manchester.  Whilst a motorway gives off a constant drone the rattle of express trains is soon passed, especially going at 120 miles an hour - the trains not Ramyshome, that is.  Even at three miles an hour the villages arrive and depart regularly.  Barlaston, Aston, Weston and the Haywoods all provide cultivated gardens as a contrast to the farmed landscape.  Some towns would be a black interruption to this green land but Stone, despite its modern estates, is an attractive place that fits well alongside the canal.  Whatever its history before the canal age, Stone was quick to take advantage when the T & M canal came chugging through.  Iron foundry, brewery and many more local businesses used it and grew great beside it.  Even in these more chastened times Stone still has a prosperous air.  The Star Inn by the bottom lock was doing a roaring trade, none of the high street shops were empty and although we were late in the day the Farmer's Market appeared to have been successful.  The moorings below the four locks were busy but one boat we were pleased to see was Matilda Rose.  We first met Dave and Jackie Wade soon after they arrived at Pillings Lock Marina.  Much water has flowed since 2007 and now they have joined the liveaboard, canal travelling crowd.  It was good to see them again, to catch up with their news and sailing plans for 2011.  Sadly we may not pass again this year.  With the weather not right for boat painting we stayed just one night in Tixall Wide, another favourite mooring, before cruising on down the valley to Rugeley.  Dominated by the cooling towers of its power station it is not in Stone's league but provides opportunities to re-stock the larder and probably deserves more exploration.  South of Rugeley the River takes a shortcut to Alrewas whilst the T & M goes on to its most southerly turn, just north of Lichfield.  Fourteen boats passing us in the first hour is a reflection of how busy this part of the T & M has become; the final 27 miles are awash with marinas.  But Ramyshome turns to starboard at Fradley Junction onto the Coventry Canal and after taking on water we are fortunate to find space to moor for a couple of days.  Only the start of April, what will the junction be like in high summer?  By then we shall be far, far away exploring another very pretty canal. 

Tuesday 15th March.  Disley, Peak Forest Canal -  The rain started soon after we started up Bosley Locks, by lock seven there was hail mixing with the rain, by lock six it was coming in sideways.  Worse still, as we sat on the embankment below the locks taking on a few extra carbohydrates for the forthcoming effort we were overtaken by another boat.  Locks that appeared to be set in our favour were now all against us and the lockworker had to close top gates, left open by the single hander, then drain each lock before Ramyshome could enter.  Fortunately the wind was not too strong so we employed the Bosley Locking Up System.  Having closed bottom gates behind Ramyshome the lockworker winds up just one of the ground paddles to begin raising up the boat.  S/he then goes ahead to set the next lock.  When safe to do so the helmsman comes forward and if necessary raises the offside ground paddle before opening the top gates.  Winding down both ratchets s/he returns to the boat and heads out of the lock.  Bosley Locks have long exit/entrances at the top making it possible to bring the boat to a halt just forward of the pair of mitred gates, another unusual feature.  The helmsman can thus hop off the boat to close the gates, by which time the next lock should be ready to enter.  The lockworker still has the harder job but the System saves a lot of walking backwards and forwards and thus speeds up the ascent.  A word of warning for you novices - don't try the System for the first time in anything more than a light zephyr.  It can be tricky getting the bows off the bank when the stern is jammed in the lock entrance!  The sun re-appeared as we reached the top of the flight but we decided that was enough work for day two of the 2011 cruise so moored up for the evening just beyond the private moorings, with good views across the fields.  By Saturday we had made it to Higher Poynton and after picking up the car, left with friend Carol on Wednesday, we went off to the first 60th birthday party of the year.  1951 must have been a very busy year in the maternity units, we know so many reaching this great age in 2011 (including one of Ramyshome's crew)!  Sunday we sailed on to Marple to celebrate another birthday, Roger's mum, a bit older than 60, today.  A pleasant lunch in one of our old locals.  Turning to starboard at Marple Junction we have cruised a couple of miles to Disley where the Derbyshire Hills come into view ahead, or at least they would if the sun had been more efficient at burning off the mist today.  Here Nb Lady of Hay is moored so, as arranged, more socialising with her resident crew, Cath & Colin Peel.  Well meeting people is what this first leg of the cruise is all about.      

Wednesday 9th March.  Congleton Wharf, Macclesfield Canal -  WE ARE OFF.  Yes, the 2011 cruise is underway.  Well we've made three miles north from Kent Green but as someone once said the journey of thousand miles begins with a first step, and that done with just Roger on board as Maureen & Molly did the first car shunt.  It's so good to be moving.  120 stationary days were more than enough even though we enjoyed our time at Heritage Marina, grateful for the electric hook up, water tap and the good company of boaters and marina staff.  We may be back in the autumn but plenty of time to think about that one later in the year.  Actually we will be back in three weeks as the first leg of the cruise (do cruises have legs?) is up to Bugsworth Basin and back.  The several bright and sunny days this week have enabled us to make significant in roads in to the winter work schedule.  Ramyshome now has anti-slip gunwhales on both sides - did someone say at last!  Ok it has taken three years but they do look good now and hopefully will last several years.  The new cratch board, collected on Friday, is getting close to being installed, just one more topcoat required.  All six mushroom vent tops are gleaming and three of the six bases have been cleaned back to almost new, shiny for the first time in a very long time.  The hull sides above the water still await attention but temperatures are not yet achieving a level suitable for gloss painting.  At least that's our excuse.  On Tuesday Roger spent most of the day in the engine room checking batteries, cleaning fuel filters and generally making final preparations.  Water and diesel tanks were filled with appropriate liquids and toilet cassettes emptied of theirs and before 11 am we were underway.  Of course by then the clouds were rolling in and the wind gusting from almost all points of the compass but we are made of hardy stuff and it was so good to feel the throb of the engine and to hear the propeller cutting through the water.  To waive us off a kestrel flew off to port and to starboard a buzzard zigzagged back and forth, in truth more concerned with a marauding crow than Ramyshome but hopefully an encouraging sign of the summer to come.  In just over the hour we were mooring at Congleton Wharf in the company of three other boats.  This wide pool of water is much improved with the restoration of the old mill buildings and the addition of more flats at least sympathetic to the original structure.  But of course no T.V. reception!  It's a useful mooring fairly close to the town centre and just a hop along the towpath to the train station where Roger returned tonight having deposited the car further up the line.  We will be doing a few such hops over the next month or so until we have completed all the required road journeys.  Then we will truly be underway.  But it is nice to be moving again.                     

Wednesday 2nd March.  Heritage Marina, Kent Green, Macclesfield Canal - Ancestral, Cultural, Official and Social - just a few activities in the weekly life of a boating crew.  Last Saturday they were to be found on the Welford Arm of The Leicester Section of The Grand Union Canal; 2 hours by car, more than a week by boat.  We were there to attend a meeting of the Residential Boat Owners Association Committee, Roger is now the Exhibitions Officer.  Committee meetings are often important but why are so few exciting?  This one was better than most and covered some good ground, not least of which was an exploration as to how RBOA members could become volunteers to the New Waterways Charity when/if it gets underway in 2012.  Returning to Ramyshome mid-afternoon we were ready to greet the first overnight visitors to our winter moorings, Mr & Mrs C Thorpe or less formally daughter Heather and her new-ish husband Chris.  On their way to Malta, Kent Green provided a useful two night stopover, especially as Mum & Dad were acting as taxi to Manchester Airport on Monday.  It was nice to see them and to enjoy a joint birthday celebration, dining at the local pub.  Tuesday we drove to Blackpool to visit one of Maureen's older relatives, a cousin once removed.  More dining out but also a chance for further research into Maureen's maternal ancestors.  It's a fascinating and exciting story involving Lancashire mills, escaping the revolting Bolsheviks, even a question in Parliament recorded in Hansard in 1908.  The everyday story of simple folk!  The cultural part of the week was two visits to Buxton Opera House, a delightful Matcham theatre and very much part of our pre-boating life.  On Friday we enjoyed the lilting Irish voice of Cara Dillon; a pleasant evening if a little short on stage presence.  But then we had had that in spades on Thursday provided by the exuberance and joyous noise that is Bellowhead.  Modern folk music at its loudest and most raucous.  It was tiring just being part of the audience but a special treat.  Amazingly, around all these activities the winter jobs have progressed a little.  It's just possible one or two of them will be finished by the time we set sail!  But just 7 days left before we get underway.  Hurrah.                 

Sunday 6th February.  Heritage Marina, Kent Green, Macclesfield Canal - The days, the weeks even the months are flying by.  2011 already has a 2 in its date as February replaces January and before we know it March will be here and we shall be gone.  It's been a wet, windy week but a warm one.  So warm our central heating doesn't bother to fire up most evenings, which means by lunchtime the following day we run out of hot water.  The solution, fire up Ramyshome's engine and within three quarters of an hour be careful putting hand under hot tap.  This is how we usually live in mid March not early February.  Is winter over or are snow clouds lurking over the horizon waiting to surprise us again?  In the hedgerows there are signs of a plentiful daffodil spring but we are not casting off our clouts just yet, oh no.  Running the engine, even for an hour or so is encouraging our desire to be cruising again plus on Monday we got the dates for the River Ribble Crossing so were able to post off our booking forms.  In our minds we are ready to be moving but we have barely started on the winter jobs and still so many friends to meet up with.  We ticked off a few more this week, Ken - ex RBS, David & Jane - New Mills, Andy & Sue - ex Bugsworth Basin last November but friends for far more years than we all care to remember.  It's nice to socialise but is it just another excuse to put off doing the restoration work.  At least the paintbrush has been given some exercise this week and we made it out to the chandlery to buy a couple of LED replacements for two of our neon strips. They give a warm but different kind of light and now we are not sure if they are what we really want.  We shall see - literally - hopefully!  Boats are moving too; most just locals going back and forth between their favourite moorings but one or two are unknown to us and are offered the usual boater's wave, always returned.  Perhaps we shall see them again when we head off next month.           

Sunday 9th January - Kent Green Wharf, Macclesfield Canal -  Halfway through our winter sojourn,  just 9 days into the New Year today has offered up the first hint of Spring.  30 plus hours of clear sky with a day full of sunshine meant the overnight frost was soon clinging on in just the deepest shade; despite a cooling westerly breeze the low sun brought some warmth to the middle of the day.  The local birds were happy to be on the wing until temperatures began to fall away into the night.   But at 5 pm there was still some brightness in the sky; the coming cold night will not be so long as those just gone.  Gone too is the ice.  No sign now of any flows in the canal for more than half a mile to the North, all washed away by the rain that fell earlier in the week.  Perhaps in celebration of clear water a boat sailed passed on Saturday heading away from the Marina to the dry dock above the junction of the Macc. with the Trent & Mersey.  Life is slowly coming back to the canals; three of the five boats that have been stuck fast towpath side for several weeks have moved on to moorings anew.  Toilet tanks can be pumped, cassettes emptied, water tanks refilled and diesel topped up all without concern or hardship.  Sadly we have had little time this week to enjoy being contact with water again.  Our days have been spent travelling to and fro to our empty house where we have been re-decorating the kitchen after the flood.  Another couple of days should see restoration complete, ready to go on the market.  We have made the decision to sell up and find another property that will offer a little more flexibility than at present.  Given the state of the housing market it will no doubt take a while to find a buyer but if you are looking to buy, or rent short term, and need a substantial property on the edge of the Peak District then give us a call.  Finally we shall be able to turn our attention back to Ramyshome and the winter work we had planned.  Will the weather be helpful, have we seen the last of the low temperatures and the ice for this winter?  Seems unlikely but the forecast suggests double digits later in the week.  Bring it on!         

Monday 3rd January - Kent Green Wharf, Macclesfield Canal - A happy New Year to all of you who have taken the time to come back to our website or have arrived for the first time, even if it was just by accident.  We will try extra hard this year to offer up a few words of interest and wisdom. (the rest will be the usual ramblings many of you have come to expect!).  After a second Christmas in Harrogate, it's becoming a habit, we returned last week to find Ramyshome still fast in the ice.  With the stove quickly lit and the central heating boiler fired up she was soon warming inside and there were no burst pipes, unlike our house.  Just before Christmas we discovered frozen pipes once again despite the central heating having been left on constant.  Fortunately as the thaw came the ice melted without causing more bursts and now the water pipes have been completely drained.  Hopefully that is the end of the problems and we can get on with re-decorating the kitchen again this week.  Could have been a lot worse.   The last few days have been grey with that damp, clinging feel but we have consequently been basking in temperatures of at least 5 degrees C.  Several layers of clothing have been dispensed with, toilet cassettes have been emptied and with the water tank full again showers and laundry have resumed, no doubt to the delight of friends and fellow boaters.  The mist lifted on New Year's Eve allowing us to view several firework displays across the Cheshire Plain as we took Molly for her last walk of 2010 and first of 2011.  We celebrated with a bottle of Blanquette de Limoux, our favourite bubbly, found on our trip to Carcassonne in 2008.  No ice in the glasses and no ice surrounding Ramyshome for the last 5 days but a 100 yards north and south of the marina the canal is still more ice than water, a long way from being a navigable channel again.  And tonight sub zero temperatures have returned with the creaking sound of ice as Ramyshome rocks on her moorings.  A near neighbour is the Lovell Telescope of Manchester University, which during the day is visible from miles around.  At night its giant saucer disappears into the darkness but tonight it is gleaming in the light from TV lamps as BBC 2 deliver a live programme about stargazing.  Molly would be an expert if she could ever lift her nose off the ground when Roger takes her for a last, late walk at the of end the day.  Shooting stars and transiting planets are well known to us but there are no plans for us to appear on this programme.  Ramyshome does however appear on the Salmon Canal & Waterways calendar again this year - Miss June if you spot one.  What it is to be famous, such an honour for you to know us!