With the heat of summer well and truly here now seems a good time to move our journey on to another season.  Click on SUMMER 2007 to read more of Ramyshome's log.

Sunday, 27th May 2007 (3354 miles, 2255 locks).  At Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale Canal.  We seem to have been battling with locks all week.  The final 16 to Huddersfield certainly became the enemy as each gate paddle proved stiffer and more difficult to wind up than the last one.  We slept well on Monday night and on Tuesday, as a reward, we bought a new chimney for Ramyshome - well she was the only one who hadn't complained the day before.  Now the problem was not so much stiff paddles as short locks.  Officially the Huddersfield Broad Canal and the Calder & Hebble Navigation locks only accept boats shorter than 58 foot.  In reality it is possible to get a 60 footer in but even for Ramyshome at 57 foot there is not a lot of space in which to work so the crew has to be concentrating hard.  The C & H also has some fancy paddle gear called spikes.  A piece of wood, the spike, is slotted into a cog then pulled downwards to wind up the ground or gate paddle.  The spike is removed,  placed in the next hole in the cog and the process repeated until the paddle is fully raised.  A stiff paddle means there is potential for the wooden spike to break, and of course ours did at the fourth lock.  With a bit of Heath Robinson ingenuity we managed to get out of that lock but needed the help of good old BW to progress further.  A call to the emergency line resulted in a nice man meeting us at the next lock with a well used and trusty spike for us to take on.  The charge - nothing except our readily offered thanks.  At Sowerby Bridge on Wednesday we found restricted moorings but a solid Calderdale mill town clinging to the steep sides and narrow floor of the valley.  Unfortunately the town is overrun with traffic and consequent noise and dirt so after restocking the larder we moved on up the heavily wooded valley.  Boaters coming down had assured us the Rochdale Canal locks were hard work but clearly these harbingers of doom had never travelled the Huddersfield Narrow; eight locks on to Hebden Bridge they have proved much less demanding of our muscle power.  More up market and less strangled by traffic, Hebden Bridge is an interesting mill town and we have found some stiff but pleasant walks up the valley side, one taking us high up to the village of Heptonstall, which would have been the original habitation before the value of water power was appreciated.  Sadly our visitors, John, Joy & Tom Rossington arrived with the rain but we had a lovely afternoon drinking, dining and catching up with family news.  A nice weekend break before we tackle the next 30 locks to the summit.

Sunday, 13th May 2007 (3303 miles, 2132 locks).  At Piccadilly Basin, Manchester on the Rochdale Canal.  It is strange how often during this adventure we have "completed" a canal by arriving back at some point in the middle.  Not for us a simple journey from A to B but circles and loops of grand design.  And so it was on Wednesday when we came back to Worsley to complete the Bridgewater Canal.  Having left here on 2nd Feb. we have travelled almost 400 miles and passed through 300 locks in the meantime.  This time we were a threesome as Judith continued her holiday with us.  On Tuesday we returned to Wigan and spent time visiting the "Way We Were" museum at the Wigan Pier complex.  It tells the story of Wigan life in the 18th & 19th centuries and the tale of Wigan Pier, which in reality was just a tipping platform to drop coal from railway wagons into waiting canal boats.  Turning south on the Leigh arm we moored at Dover - no white cliffs here just the greening spoils of old mine works.  At Leigh the Leeds & Liverpool Canal imperceptibly becomes the Bridgewater Canal but before Worsley the water starts to take on the orange hue caused by the leeching of old iron seams in the Duke's mines.  Finally on Thursday we were back at Castlefield in Manchester but now we were sharing the moorings with several other boats.  Friday morning we waved Judith off on the London train then on Saturday afternoon we welcomed back the Forshaws & the Shields who had travelled in from New Mills.  We found a tasty Mediterranean taverna just up the road from the Museum of Science of Industry; we can highly recommend both if you have time to visit.  On Sunday it was back up the Rochdale Nine locks, this time in the company of many and passing a boat coming down.  Of the many, a particular thanks goes to Tim Holmes who turned stiff paddles and pushed heavy lock gates all the way up but it was also good to see Roz Holmes, Cath Bolton, Carolyn, Martin & Fiona Taylor and Guy & Suzanne Taylor with young Saffron all of whom did their bit to brighten a day when the weather got steadily greyer and wetter.  Gone for now are the sunny days of the Lancaster Canal but then this is Manchester!                   

Sunday, 6th May 2007 (3274 miles, 2115 locks).  At Parbold on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  We were sorry to leave Glasson as its "nothing happening but lots to see" air had captured us.  We had been fortunate to enjoy clear blue skies all weekend and even though the constant easterly wind had rippled the water sufficiently to disturb our sleep it had not cooled our delight of this place.  On Monday we continued our birdwatching along the river estuary; the usual suspects being oystercatchers, curlews, redshanks and gulls but also, we think, godwits.  We also gave Ramyshome a thorough washing down and polish but found time for a third ice cream treat since we had arrived.  On Tuesday we reluctantly slipped away climbing back up the six locks to regain the main line, then south to Garstang where we restocked our larder once more.  By Thursday lunchtime we had arrived at the southern terminus of the canal a mile or so to the north of Preston city centre.  We had arranged to stay overnight in Ashton Basin home to Arlen Boats and it proved to be a quiet, safe mooring.  A short walk brought us to the vast watery expanse of Preston Dock, at one time the largest docks in the UK.  Sadly the water is now turned a pea soup green by the spores of blue green algae and as a result the dock is unusable except for a few pontoon moorings at the seaward end.  We followed the riverside walk back into the city centre and soon after collected our new crew member from Preston station.  Our friend and fellow RBS Sailing Club member, Judith Hunter, has joined us for the week exchanging the stress of London for the calm of the waterways.  The River Ribble however was not quite as calm as it had been three weeks ago, the easterly wind blowing over the incoming tide to create a good swell if not many waves.  We had descended the Ribble link in the company of Eddie & Elsie on board their boat "Cabaret" starting with a backward descent of the 3 rise staircase to avoid having to spin the boats around at the bottom.  The incoming tide having reached the required level the sea lock could be opened and six narrow- boats sailed out to the Ribble, the sun finally breaking through the cloud cover.  Turning west we made a grand sight punching the tide for 3 miles to the Douglas junction, rounding Asland Perch and making the safety of Tarleton Lock in barely two hours.  Back on tide free canal we found a rural mooring a few miles beyond and on Saturday headed on with "Cabaret" up the 7 locks to Burscough where we made a short diversion west to Scarisbrick for an evening mooring.  By morning the east wind had gone, replaced by a cold south westerly that had brought rain overnight and showers through the day.  Back at Burscough it was time to refill water and larder before sailing on to Parbold, feeling a long way gone from lovely Glasson.

Sunday, 22nd April 2007 (3201 miles, 2088 locks).  At Carnforth on the Lancaster Canal.  It has been a week of nice surprises and the final compass point.  It started in the mist of Monday morning and ended with us lost in the delights of the Lancaster Canal.  Hundreds of tiny ducklings are on the water with a few moorhen and coot chicks - the real ugly ducklings.  Herons are back in number, pheasants croak, oystercatchers screech and curlews cry, lapwings show off their flying skills and two swallows rest on the wires.  Pink cherry blossom is everywhere, the woods are full of bluebells and several clumps of marsh marigold adorn the canal bank.  We are following the M6 Motorway north but in a considerably more meandering fashion.  The fells of the Forest of Bowland accompany us to starboard whilst the flatter, agricultural land of the Fylde stretches away off the port side.  This section is reminiscent of the Macclesfield Canal especially when we come close to the railway line, Virgin expresses racing north and south.  After 13 miles we found good moorings at Garstang, the market town for this area.  In the last 10 - 20 years it has grown considerably but still retains an attractive centre with several interesting buildings, two butchers, a fishmonger and an independent supermarket.  Here we receive the visitor who has travel furthest to meet us.  OK, Andy Massey really came from Brisbane, Australia to see his family but on a trip to Scotland with dad, John, he made a diversion for morning coffee aboard.  It is a long time since we last saw them both so it was good to catch up with them and we hope to see Andy again this year far, far away from Garstang.  Another 13 miles and we are in Lancaster with quiet moorings just a step from the City Centre.  In the 18th and early 19th centuries Lancaster was a busy port, ships coming up the River Lune from Morecambe Bay.  The Maritime Museum housed in the old Customs House tells an interesting and informative story.  The landmark that all M6 travellers see is the white tower of the Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park a mile or so above the town to the east.  From its balcony there is grand view across Morecambe Bay, the Lake District Hills rise up in the north and we think we can see Blackpool Tower in the far south west.  And then on Friday morning as we come to Hest Bank Ramyshome finally gets to see the sea.  Here a few hundred yards separate canal from sea but the final few miles of our journey take us away from the shoreline passed Carnforth and on to Tewitfield.  There are big plans to restore the final 15 miles from here to Kendal but for now a main road and the motorway block the route.  Before the motorway came this would have been a very quiet place but it is easily accessible to motor travellers like our good friends Tina & Klim Corke who are taking their Swiss friends for a first holiday in the Lakes. Lucky them.  Co-incidentally we were with the Corkes when we reached the southernmost point of our journey at Godalming and here we are again at the most northerly terminus we can reach.  Sadly their own boat is back in Devizes but in another two weeks they will be afloat for new summer adventure.  We agree to meet again sometime in the summer, somewhere in the Midlands - canal planning at its best!  All new surprises lie south from here.               

Sunday, 15th April 2007 (3160 miles, 2088 locks).  Just east of Salwick on the Lancaster Canal.  There is a theory that once in a while we should do something that scares us - it cleanses the soul.  If so our souls must be spotless for today we have crossed the Ribble Estuary and via the Millennium Ribble Link reached the Lancaster Canal, probably the closest we shall come to sailing on the sea.  The week started quite energetically.  We took a train to Southport then a second almost to Formby.  From there we walked a circuit of some seven miles through pine forest, across the sand dunes and down onto the beach.  Although it's nearly two years since we took to the water this is the first time we have seen the sea.  Sadly we didn't get to see any red squirrels or hear any natajack toads both of which are to be found in this area  - just not by us.  A break on the way back gave us time to stroll along Southport pier, still a little chilly for ice creams.  Tuesday morning saw us back in Tesco's at Burscough then after the usual emptying loos, filling water tanks (no, not at Tesco's), we turned onto the Rufford Arm and slipped down the first 4 locks to a peaceful countryside mooring.  The next day, under a hazy sun we managed another 3 miles and 3 locks to Rufford.  Here was an attractive new marina for diesel and Rufford Old Hall for ice creams and a stroll round the gardens.  Amazingly the daffs. are all gone and the rhododendrons just beginning to flower, but it's only 11th April.  A final 3 miles on Thursday brought us to the end of the arm at Tarleton where we moored, a factory on one side and river meadows with spring lambs on the other.  But more importantly a good edge from which to start the season's repainting of Ramyshome.  By Saturday afternoon gone were the scuff marks and scrapes we have collected down the port side, replaced by a shiny black finish that will probably last, oh maybe one or two locks!  Before painting we walked for a couple of miles along the flood bank following the Douglas down river.  With the tide out it is just a muddy creek but this is our way onward.  And so at 9:10 am. today the gates at the river end of Tarleton Lock opened on to that scary moment.  The "plastic" boat alongside us headed out into the river and was instantly taken away to starboard by the incoming tide.  Ramyshome followed and together we pushed hard for the next two to three miles.  Even at 2000 revs. it took some 10 minutes for the first quarter of a mile but as the river widened and the tide slackened we began to pick up speed and in 75 minutes we reached the wide confluence of the Douglas with the Ribble.  Turn left, it's Lytham St Annes and the Irish Sea.  Swing around the channel marker to the right as we did and ahead lies Preston, except the morning mist still had it in its grip.  The tide had now turned against us so it took another 55 minutes to travel 3 miles upstream where the sign welcomed us across to the Savick Brook.  It's another muddy creek, narrow, very narrow in places with some tight bends to steer but this is the Ribble Link, a £6m lottery funded project which in 2002 finally joined the Lancaster Canal to the rest of the waterway system - about 200 years later than planned.  The Link and its 8 locks are functional rather than pretty and the final 3 rise staircase requires a 400 degree turn if you wish to ascend facing forwards.  Many apparently rise backwards and we may descend in that manner when we return.  But for now we have 41 miles of Lancaster Canal and just 6 locks to do twice.  Easy peasy for brave sailors like us.                            

Sunday, 1st April 2007 (3081 miles, 2066 locks).  At Wigan on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  OK so Spring arrived on Monday, Blackburn turned out to be much better than expected and the 21 locks down into Wigan were a little easier than had been suggested by several boaters.  As we awoke on Monday morning the wind had abated and with the sun shining temperatures quickly rose.  Almost immediately urban Blackburn enveloped us and although not very boater friendly there was nothing like the rubbish Burnley had on show.  Within a couple of hours, having dropped through six locks we were heading out through the western suburbs to find a pleasant, rural mooring.  On Tuesday we slipped through continuing rural countryside to moor just short of Wheelton village and Johnson's Hillock Locks.  Here we stayed 3 nights under the watchful gaze of two buzzards, serenaded by woodpeckers and visited by a stoat.  On Wednesday we walked 7 miles up on to the edge of Rivington Moor, larks ascending and grouse a chattering.  Sadly a haze hid the views across to the Ribble Estuary but it was good exercise and the sandstone moors reminded us of home.  After rain on Thursday we dropped down the seven locks in company with another boat and sailed on passed Chorley to Addlington, the last of the Lancashire mill towns.  On Saturday we managed another couple of miles to Red Rock, within striking distance of Wigan and with time to catch up on washing and cleaning.  Another hour this morning brought us to the top of Wigan flight and 21 locks down into town.  The next five hours were spent in the company of three ladies who had been afloat for less than a day, never having passed through a lock before.  Initially with the guidance of the lockkeeper and slowly but surely through repetition both steerer and lockworker got the hang of what they were supposed to be doing so that by the time we exited lock 21 they had earned a gold star for effort if not for expertise.  Well we all started somewhere and Wigan 21 is quite a introduction to "canalling".  By comparison tonight we have chin wagged and sipped a little wine with Bob & Cath aboard their boat Lyra.  Like us they have been "canalling" for many years and now taken a year or so out on their own boat to explore this wonderful life afloat.  When the sun shines and the temperatures climb can there be anything better.                                

Sunday, 25th March 2007 (3057 miles, 2032 locks).  North East of Blackburn on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  When will this wind stop blowing?  It has shifted round from west through north to east but remains ever cold.  Without it we could have been basking in glorious sunshine several days this week.  At least the snow gave up on Sunday evening so that on Monday we were able to move on another 5 miles to the top of Greenberfield Locks.  We think an otter swam alongside us for a few yards but it might have been a mink.  As the crow flies, or that day, lapwings, curlews and oystercatchers, it is barely 3 miles to Greenberfield but the canal turns this way and that trying hard to put off reaching the final 3 locks taking it up to the summit.  Surprisingly we share the moorings here with 2 hire boats braving the final (?) throws of winter and with several noisy geese.  We walk the mile or so into Barnoldswick for a few supplies but there is little to keep us beyond some shelter from the cold wind.  It will be very pleasant here in the summer as will be the moorings at Barrowford Locks, the western end of the 6 mile summit pound.  The landscape is still very rural but we can feel ourselves slipping away from the high hills and Nelson, the first of the Lancashire mill towns, lies just below us as we moor up on Wednesday.  During the day we have come through Foulridge Tunnel where in 1912 the 1640 yards were swum by a cow called Buttercup.  Revived with brandy so the story goes - we know how she felt!  Without detailed maps we are cautious about walking too far from the canal but on Thursday we enjoyed a pleasant stroll along the lanes to the west of Barrowford and although we didn't find a way up to the top of Blacko Hill we did discover Pendle Heritage Centre in an old, attractive house once owned by the ancestors of the runner Roger Bannister.  Sadly there is nothing attractive about Burnley which must take the prize as the least welcoming place we have sailed by.  It is also one of the most rubbish strewn stretches of canal although the journey through Rishton today was probably worse and we are told Blackburn may "beat" them both.  At least the rural sections between the towns restore some colour, the long backbone of Pendle Hill providing the backdrop to the west.  No sign of any Pendle witches - probably blown away by this blessed wind.      

Sunday, 18th March 2007 (3025 miles, 2022 locks).  At Bank Newton on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  By heck it's cold!  We move this log on from winter to spring and what happens, we get our first snow fall of the year with more forecast.  Hiding in the lee of a hedge since yesterday afternoon we have watched as several times hailstones have given way to snowflakes before sunshine has melted it away again, all blown in on a howling gale that overnight shifted round from west to north.   Soon after setting out on Monday morning we turned through a bridge hole and into view came the high Pennine hills.  Standing strong in the bright sunlight, the green valley of the Aire leading us on to them what a contrast with last August and the flatlands of the Fens.  Is this the same England?   The market town of Skipton has grown big over the years but its centre is still much as it was and on most days the market stalls line the High Street.  At the top of the slope beyond the solid church is Skipton Castle, a survivor of the Civil War and well worth a visit.  A short arm of the canal has the appearance of being part of the castle moat but in fact served as a means to load limestone into barges.  Now it just provides private moorings and a short towpath stroll but with no room to turn, offered nothing for Ramyshome.  We stayed three nights in Skipton stocking up the larder and welcoming Ann Allison & Cath Bolton on board.  They had driven up from New Mills, in less then two hours.  On Thursday under grey skies we pushed on to Gargrave, locking for the first time since Bingley.  We passed a flock of oystercatchers, perhaps blown here by the strong breeze, and heard the cry of curlews as we reached the most northerly point of this canal.  However on Friday we journeyed further north swapping water for iron rails.  The opportunity to ride on the Settle Carlisle Railway could not be missed and boarding the train at Gargrave we travelled over the Pennines to Appleby in the Eden Valley.  We had to change trains at Hellifield where a fascinating station cafe, serving excellent coffee, could have been "Brief Encounters".  Sadly the hilltops beyond Settle were shrouded by rain clouds but this seemed only to enhance the view and Appleby provided just enough to keep us entertained for three hours before the ride back.  Crossing the moors where the Ribble rises we were reminded that it is just a month till we cross the tidal waters of its estuary.  Hopefully by then it will be a little warmer and great deal calmer.