Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival

Fri 17th June  Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival

We had a very quiet night, despite being in Middlewich. We couldn’t hear any traffic or machines. Great.

We made sure we emptied our cassettes early, as the Elsan point is in the stage and eating area.

We saw on Facebook that Chris and Sally on Kairos were heading in our direction from Stoke-on-Trent.  A few moments later we had a message from Chris and we agreed to meet up later. 

Hazel had woken up with a severe pain round her waist, and then was ill. We suspected a kidney infection like she had before in Aylesbury, so we tried to call the local doctors but couldn’t get through, so we called 111.  After a lot of questions, she had an appointment at 2.40pm.

James put up the BCF banner and went to spy out the land. He found the Boar’s Head pub, and the main stage. He also found the surgery, plus a cut through that would save time for Hazel. 

He wanted to walk back along the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union to see if there were any boats we recognised. When he came to the steps down from the road to the canal he found a peculiar stone stile to cross railings. Not handy if you have any fitness issues or bags of shopping.  No boats we knew. 

Lines of moored boats

 Silly stile at the top of the steps

Hazel went for her appointment and was told it might be kidney stones, and to get it checked out back in Aylesbury when we return in November.

Chris and Sally arrived for a cup of tea and a chat, and we all went to the entertainment area for the boater’s supper.  It was all very laid back, with food arriving much later than planned. The meal was good – chilli, tacos, rice, guacamole, beans and salad.  The drinks were served from an old Fellows, Morton and Clayton open working boat. There were a few good ales apparently, but the only cider was Strongbow.

Chris and Sally

The floating bar

The band was Coda, an Irish harmony group of seven guys. They had a few instruments between them – guitar, whistle, drum, and mandola, none of them with pickups, so they had to use mics.  They were very good, but hard to hear, because there was some difficulty with feedback, so the volume could not go up to where it should have been.  This was coupled with people standing up in front of us, chatting loudly and facing away from the stage, not listening to the music. Why were they there?  We moved later and sat in front of the stage where at least we could hear, but it was quite chilly.

Coda playing at Middlewich Narrowboats

When the band changed and a drum kit with electric guitars arrived we decided to return to the warmth of the boat, from where we could hear the music anyway.

No boating today

Sat 18th June    Middlewich

Busy boating scene by Middlewich Narrowboats

We had decided that we would save water by avoiding washing up, which means eating out during the festival.  We went for breakfast at a cafe we had spotted in Wheelock Street. It was very busy but we found a table. James had a full English, and Hazel had Salmon with cream cheese and scrambled eggs, which was a huge plateful. It set us up for the day.

While we were there, the procession started. We had bands, dancers, gymnasts and drummers going past. It was very entertaining.

 Drummers in the procession

We returned to Middlewich Narrowboats and saw Lazlo Baby on the stage there. They performed music which sounded Eastern European or Israeli. The drummer was a guy we had met on the Huddersfield Canal just before Stalybridge.

Lazlo Baby

We went to the boat to collect our instruments and walked along the towpath and over the canal to the Boar’s Head where there was meant to be an acoustic session starting at 1pm. Nothing happened so we watched Morris sides until about 2.30pm when another couple arrived and we started. They played melodeon and clarinet. Then a guy with a fiddle turned up. We sang quite a few songs and finished at about 5pm.

Morris musicians

We walked back to the boat to park our instruments, collected our chairs and went to the main stage where we had a Thai meal and watched Na Leanai who were excellent. Again it was spoilt by loud voices from people who weren’t there for the music, standing facing away from the stage, drinking and joking with their mates. 

We found Chris and Sally there and we stayed for the next acts, Sultans of String, and Gaz Brookfield. We returned to the boat for a rest, and then James heard a beautiful voice and went to see who it was – Megan Lilly Delaney. Only a teenager, she has real potential. Sadly she didn’t have any CDs with her.  James met a lady who had been at Northwich Folk Club.

No boating today

Sun 19th June  Middlewich

We went to the main stage for the service at 11am led by churches together. They had a large choir and a keyboard, and they were making a joyful sound. The Anglican vicar led it, and the Catholic Priest spoke. It was just what was needed for the event. Chris and Sally were there, and Pauline Wainwright.  We also met Barbara on the Waterways Recovery Group stand, and agreed to meet her later at the Boar’s Head.

Sunday’s choir from Churches Together

We went to the King’s Lock pub to see Na Leanai again. They were meant to be on at 1pm, in a marquee behind the pub, but they were delayed until 1.45 because another band was playing on the grass in front of the pub.  We went to the chip shop and had some huge fish. We didn’t need the chips, so we gave them to the members of Na Leanai. We bought their CD.  Lovely harmonies and instrumental work.

 Na Leanai

We returned to the town to see some art work in the church and a photographic competition in a hall. Then to the main stage in the rain to see Richard Digance, who was very good. Entertaining songs, with brilliant guitar work.

Richard Digance in the rain

Later we were once again in the Boar’s Head for an acoustic session that was meant to start at 6pm. Barbara arrived after her duties were over. It got going finally at 9pm, when a load of people all came in at once, including several brass instruments. It was an excellent time. We left at 11.30pm and it was still going.

Boar’s Head session

Back at Middlewich Narrowboats there was drinking still going on until the small hours.

No boating today

Next week: back up the Trent and Mersey heading for Liverpool

Winsford to Middlewich

Mon 13th June  Vale Royal to Marbury Country Park

Vale Royal moorings

The locks don’t operate until 9am, so we set off at 0845, getting to the locks 10 minutes later. Rather than tie up on the pontoon, which is out of sight of the lock, we hung around midstream so we would be seen. There were several CRT staff, who seemed to be clearing out some furniture and office equipment from their building.  The kindly gentleman with a huge beard who had helped us last time did so again, opening the gates for us.  These are quite large locks to be manually operated, but they are part of our heritage and can’t be electrified.  We were asked to put our centre line round a bollard, which we did, but as we went further down, so we ran out of rope, and one of the team unhitched it again. We really didn’t need it, and we seldom use ropes when going down.

Vale Royal Locks and the out of sight pontoon

Vale Royal Locks and the silly centre rope

We were told to take it easy on the next stretch as we would need to wait for a yacht coming up in Hunts lock. We passed Jalsea Marine with its interesting assortment of craft.

Jalsea Marine

Owaissa, built in 1934

The yacht. They must have had to swing the bridges.

The yacht was well through by the time we passed Jalsea Marine, so the lock was ready for us.  Again we persuaded them not to put our rope round a bollard, and reluctantly they agreed.

Hunts Locks

Visitor moorings below the locks

Historic boats in Yarwoods Basin

Historic crane

We arrived at the sanitary station just after 10am, and discovered that they were refurbishing the place and had switched off the water.  Thankfully our need was not too urgent, but it would have been nice to be able to rinse the cassettes after emptying them.

Hazel went off to Waitrose to pick up some essentials, and we kept Hugo in, as we had a deadline today. We met up with Don and Celia and had a pleasant lunch in a cafe nearby. Eating out opportunities in Northwich are limited, but this place was fine.

We had promised to give a DVD to Don and Celia but James had forgotten to bring it from the boat. So James nipped back to the boat to collect it while Hazel nipped to Waitrose again to buy something she had forgotten. Our excuse is that we have lived so long that our grey matter is now full of information, and there is no memory left.

We then set off for the Anderton Lift, arriving at their holding moorings 45 minutes before our scheduled lift time. We had 15 minutes to spare.

The holding moorings below the lift

We hurriedly puffed up the slope to visit the shop (Hazel’s idea), quickly realising that we didn’t actually want any of the touristy things on offer. By the time we returned to river level, 25 minutes later, there was a lady with a clip board waiting by our boat. “What time do you call this?” she said, in an attempt to tick us off and be friendly and welcoming at the same time.

The lift in use, with the caissons ascending and descending

We set off straight away, round the corner and into the lift.  We were sharing this time with North Star.  Their usual mooring is at Thrupp on the Oxford Canal.  We had to wait there for about ten minutes while the boat at the top level was organised. This turned out to be the trip boat. The ride up was not jerky at all. We left first, as North Star needed to stop for water.

Sharing with North Star

Big Nuts

We continued past the sanitary station and found some mooring rings a little further on, near Marbury Country Park, with a pleasant view.

Moored near Marbury Country Park

2 locks, 6 miles, 1 boat lift

Tue 14th June  Marbury to Billinge Green Flash

We had a leisurely start this morning from our peaceful mooring, and were soon passing the Lion Salt Works at Marston. The place looks as though it has been rebuilt since the last time we were here.  We need to pay a visit on our return journey.

Lion Salt Works

Soon after this we came to the remarkable chemical works where many pipe bridges and conveyors cross the canal. We remember this from our hire boat trip in 1984, but our photos did not come out.

Chemical Factory

We came to Orchard Marina, but it did not look as though they welcomed visitors as there were no notices, and no service pontoon. We needed water but we have enough a day or two.  Soon after this there is a new marina almost complete – Park Farm Marina.

We were pleased to find mooring space at Billinge Green Flash, with a pleasant view over this small lake, caused by salt extraction.  There were no bollards or rings, so we had to bash in our moorings spikes.  As we did so, one of them fell apart, losing the D shape as the weld cracked open. We still used it, but we need a replacement.  They all seem to go this way in the end.

Tony and Pat came past on Paws 4 Thought and stopped for a brief chat.

Billinge Green Flash

Paws 4 Thought

We could hear some traffic which wasn’t too bad, and there were a few planes heading for Manchester Airport.  There was also a railway line running behind us, but we didn’t hear any trains.

This evening’s garden

0 locks, 4 miles

Wed 15th June  Billinge Green Flash to Bramble Cuttings

Hazel was woken in the night by a very loud train going past on the line behind us. Presumably the line is only used occasionally for industrial purposes.

Early morning at the flash

In the morning we found the remains of small bird on the stern deck. We think it was a wren. Hugo is not usually interested in hunting birds, and this makes three birds in twelve years, one of which flew away when James opened Hugo’s mouth.  Wrens chivvy him and drive him to distraction. They can get too close. He is very quick when he wants to be. 

Leaving the flash

As we had a dry morning we decided to get a little closer to Middlewich. We passed another flash, where we had seen decaying abandoned boats in 1984. Now they have either been salvaged or they have rotted away.

We passed some extensive parkland and gardens at Whatcroft Hall, and finally found a mooring at Bramble Cuttings, an old clay pit that has been adopted by the Broken Cross Boat Club. They have left the original wharf rails in place, and have installed picnic tables and barbecue areas. It is away from the towpath and the only access is by boat.

Bramble Cuttings

Wharf rails at Bramble Cuttings

We had some more heavy rain later.

0 locks, 3 miles

Thu 16th June  Bramble Cuttings to Middlewich

We were on our own as we woke this mooring.  The other boat that arrived some time after us had already gone.  Our signal was very poor, and the forecast seemed to change every time we looked at it. We set off without waiting for breakfast, as it was dry but cloudy.

Croxton Flash

There were other moorings available near Croxton Flash, but after the aqueduct, there were lots of boats moored ready for the festival.  We stopped at the water point before the Big Lock, and took 40 minutes to fill the tank.  Meanwhile we had breakfast, finishing off our croissants.  A boat came down through the lock just as were finishing, so we had it set ready for us.  We passed the trading boats, many of whom we have seen before, but didn’t see Areandare.

Filling the water tank

The Big Lock

Welcome to Middlewich

Historic boats and a school group

There were three other locks, all narrow, and we had a CRT volunteer to help us through.  We arrived at Middlewich Narrowboats and found our mooring, bank side, with plenty of bushes for Hugo. We paid the balance of our mooring fee and bought another mooring pin to replace the one that had fallen apart. We also collected our post, including our postal voting papers for the referendum.

We put up the hood, and very soon we had a heavy rain storm for two hours.

Heavy Rain

Some still have to keep going

When the rain stopped, we ventured out to go shopping, but we took our brollies just in case.  Wise move! We hadn’t been gone ten minutes when it started again.

We found a post box and sent off our postal votes. We visited the chemist where Hazel’s prescription had been sent and she was able to get her medication.  She’ll live a bit longer now.

We also found Morrison’s, a bit further than Lidl.  They are new since our last visit, but they didn’t stock wholemeal muffins! Now how are we going to make Eggs Florentine?

Back to the boat for a Cornish cream tea, and, later on, stuffed peppers and feta cheese salad.

Then more rain.

4 locks, 2 miles

This weekend: Middlewich FAB Festival.

Barnton to Winsford

Thu 9th June  Barnton to Northwich

James took a walk back to visit the Co-op in Barnton, which is further than Nicholson suggests. He came back with the required milk.

We moved on past the Anderton Lift to the facilities to dispose of cassettes and rubbish and fill up with water.  Then back to the waiting pontoon to go down the lift.  We discovered there was a 4 hour wait until 3.45pm, so we booked our return journey for Monday at 3pm, in case there was a similar wait on the return journey. £5 for peace of mind. We reversed to find a mooring for a few hours, where we had to set an alarm in case we dozed off.

We returned to the lift as planned at 3.15pm for our 3.45pm lift.  We found we were paired with Tamarind.  This was our second trip on the lift, and it still seems to descend a little jerkily, although not as bad as we remembered from last time.  Saturn the historic Shroppie fly boat was moored at the foot of the lift.

Approaching the holding moorings

Into the lift

The view from the top

Pairing up with Tamarind

 Looking down on Saturn

Raising the guillotine

We had decided to moor for two nights in Northwich, where we wanted to be for the Friday Folk Club, as it was forecast wet on Friday and we didn’t want to be boating then.

A view of the lift from the Weaver

A bit wider than the Trent and Mersey

We cruised upstream in company with Tamarind, and we decided to moor just below the sanitary station, where there were bushes for Hugo. Tamarind went further on.

It was very noisy from works going on across the river. It was also a very high bank – not easy to get off and on. When we realised there were better moorings upstream past the bridge, we called Hugo back on board and moved further up.  Just as we were tying up we heard a shout from the marina opposite: “You can’t moor there!”   Thankfully it was Don, who invited us for a chat on board Tumzul Cloud the next day.

The path between the two swing bridges now has no exit at the upstream (south) end, so the only people who tend to walk this way are boaters.  Hugo managed to find his way under a barrier into some long grass, so he was happy.

0 locks, 3 miles, 1 boat lift

Fri 10th June  Northwich

Moored in Northwich

We crossed the swing bridge and walked round to see Don and Celia, who have been moored here all winter and haven’t moved off yet. It was good to catch up with them. We had forgotten that they were here, otherwise we might have come down the lift a day or two earlier.

Hazel Don and Celia by Tumzul Cloud

Then we went for lunch in a cafe with shopping at Sainsbury’s to follow.  There were heavy showers.

From the other side of the river we noticed that Cleddau, last seen at Dutton Hollow, had moored several boat lengths upstream from us. By the time we returned to our boat it was raining again, so we didn’t go to say hello.

We had a bit of trouble with the internet later, with the mifi indicating a strong signal, but the wireless facilities not picking it up.

We went to Northwich Folk Club, which was meeting in the Polish centre because the usual theatre venue was unavailable.  They were a friendly bunch with a cross section of styles and talents.  Several unaccompanied singers and a poet, a few guitarists and a squeeze box.  It was good fun.  We sang “Flowers never bend”, “Long Way Down”, “Antiques” and “Low Bridge”.

We were given a lift back towards the boat.

No boating today

Sat 11th June  Northwich to Vale Royal

We set off after a leisurely breakfast, and said farewell to Don and Celia on Tumzul Cloud as we passed them.  We noticed that Cleddau had gone.

Tumzul Cloud moored in Northwich

There are two swing bridges in Northwich, built in 1898-99, and they were the first electrically operated road swing bridges in the world. They are still in working order, although they aren’t used very often now. Most of the boats on the Weaver can pass underneath.

Town Swingbridge

Hayhurst Swingbridge

Hunt’s Lock

It was only half a mile to Hunts Lock, where we noticed that some pleasant visitor moorings had been made available.  When we here before the area was covered in undergrowth.  Hunts lock was operated by CRT staff who were very helpful and informative.  They took our centre rope and tied it to a bollard, but it wasn’t necessary as the lock filled from the side, pushing the boat against the lock side so we didn’t surge around. They must be very health and safety minded, because they put a barrier across the lock gates before they opened them.

About to leave the lock

Just after we left the lock we passed Jalsea Marine, where had gained our certificate of seaworthiness for the Manchester Ship Canal last time.  We felt a few drops of rain, and put up the canopy at the back. Within a minute or two we had a torrential downpour.  Rowers  and walkers were sheltering under a road bridge.

Heavy rain

Thankfully it had stopped by the time we reached Vale Royal Locks.  We used the smaller one on the right this time. The one on the left, which we used last time, has an unusual turbo assisted gate mechanism, whereby the flow of water from the upper to the lower level is used to turn a wheel which opens the lower gates.

We stopped on the delightful visitor moorings half a mile above the lock.  We could not hear any traffic, trains, or factories, and we couldn’t see any houses.  Just a wooded valley, with a meadow opposite, and water birds sitting on some planks at the start of the weir stream.

Vale Royal moorings

Checking to see if it’s safe

Last time we were here in 2009 we got to know Simon and Pat on Paris, and consumed some wine with them. They now live on a boat called Daedalus and overwintered with us in Aylesbury.

Thankfully there was a decent internet signal, so we brought the blog up to date.

There was a flock of Canada Geese later in the evening, with young of different ages, all together in a kindergarten, swimming slowly upstream in an evening mist.  They took an interest in Hugo, but he wisely cleared off.

Geese interested in Hugo

2 locks, 3 miles

Sun 12th June  Vale Royal to Winsford and back

Misty morning at Vale Royal

We had a wonderful peaceful night. We met some people from the next boat: Gordon and Nicky from Chloe. They are involved in a church in Manchester, and they were interested in the work of Boaters Christian Fellowship and Canal Ministries, so we gave them the appropriate leaflets.  They also told us about a new visitor mooring in Winsford, which was useful information for us as we had not heard about it.

We headed further upstream, under Newbridge Swing Bridge and past the mountains of rock salt, destined for council stores all over the country for use on our winter roads.

Upstream to Newbridge Swing Bridge

Rock salt works

 Big piles of rock salt

The CRT mooring near the Red Lion was only big enough for two boats. There was one there already, and the deck was at an angle and very slimy, so we decided to move on to the new council mooring we had heard about.  This at the end of the narrow section, just as the river widens into the flash. It is an old dock that has been refurbished, with new mooring rings.

We tied up there, and walked up the hill to find the Storehouse Church.  We had a warm welome, were given hot drinks, and sank into a comfortable settee.  There was very much a family atmosphere and we had the impression of strong relationships within the church. The worship was led by Gary, the pastor, on a keyboard, accompanied by a lady on guitar and vocals, plus another lady with a cello, which really enhanced the sound. A young couple who had just been married in Poland took their vows again in English, which was a great excuse for celebration. The talk was about the early church described in Acts, and preaching Christ crucified.

Appropriate message

 Ideas for a leaflet dispenser

Storehouse Church before the service

Worship team

After the service we were invited to share in sandwiches and wedding cake, which we did before going to Aldi and then returning to the boat. 

New moorings in Winsford

Winsford Flash

We avoided the temptation to explore Winsford Flash, which apparently is shallow, and set off back downstream to Vale Royal moorings for a second night. 

Approaching Vale Royal moorings

Rain came later and Hugo came in a few times soaking wet, but then went out again. He probably doesn’t feel the rain through his thick fur.

We had no TV signal, so we watched David Attenborough on a DVD about the wildlife of the Galapagos.

0 locks, 5 miles

Next: Back up the Anderton Lift and heading south towards Middlewich