Make your own choices

This week, after months of trying, we completed our journey down the Rochdale Canal. It was the only one of the three trans-Pennine canals we had yet to navigate.

It has been a passage that has taught us much about the benefits of physical effort, determination, and making up our own
minds, making our own decisions.

It’s important to put the Rochdale Canal into context. At just 32 miles and 91 wide locks (locks built to accept 2 boats at once), it is physically challenging to travel, particularly if you want to travel it quickly. (If you have the chance to take time on it, it will repay you). 

It drapes across the country like bunting ribbon, settlements hanging from it at regular intervals with rarely a long gap, so there are many places to explore, not least the famed ones of Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.

The canal originally opened in 1804, hailed as the only way to cross the Pennines without the need for long tunnels that caused
construction delays on the other routes (Huddersfield Narrow and the Leeds
and Liverpool. The challenge for the boats using the Rochdale was water, so seven reservoirs were built to support the passage of coal, textiles and agricultural produce. Road haulage and the decline of textile
industries sounded the death knell for the commercial operation of the waterway
and it closed in 1952.

Volunteers who led the campaign to reopen it had a vision to regenerate the bunting pennants along the canal, bringing new traffic of tourists, holiday boating and giving boaters wanting the chance to stay along its route an opportunity to do so. They had numerous challenges to overcome with ingenuity that included in one case creating the deepest lock in Britain. Tuel Lane Lock in Sowerby Bridge at 19ft 6 inches replaced two former locks built over after the canal closed.

In 2002 after years of campaigning, restoration working parties, fundraising, and vision, the canal reopened, and yet the struggles of the Rochdale have not ceased. When we first headed for it in July this year, we were prevented from navigating it because of problems leading to a lock at the Manchester end of the canal being closed for 2 months. We tried a huge detour to get onto part of it, were held up and finally stopped in that bid by more lock issues. It appears from the stoppages data for this year so far on the Rochdale, there have been only 6 mechanical issues with locks causing delays, and most were repaired within 2 or 3 weeks. If you are travelling gently that can result in pleasant exploration time if held up.

This year, there have been 10 Rochdale stoppages because of water shortages (it seems ridiculous writing this amid the downpour of Storm Babet). Undertaking the route in October worked for us in that respect – plenty of water with overflowing locks in many cases.

The Rochdale struggles in many ways – being physically demanding for boaters, lacking water resources in late Spring and Summer, mechanical issues and also because of damaging hearsay. Via social media we had heard much negativity:

“It almost broke us. Lack of water and general maintenance. We’ve never struggled so much.”

“Dirty, poorly maintained, strewn with needles and capsules, urine infested and down right dangerous [in Manchester]”

“Constant trips down the weed hatch – rubbish, litter and shopping
trollies everywhere”

If we had listened only to these voices, we would never have enjoyed the sweeping hills, former mills, and beautiful woodland that the Rochdale Canal has afforded us these past weeks.

We would have missed little hamlets, small villages, beautiful stone settlements like Hebden Bridge and Todmorden and excitement of the city of Manchester. We would have learned less and missed much. Our life would have been emptier as a result.

It is important to hear other people’s perspectives, experiences and thoughts as part of our research through life, but we all need to make up our own minds, make our own decisions and remember that everyone’s perspectives, experiences and thoughts are based on their past which may have been very different to yours.

Nelson Mandela said: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” The Rochdale Canal has taught us to journey on, making choices based on our hopes, not our fears, or those of anyone else.

A different view of our week wending and working our way from ‘up north’

Finally free of locked floodgates that had held us up and kept us safe, and back onto the River Calder
Calder and Hebble Navigation is great between locks when there’s no flooding on the river sections
The giant silos of the former Thomas Sugden and Son flour mill have been reinvented as climbing walls – one for adrenaline junkies!
Swapping weeds for leaf soup which clogs the prop too.
Heading off the Calder and Hebble Navigation and coming into Sowerby Bridge to join the Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal opened in 1804, the first of 3 Pennine crossings. It climbs (and descends) 600ft via 91 locks over its 32 miles between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester.
Tuel Tunnel in Sowerby Bridge which leads to…
Tuel Lock – the deepest in Britain – 19 foot 8.5 inches. It replaces 2 locks on the original.canal which had 92 locks – this monster means the restored route ONLY has 91. Personally I’d have preferred two normal depth locks!
Heading from the Aire and Calder, the Rochdale was a boaters’ breath of fresh air, like coming from the dark to the light
The lung-filling, leg-stretching views from Heptonstall
Hebden Bridge – quirky, creative, and great WiFif for a productive day’s work
Todmorden has found itself in both Yorkshire and Lancashire over the years as boundaries change and has even been divided by the county borders
The Great Wall of Tod, a 4 million brick railway embankment that towers over the canal
Sharing the water and the glorious backdrop with enthusiastic young canoeists
Heading across the border set most recently in 1990
Waterfalls rush down the craggy hillside at the summit at the moment
Tetlow’s Brickworks at Punchbowl Lock are disappearing from the landscape. Wonder what will be here the next time we travel this way?
Everyone warns of low water levels on the Rochdale… we’re finding quite the opposite with some good downpours adding to the levels.
Made it to moor at Littleborough – 63 miles and 83 locks behind us over the past 10 days travelling.

We are now halfway along the length of the Rochdale with 44 locks and 16 miles of the canal still to go.

Then it’s onto the Bridgewater, Trent & Mersey, Coventry, Birmingham & Fazeley, Coventry, North Oxford, Grand Union, and Leicester Line to our ultimate destination… a little way to go (191 miles and 143 locks), but we’re doing well and still smiling.

How do you plan?

We planned to head to live and work in Yorkshire this year, but none of our plans are set in stone. Last week, we decided we wanted to head to join and support family over winter, so we began planning…

The plan was to travel 275 miles and 255 miles on inland waterways to reach Leicestershire. That should get us there before the winter work closures start in November.

Day 1 of the voyage was Wednesday. We started at Selby in North Yorkshire. Because of the high tides, winds and high water because of torrential rain, the tidal route was out of the question. We planned to come across country before heading down the west side via the Rochdale Canal. That’s the waterway we’ve been trying to navigate since 6 July this year. A faulty lock in Manchester meant the Rochdale was not navigable from the south so we took a 97 mile detour to approach it from the east, heading along the Trent and Mersey to the Macclesfield and onto the Peak Forest, arriving there just as a faulty lock on the Marple Flight shut that route.

Nothing daunted we are having another go at making it along the Rochdale approaching this time from the North!

It was a flying start to get us there. From Selby we made it along the Selby Canal, onto the River Aire, then onto the Aire and Calder Navigation, and then onto the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The two Navigations alternate river and canalised sections which means that heavy rain can adversely affect them.

Day 1 went brilliantly- Selby to Castleford Cut, a total of 18 miles and 5 locks. Another early alarm got us up and leaving our mooring at 7.50am on Day 2 in driving rain.

From Castleford we made it through 15 miles and 12 locks to the Dewsbury Arm Junction. On the way we stopped for water at Stanley Ferry and lunched at Wakefield.

Some locks on the Calder and Hebble demand a Hebble spike to operate. It looks a bit like a flattened baseball bat and can be bought from boatyards or chandlery outlets in the area. Ours is a piece of 4×2 from Wickes with a rectangle cut from one end l to give the right size to fit in the lock mechanism. Our planning included getting wood ready although the last minute adjustments to make it fit happened with a saw on the lockside!

Our planning identified a lock that has problems and is available only between 12 noon and 2pm after Dewsbury for assisted passage so we planned a leisurely start for Day 3. What we hadn’t bargained for in our planning was an email meaning Day 3 would be spent not cruising.

Green cross marks our position

How you cope when plans are thrown into disarray is often the mark of a good business person, teacher, boater or individual. We made the most of the day, Steve leapfrogging the car so it is now ahead of us and not stuck up at Selby. I worked and enjoyed a delightful unexpected visit.

Photo courtesy of Doug and Kath Briggs

By the time you read this, we will know if our plan is back on track with another long day of 12 miles, 18 locks to Salterhebble Bottom Basin.

From there, it’s a short hop to the Rochdale Canal where 32 miles await us, containing 91 locks that take us over the Pennines. I’m looking forward to some hills again!

So for the moment our plans are fluid…in limbo but still plans. There’s no point in getting frustrated or frantic. Safety is paramount. We have faith and confidence with a lot of crossed fingers that we will make our destination – eventually. This won’t be the only hold up en route I’m pretty sure.

Changing course

Einstein is alleged to have said many things, among them: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Our whole floating life is about change – about fluidity of movement, plans, scenery, locations, and work. This week that’s become more relevant than ever, as have the facts that we don’t always have a car with us and that we generally travel at around 3-4mph (so it takes a while to get places!).


When one of your family suddenly ends up in hospital and you are 101 miles away, distance and speed are thrown into sharp relief. By car that’s a couple of hours travel, by train between 3 and 4 hours, by narrowboat it’s 149 miles, 39 locks and so 58 hours of travelling, if the tides are in your favour but Storm Agnes ruled that out and tidal fluctuations can mean days or weeks of delays!


A train took us to where the car was stored, we left our floating home and office, praying Storm Agnes and local youngsters who in some places like to untie ropes were kind to her and travelled south.

We found hotels (yay – we found some with BATHS – boaters will understand the glee!) that would take us and the dog overnight and found ourselves new plans, new scenery, new locations and ooh, a new look too!

Retro style!


Moments like this make us question the life we’ve chosen – but then they also underline the positives. We have the capacity to move our home nearer to where it means we want to be and feel we can be of use. Yes, it will take time, particularly now that winter stoppages are approaching from October – March when Canal and River Trust are doing scheduled work on the network, and winter tides make rivers difficult to navigate in a narrowboat. We’ve ruled out coming back down the tidal route because it could take longer and result in us getting trapped. Our original plan was to nip up the tidal Ouse from Selby, where the boat is currently moored to Ripon, the northernmost point of the network. From there, we would turn (cant carrynon – there’s no navigable waterway) and return. Tides and storms can make that a lengthy journey!


So our realistic options are –

1. Turn where we are – saving Ripon for another day

2. Head elsewhere in Yorkshire and take a winter mooring where we can have the car nearby and be on hand more quickly if that would be useful

3. Head south so we can be near family and be useful when needed to help or hug at a moment’s notice.

Selby snapshot

It’s as much about us as it is about the family. It’s a quandary – we don’t want to impose ourselves, but we want to help. We feel too far away, too remote, too useless at 101 miles away. If we were 50 miles away, we might well feel the same, so being say 20 miles away would probably be ideal. If we stay on canals and move away from rivers where the family live, then we avoid issues/fun of winter flooding. That’s the advantage of having a moving home – we can move it to where we want it to be for whatever reason. That way, we don’t need to keep living in and paying for hotels for weeks or months if we want to be in another part of the country. It’s also an advantage having family living near navigable waterways!

So our decision is to move south. Sorry to those family and friends in Yorkshire we haven’t seen yet but fortunately we don’t travel too fast so you should be able to catch us somewhere. We’ve got the current stoppages map out, the winter stoppages schedules out and the maps to see which way we need to go. We will be back north, just not staying there this winter.

Seems such a short timescale but long days could do it9

We know there can be stoppages, issues, blockages on the way, but we calculate that our trip back is going to be 242 miles, 248 locks and 141 hours. It will take us on some familiar routes and some routes that are new to us which is always exciting. It will be another adventure, and one which will lead us into another set of new experiences, the chance to experience the joys of winter in a new place, and the opportunity to be near family to share time with them. This life lets us be flexible, none of our plans are set in stone, but this life gives us the chance to embrace change, to make changes work for us and those we care about. It lets us live the life we love whilst taking the chance to be near those we love.

Choosing the best of all worlds gets a big thumbs up 👍

Thinking and planning done, the next questions are – is the boat still safely where we left her and when shall we/can we start The Next Great Move? Those will be answered as soon as we can, we need to accept whatever happens there are some things we can’t change or force, they are just things we need to deal with.

Slow boat to New York

This week we started our fourth year living and working from our 50ft narrowboat on the inland waterways of Britain, and in that time we’ve taken her the equivalent distance of the UK to New York.

To date we’ve worked 1969 locks, travelled 2917 miles (43.5 of them underground in tunnels) and moved 193 bridges (many of which I reckon require far more effort than the locks!).

This year alone up to our cruising anniversary we moved 40 bridges, cruised 985 miles, worked 499 locks and spent 9 miles 81 yards underground.

Anniversaries are a time of indulgent reflection and this year is no exception. The milestones of this year have been (in no particular order)

  • Getting our Boat Safety Certificate for another 4 years
  • Getting the boat hull blacked, water tank cleaned and resealed internally – the external seal is still somehow a work in progess
  • Having the big main hatch and front bulkhead sorted so they do the jobs they were intended to
  • The loss of our beloved spaniel Cola after 15 great years
  • Deena completing the London Marathon virtually from the boat along Northamptonshire’s towpaths
  • Navigating the tidal River Trent and emerging in one piece
  • Experiencing the astonishing Anderton Boat Lift
  • The arrival of a new Boatdog who seems happy with her new life
  • Getting a trading licence to set up our floating craft business
  • Enjoying the company of family and friends afloat and ashore

People keep asking us – would we head back to bricks and mortar?

We’d struggle to be honest because we would miss so much the delights this wonderful floating life gives us, things that are good for body and soul and which just wouldn’t all be possible in a fixed house and office.

  • Awakening every morning with the possibility of taking our home off on an adventure
  • Having new scenery and new walks on our doorstep every day
  • Duck alarm clocks and owl lullabies
  • Discovering fascinating stories of places and people along the routes we take
  • Enjoying being part of the community afloat
  • Working and living within nature and the seasons
  • Having a home that demands we’re active – which we think must be keeping us fit
  • Being able to watch wildlife close up – from our own floating hide
  • Challenging ourselves to do new things, go to new places and always taking our home along for the ride
  • Being able to move on if we get bored, fancy a change, or (never yet) don’t like the neighbours

This is the lifestyle that still very much floats our boat. Living and working afloat has given us freedom from materialism and the rat race; courage and confidence to undertake challenges and do what’s right for us; and peace – what more can we ask? We would love being nearer family all the time and still being able to cruise to our hearts’ content (whether they’d like that is another matter!).

 

Totally swamped

Exhaustion, relief, elation, achievement, fear and pride all in one week – a veritable tidal wave of emotions has swept us along.

A week ago we were moored at Gunthorpe on the non-tidal River Trent waiting to leave to head towards the tidal Trent. We had our anchor at the ready, our lifejackets on whatever the weather and our nerves jangling.



Since then we have taken our narrowboat home through beating sun and relentless rain 62 miles and 5 large locks along 18 further non-tidal miles and 43 miles along the tidal Trent. We are now moored just one mile away from Yorkshire.

The most dramatic elements were once we came off at Torksey and headed into Lincoln for a city breather. We moored up for a relaxing lunch only to have a huge willow tree shed a massive bough just alongside us – fortunately not on top of us. Then coming into West Stockwith and Keadby Locks it’s important to head past the locks with the tide and then turn your boat accelerating hard against the flow to come back into the locks. Steve on the tiller made it into West Stockwith at his first attempt, earning a 10 out of 10 from the lock keeper. He got praise at Keadby too but was not as happy with the turn and found the tide taking the boat further from the lock side on than he intended. Still we got in without injury or incident.


We had a reminder of the dangers of the river as we left its waters. A boat that came loose from its moorings at Gunthorpe and which drifted before sinking, was recovered by a wreck barge. We saw its 4 white fenders floating above the scuppered boat and imagined it to be a small cruiser. Imagine our horror when the barge came past us this morning with the boat alongside. Andromeda emerged as a pretty large cruiser that had been completely hidden from us in the waters and mudbanks of the Trent.



The Boating Association’s map book was invaluable for navigation along this tidal stretch, detailed, and informed. It allowed us to avoid the sand or mudbanks and hazards of Bubble Rack, Marshall’s Parlour, Stony Bight, Dandy Cocktail and No Man’s Friend.



We saw Bob the buoy – whose meanderings up and down the river are legendary. He is to be ignored rather than used as an instruction. We discovered interesting places we would never have discovered, like Misterton Mother Drain’s pump houses Kate and Ada, West Stockwith’s Idle Brewery and Cromwell’s Milestone Brewery. There’s a theme emerging here!



It’s good to have company on adventures and we managed to travel part way with nb Oleanna from Cromwell to Torksey and the entire way from West Stockwith to Keadby with nb Great Escape.



What have we learned this week? Fear of the unknown has been banished – to be replaced by a fear of the known! Respect for the river and its tides is now ingrained within us. We pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone, and pushed the boat harder for longer than ever before. We have travelled faster in our home than ever before and further in a very short space of time and managed a lovely family catch up.



Since we determined to beat the blockages whilst moored at Marple, we have travelled 198 miles, 4.5 furlongs and through 70 locks and 1 tunnel. That journey to date has encompassed 74 miles 4.5 furlongs of narrow canals including 47 locks; 44 miles, 5.5 furlongs of broad canals with 16 locks; 7 miles of small rivers; 28 miles 5.75 furlongs of large rivers; 43 miles 4.75 furlongs of tidal rivers and 7 large locks.

We’ve earned a break, a pause for some work, and the next leg of our trip will take us up to Ripon – more rivers, more tidal waters and more canals, a mere 89 miles and 16 locks.

Sink or swim?

Sink or swim is the refrain running through my head…along with waving or drowning. Our plan to beat the stoppages blocking our route to the Rochdale Canal has given us insights and challenges beyond our expectations.

We’ve made our way across the country from west to east and are now moored in Nottinghamshire, on the non-tidal section of the mighty River Trent at Gunthorpe. This tiny village was founded by the Danes in the ninth century – as they came the other way to us along the Trent!  

Even allowing time to working and socialising (of which there has been plenty this week) we are moving with intent, and alacrity for slow movers. Just a week ago we were in the rural village of Alrewas in Staffordshire, since when we’ve managed 47 miles, 1¾ furlongs and 21 locks taking us from narrow canals to broad canals, to small rivers and now onto the large River Trent. We have enjoyed city life in Nottingham and reunions with former colleagues as well as boaters we spent lockdown time moored near.

We have just 18 miles 6 furlongs and 4 locks to go before we reach the tidal section of the river – for us, the big unknown.

Those boaters who have travelled tidal waters have been incredibly supportive and generous with time, practical advice and in one case, thank you Deolali for photocopies of the tidal charts which Steve has been poring over and committing to memory.

Social media groups are invaluable and enable us to find others making the journey with whom we newbies can buddy up – safety in numbers and all that.

I guess academics who study such phenomena would instantly identify that it isn’t fear that we are experiencing, but anxiety. Fear is a response that protects us to current, identifiable threats (sinking, running aground, being faced by a hungry crocodile – fortunately the latter are non existent on the River Trent). “Anxiety is a response to a potential threat that may or may not occur” (Asmundson, Norton and Vlaeyen, 2004). In my case they stem from not knowing if I’m going to manage to negotiate lock landings coming from a fast-flowing river, to running aground, to not being able to get the boatdog off safely if river moorings are a long way down from the riverbank.

Psychologists say it’s important to manage anxiety to prevent it from becoming a paralysing factor. For me, experience and memory are coming into play to resolve presumed issues – nothing needs to be done at high speed – approaching lock landings slowly gives time to evaluate and weigh up the options. To date all the big locks have been operated by lovely lock keepers which means all I’ve had to do is get a rope around the risers that can then hold us steady as the lock fills/empties. That fear is subsiding as a result.

Running aground? We might but looking at other boaters’ experienced on social media makes me realise that’s not the end of the world – we have charts which should enable us to avoid the possibility but if we did run aground waiting for the next higher tide would do the trick – another anxiety busted.

Not being able to get the dog off? There are ladders in some moorings, and I’ve invested in a doggy backpack so I could climb the ladder with both hands, knowing she’s safely secured on my back. So far, we haven’t needed it – everything’s been pontoons or jumpable. She also has a lifejacket, although it doesn’t impress her much and it’s been very hot wearing it this week.

So, as in every unknown situation – taking practical precautions and conducting research is invaluable. Doesn’t stop the butterflies, but in part, they heighten our awareness and responses, which can be essential.

Remembering others have been doing this journey since the ninth century in boats that had none of the safety equipment we have on board also helps!

We need challenges, to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, to try, to fail, to learn from failure, to achieve in order to feel alive.

In other news, the locks that caused us to undertake this cross-country voyage are in part still causing problems. The Marple Flight (lock 7 in it) will be out for a considerable length of time, lock 87 in the middle of Manchester which closed on 6 July opened again this week but the Rochdale Canal has issues still between Locks 41 and 43. We shall save the Rochdale for another year and enjoy the experiences of the tidal Trent in the meantime. I wonder how far we’ll get during this coming week and hope we won’t sink or have to swim… and if we do – we’ve all got our lifejackets.

 

 

Taking control can change everything

We started our week in Marple, feeling frustrated and stuck. We finish it 52 miles, 31 working locks and 1 tunnel further on, feeling positive and upbeat in one of our favourite places.

Galling for Steve to realise he and the boat weren’t the photographic centre of attention for once – that went to the glorious Basset Hound

Moored as we now are at Great Haywood, on the edge of the historic Shugborough Estate, we are treating ourselves to a day of long country walks before heading off once more to cruise into Derbyshire to meet up with friends.

Movement, changes of scenery, and in our case a change of season en route have served to put us back in the positive. Taking control of a situation which was not of our own making but which thwarted our plans every way we turned, has been liberating in more ways than one.

We u-turned on the Peak Forest Canal to travel the entire length back down the Macclesfield Canal. We had originally seen this as a way round the lock failure in Manchester, a way to get onto the Rochdale that would take us on a new route to Yorkshire but this week it felt like backtracking with purpose. As we turned onto the yellow ochre waters of the Trent and Mersey at Hardings Wood Junction we rather hoped we were putting this year’s travelling onto a positive footing.

Not what you want to see in a tunnel!

The Scarecastle Harecastle with its skeletons and ghosts always feels like a significant passage point – the movement in our case between CRT’s North West and West Midlands regions. Suddenly we were encountering more boats moving, more hire boats which is good to see – commercially for the businesses that run them but also for the people being brought onto the waterways to enjoy and appreciate everything they have to offer.

Stoke on Trent is a favoured spot for us to overnight – I used to work for the BBC in the Potteries and it holds fond memories. The place is as vibrant as ever – potteries remain and in many cases thrive here although they no longer use the canal which was built to service them and the mines in the area. New service industries like Vodafone and bet365 are springing up, but like in any UK city we encounter, homelessness and dereliction are alarmingly still apparent alongside the shiny new exteriors and evident economic wealth. After heading through Stone, we passed beneath under the evidence of 18century industrial show in many places including the regimented beauty of the red and brindled brick Salt Bridge at Salt now a Grade II listed structure.

This week with its new month, has heralded the start of autumn, with atmospheric, dreamy misty mornings. It’s set me musing…

This week’s travelling turns out to be a bit of a metaphor for life – if something feels frustrating, you feel stuck in a rut, trapped (by your own actions or someone else’s) – take control of at least part of your life and make changes. It will bring new perspectives, new energies and revitalise you. Our work is still the same, our home is still the same, but by taking control and choosing a new route to go in, we are experiencing new perspectives, new positive energies and feeling revitalised. Try it for yourself – it can be something small, or big – the choice as they say, is yours. Enjoy your week and whatever control you choose to take to make a change, to feel liberated and empowered.

The week ahead for us will be a chance to catch up with friends, family and our post! It will also be a daunting one as we head tidal on our first leg of the River Trent and its tidal waters – gulp!

The River Trent will be a lot wider and more intimidating by the time we head onto it

Frustrated, stuck and keen to be part of a solution – but how?

There is only one way to go right now for us, and that’s retracing our steps – literally.

We are currently moored some yards from the junction of the Macclesfield Canal with the Peak Forest Canal having come up the Macc this week. Our aim was to head down the Peak Forest Canal via the Marple Flight onto the Ashton Canal and then nip into Manchester to join the Rochdale – finally!

However, the best laid plans of mice, men and continuous cruisers regularly go awry as Rabbie Burns sagely advised!

If we go up to the junction we can’t turn left there because that leads to the 16 lock Marple Flight. Lock 7 is suffering from subsidence on the lock side and a movement of the wall of the lock chamber so none of us can start the flight from either end.

Steve spoke to an engineer on site this week who has told us that they will have to monitor the lock for some time to evaluate movement. It was an experienced boater whose boat got stuck in the lock, extracted her boat and raised the alarm. Had it been a less experienced boater the situation could have had very serious consequences.

So it looks like the Marple Flight won’t be open for weeks at the very least. Option 1 is to sit here and wait…and wait…and we’ve worked out we’re not brilliant at waiting at someone else’s behest for unidentified periods of time. We can’t wait here indefinitely either. We can get water here but we need to dispose of rubbish and empty the chemical toilet cassettes and we can’t do that here as CRT sold off the former facilities for housing and the new ones aren’t up and running.

This will be the new Marple services block

There are facilities at Bugsworth Basin if we turned right at the junction but we couldn’t get to them either as there’s a faulty lift bridge along there that can’t be lifted to allow boats through.

The update on that is not looking like a quick fix either. “..we have identified several issues that are making the bridge inoperable. Whilst we continue to liase with out contractors who are making the replacement parts, which has an approximate lead time of 6 weeks…” They are doing a lift of the bridge for an hour or so on a Thursday from next week so we could go to the services eventually but it’s a canal dead end at Bugsworth Basin and Whaley Bridge.

The only realistic option is to turn and go back the way we came, all the way down the Macclesfield Canal (which has been lovely as it always is), back onto the Trent and Mersey.

From there we could go for Option 2 back the way we came, up the Bridgewater into Manchester to the Rochdale but Lock 87 which was the reason for us doing the detour we have is still out of action. A bus lane closure has had to be requested to enable the repairs and it appears that this should be in place on 20 September so somewhere after that date the Rochdale could be accessible. However even if we did get on locks 81 – 65 are out of action because of a problem at lock 77 (see the pattern of the 7s? It was Lock 57 on the Trent and Mersey where we waited earlier in the summer!). Then locks 43 – 41 are out of action because there’s an old mill being demolished which is collapsing into the canal and may result in debris needing to be cleared from the waterway. So the Rochdale isn’t looking brilliant – there’s a fallen tree at 31, but that will probably be sorted relatively quickly, and there’s a paddle not working on lock 11, which should also be easily resolved.

So getting onto and up the Rochdale really looks frustrating from every angle. We’ve been told it’s beautiful which is why we wanted to cruise it en route to Ripon Basin in Yorkshire, the most northerly point on the network but that beauty will still be there next year… or the year after if the Rochdale remains navigable.

What other Options do we have? Well, the whole reason for going up the Rochdale was to get to Yorkshire and there are other ways to do that.

Option 3. Back down the Macc, up the Trent and Mersey, turn onto the Bridgewater, onto the Leeds and Liverpool and head up the Wigan Flight of 23 locks although there seems to be a problem with one of those locks at the moment due to vandalism. There’s a water restriction the entire length of the canal which could create multiple issues and is unlikely to be rapidly resolved.

It is amazing – stuck as we are, we do seem to have multiple options. Option 4 is to go to Yorkshire via the Midlands and strike out in an easterly direction. Down the Macc, along the Trent and Mersey, onto the River Trent, the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Aire and Calder, Selby Canal, River Ouse and Ure Navigations before heading onto the Ripon Canal. That’s 267 miles 5¼ furlongs and 84 locks which is the least number of locks of any option. As a route it has 23 moveable bridges, just one tunnel (Harecastle aka the Scarecastle which we know well) and includes the excitement of 57 miles ¾ furlongs of tidal waters, some 15 miles 2½ furlongs of commercial waterways, small rivers, large rivers, narrow locks, broad locks, large locks and one major waterway lock.

We can’t stick to this timescale but if we can keep moving we should at least get there!

So Option 4 it is – Yorkshire here we come – via yet another route!

On a more serious note though, the frustrations we have faced this summer with the network in the North West lead us to ask if there is a way continuous cruisers like ourselves can support Canal and River Trust to maintain and repair canals more effectively than they are doing now. We want this historic network to be available to our children, grandchildren and their children to enjoy.

The Trust is a charity. One which is spending significant time and sums publicising the fact that it believes future funding cuts by the government are putting our canals at risk. The funding cuts are in the future and obviously a worry but the situation NOW is also a serious concern, at a time when funding has not been cut, but appears to indicate that the charity is unable to manage the job it has committed to. How those of us who want to help and who use the waterways regularly can help is something that remains to be explored. Currently, we collect rubbish from the waterways as we travel, and we report issues that we experience as soon as we see them (often to be told CRT are already aware of them). This year, we have experienced 5 closures when we have been told by regular users of the stretches where these issues have occurred, that these stemmed from incidents that had been previously reported. Prevention is better than cure, and that means economically – issues that are left, only to be dealt with when a collapse happens, are invariably more expensive, and more time consuming. This is an increasing problem with an ageing, historic network.

The network is recognised as historic and specific parts especially so
On the aqueduct (on foot of course – can’t get the boat down here because the locks are shut)

How can those of us who care and want to help, support CRT to look after the waterways more effectively? I don’t have an immediate answer, but I do believe that all of us who passionately believe in the value of our waterways need to be involved as part of the solution. 

Intergenerational learning

Holidays can be delightful opportunities to catch up with family and friends. As more hire boats appear with families on board, we left the canal last week to catch up with significant others in bricks and mortar life.

Lovely as it has been, it’s also lovely to come back to our gently rocking home. Possibly one of the best feelings is turning onto the towpath where we moored to see our home both where we left it and in the same state as we walked away from it. We were lucky this time that friends from a nearby boat kept an eye on nb Preaux, sending reassuring WhatsApp updates on a regular basis.

On our return, we find there has been a big  change to our boat – she has shrunk. Her 50-foot frame is now housing us, a boatdog, and an energetic 5-year-old who appears to come with SIGNIFICANT LUGGAGE. Small as he is, he fills the boat delightfully – crayons, papers, books, toys, all add to his clothes, shoes and make us wonder how boaters with children on board full time actually manage! Boatdog finds it entertaining – more small spaces for her to curl up in and more cuddle time.

Ever since he was born we’ve been hugely lucky to have Tommy aboard for overnight stays, and now school features large, our summer holiday together is a long-awaited, eagerly-anticipated annual treat. We combine our time together with trips to see family so he, and we, get the fun of watching generations grow up together.

Last year, we headed to the delghts of Cornwall and family there, this year to Yorkshire, where teenagers proved patient, thoughtful, and went out of their way to make his time special. Parks, scavenger hunts, and an evening football match – they thought of everything to make his time with them fun, and he benefited immensely from seeing for himself what it means to be a totally terrific teenager.

They and he, enjoyed time with us older generations – identifying leaves, berries, wildflowers and birds. All generations exchanged stories, memories, knowledge, and also totally different perspectives on family members – many long gone. All these threads add new colours and strands to the rich tapestry of family.

Tommy at 5¾ was able to educate us all about Pokemon. He’s fluent about the names and skills of the characters on hundreds of cards, if a bit hazy still about how to play the associated games or swap duplicate cards.

This intergenerational learning is invaluable for us all. It makes us all feel valued, part of a greater unit, and reinforces our sense of belonging. Information, skills, attitudes, and habits are shared, observed, and understood. It’s a time to get multiple perspectives on those imponderable questions of long hot summer days (or wet soggy ones) like this year’s  Are there crocodiles in canals? and Why aren’t there crocodiles in canals? and Where do people come from?

In less mentally challenging conditions, it’s amazing how everyone joins in on a scavenger hunt, and the treasures from oak apples (product of the gall wasp), spiky sacs of sweet chestnuts to feathers (swan, pheasant) become sought after by us all, surrounded by stories of the natural world surrounding them. They have been transported triumphantly back to our boat before they finally make their way back to his home, accompanied by no doubt sightly garbled recollections of the stories surrounding them.

Once back at the boat he was keen to find the surprises that are always hidden somewhere on board, and within seconds new games, books and Great Granny’s Smartie contributions were unearthed.

Together we’ve become enthralled with the humours horror of David Walliams’ Ratburger  and obsessed with poring over Martin Handford’s Where’s Wally Now? (Don’t have a problem with Wally but we are all struggling with Woof the dog who is only ever seen by his stripey tail!).

Summer holidays are for many families a really special time for intergenerational learning, sharing and relationship building. We are lucky that it’s been the same for us, but we’re aware that it isn’t just within families where this wonderful learning happens.

A Heritage holiday boat passing our mooring

For many canal holidays are a great place of family time and learning. Whilst in the past holidays were restricted to just days now and again, rather than weeks, canals themselves are historically the scene of intergenerational learning – when cargo boats plied the waterways, whole families lived on the water because it made economic sense – the barges were places of work and home, and the more hands available to help speed the cargo on its way meant the quicker they were able to deliver the quicker they were paid and could take on the next load. Perhaps because of their unique way of life, boaters like travellers were a close community and often married other boaters.

Children learned by observation – of their parents, siblings and peers. Often families worked the same waterways so for example on the Leeds Liverpool Canal many generations would see each other as they worked like the Martlands around Burscough or the Vickers near Preston. Children would be learning how to handle the horses, ropes, cargo and boats not only from their immediate family but from uncles, aunts, and grandparents also on the cut.

Observational learning is something we’ve been grateful for – watching other boaters and learning from them, grateful too for the generous sharing of knowledge on the cut which comes from boaters young and old keen to help others enjoy the life we find so rewarding. Maybe in years to come we can all join as a family on one of the Navvy camps helping to restore our canals.