Archive for the Titford to Sawley Category

Day 8 and 9 - The final leg of the journey

11/03/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th March

On returning home on 24th February having ‘abandoned ship’ in Shardlow, I telephoned British Waterways - West Midlands (www.britishwaterways.co.uk/contact/southern/west_midlands_office.html) to let them know that we were moored on a 48hr mooring, and that I suspected we would be there a bit longer! The very helpful lady from BW thanked me for letting them know, and that she in turn would notify the enforcement officer for that area - at least now I won’t get back to find the boat clamped!

Over the following days (turning into weeks), I carefully monitored the BBC weather web site (www.bbc.co.uk/weather) with the occasional phone call to Sawley Marina and British Waterways (Newark) to ascertain the state of the Trent. Each time there seemed to be no respite from the rain, and therefore no opportunity for the Trent to return to a navigable state. Then around the 5th / 6th the BBC forecast seemed to be showing a milder, dryer spell - fingers crossed for the weekend of 10th / 11th March. On Thursday I called BW at Newark. They said that although the water had dropped by over 2ft, the river was still not navigable. However, for as long as no more rain fell, the river should be safe for passage on Saturday or Sunday. Again, being the very helpful BW, they suggested calling the lock keeper on his mobile on Saturday, for even though he wasn’t working, he would not mind advising us on the state of the river. On Saturday, although grateful for the offer of advise from Dave (BW), I decided to call Sawley Marina as their office was open throughout the weekend. They said that as of this morning, the river had dropped from Red to Amber - implying the river was navigable with caution. We (Bev and I) decided that with a dry forecast and river levels currently dropping, we should make the 400 mile round trip to complete the last mile and two locks.

 

Rather than do the whole journey of 400 miles (plus 1 mile and 2 locks) in one day, we would drive to Shardlow on Saturday with the intention of moving the boat on Sunday. Setting off early in the afternoon, we reached Sawley at around 16:00. Wanting to get to know the area a little better, we drove into Long Eaton where we saw the shops (and pubs and restaurants) that would be visited over the coming months. We then drove back to Shardlow (via a Co-Op for milk and liquorice) where we unloaded the car and then returned to a long stay car park next to Shardlow Marina.

After unpacking, getting the boat warm (and of course cracking open a bottle of red wine), we set off to the Clock Warehouse for a very pleasant bar meal of lamb (for me) and a vegetarian spinach dish for Bev (not that she is a vegetarian of course!), then returned to the boat to finish the previously opened bottle of wine.

In the morning, we started relatively early (~09:00) and slowly moved out of Shardlow (again!).

 

 

Looking back up the canal to a number of boats that had also been waiting for the waters to subside

 

A tastefully restored canal side property

 

ditto

(with rounded lower wall on road corner changing to pointed edge on 1st floor - I’m sure there’s a technical name for it - maybe someone will let me know?)

 

deja vous

(as we pass the new marina in which we did an about turn a couple of weeks earlier)

 

That ‘traffic light’ notice board

 

Cautiously sitting in the lock whilst I check the water level marker board

 

If you look REALLY hard, you can see a bit of amber (or yellow as it appeared here).

Do you know how difficult it was for me to paint that amber bit last night ;-)

 

The start of the ‘Trent and Mersey’ mile post…

 

… and the inscription.

 

Leaving the Trent and Mersey …

 

… and joing the River Trent!

(what was all the fuss about?)

 

Looking back up to the Trent and Mersey

 

OK, maybe they were right.

Do NOT proceed, strong stream conditions (stream? I call that a river!)

 

After passing under the M1 bridge traveling at 7-8 miles an hour - with the engine hardly ticking over (and probably faster than the vehicles on the motorway!), we left the River Trent and on to Sawley Cut (and Sawley Flood Lock). After leaving the lock (and leaving the RED paddles open - as requested) and immediately passing under Sawley Bridge, we came across Sawley Marina - and Tastoma’s ‘new home’.

 

Sawley Marina

 

…and the entrance to their ‘Platinum’ moorings

 

… and the entrance for the lower classes!

 

Passing under the foot bridge and into the main part of the marina.

 

I will eventually post some more pictures of the marina (and moorings), but just right now we want to get moored, have a ‘Full English Breakfast’ in the cafe, walk to Shardlow (to retrieve the car), sort out the electricity on the mooring, find the Elsan disposal, pack our bags, secure the boat - and return home - the second leg of 200 miles!

 

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Day 7 – About turn

24/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Saturday 24th February

Feeling a little dejected, we reversed the boat a couple of hundred yards and turned in the small new marina to face Shardlow.  On entering the village we passed through Shardlow lock and back on to the mooring we had been the night before last.  Although this mooring was not suitable for staying for a number of days (on mooring pins), it was however perfect for loading the car as a small service road ran alongside the towpath. With the car still at Sawley, I decided to walk with Max back to the marina to collect the car.  Whilst en-route, I met up with a family who we had met walking along the canal the previous day.  As it turned out they were also returning to Sawley to retrieve their car having had to abandon their hire boat in Shardlow for the same reason as us, and that their “holiday” had come to an end.

Returning with the car we quickly filled it with everything that was coming home with us and reversed the boat into the lock with the intention of turning it back in the direction of Sawley in the boat yard just below the lock, and moor it on the secure mooring rings a little further on.  Needless to say going through the lock backwards confused a few people around us, including a hire boat that was also coming into lock, but this was quickly explained and (hopefully) understood!

After putting a note in the window with our contact details, we drove the 200.1 miles back home.

Over the following days we will monitor the weather and contact BW and / or the marina to ascertain the state of the River.  When we get a clear window, we will then do the 400 miles round trip to move the boat the remaining two locks and one mile!

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Day 6 – One mile, one lock

23/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Friday 23rd February

Although the previous evening closed with some sunshine, we had had quite a bit of rain over the past couple of days.  Last night however, the heavens opened, and although we did not hear any, the early morning forecast had reported hail and thunderstorms around the area.

Never mind, we have only got a short distance to go and we would be safely moored at Sawley Marina. How wrong would this presumption be?

Moored boats below Shardlow Lock
 

Leaving Shardlow lock, we slowly worked our way past the moored boats and noted that the red lights on the floodgates were not illuminated (indicating that passage onto the Trent was safe).  Shortly afterwards we got reached the Derwent Mouth lock, the one which would lead us on to the cross-roads of the Trent & Mersey being joined by the River Trent and River Derwent to continue downstream towards Sawley (and on to Trentlock).

We moved into the full lock chamber (one of very few that had been in our favour on this whole journey) and read the notice board placed alongside the lock.  The painted traffic light colours were used to indicate “Green” would imply the River was at normal levels and safe to proceed, “Amber” and one should proceed with caution and “Red”, do NOT, under any circumstances even think about heading out onto the river!

Before closing the upper gate and emptying the lock, I thought I would just check what the marker post in the water below the lock was showing.  You guessed it, it was RED (and no sign that it had just passed from amber to red).  Not knowing the River navigation at all, and certainly not wanting to have to call the BW Emergency number again (this time with a very red face!), we decided to reverse out of the lock and moor up whilst we assessed the situation.

A quick call to BW at Newark confirmed that the Trent had gone into flood this morning and that with more rain forecast, they could not give any indications as to how long it would be before it would be safe to venture out on the River.

We therefore had very little choice but to sit this one out.  With it still being relatively early in the morning (~10:00), we decided that it would probably make sense for me to work my way back to the Titford Pumphouse, collect the car and take it to Sawley where I could then walk the 2 miles back to Shardlow.  As this journey was going to involve a lot of public transport, I decided not to take Max with me, but to leave Bev and him on the boat.  The return journey to Oldbury and back took most of the rest of the day, but being the restless person that I am was probably better than just sitting doing nothing on the boat (Bev on the other hand was quite happy to sit and read her magazines and watch TV – especially as she was still suffering with very painful ankles following her fall a few weeks earlier).

Walking back to Shardlow, I spotted a bus stop on the other side of the road with two people waiting.  I enquired as to where the bus they were waiting for was headed, and was pleased to find that it went into the centre of Derby (and in particular, passed the train station).  Fifteen minutes later I arrived at Derby, bought a ticket to Sandwell & Dudley (via Birmingham New Street), and as I got onto the platform found the train was already there and about to depart.  On arriving at New Street, it was straight onto platform 4C(?) and onto the waiting Wolverhampton train (stopping at Sandwell & Dudley).  From there it was the 20 minute walk back to the Pumphouse and the car.

On my way back to Sawley, I popped into Sainsbury for yet more provisions and arrived at the marina, some 55 miles and approximately 1 hour later. 

Whilst at the Marina, I popped into the Office where I explained our situation to Linda and picked up my mooring pack (and paid for the mooring).  It was then back to Shardlow (and the boat) on foot, a walk of about two miles.

During the day, Bev had been keeping an eye out for the weather forecast.  Unfortunately the prospect was for yet more rain over the next couple of days.  With no let up in the rain, and therefore no improvement in the state of the River, we decided that we would stay put this evening, then move back to Shardlow in the morning where we would leave the boat, return home (as Bev had a College exam on Tuesday) and return when the weather (and River) had improved.

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Day 5 – Gone for a Burton

22/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Thursday 22nd February

It’s amazing how much distance you can cover when there aren’t many locks (and the canal has been well maintained by regular dredging!).

As we passed through Burton, spotting Coors and Marston’s, we wished that maybe we should have pushed on a little further yesterday to reach some more interesting moorings, but never mind, we could always come back here another day.

The Marston Brewery at Burton upon Trent

Pipe Bridge at Shobnall

and entrance to Shobnall Marina

 

With intermittent showers (and drizzle in between them), we decided just to push on and aim to get to Shardlow by the evening.  On passing Willington, followed by the first wide lock at Stenson (and some 12ft 4in deep!), I could see ahead of me a Land & Water dredger.  The operator of the digger acknowledged us and we sat back whilst he continued completing the section he had just started.  Within a couple of minutes he pulled the now fully-laden barge and dragged his floating digger to the side to allow us to pass.  On pulling alongside him, he apologised for not moving out of the any quicker (not that we had had to wait all that long anyway), and informed us that we should proceed slowly as one of the other barges was “in difficulty” around the next bend and that he had radioed ahead to let them know we were on our way.

Land & Water dredging

Oops!

 

We thanked him and proceed slowly around the bend only to be confronted with a barge straddled across the canal with a number of chaps working on a water pump.  Realising that were not going to be going anywhere just yet, I tied up and walked up to the workmen.  As I did, the manager (i.e. the one without too much mud and water on him and wearing a tie!) approached me and apologised again for the delay and explained what had happened.  Apparently, whilst turning the barge into the bank side where another digger was waiting to unload it into a screening machine (before spreading the silt on to the neighbouring field), it hit something underwater which caused the foredeck buoyancy tanks to become submerged.  This in turn resulted in an ingress of water causing the just-floating barge to float no more!  As I arrived, they were pumping out the water, which a few minutes later got the barge to refloat.  It was then pulled to one side to allow us to pass.  Again, full of apologies for delaying us, we were called past them and on our way again.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but in the few years I have been boating, I have come to expect delays and problems and have come to the conclusion that boating is something not to be rushed – and thus the reason we gave ourselves probably twice the amount of time to complete this journey than would really be necessary.  What has however impressed me has been the way that just about everyone connected to the waterways, whether it is boater, British Waterways or their contractors (in  this case Land & Water), walker, jogger, cyclist (and sometimes even fishermen!)  go out of their way to be polite and helpful.

At Swarkestone Toll House and lock we saw a beautifully restored crane.  Although passing very few moving boats during our journey so far, we met with one coming out of the lock and informed them of the dredging problems just a few hundred yards ahead.

Swarkestone Toll House and Crane

 

Passing Weston on Trent and Weston Lock we spotted The Priest House (www.thepriesthouse.co.uk) at King’s Mill in the distance.  Although not very clear, having previously only seen it close up, it was nice to see it from a different angle.

The Priest House at King’s Mill

 

Shortly after spotting cattle drinking water from the canal we saw a field that must have had 40-50 swans in it.  I’m not too sure what they were all doing there, I guess the farmer must have put something tasty on the ground!

Thirst work

Just a few (of many) swans in the farmer’s field

As we approached Shardlow, the clouds started to break and sun just managed to peak though.  Rather than go through Shardlow lock, we decided to moor up for the night just above it.  Here I was able to get a number of quite stunning photographs with the sun drenching the canal-side properties.  That evening, realising that we were now only a stone’s throw from our final destination, we could relax and enjoy a superb meal in the Clock Warehouse.

Shardlow Lock at sunset

ditto

I realised that this was the only ‘proper’ picture of Tastoma I took on the whole journey!

The Clock Warehouse (taken the following morning)

 

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Day 4 – To nowhere in particular

21/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Wednesday 21st February

Briefly stopping off at Fazeley for provisions (and an Elsan disposal), we made quick progress along the remaining section of the Birmingham & Fazeley and on to the Coventry Canal without even spotting the switch over (at bridge 78 in Whittington).

We then came across a first for me, a sign on the towpath reading “Traffic lights ahead proceed with caution”.  Clearly a lot of work was being done on the railway bridge at Huddlesford Junction at the point the Wyrley & Essington Canal joins the Coventry Canal.  Disappointingly however, there were no traffic lights, just a lot of scaffolding and engineering works.

Warning sign of traffic lights!

Engineering works at Huddlesford Junction

and back out into open countryside

 

At Fradeley, a right turn onto the Trent & Mersey and although we had originally planned to moor up for the night at Alrewas, we had been making such good progress that we continued on past Barton under Needwood (and the noisy A38) eventually mooring up between bridge 36 and Tatenhill lock where the canal starts to peel away from the rumbling of the A38.  Not the most picturesque of stopping points with a gravel works to one side and what appeared to be a brick / paving works to the other, but we felt that Burton upon Trent was just out of our reach before dark (added to the fact it had started to rain).

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Day 3 – Perry Barr to the Dog and Doublet

20/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Tuesday 20th February

Let’s think positive.  Today we will (hopefully) get past Salford Junction and be back on our original route, albeit a little behind schedule.  Although our overnight mooring was relatively quiet, the towpath still backed onto a housing estate and in the distance we had the constant rumble of the M6 motorway.  All being well we should get out of the suburbs and industrial parts of Birmingham and into some open country by tonight.

Shortly after setting off, we arrived at the group of four locks between Aldbridge Road and College Road bridges.  We cleared these and the following mile before our final two locks (the last being lock 13 - Perry Barr bottom lock) fairly quickly.  Whilst sitting in the lock chamber just before College Road Bridge, I spotted a Halfords sign about 100 yards away.  Although I had purchased unleaded petrol at the start of our journey, in the rush to unload the car, I realised that I had left the petrol can in the foot well behind the passenger seat.  As expected, the little bit of fuel that had been in the generator had run out this morning whilst caching up on the BBC news and weather on TV.  I had therefore planned to be on the lookout for a petrol station on our route today with the intention of buying a new petrol can (and of course some petrol).  Spotting the Halfords store, although not solving the petrol problem, would at least allow me get the petrol can.  So off I popped over to Halfords.  Whilst I was there I also picked up a new 12v DC to 230v AC inverter (to replace the one that had recently thrown in the towel), a spare fuse for the battery charger (which had mysteriously blown) and a 12v interior bulb for the engine room wall light.  All in all, a very useful stop.  The only downside was on asking at the store, the closest petrol station was a few miles away, although there had previously been a filling station on the opposite corner to the store until it closed down a few years ago.  I would therefore just have to keep my eyes peeled for a filling station en-route.

When we had originally planned the route, we had been looking forward to reaching Salford Junction as this would have meant completing the highest density of locks on the route (25 locks in 8 miles), with the remainder of the journey of 40 locks being spread out over 52 miles.  Of course, having had to alter our route to come down the Tame Valley canal had added a few more miles (and 5 more locks), but still, reaching Salford Junction was seen as a milestone in our journey.

In and out of lock 12, then passing under Deykins Avenue Bridge and into lock 13.  Once the chamber was empty, I opened the starboard side gate and went to open the port side.  Unfortunately, it would only open about half way – not quite enough for us to squeeze through.  After about ten minutes of using the boat hook, pole and grappling hook on a rope, and with only a road cone base pulled out to show for it, I guessed it was going to be another call to our friendly BW Emergency number.

On raising the call, I realised the operator was the same gentleman who I had spoken to a couple of days earlier regarding the dewatering of the Old Line Spon Lane locks.  He thanked me for raising the call and said that engineer would call me back shortly.  Within two minutes a French accented lady from BW returned my call to report that an engineer would be with me with fifteen minutes. 

No sooner had I put the phone down, I saw a white BW van with two personnel on board working their way down the towpath toward me!  That could hardly have been 3-4 minutes after I made the call!

Anyway, between the three of us we managed to pull out a rigid plastic road works fence and a frying pan (neither of which cleared the blockage) followed by a number of rocks (one which looked like a large piece of coal) and the gate was eventually opened.

Thanking the BW guys for their speedy response and for clearing the lock, we were once again on our way.

That damn lock 13 (Perry Barr Bottom Lock)

The sprawl of roads and bridges at junction of A38(M) and M6

Salford Junction

Grand Union joining at Salford Junction

Passing under factory between Troutpool Bridge and Erdington Hall Bridge

Out into open countryside - The Kingsley Beefeater on the left?

 

Having originally planned to stop at the Dog & Doublet at Bodymoor Heath, we decided that we still would. 

Having moored up nice and early, I decided to take Max for a long walk as yesterday he was limited to only a couple of short ones.  Still needing petrol, and having already enquired with a builder who had been working in the garden on the Bog & Doublet, I decided to put the new petrol can in the rucksack and head off to Fazeley where I had been assured there was a Jet petrol station on the roundabout next to the canal.

It was only when I rechecked the map on my return did I realise that Fazeley was just over four miles away!  I suspect the 8½ mile walk was the longest Max had ever done, and carrying 10 ltr of fuel in the rucksack did not do my already ailing back much good!

Never mind, after getting freshened up, we popped into the pub for some good home cooking and a couple of Marston Pedigrees, happy in the knowledge that Bev could now use her hair dryer once again (OK and for me to watch the BBC news and weather)!

 

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Day 2 – A change of plan

19/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Monday 19th February

With the prospect of a long day ahead of us, we got up quite early and I took Max for a walk, returning via Farmer’s Bridge top lock.  What I did not expect to find was a sign on the lock reporting the locks were closed!  Ahhhhh!

Fortunately, the BW information office is right alongside the closed lock, so I returned there at 09:00 (when it was due to be opened).  I was greeted by a very helpful BW lady who confirmed that Farmer’s Bridge locks were indeed closed due to work being undertaken on Brindley House.  I must admit to having seen this stoppage on www.waterscape.com, but ruled it out as the work was reported to be being done on the house, not the canal.  Unfortunately, the work being carried out necessitated in having scaffolding over the canal.  Next time, I will not make presumptions!

With the help of our BW lady, we agreed that the next best route would be to return the way we came (although on the Main Line rather than the Old Line), before turning at Pudding Green Junction onto the Wednesbury Old canal, passing my first ever mooring at Ocker Hill in Tipton then turning right onto the Tame Valley canal to rejoin the Birmingham & Fazeley at Salford Junction.

Of course, by having to re-plan our route, back tracking along the route we had already done yesterday and taking a longer route to get to Salford Junction, we had already added 1½ days to our journey.  Thankfully, we have plenty of spare time!

About turn! Looking back at St. Vincent Street Bridge and Birmingham

 

Looking back at aquaduct taking Engine Branch from Birmingham Canal Old Line over Main Line

 

And under the Stewart Aquaduct (smaller bridge below towering M5 motorway)

Looking back towards Bromford Junction and the lower of three locks at Spon Lane

 

A bit of déjà vous as we returned along the Main Line, but at least when we turned onto the Wednesbury Old Line, we felt we were now making progress.  Within minutes, we were at Ryders Green top lock.  I got Bev into the first lock and set off on my bike to prepare the next couple of locks.  As I got to the second lock I say a BW van at the 4th lock.  I worked my way down to lock only to see the lower pound totally drained, and one BW chap working in the lock chamber.  My heart sank as I approached another BW chap on the towpath.  Fortunately, there was nothing major wrong, just a blockage preventing the lower lock gate from closing.  Although they had tried to remove the blockage with hooks and rakes, this had failed and they had to empty the pound to get into the chamber.  It wasn’t long before we were able to re-water from the upper pounds and were on our way again.

At Tame Valley Junction, we passed the entracnce to the Ocker Hill moorings. The place I had stayed on Tastoma from Sept. 2003 until the completion of the refurnishment of the Titford Pumphouse and Oldbury locks.

Entrance to Ocker Hill moorings (and a previous BW office)

 

Work party on Tame Valley Canal

Looking down onto M5 / M6

Later in the afternoon at Perry Barr top lock, another BW chap suggested that for our safety, we either moored up at the top lock or below the 7th where there was a ½ mile gap before the next 4 locks, after which there was large estate which we would not be able to clear before darkness.

With it starting to get dark at around 17:45, we took his advice and moored just after the 7th lock - before the M6 motorway.

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Day 1 – Titford Pumphouse to Old Turn (Birmingham)

18/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Sunday 18th February

With only the short run into Birmingham to do today, I decided to take Max for a long walk first thing in the morning rather than leave it until we were in the centre of Birmingham – where taking the dog for a walk would have been more difficult.

A foggy Spon Lane Bottom Lock

(nb the water cascading down the embankments)

 

The walk took me along Tat Bank and down the six Oldbury locks before turning right along the Birmingham Canal (Old Line). It wasn’t long until I noticed that the flotsam and jetsam were not just floating stationary, but moving towards Birmingham at quite some speed. This was even more noticeable at the narrowing of the canal under the bridges (eg Anchor Bridge under the M5). I also noticed that the water was well over 12” down on its normal level.

I decided that a call to the BW emergency number was in order. After making the call, I decided to carry on walking in the hope that I could locate the cause of the flowing water. Eventually I arrived at Spon Lane Junction, and as half suspected, noticed that the top lock paddles were both fully open and the lower gate wide open. Unfortunately, due to engineering work further up the canal, I had been forced to cross the canal onto the towpath on the opposite side to the Spon Lane Junction. I decided to phone BW back just to let them know what the problem was, and said that I would head back to an earlier bridge and attempt to close the paddles.

After crossing the canal and whilst on my way to the locks, the BW Engineer called me. I explained what I had found and that I was on my way to close the paddles. He offered to send out a work party if needed, but I suggested that unless whoever had opened the locks had damaged them, I should be able to manage it myself.

On getting to the top lock, I could then see the lake between the 1st and 2nd locks and again between the 2nd and 3rd – where there was once a canal and towpath! I managed to close the paddles on the top lock and wade down to the 2nd lock where again I was able to close the paddles. I worked my way down to the bottom lock where the paddles are already closed. Unfortunately, with the bottom paddles closed, the water had found whatever route it could over the towpath and down the bank side, washing away gravel and soil and gushing into the Birmingham Main Line like Niagara falls.

Although I suspect it would have been errant youths who had opened the paddles and lock gates, I also suspect that had the previous boater ensured that they had reset the conservation locks, then the whole event could have been avoided!

Early in the afternoon, having said my goodbyes to Kevin and the other boaters at the Pumphouse, we eventually got underway.  

 

 

The Titford Pumphouse, Tat Bank

Turning into Oldbury Top Lock

Kevin helped us down the six Oldbury locks before shaking hands and going our own way.

 

 

 

Kevin Field (right) and Mark on way down Oldbury Locks

Fortunately, by the time we reached the Old Line, the water level was now only about 6in down on normal – maybe our friendly BW engineer had arranged for the pumps to back fill the canal for us, we may never know!

 

Looking back at Anchor Bridge

 

Looking back at Blakeley Hall and M5 Motorway Bridges

 

Looking down from Stewart Aquaduct on the Birmingham Canal onto Birmingham Level Main Line (towards Birmingham)

 

With the rumbling M5 Motorway passing above the tranquil Old Line passing below

Rather than go down the Spon Lane locks and the sodden towpath, we decided to remain on the Old Main Line.

 

 

 

Spon Lane Junction

Spon Lane Bridge

 

Later on we passed Bearwood Boster at Smethwick locks and on to the Birmingham Canal Main Line and a mooring just before the NIA and Old Turn.

 

 

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Day 0 – Home to the Titford Pumphouse

17/02/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

As I had not been on the boat for a number of weeks, we decided to get to the boat the day before we intended to start our journey. So, on Saturday 17th February, Bev and I (plus Max the Labrador) headed off with a very full car to Oldbury via a visit to Mum and Dad in Rhayader for coffee.

Following a recent accident, Bev had sustained an ankle injury that was taking its time to clear up. This was another reason for not rushing our journey (and for me having to do most of the walking over the coming days!).

Bev and Max settled in on the boat, making beds and putting things away etc, whilst I did the final running around – propane refill, unleaded petrol (for generator), diesel (for boat), fire lighters and coal and basic food and drink for the journey and topped up the water tank.

Finally I removed the Tastoma name plates from the pontoon before settling down for the night.

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Finding a new home for Tastoma

31/01/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Rolls-Royce

Having secured a contract with Rolls-Royce (www.rolls-royce.com) in Derby (well not quite true as I was still waiting to get MoD Security Clearance), my next concern was what to do about accommodation during the weekdays whilst working away from home.

Well again, that was not quite the sequence of events. The truth is more along the lines of; um, a contract at Rolls-Royce in Derby? Now before I consider applying, just how close are they to a canal, and more importantly, an available mooring? Of course, with the Trent and Mersey canal, River Trent, River Soar and the less well known Erewash canal within a stone’s throw of Derby, I was quickly onto www.waterscape.com looking for mooring locations. A phone call to the very helpful Linda at the BWML Sawley Marina (www.bwml.co.uk) assured me that there was indeed room for our 52’ Tastoma on a non-residential basis.

With my application for the contract with Rolls-Royce now with the agent (www.certes.co.uk), it wasn’t very long before I was contacted by Daniel Leahy to say that I had been shortlisted and would I be prepared to attend an interview on 31st January. With the interview planned for 09:30, we (Bev and I) decided to travel there the day before and stay overnight so that I would be ready for the interview in the morning. This is when a number of strange coincidences occurred. Not knowing the area very well, I used www.lastminute.com to help identify hotels local to RR. The one that came out at the top of the list just so happened to be The Priest House www.thepriesthouse.co.uk, a hotel that Bev and I had stayed in during our search for a narrow boat back in 2003! Further, on making a reservation, I noted that their postcode ended with 2RR – and where would I be going TO the following morning? Then, when driving from The Priest House to Raynesway (just outside of Derby), I caught sight of a car number plate that ended with ‘ABF’ – and acronym for Application By Forms and one of the essential requisites for the job!

Following the interview we drove to Sawley Marina where we met up with Linda. She gave me an application for mooring form and directed us to pontoon H – where Tastoma would be moored should we decide to move here.

To say that the marina is large is an understatement. Considering that during my time at the Titford Pumphouse where there were never more than 6-7 boats permanently moored, Sawley Marina boasts over 600 moorings!

We quickly found the pontoon – alongside one of the larger narrowboat hire companies and saw that there were a number of unoccupied slots on the pontoon. We had a quick look around the impressive facilities – boat yard, chandlery, dolls house shop and café/restaurant (where we had a cup of coffee and a huge filled baguette with chips!) before heading off home, happy that if I was successful in my interview I would at least have a decent mooring to bring Tastoma to.

Within days, a telephone call from Daniel (Certes) to inform me that I had got the contract!


There’s nothing like good planning!

In preparation for moving Tastoma from the Titford Pumphouse to Sawley, I used the trusty CanalPlan AC web site (www.canalplan.org.uk) to plan the route. This resulted in a route of 59 miles 5¾ furlongs (and 2½ inches!) with 65 locks. With the move being done in February and the prospect of inclement weather, we did not want to rush the move, so with Bev having half-term from college starting 17th February this would give us up to 9 days to play with (in theory needing about 3½) .

A little closer to the time I checked www.waterscape.com for any stoppages en-route. To my horror, I discovered that locks 2, 9 and 11 of the Aston flight on the Birmingham & Fazeley were planned to be closed between 8th January and 16th March. What were my alternatives? A further route plan on CanalPlan suggested taking the Digbeth Branch at Aston Junction then down the Grand Union to rejoin the Birmingham & Fazeley below the Aston Flight at Salford Junction. Excellent I thought. Back to the list of stoppages at www.waterscape.com, only to find that due to a culvert leakage at Artillery Bridge, a whole section of the Grand Union was to be closed starting on Monday 19th. I decided to telephone British Waterways just to confirm the stoppages before planning a further, even longer route. Fortunately, BW informed me that due to the recent DEFRA cut in their funding, they had completed work on one of the Aston locks and decided not to commence work on the other two. The emergency stoppage at Artillery Bridge however, had to go ahead. This was the news I wanted to hear and that we would now be able to take our original route.

Although we did not plan every overnight stop, we decided that as we wanted to clear the industrial part of Birmingham in one run and get out as far as Curdworth or even better, get to Bodymoor Heath (where I believed there to be some decent pubs), we would do the short leg from the Pumphouse into the centre of Birmingham on the first day, and be ready to tackle the high density of locks of Farmer’s Bridge and Aston.

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