Chellshill Aquaduct to Congleton Bridge No 61

21st June 2005


Bright sunshine and no hat lead to sunburned heads, eventually found a shop which sold large brimmed floppy hats which solved the problem. We noticed the wooden part of the tiller handle loose in the brass tube. Also the float on the keys, fouls the control when in full reverse. Had a lovely evening meal in the Robin Hood pub just a short walk up from bridge 61. We still cannot get the shower to regulate the water temperature and are certain that it is a fault and not us.

Total of 15 Locks and 13 Miles

Stud Green Bridge to Chellshill Aquaduct

20th June 2005
We awoke to bright sunshine.

Martin introduced himself to us for our boat handling course and as we were pointing in the wrong direction for our intended journey, we set off to the winding hole at Stud Green bridge. This turning point is right after the bridge and a very tight turn. It was near impossible to turn in without clipping the back end under the bridge. We negotiated Crows nest lock again and dropped Martin off passing Elton Moss and we proceeded to Wheelock where we stopped just past the watering point at bridge 154. We lunched at the Cheshire Cheese pub, a very grimy looking pub but friendly and having a very passable Ploughmans. Whilst locking up the boat, the sliding hatch above the rear entrance was jammed open. It had come off its runners and was very difficult to put back on, taking over half an hour of struggle and scratching the roof paint as well. This rear entrance needs attention as the hatch doesnt fit properly and the vertical sliding bolt cannot be secured. i.e. if you bang the lid the bolt could drop down allowing entrance.
After Lunch headed onward passing Hassal Green and moored between bridges 144 & 145. Opened a bottle of red, had a slurp and went for a shower. First the shower would not work, only a dribble of water and the shower sump pump would not function. Checked all the switches but was sure there was a problem. Phoned Artie and John came out to us, meanwhile whilst on his way we moved further up to Chell's Aquaduct so that John had easy access to us. Now emabarrassingly, the shower head has a swivel action that was not explained to us I might add, that also shuts off the water. This was the initial problem but John found a lead off the shower sump switch so I was relieved that his call out wasnt a wasted journey. When John left, we both showered and had excellent water pressure, however we found the water temperature however we manipulated the controls was either too hot or too cold. I wasnt sure if this was down to us but we managed to get a shower somehow and hope we learn in the days ahead how to control the water temperature.

Total of 14 Locks and 7 miles

Monsoon type rain

Cheshire Ring anti-clockwise from Elton Moss Bridge

Our first boating trip in our own share narrowboat Tranquillity.
We arrived 4-30 pm Sunday 19th to a horrendous downpour, we managed to get in the boat just before the heavens opened. We had to sit and wait it out before we could unpack the car. It was raining so heavy, it was bouncing up through the roof vents and dripping in the boat slightly but nothing to worry about. During a lull, and after we unpacked, we inspected the boat and were happy to see it was to the standard we had seen on the open day, although someone had had an unfortunate incident with an iron and the carpet! We mentioned to Artie that Tranquillity is spelled with two L's and noticed that the signwriting was with one! After a brief introduction to the boat by Artie, we then settled down to watch the formula 1 race on the TV but the TV wasnt tuned to any channels. It may be that if the power is off the TV for some time, the channel memories dissapear and you have to retune. By the time the I had tuned it in again the race was half over but then I found it wasnt a race at all as most of the cars didnt start. We made the bed and spent a very comfortable first night.

Arran boxing training for his first fight at the end of July.