Medals?

I just got back from running a 2 day trip for care worker Laura. She has worked through the pandemic looking after elderly people with challenging behaviours. She deserves a break, and, thanks to the National Lottery Awards for All fund, we were able to give her one. Laura brought along her fiance, Philip, and their friend, Steve.

It's sometimes hard to find enough crew on weekdays and unfortunately one crew member dropped out at the last minute because of a headache. This left just me and Aaron to run the trip, though Nessie helped by raising the lift bridge as we set out.

There were no other boats moving, save for "Community Spirit 2" which followed us as far as Hyde.

The weather was intermittently raining as we travelled up the Peak Forest canal. We had to stop once to remove plastic from the propeller. The law of Sod kicked in as we approached Hyde Bank Tunnel. Having met no boats all the way from Ashton, one had just entered the tunnel coming the other way. We had to stop the pair in the shallow water and hold them there until it emerged.

At Marple the winding hole (canal speak for a place where you can turn round) was full of CRT maintenance boats, some of which we had to move in order to wind. Winding completed, we headed back over the aqueduct and tied just before Rose Hill 'tunnel'.


Aaron could have stayed in "Hazel"s back cabin, but he elected to return home by train instead. I retired to "Forget me Not"s cabin to do some much needed cleaning and tidying.

I woke early to lovely spring sunshine. Steve had been up all night fishing.



Hyde Bank tunnel was opened out over 100 years ago but is still known as a tunnel.


Aaron arrived on his bike and we set out for the return trip at the agreed time of 10AM. Steve had expressed an interest in joining us as a volunteer, so Aaron showed him how to steer "Hazel", a task that he took to like a duck to water. Once I was satisfied with Steve's abilities I was able to hand the motor boat over to Aaron and hop off on to the towpath to take some photos,



Back at Portland Basin we stopped on the aqueduct to unload our guests before battling a vicious wind to put the boats back in their place abreast of "Lilith".

Here's what Laura wrote in the visitors book;-
                                                                           "Have had an amazing time on our trip on Hazel. Can't believe how much fun it is being towed by another boat, but what an experience!!!  Chris and all the staff involved with this experience deserve a medal, and they are so attentive, friendly and go out of their way to make sure you enjoy your trip. Definitely would recommend the Well  Being Boat. Top class."

I can't speak for anyone else but I'm not keen on medals. It's enough for me to see people enjoying all the different aspects of what we do, whether it's using "Hazel", working at the boatyard, running the shop, going on recycling trips (if and when we re-start them) or just enjoying watching the boats go by. These boats are special. They, and the activities around them, help people to live better lives. What we need now is more help from the wider waterway community to keep this whole project running.
                                            

2 Nice Well Being Trips in a Day.

Yesterday was a lovely day. It started cold so I lit the stove on "Hazel". Our first guests arrived at 11AM for a trip to Lumb Lane and back, about 2 hours. Two of them couldn't manage the steps so we used the lift to bring them on board. A straightforward trip, no problems. Aaron Booth and Mick Owen were the crew.

 It was the first canal trip for some of them and they loved it.

 As we came round the turn from Walk Bridge and breasted up I saw that a boat had taken our mooring. This wouldn't be a problem normally as we had another trip to do. However, if we're using the wheelchair lift we need to have "Hazel"s bow at a specific place on the wharf.

As we approached I gave a series of long blasts on the hooter but nobody emerged from the open doors of the boat until our bows were actually lying against it. The man came out and explained indignantly that they were taking water. Portland Basin wharf is not an official water point but there's a tap with a long hose that reaches to any part of the wharf.

When I explained about the need to unload disabled guests they became co-operative and moved off. We tied up and the other boat came in behind us to continue watering.

Mick had to leave so it was just me and Aaron for the afternoon trip. We just had time for a brew before they arrived. This time we were headed up the Peak Forest canal, so we had to negotiate the lift bridge. Normally we would send somebody ahead to do this but there was no-one available. As we approached I brought the butty up close and stopped with the bows in the narrows. I tied to the handy bollard and lifted the bridge. Returning to the boat I drove the pair through the bridge and stopped them with "Hazel"s stern just clear of the bridge. Aaron tied it then lowered the bridge. We set off again.

Between Dukinfield and Hyde the canal runs past a series of industrial estates, and yet they hardly intrude beyond the sylvan ribbon that borders the waterway. When I first came this way in 1977 we navigated past a huge and smelly landfill site with bulldozers heaping up the rubbish. That same place is now magical woodland.

We passed through Hyde and out into countryside bordering Haughton Vale, swinging the boats confidently round the tortuous bends as the canal follows the contours of the valley side.

The winding hole near the derelict Gee Cross mill was unusable until last year. It had become too silted with lack of use since "Maria" stopped doing horse drawn trips. CRT dredged in 2021 and we are now able to wind there again.

An angler sat staring at his float right opposite the hole. I explained that we had no choice but to disturb his fishing. He calmly dismantled his rod and sat watching us as we thrashed about in the muddy water, gradually turning the boats.

Aaron and me swapped boats when we set off and I enjoyed an hour or so of butty steering. I love steering the butty. It's a gentle tranquil experience but I don't often get the opportunity. The only incident on the trip was some difficulty getting past a moored boat that had come adrift. 

At the M67 bridge in Hyde I jumped on to the towpath to run forward and get on to the motor. Aaron chose to get back to steering the butty by crawling along its roof rather than using the towpath. Each to their own!  The boats couldn't go far out of line during this procedure as the canal here is a narrow concrete trough.

After working the lift bridge again we arrived at Portland Basin, stopping on the aqueduct to unload our guests, who were delighted with the experience. I went to move "Lilith" back on to the wharf as she had spent the day lying alongside the flats, then we moved the pair forward, breasted up and swung them round to tie alongside "Lilith".


The end of a wonderful days boating.

The following day I met one of the guests from the morning trip in the charity shop. She was once more full of praise for the experience and explained some of the hardships that some of them had been through.


Thank you Christine Dinsdale for the best of the photos.

Getting "Hazel" Ready

Tomorrow we have wellbeing guests arriving for a trip up the Peak Forest canal to Marple aqueduct. We'll stay there overnight then come back on Monday. Me and Aaron have spent most of the day cleaning and sorting her out after her use as a film location. We took her over the Tame aqueduct to charge her batteries at the workshop of Dixon & Smith (Motor Engineers) in Dukinfield. She goes there by people power, on this occasion me and Aaron. The reason they built canals was that they enabled huge loads to be moved for very little energy expenditure. "Hazel" weighs about 20 tons but she's no problem for us to move.



Aaron keeps warm and dry in his new dayglo ski suit.

A Winter's Trip

We planned to take "Forget me Not" up the 7 locks to Stalybridge yesterday, but Storm Arwen put paid to that idea. This morning dawned clear and still and sunny. I met Aaron and Danny at Portland basin and we set off at about 10.15. The sky had already clouded over.

Someone had unhelpfully tied their boat abreast of the CRT boat, leaving only just enough deep water to get past.

After the Asda tunnel comes the Sea Cadet moorings, shortly before lock 1 of the Huddersfield (very) Narrow Canal.

Things went smoothly though the weather was getting grimmer and grimmer. The hills in the distance were already covered in snow.

Unusually the long pound between locks 3 and 4 was brimful and running over the weir. At Clarence St moorings I noticed that the battered fibreglass cruiser that had been sunk there for a year had gone. We found it on the towpath side further along, still looking disreputable but now afloat.

I had a brief conversation with its new owner as I walked ahead to set lock 4. He said he was coming down tomorrow to tidy up, and seemed to be under no illusions about the task that he had taken on.
As "Forget me Not" entered number 4 the snow began, light at first but getting steadily stronger. As we worked through 5 the sky darkened further and the surroundings started to take on a Christmas card look.



The previous day's storm had filled the canal with leaves and the boat struggled to make progress as its propeller tried to grip in the cold leafy stew. The engine strained at the extra work and threw out thick black smoke.


The final lock, number 7, is by the main Mottram Road. Above it the boat winded, then reversed the last 100 yards or so to the boatyard. Danny steered with the shaft.



Piracy on the Ashton Canal

Today, we ran one of our thank you trips for NHS workers and family. We also took Heidi the Canal Pirate who filmed the trip for her regular Vlog. This comes out on You Tube at 6pm every Thursday. https://business.facebook.com/ThePirateboatUK/?__xts__[0]=68.ARAuCwy...&fref=nf She says it will be about 3 weeks until this episode appears, but it's well worth watching her channel anyway. The crew were Aaron (what would I do without him) and Julie and our guests said they really enjoyed it.

Here's the swans. They produced 2 cygnets this year, still bearing a few brown feathers. They'll be off to establish their own territories in the spring.

Here's Aaron steering "Forget me Not" towards the incredibly low Lumb Lane Bridge.


The pair passing under the low bridge


Julie and Heidi on the butty.


The guests looking happy in "Hazel"s fore end (NB, I got the kids to put lifejackets on but they were allowed to take them off after I'd gone).


Here's a video of the boats passing the Ashton Packet Boat Co

A Lovely Trip

We've had a very pleasant couple from Worksop staying on "Hazel" for a week and they booked a trip up the Peak Forest. We went up to Marple on Friday, a glorious summers day, winded and returned as far as Chadkirk. The crew were me, Aaron, Liz and Darren. We all wore masks whenever we had to come close to each other, maintained strict separation from our guests and sanitised the tiller etc when we changed steerers.


Aaron, Liz and Darren cycled home once we had tied for the night. I stayed aboard "Forget me Not". The crew returned for a 2pm departure on Saturday to bring the pair back to Portland Basin. Liz's husband Pete came too.The weather wasn't quite as good but still an enjoyable trip.

Another bit of Ashton history goes up in smoke.

For ages we've had such a poor turnout for weekday evening recycling trips that we've had to do them by road. I was pleased on Monday 4th to find that we had plenty of volunteers.

Aaron took the tiller and we had a pleasant journey down to Fairfield.


On Monday evenings we collect on Fairfield Road and Gorsey Fields.  This time most of our crew were youngsters who were shy about knocking on doors, so they did the barrowing back. We had a reasonable haul to take to the charity shop.

On Tuesday afternoon we had a trip on "Hazel" with a really nice couple with an autistic child. The mother seemed interested in the canalside history. As we passed Oxford Mills

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101084307-the-oxford-mills-st-peters-ward#.XU6ORfzTVuQ

I told her about their history   and about Hugh Mason who had them built  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Mason

As we passed the old mills on the returned trip I noticed a strong smell of burning plastic. I checked in the engine room to make sure that nothing had fallen on to the exhaust manifold, but that was fine.

I went home for my tea. While I was there my friend Bev Ackford rang to tell me there was a fire in a laundry near the canal.

On my return to Portland Basin I found that there was an even better turn out for the Tuesday evening trip. Ominous black smoke was billowing from a big fire close to our intended route.  I was unsure if it would be safe to run the trip but Debbie Leach told me that she had just cycled up the towpath to join us and there was no problem.

After a bit of boat shunting we set off, rather later than usual. As we approached the burning area we were enveloped in smoke but I could see that the fire was well back from the canal so we would be able to pass safely.


Fire persons were busy working between the fire and the canal, pumping water out to spray on to the burning buildings. There was some banter with the fire crews about them stealing our water.


Oxford Mill was an E shaped building. One wing had been largely demolished before it was listed. As we passed I saw that the fire had spread from the relatively modern buildings where it started into the upright and middle stroke of the E. The remaining wing remained untouched, though shrouded in smoke, so I hoped that this at least could be saved. I had noted previously that it was used for storing stuff in cardboard boxes.

At Brewery bridge tape had just been put up to close the towpath. A smart young firefighter was just climbing the steps on to the bridge. Debbie, who never misses the opportunity for a bit of banter, asked him if he was touting for business. I chipped in by offering him a lift to Canal St (Canal St is the heart of Manchesters gay village). He took it in the spirit intended.


We had another good collection in the Ashton Hill Road area of Droylsden. By the time we were ready to return it was nearly dark, so I turned on the headlight. At Brewery Bridge, at the South end of Pottinger St, we got a good view of the fire. The brigade's efforts had seemingly been in vain. The whole area was now blazing well, particularly the top of the E, presumably turbocharged by whatever was in all those boxes. The gable end of this wing was close to the canal and it was clear that parts of the building had already collapsed. If the gable were to fall outward as we passed we would be toast.

We backed up into the bridgehole and I managed to get a pin into the tarmacced towpath (grrrr) to tie to.

I left the boat guarded by Aaron and walked rather a long way round to Portland Basin to collect the van. Kids had removed the tape on the towpath and were whizzing up and down on bikes despite the danger. I chose not to go that way.

The streets had a carnival atmosphere, like a huge free  bonfire party for the whole community. As I walked I heard a rumble as anothe bit of historic mill tumbled.

Returning with the van I had to take an even longer route as the main Stockport Road was closed. Luckily I know the back streets well. We unloaded the goods from the boat into the van. I parked it up for the night then, after taking a few photos,



I retired to "Forget me Not"s cabin for the night.

In the morning I woke at about 5 AM and made coffee. As i lay in bed enjoying my first brew of the day I could hear intermittent bursts of police radio. I hoped they wouldn't try to stop me returning the boat to her home, as I clearly couldn't leave her there. I felt the boat move as though someone had stepped aboard, then heard a rat tat tat on the cabinside. I stuck me head out and saw a man and a boat. He had made an early start to go to Manchester but "Forget me Not" was blocking the bridgehole. I explained that I wasn't dressed yet. He offered to move the boat. I agreed and, as I dressed, I could feel the hull grinding against the copings as he pulled her backwards.

He tied the boat to the railings of the high level footpath that leads to Guide Bridge Station, at just the right height to decapitate passing cyclists. Luckily there were none and I was soon untied and on my way, kicking up lots of froth, presumably from chemicals washed into the waterway.

I had to walk back from Portland Basin to collect the van. On my way I took some pictures of the smouldering remains being damped down.

Hazel on Dock

"Hazel" is on dock for a fortnight for a general overhaul. On the outside she's getting extra ice plates as some of the original ones ended up underwater. Seams are being repitched and the caulking hardened up on one seam, a bit of damaged shoeing repaired and a general tarring. Andrea came and helped on Monday. Inside Tony and Aaron are repainting and we've taken the floorboards out to be oiledAaron and Tony busy inside the boat.