The thoughts, fantasies and random ramblings of Ashton Boatman Chris Leah, largely, but not exclusively, connected with his work for the Wooden Canal Boat Society, restoring historic wooden canal boats and putting them to work doing good deeds for the community and the planet.
"Southam" is one of our younger boats, built by Walkers of Rickmansworth as a butty in 1936. She finished carrying work in 1962 and in 1965 was motorised and converted. She had a second life as a pleasure boat and residential craft until she sank on Braunston Puddle Banks in 1992. We bought her off British Waterways who had raised her and taken her to Hillmorton, where she sank again. After carrying out some repairs she housed a series of live in caretakers and did lots of work towing on recycling trips and on an epic trip to Lincoln to collect timber for "Hazel".
Various repairs have been carried out over the years. She's the best of our unrestored boats. In 2019 we replaced most of one side. 2020 was supposed to be the year when we sorted out the falling apart cabin, but because of that nasty virus, 2020 didn't really happen.
The engine fitted in 1965, a 3.8 litre BMC Commodore, was pretty much worn out, but a similar engine, hardly used. was donated by Tameside College. Stephan, our engineer has rebuilt it and transferred the marinising parts.
Now work has slowly restarted on the boat. Nessie has been armour plating the stern end ready to receive the engine.
This will give the stern end the strength to carry on until we have the resources to rebuild it.
Today I went off in "Namaste" the trusty Land Rover to Whiteheads timber reclamation yard, on Coalpit Lane in Bardsley. I prefer to use reclaimed timber, partly to avoid waste, but also because it's often better than new stuff. I had a long chat with the boss who, like everyone else and his dog it seems, is thinking of moving on to a boat.
They hadn't got much in but I managed to get these excellent boards for cabin building.
Because there's so much else to do it will probably take a long time to get "Southam" up and running. When she is back in service she'll be able to give "Forget me Not" a rest from towing "Hazel" and "Lilith", She'll be able to provide accomodation for volunteers who want to stay and will be able to fly the WCBS flag at waterway events. One possibility is to kit her out as a floating craft shop. All we need now is time, money and skilful volunteers.
It's bank holiday Monday evening and I'm staying on board "Hazel" tonight to get her batteries fully charged ready for her first guests of the year. It's an airbnb booking so not her proper work, but it helps to subsidise the well being work. We've applied for some grant funding. If we get that we can cut down on airbnb's so that more of the people who really need it can enjoy time on "Hazel".
We charge the batteries at the garage of Dixon & Smith, Motor Engineers, in Dukinfield, who kindly let us plug in. It's an easy job to shaft her across the aqueduct and tie on the outside beside their garage. It can get interesting in windy weather though. Tonight is a little breezy but very sunny. A lovely summer's evening with doves cooing, other birds twittering, occasional trains passing and the constant murmur of walkers chatting on the towpath.
For many years Dixon & Smith used their great skills and ingenuity to keep my succession of old Ladas running, then the WCBS tormented them with a series of old vans. Now they are semi retired and, though they still do some paid work, spend much of their time working on their own vehicles, which include motorcycles and two beautifully restored 1950s American pickups.
I'm staying in "Hazel"s back cabin. The conversion is all cleaned and sanctified ready for our guests. The back cabin is in some disarray because its winter overhaul is not yet finished. I like staying in here anyway, especially in Winter when I have the range alight to keep me snug and boil my kettle. Too hot for that tonight so I have a flask.
Can't wait to get boating again. It's been a long winter.
At last we've got away from Ashton for a few days with "Forget me Not" and "Hazel". We're running the trip with the crew socially distanced from each other and from the guests. Me and Aaron are in for the whole trip, with a back cabin each. Other people come and go as they can to help us through the locks and lift bridges.
The water level was low and we struggled to get clear of Tameside. Dunkirk bridge and Captain Jack's moorings were particularly bad. I was very pleased to see that the long promised dredging has started though, even if we did have a hard time getting past the dredger. The mud is being unloaded at Warble boatyard.
It was a lovely afternoon as we swung the pair round the tight turns at Gee Cross,
Towards Woodley there were some very odd ducks. Are they Grebe? Any ornithologists reading this?
Today we worked up Marple locks. Liz, Peter and Kim came to help. Tomorrow we're on to Bugsworth. Darren is coming to help. More crew needed for the return 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.
I decided to cycle over to the Heritage Boatyard today. There are a lot of cats that occupy the boatyard. They're not feral, they all have homes to go to and servants to look after them. They just like to hang out in the boatyard. I don't mind as they help to keep the vermin at bay, and they seem to have learned not to crap all over the walkways.
I opened the door to the boatyard to be met by one of them retching among my potato plants. In front of the engineering container I found a clue as to what had upset pussy's stomach.
This particular ex rodent was pretty much undamaged, except for being dead, but I suspect my feline friend had consumed one of its relatives. They must have been brave rats, or just infected with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. Thisnasty little organism lodges in the animal's brain and makes it seek out rather than avoid it's predator.
After disposing of the corpse I wandered over to the canal side. I noticed that the water was moving, indicating that the locks were in use. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes a boat appeared heading towards Ashton.
It was called "Goliath" and was the first boat I'd seen moving since the lockdown. The steerer said he was going to Yorkshire via the Rochdale as Standedge tunnel is still closed due to social distancing difficlties. I wished him luck.
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
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.
It was a nice sunny Autumn day and we had a good turnout of people, a lot of them coming recycling for the first time. Enjoyed it. Come and join us next month 4th, 5th and 6th November.
"Southam" took a dip whilst tied at the Heritage Boatyard. That was Friday morning. Now, Sunday, she's up again thanks to Kim, Stephan and a few pumps. She's not taking on a huge amount of water but one of her pumps has stopped working. I think that's what caused the problem. I got there just a bit too late on Friday to prevent her going down.
Someone said the Rochdale Canal was heaven one side and hell the other. I chose to charter "Hazel" for my boating holiday and invite some long unseen friends along. The original plan was to go up the Caldon but with various stoppages this became impossible, so I decided on the Rochdale instead. We had to go through the Hell bit to reach heaven. Unfortunately, the water shortages meant that we could only get to the edge of the celestial bit, just above Littleborough. We nearly got stranded there as CRT declared a stoppage at 07.30 (Having assured us that it would be fine to stay where we were for a few days) and immediately started locking up the locks. It took much whingeing on the 'phone from me to get them unlocked. It was great to see old friends Neesa, Dan, Eric, Stuart, Adeline and Eloise as well as some of our regular crew who came along to help work the many locks. Hard work but I enjoyed it. Thanks to Lesley and Mary for many of the pictures as I didn't take a lot.
Green scum on the Ashton Canal.
"Hazel" having her batteries charged.
At New Islington Marina.
A small amount of what we removed from the blade.
As far as we got. Lovely place to spend the weekend.
