Xilion Rose

After spending a wet Jubilee weekend with our family in Chester and down to Ellesmere Port our new adventure is about to start. In recent years we have got as far as the Anderton Boat Lift but this year we have carried straight on and Manchester is now our aim. Todays task was the three tunnels to Preston Brook and then to moor up at Midland Chandlery for parts to be picked up in the morning.

After picking up some battery monitoring bits we headed towards Manchester and after passing the Man U football ground moored up in the lower Manchester Basin (this basin is patrolled by security Police and is safe to stay overnight). The following morning our Journey began in Ernest with the first 9 Rochdale locks (right in through the Center of Manchester), these locks were the heaviest locks we have encounted so far. After the first 9 heavy locks, we moored in a brand new Marina just outside the city centre, that evening we were joined by a couple of friends (Mark and Karen) and had a great meal at a Brazilian Restaurant.
As the first 16 locks locks on the main Rochdale canal are very difficult with hidden rocks and very shallow sections we were to be escorted by and ex working boatman (Ian) who was familiar with the canal, the down side was that we had to be at the first main lock by 8.30 to meet Ian. After a great day with our friendly boatman we moored at the Rose of Lancaster to recover and attempt to “dry out”.
The following day we set forth with our wet gear on (it was still raining cats and dogs) and after passing Rochdale, moored near a swing bridge at Todmorden.

OMG another day of lashing rain and with 11 locks it was a very heavy day. Moored at the lock before the summit. It just won’t stop raining. After going over the summit (in the rain) we moored early to do some essential maintenance on Xilion Rose (an oil and filter change).
On Monday the 18th June (note a crafty date check) we moved on to Todmorden where Phil (our cruising partner) intended to buy oil and filters from the boat yard in Todmorden, only to find that the yard had closed down, however we moored overnight there as there was nobody around to move us on.
Tues 19

We were surprised to find the sun shining when we woke up on the Wednesday, so with shorts and sandals on we set of for Hebden Bridge where Annie bought a pair of Clogs directly from one of the few remaining Clog Factories in the UK. We then made our way via another 10 locks to Sowerby Bridge and the deepest lock in the UK.

After staying for a day in Sowerby Bridge and topping up our supplies we set of for the start of the Calder and Hebble where we were introduced to the Handpike (to open paddles) and the short locks. As we were new to these wide but short locks, we both (Phil and Glennis on their boat Minna) entered the lock and emptied the water, but found that it was not possible to open the bottom gates as our boats were too long (you need to position the boat corner to corner in the lock to be able to open the gates), therefore we had to refill the lock and one boat had to reverse out and wait until the lock was free again, added to this small problem was the method used to open the lock paddles i.e. the dreaded Hand pike.

The following day we set of for Brighouse and after a very long day with constant rain we arrived in Brighouse and decided that we would stay the night there rather than move onto the river Calder in preparation for our next stop in Leeds, this proved to be a very good decision as when we woke in the morning, the Calder river had risen 12 feet overnight and caused floods from Hebble Bridge all the way down to Brighouse. As we were now not able to get onto the Calder, we made ourselves comfortable and settled down to wait for the river to go down before we continued our journey to Leeds and the start of the Leeds to Liverpool canal.
After waiting for 5 days for the Calder to return to a safe level we set of for Leeds and after a long day we moored in the new small basin right in the centre of Leeds near the Hilton Hotel.
After a peaceful night we set off on our next destination, Appleby Bridge which was 12 locks away and included 3 sets of “Staircase Locks”. The following day (Saturday 30th June and still raining) we set off, but after just 8 locks we called it a day and moored up just outside Bigley.

Well the weather has certainly dominated this month, let’s hope for better in July.

Here we are at the end of the Shropshire Union Canal.

Our apologies to our Blog readers, but we have had a problem with the earlier version of the blog software. Hopefully it is now sorted and we can post regular updates.
March 2012 started with great sunny weather, but no water. British Waterways gave us one weekend (24 / 25) to leave the Aylesbury basin or stay in the basin until late April. The trip up the Arm was eventful with Xilion Rose stuck on the bottom for over an hour, waiting for the BW man to release more water. Once out of the Arm we traveled to Limehouse Lock via Little Venice and the Regents Canal where we entered the Tidal Thames, we slowly made our way up to Oxford and joined the Canal system again, and made our way to Birmingham (via the Grand Union Canal, the North Stratford Canal and Gas St Basin) as we had signed up for the BCNS Explorier Cruise, this comprised of 22 Boats exploring the under used Canals in the Birmingham area and ending up at Titford Pools (the highest water level in the UK).

We left the canal basin on the Droitwich canal on the 4th August as planned (after Annie rejoined us from her brief stay with Selina) and made our way to the Worcester and Birmingham canal, Just as we joined the W / B Canal, we passed a boat that was owned by the Micron Theatre Group, this is a small group of 4 actors that tour the UK canals and perform short plays, usually very funny. Their next show was just a short way down the canal at a pub in Tibberton, so off we set to watch the performance and of course sample the local brew, all in all we had a great time.
After the evening watching the Micron Theatre Group, we made our way to the Lyons Boat Yard via the Tardebigge lock flight (42 locks in 4 miles) and the West Hills Tunnel (2726 yards long), we actually arrived at the boat yard on my birthday and were joined by the whole family, afterwards,Selina and India stayed for a few days. While at the boat yard we had our oil burning fire removed and a dual fuel fire fitted, we also had a complete overhaul of the battery charging system, including 4 new batteries.
With Xilion Rose now in perfect working order we set of for the Dudley Black Country Museum and then the Sea Life Center near the Gas Street Basin in Birmingham, on the Thursday 18th August, Annie left the boat with India as she had tickets to visit Buckingham Palace, and she has not stopped talking about it since. While Annie was away, I went to Droitwich to collect my “New” classic car, having sold the Sunbeam on our return from Monaco and the Alps trip. On Annie’s return to the boat we set of for the Cheshire Ring with the intention of including 7 miles of the Manchester Ship Canal, but at arriving at Ellesmere Port we found that the red tape and the forms / fee’s required ruled this part of our plan out, so we returned to Chester and spent the time planning our future route. We decided to move up to the Anderton Boat Lift via the Middlewich link so that we could spend time on the River Weaver. After a few wet days on the Weaver, we returned to the Boat Lift and made our way to the Anderton Marina, where we left Xilion Rose and hired a car to motor back to Naphill where Annie had promised to take India to Disneyland Paris for her birthday. On our return to Xilion Rose, we set out for Heart Break Hill on the Trent and Mersey Canal and then on to the Macclesfield Canal and Peak Forest Canal. The Macclesfield was a total surprise as we had imagined it would travel through a very industrialised area, with factories and warehouses crowding in from both sides, but the opposite was in fact the case, and we found the two canals to be very open with super views over the surrounding hills and countryside.
On our return to the Trent and Mersey, we were instantly confronted with the the Hardcastle Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in the UK, at 2926 yards, and to make it seem worse, the “Tunnel Keeper” shuts big iron doors at each end as soon as you enter so that you can’t see the exit until you are right on it. We continued down the Trent and Mersey until we reached Great Haywood where we one again left Xilion Rose so that we could attend Stevens Round Table Ladies Festival, which was very enjoyable and raised loads of cash for local charities in the High Wycombe area. We returned to the boat and via a roundabout route (Via Stourport the River Severn and Worcester) we once again found ourselves on the North Stratford Canal, making for Kingswood and the Grand Union Canal to take us down to Aylesbury, on the way to Kingswood, we met up with our close friends Ann and Gerald on Hampshire Rose who intend to spend the winter “On Line” (i.e. Not in a marina or basin), after a booze evening with them, we finally joind the Grand Union on the 9th October for the last part of the 2011 cruise.

Sorry but there are still problems with the photos.