Alton's Schedule December 2013

Work has got rather hectic for us this month, we're grafting like mad & haven't had chance to update the blog with our December schedule till now, so better late then never:-

Mon 16th: Road deliveries to Anderton, Northwich & River Weaver
Tues 17th: Road deliveries to Stone, Audlem, Nantwich, Middlewich
Wed 18th: Road deliveries to Chester, Beeston, Calverley, Nantwich & River Weaver
Fri 20th to Sun 22nd: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Bollington, Poynton & Marple
Mon 23rd to Tues 24th: Return from Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Wed 25th to Wed 1st Jan: Closed for the Christmas Holidays.

Please note this is our planned schedule, which may be subject to change due to traffic, customer volume, stoppages & weather. If you require supplies, to ensure delivery please text or call us on 07791345004.

Cheers, Brian

Renaissance Canal Carrying


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Competition Hots Up For Autumn & Alton's November 2013 Schedule

Well there's a definite autumnal chill in the air & boaters have got their stoves lit. For us it's been a case of the competition is hotting up too ;-). Around 10th October four Coalboats came through Barbridge Junction, Alton was one of them. Lots of customers have phoned, texted, emailed & talked to us in person regarding Coalboats trading on the same areas. We've always said, that we admire anyone who wants to seriously earn their living from the inland waterways & running a coalboat requires a huge amount of hard work mixed with passion & dedication with a sprinkling of good luck. There's a long history of Number Ones on the cut & long may it continue. Competition is good for customers, it means we will strive to sell quality products at competitive prices, whilst providing a regular reliable deliveries with a friendly service. We're going to keep thing positive & friendly, so far our customers have stuck with us loyally & we want it to stay that way. Please continue to give us your feedback, what products & services you want & we'll aim to provide them.

So, on with our schedule for Nov 2013, which with a little help from our friends at CRT looks like this:-

Fri 1st- Sat 2nd: Barbridge to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum
Sat 2nd - Sun 3rd: Ellesmere Port Boat Museum to Nantwich
Mon 4th - Wed 6th: Nantwich to Preston Brook via Middlewich & Anderton
Wed 6th - Fri 8th: Preston Brook to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton
Sat 9th - Sun 10th: Oakgrove to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 11th - Tues 12th- Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield.
Tues 12th: Working with CRT, IWA & Macclesfield Canal Society, working Party on bridgehole clearance at Br20 & 21 Macclesfield Canal
Wed 13th - Thurs 14th: Road deliveries on Caldon Canal, Whaley Bridge, Macclesfield, Poynton, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester
Fri 15th & Mon 18th: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Anderton & Preston Brook
Fri 22nd - Sun 24th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 25th - Sat 30th: Whaley Bridge to Ellesmere Port via Marple, Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Barbridge & Chester

Please note this is our planned schedule, which may be subject to change due to traffic, customer volume, stoppages & weather. If you require supplies, to ensure delivery please text or call us on 07791345004.

Cheers, Brian
Renaissance Canal Carrying

Preparations for Winter & Alton's Schedule October 2013

After our September Cheshire run, we returned to Ashton Packet Boat Company for more repairs & maintenance, this time in their covered wet dock. Jobs being done by Steve & the team included new shutts (false floors) in the hold, repairs to our wooden back cabin & re-painting. As usual they did a cracking job in a short time frame, meaning that Alton is in pretty good condition for hopefully a busy Autumn & Winter ahead.

Our schedule for October 2013 is as follows:-

Fri 27th Sept - Wed 2nd: Whaley Bridge to Preston Brook via Marple, Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Anderton
Thurs 3rd - Fri 4th: Preston Brook to River Weaver via Anderton Boat Lift
Sat 5th - Sun 6th: Acton Bridge Steam Gathering at the Leigh Arms, River Weaver
Sun 6th - Tues 8th Anderton to Ellesmere Port via Middlewich, Nantwich & Chester
Wed 9th - Sun 13th: Ellesmere Port to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth via Chester, Barbridge, Middlewich, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Macclesfield & Marple
Mon 14th - Tues 15th: Bugsworth Basin to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc), via Marple
Sat 19th - Sun 20th: Fendermaking Course at Audlem Mill
Sat 26th - Sun 27th: Oakgrove (Br 49 Mac)to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield & Marple
Mon 28th - Tues 29th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc), via Marple & Macclesfield


Please note this is our planned schedule, which may be subject to change due to traffic, customer volume, stoppages & weather. If you require supplies, to ensure delivery please text or call us on 07791345004.

Cheers, Brian

Renaissance

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Alton's Docking & September Schedule

Last month it was time for Alton's Biennial Docking for blacking & hull maintenance. We used the side slip at Ashton Packet Boat Company which is a great bit of kit that enables us to be able to get under the boat easily & check the hull & make any repairs. Mike the surveyor came out to check over the hull. No major problems were found, but some additional shoeing was needed to protect the chine angle & a few other jobs were required. Alan set to with the welding, Steve & I got busy with the blacking and within a week Alton was back in the water. Big thanks to Steve, Alan, Bob & all the folk at Ashton Packet boat company.

We're now setting off on our first big coal run of the autumn & it's great to get some big deliveries of coal in our order book as customers start stocking up their supplies. So we're looking forward to a busy couple of weeks before returning to Ashton Packet for more work on Alton's, cabin work this time :-).

Our schedule for September 2013 is as follows:-

Sun 1st - Wed 4th: Whaley Bridge to Preston Brook via Marple, Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Anderton
Thurs 5th - Fri 6th: Preston Brook to River Weaver via Anderton Boat Lift
Sat 7th - Sun 8th: Anderton to Ellesmere Port via Middlewich, Nantwich & Chester
Mon 9th - Sun 15th: Ellesmere Port to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth via Chester, Barbridge, Middlewich, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Macclesfield & Marple
Sun 15th - Mon 16th: Bugsworth Basin to Ashton under Lyne, via Marple
Tues 17th - Wed 25th: Cabin repairs to Alton
Thurs 26th - Fri 27th: Ashton under Lyne to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge via Marple
Sat 28th - Sun 29th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc), via Marple & Macclesfield
Mon 30th - Thurs 3rd Oct: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Preston Brook via Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Anderton

Please note this is our planned schedule, which may be subject to change due to traffic, customer volume, stoppages & weather. If you require supplies, to ensure delivery please text or call us on 07791345004.

Cheers, Brian

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Spanish Citroen Sojourn

It's time for our Biannual journey to the World Meeting of 2CV Friends. This year it's in Alcaniz, Spain. We arrived on Tuesday & it's been scorching with temperatures in the high 30's. We've caught up with friends we haven't seen in ages, sampled the local beers (Ambar Especial being the beer of choice at the moment), wines & sangria and admired a great selection of A series Citroens.

We're camped on the hillside over looking the Motorland racing circuit. The sun is waking us before 9, but by about noon it's becoming too hot to do much, so it's time to find some shade down by the lake have some cool drinks and catch a siesta. There's been various activities such as engine building & 2CV chassis changes as well as a wide selection of music including some local bands playing which went down well. Anyway I'm getting shouted at that it's my round so I'd better get back to my hol, Salut!

Whilst we're away George & Craig are back on board, working Alton for the first weekend of the month. So a big thank you to them for enabling us to get away.

Alton's Schedule for Aug 2013 is as follows;-).

Sat 3rd - Sun 4th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge via Marple
Tues 5th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Sat 17th - Sun 18th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge via Marple
Mon 19th: Bugswoth to Ashton-Under-Lyne via Marple.



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Out on a Lymm & Alton's Schedule July 2013

We might have had to miss out on one of our favourite events, Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival but we were determined to get up & running for Lymm Transport Festival. We just about made it having suffered a few teething problems with the new engine on route, thanks again to Tim Leech for his help before, during & after the Lymm event. Anyway it was well worth the effort, Lymm was a lovely festival, one of the highlights from the boating point of view was the wideboats Severn (L&L short boat) & the West Country Keel Pauline. It was a lovely weekend with a great atmosphere. There was all kinds of transport from bicycles to horse drawn milkfloats, Citroen 2CV's to Ford F100 pick ups as well as some tractors & agricultural machinery. On Sunday afternoon there was a parade of boats which I had fun doing an informal commentary to the crowd on the bank around Alton.

Anyway, a bit later than planned, here's Alton's Schedule for July 2013

Thurs 4th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylesden & Manchester
Sat 6th - Sun 7th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth Basin
Mon 8th - Thurs 11th: Bugsworth Basin to Ellesmere Port via Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Barbridge & Chester
Fri 12th - Sat 13th: Ellesmere Port to Anderton, via Chester, Barbridge & Middlewich
Sun 14th: River Weaver
Mon 15th Anderton to Preston Brook
Wed 17th to Fri 19th: Preston Brook to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton
Sat 20th - Sun 21st: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth Basin
Mon 22nd: Bugsworth Basin to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)

Don't forget, the above is our planned schedule but this may be subject to change due to traffic, stoppages, customer volumes, pub stops or other things outside our control. So if you do need supplies, to ensure delivery please give us a call or text on 07791345004 & we'll arrange delivery.

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Petter Problems - Alton gets a new PD2M

Things didn't quite go to plan for us last month. We had a good run down to Etruria & a lovely weekend at the rally catching up with old friends & making new ones. Then it was going to be a case of boating back up to Whaley Bridge for our regular round & straight back down to Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival. However on our way back from Whaley Alton's Petter PD2M started making a horrible clattering/knocking noise.

We tied up at Marple and Jim Ling, Tim Leech & Charles Mills all came to pronounce the death sentence on the engine! It looks like a big end had gone. We borrowed a boat to tow Alton back to Oakgove which Ann Marie said was her worst days boating ever ;-) ! Back at base our good mate Paul Dawson set too with the spanners, he's been an absolute star as usual. We hunted for a replacement engine & found a couple. Steve Priest had an engine that had been rebuilt but need re-assembling, he worked wonders & had the engine finished by Sunday ready for us too collect. It was good fun getting it into the van! Monday saw us at Stafford Coal Yard to unload the engine & use their forklift to help assemble the engine & box, before using the Hiab to crane them back into Alton. The following day Paul & Tim, completed the installation, making sure the engine was carefully aligned. So all in all, back up & running in a week wasn't bad.

Finally huge thanks to everyone who helped us including George Boyle, Pete Sharp, Jim Ling, Tim Leech, Charles Mills, Steve Priest, Dennis Wellburn & most of all Paul Dawson. The offers of help, advice & support were wonderful, it really is a great community on the cut!


Renaissance Canal Carrying

Rally Season - Alton's Schedule June 2013

Well hopefully summer has finally arrived & we can maybe enjoy a bit of sunshine on the cut. June is usually a busy month for us, trying to support as many local rallies as possible whilst still maintaining our regular deliveries to customers.
Note: - With that in mind we're made a slight change to our regular run from Macc to Whaley Bridge as the last run of the month will be a few days later than usual as we're attending the Lymm Transport Festival, which will be our first time at this event & we just fancied attending something a little different.

Alton's June 2013 schedule is as follows:-

Sat 1st - Sun 2nd: Etruria Canal Festival
Mon 3rd: Etruria to Oakgrove (Macc Br49) via Kidsgrove & Congleton
Sat 8th - Sun 9th: Oakgrove (Macc Br49) to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth Basin via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 10th - Wed 12th: Bugsworth Basin to Ellesmere Port via Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich & Chester
Thurs 13th - Fri 14th: Ellesmere Port to Middlewich via Chester & Barbridge Jn
Sat 15th - Sun 16th: Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival
Mon 17th - Wed 19th: Middlewich to River Weaver via Anderton Boat Lift
Thurs 20th - Fri 21st: River Weaver to Lymm via Anderton Boat Lift
Sat 22nd - Sun 23rd: Lymm Historic Transport Festival.
Mon 24th - Tuesday 25th: Lymm to Oakgrove (Macc Br49) - Route undecided :-)
Wed 26th - Fri 28th: Oakgrove to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth or Vice Versa :-)
Sun 30th: Marple Locks Festival

Don't forget, the above is our planned schedule but this may be subject to change due to traffic, stoppages, customer volumes, pub stops or other things outside our control. So if you do need supplies, to ensure delivery please give us a call or text on 07791345004 & we'll arrange delivery.

Also you can now track Alton's progress on waterexplorer.co.uk or follow "Coalboat" on Twitter

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Steam Tug Kerne at Acton Bridge, River Weaver, at Dusk

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Traction Engine Lucy Ashton, blowing out the candle on her 100th Birthday Cake.

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Steam Roller Old Ernie at Acton Bridge.

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Steamy Celebrations on the Weaver

Well as usual we've kept ourselves busy throughout the merry month of May and that old saying "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out" proved true again. The bad weather has certainly helped our coal sales keep ticking over.

Over the weekend of 18/19th May we were invited to attend the Steam Tug Kearne's 100th Birthday Celebrations at Acton Bridge and what a great weekend it was! We were made to feel very welcome & got a full guided tour of Kerne, from down in the boiler room & engine room through to the Captains cabin & up to the wheelhouse, what a magnificent vessel. Kerne was joined by quite a few steam engines including Steam Roller Old Ernie & Traction Engine Lucy Ashton both also celebrating their 100th Birthdays this year. One of the highlights for us, was for the Traction Engine Fred (restored by Fred Dibnah) & steered by Fred's son Richard coming down to the Weaver to load up it's bunker with coal from Alton's hold, what an honour! It brought a great smile to my face.

Suffice to say a great steamy weekend was had by all, with plenty of nattering & brews of tea during the day & lots more nattering & pints of beer during the night!


Renaissance Canal Carrying

May 2013 - Alton's Schedule

April was another busy month we had a great time at the Easter Gathering at Ellesmere Port and it was great to see so many other fuel boats at the Port & catch up with their crews. Since then we've managed to do another Cheshire Run & finally over the past few days it seems like spring has finally arrived. There's lambs in the fields, ducklings on the cut & daffs & primroses on the banks & swallows in the air :-).

Well it's the 1st of May so time to update our schedule as follows:-

Wed 1st: Red Bull to Oakgrove (Br 49 Macc)
Thurs 2nd: Road Deliveries to Caldon Canal, Macclesfield, Manchester Piccadilly
Sat 4th - Sun 5th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge
Mon 6th - Tues 7th: Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge to Droylesden, via Marple, Hyde, & Ashton Under Lyne
Tues 7th - Wed 8th: Ashton under Lyne to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple
Sat 11th - Sun 12th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge
Mon 13th: Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Tues 14th - Fri 17th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to River Weaver via Congleton, Kidsgrove & Middlewich
Sat 18th - Sun 19th: River Weaver to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum via Middlewich & Chester
Mon 20th - Thurs 23rd: Ellesmere Port Boat Museum to Oakgrove (Br 49 Macc) via Chester, Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton
Sat 25th - Sun 26th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge
Mon 27th: Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Thurs 30th - Fri 31st: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Etruria Canal Festival via Congleton & Kidsgrove
Sat 1st - Sun 2nd June : At Etruria Canal Festival, demonstrating fendermaking, drinking beer & catching up with friends :-)

Don't forget, the above schedule is our plan, but is subject to change due to stoppages, traffic, customers, pub stops etc. So if you do need supplies, to ensure delivery please give us a call or text on 07791345004.

Also you can track us on waterexplorer.co.uk or follow "Coalboat" on Twitter.


Renaissance Canal Carrying

Alton's Easter 2013 Run to the Port Part 2

Sunday morning we were up at first light handballing many tonnes of supplies onto Alton, conditions were pretty treacherous with ice, snow & blustery winds. By 2pm we'd finally finished our reloading & set off. The ice & snow on Bosley Locks was phenomenal & we had a steady run down, taking things carefully. We had quiet a few customers, some of them quite surprised to see us still working in such conditions, others knowing we'd keep on battling through. We finally tied up at Congleton Wharf in darkness. We were on a tight schedule so we needed to make an early start each day. Next morning we reached Scholar Green as folks sensible folks were rising & got busy with customers who were very pleased to see us including Kay on Que Sara, who even gave us coffee to go ;-). Round at Hall Green stop, our good friend Graham off Daphne had the lock set & he was a great help for the rest of the day down the Cheshire Locks. It was great to catch up with Graham & we all worked well as a team together. We tied up for the night in Middlewich, Graham headed off to get a train home, whilst I made a last few coal deliveries to some local houses & the Kings Lock pub. On my return to the boat a police car pulled up & a WPC got out. Apparently the police had received a call that someone had been seen acting suspiciously with a wheelbarrow! It took a while for the young officer to be convinced I was legitimate in my nocturnal deliveries as she couldn't quiet believe someone still carried coal "on a barge" :-). Anyway, we managed to grab some fish & chips for tea & put our feet up.

Up at 6am Tuesday morning, we had the Middlewich locks to ourselves. Our first customers of the day where up & waiting below Big Lock, then it was the lovely winding pound. We were kept busy with customers at the flashes, Orchard Marina & Anderton. Our aim was to get to Acton Bridge to deliver to Davenports Farm shop, we had a good run & I set about deliveries with the Barrow whilst Ann Marie winded Alton & returned. We decided to crack on back through the tunnels & as darkness fell we were still serving customers around Anderton. We finally tied up outside the Old Broken Cross pub & grabbed a well earned pint.

We needed to be at Nantwich to reload on Thursday morning so I made for an early start, leaving before dawn & rousing Ann Marie from her slumber just before we reached Middlewich. We made our way up the locks, calling in to Middlewich Narrowboats with supplies on the way. Out on the Middlewich Branch the blustery winds had got up again, making it very difficult to get in to serve customers. We took a left at Barbridge Junction & got busy for a couple of hours making deliveries. We finally reached Nantwich about 7pm, we were just serving a customer when we saw Mike Askin on fuelboat Victoria & James Bills & friends Karoline & Ali on fuel boat Archemedies heading towards us. We had a quick natter with them & as they were planning to tie up for the night we all arranged to meet up at the Black Lion for tea and a coalboaters banter. We had a cracking night in the pub, catching up on each others news & talking coal & diesel (yawn!) & finally got thrown out after midnight.

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Snow Drifts at Bridge 30 Macc, nr Kerridge

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Heading back down the Macc at kerridge

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Water Levels were down about 5 & 1/2" on the Upper Peak Forest & Macc summit

Over the past month we're really struggled with low water levels on the Peak Forest & Macc. We've made numerous calls to CRT & been so frustrated by there slow response & general lack of understanding of our problem. I'm really trying hard to bite my tongue & work with them.
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Alton's Easter 2013 Run to the Port Part One

We set off from Oakgrove on Thursday 21st March heading up to Whaley & Buggy. We had a good run with a fair load on & tied up that night by Higgins Clough Swingbridge, Disley. The weather was pretty cold & we set off early Friday morning to a good covering of snow. We enjoyed boating through the lovely snow covered valley, but it was fairly bitter. Despite being out only a week earlier, due to the weather we were kept busy with coal sales. We winded & Buggy & whaley, but were struggling with low water (down 5 & 1/2", eventually CRT found that a feeder was blocked) & were stuck for an hour at bridge 22 lift bridge. After an exhausting day we finally tied up back at High Lane in Darkness, grabbed some tea & crawled into bed. Another prompt start saw us serving our first customers at Middlekayle at 8am, we continued to be busy selling coal & struggling with low water levels, finally returning to Oakgrove at 9pm with an empty boat & exhausted again :-)
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Winter Returns & Alton's Schedule April 2013

Well winter has certainly returned with a vengeance & we've been working our socks off. We had a great run to Ellesmere Port for the Easter Gathering which we attend every year. I'll try & find time to write a blog post & some photos over the next few days. In the meantime here is Alton's schedule for April 2013:-

Mon 1st - Wed 3rd: Ellesmere Port to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Chester, Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton.
Thurs 4th: Road deliveries around Macclesfield, Whaley Bridge & Caldon Canal. Fri 5th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Picaddilly.
Sat 6th - Sun 7th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge via Macc, Bollington, Poynton & Marple.
Mon 8th - Tues 9th: Return Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Wed 10th - Fri 12th: General road deliveries to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Anderton & River Weaver
Sat 20th - Sun 21st: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge via Macc, Bollington, Poynton & Marple.
Mon 22nd - Tues 23rd: Return Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Wed 24th - Fri 26th: Oakgrove to River Weaver (via Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Anderton & Acton Bridge)
Sat 27th - Mon 29th: River Weaver to Ellesmere Port (via Middlewich, Nantwich & Chester)
Mon 29th - Thurs 2nd May: Ellesmere Port to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) (via Barbridge, Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton).

Please note the above schedule is our plan, but this is subject to change due to stoppages, weather conditions, traffic or customer demand. If you do need supplies, to ensure delivery please call or text you order to us on 07791345004.
Renaissance Canal Carrying

Audlem Mill Fendermaking Course March 2013

Last weekend we ran one of our twice yearly fendermaking course at the wonderful Audlem Mill. As always Peter & Christine made us very welcome. We had a full complement of 5 trainees, Jim (Chertsey & Bakewell) Frank & Lesley (Black Swan) and our good friends Dan & Emy. After a brief introduction, we soon got the rope out and started work. The first project was making a side fender, we started off by binding the ropes together with a nice simple packing knot, this took a while for some of us to perfect, but we all got there in the end. Then we started to crown our side fenders & gradually they took shape. We stopped for a delicious lunch of cottage pie (meat & veggie versions available) & by early afternoon we all had at least one side fender complete.

Next we started preparing the core for our button fenders, we used 36mm rope to form 4 cheeses, which we bound with the packing knot again. Gradually we bound the cheeses of rope & the chains together. By 4pm we were all well on our way to completing our cores.

I had a pleasant (pre-birthday) evening, celebrating with Ann Marie, Dan & Emy, having a few pints of fine ale at the Wharf in Macc followed by an excellent italian meal at Briscola in Bollington.

Sunday morning came round all too quickly, but everyone was keen to crack on with their button cores & very soon we all had a good strong basis of a fender. Starting hitching & setting the spine of the covering is one the trickiest parts, so we took some time & care to get this right. By lunchtime our button fenders were starting to take shape. Christine cooked us a wonderful all day breakfast which we all enjoyed tucking in to.

During the afternoon we got into the rhythm of hitching & learnt how to add in more rope using the fendermakers splice. Dan was the first to finish producing a very creditable button fender. With a final encouragement of coffee & cream cakes, one by one we finished our fenders. The look of satisfaction on everyone's faces was a picture as you can see in the photo. We'll be looking out for some very well made fenders proudly adorning their owners boats over the coming weeks.

So a big thank you to Jim, Lesley, Frank, Dan & Emy for being such a good friendly, down to earth bunch. Also a huge thank you to Peter & Christine for their organising hosting & catering, they always make us so welcome at Audlem Mill. If you are interested in canal crafts & books see there website http://www.audlemmill.co.uk/ or call in for a warm welcome.
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Flippin' Freezin' February & Alton's Schedule March 2013

Well it's been a rather nippy month but it's been lovely to catch some dry, sunny days too :-).

Over 16th - 19th Feb we did our usual run from Oakgrove to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge. The weather was amazing, with clear sunshine during the day & a frost at night. Everyone was in such a good mood to finally see some proper sun, fishermen greeted us with a cheery "Ow Do?", ramblers smiled and called "Good morning", farmers out in the fields were whistling away & our customers where in such a good mood, it seemed liked we'd brought the sun with us & they were delighted to see us :-).

We had a good, busy run, arriving at Bugsworth Basin after dark on Sunday eve. We retired to the Navvy to grab some tea & sample some of their fine ales in the company of the lovely Sue & Dave on nb Beefur, Frank & Tracey on nb Cuthbert & our good friend George Boyle. A good evening was had by all swapping boaty stories & catching up on the towpath telegraph.

On Monday morning we were busy straight away serving customers at Buggy Basin, after supplying Sue & Dave on Beefur, we met up with Martin Fuller & his partner on the hansom tug Cutter. After we bunkered them up with solid fuel, Martin very kindly gave us a quick tour of his boat. Cutter had a lovely feel to it, Martin crafted the boat himself, it was full of clever & quirky innovations, even the solid fuel stove with back boiler for heating & hot water had been designed & built by Martin.

The sun continued to shine as we made our way up to Whaley Bridge & back along the Peak Forest Canal to Marple. I hopped off the boat nr Strines to get a few photo's of Alton from Marple Ridge, they didn't turn out too bad but the view of the valley I was hoping to get in the background was a bit misty.

At Marple we stopped for a couple of deliveries to canalside houses before tieing up at Adlington & sampling a pint of Deuchars IPA at the Miners Arm's (under new owners), first pint was poor, but replaced with pint from fresh barrel.

We awoke to a frozen canal on the Tuesday morning, but the sun showed it's face again, so we thoroughly enjoyed our icebreaking back to Oakgrove. It was just so lovely to have a run with no rain & despite the frosty weather it was great to see everyone having such a sunny disposition :-).

Well it's the 1st of March so time to update our schedule as follows:-

Sat 2nd - Sun 3rd: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge
Mon 4th - Tues 5th: Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Wed 6th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylesden & Manchester Piccadilly
Thurs 7th - Fri 8th: Road deliveries to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester & Ellesmere Port
Sat 9th - Sun 10th: Fendermaking Course at Audlem Mill
Wed 13th: Road deliveries locally around Macclesfield & Poynton etc
Thurs 14th - Fri 15th: Road deliveries to Middlewich, Anderton, Northwich & River Weaver
Sat 16th - Mon 18th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge
Fri 22nd - Sat 23rd: Bugsworth Basin & Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc)
Sun 24th - Wed 27th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to River Weaver via Congleton, Kidsgrove & Middlewich
Thurs 28th - Fri 29th: River Weaver to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum Easter Boaters Gathering via Middlewich & Chester
Sat 30th - Sun 31st: At Ellesmere Port Boat Museum Boaters Gathering

We love the atmosphere at the Easter Gathering at the Port, if your there feel free to knock on Alton's cabinside & have a cuppa & a natter.
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Alton's February 2013 Schedule

Our planned schedule for this February is as follows:-

Sat 2nd - Sun 3rd: Oakgove (Macc Br 49) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge
Mon 4th - Tues 5th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br 49 Macc)
Wed 6th - Thurs 7th: Road Deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylesden & Manchester Picadilly
Fri 8th - Sun 10th: Road deliveries to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Wheelock, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester & Ellesmere Port.
Wed 13th - road deliveries locally to Macclesfield, Poynton etc
Thurs 14th - Fri 15th: Road deliveries to Middlewich, Anderton, Northwich & River Weaver
Sat 16th - Sun 17th: Oakgrove (Macc Br 49) to Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge
Mon 18th - Tues 19th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br 49 Macc)
Wed 20th - Fri 22nd : Road deliveries to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Wheelock, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester & Ellesmere Port.
Wed 27th - road deliveries locally to Macclesfield, Poynton etc
Thurs 28th - Fri 1st March: Road deliveries to Middlewich, Anderton, Northwich & River Weaver

Please note the above schedule is our plan but it may vary dependent on traffic, customer volumes, stoppages and weather. So if you need supplies or have any questions just give us a call or text on 07791 345004 to ensure delivery.

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Ann Marie in Action with her New Barrow

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton Icebreaking at Danes Moss on the Macclesfield Canal

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

January 2013 - White & Wintery

Well winter hit us with full force. We managed to complete our first coal round of 2013 from Macclesfield to Whaley Bridge with ease. Then on 19th January we set out from Oakgove breaking ice, by late morning we old only got as far as Danes Moss, only about a mile, so we decided to admit defeat and reverse back to the wharf. We contacted our customers and set about he long job of delivering by road. The van & wheelbarrows were worked long & hard as we made our way round the side roads, down farm tracks, across fields & along icy towpaths. Once again everyone pulled together & helped us with our deliveries & kept us going with plenty of hot cuppas. 

We had also planned a longer coal run to Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Ellesmere Port, & Anderton, but again due to the ice, we had to deliver by road. With all these road deliveries we've decided to purchase a new (to us) larger van, so we've now got a big CItroen Relay.

Anyway, Alton is now all re-loaded with supplies and tomorrow morning we're boating off towards Bugsworth & Whaley Bridge, it'll be great to be boating again :-)

PS: This is by first posting on my new iPad, so bear with me if it doesn't come out quite right, I'm still finding my way with it. 

Happy New Year 2013

Well we had a wonderfully busy month in December including a fun filled Christmas Cheer Run delivering bottle of Blueball Brewery beer to all our customers. A huge THANK YOU! to all our loyal customers who've supported us throughout the year, we really would be lost without you. Thanks also for all the lovely cards & gifts, we really don't expect them but they do touch are hearts.

We had a very relaxing Christmas break, it was lovely to kick back & not do too much at all, other than eat, drink & be merry.

We've now thrown ourselves back into work with renewed energy. So here's to you all having a happy & healthy 2013.

Below is our planned schedule for January:-

Wed 2nd - Fri 4th : Road deliveries around Macclesfield, Anderton & River Weaver
Sat 5th - Sun 6th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 7th - Tues 8th: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Marple & Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Wed 9th - Thurs 10th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylesden & Manchester Piccadilly
Fri 11th - Sun 13th: Road deliveries, around Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Ellesmere Port Anderton, Northwich, & River Weaver
Sat 19th - Sun 20th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 21st - Tues 22nd: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Marple & Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Tues 22nd - Sat 26th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Ellesmere Port via Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich & Chester.
Sun 27th - Tues 29th: Ellesmere Port to Acton Bridge, via Chester, Barbridge, Middlewich & Anderton.
Wed 30th - Thurs 31st Anderton to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc via Middlewich, Kidsgrove & Congleton.


Please note the above schedule is our plan but it may vary dependant on traffic, customer volumes & stoppages & ice. So if you need supplies or have any question please give us a call or text on 07791345004 to ensure delivery.


Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals