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

Alton's December 2012 Schedule

Well Winter has definitely arrived & it's been lovely to have some crisp, dry, sunny days. We've been keeping busy, working long hours as usual, but it's been lovely to meet lots of new customers as well as seeing our old regulars.

We're currently heading for Chester, dodging the stoppages, with North Gate Staircase opening earlier this week (ahead of schedule) & Church Minshull Lock closing for repairs on Monday 3rd December. Then it will be great to get back to see all our regular customers up on the northern T&M as the Croxton stoppage has also finished ahead of schedule.

We know we've got a another busy month ahead, but we're also looking forward to a chance to put our feet up & enjoy our Christmas holiday.

Below is our planned schedule for November:-

Wed 31st Oct - Fri 2nd Nov: Oakgrove Br49 Macc to Chester via Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Nantwich
Sat 1st - Sun 2nd: Barbridge to Chester, return
Mon 3rd - Tues 4th: Barbridge to Acton Bridge via Middlewich & Anderton
Wed 5th - Thurs 6th: Acton Bridge to Oakgrove Br49 Macc via Anderton, Middlewich, Kidsgrove, & Congleton
Fri 7th pm: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Sat 8th - Sun 9th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 10th - Tues 11th: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Marple & Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Thurs 13th - Fri 14th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylesden & Manchester Piccadilly
Mon 17th - Thurs 20th: Last Road deliveries before Christmas, around Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Anderton, Northwich, & River Weaver
Fri 21st - Sat 22nd: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Sun 23rd - Mon 24th: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Marple & Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Tues 25th - Wed 2nd Jan: Closed for Christmas Holidays .

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

The Team from Blue Ball Brewery.

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton from Chester's Roman Walls

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Second Delivery at the Cellar Bar Chester

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

First Delivery of CBAS IPA to Artichoke Bistro, Chester

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Ann Marie Samples the CBAS IPA on Alton's Chester Beer Run

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton with Cargo of Beer Aboard on Chester Locks

Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton's Blueball Brewery &CBAS Chester Beer Run

The weekend before last, Saturday 3rd November, we had an unusual job for Alton. Blue Ball Brewery at Runcorn http://www.blueballbrewery.com had brewed a old style special IPA to celebrate Chester Beer Appreciation Societies (CBAS)http://therealcbas.wordpress.com/ first birthday. They wanted to deliver the beer to canalside pubs in Chester & so approached us to see if we could help. We're always up for something new & if it involves good beer then even better.

We loaded the 6 barrels at Christleton & were joined by Mark & the guys from Blue Ball brewery. We gave them lessons in lock wheeling as we made our way down the locks into Chester. Our first delivery was at Artichoke Bistro http://www.artichokechester.co.uk/, which is in the iconic Steam Mill building. We stopped here for a sample of some of their fine ales & chat with quite a few people from CBAS that had come to see the delivery, the food looked lovely & we'll be heading back here again when we tie up in Chester. Andy from CBAS then helped unload the beer & after a few photos it was ceremoniously dropped down into the cellar. We finished our drinks (at least some of us did) & invited a few more guests on board Alton & headed a little further down the cut to the Cellar Bar http://www.thecellarchester.co.uk/index.html for our second delivery, this is a very pleasant modern style bar with good live music. By this time our brewery crew had caught up. We made our way around Chester's Roman Walls to Northgate staircase. We explained & demonstrated how the staircase worked & made our way down the locks accompanied by the flashes of cameras & the gaze of tourists. Our final drop was to Telfords Warehouse http://www.telfordswarehousechester.com/, a brilliantly situated pub over looking Chester Basin. We unloaded the last of the beer & had a good banter with the crew & assembled guests. We left the gang to get more beers in as we headed north towards our final destination of Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, but not before stopping as darkness fell at Stoak where we retired to the Bunbury Arms for a well earned pint & dinner. On Sunday after a very busy morning at Ellesmere Port, we returned to Chester & through Northgate Staircase before the stoppage commenced the next morning. We then joined by my Brother Mike & friends Viv & Jason at Kash Bar where we had an excellent evening drinking Blue Balls fine ales & good food. Amazingly we had no hangovers when we set off at 7.30 the next morning!
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton's Delivery Schedule Nov 2012

Well winter is rapidly approaching & our coal sales have definitely moved up a gear. We're planning on doing more of our longer Cheshire runs this winter (ice permitting) as were only really effected by the closure of Northgate Staircase in Chester prior to Christmas.

Obviously we're also effected by the well publicised T&M stoppages at Dutton & Croxton, but we will continue to deliver supplies by road on a fortnightly basis to our customers in the effected area.

Below is our planned schedule for November:-

Wed 31st Oct - Fri 2nd Nov: Oakgrove Br49 Macc to Chester via Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Nantwich
Sat 3rd: Delivering Blue Ball Breweries Beers to Canalside pubs in Chester
Sun 4th: Chester to Ellesmere Port, return
Mon 5th - Thurs 8th: Chester to Oakgrove Br49 Macc via Barbridge, Middlewich & Kidsgrove.
Thurs 8th pm: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Fri 9th: Road deliveries to areas effected by T&M breach including Anderton, Northwich, Barnton & River Weaver
Sat 10th - Sun 11th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 12th - Tues 13th: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Thurs 15th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton & Manchester Piccadilly
Thurs 22nd: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Fri 23rd : Road deliveries to areas effected by T&M breach including Anderton, Northwich, Barnton & River Weaver
Sat 24th - Sun 25th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 26th - Tues 27th: Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Wed 28th - Sun 2nd Dec: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Chester via Kidsgrove, Middlewich & Nantwich.


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

Alton's October 2012.

Well better late than never, here's the rest Alton's October schedule:-
Thurs 11th: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Fri 12th: Road deliveries to Northwich & Anderton as well as Hyde, Ashton & Manchester Piccadilly in the afternoon / evening.
Sat 13th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Marple
Sun 14th: Day off to help with the Canal Clean-up on the Lower Peak Forest & Ashton Canal
Mon 15th: Marple to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Tues 16th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Wed 17th :- Road deliveries to Anderton, Northwich
Fri 19th:- Road deliveries to Chester & Ellesmere Port
Sat 27th - Sun 28th: Oakgrove Br 45 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 29th - Tues 30th: Bugsworth to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc

Please note the above schedule is our plan but it may vary dependant on traffic, customer volumes & stoppages. 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

Breaks, Breaches & Banters

(Photo by Mike Askin of Victoria as we left the Anchor, High Offley, on the Shroppie).

The past month has been another hectic one (no change there!), but it started with a wonderful weeks break in Aldburgh, Suffolk to celebrated by Brother Mike's significant birthday. We walked on the beach, swam in the sea, had a wonderful tour of Adnams Brewery & Distillery with Headbrewer Fergus Fitzgerald & drank far too much Adnams ale & ate too much fish & chips.

We then had a family weekend in Peterborough we're our Niece Ellie was baptised & we where proud to be her Godparents.

Since then we've worked none stop & things are a bit of a blur! By Sunday 23rd of September we where moored on the river Weaver in Northwich in the teaming rain. Next morning the rain was still teaming down, we headed down river to Acton Bridge & Dutton Locks for deliveries, the river was starting to rise. We winded & made straight back for the Anderton Lift & back on the T&M. The rain got heavier as we headed back to Middlewich & the canal had flooded the towpath in a number of places, at Croxton water was flowing over the bank & a tree had fallen. At the aqueduct we could see the Dane had come right up. We locked up Big Lock, to find the Town pound flowing like a river due to the brook over flowing into it. We finally tied up for the night in darkness above Kings Lock. The rain continued for pretty much the next 2 days as we made our way back to Macclesfield looking like 2 drowned rats. Suffice to say that all this rain, then caused the breach at Dutton & damage to the embankment at Croxton which will significantly curtail our boating on this stretch of the T&M this winter.

Our plan had been to do our usual fortnightly run up to Whaley & head straight back to the Weaver for the Acton Bridge Steam Rally on the Weaver, but due to the T&M stoppages this wouldn't be possible. So instead we headed down to Nantwich on our regular run & thought about having a potter up the Llangollen. We knew we'd have a bit of a struggle getting through Hurleston Locks so decided to wait till evening to make our attempt. On entering the bottom lock we came to a stop within 6" of being able to shut the bottom gates. As soon as we tried to start flushing Alton in, boats arrived from all directions. So after shifting some of our load we backed out of the lock & decided to give the Llan a miss this time (we'll be back again though :-)).

Earlier in the day we'd seen our friend Mike Askin on the Royalty motor Victoria heading south from Nantwich, so we contacted Mike to see if he fancied meeting up the next night at one of my favourite pubs, the Anchor at High Offley & he was up for it.

We set of before dawn & had a fantastic day on a bit of cut that we'd not travelled on Alton before. The Sun shone as we made our way up, Audlem, Adderley, & Tyrely locks & we had a magical day boating down the Shroppie with the Wrekin keeping us company on the horizon to the west. We tied up before dark, grabbed some tea & headed to the Anchor. What a cracking night we had with Mike, Darren & Hazel as well as a few others. The 6X went down very well & the company was excellent, we talked "old boats" to our hearts content.

I've been trying desperately to update the blog for the last few nights, but I cannot keep my eyes open, so suffice to say :- To be continued......................

Night All!
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals

Alton's Delivery Schedule September 2012

(In photo our Nephew Ethan took to boating like a duck to water!)

We've had a fun month in August with plenty of boating as well as catching up with friends & family. We started out with our regular fortnightly run from Macclesfield to Whaley Bridge & back. Then our friends Dan & Emy came up to see us & we headed off with them to the International Citroen Car Club Meeting at Harrogate. We had 4 days of chilling out with friends, there where Citroens of every size shape & type, wonderful catering, (many from Citroen H vans), excellent entertainment & of course a superb range of beers at the real ale bar. By one of those amazing coincidences that show how small & intertwined the world of narrowboats & 2CVs are, we camped next to a couple with a french registered 2CV, they overhead our twitter name of "Coalboat" & came over to chat, it turned out they'd previously owned the tug Baltic, the Big Woolwich Greenlaw & also the tug White Heather, so we had a great time reminiscing with them.

The next week we had our Canadian rellies over to stay. Ann Marie's Sister Karen, Husband Brad & kids Josh, Ben & Ethan all really enjoyed their time staying with us on the boats. We visited Trentham Gardens where we got soaked in the rain but still had a fun day doing daft stuff like the barefoot walk, messing about in the maze & visiting the barbary macaques in the Monkey Forest. We also had a lovely day out boating down Bosley Locks to Congleton, everyone mucked in steering the boat, working the locks, pushing on shafts & even serving customers. On their last night we had a slap up meal at Dolce Vita in Marple followed by a visit to the brilliantly old fashioned Regent Cinema to see the mind boggling film Bourne Legacy .

After all that fun & frolics it was straight back to work with a full schedule of boating for myself & Ann Marie. For our first few days up to Bugsworth & back down the Macc we where joined by our good friend Tom Fletcher, who had come to experience a few days working boating with us. We put in some long hours to arrive at Ellesmere Port on Thursday eve, assisted as usual on the last leg by Alex from Bewitched. Having re-loaded we set off again for the T&M north, the Middlewich Branch was busy with Bank Holiday traffic queuing at the locks & the top of the T&M was hectic especially around the tunnels. It was a relief to get down the lift & onto the big water of the Weaver. We decided to run right down to the lower end of the river at Weston Point Docks which was nice & quiet. We stopped the night at Acton Bridge, before heading up river on Tuesday to the upper reach above Vale Royal Locks. By the following day we were back at Macclesfield to re-load diesel & solid fuel for our run once again to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth. The weather was pretty good & customers were very kind keeping us going with coffee & choc ices (thanks Sue on No59 & Sue on Carbis :-)) & even beer & wine of an evening thanks to the Crews of Verity Anne & Slicer. Once again we met some lovely folks, some for the first time, but best of all it's lovely to see some of our old regulars returning with tales of their summer jaunts, looking forward to seeing a few more of you in the coming weeks.

Anyway below is our planned schedule for September:-

Sat 1st - Sun 2nd: Oakgrove Br49 Macc to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 3rd: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Thurs 13th: Road deliveries to Hyde, Ashton & Manchester Piccadilly
Fri 14th: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Sat 15th - Sun 16th: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 17th: Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Tues 18th - Fri 21st: Oakgrove Br 49 Macc to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester & Ellesmere Port
Sat 22nd - Mon 24th: Ellesmere Port, to Chester, Middlewich, Preston Brook, Anderton & River Weaver
Tues 25th - Thurs 27th: River Weaver & back to Middlewich, Kidsgrove, Congleton & Oakgrove Br 49 Macc
Fri 28th: Road deliveries around Macclesfield & surrounding area
Sat 29th - Sun 30th: Oakgrove Br 45 Macc to Marple, Whaley Bridge & Bugsworth
Mon 1st Oct: Bugsworth to Oakgrove Br 49 Macc

Please note the above schedule is our plan but it may vary dependant on traffic, customer volumes & stoppages. 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