Frosty Mornings & Fendermaking

Well our New Years resolution of taking more time off went straight out of the window in March. The frosty cold snap kept us busy with fuel deliveries & the days in between were taken up with trying to keep up with fender orders & running two fendermaking courses. We do enjoy running these courses & we've been lucky to have such enthusiastic trainees that its been a great deal of fun passing on our skills & knowledge.

By the start of April we were well & truly ready for a few days break, so we went up to the Wirral to be with family to help celebrate my Dads 79th birthday with a lovely meal & a walk around Chester's Roman walls. Then last Sunday was our wedding anniversary so we had a stroll around Leek's excellent farmers market, followed by a steam train ride on the Churnet Valley Railway including up the Cauldon Lowe line to Ipstones, which was very interesting. We finished the day off with Dinner at the Black Lion at Consall Forge. This pub has a magical location beside the river Churnet, the Caldon Canal & the Churnet Valley Railway. With a good choice of local real ales & good value home cooked food it's well worth a visit if your boating on the Caldon.

So to our plans for this month, our April schedule is as follows:-

Thurs 3rd - Fri 4th: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester
Tues 8th - Thurs 10th: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Ellesmere Port, Northwich & River Weaver in addition Stoke, Stone and Audlem
Fri 11th : Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Sat 12th - Sun 13th: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield.
Mon 14th - Fri 18th: Oakgrove to Ellesmere Port via Congleton. Kidsgrove, Middlewich and Nantwich
Sat 19th - Sun 20th: Attending the Easter Boaters Gathering at Ellesmere Port see:- http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/national-waterways-museum/events/2014/04/18/easter-boat-gathering-and-sea-shanty-festival-at-the-national-waterways-museum-ellesmere-port
Mon 21st - Wed 23rd: Ellesmere Port River Weaver & Preston Brook, via Chester & Middlewich.
Thurs 24th - Fri 25th: Preston Brook to Oakgrove (br 49) Macc via Middlewich and Congleton
Sat 26th - Sun 27th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 28th: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield
Wed 30th: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester

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 & Ann Marie
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Stormy Start to 2014

Well 2014 has certainly got off to a stormy start, we've been battered by rain, hail & high winds, but you know us, we're out delivering whatever the weather. The weather has certainly tested out our boating skills, patience & determination. As usual our customers have been brilliant, keeping us going with good banter, coffees & even breakfast! (thanks Shaun & Sue on NB Whisper).

We're not really into new years resolutions but one thing we are determined to do in 2014 was to take a bit more time off. It's so easy when you work for yourself & love what you do to find that you're working all the hours god sends. But everyone needs some downtime so we're making a concerted effort to take some time out for ourselves as well as to spend time with friends & family. The weekend of 11/12th would have been my parents 50th wedding anniversary (my Mum passed away in 2012) so we decided to organise a McGuigan family weekend, where 3 generations could get together to celebrate. We had a lovely time staying with our friends the Fletchers near Hebden Bridge in their amazing home. We laughed, cried, ate, drank, chilled, reminisced, remembered & all in all had a great weekend! A fortnight later we were ready for more R&R, on another dire day we enjoyed foodie shopping at Macclesfield's Treacle Market, followed by me taking a walk up Teggs Nose whilst Ann Marie decided to do some baking :-). So we're determined to keep enjoying a little bit more down time each month.

With the recent stoppages at Booth Lane Locks & Middlewich, we've been doing all our Cheshire round by road deliveries. Hopefully we'll be able back delivering by boat during February as we've managed to get a "window" through the Middlewich stoppage, it'll be tight for time, but we'll crack on & give it our best shot!

So, this means that our schedule for Feb 2014 looks like this

Sat 1st - Sun 2nd Feb : Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 3rd - Tues 4th Feb: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield
Wed 5th - Thurs 6th Feb: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester
Tues 11th - Thurs 13th: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Ellesmere Port, Northwich & River Weaver in addition Stoke, Stone and Audlem
Fri 14th - Sun 16th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Sun 16th - Mon 17th. Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield.
Tues 18th - Fri 21st Oakgrove to Preston Brook via Congleton. Kidsgrove, Middlewich and Anderton
Fri 21st - Mon 24th Preston Brook to Ellesmere Port via Anderton, Middlewich, Nantwich and Chester
Mon 24th - Thurs 27th Ellesmere Port to Oakgrove (br 49) Macc via Chester, Barbridge, Middlewich and Congleton
Sat 1st - Sun 2nd March : Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 3rd - Tues 4th March: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield
Wed 5th - Thurs 6th March: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester

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
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Happy New Year & All The Best for 2014

Well we worked our socks off right up to Christmas eve, eve ;-). So we were determined to have a relaxing break over Christmas & New Year. We took a full week off, I think if we hadn't Ann Marie might have revolted! My Brother Mike came down to spend Christmas with us, I cooked my legendary scrambled eggs for a brunch & then Ann Marie gave us a lift into town to sample a pint or two at the Macc & the Wharf, followed by a canal walk back to along the canal. Ann Marie cooked us a fine Christmas Dinner. On Boxing Day, we blew the cobwebs away walking up on Sutton Common & Croker hill, followed by a pint & late lunch at the Church House in Sutton.
Then we went away for a long weekend down the South & West. We took our Acadyane on 2CVGB's raid Imber, joining 35 Citroen 2CV's green laning around Salisbury Plain, finishing at the deserted village of Imber. On the Sunday our good friends Dan & Emy had a bit of a house party with the band Blyth Power playing live. We had a great chilled out time catching up with friends old & new. Finally to New Year where my sister Fiona & 4 year old niece Ellie came to stay with us aboard Shirley. We had lots of visits to the park and a few more to the pub. This rounded off a great weeks break, leaving us refreshed and ready to tackle whatever 2014 has in store for us. So Happy New Year to all our family, friends, customers & supporters, wishing you a happy & healthy year ahead :-). So, on with our schedule for Jan 2014.
Thurs 2nd - Fri 3rd: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Ellesmere Port, Northwich & River Weaver
Sat 4th - Sun 5th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 6th - Tues 7th. Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield.
Wed 8th: Road deliveries to Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Ellesmere Port, Northwich & River Weaver
Thurs 9th - Fri 10th: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester
Mon 13th: Road deliveries to Caldon Canal, Stoke on Trent, Stone, Audlem & Manchester
Tue 14th & Thurs 16th: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc, Macclesfield Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Anderton & Preston Brook
Sat 18th - Sun 19th: Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 20th - Tues 21st: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & Macclesfield.
Tues 28th & Thurs 30th: Road deliveries to Cheshire Run inc, Macclesfield Congleton, Kidsgrove, Middlewich, Nantwich, Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Anderton & Preston Brook
Sat 1st - Sun 2nd Feb : Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) to Whaley Bridge via Macclesfield, Poynton & Marple
Mon 3rd - Tues 4th Feb: Return Whaley Bridge to Oakgrove (Br49 Macc) via Marple, Poynton & MacclesfieldWed 5th - Thurs 6th Feb: Road deliveries to Whaley Bridge, Hyde, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester
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

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


Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

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.



Renaissance Canal Carrying

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.

Renaissance Canal Carrying

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

Renaissance Canal Carrying

Heading back down the Macc at kerridge

Renaissance Canal Carrying