Alton is now a Star Class

Alton is again a star in a class of her own. For the next few days and again at intervals through the year we will have a Japanese TV crew aboard. They are producing a programme about the waterways and the English countryside. So don't worry if we look a bit mob handed as we make our deliveries. If any of our customers don't want to be filmed, just ask politely and we will cease filming.

Tonight we are moored at Higgins Clough Swing Bridge and had a lovely meal with the film crew at the Conti Italian Restaurant in Disley.

Tomorrow we plan to deliver from Disley, through Marple, Poynton and Macclesfield to Fools Nook
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Stoppage @ Grimshaw Lane Aqueduct, Bollington

Today we have been down to Bollington to check on progress on the stoppage. We have been assured by both BW and the contractors May Gurney that the aqueduct will be rewatered by 2pm tomorrow, so we should be fine for our journey down onto the River Weaver and to Ellesmere Port Boaters Gathering.

One thing that we could see that was really hampering the contractors was the shear amount of silt on the aqueduct and wharf, this despite the fact that this whole area of canal was being dredged by Blue Boar in January to March, though a lack of joined up thinking meant that they didn't dredge this area first.

Anyway we will be very glad to see many of our customers by boat for the first time in 5 months.
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Spring Clean & Maintenance

Well now that spring is here and we are getting ready to set off for Ellesmere Port, it's time to get a few jobs done. Ann Marie has been painting the cabin roof, tidying the cabin and restocking supplies. Brian has been going round with grease gun & oil can, changed the oil in the Petter PD2 and a few other jobs.

We now stock a wide range of good quality Morris Oils & Greases including 10W/30, 10W/40, 15W/40, 20W/50, SAE 30 & SAE 40 as well as stern tube grease & multi-purpose grease.
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Easter Schedule 2010

Our Schedule Below is dependent upon the Bollington, Grimshaw Lane Aqueduct stoppage being completed by Sat 27th March.

Friday 26th March: Saturday 27th March: Whaley Bridge - Gurnett( Macclesfield)
Sunday 28th March: Tuesday 30th March: Gurnett (Macclesfield) - Anderton
Wednesday 31st March: River Weaver
Thursday 1st April - Friday 2nd April: Anderton - Ellesmere Port
Saturday 3 April - Sunday 4th April: at Ellesmere Port Easter Gathering
Monday 5th April - Friday 9th April: Ellesmere port -M'wich - Fools Nook (Macc)
Saturday 10th April - Sunday 11th April: Fools Nook (Macc) - Whaley Bridge

If you require any supplies just give us a call, text, or e-mail and let us know your order

A Few More Photos from the Audlem Mill Fendermaking Course

Here is a few more photos of our apprentices Colin (nb Collette),Susy (nb Orma Grace), Nick (nb Journeyman), Colin (nb Pelestry).

Ellesmere Port BW Trade Meeting

On Thursday 11th March I attended the BW Trade Meeting at Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. It was a reasonably useful meeting with a chance to vent my frustration regarding our problems with the stoppages this winter. We also heard a bit more about BWs plans to introduce "Operators Licences", and I just hope this doesn't significantly increase our operating costs or bureaucracy.

Anyway whilst I was there I managed to see a few coasters on the ship canal and it was good to see progress being made on the repairs on the wide locks (especially as this involved putting historic working boats to good use)

Fendermaking Course at Audlem Mill

This weekend saw us gluttons for punishment running our Spring Fendermaking Course. What a fun weekend it was with a good gang of apprentices getting stuck in and learning new skills. We had Colin (nb Collette), Suzi (nb Orma Grace) Nick (nb Journeyman) and Colin (nb Pelestry). Saturday saw us making a pair of side fenders, this was slow going at first but soon everyone picked up the technique of crowning and went home with at least 2 side fenders.

Sunday started of frosty but the atmosphere in the workshop was warm and friendly with plenty of banter as we all got to know one another. In the morning we completed our button fender cores, then the half hitching commenced in earnest. By the end of the weekend everyone had sore hands but beaming smiles, happy with thier achievements. We have been asked if we will consider running a more advanced fendermaking workshop, so if there is sufficient demand we will arrange one this winter.


A big thank you to Peter & Christine of Audlem Mill, for being such wonderful hosts for the course, keeping us supplied with coffee, tea, biscuits and cakes. As well as providing lovely home cooked lunches, we really appreciate the effort you go to. If anyone is passing through Audlem do pop in and make use of thier super shop.

Well done to Colin, Suzi, Nick & Colin, you were a great bunch - keep on knitting!

BW Maintenance Work on the Macc

This winter has been a frustrating one for us with scheduled stoppages not starting on time, exasperated by poor communication of these changes from BW. However we are very happy that some significant maintenance work is actually taking place.

At Marple the very poor moorings between bridges 2 & 3 have been the subject of a lot of work including dredging & piling, we just hope they are now deep enough to get Alton somewhere near the bank.

Current Prices March 2010

Our current price list for fuels is as follows:-

Diesel 68p/l base price (plus appropriate propulsion duty at your chosen declaration)
Taybrite (20Kg) - £8.50
Pureheat (20Kg) - £8.25
Anthracite (20Kg) - £7.75
Oxglow (20Kg) - £7.50
Housecoal (20Kg) - £6.50
Petcoke (20Kg) - £6.25
Logs - £4.50 / £3.25
Blazers - £3.95
Kindling - £3.25

We now also stock Parrafin in pre-packed 4 litre containers at £6.00

Peak Forest Canal Towing Blog

Our good friend George Boyle has recently established a new canal enterprise with his new tug Sandbach. To follow Georges progress just click on the link (in the right hand column) to his new blog. We were Georges first towing job with Sandbach towing our butty from Walsall to Macclesfield last autumn. Good Luck with the new venture George!

February Schedule

The Grimshaw Lane Aqueduct at Bollington stoppage dates has been altered again and is now due to start on Monday 15 February and complete on 26 March 10. The constant changing of the stoppage dates continues to frustrate us and makes it difficult to plan our own schedule.

Sat 13 Feb - Furness Vale to Bollington
Sun 14 Feb - Bollington to Macc then back to Marple
Mon 15 Feb - Marple to Furness Vale

Fri 26 Feb - Furness Vale to Whaley/Bugsworth
Sat 27 Feb - Furness Vale to Whitely Green nr Bollington
Sun 28 Feb - Whitely Green to Furness Vale

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I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass, as it Tinkles Under My Counter ....

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I Love the sound of Breaking Ice

Well looks like its another day of ice breaking, at least it is only about an inch thick at the moment. Our plan is to boat from Fools Nook (Macc) to Whaley Bridge over the next few days.

We are still waiting for confirmation of the rescheduled stoppage at Grimshaw Lane Aqueduct, Bollington, but once this commence we will be operating Alton from Furness Vale to Whitely Green winding Hole. Any Customers within or past the stoppage, please just let us know your orders & we will deliver by road.
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The Last of The Ice - Today at Bugswoth

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Back Boating!

Well with so many customers still needing pumpouts we have decide to an extra run this weekend. Today we boated from High Lane to Poyton, back to Marple and through to our mooring at Furness Vale. There were a lot of people very pleased to see us and so many people were appreciative of our efforts over the past few weeks.

Tomorrow we will head into Whaley & Bugsworth, then Back to Marple. On Monday we will head towards Macclesfield & Fools Nook

Our next run on the Macc & Peak Forest will be on 30 th Jan to 1st Feb running 1-way from Fools Nook to Whaley Bridge. We will then operate fortnightly from Whaley Bridge to Whitley Green (Bollington) until mid March (due to stoppage)

On Wed 27th March we will be delivering by road to Sandbach & Anderton areas.
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Delivering by Van, Wheelbarrow & On Foot

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Canal Delivery on Foot - Ice Over 5" Thick

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Alton Ice Breaking on the Macc 02/01/10

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The Big Chill - January 2010

Wow what a start to the New Year. We returned to Alton on Sat 2nd Jan and managed to break ice from High Lane to Marple, then returned to High Lane, but after 12 hours the ice beat us. We then commenced deliveries by road, (which was not without its problems). But using our van, a friend Landrover and out trusty wheelbarrow & sack truck we have managed to deliver many hundreds of bags of coal and thousands of litres of diesel to keep all our customers warm and cosy.

A big thank you to all those people who have mucked in to help us out over the past couple of weeks, from keeping an eye on our boats to driving us to isoloted places as well of course the numerous cuppas that have kept us going.

Hopefully the thaw that is well underway will continue and we can be boating again in the next few days.

Merry Christmas 2009 in the Snow & Ice

A Merry Christmas and a Happy & a Prosperous New Year to all our friends and customers. It has been a tough few days for us in the lead up to Christmas. We managed to get as far as Adlington at 10pm on Saturday 19th, then set off before 7am on Sunday morning. The ice was even thicker at over 2" and we really struggled to make headway. By 10.30pm Sunday we tied up for the night exhausted, but determined to be ready for another early start. Monday 21st December we began icebreaking at 6.30am, but after 3 hours we had only completed 220 yards. We decided that finally we would be sensible and admit defeat, so we resorted to delivery by road (which wasn't without it's problems). A big "thank you !" to all our customers and friends for all your help in getting the job done, our deliveries would have been very difficult without your help. Have a great Christmas.