He went down by train, only an hour & 45min into London and then back out to Watford where he met the boats Archimedies & Ara with the crew of Tom & James at Iron Bridge Lock near Cassiobury Lock, Watford. The next day dawned cold & foggy and that's the way it stayed all day. They had a few good half tonne drops of coal and it was interesting to see a few famous, historic places & boats as well as meet a few infamous people in the flesh. That evening at a lock in the dark they passed Baron & Taurus (another coal carrying working pair) heading back up the GU. Archimedies & Ara tied below Uxbridge & for a second night Mike Askins (owner of GUCCCo Royalty motor Victoria) became the chauffeur to deliver the crew to the pub for dinner. A good carvery and a natter was had by all.
Today was a fairly early start (6.30am) with a quick delivery then a blast down to Bulls Bridge to load with diesel. After a full english breakfast at Tescos (apparently a tradition for GU crews in days of old) they took the motor down to the top of the Hanwell flight for a few more coal, gas & diesel deliveries. Returning to Bulls Bridge to pick up Ara, James made collecting the butty & turning the junction at the same time look very easy. After a few more deliveries they singled out the pair and Brian took the Tiller of the motor Archimedies, but rubbish on the blades meant things got a bit behind schedule. They finished the day with a few deliveries in little venice with a final delivery to the Warwick Castle Pub, then after a shower and a change, they returned to the Warwick Castle to enjoy a well earned pint and a very good rib eye steak.
All in all, it was a fun and interesting few days, Tom & James where very welcoming and it was great to see how other coal boats operate. So don't be surprised if, some time in the future you see two strapping young lads aboard Alton for a return visit (apparently some of there customers even describe them as eye-candy), so watch out ladies!
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals
I also popped down to Bosley Locks to check on the progress at Lock 4. There was no sign of any work starting at all and the locks looked to be open to traffic. We will wait & see if this stoppage actually happens.
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals
They plan to finish the work by tomorrow evening and we hope to able to take Alton out of the paint dock by Midday on Thursday.
Alton will be returning to Ashton Packet for furthur cabin repairs in the spring when the stoppages at Bollington & Hyde Bank Tunnel are complete.
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals
Alton was launched off the slip by the crew at Ashton Packet in their calm efficient matter. We loaded our supplies and left the yard at Midday making reasonable progress despite a couple of low pounds & non operational ground paddles on Marple Locks. We tied up in Marple about 7pm and Brian retired to the Ring o'Bells to join the crew of The Bell (Pete & Tony) for a pint.
Sunday was a very frosty start and a busy day resulting in us selling out of diesel. We arrived back at Fools Nook in darkness.
Monday morning was another frosty start but we kept warm re-loading Alton with Coal & Diesel. We set off heading north at lunchtime making deliveries as we went. We finally tied up at 8pm at High Lane, very convenient for the Bulls Head for a pint and a chinese take-away for tea.
Tuesday we woke to heavy rain & did not want to get up! It continued to rain virtually all day, as we made plenty of deliveries through Marple and along the Upper Peak Forest to Whaley Bridge and Bugsworth. It was lovely to chat to a few new customers as well as catch up with old ones that have returned from their travels including Graham & Eileen on NB Gemini. It was another very late finish when we tied up at the back of the swizzles factory at New Mills.
Wednesday morning Ann Marie managed to drag herself out of bed at 6am as she knew we had a long day ahead. Brian eventually roused himself from bed at the Disley swing bridge and was almost fully awake when we reached Marple Top. We made good progress down the locks on a beautiful autumnal day, making a few sales as we went. We love to stop at lock 10 to chat with the gentleman who owns the adjoining cottage who has lived there over 50 years and has some great tales.
At the bottom of Marple we picked up a towing job to tow a houseboat to Portland Basin for its owner Ashley. We had a very slow afternoon on the Lower Peak Forest getting well & truly stuck getting out of Hyde Bank Tunnel. We then got a bladeful of rope & carpet near bridge 12, resulting in Brian stripping to the waste and reaching in under the counter to cut away the debris from the prop.
We finally reached Portland Basin as darkness fell, the square bows of the houseboat having made the tow a slow job. We reunited the houseboat with its owner and continued on to Ashton Packet Boat Yard where we have left Alton again for Steve Kelly to start work on the cabin roof.
Renaissance Canal Carrying - keeping carrying on the canals
