Descending Chester's Northgate Staircase Locks - not a problem

We've been delving into virgin territory, for us, these past few days. Having navigated around 2,000 miles of the Inland Waterway system in 2009 and 2010, there's not that many routes we haven't done at least once!

The staircase locks in Chester are one of them.

Approaching the locks was interesting as there's work in progress on the towpath, making it inaccessible until just before the top gate. It also meant that once I was off the boat I couldn't read the instructions - which wasn't terribly helpful! So I walked down the staircase, checked there were no other boats ascending or wanting to, and figured the principle must be like other staircase locks we've experienced.

Approaching the locks, skimming past the Chester Wall - the bridge in the foreground is where the condemned made their final walk before being executed 

Instructions inaccessible on foot!

The first one needs to be full of water, the next two empty. Check.

In fact, the second one was so devoid of water you could see the bottom of the lock, which was a little unnerving - you wouldn't want that to happen with the boat inside!

But all was fine. Barry cruised in smoothly, jumped out and took a few photos, then disappeared into the depths!

Into the top lock ...

People often comment that it's generally women doing the 'hard' work of the lock paddles, with the men getting the 'easy' job of driving the boat. Whilst they have a point, in general I think women would rather be getting the exercise and not stuck in a dark, dank hole twiddling their thumbs!

Barry and I do share the doing or driving of locks, but admittedly he does more of the latter than me. And it works fine.

The paddles were rather stiff, and the gates heavy, so it was an excellent upper body workout! Barry and I are currently on the 5:2 'Fast' diet, entailing eating only a quarter of our usual calories on two days of the week. We both need to shift a bit of weight, and the deciding factor is the possibility of living longer and with less health problems by intermittent fasting.

And Monday just happened to be one of the '2' days! So rather than seeing it as hard work, it gave me a sense of accomplishment that I was getting lots of fresh air AND exercise.

On a clear day, the view from the locks is magnificent, with the Welsh mountains in the skyline. Chester is such a fine city, we've loved being here in the north west of England.

Quite a view from up here ...

Amusing passing gongoozlers whilst pumping iron ...

oo-er, you wouldn't want to be down there ...

Get back onto the boat now Barry, she's going down ...

Into the second lock ...

All done - hello up there!

We moored for the night opposite the historic Taylor's Boatyard - one of the oldest complete working side yards in the UK, dating right back to 1845. The 48 hour moorings before the boatyard appeared to be inhabited by a number of boats looking most unlike temporary visitors! It'll be interesting to see if the same ones are there when we return - about 72 hours after passing through.

Monday was a fairly balmy evening, with the spring sunlight dancing happily on the water and surrounding buildings, so Barry and I strolled around the area, then sat peacefully on a bench for a while, making the most of experiencing the changing season.

Some rather nice new developments in the basin

And a plaque commemorating L.T.C. Rolt, born in Chester, 11th February 1910

The historic Taylor's Boatyard ...

… with two delightful working boats temporarily moored

Areandare looking happy in the evening sunlight

Look at that blue sky! Gorgeous 

Another view of Taylor's Boatyard

The lock leading out onto the River Dee

A 'roving' or 'turnover' bridge, originally built  for horses pulling narrowboats to change sides

I love new beginnings, the excitement of watching fresh life emerging in spring, and looking forward to longer, lighter days - and more warmth and sunshine! However, I'm also aware that ...

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." ~Anne Bradstreet

Next stop Ellesmere Port - another first ... 

Spectacular scenery from Barry's recent day trip to north Wales

The lovely Mike, Barry's drinking buddy from Tattenhall Marina, kindly took Barry out on a day trip to north Wales while I was away visiting my parents recently.

Barry's given me a selection of photos to post - only he has no idea the names of the places apart from the final picture!

Regardless of that, I thought they were so stunning that they'd be worth posting. I may be rather biased towards the spectacular scenery to be found in New Zealand, but I reckon these can just about match it. What do you think ...

This final one is of Pistyll Rhaeadr, the United Kingdom's highest waterfall. When they were walking towards it, Barry realised he'd seen it somewhere before - on photographs of my eldest daughter Lisa's wedding to Rob in June 2005. We had an amazing weekend here, celebrating their commitment to each other. Family and friends camped in the grounds of the waterfall, and the reception was held in a yurt in the same field. A magical place indeed, where you'd imagine fairies living joyfully.

In fact, I've just checked out their 'weddings' page, and Lisa's wedding photo and the group of family and friends is posted there! She's the one with the rainbow bridesmaids - well fancy that!

We're now moored at Ellesmere Port, having easily negotiated the staircase locks in Chester and spent a night in the basin there. Once Barry's uploaded the photos, we'll post them - they're certainly pretty deep locks!

The Home Brew Boat is coming along nicely - we had our first online order this week which is most encouraging. Do get in touch if you're interested in knowing more about how to brew within the confined space of a narrowboat, Barry has a very clever way of brewing beer without having to use bottles!

Thank you Tattenhall Marina - Haere Ra (farewell) - we'll be back!

It was rather sad to say goodbye to the friendly folks at the marina yesterday. Our first venture into marina life was a great success, and we're thankful we chose Tattenhall for many reasons, including:

• Clean, well-kept grounds in the beautiful Cheshire countryside.
• Glorious sunrises to behold looking out at the distant hills, with Beeston Castle on the horizon
• Stunning sunsets to watch behind the workshop.
• Plenty of parking (for those with cars, or us when we had a hire car)
• Scott's Bar - open every day for hot drinks and food, and most evenings for drinks and socialising.
• Camaraderie amongst the boaters is very evident, we experienced lots of helping each other out in a myriad of ways (the lovely Mike even took Barry out on a day trip to Wales when I was at my parents recently, photos to follow).
• Chandlery and workshop on site - with a competitive rate for hull blacking.
• Minutes from a bus route to Chester and Whitchurch.
• A short walk to the Cheshire Ice Cream Farm - a fantastic play park, farm shop, farm animals, soft play, ice cream shop and indoor games area.
• A rather precarious walk to a delightful village, with a Post Office, Chinese, Thai, Indian and English restaurants; great cafe, three pubs (one we loved loads and it felt like our 'local'), hairdressers, butcher, library,in fact everything you could wish for really!

I'm sure there's more assets I haven't mentioned, forgive me Scot and co if I've missed out anything important! I did ask Barry what he loved most about the Marina, to see if there was anything I hadn't thought of. His reply? Rather predictable really - "The bar"!

 Sandra's face seems to say "Do we really have to leave the home comforts of the marina?"

 Some of the motley crew lovely people we've met during our stay

A couple of the team who keep the wheels turning, Tom and Scott - 'Dodgy' (not sure why they call him that?) Dave escaped before we could get him in the photo! 

 Crew Areandare outside Scott's Bar

The Chester Day Boat on possibly it's first run of the new season from the marina

Scott's photo of us leaving, copied from the Tattenhall Marina Facebook page

That's it then! We're back on 'the cut'. And it's not too bad - so far! In fact it's quite lovely.

Our plan is to go up to Ellesmere Port this week, and return to Chester by Thursday evening so I can get the bus to my daughter's on Friday. Checking our Nicholson's guide today, we got a fright as it said the National Waterways Museum is only open weekends from November to March which would've scuppered our best laid plans (which hinge around friends and family as well as us!). A phone call later and we're relieved to discover they're open 7 days a week - phew! That's the disadvantage of relying on a 2009 waterways guide!

While we're in the area, we'll get to socialise with a few lovely people. Mike is the husband of a midwife who was my mentor in the late 1980s when I worked in the community. He works in Ellesmere Port and will come to the boat on Wednesday for lunch. Wednesday evening we're hoping Lisa's brother-in-law and nieces are coming to visit. Then on Saturday we're going to Elaine and John's home, right by the canal approaching Chester, for dinner and board games!

What a wonderful life we have.

Loving the calm and serenity back on the canals - first stop overnight at Christleton Saturday

Our first locks since August held no challenges for us today, and the rain was mostly kind - only a few light showers.

Sandra's all wrapped up and back into locking - as if she's never been away!

I'm a little apprehensive about the doing the rather deep staircase locks in Chester tomorrow. We watched a boat descending when we visited last summer, and last Friday evening chatted to a couple with recent experience who explained the concept (they're all slightly different!).  It's like a lot of things in life I expect, so long as we read the instructions first, and follow them, we're unlikely to go wrong. At least that's the theory ...

Launching AreandAre and 'The Home Brew Boat'

It's the time of year when boaters who've moored up cosily in a marina for winter, are about to head back onto the system. Just in time for the snow if we're to believe the media! Yikes!

After 10 days in dry dock, Areandare was re-launched on Wednesday with a shiny new bottom - days before we leave Tattenhall Marina on Saturday. We plan to travel up through Chester and on to Ellesmere Port to visit the National Waterways Museum - we've not been that far up the Shropshire Union before. Following that we were looking forward to meandering along the Llangollen Canal again (it was our first journey aboard Northern Pride in April 2009), before heading further south, but sadly it's closed until 4th April due to preventative measures to stop a potential breach caused by the wet winter.

We're getting a few essential jobs done before we're back out on the cut, and relishing the remainder of our 'hooked up to electricity and water point only centimetres away' time!

Barry's put an extra connection linking the washing machine water tank to the main one, so if when we run out in the wilds of the waterways, miles from a water point, we'll be able to move the water from one tank to the other - rather than running out mid-shower as has been known to happen!

We'll buy another bag of coal so we have sufficient supplies to light the stove at the stern - where we may find ourselves snuggling in the evenings to come. The luxury of having radiators on any time we wish, especially first thing in the morning to lure us out of bed, will soon be a distant memory - a scary thought when they're forecasting frosts for spring! And the electric blanket each night we've grown accustomed to? Not a chance! Ah well, back to the trusty hot water bottle.

What's been the most priceless part of being moored here for six months, is lots of precious time with my eldest daughter and grandsons, as we're just a short bus ride away. What a wondrous blessing. It'll be painful to leave, as travelling back to Malpas from wherever we are won't be easy (or cheap!). Plus with two children under five, driving to us isn't a simple project. But I'm sure we'll find ways to meet up as much as possible. We've been so fortunate to have this time together after previously living in opposite hemispheres for most of 8 years!

And now onto the exciting news …

Launching 'The Home Brew Boat'

After many years of planning and preparation, we can now officially launch The Home Brew Boat' to the blog.

Before giving any more details, let me reassure anyone who may have concerns, we've followed due process (if you think we've missed anything though, please get in touch!).

We have permission from CRT to trade (Home Brew Boat, Facepainting and photography), appropriate business insurance and Public Liability, our official CRT Trading License will arrive shortly and be displayed proudly, and we're members of the Roving Canal Traders Association (RCTA).

We have two fabulous suppliers, and Barry's spent an inordinate amount of time on the website set up (check it out, there's all sorts of useful and interesting information about home brewing, as well as things to whet your appetite if you've never tried it - or did it decades ago and are curious to know how it's changed!).

We've made two sales so far, to people in the marina. And anticipating excitedly our first on-line sale!

We have a Facebook Page, with almost 100 'likes' less than a week after it was set up, and a new Twitter account (for Areandare). We'd love to link up with any readers there if you use such social media.

Where will we be trading?

We'll trade as we travel, while we build up related resources, like Barry's arrived-in-the-post-brand-new-today business cards …

But mostly, we'll trade at canal related festivals.

We were honoured to be 'hand picked' and approached to be one of 50 traders at the Birmingham spring market  The Bond, Fazeley Street, Digbeth on Saturday 12th April. That'll be our first ever trading festival, so if you're in the area do come along and say hello!



Following that, we've these events confirmed so far (click on the links for times):

• 18-21 April - Alvecote Floating Market
• 3-5 May - St Richard's Boat and Car Festival, Droitwich
• 13-15 June - Middlewich FAB (folk and boat) Festival
• 29 June - Lymm Historic Transport Day

There's a few others we're in the process of booking, all in the midlands or the north west.

It's fabulous to be part of a growing community of trading boats, helping to keep people interested in the Inland Waterways, and providing a way of supporting people to live this lifestyle whilst earning an income. It's certainly not for, or available to, everyone, but we're extremely pleased and proud to promote the 'working boat' concept, albeit in a much pleasanter way than in previous centuries.

Rain stops painting - but there's blooming daffodils!

Maybe I spoke too soon about the change of weather?

One coat of blacking went on yesterday, on a gloriously fine day. Sadly today there's been intermittent rain and even a scattering of hail, so no more painting was possible.

Getting the first coat on yesterday

It's our last week at the lovely Tattenhall Marina next week, but it's looking likely that we'll only be back on our pontoon for a couple of days. Ah well, such is life, we can't change nature. And our tiny challenge pales into insignificance when we imagine the people in UK whose homes are under water from the persistent rain of the current winter here.

Daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses and primroses

On a brighter note, spring is most definitely starting to show her face and colours. Last year the daffodils didn't bloom in many areas until at least April - and we're constantly being told how mild this winter has been.

Areandare has come out!

We've taken the opportunity of getting Areandare's bottom blacked before we leave Tattenhall Marina on 1st March, and Monday was the big day. It's the first time we've seen her hull, or probably anyone for a while, as we chose to have just an in-water survey before we bought her last April.

The speed and proficiency with which a very heavy hunk of steel (Barry reckons around 15 tons) is removed from the water is incredible. We were actually on board while she was being lifted - most surreal!

Last Tuesday I got a phone call from the Marina asking where we were - there'd been some sort of communication mix-up as they had last week booked and we had this week. We're thankful they chose to go with our plans in the end - the difference in weather conditions couldn't be more stark!

Yesterday the gunk was scraped off the hull, along with the remaining surface coating (and the poor fresh water mussels!). Barry scraped the part from the gunnel to the rubbing strake  - for those that don't know, that's the line that takes most of the knocks and runs all around the boat about a foot below the gunnel. Are you impressed I know that? I actually had no idea, and had to ask Barry, and then do a google check for the spelling! The boatyard only scrape and black up to the strake, so it seemed sensible to do the remainder while she's out of the water.

In the meantime, we're living firmly out of the water, on a slight but very noticeable lean as the concrete slopes! It does ensure the water drains from the shower easily - there's a positive in everything!