About me
For me, it all started back in around 1996. My mother and sister were planning a week abroad with some of my aunties. My Dad mentioned that, seeing as we also had a week off work and school, we should also go away for a holiday. The trouble was, where? We spent a few days thinking it over. It was actually my Dad who came up with the idea of a canal boat holiday. Great I thought, what excitement! Before too long we were flicking through different brochures for narrowboat holidays. Because there was only two of us, coupled with the fact that we hadn’t been on a canalboat before, we wanted something fairly local, good value for money and something small. Both of us didn’t fancy being thrown on the tiller for a 70ft Hireboat straight away.
A few weeks later we still hadn’t come up with any firm plans, and upon mentioning this to my uncle, who funnily enough had a narrowboat at the time looked quite shocked and went onto say that he would be out of the country in a few months in May and why didn’t we watch the boat for him. It would give us the holiday which we wanted and it would also be peice of mind for my uncle, having someone mind the boat when he was away on holiday himself. Because we had already thought through the idea of a canal holiday we jumped at the chance. With the help of my Uncle, we started planning routes.
In May of that same year, we would take the boat, ‘Rhoda’, from Dunham, on a one way cruise to Barbridge Junction via the Bridgewater Canal, onto the Trent and Mersey and then finally onto the Shropshire Union Canal. A route of 39 miles, with 8 narrow locks, 1 broad lock and 3 tunnels. Looking back, I really can’t see how we managed to drag a day and half’s worth of cruising into a week - but we did!
I still hold plenty of happy memories about the first time out on the water on a canalboat. Cruising upto Preston Brook Tunnel, happily wavily to the line of boats moored up and their captains with the look of horror on their faces and then realising that it was in fact a tunnel we were entering and also that we were entering it out of time is the most vivid. I remember being faced with Big Lock in Middlewich not only for the first time, but it was my first lock, and there was nobody about at all to explain to me how to sucessfully and safely lock through. I did manage though. The time we were moored up at Church Minshull on the Wardle and finding that we had a herd of cows on the towpath which were sorrounding the boat - one of which we saw in the canal, drown the following morning, and forgetting to remove the TV aereal before setting off cruising and it being a little worse for wear after starting a fight with one of the Shroppie’s many bridges, but most of all those late nights, and early mornings with the start of a new day growing into a big adventure. After the holiday, and over the next couple of years, I spent many happy and memorable days going for day trips with my Uncle from his moorings in Worsley, to Castlefields and Lymm, all on the Bridgewater which encouraged my growing interests.
On my 14th Birthday my parents told me that they’d arranged a trip out my Uncle’s boat from Stretford into Castlefield, which included an overnight stop for the Streets Ahead festival. With bags packed we set off and made it in time to see ‘Rhoda’ chugging up the canal. Our supplies for the weekend were sitting on the towpath when my Mum pointed out a boat for sale, and took a closer look and as a typical woman would, pressed her nose up against the window and started to peer in. This is something we would not normally do and I remember mentioning this to my mum whilst warily looking around incase we were shouted at by the owner who may be lurking by! My Dad then continued to do the same, and that’s when I realised something fishy was going on as this is something he would normally not do. The next thing I know, a set of keys are being handed to me and I’m being told to step on the boat and open it up. Over the past few weeks, without my knowledge at all, my parents had been out walking the dog, saw this boat for sale and after agreeing the price with the previous owner, had bought the boat. It was a 27ft Nauticus called ‘Kingfisher’, was built in 1970 and powered by a Perkins 4.108 diesel inboard engine and outdrive. We were down at the boat every weekend, and when I wasn’t actually there I was daydreaming about being there. We met many new people who have become good friends over the years.
In 2000 we had enough with all the problems of ‘Kingfisher’ and eventually sold it. We moved onto bigger and better things when my parents bought ‘Jester’, a 38ft Cruiser style Narrowboat. I have had some great times on ‘Jester’ over the 5 years in the time we had it, spending virtually every weekend and our two weeks holiday every year. The boat was built in 1970, and had extensive history! A friend of my Uncle’s used to own it years ago, and he told me of the story when he first bought the boat when it was in a sorry state. He thought the toilet needed emptying, so armed with a pump into the tank, and with the end out of the porthole spend around 2 days continiously manually pumping. He was rather upset to find, later on, when he just couldn’t seem to empty it, that it was a sea toilet, so in effect he was pumping the canal, back into the canal!
I was browsing the Internet one morning as I usually do, looking at different narrowboat brokers websites, when I came across this little 30ft Narrowboat for sale at Whixall Marine on the Llangollen Canal. It was built in 1982 was in a rather sorry state, much like Kingfisher was, if not worse. The boat required a full refit, and repaint. I’m slowly managing to get through the jobs but have only so far managed to get as far as gutting the interior and replacing it was far as a new floor, new cabin sides and deckhead lined in T&G. There’s still lots of work which is still outstanding, but as I keep on telling everybody, you can’t rush a good job! (which I admit is wearing a bit thin now).
After 5 happy years owning ‘Jester’, my parents wanted a younger, bigger boat with more room to use for extended cruising when they finished working. They bought ‘Harry’ from Cowroast Marina in April of 2005 which was to be renamed ‘Unity’. Bringing the boat back to the Bridgewater Canal from Tring on the Grand Union was the best holiday I think I’ve ever had. We set off on Saturday afternoon, and were back on our home moorings the following Sunday morning - and that included a break down when the fuel pump decided to give up whilst working through Stoke locks on the Trent & Mersey! I really would like to go back along the route which we came from, taking our time and enjoying ourselves. After that trip, the Grand Union is a personal favourite.
Since those 10 years have passed, there has been many changes to the people, and the boats. Some are for the better, and as usual, some are for the worse, but I wouldn’t change anything about it. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some very valued, long standing friends which I’ve shared my interest with on the cut. I’ve had the priviledge of holidaying with them to parts of the country I would have never seen if it wasn’t for the boats and the cut. I hope I’m still around to experience more changes for a good many years yet whilst still reminiscing about the ‘good old times’.
