Another very grey day but, apart from a couple of occasions when there was dampness in the air, it remained dry. At times it was decidedly chilly but warmed slightly in the afternoon.
We were up rather early as we had been told that Paul at Kings Lock would be at work for 7 am and we wanted to contact him as soon as possible to sort out our Eberspacher (yes, that thing again!). However, our overnight mooring was almost mobile-free and it took a while before we were able to make contact. Although in all our dealings with them, Kings Lock (Middlewich Canal Centre) have been most obliging, today Paul is going to Crick for the all-important annual canal boat show and will be there until Monday. However, he said that he would contact his mate at Anderton (who had already helped him fix the unit) and we then received confirmation that Dan would be at Wenbury Boatyard, one of the ABC bases as is Anderton, with the diagnostic kit and would definitely sort us out! The heater had come on with the timer but only ran for about 8 minutes before stopping. For some while it would then not work at all. The same experience repeated itself an hour or so later.
So we set off in distinct hope! This time, surely, we would see it put right . . . Most of the locks on this canal are spread out so it was generally a hop on and off experience for lock crew. The first lock was Swanley No 1 - we did No 2 last night.
We were pleased to see a welcoming sign for the church at Baddiley listing the times of services and contact details. Sorry about the picture but we were avoiding another boat when the best picture could be taken! You will just have to take our word for it that the sign said these things!
Baddiley does have three locks which are just close enough to walk between. As with most locks today, we met boats coming down at usually just the right time. Brief chat and then on our way.
We have not seen any swans for a while but this one did seem a little over-grown! Nonetheless, it was far from as intimidating as real nesting swans.
Nor have we seen a heron for a while. Mike spotted this one as he was about to jump onto the towpath to raise this left bridge. As a result the only photo caught it taking off.
Wembury Church Bridge was the only lift bridge we had to operate manually today - but it does take over thirty turns on the hydraulic windlass to lift and then another thirty to lower it again.
As a result of having locks set for us at Baddiley we made good time and arrived at Wembury boat yard well ahead of the appointed meeting time at 11:30. We were a but surprised to see a boat obviously tied up on the bridge landing. Normally one should only wait here whilst waiting for the bridge to open. It quickly became obvious that it was indeed waiting for the bridge to open but the bridge mechanism was broken! reports indicated that an engineer was on his way from Llangollen. It must have only been a short time since it last worked as we had met three boats at the previous locks that were not far away.
We tied up and Christine walked to the nearby shop for a newspaper and also came back with a delicious pork pie. Well, we did not actually know that it was delicious at that moment but we certainly did later on at lunch time! We were asked to move the boat across to the workshop moorings which Mike was just part way through when Dan, the engineer, arrived.
As soon as we were tied up he set about testing the heater with his kit. Initially it came up wit h the same error condition that we have had all along - a faulty blower motor. Since that was now very new it seemed that the problem was more complex. The diagnostic kit then went through further operations which reproduced the same behaviour we have seen many times already!
Alas, Dan's conclusion from the output was not good news. There are only three main replaceable working parts to the heater, two of which had just been replaced. The third part is the control system - the 'brains' as the engineers call it! Well, kit seems that it has had a brain failure. This remaining component comes in at £400 - still just a little less than replacing the whole thing. Fortunately, he had brought a spare unit with him so that he could get us working again and taker the faulty unit away. The provisional plan is to let Paul finish the work whilst we leave the boat as planned, at Swanley Bridge Marina in a week's time. At least we now have a working heater that passed the diagnostic tests. Certainly by the time it was finished we had a lovely warm cabin.
It was now lunch time and the CaRT engineers had arrived and were working on the bridge. By now there was a queue either side - we settled down to have lunch (Christine was especially pleased with her pork pie. She was rather upset yesterday when Mike recounted that his Meal Deal from Morrisons at Nantwich included two mini pork pies - why did he not keep lone for her?)
Eventually the engineer and his volunteer assistant declared the bridge ready to test and they began to clear the backlog. This bridge is a notorious bottleneck and so only three boats are allowed to pass through before the bridge must be closed to allow the road queue to clear. The first from our direction - the second batch - was very keen to make sure that no-one queue jumped! Since there was another lock, followed by several more at intervals, we preferred to finish lunch rather than sit in a lock queue. However, we did set off after all the others had gone, whilst the engineer was still in attendance. This not only made it easier for us but also was a comfort just in case it broke again!
This sign reads, Woodland Trail Please Walk - so much better than the usual Keep Out signs.
Further back, the grass canal verge had recently been cut but along here it has been left for the wild flowers to have their day. They are especially abundant and varied at the moment although it is not easy to get a good shot whilst cruising by - the selection is never quite the one we were aiming for.
A slightly different set of flowers, this time taken as we were going up a lock. Perhaps we will find time to take a much more careful shot when we are moored - hopefully close to a really good display.
This lot were across a ditch in a field beside Quoisley Lock.
Earlier we had expected to be mooring just below the well-known Grindley Brook flight of six locks but we had made good time and there was no queue so we pressed on. In the summer, it can sometimes take quite a while to be able to pass through as the upper three are formed as a staircase. As a result, when boats are waiting a three-up, three-down rule is applied. Also there is usually at least one lock keeper to supervise and today there were two volunteers helping him as well. Although one boat was just finishing coming down no others were following behind so we were soon allowed in.
Above the lock we used the disposal facilities and a short distance further on the water point - there are four altogether here, a sign of how busy it can get. Once that had been done we moved on to the visitor moorings for the night.
The internet connection is very poor so not sure if the pix will come out OK and in the right places!
10.7 Miles - 15 Locks
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