Mastodawn

With 70+ locks, short lock chambers, and a long tunnel, Ashton Canal is not for the faint of heart. It'd see little traffic.

I entered—but didn't get through—the first Rochdale lock toward the Ashton canal.

With another boat descending that flight, the water amasses at the bottom, and it's impossible to get up without knowing the trick.

I reversed the boat back into the Manchester basin.😅

#CanalLife #canal #BoatLife #boat #BoatingLife #boating #narrowboat #Manchester #lock #CRT #UK

Bobbing Boat 1d ago

Tame Valley canal is full of garbage. Repeatedly I had to stop the engine, open the weed hatch, and pull off an assortment of soft and hard plastic, rope, and pieces of wood, all tangled around the propeller.

Small mercies: the endless beer cans and plastic bottles stay clear of the propeller.

This canal is a wasted green space. Shame on local councils for failing to make it an attractive destination.

#CanalLife #canal #BoatingLife #boating #BoatLife #boat #narrowboat #GreenSpace #CRT #UK

Bobbing Boat 1d ago

When I look out over the forewell at the canal towpath, among the greens I see a riot of flowers: red, several yellows, white, two purples.

When I take a photo of what I see, the flowers recede into the many shades of green: duckweed, grass, green blackberry bushes, trees.

Which version is real: what I see or what the camera sees? I suspect we cannot see our world objectively at all.

#CanalLife #canal #BoatingLife #boating #BoatLife #boat #narrowboat #UK #flowers #wildflowers #vegetation #UK

Bobbing Boat 2d ago

On the Birmingham Canal Network, or BCN, the Tame Valley canal is little used:
• clear water to the bottom.
• trees reach way over the canal.
• no moored or oncoming boats.

In one of the ponds, or short sections between locks, the water level was down two feet (60 centimeters or 7 bricks), so the boat ran aground. By flowing water through the next lock, the boat refloated in 3 mins, no problem.

#CanalLife #canal #BoatingLife #boating #BoatLife #boat #narrowboat #locks #CRT #UK #Birmingham #BCN

Bobbing Boat 2d ago

Part of the vacuum broke, so it won't work.

It had a noisy motor that required aircraft-grade, noise-dampening earmuffs. But it was tiny, and storage space is an issue on boats.

Argos sells a tiny vacuum that separates into parts for storage.

We must pick it up. Delivering packages to a boat on the move is a no. The Maps app says there's an Argos 0.4 miles (640 meters) from the rural farm field we're at. 🌞

#CanalLife #BoatLife #canal #boating #narrowboat #boat #shop #delivery #VacuumCleaner

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Bobbing Boat 3d ago

@gregc

It was just a fuel hose that leaked, in the engine bay.

It was under £100 to get it fixed.

All spillage was contained in the engine bay, except the portion that evaporated. Diesel vapour!

The aft cabin was unusable due to the fumes, but the boat has 3 bulkhead doors, so the fumes stayed contained back there.

The lounge has a sofabed, so no problem with sleeping fume free.

#CanalLife #canal #BoatingLife #BoatLife #boating #narrowboat #boat #diesel #engine #leak #repair #UK

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NorfolkGreg 4d ago

@ukwaterways
Back in April I mentioned the terrace of cottages on the Bridgewater Canal and the history page I'm building about it. The article mentions "Cotton's Bridge" and includes an old map showing its location.

We were at the cottage back in May and I took these two images of the site of the bridge. You have to be travelling north, having just emerged from Dutton Tunnel to appreciate the narrowing of the canal at the site of the old bridge.

As you will work out the cottages you see to the left of one of the images are part of the terrace numbered 7-12.

https://gregchapman.uk/sundry/canalsidecottages/#number

#ukcanals #bridgewater #canal #cheshire #canallife #towpath #cottage #prestonbrook #history #industrialrevolution