Fosse Locks to Braunston
Sunday 7th March 2010
Ropes frozen solid again
Another cold start to the day. This time minus 9.5 and enough to freeze the canal yet again. I certainly broke some miles of ice today!
Not much to say about the journey though, as it all went like clockwork. I started very early and arrived at Long Itchington about 9am, just in time to see a mass exodus of boats, all heading the other way, until we caught up with two boats going up the Stockton locks ahead of us.
At Calcutt the canal became so busy I had to think twice about whether this was March or mid Summer but under a deep blue sky and temperature barely into the plusses, Braunston was in sight by 4pm.
A lot of people seem to like it here
I spent the rest of the afternoon fixing things which had gone wrong yesterday.
I think I have a fair excuse for being tired tonight, after clocking up another 13 miles and 20 locks. But another milestone in the journey, and here at Braunston 4 days before the canal reopens at the tunnel.
Lapworth top to Lapworth bottom
Sunday 21st February 2010
Zulu breaking the ice of new day at Lapworth
I looked out at 7am just in time to see the tail end of a snowstorm which had added at least another two inches of fresh snow overnight but at least this meant the temperature was on the rise after hitting minus 5.5 during the night.
I therefore got my lie-in and got up again after 9 when a lot of the fresh snow had already melted. At about 10am I optimistically set off into the ice, which although thawing, was still almost enough to stop us dead in our tracks. In fact it did several times, but taking another run at it broke through. Too late to think about the paintwork now though. Without the thaw in the brilliant morning sunshine there would have been no way on earth I could have continued the journey, but I was keen not to become stranded in a lock flight.
Lapworth locks were quite hard work single handed, as they have no tail landing, which means opening the gates then using the ladder to get back on the boat, which isn’t too bad as the locks aren’t deep. In the snow however it meant taking everything half speed, as well as walking on to open the next lock and then back to close the previous one, trebling the distance walked at each lock and not being able to leave the boat unattended while going down due to the ice. Its funny how some pounds and some locks were ice free, whereas other locks were frozen solid.
An icy lock scene at Lapworth flight
Worth noting for anyone who hasn’t broken ice to get into a lock, the ice fragments have a nasty habit of jamming vertically between the brickwork and the boat, so when this happens there is even more work to do, making sure the boat isn’t hanging as it drops down the lock. Smashing ice with a heavy shaft is also quite satisfying.
By the time I got to the bottom of the flight, 15 locks later, I was ready for a late lunch, which I ate in the sun wearing only a tee shirt and jeans after shedding a layer of clothing every hour on the way down! The area around Kingswood Basin and its complex canal junction is a lovely location, very popular with dog walkers, and I can well understand why mooring vacancies here always attract a lot of interest, even though there are locks galore in every direction!
So Zulu is now moored just beyond the visitor moorings, close enough to walk to Lapworth station.
Thanks again to Matilda Rose blog, who reminded me that the Lapworth flight was no longer closed due to the early completion of the Lock 19 stoppage. Looking at the fresh snow alongside each lock, I think I was the only boat to follow you all week.
Today I have done 2 miles and 15 locks which took just under 4 hours, ending up within a boat’s length of the Grand Union. Finally almost on the right canal but there’s still a long way to Uxbridge! No point in rushing though, as Braunston and Buckby still have stoppages which could well be delayed until Easter due to the weather.
Birmingham to Lapworth
Saturday 20th February 2010
Zulu going round Sherbourne Wharf, Birmingham, in search of coal
Woke up to a very cold Birmingham and all thoughts of a dawn departure vanished into duvet land.
Good old Zulu’s 37 year old engine was good enough to start first time after two weeks resting and we set off to Cambrian Wharf for water, and then to Sherbourne Wharf for coal, to replace the two bags which were stolen while I was away. Unfortunately they don’t sell it, so back to Gas Street Basin where Away 2 Service supplied a couple of bags of Taybrite for £9.00 each while I was passing through the Worcester Bar.
Other bloggers had recently noted the odd temporary bridge at Selly Oak where a new road is being built under the canal and adjoining railway line. The canal will be closed here from Monday 22nd until 26th while a temporary canal diversion is built alongside, which to me sounds much more than 5 days work. Meanwhile a chap turned up to raise the temporary bridge without asking, and called out to give it some power as other boats were going aground here. Zulu doesn’t exactly do extra power, but I gave it all we had and rode up and over the mudbank without quite coming to a halt.
Turning left at Kings Norton and through the unique stop lock with its guillotine gates, open at each end for several decades I guess. the surroundings become less industrial and at Shirley there’s a total transformation into open countryside. This is certainly where people who want big houses live – there are some very attractive country houses and very nice places to moor after the grungy urban stopping points outside Birmingham itself.
Onwards towards Lapworth on a lovely sunny day, but the closer to Lapworth, the thicker the ice and the more snow on the ground. I thought I was following another boat, but it must have been the one oncoming boat which I passed, as the broken channel I was following ended, leaving poor old Zulu an ever harder course through the ice. The two lift bridges 26 and 28 near Lapworth are certainly fun single handed without snow and ice to contend with too! I ended up pulling the boat through and catching it as it went past under the bridges – well it seemed to work this time but theres something disconcerting about your boat sailing past without anyone on board, and no direct means of catching it unless the boat hook can reach it!
At the top of Lapworth at 5pm I was obviously the only boat of the day – the ice was getting thicker by the minute, so with less than an hour of daylight I decided to go down the first four locks and call it a day. Which has worked out OK so far despite having to break fairly thick ice in places.
However as I tied up below lock 5 the ropes were freezing in my hands, and the temperature had already dropped to minus 4 and with a clear sky it seems perfect conditions to become even colder. If the ice permits in the morning I can look forward to another 15 locks in close succession, and if it doesn’t I can look forward to a lovely lie in.
Todays total : 17 miles and 4 locks. Brrrrrhhhhhh.
Waiting for the thaw
Sunday 3rd January 2010
I left Zulu in Brewood on Friday night, hoping somehow that this cold weather would be over within a couple of days, but it rather looks like it could be well over a week before the trip can be resumed with the weather still getting worse in places.
Sadly this means that I will miss my main deadline of reaching Braunston Tunnel cutting before 11th January, after which the canal is closed there until 5th March, unless BW can be persuaded to allow the occasional convoy of stranded boats to pass through. I will call them tomorrow to check if they have even managed to get their own boats in position before giving up totally.
Having left Zulu and headed south by road, I can confirm that the Newbury area Kennet and Avon is currently ice free, and whilst thick in places, the ice is certainly breakable all the way up to Crofton, as a couple of boats have made the trip over the weekend.
Such is the power of blogging though, a quick search of other canal blogs shows me that Great Haywood is mostly iced in according to Caxton’s blog, so I am thankful that I didn’t divert all the way up the Staffs and Worcester just to get stuck there, and Norbury Junction, which I passed through a couple of days earlier, has frozen again yesterday according to Debdale. Worse still, Epiphany tells us (and confimed today by email) that Birmingham centre is more or less impassable with 5 inch thick ice at Rotten Park. So even if I had forced my way to Wolverhampton it now seems likely I would now be stuck somewhere in no mans land instead of relatively cosy at Brewood. There are also a couple of threads running on Canalword.net forums where people are posting ice reports, and then of course there is twitter where Granny Buttons was encouraging the use of a #canalice tag to enable searching of relevant topics. This could form an invaluable facility if more people start using it – particularly useful as it can be checked and updated using mobile phones in real time. It is just as useful if people would also post “no ice” posts as well as reporting thick ice.
But right now on this lovely sunny afternoon down south, I have no way of knowing if conditions on the Birmingham Canal Main Line are changing or even if Brewood is deep in snow.
So if anyone can keep me updated on this I would really appreciate it and if anyone wants an update on the eastern Kennet and Avon then I will be only too happy to report back what I can.
Wolverhampton Locks – the wrong sort of ice
Friday 1st January 2010
Halted by thick ice at Wolverhampton bottom lock
After a lazy day yesterday I got up at 7 to walk the dog and set off for Autherley at 8am. The canal was frozen solid but the ice had all formed overnight, so was not more than a quarter inch thick in most places, so we had the satisfying sound of cracking ice without the problems of moving huge heavy slabs of the stuff around. So far so good.
The trip to Autherley took until 9:30 so I was pleased that we now had plenty of time to get up the flight of 21 locks to Wolverhampton, and hopefully time to get all the way to Birmingham. As the sun rose into a blue cloudless sky I did think it unusal that my coffee had frozen, and I don’t ever remember having to scrape newly formed ice off my map cover before – the temperature which reached minus 5 last night was not going to rise above freezing today!
There was a small amount of ice to shift at Autherley stop lock but not a problem, as it too was of the thin variety and once clear of the junction, heading south allong the Staffs and Worcester canal there was no ice at all. I pulled in at the junction for Birmingham, tied up with rigid frozen ropes (clue) and walked around the corner to the first lock of 21. It was a winter wonderland of frost, ice, icicles and more ice, this time of the very thick variety.
On the positive side, the ice was all in the water, and on the metal work, unlike the treacherous frozen lockside stonework which I had on the Middlewich locks last week and so much less dangerous.
However this did not look good. Clearly no boats had been through yet today, and maybe not this week; above the lock, which itself was frozen solid, was a mass of thick chunks of old ice, all welded back together with new ice in a patchwork style into a solid sheet. I could just about smash it with a long shaft, but of course it was breaking at the weak points while some of the bigger bits were still well over an inch thick, two inches in places.
Optimistically I walked up the flight under the railway bridge and up to the main road to see where the worst bits might be. It seemed the longer the pound the thicker the ice, and in particular between locks 19 and 18, maybe 400 yards, was absolutely solid looking.
Even more optimistically, I emptied the first two locks amused by the way the sheets of ice cracked and groaned and then fell into the water below….. and thought there would be nothing to lose by seeing if Zulu was capable of breaking the ice in the first pound.
A small crowd formed. Well, a man and dog. He said “Good morning” in a way which conveyed “do you know what you are doing then?” He let me explain that I had walked a mile up the flight and back, before saying that the last boats to go up a couple of days ago had got the to the railway bridge but then had to reverse back down 10 locks. Not what I wanted to hear, but it looked pretty bad ahead and for certain, one thing far worse than mooring in Wolverhampton for the night would be getting frozen into the lock flight for days or even weeks.
Nevertheless I filled the lock carefully, making sure that the boat wasn’t getting snagged on the ice sheets alongside, smashed the ice sufficiently to open the top gate, and set off into the frozen pound. Twenty feet into the frozen pound to be precise, before Zulu’s old engine met its match and would go no further. With 20 more locks and 2 miles of this to go, the decision to give up was easy and I reversed into the lock, dropped down to the junction and headed back the way we had come.
Stoppages en route would now become a major issue. I had hoped to get through Braunston before the tunnel cutting is closed on 11th January but this is now looking less likely. The alternative routes would be south, then up the Stourbridge canal but the Stourbridge 16 and Delph locks would more than likely be just as frozen as these. Then there’s north up the Staffs and Worcester, down the Trent and Mersey through Rugely to Fradley, then down the Coventry Canal, but Atherstone locks are closed for almost 3 months from 4th January and definitely not a realistic target within 3 days in this weather.
So the only logical option is to moor somewhere local and wait for the thaw. Brewood? Could be worse, so we retraced our steps back to Brewood, drained the water system down, banked up the fire which should last a couple of days, and set off South to the comforts of the other boat, finally admitting defeat in the face of the wrong type of ice.
On the other hand it has been a lovely crisp, frosty and sunny day for a winter’s cruise to nowhere. Some people are out doing this for pleasure today and I have certainly enjoyed it, even though most unproductive.
11 miles and 4 locks, one backwards.
Middlewich to Barbridge Junction
Icy canal at Cholmondeston Lock
Last night I got back to Zulu and initial prospects of re-starting the trip seemed quite good. First of all I went to the winding hole and got round without a problem, whereas last week this would have been virtually impossible with the ice. There was in fact no floating ice below Big Lock either, but the towpaths were virtually unusable with a highly polished ice rink standard surface.
Due to difficulties booking Harecastle Tunnel until the office reopens on 4th January, the first realistic booking I could have made would be 6th Jan, so reluctantly I decided to head down the Shroppie instead, even though this adds more than 20 miles to the journey. It also opens up the option of going through Wolverhampton and Birmingham instead of Fradley – just think of all those extra locks – Wolverhampton 21 up, then Hatton down being just one of the options.
This morning after walking right up the Middlewich Locks I decided it was worth a try, so we set off and very slowly and carefully worked up the now fully re-opened Big Lock and then up the flight of three, where the bottom lock was the most difficult due to being unable to stand up without holding onto something along most of the lock side.
Normally when going up these very deep locks I step off the boat, boathook in hand, leaving the boat to enter the lock itself. I then pick up the front rope with the boat hook and use it to pull the boat all the way in, which avoids having to use the ladder, which on icy days like today is an absolute no go.
The sixth lock, Stanthorne, was a real problem as there was so much ice in the lock that I couldn’t even get in with the engine, let alone with a rope. Stuck solid and wondering what to do next, I reversed back to the lock landing and was very grateful for the appearance of another boat which came down the lock and flushed a lot of ice out, while also offering to work me up the lock. Thanks again if that was you!
The ice was actually a lot worse than I had hoped, with long stretches of thick soupy ice blocks rather than fresh ice to break, but still quite hard going in places. Particularly thick between Church Minshull and Barbridge. The weather was alternately bright but freezing cold, and rain/sleet/wind while also being freezing cold.
Nevertheless I made quite decent progress and am writing this at Barbridge where we are ready to start heading in the right direction in the morning. Although theres still an option of going back if the weather deteriorates this could indeed be farewell Middlewich!
11 miles and 8 locks in 6 hours – not too bad considering the conditions.
Abandon trip
Taken half an hour ago - now its a blizzard!
On Friday night the canal began to freeze over at 4pm and by next morning it was solid ice up to 3/4 inch thick, but despite this the ground was of course solid but not at all slippery. It was like walking in the dry cold of an industrial deep freeze, and gloves would freeze to anything you touched.
Last night it was not quite so cold, and the canal only has a thin covering of ice this morning in most places. But it is almost impossible to walk without falling over. I don’t know who fell over more this morning – me or the dog (actually it was the dog and he hurt his leg too!!), but after a lovely walk through the frosty fields it was actually quite scary on the towpath through the centre of Middlewich. Crossing the footbridge at Big Lock had to be done an inch at a time, in a semi crouching postition ready to sit down at any stage – lethal!
This is therefore the decision point. If the town centre public footpaths are like ice rinks, the remote Cheshire Locks are going to be far too dangerous for single handed working, so with regret I have decided to abandon the trip south until after Christmas. The only problem is that the snow is now so heavy I rather fear we are going to find it hard to get anywhere by car too!
Good job we have this….
Theres nothing like a warm fire to keep the cold away
Frozen
Big Lock being cleared for opening this morning
Well the Big Lock re-opening has been delayed until 23rd, but despite the 3/4 inch ice on the canal here in Middlewich, and minus 7 degrees at 7am, a whole team of BW men have turned up and worked the first dozen boats through already.
Its open until 3pm, then again tomorrow from 11 to 3pm but having spoken to some boaters who had arrived here this morning, the ice has halved their speed, and with modern powerful engines, all have been stuck somewhere en route. Theres no way Zulu is powerful enough to break ice like this, even following another boat, so I am almost resigned to the fact that we wont be setting off this side of Christmas.
Our target was to be through Braunston and Buckby by 11th January, so this is still achievable without risking the ice today. I also dont fancy doing the Cheshire Locks single handed today and I normally hauling the boat with a solid frozen rope, whilst a little safer than climbing icy ladders, still doesnt appeal.
First boat through the ice this morning
I’m keeping an eye on the weather, and now that several boats have gone through the lock, its tempting to set off through the already broken ice, but I know if it freezes as hard tonight as it did last night I could end up literally frozen in. Probably safer to wait until Christmas is over and enjoy a day’s Christmas shopping in Manchester instead!
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