Leaving the Canal Behind

Thursday night, June 12

Over the course of several locks today, we made friends with a lovely couple who are from

Our new friends Mary and Ego setting up
our canal side happy hour seating.

Mary feeding the swans and cygnets

this area and take mini holidays on their boat.  We regaled them with the story of our ‘robbery’ and they told us of a rescue they had performed on the canal the day before.  A man had caught his foot on one of the mooring ropes of his boat, and fell into the water (BIG YUCK).  His wife was desperately trying to figure out how to get him out, but had panicked and they were in a bit of a mess.  So our new friends Mary and Ego (pr. Eggo) managed to get the man out of the water and helped the hapless travellers get their boat unstuck from the mud at the side of the canal.  (The canals are only about 4’ deep and tend to be shallower on the sides - especially the side without a tow path).  After sharing such epic adventures, we were destined to become canal friends.

We both pulled up to the same area for the evening, and we had a very enjoyable happy

Canal views - lots of cows and sheep, and every once
in awhile a dock.  Some docks were in better shape than
others! 

The ducks know the boats mean food.  And Glen
cooperated.  Lots of ducks, ducklings, geese, goslings,
swans and cygnets on the canals everywhere.

Swans on the canal

These beautiful yellow lilies are a common sight on the
canalside.

Typical "cottages" seen canal side

Anne holding the lock open for Glen to bring the boat in

These iron mile markers are a common
sight on the towpaths.  Note the date on
the bottom!

hour with them.  Although we couldn’t coordinate our cooking to be able to eat dinner together, we spent a really nice evening sitting in the sunshine on the towpath having a good chat about life in general, and the pluses and minuses of owning a canal boat vs. renting one when you want it.    Renting seems to win out, unless you want to live on one full time.

We fed the swans and ducks, sat in their chairs (we don’t have chairs we can put outside on our  boat), set on either side of the towpath and greeted all the cyclists, walkers and runners as they passed through our conversation area.  E-mail addresses were exchanged, and we have a standing invitation to visit them at their home in a little town called Kinver.  What a great way to spend our second-to-last night on the canal.

Saturday morning June 14 - our final morning on the canal boat.  We had to return it to the boatyard by 10 am, so we moored close by on Friday evening.  These past two weeks have had a charmed and magical quality - robbery notwithstanding.  I can’t think of a vacation where I was more relaxed, and enjoyed every moment quite so much as this one.  Although a driving holiday in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island a few years ago comes a very close second.

Some of the scenes and memories of our time on the canal: 

The water is disgusting and polluted on the Trent and Mersey where it goes through the cities.  Boatyards scrape and clean boats right into the water.  Huh?!?  Garbage floating in the water is a common sight and not a pretty one.  BUT.  Get onto the side canals, and you are out in the countryside, and the floating garbage makes a welcome exit - stage left.  The water is muddy, the colour of coffee with cream.  The canals are shallow and the boats stir up a lot of mud.  

At the Harefield Tunnel (a mile-long tunnel that takes about 35 - 40 minutes to cruise

The south end of the Harecastle Tunnel

Harecastle Tunnel - over a mile long.  Before
motorized boats, two men would lay on the
roof of the boat with their feet walking along
the walls to push the boat forward.   It took
4 - 5 hours to get through this way.  We took
35 minutes

Old horse hitching posts at most of the locks

Typical lock - I've left the windlass attached
to show it in 'action'.  The part sticking up
is what gets cranked up to release the water.
Then it has to be cranked back down once the
gates are opened.

Very untypical - most of the rock walls are intact.  This
just looked kind of pretty at one of the locks.

A lock paddle - many of them had these little crocheted
decorations on them.  I never did find out why, although
I asked a lot of people.

Seen on a dock outside a farm.

The canals had these metal 'railings' where we could
attach these specialized hooks to tie the boat up to.

A lock - waiting for the water to be level so I can push
the paddles back.

A boat 'nose'.  They are these really elaborate rope things
on all the canal boats.  Makes a softer bump when you
inevitably hit someone.

This is the rope 'fender' or "Tip Cat" seen on all the boats.
Some are fancier than others.  Ours was pretty basic.

Tools of the trade.  Windlass for the locks and
drawbridges, and a hook for tying up at night.

North end of the Harecastle Tunnel.  Check the colour of
the water.  It really is that orange!

Boats waiting for the Harecastle.  It's a one-way
mile-long tunnel, so the wait is usually about
45 minutes to an hour.  The tunnel master at
each end controls entry to the tunnel

Typical 'paint job' on a canal boat.  It's quite an art.

The stern of the Maria and the steering
mechanism

Filling the water tank - there are many places along
the canal where you can stop to take on water.

A really old stone mile marker - predates the
iron cast ones shown earlier

A fun boat painting.  Note the solar panels.

Railing on the aqueduct.  There's a river about 300 feet
down there.  Our canal went across the river on this
bridge.

Bridge decoration.  Didn't see them often.  Roses have
some special significance for canal boats, but I haven't
got to the bottom of that mystery either.

Bridge at the lock.  This one had two railings.
Most of them only have one.

Glen down in the lock waiting to be raised up.

Inside the boat - our galley

Inside the boat - our sitting and dining room!

Typical view from the canal

Old pottery kilns.  No longer in use.

Canal water- very muddy looking

Water's almost level - time to open the gate.

through), the water is coloured a deep orange colour from iron in the mine tailings that seep into the canal.  No ducks were sighted in this section of the canal.  In the days before motorized canal boats, two men would lay flat on their backs on top of the boat, and “walk” the boat through the tunnel by pushing with their feet against the wall of the tunnel.  There are many drips of who-knows-what during the passage of the tunnel, so it’s best to wear a hat.  And it’s cold in there - wear a jacket.  I thought it would be a bit scary being underground for so long, but you can always see a tiny pinpoint of light at either end while navigating it, so it’s not too bad.  There is a tunnel keeper at each end, and they control boats going through.  It’s a one-lane tunnel, so you have to wait for the group of boats coming through to finish before your group is allowed to enter to go the other way.

Absolutely beautiful greenery along the canal side.  

Farms with cows, sheep, and goats.  

Amazing old factories - some in a very bad state, and others that are in full production.  Many of the foundations of these buildings form the side wall of the canal. 

Old pottery and lime kilns.  So many bridges.  All straight out of a picture book.  

Swing bridges and drawbridges.  Locks and more locks.  Towpaths - muddy, paved, gravelled.  

Birds singing - a wonderful orchestra of sound from daybreak until sunset.  Swans and cygnets.  Ducks and ducklings.  Geese and goslings.  

An old bridge we passed under. So many of
them, and all really old and beautiful

Really old stone mileage marker canal side.
The iron ones took the place of these

Cows checking me out at the lock.

Glimpses of old castles, historic manor homes, ancient brick cottages, modern homes and beautiful gardens.  Pubs canalside.  Sweet little villages canalside.  

And the boats.  They are all about the same width, maybe 8’ wide.  They range in length from 40’ to 70’.  The paint job is a BIG DEAL.  And if you live aboard year-round, you will generally have a garden on the roof, or some sort of boat ‘decorations’.  The boats have to fit a certain size range to fit the locks.  We were lucky enough to go onto Mary and Ego’s boat to see what a ‘non-rental’ looks like.  They are very well fitted out.  Many have wood stoves for heating, and carry wood on the top of the boat for the stoves.  Yes, I thought that was odd too . . . until I remembered the boats are made of steel.

There's so much more and I have hundreds of pictures. But it's time to move on.  Farewell canals - we'll be back!