Phase 2 begins....

Saturday July 26th 2008

Drove back up to the boat. Found a note on board from a guy called Simon, who I met 2 years ago when I was returning from London. He has left his boat here while he has gone back to London; he is headed for Llangollen. Here's his blog: http://nbtortoise.blogspot.com/

Very hot today. I went through 4 locks (and got plenty of help with each one!) but didn’t travel very far. Walked back to get the car, found a decent place to park it and walked back the 3 miles to the boat. Have got 4 more locks to start the day with tomorrow but then only a couple of sparse locks until Stoke on Trent.

Sunday July 27th 2008

Another beautiful day today. I started off at the chandlery where I bought a couple of fenders, one to replace one that had come off the boat while I was away and the other because I was a fender short anyway. Then I started off through the next four locks. They were all close together and I got help in three of them. I only cruised about three miles today as I needed to move the car. It all gets a bit silly when I have the car as well as the boat to move. Anyway, I have found what seems like another safe place for it BUT how I am going to retrieve it tomorrow I have yet to work out. I moored close to the Wedgewood Factory but didn’t go to visit it. Considering we are close to Stoke, there are quite a lot of “executive” developments in this area. Nicely done with plenty of open green spaces. In Stone there was a new canalside development that reminded me of Hemel Hempstead. Spent the afternoon sitting by the canal reading on this lovely balmy day.

Monday July 28th 2008

Unbelievable as it may sound I was up and started off at 7.30 this morning. I cruised through Stoke on Trent, through 6 locks and was one mile from Harecastle Tunnel when I stopped for lunch. Within the hour I was off again and in the queue for the tunnel. This is a peculiar tunnel as it is nearly 2 miles long and is one way, so there is a tunnel keeper at each end who notes which boats have entered and they ring each other to check whether all is well. Even more peculiar is the fact that they close off the South Portal and switch on a couple of giant, noisy fans. I have taken a detour up the Macclesfield Canal as I want to visit a couple of National Trust properties up that way. Also I have some car moving to sort out. And I need a rest before the 30 locks that need to be done over the next three days (It’s known as Heartbreak Hill!). Am having acute technical problems with the mobile internet which may result in me throwing the whole lot into the Cut!