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The swan on the right was
making a right old racket through the open hatch because I wouldn’t give him
any of my breakfast on Thursday morning
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As it promised to be a spring
like day I fancied going for a circular walk first thing. I planned a walk that went down the Stratford
canal and after a couple of miles, cut across the fields to the Grand Union and
back up that canal until it reaches Lapworth junction where we have been moored
for nearly two weeks.
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Walking across the first
field – no lambs yet in this part of the world
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After a couple more fields I found
an unclassified country road. As many of
you know, I am always keen to find these old unadopted byways and imagine how
life was when they were last used in earnest.
I like to think of the reasons why they weren’t well used enough to
become adopted into proper country roads.
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The road must still have
been used when the railway was built as a bridge was built for it
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At first glance I thought
the bridge was installed as an accommodation bridge for the local farmer whose
land would have been divided by the railway.
Looking about 200 yards to the right there was another bridge, this time
with a metalled road so maybe it was a proper road bridge when first built and
has since fallen into disuse.
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Old farm machinery stored
in the bridge
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I passed a lovely old brick
built barn in the next field, Warwickshire’s answer to the protected stone built barns
in the Yorkshire Dales.
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Barn in a field still
intact
|
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Clouds building up as we
got back home
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There are plenty of signs
of spring around but I have yet to see any butterflies; plenty of different
species have been seen in the south already though.
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Bulbs coming on well on
the front of the boat
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The clouds continued
building up and it started raining soon after lunch and carried on for most of
the afternoon. It wasn't until I went to take Buddy out for his final walk that I remembered I had left my boots on the back deck, warming in the sun; they were soaked through of course.
The other day I said that
I like to find mooring spots against Armco and someone asked what Armco was. For those who don’t know, it is the same as a
road crash barrier and is fixed to the metal pilings that are driven into the
side of the canal. Some canals have a
lot of piling and Armco and some have practically none so it’s always worth remembering
where the different spots are.
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Armco where we are
currently moored
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I like parking/mooring
against Armco as I can use nappy pins that slot behind the Armco. The lines are then passed through the top of
the pin and secured back on the boat.
This makes for a good secure mooring that is not easy for pranksters to untie
and set the boat adrift.
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Nappy pin (mooring hook)
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Sometimes I use mooring
chains instead of nappy pins. This will
usually be the case when old railway lines have been used instead of
Armco. Railway lines aren’t as wide as
Armco so nappy pins can easily pull out but chains can be looped round the line
and back through themselves.
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Mooring chain
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The front is currently
attached through a permanent mooring ring which is also a secure way of tying a boat
up. The rear is attached by one nappy
pin.
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Front attached via mooring
ring
|
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Rear attached by nappy pin
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When a lot of boat traffic
is expected, i.e. when the season starts and the marina dwellers and hire
boaters are out in force, I sometimes attach the rear with two nappy pins. Both will have lines running at 45 degrees to
the boat – one rearwards and the other forwards. This makes the boat more secure and it tends
not to get rocked by speeding boats causing food and drinks to slide off the
table or kitchen units!
The most insecure way of
mooring is to use stakes that are hammered into the towpath. Sometimes there is no option but to use these
but they need to be checked regularly as they can pull out especially if the
bank is moist and there are speeding boats.
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Mooring stake
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Sometimes people loop
their lines through the loop at the top of the stake which is not a good
idea. The metal hoop is only welded on
and will eventually come adrift as will the boat. It’s OK to loop through it as long as the
line goes round the stake too. Constant hammering of the stakes also works the joints loose - we have lost three loops over the years through hammer shock but at least the pins can still be used. The other
thing to do is to knock the stakes in at a good angle (with the top pointing away
from the boat) to give more strength to the mooring. I always knock a second pin in at an angle to
the first to help secure it.
In all the miles we have
travelled we have only been set adrift once and that was in Stalybridge where
we were moored against bollards. It’s
too much of a temptation for someone in high spirits (we were near a pub) to
lift the lines off the bollards even if they are wrapped round several
times. The first we knew about it was at
three in the morning as we were awoken by a branch rubbing along the boat. I went up on deck and it took me a while to
orientate myself as I hadn’t initially realised we had been set adrift. I was trying to work out why I had moored on
the wrong side of the canal and then I realised that we had drifted down to a
winding hole and across to the other bank.
It was just a case of pulling the lines in and then motoring back across
to the towpath side to moor up again.
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