Kerry, the Kiwi Lock Keeper!

This morning Jan locked me down through Wharton’s Lock leaving the lower gates open whilst I winded (turned) Waiouru in the nearby winding hole.  It was an impressive improvement on my winding ability as I managed to do it in three movements.  It wasn’t that long ago I was winding in 13 moves.  Pity there was no audience to applaud!  By the time I’d returned to the lock another boat was waiting above.  Jan then had some assistance to lock me up.

Unfortunately Jan had just finished locking me up through the next lock (Beeston’s Iron Lock) when a boat appeared.  They got the benefit of Jan leaving the lock ready for them after she had done all the hard work on her own.  Can’t win them all!

It seemed all the locks would be against us today because Tilstone Lock was also full.  Jan walked on forward to check it whilst I loitered below without mooring.

Two boats arrived to go down just as Jan was attempting to open the top gates.  The crews kindly offered to lower the paddles enabling Jan to reboard Waiouru.  The Anglo-Welsh base immediately below Bunbury Staircase Locks appeared to have a large number of hire boats moored which we assume is an indication that hire companies are not having a good year?  Jan had already been advised there was a CRT lock keeper on duty by the crew she had met at the previous lock. 

Kerry immediately recognised Jan’s accent and could correctly pronounce Waiouru.  Not surprising as he is originally from Napier, NZ.  Whilst we worked Waiouru up through the staircase locks (2) he explained he’d always been fascinated by the locks and when CRT asked for volunteers he jumped at the chance.  During the training it was mentioned CRT were looking for full-time lock keepers and he seized the opportunity.  And that’s how a Kiwi from Napier became a CRT lock keeper!  He usually works either the Bunbury or Chester locks.

Looking back from the lower chamber.  And if you prefer black and white

The water from the upper chamber is released into the lower chamber.  When the water levels are equalized the gates can be opened.

The plan was to stop at the Calveley Services and top up the water point.  It was actually quite busy with the situation not assisted by the boater who locked and moored their boat on the water point leaving it unattended.

I also found it annoying that there were CRT employees present yet the boat seemed to be ignored by them.  Surely just as safety is everyone’s business, in CRT the reporting of non-compliance should be a core responsibility for all employees?

We eventually managed to get onto the water point.

We saw some interesting and ‘rough’ boats today.  This one looks like a type of hybrid canal inspection boat.

Whilst this one looked quirky I was somewhat annoyed it was moored on a bend in an area marked “No Mooring”.

This one looked like it could do with a damned good clean and polish……..

Just teasing James!

We’re now moored on the south side of Nantwich.

Two walks….. Two castles!

The first major task for the day was to walk to the nearby village of Tarporley.  It was a 100 minute round trip using the local footpaths to reach the Spar shop where I purchased Jan’s weekly magazines.  The early start had one disadvantage.  The crops were still coated in dew!  The first field had a thigh high grain crop which resulted in my trousers getting a good soaking.  Then the footpaths took me through three fields of corn, each a different height.  By the time I reached Tarporley my clothing was saturated.  Fortunately my birthday suit is waterproof….. Although it does lose it’s colour and shape if immersed in water too long.

On the way back to Waiouru I could see the distant outline of Beeston Castle on the skyline.

After pausing at Waiouru, where I allowed my trousers to dry and changed my t-shirt, I grabbed the big camera and headed across the countryside towards the castle. 

I was expecting to find a ruin.  What I wasn’t expecting was an English Heritage (EH) ticket box.  Having paid the entrance fee (£5.90) I headed to the summit.  However there is a lower set of fortifications before reaching the summit.  On the way up I took the time to read the EH leaflet.

Beeston Crag is part of a chain of rocky hills across the Cheshire plains.  The Cheshire plains lie between the high ground of the Peak District and the hills of eastern Wales. They provide an obvious easy route when wanting to move north or south.  My original thought was the castle would have been built shortly after the invasion of England by William the Conqueror.  Or if you are an ancestor of Harold…. William the Bastard (he was reputedly illegitimate).  However construction of the castle commenced in the 1220’s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, after he returned from the 5th Crusade.  Apparently he was impressed with the design of the crusader castles in the Holy Land and modelled Beeston on them.  Unusually, the castle doesn’t have a ‘Keep’, instead it relied on it’s natural position plus two walls and a moat.  The outer wall had a very strong gatehouse and the walls had ‘D’ towers within arrowshot of each other.  This enabled each tower to defend the adjacent tower without exposing the defenders to direct fire by attackers.

The original archers firing slots were widened in the middle during the civil war to allow for muskets.

The castle dominates the ground to the north, south and west.  It would certainly have been a daily reminder to the serfs working the land around it that their Lord was watching them.  However the main purpose of the castle was part of Edward I (Hammer of the Scots) strategic plan to confine, control and dominate the Welsh.  In the end it was probably too far away from Wales to have much strategic value except as a base for supplies.

Gatehouse to the upper ward.

The upper ward had a well It was one of the deepest in England at 113 metres.  The highest point on the crag is 150 metres which means the bottom of the well was almost at sea level!

The moat was cut from solid rock and was between 7 – 9 metres deep.  Presumably the extracted rock was used to construct the castle walls.

View to the north with Liverpool on the horizon.

Looking east the railway and canal are in the foreground.  Waiouru’s location is marked by the red arrow.

It appears the only time the castle saw action was during the Civil War when it changed hands several times.  The Parliamentarian forces laid siege to it for a year in 1644-45.  Both sides became desperate to end the siege with the defending Royalists running low on food and the attacking Parliamentary forces suffering a significant number of desertions towards the end of the siege with many of their troops returning home to tend their crops.  The Royalists managed to deceive their attackers to their perilous state and surrendered on generous terms.  When the Parliamentary forces entered the castle they discovered there was less than one day’s food and the Royalists had even eaten their cats. 

After the siege had ended Cromwell ordered the castle be demolished.  During the 18th century the site was used as a quarry.  It’s not hard to guess where they sourced most of the stone!  The current lower gatehouse (and ticket office) was built in the early Victorian period.  My assumption is most of the ‘established’ ruins also date from that period. 

To the west of Beeston Crag is a slightly larger and higher feature (175m –v- 150m).  This also has a castle, Peckforton Castle. 

However it was built in the 19th century for John Tollemache, the largest landowner in Cheshire at the time.  During WW1 it was used as for the care of wounded soldiers and in WW2 physically handicapped children from the south were relocated there.  In the 70’s & 80’s it was used as a location for shooting TV and films.  In the late 80’s it was purchased by an American and converted into a luxury hotel and venue centre.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent back at Waiouru furiously doing not very much! In the early evening ‘Yellow Peril’ Ferris cruised past with Kiwi couple Mark & Evie aboard.  They were heading back to the hire base having visited Chester.

Earlier photo of Mark & Evie on their way up the Shroppie

A meeting with NB AREandARE

It’s been almost three months since we last met Barry & Sandra (NB AREandARE) at the Crick boat show.  We’ve both been travelling on the same canals but they have been 2-3 weeks ahead of us.  However that changed when we arranged a meeting at the Old Barbridge Inn.  The evening was spent in the beer garden (with the wasps) catching up on what each crew has been doing since May. 

Photo taken early the morning after!

As anyone who follows Barry & Sandra’s blog will know, Barry takes fantastic photos.  Probably not surprising as he has been a professional photographer for decades.  My cunning plan was to get him to bring me up to his standard over a beer.  I’ll leave it to readers to comment on the quality of blog photos from this point onwards!

Barry gave my Canon DSLR the once over and said “Nice…Expensive!”  Then he showed me his camera which didn’t look nearly as expensive and told me he’d used for all the photo’s you see on their blog…… Bastard!  My theory that expensive cameras take great photos has been shot to hell.  Both Jan and I were up early and I wandered around taking photos.  Barry had told me to practice… practice… practice!

Waiouru and AREandARE moored bow to bow.

Sandra had invited us aboard AREandARE for morning tea and whilst there Barry used our Canon to take a photo.

I guess it just goes to show a poor tradesman shouldn’t blame his tools.  The remaining photos on this post were taken with Jan’s very small Samsung digital.  I’m just getting in my excuses at the beginning. 

We know from previous experience the 3 Mobile coverage isn’t that good on the lower part of the Llangollen Canal and we’d already recently done the Middlewich Branch so last night we decided to head north towards Chester.  We won’t go that far, however it will be an opportunity to see some new lengths of canal.

We were quite surprised to find the Bunbury Staircase Locks are doubles. The locks south of here on the Shropshire Union Canal are singles hence the surprise.  The second surprise was that there were two boats working up and we were then expecting to go down with AREandARE.  But another boat crew emptied the lower staircase lock and entered it without checking if there were boats above (eg, us) waiting to go down.  Canal cruising isn’t a race so we weren’t that fussed.  However when that boat was up and out of the lock we both entered the upper chamber only to discover another boat had gone into the lower chamber.  We then did the Bunbury Shuffle. With the upper chamber empty and the lower chamber full AREandARE moved into the lower chamber beside the boat waiting to come up.  I then moved Waiouru across the upper chamber which allowed the boat coming up to move forward into the position Waiouru had previously occupied.   Barry then moved AREandARE across the lower lock chamber in to the position previously occupied by the boat coming up.  I then moved Waiouru forward into the lower chamber previously occupied by AREandARE.  We emptied the lower chamber whilst the boat going up filled the upper chamber.  We’ve now done the ‘Bunbury Shuffle’!

Waiting in the upper chamber

I take a photo of Barry taking a photo of me whilst we wait for the lock

At two of the locks we noticed these small round brick buildings with a brick dome roof beside the lock.  What purpose do they serve?

The second wasn’t locked so I took a peek inside.  There was a fireplace and a water tap.

I assume it’s some type of workman’s shelter from the elements?

The girls worked the boats in tandem down through all the locks except Beeston Iron Lock where there is a warning notice advising the lock should only be used by a single boat as the sides were bowed.

Barry & Sandra continued on to Tattenhall Marina whilst we stopped above Wharton’s Lock.  There is a ‘Dot in the sky’ and good internet coverage here.  The plan it to remain here tomorrow so I can get in a walk to the local village (Tarporley) for Jan’s weekly magazines and then I want to walk to Beeston Castle.  But more about that tomorrow.

One other question.  Does anyone know what the two cylinders on the stern of the boat in the following photo are used for?  They look like gas cylinders!

Oh….. it’s a metal duck on the plate by the rudder!

At Dot’s Request!

Dot left a comment on last night’s post asking what happened to the photos.  Well we were tired so they just didn’t happen yesterday.  But now the batteries have recharged.

These are two photos of the folder I made to hold the visa application documents.

The nice plastic folder with the front index page.

Everything nicely partitioned to make it easy for the reader to navigate around the documents at tick-over!  Pity it was binned by the Checking Service!

The Settlement Checking Service is located in the Manchester Register Office.  It’s the office where locals go to arrange for births, deaths and marriage certificates, etc.  The waiting area has half a dozen tables and chairs which I presume have been provided for people to use to complete their application forms.  What astonished me was the amount of graffiti on the table tops.  The condition of the table tops looked exactly like the desks I sat at when at secondary school.

Actually I was very surprised to see all the furniture in this state.  This is being done by adults!  Moreover I’m even more surprised the council hasn’t replaced or repaired the tables.  Leaving graffiti only encourages more of it.  All this racing around the inner Manchester CBD didn’t give us much time for sight-seeing.  But then we knew we’d be back one day by canal and with time to have a good look around.  I managed to take a couple of quick snaps on the photo camera.  The Manchester Register Office is opposite the Town Hall across Albert Square.

The clock tower on the Town Hall

There had been a Jazz Festival in the square at the end of July which why there were large white tents.  In front on the Town Hall was the statue in the photo above.  It was a male and my guess is it’s a statue of Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband.  If you really want to ingratiate yourself to your monarch then build a statue to her much loved and departed husband!   A quick search in Google confirmed my assumption and this is what Wikipedia has regarding the statue.

The square's creation arose out of a project by Manchester Corporation's Monuments Committee to erect a memorial to Prince Albert who had died of typhoid in 1861. After initial proposals to create a memorial library, museum or botanical gardens, the committee decided to erect a statue in a decorated canopy. It was originally planned to place the monument in front of the Royal Infirmary building at Piccadilly, between the statues of Wellington and Peel. However it was felt that its ornate Gothic design was not in keeping with the neoclassical infirmary. In 1863, land was offered by the Corporation which was cleared to make way for a public space.

The project won much public support; the Manchester Bricklayers' Protection Society donated 50,000 bricks towards the monument's construction, "as an expression of sympathy towards our beloved Queen". When construction problems arose (the site was found to be riddled with drains and culverts) and the bricks were used up on the foundations alone, a public subscription was launched in 1865 and a further £6,249 was raised, in spite of the hardships of the Cotton Famine.

Clearing the site began in 1864, and required the demolition of over 100 buildings, including the Engraver's Arms pub, a coffee roasting works, a smithy, a coal yard and various warehouses. The project was encouraged by the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to open the Albert Monument in 1869.

Another Long Day

This is a very late post because it has been a very long day.  Yet Waiouru didn’t move more than a foot on her mooring ropes.  At 8.20am the man from Enterprise Rentals arrived to collect us for the short journey to their office at Crewe.  They had the small van we had booked (a VW Caddy) and our first trip in it was a brief drive further up the road to Screwfix where we purchased two wheelbarrow tyres.  Then we headed to our Settlement Checking Service appointment in Manchester. 

The car gps guided us to the Manchester central car park (much sucking of gums when we saw the hourly rate) and the Garmin Oregon gps guided us to the Settlement Office.  We were there early so after confirming the location was correct there was time to have a coffee. 

The interview started 20 minutes early which turned out to be a bonus.  All my efforts in producing a well presented application in a folder was wasted when the official said he wasn’t interested in it.  After checking I had completed the application form correctly he made copies of our various supporting documents before placing the complete collection into a large envelope in no particular sequence.  The receiving officer will now have a jigsaw puzzle working out where everything goes.  The lack of an address did turn out to be an issue but the Checking Service doesn’t have a mandate to resolve that problem.  But I had submitted a letter of explanation which has accompanied the application.  The other problem was the bank statements.  They wanted statements for the last three months and we had a gap of a month.  It was suggested to us that we visit a local branch of each bank and obtain new statements.  A quick search in Google Maps showed there was a HSBC and Lloyds-TSB branch nearby.  The Checking Officer informed us he would hold the envelope for us whilst we obtained the statements.

The HSBC provided Jan with the statements (it’s her account) but they declined to certify them.  The next stop was the Lloyds-TSB branch around the corner.  It was in the process of being renovated with the exterior covered in scaffolding.  Inside there was a very large and empty foyer with a lone male sitting at a desk in one corner.  The desk was clear apart from a computer screen and keyboard.  I suggested Jan get in the queue for the tellers.  However she decided to approach the man sitting on his own.  Frankly, I didn’t know if he was staff or a customer.  As it turned out he was the branch manager and very happy to assist.  Whilst he was tapping away on the keyboard I made conversation (as you do).

Me.  “You’re having the building renovated?”

Him.  “Yes,  they’ve being at it for four months”.

Me.  “It’s a very old and impressive building.  What bank was in here before it became HSBC?”

Him.  “This is lloyds-TSB!”

<Jan looks at me as if I’m a complete idiot>

Me. <oops moment>  “Does this mean you won’t give us any money?”

I managed to move on from my error when I discovered his sister was living in NZ.  He’s the 3rd person we’ve met in the last two days with a relative in NZ.  I don’t understand why England isn’t depopulated and NZ overcrowded.

Back at the Settlement Checking Service the bank statements were copied and the originals returned to us.  Not that we needed them!  The application will be in tonight’s post.  Using the Checking Service had two advantages.  Our documentation was checked to see it was all there and we had all our original documents returned (including passports).

The next step should be advice from the UKBA that they want to collect my biometric data.  Of course they previously collected it for the last visa.  But why not do it again and collect more money off us!  I believe it will be a retina and fingerprint scan. 

The Checking Officer informed me that the visa will not go into my passport.  If When my application is approved I will be issued with a biometric card containing my photo, biometric data and advice I have “Indefinite Leave to Remain” in the UK.  Effectively it will be an identity card.  Apparently I am required to carry the card and present it on demand.  I’ve no problem with that as I’ve previously been in a number of situations where carrying an ID card was mandatory.

Back at the car park Jan cried as she fed the payment machine.  Back to being poor!  Then we headed off to Recliners Direct showroom at Preston, Lancashire to purchase two replacement swivel/recliner chairs whilst we had the van.  They have a free delivery service but we don’t have an address!  The chairs were not available in the showroom so we had to make another 15 minute trip to the warehouse to collect them. 

Rather than head straight to Waiouru we made yet another detour to the Sainsbury’s in Nantwich.  There was plenty of room in the back of the van so we did a very large food shop before returning to Nantwich Canal Centre where we parked in their carpark.  Waiouru was moored some distance away and by the time I’d done six round trips to empty the van I was feeling rather stuffed.  However there’s no rest for the wicked and we immediately started assembling our new chairs.  The cardboard and plastic wrapping was taken to the CRT rubbish skip whilst Jan heated some soup for a late dinner. 

Now sitting in the new chair (very comfortable) typing this blog entry!

Sunday walk to Crewe

After an absence of two years we’re back on the 14 days mooring just north of Nantwich Canal Centre.  We really have to do something to prevent Waiouru being bashed around on the “Shroppie Shelf” which is a ledge protruding from the side of the canal about a foot below the waterline.  Tomorrow we plan to purchase a couple of wheelbarrow tyres which will hopefully solve the problem.  Unfortunately it won’t solve the problem of the Nantwich Golden Sweepstakes.  All day we’ve had boaters whizzing past Waiouru at high tick-over.  In some instances very high tick-over.  I don’t know why because there are the ‘narrows’ and then a bridge hole almost immediately in front of us and you can hear the revs drop as the steerer realises they are going to be forced to slow down.  Once we have the tyres Waiouru wont be banged quite as hard against the shelf.

After looking at the map of the local area I decided on a circular walk to the east reaching the western suburbs of Crewe.  There are a number of public footpaths in this area that are not shown on the Open Street Map which will give the walk some purpose.  It proved to be a very interesting route with the latter part of it passing through Wistaston where there were numerous dog walkers exercising their canines on the public land.  It appears this land is under threat of being developed into a housing estate and the dog walkers are not pleased.

On the way back there was a female blocking the gate so I politely asked her to move.  I was ignored!  I raised my voice slightly, but was still ignored.  She had here back to me so in the end I gave her a gentle pat on her derriere and said “Would you mind moving please dear!”  She turned her head and gave me a hard stare before saying “moo” and moving off to join Daisy and Buttercup!

Waiouru is moored at the red arrow and the blue lines are the footpaths I recorded and uploaded to the Open Street Map.  Nantwich is in the bottom left and Crewe in the top right of the map.  The total walk was only about 15km so not too strenuous.

On my way back through Nantwich I noticed a couple of roads with interesting names.

Dog Lane

Weaver Bank

Initially I assumed the latter was named after weavers who might have been located in the street.  Then I realised it was running parallel to the river (which is the River Weaver) so I assume this is where the bank of the river was located prior to flood control measures being implemented.  But then I might be wrong.

We’ve had some bad and good news.  Our youngest son is a hardened backpacker and has covered most of the world.  The “missing piece” has been South East Asia and he left last month to tour Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.  We subsequently heard from him in Vietnam to say he had been unwell and diagnosed with fly lavae growing in one ear.  His situation became worse with a heavy fever and pains so he went to the international hospital in Hanoi where he was diagnosed with Dengue Fever.  During WW2 a significant number of soldiers contracted Dengue Fever.  It can be very nasty and is also known as “breakbone fever” because it makes the bones ache as if breaking at the joints.  The good news is he has a very comprehensive medical insurance policy and is on the road to recovery.

Maintenance Day

The plan was to do something about the possible leak in the centre Houdini hatch today but sitting on the throne this morning I happened to glance up at the oak trim between the ceiling and the end of the wall partition and notice a large gap.

Partition between the shower and toilet

On further examination it was obvious something similar had occurred in the same position on the partition between the shower and the bedroom.

It’s rather obvious this damage occurred two days ago when we were smacked by a boat passing us on a straight whilst moored in Middlewich.  The kinetic energy has flexed the side of the cabin at the point of impact which just happened to be the shower room.  The partitions have moved back into place but the oak trim on the end has been dislodged and the pva glue seal broken.

Both oak trims need to be removed and re-seated. To do this the oak plug covering the retaining screw needs to be removed.  This was achieved by using the battery screwdriver to screw another screw into the plug.  When the tip of the second screw hit the head of the original screw the plug gets forced out.  I learnt that trick off the joiners!  With the head of the original screw exposed it’s possible to remove it with the drill.

The hole nearest the oak is from the temporary screw that was used to secure the partition during its installation.  The fact that the hole is visible means the partition is in the correct position.  More pva glue was applied the piece if oak trim.  Actually considerably more glue!  It was then screwed back into place.

Finally, a replacement oak plug was glued and driven into the screw hole with the mooring pin club hammer (I don’t have a carpenters hammer).

You will have noticed my mistake.  I forgot to align the grain in the plug with the grain of the oak trim.  I now need to find some way of trimming off the surplus oak on the head of the plug to make it flush and then apply a couple of coats of varnish.

My attention then turned to the centre Houdini hatch.  I’m not sure if it’s a leak or condensation but today I made sure.  The Houdini hatch was removed by unscrewing the hundreds many small machine screws.  After a careful examination of the Houdini opening I couldn’t see any sign of water entering via the roof seal.  The first task was to run a fat bead of silicone around the inside lip of the Houdini frame.

I’ve used silicone rather than construction adhesive because the hatch might have to be removed one day and if it was held by construction adhesive that would be an extremely difficult task.

The remaining silicone in the gun was then used to fill any gaps between the steel of the roof and the oak trim.

This probably wasn’t necessary but it will assist in the minimising of any opportunity for condensation to form.  The Houdini hatch was then fitted back into the hole and screwed down.  The screws were tightened down in a sequence diagonally opposite and done twice to ensure a tight fit.

As I had hoped, surplus silicone was squeezed out between the foam seal on the hatch and the steel roof.  This was then wiped off and the area around the edge of the hatch cleaned.  Now we must wait for the next bout of rain to see if there is any further dripping from the hatch.  If there is then it’s condensation.

The Visa Application

A boring post about applying for the new visa.

We are now within the last 28 days of my current visa before it expires and I can now apply for the new visa which is ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’.  There are at least five options for applying and I’ll briefly explain each.

1. Complete the application form myself and submit it along with all the required supporting documentation.  Pay the standard non refundable application fee of £1050.  The time for the application to be approved/rejected can be up to 10 months and during that time the UKBA will have my passport meaning I can’t travel overseas.  The risk with this option is if there is something wrong or incomplete with the application it will be rejected and the fee will be forfeited.
2. Complete the application form myself and submit it along with all the required supporting documentation using the UKBA 24 hour processing service.  This must be done attending an appointment at one of a small number of locations.  The fee is approximately £1350.  These risks are the same as Option 1 but more money is at risk.  Moreover, it is difficult to obtain an appointment (they are booked online) because middlemen are booking them in bulk and then scalping them for a profit to the likes of me!  The only advantage over Option 1 is the application is processed within 24 hours.
3. Use an immigration agent/service to manage the application.  No doubt they will get it right but it is the most expensive of all the options.
4. Complete the application form and supporting documents myself and submit it using a Settlement Checking Service (fee £80-85) who will check the application before it is submitted to the UKBA.  This costs more than Option 1 but less than Option 2.  Moreover, if there is something wrong with the application it will be found before the £1050 fee is paid.
5. Don’t bother to apply for the visa.  Save the money… Come and find me!  Wait for the amnesty or hand myself in for a free ticket back downunder if/when we decide to leave the UK.  Cheapest option but with a risk I might be found.

After considering all the options we’ve gone with Option 4.  It’s actually a late choice because I didn’t realise some local government authorities were accredited by the UKBA to offer such a service.  The advantages of using the service are that they will check the application for the £80-85 fee before we make the £1050 visa payment.  They will also make copies of all the documents returning the originals to us (including passports).  The processing of the application by the UKBA should also be faster because it will already have been checked by the accredited Settlement Service official.  We’ve booked an appointment with the Manchester Checking Service.

I approach officialdom on the basis that they are very busy and the last thing they want is an application which is poorly presented requiring them to “work their way through it”.  If the application is professionally presented then I believe it’s more likely to receive prompt approval.  So I’ve purchased an A4 plastic folder, some clear plastic A4 envelopes, and ten A4 cardboard partitions.

The visa application (35 pages!) and the supporting documents have gone into the plastic envelopes which are in the folder.  They are separated by the cardboard partitions which are alphabetically numbered in sequence.  The application has a front cover page which is an index to the documents.

Once the visa is granted (note how positive I am!) it will mean I will be eligible to apply for a UK passport after five years……

provided I am not reported for passing boats above tick-over or mooring on water points!

Middlewich

The fish and chips we had for dinner last night were a disappointment.  Both of us felt queasy afterwards and when Jan threw a few of the chips out the side hatch a large oil slick appeared on the surface.  After a late night discussion we think it’s probably us and not the shop.  We’ve now purchased fish & chips on a number of occasions and each time we’ve had unpleasant after effects.  We think our diet is now so low in fat that we’re intolerant to “greasies”!  Additionally, neither of us like the way the food is presented pre-cooked and kept hot under heat lamps. 

The mooring last night was beside a busy road but both of us had a good nights sleep.  We actually didn’t hear much road noise which was probably due to the double glazing and insulation.  This morning we cruised down through Kings Lock and topped up the water tank at the tap on the corner of the Middlewich Junction.  Waiouru was then turned onto the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and we went up through Wardle Lock stopping on the 48 hour moorings shortly thereafter.

Looking back to the junction from Wardle Lock

Our current mooring is quite attractive.

You can just see Waiouru’s canopy three boats down.  It’s a very nice straight section of canal spanned by three attractive brick arched bridges.  So why the hell did the boat smash into us! I jumped from my chair in shock at the noise and Jan was almost thrown from the family throne.  I threw open the side hatch to see what had occurred and the steerer said to me “Sorry about that!” before going on to smash into the left abutment on the next bridge.  Jan has suggested we fit a seatbelt to the throne in case there is a repeat occurrence!

Obviously a majority of boaters don’t know what “tick-over” means as we’ve noticed so many of them motor past with the speed control in the half way position.  At lunch time a boat roared past us bouncing Waiouru around on her mooring ropes.  We had tears of laughter in our eyes at the sign in one of their windows “Please slow down for moored boats!”

In the afternoon I went for a walk around Middlewich.  During the walk I saw no buildings of specific interest but did read a plaque saying Middlewich was already established when the Romans were in England.  “wich” apparently means salt and Middlewich, Nantwich, and Northwich were all known for their salt extraction industries.   Salt is still extracted at a large plant on the SE corner of the town.  Last time we passed this way (2003) there was a large Bisto factory on the outskirts of Middlewich.  The factory has gone and the site levelled.  Another UK industry must have departed off-shore?  There is a small Tesco Express on the main street but if you bother to look behind the street to the west there is an even larger Tesco.  One wonders why there are two Tesco stores so close together.  Apparently a House of Correction was built in the 1630’s on the site of the current police station.  The occupants were there for minor crimes undergoing hard labour and at the end of their sentence the men were whipped in the Bull Ring. 

Later they just sent them to Australia!