Crewe

Saturday 12 July

Today Dianne jumped ship and travelled back to Bristol for a Christening after being picked up by Sarah from Manchester. Keith had a free day so whilst the boat was safely moored at Nantwich he took the bus into Crewe to explore the railway museum. What a disappointment! The site resembled a scrapyard with not one steam train in tact. There was a model railway exhibition taking place but that was all of any merit there.

At the entrance

 

The controls of a 60s loco

 

Work in progress!

Boys with their toys

A signal box from yesteryear

The mainline passes the museum

There are some good things about Crewe!

 

After a bite to eat in Subway it was time to head back to Nantwich. Rather than take the bus Keith kept the theme going and caught a train that only took a few minutes to make the journey and it only cost £3!

 

 

Keith was having withdrawal symptoms not having an Indian curry for over 4 weeks so off he went up town to a restaurant that has been converted from the old railway station and then off to the pub to watch Brazil lose once again!

 

Sunday 13 July

The boat that was moored behind overnight was festooned with all sorts of brassware for sale and so an investigation was needed! An old brass wheel nut was selected together with an octagonal brass knob to match the castellations on the nut. A little bit of machining will be required back home before it can be mounted on the tiller boss.

 

 

How it will look when machined.

It will sit a bit lower than shown.

Purchase made it was time for a bit of single handing in order to get to Audlum to pick up Dianne when she returns from Bristol. It certainly concentrates the mind when negotiating locks making sure everything is safe especially when ascending a lock. Fortunately there was some help available for two out of the four locks before mooring near the famous Shroppie Fly with the bar made from the bow section of an old wooden work boat.



The priority now was to find a pub in order to watch the World Cup Final. The Shroppie Fly had no tele, the Bridge screen was too small but the Lord Combermere offered a seat of choice provided a meal was had. Deal done!
During the match Dianne returned together with Sarah, James and grandchildren Jo and Martha on route to home in Manchester.

Monday 14 July

Dianne went off to do some shopping in Audlum and to visit an exhibition of lino cuts in the Mill next to the Shroppie. Then it was catch up time and we travelled 7 miles and worked through 23 locks today. At the top of the Adderley flight there is a canalside farm shop so Dianne went in and stocked up the fridge with all sorts of farm fresh meats including some delicious Barnsley chops for tonight. We moored at the top of the Tyrley flight just before the long Woodseaves cutting that is very narrow and provides no opportunities for mooring. It's now blowing a gale but we are tucked in besides trees on both sides providing protection.