In September we skipped off on a van trip to Dorset and returned to the boat (near the top of the Bingley Five Rise on the Leeds & Liverpool) with a decision to change our minds and head back to spend the winter on the Macclesfield and Peak Forest Canals. I was really looking forward…

A bit delayed in typing this up, but in September it was time for a change of scenery, and we headed south in the van to the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. I think we were both a bit surprised by what we found on this trip. Dorset has got something for everyone, from military historians,…

Since our last post, we moved along to Silsden for shopping and then headed to the top of the Bingley Five Rise to use the facilities. Along the way, we were a little horrified to see reports of an incident that had just occurred on the canal ahead of us at the Granby Swing Bridge,…

In the last boating post, we mentioned a breach we were hoping would be fixed. Well – it is fixed. So we have moved on into the Yorkshire Dales. We made it to Gargrave and moored up there for a couple of weeks. The Yorkshire Dales are stunning, and as we had the car for…

The valleys and mountains of the Eryri National Park (formerly known as Snowdonia) is an area that holds many memories for both of us. Revisiting it with more time to explore and soak up the surroundings has been a real treat. As Scout Leader’s daughter, I spent many summers playing in the rivers and woodlands…

We knew there would be problems with water levels on the Leeds & Liverpool canal, but water shortages and broken bridges seem to be affecting quite a few parts of the system at the moment. The Macclesfield Canal has a lack of water and has closed its main flight of locks at Bosley, the Peak…

We’ve had a relaxing couple of weeks since our dash up the Wigan flight of locks. We were also very lucky to get up them when we did as, a few days later, various issues with leakage in one of the pounds (pools between each lock that store the water) caused boats to ground on…

  We‘ve made it up the Wigan flight, we had coffee and cookies ready on the back and we paired up with a single-manner (boat with only one person on it). It was the first time for me to helm a pair of boats breasted up. Once we’d got up into the first lock of…

Our motorhome travels are over for a little while, so we rescued the boat from the marina and, with a slower speed in mind, headed back along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towards Wigan, but only as far as Appley Bridge.  Appley Bridge sounds like a sleepy little idyllic spot, but it has seen some…

  We have both fallen in love with Dartmoor, it’s about the size of London. For Ian, it’s the wide-open spaces and for me it’s the rocky, blobby piles of weathered granite tors. We’ve had fabulous blue skies and a countryside that’s positively glowing with colour in the late Spring sunshine. Dartmoor is an ancient…