Friday 5 June 2015

My Blog Was Compromised

It appears the blog has been compromised with some kind of "search" facility that automatically pops up when you open the page.
Apologies to all the followers.



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Saturday 29 December 2012

Selling Stuff on Ebay!

Having an account on Ebay for many years and receiving 100% positive feedback by being honest and always reasonable with buyers and sellers alike it has served me well. Particularly at the moment when I am in the process of selling anything I don't need before I move abroad.
Sadly a did recently come across an unscrupulous buyer who told lies and made no attempt to mediate when for reasons unknown to me he said something I sold wasn't working when in fact it was brand new and turned out to be working fine when he finally returned it for a full refund!
I thought I had better warn buyers of the retailer www.1stclasskeys.co.uk as they should not be trusted!!!
If you require details of this case I will be happy to furnish you with more details. The business spoils everything that is good about electronic selling and I intend to make it my business to spoil his party as well!



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Friday 14 September 2012

Weaver Trip - Day 7

Thursday 31st May 2012

Left our moorings under a threatening sky and shared the first two locks with another two boats that were rafted together. We then moored in Northwich as it began to rain very heavily. It was pouring with rain but this didn't dampen Elaine's spirit to visit Marks & Spencer! After a soaking, visiting the shops, we moved up to the sanitary station before pushing on. Because of the weather, we failed to really enjoy this historic little town but vowed to return again.
Northwich has a fantastic road swing bridge that was in fact the first electrically operated swing bridge in the UK.
We cruised on down through Saltersford and Dutton Locks to reach the end of, sensible, navigation at Weston Marsh Lock. This is the lock that links the River Weaver to the Manchester Ship Canal.
As we turned, a large wide beam boat 'lazy days' was just coming up in Weston Marsh Lock; assisted by British Waterways. It wasn't long before this boat was close behind us and it finally passed us as we pulled over at Devils Garden Moorings to wave him past.
We then both pushed on to the lock where we both moored for the evening as the lock was now closed. It proved to be a lovely mooring although we knew we had to move off early in the morning as these were the moorings for the lock.




Moored below Dutton Lock



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Weaver Trip - Day 6

Wednesday 30th May 2012
Woke to another glorious morning and I wandered down to the Anderton Lift Office to make arrangements for our passage. We were booked onto the 10.45am slot and had to be in the holding area for 10.15am. At 10.15 prompt we moored in the holding area outside the gift shop where we bought two brass plaques (Weaver Navigation and Anderton Lift) Buying them slightly sooner than we were entitled as we hadn't made the passage yet; but I guessed we couldn't really go back now!




Exiting the Anderton Lift onto the River Weaver! (picking up watermarks from the dribbles off the guillotine gate that became known as the Anderton Spots)
We had a very enjoyable cruise up the Weaver to Winford passing through two locks. Although the locks are very large there seemed to be a lot less surge than on a normal narrow lock! Plus; all the work was done by someone else!
We passed the "final British waterways recommended winding point" and moored outside the Red Lion Pub where I took on two pints of 'Dutch courage' (Black Sheep) before proceeding beyond the recommended extent of navigation to wind in the mouth of Winsford Bottom Flash!
We then headed back down the river to some lovely looking moorings above Vale Royal Locks (Northwich).
The sun had been beating down all day and I was now struggling from sun stroke. We enjoyed the serenity of the quiet river and its wildlife coupled with the novelty of mooring in wide water.
I was amazed at the lack of flow on the river and think there is probably more flow on the Llangollen!
An evening of Trivial Pursuits before going to bed!




Leaving the Anderton Lift and turning onto the Weaver




Vale Royal Moorings - very quiet!
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Weaver Trip - Day 5

Tuesday 29th May 2012

Woke at 6.45am on an overcast morning with all the potential to turn into a scorcher!
We moved off at 8.00am up to the water point for a top up. Cruising up to Middlewich I picked up a few voicemails and dealt with a few problems - free of charge to my employer!!!
At Middlewich just before Big Lock we assisted in the rescue of a drowning pigeon. It had fallen into the cut and according to a boatman on the towpath only had minutes to live before our intervention. It was rescued and the boatman returned to his boat carrying the weak bird for resuscitation; to the delight of his wife! As we cruised on, the bird was recovering and receiving the treatment more befitting to a rare breed!!
At Anderton we moored ready, and excited, for a morning decent down to the River Weaver.


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Weaver Trip - Day 4

Monday 28th May 2012

A very early alarm at 6.30am! A quick bowl of cereal for breakfast so we could move off up to Harecastle Tunnel portal as early as possible. We were keen to cruise as far as we could each day on this first part of the trip, up to Middlewich, as this we were cruising over well cruised ground and the new waters of the Weaver were waiting for us.
Arriving at the Tunnel at 7.30am we were the third boat in the queue; though unusually they were allowing boats from the north through the tunnel first! It was 8.30am before we entered (plenty of time for photographs and Facebook updates etc.).



Waiting in the early morning queue at Harecastle Tunnel.

We timed our passage to perfection taking exactly 40 mins to pass through!
We have an auxiliary plug in tunnel light that we have never used until today and it was a real benefit (plugged in at the back of the boat) lighting up far more of the tunnel!



The auxiliary tunnel light in action!

The weather was red hot with very little breeze and although we tree hard not to grumble about it, it was challenging travelling down heartbreak hill! (25 locks and 10 miles).
The Broughton Arms provided an unscheduled mooring for lunch with a great couple of pints and the best gammon steak I have eaten in ages!
We finally arrived in Wheelock at 4.30pm where we moored for the evening.



The Broughton Arms - Great Lunchtime Stop!

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Weaver Trip - Day 3

Sunday 27th May 2012

A very early start moving off at 7.00am. A plan that paid-off! Allowed us to travel during the cooler part of the day, avoided all the queues at locks and got pick of the moorings at Westport Lake in Stoke.



A mooring in the shade at Westport Lake, Stoke.

We watched the Monaco Grand Prix; which was the usual procession with all the gilts and glamour of a film festival!
In the late afternoon Elaine and I had a walk around Westport Lake, before dinner on the boat.

It was another great day weather-wise and looking forward to the forecast good weather tomorrow. (It was bound to be sunny anyway; as it's Monday! Aren't all Mondays glorious or does it just seem like that when you are stuck in an office at work!)

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