LLANGOLLEN - 2000 YEARS - 2 GEARBOXES - 1 RAINBOW

Saturday 29th April 2000

The trip starts as usual in The Crown at lunch time when crew members assemble, some with families in tow, renew old aquaintances and start as the week is to go on - drinking beer. The Scout bus is packed with the luggage and provisions and the crew members, including some not on this years cruise, board the bus. As the bus leaves the pub car park a loud cheer erupts - the week has started. We arrive at the Canal base just after 3pm and have loaded our boat CHARTLEY and cast off 20 minutes later, our three passengers ride to the first lock before returning to the bus. As we motor along the canal we gradually settle in and the OOGUF punch is magic'd up by the cocktail set, including secret ingredient 'X' to give it that extra bit of oomph! We moor up at Penkridge by The Boat after travelling 9 miles and passing through 6 locks in 4 hours 30 mins. A number of pubs are visited that night with most of the crew in The Star where a couple of annual visitors joined us before returning to the boat for toast and cheese.

Sunday 30th April 2000

The boat casts off at 5.30 am, the captain and club chairman getting us underway, shortly followed by the rest of the early crew. the first cup of tea tastes wonderful I think its the "Scottish milk" that gets added. The crew are finding their feet and only one crewman (oops) runs us aground as we get used to steering the 70 foot steel hull from the back. A steady run towards Wheaton Aston for the lunch time stop, as we get nearer to the stop we come across a stretch of canal where a fishing match is taking place, "the tillerman" decides the best course of action is to get past them quickly so they are stopped fishing for as short a time as possible, a splendid plan of action but one fisherman did enquire "WURZ THA FOYA". We moor up at the Hartley Arms having covered 19 miles, worked 8 locks in 6 hours 45 minutes. Being a lovely sunny day we sat outside the pub all enjoying the ambiance apart from one member of crew who complained he had a sore throat. Returning to the boat the agency chef managed to injure his arm falling over a stile, causing the breakfast chef to be reprimanded for failing to look after the new staff. We carry on towards our night destination of Market Drayton passing on the way Cadburys "Crinkle Wharf" where only last year "the tillerman" tried valiently to de-value the canal steamer FRODSHALL where we notice that no one else has managed to ram it yet. We moor up at the Talbot for a quiet evening where the absence of the sore throated crew member is noted. A steady night with friendly hosts and fellow boaters swapping tales, all back on board before midnight.

Monday 1st May 2000

An early start, on our way by 5.10am as we have a long way to go. The early crew have a few locks to do and its not long before the message is passed to the galley that the sausages are saying "Fry me" so the breakfast chef and this years agency chef get the breakfasts underway. The condition of the bow fender comes in for some comment until it is realised that in this multi ethnic society the boatyard have given us a dreadlocked Rasta-fender in honour of our international standing. The mornings trip takes us to The Cotton Arms at Wrenbury having covered 20 miles and 31 locks in 9 hours. We are delighted to renew our aquaintance with the member of crew who has risen from his sick bed again. The afternoon was a steady run of 11 miles, 10 locks in 5 hours 30 minutes mooring up at the Waggoners Platt Lane, a short walk up the lane from bridge 43. Its a steady night again gradually warming up as the evening progresses with a choice of hard or soft scratchings and the landlord informing us that the Welsh border is only 100 yards further along the canal at the next bridge.

Tuesday 2nd May 2000

Up at 5.40am and once the early morning mist has burnt off its a fine bright sunny day The domino school assembles on the poop deck but the session comes to a premature end when one domino is lost over the side, followed closely by three others, the spirit of camaradre being what it is. At around mid-morning the catering manager declares that we are low on some supplies and gets off the boat to look for a supplier of fresh produce and newspapers, we don't see him again until we get to the lunchtime stop at the Poachers Pocket after travelling 19 miles and passing through 2 locks in 7 hours 30 minutes. Again it is a lovely sunny day and we sit outside enjoying the weather, the beer and the newspapers that the catering manager has procured for the crew. We are joined briefly by some fellow boaters and their dogs who hail from Measham. Back on the boat we head on towards the CHIRK AQUEDUCT and TUNNEL where most of the crew walk the aqueduct to enjoy the views.

We have to wait before passing through the tunnel because a number of boats have already entered from the other end, having to reverse and moor up after starting to enter the tunnel.

Quite a number of the crew walk over the top and await the boat on the other side. As we wait we hear a sound resembling music emerging from the tunnel prompting many of the crew to cover their ears as the boat emerges, there we aspire "the tillerman" blowing his trumpet for all he is worth.

We carry on, gradually seeing glimpses of the PONTCYSYYLLTE AQUEDUCT as we approach along the valley side, crossing the aqueduct itself about 5 pm

Motoring straight into the Trevor boatyard which unfortunately has just closed as we arrive (we had hoped to get a pump out). We therefore carry on towards Llangollen after watering up, picking up a roof load of local children at the yard and dropping them off a short distance along the canal. Progress is very slow against the current from the feed and a number of the crew jump ship and decide to walk on, including the captain! he claims later to have visited horseshoe falls, the source of the waters. As we arrive in Llangollen basin after covering just 8 miles in 5 hours, it is apparent that there is no mooring space available so we turn round in a very shallow winding hole and collect the crew members that have assembled on the bank, along with an additional crew member who has also brought fresh supplies. We return along the Llangollen canal for one and a half miles until we can moor up opposite the Trevor Sun alongside the canal at Bridge 41. A lovely pub set on the hillside with panoramic views of the valley which makes the most of the evening sun. Some crew members do not leave until after midnight having engaged the hosts in conversation at closing time, however they incurred the wrath of the chairman by disturbing his sleep on their return to the boat.

Wednesday 3rd May 2000

An early start again at 6.20am the chairman decrees that if he has to stay awake when the night revellers are awake then they must stay awake whenever he is awake, and orders patrols through the boat all day to ensure that no night revellers try to have a crafty nap. Most are up early to see the return across the aqueduct, but he ensures that non are able to return to their bunks. We call in at MAESTERMYN MARINE for a pump out where luck shines on the domino's players, the owner also runs the adjacent pub The Narrow Boat and upon hearing the tale of woe offers to sell them one of his domino sets from the pub. We push on to Ellesmere for the lunchtime stop,arriving at 12.20pm having travelled 17 and a quarter miles through 2 locks in 6 hours, where we split in to small groups as we walk the short distance into the town, each group visiting different pubs before all congregating in the Railway Inn - What a pub! - friendly hosts, brilliant atmosphere, fancy dress penalties for foul shots on the pool table and the cocktail set was so well looked after that the principal member partook of seven different coloured cocktails - a veritable RAINBOW was consumed. The return to the boat was an hour later than anticipated (2.40pm) such was the welcome that we received and the sight and sound of the returning crew through the streets of Ellesmere must have been a sight to behold. We carry on steadily and the chairman doubles the anti-nap patrols, although the rainbow drinker is excused and allowed to sleep it off. We head on to Grindly Brook for the night stop mooring up after successfully negotiating the triple lock without flooding the towpath (this time) at 7.35pm, we have travelled 18 and a half miles through 15 locks in 7 and a half hours. A quiet night in the Horse and Jockey due to the lunch time excesses no doubt, though the beer was a bit "off". The rainbow drinker does not join us in this establishment we note.

Thursday 4th May 2000

An early start again underway by 5.35am the chairman and captain an inspiration to the crew every morning, or is it insomnia? We are heading towards Church Minshall for the lunch time stop, After travelling 18 and a half miles through 12 locks in 5 hour 30 minutes, we still have to walk "300 yards" to the Badgers Arms where we learn it has had 12 owners in 10 years, a bad credit rating and sells Walkers multi-pack crisps as individual packs, the rainbow drinker who has finished his nap by now, declines the selection of a cocktail. Its a short stop because we have to press on, not helped by the return "300 yard" walk. The boat is making strange noises and a couple of times we stop the engine to check the propeller as that is usually an indication of a fouled prop, as the afternoon wears on we become more concerned as we have to drop the revs to loose the noise. Eventually the forward drive gives up completely, 2 hours 30 minutes short of our target. We are half a mile from Wheelock so we attach two mooring ropes together and pull the boat to the moorings, we have travelled 12 miles through 7 locks in 4 hours. Once there we ring the boatyard for instructions, they send a mechanic out with half a gearbox in the back of his van, his intention is to just replace the forwards drive shaft as we still had reverse. We leave him in the capable hands of our crew mechanic and depart for the Nags Head where a quiet night is had, many phone calls are made, the crewman who joined us at Llangollen departs and the chairman receives some bad news. A chinese take-away is across the road and some of the crew call in on the way back to the boat returning with chips, spring rolls, spare ribs and even complete banquets.

Friday 5th May 2000

Its a 5 o'clock start for every one, we have to make up the time lost yesterday and there is an immediate flight of locks to negotiate as we leave Wheelock, we are making good progress and get to the Harecastle Tunnel just after 9 o'clock just as they are letting boats through from our direction, so its straight in behind them at 9.20am with out a hold up, we are back on target. As we exit the tunnel we see that there are three boats ahead of us, one soon pulls over to clear a fouled prop, the second has a head on collision with another boat going under a bridge and the third stops to assist. We have a clear run again but the tillerman reports that he has to keep the revs high or we loose drive through the gearbox. As we enter the Top lock of the Stoke Flight the drive gives up completely, the engine revving but the prop not turning. Investigations indicate that the gearbox dipstick is missing the bottom end! which might have something to do with it. We ring the boatyard and arrange to meet them at the 5th lock, bridge 114 at Stoke which means hauling the boat a mile or so down through a flight of 5 locks, much to the amusement of fellow boaters (and sympathy I might add) We have covered 13 and a half miles (including the tunnel)through 31 locks in 7 and a quarter hours! The boatyard manager comes out first and starts to remove the gearbox, informing us that the mechanic is removing the gearbox from another boat and is bringing that out to fit a complete gearbox this time, we adjurn to the Roebuck Hotel which turns out to be a student pub, not well liked by the crew apart from the Dick Dastardly cartoons showing on the TV's, we are underway again at 2.20pm, now well behind schedule. We are not going to make it back to Great Haywood in time for the evenings meal so a contingency plan is hatched, we will moor up at whatever point we will be at by 7 pm and arrange for the scout bus to pick us up there, the driver is coming over for the meal as luck would have it. The crew mechanic is pursuaded that he should stay sober so that he can drive us back, what a plan! At 7pm we moor up at Sandon having covered just 12 miles through 10 locks in 5 hours, and walk the "300 yards" to the Dog and Partridge where we meet the waiting bus and passenger. After a swift pint we board the bus which takes us to The Lockhouse Restaraunt to be met by our hosts Brian and Barbera. We are joined by a couple of senior OOGUF members and have a brilliant time as usual with plenty of banter, playing of hunting horns, drink - bottles of wine in abundance, and plates piled high with food. We were joined towards the end of the evening by members of a birthday party but that intrusion wasn't really appreciated by us or our hosts. Eventually it all came to an end and we boarded the bus for the return journey to the boat arriving safely despite attempts to throw the driver off course.

Saturday 6th May 2000

A lie-in this morning mainly as a result of the beer monkey visiting us in the night. We need to loose a couple of crew members before our return so after a cup of tea the bus driver and passenger with two crew leave the boat for the bus and we get underway at 7.15 am working the last couple of locks before the base and cleaning the boat as we travel. We collect our travelling crew who have parked the bus at the base and walked up to meet us (again), arriving back at the boat yard just after 9 am, we have covered the last 6 miles and 2 locks in 2 hours. We are not the last boat in, despite all the breakdowns and hold ups.And we have covered 200 miles, worked 136 locks in 83 hours in just the one week. We unload the boat, pack the bus and all pile in, in a slightly subdued mood as we leave the base for home. We are all looking forward to seeing our families again - but at the same time we are already planning next years trip.

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