Tuesday 7th June
Today has been a day of water problems. We have, eventually, managed to travel 1.5 miles and 6 locks to below Lock 34, two locks away from Longlees Lock 36 (where we supposed to be) at the summit, over which we are hoping to go tomorrow. Our first task today was to get water above Lock 28. We had got some yesterday but as there is a water shortage in the canal we decided to fill up again in case we had a delay getting over the summit. Also there is a dearth of taps between Littleborough and Manchester so we are filling up at every opportunity to get washing done etc bafore we pass the last one. When we got to Lock 28 there was a boat, which had been moored overnight, on the water point. However we were able to reach the tap from the lock so we filled up while we were in there. During this operation it started raining (deep joy) and putting the cratch cover down I managed to knock the hose out of the filler and soaked the inside of the boat, double deep joy!
Carrying on after getting water we found the pounds a bit low but not impossible until we got to where we are now. Before that, at Lock 32, we saw two boats coming down Lock 33 so as our lock was in their favour we got it ready for them. The women were driving and the men were doing the lock. The first woman drove in and was drifting toward the middle of the chamber, the other one was going so fast she flew in to the lock and crashed into the back of the first boat. I had been casually leaning on the open gate but as the boat which crashed rebounded off the other boat it hit the gate and I got a bit of a shock I can tell you! One of the men started shouting at the first woman, presumably his wife, ‘Stop fannying around, watch yer boat!’ Then the other one shouted something at his wife, it was hilarious! They eventually sorted themselves out and the chaps calmed down. While they were doing the lock they started to tell us how awful Manchester is but of course we already know that!
After this bit of excitement we carried on to Lock 34 where it all went tits up. This lock is another one of the single boat locks which meant we would need to take two lots of water from the pound above and inspection of this pound and the one before the summit revealed there was very little water in either. After some consideration we decided to stay where we were rather than get grounded. We managed to get the front of the boat in to the bank but the back is about 3 feet out. B and B are in a similar position, Barry did reverse several yards, just in case it was deeper further back, but it wasn’t. The boat from the water point came along and after having a look above decided to go up to the summit lock. Following the descent of another boat, which took their water, they are now completely grounded and further from the bank than we are!
Just after we moored up I walked along the gunwhale to the back of the boat to put my windlass away thinking I must be careful because I had my walking boots on and they aren’t very grippy on the gunwhale. I turned round to come back to the bank and slipped off! I went straight down feet first, pulling a muscle my arm as I tried to hang on and stop myself falling. Fortunately the water is less than 2ft deep at the edge so I didn’t get completely immersed! I stood there for some time waiting for the pain in my arm to subside and for Ken to get me the ladder so I could get out.. The water is not very deep but the top of the bank is about 3 ft above the water line and with my arm hurting I couldn’t pull myself out. When I did get out I had to have a cup of tea and a chocolate mini roll for the shock!
From Lock 34 you can see The Bird in th’ Hand pub and we thought we may go there for a drink later on – wrong, it was closed down! So we walked to Summit (about 1 mile) to go to the Summit Inn – wrong, it was closed Tuesday lunchtimes! Eventually we found a pub which was open, we had walked about another 1 mile to Littleborough! Some people will do anything for a pint! We went in the Royal Oak which at first glance was a bit of a dive, there was no pile on the carpet and it was a bit dull and dingy but the beer was good, Robinson’s Ginger Tom (you could taste the ginger) and Robinson’s Unicorn. We met Sid who regaled us with tales of his trips to Blackpool amongst other things. The landlord was from South London and when we were on the way out the conversation turned to football and The Hammers were mentioned. At this a chap who was sitting at the bar piped up, ‘Do you want some hammers? I can get you some hammers. I’ve got plenty of hammers.’ I thought he was taking the piss because West Ham got relegated but the landlord said, ‘No not them kind of hammers Pete or Dave’ or whatever his name was ‘We’re talking about West Ham!’. It was really funny.
We got the bus back to the Bird in th’ Hand which was very handy, saving us a 40 min walk. Tomorrow we will go to Littleborough again, hopefully by boat if we have enough water to get over the summit.
