It's a bug's life......

Bugsworth Basin

Owning a narrowboat really only comes to life for me when winter comes to an end and I can start to crawl out of my house-bound existence and start to plan a new boating season.....

I fret about the boat during the winter, especially the last couple of hard winters that can create havoc to water pumps and boat plumbing systems that are especially vulnerable to minus temperatures in the mid-teens. 

This winter has been kind and benign with hardly any freezing temperatures or high winds to worry about. In fact, if you donned gloves/hat/coat etc, it has been possible to go for a day's 'cruise' almost anytime, without the boat pushing through the usual layers of ice......always with the attendant risk of damaging fibre glass (GRP) boat hulls as your bow pushes sheets of ice in all directions.

Older boats like 'San Serriffe' ( and some new ones ! ) always seem to need a little TLC after the winter.

A 'spring' service is always a good plan.....oil/filter change and especially the fuel filter as your only guard against water contamination from condensation formed on the sides of the fuel tank.  Just before 'San Serriffe' was left for the winter,  the brass hand-pump used to change the oil fell off the side of the engine when the 'D' ring clamps fractured.  This was in October and I did not have the correct clamps so it was left on the "to do" list.
New clamps from Beta Marine were fitted in early March and the hand-pump was quickly back where it should be. Other bits of jobs were completed especially a fuel tank-filler security cover that I fabricated from sheet steel. Diesel fuel is now so expensive that after reading of recent thefts from garage and farm tanks I decided that  'San Serriffe' needed something to deter these fuel felons.

I have been restoring an old car for some years so I am lucky enough to be  'tooled up' with a garage stocked with sheet steel and the various metal-working tools needed to bend it. I decided on a complete cover for the fuel tank filler as that would also serve as a way of stopping rain collecting in the well of the splash guard with its possible risk of getting through the filler and 'O' ring into the tank.

Tank ( fuel) technology.......

Using 'self-tapping' screws for the hinges and padlock hasp, I put a blob of MIG weld in the screw heads so that just unscrewing the hinges, etc, would not be an option for thieves - slowing them down and increasing the time when they may be caught in the act. A bit 'Heath Robinson' but it is 'better than nowt' as we used to say in Lancashire.

British summer time began on 25th March and just for once it actually felt like summer not just a date on the calender   It was surprisingly warm with a clear cloudless sky so 'Pesty Westy' Suzy was put into the car, together with enough food, drink and clothes to survive for a few days and we headed off to enjoy our first 'cruise' of the season.

Ready to go............. ??????

Cap'n Suzy sat on the roof ready to go as I did the usual pre-engine start of oil / water level checks.
Everything seemed to be O.K apart from a small amount of oil in the bilge underneath the engine which is usually dry, clean and completely free of oil leaks. I guessed that I had spilled some oil a few days previously when I decided to treat linkages to a bit of 'three-in-one' oil from a can. With only a few inches space under the sump of the Kubota based Beta Marine diesel, I have a large mirror-tile that when propped at a 45 degree angle it is possible see under the engine from above with a torch. Looking at the rubber tube leading from the sump to the oil-change hand pump I noticed......oh yes......you are ahead of me dear reader......an oil drip from where the pipe is fixed to the sump.

"Damn, damn and double damn" I muttered together with other profound mutterings as I realised that pulling the pump up to the new clamps fitted a few weeks ago had worked the pipe loose.

Not wanting to risk wrecking the engine if the pipe came off dumping all the oil into the bilge, I announced that departure time would be delayed due to an unforeseen technical problem......

Being chief engineer means more than cursing at the problem and, despite my yearning to just enjoy the sunshine and not fight with recalcitrant oily pipes in the darkness of the engine-bay, I gathered various tools about me to give fight to this awkwardly placed oily drip.

Awkward is an understatement - the sump of a narrowboat engine in-situ is about as awkward a thing to access as you can imagine.  Reaching down and holding the engine with one arm for support I was virtually upside-down as I looked into the angled mirror deciding what to do..........

"Take the pipe off and put a  new clip on " I suggested half-heartedly to myself.
" Pump out the oil first or it will go everywhere, you dummy"  was my own retort in my  mental decision-making rhetoric.
Pump, pump, and more b***** pump as I drained the oil into a can from the afore-mentioned hand pump. With the engine safely dry of oil I could now return to standing on my head with my one free hand attempting a desperate blind grasp on the oily pipe under the engine. After a number of failed  attempts the pipe stayed put as I rapidly tired. Blood rushed to my head and the hand that was supporting me from collapsing upside down into the engine hole was tiring at an even greater rate.

I decided on a tactical retreat.  Brushing an oily hand across my forehead I sat gazing into the engine bay for inspiration.
"A jubilee clip that's what's needed"  I suggested to an uncaring world.
Finding the right size was not a problem from my box of 'bits' and I 'opened' it enabling fitting with the pipe still in-situ. This was the plan of action but ....... like all plans of mice and men ( sorry  I paraphrase Robbie Burns) ..........doing it was a very different thing.
Upside down again I gazed into my angled mirror.........and the torch fell out of my teeth. Start again !

Back into the inverted position I did try again......and again.....and again !   Eventually the jubilee clip dangled loosely from the pipe.  I allowed a brief respite from my bat-like impersonation and gathered several size screwdrivers around me for the final challenge - tightening the jubilee clip which was impossible to see.

I glaze over this bit which took forever as I turned the screw bit by bit until the oil dripped no more and victory was declared.....and yes, I did remember to put the oil back!!!!!!!!
Time had moved on as I emerged from my dark subterranean oil-pit and the sun was now well over the yard-arm.  Announcing that our departure for our destination of Bugsworth Basin would be delayed until the morning, I relaxed with a can of cold  'Bud' (sorry real ale drinkers)  in my oily fist.

Sunny Marple......junction of the Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals.

Leaking oil problem fixed and not a cloud in the sky we set off to Bugsworth Basin the following morning. This was certainly what I joined up for - sun on your back with distant views of Lyme Estate drifting past. Oh yes, this is a good as it gets. 

North Cheshire Cruising Club members were sharing the same fantastic March weather as their flotilla went past in the opposite direction enjoying their opening cruise of the season. Nice to see but I am not sure the line of match anglers at Higher Poynton would agree as they put the match on hold for sometime as the flotilla went past. Oh well, patience and understanding are vital skills when fishing.

Even the water point was vacant when we reached Marple....could things get any better?  On many occasions you have to wait until another boat finishes using the facilities.  So within a short time we continued onto the Peak Forest canal with enough water our trip.

Peak Forest Canal - Marple

Turning onto the Peak Forest canal and heading towards Whaley Bridge will reward you with one of some of the nicest views available on the canal system.  With the visibility clear and warmed by this early spell of fantastic weather we were not disappointed by our favourite stretch of canal as it nosed its picturesque way into the Peak District and our destination of Bugswoth Basin.....

 A dramatic Peak District background for New Mills Railway Viaduct.........

With many more superb high level views en route.........

Nearing New Mills you notice a smell.......a not unpleasant smell I hasten to add.  Those amongst you who have not completely lost contact with childhood will recognise the fizzy perfume of 'Lovehearts'
and, yes, mmmm, yes, I am getting...oh yes......'Parma Violets' with a strong underlying tang of 'Refreshers'.  This is not Willy Wonker's Chocolate factory, but the famous Swizzels Matlow sweet factory whose products are exported far and wide especially to the USA where they are boxed as 'Candy'.  I once visited the factory to illustrate a feature on local industry ( I got all the hard jobs) and was presented with a 'carry-out' of all their products - enough to eat continuously for several weeks until my jaws ached - it did not cure my love of 'Refreshers' though :)

Swizzels Matlow sweet factory, New Mills - home of 'Lovehearts'

A couple of lift-bridges and a swing bridge bring you to Furness Vale Marina.  It is always well kept with well-manicured grass areas in sympathy to the surrounding scenery, a real credit to the owner .

Walkers waiting for the lift bridge?  perhaps. I think they are just enjoying watching a boat go through and the hard work required to manually lift the bridge.

Furness Vale........ a well manicured linear marina.

Stockport is not connected to the canal system any more.......but as a fellow resident I applaud the use of the location name on  'Carina' one of the very few boats proudly sporting 'Stockport' as it home. Furness Vale Marina.

Mid-afternoon saw our bow turn away from the Whaley Bridge Terminus of the Upper Peak Forest canal and onto the peaceful cut that leads into Bugsworth Basin.   Bugsworth basin is next to the  village of Buxworth with its more gentile spelling of the name.........confused? well many of the boats crews that travel far and wide to visit often wonder why the two names are different.

I must admit 'Bugsworth' would perhaps not be the name you would choose for a village if you lived there and a number of residents many years ago thought just that, campaigning successfully for a change. It was changed to 'Buxworth' dropping the 'Bug' out of it for all time. This decision was ratified by a vote of residents in the early 1990s and it is now the official name of the Village.

It may be the name of the village but when the canal basin became an official 'Scheduled Ancient monument' I am afraid the 'Bugsworth' name was not part of the same deal as the village and the original name was kept (rightly I think)

In fact it seems the original name came from a Nottinghamshire family and first appeared on records in 1222 as 'Buggesworth'  apparently this means 'Bugge's enclosure'  So there we have it - nothing to do with 'Bugs' as in creepy crawly after all !

Throwing another name into the hat and we come up with Clayton.  There are several 'Claytons' in the U.K with one nearby in Manchester for example. Bugsworth had a family of 'Claytons' who emigrated to the USA in 1837-42. and the boys 'did good' with one even becoming a Congressman for San Fransisco. Another brother was influential in founding the city of Clayton in California. Buxworth is now in fact 'twinned' with that fair city.  Well at least nobody can mess with a solid name like Clayton. So there we are - all useful facts to regale fellow tourists to Buxworth as you stand at the bar of the local 'Navigation' pub. 

As a visitor for some years I often try to see the basin in my 'minds eye' when it was in full swing

handling some 300 boats per month, hauling over 100,000 tons a year of Limestone products such as burnt Lime. Railway waggons bringing Limestone, together with boats loading against a background of Limekiln furnaces belching fire day and night must have been been a regular Dante's inferno.

Like most people I find it incredible that with no machinery apart from spades, wheelbarrows , remarkable ingenuity and just plain old hard-graft  that it was built at all. It would be a massive expensive engineering challenge to-day even with modern cranes and earth movers. When the Peak Forest Canal was hand dug to Bugsworth

 ( reaching it in 1798 ) the 'can do' spirit of those days prevailed and this canal complex once described as "the  Biggest Inland port in the Kingdom"

 (at the time) was created.

Fuel boat 'Alton' that trades in diesel fuel, gas, logs and toilet 'pump-outs' to boats along the Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals. Lower Bugsworth Basin.

Bugsworth Basin closed for business in 1927 and remained derelict and overgrown until the late 1960,s when Inland Waterways Protection Society volunteers began what was to be a long hard slog towards restoration. A 'false dawn' came in 1999 when it was re-opened, but  closed again some months later when serious leaks were found.

After over £1.2M expenditure it was some years later in 2005 that the basin was re-opened for boat access and is now a regular destination with boats from all over the U.K system in addition to visitors arriving in cars, bicycles and of course walkers either coming across the hills or via the Peak Forest canal towpath.

Re-opening of Bugsworth Basin in March 2005. 'San Serriffe' is pictured left......
Copyright Martin Clark and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Most visitors also gravitate to one of the other adjacent attractions - the 'Navigation Inn' which has a history as long as Bugsworth Basin.  Coronation Street's Pat Phoenix was once the landlady and it shows its working-boat connections with old photographs of the boats and basin in most of the rooms. Some of the wooden corner seats have been painted like the side of a working boat cabin with names of narrowboat carriers . I have personally recently tasted  most of the 'real ales' and can vouch for every one of them (and there are many) but do not rely on my opinion, please do your own 'market research' at some time.

Wordsworth would have been at home here...............

Navigation Inn - Bugsworth Basin.  Buxworth.

A cheerful Forsythia adds a splash of colour to the landscape.

Clear warm weather in March usually means clear cold nights and we were not to be disappointed

as we admired a superbly clear, star-lit night sky with very little light pollution. Nearby Whaley Bridge being the only small  source of artificial light.

Taking Pesty Westy Suzy for a late night 'walkies' became a real pleasure, as I could admire the canvas of stars as she snuffled her way around Bugsworth Basin.  Even though we live in a relatively rural position with no buildings for miles behind us, light from Stockport some 7 miles away always seems to spoil the starscape to the North West of us, so this was a real treat.

Another 'walkies' early the following morning brought confirmation of a very cold night as I  noticed the boat roof and ropes were covered in frost despite the bright early morning sun............

Frosty morning...........

'Judith Mary' a trip-boat that works out of Whaley Bridge, has just negotiated the narrows near the 'Wharfinger's House' where boat loads were gauged in order to pay correct fees.

Plaque on the side of the Wharfinger's House at the entrance to Bugsworth Basin.

Wharfinger's House.

So lets us hope that the fine weather of March continues, but perhaps just like Camelot with a little rain at night. Hose pipe bans are being mentioned already in the south of the U.K and a lot of praying to the rain-gods seems be on the cards.

I don,t mind a little rain, but I would selfishly request a proper summer for once - with actual sunshine. I would even strike a deal for alternate days of rain and sunshine, with the rain concentrating on the farmer's fields and leaving the back of my boat (where I stand) alone.

Whatever happens you are cordially invited on a few more sunny journeys with 'San Serriffe' this year :)