Cleddau out on the cut…
After months and months* of being tied up to her Crick pontoon Cleddau has finally broken free and made an escape to outside waters. “Outside” is the Leicester Line of the Grand Union, a rural stretch of canal in West Northamptonshire.
Many of the moorings opposite Cleddau’s pontoon were empty, vacated to make space for the arrival of exhibits at the upcoming Crick Boat Show. https://www.crickboatshow.com/
A pesky wind blowing down the marina provided the first boating challenge – three times, as the Captain aimed to pull away and turn left for the marina exit, the boat was blown sideways towards the dry dock end…
The correct heading was eventually achieved and at just after 11am Cleddau cruised past the service jetty where diesel is sold and where boats get craned in and out of the water.
Even before reaching the canal some ducklings were spotted, the first seen this season.
Marina exit – one blast of the horn before turning right towards Welford Junction.
What joy there is in seeing bushes and trees covered in blossom,
acres of sharp yellow fields (crops of oil seed rape) and medieval era ridges and furrows highlighted by buttercup toppings…
Onward, past Yelvertoft slipway and Yelvertoft Marina (plenty of mooring spaces here)
and past a boat with a tiara of flowers adorning the bow. Pretty.
Near Elkington skinny new-born lambs wobbled on their pins and nuzzled up to their mothers hunting for milk.
Would this trip be an “Adventure Before Dementia”…?
Onward, to pass through Mountain Barn Wood. Inside the woodland wild plums had been discovered last August and acorns were crunched underfoot last October.
There was a pause for lunch – and to practise mooring up routines.
Onward again and as the boat approached the A14 gusts of wind tugged at the small Pembrokeshire flag on the port-side roof.
Traffic thundered overhead and then, apart from birdsong, Cleddau was back in a largely silent world.
The canal between Bridges 30 and 31 leads through a tree-lined cutting; it has often felt like a dark passageway but recent tree thinning and tree chopping work has provided much more light and some beautifully twisted hedging.
Compulsive viewing – ploughing lines on the slopes near Downtown Hill.
By late afternoon an evening mooring had been secured.
Moorings on embankments don’t have a particularly good press these days, after the two serious breaches last year (on the Bridgewater Canal on 1st January and another at Whitchurch on the Llangollen Canal, on December 22nd). It is, however, a particular delight to know that the infant Warwickshire Avon is close by and that far below the cows have lush meadowland.
Toes were warmed by the solid fuel stone during a chilly evening. What a thrill it was not to be sandwiched, terraced housing style, between a long row of other marina-moored boats. It’s not that marina neighbours are hostile, far from it, but the joy of boating is in seeing new vistas and in reconnecting with familiar places at different seasons of the year.
Off the next morning, followed by a lonely teenage swan.
Right turn at Welford Junction, only 1¾ miles to Welford Wharf, the baby Avon visible as a ribbon in the valley bottom on the right.
After a mile (and 2 bridges) Welford Lock lies ahead. The Captain was to be duty paddle-winder. A boat from Welford materialised above the lock so Boatwif had practice in rope holding skills while waiting on the lock landing.
Into the lock – ah yes, these bottom lock gates are often reluctant to stay closed. Eventually up Cleddau rose (a first lock transit since July 21st last year). Luck, double luck , was with the Cleddau crew: a preferred mooring space was free at the Wharf and the rain squalls held off until the turning round and tying up was complete!
Previously Welford Wharf has been the place of bow deck scrubbing and in April 2024 a need for the Fuel Doctor to clean contaminated fuel out of the diesel tank. https://www.boatwif.co.uk/boat-update/double-trouble-2
On this trip though, with water on hand, it became a place easy to scrub algae off the gunwales and to wash them down.
It was a job well done - though barely noticeable a day later after the squally weather spread blossom petals liberally along the gunwales, the solar panels and the roof…
Remember last summer’s obsession with drought affected reservoirs and low water levels? After bidding “hallo” to Postman Pat on the way up the hill to the village shop Boatwif reverted to explorer mode.
When you really look (why hadn’t the eyes made sense of the view from the Wharf Inn before?) the grass covered slopes of the dam wall are obviously covering a man-made structure.
Up the road to the C&RT car park.
Head for the centre of the dam wall: two depth markers were visible in the reservoir, one quite prominent with about 18 inches still visible of the second.
Rewind to last summer, a photo here taken on 23rd August when drought was affecting the Midlands and the north…
23rd August 2025
Why not continue and do a circular walk around the reservoir and cross the far dam wall between Sulby and Welford reservoirs?
Winter rains had certainly added more water – and squally showers during the walk were adding even more… Cows ahead were on the move, seeking shelter between the trees. Would the path join the Sulby dam wall without the need for a close-up cow encounter…? With only about 200 metres to go from the dam wall Boatwif allowed caution to over-rule exploration, turning, retracing her steps round Welford Reservoir and accessing the Sulby dam wall from the other side.
Different equipment on the Sulby dam wall
Sulby Reservoir is a pretty sight but in the sharp squally winds further exploration seemed unwise…
Back at The Wharf Inn there is a poster advertising a performance date for the travelling Mikron Theatre.
(In June 2024 Mikron Theatre’s production of Jennie Lee was seen at Stoke Bruerne. https://www.boatwif.co.uk/boat-update/dressed-for-the-part )
Boaters, especially continuous cruisers, feel the impact of Canal and River Trust policy decisions:
Welford Wharf bin area – Tuesday
Welford Wharf bin area - Wednesday
Tracks were made back towards Crick on Wednesday.
Who wouldn’t love the wording on the stern of nb Jiggery Pokery… ? (Very famous words from The Wind in the Willows…)
Skies were glowery as Cleddau reached Welford Lock. A familiar boat, Derwent 6, was ascending. It was good to chat to paddle- winder Al.
As Cleddau descended rain mixed with sharp hail swirled around.
Swirls became the motif for the day’s cruise, rain and hail alternating with flurries of white blossom!
When you travel back through familiar territory it is the addition of human action that you notice: a dropped bobble hat hung on a tree branch,
a Cat Crossing notice on the towpath,
a smart red tractor stationary in a field.
Moored overnight near Mountain Barn Wood a Month of May inspection was called for: a wonderful tree home;
thick roots anchoring trees into the earth.
There were no plums or acorns at this time of year, but bluebells,
pale pink flowers (not yet identified)
and fresh green ferns (memories stirred of ‘O’ level Biology lessons…)
Away the next day, it would take only a couple of hours back to Crick. The boat retained its bridal blossom, skies contained some blue colour, buttercups shimmered during sunny periods and nearing Winwick a hare bounded across a field.
No walkers were seen up on Cracks Hill.
Further along the canal from Crick Marina the temporary pedestrian bridge for the Boat Show was being installed and on the field behind the marina office a huge marquee had been erected.
The boat’s fuel tank was topped up and the Captain made a near perfect arrival at the pontoon.
Minutes later “near perfect” became “near disaster” – the Captain maintains that while trying to tie the mooring rope on the bow T-stud he lost his footing and made the split second decision to fall back onto the pontoon, rather than slip into the water between boat and pontoon. His shouts of pain brought all manner of folk to the scene: neighbouring boaters, the crew (on a work swap from Cropredy Marina) who, pre-Show, were painting the rails around the steps from the bank, and also Kim, Crick’s manager, all the way from the office...
The painting crew helped the Captain back onto his feet and to a place of safety, Kim gave practical and moral support and boating neighbours continued to help during the afternoon with loading baggage into the car.
Many thanks to and three cheers for the boating community.
Miles : 24; locks: 2
Questions about the Tudor rose: 1 (“Why the Welsh name but a Yorkshire Rose…?)
Falls: 1 (Injury update: 2 areas of grazing on thigh and lower leg; shoulder stiffness)
*Previously (1)
*Why the long marina incarceration?
By early July last year the Midlands canals were struggling to maintain water levels. Remember these signs at Foxton and at Watford locks?
It had been a stark choice – stay on the summit - or descend east at Foxton towards Leicester and the River Soar - or west towards Braunston and the main line towards London… So Cleddau stayed on the summit at Crick, and the last recorded boating jaunt of the year was an autumnal cruise in October along the summit to Welford Junction; Welford itself was still unreachable as the single lock on the Welford Arm was still closed so as to conserve water supplies. https://www.boatwif.co.uk/boat-update/blue-boat-in-an-autumn-landscape
Come 2026 there were ambitions, would you believe, to do a first ‘sea trials’ cruise in February. February - the month when it seemed to rain non-stop.
Come March there was the BSS to get through (a four yearly MOT type test to verify that the boat interior meets certain safety standards and that systems are safe for domestic usage). The boat was in good shape it seemed, until the last test, that of the gas supply. A miniscule gas leak was detected, but not its source. A month later the gas leak had been resolved to the satisfaction of the BSS examiner. (The award of a BSS pass on a 1989 boat felt as good as an ‘O’ level pass in Biology…)
Preparations were made then for a Cleddau 2026 ‘sea trial’ to assess how boat and crew could perform after the long winter ashore.
The empty water tank was refilled – but the water pump failed. (No problem, there was a spare pump on board that could be fitted)
More concerning though, much worse, was the failure of the Webasto (a diesel-fuelled radiator and water heater). Cleddau has history with Webastos, first installed as part of the Bourne Boats refit in 2011. Like “the little girl who had a little curl”, when it is good (perfect during the summer of 2025) it “is very, very good”, but “when it is bad it is horrid” it can be temperamental. During the 2025 /26 winter visits to check the boat the Webasto had fired up perfectly four times.
Why then did it fail to start up on April 11th…? “Condensation,” said the marine engineers. “Needs a new motherboard.”
April 22nd brought good news: the old water pump had been swapped for the new spare and the Webasto was operational with a new motherboard. Brilliant!
Time for ‘sea trials’ – but the morning after the first night on board (April 27th) the Webasto failed to start. Cold noses. Cold radiators. Cold water. More investigations…
Despite the Webasto being out of action the ‘sea trials’ had to take place (10th - 14th May); the solid fuel stove kept in overnight boosted morning temperatures while engine power and a burst of the immersion heater provided morning hot water. As yet the problem remains unsolved.
Previously (2)
Some events deserve commemoration. The birth of Cheshire Mum quite a few decades ago was one of them. On the 50th birthday itself the Cheshire Three were reunited at Crosby beach, accessible by Mersey Rail for the Liverpool student.
A week later Cheshire Mum’s birthday was celebrated at Crick, with cake, a candle, a pub Sunday lunch and a pile of presents. A belated “Happy birthday” was sung!
