Narrowboats Heading For Heartbreak Hill On The Trent & Mersey Canal Ep 61
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- What a challenge that was! We took on Heartbreak Hill in our narrowboats on the Trent & Mersey Canal with @NarrowboatLifeUnlocked and it wasn't easy! It was definitely far more fun with friends though! Heartbreak Hill is the affectionately renamed Cheshire Locks between Wheelock and Kidsgrove on the Trent & Mersey Canal. 26 locks over a 7 mile stretch. We certainly got our steps in.
Hello! If you are new here we are Caroline and Pete, and 2021, after 10 years living in Texas, we sold up and moved back home to the UK to live full time aboard a 60ft narrowboat, One Day More, with our West Highland Terriers! Join us in our day to day life as we continuously cruise the canals and rivers of the UK. All of the ups, and the downs and everything in between!
If you would like to support our channel you can buy us a coffee or the westies some treats here www.buymeacoff.... All donations are put back into our channel, we are currently saving up for new audio equipment.
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Fascinating to see all that quality craftsmanship in the underside of the bridges, in the locks, in all the brickwork. I love seeing the English homes and countryside. ❤❤
It really is interesting to see so many historic structures on the canal network. We love being able to nosey into the back gardens too from the canal 😂😊
I can’t get enough of it, would love to see it in real life ❤
Thank you! I actually sat with the Nicholson on my lap to attend the One Day More tutorial ! Doing this route anti clockwise next month!
Glad we could help out with your studying! What dates are you here?? 😊
We arrive April 11 through May 4 but that’s as firm as plans are now. Sorry I didn’t respond promptly!
We will definitely try and get together with you guys while you are here! I am in Wisconsin visiting Sophie April 1-8 so will be back by the time you arrive. We said it would be lovely to recreate a lovely Sunday afternoon chat on a canalside pub somewhere! 😊
Those parallel locks certainly speed things up.
They really do! Especially when you’re travelling in pairs. Thanks for watching 😊
It is always so quiet on your narrowboat journeys. I am sure it was easy to rest the first night after opening all the locks.
You’re right, we were exhausted after that full day of locks! 😊
Waw guys! This hard work really demands some cake and a tipple! Lovely scenery and fab to see you four travel together, and the dogs enjoying it all! Thanks for this. ❤🎉❤
Glad you enjoyed it! It’s lovely editing these vlogs traveling with the boys and reliving it all! Such fab memories. Lots more cake to come 😂 🍰
@@onedaymoreaboard i can smell a ‘cakes on the canals’ cookbook coming up…🥰
I remember climbing those locks many times as a kid in the 80's. We always bumped the nose on the gate plate and rode it up. Yes, you get through some nose fenders that way, but it saves time, and they were never that expensive. Still lasted a season or two.
Hi David, thanks for watching. We always hang towards the back of the lock. A boat sunk on the Leeds & Liverpool recently after its front fender got snagged on a bolt sticking out of the gate. It can happen so quickly so we tend to err on the side of caution. 👍
It makes it tough when all the locks are against you and you must empty them to get in- always felt guilty about wasting all that water. Oh, and it was pouring with rain and the last lock was in the dark - but wouldn’t swap it for anything!!! So much fun doing it with another boater. We met a German couple on their boat and ended up spending 50 days with them doing the Macclesfield, Huddersfield and then onto the Leeds to Liverpool. Oh, and to add a bit of excitement we were in a 60 foot hire boat doing the Calder and Hebble 57” locks. The hire company said it could be done so off we went but had to remove all the fenders and took it very slowly. There was a bit of paint that was removed off the hull but otherwise we got through safely. That was a magical four months and we had brought our two little Havanese dogs from Canada with us. So many fabulous memories. We are now very close friends with the German couple and spend time with them on their Dutch Cruiser on the European waterways. Love your vlogs. We are doing a canal boat presentation to active retirees in Phoenix in a few months and are going to recommend your channel to them to give them in-depth viewing of boating. Hopefully you will see a spike in your numbers.
That’s so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much. We love being able to show this different way of life and the beauty of the UK canal network to people that often didn’t even know it existed! When we were planning our new life and explaining it to our Texan friends we would say it was sort of like RVing, but on water, with no traffic jams 😊. It sounds like quite the adventure you had and in our 60ft boat I don’t think I would even like to attempt it, although some have, and I am totally OK with that! Let us know how your presentation goes 😊
@@onedaymoreaboard The presentation won’t be until January 2025 as we need to bring all our props with us back down to Phoenix for next winter. We currently live in Calgary. We have done this presentation to all the libraries in Calgary Alberta and we were stunned as to how few people knew about the canals. Being brought up in New Zealand, it was just part of learning the history of the Industrial Revolution at school. Many people initially thought we were going to talk about holidays on the long boats they have on the Rhine/Danube etc. I would recommend doing the Calder and Hebble as it is a lovely trip. They are wide locks so you go in at an angle and take it very slowly. We hired our boat from the Stone Cruising Company when we did it and it was brave of them to allow us to do it but they did seem to think our boat had been through the locks before. I’ll never forget them saying “well if she hasn’t even through those locks, she’ll go through them now and let us know how you go”. We hope to do the Rochedale in 2025. We tried back in 2016 and 2022 but lack of water, vandalism and storm damage have thwarted us but we are thinking third time lucky. We will do it from the Sowerby Bridge end and go just over the summit and back again. Canal boating is my most favourite holiday and if I could I would love to live on one for a number of years doing all the nooks and crannies that we haven’t done but my husband says he is over it. We are now onto the waterways in Europe instead and biking holidays in Europe, oh and being snowbirds to the US from 🇨🇦. Thank you for your informative vlogs and your creative video.
Just watching you and the boys videos back to back what a feat of engineering. It's lovely to see you all out together xxxx❤❤❤ liz.
Thanks so much Liz! We have such wonderful memories of travelling altogether, and it’s lovely to relive it all 😊
That was hard going! However, many hands make light(er) work! Lovely to see all the scenery.
Many hands made much lighter and far more enjoyable work for sure! Glad you enjoyed the cruise 😊
We came through Heartbreak Hill the other way and most of them were single, the other being locked off or tape across them! I enjoyed doing them, it was the Bosley flight on the Macc that I found hard. We did it back at the end of September ‘23 on our way to Overwater Marina. We also moored at Church Lawton after coming off the Macc (I think it was months after you went up).
This was back in March 2023 Wendy. Church Lawton was a lovely spot to stop after such a long day! There will be an upcoming video with us doing the Bosley flight in the hail! Not a pleasant experience at all but we ended up laughing through it as it was so ridiculous! But you know that flight, when you’ve started you can’t stop! 😊
Your videos are so serene and peaceful. Great choice of music! We especially like all the scenery you show along your route. Many Thanks !
You’re so welcome! It’s so lovely to get comments like yours. Very reassuring that people are enjoying what we put out there 😊
When raising the paddle please put the pawl in the safety position; I've seen a few broken wrists over the years!
Thanks for the reminder. When I was editing the video I knew someone eagle eyed would spot that. The previous boater had left the safety latch flipped over and I hadn’t realised while I was winding up the paddle 😞
18:30 Those pigs are Tamworths, which are quite rare! They're red, as are the waters of the canal around the Harecastle Tunnel and Kidsgrove, due to the high iron content of the water. Thus the tongue in cheek painting on the hut at 34:18, which thanks for capturing!
Thanks so much for the extra insight! Went back to look at the painting at lock 41 and it’s so obvious now you’ve said! 😊
It's a wonderful artwork, with the iron-oxide canal emerging from the Scarecastle as a "bat out of hell"! As you know, the Scarecastle is haunted. @@onedaymoreaboard
Our trip through the Harecastle Tunnel will be coming up in a few weeks, after our time on the Peak Forest. Proper ‘tomato soup’ water! It’s something else to see it in real life after seeing it on so many narrowboat vlogs! 😊
When in locks with a strong forward pull, we were taught years ago to drive up to front gate a keep in tick over keeping boat on gate whilst filling. Stops any sudden serge.
Thanks for watching. We always hang towards the back of the lock when going up. A boat sunk on the Leeds & Liverpool recently after its front fender got snagged on a bolt sticking out of the gate. It can happen so quickly so we tend to err on the side of caution and stay away from the front gate. We also got our front fender stuck earlier this year when the rub plate didn’t run all the way up, it was very scary 😨
Another great video, love the slow pace on a narrowboat, complete opposite now heading out to watch the Ice Hockey!! From slow and calm to fast and furious lol
You’re right, two huge contrasts! My one and only ice hockey game was seeing Indianapolis Ice when I lived in Indiana and couldn’t believe the fight, fight, fight chanting 😂. Thanks for watching!
Going up you should generally hold the boat against the top gate and ride the front fender on the rubbing plate. As a single hander i leave the boat in tickover in forward gear to hold it there until settled.
Thanks for watching. We always hang towards the back of the lock when going up. A boat sunk on the Leeds & Liverpool recently after its front fender got snagged on a bolt sticking out of the gate. It can happen so quickly so we tend to err on the side of caution. Hanging back also helps prevent water flooding into the well deck when going up. 👍
P.s love your photography xxxx❤❤❤ we used to have our boat Calder Rose as a kid I miss exploring the canals as there are alot of canals to see. So love watching your journeys brings back happy memories.liz xxx
That’s lovely to hear Liz! We went through Stoke Bruerne on the Grand Union before Christmas, which is where my childhood memories of boating began. I had only even been on Charlie the trip boat though, half an hour up to Blisworth tunnel and back. That was the only boat I had been on before we bought ours!! 😊
Grest to do all this with Firends....thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! It was so much better with friends 😊
great video, I did heartbreak hill with my mate in May 2023 when we did the Four counties ring, it's a shame some of the double locks have been left to abandonment
Thanks so much! We were actually so surprised by how many of the parallel locks were no longer operating. It made things so much quicker when travelling in a pair.
Nice video Caroline. We had the same issue of being forced forward on them locks even though we have done Audlem a number of times without any problems. Though it was just us!!
Thanks so much! Glad it’s not just us then! We made sure we took them very slow and steady once we realised how they behaved! 😊
What a lot of goings on - have to say altho I love the idea of living on a boat & cruising, I would not enjoy the locks at all - that would keep me from traveling so much ! Thank you for this video - very enjoyable !
Good to hear you enjoyed it Veronica! Sometimes a long stretch of locks is quite daunting, but keeps us fit! We’ve met some wonderful people at locks too, and it’s great to chat and learn each others’ stories as to how they came to the canal! 😊
Thank you for another great video. I can see why they call it 'heart break hill'. That's a lot of locks to go though. Hope the puppies / family and you are doing well. Very warm weather here for January. Been in the mid to upper 30's for the last week or so. Even the nights are warmer then normal. Take care. Spinner
It’s certainly very aptly named stretch of canal! Glad things are warming up for you. Same here! 😊
Great Vlog Caroline good to hear you had the same problem with the locks pulling you forward. Same happened to us slammed into the front gates in full reverse. Thought got away with it until later in the day and the shower glass screens were on the floor ended up having to replace the whole shower cubicle 😢
Oh no that’s not good! It’s scary isn’t it and we were being so careful letting the water in slowly too.
I’m sorry, I really am, some of these titles of these vlogs, and not just yours, but is there really heartbreak out on the cut, metaphorical or otherwise, let’s keep it real, the gentle life… stay safe!
Just a play on words and no harm meant at all. I made sure the title and description made it very clear that the video was about Heartbreak Hill. Thanks for watching 😊
Looks like that was quite a job to do. I can see how losing one of the four of you for the day would make it harder. I can't imagine how solo boaters do it without help. Sounds like maybe the weather is getting some better in the UK. At least the last storm is over and hopefully it really is the last one. You guys need a break! Here in Indiana we had a week of bitter cold but are back to a balmy (but damp) 40 degrees.
It was definitely easier with the four of us, so I’m glad we got most of it done the first day! We always make a big effort to help solo boaters whenever we see them going through locks as we appreciate how hard it is. We’ve definitely had our fair share of rain and wind this winter for sure! I lived in Columbus, IN for a few years and do not miss those harsh Midwest winters! Stay safe and warm 😊
Goodness! I'm exhausted watching all of that. So glad you were able to help each other out. The pigs were kind of cute. Is there rhyme or reason to when and where tgere are parallel locks? Be well. Leigh
Hi Leigh! It was a relief to do this stretch with friends for sure! Made it far more enjoyable and fun! There doesn’t seem to be a pattern as to where the parallel locks are. We came down some on the Grand Union near Rugby (Hillmorton Locks). They do speed things up quite a bit! 😊
Now do it solo 😂😂😂
Um no thank you! Give us a call when you do it and we’ll come and help with all 26 locks 😂
@@onedaymoreaboard I'm getting that screenshot 🤣
@@Boating_David Did I really say that? 😂
There was a very strong wash in some of those Locks, single boaters beware.
There really is. We learnt quickly to take it very slowly filling the locks. Thanks for watching 😊
It would be a complete horror story for a rank amateur to deal with that many locks! I was wondering who built your boat and the one you were "locking" with?
Hi John, it was so much better to tackle those locks with good friends. It made it so much easier and far more fun for sure! We enjoy doing locks, but that many all in one stretch is exhausting! Our friend's boat was built by Bickerstaffe, who have now been taken over by Elton Moss, and our boat was built by Russells Narrowboats. You an see the story of our boat build here czcams.com/video/F_e0vT9req4/video.htmlsi=T8QfbOt-EhLiS1DE 😊
Not sure , but didn’t they sell morning star month’s ago? And now have a green morning star? But it says 1 hour ago on the video. Is that old footage but posted 1 hour ago.?
This was released an hour ago but was actually filmed last year. They were all on their way to Bugsworth Basin on the Peak Forest canal.
Yes you’re right, this was filmed in March 2023 (mentioned on the opening shot) before Paul and Anthony sold the first Morning Star. We cruised down to the Crick Boat Show with them and then spent a couple of months with them on the new green Morning Star, so you’ll see all of that footage in the next few weeks. I had to take a break from editing last year to help care for my Dad until his passing, so doing my best to catch up without compromising the quality of the videos. Thanks for watching 😊
@@onedaymoreaboard yes, we were at Bugsworth just after you all left. I was sorry about your Dad, I had lost my Mum not too long before.
So sorry to hear that Wendy. It’s so hard isn’t it 😢❤️
@@onedaymoreaboard very hard but thanks to my Mum, we had our narrowboat built, so she is always with me! ❤️
How often do you need to take your boat out for maintenance?
You typically take your boat out of the water for blacking every 2 years or so, to apply the protective bitumen coating to the hull beneath the water level. However, there are other times when you may have to arrange for it to be taken out for unexpected maintenance work, like when we had to have our damaged propeller replaced. We made a video of that here czcams.com/video/4lo-g9_dYbM/video.htmlsi=-SbSsG85sve0VPTk. Thanks for watching 😊
A wire-cutter on the prow of Flow?
Not too sure what you mean? Went back and looked but don’t see anything ? Thanks for watching 😊
@@onedaymoreaboard There's a couple of lengths of angle iron on the front of the boat which are very familiar to soldiers in the period 1944-70, only they were fitted to jeeps. The trick was to stretch a thin line across a road, and when said jeep comes along at 60, instant decapitation. You're not going anywhere near that speed, and this isn't wartime, so any ideas why they'd have a wirecutter in the nose?
I can see the red tiller arm at the back of the boat and the rope for the fender hanging down over the side? I think that’s what you may be seeing?