Here we back down on the River Weaver, we arrived here last Sunday,
The Weaver to me is like mums apron it is always a place of comfort and safety I always feel at home here, I have no real reason for saying that, as a lad I use to come here fishing with my Dad but other than that I have no real connection its just a feeling.
We came down the lift onto the weaver early because of the river festival held this weekend in Northwich this means boats coming down the lift all week and the lift being fully booked, of course if you wanted to moor in Northwich beyond yesterday you would have had to have booked and paid, we cheated by getting in early, mooring in Northwich at Town bridge seeing all our friends who were attending the festival and leaving yesterday morning for the quieter mooring up river at Dock house Caravan park I know that sounds odd for a boat but its a beautiful spot. BW authority ends at Winsford bridge, before the caravan site if you continue then you are no longer the responsibility of BW 200 yards beyond the bridge the river narrows for about 300yards then widens onto the Winsford Flash the site moorings are very close on the port side, for those who are not familiar with the flash it’s quite a treacherous water for narrow boats its depth, though in places up to 15ft it is unreliable and many boats have gone aground; however I always moor here at the caravan park the moorings and good and the water mainly deep as long as you proceed slowly and with care everything is fine its the boaters who coming onto the flash see a mile or so of open water before them, open the throttle and find themselves high and dry on a sand bank.
There is a strange collection of craft moored here there are another two narrow boats some nice river cruisers and a few sailing boats with a smattering of dinghies. We are primarily here awaiting our Keith and Carol who join us on Monday its also a good place to get a train back to Manchester the station is within walking distance about a mile tomorrow Noreen is catching the train to visit her dad I will walk to the station with her and then continue another mile to the fishing tackle shop
We had three good days in Northwich the weather was really good we met many friends from the Cheshire and North Wales branch of the Inland Waterways Association who are helping organise the festival I attend their meetings in Elsmere Port when we are back on are permanent mooring. The sail down here yesterday was fantastic the sun was shining the wind very light and no traffic. We are now settling down to await the arrival of our kid then we have a week of very serious fishing, I have already started to cheat by loosing one of our kids rods he in his wisdom decided to leave it on board, today I was short of one so I thought I would borrow it having tackled it up cast in I left it for two minutes whilst I went for a brew on my return I saw the rod being towed out to the middle of the flash by a DUCK I tried everything to get it back casting over to try and catch the line offering bread as a bribe to return it but to no avail by this time it had gathered a number of its friends for a fun day out and they were heading to the opposite bank to effect any type of rescue meant me Running out of the caravan park carrying many implements to retrieve the rod (if I ever caught up with it), to get to the opposite bank of the Flash you have to leave the park cross a car park over a round-about of two main roads, gallop through a thicket (not easy in shorts) then run along the very deep muddied shore line. I eventually caught up with the hijacking duck it was about 40ft out in open water by this time I was very concerned for the duck, I thought it must be caught in the line, my feelings of concern were soon reverted to anger as the bloody Duck took one look at me (wet, cut to pieces by thorns, carrying an array of poles, and other implements’ for recovery ) I am sure it laughed and flew off unharmed and greatly amused, leaving our kids rod to sink into 10ft of dark muddy water were it still remains for some future archaeologist in a thousand years to uncover it and make up a story of how it got there???????
Keep Smiling
Big Al
The Weaver to me is like mums apron it is always a place of comfort and safety I always feel at home here, I have no real reason for saying that, as a lad I use to come here fishing with my Dad but other than that I have no real connection its just a feeling.
We came down the lift onto the weaver early because of the river festival held this weekend in Northwich this means boats coming down the lift all week and the lift being fully booked, of course if you wanted to moor in Northwich beyond yesterday you would have had to have booked and paid, we cheated by getting in early, mooring in Northwich at Town bridge seeing all our friends who were attending the festival and leaving yesterday morning for the quieter mooring up river at Dock house Caravan park I know that sounds odd for a boat but its a beautiful spot. BW authority ends at Winsford bridge, before the caravan site if you continue then you are no longer the responsibility of BW 200 yards beyond the bridge the river narrows for about 300yards then widens onto the Winsford Flash the site moorings are very close on the port side, for those who are not familiar with the flash it’s quite a treacherous water for narrow boats its depth, though in places up to 15ft it is unreliable and many boats have gone aground; however I always moor here at the caravan park the moorings and good and the water mainly deep as long as you proceed slowly and with care everything is fine its the boaters who coming onto the flash see a mile or so of open water before them, open the throttle and find themselves high and dry on a sand bank.
There is a strange collection of craft moored here there are another two narrow boats some nice river cruisers and a few sailing boats with a smattering of dinghies. We are primarily here awaiting our Keith and Carol who join us on Monday its also a good place to get a train back to Manchester the station is within walking distance about a mile tomorrow Noreen is catching the train to visit her dad I will walk to the station with her and then continue another mile to the fishing tackle shop
We had three good days in Northwich the weather was really good we met many friends from the Cheshire and North Wales branch of the Inland Waterways Association who are helping organise the festival I attend their meetings in Elsmere Port when we are back on are permanent mooring. The sail down here yesterday was fantastic the sun was shining the wind very light and no traffic. We are now settling down to await the arrival of our kid then we have a week of very serious fishing, I have already started to cheat by loosing one of our kids rods he in his wisdom decided to leave it on board, today I was short of one so I thought I would borrow it having tackled it up cast in I left it for two minutes whilst I went for a brew on my return I saw the rod being towed out to the middle of the flash by a DUCK I tried everything to get it back casting over to try and catch the line offering bread as a bribe to return it but to no avail by this time it had gathered a number of its friends for a fun day out and they were heading to the opposite bank to effect any type of rescue meant me Running out of the caravan park carrying many implements to retrieve the rod (if I ever caught up with it), to get to the opposite bank of the Flash you have to leave the park cross a car park over a round-about of two main roads, gallop through a thicket (not easy in shorts) then run along the very deep muddied shore line. I eventually caught up with the hijacking duck it was about 40ft out in open water by this time I was very concerned for the duck, I thought it must be caught in the line, my feelings of concern were soon reverted to anger as the bloody Duck took one look at me (wet, cut to pieces by thorns, carrying an array of poles, and other implements’ for recovery ) I am sure it laughed and flew off unharmed and greatly amused, leaving our kids rod to sink into 10ft of dark muddy water were it still remains for some future archaeologist in a thousand years to uncover it and make up a story of how it got there???????
Keep Smiling
Big Al
The Majestic Buggerlugs
Three of the many Working boats ready in place for the festival
one of the few boat yards
1 comment:
It looks so tranquil. Can only imagine what the locals thought of you Alan, in your quest to retrieve Keith's rod.
Glad to hear the sun is shining
X Downunda X
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