The Ups & Downs of Going to Saul, 2008

Started late (again) and boated for a REALLY LONG TIME - all of 5 minutes - before tying up for shopping at Merry Hill which is easily accessible from the canal, unlike the Trafford Centre.

There’s only one confusing thing - there used to be 9 locks which were rebuilt into 8 and there’s a pub called “The Tenth Lock” at the bottom! BW do try to make you “do it right” as there are only short pounds between the locks - paddles are painted blue (at the bottom end) and red (at the top): you’re instructed to always open the paddles to fill the lock downhill of you before descending the upper lock, so the water you let out fills the pound instead of going over the weir. I don’t know what happens if the locks are already full............. having done the eight single-handed (and they were all against us) we happened upon a local “character” at the bottom. John is known to all the locals and spends his summer helping boaters up and down the Stourbridge flight. He helped us as far down the flight as we wanted to go (12 out of the 16), running hither and yon like a mad thing, setting paddles and opening gates - all for fun. We eventually moored up opposite the Glass Cone - not without incident. I had got the mooring stakes out (haven’t used them in years) and had tied up when a boat went down the flight. It dropped the water level somewhat (or threw us up on the bank) with the result that Tam Lin took on a list. Prodding with the boat hook revealed a lump of stone sticking out of the towpath wall. A quick burst us in reverse slid us off the stone and all was well.

We wandered up into Worsley, got some fish and chips and visited a local pub for a pint before wondering back to the boat.

Digi TV - zilch analogue BBC only.

Tiller Pin of the Day - Duck’s Head.