We are about to embark on another trip on the English narrow canals, this time from near Audlem to Bugsworth Basin, sometimes known as Buxworth or vice versa. I once lived over the hill just outside Whaley Bridge and many a bike ride or walk would find us at the basin. At the time this was a long-standing restoration project with no immediate prospects for completion. Stop locks were in place just beyond the aqueduct and the entire basin dry. It is a delight to be able to take a boat into this complex interchange which was finally reopened in 2005 on completion of the £1.2M British Waterways project.
I don’t expect Caggy Stevens ever operated on this part of the network but he was one of the last commercial operators on the English canals, a breed of men who had worked their entire lives on the narrow waterways. I nearly ‘bumped into him’ on the BCN in early April 1978. Suddenly he was there and just as suddenly he was gone – as can be seen from the wake in the first image, he was not hanging about; he had serious work to be done. It is a pity that no such encounters with the working past will be had on our next trip.
(click on the images to enlarge)
Connection to the Internet will be intermittent at best for the next two weeks so I will not be very active on WordPress. TTFN.
northumbrian : light 
sounds great, enjoy
Thanks Ian – much depends on the weather which at the moment is just grand 🙂
Have fun!
Thanks Sue – wonderful weather so far but then it is only day 1.
Aaah..down here I think it collapses Sunday..I’m hoping for a good day tomorrow!
Have a fabulous trip, Robin. Looking forward to hearing about it and seeing the photos.
Thanks Julie – 3 hour drive but now installed on the boat – apologies if I miss any of your posts while we are afloat but will catch up on our return.
Travelling by narrow boat on Britain’s canals and rivers are one of my favourite ways to spend my time in the UK. http://pitsbilderbuch.wordpress.com/category/travel/england/stratford-on-avon-canal/wootton-wawen-basin/
Happy Easter,
Pit
Many thanks Pit and a Happy Easter to you as well. Looks like a great trip on the Stratford and Avon – we did that stretch in 2009.
All the best
Robin
Hi Robin,
That trip [Wootton Wawen – Stratford – Tewkesbury – Worcester – Kidderminster – Birmingham – Wotton Wawen] which I call “The Heart of England Circuit” was one of the best if not THE best of my many holodays in the UK. I’ve done it twice so far [1996 & 2011] and would always do it again. In fact, I’d really like to introduce some of my friends here in southern Texas to narrowboating on that route.
Enjoy your trip,
Pir
Sounds like a great journey. I love the canals through Birmingham and the evidence of how well they were once used. Locks I hear can be a bit of challenge but so glad to hear they are maintained well. Can’t wait to follow more about your journey.
Many thanks Lita.
All the best
Robin
Enjoy your trip, it sounds wonderful, life at the perfect pace 🙂
Many thanks Seonaid – arrived at the boat an hour ago and already life has slowed down 🙂
I’m jealous already! I’ll be in Poland when you get back but I’ll catch up with your watery shots at some point. Have a great time! 🙂
Thanks Jo – have a great time in Poland.
Hopefully the watery shots will be of the canal rather than puddles from the rain
😀
Hi, we are the current owners/custodians of the BCN Tug ‘Caggy’. We love these photos of her – we are trying to pull together an archive of historic images of her on the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TugCaggy and it would be great to have your permission to put your two images on. Of course we will issue full credits and link to your blog. Many thanks, Wayne Attwood.
By all means, good to know Cagey is being cared for.
Caggy – so much for predictive text 😉
Many thanks, much appreciated – I’ve posted on her FB page with credits 🙂