When I arrived back at the boat Helen told me that the shower would not pump out so after getting up to make the tea this morning I had a quick look at it and...., she was right. There fore after breakfast I dug out the cupboard and assembled my vast array of tools and had another look at it.
When we first got on the boat I had trouble getting the suction to work consistently and in the end by putting the pump and motor on a slight tilt seemed to work. Don't ask me why or how, but until now we have never had a problem with it. I had the pump apart, a Viking Power 16, and checked that the rubber flapper valves were not jammed with debris, or broken. All seemed okay so I took it to bits to give it a good clean. After reassembly I tried it again and still nothing. I did various things, but with no great insight and it still didn't work, so I did what all good bodgers do, leave it and have a good think about it!!
We set off but weren't going far as I had promised Helen a visit to Snugbury's Ice Cream Farm. So after about 15 mins. we tied up again, just the other side of the boat in the picture. You can see three bridge in this picture too.
In our Pearson's it indicates that you can get to the farm from either Bridge 3 or 4. There are no maps but we just thought we would follow these painted markers. We set off from Bridge 3 but the markers seemed to take us in completely the wrong direction so we went off piste. On the way back we realised that the route from the farm took you to Bridge 3 and then along the canal to No.4, hence it looked like the wrong direction.
I'm not sure about you but this looked somehow sinister to me, striding across the landscape.
Peter Rabbit didn't seem much better when you got close to him either. The wire frame is stuffed with straw. There have been several other characters here including dinosaurs, rockets, Big Ben, a Dalek and a meerkat etc and are in a field close to the road to advertise. This one was burned down in 2017 and volunteers helped rebuild him. It is 38' tall with 10' ears and weighs 8 tonnes. I assume that once it gets too dilapidated there is another shape built to take its place.
Snugbury's Ice cream started in 1986 in the farmhouse. The daughters of the house took over in 2016 and as you can see they have around 40 flavours. I had elderflower and rhubarb and damson and sloe gin, Helen had amaretto and creme brulee. They were fine but light on flavour. Mind you we are spoiled as Mr. Moo's in Skipsea in East Yorkshire is the best we have tasted, especially their orange marmalade flavour.
You certainly get to large scoops for your money and I wonder how many double scope cones bought for kids under about 11 get no further than the gate as they need eating quickly in this heat. These sparrows were really enjoying their snack, not too sure weather to peck or drink it!
We got back to the boat and continued to the services above the lock. We stopped to top up with water and let the boat we had pulled out ahead of go down the locks first. I suspect that this must be just about the only reservoir on the system that is still full.
After passing down Hurleston locks and turning south we seemed to be on the Manchester Ship Canal, at le4ast it looked as wide after our time on the Llangollen. I'm not sure why this section is so wide? There was little traffic, but plenty of moored boats. By the time we got to the bottom the light drizzle had increased and by the time we got to a mooring in Nantwich there were puddles!! When was the last time we saw a puddle. Didn't last though. (After a little research I realised that the canal was built wide as the whole canal from Chester to Nantwich was built for barges. It was called the Chester Canal and opened in 1779. The connection from Nantwich to Autherley Junction to rival the Trent and Mersey Canal was built to the narrow boat size and didn't open until 1835).
The horse sculpture by the Natntwich Basin is made of recycled lock gates etc. The wood was worked by John Merrill and the steel work by Julian Taylor at nearby Reaseheath College. I love the stance of it looking like it is just taking the weight.
There is a sculpture trail along the aqueduct that was installed to celebrate the refurbishment of the embankment. The aqueduct rails have had another paint job by the look of it.
During the day I had been thinking through the shower pump problem, and after mooring up set to again to rectify the problem. Helen will tell you I had been grumpy all day, I would say that I had been contemplative! The pump is in the base of the wardrobe, and it is times like this that I wish that they made wardrobe doors a bit wider as I have scraped my ribs getting in and out.
The electric motor was working fine. The hoses into the pump, held by the red clamp, easily disconnect. It tried sanding down the edges of the flap valves to make them seat well etc etc. Still no good. Eventually I had it going but there was a leak on the outlet side so I had to sort that out and in doing so water in the hose leaked out. When I tried to pump the shower again, no good! It then dawned on me that although the pump is supposed to be self priming I wondered if having not been used for 10 days in the heat the water in the outlet had dried out. I then disconnected the top of the overboard and filled the hose to ensure the pump was primed from both sides. And it worked straight away!! Hurray, we don't smell anymore.
This long post is just to point out that if your shower pump isn't working when you get back to your boat after a long break, try priming it from the overboard side as well as from the shower. It could save you all the aggro I have just had.
Mind you I'm not grumpy (contemplative) anymore, and I am looking forward to a pint now.
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