October 2023

We marched into October with no let-up in our preparations for a busy month of steaming. With coal bunkers full, the aft peak and domestic water tanks filled, we lit fires on 4th October to raise steam in our usual slow and careful manner for our planned voyage on 7th October to Acton Bridge for the annual Leigh Arms Steam Gathering. Due to no fault of our own we encountered repeated delays which through our plans out of the window. Firstly, our booked lock out to the River was put back, which in turn delayed our arrival at Eastham for access to the Manchester Ship Canal. Our progress on this waterway was slowed as we were required to allow an outward-bound tug-assisted freighter through the narrows and this delayed our arrival at Weston Marsh Lock. All locks on the River Weaver, together with the swing bridges, are controlled by the Canal and River Trust. This is all well and good, the problem being that their staff finish work at 4.00pm, and despite us having booked the passage, it was clear that the previous delays meant that we wouldn’t even get as far as Sutton Weaver before the 4.00pm deadline. Fortunately, and with grateful thanks to the CRT Weaver staff, they agreed to work Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge and Dutton Locks to enable us to reach our destination of Acton Swing Bridge without having to lay-over that evening. This did however mean that we were unable to pass through Acton Bridge to moor at our usual berth just upstream of the bridge and had to tie-up alongside of the Daniel Adamson. Whilst, other than the delays, our trip was mainly trouble-free, and the recent dredging improving the river depth, we did scrape the bottom near Sutton Weaver with the inevitable consequence that mud was sucked up into the condenser requiring us to rig our emergency electric pump to back-fill the system to flush some of the mud out and to restore circulation of cooling water. Sadly, the consequences meant that the usual beer consumed on Sunday afternoon was replaced by members of the tug’s engineering team removing the heavy cast front condenser cover to clean out the tubes of mud. A filthy wet job – but at least the visiting public could see that running an old steamship is not just polishing brass and drinking tea! The dredging mentioned above gave us the opportunity on the 10th October, for the first time in twenty years, to venture upstream to Anderton Wharf and back, a trip that did go without a hitch on a lovely autumn day. We were ready with the electric pump rigged for action but it was not required. The following day it was the last trip of the year back to Sandon Dock for our winter lay-up, a long nine-hour trip with her touching the bottom again at Sutton Weaver, but this time without the influx of mud. Once back home it was back to the usual end of season jobs of boiler draining and cleaning of the fire and water sides, replacing the funnel cap and waying up the winter job list.