Bad Toilet News, Good News to See Brenda and Martin.

 Thursday 14th and Friday 15th September 2023 in Audlem.

Thursday morning did not start well. MM has a macerator toilet, which pumps everything into a holding tank. When M pressed the "Flush" this morning, nothing happened! Silence! The toilet has been playing up a bit recently but this morning it refused to work at all. This is definitely bad news on a narrowboat!! We decided that the best course of action was to go the five miles and two locks to Overwater Marina where we might be able to get some help, we might be able to get possible spares delivered - and they have toilets we could use.

The two locks are at Hack Green just three miles away. As we arrived, there was a boat leaving each lock so we could go straight in to each one.

This notice board indicated that Hack Green had been an RAF Radar and Intercept Control Station during the war, protecting Liverpool. RAF personnel were billeted in Nantwich and got to work either on the canal or by rail as the RAF Station had its own railway station then. The Radar station closed in 1966.

In 1983, Hack Green was rebuilt at a cost of over £32 million in to a secret "Regional Seat of Government" in the event of a nuclear war. The "Secret Bunker" is now a museum with large signs showing you how to find it. "Secret" indeed!

 

After just a couple of hours we arrived at Overwater Marina where we took on diesel and pumped out the toilet tank. Peversley, the toilet had started to work again but it was clear that the toilet motor was on the way out.

Disappointingly, the marina staff at Overwater were not at all helpful and not very welcoming; in fact, one could  say they were positively offhand and we won't go there again for services.  However, the staff in the café were delightful and very helpful, so we settled down for a coffee there.

Our friends Brenda and Martin, who had moved up from Surrey to live near Chester, drove down to see us and we all had lunch in the Overwater "Bridge 80 Café". It was so nice to see them and catch up with all their news. They looked very well.

After they left, we continued on up to Audlem where we did the first two locks (of 15) took on water and then moored up.

R started doing research and managed to find the correct part number for the toilet motor and to find a stockist who could deliver it. Martin had very kindly offered that we could have it delivered to them and he would drive it down to us at Audlem. So, we will stay here for a couple of days in the hopes that it will arrive quickly (we paid extra for courier delivery in hope!).

Update on Friday: Sadly the pump supplier has said that the new motor won't ship until Monday so, with an overnight courier paid for, we hope it will arrive on Tuesday - and then R has to fit it, which might go easily - or not? At the moment the toilet is working (just) and we are moored a hundred yards from a sanitary station, so we are OK - and the C&RT has agreed that we can stay here until Tuesday.

Tomorrow we will take the bus back to Nantwich for the day.

Just to make our joy complete, the C&RT has just announced that Colwich Lock is closed for a "Structural Failure". That is on our way back to Aston. If the closure ends up being longer than two weeks we may have to turn around and go all the way back (the way we came!) through Middlewich and Stoke-on-Trent. That would mean backing down through locks 14 & 15 of the Audlem flight, the alternative being doing 40 locks just to get back here but facing the other way! Hopefully we should know by Tuesday how long Colwich will be closed. 

We will let you know.

Today: 6 miles, 4 locks and 4.9 hours (inc power).

Trip: 238 miles, 93 locks and 124.5 hours..