News

Family Fun Day a great success

See the pictures in our gallery

The Church Minshull Aqueduct Marina Summer Family Fun Day was a terrific success. Held on Sunday 25 July, the Marina was open to all from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm. There was lots to do for all ages with children’s face painting, a bouncy castle, and the Crewe and District Model Boat Association allowing everyone to have a go with model boats on the water. For those interested in canal boats there were lots of demonstrations including rope making, fender making, boat painting and traditional, decorative boat painting. A group were there demonstrating many crafts including jewellery making, spinning and cabin lace making plus, of course, the café and bar were open doing excellent business serving teas and cakes, coffees, snacks, lunches ice creams and other drinks for people to enjoy inside, under cover in the marquee or outside on the terrace.

Outside the weather was fine and there were boats to see, both new and old, boat trips to be taken and other stands of interest including a falconry display, complete with bird of prey and ferrets, and the Shropshire Union Canal Society, who were promoting their campaign to help complete the restoration of the beautiful Montgomery Canal.

Altogether the whole day went very well and Robert Parton, Director of the Marina said, “The Family Day was a complete success with several hundred people coming along and enjoying the fun. The Marina business received a number of enquiries throughout the day and everyone, from children to grandparents, had a fantastic day out. We were also very pleased that the event helped raise over £1,200 for our nominated charity “Tanzed” which provides education for children in Tanzania.”

Family Fun Day and Open Day 2010

The Family Fun Day and Open Day takes place on Sunday 25th July. We hope you will come along and encourage your friends and family to come too. There will be something for everyone to enjoy regardless of age, including entertainment from Crewe and District Model Boat Club, who will be sailing a variety of their craft in the marina, Canal Crafts, with workshops on ropes, knotting, painting and much more. Our fully licensed café, The Galley, will be open for morning coffees, breakfasts, lunches, snacks and afternoon teas including delicious home cooked cakes and pastries. There will be lots to interest our younger supporters including face painting and a bouncy castle. Come along and enjoy a drink on the terrace, take a walk around our delightfully landscaped site, view the boats we have for sale and enquire about our services.

Moorers' Annual Bash

This year's Bash will be held on Saturday 24th July. We have a great line up of bands for you to enjoy including The House Blues Band, Arizona Storm (Country and Western) and Longshanks and Sinner. Tickets are available from 01270 525041. To enable us to cater for everyone, tickets must be booked by Saturday 10th July so to avoid disappointment let us know how many tickets you require as soon as possible.

Barbecue Stands

We now have new barbecue stands! They have been placed along the canal side in front of Jetty A and also canal side below the facilities building. Feel free to use and enjoy them.

Questionnaire

Thank you to everyone who returned the questionnaire. The following suggestions are being actioned over the next few weeks:

• Steps near the slipway
• Handrails on all of the steps
• Safety ladders to get out of the marina (see Mick for lessons on getting in)
• Hooks in the shower/toilets near to the wash basins
• Extra cigarette bins; one near the shop entrance and another by the rear facilities door

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGINA!

Georgina, from The Galley, surrounded by love and flowers on her 50th Birthday, 25 June 2010.

Happy Hour at The Galley

Happy Hour in The Galley is from 9.30 - 10.30 each morning with breakfasts at only £4.75!

Fishing Competition

We will be holding a fishing competition on 17th July from 4 – 7 pm. The £5 entrance fee will cover prizes and some light refreshment.

Jam Night

The July Jam Night was by far the busiest so far. The guys in the Galley served 81 guests and 100+ people attended, along with the house band. Steve Wallace’s band, Longshanks, headlined the night and Sarah’s Dad Stan, along with friends John and Julie, performed with the house band and everyone was amazed at the wild and wonderful welcome they received from you all.

Swan Update

Our Swans successfully hatched 6 out of 7 eggs and currently 4 cygnets are surviving.

Guided Walk

Saturday 24 July starting outside The Galley at 10.00 am. Leisurely six mile walk including a visit to the church. Please register your interest with reception as soon as possible.

Raffle

Raffle tickets are now on sale. Top prizes of African Carvings and many other smaller ones. The draw will be made at the Boaters’ Gathering on 24 July and all proceeds will go to charity.

Congratulations to…

Joan and Peter Whalley, NB Lock to Loch, are grandparents for the first time. Lila Grace was born in Adelaide on 13th June; Joan and Peter are going out to Australia on the 30th June for 8 weeks.

Bill Wood, NB New Dawn, had the perfect Father's Day present, he is to become a grandfather for the first time when daughter Hayley gives birth in January.

Welcome to…

Mr & Mrs Allen
NB Just Superb

Clairvoyance Evening

The Aqueduct Crafters invite you to join them for an evening of clairvoyance on Wednesday 14th September, 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm start. Refreshments provided, £5 per person with profits to charity. Please join us with an open mind, love and laughter.

Marina Gardens

We are sure you will have noticed that Woody has been busy planting a few borders around the marina. We hope that you enjoy them and if you have green fingers please feel free to water the plants and do any weeding you think necessary.

Crick Show

Our stand at Crick Show was successful, with lots of enquiries about boat painting, blacking, DIY maintenance and moorings. Hopefully this will mean new business in the weeks to come. Sue bravely volunteered to be there for the whole weekend and other staff joined her for one or two of the three days. Saturday was wet and consequently attendance at the show was lower than expected, but the wet weather enticed people into the marquee to visit stands under cover. Sunday brought better show attendance but the strong wind also encouraged people inside. The coach from the marina left at 8.00 am on the Sunday morning, with one or two people being left behind because they hadn’t set an alarm (you know who you are!). All were invited to the Aqueduct Marina stand at the end of the day for a glass of wine before the journey home, which rounded the day off very nicely indeed. Unfortunately there was not enough room to fit Paul Caddick's new purchase on the coach (a 60ft boat); everyone else was content with a hat.

Polo Shirts

Haute Couture arrives at the Marina in the form of Aqueduct-branded polo shirts.  Dark green or maroon with the Aqueduct name in white, plus your name or boat name as an option.

Questionnaire Prize Draw

The prize draw was held on Tuesday. The winning entry was picked by Nikki from The Galley, under the watchful eye of Roger Murray so congratulations to Michael and Jacqui Lund from nb Charity who win a meal for two at The Galley.

Battery Testing Day and Winter Preparation Service

This is planned for the autumn so you can check your batteries are in good condition to face the rigours of winter.  Around this time we will also offer a winterisation service to include emptying the system, removing filter bowls and draining shower mixers. It is also a good time to have your engine serviced so that the engine is not sitting in old oil over the winter. If you are interested in these services please let us know.

Warning! Canal boats do not like leaving Aqueduct Marina.

Uncle Mort, Andrew and Sheila Goodland's boat. After mooring here for a year, Uncle Mort was offered a mooring with Stafford Boat Club. When the day came to leave Uncle Mort departed with freshly blacked bottom and best wishes exchanged. The plan was to tackle the Ribble Link before moving to their new mooring. A couple of days cruising later Uncle Mort  became home sick and the engine’s thump, thump, thump became thump, thump, stop, restart, thump, thump, stop.  After limping back to Aqueduct Marina and repairs by Nantwich Canal Centre to stop air entering the diesel supply line, Uncle Mort has been given a clean bill of health and is now happily moored back in Aqueduct Marina (for the time being at least).

Dreamer (a new Dream Narrow boat) was sold off brokerage; Peter and Sue Critchley will hopefully enjoy their time moored here.

Never On Time, sold off brokerage, is also staying in the marina. We hope Sarah and Tony Greenwood enjoy their time here.

Pimpernel was sold off brokerage to Mr and Mrs King; after a new paint job in the coming months she is going to stay in the marina.

Shroppie Lass was sold off brokerage. The new owners, Paul and Gudrun, despite having plans to take the boat away are still moored here.

Chardonnay was bought by Joe Sheldon and also remains here in the marina.

Harlequin has remained in the marina after being bought by Mr and Mrs Hasler last year.

Bob Scott on Lothlorian, after 5 months in the marina  during which time he has cruised the local area and  had a new Andy Russell paint job, has cruised away. We trust that he has an uneventful journey back to his mooring at Wigram Turns though should his boat have other plans we may see them back here again!

Contractors working on site

We are becoming increasingly aware of the requirements of Health & Safety and insurance policies. Please see the enclosed letter regarding the use of off-site contractors. It is important, to protect both ourselves and you, that contractors are insured and aware of their obligations.

Dogs

Recently a dog jumped up and bit a moorer (the dog was on a lead). The owner has been very considerate and agreed not to bring the  dog to the marina again. Whilst we recognise that this was an unfortunate incident we must remind all dogs that they must be on a lead and under control of their owners at all times.

Swan Update

Our pair of swans are sitting on six or seven eggs which should be due to hatch any time now.

Boat Moving…

Woody picked the hottest day of the year so far to bring a boat back to Aqueduct Marina from Tattenhall. Mysteriously it broke down just before the Shady Oak…

Welcome to…

The Harris family nb Lady Ann
Mr & Mrs Greenwood nb Miss Eva
Mr & Mrs Critchley nb Dreamer
Mr & Mrs Sydney nb Serenity

New Benches

Mick Mellor and Paul Duncalf have put some more benches up under Julie Twigg's (Bramble) supervison. We hope that we get the long awaited Barbeque summer! Thank you to Pauline Leon (nb Patience) for donating money raised in memory of Rupert to buy a picnic  bench.

Open Day

We are holding an open day on Sunday 25 July to which you are all invited. There will be a guided walk on Saturday 24 July (register your interest at reception for more details) and a musical evening in the Galley café so book your table now!

Robert's 40th

To mark Robert's 40th birthday (yes 40!) Andrew and Pam (Robert's mother) bought him a weathervane which now has pride of place on the end of the facilities building. Rumours that it was put there to help David remember which side of B jetty is north and which is south are completely unfounded.

Marina Gardens

We are sure you will have noticed that Woody has been busy planting a few borders around the marina. We hope that you enjoy them and if you have green fingers please feel free to water the plants and do any weeding you think necessary.

Crick 2010

We have provisionally booked a coach for the Crick Show on Sunday 30th May. The coach will leave here at 8.00 am, arriving at Crick at 10.00 am and will leave Crick at 4.30 pm to arrive back here at 6.30 pm. The cost will be £15/person which will be reduced if the coach is full. Please book with reception (a £5.00 deposit is required). Call and see us on our stand while you are there!

Boat Keys

We would be grateful if you could arrange to leave a set of your boat keys at reception. We have had a number of instances of boat alarms going off and we have been unable to stop it or investigate the cause. Leaving a key with us could prevent you having to make an unnecessary journey and we will always let you know of any occasions when we have accessed your boat for any reason.

Date for your Diary

We will be holding a Marina Open Day on Sunday 25th July. Do come along if you can and help us present the Marina in the best possible light. We are also organising a social function on the Saturday night 24th July. All ideas welcome; we will give more information next month.

Battery Testing Day

Many people have been experiencing difficulties with their power and battery management systems. Consequently we will organise a battery testing day later in the summer for you to enquire about your boat’s batteries and electrical systems. We won’t promise to have all the answers, but professional technical advice could be very useful. Please register your interest with reception.

The Galley

George and I would like to thank you for your continued support of the café and shop. We hope that you enjoy your visits but please, if you have any criticism, good or bad, please do tell us; it’s the only way we can improve our service to you. Over the next few weeks we will begin to offer more grocery items in the shop, which we hope you will find useful. We are now open for evening meals on Friday and Saturday nights and would recommend that you book if you would like a table. Menus are available on www.thegalleycafe.co.uk and if there is a specific dish you like the look of, please book that also!

Gas and coal are now available through our shop, and the opening hours are 10 - 1, and 2 - 4 every day. We are sorry that unfortunately we have now become liable for the dreaded VAT and this will result in some prices rising. We will, where possible, endeavour to absorb some of this price rise ourselves, but hope you will understand why it is necessary.

May we take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful cruising summer. We hope the weather is kind and that you have many happy and contented hours boating over the coming months. Thank you. Andy

Nesting Swans

Many of you will be aware of our resident pair of swans who now appear to be planning a new family. Less obvious is their history. Thanks to the local Swan Study Group, we now know a little more about them.

The male was originally ringed as a cygnet at Swanley Pool near Nantwich on 14th July 2001, after which he spent much of his time near Penkridge, Staffordshire, travelling via Sandbach. The female meanwhile, ringed as a cygnet at Swanley on 22nd July 2004, has travelled out to Bangor in North Wales before returning to the Nantwich area. After spending a brief period at Swanley Marina she recognised the benefits of Aqueduct Marina and arrived here earlier this year.

Whilst we hope they succeed in rearing a healthy brood, please remember that swans can be very protective of their young and will attack people and dogs if the nest is approached.

Congratulations…

Andy Ray and Linda Birks on the arrival of their new grandson, born on 28 April

AA Service

Following a call from a boater who had broken down at Church Minshull, Ken Massey set forth in his tug Daniel. 'Rsquared' was duly recovered to Aqueduct where repairs were carried out, allowing them to continue on their way. An 'AA' badge is on order.

Brokerage

In line with others in the business, the Brokerage has been depressingly quiet since the start of the year. Was it the recession? Or the impending election? Or just the weather? Hopes that it was the last of these appear to have been borne out with an upsurge of interest in the last few weeks. So far, firm sales have been completed on three boats with serious interest in several others on the cards.

The brokerage has been a definite success story since its launch in July last year, with the biggest restriction being in getting sufficient boats in to sell. If you, or someone you know, wants to participate in our success please speak to Chris Moran who is taking charge of the Brokerage.
STOP PRESS – Three boats sold in one day!

Christmas

December 2009

We wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Please remember the Office and Reception will close at midday on Christmas Eve and reopen on Tuesday 29th December. We will also be closed on Friday 1st January 2010. Please make sure you have sufficient electricity cards, gas and coal and will not be in need of diesel or a pump out while the office is closed.

Happy Christmas!
Seasons Greetings,

Robert, Andrea, Sarah, Sue, David, Paul, Mick, Woody, James and Julie.

Christmas Decorations

December 2009

Well done to those of you who have decorated your boats, especially Ron and Val McClaren & Tinky Mac looks fantastic.

Meet our Team…

December 2009

• Robert – Director
• Andrea – Director
• Paul – Foreman
• Sue – Marina Supervisor
• Woody – Groundsman
• Mick – Boat Blacking and Maintenance
• Julie – Hygiene Technician
• David – Brokerage and IT
• Sarah – Secretary

Farewell and Welcome

December 2009

We would like to extend a warm welcome to three new moorers at the marina; Joe Sheldon on Chardonnay and Brian and Celia Hutcheson on Life After Work. We hope you will soon settle in and enjoy being part of the Aqueduct Marina community.

We also bid a sad farewell to Ira and Carolyn Theobold on Albion, who are moving to a residential mooring at Norbury Wharf and to Steve and Margaret Herbert are selling S'Wonderful and moving nearer to their family and grand children.

Boat Jumble

December 2009

The Boaty Boot Sale which took place on the 22nd November was a minor success with six brave souls out from 8.45 am until 12 noon, standing in horizontal rain and sub-zero temperatures. With monies collected and very generous donations from Maxine and Jim Clark, Mandy and Keith Jones, Judith Lowe and Lisa Hoy we are sending the McMillan Nurses £135.00. A big thank you to everyone who supported the event. We will arrange another for next year but trust us, it won't be in November!

Fire Service Visit

December 2009

On Saturday 21st November the Cheshire Fire Service visited the marina. They were offering a free boat safety inspection along with a fire alarm. The day went very well until Fireman Willie Sarson unfortunately cracked his head leaving the last boat and needed attention at A & E. We were pleased to hear he is now recovered and back at work.

We will be organising a further visit so if you missed out this time but would like to be included in future, either phone us on 01270 525041 or e-mail sue.m@aqueductmarina.co.uk and we will advise you of the next date.

Radio

December 2009

On Wednesday, 2nd December Robert spent two and a half hours on a local radio chat show, CAT Radio 87.7FM, with DJ Dave Dean. Although Robert failed to name Santa's reindeers he held his own and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. Watch out Chris Evans, your days may be numbered!

You can find CAT Radio on the internet at www.thisisthecat.com

Short cuts!

December 2009

A wise precaution is to check your friend's gunwales are sanded before drinking their whiskey and taking a short cut home. Mr Taffe can testify to the water in the marina being both wet and cold!

Flowers

December 2009

We would like to extend a big thank you to Barbara Lanning for the lovely flower arrangements she has made for the reception and for her donation of spring flowers that, along with the daffodils supplied by the Parish Council, have been planted around the marina. We look forward to a splendid display in the Spring.

Facebook

December 2009

For a tale of misfortune take a look at the Aqueduct Marina Facebook page. The “bin compound” entry shows the misfortune of one lady who became trapped inside. The lesson to be learned from this is if you notice the gate to the compound is swinging open, do check inside for bodies before closing it.

Petition

December 2009

You may have read the media speculation that the Government intends to include the British Waterways property portfolio as a component of a £16bn assets sale. The Government has made no announcements and is steadfastly refusing to be drawn on the subject. However, should you wish to object to this sale you can register your objection via the following e-petition:
http://petitions.number10-gov.uk/protectourcanals/

Latest from Aqueduct Marina

27/10/09

As winter approaches you may have thought life in general would slow down a little. Not so! The café, The Galley, has gone from strength to strength with a new menu, great food at very reasonable prices. Georgina has maintained the Friday late night and has extended the opening until 9pm. In addition Georgina is ready to take bookings for New Years Eve for which there will be a comprehensive menu. Tickets will be only £25 per head and are available on a first come first served basis with a maximum of 48, so book early through the café to avoid disappointment.

Friday 2nd of October caused a little excitement as the marina woke up to several British Waterways employees on the grass in front of A jetty. An old field drain, which goes under the canal into the fields opposite, had breached causing a significant drop in the water level on the canal. This required us to loosen all mooring ropes as a precaution in case of any further drop. GJP (the contractors) were on site the following Monday with the problem solved over the next few days. Before GJP left the site they also installed rubbing strakes to the towpath side of the entrance this will hopefully protect both your boat and the concrete edge.

Having to loosen all ropes brought to our attention that in an emergency some of the boats were tied in quite a complicated manner and it took longer than anticipated, we would appreciate simple rope work just in case another problem arises.

Last month we mentioned the ‘boat jumble’ this will be held on Sunday 22nd of November, £5 per car, £10 per van, after costs all profits will go to the McMillian Nurses a wonderful association testified by anyone comes into contact with them. This choice follows the death of Mandy Massey, narrowboat Daniel. Our condolences to Ken, Jake, Rachael and Veronica for the lost of such a lovely lady.

On Saturday 21st November the Cheshire Fire Service will be here for the day and are offering a free boat safety inspection along with along with a fire alarm. Sue has experienced this service and can recommend it please advise her if you would like to take part, either ring her 0n 01270 525041 or email sue.m@aqueductmarina.co.uk

After a suggestion from one of our moorers Mrs. Perkins, we have supplied three trolleys for jetties A, B and D to enable you to get all you need to your boat without trucking back and forth or causing yourself a mischief, please feel free to use them but please remember to return them after use.

Our congratulations go to Barbara and Keith Lanning who have just become grandparents following the birth of their first grandchild Jack.

Last week we sent out letters to everyone inviting you to book your mooring for next year we would appreciate a fast response and are always available to answer any queries you may have. Sue has recently completed an audit of insurance and BSC documents and has found that the vast majority are now out of date please supply copies of both of these to enable her to update the files.

For those of you who use the social networking sites we have a video on www.youtube.com search for Aqueduct Marina, and if you register on www.facebook.com and search for Aqueduct Marina, Bernie Stafford has put some pictures and discussions on please join in.

On a lighter note during the week of the breach a friend of Sue's, Maurice who was moored on her jetty for a week to help black their boat. At 5.30am in torrential rain Maurice was woken by scratching from his rear deck. On investigation he discovered a baby badger in difficulties, after half an hour of coaxing, (with his boat hook and an introduction to bad language) he managed to get the exhausted badger onto the reed beds. Later that morning the RSPCA arrived took him away (that's the badger not Maurice) and having treated him for a fractured skull (nothing to do with Maurice's rescue procedure) returned the recovered baby badger at 9pm one evening the following week.

Finally, looking forward to the end of the year the Office and reception will close at midday on Christmas Eve and reopen on Tuesday 29th December. We will also be closed on Friday 1st January 2010. Please make sure you are well stocked up on electricity cards, gas and coal and not in need of diesel or a pump out.

Very best regards,

Boatie’s Dance for Charity

10/10/09

Boatbuilder Terry Lowe teamed up with Aqueduct Marina, Church Minshull to raise £3,600 for St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice, Winsford last month.

money was raised at a joint fun day and ‘Boatie Barn Dance’ at the marina to a sell out crowd of 250 people.

Robert Parton, director of Aqueduct Marina said: “Terry chose St Luke's Cheshire Hospice to receive the donation as a thank you for looking after his daughter recently. We were delighted by the amount we raised and will definitely make the 'Boatie Barn Dance' an annual charity event.”

Jane Thompson received the donation on behalf of St Luke's Cheshire Hospice: “Our thanks go to Terry and Aqueduct Marina for this wonderful donation. All the funds raised will benefit the immediate community around Mid and South Cheshire.”

For more information tel: 01270 525 041
St Luke's Cheshire Hospice tel: 01606 555 681 www.stlukes-hospice.co.uk

Total Boats opens

04/08/09

Having experienced the constant running around looking for suitable merchandise to fit out her two hire boats Georgina Ford of Mary Gray Narrowboats has decided to expand into retail and has sourced everything from joiners to make custom built furniture to 4' Egyptian cotton fitted sheets.

Barn Dance and BBQ.

16/07/09

Don’t forget the Barn Dance and BBQ. This will be held from 7:30 on the August Bank Holiday Saturday, the 29th. A five-piece band with caller is booked and the popular hog roast will return. Book your places now at reception; tickets £10 each.

Marina services

15/07/09

Now the marina has been open a few months, the website has been updated to reflect the range of services available. The boat storage yard, with all the facilities, is proving more popular than ever for both short term work and longer projects. Plenty of space is still available however with expert assistance available on site.

Weston Agricultural Discussion Group visit

14/07/09

The marina hosted a visit from the Weston Agricultural Discussion Group, from which Robert has just retired as Chairman.

Aqueduct Brokerage

14/06/09

The Aqueduct Brokerage is now up and running, with the website in the final design stages. Sue and David will be pleased to talk to anyone thinking of buying or selling a boat.

Marina progress

12/05/09

The marina is now full and beginning to look much more established. Some final landscaping still needs to be done, but the banks are greening up and ducks and swans have moved in. Other residents include carp up to 30lb!

Marina opens!

14/02/09

The marina is now officially open and already most of the berths have been taken up. The ground still looks very bare but hopefully with spring not far off the banks will be grassed over.