It’s been a very busy winter for us and because of that the website has suffered with a lack of updates over the past couple of months. On the business side of things, solid fuel deliveries have started to slow down a touch, but of course with the start of the new cruising season getting under way, diesel sales are well on the up.

Now the canal has re-opened at Dutton after the breach last October, we will be commencing our full delivery run which is from Castlefield and Worsley to Preston Brook (including the Runcorn Arm) to Middlewich and also the River Weaver. We will be covering this run on a fortnightly basis, which leads me to our May schedule which is as follows;

Friday 3rd May – Castlefield & Worsley to Sale
Saturday 4th May – Sale to Stockton Heath
Sunday 5th May – Stockton Heath & Runcorn to Preston Brook

Between Monday 6th May and Thursday 16th May we will be carrying out on pioneering run to Middlewich and the River Weaver.

Friday 17th May – Preston Brook to Stockton Heath
Saturday 18th May – Stockton Heath to Sale
Sunday 19th May – Sale to Castlefield & Worsley

Over the Bank Holiday weekend of 24th – 27th May we’ll be attending the FBCC Rally at Astley on the Bridgewater Canal.

The above schedule should only be used as a guide due to workload etc. To ensure your delivery and to avoid disappointment please call or text on 07748 958303.

The temperature is dropping and now we’re back from being trapped by the T&M Breach, we’re busier than ever.  We’ve outlined our rough delivery schedule for December below.

Friday 30th November – Reloading and deliveries at Sale
Saturday 1st December – Delivering through Stretford to Castlefield
Sunday 2nd December – Returning from Castlefield

Thursday 6th December – Reloading and deliveries to Dunham
Friday 7th December – Dunham to Lymm
Saturday 8th December – Lymm Dickensian Festival
Sunday 9th December – Lymm to Thewall, Grappenhall & Preston Brook
Monday 10th December – Preston Brook to Lymm
Tuesday 11th December – Lymm to Barton

Friday 14th December – Deliveries to Worsley, Castlefield, Stretford & Sale
Saturday 15th December – Sale, Dunham, Agden, Lymm & Grappenhall
Sunday 16th December – Grappenhall, Stockton Heath, Walton & Moore to Preston Brook & Runcorn
Monday 17th December – Runcorn to Preston Brook
Tuesday 18th December – Returning from deliveries

Please note that the above may change due to stoppages, restrictions or ice.
We will be unavailable over the Christmas period from Tuesday 18th December 2012 until Friday 4th January 2012.
If you will need any supplies between these dates then please contact us to avoid disappointment on 07748 958303 before hand to arrange a delivery between Friday 14th and Tuesday 18th December.

We’ve been really busy since we’ve been back on our regular trading route.

Our first run saw us heading south along the Bridgewater through Sale, Dunham, Agden and Lymm to Grappenhall. Due to the unprecedented amount of diesel sales over this delivery run, we managed to empty tank and unfortunately didn’t manage to serve all of our customers at this time. We then headed back to base to reload with diesel, and arranged with those that we’d miss to catch them during the back end of the week, over running into the weekend. Fortunately we managed to finish off all of our orders.

On our northern delivery run over 15th to 19th November, after arranging another reload of diesel, we headed off into Worsley through Stretford and Patricroft on Saturday morning, and back East into Castlefield for Saturday afternoon. Sunday 18th saw us finishing off pre-ordered deliveries and catching passing trade back through Stretford and into Sale.

On Thursday we’ll once again be reloading with diesel, and carrying out our southern fortnightly delivery run.

• Thursday 22nd November  – Reloading with diesel, and heading through Sale and Timperley to Dunham

• Friday 23rd November – Deliveries through Dunham, Agden, Lymm, Thelwall & Grappenhall

• Saturday 24th November – Grappenhall to Preston Brook

• Sunday 25th November – Return from Preston Brook to Grappenhall

• Monday 26th & Tuesday 27th November – Travelling from Grappenhall to Barton over the 2 days.

We are reloading the boats with coal, smokeless fuels and diesel on both Thursday and Friday, once loading is complete we’ll be heading through Stretford and Sale to Dunham. On Saturday we’re passing through Dunham, Lymm and Grappenhall. Sunday will see us through Stockton Heath, Walton and Moore to Preston Brook.

On Monday and Tuesday we’ll be retracing our steps back to Stretford. If you need anything please don’t take the chance of missing us, and call 07748 958303.

We stopped at Marsh Lock on Friday afternoon and set to preparing the boats for the trip into Manchester. On Saturday morning the Canal & Rivers Trust team arrived at 7.30am to lock us out onto the Ship Canal. As to be expected it was a bit breezy around Runcorn but all went went on the trip. We arrived into Salford Quays on Saturday afternoon where we were to stay until Monday morning for our passage through Pomona Lock.

This morning we’ve had confirmation of our passage on the Manchester Ship Canal which will take place on Saturday 27th October.

Once we’re back on the Bridgewater Canal I’ll be updating the website with delivery routes and times.

The estimated completion dates for the work being undertaken on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Croxton is Christmas time, and the work at Dutton being even longer, which has a completion date for Easter.

Because of this reason, we are looking into booking a passage from the River Weaver, along the Manchester Ship Canal into Salford Quays and thence back onto the Bridgewater Canal via Pomona Lock. There is a lot of paperwork and arranging involved with three separate parties but we should have an update on this soon.

On the Sunday morning of the Acton Bridge Steam Gathering, two boats took a trip down to Dutton Locks. We took the lead with Tim on the Leeds & Liverpool Shortboat Humber, with Mike & Helen Carter with family and friends bringing up the rear. The purpose of this trip was to go up to visit the site of the canal breach at Dutton.

Over the weekend we attended the Acton Bridge Steam Gathering which takes place every year. Due to the current stoppages in place on the Trent & Mersey Canal, boat numbers seemed to be down this year with only those who moor on the River attending but there was a good turn out in general and a very pleasant weekend was had.

The Canals & Rivers Trust have issued further updates recently with more information on the breach at Dutton and the damaged embankment at Croxton. You can read about the stoppages in detail on their website here: Canals & River Trust Stoppages

Ariel & Joe are currently moored up in Northwich on the River Weaver and so at the moment we’re trapped by these stoppages. We will be delivering locally on the River Weaver and between Saltersford and Broken Cross on the Trent & Mersey Canal, and for other areas we’ll be being road deliveries until further notice. If you need any supplies, please call us on 07748 958303.