Page Published: 4 December 2025
A Share in nb Stolen Time
To understand why I was cruising solo on Stolen Time in early 2002 you need a little background. Some of this is explained in a page about Shared Owner Boats that I wrote in 2010.
Liz and I didn't buy our share early enough in 2001 to pick our own dates for 2002 so we inherited those chosen by the previous owner of our share. As a result our first time aboard Stolen Time was due to be between 8-15 February. In those days I was active on news:uk.rec.waterways and my posts there, which these days are archived on Google Groups, reveal that Liz was reluctant to go cruising in February, making the excuse that gales were forecast. This is why I went alone to Stolen Time on the Saturday, when normally a week aboard Stolen Time ran from Friday to Friday and, rather than be aboard the whole week, the plan was for me to return home on the Monday. This timetable appears to be confirmed as the files containing the photos I took are dated on the evening of Monday 11 February 2002.
Saturday 9 February 2002 - Bartington Wharf
It would have been mid-afternoon by the time I had travelled from West Norfolk to Bartington Wharf where I picked up Stolen Time. It's at the northern end of the Trent and Mersey Canal. The wharf is only a couple of miles south of the Dutton Tunnel and at its northern portal it joins the Bridgewater Canal. Cruising the Bridgewater requires a different licence so it was inevitable that I was obliged to go south towards Anderton, famous for its boat lift. I knew this was under restoration and due to be opened soon.
Indeed, the opportunity to see the boat lift may well have been part of my motivation to make the trip in spite of Liz's reluctance as, at the owner's AGM held the previous November, it had been decided to move the boat to a marina further south for the main 2002 season. That switch was to be made after our first week and we would be less likely to be passing the boat lift when starting from the new base in the summer.
Having parked the car and reported to the boatyard I loaded my gear on board. my first action was to take Stolen Time the short distance to Bridge 210 and the winding hole just beyond. A post made at 23:13 that night, headed "Trip Report - Live from Acton Bridge", recording my arrival aboard seems to confirm that Liz's objections to going cruising had some validity:
So far I've made a right mess of winding the boat, but even those double handed and more, have had difficulties as the wind has been steaming across the wide open valley and, no doubt, through the arches of the magnificent Dutton Viaduct to hit us broadside.
I can also confirm that trying to go backwards in such conditions is a stupidity I shall not repeat, except when it's a matter of life and death, and even then death might prove the more attractive option!
Whether it was a poor signal on my 2G mobile phone or for some other reason I can't recall, but that turned out to be my only post to the newsgroup.
Sunday 10 February 2002 - My First Morning
At the time of the trip I had my first digital camera, a crude 1.3 megapixel device with limited memory. I misunderstood various things about such cameras and the result is that I saved files without their EXIF data, so have no record of exactly when they were taken, but I would guess that the first two were taken on the Sunday morning and, given the reference to Acton Bridge in my newsgroup post, I was within sight of it, no more than a mile from the wharf.
At first I thought that, in this image, Stolen Time was still at Bartington Wharf after I had turned her to face towards Anderton. But I now believe it was taken close to Bridge 208 after waking on the Sunday morning. The shadows on the boat name would support this guess at the location and time of day.
Is that frost on the field on the far bank that indicates a picture taken on Sunday morning? The lack of tiller in place also suggests it was taken after an overnight stop. The throttle position and rings in the water by the stern seems to suggest the engine is running, so it was most likely taken shortly before casting off.
Cruising Through Two Tunnels
It seems that the worst of the storm had passed by Sunday morning. I am still in touch with some of those who were regular posters on news:uk.rec.waterways and they were able to help me locate some of the pictures taken during my morning's cruise to Anderton.
This is the first of the images I took once under way on the Sunday morning. Clearly, it is a view down to the River Weaver, but my internet searches for a recent version of it have failed. That is almost certainly because the images I did find were taken with the trees still in leaf, obscuring sight of the river.
This image is much easier to identify. It's Little Leigh Pond, on the north side of the canal about a mile from where I set out.
This is another image I struggled with, but my internet contacts claim it was taken south of the Aqueduct and north of Bridge 204. I bow to this local knowledge.
Again I refer to my contacts who tell me this was taken just south of Bridge 204.
This scene was easy to identify without assistance and is the Western Portal of Salterford Tunnel...
... and this was taken just after emerging from the East Portal. I find the turbulent water from the prop together with the assorted waves from the hull and tunnel and intriguing mix.
It appears that the drop to the valley was much less wooded in 2002. You can no longer look down at the Saltersford Locks on the Weaver from here, a little way north of Barton Tunnel.
A Brief Mooring
Having passed through Barnton Tunnel you emerge onto a short stretch that turns sharply southwards and broadens considerably before you pass under Bridge 201. With the sun out it struck me as an opportunity to take some better pictures of both the inside and outside of the boat for what was to be my planned "Stolen Time" web site. Unfortunately, at the time, I failed to take photographs that set the scene so, for this report, I've grabbed a couple from Google Maps.
This is a slightly distorted wide-angle view of the Eastern Portal of Barnton Tunnel. But it does show how the canal widens.
This view, taken from just north of Bridge 201, looks back towards where the previous image was taken. The length of straight concrete edging was where I moored to take a few photos of the boat, planned to be used on a Stolen Time web site.
On the bank beyond the boat you see a pair of stacked white gable ends to some cottages. Look again at the previous picture and you can make out the same gables some twenty years later. I recall mooring there to take the opportunity to get a better photograph of the name on the bows of Stolen Time.
Owner Customisations
With the external picture taken, one that showed the name better than the one I had taken earlier in the morning, I went inside to take some of the boat's fittings that I was hoping to use on my proposed web site.
One of two cushions...
...that an owner supplied
"I've been everywhere, man".
One of the things that distinguishes a boat under shared ownership with commercial management company looking after the maintenance, is the way they are customised. In the case of those commissioned by OwnerShips, the company Stolen Time was with, there were no obvious fleet logos or a uniform style to the sign writing. If it were not for the inclusion of a subtle "S" surrounded by an "O" on the name panel on the bows, she could easily be taken for a boat commissioned by a sole owner.
The hand embroidered cushions found in the saloon are a typical upgrade you wouldn't find on a hire boat. The same can be said for the brass plaques found on the side hatch, that remind me of the labels you'd have seen in the rear windows of cars in the 1950s, bought to show other road users, how far the car had been, or where the family had spent their holiday.
As well as the cushions Stolen Time had other customisations you might see on a private boat. A hire boat would probably have a simple rectangular sheet of glass for a mirror. Stolen Time had a mirror that one of the owners supplied that gave what they thought provided the boat with a more nautical appearance to their floating cottage, although it wouldn't have been my choice to mount it where it could be expected to be covered by clothes hanging from the hooks above. I guess it was a different owner that had bought a barometer in a similar style, but not matching size.
The mirror is mounted with its hinge to the top
The barometer requires the hinge is side mounted.
Part Two
Please continue by reading Part Two of this log. It records passing the Anderton Boat Lift, shortly before its restoration, and Lion Salt Works before passing on through an area of heavy industry before a return to Bartington Wharf.