Springwood Haven to Cat Junkie Mooring

Before the hire car was returned we did a big fresh food shop at Sainsburys and visited Wicks to buy some suitable flexible adhesive to be able to attach the new solar panel to the roof.

Whilst Mick went to drop the car off I disposed of all the rubbish, including recycling (the marina has good recycling bins). But no matter how hard you try to collect everything together there is always something that manages to escape being thrown away, today it was packaging from some batteries!

The last load of washing had been doing it’s thing whilst we shopped so a top up of the water tank was needed before the hose was coiled back up, hook up unplugged and we were ready for the off.

Not far today, just back out onto the cut where we’d come from on Saturday. Our shady spot was free so we pulled up to where we thought we’d get maximum tree cover. However today this was not needed as the sun was hiding behind a lot of cloud, the inside of Oleanna was a touch dark. All the curtains were pushed back for the first time in weeks as there was no need to try to keep the searing heat out.

At last! Freedom!!! The great outside awaited me. Oh! This outside is becoming quite familiar. They’ve put it on the other side of the boat, but it’s still the same one, they can’t fool me. Best make the most of it. And she did! Even being spotted by the chap on NB Tawney Owl as he passed.

Mick had a look at the solar panel to see if he’d need any more connectors before we move away from Springwood Haven as they have a stock of such things. I dug out my model making box and cutting mat and started to make alterations to the model box I’d been given. Sadly at some point dimensions on the plans had gone wrong and the model had been made from these. So first job was to shrink the proscenium, but is that really the only measurement that was wrong? From what datum were other measurements taken? Are the walls that will restrict entrances in the right places? Without being in the theatre with a tape measure myself and double checking various things, it’s impossible to know, but that will have to wait until my next meeting. Then once I’d decided to go with what I now had I noticed there was a mistake in the model which also needed altering.

Earlier in the day I’d sent a message with our location to our friends Nichola and Andy on NB On The Fiddle as they would be heading past us today or tomorrow on their way south. Mid afternoon I got a reply saying that they’d just come up Atherstone and if there was space to moor they would carry on to meet up with us. An hour and half later their bow came into view and they pulled in.

We spent three hours on the towpath catching up with each others news. I spent the three hours watching their woofers play with their balls and chews. I came close at one point which woke Chad up a little bit, but he is a bit slow and I’d have out run him without even trying. By 8pm it was a little chilly to be sat out any longer so we retired to our respective boats for food and to warm up. When I say we, Tilly didn’t!

I was far far too busy! All my friends had come out to play and were really enjoying running around the trees with me playing hide and seek. It was great. Well until she came and picked me up, it was time for tea. Well past her tea time! Limboing under a barbed wire fence, scrambling down the hill and then retracing my slipping sliding steps back up with a wriggling cat is just how I like to spend my evenings. At least Tilly still had an appetite.

0 locks, 0.21 miles, 1 bag onions, 1 chicken, 500 grams pork mince, 6 nectarines, 6 bananas, 2 lefts, 3rd time in this mooring, 1 panel not going back in it’s box, 1 passing Tilly fan, 1 model box rectified (I think), 1 floor cut to fit, 1 sofa full, 0 place for Mick, 2 boats meeting, 3 hours of boaters chat, 3 hours of ball chasing and chewing, 9 hours, 4 squeaking friends, 3 bare patches around trees, 1 scramble, 1 black and white thug locked away for the night.

Duncan and Jaye’s House, Scarborough to Springwood Haven

Scarborough seagulls always know when we are at home and go out of their way to welcome us back. They are especially good at this in the middle of the night! They started to serenade us at about 3:45am! There are lots of things we miss about Scarborough, but they are not one of them.

Jaye and Duncan were having to work today, so after a bleary eyed cuppa in their kitchen we waved our host, Duncan, goodbye and we headed out of town first to start on the list of jobs to do in Scarborough. A quick appointment at Mick’s doctors only gave me enough time to flatten the back seats of the car for our next task. Mick has treated Oleanna to a second flexible solar panel with some of his birthday money and had arranged for it to be delivered to the theatre last week so that we could pick it up. Knowing that it was likely to be of a size we’d booked the next sized car up from our norm, but would it fit? Jaye helped us out of the theatre, hoping that we wouldn’t be returning within minutes with the very large, yet flat box. We hoped the same as if it didn’t fit we’d be returning in a few days with a van!

Stopping next to the car the length of the box exceeded the space behind the front seats even with the back seats down. But we all know diagonals are longer, so we hoped that we could angle the box to gain more length. This was still about a foot too short! Eek!! Head rests lowered, was there enough width at roof height for the box to slide over the top of the seats? Just. Would the boot then close? Just. Would we be able to sit in the seats? Yes. Would Mick have to drive with his head bent down all the 150 miles back? No, luckily the seat lowered which gave him a touch more head space. Phew we’d managed it, good job it’s a flexible panel!

The poppies I’d been knitting a few weeks ago needed delivering to Dawn and Lee around the corner. We joined them, Lisa and Bill for a cuppa and a quick resume of yesterdays wedding. We were starting to pick up by now, but Dawn was lagging behind a bit in the feeling shabby stakes. Lifts were needed to pick up cars and everyone headed off.

There was now a definite need for food. So there was only one thing to do, a visit to Eat Me. If you are ever in Scarborough it is definitely worth a visit. We didn’t opt for their full breakfast, but a half breakfast each sufficed. Now with fuel in our bellies I popped into my favourite model makers shop, chatted biplanes before we called in at the letting agents to pick up some post. Then a drive by of our house was required to see that Yorkshire Water had returned a front path to how it should be after they’d dug it up to mend a leek. All tasks now done we waved farewell to Scarborough and headed back to Nuneaton.

Tilly was pleased to see us, I was relieved that she hadn’t been overcome by the heat on the boat. I’d followed instructions, stayed low, avoided sitting in the windows, drank lots and found that the coolest place on the boat was actually sitting on the radiator. All was fine, just so long as I could go out now thank you!

Glad we’d decided to leave the fresh food shopping until tomorrow as we both needed a quiet evening.

0 locks, 0 miles, 150 miles by car, 3 more Duncan mentions (4 now, I think that’s enough for a while), 23 poppies, 6 more goodbyes, 1 tight squeeze for a box, 0.5 breakfasts, 2 extra sausages, 3 letters, 2 clean patches of concrete, 1 happy yet disappointed cat, 1 very big parcel to live with, 1 quiet evening on the sofa, 2 big Thank Yous to the Lewis family.

Cat Junkie to Springwood Haven Marina to Scarborough

On Saturday Mick waited patiently for a phone call from Enterprise Car Hire. They had said they would pick him up sometime before midday which is when they close, so as time ticked on he decided to walk up the hill behind Springwood Haven Marina to the main road. This walk takes seventeen minutes in the heat of the day and as he ascended the hill he got a call to say they were on their way. Once he was back, with a newspaper, he checked in at the marina as to which our allotted mooring would be for the weekend.

We were given a storage mooring, which means there is no pontoon alongside, so access is only over the stern of Oleanna. Mick expertly turned her into the marina and then reversed her into the narrow space. About eight inches either side. A thinner rope was needed so that we could tie the bow to a post using one of the fender rings on the side of the hull. Once happily moored we got ourselves hooked up and the washing machine went straight on. Unlike quite a few marinas they don’t have a problem with boats hanging out their washing so our whirligig was going to be busy.

Mick kept an eye on all the electrical data and how our batteries were charging on a land line. We were using the washing machine most of this time, despite this our batteries charged quickly. By late evening the panel was saying Float.

The marina requests that all dogs should be kept on a lead, but this does not apply to cats. Tilly would be allowed shore leave. So as the day got warmer and warmer and with a total lack of shade at our mooring we let her out a little nervous as she’s never encountered a marina before. What sort of rubbish place is this?! All the grass is super short, a few bits of friendly cover but they were too neat and tidy to have any friends loitering. After a while I decided to venture further, only to be told off for going on other peoples roofs. Tilly had the look in her eye that she’d roof hop all the way along the marina! A distance away behind a spiky fence there was plenty of friendly cover so I had a good look round there before she called me back. Well we wanted to do that big shop we’d missed out on a few days ago. Some big plastic tunnels looked interesting, but she wasn’t keen on me going in them. I was bundled back into the warm boat and left.

Big shop accomplished, apart from fresh things, we decided that we’d actually keep Tilly in. She may be welcome by the owners to wander around, but we weren’t too comfortable about it. Should she fall in between boats there wasn’t enough space for us to stand on gunnels to rescue her without boats touching, a crush incident waiting to happen. Also Cat Health and Safety didn’t like the thought of her hopping onto a dark coloured roof and discovering the science of how heat retention is affected by different colours. She was not impressed with our decision.

Sunday morning we were up very early for us. The car was packed with smart clothes on hangers, the magic food bowl primed, a very full bowl of water left in the shower and we were off just before 8:30am, heading to Scarborough for a wedding. A quick emergency hat purchase was needed, my boating cap, now sun bleached, not really suitable for a wedding so Sainsburys came up with something smarter and we headed to check in at our accommodation for the night.

Jaye and Duncan, who visited us in April, very kindly allowed us to persuade them to let us stay the night. As the wedding ceremony was to be held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre Jaye had been at work all morning helping to decorate front of house and the Round auditorium, whilst Duncan waited for us to arrive. Once we were all suited and booted we headed over to the theatre.

Mark (more commonly known as Tigger, he is ginger and quite bouncy!) and Becca met quite a few years ago whilst they both worked at the theatre. Tigger was a technician who now works freelance and Becca worked front of house as an usher, this is how they met. So the venue was very apt for them. Marrying on a Sunday is a common thing for theatre people as your thespian guests are more likely to be free and of course the theatre had no show on.

The Round auditorium was almost full on three of it’s four sides an audience of around 300!

Once all the legalities were done, we were invited to look under our seats. One person on each row found a brown paper package and whilst the signing of the register was happening we all played pass the parcel, some people taking a very long time to pass it on to the next person (Frank Matthews!).

After drinks in the bar we were all ferried out to a nearby village where the Village Fete reception was set up in Becca’s parents garden.

A very well stocked self service bar greeted us and a very large marquee stretched off down the garden.

A coconut shy, tin can alley, tombolla, bouncy castle, bat the rat, kept us all occupied. I even won a yoyo on the tombola!

People had been invited to provide a picnic platter towards the wedding breakfast and there were prizes for the best ones. Plenty to eat, plenty to drink and SO many people to talk to.

There was a lady with chilled medication who had a constant queue.

A ceilidh band which created a 200 person chain dancing around the fields.

Fresh pizzas were being cooked late in the evening. A great firework display and disco to follow. What an afternoon and evening, everything had been thought out so well.

Oli, Jaye and Duncan’s son gave us a lift back into Scarborough where we collapsed on sofas with mugs of tea and continued chatting with horse voices. We’d left plenty at the party which could well have continued into the early hours. A wonderful wedding for a lovely couple, whom I’m sure enjoyed the day twice as much as we did.

0 locks, 0.21 miles, 1 hire car, 1 hour of freedom, 3 roofs, £5 electric card, 2 loads washing, 150 miles, 3 hours, £10 emergency hat, 3 Duncan mentions, 0 Duncan photos, 1 Duncan hand, 6 now! 14 pairs Converse, 300 in the Round, 1 free bar, 2 lifts, 1 hot cat, 2 many friends to talk to, 200 seconds of fireworks, 350, 1 thirsty cat, 2 much to drink, 2 much to eat, 4 flavours, 1 lonely cat, 2 lovely people tying the knot.

https://goo.gl/maps/rx8LyPGd5Sx

Cat Junkie Mooring

We’ve had some rain! Remember, that stuff that used to fall from the sky. Water. The giver of life. That makes the countryside green. Enables things to grow. Fills the reservoirs to keep water flowing from our taps. That helps to keep us and our possessions clean. That fills the rivers and canals. Makes the towpaths quagmires in winter. Oh hang on a bit, we didn’t get that much!

This evening the sky was getting dark and a breeze picked up. We hoped we knew the signs. Mick put both sides back on the pram cover for the first time in ages and closed the cratch. It then rained, for about five to ten minutes. At least it was a start! With the ground being so hard now, if substantial rain fell it is likely to just run straight off, serious rainfall could cause flooding where the land is so dry and parched. What we need is a steady light rainfall that will give itself time to soak into the ground and feed the thirst of the plants and then gradually start to top up the reserves.

We have found ourselves in an area that back in 1976 during the summer drought was one place you could still cruise. Hillmorton Locks and Sutton Stop were open, but Braunston, Calcutt and Atherstone locks were all closed due to very low water reserves. So hopefully we’ll still be able to move even if the rain we had today is the last for a while.

Over the last few days we’ve had notices from C&RT informing us of restrictions to lock usage. Most Pennine routes already have these in place. Restricting the hours you can use the locks hopefully means more efficient use of the water, pairing up on broad locks etc. However from the end of the month, if no significant rain falls the Leeds Liverpool Canal will see flights of locks padlocked shut until water levels return to the reservoirs. The lock flights at Wigan, Barrowford, Greenberfield, Bank Newton and Gargrave will be padlocked closed and the gates will be ashed up to reduce leakage.  Also to prevent vandalism, measures will be taken by C&RT to make the locks inoperable. At the other end of the canal time restrictions on the use of the Bingley five and three rise locks have been implemented.

Restrictions are being brought in on the Rochdale, not much of a surprise as they always have difficulty in the summer due to the reservoirs having been sold off when the canal was closed. The Huddersfield Narrow is also affected and the narrowing lock on the Marple flight is restricting the use of the locks to only a few hours a day, which will be helping to keep the levels on the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canal in better shape than they would be otherwise.

At the moment we are glad we moved to the Midlands away from the north. But this does mean we are on busier waterways, far more boats passing than we’re used to, we normally run away to the extremities of the network in the summer. With schools starting to breakup the traffic is likely to increase. Our cruising pattern is changing due to work anyway, so we shall stay put for longer periods than normal and most probably avoid moving at weekends.

Fingers crossed we get more rain soon.

0 locks, 0 miles, 12 sketches, 1 long storyboard complete, 17 minutes walk to the road, 26 24 Semi-final, 3 years of 9.75, 1 full bucket of kindling, 1 lose of grip, 2543 Dreamies on the floor, 1 cat eager to assist, 1 whole day, not hours, but a whole day!

Taveners Bridge to Worthington Farm Bridge 35

Before the lights went out last night we had another person loitering alongside Oleanna. Could it be another chap having received bad news? This one felt like someone was trying to sus out if a light had been left on to discourage intruders. At one point I thought they were trying to pear in through the curtains to see if anyone was inside. Mick turned the bathroom light on to see what would happen, they soon moved off. A minute or two later he then checked up and down the towpath with his torch and couldn’t see anyone. This made for an unsettled nights sleep.

An early start today for me to be on the 9:09am train to Euston. Believing London would be at least a couple of degrees warmer than Atherstone I dressed accordingly. The train was packed, standing room only,but after Milton Keynes it thinned out a touch so I could sit on the floor for a while. Most people seemed to be wearing cardigans one lady even had a padded coat on, was I actually  going to the Arctic?!

As the train came into London passing over the Regents Canal near to Camden I tried to see if I could see NB Blackbird who has been moored there for a couple of days. But sadly the walls to the bridge were too high so no view of the canal at all, I waved anyway. Off the train I wished I’d put long trousers on, it was a couple of degrees (if not more) cooler than at Atherstone.

Arriving early for my meeting meant I could stock up on a couple of bits I know I’ll need for making a model. There are plenty of shops I could have gone to, but London Graphics would have a good choice of gold paints. I used to know the area quite well around Covent Garden, but shops have changed, places been redeveloped and it is 22 years ago that I lived in London Town. So it was hardly surprising that I went a bit array on my directions. The handy maps on the street corners didn’t really help either as they seem to have followed suit with the Pearson’s guides for the waterways by not having north upwards! Once I’d sussed that they were to look pretty, rather than be helpful, I twisted my head through 30 degrees and found the streets I was looking for.

From the stage door of the Cambridge Theatre I knew where I was and walked to Piccadilly through Leicester Square. A new tea shop caught my eye on route so I popped in to see if they might have some loose leaf decaf tea. Very very quickly I realised that even if they had I wouldn’t be buying any tea. With boxes of 15 fabric tea bags selling for £16, and Haute Couture Teas £25 for 100g. On one table was a selection of their Grand Fine Harvest Teas, some were £75! The most expensive one Grand Golden Yin Zhen, a white tea which has been plated with 24ct Gold! For 45grams you will be forking out around £680, I can hear Frank right now ‘How MUCH!!!!’ You certainly wouldn’t be emptying the leaves into the bin at that price!

My meeting was at Fifth View a cafe/bar on the top floor of Waterstones in Piccadilly, the largest book shop in Europe. It is housed in a rather nice 1930’s building of which I only noticed the staircase and was spotted by the Director so forgot to take photos. My two hour meeting with Director, Producer and Costume Designer was very productive and I now have a lot of work to do, so if I don’t post for a couple of days it’s because I’m covered in card and glue trying to keep Tilly from playing with tiny things.

Meanwhile back on the boat. Tilly slept the whole day, not being interested in going out. Mick did some shopping, changed the 2nd fuel filter and cleaned out the in line fuel filter, changed the air filter, tightened the stern gland and topped up the grease. When the boat in front moved off be nudged Oleanna into their space where there was better shade.

I was back in Atherstone just after 4pm, so we decided to move back out into the countryside. Here Tilly would be happier, she woke up when I got in and wanted to go straight out. Well Tom doesn’t know the rules like she does, so I didn’t want to risk getting anything wrong! So we moved out back towards Nuneaton to find a shady spot. Just over a mile and we found a suitable place, tied up and let Tilly out.

Here the nearby train line will keep us company, but we were far enough away from civilisation not to be bothered by the match. Our move meant that we could get ITV and ITV 4, so after we’d eaten Mick watched the second half and extra time of the match followed by the Tour. There seem to be more crashes than normal this year.

0 locks, 1.26 miles, 2 trains, 2 tubes, 59ml heavy body Rich Gold, 2 part epoxy putty, £680! 2 hours of Egyptian conversation, 1 lamp, 2 tall hats, 1 strrrretch limo, 1 fuel filter changed, 1 fuel filter cleaned, 1 air filter changed, 1 stern gland tightened a little bit too much, 1 happier cat, 1 match lost, 30 more rows of crocheting, 1 peaceful mooring.

https://goo.gl/maps/FcvUAEBSA7q

Bridge 13, Ashby Canal to Taveners Bridge 40, Coventry Canal

We waved goodbye to Richard who had NB Winding Downs engine board up and pushed off to do the last four and a half miles of the Ashby.

It was sunny but the sky had a good smattering of clouds that brought shade to the hills as we passed.

At one of the electricity pylons where they split round each other two chaps were climbing. Foot and hand rests go up two of the legs of the pylon and as they climbed they would move a safety line up these with every push upwards. It took them time, as you’d expect, and between them they had a long pole which was going to be used for something. They reached the first set of wires and then continued up to the second before they were out of sight. We wondered if the lines were live or not, still wouldn’t want that job.

The towpaths were being mown, not that they need it, much of the grass has stopped growing with the lack of rain. All that was being created was clouds of dust by the two mowers!

With Marston Junction up ahead I went to the front of the boat to see if the way was clear. You can see towards Coventry before you come under the final bridge and a boat just came into view, we slowed and then carefully nudged Oleannas bow out. The speed at which the boat passed at suggested there was no one coming from Nuneaton, but I checked anyway before Mick swung Oleanna out turning right back towards Atherstone.

Back on familiar territory I put a load of washing on and then settled down to do some work. A reread of my script and slotting in of some song lyrics was needed today, if I did this whilst Mick was at the helm I would be able to concentrate, then once moored up I could get myself sorted for a meeting tomorrow and Mick wouldn’t have to be silent.

The trip back to Atherstone was fairly uneventful, I stuck my head out the back as we passed Hartshill Wharf (end of Act1) to see if Mick needed anything, he didn’t so Act 2 followed.

At Atherstone there were moorings before Taveners Bridge, but we carried on in case there was one on the next stretch. No space showed itself so at the top of the locks we pulled in, told the lockies we were winding and let one boat come out from the top lock and one go in before I held the bow rope and Mick motored the stern round. We made our way back through the bridge and moored up, all the clouds having dispersed by now and no shelter to be had. Oh well, we’d cope. Tilly was allowed out and set off to terrorise the local bird population in some sideways trees.

During the afternoon a couple of boats moved off so we decided to reverse back through the bridge to where we might just get some shade. Only problem was encouraging Tilly back onboard, she was far too busy and reluctant to come back. If we could have stayed in view from where we’d been moored it would have been fine, but that wasn’t possible, so we waited. Luckily the birdies became boring and she hopped back onboard, doors being closed immediately behind her.

We decided to try out the chippy just up the road this evening. Either their portion control went wrong or the chap serving Mick misheard him asking for two small portions of chips! The batter on the fish just didn’t compare to that back home in Yorkshire, maybe it’s because they weren’t cooked in dripping.

0 locks, 13.06 miles, 1 right, 1 wind, 250ft reverse, 2 chaos up a pylon, 2 acts, 1 visual, 1 hot mooring, 1 not so hot mooring, 2 haddock and chips, 1 mushy peas, 1 bag packed for work tomorrow.

https://goo.gl/maps/oZz89JjRmCE2

Basin Bridge 22 to Goodacres Bridge 13

Not far to go today to our rendez vous for shopping tomorrow, were we going to have the same problems finding shade as we did yesterday? Before we pushed off we decided that if there was nowhere suitable to moor before the A5 Watling Street or on the 48 hour mooring just past it then we would cancel our order, we’d be able to manage for a few days, there’s still those tins of carrots I bought for emergencies back in 2014!

The sun was back out and even though I’d put on a longer sleeved t-shirt and plenty of new suncream, I could still feel it zoning in on me. Over the three miles back to Hinckley few moorings showed themselves with any shade that would last the rest of the day.

The water point has a handy layby and a bungalow next to it, giving you an address for your shopping to be delivered. There was one tree right at the tap, none further down. Our delivery was mostly going to consist of cat litter and boxes of wine, things that are heavy and bulky to carry back from a supermarket. But the choice of white wine boxes was very depleted, so I’d actually opted for a couple of bottles instead. This and no trees made our minds up, we cancelled our order whilst waiting for the water point to become free.

Once the tank was full we pushed onwards to find shelter further along, reducing our cruising time for tomorrow. Now of course the sun hid behind lots of cloud as we wound our way around a few bends. We’d checked on Waterways Routes for moorings along stretches of canal running north to south, these give more shade in the afternoon. Just half a mile further on there was a stretch of armco with trees, we couldn’t tell if they were high enough to give us sufficient shade as the sun was well hidden behind cloud! Pulling in there was enough depth and no dogs for us to worry about. Why hadn’t it been like this yesterday?!

7 hours! Fantastic!! No going on other boats, well there weren’t any so that was alright. There was a big field that someone had dug up, but the earth needed a bit more sorting, so that kept me busy for ages. They just sat inside, Tom watching the bicycles and she said she was working. Apparently we won’t be able to play chase the stick quite so much because she has to work and Tom’s not very good at it. So I’ll just have to keep myself busy.

A glance up from emails to nosy at a passing boat, green, spotty curtains, that Carefree Cruising swirl on the bow. Was it? It was. NB Winding Down our old share boat. We’d wondered if our paths would cross now we are close to her home mooring. No body we recognised on board, she came in to moor a little behind us, so we had to go and say hello.

Richard and Jan were on board and they must have bought their share of NB Winding Down shortly after we sold ours. We had a long conversation with them, catching up on various bits to do with WD and the syndicate. Curiosity eventually got the better of Tilly and she made her way along the towpath to see why we were stood at another boat. The rules state no going on any other boat. But this one was different! This was their boat before they were yellow, so I was allowed a nosy. It had a cat walk so I had a look in through all the windows. Nowhere for me to sit and look through the windows at the outside other than in the kitchen, I only look out of those when nobody is looking! I did get told off when I wanted to look in through the back doors though, apparently ‘No pets allowed!’ How rubbish is that! Anyway I’m not a pet, I’m a cat!!

0 locks, 3.45 miles, 0 shade where wanted, 2nd in line for water, 1 shady afternoon, 3 work emails, 7 hours, 2 cat walks, 1 green , 1 blue, 0 pets, 0 Houdini shelf, 1 cancelled order, 2 boaters on wine rations.

https://goo.gl/maps/sSADY9PXA9J2

Between 57 and  56 to Basin Bridge 22 

Halving the amount of miles we needed to do to reach a mooring for a grocery delivery Tuesday morning, we identified a good place to stop today, just by a disused railway bridge where there was definite tree cover. We pushed off just before 10am with about a three hour cruise ahead of us, or so we thought!

Leaving our wonderful mooring of last night Tilly sat in the window and watched her trees gradually disappear and the blazing sunlight took over from the dappled light we’d got used to under the tree cover.  Whilst we’re cruising at the moment all curtains and blinds are shut, along with the side hatch to try to keep the interior cool. If Tilly wasn’t in our lives I suspect we’d have front and back doors open to get a breeze through, but that would be too risky with a curious cat on board.

Yesterday as we’d approached Shackerstone there had been a couple of fishermen. As always we slowed down and Mick said thank you to them as we passed we try to do the right thing by them. These were grumpy men, few make eye contact let alone reply, but one chap sat chuntering to himself, the content of which wasn’t audible to us. Mick asked if he was alright to which the answer came ‘Too many boats!’.  This morning there had been a constant stream of boats come past, suspect they were heading back to their marinas.

As we approached the winding hole at Shackerstone we could see at least three chaps all with their rods out. A boat came to wind, whether they did it effortlessly or made a meal of it we’re not sure, but one thing is for certain you can’t turn a boat with out churning up the water on a canal. As we passed the chuntering was on going. ‘They churned it all up!’ ‘Constant bl***min stream of boats’ ‘Too many boats’ ‘Where do they all go too?!’ Did they really expect there to be no boats on a canal built for boats, in the summer, on a weekend, a sunny weekend? Maybe we all should just cruise in one direction instead of using the places that have been dug out with the sole purpose for boats to turn. Or maybe we should stop cruising altogether and leave the 2000 miles of waterways to the fishermen. Grumpy sods, they should go home and chunter in the comfort of their own homes, well they most probably do that anyway!

With the trees by the railway bridge in sight we looked forward to settling down for the rest of the day, only to round the bend and see that there was already a boat there. There were a few more patches of shade ahead so we tried there, only to get grounded, a five drawer moment! A boat that had been following us didn’t ask if we needed help to get free, just gave us some very helpful advice as to why such spaces were empty! Reversing off worked after a couple of attempts and we were now following them.

Approaching a bridge on a bend we heard a boat horn, we were just about under the bridge so I gave our horn a blast back, well it only did a little toot and then wouldn’t make any noise at all. Luckily the toot had been heard and the boat had put their breaks on as we appeared into view.

At Sutton Wharf the boat ahead looked like they were pulling in at the services, the lady hopped off but within seconds hopped back on board and they pulled out again, if only they’d stopped for water!

Any shaded spots were full, or far too shallow to get into the side. The sun beat down on us, my sun cream layer having given up and I was starting to cook nicely. The boat ahead found a shaded spot and pulled up. On the off side there was some moorings and Mick wanted to see if the water level had dropped or we’d got lower in the water, as well as getting out of the burning rays. We pulled in and retired inside as the cabin continued to heat up.

On and on, what felt like mile after mile. No shade, people pushing out just as we were passing, the sun beating down on us. Then at Bridge 23 a space, under trees, brilliant! Thank goodness we could stop. Except there were three frisky greyhounds from the first boat on the towpath. We looked at each other from each end of Oleanna and silently agreed to go on. Greyhounds and a Tilly would not be a good mixture.

We knew that by the next bridge there would be shade, but would there be a space for us? Yes and on rings. The back didn’t come in fully, kids were feeding what seemed like the whole duck population of the Midlands, but we’d cope with all that because we had shade at last!

0 locks, 12.13 miles, 4.5 more than planned, 5 chunterers, 3 in a winding hole, 5 drawers, 2 brooms, 1 mop, 1 brolli, 2 arms 1 neck nicely sizzling, 1 boat in our place, 1 overtake, 0 water, 1 more boat in our place, 9 cows, 1 full on sunny mooring, 1 corroded connection, 2 much sun already, 3 greyhounds, 1 incident avoided, 1 more bridge, 1 space about bloomin time, 4 hours about bloomin time! 5432679 quackers, 2 kids, 2 Macdonalds, 7 convertibles, 2 overly hot boaters, 1 horn reconnected, 2nd day of TDF.

https://goo.gl/maps/e7T21CfDpeB2

Carlton Bridge Winding Hole to Quarry Lane Winding Hole to between Bridges 57 and 56

No choice today, we resigned ourselves early on that we’d have no Saturday newspaper this week. A bike ride might have found one for us, but that would have taken up some of the precious cool morning. Instead we emptied the yellow water tank, we know how to live!

A little further on we came across the hire boaters, they were busy trying to work out how to fix their large St Georges flag to the side of the boat. Was it a good thing to be ahead of them?

We followed another boat along the cut winding our way keeping to the 300ft contour, every now and then a view spread out to the west of ripening fields and dark green trees. The butterflies still busied themselves around the flowers and meadow sweet.

Up ahead a hairpin bend just by Shackerstone Station, the boat in front meeting one coming the other way which seemed to ground them. They managed to get off and carried on to pull up on the 48hr moorings at the start of a large bend in the canal that goes round the motte and bailey of the old castle to the east of the village. Last summer the Shackerstone Estate was put on the market for £13.5million, not sure if it’s sold yet. A place to come back and visit, spend some time exploring. But that will have to be another time, hopefully cooler! I have a meeting to get to next week so we need to be back near trains. So we have decided that we will need to come back to explore properly at some point.

As we’ve been doing for the last week or so, we took note of potential shady moorings as we went, there were some good ones should the end of navigation not come up with anywhere. The moorings before Snarestone Tunnel were pretty full. The end boat had been doing some washing and a pair of trousers hung on the tiller looking like a topless person at the helm, they seemed to have grown a tail but no torso!  Our slow chug along gave us the opportunity to say hello to the lady on NB Sonia Louise a blog reader who’d been wondering if our bows would cross. Further along the line some organised boaters had set up their tv on the roof of their boat and had settled already to watch this afternoons match.

The tunnel was surprisingly warm, normally they are filled with chilled air and we’d been looking forward to our passage through. A couple more bridges and we reached the end of the navigable section of the canal by Quarry Lane. In a shorter boat you can go a bit further as there is a 50ft winding hole about a third of a mile further on, but for us we’d then have to reverse back to wind.

We moored up and went to have a look around the Ashby Canal Association kiosk. Here was a bric-a-brak sale with all sorts of stuff, none of which we were interested in. A selection of canal things was also on offer, but if you wanted a brass plaque for reaching the end of the Ashby, they were sold out. Maybe there was more to explore, but the temperatures at the moment are not conducive to such things. We will have to return.

As there was a tap we filled up then winded and started to head back as there were no suitable shady moorings at the end to keep us overnight. There was space amongst the boats near the tunnel, but too many dogs around for us to relax if Tilly was out. So we carried on to between Bridges 57 and 56 where the trees just about meet over the top of the canal and the towpath is good and wide. More importantly there were masses of trees along with some friendly cover. 6 hours! I’d do my best to make that longer. She did!

Mick watched the second half of the match as Tilly and I had a good walk along the towpath and then played chase the stick. She quite happily runs after sticks, but never returns them, so a good supply is needed, luckily here that wasn’t a problem. Then it was time for her to go further into the wood, only to resurface a couple of hours later with a friend in tow. All doors very quickly shut! The lull of boats going past that coincided with the match stopped an hour or so later, with the hire boat passing us early evening, luckily for us we’d picked a straight wide section of canal.

The farm shop sausages were very nice (to be recommended) along with some burgers and veg kebabs cooked on the barbecue in the evening dappled sunlight. We may not have quite got fully into the side but that didn’t matter. At gone 9 it was way past Tilly’s Dingding time, so the mad cat lady had to come out and walk along the towpath in the direction we’d last seen her go off in. It’s amazing how echoie a wood can be when you are shouting for your cat!

0 locks, 7.54 miles, 1 wind, 0 newspaper, 1 blog reader, £13.5 million for 1700 acres, 2 polar bears, 0 brass plaques, 1 shadiest mooring, 24 sticks thrown, 11 trees climbed, 1 friend, 4 sausages, 2 burgers, 4 kebabs, 2 bananas, 2 sweetcorn, 1 internet shop started, 1 location chosen, 4 echoes to every Tilly!

https://goo.gl/maps/GTPmvqePwAB2