Monthly Archives: January 2019

Heading Upstream. 21st January

County Hall Steps to Sainsburys

We pushed off late morning and instead of winding straight away we went to see what was beyond Wilford Suspension Bridge. With the low sun ahead of us we were glad the river was wide and we’d be unlikely to bump into anyone. The river was far quieter than it had been over the weekend, just a couple of rowers out stretching their limbs.

Pootling upstream of the bridge didn’t really come up with any sights for us, just what seemed to be a long right hand bend. We could have carried on to Wilford Toll Bridge (the head of navigation) but got bored before we got there. What we missed was a modern span between the Grade 2 red bricked original bridge. It now carries the tram, pedestrians and bikes across the Trent.

As soon as we winded the blue sky took over, another lovely winters day to be on the river, well for a short while.

We ran down stream to just beyond Meadow Lane Lock where we winded and then returned to the pontoon. The lock was full, we suspected we knew who’d got here before us this morning, so I went up to empty it for us whilst Mick held onto Oleanna.

Once up we pulled in at the water point to fill up the tank. This morning the gauge had got down to one line above empty, so it was more a full fill than a top up. The pressure from the tap was incredibly poor, just slightly more than a trickle. We didn’t remember this tap being so bad, maybe something happened when C&RT closed the showers and other facilities after they’d been vandalised. The hour and a half it took to fill kept us busy. A full sweep through, empty the yellow water tank, a relaxed lunch and dispose of the rubbish.

By the time we got the boom from the tank to say we were full the blue skies had vanished. Onwards up Castle Lock, a handy hint if going up here don’t stand facing your boat as it comes into the lock. Why? All the pigeons roosting under the bridge fly out straight at you!

As the moorings at the back of Sainsburys came into view so did the stern of a familiar boat, the possible reason Meadow Lock had been full. NB Seyella has made their way down from being trapped up on the Leeds Liverpool Canal for most of the summer, they came up the tidal Trent last week so we knew our paths would cross at some point. We’d last seen them on New Years Eve 2017 in Llangollen basin. Today we had a catch up with Geoff on the towpath, much easier to do this than when passing on the river.

2 locks, 2.57 miles, 2 winds, 1 stretch of new water, 90 minutes to fill, 1 empty wee tank, 0 rubbish, 1 blogger boat, 2 long at the water point to go to the pictures, 1 giant crochet bag finished, 1 cat not fooled, we’re back where we were!

Roll, Fold, Turn, Rest. 20th January

County Hall Steps

A busy day down on the river, we’ve had all sorts of boats come by. Rowing boats with 1 to 8 rowers, canoes, a trip boat, a couple of narrowboats and a dragon boat. We are no longer on own here as both narrowboats pulled in to join us. Tilly has been doing her best to go out, except only a couple of minutes later she is back at the hatch desperately wanting to come back in, she really doesn’t like here!

This morning Mick gave the Lock Keeper at Cromwell a call. We knew that we’d have to wait for a passage on the Tidal Trent, due to the tides and day light. The chap was helpful as they usually are, we could make our way to Torksey just about anytime we wanted, but the next good time to leave there to head to Keadby would be in a couple of weeks time. To reach Keadby in daylight (and when the lock is open) he suggested two days. Keadby had just rung him to say that the lock was in need of dredging, so we should check before we head out onto the tideway. With this information we can now plan our journey downstream a bit better and just hope Keadby is dredged so as not to hold us up any longer. Looking back to when we picked Oleanna up from Sheffield two years ago we were very fortunate with the tides. We managed to catch an early tide that carried us all the way from Keadby to Cromwell in one go and hadn’t had to hang around waiting for it.

Today we got to sample my first attempt at homemade gluten free puff pastry (recipe link). Yesterday I started the process mixing up gf self raising flour, salt, xanthum gum, eggs with some water, this had to be kneaded for a few minutes and then left to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. A full block of butter (beware arteries!) was pummelled into a flat sheet between some greaseproof paper and set hard in the fridge for an hour. Then the timer was kept busy through the rest of the day. Once the pastry was rolled out, butter added and the whole thing folded it was left to rest for an hour. The timer would go, pastry turned through 90 degrees, rolled out again and folded back into three, wrapped up and left to rest for another hour. This process was done five times.

I really was not convinced it was going to work. The eggs we had weren’t large to start with so the pastry was maybe a little bit dry, I did add a touch more water. With each fold the pastry cracked and butter could be seen. The last fold looked like there was only a mottling of pastry around the butter. Mick was more confidence than me. The pastry was wrapped up one last time and left in the fridge overnight, something to do with GF flour taking longer to absorb moisture. We waited to see what the morning would bring.

With three sausages about to go out of date I had the opportunity to make some sausage rolls. The sausage meat had other things added and it was time to see what magic the fridge had mustered overnight.

The raggedy edges didn’t look too promising and the butter in places had stuck to the clingfilm (well it’s called that for a reason!). I chopped a slice off the block and put the remainder in the freezer, if it was no good it could always go in the bin. Rolling out it decided to do what it wanted, creating a crinkly shape that I couldn’t control. Sausage meat added to the middle. Then I came to roll it up, I’d made a mistake, I’d dusted the top with flour so the rolling pin didn’t stick, but not the greaseproof paper I was rolling it on, it had stuck. I carefully prised it away and created a roll, was everything just going to melt into a runny mess in the oven?!

The wiggly edge got trimmed, rolled out thinner and some cheese added then rolled up again. Egg washed and ready, the oven was set to slightly hotter than I’d normally do sausage rolls, hoping the heat would help fluff everything up. Only time would tell now.

After 15 minutes they were turned round, after 22 lifted onto their sides to crisp off the bottoms (which actually looked like they didn’t need it), then the full 25 minutes was over and they came out and onto the cooling rack. They looked good, but was that the egg wash or was there lamination in there too?

Verdict, amazingly good lamination (layers of pastry for those who don’t watch Bake Off), absolutely no soggy bottoms (which was a regular occurrence with shop bought pastry), crispy, flaky, certainly not chewy (as shop bought gluten free pastry) but maybe a little bit too thick (rolling pin operator error). Well a success! I was a touch surprised.

As we’d consumed around a third of a block of butter we had an afternoon stroll along the river bank heading downstream.

After Trent Bridge there are numerous rowing clubs the nicest was the University Boat House built in the 1930’s. Trent Lock, the first on the Grantham Canal looked very shallow. It is no longer connected to the canal as roads have been built  blocking it’s route. Built in 1797 it was used to transport coal to Grantham and closed in 1936.

From Lady Bay Bridge The Hook (a nature reserve) now stretches northwards covering approximately 15 hectares. We followed the river path passing familiar sights. New flats are going up opposite the 1km mark and the Ewings still have their curtains closed at Southfork Ranch.

We walked as far as the sailing club, the weir at Holme Lock just in view. Our return walk crossed The Hook where linear moles seem to have moved in, leaving long lines of earth. We came back along streets filled with high end bathroom and kitchen shops bringing us back to Trent Bridge. Not quite 10,000 steps but enough to make up for lunch.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3.6 miles walked, 2 weeks to wait, 8 sausage rolls, 2 cheese things, 243 layers (possibly), 1st attempt a success, 2 pairs gloves added to Etsy, 1 giant crochet project started, 1 bored cat!

PS This post has been written using Tom’s work around for adding photos. It takes forever, no offence Tom.

Toilet Survey. 19th January

County Hall Steps

Luckily we are awake just shortly before the weekend rowers start. They are mostly okay, it’s just their trainers who shout or talk through loud hailers from the banks cycling up and down that are a touch annoying.
Cob Emporium

Mick last night had loosened off our ropes so any passing boats, or movement inside was making us bob around a lot. He soon tightened them up, being awake should the river level change we’d be able to adjust them.
Trent Bridge

A walk to find our Saturday newspaper took us through the car park at County Hall and along some streets behind. We were successful on our first attempt so carried on to look at Trent Bridge (cricket ground). All the gates were locked, no match today!
Flood levels

A few more steps were needed before returning to the boat so we crossed over Trent Bridge (the bridge) to walk up the other side of the river. Along side the bridge on the West bank are flood markings carved into the stonework. The flood in 2000 was nowhere near the height of that in 1875 which was the second highest recorded. Many streets were flooded, there are numerous etchings of trains battling their way through the flood water.
An artists impression of 1875 floods.

On 17 –18th March 1947 the Trent which had been rising ever higher, overtopped its banks in Nottingham. Large parts of the city and surrounding areas were flooded with 9,000 properties and nearly a hundred industrial premises were affected some to first floor height. The suburbs of Long Eaton, West Bridgford and Beeston all suffered particularly badly. Two days later, in the lower tidal reaches of the river, the peak of the flood combined with a high spring tide flooded 2,000 properties in Gainsborough. Luckily for us the river is behaving at the moment.

Submerged Steps

Walking past Wilford Suspension Bridge we decided to look at the other mooring marked on our Waterway Routes map. Here there are the big steps too, these continue down into the water, so mooring on this side of the river would mean us having an 18inch gap before we got to dry land. We decided to stay put even though Oleanna looked very lonely all by herself.

£550,000

If you fancy a riverside property in Nottingham there is one just by the bridge with a lot of original features, one of which is no central heating! But the views across the river to the war memorial are great.

Lonely Oleanna

We returned to the boat to find a couple taking photos of Oleanna. Izzy is doing a project on Narrowboats so we had quite a long chat through the hatch. They had visited Foxton and I suggested a few more places to visit too.

That way

The afternoon was taken up with working my way through my tax return as Nottingham Forest fans walked to and froe from the City Ground in their thousands.
My earnings for the year were so small it wasn’t giving me the option to enter my self employed earnings and therefore be able to pay Class 2 NI. Reading the notes it suggested that if my earnings were likely to be higher next year then I should fill out the relevant sections, the only way to do this was to lie in the initial questions. All is now filed and my NI payment is waiting to be sent in a few days time.

First blossom

Now to the title of this post. When we attended the composting toilet workshop held by Kate Saffin in Banbury before Christmas, she said that she was compiling a boaters toilet survey. This was to cover all types of toilet, how they are used and what facilities there are on the waterways, if there are gaps in services which could be rectified. Her survey has now gone live. No matter what sort of toilet you have/plan to have/ are thinking about, the survey has relevant questions. With the information collated (all anonymously) gaps in services, better solutions can be found, evidence passed on to C&RT, the EA, Avon Trust etc and hopefully improvements made. You can even vote for the best kept facilities on the network, so it’s not all about things that could be improved. The greater number of people to fill the survey in, the greater body of information to pass onto the navigation authorities. Kate puts it all a lot better in the welcome section of the survey.

Here is the link     https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BoatingLoos

0 locks, 0 miles, 5000 steps each not enough!, 2 bridges, 1 newspaper, 12 sprouts, 1st blossom, 30,000 fans, class 2 paid, 1 very uncertain cat, 1 quieter evening.

Giant Steps Or Little Cat. 18th January

Sainsburys to County Hall Steps, River Trent

Despite the students across the way being quiet since we’ve been in Nottingham we decided to move away for the weekend. It would also give us a change of scenery.
Before we could move off we had that triple nectar points voucher to use at Sainsburys. To our surprise we were down to our last box of wine, despite us having two alcohol free days a week since the start of January. So a biggish shop was done, extra points added to our account. Did we get a voucher? Yes …. but for home and car insurance! They obviously haven’t been fooled by us this time and know we’ll be back next week when they will give us another triple point voucher.
With everything stowed we had lunch and then pushed off. We’d originally thought of winding and going back out to Beeston, there had been space there with the winter moorers but the proximity of the road would make me reluctant to let Tilly out. There is space closer to town where she’d be fine on the towpath apart from the cyclists. 
Waiting to fill Castle Lock
@2019 Leckenby
Nottingham old BW warehouse
In the end we decided to head down Castle and Meadow Lane Locks back onto the river and moor at County Hall steps. The river having behaved itself shouldn’t cause us problems  and it is away from the road there so Tilly would be allowed out.
Station Street Bridge

Curving wall cut off and steps installed

Not quite enough layers on meant we got a touch chilly heading through town, we were glad the stove was glowing inside keeping Tilly nice and warm. Station Street Bridge, just after the big 90 degree bend looks like it used to be a roving bridge. It still is, but has had part of it’s curving wall removed and steps have replaced the slope. A new section of railway bridge was being slotted in between two older bridges near the station.

Trent Bridge ahead

Above Meadow Lane Lock we disposed of our rubbish before descending. I could see that there was plenty of space for us down on the steps so once back on board we swept round to face Trent Bridge, passing under it and on towards the steps. Two cruisers and a widebeam were moored up, so we pulled in at a good distance away from the bridge and car parks some distance behind the other boats. 
The flow of  the river meant the bow was constantly wanting to pull outwards and the distance between rings meant our ropes would be tight, not a good thing on a river. So we repositioned ourselves so we had some spare rope. As soon as we were happy with everything the other boats pulled out, winded and headed towards the lock, maybe we smell!
Funny wall this
This outside has a wall, but no ordinary wall. The blocks are big and they can walk up them, I have to jump them one at a time to get to the top. Across the elevated towpath there are good sideways trees, but far too many bicycles to get there. This all made me quite panicky as waiting at a safe distance for a gap meant the people had no legs, some of them no bodies only heads. What sort of outside is this!?!

Giant steps or little cat?

Tilly ran back and forth in quite a tizz before eventually she plucked up the courage and went to check out the sideways trees. She wasn’t there long.
During this evening the rowers have subsided in number but been replaced by very noisy teenagers just above our mooring, They all must be very deaf!

2 locks, 2.4 miles, 6 boxes, 1 useless voucher, 90 degree bend, 180 degrees onto the river, 8 giant steps, 1 little cat, 3 rowers, 17 VERY NOISY teenagers.

https://goo.gl/maps/6CmybDuaRz82

Silver Screen. 17th January

Nottingham
The Broadway Cinema, on Broad Street in Nottingham is an independent cinema. Every Thursday morning and early afternoon they have a Silver Screen showing of one of the films that are currently on. Today was Stan and Ollie. We could either go at 10.30am or 1.30pm, it being a 25 minute walk from our mooring we chose the later.
Unfortunately it turned out these screenings are very popular, or maybe it was just this film. Your hair doesn’t have to be silver or have a lack of hair to get in, everyone is charged £5 no matter what your age, you also get a free cuppa with your ticket. Today however the film was full, they were showing it on two screens. We were disappointed, but were handed a voucher each to be able to see the film at the same price at a different time, brilliant! We’ll return.
The Favourite had also caught our eye, so as we’d made the effort on a chilly day we booked for the next showing. This left us with sometime to kill, so we had a wander around town.
I have a voucher for The White Company, we had a look around their shop. Just about everything in the shop being white isn’t the best thing when you have a cat who doesn’t understand about wiping her paws. They do a range of crockery which was interesting but they didn’t have much stock, thankfully they have a click and collect service. So some perusing of the website is needed.
Reflections on a blue skied day
Next we went into Whittards to stock up on my morning tea, which is actually their Afternoon Tea. They only had it in tea bags which just isn’t the same. We asked the ladies in the store if my tea (that I’ve been drinking just about every morning for decades, since I was a student in fact) was still available in loose leaf. As far as they knew it was only available in an Alice in Wonderland tea caddy, but they did have some old stock which was reduced, thank goodness! The tea caddy is £11 and I already have a caddy so spending the extra £5 just to be able to drink my tea in the mornings is not on. We bought four packs and I have since checked their website, it is only available in the caddy. I have sent them a stern email hoping that I’m not going to have to remove some of Oleanna’s ballast and replace it with what old stock I can find.
Back at the cinema we weren’t expecting to be sat with too many people, but the big comfy seats got fuller and fuller. Maybe there were others like us who’d made the effort to come into town and not managed to get to see Stan and Ollie, so got tickets for the next film.
Set in the early 18th Century as Queen Anne’s health is deteriorating, her friend Lady Sarah tends to her needs and advises her over the war in France. Lady Sarah is the wife of Lord Marlborough of Blenheim Palace fame. Sarah’s cousin Abigail, once a lady in her own right, arrives hoping for a job in the palace and soon she wins the Queens attentions and maybe affections. Olivia Colman is superb as Queen Anne, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone aren’t bad either.

A wonderful tapestry clad room
Such wigs
Filmed mostly on location at Hatfield House the settings are historically plush and the mens wigs so large. Yorgos Lanthimos’s use of natural lighting is wonderfully atmospheric where in the night time scenes the only illumination comes from numerous candles. It really gives you a feeling of what life was like before gas or electric lighting. A funny, wicked and filthy film, no wonder it is turning heads at the awards.
Is anyone else having hassles with Open Live Writer? It won’t let me upload photos in a post.
0 locks, 0 miles, 10,000 steps each, 4 pouches tea, 1 voucher still unspent, 2 much white, 2 vouchers, 0 cuppas, 1 full, 1 OAP at the flicks.

Playing The Sainsburys Game. 16th, 17th January

Nottingham
As the marina was closed on Tuesday Mick took our life jackets in first thing Wednesday. They have now been sent off and will take around a week to come back. Thank you all for your comments regarding doing it ourselves, we’ll look into it further and be prepared to do it next year, near a handy address for any spare parts that may be required.
Being back in civilisation means there are things that need doing. Christmas vouchers to spend, tea to stock up on. The slippers Mick got for his birthday from Tilly had sprung a leak, I’d tried to mend them, but the glue wasn’t strong enough to hold the top to the bottom. These are sheepskin slippers with an outdoor sole, so not cheap and had been proving to be very good, mine have lasted over five years. They have been sent back to either be replaced or reglued, we’re waiting to hear.

Tip of Tilly’s tail just visible
The trip to the Post Office was delayed somewhat as the heavens opened, quite a downpour it was too. So thoughts of going for a walk around Nottingham were put on hold. Tilly however was not put off. Out of her sulk, neck nearly back to normal, It takes an awful lot of grooming (two whole days) to get my fur back to being gleaming and sleek, her collar was put back on with a new bell and out she went. Straight into the sideways trees by the boat. An extra rule today, ‘Mind the bikes’, they don’t half hurtle along the towpath here.

I decided it was a perfect day to do my accounts for last year. In the old days this would take several days even though I’d done my best to keep things up to date as the year went on, a day to check everything over and then hand them on to my accountant. But as my earnings for the last few years from being self employed have not come to enough to pay an accountant I don’t need one anymore, however the tax man still wants me to do a tax return.

How depressing our rental income was for that year, tenants who’d left the house in a state, loosing their bond and it costing us more to put right! Then a rotten joist in a backroom meant we had to have the kitchen floor dug up, concrete, etc, give a months free rent to our new tenants, the year just kept on taking our income away from us.

Tilly helping with maths
By late afternoon all the figures were ready, I was all prepared to make a start on putting figures into boxes. But where had self assessment gone? It took forever to find it rather than just information on why I should be doing one. Then there were so so many questions, to tailor my tax return to my income and make it easier. There were far more than there used to be. This was meant to save me time, but took nearly as long as it used to take me to fill the whole return in!

Time to put numbers in, I’d checked about what I could claim back regarding the work we had done on the house, most of it not included! But new carpets, curtains, mending leaks on bay windows were. With only a few questions in front of me at a time I put numbers in, only to be told that I was wrong! I persevered only to find a question on the next page where some of the expenses should be. Going back I altered the figures, but this then lost the next section I’d already filled out! GRRRR!!!!! This was going to take quite a lot of concentration and everyone was wanting to be fed, so I closed it down to revisit another day, that’s if I can find the bloomin thing again, it’s not as if I owe them any money anyway.

A small dusting

Thursday morning was bright if cold. There had been an icing sugar dusting of snow overnight. With temperatures set to be lower in the coming days we decided to stock up on coal and diesel before the marina possibly froze. The canal has a flow to it, so hopefully will stay liquid. After breakfast we rolled up the frozen covers, persuaded frozen ropes to untie and pushed off reversing to the marina entrance. This is so much easier on Oleanna than it was on Lillian. Oleanna behaves better and when she starts to drift a touch of the girlie button helps to correct things.

Stocking up

We turned into the marina, winded and reversed to the service pontoon. This is where the slipway is, so you have to be careful not to go too far. It was recommended that we nudged forward if we were going to fill the diesel tank as our skeg might just end up on the bottom with all the extra weight, so we did. Four bags of coal, gas and a full tank of diesel, hopefully this will see us into Yorkshire. We pulled back out onto the canal and moored on the same two rings.
Nottingham Castle covered in scaffolding

The moorings here are very handy for Sainsburys, so we tend to pop in and buy things as we need them. Mick has already been on several such trips. In the past the voucher machine has  been really glad to see us again and offered us a voucher for double points or extra bonus points on things we tend to buy, although not on wine! However the really good voucher will only be produced on a big shop as a reward and to tempt us back in next week to do the same again. But these sort of vouchers on a final shop are usually worthless to us, so we try playing them at their own game. We start off with just a few bits, no voucher, a few more, no voucher, a semi shop (over £10) this one quite often works, but hasn’t this time! It may be because we have a double points voucher that runs out tomorrow. But we may try and call their bluff. We’ll do a big shop, using our voucher and most probably be given another. This time though we’ll be back in time to use it before it runs out.

0 locks, 0.18 miles mostly reversed, 180 degrees, 1 wind, 1 left, £4k, 0 useful at Gov Gateway, 1 hour hunting, 2 much! 1 freezing morning, 4 bags excell, 83 litres, 1 empty wee tank, 1 new gas bottle, 2 slipper in the post, 1 new blue bell, 2 chilly to be out for long.

Windlass Lessness. 15th January

Trent Lock Pontoon to Sainsburys, Nottingham and Beeston Canal

Birdies!

Another lovely sunny morning, we woke to pink clouds across the river, these weren’t of interest to our silent Second Mate, the gulls kept her focus. I think she’s forgiven us for yesterday, nearly!

The pontoon mooring

After breakfast we put our layers and life jackets on and said goodbye to our neighbours. Over night we protected them from the wind and the noisy lapping of the river on our hull. I suspect the pontoon also cuts down the noise, so that is the reason they were on the inside as they will be there for two weeks.

I untied the bow first (we’d moored using innie ropes) as this was only holding the boat in to the pontoon. The stern rope was doing all the work of stopping us from drifting downstream  so was left until I had stepped on board having given Oleanna a little push, the flow of the river then did the rest helping her to turn.

North please

Second left and we were into Cranfleet Cut, a big sign showing us the way north. From here everything is very familiar, three/four years ago we had to loiter near to Nottingham for me to visit the hospital weekly to get physio for my hand so we got to know the area quite well. HS2 will cross the cut in years to come and just add another railway bridge to the landscape here. The tap above Cranfleet Lock now has a tap fitted to it, there was one time when you needed molegrips to turn the water on, but as the pressure was only a trickle it wasn’t worth it, today we carried on.

Cranfleet Lock with windasses welded onCheese

No need for windlasses today as both locks we’d be doing have them welded onto the paddle gear. The lock needed filling so the top gate paddles were lifted, all four of them. When coming up this lock you have to take care in which paddle you lift when, best to stay back and even better to share it with another boat. The Lockie grins away waist deep in the flower bed, he’s only here for show!

Approaching Beeston

River cruising is good for diesel engines, no longer constrained to going slowly, it is also good for doing your washing. One load was put on before we left Trent Lock, once this was well on it’s way to finishing the dishwasher was put on. The river is wide with several obstacles you have to avoid. Today there were masses of geese, Canadian and Greylags. It was interesting to see when they decided to fly off only one species would go leaving the other behind.

Ratcliffe still in view

At Beeston Lock a boat had just left the lock coming our way, but his didn’t mean it would be in our favour. On leaving this lock you leave a red paddle up at both ends to keep a flow of water running through Nottingham, so the chamber starts to empty straight away. Once set we worked our way down, Mick taking Oleanna to the water point whilst I closed and lifted paddles.

Canal Herritage Centre

The cottages just by the lock have now been restored and are open as the Canal Heritage Centre. These cottages were first detailed on the 1839 census, with 21 people living on site, but by 1980 the last inhabitant moved out. By 2010  the Canal Heritage Centre Trust was formed with the aim of creating a new community facility at the workers cottages. Works were on going when we last came through  April 2017 and the centre is now open to the public. There is a tea room, exhibition space along with community activities including a Classic Film Club run every two weeks in the afternoon.

We made use of the time on the water point, did another load of washing hoping to top up the tank before moving off. Keeping a watchful eye out we had lunch too, if anyone came wanting to use the services we’d have moved off, but luckily they didn’t.

Did they forget the U or was it squished in on purpose?ToiletsNow the plod into town. The daffodils are shooting up to find light by the willow trees, we saw our first snowdrops the other day! The new bridge crossing the canal to Boots is open, bits of work still happening around it and the locals have already left their marks. The works on the off side always amuse us with the funny noises, Nottingham Ready Mix Co. Spurts of ingredients get blown from hoppers, each making slightly different shhhht noises, it’s almost musical. There seem to be more toilets too.

A touch more relaxed than yesterday

Just after Castle Marina the visitor moorings start. The first stretch is currently filled with cruisers who all look settled for two weeks and have left modesty gaps between themselves! New posh student rabbit hutches are going up next door to the existing block. So we had a choice of builders, students or road noise. In the end we just moored at the end of the cruisers, within easy walking distance to Sainsburys.  The builders won’t be noisy at night and the building looks to be made mostly from glulam so it shouldn’t be too loud. The road quietens down overnight, let’s just hope the current residential students are quieter than the first lot we encountered here who chatted and laughed away the nights.

2 locks, 8.18 miles, 2nd left, 1 cheesy grin, 2 loads washing, 1 dishwasher, 1 full tank water, 1 wet neck, 9 toilets, 6 git gaps, 1 marina closed on Tuesdays, 3 life jackets still waiting.

https://goo.gl/maps/XkcgrD8cJzp

B***ards! And Leaving The Soar. 14th January

Zouch Lock to Trent Lock Pontoon

Our life jackets need a service. They were last done whilst we were in Liverpool and the big date that was put on the back of them reminds us every time we put them on that they should be checked before we head out onto the tidal Trent. We can check the date on the air canisters ourselves and give them a visual inspection, but in a service they are inflated and left for 24hrs to make sure they don’t have a leak.  The time before last we had them done at Sawley Marina. We picked them up and then discovered that one of the air canisters that they had replaced would run out/or already had run out before their next check. So it all took longer than was expected.

Sawley could do them, but the chap who does them is on holiday, but they might be able to get them done at the weekend. We then tried Castle Marina in Nottingham. They would send them off to be done and it would take around a week. Before replacing any parts this was going to be cheaper and a better place to hang around for them to be done. So no diversion today up Sawley Lock.

Not quite the full works but nearly

A cooked breakfast and Tilly was allowed to go off and stretch her legs, there will be times coming up when she will not be allowed shore leave so she was told to make the most of it. However she decided to return long before her time was up and sit indoors instead Hmph! She’s not saying much as she’s a bit p’d off with us this evening.

With out of date life jackets on we timed our departure very well as a boat had just come up Zouch Lock therefore closing the bottom gates for us. Whilst we worked our way down the lock and along the next reach of river a Ryanair plane kept circling. We are close to East Midlands Airport here so planes are not that unusual. Mick checked Flight Radar 24 (he likes planes) and tracked the plane, it was circling and circling. They were doing circuits and bumps, practicing landing and taking off without stopping. Round and round they went, then they circled a bit further off for some scheduled planes to come in and land before carrying on. Just how many trainee pilots were on board this plane, was the instructor in one seat and each trainee taking it in turns to land and take off?

Very nice house by the wier at Kegworth

The approach to Kegworth Deep Lock has several weirs off to the side, the main weir channel going in front of a grand house. The lock was ready and waiting for us, winding the paddles up takes some doing due to the depth of water in the lock around 10ft 4 of it.

The dreaded blue risersLookibg back at Kegworth Deep LockHere was my first view of the dreaded blue risers, there will be more of these along the Trent, I may have to operate the locks as it is out of season, so I may not have to touch any of them.

Kegworth Shallow Flood Lock was open for us to just cruise through. We’d hoped to be able to fill up with diesel at Kegworth Marine but a sign was out saying they were closed, so we’ll have to wait for either Nottingham or Newark.

Ratcliffe Lock and the power station

Ratcliffe Power Station comes in and out of view constantly now, it was busy generating, all the cooling towers steaming away. Ratcliffe Lock our last on the Soar dropped us back down to join the river.

The curves are so lovely

Here most boats are wide, the Dutch barges look wonderful with their elegant curves next to the less pleasing shapes of the others.

The last flood lock on the Soar

Through the last flood lock which is wonderfully framed by it’s bridge.

Trent Junction

We were soon at Trent Junction avoiding the weir to our right and now pushing against the water flowing down the Trent. Left left left! There are so many ways you could go here, down the weir, Cranfleet Cut towards Nottingham, up onto the Erewash or left up the Trent to Sawley then the Trent and Mersey Canal, this route to the north is closed with winter stoppages.

Space for us on the outside

Soon we could see that there was space on the pontoon, two boats were moored on the inside, but nobody on the better side for views. Already facing upstream we pulled in, tied up and settled down for the day. Tilly wasn’t too happy, Harumph!!! as she wasn’t allowed out. Being on a river on a pontoon constitutes in our eyes too greater risk for a cat . Our nearest neighbour also has dogs, so an added factor in our decision.

With no feline shore leave on the cards we decided to take advantage of the situation. B***stards!! Tilly’s collar was removed, a box reached from the top of the bathroom shelves, foil packet removed the tube from inside twisted, Tilly caught and put on the table. F**ing B***dy B**stards!!!! The first drop of flee stuff goes on relatively easily, but then the alcohol chill factor hits her neck and it is so hard to keep hold of her. Chilling b**stard wetness on my neck! Just where it’s impossible to get at!!!! B**stards!!!! Avoidance tactics and a chase around the boat to grab hold of her, clamp her down, part her fur and administer the rest of the liquid. B………………………………………………..s!!!!!

I hate them!

After an hour of squatting in a corner and sulking Tilly then managed to assume various sulky poses around the boat for the rest of the evening.

DSCF7121sm3 locks, 2 flood locks straight through, 6.08 miles, 1 left, 1 left left left, 1 river down, 1.5 sausages, 3 left for sausage rolls, 2 out of date jackets, 8 circuits, 0 diesel, 8 cooling towers, 1 favourite mooring, 1st Look North in ages, 2 drops, 1 seething sulking soggy necked swearing second mate, 2 complete and utter B*STARDS!!! 1 cat protected from flees for another 3 months.

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Head On Wind. 13th January

Barrow-Upon-Soar to Zouch Lock

A lie in and a long look at the Saturday newspaper before we pushed off this morning.

Barrow Deep Lock

Last night a boat had come up Barrow Deep Lock ahead of us, so it was all set for us this morning. This lock leads you down onto a stretch of the river and above there is a set of traffic lights that let you know if it is safe to proceed. Today the lights weren’t working and I couldn’t see a colour river levels board, have to admit I didn’t look too hard as all the boards we came past yesterday were very much in the green and it hadn’t rained that much yesterday. Another sign along side the lock inferred that the navigation was open, so we dropped down. and carried on our way northwards.

KEEP LEFT!But where is the red light?Along this stretch is a weir with a radial gate that is used to manage flood waters. Big new signs are everywhere instructing you to stay left away from the weir. Between October and March Pillings Flood Lock (named after William Pillings the Lock Keeper for at least 45 years) is kept closed.

Pillings Flood Lock

A red paddle at either end of the lock is meant to be left up to help maintain the level on the cut into Loughborough, similar to those at Beeston Lock on the River Trent. The level in the cut today was a few inches lower than the river, so paddles had to be wound up and down at both ends to get us through and then the red ones left up as we exited. There are more signs on the approach from Loughborough which say not to proceed if the red light is flashing. We looked for the light, but it was nowhere to be seen, maybe it’s not been installed yet.

No water today

The next three miles of cut skirts it’s way round the eastern side of Loughborough. New housing is going up along the canal by bridge 35 where a scrap yard used to be. Being a more unban area there were more boats on the move today, three in quick succession. NB Marmite (a familiar boat from the Grand Union near Yardley Gobion) was tied up outside The Boat Inn, a sign above the water point here saying it was not in use, good job we didn’t want to top up today.

We reached the Loughborough Branch Junction, sounded the horn and turned to the north. The forecast had been for stronger winds than yesterday and as we made the turn we suddenly knew about it. We’d turned straight into a head wind, elsewhere we’d been sheltered today, but now there was no avoiding it.

For Sale

The Lock Cottage at Bishop Meadows Lock is for sale. It has always stood out sitting at the end of a lane past a line of moored boats, views across the canal and fields towards the railway. The owners have a telephone box and a red Post Box in their garden which is filled with other interesting bits and bobs. ‘Situated upon the canal banks of Loughborough this outstanding character property offers the benefits of easy access to local amenities but also the feeling of a rural lifestyle.’ We wonder if this is referring to the local sewage works being both local amenities and having a rural aroma!

Normanton on Soar

Down the lock and the river soon joins again, passing by all the wooden houses on stilts at Normanton on Soar with it’s lovely church. Here the river floods, there are more warning lights (these exist), when they flash you need to moor up against emergency dolphins in the channel, certainly heading down stream you wouldn’t want to continue as the weir would have far too much pull. Luckily today we had no need for them we just had to battle against the strong wind that was building. The pram cover needed weighing down on the roof and the river was decidedly choppy, our progress being made in a diagonal fashion.

Diagonal progress

Under Zouch Road Bridge and through the flood gates we were on a cut again. Once past the houses there was little shelter from the wind. Here was where we’ planned to moor, the wind made this a touch troublesome as it appeared to have changed direction. So instead of it assisting us by pushing us in, it was doing it’s best to get us to the other side. Luckily there are bollards so mooring was a lot easier than it could have been.

Why do they insist on coming here when it’s a weekend? Far too many walkers, even more woofers! Just a pounce away there are big holes that need investigating, they are big enough to get inside, but those bloomin woofers just kept coming! She said I had to make the most of it here, so I tried my best despite the conditions.

3 locks, 1 flood lock, 6.91 miles, 0 red lights, 1 love it or hate it boat, 0 view of the canal, 1 right, 2 boaters with tears in their eyes, 2 windy, £350k (phone box and post box included?), 2 directional wind, 6 holes, 3 bunnies, 0 Roger still, 1 Sunday roast about to go in the oven, 93rd and 94th panto performance the last for this year.

https://goo.gl/maps/MNB5572w65S2

Nobody Said Anything About Rain! 12th January

Watermead Country Park to Barrow Deep Lock 51

Pitter patter on the roof as we woke this morning, that wasn’t meant to happen today! Not here, maybe in Scotland, but not here!

A few things to do before setting off today and not just getting a newspaper. The anchor needed attaching to it’s chain and rope and then to the boat. We’ll be doing more stretches of river now so it should be ready for deployment should the need arise. Mick did all the necessary, then I moved things around in the cratch so that I had enough space to be able to stand and open the front doors. The weed hatch was opened and the prop checked for any plastic we might have picked up on our way through Leicester. To Mick’s amazement there was only a tiny amount, hardly worth bothering with, considering the amount of rubbish and urban jelly fish we’ve seen over the last couple of days.

Anchor, chain and rope at the ready in the well deck

We pushed off to pull in just the other side of the bridge to fill with water. Boy the tap was slow! A collection of full plastic bags, which has to be boaters rubbish, surrounded the tap. There are no bins here, so why have lazy people just left it. Who will clear it up? Maybe another boater or someone from the pub, or will it just become a health hazard. Yes we could have picked it up to put in the next bin, but it would have to sit on the roof until such a time and with strong winds forecast it would most probably get blown into the river.

The River Wreak joins the cut

There was a touch of drizzle in the air, so waterproofs were needed they’d also help keep the wind out.

Rafts of weedWe are definitely now on the river, it meanders round some quite tight bends. Plenty of weed growing where we’ve seen waterlilies before. Other rivers join in and weirs help to keep the levels for navigation whilst letting the excess water flow over them.

Four locks today one of which we moored at three years ago as the river rose around us very quickly and then slowly subsided after a downpour. Looking back at Oleanna today I reckon the water got halfway up the wall that night.

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Four and a bit blocks visable today

Mountsorrel Lock in the rain

There were plenty of people out walking along the river bank, one chap with his dog kept overtaking us at locks. At Mountsorrel Lock he had stopped for a pint and watched as I started to fill the chamber for us. A Grandad and Granddaughter came out to see if they could lend a hand, which of course they could. Mick brought Oleanna out of the lock as the rain started again, the chap said they’d close the gate for us so I could climb back on board. There is a bridge just after the lock, so to get back on board you have to cross over a road on a bend with the humpbacked bridge. Back on board we looked behind us and both gates were wide open, the chap just disappearing back into the pub. Nothing for it but to walk back and close them.

I love this bridge

The gravel conveyor bridge is still one of my favourites and always requires a photo or two to be taken. This is shortly followed by the small basin surrounded by dutch style gabble houses. I say style as they look more like a lego attempt to recreate Amsterdam which has forgotten to add a floor or two to the houses.

Not so keen on Amsterdam

This morning there was around eight hours of cruising on the Soar left to get us to Trent Lock, we decided to chop it into three as we’d had a later start today. So we reached Barrow-upon-Soar at around 3pm. The visitor mooring by the weir was free, but I didn’t like the idea of Tilly roaming around fast moving water, so we carried on into the lock cut. Three jolly fishermen filled up the space left on the winter moorings, so we carried on and pulled up on the first of many bollards before the lock.

Lots to play with here, including a very bright blue birdie. I was told I had to leave it alone, no choice really as it was far far too quick for me to catch….not that I tried!

The top yellow blob about to hit us at 2pmThe rain now overheadThe forecast last night hadn’t mentioned any rain, so we’ve had a look at the Met Office radar for today. Scotland had rain, that was expected. Then just about exactly where we are is the only other place in the country! We have slack ropes and the tyre fenders are out to keep us away from the overhanging edge should the river rise which we doubt.

DSCF7114sm4 locks, 6.22 miles, 1 soggy morning, 1 newspaper, 1 anchor ready, 1 cleared weed hatch, 1 clean pooh box, 1 blowy day, 2 not quite so helpful gongoozlers, A6, 1 man and his dog and pint.

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