Monthly Archives: August 2024

Signals Clinging On 30th July

Above Soloman’s Bridge to Stoke Bruerne Visitor Moorings

Sometimes it’s really worth getting up early

An early alarm. We wanted to be up Stoke Bruerne locks before the sun was heating everything. A cuppa was made then Mick pushed us off, no time for exercises this morning! Well I suppose I could have done them as we cruised along on the flat, but that would have meant missing out on the sun rising and I wasn’t going to do that.

Gorgeous

Already above the horizon as we pushed off it was beautiful. Just the right amount of clouds to add to the picture.

Hello!

A wave to NB Briar Rose as we passed Thrupp Wharf. Adam’s mooring was a touch further and it was available, this had been our scheduled stop for yesterday. Currently in the shade, but the sun would soon be streaming over the hedge and stay heating it up until sunset, we’d chosen last nights mooring well.

Slowly past any moored boats. Windows, doors open to let the cool air inside, they didn’t want waking by us. Scum appeared on the canal surface. It got thicker the further we went. By Kingfisher Marina it was really bad, then within a hundred yards it vanished and the canal was back to it’s sludgy brown self.

Sheep clambered to reach the tastiest morsels, a fence now holding it’s inhabitants safe away from the waters edge, one year we had to mount a rescue for a lamb who’d discovered that it couldn’t swim very well.

Four boats sat below the flight. Was anyone stirring? Might we have a locking partner? We crept past, no sign of any life.

Clinging on

Mick went to set the bottom lock, only a foot of water to empty. As I passed the bottom gates I could see a crayfish clinging to the side of the gate. Almost certainly a Signal Crayfish an invasive species. It looked like it had lost one of it’s big claws, after a minute or so it fell back into the lock beneath the water.

Opposite gate paddle lifted

We worked our way up the bottom five locks, most with just a small amount of water requiring emptying before the lock was set. Dog walkers were starting to appear, a chap opened his car doors, a pot of flowers on the bonnet. No need for jumpers now, the world was starting to warm up.

Sold £379,000 click photo for details

Mick hopped back on board so that I could have a sit down before the top two locks. The next lock was full but was soon emptied and as Oleanna rose I glanced ahead, a volunteer popping his head round the bridge above. We’d been spotted, then the top lock started to empty. Was there a boat coming down? Or was it being dropped for us?

Curious

A hire boat appeared, Dad at the helm, Mum and a little girl in a Captain’s hat accompanied a volunteer walking down. The top lock would have been their first lock of their trip, for us it would be our 543rd of the year.

A volunteer stayed to help us, Mick and the chap chatted away. Another boat arrived above ready to take our place in the lock. Now we needed to find some shade, ahead a tree lined cutting, we hoped to find some good cover for the rest of the day.

Two hire boats looked like they’d got a good stretch, up ahead another patch looked good. We pulled in in front of another boat tied up and sat down for our breakfast at 10am, the days cruising complete.

Tilly was given 8 hours shore leave with the request to return for water at regular intervals. She was kept busy in the friendly cover for quite some time.

A good shady spot

The sun moved over, starting to catch us. The boat behind pushed off, a more comprehensive patch of shade just behind where it had been moored. Luckily Tilly came home just as we were wanting to pull back into the new patch of shade. This lasted us for the remainder of the day. Our days mission complete. Locks climbed before it got too hot and to keep the boat as cool as possible.

We’ve cruised through Stoke Bruerne several times now, but never visited the museum, it’s either been closed or we’ve had visitors. So with walking pole we took our time walking back to the museum. It being an old wharf building there was no step free access, but so long as time was taken and I could sit down periodically it would be fine.

The museum is laid out over two floors. Various objects sit in cases. One corner suggests a blacksmiths forge. A boatman’s cabin can be leered inside of. Details about Blisworth Tunnel. Smells of the tunnel and horses! All quite child friendly.

A spider belt

Two things we didn’t know before we visited. 1 That the boat women made Spider Belts for the men, worn for Sunday best. 2 That the tunnel was cleaned periodically to clear the soot from the walls, a very dirty job. There was also a cross section of the Grand Union, interesting as it showed Foxton Summit pound to be higher than Tring, the Welford Arm even higher.

Cross section of the Grand Union Canal

There are also three examples of roses, as in Roses and Castles done by three different people. William Hodgson (left), worked as an artist for Anderton Boat Company in Stoke. He was shown how to paint at the Northwich School of Art and also painted theatre backdrops. He included racehorses, swans and sunsets in his paintings and his roses were considered to look the most realistic. Have to say his style was my favourite. Frank Nurser (middle) worked at Braunston at the Nurser Brothers boatyard. His roses started with a large petal to which smaller ones were added around it. He also painted fairytale castles. His style is possible the most common you’ll see today. Then Fred Winnet (right), he worked as a painter for the Clayton Company at Oldbury. His style very painterly and the least like flowers of the three.

Some chilled medication was enjoyed in the shade of some trees outside before we slowly returned to Oleanna to let Tilly back out.

Blueberry Cookie, not as good as it could have been, also not in focus

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with yarn auditions for sock pair 31 and taking a digs list booking for our house next year! Is it too early to be starting to plan what we’ll be doing in the Spring yet?

7 locks, 6.1 miles, 05:15 alarm, 2 jumpers, 1 amazing sky, 1km of scummy scum, 8 HOURS! 1 cool boat, 1st visit, 1 Mr Ben, 2 many stupid comments, 0 chairs on the top floor, 2 magnum medications, 3 pairs socks wrapped and ready to go, 8 weeks!

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Late To The Shade. 29th July

Linford Manor to north of Solomon’s Bridge 65

No point in watching you, you can’t even get your leg over your head!

As I started my exercises Tilly came to supervise. I’m not doing it correctly apparently, she doesn’t understand how I’m not as flexible as she is. She soon lost interest and preferred looking out of the window. As I carried on lifting my bad leg into the air a chap walked past the window, soon followed by a lady who stopped right in front of me. She bent down and said ‘Has Daddy left you behind?’ She stood up with a small dog in her arms, the dog the only one aware of me looking out at them.

After breakfast we went for a little bit of a walk. Last time we moored here I think the park was still being worked on so I wanted to see how the interconnected ponds looked now, reinstated to how they had been designed many moons ago.

Linford Alms Houses and pond

A circular pond tumbles down into a second one towards the canal, making a pretty picture with the Alms Houses behind.

We had a look at the information boards. Linforde is mentioned in the Doomsday Book and it’s thought there was first a settlement here in the C10th. In the C16th Richard Napier lived here, he was a renowned physician who based his treatments and their timings on astrological readings. I wanted to know what ‘pigeon slippers’ were, well they were just that slippers made from pigeons, one of Napiers treatments! More here on Richard Napiers treatments. In 1800 the canal cut right through the pastoral landscape of the manor which dated from the previous century. When the railway arrived the peace was shattered but both forms of transport aided the village to grow.

Sadly any further walking wasn’t possible for me so we headed back to the boat where locals were suggesting to the boat behind us that fishing and barbeques were not allowed on the manor land. No signs saying so, at least our barbeque last night had been on the concrete edging, so no scorch marks on the grass.

This has been a building site for at least ten years

We pushed off, the boat behind us moving into our space so they could stay longer and be out of the way of the community boat tomorrow morning. Pootling along we passed the house that is constantly being built, piling and some excavation alongside the canal and I think some stone work on the main building is new.

The Wolverton mural always requires a photo or two. Hot air balloons like the Olympic torch. There was a space on the moorings round the corner, we pulled in a few extra items of shopping required to keep us going. Mick head off with a shopping list and thankfully remembered to add a bag of onions to items that would make food preparation over the next few hot days more bearable.

Onwards, we need to keep up our pace northwards. Over the Iron Trunk Aqueduct and towards Cosgrove Lock, here a boat waited for our arrival so that we could share. They’d had a worrying phone call this morning which meant they needed to move today, on a bit of mission we let them lead the way out of the lock as we were wanting to top up with water which would take some time.

Cows flicking their ears at the flies

With fresh water filled and yellow water disposed of we moved on. Todays mooring should have been Adam’s mooring with the view through the hedge, but that wouldn’t give us any shade. I remembered tall hedging just after Solomon’s Bridge but that was already filled with boats that were wonderfully cool. We pootled on trying a few places, but the bottom was too close to the top. We only had as far as the next bridge before the towpath changed sides and we’d have to moor on the sunny side of the canal. Another attempt got us quite close, this would have to do. I’d not be trying to get to shore so as long as Mick could manage, Tilly was guaranteed to be able to jump the gap, which she did without any calculations required.

Surely you could have tied it up better!

Two salmon steaks had been defrosted, no room for a barbeque today so I pan fried them with some red pepper and garlic, one of my favourites. Ends were woven in on the latest two pairs of socks before an early night as tomorrow we want to beat the heat up the Stoke Bruerne flight.

Apples reddening in the sunshine

1 lock, 5.6 miles, 1 bag potatoes, 2 red peppers, 1 bunch spring onions, 1 full water tank, 1 hot hot day, 2 hours of Tilly time, 2 hot for a stamp, 30 pairs of socks finished.

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