Glasson Basin

Lots of chatty walkers passed our mooring at 7am, waking us so we had a cuppa in bed earlier than normal. They were taking part in a 45km walk from the basin here through Lancaster, beyond and back. The car park next to the moorings which so far has managed to have around twenty cars in it was full. Mick was paper boy today, although the village shop didn’t have our usual paper, so we are coping with a substitute, it won’t last us as long as normal though.

Oleanna’s next service was due so Mick donned his overalls and climbed down into the engine bay. It was a 250 hour service which involves changing the oil and oil filters. But because we’ll be crossing the Ribble next week Mick wanted to check the fuel filters too, just in case. This isn’t due until the next service, but there would be nothing worse than to get a blockage on the high seas. First he checked the fuel filter, which was clean so everything was fine and dandy and no other action was required. He tightened the stern gland and broke for some lunch.

Whilst he was getting close and dirty with Oleanna I spent the morning ripping, twisting and winding the first lot of fabric I bought in Preston the other day. I intend on crocheting a bag with this homemade chunky yarn and if my friend Julia thinks it is sellable I suspect I’ll be making some more. The fabric I got though did create a lot of dust as I was ripping it up into 3cm strips. Next time I’ll do this outside to avoid fluff. With two full reels of yarn ready I can make a start.

Once lunch was over Mick ran the engine for a while to help warm up the oil so that it is easier to deal with. He then set to changing the oil.

Meanwhile I busied myself with a very important trip. A walk along Ten Row brought me to The Smoke House. There was a steady stream of people into the shop, never busy, but just constant. What to buy? I was here on my own, this could have been quite costly, but I was good and managed to select several things that were on offer. My bag took on weight as the credit card got a little lighter. A pair of kippers, smoked salmon, white and black pudding, Cumberland sausages, smoked garlic, Lancashire cheese and some smoked mackerel for a kedgeree tonight.

Bridget had spent the morning picking Blackberries and had a surplus so a large bag came our way. These have taken up what space was left in the freezer, a pot of compote has been made to spoon over cereal and a blackberry cobbler is ready to go in the oven for pudding tonight. I’ve had a go at making it with gluten free flour, here’s hoping it works.

Once all the oil was changed Mick turned the engine over, except it wouldn’t start! It had worked earlier after he’d looked at the fuel filter, so why not now! Oleanna’s engine is different to Lillian’s, things are in different places. Lillian had an electric pump, so the fuel system didn’t need bleeding. Oleanna doesn’t. He thought he’d bled the system, but he hadn’t undone the bleeding screw. Once this was done she started up first time. Phew, we won’t be stuck in Glasson, nice as it is.

I went for a visit to Christ Church a short distance back up the towpath. There had been a Teddy Bears picnic today and large chalky paw prints covered the footpath. But now the church grounds were quiet. I pushed the door and entered the friendly church. Quite simple with oak pews, a few stained glass windows and a very simple organ sitting on a balcony. There were lots of flowers everywhere. A couple of plaques commemorate members of the Nicholson family who built boats in the basin from the 1830’s.

Today the towpath has been busy, plenty of curious gongoozlers. As soon as you show your head outside comments and questions would start, Tilly gets them too. A couple of chaps were even pacing out the length of Blackbird this afternoon. Sat inside you can hear everything that is being said, we can’t hep but comment back. A group of very enthusiastic children have just come past, they were astounded ‘Look how Tiny the doors are!’ That’s because I don’t need big doors.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1.5m x 2.2m ripped twisted and wound, 2 reels of yarn, 1 clean fuel filter, 9 litres oil, 1 oil filter, 1 engine 2 quiet, 1 bleeding screw, 1 engine purr, 2 kippers, 6 sausages, 1 bulb garlic, 2 puddings, 1 small church, 18 paw prints, 50p a book, 3 potential puddings, 1 pot of red, 6 tiny doors.

Glasson Basin

Whilst eating breakfast this morning I could hear the familiar sound of a lock being operated. Leaning out of the side hatch I could see the mast of a boat in the lock, it was high tide. It took quite sometime for the boat to be brought up to the level of the basin before the gates could be wound open. All the time the swing bridge had been closed to traffic as it sits right over the lock, so after the two boats exited I waited to count how many cars had been held up. A grand total of two bikes! It was closed for at least ten minutes, but then there is another way round.

As we had free power, still don’t know how much, we decided to get on with emptying the dirty linen drawer. Washing machine on and the doors open so that Tilly could come and go at will, which wasn’t much. It’s boring here! Can’t believe that you think it’s a good place. Mick got on with chores whilst I got on with some work, knitting, earning a bit for the beer fund.

After lunch we met up with Bridget, Storm and Max and headed off for a walk to find some views. At the end of Tithebarn Hill was a viewing point, with views in every direction. From here we could see back to Lancaster and the memorial, Helvellyn in the Lake District and just make out Blackpool Tower to the south of us.

We then took a circular route which first took us closer to the River Lune. The tide had gone out and the now familiar sight of marsh land and mud flats lay below us down to what water there was. In the distance we could see out to sea. A ship waited for a ferry to come past before making it’s way towards Heysham behind the next headland. Numerous wind turbines filled the horizon whilst in the foreground a small light house and buoys marked the channel of the Lune.

Plover Scar Lighthouse, or Abbey Lighthouse, is a 19th Century lighthouse which marks the entrance to the Lune Estuary. It was built as the lower light of a pair of leading lights. The rear or High light once stood next to the Abbey Lighthouse cottage on Slack Lane it was originally a wooden tower, later replaced by a metal framework beacon. The leading lights helped ships navigate into the Lune estuary. Last year the lighthouse was hit by a commercial vessel and has recently undergone a brick by brick restoration. Prior to automation lighthouse keepers lived in the lighthouse cottage, they maintained both lighthouses, walking across to Plover Scar at low tide. The Raby family kept the lights for nearly a century until 1945.

Following the path along the shoreline we reached Cockersand Abbey where only the chapter house still survives in one piece. Originally a hermitage for Hugh Garth in 1180 it developed into a hospital and after ten years it gained the rank of Abbey. The chapter house remains intact due to it becoming a mausoleum for the Dalton family from Thurnham Hall in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is Grade 1 listed and a scheduled ancient monument. The building is open on occasions, sadly we are leaving the Lancaster canal on it’s next open day.

We now followed tracks and footpaths directed by Mick with his downloaded OS map on his phone. A very handy thing until the data on your phone runs out! But luckily there was still enough map to get us back. This route took us through farmers fields and across a couple of farm yards. One farmer obviously wasn’t so keen on a footpath crossing his land as he stores his manure mountain right by the stile. Along some of the tracks we spotted huge ripe blackberries that are likely to be picked tomorrow.

Tilly has made new friends on the boat behind us today. They sadly lost their cat a month ago and came bearing gifts for Tilly. DREAMIES!!!!! Not too sure about the OAP food or the flea stuff, but DREAMIES!!!!!! Thank you!!

Today has been the first day at senior school for my nephew Josh. My brother and I had to have our photos taken in our brand new uniform to mark the day. Have to say Josh’s uniform is far more colourful than ours were back in the 70’s. He looks really smart. Just as well I can’t find the photo of me!

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 misty start, 2 boats, 1 new bucket, 2 loads washing, 1 vest top just needing rib, 3420 narrowboat questions, 5.3 mile walk, 1 light house, 1 abbey, 2 ships, 4lb of jam ingredients at least, 4 chilled medications, 2 packs DREAMIES, 2 new friends I won’t eat, 1 uniformed Josh the next Leckenby growing up.

Galgate to Glasson Basin

The rain hammering on the roof as we woke this morning suggested that we wouldn’t be going very far, it was horrible. So we took our time getting up and having breakfast. But by 11am things were looking up. NB Blackbird pushed over to the services to fill with water and we collapsed the pram cover. All ready we pootled up to the junction and turned into the Glasson Branch.

Immediately there was the top lock. We had to remind ourselves what a lock was as we’ve been without them for three weeks now. All you need is a key of power as windlasses have been welded onto paddle gear. The ground paddles were easy to operate to fill the locks. But the bottom gates were hard work.

The mechanism for all but one lock is the same as on the Bingley Five and Three. You wind a handle that moves a ratchet bar along pulling the paddle sideways on the gate to open it. Having a fixed handle makes this hard as you can’t always use the advantage of your body weight to click to the next groove. But Bridget and I managed to get them moving with a bit of extra umph! Max helped out as Tilly snoozed inside.

This stretch got prettier and prettier as the sun came out. The sky a vivid blue reflected in the clear canal and the lush green of the grass surrounding us. A perfect summers day.

The canal was clear and you could make out the saucer shape of the canal bed leaving just a narrow channel to navigate through. On the last pound it reminded us of the Chesterfield canal last year and it’s weed!

The Glasson Branch opened in 1826 providing the Lancaster canal with its first link to the sea at the River Lune. Dropping down 52ft through six locks it travels 2.5 miles. The locks are wider than normal at 16ft, which meant that smaller boats coming off the river could carry on up to the canal and not have to transfer their cargo onto canal boats.

If there had been anywhere to moor on our way down we’d have certainly pulled in for a day or two. But there being nowhere we continued on to the basin. An area of long term mooring is no longer used so we pulled up and tied off to huge rings intended for much larger vessels. Across the way on pontoons are numerous sailing boats along with two life boats. With electric posts along the moorings we plugged in, but unsure of how much credit was on the post we refrained from putting the washing machine straight on.

A walk around the village in the afternoon sunshine meant that we got to see most of the sights. A swing bridge sits over a lock into Glasson Dock where a few boats were moored. The dock gates out onto the River Lune are only opened for 45 minutes before high water, then the channel out to the sea is only safe to navigate for an hour after high tide. We walked around a small section of the port which seemed to be busy with lorries using the weigh bridge today. In amongst the buildings was The Port of Lancaster Smoke House, plenty of interesting things to buy, but we refrained with a plan to return later in our stay to spend money.

If the weather stays as it is our mooring will be great for a few days, sunlight on the solar panel and electric, our washing drawer will be empty again. Just a shame there are loads of woofers and NO trees!

6 locks, 2.9 miles, 1 wet start, 1 blue day, 1 black wet nosed helper, 1 lost lead, 2 chilled medication dispensaries, 1 smokehouse, 1 way traffic on bridge, 37 lapwings, 1 walk that was a railway, 1 load of washing, 1 survey boat, ? contacts lost from my phone!

Lancaster to Galgate Basin

After Mick had cycled to Halfords for some engine oil and then we’d walked to Sainsburys to restock the food cupboards we pushed off and headed backwards to the services. A quarter of a mile Oleanna did exactly as was required of her and only one adjustment was needed to bring us into the mooring. Who needs bow thrusters anyway! Once tanks were filled, emptied, rubbish disposed of and a chicken had been jointed we continued to make our way southwards.

The sun was out and made our departure from Lancaster a very green one. If ever I had to move here I’d like to live in one of the houses on Aldecliffe Road. With a view out over the canal and a field of sheep and cows opposite, what a lovely location, the houses don’t look bad either.

After several days of only a wall to look at they had promised me fields and trees today. Several times they tried to stop in great places, but just carried on. I really don’t understand, having to jump on and off the boat is great fun, but they don’t seem to think so.

Instead of persuading Oleanna to moor in a lovely quiet spot, in the end we decided to carry on and catch Blackbird up at Galgate. As the Basin appeared into view so did the back of Blackbird with Bridget waving. There was space behind them and once we’d tied up the doors were all opened up for the second mate to make the most of the afternoon and evening.

A short shower threatened to put us off having a barbecue, but luckily it passed over quickly and didn’t extinguish the coals. All six of us had a lovely evening. Max on his lead and Tilly strutting her stuff. The two of them were interested, but Tilly kept her distance and didn’t do her Mohican impression once. Three cows wanted to join in, poking their noses through the hedge to see what was cooking, but backed away at the thought of us wanting a steak each. Much food and wine was enjoyed until the coals cooled off in the dark.

0 locks, 4.67miles, 0.24 reversed, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow tank, 3 aborted attempts to moor, 1 shower, 3 bovine barbecue friends, 2 second mates, 2 barbecues light, 2 guiding lights, 1 happy cat.

Lancaster

A friend of mine has been looking for a knitter to make some things for her Etsy shop, so I have offered to have a go. She wanted to send me some wool, so last week I rang round just about every post office on the Lancaster Canal to find one that offered the Post Restante service. None of them in Lancaster or the main office in Preston did this service. Post Restante means that you can have post (as long as it is sent by Royal Mail or Parcel Force) sent to a Post Office addressed to you there for collection. We’ve used it a couple of times before and it is very handy.

After beating my head against the cabin sides when I couldn’t find a Post Office to send the wool to I then gave the marina in Garstang a call and cheekily asked them if they would accept a parcel for me. The chap there uummed for a bit and then said that I could. Brilliant! I did however pursue the Post Restante service and rang Royal Mail, the chap there was flummoxed too, as most branches now offer Local Collect for internet purchases which is very similar. He suggested contacting the Post Office via their website. This has proved interesting.

Originally I thought that the service was offered at the branches discretion, this is not so as is explained in the following response to my email “This service is available at all Post Office branches, the service is offered at the discretion of Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd not the individual branches. Any office that refuses to offer this service should be advised to contact their helpline. I believe the trouble you have experienced, possibly stems from the offices not knowing what the Poste Restante service is. If you can provide the names of these branches we can contact them and explain about the service. Hopefully this would resolve the problems you have experienced.”

If you are wanting anything sending to you around the Lancaster area all of the Post Offices should now know about the service.

So today we jumped on a bus to go and collect my parcel from the marina. The bus driver suggested that we bought a family dayrider rather than a rider each. This would save us 40p and if we bought a couple of children whilst we were out they would travel for free. Looks like family tickets are the way forward for lots of things. After about half an hour, most of which was spent driving around the University we arrived in Garstang and walked our way to the canal and marina. Here was my parcel waiting for me at the chandlers, some rather lovely muted brown wool.

Back to the bus stop and on to Preston. My mobile phone has been mended and was sent back last week to the shop. It turned out that as my phone screen was slightly cracked this meant that the repair couldn’t be done under warranty. I still had another year on contract so my hands were tied into paying for it to be mended. Grrr! At least I now have a phone that works (I hope) and it isn’t huge like the one I had on loan from EE.

Next I wanted to visit the Abakhan shop. Bridget had mentioned the Chester store to me a while ago, so I wanted to look round. Wow! How much fabric?! The shop has the usual buy fabric by the meter, which is all around the outside of the shop. But then on racks there are off cuts of fabric, averaging about 2m in length. They are collected together in type of fabric and colours, just about every fabric is there. These off cuts you buy by weight, not length. Plain cotton £9.95 a kilo etc. Not good if you need fabric for long curtains, but fine for most other things as you can get more than one piece if you can match the colours. Upstairs was a wool and haberdashery heaven. I had a good look round, refrained from buying any wool but did pick up enough fabric to make a couple of chunky bags and some red that I’ve been wanting for a rug on Oleanna. Looks like I’m going to be busy with needles and hooks.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 buses, 4 bridges, 1 open parcel, 250gram wool, 2 jacket potatoes, 2 teas, 1 mended phone, 1 Aladdin’s fabric cave, 2.5kg of fabric, 1 tension square needing to be knitted.

Hest Bank to BW Depot, Lancaster

After a cooked breakfast (photo for Frank and Ade) we headed off towards Lancaster. There were a few things we still wanted to see so we waved goodbye to Blackbird for a couple of days.

The grey morning had brought quite strong winds with it and the occasional bit of drizzle. As we retraced our route a boat came around a bend up ahead, as it got closer we realised that we knew the chap at the helm. It was Roger who is one of the original syndicate members from NB Winding Down. We hope to meet up with him before we head back across the Ribble.

Soon the Lune Aqueduct came into view. We really wanted to have a look at it from below, so Mick had a go at pulling in to moor up. With most of the galley drawers open due to the list we decided to tie up and go for a walk. Down the steep steps to the river bank. Here we could see the five 21m arches spanning the river, the short lengths of balustrade matching each arch. Designed by John Rennie and opened in 1797 it is the largest all-masonry aqueduct in Britain.

The arches support a stone trough, special volcanic pozzolana powder was imported and mixed with cement, which allowed the concrete to set under water. Looking up under the arches you can see that the structure has leaked for a very long time. The folds of stalagmites run down the arches and drip on you as you walk by. Back in June 2015 a section of the embankment south of the aqueduct had a significant leak, which necessitated a lengthy closure. Access to site was hard, the canal needed dewatering, fish had to be rescued, suitable clay was brought in from Leicestershire to mend the holes. This all took time and many boats were stranded north of the aqueduct. Today our passage was easy and it was well worth stopping to have a look upwards.

A swan and her seven offspring decided to escort us into the city. After a distance they gave up and let us pass, but this was only for them to then have a flying lesson heading straight for us. They all succeeded in taking off and all narrowly missed us when landing!

Once we’d found a space in the moorings we walked up the hill behind the canal. Our destination kept bobbing up above the tree line and reminding us which way we should be heading. Williamson Park occupies the highest hill in Lancaster. At it’s highest point stands the Ashton Memorial. Commissioned by Lord Ashton as a tribute to his late wife it was designed by John Belcher and completed in 1909. It dominates the skyline of Lancaster and when close to it it draws you in and up the steps on the west side.

The interior has been restored and now hosts parties and weddings. Climbing up more steps to the viewing balcony gives you fantastic views for miles. We could see Blackpool Tower, The Midland Hotel in Morecambe and right over to Grange-over-sands. Quite a sight.

However my sight of trees on top of a smooth wall was not so good. No matter how much I shouted at it there was no way to climb to the top. The gap was too big to even jump from the roof of the boat. So instead I’ve had to amuse myself by running through the boat.

0 locks, 4.47 miles, 1 aqueduct, 1 Roger, 8 winged near misses, 12 ladies in black, 1 in white, 184 steps to the top, 180 degrees of views, 2 late for butterflies, 1 dinosaur man, 1 looney cat.

Hest Bank

As we had breakfast this morning our peace was disturbed  by rowers oars scraping along the side of Oleanna. The canal isn’t wide here, but we were still avoidable. When the third boat in succession did this Mick started to bang on the hatch window, we are allowed to mark our freshly painted gunnels, not them! More boats kept coming but we found that standing watching from the hatch and saying a cheery ‘Morning’ kept them away. Tilly really didn’t know what to make of them, with her ears flattened she followed them past from her vantage point.

We called for Bridget and Storm and headed to catch the 755 bus, we’d checked the times this morning so didn’t have a long wait. The front seat upstairs was free so we grabbed it, much to the dismay of young Finley at a later stop. We were headed for them there hills and Kendal.

None of us had ever really visited Kendal in the past, I’d once been sent on a mission to find some amber coals for a show in Bowness, but hadn’t had time to explore as we did today. The town was much bigger than we’d expected. A market town which originally traded in wool, the town motto being ‘Pannus mihi panis’, meaning ‘wool is my bread’. The town prospered with the trade of wool, cloth being produced on hand looms in peoples homes, similar to silk in Macclesfield.

Kendal is famous for a few other things, it has a strong link to the footwear industry, K-shoes was based here until the factory closed in 2003. But of course the most famous export from the town is Kendal Mint Cake, a must in your rucksack for walkers and mountaineers.

But today we were here to find the Canal Head. We could have walked from Tewtifield, but 14 miles seemed a little excessive. So we hunted it out for ourselves using a canal guide, OS maps and google maps.

A recycling centre now stands where the end of the canal once was. On the other side of a cycle path you can see stone work that suggests where the canal once finished. It was known as The Black and White Canal due to it’s cargo, coal from Lancashire and limestone from Cumbria. The packet boats also carried passengers from Kendal to Preston, a far more comfortable ride than by stagecoach.

We followed the path heading southwards to see the canal bridges spanning tarmac. The first had been widened at some point, most probably to cope with the ever increasing traffic over it. Patches of what had been the cut were being left by the local school to see what plants would grow and what wildlife would be attracted. Crossing over a road the path continued passing a large depot for electrical works. Huge bobbins of cable sat at arms length form us, just how much copper was behind the razor wire?

The next bridge built in 1819 was a roving bridge changing the towpath from one side to the other. This is the only roving bridge in Cumbria and was restored and reopened in 2002. It has pleasing curves but is still not a patch on the Macc bridges. The canal route south of here continued as a wide path for both pedestrians and bikes. Hopefully one day the canal will reopen, there is a lot of work to be done, but not as much as we’d thought. Suspect it won’t be in our lifetime though.

We headed back into Kendal looking for a cafe for a bite to eat and a sit down. At The Brewery Arts Centre there was music in the gardens and the bar was open, but sadly no food available. Several of my shows have toured here from Hull Truck over the years, but I’d never been. A walk further up into the town and surprisingly for a bank holiday weekend most places were closed, others were too expensive.

So in the end we opted for a sandwich each at the Shakespeare pub. Here a theatre had been built at the top of the yard, opening in 1829, but despite actors such as Edmund Kean walking it’s boards it closed five years later due to opposition form local Quakers, Presbyterians and Temperance groups. The building was later converted into a chapel.

With buses only running every two hours we had quite a bit of time to kill. So went for an explore away from the town centre. Many yards and lanes lead off the main street to flights of steps which took us high up, very reminiscent of the old town in Scarborough. One house part way down some steps would cost £325,000 to buy. It had a large garden but was in need of some updating, however with no road access this will prove costly for someone. The houses clung onto the side of the valley and every now and then a view would open out across the valley. How interesting would a time lapse be from such a vantage point over the last few hundred years.

With lots of interesting buildings about the town we were constantly stopping to read about them before we caught the next bus back to Slyne.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 buses, 9 rowing boats, 1 gunnel inspection needed, 2 front seats bagsied, 1 town to explore, 2 bridges over tarmac, 1 canal head found, 2 blue doors, 2 theatres, 4 sandwiches, 4 cordial and soda waters, 2 many cars, 1 set of steps to views, 0.5 hours watching the river, 6.30 pm too late for cats.

Hest Bank to a bit further on

Mick walked up the way to see if there were any spaces further up with a bit more sunshine. There was so we decided to chance getting into the side a bit further up. Our first attempt didn’t go well as the bottom was very visible, but the second gap came up trumps, we were in to the side and level! Here our solar panel would gain some quality rays whilst we had a trip out.

When we reached the bus stop we were three quarters of an hour early for the next bus, so we decided to walk to Morecambe. Down the hill until the road met the sea. Except there was something amiss, the sea! Ahead of us across the bay there was next to no water, maybe the hurricane in the States had stolen it all. What a vast difference from yesterday, sand banks right across the twelve miles to Ulverston. Low tide had passed and the tide was on it’s way in, not that we could tell at this point at all. Boats lay on the mud flats, birds padded around avoiding the quick sand.

The sun had come out and it was a lovely day to walk along the shoreline. The sea wall here has recently been replaced. The new sea reflection wall measures 1m high. All the openings have names and carvings associated with local things. Most are fairly ordinary but the pair of glasses could only have belonged to one person, but more of him later. Everywhere felt clean and with the mounds of rocks down to the sand/mud it had an antipodean feeling about it. Coming from Scarborough we are used to hills surrounding our seaside resorts, but here as in Blackpool the land is flat, so is the bay, but in the hazy distance the fells of the Lake District give some interest.

As we walked we suddenly became aware that the tide was now coming in at a rate of knots. An area in front of us where there was a sandbank had a swirl of white gradually crossing it. We could actually see the sea surround the bank cutting it off and then gradually engulf it all within a matter of minutes. The speed was quite scary. Water rose around the boats ahead of us, almost as soon as one boat was level and floating again it sped upstream along the channel of one of the rivers, beaching itself for a short while.

By the time we had reached the shops and Winter Gardens we were in need of some refreshment. Becky had given me a tip off for chilled medication here, so we headed inside to see what flavours took our fancy. Storm had never had a Knickerbocker Glory, so decided today he would change that. The rest of us opted for three flavours. No tea was required. Brucciani’s first opened in 1939, the local paper feared that it might not be good for the sedate Victorian image of Morecambe and that its presence could be positively harmful to young people. It is now a Grade 2 listed building, with it’s simple pale oak high street deco interior it is worth a visit anyway, add in the chilled medication and it is a must. The tables are not big, but then who needs it when you are concentrating on your three scoops.

Feeling a bit revived and maybe a little bit high on ice cream we then carried on along the front towards The Midland Hotel and the Stone Jetty. Originally the jetty formed the harbours western wall, built around 1853 by the Little North Western Railway Company as a wharf and rail terminal for both cargo and passengers. It was rebuilt and extended in 1994/95 as part of the coastal defence work and now has games that you can play and many bird sculptures along it’s length. It had only taken our break for chilled medication for all the sand banks to disappear under the water. The sea had returned!

Then we turned to appreciate the Midland Hotel in full, sparkling in the days sunshine. People were on the terrace enjoying a beer, others were starting to enjoy afternoon tea inside. We’d thought about this, but at £21 each we couldn’t justify it. One day we may save up for a night here, B&B would set you back anywhere between £125 for a Classic room to £270 for a Luxury Sea View room. However the rooms have all been reimagined, which means that there are few if any original features left.

A Streamline Modern building, built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), in 1933, to the designs of Oliver Hill, with sculpture by Eric Gill, and murals by Eric Ravilious. It was built as the railway companies showcase hotel, following the curve of the promenade and making the most of the spectacular views across the bay. Seven years, later during the war, it was requisitioned and it became a hospital. In it’s first year it had treated 3700 patients, 1000 airmen were fitted with spectacles. After years of neglect along with the fall in popularity of Morecambe it closed it’s doors in 1998 and was left to the mercy of the sea. Urban Splash in 2003 came forward wanting to return the Midland Hotel back to it’s 1930’s glory. It reopened in 2008.

One thing left to do and that was to find Eric. So we back tracked along the promenade. As he faces away from the sea, we’d missed him high above us as we’d been busy looking at pavement decorations and looking forward to our medication. Born in 1926 John Eric Bartholomew took his stage name from his home town, Morecambe. Little really needs to be said about the man who has made us all laugh out loud. His statue by Graham Ibbeson (who also did the scupture of Laurel and Hardy in Ulverston), was unveiled by the Queen in 1999.

Eric’s pose is a familiar one from the end of Morecambe and Wise. Down the steps are the lyrics from ‘Bring Me Sunshine’, their parting song. A list of stars who appeared on the show with them circle around on the floor in front of him along with every catch phrase. Each one so familiar, bringing a smile to your face. A lovely tribute to the man.

Once we’d found a paper shop we caught the bus back to Hest Bank, the walk back would have been a bit too much!

0 locks, 0.14 miles, 2 attempts at mooring, 5.5 miles walked, 1 glorious seaside day, 0 sea, 12 miles across, 3 x 3 scoups, 1st knickerbocker glory, 30’s deco everywhere, 1 curlew joke, 2 many cormorants, 1 very fast tide, £21 a bit too much, 3s in abundance, +4s, 1 pair binoculars, 1 very funny man, 2 papers, 33 Bare Circular, 1 bus ride, 2 hours now 6 and counting!

Tewitfield to Limit of Navigation to Carnforth Services

This morning Oleanna and Blackbird conquered the north.

We both winded and then reversed in to use the services at the end of navigation at Tewitfield. This is the furthest north in the country that you can get your boat on the canal network. If the locks up to Kendal ever get restored then there will be another 14 miles of canal heading further north.  Both boats celebrated by topping up their water tanks and disposing of some rubbish. This now means that we have to conquer the south, west and east most points of the canal network. West is Llangollen, South is Godalming and East is Brandon Lock on The Little Ouse.

Our night at Tewitfield had been a noisy one, the motorway never sleeps. So a plan of getting a bus into Kendal will now happen from somewhere further south. With visitors due today we set off first and retraced our way back to Carnforth. A load of washing had been done before setting off to make use of a sunny day and a Dorset Apple Cake was popped in the oven, having visitors gave me an excuse to bake.

Meeting an oncoming boat at the permanent moorings in Borwick wasn’t so good. There was only just enough space for us to pass, that was after we’d found the limitation of how far we could get over to the side! Then further on the shallow water caught Mick out, it seemed like we were mid channel, but the shallow water extended right over and we bumped and grazed over into deeper water.

Back in Carnforth we tried pulling in before the services. Oleanna came into the side, but on a list, so we moved up and took the mooring that Blackbird had had yesterday morning. Washing hung out and a quick tidy up. The doors were opened and Tilly could come and go for the remainder of the day.

Our first visitors were Sue (Mick’s cousin) and Sefton, who live near Lancaster. We hadn’t seen them for about six years, so it was nice to spend a couple of hours catching up on their side of the family, drinking tea and eating warm apple cake. It’s been a while since we showed people around Oleanna, so we weren’t quite as word perfect as we’d been in London. Thank you Sue for the courgettes and the tomato and basil sauce, they will go down very well.

Later in the afternoon we were joined by Becky who lives even closer only a mile and a half away. I know Becky from my Scarborough days, she was a favourite actor at the SJT. One Christmas she rented my house that was on the digs list and I had the pleasure of designing a full blown squirrel costume for her to wear in the original production of Improbable Fiction. She now spends much of her time arranging flowers that she has grown herself. Today had been her first funeral flowers and on Saturday she has her first wedding bouquets. A lovely jam jar of flowers arrived with her, which will sit on our table until Tilly has disposed of them. Well such things are always outside where nobody notices me batting them.

A lovely day catching up.

0 locks, 3.88 miles, 1 wind, 1 reverse, 2 boats at the north pole, 2 full tanks, 2 near groundings, 1 appley lemony cake, 2 slices each! 1 cousin, 2 courgettes, 1 jar sauce, 1 actor/florist, 1 jar of flowers, 6 hours of doors open, 9 year old temper tantrum, 1 lovely day.