Category Archives: Bridges

Beheading. 7th May

Peartree FOTRN to Fotheringhay Castle

Mick showing everyone a view going down in a lock

The Geraghty zoom was joined today from the helm. Camera facing forwards much of the time as we just seemed to be silhouettes. The family accompanied us through Wadenhoe Lock, the moorings by the pub chocka block, maybe our return here shouldn’t coincide with a weekend.

The day has been full of church views. St Michael and All Angels Church at Wadenhoe, St John the Baptist at Achurch, St Andrews at Cotterstock, St Mary and All Saints at Fotheringhay, I’m guaranteed to have missed some!

We’ve had paddle boarders, red kites overhead, locks and more locks.

At Oundle we remembered the day NB Lillyanne had her out of water survey done. We’d come down to meet the surveyor and hear his verdict first hand. She needed blacking, the lights inside sorting along with keeping her well aired to help with condensation. As we left we pulled in at the layby alongside Upper Barnwell Lock and called ABNB to confirm our offer, if I remember rightly a couple of grand off the asking price to pay for the works needed. As we sat there Merve and Elaine came past in Lillyanne so we could confirm the sale with them too. It was the furthest they’d been on her and had really enjoyed the cruise.

Upper Barnwell Lock has a very fine mill alongside. I think eight years ago it had been a restaurant, today its a kitchen and bathroom show room. Then a very low bridge at 7ft 10″, we’d been warned about it, but fitted through only having to dip our heads.

Lower Barwell Lock has recently had new sensors added to the slackers (paddle gear). I could just see them and as we wound down the slackers a little arm was pushed out of the way, connecting a circuit to allow us to operate the guillotine gate.

We got a glimpse of Cotterstock Hall before the lock and there are some seriously posh houses at Tansor. One of those would do nicely with a mooring.

Does anyone know what these signs are please?

The long straight on the river meant rowers. A chap informed us there were a few boats out on the river and just to ‘BIP’ our horn as we approached, which we did.

Many of the lock landings have an overhang, which means Oleanna’s cabin sides are at risk of being scraped. Mick has been deploying our big red buoy just where it’s needed at the stern to keep her a safe distance away. So far the cabin side at the bow has only been in danger once.

Alongside Perio Lock there is a large lake, one of many we’ve passed, where numerous fishermen were set up for a weekends fishing. They waved at us as we waved back, everyone happy not to be in the way of each other.

Perio Lock was the last for today, another wheel operated lock. The counter weight at this lock has been set incredibly well, at one point whilst raising the guillotine it wanted to raise all by itself! A bit more manual effort was needed to get it right to the top and locked off, but it was nearly a joy to work.

The very fine St Marys and All Saints church stands high above the surroundings, immaculte in the sunshine. Fotheringhay was to be our mooring for today, white posts marking where you can moor on a farmers field.

Plenty of of boats have bumped and scraped their way through here

The first stretch has a very high bank and we didn’t fancy it. Through Fotheringhay Bridge which if you are wide is the lowest bridge on the river. Downstream more moorings stretched out. We looked for a lower bank, this was possible but very close to some campers, so we decided to reverse back to join another narrowboat below the castle. The plank was brought out to make getting on and off that bit easier for humans, the four legged crew of course had no problem, well the amount of humans about was a problem at first.

Fotheringhay Castle was the birth place of Richard III on October 2nd 1452. It is also the place where Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots was beheaded. A plaque alongside a large piece of castle rubble gives the date of her demise as 8th February 1586/7, I wonder why the two years?

Time to give Mick a hair cut, I did my best and refrained from there being a second beheading in the castle grounds, although I can’t say the same for Tilly! With fewer people about she had the castle mound all to herself, well maybe a rabbit or two too.

She and I had a walk to the very top, a very good view with a breeze. From here I could plot my route down via as many rabbit holes as possible. Storm clouds gathered, the following rain storm didn’t deter Tilly from checking just about every hole she could get inside! Thankfully no large friends were brought home.

7 locks, 11.66 miles, 2 very low bridges, 6/7/12 churches, 1 buoy earning it’s keep, 0 castle keep, grade 3, 0 beheadings, 1 friend, 17 rabbit holes, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/Eik2LPVt4HQj9RDj9

All New Water. 6th May

Woodford FOTRN to Peartree Farm FOTRN mooring

We’d woken on another list, this time the other way round, Oleanna most probably just settling in the silt. Our neighbour got going before us and as we pushed out a narrowboat headed straight for our spot as if we’d been keeping it warm for them.

What a gorgeous morning! Blue skies surrounded us.

A chap sat on his lawn mower spraying out grass clippings as he went, obviously not part of the ‘No Mow May’ brigade. But then as we looked back we could only just about see his house! That’s one big lawn!

Woodford Lock was not too far away and we soon started winding down the guillotine gate. A wide beam appeared behind us, it had to tread water until Oleanna was moved off the lock landing. The advantage of being followed on these locks is that so long as the guillotine gate is raised enough for you to safely exit with your boat you don’t have to wind it all the way back up to the very top to lock it off, saving several minutes of cardio vascular exertion at the big wheel.

The river banks were mostly low today, cow parsley, rapeseed, and many plants standing tall in the sunshine waving in the breeze. Holy Trinity at Denford made for a good photo giving me a break from spinning the wheel.

More tight bridges to negotiate today. The old piers of a former railway bridge sit on a bend at an angle, a beep of the horn was felt necessary just in case. Then under Islip Road Bridge with it’s narrow arches. Just upstream of the bridge is a mooring, too soon for us to stop and a tricksy one to get into.

Through Thrapston, we made note of the Islip Dave mooring which has no land access, but would be a better choice for Tilly than the one by the bridge. It’s places like this that you’d like to be able to explore on foot, but being on a river just pulling in where you’d like isn’t really an option. If we wanted to explore Thrapston we’d need to either be by the bridge or on the EA mooring just out of town.

By Titchmarsh Lock we caught last nights neighbour up. He was obviously a local as people stopped to chat with him at the lock, he moors at Middle Nene Cruising club which has a fantastic mill alongside it. Our pamphlet from the EA suggests you’d be able to moor considerately on the downstream lock landing, but we’d be too long for any consideration of this sadly.

Not much further on to Peartree Farm Mooring. I’d been wondering if the moorings would get busier today with it being the start to the weekend, but as we pulled up we were the only ones. This is where Harpers Brook joins the River Nene and the land at the junction has been fenced off to make an idyllic mooring. Space for several boats we chose to moor on the brook to make use of what solar the day had left to offer.

Tilly had an explore, trying out several trees for size, many just a touch too wide for good climbing and the lack of nearby friendly cover knocked it down from a Mrs Tilly stamped mooring. There’s a barbeque area with a picnic table. Fairy houses in trees and bird boxes. Lovely, but I think I preferred the views of yesterdays mooring.

As the afternoon went on the sun hid behind clouds and the temperature dropped necessitating lighting the stove. We were joined by the widebeam that had been following us and then a narrowboat from down stream, all sitting out around a fire pit as it got dark and started to rain. The last boat to pass was after 10pm, someone holding a torch out front to see the way.

4 locks, 3 wheels, 6.57 miles, 1 sunny warm morning, 1 improvised handle, 1 week to mow a lawn, 2 pretty churches, 1 neighbour caught up, 1 mill, 2 many trees to choose from, 1 pile of ash! 1 grey afternoon, 1 wet night ahead.

https://goo.gl/maps/WCnEqg4eNdMbioU77

Eight Years And One Month to the Day. 5th May

Water Ski Lake, Ditchford to Woodford FOTRN

We woke on a list, one of those that’s a touch unsettling, thank goodness we have a cross bed so neither of us had fallen out of bed. It wasn’t that bad really, with me at the bow to help spread the weight, Mick reversed Oleanna off the silt with ease.

What a lovely day, the sun was out and blue sky cruising lay ahead for us. For much of our journey today we’ve been surrounded by lakes, the water ski lake stretches on for what feels like miles to a retail park. Both horizons seem to have developments going on. The north side new houses and currently the south has fencing around it suggesting more houses.

Today we’d encounter two more types of lock. The first Ditchford Lock which instead of a guillotine gate has a radial gate. Apparently there used to be several more of these along the river, but this is the only one that remains.

The bottom gate is curved and drops in at the bottom of the lock, all operated by fingers on buttons again. We should be keeping an eye out for other locks that have previously had radial gates as they have large downstream recesses that used to house the mechanism.

Then the longest reach of river we’ve had so far towards Higham Ferrers Lock, 2 miles! A boat was just coming into the lock from below so I tried to help close the gate behind it. Another boat appeared below too, but the chap said he’d shared with them and they’d said as he was in a rush to head onwards without them, he was a boat mover. Blimey that gate was heavy and took two people to get it moving. It turns out there had been a notice regarding it.

Up the boat came, but only so far. We went to check the bottom gate, the paddles had been left up! No indicator that we could find to show this. The last boat through had possibly been a hire boat (it had passed us this morning), possibly with someone wearing C&RT clothing, all speculation. With the paddles closed the boat came up and we could descend, by now the next boat was waiting below.

Yesterday Mick had had confirmation texts and messages that his phone had been registered for strong stream alerts on the Anglian Waterways. Levels can change suddenly down here as the EA manage water levels. If there is flooding the locks can be reversed, making them into sluices sending water downstream fast. The locks are filled, top gates chained open and then the guillotine gate is raised, being on pins downstream of a lock is not a good place to be! Follow the link below to register for warnings.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/anglian-waterways-river-conditions-closures-and-restrictions

Irthlingborough looks an interesting place.

Heading towards the next lock we also signed up to the Friends Of The River Nene Facebook group here there are discussions and information about the river, more than you get from the FOTRN website.

A bridge had also stuck in our memory, Old Station Road Bridge, sits downstream of the New Station Road Bridge a concrete possibly 1920’s 30’s high bridge. The old bridge comprises of double and triple chamfered arches. Through the centuries it has been widened, Mid C14th and has date stones from 1668, 1829, 1754 and 1922.

Here you take a specific arch and a boat heading upstream had come a cropper coming through, getting stuck at an angle heading them straight off into the reeds. We cut our speed and then slowed as much as we could to tread water, good job the flow wasn’t stronger. They sorted themselves out and came past, we now had to try to line up with the skew arch and from a position we’d not have chosen to be in. Mick deftly turned Oleanna and avoided adding any more groves to the well worn bridge.

A pit stop at the EA moorings was had for lunch and to empty our yellow water tank. Then we were off again to Irthlingborough Lock where we had a couple of gongoozlers watching our every move. It’s funny without a car my geography of England is now centred around canals and rivers, proximity to cities and towns only a twenty minute drive away feels like it’s on the other side of the country. The gongoozlers mentioned Stoke Bruerne, a 30 minute drive yet on a boat it would take over 16 hours. For us that would be a 4 day cruise!

The river at times now gets quite narrow with trees here there and everywhere, you have to keep your eyes peeled for on coming boats. We passed two more FOTRN moorings, at least one is likely to be stopped at on the way back.

Upper Ringstead Lock was the place we had our very first night onboard Lillyanne. We tied to the end bollard of the lock landing and hammered a spike in for the bow rope. Today the lock landing looked tidier than eight years ago, but what hadn’t changed was the guillotine mechanism! This one is the first manually operated gate heading downstream.

This is one thing I’d not forgotten about the River Nene, the big wheel!

Once unlocked you spin the big wheel round and round and round and……. you’ve got the idea. The wheel may be big making it easier to move the guillotine, but the shear number of times you have to spin it is unrelenting! Thank goodness Upper Ringstead Lock is only shallow. I put one idea into action here, get Mick to drop the guillotine then I would raise it, splitting the arm ache between the two of us.

Soon we were at Lower Ringstead Lock, alongside Willy Watt Marina. This was the very first lock we ever did in Lillyanne and our first Nene lock. We didn’t remember it at all. Was it manual back then? Or fingers on buttons? I think we were so giddy at finally owning our own boat that nothing much was stored in the memory bank.

Round a big bend and under the old railway bridge, we were soon passing Woodford Riverside Marina, a little arm off to the west. Well it’s actually two little arms with an island between them. This is where Lillyanne had spent most of her life before we bought her and where we collected her from 8 years and a month ago today. We’d had one trip that day by car to off load our belongings and pick up the keys, Merve the previous owner was a touch twitchy not having received the proceeds of the sale via the broker, he was also twitchy as her licence had expired. We then drove to Crick Marina to leave the car and our friend Lizzie gave us a lift back.

Merve seemed happier this time, hopefully the £1 the brokers send through to check it’s your account before sending the rest of the money (the following week in our experience!) had arrived. It was late in the afternoon, we untied and pushed off down the narrow channel between moored boats to the entrance onto the river. We had a crowd watching us. It was the first time Mick had been at her helm and the turn out under the bridge was very tight, yet he managed it without touching a thing.

Not far 0.25km further on we pulled in at Woodford FOTRN mooring for the day. The bank was uneven for much of its length, a section having collapsed at some point, but we made the best of it and left plenty of room for someone else should they arrive, which they did later in the afternoon.

The chairs came out and we both enjoyed the view as Tilly explored the area. Good friendly cover and the occasional small tree to climb. She however didn’t spot the Yoyo flies that kept her occupied and us amused when we were on the River Avon a few years ago.

I had a good catch up chat with David, he’s moved away from Newark now, he has good and bad days, but is doing okay.

*I must not go on others peoples boats!*

5 locks, 8.15 miles, 8 moving boats, 2 gongoozlers, 1 empty yellow water tank, 1 stop for lunch, 8 years 1month, 1 yellow boats previous home, 2 shop bought pizzas personalised, 1 neighbour, 1.25 star review! 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/gui6zcnYAzdQMeyY8

Mob Handed. 25th April

Middle Lane Lock 36 to Wedgenock Lane Bridge 50A

Last night we watched the bats swooping for insects around our mooring. Apart from the occasional train we had a peaceful night. Last time we moored here I had a broken ankle, so Mick single handed the flight with Tilly and myself trying to watch films below. On that occasion we paused on this mooring for a whole day to let storm Doris go over, we wouldn’t be staying as long this time.

Before we were ready to push off this morning a pair came up the flight. We weren’t in a hurry to set off and kept an eye out behind in case a boat was making it’s way down that we could share the second half of the locks with. But there was no sign.

At 10am we were ready. A volunteer had arrived too, he went down to the next lock to set it ready for us and check nobody was coming up. We were then joined by another two volunteers. One chap carried on down the flight to set ahead with the other two helping to close gates and work paddles.

We now started to meet boats coming up, another pair and one on it’s own. This meant we lost some volunteers, but by now we’d also picked up another two! Five volunteers in all.

We knew that they wouldn’t all stay with us to the bottom lock, but the chap who’d started helping us first kept setting the lock ahead for us. With the pounds between locks getting longer and longer this was very handy indeed. Another chap with a bike carried on down, leaving us with the last couple still to do. Thank you to them all for their help.

We came out of the bottom lock at around 11.30 and pootled our way round Budbrooke Junction. The sun was out, not as warm as yesterday but we wanted to make use of the sunlight. We pulled in behind another boat a short distance before Wedgenock Lane Bridge, further along we’d be over shadowed by flats and trees.

A quick check on the lane alongside the moorings and both of us agreed that Tilly’s shore leave would have to wait for another day. The lane leads to the cemetery, it isn’t busy, but vehicles tend not to go along it slowly, the worst kind for a cat escaping danger.

Look out for raspberries on the off side later in the year

The afternoon passed with Mick trying to sort out the best route back to Scarborough to collect our postal votes, neither of us are convinced that if they were posted on to us that we would receive them in time to make our votes count. I knitted another couple of pairs of baby socks and Tilly complained about being shut in doors.

This evening we headed along the towpath and crossed the lock to have a meal at The Cape Of Good Hope. We’ve only eaten out a couple of times since we last ate here last September. We’d booked an early table so as to avoid the crowds coming in for the pub quiz.

A burger each, mine with a gluten free bun, half the size of Mick’s costing an extra £1.50! But worth it. These were followed by a chocolate fondant and banoffee cheesecake. All very nice apart from Mick’s arriving on a roofing slate from which cherry juice dropped onto his clean pair of jeans! Mental note, always ask for food to be served on standard crockery.

We’d just finished our meal as the quiz teams arrived. We’re still not keen on sharing air space with lots of people.

11 locks, 1.87 miles, 5 volunteers, 1 easy descent, 23hours 28 minutes, 1 slow afternoon, 4 baby socks, 1 annoying howling second mate, 2 burgers, 1 glass wine, 1 pint, 2 puddings, Happy (what would have been his) 97th Birthday to my Dad.

https://goo.gl/maps/SKNftDdMbDu3dwS6A

There Is Only One Way. 8th April

Stoke Lock to Trent Junction

Needing to catch up and the sun being out meant we were happy to push off this morning. Blue skies lift the heart and thankfully there were blue skies back in Newark too making life that bit easier.

Three sunny miles cruising up to Holme Lock. Mick tried radioing ahead in case there was a Lock Keeper on duty, but officially they start back next week. No reply came so I was to work the buttons.

Holme Lock is huge and always takes an age to empty and even longer to fill. Add to that the button controls and their flashing lights! Well we were there for sometime before I could even open the gates. With Oleanna in the lock I started to press the open button to bring her up, water gushing in, yet the level taking forever to fill.

All of a sudden the towpath opposite there was a todo! A family had been walking their dog on a lead when another dog appeared and attacked it, it kept coming back for more no matter what the people did. The lady said things to me which I really couldn’t hear and I was trying to concentrate on Oleanna. I think she thought I was a Lock Keeper and would know which boat the dog eventually ran off to. Unfortunately I couldn’t help.

Now on our way into Nottingham, the reach was quiet, no sailing boats out today and despite the cricket season having started there was no-one playing at Trent Bridge.

Hang on! Were there people in the garden of Southfork? This is the first time we’ve ever seen anyone near this house! New builds are still going up along the river, including a new development overlooking Meadow Lane Lock.

A widebeam was coming down in the lock, the lady saying they were going up the river, so I signalled to Mick that they would be turning upstream. Well that’s not what she meant at all, they were heading downstream to Stoke. Fortunately Mick had moved so they could pick up crew anyway.

We pulled onto the water point where I jumped ship and headed off to Hobbycraft to buy myself a sketchbook and some tracing paper so that I can be ready to start Panto when the next version of the script arrives.

Mick topped up the water, emptied the wee tank and rinsed off the roof before I got back.

Along the next stretch I stood in the bow with a tape measure. We’d offered to measure the height of the new rail bridge for David to see if he’d be able to get under it. When on the River Wey a few years ago we managed to work out our air draught to the top of the horns. The new rail bridge was 88cm above them. The tape came out again once round the 90degree bend as some of the bridges seemed low too. In fact one of them only measured 75cm above our horns.

Approaching the Sainsburys moorings we were surprised at the number of boats moored up near the student accommodation. We pulled in to the last gap we could see, just as well as round the corner it was nose to tail boats! Yes we moored right in front of a no mooring sign, yes we had lunch, yes we went shopping and no we cannot work out why there is no mooring there!

Nest making, we also saw a pair necking today

Mick called round to check on diesel prices. Castle marina £1.75. Mercia £1.78! Then Shobnall, if we wanted over 50 litres it would be £1.20. Being twelve hours cruise away we should be fine until then and at that price it will almost certainly save us £50! We did however pull into Castle Marina for some coal £13.50 for 25kg of Excell. They had some Marine 16 too but at over £30 Mick decided to leave it and see how much it might be at Shobnall.

Back onto the Nottingham and Beeston Cut we pootled our way westwards catching up with an extreamly slow boat who thankfully let us pass. Starting to get cold we wanted to stop so tried pulling into a gap. The wind did it’s best to push Oleanna away from the bank and even with both of us clinging on we couldn’t get her into the side, we’d try further along. Well there were no gaps further along. Nottingham seems to have had an increase in local continuous cruisers, we reckon there’s about five times the amount of boats than there used to be.

Beeston Lock where windlasses are welded onto the paddles

Only one thing for it we’d have to carry on along the river and hope for space on Cranfleet cut or at Trent Lock. It was cold and threatening to rain, but we had no choice.

We did our best to keep towards the western bank, after hearing the story of NB Legend getting stuck on an old submerged wall last year we really wanted to avoid any possibility of re-enacting the incident.

Soon Cranfleet lock was in view and we tried to remember if we knew which paddle to lift first. No recollection at all. Having four gate paddles it’s confusing, thank goodness you can hang back in the lock. It turned out that I guessed correctly choosing the paddle on the same side as Oleanna, but in the middle first followed by the outer one.

Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station just across the way

At the junction we popped out far enough to see if there was space on the pontoon at Trent Lock, there was, but on the inside so no view. However there was a space on the wall at the junction so we pulled in at 7:30, stoked up the stove and got warm again.

5 locks, 15.2 miles, 2 rights, 1 junction, 1 beautiful day, 5 times as many boats, 3 bags coal, 0 diesel today, 8ft 8inches we think, 1 inch too low, 2 boxes wine, 1 shopping trolley back to the boat, 0 shore leave, 1 tidier boat, 1 more good day for David.

https://goo.gl/maps/F1CniEGNnBT3Rk3E9

Strength And Courage. 5th April

Muskham Ferry to Newark

Waking up in the morning can take some courage. Having the strength to get out of bed to attend a meeting about your mental health is extremely hard, opting to stay hidden under the duvet a much easier option. Add into the mix not having slept properly for weeks along with not eating much for days. We all knew though that the meeting had the potential to be a step forward.

The taxi arrived bang on time and on our journey in to Newark I recounted our journey from Keadby to Cromwell. David has been around boats for much of his life and yesterday he’d been imagining where we’d been on the river, which bend, what landmark we’d passed. All this to help keep his mind busy.

A dated building close to Aldi was where we were to meet two chaps who’d come from the Crisis team. David wanted us there with him, to be an extra voice in the room. If things seemed to be going round in circles then hopefully we’d be able to help. Unfortunately the room could only hold three people, fine for the two chaps and David, but that wasn’t going to happen. We split into two, Mick staying with one of the chaps to have a conversation about our concerns, then David, myself and the other fella headed to a more private room.

We talked through David’s problems, what support he could access. The chaps had read through his notes thoroughly before coming this morning, he was already known to them. Hopefully he was reassured that he could access their help at anytime. There are certain things that David needs to do for himself, then other support channels will be open to him.

The room was too hot and stuffy, thank goodness the Covid guidelines had dictated only three of us could be in there at any time. But the heat was too much, fresh air was needed. Outside we now could chat to the other chap, his area of support different. The general thought was that if David could get back to Newark on his boat then he’d have so much more access to things that could help, they’d all be within walking distance of his boat, but the move had to come from David.

Now David was exhausted there was no point in continuing with the meeting. Before we left I made sure that they understood that living on a boat can be very isolating, please could someone call him regularly, just for a chat as well as to check on him.

In the taxi on the way back we talked things over that had been said, related them to other people we knew. For me it had been good to hear what the chaps had to say, and now be able to help David remember as I used to when my Dad had hospital appointments.

After a rest David joined us for a sandwich, at last we’d seen him eat something. Could we help him to get his boat started? He was afraid that over the last few weeks his batteries had dropped so much charge that they may never recover. He’d been surviving on what solar power he was getting. Certain things on the boat having stopped working.

With us around he summoned up the strength to pull out his generator. This was started to kick start his engine, but would it work? The generator worked and after a while David tried to start his engines, his boat has two. With lots of dials in the cockpit he could see what charge was going into the batteries, Mick and he consulted over such things. After about fifteen minutes both engines were running, his boat still had life. This alone was a huge achievement and one that brought a smile to everyone’s faces.

David now asked if he could move the boat with us up into Newark, he had purpose and drive. After a discussion it was decided that we’d move one boat at a time and that we should strike whilst the iron was hot. We would move David first, all three of us onboard, I would work Nether Lock leaving Mick and David in the cockpit.

A bit of rope adjustment was needed before we could set off as both boats were tied together as the mooring cleats on the pontoon were none existent for the centre lines. With this done and the Key of Power in my pocket, all three of us onboard the engines pushed us round into the current to head towards Newark.

Mick and I have never really been on a cruiser before, so being inside in the cockpit felt a bit strange, no wind burn for us today standing outside, but what a treat. All the gauges were checked by David, even the depth sounder was turned on! This was handy when we reached a section of the river where the depth below the keel reduced from 2.5m to 0.5m, no wonder our progress had slowed, the engines were adjusted accordingly.

Mick was given a go at the wheel. The difference between a tiller and wheel instantly showed itself as we started heading towards a bank! Just a different mind set, steer as you would in a car not a narrowboat.

Being able to climb outside and have a wider gunnel to stand on before going ashore was nice. They then took the boat back to hover whilst I emptied Nether Lock.

The newish lock controls here were really frustrating. They gradually allow you to lift the sluices, pressing the Open button when it is constant, but when it flashes nothing will happen. So you press it, wait for it to go constant, press it again. The sluices fully up the water drained out. Below the lock the water stopped being busy, obviously the water was now level, but the light kept flashing and flashing and flashing and fla….. you get the idea!

It was decided to close the whole thing down and try again. I still had to wait an absolute age for the sensor to realise that the lock was now empty and that I’d be able to open the gates. In came the boat, Mick using a rope to hold them in to the side and I gradually lifted the sluices when all was calm below. The top gates behaved as you’d expect, thankfully.

Back on board we now had to squeeze through a gap between the bank and a skip boat which had been left that bit too close to the bend. David just managed to get through, we wondered if Oleanna would have difficulty being longer.

In Newark we pulled in onto the pontoon. Mooring cruisers is slightly different than for a narrowboat so we followed the skippers lead. Time for David to have a rest.

We popped into town to pick up a repeat prescription and check in a couple of shops for a new sketch book for Panto. Sadly Hills didn’t have the one I like with a hard cover and suitable paper should I want to use paint, but not so expensive that you wouldn’t want to scrawl notes in it.

A taxi from Castle Station and we were soon on our way back to North Muskham to move Oleanna.

Untying took a bit of thinking about. The centre line wasn’t really doing too much, maybe taking a bit of strain away from the bow line. But as soon as the bow line was undone the stern would be pushed round by the current meaning I’d need to be onboard, Mick would need to whisk Oleanna out from the moorings as quickly as possible before the bow had chance to make contact with the cruiser on the other side of us.

It all went to plan and we waved goodbye to North Muskham. Thank you for helping our friend.

Deja vu cruising, just slightly chillier than being on the cruiser. We’d made sure we wrapped up well, winter cruising clothes and wind burnt faces. 3 egrets took off in front of us, don’t think we’ve ever seen three together before.

Mick pulled in below Nether Lock to drop me off at a ladder, no just stepping off as I’d done earlier. The large overhang causing concern for our cabin sides, but we managed to keep Oleanna away from harm.

Prepared for the wait at the bottom gates I’d taken gloves with me this time, nothing to do but kick one’s heels for ten minutes before the light turned solid and I could open the gates.

Up above Mick managed to squeeze Oleanna past the skip boat and pulled in to wait for me to climb back down a ladder. Caution should be taken with some of these ladders on Nether Lock as there is quite often not much room behind the runs for your toes!

David joined us for some food, a plate of chicken pasta, possibly the most he’s eaten in days. Conversations about boating, toilets of course! We got to see a bit of the David we’d met last year today. He’d been strong and brave and achieved much, he was rightly proud of himself. The day however had been exhausting for him.

1 lock twice, 2 boats, 3.4 miles, twice, 3 taxis, 2 chaps, 3 in a room, 1 sandwich, 1 plate of pasta, 1st repeat prescription pick up, 0 sketch books, 2 engines working, 1 day of achievements, 1 email from my cousin in Ukraine, 1 Harry, 1 lobster.

Here are a few links to places where you can find help with mental health

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/where-to-start/

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline

https://www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/help-in-a-crisis

A Call For Help. 3rd April

From where we were to Keadby Visitor Moorings

Mick got into the bios of the lap top, set various things in motion which were going to take just about all day. We left it to do it’s thing. Thankfully Tilly seemed to be more her normal self and full rations were reinstated.

A Sunday morning cooked breakfast was enjoyed before we got going. Time to do the remaining swing bridges.

Godnow Swing Bridge is interconnected with the railway level crossing, a little building sits between the canal and railway to house the level crossing keeper. There used to be a huge control panel to work the bridge, but this has now been replaced with one of the slim C&RT two button panels.

Once the key is turned the crossing keeper has to close the rail gates to road traffic before you can close the bridge to road traffic. The old manual barriers have been replaced with the drop down kind. A lot better than it used to be as it had it’s moments. We managed to hold one car up.

Onwards gradually the sky being filled with more and more power generating. The gas power station and wind turbines making the most of the flat landscape.

Vazon Swing Bridge with the slider behind

Vazon Swing Bridge is the most simple to operate on the Stainforth and Keadby, turn the key, lift the latch and push. Once closed we then had a wait before we could proceed further.

We’d actually timed our arrival pretty well. A goods train coming over the Vazon Sliding Bridge in front of us almost immediately. Then the bridge keeper put the bridge into operation for us. Sirens, flashing lights go on for what feels like forever. Then the whole bridge starts to slide back diagonally across the cut to open our route. No dawdling to be done here, I’m sure there was a big gap between trains, otherwise we’d not have been allowed through, but you still feel the pressure and scoot through.

The Keadby Lockie was chatting to a chap on a cruiser when we pulled up, he was most probably called Mark. The flood in the morning would be at 7:10 and Kirsty would be on duty to pen us down. We would be joined by another boat later today who would be joining us for the trip, we could be Trent buddies.

The big crane boat waiting to head to Thorne on Monday

We filled with water and started to make ready for our tidal journey. The well deck was cleared and washed down, the chain bucket brought out from a locker. One end attached to the anchor the other to the T stud on the bow. Mick checked the weed hatch and gave the engine a check through too. Only Tilly’s escape pod to put together in the morning.

Tomorrow the plan had been to make use of the big Spring Tide and make it all the way to Cromwell Lock. A long day at the tiller. But looking at Windy the wind was set to get quite high in the early afternoon the further south we got. Maybe we’d split the journey at Torksey and continue on Tuesday. A phone call had been made to the Cromwell Lock Keeper to book us in for Tuesday, but asking if we made it there on Monday could we pen up then instead. This was fine so long as we arrived before 4pm. All sorted.

A shower full, quite miss the Christmas tree being in there

Then things changed, with just one phone call. Our friend David, whom we escaped Goole with last year has been having a hard time with his mental health. He’d reached out to us just before we moved back onto Oleanna and we’ve talked a couple of times since. He was in a really bad way, could we get to him today, he couldn’t be on his own anymore.

David was near Newark, the way we were heading, but 45 miles away. We certainly couldn’t get there by boat today and no trains were running. What to do? We talked and talked and in the end promised that we would fight against the wind tomorrow to get to Cromwell to be with him.

I then tried ringing an NHS Mental Health helpline, but without knowing who David’s doctor was this was hard. His phone would also soon have run out of battery with little chance of charging it up as his boat batteries were dead. The lady tried to help, suggesting getting him to A&E. I considered dialing 999 but that didn’t feel right. I conferred with Heather from NB Bleasdale who also knows of David’s situation, she also agreed that 999 was not the thing to do.

This has been written with David permission, he wants to try help raise awareness of his situation. For obvious reasons my blog posts may be a touch patchy for a little while.

0 locks, 2 swing bridges, 1 sliding bridge, 1 car held up, 0 trains held up, 5 hrs 35 mins, 1 shower full, 7am start, 1 call for help, 1 promise made that I hope we can keep.

https://goo.gl/maps/tEF8MkBfUH9YtdZd9

Back Where We Started. 1st April

Thorne Services to the big bend between Moores and Maud’s Bridges

Before breakfast we pushed back off the service pontoon to free up space should anyone be passing and want to fill with water. This took quite a bit of doing to keep facing eastwards as there wasn’t much room to manoeuvre the bow round as the wind was doing it’s best to blow the stern that way. But nudging back and forth Mick got Oleanna turned. We then headed backwards to moor up behind a line of wide beams and Dutch barges, tied to railings, not the best place but at least we’d freed up the water point.

First new green Biffa Recycling bin spotted!

Just as we’d finished the boat that had been moored next to us pulled out and headed towards the lock. Oh well we’d stay put.

Breakfast then a trip into town to post the socks and then stock up on supplies for the next week. Everything was stowed away and we were about to untangle our ropes from the undergrowth when the heavens opened again with wintery showers. An early lunch was called for.

Princess Royal Swing Bridge lived up to its reputation today! I turned the key, opened the panel, no click from the barriers. I walked over to the other side the annoying barrier closed but not the other one, it was locked in place. Keys out try again. Nothing.

Mick tied Oleanna up and came to have a go too. Still nothing, that click on turning the key just was not happening. We tried wiggling the gates, turning the key, pressing buttons that are just lights, anything and everything. Then in unison Mick pushed the troublesome gate back as I turned the key as far as it would go, Bingo! The click! The gates hadn’t registered as being closed by the looks of it, so therefore you couldn’t open them!

Job done and we were on our way again passing the four abreast boats on the other side of the road bridge.

We pulled in at Blue Water Marina for a top up of diesel. At the moment they don’t sell to passing boaters, but as we’d moored there over winter Sarah was happy to give us a top up of 37 litres, we wanted a full tank before heading out onto the tidal Trent, however we didn’t really want to spend the £1.50 a litre, but needs must.

Five weeks ago we’d pulled out from Blue Water to move Oleanna to the other side of Thorne Lock before the stoppage started, today we were back where we’d started having just come through the lock yesterday which will at last close on Monday. Today we wanted to get a bit further east towards Keadby.

The bridges between Thorne and Keadby are all that little bit different from each other. Today we passed under Wykewell Lift Bridge (fully automated with the key of power and button pressing) then Moores Swing Bridge (key of power, button pressing, flashing lights, manual barriers). I managed to hold up 8 cars in all.

The railway hugs the canal for much of the 10 miles to Keadby, not a busy line, but quite a lot of freight heading to and from Drax Power Station. We’d identified a couple of bends in the canal that head away from the line so we planned to stop on one of them.

The land around here is so flat which increases the amount of sky. Ahead of us white clouds and blue sky. Behind heavy dark almost black clouds, winter precipitation hanging waiting to fall.

We just got moored up before the next wave of winter weather crossed overhead. The fire was stoked up, Tilly allowed out and a chicken tray bake popped in the oven.

No knitting this evening, just a request from my cousin for my sock pattern. This is more of an equation than a pattern so I’m not sure she’ll understand it, but I tried my best. Then sewing up a hole in the pocket of Mick’s waterproof padded trousers. We’ll be needing layers when we go out onto the Trent, I may even dig out the balaclavas I made three years ago for a trip in the opposite direction.

0 locks, 1.97 miles, 1 lift bridge, 2 swing bridges, 8 held up, 1 obstinate bridge, 37 litres, 0 boxes of wine, 2 sky day, 1 lovely bend.

https://goo.gl/maps/xzdBEZHVkKD9rkS99

Critical To Fatal. 28th March

Thorne Lock

You may have noticed (unless the problem has been solved when you read this) that there is no blog roll on the right hand side.

This evening Mick came to the blog to have a catch up on fellow bloggers posts only to find the blog was missing, a ‘critical’ error had occured! Oh blimey, what had Tilly been upto whilst we were out earlier?

WordPress sent an email to our IT department (Mick) regarding the critical error.

Since WordPress 5.2 there is a built-in feature that detects when a plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with this automated email.

In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins, RSS Feed Checker.

Critical had turned into Fatal in one email!

Not being able to access the ‘dashboard’ to look into the problem Mick was given the option of going into a special ‘recovery mode’. He did this and was able to remove the blog roll plugin. The blog is now visible again. More investigation is required tomorrow.

This fly is far more interesting than the wet outside

They sad it was a Sausage Day, but it turned into a bit of a Frankfurter! She said I had nine hours. Then it rained! Tom said I could still go out. Until he closed the back doors and said he and She were going out instead!

A loaf of bread was required along with a stretch of our legs. So we headed into town to Sainsburys.

Below Thorne Lock two C&RT boats are sitting waiting for next week, they have small diggers on them, the sort that are used for dredging only a bit cleaner! These will be joined at some point by a big crane boat which was being used at Newark Town Lock until recently.

With our shopping done we headed to Thorne Boat Services to see if they had any Marine 16, an additive Mick likes to put in the diesel tank to stop diesel bug. We looked round the chandlery, but they had none. Today their diesel was £1.45 a litre.

To cross over the canal we headed for the troublesome footbridge just as someone was opening it to get their boat through. Good job it wasn’t a windy day as when the chap had taken his boat through he stepped off without a rope. Pedestrians including ourselves were on hand to open the barriers, if we hadn’t been we suspect his boat would have drifted away just that bit too much to be able to jump back on. One of those instances where you just have to wait till it drifts back towards a bank.

Dolly Earl always has washing hanging out

We tried the Chandlery at Staniland Marina too, but the doors were firmly locked. Maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.

Mick called the chap who has our cratch cover, it is ready and he’ll bring it with him one day this week when he’s back in Thorne to do other work, he’s not sure when yet.

The afternoon was spent knitting, eighth pair finished and the yarn for the ninth pair wound into two balls ready.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 winding, 0 bridges, 2 work boats, 3 lodgers, 1 loaf bread, 0 cratch cover, 8th pair finished, 1 Frankfurter day, 1 fatal error thankfully not that fatal!

Boat Conference. 21st March

Bramwith Junction to Pollington Lock, Aire and Calder

Time to put a plan together. Sitting around waiting for my glasses to arrive doesn’t get the water tank filled or other boat jobs done. So after breakfast and updating the blog we had a boat conference. These are actually quite rare, most discussions of our plans are held as we stand on the back of Oleanna, but today we needed to concentrate.

Our original plan had been to make use of the weeks whilst Thorne Lock was shut. The London Leckenby’s have a few days in York so we’d planned to join them, maybe even a boat trip into our home city as Jac and Josh have never done this and the tour guides on Oleanna know exactly where to stop to see our family home from the river. Various boat jobs to get done and do. Friends to catch up with around the area etc. Also being in the area for a change over of lodgers at the house would be handy. It all had fitted together quite nicely. Then after Easter we would head southwards on the Trent, the quick way south.

But since the dates for the stoppage at Thorne Lock have changed we’ve been in a quandary. Spending time in York is very appealing especially since Andrew and I haven’t been in the city together for at least 6 years and that was for a funeral. Catching up with friends is something we’d wanted to do summer before last, but floods and the pandemic put paid to that as we were rafted up with other boats at Naburn for several days.

Should we stay and do all those things?

Should we leave before the lock closes in a couple of weeks?

We’ve spent a lot of time mulling this over and every day for the last week we’ve discussed it further, but still not come up with a plan. Today we needed a plan.

Our discussion actually was relatively short.

If the London Leckenby’s hadn’t been coming up to York then we doubt we’d have been considering heading that way at this time of year. We’ve upgraded to a Gold Licence this year and if we stayed on this side of Thorne Lock and then exited via the Pennines it would mean us loosing about a months worth of Goldness. Decision made, we will be heading south on the Trent as soon as the tides look suitable.

A list of things we need to do was drawn up. Approximate dates worked out and ,most importantly a phone call made to Keadby Lock to book our passage. Sadly there was only an answerphone to talk to, but we knew someone would call us back.

With water needed we pushed off along the New Junction Canal again. If my glasses arrive in the next few days we’ll aim to be near a station to get back to Doncaster to collect them.

We made our way back swinging and lifting bridges. Before Sykehouse Lock three narrowboats that passed us yesterday were moored up, they looked like they were settled for a few days of company, jobs and possibly even a barbeque.

As we came through the last narrowing where a swing bridge used to be the light at the lock changed to red, shortly followed by green. There were plenty of people around. The volunteer who must live there in the tower, another C&RT chap by the bridge and a couple of boaters, so there was plenty of help to move the bridge out of our way and then back once we were below it.

At the end of the New Junction we turned left and headed towards Pollington Lock.

A couple of bank slippages are marked with yellow buoys. These were there when we walked the stretch shortly after the breach happened Christmas 2020. Short red posts and some spray paint mark the worst bits.

The visitor moorings below Pollington Lock were empty so we pulled up to the space closest to the water point and got the tap going. We very quickly remembered that the pressure is appalling at this tap, no sitting and waiting for the tank to fill, best to get on with other things and forget about it. Thankfully we can check our water gauge every now and then to know when the tank was full, the pressure so low that there’d be no boom from our tank and no major gushing of water coming out of the over flow, just a gentle trickle. It took longer than two hours to fill us up!

Tilly checked out the picnic table, but wasn’t overly impressed with the mooring. She’s managed to get on the other side of the ditch here before which makes for an interesting rescue. Mick however looked at the picnic table and realised what we’d be doing tomorrow!

1 lock, 7.32 miles, 3 swing bridges, 3 held up, 3 lift bridges, 6 held up, 2 outsides, 6%, 6th pair knitted, 2 plus hours to fill, 2 pairs of odd socks, 1 conference, 1 plan at last, 1 call booked, 1 useful picnic table and tap.