Sorry Tilly, it’s time for us to get moving again, we need water!
As we pootled along we wondered if we’d be joining a queue at the next waterpoint at Ye Olde No 3. We weren’t disappointed, one boat hooked up and another waiting, the usual wind pinning everyone to the bank. The first boat still had about 15 minutes to go, the second boat said they’d be a while filling up, we had no choice but to wait as our tank was only quarter full. After a while the boat ahead of us decided they had enough supplies to last them a few more days, we compared notes as to where the next tap was, that would do them. It took quite a bit of effort to get off the bank and around Oleanna, Mick pushing thier boat out as much as he could to get past our bow and pick up speed to be able to stay away from the long line of moored boats behind us.
He’s not here anymore
We nudged up and it was soon our turn. As soon as the hose was filling our tank the washing machine went on. This is normally a Mick job, but today it was mine. I forgot to turn the temperature of the wash down to 30C, so it took ages for the water to heat up, at least I’d remembered to put it on a quick wash.
Posted!
Next stop Lymm. Time to post the next batch of socks off and stock up on a few things to tide us over till we reach a bigger supermarket. Sooty’s house wasn’t quite so picturesque as normal, scaffolding up to a probelmatic chimney stack by the looks of it, but the obligatory bright blue sky zinged the white walls out as usual. The new owners not quite such keen gardeners as Matthew and Sooty used to be.
Lymm cross
How far to go today? It was already later than we’d planned. To reach our planned for destination (Shhhh secret handshakes and milk shakes) it was another three hours. Another hour of cruising would have us mooring around Stockton Heath, not so good for Tilly. In the end we pulled up just after Pickering’s Bridge, the towpath muddy, but not as muddy as elsewhere, a small bench should we want to sit on it and a tree for Tilly to claim as her own.
4 beds £695,000
We passed two canalside houses for sale. One a short distance before Lymm the other possibly the nearest property to the M6, which strangly enough isn’t shown in the photos. Obviously someone hasn’t been put off as it’s SSTC. Click on the photos for a nosy.
2 bedrooms £295,950
Unfortunatly Mick didn’t receive any phonecalls back from either the hospital or the boiler people today, so the next trip to Scarborough is still a little up in the air. This doesn’t help us in planning where to be to catch trains, or to pick up a hire car! Now such planning will have to wait till after the weekend.
Tilly’s Bridgewater tree
0 locks, 5.4 miles, not quite far enough, 1 full water tank, 1 load washing, 1 very helpful shop assistant, 5 pairs posted, 2 votes posted, 2 hours shore leave, 1 big tree, 1 bouncy woofer.
We’ve nearly had some spring weather the last couple of days. Waking early with the sun streaming in through the gap in the curtains, left by someone overnight!
Tillydoing her John Travolta impression
Thursdays sunrise was accompanied by frost on the towpath and fog clinging to the canal, well worth waking up for. Thankfully the stove was in so a quick jostle of the coals and opening up of the air vents brought it back to a blazing glory. By midday however I’d wished I’d let it go out, the sunshine warming up the boat nicely. The vents were closed down, into night time mode, just enough to keep it going until later on.
Tilly came and went. When the towpath has been busy she’s sat on a locker at the stern and watched people and woofers pass by. On one occasion I went to fill the coal skuttle very interesting, She needed supervising and a golden lab came running from as far as I could see straight for Oleanna. I suggested Tilly should take to the roof or go inside She jostled me under the pram cover, closing me in! How rude! The dog walker was adamant that his dog had stolen the tennis balls from our mooring spikes a week ago and that his dog remembered us. Well I think his woofer may have thought that at first, but rushing back and forth sniffing the air He could smell my sweet aroma!
Coming!
The embankment has been good when there’s been no hard rain. Shore based facilities have been sorted, trees, plenty of friendly cover to keep me busy for hours. Just a touch muddy under paw. This one needs another stamp of approval!
Look at those sunny colours
Inside I’ve been resting my swollen foot, my back and blowing my nose! Socks have been processed, packaged up with postage labels paid for, ready for the next post box we pass. Then it was time to do some sewing on Mick’s slippers.
Not the prettiest of stiching but hopefully it will last a while longer
I had to hunt out the strong thread I’d bought for mending the boat covers, a leather needle and my leather thimble so that I didn’t end up puncturing my own flesh too often. The front of the toe was stitched round, then more glue applied underneath it from the top, left to dry and then pressed firm to make it stick. I was going to leave it overnight but decided that maybe I was just putting off the awkward sewing, so got on with the job in hand. Not the prettiest of sewing ever, but it is far FAR better than it was before. Hopefully this will last a good while before it wears out.
Big waves
Boats have come past, including the lady who tied to a fence post back on the Calder and Hebble a few weeks back. I can’t remember if she was coming over the Huddersfield or Rochdale, I suspect the later as she was hot on the tail of another narrowboat. A rib also came past at what seemed to be a reasonable speed. However the wake they left behind was way over the banks, I just had to hope Tilly wasn’t stood on a gunnel.
Up in Scarborough Mick had seen a nurse at the doctors. He’d found a piece of board to put over a cracked floor board on the quarter landing, stopping you thinking you were about to go through the floor. Lots of washing, hoovering. The oven isn’t quite a shiney as it had been, but neither is the boats!
Oopps how did they end up on my plate?!
The appointment for an engineer to upgrade the boiler at the house had been for all day, then that was narrowed down to the afternoon. But when the afternoon came there was a phone call from the office saying that they’d been called to an emergency! An new appointment could be made anytime from next Monday. All fine for most people, except we’ll be further away by then and someone else living in the house who cannot be asked to hang around for an engineer to turn up as they’ll be at work. Some thought on this was needed for another trip back to the house.
Votes added to the pile of post
We’d been hoping that our postal vote for the Mayor of North Yorkshire and York would have arrived in time for Mick to pick them up. Thankfully after a visit to the dentist Thursday monrning, Mick still had a few things left to do at the house and was there when the post arrived, which included our postal votes. These are now crossed, signed and put in envelope B ready for posting. Also in the post was an invite for Mick to attend Scarborough Hospital for a routine screening. Would we be able to get an appointment for the boiler on the same day? Would he be able to get to the hospital for his appointment without an overnight stay? No-one was answering the phones to see if this could be arranged. Will we ever be free from medical appointments this year? I’ve just booked visits to my dentist too which require us to be near to a station! Oh all the logistics are getting far too complicated.
Come out and play!
Sadly no exploring for me, resting my back and foot seems to have worked though as both have improved greatly. Hopefully if we come back this way later in the year we’ll get chance to visit places I’ve missed this time.
This is our 2,000th post on the Oleanna blog. I remember the days when I used to get excited for the 100th or200thpost on the NB Lillyanne blog!
Back in 2014 we started our life afloat on Lillian (NB Lillyanne for new followers) a temporary boat whilst we waited for NB Oleanna to be built, we’d already waited quite a while! Lillian was bought with the previso that once we finally moved on board NB Oleanna we would have the year afloat that we’d been looking forward to for so long.
The original build didn’t go as it should have and we started to look for a new boat builder.Jonathan Wilson was the man to build us our boat, the delay had been handy as living on Lillian gave us some better ideas for the build, and some things we knew we’d not be wanting!
It took us until 7th April 2017 to move Tilly and a third of our possessions on board. That is when our year afloat started. The life suited us, so we just kept on going, an end date never entering our minds. Then covid came along. If it hadn’t been for our troublesome tenants during the first lockdown in 2020 I’m fairly sure we’d still be full time live aboards. But our house needed to be reclaimed. Would we prefer life on land to life on the water? Would we be able to afford both house and boat? We knew one thing, we wouldn’t be letting it out to long term tenants again!
So now, we spend as much of our time afloat as we can, actors lodging in the house for much of the year whilst we cruise the network. Time in the house is spent doing jobs, reclaiming and improving things for both us and those who stay there. The house just about pays for itself all year round, fingers crossed. Time on the boat has always been about travelling, more so now to make up for being static for a few months a year.
Some jobs on board have slipped in the last few years. The gunnels haven’t been touched since Oleanna was out for blacking in 2021. The grab rails have been patched but not finished. The roof is still in need of a very good wash, we’ve either been moving or it’s been raining so far this year, well that’s my excuse! The cabin sides really need a polish. But these things all take time and we’d rather be moving than doing chores. We’ve never been shiney boaters at heart.
July 2019 on the River Wey
We’ve had some questions recently regarding our new Bully Boy Batteries and how they are doing. Paul said we’d left our readers on tenterhooks after mentioning that they seemed to be charging at different rates, or something along those lines. Well I think Mick’s answer was that he’s stopped wondering why they are doing this and has just accepted it. With our new batteries we certainly don’t have the concerns over capacity as we used to, especially at the end of last year when we were down to just two of our original batteries. Because they have so much more capacity they take longer to charge, so if we are staying put for the day and want to run the dishwasher the engine goes on. This does mean we also get a full tank of hot water. But some days we’ve had enough capacity to use our immersion heater to heat the water using electricity therefore the engine is not required. We expect this to happen more and more in the summer when the solar panels provide a lot more power.
August 2022
USB rechargeable lights in cupboards. These are proving to be pretty good, so far. The one that is in The Shed has had to be charged, mainly because it is used several times a day. The others in the pull out corner galley cupboard light up every time I go in there and have made me realise that at some point I’ve taken the square baking tin to the house, hence a round batch of flapjack the other day.
I’ve also had a few people ask me if I’ll be designing Chippy Panto this year. Well, no I’m not. Before I arrived in Chippy for rehearsals last year I’d already decided that this year I wanted to boat through the summer and be able to enjoy it. Last summer we’d cruise in the mornings and just about every afternoon I would work. Over the last six years I’ve designed the last five pantos in Chippy which I have really enjoyed. Designing and painting my designs is what I really love doing, being part of a building with a family feel is very special. But last year I started to miss boating, not being able to return home to Oleanna at weekends is hard too. So in January I got in touch with John before he got in touch with me about this years Panto. I shall miss it, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to go and seeJack and the Beanstalk later this year, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas with out Chippy panto.
Rapunzel 2021
This of course will free up my afternoons so hopefully this year Oleanna will get some much needed touching up, if it ever stops raining! I do still need to feed my creative soul and I’m hoping that doing some paintings of places on our travels will do this for me.
So along with this being our 2000th post, we’ve had 3,068 comments, 17,431 photographs, 172 subscribers, on 16th June 2021 we had the most views, Friday is the most popular day at 9am, views from 96 countries, Thwaite Mills on 31st March the most viewed post, 733 likes (I suspect this is actually higher and mostly from Ade), hang on he’s just liked another! 1,845,360 words written, not including this post!
*Some of these figures may be inaccurate as I’ve had to collect the info from various places
This last Christmas I had an old friend ask what we would do with Oleanna when can no longer boat, whether that be through our physical ability to boat or should the waterways start closing around us due to lack of funding. I said we’d still keep her, find somewhere for her to be, maybe on land if needs be, where we could still stay on board. But here’s hoping our floating days will continue for many years more. We’ll keep writing the blog and sharing it with those who want to read it and hopefully we’ll get to meet a few more of you along the way.
For those of you who have followed Oleanna from thebeginning in 2015, a BIGBIG Thank You for reading all our ramblings through the years. I doubt if anyone other than ourselves has read every single post. For what started off as a diary for us to look back on in years to come, for family and friends to keep up with our travels, we now have a lot of new friends, some we’ve yet to actually meet. We find looking back on posts interesting, after all there is useful information in amongst the breakfasts, socks and stamps of approval. Thank you for coming along with us.
No tea in bed this morning, Lemsip instead. Fortunatly Mick was starting to feel improved. He did plenty of chores, filling the coal skuttle, got another bag of coal off the roof. Emptied the ash pan and left the bin on the stern deck for ease of access. Between us we emptied the yellow water tank. Then he packed a bag.
Why can’t she clean her paws before coming in?!
A doctors appointment, dentist, an engineer coming to sort something on our new boiler and a turn around of lodgers have all nicely fitted into a few days, so Mick was headed back to Scarborough. We could have stayed in Manchester making the journey back shorter, but for a few days that wouldn’t have been so good for Tilly. A bus would take Mick to Altringham where he’d then get a tram before a train to York, then another to Scarborough. I wonder when/if they will ever reinstate the through trains to Scarborough?
Thank goodness Mick didn’t have a Vicar of Dibley moment!
But first he had to negotiate the underpass! This leads from the towpath to Little Bollington where he’d catch a bus. With all the rain this year this has become a small lake and with a bus due Mick had to walk through it, deeper than his shoes! Soggy feet for the rest of his journey. I had been thinking of a walk into Dunham Massey, if I do I’ll be digging my wellies out!
I hope I can do better than the gaffa tape
Tilly and I pottered away the day. Some mending of Mick’s slipper required. It was coming away from it’s sole and he’s worn a hole in the toe of it! Being sheepskin and very good for keeping your feet warm they need mending as the left foot is still very much in good order. Uhu used as a contact adhesive stuck the sole back on. Then I cut a patch to cover the toe from an old Ugg boot that moths had attacked in the house. I’ll leave the glue to go off overnight and then have a go at stitching the patch on. I’m not looking forward to that bit!
Lots of dry toes
A few last ends to weave in on some socks. Six pairs now waiting to be sent off. First they needed their photos taking. Then the next pair were cast on whilst watching The Duchess 2008. The period drama based on the true story of Georgina Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. The line on the poster says it all really, ‘There were three people in her marriage.’ It stars Keira Knightley and Ralph Feinnes and won Best Costume Design in the Academy Awards. The frocks were rather lovely.
Plop!
The weather has improved, less windy but still the occasional thunder storm. At one point today I wondered if we were taking on water, a distinct bubbling noise coming from close to the hull. It turned out to be rather large hail stones landing in the canal.
I spent as much of the day with my feet up. Over the last week my left foot has become a touch uncomfortable, a bit like having your shoe lace tied too tight. The top of my foot had become a touch fat at the end of days working locks, but last night my ankle had blown up too. Not sure I’d get a shoe on it, so it has been elevated on a stool for as much of the day as possible. It doesn’t hurt, so I’m not sure what has happened.
A rather nice sunset to do the washing up by
My plan to walk round Dunham Massey, have a bus ride into Altringham to visit Alty Market are on hold. I need my ankle to be better for the Cheshire Locks, it would also be handy if it fitted into a shoe!
Overnight we were woken on several occasions with torrential rain or was it hail beating down on Oleanna. This continued throughout the day and evening, interspresed with bright sunshine every now and again. Strong strong winds whistled round, rocking Oleanna. Maybe our position on the embankment had given us a windy mooring, maybe it was like this everywhere.
Extra poppers needed popping on the cratch cover. Doing this I somehow tweeked my back. After 91 broad locks and walking into Manchester I go and tweek it by sitting on a locker and pressing a popper!
Hail bounced up under the mushroom vents, landing on the dinette table, sofa and bed.
The weather, nose blowing (we’ve now both got colds) was not conducive for a visit to Dunham Massey! Even Tilly curled up on the sofa for much of the day in switched off mode. So what to do?
Breakfast of course, it was medicinal honest!
I got the blog upto date and then spent time weaving ends in on socks. There will be several pairs going in the post very soon, when I find the next post box.
Weaving
Mick did some route planning. Now we are over the Pennines, we feel a touch more confident in planning our route southwards. There are people we’d like to meet up with, trips back to Scarborough to be factored in, dentists and would we be able to support the Fund britains Waterways campaign cruise on the Thames from a bridge? We now have a plan and just need to see if friends and family will be free as we pass.
Not so good
Surprisingly quite a few boats came past, all at speed to keep their line in the blustery wind. Mick popped his head out the hatch. A boat that had moored up after we’d arrived was on the off side. Was this intentional by the owner to avoid the worst effects of the fresh air? Or had their spikes been pulled out by wind and passing boaters? He waited for the next bout of hail to pass and went to have a look.
This outside is very troublesome! It needs extra tying up
The wind assisted for a bit, pushing the boat back across to the towpath, with our boat hook Mick managed to catch it. The ropes had been tied to the spikes so there was still a means of attaching the boat to the bank. He hammered in the stern pin, then gradually worked his way along. Centre line followed by the bow. All single pins, just how far had they been hammered into the soft ground. Now they were hammered down as far as they possibly could be, hopefully the boat would be staying put.
Pulling her back in
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 outdoor shoes for me today, 1 dormant cat, 319.5 miles to reach our goal, 4 lemsips, 1 stove lit, 5 pairs socks ready for photos and posting, 1 tweeked back, 1 fat foot, 2 boaters falling to bits here!
Trafford Park to Patricroft Bridge to Bollington Underpass
Subjects on the Geraghty zoom included Woodcraft Folk, empty lofts, line drying and phonics. Joans little chair was being enjoyed as a place to sit for the latter by Penelope.
More moving boats than we’ve seen all year
Yesterday Mick had started to show the symptoms of a cold. A drug run to Asda was required. I headed off, the car park thankfully only partly full and most of the shops still closed. Asda was open and provided me with Lemsips and tissues. If Mick has the lurgy I am more than likely to follow soon. I hope Paul doesn’t come down with it too.
Sadly not wide enough here to wind
As I arrived back Mick was rolling up the covers ready to push off. We’d thought we might be able to wind before the Barton Swing Aqueduct, but a chap on the boat behind us last night said he couldn’t turn there and his boat was shorter than Oleanna. We cruised on northwards to be able to head south. Across the aqueduct, a line of boats could be seen in the distance following us. We got winded before they came past.
Back over the swing aqueduct and back past Kellogs. Yesterday it had smelt of coco pops, we weren’t too sure what was being produced today. Right at Waters Meeting and onwards heading south now, the correct direction.
Runners in the marathon
As we approached Edge Lane Bridges it was time to cheer on the Manchester Marathon runners. An old collegue from the SJT, Dave Jackson was taking part, so he deserved a shout out when ever the course came close. ‘Go on, Dave you can do it!’ He won’t have heard us, but hopefully our support helped him over the 26 and a bit miles.
Long and straight. This is a stretch I quite often spend down below working, not today. I got to see all the houses, cyclists, dog walkers, pubs, moored boats, runners. Just about every bridge we went under we could see heads bobbing up and down running along. The trams all crammed with people, Manchester is one busy place. By the time we reached Timperley the majority of runners must have passed. The broom coach possibly already picked up the straglers, those determined to continue asked to carry on running on the pavements so that the roads could reopen.
A house for sale by the Linotype Works. £435,000 for 3 bedrooms. Work is still on going. The top of the facade currently removed, new terracotta pillars added. It will be interesting to see what it ends up looking like when it’s finished. Behind the facade, walls of breeze blocks suggest something not so special will but onto it.
Trees and bird song again
Now the countryside came to meet us. Bird song rather than pedestrian chatter. Mud rather than tarmac. Quite a lot of mud, in some places you would definatly require wellies. We made our way towards a favourite mooring just close to Bollington Underpass. Here the bank to the north is good cat country. To the south is Dunham Massey and a bus into Altringham.
Yep, She promised it would be better.
We moored up. Tilly was given 3 hours and off she went. She came back a few times as walkers or dogs came past. But then nothing was seen of her for a couple of hours, she returned with just nine minutes to go before cat curfew would be called.
That’s a joint of pork!
After last Sundays disappointing roast pork, we’d got ourselves a joint. The skin was scored and librally salted, a little bit of sechuan seaweed sprinkled on top too. Potatoes, parsnips and carrots roasted in some duck fat, coloured up wonderfully and the crackling was good and crisp. There’s plenty left over too for the next few days.
0 locks, 11.5 miles, 1 wind, 2 trips across Barton Swing Aqueduct, 2 boxes tissues, 16 cold pills, 16 lemsips, 2 pints milk, 2 packets gf mini cheddars, 5 shouts for Dave, 1 submerged decorator, 18 moving boats (more than we’ve seen all year!), 1 favourite mooring, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 1 proper joint for 8.
Thomas Telford Basin to Stretford Marine to Trafford Centre Visitor Moorings
Last night was nice and quiet in the basin. Only one goose sitting on a nest so there wasn’t another goose to squabble with and the human residents were quiet too. Before we headed to bed Mick logged onto our C&RT account to book our Bridgewater passage. The Bridgewater Canal is run by Peel Holdings therefore not covered by our C&RT licence. There is an agreement where boats can transit the Bridgewater Canal to reach C&RT waters, Leeds Liverpool, Rochdale or Trent and Mersey. It used to be that you could just enter their water without booking, so long as you only stayed 7 days. Now you have to book this via the C&RT website. There is also an option to extend you visit by 3 days. This is intended to be used within 28 days so boats can visit Liverpool and then return without having to stay off the Bridgewater for several weeks before booking again. This may come in useful for us, so Mick ticked the 3 day extra box.
Breakfasted, and wrapped up reasonably warm we pushed off, thanking the residents for our peaceful night. The entrance in and out of the basin is a tight one, but we know Oleanna can manage it, it just takes a bit of patience to get round.
Time for the Rochdale 9. I’m not sure how many times we’ve done these locks, maybe four times? Dale Street Lock 84 was surrounded by rubbish this morning, a council worker arrived to pick everything up from those who’d sat on the benches drinking last night. Water flowed over the top gate by several inches, not unusual for the Rochdale 9. Some of the locks have bywashes, others don’t.
I lifted a paddle to bring the water in the lock up to match that above. We brought Oleanna in and I lifted a paddle to empty it. Over the top gates there are handrails on both sides. These are very narrow and the hoik up onto the lock beam is quite high. Sixteen years ago I sprang up onto the beam and crossed over without thinking about it , today my knees make me nervous of such things, but both paddles were needed to level the lock with the water below. I crossed the gates twices then realised I should be able to walk round over the road bridge. This made me happier.
Piccadilly Lock
Now down into the depths for Piccadilly Lock 85. Today it was dark, relatively clean and we were on our own. I wondered if the top gates when they were replaced had been made higher, they certainly looked it. Climbing up to get over to the other side was not appealing, could I manage to empty the lock using only one side?
I lifted the paddle and watched as the water emptied. Gradually Oleanna descended. The bottom gates here have a windlass operated chain to open them as the building above has encroached on the space. This is usually quite hard to operate. I waited, worked out which way to turn my windlass. Water still rushing over the top gates, would it ever level out? I waited for the water below the lock to calm, tried the gate, waited some more. Then I could feel the gate just giving a little, phew I wouldn’t have to climb over the top gates.
Only accessible by canal
Access to the next lock is only by boat, sixteen years ago I remember climbing down some steps to it, but this route has now been blocked off, I suspect to keep people from the pubs on Canal Street away from the waters edge. Here I made a mistake, in that I lifted the bottom paddle on the offside. This ended up not being enough to empty the lock fully. Mick climbed the ladder, lifted the other paddle, my gate now opened. Maybe if we’d left it a few more minutes it would have obliged. If I’d started on the other side it maybe would have been easier as I needed to be that side to get back on the boat anyway.
Under bridges and buildings
Back on board we headed to Princess Street Lock. Here rainbow planters cheered up the banks, it was starting to rain. Several runners ran up the towpath and wanted to continue along the canal, only to find they were running onto a pontoon that led nowhere! Then more runners came, and more, and more! How many? I asked one chap if he was the last, no reply. When Oleanna was out of the gates Mick warned me that there were more runners to come all wearing kahki.
A C&RT workboat appeared to be on the lock landing at Tib Lock 89. Some helpful person had however untied it’s mooring lines and possibly had a rifle around in a cupboard. Only brooms to disturb in there. I retied it to some railings and a mooring ring, hopefully leaving enough room for a boat on the lock landing. Not sure how long it will last before someone else decided to untie it though.
Blossom instead of graffitti
Trees on either side of the lock were filled with pink blossom. The flag stones on the offside covered in a layer of slippy green that even my anti slip trainers couldn’t cope with. Working carefully we descended.
Very very high!
At Albion Mills Lock the building work we’ve been under has now finished, the tall building stretching high above the canal. Panels stand out from the building looking like someone has stuck sheets of steel deck haphazedly onto it. Here I ended up having to enlist some one to help with the lock gate, we’d waited quite a while for the level to equalize.
A good place to shelter from the rain
Tunnel Lock 91. Here a chap had made himself a home tucked up by the gate chain mechanism, well under cover of the building next to it. The offside here looked even greener, serious lack of footfall to keep it clear. The top gates were also high and very green too! I hoped that one paddle would do the job, it maybe had, but would the gate open!?! I asked the chap if people had difficulty with the gate and he said most did, it was rare for this gate to be opened. The chain slipped rather than doing anything productive. I’d have to walk round, climb over the beam, be hissed at by a goose to open the gate.
The End
Just before Dukes Lock 92, who should we pass but the boat from Littleborough. Had they come down the locks last night or early this morning? They were making use of the last moorings before reaching the Bridgewater Canal.
If only the sun had been out!
The top gates were open so Mick sailed straight in. Here there is no bywash, apparently it was bombed in WW2 and never replaced, so excess water comes over the top gates. Gongoozlers who didn’t mind getting wet loitered on the bridge to watch our progress. Paddles lifted and then patience was needed for the levels to equalise. The first time we ever did this lock was on NB Bergen Fjord and the bottom gates really didn’t want to open, we ended up with two windlasses on the chain gear. Now I know to wait for the water below to calm right down, take the strain on the chain. My first go had a small amount of movement, maybe if I adjusted my windlass to give me more umph then it would open. I took the strain again, one extra turn had the gate open just that bit, the levels equalised and I easily opened the gate. Looking back at the amount of water still coming over the gates I was surprised at how easy it had been.
Maybe one for a painting
Should we stop or continue? We continued in the rain, we were wet now anyway. A cuppa and some flapjack as we cruised our way out of Manchester as another huge running club ran the towpath. ‘Come on guys lets see if we can beat the boat!’
Runners
The Bridgewater is very familiar water, the sights in the rain were passed easily. At Waters Meeting a narrowboat came past, pram hood up as they do round here. We followed it to the left. He pulled over just before Stretford Marina so we could pass, only to find out we were pulling in to the services.
A flat cap wearing chap in a blue coverall took our ropes and asked what we were after. Diesel and coal please. The chilled medication cabinet was empty despite all the adverts outside! He pulled the long hose out and topped up our tank whilst I topped up our water. He chatted away to Mick. There were comments about having to stay alive as the state pension keeps going up, but how anyone actually spends it all puzzled him. He’d been to buy himself a new fountain pen, spent over £800 on one with a pot of ink. The shop assistant in Selfridges had seemed a bit off with him, ‘I brush my cap every day! Anyhow Selfridges isn’t just for footballers you know!’ What a character, he plays the flute and owns two baroque flutes.
A roaring trade
We winded Oleanna, time to head north. Left at Waters Meeting, we pulled up on the last rings outside the Trafford Centre. After a late lunch with the last of the flapjack we headed into retail hell. A Saturday afternoon at the Trafford Centre not my idea of a good way to spend our time, but a neccessary one. At John Lewis we waited and waited to be served. Numerous shop assistants walked past, none asking could they help or that someone would be with us soon. Eventually Mick managed to get someone to go into the back room for my laptop which was now mended with a new hinge, Hooray!
A new SD card for my camera was required, but despite there being numerous staff about the place none were available to unlock the rack so we could purchase one. I felt that MIck was on the border of a Geraghty strop, we left the store. Game had what we were looking for, it took some time to pursuade the staff that it would work in a camera and they weren’t just for games consoles. A very quick visit to Primark for a couple of t-shirts and we were out of there.
But it looks so good!
Time to sit down at last.
It’s nice to have my laptop back, I don’t keep aiming for the delete button and turning it off!
9 locks, 6.3 miles, 5.35 miles walked, 2 lefts, 1 extra bum, so much water, 91 Locks of the Rochdale finished, 32 miles traversed, 1 bored cat, 63.7 litres, 40kg coal, 1 laptop, £800 pen! hope the ink was free, 1 immaculate flatcap, 1 Bridgewater licence, 1 SD card, 0 flapjack left.
The forecast is not so good for the next couple of days, we still want and need to get moving. Our main need today was for water. After breakfast we put on our waterproofs, we knew we’d be getting wet this morning, just how long we’d last for was still an unknown.
Time to move onwards and downwards
A paddle was lifted at lock 46 to fill it as we rolled up the covers, then Mick reversed Oleanna out from the notch back onto the canal. This is a lovely place to be, suspect it’s even nicer in the summer.
At the water point we’d been warned that there was a boat that has taken up root, they’ve been asked to move by C&RT several times, but it has fallen on deaf ears. The only boat we’ve seen moving since we’ve been in Littleborough had tucked itself in behind the overstaying boat, today we’d have to breast up to get water. But as I lifted a paddle to empty the lock I could see movement at the waterpoint, the boat was on the move also. Maybe they were hoping for a locking partner, maybe they were just moving on, but it was a welcome sign as we’d not really wanted to be filling with water across two boats.
Another wet day in the Pennines
As the tank filled it rained. As the tank filled the forcast wind started to pick up and by the time we were pushing back off the gusts of wind had started. We worked our way down the next two locks getting wetter every minute. Five years ago we’d had gongoozlers at Littleborough Bottom Lock discussing glasses of wine, today only hardened waterproof clad walkers passed, only a nod from them.
We pulled in and made use of the rings at the wharf, a restock very much required on the food and coal front. The weather forecast keeps mentioning unseasonably high temperatures, we’ve not noticed them here at all! The two bags of Ecoal Mick bought in Wakefield have been driving us up the wall the last few days. It not only creates SO much ash but it also takes an eternity to light, some decent coal woud be welcome.
Is this brick and extra layer of insulation? All the other buildings are stone
After a slight dry off and a cuppa Mick headed into town with the bike returning with two 20kg bags of Glow. Next job restocking the cupboards. By now we’d made the decision to stay put for the rest of the day and not head onwards in the strong gusts of wind, this meant we’d be able to get a supermarket delivery if one was available. A slot was booked and a big shop put into our basket. We just needed some things for tonight, so we walked over to the Co-op where pizzas and extra toppings were selected.
The rest of the day we hunkered down gradually warming up inside, coats drip drying in the shower, howling gails whistling through the windows, geese squabbling, there’s everything here, even Horse Bananas clinging to the hillside! Inside I watched more bake off and knitted with the occasional winge from Tilly at not being allowed out.
Blackcurrant Chilled Medication!!!!
Unfortunatly today wasn’t a suitable day for chilled medication despite the nearest shop selling my favourite flavour!
3 locks, 0.5 miles, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow water tank, 1 boat ahead, 1 food order, 40kg coal, 2 soggy boaters, 1 bored cat, 1 sock on it’s 3rd incarnation! 0 chilled medication, 2 volunteers stood down, postponed by a day.
An early start for Mick who headed off to Littleborough Station to catch a train just before 8am. Tilly and I stayed tucked up in bed and enjoyed a cuppa with the puzzles from Saturdays newspaper.
A day return to Scarborough woud have been about £70 at that time of day even with an old gits railcard, but Mick had booked his tickets in such a way that he got off peak tickets from Mytholmroyd, therefore costing £37.35 including a plus bus for around Scarborough.
View from the cratch today
On board, after the usual mornings activities I decided to give the interior of Oleanna a dust down and then a sweep through followed by a floor clean. Tilly kept out of the way for much of the time, the lack of wind and rain encouraging her to go outside.
Then it was time to investigate why our pullout corner cupboard is starting to ground and make grooves in the newly oiled floor! I’ve been wondering if the weight in the pan drawer, which is attached to the cupboard might be doing this. Maybe when I’d reattached it I’d screwed them together at a slight angle that gets exacerbated when the corner cupboard is pulled right out.
I emptied the cupboard and drawer so that I could detach the two. There lying on the floor was part of a circular piece of plastic. Was this off one of the castors? Yes. The plastic helps keep the wheel square and helps to keep the rubber wheel from flattening out under the weight. Without it the rubber wheel was flattening, a bit like a blown tyre on a car and therefore the plinth of the pullout cupboard was grounding across the floor, it having dropped by a couple of mm.
How were the castors attached? To blocks of wood, which of course had been attached from below not above. So to remove the castors we would need to remove the cupboard to be able to turn it on it’s side! A look later on from the opposite side by Mick suggests we might be able to just replace the wheel on the caster without dismanteling everything.
Cupboards were open! Quick quick I must get inside! The way through from one side was blocked by the squishy wheel. I managed to rush round to the other side to get in underneath, one of my favourite places to get in the way. She doesn’t like to close it if I’m in there.
But where’s the top gone!?!
Tilly gave me a site report from low down. She was quite purrplexed about the whole situation.But hey hang on! There’s no top!! Someone’s stolen the top! I can’t hide in here anymore, there’s no IN to be IN! This is what the problem is, the IN, not the squishy wheel. I’ve left the pan drawer unattached until we can replace the wheel.
It’s okay there’s still an IN to be in here
Next it was time to restick some edging onto the side of the drawing board slot. This has been held on by tape for about a year. Some wood glue down between the main board and the strip, tape back on to hold it in place.There’s far too much stuff in the slot! It needs clearing out to leave enough IN for a cat.
Lunch was arepas with red cabbage, cheese and slices of apple, very nice.
Blues
Time to select the yarn for the next pair of socks. I’ve had quite a few requests for blue socks this year, so any yarn that was blue was laid on the bed. Three selected, I just need to decide how to knit them up.
Meanwhile in Scarborough Mick had caught the bus to the hospital, a blood test required by his GP, this was all very efficient. He then walked to the house to meet with our current lodgers. A coffee, chat and he picked up our post, including postcards about the York and North Yorkshire Mayor election. A few years ago we had lodgers put our postal votes on the top of a book shelf for safe keeping along with other post. Mick got the train to Scarborough especially to pick them up but couldn’t find them. They were found a few months later long after the poll. We now have a tray in the kitchen for post to go in.
You don’t need to be in there! Just checking it’s still got an IN.
Then he caught another bus out of town and headed to his dentist. His return to Seamer Station was thwarted by numerous school buses refusing to pick him up and then the next bus was ten minutes late, by which time he’d missed the hourly train from Scarborough!
I wonder what Clare made of this
In Littleborough the day had been a perfect one for cruising, no boats had come past though. I frogged another pair of socks to just past the heel, adjusted my needle size hoping this would rectify their tightness. I watched another Bake Off, more comdey biscuits and The Woman In Gold 2015,starring Helen Mirren. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann, starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt’s famous painting ‘The Lady in Gold’. She enlists a young lawyer to help her and they end up taking the Austrian Government to the US Supreme Court.
More yummy yarn
Mick returned home a while after 8pm. In amongst the post was a parcel from Rachel at Skein Queen, another rather yummy skein of yarn in white and blues. She’d also added in a pattern for a pair of socks. Thank you Rachel.
0 locks, 0 miles, 4ft edging re-stuck,16 tickets, 6 trains, 3 buses, 3 ignoring buses, 1 flattening wheel,1 pleasant day, 1 test, 1 set of clean gnashers, 1 puzzled Tilly, 1 skien, 1 patter, 1 omlette for 2, 1 normal result.
There was time for MIck to whip up a cooked breakfast before the Geraghty zoom this morning, it did mean that we’d be eating it whilst we chatted to everyone. Subjects covered, canvasing, folk, endive and sparkling ash leaves.
Zooming breakfast
Late morning we pushed Oleanna back over to the other side of the little notch as we were expecting little legs again this afternoon. It was hard to move across as the wind was pinning us to the side. I managed to get a rope around a bollard at the bow, then we used the Andy method (springing off) to force the stern across against Kathleens best efforts. We soon discovered that on the east side of the notch we’d managed to get ourselves tied up so as not to be buffeted about so much, the west side we’d not been so sucessful!
I think it’s stopped raining
We pottered away the morning and by mid afternoon squally showers were whisking around. Mick confired with our prospective visitors who’d planned on a visit before we all headed out for Sunday lunch. Instead we’d meet a car at the next road bridge and get a lift.
Soggy sponsored walk
Full water proofs didn’t manage to keep us dry for the five minute walk to meet Anne, sorry for leaving you with soggy seats! The Moorcock would have only been a 20 minute walk according to Google, although it would all have been uphill, glad we’d not done that in the rain!
A large table had been reserved for us at the end of the pub and we were soon joined by Ruth, James, Penelope and Daphne. There was Vocation beer on tap, so for the second Sunday in a row I had a pint of Heart and Soul a nice GF brew. Roast pork, beef, sausage and chips plus a chicken nuggets and chips were ordered.
Nice pint
The pork almost certainly didn’t come off a joint, most probably steaks roasted in the oven. Crackling had been mentioned on the menu and this was brough on a seperate plate. I suspect this had been cooked in an air fryer. It looked like it should be good, but I have to say it was a chewy disappointment. However we were there to enjoy being with family which made for a lovely late lunch.
Disappointed Ruth
James offered to do bathtime and leave us to chat for longer. This meant that some of us, Mick and myself could have pudding away from younger eyes who’d already had some chilled medictaion at lunchtime. A huge slab of chocolate fudge cake each. Ruth ordered an expresso martini for her treat, but they were out of these! She was very disappointed.
Mick, Ruth, Anne, Pip
There was a little lull in the rain, just long enough for a Sunday selfie before we climbed back in the car and made it back to the canal. Goodbyes and hopefuly it won’t be so long before we see everyone again.
Rain set in on our walk back to Oleanna. We decided to push back over the notch and whilst doing so we got another very good soaking! The stove was lit, coats and jeans hung up to drip dry.
Earlier in the day a message had been put on one of the facebook groups, a boat was looking for someone else to share the journey into Manchester. I made contact, a second boat with crew would make it a lot easier even though we may have extra crew for the final push. They have yet to cross the summit and our current schedule will mean we are still ahead of them. But with the current weather forecast, we may not be moving very far due to another storm. If they’ve any sense they won’t move either.
I wonder who will win this time?
Today marks the seventh anniversary of moving on board Oleanna in Sheffield. Oleanna was very shiny and new then, she’s showing her age now, still in desperate need of a wash and polish, the rain isn’t helping this. Time for a toast to mark the occasion.
0 locks, 2 pushes across the notch, 2 car rides, 2 very soggy walks, 1 last bag of coal, 4 pork, 1 beef, 1 sausage and chips, 1 chicken nuggets and chips, 2 slabs of chocolate fudge cake, 2.5 pints, 1 lovely meal with family, pair 14 finished, 50 years since Abba, 7 years onboard Oleanna.
