Category Archives: Christmas

2025… The Year Of Fools, Drought, NHS and Roses.

A round up of 2025, sit down with your favourite drink and I hope you enjoy.

January started out as December this year would end, us watching from afar the aftermath of a breach. January was the Bridgewater, December the Llangollen. We don’t tend to watch vlogs, preferring to read peoples accounts of their waterway journeys, but updates were watched on youtube from those affected, our personal experience of the Aire and Calder breach back at the end of 2020 had been far less dramatic.

January in the house was spent doing winter maintenance jobs. Three garden benches got a full make over, new slats and paint and a dining room got a colourful lick of paint just in time for the first lodgers of the year arriving. I had a second appointment with a physio about my knee that had given me serious problems last year, the new exercises were working, I ditched my stick by the end of January and started walking around Scarborough every day.

The start of the year it had been wet, but as I strode out the sun would greet me as I reached the beaches of Scarborough. I think this year I’ve visited the seaside more than I’ve done in the last 30 years of considering Scarborough to be my home.

In February Oleanna’s horns got replaced, she now has two tones rather than just one twice. Arrangements were made for future works at the house, carefully planned between lodgers. I joined a community group working on a giant mosaic, sticking glass tiles to brown paper, the final reveal not happening until August which I sadly missed. More walks around Scarborough, longer walks enjoyed on sunny Saturdays taking in both bays. Now I was walking too fast for Mick to keep up.

We visited boat painters, our short list gradually being whittled down. Dates, getting to the painters all had to be weighed up in our decision. One company actually rang to offer us a very early slot, but because of the Bridgewater breach and the end of winter stoppages we’d never have made it in time, plus we’d have ended up being homeless as lodgers were due to arrive at the house. After visiting the last painter we dropped back in to visit Tom at Redhill Marina to see how the boats he’d been painting on our last visit looked. We liked him, his work and a day later called Gibson and Kentwright to book our slot in Spring 2026.

John, the Artistic Director at Chipping Norton got in touch, would I like to do this years panto? This needed some thinking about, last year had been nice without deadlines for designs and we could concentrate on boating, but I’d really missed being part of a team and being a designer. I slept on it then said yes, if the show could be designed earlier in the year then we’d still be able to boat through the summer, hopefully get the best of both worlds. Cruise down to the South Oxford so I could commute to work during rehearsals then we’d make our way back north and arrive at New Year at Redhill to come out of the water and await our repaint. A good plan. But before that, the roof space needed clearing so things didn’t get damaged when we got a new roof on the back of the house. Friends needed meeting and I cracked on with a few paintings of Scarborough.

Mid March came, it was time to give the house a good clean and move back onto Oleanna making way for four lodgers to move in for a month. A new mattress arrived for Oleanna, only just enough headroom for Mick on our cross bed, but a far better sleep than the memory foam mattresses that came before. Back on board, we headed straight out of Goole for the New Junction Canal, pulling in at the first opportunity and letting Tilly have some shore leave once again. She knows where home is and I’m sure she now knows this mooring very well. She was gone for hours, straight back into boat life after a winter of hibernation and inactivity in the house. It felt good for us too.

Doncaster was our first destination for me to head off to do a couple of days work at Level in Matlock with Separate Doors Theatre Company.

Then we gradually made our way to Keadby to wait for the beginning of April, the tide and to meet the Strawberry Fools from Strawberry Island Boat Club who were kicking off the Fund Britains Waterways Campaign Cruises for the year.

Early on the 1st April, the flotilla of Strawberry Fools lined up to go through Keadby Lock onto the Tidal Trent, three boats at a time, turning up stream, southwards. Fog engulfed us for sometime, thankfully clearing as we came close to West Stockwith Lock where more boats were to join the long line all beeping our horns as we approached Gainsborough Road Bridge where TV crews and drones watched us. A great start to the years campaign. The spring tide got us all to Cromwell and off the tidal waters for survivors drinks on the bank.

The following day the boats stormed Newark Castle with a wall of sound before dispersing to several moorings upstream. The morning after we penned the boats up through Hazelford Lock and waved them goodbye and good luck, the majority of boats heading to London to sound their horns outside Parliament. We however turned back, our summers cruising planned to be further north.

Back up the country, down the Tidal Trent, pausing on the Chesterfield canal for a couple of days, across the Stainforth and Keadby, New Junction, Aire and Calder, River Aire, Selby Canal then the River Ouse to York.

Here we met with the London Leckenbys to celebrate what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday back in his home city. We had a suitable feast, cruised down stream to show Andrew, Jac and Josh the top of our old family home from the river, Josh even had a go at the helm. A curry was also called for along with a visit to a pub which was frequented by our parents as we grew up (we mostly sat in the car with a packet of crisps or a chip butty!).

We were joined for a few hours by old family friend Diana and I got to meet with Philli a boat woman who had sponsored a pair of my Sockathon Socks. It was good to be back in York with our own home and have found somewhere new to moor meaning we could stay longer. We also managed a catch up with Frank over a pint and a pizza.

By now the lack of rain was started to affect the system and our planned cruise. The Leeds Liverpool, I think, was the first of the northern canals to close. The Ripon Canal soon followed. We were wanting somewhere safe to moor for a week or so whilst Mick headed off to oversee building works at the house, our options started to narrow.

We opted to head down stream, the tidal Ouse far more difficult to navigate with the outgoing tide due to the amount of debris in the water. Back onto the Aire and Calder we detoured to Goole to top up on diesel, then headed towards Leeds. A favourite mooring near Lemonroyd would suit us for a while.

A large badger hole proved a bit too interesting for Tilly, so we nudged ourselves up above Woodlesford Lock. Mick headed to Scarborough to wait for roofers, whilst I started to work on Panto and Tilly explored the area. Down south the Strawberry Fools reached their goal on the Thames.

May is full of Birthdays, Mick was allowed some leave from the house to celebrate his with a barbecue. Sketches for panto were revisited, the weather got warmer. Oleanna spent a weekend at Lemonroyd Marina whilst we had a trip to London for another birthday and to see Jane and Kevin who were over from Australia.

Back out on the canal, we opted to stay around Lemonroyd, hopefully far enough away from the badger hole! Mick returned to the house, Tilly sheltered from a touch of rain on her throne under the pram cover, I worked away model making for panto and headed out every day to walk round the nearby nature reserve.

The house roof was finished in time for a new lean to to be installed. My panto white card model was drawn up. New lodgers arrived at the house so all three of us were back on board in time to head into Leeds for me to catch a train to Chipping Norton for a day of meetings.

The weather was hot, along with strong winds in Leeds our plants suffered, above Office Lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal more locks were being closed. Canal and River Trust were actively discouraging people from cruising up the River Derwent to the Pocklington Canal. The River Hull was closed due to collapsing banks. We’d find somewhere to go, sadly missing out on the main mission of reaching Beverley this year.

However, a return trip to York was on the cards. We opted for a different route and headed back to Goole, topped up again with diesel, then penned down Ocean Lock onto the Tidal Ouse. Back in 2021 we’d headed this way whilst escaping the breach on the Aire and Calder. This time the tide was very strong, we were going to beat our ETA at Selby and had to fight the currents going round bends.

A meet up with my best friend Emma, who was over from Sydney and a chance to meet her new fella was not to be missed. Mooring almost at the bottom of Emma’s old garden in York helped them find us before we had a lovely lunch on the Howardian Hills and a quick visit to Castle Howard for some chilled medication in a thunder storm.

We opted to stay in York. Mick having to find things to do during the day whilst I took over the boat with work. A trip to Headingly for a test match, bumping into his old friend Jeremy and a look at the trains in the Railway Museum. It rained in the Dales, the Ouse came up, we leant Jo and Brian from NB That’s It our Middle Level windlass and key, boats ran away, we checked levels and kept an eye on our ropes, we were fine.

July arrived. Where to head now? A station was needed for another meeting in Chippy. We retraced ourselves back down stream, the Ouse slightly emptier of trees this time, back to Doncaster a good station to head southwards from.

Thankfully there were only a few small aterations to my panto design required, the remainder of the summer could be spent boating, if only the water levels would let us! We headed back towards the River Trent, managing to say hello to our friend David at Bramwith. A few days were spent sheltering under trees of the Stainforth and Keadby, then there was time to explore Thorne more than we’ve done before.

Some Strawberry Fools were arriving back having managed to get through stoppages further south after crossing the Wash and cruising some of the Middle Level and the River Nene. We loitered for Sean from SPL covers to arrive with a new side for our pram hood, the original one had managed to sink into the depths of the Aire and Calder earlier in the year.

Temperatures were high, this wasn’t good. What lay between us and the rest of the summers cruise was Vazon Sliding Rail Bridge, high temperatures meant the bridge could not open for boats. We sat for several days and nights, getting up to chat to the signaller in the middle of the night. One night just as we were about to turn the lights off we got a phone call, the bridge would be opening, we needed to get dressed! A short distance travelled in the dark would mean we’d be able to do some boating again. We were soon cruising for the third time this year on the Tidal Trent, in a down pour of rain!

Surprisingly the Chesterfield Canal was open up to the limit of navigation. Oleanna’s crew had been there before, but Oleanna hadn’t, it was a must. We paused for a few days at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club, our Cutweb membership paying for itself within a few days. I walked whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to do a turn around and for medical appointments.

A visit to Mr Straws House was enjoyed, locks worked through, towpath walks enjoyed as I sped ahead of Oleanna taking her time in the shallow canal. What a pretty canal, we were glad we’d come back.

The double and triple locks that lead up to the top may take a bit of working, but boy they are worth it. We headed straight to the navigable end before Norwood Tunnel only to find the moorings there full. One chap suggested we’d not have enough depth of water to wind, but thankfully we did and headed back to find another mooring for the night.

On our return journey we had visitors, friends Jane and James on their bikes came and helped us through a few locks. Then the same day Cath and Mark came for a nosy at Oleanna and a meal out in Worksop. Very good to catch up with everyone.

Back at the boat club they found space for us again so we could head back to Scarborough to do another turn around and watch the first night of Noises Off at the SJT. We welcomed new lodgers Liza and Stuart into our house, had a blood test, a dentist visit and headed back to Oleanna and Tilly.

Back out onto the Tidal Trent and onwards to Cromwell. Our timing couldn’t have been better, as we rounded a bend in the river, Cottam Power Station cooling towers came into view. I had just enought time to lift my camera before they came crashing to the ground. A landmark on the Trent now gone. I think we’d already made our minds up not to head towards the Oxford Canal, by now levels were so bad the canal had been closed from the summit to Banbury. We really didn’t want to risk getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get Oleanna to Redhill for her repaint next year. We’d take our time pottering about on the Trent and maybe along the Trent and Mersey Canal. The next day notices came out about further lock closures due to the drought, boats started to turn round, cutting their cruises short so they could beat the closures and return home.

Newark for a few days, then on to Hazelford Lock one of our favourite moorings, time for a barbecue sat on the big steps watching the sun set. Sounds idylic.

However, that night we got to test out the emergency servies and what3words at 2am. Mick had chest pains, 999 was called, two hours later paramedics arrived, tests were done, followed by an ambulance ride to Mansfield A&E for more tests, lots of waiting, then discharged after twelve hours with what was thought to be pulled muscles. A very lazy day followed.

We continued on to Nottingham, stocked up at Sainsburys and found a mooring near to Beeston. To celebrate Mick not having had a heart attack we treated ourselves to a meal at The Victoria. Always nice, just a shame that things weren’t really quite right with Mick.

Up to Trent Lock, rescuing a boater caught out by shallow water between Beeston and Cranfleet. We turned right, our plan now was to head to Burton on Trent on the Trent and Mersey. An ideal mooring at Shobnal Fields was grabbed so that I could head off to Dawlish to meet the set builder for Panto.

Brian arrived on NB That’s It, able to drop off our windlass he’d borrowed. He’d single handed it from Peterborough on the River Nene managing to beat all the stoppages by doing pretty long days, but now he could relax as rivers would get him back to Strawberry Island again. Coinciding with ‘in steam days’ at industrial museums is a rarety for us, but we managed it at Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, although the volunteers were tryng out some eco fuel rather than coal, they weren’t impressed with the amount of steam it produced.

The water tap at Willington called, the plan was then to wind and cruise up to Alrewas. A mooring was found with better phone signal for Mick to chat with his GP, an appointment already planned. He also wanted to talk to them about some patchy vision he’d been experiencing. Another phone call to an optician, it was suggested he should attend the nearest A&E. That night we made our way back into Burton to be closer to the hospital.

In the morning there was a second visit to A&E this year. A CT scan diagnosed Mick as having had a stroke. I brisk walked my way over to the hospital to find him being put in the back of an ambulance to head to the Royal Derby Hospital. Here there was 24 hours of lying and sitting in various parts of A&E (number 3) before a bed was found on the stroke ward. Thank goodness for a very good bus service between Burton and Derby. They wanted Mick to see an Opthamologist which didn’t happen, the weekend arrived and he was stuck. Then he just needed another ECG and drugs before he could come home, this took another night but thankfully after five nights in hospital he was discharged.

So many people offered help and support, thank you all so much. Thankfully now Mick had no symptoms and felt pretty normal. I kept a close eye on him. Kat on coal boat Bargus stocked us up with coal and diesel and we gradually made our way back to Willington for a moral boosting lunch with the lovely Susie Blake, she even got us tickets to see her show in Derby a few nights later.

Now we found ourselves kicking heels until our lodgers were to move out from the house so we could return, this was more to do with the lack of water in the network than anything else. Bridget and Storm came to check on us, bringing Rolo their new woofer with them. He was very well behaved, Tilly didn’t even mind him being onboard!

We took our time, pausing for a few days whilst storms blew over. I walked to Swarkstone Pavillion, down to the Trent and visited local villages. Next we wanted to check Oleanna could come out of the water earlier than planned, we headed to Redhill Marina to check things out, it would all be fine. We arranged a date to arrive.

We managed only one Heritage Open Day in September at Mills Dock Yard on the Erewash, some beautiful boats and suprising wooden cars on view. Then made our way back to Beeston to be close to a station again.

I had a couple of days at the Seperate Doors Making Tomrrows Theatre conference, watching workshops, listening to discussions and speakers. The mooring in Beeston isn’t so good for Tilly,a brick wall is hardly interesting for anyone! so we winded and headed back to Trent Lock to meet up with an old collegue of mine Jane, from my early days at the SJT.

Kat with Teddy and Bella came to top us up again before we headed back to Nottingham and further on to another favourite mooring above Stoke Lock. Here the mooring by the low wall was available, perfect for Tilly for a few days especially as she was to celebrate her 10th birthday there. However we ended up staying longer than planned, RCR were called out. It was suspected that our drive plate was about to give up. A few days later the engineer returned to replace it with a new one. All good to go!

Back up to moor at County Hall steps, Tilly wasn’t keen. But we wanted to make the most of being in Nottingham, visiting places we’d not been to before.

Our windlasses got used for the final time this year working back up into Nottingham where we took a mooring at Castle Marina for a couple of nights. A trip up to Scarborough to see our lodgers in the latest Alan Ayckbourn play Earth Angel.

Time afloat was now running out, back out to Trent Lock for a few more days before heading to Redhill Marina. Packing up the boat was a little more interesting than usual as we didn’t have the luxury of picking up a van the day before we were to move. Until Mick got to see an opthalmologist he wouldn’t be allowed to drive. So we called on one of those people who’d offered to help when Mick had his stroke.

Mark, Mick’s old friend arrived in a hire van to collect us and all our stuff. The move was done pretty quickly despite having to stop a few times to make Tilly’s journey more comfortable. We’d left Oleanna in the water at the marina, the following day she’d be put on a trailer and moved out onto the hard to await her repaint next Spring.

There were two weeks before I’d head off to work on panto. Phone calls from the set builder came thick and fast. There was time to unpack, see friends, or hybernate, Tilly chose the latter. We managed one trip by train down to find Oleanna out on the hard, she has a fantastic view of the cooling towers, but sadly no electric. We’d need to work on that one.

Mick got the all clear from an Opthalmolgist down in Derby a couple of days before I headed off to Chippy, so he gave me a lift. Whilst I was away working, Mick made up an extra long hook up cable for Oleanna. He had two trips down to attempt to get her hooked up, but for several reasons this wasn’t achieved, thankfully the solar was doing quite a good job of keeping batteries topped up. There was also a trip over to Wigan, where he and Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes helped Chris the Pink Hat Man up the flight along with the help of a CRT volunteer.

Down in Chippy I worked my way through the four weeks of rehearsals up until the show opened. I had chance to catch up with my cousins for Sunday lunch. Met up with Mick at the London Leckenbys for a night and checked on the moorings at Paddington Basin on my way back. I also had a day off in Oxford where I enjoyed a walk along the canal we’d not managed to reach this year, spotting many a familiar boats from previous winters there. My first week in Chippy the canal was reopened to allow people to return to their moorings before winter stoppages kicked in.

Finally on my sixth panto at Chippy it was lovely to have Marion and John (Mick’s sister) and Andrew and Jac (my brother) join us for press night. On his way down to see the show, Mick had fought his way through snow and headed to Oleanna to get her hooked up, unfortunatly the socket available turned out to be faulty!

Back in Scarborough I was pinned to the sofa for a while by Tilly, watching Inspector Morse as is now tradition. Walks along the beach and through the old town were enjoyed. We headed to Filey for a birthday party and unfortunatly ended up in our third ambulance of the year, with another A&E ticked off the list, fortunatly it was only a faint this time.

Mick made another journey down to Redhill, this time Oleanna was plugged in successfully, the electric heating could now be programmed to come on should the temperatures drop enough. He had a chat with Tom who will be doing Oleanna’s repaint, the boat ahead of us is also already on site too. We’re still quietly hoping someone doesn’t manage to get there in time for their slot so we can swap slots and get Oleanna back on the water earlier.

An appointment with a stroke doctor at Scarborough Hospital was had, results and images from an MRI in Derby hadn’t made it to Scarborough so the following week there was an appointment for one here. We now wait to hear what the doctor has to say.

The build up to Christmas kept us busy, our 23rd anniversay celebrated, decorations, cards and presents to make and buy. Hair cuts, the Christmas show to watch. Then a pre Christnmas Christmas with the London Leckenbys in York before returning to Scarborough and coming down with a lurgy which meant most of our festive plans had to alter.

New waterproof trousers, a Victron Smart Shunt and new mugs were all presents for boating. Frank was a lucky man getting his second Christmas dinner in a week. Now that new year is here we need to plan ahead for when Oleanna is going to be painted, windows, new solar and new curtains need thinking about, ordering and making. Hopefully the time will fly by and she’ll be back in the water before we know it.

**Us in sunny Scarborough on New Year Eve**

Plans for next year, well we know where we want to be in early June, we just hope we can get there by boat. Will we stay up north and be able to cruise the rivers and canals we didn’t manage to do this year? Or will we head southwards to find waters we’ve not cruised yet? We’ll have to wait and see, so will you!

So here are our final statistics for our boating year which ended up being cut short.

According to our Nebo link

Oleanna was underway for 173.53 hours. This is not a real indication of our movements, if we are stationary in a lock it does not count that time

Nebo link was on for 365.48 hours. Sometimes the Nebolink is turned on a bit before we set off, on occasions it is left on at the end of a day incase we decide to carry on, so this is also not a real indication of how long the engine was moving us

End Mileage. 712.725 miles

Distance travelled. 695.6 miles, don’t understand why the two figures are different most days, but I go with the end mileage

Average speed 3.26 miles. We were mostly on rivers this year

Average Maximum Speed 4.78. We were mostly on rivers this year

According to Canal Plan

Total Mileage 719m 3.75f 7 and a bit more miles than Nebolink

Made up of 152 miles 5.75 f of Commercial Waterways, 143 miles 4.5 f of Broad Canals, 61 miles 0.5 f of Narrow Canals, 78 miles 0.5 f of Small Rivers, 66 miles 6 f of Large Rivers, 200 miles 4.75 f of Tidal Rivers, shows how much cruising we did on the Tidal Ouse and Trent this year.

Total Locks 214 fewer than most years as we were mostly on rivers. This figure doesn’t include flood locks

Made up of 51 Large Locks, 98 Narrow Locks, although some of these were broad locks on a narrow canal (Chesterfield), 63 Broad Locks, 2 Locks on Major Waterways

Moveable Bridges 58. 4 were left open, 5 didn’t need to open as we went below them. Although those that didn’t need to open I think should have been 14 to include all those on the River Ouse. 107 vehicles were held up, another 23 when we worked Barnby Dun lift bridge for Mick on Amerouse.

Small Aqueducts 68

Major Aqueducts 6

Tunnels 2, that is 1.4 furlongs underground. I think this is a record for the least amount of time spent underground in a year.

0 Boat Lifts

629.4 litres of diesel. The cheapest £0.89 at Viking Marina, most expensive £1.10 at Kings Marina, total cost £639.26

265kg of smokless coal. This was 12 bags at a total cost of £190.50

2 x 13kg bottles of gas. Cost of £94.87 although we will need to replace a bottle as soon as we get back on board.

Other expenses £144.60. This included 1 starter battery, 1 excess payment for a new drive plate, 2 roller poles, 1 wee tank connector, Cutweb membership

£115.03 Mooring Fees and electricity whilst out cruising

2 Ambulances 3 A&E’s whilst out cruising

1 stroke

0 rain for months

706.85 miles walked whilst on the boat, nearly as far as we cruised! 9504 brisk minutes

Over £3000 raised by knitting socks for Dementia UK (over the last 3 years, 110 pairs) and I’ve still got more to do!

1 Panto design, 3567 pink roses

40 Boxes of Wine

30 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval moorings, she’s not letting onto how many friends!

419.8 engine hours

Phew, that new spread sheet has alsorts on it!

Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2025. We hope you’ll be back for more in 2026 and that the start to our boating year is sooner rather than later.

What Did We Get? 28th December

4 Replies

Scarboreugh!

We hope your Christmas was jolly and filled with good times with friends and family. Unfortunately, ours didn’t turn out quite as planned this year.

A pre-Christmas trip over to York was enjoyed to meet up with the London Leckenbys. As expected, plenty of yummy food, drink and conversation. We’d chosen to head over by bus, but after waiting for half an hour at the end of our road the Coastliner hadn’t arrived, in fact we saw it coming into the Scarborough, an hour late, so we opted for the train instead, for an extra £30!

**Painting for the Leckenby flat in York of Lady Peckett’s Yard**

Back in Scarborough I just managed to get back to the house to see our veg box being delivered. Each year the Tree Top Press kids help deliver Christmas veg and poultry hoping for donations to their chosen charity, this year donations were going to the local branch of Parkinson’s UK. I just managed to catch them to add our donation to their collection tin. Mick picked up our duck from the butchers, now all we needed was for the rest of the shopping to arrive Christmas Eve and a slight niggle in the back of my throat to be banished.

**York Station selfie, the last time I went outside**

Christmas Eve, I felt really quite ropey. Sausage rolls for lunch were made and eaten, by the end of the day a gammon joint and dauphinoise potatoes were cooked, but no prep for our Christmas Day feast was managed. Messages were sent to friends to see if Frank could join them, I really didn’t want to give Frank my lurgy. Thankfully space was found for him at a table and he suggested we postpone our festive meal. This was hardly surprising, it’ll mean he’ll get to have two Christmas dinners!

Father Christmas arrived, we’d been good. Lots of Dreamies, 15 pairs of socks between us, 2 chocolate oranges and some orange bites for Tilly, 4 M&S salted caramel millionaire bars and the usual scissors, post it notes (of the giant variety) and other bits and bobs.

Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon were enjoyed without the usual bucks fizz. Followed by presents. A goody bag from Hook Norton Brewery, a lovely weekend bag, new big thin mugs for Oleanna, a new outdoor sensor for the weather station (hopefully this one won’t end up in a CRT bin somewhere), a smart top I’d really wanted from Seasalt, new waterproof trousers, a very nice blue glass water jug, a carry bag for a water bottle, a Victron Energy IP65 SmartShunt 300A so that the bow thruster batteries can be monitored, an Ant Savage narrowboat t-shirt that looks a bit like Three Bridges, and a book on foraging weeds! Photos to follow if I can be bothered. A pretty good present haul. Thank you everyone.

Mid afternoon we enjoyed more of our Christmas Eve gammon, then some improvising was required for my birthday cake. In a drawer in the kitchen Mick had found some celebratory candles. These only lasted a short while before they extinguished themselves, even before being blown out! But one of the millionaire bars came in handy with the posh candle Mick had bought. Not quite the baked French cheesecake I’d planned, but at least I got to make a wish as I blew out the candle, I also got to eat the whole of the cake myself, so as not to share my germs with Mick!

Boxing Day. I was a touch concerned that should we leave the duck until I felt well enough to have Frank round it would have gone off, so I finished the Christmas Day prep, stuffing and gravy making and baked the cheesecake. Mid-afternoon 25 hours later than originally planned, we tucked into Christmas dinner. Mick said it was very nice, my taste buds had gone on strike so I couldn’t comment. No room for cake and in fact I seemed to take a downward turn in the evening and headed to bed early.

Yesterday we got chance to try the cake at last at lunch time. When in the oven I’d slightly panicked that the tin hadn’t been big enough for the mixture, but thankfully it had just risen up and not gone over the edges. I refrained from making raspberry coulis to go with it, even without it was very tasty, surprisingly considering it was made with sweetener rather than sugar so Frank could have some, at least I could taste it!

Hopefully in the next couple of days we’ll get Frank round for a dinner, pull some crackers and consume the nice wine he’d brought round in advance and help us finish off my cake. We’ve also still got tree presents to unwrap when he’s here.

So we got lots of nice things for Christmas and one lurgy! We’re at least a day behind ourselves, maybe we’ll catch up before the New Year and get to go for a walk, my first time outside the house in nearly a week!

Ready!

6 Replies

24th December 2025

**The Robin of the waterways is our Christmas card this year.**

We’d like to wish all our readers, friends and family a very

Happy Christmas!

Tilly is keeping an eye out for the big man in red.

We’re ready, are you?

Watching. 21st December

At 10:32. 9th December

Back in April or was it May, we were looking for somewhere we might be able to moor up for several weeks whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to oversee the building work going on at the house, waiting for roofers to have a working van etc, and for myself and Tilly to be somewhere suitable for the two of us. Tilly would need plenty of friendly cover to keep her occupied whilst I cracked on with designing the Chippy Panto. At the time we were around York on the River Ouse. The thought of mooring on the River Ouse wasn’t that appealing for me, over the last few days the river has shown its normal colours and is rising with the amount of rain that has fallen in the Dales. I ideally wanted to be off the river, maybe Ripon would be a good place. We tried contacting Ripon Marina, then considered Ripon Motor Boat Club. Would they have space for us? Would we need to be members?

**Possible new curtain fabric for Oleanna**

Years ago, Mick had come across a boat club for itinerant boaters like ourselves, one based virtually, affiliated to the AWCC (Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs).Cutweb Internet Boating Club was set up by Julian Tether along with other like minded boaters in 1998. We’d thought about joining, but this was when we were full time live aboards and we didn’t really see what we’d get out of being members. In recent years we’ve made friends with Brian and Jo on NB That’s It who are members of Strawberry Island Boat Club in Doncaster. Brian on occasion has asked if we’d like him to propose us to the committee to join the club. We’ve also got to know quite a few boaters at St Pancras Cruising Club, joining them on trips on the Tidal Thames. Did we really want to join one of these clubs? A mooring in Doncaster might be handy, but we didn’t really want to be tied to a home mooring.

This year we wondered if joining Cutweb might have it’s advantages, we might meet other members and also be able to make use of the affiliation with the AWCC and be able to moor (if there’s room) at other cruising clubs around the network. Maybe being members might help us find a mooring in Ripon? We looked into it, a cheap joining fee and membership, it would be daft not to. We joined up, Brian (from NB Harnser) the Membership Secretary sent out our membership cards. Sadly, Ripon still couldn’t accommodate us, we were too long for their moorings.

In the end the spring had been so dry we didn’t worry too much about river levels and Tilly and I remained moored up along New Walk in York whilst Mick headed back to the house.

It wasn’t until much later in the year when we were looking for somewhere to leave Oleanna again that our membership came in handy. A couple of turn arounds of lodgers at the house, medical appointments in July and August meant it would be good to have somewhere secure to leave Oleanna. We’d headed for the Chesterfield Canal and thought of Retford and Worksop Boat Club. A phone call later we had somewhere to pull up that would be checked several times a day, being members of Cutweb meant we got several nights mooring for free and all we’d have to pay for was electric. Brilliant, and a very friendly bunch they were too, so much so we stayed a second time with them on the way back towards the River Trent.

Come October it was time for the Cutweb AGM. I was in the middle of Panto work in Chippy so I made sure that Mick voted for us. One committee member would not be standing again, the Treasurer, so they were looking for someone to take over looking after the books. I’ve been a Treasurer before for Crescent Arts in Scarborough many moons ago, but I thought being a newbie I wouldn’t put my name forward, also my mind was busy with the lack of props and making hundreds of roses for Beauty And The Beast.

**Frank aghast that someone should have Mars bars and Golden Syrup suggested for their diet**

Last week an email arrived to all members from the Commodore. Basically, unless a new Treasurer could be found then the boat club would have to be wound up. But we’d only just joined! We’d met with a couple of members whilst in Burton on Trent and taken advantage of the affiliation with the AWCC. What a shame if no one could be found.

Hang on, just how much work could a boat club require with 96 members? I inquired, was put in touch with the outgoing Treasurer. My self-employed accounts and those I keep for the house are far more complicated. Yes this year had been a lean year for figures but still! I slept on it.

**A touch moody to the south of Scarborough**

At 10:32 the following morning I clicked send on an email to the Commodore offering to become Treasurer. Had I just saved Cutweb from being mothballed? An email came back would I be able to have a chat the following morning? A Whatsapp call to Italy early Sunday morning, a twenty minute chat with Ian, he seemed happy, so did I, he’d make a proposal to the committee. An email was sent out later that day and on Monday I was notified that the committee had voted unanimously for me to be Treasurer until the AGM next year when they hoped I’d stand for election.

Well you all know me and numbers! Looks like I’ll have a few more to look after from now on.

In other news the house is looking more Christmasy with each day. A new recipe for Christmas biscuits has been tried and rejected, not stable enough for gifts. I’m getting my brisk minutes in walking around Scarborough, the beach has been my main destination. Last week we celebrated being together for 23 years.

Elsewhere, there is a new episode of The Water Road to listen to. The latest episode is very Christmasy with Santa and Mrs Claus, plus if you listen to the end you’ll hear both of us. It’s a very festive listen, thank you Adam for asking us to contribute towards it.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 new treasurer, 1 club saved, 23 years, 3 mice! 0 blind, 120m of lining paper, 2 boxes paste, 2 pairs socks, 50 Christmas cards, 2 wreaths, 2 recordings, 1 tree still to be found!

Panto Postcard 4, 2025

57.25 hours

Monday morning we needed to attempt to catch up on ourselves and finish the technical rehearsal. The actors warmed up away from the stage giving the tech team some time to do more before we had to share the space. Time was taken to tech in two characters and we gradually made our way to the end of the show. Mid afternoon the Pippins arrived we could now tech the end of the show with them.

I took time to sit in the bar and do some flower arranging, well pulling plastic roses from bushes and replacing them with our paper roses. A lovely mixture of shades of pink was achieved before the bushes were handed back to Stage Management to be stashed somewhere on stage. Gemma had worked her way adding roses to other parts of the set so at least we’d get an idea of where more would be needed. The scenery was reset in the wings and behind the backdrop, then we did the first dress rehearsal. Mission achieved, we all retired to the pub for a well earned drink.

Tuesday. An early start as this afternoon photos would be taken during the second dress rehearsal, so more things needed to be finished. Blueprints were added to sliders. Gold lines added to the plainer parts of the set, things were getting finished on the set front. One mannequin had some attention given to it, so at least it wouldn’t look too bare in the photos. A very busy morning.

The dress rehearsal was photographed and filmed for use in a trailer. Sadly the mannequin that had started to be dressed ended up being used in a different scene by stage management, so a bare mannequin stood in full view for the photos.

The second dress is when the ushers are invited in to watch the show. This gives the actors an audience and the ushers chance to see when and what they will be involved in during the show. During the interval I headed down to find Suzanne in the stalls, she was my previous host in Chippy. Suzanne moved house about a year ago just that bit too far out of Chippy to walk to late at night. We had a very good catch up before the curtain rose for the second half.

Today, Mick had been up even earlier, catching a train down to East Midlands Parkway with the aim of getting Oleanna plugged in, a second attempt. He’d not left anything on the train this time and headed to see Oleanna. However! Time had been tight this morning and he’d had to hunt round for bike lights before leaving the house in the dark, he’d got all the way to the boat without the keys. This also meant he’d got all the way there having left the house unlocked. Thankfully Tilly had been looking after the house, so all was well back in Scarborough. Mick made use of the shore based facilities at East Midlands Parkway Station and returned home earlier than originally planned, Oleanna still not hooked up and fully winterised with freezing weather already arriving.

Wednesday. A morning to work on things, both on stage and in the rehearsal room. Some cuts happening to the script, a schools version of the show omitting a few bits to keep the running time down and make turn arounds easier on two show days.

I’d got a bit carried away with highlights on a signpost, so reduced them to make it easier to read the curly writing. The second set of sliders had their gold lines added, which was a bonus. More props were getting finished, but still quite some work to be done.

**Possibly my favourite production photo**

A crate was clad on three sides so it could be used in two different scenes, the paint needed some encouragement to dry for the show in the evening. First preview was done and dusted, still a list of notes to be worked through.

Thursday. Mick picked up the hire car a day early as snow fell in Scarborough. Several inches were to fall today, and his possible plan of a day trip by car to Oleanna didn’t happen, he and Tilly stayed inside in the warm instead of venturing out. In Chippy the weather was trying to do the same, but thankfully the snow wasn’t sticking around.

I was in early again to tick off jobs on the list. A mid morning props meeting was had with Gemma and Min to go through notes from the show last night. Priority jobs were set, others not needed, we still had bare mannequins on stage and a touch of shine was needed adding to Les.

**First night rose making at the back of the circle**

A slower afternoon for me, most of my jobs now crossed off my list and there being limited room in the post room where Min was now having to work meant it would be hard to lend them a hand. Before the show I checked on progress, hmmm?! I checked if Stage Management could live without the Act 2 mannequin until the interval, this was fine, great Min could carry on working on it until then. Well, except they said they were going to watch the show!

In the interval I popped backstage to make sure the mannequin was given to Stage Management. No sign of Min and no sign of any more work having been done on the mannequin, in fact it looked less complete than when I’d last seen it. I wasn’t happy. The jobs that had been high priority hadn’t been achieved during the day, not sure what had! I took myself outside to cool off, after all nothing could be done now. Technical notes after the show, then we worked through a few jobs.

Friday. Mick set off early in the hire car, escaping the snow in Scarborough and headed down to visit Oleanna avoiding the route over the Wolds. The 50m cable was laid out and plugged in. He visited the office to buy an electric card, however the card or card reader didn’t want to work. It was suggested he needed to find one of the chaps on site to sort it, but time was ticking by rapidly. The boiler thermostat was set and left to use LPG rather than electric, the hook up would need to wait for a fourth visit. He then set off to head to Chippy.

A few people were at the theatre when I arrived, Gemma heading off back to Bristol, Paul ready to fly in extra bits of scenery for me and Min doing their best painting things for the mannequins in the freezing cold garden. Once I’d finished on stage I leant a hand cutting things out, it would only save a bit of time, but would still be a help. Min worked through the school show early afternoon and we managed to get things on stage just about finished. However, I’d requested that the newest mannequin be painted quite brightly as I wanted it to stand out, but sadly it was now the same colours as the backdrop. I added some dark lines which thankfully did the trick.

Paints were seriously rationalised into a touch up kit. My painting kit packed up ready to be loaded into a car just as Mick arrived around 4pm. Painty Pip was leaving the theatre.

**Blue Boar fish and chips are better than those at Checkers**

There was time to head back to my digs, change and then head to The Blue Boar. Here we met up with Marion (Mick’s sister) and John, plus Andrew (my brother) and Jac. I’d not managed to have fish and chips at the Blue Boar on the first day of rehearsals so I had to have them today, better than those I’d had at Checkers.

All six of us sat in the balcony. I’m not sure how loud others were shouting during the show as my brother was being very loud indeed. Jac having grown up in Australia was relived that she wasn’t picked out for any audience participation. Family reviews came in quickly after the show. Marion and John said they were considering season tickets and Andrew asked if there were any tickets left for a show tomorrow. I think they enjoyed themselves.

**Night Night Chippy Theatre and thank you**

The Press Night party followed, a glass of fizz and pizzas all round. Lots of loud conversations and roses were handed over as gifts. A good night all round.

Saturday. At my digs my bags were packed and taken down the low steep stairs. Time to say thank you and farewell to Rachel and Geoff. They have been lovely people to stay with. With the car loaded we headed out of town to meet with Andrew and Jac at The Straw Kitchen in Whichford. Mick and I had been there after opening night for Cinderella two years ago and it needed to be revisited as it was such a good brunch. We pulled into the car park in the pouring rain a while before the cafe was due to open. Then several other cars arrived and people rushed in, blimey we needed to get a table so followed suit just missing the table by the log burner by a few seconds.

Lovely food once again and time to catch up better with Andrew and Jac. Very sadly at the beginning of the week they had to say goodbye to their cat Ziggy. When we’d visited two weeks ago she was looking quite frail and I have to admit that when I said goodbye to her I thought it would be for the last time. Very sad, I hope Finn their other cat is coping okay.

A quick look around the pottery next door for us all before we climbed into our cars to drive home in the rain. It had been lovely sharing panto with family for the first time. Thank you all for coming.

The rain stayed with us until we crossed the border into Yorkshire, then the sun did it’s best to welcome me back home. Drax Power Station sent out plumes of steam, not quite at full belt. As I opened the house door, Tilly walked into the living room quite nonchalantly, she then slowly allowed herself to be happy about my return. Once a roast dinner was popped in the oven I was pinned to the sofa. Tom is okay to sit on, but She has a far better lap!

Sunday. The usual Geraghty zoom, panto, prescriptions and boilers subjects today. A slow day of washing and pottering, getting the blog up to date. Then in the evening we drove to park outside my old house and walked up to Scarborough Castle in the rain. There was a chap singing with a backing track, a lady fire dancer and an LED dancer and wagons selling refreshements, we opted for hot medication as we were doing a good job of being chilled by the elements.

The main reason for being there was to watch a drone display to mark the 400th anniversary of Scarborough. Our friend Nick Lane had written the words and another friend Georgie Samuels spoke them whilst the drones danced in the sky telling the story of our town. A great thing to do, but we were very glad to get home to the warm and enjoy a Mac Cheese and sit infront of the fire for the rest of the evening.

Panto is now running through to 18th January. Meanwhile I will be sitting on the sofa watching Inspector Morse episodes for a few days and hopefully very soon we’ll have a more sucessful visit to Oleanna to get her hooked up and finally winterised. Fingers Crossed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd and 3rd attempt failed at winterisation, 1 hire car, 4 inches snow, 1 tech finished, 2 dresses, 1 photographer in the way, 2 mannequins finally finished, 1 brother, 1 sister, 1 of each, 1 great brunch, 1 very soggy drive home, 1 cuddly cat, 1 drone show, 1 designer taking it easy for a while.

Happy 100th Fatso! 25th April 2025

Today would have been my Daddy Fatso’s 100th Birthday. Sadly he’s not still with us, but that is no excuse not to celebrate the day. We’ve headed to York with that purpose in mind, to hold a birthday party for him with my brother and his family.

So apologies for sharing this post that I wrote during Lockdown in 2020, but today it really couldn’t be about anyone or anything else. I’ll tell you about the party in a few days time.

David Anthony Leckenby was born on the 25th April 1925 in Acomb, York. His Dad was Cecil an architect, known to my generation for his bushy eyebrows and ability to watch football on a very fuzzy TV.

His Mum was Mildred, a house wife who passed away when I was about 18 months old, and there was Peter his elder brother, who grew up to be a telecoms engineer, living in Trinidad for a number of years.

David attended Archbishop Holgates School just outside the bar walls of York. The fine building now houses part of St John’s College.

During his school days he was interested in architecture and planes. His diaries from this time (the only ones we have) always mention the planes flying over. Maybe one of the Lancaster bombers that flew low over Acomb on the 1st of September 1943 was piloted by Mick’s Dad.

**His plane sketches improved through his teenage years**

Whenever an old plane flew over our house he would say what it was and then rush out to check he was correct, he inevitably was. I’m sure lots of people who grew up during WW2 could do the same.

Once he’d left school he commuted by train to Leeds where he attended Leeds School of Architecture. He used to tell tales of riding his bike carrying a drawing board as he peddled to and from stations. I was lucky enough to find his diaries from these days a few years ago when sorting through the family house. Sadly there are gaps in them and he certainly got a bit too obsessed with a young lady called Peggy!

His college days were of course interrupted when he was called up, by October 1943 he was writing from the platoon hut in number 7 company lines at Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow.

Over the next year he moved around, June 1944 he was at the 175 class, 140 OCTURE, Ure Bank Camp in Ripon and by December 1944 he was posted to France, then Brugges. Sadly there are gaps in his diaries so I don’t know where he was for VE day. Maybe my brother remembers a tale or two that I don’t.

He never shoot his gun in combat, but was around Europe for the final push.

There are mentions of German mine fields and a tale of picking items up that could have been booby trapped, but luckily for him they weren’t.

**Sat on the front row just off centre to the left**

In September 1945 he waved farewell to the shores of England and set sail for India. Here with the Sappers he mended bridges, and I believe ended up being one of the last Brits in Hyderabad. Here he did shoot his gun when a snake came out of the overflow on his bath.

We are very lucky to have many of his wonderful sketches of India. Some architectural others of men with cows and landscapes.

Sadly his diaries stop whilst in India. So with the information to hand I don’t know quite when he left and headed home. I do know that he managed to jump ships and come home via Germany where he wanted to meet up with Peggy. She however had shacked up with a Canadian soldier (if he’d looked back at his diary he’d have seen it coming), Dad’s trip a heart breaking waste of effort.

**Middle row just to the right of centre**

Back home he returned to Leeds School of Architecture. His year was now a mixture of those who had been demobbed and those a few years younger. Stood in a queue one day he spotted a tall young lady, Lillian Heseltine!

They courted, Dad had to sell his prized motorbike to buy an engagement ring.

Proposing on a trip to Rievaulx Abbey where his final project for college was based, they got married in Thornton, Bradford in 1952.

They lived in York, with Dad working in his fathers architectural practice where he became a partner.

**He won awards for the Marine Biology building in Robin Hoods Bay.**

Many buildings and shop fronts around York were designed by him, he also looked after churches around the city and built our family home in Fulford, which was just still visible from the River Ouse when we last passed.

He loved his walking. Climbing most of the Lake District peeks with Worthington.

**Those little legs up all those peeks**

Gliding was another love, but he was given an ultimatum by Mum to chose flying or his family. He wisely chose us. For his 80th birthday we bought him a trip up in a glider from Sutton Bank, the club house his design.

**A touch different from his earlier flying days**

He took up windsurfing instead and got his daughter hooked for a few years too.

**Gravity did cause him problems though**

If Mum and Dad could think of an excuse for a party, then the house would be filled with people. In fact I think the house was built with parties in mind!

Dad loved his dancing and his record collection, often seen kneeling on the floor with a head torch on so that he didn’t play the shadow of the next record.

Holidays in foreign parts, where food and the local wines were always sampled. Most holiday photos are of people sat around tables.

The beard was grown in 1976 when he became very ill and ended up in a plaster cast from the top of his head to his waist for most of the drought filled summer months. Gradually the white hair crept from his chin and took over his full head of hair.

He got to watch his Grandson Josh grow and became known as Daddy Daddy.

Lots and lots of happy memories.

David Anthony Leckenby 25th April 1925 to 18th September 2012

My Daddy Fatso. xxx

The Year Of The … 2024.

Time for the annual round up of travels on Oleanna. So sit back with a glass or mug of something nice, put your feet up and I hope you’ll enjoy the read.

We saw the New Year in in the house. Some canal side painting to hang in the downstairs toilet kept me busy during betwixtmas. I decided to set myself a new knitting challenge for the year, to knit a pair of socks each week for the full year to raise funds for Dementia UK. Emails were sent out to numerous yarn dyers and the parcels of generous donations started to arrive along with my needles starting to knit round and round in circles.

Late January we hired a car. First trip was to Dewsbury to purchase fabric for new dinette cushions, it also gave us chance to catch up with Mick’s old work colleagues Mark and Sarah on our way back. The next day we started to do jobs on Oleanna. Mick set too in the engine bay and The Shed to get ready to install our new lithium batteries, I sanded and cleaned the oak floor inside. Window surrounds with water damage were sanded back, stains removed and then revarnished. The stove top was given a fresh coat of paint and the floor two coats of Danish Oil. Mick fitted the batteries and chunky cables and tested things out, all seemed to be good.

Bowls of soup kept us going whilst on Oleanna and whilst in the house I made gluten free crumpets and focaccia. I just have to make the most of the big kitchen whilst I’ve got it!

February. More and more donated yarn arrived, I was going to have to make space on Oleanna for it, just as well I wouldn’t be making a panto model this year!

New dinette cushions were covered. The Galley tap was replaced, we’d discovered that the tap we had was no longer made, but managed to buy two along with spare cartridges, hopefully these will see our boating days out! The new battery installation was tidied up and hooks were added into The Shed to make better use of the storage in there.

Tilly had her yearly vaccinations and we stocked up on flee and wormer for her. Opticians were seen, improvements to a bathroom in the house were started, we had our first lodgers of the year and a lovely visit from Pip’s old school friend Morag. We then called together our Scarborough friends for a gathering before a final tidy up of the house and our return to Oleanna at the beginning of March.

***Shore leave permitted for another year***

With just about all the house jobs done in the house we moved back onboard, this pleased Tilly and she found her way into the secret passage as soon as she could If I stayed in there I might never have to return to the house again!

Our first aim for the year had been to join the Fund Britain’s Waterways cruise on the Thames, quite a journey from Goole especially when all routes south were blocked by winter maintenance. Once we’d stocked up the boat we headed straight for the New Junction Canal, pulling in to give Tilly some much needed shore leave. She was happy and so were we to be back out on the cut.

We headed towards the first of the stoppages that would be lifted, got stuck by rising waters on the River Aire, made a dash to Lemonroyd when levels dropped a touch. Here things didn’t go too well, two visits to an emergency dentist and Oleanna’s cooling system developed a fault for which we needed a part. Thank goodness we’d upgraded our batteries, but there was no hot water. Alastair from Goole came out to fix our problem and we had a few days plugged in at the marina before river levels dropped and Woodnook Lock on the Aire and Calder reopened we could now be on our way again.

Making our way up towards the Rochdale Canal we negotiated river sections just coming out of the red and made our final dash to Brighouse before the level rose again. We were now at least two weeks behind our planned schedule to reach London in time for the campaign cruise, yes we could have upped the hours we were cruising, enlisted extra crew in places to speed our journey, but we opted to slow down and enjoy the journey and abandoned joining the cruise.

Through Tuel Lane the deepest lock on the network arriving in Hebden Bridge for Easter weekend. We enjoyed cheese, hot cross buns and a pint with Alex one of our favourite actors. Then an evening with old college friends Alan and Doug up near Todmorden before we carried on climbing over the Pennines.

The Rochdale was how we remembered it, hard work but wonderful scenery. The Great Wall of Tod and ducklings took us up towards the summit where we’d booked our passage across the top, a shame it was an overcast damp day. Two C&RT chaps helped us up the last uphill lock and then down the first few locks on the other side getting us through a section guaranteed to be low in water.

There was a pause in Littleborough meeting up with Mick’s sister Anne and his niece and great nieces, first time I’d met the great nieces and the first time we’d seen Anne and Ruth since lockdowns.

A mystery man arrived near Slattocks on our descent towards Manchester, Paul Balmer (Waterway Routes). He’d offered to help us on the long stretch into Piccadilly but arrived a day earlier to help get us to the Rose of Lancaster, he did return the following day and was rewarded with the first batch of apple flapjack.

Down the Rochdale Nine and onto the Bridgewater Canal where we turned left heading southwards. We pulled in for a couple of days at Little Bollington for Mick to have a couple of days away in Scarborough, leaving Tilly and myself on the embankment where the breach on New Years Day 2025 has now happened.

Through Preston Brook Tunnel and on southwards on the Trent and Mersey. Up the Cheshire Locks for the first time this year we paused and had a night out at the New Vic in Stoke to see One Man Two Guvnors with a cast of so many familiar faces. Then on through Harecastle Tunnel and down to Stone where we were joined by Bill and Lisa who got to work their first locks.

At the beginning of May we turned a right at Great Heywood and onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. Unfortunately one of our new lithium bully boy batteries had gone faulty. This needed sending back which took some packing and planning for a pick up. It was deemed to be faulty and a replacement was made ready to be sent out to us when we’d reached somewhere suitable.

A dentist check up in Birmingham suggested I’d be needing a few appointments so it was just as well I’d been before we arrived in Birmingham. Up the Wolverhampton 21, we like that flight, and an overnight stop at Urban Moorings to donate our deposits from our separating toilet.

We now had a rendezvous. Messages had been sent back and forth and as we arrived in Birmingham we were able to pull in right behind NB Lottie Jane where Clare and Graeme were waiting for us. They were over from New Zealand for a few months and had borrowed their friends boat. Over dinner we arranged to share the broad locks ahead of us, they’d head off in the morning and we’d loiter for my dentist.

A few days later after coinciding with another Graeme on NB Misty Blue, then descending Lapworth Locks we rendezvoused again on the embankment above Rowington on the Grand Union. Here there was a meeting of boats as we managed to also coincide with Chris on NB Elektra and have a guided tour and a catch up sat out on the towpath.

Down Hatton, both boats glad to have company to work the locks, we rewarded ourselves with a meal at The Cape of Good Hope. Onwards to share the locks back up the other side with Clare and Graeme. It was very nice to be able to spend some time with them again before our journeys took us in different directions at Napton as we headed onto the South Oxford Canal and they headed towards Crick for the boat show.

Mick’s birthday was seen in on the South Oxford, now a state pensioner! A new battery was delivered and looked after at Aynho Wharf for our arrival, more socks were knitted, one pair hand delivered in Thrupp and we managed to moor at several of our favourite moorings as we headed down to Oxford.

**Sally, Andrew, Ian, Mick, Jenny, Pip, Sam, Jac**

A big Leckenby get together was arranged at the Kings Arms by Sandford Lock on the Thames. Andrew and Jac drove over from London and Ian and Sally along with Sam and Jenny drove over from near Lechlade and Windsor. We had a very loud Sunday lunch, so good to be able to get us all together at a jolly event.

Now we headed down stream on the Thames, we usually end up going up stream! Perfect timing to meet up with Australian visitors Siobhan and Patrick in Wallingford for lunch.

A perfectly timed arrival at Clivden meant we got to moor on an island for the second time, perfect for Tilly. A warm evening bbq above Boveney Lock, watching the royals in Old Windsor. Then we arrived at Weybridge where we joined the River Wey, with a transit licence we moved up to Pyrford Marina meeting up with Ann-Marie and Dave from NB Legend and then a trip back to Scarborough to do a turn around at the house.

On our return we picked up extra crew member Kath (Mick’s sister) and turned onto the Basingstoke Canal. Kath has lived close by to the canal for several years but never seen a boat on it. The following day we joined forces with NB Olive to continue our climb up the locks, there were now 6 cats in the locks not just 1! We cruised our way up to the end of the navigation only to have a phone call saying that a boat had hit a lock gate behind us and that the Deep Cut flight of locks was now closed. Would we be stuck for days, weeks or months?

Oleanna’s horns were removed for some of the lowest bridges on the network, we’d actually have had plenty of space for them. Lunch was enjoyed with Marion and John, a walk over the top to visit the other end of Greywell Tunnel was enjoyed in the sunshine. We then spent the next few days waiting for news on the broken lock and trying to find moorings for Tilly away from NB Olive as Tilly isn’t too keen on other cats!

We spent time visiting Brookwood Cemetery, walking in the woods near Mytchett Visitors Centre and caught up with Sam Leckenby for a meal. Then we heard that the Canal Rangers would be able to give us assisted passage through the troubled lock. Four boats were bow hauled through, only cats allowed to stay on board. At least we’d managed to cruise The Basingstoke Canal on our second attempt.

Downstream on the Thames again to Teddington and a lovely early evening trip to Brentford ended our journey on the Thames this year. We’d booked a mooring in Paddington Basin for a few days giving us chance to catch up with friends and family in London. Andrews birthday was celebrated in true Leckenby style, meet ups with Christine and Paul for Tapas, brunch with Kathy and a few pints with Nick, Kerry and Harry were all enjoyed even though my left knee was starting to seriously play up.

We pulled out from London as the General Election was looming, we’d done postal votes some days before hand. Back along the Grand Union heading northwards we decided to attempt the Slough arm for a second time. Sadly our depth meant all we achieved was a load of weed around the prop and had to abort our mission.

The Grand Union is a very familiar waterway now to us, we climbed up to the Tring summit and headed off to Lizzie’s 50th birthday party in Crick. Lots of boaters we’ve met through the years were there to have a catch up with. We also took the opportunity to catch up with my college friend Jen who’s joined us for a or two cruise in the past.

The first lock of the Marsworth flight was hard work for my knee, the second impossible. Time for role reversal, I’d be at the helm, Mick wheeling a windlass from now onwards. A turn onto the Aylesbury Arm, water Oleanna hadn’t been on before. Our only sight seeing was at an NHS walk in (more like hobble in) centre in High Wycombe, but we did pop to say hello to Ronnie Baker.

Another turn around in Scarborough before we headed towards Milton Keynes joined for a lovely day by Mike and Chris. Northwards to Braunston and onto the North Oxford Canal passing through the large landslip site which had the canal closed for months earlier in the year. Right onto the Coventry Canal, Atherstone and up to Fradley where we turned left for the first time in years.

Now we met up with our old shareboat NB Winding Down and walked round Shugborough Hall, my knee having improved with exercises. Straight on to Stoke then a right onto the Caldon Canal. There was the opportunity to coincide with Debbie and Dave on NB Bonjour, handing over another pair of socks, before we carried cruising both arms of the canal. Having limboed our way on the Basingstoke we decided to give Froghall Tunnel a go. Horns removed again, we slowly but surely managed our way through and had a very quiet night in the basin one lock down on the Uttoxeter Canal, another first for us.

At the beginning of September we retraced our route back to the Trent and Mersey with perfect timing to meet up with Mike and Christine on NB Alchemy, we had time for a catch up and introduction to Tilly before we headed in different directions. Middleport Pottery was visited for the first time, then it was through Harecastle Tunnel for the second time this year.

Paul joined us again to assist us down the Cheshire Locks getting us a little ahead of schedule which meant we were at the Anderton Boat Lift at a weekend meaning Lizzie could join us for the trip, even though it was an exceedingly wet day. This ticked off Oleanna’s seventh and final wonder of the waterways.

We cruised to both ends of the River Weaver on new waters for all of us. A tour of the Daniel Adamson was offered and taken and the last pairs of socks for my sockathon got sponsors. The monthly market in Northwich caught our attention and we had a very lovely evening in Manchester with the London Leckenbys when Josh moved to the city to study at the University.

Back southwards on the Trent and Mersey we crossed paths with NB On The Fiddle and NB Cobweb meaning I could hand deliver some more socks to an old SJT colleague. We started up the Cheshire Locks on our own, but soon picked up Bridget and Storm who were in need of a canal fix, it was great to have a couple of days with them.

Now we turned over the Trent and Mersey and onto the Macclesfield Canal. The Bosley flight was low on water so I handed the helm back to Mick and reclaimed the windlass, Mick is willing to give Oleanna extra umph when needed.

A belated birthday trip on the PS Waverley for Mick had us moored in Macclesfield for a few days, NB Alton stopping to top us up with diesel and coal. Then we were across the top of the Macc and down the Marple flight ready to turn onto the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

Rain gave us a day off in Stalybridge. Another pause was taken at Uppermill for a trip to Scarborough to see the latest Ayckbourn play and meet up with our lodgers before they headed homewards.

On our final ascent to the summit of the HNC, we thankfully we swapped roles due to low water levels, a 100 meter dash and quick thinking by Mick averted disaster at Lock 29W where Oleanna had got stuck on the cill as the lock did it’s best to empty itself behind her. Once we’d reached the summit we had a quiet afternoon preparing for Standedge Tunnel the following morning.

Our third time through the tunnel, Tilly resigned to hide tucked away behind Mick’s pillow. In Marsden there was then a wait for a lock bridge to be mended before we could descend through Yorkshire. Paul came to assist again on a very drizzly day getting us to Slaithwaite.

From here we had a trip southwards to help celebrate Kath and Sean’s Civil Partnership, a wonderful day with all the Geraghtys together.

Mick and I worked the rest of our way down to Huddersfield where Paul came to assist again wanting to check data for Waterway Routes which is hard to do without being on a boat. We finally waved goodbye to Paul in Wakefield and did our best to avoid the River Aire going into flood, but ended up having to wait a few days at Castleford.

Back on the Aire and Calder we headed to Sykehouse Junction and tucked ourselves on the moorings at the start of the New Junction where we’d moored on our first night this year. Tilly was given shore leave, I remember it well! whilst I tried to finish off some painting jobs before we returned to Goole.

By the end of October Oleanna was tucked up in Goole and we were back in the house with our next lodger, the baddie from the Christmas show at the SJT. Back in the land of veg boxes, get togethers with friends, lantern parades and walks on the beach. Jobs in the house have been listed, a few ticked off and more to work through next year in between lodgers.

The run up to Christmas also included visiting a couple of potential boat painters. A trip to London for a boat trip on the Thames to mark Marion and John’s Golden Wedding Anniversary and at the same time catch up with my family too.

This year Christmas was just the three of us with lots of food and some sock knitting of course. In fact I knitted right up to the bongs of Big Ben at midnight getting part way through my 55th pair of socks in 2024.

So this year was The Year Of The ……

… SOCK!

Now for our final statistics for 2024

This year is the first full year that we’ve logged our journeys using Nebo, but I’ve also kept a tally as we’ve cruised using Canalplan, I’ve got quite a spread sheet. The two methods of recording distances give different totals so I shall list them both. Nebo calculates distances, has average speeds and maximum speeds. Canalplan doesn’t do speed, but includes locks, tunnels, bridges, etc so I suspect I’ll carry on with both next year.

Canalplan stats.

Total distance of 956miles, 4 furlongs and 846 locks.

There were 56 moveable bridges, of which 11 are usually left open; 205 small aqueducts or underbridges and 28 tunnels – a total of 12 miles, 4 furlongs under ground and 1 major aqueduct.

This is made up of 426 miles, 1 furlongs of narrow canals; 279 miles, 7.5 furlongs of broad canals; 55 miles, 1.75 furlongs of commercial waterways; 44 miles, 1.5 furlongs of small rivers; 137 miles, 5.75 furlongs of large rivers; 5 miles, 0.75 furlongs of tidal rivers; 417 narrow locks; 353 broad locks; 55 large locks; 2 boat lifts.

Nebo stats.

Underway 289.95 hours; end mileage 943.24miles; average speed 2.5mph; maximum speed 27.8mph (the link was doing something odd for the first few months then it became more realistic); maximum speed 6.5mph (I hasten to add this was on the River Aire heading downstream in the amber)

Other stats.

58 Vehicles held up at moveable bridges; 1011.03 litres of diesel bought; £0.90 lowest diesel at Viking Marina Oct 2024; £1.24 maximum diesel at Aynho Wharf May 2024; 490kgs coal; 3 x 13 kg bottles of gas; £52 electric at moorings; 2 buckets of compost deposits; £20 donation; 630.4 Engine hours; 4 packs Dreamies; 51 friends; 4 brought in; 2 upset tummies; 40 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval; 51 boxes of wine; £252.45 spent on mooring fees; 1 overnight guest; 0 shows; 12 lodgers; 5 supermarket deliveries; 1 problematical knee; 8 months cruising; 20Litres oil; 0 fuel filters; 2 oil filters; 1 kitchen tap; 3 new batteries; 1 faulty; 150amp hours to 460 amp hours (at 24 volts); 1 boat mover sighting; 1 blue boat sighting; 11 days of guest crew; 54.4 pairs of socks; 1,000,000 plus knitted stitches; £1525 raised for Dementia UK; 271 posts; 268,000 words; 353 likes; 399 comments; 15900 visitors; 41300 views!

Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2024.

The count down to the start of our travels for 2025 has started.

Presents And Licenced. 25th to 31st December

**Tide was in by the time we got to the beach Christmas morning**

Christmas and Birthday. We’ve had a good year this year, not so many boaty presents as usual, but still some worth mentioning.

Mick got a serious pair of bolt croppers. These may be handy should anything ever seriously stubborn find its way onto Oleanna’s prop. A new weather station is currently being tested out, there are frequent comments as to the temperature on the coal bunker outside the back of the house. The old weather station wasn’t quite so detailed and it had ceased to show you much other than the time! I had considered getting Mick one that showed the tide times, this may have come in handy for 2025, but he’d selected a different model on his present list. Gardening gloves and bulbs for the house, hopefully the squirrels will leave the bulbs alone as the number of daffodils in the front flower bed seem to have decreased since we let the house out ten years ago, so hopefully we’ll be able to boost them again this year.

I got a new ‘to me’ camera! It was a well researched pre owned purchase from Amazon. I’ve taken a few photos so far mainly of garden benches for reference in the weeks to come. I must read the instruction book to make the most of it. So far so good, it has a 30 times optical zoom. No macro setting that I’ve found yet, but a symbol occasionally appears. I’ll just have to get used to carrying it about with me again and using it rather than my phone.

**We need at least two more people to be able to play The Traitors game**

A new bumbag came from Josh. The one I bought last year was waterproof to start with, but as it was used the coating was wearing off, so a bad purchase. Hopefully this new one will be better and there is plenty of room for my camera and phone. As suggested by Jennie I will endeavour to swivel it round to the side or my back when working locks so as to avoid pressing buttons on my camera which most probably did for the last one.

Tilly got a book on the Regents Canal with places to eat. I’ve had a scan through it, however it doesn’t mention Perivale Wood at Ballot Box Bridge, a busy fast moving spot, with delicious rodent main courses. It also mentions too many places I’ve not been allowed to sample as shore leave was deemed unsafe.

I’ve also had three large white hardback books. One a gluten free baking book with lots of science in it, another a veggie cook book and Billy Connelly’s arty book. All will require some looking at. I also got a bag of Italian pizza flour that is gf. I’ve heard good things about it so I’ll be giving it a go in the new year. Oh and some sock stitch markers.

A cats Protection t shirt and a chopping board came from Tilly, She needs reminding of my dingding time at frequent intervals throughout the afternoon when She’s in, so let this serve as a reminder when she’s outside too! I also got some new baking trays for the boat, the ones I’ve been using were really quite cheap and tinny, so these are an upgrade.

We’ve gradually been eating our way through the mountains of Christmas food, my birthday cake is still on going, I must remember to make a half sized one next year. It was a very good choice, but we’re a little bit bored with it now.

Well the time of year to buy a new licence for Oleanna has arrived. A bigger outlay than in previous years as we now have the Continuous Cruisers surcharge to pay for. We want to cruise the network so we don’t mind paying the extra. However we have waited for the latest credit card statement to come through before buying next year’s licence to help spread the cost a bit.

**Tilly’s new rechargeable catnip felt balls**

On the renewal there was a button to read the continuous cruisers rules. Mick clicked the button only to find it led to a “404 error. Page not found”! He then hunted round until he found a version of them from 2022. I have just found a more up to date copy (03/2024) but blimey it doesn’t half take some finding!

For those who don’t know about the new Continuous Cruisers surcharge, this has been brought in this year for boats that don’t have a home mooring, we fall into this category. The T&Cs say that we have to move every 14 days, this is nothing new and we abide by this as it’s what we’ve always signed up for and we prefer to be cruising anyway. To avoid the CC surcharge you need to prove that you have a home mooring for 6 or more continuous months. On the latest T&C’s (I think they are the latest!), I’ve just spent a couple of hours searching for, our winter mooring at Goole is covered in the section “14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances” in Schedule 1. For staying longer than 14 days anywhere we should have immediately contacted the Trust’s Licencing Support Team, this is what you should do if you have engine failure, medical requirements etc, to overstay in an area.

In previous years we’ve logged onto our C&RT account and changed us from being a Continuous Cruiser to having a mooring. This meant that should we want to go out every weekend to Sykehouse Junction or Pollington Lock we wouldn’t be classed as over staying if spotted in the same place three weeks apart as we’d have returned to our mooring in between. Now that there is the CC surcharge you can no longer adjust this on line, it appears we should have contacted the Licencing Support Team regarding our marina mooring otherwise we could get an overstay notice. Oh well, we’re fairly unlikely to go out for little jaunts every weekend anyway, but contacting a team member to let them know seems like a waste of their time when we just used to switch from CC to a mooring.

PS if you follow a link on the C&RT website to what is expected of you as a Continuous Cruiser you end up with a document from 2012, long before the surcharge came into existence! Oh Well!!!

But Oleanna is now licenced for the next year, that is what’s important and we can start looking forward to our new adventures on her.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 treat cheeses, 1 year older, 4 balls, 8 pairs of socks, 2 pairs scissors, 1 green triangle, 3 white books, 1 weather station, 1 camera, 1 very cheeky cat, 2 much to eat, 1 Christmas show, 3rd Paddington film, £1525! 54 pairs of socks, plus a little bit.

Thank you Bridget and Storm for your photos this morning of the last official #pipssockathon2024 socks