More and more boats came past including the little green tug we’d encountered yesterday, maybe they’d been for water at Braunston last night. Eventually we found a gap in the traffic and pulled out continuing our journey towards Braunston.
Not a bad view from bed this morning
Below I busied myself cleaning Tilly’s pooh box and trying to encourage her back into the bedroom. If I was stood in the well deck she’d brave crossing the bedroom to peek out of the front window, but otherwise the bedroom was still a place to be very very wary of. There’s a monster in there I tell you!!!
Turn
The bangers spire came into view followed by Braunston Turn. Over the junction we could make out that there was a boat moored at Midland Chandlers, but when the water point came into view and that was free we made ready to moor up. Whilst I dealt with the water and rubbish Mick headed into the chandlers to see what they had in the way of switches. Sadly nothing that we could use. The Nebolink can wait a few more days until we find a switch more suitable.
Reading as we go
Onwards now north. I brought the new panto script out the back and as we pootled along the North Oxford Canal I read it through. A pencil should I need to make notes for set things and a blue highlighter pen to underline props as I went. Only one set thing I noted, I need to rehang a door to open the other way. Lots of blue for props and quite a few new chuckles.
This pound is always busy. Today boats seemed to come in threes towards us, just where were they all coming from? We’re normally on a canal or river away from the crowds at this time of year, so it maybe feels that bit more busy to us. We pootled onwards past the nice moorings north of Braunston, these all seemed to be busy.
Barby Straight we only encountered a couple of boats, but the last one must have been really deep draughted as we ended up being on the bottom at quite a tilt. Inside I could hear drawers opening, items falling, Tilly balls all rolling to the port side. The MONSTER’s back!!!! Just when I thought she was getting over the printer!
Lots going on here
Lots of work seems to have taken place near Hillmorton. New sheds with boats under cover being worked on. A little boat was out on the hard with the chalk marks of hull thickness, hopefully the results good for a prospective new owner.
Still pesky those bananas
We pulled into a space above the locks for lunch. During the morning reading the script I’d grown to like panto again, during lunch the emails started again and my top lip started to curl up. A quick response to one of them, the others could wait till we’d moored up for the day.
Time to drop down the three Hillmorton Locks. Time to find a gap in the passing boats! Maybe we shouldn’t have stopped for lunch, all of a sudden we were surrounded with boats wanting to descend the majority hire boats heading back to base. We trod water alongside a moored boat, the boat ahead got caught out by the flow coming from the weir. He decided to stay put on the off side and let us have the next available chamber on the towpath side.
Rush hour at the locks
So many crew at each lock. Some knew what they were doing, others didn’t and I winced at some of the practices. One boat insisted on lifting paddles halfway to empty the lock and then they were going to close the gates despite a boat heading uphill towards them.
Now we were meeting the next set of hirers coming out from the Rugby bases. It was noisy and chaotic to say the least. One boat had young crew sat in the well deck urging Grandad to open the gate ‘It must be ready now!’ as Dad chatted to me at the stern, narrowboating a favorite pass time for his family, costs him a fortune, grandad’s first time, want a boat of their own but wouldn’t know what to do if it broke down, couldn’t afford it anyway. I suggested they should look into a share boat, it works out cheaper than hiring every holiday. Eventually he moved the morse control and headed off to the next lock, his daughter having almost exploded in the welldeck at her Dad not getting a move on!
Into the bottom lock
The last lock down to the Rugby pound seemed quieter, a volunteer helped with the bottom gates and as we left she indicated to the following boat which of the paired locks they should aim for. All could be peaceful again. Time for the final scene of panto.
There was space on the armco closest to Rugby Station. We pulled in, then quite quickly moved along a boats length as we’d disturbed a wasps nest. Tilly was given two hours shore leave, preferring to use the stern and hatch avoiding the bow and the bedroom!
Panto emails kept me busy for much of the remainder of the day. A new print company wanting to charge £200 for a sample?! I’m sure their printing is very good, but we’re possibly looking at two companies doing different elements that all have to look the same, I want reassurance that I won’t end up with a right mishmash of colours. The carpenters were updated with my thoughts, new drawings needed.
Roast Pork, yum
A joint of pork came out of the fridge and an hour later went in the oven. A Friday night roast would help warm the boat up for the evening. As I started to collate a props list together Mick prepared the vegetables. A very tasty meal indeed and Act 1 props all listed. I even ended up with Tilly sat on my knee the bedroom starting to loose it’s scareyness.
3 locks, 10.3 miles, 0 journey on Nebolink, 1 left, 0 switch, 1 monster in THAT bag! 4 balls, 1 temperature gauge, 1 miss timed lunch break, 1 clean pooh box, 6 hire boats all at once, 1 spliff and a can of larger, 2 hours, 1 wasps nest, 5m not 3m, 1 long list of things to do, Act1 props done, 1 heel turned.
Waking in the back bedroom is a strange thing, the bed is quite bedoingee which we’re not used to and being aware of people moving around the house, but not sure where. We opted to get up for our morning cuppa and be sociable. Coco the woofer was happy to see us, they’d just come back from a walk in the park. Soon we were joined by Herbs two girls aged six and nine, we all chatted whilst they had their rice crispies and Olivia and Herb finished packing things up.
I think we need someone to tame our garden
The two girls said hello on the Geraghty zoom before being ushered to pack their bags and get ready to leave. Today they’d be going to Diagon Alley (The Shambles in York), their Dad Herb say’s he’s Harry Potter, but they don’t believe him. We waved goodbye and then set about sorting our breakfast.
I did another hour of pulling things up in the front garden, trimming bushes and hacking back ivy and rose bushes that had bolted for the sky. Mick tidied the dead bluebells making sure any seeds were scattered for next year, we like our bluebells.
Capplemans the only chippy in Scarborough
Bedding washing, ironing, cleaning, bed making, shower cleaning kept us busy right through the day until it was time for Mick to head off and pick up our order of fish and chips. Very crispy batter today, yummo! We made a mental list of jobs still to be done then blobbed in front of the TV before heading to bed early.
Wonky!
Sunday. Was that curtain pole like that before? Surely when we put the curtains back up after I’d decorated the back bedroom we’d have noticed the pole on a wonk? Maybe someone had tugged the curtains a touch too much and the screws holding the pole up had given up. Things happen. We’d rather know about them than not, then we can do something about it, if we’d not slept in that room then the next time the curtains were drawn they may have come down. Mick tried to fix them, but in the end we deemed it a longer job than we had time for so we removed the curtains for safety (there is a blackout blind), afterall a two year old would be sleeping in that room tonight!
All clean and ready for Zoe and family
Windows got a once over, the big shower a full clean, it still has an annoying leak! The postman delivered an important parcel. We packed away our things into the car. Oven, fridge cleaned, sandwiches made for the journey back.
It lives!
One last thing to check, our Christmas tree that hadn’t been doing to well when we’d left it back in May. With all the rain and having been repotted with some of our home made compost it was green again and sprouting! Brilliant!!
A message was sent to Zoe our next lodger and we were off to join the queue of traffic trying to leave Scarborough. Would we make it back in time to drop the car back off before Enterprise closed? The back route over the Wolds was busy with farmers harvesting. Rain as we passed Goole, the M1 closed near London so tailbacks of traffic as people exited to avoid it. We played chicken and hoped that carrying on to the Crick turn off would work, thankfully it did.
The car was unpacked and returned well within the time frame, Mick picking up various bits and bobs on his walk back.
Tilly was very happy to see us, the pigeons and wagtails had kept her occupied, but we were far better than the birds. Look see they left me with only a few biscuits! There were the just in case biscuits left in her bowl, the magic food bowl licked clean.
Whilst at the house there had been post to open. I got a certificate from Dementia Uk for my fundraising. I also got a parcel of yummy yarn from one of the dyers who’d donated yarn to my Sockathon. This was from her monthly yarn club based on literature, Mars. I’d also bought myself a skein of her brightest multicoloured yarn. The later will soon be being knitted up into a pair of socks for me, it’s about time I had some new socks.
The other exciting post had to be signed for and fortunately it had arrived swiftly. Mick had decided to upgrade our Nebo logging and has purchased a Nebolink. This will automatically record our journeys once installed. More about this when he gets round to wiring it in.
Nebolink
After two days of cleaning, bed changing etc we deserved a glass of wine this evening, we sat down and watched the 1935 Hitchcock version of The 39 Steps on Youtube. This is the version that the play we’d seen on Saturday was based on. So much of it was the same, only slight alterations and the direction made the stage play so funny compared to the serious side of 1935.
0 locks, 0 miles,1 car back in time, 1 full house, 1 spotless house, 1 family to another,2 of each, £868.13, 220 grams yarn, 2 empty bowls, 16 biscuits left, 1 big cuddle from Tilly, 1 last wash load.
It’s amazing how much stuff you think you might need! I said the other day that we wouldn’t be taking as much back to the house as normal, well I think what we’ve left would equate to a small holdall! If it wasn’t for my work things the van would have been half empty.
How much stuff!!!!
Pictures of boats waiting to go through Maud’s Bridge during the hour window this morning appeared on the Trentlink facebook group. Eight boats in all, one that had been waiting at Keadby for almost two months! Later in the day there were more pictures from those who’d escaped and made it out onto the Tidal Trent.
Then late morning a C&RT notice came through.
Update on 31/01/2023:
The bridge has successfully been opened as planned this morning.
An emergency road closure has been secured, therefore the bridge will remain in a open position for navigation traffic whilst repairs are undertaken.
Oh blimey, if we’d known that we’d have carried on downstream, saving an extra long road journey for Tilly. Well at least it’s open and we can start to plan.
Mustn’t forget Tilly!
By lunchtime just about everything was packed into the van. The dishwasher was set going for the last time, fridge and freezer were emptied. We’d made a list and checked it more than twice.
Gas off
Water pump off
Shower head laid in shower tray
Stop cock from water tank off (to stop the water tank syphoning into the shower tray)
Fridge and freezer left open
Duvet in vacuum bag
Yellow water tank emptied
Mini solar panel connected to starter battery
Central heating set to 2C
Tilly.
You’ve forgotten to pack these, I’ll get them out for you!
Ideally Tilly would have visited her litter tray shortly before she was to be packed put in her caravan for the journey. She’d been showing signs of needing to use the facilities, but had turned her nose up at the litter box. Well it was stinky! So I cleaned it out and put a light layer of clean litter in it for her. One sniff and still no visit!
Cat caravan at the ready
Everything was done, just Tilly now. Still no visit. We gave her until 3pm, still no visit! We both walked up to use the shore based facilities, still no visit. Time was up, time for the tussle into the caravan. I so wish it wasn’t a tussle. So do I!
Trucking
Tilly was positioned between Mick and myself in the cab. How long would it be before we needed to stop? Five minutes and into the first layby on the A1. Another three stops were required. Tilly was saying lots, mumbling something about compensation from C&RT for her extended hell of a journey. Poor thing, if our original plan had happened then the journey would have been an hour shorter!
Thankfully there was a space on the street close to the house big enough for a van. Tilly was first out and closed into the utility room for a check over before she got free run of the house. Stop fussing! I need to check everything over!
Stairs and carpets, I like them
It took a good half hour to ferry everything into the house, it’ll take longer to move things to where they should be.
On our journey I’d placed an order for fish and chips from Capplemans, very nice they were too. Tomorrow an online shop will arrive, then I’ll need to sus out how to get a veg box again as Tree Top Press are not delivering for the next couple of months and Mick doesn’t fancy the bike ride out to Suffield to collect one, they are on the top of a very big hill!
Chippy tea
Christmas post was opened. I think I’ll allow myself to keep the cards on the mantle piece for a while, it’s after twelfth night after all!
Claire arrived back from a days work at the SJT. The Comedy of Errors (more or less) has been re-written by Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane. It’s now an 80’s musical farce and I believe if Claire isn’t lying there may just be a giant lobster in it, well if you know anything of Nick Lane’s work, that really isn’t a surprise! It sounds like the actors have got their work cut out and that we’ll be hearing lots of 80’s songs over the next few weeks from Claires side of the house.
Christmas time!
Attention turned to tide times on the River Trent. Now knowing that Maud’s Bridge will be open to boat traffic we can start to plan moving Oleanna further up the country. This may be sooner than we’d originally thought. We just need tide times, lock opening times and weather to coincide with windows of opportunity between my work.
Tilly will not be joining us for the few days, as that would be very unfair on her. But we do wonder if she’d prefer travelling by train?!
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 full van, 1 escape pod flattened, 1 seriously miffed cat, 4 comfort breaks, 5 puppy pads, 1 cat refusing to lie down, 1 bumpy road across the wolds, 2 of each, 2 glasses wine, 1 more ball of yarn, 1 lodger, 1 bridge now OPEN!1 cat needing to settle down, 1 blog having a short break, which might be shorter than we imagined.
PS. The email situation seems to have resolved itself. On Wednesday we were informed that the blog was being unresponsive and possibly not loading for some people. Mick was just starting to look into it when we received a second message saying Oleanna was back on line. We suspect that this may have corrected whatever had gone wrong with the emails. Thank you for your comments and glad everyone seems to be back.
After breakfast it was Mick’s turn to catch trains and head for Yorkshire, leaving Tilly and myself onboard. Since we heard the news a week or so ago that Maud’s Bridge could be closed for a couple of months we’d made plans. Take a mooring here at King’s Marina, move back to the house for it’s winter maintenance when we’re less likely to have lodgers. The move having to happen around my work.
Town Hall designed by John Carr
I walked up towards the station with Mick then headed to Boyes to pick up a knitting needle gauge. My collection of needles is normally well ordered, but having so many circular needles which have very very small writing on them and some being left out of their packs I didn’t know which was which.
The Corn Exchange, when will it have a new life?
I then had a walk around town. We wintered here on Lillyanne seven years ago and grew quite fond of the place. An enforced marina stay for medical reasons had us moored in King’s for a few months, we spent Bonfore night, Christmas and New Year here. Both of us having operations.
Band stand and castle
Since then we have passed through Newark using the fast route from north to south on the River Trent. Being here in the summer hasn’t felt right, coats hats and scarves should be worn in Newark. Then on our last visit we were preoccupied helping our friend David get the help he needed to get well. So on todays walk I had the intention of returning Newark to a place in my memory of Maltings, Brewers, Nicholsons, John Carr, the market, auction houses, Emily Blagg, Polish War graves, the castle, the civil war, all the things we discovered and enjoyed about the town.
The facade of a Nicholsons building
I think I succeeded.
Returning to the boat I stopped off at Waitrose (closer to the marina by a few paces than Aldi) to see what might have been yellow stickered. I came away with a gluten free Calzone and some green veg which I stir fried with lemon juice and garlic. A very nice meal.
Calzone and green
With my knitting needle gauge I worked out which needles I would need to use my birthday present of Riverknits yarn. A showtime cowl, all the yarn with names associated with pantomimes. I settled down in front of the tv and then realised I still had more to do before I could start. Yarn always looks so lovely wound round in skeins, just a shame before you start to use it it needs winding into a ball! With a calm cat on my knee that I really didn’t want to disturb I managed to make a ball of the first yarn I would require. The rest will be wound in turn as needed.
Yarn porn
It’s nice having knitting on the go again. Maybe I should do another sockathon this year. Still plenty of sock yarn to use up, maybe I could get some donated too. I’ve been putting some thought into which charity I would raise money for, there are a couple that are possible. Some more thought needed and which month to do it in?
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains for Mick, 0 sprinkles for Tilly, 3 yellow stickers, 1 calzone, 6 yarns, 1 ball wound, 144 stitches cast on, 4 rounds.
Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.
The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!
In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.
Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.
Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.
Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.
After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.
Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.
In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.
Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.
We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.
On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.
Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!
Fast forward to 6:15
Our route out of Buminghamsaw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!
At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.
On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.
A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.
Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.
In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.
Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.
A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.
The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.
There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.
The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!
Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.
We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.
Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.
Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.
As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.
July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.
Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.
Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.
August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.
On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!
By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.
When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.
With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.
On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.
Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.
Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.
A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.
All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!
Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.
Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.
This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.
So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are
Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.
This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.
731.7 engine hours
1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?
Another early morning, well for Mick returning the van and sending off the costume returns. Frustrating that despite the returns going back to the same company, they had to go in three different packages, one to Poland via UPS the other two by Evri. Because of the two different couriers it meant Mick having to visit two different Premier stores in the torrential rain before returning the van.
On his arrival back to the boat he put on his chefs hat and cooked us a breakfast. As he cooked, a stream of water appeared from the window above the cooker. There was so much water coming down the glass outside, the water had filled up the frame and was finding it’s way inside. This year I haven’t got round to taking the windows out and giving the frames a good clean out. The drain holes on this window were almost certainly blocked. So as Mick fried and poached our breakfast I donned my coat and provided myself with some pointy thin sticks.
Co-op bacon not as good as Alrewas bacon
The drain holes were totally blocked. Prodding from above and then below saw rivers of muddyness drain down the cabin side. I managed to do enough of a job to keep the water draining away and not entering the boat. A better more comprehensive clean out is required before too long, but that will require a warmish dry day as each window will need to come out of it’s frame.
Having now got soggy legs and Mick having had the early start we both deserved breakfast, it was very yummy.
Tilly really wanted to be out, but the rain was putting her off. But in the end her need was far greater than staying dry and she sprang off somewhere on the towpath. She soon returned much relieved and came for some Dreamies. The next few hours as I worked my way through the last few items to order for #unit21 she came and went as often as any cat could. The day gradually drying up, but the towpath remaining very wet and extreamly muddy. My list of jobs bore the brunt of Tilly’s muddy stamps.
Good job most jobs were done !
Time to sit down and do figures. Time to finish off last years accounts, add up my design fees and money from lodgers. Downloading bank statements takes some time, then reconciling them. Things are a little more complicated this year as my self employed year doesn’t run the same as the tax year for our lodgers. Maybe I should move my accounting year and maybe I am too diligent with the figures. It all takes time and concentration (well only a couple of afternoons worth), which isn’t helped with Tilly coming and going, demanding Dreamies every five minutes! Mick was understanding and watched some old episodes of All Creatures Great and Small with the subtitles on, after all he needs the figures from the lodgers for his return too.
Still some more to do tomorrow, then the tax return filling in, only to be told I don’t owe any tax just some National Insurance contributions, which I already know.
Numbers and notes
Dinner this evening was jacket potatoes with the remainder of the chicken from our Friday night roast and some homemade coleslaw. One day we will finish the red cabbage bought for Christmas!
0 locks, 0 miles,1 van returned, 3 parcels, 3 refunds, 20 rolls of tape, 1kg green confetti, 2nd payment, 4 hours of numbers, 4 muddy stamping paws! 1 overdue catch up.
Talk has turned to what to do should the river remain too high for us to head northwards. A week would be fine, but what if it ends up being several weeks? Maybe our route requires amending. Last year we’d only been interested in stoppages before Christmas holding up our progress, we’d not taken any note of those on the network behind us this year. Would we be able to reach Yorkshire by one of the Pennine routes?
1.52 m
We knew Wigan closed on the 3rd Jan. But what about the Rochdale or Huddersfield Narrow? Mick looked through the stoppages. If we could get Oleanna to Huddersfield for my show that would be brilliant. We knew there was a stoppage stopping us getting there from the east, but what about the west? A long stoppage in Slaithwaite, oh well! The Rochdale has stoppages scattered around too. So no Pennine route open to us. Even if there had been we’d have needed to be through Stenson Lock before next Monday when it closes for new bottom gates.
So it looks like we are here for the foreseeable. Forecast for more rain in a few days. Great!
Stern workshop
Time to get to work properly. Most of the jobs involve contact adhesive which is very very smelly, so not a job to be done inside. I set myself up a workshop at the stern under the pram cover for some shelter.
Drying area
The hatch got a layer of plastic to protect it, aerials moved out of the way. One of the lockers was cleared for a drying area. Time to get sticking yoga mats onto the formas I’ve made. The two sugar lumps were covered before lunchtime. The vapours coming from the glue as soon as you start to spread it out was really quite something, I ended up opening one of the sides of the pram cover, but it didn’t help that much.
Not a bad view, two widebeams added last night
I have previous experience of this glue. Frank used to use it to fix edging onto pieces of scenery at the SJT. On one show we used it to add curves of silver laminate to what became known as ‘the doughnut’ which hung from the lighting grid in Scarborough for ‘Making Waves’ a show about the RNLI in Northumberland. None of us were too keen on this particular piece of scenery which when back lit illuminated everything above it, including ducting which normally remains unseen for very good reasons.
All covered
My first experience was at college fixing fabric to foam shapes, sitting all day in a workshop with the extractors working hard. When I got home that day I proceeded to empty the fridge of all four of my house mates food hunting for my cheese grater! It is strong stuff.
Hmmm
I decided that I’d only do so much gluing each day to hopefully save my brain cells, so I moved back inside to work on the giant mug. The pipe I’d bought yesterday was measured out with the hope that the hair dryer we have on board would get the pipe hot enough to bend into shape. No chance! I also needed a vice, pieces of wood all sorts which simply were not available on Oleanna. Time to rethink.
That should work
I’d bought three 90 degree elbows yesterday, if I had one more I’d be able to make a handle, quite square, but it would do the job. Pipe was cut, holes in the mug to slot things through, yep it would do. Mick was volunteered to head back into town tomorrow to pick it up along with a suitable mask to protect me from the glue fumes.
Are you waiting for your Dingding to be served Tilly?
Mick carried on working on the trip computer. He managed to install the Android Operating System with not too much bother. It just won’t re-boot now! Still work in progress. He then moved on to removing the Christmas lights outside.
Work boats
During the day a couple of boats have come past, one presumably returning to it’s home mooring and a C&RT tug boat which returned with another skip several hours later. Will these be used for dredging? Or will the new lock gates be loaded into them for Stenson?
Finished bunny
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 makeshift workshop, 1 stinky morning, 1 head ache, 2 sugar cubes done, 2 bottoms done, 1 handle rethought, 2 holes, 2 rolls masking tape, 1 elbow missing, 0 response from the trip computer, 1 Friday night roast, 0 way out of here come Monday, 1 pompom.
A list was made of items I still needed to purchase for #unit21, including a 3m length of plastic pipe! I nearly ordered it along with elbow joints online from Screwfix, but decided to see if there might be a DIY stall in Derby Market. Derby Market Hall is currently undergoing refurbishment, but I was aware of The Eagle Market, the front doors of Derby Playhouse open into the Market. The website suggested a couple of fabric stalls, time to catch the bus.
Mick had made the decision to fit the new alternator this morning and was already down in the engine bay. I required a hack saw so collected one on the way past. The Skylink bus picked me up and whizzed me into town. I made note of a Tool Station next to the big Royal Mail building where there was a handy bus stop, a much better location than Screwfix.
The Eagle Market has seen better days, I’d say only about a third of the units were occupied. I found a couple of fabric stalls and most of what I wanted and ended up having quite a chat with the lady who lives on a boat in Shardlow Marina. Sadly no-one had any navy velcro, that will have to be ordered on line.
We’ve missed Wind in the Willows
No DIY stalls. I had a wander around Derbion the big shopping mall, nothing of use in there, just a sandwich for lunch. Much of Derby Centre stands empty, the bright lights of the shopping centre, being out of the rain has pulled customers and retailers inside. Such a shame. But I believe Derby Council are hoping to rejuvenate the area, refurbishing the market hall being part of the plan to try to pull retailers back into the streets and make it a destination. Well that’s the standard blurb used for such places nowadays!
After a visit to Wilko I walked back to Tool Station taking note of a low wall just by the bus station. Pipe, elbows and cement purchased I headed for the low wall. Here I pulled out the hacksaw and cut the 3m length of pipe in half, no problem getting on the bus now.
Shardlow is getting quite full
At the water point in Shadlow there were three widebeams. WB Lazy Days had moved across from the pub moorings where now sat two C&RT skip boats. Then there were the two widebeams that had been moored above Derwent Mouth Lock, one having a wash, the other on the lock landing. Later on in the evening we could see tunnels lights and hear spikes being hammered in, we presume the widebeams had moved to above the lock, freeing up below.
Back at Oleanna Mick had been working hard to fit the new alternator. Three bolts and three wires, simple! Except things on the old one had settled in nicely, a touch of corrosion on the negative terminal made getting the nut undone a touch troublesome. Time and patience was required. One bolt was in an awkward position and when it came to fitting the new alternator things didn’t seem to marry up as they should do. It turned out there was a bush on one of the holes that needed adjustment. A tap with a hammer sorted this.
Power restored
All bolted in and connected the engine was fired up, things checked over. Everything working as it should. Hooray!
Time to pack Christmas away, well the lights outside could wait for light tomorrow. The tree was stripped and then given a good soaking in the sink. It will get a day or two inside before being popped in the cratch.
The neon bunny was just about finished off this evening. All limbs sewn on and body stuffed, just a fluffy tail needed. Although I may want to give him longer ears as he’ll be a magicians rabbit. Tilly wasn’t enamoured with it, I may have to hide it away so it doesn’t get beaten up!
Phone reception is almost none existent inside the boat in Shardlow so it was no surprise when Micks phone received a text message from Adrian at C&RT. He’d tried calling to see if we were still wanting our booking tomorrow to go through Stoke Lock, Cranfleet Flood Gates were still closed. He already knew the answer as did we, Mick texted back confirming that we’d like to cancel our booking. He also asked what would happen from the 3rd of January at Stoke Lock, would we need to book? The answer was that there would be plenty of people about to pen us through when we arrive, hopefully soon afterwards the lock will be back to self operation. Adrian would stand the team down for lunchtime tomorrow.
Wall? What wall!!
Mick spent sometime sat out the back making phone calls to cancel all our Trent lock bookings. We’re hoping we may still be able to make the window of good tides next week, but who knows what the river will do and when Cranfleet Flood Gates will reopen. Cromwell Lock said that they’d be able to get us to Keadby one way or another, maybe missing out on a stop at West Stockwith. One slightly worrying thing was that despite us both remembering Mick having talked to Keadby Lock they didn’t seem to have us in the diary! Glad we hadn’t got to the M180 Bridge and radioed ahead with no-one expecting us! Doesn’t matter now, and we’ll double check when we booked it next.
Mick also called Shardlow Marina. Oleanna was due an oil change, the price of oil was a touch more than he was wanting to pay, maybe it would be cheaper to get the bus and buy some from Halfords? He decided to pay the extra and got on the bike and headed off.
When red lights shows it is not recommended for craft to proceed beyond this point due to flood conditions
Down the towpath at the Shardlow EA flood gates two red lights showed. Both the River Soar and Trent are closed. We’ve stayed this side of the flood gates just in case the river comes up even more!
Hmph!
Tilly did more calculations regarding the wall. She eyed up the wooden signposts again, checked them for claw stability, then decided the call of Dreamies was greater than achieving her goal of getting to the top of the wall.
Inside I took over the dinette table. Foamcor was measured out and cut up to make the base shapes of some giant sugar lumps and milk pods, the sort you get in hotels. I caught up on the Christmas Day radio 4 play which was directed by an acquaintance, The Signalman. All the edges of the shapes were covered in masking tape, this should stop the contact adhesive from eating into the foam when I come to cover them in yoga mats.
Held in place till it’s dry
Whilst the PVA glue was out I made use of it to re-stick some edging strip that was coming off in the bathroom. An off cut of foamcor proved useful to get the glue in behind the veneer. Masking tape used to hold it in position whilst the glue dries.
Mick got on with the oil change in the engine bay. He’s saved doing the filters until tomorrow, we doubt we’ll be on our way for a few days.
This evenings meal made use of the last ham, ham stock which I’d drained off when I roasted the joint. I made it into a stew with a potato, carrot and peas. The stew bubbled away on the stove top for an hour before I made use of the last of the stuffing, making a sort of topping out of it. It then went inside the oven to finish off. Verdict, tasty maybe a little bit salty, but a good invention to use up the last of the leftovers from Christmas.
Yesterday and today we watched Mayflies, a story of a man diagnosed with cancer and his wish to control the end of his life. What a jolly bit of TV to have between Christmas and the New Year! Some very good performances, but a box of tissues was very much required. To jolly things up we’ve watched episodes of Ghosts, Mick has nearly caught me up.
Glad I can’t make the mug to go with them!
0 locks, 0 miles, £60 oil, 4 bookings cancelled, 1 oil change, 6 inch sugar lumps, 1ft milk pods, 1 pot of stew, 2 many tears, 1 near death experience, 1 red lever, 20 catnip Dreamies spilled on the sofa, 2 swirling cats eyes!
Henry Knibb Bridge 3A to Shardlow 48hr Visitor Moorings
Sunrise from the bathroom
Both of us had checked the river levels during a conscious moment over night, so neither of us were rushing to get going this morning. As we had our cuppa in bed we checked again, both the Government website and Gaugemap, levels were still going up on the rivers. Cranfleet flood gates would remain shut today.
The bacon was very good
Time to make use of those nice field mushrooms I’d bought in Alrewas along with the bacon. Once breakfasted we made ready to move into Shardlow, away from the traffic noise and to see if there was space by the pubs to put a supermarket order in for delivery.
Didn’t the cottage used to have something like Wisteria on it?
A slow pootle to Shardlow Lock past all the moored boats. The lock was full and a grassy island sat just above the top gates waiting to make it’s way down with us. Despite Mick trying to discourage it’s descent it won and entered the lock with Oleanna. A Grandad with pint in hand brought his grandsons over to watch us at the lock, just in time to help close the off side gate.
Nearly down
A top up of water was needed, a load of washing and the dishwasher had been at work already. Tilly’s pooh box got a refresh then we were ready to find a space. As we passed the moorings outside JD Narrowboats I spotted a very shiny NB Hunky Dory, was this THE NB Hunky Dory the owner having got in touch with us years ago at their planning stage. This was to be a boat with not one but two incinerator toilets, high spec kitchen appliances. This was all pre-pandemic, was this their winter mooring, or was the boat only just finished? Both very possible.
Not much passing traffic here
Two boats were on the moorings before the bend, we hoped there might be room for us at the far end, but rings hadn’t been used with others in mind. A glance up to the pubs, three boats were nicely spaced out there too, it didn’t look hopeful for a delivery so we reversed back to the first mooring ring. Yes there is a git gap in front of us, but we are on the last ring. Mick walked up to check on the pub moorings, there were four boats, no room for us.
A cuppa and a shopping list were put together then Mick headed over to Leicestershire in the bike, across the River Trent, to pick up a few things to keep us going for the next few days.
Tilly came and went for Dreamies. There are calculations going on with the hope of being able to reach the top of the brick wall alongside our mooring. The C&RT wooden posts may just assist. The mortar between the bricks is too new to get a good grip. Depending on how long we are here, she may discover that she can walk just a few yards along the towpath to an open gate to see what’s on the other side of the wall! There’s no fun in that though!!
An enforced stop means I need to get on with some work. Props for #unit 21 will be needed soon into the New Year and I have quite a lot of materials on board to get started.
Green mats
I unwrapped a couple of the yoga mats I’d bought. These are cheaper than plastizote, come in a good colour but are a touch softer than I’d thought. Making certain things from them won’t be a problem, but the biggest prop may need extra support. I spent the afternoon measuring the mats and working out how best to cut them up. I’d not taken into account their rounded corners, but as the thicker mats are bigger than advertised this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Next I measured all Oleanna’s doors, hatch and windows. I need an opening of at least 60cm for the big prop. Oleanna has a maximum opening of 54cm! If I took the front door frame out then maybe, just maybe there’d be enough room. This would mean making the prop in our bedroom as the bathroom doors are narrower. Hmm, maybe I’ll cut everything out and assemble it in Huddersfield when I get there.
Detailed calculations
The door openings did make me wonder how deep our washing machine is. It’s not a full depth machine so maybe it would fit through the doors sideways? Was it brought in before the doorframe was fitted? Now what about the cooker? One day we’ll have the joy of finding these things out!
As the day progressed the river levels have risen further. Our bookings on the Trent are looking like we won’t be able to use them.
Using stuff up rice
Last of the Christmas duck was added to some fried rice this evening. That’s the end of the duck and birthday cake, just the ham to finish off tomorrow.
1 lock, WE 0.65 (will this be our last journey recorded on Water Explorer?), Pip’s Nebo 0.8 miles, Mick’s Nebo 0.7 miles, 1 load washing, 1 dishwasher load, 1 clean pooh box, 1 clean pooh bucket, 2 many git gaps, 1 mathematical cat, 2 yoga mats, 1 sheet of calculations, 1 boat going nowhere for a while.
