Category Archives: Family

PS Waverley Trip, Isle of Wight. 24th September

Southampton to Portsmouth round the Isle of Wight.

For my 65th birthday my sister Marion and her husband John bought me a trip around the Isle of Wight on the paddle steamer PS Waverley. My 65th birthday was in 2023 and the trip was booked for September that year. We had a mooring booked for Oleanna in Lincoln Marina and were all ready to go. Three or four days before the event the cruise was cancelled due to forecast high winds in the Solent and the Channel. So it got re-arranged for a year later.

**PS Waverley in Scotland. Photo credit my sister Anne**

These two photos were taken by my sister Anne who lives in Helensburgh and sees the Waverley regularly.

Built in 1946, the Waverley took day trippers around the Firth of Clyde and nearby sea lochs until she was retired in 1973. She was then purchased by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for the princely sum of £1, restored to her original 1947 appearance and put back into service. She now carries out an extensive summer timetable of passenger excursions, calling at many seaside piers and ports around the British coast. Here is a link to her website https://waverleyexcursions.co.uk/ . She is the last passenger carrying seagoing paddle steamer in the world.

Oleanna was moored in Macclesfield. I left Pip and Tilly in charge and headed off to the railway station for a direct train to Southampton. The train I was booked on was cancelled. However I had noticed this when I checked online that morning and caught a train leaving an hour earlier. I arrived in Southampton four and a half hours later and walked to our hotel. I met Marion and John in the bar and we elected to eat in the hotel restaurant. Then an early night as we needed to be up and away by nine in the morning.

After breakfast we walked to the station to catch an excursion bus to take us into the port of Southampton to the cruise liner quay. There was the little PS Waverley moored in between two huge passenger cruise ships. We were welcomed aboard and found some seats outside on the top deck.

Time to set off. The crew let go the forward rope and the Waverley went into reverse gear. The bow moved away from the wharf whilst the stern was held by the still attached stern rope. We use this procedure on Oleanna sometimes if things are a bit tight or if it’s windy. We call it a “Reverse Andy”. Then the stern rope was let go and the Waverley did a 180 degree turn with the assistance of a tug and headed off down Southampton Water, the tug keeping alongside us for a while.

**Looking backwards towards Southampton. Cruise liners behind.**

There were a few yachts around and a couple of motor cruisers to keep us company, people on board taking photos of us.

On approach to Portsmouth we slowed right down and a pilot boat came alongside from astern. We needed a pilot to get into the port of Portsmouth. A rope ladder was thrown over the side and the pilot stepped onto it and climbed aboard.

The Waverley’s normal berth at The Hard, next to Portsmouth Harbour station wasn’t available today so we headed further into the port past the Naval Dockyard. Both the UK’s aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, were at home base moored next to each other. There were also five destroyers there too. A couple of tug boats came to join us, one in front and one behind, and escorted us to the continental ferry port where a berth was available for us. We came to a halt a few metres from the side and the tugs pushed us gently in to moor alongside. Throwing lines were thrown to the waiting staff on the dockside and the main ropes followed. The ropes were arranged in what we on Oleanna call “innies” (as opposed to “outies”).

**HMS Queen Elizabeth and HSM Prince of Wales**

There were four bus loads of Portsmouth passengers to board. This took some time so we went down below to the café for some lunch. On the menu was fish and chips, macaroni cheese and chicken jalfrezi. I had the fish and chips.

Normally on the Isle of Wight cruise the Waverley calls at Ryde and Yarmouth. But these ports weren’t available today. There is unofficial speculation that this is because in the past the Waverley has had a “hard landing” there so the Isle of Wight ferry company has banned her from docking at its ferry berths.

We set off round the island in a clockwise direction. John was pleased about this because the last time he did this trip they went anti-clockwise, so this gave him a chance to unwind!

I went to have a look at the engine. It is oil fired, converted from coal in 1956. It is a Triple expansion steam engine (of course!). The engine room, and indeed many features of the ship, reminded me of the “Castles”: the Humber ferries I used to go on as a child when visiting my Grandma in Hull. They too were paddle steamers, built in the 1930s.

Engine

We stayed not far off the coast of the island, taking in the views of the various towns and villages on the way. Portsmouth to Ryde ferries crossed our path. I wished that I had brought our hand held VHF radio to listen to any communications taking place. This would have been especially interesting while coming into Portsmouth, listening in to the pilots and the tug boats.

Once we rounded the easternmost tip of the island at Bembridge we turned west and into the breeze. The top deck got chilly and extra layers were put on. We sailed close to Sandown and Shanklin, sounding the ships horn as we passed Sandown Pier. It was The Waverly’s farewell goodbye for the season. A loud deep throated steam driven horn, I thought it would be good to have one like that on Oleanna.

We passed Ventnor then St Catherine’s Point, the most southerly point and the headwind picked up further. The sea got lumpier too. I don’t think Pip would have enjoyed this bit of the journey. It was choppy for an hour or so. It was really quite cold so we went downstairs to the bar and enjoyed cups of tea and slices of cake. There were some in the bar that looked a bit like they had been there all day!

Approaching The Needles, the most westerly point of the voyage, and suitably refreshed we went back to the top deck. Obligatory photos were taken. The lighthouse was first constructed in 1859 and automated in 1994. There was a rocket testing base at The Needles where ICBM rocket engines were tested. It closed in 1971. Up until then it was a secret. It is now a National Trust property.

Now heading east again and the wind was behind us. Past Hurst Castle on the mainland. This is the narrowest point of the Solent where we passed a tanker ship coming the other way.

It was a lovely trip along the north coast. Passing Yarmouth we had to avoid a Lymmington to Yarmouth ferry. We carried eastwards along the Solent, passing Cowes and Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s prefered holiday residence.

After a while we were approaching Portsmouth again. Again we slowed to pick up a pilot, the pilot himself taking pictures of the Waverley before he boarded. We then turned into Portsmouth, past the navy ships and two tugs again came to assist in docking.

This was the final destination of the day for the Waverley, she was going to stay overnight here then the next day head off on her last South Coast voyage of the season, to Swanage and return. There were buses laid on to pick us up. A couple of buses took some passengers just the short distance to the ferry port terminal. Then they returned to take us to The Hard, near where John had parked the car. A third bus would take people who wanted to return to Southampton railway station. We had to make sure we got on the right bus otherwise we would end up in the wrong place.

Then back in the car to Marion and John’s home in Eastbourne in time for a nightcap and bed.

A great day out! Maybe next year we’ll do a Scottish trip on The Waverley’s home waters.

Duvet Day. 25th September

Coming Out Of My Ears! Pip and Tilly’s 23rd 24th September

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Holland’s Bridge

Our location had been chosen for three reasons.

1 An outside that Tilly hopefully wouldn’t use up within one afternoon.

2 Somewhere not too far away from civilisation and shops to keep me occupied should I need supplies.

3 Near to a train station for Mick. Bollington had been considered but that would have meant a bus ride, here was just a walk down the hill to Macclesfield Station.

Monday.

Mick packed a bag after breakfast, then checked the status of his train, a direct service to Southampton. It was cancelled! Thankfully there was a train an hour earlier, so the packing had to be a touch quicker and off he went. Thankfully Tilly was far too busy to follow him along the towpath.

His trip? A belated 65th Birthday present from Marion and John, a days cruise around the Isle of Wight on the PS Waverley. Last year they had been booked on a trip from Portsmouth, but a storm meant it was cancelled and the PS Waverley ran away around the coast before the winds arrived. He is under instruction to take photos, even been sent with my camera, I’m hoping he’ll write a post about it.

Why haven’t I gone too? I don’t like lumpy water and the thought of being on a boat that might be lumping around all day is something I simply wouldn’t enjoy, I’d feel quite trapped, so I’ve opted to stay on board with Tilly.

My main job today was to wait for NB Alton to arrive. Out on their fortnightly run along the summit pound, we’d placed an order for some coal and a diesel top up. At 1:30 I heard the hooter as they came under Holland’s Bridge. Brian at the helm and Paul lugging the coal about. 2 bags on the roof and one in the well deck. Then they moved up to top us up on diesel, £1.04. Good to see Brian out on NB Alton, it’s always good to support the coal boats.

My knees were complaining today after working the locks on Saturday, but I managed a walk to the nearest post box and then around the block before returning to get on with some knitting. Pair of socks 38 had the top finished off. Yarn for pair 39 was selected, Autumn Golds. I may add some berries to them too as up on the Macc the trees are filled with them at the moment.

The afternoon was spent knitting in front of On The Basis Of Sex 2018. A film based on the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg who was the second woman to serve as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. She specialised in sex discrimination and the law, and takes on a case where a man was unfairly discriminated against because of his sex in a tax case. If she won then the case could be used as precedent challenging laws that discriminate against women.

**Tilly did a good job of keeping my knees nice and warm**. ***It’s a very important job***

Tuesday.

Mick was guaranteed to be having a cooked breakfast in his hotel this morning, so to be fair to myself I cooked some mushrooms on toast, very nice they were too. This was to give me enough energy to start weeding out photos. Our storage is constantly filled, so some time editing photos was needed.

Long gone are those days when you took a camera on holiday with you, a roll of film, maybe two if you could afford it. 36 frames if you were extra flush. Photo opportunities had to be considered, you couldn’t go wasting that film or flash cubes! Twelve years ago I took it upon myself to scan all my Dad’s slides and I was surprised at how few were rubbish! Maybe he’d wheedled them out, but knowing him they would have been there to keep the numbering system correct. I had to edit them, so scanned any with people and places that meant things to Andrew and myself. This gives us a wonderful resource to look back on when ever we want without having to arrange a dinner party, dig out the projector and a screen, then spend hours sorting the slides into order (that’s where the numbering system came in).

Now we have digital cameras, phones, all so easy to press the button three four times to get that one good shot. On a day like today I’ll take just a handful of photos, but on big days when ascending the Anderton Boat Lift I took getting on for 120, the night time flotilla on the Thames, well it could have been 3 to 400! As I go through them I edit out the bad ones, but there is more editing needed. Mick has already moved a couple of years of boating photos to a different Onedrive as we keep reaching our storage limit and we don’t want to pay for more space.

**Socks socks sock coming out of my ears!**

I had an idea when I started this years sockathon, a means of showing all the socks off. So as I finish a pair they need recording. Not just one photo, but several, hopefully one day I’ll find enough time to compile them all together. So I have a LOT of photos of socks, several of each. Today I sat down thinking I’d manage to get through the big folder and make it considerably smaller. Well after 4 hours of auditioning photos, I needed a walk.

Along the canal, past the Old Hovis Mill and the basin. The collapsed wall just by Black Road Bridge has been rebuilt, for years the rubble of the wall lay across the closed towpath. Now open, but big cracks are showing, it looks like someone has hoped that adding more mortar in places will help. I fear it’s only a matter of time before big chunks collapse again.

The pontoon moorings were full. I turned up Buxton Road to walk to the Co-op. A few new shops/cafes/bakery. Tommys Bar and Pizza looked interesting even though there was a big shutter behind the windows. Then a couple of doors up was Early Bird Bakes. Not open today and sadly they are unlikely to sell anything for me, but it looked very interesting. They are open four days a week and their bread takes 48 hours to make, lots of tasty sounding pastry labels sat on the empty shelves. I suspect it’s a place well worth a visit if you come this way.

This evening I’ve had a go at stuffing some peppers. The outcome was tasty, but I should have got the peppers cooking before I stuffed them! Next time! There’s two left over for lunch in the next couple of days too.

Reports from the south coast came through all day. Lots of every exciting things to look at, an hour of lumpy water, I was right not to go. I could track PS Waverley as it made it’s way round the Isle of Wight, even visiting a garden in Portsmouth!

By the end of the day I think I’d achieved editing 1/3rd of my sock photos. Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow?

As a reward I turned on The Great British Bake Off, it must be autumn. Maybe I should have a go at the technical challenges each week as I’m not going to be busy with panto this year. But maybe our waistlines would like it too much!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 sausage days, 0 one told me they were sausage days!!!! 79 litres, 3 bags coal, 2 short walks, 253 photos of socks down to 74, 53347279 left to edit.

A New Mancunion. 14th September

Fake Or True Signal. 18th August

Bridge 55 to after Bridge 67

**Slightly under cooked egg for the size of toast**

Mick did the honours this morning and we’d just finished when the Geraghty zoom started. Subjects covered this morning, Personal Weather Forecasters (we’d like Shefali please), new toasters, freezing portraits and people pretending to be going into a tunnel whilst on their mobile, who actually broke their arm and Will Bailey.

Quite a few boats passed us heading away from Fradley, then the majority of them returned heading back towards the locks, most probably out for the weekend. We managed to push off without too much hassle today. Jumpers were required as the temperature has dropped, last night we considered lighting the stove.

I turned a heel on my lastest pair of socks, ten minutes of quiet whilst I counted stitches back and forth. After I’d reached a certain point I had to stop myself from doing too many rows otherwise I’d run out of knitting to do in front of the TV tonight.

We passed The Little Chimney boat, without them our original flue would have been too tall to get under the Basingstoke Canal bridges, they are usually found somewhere around here. I’d not noticed their collection of things on the roof before.

Good to see the houses with their blue pots are keeping things going. In front of each house are slightly different blue pots and the further west you get the plants get less loved, the last house looks like they just nurture weeds now.

Then Armitage Shanks factory right along the canal. Big vats sit behind the dusty patched up windows, are these full of giant toilets or pristine white glaze? In the yard I could still see pallets of toilets waiting to go off to new houses to be plumbed in. They are really hard to get a photo of and the sign for Local Facilities is way over grown.

As we approached the Plum Pudding we checked our phones, both on with signal and the ringer turned up. Time to walk through the tunnel to check no-one was coming and more importantly to stop anyone from coming. The tunnel, which is about 120 metres in length, had its roof removed in 1971 because of subsidence damage being caused by nearby coal mining, a ten yard section having collapsed in 1965. What remains is a deep narrow cutting through sandstone, wide enough only for a single narrowboat to pass. NB Holderness has some interesting photos of the tunnel here.

I walked ahead, no boat coming towards us. I was out from under the road bridge and about two thirds of the way through, I called Mick. ‘No boats coming, you can come through’ ‘What? I can’t hear what you’re saying, you keep breaking up!’ How amusing that after this morning’s zoom where we’d talked about people faking going into tunnels whilst on their mobile, I was now in a roofless tunnel and my phone signal was breaking up. I ended up repeating myself very loudly and slowly, not sure if Mick heard via the phone or not, but he started to come towards me.

The water point before Ash Tree Boat Club was on the port side, handy for yellow water extraction. As we got close we could see there were two boats already there. A lady asked if we wanted to pull in, they’d be moving off in a couple of minutes, just about perfect timing. We did our chores and then moved on to find a mooring near to Tescos in Rugeley.

A big shop and provisions for a roast chicken as we’d been feeling chilly yesterday. Today however was that bit warmer. How come young whipper snappers get all those flavours of biscuits and me being that bit more mature, I only get one and that can’t even stand up on it’s own! I’d like lamb please Whiskas!!!

Mick was certain we’d managed to bring a trolley back to the boat before, but the wheel jammed on the long walkway back to the canal. I stayed with the trolley whilst Mick did the first load of bags to the boat.

Now to find a better mooring, one not too far out, but where we’d be happy to let Tilly out. All the 7 day moorings were full, quite a few boats coming the other way too. As we approached Bridge 67 just passing the last boat a bow came into view. Mick did his best to tuck in in front of the moored boat, the boat coming towards us hit the bridge and then us in turn. A lady in the bow stood up and went inside, possibly to avoid any confrontation from us, when there was none she gave us a filthy look! As the helm came past they apologised, there actually was nothing to apologise for. They were being followed quite closely, so had nowhere to go, we tried tucking in out of the way as there was nowhere else to go too, what happened happened.

A familiar boat from St Pancras Cruising Club, no John in sight to say hello to. Past all the houses and out to an open field alongside the towpath, this would do. We found a gap between trees and pulled up, sitting on the bottom. Tilly was given an hour and a half, she didn’t use it all, I’m keeping some on account for tomorrow.

The chicken was popped into the oven with potatoes, parsnips (not in their prime), carrots, garlic and some broccoli. It feels like an eternity since we last had a roast, it was very nice.

0 locks, 1 glitching nebolink, 5.8 miles, 1 topless tunnel, 33 pairs of socks completed, 1 sockathon back on track, 2 boxes wine, 1 big chicken, 1 bump, 90 minutes, 45 kept for tomorrow.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m17!1m12!1m3!1d3336.661099494168!2d-1.9388658521470745!3d52.769429303891094!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m2!1m1!2zNTLCsDQ2JzEwLjMiTiAxwrA1NicxMy41Ilc!5e1!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1724062795872!5m2!1sen!2suk

Oooooooo! 11th August

Cat Junkie Mooring

Last night we were treated to a wonderful sunset. Over the last few weeks sight of the evening sky hasn’t been too good, so I’m glad we carried on moving to this mooring as there’s a bit more to see outside.

**Breakie wasn’t going to be a cooked one, but ended up being so**

The Geraghty zoom with breakfast. Subjects covered included spring chickens, under pinning, hang glider commuting and pollarding.

Boats came past for much of the day. Hire boats and plenty of Historic boats heading to Alvecote Historic Boat Gathering. It’s hard to find any information out about it on the internet, well we’ve not had much luck. We believe it will be on the Bank holiday weekend. We should be through there by then.

**Great view, sadly I didn’t fancy the walk back down the hill so missed out.**

Low on milk Mick walked over to the marina to see if they had any basic supplies. Only being asked for milk every six months or so, they don’t bother. So it was up the steep hill to find Budgens at the Texaco garage. Great views across to Bosworth Battle Centre and Stoke Golding on the Ashby Canal.

***A brief moment of bathroom floorness***

I pottered about whilst Tilly enjoyed a sausage day, a Chorizo kind of day. 9 hours had been allotted and so long as she didn’t find the ants nest and get off her t**s she was guaranteed to have a good day, just hope she doesn’t use it all up today!

I needed to get on with knitting, so other things were left until later in the day when it might get too hot for wooly things. This pair are a little behind where I hoped they’d be, but I’ll get there.

Across the way cows came for shade under the trees. A nosy at us sitting inside seemed to be on their to-do list. One cow wanted a drink, instead of moving to where the bank is lower it tried to drink from on top of the roots. A lean a touch too far whilst still being nosy meant a stumble and a quick recovery stopped it from falling in.

NB Olive, Taylors Aboard have recently posted three vlogs about the Basingstoke Canal. We don’t tend to watch vlogs but when you’ve met someone who makes them and travelled with them then it’s an interesting watch. When Josh first mentions us, he is a little bit worried that we might be ‘know it alls’, thankfully that changes. In a later episode he remembers a tale I told him wrongly, but if you were that boat you and I know the true details. There must be at least one more episode to come. If you are interested here’s a link to the first one that we are in, just wizz through the bits about vans and belts etc and get to look at the lovely canal in the sunshine.

Late afternoon we got the chairs out on the towpath. Tilly stayed close in case it was food time. When a new neighbour came past with their Dachshund we took Tilly inside. After all she’d made use of all but half an hour of her 9 hours shore leave today and she was exhausted! Good job really as the occupants of the ants nest we’d moved to avoid, they all decided to set off for a flight. It was like a plume of smoke coming up from the nest and plenty more to follow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 weather station not working, 1 weather station to be added to the Christmas present list, 1 confirmation, 9 hours, 1 exhausted cat, 46783653268 ants, 1 sock completed, 1 quiche, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 1 closing ceremony.

A Flat Day. 28th July

Fenny Stratford to Linford Manor 48hr Mooring

Time for knee exercises. This morning I decided to have a go on the bed before it was put away for the day as the majority of stretches are done lying down. Most worked, although I wonder whether a firmer surface would be better as they seemed a lot easier this morning than when I’d done them in front of the sofa. One however required using the bed diagonally as other wise my foot was trapped under the gunnel. They take time, the time I usually spend writing the blog! I’m currently chasing the blogs tail and am a few days behind. Just need to sort a new routine.

As I stretched away half an hour Mick got to work in the galley with breakfast. We’d not quite finished when the Geraghty zoom started. Subjects, 2024 Olympics, The Last Supper, Strawberry eating Squirrels for the third time, swarf, and Romanians falling off things.

**Tim on Sola Gratia heading off as Mick crosses the lock gates**

As we were about to get ourselves sorted to move off NB Sola Gratia’s engine was started up, their pram hood lowered and they pushed off. Perfectly timed as a boat was just coming out of the lock. Next it was our turn, we pushed off and got ourselves ready to wave.

Back in 2014 the end house opposite the moorings had a very well kept garden and sat behind the French windows two people waved at us as we came past. Such an enthusiastic wave we obviously reciprocated. Ever since whenever we pass we wave with the hope of getting one back in return. The garden isn’t quite so immaculate as it was and who knows if the same people live there, I hope they do, a medical looking table/trolley sits by the French window obscuring our view. From a few feet into the darkness we could just see an enthusiastic wave back and maybe even a thumbs up! I so hope other people wave to them to help brighten up everyone’s day.

**Heel turned now onto the home straight**

I got my knitting out to carry on whilst we cruised along on the flat. The trip to Scarborough and visitors for a day meant despite starting this pair of socks early, I would need to do a sprint to get them finished before the end of today.

Past familiar sights, the bridge that kept us south during winter 2015, lots of familiar boats, a friendly heron taking advantage of a good perch. Before one bridge there was a breasted up pair that had come past earlier, they were breasted up to another narrowboat. Turns out they were there to mend someone’s cratch cover, plenty of space to get past them. Red Lion Cruising club where we’d watched a Mikron show a few years ago. There was space at Campbell Park if we’d wanted it, but we were hoping of a much better mooring.

Under a couple of bridges, there on the offside was a space we’d been hoping for, Linford Manor. The first space has notices saying that it is reserved for Electra the community boat, but that is only on Tuesdays. The second space is still a 48 hour mooring we pulled in there, shame not to have the view across the park, but instead we had some shade. Tilly was given a few hours shore leave and we settled in.

***Glad they’ve left a bit of it untidy***

With our shopping I got a chicken, too hot to roast it so it was jointed, the majority heading for the freezer. I diced up one breast ready for some kebabs, marinaded it for a couple of hours before threading it onto skewers. Veg and haloumi kebabs were also prepared. The kebab rest would be used to it’s full capacity today.

Another boat arrived and moored behind us. Tilly and one of their dogs had a slight altercation through the side hatch. But we all soon settled down to cook our food outside. What a lovely evening.

0 locks, 6.6 miles, 9 exercises, 1 diagonal, 1 smelly stretchy band, 1 stool, 1 Tilly getting in the way, Well she doesn’t know how to do cat yoga! 14 rows left, 48hour garden mooring, 2 chicken kebabs, 4 veg and haloumi kebabs, 2 sniffy woofers, 2 bowls of chilled medication, 2 hot for a stamp.

Hoola Hoop Dreamies. 21st July

Milepost 54 to milepost 52

Shore leave was granted, I didn’t want to smell their cooked breakfast anyway, I’d far rather find my own thanks. I did however make it back in time, 1 hour 15 to be exact, to show myself on the screen. Everyone was there, they talked about slimy slugs, squerls eating strawberries again, the big steps in Nottingpants where Toms play with hard balls not bedoingee balls and cheesy flavoured hoola hoops, they sounded like round Dreamies, interesting.

Yellow water was dealt with, Tilly’s pooh box refreshed, and rubbish taken to the bins. As I rolled up the covers the boat in front of us NB Tamarisk, Over the yarnarm, was also making ready to move off. We had a locking partner.

A group of fishermen had set themselves a match, no-one was having any luck though, no fish biting. The thatched cottage still looks very snug and hunkered down by the bridge, very appealing.

The Marsworth bottom locks were empty, Mick hopped off to set the top one as Helen and Carlene joined to work the locks, we were mob handed. NB Tamarisk used to be moored on the Bridgewater, Mike and Helen having owned her now for 18 months moved her down onto the Kennet and Avon where they spend much of the year. They are on a summer exploration cruise, possibly up to Birmingham if they have enough time before they want to return to their home waters.

Round past all the boats on the boat club moorings. We waved to the Margees house, even though Alison and Laura haven’t lived there since we’ve known them, but we still wave. Under the big railway embankment and on to Seabrook Swing Bridge. It’s very odd being on the boat at such times as it’s usually me who operates it or I’m ready with a windlass to set the next lock, but Carlene did the honours.

It turns out that Carlene used to live at Cooks Wharf on NB Mozart. Mike her brother remembers the Margees house being built. If you are reading this Alison and Laura, Carlene said to say Hello! The large grassy area alongside Seabrook Lock 35 was where Carlene and her friends used to come and socialise at weekends, her trip bringing back memories, I think Mike is doing his best to persuade her to move back onto a boat.

At our last lock I felt a touch useless. I’d normally be the one opening and closing gates, lifting paddles, setting ahead. Helen had set the lock and opened both gates, I managed to step off and hold Oleanna’s centre line whilst Mike brought their boat into the lock. But there was no-one to close our gate, paddles were about to be lifted and I had to stop everyone. I most probably could have closed the gate, but my instinct at the moment is to do no pushing and pulling of heavy things.

Time for us to find a mooring, we said our farewells and pulled in a little past some boats. This morning our side hatch had looked out at milepost 54, this afternoon it was 52. Tilly was given another four hours, coming and going. Mick sat outside to listen to the end of the test match and I watched The Courier (2020) whilst knitting away at my scrappy sock.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne a British Businessman who was recruited to carry information from Russian Oleg Penkovsky in the 1960s. Both men are arrested, after months of interrogation Wynne is allowed a visit from his wife who reveals that the information they had passed to the British and Americans helped to de-escalate the Cuban Missile Crisis. A good film but a few too many subtitles for ease of knitting.

We finally got round to swapping over our duvet today. Summer one unpacked and the winter one stuffed back into a vaccum bag with some thick jumpers and popped back under the bed. It may be back out in a few weeks time, who knows!

4 locks, 2 miles exactly, 1 sharing boat, 1 summer weight duvet, 2 fat jumpers, 0.5 of a sock, 1 film, 2nd test match won, 1 day we’ll be moored at County Hall in Nottingham for a test match, 2 Walsall Turkey Schnitzels, 46th President not to stand again, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval for this morning’s mooring.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/tnyZhXpVLnZS9kD78

Free The Paddington One! 2nd July

Ballot Box Bridge to River Colne Aqueducts, Slough Arm, Grand Union Canal

The diesel tank hasn’t been filled since Pyrford Marina, the gauge showing quarter full. Mick doesn’t like the tank to be so low, in fact it may only have been so low once and that was when we picked her up from Finesse in Sheffield, just enough diesel put in her tank for test cruises. The question was, how accurate is the tank gauge? Did we need to seek out diesel today or could it wait for another day or two. The tank was dipped, 10 inches, plenty to keep us going.

**Serious clearing up by Ealing volunteers**

We made our way back to Bulls Bridge, the moorings by Tesco empty today, well apart from the sunken boat! We pulled in, had lunch, made a shopping list, moved the Larry banner to the cratch for it to be seen better and then went shopping.

With everything stowed it was time to get Mick away from chatting to a chap doing his best to avoid polishing his boat, leaving it to his wife. We winded at the junction and started to head northwards. In the last two years quite a lot has changed. Today numerous cranes sat to the east, the start of some buildings. Tower blocks that were going up are now full of people and the landscaping we saw being put in is now tall with plants.

Three miles or so on is Murderers Bridge (Colham Bridge) where in 2015 we said our final goodbye to our first second mate Houdini. Today Tilly was shouting on the top step Free the Paddington One! Tree filled outsides for boat cats!! Friendly cover for all!!! This election has really gone to her head!

At Cowley Peachy Junction we turned westwards onto the Slough Arm. We only cruised the first stretch back in 2015 when we couldn’t get further due to ice. I’m not sure where we moored for the night back then, today we tried pulling in just after the entrance into Packet Boat Marina, Mick managed to get off with a rope, but that was it, Oleanna wasn’t going to come in any more.

The moorings further along looked busy, we chanced it, hoping for a space. Several boats moored up, most looked like they were busy doing jobs. One space between boats might have been long enough, we carried on, a space at the end, better for Tilly. A chap chatted and helped with ropes. A fellow came over from his campsite on the offside for a cuppa. Akeem, I think that was his name, was very chatty, he was busy doing up a boat ready for sale, a coat of red oxide going on the exterior today.

When asked where we’d come from he said, ‘Oh you can’t moor in Paddington anymore!’ We explained that we’d paid and were quite grateful to know we had a mooring waiting for us. Through the years we’ve taken our chances in London like everyone else, reserved moorings when they were free, squeezed onto the Eco moorings when people have overstayed and paid to tie up in Paddington. I suspect we’d still visit London no matter what the mooring situation was, as we’ve both lived there and have friends and family we want to see. But now it’s reassuring to know we’ll have somewhere to tie up on arrival. Time will tell if there are now too many bookable moorings. Many visiting boaters won’t flock to London until they know the system is working, hearing tales of booked moorings being occupied on arrival doesn’t help the situation. London boaters choose to look when the moorings are empty. Yes they are not as full as they were when they were cheaper and the locations fewer. Only C&RT will know the true figures as they can see the bookings and get feed back from their mooring rangers.

We settled in and Tilly was given a hours shore leave, at least it stopped her charging back and forth shouting about her rights and how once Larry was PM things would change, Salmon and real real chicken for dingding every day!

0 locks, 9.9 miles, 2 lefts, 1 wind, 2 boxes wine, 1 hour shore leave, 26.5 pairs knitted, 1 very political cat, 1 card returned, 1 knee improving, not much walking being done though.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/F77gbmv3LLaepQVC7

Bramble Birthday Bakewell. 28th June

Paddington Basin

Mick headed off this morning to get himself an Oyster card to which he’s added his senior railcard. When we were living full time on Oleanna our correspondence address was at my brothers, so he was able to have a Freedom Pass, but that has now expired, so whilst in London it’s worth being able to get some discount.

I busied myself with some baking. A batch of sweet pastry had been made yesterday, today it needed rolling out and blind baking. Then some bramble jam spread out with a bakewell topping added and baked until golden. My standard recipe but using dairy free butter, well Stork block margarine. The smell as the pastry cooked was different than from butter pastry, it whisked me back to my GCSE Home Economics and making pastry with margarine and lard.

**Adding eggs to creamed marg and sugar**

During the day the boats on the moorings changed a bit. One boat swapping with another and the boat on the hospital side left quite early to be replaced later in the day. Mick spotted a C&RT chap chatting to one of the other boats. We’d wondered if we might be able to move over to the hospital side as there’d be less footfall, but we decided against it. Apparently lots of people have suggested there should be electric hook ups on the pontoons here in Paddington, Mick also suggested that a water point would be a good addition. The chap said he’d put forward our suggestion and they were looking into electric hook ups.

The Bakewell Tart took some time to cool down, a box was found for it’s safe transportation across London to Hackney. We headed to catch one bus, but it was seriously delayed, so we ended up walking for ten minutes to catch the next bus, No 30 which would take us all the way to Hackney. Road works, delays, general Friday afternoon traffic meant the journey took us 2 hours.

**Pip, Mick, Andrew, Gabrielle, Josh and Jac**

Time to wish my brother a happy birthday. His present was a walking pole, he’s recently had problems with a knee and is soon to go on a walking holiday, so he’d requested a second pole. Drinks and nibbles with lots of conversation. We were joined for the evening by Gabrielle, the daughter of one of Jac’s best friends from Melbourne. Gabrielle now lives in London and has become an extra member of the London Leckenby family.

Josh is now a free young man, having finished his A Levels a week ago. His music selection very very similar to mine at his age, in fact I don’t think I’ve heard so many Doors songs in years! Good taste.

Lots to drink, a big joint of crackling pork with salads and roasted new potatoes, followed by my Bakewell Tart with birthday candles. A very lovely evening.

We picked up items of post and then headed for a bus to catch the last Elizabeth line train back to Paddington. Maybe I should have borrowed Andrews walking pole to help with my knee problem!

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 bakewell, 1 bored cat, 2 buses, 1 lizzie line, 1 half pig, 2 many glasses of wine, 2 much food, 1 lovely evening.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna