Category Archives: Flowers

Feline Fashions. 27th June

Bollington Embankment to Tilly Trees (Braddocks Bridge 19)

Geraghty Zoom this morning. Topics covered were tadpoles, caterpillars, Thomas’s PHD and hot composting was touched upon, but strangely enough nobody was interested in what we could add to their bins! It was good to see everyone as ever.

Conversation also turned to the five step road map for theatre and live music to be able to return which the Government announced on Thursday evening. This has to have been written on the back of a beer mat and would have served much better purpose if it had been left in a pub! There has been no mention of extra money for the sector to help it wait in the dark and no dates of when the stages might be able to be implemented, so the entertainment sector still balances on the edge of a knife with zero support.

The first two stages of the road map are already allowed. Whoopee! Oh hang on, ‘physically distanced rehearsal and training with no audiences; and physically distanced performances for broadcast and recording purposes,’ well that has been happening for the last three months anyway!!

I could go on, but instead I’d like to share a few things that are or will be happening in the arts.

Next Monday rehearsals for Hamlet at the Theatre Royal Windsor will start, this was a production postponed from the summer season. It will star Sir Ian McKellan in the lead role. Production dates are still to be confirmed once Government guidance on how and when the theatre can reopen safely are announced. Who knows how long they will be rehearsing for, good job Bill Kenwright, the producer, has a bit of money behind him.

A unique performance has been created by Chippy Theatre and Oxford University, taking an irreverent long view on plagues and pandemics. This is streaming for free on line at Contagion Cabaret.

This autumn Derby Theatre will be creating a series of journeys around the theatre, Ghost Light. It will be available for one household or small bubble at a time. Production dates still to be confirmed once Government guidance gives the go ahead.

ENO are launching Drive and Live. In September the company will be performing in the grounds of Alexandra Palace to an audience in their own cars. La Boheme and The Magic Flute have been adapted into shorter versions and will have suitably spaced singers and musicians.

Then there are our friends at Animated Objects Theatre Company in Scarborough. This weekend should have been Armed Forces Weekend. They had been working on various projects with the community. But for obvious reasons the weekend has been cancelled. Despite this their Young Peoples Red Arrows, inspired by the RAF aerobatic team, gathered on Scarborough beach on Friday in formation with rainbow vapour trails. Scroll down this page to see how they made the Red Arrows.

Mick headed off to the Co-op with his mask at the ready to top up on a few fresh supplies and our Saturday newspaper. He would have visited the butchers too but storm clouds were rumbling overhead. Sadly he’d left a loaf of bread and had to return later in between rain showers to collect it.

Mid afternoon we decided to move on a touch, to give the birds a break from Tilly. So we pushed off, passing Clarence Mill. Yesterday the old work boat NB Prince had been moored opposite on bollards but in the evening the Bollington Wharf crew brought Butty Beetlejuice, towed by one of their dayboats and Prince was returned to the wharf. We wonder if the bollards were put in when this end of the embankment was worked on earlier this year.

Last October the canal was closed here and dewatered due to leakage. An 80 meter section of the canal bed was relined and 66 meters of wash wall rebuilt. The stretch was reopened ten days before lockdown was implemented. Then the towpath reopened only three weeks ago and very smart it looks too.

The offside vegetation in the bridge holes is doing nothing for our cabin sides. I’m considering getting our shears out and standing in the well deck at each bridge and trimming what I can as we go through, the brambles have taken over somewhat.

Sugar Lane Bridge adds a whole new angle to the Macc bridges. It is built on a skew which adds extra curves to it’s structure, quite an optical illusion as you pass through.

Then looking back behind us I waited for the glimpse of White Nancy standing high above Bollington. I’d wanted to have a walk up there, but being a fare weather walker today it hadn’t seemed that appealing. But plenty of people were up there enjoying the views. Instead from down on the cut we caught the occasional glimpse through the high hedge towards Manchester.

Just a small section of what we could see through the trees

Between Barton’s Bridge 22 and Hibberts Brow Bridge 21 we were taken aback by a pink haze. On the offside behind the trees, the hill was a mass of tall pink flowering plants. Was it Rosebay Willowherb? No the hill was covered with foxgloves. We’re used to seeing them singly or on clumps but on mass, blimey! Just like a carpet of bluebells, only pink and a lot taller. More and more kept coming into view. Sadly my photos don’t do them justice.

When we reached the stone fence posts we knew it was time to pull over. Further on and we’d be close to a road, here would do for Tilly as it did in 2016. But before the doors could be opened there was something I had to do.

She gave me all the usual rules, ‘Blah blah blady blah, 2 hours blah blah!’ Then was about to open the door, when She stopped. I was picked up and put on the sofa, just what was going on and using up my precious shore leave?

Oh NO!!! She was undoing my collar, this could only mean one thing! But three months hasn’t passed yet!! How DARE She, especially when She’d just given me the Blah blah rules! My legs shrank and I managed to escape, She wasn’t being quite as forceful as usual though.

The cat proof cupboard was opened, had she moved the horrid neck cooling, evaporating, squeezy, up your nose, bleurgh stuff? No!!

Out came a new cat tag collar. My old one was just that, old! Recently it has taken to stretching just a little bit too much and getting caught around my arm when squeezing through small gaps. This has necessitated returning early so She could sort it for me. The new one is a touch in your face (not mine as I can’t see it when it’s round my neck) as it’s bright red with fishes on it. She tried it on me for size, expecting to have to loosen it, but I am a slender feline and it fitted just right at it’s tightest. But She had to take it off again as it required my cat tag adding to it so that shore leave would be permitted.

The new bell was checked to make sure I would sound like me, and it did. With the fish blowing bubbles upwards my new cat tag collar was popped back around my neck and the back doors opened up.

My apologies that there are only a few decent photos of my new collar, I posed for a couple, but my time was limited as there were trees to climb!

0 locks, 1.99 miles, 9 zooming, 1 newspaper, 1 chicken, 1 wobbly head, 2 outsides, 1 white nancy, 45835432526 foxgloves, 1 good sounding bell, 1 red collar, 1 photo shoot abandoned due to trees, 4742 trees, 1 vat of chilli.

https://goo.gl/maps/Pzoeg5hUjjM9iGW27

Past The Point Of No Return. 22nd June

Tilly Railings to Stanier 1st Bridge 62

No shore leave this morning, this didn’t go down too well with the second mate, but at the moment we need to keep moving.

Mick made a phone call to Enterprise car hire. We’d booked a car from Congleton for two days to be able to get to York Hospital for an appointment on Wednesday. But yesterday we found out that the Congleton office is currently closed despite it suggesting otherwise on their website. The next few days have been planned like a military operation and our chosen mooring for the car was selected with locks, shopping, tea and hospital all in mind.

Our hire was moved to the Macclesfield office and luckily the chap today said that they would be able to drop the car off for us, but this would be sometime between 8:30 and 1pm. Returning the car would also have a similar window. This could cause problems on Thursday morning. We’d wanted to get rid of the car as early as possible to then make our way to the bottom of the Bosley flight to join the queue for the locks, a window of only a few hours! Two solutions were suggested, the keys could be picked up as early as they could manage, then the car would be retrieved when ever, or Mick could drive it to Macclesfield and get a cab back for which they would wave the fuel. Things looked more possible, time to move ourselves.

As we had our breakfast three boats went past. Will we be the last in line for the locks when we arrive on Thursday morning? Will we get through or have to wait until the locks reopen three days a week next month?

NB Cuba our locking friends from the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

We pushed off saying goodbye to the huge bull and his diddy offspring in the field opposite. Before reaching Congleton we passed NB Cuba, was this the boat we shared the locks up to Sheffield with a couple of years ago? A quick look back at the blog and there was the same boat. Sadly no body was in view as we passed so we couldn’t say hello to Rob and Sue.

The foxgloves are doing well along here, sprouting out in gardens and long the towpath edge. Why is it that wild flowers such as foxgloves and rhododendrons are nearly always pink? I remember having white foxgloves in the garden in York.

It used to be a swing bridge as you can see from the curved stonework

Under Billy Tights Footbridge, does anyone know why it has this name? It used to be a swing bridge and the footbridge carries footpaths from one side of the canal to the other. But just who was Billy Tights? Answers on a postcard please.

Approaching Congleton we came across our first snake bridge, also known as roving bridges. These are bridges where the towpath changes sides of the canal and so that the rope didn’t have to be detached from the horse, the bridges snake round on both sides of the canal. You get them elsewhere, but the chaps who built the Macc did it with more style. However the first few of these bridges don’t flow quite so beautifully as those in Marple.

The curve up from the towpath meets the bridge at an angle, rather than continuing the curve, you’ll see what I mean in a couple of weeks when we reach Marple and I end up taking too many photos!

Across the aqueduct, a small version of the one in Nantwich, then the next snake bridge which is a touch more rounded, but still not quite there.

Bridge after bridge all different shapes and sizes

There then follows numerous bridges, high, rounded, square as you work your way past Congleton Railway Station. We took a train from here to Sheffield the day Oleanna got her name painted onto her side.

Then round the long bend with a good view of the viaduct, onto the long straight. Bridge after bridge after bridge line themselves up to pass under.

Alongside Buglawton gardens back onto the towpath, but each with a high hedge. One house looks like they have spent quite a bit of lockdown erecting new fencing on two tiers so nobody can see in or out!

About a mile further on we reached the last winding hole before Bosley Locks, the point of no return! If we didn’t make it up the locks on Thursday we’d have to reverse back to this point to wind, not an attractive proposition!

Before Stanier 1st Bridge 62 we pulled in, nudging back and forth to find suitably deep enough water for Oleanna to sit comfortably. Just a short distance away the busy A54 crosses the canal and here a handy layby to have a car delivered to tomorrow morning.

Tilly wasn’t that impressed as the sideways trees backed onto a track quite a long way down from the towpath. Alongside our mooring the water teamed with life.

The waterline was made up more of tadpoles than anything else all busy feeding on weed, we hoped they’d turn round and have a munch on the long growth on Oleanna’s hull. Some only had tails, others legs, stumpy tails, some already had markings despite being no longer then a centimetre long.

Then I spied something else below the water line. An armour plated alien creature. Checking on this ‘thing’ during the afternoon it must have turned round to show us it’s large clawed front legs. Was this a Signal Crayfish or a native crayfish? Only way to tell would be to lift it out of the water to check on colouring. Neither of us were too keen on doing this, so just let it be. If it had turned out to be a Signal Crayfish then we wouldn’t be allowed to return it to the water.

0 locks, 6.02 miles, 1 viaduct, 4 hours shore leave, 1 hire sorted, 1 order finalised, 53743 tadpoles, 1 alien about to chomp our toes, 3 masks finished.

https://goo.gl/maps/5X4HWxfojQqZJ9gLA

Avoiding Wet Pants. 19th June

Wheelock to Thurlwood Winding Hole (but not in it, we’re not red!)

More wettness this morning, but the sort that only gets you wet when you’re not looking. We have a schedule to keep to at the moment so today we had to move, which for the most part was dry, just one part that really really wasn’t!

By 11am we were ready, at least one boat had already passed us this morning, maybe our luck would be in that at the paired locks there would be one in our favour. Sadly that wasn’t to be.

The landing has new concrete below Wheelock Bottom Lock dividing the traffic to the paired locks. Up above, the cottage looked as picturesque as ever, sitting alongside the pound, the sun just about out. We soon got into our rhythm, me emptying the locks, opening the gates, closing them behind Oleanna, lifting the paddles and then waiting for the bow of Oleanna to have raised over the top cil. A thumbs up and wave between Mick and myself confirming he’s happy for me to walk on ahead to start setting the next chamber, leaving him to open the gate, drop paddles, bring Oleanna out and close the gate behind.

As Mick brought Oleanna into the second lock of the morning it had started to rain. I picked up my coat from him as he entered the lock, removed a layer so as not to overheat under my waterproof and worked Oleanna up.

A little bit of a walk to the next lock and by the time I got close it was heaving it down! I took refuge under a tree, sorted out my pockets and when Mick came alongside I handed him my bumbag with camera in it so that it could go inside. It took sometime for the rain to calm down to a steadier fall, we could stop and wait longer or carry on, carrying on got my vote.

As I wound the paddles up I could see the steam coming off the backs of cows in a nearby field after the rain. I wonder how long it would be before I started to steam.

Every lock was against us, but the paddles were easy having recently been greased and the narrow lock gates light to move once the levels equalised. Some of the lock beams reach past the small lock bridges, I always push them open rather than pull using the bridge, just so I don’t get pushed over the edge or get squashed by the bridge railings. So on these locks I do what I call the Trent and Mersey hurdles, sit on the beam and swing my legs over onto the bridge to get to the other side. But right now all the beams were awash with water.

Today I’d opted not to wear waterproof trousers and gone for shorts. This would mean getting a soggy bum and getting wet pants if I did the hurdles. So instead I opted to take more time and walk round the locks using the top gates, keeping safe and my underwear dry.

At Malkins Bank Golf Club I could smell burgers being cooked and a sign advertised their chilled medication. We still had some more locks to do before we could have a break though, so we continued up the hill.

Above Longcroft Lock was a boat that had passed us yesterday, most probably the reason for the locks being set against us all the way this morning. The crew appeared just as I reached the lock and busied themselves pushing off from the lock landing. Here sweat peas filled the offside hedge, what a pretty sight.

At Maddocks Lock they pulled away as I emptied the second chamber for us, they’d not seen a boat approaching from above so I walked round and pushed the gate back open.

Then came Mick’s favourite lock along here Hassall Green Bottom Lock. You duck under the M6 and then rise not quite to the same height where you can watch the speeding traffic as you wait slowly to rise in the lock. The south bound traffic was slow and chaps wearing high-vis walked along the hard shoulder.

I prefer the single lock above, Hassall Green Top Lock 57. In years gone by there used to be a shop and maybe cafe here. On the side of the building a Heinz sign boasting 57 varieties. Sadly the sign went some time ago.

As the boat in front of us pulled out of the lock I enquired as to how much further they were heading today, just far enough to escape the noise from the M6. I hoped we’d pass them in that case. Coming towards us was NB Tad A Drift who had spent much of lockdown around Hurleston, I think they must have been moored above the locks and come past us to go shopping in Nantwich periodically.

A lunch stop was needed before carrying on so we made use of the rings above the lock for a short break before carrying on to Pierpoint locks 55 and 56. The on line moorings by Hill Farm Winding hole are now empty, maybe the new cow sheds don’t mix with boaters. We soon passed the boat ahead and then had a boat coming towards us, at last some empty locks.

The cottages above Thurlwood Lock always look pretty. The flowers in their gardens today despite being damp looked wonderful, a slightly yellower than normal daisy stood out and had to have it’s photo taken.

One of the cottages on the towpath had a for sale sign. There had also been a cottage for sale at Malkins Bank. Interesting how much more an extra bedroom and pretty brickwork will cost you!

Up one more lock into the long pound at Rode Heath where we moored up for the day. The soggy covers done back up and Tilly allowed to venture across into the trees away from all the woofer walkers.

Time for me to do my sign and take a photo for the #freelancersmaketheatrework campaign. Yesterday when I’d first come across this there had been 500 posts on Instagram, today it was over 1000. Actors, Directors, Wig Makers, Fight Directors, Writers, Costume Makers, Stage Managers, Riggers all sorts of people just wanting to be recognised as part of the industry and not be forgotten. Around about 200,000 people make up 70% of the UK theatre workforce.

People Powered was set up early on in Lockdown. A collective of freelancers from across the entertainment and live event industries came together to help the NHS and other frontline services after their work was stopped. They have been helping with deliveries, over 300 radios going into ITU’s, Wobble Rooms for NHS staff to relax in, structures have been erected creating more space for triage at hospitals.

Then there have been actors returning to medicine to help. We’ve all seen the costume makers busy making scrubs for the NHS, now making masks for one and all, I actually know a lighting designer who has dusted off his sewing machine to help too.

Theatre and event people are all good at solving problems, it’s part of why we do the jobs we do. So many have been turning their hands to where extra help has been needed. Others have been doing their best to keep their creative juices flowing, producing footage, radio dramas to keep people entertained when we all need it most. The entertainment industry has been working from behind closed doors for the last three months. As I say we’re good at solving problems, but right now there is one that we haven’t as yet got a solution for and that is a way to reopen theatres and venues and be able to do what we all do best, live entertainment, sharing the experience with others in one room.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/320711?fbclid=IwAR0NScvrUUidkF7PWoFONIX8yfn52Fz50GLJ4jT5ZGZZ1xEZVwSQTYylqg8

14 locks, 3.63 miles, 1 down pour, 2 dry sets of pants, 17 steaming cows and 1 bull, 1 boat ahead, 3 empty locks, 2 hours shore leave, 2 many woofers, 1 soap box still, 1 of the 70%, 1 lovely widebeam still for sale.

Image may contain: sky and outdoor — It really is a lovely boat

http://wbstillrockin.blogspot.com/2020/06/price-reduced.html

https://goo.gl/maps/QzB5754TRHvepEyb7

Closing Both Gates. 5th June

Lockdown Pickup Mooring

The alarm went off, straight out of bed, breakfasted, chicken sandwiches made and Tilly was left in charge for the day. Our trip back across the Pennines to Scarborough had more traffic than a few weeks ago, but still no hold ups along the way. Commuter traffic certainly is far less than it used to be.

We headed straight to see Val and everyone at Tower Estates to pick up keys to the house. Over the last few weeks the house has been cleared, apart from our furniture and belongings, and has had a thorough clean through. Our oven now sparkles almost like new.

After six years of renting the house out it is in need of some TLC. So today we were going to make it possible for us to be able to sleep there once the lockdown eases enough to be able to stay overnight in second homes.

Once we’d had a look around and checked things over the top floor was unlocked. First job was to get our bed down the windy staircase from upstairs upstairs. A 5ft wide mattress had somehow made it’s way up there, but how were we going to get it down? After our first attempt we decided it had to go back up to be folded in half to have a vague hope in it coming down the steep staircase that doubles back on itself within 5ft square. Thankfully it worked.

Which bedroom to move into? Our old bedroom didn’t feel right, there is still quite a strong aroma of cannabis and it needs redecorating, so the front room the other side will do for now. The bed frame followed down the stairs much easier than the mattress.

Next I hunted round for the boxes containing cutlery and crockery. All this was quite easy to find and after six years all needed a good wash, so the dishwasher was filled and had a test run. Thankfully it still works.

Sadly the cutlery drawer insert got thrown away

The kettle and toaster were next on the list, although I’d forgotten to bring any tea bags with us! Instead we drank from our water bottle and ate our chicken sandwiches in the front garden enjoying the seaside sun. Our neighbour has kindly cut the grass for us since we were last here, but the rest of the garden desperately needs some attention.

There used to be a very thick layer of bluebells around the patch of lawn, but these are depleted now. The biggest shame though is the lack of blue geraniums. The tenant before last liked gardening and had thought they were weeds, so had put a membrane down followed by a thick layer of stones. Some work will be needed to lift all this and hope the geraniums fight back into the sun. The other front garden needs a lot of weeding, but the giant foxglove by the front door will be staying. We are not proud gardeners, but like a more , shall we say, natural look. Our next trip will be to sort the garden out.

The garden shed has been removed, apparently it only took a few minutes to take apart as it was about to fall over anyway. Once a big laylandii tree has gone from next doors garden the back of the houses at our end of the street will have so much more light. The newly cleared patch seems to catch the sun quite well and Alan, next doors cat, was enjoying recharging his solar. I also got to meet Betty his feline house mate, she is quite shy and kept an eye on me from a distance. I made sure I introduced myself for next time.

Alan having claimed where the shed used to be

I measured up for curtains to replace those that we’ve ended up with. Made a list of jobs that need doing, we’ll be in touch with Frank for a few of them. Hunted round for gardening gloves and some white spirit. A large kitchen knife was found ontop of a kitchen cupboard, hopefully Mick hasn’t added his finger prints to some vital bit of evidence! Some light bulbs were changed and one from the downstairs toilet removed so we could get a replacement.

Five hours after we arrived we knew we’d now be able to stay the night, cook a meal, eat it and relax on a sofa. Our needs are far more basic than they used to be. With a key dropped off with one neighbour and the other one offering to help with anything we headed off, closing both gates behind us.

We called into B&Q as we left town. A pair of gardening gloves which will only be worn whilst working locks (more eco-friendly than disposable gloves) a large bottle of white spirit and a new light bulb for the toilet were purchased. Then we were on our way back. Friday rush hour on the M62 around Leeds used to be a nightmare, but today the traffic flowed freely. We made it back to Oleanna in under 3 hours to feed Tilly at a reasonable time.

At around 9ish Mick went out to check things over, unfortunately he’d not quite closed the stern doors properly. Our four legged second mate took advantage of the moment and gave herself some shore leave which hadn’t been sanctioned by either Mick or myself!

So for the next three quarters of an hour I followed her around hoping to be able to rugby tackle her. There is no point in trying to run after her, just following at a steady pace as she keeps her distance and trots along away from you, in this case along the road!

She was just about to spring back out from some sideways trees when a van came round a bend. I put my hand up to stop it as Tilly emerged then freaked and headed back into the friendly cover, the van could continue. We walked that way, then a bit further. Into the wooded area by the layby, she climbed a tree then carried on along the road some more! Into the moorers car park where a chap sat in his van watching me and Tilly. I thought I’d got her onto the towpath at one point, but I thought the gate was locked so would have to walk all the way round loosing sight of Tilly. She had that bolshy look, came back into the car park and carried on being at least six foot away from me!

But then on a third attempt to encourage her to walk with me she finally started to follow instead of leading. Back onto the towpath and up near the boat. Still no closer than six foot! Mick passed me a stool to sit on, which brought her closer, then eventually she wrapped herself around my ankles at which point she was picked up and handed in through the side hatch. A good end to a busy day.

0 locks, 0 miles, M6, M62, A64, 2 Pennine crossings, 1 very clean house, 1 bed, 6 mugs, how many kitchen knives when 2 do us on the boat? 2.7m by 3m, 1 murder weapon, 0 gravitationally challenged shed, 1 hanging garden, 1 damp wall, 1 long ladder needed, 1 broken door, 1 mistaken choice on locks, 2 introductions, 0 teabags, 2 litres, 1 pair, 1 big bulb, 1 escapee thankfully not flattened!

The 10% Is In The Air. 4th June

Lockdown Mooring almost 4A to Lockdown Pickup Mooring

Awake earlier than normal I listened out for rain, it sounded hopeful. After a cuppa in bed it looked like I might just be able to get a coat on the starboard side gunnel before we needed to move off. But as I ate my cereal it started to rain. Mick checked a couple of weather apps and there was only meant to be a 10% chance of rain, well that 10% was in the air and falling on the gunnel I wanted to paint! I decided to put off the painting for a few days as we’ve a busy few days ahead.

Our 48 hours would soon be up at ‘Home’, so we rolled back the covers and headed under the bridge to wind. We slowed and beeped the horn as we approached the flag bubble. The lead boat is now an interloper and has no flag, they could at least have made an effort!

Barry and Sandra bobbed out into their cratch. On Saturday they will ascend the flight up onto the Llangollen so this was the last time, for the moment, that our bows would cross. It’s been nice getting to know them over the last few months.

We’re hoping we’ll be able to meet up in the future and actually sit down together for a drink, maybe a reunion on our ‘Home ‘ patch of the Shropie in a couple of years, who knows. But for now both boats have to head off and become the ‘strange’ boats in new places.

We weren’t heading far, just to the pickup mooring, well a little bit away from the road this time. Pulling in we deployed our tyre fenders which we think have grown. Oleanna seems to be sitting just that bit further out than normal, just that bit too far for me to get comfortably on and off at the stern.

Mick then headed off on the Brompton to Crewe to pick up a hire car whilst I did a touch of research for panto and said ‘No’ a lot to Tilly, the road is too close here for shore leave. An email dropped into my inbox from Vanessa who runs Separate Doors. With some emergency funding from the Arts Council she is wanting to produce a leaflet regarding the Learning Disabled, the arts and the pandemic and would like me to do an illustration for the cover so that it matches her three previous reports. My answer of course was yes.

A click and collect order had been placed with Sainsburys to coincide with having a car, a big stock up before we head off away from Nantwich. Back at the boat we sorted it into quarantine and disinfect. We’d been told that the blueberrys had a short date on them by email this morning, but not about the other items. Two pies, 1 large chicken, houmous and onions all use by the 6th. The chicken was meant for Sunday then it would last through much of the week. I filled out a form on line requesting a refund, sadly nowhere to leave a comment. Normally we like Sainsburys but this order is very disappointing. Menus rearranged and we’ll risk having the pies on Saturday. If they are true to their word we should get £16 back in vouchers.

Mick made use of the car to take some old engine oil to the tip, fortunate that the registration number of the car ended in an odd number as no even numbered cars would be allowed entry today. Just as Mick was about to pull away, two familiar figures walked past on the road. They then made their way up onto the towpath. We know which way the Wheelie Shoppers were heading, but not their final destination, hopefully we’ll find out before we have to push off out of the area.

This morning before we moved off the PPe bird sang it’s heart out again for us. We’ve not heard it for a while and didn’t manage to record it again. It followed us down the way to the pickup mooring and as it rained this evening we think we got a match on Mick’s app. The bird in question sings a variety of song, PPe we believe is only part of it’s vast repertoire. Several other excerpts of song were analysed and came up with the same conclusion. A Song Thrush. This could be wrong as the actual PPe call hasn’t been successfully run through the app and there may be a Song Thrush sitting alongside it. We’ll have a listen to recordings and see if we can confirm our suspicions.

Dark clouds came and went for the remainder of the day, another 10% then 20% of rain filled the air. By the time the chicken was roasted there was 70% rain. That gunnel better not have to wait months to get painted!

0 locks, 1 wind, 0.75 miles, 2 final farewells, 1 red car, £16 plus, 1 Thursday night roast, 10 litres to the dump, 0 wheelie shopper, 2 wheelie shoppers, 1 possible identification, 2 very fat tyres, 1 wetter day than expected, 27 keys at the ready, 1 miffed off Tilly.

I Dig Canals. 19th May

Lockdown Mooring 4A

Today I had to make sure I got some time with Tilly on the boat, on our own. Mick headed off up the locks to check for eggs, that egg box of ours has done quite a few trips now. Tilly and I had to put our heads together and quickly, what on earth were we going to do for Mick’s birthday presents?!

Technical glitches, places being closed Mondays and Tuesdays, things costing far more than originally thought (he is worth it) and a pandemic haven’t been helping! There was nothing for him to open with his cuppa in bed! That had to be sorted. Within half an hour there were a couple of cards and six presents for him to open in the morning. Tune in tomorrow to see what he got!

Whilst I’ve been working on my illustrations for the last couple of days we’ve been listening to I Dig Canals podcasts from Alarum Theatre Company. These have come about from an aural history project about the women who helped save the inland waterways from closure and destruction after the second world war. At the moment there are eleven episodes of varying lengths. There may be more planned but as we’ve not got to the last one yet I don’t know.

They are a good listen, full of stories on the Waterway Recovery Group and people trying to get their boats over a blue mini submerged in the cut and mothers listening for the splash as their kids got on and off the boats. The waterways back then were not how they are today and the boats they cruised in had few mod cons. Well worth a listen.

Another thing to listen out for next week is a new radio play. Alan Ayckbourn should have been starting rehearsals for his latest play Truth Will Out this week, but the summer season at the SJT in Scarborough has been cancelled for obvious reasons. So instead Alan has written a radio play Anno Domino which will be premiered from noon on the 25th May for a month, found on the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s website. You can listen for free or make a donation to help the theatre to reopen in the future. This marks the return to acting for Alan, he last performed in 1964. The play has been recorded at home with Heather, his wife and himself playing all the parts. We’ll certainly be listening in.

A birthday card needed popping in the post so I took the long route to the post box. Along the canal to Stokehall Bridge there were plenty of people on the towpath, walkers, fishermen (who all spread out just a touch too much) and a family who gathered themselves up into the hedge for anyone to pass.

The fields from the bridge are tuffy green now, the crop whatever it will be getting ready to reach for the sky.

The oak trees are now in full leaf, lush bright green. On the other hand the hawthorn blossom is passing it’s best, now turning pink and some has even started to fade into brown. Some of the cow parsley was getting on for shoulder height today.

Once at the A51 I walked along towards the post box. For the last couple of months you’ve just had to glance both ways before crossing, but today I had to wait several minutes before there was a big enough gap in the traffic. Another sign of the world getting busier was the aroma around the post box. It is situated on a layby/ bus stop, plenty of lorry drivers stop here for a pit stop, most of them relieving themselves too. Blimey it stank!

This evening I made use of another aubergine from our veg box and cooked us another moussaka. This time I only had pork mince and new potatoes. It was looking very good as it went in the oven, so I made use of the days hot water for a shower. Sadly the gas bottle ran out at some point, long before the top even started to brown. So we had an extended wait for our evening meal. It was tasty, but not as good as the one I made a couple of weeks ago.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 lemon, 8 podcasts, 3 more to go, 6 improvised presents, 2 cards, 1 walk, 1 wee mail box, 1 arrived 1 to follow, 1 empty gas bottle, 1 sock to change into a hat, 1 house nearly cleared.

Boris Said We Could. 12th 13th May

Lockdown Pickup mooring

On Tuesday we moved Oleanna to the Lockdown Pickup mooring, well almost, we stopped a few boat lengths away from the busy road to moor for the night. Then mid afternoon Mick cycled into Crewe where he picked up a hire car. Enterprise did a socially distanced hand over and they have cleaning regulations that they follow. So on Wednesday morning the alarm went off and we were setting off in the car at 9am for a day out.

Back on the 16th of April I wrote about what a crap day we’d had, but not mentioned why. Well a few days before hand we’d heard from our lovely next door neighbour in Scarborough that our tenant looked like she was subletting as there were new faces around the house. Another neighbour from across the road thought she’d seen lights on in the rooms at the top of the house, this is where we store our possessions and it is kept locked up. She’d also been making note of a car driving up the road several times a day and transactions taking place. This was all hearsay, but if Andy thought it was worth calling us then he believed it, we suggested that the lady across the way should call the police if she suspected drugs were involved.

Then we heard more over the Easter weekend. Three people had been sat on the roof of our bay window drinking from the early morning. Someone on the street called the police who arrived mob handed. Then a few hours later the police returned even more mob handed I believe with sirens etc. They were at the house for quite a while.

Messages were left for the agents who look after the house. They tried calling our tenant, but got no response.

Then on the 16th we heard more. I could say ‘the shit hit the fan’ but a more accurate description would be ‘the TV hit the bench and then the bay window’. Although we have conflicting reports as to whether it was a TV, Computer Monitor or a Hifi. But what we do know is that an item had been thrown out from a window, bouncing off our garden bench and smashing into the bay window. this is why the police were called out the second time.

We tried calling the police but due to data protection they couldn’t give us any information, we would have to ask our tenants! As if they’d tell us anything.

Instantly we were both of the same opinion, we’d heard enough. Our hand had been forced, we instructed the agents to give our tenant notice as soon as possible. Who knew what was happening in our house. Who knew what was happening to our possessions, mostly things of great sentimental value.

Our agents advised us that normally we would have to give two months notice, but due to the pandemic this would be three months. Then they doubted that they would leave. We’d have to get a court order which post pandemic would take sometime and then it would likely take until bailiffs arrived on the doorstep to actually get rid of them. We felt sick.

Over the last few weeks our agents in Scarborough have done their best to contact our tenant and somehow she decided to make a move before her next months rent was due. Last Thursday we heard that there was a van and cars clearing things from the house. Then there was peace and quiet and four wide open windows.

The following day, VE day, the street had a party to celebrate. We suspect our end of the road were celebrating more than the 75th anniversary. Andy managed to push closed the windows for us, but we still had to wait to hear that the house was empty. This came through on Saturday, a big relief. We set about arranging an essential visit to the house.

The agents took photos on Monday. The tenant had said she’d not had time to finish clearing the house and would pay for it’s clearance when she could afford to. The window had been mended and she signed the bond over to us straight away as she was already in arrears.

With the announcement from Mr Johnson on Sunday, which by Monday had more clarity, we knew we could go on a day trip to somewhere, the seaside even, just so long as we didn’t stay overnight. I have to say we would not have been doing this trip if the circumstances had been different, but for our own mental health we had to go.

The M62 was the quietest it’s ever been, mostly lorries and we didn’t get held up going past Leeds, a straight 70 mph apart from through road works. Just under three hours later we called in at the agents to pick up keys and for a chat. Scarborough was busy, just like normal.

Everyone stood at a distance. Their impression of our tenant had been good when she first moved in, smartly presented, five kids. But lockdown has affected people in different ways. Yes we’ve all found it hard, but some more than others. She’d also got a new fella in her life, which we suspect was the main catalyst.

The house looked like they had been given half an hour to leave. Things left where they’d been dropped. A guitar, half an eaten pot of chocolate ice cream, the residue from a hamster or rabbits cage. Coats, shoes, pants, socks, food, a freezer full. Bikes, barbecues. Toys, cupboards full of the kids possessions. A mattress on the floor that had been slept in and just left. I’m so glad we’d seen the photos before hand so that we could detach ourselves.

Mick headed straight up the stairs to the attic door which showed no forced entry, but cracks in the paintwork suggested the lock had been removed. We already knew from one of the photographs that someone had been upstairs upstairs, I would never have left my gramophone open and certainly wouldn’t have had a go at playing a 45 on it!

We checked round the piles of our possessions. Things had certainly been looked through. As far as we could tell everything was still there, we’ll know more when we come to empty the attic. What a huge relief!

Our furniture needed sorting from everything else, which we did leaving labels on ordered piles. All food items that could go off were bagged and added to the already filled wheelie bins. The rest will be cleared by someone else.

We’d taken with us a picnic, under Mr Johnson’s guidance and sat out on the front garden wall to eat it in the sunshine, the blue bells that border our lawn still evident just not in quite the number we used to have. The house was starting to feel like ours again.

Time to acquaint and reacquaint ourselves with the neighbours. First up was Shoes, an ever so friendly cat who seems to like ham. He wouldn’t tell us if his brother Yoda (or Shithead) was still around, we kind of hope not.

Andy was out in his garden with the kids so we got to have a good chin wag with him. Then we went and knocked on the other neighbours door to introduce ourselves. Damian guessed who we were and came for a chat too. He was the one who’d called the police the second time, a lovely chap who knows old work colleagues of mine.

Another new neighbour had to be shooed out the front door, a ginger white pawed cat. Nobody knows it’s name. Then I disturbed Alan lazing in the sun on a table in our back yard. He apologised for having a Patsy look as I’d just woken him up.

Most of the locks are now changed and that will be finished tomorrow. We arrived feeling detached from the house but left feeling like it was still ours.

A drive up onto Southcliff to see the sea, castle and lighthouse was needed, otherwise we couldn’t say we’d been to the seaside for the day. I miss that view. Then we called in at Frank’s house to wish him a distanced Happy Birthday, he was out, but we had a chat on the phone instead. It took him quite a while before he asked how come we were in Scarborough. Word passed on quickly as we got a message from Duncan (see you get another mention!) asking about our visit.

The trip back was just as easy and we decided to head into Nantwich to get a takeaway curry before heading back to Tilly and the boat. All was in order, she’d looked after Oleanna very well for the day. It was nice to be back home.

0 locks, 4 locks changed, 0 miles, 322.8 miles by road, 1 day trip, 1 hire car, 1 bottle of disinfectant, 1 bag of keys, 1 serious mess of a house, 1 family evaporated, 1 chip pan of oil spread across the kitchen, 1 broken wardrobe, 2 boaters possessions still there (we think), 1 new window, 2 much stuff, 2 lovely neighbours, 1 calm quiet street again, 1 house to be cleared, 1 house to be cleaned, 1 house to ? 2 many decisions, 2 poppadoms, 2 currys, 1 side dish, 4 glasses of well earned wine, 2 relieved boaters.

Yummo! 3rd May

Lockdown Mooring 4A

With some gluten free bread on board, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes etc and it being Sunday, there was only one thing for it…. a cooked breakfast!

Because of us having a potato mountain on board I decided to have a go at making some hash browns. This turned out to be a very good idea. I grated up a few small potatoes and a half onion left over from a few days ago into a t-towel, then I squeezed out as much water as I possibly could, a surprising amount. Then in a bowl I added a good amount of salt and pepper and about half an egg, enough so that I knew it would help bind everything together without becoming a potato omelette. This was then handed over to the breakfast chef for cooking. Cooked in rapeseed oil for about 3 minutes on each side until golden.

They were certainly worth the grating. As Rick Stein says, ‘Yummo!’

I decided to stretch my legs in the late morning sunshine and see how the fields up towards Stoke Manor were doing. I walked this route a while ago when the footpaths were hard to make out across recently sewn fields. Today I set out to do the route in reverse.

Walking along the towpath up to Stokehall Bridge you could see the effect of the recent rainfall. The towpath plants have shot up, cow parsley reaching for the sky. The well trodden path a curved dip between the green edge of the canal and the trees. Normally this would have been mowed by now, but C&RT are only mowing near locks and moorings, places where you need to be able to see what you are doing. I wonder what they’d look like if there wasn’t quite so much footfall?

I crossed over the canal at the bridge and climbed over the stile. From here the green field had a very well marked footpath straight across towards the manor. The crop now sprouted by around 8 inches in little tufts above the earth.

Where the two paths meet I could see which was the more popular route, the other route ending with a 12 ft quagmire. But the path was marked, was the yellow colour from feet brushing through the crop, or has the farmer sprayed or rolled the line to mark the way?

Approaching the manor the trees now in leaf framed the building well.

The footpath becomes a narrow channel through the friendly cover of cow parsley and grasses brought me to the farm yard and back onto the road. I was glad to see the footpath sign has been revealed again, shame the one at the top of the road still had it’s black bin bag wrapped around it!

Returning by the reservoir the cocky cockerel had escaped again and was strutting his stuff around the garden. A couple of boxes of eggs his good ladies had laid sat waiting to be bought. I’m still holding out for some duck eggs.

Tilly spent much of the day out in the fields, we don’t get to see much of her at the moment. She returns for a few biscuits and the occasional drink during the day. An odd restorative kip and then she is back out hunting for friends. We have turned into a B&B for her. At least with the stove out this evening she curled up on my knee for some warmth. I wonder what she’ll make of it when we get to cruise properly again?

The ability to draw had returned this afternoon, so I worked my way back through my sketches, removing gurning chins, improving hands. Sadly I was missing a good photograph of the movement director to add to the portraits on the last sheet. Hopefully Dark Horse will be able to provide me with a better image of him, then the pencil stage will be done, unless I get notes from Amy.

Thank you Ann for the link to the National Trust bird song. Sadly the PPe bird doesn’t feature. Mick has down loaded an app BirdNET to see if we can identify it with that. He’s tried several times to catch it’s call , but when he does get it it is upstaged by other bird song. We’ll continue and hopefully managed to identify it.

This evening we have worked our way through a few more potatoes and enjoyed a large roast chicken and fresh veg to accompany them. We didn’t eat the whole bird, the left overs will last us most of the week. With still half of our veg box left to consume I’d better look at buying some new jeans the next size up!

0 locks, 0 miles, 12 tomatoes, 4 rashers bacon, 4 hash browns, 8 mushrooms, 3 slices toast, 3 eggs scrambled, 4 slices black pudding 1 hours walk, 2 bridges, 1 field, 2 paths, 12 eggs, 1 cocky ‘un, 15 sketches complete, 9 portraits, 1 still to go, 1 cat B&B, 1 elusive bird, 2.1kg of chicken, 1 bag of potatoes completely eaten!

Vegging Out. 30th April

Almost Lockdown Mooring 4 to Marsh Lane Winding Hole to Almost Lockdown Mooring 4

Yesterday I’d checked with the greengrocer about what time they start delivering their veg boxes, luckily for us it wasn’t too early so we didn’t need to set an alarm clock. We had our usual cuppa in bed and then set off back to bridge 95 not quite a mile away.

Here we hunted for the holes in the concrete edge we’d made yesterday. Mick found the one for the stern, but try as I might at the bow it hid from me, only showing itself when we pushed off later! Once our spikes were in we made better note of where they were for next week.

Time for breakfast, we could have been there for half an hour or right into the afternoon, but fortunately it was the former. Around 10:20 I got a phone call to say our box had arrived. Mick got out and waved, our box was laid on the towpath for Mick to pick up so that distances could be maintained. The chap said he does a big delivery to a boater at Venetian Marina which then gets passed on along the Middlewich Branch. This is where I’d got the idea from, the local Covid-19 Boaters group on facebook.

What had we got? I was excited!

I’d requested no cauliflower, but some garlic and a sweet potato. The rest was a mystery, a £15 mystery.

1 lettuce, 1 very long cucumber, a bag of new potatoes, 2 huge parsnips, a bag of carrots, 1 sweet potato, 2 bulbs garlic, 1 aubergine, 1 small butternut squash, a bag of tomatoes, 3 bunches of spinach, 2 onions, 1 red onion and some broccoli. That would certainly keep us going until next week.

Clem’s (or Nantwich Veg Boxes) does different sized boxes, some just veg, some just fruit, some a mixture. I’d gone for £15 veg as that is roughly what I’d spent on their market stall a few weeks ago. Next week I suspect we might still have a few bits left so I’ll try a mixed box of a similar size and see what lies within one of those.

If we could put together a big enough butchers delivery then we’d only have to use the supermarkets for pasta, rice, flour, milk etc. oh and wine boxes! Mick managed to get another Sainsbury’s click and collect at the weekend so any gaps we have will be filled with a bike trip along with getting our Saturday newspaper. Plain gluten free flour however is proving to be impossible to get unless ordered direct from Doves Farm in a 16kg bag!

As we’d be needing to top up with water in a day or two we decided to headed on into Nantwich today, cutting down on our movements. I walked to give me calf muscle a stretch.

All the Blackthorn blossom has gone, but is now being replaced by Hawthorn, weighing down the branches so they almost meet the Cow Parsley reaching up from the towpath. I suspect in a few days time the blossom will be fantastic, Narnia in May. We’ve often been up near Crick and Houdini’s Field at this time of year and some of the stretches are glorious.

Rubbish and water dealt with we pootled on to the winding hole, turned and headed back out of town to Hurleston. We could see a very big black cloud heading our way, would we make it in time without getting wet. Sadly no.

The boat that had been in the spot we’ve started to call home had moved on this morning before we left, but this afternoon had been replaced by another. We knew we’d fit in the gap, so resumed sharing rings.

Time to plan our menu for the next week. Eating up the more perishable veggies first. We don’t tend to eat that much salad, but we may do over the coming weeks. Chicken Curry new style, salmon and spinach pasta will use the spinach up. Just how to shoe horn the glut of potatoes into everything. Well tonight we had fish pie with a mash topping (I normally do a crumble top) with a nice side salad.

During the evening I started sewing the button band onto my treat cardigan. This took quite a few goes to get right to start with, but it just about worked out before bed. I just need to finish the end with a few rows of blue, then just a few finishing touches, find those buttons I bought in Devizes, block it and it will be ready to wear. I seem to have enough yarn left over to possibly make a matching hat too, bonus!

0 locks, 5.5 miles, 2 winds, 2 straights, 1 cruise before breakfast, 1 box of fresh yummyness (see above for item numbers), 1 ray of hope, 1 full water tank, 0 rubbish, 1 big bag of recycling, 1 weeks menus just about planned, 1 cardi nearly done, 3 hours shore leave, 1 new neighbour, 3 pooh buckets on the towpath.

Remote Control. 23rd April

Lockdown Mooring 4

An alteration to my routine was called for. I tend to get into work in the afternoons and because of that and wanting to listen to what is being said at the daily press conference from London I keep missing out on a walk. So I decided to rearrange my day a touch, heading out for a walk returning for lunch, then I could get on with work.

Today I plotted a route to walk, around three miles with the aim of seeing a house I’ve not noticed from the canal before, Wardle Old Hall which sits at Bridge 101 of the Shropshire Union Canal. Most of the route I’d be covering I’ve done a few times now but that can’t be helped, so I chose to cross over the canal and return across the fields to Stoke Manor.

Recently people have been saying how clear the water has been looking with the lack of boat movements. Sadly that is not the case here. Boats still move for shopping, water etc, but there is far far less movement than there normally would be on the Four Counties Ring. Instead of the canal clearing so we can see the fish and what lies below our hulls the canal is growing murkier and thicker. Last night we’d noticed a layer of scum which was starting to collect trapped by the bridge hole behind us. Today the start of weed was very evident along my route up towards Barbridge.

There was lots of activity on the side of the reservoir. At least eight Fountains employees were cutting the grass and trimming the nettles working their way round the two boats now moored there. I did a double take as one lawnmower was moving around by remote control. I’ve seen the little robot mowers before in peoples gardens, but this was a fully grown up big cutting machine a chap walking alongside directing it with a joy stick. At least he was getting his excersise without having to man handle the big mower along the slopes. I was then surprised to see another chap walking his way round the steeper sections of the bank with a mower, maybe the big one is too heavy to get to the top.

Onwards towards Barbridge I walked, the earlier time of day meaning there were fewer people about. I got just past Stokehall Bridge when a muscle in my left calf went ping! Damn!! This has happened before, several times, normally during the colder months. I took a few steps further, not as bad as it’s been before, but I shouldn’t antagonise it more than I had to. I’d managed a mile and was turning round before I’d reached my goal, a hobble back to Oleanna.

Wild Garlic. I’d like to find a patch of it away from the towpath and make some pesto

Another four sketches were achieved, some closer images which require better faces. Some looked good, others not so. The play works it’s way through all four seasons and I was a little bit unsure as to when we went into Autumn, a quick text to Amy and that was sorted.

My sourdough starter was fed and returned to the proving shelf whilst the excess was mixed with several different flours, milk, cocoa and chocolate.

Baked in the oven for 25 minutes, then left a short while to cool just enough. The result was good, but could have been a touch better. I’d had to substitute the main flour for rice flour which tends to be a touch thirstier, so this may have dried the mixture out a touch too much. Next time, if I’m allowed to use so much chocolate again, I’ll reduce the amount of arrowroot and add a touch more milk to see if that improves things.

Listening to the press conference we both commented on how badly Matt Hancock was delivering his spiel today, he had no idea of what he was saying, he can’t have read it before hand. We listen to what is being said at these conferences and find ourselves commenting at the TV, our comments are getting louder and LOUDER each day!

We’d not seen Tilly for most of the day, she’d returned home for a drink and a short snooze mid afternoon, but now cat curfew time was getting close. A quick call along the towpath didn’t work, so I hobbled down through the gap into the field. More calls. She wasn’t along the left perimeter where she’s popped out from the last few times. I called and called.

Maybe she had gone to climb the trees in the centre of the field?

Was that a Crow over there? On the other side of the field? It was too big for a crow. It moved so it wasn’t an inanimate object.

I got Mick to pass me the camera and zoomed in on the black shape walking away. That black shape had four white paws and holey tights!

TILLY!!!!!!!!

NO acknowledgement what so ever, just a swifter walk away from me. At least we knew where she was. Should we leave her to come home on her own? No, we knew she would now be tiered, tired like a little kid who won’t go to bed giving you all the excuses that you can see straight through. Oh for a remote control cat! We could turn her round and bring her back straight across the field!

Instead Mick put his shoes on, decided that going to the right would be the shortest route around the boundary to get to Tilly. Off he set. Ten or so minutes later I phoned him. Tilly was on the other side of a hedge from him doing the toddler thing and meowing about being busy! No point in trying to pick her up because she’d find enough energy to wriggle herself free and then be far FAR too busy to come home. Words of encouragement were the only way forward.

A while later I hobbled back to the gap to see what progress had been made. They were on the opposite side of the field now, Tilly was leading the way home following her scent, the longer way round the field. I tried shouting, but neither Tilly or Mick could hear me. Back to chopping veg up for a stir fry.

Then half an hour after Mick had set off I could hear his ~~no quite so~~ encouraging words just on the other side of the hedge. Time for me to take over.

As she popped her head out from the sideways trees I could see just how exhausted she was. Luckily she knew the best thing to do was come inside and have some food and a drink. Then she took herself away into the bedroom where she curled up for the night only to be disturbed once by us making the bed up.

I wonder where she’ll get to tomorrow!

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 remote control lawnmower, 1 miles there, 1 ping, 1 hobbling mile back, 1tsp maple syrup, 4 sketches, ? more figures just to impress, 12 brownies, 2 shouting boaters, 1 shouting cat lady, 1 cat just visible, 0.75 miles walk for Mick, 1 totally exhausted cat, 0 lap sitting tonight.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna