Category Archives: Food

Wind Burn. 29th April

Off the Stone Visitor Moorings to Broken Ankle, Great Haywood

Wanting to package up the failed bully boy battery to send back, we’d be needing some extra packaging. We have the original box, but not the foam that surrounded the battery. Mick had found some bubble wrap in the house but something else would be needed too. B&M might just be the place so we walked back into town. Nothing that we could buy apart from brown paper, which I suspected we’d need a LOT of. I could reduce the size of the box, Mick wasn’t convinced. But then I spotted a lady who’d been stacking shelves and on her trolley she had a lot of cardboard, this would be way better than paper with the added advantage of being free.

Back at Oleanna we made ready to push off, the sky occasionally grey, waterproofs just incase. It hardly rained but they were useful to help keep the wind from really chilling us to the bone.

**Aston Lock marks the halfway mark of the mile posts on the T&M**

Not many locks today, 4 in all to reach our destination. At Aston Lock a boat was just exiting, another waiting below. I managed to get the half way on the Trent and Mersey photo but didn’t have a peek over the wall at my favourite garden shed! The bottom gate beams are rather high, too high to hurdle over. A touch too low to limbo under, well my knees wouldn’t appreciate it anymore. So having realised I was on the wrong side of the lock I walked all the way round to get back to Oleanna.

Today we realised we’d missed seeing new born lambs, they are all quite chunky, ready for some rosemary and garlic, and have lost their be’doingeeness of the really young. To make up for it however we got chased by a swan, who was dead set on attacking our stern button, protecting his youngesters possibly still being sat on, we didn’t see mum.

Then our first sighting of goslings followed by a long line of cygnets. They got themselves on the other side of the boat from Mum and Dad. No matter how many times we told them to stop swimming they carried on all calling out for help!

At Preston Brook we’d seen Dante’s doppleganger modeling a life jacket, but today we got to see his demise. Cast aside on a storage bin he laid on his side with his two friends. No white or tan fur visible anymore having lived on a boat roof for years. What a sorry state he was in, past rescue sadly.

A pause for lunch when we got a distance from the railway. Then onwards. Plenty of posh houses.

Salt Bridge is always admired, but why is it only fancy on one side not both?

As we approached Great Haywood there was a space opposite the cafe. It had been really windy all day, surprisingly so. Our original aim was to moor at Tixall Wide, but it can be busy there and if there was no room for us we’d have had to carry on in the wind. Time to stop, we were both quite red with wind burn.

Too close to the road for peace of mind so Tilly was kept indoors today, sorry! But it looked soo SOOOOO good! We headed off to look round the farm shop see if there was a treat we could buy without taking out a mortgage on the house.

At the Anglo Welsh base there was a crane and lorries. Boats were being lifted out and sent on elsewhere, someone suggested to the K&A. Lifting boats in this wind was not something I’d have enjoyed doing. When we last moored here I managed to break an ankle. The Margees had helped us move Lillian up to the services for me to get off easier and not have to hop up the bank to the road. When I returned from the hospital that day there was a crane here, not to assist me on and off the boat I haisten to add. Today we walked over to the shop, me taking care when stepping on and off curbs.

The shiney apples almost put us off. But our first sighting of asparagus couldn’t be missed. We added to our basket some gf sausages (just because they existed), a pork pie, a couple of cheeses (not an overly exciting selection!) and then maybe a tub of Snugburys Chocolate Brownie Chilled medication went in too. A guess on how much it would be was out by a bit, well £10!

The mince I’d got out of the freezer this morning would now wait for tomorrow, instead we had the asparagus followed by expensive sausage and mash.

We then sat down to watch the first episode of Narrow Escapes on Channel 4. First impressions are good and it was nice to see what things Carrie likes as I’m knitting her and her Mum some socks in my sockathon later in the year, this will be Della’s third pair in aid of Dementia Uk. There’s still some pairs in need of sponsorship! The first toe of pair 18 were cast on as we watched. How ever did she think she’d fit that chandelier onto her boat!?!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1704636205453?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fpip-leckenby-1704636205453&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

4 locks, 9.1 miles, 1 windy day, 2 free boxes, 2 bottle tomatoe ketchup, 1 sad sight, 1 miffed off Tilly, 2 boats flying, 1 basket of polished apples, 1 pie, 6 sausages, 750ml chilled medictaion, 20 spears asparagus, 2 boaters with smelly yellow water, 1 lodger and 1 house still in one piece.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/LzJy1e9iMakyZQoRA

Stone Crew. 28th April

Barlaston Winding Hole to just off the end of Stone Visitor Moorings

Bacon butties were enjoyed before we joined the Geraghty zoom. Topics covered today were Peanut Butter grouting, news from the north was ‘murcky’ and parasitic worms.

Our aimed for departure was 11am, we were slightly later than that, hopefully my guestimate based on travel times on the Waterway Routes maps would have us arrive at the locks at a suitable time to meet our extra crew for the day. There was also time to pop down below and roll up balls of biscuit dough I’d made last night, roll them in two types of sugar and pop a tray in the oven for ten minutes. The Lemon Crinkle biscuits were left to cool as we approached the top of the Meaford Flight.

This lock was in our favour and just required a top up. You can only see ahead if you either walk over the bridge or once the lock gates are opened, no boats in sight.

As we approached Meaford Road Lock I could see that there was a boat ascending the lock below and coming along the towpath were our extra crew for the day, Bill and Lisa. Windlasses were handed out and instructions given. We lowered Oleanna down to the next pound and left the gates for the uphill boat. Below however the gates had been closed and the lock was refilling.

When we got down to the next lock there seemed to be plenty of crew, eager to close the bottom gates behind the uphill boat, however none of them had windlasses. They were just gongoozlers pleased to lend a hand. We helped the crew out lifting paddles and pushing gates, then it was our turn.

Bill and Lisa picked up what to do and when very quickly and were quite happy to stand and watch as the locks emptied and filled, marvelling at the engineering and how it’s not been bettered. We all hopped on board and caught a lift down to Lime Kiln Lock.

**Click photo for link, it’s rather a nice house**

Lisa grew up in Stone, we passed where one of her teachers used to live, one of the houses for sale. Then just before the lock there is a short line of modern houses, this when she was a kid was The Rising Sun pub. Her Dad used to drink in there and she was allowed to play around the canal, yet she didn’t really remember any boats on the canal at that time (mid 80’s). This was the first time she’d got to work a lock.

The locks are pretty into Stone with their stone curved steps to push the lock beams along and their bridges. They are also easy locks to work, no real need for extra crew today other than spending time with friends and sharing what we do.

A lady heading to the shops with her trolley opened up top gates for us at one lock. One of her two dogs refusing to cross back over the lock bridge ended up crossing over the back of Oleanna, Cheeky! Obligatory photo taken. The chandlers will soon reopen as something completely different, presumably the new owners are the ones who don’t want the boaters rubbish point. At Yard Lock it was being emptied, boat movers moving a boat up to the Macc.

On to Star Lock the last for today. A Mum mallard was trying to encourage her ducklings out of the water where the bank was quite high, so for a while I lost our extra crew. Then it was time to find ourselves a mooring. There had been space above the lock but that wouldn’t have been so good for Tilly, now there were no spaces, just a long line of boats. We pootled on, a new length of armco going in, after this we pulled in. Here the bank was so soft you could almost just push the mooring spikes in by hand. Mick double pinned us, but we weren’t convinced this would last too long.

Time for a cuppa and sit down with some of those biscuits. Tilly was given an hour and thankfully she returned just as we’d finished our drinks. She was left in charge whilst we walked back into town.

We paused to find our friend Bens Dad’s birth place just down Adies Alley. No 28 was the place, photo taken to send to Ben. Then on to find a pub, Crown Wharf was chosen. Blimey it is a huge pub and very popular on a Sunday. We quickly found ourselves a booth to take over, the general hubhub from the pub adding atmosphere yet we could all hear each other. Sadly no gluten free beer, I was a little surprised at Joules, but hey a glass of wine on a Sunday afternoon was nice enough.

It was soon time to say goodbye to our friends, what a lovely Sunday afternoon with very good company. Hopefully we’ll see Bill in a few months time as he’ll be a lodger for a couple of months in Scarborough.

Back to the boat via M&S for something to eat this evening, pies. Sadly my gluten free version was really rather crispy hard. The mooring spikes were only just still holding in the soft ground, one was exchanged for a chain.

We were just settling down for the evening when a phone call came from Scarborough. A strong smell of gas in the pantry and it was getting stronger! Landlord mode kicked in, the leak was reported to the gas board, our lodger opening doors and windows, leaving the house until an engineer arrived. Thankfully someone was there about half an hour after we’d reported it. The tap that turns the gas off and on at the meter was the culpert and once it was replaced the problem solved. You can get quite a good flow of air through the house so thankfully the gas cleared quickly and Georgia could relax for the rest of the evening, as could we.

8 locks, 4.1 miles, 2 extra crew, 1 lovely afternoon with sunshine! 12 lemon cakey biscuits, 2 pints, 1 coke, 1 large wine, 2 pies, 2 jackets, 1 lodger and house still in tact.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/dC52TNvw8mZZ15sm6

Nasty Or Nice? 23rd April

Bramble Cuttings to Rookery Moorings

Time to start the climb up through Cheshire today. We made our way towards Middlewich breathing in as we crossed the narrow Croxton Aqueduct, here we leave wide boats behind despite the first lock being wide itself.

**The banks have been raised, possibly to stop too much water going over the overspill**

Big Lock is just that, big and can hold two narrowboats. Today we got to share our first lock since the Calder and Hebble, it will be our last until we start going down hill from Birmingham. We chatted to the owners of NB Autumn Haze which looked immaculate, had they recently had her painted? Oh yes, 4 years ago. Four years! There wasn’t a mark on her and she looked like she’d just come out of dry dock. If only Oleanna looked so smart! They were heading up to the Macc, shorter trips for them nowadays after exploring much of the network through the years.

**Sharing a lock, we’ve not done that for a while**

They went on ahead as we were pulling in for a touch of shopping to tide us over. The small Tescos had most of what we were after, no need to walk on to the larger supermarkets today. Back on board we set off for the Middlewich three locks, we’d already spotted volunteers, so it would be an easy journey around the bend.

**Our first narrow lock since Foxton last year**

Last year the bottom lock had required some gentle handling, one of the bottom paddles could only be lifted at a certain water level. Today new gates held the water back and the paddle problem is no more. A volunteer headed down to help me, no other boats in the flight, so the next two would be set ahead for us. The bottom gates may be new, but the metal board that runs up to meet the one on the top gates was hanging off at a jaunty angle. I mentioned this to the volunteer, who then mentioned it to another who said they’d mentioned it to CRT several times. Mick had spotted it as he’d come into the lock so stayed back.

Moving into the middle lock Mick misjudged the bywash and his speed, quite a clonk to the port side, he blamed the wind! Hope Tilly wasnt too upset inside! Round the tight bend to the top lock Mick made up for his earlier mistake entering the lock without touching the sides. Here two volunteers helped us ascend. The younger chap was watching the time, Kings Lock chippy would now be open, were there any more boats coming or could he head off to get himself an early lunch?

I walked up towards the junction. I spied activity at Wardle Lock, but couldn’t see if a boat had just descended. A lady popped her head out from under the bridge I was walking over, we both clocked our boats were wanting to head in the same direction, so they held back whilst Mick brought Oleanna past. There was a space outside Kings Lock Chandlers, a rare sight, so we pulled in letting the other boat go ahead.

Time to get that replacement bowthruster fuse. They had to look for the correct one, but they did have it in stock. Their white spirit was also getting on for £2 cheaper than we’d seen at Preston Brook. I did look around for a chimney brush as our original one had come from their stand at Crick, but none were to be seen. Our current one has a short handle and needs to be attached to something longer to do a good job.

Now there was a queue starting to form at King’s Lock. With one boat waiting below, Mick quickly pushed Oleanna over to claim our position whilst I helped at the lock. A hire boat arriving from Wardle followed by another from the Middlewich Locks. The first couple were heading for the Ashby, their last big cruise before resticting themselves to pootleing up and down the Llangollen. The lady on board used to be a sailor, single handing across the oceans.

Up we went, the lady from two boats behind joining to help, only a short cruise out for them at the moment.

Only fourteen swans in the next pound, we used to count so many more when NB Winding Down was based at Elton Moss. We also spotted what looked like a new Morrisons Daily which would have been even closer than Tescos for our small shop today.

Rumps Lock, one boat in, one boat out. A couple heading north from Droitwich. The Kiderton Arms now looks totally unloved. Through the last fifteen years we’ve watched it have a new roof, a pub, a thai restaurant, possibly other versions of itself. Today black fabric covers the downstairs windows, dust the upper windows and behind it another new housing estate is being built.

Time for lunch, we tucked onto the end of some armco above Rumps Lock and watched the boats following us come past. Not a place to moor for the night due to the proximity of the road we pushed on.

**At least one house in the estate will have a chimney**

This stretch of canal is possibly the one we know the best, although it’s been five years since we travelled it last and there has been a lot of building work happening. One lone half timbered Cheshire house sits in amongst new houses, it’s windows shuttered off. Hopefully it will recieve some tlc and have a new life once the estate around it is completed.

Up the two Booth Lane Locks, a hire boat just leaving the second one was confused by us leaving the gates for them. There used to be a couple of boats moored on the offside by the winding hole, but they are long gone. By Stud Green Bridge a building is having a revamp and the slatted fence has nesting boxes at about 10ft intervals along it, what a nice idea.

Moston Mill just below Crows Nest Lock 67 (Booth Lane Top Lock 67) is also having some work done to the banks, it looks very smart. Back in the 1880’s there was a big mill pond behind it. It last sold in 2020 for £820,000, now the value is estimated at £960,000.

Crows Nest Lock was the first lock north we would pass through when we were on NB Winding Down, our old shareboat. Going out it was Nice Lock, coming back to base it was Nasty Lock! Mick thought that the nice lock moments outnumbered the nasty, as we’d done the Four Counties Ring on one occasion. I then pointed out that on another occasion we’d picked WD up from Aqueduct Marina after she’d been blacked and returned her to base. So maybe this equalled it out. Now it just brings back memories of our time when a week possibly two were eagerly waited for.

A few changes along the on line moorings above the lock, no longer the ice breaker and a farm shop. A boat came towards us at Elton Moss Bridge. A moment of panic had then they went skew wiff across the cut, it was the helms third day on a boat, we’ve all been there. The old Carefree Cruising yard is very different now, three houses not one sit on the plot and Artie seems to have aquired himself a rather nice soft top Morris 1000.

Under the railway bridge where you used to be able to wind a 57ft shareboat, we stopped at Rookery Moorings, big piling and rings. Out came the tyre fenders soon followed by Tilly whos little legs made a quick beeline for the trees behind us. Last time we moored there she did exactly the same.

More boats came past, most heading towards Wheelock. One very familiar boat in her recent new blue livery came past heading to Middlewich, NB Winding Down. She’s now based at Aston Marina, the owners on board were taking her to the Carefree Cruising base as her gear box had gone. Unfortunatly nobody we knew from the original syndicate, but we said hello anyway.

Are they more boats heading south on this route due to the landslip on the North Oxford, Vazon Sliding Bridge being out of action to give access to the Trent? Or is it just normally this busy. Maybe the later and we get spoilt up north with the lack of moving boats.

9 locks, 1 fat one even though canalplan counts it as narrow, 6.7 miles, 4 volunteers, 200amp fuse, 2 litres white spirit, 274 new houses, 14 swans only, 1000 morris, 2 warm for coats, 2 cold to be without, 1 spinney, 4 little legs, 4 chicken spring roles, 1st sock of pair 17 cast off, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9NJm3Z1L4LTBwHk76

Garlic Enthused. 21st April

Longacre Wood (1 mile to Preston Brook) to site of bridge 194 (6 mile to Preston Brook)

Tilly was allowed some shore leave whilst we had breakfast and joined the Geraghty zoom. Todays subjects, Tweedy Lady protests, digital signatures, Alan Rickman and grit for boggy bits.

Thankfully Tilly popped in to say hello so the doors were closed quickly before she could wander off for a few hours. There was time for a wave and a quick hello to passing boaters, some timing their arrival well for the tunnel behind us.

We pushed off and I set to with some baking, hoping to have timed things well for lunch. I mixed up flour, rosemary, yeast, water and garlic infused rapeseed oil. Popped it into a cake tin, bunged a plastic bag over the top and stuck it onto the top shelf, the proving shelf. There it stayed for an hour as we made our way along the reeealllly long pound at the northern end of the T&M.

The knitting came out the back again and pair 16 were finished all but the casting off, I didn’t want to do that bit in a tunnel.

We’d timed our arrival badly at Saltersford Tunnel, we had to wait for at least half an hour. Perfectly timed however to prod holes in the top of my baking and drizzle the top with more garlic rapeseed oil and then pop it into the oven. Add to this the aroma whenever the fridge was opened, I’d forgotten to cover the remainder of the wild garlic butter from yesterday, the boat was starting to be a touch pongy!

A horn could be heard from the far end of the tunnel and about ten minutes later a hire boat came through. They most probably entered the far end just in the nick of time. We pushed off as they passed and headed on through the tunnel. At the far end I bobbed down below my baking baked, now it just needed to cool in the tin for a while before being consumed.

**Coming back into the light of Barnton Tunnel**

I was back in the welldeck in time to peer into the dark of Barnton Tunnel, this one doesn’t have timed entry as you can see through it, but only when you have just about entered it. Thumbs up to Mick and in we went. Once round the 90 degree bend under the road bridge that follows, we started to look for somewhere to stop for lunch.

Perfectly timed my rosemary and garlic focaccia was still warm and perfect to eat. In days before Mick was in my life, after a busy week at work I used to treat myself to a partly baked focaccia from Tescos with some Boursin cheese. The loaf still warm from the oven was an indulgent treat. Since going gluten free this is a lunch I have missed. Sarah Howell provided me with the recipe, Yorkshire rapeseed oil infused it with garlic and we did a very good job of devour it. I’ve enough flour left for a few more too.

Around Anderton was busy, a few trading boats we’ve not seen before. £1.50 for chilled medication, maybe we should stop. But it looked like it would only be of the Walls variety, I seem to be getting a touch picky on the flavour front as I get older. I wondered if the crepes were glutenous or not, but we kept on going past, we’d after all just eaten a whole loaf of bread!

**Boat lift, think we’ll be seeing you later in the year**

The water point was empty, a second load of pants and socks went in the washing machine as the water tank filled up. It was now far later than we’d thought it would be, so plans to get past Tata chemical works were replaced with finding a mooring sooner.

All the woodland either side of the canal today has been filled with either bluebells or wild garlic. The smell thankfully upstaging that coming from our fridge! Moving past the blue haze of flowers isn’t the best way to take their photo as it just turns into a vague blurr, so I didn’t bother.

Round a bend we pulled in, trees and friendly cover for Tilly, a large puddle pretending to be a new flash on the offside of the canal. Time to use up the wild garlic butter. I popped it under the skin of the chicken for our roast tonight. The aroma of wild garlic is stronger than it’s taste, but still it added a subtle flavour.

When recording our journey today and popping it into canalplan to compare the distance to that provided by Nebo, I chose to use the mileposts as our start and finish positions, these being the closest landmarks I could use. We started at the milepost which said 1 mile from Preston Brook and finished at milepost 6 miles from Preston Brook. So how come we cruised 6 miles 6.75 furlongs?

0 locks, 7 miles or 6 miles 6.75 furlongs, 2 loads washing, 1 focaccia, 2 tunnels, 1 Pippa’s Song, 0 chilled medication, 2 outsides, 1 pungent day, 1 passing moron.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZcSbswgGcAWe5sm8

The Three P’s. 20th April

Pickering’s Bridge to Longacre Wood Trent and Mersey Canal

Another pretty frosty morning, no photo sorry as I actually wanted a bit more sleep before having to function properly.

A flat pootle today along the Bridgewater. We planned to stop at Thorn Marine to see if their chandlery might have a 200amp slowblow fuse for the bowthruster, we need to replace the spare that is no longer spare. I also wanted to stock up on Fertan and white spirit for when I start repainting the gunnels, grabrails, welldeck, locker lids, patches of rust. A boat was moored on their service mooring, but we found space under the bridge to tie on rings.

As Mick went into the chandlery, I headed off with a shopping bag. Yesterday we’d forgotten to buy more potatoes, a roast chicken just isn’t right without roasties, especially when there is duck fat to use up! With a Sainsburys Local not far away I set off to walk into Stockton Heath.

Some wonderful terraced houses with ornate terracotta tiles and lots of red brick buildings that Manchester does so well. I also spotted an F type Jaguar, 2 Porche, a Lotus all within my short walk to Sainsburys. I think Stockton Heath may be for Footballers!

I was on the look out for the three Ps. Potatoes, a Saturday Paper and Porridge oats. Only standard white potatoes and expensive porridge available, I made note where newspapers were and went to see what Aldi round the corner had to offer. Somehow some pate managed to go into my basket along with other P’s, oh well!

I’d checked there were papers at Sainsburys, but not which flavours. I suspect our flavour had been where there was now a big empty space. I asked the assistant where there was a newsagents, ‘Morrisons across the bridge in the village’. That would be across the ship canal towards Warrington, not too much further to walk.

**Not a good photo click it for details, there’s a train set in the attic.**

Morrisons tend to have a good gluten free isle, so I picked up a few things there, some Pepper crackers, Pudding of the black variety, some sPread and a Paper. At least they all began with P, well sort of!

Back at Oleanna, Mick had disposed of the yellow water, not had any luck with a fuse, forgot what else he was meant to be buying other than a bag of coal. He had also found a recycling centre which had a skip for general rubbish. Bins are scarce on the Bridgewater so despite there being signs for no pedestrians, Mick made use of it.

**The last cooling towers at Fidlers Ferry, soon to be blown up**

Plenty of people were on their way to Walton House and Zoo. I’d not heard of it until recently, I think it was Are and Are who visited. The towpath was extreamly muddy not encouraging us to pull in. Families with pushchairs, children clinging onto Grandads hands tried their best to walk round the quogmire of mud. Another place to visit maybe later in the year. We paused for lunch then continued.

**Click photo for details, right next door to the Post Office**

Should we take a detour down the Runcorn Arm? We went there on NB Winding Down and headed off to the lauch of The John Godber Company in Wakefield years ago. It deserves another visit, even if it’s only just to show Oleanna and Tilly what they’ve been missing all these years. However it has been added to the next time list as we still don’t know if we need to put another day aside for Mick to return to Scarborough in the next couple of weeks.

Shhhhh! Lots of building work around Daresbury. A new black stealth building has gone up, wonder what will go on in there? Shhhh! A touch further on there were lots of earthworks going on. It looks like there is going to be building work on both sides of the canal here, a huge housing development.

The time for Preston Brook Tunnel south bound passage is at half past the hour for ten minutes. Would we make it in time? A call in to Midland Chandlers would be handy, for those things Mick hadn’t managed to get at Thorn Marine, but would that mean we’d miss the next window of oportunity?

Too close to call, we pulled in. No fuse, expensive white spirit but Fertan on offer. We then had to stand and wait whilst the chaps had a little chat. Was there enough time? Outside NB Spey was moored up, Where there’s brass was an interesting read when Tom posted regularly. He’s now busy with a book and album.

A boat came towards us from the tunnel, we slowed down to pass. With a window of only ten minutes to enter the tunnel we still wondered if we’d make it. No need to worry, we entered the tunnel just as our clock said 15:30!

The tunnel was a little bit wetter than we remembered, with the tunnel light on and a torch poitning to the roof at the stern we could see the drips approaching. Someone seems to have ripped several of the arrow signs off the walls that inform you of which way out is nearest. I didn’t spot the halfway mark either. My job as navigator is to make sure we both know which way is out, so I felt a touch redundant.

Seventeen minutes later we popped out the other end, no waiting boats, just sunshine.

Dutton Stop Lock 76 was in our favour, up we rose the 2 inches, now properly onto the Trent and Mersey Canal. Where to moor for the night? Should we head to the rings at the breach site which are very popular moorings. But now the hedge has grown there is little view down across the valley which was the main attraction there. Or we stop where the wood was thick with trees and wild garlic. A length of armco showed itself, we pulled in, tied up and Tilly was given two hours. So NOT enough time! Just a tease amount of time!

Two ladies stopped for a chat, Tilly showed off her climbing prowess, then got spooked by bicycles and then ommited to see two woofers. There was however enough time to get on the roof and the chap was good at popping his dogs on leads. Then Tilly was off into the thick of the aroma. Mick picked some wild garlic, I made some garlic butter which went ontop of a lamb hotpot. The recipe I looked at which suggested this had a very misleading photo, the top of their hotpot had no way seen any wild garlic as it was golden brown and not green! It was a very tasty hotpot and there was some butter left over for our chicken tomorrow.

**Lamb hotpot with wild garlic potatoes**

1 lock, 9.4 miles, 1 tunnel with 3 mysterons, 2 chandlers, 3 P’s, 2 many posh cars, 20kg coal, 1litre fertan, 15grams wild garlic, 1 green hot pot, 1 astounded cat, 1 Mrs Tilly’s stamp of approval.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/R9kng1mvKRnxHZCD9

2,000!

This is our 2,000th post on the Oleanna blog. I remember the days when I used to get excited for the 100th or 200th post on the NB Lillyanne blog!

Back in 2014 we started our life afloat on Lillian (NB Lillyanne for new followers) a temporary boat whilst we waited for NB Oleanna to be built, we’d already waited quite a while! Lillian was bought with the previso that once we finally moved on board NB Oleanna we would have the year afloat that we’d been looking forward to for so long.

The original build didn’t go as it should have and we started to look for a new boat builder. Jonathan Wilson was the man to build us our boat, the delay had been handy as living on Lillian gave us some better ideas for the build, and some things we knew we’d not be wanting!

It took us until 7th April 2017 to move Tilly and a third of our possessions on board. That is when our year afloat started. The life suited us, so we just kept on going, an end date never entering our minds. Then covid came along. If it hadn’t been for our troublesome tenants during the first lockdown in 2020 I’m fairly sure we’d still be full time live aboards. But our house needed to be reclaimed. Would we prefer life on land to life on the water? Would we be able to afford both house and boat? We knew one thing, we wouldn’t be letting it out to long term tenants again!

So now, we spend as much of our time afloat as we can, actors lodging in the house for much of the year whilst we cruise the network. Time in the house is spent doing jobs, reclaiming and improving things for both us and those who stay there. The house just about pays for itself all year round, fingers crossed. Time on the boat has always been about travelling, more so now to make up for being static for a few months a year.

Some jobs on board have slipped in the last few years. The gunnels haven’t been touched since Oleanna was out for blacking in 2021. The grab rails have been patched but not finished. The roof is still in need of a very good wash, we’ve either been moving or it’s been raining so far this year, well that’s my excuse! The cabin sides really need a polish. But these things all take time and we’d rather be moving than doing chores. We’ve never been shiney boaters at heart.

We’ve had some questions recently regarding our new Bully Boy Batteries and how they are doing. Paul said we’d left our readers on tenterhooks after mentioning that they seemed to be charging at different rates, or something along those lines. Well I think Mick’s answer was that he’s stopped wondering why they are doing this and has just accepted it. With our new batteries we certainly don’t have the concerns over capacity as we used to, especially at the end of last year when we were down to just two of our original batteries. Because they have so much more capacity they take longer to charge, so if we are staying put for the day and want to run the dishwasher the engine goes on. This does mean we also get a full tank of hot water. But some days we’ve had enough capacity to use our immersion heater to heat the water using electricity therefore the engine is not required. We expect this to happen more and more in the summer when the solar panels provide a lot more power.

USB rechargeable lights in cupboards. These are proving to be pretty good, so far. The one that is in The Shed has had to be charged, mainly because it is used several times a day. The others in the pull out corner galley cupboard light up every time I go in there and have made me realise that at some point I’ve taken the square baking tin to the house, hence a round batch of flapjack the other day.

I’ve also had a few people ask me if I’ll be designing Chippy Panto this year. Well, no I’m not. Before I arrived in Chippy for rehearsals last year I’d already decided that this year I wanted to boat through the summer and be able to enjoy it. Last summer we’d cruise in the mornings and just about every afternoon I would work. Over the last six years I’ve designed the last five pantos in Chippy which I have really enjoyed. Designing and painting my designs is what I really love doing, being part of a building with a family feel is very special. But last year I started to miss boating, not being able to return home to Oleanna at weekends is hard too. So in January I got in touch with John before he got in touch with me about this years Panto. I shall miss it, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to go and see Jack and the Beanstalk later this year, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas with out Chippy panto.

This of course will free up my afternoons so hopefully this year Oleanna will get some much needed touching up, if it ever stops raining! I do still need to feed my creative soul and I’m hoping that doing some paintings of places on our travels will do this for me.

So along with this being our 2000th post, we’ve had 3,068 comments, 17,431 photographs, 172 subscribers, on 16th June 2021 we had the most views, Friday is the most popular day at 9am, views from 96 countries, Thwaite Mills on 31st March the most viewed post, 733 likes (I suspect this is actually higher and mostly from Ade), hang on he’s just liked another! 1,845,360 words written, not including this post!

*Some of these figures may be inaccurate as I’ve had to collect the info from various places

This last Christmas I had an old friend ask what we would do with Oleanna when can no longer boat, whether that be through our physical ability to boat or should the waterways start closing around us due to lack of funding. I said we’d still keep her, find somewhere for her to be, maybe on land if needs be, where we could still stay on board. But here’s hoping our floating days will continue for many years more. We’ll keep writing the blog and sharing it with those who want to read it and hopefully we’ll get to meet a few more of you along the way.

For those of you who have followed Oleanna from the beginning in 2015, a BIG BIG Thank You for reading all our ramblings through the years. I doubt if anyone other than ourselves has read every single post. For what started off as a diary for us to look back on in years to come, for family and friends to keep up with our travels, we now have a lot of new friends, some we’ve yet to actually meet. We find looking back on posts interesting, after all there is useful information in amongst the breakfasts, socks and stamps of approval. Thank you for coming along with us.

Click photo to go to petition

All Hail Let Loose. 15th April

Bollington Underpass, Bridgewater Canal

Overnight we were woken on several occasions with torrential rain or was it hail beating down on Oleanna. This continued throughout the day and evening, interspresed with bright sunshine every now and again. Strong strong winds whistled round, rocking Oleanna. Maybe our position on the embankment had given us a windy mooring, maybe it was like this everywhere.

Extra poppers needed popping on the cratch cover. Doing this I somehow tweeked my back. After 91 broad locks and walking into Manchester I go and tweek it by sitting on a locker and pressing a popper!

Hail bounced up under the mushroom vents, landing on the dinette table, sofa and bed.

The weather, nose blowing (we’ve now both got colds) was not conducive for a visit to Dunham Massey! Even Tilly curled up on the sofa for much of the day in switched off mode. So what to do?

Breakfast of course, it was medicinal honest!

I got the blog upto date and then spent time weaving ends in on socks. There will be several pairs going in the post very soon, when I find the next post box.

Mick did some route planning. Now we are over the Pennines, we feel a touch more confident in planning our route southwards. There are people we’d like to meet up with, trips back to Scarborough to be factored in, dentists and would we be able to support the Fund britains Waterways campaign cruise on the Thames from a bridge? We now have a plan and just need to see if friends and family will be free as we pass.

Surprisingly quite a few boats came past, all at speed to keep their line in the blustery wind. Mick popped his head out the hatch. A boat that had moored up after we’d arrived was on the off side. Was this intentional by the owner to avoid the worst effects of the fresh air? Or had their spikes been pulled out by wind and passing boaters? He waited for the next bout of hail to pass and went to have a look.

***This outside is very troublesome! It needs extra tying up***

The wind assisted for a bit, pushing the boat back across to the towpath, with our boat hook Mick managed to catch it. The ropes had been tied to the spikes so there was still a means of attaching the boat to the bank. He hammered in the stern pin, then gradually worked his way along. Centre line followed by the bow. All single pins, just how far had they been hammered into the soft ground. Now they were hammered down as far as they possibly could be, hopefully the boat would be staying put.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 outdoor shoes for me today, 1 dormant cat, 319.5 miles to reach our goal, 4 lemsips, 1 stove lit, 5 pairs socks ready for photos and posting, 1 tweeked back, 1 fat foot, 2 boaters falling to bits here!

Cheering Dave On. 14th April

Trafford Park to Patricroft Bridge to Bollington Underpass

Subjects on the Geraghty zoom included Woodcraft Folk, empty lofts, line drying and phonics. Joans little chair was being enjoyed as a place to sit for the latter by Penelope.

**More moving boats than we’ve seen all year**

Yesterday Mick had started to show the symptoms of a cold. A drug run to Asda was required. I headed off, the car park thankfully only partly full and most of the shops still closed. Asda was open and provided me with Lemsips and tissues. If Mick has the lurgy I am more than likely to follow soon. I hope Paul doesn’t come down with it too.

As I arrived back Mick was rolling up the covers ready to push off. We’d thought we might be able to wind before the Barton Swing Aqueduct, but a chap on the boat behind us last night said he couldn’t turn there and his boat was shorter than Oleanna. We cruised on northwards to be able to head south. Across the aqueduct, a line of boats could be seen in the distance following us. We got winded before they came past.

Back over the swing aqueduct and back past Kellogs. Yesterday it had smelt of coco pops, we weren’t too sure what was being produced today. Right at Waters Meeting and onwards heading south now, the correct direction.

As we approached Edge Lane Bridges it was time to cheer on the Manchester Marathon runners. An old collegue from the SJT, Dave Jackson was taking part, so he deserved a shout out when ever the course came close. ‘Go on, Dave you can do it!’ He won’t have heard us, but hopefully our support helped him over the 26 and a bit miles.

Long and straight. This is a stretch I quite often spend down below working, not today. I got to see all the houses, cyclists, dog walkers, pubs, moored boats, runners. Just about every bridge we went under we could see heads bobbing up and down running along. The trams all crammed with people, Manchester is one busy place. By the time we reached Timperley the majority of runners must have passed. The broom coach possibly already picked up the straglers, those determined to continue asked to carry on running on the pavements so that the roads could reopen.

A house for sale by the Linotype Works. £435,000 for 3 bedrooms. Work is still on going. The top of the facade currently removed, new terracotta pillars added. It will be interesting to see what it ends up looking like when it’s finished. Behind the facade, walls of breeze blocks suggest something not so special will but onto it.

Now the countryside came to meet us. Bird song rather than pedestrian chatter. Mud rather than tarmac. Quite a lot of mud, in some places you would definatly require wellies. We made our way towards a favourite mooring just close to Bollington Underpass. Here the bank to the north is good cat country. To the south is Dunham Massey and a bus into Altringham.

***Yep, She promised it would be better.***

We moored up. Tilly was given 3 hours and off she went. She came back a few times as walkers or dogs came past. But then nothing was seen of her for a couple of hours, she returned with just nine minutes to go before cat curfew would be called.

After last Sundays disappointing roast pork, we’d got ourselves a joint. The skin was scored and librally salted, a little bit of sechuan seaweed sprinkled on top too. Potatoes, parsnips and carrots roasted in some duck fat, coloured up wonderfully and the crackling was good and crisp. There’s plenty left over too for the next few days.

0 locks, 11.5 miles, 1 wind, 2 trips across Barton Swing Aqueduct, 2 boxes tissues, 16 cold pills, 16 lemsips, 2 pints milk, 2 packets gf mini cheddars, 5 shouts for Dave, 1 submerged decorator, 18 moving boats (more than we’ve seen all year!), 1 favourite mooring, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 1 proper joint for 8.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZbaHcBiJsPH4aHpW6

Purrplexed. 8th April

Bent House Lock 46

An early start for Mick who headed off to Littleborough Station to catch a train just before 8am. Tilly and I stayed tucked up in bed and enjoyed a cuppa with the puzzles from Saturdays newspaper.

A day return to Scarborough woud have been about £70 at that time of day even with an old gits railcard, but Mick had booked his tickets in such a way that he got off peak tickets from Mytholmroyd, therefore costing £37.35 including a plus bus for around Scarborough.

On board, after the usual mornings activities I decided to give the interior of Oleanna a dust down and then a sweep through followed by a floor clean. Tilly kept out of the way for much of the time, the lack of wind and rain encouraging her to go outside.

Then it was time to investigate why our pullout corner cupboard is starting to ground and make grooves in the newly oiled floor! I’ve been wondering if the weight in the pan drawer, which is attached to the cupboard might be doing this. Maybe when I’d reattached it I’d screwed them together at a slight angle that gets exacerbated when the corner cupboard is pulled right out.

I emptied the cupboard and drawer so that I could detach the two. There lying on the floor was part of a circular piece of plastic. Was this off one of the castors? Yes. The plastic helps keep the wheel square and helps to keep the rubber wheel from flattening out under the weight. Without it the rubber wheel was flattening, a bit like a blown tyre on a car and therefore the plinth of the pullout cupboard was grounding across the floor, it having dropped by a couple of mm.

How were the castors attached? To blocks of wood, which of course had been attached from below not above. So to remove the castors we would need to remove the cupboard to be able to turn it on it’s side! A look later on from the opposite side by Mick suggests we might be able to just replace the wheel on the caster without dismanteling everything.

Cupboards were open! Quick quick I must get inside! The way through from one side was blocked by the squishy wheel. I managed to rush round to the other side to get in underneath, one of my favourite places to get in the way. She doesn’t like to close it if I’m in there.

Tilly gave me a site report from low down. She was quite purrplexed about the whole situation. But hey hang on! There’s no top!! Someone’s stolen the top! I can’t hide in here anymore, there’s no IN to be IN! This is what the problem is, the IN, not the squishy wheel. I’ve left the pan drawer unattached until we can replace the wheel.

***It’s okay there’s still an IN to be in here***

Next it was time to restick some edging onto the side of the drawing board slot. This has been held on by tape for about a year. Some wood glue down between the main board and the strip, tape back on to hold it in place. There’s far too much stuff in the slot! It needs clearing out to leave enough IN for a cat.

Lunch was arepas with red cabbage, cheese and slices of apple, very nice.

Time to select the yarn for the next pair of socks. I’ve had quite a few requests for blue socks this year, so any yarn that was blue was laid on the bed. Three selected, I just need to decide how to knit them up.

Meanwhile in Scarborough Mick had caught the bus to the hospital, a blood test required by his GP, this was all very efficient. He then walked to the house to meet with our current lodgers. A coffee, chat and he picked up our post, including postcards about the York and North Yorkshire Mayor election. A few years ago we had lodgers put our postal votes on the top of a book shelf for safe keeping along with other post. Mick got the train to Scarborough especially to pick them up but couldn’t find them. They were found a few months later long after the poll. We now have a tray in the kitchen for post to go in.

You don’t need to be in there! *Just checking it’s still got an IN.*

Then he caught another bus out of town and headed to his dentist. His return to Seamer Station was thwarted by numerous school buses refusing to pick him up and then the next bus was ten minutes late, by which time he’d missed the hourly train from Scarborough!

In Littleborough the day had been a perfect one for cruising, no boats had come past though. I frogged another pair of socks to just past the heel, adjusted my needle size hoping this would rectify their tightness. I watched another Bake Off, more comdey biscuits and The Woman In Gold 2015,starring Helen Mirren. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann, starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt’s famous painting ‘The Lady in Gold’. She enlists a young lawyer to help her and they end up taking the Austrian Government to the US Supreme Court.

Mick returned home a while after 8pm. In amongst the post was a parcel from Rachel at Skein Queen, another rather yummy skein of yarn in white and blues. She’d also added in a pattern for a pair of socks. Thank you Rachel.

0 locks, 0 miles, 4ft edging re-stuck,16 tickets, 6 trains, 3 buses, 3 ignoring buses, 1 flattening wheel,1 pleasant day, 1 test, 1 set of clean gnashers, 1 puzzled Tilly, 1 skien, 1 patter, 1 omlette for 2, 1 normal result.

Finding The Needle. 5th April

Bent House Lock 46

With Storm Kathleen on it’s way in the next few days our ropes needed tightening, we’d bumped about a bit in the night and that was before Kathleen arrived.

I had no intention on venturing far today, the same couldn’t be said for Mick, he was going to set forth to the bright lights of the Trafford Centre!

Last summer Mick had bought me a new laptop. A couple of days ago it lost it’s ability to fold closed, not much good for a portable device! The IT department had given it a good look over and nothing could be found in the hinge that shouldn’t be there and the surround to the screen was starting to come away. He sought IT support via John Lewis, chatted away to someone on the phone and was given a number to quote when he took it into a store. The nearest store to us currently is at the Trafford Centre, today a window of opportunity between rail strikes was to be taken.

He caught the train from Littleborough into Victoria, a tram to Deansgate and then another out to the Trafford Centre. Here he visited John Lewis, a chap looked at the laptop which had been carefully transported in it’s open state. It was still under manufacturers warranty so would be sent to Warrington to be mended, this may take 28 days! Mick said it would be really good if it was quicker and we’d still be in the area. If it returns quickly enough then we’ll even be able to cruise there on the boat to collect it, fingers crossed. There was an option for it to be sent to our home address, but this isn’t really an option for us. Mick will get a text when it is back at the store.

Meanwhile Tilly and I got to grips with Micks tablet, from which I’m writing this. Then we wound some more yarn for sock pair 14. Ends needed weaving in on the last the pair of socks. Last night I’d heard something fall on the floor, most probably one of my darning needles which normally live tucked into my sheep tape measures wool. Sure enough this morning there was only one needle there not two. Best find the other one.

**With my faithful assistant hunting for the needle**

I hunted round on the floor, no sign of the 2 inch needle. I got a magnet from the notice board, this was used to see if I could lure the needle out from under the sofa, which is where it must have ended up. Tilly helped, pulling out the odd thing that’s been tucked under there for safe keeping. Nothing magnetic! Oh well just as well I’d another needle to hand.

Work on pair 14 started in ernest up from the toe. I wanted to do something a little bit random with it, but that necessetated it being pulled out several times all whilst watching Great British Bake Off. I especially liked Jodie Whittaker’s biscuit of Paul and Prue!

By the time Mick returned with a few items of shopping I’d let my ordered side take over on the knitting, far less random than originally planned, the pattern was starting to come together. I asked him if he’d seen the needle. Yes he’d picked it up this morning and popped it on a shelf to be safe!

Late afternoon we had another visitor. Anne, Mick’s big sister who had driven down from Scotland today. We tried to work out when we’d last seen each other. Originally we thought it was Christmas 2019, then more likely Christmas 2018! But after Anne had left Mick remembered that we’d met up in Wiltshire in September 2019, not quite as long ago as first thought, but still too long ago. Of course we get to see each other on the Geraghty zoom quite often, but it really isn’t the same as being able to give her a hug.

Long chats over a cuppa and then there was the opportunity for a family airloom to head to it’s new home. The ‘Joan’ chair.

When Aunty Joan, Micks Aunty on his Dad’s side, was little she was given this little chair. None of Mick’s siblings actually remember this chair. About a year ago on a Hessle History facebook group there was a post about school teachers. There was a comment saying that they remembered Miss Geraghty from Penshurst Junior School, did anyone else? Several people had made comments saying what a great teacher she’d been, Mick chipped in saying what a great Aunty she was too!

A chap called Brian then replied that his Mum used to clean Miss Geraghty’s home and that he used to go with her. He would sit in this little chair and wait patiently for his mum. Joan, Miss Geraghty, one day said would he like to have the chair. So he ended up with it for several decades. On facebook Brian then offered it to Mick, so that it could return to the family, a rendez vous was arranged in the pub car park next door to where Joan used to live and the chair was handed over.

Our friend Frank did a little bit of mending and we did consider contacting The Repair Shop about it, but that would involve having to appear on TV which isn’t something Mick was too keen on doing. What to do with it then, well it should stay in the family and as we knew we’d be seeing Ruth this year we brought it onto the boat to hand down so that Daphne and Penelope can sit in it.

**Leftover Lamb Biryani** **with added spinach and mushrooms**

Another go at Lamb biryani this evening with the correct rice this time. It was very tatsy and theres still some lamb left in the freezer for another go.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 4 trams, -1 laptop, (blog posts may be a touch shorter for a while), 1 moving boat, 1 needle, 1 hour out of 8, 1 sausage day not made the most of, 1 sister, 1 diddy chair, 1 sock nearly completed, more space under the dinette.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna