Category Archives: Food

The Lesser Spotted Mower. 6th July

Thrupp visitor mooring to below Kidlington Green Lock

Mick had to convince the Sainsburys driver that they were delivering to us on a boat rather than to one of the cottages we were moored in front of. The driver hadn’t read the instructions, but promised that he would do in future. I wonder what the people at 3 Canal Road would have made of receiving two bags of cat litter, Tilly was relieved. She also popped her nose into each bag to make sure her telepathy had worked, it had and we’d got more expensive salmon than had originally been ordered!

As soon as everything was stowed it was time to roll up the covers and get moving, not far today to keep to our schedule. The two hire boats ahead of us had already moved off so when we pulled out there was only one boat left on the 2 day moorings, I suspect they would fill back up by lunchtime.

**Goodbye Thrupp see you in a few weeks**

We gradually made our way south past all the cruising club boats and soon came across the boat we’d been following yesterday, they’d been towards Oxford to wind and were now heading back to base, only one day left of their holiday.

We passed the smart new (to her) boat of Franky’s, very different to her previous boat NB White Swan, the give away were the skulls on the hatch and her sign on the towpath warning of her two cats Shadow and Ghost. We’ve considered something similar, but never got round to it.

For the last mile or so there had been obvious signs of a rarely seen creature on the towpaths this year. We’d last seen some at Barrowford Locks on the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Along he came, sat low on his mower, bumping along the towpath. He slowed as we passed and he gave us a thumbs up. It looked like he was giving the towpath a full width cut which apparently this year is only happening once, lock landings and official moorings three times.

**Gradually making his way north for summer**

At Kidlington Green Lock I helped a lady with the bottom gate, their last day on a College Cruiser hire boat. These seem to have been more popular than the other hire companies, maybe their prices are that bit cheaper. Below the lock there was plenty of space for us to pull in. As soon as the ropes were tied back to Oleanna the rules were recited and the doors opened up for Tilly, six hours!

Time to try out a new laptop Mick has bought me. It’s taken him the last week to get it set up, knowing that he has a hard customer to please, me. Smaller than the laptop we bought during lockdown, it was on a special offer at John Lewis. First impressions were not about how it was set up which was a surprise to both of us.

Where I tend to rest my wrists when typing the rounded corners have a sharp edge to them. I suspect I’ll adapt to these.

The other thing was that the monitor seemed to be a touch faint. I persevered for a while but the faintness of the text was gradually giving me a headache. Everything was very blue. A while ago I had requests on the blog to change the colour of the text to make it easier to read, I today was having the same problem. The laptop was passed back to IT support to see if there were settings he could alter.

During the afternoon Mick replaced the nut and bolt connecting our two good batteries with a better nut and bolt. This is still a temporary thing until we get the batteries fully sorted which won’t be until later in the year as it will involve some upheaval of things. But it is far better than the cobbled together solution we’ve been working with for the last week or so.

Most of the afternoon I got on with work. Every leaf for my portals, front cloth, backdrop, floor and steps were drawn out on sheets of watercolour paper, traced from the model. They then had a base coat of paint. My aim is to paint the leaves then cut them out and use them to layer up on top of the background. Hopefully this will give a more 3D effect without actually being 3D and it will be easier to paint the bits seen between each layer, but it is going to take sometime.

2 locks, 2.3 miles, 1 delivery not to no 3, 2 boxes wine, 4 portions of salmon, 2 varieties of litter, 2 skulls, 1 favourite mooring, 1 happy occupied cat, 1 laptop returned to IT, 3 settings changed, 2 bright now! 3 sheets of leaves, 1st colour, 1 new salad recipe tried, tasty.

https://goo.gl/maps/A6FZyzKHfu8zeGXs5

From One Catwalk To Another. 4th July

Chisnell Lift Bridge to Dashwood Lock

A sausage day! Well it seemed like it would be a sausage day a I was allowed out to explore first thing, but it turned out not to be. She and Tom were up and outside chatting to Roots Tom and She quite early. I went along to check out their boat and their catwalk. A suitable size, but not such a good view inside. How’s a cat meant to be nosy?! They untied the outside, we’d still got hold of it so it couldn’t get away, and then they drifted silently away.

Time to find some friends!

***A good vantage point, now go away!***

Soon after breakfast there was a toot of a horn. Julie and Simon on NB Perseus had arrived a few boats back quite late yesterday evening. They’d seen a gap near us but hadn’t wanted to moor next to someone they didn’t know at that time of evening, little did they know at the time it was us.

**Simon and Julie** **another Lady of Finesse**

They pulled in for a quick catch up in the rain. We’d all be getting wet today! Good to see them again and be less aware of keeping space between us, last time we met we had covid. Hopefully we’ll get chance one day to sit out on the towpath and have an evening with them, but today they were on a more serious mission than us, hoping to reach Henley by Thursday.

By the time we’d finished our morning routine several boats had come past. Paul yesterday had warned us that only one top paddle was working at Somerton Deep Lock so it was taking an eternity to fill. We didn’t rush to get away, but also sooner or later we’d need to join the queue.

A group of high vis stood looking at the underside of Chisnell Lift Bridge. Was there something wrong with the bridge, we’ve seen it down before when the farmer has been in the field across the way.

**Wonder how long this will take to move?**

Arriving at Somerton Deep Lock we joined the end of the queue, three boats ahead of us and one already going down. The boats nudged up. One boat came up, another down, the filling of the lock taking forever. One boat was mob handed opening and closing the heavy gates. I picked up a windlass and walked up to see if I could help as did the lady from the hire boat in front.

A chap who’d been helping, headed to get his boat from below, he was a boat mover heading for Wilton. People around the lock helped him with the gates. A chap lifted the one working paddle to fill the lock. He paused halfway up and left his windlass on the paddle gear. This always makes me wince as it is bad practice. When he did it again after lifting the paddle fully I shouted across. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I did follow it up explaining that if anything should break on the paddle gear then that windlass would likely spin off at great speed, a broken arm, lost teeth possibly.

As we waited for the boat to come up I chatted away to the lady from the hire boat, they’ve been hiring for around twenty years, so quite a bit of experience.

The boat mover thanked everyone as he left and the next boat was brought into the lock. The gate was being closed by a lady from the boat and I walked up to add my bum to the job. As I walked up she walked away saying that as the paddles get lifted it would close. The gate was quite a bit away from being closed and would likely make a big bang closing this way. I continued to push the gate, the lady walked down towards the bottom gates then because she wasn’t needed she got onto her now descending boat, saying that she was now redundant.

Then mutterings could be heard about hire boaters from the couple on the boat as it descended. Were they complaining that the hire boat crew weren’t helping. The lady I was chatting to had to say something, did they have a problem with her? They obviously did have a problem. I walked up to see what it was. A tirade came from the chap at the helm. ‘Don’t you know you should ask before helping at locks!’

I explained that we’d come along to help if needed and to be sociable. ‘My crew are more than capable!’ Well we hadn’t done anything other than help close a gate for them, no risk of us sinking their boat! If there had been need of anyone lifting paddles I would most certainly have asked if they wanted assistance, I never assume and never lift a paddle without confirmation, I even wait for someone to reappear at the helm if they’ve gone inside before winding my windlass.

The man was so rude. ‘Well we’ll have to make sure we don’t catch you up’ I said. Maybe he’d had a problem with me calling over to his crew regarding the windlass, or maybe he was just Hireist, those who are prejudiced against hire boaters no matter what. The lady from the hire boat was quite rightly p*d off with the amount of abuse they are getting from boat owners. We stood back and let them leave.

No-one was coming, time to fill the lock. I then asked the hire boat lady, ‘Can I help you with the lock?’ We both laughed.

Still a queue of four boats behind. Mick and I worked ourselves down, the following boat only coming to close the gate behind us. Except there was a boat arriving below, the chap walked away. Hope someone asked if they could help!

It was now raining quite hard. Should we continue or pull in on the meadows? There was space. If we carried on we’d want to get to Muddy Slipper before stopping due to there being a big black hole of everythingness around Heyford (no phone signal, internet or TV). With a zoom meeting planned for tomorrow and slow progress today we decided we’d best stay wet and carry on to the other side.

Heyford Common Lock, Allens (Alan! Alan!!) Lock, then the long section before you reach Mill Lift Bridge. Key of power was utilised here. Many hire boats were at home in Lower Heyford, one couple being briefed for a few days afloat.

Dashwood Lock then appeared on the soggy horizon. The hire boat just going down, another lady assisting with the bottom gate. I walked up to see if Muddy Slipper was free, it was occupied. Thankfully there is space for a couple of boats before the lock landing above the lock, so we pulled back and tucked ourselves up close to another boat. Time to dry off.

An afternoon of Tilly not being overly impressed of the wet outside that we’d tied up. I got my paints out to see how best to paint my rain forest portals and cloths. Of course as usual I changed my mind. Tomorrow I’ll give it another go.

This evening to help warm us and the boat up we’ve had a roast, well nut roast, but with squash, beetroot and roasted potatoes. Very tasty and just what we needed at the beginning of July!

3 locks, 6.2 miles, 2 lift bridges, 1 under examination, 2 cat walks, 2nd Lady of Finesse in a week, 1 very wet day, 2 miserable sods, 1.5 hours to get through Somerton Deep, 1 black hole cruised through, 1 router not working, 1 hot spot better, 2 versions to be revised.

https://goo.gl/maps/M8Jmu33mVx6jtBvS7

The Purple Line. 2nd July

Banbury

Tilly was left in charge today as we were having a day out, to London.

Mick had chosen a route via Reading to take us into Paddington. This meant we got to share the first train with a LOT of blazers. Numerous students with different stripped jackets were heading for Henley and the final day of the regatta. The next train was very much a quieter affair with plenty of seats to go round.

This route had been chosen so that we could ride the Elizabeth Line for the first time. Purple uplighters suggested we were heading in the correct direction at Paddington. Very exciting and very speedy taking us to Stratford in about twenty minutes. Here we’d just missed a bus, so our journey slowed right down until the next one arrived heading towards Hackney.

It was before Christmas when we last saw my brother and his family. This last week Andrew had a birthday so we’d decided to loiter in Banbury to make a trip to see them all.

**Checking the lamb was cooking through**

Everyone was good, Josh busy working hard for his last few exams before the end of term. These will give him grades he can use when he applies to Universities next term.

As ever there was plenty to chat about. Abba Revival, they’d been last night and danced themselves silly. News about friends we’ve recently seen and Jac’s last visit to see her Mum in Melbourne. This was obviously accompanied by wonderful food and plenty to drink. Andrew had cooked for us a rolled shoulder of lamb which had been marinating overnight and then it was cooked on the barbecue for several hours, some of that time in a cast iron pot.

***Finn (looking at you) and Ziggy (up on the cat walk) got real fish for their dingding!***

Pudding was a Tarte Tatin with some caramelised apple ice cream an experiment that worked very well.

All too soon it was time for us to be heading back to Banbury, too soon! We caught a bus to Bethnal Green and headed to Marylebone where for most of the day there had been two trains an hour. When we arrived we’d just missed the 7pm train, the next was at 8pm, but was running 20 minutes late! That’s their excuse! Change of plan and back down onto the tube to return to Paddington and catch the next train to Reading then onwards to Banbury.

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

Back at Oleanna Tilly was very pleased to see us. PLEASED!!!! I only had three biscuits left in my bowl and they were from yesterday!!! Yes dear readers, they’d forgotten to give me my morning dingding! I’ll be advertising for new staff in the coming days.

**There’s more than three biscuits in that bowl Tilly!**

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 2 buses, 1st trip on the Elizabeth line, 3 tubes, 1 lovely lunch, 1 brother a year older, 1 day out, 1 hungry cat, HUNGRY!!! You call that HUNGRY!!?!! I call it malnutrition! 1 cat requiring new crew to move the outside daily and to provide tasty dingding twice a day consisting of fresh chicken, kidneys, salmon, cheese and a side licking of unsalted butter.

Finesse Ladies. 1st July

Dink and Malc’s to Premier Inn Banbury

More boats came past from Banbury. They started at around 6am with four having passed us before we were even enjoying a cuppa in bed. By the time we moved ourselves nine boats had come past, I kept a tally for a while but got bored when it reached eighteen.

Tilly was given an hour or so of shore leave whilst we had breakfast. Plenty on offer this morning, just a shame Mick forget about the existence of the black pudding which had been sitting patiently in the fridge to be eaten. Oh well, it just means we’ll have to have another cooked breakfast soon!

Tilly was called from the sideways trees and friendly cover, time for her to have a snooze and for us to move into town, hopefully we’d find a space at Spice Ball Park.

Round the corner a Twyford Wharf hire boat had been moored overnight, the new holiday makers just moving onboard whilst two chaps clung onto the ropes. As Spice Ball came into view so did the boats that had come past us last night. All spaces I’d noted yesterday were filled, no choice but for us to be in the centre of town. Sorry Tilly.

There were plenty of uphill facing boats, many must have stopped for the night or to go shopping , there was quite a turn around of neighbours. Mick looked into the electric bollards. These were here last year but not working. Today they were. Despite the charge being 95p a kwh he decided to create an account and credit £5. We’ll be here for a couple of days and with our reduced battery capacity it would be nice to have power without running the engine. It took a bit of faffing to set up, but soon power flowed into Oleanna.

I packed up my next pair of socks and popped them in the post. These were a try out pair for a friend who wears braces on her legs. Longer than I’d normally knit and of different sizes, I may not have got the legs quite right. Ali let me know any amendments so that I can work them into the next pair.

Time to have a tidy up and rationalise my work things. Then I can start to make a mess again.

Late afternoon there was a ‘Hello’ from outside the boat. This was Liz and Mark from NB Azzurra a Finesse boat that was built a couple of years after Oleanna. Last year when we met NB Barberella on the River Nene I was added to a Whatsap group The Ladies of Finesse. Very little had been posted for a few months but Tilly’s choice of welldeck to explore at Cropredy had prompted me into posting this week. It turns out that not only NB Perseus is based around here but Liz and Mark happen to live in Banbury, so a meet up had been arranged.

Liz’s face was familiar as soon as I popped my head out the back. It took all evening for us to pin point when we’d met before. February 2019, NB Azzurra was in build at Finesse and we’d returned to have a leaking window replaced and the gas locker lid hinges sorted, they had been on a visit to check on the build, the first full electric boat Finesse built.

We had a lovely evening with Liz and Mark. A pint of Hooky ale was enjoyed by all at Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn, a pint of Oat Sower for me a rare treat. Then we headed to Jool for an Indian meal and more conversation. Mark is a Waterways Chaplain for the Oxford Canal south of Banbury and Liz currently commutes to Glasgow three days a week as a radiographer.

Our paths are likely to cross a bit over the next few weeks as they will be heading the same direction as us, only a little bit faster.

0 locks, 0.4 miles, 2 hours shore leave, 1 pair of socks, 1 breakfast, 18 at least uphill boats, 1 wind tunnel, 95p! 3rd Finesse lady met, 4 pints, 4 currys, 1 bored cat, 1 spider rescued.

https://goo.gl/maps/9pqwDK4n5TYRUqVm8

Electrical Means. 27th June

Cropredy Marina

**My assistant avoiding doing any assisting!**

Kind of handy to have a day without moving before heading off for a white card model meeting for panto. I got the drawing board out again to do a ground plan and section of the set. The section is useful to check sight lines, making sure things you don’t want to be seen until a certain point can be kept well out of view. This is a touch hard at Chippy because they don’t really have a fly tower, so things either have to concertina up on themselves or only be a certain height to start off with. A section is also useful for the lighting designer.

I also had time to run through the model doing all the changes, a kind of dress rehearsal for tomorrow when I do it in front of the creative team. Then I did a few sketches of some big props and puppets, these were only basic but enough to convey the basic idea of them.

All day boats have been heading downstream, quite a few hire boats. I wonder how many don’t know about Banbury Lock being shut. Yes there is a notice on a lock beam, yes there is a notice on line that you can sign up to. But not everybody looks or knows to look. I’m hoping to get to Banbury early tomorrow so that I can check out the mooring situation and see what’s happening at the lock before catching a bus out to Chippy.

On board Oleanna the two working batteries seem to be doing okay, they have charged up on the shore line. So the loose connection on the alternator will have been to blame for their sorry state. The temporary fix to bypass the failed battery needs to be made more permanent until we decide how to proceed. One new battery or three?

We are now down to two thirds of our normal amp hours. This was the original capacity Oleanna was specked with, we then changed our minds and wanted a third battery. This has served us well, but we’d been thinking we might upgrade to twice the capacity now that lithium batteries are more advanced, cheaper and easier to get hold of than they were seven years ago.

However for the time being we need to live within our electrical means. We’ll see how we go, but the first thing that will get switched off will be the freezer as when it’s hot it is working continuously. I’ve not restocked it and meals are currently planned around eating it empty. A big Sainsburys order arrived this morning, the wine cellar is restocked with boxes so that will make up for the freezer being off. Chicken curry new style tonight, lots of spices, but not too hot, yum.

This evening Mick turned the shore power off to see how the two batteries cope overnight on their own. Fingers crossed they survive the night.

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 loads washing, 2 tumble dries, 1 grounded cat, 1 Cr*predy! 1 model ready, 12 sheets of drawings, 2 batteries charging, 6 boxes under the back steps, 1 bag of peas to use up.

Topless Tunnel. 25th June

Bridge 123 to Claydon Top Lock visitor moorings

Another early start, pushing of at 6:30 with cuppas in hand. The lovely cool breeze was nice and refreshing as we wound our way along the summit pound of the Oxford Canal. Sun cream had been applied as few clouds showed themselves.

This morning our batteries hadn’t been complaining. At the moment we can’t check their state of charge properly, so all we can do is help them to keep topped up. Good job we want to keep on the move at the moment.

Wiggles and winds soon brought us to the contrasting landscape. One minute beautiful green fields, sheep grazing, bird song. Then round the next bend the huge mounds of earth from HS2 sat grey against the horizon. No activity today just earthwork scars across the gentle valley. I’d been at work last year when Mick passed this way so the new temporary bridge was new to me.

A short distance onwards the normally very popular moorings had only two boats on them! Blimey, maybe the HS2 works has put people off, or is it just the lack of view at this time of year with so much greenery about.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a Clifton Cruiser hire boat come past asking where the next winding hole was. Mick checked our map, Fenny Compton another two hours ahead. Their boat needed to be back in Rugby for Monday morning and today the temperature was due to hit 29C! Thankfully we passed them as we approached Fenny, already winded and heading back to base, a long hot day ahead of them.

Next Fenny Compton Tunnel where the roof was removed quite sometime ago. I looked for the towpath, but there was no sign of it amongst the cow parsley and nettles. As we passed through the narrowest part Oleanna had to push past the vegetation on both sides,

No need to stop at the old railway bridge today, no requirement for a festive wreath of ivy for the cratch. Then the first Oxford Canal lift bridge, sitting open to boat traffic.

The first mooring above the Claydon flight looked very nice and shady, sadly a boat was sat there. Strange conversations came from within as we passed, followed by a rendition of ‘Always Look on the bright side of life’. They had some sort of bird onboard, a parrot, a very vocal one.

Spaces were available on the rings before the bridge, we pulled in leaving an Oleanna sized gap between us and the next boat. Tilly was given an hour, knowing full well she’d take far more. The kettle was put on and we could sit down to join the Geraghty zoom only five minutes late and our cruising for the day done.

Topics today, what to do with ripe tomatoes, the deepest loch in Scotland and cheating on school sports days. I wonder how much ketchup Christine’s one tomato would make?

A late breakfast as the sun started to come across and hit the roof and both sides of the boat. Hopefully late afternoon would see us into shade.

Cricket was listened to, Tilly came and went, often opting to lie on the bathroom floor as she was too hot again. I worked my way through my Cinderella model, making sure I’d got everything and taking photos as I went so as to be able to do a new version of the storyboard.

During the afternoon a Carefree Cruising boat pulled up behind us, another foot would be good. Both Mick and a chap from the boat behind went out to see if we could adjust our ropes to accommodate them, this was soon sorted. Their dog took a fancy to Tilly at one point. Her popping out from the sideways trees, she got chased back in through the hatch. I showed her the front door entrance which she used for much of the remainder of the day.

She and Tom gave me an extra way on and off the boat too. Part of the see through sides was removed, just the hammocks left in place. She had to hold them closed at one point as the woofer walked past and all I wanted to do was stick my tongue out at it. She said because the glass wasn’t there I wouldn’t be safe, so not to be so cocky! I tried shouting at me later, but I just moved further down the towpath to get away from the noise.

My model is now complete, just a few bits to do before my meeting. Hoorah! Despite good solar for much of the day Mick felt it necessary to run the engine again at around 7 for half an hour to help charge our batteries, Boo!

Sadly the wind was too strong to sit out and cook our dinner on the barbeque, the defrosted pork was chopped up and made into paprika peppery pork, very tasty.

We ended the day by watching Elton John at Glastonbury. All the lyrics imprinted on our brains. Very evocative of my sixth form days and parties that ended up on the flat roof of my parents house watching the sunrise. Those parties were great parties. Elton still blasting out the tunes in tune unlike one onlooker in the crowd!

0 locks, 9.3 miles, 1 lift bridge lufted, 1 topless tunnel, 5 fields of broad beans, 3.5 hours cruise before breakfast, 1 hot day, 1 model complete, 2 batteries struggling, 1 near miss, 1 more entrance, 0 bbq, 1 pair of braces needed for a gold suit.

https://goo.gl/maps/4tWRBqK6hhwK4naFA

Snake In The Grass. 24th June

Napton visitor moorings to Prior Hardwick Bridge 123

Our lithium batteries had turned themselves off overnight, not a good sign. Good job we planned on setting off early. A cuppa was made and we pushed off at 6:30 and as quietly as we could we made it round the bend to the water point. As the tank filled we had breakfast then we pushed over to the other side to empty the yellow water tank and dispose of rubbish.

Time to enjoy the narrow locks. The bottom one was empty, as we rose up a hire boat came towards us from the moorings in the first pound. The ladies chatted away, it had been their first narrowboat holiday and maybe they’d be doing it again. Because we’d been chatting I’d got out of my usual routine closing paddles and the of side was still up as the gate was opened. I reminded them that it was up, the ladies took note.

**I only had two beers last night! Why am I seeing double?**

I walked up to set the next lock, the first few were obligingly empty for us, the pounds a touch low though. Thankfully the lowest pound could be topped up with a lock full of water from above.

**Bubbling below an empty lock as the lock above was emptied**

The first down hill boat, a couple exploring the whole network, they’d been at it for 2 years and have no end date as yet. They had come through Banbury and had serious difficulty at the now closed lock. It had taken several people to open the top gate, some having to sit on it, as far as it would open. Then as their boat came out of the lock it rose up over something possibly on the gate.

**Nice views, water buffalo not visible from here though**

At the last lock in the flight we met our third downhill boat. I walked over to the lady, she jumped in (not into the water!) asking me to cross over to the other side where I’d be able to open a bottom paddle for them. I replied that I was happy to do that but thought I’d come and say Good Morning first. She was obviously in locking mode, they were hoping to grab a space below the flight left by a hire boat returning to base, hopefully one of at least three spaces would still be free for them. She also warned me to mind where I put my feet at Marston Doles bottom lock.

I opted to walk to the next lock, about a mile. The towpath narrowed as it does on the Oxford Canal. Some sections narrowed even more due to bank erosion. Then I was soon walking through the overgrown towpath. A manchette at times would have been handy. I managed and got to enjoy being surround by butterflies and damselflies galore. Plenty of wild flowers to keep the insects happy. There are plenty of people complaining on the lack of mowing on the towpaths at the moment, this stretch did feel like it had not seen a strimmer this year.

At Marston Doles Bottom Lock I kept my eyes peeled. Then there it was, a 2ft long grass snake on the lock landing, very dead. I wonder how it met it’s demise?

The pound in between the two locks was really quite low and when I reached the top lock a C&RT worker was letting water down. The top lock has had new gates which are successful in holding back the water. The bottom lock however leeks like a sieve, so every morning the pound requires topping up.

Once up we swapped with another downhill boat and carried on our way. When did we last head southwards on the Oxford Canal? We seem to cruise the Oxford most years, because of Panto. We spent a while thinking about it, a check on the blog just now and it turns out it was 2018 when we last headed south. That’s ages ago!

Originally we’d planned on doing a few more miles and getting close to the HS2 crossing, but Mick was after stopping sooner so as to spend some time with our troubled batteries. A length of armco showed itself with a slightly wider area where we’d be able to sit out for a barbecue this evening. We pulled in just gone 10am and soon adjusted our fenders as few boats seemed to be slowing down to pass us.

Mick waited for the engine to cool off, lifting the engine board to assist. Tilly headed off into the friendly cover, but fairly soon returned complaining that This outside is far too hot! Too hot for cats!!!

Mick spent some time down in the engine bay, trying to alter the bus bars that connect our three lithium batteries so as to cut out the one that is failing. He’d found a suitable sized bolt, but not a nut to fit it. We looked in all the obvious places for a nut, boxes of bits and bobs. Nothing. The hunt extended to boxes of things under the dinette. Eventually I looked at a brand new attachment of doom (a handy grinding disc useful for rust removal). In the bag was a bolt, a nut and a washer, would the nut fit?

Well it was the right size but the thread wasn’t the same. How’s about using the bolt from the attachment of doom instead? This worked so long as you remembered that the thread went in the opposite direction to normal. Finally the failing battery was isolated, leaving us with two batteries and 100 amp hours at 24 volts.

The afternoon was spent adding elements to my white card model. These are details that I’d normally add when upgrading the model to a coloured model, but I felt it important to do them now as they’d affect quotes from set builders. So the Town Square went from being 2D to 2.5D.

An early evening engine run was required. Would the two batteries we’re left with work as they should do, or have they been brought down by the faulty one?

Burgers and sausages were popped on the bbq along with a foil package of butternut squash. The squash ended up being cooked for a little bit too long, one side a touch black, but roasted with some oil and thyme it was still nice. Our mooring was ideal for the evening.

**Just about zero footfall, what a good spot for a bbq**

Once the temperature had started to drop Tilly headed out again, maybe a little bit late in the day. All the time we were sat out we could tell that she wasn’t far away, her bell giving away her location. Then as we moved inside I called and called. The dingding bell was dinged. No sign of Tilly.

I tried several more times to call her inside, each time I’d hear just enough from the sideways trees to know she was close. So there was nothing for it but to just leave her to finish being busy and come back in her own good time. 10pm, 10PM!!!! Well you are the one’s that tied up the hot outside!

9 locks, 3.5 miles, 4 passed, 2ft of snake, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 top up, 10 improvements, 2 batteries better than 3 (we hope!), 1 nut short, 1 attachment of doom to the rescue, 2 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/SfAKMQWmGCPtfvVB6

Everything’s Going Backwards. 23rd June

Almost Napton water point to Napton Visitor Moorings

An engine at 6:30am! Who , what , where ? One of the boats on the permanent moorings ran it’s engine for half an hour, then thankfully peace returned, well for twenty minutes, then he started his engine up again! We were awake now, so had a cuppa.

Soon the two boats that had been filling the moorings with gaps came past, ah ha! We got dressed, untied and set about reversing back to the now wonderfully large gap they’d left, big enough for three maybe even four boats. Oleanna decided that she’d rather stick close to the moored boats as she went backwards, thankfully there were signs of awakeness in most boats. We pulled in and tied up as close to the boat in front as we could, don’t want to be accused of leaving git gaps! Of course over the next couple of hours other boats moved away and we were left sat in the middle of a very big space, enough for two in front and two behind at least. By late morning all spaces were filled up. Then for the remainder of the day boats came past some forwards others backwards hoping for a mooring, by the evening there were three boats moored at various jaunty angles around the bend where we’d been last night. Napton is a popular place!

Having a morning not really going anywhere we decided to use Mick’s culinary skills for the first time in an age. A very nice breakfast it was too, the sausages, Jolly Hogg tasted very much like sausages used to.

A day at work for me, the drawing board came out and Mick struggled to find somewhere to be as I worked my way to the bottom of the box of model bits. By late afternoon one box was empty the other full. I’ve still ground plans to draw up and a few minor alterations to do on the model if there is time before my meeting next week.

Mick has been monitoring our battery charging current, well he’s been doing this just about all the time we’ve been on Oleanna, but he’s recently noticed that on starting the engine in the morning the initial charging current is about 40 amps. Up until last week it always started off around 65 to 70 amps. Time to investigate.

He disconnected all the batteries and tested the voltage of each in turn. Two of them measured exactly 26.01v but the other one measured between 15 and 20 volts and didn’t remain steady at all. His deduction is that that battery is broken. I’m feeling that BOAT (Bring Out Another Thousand) is rearing it’s head!

An email has been sent to Ricky at Finesse for advice. Does he think the battery will still be under warranty and could be replaced by RELiON? If they did happen to replace it would it be ok to have one new battery in the same bank with two 6 year old batteries? Or does he have any ideas on how to reset the battery and get it working again?

Mick found information on line regarding the warranty, because our battery is between 6 and 10 years old , if it can’t be mended than we would receive a 10% discount off a new one. However Mick would choose different batteries now should we need to replace them, things have moved on in the last six years.

Yesterday a C&RT stoppage notice came through for Banbury Lock. Navigation closed until further notice due to concerns for structural condition of top gate of lock 29.

Today an update, Navigation remains closed until further notice. Following the engineers condition assessment of the gate assisted passage is not a viable option. We are working to deliver the repair of this damaged lock in the shortest possible timeframe. Further updates to follow Wednesday 28/06/2023.

Hmm, our next port of call is Banbury or further south for me to get to Chippy for a meeting, then our destination is further south still. Should we stick to our chosen route and hope that the lock won’t take too long to mend, or should we wind and go down the Grand Union? The latter option isn’t that appealing and would make getting to panto meetings awkward. So we’ll stick to our plan and keep our fingers crossed.

This evening we headed to The Folly, well it would have been rude not to as we are moored at the bottom of their garden! Time to catch up with our friend Lizzie from Crick. Have to say the menu was a touch disappointing for me, only two things marked as gluten free. I chose the gammon horseshoe steak, which should be gluten free, maybe the accompanying chips get fried in the same fryer as their battered fish. However they’d sold out of gammon so I opted for some ham instead, this also wasn’t marked as gf, it must be the chips! Mick and Lizzie opted for burgers which looked great compared to my slices of ham. We were all quite naughty and had a pudding too, only one option for me Chocolate Brownie, which was very tasty.

It was lovely to spend the evening with Lizzie, catching up on news. Sadly she’s not had enough time to do much boating on NB Panda, but she’s hoping for a few days away soon. So a walk down the towpath to say hello to Oleanna and Tilly gave her a bit of a canal fix.

0 locks, 0.1mile in reverse, 1 day at the drawing board, 11.5 sheets of drawings, 1 cat occupied or asleep, 1 out of 3 batteries not well, 1 load washing, 1 lovely evening, 2 options, 2 beers, 2 glasses wine, 2 burgers, 3 slices ham, 2 eggs.

https://goo.gl/maps/WyWLqpo5jHArxP8y6

Plane, Santa And Trefoil. 21st June

Radford Smelly to between Bascote Bridge 27 and Former Railway Bridge 26A

A few boats had been on the move this morning before we got going, so we suspected we’d be following uphill boats. We pootled to the first lock which was just about full. A jolly chap from Chorley (well that’s where his boat suggested he was from) was very grateful that I opened the gate for him and lifted the paddle, all whilst Mick disposed of our rubbish at the bins.

Yesterday we’d planned to reach this next pound where there are clearings in the woods alongside the towpath, but time had got away from us. Maybe next time.

The next lock was also full and a boat just arriving, soon followed by their partner. We came up alone, still no-one in sight behind. Our third lock was empty so we could head straight in, as I wound a paddle up two more boats appeared from above to make use of the lock as soon as we left.

Yesterday we’d not finished filling with water and our yellow water was in need of disposal. But as the water point came into view it was already occupied, by an uphill boat. Dilemma! Should we wait to use the elsan and water point, or team up with them for the next locks. They were just rolling up their hose, we went ahead to set the lock and wait for them.

NB Tuptonia is a Girl Guides boat, we’d seen it at Lapworth at the weekend, a young crew on hand learning the ropes. Today however there were seven adults on board, two trainers, 3 novices and two people were being assessed to be skippers. All of a sudden we were mob handed.

I walked between Wood Lock and Welsh Road Lock chatting to Karen one of the trainers. She is currently awaiting the launch of a new boat built by Ortomarine, very exciting. We chatted bathrooms, gallies and toilets etc.

The HS2 crossing wasn’t as impressive as when we last came through. The temporary bridge, possibly a conveyor belt over the canal, is now laying redundant in a field and there are just big banks of earth on both sides of the cut.

We carried on working up the locks, Mick was guaranteed to tell those at the helm that he used to be a Brownie, his Mum having been a Brown Owl when he was young.

**Sorry I didn’t get anyone else’s name, Karen in pink**

At Bascote I went ahead to set the last lock before the staircase, but suspected I should hold back when it came to the two rise. Here skippers were under assessment, photographic evidence was required for their reports. Everything went as it should, top chamber full, bottom empty, then the two boats were worked up with the many turns of windlasses.

We’d now reached the pound we’d been aiming for today, should we crack on with our locking partners or give Tilly a good afternoon of shore leave. We decided to stop, pulling in short of where we normally moor on the aqueduct at Long Itchington. Here the towpath is still more rural, after the next bridge it has had a make over suitable for cyclists.

NB Tuptonia carried on, hoping to rise up the Stockton flight today as they are on a mission to relocate the boat to Weedon for the next seven weeks. Here it will be hired out to all sorts of groups not just guides and scouts. We hope that there are two new Skippers by the end of the trip and that it isn’t too much of a squeeze getting through all the historic boats at Braunston. We also look forward to meeting with Karen on her new boat sometime in the future.

Tilly headed off into the friendly cover. Stop distracting me I’m busy! Rule 1 was broken yet again and part way through the afternoon she decided to compare our new neighbours boat to Oleanna. No going on other boats! Rule 4 broken! At least she didn’t stick her head through their curtain to have a good look!

The drawing board came out again and another three sheets of panto drawings were updated.

Quinoa smoked salmon and camembert quiche for dinner tonight, yum!

10 locks, 4.5 miles, 7 shared, 1 busier canal than of late, 7 crew, 0 chilled medication at Welsh Road Lock, 0 water top up, 20 litres yellow water mellowing, 1 quiche, 2 1m x 2m rostra, 1 friend! 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 1 not very popular cat!

Appointment With A Stranger. 19th June

Rowington Embankment to Cape of Good Hope Visitor Moorings

Up early again! Breakfasted and on our way just gone 7:30, we had about an hours cruise before we’d reach the top of the Hatton flight. Shrewley Tunnel was really quite wet, Mick had remembered his waterproof, I’d forgotten and got quite damp and chilly. Yesterdays rain had helped reduce the temperature so I soon popped on a fleece, knowing full well it wouldn’t stay on long.

Two people climbed off a hire boat at the end of the moorings above the flight. Were they just going to have a look at what lay ahead or were they about to set off? Would they have already picked up a boat to partner with? When they reached the lock they started to fill it, no sign of their boat following them, maybe they were just generous souls!

We checked to see if they were willing to share the flight with us, they were, but not sure when their boat would be arriving, the men were being tardy at pushing off, we could go ahead if we wanted to. Many hands make light work of the Hatton flight so waiting a few minutes would save many more minutes further on.

Philippa, Helen, Keith and Steve (?) were experienced hirers, out for two weeks. They’d already done the Avon Ring so had decided to use up their remaining days by descending Hatton, winding and returning tomorrow. The hire company had said that Birmingham was a bit grotty, so not to bother!

With three of us on the lock side I walked ahead to open up the next lock which was already full. I was also keeping an eye out for volunteers and a stranger. A volunteer was spied watching us from the bridge down the flight, then the blue and red vanished, maybe we looked as though we’d got everything sorted, we would do soon.

There was someone walking up the flight with purpose, could this be someone heading for a bacon butty at the cafe or might it just be the stranger I was looking for? She looked across at the boats in the lock, Oleanna tucked behind the ABC hire boat. We’d been a little bit early for our rendez vous and had jumped at the chance to share the flight. I called across, ‘Hello are you Jane?’ ‘Yes’, came the reply, ‘You must be Pip!’.

Jane is a colleague of my old college friend Emma who lives in Warwick. I’d messaged ahead a few days ago with the hope that we’d be able to meet up. Plans were put together and could they bring along their friend Jane who is wanting to buy a boat to live on. This then morphed into us having an extra pair of hands for the flight if we could do it on Monday morning. Never turn down the offer for assistance when faced with 21 broad locks!

Us ladies soon split up into two teams that would leapfrog each other down the flight. Philippa and Helen walked on down to the next lock to set it whilst Jane and I got chatting. I knew next to nothing about Jane other than she was keen to help today. She’d been on several holidays and earlier this year she’d done a helmsman course in Braunston where she learnt the normal things along with single handing and how to break ice! Therefore I didn’t have a novice on my hands.

On our way down we met two boats coming up, one with a couple of boys in blue assisting them, another had been helped up the first three but they were now on their own.

**Philippa and Helen waiting to open the lock**

Thankfully the sky was a touch cloudy, not too much to give concern, but enough to help keep the temperature down. Jane and I had a good old chat about all things boat, crafts, etc as we walked between locks and as we waited for Mick and Keith to bring the boats into our lock. We didn’t get chance to chat to Philippa or Helen as we were leapfrogging each other.

Mick checked to see if we required refreshments at the halfway point, but we were fine. Working every other lock with someone to chat away to makes for a less gruelling trip down the flight, certainly far far better than it just being the two of us, which we have done before.

Jane and I got to work the last lock of the flight, we maybe should have waited a touch longer before winding up our paddles so that Philippa and Helen could climb back on board with ease, instead they had to climb down a ladder, maybe they didn’t know about the steps down below the lock which would have been far easier.

There had been conversations at the helm of the hire boat that maybe Keith should swap with one of the ladies. This was turned down. The ladies were working the locks today, he and Steve were going to do them tomorrow, that’s if Steve has finished reading his book at the dinette by then.

We pulled over onto some armco and popped the kettle on. Some choc chip cookies had been freshly baked this morning, time for a well earned sit down for all of us.

Thank you so much Jane for joining us today, your enthusiasm for boats and the canals shone out, it was a pleasure having you as crew. I hope your house sale speeds up and then you can start in earnest to look for your boat and home. I hope our paths cross again soon.

The flight had taken us 2hours 22 minutes. Time to look back on previous passages. Back in 2013 (our first descent) we’d teamed up with another hire boat with six crew, today we’d beaten the 2 hours 30 minutes, in fact today was the fastest we’ve descended the flight. May 2016 was 3 hours 15 mins and February 2017 Mick managed the flight in 46 hours 34 mins due to my broken ankle and a storm holding us up for a day.

Todays time however didn’t beat our record which was when we teamed up with Nb Cygnet and had my brother and nephew as extra crew, when we managed to head up the locks in 2 hours 15 minutes. Maybe today if we’d not had to wait for the two up hill boats we’d have just beaten it.

We poolted on to around the corner almost opposite The Cape of Good Hope to moor for the day. Only one other boat when we arrived, but by the end of the day the moorings had filled up, including our locking partners from today, now ready to face the flight again tomorrow.

A jot of work this afternoon saw me go back through all the scenes of Panto, a few more notes taken and some of them worked through before it was time to freshen up and head to the pub.

Emma and her husband David had just arrived. It’s a couple of years since we last saw Emma and longer since we met David. Lots to catch up on and a lot of cat talk, they currently have seven in their house!

Normally I have a Kiwi Burger with a gluten free bun, but today I decided to try their gluten free option of fish and chips. Mick went to order our food, only to be told that the gluten free batter was made with beer. This isn’t that unusual as it’s normally made with gluten free beer, but today it sounded as if the gluten free batter would be made with normal beer, hence making it NOT gluten free! Maybe something was lost in translation, but it really didn’t make sense and as some of the first things I gave up because they weren’t agreeing with me were beer and fish and chips I really didn’t want to risk it. So instead I had one of their lovely burgers. At least I knew what I’d be getting.

A lovely evening with friends to end a good day at the locks.

21 locks, 6 miles, 1 hire boat with 4 crew, 1 inside, 1 valiant volunteer Jane, 0 volunteers to assist us, 1 super speedy descent, 3 cookies, 1 left, 4 hours shore leave, 1 model just about complete, 3 burgers, 1 fish fillet, 4 rustic chips, 7 beers, 2 glasses wine, 1 very lovely evening.

https://goo.gl/maps/mP6y1gKqNvkNi1VXA

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna