I was off to catch a train, well three that would get me to Huddersfield mid morning. The current track record of Transpennine Express is really quite poor, trains being cancelled here there and everywhere, so my last leg of the journey couldn’t be guaranteed. Thankfully all went to plan without too long standing on platforms in the cold. I even got to see Lincoln Cathedral from my first train way way off in the distance.
Coming into the marina to fill up
Mick was left to check in with Paula the marina manager at King’s. She was wanting to give us the best deal on mooring, cheaper to pay for three months than on a daily rate. However, as soon as we know that the way ahead is open, the tides are right and I’m not at work we will be moving downstream. So Mick opted to pay weekly.
Borrowing the directors sewing machine meant I could finish sewing one costume. Now all nine actors have overalls they can wear to rehearse in over the next few weeks. We got everyone into their costumes to check them over. Had anything changed? One chaps overall seemed a touch too tight, easy to undo a couple of darts in the back. Sadly someone else was in a situation where the zip wouldn’t do up, a case of shrinking and expanding going on in unison. Notes were taken for expansion, all those off cuts from arms and legs come in handy for waist lines.
Mark, Rebekah, Alice and Meghan
Time to position the numbers I’d made. With everyone stood in a row they looked like mug shots of convicts.
Drawn out and based in
Rehearsals continued elsewhere for the remainder of the day giving me use of the studio floor. Connor came to help roll out the new show flooring, cutting the big roll into three and then marking out the design. Base coats of white were applied, all ready for the green to go next time.
Numbers
I’ve been quite astounded at the price the Premier Inn were wanting to charge me for production week, so on this trip I’d booked an AirBnB to try out for a night. With a bag of alterations to tack I headed to find my room and see if the access codes worked. The front door was easy, the one for my room a little bit more tricksy, but I got there in the end.
I checked around to see what I had, a small kitchen area with cooker fridge and microwave. No sharp knife and slightly heat affected cupboards the laminate edging having come away sometime ago. The cooker and fridge are a bonus, no storing breakfast on a window sill and a heater that actually works without a big fan going constantly.
Chips were only for reference purposes
With some supplies bought along with a portion of chips from the nearby takeaway I set to with alterations sat on my sofa with a huge TV mounted on the wall. TV signal here would certainly get a thumbs down as I couldn’t seem to get any terrestrial channels. I also didn’t want to interact with Alexa as so far I’ve managed to avoid having her in my life. Eventually I did manage to get something to have on in the back ground, early episodes of Silent Witness, the lab used to be next to Kings’ College in Cambridge.
My digs
Digs verdict. Well it would be nice if the gap under the door didn’t let light in constantly. The microwave clock is easily covered up with a sketch book or tea towel. The shower door was easily rehung. The romantic view from behind the blind of buildings three foot away did mean no noise from the ring road next door (quieter than the Premier Inn). The big strip light was useful for sewing, but gave an atmosphere similar to that found in a dentists chair. If I stay again I’ll try to fix the shower so that more water comes out of the head than dribbles down the pipe. Having a fridge and cooker though may outweigh other things and it is two minutes walk from the theatre and £200 cheaper than Premier Inn, A bit more cutlery wouldn’t go amiss though.
Back at Dark Horse I finished the alterations on costumes, helped with a mark up of the stage for full rehearsals next week. Then when I was left on my own it was time to don my mask and finish off the giant mug. Getting things lined up and stuck on straight took time. The outside was covered, then the handle. Thankfully my plan for this worked out and two tins of stinky glue later the mug was finished.
Still with time before my booked train, I worked my way through a few props that needed painting. Packed everything away and then removed my mask. Hopefully the aroma on spray paint and any stinky glue will dissipate over the weekend.
My return journey was slightly hampered by late running trains, but this actually meant I still arrived back in Newark on time.
During the day, posts on the Trentlink group had been going about regarding Maud’s Bridge on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. Then an official C&RT notice was put out.
Update on 27/01/2023:
We have now assessed the works required to the bridge following the damage caused by the road traffic accident and are now preparing for the comprehensive repair to be completed by our contractor.
In advance of this, following advice from our engineers, we will take a team to open the bridge to canal traffic on Tuesday 31st January at 10:30 and then close it at 11:30, allowing all boats currently in the area to pass the bridge.
Following this we will consider further openings as required until a full repair is complete. We will also update this notice with details of the full repair when we have them.
Brilliant! Except we won’t be able to make the hour time slot.
Huddersfield Station
Mick sent an email, to which he got the standard reply that he would get an answer within five working days. So he made a phone call.
The chap seemed fairly hopeful that another bridge swing would be possible for us on another day. He would know more in Monday and call us back. Lets hope we can find a window where everything fits together before too long, so we can move Oleanna up to Yorkshire.
0 locks, 0 miles, 6 trains, 1 rip, 4 inches, 2 tucks untucked, 2 x 9m, 12 white lines, 9 numbers, 36 pieces velcro, 2 tins stinky stink sticky stuff, 1 large mug, 2 caddies, 2 wands, 2 books, 1 giant spoon, 1 shower door, 0 view, 0 noise, 1 hour opening, 2 many commitments 2 make it, 4 meals with sprinkles, 2 pies, 2 jackets.
PS Do you normally receive blog posts by email? Have they stopped coming into your Inbox? Please let us know. Thank you
The decision to stay put today had been made last night. C&RT were working on Town Lock in Newark today with possible delays for two hours. That was if we could get there as yesterday we’d had reports that between the lock and the next bridge had been frozen.
Mick made a phone call to King’s Marina, were they iced up? What was their diesel price? There was ice still around the edges of the marina, but the central section had thawed. We’ll do a diesel price comparison with the other two marinas tomorrow.
On the outside
A sausage day for Tilly. Allowed out at breakfast time with two hours. The two hours was extended each time she returned. Something was certainly keeping her busy out there.
Simon from C&RT walked by during the morning, presumably continuing his checks at each lock. Then there was a chap walking his dog, most probably from the Dutch Barge Lily. Other than that island life was quiet, except the noise from the weir. No passing boats today.
Hand sewing still possible
Time for me to collect my thoughts a bits and pieces together for my next visit to Huddersfield this week. Name tags were sewn into the new overalls. A couple of spare chip trays were made in pink and purple. A new batch of felt badges were started, ready to be added to overalls. The large wheelie bag was dug out from under the bed and filled up with things to take. The back steps were taken out to access my paint brush bag and an edited few brushes and chalk line made it into things to take.
Badges in the making
Tilly returned to warm up three quarters of an hour before cat curfew. We tried to convince her that she should make the most of her shore leave as it will be the last for some time. But it fell on deaf pointy ears, Tilly preferring to have a bath in front of the stove instead.
Winter sunset
This evening we enjoyed the last, apart from a butties worth, of roast pork with red peppers and paprika. Yum.
The canal banks were frosty even Oleanna’s eyes were frosty this morning. We decided to let things warm up a touch whilst we joined the Geraghty zoom. Subjects covered, being unique, the difference between English and Scottish NHS, advance packing, we felt slightly left out as we have no spare bed available to collate clothing.
Hello Woofer
Thankfully the flow along the Nottingham and Beeston Canal meant we didn’t have ice to contend with, just the odd bit crackling in the margins. There seem to be new areas that the local boaters moor, several groups have managed to pin themselves to the bank, one stretch with an ice rink for a towpath.
Moorings reduced at Castle Marina
Mick made a call through to Castle Marina, we were wanting a top up of diesel, the answer came back as expected the marina was frozen over, we’d be heading on straight past. There seems to be problems with the pontoons in the marina. As we passed numerous big signs line empty pontoons. Maybe they are getting replaced.
No stopping for a shop today, straight through a first for us. The towpath in parts needs work as it is undulating by the edge. This boat caught our eye NB Bird on a Wire, I like the addition of a squirrel.
Reaching the bend
Castle Lock was surrounded with crud, two life buoys by the weir and a blue fat fender by the lock gates, this was picked up, with a new bit of rope it may be useful. Plenty of the buildings now seemed empty, that may have been because it was Sunday, but dusty windows were not inviting.
Posh new restaurant
By the big bend the building work has been completed. Cleaver and Wake now sits alongside the canal, run by Masterchef Professional winner Laurence Henry, it offers an ‘elevated dining experience’. We cannot afford to eat there so our roast pork this evening would be enjoyed onboard at the fraction of the price for one of their starters.
Fishermen slowed our progress. A new mural along a wall suggests some regeneration money is being ploughed into the area, The Island Quarter, a new ‘destination’!
Meadow Lane Lock
Meadow Lane Lock required a couple of logs removing from behind the top gates then we took quite a bit of rubbish down with us to the river where only a couple of rowing boats were busy zooming past the lock. Two boats on County Hall steps, not surprising after the floods. The occupants of County Hall itself may be moving and the building sold off for a hotel.
Trent Bridge
Back on the river we zoomed along, it was in the green but the flow was quite strong, tick over to keep steerage required. The river was strangely quiet, we’d expected sailing boats and more rowers, but none were seen.
Rufford Hall or Southfork as we call it
Southfork looked dead as usual. A peer in through the first floor windows revealed some dodgy tromp l’oeil around some archways. From Rufford Hall on-line interior design courses are run!
As we approached Holme Lock mad people were climbing into canoes to launch themselves into the river and head down the white water course. The pull towards the hydroelectric plant was strong so more power was required on the lock cut to keep us going straight.
A chap walking his dog said he wasn’t sure what was happening with Stoke Lock, a boat had gone down there yesterday. Luckily we could fill him in that it requires booking.
Ice filled the lock along with more flood detritus. Holme Lock takes SOOOOoooooo long to empty or fill, you could add a half hour to your journey here. But we were soon out, the hydraulic rams on the gates cutting through the ice easily.
Radcliffe Viaduct
One last reach of the river gradually getting more and more rural. Numerous Herons and Egrets sat and watched or flew past. Only one Kingfisher spotted in amongst the trees. A train came with potential for a good photo of Radcliffe Viaduct, except it’s progress was very slow compared to ours, the view left for someone else to see as we headed round a bend.
Stoke Lock
Up ahead at Stoke Lock the low mooring was occupied, presumably the boat that had come down Holme Lock yesterday. This wasn’t good news for Tilly as she isn’t allowed out on pontoon moorings on rivers, especially ones just out of flood. We pulled in, the current wanting to pull the bow out from the pontoon, we’d not wanted to wind to face upstream due to the pull from the weir.
Time for the joint of pork to go in the oven.
3 locks, 9.6 miles, 1 left, 1 marina frozen over, 2 rowing boats, £40 for 2 courses, £10 for both of us onboard, 0 shore leave, 1 blue fat fender.
Ice again this morning. Whilst I attended a zoom production meeting for #unit21 Mick went for a walk along the canal towards Shardlow Lock to assess the ice situation. My meeting went well and Mick’s verdict was that after lunch we should be fine to move as the sun was out melting the ice. He’d phoned Tracy at the farm to arrange a meter reading and a settling up as we’d be moving on today.
Zooming
Just before midday we unplugged ourselves and walked up to the stables. Here we could say goodbye to our noisy neighbours, two donkeys who were rescues from Blackpool quite a few years ago. In three weeks we’d used 150 units of electric, we’d not run our engine other than to check the alternator and once to warm the engine bay up. The occasional blast of electric heating in the morning, washing machine and dishwasher along with the electric kettle, sewing machine and iron. Yes we have an iron but it comes out very rarely and mostly for work. We thanked Tracy for helping us out at new year and allowing us to stay for three weeks.
Lunch, another C&RT notice! Stoke Lock was still not operational by boaters so needs to be booked 24hrs in advance. A phone call was made straight away, when would we be there? Monday morning. The lady rang back confirming that a volunteer would be at the lock waiting for us.
Pushing off for the first time this year
Time to roll up the covers for the first time this year. The new version of our trip computer spluttered into life, an old phone placed in a window, this will run Nebo and track our route and miles. I turned Nebo on on my phone too to record locks as we go through them. We untied and I walked ahead to open the lock whilst Mick reversed Oleanna back to meet me.
A patch of thicker ice slowed his progress just as he arrived at the three widebeams. A chap on the last boat stuck his head out and complimented Mick for his reversing skills. He also warned him of thick ice below Derwent Mouth Lock.
The top gates needed a couple of attempts to get them open, the ice behind holding firm on the first go.
Reversing in ice seemed to be quite good. Blasts of forwards every now and then sent water backwards breaking up the ice in front of the blunt end of the boat. The odd blast from the bow thruster also helped to steer the stern towards the lock.
Look at that sun
Down gently in the lock, the ice there breaking up as the water lowered. The aroma of scampi coming from the pub was soon followed by slightly burnt garlic.
The Clockwarehouse
I left Mick to wind whilst I popped to the post box.
Maybe we’d have to moor up
Cat ice was about, easy enough to push your way through. Then at the pub bend we came across thicker ice. Would our escape from the Trent and Mersey be thwarted on this bend? It is quite hard to steer in ice. Narrowboats pivot in the middle and sideways force on ice isn’t very productive. Right on the bend it took several forward and backward manoeuvres to help get into a good position to start carving our way through the ice again. We wouldn’t have to moor there over night. Scampi here too! Maybe on Fridays Shardlow has a special for fish Friday on Scampi!
Both rivers open
The red traffic lights were both turned off at the EA flood lock, both the rivers Soar and Trent were open to boats.
Constant ice ahead
Now we slowed our pace to pass the line of moored boats by Chapel Farm Marina. Is it better to go slowly? Or does it just eek out the noise of cracking ice? A thick patch by the last line of boats had me at the bow, trying to keep us away from a Dutch barge. My pushing only moved the barge and not us. But eventually we worked our way through.
Cracking
Up ahead was the widebeam that has been waiting for the river for a couple of weeks. More ice in front of them, we’d had enough and wanted to see what the ice was like below Derwent Mouth Lock before venturing any further. We pulled in. A quick cat H&S meeting was held, too much ice, Sorry Tilly! Harumph urumph!!
That’s better
Below the lock the river was in the amber, the lock landing all very visible now. However the chap on the widebeam had been correct the ice below the lock looked thick, snow still sitting on it in the shade. We’d done enough ice breaking for the day, we’d be staying put, after all we’d reached our goal. Hopefully tomorrow the ice would have melted some more to make our journey easier.
Below the lock, thick ice!
We settled down for the remainder of the afternoon to listen to Tilly’s complaints. Then a crack and crackle with music came from the cut. A narrowboat with three chaps at the stern came along, we’d broken the ice for them, would they continue. Sure enough they headed for the lock.
If only we’d known, they could have broken the ice for us!
A little while later Mick popped his head out of the hatch, the widebeam had also gone. Should we follow too? It was too late now to get much further. A check on the weather forecast. We’d both remembered it as getting warmer at the weekend. The forecast didn’t agree, -3C tonight with fog! Oh bum! Would we end up being iced in now away from water and electric?
A rather nice sunset behind tonight
To try to keep the engine bay from getting too cold overnight Mick ran the engine again for an hour, hoping that would help the batteries which don’t like charging at low temperatures.
Nebo Trip recorded from inside Oleanna, lots of back and forth
Nebo Trip recorded in my pocket including a walk to the post box
My Mum’s American Sticky Chicken was made up and sat on the stove to bubble away for 90 minutes before we enjoyed it with some rice noodles. It isn’t the healthiest of recipes, but it’s nice.
1 lock, 1.2 miles, 150 units, 1 reasonable mooring, 2 donkeys, 2 scampi pubs, 2 more overalls, 1 hour breaking ice, 1 challenging bend, 0 red lights, 1 frozen river, 1 ice breaker forging ahead, 1 widebeam, 1 Oleanna who maybe should have followed! 2 sticky chicken thighs, 1 box of rosé!!!
Brrrrr! Chilly morning. The levels are improving and with little precipitation in the forecast they should hopefully continue on downwards. This afternoon the flood gates at Newark opened up again, we just need levels at Cranfleet to improve some more then we can be on our way.
Photos of ice on the cut this morning appeared on facebook, thankfully we only have patches in the off side vegetation, here’s hoping it stays that way.
Tilly didn’t mind the cold fluffing up her coat to go off on the towpath. She scuttled along on low legs hoping to pounce on a friend, but they are a touch too quick for her around here.
A touch chilly under paw
Inside I stoked the fire, riddled the ash into the pan below. Time to empty it into our ashcan outside on the towpath. In the past we’ve heard lots of people going on about which coal to use, which one is better? Staying in over night, amount of heat and quantity of ash all factors people compare. ‘How do you find Excel this year? I find it produces more ash this winter.’ Etc.
Our normal coal tends to be Excel, although we have had quite a bit from coal merchants with no brand name other than smokeless, along with Taybright, Red etc. To be honest we’ve never really noticed the amount of ash varying between brands. Our ashpan gets emptied once a day to keep the stove operating as it should. Ash always goes into our ashcan, never in the hedgerow as coal ash is poisonous, never mind unsightly and can cause fires. Once cool the ashcan gets emptied into an old coal bag and disposed of in the rubbish bins. When we’re moored up our ashcan lives out on the towpath where any deadly fumes can dissipate rather than enter the boat.
The coal Mick bought from Wickes came in handy 10kg bags, easy to carry along the towpath and to move about. Boaters on Canal World Forum had said it was good, so as it was easy to collect when we had a van he bought several bags. Less CO2 and apparently less smoke.
80% less smoke compared to….?
What do we think of it? Well it seems to take longer to stop being smoky. It stays in overnight well, it gives good heat, but the ash! The ash!! The ASH!!!
Just how much ash can it produce? Masses! It’s easy for us to gauge as the ash pan needs emptying twice a day!
Mushrooms Pip Style
Whilst not emptying the ashpan I’ve made use of having the dinette table to myself, so after mushrooms on toast Pip style, I ironed vinyl numbers and lines onto the navy fabric I’d prepared yesterday.
Good news came from Scarborough this afternoon. Both our boilers are back up and running again, one hadn’t been working for a while, but thankfully it’s all good and safe just in time for our next lodger to move in. Mick has packed away the Christmas decorations and then spent some time making beds up.
Time to start alterations on some overalls for #unit21. I’m not a natural sewer so I take alterations slowly. Each pair need taking apart at the waist to loose or gain length or girth, tucks across the shoulders are also required. It seemed to take forever to get things marked out and trimmed, tacked back together to make sure they looked okay before spending fifteen minutes sewing them back together on the machine! 1 pair down 3.5 to go!
Yum num
Creamy salmon pasta tonight
0 locks, 0 miles, 9 numbers, 18 lines, 5 hours of podcasts, 2 fully working boilers, 1 river dropping, 1 cut just about ice free, 1 problematic bridge, 2 beds, 1 overall in bits, 3inches sleeves, 4.5 inches legs, 2.5 waist,1 dead stool, 2 catnip Dreamies remaining, 2 much blinking ASH!
Originally both of us would have been heading off to check on the house this morning, some seriously cheap train tickets had been bought for part of our return journey via Hull. But we’d decided that one of us would be better staying on the boat to keep it and Tilly warm as the temperatures were due to get low again. Here’s hoping ice isn’t our next problem!
Herbie Award winning hose tap thingy
All the boat chores were done and the water tank topped up. The Herbie Award Winning tap on our hose is now plumbed in and handy on our mooring as you have to go back and forth from one place to another when disconnecting this and that and then turning the tap on.
Just up to that tree Tilly
As the tank filled Tilly and I stretched our legs along the towpath, not far though as a woofer was coming in the opposite direction. Tilly followed me back to Oleanna where she went all cartoon cat with arched back and bushy tail as the dog walked past.
As Mick has the OAP railcard it’s always him who gets to head back to the house. He headed off shortly before it started to hail, but managed to be on a bus as it really came down and covered the towpath within a few minutes. This was then followed by snow, quite chunky flakes too. Tilly was not amused by it.
With the table all to myself I got the sewing machine out and started to sew up rectangles of navy polycotton with stiff interfacing inside. These are for dance competition numbers in #unit 21. Then the remaining numbers were weeded out in vinyl ready to be ironed on tomorrow. They’ll need velcro adding to them but that will happen in Huddersfield on my next visit.
Weeding
Courgette fritters to eat tonight on the boat. I strongly suspect Mick will have had pizza.
Brrrr!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 full water tank, -C temps due, 2 trains, 1 towpath walk, 15 minutes hail, 30 mins snow, 1 moving boat, Where did that come from!?! 1 stove being stoked, 9 numbers ready.
This mornings Geraghty Zoom covered subjects such as mobile scooter drum kits and heating the front garden.
Today we had a visit from Tracy who runs the moorings. She wanted to see if we knew what our plans were and check we were aware of how much electricity we were using. Well we’d guessed it would be quite a bit, the washing machine has been working and we’ve not run the engine for two weeks other than to check the alternator. So 100 units wasn’t too much of a surprise and at current costs it works out to £2.50 a day. We’d use a little bit more than that in diesel if we were charging the batteries with the engine every day, just a shame we’re not moving whilst doing it! We’re hoping to move off just as soon as river levels are safe, hopefully later this week.
I found where the extra miles on Canalplan had come from, two Barford Mills I think. One on the Great Ouse, the other on the Avon. I’d also taken Oleanna on a trip down towards Stratford basin via Lapworth Bottom Lock. All sorted now. A third more miles than we did last year, but fewer locks.
Steak Pie will never be the same
Panto now seems a life time ago, but for the acting company they have been playing two shows a day. This afternoon was their last performance, their 97th! Here’s a montage of Instagram posts The Theatre Chipping Norton has put together from the actors accounts. These posts have kept me amused over the last few weeks.
Well done to all the cast and crew. I think only two or three shows had to be cancelled due to actors being ill, the understudies certainly had to earn their money, one having to play three different roles one after the other and two staff members went on with scripts in hand when they ran out of understudies!
Slumped and sulking Contessa
This evening the Pippins will have amused everyone with their Pippin Panto. The smallest Pippin getting to wear the biggest costume, the Contessa’s huge pink frock, all four foot of her. I so hope the crew get tomorrow off before the set starts to get dismantled. Within the week there will be little sign panto was ever there and the stage floor will have a nice new fresh coat of black paint.
Bye bye x
0 locks, 0 miles, 100 units, 300 miles lost, 100 locks not worked, 1 chicken and feta tray bake, 8 fingers crossed, 2 paws crossed, 4ft nothing in a colossal dress, 50th Chippy Panto behind you, oh yes it is!
Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.
The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!
In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.
Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.
Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.
Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.
After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.
Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.
In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.
Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.
We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.
On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.
Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!
Fast forward to 6:15
Our route out of Buminghamsaw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!
At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.
On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.
A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.
Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.
In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.
Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.
A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.
The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.
There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.
The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!
Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.
We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.
Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.
Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.
As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.
July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.
Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.
Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.
August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.
On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!
By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.
When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.
With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.
On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.
Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.
Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.
A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.
All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!
Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.
Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.
This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.
So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are
Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.
This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.
731.7 engine hours
1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?
18cm higher than yesterday, just starting to come down
This morning the river reached a new level 2.42m. Today there has been no rain, just a shame there is more forecast for overnight!
Cranfleet Flood Gates have been closed since the 23rd December, so I wanted to see what the levels were like at the Shardlow gauge then, so we have an idea when the gates might be reopened. Unfortunately the EA Live Floods page won’t let you go back to look at historical data, but Gaugemap does.
On the 18th December the level was 0.57cm, it then rose to 1.4m and by the 23rd had fallen to 1.148m. So our 2.42cm this morning is a long way above that.
Flow rate might also have something to do with when they choose to close the flood gates.
They obviously knew the level and flow would increase in December. Below is todays flow chart, maximum 172.372m. That’s one heck of a load more water zooming down stream!
Think we’re going to be here a while longer!
Derwent Mouth Lock yesterday compared to 9th April 2022. That’s Oleanna sat waiting for the lock to empty.
A day with more numbers. I’ve started to work out last years mileage, locks etc using Canalplan as I’ve done every year. This always takes a long while remembering all the little journeys we did back in March back and forth to Goole. Not having Water Explorer to look at means I’m relying on the blog more, reliving our year.
Noting our journeys
Mick has spent more time trying to get our old trip computer working with Nebo. It has installed a new operating system, it just won’t reboot now! Instead we are considering using an old phone inside the boat. A couple of phones have been found and charged up to see if they might be suitable. One isn’t, the other will be tried out when we eventually get to move again.
Cheese on toast for lunch, yum
Even more numbers. I started to cut out the vinyl numbers for #unit21 today. I have them the correct way round this time! Using a scalpel I cut round the outline. Then I weed out the bits I don’t want, leaving what I do want attached to the clear cover which holds the numbers in place. I had wanted to do a box round them, but that felt like a huge waste of vinyl. I may cut strips to use instead.
That’s one heck of a lot of water coming downstream! During the day we had notices regarding flood locks being closed down stream, including Newark. At the moment there are daily updates on the Trent Link group on Facebook. Lots of charts to look at daily, we know we can’t go anywhere, but it’s still interesting.
The rain hammered down for much of the morning.
More numbers to do today, more checking things through before I filled in my balance sheet.
Lots of boxes to ignore
This afternoon it was time to log on to the Government Gateway and fill in my tax return. There is lots to read and check through, would it be best to go the Rent a Room direction or go the income and expenses route with income from our lodgers?
Mick made himself scarce and went for a walk, leaving Tilly and myself. In the end I gave Tilly an extension to her shore leave as she just would not shut up and let me read. That’s when Mick arrived back, at least he doesn’t sit by the back doors getting increasingly noisy!
Over the top
Mick walked down to Derwent Mouth Lock to have a look at the river. Today the water was just about level with the towpath, in places it was over the top. Not much of the red river level marker showing either. On New Years Day the level was 1.76m so today it was another 9 inches higher. The less muddy path back to the village was quite full of water in parts too.
Above one red the other not far to go
Notes read, boxes filled, I was soon submitting my tax return and as very much expected I owe them no tax, just my NI voluntary contributions for the year. You can now see how many years you’ve contributed, a feature I’ve not seen before.
Lodger figures were passed on to Mick who then added them to his tax return. All done and dusted for another year.
Broccoli Bacon Pasta tonight.
0 locks, 0 miles, 48cm in 24hrs, 2 tax returns submitted, 1 meowy cat, 0 tax, Class 2 NI paid, 11 years to go.
