Category Archives: Food

Made To Walk The Plank. 16th June

Padnal Fen GOBA Mooring to Cawdle Fen GOBA Mooring

Jobs before breakfast, the yellow water tank needed emptying and a coat of paint on the roof. Mick did the honours with the toilet whilst I put masking tape around the areas to be painted.

All over the roof this morning were small dead insects, as though they had all landed on the roof and died instantly. I suspect that is what’s happened to the white insects that we seem to keep getting on the river side of Oleanna. Each morning when we go out the river side of the boat is covered in these white little creatures. Are they newly hatched nymphs? Have they crawled up the boat mistaking it for reeds where they would mature then fly away? Maybe maturing into the dead things on our roof! I suspect that during the day at the moment these little white creatures cook nicely on the dark blue of the cabin sides.

**A better photo today, but a missed bit hard to reach**

I cleaned off the areas to be painted and then started with my brush. Thankfully it was still early enough in the day for the cream roof to still be cool, meaning the paint flowed off my brush with relative ease. The downside was that the centre ropes could not be reattached today. Painting the centre line loop I took selfies again to check I’d not missed bits. From what I could see in the bright sunshine it looked pretty good, on later inspection for the blog I’ve noticed that on the inside of the loop I’d missed a section, it wasn’t a shadow!

By the time we’d had breakfast and made ready to push off the surrounding boats had all headed off themselves. With stocks on board now depleted somewhat we needed to do a big shop, just as well we were headed for Ely.

Back to the Great Ouse we turned southwards. WB Karma sat on the EA moorings, we biped our horn and stopped mid channel to chat briefly with them, they are certainly making slow progress along the river. We may see them again on our way back.

Today fishing could start again on the river. At first we only saw one chap with his full kit set up in a fishing peg. But then the number increased as we got closer to Ely, this also coincided with boats heading towards us and rowers, all really rather congested.

Once under the railway bridge we paused to let a boat wind and then we tucked ourselves in, stern right under a willow and very close to fishermen. In Ely neither boats or those fishing have more right to use the river bank than the other. So if there is someone fishing in the middle of a gap of boats you have to leave them to it.

A trip to Sainsburys with the bike to act as a sherpa stocked us up well for the next week or so. Then it was decision time.

Should we find a mooring in Ely, have lunch do a bit more sight seeing and then stay put tomorrow in the heat. As last Friday night had been really quite noisy, the weather today was likely to encourage more people to the river bank for a drink making it even noisier. I had wanted to visit the art gallery and have a general wander around Ely again, but we decided to move on.

Just south of Ely is a GOBA mooring, Heather had suggested Tilly might like it there. So that is where we headed waving Goodbye to Ely and its busyness, although we could walk back into town should we want to. The mooring was quite overgrown, hard to work out where solid ground started and where wet feet ended! It took us a while to find a suitable spot, deployed the plank and then opened all the doors. The day was heating up, so curtains were drawn against the sunshine. Normally on hot days we’d find a good shady mooring, but trees and moorings along the river don’t tend to coincide, I’d hunted round Google earth for ages so I know!

After a late lunch, I pulled the masking tape off the roof, the paint can now cure before the solar connection box gets screwed back on. I then retired to hide inside Oleanna as Tilly made the most of a new area to pounce. She didn’t agree with me when I brought a friend back into the boat to show it how shady it was inside. I was picked up and made to walk the plank carrying my friend all the way!

**First rule. No friends home, dead or alive, or putting them on the roof for later!** **hmnmeowhm!**

A cruiser pulled up right in between us and the other boat at the other end of the mooring, they obviously knew each other. Their two dogs, or was it three came sniffing round, obviously their noses had found Tilly. She was quite happy either indoors or out under a nearby tree, in a nice shady spot!

Late afternoon we heard a dash through the friendly cover followed by a scraping sound, then a splash. Almost certainly Tilly going in! In the past she has always run inside to safety, but today she legged it back to the tree. The dogs came to have a look, the lady saying one of them had also fallen in. It was most definitely a woofer related splash, calculations done rapidly had been miscalculated and I lost my footing! It was a very big jump back to the stern.

Try as we might she wasn’t moving from under the tree, at least we knew where she was and she’d come back on board when ready and a touch drier. When she did eventually return she’d still some lick drying to do, her tail a third it’s normal size. Whether it was a woofer induced splosh we’ll never know, at least it had happened where the bank was very easy to get out.

This evening we’ve enjoyed a hot chicken and bean salad. This only ever gets made in the summer, I try to time it for when green beans are in season, a bit early today, but still tasty. Click on the photo for the recipe.

0 locks, 4.88 miles, 1 left, 1 willow for shade, 1 fully laden bike, 2 boxes wine, 3 red peppers, 3 courgettes, 30 cetirizine hydrochloride tablets, 1 after bite pen the horse flies are about! 1 soggy moggy, 0 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval due to pesky woofers, 1 mafting day.

https://goo.gl/maps/vVA8LKxHTA7K8gBE8

Welded On! 12th June

Padnal Fen GOBA Mooring

A day of staying put, but not sitting still. Tilly was allowed shore leave first thing, it wouldn’t however be a sausage day, more of a salami day, handed out in slices.

The washing machine was put to work, the solar doing it’s thing first thing. The whirligig was erected and soon filled, the washing drawer just about empty. Whilst Mick did this I collected together what I needed to give the covers a spray.

Wet and Forget and the new pump spray bottle. At last the covers were going to get a spray. Its quite a while since we gave them a scrub at Pollington Lock and a couple of days sat under the trees in Ely hadn’t helped! Once the mixture was ready it was time for Tilly to come inside. Wet Wet and Forget isn’t good on paws as it can be licked off!

**Hopefully it wasn’t too sunny today for it to have maximum effect**

The covers came off and I started to spray them with the new bottle. The last time I actually did this was in lockdown with a standard plant spray, it took forever! Today once I’d got the spray more or less how I wanted it, a fine spray not possible, it took no time at all. Brilliant.

Now what to do?

**After a lot of scrubbing, before the scraper came out!**

The birds in Ely gave me quite a task to scrub their deposits from the roof and cabin side. The back counter had to wait for the pram cover to be back on as it was hard working away with the brush with the frame and whirligig in the way. Once I could get to the newly decorated deck it took a lot of work. White bird sh*t is easy, it just washes off. It’s the green residue from eating grass and plants that is the problem. It had welded itself onto the lid of the weedhatch. Scrubbing with the yard brush got so far. Leaving it soaking a little bit further. Then the paint scraper came out and a mixture of soaking and scraping away time and time again meant that at least we’d be able to open the weedhatch again!

Mick put on his overalls and climbed into the engine bay. He wanted to check over the cooling system after our problems last year. As the engine ran with the header filler cap off (so air could escape if needs be), he sat with his phone in hand watching the gauge as the temperature of the engine gradually rose. All was good thankfully. He also filled the stern greaser, a messy job.

Once the covers were dry they went back on Oleanna so that the grass below could dry off whilst we had lunch. The grass would then be dry enough for feline paws once again., Tilly was allowed a few more slices of shore leave.

Next came the roof. There has been a small bubble of rust gradually showing itself for a while towards the stern along with a couple of patches on the hatch sliders. Earlier in the year we’d had a leak where the solar connection box sits on the roof, a year or so ago I’d done my best to sort a patch of rust here, but it needed looking at properly.

Mick undid the screws and I carefully went round the box to break the seal of silicon we’d put on when we added the second panel. Gradually the box lifted and the cable could be disconnected. The rust was scraped away along with any loose paint.

All rusty bits had a good sanding back and then I applied some Fertan, rust convertor. During the remainder of the afternoon I gave the brown fertan the occasional spray with water to keep it active. Early evening the solar connection box was cleaned of old blacktack and silicone then reconnected and a plastic bag taped down over the top, hopefully to stop any possible rain from coming in, but this would also mean the next time I want to do anything all I have to do is lift the tape and bag. I just mustn’t leave it too long so that the tape welds itself to the roof!

Tilly and I had a little walk along the bank, the wind very fierce up there. Gradually as the afternoon turned into evening the wind started to subside, just as well as we’d planned a barbeque.

I made up veg and haloumi kebabs and a spring green and carrot coleslaw with a bit of wholegrain mustard added. The asparagus was threaded onto skewers, burger buns cut in half ready for toasting.

We huddled in the corner, knowing that the smoke would be blown away from our washing drying in the cratch. The pork and apple burgers I bought yesterday were very nice as was the asparagus even though the wind had just about cooled it down as soon as it left the barbeque!

As we sat finishing off our meal a rather plump bird flew along following the reeds on the other bank. Definitely an Owl, we think it was a Barn Owl. We watched it fly along, turn and head back. Sadly I only had my phone on me, but if you look carefully you can see it. It returned and came over our heads. Another privileged moment on the fens, our first sighting of an owl in eight years.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 winding but plenty of wind, 1 coolant system okay, 3 loads washing, 5 rust patches, 32 welded on sh*ts, 1 busy happy cat, 1 set of covers that we can hopefully forget about for a few months (maybe I’ll give them another spray before winter), 4 kebabs, 15 spears asparagus, 2 burgers, 1 low flying Barn Owl, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

Captions just bold today.

Keen For Cake. 11th June

Jubilee Gardens to Padnal Fen GOBA Mooring, River Lark

There was only time for a cuppa in bed before I was heading off into town his morning armed with shopping bags. Somehow we’d managed to time our return to Ely with the twice monthly Farmers Market, I like Farmers markets. Mick stayed behind and left me to it.

The market square was mostly full of antique stalls and street food wagons, the market stretching round onto Dolphin Lane. There was still quite a good mix of produce stalls, so before I put my hand in my pocket I had a good look round.

So far this year we’ve only had one lot of asparagus and that was supermarket bought, so seeing what hopefully would be fresh spears I hunted round for the best price. Only a couple of meat stalls. I didn’t want a nice juicy steak at £21 but some sausages if they were gluten free. The lady had pork and apple burgers, sorted that would do us for a bbq this weekend.

More fruit and veg stalls, a nice plump cauliflower, some carrots (just because they looked nice, no idea what I’ll use them for).

There were two bakers stalls. One with every sort of bread you could ever want apart from gluten free, but that’s understandable with sooo much gluten flying about. I got Mick a small pork pie.

The other bakers was George’s Bakery. Here the stall was enclosed with plastic, only small gaps either end for you to be served. Then a line of benches led away under gazebos where some fencing took over to help keep the queue under control. There was a queue, quite a long queue. Sadly it was another stall that I wouldn’t be making a purchase from, just as well a I didn’t really want to stand or sit in a queue for an hour!

Fish, wine, beer, cheeses, all sorts of tasty looking things to buy. I was restrained and walked away with a good stash. On the way back to the boat I called in at a Chinese Supermarket for some more rice noodles and took note of what flours they do in case I need to stock up at some point.

I was back just in time for the Geraghty zoom which covered subjects such as Drax Powerstation, how big one fried goose egg would be in a frying pan.

A top up shopping list was drawn up taking into account the random items I’d just purchased and I headed off to Sainsburys whilst Mick rolled the covers up, pushed off, winded and headed for the water point. I got back to the boat just in time to assist with the second rinse through of the yellow water tank.

Now we pushed Ely away and headed north once more. Rowers were out today in force. We pootled our way back along the straight straight, there was space on the EA mooring should we find none elsewhere.

Blimey it was windy out there, thankfully a tail wind. It might have made it a touch awkward turning onto the River Lark, but Mick and Oleanna made the turn without a problem. Not far to go before the two sets of moorings. The EA mooring on the north bank was filled with one narrowboat, the other GOBA had a cruiser settled at one end, plenty of space for us. We moved to the far end where Tilly could roam free and not disturb the Alsatian on the cruiser.

Sunny, warm and very windy! We were joined by a widebeam filled with friends and family out for a pootle, they stopped for lunch and then headed up to the junction to wind. We pottered away the afternoon whilst Tilly made the most of lots of friendly cover.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been thinking ahead towards October and November when I’ll be away working on Panto. Last year we moved Oleanna north so the move back to the house would be easier/shorter for Tilly. This year we plan on being on board much longer, in fact most probably into the new year. Having Oleanna near to Chippy will be so much better for me to be able to get back at weekends as I’ve done in the past. But once the show is open we intend to get as far north as possible to return to the house to do winter maintenance there. This involves a lot of planning and winter stoppage dodging!

A while ago the first draft of stoppages was published, these are put out for boaters to look at and make comments. Mick spent quite a while looking at routes north, the River Trent, Trent and Mersey and the Shropshire Union. Most years works on the T&M and Shropie are split, one canal before Christmas the other after, leaving a route north to south open. However in the first draft both canals will be closed before Christmas, the T&M for the usual works and the Shropie for work on a culvert, then the usual stoppages will follow in the new year. Mick sent in a comment regarding Coldstone Culvert, a couple of days ago he received a response from the Construction/Stoppage Coordinator for the West Midland Region. It’s only a courtesy email, but at least we know his comment has been logged. The next draft will be out for comment in a few weeks time, we’ve got our fingers crossed.

0 locks, 4.37 miles, 1 wind, 1 right, 1 cauliflower, 1 punnet of strawberries, 1 pie, 8 spears, 4 burgers, 0 boxes wine, 6 bananas, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow water tank, 1 pesky culvert.

https://goo.gl/maps/NanZ7Y68FssexAcE6

Captions in black today

The Boats We’ve Yet To Meet. 9th June

Ten Mile Bank GOBA mooring to Jubilee Gardens, Ely

The curtains on the porthole in the bedroom were pushed aside this morning so that we could spy for any passing boats as we had our cuppa in bed. NB Eleanor pushed off from behind us and I think a cruiser also came past. As we had breakfast, rolled up the covers we kept an eye open for a boat we’ve yet to meet, but there was still no sign. We needed to get moving to secure a mooring in Ely. Our paths, with the yet to meet boat, will cross at some point.

Today was still windy, is it always so down here on the flat lands? Another blue and green day.

We passed WB Karma, biped our horn, but no one was about, Klaud or Kato had been left in charge of the wheelhouse, a head bobbing up to see who was disturbing his snooze.

We passed the sad house, the last pylon in a line, the closed moorings at Littleport where the ducks, moles and weeds are enjoying themselves with no boaters around to disturb them.

Then the long straight sections towards Ely, the occasional slight bend and the turn off to the River Lark. Onwards. We were gradually catching up with a boat ahead who were overtaken by rowers. Then it was time to seek out a mooring.

Where we’d been before was chocka, but further along nearer the bars there were a few spaces. We pulled in at the bottom of Jubilee Gardens, hopefully here would be far enough away from any cars for Tilly to possibly have some shore leave.

Maybe there? Avoiding the trip boat mooring of course

The overhang on the mooring meant deploying the fat fender and a wheel to save the cabin side. The boat behind us was nicely wedged under the edge! The doors were opened and we waited to see what Tilly made of it.

She stood, had a look this way and that, then scurried through a gap in the passing legs to find some sideways trees to lurk around. We wondered if she’d ever make it back for us to be able to go out this evening, but thankfully she succeeded requesting to have her evening ding ding early!

Our evening ding ding, not bad for a gluten free fish

Around 6pm there was a tap on the roof, Heather Bleasdale. She’d been up to see her, new to her boat that is having work done to it further upstream. Chats over a cuppa on board were followed by fish and chips at RBK. The fish was very large and the chips exceedingly hot. We whiled away a few hours catching up on news and comparing notes of our travels. Hopefully her new boat will be back on the water soon and we might meet up somewhere.

0 locks, 10.64 miles, 1 straight, 0 boat rendez vous, 1 slow jam pot boat, 2 hours dashing between legs, 1 overhung mooring, 3 splats already! 1 wave to Stewart, 2 of each, 1 burger, 1 big catch up, 8 years ago we left Crick as The Wasp with Blackbird and our boating blog commenced.

https://goo.gl/maps/vKKoSwxiWrzd7z388

Flipper Wave. 8th June

2nd GOBA Mooring River Wissey to Ten Mile Bank GOBA Mooring, River Great Ouse

Last night when Mick went to close the hatch he discovered that the level had dropped. We’d noticed that the flow had been greater than we’d remembered it but we hadn’t thought that the level would have gone down by about 3inches. Possibly down to the EA draining water off in case the levels rose with the forecast rain last night. It had rained but we were still quite low this morning, the flow now much slower.

There wasn’t too much protesting from Tilly not to be allowed out this morning, I think she was still worn out from yesterday. Late morning we pushed off and headed upstream towards Hilgay Bridge wondering if we’d need to go all the way before we could wind.

Catching a ride with elevenses in it’s beak

Mick gave it a go a little after the big bend, we might have made it but it looked to be a close thing, so he changed his mind and we carried on towards the bridges. Here we managed to wind just by the 48hr mooring and made our way back under the two bridges.

Over Jubilee weekend Hilgay Bridge was renamed, now Hilgay Jubilee Bridge. There had been a big party and the village had been bedecked with bunting, the avenue up to the church swaged with hundreds of meters.

We made our way back towards the Great Ouse, coming across a cruiser who stopped and let us go past. We wondered what would have happened should we have met yesterdays speeding cruiser at one of the bends or where the trees overhang obscuring the view ahead. This is one of the reasons why there is a 4mph speed limit on the river.

Back at the junction we turned left, heading upstream. The wind got up and buffeted us about a touch, but the air was warm and being able to do a faster speed meant we could hold our course.

Big dramatic skies. Bright blue against the bright green of the banks.

Approaching the other Hilgay Bridge we could see a couple of hire boats and the familiar shape on the moorings of Neil. He lifted his head up to check us out, a flipper may have waved in our direction too. He then just rolled over to get another area of his mass warm in the sunshine.

Not much further and we arrived at the GOBA mooring, pulling in in front of NB Eleanor Rugby an Aintree Beetle. We seemed to have managed to skirt round the rain clouds. Mick went to have a chat with the chap behind who was touching up his paintwork to check if he had a dog about the place before I let Tilly out. The coast was clear so she was given five hours.

What in this wind! If I had to be out there someone had to be out in it with me! She came for a walk. First this way and then that, although I didn’t at first hear that She’d changed direction. Bloomin windy!

Tonight the internet has improved so we’ll be able to watch the episodes of Gentleman Jack that hadn’t been recorded due to either bad signal or memory loss!

0 locks, 6.97 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 2 rivers, 1 blowy yet surprisingly dry day, 1 flipper wave, 1 remote mooring, 1 Gentleman Jack, 1 lodger okay with the increase, thank goodness.

https://goo.gl/maps/L2oWuibUC1CKhir69

Flying Past. 2nd June

Ten Mile Bank EA Mooring to Denver EA Mooring

Our 48 hours would be up today, so it was better to move early rather than later and maybe not get a mooring where we wanted. The hire boat moved off and without us even noticing a cruiser had pulled in, they had staked their claim at the end of the mooring and would be joined by friends later in the day. Not sure Neil will appreciate their Jubilee celebrations!

As we pushed off we said our goodbyes to WB Karma, Lana popping her head out to wave, we might see them somewhere up stream in the next few weeks, but today we were continuing on downstream.

Not far for us today. We passed under the railway bridge. Past the pink house with good vantage point windows to see up and down stream, past the end of the River Wissey and gradually caught up with a narrowboat that had passed us a while earlier.

We were now too close to Denver moorings to overtake so Mick put Oleanna into tickover and we drifted along behind. The chap ahead continued on past the moorings to pull up on the lock landing for Denver Sluice, a hire boat having just gone into the lock. We pulled in, moored up and did a cat health and safety check. With nothing of feline interest on the actual bank, the nearest would be across the road at the top. After yesterday there was no way I’d be letting Tilly out here, she’d have to just lump it!

Bags of rubbish had accumulated, so Mick walked over the lock to find the services taking one bag with him.

Blimey, that’s low! Well it certainly sounded low inside Oleanna. Over head a Lancaster bomber heading down to London for the Jubilee fly past. Out of all the planes that could have gone over us today, this was the one we’d hoped we’d see. In fact it was the only one we got to see today! Mick was fortunate enough to be able to get photos being high up.

As 1pm came closer we settled down in front of the TV, flight radar 24 on Mick’s tablet, tracking the Lancaster’s movements, circling around near Chelmsford. We watched as the royals came out on to the balcony at Buck House and then watched the fly past. It looked great on TV, but according to Heather Bleasdale who was in London, you could almost tickle the planes tummies as they went overhead. Our other observation was that the future King, George needs to learn not to scrunch his face up so much, he’ll regret the photos from today for decades!

With the excitement of planes over with the roof of Oleanna was cleared and I set about washing down her port side. The bank being a touch higher made the roof easier today, but then it was further to reach down to get the gunnels! She’s looking all clean again. Just needs a polish, her grab rails also desperately need a repaint as in parts they are getting beyond being even pink now.

Mick headed back off the bins with more rubbish and the yellow water container. He was gone for quite some time as he couldn’t find the elsan. Maybe a girl look tomorrow will be needed.

Later on we were joined by a cruiser, Mick nudged us up a touch so they’d fit the gap batter. The lady who’d had a gin or two asked how to get to The Wash, then she enquired about the Hundred Foot Drain. Both are below Denver Sluice, Mick suggested they should consult the Lock Keeper about tide times, knowing full well that they’d thought of going for a pootle around having no idea about what was entailed! Beetroot risotto this evening with a glass of white wine. The only thing I could find close to hand that was blue were hayfever tablets! A patriotic tea.

At around 9pm we dug out some tea lights and popped them into our guiding lights to join in with the lighting of the beacons, any excuse for us to light them.

0 locks, 2.79 miles, 1 straight, 1 slow boat, 1 very bored cat, 1 clean Oleanna, 3 bags rubbish, 1 yellow water tank empty, 1 missing elsan, 1 personal fly past, 2 guiding lights, 1 red white and blue tea.

https://goo.gl/maps/PRkSjZx9qXGbrqHw5

Not Quite All The Way There. 29th May

New Fen GOBA Mooring to Brandon Lock EA Mooring

We had to use up the spare potatoes from the moussaka!

Sunday, well you’ve got to!

Rain showers came over, it was chilly outside, extra layers were called for.

Just around the bend the river opened out even more. Large shallow lakes had many a bird dabbling in the mud. The cows with black ears all came to check us out as we passed. They were really rather nosy and the same gang who’d spotted Tilly and myself yesterday afternoon, there has to have been a fence that stopped them cutting us off from the boat.

More cows with their young watched as we passed by. Little birds flitted between the reeds chirping their hearts out. All very pretty, if only it would stop raining!

A bridge, then the concrete walls of the aqueduct over the Cut Off Channel, no views here either.

The engine’s nearly bigger than the boat!

A new looking house, or has it just been repointed with a new roof, showed off an extension made from flint. A small cruiser with a very large outboard sat on the mooring in front, not a bad spot to live.

The railway now got closer, then crossed over head, small trains heading back and forth to Norwich.

Now the river narrows and the current increases, more revs required. Was that a bit of a brick wall? Could it have been Sheepwash Staunch in the past? A check on our map confirmed it was in the right place.

Soon between the trees came the view of our first lock in over a week, Brandon Lock. We pulled in on the moorings below, the lock could wait for tomorrow, we needed to warm up and go shopping.

Brandon Lock Mooring sits alongside a large allotment and some sports facilities. Today a group of men were playing basketball as we passed, a Dad sat on swings with his daughters and a teenage couple hid under the trees to avoid any further rain. We headed to Tescos, just a short walk away to stock up on food for the next week. The shop wasn’t as big as we’d expected but I spied an organic chicken in their sad gits section greatly reduced to the price of a standard chicken, that was the Sunday roast sorted! No beetroot or Polyfilla though. Some rethinking of the weeks menu was required and my project would have to wait until tomorrow to continue.

Oleanna, not quite as far as she can go yet.

Back at Oleanna Tilly had an explore, nowhere near as impressive as the outside we’d left this morning, but she coped, returning fifteen minutes before cat curfew.

Mick and I walked up to the lock to have a look, the bottom gates wide open, expectant of the next uphill boat. Brandon Lock is a lock we know we won’t fit through, it is only 39ft 4inches long and 13ft 1inch wide, so not even two short narrowboats would fit side by side. So not even the 57ft ‘ideal’ length boat would fit through here.

A while after we’d settled with the chicken roasting away and the stove lit a cruiser came past. The chap headed for the lock, in through the open gates. He was short enough to be able to go beyond and see what lies there. Maybe tomorrow we’ll walk a stretch of the river bank.

0 locks, 6.06 miles, 2 bridges, 2 moving boats all day, 1 wet day, 1 cold day, 2 boxes wine, 1 cheep chicken, 3 hours shore leave,1 boater sleeping the furthest east a boater can sleep on a boat over 39ft 4″.

https://goo.gl/maps/mQdHVmtwCbBmyhdT9

Quick! Before The Cows Cut Us Off! 28th May

New Fen Mooring

Yesterday when we pulled up we decided that we’d be staying put today, such a lovely mooring in the middle of nowhere on our own, Tilly could have a field day!

So when the front blinds were rolled up we were surprised to see another narrowboat moored up, at least they were at the other end of the moorings, so neither of us would disturb each other.

All day we saw two walkers, the narrowboat ahead moved off and another came past us heading to Brandon and then returned a couple of hours later. Other than that we’ve had bird song to listen to.

Tilly started the morning by watching the damselflies in the reeds alongside the boat. I was then given 9 and a half hours to explore! But I had to show myself at least ten times during the day which I think I managed quite well.

Despite the incredibly slow internet here we just about managed to join in with the Geraghty zoom this morning, we froze and went silent on several occasions. Topics included the Fens, bunting and even vampires.

There’s lots of grass to tuck yourself away in and sandy mounds, She said she hoped they weren’t ants nests because I’d spend the day being looney loopy if they were. I only managed an hour of looney loops though.

She got on with her project. It gets hidden away when She’s not doing it. Tom sat outside for sometime in his coat. He says he was listening to the birdies with his eyes closed, but I’m not so sure!

Late afternoon I realised I hadn’t even stepped of the boat, so it was time to head for a bit of a walk. With Tilly in tow I climbed onto the flood bank and walked back towards the Great Ouse. Having a cat in tow would mean I wouldn’t be walking miles, but we covered quite a distance until I saw that the next field had cows. So we turned and started to walk back, Tilly only distracted a couple of times so she managed to keep up in her springy way charging ahead to buy her more distraction time.

However on our return our pace had to become a touch quicker. Up ahead I could see quite a lot of cows, all white with black ears. They were very interested in us! Would we make it back in time not to be cut off from the boat by them? I made the decision to get back to the boat with Tilly and shore leave would be over for the day, I really didn’t want her stranded on the other side of inquisitive cows.

With a Moussaka on the cards this evening, I spread the preparation out through the day. Potatoes were boiled and left to cool. Aubergine sliced, salted to get rid of any bitterness, then fried and left to cool. The mince was prepared and everything layered up with the final layer of cheese and egg sauce popped on top. Each bit done whilst things on my project had time to dry off.

I now need some filler for the next phase. Back at the house I have the ideal filler in powder form, but I’ve not seen that kind in shops in years. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some cheap Polyfilla that I can thin down a touch to achieve the same effect when we reach Brandon.

Despite patches of sunshine today the temperature has dropped, so Mick lit the fire this evening. Only a small one as we didn’t want to overheat, but just enough for us not to need blankets on our knees and hopefully keep the boat warm overnight.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 moving boats, 2 walkers, 2 beads, 1 project fitted and ready for the next stage, 1 box of filler required, 1 aubergine, 1 bag sprouting potatoes, 250grams mince, 0 parmesan, 1 recipe next time, 9.5 hours, 1 field day, 1 km cat walk, 1 stove, 1 heard cows who couldn’t be bothered with us in the end! 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval

Trucking Family. 24th May

Ely

This morning we had a visit from a friend of Heathers, Sallyann. We got to meet Monty her newly acquired dog. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to chat as we had trains to catch, hopefully our paths will cross again in the next few weeks.

The magic food bowl came out from storage, the ice block popped in along with a portion of beef gravy cat food, we were likely to be eating beef tonight so it only seemed fair. Tilly was then left in charge of Oleanna as we walked to the station.

Mick had worked hard a few weeks ago in securing cheap train tickets for us, then I’d hunted out a cheap hotel room for a nights stay in the centre of Hull. We’d been invited to the Guest Night of Teechers Leavers 22 at Hull Truck. John Godber has updated the show which he originally wrote 35 years ago and it was to be part of Hull Trucks 50th anniversary productions. I’ve designed the show twice for the company some years ago.

Our journey north worked out fine, retracing our route across the Middle Level and passing through Goole where we’d been 2 months ago.

It took sometime to find a member of staff to check us in at the hotel, but I think the lady upgraded us, putting us in a room at the top of the hotel which was vast! An old hotel that has had a make over with some fairly awful furniture, but all we were after was a bed or the night, so it was fine.

We spruced ourselves up and crossed over to HOH which used to be Hammonds department store. Here we were to meet up with Bridget and Storm, we went in to see what the deal was with food and drink. As we ordered ourselves burgers and drinks we started spotting some very familiar faces, actors who’d worked at Hull Truck through the years.

Bridget outside the building we both used to work in

Over at Hull Truck we arrived to join the masses for guest night. Several comments were heard that they’d not seen the place so full for the last ten years, which is when John stepped away from the company. On the guest list were many Truckers from John Godber’s time as Artistic Director. A speech welcoming us was made by Mark Babych the current Artistic Director. As our attention was drawn over to the entrance towards the studio space we all spotted a change of signage. The Studio space had been renamed the Godber Studio a wonderful tribute to the man who managed to rescue the theatre company from the brink of bankruptcy by writing plays that the Hull audiences loved, the first one being Up ‘n Under.

More and more faces joined the crowded front of house, so many people to say hello to and share the evening with. Our normal careful mask wearing and keeping distances thrown out of the window this evening. Here’s hoping we didn’t pick anything up to take away with us!

The show had been updated with references to the pandemic, tiktok, party gate etc. Plenty of the old show also remained, it’s quite remarkable how much of the script comes back to me, although I’m sure several people in the audience knew it way better than me.

Nikki, TP, Sarah, Sian, Mick and me, just a few members of my Hull Truck family

There was plenty of time to chat to old friends, my Hull Truck family, after the show when eventually the bar was reopened. Another drink would have been nice, but sadly everyone’s hotel bars had closed at 11, we retired back to our cheapo upgraded room. I had had a couple of people making comments about our hotel during the evening and how you could get a room by the hour! I have to say it seemed to be okay and the only mirrors on the ceiling were in reception!

We slept relatively well, although the curtains could have done with being a touch bigger to keep the light out and traffic below on Anlaby Road did start up quite early. The hunt for breakfast that I could eat without taking out a bank loan eventually found us in Subway which did the job before we climbed on trains to make our way back southwards.

As our train slowed approaching Ely station we could see that Oleanna was still moored where we’d left her, Tilly had done a good job. Our 48 hours on the Ely moorings was up, it was time to move on.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 trains there, 3 trains back, £45 hotel room, 1 acre on the third floor, 1 bath with bubbles, 4 burgers, 1 wonderful evening catching up, 2 many people to talk to, 35 years brought up to date, 1 newly named studio, 1 olive branch, 11pm closing time, 0 hotel wine, 50th anniversary celebrated.

Crossing The Tide. 20th May

Glady Dacks to 2nd GOBA mooring, River Wissey

Another early start for us, we’d the tide to catch!

Only time for one birthday present before we pushed off, a sponge squeegee thing to help clean the solar panels, a Barnetts in York purchase on Tilly’s behalf.

What a grey morning! The clouds above us looked like someone had rolled out a load of wadding or that we had been covered by a large grey focaccia. Waterproofs were at the ready should they be needed, they were later on.

We arrived at Salters Lode around 9:30, a chap in high vis asked if we’d be going through the lock today. Yes. He would be our lock keeper, we should be ready to go at 11:30, he’d just been down to let two long boats through the lock. Salters Lode Lock is 62ft long and heads out onto the Tidal River Great Ouse. If your boat is longer than 62ft then it is still possible to pass through the lock when the level of the river matches that of the creek, both gates on the lock open at the same time. He checked our length, we’d be fine, then he went to chat with NB Tank Girl they’d also be going through today.

We walked up to look at the lock and river. Mick had spent sometime last night watching Youtube videos of boats coming and going through Slaters Lode and Denver Sluice (the lock to get onto the non-tidal River Great Ouse. But there’s nothing like seeing the lay of the land/river and the speed at which the water passes by first hand.

The tide was on it’s way in. Outside the lock we could see the railings that help guide you into the mouth of the lock and hopefully avoid ending up on the sand banks. We then walked along the flood bank towards Denver Sluice, over Old Bedford Lock. Just half a mile of tidal water lays between the two locks. Denver Sluice looked bigger and more substantial with it’s big guillotine gates. Time for a cuppa back on board before the tide would be right for us.

At 11:30 both boats were ready. The lady from NB Tank Girl headed off to see if she could find the lock keeper, I followed in case we’d be told anything important. The chap took some finding as he was actually on the river side checking the depth of water, I couldn’t quite see, but I think he was in waders with a stick just on the side we’d seen a couple of hours earlier just sitting out of the water. ‘Another half hour’ he said. There are all sorts of factors to take into consideration at Salters Lode, tide, fresh water, an exact time can’t be given, but a good measure is required.

By now it was raining. Would our planned barbeque still be on or would we be lighting the stove and having jacket potatoes for Mick’s birthday meal?

About half an hour later the Lockie came to say the level was good, he was ready for us. NB Tank Girl went first, one boat at a time through the lock. They detached their chimney and laid it on the roof, air draught kept to the minimum. The bow rope was passed round a chain to help keep their boat into the side, then a sluice was opened letting jets of water into the lock. It doesn’t seem right that we’d be going up onto tidal water.

As the boat rose the Lockie kept reminding the lady to duck as she was positioned directly under part of the structure that was getting closer and closer. Then the guillotine gate was raised, would their boiler flue fit under the bridge? Out on the river the tide was now going out, they could wait for the level to be suitable to get out, but they managed to sneak out.

The Lockie made a phone call to Denver Sluice, there was a boat coming the other way, down stream. Both boats exited their respective locks at the same time and would pass somewhere on the half mile between, a bit like exchanging spies at Check Point Charlie. We watched NB Tank Girl exit, put the revs on and push her tiller over to head upstream and into the out going tide.

From up ahead we could see NB Annie heading downstream, the two boats would end up passing on the wrong side, but that didn’t really matter. The Lockie stood high by the lock, his high vis coat worn for a reason. He held his arm out pointing to downstream, NB Annie held her course. Then when his arm was dropped, the chap at the helm began his turn. As you would at Selby he swung around to face the out going tide and then inched his way back towards the lock. Did he have enough power to avoid hitting the downstream wall? Did he have too much power on and be going to miss the fencing and end up on the sand bank?

In the end he glided in towards the lock, touching nothing. As he came into the lock his voice sounded familiar, hang on was it Paul the narrowboat mover. Sure was. He remembered us too, our paths having crossed at Bosley two years ago and up on the Leicester Section last year. Good to see him again. He bought a one day licence for the Middle Level, he’d be across and out the other side by 10:30am tomorrow.

As soon as Paul was clear of the lock it was our turn. Rope passed round the chain, sluice opened. By the time the guillotine raised the level of the out going tide was already about 18 inches lower than it had been for Tank Girl. We thanked the Lockie then Mick nudged the bow out of the lock towards the tide.

Revs, tiller and we were facing the tide in the rain, great birthday weather! The half mile didn’t take long and we were soon entering Denver Sluice which was sat waiting for us. A stern rope was passed round a riser, the guillotine dropped behind us. We’d be going down off the tidal water and onto the River Great Ouse.

Another Lockie to thank as we came out and onto the wide expanse of river. As we made our way upstream we discussed what to have for lunch. A bowl of soup maybe, or a bacon butty. The bacon won!

A mile and a quarter upstream we spotted the turn onto the River Wissey and took it. Under the railway bridge we pulled in at a GOBA mooring. The Great Ouse Boating Association are similar to Friends of the River Nene and have moorings for members to use, membership £23 a year.

The mooring was showing signs of subsidence, little of it level. With another mooring just a short distance further on we pushed off and tried there instead. We pulled in and made ourselves at home. Lots of birds for company and a herd of sheep on the other side who seemed to head off in a hurry for a hair cut.

Lunch, bacon butties was followed by Birthday Cake, Blueberry Lemon and Almond cake. Candles and everything.

Then presents. Mick got the latest edition of the Imray guide to The River Great Ouse and it’s tributaries, featuring several photos of Heather and her boat NB Bleasdale, we’ve also spotted Simon on NB Scholar Gypsy in there too. He also got a new blue tooth keyboard and mouse for his tablet computer, the current one’s had been working intermittently for a while.

As Tilly explored her surroundings we hid inside hoping the weather would improve. Sunshine came and went, but the rain didn’t return. So late afternoon Mick found what he thought would be the more sheltered part of our mooring and set up the bbq as I threaded veg and haloumi onto skewers and wrapped salmon and bananas up in foil ready to cook.

Maybe a little bit chilly, but we still enjoyed our private mooring with food and wine. Tilly was given an extension to cat curfew. She spent most of it staring into the friendly cover with the occasional break to climb a tree.

2 locks, 4.93 miles, 1 leftish, 1 right, 1 left, 0.5 miles of tidal water, 1 creek, 2 rivers, 1 wet day, 1 mover, 1 cake, 12 candles, 2 cards, 3 presents, 2nd mooring, 7 hours shore leave, 8 asparagus tips, 4 veg haloumi kebabs, 2 salmon steaks, 1 sunset, 1 Mick 1 year older.