Category Archives: Food

Hanging Around For Twelve More Months. 26th April

Wedgenock Lane Bridge to Radford Smelly

No rushing away for us this morning, in fact we’d not be able to move off until mid-afternoon as there was an important appointment to be attended. So there was nothing for it but to have a cooked breakfast, whilst listening to Tilly complain at the back door about the lack of shore leave, AGAIN!

We waited and waited , several boats came past. I began to prepare tonights meal and we all waited.

Then at 2:15pm I collected past medication together, passport, popped a puppy pad in the escape pod and bundled a begrudging Tilly into it, zipping the door up behind her. She loves it in there apart form when the door is closed! I was very aware that some of her protestations this morning had been toilet based, preferring to use shore based facilities than the box onboard, so she’d kept her legs crossed. I really hoped the stress of her visit to the vets wouldn’t end up being damp or smelly!

So far Tilly has only seen the same vet twice, that was when she had her first vaccinations in Tamworth. Each year I look at our route and try to find a practice as close to the canal as possible, we then time our cruising accordingly. Last year we’d gone to the vets in Scarborough, five minutes by car, not a popular choice for Tilly! The last two years we’ve had to chat to a vet in a car park and hand the escape pod over because of the pandemic, this year I was to be allowed in with Tilly.

Cat waiting area, shame you have to walk past the woofers to get to it

Avonvale Veterinary Centres have several branches and the Warwick one was under a five minute walk from our mooring, the closest we’ve managed. Tilly shouted most of the way there and whilst we waited in the cat waiting area.

We were soon greeted by Sidney our man in green. Everyone bar Tilly wearing masks. A quick chat checking on her history, weigh in, teeth, heart, tummy, all squeezed and checked over. Then the jab in the neck.

I’d asked for a years worth of wormer and flea treatments. That was fine, although Tilly and I wanted to try her on a different wormer as we’ve worked out that the pills she’d been given last year gave her the shakes/tremors. Sidney obliged and we’ll try a spoton wormer. Hooray something else on my neck!!!

All very efficient, friendly, most importantly understandable as last years vet had a very thick accent which was next to impossible to understand without seeing her lips along with the ambient traffic noise in the car park. Just a shame about the price, just shy of £200, but that is everything she should need for the next year.

Tilly’s passport was signed, another year of shore leave granted, we just needed to move Oleanna now to somewhere suitable to kick start that year.

Back on board Tilly stretched out on the bed like lady muck to relax. Mick had got Oleanna ready, so we could push off as soon as possible.

At Cape Top Lock a pair were just about to exit the lock and pull up on the water point, Mick held back and then we descended.

There’s a new car park for the hospital with a brightly coloured surround to it. Plenty of building work around Kate Boats base. We did wonder if the hire fleet were still based here as there were no signs of it, maybe the dust from the building site opposite has made them move base for a while.

We soon passed NB Mad Hatter, whom we’d shared Hatton with last year.

A new stretch of rings has been put in between bridges 42 and 43, we’d always wondered why there was nothing here. We pulled in and I hopped off to do a shop at Morrisons, we’d get 10% off if using our credit card. Mick stayed onboard as the nearby benches were occupied.

With two heavy bags of shopping stowed we pushed onwards, time ticking away before cat curfew. We waved to our friends John and Gemma who live overlooking the canal, no visit to Wool Warehouse for me today. The cat is still here, almost unblemished, someone looks to have scrawled something on the mouse, but it’s mostly been cleaned off. This still has to be the best graffiti art on the network.

Soon we reached Radford Semele. We found a space and pulled in at the end of the arnco, a distance away from the next boat where a woofer was playing. I checked that their dog would be fine if I let Tilly out then gave her an hours leave. Thank goodness I could hardly keep my paws crossed any longer! That new litter smells a bit funny!!!

The finishing touches were put to the quiche and popped in the oven. Todays missions accomplished, we now just need to crack on to meet the next deadline.

Quinoa crust chicken quiche, click for recipe

2 locks, 4.69 miles, 6 hours waiting, 5 minutes walk, 1 very nice Tom in green, 1 Tilly wanting to escape, 1 jab, 2 wormers, 12 fleas, 1 clean bill of health, 12 months shore leave granted, 2 boxes wine, 2 loaves bread, 1 quinoa quiche.

https://goo.gl/maps/kk5NLY8gkWuG2PWt9

Mob Handed. 25th April

Middle Lane Lock 36 to Wedgenock Lane Bridge 50A

Last night we watched the bats swooping for insects around our mooring. Apart from the occasional train we had a peaceful night. Last time we moored here I had a broken ankle, so Mick single handed the flight with Tilly and myself trying to watch films below. On that occasion we paused on this mooring for a whole day to let storm Doris go over, we wouldn’t be staying as long this time.

Before we were ready to push off this morning a pair came up the flight. We weren’t in a hurry to set off and kept an eye out behind in case a boat was making it’s way down that we could share the second half of the locks with. But there was no sign.

At 10am we were ready. A volunteer had arrived too, he went down to the next lock to set it ready for us and check nobody was coming up. We were then joined by another two volunteers. One chap carried on down the flight to set ahead with the other two helping to close gates and work paddles.

We now started to meet boats coming up, another pair and one on it’s own. This meant we lost some volunteers, but by now we’d also picked up another two! Five volunteers in all.

We knew that they wouldn’t all stay with us to the bottom lock, but the chap who’d started helping us first kept setting the lock ahead for us. With the pounds between locks getting longer and longer this was very handy indeed. Another chap with a bike carried on down, leaving us with the last couple still to do. Thank you to them all for their help.

We came out of the bottom lock at around 11.30 and pootled our way round Budbrooke Junction. The sun was out, not as warm as yesterday but we wanted to make use of the sunlight. We pulled in behind another boat a short distance before Wedgenock Lane Bridge, further along we’d be over shadowed by flats and trees.

A quick check on the lane alongside the moorings and both of us agreed that Tilly’s shore leave would have to wait for another day. The lane leads to the cemetery, it isn’t busy, but vehicles tend not to go along it slowly, the worst kind for a cat escaping danger.

Look out for raspberries on the off side later in the year

The afternoon passed with Mick trying to sort out the best route back to Scarborough to collect our postal votes, neither of us are convinced that if they were posted on to us that we would receive them in time to make our votes count. I knitted another couple of pairs of baby socks and Tilly complained about being shut in doors.

This evening we headed along the towpath and crossed the lock to have a meal at The Cape Of Good Hope. We’ve only eaten out a couple of times since we last ate here last September. We’d booked an early table so as to avoid the crowds coming in for the pub quiz.

A burger each, mine with a gluten free bun, half the size of Mick’s costing an extra £1.50! But worth it. These were followed by a chocolate fondant and banoffee cheesecake. All very nice apart from Mick’s arriving on a roofing slate from which cherry juice dropped onto his clean pair of jeans! Mental note, always ask for food to be served on standard crockery.

We’d just finished our meal as the quiz teams arrived. We’re still not keen on sharing air space with lots of people.

11 locks, 1.87 miles, 5 volunteers, 1 easy descent, 23hours 28 minutes, 1 slow afternoon, 4 baby socks, 1 annoying howling second mate, 2 burgers, 1 glass wine, 1 pint, 2 puddings, Happy (what would have been his) 97th Birthday to my Dad.

https://goo.gl/maps/SKNftDdMbDu3dwS6A

Half Way Down The …… 24th April

Rowington Hill Bridge to Middle Lock Lane Lock 36

What a sunny morning, still a little bit windy but having some blue sky over head made all the difference. We didn’t rush to get away, but that meant we were passed by a couple of boats heading for Hatton before we’d even thought about pushing off.

Just before 11 we finally got going, time to admire the views we’d hidden from yesterday. A wide beam sat near Shrewley Tunnel, a narrowboat approached from the far end, they held back and pulled in giving us the tunnel to ourselves. Unfortunately this meant the chap got stuck in the mud for a while.

Another couple of miles and we’d reached the top of Hatton. We’d been keeping an eye open behind us in case there was any sign of a boat behind to share with, but the canal was empty. Yes we could sit and wait, but we might be there all day! The top lock was in our favour so we decided to head down on our own.

The lock below was also full, so I walked down to open the top gates leaving Mick to close gates and lift a paddle. In the third lock there was a boat rising, their crew actually walked past me to see what was happening at the top, he then lifted the paddle for Mick. Great I thought one less lot of gates to open, there’d be plenty of them to do today!

Then as we started to descend the second lock the gates on the lock below had been closed, the lock emptied and another two boats were heading into it. Was it to be this busy all the way down the flight?

We swapped places with the single boat and waited for the next lock to fill. Reports from down the flight was that there was a volunteer down there somewhere with a couple of trainees, helping hands but one’s that would be travelling in a pack.

It took a little while for the last boat to realise they needed to vacate the lock for us to be able to use it, lock fatigue that close to the top! Sadly Lock 43 was to be the last one set for us, we must be following someone down, although they couldn’t be seen ahead.

From here the world got quieter on the water, plenty of walkers about. This proved quite handy. Now that the locks were all nicely lined up and all needed filling, I walked down to lift a paddle so that it could be filling as the one above emptied. We stuck to only lifting one paddle at each lock, many people say opening both paddles only saves a couple of minutes, I was more interested in the energy conservation!

A young lad walking past the now full lock below stopped and opened the gate for us, brilliant! If we could have someone do that at each lock that would save some muscle aches. A couple got chatting to Mick at the next lock, he managed to enlist them into opening the next two locks for us, meaning I could walk straight past to get the next one filling.

These paddles take a lot of winding, normally they are not too stiff, but today each and everyone took some turning, the long reach on my windlass was needed for extra umph!

With a couple of locks before half way we could see that a boat was coming up, here was the volunteer and trainees. A trainee walked up to help me, we chatted, it was her first day of training, I strongly suspect she’s not done much if any boating. Hope she enjoys working on the flight.

We’d not had lunch and with Middle Lock Bridge just there we decided to pull in, tucking ourselves as far up to the bywash as we could, making use of a ring and leaving the lock landing free behind us.

A quick look at the map, we’d need to do at least another five locks for another possible mooring. Here was much further away from the road with very good looking friendly cover and trees. We decided to stay put, halfway down the flight, giving Tilly 4 hours of shore leave.

That was it we only saw her once in those four hours and that was after I’d called her to check she was okay. She hopped out from the friendly cover surprising a woofer and owner on the towpath, cartoon arched back and bog brush tail were instantly engaged! I did wonder whether she’d allow them to pass or insist that they went back down the flight!

*Can we have this outside all week please*

We pottered away the afternoon, the sun shining down on the solar panels meaning we could top up on hot water electrically after I’d had a shower. A Sunday roast chicken was prepared and there was time for a catch up chat with David before it needed carving.

10 locks, 3.69 miles, 5 uphill boats, 0 following us, 1 ahead for sure, 3 gates opened, 1 volunteer, 2 trainees, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 1 canine surprise, 1 large roast chicken, 1 boater warned of diesel prices, 1st t-shirt kind of day.

https://goo.gl/maps/i7X2SUPX6Z4NHfTa9

Three Phase Pigeons. 12th April

Fradley Swing Bridge to Hopwas Wood

Rain! Oh well we’d have to get wet today.

We pulled back to the water point to fill the tank. The tap here is much much faster than the one back round the corner at the services, but that means the bins are further to walk to. Mick did the honours.

A day with no locks meant I felt happy using the stove to cook our evening meal, no chance of the pot being jolted from the stove top. The dish I had in mind would normally take three hours on Gas 1, so the perfect thing to sit on the stove all day.

Mick stood in the rain at the helm with wafts of cooking coming from below as I browned off some beef, steamed beetroot, zuzzed spices together added stock and left it all to very gently cook for many hours.

The rain did stop, round about the time I’d finished cooking strangely enough! We’d reached Streethay Wharf and started to move away from the busy noisy A38.

A group of pigeons sat on the electricity wires preening themselves. Fields recently tilled . The blackthorn blossom just starting to turn pink having just passed it’s best.

Works on HS2 can be seen across the fields. Cranes and earth movers. We hoped some of them were aware of the electricity lines!

At Whittington we crossed the border from the Coventry Canal (detached section) onto the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, marked by a stone on the towpath and the bridges no longer being numbered but now being named.

I hoped for a good photo of Whittington Bridge to be able to use as a first night card for panto this year, Dick Whittington, but everywhere was really rather uninspiring with grey cloud hanging around.

The poly tunnels are set back from the canal now, is it asparagus that is grown here? The weather vane still looks good even without sunshine.

We pootled on, the West Coast Main Line coming and going. Round the next bend was that familiar boat again, NB Freespirit. We slowed and said hello as we passed the windows, glancing back I could see the front door being opened. Mick popped Oleanna into reverse and then we hovered, managing quite a chat and catch up with Ian, Irene and Toffee their son’s dog. Lovely to see them again, they must have passed us at the crack of dawn.

Just a bit further on for us, through the woods where the armed forces practice shooting each other, then we pulled up as soon as we could.

Trees! Lots of trees! Not that Tilly went climbing, she was far too busy checking out the friendly cover.

As the afternoon went by the aroma from the pot on the stove increased, it just needed to be finished of in the oven. I cooked some rice and made some gluten free nan breads to accompany the beef and beetroot curry. It is a recipe I discovered when we were getting regular veg boxes in the house and it is very tasty. Today I didn’t have a red chilli to add into the paste so it wasn’t hot, just the occasional kick from the ginger. It is still very tasty and there’s one portion left which has been frozen for another time. Would anybody like the recipe?

Curry and Nan (gf) Click on photo for recipe

Food was all done and dusted with in time for an on line talk by Alarum about the Birmingham Canals before they all got cleaned up.

Despite some IT glitches the talk was very interesting with reminiscences from women who’d helped with the clean up of the canals and what they’d been like before hand. The biggest surprise was how enclosed they all were. A gate into Gas Street basin and one entrance out of the Farmers Bridge flight, it was a locked away world. All those metal bridges you see are new. Plus the bridge at Worcester Bar, yes the one we all take photos of, back in the 70’s it was just a plank across the cut!

0 locks, 7.69 miles, 140ft reversed, 1 full water tank, 1 curry, 7 hours, 2 many boats on the move, 1 blogger, 278 trees, 1 cat happy, 1 canal talk.

Chocolate Box. 11th April

Shobnall Fields to Fradley Swing Bridge, Coventry Canal

More news came through yesterday from my cousin in Ukraine. They have managed to visit their home in Chernihiv to board up windows and doors and sift through to see what the looters might have left. Not much really other than heavy items of furniture which leaves them with the two suitcases they had packed when they fled. The house had triple glazing most of which is now shattered across what is left of their lawn, a lot of shards to pick up before their dogs can play out again. There is still no power or gas and very little in the shops, so it will be sometime before they can return to rebuild their home.

“Hopefully things don’t deteriorate again but when will it all end?”

Here in Burton we pushed off and made our way to Shobnall Basin, thankfully there was nobody already filling with diesel so Mick swung Oleanna round and reversed in through the narrow entrance. He managed this without touching the sides, an audience and wind! He was quite smug about it too.

At £1.20 a litre we wanted to leave with the tank full and we were surprised that the tank was full after only 81 litres considering we’d been pushing upstream for several days. A new bottle of gas too, the price of which had just gone up, but today they would charge us the old price. In the shop we looked round for some Marine 16, here there was a large bottle at about the same price we’d have got half the amount for in Nottingham. Glad we waited.

Time to move on. There are more new houses in view near Branston Lock. Looking one way it is still quite green, the other way and huge distribution warehouses are going up.

Next Tattenhill Lock, the chocolate box lock. It always looks so pretty in the sunlight the cottage a B&B. What a different place this must have been when the cottage was first built, no builders merchants along the way where huge clouds of dust blew across the canal, pile driving noises and the constant road noise from the A38.

We held our breath going through bridge 36. I sent a photo to David, his boat would certainly not make it through such tight bridge holes, it wouldn’t make it through the narrow locks either.

The moorings were full below Barton Turn Lock so we had to ascend it before stopping for lunch. The end of a beam is now painted red and at some time the handle has been moved so that it is over solid ground and not just air!

Now the mile and a half where the A38 clings to the side of the canal. We always wave to lorries along here. At first today it seemed like everyone was miserable, but then we got our first wave back, then a beep beep, even a flash of lights from one driver.

Wychnor Lock we caught up with a boat that must have come out from the marina. The lady was a novice learning the ropes, the chap an old hand. Mick came up to lend a hand setting the lock once they’d gone.

Now we were on the stretch with the River Trent, the navigation more windy than before. The boats moored here have rings that can slide up and down on scaff poles for the changing height of the river. There is a weir and several bridges to help keep the towpath from getting flooded.

Alrewas was semi busy, we’d have found space for ourselves, but wanted to get further today, catching up with our schedule. A new boat is aptly named on the off side mooring where the canal narrows.

At Bagnall Lock Mick held the gates closed with the aid of the boat hook, one of them naturally wants to open itself but thankfully I only had to return to close it one extra time.

Now the locks up into Fradley, passing the new marina which now has a few boats in residence. Late afternoon meant there would be no volunteers, they may not have started back yet anyway. But it did mean I got to work all the locks myself, which is why I love boating.

Between Keeper’s Lock and Junction Lock there was only one space free, each boat socially distancing themselves and not one shared mooring ring. We planned to ascend all the locks today so carried on. NB Freespirit was the second boat in line. Mick said hello as he passed as did I from the towpath, but no reply came back, Bridgerton must have been very captivating.

Entering the top lock was a shiny new hire boat, the maximum length for these locks, with six on board it would be a cosy week. We swapped and ascended our last lock of the day as a giant teddy walked down the road.

Last chance to change our mind on route. We turned left keeping to the quicker plan. I swung the bridge and we pulled in to the first space available, the water point already commandeered by an ex-hire boat. It was late so despite her protestations Tilly was not granted any shore leave, instead she had to sit and watch me make up a chicken pie.

10 locks, 9.35 miles, 1 windy reverse, 81 litres, 13kg gas, 1 chocolate box, 1 narrowboat holding it’s breath, 18 waves, 10 horns, 1 lights flash, 0 queues, 1 maximum length boat, 0 shore leave, 1 narrowboat topped pie.

https://goo.gl/maps/e4eqJur8JkwAVTeC8

Narrowness. 10th April

Cuttle Bridge 13 to Shobnall Fields

Sunday, time for breakfast and some shore leave for Tilly.

We’d moored not that far from Swarkestone Lock so I walked up with a windlass in hand to make it ready. Someone had left a bottom paddle up which meant it was in our favour. There were plenty of people milling around the lock, runners, walkers, cyclists and a group of lads who offered advice to Mick on how to open the gates, strangely enough Mick didn’t barge the gates open as had been suggested!

I opened up the opposite ground paddle first to see if that would hold Oleanna against the wall better, it worked, just as well as our centre line hadn’t been long enough to reach Mick’s bollard of choice. It was a gentle ride up.

Three more miles and we were at the deepest and last of the broad locks on the Trent and Mersey, Stenson Lock. This one is counter intuitive, I would definitely be opening the opposite ground paddle first, but which one next? We couldn’t remember.

The lock was filled with loads of branches and twigs, the bottom gates only opening half way each. A chap came along unlocked a box alongside the bywash and pulled out a keb. This is like a garden folk but with bent prongs and is used to clear obstructions. He started clearing the bywash.

I opened the opposite ground paddle and then asked the chap, as he was local, which paddle was best to use next. The opposite gate paddle was his answer, followed by the other gate paddle then the same side ground paddle half way at first before taking it all the way up. He also gave us a handy tip to use the bollard nearer the stern to stop Oleanna from wanting to surge forwards, a method used on the River Wey. That made sense and we’ll do our best to remember it for next time. He said that working all six big locks in this way would work. I wonder if the locks south of Chester would work better using this method?

No stopping for chilled medication from the cafe today sadly. Oleanna had moved across to the towpath side and the chap very kindly offered to close up behind us and we still had quite a distance to go today.

A cuppa and some darning kept me busy as Mick steered us along the now increasingly busy canal, the proximity of Mercia Marina now very obvious. Yet we were still surprised at the amount of mooring available in the village. This stretch is always longer than you remember it to be. Across the Dove Aqueduct where we once got soaked in a hail storm. Swans are starting to sit high on their nests with Dad’s passing suitable nesting material towards Mums.

Mick managed to catch the back of a polo shirt when he went on the underground river tour in Sheffield the other week, this made quite a big hole. I said I’d mend it for him. A year ago Lisa had pointed me in the direction of a Japanese lady who darns things with a passion and not just for mending purposes, but more a work of art. I’d got a darning mushroom and have been wanting to give it a go.

I felt the rip needed a patch, so that went on first, then I started with threads in one direction, catching them as I went, maybe this would add something to the finished mend, or maybe it would just become annoying! I got as far as one lot of cotton going across before my eyes were getting a touch bog eyed, maybe I need a magnifying glass. I decided to stop just as we reached Dallow Lock, the first of the narrow locks and only 3ft 10″ deep.

I emptied the lock, kicked/pushed the bottom gates open and realised that I haven’t done this for a while, maybe I should have stretched before hand. In came Mick and Oleanna and up she rose. As we pulled away another boat arrived below they were taking quite a bit of time to tie up. Then the lady walked up to the lock, she stopped at the bottom gates, then walked to the top ones, looked at the paddles. Her hesitation suggested that this was her first lock, by now we were too far away and another boat was approaching from above, hopefully they would lend a hand.

Plenty of space at Shobnall Fields so we pulled in furthest away from the bridge hoping this would be a good place for Tilly to have a couple of hours. It was, but what lay over the garden fence was far more interesting!

We settled down and popped a chicken in to roast.

Yesterday I’d heard from David that he’d been joined by someone who seemed to want to give him a helping hand, they offered to retie his ropes for him! Then they asked questions that really were none of their business. David has been around boats for at least 30 years and most certainly didn’t need assistance with his ropes. Some questions should also never be asked, you have no idea what is going on in someone’s mind. A smile can often mask what really lies behind it.

3 locks, 10.52 miles, 1 lock mastered, 1 long pound, 1st narrow lock, 1/3rd mended, 1 newbie boater, 1 park, 1 nosy cat, 1 narrowminded boater, 1 very big chicken.

https://goo.gl/maps/anFpAnu7J3xCNm3U9

A Call For Help. 3rd April

From where we were to Keadby Visitor Moorings

Mick got into the bios of the lap top, set various things in motion which were going to take just about all day. We left it to do it’s thing. Thankfully Tilly seemed to be more her normal self and full rations were reinstated.

A Sunday morning cooked breakfast was enjoyed before we got going. Time to do the remaining swing bridges.

Godnow Swing Bridge is interconnected with the railway level crossing, a little building sits between the canal and railway to house the level crossing keeper. There used to be a huge control panel to work the bridge, but this has now been replaced with one of the slim C&RT two button panels.

Once the key is turned the crossing keeper has to close the rail gates to road traffic before you can close the bridge to road traffic. The old manual barriers have been replaced with the drop down kind. A lot better than it used to be as it had it’s moments. We managed to hold one car up.

Onwards gradually the sky being filled with more and more power generating. The gas power station and wind turbines making the most of the flat landscape.

Vazon Swing Bridge with the slider behind

Vazon Swing Bridge is the most simple to operate on the Stainforth and Keadby, turn the key, lift the latch and push. Once closed we then had a wait before we could proceed further.

We’d actually timed our arrival pretty well. A goods train coming over the Vazon Sliding Bridge in front of us almost immediately. Then the bridge keeper put the bridge into operation for us. Sirens, flashing lights go on for what feels like forever. Then the whole bridge starts to slide back diagonally across the cut to open our route. No dawdling to be done here, I’m sure there was a big gap between trains, otherwise we’d not have been allowed through, but you still feel the pressure and scoot through.

The Keadby Lockie was chatting to a chap on a cruiser when we pulled up, he was most probably called Mark. The flood in the morning would be at 7:10 and Kirsty would be on duty to pen us down. We would be joined by another boat later today who would be joining us for the trip, we could be Trent buddies.

The big crane boat waiting to head to Thorne on Monday

We filled with water and started to make ready for our tidal journey. The well deck was cleared and washed down, the chain bucket brought out from a locker. One end attached to the anchor the other to the T stud on the bow. Mick checked the weed hatch and gave the engine a check through too. Only Tilly’s escape pod to put together in the morning.

Tomorrow the plan had been to make use of the big Spring Tide and make it all the way to Cromwell Lock. A long day at the tiller. But looking at Windy the wind was set to get quite high in the early afternoon the further south we got. Maybe we’d split the journey at Torksey and continue on Tuesday. A phone call had been made to the Cromwell Lock Keeper to book us in for Tuesday, but asking if we made it there on Monday could we pen up then instead. This was fine so long as we arrived before 4pm. All sorted.

A shower full, quite miss the Christmas tree being in there

Then things changed, with just one phone call. Our friend David, whom we escaped Goole with last year has been having a hard time with his mental health. He’d reached out to us just before we moved back onto Oleanna and we’ve talked a couple of times since. He was in a really bad way, could we get to him today, he couldn’t be on his own anymore.

David was near Newark, the way we were heading, but 45 miles away. We certainly couldn’t get there by boat today and no trains were running. What to do? We talked and talked and in the end promised that we would fight against the wind tomorrow to get to Cromwell to be with him.

I then tried ringing an NHS Mental Health helpline, but without knowing who David’s doctor was this was hard. His phone would also soon have run out of battery with little chance of charging it up as his boat batteries were dead. The lady tried to help, suggesting getting him to A&E. I considered dialing 999 but that didn’t feel right. I conferred with Heather from NB Bleasdale who also knows of David’s situation, she also agreed that 999 was not the thing to do.

This has been written with David permission, he wants to try help raise awareness of his situation. For obvious reasons my blog posts may be a touch patchy for a little while.

0 locks, 2 swing bridges, 1 sliding bridge, 1 car held up, 0 trains held up, 5 hrs 35 mins, 1 shower full, 7am start, 1 call for help, 1 promise made that I hope we can keep.

https://goo.gl/maps/tEF8MkBfUH9YtdZd9

PHP’s And All That! 29th March

Thorne Lock

This morning Mick tried to get the blog roll working again. Well this ended up with the blog disappearing and being critical again. It had to be the plugin causing the problem.

Extra IT assistance was required from our hosting provider. They backed up the blog and then disabled all the plugins. Back came Oleanna.co.uk. Mick then added back in all the plugins apart from the blog roll. During the day he wondered if there had been an update of the PHP and if that might have been the problem.

An auto update had given us PHP 8.0 which doesn’t appear to support the blog roll plugin. Mick has raised a support ticket with the creator but so far he’s not heard back. Later on in the day Mick downgraded the blog to PHP 7.4 which means we have the blog roll back. Further investigation is required and maybe some assistance from someone who understands coding.

Not a very exciting day on Oleanna, even Tilly wasn’t that bothered about going out. The temperature has dropped, we expect it to go even further.

We had a walk over to the chandlers at Staniland Marina the main doors firmly locked, but we got waved round to a different door, staff only. No Marine 16 today but an order is expected tomorrow, so we’ll check back then.

Numerous boats sit out on the hard around the marina. Plenty in need of a lot of work. An oil rig escape pod has had the seats removed at some point and sits glowing orange from underneath the developing green patina. Just how do they fit so many people into these things that get launched off of the oil rigs? No wonder the seats look so robust.

I had a walk around the Community Woods. Tracks zigzag their way along with footpaths through the trees. It’s a huge area of straight lined trees and a good place to collect kindling without affecting the natural decaying process too much. I walked almost back to the M18 and then back along the towpath. A new app on my phone helping me to identify plants along the way. Plantnet Thank you Kath from Herbie.

Mick spent a bit of time in the engine bay, changing the fuel filters. A smelly job but one best to be done before we head out onto the river in a few days.

It’s been a busy day at the lock with boats moving themselves to get through before next Monday. Still no news regarding our cratch cover though.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 Marine 16, 1 cleaned fuel filter, 1 changed fuel filter, 1 woody walk, 1 can’t be bothered cat, 17th sock finished, 18th toe knitted, £20 more donations!

Haloumi To The Rescue. 27th March

Bramwith Junction to Thorne Lock, Stainforth and Keadby Canal

With yesterdays excitement having gone on a touch longer than planned we found ourselves without a newspaper to read in bed this morning, more concerning was that we had no bacon or sausages for breakfast! However I always keep some haloumi in the bottom of the fridge ready for a bbq, so I suggested a veggie breakfast. it turned out to be a good suggestion.

Once Tilly was back from exploring we made ready. The canals were busy this morning, boats stuck either side of the Low Lane Swing Bridge on the New Junction due to problems with the road barriers again. Until they are mended you can book passage through with 24 hours notice for 10am or 3pm, glad we were already through!

A push of the bow was required today, no wind to help us get off the bank, we turned towards the Stainforth and Keadby Canal and pulled up at Bramwith Lock. A narrowboat was just going down so I helped with the gates before refilling it for ourselves.

Mick passed me the key of power so I could walk on ahead to work the swing bridge once we were down. I however was just a touch too late to press the buttons as someone who’d been at the services beat me to it. Two boats one way and one the other, only three cars held up.

That was my work done for the day, so I got out my knitting to do as we cruised our way in to Thorne.

The boat that had been sunk in front of the dry dock looks like it has been moved over to the towpath side, it now has a boom round it. We pulled in between a couple of boats and let Tilly out just as Patch a woofer from next door decided to go for a walk all by itself. We now know it’s name very well!

It’s flat round here, apart from the man made hills

Tilly inspected the trees, there are plenty in the community wood, but decided that it was a touch too busy to make the most of them.

A couple came by and stopped for a chat. They used to own a boat, but the lady now has difficulty walking so they had to sell up. Turned out they also had a boat builder go bust on them, they ended up loosing more money than we did. Link to our tale.

With the sun out there were plenty of people about at the bar across the way at Staniland Marina, one chap was having a very good time of it. We lit the stove, got it going and popped a couple of jacket potatoes in to bake, enjoyed with some onion sauce and cold gammon left over from yesterday. Yummm.

1 lock, 4.72 miles, 1 wind, 1 swing bridge swung, 3 held up, 3 slices of squeaky cheese, 1 tree whelmed cat, 1 pesky patch, 1.5 socks knitted, 2 perfect jacket spuds.

Hidden Depths. 26th March

Bramwith Junction

A couple of days ago Mick’s niece Fran had been in touch, she had a spare ticket for a Sheffield Hidden Rivers Tour today, would one of us like to go? Well this was right up Mick’s street and a chance to see Fran too.

So off I (Mick) went to catch the bus into Doncaster. The expected 13:13 bus from Barnby Dun into town never turned up but the 12:42 came along at 13:35. This got me to Doncaster station with 10 minutes to spare to catch the train to Sheffield.

Then a short 10 minute walk to the rendezvous point outside the Triple Point Brewery and Bar. I met Fran and her friend outside and donned our wellies in the car park. Another twelve people arrived in dribs and drabs, most (but not quite all) of them suitably attired. The three tour guides met us there, all wearing waders, and gave us a short briefing and hard hats.

Then it was off down the road to a gap in a moveable fence which lead to a suitable place where we could get into the bed of the River Porter. A bit of a walk in the open air first to get us used to walking on the rocky river bed.

The river soon disappeared into a culvert underground. The headroom was very limited at this point, in fact the lowest of the whole tour. At one point I had to resort to hands and knees.

It then opened out a bit and the headroom got better. We carried on until we were under the railway station. Here the River Sheaf joined us and the water flow got stronger. The guide told us to look up and he pointed out some wooden boards above our heads. These form part of platform 5 of the station. There are plans to remove these boards and replace them with glass or perspex so people above can look down on the underground river. It will also let light down to the river thereby encouraging a bit more wildlife down there.

Cracks of daylight from the station platform above.

We then took a sharp left and walked under the railway tracks. The station was built between 1865 and 1870 so these arches have been here a while.

All the time there was the rumble of trains moving up above while we carried on for a few hundred metres under the station. The going under foot was very rough along here, well actually for pretty much the whole tour. Lots of loose stones and bricks. There was much potential for broken ankles but we all survived. At one point one of the guides stood in in his waders in waist deep water with his head torch switched to red and pointed us through an archway on the left where the water was much shallower.

We reached as far as we were allowed to go, the presence of bats prevented further progress. So we stood a while to look for bats but none wanted to come out to play. The light at the end of the tunnel was tantalisingly close.

Unreachable Light at the End of the Tunnel

So that was the end of the tour. Or rather the halfway point, we turned around and headed back the way we came. All in all it took a couple of hours and was very enjoyable. It was difficult under foot and a walking pole would have been useful. There were a couple of places where the water came over the top of my wellies so waders would have been good too. But even so it was a great tour.

Fran gave me a lift back to the boat where she stayed for a Saturday roast dinner.

Meanwhile, back on Oleanna …

Tilly and I (Pip) were left in charge of Oleanna for the afternoon. Tilly hunted. I read my panto script, turned down a job that I’d been approached about yesterday (two models on a boat at once just isn’t feasible, panto takes over our lives for long enough, plus we still want to boat this summer), pulled out some knitting and caught up with my old school friend Morag for an hour on the phone. Then a gammon was popped in the oven with roast potatoes as the sun set, all ready in time to welcome the intrepid explorers back.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 winds, 1 bus, 1 train, 1 car, 0 newspaper, 2 many dogs, 2 intrepid explorers, 2 rivers, 15 hard hats, 1 dress, 4 wet legs, 4 wet socks, 1 panto re-read, 1 sausage day, 1 hour catching up, 1.4kg gammon, 18 roast potatoes, 3 choc chop cookies with ice cream.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna