Category Archives: Food

A Spot Of Gardening. 20th August

Thrupp Canal Cruising Club to not quite Muddy Slipper

With the news of the Aire and Calder opening this morning I kind of wished we were up in Yorkshire to go through the breach site, reclaiming it for boats from the pile drivers and diggers. But we are miles away and will leave the reclaiming to others in Goole at Rawcliffe. Enjoy your cruise Lisa and Al and anyone else heading out this weekend. Will it be a mass exodus?

It was time for us to get moving again, thank you Thrupp CCC for giving us a base for the last week whilst we’ve been busy with other things. Today it was back to boating!

The bridge landings either side of Shipton Lift Bridge were filled with moored boats, this didn’t really matter as the bridge has been removed so no need to stop. We wondered how busy the canal was going to be after hearing stories of queues at locks further north.

*I liked Thrupp outside!! Please don’t move it!*

Shipton Weir Lock had a Black Prince hire boat just leaving and another boat was about to pull in and come down. We had chance to have a little chat with the crew who were heading out onto the Thames to Lechlade. Then it was our turn into the diamond shaped lock, designed this way to allow enough water to be sent down into the canal for the next lock whilst only a small drop in level was required to get off the river onto the canal.

Last weekend we’d considered taking the London Leckenbys for a little pootle for a barbecue, here just out on the river had been a possible location. Reversing down towards the weir and mooring up would have given us a good amount of space to spread out. Today a small tent sat where our bbq would have been.

Having spent most of October and November on the Oxford for a couple of years everywhere is obviously so much greener than we’re used to, views are different, some gone with the amount of foliage. There are quite a lot of reeds that we don’t remember.

We rounded the bend to Barkers Lock and pulled in behind the Black Prince boat. Above the lock sat several other boats waiting to come down. In the lock was a C&RT work boat doing some gardening. Gardening isn’t really quite the right description for it. Two people were scrapping the chamber walls clearing it of growth, weeding on a big scale. I zoomed in with my camera and realised I knew one of the people in blue, Frankie an Instagram friend.

They soon finished, pulling out of the lock leaving it free for the hire boat to go up. Frankie and I had chance to say a quick hello, maybe we’ll get more chance to chat if we come across each other further north. It was good to she her working on her much loved Oxford Canal, helping to maintain it.

There was chance to chat to hire boaters heading back to Oxford at the lock whilst we waited our turn, we were soon up and on our way again. The pub at Gibraltar looked pretty much as it did a couple of years back, building work seems to have halted during the pandemic.

Next came Pigeon’s Lock, no queue but a full lock. Whenever I talk to the Director for Panto he goes on and on about meeting his sister and her boat at Pigeons Lock, I think he really enjoyed those days. The big house at the end of the lane here was having a lot of building work done, this now is completed. The new roof looks very fine with it’s stone flags.

Jane’s Enchanted Tea Garden was set up to receive visitors this weekend, menus and sugar jars out on the tables. One day we’ll manage to time this part of the canal with it being open. Review here Apparently you need to book quite a long way in advance or follow their facebook page hoping that someone cancels as you are about to arrive.

The quarry moorings were pretty full, someone’s brought their own gazebo. Space for one at the end if you could get a mooring spike in.

Northbrook Lock had another queue. Two C&RT chaps were fishing around by the bottom gate with a keb. Up to Banbury the locks on the Oxford Canal have a single bottom gate which means that should anything get stuck behind it it may not open sufficiently to get your boat through.

The first boat above had been waiting for over a couple of hours and seemed keen to get going again, I know we would have been. Their boat was brought into the lock all six fenders hanging down the side of their boat. One vague attempt was made to lift one of them, but it just fell back down waiting for a lock to grab it.

The chap went to lower the paddle on the offside. It looked like he’d tripped and knocked it as it dropped on the relatively new gate. Yet he wasn’t bothered by this in the slightest, he was more interested in a very wet mouse that was sitting on the lock side. He pointed this out to his wife, who couldn’t hear him. Eventually he crossed back over the bottom gate, I started to open it when I realised he’d stopped on the wrong side of the gate to lower the paddle, not the safest of places to be! He tried time and time to tell his wife about the mouse, convinced it was a water vole, then finally walked down below the lock to get on his boat, still pointing out to his wife about the mouse! With no power engaged they drifted out of the lock, still trying to see the mouse. Mick and I by now were both saying ‘GET ON WITH IT and get OUT OF THE WAY!’ under our breath, I have no idea what those who’d been waiting for at least an hour behind him were saying under theirs!

There were two possible moorings we’d be aiming for today as where we needed to get to was right alongside the railway. A few extra hours would have us mooring at Somerton Meadow, but arriving late in the day would almost certainly mean there’d be no space left. Then at Muddy Slipper mooring someone was already tied to the armco, we reversed back a touch and pulled up a short distance behind, just enough depth for us.

A late lunch was followed by an hour or so working out how to deal with the cinema screen during the run of panto. I came up with a solution which I hope won’t be too much extra work and emailed it through to everyone. Fingers crossed they all think it’s a good idea, or come up with a better solution.

Then as this weekends stag do hire boats came past, ten on each boat, sailors hats and some fancy dress with sea shanties being sung at the top of their voices, clinking bottles of beer I turned my attention to #unit21 and the samples of black canvas I’d received. This was far far tamer than the outfit a groom was wearing as the last boat passed by.

4 locks, 2 with queues, 5.52 miles, 1 Frankie, 1 trimmed and scraped lock, 6 fenders down, 1 mouse not vole, 1 twonk head, 5 hours shore leave, 1 (maybe more) friend, 3 stag dos, 1 solution, 1 email lost, 4 green shades of felt, 2 slots, 1.83 wide black canvas, 5 weeks digs, 1 cauliflower cheese with extras.

https://goo.gl/maps/M9uS1L9bcbvFmuFGA

Dressing Room 1, 19th August

Thrupp Canal Cruising Club

Mick was up early to get the car back into Oxford. This gave me space to get the scanner and my panto model out. Bits were measured, cloths were scanned, then everything packed into an Ikea big blue bag, time for the final panto model meeting.

I walked down the canal towards Oxford, the reverse route I’d walked three years ago after painting the floor for panto until the early hours, returning to Oleanna and canal life for a weekend. The 7 bus took me to Blenheim Palace where I swapped it for an S3 which rattled it’s way along the country roads to Chipping Norton.

At the theatre I was greeted by Box Office who arranged for someone to come and help me. Hand sanitizer, masks, only two people in the green room at any time, most social distancing measures still in action around the building.

The Dames dressing room, once Jo and I have vacated

Gavin and Ash were about to help me set up for the model showing. The three of us would be the only people at the meeting in the theatre, everyone else would be dotted around the country on Zoom, well even Gavin and Ash were in their office and I had Dressing Room 1 all to myself.

I am so glad that David had got to see the model last week as he could carry on talking about the detail that’s impossible to see via my phone or on the storyboard. Showing a model on zoom I had two choices, line the model up with the camera on the laptop I’d been loaned or use my phone as a hand held camera. I chose the later option, not sure which would have been better really as panto world kept turning upside down and being wonky. Oh well!

My audience seemed to be appreciative. Other logistics were talked about. They are trying to find somewhere in Chippy for me to paint the week before rehearsals start, so far no luck, but the hunt continues. Fingers crossed for somewhere reasonably dry and warm with electric.

Samples were checked over with the hope that some materials can be ordered this week for me to pick up on route next week. The model was packed carefully away, cloths separated ready to be sent to the scenic printers.

Paint stocks needed checking over. Thankfully I was the last to use most of the scenic paints so two years ago the lids had been put on properly, only a few pots had dried up.

Then measurements and double checking various things in the auditorium. This is when we came across a problem. During the run of panto the cinema screen will be used to show films. The screen drops in and nobody, including myself, had picked up on the fact that the metal bar at the bottom of the screen is wider than the screen itself. The cinema is usually set up by one chap who would not be able to page the screen around Rapunzel’s tower. Oh bugger! We may have to build slots into the structures to accommodate the screen. Oh for having a production manager on site to talk these things over with before they go and see the set builders. Numerous photos and some measurements were taken. I thought my work was just about done, now I need to do some sketches to help explain the problem!

Time was ticking and with only one bus an hour I was keen to catch the next one, so left Gavin to take the model box to the post office to be sent to the Production Manager. Fingers crossed it arrives safely.

Two buses back and a walk along the canal in sunshine, only for the heavens to open just as Mick was setting off to meet our Sainsburys delivery. At least the rain encouraged Tilly to come home after being out all day. Tonight’s dinner was beetroot, leek and chard risotto, everything apart from the Arborio rice came in our veg box. I wonder what the onions are going to taste like? They are fresh and haven’t developed the orange skins yet, will they have a milder flavour or stronger?

Mick during the day has been busy washing clothes and topping up the water tank. He’s also been trying to see if there is a route north we could take after I finish panto without us being held up by stoppages. This is still work in progress, but Varneys Lock 23 (Oxford Canal) closes on the 1st of November so we’d have to be through there before hand making a trip back to Oleanna a near three hour journey from Chippy! So far it’s not looking good for me to commute from the boat at weekends.

0 locks, 0 miles, 5 buses, 1 car returned, 3 loads washing, 1 wobbly upside down model box showing, 1 model box on it’s way, 3 cloths, bar 17, 4m out dead confirmed, 4m ribbons, 1 overlooked projection screen, 11 hours shore leave, 2 beetroot grated, 3 left, 1st November, 8th November, 19th November!

One Out, One In And One On The Moors. 16th 17th 18th August

Thrupp Canal Cruising Club

I knew what was going on! Tom heading off early before he’d even brought tea to us in bed. She then started packing a bag. Would I be going too? Or would I be staying? The magic food bowl came out from the cupboard where cats are not allowed and I was also allowed to select several items from my toy box. This meant I was staying to be in charge of Oleanna. I’m not too keen on being by myself, but it was far better than having to be ill whilst they move the outside at great great speed!

Mick soon returned from Oxford with a hire car, we were heading to Scarborough as our latest lodger moved out yesterday and we needed to check the house over before new lodgers arrive later in the week.

This time we used Hertz, a first for us. The cost of a three day hire was about £30 less than the same with Enterprise, so it was a no brainer, there wasn’t any problem regarding forms of ID either. Mick however was glad he still has excess insurance cover which costs us £40 a year, Hertz’s version is £30 a day! They also charge to pick you up, so he’d caught a bus into town.

We loaded up a trolley with all our stuff and the line of black buckets off the roof, their contents would be added to the compost bin back at the house to continue composting down.

Just as we were about to lock the front door there was a beep from a boat horn. NB Alchemy. We thought they’d be passing us today, ten minutes later and we’d not have seen Mike and Christine as we’d have been loading the car. We had chance for a ten minute chat across the boats before the wind was taking too much advantage. Mike and I have managed a brief chat a few years ago at the top of Foxton Locks maybe next time we’ll manage to be moored in the same place and have a proper sit down with a cuppa. No photos as my camera was tucked away in a bag.

The journey up to Scarborough was a touch wet at times. We paused in a service station for a bite to eat and a wee break which I have to say was one of the most horrendous experiences I’ve had since the pandemic began. If I thought I could have held on for a couple more hours I would have.

By the time we arrived in Scarborough the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. All was in order with the house, apart from few things which Vicky (our last lodger) had brought to our attention last week.

He was a touch happier than the photo suggests

The kettle was put on just in time to make a cuppa for Frank. First thing we noticed was that our bubble carpenter had at last had a hair cut, thank goodness as I was beginning to be tempted to plat it for him! He brought freshly picked beans, tomatoes and apples from his garden and we had a good catch up over a cuppa. Time was getting on so I ordered our fish and chips a third portion was added and Mick was sent off to collect them with money from Frank for some wine just as England were loosing the test match.

Half way through tucking into our three of each, Frank remembered he was due at the football, there was a season ticket to be collected! He was soon on his way, only to discover that he was a day ahead of himself.

Tuesday was jobs day. First thing was to get the sash window open properly in the shed so that we could see what was going on with gutters at that bit of the house. These have been a bit of a problem for while, but we thought we’d solved it, clearing them out at least twice in the last year. But the roof line is just that bit too high to reach properly from the bottom part of the window and despite our windows being easy to remove, they had been painted in by the last couple of decorators doing the exterior. We also don’t have a ladder long enough, plus there isn’t enough space to lean a ladder safely.

After removing beading and drought proofing Mick jiggled and jiggled the top window until it relented. Now he could reach the roof garden that had grown. The garden rake came in handy, but unfortunately a few bigger plants seem to have sent down roots between roof slates which were out of reach, plus there are a few slates that need replacing. We did as best we could but it really needs a builders attention. Hopefully the waterfall will be less for a while allowing the walls to dry out.

Mick also replaced a socket in the kitchen on the damp wall. The sockets have been tripping, so hopefully with a drier wall and new socket this will help. Other things were stuck back together, bedding washed and ironed. A chap came to give us a new gas meter. The showers got a good clean. If you could give our lodgers marks out of ten for cleanliness, Vicky would get a 9 and Bill and Alex a 12!

Then late afternoon we hopped in the car to take a trip out to the North Yorkshire Moors. Sadly all the way there was drizzle, no sun to make the heather glow purple, but we did get the good view out towards Whitby as we came down the road to Ruswarp.

It’s a long time since either have been this way and Mick needed directions, thankfully I could remember the way to Glaisdale and the Robinson Institute (the village hall). Over the last sixteen years friends Mark Stratton and Sheila Carter have been bringing professional theatre to the village during August. I was involved with the shows for eight years, designing sets that would fit onto the compact stage, sourcing costumes, helping to lift trussing for the lights, build a steel deck seating block and erect the legendary gazebos and lights in front of the Institute. I could say that Esk Valley Theatre are my third theatre family after the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Hull Truck.

Tonight we were going to see this years production of Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell. Ashley Hope Allan talks to her wall and rock as she tells us of her life, hopes and dreams, one of which she makes come true. Directed by Mark Stratton, set designed by Graham Kirk who also lights the show and is production manager, costumes by Christine Wall, stage managed by Sue Volans and produced by Sheila Carter. A lovely production which played to an 80% audience, which was a little bit of a shock after the past 18 months!

A few things have changed in the last eight years, new curtains in the hall. The bench where I used to have my lunch has been replaced so you are no longer almost lying down at one end of it. But the hole feel of Esk Valley Theatre was still very much there as we had expected. There was chance before the show to chat to Sheila, then Mark came down in the interval to say hello and on leaving we made sure we were the last out of the auditorium to be able to say hello to Sue who appeared from her little cubbyhole on stage. What a lovely evening.

Wednesday. Veg box day, I’d pre-ordered a veg box from Tree Top Press knowing that we’d be in Scarborough with a car. We took the scenic route out to the top of the hill at Suffield passing many places Mick used to frequent in his spare time, before I came into his life.

We’ve only been up to the farm once before and that was for our Christmas order which was brought to us, so I’ve never been in the shop. Having already paid for the veg and a big bottle of washing liquid I wasn’t going to browse, which worked well, although if I was a gluten eater I’d have treated us to a loaf of Ruby’s lovely looking bread.

How I’ve missed having a veg box and planning our meals around it. The grey cells had to get to work placing an online order for when we got back to Oleanna. A cauliflower, chard, leeks, beetroot, peppers, fresh onions, potatoes, garlic. I decided on making szechuan pork and chard for our evening meal, a new recipe which I’ll be doing again.

Back to the house for a final tidy up, cut the grass and a run around with the vacuum cleaner before meeting Alex who is back in Scarborough for a couple of jobs. We are considering naming a room after her as soon she’ll have stayed in the house more than us this year. We left having enjoyed a couple of days back in Scarborough and knowing the house would be in good hands again.

Well I’d just about run out of food by the time they got back! I only had four biscuits left so it was a relief that they came back when they did.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 blogging boat, 4 buckets, 1 home alone cat, 1 actress left, 8 tomatoes, 67 beans, 4 apples, 1 Frank, 3 of each, 2 mushy peas, 1 meter, 1 window, 1 rooftop garden, 1 damp corner, 1 tube sikaflex, 1 rake, 1 hosepipe, 2 clean showers, 1 drive over the moors, 1 actress, 80% audience, 2 chilled medications, 1 medium veg box, 1 clean house, 4 empty buckets, 1 actress arrives, 4 biscuits left.

Calm Returns. 15th August

Thrupp Canal Cruising Club

A slightly damp morning meant that the campers would be packing up their tents today to then have to dry them off when they got home. Messages came through from 1km away as they prepared to head back to London. It has been a lovely weekend with them, but now the calm of the waterways can return.

Tilly was given free reign coming and going again today as she liked. She certainly keeps herself busy for hours on end before returning home to check we’re still here. This mooring in Thrupp is far better than alongside the road with only walkers to dodge and not the occasional car to run away from!

Despite it being Sunday I sat down to do some work. The budget for #unit21 needed a bit of pruning. On Friday I’d had a long chat with Graham who will be building the set for me to see if we could get down the price of materials. He had quoted for a set to withstand the rigours of touring to a couple of venues a week and I had designed it to fit plywood sizes. Making the whole set lighter (less robust in the long term, but with some care it will be fine) and adjusting some dimensions to fit other materials better we managed to trim nearly £400 off the build. A couple of pointers from him to cheaper flooring may also save £300, so the budget is just about back on track.

I miss working with people like Graham.

Next up was a paint list for panto. I worked my way through the model deciding what colours I’d be needing and in roughly what quantities. Next week I’m paying a visit to Chippy so will see if there are any paints still usable from previous years to help reduce the long list I have. My biggest dilemma is on the glitter front.

Panto sets are known for their sparkle, mine not so much. Stage glitter tends to be bigger than that kids glue onto their cards for Granny and Granddad, sharp 5mm squares of plastic that get glued onto scenery, then when dry the excess tapped off. But glitter is not good for the environment it being made from plastic. So far Eco-glitter has reached the makeup world, but not reached the scenery world and some theatres (The National) are locking away their old stocks so no-one can use it anymore.

There is one scene that really needs a sprinkle of panto glimmering glitter. I’ve found one product that may do the job but it still doesn’t tick the box environmentally. I need to look harder!

With Tilly out being a thug and Mick listening to the cricket all day I took myself off for a walk. My route heading towards the campsite in Hampton Gay. Here there is a church and the ruins of a big house that I wanted to explore.

Hampton Gay was once far busier than it is now, excluding campers of course! There was a Mansion House, a mill, church and cottages with a population of around 86. Now the ruins of the Mansion House stand behind fencing and warning signs. The church opens around once a month and the cottages have vanished unlike the occasional train that runs right past the grave yard.

Fire, bankruptcy and even a curse at the end of the nineteenth century brought about the abandonment of the settlement. In medieval times the mill ground grain. In the 17th Century the mill was converted to produce paper and the population grew. But two separate fires struck the mill, each time it was rebuilt the last time it went bankrupt. In 1887 a huge fire overwhelmed the Manor House, without this or the mill people moved away and the population shrank.

Some stories say the manor was set on fire deliberately for the insurance. Others believe it was the result of a curse. On Christmas Eve 1874, a Great Western Train from Paddington derailed just a few hundreds yards away. Despite calls for assistance, the residents of the manor house refused to offer help and shelter to the victims. Thirty-four people died that day and sixty-nine were injured and according to legend a curse was placed on the house.

Not able to get into the church or a closer look at the mansion I decided to walk across the fields towards Hampton Poyle. From the meadows you can see across to London Oxford Airport where a plane had just landed.

Looking back towards St Gile’s Church I could just see Holy Cross Church which stands on the other side of the Cherwell and canal. Both churches less than half a kilometre apart

Holy Cross just visible on the left, St Giles on the right

Over styles, through fields with grazed grass, numerous horses everywhere. My straight line brought me to St Mary’s Church just over a mile away, just how many churches does one area need? There’s even St Mary’s Field Church only another half mile away, it’s spire visible from quite a distance.

Hampton Poyle’s St Mary’s has a 13th Century chapel, it’s north and south isles were added a century later and the double bellcote was an 18th century addition.

In the16th-century, priest Richard Thomason, was allegedly condemned to hang in chains from Duns Tew steeple (near Bicester) for his opposition to the first prayer book of Edward VI. The 17th-century rector Edward Fulham was forced to resign and flee abroad on account of his strong Royalist views and his opposition to Puritanism.

Across another field with more horses to White Bridge which crosses the Cherwell, not the prettiest of bridges but it’s concrete serves the purpose. On the south bank of the river I now turned westwards across the fields following the course of the river until it reached Thrupp Community Forest.

Here paths weave themselves through the trees, some more muddy routes have been bypassed. I was glad I’d got long trousers on as the nettles were rampant and my arms had to keep being lifted aloft. The river remained shy behind the not-so-friendly cover.

Soon I popped out to where the railway crosses, just that little bit too close to Thrupp, the path now bringing me back to Annies Tea Room. We still haven’t visited here, one day hopefully on a weekend when the Ice Cream Parlour is open!

With small amounts of food left over from the weekend I made us some fried rice, one chicken thigh and a couple of inches of salmon were added along with a good scattering of frozen peas. From a very full fridge on Friday morning to an almost empty one.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 quiet day, 3 campers back to London, 2 boaters pottering, 1 test, 9 hours, 1 very pooped cat, 1 shade of glitter, 10 litres emulsion, 10 litres bona mega silk matt, 12 colours, 1 panto paint list complete, 3 miles, 3 nearly 4 churches, 1 feast of leftovers.

Prospective Oxford. 14th August

Thrupp Canal Cruising Club

The Geraghty Zoom subjects consisted of tales of family get togethers. The London Leckenbys, Anna over from Germany and the imminent arrival of the young Evans’s to Scotland where fish fingers, waffles and bananas were being stocked up on. Fran, Mick’s niece, is preparing to fly out to Tokyo for the Paralympics as she is the physio for the English Boccia team. We wish them good luck.

One of the reasons for meeting up near Oxford is that Josh soon will be choosing his A levels and thinking about where he wants to go to University. He’s a brainy lad having just achieved an A* in GCSE Religious Studies taken a year early. Oxford most probably didn’t feature on his list of possibles, but it was worth having a look round.

Mick stayed at Oleanna to replace the stern gland greaser whilst the rest of us drove into Oxford for a nosy about. Andrew is very much of the opinion that the course you do at university is important but the city you go to should also appeal. Oxford is an odd one, trying to explain about colleges and faculties, the city being very much built around the University.

We walked down Broad Street past Trinity College, not many colleges open to visitors today, in fact we only saw one and it would have been £8 each to go in. We just peeked through the gate instead.

A walk through the back lanes to The Turf, the Bridge of Sighs. Down to the Cherwell where numerous people were heading off for a punt.

We walked around the outside of the Botanical Gardens and down to the Thames where a couple of familiar boats were just mooring up.

Back into town to see some of the shopping area and we stopped for a cuppa and a slice of cake in the Covered Market. By now our parking was just about up so we headed back out of town to Thrupp.

This evening we wandered down to The Boat Inn, thankfully they had some beer today, we’d been hearing rumours of lack of supplies.

A group of Morris Dancers were congregating outside, jingling their bells and wearing cheese on their heads!

Tarragon chicken with roast new potatoes and salad

A chicken tarragon casserole had been cooking away whilst we were out. Very tasty it was, one to do on the stove top when the weather gets cooler.

Pudding was a Dorset Apple Cake made this afternoon. We’d just had a slice each when I remembered that I was going to put candles in it as it’s Josh’s birthday on Monday! The amount of wine I’d had had quite a lot to do with my memory lapse! We turned the cake round, added candles and Josh blew them out.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 stern greaser replaced, 1 day of cricket commentary, 4 wandering around Oxford, 1 Josh underwhelmed, 1 excuse for a weekend away, 1 lump of cheese, 2 pints, 1 G&T, 1 wine, 1 apple juice, 1 very full casserole, 1 birthday cake just remembered, 2 much wine, 1 lovely weekend,15! how on earth is Josh 15!?!

Just As Long To Walk As Drive. 13th August

Jericho to Thrupp Cruising Club

Up early to beat the hire boats back into College Cruisers. Late yesterday afternoon NB Hannah May had arrived and arranged for a diesel top up this morning. Movement could be heard across the way at 8:20 so we made sure we were ready to push over once they had been filled up. We did a do-ci-do and took on 40 litres, at £1 a litre we didn’t fill the tank, just enough to keep us going until further up the Oxford.

We pushed back over to the towpath just as the first of the holiday makers were arriving back. Next job was to pick up the things missing from our shopping trip yesterday. I headed off to Waitrose which was kind of on route to Aldens Fish Market.

I chose to walk along the Thames, the patched pipe under Osney Bridge not really doing it’s job as loads of water was pouring out into the Thames. Glad it’s not on our water meter! The temporary pipe over the bridge is quite colossal.

At the fish market I was good, I had a look around dreaming of filling the freezer but only bought what I’d come for, a side of salmon. The lobsters would remain safe under their board for a while longer.

Back at Oleanna it was time to push off as we had a rendez vous to make. The moorings had filled up yesterday maybe people only come into Oxford for the weekend. We met a few boats as we headed out of town, either at locks or along narrow sections which necessitated us pulling in and hoping to not end up in the offside vegetation.

The cruiser with the cats is still along the Agenda 21 moorings, only two felines on the roof today and no sign of the old chap.

Speed bumps have been added to the towpath on several stretches.

Now for the bridges. Bridge 234 still wants to be open as soon as you unlock it. I braced myself for Wolvercote Lift Bridge 233. Here the bridge quite often requires an extra pair of hands to get it lifted and out of the way and the bridge landing has an overhang which has scarred many a hire boats cabin side. Well today the problem simply wasn’t there.

The bridge lies in several parts on the offside under the A34. No bridge beams to struggle with pulling them down and then keep the bridge raised whilst your boat goes through. A couple of cyclists appeared on the offside a touch puzzled as to what they were going to do.

A boat was coming down Dukes Lock so we swapped with them and rose up to meet the next lift bridge. Drinkwaters Lift Bridge 231 was about to close for major rebuilding work when last we passed. During the works the approach walls collapsed and had to be rebuilt. It is now operated by windlass from the towpath side. No longer a fight to unlock it with your key of power, just 30 turns to lift and 14 to drop it.

Our usual stop on the way out of Oxford had a couple of boats moored up. A solitary sunflower stood high in the field alongside the lock. We swapped with a boat as we arrived and another came into view as we left, perfect timing all round.

Next Roundham Lock, where through the last few years the bottom gate beam has been shored up to last that bit longer a section of armco was the last bodge job we’d seen. But today there are new beams at both ends of the lock.

Approaching Thrupp we had to stop quickly as the bow of a boat suddenly came into view past a large bush on the off side. We pulled in, trying to avoid the worst effects of the overhanging brambles on the cabin sides.

The visitor moorings in the village were quite empty, we considered pulling in, but we carried on to the lift bridge. I did the honours, stopping a very new boat from coming through as Mick was in the bridge hole. They then did their best to negotiate the bridge themselves without loosing any paint. A touch more use of power may have assisted them, but give them a few more months and they’ll be a touch more bold with their manoeuvres.

We pulled in at the water point and went to find the lady at Thrupp Canal Cruising Club. Whilst boats are out on summer cruises temporary moorings are available for a small fee, we’d booked one a couple of weeks ago. Sue (?) showed us to our mooring, ever so welcoming and anything they could help with we just had to ask. As soon as we were tied up Tilly was off out to explore, not returning for quite sometime!

Meanwhile on the other side of the River Cherwell, just over a kilometer as the crow flies, the London Leckenbys were pulling up at Willowbrook Farm campsite and setting up their tents for the weekend. Once they’d settled in they then drove round the 9km to join us and walked up to the boat with a rusk sack full of contraband, before returning the car to the site and walking the 1.8km on well marked paths back.

When we’d first come up with the idea of trying to find a campsite close to Oxford and the canal, Thrupp came up as a possibility. A newish eco campsite on a working farm that produces halal meat. Then about a week ago Jac noticed the not so fine print ‘Strictly No Alcohol Allowed On Site!’ Not quite the right place to have a relaxing beer in front of your tent, but you have to respect other cultures. So bottles of gin and wine were brought round to ours and we wouldn’t go to the campsite for a bbq, instead both evenings would be spent on Oleanna.

We’d considered going for a little pootle to find a suitable bit of towpath not too far away for the evening, returning before it got too dark, but just off the side of the TCCC moorings was an area with a bbq and picnic bench. This would do us.

Family were set with jobs of chopping. The other week they had made a tabbouleh not realising I wouldn’t be able to eat the buckwheat, today we made one using Quinoa which was very tasty. Veg and haloumi kebabs were skewered, a potato salad made up. The side of salmon required cutting in half to fit on the barbecue, a grating of ginger, pinch of sugar, soy sauce and lemon juice added then a good wrapping of foil.

Our usual barbecue stove was lit along with two disposable ones that had come from London. The salmon cooked quickly so was nudged to the sides for the veg kebabs to cook in the middle meaning the disposable bbq’s were only really just getting going when we’d just about finished eating!

A lovely if a touch blowy evening sat outside. Cheese was enjoyed back onboard after we’d tidied up outside. Then the head torches were brought out to aid the walk back to the campsite, hopefully the London Leckenby’s weren’t too noisy on their return!

4 locks, 6.51 miles, 2 lift bridges, 1 bridge in bits, 40 litres, 1 side salmon, 1 mooring, 1 campsite, 0 alcohol, 1 happy cat, £646 saved, 1 family get together, 1 yummy meal, 2 beers, 2 G&T’s, 2 bottles wine, 5 head torches for 3, 1km, 9km, 1.8km, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/ffmyBofVnWF4qSnS9

Seven Meters. 10th August

Above Days Lock to above Sandford Lock

A lie in, waking to the sun streaming in through our bedroom porthole. Wonderful.

Sadly the clear blue sky didn’t last long, but at least today we wouldn’t get soaked.

We took our time in setting off, eating up some bacon was on the cards so this came accompanied by a few mushrooms and poached eggs, not a full breakfast so no photo today.

The two miles to Clifton Lock has long back gardens coming down to the waters edge on one bank and meadow land on the other.

Along quite a stretch there were diggers with a constant procession of dumper trucks. There were too many for it to be a farmer improving drainage and every now and then we came across a culvert from the river. Is this land going to be built on? I’ve had a quick hunt around on line and it seems that there may be a development near to Little Wittenham, but without trawling through pages of stuff I’m unsure. I just hope the views from our mooring are not affected.

Clifton Hamden Bridge is made of sturdy brick, when built it used to join Oxfordshire on the north bank to Berkshire on the southern, but in 1976 boundaries changed and Oxfordshire engulfed the south bank. The bridge replaced a ferry on the shallow reach of the river where it had been fordable to cattle and horses. But in 1826 on a ceremonial trip from Oxford to London, the Lord Mayor of London’s barge grounded in the shallows here. Weirs upstream had to be lifted to free the barge which was stuck for several hours. This led to the building of Clifton Lock in 1835 along with weirs which improved the depth, but this meant animals could no longer cross so the bridge was built in 1867 designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The lock keeper saw us up Clifton Lock informing us about Whitchurch Lock and it’s broken collar, this was why there were so many Le Boats about, they’d all headed towards Oxford yesterday due to the closure. Looking at the lock gates you can see where recent flood levels have left their mark.

Now we were on the reach where Oleanna had engine troubles two years ago. The river was on yellow boards, stream decreasing. Oleanna was having to force her way upstream and her engine overheated, necessitating the need to lower the anchor shortly after the Appleford Railway Bridge. Link to the post. Today the flow is far less. Mick can now check the engine temperature without having to slide the rear hatch as he’s added a heat sensor to the engine. All seemed as it should be, I still opened the hatch to check the gauge, all good.

At Culham Lock we waited behind a hire boat to go up. The lock is 7′ 11” deep so takes a bit of filling, so we had a wait. Flapping of wings from across the canal from a pigeon who flapped it’s way not very well across the river dipping into the water and eventually landing on our gunnel. It wasn’t happy, maybe it’s wings had got a touch too wet. It made it’s way onto the lock landing and spent an age flapping it’s wings whilst crouching, maybe it was in pain. I considered trying to catch it but Oleanna wouldn’t be the best place for it under the beady eye of Tilly. It managed to fly back across the river into a tree. This is when we noticed what had caused the problem, a mink!

The pigeon managed to fly away, but it’s friend on another branch was very quickly grabbed by the mink, dragged down the trunk of the tree and taken out of sight, possibly into it’s burrow. It took no time at all. After about a minute or two the mink was back out looking for its next victim!

The Lock Keeper squeezed us in behind the hire boat then brought in another narrowboat alongside. Ropes were adjusted on the hire boat in front, their ropes on the stern not really long enough for the job or depth of the lock. Extra turns round bollards and t-studs for the boat we were alongside, I think we had the best position for an easy ride up.

The queue above the lock was several deep, not enough lock layby for them all to tie to. Was this an early indicator of how busy Abingdon would be?

Once round the bend above the weir the other narrowboat overtook us, forging ahead to grab a space.

Abingdon came into view, all picture postcard in the sunshine. We spotted only a couple of spaces we’d have tried to fit in, I suspect they wouldn’t be empty for long.

We’d already been told at the previous lock that Richard the Abingdon Lock Keeper wouldn’t be there, he has been suffering from Long Covid for the last year. So I was all prepared to go and press buttons. However a voluntary volunteer (unofficial) was stood at the panel ready to help people through. He was very chatty and warned us of a sunken boat upstream and told tales of a widebeam taking 4 hours to fill their water tank from the tap above the lock.

Down to a quarter of a tank we wanted a bit of water, a lady was just waiting for her tank to make the ‘boom I’m full’ noise so we waited, hose out claiming our position in the queue.

We were soon attached to the tap, not too much water going everywhere. Looking at the directions our hose would be too long (as would most hoses on narrowboats), but thankfully we still got water. The pressure here was similar to that at the bottom of Hillmorton. We decided we’d do half an hour and then let someone else have use of the tap, which meant we got to about half full.

A pause for lunch and then onwards to Sandford Lock. After a visit to Abingdon from RCR in 2019 Mick had realised that the overheating hadn’t been solved. He kept to the edges of the river where the flow was less, meaning he could keep Oleanna’s revs as low as possible. Today the bollards below the lock were in view, last time I’d been here they were just peeking above flood water. Today I had to use a ladder to assist getting off Oleanna. Up at the lock I’d been beaten to the buttons by a young chap who was only just tall enough to reach the buttons, his Mum and Dad were waiting for the lock below too.

All went well until he hadn’t seen that we’d been joined by another small cruiser, so he started to close the gates as it was coming through. Plenty of shouting meant he removed his finger from the button stopping the gate, phew!

An Oleanna sized hole was waiting for us above the lock, just where we wanted to be for the day. What NO trees! The friendly cover’s a bit sparse too. I remember last time when there were six cats who ganged up against me. I’ve been patient all day for you to finally tie up a good outside and this is what you catch! Can we go back to yesterdays outside? Pleeease!!

With the sun still being out and a grassy mooring we got the barbecue out. Tilly was allowed to stay out with us for a while even though it was after dingding. I’m sure she just stayed out because it’s normally against the rules, not because she wanted to as she didn’t venture far!

4 locks, 12.09 miles, 1 lie in, 2 poached eggs, 1 squeeze, 1 volunteer volunteer, 30 minutes of water, 18m not 7m, 1 sunken boat, 1 meeting arranged, 2 out of 5 options for another, 2ft 6” lower, 1 button presser, 1 unimpressed cat, 4 veg kebabs, 2 salmon steaks, 1 pleasant evening.

PS The Selby Swing Bridge from the basin onto the canal was lifted out yesterday. It is being sent away to be mended, due back in 12 weeks time. So no stopping to press buttons for a while. Not sure where the temporary footbridge is though. Link to photo

Gravy And Stewed Cabbage. 6th August

Desborough Island to Boveney Lock Landing

A saunter around the island, of course we noticed that there were spaces at the next mooring where we’d have let Tilly go ashore. That mooring is added to the ‘next time’ list. As we’re in transit we won’t be touching on the ‘next time’ list, we’ll just be adding to it.

A metal warrior stood guard over a garden, whilst a severe fencing kept people off off a lawn. A rather lovely roof line caught our eye, the room at the top of that fire escape would have fitted my teenage dream.

Joining back onto the main channel there was a sign in the middle, the river would be closed for a regatta today, good job there’s the alternate route. We arrived at Shepperton Lock before any Lock Keeper would be on duty, the blue Self Service sign displayed. No need for a Key of Power on the Thames, just patience as they can be slow to fill and empty.

Extra fencing has been added around locks to dissuade people from gathering too close. Signs ask for crew to stay on their boats and if a lock is on self service then only one crew member should go to operate it.

At Pharaoh Island the house on the end looks to have new owners, it was on the market two years ago. A boat is moored round the back and a kids trampoline stands in the garden so that you can gongoozle at the passing boats whilst bouncing.

At Chertsey Lock we were joined by a cruiser, the strong wind making it hard for them to manoeuvre. Oleanna has weight to her so she hunkers down on windy river days, so long as her speed has purpose she is fine. By now we’d remembered how to do the ropes on the Thames if I was acting as Lock Keeper. Positioning the bow rope on the roof and taking the boat hook with me I could then wrap the rope round a bollard to keep the bow in whilst heading away to press buttons, popping back to adjust it if needs be as the lock filled.

Today we spotted a couple of cruisers that have a different line from the usual. They have a hint of a barge to them, quite a pleasing shape and with colour to the cabin sides we decided we quite liked them.

More shapes and sizes as we cruised along.

Approaching Staines on Thames there are new static caravans being built with a difference. Some have roof terraces, others extensions that take them away from the standard oblong design, however the cheapest one will set you back £499,999! We preferred the older more characterful houses. Does anyone know what this tree is please, with fleshy leaves and large white flowers?

Just before Bell Weir Lock we ducked under the M25 for the last time.

Runnymede is already on our list for next time so no need to add it. Today we’d have found a nice mooring, although the road would be a touch too close for Tilly to go off exploring. Only one of the French Brothers trip boats was cruising today. Banners boasted of a refurbishment to Pink Champagne, but the pandemic looks to have put paid to that happening and the fake steamer sat below trees filled with chairs collecting tree sap and bird droppings.

Day boats increased in number the closer we got to Datchet as we skirted round Windsor Royal Park all immaculate as normal. The Queen won’t be short of mistletoe this Christmas, they just need a big cherry picker. Just through Victoria Bridge there are ground works going on. Big boulders and a crane was being put together. Maybe this will be a new rock garden for the Queen!

At Romney Lock we were joined by a trip boat as we waited for the lock to empty. Two Lock Keepers attended to the button pushing whilst we inhaled the smell of gravy and stewed cabbage that was to be lunch on the trip boat for the OAPs. We wondered at what age does stewed cabbage become appealing?

I failed to throw my rope over a bollard and a Lockie came to assist. I requested he passed it round a second time which he didn’t seem too keen to do, but as it was a side filling lock he relented after I’d mentioned my failing grip. A second turn means less clinging on for dear life even in the gentler filling locks.

Out of the cut we popped out the view of Windsor Bridge where Eton meets Windsor and where as a child staying with my Aunt and Uncle we used to stand to hear Concord fly overhead, I’m sure we never heard the sonic boom but Uncle Peter swore he did!

Just how many swans! A fayre was set up on the Brocas, we decided we’d carry on, hoping the mooring we’d stayed at above Boveney Lock would be available. Liz wasn’t at home anyway for a cuppa, I suspect she doesn’t want visitors whilst the builders are about!

Blimey was that the queue for Boveney Lock ahead?! The full length of lock landing filled with boats. People were stood about, although not quite enough for it to be a queue. Two more things didn’t seem right. NB Zenith was one of the moored boats, the other thing was the narrowboat in front of them was just hanging up their washing on a whirligig. We pulled up closer and heard the news, the lock was broken!

The story goes that yesterday the Lock Keeper had reported one of the top gates was making an awful noise. By the end of the day the collar had broken and the gate sat at an odd angle. No-one would be going anywhere today other than in the opposite direction.

During the afternoon more boats arrived. The lock island already had boats moored on the other side and by the end of the day they were four abreast behind us.

The Lock Keepers came down to keep us informed. A crane was being brought in by road tomorrow morning, hopefully it was just a case of lifting the gate back into position and replacing the collar, which shouldn’t take too long. If they couldn’t mend it on Saturday it would be Monday. Fingers crossed for the morning.

The choice for what to have to eat this evening was somewhat taken out of my hands as a camembert cheese was starting to plot world domination from the fridge, it needed stopping.

PS Selby Swing Bridge is now open to boat traffic and through a Facebook fishing page on the Aire and Calder I have heard reports that the Eastern side of the cofferdam at the breach site has just about been removed. Fingers crossed for everyone still in Goole.

6 locks, 15.43 miles, 1 regatta, 2 self service locks, 0 Liz at home, 1 rock garden, M25, 10 portions stewed cabbage and gravy, 15 waiting below, 10 above, 1 part time boat cat, 1 smoked salmon and camembert quinoa crust quiche, 1 world saved by our tea.

https://goo.gl/maps/VH4KWM7NgBRxoFLg8

Even A Kitchen Sink. 4th August

Lock 89 to Ontario Bridge 205A

Time to check that the drier still worked, thankfully it does and it finished off our bedding and towels wonderfully during todays cruise.

Our nearest neighbours Mike and Pam on NB Two Jays-Bray got chatting to Mick, our whirligig and pram cover had caught their attention. New to boating life they have come over from Cape Town to live a life afloat for a couple of years, they’ve only been on board full time for just over two weeks and are still adjusting to living afloat. It was nice to meet you, maybe we’ll bump into you up the way somewhere.

With all the washing brought inside it was time to move on. Back passed the Slough Arm and onwards past Bulls Bridge where the Scout boat had just come out from the junction and was headed for the water point. We waved to Rod and Nor, but no one was looking, maybe we’ll see them on the Thames.

How does all that stuff fit on their roof?

At Norwood Top Lock a volunteer lock keeper was tending to plants and helped with the lock gates. A second lady in blue appeared assisted by her four legged litter picker, she went down to set the lock below for us. Were we heading all the way down, both of them asked. Well it was lunch time, so we planned to pause for something to eat after the top two locks before carrying on down the Hanwell flight.

We paused just before Three Bridges for food then carried on to the flight. Today’s photo of Oleanna, MIik and the bridges wasn’t so good, think I peeked a month ago!

The ladies had said they’d had two boats go down the flight earlier on today and every lock we came to was empty. From the top lock I could see a chap below opening the bottom gates of the next but one lock. He must have been single handing a widebeam I thought as both gates were open, he then headed back to the previous lock for his boat. We waited a while but then decided to drop our lock, there was lots of water coming down.

Leaving both gates for him we headed to the next lock where he was just arriving. Not on his own, he was actually accompanied by a lady who looked quite heftily pregnant and a dog, hence him doing all the work, she positioned a chair by the lock and sat to watch.

I waited for instructions, the chap wanted the gate paddle lifting. I checked he didn’t mean the ground paddle first, oh no! His cruiser sat well back in the lock and the gate paddles opened gradually, the boat should be okay. So I did as asked. I don’t think he had any intention of opening the ground paddles, until I suggested it might speed things up, his partner looking rather hot and in need of some shade.

He said they’d started the flight at 11 this morning it was now about 2:30! No wonder if he’d only been opening one set of paddles. One lock he said had taken forever to fill, about an hour! Oh well, each to their own.

We carried on down in the ever increasing sunshine. My mind had decided a few days ago that it was now autumn and I hadn’t bothered putting sun cream on. With a shorter sleeved t-shirt on today than normal the paler tops of my arms gradually became a good shade of pink!

The bottom lock was turned as we came into the second to last chamber, we waited for the crew below to start filling before dropping the water from ours, we then swapped in the pound inbetween.

Going downhill is that bit quicker than going up, but we’d done the flight in an hour and a quarter, wonder what time the cruiser finished?

We pootled our way along. Should we stop here near The Fox or carry on that bit further? With supplies onboard we’d not be eating out, but space can be at a premium in Brentford so we pulled in just about where we’d been moored after the tideway cruise and let Tilly off to explore.

With the last of the roast chicken from Saturday I made a pie. A couple of leeks, tarragon, white wine sauce, mushrooms and some feta cheese were added to the chicken. All topped off with a chestnut flour short crust pastry. All very very tasty, just a shame the sweetcorn that accompanied it wasn’t up to scratch. What did I expect, it’s not as if it’s in season yet.

8 locks, 7.6 miles, 2 straight ons, 2 lady lock keepers, 1 canine lock keeper, 3.5 hours plus! 1 familiar outside again, 2 pink arms, 1 wizened corn on the cob, 1 of the best homemade pies ever (hence recording what went in it for next time).

PS. If you happen to be around Huddersfield, pop up to the Piazza Shopping Centre where Dark Horse have an exhibition of The Garden which became their online production last summer. All my illustrations are on display and every hour you can get to see the final animated production.

https://goo.gl/maps/oStuZw4syfHdNZob7

Cancelations. 2nd August

Uxbridge

First job this morning was to ring the washing machine people to see if the new circuit board had arrived and when they could come out to us. The lady on the other end of the phone knew exactly where we were moored, she’s been to the pub and sat looking at the boats moored alongside. It kind of helps being close to where the company is based. An appointment was made for tomorrow morning.

A morning going nowhere would be wasted without a cooked breakfast

Next we needed to cancel two bookings with C&RT as we’d booked passage through Thames Lock, Brentford to Teddington. We’d not been able to cancel them on line over the weekend so Mick rang them up. There is a long spiel about C&RT not tolerating abusive behaviour towards their staff before you get to speak to someone. Just what is the boating world coming to!

Passages are now cancelled and another one is made, here’s hoping we can keep to this one.

Next as we are sitting right next to a car park we booked a Sainsburys delivery, I thought I’d booked it for tomorrow morning, but when I went back to it to add things it was saying Wednesday! Now there weren’t any slots available, grrr! I cancelled the order, tried to get a Tesco delivery, but they won’t deliver to business premises. Morrisons don’t deliver in this area. A Click and Collect was considered, but at what time? Hard to know when waiting for something to be fixed. So I wrote out a list instead, one of us would have to go shopping.

Oleanna was due a 250 hour service, so Mick donned his overalls and lifted the engine boards. Tilly complained at not being allowed out. I ordered some samples of fabric to be sent to Chippy for me to pick up when I visit in a couple of weeks.

There are a few things we prefer to buy from Sainsburys, wood cat litter being one of them. You would think that wood pellets were pretty much the same everywhere, but I can confirm that Sainsburys ones absorb more odour than Tescos. They fluff up nicer too for our separating toilet.

So I walked up to Sainsburys to buy a bag, stopping off at Halfords to see if they had some Meguiars Ultimate Compound (thank you Irene for the suggestion) to try to remove the scratches from the cabin sides. One bottle bought, Oleanna just needs a good wash now then Mick can have a go at the scratches.

I spent much of the afternoon hunting through 250 pages of neon clothing on Vinted, a site where you can sell your old clothes. I’m needing nine neon tops for #unit21. With a tight budget I need to know something will fit before making a purchase so I’ve asked numerous scantly clad young ladies for bust measurements of their tops. The things you do as a Theatre Designer!

Kate Fassnidge left land and property to the community of Uxbridge

Mick later in the afternoon noticed that there was now a delivery slot for tomorrow morning with Sainsburys. He checked with the pub that it would be okay to get a delivery and they were fine about it, the ANPR isn’t currently working anyway. So the written list was converted into a virtual one again.

For sometime I’ve been meaning to start doing paintings of waterways, think I’ve mentioned it before. Our trip through London along the Thames gave me lots of reference photos so I’ve decided to start there. But where to start exactly? I considered linking bridges together, but with over twenty in that one day this would be hard. Instead I’m going to go for a circular view between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge so as to include the Tattershall Castle, Houses of Parliament (I’ll remove the scaffolding on Big Ben) and the London Eye. Today I’ve sketched out some ideas, a more detailed sketch will be needed before I start on the actual painting.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 passages cancelled, 1 booked, 1 engineer coming, 2 cooked breakfasts, 1 order made, 1 order cancelled, 1 order made again, 250 hours, 9 litres oil, 10L of cat litter, 1 bottle Ultimate Compound, 250 pages of clothes, 2 many nipples, 35.8 what? 1 exhibition, 1st ideas, TV signal reduced to 0 today.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna

Category Archives: Food

A Spot Of Gardening. 20th August

Dressing Room 1, 19th August

One Out, One In And One On The Moors. 16th 17th 18th August

Calm Returns. 15th August

Prospective Oxford. 14th August

Just As Long To Walk As Drive. 13th August

Seven Meters. 10th August

Gravy And Stewed Cabbage. 6th August

Even A Kitchen Sink. 4th August

Cancelations. 2nd August