Category Archives: Gluten Free Cooking

Bangers, Rain and Burgers

Weedon Bec to Bugbrooke Bridge 36

Blimey I totally forgot about the Braunston sausages in yesterdays post. Really not sure how that happened as they certainly left an impression on us.

Braunston gluten free sausages come frozen wrapped on a tray with just GF Pork written on them. For around £5 our initial thought is that they were quite expensive, but there certainly looked like there was plenty, next time we’ll weight them. Mick prepared them for our evening meal, one of our favourites sausages and roast veg (potatoes, carrots, parsnips and a bramley apple all chopped up like chips). After a while he opened up the oven door to check on them and give everything a good move around. ‘They’ve expanded!’ He pricked them with a knife and put them back in the oven.

My photos don’t quite show the scale of them when they’d finished cooking, but hopefully you’ll get the idea when I say that the smallest one (which did look measly compared to the others) was a touch bigger than your average sized supermarket sausage. But the biggest one was the equivalent to at least two whole sausages. There was far too much sausage for us to cope with! We both ended up leaving one.

So they were big, very big, but where they tasty? Verdict. Yes, the tastiest gluten free butcher made sausages we’ve had yet. Not quite the same as a Braunston Banger, but close enough. As with all Braunston butcher sausages you get them in a variety of sizes and in future we’ll know not to cook all six for one meal.

The first boat came by a 6:45 this morning, it’s engine didn’t fade away quite as normal, but as we were still very much in sleeping mode we didn’t take much more notice. Next came a hire boat who pulled in and moored in front of us at just gone 9. Maybe they were wanting a full day looking around Weedon. Then a boat that had been moored ahead came past, then went into reverse, they moored up too.

That’ll be why there’s only been one way traffic!

As we started to get ourselves ready, a slight lull in the rain stired us into action, this is when we realised why we were surrounded by boats so early in the day. Over night a tree had come down about 200ft behind us, luckily missing any moored boats. At 11am there was a boat moving around with a chap at the front, he was sawing up the tree and others were pulling sections out of the cut to open the navigation.

We were wanting water so took advantage of there being no through traffic and pushed off. This of course got the hopes up of other boats waiting to go through. We pootled on the short distance to the next water point where we pulled alongside an ABC hire boat to wait. Swallows and swifts swooped back and forth having a major feast on the wing as boats filled with water. When it was our turn the washing machine went on and we stayed until the final rinse, we also rinsed off the nights debris from the roof.

Just round the corner we pulled in for a top up of diesel. Rugby boats is one of the cheapest on the cut at 77.9p a litre at the moment we weren’t going to pass them. Next fuel stop will be Uxbridge, then we’ll be onto Thames prices, best make the most of it whilst we can.

Another fallen overnight, good job the angle of the wind wasn’t different

It wasn’t raining now, but still very drizzley. We pootled on, another tree down across the towpath, we’d be looking for a tree free mooring today. Arriving at Bugbrooke there were plenty of git gaps, then one space by the bridge. A touch too close to the road for Tilly shore leave, but we couldn’t see anywhere else. As soon as we’d moored i lit the stove to try to get some warmth back into the boat, today definitely felt like an autumnal day.

Oleanna, The Wharf and Unusual at the back

This evening we’ve been across the way to The Wharf to meet with Lizzie our friend from Crick. She works next door at Unusual Rigging. This is a company who engineer complex flying equipment for theatre, TV and events world wide. We’d last seen Lizzie at the beginning of the year, much has happened since then, so there was a lot to catch up on.

We all three chose the same Hog Bun Burger but with slight variations. Mick had the standard, I had the Gluten Free option (GF bun) and Lizzie opted to have hers bread free. All were very tasty and it was nice to not have to have either Hunters chicken or a steak.

Tomorrow we’ll move on a bit. Ahead of us is Blisworth tunnel, then Stoke Bruerne. Currently the Stoke Bruerne flight is closed as the bottom lock was damaged in a boat strike yesterday. Hopefully it won’t take too long to mend, but no updates have been issued yet.

0 locks, 3.72 miles, 1 more wet day, 2 trees down, 1 broken lock ahead, 1 full water tank, 1 chinese laundry, 0 shore leave, 1 full diesel tank, 1 bag of coal on the roof in June! 3 non-identical identical burgers, 2 glasses of wine less than yesterday, we did leave the pub before it closed today!

https://goo.gl/maps/y59zTgsWtWENk3Mh6

A Lot Quicker. 3rd June

Whitley Bridge 47 to Power Station Footbridge, Oxford Canal

Better weather today and an earlier start for us than normal, we had water to cover.

Boats were already going up the locks ahead of us so we pulled out and joined in. NB Piglet was just pulling out of the first lock of the day, NB Trinity waiting below, we pulled up to wait our turn. The pound between this and the next lock is quite short, NB Piglet and NB Trinity ended up both sitting waiting in it, the level slightly low.

Up went Piglet, I waited for Trinity to start emptying the lock before I started to fill the lower one, not wanting to steal the water that was keeping them afloat. We then pulled out and awaited our turn as a single hander came down.

The pound between locks 8 and 7 was quite low, a couple of boats moored on it were definitely sat on the bottom. NB Trinity was having difficulty getting into the next lock. Pulling on the bow line didn’t help, pushing them over to the other side didn’t either. So some water was let down hoping to lift them off of the bottom and get into the lock. With water coming down and a diagonal pull on the bow they got moving just as two C&RT volunteer Lockies arrived. They set about running more water down to try to return the pound to a better level without starving others above.

Our turn, we suspected our draught was deeper. Oleanna got stuck sooner, Mick reversed her back a touch and tried a different line. Definitely a build up of silt from a bywash, he got her closer to the lock where she stopped again. I got the bow rope, water was let down and bursts of engine got her moving again and over the lump into the lock. Apparently they had had a single hander on the flight who’d been leaving paddles up, not good practice espcially when there isn’t plenty of water about!

Some boats were pausing for lunch in the longer pound, others stopping to go shopping, but we carried on, too far to go today and the locks were taking that bit longer than normal. More water was let down by the lockies doing their best to get boats floating again. One chap came past enquiring as to when his boat would be off the bottom, just as water was flowing straight through a lock. Have to say if that was us, we’d move our boat at the first opportunity not stay put for a full two weeks and complain about it. But each to their own!

We carried on up, boats now coming down the flight, most stopping to wait above lock 5 and taking advantage of the water point there. A slight pause below lock 2 for a boat coming downhill and then we were on our way again and at the top of the flight. After half a mile or so we pulled over for some lunch before carrying on.

I retired below to work as Mick pootled us through Mancetter, Hartshill, past our favourite mooring near Springwood Haven, slow going through Nuneaton.

At Marston Junction I stuck my hand out of the side hatch to give navigational direction to keep going straight.

I only just made it out in time to take a photo of the last mannequins at Charity Wharf before they all disappeared behind the willow trees.

Approaching Hawkesbury Junction the moorings were full, a couple of git gaps with familiar culprets in the middle of them. Mick carried on would we have arrived in time to get a mooring anywhere?

I hopped off at the Engine House Footbridge and walked across the grass to Sutton Stop Lock. A Kate Hire boat was coming the other way, the lock in their favour. Outside the pub was heaving and a young lady stopped and asked for directions to the Ricoh Arena. I was able to point her in the right direction to follow the canal.

The hire boat were wanting to moor up in front of the pub,I suggested that was maybe not such a good idea as the 180 degree turn from the Coventry Canal for a 70ft boat would necessitate the full amount of space there. They’d be shouted at by the first boat to come through, as soon as they were out of the lock they could see what I meant and rounded the bend to find a mooring.

Up we went and then started to look for somewhere to pull up. Rather than moor right on a bend we carried on and found space where we’d moored last year very close to the power station. We’d reached our destination with enough time for Tilly to do some hunting and Mick to have a towpath haircut.

Patterns and colour, still some way to go

Today we passed through the pound from Atherstone to Hawkesbury in 5 hours 13 minutes, last year it took us 32 days, 2 hours and 55 minutes!

As the evening went on we could hear music from the Arena. Sadly I hadn’t spotted any ticket towts near the Greyhound Inn so we had to make do with the muffled music from the Arena. A shame as Mick had so wanted to see the Spice Girls!

10 locks, 12.96 miles, 2 canals, 1 straight on, 180 degrees left, 2 stuck boats, 15 tissues all day, 1 painting scheme started, 2 friends, 1 quite tasty, 1 sour dough loaf, 4 Spice Girls, 0 tickets.

https://goo.gl/maps/fbTniCBmaKiQt7HJA

Falling Behind. 2nd June

Meadow Lane Bridge 50 to Whitley Bridge 47

With precipitation likely for much of the day and snot levels also high we decided to see how things were by the time we got to the longish pound between locks 10 and 9 of the Atherstone flight. Boats were already coming past before we pushed off. A few jobs to do first, yellow water, a load of washing and give Tilly a clean pooh box. We pushed off following on after NB Piglet whom we’ve been playing leapfrog with since Stone or maybe earlier.

They pulled in at the services at Bradley Green, so did we to dispose of rubbish, top up the water and have a chat with them. As we filled our tank it started to rain. A steady stream of boats coming past. Here our milometer, if we had one, would have clicked over to 500 miles so far this year.

With chores done we joined the queue at the bottom of Atherstone, I walked up to lend a hand.

A single hander was coming down and an elderly chap from the boat in front of us was giving him a hand with the gates. The single hander pulled out of the lock and the old chap started to close the gate, ‘You might want to keep that open’ I said. He said he wasn’t quite with it yet (taking a swig from his can of Old Speckled Hen), but would be by the time they reached the top of the flight. Maybe the beer helped!

Turning to watch for his boat coming into the lock, his wife was struggling, clinging onto the centre line for dear life. The single hander had shot out of the lock at a rate of knots just as she was untying. Mick tied Oleanna up and rushed to give the lady a hand, it took quite a bit to pull it back in. The single hander joked as he passed Mick saying he hoped there weren’t anymore locks, Mick replied with ‘I’m more concerned about the speed your doing!’

The speed had been so great that Oleanna, tied only on a centre line, had tilted over creating a five drawer moment. Our pull out corner cupboard hadn’t been latched properly so had also pulled itself out smashing a mug in the process! A nice calm morning boating.

I helped the octogenarian couple up the lock and a passerby walked up to empty the next one for them. We worked our way up and swapped places with a hire boat coming down. The rain kept coming and going, decision made we’d pull in for the day. My snotty head didn’t fancy the idea of another 9 locks in the rain, it would just mean a few longer days to come.

Tilly was quite happy at the early stop and made the most of her time behind the very thick high sideways trees. Mick pottered away the afternoon. I woke my sour dough starter up, fed it and got a sponge mixed to be able to make a loaf tomorrow after the locks. The rest of the day was spent watching Columbo on the sofa with my second box of tissues.

2 locks, 1.65 miles, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 clean pooh box, 500 miles, 335 locks, 2nd box tissues started, 90 grams brown rice flour, 120 ml water, 2 episodes Columbo, 1 sofa Sunday.

https://goo.gl/maps/RPv83goHz5zPx3U49

Toad In The Pudding. 30th May

Fancy Bridge73A to Magazine Bridge 55.

Today would be the day, had I avoided getting Mick’s cold?

Unfortunately I woke with the start of a sore throat, so almost certainly not. By the end of the day I was starting on the drugs too.

Last night we’d considered having a walk around Shugborough, but then we worked out how many hours cruising we’d need to do to reach our next destination in time. Not being good at getting up and going early (unless we have to), the fact that we need to be doing around four and a half hours a day meant we’d not be hanging around today especially as we were in need of a proper shop.

On our way late morning we passed a few boats and timed our arrival at Colwich Lock very well as a boat had just come up leaving the next awaiting boat’s crew to help us down. I took advantage on them being on the towpath side and headed straight to the bottom gates. Just here, in the lock cottage garden, is a rather lovely Black Elder plant. In the past it has given off such a wonderful scent I made a bee line for it. As with the more common Elderflower they are only just starting to come into bloom. Only a couple of heads were in flower today and the lack of sunshine meant it wasn’t producing it’s aroma. Next week it will most probably be at its best.

As ever below the lock there was a queue. We pootled onwards. Swans were taking advantage of their piece of canal bank and through Taft Bridge Dexta was high and dry.

NB Dexta used to be moored on the cut, red diesel would be pumped from the farm behind, to a tank on board to be sold to passing boaters. A favourite for many a boater, but we’d heard that the boat was out of the water. No signs anywhere about diesel. Either the boat is out for maintenance or they have stopped selling to boaters. Glad we’d known this and filled up in Stone.

Pootling onwards over Brindley Bank Aqueduct we now cruised past numerous moored boats. We were wanting to stop at Tescos to do a big shop, as we got closer we wondered if there’d be a suitable mooring.

A boat was just pulling out from the 7 day moorings, not wanting to risk not finding anywhere through the bridge we pulled in knowing from past experience we wouldn’t get into the side. A hire boat was just about to push off and offered us their space, they’d got into the side. It took forever for the chap at the back to untie his rope, a tsunami would have a job shifting them from that mooring ring. We pulled back and managed to get one end of the boat close enough.

A relatively big shop to keep us going for the next week or so and we were on our way again. Of course there was loads of space through the bridge! As we passed Rugeley Winding Hole, we were reminded that this is where we turned around in October 2017, our plans having changed. We’d been heading towards Derby for the court case and had received news that it would be postponed until the following year, so had turned round and headed north for Christmas. Today we continued southwards, you could say for Christmas.

With a couple more hours of cruising planned we pootled on. Through Armitage Tunnel, no body was coming so I was able to wave Mick into the narrow channel when I’d only got half way through. Would there be space above Wood End Lock to moor? We didn’t want to risk everywhere being full so tried a few places on the way.

Lovely places, all suitable for Tilly, just too shallow for Oleanna. After Bridge 55 we pulled in as far away from the road as possible and let Tilly out. She was given a couple of hours but brought back a friend after three and a half!

This evening I had a go at Toad in the hole with a third of my buckwheat pancake mix. I added an egg and a touch of baking powder hoping that would help lift the heavier flour. It was tasty especially as I’d added some rosemary and thyme to the mix, but it certainly hadn’t reached for the sky. A good blob of ketchup on the side made it even tastier. I won’t be rushing to make it again. One third left to go!

1 lock, 10.93 miles, 1 new Charity Wharf, 2 many shallow moorings, 1 boat too deep, 7 half hitches, 3 sheep shanks, 2 bowlines, 1 reef knot, 2 grannies just in case, 27 days, 4 boxes wine, 1 sore throat, 20 minutes behind schedule, 1 pudding with 6 sausages, 1 very lively friend.

Anyone For Pancakes? 27th May

Stone Bottom Lock Winding Hole to Sandy Lane Bridge 81

Time to move on, past time actually! As we made ready to push off an Anglo Welsh boat came past, NB Golden Finch, on board was Lorraine an Instagram acquaintance of mine who is out for 8 weeks. I waved from inside and got a cheery wave back from the chap at the helm. Lorraine only realised it was us when she saw Tilly. Spotting someone you half know isn’t that unusual, but a short time later we realised that NB Golden Finch was the last hire boat we had. Hired in December 2013 for five days from Wooten Wawen, we’d sold our shareboat and were waiting for our boat to be built, we needed a canal fix.

The day was going to be a wet one. We rolled back the covers, then took shelter whilst a storm cloud went past. After five minutes things looked good, we pushed off and headed to Aston Lock.

Eagerly awaiting us was a family, the son so excited that he’d get to see a boat in a lock he was bouncing up and down, higher and higher as we got closer. With two extra helpers, one who was almost jumping on board for a ride with us, it took no time to descend the lock.

A quick pause to take the obligatory photos, the mile post (which doesn’t mark the centre of the T&M but the central point between Shardlow and Preston Brook) and the potting shed with chimney.

Aston Marina looked inviting but other than stopping for a third roast in a row (this one would have been very much better than yesterdays and they have a gluten free menu too) we had no need to stop. As we pootled our way along rain showers came and went, nothing too wet thank goodness.

At Sandon Lock a boat was coming up so we manged to swap with them, very well timed. The amount of extra crew on hand suggested there was a queue below and as I hopped back on board the three boats started to nudge up closer to await their turn. One thing I noticed was that the lock cottage at last has a new low wall and fence, there has been a temporary fence there for years!

Mick was disappointed as always at there being no trains zooming past us on the parallel line, he always drops the revs in such places making the window of opportunity that bit longer.

There has been some work done to Salt Bridge. A new edge towpath side and arrows guiding you into the bridge hole as though on a steep bend in a car. Here”s hoping these measures enable the bridge to stand for many years to come.

The next bend brings with it permanent moorings. Here a new character was sat on the roof of a boat, bedraggled from the rain looking totally deflated. I won’t post the photo I took of Dante as he is still obviously in a bad way and has been mixing with the wrong crowd for far too long!

Now we wanted a mooring, it was lunch time and the sniffle Mick had started with yesterday was increasing to sneezes. As the railway moved away we pulled in on some armco. Within ten minutes the heavens opened and emptied itself, luckily we were indoors, Tilly was out and only returned when it got exceptionally heavy. After a quick bath she’d sit at the back door and wait quietly for one of us to open it for her, again.

We’ve lots of chicken to eat, so I decided to make some pancakes to stuff. Buckwheat pancake batter is best made ahead of time and left to rest. I’d checked the recipe and a while later weighed out the flour (must add Buckwheat flour to shopping list), cracked an egg into the bowl, a pinch of salt, but how much milk? I checked, 300ml. I measured it out added half of it to the bowl and mixed. Blimey this flour must have got drier or something! I was going to need an awful lot more milk to make the batter into a suitable consistency.

I checked the recipe, 300ml of milk was correct, but I’d remembered the quantity of flour wrong. 100 grams not 300! Should I start again, there’d be enough flour, but I also had enough milk and eggs so could make a lot of batter.

In the end I decided that this would be less wasteful and I could freeze the remainder. Yes I know I’d nearly emptied the freezer to defrost it, but we’ll try to consume the batter in the next week. I wonder if buckwheat pancake batter will make Yorkshire Puddings? The batter is more or less the same with normal flour.

Mick sat and worked his way through a box of tissues whilst watching The Battle of Britain. The heavens continually opened up all afternoon and evening. A perfect Bank Holiday Monday.

2 locks, 5.69 miles, 1 Insta friend, 2 damp boaters, 3 in a queue, 0 trains, 1 soggy moggy, 1 tasty starter, 1.3kg of pancake batter, 2 tuperwares in the freezer keeping half a tub of ice cream company, 1 classic film, 3 lemsips, 1 box tissues, 4 savoury pancakes, 4 sweet pancakes, 1 double rainbow, 2 ball experiment of none stripy stripy sock.

https://goo.gl/maps/n79G5ofpSggUqnJx7

Taking Our Time Getting Ready. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th January

Crick Marina to Cracks Hill to Crick Wharf to Crick Marina

As you can see we’ve spent the last few days moving, well a bit! We’ve been getting ourselves ready for cruising.

On Wednesday we moved out to Cracks Hill, here Tilly could have a bit more carefree time ashore and we could send emails to the now post festive period working world that was waking up again. With these things done we booked delivery slots with both Ocado and Sainsburys and then started to fill our baskets with supplies.

Thursday we winded after a slow start and headed into Crick Marina late morning. We’d been hoping to see a coal boat to stock up, but only NB Callisto had passed and despite having been sent a text message, he didn’t seem interested in selling anything as the boats sheets were up and he passed the moored boats with his back to us all. So Crick Marina got our trade instead. The diesel tank was filled up and 5 bags of Excel were loaded onto Oleanna’s roof before we headed back out onto the cut.

Crick Wharf was empty so we pulled in tying Oleanna as close to the bridge in front of The Moorings as the rings and bollards would allow. This left plenty of space at the water point for any passing boats. The Moorings has been closed for a festive break and not due to reopen until next week, so we wouldn’t be in their way. Patchy internet was worked round and we added and amended our shopping until the last minute. The washing machine was set to work to try to empty the dirty linen drawer whilst close to a water point.

Friday morning came and we were ready for our first delivery. We’d decided to use both Ocado and Sainsburys this time. Jaq from NB Valerie had pointed me in the direction of a different brand of gluten free all purpose flour, more expensive than the regularly available Doves Farm, but better for baking, so I thought I’d give it a try. Ocado stock it but Sainsburys doesn’t. So most of our shopping arrived with Michael in his Green Apple van shortly before 10am. This took some stowing, filling up much of the cupboards, fridge and space under the back steps. The freezer needed a bit of sorting out so that I could fit a chicken into it once it had been jointed. Most things were now stocked up, apart from the wine cellar!

More washing was done, Tilly had her pooh box refreshed, we had our pooh bucket refreshed and even some of the cupboards had a freshen up with a touch of polish before my head suggested I should have a sit down. Mick managed to make a phone call, using the wi-fi at The Moorings, following up an email we’d sent. This was received positively, our purpose for cruising northwards now confirmed. We’ve been in winter mode since part way through the summer due to my work, so we’re both quite excited about moving again and travelling some distances. Here’s hoping the weather plays ball!

Part way through the afternoon a green pepper van arrived from Sainsburys. A much smaller shop, mostly consisting of boxes of wine strangely enough. Even though we had to pay £4 for the delivery this was saved on one box of wine compared to the price at Ocado and Mick got some cheese twists too, so he’s a happy man.

During the afternoon my new socks were modelled by the two of us for photos. Father Christmas had commissioned me to knit these for our stockings with different wool than I’ve been using. A touch more expensive, but that can be felt in their softness. Even Mick unprovoked said how nice they were. So once the internet signal is improved I’ll be adding them to my Etsy shop, bespoke socks knitted to order.

Saturday and Tilly had cabin fever. After a cooked breakfast we emptied the yellow water tank, topped up the fresh water tank, disposed of the last bits of rubbish and then winded. Back up to near the marina entrance to moor for the day, there was still one thing we wanted to do before setting off.

Tilly spent much of the day coming and going, standing up against the woofers out for a nice walk on the towpath. Mick climbed down into the engine bay to give Oleanna some TLC with an oil change and a new filter. I walked into the village for the first time since we arrived to find some lighter gas for our kerchunk kerchunks that we use to light candles and the fire with. Today is the first day since my migraine that I have felt normal again. So I wanted to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. Thank you for the suggestion from Don regarding red wine helping to combat migraines. Sadly it’s been a few years since I could drink wine of the red variety as it didn’t agree with me about four years ago. But the same active ingredient is present in blueberries and chocolate. We tend to have blueberries most days at breakfast, but had run out, I just can’t have been consuming enough chocolate to make up for it!

During the afternoon we de-christmassed the boat. All the lights wrapped back up and boxed, baubles and silver ribbon put back in the Christmas Hamper for another year. The top shelf in the front cupboard lowered so as to store the hamper again. I was commended for my good behaviour with the deaf things. I’d managed to leave them all alone, not one of them managed to reach the floor. I got special Christmas stocking Dreamies for my achievement. She put them all away in a big box, that wasn’t right, I needed to sit in the big box not those deaf little balls!

The last thing for us to do in Crick was to catch up with our friend Lizzie. We’d missed out on a New Years meal at The Red Lion with her, so this evening we met up and had a belated New Years meal. All three of us enjoyed one of their steaks with proper chips followed by puddings and accompanied by a couple of glasses of wine. We toasted in the new year and caught up on each others news a lovely way to spend our last evening in Crick for a while.

0 locks, 1.54 miles, 2 winds, 1 big headache, 3 moorings, 4 loads washing, 2 vans, 5th season of Luther, 4 woofers seen off, 0 Roger still, 3 ribeyes, 6 glasses of wine, 5 days late New Year, 1 clean pooh bucket, 1 clean pooh box, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 1 full diesel tank, 8.5 bags coal, 6 boxes, 500g Jaq flour, 9 litres oil, 1 filter, 1 boat ready and chomping at the bit to cruise.

A Guest Dingdinger. 27th December

Butchers Bridge

I’m not too sure about it here.

t took sometime to get the message across to them this morning that I wanted to go out, but it worked in the end. The narrow strip of outside is now really quite boring and there are far too many people on the towpath and even more Woofers. I gave up trying to get across the bridge and decided that a morning snooze would be a far better way to spend my time.

Tom kept coming and going to the bins, I got a clean pooh box and she spent time chopping and cooking again.

Anne and Alasdair were on their way back to Scotland from spending Christmas with family in Wiltshire, a long drive which we helped to break up. Mick walked up to meet them whilst I put a batch of sausage rolls in the oven. It was very good to see them and hear of their Christmas with the grandchildren as we munched our way through the rolls and a slice of birthday cake each.

Next time I make sausage rolls I’m going to try to make my own GF pastry. The ready rolled variety seems to end up being a touch chewy once baked. I’ve hunted for a recipe online and found one to try, but I also got the River Cottage Gluten Free Cookbook for Christmas which has recipes. These however would mean purchasing several different flours which you can’t just pick up in any supermarket. We may have to have another Ocado delivery for them, but then there will need to be somewhere to store them all. I joked with Anne about maybe having a small tender larder that we could tow around. We have to be careful about such comments to Anne as when we joked about buying the house next door to ours in Scarborough and knocking through to give us more space, a few months later the house came on the market. We now own said house which has been knocked through!

At ding ding time today my bell was rung by Anne, it gave a slightly different tone to normal. Maybe that’s because she plays drums lots and is an expert percussionist. My food still tasted the same.

Early evening we walked up the path to the village to The Plough for some food. We’d hoped to try out the Admiral Nelson, but they I believe have just changed hands and are not doing food until the end of January. We hadn’t fancied The Boat House with their two for one and we’d heard good things about The Plough, it being away from the canal often gets forgotten about by boaters.

It certainly wasn’t busy, the menu was fairly standard and the pie of the day had to be checked. As Mick pointed out, I tend to eat a lot more steak than I used to as most options on a pub menu involve things I don’t eat anymore, a shame, but hey. However today there were no steaks available, they’d not re-stocked since Christmas. I had a tasty Lamb Shank whilst everyone else opted for Chicken and Ham pie. The pie looked like it could have done with a touch longer in the oven to get some colour on the pastry and the chips could have done with a touch more cooking. An average meal, we didn’t bother to stay for pudding.

We waved goodbye to Anne and Alasdair who headed off to their hotel for the night, then made our way back to the boat to start to consume the chocolate mountain on board.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 visitors, 16 sausage rolls, 2 balls wool, 1 pattern, 4 bottle beer, 1 afternoon chatting, 3 undercooked pies, 1 lamb shank, 1.5 pints Hobgoblin, 1 pint Doombar, 1 very large glass for 1 bottle of Crabbies, 2 whips (what happened to the walnuts?!), 1 Santa, 1 reindeer, 1 Luther.

Tilly Weissmuller 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th September

Basecote Aqueduct to Fosse Top Lock to Radford Semele

There’s a bit of catching up to do around here!

Saturday was meant to rain, lots. The skies only opened up when Mick had headed off into the village for a newspaper. Sods law really, but at least he didn’t get a soaking and returned to the boat not too damp. Tilly spent much of the day out in the sideways trees enjoying herself whilst I had a serious day of doing technical drawings for Panto. I’d originally thought this would only take a couple of days, but it ended up being more like four, lucky there were more than four days in hand.

The pound we were in is above Basecote Staircase locks, which means that quite a lot of water gets used from the pound, more so than if it was just a single lock. Therefore the level was down, we remembered this from our last time of mooring here as we rose by a few inches to then drop again depending on boat movements and back pumping.

The moorings here are okay, but we quite like to have a view, this was lacking. So on Sunday we decided to move on and find a bit more sky. A mile further on was the staircase, two boats were coming up. So we waited our turn. Below I could see another boat waiting to come up, I walked down to see if they were happy to do a shuffle. I think one of the boats already in the locks had suggested this to them and the chap was getting his head around how this would work.

With a staircase of two you need the top chamber to be full and the bottom one to be empty, no matter which direction you are going in. You use the top chambers water to raise the bottom one and then either fill the top chamber or empty the bottom one depending on which way you are going.

We came into the top as they came into the bottom. The paddles between the two chambers were lifted to level them, gates opened, boats swapped positions, gates closed and we could both be on our way again. This is an efficient way of using the locks, one more boat in the mix would have made it more so. But we shared the water and left the locks set for the next boat to come along, normally you have to empty or fill one of them. Just a shame we were now on our own for the rest of the flight.

The next few pounds were also low, we kept spotting places to moor only for the bottom to be too close to the top! We’d considered stopping by Welsh Road Lock 18 as the cottage here sold chilled medication. There were big signs out and a full menu to choose from as you waited or worked the lock. However below the lock we simply couldn’t get into the bank, we tried a few times. If the selection of medication had been more unique, less standard, Magnums etc, then I think we would have persevered. Well if it had been a proper chilled medication parlour we’d have headed to the counter having left Oleanna on the lock landing!

Down another lock still with no luck on the depth front, until we reached the next lock. Here there were a couple of boats moored up, one on a jaunty list. We decided to give it a go as the amount of sky was good and there was suitable space for Tilly to play. The depth was just okay, phew! So for the afternoon Tilly played in the sun shine, Mick listened to the test match and I carried on with my drawings. These 1930’s locks are quiet, no click click click of the paddle gear, so we only noticed boats coming up the lock as the level dropped.

The radio reception wasn’t so good, Mick had ended up having to listen to the cricket via the internet, moving would hopefully improve matters. So on Monday morning we pushed off to cross to the lock, just as a lady walked round the bend with a windlass in hand. Marvellous, we had a buddy for the last four locks down to Leamington Spa. NB Talpa Secunda were heading to the Saltisford Arm before starting their climb up Hatton.

At just about each lock someone was either exiting or arriving just at the right times which meant there were fewer opening and closing of gates needed. Mick handily spotted Raymond and Nuffield breasted up coming through a bridge hole in time to be able to hold back behind some moored boats.

Kingfishers lurked in the trees their high pitched cheeps giving them away.

Down Wood Lock we waved goodbye to our lock buddies and paused to get rid of rubbish. Here there were a couple of glass recycling bins and four normal Biffa bins. Surrounding the bins was a mountain of bags. First impressions were that the bins were full. Two were, but the ones at the back weren’t. Why are some boaters so bloomin’ lazy! There was even a plastic bag full of newspapers and glass bottles leaning against the half filled glass bin. Mick did his bit to help reduce the mountain of bags and filled one of the bins at the back before we moved further along.

A mile along and the sky returns, a field rising up to Radford Semele church, a popular mooring. We pulled in, it only being 11:30am there was plenty of space so we moored at the end of a length of armco. The doors were opened up, Tilly let out to explore her new surroundings, the radio worked so Mick was quite content listening to Alastair Cook scoring his final test century against India and I got the drawing board out again!

The outsides that they have tied down recently had all been quite good, but today was that bit different. Here there were new friends to find and play with. I made the most of it bringing them home to introduce them. One friend was certainly very different. Most are furry and have long tails and squeak with excitement as we play. But this one was long and slender, maybe it was just a tail and had lost it’s body! How careless, I wouldn’t be without my tail. It didn’t squeak either, it made a funny noise and stuck it’s tongue out at me, very rude. We played for a while until I fancied some dingding.

Mick had been concerned at Tilly doing her Johnny Weismuller impression with a snake. But luckily it must have just been a small grass snake and no harm was done to Tilly, not sure about her friend!

The cricket had been exciting, so Mick decided to see how easy it would be to get to The Oval for the final days play. Now being over 60 he bought himself an old fogey railcard and a train ticket.

The alarm was set early and Mick headed off down the towpath to catch the 8am train, leaving me to finish off my work. Tilly spent the day coming and going, her new friend not wanting to play today, I did try to find him. A treat lunch was needed for me to help push me on for the final few hours at the drawing board. Ocado had delivered some gluten free fish fingers, so I made a good sized butty to keep me going. I was just about to start the final drawing when a boat bashed into the side of Oleanna. What the…?

I went outside to see if all was okay and see if I could help the Kate Hire boat. The crew were all looking the other way, were they hoping nobody had noticed their lapse of concentration? No, they were all looking at a man swimming in the canal. I went to see if I could help pull him out, but others had got to him. What I could do though was stop their dog who had jumped in from running along the towpath. He stopped when he saw me and turned back to be picked up by the very soggy man who was just in his pants. Someone was going to need a good hot shower!

Mick had a very good day at the cricket. Jimmy Anderson, England’s fast bowler had beaten the record of the number of wickets taken, England won the final test match of the summer by 118 runs and he was there on the last day of Alastair Cooks Test Match carreer. Watching the highlights later on, he managed to spot himself up on the balcony.

10 locks, 2 a staircase which we shuffled through, 4.78 miles, 2 many low pounds, 2 few places to moor, 1 lock buddy, 2 full days drawing, 2 half days, 1 final test match of the summer, 2 trains, 4 tubes, 1 day at the cricket, 1 snake, 1 soggy dog, 1 soggy man, 1 model packed and ready, 12 sheets of working drawings, 5 groundplans, 1 storage plan, 4 fish fingers, 2 slices of bread, 1 squirt of tomato ketchup, 1 lean, yummy.

https://goo.gl/maps/NAYPBY5yX5F2

A Rare Pleasure. 6th September

Welton Hythe to Flecknoe Field Farms Bridge 103, Oxford Canal

Few people like two way tunnels, even fewer like those that have dog legs in them. Braunston Tunnel has quite a big kink between 400 and 300m from the south portal, we know where it is and try our best to avoid meeting anybody there. Today we decided to see if we could get through the tunnel before the masses started to move. So the alarm clock was set, cuppas made to drink on the way, rather than in bed. The sun was low in the sky and we definitely needed our extra layers on. Such a lovely start to the day with that autumnal feel in the air.

We were at Norton Junction by 7:40am. Here the hire boat we’d followed yesterday were filling with water, had they known what laid ahead they would have waited to fill their tank! We rounded the bend to see a boat tagged onto the end of the new armco that is being installed. So long as the depth is suitable this is likely to become a new favourite mooring for many as the view is great. All the hedges are fighting to hold the mass of red berries now. A red glow lines the canal at times.

A sudden flash of blue, then another. Two Kingfishers having a bit of argee bargee wove around each other in front of us for a short while, of course no where near long enough to turn my camera on let alone take a photo! In the morning sunlight their backs were more a turquoise than the usual electric blue.

As we approached the tunnel we could see a blue t-shirt and life jacket start to walk towards us. We were arriving at just gone 8am.

Braunston Tunnel is a broad tunnel, so two narrowboats can pass each other (except when they biff into one another at the dog leg). However if you are in a widebeam you need to book passage so that traffic can be held back at the other end of the tunnel. Passage for widebeams is at 8am and ahead of us there were two of the big brutes. The C&RT chap came to chat, it turned out that we had arrived at just the right moment. The widebeams would take their time to go through, so as we would be much faster we’d be allowed to go through ahead of them. We just had to wait for two coming the other way. As we moved to the front of the queue to wait our turn we could see the lights coming towards us, not far away.

First a Calcutt hire boat popped out, they had also arrived at a good time. The second boat was a cruiser who hadn’t wanted to meet a narrowboat in the tunnel as if there had been a biff, the cruiser with it’s grp sides would have come off a lot worse for wear.

We were then given the thumbs up by the man in blue. Life jackets on, tunnel light on, cabin lights on and big torch at the stern. We were off, happy in the knowledge that there was no chance of anyone coming towards us. On entering the south portal we hit a wall of fumes and then very warm air that steamed our glasses up for quite a while. About a third of the way through the noises changed in the tunnel, we could tell we’d been joined by another boat behind. Two big lights on the bow, no need for them to be focused up at the roof as the likely hood of a widebeam meeting anyone coming the other way is very slim. As we got further north the temperature dropped and by the time we were coming out the other end it was cold to say the least. We pulled in at the end of the moorings and settled down to have breakfast having enjoyed our tunnel trip, knowing that someone knew we were in there is quite reassuring.

Knowing that the two widebeams were likely to be followed by the hire boat we waited for them to arrive so that we could share Braunston locks. This took quite some time. First the blue widebeam came past and carried on down the flight. We waited, and waited, and waited. How long was the other boat going to take to come through? At least an hour and twenty minutes had passed from us mooring up before the very wide widebeam pulled up, using his thrusters so much it made us wonder if the boat had a tiller at all. A few minutes later the hire boat appeared, waved on by the C&RT chap at this end of the tunnel. We made ready and pulled into the lock to await our lock buddies. However after an hour of sitting behind the widebeam they needed a break and some fresh air, so pulled in themselves. The lock was in our favour and boats coming up, so we set off on our own. As the Lockie said you can’t make someone do the flight just because it’s ready and waiting for them, certainly not after lungs full of someone else’s fumes.

Working our way down we passed several boats coming up, all very well timed. On reaching the lock by the Admiral Nelson it was half full. One of the bottom gate paddles hadn’t been shut properly so it was gradually draining. No one was heading our way so I topped it up and down we went. We were now following another boat, the lock ahead was empty and had been left open for one coming up. Perfect timing again as I’d spotted wool hanging from the grab rail of Riverknits boat moored just above the lock. Becci came out to check her wool and spotted us, so time for a chat and catch up in person rather than just virtually on Instagram.

No reason to stop in Braunston, we still have some bangers (anyway they are not gluten free!) we carried on to Braunston Turn. The Midland Chandlers mooring was so full, one boat had tied up their stern and left the bow to drift, ‘Won’t be a minute mate!’ to pick up some new ropes. He wasn’t blocking our route, so we didn’t mind as we veered to the left under one arch of the double bridge. Now we just needed to find a suitable mooring. There are plenty to choose from if you don’t want to be by a road. We carried on hoping to find one with a gap in the hedge for a view.This being the Oxford Canal, gaps are few and far between, so in the end we opted for a good view on the off side and pulled up in time for lunch.

6 hours! Brilliant, then it started to rain, even more Brilliant! We closed up the covers leaving Tilly access at the back. The afternoon was spent stewing apples, jointing a chicken for the freezer and then the drawing board came back out, time to do proper working drawings for Panto. Boats came past the crews getting very wet, it wasn’t until after 4 when the hire boat came past, good job we’d not waited for them. The stove was lit and we enjoyed our first Blackberry and Apple crumble of the year. We just need to top up on berries tomorrow so that there can be a couple more waiting in the freezer.

Our friend Frank has been trying to send me a photo for the last week by text. With the signal around Crick I kept getting messages informing of the message, just not the picture. Frank kept trying and we kept waiting wondering what was so important to persevere. Had he found a stash of ancient coins and jewellery whilst digging his garden? Had he won the Lottery? Had he died his hair red? Was he wanting to show us a wonderful bit of marquetry he’d just done? Had someone we’d not seen for years been to visit? Had the tide in Scarborough gone out so far that it had revealed the location of Atlantis? Well at last we got to see it. Scroll to the end of this post to see what was so important.

6 locks, 7.62 miles, 1 right, 1 left, 1 way tunnel, 2 fat boats, 2 sheets of drawings, 4 soggy paws, 1 box full of interesting things, 1 cat about to loose her nose! 1st crumble, 1 stove lit, 23 apples plopping from the tree behind.

https://goo.gl/maps/vyGmosn2tDH2

A plastic jug full of Blackberries!

The Last 11ft 6” To Birmingham. 15th April

Merry Hill to Sheepcote Street Bridge, Birmingham

As we sat having our breakfast the sound of fishermen’s trolleys kept passing us, we were going to be in the middle of a match. The start time was confirmed by the chap sat just behind us, luckily we had enough time to get past them all before they started. A far greyer day than yesterday and we soon wished we’d not let the stove go out over night. We dressed back in waterproofs and plenty of layers which we were grateful for.

Just short of a mile and a half further on was the last lock up to the level of Birmingham, Blowers Green Lock. A couple walked up and offered to help with the gates. They were on their Sunday morning walk and always stop for a little rest at the lock, each having their own lock beam to sit on. Gradually the lock filled and Oleanna had finished the climb up to the New Main Line level. We pulled up round the corner to top up with water and dispose of our rubbish.

Another boat appeared and proceeded to wind above the lock. There is plenty of space here but they managed to get very close to the off side where two fishermen were sat. Using the throttle a great deal the poor chaps sat on the bank must have got wet legs!

Now on the Dudley NO 2 Canal we wound our way around Primrose Hill making our way towards Bumble Hole. The towpath has informative steel sculptures along the way. Some inform you of distances other about the history of the Black Country. The bouncing bomb shell casing, the anchor for the Titanic, and how graffiti changed the name of one of the bridges.

We pulled in opposite the cafe at Bumble Hole for lunch. If ever there was an M mooring here was one. But try as I did they wouldn’t let me out, I could have stayed for days and not run out of trees to climb.

Fed and watered we were ready for Netherton Tunnel.

At 2776m long it was the last canal tunnel to be built in the Canal Age, opening in 1858. Being 27ft wide it allowed two way traffic and has a towpath on both sides which helped greatly with the bottle neck that occurred at the Dudley Tunnel. You can see straight through and the only other traffic we encountered was walkers paddling their way along the towpath. It must a thing to do with the kids on a Sunday afternoon, but very damp and extremely cold today.

Popping out the other side it had taken us 30 minutes. Under the Old Main Line and four picturesque cottages sit by the canal. One is for sale, but I’m sure the anti-theft shutters would put quite a few off viewing it! Straight on until we had to turn at Dudley Port Junction, here we chose to go right, just as well as to the left the canal is closed at the moment!

The New Main Line is straight for what seems like miles. It’s depth and lack of moored boats mean that the miles get ticked off relatively quickly, just as well as it was now raining!

My navigation duties were hard trying to keep Mick on a straight course, so many junctions and loops. Every now and again you came to a central island forcing you to go right to the side. Were these the canal equivalent to speed bumps, designed to slow boats down? Several Canada Geese were making use of them for nesting sites, keeping a beady on us as we passed.

We were getting quite wet and chilled to the bone by now, familiar landmarks passing us by. The Spon Lane locks taking the canal up to the Old Main Line level and it’s pretty bridges, Steward Aqueduct the M5 and railway all crossing each other, Galton Bridge with it’s high span followed by the short tunnel, the Engine Arm on it’s ornate aqueduct.

Relieved to see the signs for Sherborne Wharf we had reached our destination for the day, we just needed to find an Oleanna sized gap. A familiar boat loomed out before Sheepcote Street Bridge, NB Leon. Only a few days ago we’d been wondering if ever we’d get to meet up with this boat on the cut and here she was. We could just make out a waving hand at the front doors. But before we went to tap on the roof we found a mooring, got the stove alight, and warmed up.

Sorry, but new crew are required! The outside earlier on was where they should have moved us to, not here and this brick wall!

NB Leon belongs to Noel and Carolyn, Noel used to work at Crick Marina and we’ve got to know him over the last few years. He kindly let us moor Oleanna next to Lillian in Crick Marina last year for us to move from one boat to the other. Invited in we were given a full guided tour of NB Leon. A Tyler Wilson Northwich shell built to Noel and Carolyn’s spec, she had arrived at Crick as a lined sailaway with a few extra bits, this is when we last saw inside her. They have done a beautiful job with the fit out and Noel certainly has mastered scumbling for the back cabin. A very handsome boat indeed.

We finished off the day by treating ourselves to a burger and chips each at The Handmade Burger Company around the corner. When we were in Birmingham about three years ago they had no gas so we’d been given two vouchers for future use. Today we at last got to use the second voucher. They also do Gluten Free bread buns which is great, I can actually enjoy a burger as it should be.

1 lock, 12.9 miles, 2 tunnels, 7 mysterons, 1 right, 10 straight ons, 1 rightish, 25 fishermen, 2 soggy chilled boaters, 1 miffed cat! 1 familiar boat, 1.5 hours boaters chat, 1 pretty back cabin, 2 glasses wine, 2 burgers, 2 chips, 0 Torvil and Dean for us.

Severn River level at 9am today (at Bewdley a mile upstream from Stourport) 1.719m.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna