We’d been in touch with Tom last week hoping that we’d be able to take a load of things down to the boat, a hire van was booked and first thing Monday morning Mick headed off on a bus to pick up a hire van. We then spent an hour loading it with definite boaty items that had been sat in the boat cupboard or on our dining room floor awaiting their return.
Finishing things off
Unfortunately I had a panto deadline looming so needed to spend the day taking photos of my model box, checking over drawings and making a list of paints I’ll be needing in a few months time. Mick headed off on his own hoping to arrive before Claire the sign writer had finished for the day. His journey down wasn’t too bad and he arrived around lunchtime. Claire was busy giving Oleanna her name back.
Claire busy giving Oleanna her name back
Photos came through from Mick whilst I worked away back in Scarborough. Oleanna’s newly painted cream cabin sides had been marked up with tape where her lines and shadows will be, Tom will mask these out and spray them another day. But their positioning was important to get her name in the right place. My emailed instructions to Claire had requested the shadow on the letters to be towards the stern of Oleanna on both sides. Usually the shadow on lettering is either to the left or the right and is a constant side no matter which side of the boat you are on. However, because I’m me, I want the shadows to be constant as if the sun was in front of Oleanna. When originally sign written nobody had passed this information on to Andy Russell who ended up wiping off the paint thankfully before it had dried. Mick checked and the shadows were in the right place today.
Tom was found elsewhere working on hatch doors. These are taken off the boat and popped in a different room for spraying. Colours were checked for the rear sliding hatch. On my original model this had been red, but it had ended up being painted blue in Sheffield. Today the decision was should it be red, blue or cream? Red would only fade in time. Cream would be boring, so back to blue it would go. Only downside is that it will get hot in the sun.
A top shelf was cleared in the paint shed stores so that our possessions could be unloaded. Mick had taken some dust sheets to lay over them as even in a separate room from the paint shed they may well get dusty. By the end of the day Tom sent a photo of everything covered up, all our bedding ready to go back on board. Mick was back in Scarborough at a reasonable time. Our first load of possessions now back close to the boat, but most importantly, not in the house!
Scarborough Station
Tuesday was a very early start. Mick gave me a lift to catch the 5:44 train to York, model box and technical drawings packed away in my blue Ikea bag. I had time to scour the shelves of Sainsburys at York Station for things I could eat for breakfast/lunch. Some fruit, a nut bar and a quinoa salad.
Next train was direct to Banbury, I was so very glad I had a seat booked all the way, close to the luggage rack and didn’t have to stand like SO many others did. A lift from Helen who worked on props last year over to Chippy where I set up the model, requested a cuppa and was ready for our meeting at 11:30.
Chippy Theatre and Holly Hocks
Helen (Props), Paul (Technician), John (Artistic Director), Caroline (Director) and Gemma (Production Manager were all in attendance. On Monday Gemma and I had met with Jamie the set builder and talked through the builds, we already knew the design was over budget. The build cost came in from Jamie, we’d need to prune some items and simplify others to get the price down. I never like doing this without the Director present as they may have different ideas as to what is really important, especially when a new section of script hadn’t come my way yet.
A good meeting, a few items cut, some discussed to be simpler and thankfully Caroline had the same opinion as me on other cuts that shouldn’t happen. Stocks of paint were checked. Props and staffing were chatted about, quite a full on few hours.
The theatre was full of small people doing a dress rehearsal for an end of term show. Astronauts, pumpkins, superheros and slices of cake amongst others were rounded up through the narrow corridors of backstage, if you wanted to reach front of house it was far Far simpler to walk around the outside of the building.
The River Ouse
A lift back to the station where thankfully I had another reserved seat all the way to York, avoiding having to stand most of the way as so many others had to! Three quarters of an hour wait in York meant I could walk to Scarborough Bridge to count the number of boats on the River Ouse moored at Museum Gardens. The Minster was busy donging, celebrating it being Tuesday, the sixth since Mick and I became Civil Partners. Back to Scarborough for a well earned glass of wine before bed.
Early Wednesday morning we listened to two pixies delivering camp beds to our front door. The rest of the day was spent packing more of our possessions away in the house. The boat cupboard that had almost been emptied on Monday, now became groaningly full. Tilly got totally confused as wardrobes were emptied, spices and herbs packed into boxes, everything rationalised, our existence in the house moved into the room we call the Shed and the boat cupboard. Thursday followed with a visit from our cleaners who made our bedroom look very inviting for our next lodger, Tilly inspected everything before extra covers were added to protect the freshly made bed. Mick and I would now be sleeping in the Shed and my work room. Tilly persevered sitting on our bed overnight, not quite able to relax as for her our move back to Oleanna was imminent, to us it’s still at least a couple of weeks away.
I spent time working on alternative versions for one scene of panto, drawing them up and sending them on to Jamie to price up. A visit to Oleanna was hoped for, but during Friday they would be spraying paint, so it wouldn’t be a good day to visit. Instead we arranged to go down next Monday, hoping we’d be able to catch Claire finishing off the bow. No photos came through from Tom, maybe not much had changed, maybe they were masking things off.
On Saturday and Sunday Scarborough was celebrating Seafest and 400 years of being the first seaside resort. Seafest (an annual event) is normally held on one of the piers, but major works are happening there this year, so celebrations were held at The Spa instead. The community stage was in the Suncourt and the main acts/bands were inside in the Grand Hall. The Ocean Room was taken over with stalls from historical groups and Animated Objects.
A cardboard recreation of the Pump Room had been made, people were invited to colour in paper tiles to help decorate it. Lee gave a very good talk on the history of the spa waters in Scarborough and how their discovery led to the town becoming a tourist destination. Games stickers and a LOT of old work colleagues who turn up to work for Animated Objects at such big events. Lovely to see everyone, hear some of them sing and then enjoy some chilled medication before heading home (well the words on the steps told us we had too!).
Seafest fireworks viewed from the Esplinade
Sunday evening Alex, our third lodger arrived. Alex was one of our original lodgers back in 2021 when we first put our names on the theatre digs list, it’s lovely to have her back and we look forward to her performance as Margaret Thatcher in Handbagged at the SJT in a couple of weeks time.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire van filled, 1 visit, 1 boat with her name again, 1 confused cat, 1 full cupboard, 1 empty wardrobe, 1 pantry reduced, 1 Tom at the very top, 1 She squashed in the Shed, 1 Tilly uncertain where to go! 2 days of Seafest, 1 firework display, 6 in Raven, 20 ? Manhattan Voices, 100kg Lego Spa, 2 many old friends to mention, 1 CD required Duncan with the song about traveling to see someone a long way away please!
Well, this week we’ve been waiting for news on progress from Tom. Mick tried giving him a call on Thursday, but got no answer. He was possibly being too noisy doing jobs, we hope.
A message was left regarding the leak into the bow thruster locker. We’ve heard nothing back from Finesse, which was expected, sadly.
A pretty full diddy car for the weekend
On Friday we packed up a hire car, full to the brim for a weekend away in the Dales with family. Fairly soon after we arrived at our destination, we got a message through from Tom saying he’d only just heard our message.
‘All well at the shop, pretty much ready for epoxy and high build, it’s going to be a productive week with the first main colour of cream on by the end of next week.’ He’s going to send photos at the end of each spray stage. He then wished us a great weekend. Did he know something that not many people knew !?!
Edale and Kirk Yetholm are the opposite ends of the Pennine Way
The weekend was billed as a ‘Not Quite Birthday Weekend’ up at the curly wurlys on the Leeds Liverpool Canal, above Bank Newton Locks. Back in January we’d been looking for a venue/location for a celebration. It is my 60th birthday this coming Christmas, and for at least a decade I’ve been wanting to hold a party to celebrate a big birthday. Nineteen years ago I had a 40.5 party at the beginning of July, this decade there is an extra reason to celebrate a year early.
Thank you for suggestions for venues from some of you. These were looked at, but none really grabbed us. I then remembered seeing a sign alongside the canal above Bank Newton Locks on the Leeds Liverpool, something to do with cottages. For my 50th this had been discounted, as I’d been looking for a location with a nearby pub, a campsite along with bricks and mortar accommodation for a party. But maybe, just maybe, it would be worth going to look at the holiday cottages and see if we’d be able to have a do a Grange Newton.
Grange Newton seen from the canal
On a rather damp January day we drove over and met with Rachel and had a guided tour round most of the cottages, all six on site would accommodate 24 people. If we wanted to have more for a do then we’d be needing to have a marquee and extra toilets. We chatted through various options, two fields were possible locations, and a grassy area by the main car park. One field was almost below our all time favourite mooring on the whole network, which back in January was occupied by our friend Chris on NB Elektra (sorry we didn’t come to say hello it was really quite a soggy day). The price of catering, a mobile bar, marquee hire, were all considered whilst sat in the farmhouse kitchen having a cuppa with Rachel. We then walked up to stand on Bridge 164 and a decision was made. We’d keep the do just to family, they’d fill the cottages, there’d be room for us incase we couldn’t get there by boat, other options all felt a touch too weddingy.
Invites were sent out for the Not Quite Birthday Weekend, billed as 59.5 + 68.11. Thankfully everyone thought it was a great idea, Mick’s family tend to be up for such things and my family quite like Mick’s, so they were game for it too.
Oleanna’s repaint being delayed meant that our first planned cruise up to York didn’t happen. Then on to Leeds and a climb up onto the Leeds Liverpool Canal also couldn’t happen, good job we’d made sure there’d be enough room for us too! Just a shame that Tilly would have to stay at the house and not be hunting for friends in the field that sits between the canal and the cottages.
So now back to Friday just gone, we packed the car with baked goods, clothes and two barbeques, the hope was that the weather would be fine enough to make use of them on Saturday night. We made it over to the cottages around 1pm and collected a key for one of the cottages where a gazebo had been erected to offer us some shade/cover depending on the weather. A visit to Robertshaws Farm Shop followed, here we bought ourselves some lunch and had hoped to stock up on meat for the barbeque, sadly nothing really took our fancy even though it was an interesting shop.
Back to the cottages to await various cars coming from across the UK and a very big Sainsbury’s order. The shopping arrived, as did most of our siblings, just one of Mick’s sisters and the London Leckenbys who were cutting it fine for a curry at the Bollywood Cottage down in Gargrave. But all twelve of the early arrivals managed a very nice sit down curry before heading back to meet with the next generation and their offspring, school and work having delayed their arrival. Sometime around 10pm the last car arrived and the youngest generation squealed and ran to greet each other.
The youngest pushing and pulling lock gates
Saturday was a day for people to do what they wanted until late afternoon. We popped into Skipton to purchase meat for the hoped for barbecue, the weather not playing ball in the morning or early afternoon. I set about icing cupcakes and prepping various bits of food for the feast later whilst others headed off to explore Barnoldswick, others walked down to Gargrave via the lock flight gongoozling and helping with gates as a hire boat made its way up. There was just enough time after handing out jobs for a quick stroll along the towpath to visit our favourite mooring. One boat occupied what has now become pole position, where the wall has collapsed giving a better view across to Newton Grange from inside a narrowboat. What a shame we couldn’t be there on Oleanna, but at least we were there.
The view from our favourite mooring
Party clothes were left in bags, too damp for those! After my walk I did have to change as I’d got rather soggy, but warmth was the order of the evening.
Monopoly, such a serious game!
Next problem was to collect everyone together on the terrace for a drink. Easier said than done, a Monopoly game was ongoing, potatoes being cooked for a salad, a shower being taken! I suggested that maybe a drink on the terrace would help whilst waiting for the potatoes to cool. Eventually everyone, bar Sean, was present. Mick tapped on a glass to get everyone’s attention.
York Minster
‘Some of you may have guessed that we’ve had an ulterior motive for gathering you all together.’ Daphne (aged 4) had kind of guessed yesterday as her mum had been packing, asking if she was coming to a wedding!
On the 2nd of June, Mick and I became Civil Partners at York Registry Office at a simple standard ceremony with two witnesses, two of our best friends dating back to school days. We’d dressed up smart, new clothes, newly knitted cardie, some of Mum’s old buttons, Mick borrowed my belt and my dress was dark blue. Morag and Mark took photos whilst the registrar Gareth performed the ceremony. Fifteen minutes after arriving our partnership of 23.5 years had become Civil.
Morag, Mick, Mark, Pip
Thankfully the sun was out, so we walked down to the River Ouse for photos, plenty of space should we have brought Oleanna, but a film crew for the next series of Patience were taking up quite a bit of space. We then headed into the Museum Gardens for a few more photos, being followed by another couple who had also just tied the knot too.
A drink on the rear terrace of the Judges Lodgings, opposite where my Dad had his architectural practice. Then we walked over to The Refectory, a restaurant which used to be the Minster Song School, for a very nice meal. A very lovely afternoon with two very good friends celebrating. All they and we had to do now was to keep quiet until the family get together. When we arrived back in Scarborough the following day we took off our rings, popped them back in the box they’d come in.
.
After our announcement in the Dales, our rings came back out, now to remain on our fingers. I left a message for my best friend in Sydney for her to wake up to, she’d got married last weekend and I needed to tell her that we’d beaten them to it by three weeks!
Us
A lovely lovely evening, with lots of food, four barbecues going, Josh’s tempura prawns and John doing his best to off load rocket! Once the sausages, kebabs and salmon had been consumed, it was time for cake, birthday cake, after all the weekend had been billed as a Not Quite Birthday weekend!
So everyone had to have a cake with their ages on them. Sadly it was a little bit too blowy to light everyone’s candles, but that didn’t stop all 22 of us singing Happy Birthday to US! at the top of our voices and blowing out our imaginary candles.
Everyone, except Sean who was charging his car!
Sunday morning was spent trying to return bowls, plates and glasses to the right cottages before we all headed out to various places. Three carloads headed to Malham Cove, a walk to the base of the cove to watch climbers, followed by some chilled medication. Kath, Sean, Fran, Mick and myself then carried on to find Malham Tarn above with a little walk from the car to find the lake.
Others had carried on to Settle, others explored Skipton Castle. Then it was time for the younger generations to head for home, school and work waiting for them the next day. An evening meal of left overs and the sausage rolls I’d made were enjoyed with a few more drinks.
Our cottage for the weekend
Monday morning and it was time to pack the final cars and say our goodbyes to Mick’s siblings. Everyone pulled away from our celebratory weekend at 10.
The Leckenby contingency drove down into Skipton to catch up with the Hall family. Robert and Margie have lived in Skipton for a few years. Since our last visit Margie has moved into a care home, a very nice care home overlooking the canal. It was lovely to see both Robert and Margie, then we had lunch and a further catch up with Katy their daughter and Trevor her husband.
Tilly having missed her bridesmaid duties twice
We were back in Scarborough by 6 to unpack the even fuller car and give Tilly a very BIG hug.
Back in our natural habitat
What a wonderful weekend.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 22 family members, 12 for curry, 23 cupcakes, 1 big cake, 1147.74 years between us, 1 average Richard, 2 jugs Pimms, 12 bottles wine, 35 bottles beer, 1 favourite mooring, 0 boat 🙁 , 0 cat bridesmaid, 1 announcement, 2 rings back where they should be, 1 car being charged in Skipton, 2 much food, 15 bookmarks, 1 klippy klippy, 12 bananas too many, 1 large bar of chocolate smuggled home, 3 birthday cards, 1 exceedingly good weekend, 1 Oleanna ready for Monday!1 secret kept, 2 Civil Partners.
Breakfast followed by the Geraghty zoom. We tried using two laptops for the zoom, but sadly the sound echoed so we all got cosy on a sofa to chat to everyone elsewhere. As I’m writing this a week later, the subjects we discussed have mostly slipped my mind, although the Romans and Hadrian’s Wall were discussed.
Gates and lamp posts along the street give away the designer
A ten minute walk from Anne and Alasdair’s house is Hill House a Scottish National Trust property which our English membership cards gave us free entry. Just walking in through the gates from the road you could see who had designed the house, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The box around HIll House
When built, Mackintosh wanted to use a modern render, so roughcast cement was used over brickwork and red sandstone, the underlying construction materials not of high quality. However, the cement wasn’t the best at keeping water out and being in Helensburgh there is a large amount of precipitation! Over the decades the house has grown increasingly damp and something needed to be done, so a ten year (now possibly 15) conservation programme started in 2019. The render has mostly now been removed, and the building is being left to dry out. A decision on what material will replace the render is still to be made. Should it be something from the era the house was built in, or should the latest and best waterproof material be used, possibly something Charles Rennie Mackintosh would have chosen should he be alive today?
A box, or chainmail cage has been erected around the house, so that the render could be removed and then the building would be able to gradually dry out protected from the elements by the box. This means that there are walkways all around the building giving you views from above the house, it was really quite interesting seeing things that only builders would have seen.
Through the modern ebonised wooden visitors centre/shop/cafe we walked into the house, welcomed by a friend of Anne and Alasdair’s. The dark dark wood lit from Mackintosh lanterns with squares and circles with pink/purple stained glass. Wow!
Beautiful
A guide came past with a key to open up a desk in the drawing room. I quickly headed through to see what was to be revealed. Almost chinoiserie in style the cupboard was opened up to reveal squares of mother of pearl and a beautiful backing which glinted in the light from a phone. Stunning.
Now it was time to take time to appreciate the interior of the house. Dark due to the box construction outside and some of the windows having been covered over for protection, we didn’t really see the rooms how Mackintosh had intended, yet they didn’t disappoint. A man for great detail with everything, his design showing through on items of furniture, windows, fireplaces, lanterns, carpets, stair rails, beds, curved niches in bedrooms. Even in the servants areas hearts had been cut in cupboards and the square motif continued on.
Tulips reaching up to books
The library shelving had symbolic blades of grass, tulip stems reaching to the tops of the woodwork where they opened with a open book. The house, commissioned in 1902, was built for Walter Blackie, a Glasgow book publisher. Squares on part of the shelves pull out to create a small writing desk, everything thought out.
The Hill House is considered to be Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s domestic masterpiece. Walter Blackie commissioned the up-and-coming architect and artist Margaret Macdonald, who worked collaboratively to create almost everything.
Back in the drawing room, white or cream, hard to tell in the lighting, every corner had been considered. A mosaic fireplace with pink/purple insets, the fine curves of some tiles likely to have been ground rather than cut. This was a room that so needed the full natural light to appreciate it and warrants a second visit when the cage is gone and the render replaced. In one corner of the room sat a chair from a very different world. This was Mrs Blackie’s armchair, she insisted on having a comfy chair to sit and read in, rather than a design masterpiece. Don’t blame her really!
The bottom of the staircase
The staircase, ebonised with lanterns, woven carpet and stained glass, exquisite. Up to the bedrooms. Mrs Blackie’s room white/cream again with Mackintosh roses, wonderful cupboards. Can you tell I liked it? A stunning house on the inside and interesting on the outside, the box making it more so. Here’s a link with some photos before windows were covered over for the conservation.
Lunch was enjoyed in the cafe. Onion bhaji wraps with mango chutney, butternut squash soup and a scone. All very nice.
Some seriously posh houses
I headed off to walk down to the seafront, whilst the others headed back to the house to collect our car. Thankfully Anne is quite small, she managed to squeeze onto the back seat but needed assistance to escape! My walk had me passing large posh houses that the Glasgow elite had lived in, they commuted to work by steamer on the River Clyde. The railway cuts across the hill, so you have to walk round to avoid the tracks deep in a cutting. Along Queen Street there were a whole load of vans, something was being filmed.
Sunny but windy!
I arrived at a similar time to those in the car, a walk along the seafront was a windy affair, with a strong aroma from seaweed on what was visible of the beach. The walk ended up being curtailed, we all headed to shelter in Dino’s for some chilled medication, the darkest chocolate ice cream I’ve had in a long time.
Dino’s medication
With room for only 2.5 people in the car I walked back up the hill, filming still on going in a modern house nestled between two Victorian properties. An afternoon of chatting, knitting and watching a mine sweeper down on the loch before we climbed into the bigger car to head to Masala Twist for a very tasty curry.
Another lovely day. One which left us wondering if we should add something Mackintosh to Oleanna’s bow maybe. A tulip or rose wouldn’t be right, as they would be horizontal, flowers grow vertically. But maybe we’ll adjust her dashes and dots to something with a nod to the man to match her original sign writing.
A lovely sunny day, although the view across to Greenock was quite hazy, but it was a perfect day to go sightseeing.
These three woofers were well in control of their motorhome
We climbed into Anne and Alasdair’s car, plenty of space in the back for passengers, unlike our car. Mick navigated to cross Scotland, part way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, passing Stirling Castle high up looking over the Mosses. Where were we going? 55 miles or so. To where all boaters visiting Scotland must go, the Falkirk Wheel.
The wheel with absailers
It was busy, a charity abseiling event taking place down from the aqueduct leading to the wheel. Four lines and plenty of nervous fundraisers awaiting their turn. We walked round, paid for tickets having arrived about twenty minutes before the next trip boat up the wheel. We stood in line then took our seats, second row on the boat and waited for it to get moving.
There was commentary by a chap and a recorded lady. Safety briefing: your exits are here, here and here. Then the doors were closed, a good blast of bow thruster to get us lined up to go onto the wheel. Once we’d bumped the side a bit the crew stepped off the boat and secured her bow and stern to the caisson.
Anne, Alasdair, Mick and Pip
The lady in front of me, in blue, would now feature in most of my photographs, trying to sneak a photo around her forever moving head meant taking around six or seven photos to get one reasonable one. But heyho, I suspect I’d have been the same if I’d had the front seat and someone would have complained about the lady in red!
Behind us the caisson was shut off, two pivoting doors under the water rise up to close off the wheel from the canal, similar to those on the Anderton Boat lift, except those work vertically. The water is pumped out from between the two doors. Then the wheel starts to turn. Large wheels on track move the caisson round the circular opening whilst the structure around us swings round and upwards. The wheel can go in both directions, clockwise and anticlockwise. There is a slight optical illusion whilst one side of the lift seems to be going down in the opening, yet it is still rising with the structure.
At the top the reverse was done with the caisson doors, this time in view ahead of us. We passed the abseilers all hooked up onto a safety line awaiting their descent. Up ahead is Roughcastle Tunnel, 334m long with coloured lights shone across the ceiling and a traffic light system to warn of on coming boats. Mrs Blue got in the way again, but I managed to only catch her grey locks.
Through the tunnel the trip boat winded, showing the bottom of the staircase lock above, water cascading over the gates, then we returned through the tunnel, the commentary breaking up whilst underground. Back to the lift to see the hazy view, everyone doing their best to spot the glint of the Kelpies over to the east. Try as we did they weren’t in view for us, maybe the bridge structure got in the way, maybe Mrs Blue did, but I did get a good view of both sets of cooling towers at Grangemouth.
A better view than on the way up
The Falkirk Wheel connects the Forth and Clyde to the Union Canal. Opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project, reconnecting the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. Planners opted for a 21st Century structure rather than recreating the 11 locks that used to raise boats. We looked on various maps to see where the locks used to be. The historic layer on Open Canal maps didn’t show us anything, it wasn’t obvious on either OS or Google maps. We knew where we’d find the information we wanted, Waterway Routes.
We don’t have much call for the Scottish waterways normally, so had to download a copy. Sure enough there they were marked in pale grey, now built over.
The wheel raises boats 24m, still another 11m to go to reach the height the 11 locks used to rise to reach the Union Canal. The locks fell into disuse and by 1933 were dismantled. BWB came into existence on the 1st January 1963, the day the Forth and Clyde Canal closed. In the 1990’s plans and funds started to come together for the Millenium Project. Tony Kettle led a team of architects who along with BWB, Arup, Butterley Engineering and RMJM came up with the design in 1999. The full structure was put together in Ripley, Derbyshire, before being dismantled and brought to site on 35 lorries. Roughcastle Tunnel was built with the two locks following so the route could go under the Roman Antonine Wall rather than through it. The wheel was opened by the Queen on the 24th May 2002 as part of the Golden Jubilee . Plenty more information can be found here
Back on dry land we headed for lunch, soup, scones and a generous jacket potato were enjoyed by all. Then a walk to Rough Castle. This took several attempts to get out from the wheel site and onto the correct track through lots of woodland.
The outer wall of the castle to the left
Rough Castle was the second smallest fort on the Antonine Wall, but it is the best-preserved. Alasdair filled us in on historical information, one of his specialist subjects. The wall was built across the central belt of Scotland from 140AD, forming the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire. So all those who thought they’d stopped at Hadrian’s Wall were wrong, they even made it further north too.
Back to the wheel for a comfort break, some chilled medication was consumed under the wheel as it descended with the next load of sightseers.
The misty view from Helensburgh
We drove back to Helensburgh via a local Co-op for a few bits. A tasty chicken casserole was awaiting us with the freshest of cabbage which had approximately two minutes out of the ground before being cooked. Yummy. All followed by cheese and oatcakes, well, we are in Scotland!
A round up of 2025, sit down with your favourite drink and I hope you enjoy.
January started out as December this year would end, us watching from afar the aftermath of a breach. January was the Bridgewater, December the Llangollen. We don’t tend to watch vlogs, preferring to read peoples accounts of their waterway journeys, but updates were watched on youtube from those affected, our personal experience of the Aire and Calder breach back at the end of 2020 had been far less dramatic.
January in the house was spent doing winter maintenance jobs. Three garden benches got a full make over, new slats and paint and a dining room got a colourful lick of paint just in time for the first lodgers of the year arriving. I had a second appointment with a physio about my knee that had given me serious problems last year, the new exercises were working, I ditched my stick by the end of January and started walking around Scarborough every day.
The start of the year it had been wet, but as I strode out the sun would greet me as I reached the beaches of Scarborough. I think this year I’ve visited the seaside more than I’ve done in the last 30 years of considering Scarborough to be my home.
In February Oleanna’s horns got replaced, she now has two tones rather than just one twice. Arrangements were made for future works at the house, carefully planned between lodgers. I joined a community group working on a giant mosaic, sticking glass tiles to brown paper, the final reveal not happening until August which I sadly missed. More walks around Scarborough, longer walks enjoyed on sunny Saturdays taking in both bays. Now I was walking too fast for Mick to keep up.
We visited boat painters, our short list gradually being whittled down. Dates, getting to the painters all had to be weighed up in our decision. One company actually rang to offer us a very early slot, but because of the Bridgewater breach and the end of winter stoppages we’d never have made it in time, plus we’d have ended up being homeless as lodgers were due to arrive at the house. After visiting the last painter we dropped back in to visit Tom at Redhill Marina to see how the boats he’d been painting on our last visit looked. We liked him, his work and a day later called Gibson and Kentwright to book our slot in Spring 2026.
John, the Artistic Director at Chipping Norton got in touch, would I like to do this years panto? This needed some thinking about, last year had been nice without deadlines for designs and we could concentrate on boating, but I’d really missed being part of a team and being a designer. I slept on it then said yes, if the show could be designed earlier in the year then we’d still be able to boat through the summer, hopefully get the best of both worlds. Cruise down to the South Oxford so I could commute to work during rehearsals then we’d make our way back north and arrive at New Year at Redhill to come out of the water and await our repaint. A good plan. But before that, the roof space needed clearing so things didn’t get damaged when we got a new roof on the back of the house. Friends needed meeting and I cracked on with a few paintings of Scarborough.
Mid March came, it was time to give the house a good clean and move back onto Oleanna making way for four lodgers to move in for a month. A new mattress arrived for Oleanna, only just enough headroom for Mick on our cross bed, but a far better sleep than the memory foam mattresses that came before. Back on board, we headed straight out of Goole for the New Junction Canal, pulling in at the first opportunity and letting Tilly have some shore leave once again. She knows where home is and I’m sure she now knows this mooring very well. She was gone for hours, straight back into boat life after a winter of hibernation and inactivity in the house. It felt good for us too.
Some of the team at Level
Doncaster was our first destination for me to head off to do a couple of days work at Level in Matlock with Separate Doors Theatre Company.
Then we gradually made our way to Keadby to wait for the beginning of April, the tide and to meet the Strawberry Fools from Strawberry Island Boat Club who were kicking off the Fund Britains Waterways Campaign Cruises for the year.
Having just left Keadby Lock
Early on the 1st April, the flotilla of Strawberry Fools lined up to go through Keadby Lock onto the Tidal Trent, three boats at a time, turning up stream, southwards. Fog engulfed us for sometime, thankfully clearing as we came close to West Stockwith Lock where more boats were to join the long line all beeping our horns as we approached Gainsborough Road Bridge where TV crews and drones watched us. A great start to the years campaign. The spring tide got us all to Cromwell and off the tidal waters for survivors drinks on the bank.
The following day the boats stormed Newark Castle with a wall of sound before dispersing to several moorings upstream. The morning after we penned the boats up through Hazelford Lock and waved them goodbye and good luck, the majority of boats heading to London to sound their horns outside Parliament. We however turned back, our summers cruising planned to be further north.
Back up the country, down the Tidal Trent, pausing on the Chesterfield canal for a couple of days, across the Stainforth and Keadby, New Junction, Aire and Calder, River Aire, Selby Canal then the River Ouse to York.
Here we met with the London Leckenbys to celebrate what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday back in his home city. We had a suitable feast, cruised down stream to show Andrew, Jac and Josh the top of our old family home from the river, Josh even had a go at the helm. A curry was also called for along with a visit to a pub which was frequented by our parents as we grew up (we mostly sat in the car with a packet of crisps or a chip butty!).
We were joined for a few hours by old family friend Diana and I got to meet with Philli a boat woman who had sponsored a pair of my Sockathon Socks. It was good to be back in York with our own home and have found somewhere new to moor meaning we could stay longer. We also managed a catch up with Frank over a pint and a pizza.
By now the lack of rain was started to affect the system and our planned cruise. The Leeds Liverpool, I think, was the first of the northern canals to close. The Ripon Canal soon followed. We were wanting somewhere safe to moor for a week or so whilst Mick headed off to oversee building works at the house, our options started to narrow.
We opted to head down stream, the tidal Ouse far more difficult to navigate with the outgoing tide due to the amount of debris in the water. Back onto the Aire and Calder we detoured to Goole to top up on diesel, then headed towards Leeds. A favourite mooring near Lemonroyd would suit us for a while.
A large badger hole proved a bit too interesting for Tilly, so we nudged ourselves up above Woodlesford Lock. Mick headed to Scarborough to wait for roofers, whilst I started to work on Panto and Tilly explored the area. Down south the Strawberry Fools reached their goal on the Thames.
May is full of Birthdays, Mick was allowed some leave from the house to celebrate his with a barbecue. Sketches for panto were revisited, the weather got warmer. Oleanna spent a weekend at Lemonroyd Marina whilst we had a trip to London for another birthday and to see Jane and Kevin who were over from Australia.
Back out on the canal, we opted to stay around Lemonroyd, hopefully far enough away from the badger hole! Mick returned to the house, Tilly sheltered from a touch of rain on her throne under the pram cover, I worked away model making for panto and headed out every day to walk round the nearby nature reserve.
The house roof was finished in time for a new lean to to be installed. My panto white card model was drawn up. New lodgers arrived at the house so all three of us were back on board in time to head into Leeds for me to catch a train to Chipping Norton for a day of meetings.
The weather was hot, along with strong winds in Leeds our plants suffered, above Office Lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal more locks were being closed. Canal and River Trust were actively discouraging people from cruising up the River Derwent to the Pocklington Canal. The River Hull was closed due to collapsing banks. We’d find somewhere to go, sadly missing out on the main mission of reaching Beverley this year.
However, a return trip to York was on the cards. We opted for a different route and headed back to Goole, topped up again with diesel, then penned down Ocean Lock onto the Tidal Ouse. Back in 2021 we’d headed this way whilst escaping the breach on the Aire and Calder. This time the tide was very strong, we were going to beat our ETA at Selby and had to fight the currents going round bends.
A meet up with my best friend Emma, who was over from Sydney and a chance to meet her new fella was not to be missed. Mooring almost at the bottom of Emma’s old garden in York helped them find us before we had a lovely lunch on the Howardian Hills and a quick visit to Castle Howard for some chilled medication in a thunder storm.
We opted to stay in York. Mick having to find things to do during the day whilst I took over the boat with work. A trip to Headingly for a test match, bumping into his old friend Jeremy and a look at the trains in the Railway Museum. It rained in the Dales, the Ouse came up, we leant Jo and Brian from NB That’s It our Middle Level windlass and key, boats ran away, we checked levels and kept an eye on our ropes, we were fine.
July arrived. Where to head now? A station was needed for another meeting in Chippy. We retraced ourselves back down stream, the Ouse slightly emptier of trees this time, back to Doncaster a good station to head southwards from.
Thankfully there were only a few small aterations to my panto design required, the remainder of the summer could be spent boating, if only the water levels would let us! We headed back towards the River Trent, managing to say hello to our friend David at Bramwith. A few days were spent sheltering under trees of the Stainforth and Keadby, then there was time to explore Thorne more than we’ve done before.
Some Strawberry Fools were arriving back having managed to get through stoppages further south after crossing the Wash and cruising some of the Middle Level and the River Nene. We loitered for Sean from SPL covers to arrive with a new side for our pram hood, the original one had managed to sink into the depths of the Aire and Calder earlier in the year.
Temperatures were high, this wasn’t good. What lay between us and the rest of the summers cruise was Vazon Sliding Rail Bridge, high temperatures meant the bridge could not open for boats. We sat for several days and nights, getting up to chat to the signaller in the middle of the night. One night just as we were about to turn the lights off we got a phone call, the bridge would be opening, we needed to get dressed! A short distance travelled in the dark would mean we’d be able to do some boating again. We were soon cruising for the third time this year on the Tidal Trent, in a down pour of rain!
Surprisingly the Chesterfield Canal was open up to the limit of navigation. Oleanna’s crew had been there before, but Oleanna hadn’t, it was a must. We paused for a few days at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club, our Cutweb membership paying for itself within a few days. I walked whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to do a turn around and for medical appointments.
A visit to Mr Straws House was enjoyed, locks worked through, towpath walks enjoyed as I sped ahead of Oleanna taking her time in the shallow canal. What a pretty canal, we were glad we’d come back.
The double and triple locks that lead up to the top may take a bit of working, but boy they are worth it. We headed straight to the navigable end before Norwood Tunnel only to find the moorings there full. One chap suggested we’d not have enough depth of water to wind, but thankfully we did and headed back to find another mooring for the night.
On our return journey we had visitors, friends Jane and James on their bikes came and helped us through a few locks. Then the same day Cath and Mark came for a nosy at Oleanna and a meal out in Worksop. Very good to catch up with everyone.
Back at the boat club they found space for us again so we could head back to Scarborough to do another turn around and watch the first night of Noises Off at the SJT. We welcomed new lodgers Liza and Stuart into our house, had a blood test, a dentist visit and headed back to Oleanna and Tilly.
Back out onto the Tidal Trent and onwards to Cromwell. Our timing couldn’t have been better, as we rounded a bend in the river, Cottam Power Station cooling towers came into view. I had just enought time to lift my camera before they came crashing to the ground. A landmark on the Trent now gone. I think we’d already made our minds up not to head towards the Oxford Canal, by now levels were so bad the canal had been closed from the summit to Banbury. We really didn’t want to risk getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get Oleanna to Redhill for her repaint next year. We’d take our time pottering about on the Trent and maybe along the Trent and Mersey Canal. The next day notices came out about further lock closures due to the drought, boats started to turn round, cutting their cruises short so they could beat the closures and return home.
Barbeque at sunset
Newark for a few days, then on to Hazelford Lock one of our favourite moorings, time for a barbecue sat on the big steps watching the sun set. Sounds idylic.
However, that night we got to test out the emergency servies and what3words at 2am. Mick had chest pains, 999 was called, two hours later paramedics arrived, tests were done, followed by an ambulance ride to Mansfield A&E for more tests, lots of waiting, then discharged after twelve hours with what was thought to be pulled muscles. A very lazy day followed.
We continued on to Nottingham, stocked up at Sainsburys and found a mooring near to Beeston. To celebrate Mick not having had a heart attack we treated ourselves to a meal at The Victoria. Always nice, just a shame that things weren’t really quite right with Mick.
Up to Trent Lock, rescuing a boater caught out by shallow water between Beeston and Cranfleet. We turned right, our plan now was to head to Burton on Trent on the Trent and Mersey. An ideal mooring at Shobnal Fields was grabbed so that I could head off to Dawlish to meet the set builder for Panto.
Brian arrived on NB That’s It, able to drop off our windlass he’d borrowed. He’d single handed it from Peterborough on the River Nene managing to beat all the stoppages by doing pretty long days, but now he could relax as rivers would get him back to Strawberry Island again. Coinciding with ‘in steam days’ at industrial museums is a rarety for us, but we managed it at Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, although the volunteers were tryng out some eco fuel rather than coal, they weren’t impressed with the amount of steam it produced.
The water tap at Willington called, the plan was then to wind and cruise up to Alrewas. A mooring was found with better phone signal for Mick to chat with his GP, an appointment already planned. He also wanted to talk to them about some patchy vision he’d been experiencing. Another phone call to an optician, it was suggested he should attend the nearest A&E. That night we made our way back into Burton to be closer to the hospital.
In the morning there was a second visit to A&E this year. A CT scan diagnosed Mick as having had a stroke. I brisk walked my way over to the hospital to find him being put in the back of an ambulance to head to the Royal Derby Hospital. Here there was 24 hours of lying and sitting in various parts of A&E (number 3) before a bed was found on the stroke ward. Thank goodness for a very good bus service between Burton and Derby. They wanted Mick to see an Opthamologist which didn’t happen, the weekend arrived and he was stuck. Then he just needed another ECG and drugs before he could come home, this took another night but thankfully after five nights in hospital he was discharged.
So many people offered help and support, thank you all so much. Thankfully now Mick had no symptoms and felt pretty normal. I kept a close eye on him. Kat on coal boat Bargus stocked us up with coal and diesel and we gradually made our way back to Willington for a moral boosting lunch with the lovely Susie Blake, she even got us tickets to see her show in Derby a few nights later.
Now we found ourselves kicking heels until our lodgers were to move out from the house so we could return, this was more to do with the lack of water in the network than anything else. Bridget and Storm came to check on us, bringing Rolo their new woofer with them. He was very well behaved, Tilly didn’t even mind him being onboard!
We took our time, pausing for a few days whilst storms blew over. I walked to Swarkstone Pavillion, down to the Trent and visited local villages. Next we wanted to check Oleanna could come out of the water earlier than planned, we headed to Redhill Marina to check things out, it would all be fine. We arranged a date to arrive.
We managed only one Heritage Open Day in September at Mills Dock Yard on the Erewash, some beautiful boats and suprising wooden cars on view. Then made our way back to Beeston to be close to a station again.
I had a couple of days at the Seperate Doors Making Tomrrows Theatre conference, watching workshops, listening to discussions and speakers. The mooring in Beeston isn’t so good for Tilly,a brick wall is hardly interesting for anyone! so we winded and headed back to Trent Lock to meet up with an old collegue of mine Jane, from my early days at the SJT.
Kat with Teddy and Bella came to top us up again before we headed back to Nottingham and further on to another favourite mooring above Stoke Lock. Here the mooring by the low wall was available, perfect for Tilly for a few days especially as she was to celebrate her 10th birthday there. However we ended up staying longer than planned, RCR were called out. It was suspected that our drive plate was about to give up. A few days later the engineer returned to replace it with a new one. All good to go!
Back up to moor at County Hall steps, Tilly wasn’t keen. But we wanted to make the most of being in Nottingham, visiting places we’d not been to before.
Our windlasses got used for the final time this year working back up into Nottingham where we took a mooring at Castle Marina for a couple of nights. A trip up to Scarborough to see our lodgers in the latest Alan Ayckbourn play Earth Angel.
Time afloat was now running out, back out to Trent Lock for a few more days before heading to Redhill Marina. Packing up the boat was a little more interesting than usual as we didn’t have the luxury of picking up a van the day before we were to move. Until Mick got to see an opthalmologist he wouldn’t be allowed to drive. So we called on one of those people who’d offered to help when Mick had his stroke.
Mark, Mick’s old friend arrived in a hire van to collect us and all our stuff. The move was done pretty quickly despite having to stop a few times to make Tilly’s journey more comfortable. We’d left Oleanna in the water at the marina, the following day she’d be put on a trailer and moved out onto the hard to await her repaint next Spring.
There were two weeks before I’d head off to work on panto. Phone calls from the set builder came thick and fast. There was time to unpack, see friends, or hybernate, Tilly chose the latter. We managed one trip by train down to find Oleanna out on the hard, she has a fantastic view of the cooling towers, but sadly no electric. We’d need to work on that one.
Mick got the all clear from an Opthalmolgist down in Derby a couple of days before I headed off to Chippy, so he gave me a lift. Whilst I was away working, Mick made up an extra long hook up cable for Oleanna. He had two trips down to attempt to get her hooked up, but for several reasons this wasn’t achieved, thankfully the solar was doing quite a good job of keeping batteries topped up. There was also a trip over to Wigan, where he and Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes helped Chris the Pink Hat Man up the flight along with the help of a CRT volunteer.
Down in Chippy I worked my way through the four weeks of rehearsals up until the show opened. I had chance to catch up with my cousins for Sunday lunch. Met up with Mick at the London Leckenbys for a night and checked on the moorings at Paddington Basin on my way back. I also had a day off in Oxford where I enjoyed a walk along the canal we’d not managed to reach this year, spotting many a familiar boats from previous winters there. My first week in Chippy the canal was reopened to allow people to return to their moorings before winter stoppages kicked in.
Finally on my sixth panto at Chippy it was lovely to have Marion and John (Mick’s sister) and Andrew and Jac (my brother) join us for press night. On his way down to see the show, Mick had fought his way through snow and headed to Oleanna to get her hooked up, unfortunatly the socket available turned out to be faulty!
Back in Scarborough I was pinned to the sofa for a while by Tilly, watching Inspector Morse as is now tradition. Walks along the beach and through the old town were enjoyed. We headed to Filey for a birthday party and unfortunatly ended up in our third ambulance of the year, with another A&E ticked off the list, fortunatly it was only a faint this time.
Mick made another journey down to Redhill, this time Oleanna was plugged in successfully, the electric heating could now be programmed to come on should the temperatures drop enough. He had a chat with Tom who will be doing Oleanna’s repaint, the boat ahead of us is also already on site too. We’re still quietly hoping someone doesn’t manage to get there in time for their slot so we can swap slots and get Oleanna back on the water earlier.
An appointment with a stroke doctor at Scarborough Hospital was had, results and images from an MRI in Derby hadn’t made it to Scarborough so the following week there was an appointment for one here. We now wait to hear what the doctor has to say.
The build up to Christmas kept us busy, our 23rd anniversay celebrated, decorations, cards and presents to make and buy. Hair cuts, the Christmas show to watch. Then a pre Christnmas Christmas with the London Leckenbys in York before returning to Scarborough and coming down with a lurgy which meant most of our festive plans had to alter.
New waterproof trousers, a Victron Smart Shunt and new mugs were all presents for boating. Frank was a lucky man getting his second Christmas dinner in a week. Now that new year is here we need to plan ahead for when Oleanna is going to be painted, windows, new solar and new curtains need thinking about, ordering and making. Hopefully the time will fly by and she’ll be back in the water before we know it.
Us in sunny Scarborough on New Year Eve
Plans for next year, well we know where we want to be in early June, we just hope we can get there by boat. Will we stay up north and be able to cruise the rivers and canals we didn’t manage to do this year? Or will we head southwards to find waters we’ve not cruised yet? We’ll have to wait and see, so will you!
So here are our final statistics for our boating year which ended up being cut short.
According to our Nebo link
Oleanna was underway for 173.53 hours. This is not a real indication of our movements, if we are stationary in a lock it does not count that time
Nebo link was on for 365.48 hours. Sometimes the Nebolink is turned on a bit before we set off, on occasions it is left on at the end of a day incase we decide to carry on, so this is also not a real indication of how long the engine was moving us
End Mileage. 712.725 miles
Distance travelled. 695.6 miles, don’t understand why the two figures are different most days, but I go with the end mileage
Average speed 3.26 miles. We were mostly on rivers this year
Average Maximum Speed 4.78. We were mostly on rivers this year
Total Mileage 719m 3.75f 7 and a bit more miles than Nebolink
Made up of 152 miles 5.75 f of Commercial Waterways, 143 miles 4.5 f of Broad Canals, 61 miles 0.5 f of Narrow Canals, 78 miles 0.5 f of Small Rivers, 66 miles 6 f of Large Rivers, 200 miles 4.75 f of Tidal Rivers, shows how much cruising we did on the Tidal Ouse and Trent this year.
Total Locks 214 fewer than most years as we were mostly on rivers. This figure doesn’t include flood locks
Made up of 51 Large Locks, 98 Narrow Locks, although some of these were broad locks on a narrow canal (Chesterfield), 63 Broad Locks, 2 Locks on Major Waterways
Moveable Bridges 58. 4 were left open, 5 didn’t need to open as we went below them. Although those that didn’t need to open I think should have been 14 to include all those on the River Ouse. 107 vehicles were held up, another 23 when we worked Barnby Dun lift bridge for Mick on Amerouse.
Small Aqueducts 68
Major Aqueducts 6
Tunnels 2, that is 1.4 furlongs underground. I think this is a record for the least amount of time spent underground in a year.
0 Boat Lifts
629.4 litres of diesel. The cheapest £0.89 at Viking Marina, most expensive £1.10 at Kings Marina, total cost £639.26
265kg of smokless coal. This was 12 bags at a total cost of £190.50
2 x 13kg bottles of gas. Cost of £94.87 although we will need to replace a bottle as soon as we get back on board.
Other expenses £144.60. This included 1 starter battery, 1 excess payment for a new drive plate, 2 roller poles, 1 wee tank connector, Cutweb membership
£115.03 Mooring Fees and electricity whilst out cruising
2 Ambulances 3 A&E’s whilst out cruising
1 stroke
0 rain for months
706.85 miles walked whilst on the boat, nearly as far as we cruised! 9504 brisk minutes
Over £3000 raised by knitting socks for Dementia UK (over the last 3 years, 110 pairs) and I’ve still got more to do!
1 Panto design, 3567 pink roses
40 Boxes of Wine
30 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval moorings, she’s not letting onto how many friends!
419.8 engine hours
Us
Phew, that new spread sheet has alsorts on it!
Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2025. We hope you’ll be back for more in 2026 and that the start to our boating year is sooner rather than later.
It would have been really nice to have a couple of days here at the top of the Chesterfield. I’d quite fancied walking the abandoned section of the canal up to Eckington Road maybe. Then another day we could look at the 5 miles that’s in water at Tapton and the visitors centre. But because the locks in Worksop are only open on Mondays and Thursdays that limits our time, plus we need to be elsewhere in a couple of weeks, so we needed to make our way down the flight today.
Is Autumn on its way?
Last night our mooring had been quite idyllic, apart from the two trains an hour. Numerous owls hooted away. But then we could hear music, just where was it coming from? The only conclusion was that the fairies like a bit of a rave and they seemed to like the one track over and over and over again. Thankfully before midnight it was their bedtime so the sounds stopped, just the owls to keep us company.
Over a bridge
I walked ahead, chance to take a look into the fairy woods that run alongside the canal. So very pretty and a slight feeling of autumn about to set in.
???
Near the top of the locks there is a house all cordoned off, it’s more of a ruin really. Railings made from old gates, various bits and bobs strewn about the place, I remember there being more of it nine years ago. Along a length of wire fencing. strips of black fabric have been knotted. Maybe a way to remember things, to mark days gone by, just a bit odd really.
Setting up the treble
The top treble needed a touch of water adding to the middle chamber so I lifted a paddle into it as well as one into the top chamber, then walked down to lift one at the bottom to empty it out. Going down you need the bottom chamber empty, the middle one lowered to a white mark (even though the sign says it’s black) and the top one full. They were set ready and waiting by the time Oleanna came into view.
Down the treble
Mick stepped off and pulled Oleanna from chamber to chamber again as we’d done on the way up yesterday, then got back onboard after opening the bottom off side gate. Whilst the last chamber emptied I walked down to set the next lock and open the top gates ready. As Oleanna exited the locks Mick would push the off side gate closed with the boat hook as I’d close the towpath side. Now onto singles I could walk ahead to the next lock to get that one set, come back where Mick had already brought Oleanna into the lock and lifted a bottom paddle. I’d open the gates then we both close them on exiting and I leapfrog onto the next but one lock and so it continues.
A melted tree
The flight was busy with walkers and cyclists today. Plenty of comments about how I got all the heavy work. Well no actually! Yes I get to do more walking back and forth, but the rest is pretty much shared out between us and these locks really don’t feel like hard work at all.
That’s not so good
At Limehouse Lock Mick had lifted the off side paddle and by the time I’d got back to open the gates he was only going down very slowly. As I closed up after our descent I wound the paddle back down, only to discover why it hadn’t been doing very much, the spade was detached from the mechanism. I was just trying to find where on the CRT website to report this when a blue van reversed up the track alongside the locks. Today only one Lock Keeper is on duty along the canal, he was up to clear bywashes etc so I reported the paddle to him in case they didn’t know. There’s a list of jobs to be done was his reply, ‘just be careful with the locks’. We would be. During September and October they are closing the flight to replace the lock gates at both ends of Lock 37, the one where the pound drains. Off he went with his keb in hand, he’d be seeing boats in and out of West Stockwith lock later on today.
The bywashes were all flowing well, we were bringing lots of water down with us as most locks had stayed full from yesterday, hopefully the pound lower down known for emptying itself was being filled. At the next treble the overspill from the bottom lock was actually helping to fill the lock as there was so much water coming down.
As we approached Turnerwood the Dad swan looked like he was interested in getting in the bottom chamber of the treble as it filled up, thankfully he didn’t get in and chose to walk down to the pound below. Stood watching our progress from the bridge were plenty of gongoozlers with coffees and ice creams!
Honeycomb and Chocolate
We’d not forgotten about the little hut here and today our arrival at the 2 hour mooring was much better timed. Lunch then some chilled medication to follow to enable us to finish the flight.
That leak will empty the pound pretty quickly
Now there were plenty of people about, some willing to open and close gates. A CRT fund raiser came to show me photos of how the pound above Lock 37 had been at 9:30 this morning, ‘3 to 4 foot down’. He’d also taken a photo now of it being full to send to CRT. We’d done a good job of filling the pound as we’d come down as it can take the Lockies half a day to fill it.
Sunshine
The remainder of the locks are all singles down to Shireoaks and pretty simple. A lady walked past saying she’d a holiday booked in a few weeks on the GU. They’ve watched Canal Boat Diaries but thought they’d best watch an instructional video before they came to their first lock. They stayed watching us and she’d decided that as we were so proficient then maybe we should join them on their holiday.
Gongoozling helpers
Soon we were crossing the aqueduct and the county boundary again, out of Yorkshire into Nottinghamshire. The hardest lock to work all day was Boundary Lock, our last, the top gate ever so heavy.
Leaving Yorkshire
We pulled in back where we’d left yesterday morning. The doors were opened up and Tilly allowed shore leave again, dashing between all the walkers legs to the sideways trees.
23 locks, 2.8 miles, 6.94 miles walked, 63 brisk minutes, 2 chilled medications, 2 hours shore leave, pair 103 yarn selected, 1 Lil centre stage.
Last night shortly before we headed for bed we could hear music heading our way. Was this Orchid returning? He’d been down earlier yesterday but then had headed back up stream. No this was the other boat, the large cruiser, lights flashing, music expanding and contracting the cabin sides, but no flames from the fire pit on it’s bow tonight. They headed down stream winded, then came back a couple of times. Maybe they think blasting out their music is alright whilst on the move!
It wasn’t Sunday, but ….
This morning the temperature had dropped, our duvet that’s been tucked up at the bottom of the bed for days, had found it’s way back up the bed to cover us. Would today be a long trousers kind of day?
Millennium Bridge
After breakfast I headed off for a walk. See if I could see which poor souls had had to cope with blaring music but also to say my Goodbyes to my home city.
Down to Millennium Bridge, across the river, through Rowntrees Park. The park was York’s first Municipal park gifted to the city in 1921. I find it interesting that Rowntrees park is so close to the old Terry’s factory, Rowntrees being on the other side of the city. I think I’ve only ever been in the park a couple of times so it was nice to see the cafe, the almost empty lake and sculptures.
Major works by the station
Onto Bishopthorpe Road, more commonly known now as Bishy Road. The junk shops have gone, now cafes, restaurants and some nice looking shops attract many people. I stopped to buy some eggs then carried on along Nunnery Lane, passing what used to be the Bar Convent School and over the traffic lights down to the station. Here the road bridge (that as a child I never realised was a bridge over where the railway had once punctured it’s way through the city walls) has now gone, concrete shores up the bar walls bank and road works fill the approach to the station. In the coming months I may get to see the station on the way back to Scarborough, but I’m unlikely to see the bar walls.
The view down to Lendal Bridge
Down to the river bank, across Scarborough Railway Bridge, photos of the moorings obligatory for us both when on the train. Today only three boats were making use of the rings, one cruiser, a little black cruiser that has a seriously noisy outboard and the large cruiser that had come to visit us last night on it’s alternative mooring by the water point.
Along Lendal, saying goodbye to my Dad’s old office, along Coney Street, then down the side of the Grand Opera House. Posters advertising the autumn tours, Man for All Seasons, and Inspector Morse. Not sure how I feel about Inspector Morse being produced on stage? Maybe I should go to see it.
Our shady tree mooring
An early lunch. The levels were now down almost to where they’d been a week or so ago. The large cruiser returned, soon followed by Orchid. Time to make a move, sorry Tilly no shore leave for a while. Under Millennium Bridge, one last look back towards York, our plans don’t have us returning this year. But plans this year need to be kept fluid as much as the network allows.
I dropped below, working my way through panto, taking notes of what needs finishing off and anything that needs altering. Yesterday I’d changed my mind regarding some sliders, they were far too bold to be used for several scenes. I’d started on a differet version and had got so far with it, this seems to be a good solution. Only one bit of model I wasn’t happy with, so that would need remaking, I’d gone a bit overboard with my floristry.
You can even purchase from your boat!
Three boats were moored on Naburn cut. We pulled in behind the cruiser that had arrived the other day. It looked like it’s lines had had it on a bit of a tilt when the levels had come up. It took us a while to moor up a stiff breeze trying to push us to the other side of the cut. Then shore leave was granted.
What another outside with no view and little friendly cover! This was soon got over and Tilly disappeared until 5:55, 5 minutes to go before dingding time. Thankfully the internet seems to be better than it was a few days ago.
Leaving York behind
Mick checked in with Nigel who was penning a cruiser up at the lock. 1:30 tomorrow, he’d be penning us down here in Naburn and then penning us up at Selby. Selby Road Bridge was again playing up, a heat related problem, but if Nigel was around they’d be able to get us through.
Just a few bits to finish off
An afternoon of working through notes and crossing them off the list. Then some time adding items to a supermarket delivery to arrive in Selby. Then after food it was time for the finale of Traitors NZ 2. Oooh blimey! I don’t want to say anymore incase others are still watching it, but it went the way we thought it would with a couple of twists on the way.
0 locks, 4.9 miles, 1 wind, 1 stubborn rope, 2 noisy boats, 0 queue at the ice cream boat today, 1 fond farewell to York, 3.28 miles walked, 59 minutes briskly, 1 calf hopefully mended, A4 sheet of notes, 1 arch rebuilt, 3 more roses, 2 outsides, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.
By the time we were up this morning the river was well on it’s way down, our tyre fenders were doing a good job of keeping us away from catching on anything on the bank. We’d survived the rising river as we thought we would.
Green base
Today was going to be more about trying to keep cool than river levels. First thing the sun was managing to shine at us between houses, but that soon stopped and we managed to stay in the shade until late afternoon. This served us well, I was able to keep model making without scalpels slipping , some panto floristry required today.
The costume designer had been in touch, so after lunch we did a bit of show and tell, just to make sure her frocks wouldn’t disapear into my set colours but also so that we were coming from the same place colourwise.
2 shades of green leaves
Tilly came and went in the morning, Mick sat out on the path listening to Yorkshire playing cricket up the road in Clifton. If it hadn’t been so hot he’d have gone to watch, but the shade from our tree was far more appealing.
Bead roses added
At 4pm it was time for a break from work and a little stroll was required. This year we’ve been extremely reserved on the chilled medication front (unlike some new live aboard boaters!). We’ve been moored close to both floating medication suppliers for a number of weeks this year, today would be our last chance to sample their wares. We walked down to the ice cream boat by Millennium Bridge, only one person in front of us, a suitable amount of time to choose our flavour of medication.
Quality chilled medication
Mint Choc Chip for Mick and Lemon Curd for me. Mick’s came in a cone rather than with one added to a tub this time. We stood in the shade of the trees and enjoyed our treat.
Panto floristry completed
The temperature inside Oleanna reached 30.1C late afternoon, thankfully it hadn’t been that all day. Our evening meal was a couscous salad which only required the electric kettle to be boiled.
Viking Recorder at 7pm
Episode 11 of Traitors NZ 2 was watched. Oh blimey! This season has had some really good twists to it. It was too late and too hot to watch the finale, we’ll save that for tomorrow when we’ll be away from the noisy loitering boats!
0 locks, 0 miles, 12 minutes colour chat, 2 hot for cats, 143 for 3, 1 model nearly nearly finished, 30.1C, 2 very yummy scoops well deserved, 5 left, 0 wellies required.
A suggested plan for the day arrived as we had breakfast, visitors expected late morning. We gave the boat a tidy through and got dressed for the weather, hot with extra hotness and a possible walk.
Today my best friend Emma was coming to visit along with her new (to us) boyfriend Soren. they are over from Australia on a whirl wind tour catching up with friends, then heading to Denmark where Soren is from. Emma was last over in January 2020, before covid struck and it’s been the longest we’ve been apart since she emigrated down under. Our trip to York this time is purely to coincide with her being here for two days.
Walking down the back lane
A tour of Oleanna for them both, then a walk along New Walk up into Fishergate sneeking a look round the back of the house where Emma’s family lived in our teenage years. We then climbed into their hire car and headed off into the countryside, the Howardian Hills just north of York. So many pretty villages, we joked about them moving back to York and buying one of the lovely houses somewhere like Coxwold.
The pub
The car was lovely and cool, the sky progressivly getting darker and the outside temperature quite a shock on gettng out of the car. We pulled up at the Fauconberg Arms in Coxwold, a very pretty old fashioned pub, much more used to having a crackling log fire going.
Soren, Emma, Pip and Mick. Emma obviously didn’t get the blue shirt memo
Their holiday has been funded by letting out a cabin in the Blue Mountains at the back of Soren’s house. He is a guide, he takes people on adventures around the Blue Moutains, absailing and cannon exploring. Then three of four times a year he is also a guide in the Himalayas! He’s a mountaineer!!
There was so much to catch up on, I think we hardly scratched the surface! After lunch, I had to have fish and chips, we drove to Castle Howard reminising about our fathers speeding along the straight but bumpy roads, doing their best to get their sporty little cars to take off back in the 70’s.
Castle Howard
When Emma had sugested going for a walk, we didn’t quite know what to expect, especially with Soren’s job. Would we be taking on a ten mile hike up and down dale? Hence me trying to get my calf improved. But instead we ambled around the grounds of Castle Howard listening to the peacocks and enjoying the rain that fell on us in the rose garden. We joked about which wing of the house we would have each and how we’d have a pimms party every Friday night in the central hallway.
Chilled medication
Some chilled medication couldn’t be turned down. Mick a little surprised to recieve his in a tub, so Emma asked for a cone. This was added to her tub as if it was a flake! A very peculiar way of serving it.
Best friends
As there were more people to catch up with we were returned to Oleanna before they headed on to their next engagement. Big hugs were given that have to last us a few more years. There’s never enough time. The only way there is more time is to head to Australia to visit them there. We just need the SJT to employ one of our favourite cat friendly actors who would be happy to look after Tilly for a few weeks.
That’s more like it!
As we’d hardly walked anywhere and my calf was up for it, I walked around the block. Up to Scarborough Railway Bridge and back again, only a slight twinge. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up the pace now.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 rendez vous made, 58 years of being friends, 1st meeting, 1 celebration, 1 snoop, 9 pretty villages, 1 of each, 4 for the price of 3, 4 chilled medications, 2 cone accessories, 5 years, 5 hours, 1 hour for each year.
Up early for us and on the move backwards before breakfast. Time to top up the water tank, check if Kenny’s hens had laid then make a move before it got too hot, plus I had a meeting to attend at 11.
Roses fading on the gateway now
Water tank full, still no eggs. We waved NB Poppy goodbye, they are heading up to Ripon where they have permission to ascend Oxclose Lock on Monday morning to reach their home mooring. They were determined to make it to at least Linton today, a shame as a stop off in York wouldn’t have held them up that much.
A serious bow rope!
Off we set, with the aim of finding a shady mooring in towards town. We passed all the familiar sights. Someone was watering the grass just before Archbishops Palace, wonder how long they’ll be allowed to keep their grass green, he was being extremely generous with the hose pipe. No-one in the garden at the Palace, no-one swimming in the river, the sewage works particularly stinky today.
The river level was too low to see the roof of my old family home today, but the house behind it was still there. We spotted Philli heading off to work in her bright orange trousers. Under Millenium bridge about to celebrate it’s 25th anniversary. Now we looked for shade.
Ice cream boats not headed off to sell yet
New Walk has overhanging trees. For the next few days the shade would most definitely be required, mooring at Museum Gardens would be unbearable, Oleanna would become an oven. Now knowing where the chain eyes are of a wider diameter helped in our choice of mooring. Under a tree that wouldn’t waft onto the roof, perfect.
We got moored up, sent some messages, had breakfast, then I settled down ready for my zoom meeting with the production manager for panto. Lots to catch up on and discuss. I hope Gemma understood my points of view on finding a happy medium on the painting side of the show this year.
Mick headed into town to try to find me a very thin blue pen. Black ones are easy to come by at 0.05mm, but blue is more problematical. This is to outline parts of my model and a more standard 0.5mm pen would end up being a touch too wide for what I want once blown up by 25 times. He didn;t have any luck so I’ve ordered one which we can pick up at the house on the next turn around.
Terry’s
I painted up numerous roses on my portals. Jus when I thought I’d nearly finished I remembered there was another piece of scenery with more of them on it. Hopefully I’ve got them all painted now!
Time to check my calf out. I’ve been doing no brisk walking, and very little walking over the last few days, hoping that the rest would help. A parcel had arrived at a locker for me so an ideal opportunity to see if the rest had worked.
Lovely clock face
I took it easy at first, then increased my speed a touch. Down the riverbank over Millenium Bridge and onto Bishopthorpe Road. Onwards to a new Co-op amongst the new apartments that have been built up around the old Terry’s Chocolate Works. My parcel was there, but more importantly I was now not that far away from the art deco factory with it’s clock tower. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so close, so it was worth a nosy around.
The chocolate works
The development seems nice and airy, retaining some of the original buildings. A restaurant/cafe/bar/deli sits close to the clock tower, gents sat out in white shirts and dicky bow ties. I wouldn’t stop for a drink. Long avenues all seem to lead up to the clock. When I was a kid, during winter months I could just make out the shape of the tower from my bedroom window. Back along a stretch of the riverbank I’ve never walked before.
Calf verdict, much improved only a slight suggestion that if I’d pushed it more then I’d have hobbled. So complete rest seems to be what I should do when it happens again.
What?!?
Back at Oleanna I opened up my parcel. What on earth?! Beauty Equipment?! I opened up the box, phew, it was an airbrush. They must sell more to the beauty market than to artists. Here’s hoping it can cope with acrylic paints, and not just acrylic nail varnish!
