Lisa sent through a photo of Oleanna this morning. The level at the docks is just about normal and Oleanna was sitting there in the rain. Yesterday it must have been sunny at the marina as the solar panels were doing a good job of keeping the batteries topped up and the engine bay got up to 8 C. It’s handy being able to check on her from afar, keeps our minds at rest.
Paper stretched and ready
Here in Scarborough I’ve been busy with work. A new, to me, art shop is proving very handy. I’ve not had chance to go into The Art Room yet and I can’t see what art materials they normally stock, Delia responds to emails swiftly and is very helpful. This week I was after a pad of thick cartridge paper and a wooden board so that I can stretch the paper properly. If water colour paper isn’t stretched, when you start to paint the paper cockles and will never lie flat again. In the past I’ve half heartedly taped paper to a plastic board, but this never really worked that well. So I have invested in a board that will take A3 paper comfortably. This will first get used for my boat origami paper design. Then I hope to use it for paintings of the waterways, which I’ve been planning on doing for some time now. I have the equipment, the reference, all I need now is the time!
This week I’ve started work in earnest on Panto for Chipping Norton. Sketch technical drawings enable me to make pieces of model, then do adjustments. Yesterday I finished working my way through the show, there is still lots to alter and work out, but I have solutions for most things. I’m quite happy with my galleon set, but the smugglers inn isn’t right yet! Hopefully this coming week things will get sorted before my next work arrives on the doorstep!
Cotton top measuring up
I’ve finally finished knitting a top for my sister-in-law which is now measured out and blocking on some new foam mats I’ve treated myself to. These will be handy to take back to the boat as they breakdown into foot squares, but once clipped together they give me 3ft square to pin items onto. They will save me pinning things out onto the back of our mattress on the boat and hoping things will be dry before bedtime!
Cricket on the TV, who’d have thought
Mick, whilst not watching the cricket, has been working on the blog. Two years ago we moved to WordPress and our current deal is nearly up. There are things we’d like to try to improve, but unless we spend more money they are proving hard to sort. Paul (Waterway Routes) suggested sometime ago we tried WordPress.org, this is free but we’d need to pay to have the blog hosted, which is all working out at a similar price to if we stayed put. We could go back to Blogger and Open Live Writer, but photos had been problematic, Mick is still working his way through the blog inserting them and I like the way wordpress works.
Tomorrow Tilly it’s too dark to go for a walk now!
However we miss having a blog roll that moves with peoples posts and a forwards and back button. Mick has found the relevant code, we may need to enlist my nephew Josh into giving us some guidance with this. We’ll see what happens.
Mick is taking his time reading the book he selected from our Christmas stash. The chap has left Kate Saffin and Alarum, headed to the Exeter Canal and is now somewhere on the Bridgewater Canal.
I on the other hand have finished mine, which I’ve really enjoyed. When we first moved on board I read a lot, but in the last couple of years I’d got out of the habit. With so many books to choose from I was spoilt for choice. So when Sam from NB Red Wharf said that Canal Pushers was really good and Debby from NB Chuffed asked for a review I thought I’d best start there.
I like a good crime story and with it being set on the canals it started off on a good footing. Andy Griffee has taken the theory of a serial killer, pushing people into the waterways around Manchester and set a similar story on the Stratford, Worcester and Birmingham Canals.
Jack has just picked up a narrowboat to see if a life afloat will suit him after recently being divorced. Let down by a friend who was going to help him learn the ropes he is soon rescued by a lady walking the towpath, Nina. A friendship is formed between the two of them, Nina keeping herself a bit of a mystery.
Look at those whiskers
Knowing the stretch of canal where the book is set is quite warming to a sole that misses being on the cut right now. Jack’s experience of The Navigation Inn at Wooten Wawen made me smile as it was very similar to ours when we hired our last boat from there seven years ago. Stratford with the tourists and theatre, Wedges, Packwood House, all the time Jack learning how to handle the boat as the mystery of the death of a young homeless lad unfolds.
Not breakfast, but a beetroot and feta burger in homemade gf buns with lockdown chips
Several plots intertwine, gradually unravelling themselves at a narrowboat pace. There are several moments where the pace speeds up which has lead to a couple of nights where I’ve kept the light on whilst Mick has snored away. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to give the plot away, as it is well worth a read. My only criticism, I’ve always walked down hill to the shops in Alvechurch, not up hill.
Verdict, a good read especially for those with a canal interest, but this is not required and it certainly doesn’t turn into a manual for narrowboat handling. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series River Rats which takes place in Bath. I may read my way down towards the Kennet and Avon via Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin. I wonder if there are enough novels to cover the whole network?
Also not breakfast, but turnip curry, beetroot and carrot curry with homemade gf nan breads
This weekends walk will prove to be a rosy cheeked one as it is currently trying it’s best to snow, although I doubt it will settle. An east wind will be whipping up the sea and will chill us to the bone, thermals needed today.
Last week we braved the climb up onto Oliver’s Mount. Down into the valley to then climb back up the other side and then further all up hill. We chose to go cross country avoiding felled trees up to the top.
Up the top
Here on the summit a telecommunications mast stands. Back in the early 1990’s this was the only place in Scarborough to get mobile phone signal when the telephone exchange had a serious fire knocking out all landlines in the town. The other high point here is the war memorial that marks a view point.
We took our time looking for family names. None from the Geraghty side, but quite a few Capplemans. I shall have to dig out the family tree I was sent after my Dad passed away and see if any of them are mentioned.
The view right up the coast
Oliver’s Mount makes for a great view point. Looking down all the usual landmarks have found new positions around town (as they do!) and the South Bay looks more like a smugglers cove. Views right into the North Bay and up the coast, we took our time spotting friends houses.
The South Bay
The way back down we followed the roads which make up the Oliver’s Mount race track, stopping to say hello to the beach donkeys who are on their winter holiday, sadly they were just a touch too far away for a good photo.
Us last week
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 level back up, 1 glimpse, A3 sketch board, 20 sheets, 0 cow gum, 1 new proscenium, 1 white card sketch model complete, 409 pages, 1 cotton top, 67 pins, 2 t-towels, 6 capplemans, 5 miles up and down, 1 bored cat in need of a hobby, 1 windswept short walk, 0 cobwebs.
Us today!
Where Were We
2020. Sheepcote Street Bridge, Birmingham.
2019. Thorne Lock, Stainforth and Keadby Canal. LINK
Get yourself a cuppa and put your feet up, this is a long post.
Into BUMingham
Having seen New Year in on the North Stratford Canal we commenced the new year by cruising in to Birmingham or as Tilly would have it know, BUMingham, she’s not too keen!
What a stripy world!
A meeting with Amy from Dark Horse Theatre Company about a project in the summer set out our years cruising as I’d need to be in Huddersfield then York for the show. Then it was time to pack and get myself ready for ten days in Vienna. This would be the longest I’ve been away from boat life since we set out in 2014. Half of my clothes were packed up along with a basic scene painting kit and I jetted off to what was a mixed experience. Despite the problems I had a wonderful time working with a great team in the theatre, I hope one day to return.
Whilst I marvelled at the wonderful scenes in Vienna and pulled my hair out at work, trying to keep a calm exterior, Mick and Tilly headed back out into the countryside towards Tardebigge on the Worcester and Birmingham. Here they met up with a friend Chris who was planning a boat build.
Hello!
Mick and Tilly came back into Birmingham to pick me up and then we set about exploring the BCN. There is plenty to explore and we didn’t quite manage to go everywhere, but we did our best.
Smethwick Locks
We headed up Smethwick New Locks onto the Old Main line. Stopped at Dudley Port Basin, coconuts accompanied us down Brades Staircase, then through Netherton Tunnel where we’d planned on visiting Hawne Basin, but thick ice thwarted our first attempt. The following day we succeeded and had a bumpy ride along the Dudley No 2 to fill our diesel tank.
Emma and Ted
Factory Locks brought us back onto the Old Main Line, we visited Wolverhampton, turned onto the Wyrley and Essington Canal and wiggled our way through the rubbish to Pelsall Junction. Here we had a wonderful get together with my bestestest friend and her son Ted (my Godson) who were over from Sydney, an all but too short lunch with them before they headed onwards on their whistlestop tour of England.
The Cannock Extension and Anglesey Branch were ticked off followed by the Daw End Branch, The Rushall Canal, Tame Valley Canal and up the Ryders Green Locks back into the centre of BUMingham early February.
I designed costumes and made the white card model for The Garden for Dark Horse whilst we sat out storm Ciara which was to wipe out the Figure of Three Locks on the Calder Hebble. The damage to the locks looked great and not fixable quickly, a rethink to our cruising route was needed for me to get to work in the summer.
We went to the Symphony Hall and listened to Schubert and Berg spurred on by Dimitrios from NB Galene. Storm Dennis kept us from cruising to our next evening of entertainment at Titford Pump House, a bus replacement did the job so that we could see Alarum Theatre Company’s Acts of Abandonment. Little did we know at the time that this was to be our last live theatre until December.
A night out in the countryside for Tilly and a last night in the city to fill our bellies with curry. Then we were off again, up Smethwick Locks under the M5 where the scaffolding was being taken down. We turned up the Oldbury Locks following a boat that turned out to be NB Sola Gratia. A spin round the Titford Pools was in order before we returned for another diesel top up at Hawne Basin.
The Walsall Canal now beckoned us, that was a bumpy ride over trolleys, trees and all sorts! A fantastic fabric shop, the New Art Gallery right by our mooring and The Leather Museum kept our interest for a couple of days before we climbed up the Walsall Locks back up to Wyrley and Essington Canal.
The garden at Urban Moorings
The ladies at Urban Moorings welcomed us for an overnight visit, time to work the washing machine hard as we plugged into the electric. Then we kept our fingers crossed for a mooring at The Black Country Museum, which thankfully worked.
Marion and John came to meet us for an afternoon at the museum and we all enjoyed fish and chips with plenty of salt and vinegar in between visiting shops and watching chain links being made. The following day we took a boat trip into the Dudley Tunnel, had a second visit to the museum along with a portion of chips before heading out to moor in Tipton and have a visit from Heather from NB Bleasdale, followed by a pie at Mad O’Roukes Pie Factory.
The 7th of March saw us descend the Wolverhampton 21, leaving the Birmingham plateau behind us. Blimey we managed to pack a lot into the first ten weeks of the year! Just as well really. Onto the Shroppie where I had my first successes with gluten free sour dough bread, Tilly got to remember life in the countryside and we were treated to Shroppie Sunsets again.
Burgers with the Margees
The recent storms had brought down numerous trees and caused landslips so our progress was a touch slow heading northwards. We had a lovely lunch with Alison and Laura the Margees at Norbury Junction, they were to be our last visitors on board Oleanna for quite sometime.
Passing NB Bessie Surtees on the Tyrley Locks we actually got chance to chat for the first time. A stop to stock up in Market Drayton, we saw our first homemade mask (a pair of y fronts repurposed) and the start of empty shelves in supermarkets with people gleeful to have a twelve pack of toilet roll under their coat.
The Audlem flight was busy with plenty going down and NB Mountbatten coming up, delivering coal as they went. Theatres closed that day and we started to put into practice new ways of working locks hoping to keep ourselves safe. As we socially distanced around the shops in Nantwich people were joking about the virus. We shopped, adapting what we bought to what was available and then got ready for our first Zoom with family on the 21st March.
We stocked up with NB Halsall at Calverley then made our way onto the Middlewich Branch and down Cholmondeston Lock. The following morning (23rd March) we listened to our gut instincts. If lockdown was to happen we’d rather not have to negotiate locks to get to shops or services, so we winded and headed back up Cholmondeston Lock onto the Nantwich pound. Our gut instinct was correct.
Adam and Adrian on NB Briar Rose
The next few days we saw plenty of boats moving, finding places they wanted to spend the coming weeks, heading for home or temporary ones like NB Briar Rose. Jac my sister in law eventually managed to get a flight back from Melbourne where she’d been to celebrate her Mum’s birthday, at last everyone was where they should be.
We tried different moorings out for size as the need to fill with water or get shopping arose. It was also good to keep Tilly moving, both to stop her from getting bored and to help the local wildlife survive.
Our decision to be on the Nantwich pound turned out to be a good one, we ended up mooring at the bottom of Hurleston on the visitor moorings most, this became ‘Home’ for us where we watched spring turn into summer.
Watching the field behind the hedge be ploughed, planted and start to grow. Listening to the Lapwings enjoying the bounty in the potato fields. Getting to know our neighbours at a distance. The wheelie shoppers. The huskies out for their morning walk. The egg farm at the top of the locks. Weekly veg boxes from Nantwich Veg Boxes which we collected for ourselves and NB AreandAre. Supermarket deliveries were sought each week, sometimes only managing click and collect. The sun shone and Tilly had freedom. The coal boats kept us stocked up with fuel and our waterless (composting) toilet took one need to move out of the equation.
By mid-April my design for The Garden had been reimagined into an illustrated audio play. I was to do the illustrations, then they would have audio and some animation added to be available online. Chippy panto started to gear up with the hope that all would be back to normal-ish by the end of November for the show to be mounted.
We winded, went for walks, watched plays on the internet, winded, ate cheese scones, winded again! Tilly ventured further afield, across her field. We had barbeques, brownies and watched the reservoir banks get mown by remote control.
By Mid-May we were allowed to travel, so we hired a car for a day trip to Scarborough to see how our house was after the tenants had lost it during lockdown. In need of some tlc we now made plans for the rest of the year. We would be returning to life on land for a while, but planned on cruising as much as we could before then.
On the 23rd of May the suspension of the 14 day rule was lifted, our ‘home’ mooring was now 48 hours only so it was time to start moving again. Some boats around Hurleston headed off straight away, others remained a full 14 days before pushing off. We spent the next two weeks pootling to the far ends of the pound, Hack Green and Calvereley, the gunnels got a repaint and we said farewell to NB AreandAre who were heading up onto the Llangollen.
Cholmondeston Lock
With a full boat of veg and fruit from Nantwich Veg boxes, a Sainsburys shop and a visit from NB Halsall we were ready and on the 10th June we pushed our ‘home’ mooring away for the last time this year, Calverely was visited for a top up of water a toilet refresh and then we were off, turning onto the Middlewich Branch and descending Cholmondeston Lock, our first lock in 80 days. New gardening gloves became my boaters PPE and worked well, better than sanitising every five minutes.
Across onto the Trent and Mersey where we headed for Bramble Cuttings for a couple of nights. We’d been hoping to be able to drop down onto the Weaver but the Anderton Boat lift was still closed. So instead we winded at Whatcroft flash and headed up the Cheshire Locks hoping to catch Bosley Locks being open for a day to make our way onto the summit pound of the Macclesfield.
Nice Lock
It was nice being back on familiar ground again, although it took a little while to be able to do the Trent and Mersey hurdles over the lockgate beams with ease after sitting still for so long.
Our chairs were brought out onto the towpath to watch the setting sun at Tilly Railings and a barbeque was enjoyed on the Dane Aqueduct as we waited in line for Bosley Locks to open.
Bosley Locks and The Cloud in the background
With a single hander in front and one behind everyone helped out where we could making our passage up the locks a very jolly if hot one that only took 2.5 hours. Over the next ten days or so we pootled our way along the Macclesfield Canal, such a lovely stretch of water and oh those bridges! Still our favourites.
Calling in at Bollington Wharf we had our gas locker lid mended and had a top up of diesel. Foxgloves filled the canal banks and woods, we stopped at favourite spots along the way turning under the snake bridge at Marple onto the Peak Forest Canal at the end of June, heading for Whaley Bridge and Bugsworth Basin.
Saturday 4th July the pubs could re-open, we however went for a walk and waited for our delivery from Sainsburys along with a diesel top up from NB Alton. A batch of cheese scones were made to help us down the Marple flight on the 7th, we were the second boat down and it felt like we were pioneering boats going where no one had gone for months.
A couple of nights at Droylesden Marina saw to the washing pile and to recharge our batteries before we descended into Manchester. Our last narrow lock of the year was to be Ancotes Bottom Lock 1 on the Ashton Flight where we paused for a night at Telford Basin before tackling the Rochdale 9 on our own the following day. Patience and sheer determination got us out of Lock 92 at the bottom and was rewarded with a cheese scone as we made our way out to the Bridgewater Canal and Worsely.
The 14th July saw us rising up the Wigan Flight. We’d made arrangements to share the locks with NB Billy but it was decided by the volunteer lock keepers that they might be over long to share with, so instead we teamed up with John and Lindsey on NB Merganser. With the help of the Wigan Flight crew setting ahead we made good time up the flight, we then slowed down leaving the others to head off ahead of us.
The next few days we found ourselves leapfrogging NB Billy, or should that be hopfrogging? But we finally caught them up at Blackburn to share the locks. Another spectacular sunset was enjoyed by all near Foster Swing Bridge.
We’d planned to take our time along this stretch, but with local lockdowns looking possible in the area we decided to push on. The Burnley Embankment was busy with walkers and not a place to stop so we continued on to the bottom of Barrowford Locks. The following day we were caught up again by NB Billy so we shared the final flight up to the summit with Clare and Pete.
Our sixth anniversary of being fulltime boaters happened to coincide with pulling up at our favourite mooring on the network, the curley wurlys above Bank Newton. The following day the clouds lifted and we got to see the view. A barbecue was just managed before it started to rain.
It wasn’t quite plain sailing down into Skipton as the skipper of NB Amelie ended up in the cut at the bottom of Bank Newton and then we had problems with lock gates and swing bridges. Mick and I had an overnight in Scarborough leaving Tilly in charge and with the magic food bowl primed. On our return to Skipton we were met by two octogenarians leaning out of the upstairs windows of their house waving. We joined Margaret and Robert for a lovely meal, good to see them even if we were a bit nervy being in their company inside.
Sunny weather accompanied us onwards and finally I managed to take the photo I’ve been after for four years, Oleanna coming towards me under Parson’s Bridge. Now we have the matching pair, Lillian going away from us, Oleanna towards.
At Bingley five rise we teamed up with NB Barley to descend with the help of Lock Keeper Clare, carrying on to Saltaire in the sunshine.
A pause in Rodley meant we could meet up with friends Graham and Tracy in their new garden room, very nice to have a good catch up with them. The following day we took the opportunity to have lunch with my cousins Julie and John, our first pub in months.
Meeting up with Jenny and Andy on NB Barley again we shared the locks down into Leeds with them early the next day. A lack of water meant it took an hour to do one pound as water was let down from above, but we made it in the end to Granary Wharf. Shame the lack of water followed us, in fact the basin did a good job of emptying itself overnight. It took quite a few hours before boats had enough water to be afloat again, we all made a hasty exit as soon as we could.
Back into the big locks of the Aire and Calder we motored on to Ferrybridge where now only three of the power station cooling towers remain, a very sad sight.
Down Bank Dole Lock, the slow filler and we headed to Selby. Our trip up the Tidal Ouse was an interesting one a there were SO many trees floating about, we had to try our best to loose them before passing through what few bridges there were. Kingfishers escorted us just about all the way to Naburn which was a real treat. Instead of pulling up in York we decided to head on up to Ripon, we’d spend time in York on our way back, or so we thought!
Above Boroughbridge a familiar boat came into view, NB Billy. This was the last time our bows would cross this year. At Oxclose Lock we had some time for Tilly to explore before heading up into Ripon Basin to meet up with Robert and Margaret again and for Tilly to show off her ability to spot otters.
I’d get it in the neck if I didn’t include a photo!
On our way downstream the river was rising, we stopped off for a meal at The Dawney Arms making the most of the Eat out to Help out deal. Wonderful food and chance to meet up with Kerry the Landlady and hoped that the river level would ease overnight. Fortunately it did and we made our way in to York. We had hoped to meet up with old friends whilst we were in the area, it turned out the only people I got to see where Jaye and Duncan for lunch. Social distancing, rising rivers sadly put paid to seeing other people.
Over the next ten days the river rose twice. On one fall we made it back into York to pick up a supermarket delivery but very quickly headed back to Naburn where we ended up breasting up in a line of four boats tied to the floating pontoon by the water point. Levels didn’t rise so much as to necessitate wellies or waders, but it did put paid to the London Leckenbys joining us for a few days at the nearby campsite. A big disappointment all round.
But on the 31st August levels had dropped sufficiently for us to head back to Selby accompanied by Richard and Heather on NB Isabella, new boat owners. Naburn was their very first lock, Selby was to be their second! It was such a beautiful morning, we led the way but then let them go first when we reached Selby, we were likely to be able to stem the tide better, but they managed the lock with ease.
Lovely to see Bridget and Storm
At West Haddelsey we had a visit from Bridget and Storm, so lovely to see them. We’d planned on being good and sitting out, they’d even brought their own chairs and the camper van for their own toilet. But as it started to rain we bent the rules taking shelter inside Oleanna. This was the day I gave a second phone to the god of the cut.
For a replacement we headed down to Goole, calling in at Viking Marina to check we would have a mooring later in the month. After filling up with cheap diesel we then headed off up toward Doncaster and Sprotbrough where we caught up with Mick’s niece Fran, before returning back onto the Aire and Calder to do maintenance jobs and enjoy our last days onboard.
On the 18th September we pulled into our berth at the marina, finished off the contents of the freezer and started to pack. Two trips in a hire car to Scarborough and we were moved, Tilly joining us the second time.
Back then we imagined we’d be down to Oleanna doing jobs on day trips and by now we’d have had a couple of weeks out on the cut, but this simply wasn’t to be.
Living Room reclaimed
Jobs in the house keep me busy, along with starting work on the postponed Chippy panto. Mick for a while applied for supermarket jobs, hoping to be a delivery driver. The only job he was offered was as a meet and greeter just before Novembers lockdown. We both decided that maybe we’d cope without the money.
Not as low as she got after the breach
Then before Christmas came the news of the Aire and Calder breach. Fortunately plenty of people are keeping an eye on all the boats including Oleanna.
Blimey what a year!
So our vital statistics for the year 2020 according to canal plan are
Total distance is 792 miles, 2 ½ furlong and 339 locks . There are 82 moveable bridges of which 5 are usually left open; 233 small aqueducts or underbridges and 41 tunnels – a total of 19 miles 6 ¾ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.
This is made up of 365 miles, ¼ furlongs of narrow canals; 242 miles, 4 ¾ furlongs of broad canals; 81 miles, 3 ¾ furlongs of commercial waterways; 76 miles, 1 ¾furlongs of small rivers; 0 miles of large rivers; 27 miles of tidal rivers; 202 narrow locks; 118 broad locks; 18 large locks; 1 lock on major waterways.
Sadly with Oleanna’s log book where it should be, onboard, I’m not able to offer up the engine hours, litres of diesel, gas bottle or bags of coal. This year I can’t even work out how many boxes of wine we’ve gone through!
However I can tell you that from one page of journeys on our trip computer, missing out all the journeys in between the start of the page and the end, the total distance travelled would have been 2.25 furlongs. Instead it actually amounted to 56 miles 7.5 furlongs with 19 winds (turning around). This was of course in Lockdown 1. Grand total number of winds this year, 67.
Christmas Day 2020, Scarborough Spa
Here’s hoping that the pandemic calms down, we all get vaccinated and the breach on the Aire and Calder gets sorted so that we can go boating again. After all we didn’t plan to move back on land permanently!
Sprotbrough Visitor Moorings to Doncaster to Kirk Sandall
This morning there were things to catch up on. Earlier this week I had sent an email to Vienna wishing the theatre out there all the best for reopening. The show that followed A Regular Little Houdini had to close only days after it had opened due to the pandemic. Educating Rita has opened their autumn/winter season, playing to half their normal capacity. One of the producers had replied that it was a relief to be open again, but a constant worry that they will be able to continue all the way through their season. A few months ago I was offered their next show, if I’d have accepted, my model and technical drawings would have arrived with them this week and I would no doubt have been answering numerous questions from Vernon their Production Manager.
Winding to head downstream
Vernon also got back in touch, he feels very lucky to be back working again, but playing to a half filled auditorium all socially distanced is odd, a very different feel than playing to a small audience. He would normally be heading back to England to work on Buxton Panto, but as most pantos have been cancelled I suspect he’ll be staying in Vienna this year.
I’d also heard from Dark Horse Theatre Company, who are wanting to mount an exhibition of The Garden, my illustrations have been requested for framing to be part of it.
The SJT canopy a few weeks ago
The box office at the Stephen Joseph Theatre opened for general sale this morning for their Autumn/Winter season. As we are staying north this winter I wanted to see if tickets would be available for a couple of shows. Reaching the website I found myself in a virtual queue in sixth place, I went off to brush my teeth whilst waiting. With reduced capacity, less than a quarter of the normal audience I was keen to try to get tickets today. Having arranged to meet up with Bridget and Storm to see matinees I was glad to find tickets close together but still distanced for us all. Two groups of two with an isle or a few seats between us, perfect, well maybe not quite where I would normally choose to sit in The Round, but who knows what the staging will be like, I’m not sure Graham (the designer for one of them) knows yet either!
Putting dates in the diary to see some live theatre had lifted my spirits, now it was time to enjoy the weather and head back down stream to Doncaster.
A lovely day to be out on the river, we winded and headed back to Sprotbrough Lock. A boat had just pulled in behind us, they said it was still quite busy in Doncaster. Oh well, we’d just have to breast up if that was the case as we really could do with a stock up shop.
That is NOT his tail!
Climbing off at the lock there were a couple of sheep knocking about. One lay on the track giving some grass a second chew, whilst the other was trimming back the growth. I have to say I did a double take. Was this a ram or just a sheep with a long tail? Blimey no! A ram with wooly testicles. I never knew they grew wool down there. As I walked past I hoped rams were friendly sorts and didn’t have to display their testosterone levels like bulls do. He just looked up and gave me a look as if to say ‘It’s cool man!’ Well his nether regions certainly weren’t cool!
Blimey!
The lock was full, they automatically refill, and we were soon making our way down back onto the river. We zoomed back downstream. A passing narrowboat said that there was a Lock Keeper at Doncaster Lock. As we approached I could see someone with a life jacket on and some blue, but not as much as normal. They stood at the top panel, we could see the sluices open and as we got closer the gates started to open, all the time the light showing amber. Was this crew for another boat? Or a Lockie?
When we could see that there was no boat in the chamber we headed on in. The chap was a Lockie in training, he’s allowed in the hut, but not allowed to press any of the buttons, hence the light being amber. A few hand signals would have helped, he might have been opening the gates and letting loose half of the boats from Strawberry Island. Oh well, he did the honours, the lock dropping incredibly slowly. We thanked him and then rejoiced, there was space for Oleanna on the moorings.
Shopping time. First port of call, Scicluna, my favourite deli. I followed the one way arrows, which others didn’t and found where the masses of different sorts of flour are. I knew they’d have what I was after, but finding it took a while, I think there must be over 50 types in this shop. Then the cheese counter pulled me in, a couple of treat cheeses were added to my shopping, I made sure I paid before I could see anything else!
Pies
We had a look in the indoor market buying a pork pie for Mick and a couple of good salmon fillets for a barbecue. Next the Post Office to send off The Garden drawings recorded delivery to Huddersfield so that they can be framed for the exhibition.
South Yorkshire Cooplands make the best Chocolate Concrete
This was followed by a visit to Sainsburys. We’d already realised that the comprehensive shopping list we’d written up had been left on Oleanna so we did our best to remember everything. This we succeeded in doing but when back onboard we both realised that we’d forgotten to add batteries for the Co/Smoke detector to the list both written and mental!
It was still before 4 so for Tilly’s sake we decided to move on, hoping there might be space at Long Sandal Lock.
Very full moorings
Sadly the moorings here were even fuller this time. 48 hours had been exceeded by one boat and then Dolly Earle and it’s friend had breasted up in the other space. No choice but we had to carry on.
Going down
No Lock Keeper at the lock, so I did the honours. But where to stop for the day? We didn’t want the fly problem returning. A small ‘m’ on our map showed us where we’ve stopped before near Kirk Sandall, so we pulled up with still a couple of hours left before cat curfew, although the amount of woofers being walked didn’t go down too well!
Stocked up on flour
3 locks, 7.62 miles, 1 wind, 1 lock keeper, 1 space to shop, 2 treat cheeses, 3 bags flour, 0 space to store them! 16 drawings in the post, 1 box wine, 0 chocolate concrete, 72 hours at least! 1 blowy woofer filled mooring, 0 flies, so far, 8.
On waking the first thing to do is peek out of the curtains. Not much of a view side to side of the boat, but front to back we get something. This morning the cratch was covered in dew so it was hard to gauge if we’d started to go down or not. A harder look suggested we’d peaked last night and were now about 8 inches lower than when we’d gone to bed. Phew!
Mooring signs visible again!
Mid morning Mick loaded the broken shower controller into a bag and walked up to the bus stop on the main road, I went along to stretch my legs. We were surprised to find quite a queue at the bus stop, all from the campsite no doubt. Maybe they’d been planning on getting the river bus into town this morning, but despite the levels starting to drop the bus wouldn’t be running today.
Steps into water
On the map it looked like I might be able to walk along the road for a while and then join the flood bank where the river comes close to the road. So I waved Mick goodbye and headed southwards along the road. No footpath as such, but enough width to the verge to not have to walk on the road.
By the next buildings, Naburn Grange, was another bus stop where nobody was waiting. The Grange has a riding school and it looked like a group of guides were about to have a lesson. I continued along the verge, it getting narrower and higher as I approached bends in the country lane. I could see through the sideways trees that the river was very close, but there was no access to the bank, turning around was my only option.
Waiting to get on the bus
Back at the bus stop I just got to see Mick climbing on board the 42 before the bus sped away. There had been 16 people waiting, 4 got in a taxi and when the bus arrived a sign said it could only hold 18 passengers, there were already a few on board!
New junction, to us, in Fulford
The bus route took him through Fulford where a new junction has been created at the end of Fordlands Road, this is because a new housing estate is being built on fields along Germany Beck. The road here has been elevated and is surrounded by walls as this stretch used to flood several times a year, cutting off the bottom of the village. Hope the new houses are elevated too!
The River Foss
Mick was dropped off in Fishergate and walked the rest of the way to Screwfix on James Street. The chap there was surprised as the end of the controller had sheared off, a new one was found and handed over. His walk back into town took him along the side of the Foss. Not in flood, but the river had a good surface of duck weed. Where the Foss meets the Ouse a flood barrier was built many years ago to protect help protect the east side of the city from flood water backing up the Foss from the Ouse. Upstream of the barrier is Castle Mill Lock which can only be operated by IWA volunteers, this needs booking in advance. We’d been hoping to head up this way, not far as it is only navigable a short distance, but we might have managed to get to Heworth Green Bridge or alongside Huntington Road where I lived as a student for a few months. However work is ongoing at the flood barrier and the Ouse being in flood right now has put a stop to that idea.
Back in Naburn I decided not to abandon a walk, so carried on towards Naburn village and then climbed up onto the flood bank which protects the road. From here I then joined the walk from yesterday.
A step down now
Back at the river the levels were still dropping. A step down onto the pontoon now. However we’d be going nowhere today.
I had intentions of sorting out my Etsy shop with things I knitted earlier in the year, nobody can buy them if they don’t know they exist. But instead I wheedled out some possible photos to recreate as paintings. However I had little impetus to get much done.
Plumbers assistant
Mick returned with the new tap and after some lunch he became a plumber. We now have a shower that works again, hope this controller lasts this time.
Hooray
Today my family should have arrived from London, weather and floods having cancelled their visit. This evening they were going to cook and tomorrow it would have been our turn, we’re all trying to save pennies. So tonight I decided to get the leg of lamb out, no point in stuffing it in the freezer for later, might as well cook it. As I set about in the kitchen Mick lit the stove which kept Tilly quiet for the rest of the evening.
Happier cat
Garlic, rosemary and rapeseed oil was rubbed all over the lamb before I popped it in the oven. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar for the last fifteen minutes.
Accompanying the joint I did some roast new potatoes with courgette, pepper, red onion and sweet potato. A very nice meal, it would have been even better to have been eating it with family. Oh well.
More wall showing
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 miles walked, 42 bus, 1 new tap, 1 working shower, 8 possible photos, 1 drab day, 1 annoyingly bored cat, 0.8m lower, 1 step up, 1 leg of lamb between 2, which will keep us going for a week.
Greenberfield Bottom Lock to Keld Well Bend, the Curly Wurlys.
A damp day sadly but we hadn’t planned to go far and it was all on the flat. We pushed off just gone 10 with our post breakfast cuppas in insulated mugs, meaning we’d get going sooner.
Green and very pleasant
The farmers were still out turning the grass and raking it up ready for collection. NB Whistle Down The Wind showed off its steam chimney and water gushed into the canal on a bend, obviously being pumped from somewhere.
After a couple of miles we reached East Marton and the Double Arched Bridge. This is where we moored on our second night whilst on our first hire boat together, not quite managing to reach a mooring where we could walk across the fields to Thornton-in-Craven to a friends house for a meal. A lift had to be provided and we were glad of it after 12 locks and 5 swing bridges that day.
Double Arched Bridge
The Cross Keys pub at East Marton also has memories for me. This is where my best friends Grandad, Grandpa Lee used to bring us to celebrate his birthdays. A long table would be laid out for his 15 to 20 guests for Sunday lunch all ending with Grandpa Lee telling us a shaggy dog story and nearly always getting the punch line wrong having to be corrected by his grandchildren who’d heard it numerous times before. I always give a wave to him as we pass.
The Cross Keys pub up on the hill
We pulled in at the water point just a little further on to top up the tank. I had a walk back to take some more photos of the bridge. I’m considering turning my illustration/painting skills to capturing scenes from our canal journeys to add to my Etsy shop which could do with a bit of a boost. Hopefully if popular this would give us a touch of pocket money whilst income from theatre is none existent.
Maybe a suitable photo
With the tank full we pushed onwards, not much further, with our fingers crossed. We hoped that we could find space at our favourite mooring on the curly wurlys.
Good TV signal round here
The canal sticks to it’s contour and winds round Langber TV mast, first it’s on that side then ahead then the other side, but soon you forget it is even there as the views open up around you.
Wonderful
We could see that there were boats. One along the last straight before the canal ties itself in knots. A cruiser on the end of the bend. A grey boat sat where we thought we’d like to be, we pulled just past it, maybe a touch too close to the bend. I walked round to see what space there might be on the other side. Two boats but a length just in front of them which seemed to be just a touch further from the bend than where we’d pulled up. We pulled round and moored up, hoping we were leaving enough space in front of the first boat so they still had a view from their cratch.
Just part of the view
When asked by people which is our favourite canal we say the Leeds Liverpool. When asked which is our favourite bit, we say the curly wurlys. Last time we came through we didn’t manage to climb the locks early enough in the day to reach here as it was dark.
Time to see what Tilly made of it. Well she had a good sniff around and then jumped on the wall. Yep not bad.NOt bad!!! She just wanted to get her head down and find friends.
Not bad
The afternoon stayed damp. My starter stayed flat. I’m running out of brown rice flour and am getting a touch disillusioned with it. I fed it one last time and decided to use the discard to make some crackers. A good amount of fresh rosemary and thyme went into the mix along with a scattering of sea salt. The result was really quite tasty and certainly crunchy. I may be making more of these!
I’d found a pack of gluten free pizza dough in the drawer the other day, so that was used instead of a sourdough base. It was okay, but lacked much taste and was only a vehicle for the ham, caramelised red onion and goats cheese topping.
Crackers
We also finished watching the second half of Amadeus from the National Theatre. Salieri and Mozart were great performances. It was enjoyable but I really wished I’d been sat in the theatre as there were obviously things happening just out of shot that I’d like to have seen.
Three boats came past. Two hire boats who we thought had managed the bend well, so we looked away. Then a big bang followed by a 58ft 6inch scraping noise all the way along our rubbing strakes. The boat in front of us was a touch more peeved than we were, shouting out their hatch as the scraping noise continued for another 50 odd foot before the tiller was pushed over, as the hire boat ended up facing into the off side bank. They were being followed by another boat who had been managing to hold their course well until they had to slow down. Mick offered tiller advise which helped. They were both just heading to wind, but luckily they returned with out making contact.
Today there has been a flurry of emails regarding Chippy Panto. So far there is no news. The government have only given the entertainment industry aspirational dates for reopening to full houses. Under current guidance Chippy would only be able to have 40 to 75 in the audience, not enough to cover the cost of opening the building for the day and all the additional cleaning required between performances. Along with audience safety there is also the safety of the acting company and creative staff both on stage and off in such a building. It may be that all entrances have to be from SL and all exits SR and no audience participation! Not quite panto.
The doors currently remain firmly closed to help preserve the theatres future for years to come. The Governments rescue package still has no guidelines as to how it will be distributed and whether it could be used to guarantee the show. We all carry on waiting.
Houdini our original second mate
On a much lighter note, the title of todays blog. Six Years ago today we climbed into our Peugeot 207SW dropped keys off to our house with the rental agency in Scarborough and headed to Sowerby Bridge where NB Lillyanne (Lillian) our bright yellow boat had been waiting for us. Houdini our second mate did not know what was happening and found a shelf in the wardrobe very comforting for the first few days. So six years ago we set out for a year afloat and we’re still here, on our favourite mooring. Not a bad way to celebrate, well we’ll postpone the celebrations till tomorrow when hopefully the weather will have improved.
Our mooring here on the 3rd September 2014
0 locks, 3.78 miles, 1 double bridge, 1 full water tank, 1 wave, 1 damp day, 0 sourdough pizza, 1 boring doves pizza, 32 tasty crackers, 0 news about 0 news, 1 woofer stand off, 360 degree views, 6 years.
The alarm had been set so we wouldn’t be lazy this morning, however we were both awake before it went off. For some reason I decided to put my waterproof padded trousers on today, there was plenty of water hanging in the air and after the last few days I thought I might not overheat!
Pennywort
The western end of the Leeds Liverpool has been dashed through before, avoiding trouble spots, keeping our heads down whilst it rained and dashing to avoid stoppages. So today despite us still being on a touch of a mission we had more time to look around us as we cruised. Going in the opposite direction is always different anyway.
Mile posts sit strong and proud along the towpath counting up from Liverpool and down to Leeds. At 47 miles from Liverpool we got a glimpse of the mile post, you’d not see if going east to west. It went by too quickly for a photo, so here is someone elses which must have been taken a few years ago as now the trunk of the tree has grown round it, hugging all but the Liverpool mileage.
Wonder if it ever does Chug ?
We don’t remember much about this stretch, just that there are a lot of moored boats to pass slowly. I seemed to take the same photos though, a widebeam called Chug, it’s name once red, now faded.
Important pointing
A C&RT van sat by a bridge a short distance on four chaps stood on the towpath. There was a lot of pointing going on at the crumbling wall on the opposite bank. Then a generator was lifted onto the towpath and a drill plugged in, a five foot drill bit ready to bore a hole into the concrete bank which would then be filled with resin/foam to help hold the bank and eliminate leeks.
A field of crows
On the off side visitor mooring at Adlington we passed NB Freedom whom we’d followed down the Marple flight, they must have passed us when we were moored up in Droylsden Marina.
A bridge
The Leeds Liverpool Canal bridges tend to have the archway stones painted white, well at one time they were, the weather having worn a lot of it off now. The key stone obviously sits in the centre of the arch, but this is not the centre of the navigation due to the towpath taking up some room.
White mark for the centre
To one side of the key stone there tends to be a white line painted, aim the centre of your boat at this and you shouldn’t touch the sides.
More moored boats as we came into Botany Bay, one being NB The Grenedier that we came across on the Grand Union a few years ago, their beam just a touch too wide for them to be able to share broad locks and necessitating the need to have both gates open.
Lunch on the go at Botany Bay
Up ahead we saw the first of two moving boats, a day boat. The lady at the helm must have panicked when she saw us, arms moving outwards to express her concern, bringing the bow round to full on collision course with our port side! Mick put Oleanna into reverse as quickly as he could, getting us out of the danger zone. I know the gunnels already need a touch up but a big dent would need more than paint!
The day boat managed to get back on a straight course and we passed as if nothing had happened.
Bottom Lock
Botany Bay Mill was once a place to visit, the towpath was always quite busy here, but today there was not one boat. The Mill used to house a number of stalls selling all sorts, clothes, gifts, furniture, I suspect a good place to browse. But in February last year the 1855 mill closed its doors, repairs to the building no longer viable and redevelopment now on the cards. Botany Bay Outlet Village, an ‘iconic lifestyle destination’ that’s trendy bollocks for shops, houses, maybe a cinema next to an old mill and a motorway junction.
Playing leapfrog
Through bridge 80 we spied the bottom of the Johnson’s Hillock flight, nestled through the bridge hole was NB Billy all locked up and nobody to say hello to. Two day boats had stopped for their lunch, the crews spotting us came out to watch us at the locks.
Locks on the right, Preston on the left
On the right the locks climb the canal up another 65ft 2″, but to the left another channel heads off. This was the Walton Summit Branch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal, originally this branch continued onto Clayton Brook, quite close to the junction of the M61 and M65. From here a tramway headed north west to Preston crossing the River Ribble and connecting up with the Lancaster Canal.
Waterway Routes has a free downloadable map of the abandoned canal and tramway should you be interested. I was quite surprised at how close we were to the end of the Lancaster canal, 7.2 miles as the crow flies, back in 2017 the Lancaster felt like it was in another country due to crossing the Ribble Link.
Back at the Johnson’s Hillock flight the lock landing is quite overgrown at the moment, a bit more foot fall is needed. The bottom lock was full, wide locks on our own would mean a lot of walking round them as there is no route over the top gates. I think I must have walked over the bottom gates about five times at each lock, my step count for the day was around about half that of when we came up Wigan and here we only had seven locks not 21!
Plenty watching
We pulled a large crowd. The day boaters, who are considering moving onto a boat, today was their first time and they have a week booked later in the summer. Shame they didn’t hang around to help push lock gates, maybe I made it look like hard work and put them off! Then there were couples out for a walk and Dad’s with their kids. A look around for that glint in someones eye desperate to push a gate and help, but nobody showed any sign of interest, maybe they didn’t want to touch the lock gates.
Mick closing up
We quickly got into our rhythm, Mick closing up as I walked on ahead to empty the next lock. Still no one offered to close gates as Mick walked his way round the locks.
A fisherman kept one pound ahead of us pulling out a 2 to 3 pound pike at one point. Someone else had been fishing here too, magnet fishing. A line of rusty windlasses sat on the lock beam at 62 along with a rudder! If you’ve ever lost your rudder maybe it was yours, we didn’t bother picking it up as a spare.
Second Lock up
I soon felt I was over heating so my coat was handed to Mick, nothing much I could do about my trousers unless I wanted to carry on up the locks in my pants! Drizzle came and went as we climbed up the locks. At the second lock memories came back to me from either September 2014 or October 2016 when a couple from New Zealand were ascending the lock on a boat they had hired for several months, the lady was of slight build, could it have been Graeme and Clare on Mr Blue Sky?
Carrying on up
Ascending the penultimate lock I could see the top lock was being emptied, when the gate finally opened I tried signalling to them to leave the gates open, Mick even bipped the horn, but it didn’t catch their attention and the gates closed.
Looking back
As the boat came towards me I wondered why I knew the name NB Hannah May, we’ve come across it before. Then as it came alongside I remembered why, it’s a Stillwater boat our original boat builders!
We still wanted to get a few more miles under our belt before stopping for the day, just as well as the visitor moorings above the locks were full. We ducked under the M65 surrounded by green and meadow sweet filling the air with its sweat aroma.
You’d never guess we were about to go under the motorway
The curve towards Riley Green came into view, the road noise still audible, but just far enough away, we pulled in and tied up onto the armco. Round the bend there would have been rings, but here was further away from a road and much better for Tilly for her two hours shore leave.
Big sideways trees!
7 locks, 12.11 miles, 1 rightish, 2 moving boats, 1 damp day, 1 cancelled pamphlet, 2 hours shore leave, 3 miles walked, 1 noisy mooring, just what would it have been like in April?
As we had our morning cuppa in bed we discussed what we should do for the next few days. Ahead of us lie three lock flights before we reach the summit pound of the Leeds Liverpool Canal. We’ve been right across the L&L a couple of times, east to west, but never west to east. Our first hire boat together was from Silsden through Foulridge Tunnel and then back across to Bingley for the five and three locks. So on this side of the Pennines we’ve not explored so much, we’ve been looking forward to it.
However. Lock 51, the bottom of the Barrowford flight has a problem with its cill, an attempt to mend it took place on Sunday, but didn’t work. Engineers were due to have a look on Monday, but they were too busy elsewhere so today they would access what would be needed. This meant that until we hear what the prognosis is we won’t be rushing to the bottom of the flight, it’s a 15 hour cruise away.
The other thing that affects our route is C-19. The area that we will be travelling through currently has a spike in cases, not as high as Leicester, but still high. For the last few days the local news has been talking about special measures being imposed in Blackburn and Pendle with the hope that the number of cases can be brought back down, therefore avoiding local lockdowns. Even before we knew about the spike, our current covid world meant we were unlikely to spend much time in the towns and cities, doing our best to avoid being with too many people.
So now we have a slight dilemma. We would quite like to speed through the next 40 odd miles to avoid a possible lockdown but we also don’t want to be stuck waiting for a lock to be mended right in a Covid hotspot.
Why would I want to go out in this?
It was raining, so we decided to stay put for the day and await the engineers report later on. The back doors were open for an excited Tilly who was given a full 9 hours shore leave. Except the damp air didn’t go down too well with her! Much of the day was spent staring at the outside from the dryness of the pram cover, occasional trips out but not for long.
Mick went off in search of milk and bread, retracing our route then cutting across country to Whelley where there was a Tesco Express.
Meanwhile I got on with a touch of work. Vanessa from Separate Doors has asked me to do an illustration for the cover of a Crisis pamphlet. A couple of days ago I’d sent her some ideas and yesterday she’d replied as to which one to go with, luckily my preferred one.
Now which one is best?
Time to work out the layout and then search for a suitable font. Our new computer has a huge list of fonts, but half of them you have to download. Not a problem, except to see what they look like it means downloading them all! A tiresome task, not one I fancied today. So I just worked my way down the list of those available, selecting possibles for an audition. Once I had my shortlist I then gradually wheedled them down to one. Then that needed manipulating, all taking loads of time.
No 10
With the correct size and spacing I then traced the lettering onto the page only to discover that my centre line was just slightly off and some spacing of letters looked a touch odd leaving small gaps! A bit of nudging about and it was better, good enough for a mock up to send Vanessa for approval.
This afternoon Mick took the opportunity to lift the engine board and give Oleanna a service. Her last service had been 250 hours ago at the beginning of March. Just an oil change and filter today along with checking coolant levels and belts. We also renewed our RCR membership which had lapsed in the last week.
Two boats came past today. First NB Billy, Hellos and waves were passed from our dry position at the dinette to Clare’s soggy one at the helm. Then mid afternoon another boat came past heading towards the locks. I think we may have found the quietest stretch on the network at the moment, this of course may change when we reach Yorkshire.
By the end of the day news came through from C&RT that scaffolding would be erected at Lock 51 tomorrow and they hoped that the repair would be finished on Friday, with the navigation reopening in the evening. Great news.
Pendle District
Then on the local news there was more talk of re-imposing measures to try to take control over the spike. We took a closer look at our maps. Pendle covers a large area which includes Barnoldswick and Greenberfield Locks, the other side of Foulridge Tunnel! Hopefully for these communities the measures they are bringing back in will work and for us hopefully we’ll be through should a full lockdown be enforced. We’ll just have to come back to explore this section another time.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3.5 hours for Wigan yesterday, 4 pts milk, 2 loaves bread, 1 stocked freezer, 1 damp day, 4 muddy paws, 1 illustration in danger, 10 fonts down to 1, 51 broken, 9 litres oil, 1 filter, 1 bronze membership, 2 spikes en route, 1 west side still to explore.
Scotsman’s Flash to Haigh Golf Club, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Main Line
The view yesterday hadn’t really been worth lining up with our galley window. The bank being really quite high meant that even when stood up on tip toes the view of the flash sat behind the towpath.
Poolstock Bottom Lock
We tip toed around the goose pooh and pushed off reaching Poolstock Bottom Lock a little before 8am. These locks are locked overnight to help conserve water levels in the Wigan area. We’ve come across one of the pounds being very very low before in Wigan, the wait for C&RT to fill it sufficiently for us to scrape along the bottom took into the afternoon and Mick even managed to polish some of Lillian’s mushroom vents whilst we waited. This morning the locks were unlocked and waiting for us, plenty of water about.
Could that be Billy
By 8:20 we’d ascended the two locks, clicking the anti vandal locks back on at each paddle. At Wigan Junction we turned right, a quick look to the left and we could see crew working the lock, this was likely to be NB Billy who we had a rendez vous with just around the bend.
First of the 21
Last night on the Wigan Flight Crew page there was mention of another boat moored below the locks and four facing the top of the flight, possibly waiting to comedown this morning. We pulled in behind NB Merganser and I walked up to chat with the Lock Keepers. We had arranged to share the locks with NB Billy, but Billy is a historic 62ft long boat and the Wigan flight is a maximum of 62ft, would it be wise for us to share with them? In some locks they might need to go a touch on the diagonal meaning one boat at a time. The Lockies suggested we shared with NB Merganser and they’d let NB Billy know what was happening.
Going up
Four young lads stood by the bottom gate, were they here to help or hinder? One Lockie said he knew a couple of them and they were alright. The lady from Merganser (Lindsay) said that they had helped a single hander yesterday and he couldn’t stop singing their praises. So all of a sudden we had six crew and other volunteers about too.
Heading to the next
I stayed around as the lads closed gates and lifted paddles, the oldest suggested he was a volunteer, he certainly knew about each lock and which ones to take extra care on, he’d trained up his two brothers to help and it was the forth chaps first day with them. He had a meeting to go to so wouldn’t be around all morning. Once the boats were rising the lads walked up to the second lock to empty it ready for us. With the gates closed behind us I lifted a paddle for NB Billy who was just appearing behind us with quite a few blue topped volunteers in tow.
The railings around the house suggest mooring round here wouldn’t be a good idea
At the second lock the lads closed gates and lifted paddles, with the boats past the cill I was happy to walk on to the next lock to set it. The older chap headed off back down the flight leaving his crew with us. As Mick came into the third chamber we conferred regarding the help on hand and just so long as either Lindsay or myself stayed with the boats the extra assistance was very welcome. The lads were great at setting locks, opening gates etc, but if something went wrong would they know what to do?
Not much white left on my gloves now
Well that was the last we saw of them, we could see they were setting ahead for NB Billy, but we seemed to have lost our extra pair of hands. Never mind, we soon picked up an official volunteer on a bike with a life jacket who just headed on up the flight ahead of us setting the next locks.
Woofer second mate
Lindsay and I worked the locks whilst Mick and John moved the boats. Lock after lock after lock, all the time Dixie (?) their dog sniffing around and taking note.
Ground paddles
Gates with winding gear were new to Lindsay as were the box ground paddles (do these have a name), I warned her about the clough ground paddles they’d come across the further they got towards Leeds.
The men chatted away at the stern whilst us ladies caught little glimpses of conversation as and when we could hear each other due to the water. They have been moored at Aqueduct on the Middlewich Branch this winter. Out for three weeks they are hoping to reach York and then head south on the Trent and move to Dunchurch Pools Marina near Rugby. They had left Aqueduct last Friday and come down the Trent and Mersey working their way through 9 locks compared to our 91! No wonder it’s taken us a touch longer!!
Swapping
On reaching Lock 77 we were told by John, on his bike, that we’d we swapping with boats coming down hill in the next pound. You could tell by the amount of water coming down the bywash here that they wouldn’t be the only boats we’d encounter.
Swapping at 75
Between 76 and 75 we did this again, two single handers with several volunteers assisting. This was handy as it meant more people to hold the towpath side bottom gate slightly open. If this gate goes back into it’s recess it is a right bugger to get out to close the lock again. Add into the equation social distancing! Lending a hand to close a gate right now is almost pointless, because if you stand 2m away and pull the gate all your effort is minuscule compared to being able at the end of a beam.
John warned us of the next few locks which would need to be filled quickly as the bottom gates leak and the pounds above are short, so taking your time means you run out of water. With Mick and John warned to stay well back we wound the ground paddles up and then cautiously the gate paddles.
John
Frothy locks
Not being able to see what the water is doing from your gate paddle is a touch concerning, but Lindsey and I watched out for each others, a nod for more water, a hand up to stop. This worked pretty well.
Dinosaur!
One top gate was more than just a waterfall. As both boats came in the bows got a good wash down. Glad we’d elected to have the cratch cover closed (normally open on narrow lock to save them getting torn). Once up both boats had to retrieve bow lines that had been washed off gas lockers into the chamber.
Looking down hill
Now we appeared to have picked up another crew member an octogenarian with a walking stick who insisted on the chain being wound a certain way on one of the gates and then walked up to open the next gate for us. I did my best to keep my distance whilst he insisted on helping to pull a gate closed.
Helper
Closed pub for sale
The count down to the top was now in full swing, arms, legs and backs starting to complain a touch, was now a good time for a muffin? Yes but we’d forgotten to bring them outside with us and with all doors locked it was a touch too much effort to get them.
The end in sight
Two left to go and we had helping hands again from the volunteers. The penultimate lock has top gates that really don’t want to stay shut, so as we closed them a paddle was quickly opened to set it for NB Billy now only a couple of locks behind.
Lock 65 Bridge 58
The top lock 65 takes time to fill, the amount of weed sitting above the top gates is not wanted in the flight or adding to problems with gate paddles so only ground paddles are allowed. This does mean you get the chance to chat with the chaps. As John and Lindsay were going to head straight off and we were after water they pulled out first.
Mick, John and Lindsey
We may see them again as the Barrowford Flight is currently out of action up to the summit, but they are likely to zoom on ahead with places to go and miles to cover, whilst we take our time. It was lovely sharing with them.
Bye bye
We pulled in at the services, set the water going, collected rubbish for the bins and emptied the yellow water making use of the elsan.
Billy coming up
As we finished topping up NB Billy rose in the final lock, the young crew having a ride in the large well deck as the volunteers wound the paddles. Thanks all round for the crew, although I think the lads were hoping for more than just a handshake!
Extra passengers
We pushed off again aiming for a mooring we’d stopped at in 2014 on Lillian the night before we decended the flight. A quick check of Waterway Routes and Paul confirmed it’s location with a big M suggesting there would be armco to aid our mooring.
Heading for the big M
A restful afternoon with Tilly avoiding walkers and cyclists and the occasional golf ball being teed off across the way.
We should manage that by the end of August
During the morning I’d been sent a link for The Garden. When I’d first chatted to Lynda regarding the show over a year ago, her producers brief was that they wanted the show to be ‘Lovely’. Since then lots has happened and the play has been re-imagined into the Lockdown Edition. I know I’m biased but it certainly has turned out to be ‘Lovely’. The thought of all the actors recording their lines on their phones at home, Firielle under her duvet to soften the sound and then sending them in to Amy (director) and Penny (digital production) who have put images to text to sound to animation to music (a lovely song by Rhiannon Scutt) to my illustrations. Lovely.
Winter in The Garden
23 locks, 4.5 miles, 1 right, 1 left, 1 swap of partners, 4 going down, 3 up, 4 lads, at least 5 volunteers, 1 bike, 1 woofer, 1 dry day, 1 broken down cruiser, 2 locking pals, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 0 rubbish, 6 covid handshakes, 4 tasty muffins, 1 friendly cover mooring, 1 lovely production, 2 pooped boaters, 215 foot 6 inches higher.
With drizzle in the air we took our time before moving this morning and with hindsight we should have let Tilly dictate what time we left, but it’s rare we let her out on mornings we want to move.
Things dried up a touch so we pushed off around 11:30 with the intention of reaching Scotman’s Flash, leaving the two Poolstock Locks for Tuesday morning as we’d rather not moor overnight below lock 85.
The green way ahead
The canal is a bit samey samey. Wide with concrete edges that seem to have moved through the years, some downwards and some inwards due to mining subsidence. All the route is green, very green, so green that there are very few views to be had through the trees, just the odd glimpse of water.
Where the lock gates used to hinge
There were a couple of boats at Dover Locks where two locks have been removed, the gate recesses still visible where the cut narrows.
Wasn’t that here last time?
A toppled branch now seems quite settled halfway across the canal, I think we chopped a chunk out of this when we were on our way to Liverpool a few years ago.
Are we in the jungle?
Now the banks are high and so over grown. Fat greenery at the narrows where bridges once used to be make the canal look like it is a narrow waterway. Ferns, brambles all sorts, we were just waiting for a yodel and then for Tarzan to swing into view.
Moss Bridge
Through Moss Bridge we could see the large flash of water stretching out towards Wigan, sailing boats lined up on the shore. There was a gap in the over growth so we pulled in, then adjusted ourselves so that the galley window would have a better view, all the time avoiding the mountains of goose pooh.
Not a bad view
A gaggle of Canadian and Greylag Geese suddenly made a dash for it as a lady walked up to them. They were heading in her direction despite the two dogs on leads, they knew what she had in her blue plastic bag was going to be tasty.
Quick she’s here!
The towpath is quite wide, we both took it in turns to have a look over the other side. We’d expected there to be a bank of some sort which trees grew out of before the waters edge. But no it was a sheer drop. A conferring H&S huddle was had, verdict sadly for Tilly that it was an incident just waiting to happen and with the water maybe 10 ft below the top of the wall, we’d not be able to assist should some footing on the trees go wrong, No shore leave today!
Too high should any tree climbing go wrong!
During the afternoon I scanned the sketches I’d done yesterday and wrote a lengthy email to Vanessa with my suggestions. I also had queries for The Garden regarding what materials I’d used for my illustrations, so that this could be added to the audio description.
Lock muffins
Then a spot of baking, a sugar rush might be needed tomorrow on the locks, so I made a half batch of blueberry muffins.
Access to notes from the Wigan Flight Crew were read and a link sent to my phone. One of the crew has complied handy notes for ascent and descent of the locks, so I should know which locks on the flight have troublesome gates and when to use all the paddles and where not to. Apparently above the top lock there is lots of weed at the moment, so it’s best not to use the gate paddles as the weed would be sucked through and clog the grills, luckily this lock has newer gates so holds it’s water well.
A Dover lock bollard
As the evening progressed numerous groups of teenagers walked by all heading in the same direction. None of them came back, maybe there was a big party happening somewhere, at least we couldn’t hear it if there was.
0 locks, 3.78 miles, 1 grey day, 1 green cruise, 0 Tarzan, 10ft wall of death, 1 bored cat again, 6 muffins, 5 sketches, 1 day until The Garden goes live, 5 years an amputee.
West of the M60 to Gerrards Bridge 6, Leeds Liverpool Canal, Leigh Branch
We nudged our way closer to Wigan today, we plan on ascending the 21 locks on Tuesday. A few days ago Mick put a notice on the Wigan Flight Crew page of facebook to see if we could team up with anyone, or see if any volunteers might be around to assist. By the end of today we had arranged to team up with NB Billy who are approaching from Liverpool, so we will rendez vous below Lock 85.
Astley Green pithead
The towpath was busy today, the sun had brought everyone and their distant relatives out to enjoy themselves alongside the water. Our arms became tired from all the waving we were having to do to youngsters. One little lad told us ‘You’re on a boat!’
Through Vicars Hall Bridge we could see the pithead at Astley Green. We’ve never visited the Lancashire Mining Museum, currently closed, maybe we’ll stop next time we pass.
A carpet of green and yellow
Yellow lilies fill the offside, most winding holes are full of them, today their green leaves shone out at us before they ducked under the surface. Boats were on the move too, most we’d seen yesterday so they must have been on an out and back trip for the weekend.
Dusty smelly and noisy. Hope they were enjoying themselves
In the distance all morning we’d been able to hear gun shots, a shooting range somewhere, this was however soon taken over by numerous motorbikes at Astley Raceway MX. The raceway was open to prebooked bikes and no spectators were allowed, despite this the track was heaving! Talk about pollution! Both noise and from the fumes, we didn’t hang around to watch.
Monty and Montee
Gardens with ornaments kept us occupied, a little wendy house occupied by Monty and Montee (we think that is what female gnomes should be called).
Darth Vader and R2D2
Just a little bit further along I thought I could see two more gnomes, Darth Vader and R2D2, but disappointingly they turned out to be a toadstool and a water pump!
Waterway Routes with added info
For the last few days Mick has been listening to the England West Indies Test Match. But today it was absent, yet he knew how we were or were’t doing. In the corner of the Waterway Routes map, he’d managed to get the score to show. Not good as we lost mid afternoon.
Peloton
A peloton came towards us, the man out in front smoking a fag, all this exercise is good for you!
Three shades of hydrangia, back gates held together with yellowing expanding foam and the mill now refurbished, the windows on the corner looking right down the canal.
HIts of the past, yet modern
A new looking building at one of the little arms looks interesting, and the wild flowers alongside the moorings were stunning.
Leeds Liverpool straight ahead
At Leigh Bridge 11 we left the Bridgewater Canal and joined back onto C&RT waters, the Leeds Liverpool Canal, Leigh Branch.
Footbridge 10 came into view and we started to look for somewhere deep enough to be able to pull in, it wasn’t that hard, we just had to do our best to avoid the woofer deposits. Tilly thought this would do for the day, we weren’t too sure though.
Bridge 10
After lunch Mick set off with a bike to pick up a click and collect order half a mile away. On his return he had to call me for assistance as the footbridge did not have a ramp as he’d hoped. As I go to the bridge some cyclists who’d just crossed over the bridge were offering to help the old man with his shopping! We managed and were soon able to continue on our way.
Old lock gates
But how much further? Pennington Flash looked appealing, but the shear volume of people about put us off.
The housing around Plank Lane has now been finished, every house with solar panels on the roof. It’s all quite different from when we first came here on NB Winding Down and we’re sure the basin is much bigger than it was back then. The housing may be complete on the east side of the bridge, but more houses are going up on the west side.
Plank Lane
Mick pulled us over so that I could hop off to work the bridge, but we’d been beaten to it by a boat coming the other way. The chap turned his key of power, then pressed the button. Flashing lights, barriers and up the bridge went. They came through first then it was our turn. A quick count of cars suggested we’d held up 16 vehicles, but I suspect it was more.
I’ve not been under it before
We pootled along, the towpath now not so pristine, far fewer people. Pulling in a short distance on we were happy until I spied an ants nest, so we nudged up a few hundred yards further along a nice stretch of armco making mooring easy.
Out went Tilly to the birds displeasure and we settled down for the remainder of the day and a roast chicken. Tomorrow we’ll edge closer to Wigan to the last nice mooring before Poolstock Locks.