Category Archives: Knitting

The Hunt For Oleanna. 21st October

Scarboreugh / Redhill Marina

Veg veg, glorious veg

The last week has whizzed by. It hasn’t taken us long to get back into the swing of house living. The first veg box arrived with giant onions and a whole lot of fresh organic goodness, the cauliflower did us for three tasty meals it was so big! After the first couple of days Tilly has gone into her house hibernation and is asleep most days until 3pm when she deems it is time for her evening dingding!

I’ve packed up a box of painty stuff to head down to Chippy ahead of my arrival. Constant phone calls from the set builder keeps me on my toes, plus messages from the props team and production manager, there are days when I hardly get chance for a peaceful walk around Scarborough.

On Sunday we managed a walk down to the seafront, a charity run taking place. The bridge to the Lighthouse is currently stuck in up mode so right now you can’t do a loop around the harbour. But the donkeys are still on the beach, maybe they’ll get time off when half term has been and gone. By Monday our colds were deemed no longer contagious, so we had a visit from Frank. He was on good form and talked to us for about an hour over a cuppa, we hardy managed to get a word in edgeways!

Frank round to talk at us

Today we were on a train at just gone 9am, heading southwards to East Midlands Parkway. Train timetables are such that we’d arrive at York just as the train we want is leaving, if the two trains connected it would save an hour on our journey, but such is. So we at least get a view of the North Sea and the Humber on our way via Hull and Sheffield, a route we are quite familiar with. The train goes through Goole where we’ve moored for the last few winters, it’s just a shame that we still have another two hours to sit on a train to reach Oleanna this winter. Our next trip down may well be by car.

East Midlands Parkway Station

Sat right under the cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, East Midlands Parkway is an odd station, the steps up from the platforms have been there a while, but look like they are washed down everyday. The waiting rooms are large, a cafe, a big car park and then one of those roads off a motorway that seems to go to nowhere, except this one goes to the station and Redhill Marina. We’d both looked on Google to see if there might be a direct footpath, but no, the car park is in the way!

As we walked in we looked round at the boats on hard standing, no sign of Oleanna. Where was she? No sign of her out near what they call the hill where grit blasting is done. But time was ticking on, the marina cafe would be closing soon and it was a long time since breakfast. They had gluten free bread so we both had sandwiches and a large pot of tea to share. Very nice and reasonable. If we end up staying a night I now know I could have a very naughty, but nice, cooked breakfast as their sausages are GF.

Next we headed to see Mandy in the office to do the paperwork. She’d taken our money for lift out and hard standing before she’d headed on holiday. We’d left the form we’d been given on Oleanna and not filled it in in advance, so some of the boxes, like Boat Safety and Insurance couldn’t be filled in as the information wasn’t at our finger tips, so we’ll have to send them via email. I missed all this as Jamie called from Dawlish to check heights of windows and positioning of braces for panto.

There she is!

So where was Oleanna? A chap driving a JCB was tasked in helping us find her. We’d been warned that the marina is a working environment and you certainly have to keep an eye on where you are walking, the ground is lumpy and not the tidiest of places. The chap pointed to Oleanna’s pram hood, there she was. We now just needed a ladder to be able to climb aboard. A wooden one was found for us.

Not a bad view from the bow

We’d forgotten to take our sack barrow and the Brompton to the house with us last week, and my painty long handled small roller pole can now go back to being just that rather than a mooring aid for chains round armco.

Tidying the ropes

Whilst Mick checked everything was okay with the solar etc, I got the tape measure out to calculate how long a hook up cable we’d be needing if we want to plug in. The nearest board worked out to be 37m away! Our current hook up cable is 10m. However the board we’d been pointed towards didn’t have a suitable spare outlet for us. A look around gave us another option which was maybe a few more meters away. Is it worth spending the money on an extra long hook up cable? It will mean the router can be put back on and Mick can keep an eye on everything and should it become really cold the electric heating would be able to kick in.

Emptying and filling

I emptied and filled all the damp traps around the boat. Cushions were lifted and cupboards opened to help with airflow. Mick tidied the roof, bringing in anything that might get blown away.

An inspection of Oleanna’s hull. She was last out of the water in 2021 when she was blacked, she had new anodes added then. The old and new ones, looked to me to be in a similar state to each other. We’ll see what other people think nearer the time to her repaint about them. Back in 2021 large areas of blacking came off with the jet wash, not being able to get her grit blasted back then, the chaps did as best they could grinding off any 2 pack that was loose. Today there were areas that could have been better, but I personally had been expecting worse. We could also spot areas that were missed when the top coat was applied four years ago, the coats underneath go grey after a while. When Oleanna is repainted she will be fully grit blasted, then 2 pack blacking is applied everywhere, not just to the hull and base plate, but also the cabin sides. This time she should have blacking that lasts that bit longer as it won’t be painted onto any mill scale.

Everything left open for air circulation

A final check to see if she was happy where she was, she’s still smiling, with her red lipstick! All covers poppered down, I gave her a pat as we walked away. Mick will be down sometime over the coming weeks to check on her, he may well stay over as the journey is quite a long one.

Hope she stays happy on dry land

The door to the painters workshop was closed, aromas of paint coming from their extractor. Either they were busy or they had gone home for the day. We opted to send Tom an email and headed back the twenty minute walk to the station.

Leaving her with her new neighbours

Free reading matter was picked up at the station, but I only looked at the pictures and hunted through Vogue for the fragrance samples I remembered as a kid, Vogue was the only magazine my mum got. Yes there are still samples, in slightly different format.

All free!

Up to Sheffield. We managed to get ourselves seats on the train to Scarborough which was good as there ended up being not much standing room left, but by Hull the train had thinned out, by Scarborough we were the only ones in our carriage. Unfortunately there were trespassers on the line so our train was delayed. Then at Bridlington we were delayed further as ahead there is a stretch of single track and we had to wait for the south bound train to arrive before we could carry on north. We were guaranteed to be shouted at by Tilly when we got home, she did not disappoint, WHERE’S MY DINGDING!!! You said you might be a bit late but it’s over twenty seven cat naps late!!!!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 delay repay applied for, 1 cat home alone, 2 cobs, 1 large pot of tea, 1 form still to be filled in, 1 hunt for Oleanna, 1 wooden ladder, 8 cooling towers, 1 bazar station, 2 hours before return, 2 mini socks, 1 very hungry cat.

Packing Onto The Stern. 13th October

Trent Lock to Redhill Marina

Tyred edging at the yacht club

This mooring hasn’t been so enticing to Tilly this time around, maybe there are no friends left from our previous visits recently. She still managed a few minutes out on the towpath before returning to snooze in front of the stove.

Quite picturesque, just a worry with the proximity of the weir!

Breakfasted we made ready to push off. Not far today, but a move we couldn’t put off. This morning was a bit misty, but the cooling towers were still in view, just the tall chimney disappeared into the clouds. We turned left towards the River Soar. There has been a small cruiser sat down towards the weir for some time, it looks well settled, engulfed by its own island of pennywort.

Oleanna’s last lock of the year and in her current livery

Soon the red hill comes into view, then the houses built on stilts to be above flooding, then a few boats, then Redhill Flood Lock. This, even though we’d only be going straight through it today, would be Oleanna’s last lock for this year.

Jolly tugs about the place

There was no gap outside the cafe or marina offices, so we breasted up next to a boat and went to see if anyone was in the office. Mandy was away on holiday, we’d paid in advance over the phone last week, but Graham would be about somewhere. Mick rang the number on the door, an old chap answered, asked lots of questions, maybe this was the owner. He’d let Graham know we were about.

Moored by the slipway

By now a boat had pulled off from in front of the cafe, so we nudged along and tied as close to the bank as we could, the bottom being a touch too close to get right in. Graham came over to say hello, asked if before we left if Oleanna could be winded to face the slipway, then she could be bow hauled onto the trolley and pulled out by tractor. Sadly we won’t be around to see that.

Oleanna is likely to sit in the shadow of these towers for a while

After a bowl of soup and finishing off some bread from the freezer we walked up to see if we could say hello to Tom who will be giving Oleanna her repaint. Our slot is still some time away, but we thought we’d just let him know we were here now. However Tom had headed off early today, much better than watching paint dry.

If dog’s are not allowed off lead here, then cats most certainly are not allowed out!

No shore leave for Tilly and time to start packing things up. It’s always hard to know where to start. Knitting and socks first. I still have so much yarn! Then I moved onto work things, digging out bits that had been stored under the dinette and in cupboards. I don’t think I’ll get the chance to return to Oleanna before I head to Chippy so I need to be thorough.

The Secret Passageway!!!!

Usually when we move back to the house Mick heads off to pick up a van from Scarborough, by the time he’s returned I’ve got quite a lot packed that goes straight into the van, then more packing can happen. This time is different.

I’m going to stay here and guard Oleanna

We needed to pack as much as possible, the stern under the pram hood was filled with boxes and a few bits ended up in the cratch too trying to equal the weight out, then the dinette started to fill up. We stopped when it was time for some food. More still to be done in the morning.

There’s stuff down there that needs packing!

Tilly quite enjoyed it all, getting to places she’s normally not allowed. The SECRET PASSAGEWAY!!! Then she tries to help by checking what is stored under the bed and being in the way of us lifting the lid. There’s nothing in here yet! The holdall soon filled up. Hopefully we’ll have enough Ikea bags, boxes and crates for everything!

This one’s empty!

During the day I’d had numerous messages about panto frames, a constant stream of whatsapp from the props maker, then more from the production manager, two ideal chairs that were to be picked up this week had been sold to someone else! Grrr!!!!

Chilli from the freezer tonight, it is almost empty, just one crust of bread and one bread roll left.

0 locks, 0.6 miles, 1 left, 1 flood lock, 2 bowls of soup, 6 ikea bags, 1 holdall, 1 empty space beneath the dinette, 1 quizzical cat, 1 hour in the passageway, 1 last night onboard, 2 lemsips before bed, 1 cat caravan hiding in the cratch.

https://what3words.com/birds.comically.sleepers

Kind Tissues. 11th October

Trent Junction

I took over the tea making duties this morning, one mug actually being Lemsip. The fire was stoked up and a shopping list put together. Mick stayed in bed for a snooze, I headed out to stock up on tissues that would be kind to noses and more cold drugs, plus a Saturday newspaper.

Space!

A couple of boats had moved off this morning from above Trent Lock, they’d been there on the 2 day mooring with all the other boats for getting on for at least two weeks. Maybe we’d move up ourselves, but with Mick full of cold we opted to stay put. Tilly stayed by the stove all morning but ventured out later on.

Samuel Clegg’s Arts and Crafts house, click photo for more info

I’d got boat jobs on my list for today, but with a snoozing Mick I postponed them until he was awake in the afternoon. Yesterday when mooring up I felt like something was missing. Where was the rosemary plant? We’d had it when mooring up at County Hall Steps as it got moved into the cratch to avoid being blown away by Storm Amy. Neither of us remembered moving it to get the hook up cable out from a welldeck locker when in the marina. Where had it gone? Maybe one of us had lifted it out of the cratch for some reason, or maybe an opportunist had picked it up when we’d stopped for soup the other day. That’s two plants down this year, the Thyme hadn’t liked being in Leeds and totally gave up when I re-potted it. Have to put some herbs on my Christmas list!

I’ve used this outside all up now, can I have a new one?

More links came through for pieces of furniture for panto, then some light fittings. Some perfect chairs and a choice of tables. Then a very long email from the props maker who has been very quiet since our four hour long meeting a few weeks ago. They’ve not got started yet for one reason or another, which is a touch worrying. But then they are only contracted to do a weeks work prior to rehearsals starting. I’m really hoping props don’t become bum squeakingly worrying!

The latest trailer for panto is out with a nice view of my model in it. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D8BXXUZQ1

That view is rubbish!

With Mick now up and about, blowing his nose still, I could get on with the autumn job of cleaning the window frames out. Normally this requires a touch of gardening as seeds green things have taken hold, but today there were only a couple of blades of grass. The fluffy strip the glazing sits on normally is quite gunky, however since the summer has been so dry this was not the case.

Extra ventilation

Each window came out, had a good clean on both sides. The grooves they sit in were hoovered and washed out and then the most important job making sure all the drain holes were clear. Ten year old cotton buds are bent to get through all the holes. It’s amazing just how much York silt we still had on the starboard side. Tilly got a touch confused when one window was lying on the sofa, The view wasn’t as good as I remembered it!

Stir fried chicken with noodles, followed by crumble and custard. The next pair of socks are nearly completed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 cold Mick, 1 newspaper, 2 boxes tissues, 2 lemsips, 49 brisk minutes, 7 windows cleaned, 2 kitchen still to do, 1 level mooring required, 2 chairs, 1 table, 1 flurry of emails.

Milky Camomile. 9th October

Scarborough / Castle Marina to Beeston Turnover Bridge 19, again!

A glimpse at Hull Fair

Breakfasted, a chat with the Liza and Stuart, then it was time to say our goodbyes and pop the cat caravan in a blue Ikea bag and head back to the station. Another four hour journey, work progressing well on sock pair 106. The tide was further in than it had been yesterday as we passed the Humber Bridge.

Tide’s further in

A change at Sheffield gave me enough time to briskly walk to M&S for a sandwich each whilst Mick changed platforms and got us a cuppa. On closer inspection of the PG tea, we wondered how long it would be before the tea would actually look like tea? On the train the brewing was checked again, still no more colour. A sniff. Hang on this wasn’t decaf! Well it is naturally decaffeinated as it was Camomile tea with milk!

This is NOT tea as we know it

Back in Nottingham we walked back to Oleanna via the canal. I popped into Sainsbury’s to buy some bicarb and vinegar, I’m going to have a go at cleaning the sink traps of gunk.

Pair 106

Tilly was happy to see us both. We kept the caravan out the back so it didn’t spoil our return for her. Dry washing was packed away, a few items like socks still a bit damp were popped in the tumble dryer, the dish washer popped on. Once these had used as much electric as they needed we disconnected from the hook up, untied and pushed off back out onto the cut.

The birds have taken over the marina

Slowly we made our way back out towards Beeston. Today there was no warmth from sunshine, today we needed fleeces and fleecy coats. A bit under 3 miles we pulled in where we now seem to moor in Beeston. The spikes went in far easier than they did a couple of months ago when the earth was baked hard.

Needless to say Tilly wasn’t impressed with the new outside. Well it’s just the same as everywhere else in Nottingpants!

Colour in the trees

Pizza, then it was time to get started on Celebrity Traitors, there’s also Blue Lights and Bake Off to catch up on and that’s before Riot Women starts on Sunday! So a plea to the world, please no spoilers as we’re already a little bit behind, plus when I’m in Chippy I may get even more behind.

0 locks, 2.7 miles, 1 left, 2 trains, 2 bicarbs, 1 litre white vinegar, 2 camomile teas, 50 brisk minutes, 1 empty food bowl, 1 small pile of biscuits, 1 caravan hidden in the bow now, 1 stove lit, 2 pizzas, 1.2 episodes of Traitors watched, oooo!

https://what3words.com/neon.twigs.tricky

Jingle Genocide. 4th October

County Hall Steps

The windy steps

Miraculously we both managed to sleep pretty well last night despite the strong winds. This morning the wind was still about, we expected it to get worse after midday with rain too. So far the only casualty from the winds was a lid from one of our solids containers. When buckets become full they are put outside, either on the roof or the gas locker, with a lid almost closed on them so that the contents can breath as the composting process begins. Maybe in future storms the lids will be firmly pushed on!

After pottering away a few hours, no shore leave granted for Tilly in case she blew away, we both headed out, hoping to beat the rain. Mick headed into town by bus for a flu jab and I walked along the river bank towards the west, heading into the wind. Coo, blimey it was strong! My hood up to keep my cap on my head, and clinging onto my hood whilst my coat filled up with air like a Michelin Man.

Under Wilford Suspension Bridge, the river side path moves away from the bank a little and is boxed in by fencing and a flood protection wall. In amongst the modern glass and concrete buildings stands 26 Wilford Lane, a Victorian house with a tower and many pigeons in residence. The boarded up windows suggested a building awaiting a sad end, the tower suggesting it should be given a new lease of life in my opinion.

Looking round on the internet later I came across numerous articles about the house, a few years old now. The property was first approved for demolition six years ago, a new building encompassing six dwellings was to be built in its place. Two years ago the Nottingham Civic Society was urging that the building should be kept, it’s architecture and historical interest needed to be kept.

Pretty boats and buildings

The house used to sit next door to the Plaisaunce. The son of John Boot, who founded Boots in 1849, Jesse Boot is known for having transformed the chemists into a national retailer. The businessman commissioned Plaisaunce himself and it was built in 1897 by Charles Glenn, having been designed by the architects Bromley & Watkins. It was Jesse and Florence’s Summer House, with extensive grounds, tennis courts, garden parties and firework displays were held here for their employees. During World War 1 it became a venue for wartime fundraising activities. After Jesse’s death it was sold in 1932 and was demolished in 1961.

I found a date that suggests permission for demolition is due to expire 14th October 2025! Will it still be standing in 10 days time?

Trams making use of the old river crossing

I carried on along the walk, passing a couple of schools, and joined the tramway which crosses the River Trent at Wilford Toll Bridge, this according to our maps is the furthest you can get by boat up stream. It opened for traffic in 1870 and is known locally as Halfpenny Bridge. In 1974 it closed to traffic as it’s central span was found to be in poor condition, it was replaced in 1980 by steel girders and concrete. In 2014/15 it was enlarged to accommodate trams.

Wilfred Toll Bridge

The rather nice little toll both today was emitting an aroma of toast, it’s now a sandwich bar. Sadly customers stood in the way of the menu and prices. Back along the northern bank under the London Plane trees, I hoped their sturdy trunks would keep them upright in the strong wind.

By Trent Bridge are some old Victorian public toilets, Grade 2 which appear to be to let. Well the sign says they are under offer, but that looks to have been the case for a few years. The toilets were closed 20 years ago and the council were looking for someone to repurpose the building whilst keeping the terrazzo flooring and cubicles. Photos of inside can be found here.

Toilets

Discussions regarding the next few days, what to do, where to go? A few days ago we’d made a plan, but it didn’t have enough spare days, just in case something went wrong. This along with a comment from Paul Balmer has changed our minds. So long as the river behaves after the storm we’re likely to stay put for a little while and enjoy being in and around Nottingham.

Might need to wear my sunglasses for this pair!

The afternoon was spent in front of the stove. Firstly finishing off sock pair 105 of my Sockathon, then winding up some extremely PINK yarn for the next pair. These were cast on whilst watching Alpha Papa 2013, on iPlayer. An Alan Partridge film where Norfolk Radio station is about to be taken over and one of the presenters ends up holding the staff as hostages. Jingle Genocide ensues, an amusing film for a blustery Saturday afternoon with a bored cat on my knee.

A touch of mending required

Pork stroganoff this evening to help use up some of the roast pork from a few weeks ago.

0 locks, 0 miles, 49 brisk blown minutes, -1 lid, 1 amusing comment, 1 change of plan, 1 bored cat, 1 flu jab, 2 bikes collected, 1 tower, 9 lucky pigeons, 1 toasty bridge, 2 public loos, 1 sock, 2 feathery holes mended, 1 inventive use of gaffa tape.

Amy’s On Her Way. 3rd October

Stoke Lock to Nottingham County Hall Steps

There seem to be so many Egrets on the Trent this year

Mick showed me the old drive plate this morning. It’s not meant to turn, well only if something goes wrong and it’s designed to be the thing that breaks protecting the gear box. Turning it over we could see how much it was moving about sideways too.

With the hope of not getting wet we wanted to be off and away in good time, but as we pushed off it started to spit, this gradually increased to light rain as we headed up stream waving goodbye to Stoke Lock. That’s another lock on the River Trent where we’ve had an incident of some sort, we’re up to three now!

Goodbye Stoke Lock

At the 5km mark Mick radioed ahead to Holme Lock, the volunteer answered very quickly. He’d have the lock ready and waiting for us, ‘Come in on the green’. Walking through Oleanna I popped my waterproof trousers on, no point in getting soggy whilst penning up in the lock!

It was good to be back on the move even if we got wet!

Holme Lock is such a slow riser, but then again it is a big lock. Thankfully all the paddles at the top end work, you’d be there half a life time if they didn’t! More scaffolding was going up on the weir. No moving boats in sight, maybe we’d be the volunteer Lock Keepers only boat today.

A sign on a sunken boat made us both smile. I suspect the owner hasn’t found the situation amusing. You Sank My Battleship. Bankriver, Banksea’s lesser known cousin.

Two cranes were around parts of the new bridge, enclosures created up high and some welding going on. Formers were going together on both banks for concrete, the footings of the bridge soon to be poured. The local news suggested the bridge would be going into position next month sometime.

Trent Bridge

Under Trent Bridge and to County Hall Steps. Here hopefully we’d be far enough away from trees during Storm Amy. There are rings to tie to, which we’d need to keep an eye on if levels rise, these are quite high up on the steps and selecting the right rings for Oleanna’s length proved a little tricksy, but we got there in the end.

Not if they’ve any sense in this weather!

It was now raining pretty heavily. I suggested twenty minutes shore leave to Tilly. She managed to get two steps up the bank and endured twenty seconds before returning for some Dreamies. Rubbish, now I’ve got to use the on board facilities!

Yesterday I’d had a lengthy email from Chippy about the roses we’re aiming to make for panto. Four people had made around 20 in three hours, was this a practical idea? I know I can make at least 4 in an hour, if not 5 or 6 if I really got going. I’d made suggestions to lighten the load from volunteers, cutting the estimated number needing to made from 600 to 250, but we’d need to buy roses to fill the gaps. Jo the General Manager at the theatre had made another 10 at home last night, a bright pink star goes to her. It’s now down to those who hold the purse strings, that’s if they ever reply to emails!

The ducks were having difficulty swimming upstream against the waves and wind. Mick headed out to buy a few things and I walked around the block. This involved crossing Wilford Suspension Bridge. The bridge will be closed for a day next week to remove all the love locks, the owners have been asked to come and remove theirs. Walking along the north bank was quite blustery and I was always aware of the big trees.

I checked Meadow Lane Lock, it was still there, then turned to face the wind, blimey!! Crossing Trent Bridge I tried to keep to the outside edge, the wind pushing me towards the cars, then back along the bank to Oleanna. The wind too strong to have a longer walk today.

The locks

When we’d moored up today, Mick had used one of the new fender hooks, hoping it’s lower profile would mean that the pram cover could be poppered down all the way along, leaving little chance for the wind to catch a loose section. He’d used a buoy fender to keep us away from the bank more in the wind. However the weight of the buoy and the wind had meant the fender hook slipped off from the grabrail, thankfully the buoy floats and the boat behind had stopped it from being blown too far, so we didn’t loose the eye. We’ll try a more standard fender from it when the wind has calmed down, but so far it seems that they might be kind to paint work, but lack enough gripability.

Jacket potatoes went in the fire box, the coals not up to full winter heat yet so the potatoes cooked but didn’t get crispy skins. With them we had a chicken coleslaw using up the last of the roast chicken (from the freezer) and various bits of veg.

1 lock, 5.5 miles, 1 soggy morning, 1 far more soggy afternoon, 6 Egrets in flight, 1 NHS letter to London, 1 storm Amy not here yet, 1 noisy night ahead, 23 brisk minutes, 20 seconds, 1 slippy fender hook, 3 jackets, pair 105 knitted, pair 106 designed, 1 rose coup hopefully averted.

Ten Going On Fifty Six. 1st October

Stoke Lock

Me

My favourite, Webbox for breakfast!!! It’s rare She gives me Webbox, but today She gave me some whilst She and Tom were still in bed! Result! Apparently it’s because today I am ten. I’ve been warned not to expect Webbox every morning just because I’m ten now. Did I mention that I’m ten, She thinks it’s important, I think I am still a cat.

Feathers!

Have to say the bag She had smelt very good, it smelt very very good indeed, in fact it smelt so good I tried to get into it the wrong way. Inside was a furry, feathery, yummy smelling thing that just had to be licked to death. She said she now regretted getting me something that would be covered in lickingness. But I’m ten today so that doesn’t matter.

Mine!

After some biscuits I headed out to check on the outside. Yes it was all still there, plenty to climb and scratch around in. She says my nails are filthy, but I don’t care, that’s because I’m ten today.

MINE!!

An email to the Production Manager for panto was needed for a catch up, things were feeling a little bit too quiet in panto world. She didn’t reply but within an hour Jamie, the set builder, got in touch saying they were about to start. He has concerns about one piece of the build and would I consider some adjustments to it. He made a suggestion, hmm. Not ideal. I thought some, asked a question with a suggestion back. This then morphed into a hybrid solution which would require some redrawing.

1st of the month, time to annoy the spiders

After lunch with Tilly back on board I’m ten today! it was time to head to the water point. This morning RCR had called saying an engineer would be with us tomorrow morning. If we end up without a working engine at the end of tomorrow we want to be prepared, batteries topped up and a full water tank. However this would mean having to move with part of the engine soon to fail, add into the mix that we are on a river and fairly close to a weir!

Just about ready for the off

I insisted that the anchor was laid out ready for deployment, not on it’s prongs, but there on the locker lid ready should it be needed. Things were moved out of the way. We discussed the plan of action. We untied. Mick pulled us backwards away from the trees at the bow, then gently nudged us away from the mooring, winding to head down stream. All went well and we were soon alongside the high wall of the lock cut. The stern needed aligning with a ladder, which Mick climbed, bow and centre line were tied. Hose passed up, a small adapter required for the tap, then we could fill the water tank. The pressure wasn’t too great so we were there for a while.

Hose pipe connecting

Next was the slightly more risky manoeuvre of returning to the mooring. The lock cut wasn’t wide enough for us to wind in, so we needed to reverse out of it. The grinding noise was worse in reverse, but Mick took it gently, then with help from the bow thruster we turned to head up stream and pushed on back to the mooring. No need for the anchor thankfully. Just as well as all day we’d only seen a couple of boats come past who’d have been able to give us a tow back to land.

Sock pair 104 were packed up and then walked to the post box I’d spotted the other day in the village. I’d considered walking further today, but I needed to try to get the adjustment to panto sorted.

Posting socks

The other day I invested in the program I’d used to clean up the print for panto. A one off payment rather than a monthly subscription. I scanned in my drawing and was able quite quickly to adjust the width of the gate curly bits. This printed out at the correct size so I could amend my drawing quickly. Brilliant. I’ll still need the drawing board out to finish things off, but far quicker than doing it all by hand. I just need to keep finding reasons to use the package and learn new uses for it.

Kedgeree this evening, well we had to have something fishy to celebrate Tilly’s 10th birthday, she’s nearly caught me up now as in cat years she’s most probably about 56. Tilly had salmon in gravy! I had requested, frogs legs, clams, tuna steak with a bit of cod’s roe on the side and a fricassee of shrew. She said that with our current engine problems they’d not been able to get to specialist fishy froggy shops and maybe I was better off self catering.

0 locks, 0.1 miles, 0.05 there, 0.05 back, 2 winds, 1 full water tank, 10th Birthday, 56! 1 catnip kicker, 3 shrews, 1 mouse, 1 attempt at a squirrel, 1 boat back on it’s mooring, 1 engineer in the morning, 1 more thing to okay for printers, 200mm lost from gates, 2nd day of waiting.

A Bag Of Surprises. 30th September

Stoke Lock

Tofu had been omitted from our shopping list on Saturday, no rush to buy it, but I decided to see how far it was to the nearest shops. Yesterdays find of paths along the drainage ditches across the fields, meant there might be two routes to the retail park. I headed across the fields to the good track that skirted round more fields. After a while the tarmac vanished, but well worn tracks took over. I’d studied Google maps and not been able to find a definite way into the retail park, so when I heard voices up on the embankment by the lagoons I headed that way to see if someone could help. With directions I could now carry on, arriving at the delivery side of the shops, but from here I could easily get onto the main road and gain access to the front side of the shops. Around 2 miles walk.

Along the drainage ditches

First stop M&S Food Hall. I was after tofu and a cooking apple. They had apples but not tofu. I scanned the shelves for yellow stickers, best done in the mornings at M&S, but very little took my fancy, so I left empty handed there were other supermarkets to try.

Next, Pets at Home. It’s a certain cat’s birthday tomorrow and some treats may be required. I considered boring presents. A new bowl, no point she has bowls in both house and boat. A new collar, that wouldn’t go down at all well. A rainbow bow, or glittery one, they wouldn’t last even a matter of minutes. I scanned the shelves for her favourite treats and picked up a new toy.

A strong Halloween vibe in Morrisons

Across the way to Morrisons for tofu, success and an apple, I had to buy 5! I only wanted one. Oh well there are some blackberries in the freezer, we’ll just HAVE to have a crumble! Never mind!

I found the other route back to the river that the Lock Keeper had mentioned to Mick yesterday. Not a route I’d choose to do near dark, a well worn path, but carved through dense undergrowth. Back at Oleanna a little later than planned I tucked surprises away in a cupboard and had lunch.

Mick called in to see the Lock Keeper to let them know we’d be here for a few more days. A note was made in the book for when the number checker comes round, they are apparently quite hot round here, shame they’re not so effective around Nottingham at the moment.

Trimmed ends

A bit of hunting around for panto again, another blog post caught up on then it was time to finish weaving ends in on a pair of socks. Who decided to use so many colours?! It took forever to weave all the ends in, but at least they are done now and once packaged up they can be on their way.

A request for a hair cut was granted. Stool placed out on the bank and a grade 2 trim was produced without either of us falling in. Mick now looks a lot neater. Lemon Chicken stir fry tonight.

After a quick shower each this evening our water tank is now down to a quarter. Tomorrow we’ll maybe bite the bullet and head for a top up, hoping to make it back to our mooring with a full tank to await RCR’s return.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 sausage day for Tilly, 79 brisk minutes, 5 miles walked, 1 bag of surprises, 1 block of tofu, 5 apples, 4 boats, pair 104 finished, 2 clean boaters (we couldn’t wait any longer), grade 2 hair cut, Day 1 of waiting.

Up For Bargus. 27th September

Trent Junction to Sainsburys Nottingham.

Tea in bed, then we were up and dressed and heading out with bags of rubbish and a windlass each. Rubbish disposed of we then sat by Trent Lock. Kat had said she’d be leaving Sheet Stores at about 8:30 and she had a boat to visit before she’d arrive at the lock, it was now a little after 9, we didn’t have long to wait for NB Bargus’s bow to come into view. We lifted paddles to fill the lock. My phone rang, Kat hadn’t found the boat with two mermaids, where had it gone? It turned out it was also below the lock on the river towards Sawley.

Teddy and Bella a little chilly this morning on the stern of NB Bargus

We worked Kat, Teddy and Bella down the lock onto the river, then met them alongside Oleanna. A top up of diesel, still at £1.01 a litre and two bags of excel coal, thankfully they were at the right end of Bargus. A chap came along wanting a gas bottle, as Kat had passed him above the lock he’d just run out. Then the owners of the boat with mermaids arrived with their dog, they curtailed their walk and headed home to wait for Kat. I suspect we won’t see Kat again this year, she’s headed back to the Trent and Mersey and hoping to get up the Coventry, Glascote and Atherstone to supply boats. CRT are hoping to open the locks for a week maybe a bit longer at the end of October to help businesses and also so that boats that have been stuck get back to home moorings before the winter stoppages kick in.

A day or so ago a notice had been put out by CRT. The Grand Union will be opening for a window of three weeks, but the south Oxford may only open for a week if there is sufficient water to do so. We’d already decided to not head that way for me to go to work on panto. We’d be able to make it to Marston Doles in time for me to start work, but then Mick would likely get stuck somewhere, so it’s not worth it. We’ll keep kicking our heels around the Trent for a bit instead.

More breakfast was required back on the boat

Breakfast. A treat felt in order, so we headed to the Lock House Tea Rooms to see what I might be able to eat. Have to say we were a touch disappointed that they didn’t do a breakfast. They did do bacon or sausage cobs and they had gluten free bread. We ordered one each and a cuppa. A few bites and they were gone, so we returned to Oleanna for a couple of slices of toast to follow.

Sailing boats were going back and forth as we got ready to push off, a narrowboat headed down Cranfleet Cut, we’d be along to join them in a few minutes. It took a while for a gap in the sailing boats and then for Oleanna to wind, she really wanted to cling onto the high wall, but we got there in the end.

Heading down Cranfleet

Today Cranfleet Lock had four volunteers on duty, mob handed. They waited for us to arrive, something needed picking up out of the water, volunteers ran to their shed and got a grabber, nowhere near long enough to reach whatever it was. It turned out that they’d dropped a pen! Well they’d not be getting that back. Down we descended, our lock partners led the way out onto the river, a little chap occasionally having a go at steering, no wonder they were zigzagging as he couldn’t see over the roof at all!

This river section now very familiar, we’ve been along it now four times in about five or six weeks. No boats stuck on the sand bar, however we could hear Oleanna scraping over the top of it! At Beeston Lock landing, the narrowboat had moved off leaving just enough space to pull in for one boat, the remainder of the pontoon was still full with over staying boats (if you can class them as that as they shouldn’t be there in the first place). I have had a reply from CRT after I’d sent them my photo of the landing, they are of course aware of the boats.

CRT are aware of these boats, hard not to be really.

Dad and son from the boat ahead walked up to the lock to set it. I walked over their stern to go and help leaving Mick and Oleanna to hover. Mum and daughter came along too. Something was said, son ran screaming back to the boat, this was the start of the running! What followed was a seriously stressful time at the lock for me and possibly Mum and Dad. I’d stupidly crossed over the bottom gates and the daughter wanted to do the same. Both kids were wearing buoyancy aids, this didn’t stop them from running round the lock. Their dog ran back and forth as Mum now was left on her own with the kids climbing onto gates, winding paddles, running, watching from under gate beams. I did my best to keep calm, Mum did a better job, I suspect she’s used to it. This was their first lock and the kids were just so excited! Thankfully it was soon over and no-one had fallen in or been crushed and we were all back on our boats.

An interesting pram hood

We carried onwards towards Nottingham. The pennywort stretched across the canal. One cruiser had managed to collect a large clump of it around their prop, so they were doing their best to free themselves, we pushed a large patch away with our bow for them. It always takes longer than we think to reach Castle Marina. A space was found, mooring rings as always with useless spacing for us.

With a shopping list in hand we aimed to do a biggish shop quickly. However when we got back to the boat and everything was stowed I suggested we stay put for the day. Our plan had been to reach County Hall Steps on the river, that would take at least an hour, we’d not be letting Tilly out anyway today as she was having an enforced rest day for her limp. We opted to stay put, after all we’ve not minded staying here before and some of the boats that had made us feel uneasy a month or so ago had moved on, leaving their rubbish behind mind!

A walk was needed. I plotted out a route that would hopefully have me back long before dark, up to the cathedral, round the castle and back along the canal. I found a footpath that took me up the hill on the other side of the canal. Here there were vast posh houses, the road markings blue not yellow! I’d entered the Nottingham Park Estate. I walked past about twelve tennis courts. Came across a road called Tunnel Road, this had to be investigated as I could see houses high up above.

The entrance to the tunnel

Tunnel Road is a Grade 2 listed tunnel that was carved out of the rock to give access, quite an entrance, to The Park Estate in 1855. Carved through sandstone it was to give access to horse-drawn carriages from Derby Road. It is 125m long and has a section open to the sky in the middle to give ventilation and light, here a staircase climbs up around to reach Ropewalk and Upper College Street. The incline ended up being too steep for horses and carriages so a different route into The Park was found for them.

I didn’t fancy climbing all those steps

I walked round some more seriously posh streets, past the Nottingham Playhouse, found a very steep set of steps that brought me down to near the castle and then followed the tourists down the hill further to pass Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem pub then the canal and Oleanna. Mick had popped a couple of potatoes, double wrapped in foil in the fire box of the stove. I then popped some left over chilli in a pan, got it up to simmering temperature on the hob and then moved it over to the stove top to carry on bubbling away whilst the potatoes finished cooking inside. I get pleasure from cooking on and in our stove in the cooler months of the year.

Tourist central

2 locks, 8.3 miles, 1 cat on sofa rest, 2 bags coal, 76.4 litres diesel, 1 coal boat helped down, 1 scraping along the bottom, 2 hyperactive kids, 17 pennywort rafts, 1 box of wine, 1 plan changed, 1 thinner rope required, 105th pair of socks cast on, 49 minutes brisk walking, 1 hill climbed, 125m tunnel 2 steep for carriages, 2 jacket potatoes.

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Lock Landed! 24th September

Beeston Cut to Trent Junction

When is this outside going to be moved?!

Yesterday I’d tried calling the company who will be doing the printing for panto and the lady I wanted to talk to was always elsewhere, I’d started to think she didn’t want to talk to me, it was suggested I sent an email. So first thing this morning I sat down and went through the proofs I’d been sent, checked dimensions, tried to write everything out as clearly as I could, did a few sketches to explain things and pinged it back to Katie. She later called me back to check over a few things, hopefully, eventually, they would now be ready to press the big PRINT button! I also took some time in going through the photos I’d taken over the last couple of days. Editing a few out and ear marking ones that may be useful for my illustrations.

No mooring there!

After lunch we decided to move on, well back actually, just to keep Tilly happy, she really needed some quality shore leave as by now the toilet rolls days were numbered! And if she tried digging at the shelves in the corner one more time then her days would be numbered too!

2 seriously slow boats

As we were about to push off we spotted a breasted up pair heading towards us from Nottingham. We had a pretty long time to wait for them to pass us, their progress incredibly slow. We winded at the next winding hole just through the next bridge and made our way back to Beeston Lock. It was hard to make out what the breasted up pair were doing. Were they winding? Pulling in for water? Crew jumped off, centre rope, bit of reverse. Eventually it looked like they were stopping at the services, we pulled in at the lock landing for me to get off to set the lock.

Stood at the bottom of the ramp, 15ft of pontoon left

A lady with two big Rhodesian Ridgebacks was already at the lock, her husband had headed off to get their boat, so we’d be able to share the lock. Coming out onto the river all the same boats that had been moored on the lock landing pontoon were still there along with the one by the weir. They had been joined by a narrowboat which meant that now there was one cleat left on the pontoon for anyone to pull into. Mick pulled up alongside the narrowboat and I walked across it’s stern. If you were a single hander heading for Nottingham it really wouldn’t have been easy, nowhere to tie up and the bow of a narrowboat or sides of cruisers to clamber over to get to dry land. I took a photo and reported the situation to CRT, should the river go into flood this could be really rather dangerous.

That one’s moved

Back up stream. We spotted the boat we’d thought had gone aground a few days ago, now on the other side of the river. Had it been washed off the bottom when the levels rose? Was it now stuck on the submerged wall? We then spotted that there was a rope tied to a tree, so at least someone must be about. The going was far slower than it had been coming down stream on Sunday, yet we pulled quite a distance away from our locking partners.

Coming into Cranfleet Lock

No crowds of drinkers at Cranfleet today, I went up to set the lock and hope our partners would appear before too long. Still no sign of them as Oleanna came into the lock, maybe they’d stopped on a mooring at Beeston? I closed the gate and then lifted a paddle. Keeping a close eye on Oleanna and the jet of water she was just starting to rise when I could see the other boat pulling in at the far end of the lock landing. I closed the paddle and went down to the other end of the lock, it didn’t take very long at all to empty what water I’d added and be able to open the gate for them.

It’s frothy man!

Up we rose, two boats is far far easier in this lock. It was taking forever to equalise again. the bottom end now letting as much water out as was coming in. So the two of us teamed up to get one gate open a chink to equalise things. We pootled up to the far end of Cranfleet Cut. Pulled in behind a few boats, we really wanted to be close to the water point, I went to look. Plenty of room one boat away from the tap, I also noted that the boat we were closest to had a cat on board, we moved up.

Off they go into the sunshine

All day I’d been feeling the effects of the chicken I’d had in Huddersfield, no brisk walking for me today. I actually felt quite rotten, I should have checked what I was ordering, all my own fault! A quiet afternoon for Mick and me whilst Tilly rampaged in the field behind the hedge.

2 locks, 5.9 miles, 1 wind, 1 more email, 1 more photo, please let the print be right soon, 2 locks shared, 2 VERY slow boats, 1 boat not adrift, 1 far happier cat, 4 brisk minutes walking, 1 pan of paprika peppery pork.