Category Archives: London

Free The Paddington One! 2nd July

Halfway! 30th June

Paddington Basin

The boats on the pontoons reduced to two this morning, but by the end of the day we’d be joined by another two narrowboats and a little electric sailingy type boat. This had tarpaulins added to a frame over it so that the crew could sleep inside with some privacy.

The Geraghty zoom was a little depleted this morning, but we still covered subjects such as Strawberry eating squirrels, oppositional disorder and skeletons. Then it was time for breakfast, we’d nearly got everything but lacked a little on the bacon front. Being moored right outside an M&S foodhall is quite handy on such occasions, it’s just a touch expensive!

Mick was early, the shop not opening it’s doors until 11am and there was quite a queue. Yellow labels were around the shop, it would be worth me having a look before too long to see what bargains there might be. Whilst Mick cooked breakfast I scoured the shelves to see what we might have to eat this evening as we’d be at home tonight. With a lot of things less than half price I got us a feast.

Today Mick planned on heading off to explore Ealing stations that have been revamped with the dawning of the Elizabeth line. This being where he grew up along with being interested in trains it was an obvious way to spend his day. He caught the train out to West Ealing where the station has changed to a different road and platforms have moved through bridges. Then several buses took him to Ealing Broadway via Greenford. Ealing Broadway a very different sight to that I remember.

Just before Mick left for his exploration a Police van had pulled up close to our mooring. Three Police Officers busied themselves putting a rib into the canal, no rush about it, it kind of felt like they were going for a Sunday jaunt up the Regents Canal. It took them time to get the engine mounted and even longer to get it going. Off they went and strangely enough they returned just as Mick did! Was this a coincidence? Or had he been on their jaunt too? Are the above photos his? Or was he on a mission with the police or helping with their enquiries whilst out on the boat?

I had planned a great day, for me. A bus ride down to the Thames and then some time at the John Singer Sargent exhibition at Tate Britain. Christine and Kathy had said how good it was, plus he’s one of my favourite artists. Then another bus journey was to take me to the National Gallery where the Last Caravaggio is on display, Caravaggio also another favourite.

My route was planned to make the best use of buses and therefore least amount of walking, however I’d be needing to walk around the exhibitions and my little walk into M&S today had proved to be quite painful with my knee. So sadly my very arty day was not to be, resting my knee more important.

**Ends ends and more ends, what a Joy!**

Instead I sat down and watched the second half of The Duke (2020), about the theft or borrowing of the Goya Duke painting staring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren based on a true story. This was as close as I’d be getting to the National Gallery today. Whilst I watched the court and the verdict I spent time weaving ends in on three pairs of socks for my sockathon. On one pair I’d started this process a week or so ago as there were a lot of ends! A LOT!! But the next four pairs are ready to have their photos taken and be popped in the post to their sponsors. So by the end of the 26th week of #pipssockathon2024 I have finished 26 pairs of socks. I also got a message from a friend who now sings songs with people suffering with Alzheimer’s, her socks had arrived and will be worn the next time she’s out singing, flashing her ankles at everyone. Thank you Cate!

Well our sad git’s meal from M&S turned out to be quite a feast, posh chicken kebabs with caesar dressing, frites and some vegetables on the side. Not all of the frites were consumed, but we gave it a good try!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 Lizzie lines, 3 buses, 0 art galleries, 4 pairs totally finished, 1 very bored cat, 2 sad git kebabs, 4 portions of frites, 1 Mick and 3 police officers?

It Must Be Election Time. 29th June

Bramble Birthday Bakewell. 28th June

Contraband Chips. 27th May

Jericho

Hair cutting, Tilly exploring, breakfast and baking, what a busy morning, good job the sun was out. However we had reports of rain to the north of us, would umbrellas be required?

A little later than originally planned Andrew and Jac arrived, the Oxford traffic having held them up on their journey from London. Time for birthday presents a coffee and freshly baked biscuits. Jac got a new table cloth with embroidered bees on it and Mick got a new expanding hose for Oleanna and a weed burner for use in the garden at the house.

Originally we’d planned on doing the next part of our journey by boat, but getting a mooring where we were heading could have been a risk, limited space and only 24hrs. So we headed to Sandford Lock on the Thames by car, having to sit in Oxford traffic for some of the way.

Sat outside the Kings Arms with her dog Baxter was Jenny Leckenby, she’d spent some time watching the second round of the World Championship Pooh Sticks that was taking place at the weir stream. Inside we found the rest of our party, Ian, Sally and Sam Leckenby, first cousins and those once removed. A few people missing from the table, Josh who is mid A level revision, Jo and his family who live in the States.

With eight of us it was quite a noisy affair, sorry to those other diners. Mick and I had seen everyone last summer at the Royal International Air Tattoo, but Andrew and Jac had been away on holiday so it was the first time they’d seen Ian and Sally since their wedding, way longer since seeing Sam and Jenny.

Sam and I chose our gluten free dishes from the separate menu, but were disappointed that we couldn’t have chips. This is because other things are fried in the same deep fat frier causing cross contamination which can be serious for those who are coeliac. Both of us are intolerant to gluten and were willing to risk a portion of chips between us. Solution was to get Jenny to order a side portion of chips to accompany her burger and chips. These were then passed over to Sam and myself to share away from panicking staff, our choice, our chips.

A long lunch, five hours. The service was slow, but that actually didn’t matter as there was tons to talk about. Ian’s plane that he’s building in France, the dogs cats horses goats, their granddaughter, news of Tim our other cousin out in Ukraine, all sorts.

All too soon it was time for us to leave the pub and restore the quiet. A shame we’d not brought Oleanna and Tilly as there would have been space to moor her. Hopefully we’ll get chance to catch up with Sam as we head downstream on the Thames in the next few days and it won’t be too long before we can all get together again.

**Sally, Andrew, Ian, Mick, Jenny, Pip, Sam, Jac**

An easier trip back to Jericho in the car and hopefully an easier drive back to London for the London Leckenbys.

River levels were checked again, it all looks pretty good for the next few days. With this in mind we looked at moorings in London. There are now more pre-bookable, payable moorings in London. For the dates we were looking at on the cheaper moorings we didn’t have much choice. Adjusting our dates a touch gave us a better window of opportunity. All booked, we just have to get there now.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 presents, 8 biscuits, 22nd pair cast on, 1 bored cat, 8 cousins, 1 dog, 1 portion of contraband chips, 5 hours of noisy family catch up, 2 car rides, 1 plan came together, 1 lovely day.

Ruth Geraghty née Chignell.

4^th February 1924 – 14^th December 2008

Mick here writing this post.

My mother Ruth Geraghty (née Chignell) would have been 100 years old on 4^th February 2024.

Ruth was born in Hessle near Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Her mother was Katie Chignell (née Netherwood) and her father Philip Chignell.

Philip was the organist and choirmaster at All Saints Parish Church in Hessle and had spent all his life in working as a musician. He started aged nine as a choirboy at St Georges Chapel school in Windsor during Queen Victoria’s reign and took part in many Royal occasions including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. He became an organist at various churches around the country before settling in Hessle in 1901. Philip and Katie met in 1911 while they were both taking part as singers in a six month long World Tour as members of the Sheffield Choir. This tour took them round the world by ship and train, starting in Liverpool in March, across the Atlantic to Canada and the USA. Then across the Pacific to Hawaii and onto New Zealand. Australia and Tasmania followed and then South Africa before returning to Plymouth in October. They married in 1912. They were a very musical couple and produced a very musical family. They settled at Philip’s home at number 19 The Weir in Hessle.

John Chignell was born first in 1916 followed by Henry (1918) and Stephen(1922). Ruth was the youngest and the only girl in the family. She went to the local primary school in Hessle then onto the Boulevard School in Hull. At this time Ruth and her friend Marian took an interest in bell ringing and with one or more of their brothers would tour the local area on bicycles visiting various bell towers and taking part. Days out with friends were common. She had by now picked up the nickname Trigo.

**She even had a narrowboat named after her!**

Ruth was at the Boulevard in 1939 aged 15. When war broke out the school was to be evacuated to Scarborough. The day for evacuation came and she said her goodbyes to her parents and brothers in the morning and headed off to school and the unknown. By mid afternoon she was back at 19 The Weir. She refused to be evacuated, finished with school that day and came home to be with her family.

One by one her brothers all went off to war. John and Henry within the first few weeks and Stephen a couple of years later when he became old enough. But Ruth stayed in Hessle for the duration. She was a big comfort to her parents who had the great worry of Henry being posted as missing and then becoming a POW in Germany. John and Stephen were both posted overseas at times and were also a concern to the family back in Hessle. Ruth was often to be found helping in various local canteens which had been set up to try to boost the morale of visiting military personnel in the area. She was also a keen violinist and many evenings would be spent playing violin sonatas, her on the violin and her father on the piano. She would also be found singing in her father’s choir at All Saints Church.

Hessle is only about 4 miles from Hull and its docks. Hull took a pounding during the blitz and Hessle took a number of direct hits. But 19 The Weir and its occupants survived.

During the war Ruth had started “seeing” local lad Peter Geraghty. (https://oleanna.co.uk/2022/06/03/peter-geraghty-3rd-june-1922-13th-september-2002/) Peter was from Hessle and was a bomber pilot at RAF Pocklington. Ruth must have heard planes flying over Hessle and wondered about “Her Peter” in one of the bombers heading to Germany and war.

In 1945 Henry had returned home from POW camp after a five year absence. Ruth had gone to meet him off the last train into Hessle that day having not seen her big brother for all those years. Her other two brothers also returned home and the family was once again complete.

Ruth had taken up a secretarial post at an insurance company in Hull, but I suspect her heart wasn’t in it. Married life beckoned, Ruth and Peter got married in May 1947.

By then Peter had become a commercial airline pilot with British European Airways (BEA) based at Northolt Airport just outside London so they set up home there. Daughter Christine was born in May 1948, followed by Marion in 1950 and Anne in 1952. So a busy time for Ruth looking after a young family. But she still found time for music and was selected to join the Royal Choral Society as a soprano. She performed in many concerts at the Albert Hall under the conductor Sir Malcom Sargent.

**Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting. Ruth behind to his right**

Ruth and Peter moved to Ealing in West London in 1953, at the same time as BEA moved from Northolt to Heathrow. A bigger house was required and there was a good new primary school, St Gregory’s, in Ealing for the children.

I came along in 1958 followed by my little sister Kathryn in 1966. Ruth had become a Brown Owl in one of the local Brownie packs. My sisters had all been Brownies and it was common for me, a four year old boy, to don a brown jumper and go to a Brownie meeting and take part. I suspect there were child care issues!

Ruth continued with her musical life. She joined the Ealing Symphony Orchestra playing in the first violins and took part in many of their concerts. There were many evenings at our house when three other musicians would arrive and a string quartet would take place in our front room. All of us children were encouraged to take part in musical activities and we had outings to various concerts and musical events in London. At school I had taken up the bassoon and the piano. I played bassoon in the Ealing Junior Music School and I also obtained music O Level when the time came.

Ruth continued to take a big part in the local Girl Guiding movement taking Brownie packs on holiday and Guides on camps. She became a District Commissioner for the Ealing and Hanwell District.

**Anne Mick and Marion in the Chester Gardens back garden**

Family life continued. Ruth organised many family summer holidays, often with her brother Henry’s family sometimes on the South coast. Henry and his wife Gill had a caravan and they would set up in a caravan park, whilst we had a holiday home somewhere nearby. Henry and Gill had four children and with all of us we made a good holiday party.

**Mick Kath and Christine in the front garden**

In 1977 Peter retired from British Airways. Three of their five children had moved out from the family home and on to further education and careers. Life quietened down a little. Peter was a keen golf player and Ruth occasionally would play a round with him. They would also go on holidays to watch amateur golf tournaments around the country. Peter had a lifetime concessionary travel benefit with British Airways so there were overseas holidays to Africa, Canada and Europe. But Peter wasn’t a great one for flying as a passenger so UK holidays were more common.

Ruth enjoyed train travel very much. Once a year she would arrange with her brothers to meet up in Llandudno where they had spent childhood holidays with their Grandma.

**Outside her maternal Grandmother’s house near Llandudno**

In about 1985 Ruth and I each purchased a British Rail All Line Rail Rover. Over the course of a week we travelled from London to Thurso in the very north of Scotland, over to the Kyle of Lochalsh, onto the ferry over to Skye, another ferry to Malaig and down to Glasgow. Over to Hull via the Settle to Carlisle line. Ruth always enjoyed visiting Hull and Hessle and there were still many family members. Then we travelled to Llandudno, Shrewsbury, Llanelli, Bristol, Exmouth and Plymouth before heading back to London.

In 1967, when I was aged 9, Ruth and I had a day out on the Underground on the very first day of operation of the brand new Victoria Line. Very exciting!

Ruth continued her violin playing with the Ealing Symphony Orchestra and her Girl Guiding District Commissioner duties. She became a Governor of St Gregory’s School where all her children had attended, here she also helped with teaching the violin and music in general.

She also helped out at other schools. Youngest daughter Kathryn was at secondary school and relates the following story: Cardinal Wiseman’s production of Oliver! There was no school orchestra, so they hired in some kind of military band. God knows where from. Anyway, Mum wanted to play, so she was a guest 1st violin with them for the show, and I imagine enjoyed herself enormously.

**Henry Ruth John Stephen in the 1980s**

I moved out from home to pastures new in 1981 followed by Kath later in the 1980s so the nest was empty after 40 years. They stayed on in the big house at 8 Chester Gardens for another ten years or so, then moved to a very nice two bedroom flat nearby.

**Retiring from the Ealing Symphony Orchestra 27/11/2000.**

By now Peter was suffering from Parkinsons disease and life slowed down a lot. But Ruth still managed to get out a bit. She took part in meetings of the local Trefoil Guild, consisting mainly of retired Guide leaders and Commissioners. There was a school nearby and every afternoon in the summer Ruth and Peter would head out to get ice creams from the van parked at the school gate. Ruth had a sweet tooth!

Parkinsons took its hold on Peter and he passed away in 2002 aged 80. Ruth had also by then contracted the same disease but carried on in the flat on her own for a few years.

But eventually she succumbed to Parkinsons and moved into, a care home nearby. Peter’s BA pension contributed handsomely to the costs.

She had many visitors while at Downhirst, both family and friends and much reminiscing was carried out. The staff looked after her well, but I’m sure she missed Peter and her active life. She never complained about her lot and stoically carried on being cheerful right to the end.

She passed away on 14^th December 2008 aged 84 and is still much missed. We took her ashes back to Hessle and scattered them on the Foreshore in the shaddow of the Humber Bridge. A suitable resting place for her.

Thanks to Anne, Kath, Marion and John for help with the photos.

Panto Postcard 3, 2023

101.25 hours in 8 days

Saturday, first day back. Glad I was aware that the front door to the theatre doesn’t get opened until nearer 9am. Just walking in to work felt like I’d done enough for the day!

A walk round to see how my stand-in painters had done whilst I’d been away for five days. They’d most certainly helped to keep things moving in the right direction and the trickiest piece of furniture and the time consuming pattern on the rostra had been drawn out and was awaiting colour. Thank you Tim and Imogen for your help.

In the morning the cast with the Pippins did a stagger through of the show, scene changes happened and mostly were achieved in the time there was. It may have just been me post covid but it felt a little under energy. I strongly suspect other members of the company had had covid, as I was the only person to have taken a test I was the only official case.

The afternoon I spent starting to colour in the rostra whilst lighting happened on stage. The lights needed focusing, Nathan the Lighting Designer ( who normally works at the National Theatre) was speedy and not concerned at leaving a few lights till Monday. The advantage of him wanting to see a show in Stratford meant that the stage was actually cleared for the first time in five years at 6pm and was mine to start painting the floor.

In previous years I have worked until the floor was painted and had two coats of glaze before heading home in the early hours. Originally I’d planned on getting ahead over the previous few nights , but being ill this hadn’t happened. I drew out the design, then quickly realised that doing everything would take me far far longer than the time and energy I had. So for the first time ever I altered my design, simplifying it. A tidy up of the base coat was needed and I laid in the base colour for leaves before calling it a day.

Sunday. I don’t normally do Sundays, but needs must. I’d painted the model back in June/July time and luckily remembered how I’d painted the big leaves, I needed to recreate them for the floor. I did a try out on an area which would be hardly seen and soon got the hang of it. It took 6 hours to paint the leaves in, glad I’d amended my design!

Poor Paul had to be called in to get the heating going so that the paint would dry quicker, the office staff who were in keeping me company sadly didn’t know where the controls were. Abby by the evening brought her work from her chilly office to sit in the now warming auditorium. A coat of glaze then time to add more colour to the rostra before I gave the floor a second protective coat.

By 8pm I’d achieved the days mission the floor was finished and I’d cracked on with the rostra, sadly not finished, but getting close. During the day I’d received the news that my brother was in hospital with a lung infection. Quite a worry, but the hope was that once his oxygen levels were improved he’d be allowed home.

Monday. Today a week after testing positive I had a negative test result for covid. I still felt very weary. Gemma joined us today, The drummer who’d arrived on Sunday started to learn the songs, kicking more life into them. The rostra was finished, I dabbled some flowers onto a town flat finishing that also. Lighting states were plotted, flashing lights and blackouts not helpful to my wobbly brain, but thankfully Nathan was considerate and left me with some light most of the time.

Tuesday, the musical director and drummer moved into their area on stage. Microphones were set up around them and then a sitzprobe was started. This years panto has two composers, today it was Becky Applin’s turn to hear her songs with full musical accompaniment, some wonderful ballards. The Pippins joined later in the day and added their voices to the songs.

Wednesday and it was now the turn of Eliane Correa the second composer. Her numbers are full on big numbers, a saxophone and trumpet being added. Wow what a sound! The MD needed reigning in a touch as he was adding a few twiddly bits to the songs which didn’t appear on the dots in front of him. At one point as I was trying to work in the wings I had to close a door on the brass section so that I could hear myself think!

In the afternoon we started on the technical rehearsal. This is when the lights, sound, set, costumes, props and actors all come together to create the show. Tech’s can take some time, today we only had the adult cast and managed to get through the big opening scene and into the next one. Time for a few jobs to be done on stage afterwards and then some of us headed to the pub, my first glass of wine in over a week. Maybe I shouldn’t have had so much as it set my recovery from covid back by a few days.

Thursday. More technical rehearsals. Time to find jobs to do in the dark. The carnival clock was painted up, Jo the props maker joined us and rattled through the props notes, still plenty more jobs to be done. We just about reached the end of the first act before the Pippins joined us for a late afternoon session. This meant going back to the very beginning and working through all their scenes three times, so that each team of kids got a go at everything. The evening was spent sorting problems out and drilling holes for fairy lights.

**Andrew in hospital a couple of days ago**

News came through that my brother had returned home, unfortunately whatever he’d originally had Jac and Josh now were suffering from. The medics opinion though was that they’d be really unlucky to end up with a lung infection like Andrew.

Friday. For the last three days I’d been coming in early to get some paint on the archways that make up the main part of the set after the portals. An hour and a half with few people about was used well and soon the archways looked how I intended them to and no longer just white. Gemma and I spent time adding greenery to the town and then the archways, this still needed flowers adding, but that would gradually happen.

More teching, grabbing meals quickly at the ends of the actors sessions so as to be able to work through their breaks. Food and paracetamol keeping me going. Mechanisms for the second clock were worked on, extra dancers tried out, adjustments required to their feet. More jobs found that could be done in the dark of the auditorium.

Saturday. Time to finish off the technical rehearsal with the full company in the building. Mission accomplished, final number teched admittedly without costumes and my extra bits. Even when the actors had left, the songs, now more bright and lively still echoed around the theatre.

Lanterns the office staff have been making were flown. White blobs were added to greenery. a few problems solved before the theatre went very quiet. Time for the technicians and crew to head home and leave me to get on with catching up on the painting front. Glenn the Front of House Manager stayed to make sure I was alright. Crates were painted, flowers blobbed, but there are still more to colour up.

By 10pm Glenn offered to stay later if I wanted to, but by now I’d had enough. There will still be time to get other jobs done next week between dress rehearsals and notes. Still plenty to do but now it was time for a rest.

**Tom’s legs will have to do as SHE has deserted us!**

In Scarborough Mick considered putting outdoor lights up on the gable end, he bought a string long enough. But sadly there were no cable ties in the house to fix them with and the following day the chaps arrived to remove the scaffolding.

Mick has been working on plans for some electrical upgrades to Oleanna, but is also planning a trip to London this coming Tuesday. At 14:11 there is to be a rally of boats on the Thames outside the Houses of Parliament where they will blast their horns to raise awareness about the funding cuts to Canal and River Trust. Mick will be joining a group standing on West Minister Bridge supporting the boats below. If you haven’t already please sign the Fund Britain’s Waterways petition. I hope the weather is good for the event and that there is a good show of boats.

https://www.change.org/p/fundbritainswaterways?source_location=search

Finally a big Thank you for the donations to my sock knitting. Progress is much slower this week than last, but I am managing to do at least 30 minutes a day, just £60 short of my new target for the year.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1677835197682?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fpip-leckenby-1677835197682&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

2022 Back To Exploring

Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.

The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!

In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.

Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.

Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.

Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.

After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.

Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.

In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.

Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.

We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.

On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.

Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!

Fast forward to 6:15

Our route out of Bumingham saw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!

At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.

On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.

A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.

Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.

In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.

Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.

A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.

The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.

There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.

The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!

Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.

We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.

Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.

Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.

As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.

July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.

Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.

Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.

August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.

On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!

By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.

When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.

With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.

On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.

Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.

Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.

A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.

All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!

Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.

Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.

This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.

So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are

Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.

This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2 furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.

731.7 engine hours

1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.

Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?

Windy. 26th September

Paddington Basin

Having bought membership to the Imperial War Museum when we visited Duxford earlier in the year it would be silly not to make use of it. As we were now on Plan B we could make use of the bookings we’d already made. 10:30 the Churchill War Rooms and in the afternoon HMS Belfast.

**An austere doorway into the underground world**

The entrance to the War Rooms is located on Horse Guards Road opposite St James’s Park. Here a line stood waiting to be allowed entrance, we spotted a second empty line for members or those with a booking, we were both of those so stood at the front of the queue and waited to be let in.

Down the steps we went under the Treasury building. Handsets with commentary were handed out and we set forth to explore the underground world from which Churchill had run the British campaign in WW2.

Corridors painted cream stretched off, had they originally been white but had years of chain smoking turned cream? Fans were used to move air round, an early air conditioning unit may have helped, but it must have been horrible down there. Those who worked down here worked twelve hour shifts rarely seeing daylight, they were oblivious to what was going on above their heads. A sign in a corridor would inform them of the conditions ‘Fine and Warm’ today, but if it said ‘Windy’ London was having a ruff time of it.

The rooms were gradually expanded though the war, taking over more basement rooms. Wooden posts were added to reinforce them, steel girders and then a thick slab of concrete was used, one staircase was totally filled in for safety (it took 3 months to drill through it make a corridor for the museum), still it may not have been enough should the building have had a direct hit.

Map rooms with coloured telephones, conference rooms. Sleeping quarters for many were on the floor below in bunk beds. The higher up you got you’d have a room with a narrow single bed, higher up the pecking order you’d have a couple more inches of mattress and be given a section of rug for the floor of your room.

A kitchen for the cook to prepare Churchills three cooked meals a day, she may have had to move her preparation from one building to another to keep the man fed.

Charts of flying bombs, maps of where they landed. Many of the rooms were just left when their need was no more. When it was handed over to the Imperial War Museum in the 80’s inventories were done for each room. In a drawer in the map room was an envelope which contained three sugar lumps, a commanders secret stash.

Part way though the corridors you enter a vast room, where walls must have been removed to house the Churchill Museum. Here the history of Churchill is arranged starting with his war time speeches. If you stood over a small glass square in the floor you could hear one of his historic speeches. Very clever as the next speech was only a few feet away. I had been wondering why people had stopped in their tracks and were stood staring into thin air.

Churchills political history was laid out in modern museum form, how such places have changed in the last ten years. Interactive screens where you can paint one of his landscapes, animations totting up his war time air miles around the world (over 100,000) and a list of his favourite things.

A collection of his hats, a plum coloured velvet siren suit, his medals stretching out in one long cabinet. This is a man who when not a politician headed off to war stricken parts of the world.

**Excuse the fuzzy photos everything is behind glass**

His room is one of the last on display. A comfortable single bed, maps on the walls, telephones, ashtrays. He apparently only slept in this bed for three nights, but he did have kips every now and again, Nana Naps. During these a signal was put out and silence rang through the corridors of the basement until he was awake again, even the typewriters were silent.

We stopped off part way at the cafe. A very poor selection of things I could eat, just flapjack bars from a jar. However it was interesting to see the coloured in large scale maps of London showing bomb damage.

Well worth a visit, we didn’t take it all in and if we are back in London within our years membership we may return to read the displays we edited out today. By the time we left it was far too late to take in HMS Belfast as well. That will have to be for another time.

We walked down Horse Guards past the end of Downing Street to The Mall. Union Jacks flying the hole length to Buckingham Palace where the flag remains at half mast.

Whilst we’d been underground we’d received email confirmation that our booking in Paddington Basin had been cancelled and the refund was to be processed. Mick tried giving them a call to explain that our change in circumstances had changed again and that we were using our booking after all. But as the call was not answered and went to answerphone he had to leave a message. At least we have informed them.

The No 6 bus took us from Trafalgar Square back to Edgeware Road where we perused M&S food hall for sad gits reductions. Back in Paddington we had one new neighbour NB Firecrest. Cheryl and Eric had been down to watch the flotilla on Saturday close to the Millennium Bridge. Thank you for the photos.

Food and a sit down with Tilly on my knee in front of the stove, a nice relaxing evening. Tomorrow we start to head west to pantoland.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd IWM site visited, 0 gf options, 2 cups of tea, 26 medals? 3 square meals a day, 0 time for HMS Belfast, 1 thing added to the next time list, 12 hour shifts, 1 evening in with Tilly.

If you fancy seeing more photos of the flotilla here are links to Scholar Gypsy’s blog

https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2022/09/27/reflections-flotilla-post-1-of-3/

https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2022/09/27/reflections-2-of-3/

https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2022/09/27/reflections-3-of-3/

The last post has links to even more photos

The Morning After 25th September

Limehouse Basin to Paddington Basin

A bit of a lie in this morning was followed by Mick removing all the lights from Oleanna. I made my excuses from this as my knees have spent too much time over the last few days slightly twisted by standing on gunnels or kneeling and they need to have recovered by the time I start Panto painting. This morning Pam looked to be developing a black eye and had a bump on her head after her fall last night. She seemed jolly and was quite glad of having an excuse not to have to work the locks back up the Regents Canal.

This morning Heather had decided to join us on the Tideway and she would chance getting in at Brentford with David. A fourth boat NB Thyme would be heading to Teddington with us, so everyone had a buddy. Locking time was confirmed as 11:30, just the final engine checks to be done.

**Water swirling round to fill Limehouse Lock**

A short while later Mick appeared from the engine bay. We had a puddle of coolant half an inch deep and the header tank was low. Yesterday we’d not overheated. It could be something simple to fix, but with Oleanna’s history of coolant leaks we weren’t sure. He checked the engine over. He tightened four jubilee clips on the hoses, they weren’t that loose.

Should we go out onto the Tideway? Yes we’d be with other boats, after all the problem might now be solved. But on the other hand we’d be going out knowing that we might have a problem, be more apprehensive and know that we’d be relying on other boats to rescue us. That wouldn’t be right, and we wouldn’t enjoy the trip. So we aborted our chance of going under Tower Bridge for the third time in two days. A great shame, but we’d rather discover we didn’t have a problem anymore on the Regents Canal. Time to let Tilly know she could stand down and needn’t burrow into our pillows again.

Whilst Mick mopped up the engine bay I watched the three boats we should have been joining head back out onto the choppy waters of the tideway. The last boat out of the lock was NB Bleasdale, just as Heather completed the turn to face upstream she turned and waved. Not sure when our paths will cross next, but they will.

Reverting to plan B we knew that our mooring in Paddington Basin hadn’t been cancelled and wouldn’t be until tomorrow, it would take us a while to get back up the locks and all the other boats heading that way had already left, we’d be on our own, we’d best get moving.

**Not homemade gf pastry, but still yum**

As we worked our way back up the Regents Canal the oven was put on, sausage rolls we’d intended for yesterday were baked between locks, cooled just enough by the time we’d risen Old Ford Lock and had a longer pound to eat them in.

Today we had a wide cruiser ahead of us for one lock who made use of an empty lock, they were heading along the Hertford Union so we’d be going different ways. We shared Acton’s Lock with a young couple, they were only heading to the next available mooring and stopped just after the lock possibly to use the services there.

Just about every lock was set against us. At nearly every lock we had a crowd of gongoozlers watching our every move. Occasionally someone would lend a hand with a gate and occasionally we had to ask people to move for their own safety.

For the first time we’ve passed the entrance to Victoria Park on a Sunday whilst the market has been on, today we didn’t really have the time or energy to stop for a nosy. The food smells were wonderful though, but my sausage rolls were just the ticket to keep us going.

City Road Lock I had extra crew. A chap who works at the cafe there leapt into action, helping with gates, closing paddles, he even has his own windlass. Today he’d helped around twenty boats through, I wondered if he ever did any paid work at the cafe! This lock has yellow and red lines painted round it and signs all over the place. These suggest to boaters that if they consider members of the public to be in danger then to beep your horn five times at which the public will move away. These signs had been attached to the lock beams with cable ties, as I walked to get back onto Oleanna my foot caught on one. A trip hazard if ever there was one!

There is now a stretch of 14 day Eco Moorings near Camley Street Bridge, they don’t appear bookable on the C&RT website and they were very very full. At the bottom of the Camden Locks there was a boat coming down, I helped and chatted to the owner, they were having a bit of a cruising party to their next mooring an Eco mooring near Kings Cross.

As we rose in the lock I knew the top lock was being emptied, the middle lock managing to stay empty for us and the crew above taking their time doing everything! Sadly they’d left the wrong gate open on the top lock, I now knew why the volunteers don’t like using it. It opens over the steps and over the accompanying locks beam, so the beam is high up, but not high enough to crawl under once you’ve got it over the steps. All very awkward, but at least I kept an eye on where my feet were.

Now we just had to negotiate our way along through the zoo and Maida Hill Tunnel around all the Go Boats. This involved some zigzagging, being waved ahead of them at the tunnel and we managed to avoid them all.

Little Venice we turned left and headed down into Paddington Basin where our not quite cancelled booked mooring sat waiting for us. Another three spaces available, it’s the first time we’ve ever seen room here.

We were tired and hungry, so despite having had pizza yesterday we headed to Pizza Express and filled up on a Classic pizza each. A longer day than if we’d have headed out onto the Tideway, but at least it looks like just tightening up the jubilee clips has done the trick.

12 locks, 9.24 miles, 1 straight on, 1 leak, 1 plan aborted, 8 sausage rolls, 1 happier cat, 0 shore leave still, 2 pizzas, 2 glasses of wine, 2 pretty pooped boaters.

https://goo.gl/maps/WFQpSuhh8Y87u15S6

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna