Category Archives: London

Pre-Christmas Family Christmas. 7th to 10th December

Castle Quays to Sovereign Wharf

On Friday after breakfast we moved Oleanna the great distance of 0.16 miles up to Sovereign Wharf. Planning a weekend away we’d booked her in for a few days so that we could leave her plugged in to the electricity and not have to turn the fridge and freezer off, there’s still a lot of fish pie mix to be eaten!

As we set off a C&RT man was walking down the towpath and he announced to us that the way ahead was now open. The dams had been removed and he soon returned with the Canal Closed sign from the lock. Think he was a little bit disappointed that we wouldn’t be going that far, we were also a bit disappointed not to be the first boat through.

Sovereign Wharf is only open on Fridays, so it was a good job we were turning up then. We’d already been informed of our mooring which was right outside the office so made to pull in. The gap to us looked a touch too short and after pulling the bow in our suspicions were confirmed. Ian the chap from the wharf had come out to welcome us and quickly checked for space up ahead of us, there was none, and then went to the boat behind asking if he could nudge them backwards. With another 18inches we slid in sideways, fender to fender, a nice snug fit. Once we’d paid, been given a key to the gate and checked about a couple of deliveries we were hoping for we plugged Oleanna into the electric to get the batteries up to full power. The electric kettle could now be used and so could our Alde boiler for heating, without using any gas.

At round 2.30pm NB Dusty pulled up alongside us. They had just been a few boats behind us in the morning, but they seemed to be having a good chat with everyone so it had taken quite a time to reach us. A small top up of diesel, a new gas bottle and some more coal. This was going to be the last time we’d see them and we wanted to be stocked up to keep warm over the next few weeks.

The stove was left to burn itself out and the boiler took over the heating. Our plan was to leave the boiler on to keep Oleanna at a reasonable temperature whilst we were way, so that we wouldn’t get complaints from the feline one. However the post we were plugged into kept tripping out. A few resets and some adjustments to settings on the inverter were done and we hoped that the post would stop tripping out.

A sudden sharp hail storm covered the ground before we were ready to leave, luckily stopping in time for our walk to the station. One big bag and a shopping bag did us for the way to London, clothes, presents and a couple of bottles of wine. Our train tickets had been a bargain, but we should have thought a bit more about the time we were heading into London on a Friday evening. The train was rammed, standing room only as was most of the tube journey from Marylebone to Bethnel Green. The final leg on the bus wasn’t too bad, but it was nice to have room again as we walked around the corner to my brothers.

There was a fire lit, Christmas tree was up with loads of presents under it, a very festive house. We enjoyed a lovely meal catching up on all the news.

Saturday we spent preparing for the afternoon, when we were joined by three of Mick’s four sisters. Sadly Anne lives a touch too far away for her to have joined us for the evening. Thank you very much to Andrew and Jac for offering to have a get together at their house, it did mean there was plenty of good food to go round (Andrew inherited a bit more of my Mums genes than I did, he also has a bigger cooker).

Lots of presents were exchanged, much wine and salmon consumed and a lot of conversation. Sadly we were all to busy to get a group photo of everyone and the time for Marion and John to leave to catch a train back south caught up with us too soon. A very lovely evening with both our families together.

Sunday was a far more leisurely day. No visitors, time to read the weekends papers and be sat on by Finn and Ziggy, who both seemed to enjoy having new knees to sit on. After a lazy breakfast and returning tables back to where they’d come from Mick and I headed out for a walk across Victoria Park. The last few days I’d been suffering from a twinging calf muscle and by the time we nearly reached the other side of the park it was reminding me I should be taking it easy! However the lure of the Hertford Union Canal was strong, so I hobbled onwards so that we could have a look to see if any boats were on the move.

Over looking the canal by the top lock (one gate left open) there was a boat waiting it’s turn at the next lock as it was being set for one to come up. We loitered for a while, but everything was taking quite a time and it was a touch too chilly to loiter for long. So we slowly walked back across the park between numerous football matches as the sun elongated our shadows across the grass.

This morning we were up in time to say Goodbye to Josh, the first to leave the house this morning. He was heading to school to start on a week of exams, I’m sure we didn’t have exams when I was 12!

Then we had to try to find means of carrying everything back to Banbury and Oleanna. Our siblings have been very generous with presents and we also had a few months worth of post along with a couple of large parcels of our own. I was very glad I’d thought to pop in an Ikea bag, as we left with a very full wheeled holdall, a brimming Ikea bag and another carrier with all our swag. Mick had studied our routes to Marylebone last night trying to find the one with the least amount of walking due to our luggage and my leg. In the end we had a lift from my brother to a bus stop where we caught the No 30 to Baker Street, from where we walked round the corner to the station. We’d allowed plenty of time and managed to get seats all the way back to Banbury where we caught a taxi back to the Wharf.

So they left me. For days and days and days and weeks! They have never left me this long before. My magic food bowl worked very well and provided me with tasty morsels.

But they were away sooo long that I had to eat the bits I’d left in case they never returned. The smell of fresh baking and Hot Cross Buns didn’t help from next door! Along with the lack of food and no shore leave (within the sight of trees and good looking things to climb) they left me with NO heating! They said it would be 18C whilst they were away. It was for about an hour, then it stopped. Good job it isn’t like it was this time last year otherwise they’d have returned to an icicle of a cat! The boiler tried to turn on a couple of times, but that was all, it didn’t succeed. So I was left for a life time in the cold with limited food supplies whilst they were stroking other cats in that London place.

When they came back today I was really pleased that I was given an extra dingding and they put the heating on, but this took ages so I had to sit in a box until it got warm.. Tom swept the chimney and then lit the stove, so it is now getting warm again. I have commandeered the end of the sofa nearest the stove to make up for it, if they think I’m moving then they’ve got another think coming! Well until they give me some more dingding, then I might just move.

The electric post had tripped out again fairly soon after we’d left. The gizmo Mick added to the electrics cupboard means that we can check to see what power is being used and what state the batteries are in from afar. On Saturday Mick asked a chap on a neighbouring boat if he could turn the power back on for us, this he did. But we suspect that our boiler was wanting a bit more power than the post could provide each time it wanted to fire up, so it tripped again almost straight away. This meant there was no point in getting it switched back on again, we just hoped Tilly would survive, she has a fur coat after all.

0 locks, 0.16 miles, 1 tight squeeze, 1 nudge up, 4 bags coal, 30 litres diesel, 1 gas bottle, 1 empty wee tank, 1 Christmas rose, 2 bottles wine, 4 years, £22 return for both of us, 1 train, 2 tubes, 3 London Leckenbys, 1 fire, 18C more like 5C, 2 warm cats, 3 nights on a sofa bed, 3 nights in the freezing cold, 2 salmon, 600grms sugar, 7 egg whites, 1 wreath, 1 helper, 3 sisters, 10 for dinner, 1 very jolly lovely evening, 1 lazy morning, 1 walk in the park, Back to the Future 2, 1 blue bag not enough for lots of presents, 1 lift, 30 Bus, 1 slow walk, 40 minutes early, 1 train, 1 cab, 1 cold boat and cat, 0 food left, 4 chilly paws now defrosted and hogging the fire, 30%, 1st load of washing in the machine.

https://goo.gl/maps/Bweof8hybgK2

A Parliamentary Train Ride

12th and 13th November

Monday 12th.
Pip headed off back to Chipping Norton on the 08:55 bus. Oleanna was getting short of water. The nearest water point is at the residential moorings next to Isis Lock. From a visiting boater’s point of view this is easiest to get to from the lock landing on the Sheepwash Channel below the lock. Officially this is EA water as it is a part of the Thames but I didn’t think anyone would mind me being there. So I untied the ropes and reversed back to upper lock landing, tied up, filled the lock, reversed in to the lock then emptied the lock and reversed out onto the pontoon lock landing. The washing machine had been on and after I had started the hose going it was just finishing a cycle. So I started another load whilst filling the tank. An hour or so later the tank was full and the washing machine was into it’s second rinse so I headed back into the lock and went back up onto the CRT waters of the Oxford Canal. The mooring spot I had left a couple of hours earlier was still vacant (there’s not much traffic around at the moment) so I tied back up there. It’ll do for another few days.

Tuesday 13th
I’ve been on another day trip to London. I was born and brought up in Ealing in West London (not far from the Hanwell Flight of locks) but left the area 28 years ago. So with a bit of time on my hands I thought I’d have a little trip down memory lane. But to get there I went on a bit of a roundabout route.
If you are a train operating company and want to close a bit of railway line or a station you have to go through a long, complicated and expensive procedure involving parliamentary approval. So often a train company won’t actually close the line but instead run an infrequent service, sometimes once a week in one direction only, sometimes once a day. For example, don’t moor at Polesworth on the Coventry Canal expecting to be able to catch a train from the nearby railway station. The only train of the day there departs at 07:23 and there is no return service. There are quite a few of these services dotted around the country and they are known as “Parliamentary” services (because running the service is required by the original Act of Parliament when the railway was built). One of these services is in London: the once daily Chiltern Railways train from South Ruislip to London Paddington. Most services from South Ruislip go to London Marylebone but this service heads off down a railway equivalent of a backwater via Northolt, Greenford, Park Royal and North Acton to join the Great Western mainline at Old Oak Common and thence onto Paddington. So I caught a Chiltern Railways train from Oxford to High Wycombe, changing there onto a train that stopped at South Ruislip. At South Ruislip the “Parley” was waiting on another platform. There was one other passenger on the train and the driver checked with us both that we really wanted to go to Paddington. It was a very interesting ride, running alongside the Central tube line for some of the way. The track is formed of old jointed rails, it’s not often these days that you hear the clickety clack noise of trains passing over un-welded joints. Trees and bushes lean over the tracks and the train passes through a narrowing leafy corridor. We go slowly, no more than 20 mph, I suspect due to the leaves on the line and the fact we are the first train of the day to head this way therefore the track might be slippery. But all too soon we are onto the Paddington Main Line and it feels like we are allowed to sneak unnoticed into platform 14 which is tucked away in a little corner on the far side of the big terminal station. All in all a very enjoyable 25 minutes of train travel. Sorry, I didn’t take any photos, I wanted to enjoy the moment. If you are interested someone else has posted a Youtube video of their trip on this line here . Incidentally if you feel excited about this and want to experience it yourself you’ll have to do so before 7th December. After that day the line closes due to HS2 construction work. Presumably there is parliamentary approval for this! Or maybe HS2 is going to follow the route albeit underground so will count as a train service?

After that excitement I caught a normal train out to West Ealing. This was my old stomping ground.
Here is the house I was born and grew up in. It’s the semi on the left. I lived in this house until I was 22.

And here is the Back Lane entrance to the garage.

Just up the road I came across this from the days when the local authority provided everything.

Most of the shops have changed completely, except this one where I spent many happy hours in the past.

It is still trading and still has a wonderful array of electrical stuff in the window. Many of the pubs have changed names or no longer exist. Most of the bus route numbers are un-recognisable, I mean who ever heard of a 427, a 483 or even an E11? But Ealing still seems to be a busy vibrant place with lots going on.
After a couple of hours of strolling around Memory Lane it was back to Paddington to catch a train back to Oxford. This train took the more normal route via Slough, Reading and Didcot.

0.14 miles in reverse, 0.14 miles forwards, 2 locks (or the same lock twice). 1 full water tank, 2 loads of washing. 3 standard trains, 1 Parliamentary train. 1 excited cat, 1 cat bored again.

Panto Postcard 3.

73 hours

Another hard week in Chipping Norton.

I was on an earlyish bus back after a mile or so walk to the best bus stop, right outside Scottish and Southern Electric where a small compact thatched cottage sits beneath the pylons. I managed to get the front seat on the top deck and got good views through Woodstock and past the gates of Blenheim Palace. One of my design projects when I was at college used the Marlborough Tapestries, so a visit to the palace to see them is a must whilst we are in the area.

Chris the carpenter/dep production manager joined us again on Monday morning. There was a long list of jobs for him to work through, problem solving and hanging various things in the flies above the actors heads that needed to be done by someone competent.

My printed cloth was hung by the time I arrived and it certainly was worth the money. The blues glow wonderfully when back lit for scene changes and it’s fluid movement across stage is wonderful. I wish we’d now had the money to do the same with the backdrop. The painting on this is okay, but in my mind too much paint was applied making it a bit crusty, so when it was folded (should have been rolled!) the paint cracked leaving lines. These would be excellent if you wanted the effect of a folded paper map!

The reaction to my painted floor was wonderful. The Pippins (local kids) were amazed and one lead actor went out of his way to thank me for painting them such a lovely floor, not often this happens.

Mark (Lighting Designer) and Jon (Sound Designer) joined us this week, so as jobs on the set were being done, they focused and plotted their black things that have plugs on them and took up residence in the stalls with lighting boards and sound desks. Chris and I managed to get to various bits and bobs whilst scenes were set to be lit. Scene change rehearsals took place, each attempt getting quicker. I spent quite some time this week sticking felt onto the bottom of pieces of set so that they could be slid along the floor rather than carried, saving peoples backs and hopefully some time, but making me a touch high on fumes in the process.

The curtains I’d made from a previous panto went up surprisingly well. I did think that this would be the moment when I’d prove to myself that I really should never use a sewing machine, but by fluke they hung rather well, just in need of a good steam to help the creases drop.

On Wednesday my phone decided it didn’t want to turn on fully. It would try but then give up and shut down. A message was sent to Mick via another phone to his email, telling him I’d see him on Saturday. My next concern was not being able to tell the time, or have an alarm clock. A hunt round Chippy ensued, at Gills (they have everything) hardware shop I got a small travel alarm clock which would see me through. The world of the internet could wait. However Mick dug out an old phone, got it set up for me to use and brought it to Chippy that day arriving perfectly timed with the actors vacating the stage. A quick hand over was done and I had to leave Mick to enjoy a pint in the Fullers pub next door as I got on with work.

Technical rehearsals took over. This is when all the elements of the show are put together, tried, retried until it all works well. If things weren’t fully finished it didn’t matter just so long as there was something in it’s place to use. Virtually all the set and props were ready, but there were a few gaps on the costume front as alterations were being made. A few frayed nerves from the crew as set changes were worked. The gaps when I could get onto stage to do jobs got fewer as the week continued. Sitting in a seat taking notes meant that my knees started to sieze up a touch, so the steps on and off stage I’m now doing sideways as this is easier.

During the daytime we’d tech in the main acting company, getting as far into the show as we could. Then at 4pm the stage would be reset to go over the sections that the Pippins were in. As there are three teams of kids this meant having to go through the sections at least three times, each team cheering when it became their turn.

With the show worked through in detail the first Dress Rehearsal was upon us on Saturday morning. Gemma the Production Manager was back with us, a few things sorted out before we started. The house lights dimmed and the show began. The dress went well, a few blips, like several of the Dames quick changes were late (an S.E.P.), a few cues for the crew missed and one set change not quite finished in time.

Technical notes were given out and most people then headed off their separate ways, leaving Gemma and myself with the set to get bits finished. During Tech week there may be breaks, but few are long enough for paint to fully dry before floaty costumes come back onto stage. So with a big list and everything accessible we worked for several hours. Some jobs took a matter of a minute, others an hour. But the majority of jobs were completed, the set left everywhere to dry and I was out of the building in time to catch the 6pm bus back to the boat.

Meanwhile back on NB Oleanna.

On Monday Mick had decided to carry on into Oxford on his own. At Drinkwater Bridge a local boater helped him, at the next really awkward bridge a passing cyclist paused to hold the bridge open and then the last bridge he had to manage on his own, but this one would rather stay open for boat traffic anyway. He made his way down to Jericho. He passed one boat on the 7 days mooring, nobody at the quiet mooring (this is 2 days only all year) and then found everyone. They were all near College Cruisers. One gap showed itself before the lock, so he went down onto the river turned and headed back to the gap. The very end of the arm was also full.

For a few nights he endured the trains passing, but when spaces emptied towards the quieter end of the moorings he backed up and settled down.

Trees! But far far too many people. At least this Oxford has a good playground for me, far better than Chester. Tom seems to like to keep the back doors closed now, maybe there is no need for extra crew at the moment.

Mick had a day trip into London to see what was happening in the various places he’d worked last century. He also visited the Tate Modern to see some of Christian Marclay’s The Clock. A 24 hour long installation of a montage of thousands of film and tv images of clocks which have been edited together to show the real time. He’d like to go back and watch for longer.

He has also been working on our laptop. This had become very sluggish. Each week I have received various parcels in Chippy which have been bits to help sort out the laptop. So this week he has replaced the hard drive with a SSD Drive. This took quite a bit of doing, having to clone the old disc and all sorts of computer stuff. So far, as I type this, it has done the job. The laptop is quick and no longer sits scratching it’s head pondering on what it has just been asked to do. My typing skills also seem to have improved.

5 locks, 1 of them twice, 4.38 miles, 3 lift bridges, 2 assisted with, 1 full water tank, S3 bus four times, 5 tech sessions, 1st dress, 1 short day, 36 hrs hopefully at home, 1 high tailed cat.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna

Category Archives: London

Pre-Christmas Family Christmas. 7th to 10th December

A Parliamentary Train Ride

Panto Postcard 3.