Category Archives: Moorings

Just How Big Is It?! 28th July

Great Barford GOBA Mooring to Paxton Pits GOBA Mooring

A wind before breakfast to fill up with water on the other bank. Tilly wasn’t impressed by the number of swimmers already in the water, Tilly Too was so upset she had turned her back to it all and was found staring at the curtain! As the tank filled we topped our selves up too with cereal.

The lock being full was handy so we headed straight in. I spotted some interesting stonework just above the lock with C&F 1844 carved into it. Is this from a previous lock here?

As I waited for the level to drop in the lock I looked around for the teasel head I’d photographed on our way up, spotting that it had been cut very low down, I suspect it’s in a flower arrangement somewhere.

Somewhere along the wiggles to Roxton Lock sits this interesting house. A playground for young and old. A rather large treehouse in the garden, a landing stage and an old branch over the water which has ropes, pallets and all sorts, wonder if it’s suitable to sit on the end and read.

Pulling up at Roxton Lock I could see a chap below on a paddleboard, he paused for a little while and then headed off downstream whilst we sorted the lock out. By the time we got going again he was nowhere in sight. Back under the A1, not too busy today.

Over the four miles between Roxton and Eaton Socon we gradually caught the paddleboarder up, only just over taking him before the GOBA mooring where one of the boats from the festival was moored, washing hung out to dry.

Thankfully the lock was in our favour, so as I lifted the slackers at the bottom end the paddleboarder climbed out, removed the skeg and deflated his board, a noise we have grown accustomed to whilst being at this end of the Great Ouse.

Now to decide where to stop for the day. With only one boat on all the visitor moorings in St Neots we wondered why it was so empty. Maybe it was because of the regatta last weekend. Maybe because there was a fair in town. Maybe it was because boats had just moved off this morning.

We had a quick think, we’d press on, cover more ground today and then hopefully have a few shorter hops between nicer moorings over the next few days giving me more time to work.

Two cruisers pulled out from Ouse Valley River Club, would there be room in the lock for all three of us? We followed them, then they vanished round a corner to the left. A quick check on our map stopped us from gliding on past the navigable route, the signs just about invisible behind the friendly cover.

At the lock the two cruisers had joined a queue behind a couple of narrowboats, add a canoe into the mix too, it was busy.

On our way upstream we’d wondered if the lock might be wide enough for two narrowboats side by side. The entrance is noted to be 10ft 10″, so not possible to come in together. Inside it is a little bit wider, I reckon maybe as much as 2ft, but this wouldn’t be wide enough for two narrowboats side by side.

I’d put a photo up on facebook of Oleanna in the lock and a debate had started as to how many boats you could get in the lock. On our Waterway Routes map it gives dimensions as being 10ft 10″ wide by 107ft 11″ long. In our Imray guide book to the Great Ouse the lock is mentioned at being 3.3m wide by 32.9m long. Both agreeing with each other. Then a look on the EA website for lock dimensions had proved confusing and an interesting read as someone had got the conversions between metric and imperial wrong. But which of their figures were the actual correct ones? Imperial or metric?

**Data from the EA! Someone needs to return to school!**

Every boat entering the lock today took it that the lock wasn’t wide enough for two narrowboats side by side, and that the length was 107ft 11″. The two narrowboats went into the lock, refusing to let the inflatable canoe in with them. The lock was reset for the two cruisers. Their combined length was around 60ft, Oleanna being 58ft 6″, no chance of us sharing with them if we believed the 107ft 11″. As the level lowered we could clearly see that there was enough room for us too, but it was too late to join them.

As we refilled the lock Mick paced out the length, 70 of his paces. Oleanna is 26 paces long with fenders down, so call that 60ft. So 60 / 26 = 2.3 ft a pace. So 70 x 2.3 = 161 ft. Not the 177ft 1″ as mentioned on the EA website. Of course our measurements were far from scientific, but we can safely say that we’d have been able to share with the cruisers and still have plenty of room and saving a whole locks worth of water in an area bordering on being in drought.

One of the ladies on the cruisers was celebrating her birthday today and they were heading for a Chinese takeaway on Godmanchester, further than we were planning. The two narrowboats further ahead, we had no idea where they were heading, we kept our fingers crossed that Paxton Pits would have space for us.

Thankfully there was a cruiser moored at the far end, leaving enough room for us. We had lunch before we enquired how their dogs were with cats and then letting Tilly out.

The afternoon was filled with one scene from panto, an explorers library, a generator and the cruisers engine running, Tilly went AWOL and Mick rang insurance companies for a quote on house insurance. Quite a productive yet smelly afternoon.

4 locks, 11 miles, 2 winds, 1 full water tank, 5th in line, 3rd lock full, 4.3 miles paddled, 107, 177, or 161? 0 bins, 4.5 hrs work, 1 hour late, 1 new plan, 1 props maker on board, RIP Bernard.

https://goo.gl/maps/Tj1c4skqbfDq4j8k6

Turn Again Oleanna! 27th July

Bedford GOBA Mooring to Great Barford GOBA Mooring

After an early (for us) breakfast it was time to listen out for the bells telling us to turn again and set off for Panto. The family who’d been fishing at our bow had left sometime overnight, leaving one very big half burnt log. We waved goodbye to WB Four Seasons spotting the wooden battens on their roof that had held the black sheets in place for their fancy dress last weekend.

Mick rang Karen at Priory Marina to see if she’d been lucky with a Calor Gas delivery at the end of last week, sadly no gas. So we were off retracing ourselves.

First Cardington Lock. Not only are the bottom gate beams cranked but also the slackers/paddles, a joint turning them around the bend.

Castle Mills Lock needed turning so Mick came to lend a hand, closing the bottom gates and refilling it from the central slackers. I spied what looks like small slackers in the top gates, the poles reaching up towards the beam but nowhere to wind them up. Was this a previous way to fill the lock? It would take forever, or just an extra means to fill it for the EA when necessary?

We spotted the airship sheds. Danish Camp already had customers, still nowhere for us to pull in.

Then Willington Lock, the last we hoped for the day. A cruiser had just come up setting it for us. A young family stood and watched us from the weir bridge, high above. Today they’d had a big treat with a boat coming up and us going down, they rarely see boats moving on the river according to Mum.

Dumper trucks thundered across Willington Bailey Bridge, one diagonal metal beam no longer attached at one end continued vibrating long after the heavily laden trucks had crossed.

Now we waited to peer down the little back water, the HOT mooring, would it be free. This would be our preferred mooring even if it wasn’t quite as far as we should go today. NB Bolli sat in the HOT spot, we could of course reverse in behind them or just carry on. We decided on the latter. If we could moor on the GOBA mooring at Great Barford that would be great, we’d see how chaotic the river got there, maybe stay a day, maybe not.

As we came through the rather fine bridge, both the GOBA and EA moorings were empty. We opted for the GOBA mooring away from the pub, benches and slipway. A high bank and uneven edge meant we managed to get the bow in but not the stern. Once we were happy the doors were opened and Tilly was allowed out.

***Oh please don’t keep this one tied up or 48 hours!***

Well what a pants outside! It smelt funny. Lots of She’s and Toms bobbed about in the water. Don’t they know it’s dangerous!!! I’m told explicitly not to fall in and there they all were choosing to go into the river, stupid people!

An early lunch was followed by me taking over the table to start model making. The model box I was sent was made before my time and I know it has inaccuracies also nowhere to hang flown pieces of scenery from. Sadly the box I made a few years ago hadn’t returned from when it was last used, this meant having to make amendments to make my life easier in the long run. It took me three hours to have somewhere to hang fly bars from and make the auditorium treads.

Today I achieved a covering for the stage floor and cut out all the larger bits of scenery so that they could come in and out with ease. Then I started on adding some details to the front portal, this will take a lot of work to get it how I want, so at the moment I’ll only go so far with it, just to get the feel of it.

**A quiet mooring for about ten minutes**

Mick ended up sitting outside, trying to encourage Tilly not to be bored, she’s a weirdo when bored, trying to get into cupboards, running around like a loon and all whilst there was an okay outside to play in! All afternoon long there was a constant stream of paddleboarders, swimmers and canoes, as one lot let another lot arrived to blew up their floating plastic.

Another look at our route planning with places we could get trains for meetings and to be able to catch up with friends. This was now getting complicated, Peterborough, March, Ely? We think we may now have a plan.

3 locks, 6.39 miles, 1 more turn, 1 boat headed to panto, 3 hours modifying, 6 out of 7 bars used, 1 bored cat, A1 card already cut up, 2nd go at Quesadillas, plans D, E, F and G, 6 hours at work.

https://goo.gl/maps/SNpLFMV1KxRaowzh8

31. Where’s 31? 22nd July

Bedford GOBA Mooring to Priory Marina

Over breakfast I worked, putting things into the panto dropbox ready for the first production meeting on Zoom. This was mostly parish notices and how everyone has progressed. The whole thing is a few weeks late. With my first panto for Chippy I was at least a couple of weeks ahead of where I am now and somehow I need to catch up. A number of factors have caused the delay in getting started, but the main thing is there is now a team together, a script and we need to crack on with things. The costume designer, new this year, has not grown up with pantos so there will be a lot of explanations needed. Such as why there are SO many costume changes and especially why everyone gets changed for the final scene into an outfit just for the walkdown, the Dames costume for this tends to be the most outlandish and impractical outfit known to man that they have to put on in a matter of seconds in the wings. Maryna comes from an Opera background so it will be interesting to see what this brings to her costumes.

**Just a touch too tall to get under the bridge**

Once my meeting was done it was time to do boat chores, the yellow water needed emptying and then we could move off. All morning boats had been coming past, quite a few cruisers with low air draught. Higher ones appeared and tried their luck at getting under the bridge just round the bend, some made it very carefully others winded and pulled up behind us on the moorings to wait for the river to be dropped in the early evening.

NB Lily May winded and headed to the marina for a pump out and no doubt fill with water. The water point we’d used the other day had now been taken over by a water bottle station for the festival. We winded and headed to Priory Marina ourselves to find our mooring, C31. The pontoons were lettered and quite easy to see, but the numbered spaces, hmm? Mick nudged Oleanna’s bow into a space and I hopped off to see where we should be, there were no markings on the ends of the pontoons. Numbers on the hook up points didn’t reach into the 30’s. Mick called Karen who made her way to help us find the right place just as I looked down to my feet and saw 31 between my toes!

Once plugged in we could start the big wash, Mick being a good house wife whilst I got on with doing more panto sketches. There is one scene that is just eluding us at the moment and time is of the essence as peoples availability now gets harder as schools have broken up.

Around about 5pm I got a message to say a parcel had arrived for me at a Parcel Shop a short distance away from Tescos. This would have been a short walk had we stayed on the GOBA mooring, but now it was that bit further away. The Oasis Beach pond had filled up slightly after the rain the other day, I’m not sure it made it look any more attractive!

**Dancing at the tiller, ready for the weekend**

A few more boats were sat waiting for the level to drop on the river. On my way back several of the boats had managed to limbo under the bridge, the level looking to have dropped by about 6 inches. I wonder if it would get any lower.

Back at Oleanna I unpacked the biggest parcel. Tilly assisted and then was allowed to do what all cats do and climb inside the empty box. This kept her content for a while. My clothes cupboards were reorganised and the model shelf emptied, the model box I’d received slid in to it’s space. I’ll need to finish packing away long sleeved tops to make room for other bits of model in the next few days, but for now everything has a home. More importantly once the final scene of panto is sorted I can start making a model.

0 locks, 0.26 miles, 1.5 hours shore leave, 1 hour talking panto, 50th Chippy panto, 5 emails, 3 sketches, 1 designer not confident, 1 huge box, 1 model box tucked away, 1 empty yellow water tank, 1 full water tank, 2 showered boaters, 2 loads of washing more to come, C31 found.

It’s Coming! 21st July

Bedford GOBA Mooring to Kempston Mill to Bedford GOBA Mooring

Today was the day we hoped to reach the end of the navigable River Great Ouse, however there was a stoppage notice regarding ‘unforeseen circumstances during tree removal works, the river is closed near to Queens Park, Bedford.‘ A look on various maps and we concluded that this was upstream of Bedford. Hopefully whatever blockage would be clear by the time we got there, we’d see how far we could get and if needs be we’d reverse.

The stoppage notices seem to get published on the Visit Anglian Waterways EA Facebook page, we haven’t been able to find some means of getting them sent to us by email. So the notice had been published yesterday and facebook had only allowed us to see it this morning!

We headed back upstream, under the low bridges, temporary pontoon bridges still leading to nowhere, more portaloos arrived, areas of wheelie bins cordoned off. Two lads studied plans alongside a load of scaffolding, I wondered how far they’d get in erecting what ever it was by the time we came back. The park between the upper and lower river was very very busy.

As I was wanting to lift the guillotine gate at the top of Bedford Lock two chaps were rigging something from the structure above. A sound cable needed to be sent across the river to connect the PA systems, an 8ft pole was erected then the cable would be taken across the river and attached to a high place on the north bank keeping it high out of the way. I asked how they’d get it across, I’d hoped the reply would be drone or bow and arrow, but it was just by boring boat! We weren’t a problem to them so the gate could be lifted to raise us up onto the final reach of the river.

It would have been nice to head east on the upper river to have a look at the bridges, but more temporary pontoon bridges stretched across the water, so we turned to the west and started to head up stream.

Mooring numbers reached 81 along the banks. Council chaps were removing duck and blanket weed from ponds, aided by a digger to scoop it up.

Under Town Bridge which will be closed to traffic at the weekend as brass bands will be playing there. From the Swan Hotel to Bedford Borough Council the architecture changed every way you looked. Then modern shopping and restaurants took over the north bank.

More bridges, including two very low ones carrying the railway overhead.

Now the river seems to follow a much more rural route, trees everywhere. Had we reached the stretch where the unforeseen circumstance had occurred? Was this the tree? Was that it?

When we eventually reached the tree there was no denying it would have been a problem. The sawn stump of a tree was very evident and on the opposite bank the undergrowth had been dragged away as the huge tree had been dragged up the bank by machinery. A chap remarked that we’d timed that well, the tree had been moved just thirty minutes earlier. We came across two more chaps with chain saws chopping into more trees upstream too. I wonder if the River Festival stirs the EA into action this far upstream?

We carried on, the river bending in front of us. The further we got the slower we went, a fisherman had warned us of it being very shallow a mile upstream, but on the big bends it seemed to be fine. Mick kept our speed down, if we got stuck we might be there for some time as not many people venture this far upstream.

**Was this as far as we could get? Yes!**

Up ahead the new landing stage for the trip boat came into view beside another low bridge and modern housing, one building mimicking an old mill that once stood here. Our speed slowed right down. Oleanna started to ground, we needed to find the deeper water on the port side. A touch of reverse then Mick changed our course, slowly moving us along. We grounded again, Oleanna being attracted to the lower water.

Maybe if we could wind where it was wider. We only made one attempt at this as it was obvious the depth would not be sufficient for this manoeuvre, this along with the current we could end up in bigger trouble, being pushed further aground. We’d not reached the end of the navigable river as marked on our maps, but we’d reached as far as we could and that was good enough for us, just a shame we couldn’t get to the landing stage and have a little walk round.

This is where one day, in the future, the plan is to connect the Great Ouse with the Grand Union Canal with the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway. The new bridge by the landing stage may inhibit some larger boats coming this way, but so would the bridges into Bedford. When it is connected it will make a fantastic ring and we’d now be able to just cruise another 16 miles, climb up 21 locks, drop down another 20 and join the GU in Milton Keynes. Instead we’ll have to retrace ourselves back to Denver, across the Middle Level to Peterborough then back up the River Nene to Northampton and up the locks to the GU.

We made the decision to reverse our way back to where the river was a touch wider to wind. We managed this without too much bother and then carried on back down stream. The tree chaps still moving branches out of our way as we went.

As we approached Bedford a widebeam was winding and then pulling into their mooring or the weekend. Another boat could be seen settling themselves in, NB Cleddau. We pulled over to have a chat with Sue and Ken, we’ll be calling in for a longer chat over the weekend.

I walked up to the lock, a small cruiser was just coming in followed by a short narrowboat and then another cruiser, it all taking time to squash them in. This lock is going to be very busy over the next few days. Mick hung about in the upper river staking our claim to be next down and not another pontoon bridge that had just arrived.

Our first downhill lock until we reach sea level again.

The chaps with the scaffolding hadn’t made much if any progress since we’d passed them two hours earlier, I hope they get it sorted quickly as the Festival is only a day and a half away, It’s coming quickly!

Back at the GOBA mooring we winded and joined NB Lily May, Chris and Chris are friends of Heathers and Chris is also the author of the Imray Guide to the Great Ouse. They have a lovely black cat called Icarus, but sadly Tilly didn’t seem too happy about his presence, so she was grounded until his shore leave was curtailed.

Paul the boatmover came past and in his jolly manner was saying hello to everyone. Good job he stopped for a chat, on his own boat rather than someone else’s. The lady in the marina had said that the river would be lowered on Friday, the reach that we are moored on. Paul said that they lower it by a foot maybe even more so that cruisers can get under the next bridge to us to access the moorings for the festival. If we headed out for the day we’d return to our boat firmly sat on the bottom and needing ropes and crampons to get on and off! This also happens on Sunday to let all the cruisers out again. Good job we’ve booked into the marina!

Time to knuckle down to do some work, with a meeting tomorrow I need to update things and stop being a boater for a bit.

2 locks, the same one there and back, 6.75 miles or there abouts, 2 winds, 2 lefts, 1 landing stage just out of reach, 0.25miles in reverse, 3 known boats, 2 boat cats, 1 war avoided, 2nd story board, 1 boater changing hats, 1 more river ticked of.

A Breath Of Air. 20th July

Barford Old Mill EA Mooring to Bedford GOBA Mooring

Thank goodness the temperature had dropped this morning. If it hadn’t been for Tilly we’d have most probably slept with the windows out last night, maybe even have had the front door open to help bring the cooling air inside. But Tilly isn’t aware that other cats get to go out at night time and just cuddles up on our bed to go to sleep, great on a night like last night!

Today we had air to breath. The temperature outside now 21.4C and inside 23C. With a few hours cruising to do we were straight out of bed, had our first cuppa with breakfast, therefore saving us an hour at least. As we made ready to push off our neighbour on NB Atropos did the same. She’d aimed to leave early but after yesterdays heat had decided to award herself a little lie in. We still don’t know her name, but suspect we’ll cross paths another day when we can introduce ourselves properly.

Reversing out could have been a problem as we’d been sitting there for five days, but thankfully Oleanna sorted herself out quite quickly and pulled backwards back out onto the river and we were soon heading towards Bedford again.

The island we were on used to lead to a lock, Barford Old Mill Lock, we first passed what must have been a small weir and then the lock, the later identifiable by the curved recesses for the top gates. Barford Mill is mentioned in the Doomsday book and had a value of “2 shillings and 13 sticks of eels”. The corn mill ceased working in 1924 having become unsafe and was demolished in the 1950’s. In the early 20th Century it had a turbine and generated electricity.

First Lock of the day was Willington, vee gates at both ends. Past Danish Camp where big signs welcome people to it’s three bars and restaurants, yet another sign suggests you can only drop people off by boat, no mooring available! I suspect it was a very busy place over the weekend.

Kingfishers escorted us along, the navigation becoming narrower still now. The sound of human life increasing with every mile we travelled, we were getting closer to Bedford.

Castle Mill Lock looked similar to Willington, but there were no slackers/paddles in the gates. These sat in the centre of the lock island. One to fill the other to empty. The lock is deep, the water level changing by 6ft 11″ then add to that a good few more feet to the top of the chamber walls.

The width is just over 13ft so Mick decided to see what would happen as I filled the lock, our centre lines most probably not long enough to reach the bollards up top and then get back to him below. I gingerly wound the slacker, the rush of water sounding immense below my feet. The gear extends out so that you can see down to your boat, the water coming in at the centre of the lock below you. At first Oleanna was pushed to the opposite side of the lock, but as the level rose the pressure of the water went under her hull and pushed her back over, all quite gently as I gradually wound the paddle up. Winding it down was a little bit different as it seemed to slip as it got towards being closed, I just hope it was closed fully for the next boat.

A mental note was made of the vacant GOBA mooring not far on, this would be backup for us for the weekend, much further out of town, but possibly quieter. A wide beam sat just off the mooring enabling it to stay for longer than 48hrs.

Four EA work boats came towards us, two weed cutters, they’d most probably been busy around Bedford preparing the river for the Festival. Little pram covers had been fitted to a couple of them, the big cutters put onto the bank as we passed.

Cardington Lock, the narrowest on the river at 10ft 1″. This was set against us, but didn’t take long to sort out. Back to a guillotine gate at the top and a timer, the bottom gates cranked due to the proximity of the bridge making for a bit of heavy work.

Mick called Priory Marina to see if they had diesel and to ask where their pump was, not obvious on Google maps. We were given instructions that we’d find the pump on the left. Hawkeyed I stood in the bow, it took a while before I saw the sign. If she’d have said left after the big toadstools it would have been so much easier!

As we pulled up to the pump we passed NB Cleddau and NB Still-Waters both having a rest. A chap came to fill the tank, the pump stopping automatically at 100litres. We weren’t full, but that would do for us today. At the office Karen the manager was very friendly and helpful. She found information about when the Upper River would be dropped to enable more boats to get under the bridges, this would be Friday. Mick enquired if there might be any moorings over the weekend, there would be, we’d think about it. Karen didn’t know quite how far we’d get on our way up towards Kempston, levels are shallow at the moment and it is shallow up there anyway!

Back out on the river the next and last GOBA mooring on the river had a small cruiser on it. This is where we’d been hoping to moor for the weekend IF there is space. A chap at the marina said all the moorings were booked, but did he mean in town or did they include here too? We carried on upstream and pulled in on the only good bit of edge alongside the islands that sit between the Upper and Lower river. Here inflatables were being laid out, marquees and food and drink stands arriving. Small pontoons were being made into bridges for ease of access to the islands a great hive of activity.

**The mooring would have required crampons to get on and off due to the high bank**

As we had our lunch a car drove over towards us. Where we’d moored was marked out presumably for the reserved mooring spaces, a chap came for a chat. We thought we were about to be moved on, but no, once he realised we weren’t the boat he was expecting he offered us a mooring on the lower river for the weekend. By this time we’d already decided that being plugged in for a few days and getting to the bottom of the washing pile would be a good idea, especially as GOBA members get one night at the marina free when you pay for a second one. The thought of being alongside a fun fair, thousands of people walking past all the time day and night was not appealing, so we politely turned him down.

Below Bedford Lock is a water point close to the lock landing. We pulled up and connected our hose pipe and watched two chaps hoist up the last two sections of a marquee. I had a little wander over to where we’d be meeting people on Saturday, the geese being ever so busy trimming the grass and leaving deposits.

**The John Bunyan making ready to turn into the lock**

Whilst we filled the John Bunyan trip boat arrived, they’d just missed the lock being in their favour. This gave us chance to chat to the chap at the helm and ask how far we’d be able to go upstream. They now have a landing by Kempston Mill, but until a low bridge is either removed or raised their boat is unable to reach it. We were told that we may have to reverse some of the way back to be able to wind. Useful information.

A Fireman came for a chat too, he was checking out the area for the weekend, they will be doing demonstrations and also have a couple of safety boats on the river. Today he was enjoying the calm before hundreds and thousands of people descend.

We made our way back to the GOBA mooring, had difficulty with depth, but then managed to tuck in with another boat who’d also been offered a mooring for the festival, they’d accepted.

A stock up shop at Tescos took us past the pyramids of the Oasis Beach Pool, now looking like it needs masses of maintenance and looking very unloved. Once back Tilly was given a couple of hours shore leave, her first impression wasn’t too good, but she got over her initial thoughts and spent a lot of time in the tall grasses.

Rain clouds had followed us for much of the afternoon and finally around 7pm the heavens opened. Proper rain, we were sat back inside with all the doors and windows closed listening to it hammering down on the roof. We’ll need an awful lot more similar showers to help fill the reservoirs back up around the system. At least we got to watch the TV this evening without a fan constantly going round to keep us cool.

Thank goodness for some fresh air.

3 locks, 7.15 miles, 1 reverse, 2 winds, 13 sticks of eels, 100 litres, 4 kingfishers, 1 marina booked, 1 free night, 0 gas, 1 free mooring turned down, 1 trip boat, 1 festival coming together, 300,000 to 500,000 people expected! 2 hours shore leave, 1 model box on it’s way, 10 degrees lower, ahhhh!

https://goo.gl/maps/8Us2ng9uZpeTtFNv7

Wet T’s. 18th July

Braford Old Mill

The cool of the morning was lovely, but sadly going to be short lived as the temperature started to rise. Our neighbour of last night moved off as they’d said at 6:30 and not that long after Mick was on the gunnel lowering the white sheets again.

Tilly was allowed shore leave first thing, but when she revisited for some ‘Thank you for coming home’ Dreamies the doors were closed behind her, soon followed by the windows and all the curtains, trying to keep the coolness we’d started with trapped inside.

With the sheets on the sunny side it certainly reduced the amount of heat the cabin sides emitted inside. Maybe when Oleanna is due a repaint we’ll use the same colours, but with cream being the predominate colour rather than dark blue. Lets face it this heat wave isn’t going to be a one in a hundred year event, it may not be the last heat wave we get this year! We may also invest in foil blankets and magnets for such days to help reflect the heat away more than the sheets, thank you Adam and Chris for your comments.

Whilst the sun shone down on Oleanna we stayed inside, windows, doors and curtains all closed. The new fan was pointed towards dampened towels that we hung from a string across the boat. The evaporation from the towels helping to cool the air.

I put together my panto story board with notes and emailed it off to Abi. I don’t expect a reply for a few days as she has two young children to look after in this heat as well as herself.

**Mick preferred to sit outside in the warm shade**

Once shade started to appear on the bank Mick headed out to sit in it. I preferred to stay inside with Tilly. A cold flannel to cool down every now and again for both myself and Tilly. We’d tried a chilled hot water bottle wrapped in a towel for her to lie on, cool matt no good, escape pod in front of the fan, That one was just plain scary! But at least she would allow me, even though begrudgingly to wipe her down with a cool wet flannel. Cats don’t like being wet, she tried her best not to purr as she got used to it.

The internet stopped working or a while the server needing rebooting, phones became hot, in the end I turned mine off so that it would have chance to cool down.

I never thought that one day I’d even think of wearing a wet t-shirt, but today it was most certainly the best way of keeping cool. Mick soon followed and felt the benefit quite quickly.

***White bits up to reflect the heat away***

As the shade took over the bank and had chance to cool the ground I also moved outside. Fan turned off inside the boat and Tilly allowed back outside. A water bowl was put down for her but she seemed to prefer her self catering approach to keeping hydrated. You lead a horse to water, it’s even harder to get a cat to drink!

One of Mick’s sandals had a malfunction, the heel strap breaking. One job that wouldn’t involve too much energy. Some strong cotton and big needle and my leather thimble sewed it back together in no time.

We don’t know what temperature we got up to here on our island, the internet suggested around 38 39C. We just know it was bloomin hot!

This morning I’d message our friend David to check up on him in Yorkshire. He’d been offered shelter in a house by some people in the local village if his boat got too hot, which it will have done despite being white.

This evening we stayed sat out until 10pm, the sheets lifted on Oleanna and windows open or removed to try to replace the air inside and help her cool down. Tilly was allowed an extended shore leave as she’d had wet food for lunch today. After our barbeque she was elusive, most probably being busy. We ended up leaving her to it, she found her own way back just after the news had started.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 island to ourselves, 1 boat overstaying, 2 many lobsters on boats or paddle boards, 1 dark boat, 0 bra day, 2 wet t-shirts, 1 wet cat, 1 story board, 1 book started, 1 mended sandal, 2 rain showers, 2 steaks cooked much better than the one I had in Littleport, 4 veg kebabs, 1 bowl of roasted potato salad, 25 glasses of water each, 1st day survived, 2 glasses of wine each, yes I know it was a Monday but I just couldn’t face any more water!

14ft! 15th July

Priory Centre, St Neots to Barford Old Mills

The original plan had been to leave at 9am, but that didn’t quite happen as Mick had decided to purchase an electric fan from Argos which wouldn’t open til 9. It had been ordered so he went to be first in line at the front door to pick it up.

We were slightly disappointed, yet not surprised at the size of fan. We’d have difficulty finding somewhere to put it after all if the description had been correct! It was 14inches not 14ft! Yes it will use power, but may just help move air about to help cool us in the coming days.

Tilly’s pooh box had a clean out as we topped up the water tank, best to leave with a full water tank. As we made ready to push off Paul stuck his head out of their hatch to say goodbye, we suspect our paths will cross another time somewhere.

Across the way the Macc boys were discussing things, would everyone be trying to find some shade on the river. We hoped for their sakes they were, but also hoped that the mooring we were after would be free by the time we arrived.

An old riverside house has been having quite an extensive refurb along with an big extension. With 1.5 acres and a mooring long enough for a narrowboat no wonder it’s £2,250,000!

**Oleanna waiting with Eaton Socon Mill behind**

Eaton Socon Lock was soon in view. There was movement at the lock, a day boat having just been helped up the lock. We set the lock to out favour, a sign by the control panel saying that there is an intermittent fault where the delay timer trips the guillotine. Thankfully it behaved for me and we were soon up, after the 6mins 30secs delay that is inbuilt.

Above the lock we pulled in at the EA mooring, the bank decidedly awkward to moor to. We managed to get the stern close enough to the bank for our needs and headed to the big Tescos 3/4mile away.

A big stock up required the bike to be a sherpa. The ability to cook outdoors a necessity and other meals to require the minimum amount of gas usage. We came back with the bike fully laden.

Time for lunch on the go, with the next mooring at Great Barford we had another two locks and six and a half miles to go, we needed to keep moving. The river started to remind us of the upper reaches of the Thames, narrower, more bends to keep you on your toes. A keen eye required to spot those in canoes or on paddle boards who are oblivious to our existence.

Under the A1 where it splits in two. How many times have we been over the river here and not realised it was the Great Ouse below? We’ve also been thinking about that as we’ve seen trains rushing past on the East Coast Main Line recently.

At Roxton Lock we came across our first totally manual lock for ages. The gates were heavy, or is it just that I’m not so used to opening and closing gates as I used to be.

A Kingfisher darted in front of us, managing to stay for a while on a post, my zoom only just managing to catch it before it flew off.

This was then followed by a Little Egret, I’d never noticed how fluffy frondy their tails are before.

At Great Barford Lock the wild flowers were past their best, but the teasels still had enough purple flowers to keep the bees occupied.

Above the lock was busy, swimmers getting ready for a dip, canoes, paddle boarders. Here there are two lots of moorings, the GOBA one’s we might have been able to squeeze into between two boats, or outside the pub where there was plenty of space but also it was more than likely to get really quite busy.

We carried on though hoping that the EA mooring tucked behind on an island would be free. Thankfully it was apart from a small rib tied up in the middle. We tried here and there to moor, the bank not very even and the water shallow. As soon as we started to hit a spike in a very muddy dog came rushing round to see what was going on. It was soon followed by it’s owner who kindly moved his rib round the bend.

Eventually we found a spot where we could get off at the bow with ease and just close enough for the plank at the stern. As the cloud cleared away we could see what the afternoon shade would be like, not as comprehensive as we’d hoped, but at least there was some. We’ll get shade first thing, then the port side will heat up followed by a couple of hours of the starboard side. Our sheets would be needed, they were cut in half and folded up ready for a trial run tomorrow.

I tried out a new recipe for a mushroom biryani tonight, it didn’t turn out quite like the recipe had suggested, I suspect my pan lid was a touch too tight as it ended up being a bit soupy, never mind it was still very tasty so I’ll try it again with a looser lid or less liquid, adding some chicken too would be nice.

3 locks, 8.54 miles, 14” new fan, 1 full water tank, 1 clean pooh box, 1 fully laden bike, 3 boxes wine, 2 boxes Tilly food! 1 island mooring, 1 bridge should we want to leave, 3 sheets cut to size, 800ml reduce to 600ml, 1 very boisterous woofer that we hope will leave the island.

https://goo.gl/maps/tWhswHy2PZBJxAcj8

Jelly Babies Or Inuits. 14th July

Paxton Pits GOBA Mooring to St Neots Priory Centre

NB Still-Waters moved off whilst we were still having our morning cuppa in bed. We waved but I’m not sure they saw us.

Last night we’d adopted a new routine on heading to bed. The last few nights we’ve been plagued by flying insects, we really need to sort out some fly screens for our windows! All the windows and curtains were closed in the bedroom before any lights were turned on, then once we’d finished reading the lights went out, windows opened, the glass from the porthole above our heads removed. We only had one little blighter buzzing around our ears, success. But I suspect by the time the weekend comes we’ll not be wanting any windows closed.

We pushed off ourselves a little after 10 making our way towards St Neots. Some of the moorings have very high flood proof scaffolding, keeping their boats from straying onto the banks. A two tone tree? How has that come about? One side a pale variegated leaf the other green.

After a couple of miles we approached St Neots Lock. Here our maps suggested a one way system around an island below the lock. However two cruisers came towards us the wrong way. At least it meant the lock would be in our favour.

St Neot’s Lock is quite a modern lock. The bottom has a guillotine gate and vee gates at the top. In the chamber there are steps rather than ladders, the sort you find on Thames locks. There are also cable risers on the sides to pass your rope around. The length of the lock seemed vast with Oleanna sat at the back. A pair of slackers at the top end sat side by side. Lifting the first one I wondered where the water would come into the lock, would both paddles lift at the top end, or would one route the water further down the chamber?

Blimey the colossal noise of rushing water below my feet sounded like I’d set a tidal wave going, yet in the chamber nothing much seemed to be happening. I steadily opened up both slackers and Oleanna rose at the far end.

The river now wider, day boats and later on rowers and paddle boarders everywhere. We made our way into St Neots a space on the pontoon by the Priory Centre, phew! Opposite the Macc boys were breasted up along with some cruisers, through the bridge looked full too. Maybe we’d move on after some shopping and topping with on water.

Fresh food was needed along with something to make a home made shade for Oleanna. If we can’t find a shady mooring for the weekend then we at least want to cover our cabin side to stop Oleanna becoming a very big storage heater. White fabric was required.

**Locals are asking boaters to take their rubbish home rather than leaving it where bins used to be!**

Boaters bins along the river seem to have been removed, so we’d taken our recycling along into town which got deposited in bins around the market square. The market was okay, but not much to it other than the figures that were stood holding up the ends of the benches.

Were these Jelly Babies or Inuit people? Which ever they are what do they have to do with St Neots? If I get time I’ll try to hunt round the internet for information, but if anyone knows please let me know. Hang on they might be monks holding beads with a cross hanging down.

The charity shops let me down on the hunt for white fabric/sheets, so we bought Argos out of all the flat sheets they had, only three. Not quite enough for the whole cabin side, but a good amount will get covered if needs be. We just need to sus out how to hold it all down. The roof will be easy, but the bottoms?

Back at Oleanna we were just settling down for lunch as NB Mosi-Y-Tunya came past, they’d been travelling with NB Caspar, we waved and it was obvious they were looking for somewhere to moor so we offered them our starboard side. This led to quite a lot of boaters chat.

During the afternoon a cruiser that had been issued an overstay notice was pulled back to the end of the pontoon, which made enough room for both us and NB Mosi-Y-Tunya to be moored. As both boats filled with water more conversations were had, comparing notes on places we’d been, Paul and Jackie’s tales of crossing the Wash and we handed on tips for the River Nene locks. At last we also managed to palm off the wine gums I’d won at the Oscars party that had sadly disagreed with me. Paul, Jackie and their friends Peter and Kath wolfed them down within minutes!

1 lock, 3.17 miles, 2 neighbours, 0 shore leave, 3 white sheets, 1 sad gits stir fry, 0 work done, 1st production meeting arranged, 1 tea dance, 1 exercise class, 1 full water tank, 0 boaters bins again, 32 jelly babies, or 32 Inuits, which ever they are going to be very warm next week!

https://goo.gl/maps/j3g8C1AiCTHinHFs9

Pits Brunch. 12th July

Brampton Park GOBA Moorings to Paxton Pits GOBA Mooring

Time for us to move on and hopefully find another shady mooring. Once we’d had our cup of tea in bed we postponed breakfast and pushed off, NB Eleanor Rugby had long since gone!

**Is this an Aquavista 60/40 split price?!**

First things first. Water! We’d last filled up in St Ives and have been frugal with our usage. A water point was shown on our maps at Buckden Marina, we pulled up on their service mooring. Maybe we’d top up on diesel too whilst we were here. The petrol pump had a sign on it saying they were out and more was on order. The diesel pump just boasted the price £2.25. HOW MUCH!!! Yes this might be the price of a 60/40 split, but still!

We connected up our hose, it was still too early for the office to be open. Water came forth and we started to fill our tank, we’d see if anyone had a problem as we weren’t inclined to top up on diesel. Nobody came to see if they could help us even once the office was open, so we coiled up our hose once full and pushed away.

Offord Lock came next. The top guillotine gate open. As I pressed the close gate button I looked at the lock, blimey it was narrow! Having got used to the D shaped locks which fit three narrowboats side by side this was narrow. Not in the sense of a narrow canal lock but you’d never get two narrowboats in side by side and at 11ft 2″ wide some wide beams would have difficulty.

By the time Oleanna was in the lock coming up we had four gongoozlers. One wondering if the crocodiles would get us on the river, another two not realising that the river continued on up ahead of us for quite some miles.

Onwards now for a couple more miles. We passed a couple of narrowboats including NB Jolly Lamb whom we’ve come across a couple of times in the past. Did this mean that the next mooring would have space for us, we hoped so.

Yes! Just enough room for us beside a shady tree at Paxton Pits. We pulled in, I hopped off the bow with Mick staying on board as the mooring meant we’d need a plank once tied up.

Time for breakfast, well brunch and with it being a touch cooler we risked a cooked breakfast, not quite the full works but certainly a good effort and very tasty.

I continued hunting out panto references. Mick sat outside listening to cricket. Our route northwards at the end of the year was looked at in more detail. Tilly headed off to find friends, breaking the first rule within half an hour! She was speedily reminded of that rule whilst being forcibly removed from the boat along with her friend!

During the afternoon we got some rain showers, the sort that just seemed to add to the general mugginess of the day. Despite this I decided to go for a walk. Solutions to be found for panto are best done whilst walking . I filled a water bottle, showed Mick the route I planned on taking and headed off.

Paxton Pits were gravel pits, in the 1930’s the gravel was mostly used in building airfields around the country. Today gravel is still dug here but the old pits are now filled with water and have become a nature reserve.

In the early 20thC the Trimmings family grew plantations of Cricket Bat Willow on islands at Little Paxton. The trees produce a wood that is light, tough and doesn’t splinter. The firm now called Hunts County Bats still continues today, producing 20,000 bats worldwide every year.

There were also paper mills at Little Paxton, 184 years of production. A raised causeway gave access to the mills in times of flood. Now the area is a modern housing estate.

Much of the land in the nature reserve is gravelly as you would imagine. Plants vie for enough moisture to be able to grow. Purple flowering plants had pushed their way up, possibly Viper’s Bugloss?

I followed the Heron trail handy hides every now and then giving me shelter from the now almost constant showers of rain. One facing towards a bank which may or may not have been Kingfisher nests. I listened out for them but sadly none were to be seen or heard. I did spot 2 Egrets , 2 Cormorants and a Heron all sitting together on a bit of mud.

The nature reserve is a Dragonfly Hotspot with 26 varieties of dragonflies and damselflies. Today however there were none to be seen here, they must all have been out on the river.

I soon had walked past the active gravel pit with all it’s machinery. Wondered if quicksand is still as treacherous in a drought as it seems in the movies. The path turned again to be alongside the river. A home made banner attached to a gate. Was this advertising Matt Walsh’s film examining changing concepts of gender in the digital age? This is what Google suggested it might be.

Tilly’s white tipped tail sprung into the air to greet me back at the boat. A pleasant walk even if a touch warm, I did manage to come up with a few more ideas for work too.

With the beginning of next week likely to be too hot to do much other than breath, we spent some of the evening trying to work out a plan to try to be on the shadiest mooring on the hottest days. Will we succeed? Will we be beaten to the mooringOr will we just cook?

1 lock, 3.27 miles, 0 bins, 1 full water tank, £2.25! 0 crocodiles, 11am mooring, 2 plates of brunch, 32 more images, 3 mile walk, 0 Kingfishers, 2 solutions, 3 possibilities, 30C, 3 hours of gentle showers.

https://goo.gl/maps/M7QuYGaCnM6kMLzZ7

Shade Hopping. 10th July

Brampton Mill GOBA Mooring to Brampton Park GOBA mooring

Shade hopping is likely to be a regular occurrence over the next week with temperatures set to soar. Why did we decide to cruise the area set to get the highest temperatures in the country?!

The cruisers in front of us had already headed off this morning and a narrowboat had just pulled up in the vacant space, making use of the very good shady tree to sit under for breakfast.

Our 48hours were up and it was time for us to move on. Leaving too early in the morning would mean arriving at a suitable mooring before it had been vacated, arriving too late would mean someone else would have grabbed the shade before us. Waterway Routes, Google maps, Google Earth and Ordnance Survey all come in handy for checking out prospective moorings. We hoped that the next GOBA mooring would be as good as it looked.

The route to Brampton Mill Lock is confusing. Our map showed a route around an island, avoiding currents from the weir. A sign suggested up stream boats should stay to the right. This could mean keep to the right on the narrow channel around the island, or keep to the right and head straight for the lock. Hidden deep behind nettles stood the Lock ‘This Way’ sign, it was only when we were going the right way that we could see which way the arrow pointed.

A couple sunned themselves by the lock with their Yorkshire Terrier who had to bark at anyone or thing that came by. The lock was full, needed resetting so this meant I got barked at several times as I walked too and froe.

The entrances to the locks are not quite wide enough for two narrowboats side by side, which means that both gates need to be opened to get one boat into the chamber, then closed, walking all the way round the lock to do so.

By the time the four minute timer was counting it’s way down, delaying the top gate from being lifted too quickly, there were three cruisers waiting to come down. The river would be busy again today.

The mooring we’d got our eyes on came into view, a narrowboat just pulling away, we’d be jumping straight into their spot, pulling as far along as we could to get into the shade as early in the day as possible.

Tilly spent the day exploring and trying to get back to the boat as differing boats came to join us. One stopping for lunch, another two for a very noisy swim, the next for some fishing and their evening meal before they pushed away and left us on our own.

A barbeque this evening, tucking ourselves into the hedges and shade. The still evening brought a hot air balloon over head, gradually drifting towards the A14. Here’s hoping the boat doesn’t get too hot tomorrow before the shade starts to come over.

1 lock, 1.5 miles, 3 neighbours, 6 hours shore leave, 1 edited reference folder, 2 cobs of corn, 4 veg kebabs, 2 salmon steaks, shade by 1pm, 28C.