Category Archives: Museums

Threads Of Remembrance. 6th October

Alrewas to Fradley

A very misty start this morning in Alrewas, thank you Adam for the photo, I suspect we were still in bed with our morning cuppa when this was taken.

Tilly still wasn’t enamoured with our mooring, so after breakfast she was left in charge whilst we headed out. Mick to the Co-op and me to the National Remembrance Gardens. Crossing the road to get there isn’t quite as scary as I’d remembered it to be. A new Elizabeth Line train halted my walk for a while as it slowly crossed the road.

As I arrived at the gardens, a coach had just pulled up and was offloading its passengers. I asked a guide where the new mosaic was, in the chapel across the square. Gosh that was easy to find, I’d imagined walking half way across the site to find it, not just 100 yards away.

Whilst helping on the community mosaic in Scarborough earlier this year, Gaby Naptali and a few others headed down to help install the Threads of Remembrance mosaic. Several of the group had put together a piece each which joined other contributions and was all swirled together with many more mosaic tiles. What a wonderful piece it is, with so many people’s remembrances. It kept me captivated for quite a while.

Outside I decided to have a walk round. We visited ten years ago, did the land train round the site. Today I wanted to walk, headed towards the river and walked along the bank looking at the memorials there. Then cut in through the trees to the Shot at Dawn memorial. This wasn’t quite how I remembered it. The wood that had originally been used to symbolise the 306 service men who were executed for military offences in WW1 who were pardoned by the UK Government 20 years ago, had started to rot. Now the wood has been replaced by lengths of plastic timber, not quite the same, but it still is a very powerful monument.

Ten years ago the Armed Forces memorial was still being constructed on the hill in the centre of the garden. Today the names of people who have died in service since the end of WW2 fill many of the slabs. A chink in the central wall lets a shaft of light through on the 11th hour of the 11th day or the 11th month. The thing that struck me most about this monument was how much more of it is sat waiting for names to be added. Sadly there will always be combat and there will always be people who die because of it.

Back to the boat for an early lunch. Tilly decided that our mooring was pretty good after all, whilst I had an online production meeting for panto. Chats about things still to source, what scene would be good to have finished for the photo call, lighting queries, props queries, costume catch up, some sound. I have to say I’ve felt a touch detached from it for a while, but gosh, it all kicks off really quite soon!

**Cranked beams always need a bit of thinking about which way to push or pull**

Our cruise plan had us still a little ahead of ourselves today, but we decided to move on and keep ahead even more. We pushed off passing a couple of boats. Bagnall Lock’s cranked beams seemed indubitably heavy today. I hung on them, bumped them and hung some more until eventually they relented before I did.

I opted to walk on, making up for the fish and chips last night. We passed one boat coming down, a light weight cruiser aiming for Barton Turns today. A fill of water took forever at the services, the taps round the corner are much quicker. We disposed of rubbish and yellow water and then just pushed Oleanna across to moor on the other side. Sorry Tilly, no shore leave today, the road is just far to close.

***This is catist! Why are there no photos of cats?!***

1.8 miles, 4 locks, 7 miles walked, 110 brisk minutes, 1 more message about the print, 3 Frankness phone calls, 0.5 pork pie from Coats, 60 plus mosaic artists, 270 elements in one, 9 in the team, 1 new bucket, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 1 bored cat.

https://what3words.com/feel.leafing.juggles

OAC. 1st, 2nd October

Ten Pound Pies. 23rd September

Over The Top. 22nd March

Road Trip Day 3

Breakfast followed by the Geraghty zoom. We tried using two laptops for the zoom, but sadly the sound echoed so we all got cosy on a sofa to chat to everyone elsewhere. As I’m writing this a week later, the subjects we discussed have mostly slipped my mind, although the Romans and Hadrian’s Wall were discussed.

**Gates and lamp posts along the street give away the designer**

A ten minute walk from Anne and Alasdair’s house is Hill House a Scottish National Trust property which our English membership cards gave us free entry. Just walking in through the gates from the road you could see who had designed the house, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

When built, Mackintosh wanted to use a modern render, so roughcast cement was used over brickwork and red sandstone, the underlying construction materials not of high quality. However, the cement wasn’t the best at keeping water out and being in Helensburgh there is a large amount of precipitation! Over the decades the house has grown increasingly damp and something needed to be done, so a ten year (now possibly 15) conservation programme started in 2019. The render has mostly now been removed, and the building is being left to dry out. A decision on what material will replace the render is still to be made. Should it be something from the era the house was built in, or should the latest and best waterproof material be used, possibly something Charles Rennie Mackintosh would have chosen should he be alive today?

A box, or chainmail cage has been erected around the house, so that the render could be removed and then the building would be able to gradually dry out protected from the elements by the box. This means that there are walkways all around the building giving you views from above the house, it was really quite interesting seeing things that only builders would have seen.

Through the modern ebonised wooden visitors centre/shop/cafe we walked into the house, welcomed by a friend of Anne and Alasdair’s. The dark dark wood lit from Mackintosh lanterns with squares and circles with pink/purple stained glass. Wow!

A guide came past with a key to open up a desk in the drawing room. I quickly headed through to see what was to be revealed. Almost chinoiserie in style the cupboard was opened up to reveal squares of mother of pearl and a beautiful backing which glinted in the light from a phone. Stunning.

Now it was time to take time to appreciate the interior of the house. Dark due to the box construction outside and some of the windows having been covered over for protection, we didn’t really see the rooms how Mackintosh had intended, yet they didn’t disappoint. A man for great detail with everything, his design showing through on items of furniture, windows, fireplaces, lanterns, carpets, stair rails, beds, curved niches in bedrooms. Even in the servants areas hearts had been cut in cupboards and the square motif continued on.

The library shelving had symbolic blades of grass, tulip stems reaching to the tops of the woodwork where they opened with a open book. The house, commissioned in 1902, was built for Walter Blackie, a Glasgow book publisher. Squares on part of the shelves pull out to create a small writing desk, everything thought out.

The Hill House is considered to be Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s domestic masterpiece. Walter Blackie commissioned the up-and-coming architect and artist Margaret Macdonald, who worked collaboratively to create almost everything.

Back in the drawing room, white or cream, hard to tell in the lighting, every corner had been considered. A mosaic fireplace with pink/purple insets, the fine curves of some tiles likely to have been ground rather than cut. This was a room that so needed the full natural light to appreciate it and warrants a second visit when the cage is gone and the render replaced. In one corner of the room sat a chair from a very different world. This was Mrs Blackie’s armchair, she insisted on having a comfy chair to sit and read in, rather than a design masterpiece. Don’t blame her really!

The staircase, ebonised with lanterns, woven carpet and stained glass, exquisite. Up to the bedrooms. Mrs Blackie’s room white/cream again with Mackintosh roses, wonderful cupboards. Can you tell I liked it? A stunning house on the inside and interesting on the outside, the box making it more so. Here’s a link with some photos before windows were covered over for the conservation.

Lunch was enjoyed in the cafe. Onion bhaji wraps with mango chutney, butternut squash soup and a scone. All very nice.

I headed off to walk down to the seafront, whilst the others headed back to the house to collect our car. Thankfully Anne is quite small, she managed to squeeze onto the back seat but needed assistance to escape! My walk had me passing large posh houses that the Glasgow elite had lived in, they commuted to work by steamer on the River Clyde. The railway cuts across the hill, so you have to walk round to avoid the tracks deep in a cutting. Along Queen Street there were a whole load of vans, something was being filmed.

I arrived at a similar time to those in the car, a walk along the seafront was a windy affair, with a strong aroma from seaweed on what was visible of the beach. The walk ended up being curtailed, we all headed to shelter in Dino’s for some chilled medication, the darkest chocolate ice cream I’ve had in a long time.

With room for only 2.5 people in the car I walked back up the hill, filming still on going in a modern house nestled between two Victorian properties. An afternoon of chatting, knitting and watching a mine sweeper down on the loch before we climbed into the bigger car to head to Masala Twist for a very tasty curry.

Another lovely day. One which left us wondering if we should add something Mackintosh to Oleanna’s bow maybe. A tulip or rose wouldn’t be right, as they would be horizontal, flowers grow vertically. But maybe we’ll adjust her dashes and dots to something with a nod to the man to match her original sign writing.

2025… The Year Of Fools, Drought, NHS and Roses.

A round up of 2025, sit down with your favourite drink and I hope you enjoy.

January started out as December this year would end, us watching from afar the aftermath of a breach. January was the Bridgewater, December the Llangollen. We don’t tend to watch vlogs, preferring to read peoples accounts of their waterway journeys, but updates were watched on youtube from those affected, our personal experience of the Aire and Calder breach back at the end of 2020 had been far less dramatic.

January in the house was spent doing winter maintenance jobs. Three garden benches got a full make over, new slats and paint and a dining room got a colourful lick of paint just in time for the first lodgers of the year arriving. I had a second appointment with a physio about my knee that had given me serious problems last year, the new exercises were working, I ditched my stick by the end of January and started walking around Scarborough every day.

The start of the year it had been wet, but as I strode out the sun would greet me as I reached the beaches of Scarborough. I think this year I’ve visited the seaside more than I’ve done in the last 30 years of considering Scarborough to be my home.

In February Oleanna’s horns got replaced, she now has two tones rather than just one twice. Arrangements were made for future works at the house, carefully planned between lodgers. I joined a community group working on a giant mosaic, sticking glass tiles to brown paper, the final reveal not happening until August which I sadly missed. More walks around Scarborough, longer walks enjoyed on sunny Saturdays taking in both bays. Now I was walking too fast for Mick to keep up.

We visited boat painters, our short list gradually being whittled down. Dates, getting to the painters all had to be weighed up in our decision. One company actually rang to offer us a very early slot, but because of the Bridgewater breach and the end of winter stoppages we’d never have made it in time, plus we’d have ended up being homeless as lodgers were due to arrive at the house. After visiting the last painter we dropped back in to visit Tom at Redhill Marina to see how the boats he’d been painting on our last visit looked. We liked him, his work and a day later called Gibson and Kentwright to book our slot in Spring 2026.

John, the Artistic Director at Chipping Norton got in touch, would I like to do this years panto? This needed some thinking about, last year had been nice without deadlines for designs and we could concentrate on boating, but I’d really missed being part of a team and being a designer. I slept on it then said yes, if the show could be designed earlier in the year then we’d still be able to boat through the summer, hopefully get the best of both worlds. Cruise down to the South Oxford so I could commute to work during rehearsals then we’d make our way back north and arrive at New Year at Redhill to come out of the water and await our repaint. A good plan. But before that, the roof space needed clearing so things didn’t get damaged when we got a new roof on the back of the house. Friends needed meeting and I cracked on with a few paintings of Scarborough.

Mid March came, it was time to give the house a good clean and move back onto Oleanna making way for four lodgers to move in for a month. A new mattress arrived for Oleanna, only just enough headroom for Mick on our cross bed, but a far better sleep than the memory foam mattresses that came before. Back on board, we headed straight out of Goole for the New Junction Canal, pulling in at the first opportunity and letting Tilly have some shore leave once again. She knows where home is and I’m sure she now knows this mooring very well. She was gone for hours, straight back into boat life after a winter of hibernation and inactivity in the house. It felt good for us too.

Doncaster was our first destination for me to head off to do a couple of days work at Level in Matlock with Separate Doors Theatre Company.

Then we gradually made our way to Keadby to wait for the beginning of April, the tide and to meet the Strawberry Fools from Strawberry Island Boat Club who were kicking off the Fund Britains Waterways Campaign Cruises for the year.

Early on the 1st April, the flotilla of Strawberry Fools lined up to go through Keadby Lock onto the Tidal Trent, three boats at a time, turning up stream, southwards. Fog engulfed us for sometime, thankfully clearing as we came close to West Stockwith Lock where more boats were to join the long line all beeping our horns as we approached Gainsborough Road Bridge where TV crews and drones watched us. A great start to the years campaign. The spring tide got us all to Cromwell and off the tidal waters for survivors drinks on the bank.

The following day the boats stormed Newark Castle with a wall of sound before dispersing to several moorings upstream. The morning after we penned the boats up through Hazelford Lock and waved them goodbye and good luck, the majority of boats heading to London to sound their horns outside Parliament. We however turned back, our summers cruising planned to be further north.

Back up the country, down the Tidal Trent, pausing on the Chesterfield canal for a couple of days, across the Stainforth and Keadby, New Junction, Aire and Calder, River Aire, Selby Canal then the River Ouse to York.

Here we met with the London Leckenbys to celebrate what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday back in his home city. We had a suitable feast, cruised down stream to show Andrew, Jac and Josh the top of our old family home from the river, Josh even had a go at the helm. A curry was also called for along with a visit to a pub which was frequented by our parents as we grew up (we mostly sat in the car with a packet of crisps or a chip butty!).

We were joined for a few hours by old family friend Diana and I got to meet with Philli a boat woman who had sponsored a pair of my Sockathon Socks. It was good to be back in York with our own home and have found somewhere new to moor meaning we could stay longer. We also managed a catch up with Frank over a pint and a pizza.

By now the lack of rain was started to affect the system and our planned cruise. The Leeds Liverpool, I think, was the first of the northern canals to close. The Ripon Canal soon followed. We were wanting somewhere safe to moor for a week or so whilst Mick headed off to oversee building works at the house, our options started to narrow.

We opted to head down stream, the tidal Ouse far more difficult to navigate with the outgoing tide due to the amount of debris in the water. Back onto the Aire and Calder we detoured to Goole to top up on diesel, then headed towards Leeds. A favourite mooring near Lemonroyd would suit us for a while.

A large badger hole proved a bit too interesting for Tilly, so we nudged ourselves up above Woodlesford Lock. Mick headed to Scarborough to wait for roofers, whilst I started to work on Panto and Tilly explored the area. Down south the Strawberry Fools reached their goal on the Thames.

May is full of Birthdays, Mick was allowed some leave from the house to celebrate his with a barbecue. Sketches for panto were revisited, the weather got warmer. Oleanna spent a weekend at Lemonroyd Marina whilst we had a trip to London for another birthday and to see Jane and Kevin who were over from Australia.

Back out on the canal, we opted to stay around Lemonroyd, hopefully far enough away from the badger hole! Mick returned to the house, Tilly sheltered from a touch of rain on her throne under the pram cover, I worked away model making for panto and headed out every day to walk round the nearby nature reserve.

The house roof was finished in time for a new lean to to be installed. My panto white card model was drawn up. New lodgers arrived at the house so all three of us were back on board in time to head into Leeds for me to catch a train to Chipping Norton for a day of meetings.

The weather was hot, along with strong winds in Leeds our plants suffered, above Office Lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal more locks were being closed. Canal and River Trust were actively discouraging people from cruising up the River Derwent to the Pocklington Canal. The River Hull was closed due to collapsing banks. We’d find somewhere to go, sadly missing out on the main mission of reaching Beverley this year.

However, a return trip to York was on the cards. We opted for a different route and headed back to Goole, topped up again with diesel, then penned down Ocean Lock onto the Tidal Ouse. Back in 2021 we’d headed this way whilst escaping the breach on the Aire and Calder. This time the tide was very strong, we were going to beat our ETA at Selby and had to fight the currents going round bends.

A meet up with my best friend Emma, who was over from Sydney and a chance to meet her new fella was not to be missed. Mooring almost at the bottom of Emma’s old garden in York helped them find us before we had a lovely lunch on the Howardian Hills and a quick visit to Castle Howard for some chilled medication in a thunder storm.

We opted to stay in York. Mick having to find things to do during the day whilst I took over the boat with work. A trip to Headingly for a test match, bumping into his old friend Jeremy and a look at the trains in the Railway Museum. It rained in the Dales, the Ouse came up, we leant Jo and Brian from NB That’s It our Middle Level windlass and key, boats ran away, we checked levels and kept an eye on our ropes, we were fine.

July arrived. Where to head now? A station was needed for another meeting in Chippy. We retraced ourselves back down stream, the Ouse slightly emptier of trees this time, back to Doncaster a good station to head southwards from.

Thankfully there were only a few small aterations to my panto design required, the remainder of the summer could be spent boating, if only the water levels would let us! We headed back towards the River Trent, managing to say hello to our friend David at Bramwith. A few days were spent sheltering under trees of the Stainforth and Keadby, then there was time to explore Thorne more than we’ve done before.

Some Strawberry Fools were arriving back having managed to get through stoppages further south after crossing the Wash and cruising some of the Middle Level and the River Nene. We loitered for Sean from SPL covers to arrive with a new side for our pram hood, the original one had managed to sink into the depths of the Aire and Calder earlier in the year.

Temperatures were high, this wasn’t good. What lay between us and the rest of the summers cruise was Vazon Sliding Rail Bridge, high temperatures meant the bridge could not open for boats. We sat for several days and nights, getting up to chat to the signaller in the middle of the night. One night just as we were about to turn the lights off we got a phone call, the bridge would be opening, we needed to get dressed! A short distance travelled in the dark would mean we’d be able to do some boating again. We were soon cruising for the third time this year on the Tidal Trent, in a down pour of rain!

Surprisingly the Chesterfield Canal was open up to the limit of navigation. Oleanna’s crew had been there before, but Oleanna hadn’t, it was a must. We paused for a few days at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club, our Cutweb membership paying for itself within a few days. I walked whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to do a turn around and for medical appointments.

A visit to Mr Straws House was enjoyed, locks worked through, towpath walks enjoyed as I sped ahead of Oleanna taking her time in the shallow canal. What a pretty canal, we were glad we’d come back.

The double and triple locks that lead up to the top may take a bit of working, but boy they are worth it. We headed straight to the navigable end before Norwood Tunnel only to find the moorings there full. One chap suggested we’d not have enough depth of water to wind, but thankfully we did and headed back to find another mooring for the night.

On our return journey we had visitors, friends Jane and James on their bikes came and helped us through a few locks. Then the same day Cath and Mark came for a nosy at Oleanna and a meal out in Worksop. Very good to catch up with everyone.

Back at the boat club they found space for us again so we could head back to Scarborough to do another turn around and watch the first night of Noises Off at the SJT. We welcomed new lodgers Liza and Stuart into our house, had a blood test, a dentist visit and headed back to Oleanna and Tilly.

Back out onto the Tidal Trent and onwards to Cromwell. Our timing couldn’t have been better, as we rounded a bend in the river, Cottam Power Station cooling towers came into view. I had just enought time to lift my camera before they came crashing to the ground. A landmark on the Trent now gone. I think we’d already made our minds up not to head towards the Oxford Canal, by now levels were so bad the canal had been closed from the summit to Banbury. We really didn’t want to risk getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get Oleanna to Redhill for her repaint next year. We’d take our time pottering about on the Trent and maybe along the Trent and Mersey Canal. The next day notices came out about further lock closures due to the drought, boats started to turn round, cutting their cruises short so they could beat the closures and return home.

Newark for a few days, then on to Hazelford Lock one of our favourite moorings, time for a barbecue sat on the big steps watching the sun set. Sounds idylic.

However, that night we got to test out the emergency servies and what3words at 2am. Mick had chest pains, 999 was called, two hours later paramedics arrived, tests were done, followed by an ambulance ride to Mansfield A&E for more tests, lots of waiting, then discharged after twelve hours with what was thought to be pulled muscles. A very lazy day followed.

We continued on to Nottingham, stocked up at Sainsburys and found a mooring near to Beeston. To celebrate Mick not having had a heart attack we treated ourselves to a meal at The Victoria. Always nice, just a shame that things weren’t really quite right with Mick.

Up to Trent Lock, rescuing a boater caught out by shallow water between Beeston and Cranfleet. We turned right, our plan now was to head to Burton on Trent on the Trent and Mersey. An ideal mooring at Shobnal Fields was grabbed so that I could head off to Dawlish to meet the set builder for Panto.

Brian arrived on NB That’s It, able to drop off our windlass he’d borrowed. He’d single handed it from Peterborough on the River Nene managing to beat all the stoppages by doing pretty long days, but now he could relax as rivers would get him back to Strawberry Island again. Coinciding with ‘in steam days’ at industrial museums is a rarety for us, but we managed it at Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, although the volunteers were tryng out some eco fuel rather than coal, they weren’t impressed with the amount of steam it produced.

The water tap at Willington called, the plan was then to wind and cruise up to Alrewas. A mooring was found with better phone signal for Mick to chat with his GP, an appointment already planned. He also wanted to talk to them about some patchy vision he’d been experiencing. Another phone call to an optician, it was suggested he should attend the nearest A&E. That night we made our way back into Burton to be closer to the hospital.

In the morning there was a second visit to A&E this year. A CT scan diagnosed Mick as having had a stroke. I brisk walked my way over to the hospital to find him being put in the back of an ambulance to head to the Royal Derby Hospital. Here there was 24 hours of lying and sitting in various parts of A&E (number 3) before a bed was found on the stroke ward. Thank goodness for a very good bus service between Burton and Derby. They wanted Mick to see an Opthamologist which didn’t happen, the weekend arrived and he was stuck. Then he just needed another ECG and drugs before he could come home, this took another night but thankfully after five nights in hospital he was discharged.

So many people offered help and support, thank you all so much. Thankfully now Mick had no symptoms and felt pretty normal. I kept a close eye on him. Kat on coal boat Bargus stocked us up with coal and diesel and we gradually made our way back to Willington for a moral boosting lunch with the lovely Susie Blake, she even got us tickets to see her show in Derby a few nights later.

Now we found ourselves kicking heels until our lodgers were to move out from the house so we could return, this was more to do with the lack of water in the network than anything else. Bridget and Storm came to check on us, bringing Rolo their new woofer with them. He was very well behaved, Tilly didn’t even mind him being onboard!

We took our time, pausing for a few days whilst storms blew over. I walked to Swarkstone Pavillion, down to the Trent and visited local villages. Next we wanted to check Oleanna could come out of the water earlier than planned, we headed to Redhill Marina to check things out, it would all be fine. We arranged a date to arrive.

We managed only one Heritage Open Day in September at Mills Dock Yard on the Erewash, some beautiful boats and suprising wooden cars on view. Then made our way back to Beeston to be close to a station again.

I had a couple of days at the Seperate Doors Making Tomrrows Theatre conference, watching workshops, listening to discussions and speakers. The mooring in Beeston isn’t so good for Tilly,a brick wall is hardly interesting for anyone! so we winded and headed back to Trent Lock to meet up with an old collegue of mine Jane, from my early days at the SJT.

Kat with Teddy and Bella came to top us up again before we headed back to Nottingham and further on to another favourite mooring above Stoke Lock. Here the mooring by the low wall was available, perfect for Tilly for a few days especially as she was to celebrate her 10th birthday there. However we ended up staying longer than planned, RCR were called out. It was suspected that our drive plate was about to give up. A few days later the engineer returned to replace it with a new one. All good to go!

Back up to moor at County Hall steps, Tilly wasn’t keen. But we wanted to make the most of being in Nottingham, visiting places we’d not been to before.

Our windlasses got used for the final time this year working back up into Nottingham where we took a mooring at Castle Marina for a couple of nights. A trip up to Scarborough to see our lodgers in the latest Alan Ayckbourn play Earth Angel.

Time afloat was now running out, back out to Trent Lock for a few more days before heading to Redhill Marina. Packing up the boat was a little more interesting than usual as we didn’t have the luxury of picking up a van the day before we were to move. Until Mick got to see an opthalmologist he wouldn’t be allowed to drive. So we called on one of those people who’d offered to help when Mick had his stroke.

Mark, Mick’s old friend arrived in a hire van to collect us and all our stuff. The move was done pretty quickly despite having to stop a few times to make Tilly’s journey more comfortable. We’d left Oleanna in the water at the marina, the following day she’d be put on a trailer and moved out onto the hard to await her repaint next Spring.

There were two weeks before I’d head off to work on panto. Phone calls from the set builder came thick and fast. There was time to unpack, see friends, or hybernate, Tilly chose the latter. We managed one trip by train down to find Oleanna out on the hard, she has a fantastic view of the cooling towers, but sadly no electric. We’d need to work on that one.

Mick got the all clear from an Opthalmolgist down in Derby a couple of days before I headed off to Chippy, so he gave me a lift. Whilst I was away working, Mick made up an extra long hook up cable for Oleanna. He had two trips down to attempt to get her hooked up, but for several reasons this wasn’t achieved, thankfully the solar was doing quite a good job of keeping batteries topped up. There was also a trip over to Wigan, where he and Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes helped Chris the Pink Hat Man up the flight along with the help of a CRT volunteer.

Down in Chippy I worked my way through the four weeks of rehearsals up until the show opened. I had chance to catch up with my cousins for Sunday lunch. Met up with Mick at the London Leckenbys for a night and checked on the moorings at Paddington Basin on my way back. I also had a day off in Oxford where I enjoyed a walk along the canal we’d not managed to reach this year, spotting many a familiar boats from previous winters there. My first week in Chippy the canal was reopened to allow people to return to their moorings before winter stoppages kicked in.

Finally on my sixth panto at Chippy it was lovely to have Marion and John (Mick’s sister) and Andrew and Jac (my brother) join us for press night. On his way down to see the show, Mick had fought his way through snow and headed to Oleanna to get her hooked up, unfortunatly the socket available turned out to be faulty!

Back in Scarborough I was pinned to the sofa for a while by Tilly, watching Inspector Morse as is now tradition. Walks along the beach and through the old town were enjoyed. We headed to Filey for a birthday party and unfortunatly ended up in our third ambulance of the year, with another A&E ticked off the list, fortunatly it was only a faint this time.

Mick made another journey down to Redhill, this time Oleanna was plugged in successfully, the electric heating could now be programmed to come on should the temperatures drop enough. He had a chat with Tom who will be doing Oleanna’s repaint, the boat ahead of us is also already on site too. We’re still quietly hoping someone doesn’t manage to get there in time for their slot so we can swap slots and get Oleanna back on the water earlier.

An appointment with a stroke doctor at Scarborough Hospital was had, results and images from an MRI in Derby hadn’t made it to Scarborough so the following week there was an appointment for one here. We now wait to hear what the doctor has to say.

The build up to Christmas kept us busy, our 23rd anniversay celebrated, decorations, cards and presents to make and buy. Hair cuts, the Christmas show to watch. Then a pre Christnmas Christmas with the London Leckenbys in York before returning to Scarborough and coming down with a lurgy which meant most of our festive plans had to alter.

New waterproof trousers, a Victron Smart Shunt and new mugs were all presents for boating. Frank was a lucky man getting his second Christmas dinner in a week. Now that new year is here we need to plan ahead for when Oleanna is going to be painted, windows, new solar and new curtains need thinking about, ordering and making. Hopefully the time will fly by and she’ll be back in the water before we know it.

**Us in sunny Scarborough on New Year Eve**

Plans for next year, well we know where we want to be in early June, we just hope we can get there by boat. Will we stay up north and be able to cruise the rivers and canals we didn’t manage to do this year? Or will we head southwards to find waters we’ve not cruised yet? We’ll have to wait and see, so will you!

So here are our final statistics for our boating year which ended up being cut short.

According to our Nebo link

Oleanna was underway for 173.53 hours. This is not a real indication of our movements, if we are stationary in a lock it does not count that time

Nebo link was on for 365.48 hours. Sometimes the Nebolink is turned on a bit before we set off, on occasions it is left on at the end of a day incase we decide to carry on, so this is also not a real indication of how long the engine was moving us

End Mileage. 712.725 miles

Distance travelled. 695.6 miles, don’t understand why the two figures are different most days, but I go with the end mileage

Average speed 3.26 miles. We were mostly on rivers this year

Average Maximum Speed 4.78. We were mostly on rivers this year

According to Canal Plan

Total Mileage 719m 3.75f 7 and a bit more miles than Nebolink

Made up of 152 miles 5.75 f of Commercial Waterways, 143 miles 4.5 f of Broad Canals, 61 miles 0.5 f of Narrow Canals, 78 miles 0.5 f of Small Rivers, 66 miles 6 f of Large Rivers, 200 miles 4.75 f of Tidal Rivers, shows how much cruising we did on the Tidal Ouse and Trent this year.

Total Locks 214 fewer than most years as we were mostly on rivers. This figure doesn’t include flood locks

Made up of 51 Large Locks, 98 Narrow Locks, although some of these were broad locks on a narrow canal (Chesterfield), 63 Broad Locks, 2 Locks on Major Waterways

Moveable Bridges 58. 4 were left open, 5 didn’t need to open as we went below them. Although those that didn’t need to open I think should have been 14 to include all those on the River Ouse. 107 vehicles were held up, another 23 when we worked Barnby Dun lift bridge for Mick on Amerouse.

Small Aqueducts 68

Major Aqueducts 6

Tunnels 2, that is 1.4 furlongs underground. I think this is a record for the least amount of time spent underground in a year.

0 Boat Lifts

629.4 litres of diesel. The cheapest £0.89 at Viking Marina, most expensive £1.10 at Kings Marina, total cost £639.26

265kg of smokless coal. This was 12 bags at a total cost of £190.50

2 x 13kg bottles of gas. Cost of £94.87 although we will need to replace a bottle as soon as we get back on board.

Other expenses £144.60. This included 1 starter battery, 1 excess payment for a new drive plate, 2 roller poles, 1 wee tank connector, Cutweb membership

£115.03 Mooring Fees and electricity whilst out cruising

2 Ambulances 3 A&E’s whilst out cruising

1 stroke

0 rain for months

706.85 miles walked whilst on the boat, nearly as far as we cruised! 9504 brisk minutes

Over £3000 raised by knitting socks for Dementia UK (over the last 3 years, 110 pairs) and I’ve still got more to do!

1 Panto design, 3567 pink roses

40 Boxes of Wine

30 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval moorings, she’s not letting onto how many friends!

419.8 engine hours

Phew, that new spread sheet has alsorts on it!

Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2025. We hope you’ll be back for more in 2026 and that the start to our boating year is sooner rather than later.

Panto Postcard 3, 2025

68 hours

**Finn, the old silver back cat of Hackney**

A bit of a lie in compared to recent times. A cuppa in bed and then it was time to firstly say goodbye to Mick who was on a booked train back to Scarborough, although a broken track north of Peterborough meant an alternative route and being over an hour late back. My morning was slightly more leisurely before catching a bus back to Stratford, then an Elizabeth line train to Paddington. Here I had quite a wait for my booked train, so I popped round to have a walk around Paddington Basin to get a boat fix.

Not one boat was moored in the basin, in fact I had to walk up towards Rembrandt Gardens before I got to see a boat other than the restaurant boats or those that are used commercially. I checked to see if there was anything suitable in M&S sad gits section, but there was nothing, I ended up treating myself to a festive sandwich and a salted caramel shortbread which is a serious treat nowadays.

My hosts Rachel and Geoff back in Chippy had insisted they would pick me up from the train at Kingham Station, the closest to Chippy. I’ve not done this route before, but it was very handy and with Rachel stood waiting for me meant I didn’t have to get soggy in the rain. A ten minute drive back to Chippy and I was headed for the theatre again.

**The illuminated Snowman means Gemma is in office**

Gemma was back with us for the week, my floor had dried well and despite it being the easiest floor I’ve ever painted at Chippy it got lots of lovely comments. A production meeting to welcome the new week was held, followed by a props meeting. A long list of makes, purchases went on the back of a door in the foyer, jobs allocated out to different people. Large proppy bits of dressing still missing from the list, it’s more important to get the props people use made and sorted first, we already had things to stand in for the dressing, hopefully these will get added later on, Hopefully!

Pond fogger experiments, food colouring, and lots of areldite filled much of the day, followed by panto equations. A swift glass of wine in the pub before returning to my digs to try to get the songsheet designed. My old laptop still in use for this as the new one doesn’t have the programs on it yet required. This made for quite a late night, the lack of programs has also made the delay to this Panto Postcard.

Tuesday, sadly I’d used an old version of the script to do the songsheet. Corrections were sent to me from John. Today we started the technical rehearsals. Yesterday lots of sound had been sorted, but more needed to be done so that the keyboard player (Musical Director) could hear and speak to the drummer, also so the actors could hear themselves sing, levels and extraneous noises needed to be worked on. This all took lots of time meaning there was lots of standing around for the actors and plenty of time for me to make more roses which will have built in lights. Notes were taken and passed on to those who would be doing the work. Paul busied himself on making items with electrics inside them, cogs and LED light bulbs, the bench in the technicians office was very full.

Wednesday, day two of the tech. More roses made and passed behind me for Gemma to add the lights into them. Min and Helen carried on busying themselves with the props, some items now starting to come through to the technical in all their finished glory. We got into the slosh scene without the Pippins, sadly not as far as John had hoped, problems with sound slowing down the technical rehearsal still. I headed home at the end of the day to rework the songsheet, coming up with two different versions, this meant I had an extra hours work at home despite an earlier finish to the day.

Thursday. 2D Chandeliers were finished being painted. It was only when one of them sat on the floor waiting to be hung that I could see that my trompe l’oil painting had worked. They got flown out to await their appearance later in the show. During lunch breaks I’ve been working on the band surrounds to tie them in with the backdrop. White, yellow, then orange, a bit more orange before I could start to paint in the roses. Not quite the same technique as with boat roses, but they came out quite a good match to those that are printed elsewhere on the set. More technical rehearsals, we got to the end of Act 1, returned to the start of the show when the Pippins arrived to tech them into the show too.

I had a list of jobs to do in the evening, but instead we spent an age getting everything on the laboratory bench working. John and Amy chipping in new ideas when we could see everything working. A few new items needing to be purchased and more things requiring arelditing down.

Friday. Oh, Panto technicals go on and on! Today most of the food was added into the show. The table we’d had made last week now filled with a feast of culinary delights. Polystyrene balls were threaded onto wire, hoping to add an extra something to the set for a scene, all whilst the technical continued on stage.

Saturday. What should have been the last day of the technical rehearsals, but putting the feast into the show with large costumes for the Pippins took an age, it’s really rather complicated. The day was then spent jumping ahead big chunks so that all the scenes with the Pippins in could be teched, we managed this apart from the finale! I spent much of the morning painting a part painted painting, hope I left enough unpainted.

**Time and distance calculations required**

By 2pm the actors were broken, but the technical team kept on working. Adjustments to the chandeliers were needed, some tidying of the portals up ladders. John did some speed and distance tests with two of the quieter characters. Then as people started to head home I managed to put the finishing touches to the floor with some gold lines and a coat of glaze to protect the final swirls. I still have a few bits I’d like to do to the set, but it’s now at a point where it looks finished, well apart from adding a LOT of roses everywhere!

Sadly by 6pm nowhere in Chippy would sell me less than 500 grams of mince, I’d fancied cooking up a bolognese sauce, but I really don’t want to be eating the same thing every day for the next week. So I opted for a pizza with extra toppings and actually managed to get a second sock cast on whilst watching the first episode of Game Of Wool, not too sure what I’d have come up with in 12 hours trying to knit a tank top.

Meanwhile in Scarborough, life for Tilly hasn’t been quite so boring. Somewhere in the house she found a mouse and took it to play with in our bedroom in the middle of the night. It has since been seen in the living room, but that was a few days ago and Tilly seems to have forgotten about it. Maybe it’s had enough of being a playmate and found a way out of the house!

During the week I’ve had some sock shots sent to me. Thank you for sharing your feet, it must be the cooling weather than has encouraged people to pop their socks on for a photo.

**Aristotle Bridge moorings almost empty**

Sunday. A much needed day off. I joined the Geraghty zoom, started to type up this postcard, then headed for the S3 bus to Oxford. Should I head into Oxford or alight in Woodstock to have an explore and something for lunch. Mick and I visited Blenheim Palace after the first year of working on Chippy Panto, but I’ve not looked round Woodstock. I decided that what I actually needed today was a boat fix, so I stayed on the bus and hopped off early at the stop closest to Aristotle Bridge. Only two boats moored up at the far end of the moorings. Since we were last here there are electric posts, it would have been a good place for Oleanna to loiter whilst I was working, however I think (I didn’t check the signage) the moorings are 2 days all year, so Mick wouldn’t have been able to loiter for long.

I walked down towards Jericho, the ditch alongside the towpath full of water, then Sheep Wash channel looked quite full the Thames would almost certainly be on red boards. Every boat I walked past was familiar from our winters on the South Oxford Canal. I nearly felt like tapping on roofs to say hello to them. At Isis Lock a boat was just going down in the lock. The chap picked up a rope and walked along the bank towards the pontoon, they’d be winding and heading back up the lock onto the canal again, the red lights on the board flashing away warning of the level and strong flow on the Thames.

I had a walk up to look round some shops, checked the menu at the Cosy Club. On Broad Street there was a Christmas market, lots of food and things to buy. I then headed to Pitt Rivers Museum that sits at the back of the Natural History Museum. A wander around the main exhibits, then extra time spent admiring a display of quilts from Hawaii. Symmetry, landscape and nature all featured in them.

I headed back through Jericho looking for somewhere to eat, but ended up back at the Cosy Club. I’d had a nice meal there two years ago and hoped for similar. Sadly there wasn’t a table in the restaurant but a high stool in the bar. I ordered a burger as I was bored of chicken and the only fish dish had coconut in it. The novelty of having a bowl of gravy with my burger was interesting until I realised that the burger was rather dry without it. A mediocre meal, that I’d hoped would be a treat. Never mind.

Back to Chippy on the S3 no view this time as it was very dark. Another episode of The Game of Wool was watched. It’s okay, but I doubt I’m going to be chomping at the bit to see who wins. Back to work tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 delayed train, 1 storm, 435 holes in the theatre, 28 roses, 3 paintings, 3 molluscs, 1 mouse, 2 many days of tech, 1 evening off, 1 pooped designer, 3 versions of the songsheet, 2 buses, 32 familiar boats, 1 favourite museum, 2 Christmas presents bought, 4 added to a list for me, 1 disappointing burger, 0.5 of a sock knitted, 1 major store having stolen my rose idea!

**John Lewis has a far bigger budget than I do!**

Trams And Trees. 6th October

County Hall Steps

My turn today for a flu jab, sadly I don’t get a free one, too young. Last year I opted for a jab as we had David staying at the house and the Christmas show company in Scarborough were passing something round that I really didn’t want. Best to keep on with it as I’ll soon be mixing with numerous people in Chippy.

I marched up into the city centre, a mile and a half away to the chemists Mick had been to, I’d managed to book an appointment yesterday. A sit around for a while before I was seen and a complimentary blood pressure check was thrown in, well I’m over 40 so they get offered. Then back through town. A far more direct route was found than Google had been offering me.

**Standing in This Place by Rachel Carter**

Mick had tried calling Castle Marina on Saturday to see if they might be able to accommodate Oleanna for a couple of nights, he’d even filled out a mooring request form on line. Tumble weed. He had a go at ringing them again this morning and finally had luck. We were found on their system and quoted £19 a night including electric. He booked us in. Our other options had been to moor on the towpath in Beeston, or to have spent a couple of days going up the Erewash Canal to Langley Mill. Oleanna has yet to go up the Erewash, but we’d rather not be on a schedule and have spare days should there be any problems with levels.

**We’ll need a bigger bag than this when we go away!**

Over lunch we put the rest of our plan into action, booking train tickets, theatre tickets, checking there’d be room for us and booking a table to eat. Now we just had to decide what to do with the rest of the day.

The Justice Museum? Some art? It was a lovely warm day so we opted to stay outdoors.

We walked up stream to catch a tram to the other side of Nottingham, hopping off at the High School stop. This is very close to the uphill entrance to the Arboretum. I’d downloaded a PDF guide to the special trees so we knew where to find them as we sauntered around.

**A very nice place to sit in the sunshine**

The Arboretum is the oldest park in Nottingham, opened in 1852 by Mayor, Mr W Felkin and the Sheriff of the Borough, Mr Ball, in front of 30,000 people. It has a collection of over 800 trees some of which date back to the parks opening day. Today it is very popular with students, Nottingham Trent University more or less surrounding the park.

Way back in my twenties I applied to Trent Poly to do Theatre Design, in fact I applied two years running and was rejected twice. I don’t think I could talk the Trendy Bollocks* they wanted. I wonder where I’d have ended up had I been admitted. Have to say the day after my second interview I had my second interview at Croydon College (they’d offered me a place the year before), a more practical course. As I walked into the interview the course leader and scenic tutor welcomed me back and I realised I’d only wanted to go to Trent because it was still in the north! I’m quite happy they rejected me now.

**Quite a few of the trees have lines round them, what’s this about? Anyone know?**

In the park there were 36 trees for us to spot, all with signs by their trunks so it wasn’t hard. They ranged from a Red Oak to a Pagoda Tree to an Armenian Hawthorn to an Indian Horse Chestnut and possibly the oldest tree in the park the Cut-leaf Alder which is nearing its end, no leaves to show us today.

There’s a band stand, which had its shutters down. A Chinese Bell Tower with canons facing out to each corner. A fruit and Nut garden still in its early stages of growth. The Aviaries. Here it took us a while to see any birds. Locals donate birds which are cared for by the park staff. There were four of five Cockatiels with their blusher pink cheeks. The circular Aviary is Grade 2 and was built in 1892. Not only did birds inhabit the aviary, but there were famous visitors to the park, Henry the Goose and Cocky the Cockatoo who was brought to the gardens to amuse the children, a local paper reported his death at the alleged age of 114.

This morning I’d had the set builder of panto call and this afternoon there was yet another set of proofs to approve for the printing. I went through them with a fine tooth comb, raising a couple of questions. Either I’m not making sense, or the company have come from a very different background to theatre so the language is different between industries. Hopefully soon, very soon they’ll press the big red PRINT button.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trams, 1 jab, 2 high, 1 cupboard to another, 98 brisk minutes, 2 interviews remembered, 1 trip coming together, 0 chocolate, 0 crumble again, 0 soup again, 36 trees, well 800, 4 canons, 1 final email?! 2 plates of creamy cabbage chicken pasta.

*Trendy Bollocks. A line from the play Beautiful People by Neil Monaghan, produced in October 2002 at the SJT.

The £9 Wee. 5th October

County Hall Steps

Deep black, Paris drivers, the Waverley replacement and cinnamon roll whirls were topics for this mornings zoom. There’s been a touch too much hospital leap frogging going on recently with Mick’s siblings, so it was good to see everyone at home again.

***I hate those black birdies! Such kill joys.***

The wind had died down, Tilly had an explore, but that got thwarted by a crow. The down pours had stopped, time for a trip out somewhere. We had an early lunch and headed off to catch a number 9 or 10C bus to Ruddington, hoping to time our arrival perfectly for the Framework Knitters Museum as it opened. We’d checked the website earlier on, the cafe would be closed on Sundays from now on, no point in going for lunch.

A pleasant 20 or so minute bus ride, then a walk through the village to the museum. A couple stood near the doors and a chap was taking photos. It was a minute to go before the museum was due to open, but because there was an OPEN sign in the window Mick had to check the door, a bit like he checks paddles on locks occasionally. The door was firmly locked. More people arrived, no lights went on inside. A small notice on the door confirmed that the cafe was now on winter opening hours, so closed on a Sunday, but no mention of the museum!

Nine more people arrived, some like us had travelled a distance to get there. I hunted around on the website, looked at their social media. A post from last weekend on Facebook said that last Sunday was their last Sunday open before winter. Well you really had to hunt round to find that information!! Later in the day Mick had another look at their website which suggested that a new exhibition had just opened yesterday and at the bottom it had their Sunday hours as 10am to 4pm! We relayed the info to everyone else who was stood around waiting for the doors to open. What a disappointment all round, I’d been looking forward to our visit today! No more opportunities for us to visit!!!

What to do with ourselves? Maybe Ruddington Village Museum would be interesting, only open on Thursdays between Maundy Thursday and the end of September! At least they were honest about it on their website.

I’d spotted a transport museum not that much further out of Nottingham, the website suggested it was open until 4, it was just approaching 2, hopefully that would be long enough to make it worth the extra bus fare for me. We found the bus stop and waited. Only about four more stops to the end of the route at Rushcliffe Country Park. Here we found the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre, a miniature railway showing us the way as people sat crouched on the back through the woods.

Some old rolling stock, a couple of engines out to see. A shop. But where was the entrance? There didn’t seem to be one. A big shed sat with its roller door firmly rolled down. We didn’t want any jigsaws or memorabilia from the shop.

Buses tightly packed into another shed, at least the doors were open here. You just couldn’t get inside to have a closer look.

**Blurred because he was going at such a speed**

The miniature railway was a hive of activity, grown boys sitting behind their mini engines, some carrying passengers, whistles tooting and level crossing lights flashing. We could have got on board ourselves, a ride only £1 after all! But a child under 5 would have improved the experience, we didn’t have one with us.

We walked round some more, trying various doors, all locked. It seems much of the world is now closed on Sundays in October, only the fanatics around to ride their mini trains. Thankfully the toilets were open, so we made use of them.

A lovely Ford Popular was parked up, a chap climbed inside. Mick asked if the windscreen whippers were vacuum operated, these went slower the faster you drove and were pretty much useless when it rained. They were, he tends not to drive it in the rain.

Not much else to look at, so we left the chaps on their mini trains to it and caught a bus back towards Nottingham. I hopped off a few stops early to top up on brisk minutes walking back to Oleanna whilst Mick carried on making use of his bus pass.

The end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was watched and a chicken was popped in the oven on our return.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 dragon boat, 1 rubbish outside, 3 buses, 1 bus pass, 3 x £3 bus fares, just for a wee! 0 frameworks, 5 train drivers, 2 engines, 1 Popular, 1 roast chicken and veg, 2 beers, 1 calmer day on the buses, 1 anomaly in this post, can you spot it?

Smoking Chimney. 24th August

Marston Visitor Moorings to High Bridge Aqueduct

A cuppa in bed with the newspaper, followed by the Geraghty zoom. Acorn coffee and flour, Jelly bags, underwater feeders, trench foot and not going out on a Bank Holiday Monday were topics this morning.

We were just about to push off to when a boat was heading towards us, we were wanting to return to the winding hole behind so waited for them to come past. However they were also turning, but then pulled in just beyond the narrow opening to Shobnall Marina as a boat was already tucked away in there getting topped up and emptied. As Mick brought Oleanna to the winding hole he soon aborted his manoeuvre as the boat that had seemingly seemed to be busy had now finished and was about to turn back out onto the canal. I went to chat with the other boat, yes they were heading in through the bridge for a pump out but we could wind first. I waved Mick on, he winded apologising to the anglers right by the mouth of the marina, he didn’t get a reply just a grimmace. What did they think setting up where boats are guaranteed to be turning!

Dallow Lock was neither full nor empty, I waited for Oleanna to be in sight before topping it up, it’s a quick lock to work so we were soon on our way hoping for a mooring around Bridge 29. We were in luck a space with armco a little way on, we pulled in and had an early lunch.

Whilst on the train the other day, I’d looked up what there was to do around Burton. High up on the list was a visit to Claymills Victorian Pumping Station. On further investigation we discovered that this weekend it was going to be steam! We are finally in the right place at the right time for somewhere to be open and with engines working away as they once did day in day out! Hooray!! We weren’t going to miss this.

At Bridge 29 there is a sign with directions to follow, it also says that if you can see black smoke coming from the chimney then it’s a steaming day. Sure enough there was a little plume of black smoke curling up to the sky. We crossed the busy road and headed on, the aroma from the sewage works drawing us onwards.

Back in the day, 1859, when Burton was making pints and pints of beer the River Trent was one flowing stinking river. For every pint of beer made the brewers put eight pints of used water back into the river. It stank and the river was dying. The first solution was to send all the waste water downhill to where Claymills was built. Here the sewage was left in beds so the solids would sink to the bottom, the cleaner water was then put back into the river. This however didn’t work, the river still stank.

The next idea was to pump the sewage to a farm 3 miles away at Egginton, fields in turn had a layer of sewage poured onto them, this was then ploughed in. It still stank! The next move was to add lime into the mix, this was mixed into the sewage, then the mix pumped out to the farm. The 27inch diameter pipes suffered, unsurprisingly with lime scale which had to be chipped out. Today nobody told us whether this process actually worked to stem the stench, but it must have gone someway to helping with the 20 million litres of sewage a day!

The pumping station operated with four beam engines, steam being provided by five Lancashire-type boilers. These were run on coal, but today they were trying out Bio Mass as an alternative. The pumping station is classed as a Traction Engine so it is allowed to burn coal, but should the day come when they have to stop, bio mass may well be the fuel they have to use. Today you could hear the numerous volunteers mumbling and some quite audibly complaining about the lack of psi the eco mass was giving, sadly not enough to get all four beam engines up and running, however B and D were busy pumping away.

Today you can walk into both engine houses, climb the spiral staircases and walk on the metal mesh floor looking down on those three floors below. I’m not keen on heights and after about five minutes up the top I’d had enough, the beam engines were amazing but their constant movement shuddered the floor.

Down to the rear of the engine houses between them is the Boiler House. Here several chaps sat about chatting. One fella was deep in conversation with another in overalls, should they add coal into the mix to get the pressure up? Another chap poked and prodded the boilers, topped the hoppers at the top up with more of the lumps of greenish bio mass, a hot place to work.

The pumping continued until 1971 when a new pumping treatment plant was installed next door, the Victorian buildings were left to decay. In1986 the buildings were listed and the owners Severn Trent appealed for volunteers to look after the engines, as a result the current trust was formed. During the years of decay anything brass had been stolen, various parts removed to other museums. Restoration work commenced in 1993.

By 2023, after 30 years of work all four beam engines had been restored to operational condition along with two boilers. They worked hard to bring back to the site other original steam engines, these have all now been restored and are back working on days like today.

The steam powered workshop has been restored, belts criss cross around the building providing power to all the machines. Next door is the dynamo house with its 1889 Crompton Dynamo, the oldest in-situ working dynamo set in the UK. If the bio mass had been giving them a higher psi then this building would have been shut to the public, only being able to peer in from behind a gate. But there was no danger of falling on live things today. Alongside the Crompton Dynamo with all its posh brass is a self built dynamo which was made from whatever the engineers could get their hands on. If you worked at the pumping Station and lived in site, you got free electricity.

Outside people had brought other items of interest. Numerous Austin cars, a Renault, a fire engine from Aldermaston, vintage varieties of apples, a cuddly woofer. Numerous people walked the site in overalls, from the age of nine to eighty something. Pulling levers, oil and grease ingrained everything except the apples and the polish on the cars. No fancy paintwork on the engines, just hard sweaty oily red, pumping pumping away, well apart from Engine A that needed more psi. What an interesting place and well worth visiting on a steam day if you can catch one of the seven weekends a year.

Back at Oleanna we wanted to move on away from the busy road, some shore leave required by Tilly today. Only a mile got us away, only just, from the A38 and the railway tracks, an hour and a quarter was awarded to the second mate. I set about sussing out how much less time we’d need the oven on to cook a spatchcocked chicken. The temperature outside had been creeping up most of the day, but our tummies were requesting roast chicken. I cut the backbone from the chicken, leant on the breast bone and flattened it. Pulled out the roasting tin that normally only gets used for roasting duck with it’s lift out rack, hopefully this would reduce the oven time by at least half an hour.

The chicken turned out very juicy, took an hour to cook, just a slight adjustment to get the other veg browned and job done, a Sunday roast without us getting too roasted ourselves. What a good Sunday.

1 lock, 3.7 miles, 1 wind, 1 smoking chimney, £10, £9 OAP, 4 beam engines, numerous other engines,1 Renault, 1 woofer, 361 volunteers, 8 varieties apple, 20 not 60, A not wanting anything of it, 1 flattened chicken, 2 beers, 1 good Sunday.

https://what3words.com/strut.scavenger.blissful

Sheila And Mr Straw. 31st July

Mile marker 23ish to Morse Lock 49 to Shireoaks visitor mooring

Sorry Tilly, no shore leave this morning we needed to get moving. We pushed of at 9:30 an overcast with patches of sun morning, we needed to cruise a mile and a half to Worksop Manton Lock 52 arriving at 11am to meet with CRT Lock Keepers, the next two locks are assisted passage only on Mondays and Thursdays 11 to 1. The Chesterfield being shallow meant we wanted to have more than enough time to reach the lock.

Rounding the first bend I remembered the next lock, metal boxes over the paddle gear that are really awkward to open and lock, at least there’d be someone there to help with them. When we arrived a boat was moored on the lock landing above. How had that got there? Had they got locked in somehow on Monday?

We tied up and walked up to chat. It was NB Robin Hood a hire boat from West Stockwith. They’d arrived below the lock yesterday, not knowing it would be locked. One of the crew had walked along the gunnel to reach somewhere dry to step off. As she’d stepped down (quite a height) onto the landing her foot slipped off the stone edging down the back of it into a big hole. Paramedics were called, they needed to get the lady closer to a road for access to an ambulance, so CRT came out unlocked the lock so they could head up to the next lock. They’d winded and returned when the crew were back on board with a badly sprained ankle. It was their first time on a narrowboat and had been loving it, thankfully it hasn’t put them off another boating holiday.

Mike, CRT Lock Keeper from West Stockwith arrived pulling what looked like a rug doctor behind him, it turned out to be a bin full of ash to ash up the lock once we were through. Yesterday he’d been called out to open the lock for the hire boat and had dropped the padlock into the lock, so this lock wasn’t actually locked. We worked the hire boat down as the lock was in their favour, then it was our turn. It turns out that Mike lives next door to Lesley and Clive from NB Christopher B whom we travelled with from West Stockwith to Thorne a couple of years ago. Lesley had an accident at the lift bridge before Thorne which necessitated her being in hospital for quite some time and she was unable to walk for six months. It was good to hear she is now up on her feet again.

Ahead another boat was coming from Worksop. A familiar boat green on one side red the other, had we met them on the River Soar or somewhere before? Not sure. They had been to the very top of the Chesterfield and found some gates to be heavy, last night they’d moored at The Lock Keeper on the other side of the town.

At Bracebridge Lock another Lock Keeper was waiting for us, time to chat as Mick brought Oleanna along. Did Worksop still deserve it’s bad press? We were hoping to moor along the next stretch for a few hours. The Lock Keeper was careful in how he phrased things. This next pound was their worst on the Chesterfield, they’ve had homeless people camping out, but if we moored along the middle stretch near where cars are parked? We’d see what we thought of it.

A length of armco, possible, we’d rather be on chains than spikes even though there was very unlikely to be any passing traffic on the canal. We carried on. A group of young teenagers fishing below the next lock, the bollards looked inviting but we just had that feeling that we should carry on. The kids joked as kids do as I walked up to the lock that sits part way under the road bridge, a jigsaw puzzle scattered over the steps if one fancied a go whilst waiting for the lock to fill or empty, although not having the box meant I had no clue as to what the picture would be.

The gates opened fine, but when it came to close them there was an obstruction, I really hoped it wasn’t the dead hedgehog I’d seen floating in the lock. We opened and closed the gate, Mick prodded about with the boat hook and eventually found a plastic pot of some sort. Obstruction gone, we were on our way again.

**A rather fine building, wish we’d had more time to look around**

The next stretch towards Morse Lock felt better, would there be enough depth for us to moor up somewhere? Mick suggested actually pulling up on the mooring bollards, after all we’d been told by the lock keepers that we were the only boat up this way, unless someone came out from Shireoaks Marina. We pulled in and made sure we were on the very last bollards, plenty of room for another boat in front.

After lunch we made sure the boat was secure and everything out of view, even with the curtains closed you just don’t know how far Tilly pushes them to have a nosy out! We walked round Sandhill Lake then up through housing estates that have seen better days. Past the station, a very fine affair. Then up Blyth Road and onto Blyth Grove with ten minutes spare before our booking at Mr Straw’s House a National Trust property.

5 and 7 Blyth Grove, Edwardian semi detached houses, are not your average National Trust property, as the people at reception are glad to tell you. 7 was the home of William and Florence Straw, who moved in in 1923, they raised their two sons William Jnr and Walter there. The house had electric lighting to the first two floors and an inside toilet and plumbing, all mod cons of the day. After their deaths William and Walter kept the house just as it had been in their parents days the 1920’s. For over 60 years the occupants threw very little away and chose to live without many modern comforts, not even a radio! When William passed away in 1990 he left the contents of the house to the National Trust, everything catalogued, expecting it to go into a museum. The National Trust sent in an assessor to check over the collection, a normal procedure so that anything of great value can be taken away for safe keeping. The accessor reported back that there was nothing of great value in the collection, however the collection itself was priceless! The National Trust then bought the two houses so the collection could stay, 7 having been the residence of the family, 5 had been rented out.

7 is just how it had been left, things neatly ordered everywhere. 5 is now an added display area, reception and a tea room. The whole place is a time capsule from the 1920’s into the 90’s and well worth a visit, especially if you get chance to talk to Sheila who grew up knowing William and Walter, more commonly known as Tweddle Dee and Tweddle Dum by the local children. There is a lot more to tell of the green grocer who’d bought the house and his offspring and Sheila could keep on telling you stories for years to come.

From the Egyptian carpet up the stairs, the two upright pianos, the eleven chairs in the front room, the Mackintosh Quality Street tins, the newspapers wrapped up to protect their edges sorted into subjects, the green house full of cacti, the wallpaper that has been stained by the plaster, it is a wonderful place. A shame the rooms are so small so you feel you have to move on to let others get a chance, I think I could have been there all day.

They run discovery days in the house where they open drawers and cupboards to show more of the 33,000 items it holds. There are also walks around Worksop showing the shops that grocer and seed merchant William Straw ran, and the butchers shop opposite which was run by Florence’s father. I’d be very tempted to go on one of these if we happen to be in the area another time.

Back at Oleanna all was good, but we didn’t want to stay on the lock landing for the night. More locks to keep us busy. Up Morse Lock I then walked ahead leaving Mick to single hand the next lock as I popped to Sainsburys to stock up on bananas and milk, plus some sad git meatballs that were reduced in price in front of my eyes. I arrived back at the boat just as the top gate was about to be opened.

On upwards the next narrow locks, the sign says to lift your fenders, you shouldn’t have them down anyway! The last three locks are all close together so I could set ahead leaving Mick to close up behind, a good sign was all the by washes were flowing. At the middle lock a dog walker stopped to say that the pound above was too high! The bottom gate had been open for the last three days and the level above it was too high. I set him straight saying that actually it was at a perfect height, any higher and the extra would be flowing over the bywash, this was the only one of our trip so far that hadn’t.

How far were we going today? This would be our last lock for today, up the remainder tomorrow. I was then told that there were 42 locks tomorrow. Yes we were at lock 42, but the locks are numbered from Chesterfield and includes those on the detached section of the canal along with those that don’t exist anymore. The subject then turned to funding, licence fees, when he started on immigrants I knew it was time for this canal expert to keep walking! Thankfully he did.

Above the locks we pulled in, too late for Tilly shore leave. Time to put those meatballs on to cook, have a shower and get sat down to watch the final episode of The Handmaids Tale. Not as good as the previous two episodes but a good way to round off the series.

11 locks, 6.4 miles, 1 sprained ankle, 1 next door neighbour, 2 serious days boating ahead of the hire boat, 2 boaters not so sure, 5 maybe 6 missing pieces, 0 picture, 2 for Mr Straw’s house, 0 draining board, 1 bag of National Trust apples, 85 minutes brisk walking, 1 pint milk, 8 bananas, 1 big banner, 2 pooped boaters, 1 very awake Tilly!

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Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna