Category Archives: Narrowboat Life

Smoking Chimney. 24th August

Marston Visitor Moorings to High Bridge Aqueduct

Shobnall weathervane

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!

Coming into Dallow Lock

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.

Black smoke!

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.

Claymills Pumping Station

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!

Not enough!

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.

Victorian through and through

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

The Only Paper In Town. 23rd August

Shobnall Fields to Marston Visitor Moorings

I could hear an engine, Could this be him? I stopped eating my cereal and stuck my head out of the hatch. It was Brian on NB That’s It and he was going to pull in for a cuppa. We first came across NB That’s It at Sykehouse Lock a few years ago, then shared Johnson’s Hillock Locks and the Wigan flight with them a few years ago. They moor at Strawberry Island in Doncaster and were one of the leading boats of the Strawberry Fools flotilla that set off the Fund Britain’s Waterways Campaign Cruises this year, which we joined to go through Gainsborough on 1st April. Since then Brian and Jo have cruised down to London, honked their horns outside the Houses of Parliament, reached Lechlade, up to Torksey on to Boston, crossed the Wash, cruised to Bedford, waited for locks on the River Nene to be mended and now Brian is heading back to Doncaster single handing. Until yesterday he’d single handed his way from Peterborough to the bottom of Glascote Locks in 7 days to beat the stoppages, several flights of locks will be locked shut at the end of Monday, remaining that way until we have seen some significant rainfall over several weeks.

Brian on NB That’s It

We’d spotted that our paths would cross, so had he, messages had been exchanged yesterday about returning our Middle Level windlass and key. This morning he’d already pulled into Shobnall Marina to top up with diesel, 200 litres (85p)! There was time for a catch up over a coffee, he can slow down now that he’s out of the danger zone. After an hour of catching up he set off again, todays mission would be to battle with striking trains!

I’ve been up all these big trees now!

Yesterday when I returned from Dawlish I’d spotted a boat we were looking out for, NB Jemima-D, Marc and Fabienne had spotted Oleanna and said hello to Mick, he’d just assumed they read the blog so hadn’t twigged that they were also new members of Cutweb an internet based Cruising Club that we have joined this year. I could see someone was outside, an ideal opportunity to go and say hello to them.

NB Jemima-D is a shareboat, or co-operative boat, currently with ten owners, but hoping to be back up to twelve owners soon. Marc volunteers at Harecastle Tunnel and they are watching the water levels dropping at that end of the Trent and Mersey. Boats are starting to sit on the bottom in Stoke. They were glad to still be able to cruise, but their boat won’t be returning to base for sometime. Maybe they’d get chance to do some of the Tidal Trent. It was very good to meet you and maybe our bows will cross again in the coming weeks.

Our two days on the mooring were up. What to do now? We opted to move up to just past Shobnall Marina onto another 2 day mooring. From here we can explore Burton, Tilly hopefully would have some friendly cover to explore too rather than having to climb the giant trees on the playing fields, I’ve got quite good at that! Great views from up there.

The moorings were empty, so we pulled up at the far end. A quick scout round, a busyish road through the trees and friendly cover, hopefully there’d be enough to keep Tilly occupied and away from the road. After lunch we walked in to town to go shopping for the next few days.

Bass pumping station

The Bass Pumping Station was used to pump water up from a well to be used in various ways in the brewing of Bass beer. Apparently there are another six such buildings around the town. Alongside the building is a now rusted away holding tank, it doesn’t look like it’s used anymore, but the water in Burton gave the beer a distinctive flavour.

The deco end of the Town Hall

We walked down to the Town Hall. Originally the Town Hall had been in the market square but by 1883 the building was deemed as unserviceable and demolished, the council taking to having meetings in a back room of the nearby Angel public house. In 1891 Lord Burton offered the use of St Paul’s Institute and Liberal Club for the council offices. 1894 saw an extension built, paid for by Lord Burton, providing more office spaces and a new council chamber. As the town grew the town hall needed to follow suit, so in 1939 a new four story Art Deco building was added again to the east, opening shortly before WW2 started. More info can be found here Link

Outside is a square, a statue of Lord Burton, now slightly hidden in amongst the trees. Next door is St Paul’s church which opened it’s doors in 1874 and was designed by James M Teale and Edmund Beckett Denison. It was paid for by Michael Thomas Bass, the church and vicarage costing £50,000 at the time.

That’s a fancy organ

We managed to find a light switch to have a look around. The organ in the south transept is now mostly empty, but it doesn’t half show off its looks, designed by GF Bodley in 1894.

Large tiles sit on pews in the north transept, these depict the life of St Paul and used to be part of the floor of the chancel. Deep stone carvings in the lady chapel mention Alexander Michael Bass who died aged 6. One window stands out from the others as it’s in memory of Phillip Lloyd Stockley, who was in a machine gun corps and died at Ypres, his father was vicar of the church.

This was to be the first weekend we’d be able to purchase a Saturday newspaper, sadly Lidl didn’t have a copy. We tried the Post Office which had a sign outside suggesting it sold papers, but it didn’t. I opted to cross the railway lines and head into the town centre to see if I had more luck there. Nothing in Sainsburys, so a longer walk was needed. This did mean I got to see quite a few breweries, the offices of Waterways World, the old and new fire stations and some yarn bombed bollards.

There is a trail of Burton Yarn Trent bollards that you can follow, I only found two of them but there are fourteen in all and their website has a pattern you can follow to knit your own cover should you want to.

The Market Hall

I tried two newsagents and finally I found possibly the only copy of our chosen newspaper in Burton. When I got it back to the boat it turned out to have August’s edition of Harpers tucked inside, an American magazine priced at £8.99! Had someone hidden this there to pick up later for free?! Neither of us have found anything that interesting in it, but we are very pleased to have our first Saturday newspaper for what feels like months, there’ll be something to read in bed over the next couple of mornings, plus puzzles!

0 locks, 0.5 miles, 1 Fool on his way home, 2 Cutwebs, 2 BIG trees climbed, 2 outsides, 1 cat a bit too close to the road, 1 cat grounded, 1 newspaper hunt, 49 brisk minutes walking, 1 USA magazine, 10 chicken sausages in a tray bake, 1 town hall, 1 church, 1 plan for the next few days.

https://what3words.com/raced.duke.honey

150 Minutes In Dawlish. 22nd August

Shobnall Fields

Moorings filled up last night

Alarm set for 6am, cheese and pastrami butties made, laptop packed along with two pieces of panto model. Then I was off to the station to catch the direct train down to Exeter St Davids. Thankfully the train from Burton wasn’t that busy to start with and I didn’t feel the need to play seat hopscotch. I opted for my first reserved seat, then moved into my third one across the way a stop before hand.

I tried writing a blog post, but lack of space made that a touch hard, then I got on with some knitting. Gemma, the Production Manager for panto, joined the train at Bristol Parkway, her seat behind mine.

Pretty town hall

When I’d left Burton this morning it had been 10C, now the sun was out and I was heading for the south coast which would be the warmest place in England according to last nights forecast. I made sure to keep an eye out as we headed southwards from Bristol, did I spot Paul Balmer dancing around in his garden waving at trains?

Exeter St David’s

At Exeter St David’s we changed trains, a very seaside feel to those getting on and off the train. The train skirts along the River Ex, the tide seemed to be out and many boats sat on the bottom. Then the train turns along the coast of the English Channel, the sea bright blue today reflecting the sky.

The River Exe

Just a couple of minutes to enjoy being close to Dawlish beach before Jamie arrived to pick us up and whisk us along to his workshop. A quiet time in between festivals for Back Drop Design, a few TV things coming up and Chippy panto would fit nicely in between.

Sunny beach

Gemma had brought the model pieces for us to discuss. I have to say I was a little bit surprised that the finished model drawings hadn’t been forwarded to Jamie, nor the colour model storyboard. So various things had changed from the information he’d had, but at least there was time to go through everything and for him to make notes.

The last bit of model to discuss

A cuppa as we chatted. How was the budget? Well I’d been told a month ago we were fine, it looked like there’d be no need for any amendments then. But Gemma asked if Jamie could bring the build in for a couple of thousand less than he’d priced it up and a few extra bits had been added today. I wasn’t surprised at his reaction, ‘that’s my profit’. It’s a shame this conversation couldn’t have happened a month ago, but people are busy, maybe a bit too busy! Another hour sat with up to date drawings would have helped us find some savings, but Gemma and I were booked on specific trains back.

Good signs

Back along the coast, up the estuary, changing trains again. The train back north was two units, one would be stopping at Bristol Temple Meads the other one carrying on. Announcements were too quick, platform staff guided us to the front carriages, thankfully these weren’t as packed so tightly as those behind. We found seats a miracle, the previous train had been cancelled and there was suggestions from the passengers that tomorrow there is a strike. One lady said they had only just added four more carriages, so she’d quickly moved so she could breath. Then there was the announcement that meant we were actually in the wrong part of the train, but half an hour later another guard had been found so all eight carriages could continue onwards to Edinburgh, phew!

Because of overcrowding the train was delayed a bit. Gemma alighted in Bristol. Then there was a points failure, necessitating going into Gloucester to get round it. Then because of the train before having been cancelled they added an extra stop at Tamworth. All in all I ended up being over an hour late back into Burton, at least I’ll get some money back.

A well deserved glass of wine

Mick had planned to spend the day in the engine bay fitting a new bit of Victron kit. But another bad nights sleep had had to be made up for so he’d had a good afternoon kip. Tilly had had an inquisitive black Labrador come to visit her, but she’d spent quite a lot of the day on her throne under the pram cover. Three loads of washing were hanging about the place, so Mick had been busy for some of the day.

I got back to Oleanna around twelve hours after I’d left, I’d managed 2.5 hours in Dawlish. Now I’m waiting to see what adjustments are required!

Daffodils?!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 production manager, 5 week out of date drawings, 2 attempts to write the blog, 1 sock completed, 5 reserved seats, 4 sardine carriages, 2 giant figures, 3 loads washing, 1 black lab, 1 hello, 10 C to 25C, 12 meatballs and spaghetti, 1 spring weather forecast!

Is Autumn Here Already? 21st August

Massey’s Bridge 12 to Shobnall Fields

Woofers were audible for quite a lot of last evening and as I set of to walk to the lock there was fencing around an area advertising a woofer baby sitting service, quite a good one by the look of it, where you can leave your dogs to roam in their field having fun. I don’t think the place is open yet, but we may amend where we moor in the area in future as I suspect the woofers will be noisier.

Not long before we pushed off there was plenty of boat traffic coming and going, the last boat heading towards Swarkstone Lock was the hire boat we’d seen at Sawley. We’d end up sharing the next two locks with them. At Swarkstone a CRT volunteer was helping boats through. Apparently the delay in getting the Derwent Mouth pound back up last weekend was because Wychnor Lock, where the water could be let down from is in a different CRT region. So to get water sent down someone couldn’t just jump in a van to go and lift a sluice, but it had to go from one region to another delaying the top up by 24 hours, this is of course according to the volunteer.

Swarkstone Lock

The hire boat were a family of four, Mum and Dad considering getting a boat when they retire, the teenage kids very helpful and chatty, but looking forward to a hot chocolate between locks.

I opted to walk on ahead, even though the pound up to Stenson Lock is 3 miles long. Yesterday I was questioned by several people about why I wasn’t getting on the boat and being made to walk! So as I walked I considered what I should get printed on a t-shirt. In the end I opted for ‘I’m walking my imaginary dog’. Maybe that will stop people being astounded at me walking so much.

I noted a couple of moorings that we’d thought might not be so Tilly friendly, which actually she would love, the railway quite a distance away from the canal and the road stopping sooner than I thought it would. We’ll see what she thinks when we’re on our way back.

Raggley Boat stop was full, this was roughly where we should have moored last night, just as well we’d not carried on. A little wooden sign hung on a tree ‘Bumpy Farm’, here chickens scratched the ground and floppy eared goats bleated through the hedge to me.

Just after I’d reached half way boats started to come towards me, a lady walking the towpath with a windlass in hand. She’d realised that maybe she’d made a mistake in walking, even more when I told her she’d not quite got half way and the walk would be 3 miles!

Stenson Lock

Two boats were just entering the lock, Oleanna and the hire boat weren’t too far behind me as the depth of water isn’t too bad. The two boats rose in the lock and were replaced by two more coming down, a constant stream of boats from both directions. I chatted to a chap from a boat going down, he’d been an architect but drawing gave him back ache, so he’d retired from it aged 40 and got into vintage cars, writing books about them. As his wife brought their boat into the lock I was suddenly getting déjà vu. Their powder blue electric narrowboat NB Falcon was familiar from somewhere, I think I’ve talked to this couple before, possibly on the River Nene.

Hooray for Willington!

Our turn next, up the deep scary lock. Stenson used to have quite restrained ground paddles which worked counter intuitively. But now they seemed to rush water into the lock, with two boats in the chamber both paddles could be lifted together, so I don’t know if it’s still counter intuitive. Boats arrived above, the next pair ready to swap with us and the hire boat. I hopped on board, my walking done for the day until later.

A surprising property. Click photo for details

Now the run towards Willington. The house that is hemmed in between the canal and railway is for sale. It would be tempting apart from the railway behind it. Gradually the amount of boats moored up increased as we neared Mercia Marina. A top up of water and disposal of rubbish at the services before we carried on westwards running alongside the A38 for much of the way.

The Trent and Mersey now becomes a narrow canal at Dallow Lock. We pulled in next boat in line, one going up, one about to come down. I chatted to the crews of the boats, we all had connections to Goole and Hull, two downhill boats heading back towards base avoiding dropping levels until maybe later in the year.

Dallow Lane Lock

Now we hoped to find a mooring. Shobnall Fields would do us, there was a gap and then space nearer the bridge where there are picnic tables. We opted for the gap, this would do us for a couple of days.

Fishing at Dallow Lane

Tilly was impressed at the size of the trees, but not impressed with the lack of friendly cover and the constant stream of woofers. She opted to stay in the pram cover rather than venture further afield. I however decided to have a walk up to the station to see how far it was for tomorrow morning. 16 minutes brisk walk got me to the ticket office, that would do nicely. I chose to walk through residential streets rather than past St Paul’s and the Town Hall, I’d save that way for tomorrow.

More interesting than the residential streets

I picked up a few things for my lunch tomorrow at Lidl along with some meatballs before returning to Oleanna to make a fish crumble. I’d totally forgotten to buy something green to accompany it, frozen peas filled the gap.

Is Autumn here already?

3 locks, 11.1 miles, £1,150,000, 4 goats, 6 chickens, 3 miles between locks, 2 familiar boats, 1 hot chocolate without marshmallows, 95 brisk minutes, 16 to the station.

https://what3words.com/test.stand.draw

Arry. 20th August

Henry Knibb Bridge 3A to Massey’s Bridge 12

Tilly was given an hours shore leave whilst we had breakfast and required reminding of the time. Thankfully it seemed that I’d found a suitable moment in between her being busy to give her a call as she came running pretty quickly. I’d just like to say that Arry’s disappearance has nothing to do with me!

The boat infront of us was making ready to set off, Mick had walked down to say hello having spotted that there was Made in Sheffield on their cabin side. This was a Finesse boat owned by Tim, NB Life Positively Quieter, who had a couple of friends crewing for him for a few days as he made his way up the Trent and Mersey, hoping to catch NB Barbarella up on their way towards Stone.

Toodle Pip to Toodle Pip

They set off before us, but I soon caught them up walking the towpath, Oleanna wasn’t that far behind them when we reached the first lock of the day, Aston Lock. Here a CRT work boat was sharing the lock. It’s funny how some people on boats right now have to tell you about how the canals are closing, as if every other boater on the system doesn’t know about the drought and low water levels, You’d have to be totally unaware of everything, but then rumours are rife and the conspiracy theorists are having a field day!

Sharing Aston Lock

We shared Aston Lock. Tim and his friends offered me a lift as I was walking ahead, they do have a very big cruiser stern but I’d rather walk.

Bywash flowing fast

Weston Lock was next with it’s big heavy heavy gates. Unfortunately I was too busy wondering if the new gates (since our last visit) would be any lighter to remember not to open the off side bottom gate. As Mick brought Oleanna into the lock he said he would have scooted her around the gate to save opening it! I tried my best to close it, normally it would be hard, but having lost quite a bit of ballast now it was impossible. Luckily I was soon joined by the other crew and the two of us managed to get it moving.

Huge fat lock beams at Weston Lock

Boats arrived above, saving having to close the top gates. We planned on stopping before Swarkstone Lock today, having a slightly shorter day of it so as to have a better mooring for Tilly than above the lock. So we said our goodbyes to Tim and friends and headed to where we’d planned to moor. They must have stopped for lunch and either decided to stop for the day or had sneaked past us silently as they are electric.

Two Finesse bows

A quiet afternoon for us, a busy one for me! Mick hasn’t been sleeping so well since the weekend so I suggested he went to bed rather than just kipping on the sofa. This he did and had a good couple of hours well and truly asleep, whilst I tidied up a bit more of panto ready to go to the printers. I’ve now the front cloth to sort which will take a bit of time. Because it’s a curtain and I want it to have 20% fullness to it, the piece I made for the model is flat, I need to either stretch the original artwork or add to it. This will take some working out how to do it as stretching the design doesn’t look so good and I really don’t want to have to redo the artwork if I can help it. So some research on how Paintshop can help me is required on a quiet none moving day.

On the off side goods trains occasionally came past and somewhere nearby woofers woofed! We’d had this last night too, they seem to be following us!

2 locks, 4 miles, 2 Finesse together, 1 fat heavy beam, 1 missing parrot, 1 shorter day, 3 woofers at least, 1 snoozy afternoon, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/52%C2%B051’01.3%22N+1%C2%B025’41.2%22W/@52.8503738,-1.4287437,125m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!1m8!3m7!1s0x4879fa7d52ce1389:0x61fa22b89ba3c71b!2sSwarkestone,+Derby!3b1!8m2!3d52.854711!4d-1.4536359!16zL20vMDlnX3Ax!3m3!8m2!3d52.850373!4d-1.4281?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgxOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://what3words.com/proofs.gentlemen.puddles

An Aphrodite Rescue. 19th August

Turnover Bridge 19 to Henry Knibb Bridge 3A, Trent and Mersey Canal

Campervan Central

Eggs and mushrooms on toast for breakfast, they needed eating so we just had to. The water point was free by Beeston Lock so we made use of it, filling up the tank and disposing of rubbish. A boat came through the lock just as I was heading up to set it for us.

Swapping over

Beeston Lock has a paddle painted red at either end, these should be left up when you leave the lock so that there is enough water flowing down the canal through Nottingham to feed the locks. During the summer Beeston Lock only has a rise of a few inches, of course sometimes it has a much bigger rise when the river is in flood. The lock landing pontoon on the river side seems to be inhabited by several boats, thankfully leaving enough space for a narrowboat to pull in to drop off or pick up crew from the river.

Up stream we counted several of the huts/houses up for sale on the off side. Were these still the same ones we’d seen a couple of years ago? I think one of them is. Did there used to be two lovely old boats along this stretch having work done to them? Only one moored now all under wraps.

With the lack of rain the river is lower than it normally would be at this time of year. Near Barton Island we could make out what might be a submerged wall which was creating a shallow weir effect, was this where NB Legend had ended up getting stuck and requiring RCR to rescue them a few years ago. We did our best to keep well clear.

What’s going on here?

There are two more warning signs in the river, more signs on the banks, most of which are overgrown by willow trees, so it’s hard to see which side of the river you should keep to. Round a bend, up ahead we wondered what was going on. A cruiser seemingly adrift towards the east bank and a narrowboat doing his best to pole himself off the bottom near the west bank. The cruiser turned out to be tied to a distant tree and looked to have an anchor down, no need to worry about them.

Could we help the narrowboat. At first we thought it was facing downstream, then the penny dropped it was a boat we’d seen on the canal with a pointy stern and a tiller more the type you get on a butty. A chap was stood on his gunnel with his pole pushing and getting nowhere, no life jacket in sight.

Think he needs some help

We slowed asked if we could help, he nodded. I headed up to the bow, the chap walked along his gunnels to get his centre rope. We’d be using our bow line to pull him backwards off the sandbank, not his, which might not take the strain. Mick reversed us back. I coiled the rope to throw to the chap, he stood on his gunnel, I asked him to step back to a safer place, I’d rather throw the rope numerous times until he caught it than have to try to get him out of the river! Once caught I asked him to tie it securely to his stern T stud, he wrapped the rope round a few times. No it needed to be secure, I tried to explain how to tie it. In the end I got on his boat and did it for him instead, knowing it would now hold.

Mick reversed, his aim to try to dislodge the boat whilst not getting stuck ourselves. The other boat was also in reverse, it got back afloat whilst biffing into us, it’s tiller going right over. Rope untied, we just needed to get out of his way so he could come backwards more to avoid returning to where he’d been stuck. But no, he went forwards! We managed to get out of the way and stay clear of the sand bank. Next move was to try pulling him free at the front, no room for us behind now without getting stuck ourselves.

Afloat again!

As we got ready to back up to him, we could see that his bow was floating, the current was taking it round. Brilliant, he was afloat. He just needed to turn back to face upstream and follow us. This took quite a bit of time, his boat ending up almost passing the warning sign on the wrong side, eventually he was back on course. We slowly made our way up stream, he was far slower than we were, maybe his engine wasn’t strong enough, maybe he just liked travelling at the speed he’d do on canals against the flow of the river.

Interesting route to have taken !

Round the next bend there is another warning sign. We did our best to keep him in sight, but he seemed to have gone off course again and was heading for the east bank behind what once had been a warning sign. Should we turn? We really didn’t want to get stuck ourselves. It’s one thing pulling a boat off a sandbank in a shallow river, it’s another going past a warning board where things are more than likely to put you at risk too.

No sign of Aphrodite

The next stretch of river up to Cranfleet Lock was done as slowly as possible. I hopped off at the lock landing, Mick secured Oleanna and walked to the end of the long pontoon, the boat wasn’t in sight. I emptied the lock opened the gate, still no sign. I worked Oleanna up, we’d helped as much as we could, should someone else take over now? But who should we call?

Coming up Cranfleet

Mick found a non emergency number for the Fire Brigade. They listened and suggested we contact CRT. We called CRT. They listened too, we were concerned that this chap was now stuck on the river somewhere it would be hard for other boaters to help him. Their attitude was if he was stuck he’d call them himself, maybe we should call RCR. This chap was quite unlikely to be a member, so we decided we’d done what we could, unless he called for help he’d be stuck. To be honest he didn’t really seem to know what he was doing, we hoped he was okay, maybe he knew of a mooring on the east bank that we weren’t aware of.

The Lock Keepers today weren’t much help

Which paddle to open first on Cranfleet Lock, someone once told us, but I couldn’t remember. The order I chose seemed to work, well nearly. Now there was just the task of opening the top gate. The water was level, but could I get the gate open. I ended up asking some cyclists to lend me their bums, that worked.

Pylon painting crew

At Trent Lock we turned to head upstream passing new mooring rings on the bank. How many times in recent years have we hoped for a mooring on the pontoon only to find it chocka block? So how come today when we needed to cruise further on there was only one boat moored there?!

At Sawley Lock a hire boat was just coming down, we swapped places with them and were soon joined by another boat that had been on the service pontoon on the river. Earlier in the day we’d heard that Derwent Mouth Lock was open again, levels had improved, so we followed our new lock companion across the river section and onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Bridge 1 of the T&M

A boat was coming down, we swapped with them. Our companion was going to pull in above the lock to decide what to do, where to go as closures seem to have followed him for the last few months. We’d decided to head on through Shardlow and up the lock so as to be off the pound that had lowered at the weekend. The level had been good, water running over the by wash, but we really didn’t want to get stuck tomorrow.

We pulled in just after the permanent moorings and opened the doors. Tilly was ecstatic with this outside, we hardly saw her until it was dingding time when she came in with five minutes still to go.

A busy day ahead on trains

5 locks, 9.4 miles, 1 almost straight on but slightly to the right, 1 rescue, 1 helmsman course required, 1 boat off course, 1 unicorn lock keeper, 3 spaces free! 1 level back to normal, 2 hours shore leave, 1 hour spent buying 7 train tickets, £100 saving.

https://what3words.com/wonderful.clicker.wisdom

Below links to the houses for sale.

https://www.sdlauctions.co.uk/property/47564/lodge-for-auction-nottingham

https://www.auctionestates.co.uk/property/prickle-pin-lodge-trent-side-barton-in-fabis-nottingham-ng11-0bl-299028

https://copeandco.co.uk/properties/4-bedroom-house-house-for-sale-in-canal-bank-shardlow-derby-derbyshire-de72-2gl/437295

Kettle Black. 18th August

Stoke Lock to Turnover Bridge 19, Beeston Canal

We opted to have our tea with breakfast today as we wanted to cover some ground. As we pushed off a narrowboat at the other end of the pontoon had their engine running, but their dog was still lapping up it’s breakfast, would they be heading the same way as us?

Holme Lock

Upstream, under the Radcliffe Viaduct, when we reached the 5km mark Mick radioed ahead to Holme Lock, it would be ready for us, ‘come in on the green’. Once in the lock we were asked to wait, there was another narrowboat behind us, they’d be ten fifteen minutes. Holme Lock is vast and on previous experience it takes quite a while to fill and empty, so we were happy to wait. The following boat didn’t take too long to arrive and turned out to be the boat from Stoke Lock, NB Kettle.

Kettle

As the lock filled and the noise waned there was chance to chat with our lock partners, firstly to find out if they would be carrying on up stream and into Nottingham. They were, we’d have someone to share the locks with. Now NB Kettle is not only black, but it has always stood out from the crowd because of it’s sign writing. We’ve seen her about on the network through the years and the rabbits and moon have left a lasting impression. I chatted to Claudia, they’d bought NB Kettle back in March this year, they’d done no boating before picking her up on the Trent and Mersey. The previous owners had been a writer and illustrator, so the sign writing had been designed by them, possibly even painted by them. Earlier this year Claudia and Lee repainted the boat, as she is know by many they kept the sign writing. Good on them!

Loads going on at the weir

We led the way upstream. There is a mass of scaffolding on the big weir and further upstream at Lady Bay Bridge you have to use the most southerly span as works are on going there too. Approaching Meadow Lane Lock we could see there were no moorings available below the lock, the steps on the other side of Trent Bridge also looked very busy, a mental note taken for future weeks.

Just finishing going up in the lock were a couple of cruisers, they pulled in just above the lock. Was another boat coming down? No-one made a move. Claudia and I set the lock for our boats. One of the chaps asked if we were both coming up, err yes! They seemed to have been wanting to use the lock again, but with no obvious boat waiting?! ‘Can you get two boats in these locks?’ Claudia asked, they were new to boating, this possibly their first uphill manual lock ever, it had taken a while for them to find their windlass.

Just as we were closing the gates the top paddle was being lifted by one of the chaps from the cruisers, half cut on drink or other substances. I walked up to the top end. ‘You get on we’ll do it for you’. He may well have been capable but… ‘My boat my lock and anyway I boat to work locks. Thank you anyway’ The chaps stood back and once the noise had faded we talked quite amicably, he was however suggesting we’d barged in as they had a couple more boats to move up the lock.

Sharing Castle Lock

We paused to use the elsan for our yellow water, then had just about caught up with NB Kettle at the 90 degree bend. Here’s hoping we won’t be making a visit to the Urgent Care Centre here, we’ve already used it three times! Castle Lock had just been vacated by a cruiser so we could go straight in. A narrowboat arrived shortly before we left so the gates could be left open for them. Time to wave our lock partners goodbye, they were heading into Castle Marna for a few days to explore Nottingham. We found ourselves a space on the moorings by Sainsburys and headed off to stock up for the next few days. Thankfully it is still possible to get your trolley back to the boat. We had lunch and then headed on further.

Now Nottingham used to have a reputation, we tend not to take much notice of reputations and rely on our feelings for a place. We’ve stopped by Sainsburys numerous times, making sure the boat is well secured before heading off to explore Nottingham. Today it felt just that bit different. A tent on one of the grassy banks where the students used to have lunch. Dilapidated cruisers (which have always been about) are more plentiful and their possessions strewn across the towpath into the hedges, cans of beer being drunk and a heavy smell in the air. Today we’d have moved on anyway, which was the original plan, especially as I’d just booked a table for a meal tonight.

I walked ahead able to scout out moorings nearer to Beeston. Boats were pulled in at places I’d not noted before, their mooring spikes hammered into the bank whether it be grass, tarmac, concrete or stone. The first mooring was pretty well occupied, up ahead closer to our meal there was plenty of room, Tilly wouldn’t be impressed but we’d still let her out.

Oh it’s Nottingpants! Super fast Toms on their wheels had me running for the cat walk, time after time. A wall, one of those with little if any grip! Zero friendly cover. Pants!!!

The menu for today

A walk into Beeston to The Victoria. We hadn’t expected it to be that busy, but by the time our food had arrived every table in the pub was full. The menu here is not your average pub food. Yes there is sausage and mash, you can choose one or two Bangers, they are not your average bangers, they are long hotdog length but quality Lincolnshire sausages. I checked what I could eat and was given a list of dishes. Paella, sadly they’d just served the last one. Hot Fish platter, with salmon, hake and halibut, very nice. All accompanied by a pint of beer each from the local brewery, their session IPA is gluten free, very wise brewers. No room for pudding so we headed back to the boat.

Levels at Derwent Mouth Lock were still low, maybe tomorrow they will have improved enough.

3 locks, 9.6 miles, 1 right, 90 degrees, 1 kettle black, 2 new owners, 1 shopping trolley back to the boat, 2 lots paracetamol, 1 box aspirin (just in case), 89 minutes brisk, 1 pants mooring, 1 table for 2, 3 fish, 2 bangers, 2 beers, 1 pleasant evening.

https://what3words.com/beard.broker.sailor

‘S’ Approach. 17th August

Hazelford Lock to Stoke Lock pontoon

Thank you for the tea, thank you for my mug Tilly

Paracetamol has been doing it’s job and Mick woke this morning not feeling the need to take more. We enjoyed a leisurely tea in bed (TIBED) and joined the Geraghty zoom to catch up with Mick’s siblings. There was conversation about our trip to Mansfield Emergency Department (when did they stop being A&E?), sibling ambulance rivalry, the RNLI, Barbara Windsor, Proms and Torches.

How had Mick strained his chest muscles? On tidal waters we keep the well deck clear so should we need to deploy the anchor there is nothing in the way. So spare poo buckets, fenders, ash pan, hose etc all get moved into the shower. The spare poo buckets tend to hold mooring spikes, nappy pins etc and with such contents they are a heavy cumbersome lift, especially when they need to be lifted over the bed and put into the shower out of the way. I’ve injured my back when stooping to pick them up in the past and they may well have been the culprit this time.

So we need to amend how we do some things to avoid injuries. Empty the contents from poo buckets before lifting them, unless it happens to be poo! Emptying the yellow water can be amended too, less lifting of the heavy container by using our long yellow water hose in places like our current mooring which is awkward. This method worked today, it did mean shouting louder to each other. The container was then tucked away in the welldeck where it wouldn’t be in the way until there is easy access to empty it.

Mick radioed up to the lock, there were cruisers coming down so we’d have a bit of a wait. We opted to push out from the bank and hold back on the river ready to enter the lock. Cromwell isn’t the only lock on the Trent that has a problematic sandbank below it. Here there is one about 20 yards below the lock, you can see it quite clearly from above. Yesterday when we returned from the hospital there was a Dutch Barge stuck on it. They’d approached the lock as normal and got stuck, luckily for them the volunteer lock keepers managed to flush them off when they next emptied the lock. The way to approach the locks is to stay well over, at Hazelford to the starboard side of the river then at the last minute turn almost 90 degrees towards the lock then another 90 degrees into the lock a sort of S route. It worked for us and would be handy later in the day at Stoke Lock.

We were joined by a small cruiser who clung onto the lock ladder with boat hooks as we rose, then they vanished off into the distance. The Lock Keeper told us that there wouldn’t be a Lock Keeper at Gunthorpe Lock, my favourite (not) lock on the network!

A lovely stretch of the river, trees just starting to show their autumn colours. We pootled on admiring the boats on the moorings, plenty of people out for a Sunday stroll on the river bank. Just a shame it was a grey day, but that didn’t really matter it was good to be moving, the two of us boating together, just how it should be.

Crews at the lock landing at Gunthorpe

Up ahead I could see a narrowboat being overtaken by the little cruiser. That would be the single hander that had been moored in front of us yesterday. Approaching the lock he pulled in onto the pontoon, crew from the cruiser were heading up the ramp. What would I like to do? Stay on Oleanna let them work the lock, rope round a blue riser, the location of our only other need for an ambulance ten years ago. Or should we offer to work the lock, me pressing buttons up top?

As we got close the single hander asked if we could work the lock, the cruiser crew didn’t know what to do and he was single handing. The cruiser crew suggested we went straight into the lock, his key of power in the panel. Well the very VERY last thing I want to do at Gunthorpe Lock is climb one of the long ladders. Mick put our bow in to the pontoon, far easier and safer for me to step off.

Plenty of keys with no means of retrieving them should they fall in the water

Another cruiser joined us making four boats in the lock. Most of the Trent Locks now just have two buttons at either end to operate them, Open and Close. You press the button when the green light is constant, then hold it to open or close the gates. But here at Gunthorpe it has to be different, you have control over near and far sluices and the gates. I hate this lock with a passion and had jelly legs anyway, now I had four boats to keep an eye on as they rose up. I raised the sluices gradually, all went as it should.

I suggested to the little cruiser to come out of the lock to where there’s a lower wall and I could pass them down their keys. No float on the key ring, No phone number, two big sets of car keys on it too! Stupid testosterone man, ‘Go on chuck them down! Go on!!!’ I refused, why would he risk loosing car keys! Once the keys were safely in the ladies hand they shot off.

All three boats pulled in at Gunthorpe pontoon, well the little cruiser pulled in on the private jetty by the pub. We carried on, Gunthorpe left behind us.

Egyptian Geese really should learn to wash their faces better

Approaching Stoke Lock Mick radioed ahead, time to do the ‘S’ manoeuvre into the lock. We’ve seen a narrowboat stuck on the sandbar here before! We waited for another boat to join us then were penned up by the volunteer. The sandbar below the lock makes Stoke lock just about impossible to work by boaters as it blocks the low side landing.

Stoke Lock

Damn, the low wall mooring was already occupied, the pontoon had two boats, but we could squeeze on the end, over hanging. We took our time, knowing that the usual current here wants to pull you away from the pontoon, not too much evidence of that now though. A late lunch and no shore leave for Tilly, she wasn’t impressed with all those trees around us.

The new mooring when we passed earlier

A walk down the river bank to the pub at Stoke Bardolph, dropping off rubbish on my way and checking to see if I could find the 9km mark hidden amongst the trees, no sign of it. There is a new IWA mooring outside the pub. The wooden fixed pontoon has been there for years, we can only assume the river has been dredged to give enough depth and maybe a few more mooring rings added. Three narrow boats were making the most of it.

St Luke’s

I turned to walk along the fast flowing outflow from the sewage works and then followed roads back towards the river. The small church of St Luke’s was locked, but the doors have glazing in them so I could have a peek inside. The next footpath was looking like it would cross a maize field, I’ve not been lucky with such paths recently, but thankfully here the farmer had left a good 8ft free for walkers. Back on the river bank a small child whizzed up and down the tarmac track on an electric scooter, over taken by a smaller child on an electric motorbike.

Someone’s been enjoying the corn

Back at Oleanna it was close to 6pm, dingding time. The two boats that had been moored on the low mooring had just moved off, a perfect Tilly shore leave mooring. I kept quiet about it as she tucked into some Salmon in Jelly.

A Magpie feather?

Low water levels at Derwent Mouth Lock on the Trent and Mersey have closed the lock today. This is on our current route. We’re hoping it’s from many people using the lock to return to home bases. The stretch of canal is fed from the River Trent so hopefully with CRT opening up a sluice at Wychnor Lock the problem will soon be rectified, even if it’s 25 miles away, we’ve our fingers and paws crossed.

3 locks, including THAT lock, 9.8 miles, 2 cuppas in bed, 2 car keys handed over, 2 ‘S’ approaches, 2 jelly legs, 0 shore leave, 59 minutes brisk walking, 2 snoozy boaters glad to be boating.

https://what3words.com/isolating.solid.icebergs

Oh Dear Gladys! 16th August

Hazelford Lock Moorings

Not much sleep to be had on Oleanna last night. I got about an hours worth before Mick woke me, he’d had none. He had chest pains.

999 was dialled, ambulance requested, our what3words location given to them, nearest road access, that we were on a narrowboat, they chatted to Mick about his symptoms, I chatted again to them. There would be a two hour wait for the ambulance, could we make it to hospital ourselves? No car, not sure we’d be able to get Mick off the boat without suitable assistance, we’d be happy (as much as you can be in these situations) to wait. We were only to call back if his symptoms worsened. I told them about the gate across the weir bridge that I’d need to unlock for them, this was added to the notes for the ambulance crew.

Could we actually move the boat for better access? The mooring by the pub in Fiskerton had been empty when I’d walked there yesterday, not guaranteed to still be empty now, anyhow we’d already given our location. The well deck needed sorting, our chairs had been popped in there after the barbeque last night, stuff that had been in the shower whilst on tidal waters had been put back. I turned the outside light on to help them spot us and for me to see, I rolled the covers up fully out of the way, making the best access I could.

Inside phones were put on charge. The floor on either side of the bed cleared for people to stand. I got dressed, my wallet put in my bumbag, our big strong torch got ready, all whilst Mick rested. The two hours seemed to go quite quickly and before it had elapsed my phone rang, the crew were at the gate.

Tilly was put in the main cabin, both bathroom doors closed, a double barrier to stop any possibility of escape. Don’t rush, be careful, don’t drop the key of power. The crew were pulling a stretcher out from the ambulance, I guided them with our big torch through the gate over the bridge, they’d not get the stretcher much further. It was left by the bottom gates of the lock, the walkway wide, but not wide enough. Mind the drop, these are big steps, we got to the boat and the two of them stepped down inside, leaving me sat on the bank.

An ECG, an aspirin, a spray under his tongue to open his arteries up and increase his oxygen levels. Conversations inside could only be partly heard. They wanted him to go to hospital, a cardiac episode suspected, he needed a blood test. Could he manage to get off the boat, climb up the big steps? Would I be going with them too? Slowly Mick was helped off the boat, back up from the fire brigade wasn’t needed, they’d already been out to help on another shout this evening.

I picked up the essentials, locked the boat, giving Tilly back access to the bathroom saying I’d be back sometime, ‘look after the boat Tilly’. Mick managed the walk to the ambulance where the ecg wires were hooked up again, blood pressure taken, then we were on our way. No flashing lights or sirens, just very bumpy roads for most of the way to Kings Mill Hospital in Mansfield. The paramedic chatted away about various things, occasionally popping in a medical question, all the time keeping an eye on the patient.

There’s not much to take photos of on such a night

Mick was taken through the doors into the Majors part of the Emergency Department and I was left sitting in a corridor with only our big torch for company. A while later the ambulance crew re-emerged with their stretcher, wished us well and headed off, not much of their shift left so they’d most probably return to base in Newark now. I thanked them, such reassuring people.

Mick had had a blood test and another ECG, once he was settled I was allowed to join him in a big room with about seven cubicles. Each cubicle had two people in them, curtains and screens positioned in a way to try to give some privacy, but none was really to be had. We waited. I stood. We chatted a bit. I stood. We watched the staff. We waited.

More patients arrived on trolleys, at least fifteen people. There were the two old chaps, both able to sleep through everything going on around them, both with their heads tilted to the right and snoring, they could have been twins. There was the lady with her brother, her wedding ring needed to come off, but try as they might her 90 year old joints had grown too big, the ring needed to be cut off. The only words she said in all the hours we were next to her was ‘you’re filthy’ to an Asian nurse, the nurse dealt with it pretty well, saying she was very clean and was here to help her.

There was another lady, her shoulder extremely painful, she was scared. Her son smiled so lovingly into her eyes. ‘Oh Dear Gladys’ ‘Oh Gladys’ the poor lady said, she was given some pain killers and told she’d be having an x-ray once the pain had eased. There was a chap stood by his mum’s trolley, he’d been stood there for hours waiting for them to find a bed for her. He was brought a chair, he’d rather stand. I decided to make use of the chair, our torch had a rest on Micks trolley.

We waited, blood tests take about two hours to come back, surely Mick’s would be back by now? More trolleys arrived, only a few patients were sent home. The shift changed at 7am, maybe more would start to happen as the hospital woke up with more staff on hand. Cups of tea! Cereal if Mick wanted it. He didn’t.

Chest x-ray

Around about 10am, a nurse practitioner arrived. She pushed the trolleys either side of Mick away and pulled the curtain round. His blood test was back, but they like to have a second one for comparison. They wanted to do a chest x-ray. Lots of questions. She listened to his heart, his back, his belly, another ECG. The blood test would take about an hour and a half this time.

We talked about what to do if Mick was to stay in hospital. Our mooring not ideal for hospital visits. Oleanna would need to be moved. Could we ask to double up with NB Avalon Two when they came past, they are now on a mission to return to their home mooring? They’d be long gone by now. I suggested Bridget and Storm, Lizzie, Paul before many other names came to mind. But we needed to know what was going to happen first. Mick’s chest pain had dulled after he’d had medication from the paramedics, it was now returning and was stronger when he moved.

I headed off to try to find some breakfast. A walk outside, just where is Mansfield? Just where was the Emergency room again? Mick soon had a chest x-ray and was brought back into the room, now a total of twenty people. They may not have many cubicles, but they do have plenty of trolleys!

Next an ultra sound, easier to walk there than take his trolley. A second opinion. Then the lovely nurse practitioner returned with the verdict. Nothing can be 100%, but it was believed that Mick had strained some muscles which had given him similar symptoms to a heart attack. He was to take it easy, listen to his body, take paracetamol, if the symptoms worsened then he should head straight back to A&E.

So, with great relief we left the Majors section of A&E. The standing man was still standing. The 104 year old lady had new batteries in her hearing aids which was helping a great deal. The man kept smiling that loving smile to his Mum, hopefully her shoulder pain would start to ease soon. We’d never now find out who Gladys was.

I’d left those just in case they never came back!

A taxi back to Oleanna, I followed us on a map, I now knew where Mansfield was! Around 2pm we were back walking over the bridge by the weir, taking our time to climb down the steps to the boat. Everyone wanted some food including Tilly.

A good weathervane on my walk

A quiet afternoon, Mick left snoozing on the sofa, Tilly exploring the brambles, I had a walk along the river bank. The only place we’d be going today would be to bed, there’s a nights sleep to be caught up on.

0 locks, 0 miles, 8 brisk minutes before 5am, 1 torch, 3 enquiries about the torch, 2 blood tests, 4 ECGs, 1 x-ray, 1 ultrasound, 0 heart attack, 1 strain, £41 taxi fare, 12 hours to be back home and on the mend, 2 very grateful boaters, 1 wonderful NHS.