Category Archives: Oxford Canal

How Many Dumper Truck Loads Does It Take To…

Top Lock Claydon to Priors Hardwick Bridge 123

A sunny start to the morning, but by the time we were ready to push off the clouds had covered the blue skies, we wore our waterproof coats and started to make our way northwards across the summit pound. Pretty soon waterproof trousers were required. Then as the rain became heavier I was stood down from my navigational duties and allowed to retire below, let’s face it Mick would have to try really hard to get us lost.

Below decks I decided to get my yarn swift and winder out. Our dinette table with it’s rounded edges was hard to get a grip on, but I managed it in the end, three cakes of yarn all ready for knitting.

Outside it still rained. Mick slowed us to a stop, we must have been at Fenny Compton Tunnel. He held us back for a boat to come through, the narrowest part already done, the overgrown banks making the channel look narrower than it was.

Approaching the big wiggles the rain had stopped, I returned to the stern to watch the radio mast get closer. The moorings with a view over the valley only had a couple of boats moored there, is it now too close to the HS2 works for peoples liking?

The small gap after Bridge 128 and the new temporary bridge will one day be filled with a much bigger bridge taking HS2 across the canal.

Today we could see where the bridge will sit a hole dug ready for construction to start, then off into the distance the route the line will take very obvious with the amount of diggers and cranes in view.

The huge mound of earth that feels like it has sat there forever was in the process of being moved. A big digger gouged up jaws full of earth and deposited them into dumper trucks which then moved it to where the line will pass close to the canal. Here bulldozers moved the earth around, followed by two rollers, one flat the other with spikes on it. We wondered where all this earth had come from in the first place several years ago and how many dumper truck loads had it been then? How many dumper truck loads would it take to move it all into the right position? How many dumper truck loads will it take to reach Birmingham? I suspect next time we pass the big mound will be no more and an embankment will run past the canal instead.

Soon back to green fields with sheep grazing. Where should we stop for the day? The weather forecast had been for rain much of the day, but it had been drier than expected. A few moorings were occupied we carried on pulling in just before Priors Hardwick Bridge, we’d moored the other side of it on our way south a month ago.

Tilly was given four hours and vanished off into the sideways trees to be busy. Lunch was followed by a lot of budget wrangling for panto. New figures for the printing had come through this morning, some better but eaten up by things that hadn’t been included in the first quote. I’d passed this on with a couple of ideas to Gemma. I hate days like this, it’s days like this that make me want to pack my scalpel away.

Gemma sent an email regarding the overall budget with suggestions of things that would need to be cut to bring us into budget. A hope that some money can be found from other parts of the budget. I then spent the afternoon going through every element of the set trying to prune things that wouldn’t ruin the whole look, or different ways of building things. I collated a list ready for a meeting tomorrow. Fingers crossed that we can prune enough off and find a bit more money.

Mick busied himself installing our Nebolink. This is a little box that should automatically start and stop recording our journeys on Oleanna. Designed more for the cruiser market we’d had to think of where we could mount it for it to work. Being inside a metal tube was not going to be ideal, mounting it to an outside bulkhead also not ideal. Instead we opted for the underside of the cratch board, here it could be hooked up to the electrics via the light we have in there.

Getting the cable under the light fitting required a touch of carpentry. Wilkos in Banbury had provided us with a chisel and Mick started to notch out the wood. It being at an odd height and angle we swapped over. Gradually I worked away enough wood for the cable to pass under the fitting, now all that was needed was to connect the red and black wires, not a taxing job.

Tomorrow when we set off the Nebolink should automatically start to record our journey, we’ll see how it does. A phone will also be used to track our journey for comparison.

0 locks, 9.2 miles, 1 soggy cruise, 220 grams of yarn wound, 4 inches knitted, 46783753289745664534218878664534 dumper truck loads, £600 mis calculated, 1 chisel, 1 notch, 1 nebolink installed, 4 hours, £4500 still to save, I hate inflation!

https://goo.gl/maps/qxA9ijDYMJaMaxXj8

Squeeeezing Through Cropredy. 1st August

Sovereign Wharf to Top Lock Claydon

With breakfast out of the way Mick headed to meet our Sainsburys delivery. The chap had followed his sat nav and was in a residential cul-de-sac that I’d never heard of. A quick look at a map and phone call later he knew where to head and could be seen arriving through the hedge. Mick transported everything back to the boat on a trolley. As I stowed everything he topped up the water tank, time for us to head onwards.

Every lock out from Banbury we would meet a boat coming downhill today, no need to reset the levels and always someone around to help close the bottom gates.

**Looking that bit tidier than a month ago**

The house at Bourton Lock has had a touch of TLC in the last month. The shutters have a fresh coat of paint and the scrawled graffitti has vanished. I wonder if one day anyone will live there again.

As we passed crews they all exclaimed at how busy it was in Cropredy, boats breasted up and only a gnats hair to get through in places! There was certainly plenty of traffic, three boats awaiting their turn above Slat Mill Lock, our arrival perfectly timed.

Now the towpath was filled with boats, only a few spaces left. Rounding the bend by the cow field a boat coming towards us went aground on the silt, it’s alway deceptive that bend. As we got closer we realised who it was, Paul the boat mover again. He’d been trying to take a photo of us and found the bottom a bit too quickly. See you somewhere, sometime no doubt Paul.

Slow going, no let up on moored boats. It’s still about ten days before Cropredy Festival, hopefully everyone who wants a mooring has arrived. NB Watt Way was tucked in amongst the boats, we’d been on the Great Ouse with her last year. NB Derwent 6 with Del and Al were chatting away to a walker. By the services trading boats had taken root, add to this kids eager to go canoeing and an off side mooring it made for a touch of squeezing past. Busy busy!

The lock cottage by Cropredy Lock had a big banner pinned to it, Rock at the Lock and the lock gates had posters for various events this coming weekend, both shows from Mikron will be here, sadly we won’t be, we’re just that bit too far ahead of Mikrons tour this year. We did wonder where Tyseley would be moored, hope someone gives them an off side mooring.

Once past the marina the moored boats thinned out, but we still met plenty of downhill boats, most heading onwards to Banbury today. We looked back, all the moorings taken in Cropredy, the 24hr moorings (we speculated) would have the same boats on them for the next ten days.

We rounded the bend below Claydon Locks and pulled in for some lunch, blimey that had taken what felt like forever to get this far. Tilly’s excitement and near dash for the front door was thwarted, we needed to move some more today, the sideways trees would still be there next time.

Only one down hill boat on the Claydon flight NB Debdale just dropping down the bottom lock. Pounds were low between most locks the levels a good foot down. Instead of walking on ahead leaving Mick to close up behind, I stayed incase he grounded, but thankfully the levels weren’t that low.

Up the last lock onto the summit pound we pulled in at the far end of the visitor moorings, plenty of space here. Tilly was given a couple of hours to explore and she made the most of her time. Mick looked at details of how to install our Nebo link.

**Gluten free Toad in the Hole, click photo for recipe**

As today is Yorkshire Day our evening meal had to contain some Yorkshire Pudding, so I made up a Toad in the Hole. The sausages took quite a while to brown off, but the gluten free batter rose wonderfully. Happy Yorkshire Day.

12 locks, 7.2 miles, 2 many boats everywhere, 1 reader, 24hrs my foot! 2.5 hours, 1 summit reached, 1 skein of yarn not wound that’ll be rectified tomorrow, 1 big tray of Yorkshire Pud.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZEbD5RFKbqcNrQtB7

39 More Steps. 30th 31st July

Sovereign Wharf, Banbury

Waking in the back bedroom is a strange thing, the bed is quite bedoingee which we’re not used to and being aware of people moving around the house, but not sure where. We opted to get up for our morning cuppa and be sociable. Coco the woofer was happy to see us, they’d just come back from a walk in the park. Soon we were joined by Herbs two girls aged six and nine, we all chatted whilst they had their rice crispies and Olivia and Herb finished packing things up.

**I think we need someone to tame our garden**

The two girls said hello on the Geraghty zoom before being ushered to pack their bags and get ready to leave. Today they’d be going to Diagon Alley (The Shambles in York), their Dad Herb say’s he’s Harry Potter, but they don’t believe him. We waved goodbye and then set about sorting our breakfast.

I did another hour of pulling things up in the front garden, trimming bushes and hacking back ivy and rose bushes that had bolted for the sky. Mick tidied the dead bluebells making sure any seeds were scattered for next year, we like our bluebells.

**Capplemans the only chippy in Scarborough**

Bedding washing, ironing, cleaning, bed making, shower cleaning kept us busy right through the day until it was time for Mick to head off and pick up our order of fish and chips. Very crispy batter today, yummo! We made a mental list of jobs still to be done then blobbed in front of the TV before heading to bed early.

Sunday. Was that curtain pole like that before? Surely when we put the curtains back up after I’d decorated the back bedroom we’d have noticed the pole on a wonk? Maybe someone had tugged the curtains a touch too much and the screws holding the pole up had given up. Things happen. We’d rather know about them than not, then we can do something about it, if we’d not slept in that room then the next time the curtains were drawn they may have come down. Mick tried to fix them, but in the end we deemed it a longer job than we had time for so we removed the curtains for safety (there is a blackout blind), afterall a two year old would be sleeping in that room tonight!

**All clean and ready for Zoe and family**

Windows got a once over, the big shower a full clean, it still has an annoying leak! The postman delivered an important parcel. We packed away our things into the car. Oven, fridge cleaned, sandwiches made for the journey back.

One last thing to check, our Christmas tree that hadn’t been doing to well when we’d left it back in May. With all the rain and having been repotted with some of our home made compost it was green again and sprouting! Brilliant!!

A message was sent to Zoe our next lodger and we were off to join the queue of traffic trying to leave Scarborough. Would we make it back in time to drop the car back off before Enterprise closed? The back route over the Wolds was busy with farmers harvesting. Rain as we passed Goole, the M1 closed near London so tailbacks of traffic as people exited to avoid it. We played chicken and hoped that carrying on to the Crick turn off would work, thankfully it did.

The car was unpacked and returned well within the time frame, Mick picking up various bits and bobs on his walk back.

Tilly was very happy to see us, the pigeons and wagtails had kept her occupied, but we were far better than the birds. Look see they left me with only a few biscuits! There were the just in case biscuits left in her bowl, the magic food bowl licked clean.

Whilst at the house there had been post to open. I got a certificate from Dementia Uk for my fundraising. I also got a parcel of yummy yarn from one of the dyers who’d donated yarn to my Sockathon. This was from her monthly yarn club based on literature, Mars. I’d also bought myself a skein of her brightest multicoloured yarn. The later will soon be being knitted up into a pair of socks for me, it’s about time I had some new socks.

The other exciting post had to be signed for and fortunately it had arrived swiftly. Mick had decided to upgrade our Nebo logging and has purchased a Nebolink. This will automatically record our journeys once installed. More about this when he gets round to wiring it in.

After two days of cleaning, bed changing etc we deserved a glass of wine this evening, we sat down and watched the 1935 Hitchcock version of The 39 Steps on Youtube. This is the version that the play we’d seen on Saturday was based on. So much of it was the same, only slight alterations and the direction made the stage play so funny compared to the serious side of 1935.

0 locks, 0 miles,1 car back in time, 1 full house, 1 spotless house, 1 family to another,2 of each, £868.13, 220 grams yarn, 2 empty bowls, 16 biscuits left, 1 big cuddle from Tilly, 1 last wash load.

I Am Not A German Spy! 29th July

Sovereign Wharf, Banbury

Our mooring here in Banbury meant that picking up a hire car from Enterprise was a lot easier than it would have been from Cropredy. Hiring a car from Friday instead of Saturday morning was also a lot cheaper for the weekend. So this morning we packed up things we’d need for a couple of nights away, filled up Tilly’s biscuit bowl and got the magic food bowl out. Tilly would be left in charge, Mick’s Christmas present of a webcam focused on her food so we could check it opened on time.

It was grey in Banbury when we left, as we worked our way up and across the country it brightened up. By the time we reached Scarborough it was positively sunny and only t-shirts were required. Back at the house we unloaded our things, working out which room we’d be sleeping in for the night as Olivia our lodger for the last few weeks had family staying.

The garden had had a field day. The wildflower bed was certainly past its best, some very droopy Oxeye Daisies and one stem with teasels stood out from the masses of grass. I spent an hour pulling out long grasses and Mick added our deposits into the compost bin. Then it was time to put on smarter clothes for us to head to the theatre for the evening.

Eat Me had a beer and burger deal on if you had a ticket for that days show. The beers didn’t include the gluten free one that they do but the person who served us said it wouldn’t be a problem. We ordered our burgers which we knew would be the best we’ve had for quite sometime. Our bill turned out to have a third off because of the deal, well worth it.

The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow was guaranteed to be very silly. Four actors play all the parts, at times costumes are abandoned on stage for an actor to run elsewhere to play another part. Wigs, references to Hitchcock films, physical comedy including a chase on the Flying Scotsman, an escape at height on the Forth Bridge, quick changes, certainly kept us on our toes. Olivia Onyehara (our lodger) played all the romantic ladies, Dave Hearn played Richard Hannay and then Niall Ransome and Lucy Keirl played everyone else, I have no idea how many parts. One character made Mick and myself turn to look at each other. In a big huus (said with a Scottish accent) Hannay is confronted by a black gloved man holding a smoking cigarette in a long holder, Professor Jordan. This man, a German Spy with the top of his little finger missing! Thankfully Mick didn’t need convincing that I wasn’t a German spy.

If you happen to be in Keswick in the next month get yourself a ticket.

**Dodgy perspective at** **The Trafalgar**

A drink with our friends Steve and Frank after the show kept us out late, on returning to the house Olivia and her partner Herb were still up. It was really nice to have chance to meet Olivia and congratulate her on her performance.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 car, 2 buckets, 2 pouches of food, 1 Tilly in charge, 1 hour weeding, 2 burgers, 2 beers, 2 hours 40 minutes of silliness, 2 mates, forgot to ask you Frank, how are your beans doing?

Nose To Nose. 28th July

Nadkey Bridge to Sovereign Wharf

A hire boat beat us setting off this morning, we followed them in towards Banbury. They passed the winding hole before Tramway, then another hire boat shot across the cut aiming to wind and go into orbit all in one go. We stopped and wait for them to turn. Their positioning hadn’t been right, so they ended up missing the hole. Several more attempts were made each one ending up with the same outcome, a barge pole stuck out the front. They let us pass and we suggested backing up further and trying again. As we passed under Tramway Bridge they were still facing the wrong direction.

At Banbury Lock the hire boat ahead was rising in the lock. The chap at the helm asked how far they had to go before they could wind. I checked my Waterway Routes map, about ten minutes a short distance after the footbridge they’d be able to turn just before Hennef Way.

A hire boat was on the water point above the lock, using his hose to wash the boat. He pulled forward as we came out of the lock. As I walked up to the lift bridge I could see it being wound up. A chap who’d been walking past with his shopping had stopped to do the honours. Once it was back down I noticed him slotting a windlass back through the gates at Tooleys Boatyard. Thank you.

Blimey Banbury was busy, glad we stopped short yesterday. We were wanting to stop for a couple of bits at Lidl, but there was not one space spare. Oh well we’d make do for lunch today.

In stark contrast Sovereign Wharf was almost empty, maybe everyone had headed to Cropredy to grab a mooring in advance of the Festival. We pootled onwards. Hang on, maybe they’d have room for us. We’d been planning on pulling into Cropredy Marina, but being in Banbury would be far easier. Mick put Oleanna into reverse, it being a Friday the Wharf office was open. A lady popped her head out, we enquired if they had room. She headed off to check with the owner and returned pointing us to a mooring behind us.

Oleanna really wasn’t keen on pulling into the off side, she’s used to mooring on the Spiceball Park side, but she relented in the end. We tied up and headed to the office to check in. Half the price it would have been at Cropredy including electric and an easy walk back to Lidl. It was only 10:30 too, brilliant!

It may look different but it’s still Bumbury!

Lidl provided us with frankfurters. A few years ago we went through a phase of having them for lunch, we’ve avoided them suspecting them to contain gluten. Today we checked the ingredients, today we’d have frankfurter sarnies for lunch!

The washing machine has been busy again, we’d been running low on pants and socks. I sent off an email for a revised panto quote for printing, called Tim the puppet man again who seemed very keen to help us out on panto, then I collated my paint requirements and emailed them to Gemma. Several jobs crossed off the list.

Mick has had a phone call from Ricky at Finesse today regarding our failed battery. They haven’t dealt with the company our batteries came from since Oleanna. Mick talked through the checks he’s done and Ricky agreed, we have a dead battery. The warranty is as Mick had sussed, not really worth persuing as we’d only be offered 10% off another battery from the same company!

1 lock, 2 miles, 3 lift bridges, 2 open, 1 lifted for us, 10 frankfurters, 1 bored cat, 3 loads washing, 1 tumble dried, 2 boaters with clean smalls, so many passing boats.

https://goo.gl/maps/ATFQLFyrXUXRJYaB7

Are We Jinxing Things? 27th July

Somerton Meadows to Nadkey Bridge 172

No tea in bed today, we wanted to up and off so as not to end up in a queue at Somerton Deep Lock, I also hoped to have an afternoon of work. We pushed off before anyone else from the meadows. The cows that normally go that way and then back again were on the other side of the cut today. They moo’d loudly so we knew they were there.

No queue, that was a relief. The For Sale signs at Somerton Deep Lock had big SOLD signs added. I wonder what the new owners will add to the house, Mick said he’d look at adding as much solar as he could, unless there were planning restrictions.

Both top paddles worked today, so our ascent was a speedy one.

**Chisnell Lift Bridge, will it end up being hydraulically operated?**

Chisnell Lift Bridge was down as we approached, a chap walking his dog said he’d help with it. The bridge was well balanced and easy to move. The end of the chain appeared to have some blue rope that had worn away and strands of it sat on the ground next to a mooring spike. Was this how the bridge was meant to be secured open to boats? With no means to secure it I let it close and we carried onwards.

Todays queue was to be found at Aynho Weir Lock. A boat going up to the river section and two waiting to come down. We waited below and helped where we could, then there was the walk to Nells Bridge and help out there too before it was our turn.

The house that stands alongside Haddon’s Lift Bridge is up for sale. Plenty of space, with a two story office, four bedrooms and three bathrooms, handy for the Pig Place too! Yours for a mear £1,350,000. I wonder if C&RT would give you permission for an end of garden mooring?

Onwards under lift bridges to Kings Sutton Lock where a boat was just rising slowly. A boat arrived just in time to wait for the lock to be vacated. I chatted to the lady, they were kicking their heels waiting to go into Cropredy Marina for the Fairport Convention Festival in a couple of weeks time. You have to book the marina for five days at £50 a night! Profiteering!

As their boat came out of the lock their engine stopped. Something round the prop. A glance along their boat showed the culprit, their centre line diagonally taught along their cabin side. The lady said they’d not done that for ages, suspect they won’t do it again for a while. Mick pulled Oleanna back so they could pull their boat out of the lock and let us pass.

**I wonder when/if work will begin on the cottage**

We normally stop just around the corner, but with a distance to cover tomorrow we wanted to be further on, Grants Lock called. We chose to moor up before the new housing estate opposite a popular field for people to walk round. Tilly set off to explore, then it was time to talk to Tim the Banbury puppet man, followed by working out just how much canvas would be needed to be printed for the panto portals for a new quote.

During the afternoon notices came in from C&RT. The normal notices but also several regarding places we’d just come through. There was a tree down between bridges 211 and 212 blocking the canal. Chisnell Lift Bridge 193 was impossible for single handers to use as there is no way of fixing it open, no change from when we passed through. Then on facebook we heard of boats fenders getting caught on a bolt at Somerton Deep Lock top gate, luckily they had all had weak links in their chains so had avoided serious problems. We’d not noticed anything this morning, but then Mick tends to stay well back from the top gates on the Oxford. Sorry if you are following us, we seem to be jinxing things as we pass!

5 locks, 8.1 miles, 9 lift bridges, 1 down, 2 blackberries, 3 problems behind us, £1350000, 7 town square puppets, 3 creatures, 1 Oleanna’s length of canvas required, 1 chicken and red pepper curry, 1 connection checked, 1 link on order.

https://goo.gl/maps/rEzeghKAYUUDNvJm9

Fridge Fusion 26th July

Thrupp visitor Mooring to Somerton Meadows

Boats were already on the move, mostly hire boats. We pushed out, waving to Graeme. I walked up to the bridge to do the honours with the key of power. All clear I lifted the decking and Mick brought Oleanna through, a short distance behind was another boat, so I waited to let them through too, this took quite a while, the chap offering to close the bridge so that I could get back on Oleanna. I declined as it would be quicker for him to just get out of the way, there was waiting traffic!

The services were filled with hire boats topping up with water and selecting books from the book exchange. The boat that had just come through the bridge had got himself stuck between Oleanna and the corner, I gave their bow a big push and they were off again, very slowly in front of us. We don’t have a problem with tick over past moored boats but when their speed didn’t increase when we’d passed everyone today suddenly felt like it would be a very very long day!

We trundled along behind, maybe the lift bridge would be down and they’d let us pass. No. This is another lift bridge that looks like a hydraulic mechanism is on the cards. They passed through the bridge but didn’t warn a boat that we were directly behind them, the bridge obscuring us from the chaps view until the last minute. We made sure he knew the way ahead was now clear. Then the boat aheads dog took a dive into the canal, it had tried to follow it’s owner down the gunnel then couldn’t turn round.

At Shipton Weir Lock I walked up to help as the couple sorted their dog out. The lady and dog were first timers, the chap used to have a boat twenty years ago. Mick asked if it was possible for us to leapfrog them as we’d quite a distance to travel today, thankfully they were fine about it. As we rose in the lock a queue formed below. The chap from the boat we’d been following insisted on crossing the bottom gate, which doesn’t have a walkway for the simple reason that there is a very good bridge over it! I was glad to be ahead of them as today I was likely to get annoyed with such things and shout at the man.

Bakers Lock was occupied with a hire boat, a family of four. I asked the usual question, ‘Is it your first narrowboat holiday?’ The answer was polite but honest, ‘Yes and it will be our last’. The kids weren’t sleeping, at the locks there were things to do, but they were hard work etc. Boating simply wasn’t for them, it doesn’t suit everyone.

Above the lock the towpath was being strimmed. The moored boats getting a spraying of cut grass. One of the chaps did walk back with a leaf blower to give them a clean.

The hire boat was returning to base a couple of days early. At each lock we’d catch them up, have a chat and help them. By their last lock, Dashwoods, we were on first name terms and I knew that the youngest had started to learn French, yesterday.

At Pigeon’s Lock there was a queue, we had to tread water as the lock landing was occupied, a boat was coming down. Soon there was space and we moved up. The next boat into the lock took their time. From below I could see that there was a problem with the bottom gate, water gushing around it. I walked up and suggested that a couple of people might be needed on the top gate to open it before the pound above lost all it’s water that was flowing straight through the lock.

Next up was the hire boat and there was chance to see what the problem was at the bottom gate. Where the bottom gate meets the stone stop ( not sure of the technical terms) there is usually a large timber which helps to create a reasonable seal. The top couple of feet of this timber had rotted away, leaving a big bolt holding only air and allowing the water in the lock to rush around the end of the gate. Was there a notice about this a little while ago?

**Hope you found something more appealing to do for the rest of your holiday.**

Lunch was had on the move after Dashwoods Lock. The hire boat had pulled in at the water point just before the bridge at Heyford, no-one was to be seen. We waved anyway as I’d promised the girls. Hope they found a nice hotel for their last couple of nights and that they got to go swimming.

A long pause before I could raise Mill Lift Bridge, so many walkers! Just as we were through another boat approached, Mick waved them on, so I waited before lowering the bridge, confusing a dog walker who wondered why I was just by the buttons and wasn’t closing it.

ALAN!‘s Lock gave me the chance to take a photo of the paddle gear and the break that I’d mentioned a few weeks ago, similar to that at Hillmorton.

At Heyford Common Lock there was a hire boat full of cousins and teddy bears. Mums and Aunties shouting to the young crew to keep their arms in as they descended the lock. They’d had a great few days and the weather had been good too. They were heading back towards base and not worried about the rain this evening as they’d be tucked up. I however jinxed this by mentioning that rain was forecast for 4pm. By the time we’d risen up the lock it was 3:50pm and drops of rain hit the cut. Waterproofs time.

Would we be lucky, would Somerton Meadows have space for us. Rounding the last bend we could see our usual spot was available, in fact there was only one boat along the first stretch. We pulled in as another boat pulled in from the opposite direction. Tilly was given todays time frame and off she went into the sideways trees, she likes it here.

Too late to start some work I looked into what I could make with the spring roll wrappers and left over roast chicken. There were various other things that needed eating up, beetroot and some Jersey Royals, these were set steaming whilst I chopped up a carrot that had seen better days and some white cabbage. Garlic and fresh ginger. Roast chicken was soaked in soy sauce, maple syrup and a bit of lemon juice. This was all cooked up a touch then it was time to see what to do with the spring roll wrappers.

Each wrapper required soaking in hot water for about 20 seconds to soften it up, then blotted dry. I soon discovered that I needed to work quickly as they stuck to things if I took my time. Filling in and wrapped up, the ricey wrapper sticking itself together nicely. I now had a choice, steam them or fry them. I don’t deep fry anything, but decided to shallow fry them to see how crispy they got and hoping they’d stop looking like condoms!

Well the outcome was some very nice chicken rolls, golden brown and hot. The accompanying potato salad and beetroot strange bedfellows, well that’s what you get with a fridge fusion tea.

7 locks, 11 miles, 2 lift bridges, 2 boats, 2 cars, 5 humans, 2 dogs, 1 holiday cut short, 20 years and no sense, 4pm rain, 1 big teddy crew, 1 red moggy, 2 hours of cat shore leave, 1 interesting meal.

https://goo.gl/maps/2fbzPTPnzMgU5KGd6

Smiles Everywhere. 25th July

Aristotle Bridge to Thrupp visitor mooring.

A cuppa in bed was allowed before we walked up to the deli. The cabinet by the front door is filled with wonderful looking pastries and Persian dishes. Sadly none of the yummy looking things would agree with me, so I just dreamt of filo pastry filled with cheese spinach and spices. We looked around the rest of the shop which does sell gluten free produce, however the mark up is really quite something, £6 for a box of cereal! Yesterday Mick had come for a look and spotted some spring roll wraps which were made from tapioca and rice flour. He considered buying me a pack but wasn’t sure about them. I decided I’d see what they were like, knowing they’d not be like tortilla wraps. The dishes in the freezer also looked appealing, but we’ve enough food on board right now without adding to it. We made our polite purchase and headed back to Oleanna.

A pootle got us to the services, we trod water and waited to pull in then emptied the yellow water and topped up on fresh water. Tilly got a clean pooh box which she was desperate for! Then we carried on past the line of interesting boats on the Agenda 21 moorings to Wolvercote Lock. Here a single hander was just finishing going up, I closed up after him and set the lock ready for us.

I unlocked Perry’s Lift Bridge remembering that it so wants to lift itself, so I quickly walked across it letting it do it’s thing behind me. I then sat on the beam. There was a chap a short distance along the track mixing something on the floor. He walked up and sat on the other beam opposite me. He made some remark about Huel drinks, that was what he’d just been mixing. He then waved to Mick saying he was just helping. With Oleanna safely through the bridge I stood up, the chap didn’t. I asked him to stand so that I could cross the bridge, he stayed seated. His comment was something to do with the bridge being dangerous and he was waiting for me to walk back over it before he stood up!? Well it took some persuasion, but eventually he stood up. The bridge stayed put. ‘Isn’t your husband coming to help you?’ I replied that he wasn’t needed as I bent down to encourage the beam to lift and close the bridge sufficiently for me to add my weight to it for it to then be locked closed again. It was all a touch odd, the chap continued talking to me as I walked away, but I needed to catch up with the boat so politely made my way.

Wolvercote Lift Bridge is still not there. Pipes coming up from a newish concrete base suggest it may end up having a hydraulic mechanism fitted. But for now the bridge deck sits under the A34 with a picnic bench sat on top of it.

I walked on to Wolvercote Junction. Here the single hander was waiting his turn, a boat was trying to get itself off the bottom and another boat sat in Duke’s Cut Lock waiting for the water to empty. Mick pulled in behind the single hander and I helped him up. There was time for chats about where we were both heading. He’s gradually aiming for the Macclesfield to spend the winter up there. We’d really enjoyed our 2016 winter on the summit pound.

Wanting to stop for lunch we were out of luck for a mooring below Kidlington Green Lock so carried on up it. I did a double take as I walked up. The yellow bag that had been over the off side bottom paddle had been removed, now back in working order. But the beam had been sawn off and replaced with one of C&RT’s improvised beams, big chunks of timber bolted together. This hadn’t been like this three weeks ago. Had there been notices about it whilst we’d been on the Thames? I had a vague memory of one.

**Frankie and Ghost, Shadow was elsewhere**

Up we rose and looked for a mooring. There was a gap ahead in front of three boats, one of which had it’s back doors open. As we approached slowly I called out ‘Hello!’ Out of the side hatch came the slightly puzzled face of Frankie, the puzzlement soon turned into a big Italian smile. There was time for us to have a good chat and catch up, Ghost came out to check on us, you could tell she was doing calculations to hop across to join us. I’m so glad we got to meet up this time.

Lunch was had and just as we were about to push off again a blue boat was pulling alongside us. Our turn to pop our heads out to see who it was. Graeme on NB Misty Blue. He pulled alongside and we had a bit of a chat, but boats appeared from both directions cutting our time short. We’d planned on heading through Thrupp today, but now if there was space we’d stop and meet Graeme for a pint.

There was also a rendez vous planned with NB Dusty the South Oxford coal boat. Recently Jock and Katy have sold up and the new chap onboard is Bob working Dusty for Juels Fuels. It was guaranteed that we’d meet him mid channel. The boats were tied together and drifted a touch as we filled up with diesel. Bob used to have a boat on the South Oxford about ten years ago, this was his first run down to Oxford since he’d taken over Dusty, he was surprised that he still knew quite a few people. 87 litres at £1.03. Thank you Bob.

We were surprised when we arrived at the two day moorings that there was still a space for us at 4:30pm. The three boats that had been ahead of us were all lined up one after the other in order of arrival. I needed to do some work before heading to the pub, so knuckled down.

**Mick, Pip and Graeme after a few drinks**

We had a very pleasant evening with Graeme at The Boat. Exchanging our cruising tales from the last couple of years and where we planned on heading next. He’d recently been on the St Pancras Cruising Club cruise to the Thames Barrier and then back upstream to Teddington. So very glad we bumped into him again and had chance for a proper catch up. The man just doesn’t stop smiling!

4 locks, 5.7 miles, 4 lift bridges, 1 left open, 1 a picnic bench, 1 with a weirdo, 87 litres, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 clean litter box, 2 smiling boaters met, 1 coloured storyboard, 3 glasses wine, 1 mediocre burger, 1 mediocre gammon, 1 very yummy looking liver and bacon.

https://goo.gl/maps/v7B4UjgyDHsbk5qq8

Back In The Room. 24th July

Aristotle Bridge

With model box and drawings wrapped up against possible rain I set off to catch the bus to Chippy. From our mooring the walk was a far shorter one than if we’d been moored in Jericho. However the large puddles of water on the roads edge gave slight concern when buses passed by! Dry refuge had to be sought. Time ticked by, then more time. I’d arrived in plenty of time and with only one bus an hour I started to get very twitchy as even the Stagecoach app was jumping past the bus I was waiting for! Thankfully buses are colour coded in Oxford so when three came along together I knew the last one, gold, was my bus.

Oxford roads are totally messed up at the moment, road works here there and everywhere so it seems, but the bus made it through to Chippy only twenty minutes late, thankfully I’d aimed for a bus an hour early for my meeting, so I wasn’t late.

**People! Louisa, Paul, Gemma, John, Liza and Sophie at the front**

How nice it was to be back in a room full of people doing a model showing, only one joining via zoom today. We had the Lighting and Sound designers along with Sophie the costume designer, just Jo the props maker was missing today.

Sophie showed us her costume designs, I’d had a sneaky peek at them a couple of weeks ago to see what colours she was thinking of using, so our designs matched quite well.

Then it was my turn to show the model. Thankfully I didn’t get the model shakes which normally happens when showing a model to a full room. A couple of minor adjustments and additions were asked for by John the Director. All went well.

After this Gemma the Production Manager and myself sat down to see if there was anywhere we could try to save some money. Sadly my design has come in over budget, some tweaking and pinching of money from other places is possible, inflation and a few extra requests really hasn’t helped. Each set piece was looked at individually, the build discussed. I’d already amended drawings to include alterations to make the build easier. On the main set build we could only find a couple of things to reduce the cost, my painting would have to make up for this as extra details in the build may have to be cut.

How the rainforest portals would be put together was also talked about. Having the design printed onto canvas would be the best option as it would then match two cloths with the same look. Some work by me is required to get it printed in sections with overlaps to achieve the best outcome. Mike Todd asked about this process in a comment the other day. Basically my model designs are scanned at a very high resolution, then they can be printed onto various types of surfaces depending on what you want them to do. This is just like a very VERY big photocopy. Gauzes can be printed so that you can do transformation scenes, a scene in front of the gauze bleeds through to what is happening behind it. A front cloth which needs to be soft, far softer than could be painted by hand, this we’ve used a lot at Chippy. Scenic canvas for applying to set pieces, saving a Scenic Artist lots of work (in this case meaning I’d not have to work my socks off for an extra week). Designs can also be printed onto vinyl or mdf flooring.

To do any of these your original artwork has to be as good as it can be, any mistakes will end up being 25 times bigger, the odd pencil line not erased will show up as a 1cm line. A jittery line will still be jittery, just bigger. In some cases painting by hand is more fluid, curves are so much easier to paint at 1 to 1 with a paint brush on a long stick. The mice and cats I had on the portals last year would have been enlarged from my model as blobby things, rather than the neat animal shapes I painted with the assistance of stencils. So printing has it’s place, but it comes at a cost.

I could paint the portals this year, adding a week to my work load, this would save the budget about £1000. That decision in the end will likely happen next week when new prices come in for printing and building the set. So unfortunately the relief I normally feel on a day when I hand over a model was not present and I still have more work to do before the design can be signed off. Heyho!

Some time was spent checking what paint was already in stock at the theatre and making sure it was stored safely to be used in a few months time. Plans were printed and scanned for distribution. Time to catch a bus home.

The S3 gold I caught was also running late and it headed to Charlbury, I’ve never been there before. So by the time I got back to Aristotle Bridge it was 7:30pm, too late to do a few work jobs. Dinner was left over roast chicken pasta, an easy meal once the chicken carcass had been stripped.

Mick had spent the day getting quotes for insurance for our house. The costs have gone up, hasn’t everything, and companies seemed to be reluctant to cover us for three lodgers at the house at a time. Mick got in touch with a broker to see if they could find a policy that wasn’t too pricey for us. We’ll see what he comes back with.

0 locks, 2 late buses, 2 many thousands, 1 and a bit increasing my work load, 3 possible days near Plymouth, 1st proper model showing since the pandemic, 2 boxes of paint, 4 litres Bona Mega, 2 not 3, 1 bored cat.

Working Out The Rain. 22nd 23rd July

College Cruisers, Oxford to Aristotle Bridge

The paperboy decided to have breakfast before going to pick up a Saturday paper, the weather app he’d looked at suggested the forecast rain would start around 11am. Well it was wrong, it started around 9am and continued with only a couple of short lulls well into the evening. Mick put on his waterproof coat and went shopping with a brolly in hand.

The drawing board came back out and on Saturday I spent all day updating working drawings so that the set for panto could be built from them. I added in a few suggestions from one of the builders, with the hope that they would assist in reducing the cost of the build. My original sketch drawings are done with two things in mind. One to assist in making the model and to get pricings done. They tend to have a bit too much information on them, so simplifying them for building was needed.

Mick listened to what cricket commentary there was from Manchester, most of the recorded interviews he’s heard before and remembered. Tilly spent much of the day asleep, occasionally sticking her head out the back just incase the weather had improved, it hadn’t!

Boats came past, one with many a sticker in it’s windows. This was NB Scholar Gypsy, the crew however not known to us, we waved from inside anyway, but I suspect we weren’t seen as the person on the helm was forging on in the rain.

The staff at the hire base worked away through the rain. Boats were washed whilst having a second rinse by the rain. Then the numerous hire crew arrived early afternoon, they were chatted through the boat, then each one in turn headed off down the canal, most to Isis Lock to wind below and return. They then moved their belongings on board for their time away, slightly soggy at the edges.

Sunday. The Geraghty zoom included Jeremy Paxman, cherries, cricket (of course), season tickets for QPR and Scottish blueberries.

Our 48 hours was now up, but still being in Oxford was needed for Monday morning to access a bus out to Chippy. Thankfully the S3Gold service follows the canal for a distance northwards of Jericho, so we set our eyes on the quiet mooring by Aristotle Bridge.

First things first was to dispose of some rubbish. The bins at College Cruisers are C&RT bins, but are often not accessible due to the hire fleet being in. This morning however all but one boat were out, so we pushed Oleanna across the cut and got rid of the fishy packaging from our salmon last night.

We were now opposite NB Huffler. Margaret could been seen through the window and Tony stuck his head out of the hatch. Margaret hasn’t been very well recently, requiring visits to A&E to help monitor her heart rate. Things were improving, but another visit to the hospital was on the cards. We wished them well and hopefully they’ll be back on the move soon.

We now pootled on up the cut, only 0.6 of a mile, but just far enough. The back gardens along this stretch are worth a nosy at along with the backs of the houses. However at this time of year the amount of leaves obscures the views too quickly for photos. We pulled in towards the end of the quiet mooring, surprised at how many boats were moored there.

Tilly headed off into the ditch between the canal and playingfield. Across the way a couple were trying to trim a Spaniels fur, it really wasn’t enjoying the experience and kept shouting about it.

I got on with more drawings, once they were complete I then set to taking photos of the model. A new coloured storyboard will be put together in the coming days for reference.

With the model packed up and ready to go we sat down and enjoyed a roast chicken. Very nice, it’s been a while. I just need to now factor into our menu a lot of beetroot as Mick wasn’t aware I’d bought a bunch. It might be beetroot and chicken salad for us this week.

0 locks, 0.6 miles, 1 very wet day, 1 drier day, 1 disappointing outside, 1 model finished, 14 sheets of drawings finished, 130 photos, 1 Sunday roast.

https://goo.gl/maps/gE7rcdAjP4o9WVkMA

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna