Category Archives: Pantomime

A Four Thousand One Hundred and Forty Six. 24th and 25th June.

Cowroast Marina then Scarborough and back

An early start, well for Mick he had a hire car to pick up in Hemel before we could check in at Cowroast Marina. As before the car hire fees were considerably more than for a small van, so that’s what we’d booked. Mick as he entered the office said that we didn’t need it to be a van, a car would be fine. So we got a Black Corsa which was far more comfortable for the same price.

Once back at the boat we pushed off and trundled our way to the top of the lock where a single hander was pleased to see us, until we turned into the marina. We’d been allocated a space opposite the entrance which was only just visible, they like to pack them in tightly round here! An awkward place to get into, but with skill, the odd touch to the girlie button and me fending off at the front too we pulled in without touch any other boat.

Mick checked to see how much credit had been left on the electric hook up, £11, we might end up staying the full three nights (minimum stay here) to use it all. Up at the office we were given a fob for the gate and shown round the facilities. Where once there had been a chandlery there is now a lounge with a pool table, book exchange etc.

We decided to put a load of washing on as soon as we’d hooked up. A 60 degree wash for the towels. This was a mistake as it took an extra hour to normal even on a quick wash. There were places to go and things to do!

Eventually we put the cooled ice block (no freezer still) in Tilly’s magic food bowl and opened up her toy box so that she could keep herself occupied whilst we were away. At 12:15 we pulled out of the marina gates and headed northwards to Scarborough.

The tenants in our house have just moved out, we like to visit at such times to check round. It also gives us the opportunity to rootle through our possessions that we left five years ago and pull out things we’d like or need. It was a long grey dreary drive up the country, slightly annoying as our tenant hadn’t informed us of when he was actually vacating the house and it turns out we could have done this trip from Leighton Buzzard instead last week. Oh well!

We’d had an email from the agents who look after the house, informing us of various things that needed doing. We took a couple of hours to look ourselves making a list as we went. Some things will be paid for out of our tenants bond, other things are just general maintenance that need doing. As we haven’t been to the house in at least a couple of years it was nice to be home home, even if other people live there.

A quick look round the top floor where our land possessions live and a good chat with Andy our next door neighbour, we also got to meet Teddy who is our newest neighbour, aged two. Then we were hot footing it across town to reach Capplemans Chippy before they closed.

Capplemans, just off Prospect Road has gluten free and vegan options on their menu. I was eager to try out their haddock. With four boxes of each and one portion of mushy peas steaming in the car we then hot footed it across town to South Cliff where our friends Jaye and Duncan were waiting ready with plates in the oven.

We had a lovely evening catching up with all the news whilst defending my haddock from Pebbles before we retired to bed.

The local seagulls were elsewhere annoying another part of town so we both slept well. Both Jaye and Duncan were at work today which gave us the impetus to get going. Thank you very much for the bed and hopefully see you both soon.

My model was popped in the post, tracked guaranteed delivery by midday tomorrow as soon as the Post Office opened then we crossed the road to Tower Estates, the people who look after our house. A cuppa with Mark and Val was enjoyed as we worked through and compared notes. We’d been pleasantly surprised at how clean the house had been, just a shame the youngest tenant had chosen to do their own decorating in the wallpapered rooms, not the white emulsioned ones.

Back at the house I had a rootle through my work boxes. A roller tray, wallpaper brush, paste, scissors, spare wallpaper and some paste ready to mix. I had everything needed to patch up and cover the mixed media creations. Mick ticked a couple of things off the list too, replacing bulbs etc.

Then the hunt through our possessions started. When we’d started packing away our land life we’d been organised and labeled boxes. As time went on things got less so, in the end things just got mounded up on the top floor. I found my paint colour charts within seconds as I’d been sensible an just popped them on a shelf. But family archive things that we both wanted, well just where were they? Mick thought he’d put it in that corner, no. Maybe in the cupboard under the sink, no. Maybe in the roof space. I was looking for my Dad’s old kitbag, it was nowhere to be seen in the rooms.

The roof space it had to be. This was when we’d been organised thankfully. But making space to be able to get at the things we wanted was a bit hard. The bedding came out, then the kitbag, then the boxes Mick wanted. Hooray! We selected what we wanted along with allowing ourselves a little look at things. Then time was ticking there were still curtains to hang and lamp shades to go back up.

Jobs take time and become frustrating when they are not simple. One curtain track didn’t have enough runners on it, this of course was a much bigger track than any others in the house, which all had far too many runners on them! Time had run out along with patience there was no time to go on a hunt in the shops, this would have to be left for someone else to do.

We packed up the car, locked the door and said goodbye to our house again. The next time we visit will be when the next lot of tenants move on to pastures new.

A very late lunch at Morrisons along with a few supplies and we were on our way again, in constant rain back down the country. As I undid the cratch cover two white paws nudged the front curtain out of the way, Tilly was checking to see if it was us.

Well it was about bloomin time! My biscuits had run out, then the magic food bowl ran out, twice! I had all but eight tiny biscuits left and I’d been saving them just incase! They brought some interesting smelling boxes onto the boat. They say some of the things in there are over one hunderd years old. Glad they weren’t away for all that time, those meager biscuits wouldn’t have lasted. They didn’t buy me fish and chips like they did Pebbles, PAH!

0 locks, 0.16 miles, 1 left, 1 tight squeeze, 2 eagles, 1 car not van, 1 fob, £11 electric, A 4146, 450 ish miles by road, 19 enter the roundabouts, 38 rows knitted, 0 traffic cones, 4 of each, 1 mushy peas, 1 very good gf fish, 1 seaside cat, 1 lovely evening, 9 mentions of Duncan so far this year (now 10!), 2 parcels posted, 5 patches of paper, 2 colour charts, 2 boxes, 1 folder, 1 lot of letters, 5½d for Mackintosh Rolos, 2 sketch books (1 my grandfathers), 1 cat brought to the front at Tibshelf, 1 very hungry cat, 1 press night missed.

All Of North London. 23rd June

Wendover Arm to Cow Roast

Mick thought it best for us to move today to be closer to Cow Roast for tomorrow morning. This would save us an hour or so cruise time before checking into the marina for a couple of nights.

After breakfast we winded only disturbing three fisherpeople and made our way back to Bulbourne Junction. A day boat was already out and about, not going quite so speedy as the one yesterday thank goodness. However meeting another boat on such a shallow stretch meant we had to pull right over the bottom of Oleanna scrapping on the bottom and us listing until she found enough water again.

I stayed below to get on with some work. The date for my next meeting has been set and there’s is quite a bit to do along with cruising down to London with constant locks. I’ve also had a request from the Production Manager to send her the model so that she can show it to some builders for quotes.

So today I made sure I put everything together, made notes of what still needs doing, took photos, checked my sketch drawings making note of any changes so that I can work on these whilst the model is away. Then anything I could scan was scanned. If the postal service lets us down I need to have enough information to be able to recreate the model. Maybe it would just be easier to take the model myself to the meeting, but this week has got busy and the meeting is in Bristol.

Mick turned us back onto the main canal at the junction and then cruised us along the summit pound. To me there seemed to be more boats moored up, some breasted up, but maybe that was just a distorted view from below.

For a summit pound there isn’t much to look at as the majority of it is along a cutting. Trees blocking out much of the light for most of the way. Mick hoped for a space as close to the marina as possible, but he overshot and ended up having to reverse back for a space.

The towpath is narrow and quite busy here, a vast contrast to the Wendover Arm. This afternoon we must have had every single north London child under the age of eleven come past, there was a constant stream for over an hour. Most were very polite, but we did get a tap on the windows and one lad shouting in at us. Not bad going really.

0 locks, 4.23 miles, 1 right, 1 shady summit, 1 overshot mooring, 1 shoe box full of panto, 1 feline assistant overstepping the mark, 1 very hot and humid grey day.

https://goo.gl/maps/X2p5V5YbpCBMWMeV7

With the aerial on top of the pram cover

Terns Taking Turns. 22nd June

Grand Junction Inn to Little Tring Bridge, Wendover Arm, Grand Union Canal

A load of washing was set going before we pushed off today. Still heading southwards we cruised through Bulbourne Bridge and pulled up at the water point. Here we filled the tank as the washing machine did it’s thing. Then we winded at the handy ‘Winding Area’ (as they are now known on new blue signs) and headed northwards.

The old Bulbourne BW yard is fenced off, along the canalside from the road and surrounding area. Here lock gates uses to be made until 2003 when modern mechanised methods and bad vehicle access meant that production moved to Stanley Ferry and Bradley. The yard and it’s surrounding buildings since then have been used by a metal worker, who’s creations used to add interest, large horses and benches filling the canal side of the yard. But now everywhere is boarded up, it looks like some developers are about to move in.

A C&RT document about the future of Bulbourne is here. I’m not sure when it was written but it details the site. H2O Urban has details of a development on the site here. Four buildings will be converted into 25 new homes, a new footbridge and a new yard for C&RT. Works were meant to start last month on site and a website for the development is being set up here.

We pootled back to the junction where we turned to the left just above the locks. Here the Wendover Arm heads off in a south westerly direction. Back in February 2015 we came down here on Lillian. The navigable section is only around a mile and a half long with a winding hole and 48hr mooring at the end. The going is slow, very slow, most probably slower than it was on Lillian.

Originally the arm was built as a feeder for the summit pound, this was then widened to make it navigable. This however leaked and was shut off with stop planks. A hundred years later Phase 1 of the restoration plan was finished giving us what is navigable today. Phase 2 is ongoing with the aim of linking Wendover to the main network.

Along the slow mile we were followed closely by Terns. They took it in turns to hover behind us waited to catch a glimpse of a silvery fish in the water. Dropping from the sky to the water they hoped to catch a tasty morsal. Each turned their backs on us, so we couldn’t see if they had been successful of not. Quite a sight.

We pulled in just before the last bend where several fishermen had taken up residency, a day boat having just winded and was heading back waited for us to tie up. There was another boat before the bridge and one right at the end of navigation, but here it felt like we were on our own, all be it with a noisy mower going back and forth in the garden next door.

The sun was out, our windows and hatches all open. Tilly spent seven hours exploring and wondering why we weren’t out playing. Well that’s because we’d come down here for some peace and quiet away from the main canal so that I could get some work done over the next couple of days.

Late afternoon Oleanna bumped the side, someone was coming. Ten minutes later a day boat filled with chaps zoomed past us, bumping us into the side, thankfully Tilly wasn’t peering in through the hatch at the time! Very soon afterwards they zoomed back , not quite as fast as before, they hadn’t had long enough since doing a hand break turn to get up to speed again!

0 locks, 1.85 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 load washing dried and put away, 3 terns, 1 heron, 1 canal being topped up, 1 traction engine, 2 more boats, 5 fishermen, K2 or K6? 4 pieces of car, 7 hours, 1 friend rescued, 1 very sunny day, 1st cuff knitted.

https://goo.gl/maps/Cucv4xBeN4cGysNF6

Is It Us? 14th June

Stoke Bruerne to Haines Bridge 62

This morning we noticed that NB Tyseley was unable to come through Blisworth Tunnel due to a tree blocking the navigation close to the north portal . A rather big tree too! We seem to be having this effect on trees, luckily for us they fall over behind us. That of course is no good if you are on a schedule, maybe we should let NB Tyseley get ahead of us!

With the knowledge of no boats about to appear from the tunnel we headed for the locks. It was nearly dry outside, but we didn’t trust it so put our waterproofs on. Two boats were coming up the top lock with the help of a Volunteer. They had been told to moor up and wait for news, there was concern that the moorings would soon fill up, would there be enough space for them. There was plenty and I’m sure even by the end of the day there would still have been plenty of room.

One of the boats that had followed us yesterday had already headed down the locks, no locking partner would appear from behind so we started down on our own. The volunteer Lockie soon appeared and went ahead setting locks and by the fourth lock we’d caught NB Carpe Diem up.

They waited for us after a short pound, our locks worth of water adding to theirs and flooding the sides of the lock. By now the sun was trying to come out, waterproofs came off. We chatted as we descended, they are pootling about until they can get back onto the River Nene once the levels have lowered.

As we walked down to the last lock a very dark cloud had caught us up, the boats took their time to deliver our coats, but luckily this was before the rain really got started.

The new collar on the bottom gate was only just noticeable, a new weld giving it away.

The level below the lock looked much higher than we remembered. The River Tove joins the navigation here before heading off eastwards, so the current rainfall was swelling the canal.

Pulling in at the services we were pleased to see a recycling bin and one for glass. We made good use of this and deposited our collection that had been taking over the cratch and galley for a while. Then a nudge up to the end where there’s a handy water point. The pressure wasn’t great but that suited us, we could run the washing machine and have lunch as the tank filled. It beat us to it though, but with no other boats arriving we stayed put and topped up the tank before leaving.

Mick moved us along to find a mooring as I retired below. Models take a lot of painting and I seem to have the same problem as last year, I keep changing my mind! Today some kitchen units were painted three different shades of pink before I liked them. Grrr, designers!!

The sun came out and we had blue skies for much of the remainder of the day.

7 locks, 4 shared, 4.66 miles, 1 downpour, 1 full water tank, 0 rubbish left (except bits of cardboard tucked behind the knife block), 1 load washing, 1 pooh bucket changed, 4 hours, 0 fire, 1st blue sky for ages.

https://goo.gl/maps/Jkgd5icBiqZu4E2z6

Mending. 13th June

Nightingales Bridge to Stoke Bruerne Top Lock

Another very wet morning. We weren’t going to be going anywhere! Tilly however was encouraged to take a morning nap as the weather app suggested that it might dry up later on, then we could at least get to Blisworth where we might find a shop for a few bits.

As I sat down to breakfast and to catch up on the latest blogs I picked my computer glasses up. These are old prescription reading glasses that are just perfect to view the lap top with. They are quite old and a lense has a tendency to fall out. Today however it wasn’t the screw that had come loose, it was still there, just where it connected to the other side of the frame had snapped off! Darn and blast!

My bifocals are not good for the computer, I’d have to do something about this. Father Christmas had been a jolly good chap this year and bought me a tube of super glue. This alone would hold things together but some reinforcing would be wise. With some black button thread and Mick to help hold things in place, I tied the joint together then applied some glue, letting it soak into the cotton and hopefully the joint. After a minute I tied a few more knots around the joint sealing it all with more super glue. The end result is a fully operational pair of glasses once again. may now have to dig out the other old pair that have a loose lense and see if I can mend those also.

Our spritzer bottle for the composting toilet has recently lost it’s spritz. We use this with diluted vinegar in it to spray the urine separator on our toilet with the hope that the vinegar will help to keep the pipes clear. However the spray was starting to be a bit feeble. Mick took it apart. The spring that makes it spritz fell into four pieces. We’d been warned not to have a steel urine tank as gradually the vinegar would work it’s way through this, it looks like it had eroded the spring.

A spare spring was found in an empty hand wash container. Now our spritzer spritzes again. Not bad for £1 from the handyman shop in Ellesmere eighteen months ago.

By 11:45 the rain was easing, we needed to find a shop, mostly for some cat food, a variety and flavour that Tilly would actually eat rather than be put in the bin after a day. The wine cellar is currently half full of rejected boxes of cat food and very little wine! Mick doned his waterproofs and pushed off, leaving me indoors adding detail to my Boozer model bits.

At Gayton Junction a boat had just pulled up and positioned itself right in the middle of the service moorings. Mick couldn’t be bothered to ask them to nudge up so we could off load our rubbish so he carried straight on, the mountains of rubbish having to wait a while longer.

The moorings at Blisworth had space for us so he pulled in. A walk into the village proved fruitful for cat food, but little else. After lunch there wasn’t sufficient time for us to go through Blisworth Tunnel and to reach the top of Stoke Bruerne locks before the last boat in at 3:15, so we didn’t rush.

The boat was put into full tunnel mode, I came up on deck having suggested an early afternoon nap to Tilly and we pushed off. Blisworth Tunnel is just short of 3km long and is the third longest navigable tunnel in the UK, ninth in the world. It is straight, very straight therefore you can see all the way through. The interior goes from arched brickwork to a long section of concrete hoops in the central section, back to brick again towards the southern portal. The tunnel suffered over the years altering shape, it became unnavigable. In the 1980s major works were done to rebuild it, the method used was a try out for the Channel Tunnel.

Just before halfway through we could see another boat had entered at the south portal. Was this the trip boat that sticks it’s bow into the tunnel then reverses out? Or were they coming towards us, if they were they were going very very slowly. The tunnel was wetter than usual, no surprise there and we gradually came to meet the on coming boat. The speed they were going at it would take them an hour to go through!

We had risked arriving at Stoke Bruerne where there might not have been any moorings left, but it turned out there were no queues waiting for the locks in the morning. We had a choice of where to moor and later on we were joined by three more boats, one having reversed past us at 22:45.

Mikron van hiding at Blisworth, wonder if it has a name?

We could hang around for a couple of days and share the locks southwards with NB Tyseley the Mikron boat, but that wouldn’t get us a Saturday newspaper or our wine stocks replenished. Hopefully the weather will improve, Mikron are loosing donations due to the bad weather. They had to perform a ‘radio’ version of their show the other night at The Admiral Nelson due to lack of space indoors for the full show.

0 locks, 4.4 miles, 1 straight on, 1 spring sprung, 1 pair glasses mended, 1 boozer exterior finished, 10 hanging baskets, 2nd sock new and improved version started, 9 pouches of edible food again.

https://goo.gl/maps/U73bAmiCf8HV4jTBA

Tall Tales. 12th June

Bugbrooke Bridge to Nightingales Bridge 46 ish

Another miserable day in the making. At least it started off dry, for a while. All the boats around us moved off and carried on their journey and it was soon time for us to do the same. With Stoke Bruerne flight closed we decided to move along to before Gayton, mooring up where Tilly could go off and explore.

I helped push off and then left Mick to it whilst I did some work below. I’d been putting off checking a few things out on my ground plan for panto. So I started the day with the drawing board out. I made a list of potential problems and then worked my way through them. Details of the trap in the stage had only just been confirmed, the size and position having changed a touch since last year! It didn’t matter for Aladdin, but this year it does. A bit of problem solving and I have a couple of options.

Mick moved us on, far less traffic on the cut than in the last few days, most probably due to the broken lock ahead. He pulled us in after almost three miles cruising at the last big M on our map before Gayton Junction. Here there is armco to make it easier to moor, but the trains are quite close. Trains are a feature of the Grand Union Canal that you have to get used to. The line does move away at times but hugs the canal the remainder of the way to London.

Seven Hours! Blimey! What could I do with all that time?! No need for it to rain as the grass was good and soaking which got me very wet too. Marvellous.

More of my model got painted this afternoon and Mick went for a walk up to the junction to see what he could see and give me a bit more room to work. He returned just after it started to rain again, I made him some room on the table in return for him not nudging it too much as I painted thin lines of turquoise and dark red.

If you are looking for something to help fill these rather wet times avoiding being outside, can I point you in the direction of a friends blog. Jan is a story teller based in Edinburgh (Link to her blog). She is also a Theatre Designer, textile artist and curator. Last July Jan joined the crew of tall ship Tenacious as a volunteer, hauling sails, climbing the rigging, hearing and telling stories. This year she is aiming to tell tales on ten tall ships and will be joining the crew on board The Lord Nelson sailing up the Norwegian Coast as part of the tall ships race. The first posts on her blog take her to the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies, she featured on Ramblings on Radio 4.

Stay dry. Oh, this afternoon there was an update on Stoke Bruerne (on the website not an email) saying that the locks are open again, so dependant on how much water is falling from the sky I will either be working or we’ll be heading to descend the locks. Fingers crossed.

0 locks, 2.72 miles, 1 dry start, 1 very wet end, 62 trains, 1 tail held high, 6 hours of soggy moggy, 1 hour of exhaustion, 1 set of new tenants, 1 hat (of mine) headed for the high seas this summer, 10 tall ships, many tales, 900mm wide not 700, 1 trap a touch bigger than planned.

https://goo.gl/maps/1MeiiqtN2h4DELau8

Waiting Out The Rain. 7th June

Around about Bridge 80 to around about Bridge 87

The forecast was for rain, followed by more rain and then…. yep you’ve guessed it, more rain until about 4pm.

The blog took an annoying amount of time to sort, the internet being so intermittent. Just when you thought it was all sorted and eventually uploaded, I’d put it into preview mode and not only did the photos not appear but half of what I’d written had too! After a lot of frustration I gave up, I didn’t want today just to be about the blog, a rainy day meant I should be getting on with some work.

I headed off into the woods. Once the trees had been climbed, I’d done quite a lot of that yesterday, Then some pouncing, I wandered that little bit further. There was a big brick wall. I prefer stone canal walls as they are climbable after some calculations. But this wall had very little claw factor (C) 0.1, Height (H) 1.3 trees high, Friendly cover (FC) 0, Angle (A) 90, Breakfast (B) 15 biscuits, wetness (W) 7.4, Tilly (T) 100%.

Drying off before my next adventure outside

I did my calculations (B x C $} T/W ~ FC x 0.7>A^H+C = :(abort attempt. Back to putting my arms down holes and climbing trees. After an hour or so the wetness rose to 8.2 time to dry off!

I drew out my scenery, everything starting from one point on the whole set means it takes a bit of marking up, but I got there in the end. It will be me painting this part of the scenery, I need to either simplify the floor design or manage to find a very quick way of marking it out.

We waited for the rain to ease. NB Chertsey braved the rain as did several hire boats. Every now and then the patter of rain stopped on the roof, Mick would look out of the windows, but by the time he’d stood up the rain had started again. At around 4:30 he decided to move. The annoying internet could not be lived with for any longer and we both knew what happened to Douglas Bader. Getting closer to Braunston would be good for tomorrow and hopefully improve the signal.

We cruised only a couple of miles, to be within eye and ear shot of the Banger Spire of Braunston. Internet signal was checked, good, so we pulled in. Tilly went out and explored again, Mick got the stove going and we enjoyed the last of the pancake batter from the freezer.

With only one thing left in the icy box that went into the fridge for tomorrow night and the power was turned off at last. Just how long has it taken to empty the freezer!? But now that mission was accomplished. It will defrost over night have a clean, then be lifted out of the drawer to see if we can improve it’s ventilation anymore. Fingers crossed our combined skills can come up with something.

0 locks, 1.99 miles, 1 very wet day, 1 very wet cat, she may as well have fallen in! 664 inmates not the 625 it was built for, 2 hours wasted, 3 portals, 1 floor, 1 back cloth started, 2 much grey paint mixed, 2 savoury, 2 sweat pancakes each, 1 instep on its way.

https://goo.gl/maps/xEYdonZdeEMZacuh8

On The Flat to Our Destination. 4th June

Power Station Footbridge to Broughton Road Bridge 59

There are advantages of working whilst we cruise on the flat. Today that advantage was that I stayed dry, well most of the time.

Quite a soggy day really. Mick prepared well with coat and a brolly. Normally on days like today we’d not bother moving, but we needed to be in Rugby by the end of the day. We pushed off a little after 10am then I retired below to get on with work.

First the M6 sits along side the canal, then after a few minor wiggles the West Coast Main line joins and sits right along side for several miles. Mick was treated to quite a lot of trains wizzing by. I popped out on deck in case my assistance was needed to get through the swing bridge at Rose Narrowboats. At first it was across the cut, but then it swung out of the way. No need for me to step off.

A boat was coming towards us but we were already through the narrow section before they had negotiated the bridge ahead. Mick pulled us into the side and let them and a second hire boat pass before we carried on.

She doesn’t mind the rain, she just keeps on smiling

Down below I decided to start again on my over all paint scheme for panto. So I redrew out a sample piece, based it in and then started a fresh. My design is based on some photos of the underground that took my fancy, yesterday I’d got carried away and possibly veered bit too far away from what I liked about the images. Today I stuck to the bits that I liked the most and adapted them to what I was after.

Of course halfway through the penny dropped and I knew which way I should take the main setting, this was no longer possible on the sample I was doing, but if I’d not done it then the penny wouldn’t have dropped.

There was a space at All Oaks Wood, so we pulled up for lunch. We’ve never seen a space here before and have often carried on a touch further to where there is a view overlooking a farm and a great field to play in for Tilly. But this was only a brief stop and we were on our way again shortly.

A boat pulled out from Brinklow Marina and took his time weaving back and forth across the cut slowing our progress somewhat. Below deck at Newbold Tunnel Tilly was awake. She really is flummoxed by them. Despite the cabin lights being on for me to work she quickly notices that the outside lights have been turned out. I’m really perturbed that She didn’t seem too bothered by the situation so tried running around to make her aware of the problem. She still took no notice so only one thing for it but to shout to Tom at the back doors! He ignored me too!! Eventually someone turned the lights back on.

A chap on the towpath asked Mick if he’d seen a boat! He’d popped down to Tescos for some shopping (not on his person) and when he’d come back the boat had gone. Maybe they were on a hire boat, confined spaces and some people just don’t get on, so they’d left him!

We carried on slowly to the water point where the slow boat moored up. Our destination a short distance further on, just as well as just about all the moorings were taken. We found a spot with not too much tree coverage and let Tilly out, lit the stove to help Mick warm up and finally got to eat our barbecue supplies we bought a week ago. All was cooked inside out of the rain and very tasty it was too.

0 locks , 12.66 miles, 1 swing bridge swung, 1 rainy day, 2nd go at painting, 3rd idea, 1 slow boat, 1 lost boat, 1 destination reached.

https://goo.gl/maps/VHxugQJkGa132mB38

A Lot Quicker. 3rd June

Whitley Bridge 47 to Power Station Footbridge, Oxford Canal

Better weather today and an earlier start for us than normal, we had water to cover.

Boats were already going up the locks ahead of us so we pulled out and joined in. NB Piglet was just pulling out of the first lock of the day, NB Trinity waiting below, we pulled up to wait our turn. The pound between this and the next lock is quite short, NB Piglet and NB Trinity ended up both sitting waiting in it, the level slightly low.

Up went Piglet, I waited for Trinity to start emptying the lock before I started to fill the lower one, not wanting to steal the water that was keeping them afloat. We then pulled out and awaited our turn as a single hander came down.

The pound between locks 8 and 7 was quite low, a couple of boats moored on it were definitely sat on the bottom. NB Trinity was having difficulty getting into the next lock. Pulling on the bow line didn’t help, pushing them over to the other side didn’t either. So some water was let down hoping to lift them off of the bottom and get into the lock. With water coming down and a diagonal pull on the bow they got moving just as two C&RT volunteer Lockies arrived. They set about running more water down to try to return the pound to a better level without starving others above.

Our turn, we suspected our draught was deeper. Oleanna got stuck sooner, Mick reversed her back a touch and tried a different line. Definitely a build up of silt from a bywash, he got her closer to the lock where she stopped again. I got the bow rope, water was let down and bursts of engine got her moving again and over the lump into the lock. Apparently they had had a single hander on the flight who’d been leaving paddles up, not good practice espcially when there isn’t plenty of water about!

Some boats were pausing for lunch in the longer pound, others stopping to go shopping, but we carried on, too far to go today and the locks were taking that bit longer than normal. More water was let down by the lockies doing their best to get boats floating again. One chap came past enquiring as to when his boat would be off the bottom, just as water was flowing straight through a lock. Have to say if that was us, we’d move our boat at the first opportunity not stay put for a full two weeks and complain about it. But each to their own!

We carried on up, boats now coming down the flight, most stopping to wait above lock 5 and taking advantage of the water point there. A slight pause below lock 2 for a boat coming downhill and then we were on our way again and at the top of the flight. After half a mile or so we pulled over for some lunch before carrying on.

I retired below to work as Mick pootled us through Mancetter, Hartshill, past our favourite mooring near Springwood Haven, slow going through Nuneaton.

At Marston Junction I stuck my hand out of the side hatch to give navigational direction to keep going straight.

I only just made it out in time to take a photo of the last mannequins at Charity Wharf before they all disappeared behind the willow trees.

Approaching Hawkesbury Junction the moorings were full, a couple of git gaps with familiar culprets in the middle of them. Mick carried on would we have arrived in time to get a mooring anywhere?

I hopped off at the Engine House Footbridge and walked across the grass to Sutton Stop Lock. A Kate Hire boat was coming the other way, the lock in their favour. Outside the pub was heaving and a young lady stopped and asked for directions to the Ricoh Arena. I was able to point her in the right direction to follow the canal.

The hire boat were wanting to moor up in front of the pub,I suggested that was maybe not such a good idea as the 180 degree turn from the Coventry Canal for a 70ft boat would necessitate the full amount of space there. They’d be shouted at by the first boat to come through, as soon as they were out of the lock they could see what I meant and rounded the bend to find a mooring.

Up we went and then started to look for somewhere to pull up. Rather than moor right on a bend we carried on and found space where we’d moored last year very close to the power station. We’d reached our destination with enough time for Tilly to do some hunting and Mick to have a towpath haircut.

Patterns and colour, still some way to go

Today we passed through the pound from Atherstone to Hawkesbury in 5 hours 13 minutes, last year it took us 32 days, 2 hours and 55 minutes!

As the evening went on we could hear music from the Arena. Sadly I hadn’t spotted any ticket towts near the Greyhound Inn so we had to make do with the muffled music from the Arena. A shame as Mick had so wanted to see the Spice Girls!

10 locks, 12.96 miles, 2 canals, 1 straight on, 180 degrees left, 2 stuck boats, 15 tissues all day, 1 painting scheme started, 2 friends, 1 quite tasty, 1 sour dough loaf, 4 Spice Girls, 0 tickets.

https://goo.gl/maps/fbTniCBmaKiQt7HJA

The Secret Passageway. 28th May

Sandy Lane Bridge to Tixall Wide, Staffordshire and Worcester Canal

Because Mick is snotty and cross contamination isn’t wanted I’m trying out the sofa bed. This confused Tilly somewhat last night. First there was the excitement of me pulling out the pouffe from under the shelving. This reveals a secret passage behind the sofa. I know it’s there and quite often try to dig it out, emptying the shelves of leaflets and books, but this never works. But tonight it was there, open for me, just there!

What is down there? I hear you ask. Quite a few foil balls and some pens which are behaving themselves and staying on the floor, they did need rearranging though. She wanted to check that I was alright so I bobbed my head back out as everything changed again! Wow!! Which way to go next. The secret passage had become wider, more obedient pens, but the sofa had also gone flat! Both were good until the sofa folded up again, I think it may have been a touch drunk as it had fallen over. A duvet was brought out from the other side of the secret passageway and the sofa went flat again. All this excitement, but then I realised that the sofa being flat meant there was no easy access to the window above.

When the lights went out I didn’t know what to do. I normally spend most of the night keeping her toes warm and ‘hogging the duvet’. ‘How can such a little one take up half the bed?’ That bit’s easy. So Tom was on his own, leaving half the bed just for me, but he was making noises! She was on the drunk sofa, plenty of space for me, but did I trust it? Better to be safe and sleep on the cushion.

Boats were coming past us early, we’d not be first to Weston Lock. When we were ready we could see in the distance a couple of boats coming towards us, both taking their time if they were moving at all, so we pulled out and headed for the lock. There a boat was just finishing going down and NB Ondina the oilboat was waiting to come up. NB Grace pulled up once out of the lock to stock up, once the transaction was done they came into the lock and rose. Mick wandered down and placed an order for 10 L of 15W/40. As soon as Ondina had risen enough the chap hopped down and delved into the front of the boat bringing out two plastic 5L bottles. The transaction was completed as the top gate opened along with the heavens.

Wonderful shape, just in need of some TLC

Behind us two boats waited to follow us down another arriving to come up. On we pootled past alpacas and old caravans. Apparently Llamas have banana shaped ears and Alpacas straight ones, you learn something new.

Hoo Mill Lock the last for today, we hoped, if our plan of drawing the crowds away to the north of the Trent and Mersey had worked. The water point at Great Haywood Junction was busy, two boats already filling. There was space on the end for us to wait, then another boat arrived and pulled alongside. As one space became available it was easier for the newly arrived boat to move up then we’d pull back when the other became free.

As we filled we were joined by a hire boat and another boat waited through the bridge for their turn, all very busy. Two boats turned at the junction towards Tixall Wide, would there be enough space for all of us? How many git gaps?

We turned onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to see if our luck was in. Coming round the bend we could see boats, but there were also some spaces. The prime position is a mooring with a view of Tixall Gate House. The spaces we could see were just before this. Ahead a hire boat was plonked right in the middle of a two boat gap. The young crew said hello and then started to untie, yes! We winded and pulled in, nudging up to the boat in front.

Our view isn’t quite as good as it could have been. We can see the gate house, just. If only a bit more offside pruning had been done!

An afternoon of hunting, blowing a nose and finishing off my model. I then took a full set of photos ready to do a story board tomorrow which I’ll upload to Dropbox for everyone’s reference.

2 locks, 4.46 miles, 1 right, 1 wind, 1 wet morning, 10 litres 15W/40, 2 Dreamies (only) a visit, 1 box of tissues nearly finished, 1 drunk sofa, 5 obedient pens, 2 pencils, 1 mooring with a view, 1 model finished.

https://goo.gl/maps/qX1Zd6PKrKDmWLJi8

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna