The roofers delivered various ladders to the house today. Their van was still not mended, but they promised to arrive early tomorrow. Mick happened to be out buying a visor so that he could trim away the undergrowth that is taking over the garden again. If only the gardener who’d come round in February had actually come good! If only the roofers would get started with the roof!
My assistant having a lazy morning!
On Oleanna I got on with trying to sort out just where abouts things should be positioned on stage. Shapes and the overall look of everything put on the back burner for a while until I’d worked out the formula for the hanging plot (which flying bars scenery gets hung on).
Sticky!
As Tilly went out I noticed she walked around the edge of the stern. As she lifted each paw she gave it a flick as she does when things are wet or muddy. Gosh the stern was looking very shiny. Later on I stepped on it myself and I think I managed to lift some of the paint, it sticking to the soles of my shoes! I gave it a good wash down with canal water to stop it being SO sticky. Shade is one thing, not that it does much on the mooring, but we’re going to need a drive through boat wash very soon, otherwise we’ll all be like flies stuck to fly paper!!
My walk today was up to Woodlesford Station, to see how long it would take me to hobble there, the timing factored into tomorrows schedule, an early start required. I didn’t go much further just a look at the pub and the church next door which turned out to look more like a private residence with curtains swagged in the windows and a big gate baring entry.
Sketch groundplans
The afternoon I sketched out some groundplans, translating the hanging plot onto a groundplan is always a brain ache for panto. If you nudge that bit upstage then there will be big holes visible into the wings. But reducing gaps can mean there’s not enough room to get things on and off stage. This is a big problem in such a small theatre as Chippy, the audience sit right up to the proscenium arch, so they can see all the way into the wings, but not see anything on their side of the stage. If you ever go, don’t be tempted by these seats, not unless all you want to do is be seen by the audience!
Woodlesford wooden crow
Then there’s the problem of where to put the musicians! I really preffered it when they were in the auditorium, but for some reason they have to be on stage again this year. They either take up acting area or storage room for scenery and props.
I did get to the point of doing some sketches of how things might look, there’s still plenty more of that to come.
No need for an alarm clock this morning, Off Roader came past at 6:45, it was going slowly but still the size of it doesn’t half make Oleanna bump about a bit. When I next woke up I turned my phone off airplane mode only for it to ring immediatly! It was Frank asking me to do a bit of his medical PA work. Phone numbers were exchanged only for me to find out the number was incorrect, someone would have to wait a little while longer to hear the news from Frank. The day would be peppered with messages and phone calls on behalf of Frank who yesterday had keyhole surgery and by the end of today was tucking himself up in his own bed at home.
I couldn’t see a cut on the back of the tyre
Tilly was given shore leave and vanished for a few hours only to return when I’d just got going on my first Teams meeting with John in Chippy regarding panto. John and I caught up on news and how he felt last years panto had gone. The Chippy audience are a vocal lot and the local crowd had found Cinderella set in Columbia the year before a step too far. So John’s choice of twists to story lines are a little more traditional at the moment. Beauty and the Beast is still set in a foreign country though, closer to home in France in the 1890’s.
The meeting went well, we chatted through all the scenes, what was needed for each along with what wasn’t needed. My 335 photos were appreciated , favourites pulled out and taken note of. Two locations were altered requiring me to do a bit more research after our meeting, my pinterest board now having 370 images pinned to it.
Close to where HS2 was to be
I needed a walk to think things over, so opted to walk towards Leeds in the sunshine. Pacing and thinking is good along with looking at the scenery. Two ladies sped past me as I hobbled along, I suspect they were out doing the same thing but without an injured calf. I did better than I thought I would, just hope I haven’t pushed my calf too much today.
Whitby
In Scarborough with no roofers due today, Mick opted to get on the bus up to Whitby. This was a very popular route and as it went through places like Goathland it even had a recorded commentary for the passengers. Then onto another bus to bring him back over the moors past Fylingdales where the giant golf balls used to be when I was a kid. He opted to hop off the bus in Thornton le Dale a very pretty village with a stream running through it, and caught a more direct bus back to Scarborough. He had a phone call confirming a booking at a marina we’d been waiting to hear about too. A jolly day out on the North Yorkshire Moors.
Ready to start sketching in the morning
I made contact with the costume designer for panto and had a bit of a chat with Paul the Technical Manager, he’s considering purchasing a narrowboat in the next few years, so I suspect there will be lots of boaty conversation when I’m in Chippy. The printer decided to have a wobble, but I got things to print out in the end. Blanks for sketch groundplans and a blank for the storyboard. With these done I decided to give myself the evening off rather than getting only so far into the next phase before bedtime.
0 locks, 0 miles, 4 hours shore leave for 1 cat, 90 minutes for 1 human, 2.94 miles walked, 52 minutes briskly, 7 hours at work, 370 pins, 2 new locations, 0 new flying bars, 0 roofers! 1 Frank at home 2 days earlier than suggested.
A day of work and opening and closing doors and hatches for Tilly to come and go. She wasn’t too bad and with the heat of the day she mostly stayed asleep either on top of the drawing board slot or the bed. I think I should feature in panto this year! What do you think?
First thing was to open as many windows as I could, get some cool air into the boat. I suceeded and ended up having to wear a jumper until lunchtime, but I’m sure it made for a cooler day at the office overall. This mooring isn’t as shaded as the one we tried earlier plus it has the disadvantage of sticky overhanging trees, so it’s a good job I’d not got round to giving Oleanna a good old wash down.
The morning was spent re-reading Act 1 of the script, then looking out for more references. The afternoon was the same for Act 2. All references were put on Pinterest a handy tool, but from past experience if you share your boards with someone you may not end up looking at the same picture as they get jumbled up. So much of the evening was spent thinning them down in number and downloading them into a folder to share with John.
I’ve a few ideas formulating. Last time I did some sketches before our first meeting, then had to redo quite a lot of the work after talking to John, so I’ve held back from that so far, hopefully tomorrows meeting will be a good one and then I can get sketching.
One of the houses in the woods
In house news, the roofers arrived, delivered some materials, then went off to finish another job! Later in the day Mick heard their van had broken down so they’d be back with us on Wednesday morning. Mick believes them.
Six boats have been past all day. The first I knew was coming as Oleanna started to move about a LOT. It could only have been Off Roader. I’m kind of glad we moved moorings as she would have just started to pick up speed where we were before, so the wash would have been much bigger.
Gruffalo
Two boats pulled out from near our mooring. I strongly suspect one of them has a separating toilet and had off loaded their yellow water bottle very close to Oleanna’s side hatch this morning! I’m hoping the smell doesn’t return tomorrow.
Snow drifts
After lunch I went to stretch my legs and walk up the other side of the cut to see what a garden area was all about. Carved Gruffalos, the donkey from Puss in Boots. Further along the path there were houses in amongst the trees. Add to that seed filled snow drifts, it was really quite magical. I managed a few brisk hobbles before I got back to the boat, but nowhere near my usual. My calf just needs to take it easy for a while.
0 locks, 0 miles, 6 boats, 1 big bugger, 327 pins, 300 copied,1 hour of PA conversations, 1 FRIEND, 4 hours shore leave, 1.46 miles, 14 minutes brisk, 1 pile of roofing stuff, 0 roofer, 1 pair of socks hand delivered, 1 cat trying to pose for panto.
The wrong type of rain, moving kitchens, the one perfect rose, 4 clicks and it being a 2 slice Sunday were all subjects discussed this morning. I’d already had two slices of toast with my breakfast, bacon a serious treat this year nestled next to them.
Yum!
The Geraghty zoom had also been a try out to check if online meetings this week would be any good. Well I think we got away with it, but that wasn’t really good enough, especially when the IT department would be over an hour away by train! The other factor for moving was the large hole in the bank close by our stern and an inquisitive cat! We most probably moor close to such things all the time, but just knowing of its existence made us want to move up some.
Mick checked the EE coverage, not too far away it improved, he went for a bike ride, there was space, we’d move up.
I was about to push off when Mick reminded me we needed to deal with the yellow water tank today. Once that was done we waited for an ex-hire boat to come past, we’d be sharing the next lock with them. As we pootled along Oleanna’s engine hours clicked over to 6000!
Blue skies and anglers
The lady hopped off with windlass in hand, she won’t be needing that until they get to Leeds, she came back for a Key of Power. I chatted to the chap, the usual things, where have you come from, where you going?
They’d been in Sheffield for 18 months, been to York and got stuck in the floods (that must have been a few months ago) and were now aiming for Manchester. They weren’t aware of the immanent closure of the Leeds Liverpool Canal, currently planned to close on the 27th May, lock flights padlocked and locks ashed up. He thought if they were already on the canal then CRT would let them off the other end. Well, no, closed, means closed!
6,000 engine hours!
In the lock he was asking Mick how long it would take to get to the bottom of Wigan, 50 hours to my reckoning. So it’s doable if you don’t get stuck on the bottom or have to go to work four days a week as the chap does! We suggested he signs up for CRT stoppage notices.
We topped up the water tank and pootled on a little further before winding and mooring up. Plenty to keep Tilly occupied here so long as there’s not too many woofers and humans wanting to give me a stroke. Sorry to the passers-by who instead of a head nudge got a very aggressive HISS!
Strutting the towpath
Summer clothes were dug out from under the bed, serious winter jumpers and jeans that no longer fit me got tucked away. The drawing board came out from it’s slot, not sure I’ll get to use it in the next few days, but you never know and it’s hard for one person to get out.
Some more reference pictures were put together. Art Nouveau, roses, tents.
Mick headed off mid afternoon to catch the train back to Scarborough, roofing works starting in the morning.
To use up some butter beans left over from a warm chicken salad we had the other day I put together a Yaxni. I’d not heard of it before, a Greek potato stew. My version will definitely be made again and I’ve got enough left over for another day. Click the photo for the recipe.
Pip’s Yaxni
1 lock, 6000 engine hours, 1 boat now on a mission, 1 boat settling down for a while to work, 1 cat, 82 trees, 288 pictures, 1 improved internet, 1 worse TV signal, 1 PA check in, 1 teams meeting to Scarborough, 1000 paces hobbled, 0 brisk minutes, 2 legs having a rest, pair 67 cast on.
Spicers Auctioneers to Sykehouse Junction, New Junction Canal
Was it a cat last night or the ghost of one?
With the washing drawer now empty and socks and pants fully dried in the tumble drier we could move on. First to the water point to fill with clean water, empty the yellow and put our first food waste into the new bins. A bag of coal was also purchased from the marina.
As I sat waiting for the tank to fill I watched social media following the campaign boats now out on the River Thames. So many boats had moored at Limehouse Basin last night there were quite a few lockings required. Once outside the Houses of Parliament the boats winded and stemmed the tide waiting for 11am when all 27 boats sounded their horns. King Charles went past them on an Uber Boat, he was there to look at the new super sewer really. They then all headed back down stream to West India Dock where they all fitted into the one lock to get off the tidal waters.
Boats all gathered in Limehouse Basin ready for the off
We winded again and headed down to Viking Marina service mooring. Here we pulled alongside NB Felix that was having some work done by Alastair to it’s gear box. The diesel tank was topped up, not quite to the top, when it reached 100 litres the pump stopped automatically, 89p a litre. We were actually a day early tomorrow the price will go down to 82p with the next delivery. A bottle of gas was manhandled along the gunnels to the bow, we were all topped up and ready to go again.
A sailing ship
Ahead in the docks were a couple of new boats. One looked a touch strange and a bit too tall! Amadeus Saffir is a modern boat, built last year, with a wind-assist system, basically it has sails to help reduce it’s fuel consumption further than it’s diesel-electric propulsion can. An interesting boat.
Off Roader about to pass Oleanna
Time to head off. I hitched a ride to Rawcliffe where I jumped off behind Syntan to walk the remainder of the way to Sykehouse Junction and the New Junction Canal. Mick headed off at usual cruising speed along these deep wide waterways, far quicker than I could walk, so he soon vanished into the distance after passing Off Roader that was on it’s return trip from Leeds. As it approached the anglers all shouted to each other to grab their keep nets, otherwise their catch would be dragged away from them as the big boat passed.
Not much grass growing
The area where the bank has been mended seriously needs a good water to help the grass grow. A nice aspect for a mooring, just a shame the M18 was audible and the cooling towers of Drax were just out of view.
As I approached the houses by Beaver Bridge a security system sprung into action. A loud BEEP then the camera with two flashing white lights followed my every move along the towpath. I wonder whether it caught me pausing for a quite a while at the bridge.
Look at these beauties
Here a pair of (I think) juvenile Peacocks were just as interested in me as I was them. Where had they come from? We’ve passed a barge with a peacock on it’s roof before at Rawcliffe and there is a peacock farm in Holme on Spalding Moor, but surely that’s too far away for them to have escaped from. All the same they kept me captivated for quite a while.
Chocka block
A big fishing match was taking place at the reservoir, anglers crammed in next to each other. As I turned onto the New Junction Mick messaged me saying Tilly was coming to find me. Well I was obviously too scary and she ran away back to Oleanna despite me calling for her. Hey ho! She did go back out and enjoyed much of her four hours, in fact she needed quite a bit of encouragement to come home!
I’d planned to go through the panto script again today making lists, but emails came through from John (writer/director) with various notes about the show and then a long list of people who have applied to be props maker this year. Sadly the wonderful Jo can’t give enough time to the show anymore, I knew this was likely as we’d chatted last year, so I wasn’t surprised. So now I need to go through CVs to see who should be considered. There is one name I know in the pile, but would they be the best person for the job?
This evening I’ve tried out a new gluten free pasta recipe, I made up a lasagne which we haven’t had for ages. A third each instead of half proved to be ample portions, one third left over for a working girl when she’s on her own.
0 locks, 6.6 miles, 2 winds, 1 left, 25kg coal, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 100 litres diesel, 1 gas bottle, 0 Alfie, 4.28 miles walked, 71 minutes briskly, 2 sails, 6 prop makers, 3 emails, 0 notes, 4 hours shore leave, no you can’t give this mooring yet another stamp of approval Tilly!
At around 2am I was woken by a noise. The sort of noise that Tilly occasionally creates when she pears out of the bathroom porthole and moves the glass a little and it clinks against the frame. There was no Tilly curled up on the bed with me, maybe she was peeking out of the porthole. I went to see what was happening asking her to keep the noise down.
She was curled up on the sofa, nowhere near the porthole.
The lights at the auctioneers are really quite bright, I’d considered putting a bung in the bathroom porthole but hadn’t got round to it. I could see the shadow of a figure sat outside. I peeked round the glass just how Tilly does.
Sat staring straight at me was a smoky grey cat. I said hello, it didn’t reply. It leant forward and tried to open the window again, no luck. It peered over it’s shoulder then back at me. I closed the window expecting it to run away, but no it just sat there.
“Sorry Tilly’s not coming out to play tonight, she doesn’t like cats“, I said. It still didn’t reply. I closed the porthole and put the bung in, that should stop it from trying to break in again.
Across the docks
A walk after breakfast for some supplies. Down to Ocean Lock, across the top gates then into town. A stop off at Boyes to see if they had a caddy for our food waste, they did. Then on to Morrisons for the rest of of the shopping and some suitable liners for the caddy. Goole has the first food waste bin we’ve seen, (CRT is introducing better recycling across the network) so we need to start doing our bit, not that we didn’t before. Just need to find somewhere in the small galley to keep the caddy!
A small caddy in a small galley
An email came from John Terry at Chippy regarding a scene in panto with a link to show what was meant. When reading the script yesterday I’d got a little confused at a scene in Act 2, things seemed to jump, then jump back. A previous version of the scene had somehow got mixed into the pdf I’d been sent. By lunchtime I had a tidied up version of the script 10 pages shorter. John had been in a rush to get a script to me before last weekend. Time to sit down and re-read the script this time highlighting bits as I went on the computer, I’ll print it out later.
Hope the slate floor survives!
Mick arrived back from Scarborough, the next stage of works completed at the house and an annual check up at the doctors all done. He was told he needed to be quiet as I still had more to read, this time it making a lot more sense, well as much as a Panto ever does!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 train, 1 new caddy, 1 rucksack not zipped up properly, 0 shopping lost, phew! 1 cat burglar, 1 sleeping guard cat, version 1.2 of panto read and noted, 2 ships, 4.12 miles walked, 65 minutes briskly.
Tilly was allowed some more shore leave as we had breakfast, She could have taken the full 90 minutes, but chose to come in a while before it elapsed, the doors did not reopen. Overnight the laptop had finished doing what it had been doing for over 24 hours and thankfully all the folders and photos had synced too!
Yesterday the temperature had dropped, today it came accompanied by quite a head wind as we moved off. Blimey oh riley it was perishing out there! Extra layers had been donned but really weren’t enough, I looked forward to getting back inside to be by the stove.
Approaching Whitley Lock
At Whitley Lock we’d just been beaten by the crew from a small cruiser, he’d not seen us approaching and had just started to drop the full lock for his boat. Oh well. I asked how far they were going today, he said ‘we’re aiming to get to Manchester’. He did know that would be impossible to achieve today! He wasn’t sure which route they’d be taking, although the Leeds Liverpool is the only route across the Pennines that is currently open.
Anglers as far as the eye could see
By the time I’d penned them up another boat was arriving below so I could hop onboard and let the next crew operate the lock for us. It seemed to be getting colder as the morning continued, a little jig was required to keep from getting frost bite or so it seemed. Along the next three miles or so, anglers lined the banks, a chilly pass time for this Bank Holiday Monday.
Off Roader the new working barge on the Aire and Calder
At Pollington Lock a lady beat me to the top lock panel, she opened the full lock for us. Below there were two boats waiting to come up, a narrowboat just appearing in the distance and the huge Off Roader Commercial Barge moored up on the lower lock landing. I opted to get back onboard and travel down with Oleanna, resting my key of power.
A lovely little boat waiting to go up
A cruiser was clinging onto the side of Off Roader just where the strong bywash wanted to send us. Mick had to seriously up the revs to avoid any possibility of contact.
The rifle range was very busy, we could hear them from miles away. Zooming in, there seemed to be crowds lining up to shoot guns, not an obvious choice for a Bank Holiday Monday for us. At Sykehouse Reservoir windsurfers zoomed across the lake with the force of the wind.
NORF!
Straight on for us today, round the corner to face Drax Power Station. This is normally a sight we see at the end of our boating year, but it’s far from that now.
Syntan
Heading towards Rawcliffe we could see quite a big boat approaching us. Was this Syntan, one of the Beverley Barges? I’d spotted on their Facebook group that they have moved their boats to Rawcliffe as the River Hull is currently closed due to collapsing banks. They must have sneaked past the banks to have got to the Aire and Calder. They are running boat trips for members from Goole throughout May. To become a member is only £10 which includes a ride on Syntan, we may consider joining.
Hard to recognise under all the layers
As we passed we waved and had our photo taken. Hang on, did we know the chap at the helm? Jeremy used to be the Production Manager at Watford Palace Theatre when I worked there many moons ago. He’s lived in Beverley for some years now and I knew he was connected to the barges. We last saw him at Lizzie’s 50th last year. I waved even more, but then Mick pointed out that he’d have no chance of seeing who we were due to all our layers!
They came into Goole to wind later, I wasn’t quick enough to say hello.
On into Goole. Where to moor? We ended up opting for a paid for mooring outside what used to be the Waterways Museum, now Spicers Auctioneers. The office was closed but word was to pay in the pub at the marina, £15 a night including electric. The stove could be allowed to go out and the Alde boiler could take over the heating whilst plugged in, the washing machine could also go on too.
Mick packed a bag, another trip to Scarborough tonight. We walked into town, Mick to the station and me to Tescos for something to eat this evening.
Back on board it was time to do some work. Whilst this lot prints itself out I’m going to take you back to the beginning of February when I received a two sentence email.
How was life without a panto?! Would you be interested in discussing this coming winter’s show, or was life better without?
When this arrived we were on our way back from visiting boat painters in Cheshire. Mick immediately and rightly reeled off the cons for doing panto again. The way it takes over both our lives for months and me being away for four to five weeks during rehearsals were the main ones. On my next walk I thought about it. I realised I’d been hoping such an email would land, but did I want to do panto again?
If it was possible to get the show designed earlier in the year, that would free up more time for boating in the summer. The first few years of working on Panto we were living onboard full time so Oleanna was on the South Oxford Canal, meaning I could return home at weekends. Maybe this would make sense to do again and then work our way back north around stoppages to reach the boat painters at New Year (rivers dependant). This would mean Oleanna could be lifted out, saving us some money on our CRT licence until she’s been painted. Also being there a few months before our slot means we might be able to be painted earlier if someone gets stuck because of flooding.
We don’t like leaving the house unoccupied during the winter, but if we can get some actors from the Christmas show in Scarborough that would be perfectly timed. In the last month we’ve already got one of our favourite actresses booked in! Just need another to bring the plan fully together.
With building work happening at the house over the next couple of months, we’ll have quite a few days where we won’t be cruising. So instead I can spend days working, spread out in the boat, whilst Mick is at the house overseeing things.
So, I have obviously said yes to Chippy Panto.
So today I started work. Time to read the script for Beauty and The Beast. Tilly wasn’t too enthralled so decided to empty the washing drawer instead! Thanks Tilly! It took me until 10pm to read through the first draft of the script.
On work days I’m wanting to concentrate on working, so we get to enjoy full days boating when we can. I’m hoping to still post everyday, but they may well be short posts, we’ll see. I’m aware that some of our readers now attend Chippy Panto on an annual basis, who knows more may go this year too, so I’ll do my best not to post too many spoilers.
2 locks, 14.7 miles, 1 straight on, 24567 anglers, 1 bitter day, 2 many layers, 4 sails, £15 a night, 0.75 of water, 1 load washing, 1 train, 3.29 miles walked, 43 brisk minutes, 1st reading of 128 pages, 1 panto out of the bag, 1 model box still in the cupboard, 1 Indian meal for 1, 1 bored cat, 1 woofer in Panto, 0 cats in Panto, She should have turned it down!
With a few days before the next suitable tide for us to return downstream from Cromwell we have some spare time around Newark. Ten years ago we spent the winter months here so got to know it pretty well.
Town Lock newly painted
This morning there was a prescription to collect from Boots, grub screws to be hunted out as we’ve lost one from the handle of the front door. I’d come across mention of an artisan gluten free bakers, that had to be worth a visit and maybe even a suspension of my current avoidance of baked goods.
We set off individually, I headed to the bins by the flood lock trying to clock up brisk walking minutes and then into town crossing over Town Lock and up to near the castle where there is this house for sale.
Grade 2 with period charm!
Round the shops and the Friday market. No bakers in Chain Lane sadly, just cuddly toy pastries, pies and cakes in one window.
The market wasn’t half the size we remembered it to be and just where was that really good tool and hardware stall, nowhere to be seen. Maybe this was the wrong day for them. Some clothes, plants, a glutenfilled bakers and what seemed to be a cauliflower stall, the white heads piled up and very few other veg visible.
Guaranteed to be gluten free
Into Boyes, would they have grub screws, nope! A walk down the other end of town where Wilkos used to be, some new development going up there. With none of the smaller items on my list found I then walked up Barnby Gate to find Hills the art shop.
The market and Parish Church
But where was it? It’s always further than I think, but I was certain the shop front I stood in front of used to be the side with all the racks of paper and card. Next door thankfully showed signs of artist equipment. I went in.
I was after some heavy weight watercolour paper in an A3 pad and some mount board. I chatted to the assistant. They have had to let out part of the shop to keep going, their main business picture framing, the sale of the odd tube of white paint wouldn’t keep them going. We discussed watercolour paper pads, only one quite costly option, then mount board which was £10 a sheet! Flipping heck it’s been a while since I bought some. When the assistant returned with two very large sheets of mount I was told that they were £10 for A0, they could cut them in half, but half a sheet would still be £10. I chose to take all the sheet, but if they could cut them in half that would be far easier to store on Oleanna.
Cauliflowers and plants
Before I left with my big package under my arm I made sure I thanked them for still existing, finding a good art shop is getting harder and harder and certainly one with stock that you can look at and feel near impossible. I may even have said we’d come to Newark specifically for me to visit them, only half a lie.
Some pretty colours
Back at Oleanna we had lunch, Mick had succeeded in buying a pork pie. I wrote some more blog, quite a bit to catch up on and getting on for 700 photos from two days of the Fund Britain’s Waterways Cruise to edit.
Squeezed into the drawing board slot
The Brompton then accompanied us back into town, our chosen supermarket was to be Morrisons, here we hoped to find everything we’d want under one roof at a reasonable price. After an hour we headed back to Oleanna the Brompton earning it’s keep once again as a sherpa.
Mick also spent some of today trying to get tidal locks booked. The West Stockwith phone number was on answerphone and suggested to call the main CRT number, which he did. They said you should be able to book on the number he’d called, but try Keadby.
Loaded up
Times and dates were discussed with Mark at Keadby. Our original plan had been to head to Torksey, wait for the level to be right to go up the lock for Tilly to have some shore leave for a day, before making our way onto West Stockwith, then should the tides be right we’d carry on to Keadby the following day. However we’re now into neep tides and the likelihood of being able to get over the cill at Torksey was slim. Our message would be passed on to West Stockwith.
The Sonning no longer moored below the castle, now sold and possibly in Hull
Later the Lockie from West Stockwith called, he’d had a missed call. Times, dates and tides were discussed. We changed our plans. Up to Torksey, no point in waiting to see if there’d be enough water to go top side. Instead we’d head onwards to West Stockwith the following day and have a couple of days on the Chesterfield canal before carrying on to Yorkshire. We were booked in at all relevant locks, three more tidal days. However Mark at Keadby had mentioned that Vazon Sliding Bridge was currently out of action! This would mean we’d only be able to get to Keadby and not onwards to Thorne. We left our bookings as they were, there was no official stoppage notice from CRT. Should we need to find a different route in a weeks time then we’d look into going round Trent Falls/End as we have somewhere to be. Hopefully by then the bridge will be sorted and our original plan will still work.
The Palace Theatre panto cast
The Campaign Cruise made it to Nottingham County Hall steps yesterday, today they all cruised through Nottingham, some carrying on to the Soar, other stopping at Trent Lock where the Erewash, Soar and Trent all meet at one big cross roads.
Various photos and bits of footage have been gathering, so I thought I’d share them with you. Thank you to people who have taken photos of us on Oleanna, a rare thing as I’m usually the one behind the camera.
Tide was in by the time we got to the beach Christmas morning
Christmas and Birthday. We’ve had a good year this year, not so many boaty presents as usual, but still some worth mentioning.
Mick got a serious pair of bolt croppers. These may be handy should anything ever seriously stubborn find its way onto Oleanna’s prop. A new weather station is currently being tested out, there are frequent comments as to the temperature on the coal bunker outside the back of the house. The old weather station wasn’t quite so detailed and it had ceased to show you much other than the time! I had considered getting Mick one that showed the tide times, this may have come in handy for 2025, but he’d selected a different model on his present list. Gardening gloves and bulbs for the house, hopefully the squirrels will leave the bulbs alone as the number of daffodils in the front flower bed seem to have decreased since we let the house out ten years ago, so hopefully we’ll be able to boost them again this year.
I got a new ‘to me’ camera! It was a well researched pre owned purchase from Amazon. I’ve taken a few photos so far mainly of garden benches for reference in the weeks to come. I must read the instruction book to make the most of it. So far so good, it has a 30 times optical zoom. No macro setting that I’ve found yet, but a symbol occasionally appears. I’ll just have to get used to carrying it about with me again and using it rather than my phone.
We need at least two more people to be able to play The Traitors game
A new bumbag came from Josh. The one I bought last year was waterproof to start with, but as it was used the coating was wearing off, so a bad purchase. Hopefully this new one will be better and there is plenty of room for my camera and phone. As suggested by Jennie I will endeavour to swivel it round to the side or my back when working locks so as to avoid pressing buttons on my camera which most probably did for the last one.
Tilly got a book on the Regents Canal with places to eat.I’ve had a scan through it, however it doesn’t mention Perivale Wood at Ballot Box Bridge, a busy fast moving spot, with delicious rodent main courses. It also mentions too many places I’ve not been allowed to sample as shore leave was deemed unsafe.
There’s always scissors
I’ve also had three large white hardback books. One a gluten free baking book with lots of science in it, another a veggie cook book and Billy Connelly’s arty book. All will require some looking at. I also got a bag of Italian pizza flour that is gf. I’ve heard good things about it so I’ll be giving it a go in the new year. Oh and some sock stitch markers.
A cats Protection t shirt and a chopping board came from Tilly, She needs reminding of my dingding time at frequent intervals throughout the afternoon when She’s in, so let this serve as a reminder when she’s outside too! I also got some new baking trays for the boat, the ones I’ve been using were really quite cheap and tinny, so these are an upgrade.
We’ve gradually been eating our way through the mountains of Christmas food, my birthday cake is still on going, I must remember to make a half sized one next year. It was a very good choice, but we’re a little bit bored with it now.
Well the time of year to buy a new licence for Oleanna has arrived. A bigger outlay than in previous years as we now have the Continuous Cruisers surcharge to pay for. We want to cruise the network so we don’t mind paying the extra. However we have waited for the latest credit card statement to come through before buying next year’s licence to help spread the cost a bit.
Tilly’s new rechargeable catnip felt balls
On the renewal there was a button to read the continuous cruisers rules. Mick clicked the button only to find it led to a “404 error. Page not found”! He then hunted round until he found a version of them from 2022. I have just found a more up to date copy (03/2024) but blimey it doesn’t half take some finding!
For those who don’t know about the new Continuous Cruisers surcharge, this has been brought in this year for boats that don’t have a home mooring, we fall into this category. The T&Cs say that we have to move every 14 days, this is nothing new and we abide by this as it’s what we’ve always signed up for and we prefer to be cruising anyway. To avoid the CC surcharge you need to prove that you have a home mooring for 6 or more continuous months. On the latest T&C’s (I think they are the latest!), I’ve just spent a couple of hours searching for, our winter mooring at Goole is covered in the section “14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances” in Schedule 1. For staying longer than 14 days anywhere we should have immediately contacted the Trust’s Licencing Support Team, this is what you should do if you have engine failure, medical requirements etc, to overstay in an area.
Foggy Scarbados
In previous years we’ve logged onto our C&RT account and changed us from being a Continuous Cruiser to having a mooring. This meant that should we want to go out every weekend to Sykehouse Junction or Pollington Lock we wouldn’t be classed as over staying if spotted in the same place three weeks apart as we’d have returned to our mooring in between. Now that there is the CC surcharge you can no longer adjust this on line, it appears we should have contacted the Licencing Support Team regarding our marina mooring otherwise we could get an overstay notice. Oh well, we’re fairly unlikely to go out for little jaunts every weekend anyway, but contacting a team member to let them know seems like a waste of their time when we just used to switch from CC to a mooring.
Christmas cheese from Hebden Bridge
PS if you follow a link on the C&RT website to what is expected of you as a Continuous Cruiser you end up with a document from 2012, long before the surcharge came into existence! Oh Well!!!
But Oleanna is now licenced for the next year, that is what’s important and we can start looking forward to our new adventures on her.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 treat cheeses, 1 year older, 4 balls, 8 pairs of socks, 2 pairs scissors, 1 green triangle, 3 white books, 1 weather station, 1 camera, 1 very cheeky cat, 2 much to eat, 1 Christmas show, 3rd Paddington film, £1525! 54 pairs of socks, plus a little bit.
Thank you Bridget and Storm for your photos this morning of the last official #pipssockathon2024 socks
I have managed a 54th pair too. I really must get round to updating my sockathon page!
A big pill after breakfast, hopefully the effect of it would kick in by the time I’d written the blog as there was someone I wanted to say hello to.
Fletch
Sat in front of Aylesbury Waterfront Theatre is Fletcher, Norman Stanley Fletcher, well Ronnie Baker in his costume from Porridge. He sits hands in his armpits looking up towards the theatre, as if he’s about to say something to Mr Barrowcliffe.
Looking up at the theatre
Ronnie first performed professionally in 1948 at the old County Theatre in Market Square Aylesbury, good on the person who gave him his first job.
Around the entrance to the theatre has been painted for Christmas. Peter Pan a good guess for their panto, but it’s actuallyThe Further Adventures of Peter Pan. It’s a shame Tinkerbell looks a little bit chubby cheeked.
With walking pole at hand and the pain killer starting to kick in Mick and I had a wander around Waitrose looking for yellow labels and enough provisions to keep us going for a few days. This I simply wouldn’t have been able to do a couple of days ago.
Mick had topped us up with water whilst we had breakfast linking our hoses together from a tap by the gate to the pontoons. Some bins had been mentioned by another boater so Mick went off to find them, check they were official C&RT bins (they were), noted their location and disposed of our rubbish.
Open and waiting for us
As the temperature was set to rise to around 30C today we really didn’t want to be sitting in bright sunshine, Tilly for one would be complaining about it, ALL the time! We’d spotted somewhere on our way down that, if there was space for us, would be a nice shady mooring. It would have been nice to venture further afield in Aylesbury than we’d been before but that wasn’t to be this time.
We pushed off and slowly made our way back up the canal. Depth and weed slowing our progress. The first lock had both it’s bottom gates open waiting for us, plus a paddle up. I stayed at the helm and Mick did the honours with windlass and gates.
Willow for shade at the lock
Blimey it was getting hot, blue skies, we were thankful for the shady trees for some of the way. We passed a downhill boat that we remembered from a couple of days ago, hopefully they’d come from where we wanted to be. Another two locks uphill and we reached the line of moored boats. A fisherman sat in shade, then a couple of boats in dappled sunshine. A space, would the shade last the rest of the day? We pulled in, it certainly looked like we’d not be baking all afternoon.
A nice shady spot to moor
Tilly was given 4 hours shore leave, we sat down for lunch, she came and went for a while, then went for quite some time. Here had self catering potential.
Mick listened to the cricket and I filled out a request for a doctors appointment with my surgery in Scarborough. The things the practitioner had said to me yesterday were all put on the form, I needed to make a good case. I clicked the button to submit it. On recent form from the surgery I didn’t expect to hear back for a few days, however within 5 minutes my phone rang! The doctor wanted me to see a Physio (expected first line of action), could I make an appointment this afternoon? Blimey!!! I was being offered an appointment within 45 minutes of submitting my request! Obviously this was impossible. I was offered the next available appointment which I snapped up when it coincided with appointments that Mick has back in Scarborough.
A touch of towpath knitting
Now we just need to sort logistics. A phone call to one marina to see if we could leave Tilly in charge there. He was so ambiguous, could we call back next week, not sure if there was space, we decided we’d try elsewhere instead.
The shady towpath called us both outside for the rest of the afternoon. Tilly came and joined us. Sitting on the top of the pram cover a good spot when in shade. Climbing the big tree next to us also good, apart from when coming down and trying to use some dead ivy which gave way under her paws. A nice quiet afternoon of cricket and finishing off sock pair 29.
Queen of the boat
3 locks, 1.4 miles, 1 big pill, 0 co-codamol, 1 Ronnie, 1 Tinkerbell, 1 queen of the pram cover, 1 hot day in the shade.
