Category Archives: Prop making

Repaint Week 10. W/C 17th August

Redhill Marina / Scarboreugh!

Another week.

**Deserted beaches now the temperature has dropped**

Monday we sent a message asking when it might be possible to start moving things back on board, would this be the week it would happen?

Don’t be daft!!!

The roof was anti slipped, all the mushroom vents masked off, edges taped and the gritty paint applied.

Tom wasn’t 100% happy with how the blue on the bow and stern bulkheads had dried, the hot weather having speeded up the drying process, so it had gone a touch matt. When we were there a little while ago, I’d mentioned that the blue on the bow bulkhead didn’t look as shiny as that on the bow, at least Tom agreed. There was a choice between cut and polishing the blue, or give it a sand back and respray. The latter was chosen for a better use of time and to stop the top coats becoming thin.

Tuesday the masking on the roof had been removed and Matt the solar chap must have visited as on Wednesday morning we were sent photos of the solar panels installed on the roof. Cables held down by magnets.

The boat was then masked off again to respray the bulkheads and by 5:30pm we had photos through from Tom showing how much shinier they were.

Thursday morning all the masking was removed, including the brown paper that has been keeping the blacking black. The first sight of Oleanna in her new livery. Very nice. The tiller was also painted in the three colours.

Zooming in on the photos I could see that the cratch board is still to be sanded and varnished and there was no sign of any anti slip on the gunnels yet.

We sent a message asking if there was a plan for the remaining jobs including a time scale for which they’d be happening. Would we be able to move things back on board, stay over and be there for her to go back in the water?

Friday came and we nudged Tom for an answer. It was his son’s birthday, so he’d rightly been busy with celebrations. There was a list of some of the remaining jobs, we checked he’d got repainting the lockers on his list. He could see us climbing back on board mid to late next week with Oleanna being launched after the bank holiday weekend. He’d give us a call tomorrow as he’d be down at the paint shed.

An invoice arrived from Matt for the solar. Of course we can’t check if it works until we’re out in daylight! The fuse for the panels has been added on the roof as there is no space for it in the electrics cupboard.

So we started to make plans around next week, adding in a trip to the south, which had been another destination we’d aimed to go to by boat. Canal time eh! I went for a walk to think about the logistics of hiring a car/van, when should we get it from and for how long? We’d need it before the weekend and after, but not during. The hire car we’d arranged from East Midlands Airport would now need cancelling, or should we keep it as it could be returned on Saturday afternoon? This would not be possible if we hired anything from Scarborough.

We had several possible plans, but would need confirmation from Tom before we went ahead and booked anything.

Saturday morning we decided which plan we preferred and relayed it to Tom. This would involve us moving things onto the boat one day, staying overnight and then heading south from Redhill, returning the following week for the launch with more of our possessions, then a third trip to return our second mate back to her floating home.

**Second Mate and Design Assistant Tilly**

Unfortunately, the day we’d planned is also a day when the base plate is likely to be sprayed. So the paint will be gassing overnight, so it wouldn’t be possible for us to stay overnight. However, we could drop things off at the boat that day. We’ll book ourselves a Travelodge somewhere nearby, which will be cheaper than the fuel to return to Scarborough only to drive southwards again the following day.

Pete the joiner has done the locker lids and the inspection hatch, although we’ve not had photos, but they are more jobs off the list.

So we gradually inch closer. We’d rather it was quicker, and we’d rather know which day Oleanna will go back in the water as there are hire cars and Tilly to think about. The only fortunate thing about not going back in the water until after the Bank Holiday is that our new licence will start close to the start of a month rather than having to pay for the full month of August and only achieving a few days afloat.

**Anyone got an old hook up I could have please?**

In panto news, new prices have come in for the printing of cloths, 2/3rds the previous quote. A new version of part of the set will come in cheaper. We’ve given the go ahead to Jamie to build the show before he got offered another job.

I’ve had a full day of props meetings with Helen who is the main props person this year and then Min who has lots of things to make at home for one very busy scene. Hopefully soon I will know if we’re on budget. Late on Friday, draft four of the script arrived, just as I thought I was ticking off the last few jobs I needed to do. Well at least I’ll be able to find the time to read it now.

There has been more walking and catching up with friends. Mick planned to visit Headingley on Saturday for the fourth day of the test match with Pakistan. Unfortunately play ended on Friday, fortunately England won and Mick will get a refund on his ticket.

**Is chilled medication going out of fashion?!**

So we continue to wait. The boxes I’d packed a month ago, have now been raided and will need repacking. At least we’ll be here to reset one side of the house after Alex leaves.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 more friends seen, 1 more supporter sorted, 1 hire car cancelled, 1 hire car booked, 2 hotels booked, 3rd destination not reached by boat, 1 HMRC webinar, 1st decent rain in ages, 1 waterproof at the house, 1 waterproof in Redhill, 1 painting started, 4th draft, 6 hours props meetings, 1 list of jobs, £139 saved, 7 years old, 1 bank holiday, I remember when things were going to start happening after Easter!

Panto Postcard 4, 2025

57.25 hours

Monday morning we needed to attempt to catch up on ourselves and finish the technical rehearsal. The actors warmed up away from the stage giving the tech team some time to do more before we had to share the space. Time was taken to tech in two characters and we gradually made our way to the end of the show. Mid afternoon the Pippins arrived we could now tech the end of the show with them.

I took time to sit in the bar and do some flower arranging, well pulling plastic roses from bushes and replacing them with our paper roses. A lovely mixture of shades of pink was achieved before the bushes were handed back to Stage Management to be stashed somewhere on stage. Gemma had worked her way adding roses to other parts of the set so at least we’d get an idea of where more would be needed. The scenery was reset in the wings and behind the backdrop, then we did the first dress rehearsal. Mission achieved, we all retired to the pub for a well earned drink.

Tuesday. An early start as this afternoon photos would be taken during the second dress rehearsal, so more things needed to be finished. Blueprints were added to sliders. Gold lines added to the plainer parts of the set, things were getting finished on the set front. One mannequin had some attention given to it, so at least it wouldn’t look too bare in the photos. A very busy morning.

The dress rehearsal was photographed and filmed for use in a trailer. Sadly the mannequin that had started to be dressed ended up being used in a different scene by stage management, so a bare mannequin stood in full view for the photos.

The second dress is when the ushers are invited in to watch the show. This gives the actors an audience and the ushers chance to see when and what they will be involved in during the show. During the interval I headed down to find Suzanne in the stalls, she was my previous host in Chippy. Suzanne moved house about a year ago just that bit too far out of Chippy to walk to late at night. We had a very good catch up before the curtain rose for the second half.

Today, Mick had been up even earlier, catching a train down to East Midlands Parkway with the aim of getting Oleanna plugged in, a second attempt. He’d not left anything on the train this time and headed to see Oleanna. However! Time had been tight this morning and he’d had to hunt round for bike lights before leaving the house in the dark, he’d got all the way to the boat without the keys. This also meant he’d got all the way there having left the house unlocked. Thankfully Tilly had been looking after the house, so all was well back in Scarborough. Mick made use of the shore based facilities at East Midlands Parkway Station and returned home earlier than originally planned, Oleanna still not hooked up and fully winterised with freezing weather already arriving.

Wednesday. A morning to work on things, both on stage and in the rehearsal room. Some cuts happening to the script, a schools version of the show omitting a few bits to keep the running time down and make turn arounds easier on two show days.

I’d got a bit carried away with highlights on a signpost, so reduced them to make it easier to read the curly writing. The second set of sliders had their gold lines added, which was a bonus. More props were getting finished, but still quite some work to be done.

**Possibly my favourite production photo**

A crate was clad on three sides so it could be used in two different scenes, the paint needed some encouragement to dry for the show in the evening. First preview was done and dusted, still a list of notes to be worked through.

Thursday. Mick picked up the hire car a day early as snow fell in Scarborough. Several inches were to fall today, and his possible plan of a day trip by car to Oleanna didn’t happen, he and Tilly stayed inside in the warm instead of venturing out. In Chippy the weather was trying to do the same, but thankfully the snow wasn’t sticking around.

I was in early again to tick off jobs on the list. A mid morning props meeting was had with Gemma and Min to go through notes from the show last night. Priority jobs were set, others not needed, we still had bare mannequins on stage and a touch of shine was needed adding to Les.

**First night rose making at the back of the circle**

A slower afternoon for me, most of my jobs now crossed off my list and there being limited room in the post room where Min was now having to work meant it would be hard to lend them a hand. Before the show I checked on progress, hmmm?! I checked if Stage Management could live without the Act 2 mannequin until the interval, this was fine, great Min could carry on working on it until then. Well, except they said they were going to watch the show!

In the interval I popped backstage to make sure the mannequin was given to Stage Management. No sign of Min and no sign of any more work having been done on the mannequin, in fact it looked less complete than when I’d last seen it. I wasn’t happy. The jobs that had been high priority hadn’t been achieved during the day, not sure what had! I took myself outside to cool off, after all nothing could be done now. Technical notes after the show, then we worked through a few jobs.

Friday. Mick set off early in the hire car, escaping the snow in Scarborough and headed down to visit Oleanna avoiding the route over the Wolds. The 50m cable was laid out and plugged in. He visited the office to buy an electric card, however the card or card reader didn’t want to work. It was suggested he needed to find one of the chaps on site to sort it, but time was ticking by rapidly. The boiler thermostat was set and left to use LPG rather than electric, the hook up would need to wait for a fourth visit. He then set off to head to Chippy.

A few people were at the theatre when I arrived, Gemma heading off back to Bristol, Paul ready to fly in extra bits of scenery for me and Min doing their best painting things for the mannequins in the freezing cold garden. Once I’d finished on stage I leant a hand cutting things out, it would only save a bit of time, but would still be a help. Min worked through the school show early afternoon and we managed to get things on stage just about finished. However, I’d requested that the newest mannequin be painted quite brightly as I wanted it to stand out, but sadly it was now the same colours as the backdrop. I added some dark lines which thankfully did the trick.

Paints were seriously rationalised into a touch up kit. My painting kit packed up ready to be loaded into a car just as Mick arrived around 4pm. Painty Pip was leaving the theatre.

**Blue Boar fish and chips are better than those at Checkers**

There was time to head back to my digs, change and then head to The Blue Boar. Here we met up with Marion (Mick’s sister) and John, plus Andrew (my brother) and Jac. I’d not managed to have fish and chips at the Blue Boar on the first day of rehearsals so I had to have them today, better than those I’d had at Checkers.

All six of us sat in the balcony. I’m not sure how loud others were shouting during the show as my brother was being very loud indeed. Jac having grown up in Australia was relived that she wasn’t picked out for any audience participation. Family reviews came in quickly after the show. Marion and John said they were considering season tickets and Andrew asked if there were any tickets left for a show tomorrow. I think they enjoyed themselves.

**Night Night Chippy Theatre and thank you**

The Press Night party followed, a glass of fizz and pizzas all round. Lots of loud conversations and roses were handed over as gifts. A good night all round.

Saturday. At my digs my bags were packed and taken down the low steep stairs. Time to say thank you and farewell to Rachel and Geoff. They have been lovely people to stay with. With the car loaded we headed out of town to meet with Andrew and Jac at The Straw Kitchen in Whichford. Mick and I had been there after opening night for Cinderella two years ago and it needed to be revisited as it was such a good brunch. We pulled into the car park in the pouring rain a while before the cafe was due to open. Then several other cars arrived and people rushed in, blimey we needed to get a table so followed suit just missing the table by the log burner by a few seconds.

Lovely food once again and time to catch up better with Andrew and Jac. Very sadly at the beginning of the week they had to say goodbye to their cat Ziggy. When we’d visited two weeks ago she was looking quite frail and I have to admit that when I said goodbye to her I thought it would be for the last time. Very sad, I hope Finn their other cat is coping okay.

A quick look around the pottery next door for us all before we climbed into our cars to drive home in the rain. It had been lovely sharing panto with family for the first time. Thank you all for coming.

The rain stayed with us until we crossed the border into Yorkshire, then the sun did it’s best to welcome me back home. Drax Power Station sent out plumes of steam, not quite at full belt. As I opened the house door, Tilly walked into the living room quite nonchalantly, she then slowly allowed herself to be happy about my return. Once a roast dinner was popped in the oven I was pinned to the sofa. Tom is okay to sit on, but She has a far better lap!

Sunday. The usual Geraghty zoom, panto, prescriptions and boilers subjects today. A slow day of washing and pottering, getting the blog up to date. Then in the evening we drove to park outside my old house and walked up to Scarborough Castle in the rain. There was a chap singing with a backing track, a lady fire dancer and an LED dancer and wagons selling refreshements, we opted for hot medication as we were doing a good job of being chilled by the elements.

The main reason for being there was to watch a drone display to mark the 400th anniversary of Scarborough. Our friend Nick Lane had written the words and another friend Georgie Samuels spoke them whilst the drones danced in the sky telling the story of our town. A great thing to do, but we were very glad to get home to the warm and enjoy a Mac Cheese and sit infront of the fire for the rest of the evening.

Panto is now running through to 18th January. Meanwhile I will be sitting on the sofa watching Inspector Morse episodes for a few days and hopefully very soon we’ll have a more sucessful visit to Oleanna to get her hooked up and finally winterised. Fingers Crossed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd and 3rd attempt failed at winterisation, 1 hire car, 4 inches snow, 1 tech finished, 2 dresses, 1 photographer in the way, 2 mannequins finally finished, 1 brother, 1 sister, 1 of each, 1 great brunch, 1 very soggy drive home, 1 cuddly cat, 1 drone show, 1 designer taking it easy for a while.

Panto Postcard 3, 2025

68 hours

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**Time and distance calculations required**

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

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

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

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

**Aristotle Bridge moorings almost empty**

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Panto Postcard 2, 2025

76 hours

Monday morning, I was back to it. Today publicity photos were going to be taken. I spent the morning sorting out dressing for the market scene. Lettering on banners, cheeses galore and plenty of goods on the M&S stall. With a few roses added for good measure, we were ready.

Lots of lettering was needing to be done, so with the aid of the photocopier and carbon paper I drew things out and started painting them. By late afternoon three of the actors headed off to put on costumes and prepare to have their photos taken. Marie, Pierre and Fifi arrived in their fab costumes, the first time I’d seen any of them along with the set.

Tuesday morning I popped into the Co-op to see what might be cheap for my tea, sadly the sad gits isle was pretty empty, I’d not be saving any money on tasty morsels unless I fancied eating many toffee apples!

Much of the panto scenery had now been stashed behind the backdrop, time to work in the six foot space back there and leave the stage to the actors. But what to start on? I decided to try to finish off all the stonework walls so that numerous roses could be added. But that wouldn’t keep me going for the remainder of the day, so after the first colour I changed to work on the kitchen set. This would be needed for a rehearsal tomorrow of what is known as the slosh scene, so any painting I did on it would need a coat of glaze over it for protection. This meant I ended up doing quite a long day. Just about everything on two pieces of set were completed, just magenta dots to add at a later date.

Wednesday morning it was time to get the big dustbin out, grate up shaving sticks, add a drizzle of glycerine with some hot water to make the slosh, all mixed up with a paint stirrer on the end of an electric drill. The large rose for the proscenium had it’s petals stuck together into one big flower. The new paper version of the rose far better than the one I’d made last week which was really rather butch, a rugby player version of a rose.

Late afternoon the Pippins arrived and started work on another scene, in the laboratory. Once they’d cleared the set I could carry on with painting up the rest of the kitchen scenery. The biggest problem most Scenic Artists have to cope with in life is the mixing of certain colours, pink and especially grey! I needed two shades of grey for the fridge, I started off very tentatively with just a small blob of white, then started to add black to reach the correct shade. Thankfully this worked and I only ended up with a small amount of grey rather than the usual bucket or two of fictional shades! Just pink dots to add to the kitchen and that scene will be finished.

Thursday we were joined by Dave Snell. In previous years his brother Ade has built the set for Chippy, Dave lives in Bloxham, not far away and is also a carpenter. We were in need of a narrow table for the show. Try as we might we’d not managed to find a suitable table cheap enough to cut down, four turned legs had been purchased from ebay and Dave was here to put them together with a top narrow enough to get on stage and strong enough for people to stand on. By the evening it was ready for rehearsals, filler needed leaving overnight before I could start painting it though.

During the day I laid out objects on the laboratory bench and table, then met with John and the actors to check what items would be needed for experiments. Everything was labelled up, we just need to find time now to fix things down, cut holes, attach strings and add lights to everything. I would like to pass this on to someone else, but they really need to be concentrating on so much more, it’ll end up being me.

I made sure that I was finished in time to catch Sainsbury’s before it closed and got back to my digs just before 9pm, cooked some pasta which didn’t involve chicken, then sat down to watch the Traitors final half an hour after it had started. Mick had been warned, so I got no spoilers from him. So I’d managed to watch both finals of Traitors and GGBO pretty soon after they happened, so no-one could spoil the outcome. One winner was a shame, the other very well deserved.

**Paul having added lights to the big rose**

Friday. Lights in roses, handheld, around the set and the giant one for the proscenium. Paul spent time on gearing up a remote controlled car to be really rather slow. The walkdown set got some added colour, then I added lots of gold curly bits to some frames. Bits and bobs had a coat of glaze added to help them keep clean. Just about everything is now painted with it’s final colours, just the final touches to make things sing that bit more. Final job of the day was to give the floor a second coat of teal, two weeks of actors and crew walking and moving everything on it had taken it’s toll.

Mick was up very early to catch a train over to Wigan, along with Paul Balmer they assisted Chris on NB Elektra up the flight. Hopefully Mick will be along soon to tell you about his day.

Saturday morning. The stage felt sticky under foot, for some reason the emulsion has a sticky dry finish. This sadly meant that by the end of a busy day on stage the floor looked pretty much as it had done before I’d put the second coat of base colour on it!

**Waiting for the stagger through to start**

Four hours was set aside for a stagger through of the show. I’d opted not to put my dungarees on this morning as I’d be sat taking notes, this surprised many people as they are not used to me being in civies. Six handheld roses were made from scratch during the stagger through, lots of notes made.

I filled up with a jacket potato for lunch getting ready for an evening painting the floor. The Lighting Designer focused his lights, thankfully finishing a little early. Brilliant, I thought I’d be able to get things masked out on stage and spray the design on. Well except the sound designer was about and was positioning speakers here there and everywhere. This meant that the stage got filled with pieces of scenery, making it hard to mask things out never mind tidy up the 2nd coat of paint from last night. Eventually I managed to get the stage cleared, a dryish roller did the job of cleaning up the floor, only for it to be walked over whilst still wet! I wasn’t impressed!! Touched up again I now had to wait for things to dry.

**Floor sprayed and drying before a coat of glaze**

Sound checks were happening, but pretty quickly stopped when I turned the compressor on to spray the floor, there’s no ignoring the constant noise! Thankfully the spraying didn’t take too long to do. A cuppa and chat whilst fans aided drying, by 10pm I was able to start applying the first coat of glaze. Fans positioned again, another cuppa this time accompanied by a mince pie whilst waiting for the floor to be dry enough to do the second coat. All done, things washed up and out of the building at a little after midnight, two hours later than planned, at least it wasn’t 2am!

**Ziggy trying to help herself to a drink**

No lie in on Sunday morning, I had a rendezvous with Liza from the costume department who is also staying at the same digs. I was just about ready by 9am to catch a lift to Burnham station to hop on an Elizabeth line train into London. Liza headed off to meet a friend and visit some exhibitions. I swapped trains and carried on to Stratford, then a bus to Hackney to my brothers house.

**Photo taken before Mick realised what he’d done.**

Mick had headed down yesterday and we had a very pleasant evening with Andtrew and Jac. However, Mick was out when I arrived. He was on a very important trip to the Left Luggage at St Pancras station to collect a bag containing his laptop that he’d left on a train earlier this week. On Tuesday Mick had headed to Oleanna to hook her up, program the inverter. On route, he’d collected our second Brompton from being mended in York. When he reached Oleanna he opened up the electrics cupboard and realised he was missing his bag with laptop in it. He worked out where the train he’d been on was going to and when it would return. He headed to meet it in Nottingham, only to find the luggage shelf empty. A left luggage request was made straight away and thankfully by the end of Tuesday news came through that his bag was in London, hopefully still with everything inside it. Thankfully everything was present and correct and his laptop was soon unlocked.

**Winter pavlova at the London Leckenbys**

A very nice meal with Andrew and Jac, slow roasted lamb with potatoes and a salad, followed by a winter Pavlova, all accompanied by plenty of wine and conversation. A very good Sunday had by all.

0 locks, 0 miles, 8 train journeys, 2 many hours working, 1 new laptop, 1 left laptop, 1 boat still needing winterising, 1 set nearly painted, 2nd and 3rd coat, 1 large footed sound designer, 3 days of the magic food bowl, 7 hour roasted lamb, 20 hours with MIck, 1 more good Sunday. 1 apology for a late posting.

Paper Girl. 13th September

Lowes Bridge 15 to Massey’s Bridge 12

The loitering look in the bathroom was saying it all! Before I could do anything else this morning Tilly’s pooh box needed refreshing. Shore leave was granted which hopefully would give me time to clean her litter box out before it was too late. Quite often I’ve only just added the fresh litter and in hops Tilly! However by the end of today the clean box remained untouched, I’d had to find alternative arrangements, hadn’t I!

Our papers were checked over, paperclipped into four wadges and slid into the only big envelope we had. Wanting to know when they arrived meant dropping them off at a Post Office as we’d not all the relevant details to buy suitable postage online, this could be combined with my walk today, plus newspaper hunting and purchasing something to roast for Sunday.

**Even Tilly had to get her paws on our paperwork!**

First we moved up to the water point and waited, another boat already filling, they had quite a large tank. A load of washing sat in our machine waiting for the hose to be filling our tank before it could be turned on. I headed off along the line of the Derby Canal, continuing on northwards which is now a cycle route, then cutting across a park, wiggling my way through houses before turning onto Derby Road.

Here my Saturday morning newspaper hunt was to start. First chance was a Tesco Express, BINGO!!! Four, yes four copies! Brilliant!! I only wanted one. Well that wasn’t hard.

Next port of call the Post Office, as I joined the queue I checked their range of newspapers, good job I’d not started here. The fat envelope was handed over paid for and a signature requested when it arrives. Next a few doors down to Lidl for a chicken and veg for tomorrow, no newspaper of the right flavour here either, my route had been chosen well. Back to the boat following a footpath through the housing estate to the canal.

The boat that had been on the water point was just finishing going down the lock, Mick had had to wait for quite a while before it had been our turn. The washing machine was on, keeping up with the flow from the tap. It took a while before our tank was full then we decided to nudge up onto the bollards for lunch, just as the dark skies loomed over us. Two boats had just come up the lock and they rushed to tie up and take shelter, leaving git gaps everywhere, this meant we had no option but to pull up on the lock landing!

We waited out the downpour by having lunch. The skies started to clear a touch as a boat rose up the lock ahead of us, we’d take advantage of the full lock and hope to reach our mooring before the heavens opened again. By the time we’d pushed off and got to the lock the level had dropped by a good 2ft! The leak from the bottom gates a fountainous spray and serious bubbling up from beneath them, it’s a good job this stretch of canal is fed from the river!

Wanting to keep quite close to Cuttle Bridge for access to buses we opted for our first M on the Waterway Routes map. As I walked the towpath, the sky grew dark again. Three lads I’d already seen twice before today were taking cover under a bridge fishing, cheeky lads, but harmless. Should we pull in here? Or here? Maybe a touch further along where there was a gap in the hedge, it didn’t really matter now as I was quite damp around the edges already.

**A good sky once the rain had stopped**

Tilly got the best of the downpour, sheltering under the pram cover. Then the skies cleared, so much so that Mick decided to risk hanging out our washing on the whirligig. This however meant bringing it inside twice when it started to rain again. In the end our pants ended up in the tumble drier, good job we’d topped up with water today!

During the afternoon I started working through my list of panto jobs. Looking out certain items on gumtree, ebay and marketplace and sending links to Chippy. Making up some paper roses to see what sizes would be best for various things. Rolls of suitable paper were also passed on to be ordered.

**Cauliflower Cheese with a dash of wholegrain mustard**

Cauliflower Cheese was enjoyed tonight, with a bit left over to accompany our Sunday roast.

In water level news, links between the Wolverhampton Level and Birmingham Level have been reopened along with the Wolverhampton flight.

1 lock, 1.1 mile, 70 minutes brisk walking, 2 many showers for pants, 1 Saturday newspaper, 5 roses, 4 wadges of paper posted, 3 cards, 1 huge cauliflower cheese, 4 git gaps.

https://what3words.com/ready.maple.surcharge

Windy Passage. 4th July

Selby Basin to Stubbs Bridge, Aire and Calder Navigation

A boat headed to the water point first thing, once it was done and it had reversed to behind us, we set about winding, and then heading back to a mooring ourselves. Time for breakfast, then we’d be ready for the off. Today we were lucky as it was a training day at the lock so there were five CRT staff about, so plenty to help us through the swing bridge.

Two chaps came to help us. We’d not seen them before, apparently, they do a refresher course on the tidal locks every couple of years and today was that day. One chap pressed the buttons on the panel for the bridge, the other stood by the little hut on the off side, where presumably they can operate it by hand if needs be. The bridge seemed to behave well and as soon as we were through a couple of narrowboats came into the basin with passages booked up to York today. There’d be six boats heading out onto the river.

So far this year I’ve only walked the Selby Canal, so today I opted to stay on the boat and not get my brisk walking minutes in. After my panto meeting I need to get back to walking every day, I’m quite missing it.

If I had walked I think I’d have beaten Oleanna to the other end. We’ve been on the Selby when it’s been covered in duck weed, but today it was blanket weed which needed avoiding as much as possible, it’s horrible when it’s round your prop. Certainly no 7mph along here, very slow going!

I sounded our horns as we came through West Haddlesey Flood lock where we turned onto the River Aire. Here it was windy, very windy and with all the twists and turns you didn’t know which side of your hat to keep hold of.

**The boat that had been on the bank is now sunk!**

At one steep bend a wide beam came past, he shouted to us that he’d had difficulty at Beal Lock with the gates. This is where we’d had difficulty a few weeks ago and had had to use the boat to help open a gate to get the lock equalised. But as we approached it was obvious that CRT were there checking things over. They opened the gates for us.

This was the same two chaps who’d helped us through the bridge, we wondered what time we’d be meeting them at Bank Dole Lock later? They’d been called out but hadn’t found anything wrong with the lock as yet. They worked us through and opened the top gates, one of them only partially opening, maybe that had been the problem?

There were two boats on the pontoon above, we tucked ourselves in at the far end and had a lunch break before carrying onwards, todays aim to get off the river and catch up with where we should have cruised to yesterday.

It was now very VERY windy out there. I left my hat inside as I’d not want to loose it when I needed both hands to work Bank Dole Lock. The chamber was full, a couple were magnet fishing above. Mick and I emptied the lock and opened the gates. Oleanna was just coming in as a cruiser arrived above. There was plenty of time to chat to the crew who had borrowed their son’s boat for the day and they’d already been through this lock, only one top paddle working. We swapped over with them and headed back to the main Aire and Calder Navigation.

Gosh that wind was strong! We just wanted to get that bit further, to Stubbs Bridge where we seem to moor nowadays. Oleanna was held into the side by the wind as we tied to our chains and retired inside. Tilly was given an hour or so, we thought she’d not like it out there, but she was kept occupied sitting in the shelter of the boat and then pouncing into the grass.

I put together the first draft of a props list for panto. I’m really hoping we don’t need quite so much fake food, but we’ll see what John thinks when he’s seen the list.

The evening was a very VERY blustery one. With one side of the pram cover missing things had a tendancy to be moving around out the back. Our bedroom porthole needed closing and a bung bunging in it to stop it from rattling all night long. Here’s hoping we manage to get some sleep.

1 flood lock, 2 locks, 1 left, 1 right, 13.3 miles, 1 wind, 2 much wind, 2 helpful CRT staff, 1 pouncing cat, 1 props list, 1 very blustery night.

The Big Ship Sails. 7th May

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

https://what3words.com/piano.hoping.efficient

Party Time. 13th 14th July

Cowroast Marina

A bus into Aylesbury for a hire car, £100 cheaper for the weekend than from Hemel Hempstead! The washing machine constantly on the go, an extra £5 added to the electric post needing to be used. We both packed a bag with party clothes, evening dingding was served three hours early, Tilly was left in charge. No magic food bowl?!

If we’d wanted to we’d have been able to reach our destination on Oleanna, this would have meant some long days in the rain and on arrival it wouldn’t have been quite so handy. We could have taken the train and a bus or two, some distances to walk would have been involved but the fares were way more expensive than just hiring a car.

Our route took us along narrow lanes, sign posts to Cheddington, glimpses of the Grand Union, through Ivinghoe, all places we know from the water. Grove Lock, around Leighton Buzzard, The Soulbury Three, Stoke Hammond. Then the roundabouts of Milton Keynes took us further east and up to the M1. We didn’t manage to glimpse a look at the Northampton Flight, or Long Buckby, but the big trees that accompany the canal to the Watford Flight were easy to spot after the service station. At Junction 18 we turned off, Crick, well the Holiday Inn at Crick.

We checked in, explored our compact room which of course was the furthest away possible! Mick flicked the TV on, Robbie Cumming making his way along the GU, only just managing to get through the Soulbury Three before it closed for winter maintenance, as if he didn’t know!

Time to join the party, Lizzie’s 50th Birthday party.

What a lovely evening it was. People from most of Lizzies life, family, Watford Palace Theatre (where we first met in the 90’s), Cemex, the boating world, most of her current colleagues from Unusual were busy working on the Olympics in Paris, plenty to keep them busy out there.

Jeremy who was once the Production Manager at Watford Palace Theatre, He employed me to paint scenery for a while and the two of us interviewed Lizzie for the Scenic Artist job there shortly after she left college. Jeremy also helped Lizzie when she first bought NB Panda, moving her from Birmingham, Jeremy having lived on a boat during his Watford days. Our paths also crossed further north when we both ended up on the Yorkshire coast. He’s now quite a useful source of info on the Beverley Beck!

Over the last ten years we’ve gradually got to know various boaters through Lizzie. Noel and Carolyn, Noel had been the Harbour Master at Crick when we first bought Lillian, he managed to find a space for her in the run up to Crick Boat show in 2014 where we gradually moved on board.

**Crews from NB Kamilli, NB Adagio and NB Leon before they sold her**

Andy and Irene from NB Kamilli. Our bows have crossed a few times and hopefully they may do again this summer. The NB Adagio crew, I’ve lost their names now, but we wave whenever we pass the Cape of Good Hope.

Then John and Ali from NB Triskaideka. We’d once met on a street corner in Crick, only briefly, but Ali and I have been I touch recently. There was lots to talk about with them, very similar boaters to us with the same attitudes to boating and the waterways community. Plenty of red wine was drunk on our table and by the end of the evening we knew we’d be stopping to have a bottle or two more with them when our bows cross.

Several faces familiar from around Crick. One lady who worked for ABNB and Neil Stuttle who fits out boats. Then sat next to Mick were the Tuckey’s, yes the crane and boat movers. Lizzie used to help move boats around Crick marina before and after the boat show so has known them for quite some years. Both Mick and I asked them if they’d had lots of enquiries from boats on the Lancaster Canal, the sealock on the Ribble Link has developed a fault meaning boats could be stuck there through the winter. It was interesting as they are asked for quotes for such things, but people rarely tell them the reason, they had no idea about the stoppage despite having had numerous calls.

Plenty to talk about, some nice food and plenty to drink, we lasted until the big lights came on at the end of the night!

In the morning we joined the masses for breakfast, plenty of people had stayed including Lizzie. Time to catch up again over a cooked breakfast before everyone headed off in their separate directions. A lovely time had by all, good to catch up with people, maybe we’d bump into them all again if we headed to Stratford, but we have other plans. Thank you Lizzie for having a big Birthday and for inviting us.

**Not as good as one of Mick’s, but not bad**

Back down the M1 being tailed by the Kamilli crew for about 20 miles. Then round Milton Keynes, past all the land marks back to Cowroast Marina and Tilly, who had done her job very well whilst we were away.

For the last week we’ve been trying to catch up with my college friend Jen who lives in Hemel, her current job not allowing her time to come and help us through some locks. As we had a car we headed back to Hemel, a slight diversionary route giving us more narrow roads and just missing Winkwell Swing Bridge back to the Fishery Wharf Cafe to meet up with her and her dog Monty a very well behaved Collie.

Lots to catch up on, Jen is a fantastic scenic artist and used to work at the National Theatre. Now she freelances and has worked on various films and tv series. I believe she said she work on the props for the latest Ghost Buster film and currently is slapping paint on scenery for a new Netflix series about the Guiness family Last year she also painted some very wonderful panto cloths for Bury St Edmonds.

Recently she’s had an operation on her foot, so the two of us hobbled away from the cafe after a couple of hours.

Back at the boat we settled down for some food and a night in front of the TV, Dr Who with the Beatles. It was obvious what our nearest neighbours would be watching tonight, but thankfully after one rendition of Sweet Carolyn they must have headed to the pub garden to watch the game. A muffled roar from somewhere made us check the score. The quietness that followed suggested that Spain had scored more than one goal. Everyone returned to the marina quite quietly.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 Fiat 500, M1 twice, 1 very good party, 2 official photographers, 1 offer of crew, 1 problematic bridge, 1 tray, pair 29 well under way, 1 painter and hound, 1 free sausage, 1 nice cafe, 1 musical baddy, 1 quiet night in with Tilly, still 9.75 digits.

2023 A Sociable Year

A long post, it’s the annual round up.

January, we sat waiting. Waiting for a new alternator to arrive, for the River Trent to come out of flood and then for the canal to defrost sufficiently for us move. This meant Pip doing work on the boat instead of in the house, this made for smelly days and a very cold workshop under the pram cover.

After almost three weeks we were on the move again having to navigate through thick fog, navigational aids helping us not to bump into the banks! Ahead of us in Yorkshire was a troublesome swing bridge, closed to boat traffic. Our plans had to change, we arranged to moor up in Newark and head back to Scarborough by van. Chin rubs nearly made the longer journey better, but I really don’t like the outside moving SO fast!

Four days later we were back on board, the bridge ahead was now open. Tides were checked, locks booked, cupboards stocked for a few days cruising. Winter cruising can be so so pretty, yet so so chilly. A display by the Red Arrows as we left Torksey kept us amused and a defrost was very welcome when we arrived at Keadby. After four days cruising we were moored up in Goole and walking to catch the train back to Scarborough.

#unit21 in Huddersfield kept Pip occupied for much of February. Then it was time to give the house some TLC in between lodgers. A back bedroom got a makeover just in time. Mick had trips to see Oleanna, a jobs list left with Alastair and the covers headed off for some much needed mending. Tilly was kept busy checking out the neighbours, they stay inside so I get free reign of their outside!

April arrived along with two lodgers, it was not possible to do more work on the house, Pip chose to knit socks instead. Dementia UK her chosen charity this year. Donations of yarn came from dyers and Pip’s needles started to click away, keeping up with requests. 15 pairs knitted and her target met.

May, visits were made to Oleanna preparing her for cruising, these were interspersed with visits from family, delivering socks, getting the house ready and starting work on the design for panto. On the 9th of May we loaded a van and returned to life afloat. Tilly the happiest cat once she was back onboard! A day later we set off heading west. Leeds for a few days for Pip to head to Matlock for work and then a wonderful visit to see 93 year old Betty in Harrogate.

Working our way up the Leeds Liverpool Canal, locks and the new stupid swing bridge much lighter work with two boats. Our favourite canal with wonders of the waterways, friends on route, Mick’s birthday and a trip to Bowness to see the latest Ayckbourn play. We managed a night on our favourite mooring on the network sadly it was too windy to enjoy the view with a barbecue.

Up over the top, we teamed up with NB That’s It, thankfully descending the Wigan flight in a window between vandalism and blown cills that have hampered the flight this year. Then along the Bridgewater Canal, panto designing whilst on the flat. Through Preston Brook Tunnel and onto the Trent and Mersey turning right onto the Middlewich Branch.

Back on lockdown ‘Home’ waters we cruised the Nantwich pound, 5 hours 13 minutes including a lunch and shopping stop, back in 2020 we’d spent 80 days here. We cruised southwards on the Shropie joined for a day by Carol and George from WB Still Rockin’. Laura and Alison from NB Large Marge joined us for the ascent up the Wolverhampton 21.

Through Bumingham and on to Lapworth and then Hatton where we had an extra pair of hands from Jane, who hopefully now has her own narrowboat. A well deserved burger at the Cape of Good Hope with Emma and David, then a lovely evening with Lizzie (NB Panda) at The Folly, it was turning out to be quite a sociable June.

Oleanna wiggled her way across the summit of the South Oxford, very familiar water to us. Despite the sunny weather and us cruising most days our batteries were not happy, turning themselves off overnight! Diagnosis was required, we pulled into Cropredy Marina to plug in and run tests. One of our three batteries was dead, bad enough but thankfully nothing more. Once a panto meeting had been attended we could move on, except there was an emergency closure at Banbury Lock. C&RT worked hard to get the canal open as quickly as they could, thankfully our hold up wasn’t too long.

We met up with the crews of NB Azzura (Liz and Mark) and NB Perseus (Julie and Simon) both Finesse boats, had a visit to London for Andrew’s birthday. Then had a rendez vous with Paul and Christine and enjoyed a good catch up onboard NB Waterway Routes.

Down to the River Thames where we turned upstream onto waters we’ve only cruised once before. Such a lovely stretch of river, sadly with fewer moorings now. We sped up to Lechlade where we took up residence for a week so that we could attend a get together at Pip’s cousins which coincided with the Royal International Air Tatoo in Fairford. It was great to be with family on a jolly occasion.

Work took over for Pip as we made our way back down stream to Oxford, Cinderella had to go to the ball and the model needed to be finished. Then we sauntered our way back northwards. One day had us meet up with Frankie NB Discovery, NB Dusty the local coal boat and Graeme on NB Misty Blue, it was good to catch up with Graeme and hear of his adventures since we’d seen him last year.

A trip for us both back to Scarborough to do a turn around of lodgers, see a show and pick up post. Mick would have to return the following weekend to swap bedlinen over again, this time by train from Rugby. Stand still budgets and inflation required Pip to do more work on panto so her days were kept busy reducing Cinderella’s carriage from £2000 to £400.

Stoppages around the network meant we had only one real route we could take to head back north. We winded and climbed our way up to the Leicester Section. Here we met up with Ken and Sue NB Cleddau at Houdini’s Field sitting out till way after dark. Then a small detour to Welford to meet up with NB Panda and Lizzie for an evening before we continued our way north.

Another detour to Market Harborough before Leicester where North Lock had a badly leaking cill which required a crew of C&RT chaps to force the bottom gates open, booked passage was required, this meant we got a few days to enjoy the city whilst we awaited our turn.

Sadly by now the lack of water on the Chesterfield Canal meant the top end of the canal was closed, no point in rushing up the River Trent for a return visit. In Nottingham Pip’s little toe had a kerfuffle with a cupboard necessitating a visit to the drop in centre for her little pinkie to be realigned. This meant Pip had to hand the windlass and key of power over to Mick for the last locks of the year.

Downstream on the River Trent, stopping at all our favourite moorings. Pip’s knitting needles came out again to knit more socks for Dementia UK. We had a trip into Lincoln along the Fossdyke Canal, we actually managed to finally visit the Cathedral this time!

Tides were not helpful for the rest of our trip north so a couple of days at West Stockwith was needed, but that did mean we’d be sharing the tidal waters back to Yorkshire with NB That’s It whom we’d met earlier in the year.

There was time for a catch up with David as we passed through Bramwith, a jaunt up to Doncaster and then finally along the New Junction and onto Goole where a space had been found for us in the marina. A train ride to Scarborough to pick up a van and see the latest show before packing up the boat again for the second time this year.

Planned works at the house then went very smoothly. Scaffolding arriving the day after we arrived, new windows later in the day with four carpenters and two days later the decorator who was to give the house a much needed new coat of paint outside.

Mid October Pip moved to Chipping Norton for a month to work on panto, Mick and Tilly left to welcome a new lodger for the Christmas show in Scarborough. Panto was as much work as normal with the addition of Pip getting covid after the first week of rehearsals. The show opened to toe tapping audiences and many many bananas, getting great reviews. Mick had a days trip to London to support boaters who had gathered outside the Houses of Parliament for a Fund Britain’s Waterways rally.

Back in Scarborough Christmas came early with a visit from the London Leckenbys at the beginning of December, they hadn’t been to Scarborough for ten years. A few more house jobs have been done but a list has been compiled for the new year along with those on Oleanna. We’ve had a lovely Christmas, catching up with Scarborough friends, Tilly has slept lots, we’re lucky to see her before 2pm most days! I’m just resting for when the outsides start changing again.

Don’t worry Tilly the count down has started.

This year our plans changed all because of an invite from Pip’s cousins. We travelled our favourite canal, cruised many familiar waters , visited ‘Home’, climbed trees and pounced, caught up with many boating friends and made many new ones along the way. One very sociable year.

So our vital statistics for 2023 according to Canalplan are

Total distance of 805miles, 2.25furlongs and 436 locks.

There were 121 moveable bridges, of which 33 are usually left open; 151 small aqueducts or underbridges and 16 tunnels – a total of 6 miles, 5 furlongs under ground and 7 major aqueducts.

This is made up of 244 miles, 1.25 furlongs of narrow canals; 251 miles, 5.5 furlongs of broad canals; 69 miles, 1.5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 95 miles, 4.75 furlongs of small rivers; 57 miles, 3.75 furlongs of large rivers; 87 miles, 1.5 furlongs of tidal rivers; 185 narrow locks; 223 broad locks; 28 large locks.

Although according to Nebo we did

815.09 miles and 431 locks! Hmm maybe my maths isn’t so good. But then we only started using Nebolink in August, tracking our every move rather than just on our phones.

470 engine hours, 789.8 litres diesel! Ouch, having to run the engine to top the batteries up on an evening didn’t help with this, 150amp hours down to 100, 3 gas bottles, 120kg coal, 19.5 litres oil, 2 oil filters, 2 fuel filters, 1 shower mixer, 1 domestic alternator, 1 set new engine mounts, 1 overnight guest, 3 packs Dreamies, 1.5 packs Bonkers, 39 friends, 6 brought in, 34 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval, 34 pairs of socks, £1132 for Dementia UK, 2 shows, 9 lodgers, 10 supermarket deliveries, 33 boxes wine, 1 toe, 6 months cruising, 3 boat mover sightings, 209 posts, 184 likes, 9,503 visitors, 31,309 views!

Thank you for following our journey during 2023. We have a plan for 2024, but there are several invites and a rendez vous with some New Zealanders. Will we stick to our plan? Have to alter course to fit everything in? Wait and see, we’re already counting down the weeks to being afloat again.

Panto Postcard 4, 2023

49.5 hours

Sunday, I actually managed to have a lie in! By the time I’d made my breakfast I realised the Geraghty zoom would be half-way through, I joined and it was lovely to see everyone. I then had a leisurely morning before wrapping up against the rain to walk up to Checkers for lunch.

In the past Checkers had a good reputation and I’d imagined the pub would be heaving, but not today. Glen at the theatre yesterday had mentioned that there was a new landlord so possibly a new chef too. A table had been reserved, which was in the glazed dining room (a touch chilly), not one of the cosy side rooms. Soon I was joined by Ian my cousin who lives in Fairford near Lechlade. Back in the summer we’d arranged to meet up when I was in Chippy. Recently a date had been chosen, sadly this also coincided with a mammoth singing of the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, so Sally and Sam were not able to join us. However Ian had been left to tend after the Leckenby zoo and was more than happy to meet up and chat away for a couple of hours.

Sadly the food didn’t live up to my expectations. We both opted for Pork, I requested a gluten free one (no Yorkshire Pudding). When they arrived the poor person serving us, on her second ever shift, explained that they were both gluten free. Well one of them should have been but the other should have come with a Yorkshire. It took quite a while before it was explained to us that they had no Yorkshires! We opted for a dessert which was okay, but certainly nothing to write home about. A shame as a pub like this should have Sunday roasts to shout out about. But what more than made up for the food was a good long chat with Ian. Our families, the plane he’s building and how long he’ll be able to have it in England as it’s registered in France.

A lazy afternoon followed, doing my best to recharge my batteries before the final push of panto. Bake off was caught up on, a blog written and some sock knitting for Dementia Uk.

Monday. Jo was back, she’d spent the weekend fixing bananas together, hundreds of them! During the day bits of the show were worked on by the actors, the composers were about doing notes and we continued working on the set pieces the statues got a bit more shading as they’d looked a touch anemic under the lights.

Early afternoon we were joined by the Pippins, time for the first dress rehearsal. This went well, some tightening up of scene changes to be done, but that’s quite normal, sadly my statues still looked amenic time to give them more shading.

**Costumes still being added every day**

Tuesday. Another dress rehearsal, but first more work on set pieces.

Days like this involve working whenever the actors are not on stage so through their breaks, so meals are eaten in the dark of the auditorium. Problematic scene changes changed to nearer the end of the show, a few things still array in the interval change. At the end of the day John had one note for me regarding the scene at the end of act 1, this has a lot of dressing which had been left to last. Things still needed working on, it showed, they were next on the list. A final chicken and chips from the burger van was deserved.

**This didn’t end up being my final visit!**

Wednesday. In early to paint t-chests, logos had been stuck on boxes last night, extra bananas were added to stands by Jo, she’s now an expert with the yellow bendy things.

I’d wanted colourful lanterns for the set, a couple of weeks ago the crafting group in the theatre had started to make some for me. Empty 2 litre water and lemonade bottles had been covered with lighting gel and cut out black paper, a bulb inside and they resembled colombian lanterns. Local schools had also been invited to make some, these were smaller versions. Sacks of them arrived and the little red shades on the balcony fronts were exchanged for them, the rest then used around front of house. If you come to see the show look up in the bar and you’ll see the kids handywork.

Preview 1. What would the audience make of the show? What would the actors make of it too? I believe only one of the company has been in panto before, many of the actors had not even seen one before starting rehearsals. I sat next to Mariana the Assistant Director who originates from Columbia, her only experience had been last year when she was invited to watch Dick Whittington.

**The new shed now well and truly used**

Earlier in the day John had mentioned to the actors that the audience would be made up of Scouts, Beavers and mostly Brownies. Brownies?! The company were a touch surprised that there would be an audience of brown people watching them, more surprised that John was pointing this out. It took a bit of explaining to them about Brownies.

Blimey the audience were noisy! This is an understatement! Next to Mariana sat friends of one of the Pippins, who got the majority of the sweets during the song sheet! They were so loud Mariana covered her ears for much of the show. What a baptism for the actors. Mariana asked if it was always like this, well no, it was one end of the audience spectrum they could expect to have.

Thursday. Final bits to do. Butterflies were painted, their strings shortened for safety, Jo had finished yesterday evening, so the props jobs were split between me and stage management. Thankfully yesterday I’d got the balance of shading on the statues just about right and Nathan the Lighting Designer had found a good colour for them too, Hercules now had his own special colour.

My paints were reduced to those that may be needed for touching up during the run, everything else was tidied away. My possessions packed up, then finally I had finished painting things. Time to change into my civies.

Mick arrived with a hire car. We loaded it, did idiot checks around the building. New cocktail glasses needed to be shown to John, then a prop failure needed sorting, so I left Mick to load the last of my possessions and move the car round to my digs for the night. Last minute sewing and sticking was required, all done with just enough time for a glass of wine to be enjoyed before the show.

What a difference in audience from yesterday. Far far quieter. They enjoyed the show, Tony was a little bit reluctant to join in mind, but Tom made up for it! At least on the first two previews the cast had had both ends of the spectrum of audiences, hopefully from now on they will get a reaction somewhere in between.

Notes after the show were given, just a couple of small jobs needed doing which could be left with stage management. We headed to the pub, hoping there’d be some food available, but sadly the kitchen was closed. Mick and I headed to another pub and the story was the same there too, the burger van got our custom, one last portion of chips before returning to have drinks with everyone at the pub. Final farewells were had.

**My Chippy home for the last four weeks**

Last night at Suzanne’s, a final tidy up and pack on Friday morning. Chance to have a final chat before handing my key back and starting to head for home. First things first, breakfast, well brunch. We headed to The Straw Kitchen at Whichford Pottery a short drive north. Suzanne had recommended it and Louisa from the theatre had worked there at one time.

We were their first customers to arrive and selected a Super Brunch each. Mick had his with a homemade muffin, mine came with GF toast.

Wow it was very tasty! A bit of a shame that we wouldn’t be able to visit again easily. Afterwards we had a wander around the pottery shop where local ceramicists sell their wares. Some very nice items, but a touch too expensive for our pockets. Then we had a look outside where giant thrown outdoor pots would cost even more, several thousands of pounds, but the skill and strength to throw such pots is immense.

I’d considered trying to visit Andrew in London on our return journey, check in on him after his stay in hospital. But the extra hours of driving would have been unfair on Mick, so we headed northwards instead. The journey took a while longer than expected, a lorry having crossed the central reserve on the M18 and traffic for no obvious reason elsewhere.

At just gone 4pm, Scarborough was getting dark, the silhouette of Tilly could be made out in one of the bay windows SHOUTING!!! It took a couple of seconds for her to realise who I was after being away for four weeks FOUR WEEKS Do you know HOW many big sleeps that was?! Tom is alright, but he’s not She!

Partially unpacked we made use of the car and did a big shop, then put some clean clothes on and walked up to the Stephen Joseph Theatre for our friend Jaye’s party. This was to celebrate her receiving her state pension, she’d decided to spend it on having a party.

Most of our Scarborough friends were there, sorry not to see you Ali. A suitable surprise cake had been organised by Duncan for the birthday girl. A lovely evening, after a couple of drinks we headed back home, it had been a long day for Mick and an even longer four weeks for me. Time to cuddle up with Tilly and recover.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna