Category Archives: Pubs

2022 Back To Exploring

Time for the annual round, a long post so sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.

The New Year kicked off with winter maintenance in the house. Having two hallways proved time consuming refreshing the woodwork and patching up the worst of the wallpaper. But this was broken up with weekly walks to see the sea. I resumed work on the development showing of #unit21 for Dark Horse and a Christmas present of a cheese making kit proved very tasty in creating my first ever Yorkshire Curd Cheese Cake from scratch. I plan on having a second go at this soon!

In February work progressed in Huddersfield towards opening night, the floor painted, final costume fittings and then the set and lighting added. All while Mick serviced our life jackets and Tilly grew more and more bored of life in the house.

Once the show was opened we had a trip down to London to catch up with the London Leckenbys for a belated Christmas, on our way back we visited Oleanna. When ever we could we visited Blue Water Marina to do jobs and have a pack up lunch. The stove was reblacked, walls washed down and cupboards sorted through.

Then at the end of February, Mick and I left Tilly in charge of the house, we packed enough clothes and food for a couple of days boating and headed to Thorne to move Oleanna through Thorne Lock before a winter stoppage began. Blimey it was chilly out there, but wonderful to be back afloat and moving Oleanna to Goole. Now we were all set to move back onboard and have a few weeks of pootling about in Yorkshire.

Back at the house we made it ready for the first of this years lodgers. Our boat Christmas tree was retired into the back garden where we hoped it would thrive, this of course was before we knew a drought was on it’s way! Tilly said goodbye to the dragon that lives up the chimney, left Seville and Valencia to look after the house before having to endure the car trip back to boat life.

After a few days sorting ourselves, including having one of Joan’s gluten free Chinese takeaways, we unplugged Oleanna and backed out from our mooring at Goole Marina (Boat House). We spent the next three weeks bobbing about between Pollington Lock, Doncaster and Goole. Maintenance jobs were ticked off the list.

Alistair did engine and weedhatch jobs, Frank joined us a couple of times to do carpentry jobs, our galley drawers no longer have a life of their own, the covers had a good scrub and a spray of Wet and Forget to help them keep clean.

In March I’d set myself a charity challenge, to knit as many pairs of socks in the month as I could. Nine pairs knitted for people in return for sponsorship, I also got a very generous donation of yarn from Lisa on NB Summer Wind.

Our plans had had to change as Thorne Lock still hadn’t closed, but was about to! Plans to visit York and West Yorkshire were abandoned, we’d bought ourselves a Gold Licence for the year so wanted to make the most of it. So on March 24th with all the jobs done we turned our backs on Goole and set off into the sunset to see where 2022 would take us, all three of us grinning from ear to ear.

We made our way to Keadby ready for our booked passage on the tidal River Trent, the fast route south. A phone call from a boating friend in need of support meant we’d be doing our best to make use of the spring tide to reach Cromwell in one go despite the weather forecast. We spent a couple of days doing what we could to help in Newark before we needed to be on the move again.

On upstream to The Trent and Mersey keeping up our cruising hours and Tilly hoping we’d stop with enough time for her to explore each day before cat curfew.

Up to Fradley then onto the Coventry Canal, we played leapfrog with NB Free Spirit for a couple of days.

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, up the Curdworth Flight then a turn left onto a section of the Grand Union we’d not been on before at Star City. Up Garrison Locks, Typhoo Basin and then the Ashted Locks where we now have the measure of that Tunnel! A mooring space at the top of Farmers Bridge had our name on it. This was handy for a road trip to swap lodgers and for visits to the dentist. It also meant we were in shot when a group came to jump the top lock!

Fast forward to 6:15

Our route out of Bumingham saw us through Edgbaston Tunnel, down Lapworth followed by Hatton. A pause was needed for Tilly’s annual visit to a new vet, the one here the closest to the canal we’ve visited so far, also handy for The Cape of Good Hope!

At Napton we joined the Oxford Canal and headed for Braunston, pausing to stock up on goodies from the butcher. On the Grand Union we made our way up over the hill and started our descent down The Long Buckby flight back towards tidal waters.

On the 1st of May we turned left at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm dropping down the flight to the River Nene. We’d only been this way once before and that was when we’d just bought Lillian (NB Lillyanne) back in 2014. We bought ourselves a second Abloy key, showed our Gold Licence to the chap at Northampton Marina and started our journey down stream, time to explore.

A decision was made to head down to Peterborough taking note of places we’d want to visit on our return journey. We worked our way through the guillotine locks, many button operated and others with the wheel of cardiovascular overload.

Tilly loved many of the moorings apart from those in Peterborough where crowds surrounded the boat and meant returning from shore leave was impossible for several hours.

In two weeks we reached the end of the river at the Dog in a Doublet Lock. Here the river becomes tidal, we’d save that trip for another time and turned back upstream to head for the Middle Level.

Here we wanted to explore all the drainage channels, but decided we’d do that on our return too. So we took the direct route and crossed the low lying waters in three days arriving at Salters Lode on Mick’s birthday. The levels out on the tidal stretch of the Great Ouse needing to be just right to get through the lock, turn and head upstream to Denver Sluice.

A lovely GOBA mooring was found on the River Wissey and eventually the sun came out for a birthday barbeque, we’d made it to the Great Ouse.

The remainder of May was spent exploring the River Wissey, Ely and The Little Ouse. Brandon Lock sits at the most easterly point on the connected navigable network for boats Oleanna’s size. Sadly a build up of silt stopped us from getting her bow into the lock, but we did get her as far east as was possible, ticking off the fourth point of the compass.

There was a trip to Hull Truck to meet old friends at a gala evening followed by a meet up with Micks family back in the Fens. At the end of the month we got to know Neil the seal at Ten Mile Bank moorings as he basked in the sun and took sunset dips in the river.

The Jubilee was seen in at Denver, we lit our guiding lights as a Lancaster Bomber flew overhead heading to see the Queen. The Relief Channel gave us a good mooring to be able to have a trip away to celebrate Dawn and Lee’s 50th Birthdays in Scarborough, we went as Wallace and Gromit and won an Oscar!

Another visit to Ely to see the Cathedral, Farmers market and meet up with Heather from NB Bleasdale, the first of many this summer. The River Lark was explored, the end of navigation reached with a handy mooring outside a pub.

We headed for the Cam, our paths crossing for the first time with Ken and Sue from NB Cleddau. Then onwards in to Cambridge where we visited colleges, ate chilled medication and had a day trip to Duxford so that Mick could sit in the pilots seat of a Trident 2, a seat his Dad had sat in on many a flight.

Oleanna squeezed along each of the three Lodes, Wicken, Burwell and Reach. Wicken Lode a magical place and a day visit to Anglesey Abbey with it’s wonderful gardens.

Then we headed onto the Old West a river with a very different feel than the Ely Ouse. A pause was needed when we reached Earith for us to have a tour of Heathers new to her boat GT. Once off the tidal water we were on a different Great Ouse again. Here St Ives, St Neots and Hemingford gave us sunsets, D shaped locks, huge meadows and wonderful towns and villages to explore.

As the temperatures started to rise I needed to do some work. Cruising happened in the mornings, my Panto script and sketches were done in the shade of what trees we could find. White sheets were bought and we hoped for a mooring with shade for the really hot days that were to come. Tilly took to lying on the floor and we took to wearing wet t-shirts to help us to keep cool. Thankfully the hot blast only lasted a couple of days then the temperature dropped and we could continue to head upstream.

July 21st we reached the navigable limit of the River Great Ouse, having to reverse some distance to be able to turn round and return to Bedford for the River Festival.

Here we met up with Ken and Sue, Jennie and Chris from NB Tentatrice and Heather again. Plenty of things to see, do and hear. The boat parades, raft races, vintage cars, all sorts kept us busy for the two days.

Now at the end of July we alternated the days between cruising and my work. More beautiful days cruising and more wonderful sunsets, one day off to visit Cambridge for some more chilled medication and to see the Hockney exhibition.

August saw more hot days. Trips to London to celebrate birthdays, panto meetings, catch up with best friends and travellers over from Australia.

On the 15th August we crossed back from Denver Sluice to the Middle Level having really enjoyed our three months on the Great Ouse. Now water levels were a worry along with having enough time to reach Oxford for me to go to work in October. We made the decision to come back and explore the Middle Level another year, maybe we’ll cross The Wash to get there!

By the end of August our progress up stream on the River Nene slowed to a halt. First one lock broke then another two ahead of us. We’d recently been accepted to join the Reflections Flotilla on the Thames to mark the Queens Jubilee in a few weeks time, now that time was ticking away.

When we did get moving again we had to make up our cruising hours. With the news of the passing of the Queen we didn’t know if the flotilla would still be going ahead, we carried on at pace waiting for news. Back up the River Nene, turning onto the Grand Union, working our way southwards. The news came through that the flotilla would go ahead, but now in remembrance of the Queen.

With a couple of days to spare we squeezed into the Eco-Moorings by Islington Tunnel. Two days of catching up with family and more friends over from Australia before we joined boats heading along the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin. An afternoon of activity saw numerous narrowboats festooned with white lights.

On the 24th of September the Thames barrier was closed and we all headed out of Limehouse Lock up stream to Chelsea where we clung onto buoys until the early evening when the flotilla started to muster.

Getting on for 150 boats all displaying white lights got into formation and headed down stream. Crowds stood on the illuminated bridges and Tower Bridge opened up in a royal salute as we passed underneath. What a truly amazing day.

Now we had to head towards Banbury, back round the Regents Canal as a leak in the engine bay needed testing on the calm waters of the canal rather than the tideway. By the time we reached Brentford we were confident with Oleanna’s engine again. On the Thames Tilly got a birthday present of a night on a Cliveden Island. Sadly we got an unexpected present on our arrival in Oxford, a second red line on a covid test! Panto painting couldn’t be put off so we made our way gradually up the Oxford Canal keeping our distance from people at locks and taking maximum doses of paracetamol.

A week of painting in Banbury before I moved to Chipping Norton to stack up the hours over the next four weeks getting the 50th anniversary panto ready. Rendez Vousing with Oleanna at weekends in Banbury and Coventry kept me sane. Mick had to single hand across the summit of the Oxford Canal to avoid the first of the winter stoppages.

All three of us were back onboard by mid November, covid free and vaccinated. We took things slowly now, time to rest up, meet friends, gather family and pootle towards Christmas. Our 20th Anniversary was celebrated with a Chinese takeaway at Alvecote Marina, a planned stop which ended up being extended due to plummeting temperatures. The canal froze, there’d be no moving the outside for Tilly!

Temperatures lifted dramatically and the ice just about vanished in a couple of days, we could now be on our way to Christmas. Alrewas was a good place to spend the festive days, a very good butchers and a village with lots of character and humour.

Bookings in the New Year had been made for passage on the tidal River Trent for us to reach Yorkshire, but this would not be. The Trent had risen before Christmas, Cranfleet Flood Gates were shut ahead of us, so no New Year at Hazelford Lock. Instead our alternator played up and we sought out a mooring to hook up to and see in 2023.

This year we’d been wanting to explore again. This year we cruised miles of new water, made new friends, got too hot, got iced in, got stuck, got to be in the first illuminated flotilla on the Thames for 300 years. What a great year it has been.

So our vital statistics for 2022 according to Canalplan are

Total distance is 1249 miles, 6½ furlong and 555 locks . There were 88 moveable bridges of which 29 are usually left open; 156 small aqueducts or underbridges and 18 tunnels, a total of 7 miles 2 ¼ furlongs underground and 8 major aqueducts.

This was made up of 227 miles, 1 1/2 furlongs of narrow canals; 363 miles, 2 furlongs of broad canals; 85 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 269 miles, 1 furlong of small rivers; 234 miles, 7 1/4 furlongs of large rivers; 69 miles, 6 furlongs of tidal rivers; 176 narrow locks; 232 broad locks; 54 large locks; 2 locks on major waterways.

731.7 engine hours

1156.1 litres diesel, 5 (although we’ve got 1 empty now) gas bottles (used for central heating as well as cooking), 28.5 litres oil, 3 oil filters, 1 fuel filter, 2 air filters, 1 water pump, 2 new belts, 690kg coal, 1 overnight guest twice, 6 packs Dreamies (not enough!), 56 friends, a record breaking 41 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval (4 in one day!), 15 pairs socks, 2 shows designed, 9 lodgers, 2 lots gluten free puff pastry, 9 supermarket deliveries, 30 boxes of wine delivered, 2 lost unicorns.

Thank you all for joining us on our journey. Wonder where we’ll get to in 2023?

Twenty Years! 3rd December

Between Locks 5 and 6 to Alvecote Marina

A Saturday newspaper was picked up this morning along with some chesty cough mixture, Mick is having difficulty brushing off the cold I gave him.

One boat came past before we pushed off, hopefully the first lock of the day would be in our favour. Mick walked on ahead after giving Oleanna’s bow a push out for me, I tootled on behind waiting for the top gate to open.

Nebo notes were easier to make on entering the locks today as we were without a volunteer, so there was more time to note our position before the lock started to empty. Have no idea why my Nebo recorded 1.5 miles further than Mick’s as our phones were sat next to each other for most of the trip!

We passed an up hill cruiser and then on a longer pound I could see someone setting the next lock, it had been half empty so the chap set it in their favour, we were a long way off.

Mick worked the locks, at some he adopted my method of opening the bottom gates. Standing in the middle and pushing them apart, kicking one into it’s recess and then fully opening the other gate. Neither of us are willing to step over from one open gate to a closed gate as others do. Mick says he’s not sure if my method saves any time, he also isn’t too happy doing it. To which I say, if he’s not happy doing it then he shouldn’t. I know that new or metal gates are harder to move, but that comes with experience.

I had a go at closing the bottom gate using a boat hook. I’m not tall enough to do this, so gave up after the third attempt. I felt a touch of a fraud at one lock as I waited for Mick to return from setting the next lock to close the top gate.

Moving gates is the reason I’ve been told not to work locks until my calf is better, but it really doesn’t feel right stood on the back of the boat alongside the beam and not closing it!

Second to last lock and the bottom gates were open, a boat just entering from below. We pulled in to wait our turn. Mick walked up to help with the bottom gates as I wondered if the chap climbing the ladder was Sam from NB Red Wharf. Our bows have crossed several times through the years normally just long enough for a quick chat. Today there was a touch longer as his boat rose in the slow filing lock. Sorry I didn’t walk down to chat too, I’d done too much walking yesterday. Tilly sadly didn’t sit in the window to say hello, well it was time for my mid morning snooze!

**Bye Sam, see you again, somewhere, sometime**

By now dark clouds were starting to take over from the blue sky we’d been treated to so far. The number of oak trees along this stretch gave us such wonderful views, if only the sun had been shining the orange trees would have glowed their glorious colours. They were still pretty good.

The temperature was very chilly as we pootled our way along the five miles to todays destination, Alvecote Marina. We pulled in at the service point and Mick went to check in, whilst I did my best to rinse the bow rope that had landed in some dog shit residue! The chap came out to point us towards our mooring for the next few days. Some thought went into where to place us. In the end we were directed towards an old 70ft working boat Victoria. It turns out I’d taken a photo of the exact mooring as we’d come past.

We decided to go bow end in which made our mooring easy, this would make it easy to fill with water, hook up we can do from either end. The short thin green pontoons not ideal, but stepping off the bow will just require an amount of care. A nappy pin was needed to tie the bow, then we could head indoors to warm up.

Tilly was not pleased. No shore leave whilst we are here, she made her feelings known!

Some research over the last few days had been done on Chinese Takeaways in Tamworth with delivery. Once a year I risk Chinese food, avoiding battered dishes, but hoping not to regret pancakes and hoisin sauce with crispy aromatic duck or soy sauce hidden in most dishes (Joan’s Home Kitchen in Goole an exception as she’d cook especially without gluten). Eat Well was chosen, £3 delivery charge, ordered on line, cash required for payment. At first our delivery slot wasn’t possible, we’d have to wait 85 minutes, hopefully it would be worth it.

Mick headed out to wait in the car park of the Samuel Barlow pub, not currently open. A phone call from the driver discovered that he was on the wrong side of the canal, torches were flashed and after a short walk the food was handed over.

The duck was good, followed by Crispy Beef and Kung Po Chicken. Very generous portions, I was quite surprised at the amount of meat we got in each dish and one large rice between us was just right. A very good takeaway. We even got two fortune cookies each, my fortunes more upbeat than Micks.

**Don’t know what this means about the next twenty years!**

6 locks, WE 6.15 miles, Pip’s Nebo 6.3 miles, Mick’s Nebo 5 miles! 3 passed, 1 Sam, 2 chilly boaters, 1 dog doo rope, £10 not £18, 1 mardy cat, 1 Chinese, 20 years together, I’m not old enough to have been with him for 20 years, surely!

https://goo.gl/maps/XGeg9oL2HQbezC8G9

Neontastic 28th November

Newbold visitor moorings

Contact with my friend Graham was needed today. Graham built the set for #unit21 and it was built with the hope that we could upgrade it should the show get funding to go on tour. Replacing green neon gaffa tape with LED neon or rope light was always the goal, hopefully we now have sufficient budget to do this.

I finally got round to stowing away items brought back from Chippy. I seem to have gained a few glue sticks, a longer tape measure than the one that broke. The best item was a large panto potato. This will be reused, being chopped up into chips for #unit21, a suitable use. Items from the model were edited down to a minimum, barrels and a favourite piece will be saved the rest went in the bin.

Daytime TV watching has moved on from episodes of Inspector Morse to the original series of Star Trek, Mick treated us to the gangster 1920s episode whilst I worked on making a large scale model of a door from panto. This will be sent to the director to fit into a sample of a cloth I was sent that’s about four times bigger than my 1:25 model. As her son gave us lots of inspiration for the cloth it seemed like the natural place for it go, it just needs a door to finish it off.

Early evening we walked up to The Barley Mow, just 200yards away to meet up with our friend Lizzie. We always try to get to see her when in the area and we’d arranged a meet up after panto.

Very good to have a catch up. She’s had another very tough year, it’s about time things improved for her. We were impressed with the food in the pub. Two black and blue burgers and a rump steak. One improvement would have been warm plates, my steak nicely cooked just a touch cool when I got it.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 day back at work, 2 bags unpacked, 1 still to be stowed, 1 under dinette cupboard full, 1 big door, 2 boater reviews of panto, 2 burgers, 1 steak, 1 good friend.

Where The Streets Are Paved In Gold. 11th August

Littleport Station Road EA mooring to Swan On The River mooring

Early morning start for me today, catching the 8:12am train to Kings Cross with my white card model and overnight bag. Due to the heat that was already building my train had speed restrictions on much of the line in towards Ely where there was a backlog of trains, but thankfully we got moving soon enough and I actually arrived in Golders Green for my meeting bang on time.

Today had originally been a meeting for myself Abi, the Director and Gemma, the Production Manager to look at the white card model and for me to hand over drawings to be priced up. However we were also joined by Suzette, Producer from Chippy, Lily, the Choreographer and Maryna Costume Designer. We had four hours to work our way through the show with the aim of a common direction for the production.

Maryna comes from an Opera and Ballet background, she also has not grown up with all that is panto. So quite a lot of time was taken up looking at her wonderful drawings and then explaining about the audiences expectations for the characters. Thankfully there was just about enough time to also go through my model scene by scene, but sadly a few tricky props got forgotten about which really should have been discussed. There can always be phone calls to sort those out though.

Meanwhile back on Oleanna, Mick and Tilly pushed off and headed back upstream to the Swan on the River. Here he managed to get a mooring outside the pub and in the afternoon he met up with Mick and Andy who at one time used to work for Philips and then all three of them worked in the Telecoms Department at Lloyds Bank, most probably in one of those buildings Mick pointed out to us along the Thames on Monday. They had a couple of hours sat in the pub garden reminiscing about old times.

After my meeting I then relived the experience of transporting a model on London transport! It’s amazing how protective you become over a model you’ve spent hours working on. I headed out to Hackney to my brothers.

It was very nice having a catch up on their latest holiday and seeing how much Josh has grown both height and maturity wise. In the evening we all went out for a Turkish meal at Scoffs, it’s worth a visit if you end up mooring on the River Lee near Hackney Marshes. We shared a platter intended for two between the four of us with a portion of Haloumi and chips extra, there was plenty of food at a reasonable price.

0 locks, 0.621371 miles, 1 wind, 1 train, 3 tubes, 1 bus, 1 model approved, 2 hours drinking with old mates, 1 vast platter of kebabs, 1 pleasant evening with family, 33C, 3 pillows to choose from, 0 shore leave!

https://goo.gl/maps/2zkDMTMjxh6XumfG6

14 Days Anywhere! 29th June

Burlow Lode EA Mooring to Stretham Old Engine GOBA Mooring, Old West River

Time to do some boating again and leave the Loades behind.

What a grey morning! The waterproofs were at the ready. After a long chat with the fishermen who’d set up behind us about the National Trust wanting to flood the land, how bad the fishing was and how much the house across the way was on the market for (£1,050,000, it comes with a building plot with planning permission), we were ready to push off.

Slow going again until the way ahead got wider, followed by the Terns again.

Is this a hovercraft sat in the field?

At the two bridges there were several dog walkers, one lady on one side of the water another two opposite, they were waiting for us to pass before getting their dogs to swim across to each other. The dogs were being very patient and loving it at the same time.

NB Ivy May turned out from Wicken Lode a short distance in front of us, they’d had two days moored at the end and really enjoyed it. Today there was space on the EA mooring despite some overstayers, but who knows their circumstances.

A boat was moored in the middle of the lock landing which is also a water point. NB Ivy May just about managed to get in front of them and we did our best to squeeze in behind, but had to stick out across the cut as we were about four foot too long for the gap. Our next water point wouldn’t be until Friday, a load of washing had just finished, so we needed to fill the tank. NB Ivy May disposed of rubbish and then made their way through the lock whilst we filled with water. Eventually the boat in the middle moved up after Mick had suggested that the owner may believe he can moor anywhere for 14 days even water points, but that it was very selfish to other boaters requiring to use the services. He didn’t have a hose and was going to fill up using jerry cans, I also suspect he didn’t have a key either as he looked a touch perturbed when he returned to see the water point closed and us heading off into the lock.

By the time we reached the lock it had reset itself. The top gate almost closed, letting a small flow through and the bottom gate open that bit more. It took a little while for me to work out what was what as you can see next to nothing of the lock from the controls at either end, but we were soon through and on our way again.

Straight on past the pub, the river view tables all full, people waving as we went past. A narrowboat came towards us, quite a long way over and heading for a big willow, thankfully the two dogs on the roof managed to stay onboard.

The heavens opened as Ely Cathedral showed itself again on the skyline.

Popes Corner, time to turn towards the west and onto the River Old West. There are several EA moorings on the first bend but we had our sights set on the GOBA mooring at Stretham Old Engine, hopefully there would be space for us and it be a suitable place for a supermarket delivery.

Another speed check, we were well within it at 42 seconds. Plenty of others were going that bit faster!

The chimney of the old engine showed itself, then the mooring. One boat and a handful of fishermen, but plenty of space for us. We pulled in and settled down for the rest of the day, making amendments to our big shopping order.

A little walk round late afternoon we had a little nosy at the museum. Sadly it is only open on Sundays, maybe every Sunday or maybe the second one each month! Too long for us to hang around to see inside.

Stretham steam engine replaced four windmills that had been trying to drain the surrounding fens for years, they’d struggled to cope with flooding and were at the mercy of the weather. The engine was built by Butterleys in 1831 costing £4950 and it scooped water up into the Old West River. The coal to drive the engine arrived by barge, chunks of 2 to 3ft piled high in the yard, these had to be broken up before they could be burned, the engine using a quarter of a ton an hour. It was one of only three drainage beam engines left in the Fens. It was used for over a hundred years and then was replaced by electric pumps. What a shame we won’t see it running.

1 lock, 8.05 miles, 2 straights, 1 left, 1 shower to be missed, 14 days! 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 0 rubbish,1 order completed after 12 goes, 1 closed museum, 1 fishing tennis fan, 1 looping the loop Spitfire.

https://goo.gl/maps/yyUbrGNLjXzpfTJ69

Plummeted. 18th June

Little Thetford EA Mooring to Fidwell Fen EA Mooring

Everyone will be saying the same thing today, ‘What a difference a day makes!’ Yet it was surprising to see the chap in front of us pulling away wearing a woolly hat, it couldn’t be that cold surly! I started off the day wearing shorts, but soon changed into long trousers.

**Toasted bacon and mushroom with a touch of tomato sauce**

As we waited for the Geraghty zoom to kick off this morning we were passed by Simon Judge on NB Scholar Gypsy who is recently back from a trip to Belgium. Last year we joined him and nine other boats on a Thames Tideway cruise with St Pancras Cruising Club. There was only time for a short exchange between us before he passed on by, it was drizzling, maybe our paths will cross again.

Zoom this morning included details of forthcoming trips away and we were glad to see that the Londoners were now fully recovered from Covid. With two new variants about we’ll be doing our best to remember to have our masks with us in crowded places.

It was now raining properly, so we decided to sit it out and wait for it to ease before moving onwards. By midday we were ready to push off, heading southwards. Mick had called ahead to the Fish and Duck Marina to see how much their diesel was and if they might just have a 13kg bottle of LPG as we’d finished one bottle the other day. Calor Gas is a hard thing to find nowadays, none at Little Ouse Moorings or in Ely, so on hearing that they had some we needed to get there quickly before it all went.

Not far to where the river splits at Pope’s Corner. The Old West heading off to the west and the River Cam to the south, here sits the marina, steel on the river moorings and tuperware inside. We pointed down the Old West and pulled in on the service mooring, a touch short for us, but the chap had come out and pulled us alongside another narrowboat so the diesel hose would reach our tank.

The old gas bottle was removed and a new one put on the stern to drop into the gas locker later, Mick wanted to re-arrange the bottles anyway. Once we’d paid we then reversed away back to the junction and headed southwards onto the Cam.

**Another pumping station and a pillbox**

The floodbanks now moved away giving us views of the grey day, we’d already got a touch damp as the diesel tank filled and several layers were required.

Sign posts were many today. Ely, Cambridge, St Ives and Burwell. We’d already decided and headed towards Cambridge, but should we do the Lodes first or head to Cambridge? Being grey we didn’t fancy going too far so at Upwell we opted to stay on the River Cam and pull up at the EA moorings.

I’d spotted a slightly strange thing on our Waterway Routes map at Upware. Here there are 72 hour patron moorings close to the pub Five Miles To Anywhere, then on the offside it said there were 48 hour patron moorings too. But how could you be a patron at the pub? The next bridge north was about a mile and a half away and heading southwards you’d have to cross first the River Cam at Bottisham Lock, 3.5 miles, then head back downstream to Upware Lock, another 3.5 miles, followed by another quarter of a mile to the pub. Quite a long way for a pint! But on a short landing by the pub was a rib with an outboard motor, do they come and collect you? Their website suggests that you would need to make your own way by dingy.

Round the bend we pulled in at the end of the EA mooring behind a couple of cruisers. A quick check confirmed it was a good location for Tilly. Too right it was with a very handy fence to aid friendly cover perusal. It was however a touch muddy and damp in the grassy bits!

As we had lunch I cooked up some quinoa for a quiche base. Todays quiche was to be a firm favourite from before I went gluten free, Smoked Salmon and Camembert. It may even be nicer with the quinoa crust.

0 locks, 3.82 miles, 13 degree plummet, 1 Simon, 3 rivers, 72.5 litres, 13kg gas, 1 cat with eye’s too big! 2 friends and some red leicester, 1 quiche, 1 damp grey day.

https://goo.gl/maps/6x6ecmtCTqBmDdiS9

The Boats We’ve Yet To Meet. 9th June

Ten Mile Bank GOBA mooring to Jubilee Gardens, Ely

The curtains on the porthole in the bedroom were pushed aside this morning so that we could spy for any passing boats as we had our cuppa in bed. NB Eleanor pushed off from behind us and I think a cruiser also came past. As we had breakfast, rolled up the covers we kept an eye open for a boat we’ve yet to meet, but there was still no sign. We needed to get moving to secure a mooring in Ely. Our paths, with the yet to meet boat, will cross at some point.

Today was still windy, is it always so down here on the flat lands? Another blue and green day.

We passed WB Karma, biped our horn, but no one was about, Klaud or Kato had been left in charge of the wheelhouse, a head bobbing up to see who was disturbing his snooze.

We passed the sad house, the last pylon in a line, the closed moorings at Littleport where the ducks, moles and weeds are enjoying themselves with no boaters around to disturb them.

Then the long straight sections towards Ely, the occasional slight bend and the turn off to the River Lark. Onwards. We were gradually catching up with a boat ahead who were overtaken by rowers. Then it was time to seek out a mooring.

Where we’d been before was chocka, but further along nearer the bars there were a few spaces. We pulled in at the bottom of Jubilee Gardens, hopefully here would be far enough away from any cars for Tilly to possibly have some shore leave.

Maybe there? Avoiding the trip boat mooring of course

The overhang on the mooring meant deploying the fat fender and a wheel to save the cabin side. The boat behind us was nicely wedged under the edge! The doors were opened and we waited to see what Tilly made of it.

She stood, had a look this way and that, then scurried through a gap in the passing legs to find some sideways trees to lurk around. We wondered if she’d ever make it back for us to be able to go out this evening, but thankfully she succeeded requesting to have her evening ding ding early!

Our evening ding ding, not bad for a gluten free fish

Around 6pm there was a tap on the roof, Heather Bleasdale. She’d been up to see her, new to her boat that is having work done to it further upstream. Chats over a cuppa on board were followed by fish and chips at RBK. The fish was very large and the chips exceedingly hot. We whiled away a few hours catching up on news and comparing notes of our travels. Hopefully her new boat will be back on the water soon and we might meet up somewhere.

0 locks, 10.64 miles, 1 straight, 0 boat rendez vous, 1 slow jam pot boat, 2 hours dashing between legs, 1 overhung mooring, 3 splats already! 1 wave to Stewart, 2 of each, 1 burger, 1 big catch up, 8 years ago we left Crick as The Wasp with Blackbird and our boating blog commenced.

https://goo.gl/maps/vKKoSwxiWrzd7z388

Jack Jacket. 27th May

The Swan On The River to New Fen GOBA Mooring, River Little Ouse

Time to unplug ourselves and push over to the other side for water, boats had been moving off including the Black Prince boat that would have been in our way. As we rolled up the covers a chap from the hire cruiser ahead of us stepped off his boat.

He’d been around yesterday showing off his jacket. Then his wife stepped off the boat in her pyjamas, they kicked their heels for a little while, obviously waiting for us to go, she made out she was doing some exercises.

Christine you are right, the elephants are upside down!

As soon as we’d pushed the bow out and waved them goodbye, they sprang into action. She got her phone out, he donned a Captains hat and held a pipe in his hand, then posed in front of their cruiser. Glad they are having a lovely time on their hols.

Thankfully the water pressure was good and we were soon able to push off again, winding and heading northwards. Our first job today was to fill with diesel, the tank gauge was reading a quarter full, the lowest we’ve had it since Oleanna was brand new. We’d last filled at Rugby Boats at the beginning of May since when we’ve covered quite a lot of water.

We passed the high banks, a chap was doing something at the EA moorings just north of The Boat Haven, the recent rain having helped give the grass seed a helping hand. A wonky cottage when zoomed in on looks even wonkier. The window sills peeling away from the windows and some disturbingly large cracks, we doubted you’d be able to get a mortgage on such a house. This wasn’t the last such property we’d be seeing today.

At The Ship we turned onto the River Little Ouse and slowed right down, the tributary far narrower and lined on both sides with boats. After a half mile we spotted the Little Ouse Moorings service pontoon and pulled in. Thank you Paul and Brian for pointing us here. Mick tried calling the phone number but got an answer phone, so we climbed up over the flood bank and down the other side to find the farm with its big modern gates and rang the doorbell.

Natalie appeared, collected her keys and came to fill up our diesel tank. There was time to chat diesel, white versus red, Calor gas and the shortages, she suggested where we might try if we needed a new bottle in the coming weeks, she’s only had one new bottle since October!

At £1.48 a litre we knew the bill would be high, not as high as if we’d filled in Ely where their pump was boasting £1.51 the other day. We took on 125 litres, paid in the office, then had a quick lunch before pushing away from the pump.

We had a two hours cruise before we’d reach a mooring today, thank goodness the flood banks came and went opening out the view first one side then the other. A distant view of Ely Cathedral, tractors in the fields, trees blew in the wind as we chose whether to wear coats or not.

Only two bridges to pass under, neither of them taking much traffic other than for farming.

Then the end of a wonderful ramshackled building came into view. The end wall somehow standing up, a large brick chimney in the middle. As we came round to view the longer side of the building the floors really couldn’t find any more angles to lean at. This was The Waterman’s Arms at Redmere it closed in 1956 and still stands , sort of!

The navigation bends off to the left as Lakenheath Lode joins. High up on a bank I could spy what I thought were two herons. Not often you see herons together.

But later on zooming in on the one photo I’d managed to take I spotted that the bird had a touch of red to it’s head and it’s neck was far too thick for a Heron. This I’m fairly sure was a Common Crane.

More unused buildings were Xanadu Boat Hire, portacabins not that appealing.

There were also birds of prey circling above. Were these Marsh Harriers, Kites, other birds of prey? A look on the internet gave us comparisons between birds, but for that to be of any use you really need to know more about what you are looking at, rather than just the silhouette against the sky.

Goba mooring, the other side is Lakenheath Fen Reserve

The GOBA mooring signs came into view. The edge a touch uneven and overgrown, this would need a considered step off to moor up. We continued a little way before trying, but then neither of us could get back on board! Once Mick was back at the helm we pulled back almost to the start of the moorings where it was easier to get on and off. The plank came out to make it even easier, even Tilly was quite happy to make use of it before she pranced about in the long grass.

0 locks, 11.04 miles, 2 winds, 1 right, 1 left, 100ft backwards,14 boat grown strawberries, 1 Captain twonk, 125 litres, 2 wonky buildings, 3.5 hours shore leave, 2 cranes, 4673 damselflies, 24569 yoyo flies, 1 Kingfisher this way, 1 Kingfisher that way, 1 mooring in the middle of nowhere.

https://goo.gl/maps/3D3FThzxckEHmhQW9

Watched Over By William H. 25th May

Lavender Green to The Swan on the River Moorings

Blimey the wind was going for it, luckily not a head wind, it was coming from the stern!

We made our way downstream. A couple of eights came towards us along the straight that was used for the Boat Race last year. These were novice crew, but who knows some of them may end up rowing for their University in years to come.

Behind us huge black clouds loomed over our wake, the engine revs higher today keeping our momentum on a straight course. We timed ourselves again, 42 seconds today, still not speeding.

Was this boat quite so low in the water when we’d passed a couple of days ago? Checking back on photos (right), no it wasn’t. Was it down to the thunder storms that had passed over yesterday?

After the long straight we could see our intended mooring for the day, outside The Swan On The River. Here there are two EA 48hour moorings along with a patron mooring outside the pub. £10 a night with electric or free if you go in for a meal.

Ahead looked bright, but behind was a different story!

We pulled up on the EA moorings, but close enough to the last electric hook up for us to plug in. As I did a cat Health and Safety check regarding the proximity of the railway, Mick went to chat to staff at the pub about plugging in. They were fine about this as we’d a table booked for six.

Early evening a face popped into view, Christine, everyone had arrived! Christine, Paul, Marion and John have been staying nearby for a few days walking, sight seeing and bird watching.

A photograph of William Henry Chignall was handed over to Marion and John to go on their wall of relatives, he’d been keeping an eye on our house in a back room and it was time he was reunited with family. This evening he was positioned at the end of the table to keep an eye on his great grand children.

The food was okay. I only had three choices and decided on a steak, which arrived devoid of any rareness that I’d requested. However the very gooey warm chocolate brownie more than made up for my grey steak.

As we left the pub the sun was just casting colours across the sky. It was lovely having an evening in the company of family, hope they enjoy the cathedral tomorrow.

0 locks, 4.85 miles, 1 windy cruise, 5 storm clouds avoided, 0 shore leave today, 1 cowpat covered footpath, 1 boat hooked up, 1 load washing, 2 loads tumble dried, 1 report, 6 for dinner, 4 pairs of socks, 1 great grandfather, 3 bottles beer, 1 lovely evening.

https://goo.gl/maps/rf4FzxuGaUjp6hGz8

Mob Handed. 25th April

Middle Lane Lock 36 to Wedgenock Lane Bridge 50A

Last night we watched the bats swooping for insects around our mooring. Apart from the occasional train we had a peaceful night. Last time we moored here I had a broken ankle, so Mick single handed the flight with Tilly and myself trying to watch films below. On that occasion we paused on this mooring for a whole day to let storm Doris go over, we wouldn’t be staying as long this time.

Before we were ready to push off this morning a pair came up the flight. We weren’t in a hurry to set off and kept an eye out behind in case a boat was making it’s way down that we could share the second half of the locks with. But there was no sign.

At 10am we were ready. A volunteer had arrived too, he went down to the next lock to set it ready for us and check nobody was coming up. We were then joined by another two volunteers. One chap carried on down the flight to set ahead with the other two helping to close gates and work paddles.

We now started to meet boats coming up, another pair and one on it’s own. This meant we lost some volunteers, but by now we’d also picked up another two! Five volunteers in all.

We knew that they wouldn’t all stay with us to the bottom lock, but the chap who’d started helping us first kept setting the lock ahead for us. With the pounds between locks getting longer and longer this was very handy indeed. Another chap with a bike carried on down, leaving us with the last couple still to do. Thank you to them all for their help.

We came out of the bottom lock at around 11.30 and pootled our way round Budbrooke Junction. The sun was out, not as warm as yesterday but we wanted to make use of the sunlight. We pulled in behind another boat a short distance before Wedgenock Lane Bridge, further along we’d be over shadowed by flats and trees.

A quick check on the lane alongside the moorings and both of us agreed that Tilly’s shore leave would have to wait for another day. The lane leads to the cemetery, it isn’t busy, but vehicles tend not to go along it slowly, the worst kind for a cat escaping danger.

Look out for raspberries on the off side later in the year

The afternoon passed with Mick trying to sort out the best route back to Scarborough to collect our postal votes, neither of us are convinced that if they were posted on to us that we would receive them in time to make our votes count. I knitted another couple of pairs of baby socks and Tilly complained about being shut in doors.

This evening we headed along the towpath and crossed the lock to have a meal at The Cape Of Good Hope. We’ve only eaten out a couple of times since we last ate here last September. We’d booked an early table so as to avoid the crowds coming in for the pub quiz.

A burger each, mine with a gluten free bun, half the size of Mick’s costing an extra £1.50! But worth it. These were followed by a chocolate fondant and banoffee cheesecake. All very nice apart from Mick’s arriving on a roofing slate from which cherry juice dropped onto his clean pair of jeans! Mental note, always ask for food to be served on standard crockery.

We’d just finished our meal as the quiz teams arrived. We’re still not keen on sharing air space with lots of people.

11 locks, 1.87 miles, 5 volunteers, 1 easy descent, 23hours 28 minutes, 1 slow afternoon, 4 baby socks, 1 annoying howling second mate, 2 burgers, 1 glass wine, 1 pint, 2 puddings, Happy (what would have been his) 97th Birthday to my Dad.

https://goo.gl/maps/SKNftDdMbDu3dwS6A

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna