Category Archives: Railways

Pre-Christmas Family Christmas. 7th to 10th December

Castle Quays to Sovereign Wharf

On Friday after breakfast we moved Oleanna the great distance of 0.16 miles up to Sovereign Wharf. Planning a weekend away we’d booked her in for a few days so that we could leave her plugged in to the electricity and not have to turn the fridge and freezer off, there’s still a lot of fish pie mix to be eaten!

As we set off a C&RT man was walking down the towpath and he announced to us that the way ahead was now open. The dams had been removed and he soon returned with the Canal Closed sign from the lock. Think he was a little bit disappointed that we wouldn’t be going that far, we were also a bit disappointed not to be the first boat through.

Sovereign Wharf is only open on Fridays, so it was a good job we were turning up then. We’d already been informed of our mooring which was right outside the office so made to pull in. The gap to us looked a touch too short and after pulling the bow in our suspicions were confirmed. Ian the chap from the wharf had come out to welcome us and quickly checked for space up ahead of us, there was none, and then went to the boat behind asking if he could nudge them backwards. With another 18inches we slid in sideways, fender to fender, a nice snug fit. Once we’d paid, been given a key to the gate and checked about a couple of deliveries we were hoping for we plugged Oleanna into the electric to get the batteries up to full power. The electric kettle could now be used and so could our Alde boiler for heating, without using any gas.

At round 2.30pm NB Dusty pulled up alongside us. They had just been a few boats behind us in the morning, but they seemed to be having a good chat with everyone so it had taken quite a time to reach us. A small top up of diesel, a new gas bottle and some more coal. This was going to be the last time we’d see them and we wanted to be stocked up to keep warm over the next few weeks.

The stove was left to burn itself out and the boiler took over the heating. Our plan was to leave the boiler on to keep Oleanna at a reasonable temperature whilst we were way, so that we wouldn’t get complaints from the feline one. However the post we were plugged into kept tripping out. A few resets and some adjustments to settings on the inverter were done and we hoped that the post would stop tripping out.

A sudden sharp hail storm covered the ground before we were ready to leave, luckily stopping in time for our walk to the station. One big bag and a shopping bag did us for the way to London, clothes, presents and a couple of bottles of wine. Our train tickets had been a bargain, but we should have thought a bit more about the time we were heading into London on a Friday evening. The train was rammed, standing room only as was most of the tube journey from Marylebone to Bethnel Green. The final leg on the bus wasn’t too bad, but it was nice to have room again as we walked around the corner to my brothers.

There was a fire lit, Christmas tree was up with loads of presents under it, a very festive house. We enjoyed a lovely meal catching up on all the news.

Saturday we spent preparing for the afternoon, when we were joined by three of Mick’s four sisters. Sadly Anne lives a touch too far away for her to have joined us for the evening. Thank you very much to Andrew and Jac for offering to have a get together at their house, it did mean there was plenty of good food to go round (Andrew inherited a bit more of my Mums genes than I did, he also has a bigger cooker).

Lots of presents were exchanged, much wine and salmon consumed and a lot of conversation. Sadly we were all to busy to get a group photo of everyone and the time for Marion and John to leave to catch a train back south caught up with us too soon. A very lovely evening with both our families together.

Sunday was a far more leisurely day. No visitors, time to read the weekends papers and be sat on by Finn and Ziggy, who both seemed to enjoy having new knees to sit on. After a lazy breakfast and returning tables back to where they’d come from Mick and I headed out for a walk across Victoria Park. The last few days I’d been suffering from a twinging calf muscle and by the time we nearly reached the other side of the park it was reminding me I should be taking it easy! However the lure of the Hertford Union Canal was strong, so I hobbled onwards so that we could have a look to see if any boats were on the move.

Over looking the canal by the top lock (one gate left open) there was a boat waiting it’s turn at the next lock as it was being set for one to come up. We loitered for a while, but everything was taking quite a time and it was a touch too chilly to loiter for long. So we slowly walked back across the park between numerous football matches as the sun elongated our shadows across the grass.

This morning we were up in time to say Goodbye to Josh, the first to leave the house this morning. He was heading to school to start on a week of exams, I’m sure we didn’t have exams when I was 12!

Then we had to try to find means of carrying everything back to Banbury and Oleanna. Our siblings have been very generous with presents and we also had a few months worth of post along with a couple of large parcels of our own. I was very glad I’d thought to pop in an Ikea bag, as we left with a very full wheeled holdall, a brimming Ikea bag and another carrier with all our swag. Mick had studied our routes to Marylebone last night trying to find the one with the least amount of walking due to our luggage and my leg. In the end we had a lift from my brother to a bus stop where we caught the No 30 to Baker Street, from where we walked round the corner to the station. We’d allowed plenty of time and managed to get seats all the way back to Banbury where we caught a taxi back to the Wharf.

So they left me. For days and days and days and weeks! They have never left me this long before. My magic food bowl worked very well and provided me with tasty morsels.

But they were away sooo long that I had to eat the bits I’d left in case they never returned. The smell of fresh baking and Hot Cross Buns didn’t help from next door! Along with the lack of food and no shore leave (within the sight of trees and good looking things to climb) they left me with NO heating! They said it would be 18C whilst they were away. It was for about an hour, then it stopped. Good job it isn’t like it was this time last year otherwise they’d have returned to an icicle of a cat! The boiler tried to turn on a couple of times, but that was all, it didn’t succeed. So I was left for a life time in the cold with limited food supplies whilst they were stroking other cats in that London place.

When they came back today I was really pleased that I was given an extra dingding and they put the heating on, but this took ages so I had to sit in a box until it got warm.. Tom swept the chimney and then lit the stove, so it is now getting warm again. I have commandeered the end of the sofa nearest the stove to make up for it, if they think I’m moving then they’ve got another think coming! Well until they give me some more dingding, then I might just move.

The electric post had tripped out again fairly soon after we’d left. The gizmo Mick added to the electrics cupboard means that we can check to see what power is being used and what state the batteries are in from afar. On Saturday Mick asked a chap on a neighbouring boat if he could turn the power back on for us, this he did. But we suspect that our boiler was wanting a bit more power than the post could provide each time it wanted to fire up, so it tripped again almost straight away. This meant there was no point in getting it switched back on again, we just hoped Tilly would survive, she has a fur coat after all.

0 locks, 0.16 miles, 1 tight squeeze, 1 nudge up, 4 bags coal, 30 litres diesel, 1 gas bottle, 1 empty wee tank, 1 Christmas rose, 2 bottles wine, 4 years, £22 return for both of us, 1 train, 2 tubes, 3 London Leckenbys, 1 fire, 18C more like 5C, 2 warm cats, 3 nights on a sofa bed, 3 nights in the freezing cold, 2 salmon, 600grms sugar, 7 egg whites, 1 wreath, 1 helper, 3 sisters, 10 for dinner, 1 very jolly lovely evening, 1 lazy morning, 1 walk in the park, Back to the Future 2, 1 blue bag not enough for lots of presents, 1 lift, 30 Bus, 1 slow walk, 40 minutes early, 1 train, 1 cab, 1 cold boat and cat, 0 food left, 4 chilly paws now defrosted and hogging the fire, 30%, 1st load of washing in the machine.

https://goo.gl/maps/Bweof8hybgK2

Sneaky Rain. 1st December

Belchers Bridge to Above King Sutton Lock

Needing water soon we need to keep moving towards Banbury. Yes we could have pulled in at Aynho Wharf but with little need for anything they could sell us it would have felt rude to stop, hog their service point and fill up the tank. So the next tap is Banbury.

We got ourselves ready and went out to roll up the covers, aiming for King Sutton Lock or there abouts today. As I unzipped the cratch and stood on the gunnel to roll it back everything was just that bit damp. It was that sneaky rain. If you look out of the corner of your eye you’ll catch it, hanging around in the air waiting for someone to land on. This is the sort of rain that gets you really wet when you’re not looking. We both looked at each other and decided to put off pushing off for an hour, hoping we’d be able to fool the weather.

My completed knitted orders were wrapped and made ready for posting. Back at the wharf there is a post box, but one that looked like it only really liked letters or postcards being fed to it. I could have walked back there to see if my parcels would squidge in but that would mean printing off postage labels and if they didn’t fit then I wouldn’t be able to post them til Monday (you only get til the end of the following day to post things when buying on line)therefore having to pay again. So instead we pottered away the morning, opening up the galley window every now and again to see if the sneaky rain was still there.

Mick had suggested that this mooring would be ‘surprisingly quiet’ considering there are numerous railway lines close by, three in fact. It was quiet considering two were within sight, one above the other, the third one lying behind the other two. Trains still came and went though so a more peaceful mooring was required for tonight. In the end we had our lunch before setting off and luckily the rain had got bored and moved on shortly after we pushed off.

I checked the river level before we filled up the foot of water at Aynho Weir Lock, still in the green. At Nells Bridge Lock the level is important as there is a bridge just before the bottom gates. Here a coloured level marker tells you whether to proceed or not. Above this is also a height gauge, for those who want to chance it.

Passing The Pig Place there was space on the towpath to moor, but their normal visitor moorings have now become winter moorings. NB Tungsten was tied up close to the coal stocks, no going cold there over winter. All the sofas have been removed, along with the caravan that was a bar, suspect there’s little call for alfresco drinking mid winter.

A chap moored on the towpath warned us about bridge 182. The shackles that hold the bridge in the upright position were no longer holding, so he’d had to open the bridge and secure it using one of his mooring spikes pinned through the chain. He said to check the spike was still holding before we went through. As we approached we couldn’t see his spike, but the chain was certainly holding on, so we cruised through in one piece.

Kings Sutton Lock looked full, so I went up to empty it, only to find it full of boat! An unusual sight at the moment. They were just about up and were going to pull in just after the lock as their engine was playing up. Once the top gate was closed I set the lock for us. The sun was just at that wonderful level where it turns things golden, the lock cottage was getting a good dousing of such light.

The wall along the side of the house was being rebuilt when Mick last came through. Today it looked almost finished, work lamps suggested there’d been a few late evenings trying to get it done and capped off before frosts arrive.

As we rose the boat ahead had moored up and it’s noisy dogs were being allowed out one at a time to do the necessaries. All different shapes, colours and sizes their five dogs certainly wanted to be heard! We cruised onwards past them to find a more peaceful mooring, just nicely within ear shot and view of the M40!

3 locks, 3.02 miles, 0 sofas, 2 moving boats, 1 spike held bridge, 1 new wall, 5 woofers, 2nd noisy mooring in a row, 0 Saturday newspaper.

https://goo.gl/maps/HfviYDRWBmn

A Parliamentary Train Ride

12th and 13th November

Monday 12th.
Pip headed off back to Chipping Norton on the 08:55 bus. Oleanna was getting short of water. The nearest water point is at the residential moorings next to Isis Lock. From a visiting boater’s point of view this is easiest to get to from the lock landing on the Sheepwash Channel below the lock. Officially this is EA water as it is a part of the Thames but I didn’t think anyone would mind me being there. So I untied the ropes and reversed back to upper lock landing, tied up, filled the lock, reversed in to the lock then emptied the lock and reversed out onto the pontoon lock landing. The washing machine had been on and after I had started the hose going it was just finishing a cycle. So I started another load whilst filling the tank. An hour or so later the tank was full and the washing machine was into it’s second rinse so I headed back into the lock and went back up onto the CRT waters of the Oxford Canal. The mooring spot I had left a couple of hours earlier was still vacant (there’s not much traffic around at the moment) so I tied back up there. It’ll do for another few days.

Tuesday 13th
I’ve been on another day trip to London. I was born and brought up in Ealing in West London (not far from the Hanwell Flight of locks) but left the area 28 years ago. So with a bit of time on my hands I thought I’d have a little trip down memory lane. But to get there I went on a bit of a roundabout route.
If you are a train operating company and want to close a bit of railway line or a station you have to go through a long, complicated and expensive procedure involving parliamentary approval. So often a train company won’t actually close the line but instead run an infrequent service, sometimes once a week in one direction only, sometimes once a day. For example, don’t moor at Polesworth on the Coventry Canal expecting to be able to catch a train from the nearby railway station. The only train of the day there departs at 07:23 and there is no return service. There are quite a few of these services dotted around the country and they are known as “Parliamentary” services (because running the service is required by the original Act of Parliament when the railway was built). One of these services is in London: the once daily Chiltern Railways train from South Ruislip to London Paddington. Most services from South Ruislip go to London Marylebone but this service heads off down a railway equivalent of a backwater via Northolt, Greenford, Park Royal and North Acton to join the Great Western mainline at Old Oak Common and thence onto Paddington. So I caught a Chiltern Railways train from Oxford to High Wycombe, changing there onto a train that stopped at South Ruislip. At South Ruislip the “Parley” was waiting on another platform. There was one other passenger on the train and the driver checked with us both that we really wanted to go to Paddington. It was a very interesting ride, running alongside the Central tube line for some of the way. The track is formed of old jointed rails, it’s not often these days that you hear the clickety clack noise of trains passing over un-welded joints. Trees and bushes lean over the tracks and the train passes through a narrowing leafy corridor. We go slowly, no more than 20 mph, I suspect due to the leaves on the line and the fact we are the first train of the day to head this way therefore the track might be slippery. But all too soon we are onto the Paddington Main Line and it feels like we are allowed to sneak unnoticed into platform 14 which is tucked away in a little corner on the far side of the big terminal station. All in all a very enjoyable 25 minutes of train travel. Sorry, I didn’t take any photos, I wanted to enjoy the moment. If you are interested someone else has posted a Youtube video of their trip on this line here . Incidentally if you feel excited about this and want to experience it yourself you’ll have to do so before 7th December. After that day the line closes due to HS2 construction work. Presumably there is parliamentary approval for this! Or maybe HS2 is going to follow the route albeit underground so will count as a train service?

After that excitement I caught a normal train out to West Ealing. This was my old stomping ground.
Here is the house I was born and grew up in. It’s the semi on the left. I lived in this house until I was 22.

And here is the Back Lane entrance to the garage.

Just up the road I came across this from the days when the local authority provided everything.

Most of the shops have changed completely, except this one where I spent many happy hours in the past.

It is still trading and still has a wonderful array of electrical stuff in the window. Many of the pubs have changed names or no longer exist. Most of the bus route numbers are un-recognisable, I mean who ever heard of a 427, a 483 or even an E11? But Ealing still seems to be a busy vibrant place with lots going on.
After a couple of hours of strolling around Memory Lane it was back to Paddington to catch a train back to Oxford. This train took the more normal route via Slough, Reading and Didcot.

0.14 miles in reverse, 0.14 miles forwards, 2 locks (or the same lock twice). 1 full water tank, 2 loads of washing. 3 standard trains, 1 Parliamentary train. 1 excited cat, 1 cat bored again.

The Gods In Cornwall. 11th October

Oxford

Oxford to Cornwall to Oxford

There were only 3 trains that we noticed last night, but it was more the generator going all night that disturbed our sleep. We couldn’t go and knock on the roof of a boat to get it turned off as it was on the railway line across the mill stream. Anyway the alarm went off early as I was due to be on the 7:21 train.

Gemma and I had planned our journey with the aim that I would already be on the train that she would catch at Bristol to Plymouth. I had to do a route that missed Reading and split my journey in Bristol to save almost £200 on my return ticket.

First change was at Didcot Parkway where the sun was just trying to peak through the very dark clouds. A quick count of those heading into London on the opposite platform came up with three newspaper readers out of getting on for a hundred people. Most stood looking at their phones, at least this takes up less space on the platform compared to the days of everyone reading broadsheets. Next change Swindon. Here I got on the train Gemma should be getting. There were no reserved seats, just as well as mine was meant to be in coach J which didn’t exist! I found a table and staked my claim.

As the train neared Bristol I got a message from Gemma asking if I’d like a cuppa if she had time to get one. Marvellous it now felt like an age since I’d had one back at Oleanna, however it did feel like she’d but cutting it fine. At Bristol Temple Meads the train pulled in and most people got off, I kept an eye open to see if the only other table in the carriage became free. It didn’t. I waited and waited. The train pulled out of the station, no sign of Gemma. Maybe she’d got on at one end of the train two teas in hand and was working her way along the carriages to D. She’d let me know if she’d missed the train surely. I waited and waited.

Ten minutes later I sent her a text, ‘Did you miss the train?’ nothing came back. Another ten minutes and I was so puzzled I gave her a call. ‘Just wondering where you are, and where I am?’ She was puzzled. Yesterday I thought we’d agreed to be on the train leaving Bristol at 9:12, I was on that train, but it was going to arrive 35 minutes earlier than I thought. Gemma was going to be on the train that arrived at the right time, how had that happened? No idea, but at least we’d both end up in Plymouth.

I made the most of the very grey rainy journey and moved over to the left side of the train. As we pulled out of Exeter I put down my knitting and armed myself with my camera for the journey along the coast at Dawlish.

As far as I’m aware I’ve never been along this line before, but sadly today the view wasn’t at it’s best. However the tide was in and waves were crashing against the seawall casting spray up towards the train. I didn’t manage to time my photos too well despite trying to guess which would be the seventh big wave. It was still quite dramatic.

At Plymouth I had chance to get something to eat and chat to a second carpenter who is building bits for panto. When Gemma appeared we were off and into a taxi dashing to meet the Cremyll Ferry. Down little back streets we were dropped off at Admirals Hard where a concrete jetty heads out into the bay.

Our next form of transport arrived, the Edgcombe Belle. The crew needed to get some steps so that people could get on and off at the bow as the tide was in, it looked calmer here than it had at Dawlish. A touch damp outside we opted for shelter as the boat made it’s 8 minute crossing, the later part getting really quite lumpy. I may live on a boat, but I don’t do waves if I can possibly help it!

At the Cremyll landing we were met by Lou one half of Snell scenery builders who drove us up to the workshop whilst one of her dogs in the boot kept dropping a rather soggy ball on me. Theatre life is so glamourous!

A couple of hours followed with us going through all the drawings of my set, looking at what was built so far, chatting to the scenic artist and hunting for references of Lotus flowers. There are still a few bits to build including the Dames Gin Palace. They have managed to put together enough time and materials to make my 2.5 D Gods, which is marvellous. All is going well and the next time we’ll see it is a week on Monday when it all arrives in Chipping Norton.

Once we’d finished work Adrian and Lou brought out photos for me to look at. A couple of weeks ago in an email Adrian had asked me if we’d ever been past the lock cottage at Kings Lock on the River Soar near Leicester. At the age of 19, Adrian had been on the hunt for a house in need of some TLC. He’d spotted the lock cottage, which had recently been broken into by vandals who had set light to it on Bonfire night. He contacted British Waterways to see if he could buy it. Only available as a leasehold he was told if he was interested he’d need to do something about it in the next six weeks as after that it was due for demolition.

For a peppercorn rent of £1 for the first year Adrian took on the project. Once restoration work was completed the insurance company would pay out several thousand pounds. He arranged for a group of friends from the pub to help him one weekend to clear the site. Only one person turned up and that was Lou, this is when they got together. They worked on the cottage for many months scarfing in new roof joists etc, camping outside in all weathers until it was weather proof. The water froze and they could only flush the toilet by collecting water leaking through the lock gates in a bucket. They stayed for another nine months once the work was completed, but as the cottage would never be theirs they decided to move elsewhere. For those who don’t know the canal and cottage it is now a well known tea rooms. Kings Lock marks where the canal starts and river section ends, so is a safe haven for boaters should the river go into flood. We’ve moored there but never been inside. Three years ago when Adrian and Lou last visited very little had changed from when they lived there, just minor adjustments for the tea rooms. It’s a small world.

A lift back to the ferry now in sunshine, a shame we couldn’t take our time as I only got glimpses of the Cornish bays. The tide was now out and we had a much longer walk back up the Hard to reach our waiting taxi, we didn’t need the steps either. The journey back was much brighter outside, but Gemma and I had things to discuss and work on before we reached Bristol. Two more trains and I was back in Oxford just after the sun had gone to bed.

Mick during the day had climbed a tower to look at views of Oxford. Discovered that his phone microphone no longer worked and nudged Oleanna up by about three boat lengths hopefully enough to move us away from the generator on the railway. Unfortunately he tried a factory reset on his phone and lost any photos he’d taken.

0 locks, 0.04 miles, 6 trains, 1 ferry twice, 2 taxis, 2.5 D Gods, 4 groundrows, 1 palace, 1 backdrop, 1 canoe, 1 pyramid, 1 grubbery, 0 model box, 1 tower climbed, 1 cottage saved.

https://goo.gl/maps/APzn8TumKht

Trees, Medication, Waters, Trains, Gardens And Poles. 13th to 16th September

Leamington Spa to Radford Semele

The Heritage Open Weekend has been keeping us busy. This year it has actually stretched over two weekends and a few days in between. Sadly we only remembered it after the first weekend had passed, missing out on a few things that appealed to us. But there was still plenty to choose from.

On Thursday we joined a tour of The Pump Room Gardens and Jephson Gardens. Meeting by the Royal Pump Rooms our first guide, Archie Pitt (Chairman of the Friends), has been involved for many years in raising funds to restore the Gardens back to their heyday . The gardens were used for gentle exercise by Victorians who came to the town to take the waters.

Paths are being moved back to their originally intended positions, the Linden Arches have been restored with new lighting, these date back to 1875. The band stand has been removed for renovation leaving a low wall that has seen some work. New flower beds, the river bank tidying up and works done to York Bridge which spans the River Leam in the park. The Band Stand is due back in November when there will be a small celebration, but a bigger party will be held next year when all the flowers are in full bloom and the gardens look at their best.

Next we walked across the road to Jephson Park. A very posh park originally created in 1831 as an informal garden with walks along the river. In 1846 they were redeveloped into more formal gardens for the seriously rich and given their name to honour Dr Henry Jephson who had promoted the town as a Spa. Formal flower beds and a collection of trees were planted. Tennis courts laid (Lawn tennis was invented in Leamington), it was a place to be seen.

When it was being laid out there was a slight problem of a right of way which ran straight through the park. This had to remain, but be disguised and the poor kept out from the formal garden. So a hill was built over the top of the path and planting added so that it is almost invisible from above.

The fancy flower beds were eaten by Canada Geese, so a small fence was erected around them, which did the job. However this didn’t stop them from leaving their poo everywhere. It was then realised that Geese can only take off and land on water or very soft mud, so putting a fence around the pond would do a better job. Have to say there was very little if any goose droppings. Whilst we were there something startled the geese and a group of them took off, a few aborting at the last minute. One poor bird missed the pond, clipping it’s legs on the fence and landing on the wrong side. It then spent a long time trying to return to the water, the fence being just as effective in stopping birds from entering the water as exiting!

Our guide walked us through the gardens pointing out the interesting trees and telling tales. A very informative walk, I never knew there were so many oak trees, including evergreen ones without the typical leaves. At the far end the walk ended by a gate house now used as artist studios. The majority of people headed back with the guide to enjoy tea and biscuits , but we thanked her and went to look at the art on display. Better than your usual gallery, some work very good indeed including a photographer who specialises in close ups of natural textures and colours, these were stunning.

We’d passed the rather ornate building which once housed the Aviary and went back to have a better look. Outside was a menu for chilled medication, we had to oblige in partaking of some. White chocolate and Raspberry and Chocolate Brownie and Marshmallow. My gluten free trial may have to exclude chilled medication! Very tasty it was too.

Friday we joined the tour of The Royal Pump House. A small group was guided round the building expertly by Alan a very jolly chap who knows his stuff about Leamington and its inhabitants through the years.

The Royal Pump House was the only spa north of the river, numerous other establishments had grown up on the south side where the original town was sited. Waters flowed at the southern spas, but the geology to the north was different and the salty waters were hard to come by. Plans to build other pump rooms were stopped and soon afterwards the fashion for taking the waters at such places switched to visiting seaside resorts such as Scarborough, where you could also take of the waters.

Built for the seriously rich there was a large ballroom which was used to dispense the waters, a large well on one side and table and chairs to sit and sup your water. People would come and stay in Leamington for several weeks staying at the grand Regents Hotel nearby. They would come to the Pump Rooms and drink their water in the morning, partake of gentle exercise in the gardens, have plain food at lunchtime (fruit and veg were bad for you), swim a couple of times a week in the waters and return to their hotel to indulge for the remainder of the day. The amount of food in an average meal at the time would last most of us two whole days! They would then return home, boasting of their well being having lost maybe a few pounds and having bathed the grime off their bodies. Leamington waters have been found to have no medicinal benefit whatsoever!

The pump rooms housed boilers to heat the waters, two swimming pools (male and female) and rooms of slipper baths for the upper working class to have a dip at less expense. We were shown into a marble corridor (now tiled as the marble had deteriorated before the restoration) easy to wipe clean and resistant to fire should the boilers get out of hand.

The gents swimming pool now houses the library, the ladies the art gallery and where the slipper baths once were is now office space.

Before the renovation works were done to the building it was used as a location for Mick Jaggers video for Sweet Thing. The swimming pool is shown off along with the marble corridor. Woman meld into the tiled walls and Mick struts his stuff around the Turkish themed room. It’s worth a look at the video to see what lays behind the modern interior of much of the building.

On Sunday there was an opportunity to have a tour around Leamington Spa Railway Station and gardens. About twenty people turned up including a couple we’d seen yesterday in Warwick. Two ladies showed us around the Deco station which opened in 1939. Built from granite and Portland Stone it is a very fine building. As with many buildings in the 60’s a lot of the building was covered up to make it look modern, but luckily back then this meant that the good things that laid underneath were preserved.

The first station had been opened in 1852 by the GWR, it was added to through the years and the LNWR built their own station next door. In the late 20’s unemployment was very high and the Government introduced the ‘Development Act 1929’ which provided financial assistance to public utilities for capital expenditure in the form of low interest loans. Great Western set about with a scheme of improvement works, quadrupling the Birmingham Main Line approaches and the rebuilding of Leamington Spa Station being two of them. The building was made from a prefabricated steel framed structure, sheathed in brickwork and then clad with stone and granite. There is an interesting article about the station here if you want to know more, it includes a lot of very interesting photographs taken through the buildings history.

When plans to revamp the cafes were suggested, action was very quickly taken by the friends of Leamington Spa Station, the building becoming Grade 2 listed. In 2008 the booking hall was sympathetically refurbished original tiles being revealed and in 2011 the two waiting rooms were also restored.

The deco doors into the cafes are particularly fine. Two running boards have been placed on the platforms to help announce your arrival at the station.

At the end of platform 2 is a garden, which in 2009 gained the title of Best British Garden. Volunteers work hard to keep it and the terraced gardens leading down to the front of the station in good order. Sadly the grass has suffered this year with the drought and most of the planting is now past it’s best. The star attraction though is the topiary hedge. An engine and two carriages with a plume of Pampas grass as steam. This can be seen from most of the station and is a treat.

Free tea was on offer at platform 3, but we decided to head on to our next visit, The Polish Centre.

Originally the Town Hall the Polish Centre sits on High Street south of the river where the town centre originally was before the town spread northwards across the River Leam. The building housed meeting rooms, a ballroom, magistrates court, police station and cells.

A lot of the building was built with Queen Victoria in mind. A small balcony was constructed at the front of the building where her short stature was catered for with the view of a smart building opposite, a high window frame so she wouldn’t have to see the poor people who’d come to see her. However she never visited.

When the Town Hall was moved to the Parade north of the river the building was taken over by the police. Most of the interior was gutted to make better use of the space for offices, the ballroom was split in half height wise and only the main staircase remains as an original feature. Eventually in 1968 the building was sold to the Polish Catholic Mission, Monsignor Jozef Golab loaned his own money for the purchase, funds he received after successfully suing the German Government for the years he’d spent in concentration camps during WW2.

Much of the building is now rented out as a dance school, the top part of the old ballroom now being the chapel for the Polish community of Leamington.

We had a very warm welcome with tea and coffee and some very tasty looking cakes before we were given the full history of the building and the Polish community. I think we could have spent all weekend drinking tea and eating cake at various locations around town.

Back at Oleanna we decided to move to give our second mate some quality time ashore. She really hadn’t liked it here and watching the rats on the off side had become boring. So we pushed off as soon as we could and made our way back out of town mooring up by Radford Semele for the night. Once our grid reference was noted and the trip computer turned off the back doors were opened and Tilly disappeared straight through the sideways trees. A much happier cat now.

0 locks, 1.22 miles, 4 more Heritage day venues, 3 gardens, 1 pump room, 1 station, 1 evergreen engine, 2 terraced gardens, 1 ex town hall, 4 pairs pants returned, 2 chilled medications, 1 roast chicken, 1 curry, 1 happy cat in the undergrowth.

https://goo.gl/maps/yoFRfetFzCR2

Apples, Flowers And Bells. 15th September

Leamington Spa

The Heritage Open days are keeping us busy. Today we got the train over to Warwick as there were a few things there that appealed to us. Handy hint, if you want to do this journey without your boat go by train, not by bus. My train fare was £1.80 return compared to £5.50 on the bus, only downside is that the bus takes you closer to the town centre than the train, but not by miles.

We’d selected three places to visit, Hill Close Gardens, The Court House and St Mary’s Church. Starting off at the furthest we found our way to the Gardens. Just by the race course hidden away (there are brown signs to it) we came in through the visitors centre. We expected to only be there for an hour tops, but found ourselves weaving through the gardens for two.

Robin Hill Close Gardens are rare survivors of Victorian gardens once used by townsfolk who lived above their businesses, to escape the busy town. Back yards were full of wash houses, workshops and privies, no room for flowers or grass. So these businessmen rented a plot of land on the outskirts of town. In 1845 Hill Close pasture land was divided up into plots that Warwick people could rent. In these Detached Gardens they planted apple trees, grew fruit and veg, kept pigs and chickens and built small summer houses from which to enjoy their gardens. At a later date people could buy their gardens and by the early 20th Century parts were sold off for housing, but what remains today has been saved and restored by volunteers.

By the 1990’s most of the gardens had been sold off, but 16 remained, 2 still tended, the other 14 in very bad shape. By 1993 the council had bought much of the land and planning permission had been granted for 30 new houses to be built, the locals were stirred into action researching the site, one of only four left in the country. By 1994 local activists had managed to get four of the summer houses Grade 2 listed so the development was halted. The gardens themselves became Grade 2* listed shortly afterwards. By 2000 the council had helped to set up a trust to manage and restore the gardens for all to enjoy.

Heritage Lottery Funding in the mid 2000s enabled major restoration and by 2008 the gardens were opened up to the public frequently.

Each garden has a short history about its owners and has been laid out how it once would have been.

60 varieties of apples grow here, some ruby red, some huge, some abundant on their trees, all producing many windfalls.

Grape vines, figs, pears, beans (how are yours Frank?), courgettes, all sorts.

We were also taken aback by the amount of colour still in the flower beds, oranges, reds and purples shouting out at us.

The summer houses, small with their fireplaces, look out over lawned areas all hedged in for privacy from one another. These are very smart posh allotments lovingly cared for and so worth a visit.

We left by the town entrance hidden away behind a modern development and made our way into town. Hungry we decided that we’d have lunch before looking at The Court House. The Market Place Pantry had a free table so we enjoyed toasted cheese and ham sandwiches of full gluten and non gluten varieties followed by a slice of cake each, all very tasty.

By now we’d missed the start of the tour, but went to have a look at The Court House ourselves. The tour was just finishing and they must have been given access to other areas that we couldn’t get to see. The ballroom upstairs was open but that was pretty much it, we’d seen the display downstairs last time we were in Warwick. So we walked up the road to get in line for the tour of the Bell Ringing Chamber at St Mary’s.

The church is being filled with poppies at the moment. A huge community project to mark the end of WW1 is underway. Panels everywhere are already covered in knitted, crocheted, paper, felt and tissue paper poppies. The main columns have been covered in black fabric and poppies are starting to be applied to them too. By November the whole church will be a riot of red. Intermixed with all the poppies there is the occasional white and purple ones. The white are for conscientious objectors. The purple for animals. The other day I came across a poppy I’d made for my friends in Scarborough that must have got away from the others, so if we end up coming this way I’ll drop it off to be added to the thousands.

Shortly before 4pm we were allowed up the circular stone staircase to the bell ringing chamber. St Mary’s bell chamber is built at the West end, added on, as the ground wasn’t thought to be stable enough to carry it over the main church. We were joined by about twenty others along with four of the bell ringers. There are ten bells, the oldest dating back to 1701, the current clock from 1901. The clock in recent years has been electrified saving a twice weekly job of winding it up, but this has meant that the quarter hour chimes are just slightly out at the moment due to this summers hot weather.

A model of how the bells work with their wheels was demonstrated to us and then a bell was rung. Large boards around the room celebrate the peals that have been rung for certain occasions and under a box (used to stand on) there is written a note to mark Queen Victoria’s death. Much history has been marked by the ringing of the bells.

After we’d had everything explained to us we then took our time to climb the next 40 or so steps to see the bells. I’m not too keen on heights and Mick normally does such things on his own, but I felt today the official photographer should be on hand. The floor a metal grid was a touch unnerving for me, but once the ringers started to explain about the bells and point out the hammers etc I felt a lot better. Our visit here was timed so as not to coincide with any bells ringing! Then we all made our way up another 50 or so steps to the top of the tower.

From here we could see for miles. The race course, the castle stood out very easily. Leamington Town Hall and church too. We tried to spot the Hatton flight of locks, we knew where it should be but it was being shy amongst the many trees. We’ve only done the flight in spring or autumn and wondered if you still get a good view of the church at this time of year.

I still don’t understand how people can stand leaning against the bars looking over the edge of such buildings, I can not get closer than two foot away. But I did my best and took photos at arms length.

Back down the stairs, much easier to descend backwards, there was chance for people to ring the bells. Mick held back, but I could tell he really wanted a go and in the end he succumbed, not having to jump into the air as much as the younger members of our party.

A very good day had by all. Except me!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 16 gardens, 60 varieties of apples, 2 hours around the gardens, 2 toasties, 2 pots of tea, 2 slices of cake, 1 tour missed, 10 bells, 1701, 1901, 150 steps, 1 big boy bell ringer, 4 fantastic views, 1 rat to watch all day!

Tilly Weissmuller 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th September

Basecote Aqueduct to Fosse Top Lock to Radford Semele

There’s a bit of catching up to do around here!

Saturday was meant to rain, lots. The skies only opened up when Mick had headed off into the village for a newspaper. Sods law really, but at least he didn’t get a soaking and returned to the boat not too damp. Tilly spent much of the day out in the sideways trees enjoying herself whilst I had a serious day of doing technical drawings for Panto. I’d originally thought this would only take a couple of days, but it ended up being more like four, lucky there were more than four days in hand.

The pound we were in is above Basecote Staircase locks, which means that quite a lot of water gets used from the pound, more so than if it was just a single lock. Therefore the level was down, we remembered this from our last time of mooring here as we rose by a few inches to then drop again depending on boat movements and back pumping.

The moorings here are okay, but we quite like to have a view, this was lacking. So on Sunday we decided to move on and find a bit more sky. A mile further on was the staircase, two boats were coming up. So we waited our turn. Below I could see another boat waiting to come up, I walked down to see if they were happy to do a shuffle. I think one of the boats already in the locks had suggested this to them and the chap was getting his head around how this would work.

With a staircase of two you need the top chamber to be full and the bottom one to be empty, no matter which direction you are going in. You use the top chambers water to raise the bottom one and then either fill the top chamber or empty the bottom one depending on which way you are going.

We came into the top as they came into the bottom. The paddles between the two chambers were lifted to level them, gates opened, boats swapped positions, gates closed and we could both be on our way again. This is an efficient way of using the locks, one more boat in the mix would have made it more so. But we shared the water and left the locks set for the next boat to come along, normally you have to empty or fill one of them. Just a shame we were now on our own for the rest of the flight.

The next few pounds were also low, we kept spotting places to moor only for the bottom to be too close to the top! We’d considered stopping by Welsh Road Lock 18 as the cottage here sold chilled medication. There were big signs out and a full menu to choose from as you waited or worked the lock. However below the lock we simply couldn’t get into the bank, we tried a few times. If the selection of medication had been more unique, less standard, Magnums etc, then I think we would have persevered. Well if it had been a proper chilled medication parlour we’d have headed to the counter having left Oleanna on the lock landing!

Down another lock still with no luck on the depth front, until we reached the next lock. Here there were a couple of boats moored up, one on a jaunty list. We decided to give it a go as the amount of sky was good and there was suitable space for Tilly to play. The depth was just okay, phew! So for the afternoon Tilly played in the sun shine, Mick listened to the test match and I carried on with my drawings. These 1930’s locks are quiet, no click click click of the paddle gear, so we only noticed boats coming up the lock as the level dropped.

The radio reception wasn’t so good, Mick had ended up having to listen to the cricket via the internet, moving would hopefully improve matters. So on Monday morning we pushed off to cross to the lock, just as a lady walked round the bend with a windlass in hand. Marvellous, we had a buddy for the last four locks down to Leamington Spa. NB Talpa Secunda were heading to the Saltisford Arm before starting their climb up Hatton.

At just about each lock someone was either exiting or arriving just at the right times which meant there were fewer opening and closing of gates needed. Mick handily spotted Raymond and Nuffield breasted up coming through a bridge hole in time to be able to hold back behind some moored boats.

Kingfishers lurked in the trees their high pitched cheeps giving them away.

Down Wood Lock we waved goodbye to our lock buddies and paused to get rid of rubbish. Here there were a couple of glass recycling bins and four normal Biffa bins. Surrounding the bins was a mountain of bags. First impressions were that the bins were full. Two were, but the ones at the back weren’t. Why are some boaters so bloomin’ lazy! There was even a plastic bag full of newspapers and glass bottles leaning against the half filled glass bin. Mick did his bit to help reduce the mountain of bags and filled one of the bins at the back before we moved further along.

A mile along and the sky returns, a field rising up to Radford Semele church, a popular mooring. We pulled in, it only being 11:30am there was plenty of space so we moored at the end of a length of armco. The doors were opened up, Tilly let out to explore her new surroundings, the radio worked so Mick was quite content listening to Alastair Cook scoring his final test century against India and I got the drawing board out again!

The outsides that they have tied down recently had all been quite good, but today was that bit different. Here there were new friends to find and play with. I made the most of it bringing them home to introduce them. One friend was certainly very different. Most are furry and have long tails and squeak with excitement as we play. But this one was long and slender, maybe it was just a tail and had lost it’s body! How careless, I wouldn’t be without my tail. It didn’t squeak either, it made a funny noise and stuck it’s tongue out at me, very rude. We played for a while until I fancied some dingding.

Mick had been concerned at Tilly doing her Johnny Weismuller impression with a snake. But luckily it must have just been a small grass snake and no harm was done to Tilly, not sure about her friend!

The cricket had been exciting, so Mick decided to see how easy it would be to get to The Oval for the final days play. Now being over 60 he bought himself an old fogey railcard and a train ticket.

The alarm was set early and Mick headed off down the towpath to catch the 8am train, leaving me to finish off my work. Tilly spent the day coming and going, her new friend not wanting to play today, I did try to find him. A treat lunch was needed for me to help push me on for the final few hours at the drawing board. Ocado had delivered some gluten free fish fingers, so I made a good sized butty to keep me going. I was just about to start the final drawing when a boat bashed into the side of Oleanna. What the…?

I went outside to see if all was okay and see if I could help the Kate Hire boat. The crew were all looking the other way, were they hoping nobody had noticed their lapse of concentration? No, they were all looking at a man swimming in the canal. I went to see if I could help pull him out, but others had got to him. What I could do though was stop their dog who had jumped in from running along the towpath. He stopped when he saw me and turned back to be picked up by the very soggy man who was just in his pants. Someone was going to need a good hot shower!

Mick had a very good day at the cricket. Jimmy Anderson, England’s fast bowler had beaten the record of the number of wickets taken, England won the final test match of the summer by 118 runs and he was there on the last day of Alastair Cooks Test Match carreer. Watching the highlights later on, he managed to spot himself up on the balcony.

10 locks, 2 a staircase which we shuffled through, 4.78 miles, 2 many low pounds, 2 few places to moor, 1 lock buddy, 2 full days drawing, 2 half days, 1 final test match of the summer, 2 trains, 4 tubes, 1 day at the cricket, 1 snake, 1 soggy dog, 1 soggy man, 1 model packed and ready, 12 sheets of working drawings, 5 groundplans, 1 storage plan, 4 fish fingers, 2 slices of bread, 1 squirt of tomato ketchup, 1 lean, yummy.

https://goo.gl/maps/NAYPBY5yX5F2

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna