The quote for a new circuit board and fitting came in around £70 +vat. They wouldn’t get the part until next Tuesday. If it turned out that that circuit board wasn’t the problem they would then order the other one and not charge us for the first visit. This all looked quite appealing, but would they come out to us if we carried on on our cruise up the Lee and Stort? Being somewhere handy for them to visit us is one thing, but each day the mooring fees are adding to the cost of the repair. Being hooked up to electric isn’t the same without a washing machine!
A chateau in France
Mick called them back after we’d mulled this over. Sadly they don’t have an engineer who covers up the Lee valley. We decided to pause the repair with Domestic Repairs Ltd, if we haven’t managed to sort it before hand we’ll wait until we are coming back through London and call them back out. The chap was understanding.
A new one of these please
The reconditioned board was ordered to be sent to my brothers, Mick spent much of the rest of the morning checking that he would be able to remove the circuit board and replace it. He is confident he’ll be able to do it. However if it turns out to be the other circuit board that is the problem, that is a different case, he hasn’t worked out how to remove that one! So here’s hoping it turns out to be the first one. Fingers crossed.
I headed to Waitrose for a few bits to keep us going. There was a market in the covered Market today. Lots of very tempting looking edible items, bread, rice dishes, cheese, samosas, cakes. Oh if only!!! The majority contained gluten and we’ve had a touch too much yummy cheese lately so I was good and stuck to my shopping list in Waitrose after inhaling some lovely smells.
Dames Pram with Baby and marrow
This afternoon I did a sketch of the Dames pram for panto. I’d asked for a Silver Cross pram, one of the lovely old fashioned ones. Well you can buy them brand new still if you happen to have £1800! We won’t be doing that as it would eat up all our props budget! I had a hunt round on ebay for a cheaper model and found one for £175. Still a lot of money and I’m sure Jo may be able to find one we can borrow and alter, or one that needs some work doing to it.
Just what would the chaps who worked here in Victorian days make of it now!
Late afternoon we heard the return of Graeme next door. A plan has been arranged to share some locks with him tomorrow, both boats heading eastwards. I think we’ll all be slapping on the sun cream if today was anything to go by.
0 locks, 0 miles, £70 plus, 1 of 2 boards, 1 board ordered for a DIY job, 0 oysters, 0 focaccia, 0 cake, 0 cheese, 1 heraldic green pram, 1 strawberry, 1 plan planned.
From Saturday Hammersmith Bridge will be reopening to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic. Engineers have deemed the bridge safe to reopen “safety risk is kept acceptably low” due to a temperature control system on the anchor chains and the use of acoustic sensors which have been installed to issue alerts on further crack movements. These are only temporary measures and a more permanent repair is needed. The Department of Transport is willing to foot a third of the repair bill of £161million, but TFL and the local Council are struggling to foot the remainder.
Whilst we waited for an engineer to visit I had a long chat regarding panto props with Jo the props maker. Last year Jo, as so many others, had to find work elsewhere to help ends meet. From being a receptionist at a holiday park to delivering prescriptions she has survived. Still working part time she is now starting to take on bits of theatre work, which I am relieved about as I really enjoy working with Jo. We talked hobby horses, tea cosies, silver cross prams along with stretchable rhubarb and inflatable radishes.
Staying safely out of the way
I had planned to be out whilst the engineer was here, but I was busy talking giant strawberries when he arrived. Mick had pulled the washing machine out of it’s cupboard, moved all our bedding and mattresses out of the way to make more space. The front door was open and he removed the glass from our bedroom window, so there was plenty of fresh air.
Tilly and I sat on the other side of the bathroom door listening to the beeps from the engineers tester. All the cables and connections were checked, he was testing everything for over an hour. In the end he suspects it’s a circuit board that has gone, nothing he could mend today unfortunately. Someone will call us tomorrow with a quote for a new board and fitting it.
Hmm, what to do? It’s handy being here where it’s easy to arrange an engineer to visit, but we really would like to move on. Some more than others!
Mick spent some of the afternoon trying to source the circuit board himself, fairly sure he’d be able to install it, which would save a call out fee. He only found one which was a reconditioned board, we’ll wait to see what the quote is tomorrow.
Time for a walk. I’d spotted Camden Garden Centre on a map, hopefully they’d be able to sell me another trough so that I could plant on the other half of the strawberry plants I bought weeks ago at Barton Turns. The others I’d replanted are now double the size, sending out babies and new shoots are coming up too.
St Pancras Gardens and the workhouse
My route took me across St Pancras Gardens. Here large buildings back onto the grassy area, these were the dormitory blocks for St Pancras Workhouse, they were built around 1890 and added an extension to the already existing workhouse. The original workhouse in 1777 housed 120 inmates, over the next ten years this increased, they were sleeping five to six in a bed! Buildings came and went. Oliver Twist may have been based on the story of Robert Blincoe, a child inmate from here.
Today it is now St Pancras Hospital which occupies many of the Victorian buildings.
Over the canal I soon came across the Garden Centre filled with plants, cactus, pots and troughs, the later perfect for my strawberry plants.
I then had a wander around the area. A hand car wash place had a rather lovely Jaguar outside. Several pubs looked quite inviting. Oh and NB Small World had found another mooring.
I then spied the blue houses that sit behind the modern apartments, so I walked round the back of them onto Lyme St. Sadly the access to the houses is gated off so not much to see. But between the buildings on Lyme St I could see the back of the houses, here there appears to be a modern building at their rear.
It’s really quite large the building behind the cottages
A look at Google maps later shows it as a big building and checking on Street view it looks like it is The Workshop at 183 Royal College Street. Things were now starting to look familiar. It turns out that The Workshop was featured on Grand Designs, formerly a furniture workshop, it was rebuilt as a family home and architectural studio designed by architect Henning Stummel. Nothing what so ever to do with the blue cottages that face the canal. If you are interested here is a link for more information.
Access to The Workshop
0 locks, 0 miles, 90 minutes talking props, 70 minutes diagnostic engineer, 1 circuit board, or could it be the other 1? 6 to a bed, 2 churches, 1 trough, 3 plants replanted, 1 bag of compost now required, 2 blue houses, 1 grand design hidden away, 1956 Jaguar XK140 Coupe, £35 to 40k back in 2008.
Before we got invited to join the tideway cruise we had other plans, this was to venture out to the eastern side of London and onto the Lee and Stort to finish what we started in January 2015. Our cruise then had to be curtailed due to rising water and an imminent lock closure.
So today we carried on back round to where we started last Friday. This should have been quite an uneventful day, some work for me organising the return of overalls to Amazon whilst Mick stood at the helm and brought us in to London.
No visitors in the middle of the night at Horsenden Hill this time
The final pair of overalls were tried on in Huddersfield and didn’t fit so a larger size was ordered and then I went through the website to arrange the return of five pairs. The paperwork took next to no time but a copy of the QR code did not arrive by email for at least an hour. But in the end everything was returned and by the end of the day a refund had been triggered to arrive back to my credit card in the next few days.
Small World still with the tide behind them
Up on deck we were soon caught up by NB Small World, their cruising speed greater than ours. When an opportune moment came Mick pulled over to let them pass.
Over the North Circular
The pipes that had snaked their way along the edge of the canal close to the temporary HS2 bridge have now vanished, wonder what they had been for? Duck weed is starting to take over though.
No pipes today
Just as we were coming up to a bend to the left near Old Oak a cyclist warned us of a boat adrift ahead. Sure enough there it was just off centre, a big widebeam. There was space to get past. Was it on the bottom? Could we help?
We slowed as we passed it, the front mooring line along with spike were sat on the bow, almost as if someone had pulled the pin out and coiled the rope up ready to push off! It did mean there was some rope we could get hold of. Mick looped the rope over a dolly and started to pull forwards, it wasn’t grounded it just needed some umph to get moving.
Along the towpath there was a big gap where we could pull in past a moored boat that we didn’t want to bump into. Gingerly we pulled the widebeam across slowing and letting it’s bow nudge into the bank rather than our stern. Now what? Would we be able to bang the spikes into the towpath or was this stretch empty for a reason.
C&RT chaps ringing base and left incharge
Fortunately this problem became someone else’s as two C&RT chaps just happened to be walking the towpath. They didn’t mention that they were coming to find an adrift boat, but they ended up with one. We helped nudge the stern in and left one chap holding a rope whilst the other went to their van for a mallet and a bigger spike. Who knows how the boat got in the middle of the cut. A speeding boater? Or someone had assisted it by pulling out the pins, coiling up the rope and giving the boat a push? Anyhow it was back on the bank now.
Onwards. I was waiting for a phone call from the panto Production Manager, to try to sort logistics of painting the show this year. A phone call at lunchtime had been arranged and all the time we were getting closer to Little Venice and Maida Hill Tunnel. We passed NB Small World who’d managed to find a towpath mooring. The water point at Little Venice was occupied so we couldn’t hang around there. Both of Rembrandt Garden moorings were full, although the community space was empty. We carried on and joined a line of trip boats going through the tunnel.
Mushy peas taking over
Popping out the other side I was busy trying to get hold of Gemma, only to get her answer phone, as we passed where the work boats and tugs had been two weeks ago. Here containers which had been sat on boats were now half submerged, apparently lots of high vis clothing was hanging up to dry draped around the bank.
Some of those look familiar
We paused for canoeists to come round the bend at Cumberland Basin then we turned the left hand bend towards Camden. Around half of the boats on the moorings were the same as they’d been twelve days before, they were just in a slightly different order and some had turned round. No chance of us fitting in there today.
No Christine today, we’d refrained from telling her we’d be in Camden today for her own safety
The gates to the top lock were wide open waiting for us. As we pulled in the volunteer we’d seen last time appeared like Mr Ben. Today he was the only volunteer on duty.
Coming into the second lock of the day
Now please don’t get me wrong, I like volunteers. I also like doing locks, that’s why I love boating. I can manage lock gates and do not jump down onto boats as they are descending in locks, especially when I can just step aboard below. I also check that the helm is happy for me to start emptying or filling a lock and I would never lift a paddle when Mick was not at the helm of our boat and home! We really must remember to have a whistle at the ready, both on the boat and with the windlass. There is being efficient and there is being an accident waiting to happen!
Heading to the last lock of the day
We then had a short distance to travel back to St Pancras Cruising Club where we had a nights mooring booked. Mick reversed Oleanna into the basin. Boat movements in the last week had made it easier to get the stern in. The bow however was a different matter.
Look at the concentration on his face
Mick tied the stern off, then pulled us over using the centre line until the bow was close enough for me to pass over the bow rope to him on the gunnel of the boat we’d be facing. A lot of pulling and eventually we were in, nestled against NB Misty Blue again.
We hooked up and got a load of washing ready. Mick closed the door of the machine, pressed the buttons. Nothing! No beep, no light, no click, no nothing! He checked the socket, that worked. He checked the fuse in the washing machine plug, that was fine. Time to pull the machine out.
Cupboard door off
Everything was built quite tightly, but the washing machine pulls out relatively easily, once you’ve removed the handle of the laundry drawer and the door to the cupboard the machine sits in. As Mick pulled the machine out we both heard the water pump start up. Was this a good or bad thing?
BAD!!!
‘Turn the water pump off!!!’ The switch was switched in the electrics cupboard, towels flung on the floor to soak up the river of water appearing from below the machine. Bu**er! The pipe supplying the machine had broken. This wasn’t the original problem, just one that came along to keep the original one company!
We’ve now got dirty towels and nothing to wash them in!
Mick had look at the machine, but couldn’t find anything obvious. Maybe our Tideway Cruise had caused this. Had the machine been buffeted about on the waves? Well it ‘s in quite a tight fitting cupboard so most probably not.
Water over the skin fitting of the outflow pipe! We’ll put tape over that next time.
Had the ballast inside it caused a problem? Maybe. Or had water come in through the outflow pipe and done something? This is very possible looking back at Adam’s photos of us in the swell on Saturday.
That won’t help
Whilst all this was happening Tilly did her best to investigate things too. I had to pull her out from the electrics cupboard that she’d got half into and round the internal door. Then with the shelving unit pulled out from below the gunnel behind the shower she was trying to get through the gap into the washing machine cupboard too! Doors needed closing, with her on the outside. I was just trying to help get to the bottom of things and lend a paw!
Deathly musicians
Everything was put back in place, water mopped up, stop cock closed. Time to call an engineer. If it’s a dead machine we’ll need to plan it’s extraction from the boat and where and how to dispose of it. But for now we’ll be wearing slightly more holey clothes.
Did someone say something about moving the outside!?!
Having stayed a day longer than we’d originally planned, today we’d be pushing off. Push isn’t the right way to say it, but I can’t think of a way to put ‘pull’ or ‘tug’ and ‘off’ together without it being rather rude!
Eeeking their way out
NB Chance were assisted out from beside us. Richard pushing the bow out as he walked along a neighbouring boats gunnel, then a throw rope was used from beside the dry dock to pull the bow right out, now engine power could be used to get them out of the basin and weed.
Next it was our turn. Heather came along to wish us well and ended up discovering how heavy Oleanna is whilst giving us a big push. I then had a go with a pole to get the bow a touch further out before a chap by the dry dock introduced himself as Simon, he threw me a rope which was tied off to the bow. He then pulled our bow over out from behind the moored boats. Mick put the throttle into gear and we slowly made our way out of the basin. Others followed.
Busy above the lock
When we were on our way southwards we’d both had a look at the St Pancras Cruising Clubs website to see if they had any cruises planned. But this section of the website had been empty, we’d both assumed this was due to the pandemic. In the past we’ve never been in the right place at the right time, or the cruises had been fully booked up. However about ten days ago we received an email from Simon asking if we’d like to join their next Tideway cruise there was one space free and it could be ours if we acted quickly. As the cruise was something we’ve always wanted to do but have been cautious about doing just by ourselves, this was an offer we couldn’t turn down.
Mick spent that morning filling out forms, every time he looked at his inbox there was another email from Simon.
The cruising club has a diesel point which is open at certain times, today being one of those, we topped up the tank, only 13 litres needed as we’ve not really been anywhere and been plugged in for a week.
Boats were collecting above the lock, the next locking was ours with NB Albert Victor, we would soon be followed by another two, then another two.
David and Guy on Albert Victor
It was good to be moving again, we’re not ones to sit still for too long. Ahead Islington Tunnel. Was that the boats ahead of us, or was someone heading our way? Okay so there wasn’t a tunnel light, but there still could have been a boat coming towards us. Zooming in with my camera I could see a lot of people on board, four maybe, we hovered for a little while, then I could see that it was actually two boats both heading away from us. In we went.
Popping out the other end there was a boat waiting patiently. One more behind us, then another two, they were going to have quite a wait! We told them to be swift getting into the tunnel otherwise they could be there all day!
Here there is a stretch of the new Eco Moorings that C&RT have put in. 7 day moorings with electric hook up so that boats don’t need to run their engines. The moorings are free and you get a code once you have booked to be able to use the hook up.
At City Road Lock NB Chance and NB Thermopylae were just leaving the lock. We were joined by a lady who would only be doing one lock, heading to her next mooring. She was quite casual about the whole thing heading off to buy a coffee as her boat lowered in the lock.
We waited at Sturt’s Lock but now the boats behind had reorganised themselves, so we headed down on our own. As soon as I closed the gates behind us a paddle was being lifted to refill it.
Save the Sharks
Going through Hackney we got to see the Hackney Sharks. These were to be an installation, singing and blowing bubbles, but Hackney Council won an injunction against them saying they were an unauthorised change of use and a breach of planning permission. So now the sharks sit in a boat waiting to see what will happen to them.
Four years ago we came across some filming in some houses alongside the canal. Today the site is very different, fresh paint and no greenery climbing up the walls.
At Acton’s Lock we were re-joined by NB Victor Albert to go down the remaining locks to Limehouse. Boats of all shapes, sizes and names.
Straight on towards Canary Wharf passing the Hertford Union Canal, gradually the canal got weedier and weedier, but it was still passable. At just gone 3pm we dropped down into Limehouse Basin with the assistance of Kevin from NB Combs Lass. Simon and John were standing along the high wall directing where people should moor. We got a bit of curved wall, but there was a ladder we could use to get on and off.
Soon after we arrived more boats came down into the basin, one pulling up to breast up alongside. Mick went to the stern, I went to the bow to help. The lady passed me a rope saying, ‘Are you Pip?’. A blog reader, well not really. Vicki and I had quite a chat, we were now breasted up with NB Misty Blue another escapee from Goole! Graeme had left a couple of weeks before us having taken advantage of an offer from Little Shuva a tug at Goole who was heading onto the Trent for a job. They shared Ocean Lock and headed down stream, at Trent Falls they had hooked up and Little Shuva took the strain and pulled NB Misty Blue round onto the Trent, Graeme mooring for the night on the Gainsborough pontoon. We’d heard of someone doing this, and now we were moored up next to them.
Oops!
After a spot of late lunch it was time to start preparing Oleanna for tomorrow. Mick checked the weedhatch, unfortunately dropping our prop mate into the deep water. He managed to pick it up with the sea magnet, only for it to drop off before he could grab hold of it. That will be a new one on order, this time a wrist strap will be attached so this can’t happen again!
Misty Blue and Oleanna fellow escapees
Anchors and chains could be heard being brought out from storage and laid somewhere for easy deployment. We headed to look at the lock and at the Thames. We last did this in 2015 when we imagined that one day we’d be heading out of the lock early one summers morning before all the traffic got going. Speed boats hurtled past along with Uber Clippers, waves ricocheting of the opposite bank. Tomorrow we’d be heading out mid morning! Gulp!!
At 7pm there was a briefing held at the Cruising Association. Only skippers allowed due to covid measures. Mick returned with a lot of laminated sheets, approximate timings of our cruise and most importantly the abort plans should we not be able to continue upstream to Brentford. We joined others for a meal and drink at the Cruising Association Galley. Here’s hoping we sleep better tonight than we did before setting forth to do Trent Falls!
Ready for the morning
9 locks, 5.62 miles, 1 big pull, 1 big push, 2 sharers, 5 sharks, 1 straight on, 10 boats, 9 excited boaters waiting for the tide, 9 experienced excited boaters waiting for the tide, 1st cat added to the spread sheet, 1 propmate lost forever, 1 borrowed, 1 anchor chain and rope, 1 shower full, 1 river reckie, 1 big gulp, 2 laminated sheets, 1 hour briefing, 1 beef pie, 1 salmon and chips, 6 scoops of chilled medication between us.
A day of work for me today. Time to tot up everything I’ve been spending on panto and #unit 21. Mick was on a mission to finish washing anything and everything he could get his hands on, so the rugs round the multi fuel stove and Tilly’s bed got a wash along with trying to get the laundry drawer empty. When you are paying £2 an night for electric you want to make the most of it, however we did stop short of washing the curtains!
A Sainsburys order arrived to help restock the wine cellar and replenish the wooden cat litter.
When will they move the outside again?
I had a couple of things to return to Primark, I’d considered doing this in Huddersfield but the queue there was sooo long I decided to do so at Tottenham Court Road. Then I headed back to MacCulloch and Wallis as I was wanting to buy myself a darning mushroom so that I can mend some tops that have developed holes. But unfortunately the shop that sells everything sewing wise failed me. They sell everything sewing wise other than darning mushrooms or eggs! The lady apologised and suggested John Lewis or just finding a door knob.
Some wonderful tiling on Russell Square Underground Station
My route back to St Pancras brought me to Heals. I’ve not been inside Heals for years so decided to go and have a nosy. There was a sale on, but I still couldn’t justify spending £650 on a wibbly glass bubble of a pendant light, we’d just end up hitting our heads on it on Oleanna anyway!
The staircase
I did however find the Cecil Brewers staircase which was completed in 1916. Pillars stand proud at each landing, the curve is beautiful and a light fitting cascades down through the centre. It is a lovely thing.
One very sleek cat
The main reason for visiting was sitting on the window cill facing the front of the store. The Heal’s cat is a tall sleek bronze creature, designed by the French sculptor Chassagne. It quickly became the shop mascot and when Dodie Smith worked in the store (prior to writing 101 Dalmatians) she passed around the rumour that the cat would grant wishes. So today I touched the cat’s paws and made a wish myself.
Mary Ward House
My walk back involved walking past Mary Ward House built in 1898 which is now a conference and exhibition centre. Mass industrialisation in England had created an overworked, undereducated, and unvalued lower class. Mary Ward campaigned against the injustices and her work went on to define her life. She became the figurehead for the settlement movement which sought to alleviate poverty by getting the rich and poor to live more closely with each other, breaking down the physical and educational boundaries between classes. Education, day care and healthcare were provided for those living below the poverty line. Amazing what you find out when a building catches your eye.
As I put together a macaroni cheese for our evening meal we could see a boat winding and then reversing into the basin. Anyone who has followed boat blogs for a while will know this boat, NB Chance, they were to be our neighbours for the night.
A Chance meeting
It took a lot of effort to get in beside us the amount of weed has certainly increased in the week since we arrived, but in the end Richard and Victoria were breasted up with us.
Looking through Chance
This evening we were joined by Mick’s nephew Richard for a drink in the garden. Richard has been working for BBC Media in Action in Bangladesh for about ten years, so we have only really seen him on big family occasions over the last decade. But late last year he returned to London and will now be based here. We had a lovely couple of hours with him before he decided he should head home. Hopefully we’ll get chance to meet up again in a couple of weeks time.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 t-shirts returned, 0 mushrooms, 30%, 1 cat, 1 chance encounter, 1 nephew, 1 last night in the basin.
Mick has been doing a few boat jobs. He decided to check the fuel filters over, finding a bit of crud in the first and second ones. He replaced the second one and gave the first one a good clean out. A hunt through the lockers for a pipe we bought ages ago was successful. With this pipe you can dip your tank and it gives you a view of what lies down in the dark. The fuel looked just how it should, so no worries there.
An empty room
Back in Huddersfield Tuesday had me running all the overalls I’d tacked on Monday through the Directors sewing machine. Tacking was removed, excess fabric removed and edges finished off.
Makeshift wardrobe department
The second bubble of actors was in so I did three more fittings. Everyone on Monday had been a small or even smaller! Two of todays actors were the same, so they were fitted with ease. Then there was Toby, I knew he’d be at least an XL, but this only got so far. An XXL got further and Toby did manage to get the zip done up but it was all really quite tight fitting! Unless he lost some weight the seems would only hold for a certain amount of time. It would do for the photo shoot so I pinned the legs up.
Closed up for the day
By the end of the actors working day I only had one bit of hand sewing left to do which I could do back at the hotel. The studio was set up for a busy day on Wednesday.
Lynda, Penny and Amy
Back at the Dark Horse office I sat down with Amy (Director), Lynda (Producer) and Penny (Stage Manager, Technical and Digital person) for a meeting. This was my first face to face design meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. Not a computer screen in view, just a big table, open windows and Bento boxes from the restaurant down stairs. So lovely to be able to interact with people in one room again.
We talked lights on costumes, lights on the set, flooring, projection, colours. My prep work for the set had been worthwhile and a vague idea of what things were likely to cost meant we could be creative yet realistic at the same time. Penny and I were left with a list of things to pursue, I’ll do some technical drawings and get the set priced up in the next couple of weeks.
A full studio
Wednesday, an early start to get everyone’s outfits ironed and ready for the photo shoot. Two hair dressing stations were set up and we were all ready for the ensemble when they arrived. This is the first time the two bubbles have met up since March last year. Everyone was pleased to see each other even if it was at a distance. It was actually a good job that we were a couple of actors down as it gave us all a little bit more space.
At 11am the photographer arrived, set his big light up and I started to put people into costume. The ladies had their hair done, coloured extensions and braids added to their big space buns. Then the music was turned up and the photo shoot was started. Toby was shoe horned into his overall just before his photos, they were checked over, a few more taken then he could be released from the tight zip.
The amount of energy in that room! Between helping people get changed, sanitising hands I managed to get a few photos myself. Have to say my eyes welled up on a couple of occasions. Here we all were in one room, the thoughts that have cumulated over the last year of lockdowns, all the actors giving their best, the energy, dancing and smiles from everyone was electric. We were back doing what we do, only one thing missing, the audience to share it with.
Today photos were being taken for leading images for the show which will have a showing early next year. The costumes will change a bit between now and then and an XXXL overall will arrive in August for Toby.
Rebekah and Alice
The whole day had been scheduled for the photo shoot, but everything went so smoothly that we had finished by lunchtime. This gave me plenty of time to tidy up, make notes and sit around as my train back south wasn’t until 5:15pm. A very good three days work with a great theatre company.
My train back south took me through torrential rain, outside was darker than dark. Then within a ten minute window the clouds cleared and the sun came out. At the cruising club it was club night, the bar was open and a TV set was showing the match, benches were pulled up around the set overlooking the basin.
Evening at the basin
Mick was having a beer with several people and I joined for a glass of wine and a sociable chat as the sun was starting to dip.
The water tower
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 7 actors, 7 overalls, 1 tight squeeze, 672 lots of hand sanitiser, 90 minute photo shoot, 1 electric morning, 1 show just about designed, 4 bento boxes, 3 productive days, 2 filters cleaned, 2 pints 1 glass of wine at the water tower, 1 cat watching the football!
They think I don’t know what’s going on! They think I don’t realise that they are going off into the outside and leaving me all on my own. They don’t realise what a hard, exhausting job looking after the boat is. But I know I am more than capable. I quite look forward to days like this especially when She gets my magic food bowl out, it does mean though that there won’t be anyone to snuggle up to when it goes dark.
Kings Coss and St Pancras
Bags packed, Tilly in a sulk, we were ready to catch the train northwards to Scarborough for the weekend.
Our train north
With seats booked the train journey was fine, plenty of space for everyone. We swapped trains in York and arrived in Scarborough to meet Bridget and Storm, leaving our bags in their car for the afternoon. We were all heading to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to watch the matinée of The Girl Next Door the latest play from Alan Ayckbourn.
At Christmas the auditorium had been about a quarter full, but today it was just under half, couples sat in a checker board fashion across the rows helping to fill the space.
The Stephen Joseph Theatre
The play, Alan’s 85th is set in lockdown last year. Rob an actor who is famous for playing a fireman in a 1940s drama is stuck at home with his sister who works at the treasury and spends most of her days on zoom calls.
When a girl is seen through the garden hedge, hanging clothes out to dry, Robs life is about to have a hole new dimension added. Cheese souffles, brandy, blackouts, covid 19 all make for a time travelling love story.
Monty… my Monty …. oh and a frock
After the show we’d booked a table at Eat Me Cafe who have taken over the theatre restaurant and bar during the pandemic. We all enjoyed quality burgers and very fine chips.
Lovely to see Bridget and Storm
It was lovely to spend time with Bridget and Storm seeing the play, along with catching up with various people around the theatre it made for a great day.
Our arrival at the house was a noisy one, we’d been warned and a small bag of treats had been left in the hallway to appease Brodie and we soon made friends.
Brodie our lodger woofer, don’t tell Tilly!
It’s odd being in your own house, yet not quite being the occupiers of it. For the last 9 weeks Bill and Alex have been our lodgers whilst The Girl Next Door has been rehearsing and playing at the theatre. Tonight was the last night of their run, so it was safe for us to stay over.
The wild flower seeds have sprouted and gone bonkers. Does anyone know what this is please?
Last nights usually involve a drink with the director so our lodgers were quite late coming home to have a catch up and drink with us which was far more relaxed than when they had first arrived.
Sunday morning and it was time to say farewell to our lodgers. Bill was on an early train whilst Alex and Angie had breakfast with us as they packed. A few weeks ago they had kept our neighbours amused as they had done a run of the play in our house and garden. Our kitchen being two terraced houses knocked together and the rear gardens being still separate, it was an ideal location to rehearse the play.
Back on our own in the house, we had chores to do. The garden needed some taming, so our compost bin had a major boost of greenery.
My favourite rose
Once the bed linen had been washed and dried there was ironing to do, beds to make up for our next lodgers who would arrive on Monday after we’d left. So it was a very busy day.
The Great Escape was on TV
We’d asked Alex if there was anything that was missing from the house. A cafetiere (they bought one and gave it to the house), a ladle (I found 4 in storage) and a mirror in one of the bedrooms, this was easily rectified as we had one upstairs upstairs.
A spoon of laddles
Last thing to do was to hang the painting my Dad did in 1954 which was a scheme for our house in York. The design changed quite a lot over the next 8 years, but this is one of my prized possessions.
The house ended up being quite different
We ended the day with fish and chips from Capplemans and a glass or two of wine. One very good weekend.
Fish and chips
0 locks, 0 miles, 10 minutes walk to the station, 2 trains, 1 Sir, 1 Lady, 1 play, 2 times, 4 burgers, 1 Monty, 2 actors, 1 roadie, 1 Brodie, 1 back bedroom, 3 gardens tidyish, 2 hours ironing, 1 painting hung, 2 of each.
Knowing when the first train is likely to go past kind of helps when you wake up at just gone 5am and luckily we managed to get back to sleep.
I spent the first part of the morning making lists, next week I’ll be in Huddersfield for a few days doing costume fittings before a photo shoot for #unit 21. All the overalls have arrived along with a few bits and pieces to do neon hair dos. But I was still missing a few bits so a trip into town was called for.
Where did the trees go?!
Mick and Tilly were left busy working their way through the washing and awaiting another visiting boat that would be pulling up alongside us today. They also caught up on the cycling.
Tasty things to eat
I could of course get on the tube or climb on a bus, but when I roughly know the way and it’s not too far I much prefer to walk around London. Heading out of the gate from the cruising club I walked up Camley Street which parts St Pancras and Kings Cross stations. On the paved area in front of Kings Cross, where the old station used to have lines of waiting passengers queueing for their trains, there was a food market today. Everything looked tasty, most of it full of gluten. It was still too early in the day to purchase food and the tasty cheese would have spent far too long on a hot day fermenting in my bag.
This side was good
I wove my way down towards Oxford Street. A modern block of flats had a very good bit of painting on what most probably is the bin store. Such a wonderfully atmospheric painting.
But this side was even better, what an atmosphere
My first port of call was Primark, for my sins! With a small budget and not a very long run, Primark is usually a good starting point. Anything I bought that doesn’t get used can be returned to the Huddersfield store quite easily next week. However, Primark seem to have gone for grown up colours this season! If I wanted shorts today I would have come up trumps with neon colours, but there was only one t-shirt in a good size for one actor in the whole store! It’s a good job we don’t actually need the t-shirts for the photo shoot, so I can gradually collect them when I see them.
They did however have a lot of buns. Not edible ones, but ones to help make big hair buns. These were cheaper than the ones I got online, so I may require more to create big space buns!
Next I headed to Sally’s, here they sell hair products mostly to hairdressers. I’d hoped they might have some colourful hair extensions, but fortunately they didn’t as the cheapest ones there were around £30! I did however get a very large can of hairspray to help with the space buns.
Not such an Aladdin’s cave of fabricness that it once was
Down to Berwick Street, hoping shops I now of old have survived. Borovicks is still there, but I’m sure there used to be three times as many rooms full of fabric.
MacCulloch and Wallis on Poland Street pulled me inside. Here the basement is full of haberdashery. Want a zip? Any type, length, teeth, they have it! Sewing cottons, you’ve a whole wall of colours to choose from. The yarn on the ground floor was all so tempting, but I was good and only bought things for the show.
A window display that I couldn’t walk past
Returning on a more westerly route to Oleanna I walked along roads surrounded by hoardings hiding the ongoing works for HS2. Pile drivers driving and four story high portacabins, most probably accommodation for the builders.
Back at the Cruising Club our whirligig was very full, towels were drying on locker lids, Mick had run out of clothes pegs. We have a new neighbour who is staying for one night. He had more difficulty getting in due to the weed.
Lists were ticked off for work, train tickets printed out, just need to pack things now.
At around 7pm we could hear loud music, just where was it coming from. A peek out the front of the boat suggested that this might be a regular thing. Heather yesterday said there is a chap who turns up with a big sound system at the gas holders. Here he shares his music with others.
Yarns
It was an eclectic mix, 80’s, reggae, bhangra, modern pop, allsorts. Across the way people were dancing, laughing and having a great time. At 9 pm the music stopped, two hours of jollyness shared amongst strangers.
0 locks, 0 miles, 7 miles walked, 2 stages for Cav, 4 space buns, 1 t-shirt, 1 triangle of chalk, 250m thread, 1 M&S sandwich, 2 clean boating caps, 4 loads washing, 1 bag half packed, 1 new neighbour, 1 bored cat.
Our booked seven days at Rembrandt Gardens were up today. After a leisurely start we pushed off at 11am, waving our new neighbours goodbye. The moorings under the trees are not so good for solar, but in warmer weather the shade would be welcome. One thing however that I’m not going to miss is the almost constant smell of weed. It seems as if nobody smokes cigarettes anymore, they just roll joints and find a boat to smoke them by!
Maida Hill Tunnel all of 249m
We rounded the island and turned onto the Regents Canal. NB Muddy Waters a Finesse boat is still moored along the stretch before Maida Hill Tunnel, it looks like their tunnel light is as rusty as ours after four years. The tunnel was clear so no need to wait, popping out the other side where there are permanent moorings.
At the far end work is being done, it looks like new jetties are going in. Mick’s tug being put to work.
The stretch through Regents Park is always interesting. The big expensive houses with immaculate lawns, there will be a good crop of brambles on the other sides of their railings in a few weeks time! The towpath was busier than we’ve seen it before, so was the canal. Paddleboarders, trip boats and narrowboats all managing to be in the same place at once.
The Snowden Aviary at the Zoo is empty of birds, instead scaffolding was being erected and a chap stood on tip toes angle grinding another hole in the mesh. The aviary a Grade 2* listed building is being transformed by the architects Foster + Partners. It will become a walkthrough exhibit with colobus monkeys overhead, red duiker on the forest floor and African grey parrots will fly up to the top of the structure. More information can be found here.
Chocka block
As we rounded the bend by the Chinese floating restaurant we are still amazed that four years ago on Oleanna’s first trip to the capital we managed to get one of the 7 day moorings in Camden. Today it was crammed full, just like every other time we’ve been along this stretch. Good job we weren’t wanting a mooring today.
Just under the railway bridges we could see Christine walking towards us. She’d come to watch us go through Hampstead Road, Hawley and Kentish Town Locks as she only lives a few minutes walk away. Mick slowed Oleanna down and prepared to pick Christine up, however she decided to walk along the towpath.
A few minutes of us pootling along and chatting was brought to a very sudden stop!
How does time know when to slow down? It always manages it on such occasions.
I saw Christine put her right foot down, expecting there to be a solid surface below to meet it. Her foot just clipping the edge of the towpath, then there was nowhere else for it to go but into the canal, very closely followed by the rest of Christine!
Engine out of gear straight away. Oh blimey!!!
We still had momentum going forward getting further away from Christine. Mick shouted to a lady on the bank to help, ‘Please could you just hold her hand’. At least we hoped that would help until we could get off Oleanna to help her out.
The incident already evaporating away
In the meantime other people came running, we didn’t quite see what happened as we tried to get close to the bank without the prop becoming a danger. As soon as we looked again Christine had been helped up onto the towpath and was proceeding to empty her bag of water. Thank you’s all round and the samaritans who’d helped just seemed to vanish.
A sit down on Oleanna to assess any damage and to recover from the shock. Poor Christine, thankfully apart from a wet none functioning mobile she only seemed to have gained a grazed knee, which may have happened when she was pulled out of the water. We offered her a shower, but she decided as she was close to home she’d walk back an have one there. A short rather wet visit.
Canoes
Up at the lock two canoes were coming up, then we were waved in. I hopped off to help the volunteer and take photos.
Camden
With volunteers at the next two locks we were a touch mob handed. The help was welcome, but when one of them commented that I was doing his job, I just carried on doing mine, I at least wait for confirmation from the helm before I start emptying a lock!
Four years ago there were cranes overhead, the general area a big building site. Today the railway arches are being converted into a cinema, a screen for each arch by the sounds of it.
Old and new
I love that these two little blue houses have been allowed to keep an eye on the canal, with a gap between the modern boat like apartments.
Our next stop
Then as we ducked under the railway bridges and the repurposed gasometers came into view we knew we had reached our destination. St Pancras Cruising Club. We slowed and then started to back in towards NB Floradora who was to be our neighbour.
St Pancras Cruising Club
There had already been a discussion onboard as to whether it would be frowned upon to use our bow thruster to assist in mooring, but the amount of weed in the basin prohibited it’s use anyway. Terry from NB Floradora popped out to lend a hand, our centre rope passed over a t stud on the roof, this meant Oleanna could be brought into the gap almost sideways.
The weed made this a slow job, but after a while we were close enough for Mick to be able to catch the bow line and help pull her in to nestle up in the 60ft space below the HS1 line. Terry very kindly gave us a tour round, elsan, bins, garden, toilet etc, during which we met various people who all seemed to know who we were, well Marty did anyway!
Tucked in under the railway
We’d originally booked in for a few more days in Paddington Basin, but had been given the heads up by Heather Bleasdale that one of the longer boats at the cruising club was out at the moment, meaning that we might be able to use their mooring. We got in touch with the Harbour Master and booked our stay here instead, cancelling Paddington Basin as soon as we had confirmation.
Once we’d settled the first thing was to check if Christine was okay. She’d made it home safely, had a shower and was in the mobile phone shop trying to sort a replacement. Thank goodness she was okay.
The basin
Not long after we’d arrived there was a knock on the roof. Heather is down in London for a few days and staying on a boat in the basin. We made plans to meet later in the garden for food and then headed off to explore the area.
The new development around Kings Cross goes on for miles. It is a nice mixture of old warehouses mixed with modern architecture. Retail units, bars, restaurants, Central St Martins art college, plus exhibition spaces and gardens.
The gasometers now have flats built inside them, if you have a spare £825,000 you could buy one too! The old structure surrounds the new and gave a very vocal Blackbird a good perch to sing it’s heart out. Plenty to see and explore, we’ll have to come back to see more.
Once our evening meal was cooked, we loaded a bag with wine, crockery and cutlery and carried our two pans all the way round the basin to the garden. Heather joined us as did others to chat away the evening, a selection of gin and tonics spread across the table. It was dark by the time we decided to call it a day. After three glasses of wine each we made sure we walked carefully back round the basin to Oleanna with our dirty pots.
Gasholders at night
3 locks, 3.25 miles, 1 empty wee tank, 1 wind, 0 birds, 1 true none boating boater, 1 drip dry Christine, 1 reverse, 60ft under the railway lines, 1 visitation, 1 blackbird, 1 Tilly eyeing up the wall! 1 Tilly grounded, 2 spag bols in the garden, 3 glasses of wine, 4 gins, 1 very pleasant evening.
