An email from the set builders with new prices, a request for one more drawing to make marking out of some archways easier (don’t know why I didn’t do this already!). Props questions answered and references found for Jo. Answers to questions back from Chippy. A possible solution for the clocks.
A clock solution
Then the people making our new windows got in touch wanting us to check through the details. Good job I was in work mode and took the time to have a good look at the drawings they’d sent. One window was drawn at a foot taller than the basic measurements I’d done in February and the paint finishes needed adjusting. But all good now.
After a frankfurter filled lunch it was time to head to the Post Office to see if my sample had arrived. It had! Far bigger than I’d expected as the lady handed it over. I rushed back to Oleanna to take a look.
Well what a disappointment! Blurry, the colours not as vivid. I laid my model on top. There are several factors that may have affected the print, the main one is the scan that was used. Here on Oleanna my scanner/printer can go up to 1200 dpi and this will not be enough, but I did expect to still be able to see my brush marks on the banana palms. They could also have used the wrong file. They maybe thought it didn’t need to be as detailed as I wanted it to check colour matching, however the colours aren’t right for that either! The sample turns out to have been a waste of time, thank goodness it didn’t cost us £200.
Well that’s just pants!
A phone call is required to reassure me that they can print the portals to show off all the hard work I put into them. If they can’t it may be that I end up having to paint them!
Now anyone who has visited Welford will know how appalling it is for phone signal, two chaps were sat in Pocket Park earlier today talking to people on their phones about the lack of signal in the area. We decided to move to try to improve this.
Ha ha! You can’t catch me!!!
Just one problem, Tilly thought it was a frankfurter day! She was close by, but in fruit cake mode! Barmy barmy fruit cake mode! We tried making ourselves look very interesting, No I’m busy! I tried playing stick, I’d rather roll around thanks! Rugby tackle, you can’t get me! What we really needed was a dog walker, but none came. We went inside with doors open front and back, you’re boring!!!
A lady and woofer walked past, how had Tilly avoided them? She was on the roof.Na na you won’t catch me!…… Oh!!! You did! With Tilly safely inside not outside we could finally move off.
Welford Lock, then all down hill for quite a while. We’d hoped to be able to cross the Pennines again this summer and catch up with people around Stoke, but sadly stoppages have put us off that idea. Having said that there is a new stoppage ahead of us in Leicester which may slow our progress somewhat, or we may have to speed up to go through on an assisted passage, we’re waiting to hear the latest from C&RT.
Downhill to Torksey
We pootled back to the junction. A phone call between us suggested signal had improved. Here we’d be wanting to turn right, but there was a mooring on the aqueduct available to our left. We winded and then reversed to pull in by some rings. A second outside for Tilly today.
The drawing board came back onto the dinette table and radii (radiuses) were added to a new drawing of archways. Mick called his friend Chris, who’s just turned round due to the Rochdale 9 being closed, unfortunately our phone signal still isn’t great.
Gone 6pm it was Tilly’s dingding time. Or time for me to be a mad cat woman calling for her cat along a line of moored boats. I called. Put our dinner on to cook. Called some more. Did some more chopping up. Called some more.
Could one of these be the mystery bench?!
Then up popped Tilly with a friend in tow. Well I’d gone to see who was winning at Pooh Sticks on the River Avon and needed some assistance!
The combines are busy again tonight, thankfully moving to a different field at around 11pm.
Halloumi, Beetroot and Quinoa Salad. Not quite ready for a recipe share
1 lock, 1.4 miles, 200 yards in reverse, 1 wind, 1 pointless sample, 1 bag of carrots, 1 quinoa halloumi beetroot salad, 2 outsides, 5 frankfurters, 1 clock solution, 1 shadow alien, 1 possible mystery bench, 1 loony fruit cake, 1500 not 1200, 14 cream not white, 2 sticks, 1 friend, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.
It rained just about all night, drips dropping from the overhead trees, as it was fairly constant it wasn’t annoying, however the tree cover wasn’t helping with our solar, we’d need to move.
Breakie
Boats were on the move at 8am, a fairly constant stream of them from the end of the arm, most importantly the two boats that had been right at the very end in the wharf moorings and ideal place to top up with water. Breakfast first, a cooked one too. Mick must be a little out of practice as the sausages were a little miss timed, very tasty though.
Tilly had been given an hour or so shore leave and once she was back on board for her mid morning snooze we closed the doors and made ready to move.
Hmm how did that get there?
Mick had made a comment that a picnic bench had appeared at the stern of the boat behind us. He was right. Just where had it come from? It seemed like the boat behind had visitors, possibly grandchildren so sitting out would give them more space at meal times, the towpath had been quite busy last night. But just where had it come from? I wondered whether it could be broken down into sections and stored under their solar panels.
The wharf
On we pootled up to the end where the Wharf moorings were both empty, pulled in port side accessible for the yellow water tank. At the back of the wharf stand the old limekilns, in the 1800’s narrowboats would transport limestone to the kilns where it would be burnt and turned into lime, fertilizer for the fields. The kilns operated from the 1820s to 1930s.
Time to see if my sample of printing had arrived, we walked up the main street to the Post Office and shop. The lady checked, nothing for me yet, the Postman had already been once today, he might be back later but there was no normal time when deliveries were made. We picked up a few bits for lunch and walked back.
Back in 2017 when we had a few days here Postman Pat and Jess were different. The wooden sculpture gradually rotted away. In 2019 funds were raised for it’s replacement, made from hardwood with a concrete base this version should last longer. I think the old version was just a touch more friendly though waving at passing vehicles.
They’re down there somewhere!
With time to kill we paused at the bridge over the River Avon. Welford was once a ford across the Avon. We picked up sticks and dropped them in, Mick was convinced mine would be the first through. We waited and waited, the flow almost none existent, finally one showed and we carried on back to the boat, not sure who had won at Pooh Sticks.
The water tank was set to fill, washing machine put to work, yellow water pumped out for disposal at the elsan. I made use of the hot water and had a shower, a second load of washing was set going. The thyme plant was repotted, something I’ve been meaning to do all year, just a shame I didn’t have quite enough compost to do it fully. The Rosemary will have to wait for fresh supplies. Mick sorted out the bow fender, checking the weak links whilst he had easy access.
Waiting to wind in the wind
Just as we were ready to push back a boat came to wind, we waited patiently for them to finish and moor up before we did the same.
Passing our mooring of the last two nights we noticed that the picnic bench was now gone a dry patch on the towpath where it had stood. No sign of it in pieces under the solar panels. Just where was it? We’d checked to see if one was missing at the pub, but there was no obvious sign. Mystery bench!
Keeping an eye open for the woofers!
We continued a short distance further hoping for less tree coverage to assist our solar panels. Not as much sky as we thought we’d get, but a different outside for Tilly, also a prettier view between the trees opposite. We’ll wait here for my sample.
Bridge 68, North Oxford Canal to Coventry Basin, Coventry Canal
Another long week in Panto land and some more cruising for Mick and Tilly.
Monday I arrived in the theatre to find sliders being cut down to size and lots of magnetic catches and door handles having been attached, all good news. But then I soon heard that Abi the Director had tested positive for covid over the weekend whilst at home in London. The cast were given various options, the one they chose was that John the Artistic Director of Chippy Theatre and the writer of panto would stand in for Abi until she returned and Abi would join when she could via zoom. Our Production Manager Gemma was also unwell so she stayed at home an extra day.
Counter getting close to completion
I got on with painting what ever I could without being in the actors way. A list of scenes required for the following days rehearsals is sent out so it takes a little bit of working out what I might be able to paint and when. The wings of the stage were sorted by Stage Management to hopefully help make the technical rehearsals easier.
In the evening we were joined by a couple of chaps to help with setting up the sound equipment and drilling holes in trees for fairy lights. By the end of the evening two out of the four trees had lights and a lot of the sound system was up and running.
The River Avon in Rugby
In Rugby, Mick and Tilly stayed put on the boat. Mick did venture out for his covid booster jab, four weeks after we’d tested positive.
Painting ovens and doors in the wings
Tuesday. More setting up of sound with Matt the Sound Designer about for one day. The aim was for levels to be set for the songs and cues to be programmed into the desk so that only minor adjustments would hopefully be needed. Songs were sung by the company accompanied by the two man band.
Dicks solo being sung in front of the Pippins and Becky the composer
Gemma joined us for a few hours but she was obviously still not well. She did her best to keep her distance, helped get sliders rehung and sorted a few bits out, but mid afternoon she headed to her digs to hopefully get some sleep.
Mark the Lighting Designer had a lighting session in the evening, meaning I was either painting by torch light or had a lot of light. This gave me the chance to get some black lining done to the sliders for Piccadilly Circus. There’s still plenty more to do on them, but at least I made a very good start.
Newbold Tunnel
In Rugby, Mick moved Oleanna up nearer to Tescos, did a good shop. Topped up with water and headed onwards through Newbold Tunnel. Over the weekend we’d discussed where might be easiest for me to get back to the boat next weekend, Rugby was a little bit problematical and quite a bit of a walk to reach the boat. We’d decided that Coventry would be better.
Wednesday. Gemma tested positive for covid this morning. Hopefully she hadn’t passed it on to anyone whilst she’d been in the building, but more importantly she could head home to recover.
Signage
Conversations were had about outstanding jobs. I can lend my hand to quite a few things, but it would all take time. Better to have someone who knew what was needed and free me up to carry on painting and helping where needed.
The Technical rehearsals begin
In the afternoon we started to Tech. This is where all the elements come together on stage. Sound, lighting, costumes, props, actors, musicians and set. Due to many reasons there were gaps in costumes, props and set pieces. Not ideal, but unavoidable. Everyone did as well as they could, one thing became obvious was that we still needed someone to help program the sound.
Loads of room!
Mick carried onwards. In winter months moorings that are normally chocka block can be empty, this was the case at All Oaks Wood. I think we’ve managed to pause there before for lunch once, but today he had a choice of where to pull in. Tilly made the most of a good outside!
Thursday. A long day of technical rehearsals. Days like today I spend mostly sitting in the dark, taking notes, attending to things as they arise. I decided to try to do small jobs whilst sat in the dark like signs, sorting out the new song sheet.
It was not me who emptied the chilled medication fridge leaving only vanilla!
Then when the actors have a break there is some time to get a bit of painting done. Wet things need to be dry before costumes are back on stage, so timing jobs can be a touch tricksy. Following rehearsals there are a couple of hours to get more jobs done. Jo the prop maker was about, so conversations turned to treasure chests and snakes.
Mick carried on moving. The journey from Rugby to Coventry can be done in under eight hours, but with a week to do it in he was pacing himself. Today he moved a touch further than he’d originally planned, through the new swing bridge at Rose Narrowboats, stopping a short distance before Hawksbury Junction, meaning there was space before other boats for Tilly to explore.
The Greyhound busy on a Friday morning
Friday. Mick decided to stay put, having a walk up to the bins at the junction a highlight of the day. The Greyhound was busy even quite early in the morning.
The tight turn at the junction. To head north use the left canal, south the right turning under the bridge.
Another early start to do some jobs before rehearsals started again. My lunch tends to be eaten in the next technical session, making use of as much stage time for jobs as possible. Abi is now very much in the room, joining by zoom, sending messages by Whatsap.
Laptop in the centre of the auditorium so Abi can join us
Today after rehearsals, Dan who’d helped set up the sound equipment and has been helping with programming stayed around to help with various jobs on stage. Some black tabs were not quite in the right place so needed adjusting. A tree needed extending, it’s track moving higher. But the most important job was to get a cloth rigged so that it could be lowered in to view and pulled out of view, it’s been out of view for three weeks.
A Curlywurly in the dark whilst taking notes
Chippy Theatre has a bit of a fly tower, but it is nowhere near tall enough to be able to fly cloths fully in and out. So the cloth has to work like a very big Roman Blind, pulling itself up on itself. We got all the cords in place, but lacked somewhere to tie it off to. So that we don’t now see too much of the cloth it’s been tied off to a cleat for other scenery, a better solution needs to be found.
Nice to see the cloth again after three weeks.
Saturday. A morning of technical rehearsals. There is still more to do on Monday sadly.
Last year I did one of these every day during panto
Also sadly today we were missing Becky, the composer, another case of covid. I am so hoping that I still have some natural immunity left as I spent much of yesterday sat next to Becky. This morning I did a test after spending time with Gemma, I’ll be doing a test before returning to work on Monday.
A nearly finished scene
All the trees were up and fairy lights working giving Mark the opportunity to light the next scene. We mostly worked our way through the scenes that have the Pippins in so as to make the most of their time in the theatre. Having three teams of Pippins means doing everything three times, one team are in costume the others not. We now just have to finish teching the rest of the show on Monday.
Mick moved on again in the morning, turning left at Hawksbury Junction and heading under the bridge decorated with swans. We last came this way about five years ago and today Mick saw a big difference. New houses and just generally better kept, possibly assisted by the City of Culture. Tilly however wasn’t that impressed!
Coventry Basin
After rehearsals I became unpopular asking for the trees that had only just gone up to be taken down. My aim for the day was to get the last two remaining trees painted, having them flat this would take about half the time. It didn’t take too much to get them down thankfully.
Trees finished. Well I might add some glitter if I get chance.
The last couple of hours I was on my own and was glad to not have to climb a ladder. By 18:10 the trees were painted, brushes washed up. By 18:25 the theatre alarm was set and I was heading for the bus stop and Banbury.
Goodbye Chippy, see you Monday
A train then another bus to save me walking across Coventry where Mick met me and we walked up the hill and over the ring road to Oleanna in the basin. Time for head nudges with Tilly, something to eat and slump in front of the tv.
He’s here!
Sunday. A Sainsburys delivery was early, I left Mick to deal with it as it was early early, but it did mean we could have a nice breakfast.
Yumm!
This was followed by the Geraghty zoom where we were all relieved to be joined by Anne who has just had a spell in hospital.
Work in progress
A slow day, much needed, but sadly I still had some work to do. A new song sheet needed designing and the best time to do it was today. Thankfully it didn’t take too long. The day will end with a roast chicken and packing my bags to head back to Chippy tomorrow. Hopefully no more cases of covid this week, fingers crossed.
Buckwheat pancakes for breakfast this morning, although I seem to have lost the really good recipe so these weren’t quite up to scratch, maybe it’s the lack of sour dough starter in them! Tilly came home so I had the chance to walk back to the bins to dispose of rubbish. What a pleasant walk that was in the shade of all the trees, no good for solar though!
Pancakes
A message came through from Mick, he was on his way back, house chores completed ready for our next lodgers. He’d been lucky enough to catch the direct train from York to Leamington Spa so his return journey would be a couple of hours quicker than the outgoing one.
Neon strips ready to go on
Some attention was paid to my #unit21 model, new bigger boxes were made and lines on the floor moved and adjusted, they still need a touch more adjustment. The sliding doors now have a tissue paper covering so that the model can be back lit to get silhouettes. So nearly, but not quite finished.
Mick appeared earlier than I’d expected he’d got a taxi to the nearest bridge. A quick drink and a cat back on board and we were ready to push off into the early afternoon sunshine, we had shopping to do and a table booked for this evening. It took a while however to get pushed off as we seemed to have got stuck in the mud!
We pootled through Leamington Spa, pulling up by the new ramp up towards Morrisons. Whilst I did the shopping Mick pulled a polo shirt off from the prop, the reason for our seriously slow progress through the town.
£20 for a whole salmon.
If only our freezer was bigger, whole salmons for £20 or so, fillets or sides. Christmas 2019 they were selling off Turkeys at silly prices.
The weaving boat
Onwards just after a boat had come past, the chap weaving across the canal, side to side. Was he avoiding trees or just drunk? Would we end up sharing locks with him?
No trains as we went over the aqueduct. Four proposed locks will join the Grand Union to the River Avon here taking you on towards Stratford, ten locks in all.
No room to pull up for diesel at Delta Marine, well it was late in the day anyway. Will we have enough to get us to Coombswood Canal Trust? All the hire boats were out at Kate’s.
First uphill lock
Soon we were at Cape Locks, the first of many that will take us up towards Birmingham. Both locks were empty and waiting for us, their heavy bottom gates and stiff paddles a little unwelcome on such a hot day. Thankfully these would be the only locks we’d be doing today, Hatton can wait for a cooler day.
Does anyone know what the Round Oak 9 x 3 means inside the steel beam on these locks?
?
We pulled in at the end of the moorings in the shade, the batteries nicely charged by our cruise so solar not as important as shade.
What do you mean I don’t get to go out here?!?!!!!
A shower and change of clothes and we were ready to cross the top lock gates and take our table at The Cape Of Good Hope.
The Cape of Good Hope
Have they always had the extended outdoor seating area where the narrow lock used to be? Or has this been done because of the pandemic. Plenty of space to sit and eat your food, sup your beer and gongoozle. Our table was by the pub, with a view between two moored boats across the cut.
There was a constant stream of people being served at the window, inside was almost empty. A slight disappointment was that they only had gluten free Peroni, fine but I’d hoped for something a little more interesting so I stuck to white wine. A Kiwi Burger for each of us, Mick’s with a brioche bun, mine with a GF bun and rustic skin on chips. At last we were having our burger and chips!
Thankfully we were sat under cover as a rain shower passed overhead. Will we be so lucky tomorrow? Blimey it was busy, and rightly so. Just hope they stay this busy when the weather turns.
Yum!
I’d already spotted a gf pudding other than ice cream on the menu, Blackcurrant Mousse Biscuit Slice. Blackcurrants are a firm favourite, so Mick didn’t feel left out he had a chocolate fondant. All very nice and well worth waiting for. A lovely evening at a fine pub.
Going home in the dark
2 locks, 4.54 miles, 1 mile round trip to the bins, 2 trains, 2 clean beds, 1 clean and tidy house, 29C, 0 blackberries, 1 chicken ready to roast, 1 polo shirt, 2 glasses wine, 2 burgers, 2 puddings, £51, £75 premium bonds win, 1 lovely evening, 1 Mick back onboard.
HOORAY!!! Proper signal again, sorry for the delay. Here at last is a round up of 2018 and our vital statistics, who they are vital to I don’t know!
We started off the year up on the Llangollen having spent Christmas up in the basin, if it hadn’t been for me getting some work I think we’d have headed back there this year as we enjoyed it so much. On our return journey we dropped down onto the Montgomery Canal for a few days. Then we gradually worked our way along the canal stoppage hopping, the last bridge holding us up by a few days whilst work over ran, but we were first through and soon back down on the Shroppie at the end of January.
A pootle up to Chester and then Ellesmere Port where we spent several days looking round the museum, mooring on site made this very easy.
Oleanna had a day in the dry dock at Chester to check out why our bowthruster had stopped working and gave me chance to do a quick touch up of the blacking.
We then made our way back to Nantwich where we sat out the Beast from the East and at last got chance to meet and spend a bit of time with Jaq from NB Valerie.
Then we climbed the Shroppie to Autherley Junction turned right onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal and made our way down to Stourport where the river rose on us over night and left us stranded for far too long. This did mean that Tilly had her annual jabs gaining shore leave for another year. A hire car gave us a few days away from the flashing lights of Stourport, a trip to Beverley and to catch up with the John Godber Company in Bromsgrove along with a recky trip to Droitwich.
In the end we got bored of waiting for the river to drop and decided on going the long way round to Droitwich. Of course about two or three days into ‘the long way round’ the levels dropped and we could have done a quick journey down the River Severn.
Oh well we enjoyed all the locks having good weather for the Tardebigge Flight.
Once in Worcester we turned onto the river and made our way down to the Gloucester Sharpness Canal where we pootled down to the end with all the swing bridges being worked for us, met up with Jaye and Duncan (I’d have got into big trouble if I didn’t mention them!), saw the hulks, all sorts of flamingos and got to watch tall ship Kaskelot pass us.
Back up the Severn for Micks 60th birthday weekend where all our siblings joined us to celebrate. We watched cricket at New Road in Worcester, ate in Droitwich, caught steam trains in Kidderminster and ate some more in Bridgenorth, a very good weekend.
By now the summer had already started with wall to wall sunshine and our Sunday roasts became Sunday barbeques. We made our way back to Worcester and turned back down stream to Tewkesbury (I do like a good Tewkesbury!) and the river Avon. The last rain storm for a while slowed our progress upstream, but we stayed safe.
The Avon was a picturesque cruise and we met up with friends from Australia and old work friends of mine in Stratford, taking advantage to see as much theatre as we could.
Whilst in Stratford I heard that I’d got the job designing Panto in Chipping Norton this year. This would now affect the remainder of the year slowing us down somewhat. We headed back into Birmingham up the Lapworth flight (meeting NB Chuffed) to rendez vous with NB Blackbird and crew.
Here we planned to explore all the back waters of the BCN, but the sun was now on permanently and the thought of spending weeks surrounded by brick work and concrete reflecting heat at us was not attractive. So we chose a route out of the city that we’d not done before (via Ryders Green and Perry Barr) and headed for the shade of trees.
Work and heat were the feature of the next few months. On days we wanted to cruise we tried to be up early to make the most of the cool hours before the sun got too high in the sky to avoid. We hopped from mooring to mooring hunting out good places with maximum tree cover, not so good for the solar panels but it meant we didn’t cook inside.
We gradually cruised the Coventry Canal, the Ashby Canal for the first and second times, all the way into Coventry, down the North Oxford onto the Grand Union and on up to the Leicester Section. All our favourite moorings on the summit pound were visited and the London Leckenbys visited us at Foxton. All this slow cruising was interspersed with Panto meetings in London and Chippy, necessitating being near to stations, but this worked out well with a bit of planning.
Leamington Spa was a handy station back on the Grand Union for my final model meeting in mid September, freeing us up until rehearsals started a month later.
We made use of the Heritage weekend visiting places in both Warwick and Leamington. Oleanna got to visit the Saltisford Arm where we worked our way through the dirty washing drawer before heading back towards the Oxford Canal crossing bows with NB Tentatrice on the way.
The South Oxford Canal then became our home for the next three months.
First we cruised all the way to Oxford taking our time to return to Banbury. I then spent four weeks working my socks off in Chippy enjoying being creative again on Panto, returning each weekend to wherever Oleanna was with my head full of song lyrics and dance moves.
Once Aladdin was open and hoards of kids were shouting ‘He’s behind you!’ I could return to my normal life at 3mph, the boat, Tilly’s friends and Mick’s breakfasts.
Due to winter stoppages leaving the south Oxford couldn’t happen until near Christmas so we slowly made our way northwards breaking off to have a pre-Christmas in London and then once Napton Lock 9 was open we headed into the middle of nowhere for Christmas. The year ended with us returning to Crick and sadly missing out on the festivities at The Red Lion with friends.
We’ve had a great year travelling, meeting up with old friends and new. We’re looking forward to where 2019 will take us and who we shall meet along the way.
So our final statistics for the year are.
Total distance is 944 miles, 1 ¼ furlongs and 614 locks. There were 170 moveable bridges of which 77 are usually left open (although three of those weren’t); 131 small aqueducts or underbridges; 39 tunnels and 2 major aqueducts.
This is made up of 669 miles, 1 ¼ furlongs of narrow canals; 118 miles of broad canals; 35 miles, 5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 42miles, 7¼ furlongs of small rivers; 78 miles, 3 ¾ furlongs of large rivers; 476 narrow locks; 129 broad locks 9 large locks.
1084.6 engine hours, 7 hire cars, 1,383.63 litres diesel, 10 gas bottles (we do have gas central heating), 54 bags of coal, 2 waterway museums, 3 big houses, 3 versions of tuperware, 60th birthday, 2nd solar panel fitted, 7 overnight guests, 6 packs of Dreamies, 26 friends, 1 snake,9 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval moorings, 7 pairs socks, 6 pairs gloves, 11 supermarket deliveries, 56 boxes wine delivered!
