Today David has had a more promising response from ABP.
I have had a call through from the Dock Master at ABP this morning. The information that I gathered from the call I have summarised.
The main challenge at the moment is replenishing water used by Ocean Lock. Operating the lock whilst being able to retain functionality of the dock, and enabling contingent use for emergency operation is a somewhat difficult balancing act.
There are some high tides predicted for next week and the port are expecting some particularly deep droughted commercial vessels. With a higher usage, this will hopefully give the opportunity to see how the pumps at the breach site contend with replenishing water levels in the dock.
Depending on how next week goes there will be further assessment regarding lock operations. The situation will be reviewed with the possibility of LIMITED use by Leisure craft. I stress the word limited.
ABP have suggested that the offer to help coordinate this would be well received by them. Hopefully this could at least give the opportunity for boaters who would otherwise be stuck here for a longer period of time, to leave Goole.
We should be mindful of how this message is disseminated. In the first instance, it is probable that a limited number of bookings will be considered, keeping the number of pens to a minimum. The danger is that the message could me misconstrued and assumptions made that operation is back to normal. This is highly unlikely to begin with. ABP have been very clear that this needs managing closely. The last thing they want is craft stranded on the river due to a snow ball affect of people expecting to use the lock as normal.
With the above in mind, I’d like to start to gather info regarding how many people would ideally like to pen through and the destination they would be heading for. If you could let me know by comment or DM that would be great.
I am awaiting a further update from the dock master in due course, and will of course update this page accordingly.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a season of cruising waters afar, following these testing times for everyone.
David.
Well done to David. We’re keeping all our fingers and paws crossed. Any further information I get I will pass onwards.
The recent storm has stopped Mark from flying his drone recently, but this morning he deemed the wind speed was just about okay to go flying again.
14/3/2021
The cofferdam looks like it has drained by itself again, although maybe not quite as low as it has done before.
The pictures today show where the leek happened that has now been mended.
25/2/2021
25/2/2021
These photos are from 25th February. In the bottom right hand corner where the pipes gently curve away from the bank there is a grassy gap showing where the cofferdam piling meets the existing piling and there is a bridge over the pump pipes.
7/3/2021
Then these from the 7th March. The area is much darker than before, this is because there is a hole there.
7/3/2021
It looks like you can see the back of the bank piling and then another layer of piling is close up to the pipes, you can see the corrugations in this second photo.
14/3/2021
Today the hole has now been filled with aggregate, the chalky surface quite obvious and there may also be more clay than before by the cofferdam piling.
14/3/2021
The second raft for the pumps to extract more water (at the western side) have been plumbed in, but there are no extra pipes at the eastern end.
14/3/2021
The level between the breach and Goole caisson is being kept about a foot lower than normal so that the level doesn’t over top the cofferdam. The removal of the top section of stop planks helps with this, draining any excess water that is pumped round the breach into the docks to help keep the level up there.
At some point this week we will be changing our website hosting. Readers shouldn’t notice anything different and those who get an email each time I post should still get one. I will do my best to inform you of the last post before we move, JUST IN CASE!
Where were we
2020. Betton Wood Bridge, Shropshire Union Canal. LINK
Lisa sent through a photo of Oleanna this morning. The level at the docks is just about normal and Oleanna was sitting there in the rain. Yesterday it must have been sunny at the marina as the solar panels were doing a good job of keeping the batteries topped up and the engine bay got up to 8 C. It’s handy being able to check on her from afar, keeps our minds at rest.
Paper stretched and ready
Here in Scarborough I’ve been busy with work. A new, to me, art shop is proving very handy. I’ve not had chance to go into The Art Room yet and I can’t see what art materials they normally stock, Delia responds to emails swiftly and is very helpful. This week I was after a pad of thick cartridge paper and a wooden board so that I can stretch the paper properly. If water colour paper isn’t stretched, when you start to paint the paper cockles and will never lie flat again. In the past I’ve half heartedly taped paper to a plastic board, but this never really worked that well. So I have invested in a board that will take A3 paper comfortably. This will first get used for my boat origami paper design. Then I hope to use it for paintings of the waterways, which I’ve been planning on doing for some time now. I have the equipment, the reference, all I need now is the time!
This week I’ve started work in earnest on Panto for Chipping Norton. Sketch technical drawings enable me to make pieces of model, then do adjustments. Yesterday I finished working my way through the show, there is still lots to alter and work out, but I have solutions for most things. I’m quite happy with my galleon set, but the smugglers inn isn’t right yet! Hopefully this coming week things will get sorted before my next work arrives on the doorstep!
Cotton top measuring up
I’ve finally finished knitting a top for my sister-in-law which is now measured out and blocking on some new foam mats I’ve treated myself to. These will be handy to take back to the boat as they breakdown into foot squares, but once clipped together they give me 3ft square to pin items onto. They will save me pinning things out onto the back of our mattress on the boat and hoping things will be dry before bedtime!
Cricket on the TV, who’d have thought
Mick, whilst not watching the cricket, has been working on the blog. Two years ago we moved to WordPress and our current deal is nearly up. There are things we’d like to try to improve, but unless we spend more money they are proving hard to sort. Paul (Waterway Routes) suggested sometime ago we tried WordPress.org, this is free but we’d need to pay to have the blog hosted, which is all working out at a similar price to if we stayed put. We could go back to Blogger and Open Live Writer, but photos had been problematic, Mick is still working his way through the blog inserting them and I like the way wordpress works.
Tomorrow Tilly it’s too dark to go for a walk now!
However we miss having a blog roll that moves with peoples posts and a forwards and back button. Mick has found the relevant code, we may need to enlist my nephew Josh into giving us some guidance with this. We’ll see what happens.
Mick is taking his time reading the book he selected from our Christmas stash. The chap has left Kate Saffin and Alarum, headed to the Exeter Canal and is now somewhere on the Bridgewater Canal.
I on the other hand have finished mine, which I’ve really enjoyed. When we first moved on board I read a lot, but in the last couple of years I’d got out of the habit. With so many books to choose from I was spoilt for choice. So when Sam from NB Red Wharf said that Canal Pushers was really good and Debby from NB Chuffed asked for a review I thought I’d best start there.
I like a good crime story and with it being set on the canals it started off on a good footing. Andy Griffee has taken the theory of a serial killer, pushing people into the waterways around Manchester and set a similar story on the Stratford, Worcester and Birmingham Canals.
Jack has just picked up a narrowboat to see if a life afloat will suit him after recently being divorced. Let down by a friend who was going to help him learn the ropes he is soon rescued by a lady walking the towpath, Nina. A friendship is formed between the two of them, Nina keeping herself a bit of a mystery.
Look at those whiskers
Knowing the stretch of canal where the book is set is quite warming to a sole that misses being on the cut right now. Jack’s experience of The Navigation Inn at Wooten Wawen made me smile as it was very similar to ours when we hired our last boat from there seven years ago. Stratford with the tourists and theatre, Wedges, Packwood House, all the time Jack learning how to handle the boat as the mystery of the death of a young homeless lad unfolds.
Not breakfast, but a beetroot and feta burger in homemade gf buns with lockdown chips
Several plots intertwine, gradually unravelling themselves at a narrowboat pace. There are several moments where the pace speeds up which has lead to a couple of nights where I’ve kept the light on whilst Mick has snored away. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to give the plot away, as it is well worth a read. My only criticism, I’ve always walked down hill to the shops in Alvechurch, not up hill.
Verdict, a good read especially for those with a canal interest, but this is not required and it certainly doesn’t turn into a manual for narrowboat handling. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series River Rats which takes place in Bath. I may read my way down towards the Kennet and Avon via Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin. I wonder if there are enough novels to cover the whole network?
Also not breakfast, but turnip curry, beetroot and carrot curry with homemade gf nan breads
This weekends walk will prove to be a rosy cheeked one as it is currently trying it’s best to snow, although I doubt it will settle. An east wind will be whipping up the sea and will chill us to the bone, thermals needed today.
Last week we braved the climb up onto Oliver’s Mount. Down into the valley to then climb back up the other side and then further all up hill. We chose to go cross country avoiding felled trees up to the top.
Up the top
Here on the summit a telecommunications mast stands. Back in the early 1990’s this was the only place in Scarborough to get mobile phone signal when the telephone exchange had a serious fire knocking out all landlines in the town. The other high point here is the war memorial that marks a view point.
We took our time looking for family names. None from the Geraghty side, but quite a few Capplemans. I shall have to dig out the family tree I was sent after my Dad passed away and see if any of them are mentioned.
The view right up the coast
Oliver’s Mount makes for a great view point. Looking down all the usual landmarks have found new positions around town (as they do!) and the South Bay looks more like a smugglers cove. Views right into the North Bay and up the coast, we took our time spotting friends houses.
The South Bay
The way back down we followed the roads which make up the Oliver’s Mount race track, stopping to say hello to the beach donkeys who are on their winter holiday, sadly they were just a touch too far away for a good photo.
Us last week
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 level back up, 1 glimpse, A3 sketch board, 20 sheets, 0 cow gum, 1 new proscenium, 1 white card sketch model complete, 409 pages, 1 cotton top, 67 pins, 2 t-towels, 6 capplemans, 5 miles up and down, 1 bored cat in need of a hobby, 1 windswept short walk, 0 cobwebs.
Us today!
Where Were We
2020. Sheepcote Street Bridge, Birmingham.
2019. Thorne Lock, Stainforth and Keadby Canal. LINK
So our visit was well timed as the inevitable has now happened with a third lockdown.
Sadly this means few photos from the breach site as things progress and people stay at home. Yesterday Chris Conroy posted the levels in the docks for me on facebook.
‘Dock level today is 5m 98cm as of 14:36 4/1/21 ….Normal levels are….lower level 6m 20cm …Upper level 6m 55cm’
So a 14 inch difference between low and high levels. If we assume that 5.98m is what it was yesterday, hopefully if he keeps giving me readings from the dock gauge we’ll be able to see if there is a problem of dropping water.
No more pack up lunches on board for a while
He also reported that the pumps by the caisson gate have been altered slightly but are still operational to keep the level in the docks up. Limited shipping is allowed into the port at high tide so as to minimise the loss of water. Normally there is too much water coming down the Aire and Calder and the excess is monitored and discharged as necessary.
Yesterday C&RT issued a Navigation Closure Notice for the New Junction Canal as follows. It does however refer to locks on the Aire and Calder Navigation.
To reduce water levels at breach site below Pollington Lock water levels from Ferrybridge Lock to Pollington Lock have been slightly reduced and the locks closed for public use.
This is a short term measure being reviewed on a daily basis. The locks and sections above Pollington Lock will be reopened as soon as this is possible.
The section from Pollington Lock to Goole Caisson and Sykehouse Lock will remain closed.
Towpath closed from Pollington Lock to Went End Aqueduct due to bank slippage
One day we’ll be back to views like this
Today C&RT have issued an update, although you have to go and look for it on their website! Earlier email updates seem to have stopped.
Update 05/01/2021
We are continuing to carry out inspections of the breach site twice per day to ensure safety of the area. These inspections have confirmed that the repair is structurally sound and there is no further flood risk. We have lowered water levels in the canal to reduce the rate of water loss from the breach and the escaped water is being pumped away into the River Don. The water levels in the canal are being managed through the pumps near Goole dock.
Our project team met on Monday 4 January to begin work to repair the breach. The repair work will first require the removal of the water from a section of the canal around the breach point. This will involve the construction of a temporary dam at two locations by piling across the navigation to create a ‘cofferdam’. The design of these temporary works has commenced.
Once the cofferdam is in place, which we expect to be in the next few weeks, the water in the canal can be pumped around it in order to ensure a constant water supply to feed Goole docks. Until the cofferdam is in place it is difficult to be precise how long a permanent repair will take as this very much depends on what damage we find once the water is removed.
The twice daily inspection of the damaged area of canal bank will continue until this cofferdam is in place to ensure public safety. Although we understand that local people may like to visit the site to see the work we’ve done, we advise people to stay well away from the area where the breach has occurred.
From here in Scarborough all we can do is wait, see what we can see on the internet and rely on kindly souls in Goole to keep an eye on Oleanna’s ropes along with many other boats. I suspect the permanent fix will take some time, thankfully we’re not in any big hurry to move. When we do move we may have to cruise new water to escape Goole and go out onto the Tidal Ouse, turning left towards Selby or right to Trent Falls!
Hopefully Oleanna is still smiling
0 locks, 0 miles, 5.98m, 3rd lockdown, 1 builder being put on hold, 2 boaters trying to watch from afar, 4 fingers and 2 paws crossed,1 cat slightly miffed that her itallics are being used by other people!
Firstly thank you to Dave Scouts and Kevin Too for suggesting Bingmaps. The National Library of Scotland map images alongside the satellite image is very interesting. I’ve sneakily put an extract here that shows the railway line. We’ve come across this before but had forgotten about it. Have to say though these maps make it very easy to see where an old railway used to be, I quite like trying to work it out for myself from the satellite images, but can then confirm my suspicions using this and OS maps.
Side by side
The actual bank slip along this stretch is about 400ft east of where the railway bridge was. Paul (Waterway Routes) pointed this out from examining my photos, Marks photos and the flag on a map I’d put up the other day. Mick had also spotted this when we’d first seen the comment on Facebook. All interesting stuff to keep you busy on a winter Sunday afternoon.
Rays over the Wolds
Today we kept ourselves busy too. The hire car keys will be handed back tomorrow so one last trip to check on Oleanna before it gets a little bit harder to do so, or impossible when a new lockdown is imposed. So after breakfast we hopped in the car to cross the Wolds and wish Oleanna a Happy New Year.
Todays view
Stepping down onto the stern was a touch easier again. Measurements were taken 34 inches to the top of the pontoon from the water level, this started off at 48 inches, when I first thought of measuring it. Up some more, which is good news despite the breach leaking and some ships coming and going from the port again.
Today I remembered to take the freshly washed blinds for the front door back. Measurements were taken as I’ve not made new ones yet and one of the poppers which has needed replacing for a while definitely needs attention before we sleep on board again.
But I’ll need a die set and spare poppers to do this, hopefully someone in Scarborough might be able to lend me the die set. My next problem will be what size the poppers are, 10mm, 12mm, 11mm heavy duty. I measured everything except the flipping popper size!
Porthole bungs were put back in their covers and hung back on doors, ready to be deployed on those Spring mornings when the sun beats in through the bathroom windows long before anyone wants to be awake.
Brrrr!!
Mick turned Oleanna’s key and started her up. She was a little bit surprised at being woken up from her long sleep, but soon relished her engine whirring, warming up the engine bay.
Icey
Over our packed lunch we had the same discussion as before, whether to tighten the ropes or not. The marina is quite frozen at the moment, certainly between us and our nearest neighbours. Down the side of Oleanna there was a gap, she’s obviously been moving about quite a bit in the wind, carving herself a patch of water. We decided to tighten the ropes a touch, but not fully should the level drop a bit.
Mick chatted with Geoff. Apparently the level has been higher, but dropped again. The caisson gates are still closed and the pumps are still running, even though at one point Geoff thought the level out on the canal was higher than in the docks. We’re glad we’ve left some slack.
Local MP Andrew Percy has commented on the breach today on facebook.
‘I’ve been popping up to check the breach in the canal near East Cowick regularly and did so again this afternoon. I happened to bump into the Canal and Rivers Trust guy who was out doing one of the daily inspections. Whilst water has continued to come out of the breach, the temporary works have held steady and there are no concerns at the moment. He also confirmed that the CRT and their engineers and contractors are due back on site tomorrow all being well to start considering next steps. The future works will also involve works to the damaged banks further along the canal which have been caused by the fluctuating canal levels. Just thought people might like the update. When I hear more I’ll let folks know!’
Before we left I decided to take an educated estimate of where the level normally is, by using the rusted and green marks on the pilling around the marina as a gauge. This was measured to the top of the pontoon. 16.5 inches. So currently the level is 17.5 inches down on the norm. Oleanna’s gunnel at the stern must have been just above the pontoon when we first arrived as that sits 20 inches above the water.
Bum
According to the C&RT notice the navigation was to remain closed until January 4th as a precaution, tomorrow. Exol Pride I’m sure is just chomping at the bit to get her next load up to Rotherham.
We said our farewells to Oleanna, we hope to be able to visit every couple of weeks to check on her, but who knows if this will be possible.
Hope to see you soon.
As we drove back to Scarborough, along the extra scenic route via Wetwang, we remembered our first trip back when the fields were all golden having recently been harvested. Then they went brown with white flecks of chalk as the fields were ploughed over. Now shoots of green are pushing up to find sunlight. I wonder what Tilly’s field is doing at our lockdown ‘Home’ mooring at the bottom of Hurleston?
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 last day of having a car, 17.5 inches to go, 2 blinds, 1 not so blind, 10/ 11/12/15mm? 3 ropes slightly tightened, 1 icy marina, 2 ships, 2 weeks hopefully!
Not knowing what the tier review would bring today we decided to head down to the marina to check things out.
A light dusting
Scarborough managed to avoid the snow of the last few days, but as we crossed the top of the Wolds we could see that there had been a dusting. This soon cleared as we descended the other side of the hills. Drax Power Station sending up big plumes of steam into the chilly air.
Exol Pride sitting on her mooring with a full tank
As soon as we pulled into the marina we could see that things had improved with the level. Across on the far side of the channel leading into the docks the wooden edging was now submerged.
She’s higher
Oleanna’s ropes sat loose necessitating her being pulled in for us to climb down. Today this was more like a big step, no booster block required just a steadying hand on the cabin side.
Meow!
We’d planned to rehang the front door blinds and put the pads back into the window bungs we’d taken to the house for washing, but in our haste to leave we’d left them all in Scarborough.
A better view again
Mick checked temperatures, 2 C in the engine bay. A touch chilly but okay. The heating went on inside and the water pump turned on. Oleanna’s water tank must be very low now as it no longer registers on the gauge. The electric kettle was filled from the tap on the pontoon and water from the tank only used for washing up after lunch.
Sitting higher
I got my tape measure out again. What was the height difference between pontoon and the water? I got a little bit excited with the height and confused at the same time. 3ft 2 inches, 10 inches higher than when I’d first measured it. My confusion being when I’d first measured it, this was before Christmas and not on Boxing Day. So our rise today since Boxing Day is six inches, not the 10 I’d got really excited about. Still good and going in the right direction.
An update to the C&RT website said.
Update 29/12/20
On 28 December our team, with our contractors – Kier, returned to site to place more stone and clay in the hole and this has considerably reduced the leak. The stone provides stability and the clay seals the passage of water in the gaps between the bags, and we have also spread waterproof material over the breached area.
We will continue to carry out daily checks to ensure the situation does not change. Water levels in the canal are now rising back towards normal.
During the event, in order to protect water levels in Goole Docks, we closed the gates from the canal and pumped water in. With water levels rising in the canal we should soon be able to open these gates again though navigation will not be permissible along the canal until we have undertaken further works as a precaution.
Now that the immediate risk has been significantly reduced, we are able to begin to look in more detail at designing a permanent repair in the new year. Our engineers are considering the options and how such a repair would be achieved.
Although we understand that local people may like to visit the site to see the work we’ve done, we advise people to stay well away from the area where the breach has occurred.
To leave slack or tighten?
We had our packup lunch with a cuppa, then planned to go for a walk along the river bank towards Trent Falls. We discussed whether to tighten the ropes or not. Should the level drop again, they would need loosening, but if the level kept rising Oleanna would get looser and with any strong winds she’d end up going all over the place. We thought that maybe taking up some of the slack would be the way forward.
Shortly before we left I had another look at Facebook. There was a new post from Mark Penn from above the breach site. His footage showed the flow of water through the temporary repair to have increased again, possibly a stronger flow than it had been on Boxing Day, certainly stronger than yesterday!
Some of the filling, aggregate and clay has been washed away again. You can see right under the concrete, Not good.
Mark contacted the Project Manager at C&RT to report it. Someone was heading to monitor the situation. Reports later are that for now they are okay with the amount of water coming out. It is now flowing in the right direction, under the canal to the pumping station which pumps the excess water into the River Don. Before when the breach happened the water reversed the flow of the drain and sent the water towards East Cowick, with potential for flooding the villages.
It is suspected that the canal level will be dropped again to reduce the pressure on the fix.
We changed our minds on the ropes and have left them slack, in case the level drops again, which it almost certainly will.
RSPB Blacktoft Sands
Slightly gloomy we drove out of Old Goole, through Swinefleet, Whitgift and Ousefleet. Mick pulled the car into the car park at RSPB Blacktoft Sands only for us to be stopped by a big sign saying the car park was closed due to Covid -19. We found a spot on the right angle bend where we could park instead and walked up to the flood bank.
Not much of a view at the bottom of the bank
Here another sign thwarted our plan. The footpath follows the side of the flood bank, not the top. The top being private land. Not much point if we couldn’t see the river, anyway I’d not put enough layers on for the very cold temperatures out today, too much time spent on land!
River Ouse to the left, River Trent just below the trees ahead
We aborted our walk and headed back towards Scarborough instead, the sun setting behind muted coloured hills. With the radio on we heard that North Yorkshire will as of midnight tonight enter tier 3 and Goole remain in tier 3. So we now won’t have to sneak across tier borders to get to Goole should we want to check on Oleanna before we have to hand the car keys back to the hire company. A positive on a not so positive day.
Winters day
0 locks, 0 miles, 10 inches higher, 2 happier boaters, 1 pack up, 1 fix un-fixed again, 1 leaking canal, 2 sad boaters, 1 boat with slack ropes, 1 closed car park, 1 very chilly day, tier 3.
Since my last catch up we’ve been doing our best to get festive. Our Christmas lights went up earlier than normal, thankfully they have all survived our time away. We used to have two 6ft Christmas trees that we’d buy in Dalby Forest, but this year our £4 tree from Newark Market, back in 2015 sits on a table in a bay window. The lights that used to decorate the trees are now around the windows.
A week or so ago we had a half hour singing carols with neighbours at the top of the road with Scarborough’s Town Crier, he lives two doors up from us. Have to say I surprised myself at the number of carols I knew without a song sheet. The Town Crier may have been loud, but we were more tuneful shall we say!
Tilly about to give the penguins what for!
A burst water main at the top of the street gave the Crier something else to shout about as Yorkshire Water turned the water off for a few hours one evening. No need to knock on doors just get the Town Crier to do his thing up and down the street.
Frank our bubble carpenter has helped sample Christmas biscuits, more ginger was required and my jar was deemed to be past it. There was a distinct shortage of ground ginger in town (apparently something to do with the pandemic) so I thought I’d have a go at making my own. I red up about it and a large root that had arrived a week earlier was peeled (with the aid of a spoon handle), sliced up in the Kenwood chef and then spread out on an oven tray. This went in a very low oven for three plus hours to dry out, it then got ground in the spice mill.
Whilst the ginger was doing it’s thing there was a popping noise from the main oven that I’d just turned on to cook our evening meal. It stopped warming up, it had stopped working. Top oven where the ginger was being quite fragrant still worked thankfully. The following day we pulled the oven out to see if there was anything we could do. One thing led to another and after admitting defeat we managed to push the oven doors onto the floor. This created a rather sparkly effect as the top oven door shattered and both doors ended up being rather dinted!
With less than two weeks to Christmas we hunted round for a good double oven, finding one at John Lewis that would arrive the following week, not quite as good as our old one, but at the very top of what we were willing to pay. Mick then remembered he’d ticked the accidental damage box when taking out house insurance. A claim was made and we waited to see if they would pay up. On Monday morning they rang us and by the end of the day they had agreed to pay for a new oven, if we hadn’t been under Christmas pressure we’d have ended up with the next model up too! This was delivered a week ago and has been fitted and works wonderfully, thank goodness we dropped those doors!
A trip to see The Snow Queen at the SJT was always on the cards and thankfully Scarborough has been in tier 2 so the show could go on. This was my first live theatre since seeing Alarum in Birmingham back in February and what a treat it was. The show was rewritten as a one woman show and blimey she had to work her socks off! Set designed by Helen who would have been doing costumes for Chippy panto this year. The front of house staff were very good and all covid measures made you feel safer than walking down the street. A great show and chilled medication thrown in as well, a lovely evening. Taking the C&RT line and changing it a touch ‘Life is better with live theatre’.
The wonderful canopy at the SJT
Parcels have been delivered, parcels posted. Cards sent and received, having an address does mean we’ve had more than the last few years, in fact we’re running out of space for them!
I wonder who’s house that is?!
This year we could hand deliver cards to our friends around Scarborough, they were accompanied with a bag of homemade ginger biscuits, the new batch with extra homemade ginger! We had a lovely few hours walking from one side of Scarborough to the other delivering festive cheer and catching up with people on their doorsteps whom we’ve not seen for years.
I’ve knuckled down to do a bit of work. Chipping Norton panto next year, postponed from this year is forging ahead. A new version of the script and some time in my work room, assisted by Tilly of course. Sketches done and approved by the director David, a story board ready to be sent out, I’ll move on to making the model in the New Year.
Today is all about cooking, getting stuff done so as to be able to do less tomorrow. Bread sauce, stuffing, gravy, red cabbage and of course festive sausage rolls. For the last few years these have been enjoyed whilst cruising to our Christmas mooring, this year I half expect Franks nose to be twitching as they go in the oven and the door bell to ring as they come out!
That window sill will just need a final sand, ‘Oh did someone mention sausage rolls!’
Tomorrow we will be joined by Frank for dinner and birthday cake, hope we’ve enough food to go round! We’ve been warned, by his usual hosts, that he can always manage two puddings and then after a little nap he’ll quite easily fit in some cheese too! Maybe I should do Yorkshire Puddings, ‘The one who eats the most puddin’ gets the most beef’ as said by a farmer during harvest to their field hands.
This morning in Goole
This morning Lisa forwarded us a photo of Oleanna. The level has risen some more and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Here in Scarborough Mick has just ventured out to get some carrots as our veg box was lacking yesterday.
Scarborough pm
Well the prep is done and my prediction of Franks arrival was correct, well maybe he was just a few minutes early for the sausage rolls coming out of the oven!
Every ring in use
The house now smells of Christmas, the fire is lit and I’ve managed to keep Frank far enough away from my birthday cake for it to last until tomorrow.
Stockings are out, so we are ready.
Are you?
He comes down the chimney Tilly, not through the back door!
Where Were We
2019 Radford Smelly, Grand Union
2018 Somewhere between Napton Junction and Braunston, Oxford/Grand Union Canal
Firstly a big thank you to Jenn for letting me know that on the 16th November Bargain Hunt had a special bit all about Emily Blagg as this year is the 100th anniversary of The Palace Theatre. Very interesting to see Emily’s grave, not a big thing as the locals still had a problem with her demolishing the Chauntry to build the theatre. Also I’m glad the researchers didn’t manage to find a picture of her, as I spent ages trying to do the same. Here’s a link to the episode. If you are ever in Newark when the Antique Fair is on it is worth a visit, it costs to get in but is crammed full of interesting things. When we went there was a free bus from near Newark Northgate Station.
Tilly doing her best not to shred the lining before it’s on the curtains
Back in Scarborough I’ve been busy with the sewing machine. I started off small relining curtains for Oleanna, just to get myself and my machine warmed up, much bigger curtains were to follow for the house.
I’d ordered a big roll of thermal lining, enough for boat curtains as well as the bay window. The other day I’d unpicked the stitching on the dark blue curtains from the saloon and dinette areas. Doing this I’d discovered that Kim (who made the curtains in Sheffield) had used some wonderweb on the side hems. This seemed like a good idea, so before lockdown 2 was imposed I’d had a walk to Dunelm to stock up. After several washes the wonderweb had disintegrated and as I pulled the lining away I was left with a big mess to clean up.
I measured up the lining, not as much as Kim had used as I hope I can get away with having not quite so much bulk. The rectangle of lining was pinned in position, having to tug to the curtains to their full extent as no matter how much ironing they simply didn’t want to lie flat. Wonderweb held the sides in position, then I was able to pin round all sides, hopefully where they were before, then I sewed round each panel.
Well that was the plan, but on my third curtain my machine jammed! Oh B**er!! As it was late in the afternoon I called it a day. Good karma at a sewing machine usually works and maybe coming back to it another day would be a wise idea.
Filthy inside, what did I expect!
It was time to give my machine some TLC. The advantage of being in the house was that it didn’t take too long to find the oil that had come with my machine along with the original manual. This showed me how to take the bobbin and what lies behind to pieces and apply one drop of oil.
Then I removed the plate around the teeth, then the teeth themselves. Here was my main problem, fluff, lots of fluff! With all this cleared out and the one drop of oil applied I wondered if I should oil my machine anywhere else. Not according to the manual. I looked on line, no luck, then asked on Facebook after all I know quite a few wardrobe supervisors who should know. Thank you to those who made suggestions, including Dave and Chris who both suggested applying a touch of oil to anything that moves.
Gary White from All Seasons Boat Covers hunted round the internet for me and eventually found a file for my brand of machine suggesting a few more places to oil. Thank you, I promise to do this before I pack my machine away before Christmas.
I soon discovered that my machine and needles were not capable of going through all the layers in the corners, so I decided that I’d finish these off by hand. All six dark blue curtains were soon finished.
Before moving onto the bedroom curtains for Oleanna I decided to make the living room and dining room curtains for one side of the house. I’m very glad we’d not moved fully into the house as once I’d had a good tidy up, rationalisation of Franks and my tools I had a lot of floor space to play with, needed when you want to have floor to ceiling curtains round your bay window.
Are you sure you are helping?!
Rolls of fabric had arrived, first thing was to square off the end and then cut the correct lengths. Tilly decided she’d hold down the fabric for me and supervise the end of my steel ruler. I on the other hand pretended that I was cutting up dance floor for a show (a frequent job in my theatre life usually with at least one other pair of hands). Hands are much better at doing this job than paws, but I was glad of the company.
The fabric I’d chosen had a very small pattern, so not noticeable should I not quite line everything up properly on the wider curtains, although seeing some of the salvage edge peeking through wasn’t good, I revisited such areas.
Lining and curtain fabric were both hemmed, then sewn together. I’d checked that my lining was narrower so that the main fabric would fold back round the sides, but sadly once I’d turned everything the right way round I had a very narrow bit of fabric. So one side of each curtain was unpicked and a couple of inches trimmed off the lining, then everything resewn.
Helping
Curtain tape sewn onto the tops, job done. I just needed my assistant Mick to help with the hanging of them and enough hooks and runners. The bay window track had enough but the dining room track had a mixture of runners, most of which weren’t the right size! A hunt through my stash of such things, we didn’t have enough. One window elsewhere had the right ones so they were stolen.
Hooray they’re up!
Some curtain weights are required and the ends of the bay window track are leaning a touch, these may need trimming back as my curtains are partially on the floor. However these were my first ever properly made curtains, not bodged for use on stage, but proper fully lined curtains. I’m quite proud of them and have ordered more fabric for curtains in another room, but they will have to wait to be made next year.
It was back to boat curtains, bedroom curtains. A couple of years ago I’d bought some more of the original fabric in a sale, having more than enough lining now meant I could reline the original curtains and make a brand new pair too. Tilly has managed to make them look quite shabby.
This fabric however is quite slippy and slidy, not wanting to keep it’s shape and could be pulled in different directions to make it fit, but what would the end curtains look like?
The old linings were unpicked, new added and sewn in. Using wonderweb proved helpful with this fabric. Then a hole new set were cut out, sewn, ironed and all the corners hand sewn in place. In all twelve curtains finished and ready to go up at Oleannas’ windows again. I just hope they fit on the poles properly! I’ve put together a ‘just in case’ pack, should I have sewn them too tight and they need unpicking.
All finished with ‘just in case’ sewing kit
We’d been planning on a trip down to check on her as soon as lockdown was lifted. The tier in Scarborough surprisingly will be tier 2, the number of cases here shot up and at one point we were highest in the country, then they started to drop, Hull forging ahead of us. However Goole will be in tier 3, an area you can travel through, but not go and hang your curtains and give your boat the once over running the engine for an hour etc, not essential. I’m sure some are visiting their boats, some jobs are essential over winter.
They are plotting behind Mum’s nursing chair
With curtains hung in the house we could move ourselves into the living room properly, well as properly as you can when most of your furniture has gone by the wayside through the years with tenants. We moved the sofa in, side tables, plumbed the TV in and standard lamps. Then we fought with my Mum and Dad’s chairs down the tight stairs from upstairs upstairs. We’d put them up there, so they had to be able to come down! My Mum and Dad bought these chairs as wedding presents for each other. Not your average three piece suite, but I quite like it. When funds allow we’ll replace the two seater sofa with a three seater sofabed and move the smaller sofa back to the other side. But for now we have a comfy sitting room. Just pictures to hang, coal for the fire and we’re there.
It was now time to have a day off, I put my feet up and did a few hours of a thing called work!
Most theatres around the country have cancelled their pantos this year, but have been forging ahead with paired down Christmas shows in the hope that once lockdown 2 is lifted they will have a show to bring cheer to their audiences.
Chippy this year is offering A Christmas Carol, with David Bradley. The SJT here in Scarborough The Snow Queen a one woman show and an audio recording of Haunting Julia, a ghost story by Alan Ayckbourn (a great play I’ve had the pleasure of designing twice).
Thankfully these shows will be able to go on, but many other theatres who find themselves in tier 3 will not be able to open their doors. Some of these will be going on line, others mothballed for Easter next year.
A nice relaxing read
Will, the producer at Chipping Norton had been in touch, the second draft of the script for Panto was sent out and now they were ready to contract myself and others to start work, well ahead for next year. On our last visit to the boat I made sure I brought all my work things back with us, but had forgotten the plans of the theatre. I’ve now received copies and a model box. So it was time to read the script.
The last couple of days I’ve been starting to reclaim my work rooms at the top of the house. A damp problem on the chimney breast meant it needed stripping for a builder to check over.
Then I’ve started to try to make space at my model making tables and cleaned the windows. Plenty more room than I had on the boat, but I have yet to gain access to my drawing board which is still engulfed by boxes. I’ll get there.
It’s in there somewhere, no that’s Tilly
One handy tip though, don’t leave water in a hotwater bottle for six years. Not only will it have lost it’s heat but the rubber will perish!
A Beautiful day
Last week on our Sunday walk we braved a visit to the South Bay beach. A beautiful day, chilly but sunny and the beach wasn’t too busy. We marvelled at the blue sea and white light house and then decided to avoid the harbour where the footpaths are a bit too narrow for the amount of people about.
So we headed up Bland’s Cliff. This steep hill used to run up the side of the Futurist Theatre which was sadly demolished in the last couple of years after huge outcries. In it’s place is the Scarborough Eye, better views are free up near the Castle, and a crazy golf pitch!
However Blands Cliff has become very colourful. An art gallery had just opened when we left and now the surrounding walls are covered in murals and mosaics with local topics depicted. Really rather jolly.
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 visits to Oleanna, 1 cleaned sewing machine, 9 relined curtains, 3 new curtains, 2 pairs of proper house curtains, 1 living room moved into, 1 not so helpful assistant, 1 wall stripped, 0.25 work room reclaimed, 2 clean windows, 1 cat loving the views, tier 2, 1 boat in tier 3!
Where were we
2019 On the South Oxford Canal, Somerton Meadows to Kings Sutton. LINK
Writing a blog it’s interesting to see which posts seem to generate the most interest. WordPress and if I remember rightly Blogger give you information daily on views to your blog. How many views today, how many visitors, where people have come from and what if any links they have clicked on.
Thwaite Mill
Certain posts appear time and time again. Here on Oleanna the most popular post is about Thwaite Mills. This post usually gets at least one viewing a day and has stacked up 1442 viewings since I wrote it in March last year and in April this year it was viewed 151 times. This post was one of the first after we moved the blog to WordPress.
Pots of Putty
Thwaite Mills is an interesting place and very much worth a visit either by car or boat, although there is limited mooring. Here’s a link if you are interested. I suspect many views come from Google searches and not just to catch up on what we’ve been up to.
Magic
Lilllian’s blog has always been popular for the post regarding the Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, 170 views through the years since 2015. A small number of views in comparison. I think the photo of the road sign has been clicked on more times.
Lillian’s blog has had no posts posted since we handed her over to her new owners back at the end of June 2017. She normally has a trickle of views each week and sits low on the Waterways Ranking Site. So when I got a message from WordPress last week saying that her viewings were Booming! I was interested to see why.
But….what….how?!
Blimey they were Booming! On the 16th November there were 605 views by 476 visitors. What the!?! With 390 referrals from Google in a single day. Two posts were being viewed in particular, both regarding Emily Blagg.
Demolished house to make room for The Palace Theatre
Emily Blagg lived in Newark from 1887, she ran her own businesses, buying into a brick company and becoming a property developer, building houses for the local work force. She also built the local Kinema which was followed by The Palace Theatre. She then moved into producing metal pipework.
Built in 1920
Whilst we were in Newark during winter 2015/16, I did a bit of research into her and we visited several of the houses she’d built. The post Emily Blagg and The Polish has always been a popular post, but having 581 views in November out of the total of 629?!
I’ve had a look around Google to see if this November marks any anniversary for Emily Blagg but can’t find anything obvious. Maybe the interest was more to do with the Polish War graves, but pictures of Emily’s houses had been clicked on. Maybe there is a school or college doing research on Emily? Or maybe my Emily Blagg got confused with a more modern day lady who had hit the lime light for some other reason? Who knows? If you do please let me know.
Newarks War graves
All this interest in our old blog meant that Lillian gradually over the last week rose up the Waterway Ranking Site. I think she reached position 11 overall, beating this blog and many others. The 581 views are not reflected on the site as views are recorded in a different way than those on WordPress. Now that a week has passed since the mass interest Lillian’s blog will drop back down and go back to lurking towards the bottom of the ranks again. She’s already reached no 27.
Newark Cemetry
Apologies for this post, but as you know I do like numbers.
Sadly the list of things still to do is still long, but there is plenty of time.
All shiny again
Frank has been visiting a few times a week to work his way through various jobs for us. A thumped bedroom door is now back how it should be. The front door lock has been changed back to an old one, rejigged for new keys and I can now open the front door with ease. One window sill has been replaced, the others will be worked on in fine weather, lockdown permitting. Various items of furniture have had the top layer of stains, paint and glitter removed and are now looking much better with a few coats of Danish Oil on them.
Fabric for new curtains was ordered along with lining. Sadly Boyes in Scarborough has reduced it’s stock so this had to be ordered on line. Getting new curtains made was going to be at least another £250, so I’m just hoping my sewing machine is up to the job along with me!
Weekly veg boxes arrive on Wednesdays to keep me being creative on the cooking side and fill our tummies. Sainsburys delivers once a week and we’ve had a second delivery from Dulux with more paint to keep me going. I hopefully now have all I need to get the remainder of one side of the house finished, then we can clear one side of my work room for access to the end wall which needs some attention from builders. It’s still all go.
An early mast
Sundays we head out for a walk each week. We’ve headed inland, climbing up the hills behind Falsgrave. At Irton Moor we tip toed past the GCHQ listening station, making sure we didn’t stray from the path.
Then veered up to Seamer Beacon where we enjoyed 360 degree views, out to sea, inland towards Pickering and Malton and along the coast with Bempton Cliffs leading towards Flamborough Head. Our return route brought us down off the hills along a very muddy autumnal bridleway, past schools that have changed their names and along streets with very posh houses.
Scarbados
Another weekend saw us walking along the ridge above the A64 with fantastic views over Scarborough to the sea. It has always amazed me how certain landmarks in this town have a life of their own. The Castle and windmill move around at will whilst your back is turned always to appear in the wrong places.
We then dropped down into the valley and walked round the Mere, getting a fix of water, ducks and swans. It appears there are unwelcome otters here as fences have been erected to keep them out away from the fish.
Clerk of works keeping an eye on things
With the country looking like every area would gradually creep into Tier 3 we planned on having a trip to Oleanna, before we couldn’t. Scarborough is in Tier 1, Goole and the East Riding had just made it to Tier 2. With all none tidal routes from Goole leading to Tier 3 areas we decided that we’d have a pootle about staying within Tier 2. A week afloat for the three of us would be great, a deserved rest for Mick and myself and some towpath respite away from the urban felines for Tilly.
Have another one
On Friday hire cars and train tickets were booked along with a food shop to be delivered to Oleanna on Tuesday morning. With everything sorted we’d then head off towards the New Junction Canal, Pollington Lock and Great Heck. Not far but far enough.
Friday evening I started to remove the ripped lining from the boat curtains ready to replace it, planning to sit at the sewing machine over the weekend so that we could have some privacy again.
Before that we had tickets booked to see the brand new John Godber play at the SJT with Bridget and Storm on the Saturday. Sadly I woke up in the morning not feeling quite myself, instead of improving during the morning I went downhill requiring to be near to shore based facilities. It was not a good idea to head to a theatre feeling unwell, even though I know where all the toilets are. So Mick headed off to watch the show leaving me with Tilly as nurse maid, a duvet and the TV. Fred Astaire entertained me more than The Trump Show!
Mick Bridget and Storm enjoyed the show very much, I hope I’ll get chance to see it sometime next year when theatres can reopen again.
News had filtered through that it was looking very likely that the country would be entering another lockdown in a few days. We waited patiently and not so patiently for Boris Johnson to announce his plans. These of course were not in line with our plans which now would have to change.
Unfinished curtains
So instead of a week on board we headed to Goole on Monday in the first hire car, just Mick and myself, leaving Tilly very disappointed holding the fort at the house. She had tried to sneak into a vacuum bag of clean bedding, but had been spotted before I sucked the air out.
Living in an upside down world
The Wolds are greener than they were when we moved to the house. The stubble in the fields has gone and the earth has been turned over, new crops are starting to show their heads.
Sat patiently waiting for us
We let ourselves into the marina and pulled up close to Oleanna. There she was still tied up well to the pontoon, maybe a little bit dustier than when we’d left her, but that’s only to be expected close to the docks.
A day of boat jobs.
Eergh!
I chose to attack the shower sealant, the corners long gone black. This is a job I really do not like doing. Baths and showers in the house have been my nemesis through the years. But I was determined to get the job done, especially as Tilly wasn’t around and we wouldn’t be using the shower today.
I’d brought various tools with me. A window scraper, craft knife and a piece of wood with a blunt point to it. These all gradually worked to clear out the mangy sealant from the corners.
Meanwhile Mick did a firmware upgrade to the inverter. Hopefully he’ll still be able to remotely turn the inverter on and off. Time will tell.
Masked up
After some lunch I then set to masking off the areas that needed sealant. Originally the corners of the walls and where the shower screen met the tray had been sealed with translucent and the shower tray to the walls with white. I decided to change the tray to screen to white as even though the sealant had been okay here it had started to turn orange. White would be better.
I started with the translucent and that went on nicely. The white however had a slightly different quality to it, so it splurged a bit. I smoothed everything off doing my best to avoid making a mess then removed the masking tape.
All done
The sealant behind the galley sink had also seen better days so I’d dug this out, masked it and then applied sealant. This went on better and once the masking tape was removed I decided to smooth it off with my finger, so that it matched the rest of the galley. This worked a treat so I returned to the bathroom to smooth everything off there too. A skin had already started to form, but it was still suitably squidgy to get an okay finish to it. Infact this is possibly the best sealant job I’ve ever achieved, looks wise, time will tell if I’ve sealed it well enough.
Mick had attached a remote heat sensor to the boiler so that the thermostat wasn’t in the electrics cupboard. Our Aldi boiler can work off both gas and electric. Whilst we are hooked up it will work off the electric and Mick has set the thermostat to 9 C.
A second coat of Danish oil was applied to all the window frames, another job to do whilst Tilly isn’t about. One more left to do and that is a much bigger one, re-oiling the wooden floor. This may require an overnight stay, getting everything clean one day and oiled the next, leaving as I finish.
Everything left airing, including the sofa
Oleanna was given a quick check over. Everything winterised. All moisture traps were checked, cupboards and drawers left open, mattress and cushions left so that air can circulate and the sofa bad was opened up and left on it’s back. We don’t know when we’ll be back next due to lockdown, but if we happen to come back with Tilly she will have a field day!
Bye bye, hope to see you soon
It had long gone dark when we locked Oleanna’s back doors and climbed back into the car. A big shame not to be staying longer as originally planned, but we are glad we’ve been able to visit to check on her, run the engine and do some more jobs. She’ll be sat waiting for us to return when we can, hopefully in four weeks time, but we’ll wait and see how things go. It does mean I don’t have to rush to reline her curtains.
