Category Archives: Scarborough

A Third Reason. 30th April

Naburn Lock to New Walk, York

Tilly was given shore leave, she could have most of the day if she wanted it. We settled down and enjoyed poached eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms on toast, oh and some black pudding sneaked in there too, yummy.

Sunny Naburn

Then a phone call made us reconsider our existing plan for the next few days. Mick needed to be at the house, I needed to be at York Hospital for an appointment and now there was another appointment which if I could attend it would be a good thing. We’d planned on staying in Naburn until our booked passage back to Selby. Yesterday I’d taken photos of the bus timetable, only every two hours. If we headed back into York however, we’d both be able to walk to the station and hospital making things much easier. Decision made, we’d be heading back into York.

Next pair finished

We emptied the yellow water into our container and Mick walked it to the elsan hoping to catch the Lock Keeper to check on times for our departure in a few days time. The number of boats that had arrived in the last hour suggested Kenny might be busy penning them all down and sure enough he was.

A second trip to the services proved better timed. Our locking would be at 12:45. Mick also enquired about passage from York to Barmby Lock where you gain access to the River Derwent and the Pocklington Canal. When he’d asked about this in Selby, Nigel had said levels were low, but hopefully by the time we wanted to head that way they would be improved. Kenny however said the Pocklington was now closed until October! Someone had left a paddle up and drained the canal and with little water available to top it up…. well!

Time about to tick away in the breeze

We may need to replan our summer. That is the second waterway we’d hoped to cruise this year closed until October. We need to confer with Graeme and Vicky, if we can get hold of them.

Tilly was encouraged home. It’s good this outside, can we keep it for a while? Sorry!

We untied and pushed off, heading back upstream. We’re getting to know these five or so miles very well! A Kingfisher decided to escort us after we’d passed Bishopthorpe Palace, staying until I’d got a reasonable photo of it.

Hello

Where should we moor? We’d only just pulled away from Museum Gardens and the mooring there has very little shade for the increasing temperatures. Or should we pull in on the rings by Millennium Bridge where the Chilled Medication boat moors during the day, there was lots of spare room there. With the sun out the medication would be flying out of the boat, hardly a good place for Tilly to get shore leave. So a touch further on where there was currently shade, also the rings in the bank were big enough to pass our ropes straight through, so not too much hassle mooring.

I had a slow walk around the block, but my cold meant I fell far short of minutes and steps today. I called into Alligator to see if they had any millet flour, but sadly they didn’t. The lady tried her best to sell me other gf flours or even some bread, but all I wanted was some millet flour to try out some recipes for myself.

Lines in the sky

Mick headed off late afternoon to Scarborough. He caught the train he used to catch when he worked in York 11 years ago, in case any of the regulars were still traveling, but no-one was familiar. Tilly and I had a quiet evening, the boat cooling down after the high temperatures today, I got on with blowing my nose and knitting whilst Tilly got on with her cat naps.

News on the Strawberry Island Cruising Club flotilla to London. All boats have arrived in London, but a fire at Maida Tunnel has split the flotilla in two. Some have remained in Little Venice where Cavalcade is this coming weekend, whilst others are on the Eco Moorings nearer Kings Cross. Here’s hoping the tunnel reopens on Friday so they can all make Cavalcade.

0 locks, 4.9 miles, 1 more river and canal closed this summer, 1 shady mooring, 1 wee tank empty, 2 outsides for Tilly, 1 train, 25 minutes late, 1.98 miles walked, 22 minutes briskly, 1 pair of socks ready for hand delivery, 1 pair of socks finally designed, well 1 more alteration from heel up, 9pm generator stopped, 10pm generator started up but on the move.

https://what3words.com/flesh.crass.moss

Sunny….. Scarbados! 23rd April

New Walk, York

No real need for an alarm on this mooring as the rowers started to pass not long after 7am. I was up, breakfasted and out of the door heading towards the station a little after 9am.

Sunny on the Bar Walls

The sun was out, I crossed Skeldergate Bridge. Should I follow the river on Skeldergate? Walk through Bishophill? Go along Nunnery Lane? In the end I opted to walk along the Bar Walls round to the station, what a lovely morning away from the traffic.

The bridge now gone

From my vantage point above Queen Street I could look down on the works that have been taking place to remove a road bridge around the outside of the walls. This used to raise traffic above the rail tracks that punched their way through the walls to the old station. The old station was a terminus, no through rail links and soon railway traffic had outgrown the site, it had become a bottleneck so a new station was needed.

Permission from Parliament was granted in 1866 for a new station on the other side of the walls, the first train pulled out of the station at 05:30 on the 25th June 1877, bound for Scarborough. The station took three years to construct and was the largest in Britain, confirming the city’s status as heart of the network.

Frolicking Foxes

A group of people stood on the walls, phones out looking down the bank. Was this a location from a film or TV program? What was catching their eye? Well it turned out to be a Vixen and her three cubs frolicking in the long grass on the inner side of the walls.

View from platform 4

I hopped on the next train to Scarborough, quite warm from my walk and the sunshine, thankfully I knew things would be different in Scarborough today. As the train approached Seamer the sky had already turned misty and dark. Stepping off the train I was immediately glad of my extra layers, the sea fret was in, no view across the valley and only 10 C! I had time to take a selfie with a sea view so walked up to the Esplanade.

Great view of the South Bay and Castle!

An appointment with my new dentist had called me to Scarborough. A nice lady, not the same chair side manner as Colin in Birmingham had, but maybe that was reflected in his prices, also Scarborough is well known to have a serious lack of dentists, hence having to wait about five weeks for my first appointment. All good, thankfully and another appointment for a clean in a few weeks time.

Knitting on the train

I picked up something for lunch and then headed to the house, time to check the place over after our last lodgers had vacated and do a couple of jobs. They scored 9 on our lodger scale, loosing a point due to a bin not having been emptied, leaving a light and the second fridge on which was very empty. But other than that all was good.

Castle Mills Lock

The garden is in need of some tlc, sadly the gardener we’d lined up never reappeared! But it does mean the bluebells are having a good time undisturbed. Thank you to our lodgers for keeping the strawberry plants watered too, someone else will benefit from then in a few weeks time.

Polling papers for the new Scarborough Town Council had arrived. We should have applied for postal votes, but have now run out of time. Mick will be around for the election, but I needed to get a proxy application in quickly before time ran out at 5pm today.

It’s quite good, apart from all the people!

Meanwhile back in York. Mick headed to Barnitts the stove rope I’d bought was a little chunky for the lower door, so he swapped it for the next size down. A top up shop at Morrisons was done. He also walked up to Castle Mills Lock on the River Foss. Sadly there was a sign on the lock saying it would be closing on Sunday for the rest of the summer for works on the lock. We’d hoped to head up the Foss and see how far we could get before having to most probably reverse back. You have to give at least 2 days notice for the lock, it’s operated by the local IWA. Yes we might just be able to squeeze it in before Sunday, but there are other things, more important things to do before then. We’ll just have to return another year.

Boo!!!

I took advantage of there being running water and had a shower at the house, a good collection of shampoos and bits and bobs left by lodgers. Thankfully there was a comb so I could wash my hair, all saving water on Oleanna. I rapidly picked up the fruit and veg that had been left along with the big tin of Danish Oil (ours not the lodgers) and then high tailed it back to the station, just a few minutes spare to catch the next train back to York.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 closed lock ahead, 0 enough time, 2 trains, 4 foxes, 1 sunny city, 1 fretted town, 1 stove in working order, 1 cat snatching moments on the bank, 1 near clean bill of teeth, 1 quick shower, 3 bulbs garlic, 2 lemons, 4 onions, 1 lime, 5 apples, 7.55 miles walked, 99 minutes briskly, 1 speeding boat, 2 pizzas.

The Express Train. 12th April

Staniland Marina, Thorne

Tilly was left in charge today with her evening dingding already served before 9am, we were off for a day trip and some culture.

We took the train from Thorne North, the conductor on the train said we’d need to change at Goole for our Express Train to Scarborough. This made us both laugh. How can the train be an express when it stops at every stop and takes 1hour 58 minutes? You can drive it in about 1 hour 20 minutes!

A bit of culture

The train arrived in Scarborough with plenty of time to spare before lunch so we decided to have a look at the new exhibition at the Old Parcel Office at the end of the station car park. Fruiting Bodies is an sculpture exhibition from London based art collective Changeable Beasts. There were a couple of pieces which caught our eye in a good way, a pear tree that has been trained for the last five years to be symmetrical, a pair of red trainers swathed in watches and some large wooden blocks that have been painted and carved with patterns. The rest of the exhibition looked like the pieces had been pulled out of poor unsuspecting human bodies and really didn’t do anything for either of us.

Hmm!

Time to pick up our tickets at the SJT and settle down for lunch. A big treat lunch at Eat Me of burger and chips, they do do other things, but their burgers are so good they can’t be resisted. Quite often we bump into someone we know, today was no exception as Duncan came in soon followed by Jaye old friends of ours. We also had a visit from Annie one of our lodgers at the moment.

Naughty, but very nice

With an hour to kill before the show I sped off to clock up some more minutes and left Mick to saunter to the Town Hall to look out at the sea. I walked across Valley Bridge and then down into the valley to check on the daffodils. One side of the valley past it’s best, the other still pretty good. These are daffodils for Marie Curie.

The Valley daffodils

When I got down to the beach I had to change my planned route as of course it is the Easter holiday and the Foreshore was rammed, the beach pretty busy too.

A hazy Scarbados

I opted to walk to the Spa instead, a wedding soon to take place in the Sun Court, then back over Spa Bridge into town and back to the theatre where we met with Frank, who’d also come to see the show at the SJT.

A fab location for a wedding

Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) has been adapted by Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane. A hen and stag do end up both taking place in Ibiza. Songs from the 90’s aid the plot with girl power, Cher, Meat Loaf, Shania Twain to mention just a few. Plenty of gyrating hips, mislaid love letters, Hawaiian pills from Swindon, Lara Croft, Blind Date and Stars In Their Eyes. It was as expected bonkers, very funny, great cast all round, but maybe just a touch too long. Having half of the cast staying in our house we had to come to see it, very glad we did. Only one week left of the run.

Love’s Labour’s Lost when the show was at Shakespeare North.

A cuppa with Frank and chance to briefly meet Jo for the first time, another lodger before we caught the train back to Thorne, changing this time from the Express train at Brough.

My favourite quote from my last Ayckbourn show

A very good day out.

Where’s my dingding?! In your tummy Tilly!

In Fund Britains Waterways Flotilla news, all boats have now ascended the Foxton flight, some have made it down Watford and are making their way south on the Grand Union. There may be a little delay in their cruise southwards as a lock is closed on the Marsworth flight, hopefully it will be mended quickly. If you haven’t already please sign the petition

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 exhibition, 2 many entrails, 2 burgers, 4 slices of extra cheese (between us), 1 more Duncan mention, 3.84 miles walked, 41 minutes briskly, 1 busy Scarborough, 1 wedding, 1 hen and stag do, 4 lodgers, 1 bonkers show, 1 cat with an empty bowl, 2nd dingding please, 0 chance Tilly.

New Bridge Buoys. 21st March

Viking Marina to Sykehouse Junction, New Junction Canal

Maybe someone goes to work early, moving their car from beside our mooring, maybe it’s because Mother Nature is waking up extra early, maybe the docks were being that bit noisier, or maybe I’d just had enough sleep by 6am.

This morning I wanted to get quite a bit done, mostly to do with the aim of emptying the water tank. The immersion was switched on after boiling the kettle, cuppa enjoyed in bed with Tilly keeping my toes warm. Stretches done in front of the sofa and stove, almost enough room! Immersion turned off, shoes stowed in the shoe cupboard, boat hoovered through. Immersion back on.

On the sunny side

A shower, dishwasher loaded and turned on. Ahh but I’d forgotten to make myself a cuppa to go with breakfast! It’s not recommended to have the electric kettle on at the same time as the dishwasher. Yes I could have boiled the water the old fashioned way on the hob, but I couldn’t be bothered.

Mick had finished jobs at the house, he’d returned the van and was on his way back on the train. ETA 11am. I was running out of time to do all I’d wanted to tick off this morning. I managed to get half the floor washed before Mick arrived wanting to be let in the gate. As I finished with the mop the kitchen tap was turned on to drain what was left in the tank.

On Mick’s last visit to Oleanna, he’d started the process of disinfecting the water tank. We don’t normally do this, but as the water had been left for five months we felt it best. The water currently in the tank still had traces of the disinfectant, we’ve been using water from the outside tap for drinking and cooking since we arrived. Once the tank was empty we set the hose filling it up again and headed over to the office to hand back in our fob for the gate and say goodbye.

We enquired if ABP still did a booklet of tide times. Now that it’s all available on line they sadly don’t. Mick had wanted a paper copy at hand as we’ll be on tidal waters quite a bit this year, but he’ll happily make do with them online.

Goodbyes said, the last rubbish disposed of we were finally ready for the off. It being Red Nose Day, Oleanna’s faded nose was attached to the bow fender.

The switch on the Nebolink went on, we’ve still not fitted a voltage sensitive switch. A plan of action was made to extricate ourselves from the mooring. Reverse back to the big boats behind, then with blasts from the bow thruster bring the bow round past the other boats, hoping the wind would then catch the bow to help rather than hinder our manoeuvres. Job done we were facing the right direction.

Mick gave a blast of Oleanna’s horns just as we peeked out onto the canal. Two tones, red lipstick and red nose, if anyone had been there to witness it she’d have turned heads!

Goodbye Goole, Thank you again

The visitor moorings were full, a boat headed towards us. Sadly a grey overcast day, so not as picturesque as when we’d pulled away a couple of years ago, heading into the sunset. Yet it was good to be on the move again.

The little hut like boat seems to have made themselves at home, possibly pruning the trees on their mooring. Someone at the visitor moorings at Rawcliffe Bridge has added a 1 to the 2 day mooring sign. Our first update for Waterway Routes.

Quite a hazy day. The water getting choppier by the minute

A boat headed towards us from the other side of the M18 bridge. My new camera being tested out with it’s zoom. Wearing my reactive glasses outside, does mean it’s hard to actually see what’s on the screen of both my phone and camera. The phone I can adjust the brightness of the screen, I’ll have to see if I can do the same to the camera.

The log house looked to be in the same stage of completion as it was five months ago. It looks as though people are living there now and a big wave came from inside. Lots more Alpacas in the fields than I remembered.

Not sure what that look was for

Round the bend at the breach site. The breach here happened just before Christmas in 2020 and took until August or September to be open again. The breach on the Bridgewater is far bigger and could well take years before any boat traffic can navigate on the embankment again.

New Bridge Buoys

Five months ago CRT had started work on bank repairs on the Aire and Calder. This is where when the breach happened the piling along the sides of the canal started to cave in in places due to the lack of water helping to keep it upright. Buoys have marked the areas for years. A small section by New Bridge has had piling added to it to aid the original piling to stay upright, this means the bank isn’t flat, so buoys mark the pieces jutting out.

New animal escape ramps by new inviting piling

But after the first true bend in the canal there is a length that has had new piling and an animal escape ram added. The piling round here is chunky stuff, chains required to moor to it. We considered pulling in to see if this would make a good mooring, but then spotted signs asking not to walk on the bank whilst the grass establishes itself. Maybe we’ll try later in the year.

It doesn’t look as secure as windsurfing does

Someone was zooming along the reservoir with an inflatable sail. Not sure what this sport is called as it’s not windsurfing. We’d spotted WB Yorkshire Pud up ahead, a boat we look out for and usually see somewhere around here. Time to turn towards the south for us onto the New Junction Canal. No-one was moored on the posts so we pulled in and tied up.

Hurry UP!!!!

Tilly quickly got herself out from her hiding hole on the bed. Jumped onto the Houdini shelf to check the outside. STOP Phaffing! Let me out!!!! Don’t you know I’ve been waiting 10 tails, three paws and an ear for this moment!

But first things first, she’s never allowed straight out of the boat. We have to make a note of our location, using What3words and grid reference. Then the rules were recited, not that she was listening! Then and only then the doors were opened for our second mate to head off to explore. Time for a late lunch for us.

There she is by Went Aqueduct

I’d hoped to get my walk in this morning before leaving Goole, but had run out of time. So instead I walked along the New Junction, swapping sides at the next two bridges and walked up to Sykehouse Lock. Waterway Routes has different colours for towpaths. Red is cyclable, purple walkable, dashed purple is walkable where there is no towpath. I did all three. Well I can add to this that brisk walking is fine on red paths, not so good on purple as it has the potential for ankle twisting, better to walk at a slower speed. My challenge this year is going to be keeping up my brisk walking, at least 40 minutes a day, I may have to venture off the canal to achieve this and there may be days on rivers that it is impossible, but we’ll see.

Back at Oleanna a chicken was popped in the oven to celebrate being back out on the cut and to make use of the freshly cleaned oven! We had the same chap as last year back to give it a good clean as neither of us fancy getting on our hands and knees.

There’s a good view in both directions from here.

Tilly made use of shore leave and was fascinated by a mole hill that kept on expanding with no friend in view!

Still a few more things to stow away and a big box to cut down to a specific size, maybe that’s a job for tomorrow.

Springing

0 locks, 6.5 miles, 1 wind, 1 right, 1 left, 4 hours! 4.6 miles walked, 57 minutes briskly, 1 lucky mole, 1 roast chicken, 2 happy boaters and 1 happy cat being on the move again.

https://what3words.com/reeling.parsnips.haystack

If Only She’d Stroke My Head! 19th March

Scarboreugh and Goole

Yesterday She sat down after getting up and we had a chat. She does the getting up and sitting down thing quite a lot at the moment, but it’s rare for us to have a chat about something important. She said things that She thought I didn’t know, but blah blah blah blah blah! I know what’s happening and by Cat Nip Dreamies they’ve been taking their time about it! I’ve tried to help by emptying their socks and pants drawers. I purred a lot today to encourage She to go quicker as she changed the bed linen on my bed. I even tried sign language, if She strokes my head she’ll let me out. It didn’t work!

All empty in here!

I started doing the idiot checks, checking every corner of every cupboard to make sure they’d not left anything. Then She started to stroke things, first wet, then dry, but not my head! Tom headed off early and came back in a very big boxer. He said it wasn’t a woofer and the one we were meant to have had a broken face so we got the big Boxer.

All good in Annie She’s bedroom

Tom then walked back and forth, back and forth carrying things whilst She did more stroking, still not my head! I watched from underneath my bed, the longer it went on the more worrying it got. Then they stopped. It always amazes me that we think we’ve nearly finished, there is a whole lot more cleaning to do! And that is so that other Toms and She’s can sleep in my bed and use my Wardle.

Then they’d finally finished. All morning She’d been asking me to use my Pooh Box and all morning I’d not wanted to. She stopped asking me and gave it a wash out and handed it to Tom. This meant our departure was imminent. I hid on the bed between the two piles of soft towels, ears as low as they could be. This had to be easy, I really didn’t want them to get stressed and hiding under the bed really wouldn’t have been good for She’s knees, but at the same time I had to keep up the pretence of not wanting to go. Well I do want to go, it’s just the going bit I’m not keen on. I like it when we’ve got there.

Get on with it!

I was bundled into the caravan and then into the front of the big Boxer. Time to go to the boat Tilly, isn’t that exciting! It would be if you’d just get on with it!!!

I remembered that sitting down was a good thing, lying down proved to be even better. At least Tom was doing his best to make the outside move fast, however it is a bit too fast for my liking.

Maybe one day I’ll get to explore the Sledmere outside

Two comfort breaks required, apparently my timing wasn’t so good this time, but we all got to enjoy Sledmere again.

Hooray!!! When are you going to move the outside?

Then finally we arrived, there Oleanna was waiting for me to move back onboard. She and Tom are meanies not letting me out in Goole. They kept going out, passing things in through the hatch busy busy, all whilst I could be exploring the outside, it looks to have good potential.

Maybe a paw thinner would have been better

Then there was hilarity as they tried out their new bed. It’s not as squishy as the last one so Tom might have to shrink his head to fit. I didn’t dare try it until it had been covered. I’ll let you know how we all sleep tonight.

I’m not touching it!

The view is different than I remembered it, the next door boat has been moved elsewhere so I can see the sky and watch the ducks go by. Thank you Lairdy Tom.

Boaty outside

Now I really hope they don’t spend ages and ages before they move the outside, she strokes my head and I can go out into it to find some friends. I’ll try to give them a paw with unpacking to make it happen quicker.

Viking Marina

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 big boxer, 1 clean kitchen, 2 clean bathrooms, 1 tidy house, 1 lodger confirmed, 1 inventory checked, 1 noisy journey, 1 cat who knows where she’s going, 2 comfort breaks, 1 new mattress, 2 many things to stow, 1 sunny view, 1 happy cat to be back afloat.

It’s good to be back

Packing Up. 18th March

Scarborough

We are now into the run down for returning to Oleanna. We’re down to one ears wait!

Our last Sunday walk on the Esplanade

I had managed to find other things to do to help avoid cleaning things like the oven, but that avoidance didn’t go quite to plan. A day keeping a good friend company at a hospital appointment went too well and rather than being there most of the day it only took a few hours before positive results came flooding through. I had thought I’d be able to attend my last mosaic session which would have aided my avoidance, but the lady who runs the sessions had come down with a lurgy so an afternoon of sticking tiles to brown paper was called off. Only one thing for it, carry on with the packing and cleaning.

Packed things ready to go

There are various items that go too and fro to the boat each time we move. Sometimes they are needed, other times they just stay in the boat cupboard waiting to return, then they get tucked away under the dinette.

A big light weight box was delivered, packing removed from inside and the space being taken up by a lot of air was used to pack light things including a bunch of bayleaf twigs, thank you Frank! The box will be reduced in size as soon as I have time and some space on the boat. Documents read and amended. An enquiry from an actor regarding digs later in the summer was replied to.

I did help with some gardening!

Gradually the dining room filled up with items to head to Oleanna. Tilly stayed calm, she was asleep for most of the time! The occasional sniff round things just to check we were packing in a sensible way. Overflow fridge moved inside as the lean to will be dismantled in a few weeks time and only one of us needs to be around for that. Beds made up, fresh bathroom linen put out, our next set of lodgers will see four actors take over the house for a few weeks.

It’ll have to wait until next year to be finished

Despite hoping to get my next big painting completed, I soon realised that this wasn’t ever going to happen, my paints needed to be packed up and the canvas put safely away from the bleaching rays of sun light that come through my work room window, the painting is now unlikely to be finished until next year.

Three paintings however have been put in frames and left in what is known as the fishtank until I can think of where they can be hung, another job for next year.

Tilly Too and my 62nd pair of socks

Monday night we had a very tasty chicken tray bake using up various items from the freezer, I’ll be making that version again. Tuesday involved packing up the kitchen and cleaning things down.

Daffodils in The Valley starting to come out, it will be a sea of yellow in a weeks time

I managed to get my last full walk in round Scarborough in the sunshine. Down the Valley, the daffodils just starting to come out. Across the sands in front of the Spa, the tide out. Up through the gardens on the cliff to the Esplanade. I paused to pull up my big girls pants and register with a new dentist. We’re not likely to cruise through Birmingham this year and as Colin my dentist there has moved down to Cornwall, now seemed a good time to change to a more sensible location.

Last walk on the beach

More cleaning and packing, including sparkling up the big shower after the last shower had been taken. Just time to put some reasonable clothes on and walk up into town to meet with Mick’s old friend Mark. A drink at The Stumble Inn, we’ve not been in there before, followed by what seems to be becoming a last night tradition in Scarborough a meal at The Taj, well it saves on the washing up back at the house.

The boys tucking into their starters

Tomorrow we move.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 full dining room, 3 wees, 1 oversized box, 1 signature, 1 enquiry, 1 resigned cat, 2 papadums each, 2 much food, 1 set of scales tucked away, 1 stone less until today, 1 empty kitchen, 2 troughs of strawberries repotted, 1 urn of strawberries for lodgers, 2 boaters and 1 boat cat ready for the water again.

Strawberries, I hope they survive

Lipstick!!! 5th March

Scarborough / Goole

Painting finished and waiting to be hung

Whilst being in Scarborough we’ve managed to catch up with most people, some more than once, some many times. However one person has eluded us, I knew there’d be trouble if he didn’t get a mention here on the blog, so there was only one thing for it, best invite Duncan and Jaye round for some food. It also gave me a good excuse to make the Squash Winter Herb Crust Butter Bean Pie I’d made last winter. It was just as delicious as last time, the company wasn’t too bad either!

Lovely to have an evening with you both

More walks have been had.

The other Saturday I took advantage of all the sunshine and managed to walk through the old cemetery, down Peasholm Glen to the park (sadly no Naval Battle taking place), round by The Corner onto the North Bay, said hello to Freddie and held his hand, then walked round Marine Drive spotting the fin of a dolphin in the waves, round the south bay which was a bustle with day trippers and back home up the valley (the daffodils still waiting to come into flower). A good 5 mile walk.

More of the roof space has been emptied, we just hope the floor of upstairs upstairs can take the extra weight for a few months! Family history treasures have been seen for the first time in eleven years, theatre models have been reduced in number and scrap books of when the SJT first opened perused.

I think I’ll have quite a project next winter sorting through my Dad’s kitbag with letters, sketch books and negatives from the late 1940’s.

With the weather being that bit better Mick hopped on a train to head to see Oleanna with the aim of getting the horns and tunnel light attached and wired up ready for cruising soon.

Stuck in the mud

Earlier this week we’d seen photos of a ship bound for the Trent that had managed to get itself on a sand bank on the Humber. This was achieved on one of the biggest spring tides of late. Tugs, the Coast Guard came out from Goole and Hull to try to free it at the next two high tides. They had no luck, so with the tides now getting lower the ship will be stuck for another couple of weeks with the hope that when the next spring tides come it will be able to be re-floated. On Mick’s return train journey he managed to catch a glimpse of it, here’s hoping we manage to stay the right side of the buoys when we come to cruise the Muddy Humber in the summer!

Mick’s photo from the train

Mick checked over the electrics on Oleanna. The engine was turned over for a while. He popped into the office to catch up with Hannah and pick up the new BSSC. When we come to leave we may need some extra pairs of hands as we are breasted up to the boat next to us. People to flick and hold ropes as we extricate ourselves would be handy.

Bracket back on

Then it was time to fix the horns and tunnel light back on the cratch. The cratch cover needs removing to do this at the top, then it slides back over the top of the bracket. Mick had purchased a waterproof box so all the cables could be connected and stay dry. However, as thought, it was too bulky to slot in somewhere on the bracket.

Cables were joined, self amalgamating tape used then covered in heat shrink. This hopefully will keep everything dry until he has a smaller box for the connections.

That’s better

Before he’d left Scarborough this morning we’d discussed Oleanna’s smile. Now with 24volt horns the cable connecting them isn’t actually needed as it was before when they were 12 volt, it will purely exist to give her her smile back. What colour should it be? I was given the choice of black, grey, red or cream. Red would fade and her smile had been black, so black in preference.

Top at the top

The horns were connected up to power and tested. The same tone plus one a touch higher. He hunted round for a suitable piece of wire for the smile and connected it.

I got a message that he’d not manage to catch the next train but would be on the following one. This was followed by several photos that I’d nagged him to take. The light in situ. The horns in situ. Then her smile.

Hang on hadn’t I said not to use red wire this morning?! Either he had no suitable wire other than red, or he’d not been listening to me!

WHAT!!!!

I showed Tilly to see what she thought.

Why has Oleanna got LIPSTICK on?!?!!

Hang on

When questioned later Mick said he had been listening, but had no choice as there was only enough red cable available for the job. Having some black cable would be a good thing in his tool kit, so once some has been purchased the red will be swapped out.

RED Lipstick

So even though Oleanna looks a little bit strange with her statement smile, she at least has it back along with her voice. History of lipstick.

Red lipstick showed strength and power in WW2

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 ship aground, 2 horns, 1 light, 170 Rimmel Alarm Red, 1 Duncan, 1 Jaye, 1st tidal lock booked, but more about that in the next post.

Passing. 25th February

Goole / Scarborough

A Sunday walk to the Spa

Life continues onwards in Scarborough. Jobs in the house continue. The roof space needs clearing for when we get a new roof done in a few months time, so it’s time to go through things again. All the things that have been kept for posterity have been gone through several times and are gradually being worked through in case any can go on to have new lives elsewhere. There are also all my accounts since the turn of the century! Boxes and folders to go through, only the last few years needed which now all fit into one slim folder.

Old shows, technical drawings, reference, costume designs, sketch books, programmes, scripts. A lot of these have been hitting the recycling bin, two big boxes of venue plans, but there is still a lot I can’t throw away. I haven’t started on model boxes yet, but I did do a huge cull of those eleven years ago.

Then there are the more personal things, tins from my Mum’s sewing cupboard, round robins from 1999, Christmas cards and first night cards, newspapers etc. All these will be kept as I find them interesting and many are close to my heart. Mick has yet to look through the box of telephones, I know we’ll be keeping them.

Walks round Scarborough continue, tomorrow I’ll cross the line of walking 100 miles in February. Just thinking back to last summer when I struggled to walk from one lock to the next, what a difference.

Mick has started to do research for the main part of our cruise this year. We’d originally planned on making use of the longer days in June, but our friends who will be joining us, won’t be able to until later in the summer. So we may have to cruise some bits earlier on our own before we meet up as we want to be heading southwards come September.

I’ve been helping on a community mosaic project that will adorn the back wall of a community centre. I’ve never done mosaic before, it’s quite therapeutic unless you get mosaic dyslexia trimming down tiles to fit in with the andamento, this week I did a bit of crazy paving known as Opus Paladanium in the earth section. It’s a way to get to know new people in Scarborough, although sadly I won’t be able to attend many more sessions as the commute from Oleanna will be too much soon. Instead I’ll be doing mosaic knitting on a few pairs of socks, think I’m getting addicted to this method of colour changing.

Tuesday’s view of the Humber

Tuesday the 25th February arrived. Mick was on an early train down to Goole. Today was the day when Hannah would be giving Oleanna her Boat Safety Test which needs to be done every four years. The stove was lit, a touch more warmth to help dry things out and be a more pleasant place to work in.

Tuesday’s view in Scarborough

Hannah pointed out that we should have a sign to indicate where the diesel cut off is. Handily she happened to have one in her bag, so that was a very quick fix.

New sign

She looked in the gas locker, noting that it gets wet in there. When Oleanna is out of the water for repainting next year, Hannah suggested we get the vent holes in the gas locker extended upwards. This is so that even when the water tank is full and we’ve got full bottles of gas on board any leaking gas would be able to escape through the vents as they would be guaranteed to be above water. Oleanna passed and is good to go for the next four years.

Hooray!!!

See you soon

We now have medical appointments to attend, finish jobs at the house, finalise arrangements for workmen in the future, finish emptying the roof space, do some more painting and mosaicing, wait for a big box to arrive and then pack our lives away to move back on board.

Nine years with this little thug in our lives

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 111.7 miles walked in February, 2 many boxes, 2 many plans, 6m diameter mosaic, 1 pile appearing in the dining room, 1 lazy cat, 1 boat safety passed, 1 boat ready for this year, 1 mattress still required, 9 years of Tillyness.

Spiders, Just How Do They Do It? 20th February

The last couple of times Mick has been down to check on Oleanna he’s not been able to run the engine, the starter battery had lost all it’s charge. The battery charges as the engine runs and for the last few years we’ve put up a small solar panel which has trickle charged it when in a marina. But with one thing and another this year this didn’t happen straight away this winter and the battery is now dead.

It’s lasted us eight years so we can’t complain, time for a new one. Last week Mick had measured the battery tray it sits in and popped into the marina office to see if they had anything suitable in stock. There wasn’t anything that would fit. A hunt round on line and there was a suitable, lead acid 12volt, 80 amp hours, 740 cold cranking amps, maintenance free battery, one was put on order for us. Yes we could have sourced one ourselves, but it just seemed easier to get it delivered to the marina.

The start of my first mosaic sock

With both of us planning on a trip to Goole it made sense to hire a car. Originally booked for Tuesday, but the battery hadn’t arrived before the office closed for the weekend. The car was moved to Wednesday, no battery Tuesday. Then it was nudged by another day to Thursday, a chase up of the battery , it would be delivered on Thursday too. We’d already decided to go to Oleanna anyway even if it didn’t arrive, other jobs could be done instead.

An early pick up, an early walk, breakfast and we were on our way across the Wolds snowdrop spotting as we went, the daffodils still a long way to grow to meet the sun yet.

Condensation on the flue pipe

Today the temperature had changed from the cold it’s been for months to pretty warm. This showed itself on the front doors of Oleanna, condensation on the outside of the front door windows. The door stuck a little as usual in the winter when she’s unoccupied. Inside the ceiling and every wall had a coat of dampness, time to light the stove, turn the heating on and add extra ventilation to help dry her out a touch.

Taking the new battery for a walk

Mick headed over to the office and returned with the new battery on a trolley. Swapping starter batteries over would be his main job today. The location it needed to go in very awkward so it would take some time.

I set about giving the ceiling and walls a wipe down. It always amazes me how much spider poo there is, little brown dots. But more amazing is how they can poo on the ceiling, upside down! Just how do they do that?!

Starting to warm up

The stove fan took some time to get warmed up. A little nudge required to get it moving. Oh dear it squeaked! Thankfully after a few minutes it started to loose the noise as it turned, we’d not be needing to stop at Aldi or Lidl for a new one on the way back to the house.

Chicken and mushroom today

Lunch, a bowl of soup each with some bread and a cuppa. Then back on with jobs.

It was windy outside, Mick considered putting the horn and light bracket back on the cratch board, but as it started to rain he put the job off and spent time checking things were good for the boat safety next week.

Getting the shower gleaming again

I took the shower to bits. Gave all the nooks and crannies a scrub with a tooth brush, then had a go at the glazing with lemon and bicarb, it worked wonders in the house. One of the door wheels seems to pop out of the track often, so I had a go at straightening both of them up, hoping this would solve the problem. Time will tell. In one corner the sealant wouldn’t come clean. Is it worth redoing? Or maybe leave it till next winter when more will require attention.

Mick by now had finished his jobs so as soon as the shower doors were rehung we packed up and made ready to leave. A chat with the Diver chap, sorry we’ve never got to know your name, and Alastair before we left. I took some photos of Oleanna so that I can do some colour schemes for her repaint. We’re so used to her being dark blue I want to see what she’ll look like being cream before we commit to it.

Full side profile

Oleanna had a new starter battery, the engine was run for a while. Shower cleaned, boat warmed up and dried out for now. But most importantly she’s ready for her boat safety next week. We rode back across the Wolds as the sun was setting in the west.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 damp boat, 10C warmer than yesterday, 1 dribbly flue, 1 boat wiped down, 6 dead spiders, 3 alive still pooing! 1 new battery, 1 engine run, 2 new horns and light left on the bed, 1 clean shower, 1 grubby bathroom floor, 3 down to 2, 1 new carabiner, 1st go at mosaic knitting, 1 cat left all alone whilst they went and had fun on the boat! When’s the outside going to start moving again? Soon…ish

A Nice Lie Down. 19th February

Since Oleanna’s launch some eight years ago, we’ve had two mattresses for our cross bed. The original we strongly suspect was just 6 inch upholstery foam. Not the best thing to sleep on every night, especially when your a lady of a certain age who has personal summers overnight!

We replaced the foam in December 2019 with a purpose made memory foam mattress which arrived at Sovereign Wharf on the South Oxford in a big box. We’d risked going for an extra inch in height, Mick just managed to fit under the gunnels, our bed base being maybe an inch or two too high for a deeper mattress because of the radiator at the foot of the cross bed. This mattress was pretty expensive, but as we slept on it every night all year we hoped it would be worth it. I’d tried looking for other types of mattresses but all seemed to require more depth, this would mean Mick having to chop his head off to fit! A messy option and not one we fancied.

A rather pleasingly weathered door

After a few years the memory foam developed memory loss and a mountain was created between us, not to the size of Everest, but it was certainly noticeable. Last year I got prices for a new memory foam mattress of a similar spec, but we ran out of time to get it ordered , delivered and onto Oleanna before we had to move back on board.

With lodgers soon to leave I decided that now was the right time to get on the case and get some quotes. A few weeks before we need to be out of the house so plenty of time and we’d have space to store a mattress should it arrive early.

Facebook boating groups have several mattress makers advertising, so I enquired with them all. What would be the best for a full time live aboard rather than occasional use? Lead time etc. A couple came back to me quite quickly, several options. One was very cheap, so most probably we’d end up with a mountain range after two years. The company we’d used before were coming in at around £500, but we knew this would only be good for four years.

Way back, when we visited our first ever Crick Boat Show we’d spent time at the Edwardian Bedding stand. Here you could try out lying on narrow mattresses that they had stored in their stand, we’d made a note of which we’d preferred. This was a long time ago, they didn’t seem to be mentioned on boating groups until recently. I hunted them down on line.

A Yorkshire company who make mattresses to your requirements. I sent them an enquiry with dimensions and what we were after, would it be possible to have a pocket sprung mattress? A couple of hours later a price came back from the Mexborough factory with a suggestion (Apollo1500), saying they could make it to our dimensions and the price. This was another £100, but if it lasts twice as long as a memory foam then it would be worth it.

But would it be comfortable? I got in touch with their Malton branch, they had a similar mattress in stock that we could try. Brilliant! So we hopped on the Coastliner 843 over to Malton.

A nice ride out

Front seats on the upper deck, perfect for sight seeing over the hedges on the A64, although a touch blustery too. After nearly an hour we arrived and walked into town. The old, 70’s style shop filled with mattresses for you to try was found. A lady showed us the Apollo mattress. Coats off, time for a lie down.

Lots of mattresses suitable for houses

Mick we suspect could sleep on anything, I however am a little bit picky. Bedoingee beds are okay for a night or two, but not every night. We both had a go, rolled over a few times, no bedoingeeness, this was the one.

On our backs

A little explanation of our mattress dimensions was needed, don’t think the lady gets many orders for cross beds. Order placed, delivery date sorted, a week or so before we’d be needing it, paid for. There was time to have a little look in the big Yorkshire Trading across the road before making our way back to the bus station. Front seat again, a good trip out.

and on our sides

0 locks, 0 miles, 843 Coastliner, 2 front seats, 2wice, 1 mattress laid on, 1 mattress paid for, 40 minutes in Malton, 2 boaters looking forward to better nights sleep, 1 cat not consulted, I use the bed the most and they didn’t even bother to ask me!