Category Archives: Theatre

Cake! 28th June

Pixes Farm Bridge to above Iron Bridge Lock Cassiobury Park

The alarm went off and we were out of bed, our morning cuppa accompanied breakfast instead of being enjoyed in bed. There was far too many locks and miles to cover today to laze around. We were ready for the off at 8am, an hour too early to be joined by Sue and Alan on the boat behind, they were only heading into Hemel so there would only have been a few locks to share.

A heron seemed quite happy for me to fill Bourne End Bottom Lock. He stood over the boiling water looking for his breakfast, but as soon as the gates were opened he flew off to try elsewhere.

On the moorings below Winkwell Lock sat a couple of boats, one being Tyseley. A boat had just come through the swing bridge and was pulling in below the lock as we left. Towpath side of Tyseley was all closed up, but the hatch was opened so Mick had chance to say good morning to Marianne and the company. They were having a slow morning and wouldn’t be setting off until 10am as tonight’s show is at Fishery Wharf in Hemel only a few locks away.

There were waves all round, then Chris appeared with a present for us. They had been given a lot, a lot of cakes and biscuits a couple of days ago and had been boasting about them on Facebook. I’d suggested that we should catch them up and assist by alleviating them of some of their cake ballast that had given them a list. Chris had with him quarter of a very fine looking vanilla and raspberry three tier cake (the filling being nearly as much as the two sponge layers). Blimey! Thank you!!

Tyseley will pass us once more most probably after the weekend when friends of Mikron will be moving her down onto the Thames whilst the actors have a week off.

Once down Winkwell Lock we kept our eyes peeled on the moored boats. Our friends Viv and Micky have recently bought themselves NB Little Layla and she is moored here for a while. Very pretty she looks too nestled in amongst the other residents.

Pulling up towards Boxmoor Top Lock a figure was approaching from below pushing a Brompton bike. This was Jen an old college friend of mine who lives in Hemel, we’d last managed to meet up on our first trip to London on Lillian in 2014/2015. Fridays is a day off and we’d planned on having a cuppa and catch up, then we’d ended up with a bit of a mission for today. Only one thing for it she’d have to help us through the locks to Apsley.

Plenty to talk about as she had her first experience of being on a moving narrowboat. She was given a windlass and had the basic principles explained then we worked our way down the locks into Hemel. There was a lot to catch up on, so the locks would be set to fill or empty as required and then conversations continued.

After an hour and a half we’d reached our tea break stop, the mooring at Sainsburys in Apsley. The kettle went on and was accompanied by a big slice of cake. Jen was nice apart from not letting me out, but she gives a good chin rub so I didn’t mind too much. A guided tour of Oleanna and then it was time for her to get on with the rest of the day. It had been a lovely opportunity with the sun out, Jen is now considering a narrowboat holiday.

Our pause here was of course to stock up on cat litter and a few boxes of wine to replenish the cellar. This was followed by a quick lunch and application of sun cream before we pushed off again, our destination still quite a distance away.

The scaffolding on the M25 has been cleared away from the spans near the canal. Where once boats were tied up underneath there is now a high fence and security cameras.

Just quarter of a mile further on is North Grove Lock. We were last here 2 years and 8 days ago very early in the morning trying to avoid cruising in the heat of the day. The flowers are still wonderful around the lock cottage and in the sunshine they were giving off quite a heady perfume.

A group of lads were fishing at the next bend. We slowed as normal and kept to the centre. Instead of them reeling in their lines they just ducked their rods down into the water. Mick said the usual ‘thank you’. Then it appeared that we’d been caught by one of them. Mick went out of gear, the line still caught. Nothing was said by the chap at the other end. Nothing much we could do. The line stayed taught then eventually pinged as we drifted. ‘Are you going to pay for that!?’ the first words the lad had said. ‘Well no!”

There followed an exchange of words, he suggested that we shouldn’t run our engine past fishermen, we refrained from suggesting that if his float and hook were so expensive he was stupid to leaving it in the water as boats passed engine running or not! We remained polite and apologised, he didn’t.

More locks, each getting a little bit harder in the heat. Groups of boats lined lengths of the towpath, but others which have always been full were empty. A mooring we’d used a couple of years ago opposite The Grove Golf Course was occupied, that boat will only get an hours direct sun tomorrow, we were hoping for somewhere similar.

Two more locks into Cassiobury Park, then we had our fingers crossed for a deep enough mooring with shade. NB Yarak had found a good spot, we tried further along. I stood on the bow looking into the shallow water shaking my head. The depth around 8 inches at most, we continued. The reason no boats were moored was evident. But before the next boat I couldn’t see the bottom, did this mean it would be deep enough? Mick swung the stern in first, still floating at the edge. The bow pulled all the way in too. Towpath side plenty of tree cover, off side a couple of big trees, we’d still however get direct sun in the middle of the day, this would do.

The back doors were opened and Tilly headed off into the trees to explore. A quick check in at Oleanna after an hour was a mistake. As I stepped back off the boat an unwelcome sight greeted me. A black cat with white toes! My white feet and tip of my tail far out rank just toes, but this cat was far heavier than me. I stood my ground, should I need to make a quick exit I was going to be far more nimble than that fat thing!

The stand off was curtailed, we don’t want any vets bills thank you. Tilly was encouraged inside and I chatted to the visitor. He gradually walked away down the towpath. Later on Mick was sent outside to discourage a return visit, heavy paws had been heard landing on the stern. Hopefully tomorrow both cats will have shore leave, leaving each other alone whilst we bake in the midday sun.

19 locks, 8.44 miles, 1 swing bridge holding up 4, 1/4 of a cake, 1 Jenos Esplos, 5 locks catching up, 1 new friend, 6 boxes wine, 10 litres cat litter, 2 fenders rescued, 2 trip boats, 0 boats to team up with, M25, 1 cobwed woofer, 1 twonk head, 1 float, 1 last mooring deep enough, 1 fat lard cake, 1 less slight cat.

https://goo.gl/maps/7BPcZP91bZZzyMsi8

£11.09, Wash Day. 26th June

Cowroast Marina

Mick was up and off early again this morning to return the car. On his journey he picked up a red pepper so that we could have a pasta salad tonight as we hadn’t quite made up our minds what to do today.

We could carry on towards London only having used two of our three nights in the marina, meaning we’d arrived that bit sooner.

Or we could stay another night and do our best to use up the £11.09 that had been left on the electric by washing and drying as much as possible. This would also mean I’d be able to do some work.

An advantage of being moored bow end in, was that it would give us the ideal opportunity to fix the second bow fender in position. Doing this without touching up the blacking on the (for want of the proper term) bow post first would just be silly. So I risked having the grumpiest of grumpy men for a second day in a row, I delegated the prep to Mick!

In the future this may prove to have been an unwise thing to do, preparation being the most important thing. Scrapping off any loose paint, giving it a sand and then applying some Fertan, how hard can that be?! I learnt in our early days together that decorating and Mick do not mix. He’d been feeling guilty at me decorating our bedroom so had offered to lend a hand. I got him sanding the skirting boards. This was either a total mistake on my part or his plan all along, so as never to be given such a job again!

I worked on technical drawings for panto as Mick sanded etc. Tilly was either lending a hand behind my drawing board or shouting at the back door to go out. Here there are too many unexpected cars and far too many places to hunt for her should she fall in, but she doesn’t see it that way.

An Ocado shop was put in action, they seem to sell most of the gluten free flours that I use and have been running low on, so it made sense to shop with them. We’ll have to stop for a few things on our way though. Sainsburys sells the only odour control cat litter that isn’t obnoxious to our noses, we should be able to moor close enough to stock up with some and a few boxes of wine in a day or twos time.

With the weather being warmer I risked washing off the Fertan and once it was dry I applied a coat of blacking to the bow post. This should be dry by morning so that the fenders can go on.

One load of washing is left for the morning and the washing drawer will then be empty. Just about everything will be dry having used the tumble drier as much as we could, you’re not allowed to hang washing out in the marina! Will we run out of electric? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 sheets drawings, 1 stomping She, 3 pens retrieved from the floor, 1 near grumpy boy, 5 loads washing, 4 loads tumble dried, 6pm day boat, 1 model arrived in Bristol, 1 red pepper, 1 bow ready.

A Four Thousand One Hundred and Forty Six. 24th and 25th June.

Cowroast Marina then Scarborough and back

An early start, well for Mick he had a hire car to pick up in Hemel before we could check in at Cowroast Marina. As before the car hire fees were considerably more than for a small van, so that’s what we’d booked. Mick as he entered the office said that we didn’t need it to be a van, a car would be fine. So we got a Black Corsa which was far more comfortable for the same price.

Once back at the boat we pushed off and trundled our way to the top of the lock where a single hander was pleased to see us, until we turned into the marina. We’d been allocated a space opposite the entrance which was only just visible, they like to pack them in tightly round here! An awkward place to get into, but with skill, the odd touch to the girlie button and me fending off at the front too we pulled in without touch any other boat.

Mick checked to see how much credit had been left on the electric hook up, £11, we might end up staying the full three nights (minimum stay here) to use it all. Up at the office we were given a fob for the gate and shown round the facilities. Where once there had been a chandlery there is now a lounge with a pool table, book exchange etc.

We decided to put a load of washing on as soon as we’d hooked up. A 60 degree wash for the towels. This was a mistake as it took an extra hour to normal even on a quick wash. There were places to go and things to do!

Eventually we put the cooled ice block (no freezer still) in Tilly’s magic food bowl and opened up her toy box so that she could keep herself occupied whilst we were away. At 12:15 we pulled out of the marina gates and headed northwards to Scarborough.

The tenants in our house have just moved out, we like to visit at such times to check round. It also gives us the opportunity to rootle through our possessions that we left five years ago and pull out things we’d like or need. It was a long grey dreary drive up the country, slightly annoying as our tenant hadn’t informed us of when he was actually vacating the house and it turns out we could have done this trip from Leighton Buzzard instead last week. Oh well!

We’d had an email from the agents who look after the house, informing us of various things that needed doing. We took a couple of hours to look ourselves making a list as we went. Some things will be paid for out of our tenants bond, other things are just general maintenance that need doing. As we haven’t been to the house in at least a couple of years it was nice to be home home, even if other people live there.

A quick look round the top floor where our land possessions live and a good chat with Andy our next door neighbour, we also got to meet Teddy who is our newest neighbour, aged two. Then we were hot footing it across town to reach Capplemans Chippy before they closed.

Capplemans, just off Prospect Road has gluten free and vegan options on their menu. I was eager to try out their haddock. With four boxes of each and one portion of mushy peas steaming in the car we then hot footed it across town to South Cliff where our friends Jaye and Duncan were waiting ready with plates in the oven.

We had a lovely evening catching up with all the news whilst defending my haddock from Pebbles before we retired to bed.

The local seagulls were elsewhere annoying another part of town so we both slept well. Both Jaye and Duncan were at work today which gave us the impetus to get going. Thank you very much for the bed and hopefully see you both soon.

My model was popped in the post, tracked guaranteed delivery by midday tomorrow as soon as the Post Office opened then we crossed the road to Tower Estates, the people who look after our house. A cuppa with Mark and Val was enjoyed as we worked through and compared notes. We’d been pleasantly surprised at how clean the house had been, just a shame the youngest tenant had chosen to do their own decorating in the wallpapered rooms, not the white emulsioned ones.

Back at the house I had a rootle through my work boxes. A roller tray, wallpaper brush, paste, scissors, spare wallpaper and some paste ready to mix. I had everything needed to patch up and cover the mixed media creations. Mick ticked a couple of things off the list too, replacing bulbs etc.

Then the hunt through our possessions started. When we’d started packing away our land life we’d been organised and labeled boxes. As time went on things got less so, in the end things just got mounded up on the top floor. I found my paint colour charts within seconds as I’d been sensible an just popped them on a shelf. But family archive things that we both wanted, well just where were they? Mick thought he’d put it in that corner, no. Maybe in the cupboard under the sink, no. Maybe in the roof space. I was looking for my Dad’s old kitbag, it was nowhere to be seen in the rooms.

The roof space it had to be. This was when we’d been organised thankfully. But making space to be able to get at the things we wanted was a bit hard. The bedding came out, then the kitbag, then the boxes Mick wanted. Hooray! We selected what we wanted along with allowing ourselves a little look at things. Then time was ticking there were still curtains to hang and lamp shades to go back up.

Jobs take time and become frustrating when they are not simple. One curtain track didn’t have enough runners on it, this of course was a much bigger track than any others in the house, which all had far too many runners on them! Time had run out along with patience there was no time to go on a hunt in the shops, this would have to be left for someone else to do.

We packed up the car, locked the door and said goodbye to our house again. The next time we visit will be when the next lot of tenants move on to pastures new.

A very late lunch at Morrisons along with a few supplies and we were on our way again, in constant rain back down the country. As I undid the cratch cover two white paws nudged the front curtain out of the way, Tilly was checking to see if it was us.

Well it was about bloomin time! My biscuits had run out, then the magic food bowl ran out, twice! I had all but eight tiny biscuits left and I’d been saving them just incase! They brought some interesting smelling boxes onto the boat. They say some of the things in there are over one hunderd years old. Glad they weren’t away for all that time, those meager biscuits wouldn’t have lasted. They didn’t buy me fish and chips like they did Pebbles, PAH!

0 locks, 0.16 miles, 1 left, 1 tight squeeze, 2 eagles, 1 car not van, 1 fob, £11 electric, A 4146, 450 ish miles by road, 19 enter the roundabouts, 38 rows knitted, 0 traffic cones, 4 of each, 1 mushy peas, 1 very good gf fish, 1 seaside cat, 1 lovely evening, 9 mentions of Duncan so far this year (now 10!), 2 parcels posted, 5 patches of paper, 2 colour charts, 2 boxes, 1 folder, 1 lot of letters, 5½d for Mackintosh Rolos, 2 sketch books (1 my grandfathers), 1 cat brought to the front at Tibshelf, 1 very hungry cat, 1 press night missed.

Terns Taking Turns. 22nd June

Grand Junction Inn to Little Tring Bridge, Wendover Arm, Grand Union Canal

A load of washing was set going before we pushed off today. Still heading southwards we cruised through Bulbourne Bridge and pulled up at the water point. Here we filled the tank as the washing machine did it’s thing. Then we winded at the handy ‘Winding Area’ (as they are now known on new blue signs) and headed northwards.

The old Bulbourne BW yard is fenced off, along the canalside from the road and surrounding area. Here lock gates uses to be made until 2003 when modern mechanised methods and bad vehicle access meant that production moved to Stanley Ferry and Bradley. The yard and it’s surrounding buildings since then have been used by a metal worker, who’s creations used to add interest, large horses and benches filling the canal side of the yard. But now everywhere is boarded up, it looks like some developers are about to move in.

A C&RT document about the future of Bulbourne is here. I’m not sure when it was written but it details the site. H2O Urban has details of a development on the site here. Four buildings will be converted into 25 new homes, a new footbridge and a new yard for C&RT. Works were meant to start last month on site and a website for the development is being set up here.

We pootled back to the junction where we turned to the left just above the locks. Here the Wendover Arm heads off in a south westerly direction. Back in February 2015 we came down here on Lillian. The navigable section is only around a mile and a half long with a winding hole and 48hr mooring at the end. The going is slow, very slow, most probably slower than it was on Lillian.

Originally the arm was built as a feeder for the summit pound, this was then widened to make it navigable. This however leaked and was shut off with stop planks. A hundred years later Phase 1 of the restoration plan was finished giving us what is navigable today. Phase 2 is ongoing with the aim of linking Wendover to the main network.

Along the slow mile we were followed closely by Terns. They took it in turns to hover behind us waited to catch a glimpse of a silvery fish in the water. Dropping from the sky to the water they hoped to catch a tasty morsal. Each turned their backs on us, so we couldn’t see if they had been successful of not. Quite a sight.

We pulled in just before the last bend where several fishermen had taken up residency, a day boat having just winded and was heading back waited for us to tie up. There was another boat before the bridge and one right at the end of navigation, but here it felt like we were on our own, all be it with a noisy mower going back and forth in the garden next door.

The sun was out, our windows and hatches all open. Tilly spent seven hours exploring and wondering why we weren’t out playing. Well that’s because we’d come down here for some peace and quiet away from the main canal so that I could get some work done over the next couple of days.

Late afternoon Oleanna bumped the side, someone was coming. Ten minutes later a day boat filled with chaps zoomed past us, bumping us into the side, thankfully Tilly wasn’t peering in through the hatch at the time! Very soon afterwards they zoomed back , not quite as fast as before, they hadn’t had long enough since doing a hand break turn to get up to speed again!

0 locks, 1.85 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 load washing dried and put away, 3 terns, 1 heron, 1 canal being topped up, 1 traction engine, 2 more boats, 5 fishermen, K2 or K6? 4 pieces of car, 7 hours, 1 friend rescued, 1 very sunny day, 1st cuff knitted.

https://goo.gl/maps/Cucv4xBeN4cGysNF6

Red Coats And Wings. 21st June

Grand Junction Arms

A couple of days ago we had a visitor to Oleanna. I could hear this tapping rustling noise and at first couldn’t work out what it was. Looking round I spotted what I thought was a butterfly on the floor. It was spinning round and seemed unable to fly. I got a glass and postcard and carefully picked it up.

On closer inspection I thought it couldn’t be a butterfly. It’s wings were bright despite them being folded up, they also seemed to be crumpled, not smooth like a butterfly. I carefully popped it outside on the grass away from our feline second mate, who wouldn’t have stopped to admire it’s beauty, before chomping away at it.

Today I’ve finally got round to looking it up. It turns out to be a Scarlet Tiger Moth. I’ve never seen one before, maybe because they tend to live further south than where I’ve spent much of my life. They are so pretty, I’ll be keeping an eye open for them in future.

After our day climbing up Marsworth with the Mikron team we had to show willing and go to see the show tonight. We were moored backstage anyway. So we spruced ourselves up and headed over. The stage was set up with it’s back to the towpath a natural bank opposite for the audience. On the Mikron website you get information about each venue. Most are outside and these tend to suggest bringing a chair and blanket as the outdoor heating tends not to be so good!

The white just to the right of the telegraph pole is the set.

On previous occasions we’ve not needed our chairs, last Sunday there were plenty to go round. Today we did, so it was a good job the boat was so close. A crowd had already gathered and eagerly awaited the show. Sunday we’d had tea and cake, this evening it was a large glass of wine.

Red Coats, by Nick Ahad is the story of Butlins. Aunty Lynn (a Red Coat) normally does a one woman show about the history of Butlins, but her last show after 50 years has been re-written and she will be joined by a vlogger, a techie and another Red Coat. She’s none too pleased at the prospect. We learnt how Butlins was first set up by Billy Butlin where anyone could have a weeks holiday for a weeks pay.

This is a very different show to ‘All Hands On Deck’. A story within a story with very amusing scenes and songs. Quite silly in parts, we especially liked the swimming pool and the beauty contest scenes. Well worth seeing even if we were both wishing we’d taken more layers with us. the actors however didn’t get chance to get chilly as they were working very hard. No interval and a cuppa for them, they are on duty all the time.

The tour now takes them down the Grand Union through Berkhampsted, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, then to the Thames, up the Oxford Canal, Grand Union to Lapworth, down Tardebigge to Worcester, Stourport, up the Shroppie, ending their boat tour at The Anchor in High Offley on the 1st September. They are then back in the van and touring the north of the country. Marianne did say that they’d love to have a second boat to be able to tour the northern canals by boat too. But for now the van will have to do.

To The Summit. 21st June

Lock 35 to Grand Junction Inn, Tring Summit

The lock ahead had remained empty overnight, the chink of light through the gates inviting us in. Someone else got there before us as we ate our breakfast. I had a few email bits and bobs to sort for panto, so whilst I worked through these Mick rolled back the covers in readiness. Another boat came past heading uphill followed by two coming down. It was now set in our favour.

We were all ready, suncream applied by 11:30, all we needed now was a boat to share with. There was one on it’s way, all the way from The Globe at Linslade. They left at 8am so their ETA was midday, a message came through that they’d just come up lock 33, half an hour away, bang on schedule. We waited. At 11:50 we decided to pull up onto the lock landing, but as soon as the decision had been made a boat appeared above and started to fill the lock. Oh well.

Just before midday two crew members appeared along the towpath. Our locking partners were arriving. The lock took ages to fill and the single hander coming down took his time to enter the lock and to exit it. Mick waved our partner into the lock, the sound of her Russell Newbury DM2 engine getting closer. Marianne stepped off with their centre line to pull her into the side so that Mick could bring Oleanna in next to Tyseley.

Last night we’d realised we’d be covering some of the same locks as Tyseley today so I’d sent a message to ask if we could share with them up to the summit. ‘Always happy to share’ was Marianne’s answer. With five crew on Tyseley and the two of us the locking was easy.

It just took a bit of time to get Tyseley into the locks. At 71ft 10″ she has a bit of room to spare in the locks, no bow thruster just hard work on the tiller, push push pushing to get her to turn. At the age of 84 she’s allowed to take her time as 2 year old Oleanna came gliding into locks next to her.

The crew on Tyseley are the four actors, Josh, Chris, Liz, Rachel along with Marianne the Artistic Director of Mikron. 18 years ago Marianne toured as an actor with the company, she now runs it along with Pete Toon the Producer, also her husband. This is Chris’s second tour, the others have only been boating for a matter of weeks, since leaving Welford.

Marianne or Pete will stay with them as they move Tyseley until everyone is happy. We’d wondered why this period was so long, now we know. Leaving a narrowboat with new crew is one thing, leaving an historic narrowboat with her peculiarities is another. They are all capable at the helm, it’s just when there are problems.

We worked our way up the top two Seabrook Locks, Josh going ahead to swing the swing bridge. As we came round the bend after the railway bridge we were glad we’d not continued to there yesterday. No space opposite the Margees old house (Alison and Laura from NB Large Marge). The house next door is up for sale, from the canal you can hardly see it, but the estate agents blurb shows it to be a huge house.

The next two locks have a short pound between them, this is nearly always low, today it was even lower. We were joined here by Steve a Mikron volunteer who’d moved the van this morning up to the next venue for them and then walked down the flight to lend a hand. I walked up to the second lock, closed the top gates and emptied it. When Tyseley came to exit the lock she grounded on the cill, more water required. Steve and I lifted paddles and waited to see her move. It took a few minutes but then there was progress. However she ground to a halt again just before the top lock.

Just enough water to get her into the lock

Another wash down of water got her afloat enough to get over the bottom cill, but the shallow water made her hard to steer and she just did what she felt like. it took a while for her to actually go forwards and clear the gates.

How many people have wanted to live here?

The lovely thatched cottage in Marsworth is also for sale. This is a much photographed cottage which is deceptively big. Details here.

We carried on to the junction to get the bottom lock of the main flight ready whilst Tyseley paused at the services to empty cassettes. The lock was gradually emptying itself infront, a centre line was tied to a bollard, but no crew evident anywhere. We weren’t in a rush so I waited and waited, eventually a chap came out from below with a coffee in hand.

Despite taking our time we still had quite a wait for Tyseley to arrive, luckily nobody had appeared wanting to come down. Composting toilets are so the way forward.

Painting this was going to take quite some time

Once we were joined crew were sent on ahead to prepare the next lock. Chris soon returned having not been able to get past a group of killer geese on the towpath, so we all walked up to the next lock the long way round.

We made good progress up the locks, crew going on ahead, any time lost at the low pound was more than made up for here. Two boats were coming down and one lock was having it’s beams painted, so caution was needed.

At 3pm we reached the summit pound on time. There was plenty of mooring space by the pub and as we pulled in behind Tyseley it felt like Oleanna was just sitting in the wings backstage. A good days boating with great company, even if Rachel and Liz are envious of how Oleanna handles.

11 locks, 3.23 miles, 1 left, 1 Margees house, 2 houses for sale, 8 crew for two boats, 1 wet lock, 1 almost empty pound, 2 sets of new horrid gates, 1 summit reached, 2 boats waiting in the wings, 0 shore leave for Tilly, 1 mooring for Tilly 2 though.

https://goo.gl/maps/CP31PmLWr9z4pNDL7

All Hands On Deck. 16th June

Not quite Pole Position to Pole Position

On Saturdays we buy our newspaper, Sundays we read it in bed with a cuppa in hand. This morning however this was curtailed a touch.

First there was some yapping, then a bit of boat moving noise, no engine audible. I peeked through the front door blinds, the boat in front of us was being clung onto by a chap with the centre line. Time to get dressed, the opportunity to move up 60ft was not to be lost. All Hands On Deck!

We were out the doors and untying within minutes. Pulled along we now had THE view up the parkland towards the Nags Head, it was sunny too. We’d now have to stay another night. The bollards not quite spaced right for our length, so Mick tied a spring line then we could settle down for breakfast.

With eggs needing eating it would have been daft not to have a cooked breakfast.

They moved the outside without the big noise. It’s a similar outside to yesterday, but now there are trees that way and this. There’s also a good wall with gaps that I can get my arms down to feel for any possible friends. She came out for a while and we had a game of stick on the big grassy bit. Then She wandered off to see if she could find Houdini’s daffodil.

Apparently this outside is one of the places they chose to remember their previous second mate at, they planted some mini daffodils in amongst the trees. She was being silly, no way was she going to be able to see them, yellow time is long gone, even I know that!

As Tilly and I played the sound of a Russell Newbery engine got closer. The large windows gave it away as NB Tyseley came past, crew sat out the front enjoying the sunshine, still wrapped up in waterproofs. Not much further for them to go today, just around the next big bend is Lionhearts Cruising Club where their next show was this afternoon.

At 2pm we picked up our folding chairs and walked up through the park. We paused near the gates for a photo. We’d moored in the same position in March 2015 for the solar eclipse and taken a photo then.

Today the trees are in full leaf and Oleanna’s blue doesn’t sing out in quite the same way as Lillian’s yellow, but it was a photo that had to be taken.

Lionhearts Cruising Club had not taken any chance with the weather today, two marquees had been erected, one with a bar and tea and cake, the other the auditorium for the show. We claimed some seats, no need to have brought our own, and then got ourselves a cuppa each. Mick had a scone with his and after a short delay I got a couple of slices of gluten free cake. Very nice it was too.

Marianne the Artistic Director of Mikron came over for a chat. After a week on board with the cast she was looking forward to a few days back at home near Marsden. The weather, falling trees and reduced opening hours of locks have all been a problem to them this year. The canal tour is planned to within a few hours, so any delays can leave the cast/crew stuck away from a venue. yesterday they had had a show at Bilsworth at 1pm, by the time they’d packed up from it and got through the tunnel they would be at least an hour late to get down the locks. She had had to make numerous phone calls to find the person who was able to give special permission for the locks to be opened for them. With 24 hours between shows, 15 miles, 8 locks, around 7 hours cruising they really had to get through the flight on Saturday. Luckily they were granted permission.

We sat back and enjoyed the show. All Hands On Deck. In true Mikron style with minimal set and props, numerous musical instruments even more costume changes the four actors worked their socks off. Lily and Ginger are two new WRNS, they go through training together and end up one in the engine bay the other deciphering morse code. It is a poignant tale of these two Wrens battling through all that was thrown at them. Songs and a few laughs, a very enjoyable afternoon. We hope to catch Red Coats their other show a bit further down the Grand Union.

The afternoon had stayed mostly dry so we walked back through the parks canal side back to Oleanna. Tilly had another hours exploration before a friend of hers caught my eye, so she was picked up and brought inside, her friend scurrying off into the wall.

My sour dough starter has been woken up over the last couple of days. A bowl of pizza dough is sitting overnight and a sponge is now doing it’s thing ready for a loaf tomorrow. Have to admit I put the sponge in the fridge as I was a touch worried that it might have taken over the boat by morning!

This evening we have enjoyed a joint of pork, better crackling but still not quite perfect, a couple of glasses of wine and I am 15 rows away from finishing off my latest commissioned pair of socks. Then I’ll have all the bloomin ends to sew in.

0 locks, 62 ft, 1 pole position, 1 beautiful mooring, 6 hours of cat freedom, 1 friend at least, 1 rescue, 0 daffs visible, 5 on a boat, 2 marquees, 100 plus, 2 redundant chairs, 1 scone, 2 slices cake, 1 great show, 160 grams starter, 200 grams starter, 1 run away sponge, 1 joint pork, 15 rows to go, 1 lovely Sunday, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/7oVNScpqHTNda84Q6

Mending. 13th June

Nightingales Bridge to Stoke Bruerne Top Lock

Another very wet morning. We weren’t going to be going anywhere! Tilly however was encouraged to take a morning nap as the weather app suggested that it might dry up later on, then we could at least get to Blisworth where we might find a shop for a few bits.

As I sat down to breakfast and to catch up on the latest blogs I picked my computer glasses up. These are old prescription reading glasses that are just perfect to view the lap top with. They are quite old and a lense has a tendency to fall out. Today however it wasn’t the screw that had come loose, it was still there, just where it connected to the other side of the frame had snapped off! Darn and blast!

My bifocals are not good for the computer, I’d have to do something about this. Father Christmas had been a jolly good chap this year and bought me a tube of super glue. This alone would hold things together but some reinforcing would be wise. With some black button thread and Mick to help hold things in place, I tied the joint together then applied some glue, letting it soak into the cotton and hopefully the joint. After a minute I tied a few more knots around the joint sealing it all with more super glue. The end result is a fully operational pair of glasses once again. may now have to dig out the other old pair that have a loose lense and see if I can mend those also.

Our spritzer bottle for the composting toilet has recently lost it’s spritz. We use this with diluted vinegar in it to spray the urine separator on our toilet with the hope that the vinegar will help to keep the pipes clear. However the spray was starting to be a bit feeble. Mick took it apart. The spring that makes it spritz fell into four pieces. We’d been warned not to have a steel urine tank as gradually the vinegar would work it’s way through this, it looks like it had eroded the spring.

A spare spring was found in an empty hand wash container. Now our spritzer spritzes again. Not bad for £1 from the handyman shop in Ellesmere eighteen months ago.

By 11:45 the rain was easing, we needed to find a shop, mostly for some cat food, a variety and flavour that Tilly would actually eat rather than be put in the bin after a day. The wine cellar is currently half full of rejected boxes of cat food and very little wine! Mick doned his waterproofs and pushed off, leaving me indoors adding detail to my Boozer model bits.

At Gayton Junction a boat had just pulled up and positioned itself right in the middle of the service moorings. Mick couldn’t be bothered to ask them to nudge up so we could off load our rubbish so he carried straight on, the mountains of rubbish having to wait a while longer.

The moorings at Blisworth had space for us so he pulled in. A walk into the village proved fruitful for cat food, but little else. After lunch there wasn’t sufficient time for us to go through Blisworth Tunnel and to reach the top of Stoke Bruerne locks before the last boat in at 3:15, so we didn’t rush.

The boat was put into full tunnel mode, I came up on deck having suggested an early afternoon nap to Tilly and we pushed off. Blisworth Tunnel is just short of 3km long and is the third longest navigable tunnel in the UK, ninth in the world. It is straight, very straight therefore you can see all the way through. The interior goes from arched brickwork to a long section of concrete hoops in the central section, back to brick again towards the southern portal. The tunnel suffered over the years altering shape, it became unnavigable. In the 1980s major works were done to rebuild it, the method used was a try out for the Channel Tunnel.

Just before halfway through we could see another boat had entered at the south portal. Was this the trip boat that sticks it’s bow into the tunnel then reverses out? Or were they coming towards us, if they were they were going very very slowly. The tunnel was wetter than usual, no surprise there and we gradually came to meet the on coming boat. The speed they were going at it would take them an hour to go through!

We had risked arriving at Stoke Bruerne where there might not have been any moorings left, but it turned out there were no queues waiting for the locks in the morning. We had a choice of where to moor and later on we were joined by three more boats, one having reversed past us at 22:45.

Mikron van hiding at Blisworth, wonder if it has a name?

We could hang around for a couple of days and share the locks southwards with NB Tyseley the Mikron boat, but that wouldn’t get us a Saturday newspaper or our wine stocks replenished. Hopefully the weather will improve, Mikron are loosing donations due to the bad weather. They had to perform a ‘radio’ version of their show the other night at The Admiral Nelson due to lack of space indoors for the full show.

0 locks, 4.4 miles, 1 straight on, 1 spring sprung, 1 pair glasses mended, 1 boozer exterior finished, 10 hanging baskets, 2nd sock new and improved version started, 9 pouches of edible food again.

https://goo.gl/maps/U73bAmiCf8HV4jTBA

Waiting Out The Rain. 7th June

Around about Bridge 80 to around about Bridge 87

The forecast was for rain, followed by more rain and then…. yep you’ve guessed it, more rain until about 4pm.

The blog took an annoying amount of time to sort, the internet being so intermittent. Just when you thought it was all sorted and eventually uploaded, I’d put it into preview mode and not only did the photos not appear but half of what I’d written had too! After a lot of frustration I gave up, I didn’t want today just to be about the blog, a rainy day meant I should be getting on with some work.

I headed off into the woods. Once the trees had been climbed, I’d done quite a lot of that yesterday, Then some pouncing, I wandered that little bit further. There was a big brick wall. I prefer stone canal walls as they are climbable after some calculations. But this wall had very little claw factor (C) 0.1, Height (H) 1.3 trees high, Friendly cover (FC) 0, Angle (A) 90, Breakfast (B) 15 biscuits, wetness (W) 7.4, Tilly (T) 100%.

Drying off before my next adventure outside

I did my calculations (B x C $} T/W ~ FC x 0.7>A^H+C = :(abort attempt. Back to putting my arms down holes and climbing trees. After an hour or so the wetness rose to 8.2 time to dry off!

I drew out my scenery, everything starting from one point on the whole set means it takes a bit of marking up, but I got there in the end. It will be me painting this part of the scenery, I need to either simplify the floor design or manage to find a very quick way of marking it out.

We waited for the rain to ease. NB Chertsey braved the rain as did several hire boats. Every now and then the patter of rain stopped on the roof, Mick would look out of the windows, but by the time he’d stood up the rain had started again. At around 4:30 he decided to move. The annoying internet could not be lived with for any longer and we both knew what happened to Douglas Bader. Getting closer to Braunston would be good for tomorrow and hopefully improve the signal.

We cruised only a couple of miles, to be within eye and ear shot of the Banger Spire of Braunston. Internet signal was checked, good, so we pulled in. Tilly went out and explored again, Mick got the stove going and we enjoyed the last of the pancake batter from the freezer.

With only one thing left in the icy box that went into the fridge for tomorrow night and the power was turned off at last. Just how long has it taken to empty the freezer!? But now that mission was accomplished. It will defrost over night have a clean, then be lifted out of the drawer to see if we can improve it’s ventilation anymore. Fingers crossed our combined skills can come up with something.

0 locks, 1.99 miles, 1 very wet day, 1 very wet cat, she may as well have fallen in! 664 inmates not the 625 it was built for, 2 hours wasted, 3 portals, 1 floor, 1 back cloth started, 2 much grey paint mixed, 2 savoury, 2 sweat pancakes each, 1 instep on its way.

https://goo.gl/maps/xEYdonZdeEMZacuh8

A Good Place For A Conversation. 6th June

Rugby to Dunchurch Pools Marina Bridge 80

No rush to be on the move this morning, so Tilly was allowed to head off and explore whilst we had breakfast. Next was a shopping trip. We’d opted to moor nearer the station than Tescos so we had a bit of a walk there and back for supplies to keep us going for the next few days.

Lock 4 at Braunston has been shut for 48 hours, opening later today. C&RT have been carrying out repairs to the gates and cil to reduce water loss. Also overnight closures at Watford, Long Buckby etc have come into effect this week so that back pumping can be more effective overnight. Both of these things have put a stop to our plan of popping up to Crick to see our friend Lizzie, instead we hope to catch up with her a bit further south.

So we are in no rush to get to Braunston to join the queue to use the locks, we’d just get a touch closer today. The sun being out helped and despite us being on the flat for a while I decided to have a day off work, well almost.

We pootled along towards Hillmorton. The new road bridge that will lead to Houlton (the new village of 6200 homes, 3 schools etc) has come on somewhat since we last passed. Now the roadway spans the canal and is certainly wide enough to be a duel carriageway. Big bold letters announce the bridges name Houlton Bridge 66A.

Hillmorton water point was empty. This tap is renowned for being one of the slowest on the network, but today that would suit us just fine. With the hose connected we started to fill up, I had a phone call to make about some possible work next year. Now Lynda can talk, but by the time we’d finished our conversation our tank was full, Mick had moved us off the water point closer to the locks and another boat had almost finished filling it’s tank!

We worked our way up the three paired locks. One boat headed downhill towards us. The top two locks have three paddles out of order, so the chamber we’d chosen took forever to fill. Once they’ve finished at Braunston maybe they should try to get these working a touch better, they are after all the most used locks in the country.

Further along the building works are on going, but set back from the canal at the moment. Houlton will be huge, Will it extend down to the canal or will the banks of wild flowers remain?

On along Barby Straight, the old ambulance long gone, but giraffes graze the trees and a witch hovers in a well, it gives you something to photograph. The moorings between 78 and 79 were very full so we were surprised at those outside Dunchurch Pools Marina having plenty of space.

Here Tilly was allowed two hours. Last time we stayed here she was out well past dark. Today Tilly stayed out for three and a half hours, returning for a pit stop only for the doors to remain shut for the night.

3 locks, 5.93 miles, 1 cooked breakfast, 0 boxes wine, 1 chicken, 1 huge bridge, 1 monster development, 1 house up to rent, 1 witch, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/KQj8yK5PY9GPCCSN7

1 Mooring good for cats but not that much else!

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna