Part Three

We visited Crick boat show in 2015. Right back at square one where we’d been in 2012, looking for a boat builder. There was still a very slim possibility that we had a shell of a narrowboat somewhere, if we did and the police recovered it what would we do with it?

People we’d met in the past asked us how our new boat was going. Andy from bearBoating even offered to finish the build for us after hearing the tale. Other builders would rather not take over a project from where someone else had left off.

We were kidding ourselves, we already knew that there was no shell with my name on the weedhatch. Ian who’d worked for Stillwater had been told, the day after the photos were taken, to angle grind my name off the boat. The larger bow locker lid had only been laid on top of the original smaller opening for the photograph. The shell was then worked on for someone else, we’d most probably met the owners at the Action Group get together in Tamworth.

We looked at numerous boats, many too expensive for us, others we didn’t like the sound of their contracts (we were being very VERY careful this time). Three were shortlisted, visited, credit checked, contracts checked over. In the end we chose Jonathan Wilson, he knew of our past and wanted to help us believe in boat builders again. Oleanna would cost more, a lot more, but we’d end up with a boat this time!

Mid February 2016, NB Oleanna’s base plate was laid on the floor at Tim Tylers workshop in Newcastle Under Lyme, we got to stand on it that day. This time this was most certainly our boat, those cheesy grins that had eluded us at Ripley were well and truly planted on our faces. She moved over to the Sheffield workshop a few weeks later, her shell finished by Jonathan and fitted out by Finesse.

Every now and then we’d enquire as to how things were progressing with the case against Richard and Kevin. DC Jones would report back saying that he still had more statements to take. He was hoping to be in a situation to interview Richard and Kevin before Christmas.

In April 2016 I missed a phone call as we cruised out to Horsenden Hill, it had been DC Jones wanting to talk to me as he’d just handed over the file to the CPS. His request to the CPS had centred around some of the individual boat builds with support from all other witnesses from the Action Group, my statement was very much at the centre of the case. When he and his sergeant had interviewed Richard they had left the photographs of the locker lid and weedhatch till the end of their conversation. Richard could not explain them, he had been speechless.

Now the waiting started. First the CPS reviewed the case. In July we heard that both Richard and Kevin had been reported for two counts of carrying on a business with intent to defraud creditors/ for other fraudulent purposes. Court dates would now be arranged.

In October 2016, I was asked to keep a week free the following October to be called as a witness at Derby Crown Court. This we did and arranged the years cruising around the dates. We wanted to be able to attend the rest of the hearing once I’d given my evidence, so planned on being as close to Derby as possible by boat. Later in the year I was informed that the hearing would take two weeks.

In late September the court dates were confirmed, as there were lots of witnesses there would be a meeting to decide on who was to be called when. Two weeks later, ten days before the trial was due to start we’d reached Stone on the Trent and Mersey Canal only to find out that the hearing had been postponed. When I asked what the reason was for the delay I was told it was either that the defence wanted longer to prepare or that there were too many witnesses and a longer time in court would be needed. The hearing would now start at the end July, 2018 and span four weeks. A new date to plan around.

Life continued on board. We’d moved onto NB Oleanna in April 2017 (two years ago today!) and continued to cruise the network all year round. In June after we’d passed through our thousandth lock on Oleanna, we were asked if we could be available for the hearing two weeks earlier than planned. The reason for this was explained to us, the dates either hadn’t been put in the judges diary properly or he’d booked a holiday for the last two weeks. Without him there was no trial.

Not enough of the witnesses could be available at short notice. There was a chance that Richard and Kevin would change their plea to Guilty, but this didn’t happen. So the next date we all wrote in our diaries was 13th May 2019. A four week trial. Another year of planning our lives around a court case. We planned to head to Langley Mill on the Erewash and see if we could get a mooring there so we could attend court when we wanted to.

Then on 13th March a letter dropped into my inbox from the Witness Care Unit. At a hearing the previous day at Derby Crown Court, Richard had pleaded guilty to Fraudulent Trading. The case had been adjourned for sentencing. The CPS had decided to offer no evidence again Kevin, therefore the hearing would no longer take place.

After all this time, there was now a guilty plea. We no longer had to be around Derby for four weeks, I’d no longer be giving evidence. Although relived at not having to stand up in court, I also felt cheated. We of course knew what had happened to us, but I wanted to know what else had gone on and experience a Crown Court hearing. Why was no evidence being offered against Kevin, there was no explanation.

Only one thing for it, we made plans to go to the sentencing.

Meanwhile in 2019. 7th April

My migraine has been easing, but we decided to stay put for another day and then push on in the morning. Tilly liked this idea.

Because we forgot to take sausages out of the freezer last night we had to make do with a partial cooked breakfast. Not bad, but also not up to Mick’s full standards.

This afternoon we went for a stroll. A fishing match was going on behind us towards Lemonroyd Lock, one chap was just reeling in a catch. He thought all the fish had moved to his patch, but a chap further up said he’d thought that too a short while back.

A man stood puzzled by the bottom control paddle for the lock. His keys were in the panel but nothing was happening. We stopped for a chat, he said he was waiting for the lock to empty. Well, he’d be there a very long time if he didn’t open the sluices! I pointed out the button to press and he set the lock in motion. He was quite concerned that the lights didn’t work and he’d been waiting for them to illuminate before he did anything. Not all locks have lights that work, but then as we found out coming down through Leeds Lock not all lights that do work work at the right time!

We stayed for a while chatting. I wondered how he’d got to the lock by boat without having worked one like this before. There are automated locks in all directions from here. But when his wife brought the boat into the lock the penny dropped, it was a shiny green shareboat, they must have just picked it up today or yesterday.

They shared the lock with another boat. We’d warned him that they might want to pass a rope around one of the risers as the lock gets a bit unruly as it fills. But we’d forgotten that one of the top sluices is out of action at the moment. He must have wondered what we’d been on about as the two boats gently bobbed about below.

We walked to the two weirs, the two of them together couldn’t make up the full height of the lock, there are another two before the river reaches the one at Thwaite Mills. Between the river and the cut is the old Bayford Thrust Oil site. Some of the buildings have been knocked down, a rather perilous entrance for wagons leads straight into a pond, but the oil storage tanks looked in reasonable nick and the earth around them has been worked over recently. We’d heard rumours of more commercial boats up around here, but we thought they were going to be from gravel, maybe they are.

Mick has spent much of the remainder of the day trying to work out what is wrong with our UK Waterways Sites Ranking. Since moving the blog over to WordPress our ranking has gradually been falling. We’re normally ranked around 8 or 9, today we have fallen to 16. This happened when we had our NB Lillyanne blog too. Mick may have sorted it by adding an S to some code, time will tell if it’s worked or not.

0 locks, 0 miles, 9.5 hours Tilly will be exhausted, 0 sausages, 1 roast chicken, 2 weirs, 1 very full lock, 0 clues, 1 sluice makes for an easy ride, 2 ‘S’s, 1 camera needing replacing, 2 years of being the very proud owners of NB Oleanna.

Part Two

Our 2A stage payment took a while to get through to Stillwater, my bank put it back into my account before finally paying it through. When I asked them about it they said that they were checking the transaction for fraud (!). That September our share in NB Winding Down finally sold, leaving us without means of getting on the water until our new boat was completed.

Our RYA helmsman course with bearBOATING gave us a much needed fix in October, a weekend course that took us into Leeds and back from Apperley Bridge. Well worth it as we both learned new tricks and I gained confidence at the helm.

We took a detour on our way home to visit Sofabed Barn so that we could check out colours for our planned sofa on the boat and see what one of their sprung mattresses would be like. Michael had reserved his last mattress of this type for us and would keep it until we knew when our boat would be ready.

Once my Christmas shows had opened we hired an Anglo Welsh boat from Wootten Wawen for a few days. A chilly break but worth it to be back out on the water and go back over the things we’d learnt on our helmsman course. We got a very good deal from them and really enjoyed the South Stratford Canal, just what was needed after the mayhem of work.

Every now and then we’d give Richard a phone call. Kevin had taken far longer to recover from his heart operation than had been expected and progress at the yard was slow. Our boat hadn’t come on any since we’d been to visit in August, our new mental delivery date was now slipping past Easter.

In January 2014 we talked with Kevin, there still had been no progress on our boat as they were working hard to get a boat that we’d seen in build at Betton Wharf completed. Mick by now was chomping at the bit to get a boat. I was in a situation of not knowing whether to take on work or turn it down for the months to come.

Over the next few weeks we decided to start looking at second hand boats, so that we could set out on our year afloat. A second hand boat had to fulfill certain criteria. It had to be as close a layout as possible to the boat we were having built, be within a certain budget and be a boat that we hopefully could increase the value of so by the time we came to sell it we’d have lost little or no money. A try before you build boat. But the main rule was that the clock for our year of cruising would not start until we moved onto our newly built boat.

By April 2014 we had bought NB Lillyanne, affectionately known to us as Lillian. She was a bit longer than originally wanted and needed a few adjustments. These we got done whilst we finished work and packed up the house to rent out. On 9th June 2014 we pushed out of Crick Marina and started off on our journey on the waterways. Even though this had kept us busy every now and then we would try to contact Stillwater. We got their answerphone time and time again, emails remained unanswered. Nothing. Zilch.

In November 2014 we had a hire car for a few days, so decided to visit the workshop in Ripley, we still hadn’t heard a word from Stillwater since January.

The shed where our hull had been was now being run by another company. There were no boats out the front. We asked a couple of people about Stillwater and they said that there were still narrowboats in the main workshop. This however was all locked up. We tried to find someone from the units to ask, but offices were empty. We drove round the back to where Richard had shown us where boats came in and out of the workshop. Here out the back were two boat shells, primed with window apertures, no spray foam or engines. Was one of these our boat? A quick look around and the positioning of the windows confirmed that neither was ours. Was she in the workshop behind locked doors?

The letter Richard had given us the previous year telling us about restructuring had the phone number of their accountants on it. So we called them, after a while we had a phone call back. They had no idea where Richard or Kevin were and they were owned money.

What to do? We sat for a while in case anybody happened to show their faces. In the end after an hour of silence we gave up and headed home. What should we do next? We really didn’t know.

Advent Sunday came along with a Facebook message from a lady who’d also been having a boat built by Stillwater Narrowboats. This is when we found out that several people had been recently notified by Richard that due to the company going into liquidation, they should come and collect their boats. We’d not had one of these calls, why hadn’t we had one? We already suspected we knew the answer.

Nichola had managed to gather names of other clients of Stillwater and managed to track people down. Some people had received a shell but paid further stage payments, receiving no work for those monies. An ex-employee had made contact as he’d not been happy with how things had been run. An Action Group was formed, a couple of conference calls were held between us all before Christmas to see what might be done followed by a get together in Tamworth in the new year.

A suggestion was to file a case on the Action Fraud website. I can’t remember how many people were in the Action Group now, but at least five sets of owners filled out the forms. A time line was collated to assist the police.

Towards the end of January CR&S Leisure filed to be struck off at Companies House as they had ceased trading. We as creditors should have been notified of their intention to voluntarily dissolve the company, so we objected to it. This was followed by our last communication from Stillwater/CR&S Leisure.
“As you have previously been made fully aware of the company, CR&S Leisure has ceased to trade.” That was the first we’d heard of it from them.

At the beginning of February as we worked our way up Apsley Lock on the Grand Union I had a phone call from a Detective Constable at Derbyshire Police. The case had been passed onto him and he was trying to get statements from all those in the Action Group. Our cruising plans meant that he could come out to visit us himself rather than us calling in at a nearby station. A date and location was arranged to meet up.

On the 26th March 2015 DC Jones joined us on board Lillian. He first listened to our story and then we decided that it should be me who gave a Witness Statement, my memory is that bit better than Micks. With the handy list of dates we’d complied for the action group I was able to make a detailed statement. This took getting on for three hours.

When we brought out copies of the photographs that Richard had sent to us, a smile crossed DC Jones’ face. He said thank you. These photos proved it was fraud. We’d been asked for money, we’d asked for proof, it was given, we paid, we have nothing for it!

There were more investigations to do before he’d be able to put a file to the CPS. More statements , more research and an interview with Kevin and Richard. He and his Sargent would have a look around the Ripley site, he thought that there was a slim possibility that our hull might still exist, somewhere.

Meanwhile back in 2019. 6th April

Yesterday afternoon She got a headache. It was so bad Tom had to cook and she didn’t do even one stitch of knitting. It must have been bad. I stayed close all night.

This morning I got an hour and a half to see how many friends I could find. This also meant that I could use the toilet in amongst the friendly cover. Yes it is still there, even though a lady thought it had gone.

Tom went to get the newspaper whilst we stayed put. She doesn’t like moving when her head is like this, She says it complains, but I can’t hear anything.

Today they had planned on moving the outside to Stanley Ferry. But that would take quite a few hours. Instead they moved the outside up a bit and we went back to where we’d been about a week ago. They span it around and then tied it up. Five and a half hours to find friends. Brilliant!

1 lock, 1.06 miles, 1 wind, 1 newspaper, 1 toe eating duck, 2 outsides, 7 hours, 5 friends, 1 higher than the other, 1 congratulations to Duncan (at last!).

5 years + 1 day of being boat owners!

This is the first part of our account.

Back in 2012 Mick had received as unexpected inheritance from an uncle. We’d dreamt of having our own narrowboat for sometime and the money was enough to get us a practical boat that we could cruise around the network in. So we visited Crick boat show to look at prospective builders. Two builders were short listed and we arranged to visit them at their workshops.

One builder didn’t see any problems with our spec and sent us a quote. The other had plenty more questions for us and sat down to work through all our requirements. The father (Kevin) and son (Richard) team came across as knowledgeable, friendly giving us advice on things that we’d not thought of. Stillwater Narrowboats Ltd had built our friends boat so we’d been able to quiz them about the company. As with a lot of boat builders they were renowned to be late with builds, we did financial checks on the company which seemed okay.

Stillwater got the job, we paid our deposit and started to plan our layout, 58ft, cruiser stern, reverse layout, bow thruster, cross bed, etc. Our build slot was to be July 2013, so we thought we’d most probably get our boat around December that year.

October 2012 we went to visit them by boat on NB Winding Down (our shareboat) as they had recently moved from Hilton, Derbyshire to Betton Mill, Market Drayton. Kevin had always wanted a waterside workshop and here they had one. My Dad had recently passed away, so he would now pay for the extras that Uncle Mark’s money wouldn’t have stretched to. We came away after a good meeting, contract in hand for us to sign and return, at this point they hadn’t signed it.

We didn’t hear much from them for a time and in April 2013 we got a phone call from Kevin saying that they were wanting to get ahead on themselves and were looking at laying our base plate at the end of May beginning of June. For this they needed our first stage payment so as to be able to order the steel. Kevin was due to have a heart operation so starting earlier may of course not mean that we’d get the boat any sooner. The following day we got a list of all the extras and their prices sent through along with an invoice. We’d still not received the signed contract back from them, but this arrived the following day, a standard contract that most builders use. Our first payment was made. We were excited and celebrated with a bottle of wine that night.

During May we did more work on our plans and finally arranged to go and visit Stillwater on Mick’s birthday. We drove over with plans and a model, had a good meeting, discussed a few alterations, looked round the boat currently in build. All good and very exciting.

We visited Crick boat show again that year, ordered a sofa bed and made note of ideas that we could incorporate into our boat. A helmsman course was booked for later in the year and our share of NB Winding Down was for sale at the show.

Mid July we were starting to get a touch twitchy. We’d sent through our final plans and spec but heard nothing back. When eventually we got through to Richard the steel order had been held up and the Kevin had had his heart operation, which had slowed things down. By the beginning of August our boat was to be the next to have it’s base plate laid.

Mid August. We’d noticed things had changed on their company records, we were wanting to seek assurance from them about this. Mick called to find out that our hull had been started, she was possibly up to the gunnels, but as the steel work was done at another site they weren’t too sure on the latest progress. A restructuring of the company meant that our boat would no longer be transported over to Betton Mill to be completed, they were going to lease a unit next to the steel workshop in Ripley to do the fit outs. Kevin was no longer a director of the company and we were told that they would be trading under a different name. Our excitement that the build had started was tinged with concern.

On the 24th August we headed over to Ripley to see our boat for the first time. There she was up to the gunnels, a giant metal bath tub, pretty much like any other 58ft boat. The gas locker was needing some alteration as we wanted to be able to store our Brompton bikes in it, a new lid had been cut to size and laid on top. She seemed very wide but a quick measure of her width by Richard reassured us that she’d go through narrow locks.

We were handed a letter that should have been posted to us a few weeks earlier which explained that Stillwater Narrowboats had got into financial difficulties. All the boats in build were owned by the customers and would be finished off by the new company CR&S Leisure that had existed for some time. Our first stage payment had actually been made to the new company without us knowing. Richard explained that from now on stage payments would be split into three instalments, so we’d be able to see where our money was going and it would aid with the companys cash flow.

They had already started to move from Market Drayton. A large workshop across the site was filled with narrowboat shells. In all we counted six boats ahead of ours. One thing was certain our boat wouldn’t be ready for Christmas. If they managed to streamline their working practices as Kevin recovered from his surgery, then it was hoped we’d have our boat early next year, 2014. We headed home to alter our Christmas plans, coming up with new ideas for the spec, but lacking the cheesy grins we’d expected to have after seeing our boat for the first time.

A couple of days later we received an invoice for the first instalment of our second stage payment. Before we paid this we wanted to be reassured that the boat we’d seen was ours, so we asked Richard if there were any unique features which proved that the boat was ours. The following day some photographs were sent through to us. The larger gas locker lid had been finished and welded onto the weed hatch was ‘M and P Leckenby’. They had chosen my name as it had less curvy letters than Micks.

We were ecstatic, our concerns vanished. Payment 2A was forwarded to Richard.

Meanwhile back in 2019. 5th April

Today we have left Leeds. Leeds Dock had been a 48hr mooring, but because of attending court we’d asked if we could over stay. We’d been told that if we didn’t hear anything back then it would be fine.

Leeds had served its purposes and we wanted to be off. In between the Waxis coming and going Mick winded Oleanna and brought her back out from the dock whilst I went to get the lock ready. It was full, but the level light didn’t illuminate. I lifted the sluices to top it up and waited. And waited….. and waited the light didn’t come on. I tried opening the gates, but had no joy. Mick tied up above the lock as some helpful gongoozlers tried to push the hydraulically operated gates open, strangely enough that didn’t work!

Mick had a go. Still no joy, so I emptied the lock, then refilled it. The level above the lock looked like it had been dropped, work was going on at the weir to remove a large tree with a crane. Maybe the lower level above the lock was affecting its operation. After a few minutes though the level light illuminated. Hooray!!!

As Oleanna descended the trip boat from Thwaite Mills approached from below. I waited. And waited for the water level light to illuminate. No joy. The gates wouldn’t open. Everything was tried, but still no luck. The chap from the trip boat tried. We waited some more. In the end a call to C&RT was made and we were told someone would be with us in an hour. The trip boat decided to wind below the lock and head back to base just as another boat arrived.

After about twenty minutes I decided to give the gates another go. When I reached the panel the water level light was lit. Brilliant! Gates open and we were on our way. We called C&RT saying we’d got through the lock, but another boat was now heading up, we hoped the gates would work for them.

Back out on the river it was windy. Our fat fender which I’d popped on the roof blew off. Mick reversed to try to get it back just as a swan landed and decided it didn’t want us there. After some discouragement using the engine Mick managed to pull the fender on board again.

By now it was too late for us to see if the water wheel at Thwaite Mills was working again so we carried on to Woodlesford where we moored up. We’d aimed on going a touch further today, but the wind put us off. Once moored up Tilly was allowed out, a happy cat again.

This afternoon we took one of the bikes up to Lidl and did a shop to last us a few days, hopefully until we get near to shops again or can find somewhere to get a delivery.

3 locks, 4.61 miles, 1 wind, 1 stubborn lock, 1 big tree, 1 chat with Margaret, 1 letter, 2 late for the mill, 1 tail held high again. 

Just over four years ago we had a Detective Constable from Derbyshire Constabulary visit us at Crick. He spent three to four hours with us taking a statement. After many years of waiting, today we have finally been to Derby Crown Court.

Tomorrow I will tell you the story behind our statement and what happened today in court.

This evening Mick and I are going to go out and have a nice meal, a few glasses of wine to mark what is the end of a long chapter in our lives.

Leeds Royal Armouries

Over the last two days I’ve been to London.

Catching the Waxi up to Leeds Station was very easy and ever so convenient, even if we did have to wait for the driver to go for a wee before we could board. But within about 12 minutes we arrived below River Lock which is a short walk to the South Entrance of the station. My train took over 2 hours to get to London and then I realised my mistake. I’d arrived into Kings Cross at 5.30pm, dressed ready for the forecast sleet and trying my best to get onto tubes and overground trains without expiring! There were far too many people around and I had to wait for several trains to leave without me on them, along with a few other hundred people.

I had a lovely evening with my brother and nephew Josh (since December I would swear he’s grown three inches) in Victoria Park. Jac my sister-in-law is currently in Australia for a couple of weeks celebrating her Mum’s birthday. There was plenty to catch up with, very nice food and quite a bit of wine. They are coping well without Jac, only had pizza twice and Andrew really doesn’t need the handy mark the cleaning lady put on the washing machine so that he’d know which program to use.

Ziggy and Finn were both pleased to see me too. I had to take photos of them as they are the only East End cats I know.

I was last to leave the house this morning and headed into Oxford Circus to have a wander about before my meeting. Selfridge’s called me in through it’s doors. I only spent a penny thank goodness as a rather lovely looking cushion was £118! It wasn’t that big either! Then Carnaby Street needed a look as Puss in Boots is being set in the 50s/60s. I gradually made my way along Regent Street to Picadilly Circus where I met up with John on the fifth floor of Waterstones.

We spent a couple of hours chatting about the script, what possible changes there might be and looked at images that both of us had collected. There are still more references to hunt out, I’ve a couple of films I’d like to watch before I start on sketches for a story board. But we’ve got a good basis to start from.

With a couple of hours to kill before my train back to Leeds I had a good walk around, gradually making my way back towards Kings Cross. I picked up a very tasty lunch box from Leon and sat in Soho Gardens to eat it. It was a touch chilly but I’m glad the huge rolling thunder and touch of snow waited for when I’d nearly reached Euston, where I made my way inside to stay under cover and get the tube the rest of the way.

By the time my train got back to Leeds the storm clouds had reached the city and torrential rain was falling. Mick had come up to meet me, we waited in the shelter of the station for a while, then dodged our way under cover to stand within view of the waxi stop until it stopped raining.

Mick hasn’t been idle whilst I’ve been away. He’s been tinkering with the blog, there are still a few things to sort, but so far we are happy with how it’s working.

He’s also spent some time tinkering in the engine bay. The split charge relay to the bow thruster batteries has always remained on unless we turned the circuit breaker off. So when stationary without the engine running one battery bank was constantly charging the other. He’d chatted through various options with Ricky at Finesse whilst we were in Sheffield but no good solution came up. A bit more research has been done and Mick discovered that he should be able to connect the split charge relay to the ignition, meaning that when the engine is on the bow thruster batteries will charge, but when the engine is off they won’t.

To do this he had to cut a red wire and connect it to another one. Here’s hoping he got the right one! At least nothing blew up when he snipped it, so hopefully all is well and the problem is solved.

Around the Royal Armouries today has been busy, there has been a launch for Welcome To Yorkshire 2019. Cars and very large Ys have filled the square near the museum. Lots was going on and Mick managed to get a goodie bag which contained a lot of bits of paper, a water bottle and some couscous! All vital things to help you enjoy Yorkshire.

0 locks, 0 miles, 6 waxis, 3 trains, 1 bus, 3 tubes, 2 pussy cats in boxes, 1 cat locked away in a boat in central Leeds totally forgotten about with travelling, blogging, wire cutting and loosing her blue voice! 3 inches taller, 5th floor, 2 hours panto chat, 1 costume designer, £118! 1 hobbling foot, 5.25 miles walked, 1 thunderous storm, 0 seats left, 1st follower Bridget who gets a sausage roll.

1 flaw with the blog. Tilly can’t as yet type in blue, without the whole paragraph going blue!

Looking down from Knostrop Fall Lock

The rowers were out in force again. We wondered if they’d lend us their pontoon so that I could do the gunnels and touch up the bumps and scrapes above the water line on our blacking. But there was nowhere to tie up to, so despite it’s low height it would not have been ideal.

The new weir

with wavy sides

At Knostrop Fall Lock I had chance to have a look around as the chamber emptied. Back in October 2016 there were lot of works going on at the weir alongside the lock. The floods on the Aire the previous Boxing Day had caused quite a lot of damage, so the weir was being rebuilt. Today it looks very swish, a new weir and a wavy bridge over the top.

Cill maker below the gates

Does anyone know why there are cill markers below the bottom gates at Knosptrop Fall Lock?

Old flood lock to the left, navigation to the right

The island that used to separate the cut from the river is now all gone which makes Knostrop Flood lock redundant (it’s now been removed), this was to increase the volume of flood water that could be held here. Further upstream closer to the city centre most walls along the river bank have been increased in height helping to protect properties.

New boxes

A very leaky tap

We pulled in on the service pontoon to top up with water, get rid of rubbish and empty the yellow water  whilst near an elsan. There was only space for a short boat to moor behind two others so we wouldn’t be able to stay here. The tap had good pressure, just a shame not much of it made it into our hose, so filling up the tank took some time.

Heading up stream to the lock

Being not far from the Royal Armouries I walked up to see if there would be any space on the visitor pontoon there, I didn’t hold out much hope. But as soon as I could see past the buildings I was relieved that there was space for us and another boat too. A quick phone call to Mick with the news and I started to set Leeds Lock. 

Than  we’ve got used too

Just a bit shorter

Leeds Lock can hold quite big boats, but if you are a fairly standard length you only need to use the top two sets of gates. These create a chamber that is very short compared to the locks we’ve been used to over the last few weeks. I hoped Mick remembered this as he brought Oleanna upstream. Still with a few feet to spare I closed the gates behind her. We knew we’d fit as Lillian came up here twice and she was a foot longer.

Waxis

A diver

A walk along the river bank passing new developments, a local Sainsburys various bars, a diver waving from inside a washing machine! Leeds has everything, including Waxis. There are two water taxis that ferry people back and forth from the dock to River Lock, the first lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal. This service is free and very well used.

A good art shop

Fred Aldous is a short walk once over the river, here I managed to buy black foam board to make a model box of the theatre and a couple of sheets of mount board for my set model. They didn’t have the sketch book I wanted and their tracing paper was far far too expensive, but at least I’d done my bit for an independent shop. A1 card isn’t what you want to carry around for long so I dropped it off before heading in the other direction to Hobbycraft. Here they had all but some model ‘I’ section, but I can make my own. I’m all ready now to start designing, good job as I’ve got a meeting in London this week with John the director.

Our mooring outside the Armouries

With the temperatures now heading downwards, our coal stocks are quite low. You don’t want to be carrying bags and bags around all summer, so we had started to let our stocks run down,maybe as it turns out a bit too soon! We can run the central heating instead, so Mick bought some electricity from the C&RT office to help keep us warm, whilst conserving coal and gas supplies.

The knights have more privacy now

2 locks, 1 none existent flood lock, 1.87 miles, 1 sharp left, 1 new weir, £1.90, £2 in reserve, 2 sheets foam board, 2 sheets mount (1 black 1 white), 1 sketch book, 30 sheets tracing, 20 florist wires, 3 wood strips, 1 very very bored cat, 1 plan coming together, 1 last feed, 0 knights having a pee.

From today our new blog is going live. It may take a few days for all of the internet to find it, so posts will be on both blogger and wordpress for a few days.

Can I remember how to use WordPress? It’s all changed a lot in the last two years.