Primrose Hill

Oleanna seemed to be hitting the side this morning for no apparent reason, no passing boats, no strong winds. She also had developed a bit of a list as we were also sitting on a bit of a ledge. Normally we would think that maybe the pound was down a bit, but this pound stretches all the way to the top of the Hanwell flight, Cowley Peachy and Paddington, so a few lock fills wouldn’t make that much of a difference here. Mick pushed us off the ledge only for the trip boats to wash us back onto it. Another factor might be that we are lighter, less water and less diesel so it’s easier to push us up onto the ledge.

A big shop was needed for supplies for Sunday dinner so we walked up to Morrisons and filled several bags that then needed the whole of the fridge rearranging. There were a couple of things that they didn’t have so I ventured back out to Sainsburys which is near the bottom of the three locks.

My god I knew it would be busy, but not this busy!! Trip boats, punts and the seafood widebeam were all jammed by the next bridge. The chap at the back of the punt didn’t seem quite so cool as the chap who’s been at it all week and he was having difficulty avoiding the canal side and other boats, yet the fella singing and playing at the front just carried on as if sat in a chair on terra ferma. People lined the edge of the towpath to eat their street food from Camden Market and the bars by the lock were almost over spilling into the canal. Both lock chambers were in operation today and there were four volunteers waiting  for boats. I maybe made a mistake by walking towards the tube station, here it was just as busy. I’m used to walking at a slow pace, rarely do I race along a towpath, but the pace of these meandering tourists was deathly! Once on the other side of the tube station I could walk quicker at my leisure. I decided to return to Oleanna via the canal hoping it would be less crowded. This worked until I got nearer the locks, luckily there was another line of people dangling their feet over the edge to stop me from falling in as I passed crowds.

Two girls sat down just above one of the locks as I walked by, they dangled their feet as a narrowboat was trying to manoeuvre right next to them. The sound of the engine and the chaps quiet voice meant they didn’t hear his warning, so I leaned over and suggested they should move their legs pretty sharpish, which they did. I’m so glad we weren’t going through the locks today. At the top lock I can imagine gongoozlers congregating on two levels on all sides, no wonder there are railings all the way round.

With us both back at the boat Tilly was allowed out to explore. With a wave of braveness she ventured onto land to inspect the trees and wall. This wall is rubbish, how are you meant to be able to climb it! It is far too smooth. She showed her distain by shouting at it time and time again. Rubbish!!! The rest of the afternoon she has spent her time trying to be photographed as much as possible, except there was competition from next doors cat. He or she is far more gregarious and quite happily walks up to tourists and curls itself around their legs, whereas Tilly stays on the boat well out of arms reach. Once the competition had gone back inside Tilly lost all her inhibitions and was on the towpath making sure that she claimed it all for herself. I’ve never seen such acrobatic scent marking and no-one was going to stop her!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 supermarkets, 1 bag tarragon, 1 bag thyme, 2 chickens, 2 tubs naughty chilled medication, 73457920754638 people in Camden, 256883 gongoozlers, 2 ladies still with feet, 2 passings of NB Grace, 10 shouts of distain, 2 punts, 2 floozies, 5 near crashes, 1 bakewell made, 1 speeding cruiser, 0 fenders left to deploy, 1 towpath well and truly mine!

Primrose Hill

We woke early to check the election results, Micks shorts still drying by the bedroom window confirmed that we hang a hung parliament. To our surprise a group of Corbynite revellers walked past Oleanna at about 8am, chanting and knocking on our bedroom window, soon followed by someone playing Vienna very loudly as they walked along the towpath.

Christine  and Kath joined us this afternoon for a while. Being so close to where Christine lives she had to come and say hello. After a cuppa and much talk of the election we decided to stretch our legs and headed for Primrose Hill. So we walked along the towpath and climbed up to road level just before the sharp right hand bend and then walked to the park. The expanse of green stretched up the hill interupted by large trees, London does big trees really quite well. Other people had also had the same idea and the viewing point was quite busy. But wow what a view!

Canary Wharf, the Gherkin, Walkie Talkie, St Pauls, Shard, BT Tower, London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Zoo Aviary and Crystal Palace all in view in one hit. It’s well worth the walk if you are in the area.

We said goodbye to Mick’s sisters at the top of the hill, our time in London is nearly up, so it will be a while before we see them again. They headed off towards Chalk Farm and we walked down towards the zoo and canal. Our walk took us over the canal and onto the Outer Circle which follows the edge of Regents Park and the canal. Peaking in through the fence of London Zoo we could see zebra and giraffes. We’d thought about visiting the zoo but at nearly £30 each, so £30 with the two for one offer it was still quite steep, so we made do with the brief look inside.

Back across the canal we walked on past Oleanna to find the way up the steps at the Pirate Castle and into Morrisons for some cream. Tonight it is just the three of us again. Apart from that nosy neighbour! Climbing all over MY boat!!! Well, and the extra trip boats going by with diners and drinkers noisily floating past.

Three years ago today we started writing the blog of our travels on NB Lillyanne. I have to say ‘we’ as in the beginning Mick would occasionally write some entries, but now it is all my words with occasional comment from Tilly our cat. We first set out with the aim of living afloat for a year, Lillian our second hand yellow boat was to be a bridging boat until we had Oleanna built. This, for various reasons, took longer than expected and we decided that the year afloat should actually start when we moved onto our new boat. Three years later and the clock has been ticking already for two months and we have plans for next summer, so maybe the year has had some elastic added, we’ll see how far it can stretch!

I could do a round up of our miles, locks, tunnels etc for the last three years, but that doesn’t feel right to mix the two boats vital statistics up. Things have changed somewhat over our time afloat, we’ve travelled around 3800 miles and life afloat suits us. A simpler, slower way of life and being closer to nature have replaced our lovely house. Both Lillian and now Oleanna have most definitely become home to us. Our garden changes most weeks, apart from the herbs and beans in the well deck, and our life revolves around the weather and social engagements set out months in advance. We meet new people and make friends as we go, how often do you have a conversation with the person who’s parked their car next to yours in a strange town and end up going for a drink with them? Only a few of the reasons why we love our life afloat.

0 locks, 0 miles, 36 trip boats, 2 cat neighbours, 2 goboats, 2 returning visitors, 1 hill, 10 mile view at least, 2 horses with stripy legwarmers, 2 zebra, 2 giraffes, 1 set blue flashing lights, 1 balcony cow, 1 evening just the three of us, 3 years of being boaters.

Primrose Hill

So we are pottering away the morning, me inside, Mick checking the gear box oil, weedhatch and stern gland when I hear him talking to someone. Not unusual, we often get asked questions about living aboard by passersby. These people had Australian accents and didn’t seem to be asking the normal questions. We are normally friendly in these situations, but today the tone was one far more friendly, infact it was ever so friendly. The penny dropped and I popped my head outside to check that I was correct. Siobhan, Patrick and their son Tom were stood chatting away on the towpath. Patrick and Tom had flown in last week from Newcastle, Australia to join Siobhan. They had thought that we’d be long gone and heading north by now so no chance of meeting up with us. Today they’d decided to have a walk along the towpath up to Little Venice and Warwick Avenue and there we were. Very good to see them and another guided tour, we really should start to charge, might even have made enough by now for a cratch cover!

When we’d pulled up yesterday we’d had to push a traffic cone out of our way so that we could tie up tight, there are numerous trip boats that come along this stretch so tighter ropes are good. Even so we are at a slight angle due to a ledge, so stuff tends to congregate between us and the towpath. Today we have collected a few things, but mainly figs! Birmingham and Leicester it’s coconuts, here in Primrose Hill it’s figs. There were also quite a few balls that had come over the high fence behind the towpath from the school there. We managed with the help of a passerby, who’d been asking questions, to return a tennis ball we’d acquired. Further up the moorings a young girl had rested her foot on a moored boat to be able to reach a floating ball, but the boat was very loosely tied. Her age meant that she was quite supple and doing the splits as the boat drifted out didn’t seem that alarming, luckily someone helped by pulling the boat back in before she toppled into the water to join the football.

A walk around the area was needed, so first we climbed up off the towpath to Gloucester Avenue. My word it’s posh around here! One For Sale sign we went past was for a 2 bed maisonette/apartment, sadly now sold, but on the market for a mere £1,200,000! Another bedroom would bump the price up by another £300,000. Most properties are immaculate and some were having new coats of white painted added as we walked past and not a single Ford Fiesta parked on the street. A few more streets and we walked up Regents Park Road past all the shops and cafes. Now I like to try to support local shops and butchers especially attract me, but the butcher here with it’s chilled display of well aged ribs off beef I suspect would cost nearly as much as out kitchen worktop, so we’ll be heading to Morrisons for a roast this weekend!

We back tracked and walked over the railway, the ‘other side of the tracks’ and soon the whole atmosphere changed to that of Camden. Since I lived in London the whole market here has expanded greatly. I remember having a job once covering polystyrene rocks with sheets of lead for a ballet in one of the arches, it might have been snowing outside/inside at the time. Now all the arches are part of the Horse Hospital and Tunnel Markets a tourist hotspot. It’s a useful place should you want some vintage costumes, if your budget is enough, but the majority is London hippy tat. There are numerous different food stands by the lock, all displaying the dishes on the counter. One certainly didn’t take my fancy, even though the filling of the wrap looked nice from the front the blue paper towel at the back might have been a touch difficult to digest.

Our turn to be gongoozlers, however no boats were going through the lock. Between the two chambers is a finger post pointing towards our next destination in a month or so’s time.

This evening we were met at Oleanna by my friend Nick so that he could check our stern gland and the fit out. He’s a hard customer to please, but seemed to be impressed if not a tad jealous of all our storage which is more than he has in his flat. A walk back through Camden to rendez vous with Kerry and Harry their dog at Tapping the Admiral. The made to order pies will have to wait for another time as there were no tables free, so after a couple of pints we moved on to  The Grafton where a space upstairs meant we could spread out and enjoy their beer, burgers and our conversation. We left shortly after a huge downpour and as the first of the constituency results were being announced.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 unexpected visitors, 21st, 22nd, 23rd visitors, 2nd visit for Siobhan, 1 unimpressed cat, 3 figs, 1 splits, 3 balls, NO 80 expensive, 1 charity shop, 3 ribs of beef, £20 for eggs benedict! 2 sides of tracks, 2 much tat, 2 many joss sticks, 1 blue roll wrap, 302 miles to go, 1 thumbs up, 2 pubs, 1 long dog, 4 burgers, 16 pints, 1 soggy walk home.

Homerton Road Bridge to Primrose Hill

Time to move on, some water and disposal of rubbish was needed, so we decided to start to move back across London before the next really wet day. The wind was meant to have died down, but it was still really quite strong, just the huge gusts we’d experienced yesterday had gone. So just before 10am we pushed off from our mooring, this took a few attempts as the wind was reluctant to let us go and I just couldn’t manage to push the bow out past the widebeam ahead of us. But we got there in the end and because the navigation was so wide we managed to wind straight away, Mick avoiding using the bow thruster because of all the weed.

We’d heard that the new water point by Here East had good pressure so pulled in behind a boat that was filling. We’d shared Cosgrove Lock with NB Four Seasons and played a bit of leapfrog with them on our way into London. They had come down to catch up with friends and to celebrate Mrs Four Seasons’ 70th birthday. A good time was being had and they liked Hackney Marshes so much that they were going to stay the full fortnight before heading down to Limehouse and going up the Thames next week. They reversed from the water point with the aim of returning to the space they’d left, but rowers, other boats and the wind didn’t help.

Once on the water point and a load of washing nearly finished I hopped in the shower and when I was clean the dish washer went on. There are better pressured taps on the system, but at least this was an improvement to the one by Victoria Park. Once full and everything clean we pushed on, waved at the kids playing at Josh’s school and then turned back onto the Hertford Union. Straight ahead we could see the Gherkin building, so Mick set course and lined the mushroom vents up. With only ground paddles on the locks I thought it would take us sometime to work our way through the three locks, but the force of water coming through them made up for it and we made good progress along Ducketts turning right at the end where two volunteers were glad of something to do.

Rubbish disposed off we were off again. Our musical neighbours had moved and another widebeam had taken their place, but Brian and his dead batteries was still moored on the end of Victoria Park. So far we’d passed several Oleanna sized gaps, we hoped our luck would be in further along as we hoped to find somewhere around Kings Cross or before Paddington. If there were gaps here would that mean that there would be more ahead, or would it be that everyone was at the other end of the Regents Canal and we’d end up finding the first space in Alperton!

At Aston’s Lock we were surprised to see a Lock Keeper, he was with two other chaps who had life jackets on. They were swinging the gates back and forth, should we go in or was there a problem? After a while they waved us in and I hopped off to help wind the paddles. We were ready to fill the lock, but they were holding a bottom gate open, the chap signalled to open up the paddle and kept his weight against the beam for as long as he could. There had been something stuck behind the gate and flushing water through freed it. It turned out the chaps were down from Stanley Ferry where they make lock gates. They were accessing what needed replacing. The leeks on the top gates apparently weren’t a worry as they are metal, but he took photos of them anyway. The next lock up however he said was a bit of a bodge job, the gates had been made too short so had  extra wood added to them to make them meet. Sounds like they might be going to be replaced.

At St Pancras Lock the bottom towpath side gate nearly did for me. It is so heavy to get out of it’s recess, bumping it and leaning with all my great weight didn’t seem like it was going to work. I was so very nearly going to ask Mick to climb the ladder to help when it finally relented and moved just a bit. Not one to give up there was now a centimetre of hope, which became two, then three, then ten until finally I got the b**tard closed. Tomorrow I may have difficulty moving.

Approaching the bottom lock at Camden I could see a group of chaps drinking sitting on the lock beams. A bit of an intimidating sight but one where just a ‘Hello’ would make it better. The lock needed emptying so I set about doing that as the chaps chatted and drank at the top end of the lock. There was a lot of coming and going of people and the air hung heavy with a certain aroma. Once Oleanna was in the lock, roped up and the first paddle lifted I headed over the gates to open the other one. Reaction times were a bit slow from the chaps at my ‘excuse me’ but they moved over asking if they could help with the gate when the lock was ready. Most certainly they could and as they boasted “We’re from Kentish Town!” I left them to close up after us. By the time we were rising in the next lock we were joined by a volunteer who phoned up to the top lock to say we were on our way up and to hold the lock for us.

Camden Top Lock has two chambers, but currently only one is in working order. As Oleanna was rising a fat widebeam came cruising right up to the top gates, totally blocking our way out. I tried signalling to him that with him there nobody would be going anywhere, but he ignored me and preferred to talk to the volunteer. After being told that the second chamber was not in use he was then asked to pull back so that we could exit the lock. “Oh are they coming out?” Yes! The pointy end of our boat was facing him, a bit of a clue and both boats certainly wouldn’t have fitted in the lock. So he reversed back a bit, still not enough space, then a bit more, then he was in the way of the trip boats so had to go even further!

The volunteer had asked where we were heading to today and then imparted local knowledge on mooring. The Camden Visitor Moorings weren’t far, but we’d be lucky to get in there, then Paddington and Little Venice. We were at this time of day expecting to have to breast up, but to our surprise as we came under Gloucester Ave there was a space on the visitor moorings, just our size. We quickly grabbed it before the next boat could arrive. Very lucky indeed.

This evening we were joined by a college friend of mine Mike and his partner Chris for a guided tour. They visited us to do the Stoke Bruerne flight on Lillian a couple of years ago. Both now bearded, Chris must have been growing his for the last two years, It was very lovely seeing them again. Lots to catch up on, a full tour and then we walked back into Camden for a Fish and Chips tea. Being from Scarborough it was nice to be able to have haddock again, but I do miss it being cooked in dripping. Having said that it was very nice, although the chips could have been better. Chris and Tilly got on very well, so hopefully if we manage to time a flight of locks well they will come and join us now that she have given her seal of approval.

11 locks, 7.31 miles, 1 tunnel, 1 full tank, 1 bag of litter forgotten, 1 landmark to navigate by, 1 chap from Copmanthorpe, 2 bodged gates, 1 stupidly heavy gate, 1 fat boat very much in the way, 2 slightly high boaters grins, 59ft gap, 19th 20th visitors, 1 furry chin, 1 cat walk pirate! 1 owl, 12 bongs, 1 more lovely evening.

Homerton Road Bridge

Rain, Rain, Rain and wind was what greeted us this morning. Glad we weren’t having to move anywhere. I’d hoped to have a bit of a smooch around and walk down the towpath, have a look at the new restaurants and maybe explore a bit more of Hackney Wick, but the weather put us off. Instead we had a cooked breakfast. I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of it as it wasn’t up to scratch, we didn’t have the necessary in. But what we had was nice.

We pottered around trying to find things to do inside whilst avoiding getting wet. Tilly didn’t mind the rain and insisted on going out. She keeps rattling the long bolts on the back door. They do something with them and the doors open, it hasn’t worked for me, yet! She’d return to dry off before getting wet again, time after time. This afternoon the wind gusts have however made us keep her inside otherwise she’d get blown away.

The towel and bedding cupboard in the bedroom has been sorted and other things rationalised. A pile of spare bits for our composting toilet are on the hit list for the bin. We are fairly sure we don’t need them due to the way our system is set up, but if you know different please let us know. Mick has looked at the dishwasher as it seems to have been using a lot of rinse aid lately, hopefully it is sorted now.

The first beans from our plants have been picked. I’ve been watching them get bigger over the last week and decided that as they were now about a third of the height of the plants I’d harvest them. There are still more on the way and I’m hoping that they may produce more flowers followed by more beans. I may steam them and then add a bit of lemon juice and pine nuts, similar to how we had beans for Christine’s birthday meal.

Yesterday we’d noticed a C&RT sign next to the new offside moorings. Matchmakers Wharf. It looks like either the moorings have already been taken or that you can’t get one as yet.

Wondering why it was called Matchmakers Wharf I looked into its history, I came across a couple of interesting websites.

First was The Shady Old Lady’s Guide to London. Here I was informed that the sight had for thirty years been the Lesneys Matchbox Toy factory.

An aside, on the side of the page is ‘On this Day in London’, which I found interesting.

1977, Sex Pistols, banned from playing on English soil, play on a Thames cruiser as they drift past the House of Parliament.

1972, Glam rock singer David Bowie releases The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

1918, Carry On actor Kenneth Connor was born in Islington, London.

1844, Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) forms in London.

This then led me to Matchbox Memories an homage to the die cast models that were designed to fit into a matchbox, so they could be taken into school.

Lesneys was set up in 1947 by Leslie and Rodney Smith (they weren’t related), two young demobbed men from WW2. They took over a disused pub ‘The Rifleman’ and made various bits and bobs for industrial use. Around Christmas, a slack period, they started to make toys to keep them going. They made a large Coronation Coach of which they sold around 30,000 and a miniature version which sold over a million. With capital in their pockets they could expand. There were various sights but in 1952 production started at Matchmakers Wharf. They even had a fleet of buses to transport the workers to the factories.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 turkey sausages, 2 quorn (they’ve got to be eaten), 2 eggs, 4 slices toast, 1 navigation we hope doesn’t rise with rain, 5 soggy explores, 1 clean pooh box, 1 cupboard sorted, 12 spare bits, 1 insurance claim, 4 turned down to 2, 8 beans, 1 very windy extremely wet day.

Homerton Road Bridge

Being so close to Westfield Stratford it would have been silly not to have made a visit. Combining it with a shop at Sainsburys to keep us going for the next few days made sense too. The bus stop at Kingsmead gave us a couple of options and the first one that came along took us the long way round. Past Josh’s school through Hackney Wick, past so much graffiti (it really is colourful here), across the canal several times, Bow Bus Garage, over several of the bow back river bits, then into the land of the high rises before the familiar canopy of Stratford Bus Station came into view. Here we hopped off and climbed up over the railway tracks to Westfield.

We’d avoided coming at the weekend to try to miss the masses, but to us there still seemed to be so many people. I’d made a short shopping list hoping that Lakeland would come up trumps on most things, if not then John Lewis might fill the gaps. Inside the curve of the building guided us round. Primark came into view, so we braved the jumble sale that it is. I was wanting some new t shirts, they are cheap and do okay for cruising in. The choice wasn’t great, but I persevered standing in line to make my purchase totalling £5. Mick had given up long before me!

The hunt for Lakeland then started. We walked round the full curve of the mall, no sign. Checked a map on my phone which suggested that it was on one of the streets to the side. Outside we headed, only to find an Ikea! Not a full blown Ikea, but a place where you can order and collect things, sadly no meatballs and chips though. On display they had the right hooks for our utensil rack, but delivery would be 7-10 days! We tried the next street for Lakeland, still no sign. Another check of a map and it should have been where we were heading. Mick checked what must have been a different map and Lakeland showed up next door to John Lewis. It hadn’t been there earlier, so why would it be now? Eventually we managed to find an interactive map. Lakeland was on the top floor tucked away beside John Lewis!

A good look round is always worth it at Lakeland, we don’t get out much! You just don’t know what you will find. On Oleanna the join between cooker top and the worktop has been collecting bits, these bits manage to avoid the usual clean up and a knife just seems to push them further down the non-existent gap. Lakeland has a special brush for this. Our bathroom towel rail and galley blinds need a dust, which is such a phaff. Lakeland has a special duster for them.  So with our new cleaning toys we left with only hooks still to find.

Tiger provided us with a box for Tilly’s toys and my feet to rest on whilst sitting at the dinette and some hooks. Brilliant. Our visit to Westfield had been a success.

The small Sainsburys had most of what we were wanting but I wish I’d remembered the Chinese supermarket earlier as we almost overdosed on sad gits Pak Choi this evening!

Sitting waiting for a different bus back I couldn’t help but notice all the masses of bollards that surround such places. Presumably to stop ram raiders. Will these now be placed along all our bridges keeping vehicles away from pedestrians?

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 scenic bus journeys, 2 nook and cranny brushes, 3 pronged blind cleaner, 2 marker pens, 15 hooks, 1 pair flip flops, 1 t-shirt, 1 small toy box, £2.45 for replacement glass, 2 Lidl cheese twists, 1 bag edamame beans, 5 red billed ducks, 1 bedroom to tidy up!

Old Ford Lock to Homerton Road Bridge, River Lee Navigation

With the festival about to get going in the park we decide to make a move and see if we could get moored somewhere near Hackney Marshes. First job was to see if anyone was about next door and ask them to let us out. I’m sure we’d have been able to have pushed them out and then pulled them back in, but Mr Widebeam was around and started up their engine. When they had moored up the other day they were short of a stern rope, so Mick had lent them one of our spares, we asked if he’d like to buy it off us for £10 but he said he was fine. Don’t think I’d be happy with just a bow and centre line, but each to their own.

Once free we headed straight for the water point, a boat was coming up in the lock so we beat them to it. They managed to stay put in the lock and use the other tap that was by the bins to get their tank a quarter full before the volunteer lock keepers had to ask them to move so other boats could use the lock. Old Ford Lock can be a busy one as it sits just by the junction with the Hertford Union Canal, a short cut across the bottom of Victoria Park to the Lee Navigation. If you continue straight on you end up at Limehouse and then the Thames. Because there is a water point and bins it is a popular place to fill your tank after being moored for two weeks. So volunteers help to keep the moving boats on the go, but even they didn’t understand why there were four of them rosterd on for today and then none next week!

By the time we’d finished filling up an orderly queue had formed both in front and behind us, we’d picked our time perfectly. Down the lock and we turned a sharp left onto the Hertford Union. New off side moorings were nearing completion as was some new housing. A small sign hung from a building suggested a chandlery, but the mooring in front will be a permanent one so access will only be by land and looking for their website suggests they no longer exist. Once through the second bridge we were onto new water for all of us. In December 2014 we’d come down this way, but the three locks on the Hertford Union had closed early for maintenance as a gate had been damaged. We’d moored up short of the second bridge and then reversed back out to take the route via Limehouse onto the Lee. A couple of days ago a gate had been damaged closing the locks again, but the fix was a quick one so there was no need for a large detour this time.

Still not feeling too good I stayed on the boat to take her through the locks, that was until I managed to give the first gate a very big biff! Luckily the gate swung out of the way after the encouragement I’d just given it! Blimey poor gate and Oleanna, maybe I wasn’t capable of being at the helm! No damage done thank goodness, a few drawers open inside Oleanna, but that was all. Mick locked me down and behind we could see another boat approaching. So once in the middle lock we waited to see if they would be continuing down the locks or had pulled in. With camera on full zoom I could make out someone working the lock, so we stayed put and opened the off side gate ready for them to join us. I took over windlass wielding and managed much better at that than I thought I would.

The next lock was being turned in front of us as our bows appeared through the bottom gate, but as it was only about three foot deep it wouldn’t take long for the boats to come up. The amount of water coming over the top gates though meant the level was unlikely to even out, so with two people on a bottom gate we managed to force it open. There was a cruiser and a small fibreglass dinghy, the chap from the dinghy had a reasonable engine, but the cruiser was powered by the smallest outboard ever and instead of using it they decided to bow haul themselves into the lock. The chaps with the cruiser looked like they knew very little, did they even have a windlass? So after an exceptionally long time the two boats headed on towards the next lock, leaving it for us.

A lot of the walls round here have been given over to graffiti, some of which is good, but have to say not a patch on Leicester’s. At the junction the world opened out, wider water and the Olympic Park stretching out ahead of us. To the left the Copper Box, the right the stadium. We were back on old waters now. We turned left passing the mooring places we’d used before. The bridge from Josh’s school to their play fields now is no mooring and beyond there up to the next bridge is permanent mooring which was being prepared two years ago. New restaurants and other businesses have taken over parts of what was the media centre for the Olympics. A new life to the area.

Now we were on the hunt for a mooring. A few spaces showed themselves, but the question is, Can you get into the bank? We tried one place behind NB Four Seasons, but they were on long lines, we still don’t have a gang plank so this was a no no for us. After Homerton Road Bridge a couple of bollards were free, but very close to the bridge. We pulled in and Mick headed on by foot to check out other spaces. Because the area is popular it was quite easy to recognise spaces that were far too shallow as the weeds were high, other gaps had lower weeds which gave us hope. We pulled into one and I hopped off the bow, but the stern wouldn’t come in. A couple of large boulders under the water were stopping us from getting into the side properly. We nudged back so that only one was in the way and decided to call it a day with the bow near enough to jump off and the stern sticking out! Certainly not a text book mooring, elsewhere on the system we’d have carried on to find somewhere better, but hey we’d had enough.

Jac and Andrew turned up so that Jac could have a guided tour of Oleanna as she had missed out the other day. She’d been told about the corner cupboard and was suitably impressed. After the tour we climbed into their car and headed over to their house to help them eat up the mountain of vegetables they’d bought for the night before that had been cancelled. I was still on reduced rations and water only, but the food went down well. A lovely evening sitting out in their garden listening to the festival across in the park, before it rained.

We had a slow walk back to the boat. The temperature had dropped which was a relief and there was a breeze. London seemed to be normal around us, fast and noisy. An Ambulance whizzed past, followed by an unmarked police car, helicopters could be heard over head, a few more sirens. We didn’t think much of it until we checked social media.

4 locks, 2.26 miles, 1 full water tank, 1 new pooh bucket (before Jac visited!), 1 big queue, 4 lockies, 1 teeny tiny outboard, 2 lefts, 1.3 miles new water, 1 gate still operable, 3rd space, 16th visitor, 2 boxes green lasagne, 3 parcels, 2 blue toys for me, or are they really for Mick? 1st properish meal in three days, 1 lovely evening, 2 boaters checked in as Safe.

Victoria Park

On Wednesday evening after Brian had gone to find his crayons to make a sign to pop in his window, a boat pulled in alongside us. This we don’t mind, we have been in London for over a week now and been able to look out of both sides of the boat for all that time. But our plan was to move off in the morning to find a mooring on the Lee, so Mick popped out and the chap decided to pull alongside Brian instead. Within five minutes though a widebeam reversed up and pulled in along side us. They were on the hunt for a working pooh sucky machine and the nearest one was out of order, so they hoped that in the morning they would be moving on to empty their tank. Swapping boats round was an option, but her partner would be around in the morning to help should we be the first to move.

As we went to bed we could hear what sounded like next doors water pump going off every five seconds. Luckily it was so regular that it became easy to ignore, I could only assume that this was why they could ignore it too. Over night my insides decided to disagree with something  and the last thing I was going to be capable of was working Oleanna through locks. So instead we stayed put, Mick pottering around the boat, Tilly wondering why other cats were allowed to walk over her boat and I spent much of the day in bed hoping for some improvement.

Half asleep in the half darkened room the cycling water pump was replaced with piano music. It seemed a bit distant, but could only be coming from next door. Asking Mick about things like this can be a bit pointless as his hearing omits certain frequencies. I’d started to wonder whether my mind was just trying to keep me distracted with music, but eventually Mick could also hear it. Mr Widebeam must play the piano or keyboards as it stopped just before he left the boat in the afternoon.

Last night the water pump next door seemed to be constantly going or someone somewhere was running a generator in the early hours. Then at about 2 am there was a very loud telephone call going on which was followed by loud bicycles and some music turned up loud for full appreciation! This was then followed before 5am by the local dawn chorus from the paraquettes in the park. I was glad I’d spent much of yesterday asleep!

Today we have also stayed put and sadly had to postpone a meal this evening with my friends Nick and Kerry at my brothers as I’m still not feeling up to it. Hopefully we’ll get to see them later next week when I can enjoy a pint again. As next doors cats stayed inside to listen to the piano Tilly got to explore the clump on trees along the towpath again. Both the Brompton bikes have been fettled, oiled chains and tyres pumped. When Tilly decided to return to the boat she dashed out in front of a bike, but luckily for her it was just Mick who slowed down and let her dash for the stern.

Shortly after next door finished tickling the ivories this afternoon a loud deep base came wafting from the park. A large stage has been erected in part of the park for music festivals through the summer. The sound check booming was soon over shadowed by vast rumblings of thunder followed by torrential rain. Here’s hoping that tonight is quieter and that we’ll be able to move on before the festival gets going tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 near neighbour, 1 musical neighbour,  2 tip toeing neighbours, 1 poorly Pip, 1 dinner postponed, 27 C, 2 thunder storms, 3rd bird pooh! 2 giant granny squares, 2 bikes in working order, 150dB.

Old Ford Lock

Just what is it with birds down here!? Maybe our paint scheme gives them a dicky tummy. We just seem to be in the firing line!

Tilly has coped very well with being cooped up inside Oleanna for the last eight days. She would ask to go out, but after being refused a couple of times she would resign herself to another boring day without friends and just sleep. So as soon as one of us was dressed this morning the back doors were opened and left open for her to be able to come and go as she liked. There was a time limit suggested, but this wasn’t necessary.

The doors were opened and just sat there, open! None of the usual mouse being thrown back into the cabin for me to get distracted by (I really don’t know why I keep falling for that one!). Tom just opened the doors and stepped aside. Wow! Those trees looked better than they had done yesterday through the windows. They needed climbing and all that grass needed checking for friends and then sampling. There was just one problem, well far more than one really. Bicycles!!!

I hate them and they just didn’t stop coming for me. So I spent quite a bit of time on the cat walk and then decided that the roof might be a better place to spot a suitable gap. Once I’d taken a chance to cross the towpath the grass was sweet and the trees looked like a great challenge. But just a short distance away there were even more bicycles and woofers. One very big gap meant that I could get quite a distance along the towpath to where I thought some friends might just be. Just a shame that I was now surrounded but bicycles on all sides. So I made the most of the trees and watched the bikes go by.

She came and called me home and said I’d have to be quick, so I was, only narrowly avoiding a bicycle hot on my tail. I was glad of the back up. The rest of the day I stayed close to home discovering a new way onto the roof at the front and sitting and keeping her company out in the garden.

We pottered around for the day, doing a few jobs. I reorganised the front wardrobe, packing away the fat warm coats and making space for our new chairs. I dug out the remains of the duvet cover that I made Tilly’s bed out of last year. Once ripped and twisted into yarn I wound it up, I’m hoping there will be enough to make her a comfy bed that will fit on her shelf.

Later this afternoon we had a tap on the side hatch from Brian from the boat behind. He had been away from his boat for a week and come back today to dead batteries. He was hoping to be able to jump start them, but was short of some jump leads, did we have any? I wonder how many new boats have jump leads, we do. Mick went to see if he could help, there was a boat on the way that had a charger and Brian was hopeful. Mick returned not hopeful, Brian’s batteries were cabbaged and not likely to last long even if he got the engine started. After his friend arrived we could hear an engine, but it wasn’t his. The jump leads were returned and I think he’ll be buying new batteries tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 Tilly day, 639,046,432 bicycles, 0 friends, 1 rescued cat, 7 plants watered, 2 chairs found a home, 1 upset bird tummy, 1 scrubbed cabin side, 1 tantalising hole, 3 lots of yarn, 3 cabbaged batteries.