Cracks Hill to Crick Marina

Before moving off this morning we knew we’d have to give Oleanna a quick tidy and sweep through as she’d be on show as soon as we reached Crick. The sun was shining but boy was it chilly, a beautiful winters day for April. We wound our way round towards the marina on our shortest cruise yet, just over half a mile.

Our friend Lizzie was on NB Panda waiting for us to arrive with Him and Her (two of the marina residents) so we had a welcoming committee as we came round the last bend. We did however think that she could have made more of an effort, still in her dressing gown at nearly midday! She is recovering from an operation so she has special dispensation.

We knew were we were heading with Oleanna as they have allowed us to pull alongside Lillian for the next week. She is blocking in a couple of boats further up the pontoon but they are unlikely to be moving whilst we are here, but if they do we’ll gladly move. Mick brought her in very gently into the tight gap and I tied the front rope for the first time after passing it around Lillian’s T stud. Our old and new boats were at last together. A very strange feeling, one yellow very much loved home for the last three years and the new already feeling like home sat next to her. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve found ourselves starting to refer to Lillian as Lillyanne, something we haven’t done since 2014.

Andy and Irene from NB Kamili next door were about so we had a catch up with them and gave them a guided tour. Lovely to see them again, I suspect later in the week we’ll be meeting at the pub for a drink or two.

The next few days we’ll be moving the rest of our possessions over and giving Lillian a good clean. Today we’ve emptied the bedroom and the bathroom, apart from the obstinate bike in the wardrobe! All the outside lockers are empty too. I so hope we’ve got enough space for everything, well if not we’ll just have to downsize. Mick’s wardrobe will certainly have to reduce as I’ve filled all my cupboard space and he’s got less on his side of the bed.

A phone call to ABNB has put the ball in motion for Lillian to go on the market. Some sprucing up needs to be done and make her look homely for a photo call in a weeks time.

Lizzie has been round in between snow and hail storms for an internal inspection. Oleanna, we are glad to say has passed with flying colours, especially the cooker.

We are going to be busy over the next few days with our shoe horns and polishing cloths, so there may not be time for blog posts and the internet round here hasn’t improved! Today is the last of the dual posts between blogs. NB Lillyanne will get updated as and when things happen with her sale, but there will be no more cruising posts on her blog.

0 locks, 0.53 miles, 1 quick tidy, 1st night with the stove going, 1 imprisoned Tilly again! 1 welcoming committee, 8ft for Oleanna, 1 new, 1 old, 2 lovely next door neighbours, 150 watts solar, 4 Ikea bags full of clothes, 1 big bathroom cupboard into 1 little one, 2 many clothes, 2 many shoes, 6 new cupboards explored, 6 snow showers, 3 piece suite up for grabs, 2 mattresses also, 1 Yellow boat preparing for new owners.

Houdini’s Field to Cracks Hill

Even Tilly was tired this morning so we allowed ourselves a cuppa in bed after a bit of a lie in. No point in rushing anywhere as we were now only about 5 miles away from Crick Marina. So after breakfast we pushed off and wound our way along the pound.

The wood that had been so full of Blackthorn blossom a month ago is now lush green everywhere, it’s hard to see the trunks of trees. The rapeseed fields that were just starting to show their colour are now vibrant Lillian yellow. Compared to yesterday it was a grey day and chilly too.

Yelvertoft Slipway was a hive of activity. A lady was stood holding onto a green centre line of a boat that was out of the water. It took my slow brain a little while to understand why she was holding onto a boat on dry land, it was about to go back in the water after being blacked. They must be doing a roaring trade, with about eight boats out on hard standing, wonder how much they charge to go in and out?

On the last couple of bends it started to rain and by the time we’d pulled in it was seriously raining. So once moored up for the day there were two things that needed to happen. 1 light the stove, 2 let Tilly out to enjoy the rain, which she did.

After a couple of hours I called her in and she came running back to Oleanna and had a good walk along the gunnels (the clean side!) followed by an explore onto the roof (the dirty side). Another couple of jaunts on shore and she returned by herself. Sadly over the next few days she will have to be kept in again as tomorrow we’ll be mooring alongside Lillian and we don’t want Tilly to get confused as to which boat home is.

This afternoon we’ve complied a new snagging list for Finesse and emailed it through to them. I tried printing out forms to apply for proxy votes for the General Election, but ran out of paper, we only brought a few sheets and more progress has been made on my illustrations. I need to scan it before I ink it in and then colour it, this can wait till tomorrow when I scan our proxy forms too.

0 locks, 4.29 miles, 2 stealth number checkers,  0 blackthorn, 2 familiar faces, 1 full water tank, 1derful rain, 3 excursions, 4 muddy paws, 1 snagging list, 3 mooring suspension signs, 3 attempts to print out, 2 better sketches, 3 pink soiled nappies.

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s blog

Kilby Bridge to Bridge 63, Foxton

We moved off as early as we could this morning after realising that we’d inadvertently moored in a winding hole last night. Across to the services where we disposed of rubbish, yellow water, and  topped up the water tank. A boat across the way asked if they should wait for us to do the locks, but we hadn’t had our breakfast yet so they headed off ahead of us.

At 10 am we moved off towards the locks, the last twelve broad locks before Foxton. When we arrived at Bumblebee Lock it looked like someone was emptying it. We were nearly right, it turned out to be a C&RT chap running water down to make up for there being a very low pound a mile down the cut. He suggested putting the kettle on, we’d only just finished a cuppa. After half an hour of sitting in the sunshine we were allowed up.

Some of the locks today were spaced closer together, close enough to walk between, others I had to stop and pick up the crew. We passed only one boat heading down today. They knew of low water levels ahead of them and warned us of the same behind them.

The beams on a lot of the locks were as someone once said to me “finely balanced” or just bloomin’ annoying! Boat comes in, gate closed behind, other gate swings open. Stop whilst walking round to crack open a paddle to hold gates closed with a small stream of water, meanwhile the first gate opens itself. If you haven’t got the flow right the second gate will also reopen itself as you reach gate one. Argghhhh!!!

One of my favourite locks on a sunny day is Top Half Mile Lock. The tree next to it just makes you want to take photos. I have several going down hill and today I took plenty going up, it’s just as photogenic either way.

In broad locks we pass a rope up to be passed around a bollard and then back down to the helm. At the moment we are using Lillian’s two centre lines, one longer than the other. Where our plank and pole rest are located, which was our choice, the port side rope constantly gets hooked round the forward rest. Hopefully this will sort itself when we have two short centre ropes one on each side which we will keep in the fairleads, so away from the rest, fingers crossed.

As we finished in Newton Top Lock the Lockie appeared and popped a mini road cone on top of the ground paddle. Any boat arriving would have to wait for them to finish running water down before they could proceed. Rounding the bend after High Bridge we saw that there was space for us over looking the pastures towards Wistow. This is a lovely mooring and if we weren’t on a mission I suspect we’d have stayed for the night, instead we paused for lunch drinking in the view.

After Cranes Lock we were met with a very low pound, the next lock was a bit of a way so Mick hopped on board hoping that we’d be able to get into the side to drop him off. This was ditch crawling, we have known worse when we came across a drained pound in Wigan in 2014, seriously slow progress. Mick hopped off where the canal narrowed and I continued to crawl to the lock which was full. Holding back whilst it was emptied, except the shallowness made Oleanna pull forward as she would in a lock. No matter what I did with the throttle and tiller she wasn’t going to be allowed to do what I wanted, so I had to enlist the girlie button to assist. Of course at the next lock the water level was such that it was flowing over the top gates!

At Kibworth Top Lock we left the broad locks behind and headed for Oleanna’s first tunnel. Saddington Tunnel is good and straight and 880yards long, you can easily see the other end. it is two way traffic, but no-one was coming. With tunnel mode engaged our passage was easy, our tunnel light was big and bright and pointed away from any possible on coming traffic.

The canal does a few wiggles around bright green fields and then bends its way around Debdale Marina. A walker told us that a boat was coming out of the marina and so it was, all 70 or so feet. They were trying to turn towards Leicester and it was taking some doing, so we were allowed to pass once they’d reversed back into the entrance. Just a short distance on and the moorings before Rainbow Bridge came into sight so we pulled up behind a familiar, yet not correct sight. We know of NB Captain Hastings as it’s owner often makes comments on a facebook group we are in. Just a shame we didn’t have our yellow Lillian to moor behind him.

Today Oleanna has had a couple of comments. First the Lockie was admiring her colouring, we did suggest he might like to buy Lillian off us, but his offer of £10 maybe £20 wasn’t really upto it. Then this evening a couple of girls have been walking up and down the towpath looking at boats. The taller of the two decided that Oceanna was the one she liked the best. “I’m ‘avin’ this one!” at the top of her voice right outside our galley window. Well she can’t because firstly she can’t read and secondly she is ours!

12 locks, 9.68 miles, 1 tunnel, 0 mysterons, 0 newspaper! 2 low pounds, 1 even lower, 2 Lockies, 1 wonderful lunch mooring, 1 yellow boat, 1 bewildered cat, 3 paws will have to do! 1 cat feeling sorry for herself.

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s blog

Birstall Lock to Kilby Bridge

With quite a bit to do today the alarm was set and we refrained from our customary cuppa in bed before getting up. It still took us a while before we were ready to push off at 8.20am. First lock of many was Birstall, this lock was closed for maintenance this winter, apart from quite a bit of orange spray paint about the place it was hard to tell what had been done that took so long. Looking back over our stoppage notices they had found a void under the lock that needed grouting, no wonder we couldn’t see what they’d done, it was all under water.

The locks would keep us busy today as there are few pounds over a mile long.The river sections are bendy and we were glad that we’d started early as the number of kids playing at the Outdoor Pursuits Centre meant that there would be plenty of canoes out later on. Here we got a very warm welcome from the kids waving and shouting “Hello!”, wishing us a nice day, they’d catch us up. But the most unusual comment was “I hope you have a nice dinner!” Hopefully we will.

Belgrave Lock is where Canalplan had us mooring last night on our original plan. It is a shallow lock with a wide weir and a view towards the National Space Centre which looks like a giant inflatable. On first viewing it seems like a pleasant place to be. However a recent fire by one of the top beams and the amount of graffiti on the edging to the new towpath suggested that we’d made a good choice of staying one lock further back.

The river now flows through an old industrialised area. The old Wolsey Factory has been demolished apart from one of it’s chimneys and the water tower. A scheme to build houses and apartments incorporating the landmarks was given conditional planning permission last year. If you want to see what the sight was like before demolition here is a link. Other old factories have been refurbished and are most probably offices and apartments. This stretch must get a lot of silt dumped in it from the river as it is usually quite black and bubbly. As Mick jumped off to set Limekiln Lock the noise was almost deafening, it sounded like I’d just put a whole packet of Space Dust (popping candy) into my mouth. I was reminded of kids in the 80’s saying that if you ate too much Space Dust it would give you brain damage, certainly the smell coming off the river could do you some damage.

The river to the north of Leicester has an abundance of graffiti. Much is your bog standard tags, you really would think some of them would have perfected it by now and not have to keep practicing it on every facet of walls, or they would simply have got bored with it, but no. Then around Frog Island there are large walls where the graffiti are works of art. Leicester has given permission for several walls around the city to be legally painted on. Short Street is a whole (short) street were anyone can come and leave their mark, the general idea is that you have to better what you are painting over. Certainly the ones by Lock 42 would be hard to beat. Apparently graffiti artists from around the country come to Leicester to make and leave their mark legally.

Here Mick was offered help by a young lad who had ridden shot gun on his Grans mobility scooter. He was thrilled to be helping and Mick allowed him to open and close the top gate all by himself, it took a bit of doing for such a little chap, but he managed it then jumped back onto the back of the scooter and they sped away.

There was plenty of room at the moorings in the centre of the city. One boat on the new pontoons and two on the old. The new pontoons look so much more inviting. It was still morning so we carried on and worked our way past the huge weir by Leicester City ground and on up three more locks to Kings Lock. Here we stopped for a bowl of soup each as the day wasn’t that warm. Somehow we didn’t walk back to the tea room to collect some chilled medication though!

It being still early we decided to carry on to Kilby Bridge the next good mooring. Now that we were off the river and on canals all the way to Crick our life jackets were hung up and the locks took on the familiar look of the Grand Union with a set of steps either side. We’ve broken this journey up before by stopping in Leicester, today the last few locks were just (dare I say it) boring! Mick nearly got another helper at one lock, a bit bigger than his assistant earlier in the day. Good job he wasn’t wearing red. It got chillier and chillier so the stove was lit as soon as we pulled up for the day.

16 locks, 11.87 miles, 62 waving kids, 1 unflatable, 1 bonfire, 6 packets of Space Dust, 33 tags, 1 super strong lad, 3 swan near misses, 1 sleeping man, 0 grass cuttings, 0 chilled medication!!! 2 bowls soup, 2 weeks, 1 strawberry nose, 2 strawberry cheeks, 1 fat dog, 2 weeks is up, 3 hanging, 1 bull behind you!, 2 weeks Hello! I’m still here!! 18 inches down, 0  freedom for 2 WEEKS, Did you hear me 2 weeks is up now!!!!

Joa will you please adopt me!

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s blog

Heading out of Zouch you pass a lot of small river huts. These are the river equivalent to beach huts at the seaside, only they tend to be that bit bigger and built on stilts for when the river floods. One such hut was being turned into the Russian Doll version with a larger hut being built over and around it, how many more huts were there inside?

Bishop Meadow Lock was the first of the day on the outskirts of Loughborough. Once up we decided to top up the water tank so pulled over. This tap was slow, not helped by it having a very big leak before it reached the hose connector, so most of what water there was was being sprayed onto the freshly cut grass. A C&RT chap filled his kettle from the leak as we tried to fill our tank. Before we gave up we noticed a number checker walk by, is this the first sighting since Oleanna has been licenced?

We decided to see if the next tap was going to be any better. This is on the side of a pub and as we pulled up Mick had to move on a mum and her offspring who looked like they had settled for the day. This tap was only slightly better so we decided to have lunch as the tank filled.

There is a long stretch before passing through Pillings Flood Lock and arriving at Barrow-on-Soar. Here there is another deep lock. As we pulled up a wide beam was just finishing coming down so we saved them shutting the gates. We were being followed by some canoeists who pulled their boats out of the water and walked them up to above the lock. By the time we had filled the lock they were putting their boats back into the water just as the gates opened. Canoeists are normally faster than narrowboats as they don’t have to abide by any speed limits, so we expected these four to zoom off into the distance, but no they slowly paddled their way along chatting, certainly not aware of 20 tonnes or so of boat  behind them! Luckily they pulled in soon back where they’d hired them.

Now the river seems to get narrower and there are more bends. At times it is hard to know which way the navigation is turning and boats moored off on side channels just confuse you. But looking behind us we could tell we were heading the right way as that view was familiar.

At Sileby Lock Mick had two dogs shadowing his every move. We were very glad that the river was behaving itself more than the last time we were here. Last year we ended up mooring above the lock and watching the river rise around us at an alarming rate. The next couple of locks were slow going, leaking bottom gates and they were unpredictable as you filled them

A short distance on we passed The Hope and Anchor. We’ve been this way twice before and both times were in June. At that time of year the Hawthorne blossom has just gone past it’s best and is fluttering down into the canal. The water is white and the air filled with snowing petals. Today we had a smaller version of the snow shower, maybe the cut here has trees that blossom all year round so that the air is continuously filled with petals.

Not far now to reach todays destination, just one more lock. Two boats were being worked on at the MGM boat builders, both various shades of green. People think that Lillian is bright but I think the bright green upstages her Rapeseed yellow. A few more bends on the narrow river and then the bollards of the moorings at Birstall came into view. They have always been full before, but there was space for two more boats. Our first attempt at mooring was thwarted by lumps under the water. The stern of Oleanna was at least four foot out from the edge so we moved up to try further up and succeeded.

8 locks, 14,84 miles, 1 flood lock, 1 left, 1 kettle, 2 water points, 8 babies moved on, 1 bucket of flowers, 2 boats in Amsterdam, 1 calm river, 2nd attempt, 2 Crick moorings sorted, 1 canal Narnia, 1 chocolate deprived boy!

This is a dual post with NB Oleanna’s Blog.
In a few days time our cruising blog will only be posted on NB Oleanna’s blog and NB Lillyanne’s blog will only be updated when something significant happens. So if you would like to continue to follow our travels please click to follow Oleanna.

Sainsburys, Nottingham to Trent Lock Pontoon

There were still a few things that we wanted to get supplies wise whilst we were in Nottingham. Firstly our new wine cellar was looking very empty, so needed stocking up. Finesse must have known that we tend to buy six boxes of wine at a time as there is the right amount of space under the back steps. Then Mick walked up into the city centre to Whittards to stock up on my morning brew, Afternoon Tea.

On his way back he popped into Ultimate Outdoors in the next retail park to see what they might have in the way of 20 litre plastic containers. As Finesse have called it our Yellow water tank (wee) is 20 litres and under the bathroom floor. There is a gulper pump to empty this through what looks like a standard pump out fitting. We have an attachment that fits to this with a length of hose on it. So far we have been lucky on our moorings as to where we could empty our Yellow water tank, but not all moorings will have a handy hedge to water! The pump certainly kicks out our yellow water with force so a suitable container to contain it was needed. Ultimate Outdoors came up trumps with a 23 litre black water tank. The only downside is that it would be handy to be able to see how much we produce over a couple of days so that we can gauge when it will need emptying.

Whilst Mick was out I had a tidy, washed the port side windows and had a tinker with our blogs. As you can see NB Oleanna’s has had a bit of a make over and I suspect we’ll keep tinkering with it for a while. In a weeks time our cruising blog will only be posted on NB Oleanna’s blog, leaving NB Lillyanne’s blog behind. It will only get updated when anything significant happens to her. The build of NB Oleanna will be moved to a blog specifically to do with the build, which apart from a few snagging bits and bobs, oh and batteries is also complete. So if you would like to continue following our travels please sign up to follow us on this blog.

After lunch we pushed off and made our way through Nottingham towards Beeston. The last couple of miles was slow going as we had caught up a boat who seemed to like travelling on tick over, he then somehow managed to slow down even more to pass boats. We don’t travel fast by any means, but his progress was at a snails pace. We pulled in to deal with rubbish before we continued.

Beeston Lock takes you back out onto the Trent and is normally only about a foot difference in water levels. Paddles are left open at both ends to let water flow through Nottingham to keep the pound to Meadow Lock constant.

Back out on the river we could speed up. The afternoon was sunny and the Trent calm, a lovely day to be cruising. Properties along the river all seem to be summer houses with moorings. We were disappointed not to have a wave from a lady who has always been in her garden when we’ve passed, but to make up for it there was a toddler behind a large picture window who’s arms must have been falling off with the amount of waving he gave us.

A dry dock has been created to house the restoration of a Dunkirk Boat, we did wonder if they had needed planning permission to erect such a large structure on the water.

The river narrows and gets confused shortly before Cranfleet Lock, Mick doesn’t like this stretch, but soon we were by the pontoon ready to set the lock. Cranfleet is quite a deep lock and has windlasses welded onto the paddle mechanisms, the gates have long beams but are still very heavy. Mick went up to set the lock whilst I watched quite large waves going the wrong way on the river. Once in the lock I passed a rope up to Mick who tied Oleanna off to a bollard, then he started to fill the lock very gradually. The paddles on the lock don’t quite do what you expect of them and even though we’ve been through here quite a few times we can never remember which is the best way to do it, or even if we’ve sussed it out yet!

Signs along the cut show the proposed location of a viaduct that is proposed when HS2 comes through. The building of it will take quite some doing and the cut won’t be the same. At the end of the cutting we had choices as to which way to continue, to the left and the Soar, straight on to the Trent and Mersey. We went straight on and as there was space on Trent Lock pontoon we pulled in and moored at one of our favourite places. Tomorrow we need to find some coal as the weather forecast is for very chilly nights.

2 locks, 8.16 miles, 6 boxes of wine, 3 lots of tea, 23 litre container, 2 cheese twists! 2 blogs altered, 1 side clean windows, 1 very slow boat to Beeston, 2 bin bags, 3 boats on lock landings, 1 black cat, 1 space on the outside pontoon.

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s Blog.

In a weeks time our cruising blog will only be posted on NB Oleanna’s blog and NB Lillyanne’s blog will only be updated when something significant happens. So if you would like to continue to follow our travels please click to follow Oleanna.

Gunthorpe Visitor Moorings to Sainsburys Nottingham

Last night Mick popped out to check the ropes before we went to bed, as we were on a river he was actually checking the ropes! Someone from one of the cruisers on the pontoon asked if we had a good torch as someone had gone missing off one of the boats. Mick got our big torch and went out to see what was happening. From inside Oleanna I could see flashing blue lights outside the pub, the gate onto the pontoons was constantly opening and closing. Blimey I thought, had someone gone in!

I went out to see if I could help also, but then realised I hadn’t got a torch and couldn’t see the edge of Oleanna to step off. There was a group of people at the other end of the pontoons, a policeman stood talking into his radio and firemen walking in the direction of the lock. Large beams of light swept across the river. A lady on one of the cruisers hadn’t been able to find her daughter, she was rather pissed and was getting in a panic. Other people had suggested checking through the boat again, but the lady was certain that her daughter had fallen in and been swept away by the current.

Mick soon returned, the daughter had been found, on the toilet, on the boat. At least she was safe and dry!

This morning we took even longer to get going so had a bit of cooked breakfast. Strange noises were coming from outside, it sounded like a dog seriously out of breath. So we opened up the hatch to look. There on the pontoon stood a Muscovy Duck bobbing, dancing and wheezing away looking at his reflection in the side of Oleanna. Either he’d taken a fancy to our new boat or he’d taken a fancy to the rather attractive bird that was dancing along with him. He carried on for quite sometime.

We eventually moved off and carried on towards Nottingham. Everyone seemed to be heading in the opposite direction, the breasted up narrowboats and several cruisers had left before us all heading to Newark.

On the next reach of the river we passed Burton Joyce, this is where I came from! Plenty of trees were in blossom through the village and up the hill. The low banks of the river here are very pretty, a gang of lambs were jumping on and off the grassy banks down onto the little beeches.

Stoke Lock soon came into view. We stopped here for a night a couple of years ago and had a lovely walk around the lock. It has a character all to itself. Instead of the horrible blue risers on the lock walls it has large wooden pillars with metal rails attached for your ropes. It is surrounded by woodland with a large variety of trees. This and Hazelford Lock are our favourites.

A short distance on and we approached Holme Lock. Here the large weir stretches across the river, it has sluices so that the level of water can be controlled in Nottingham quite easily should the river rise. This lock is deep and we seemed to stand holding onto our ropes for hours as it was gradually filled. The hydroelectric station seems to have been completed as there is now no sign of a building sight. But the island is still waiting to be landscaped and the permanent moorings return to that side of the cut.

Above the lock there is a sailing club and there has always been either sailing or rowing going on along the next reach. But today no-one was out on the water. The trip boats have a new home a bit further out of town with a new building to keep them company. Their old home always looked down at heal, now it looks even worse as all the windows have been smashed.

As we rounded the last bend before Meadow Lock, Trent Bridge came into view and I could hear chanting. A large group of was crossing the bridge heading to Notts County Football Club. A single hander was coming down the lock , Mick helped and let the chap get back on his boat. We were now on our own again, no lock keepers from here until Foxton or Sawley depending on which way we go.

Chanting followed us all the way up to the sharp left turn. Crowds were making their way to the ground from all over. Two chaps started pointing at us and chanting. At first we couldn’t make out what it was, but then we realised that it was “Rosie and Jim, Rosie and Jim”.

As we approached the left turn a boat shot across in front of us at quite a speed, did they know to turn towards us? They were winding and kindly let us turn the bend first, just as another boat was coming towards us. Gosh an almost traffic jam on the Nottingham and Beeston Canal. The second boat also winded and they both waited for us to go up Castle Lock on our own so that they could share. The moorings by Sainsburys were quite full, but we found a space long enough for Oleanna. I really need to pace out how long she is for future occasions so we know if she’ll fit into tight spots.

This afternoon has been spent in Sainsburys, filling a shopping trolley to almost overflowing and then wheeling it back to the boat. A chicken has been jointed some of which has been frozen for later. Tomorrow we’ll have to return to stock up on wine boxes, they wouldn’t fit in the trolley today!

4 locks, 11.37 miles, 1 right, 2 fire engines, 1 police car, 1 teenager on the loo, 1 amorous duck, 1 lady in dark glasses, 0 sharing, 2 day boats, 5000 Portsmouth fans, 0 Rosie and Jims on board Oleanna! 6 ducklings, 1 large shopping trolley, 1 lonely Tilly look alike boat cat, 1 pack citonella candles.

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s Blog.

Our blogs will be changing, as we now have built our boat and NB Lillyanne will be up for sale in a few weeks. We’ll let you know what is happening once we know.

Cromwell Lock to Gunthorpe Visitor Moorings

A slower start for us today after yesterdays major cruise. A top up of water from the tap on the pontoon proved that a stainless steel tank once nearly full makes a booming noise. We now have a water tank gauge but an audible sound prompts you to go and stand by the tap waiting for the over flow to happen.

Despite the weather report being for rain the majority of the day with wind we decided to set off and see where we’d get to before we got fed up. The river all the way up to Trent Lock is very familiar to us so we don’t feel the urge to stop and explore. A shopping list of things that Boyes in Newark would almost certainly provide us with will have to wait for Nottingham as shops would be closed today because of Easter.

We pushed off shortly before 11am and worked our way up the river. There were no fishermen lining the banks as we approached Newark. We found this odd for a bank holiday, but it turns out that it is the closed season from 15th March until 15th June.

Over the radio we could hear that there were boats on the way from Nether Lock, so Mick radioed ahead as we got to the A1 bridge so that the lock could be made ready for us. Each lock along the Trent is manned for most of the year, so a vhf radio makes it a very easy cruise. The light was on green as we approached so we could go straight in.

Going up these locks it is always best to sit as far back as you can and have both a bow and stern line around the risers as they can normally be quite fierce towards the top gates. We have done these with just a centre line and with me pushing buttons when they haven’t been manned in the winter. We never rush getting ourselves sorted and with a new boat we are taking it slower still, hoping to keep the gunnels looking nice.

The Lockie kept popping out of his little house to look at the top gates, it seemed to take forever for the level to start to rise. But rise it did very slowly. As at all the locks we were asked our name, number and where we were heading to today, they radio ahead to the next lock for you. I’m very glad they didn’t ask me as Oleanna’s number is not embedded in my head yet, but Mick being a boy the number has already been put into his mental filing cabinet where it can be accessed with ease.

We spent three months in Newark winter before last and it feels like coming home. On the banks just above Nether Lock were these little huts, they are new since last year. You can hire them for a weekend to fish from for £50. They come with a 12 volt kettle and a few basic home comforts. Of course they were empty today, a good idea but I can think of better places to sit for the weekend that don’t have two rail lines and the A1 nearby.

At Kings Marina it looked quite full and in our old space was the old Marina Supervisor’s boat Camelot. To our great surprise Kiln Pontoon moorings had plenty of space even at the end with electric and the low wall was empty too. Newark had always tended to be really busy, where was everyone?

Town Lock was ready and we were joined by a tug from Newark Marina called Friar Tuck. He had just been moving an historic Humber Keel down to moor next to the Castle Barge. We were envious of his wonderfully thick ropes that he just hooked over the bollards at either end. Oleanna came with quite narrow ropes, with my impaired grip I find them hard to cling onto. When we get near Braunston we’ll visit the rope shop and replace them with thicker ropes.

Pootling out of the town there was something  missing. Where had Blackbird gone? An old workboat, it hadn’t looked like it would be going very far without some serious work, but it has now vanished. The Cormorants sat as always on top of the poles warning of the big weir and showers came and went. Passing Fiskerton there was space on the pontoon, Naughty Cal was moored right at the end leaving enough space for a narrowboat. Despite the pub being appealing we wanted to get further today so carried on.

At Hazelford Lock we waited for Dutch Barge Anja to catch us up. They had big hooks attached to ropes which they hooked onto the risers and then tied off, leaving them free to do as they wanted as the boat rose in the lock. Last year long pontoons had appeared above the lock, it looked like there was so much mooring that it would never get full. But today it was reaching capacity.

DB Anja sped off ahead leaving us to pootle along admiring the trees on the hillside next to the river. Yesterday and today we have started to see a rather attractive bird flying around a bit like a Tern. A hunt on the internet and it turns out that they are Oystercatchers with their orange bills, red eyes and a striking white band across their black wings.

Next was THAT LOCK! Even though DB Anja had arrived well ahead of us they were waiting to go up and had taken the lefthand wall. We pulled in along the right wall slowly, I passed the end of my rope around the riser and signalled to Mick that I was ready so that he could do the same. I then looked up at the Lock Keepers hut, it was very familiar. I then looked at the riser, this had to be THE RISER! I took a deep breath and concentrated as we rose. When the gates ahead opened and I’d coiled my rope back up I turned to Mick and held up all 9.75 fingers, they were all still there, THE RISER hadn’t taken any more from me.

By now we were quite cold from the wind so hoped that there would be space on the pontoon moorings above the lock. It was pretty full a couple of narrowboats were breasted up, but there was space for us on the inside. We drifted back into the mooring and tied up for the day. Well ahead of ourselves we’ll be able to get to Nottingham tomorrow and do a big shop at Sainsburys and maybe even go hunting for a few other bits.

4 locks, 18.45 miles, 4.6mph at the same revs as yesterday, 1 lie in, 2 Easter eggs, 1 packet of mini eggs, 3 oystercatchers, 10 showers, 2 centre lines attached, 2 gas bottles attached, 3 hours rising too long, 2 compliments on Oleanna, 1 scraped gunnel, 2 damp pink faced grins.

This is a dual post with NB Lillyanne’s Blog.
Our blogs will be changing, as we now have built our boat and NB Lillyanne will be up for sale in a few weeks. We’ll let you know what is happening once we know.