Back to model making today and listening to Tilly who would like to go out, her throne not an option on our current mooring due to cat health and safety legislation imposed on Oleanna. Meanies!!!!
Old and new versions
Today Mick had to relinquish the far end of the dinette table. I can confine myself to a small area, but that just means it takes a lot longer to do what I’m needing to do. Arches were remade, slight alterations to dimensions and a translucent layer added to them. For this I needed the model box out of the box and on view to see what worked best. The one scene took me most of the day, but it should now be ready for painting and explain more to those looking at the model how I would like the scenery to be built.
Now in the model box
Mick made himself scarce during the afternoon. A walk into town to look at the cathedral, Leeds Museum and the Art Gallery. The museum didn’t take long, an old fashioned informative place. The Cathedral even less time if any! Then the art gallery which held him for a while.
It could be a lily?
By the end of the day I’d finished off my model notes for panto. Time for a stretch of my legs. I decided to walk downstream along the river, then back through town. However not that far into my walk my calf hit back at me, a slower hobble required to get anywhere. This is now tedious as I want to be striding out as I was doing, but that is simply far too painful. I cut my walk short still managing to see some sights.
A giant multicoloured flower. A donkey. Some very good street art and some lovely old back streets.
Open wide!
Back to Oleanna for some chicken pasta, using things up and to finish off sock 199!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 gallery, 1 museum, 0 catholic cathedral, 3 new arches, 1 rose table,1 bench extension, 2 chandeliers, 1.45 miles walked, 21 minutes briskly, 1 calf needing a rest, 2000+ likes for a cat sat on a throne photo, 1 cat needing some shore leave! I’m sure my 2000+ fans on facebook would agree you should let me out!
This morning I had a telephone appointment with a GP in Scarborough, I’ve some wonky levels in my blood, which they are keeping an eye on. I checked phone coverage throughout the boat. Pretty poor, not unexpected. I tried out the stern, bad. Out the bow, that was much better, ahh no it dropped to only one bar! Would I have enough signal for the call?
The Queen on her throne
I worked through my panto model notes, then decided that I’d take a walk up to Woodlesford where the signal is far better, there was still an hour left of my appointment window, perfect to do both things together. I had to bully Tilly off of her throne so that I could go out, then I strode on up the cut towards the lock.
Out for a walk with the doctor
Past the road bridge signal improved greatly. Onwards past the lock and along the track heading for Fishpond Lock. I was surprised at the number of boats still moored on the towpath that had arrived when we were there. No phone call so I crossed over the lock gates and started to head back. More wooden birds seem to be on the roof of one boat, think it’s my favourite with it’s swan neck.
Then it started to rain. I took shelter under trees, my walk would soon have me leaving good signal if I kept up the pace anyway. Gosh the level was down. By the lock the bywash usually thunders away was just a mere trickle today, maybe C&RT were expecting a lot of rain so were compensating ready for it’s arrival. Looking at the river level over the bank, that had certainly gone up, less gravel visible.
I crossed back over the lock and sat on a bench for ten minutes, still no phone call. After a while I decided to give up and risk the doctor calling when I was back at the boat, I’d done all I could, but couldn’t afford any more time away from work.
Tilly earwigging
An hour later my phone rang, sticking my head out of the side hatch I managed to get sufficient signal for my call. Still wonky levels, I’m booked in for another blood test with extras in 3 months time, nothing to be alarmed about. You have to take them at their word really.
The roofer had been! He’d looked out of The Shed window from a ladder and said what we thought he’d say, the leading needed replacing, he’d be back tomorrow to do it. Great, if he turns up. Mick had just about got the house ready for lodgers by now, but decided he’d stay one more night to be around for the roofer.
Front cloth in
The white card model was worked through again, all done and dusted. Did I really need the second (or first) pair of sliders? We’ll see. I then had a go at making paper roses. We need a way of making them, that is simple but effective, for volunteers to make, we want quite a lot of them. I tried origami versions from the internet, some good, some so hard to follow I gave up quickly, others just ended up in a mess if you weren’t concentrating, so not ideal.
Would Marie Osmond approve?
I then tried one where you cut rings of petals then glue them together. Bingo! That’s the way to go. I made several sizes and one that will go on the proscenium so it had to be at 1:25 scale. It was quite fiddly, but I got there. Wonder if I’ll be as sucessful with paper that starts off as 2ft squares?!
Propelling pencil for scale
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 roofer Hooray!!! 1 white card model completed, 3.22 miles walked, 47 minutes briskly, 1hour 10 minutes late, 1 borderline, 1 rising, 3 months, 4 lovely roses, 1 diddy one for the model.
Thursday I spent working on the storyboard for Panto again. Editing out options, adding in the basic set to all the drawings and working on the one scene that’s still not quite right took most of the day.
The Christmas present felt catnip balls have been requested recently
I walked down one side of the river passing one bridge and crossing the next, opting to take the path inside RSPB St Aidens. The path occasionally gives you a view across the lakes that once were an open cast mine, the river lurks behind many trees on the other side.
Lakes everywhere
Soon I came across what looked very much like a disused lock. A gate recess first giving it away, then curved walls at what had been the entrance to the lock. A mooring bollard and a couple of now bent lock ladders peeked out from the earth that now fills the chamber. I checked Waterway Routes, locations of old locks are marked and we quite often try to imagine what places would have been like.
Lock stuff
In 1988 the river bank near the Lemonroyd Lock collapsed into St Aiden’s open cast mine which then of course flooded, lower seams of coal that had been mined collapsed in too, to a depth of 230 ft! An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1992 to create a new 1.9 mile waterway. Kipax and Lemonroyd Locks were replaced with one big lock, the new Lemonroyd Lock. It took ten years before mining could continue at St Aiden’s after the site had been pumped out. The coal reserves are now exhausted and the land is once again flooded and is an RSPB reserve covering 740 acres.
Stretching off into the grass
I tried to find where the top gates had been, but had no luck as the land levels out and covers any evidence.
Inventing for inventions sake
Friday. I forwarded the new storyboard to John at Chippy. There had been a staff read through of the latest draft during the week, footage posted on social media, my storyboard sat in the middle of the table. Time to crack on with the model, lots of propy set pieces this year, so my bead tray is coming in handy. I spent much of the day inventing things panto style.
Late afternoon a familiar voice saying Hello could be heard, Mick had returned from Scarborough having picked up a hire car. Well it was meant to have been a van, £20 a day rather than £60 for a car, but the only van they had was a transit which would be an inch taller than the car park Mick would be heading to in the morning, so he got an upgrade to a car. An evening off work for me and a vat of Yaxni made, which will last us for a couple of meals.
Saturday. A very early start for Mick, off the boat by 6am. He was heading to park in the centre of Liverpool and to then meet up with Marion and John for a trip on the Waverley out to Angelsey and back. A van, petrol and parking were far cheaper than a hotel for the night. If you are lucky he might come along and tell you about his voyage. If I’m lucky I might be able to upload a photo from the trip, but the internet here seems to be getting worse!
Only an empty plate to show
There was one egg left that needed eating so the start of my working day was delayed by some blueberry pancakes, well Mick was going off for a treat so I could have one too! Then Tilly and I got on with what is now just a normal day for us. She sites on the roof hatch whilst I work. Then she gets ushered indoors for me to go out for a walk, just around the block today including a trip to the bins. Just gone 11pm, I’d just tidied upmy work when Mick stepped onboard, he’d had a good day if a bit breezy and I’d managed to finish of the model for Act 1.
Metallic green critters
0 locks, 0 miles by narrowboat, 1 Paddle Steamer to Angelsey and back, 1 car not van, 3 days model making, 1 storyboard finished and sent, 1 gafforing read through, 1 Queen of Oleanna, I wonder if we could trust Tilly to lie on her bed as we cruise? Nope, she’d be off hunting as soon as the oportunity arrived!
A refill of the water tank, we’d been using the washing machine and had had to top up on the electric too. A shower for me whilst the tank filled so that I’d not need to head to the water point this week. Then just as we were untying to leave it decided to rain, not much thankfully. Sarah waved as we pulled out and turned back towards the canal, maybe next time we meet we’ll be able to have a longer chin wag.
A new arrival on the towpath
We pulled into the first available gap alongside the road that leads to the marina and awaited a supermarket delivery. Stocks were quite low and the wine cellar under the back steps nearly empty! With everything stowed we pulled away again and went to find a view for this week, away from badger holes. Mick added a spring line and we hoped that our chains would be strong enough should Off Roader come past heavily loaded.
Hooray!!!!
Time for Tilly to stretch her legs again on the towpath after being cooped up for a few days. With boat chores done Mick packed his bag and headed off to catch a bus into Leeds and then the train back to Scarborough. The roofers are returning to the house to tidy up, Mick thinks he’s found a probelm on a different bit of the roof! Time to get the house ready for our next lodgers.
Late evening I recieved an email from John, he’d spent all of Bank Holiday Monday working on the script for panto. There were new ideas he wanted to pass on, one that should give us a wonderful end to Act 1. Time to amend the current storyboard.
Crossing the River Aire
A walk before the rain was due. I’ve changed the shoes I’m wearing to walk in to see if that might help with my calf. So far it is better, but it’s not a miraculous recovery. On the other side of the River Aire is the site of some open cast mining, now St Aidans Nature Reserve. Numerous lakes and reedbeds were busy with so many birds it was almost deafening as I strode my way through a central path.
Great Crested Grebe, numerous geese and Tufted ducks, a lapwing who was camera shy and then this duck. The size of a female Mallard but with far superior plumage. Could it have been a Gadwall?
Big, medium and little boats
As I walked back to the boat I could hear that something big was on the canal. Off Roader had just come up Lemonroyd Lock. Would our chains hold as it went past deep in the water. Thankfully it didn’t get up to full speed as the canal was also being used by rowers, so Oleanna just bobbed about a touch, the ribs with the rowers causing more wash than the multi tonned barge!
New treads and flying bar supports and a spruced up prosc
Back at Oleanna I edited the storyboard for panto and emailed it to John, hoping this version would have a better responce. The answer came back from an initial look, he was all smiley, thank goodness! He’d be in touch tomorrow after spending some time with it. Phew! I pulled the model box out of my clothes cupboard. It’s been used a few times since I last had it and was showing it’s age. I deceided to give it a make over, and new rests for the flying bars, whilst I waited for Johns verdict.
The Queen of Oleanna
Tilly spent much of the afternoon avoiding getting her paws wet as the rain set it. She has taken to sitting on the stern hatch, so her bed was moved out there a week or so ago. Today it made for a very good DRY vantage point to watch the ducks and swans whilst listening to the rain.
Deer just visible near the piling
6:30am we bumped the side, Off Roader was on it’s way towards us. I peeked out of the front curtains, there it was some distance away. But more worryingly there was a deer in the cut! Oh blimey! Could I mount a rescue mission? It swam away from Oleanna trying to find somewhere to get out. I thought of various ways I might be able to help, the highish bank wouldn’t help, should I end up in the canal too that would not be a good thing as other than Off Roader there was nobody about. I so hope it managed to swim up stream where the bank is lower and doesn’t have piling.
Tilly has now worn this outside out, she’s used it all up so she says. Sitting in her viewing area wasn’t even enjoyable today. I walked round the block taking the rubbish to the bins at the marina. Plenty of Recycling and General Waste bins, then two wheelie bins with no lables on them. I assumed one would be for glass, correct assumption. The other for food waste, well nobody else seemed to have made that assumption had they!
Rose
Back at Oleanna I returned to a great email from John. Just one scene to rework and his choices on options I’d given him for other scenes. I now just need to finish off the storyboard to make it pretty and get cracking with the white card model and sketch working drawings before a meeting that is looming. I decided to treat myself to getting the basic set made for the model with an outline design drawn onto it. By 10:30pm I’d achieved my goal for the day. By 10:30 I’d given up hoping for a lap to sit on! Come back Tom I need someone to pay me some attention! I would just like to point out that I am not ignoring Tilly and I’m more than happy to play the fishing rod game at bedtime. Too right, if that stopped I’d be looking for somewhere else to live!
At Last, model bits!!!!
0 locks, 0.5 miles, 1 full water tank, 0 response from Aquavista still, 1 wind, 1 left, 2 moorings, 1 empty wee tank, 4 boxes wine, 1 full fridge, 2 sausage days, 1 world wet under paw, 8.57 miles walked, 130 minutes briskly, 1 Frank PA phone call, 1 viewing position, 1 edging restuck, 1 actor squeezed in, 2nd WIP storyboard, 1 big thumbs up, 1 scene to amend, 2 portals, 1 front cloth, 1 cyc, 1 improved modelbox, 1 theatre designer needing some new things to listen to.
The roofers arrived this morning and stripped off the other end of the roof. There used to be a couple of windows on this section but we’ve decided that they didn’t really serve any purpose for 99.9% of the time as they were in the roof space rather than the room and we’d rather have a water tight top to the house. Mick got the chance to stick his head through where there was once roof and see if he could see the sea. I think he needed a little bit more height to achieve that.
Ready for a tidy up tomorrow
By mid afternoon the hammering stopped and the world fell silent, the roofers had insulated, membraned, battened up and added a gully where there should have been one between us and our next door neighbours concrete roof tiles. Next job will be to tidy up. Mick has helped them a bit by chopping up some of the old wooden battens and saving them for fire wood.
Relaxing on the deck
Here on Oleanna, Tilly came and went whilst I got on with finishing off my sketches for the panto storyboard. These were then scanned, trimmed, put into order, descriptions written, references added and emailed off to John in the afternoon. I could do with a speedy reply and I’m aware that I omitted to add in obligatory crates and barrels into the Market scene. There’s always a market scene! We’ll see what John thinks.
The deeper wier
Tilly was gone for quite some time, I went out to check on her, walking straight down to the tree of refuge. As I called there was no reply so I worked my way back towards Oleanna, where opposite the side hatch I could just her a faint meow from deep inside the friendly cover. Friendly cover! That is serious obsticle course, danger deep mud, entanglement! You need a PHD in catness to work your way through that stuff. She managed to work her way through eventually popping out and requiring a good wash before returning for some more outside world.
Orange Tip
Today I opted to walk down to Lemonroyd Lock, the path on what feels like the offside of the canal is tarmaced and lined with young oak trees. The sun was warming the world up again. Male Orange Tip Butterflies sat on flowers, one decided I was quite a nice perch too. There is an old gravel works wharf that you have to walk round, here Red Hot Pokers rose from the banks.
More orange tips
On the river side there are two wiers, one just a small drop, the other makes up the depth of Lemonroyd Lock. The new rowing club, that on the CRT notice suggests it’s a years trail, seems to be quite large with getting on for 8 sturdy containers all painted dark green and surrouded by fencing. A group from a local academy school were warming up on the bank before climbing aboard. They certainly give the impression they are here to stay.
The tap working again
Down at the lock todays watch from the local Fire Brigade were having a look at things, presumably should they ever need to rescue anyone. The water point was back in action, a wide beam busy watering thier flower pots and topping up their tank. A lovely walk there and back, sadly still with a hobble.
All wrapped up
The afternoon was spent doing some secret wrapping. Tilly helped. Then I had to help her adjust the card she’d got for Mick. Normally we have to hide in the bedroom to do this, but today we had the luxury of using the dinette table. Some secret baking was postponed til the morning as the butter was too hard to cream with sugar. Here’s hoping the morning warms up to help.
0 locks, 0 miles, 16 sketches, 22 references, 1 email, 1 Designer waiting for 1 Director, 3.78 miles walked, 63 minutes briskly, 4 presents, 1 cat card adjusted, 1 cake on hold, 1 roof prepped ready for new tiles.
Two outsides again for Tilly today. This end of the moorings seems to be preferential, maybe there’s not quite so much fence to get through. She wasn’t seen for quite sometime as we had breakfast and then made a big fuss when the door stayed closed after she’d come in.
More pretty flowers
I walked round over the lock and then towards the flood lock, my calf still playing up a little, my morning stretches a little hard to do right now.
What a rust bucket
On the roof of one of the long term moorers sits a car. At closer quarters I don’t think it’s a very useful car as it has four flat tyres and if you sneezed close to it it would disintegrate into a pile of rust dust.
Through we go
The flood lock was open both ends so no need for me to press buttons, I just needed a lift. Castleford flood lock used to have a bridge over it, there’s still the remains of it, but pedestrians can’t cross it and with both sets of gates open to boat traffic it’s quite a long way round to the road bridge as two cyclists found out.
Boats out for a river cruise
We turned right onto the river. Early last year we’d been stuck at Castelford due to flooding and waited for the lock light to return to amber from flashing red, we made a dash this way towards Leeds as soon as we could to escape the night time generators. Today the river was tranquil, three herons stood fishing at the waters edge, only flying off as we approached. The willow drifting in the air like snow and lying on the waters surface.
Tying up good and proper
We passed several boats coming towards us, would the big lock at Lemonroyd still be empty when we reached it? Or would it have had time to refill? It came into sight, it had started to refill, by the time I’d got to the pedestal it was level with the next pound. I waited for Mick to secure the bow line to the lock landing then set the paddles going. So much water! It takes ages to empty, I was surprised that the gongoozlers stayed to watch us so long.
Going up the vast lock
A top up of water was required. Plenty of boats moored by the water point. Thankfully Sarah from NB Honky Tonk, a Finesse boat, had warned us that the water point was out of action. Not good! But there was another tap at the service block if we moored close to it then our hoses might just stretch to reach it. If not the next place would be to moor close to the marina entrance and they’d try to pass a hose out to us. We managed the former solution and filled the tank up, lending it to the cruiser moored in front to top them up as well. I had a shower as we filled up to keep the tank at full for as long as possible.
A new rowing centre since we were last here
Onwards to the mooring we prefer. Under the bridge, past the arm and alongside some trees which would hopefully give shade in the afternoon. Shops quite close, water point nearish and Woodlesford Station along with plenty of things to keep Tilly occupied. She was given four hours shore leave and told not to use this outside all up today, ‘It’s got to last you a while Tilly!’
With most things ticked off the list of mooring requirements, over lunch the internet was tried out. It was okay, not as quick as I’d have liked, but okay.
A walk up to the Co-op for some bread and a few bits. I set off, sadly half way there my calf complained, so brisk walking had quite a hobble to it. The Co-op maybe hadn’t been the best choice as many of their shelves were empty after their IT problems of late, but I managed to get enough provisions to last a while.
I wonder who lives down there?!
Two boats had pulled up, who could blame them it’s a nice mooring, but they had three woofers! Then I spotted quite a sizable hole about ten foot away from our stern. Too deep to just be woofers digging, was it a fox or badgers home? Maybe here wasn’t such a good place to be after all!
Then the internet slowed right down too, hard for websites to load, not so good for online meetings. We may be moving in the morning!
2 locks, 1 being an open flood lock, 4.5 miles, 1 right, 3.54 miles walked, 51 minutes briskly, 2 hose filling,1 shower, 10 gongoozlers, 1 tea boat, 1 quiet mooring, 2 more boats, maybe another 2, 3 woofers, 1 big hole, 1 painful calf, 1 not so perfect mooring.
I opted to walk ahead again today, covering the same route up to Bank Dole Junction that I’d walked a few days ago. Then onwards crossing over Trundles Lane Bridge turning left to walk along the towpath towards Ferrybridge. A lady walked her three dogs, all pretty strong. Other dogs made a beeline for them, smaller dogs barking and straining on their leads for blood! Just what was it about these woofers to cause such a fuss?
Freda’s garden is an immaculate length of the towpath. Roses, Lilies, shrubs all very pretty and cared for by the community in Freda’s memory Freda used to live in a cottage by the canal and she treated the stretch of towpath between Cow Lane Bridge and Shepherds Bridge as if it were her own garden, it is now tended by volunteers in her memory.
Hello!
As I approached the flour mill Oleanna was catching me up, Mick knocked back the revs to accompany my pace. Boats were moored by the amphitheatre, rope added to old mooring ring fixings to make this possible.
The path up high
The path then moves to on top of the bank, a narrow strip of land separating the canal from the River Aire with it’s weir. The flood lock would be open today, so I’d arranged to be picked up just before it, my brisk minutes done for the day.
Ferry Bridge
Out onto the River Aire, under Ferry Bridge designed by John Carr in 1797. This reach of the river used to be interesting, but since the cooling towers of Ferrybridge Power Station were demolished it’s just another river with willow trees exploding their seeds everywhere, the air thick with them.
Someone has tried to add a bit of interest by building a wooden structure, possibly for a tree house or just a good place to launch oneself into the river. Under the A1M, the railway bridge. Then Bulholme Railway Bridge came into view, the lock off the river just beyond it.
Key of Power in hand I emptied the lock, a cruiser was getting ready to come down, so the lady pressed the buttons at the top end for us. Now to find a mooring.
The bank is high here
We didn’t want to be too far along and be near the permanent moorings as the boats there tend to run their gennies late, very late at night. So we were pleased to see plenty of space nearer the lock to tie up to. Tilly got to have an explore, her second outside of the day, before we headed out to do a bit of shopping in Cas (Castleford).
The nearby Premier shop didn’t have anything for my lunches, todays special had been a foot long hot dog, so we had to carry on into town to the supermarkets. Morrisons did it’s best for us and a red onion was purchased off a green grocer. We made sure we crossed the river on the curvy bridge so we’d get some respite from the cars.
Curvy
On our way back to the boat we called in at what we’ve always thought was a garden centre. They had a Thyme plant, my old one bought from a boat had finally died last year. There was also a big bag of kindling which Mick picked up. They also sell a LOT of booze, kegs of beer and bottles of all sorts of flavoured spirits.
This afternoon I went through CV’s of potential props makers and put the top six in order of preference. Then I started to collect reference pictures for Panto. Set in 1890’s France I had a lot to look through on Pinterest and set up a board to look at later.
Just by the dry dock a pretty car
2 locks, 1 open, 8.2 miles, 1 left, 0 cooling towers, 1 lovely garden, 2 outsides, 1 pooped cat, 1 sunny day again, 1 thyme plant, £6 bag of kindling, 1 heat wave now guaranteed to continue, 1 PA catch up, 6 possibles, 6.43 miles walked, 53 minutes briskly, 1 warm chicken salad.
At around 2am I was woken by a noise. The sort of noise that Tilly occasionally creates when she pears out of the bathroom porthole and moves the glass a little and it clinks against the frame. There was no Tilly curled up on the bed with me, maybe she was peeking out of the porthole. I went to see what was happening asking her to keep the noise down.
She was curled up on the sofa, nowhere near the porthole.
The lights at the auctioneers are really quite bright, I’d considered putting a bung in the bathroom porthole but hadn’t got round to it. I could see the shadow of a figure sat outside. I peeked round the glass just how Tilly does.
Sat staring straight at me was a smoky grey cat. I said hello, it didn’t reply. It leant forward and tried to open the window again, no luck. It peered over it’s shoulder then back at me. I closed the window expecting it to run away, but no it just sat there.
“Sorry Tilly’s not coming out to play tonight, she doesn’t like cats“, I said. It still didn’t reply. I closed the porthole and put the bung in, that should stop it from trying to break in again.
Across the docks
A walk after breakfast for some supplies. Down to Ocean Lock, across the top gates then into town. A stop off at Boyes to see if they had a caddy for our food waste, they did. Then on to Morrisons for the rest of of the shopping and some suitable liners for the caddy. Goole has the first food waste bin we’ve seen, (CRT is introducing better recycling across the network) so we need to start doing our bit, not that we didn’t before. Just need to find somewhere in the small galley to keep the caddy!
A small caddy in a small galley
An email came from John Terry at Chippy regarding a scene in panto with a link to show what was meant. When reading the script yesterday I’d got a little confused at a scene in Act 2, things seemed to jump, then jump back. A previous version of the scene had somehow got mixed into the pdf I’d been sent. By lunchtime I had a tidied up version of the script 10 pages shorter. John had been in a rush to get a script to me before last weekend. Time to sit down and re-read the script this time highlighting bits as I went on the computer, I’ll print it out later.
Hope the slate floor survives!
Mick arrived back from Scarborough, the next stage of works completed at the house and an annual check up at the doctors all done. He was told he needed to be quiet as I still had more to read, this time it making a lot more sense, well as much as a Panto ever does!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 train, 1 new caddy, 1 rucksack not zipped up properly, 0 shopping lost, phew! 1 cat burglar, 1 sleeping guard cat, version 1.2 of panto read and noted, 2 ships, 4.12 miles walked, 65 minutes briskly.
Being in York meant that I could accompany our friend Frank on a hospital appointment here. A slow start to the day had been planned, but then I discovered that Frank had a whole itinerary for his visit. So it was a swift breakfast, I listened for his train crossing Scarborough Bridge and then had a brisk walk to meet him at the hospital.
Buzz on top of the world at the hospital
Appointment One (Junction 5) was short, so time for a sit down by the main entrance before the next. Here I bumped into an old school friend whom I haven’t seen for most probably 40 years! Lynn and I managed a ten minute chat before her lift arrived, quickly catching up on news of other friends we’re still in touch with.
Jane, Pip, Lynn, Emma at my 5th birthday party
Then it was Junction 6 to await for Franks appointment. Followed by a much needed sit down before his final appointment of the day at Junction 8. We ended up covering quite a few steps going to and fro from department to department, so when Frank was sat on an exercise bike he was actually glad of a sit down. That was before he knew he had to cycle up the Col de Tourmalet!
Refreshments at York Tap
Unless York has changed getting a taxi has always been problematical, you really need to have booked one, well in advance, like a week! So hoping that you could just climb into one outside the front door of the hospital was not realistic. So we had a steady walk back towards the station, thankfully I knew the way, more or less a straight line through Bootham Park Hospital which was built in the 1770’s as a lunatic asylum, designed by John Carr (founder of my Dad’s architectural practice). Frank was surprised at how pleasant the walk was. At the station we met with Mick at York Tap for a beer. They had a cask of gluten free beer for me as well as a good selection of other brews for the boys.
Pizza!!
A much needed pizza was required for the man of the day, so we walked over Lendal Bridge to Pizza Express. Enjoyed far too much food and a glass of wine each. Before we all left, there was the obligatory visit to the toilets. The building used to be the Yorkshire Club and the tile work in the loos is wonderful, in the gents the old urinals have been brought back into use too.
Fab tilework
We had a cuppa back on board Oleanna whilst waiting for the next train back to Scarborough, then we waved Frank goodbye.
Cliffords Tower
I was still short on my walking so opted to walk round the block, well three bridges down and back again. The sun was going down. The road works by York Station were getting noisier. The aroma in the air was as if Rowntrees Factory had exploded, such an evocative smell from my childhood, liquid chocolate……..mmmmmm!
I walked round the back of Cliffords Tower and noticed that this side of the huge bank was covered in blue bells. How lovely, earlier in the year it is covered in daffodils.
Blue Boar in York
A quiet evening onboard was quite spoilt by noisy groups sitting on the bank by Oleanna, but they were soon drowned out by the road works across the river! These continued well past midnight, keeping Mick awake until 2am.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 junctions, 3 appointments, 2 more narrowboats, 0 taxi, 1 pleasant walk, 2.5 pints, 3 glasses wine, 3 pizzas, 1 old school friend, 1 twilight walk, 5.45 miles walked, 58 minutes briskly, 1 noisy mooring for a Monday night.
Awake again at 7am with the University rowers. A while later a couple of sculls came down from York Rowing club, the lady asking her friend about boats moored along this stretch. There are only two of us, the other up by the Foss which we’ve seen elsewhere , it does have the look as if it might be staying for a while. Her friend said boats moor up for a couple of days and then move on. She said something about how there obviously wasn’t any enforcement. Well there are no signs to say we can’t moor here or back by the Foss, we’re not exactly in anyones way. Well maybe the trip boats are winding a little bit sooner than they were a week ago, but only by a hundred yards. So we don’t have a problem with it and she shouldn’t either.
Millennium Bridge
A slow morning. I wanted to print off some things , so Mick left me to it and he went to have a look at the station works. Once I’d finished off what I was doing I took a walk along New Walk to Millenium Bridge, crossed over and walked back up the other side of the river past Rowntrees Park. There is a caravan site here and motorhomes were arriving in a steady stream.
Interesting cars by the lock
Some preparation for tomorrows party, I’m in charge of pudding so made a batch of sweat pastry from a new recipe book I got at Christmas. I’d got so far with it when there were Hellos from outside. Andrew and Josh had arrived for the weekend, having driven up from London in a small van bringing the old family dining table with them for the flat in Fishergate. They’d been thinking of swapping the flats existing table for a while as it wasn’t really large enough for six. So a return to York for the table Dad had made and that we grew up with was perfect especially for this weekend. We had chats and a cuppa, then they headed off to await a Tesco delivery followed by Jac who’d be arriving later by train.
Pastry finished and a batch of what looked like nice rosemary crackers, however they turned out to be a little disappointing, a river bank hair cut for Mick.
Time to finish my walking for the day, up a snicket between houses that I hadn’t noticed before, checked the opening times at Alligator, a wholefood shop that’s been there since the 70’s, then walked down streets where school friends used to live back towards the river bank. Sadly a great fish and chip shop has gone, time your arrival close to closing and you’d get double helpings. The Wellington Pub is awaiting new management to run it, a lovely little pub. I was tempted but I couldn’t spot the bar billiards table that used to reside in the side room, so that was a deal breaker.
This outside is getting boring now!
In flotilla news, word is that Denham Deep Lock should be open again on Saturday afternoon. We’ve got our fingers crossed for all the boats heading to Cavalcade and the Campaign Cruise to the Houses of Parliament.
