Tilly was left in charge today with her evening dingding already served before 9am, we were off for a day trip and some culture.
We took the train from Thorne North, the conductor on the train said we’d need to change at Goole for our Express Train to Scarborough. This made us both laugh. How can the train be an express when it stops at every stop and takes 1hour 58 minutes? You can drive it in about 1 hour 20 minutes!
A bit of culture
The train arrived in Scarborough with plenty of time to spare before lunch so we decided to have a look at the new exhibition at the Old Parcel Office at the end of the station car park. Fruiting Bodies is an sculpture exhibition from London based art collective Changeable Beasts. There were a couple of pieces which caught our eye in a good way, a pear tree that has been trained for the last five years to be symmetrical, a pair of red trainers swathed in watches and some large wooden blocks that have been painted and carved with patterns. The rest of the exhibition looked like the pieces had been pulled out of poor unsuspecting human bodies and really didn’t do anything for either of us.
Hmm!
Time to pick up our tickets at the SJT and settle down for lunch. A big treat lunch at Eat Me of burger and chips, they do do other things, but their burgers are so good they can’t be resisted. Quite often we bump into someone we know, today was no exception as Duncan came in soon followed by Jaye old friends of ours. We also had a visit from Annie one of our lodgers at the moment.
Naughty, but very nice
With an hour to kill before the show I sped off to clock up some more minutes and left Mick to saunter to the Town Hall to look out at the sea. I walked across Valley Bridge and then down into the valley to check on the daffodils. One side of the valley past it’s best, the other still pretty good. These are daffodils for Marie Curie.
The Valley daffodils
When I got down to the beach I had to change my planned route as of course it is the Easter holiday and the Foreshore was rammed, the beach pretty busy too.
A hazy Scarbados
I opted to walk to the Spa instead, a wedding soon to take place in the Sun Court, then back over Spa Bridge into town and back to the theatre where we met with Frank, who’d also come to see the show at the SJT.
A fab location for a wedding
Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) has been adapted by Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane. A hen and stag do end up both taking place in Ibiza. Songs from the 90’s aid the plot with girl power, Cher, Meat Loaf, Shania Twain to mention just a few. Plenty of gyrating hips, mislaid love letters, Hawaiian pills from Swindon, Lara Croft, Blind Date and Stars In Their Eyes. It was as expected bonkers, very funny, great cast all round, but maybe just a touch too long. Having half of the cast staying in our house we had to come to see it, very glad we did. Only one week left of the run.
Love’s Labour’s Lost when the show was at Shakespeare North.
A cuppa with Frank and chance to briefly meet Jo for the first time, another lodger before we caught the train back to Thorne, changing this time from the Express train at Brough.
My favourite quote from my last Ayckbourn show
A very good day out.
Where’s my dingding?! In your tummy Tilly!
In Fund Britains Waterways Flotilla news, all boats have now ascended the Foxton flight, some have made it down Watford and are making their way south on the Grand Union. There may be a little delay in their cruise southwards as a lock is closed on the Marsworth flight, hopefully it will be mended quickly. If you haven’t already please sign the petition
0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 exhibition, 2 many entrails, 2 burgers, 4 slices of extra cheese (between us), 1 more Duncan mention, 3.84 miles walked, 41 minutes briskly, 1 busy Scarborough, 1 wedding, 1 hen and stag do, 4 lodgers, 1 bonkers show, 1 cat with an empty bowl, 2nd dingding please, 0 chance Tilly.
After breakfast we both headed to see if there was anything to buy with yellow labels. Mick headed to Waitrose, a pint of milk and a Saturday newspaper, plus a look around to see what might have yellow stickers on that could go in the freezer for another day.
Sad Gits bread
I headed to the other side of the river to M&S, here I was greeted with quite a few yellow stickers. It seems the morning is best at M&S, evening best at Waitrose. I scanned loaves of bread, spicy Spanish rice. Not many things either took my fancy or I could eat. However a box of Frites and a gf Tiger loaf of bread jumped in my basket. Once back at Oleanna the former was split into two and the loaf sliced up and all popped into the freezer.
A blue world down on the river today
We pushed off heading down stream. Mick radioed ahead incase there was a Lock Keeper on duty at Nether Lock, again Cromwell Lock replied that there was no-one there today. The key of power would be needed. Since coming through Nether Lock the last time the buttons seem to have been made more sensible. The lock resets itself to being full, in the past I’ve had to press the OPEN button as if the lock was empty, waiting for the flashing to stop before doing it again despite the sluices already being open. Today the gates just opened and I could call Mick to bring Oleanna straight in.
At the bottom end things also seemed to be quicker, the periods between button presses much shorter than I remembered, however it took forever for the lock to realise it was now empty, stop it’s flashing light and let me open the gates.
Down on the river it was breezy, white horses, lumpy water. Thank goodness we’ve opted to keep the stove ticking over inside.
Us and our neighbours
Approaching Cromwell pontoon we could see a widebeam was moored up. Would there be room for us on the outside? Or would we opt to wind and reverse into the upstream inside? The widebeam was right in the middle of the outside, two spare mooring cleats in front, one behind, enough room for us if they nudged up. We winded and headed for the inside, at least we’d have a view from our bedroom window. Later on we found out that when they’d arrived it had been so windy they were relieved to just get moored up to the pontoon.
Lunch then a walk up the river bank, back to North Muskham. About a 10/15 minute walk you come across a tea room at a farm, Lil Maggies and the Secret Barn, laid out in (surprise surprise) a barn with a tent and caravans about. It was too late for me to sample their vitals, but maybe when we come back this way later we’ll see what’s on offer.
St Wilfred’s of North Muskham, not to be confused with St Wilfred’s of South Muskham
I walked up to St Wilfred’s Church, the very well worn door obliged in being unlocked. Inside was far smaller than I’d expected, chairs rather than pews. Parts of the church date back to 1190 and it contains what are probably the earliest octagonal piers in the county. The chancel and north aisle were rebuilt in 1530, funded by J Barton of Holme, the family coat of arms appears around the church. The Tudor oak rude screen is very impressive for such a little church. They have developed a very canny way of avoiding molten wax from dripping on peoples heads.
I looked for a slightly different route back to the boat avoiding the A1. This took me through the village past a totem pole and around a large lake surrounded by a housing estate and then back onto the river bank. A rather blustery walk.
North Muskham Totem pole
The pontoons here have electric posts. Mick went to see if he could get one of them to work. They used to work with the old CRT pump out cards that you could buy on line or at Locks. These are supposedly being phased out at pump outs and chip and pin readers installed. There was a time when you could trade your old cards in, we never got round to doing this so had a couple on board. The second card Mick tried worked, it had one unit left, the post sprang into life. The unit lasted two wash cycles, a second tank of hot water and some tumble drying before it stopped working.
This evening we’ve enjoyed half of our yellow stickered ‘sad gits’ frites with some salmon, very nice it was. We’ve also raised a glass or two to being boat owners for 11 years, having picked NB Lillyanne up from her previous owners in 2014.
The Fund Britain’s Waterways Campaign Cruise reached The Soar Boat Club at Normanton on Soar today. If you haven’t already done so please sign the petition, the link is at the top right hand side of this page.
1 lock, 5 miles, 2 yellow labels, 1 pint, 1 newspaper, 0 shore leave again for Tilly, 5.02 miles walked, 73 minutes briskly, 11 years of floating our own boat.
Sunshine and lack of wind, brilliant, we’d be back on the move again, along with others. As we untied a couple of boats came past both heading for Thorne, would there be enough space for us to moor? Would we be able to top up on diesel before heading out onto the tidal Trent on the 1st? We pushed off and headed eastwards.
Weaving along the canals again
The ends were woven in on pair 63 of my sockathon as we made our way through Stainforth. It had been quite chilly when we’d left so we’d dressed to cheat the wind, but as we came under the railway bridge towards Staniland Marina a chap from a boat suggested we’d not be needing the waterproofs today.
Flying my flag high
I peeked along the first line of boats to see if I could spot Della who has had about six pairs of my socks from me in the last couple of years, but I couldn’t spot her, maybe when we come back this way I’ll give her a heads up as it’s nice to meet the people who’s feet I’ve knitted for.
Staniland deserted
The service point was free, we pulled in. Yesterday we’d tried ringing to check how much their diesel was and what hours they’d be open today at Staniland, but no-one answered. Mick walked to the chandlers whilst I inhaled the fumes from someone blacking their boat in the shed next door. Still no sign of anyone around to sell us diesel, we decided to drop down the lock and call in at Thorne Marine instead.
I walked on to the lock where a volunteer was washing weed through the lock, ‘won’t be a minute’. I stood on the towpath ready to close the road barrier and then push the bridge out of Oleanna’s way, closing it quickly to let a car across. The volunteer pressed his buttons on his remote, with this he can work individual gates and sluices unlike on the pedestal. I chose to ride down the lock on Oleanna, nothing for me to do lockside.
Waiting for Thorne Lock to be ready
There was a gap suitable for Oleanna to pull into at Thorne Marine, but would the pump reach our tank? It took a little bit of jigging about and moving a small cruiser for us to reach the hose comfortably, the tank was filled and a length of flexible conduit purchased to tidy up the cables on the tunnel light and horns.
Then to the dismay of a fishing match we reversed back and turned into the visitor moorings, soon followed by a big cruiser that came back and forth disturbing everyone’s fresh bait as another narrowboat tried to squeeze past!
Anyone want a door?
Shopping. Our next shops will be in Newark so some fresh items were required, we headed to Sainsburys and Lidl. Lunch, socks packed up, receipts scanned, water tank filling. I headed off to pop the socks in the post and top up my minutes walking. Yesterdays migraine thankfully was much improved, but was leaving me with a slight unsteadiness whilst trying to find a post box. I tried by the Post Office, an obvious place, but none in view. I spotted one across a busy main road and decided that with no crossing I’d carry on with my hunt. Then 50 yards from where I’d first looked, round a bend from the modern Post Office was a double whammy box, this must have been where the original Post Office had been.
Back at Oleanna it was either stay put for the rest of the day, or make a move now before sitting down. The later was chosen just as a call from the fishermen came along the line at 4pm, the match was over, lines brought in. We’d not be disturbing anyone now.
lights, buttons and instructions for the Princessess bridge
With the key of power I walked up to Princess Royals Bridge, yes the temperamental bridge. I turned the key, no clunk. I waggled barriers one wasn’t held back, I waggled it more. A very chatty lad came over to chat and ask me all the questions he could think of whilst I tried to re-read the instructions in case there was a new handy hint to get the bloomin bridge moving. More wiggling. A lady watch with her dog saying that you need to keep your finger on the button to close it properly for far longer than you’d imagine, except I was trying to open it!
Mick pulled the boat in, time to get him involved waggling gates too. More questions about Oleanna now and ‘Do fish follow boats?’ he was fishing with his mates. I pressed the open button, still nothing. I pressed the closed button, the warning siren sounded, no movement noticed, but we did get a big clunk. With all barriers now moveable we closed them all, a crowd collecting now. The bridge moved. Mick brought Oleanna through and I started to close the bridge just as one of the young lads decided to walk along where the bridge was heading. ‘Get out of the way! You moron!!‘ Thankfully he did.
I made sure I kept the button pressed for far longer than you’d think and then some to get the big clunk before opening the gates. We could be on our way again as the young lads flung their lines back into the canal hoping to catch a fish or three.
NB Christopher B tucked in and for sale
The wind picked up as we passed NB Christopher B. Two years ago we’d shared bridge hopping with NB That’s It and NB Christopher B when Lesley had an awful accident at the next bridge trapping her leg between the side of the piling and their boat. Their boat is up for sale £58,000. I wonder how they are doing?
Past Blue Water Marina and on to Wykewell Lift Bridge. the wind was now very strong. I took extra care whilst stepping off, the sky darkening all the time. Was it nearly time to stop for the day? Maybe.
I lifted the bridge holding two cars up, Mick brought Oleanna through and pulled in at the bridge landing. Once back on board there was no getting Oleanna off the bank. We tried pushing the bow out, a reverse Andy, the bow thruster worked a bit. But we decided we’d had enough so managed to bow haul her off the bridge landing where she obediently sat by the bank as we tied her up for the night.
Sorry Tilly too late and it wasn’t a suitable mooring for cats anyway.
Blimey that wind was ferocious! Fat fenders deployed to keep us away from the big iron bar along the piling. Bungs needed in the portholes on the windy side to stop the drafts and whistling. Our extractor fan was making noises even though it wasn’t on!
Boats at Strawberry Island all ready to head off
Back in Doncaster at Strawberry Island Cruising Club the intrepid boaters headed for the Fund Britains Waterways Campaign Cruise all gathered with flags flying and bunting fluttering for the launch of their cruise southwards. Seven boats look like they will be heading to Keadby for Tuesdays early start.
Last night we’d heard of a possible breach on the Macclesfield Canal. Water was making it’s way out of the canal disrupting the towpath. By this morning boats were being moved from the affected area above Bosley Locks and stop planks were going in. The breach having increased in size over night. This now means another route from the north to south is blocked, leaving the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Trent the only means to get up and down the country. Thankfully for us we’d not planned on heading over to the north west this year, but plenty had and have been replanning routes that now will require some extra thought.
1 lock, 5.2 miles, 3 bridges, 2 cars held up, numerous pedestrians held up, 1 full diesel tank, 1 full water tank, 1 load washing, 1 chicken to roast, 1 launch party, 1 more big hole in a canal.
Sykehouse Junction to the Site of Smallhedge Swing Bridge
An early alarm, well we were both awake before it went off. Tea in bed and hopefully awake enough to have a telephone consultation with a GP anytime between 07:30 and 09:30. My phone rang from a Hull phone number at 08:20. This year I seem to have been giving the NHS a lot of my blood and this was a follow up appointment to discus the latest results. The previous results had prompted questions about iron levels and was there any history of iron overload in my family! Thankfully today various levels had returned to normal so I must have had what they call a ‘sub-clinical infection’. I had the choice of another blood test in 2 weeks or 8 weeks to check on one enzyme that was still a bit wonky. I was praised on my walking and loosing of weight and to keep it up. He also said he could only tell me with certainty what I didn’t have. Have to say this GP was good, it didn’t feel like he was in a rush and was happy for me to ask questions.
Coming over the Went Aqueduct
My biggest worry had been that if I did have iron overload then the usual treatment involves donating blood. If you normally donate blood I believe you can only do this around every three months, well this treatment would have involved giving blood at least once a fortnight, maybe once a week! So I’m very relieved that I don’t need to cruise with a vampire close to hand! Reading back on the notes the GP made, I have been noted as living on a longboat, therefore we are Vikings!
Tilly was allowed morning shore leave. It’s amazing how different she is on the boat compared to the house. When she came in she requested this mooring should be given a stamp of approval, friends had been found.
Only a short distance to cruise today. I opted to walk to operate the bridges whilst Mick brought Oleanna behind, got to keep walking to fend off the need for vampires!
Lift!
The first bridge is a lift bridge, only one vehicle held up. The second a swing bridge, another car and a cyclist held up here. I’d already spotted that the light at the lock was on red not amber, there was a lock keeper on duty, so once Oleanna was through the bridge I hopped back on board.
Two down and one to go up
The traffic light was now showing red and green, the lock was being prepared for us. On closer inspection it also contained two downhill boats. We trod water waiting for the red light to go out leaving just green. Today the Lockie had a helper. He took our rope wrapped it round a bollard three times and then couldn’t take up the slack. Once this was sorted he then passed the rope around a railing by the car park, totally unnecessary but it made him feel useful.
Very helpful if not so good with ropes
The Lockie checked which way we’d be going and if we knew about certain stoppages. There’s a pontoon near Long Sandal Lock which is being used whilst the flood defences are being worked on, then at Eastward Lock up towards Sheffield there is an electrical problem. Neither of these would affect us, we also mentioned the stoppage at Thorne Lock, he didn’t know about that one.
There’s just so much to do here
Up the lock and on to where we’ve moored before, just short of where there used to be another swing bridge. My long handled mini roller pole came in handy for passing chains round the bar on the armco, saving getting soggy knees. Once tied up Tilly the thug was let loose. The bank down from the canal is an ideal friendly spot. She was kept busy for much of the afternoon.
It’s High Street is 8 miles long!
Thankfully I managed to find a gap in weather for a walk to top up my minutes and steps. Back to the lock, over the bridge and on through fields to Sykehouse village. Here I came across a campsite at the back of the pub, tried to have a look in the church but the door was locked, checked the village sign and in all only walked about 100 yards of the longest village in Yorkshire before returning to the canal on a different footpath.
It may be deep and wide, but you still leave a wake
As I’d set out there had been a dutch barge approaching the low side of the lock, on my return I could hear gates or the bridge being closed. it had taken them around half an hour if not more to get through the lock. I crossed over the bridge and walked back to Oleanna only just being overtaken by the none slowing down barge before I got back. I think the chap needs a touch more practice at the wheel to save his crew from having to stand around waiting for twenty minutes to be picked up.
Inside Oleanna the big box needed getting rid of. It was useful for transporting another box, but really it was far FAR too big for it’s purpose, it would be handy to have a more suitably sized box. I spent the next hour tailoring it for both it’s contents and the space I could allow it. Job done it fitted snuggly in my clothes cupboard.
So what’s in the box? I might leave that for another time.
Suet crust with chicken, leek and mushrooms
This evening we celebrated my good appointment with the GP by blowing my new diet and having homemade Teviot chicken and leek pies. The pastry crust made with gluten free vegetable suit. I’m going to have to do a lot of walking to work that one off!
1 lock, 1.7 miles, 3 bridges, 2 cars held up, 1 cyclist held up, 2 outsides, 1 cat grounded to save the wild life, 0 vampires, 1 box reduction for another box, 4.65 miles walked, 75 minutes brisky, 2 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval, 2 indulgent pies.
Tide was in by the time we got to the beach Christmas morning
Christmas and Birthday. We’ve had a good year this year, not so many boaty presents as usual, but still some worth mentioning.
Mick got a serious pair of bolt croppers. These may be handy should anything ever seriously stubborn find its way onto Oleanna’s prop. A new weather station is currently being tested out, there are frequent comments as to the temperature on the coal bunker outside the back of the house. The old weather station wasn’t quite so detailed and it had ceased to show you much other than the time! I had considered getting Mick one that showed the tide times, this may have come in handy for 2025, but he’d selected a different model on his present list. Gardening gloves and bulbs for the house, hopefully the squirrels will leave the bulbs alone as the number of daffodils in the front flower bed seem to have decreased since we let the house out ten years ago, so hopefully we’ll be able to boost them again this year.
I got a new ‘to me’ camera! It was a well researched pre owned purchase from Amazon. I’ve taken a few photos so far mainly of garden benches for reference in the weeks to come. I must read the instruction book to make the most of it. So far so good, it has a 30 times optical zoom. No macro setting that I’ve found yet, but a symbol occasionally appears. I’ll just have to get used to carrying it about with me again and using it rather than my phone.
We need at least two more people to be able to play The Traitors game
A new bumbag came from Josh. The one I bought last year was waterproof to start with, but as it was used the coating was wearing off, so a bad purchase. Hopefully this new one will be better and there is plenty of room for my camera and phone. As suggested by Jennie I will endeavour to swivel it round to the side or my back when working locks so as to avoid pressing buttons on my camera which most probably did for the last one.
Tilly got a book on the Regents Canal with places to eat.I’ve had a scan through it, however it doesn’t mention Perivale Wood at Ballot Box Bridge, a busy fast moving spot, with delicious rodent main courses. It also mentions too many places I’ve not been allowed to sample as shore leave was deemed unsafe.
There’s always scissors
I’ve also had three large white hardback books. One a gluten free baking book with lots of science in it, another a veggie cook book and Billy Connelly’s arty book. All will require some looking at. I also got a bag of Italian pizza flour that is gf. I’ve heard good things about it so I’ll be giving it a go in the new year. Oh and some sock stitch markers.
A cats Protection t shirt and a chopping board came from Tilly, She needs reminding of my dingding time at frequent intervals throughout the afternoon when She’s in, so let this serve as a reminder when she’s outside too! I also got some new baking trays for the boat, the ones I’ve been using were really quite cheap and tinny, so these are an upgrade.
We’ve gradually been eating our way through the mountains of Christmas food, my birthday cake is still on going, I must remember to make a half sized one next year. It was a very good choice, but we’re a little bit bored with it now.
Well the time of year to buy a new licence for Oleanna has arrived. A bigger outlay than in previous years as we now have the Continuous Cruisers surcharge to pay for. We want to cruise the network so we don’t mind paying the extra. However we have waited for the latest credit card statement to come through before buying next year’s licence to help spread the cost a bit.
Tilly’s new rechargeable catnip felt balls
On the renewal there was a button to read the continuous cruisers rules. Mick clicked the button only to find it led to a “404 error. Page not found”! He then hunted round until he found a version of them from 2022. I have just found a more up to date copy (03/2024) but blimey it doesn’t half take some finding!
For those who don’t know about the new Continuous Cruisers surcharge, this has been brought in this year for boats that don’t have a home mooring, we fall into this category. The T&Cs say that we have to move every 14 days, this is nothing new and we abide by this as it’s what we’ve always signed up for and we prefer to be cruising anyway. To avoid the CC surcharge you need to prove that you have a home mooring for 6 or more continuous months. On the latest T&C’s (I think they are the latest!), I’ve just spent a couple of hours searching for, our winter mooring at Goole is covered in the section “14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances” in Schedule 1. For staying longer than 14 days anywhere we should have immediately contacted the Trust’s Licencing Support Team, this is what you should do if you have engine failure, medical requirements etc, to overstay in an area.
Foggy Scarbados
In previous years we’ve logged onto our C&RT account and changed us from being a Continuous Cruiser to having a mooring. This meant that should we want to go out every weekend to Sykehouse Junction or Pollington Lock we wouldn’t be classed as over staying if spotted in the same place three weeks apart as we’d have returned to our mooring in between. Now that there is the CC surcharge you can no longer adjust this on line, it appears we should have contacted the Licencing Support Team regarding our marina mooring otherwise we could get an overstay notice. Oh well, we’re fairly unlikely to go out for little jaunts every weekend anyway, but contacting a team member to let them know seems like a waste of their time when we just used to switch from CC to a mooring.
Christmas cheese from Hebden Bridge
PS if you follow a link on the C&RT website to what is expected of you as a Continuous Cruiser you end up with a document from 2012, long before the surcharge came into existence! Oh Well!!!
But Oleanna is now licenced for the next year, that is what’s important and we can start looking forward to our new adventures on her.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 treat cheeses, 1 year older, 4 balls, 8 pairs of socks, 2 pairs scissors, 1 green triangle, 3 white books, 1 weather station, 1 camera, 1 very cheeky cat, 2 much to eat, 1 Christmas show, 3rd Paddington film, £1525! 54 pairs of socks, plus a little bit.
Thank you Bridget and Storm for your photos this morning of the last official #pipssockathon2024 socks
I have managed a 54th pair too. I really must get round to updating my sockathon page!
Our journey continued down to London Town, conversation regarding Oleanna’s boat paint as we headed southwards. We shouldn’t chose a painter just because his paint shop is in the shadows of cooling towers! This wasn’t the case but Tom was certainly in the lead.
The traffic was bad in places. Our satnav decided to take us on a short detour at one point, handy as it avoided standstill traffic and took us past Wansford Station where we’d moored a couple of years ago on the River Nene. Good Christmas lights were seen, no time to stop to see any of the trains though as we were directed back onto the A1 in time to see the field Tilly had gone AWOL in until well after dark.
Ziggy checking over the local news
It’s been sometime since we drove to my brothers in Hackney and we nearly always get the turn off wrong, but this time I’d remembered to look out for B&Q, then there’s a really tricksy junction to get on the right road. I think this is the first time we’ve done it without a single hitch and thankfully there was a parking space not far from Andrews front door.
Josh was home from University and we had a very pleasant evening catching up, eating a seriously chunky beef bourguignon and drinking maybe just a little bit too much wine. Good to see them all for an evening on our own.
Friday some of the morning was spent sending, or trying to send our email Christmas card. Why does it always have to be so hard? But we got there in the end. What to do with ourselves for the rest of the day?
Selfridges windows not as good as I remembered them being
We didn’t really want to spend any money on going to a museum or a special exhibition. For some reason the Wallace Collection came to mind. Mick checked out a route by bus and we were off heading into London. Three buses later we pulled up outside Selfridges, their Christmas windows were okay, but not quite as slick as I’d expected.
A Christmas staircase
Now it was lunch time, we ended up with an M&S sandwich each sat on a bench outside the Wallace Collection, their cafe menu a touch too expensive for us. Time for some culture. Hertford House in Manchester Square was the home of the Seymour family, it’s named after Sir Richard Wallace who built the extensive collection along with the Marquesses of Herford in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
I was expecting quite a good collection but nothing by any means as large as it turned out to be, 25 galleries housing arms and armour, furniture, porcelain and so many paintings from the 15th to 19th Century. Yes you will find The Swing by Fragonard, much smaller than I’d thought it would be, The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals to name just two of the very famous paintings in the collection.
There are Watteaus, Velazquezs, Rubens, Rembrandts, Gainsboroughs, Canellettos, Van Dycks all great stuff amongst lots of Francois Bouchers fluffy pink huge canvases which don’t really do anything for me. I walked round spotting paintings I’d learnt about in A Level art, but then pin pointed paintings that stood out to me.
What an elaborate ruff
My favourite was simply called A Dutch Lady, by M.J. Mierevelt. She was just at the right height to have a conversation with. Her 1628 ruff exquisitely painted. I wanted to ask her so many questions about life in the 17th Century and why she wasn’t named on the frame as many were.
Mick, Rob and Nick
Then we hopped on buses out to Camden, catching glimpses of the canal as we crossed over bridges. A quick call in to drop off a Christmas present with Christine and Paul before we met with my friend Nick and his Canadian friend Rob at a pub just round the corner. I’ve known Nick since we were babes in arms, for some years we went to school together, then did our Art Foundation course together too, we’ve never lost touch. The frequency meeting for drinks on Christmas Eve has dropped in recent years, parents no longer calling us back to York for Christmas. So it was very nice to be able to exchange presents face to face, have beer, food and conversation this close to Christmas.
Saturday was the main reason for our trip down to London. Regular readers will be excused for not remembering what we got up to 10 years ago on the 20th December. Back in 2014 we joined all the Geraghty family for a vintage bus tour around London to celebrate Marion (Mick’s sister) and John’s 40th Wedding Anniversary. Today was naturally their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary.
Interesting buildings in the complex
Andrew and Jac joined all the generations of Geraghty family and friends for the day. Meeting up at Richards flat on the Isle of Dogs we had nibbles and a glass of fizz whilst every one gathered. Then a five or so minute walk to Masthouse Terrace Pier on the banks of the Thames. There waiting for us was an Uber Clipper hired for a trip on the Thames. Marion and John had originally booked a smaller boat, but the toilets weren’t working they’d had an upgrade to a much bigger boat.
Our boat for an hour or so
With about 40 of us onboard there was plenty of room, you could stand out on deck or stay inside with a window seat, where ever you fancied really. Soon we pushed off, two other boats were waiting to come in. Off upstream we headed. Downstream of Tower Bridge boats go fast, it was quite exhilarating stood out on deck at the stern.
The first 2km of our cruise was water we’ve not cruised on Oleanna, in fact I think I’ve only been further downstream on a Clipper for Kath’s 50th birthday when we headed to Greenwich. When Canary Wharf came into view we were now on water we’d cruised on the night time flotilla in 2022. Past Limehouse Lock, now landmarks were familiar.
Sadly the weather wasn’t on our side so many of the taller buildings were only just visible . As we approached Tower Bridge we were all called towards the bow, where John and Marion put on floral garlands to mark the occasion of their anniversary.
Tower Bridge
Under the right hand span of Tower Bridge. Landmarks were pointed out to the youngest of passengers. Places of work were pointed out to new victims and sisters by Mick.
We were moving quicker than we did on Oleanna, the bridges coming one after the other. It was handy to have Waterway Routes up to confirm the names as we passed underneath.
Occasionally John would go on the tannoy, pointing out places of interest in his and other passengers lives. The National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, the Tattershall Castle that many a Geraghty had crossed the Humber on. The exclusion zone in front of the Houses of Parliament seemed to be smaller than I remembered it.
Houses of Parliament
We made it under Vauxhall Bridge but sadly not quite as far as Battersea Power Station. It was in view though and everyone got a good view as the clipper winded to return us back to Masthouse Terrace Pier.
Power Station in the distance
The first time we’ve been under the centre span with it down
Then it was back to the flat where a chap had been laying out a fantastic buffet from The Space Bar. Drinks, conversation, speeches, photographs and plenty, I mean plenty of food was enjoyed. Then there was cake! Not just one but three types of cake! What a grand way to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Congratulations to Marion and John and thank you for sharing it with us all.
Speeches
Back at the London Leckenby’s we fell into the sofa and didn’t do much for the remainder of the evening.
Cutting the cake
Presents were exchanged on Sunday morning, then we climbed back into our little car and headed back northwards. A pause near Cambridge to refuel and have a substandard breakfast before we carried on up the A1, M18, M62 and then back across the Wolds to Scarborough.
Knitting two together so as to not run out of yarn
Tilly was very pleased to see us. David our lodger had been feeding her whilst we were away, but he’d left food for our return, Tilly apparently hadn’t been impressed with not getting her dingding earlier than normal and she’d been quite noisy about it after not being spotted for three days.
Back in Scarborough before the sunset
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car to London, 3 London Leckenbys, 2 cats, 1 huge gallery, 1 oldest friend, 1 whiffy pub, 5 buses, 1 train, 1 clipper, 40 passengers, 50th anniversary, 50 golden balloons, 2 much yummy food, 3 cakes, 1 gluten free take away box of brownies, 1 lazy evening, 1 pleased Tilly to see us, 1 poorly baddy!
Above Fall Ing Lock to Castleford Moorings, Aire and Calder Navigation
Yesterday Mick had checked the stoppage notices again for our route eastwards. The flood locks were in use on the Aire and Calder, all were user operable apart from Ferrybridge. Ferrybridge is the last lock off of a river section that we need to pass through. We wondered why it wasn’t user operable, he made a call to CRT. The answer came back that due to Health and Safety it wouldn’t be possible for us to use the lock, we’d only be able to go through once the river level was back in the green and the flood lock opened to boats.
Waiting above Fall Ing Lock
Mick walked round to the garage for a newspaper, but none was to be bought, no newspapers at all. So nothing for it but to head onwards. We decided to make a move up to Stanley Ferry sooner rather than later, just in case the river responded to last nights rain, we’d rather be stuck somewhere where we could let Tilly out. Someone else had had a similar idea, NB Perseverance had whizzed past heading up stream in the rain whilst we were still getting up.
Going down
We were on our way before breakfast, topping up the huge Fall Ing Lock. This being our last manual lock for 2024 I was determined to operate it. The bottom gates are heavy, but not too bad if you are patient. I lifted the paddles and watched as the water washed up over the river level board pushing it into the red from amber.
The river seemed pretty normal to us as we made our way towards Stanley Ferry. Here the flood lock was in use, I climbed off with the key of power to operate it. At first it didn’t respond to any buttons being pressed, Mick had a go too, the top sluices needed reminding they existed, now I could open the gates. Unlike at the beginning of the year there was a difference in height, maybe 9 inches.
Key of Power from now on
A boat was coming towards us, I waited to close the gates behind them and retrieve my key. This was NB Ampere an early electric boat that we’d seen at our first Crick boat show. There was time to chat to the crew as the boats swapped positions and the gates closed behind them, they’d been stuck above Lemonroyd when the rivers came up.
NB Ampere dropping off crew
The only space we could find with rings was at one end of the water point, we tucked in, leaving space for another boat. Time for breakfast a bacon butty each. Then as the port side was to the bank we emptied the yellow water tank. The connector that screws into the outlet seems to be loosing it’s thread. Some PTFE tape was wrapped round the connector hoping this would stop any leakage. It was an improvement, but will require a replacement over winter. We moved up to the services to use the elsan, then I swung the bridge open a CRT fundraiser being very jolly saying hello to everyone who came past, but not managing to engage further.
Across
Across the aqueduct and past the Stanley Ferry CRT workshop. Earlier in the year there had only been a couple of new gates awaiting fitting. Today the whole of the area was filled with lock gates. Tried to count how many pairs there were, I think around twenty, that’s a LOT of oak!
New gates, lots of them
The sun was coming out now, anglers lined the banks as we dropped down Birkwood, Kings Road Locks. Under the M62 and on to Woodnook Lock where we’d drop down onto the river again. Big and wide we headed to Castleford Junction and the sad houses.
Mick opted to wind to face upstream to drop me off, just in case the flow from the River Aire wanted to assist us towards the weir. I took my time up the steps, wanting to avoid slipping as I’d done back in March. Here the river level was still just in the amber. I opened the gates and waved to Mick to come round from the lock landing. As he approached I could see how much current there was as the stern of Oleanna was being encouraged towards the weir. The level of the huge lock had to drop by about a foot, so took some time to level out to the cut.
Castleford Junction
Now we had to decide what to do. Should we continue onwards and see if Ferrybridge Flood Lock was actually not useable? If that was the case then we’d have to return to Castleford to be able to moor. Sunday’s weather had looked bad on the forecast and might bring the river back into the red. Being close to a station on Monday was a necessity, both Castleford and Knottingley would work. We opted to not risk having to return and pulled in towards Bulholme Lock. Here we hoped we’d not be plagued by the permanent moorers running their generators well into the night.
Tilly was awarded three hours shore leave. Not her favourite mooring, but far better than being cooped up in Wakefield.
They were here in March
As the afternoon went on several boats came past, one from the lock ahead of us. Had they come from Ferrybridge? Were the other boats headed that way carrying on or mooring up. Surely the light at the lock should be red if Ferrybridge Lock was inoperable! It was amber, and unless you looked at the stoppage notice you’d not know anything about the health and safety issue. Hmmm!
6 locks, 1 of them a flood lock, 7.9 miles, 2 bacon butties, 1 empty wee tank, 0 manual locks left, 1 key of power, 3 hours shore leave, 2 many boats moving for it not to be open.
