Monthly Archives: August 2018

At Least It Was Ours! 30th August

Cracks Hill to nearly Watford to Home Farm Footbridge 9

What to do with a day off? Go boating. Tilly however was allowed to dictate our departure and was let out as we had breakfast. She was told she had a couple of hours and returned only ten minutes late. We then got ourselves ready to move.

P1390251smWe passed my office bench from yesterday as we pulled away and pootled our way towards the bridge in Crick. As we pulled up one of the hooks we use to hang our fenders from the grab rail broke and the rope fender dropped below the surface. Mick tried his best with a boat hook, but had no luck in finding it.

Our supplies were running low so a shopping trip was needed. The Co-op supplied us with suitable groceries including a roast for tomorrow. How I’ve longed for a roast for months, but the heat hasn’t been suitable to have the oven on for long. Now with the cooler evenings it feels right again, just a shame there were no parsnips available (best to wait for the first frost anyway). We also called in at the Post Office to check another order of wool hadn’t arrived, they now know us by sight and the lady almost went to check before we said anything.

After lunch we pushed off to go to the water point. But very quickly we realised where our rope fender was! Around our prop! At least we knew what it was and that it was our prop not someone else’s. Oleanna was still steerable in forwards, reverse was very noisy. So we decided to carry on to the water point to sort it out, only to meet another boat in the bridge hole. We managed to avoid them without having to use reverse and pulled up at the services. Water filling, yellow water emptied, rubbish disposed of before Mick opened up the weedhatch. There was the offending fender still attached to the broken fender hook.

P1390266smBefore we headed off again we said hello to NB Blackbird, looking all smart in the pool in front of the ABNB office. Her details went on line this week and the photos look very smart. Link to her details here.

P1390267smP1390277smWith waterproof coats and life jackets donned we made our way through the tunnel passing one boat who must have entered at a similar time to us as we met at the halfway mark. Tilly had been warned that the outside lights would be going off, but she made such a noise shouting at the backdoors. Maybe we might have to get a plug in Feliway that we can turn on on days we’re going to do any tunnels and see if that calms her down any. She sat by the back doors shouting for sometime after the lights had gone back on again.

P1390288smWe pootled our way towards Watford, but didn’t join the three boats waiting to go down. Hazard tape seems to be zigzagging it’s way on the off side by the top lock, it looked more than just a paddle out of action. We winded in sight of the M1 and returned half a mile to moor up with views of the sheep across the cut and just out of ear shot of the motorway.

Tilly and I decided to go Blackberry picking. There’d not been sign of many towards the locks so we walked back towards Crick. There were crabapples but very few blackberries. I should have had a look at Cracks Hill this morning before we left as according to Jaq on NB Valerie she and Les once picked 14 pounds there. I didn’t want quite that many, enough to make a crumble would do.

P1390290smWe walked further and further along the towpath until a chap with a big rucksack came towards us. I thought Tilly would just bob into the sideways trees until he’d passed, but no. This man was now between me and her. He had a funny looking back I didn’t like the look of it. He would stop walking, wouldn’t he! No. He kept coming, slowly, so I kept walking away. The poor chap didn’t want to scare her and was worried she’d get lost. I reassured him that she was just making her way back home, so I followed all the way back to the boat where she hopped into the hedge.

P1390292smP1390293sm

P1390294smP1390295smWe managed to retrace our steps a little later, only to find a handful of berries.

DSCF7121sm0 locks, 3.77 miles, 1 tunnel with 0 mysterons, 1 wind, 1 load washing, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 lost fender, 1 found fender, 0 parcels, 1 table booked, 20 blackberries, 1 man, 2 walks.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZLM6NjJ1Jpv

An Opportune Moment. 27th 28th 29th August

Welford Junction to Cracks Hill

P1390132smOn Monday morning Mick offered to check the voltage on NB Pandas batteries. Lizzie had reported flickering lights and her heating the previous morning had needed the engine running before it would kick start, all suggesting not enough juice in her batteries in the mornings. The voltage wasn’t too bad once checked and Mick gave Lizzie a bit of advice on how to check the voltage in future.

P1390130smThe meanies wouldn’t let me give my opinion, let alone have a look in Pandas box. Panda has a different box to Oleanna, that is because she is a Trad, so her box has another box around it inside Panda. Because they wouldn’t let me look inside I made sure I checked out the box on the towpath. It wasn’t a good box, it was all in bits! After lunch Gary and Lizzie made their way back towards Crick leaving us with new neighbours very quickly filling the space they had left behind.

We are considering having stern stickers printed, that say ‘Please share our mooring ring’. The number of git gaps there have been since we’ve been here. It’s a popular mooring and despite there being plenty of space people were having to use spikes at either end because others hadn’t nudged up!

During the rest of the day I continued with my model, finishing it and taking a full set of photos. This is so that I can remember it in it’s full glory. The first quote to build the set had come in and some pruning is needed, sadly not with scissors, but hopefully the chain saw can stay locked away!

Tuesday and we needed water, so therefore started to head back towards Yelvertoft. Tilly took some convincing that she should stay in otherwise we’d be changing the outside with her in it and the new outside would be quite far away! As Mick stood at the helm  I stayed below and worked my way through the props for panto, doing sketches to illustrate the big auditorium scene. We paused for lunch and then carried on pootling our way to the water point at Yelvertoft.

P1390211smFor once nobody was there and there was plenty of space for us to pull in, leaving enough room for a second boat to moor without having to be on the very wavy armco. Just as the tank was full one of the permanent moorers returned, peering out of their side hatch as though we were in their space. For a short boat they seemed to want a lot of room to moor and as they came in it looked like they would catch our stern. Mick went out the back to check on things as I went to sort the hose. All was well and the dirty looks were taken back.

Now when I say all was well, it actually wasn’t! A certain young second mate saw an opportunity and went for it. Well they kept stopping the outside and tying it up. I liked the look of this one so as Tom had left the back hatch open I went to have a look. We were on a water point and our second mate was AWOL! Another boat had been filling with water, they hadn’t seen her. The people who’s mooring we weren’t on hadn’t seen her either, but a chap with a dog on a lead had. He very helpfully walked to the slight gap in the sideways trees and pointed to where Tilly had vanished.

The lady on the boat behind started calling ‘Here Puss Puss’ and the boat at the front started to look around. To me, after calling Tilly a couple of times there seemed little point in everyone making a fuss, she was less likely to come, especially with the helpful man and his dog around! I was about to make a work phone call and try to be really really interesting on the towpath (it usually works to get a cats attention) when the boat ahead shouted ‘She’s there!’ followed by ‘Grab her!’  This luckily wasn’t possible as she was behind a locked gate. I know my cat and had the chap attempted to grab her she would have jumped to just out of reach a couple of times before heading off into some nettles or brambles, I speak from experience!

Fortunately she found something with an interesting smell on our side of the sideways trees and was transfixed by it. I leaned over and just picked her up. Everyone was relieved, especially us as we could now move on to Cracks Hill. For a short time we had become Continuous Cruisers who had to wait for their cat before they could move on! Some people have to wait days! We do our best to avoid such instances and for this occasion we blame the stare we got from the side hatch of the boat coming in to moor. If it hadn’t been for that lady our stern hatch would have been closed. What is it with Yelvertoft Water Point and our second mates? Houdini managed to go walk about there too!

P1390238smOur place at Cracks Hill was taken, normally we’d have headed closer to the village but I needed to make a phone call and signal exists here. So we pulled as far back away from the winding hole as possible on the armco. Mick walked into the village for some supplies and to pick up a parcel from the Post Office whilst I tried and failed to make my call.

P1390213smThe yarn for my first Etsy custom order had arrived which means I will be spending my evenings knitting again.

P1390231smThis morning an arranged phone call to my Production Manager at 9:30 finally put an end to us playing telephone ping pong. The bench opposite Cracks Hill became my office as boats passed by, Tilly shouted at trees in the field below, Mick brought me a tea and the M1 droned away in the background. After our conversation I spent the remainder of the day flattening my design and blacking bits of set out with the hope that these alterations will bring us back into budget. Mick has pottered away the day, whilst Tilly has studied the life and habits of the local Water Voles.

DSCF7114sm0 locks, 9.65 miles, 2 more git gaps, 12.5 volts, 1 full water tank, 1 awol cat, 7 person search party, 0 understanding of ‘Here Puss Puss’, 0 grabbing, 1 picking up, 10 minutes delay, 2 pings, 4 pongs, 9:30 sharp, 1 damp office chair, 1 tea boy, 2 flat gods, 9 hours, 1 stove lit, 3 balls of yarn, 1 day off tomorrow.

https://goo.gl/maps/Fe2q6uVRoEP2

At The Junction. 24th, 25th, 26th August

Welford Junction
Boats have come, boats have gone, but we have stayed put. Here is a good place for Tilly to keep out of mischief inside and make plenty of it out on the towpath. This means that in the most part I can get on with my work.
P1390001smOn Friday the chap behind us was slow to get started with his gunnels, it was after midday when I could hear him starting to sand them down. But this didn’t last long and an hour later he was untying and pushing off returning to his home mooring. His heart obviously wasn’t into it and the weather forecast for over the weekend wasn’t really conducive to paint drying. By the evening the temperature outside had dropped and we were feeling quite chilly, so there was only one thing for it but to light the stove. We think this is the first time we’ve done this in August, but it was definitely needed. Once the vents on the stove had remembered that they maybe should move to control the air flow the boat warmed up a treat and we had a cosy evening.
P1390010smBy Saturday my legs were in need of a good stretch. Sitting at our dinette table for days on end seems to encourage my knees to go stiff, so instead of a full days work we decided to walk up to Welford to get a newspaper.
P1390020smWe could have walked up the arm and back, the shortest route, but instead decided to walk along the canal a couple of bridges in the direction of Crick and then walk over the rolling hills to the village. This route took us alongside fields of corn, some looking like it was nearly ready to harvest, others still on the small side. We were tempted to pick some but the last time we did this it was animal feed corn and ended up in the bin after one mouth full, no sweet kernels there! As we walked light aircraft were hauling up gliders to find the thermals from Husbands Bosworth airfield. Only two planes doing the work today (we’ve seen three in the past) but they were kept busy hitching up the next glider as soon as they landed.
P1390028smOnce through the fields we joined Halls Lane, a concrete surfaced road, which dipped down the hills and rose to the next one in turn all the way to the village. Here we had a look around at St Mary’s church. A fairly average village church but with a very big organ. The pipes were beautifully painted and upstaged everything else there was to see.
P1390036smP1390043smSpringfields supplied us with a few more bits and bobs to keep us going before we return to Crick in a few days. They also had a copy of our Saturday newspaper so our extended walk was worth it.
P1390047smP1390050sm
At Welford Wharf today there was a trading boat NB Pea Green. We’ve followed each other for getting on for a year on Instagram. Kay has family ties to Pershore where we were a few months ago and has followed us up the Ashby recently. Three weeks ago I spotted her as she passed us at Newbold, but didn’t get the chance to say hello. Today I’d promised to call by and introduce myself, which I did and had a long chat about cats, history and all sorts. Kay sells lots of hand painted canal ware from drinks coasters to personalised Buckby cans.
P1390053smAfter quite a chat we headed back to Oleanna managing to shelter from some quite heavy showers under the trees by the little basin. We nearly stopped to offer a hand to a boat at the lock, but they were making such a meal out of it we decided to carry on our way. As we came to the junction we could see that we’d been joined by other boats. Behind Oleanna was a familiar looking one, NB Panda.
P1390056smLizzie and Gary were out for the weekend and had stopped for lunch with some friends who’d walked up from Husbands Bosworth to meet them. After introductions and a cuppa we left them to to carry on to Foxton for the night and I got on with more painting of my model.
P1390115smP1390119smThe forecast for Sunday was rain, rain and even more rain! We hadn’t planned on going anywhere and fairly soon the stove was lit to keep the chill out. Tilly came and went, she seems to be growing up and not spending all day out in the rain, she came back every now and then to have a bit of a dry off and a snooze in front of the fire. By lunchtime we had our neighbours back again. Lizzie and Gary had braved the elements and got quite wet returning to the junction. They were glad that they’d only planned on cruising so far as the wind had got up too.
P1390126smI know Lizzie from way back when, we first met when she applied for a Scenic Artist job at Watford Palace Theatre, I was one of three people on the interview panel. We then painted quite a few shows together including a couple of Pantos. So naturally she was interested to see what I’ve been up to. I refrained from showing her the whole model as they may come and see the show. I was given one note, ‘Where’s the glitter?’ this meant I had to show her some of Act 2, I’d been saving it!
P1390124sm0 locks, 0 miles, 1 circular rainbow, 4.62 miles walked for a paper, 1 church, 1  instagramer, 3 whole days! 1 very wet day, 2 visits from Panda, 3 more hours of painting to do, 1 stove lit twice, 2 git gaps !

Sunny Border 23rd August

Welford Basin to Welford Junction

A sign in the grass close to our bow warned of a wasps nest. I’d not managed to stir the black and yellow critters when we moored yesterday, but when it became the only space left a boat that pulled in did. They nestled their bow behind ours so as not to have to tie their bow rope, but the buzzing started. We were glad to not be that boat, yet slept with all the windows closed, hoping they would leave us alone.

Some fresh veg was needed, so we decided to have a walk into the village making a detour en route.

P1380890smTaking a road to the left we headed up to look at the reservoirs that feed the summit pound of the Grand Union. Welford and Sulby Reservoirs sit side by side with a damn in between them that you can walk across.

P1380885smP1380884smThe Welford side showed signs of the drought, the fishing pegs high above the water line, weed covered trees exposed to the sunlight. I’ve seen photos of the reservoirs up near Huddersfield recently and they are far far lower.

P1380899smP1380896smThe Sulby side was down by a few feet, not reaching the weir between the two.

In the centre of the damn is a paddle mechanism that runs thorough several universal joints down to a sluice between the two lakes. The spindle wasn’t a standard C&RT one but someone has noted which way it should be turned to close it.

Village earth worksP1380949smWe walked across the damn and on across the fields to look at Old Sulby a medieval village mentioned in the Doomsday survey as having 13 householders. Not much can be seen other than uneven ground on the rolling hills. Google earth shows the earth works more clearly.

P1380904smThe village may not have been very visible but the signs of drought were very very obvious in the field leading to it. The crop of some sort of beans has been left to die, dry out, or sprayed with killer, but we suspect the former.

P1380954smThe thin blackened stems and black pods look like they have had a flame thrower passed over the whole field. The occasional sprout of a previous crop the only sign of green in the whole field. As we walked the path deep wide cracks in the earth showed just how dry the land has become, even after the recent rain they still show. It’s going to take quite some time for the fields to return to normal.

P1380924smOn the edge of the desolate apocalyptic field we could see a green border highlighted with yellow. The bean crop was dead but around it a swath of sunflowers had been loving the heat and sunshine. After the depressing sight of the field this sunny border brightened up the landscape.

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P1380944smP1380952smThe flowers were in differing states. Some new bright and sunny, being loved by bumble bees. Some fading loosing their petals. Others drying out with heavy heads. Others starting to discard their seeds to the dry earth below.

P1380970smAfter picking up some fresh veg and stocking up on milk we decided to have an early lunch then move up to the water tap to fill the tank after doing a load of washing. We then winded and headed back down the lock and arm to find a space at the moorings at the junction. Several boats were already moored up, it’s a favourite spot to do maintenance jobs. The chap behind us is here to paint his gunnels, the hard low edge makes it an ideal place. If I didn’t have work to do I’d be doing exactly the same, but Oleanna will have to wait a while longer before she gets some much needed TLC on the painting front.

DSCF7114sm1 lock, 1.83 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 bees nest avoided, 1 wet night, 2 reservoirs, 1 flummoxed Fountains man, 1 dead field, 352 sunny sunflowers, 1 head of broccoli, 2 pints milk, 4 rashers bacon, 1 pot taramosalata, 1 full water tank, 1 load washing, 3 woofers, 2 hinges, 1 floor, 2 sets of treads, 1 sun.

https://goo.gl/maps/nr1J3k4i2YN2

Faulty Outside Lights. 22nd August

Bridge 60 to Welford Basin

There is a fault!

I’m not sure whether it’s a fault with Tom, our boat or just the outside. It happened the other day too.

They pushed the outside away this morning, they’d had enough of it. I would have liked it for a few more days, but no, it got pushed away. They tied up another for a while whilst they filled the big box at the front with water. Then that one got pushed away, turned around and then moved.

Today she was inside with me, putting colour all over bits of intricate card. I offered to help but she was reluctant, she said my paws were too big for the job. My paws are far smaller than hers, so it didn’t make sense. I left her to it and went to sleep on the bed, I can stretch out during the day.

This is when the fault/malfunction happened. All of a sudden the outside lights went out. Completely out! They have a tendency to flicker on and off every now and then, but they reassure me that this is only normal as the outside gets moved. Have to say it’s very alarming when I’m outside and it happens. But this was different.

P1380839smP1380842smShe had the inside lights on where she was, but outside there was none. The inside looked like it was outside! No matter which window I looked at the inside was outside! But it was still inside too!! There were loads of insides everywhere! Argh!! It happened the other day and a couple of times the other week. All she did was sit there! I had to do something so shouted to the outside to turn the lights back on, but it couldn’t hear me. I shouted and shouted and still it ignored me. Maybe it wasn’t the lights, maybe Tom had lost the outside! I shouted at him and all he kept saying was ’That way out’, What’s that meant to mean? Was the outside that way? Maybe we were going to have to evacuate this outside that wasn’t there.

She tried to get me interested in her little things. How could she not be worried about what was going on!!! There were at least three of her!

Then as if nothing had happened the lights came back on. The insides all disappeared, well apart the one that should be there.

I shall be logging my fault report with C&RT, there is obviously something wrong.

P1380850smDSCF7121sm1 lock, 8.9 miles, 1 wind, 1 tunnel, 1 left, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 2 sheep, 1 bees nest, 3 hours shore leave reduced for H&S reasons, 1 malfunctioning outside! Is anybody listening to me?!

https://goo.gl/maps/HavkeN4WFP72

Cross Words And Chaos At The Locks. 21st August

Foxton

Sitting with the side hatch open you can hear things going on for quite a distance. This morning we gradually could hear what sounded like a heated debate, or argument going on in strong Welsh accents. Not too sure what it was all about but she certainly wasn’t happy with him. As their boat got closer the engine noise got louder and so did the argument. A hire boat. Living in a confined space isn’t for everyone, this was going to be a jolly holiday for them! As the boat passed by they continued bickering, we made a mental note not to moor anywhere near them if we came across them again. Then we noticed that the couple were not alone. Sat by the tiller was another couple who looked very much like they wanted the boat to capsize and for the canal to swallow them up. Doubt they will be going on any further holidays with their friends!

P1380824smMore work for me, more towpath time for Tilly and more cricket to listen to for Mick. England however weren’t doing so well so by mid morning Mick headed off down to the locks to watch what was going on, he’s becoming a regular gongoozler.

Foxton is a flight of narrow locks, made up of two staircase locks with five chambers each. Because the locks are narrow only one way traffic is possible through the staircases. At the mid point there is a short pound where one boat can be passed by others. Some of the Lock Keepers make use of the passing place whilst others prefer not to. When you arrive at the locks the first thing you have to do is go and find the Lock Keeper with the book to check in. You are then normally told whether to start to come down, where you are in the queue or to put the kettle on and have lunch as there is a long wait. We’ve been up and down the flight several times in the past, we have had the whole flight to ourselves and had to queue setting off down the flight in the middle of a group of three boats.

P1020539smThe locks are easy to use as long as you remember the rhyme,

Red before white and you’ll be alright. White before red and you’ll be dead!

At the mid point the red and white paddles are at different sides of the short pound, it takes a little bit of time to walk from one to the other, but it stops a lock full of water being wasted and going straight down the bywash. Mick watched as one boat came down, he stopped them from lifting the wrong paddle first, pointing out a sign on the lock beam, the crew went off to check with one of the lock keepers, Mick had been correct and the paddles were done in the correct order.

Then all chaos!

One boat had come up and was waiting in the middle passing place, three more were making their way down the top flight. A boat was spotted in the second chamber from the bottom heading up. How had they got there? Why were they there? Who had told them they could start to come up? With two boats pointing downhill in the top five locks, one boat at the top of the bottom five pointing downhill and one in the passing place there was nowhere for anyone to go. If they carried on up the flight there would have been four boats in the middle pound before anyone could carry on and it is only just big enough for two boats to pass each other. Something had gone wrong somewhere!

P1020543smThe Lock Keepers came and sorted it out. The boat coming up had to reverse down the bottom two locks to clear the way for the three coming down hill, once these were all out of the way they could start the flight for a second time. The boat in the passing place, once the top five chambers were clear could start heading up again. We are fairly sure that we know the boat that was in the way and they will have done Foxton many times as they moor in the area. So was it just a misunderstanding? Had they been told one thing when another had been meant? Was one of the five Lock Keepers having a laugh? Who knows. But what I do know is that it kept Mick occupied for much of the morning and some of the afternoon which meant we had quite a late lunch.

The sun had come out and the cricket seemed to have improved whilst Mick had been watching boats, but then England started to loose wickets again!

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 down, 2 up, 1 a bit too early, 1 base colour, 11 hours! 1 cat too tired to eat, 1 wicket left.

Birthday Boy. 19th 20th August

Foxton

The London Leckenbys had planned on having a few days in the Lake District to celebrate Josh’s 12th birthday. Their original plan had been to camp high up and do some walking from one of the passes, but the weather forecast put paid to that so they had booked themselves into a campsite in Buttermere. Andrew and I have many a happy memory of staying at The Bridge each Easter when we were young with a group of family friends. From the hotel long walks would be planned. However the weather this hot dry summer meant that the furthest they got to walk was from the campsite to the pub, due to low cloud and heavy rain! So on Saturday they had broken camp and headed to explore Liverpool instead.

IMG_20180818_180632I got them to count how many boats were on the visitor moorings in Salthouse Dock. They counted nine narrowboats. These boats must have been there since the breach occurred in early June near bridge 10 which cut Liverpool off from the rest of the network. There have been at least two crossings of the Mersey by several boats to reach the Ship Canal and Ellesmere Port to escape the docks. We reckon we’d have crossed the Mersey by now after managing to see everything in Liverpool if we’d been stuck.

So on Sunday the London Leckenbys came to join us for the night. Their arrival was held up by traffic and a slight misunderstanding between driver and navigator as to our location, they ended up at the big roundabout off the M1 near Crick! But in the end they managed to join us.

P1380778smP1380784smWe had a walk down the locks just as the Lockies were locking up the flight for the day. They were sorting levels out and letting a lot of water flow between side ponds, presumably carrying on down towards Leicester to help with the levels there.

P1380780smOur walk back up the hill brought us up past the inclinded plane. A handy model shows you what the site would have looked like in 1900. Josh had been sort of listening until now, being polite. Now he was intrigued as they all were. We explained how it all worked, like two bath tubs that you drove your boat into, one would go down hill as the other went up all with the assistance of an engine. A nice walk which turned out to be the furthest they had managed to walk over their time away.

P1380791smBirthday presents followed, I actually got to give Josh his birthday presents for the first time since his first birthday, they have usually been abroad.

P1380795smThis was followed by his favourite food Lasagne which I’d made yesterday. All rounded off with birthday cake, what a lot of chocolate!

P1380798smIt looked like Josh had a good evening and he didn’t once get his tablet out to play any games.

P1380804smP1380806smP1380807smThey all seemed to be having a good time, what about me?! Those London people are all noisy and take up far too much space. There’s no sofa to snooze on after a hard days playing with friends and my dingding was stranded by them. I was hungry and stuck in the bedroom!

P1380811smMonday morning all the beds were put away and Tilly (much to my relief) was allowed out. I did wonder if we’d ever see her again! After breakfast the car was packed and we said our goodbyes until next time. It was lovely having them to visit and catch up on everyone’s news. As soon as their car drove off, quiet returned to our lives. One call for Tilly and she came running from a long way down the towpath. Normality had returned.

P1380813smMy model and paints that had been packed away were brought out again and I started to carry on painting. Mick decided to go and gongoozle at the locks leaving me to it.

P1380823smJust as I was morphing an Amstrong Sidley and a Jaguar car together (as you do) a green boat came past, NB Alchemy. Mike quickly stopped and we managed to have quite a chat, at last we had got to meet. Last week we had just missed each other and our paths have almost crossed several times over the last year. The last couple of months I haven’t managed to keep up with all the blogs I normally follow. Lots of people have been down on the River Nene and Middle Levels this summer, so being busy I have left them all for a major catch up sometime when I have more time. Mike handily puts where they moor as his title so I’d known that they were nearby.

P1380818smAn approaching boat cut our conversation short just as it started to rain.

0 locks, 0 miles, 10 locks looked at, 1 inclined plane, 9 boats left for 10 weeks, 10 weeks free electric, 12 years old, 3 presents, 2 cards, 1 big lasagne, 2 boxes of green sheets, 3 bottles of wine, 1/3rd cake eaten, 2 many people on my boat, 2 much noise! 2 whole days of towpath frolics, 1 empress car, 1 grubberie, 1 blogger met at last.

Too Early For A Paper. 18th August

Welford to Bridge 60, above Foxton

The pump keeping the dry dock empty luckily didn’t keep us awake last night, we’d kept the bedroom window closed on that side. Soon after we were awake boats started to move. Some coming to the winding hole just to turn, others to fill with water. We were beaten by one boat to the tap, but Mick laid out our two hoses to stake our claim in the queue.

P1380745smA quick tidy up in the galley and then the shopping arrived. We very often get a driver who’s never delivered to a boat before, but this chap was an old hand. He delivers to a couple of boats that are moored in the basin, Yelvertoft and he’s even been to the new marina at North Kilworth. Two things were missing from our shopping, which we’d already been alerted to by email. Birthday cake candles, I found some that would do in the bottom of a drawer, the other thing was our Saturday newspaper! Our shopping had been picked in the early early hours, long before the Saturday papers had arrived. Fortunately there is a shop in Welford where Mick managed to get a copy and some newer looking candles too. Having preburnt candles when you are in your 50 or 60’s isn’t so bad, but on your 12th birthday! I’d have been reported to the authorities for poor Aunt duties.

P1380726smOnce everything was stowed we winded and headed away from the basin. Large signs are on most locks at the moment encouraging boaters to save water. ‘Be prepared to wait’. This is to encourage people to wait if the lock is set against you for a boat coming the other way so as not to waste a lock of water setting it in your favour. However the Welford Arm was originally built as a feeder to the summit pound, bringing water from the nearby reservoirs. Welford lock was set against us, but as water was flowing over the bywash we didn’t feel the need to wait for a boat coming up to fill the lock for us. The bywash carried on flowing as the lock filled so we weren’t lowering the pound above either, just helping the water on it’s way.

P1380746smP1380754smAt the junction we turned right heading towards Foxton. North Kilworth Marina still looks very much a building site, plenty of landscaping to go on and the marina buildings are only partly clad. Harry the Heron was taking advantage of the new entrance as a good vantage point for his fishing.

P1380760smI was glad that NB Paddington Bear was still at the wharf as we passed.

Then on to Husband Bosworth Tunnel. We could make out another boat, but they were heading away from us. Staying within the profile of their boat seemed to be an alien thing to them as we could see arms reaching for the roof. With our big torch pointing up at the roof at the back we get to see alsorts. Today we got to see a couple of giant insects running across the roof, it was quite disconcerting.

P1380765smWe’d been gaining on the other boat, but once through they sped up and disappeared into the distance. With cooking to do I came below and had just turned the gas on when Oleanna went into reverse. We’d slowed right down, we were stopping. It was a bit too soon for our planned lunch stop. Looking out of the hatch I could see the reason why, our path was blocked. NB Queen Bee had slipped it’s moorings and was right across the cut, no getting past. With gas turned off in the galley I held onto Oleanna as Mick used our boat hook to pull the boat back to the side. Their mooring spikes, luckily those with rings, still attached to the ropes, so easy to hammer them back in. Had the boat been poorly moored or had the boat ahead of us gone by at such a lick that the pins had pulled out?

P1380771smAfter a short break for lunch we pushed on to Bridge 60, mooring before the visitor moorings at the top of Foxton Locks. Close to here is a long stay car park which will be handy for the London Leckenbys tomorrow. We may spend the afternoon being gongoozlers at the locks, who knows. But one thing is for sure Josh has the most chocolatiest chocolate cake I’ve ever made ready to celebrate his 12th birthday.

DSCF7114sm1 lock, 8.69 miles, 1 wind, 1 right, 1 tunnel, 0 newspaper, 8 used candles, 20 new candles, 1 newspaper, 1 rescued boat, 3 hours freedom, 2 layered gf chocolate fudge cake, 16 gf boat biscuits, 1 vat of ragu sauce ready for tomorrow, 4 groundrows painted.

https://goo.gl/maps/nQNMCki3TvE2

Going Backwards To Go Forwards. 17th August

Houdini’s Field to Crick to Welford Wharf

P1380690smA couple of days ago we had placed an order with Shoes for Crews for some new shoes.  They make work wear shoes with very good grippy soles which are great for wet surfaces. The other good thing about them is that Mick’s feet don’t manage to burrow their way out of them within six months which is a rarity as he wears them every day all day. Yesterday we’d had notification that they had arrived at Crick Post Office, the parcel was likely to be quite large so we wanted to pick it up sooner rather than later. So as soon as breakfast was packed away we pootled the half mile to bridge 28 to wind so that we could return to Crick.

P1380681smI was on mooring duties only today, trying to get a second good days model painting under my belt. If the set I was designing was a house or something a little bit abstract say then I’d have long finished painting the model, but this just seems to be taking forever! It doesn’t help when I change my mind about what colour to paint things. Slowly and steadily I’ll get it done, I’m quite pleased with the pieces I’ve finished, there just needs to be more of them!

P1380717smMick pootled us back to Crick, waving as we passed Lillian at Yelvertoft. The space nearest to the bridge was free so we tied up and Mick headed to the Post Office for our shoes and some locally grown beans for our evening meal. A little early for lunch, but as we were stopped it made sense before we winded and headed back the way we’d come. We’ll be back next week as there will be a yarn order arriving for a custom order from my Etsy shop, shame the lady hadn’t got in touch a day earlier as more than likely it would have arrived by today.

A boat was just turning out of the marina main entrance as we wanted to reverse up to the nearest one to us to wind, so we waited for it to slowly come past. This gave me chance to see if I could spot NB Blackbird sitting in the ABNB pool outside the office. She was just visible behind a couple of other boats, her bow button fender and pram cover giving her location away. When the way was clear we reversed and winded and were on our way again.

The afternoon passed quickly along the summit pound. Plenty of moored boats to slow for and plenty going the opposite way. Passing moving boats makes Oleanna list quite badly in shallow water. Mick slows us down but others on their lighter boats keep moving at speed, I don’t think they realise just what effect this has on deeper droughted boats. One chap had a breaking wash as he passed us, causing a five drawer moment and I picked up my water pot as a precautionary measure.

P1380701smAs we rounded one bend Mick opened up the rear hatch and told me to take a look out of the side. Fixed to a roof of a boat were two scaff poles which both had guide ropes, suspended between them was a very large hammock with a chap laying in it. It looked rather comfy, but a bit of a contraption to set up, bet they don’t move everyday.

P1380704smP1380712smKeeping an eye on our trip computer I counted down the bridges to Welford Junction. A boat coming the other way just beat us to the junction and turned up towards Welford where a mile further up the lock sat empty waiting for them. I hopped off and helped them through, the lady staying to lend a hand with the gates for us, chance for a chat. They are killing time until they can move onto their mooring in North Kilworth Marina, which is still going to open soon (this has been the case for years!). Apparently they booked their space over a year ago and were told that the marina would be open late last year, the latest date is September this year. However there are still not many pontoons with electric to them. I got the feeling that by Sunday there would be one more pontoon powered up just for them.

P1380714smThey elected to wind and moor near the lock whereas we carried on. Our memory was hazy as to whether there was space to wind at the end, we could remember facing the way we’d come, but not where we’d winded last time. Nicholsons shows one winding hole before the basin, but Waterways Routes shows the one at the end by the water point and pub as well. The two spaces right by the pub were taken, but we got the nearest mooring by the winding hole which will do us for a delivery in the morning (we have a birthday to cater for over the weekend).

DSCF7121sm1 lock, 17.32 miles, 2 winds, 1 reverse, 1 right,1 big parcel, 2 pairs new shoes, 2 pairs to be thrown away to make space, 500 grams beans,1 Grubberie backing, 2 tables, 4 chairs, 1 gin palace finished, 2.5 hours nowhere near as good as yesterday.

https://goo.gl/maps/Q7CqkjyBSrA2

At Home In Crick. 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th August

Cracks Hill to Crick to Tilly’s Houdini’s Field

The last few days the weather has returned to normal English Summer. Overcast and at times rainy, thank goodness, I have to say I prefer the lower temperatures.

P1380574snP1380579snI’ve been working most days, gradually working my way through a box of set pieces. The box contents still seem very pale, there’s a lot more painting still to do.

On Saturday evening we were glad that we’d moved out of the village. Lots of gazebos had been set up at the marina and we guessed that it might be the moorers summer barbecue. It was, even with the constant downpour it sounded like everyone was having a jolly good time. Our mooring was half a mile away, but we could still join in and sing along with the music.

P1380566smSunday evening we met up with Lizzie and Gary, heading to The Wheatsheaf for a meal. Their Sunday roasts are meant to be good, but sadly as it was the end of a busy day there was only one left. Lizzie and I opted for the nearest thing on the menu, Belly Pork whilst the boys had beef fajitas and gammon and chips. All very nice finished off with puddings all round. There was lots to catch up on as it’s only a few weeks since Lizzie and Gary returned from a two week cruise up the Thames on NB Panda. They had moved her over to Cropredy in advance of their trip and had planned on leaving her there on their way back for a few weeks, but because of low water levels they legged it all the way back to Crick instead and got Panda back on her mooring. Quite a few long hot days.

P1380588smP1380592smIMG_20180813_160802996smIt just so happens that our friends Bridget and Storm were arriving on NB Blackbird this week. One of those coincidences that was meant to happen. On Monday afternoon the curly ears of a familiar black springer spaniel appeared in our side hatch Bridget followed soon afterwards. They had arrived in the village during the day and were moored towards the tunnel where mobile signal is very poor if any, so she’d decided to walk Max over Cracks Hill to find us. Plans for a meal out at The Moorings were made for Tuesday.

P1380610smSo on Tuesday morning we winded and returned towards the village mooring quite near the main entrance to Crick marina, this gives Tilly plenty of space to explore not too close to the busy road bridge. There were parcels to pick up from the post office and a bit of shopping needed. At the water point a familiar green boat was moored, NB Alchemy. Neil Stuttle was busy working away on the bow, but we couldn’t see anyone else to say hello to.

P1380612smIn the evening we walked down to meet up with Bridget and Storm. Crick feels like home to us all, a familiar friendly place we have all got to know through the years. Mick and I started off our journey four years ago here and when we pulled out of the marina on NB Lillyanne (Lillian), NB Blackbird was waiting for us, this is when The Wasp was formed. So it was only right that we were here for their last night on board Blackbird. We had a nice meal at the Moorings. Have to say that Mick and I remembered the menu being more extensive than it was and they do not cater for those with food allergies, a little disappointing. Having said that what we had was very nice and we had a lovely evening, finished off with a couple more glasses of wine on Oleanna.

On a previous occasion there was mention of doing the Ribble Link together, which happened last summer. On this occasion there was mention of exploring the Irish Waterways, I think that after our fourth glass of wine we agreed! So watch this space.

P1380614smThis morning we walked down the towpath to say our final farewell to NB Blackbird. Bridget and Storm were pulling her along towards the water point but had just been beaten to it by boats coming from the tunnel. Time for one last photo before they emptied their belongings into their car and handed the keys over to ABNB for her to go on brokerage. Big hugs all round, a sad day. Their next adventure is already on the horizon in the form of a maroon motorcaravan. So we’ll be expecting those black curly ears to pop through the side hatch again, they will have just arrived by road not by water next time.

P1380618smA parcel hadn’t arrived at the post office, so we shall have to return in the next couple of days. We reversed back past the marina entrance and then pulled in to fill the diesel tank. Since we were last here there is a new Harbour Master, we’d met him at Cropredy a couple of years ago. A very jolly chap who has brightened the marina back up after a year of it being in the doldrums. It was nice to see Him and Her in the office even if the diesel was a touch on the dear side.

P1380621smIn the past we would have waited for a lull in the wind across the marina (we’ve met all sorts of people when Lillian got blown the full length of the marina!) but today with bow thrusters reversing and turning out was easy. We then turned northwards and headed towards Yelvertoft.

P1380633smPassing Yelvertoft Marina we kept our eyes peeled. We needn’t have really because very soon we could see Lillian glowing on her mooring. Minus her pram cover she looked in good order from what we could see. Wouldn’t it be funny if once NB Blackbird is sold she ends up mooring at Yelvertoft next to Lillian, the owners wouldn’t know their past.

P1380643smThere was a boat loitering in a bridge hole, they kept looking over their shoulders and then at us. What had they lost? As we got closer they moved towards us and warned us that we’d be coming across three boats. The front boat was towing the second which had broken down. This was then attached to a third boat which they were using as a break when needed. Luckily we’d got through the bridge before they came round a bend and we managed to hold back for them to pass.

P1380649smA short distance on was our chosen mooring for the day. Houdini’s Field. As soon as the trip computer was off the doors were opened and Tilly and I went to have a look at the field. The crop had recently been harvested leaving the golden stubble. Tilly had a good shout at it all.

P1380655smIt is great here! Trees, sideways trees, friendly cover, someone though had stolen the tall grass that was here last time. That was fun I could pounce around to my hearts content, jumping high enough just to clear the grass before landing on top of an unsuspecting friend. The grass was short and spiky, but it did mean I could see any friends much easier.

P1380661_MomentsmThere was a really good boat too. It had a low roof and was all made of wood, very handy for sharpening my claws. I think it should be Tilly’s field, but she won’t change it’s name!

black pawDSCF7121sm0 locks, 5.3 miles, 1 wind, 2 reverses, 1 left, 3 rights, 2 meals out, 1 cottage, 1 final bye bye to Blackbird, 54 litres, 2 parcels, 1 still not arrived, 1 empty gas bottle, 4 days of part time work, 3 boats all in a line, 1 favourite mooring, 1 name not changing, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZHdaH5GZZUD2