Funny Feet Locks. 10th October

Hazelstrine Bridge to opposite Otherton Boat Haven

Five minutes late pushing off this morning! A boat came past us, it had slowed a touch to pass, but still had us all over the shop, as we discovered this was the only time they would have speed today.

What a lovely morning, clouds and blue sky, we hoped we’d not be needing waterproofs today. At Deptmore Lock I offered to lend the chap on the boat ahead a hand, he said I could help close the gates behind him which I did. He was then taking an age to walk down his gunnel with a rope and windlass to get to the ladder. I said if he was happy for me to work the paddles he could stay on his boat, this was fine. As his boat rose in the lock it occasionally went on quite a list, I kept an eye on it, he didn’t seem at all bothered. Maybe this was normal. As he pulled away above the lock the boat kept listing and then straightening up, maybe the ballast was on wheels, it certainly needed adjusting.

A boat went down, we came up, there was another boat waiting below too, we’re back in the busy world. I hopped on board, Jamie the panto set builder had a couple of questions for me to answer. My technical drawings came out along with a scale ruler, replies were sent via Whatsapp. Yesterday I’d spent sometime looking at garden benches for the town scene. I’d been hoping for quite a curvy frame, within our budget. The only one I found was one Helen the Props Supervisor had suggested a week or so ago. I gave the thumbs up to buy one, it will need a bit of painting, but that was always going to be the case.

At Shutt Hill Lock the boat ahead was in the lock, now with two crew, the chap and his son, or sleeping partner as the chap called him. His son was new to boating and had been given the job to steer in and out of the lock. We closed the top gate behind them, then the chap insisted on helping me with the bottom gates. Nice of him, but he could be helping by getting a move on to the next lock! We were of course also being followed, the boat arriving a bit before we left the lock.

Between locks I did my best to respond to some messages coming through from Scarborough regarding Frank. A to and fro about samples is hard to write as you try to power walk along an uneven towpath, maybe I should have hitched a ride.

At Park Gate Lock the son had been charged with a windlass and when I got to the lock there was another person helping. This turned out to be someone from the trip boat that was picking up customers above the lock. Another boat down, then us up, the trip boat down, blimey it was busy.

**Longford Lock the first lollipop lock**

By the time I had walked onto Longford Lock the boat ahead was just about to go into the lock. The son appeared to be ignoring his fathers calls for assistance, hiding inside, stoking the fire and setting the smoke detector off, so the chap was single handing again. They were planning on going up Wolverhampton tomorrow, that would be fun with a noncommunicative son! Hopefully they’ll have finished the flight before we arrive in a day or two! The chap pulled over to let us overtake, mooring up on the lock landing and coming to help me, son tucked away inside still.

Penkridge Lock next, this is where there was a collapsed culvert earlier this year which closed the lock and road bridge over the bottom end of the lock. There was no obvious evidence of where the work had happened. We made our way up and then pulled in to use all the services, water, yellow water, bins. The slow chap arrived, he ended up assisting the boat that had been following us, he must have let them overtake too. Then it was their turn, he was single handing again. The alarming listing of the boat was most probably being created by his son inside, it would have seriously worried me if Oleanna was moving like that.

Thankfully we were finished at the services and pulled out without jumping in front of them. Filance Lock was being awkward with it’s bottom gates opening when they’d just been shut. I chatted to the lady on the boat going up. I’ve called these locks the Lollipop stick locks for some years because of their rounded ends, today we decided they looked like they should have Funny Feet ice creams on the ends of them.

Our last lock of the day, now to find a mooring. There wasn’t much space on the 2 or 5 day moorings, but we wanted somewhere for Tilly, so we carried on to opposite Otherton Boat Haven which was surrounded by fields. There were a few too many woofers being walked though to have a good afternoon, anyway I wanted my dingding! Too early for that Tilly!

A few extra supplies were needed, a walk to the Co-op required. I followed a footpath from the bridge which turned out to be like a magical tunnel through bushes, I had to stoop a little to get through. Sunday dinner bought and some ingredients to help us up Wolverhampton in a few days time.

During the day Mick had tried to find out if there were going to be any winter stoppages on the River Avon that would affect us after panto has opened. The Avon Navigation website didn’t seem to have them listed. Then we decided to check our route back north on the CRT winter maintenance list. Hmm, several blockages we’d not noted before, a bit of a convoluted route back to the River Trent would be needed. Do we try to beat the stoppage at Vazon Railway Bridge which starts on the 5th January? Will the Trent behave for us to get back to Yorkshire in the first place? Lots of variables.

6 locks, 5.2 miles, 1 alarmingly bobbing about boat, 1 haunted mooring, 1 absent 20 year old son, 700 and 1220 checked, 0 name and DOB confusion, 1 trip boat with high tea, 1 magical path, 2 pork chops, 1 recipe checked for extra fuel, 2 lollipop locks, 10 toes each, 1 detector bipping across the way!

https://what3words.com/convinces.crisp.workouts

Three In A Line, In The Rain. 9th October

3 Replies

Tixall Wide to Hazelstrine Bridge 96

A stormy night. Really quite windy. This would most probably have woken us both up at some point, but we’d normally have been able to get back to sleep. However, there was a tapping noise near to our bedroom window. Was it one of the window catches? No. Mick went outside to see if he could find out what was making the noise. A popper on the cratch cover wasn’t pressed home as well as it could be. He pushed it and came back to bed. A few minutes later it was doing it again!

I found some bluetac and tried that to hold it firm. This lasted about ten minutes, more bluetac was deployed, then some more pushing. I don’t know if we just got used to the noise or whether the wind dropped a bit but we both managed to get some more shut eye. The poppers on the boat for the cratch were new ones put on by Tom and they aren’t as snug as the original ones, we’d already noticed this when rolling up the covers. We’ll have to see what we can do about it.

It was raining as we had breakfast, it was still raining when we wanted to set off. Should we wait a while? No, waterproofs on, it wasn’t that bad. We pushed off and I walked ahead to Tixall Lock. I’d looked at a walk round to the gatehouse yesterday and hadn’t understood why my OS map was taking me to the next bridge beyond the lock. There was no obvious way off the canal. The moored boats have access, but that’s not a public right of way.

**A Gnome Traction Engine has been added to the tree house and train**

I hopped on board now to catch a lift to Deptmore Lock. This route is half familiar, half not. The railway comes close, no trains timed correctly for us today. You go over the River Sow. At a bend near Stafford is where a lock is being built to connect the canal to the River Sow and provide a route into Stafford. We once moored along here in our NB Winding Down days, I got a seriously early train to Hull for a read through of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, showed my model, then came back to the boat to complete the four counties ring, hopping back on board in Stone, having missed out Tixall Wide.

It was now obvious that we were following another boat, we were gaining on them. The rain started to come down again. Up ahead we could see another boat, we’d got a convoy going on.

The towpath has recently been mown, large amounts of greenery floated about in the canal. The lead boat seemed to get stuck. A crew member at the bow did their best to try to move the grass trimmings out of their way, we however thought that they were possibly stuck on the bottom and the best thing to do was to back off. The hire boat behind them managed to get past, they didn’t offer to lend a hand at all, but their movement helped pull their stern out into deeper water and they were soon on the move again, only for the hire boat to pull in a couple of minutes later opposite Stafford Boat Club.

It was heaving it down all this time. We didn’t have that much further to go to our planned for mooring today, but the thought of waiting at Deptmore Lock for the boats ahead of us to go up wasn’t appealing. We pulled in after the next bridge for lunch and to decide whether to carry on.

A phone call from Dawn in the Frankness group. She and Lee were planning to visit Frank to move things about for him and hopefully give him some food he’d like to eat. A while later there was another phone call from Dawn. Frank had decided he’d rather move to a care home. Thank goodness for that! I’d been trying to steer him towards this decision, Dawn, as only Dawn could, helped push him across the line.

We’d opted to stay put. Time for me to prepare the Cutweb Boat Club accounts. But the afternoon was taken over with Frankness phone calls. Strike whilst the iron’s hot etc.

**I maybe should have put a bit more cheese in them**

This evening I made up a batch of gluten free Staffordshire oatcake mix I’d bought from the farm shop. I chopped up some sausages and mushrooms, added in some cheese. Very tasty and we can have the same again another time. I really should have a go at making them from scratch one time, as that would be far Far cheaper, and I don’t think you HAVE to be in Staffordshire to enjoy oatcakes.

1 lock, 5 miles, 1 soggy day, 1 seriously annoying popper, 1 ex-Senior Stage Manager, 1 puppet Man, 0.5 of a fish pie, 1 Frank eating, I decision, 3 Frankness members jumping into action, 2 certificates, more still needed, 1 cat half interested, 1 grounded boat, 3 boat convoy, 1 set of accounts set aside for another day.

https://what3words.com/battle.oath.bounty

One For Each Bedroom. 8th October

Leave a Reply

Tescos, Rugeley to Tixal Wide, Stafford and Worcester Canal.

Mick started sorting clothes for a wash this morning. Now that the weather has turned a bit chilly we both realised we’d only two pairs of jeans each. Having another pair in reserve would be a good idea. After breakfast we headed into Tescos to see what they had to offer. Why are there SO many different types of jeans for ladies these days? Mom, Wide leg, straight, bootcut, jeggings, cigarette, carrot! Please can I just buy some plain ordinary jeans that fit! Cigarette seemed to be the nearest to what I wanted, they’ll take a bit of getting used to as they are tight on my calves and a bit baggy round my bum.

Boats had moved off before us and others arrived for top up shops. We made our way westwards slowly passing all the moored boats. The Fund Britain’s Waterways garden with all its pirates is getting quite over crowded now.

Over the River Trent. Past where Dexter used to sell diesel at good prices. They seem to like rusty old VW Beetles now. A very jolly boat came towards us, flowers hanging from the roof into the well deck. Pink and blue, was this Sebrina from the Boat Women group? It was, I waved and made a comment on her recent paint job.

Colwich Lock was waiting for a boat to come down. The lock cottage having some work done to it with scaffolding at one end, the owners stood in the doorway feeding a robin from their hands.

The boat coming down was out for the day, friends had joined the crew for a jolly. Three of us worked them down then it was our turn to ascend. The bottom gates with their short beams are heavy, the top gate beam still a stack of planks, a temporary beam until one is made for it from oak.

**Shame about the scaffolding and lock beam**

I walked on ahead, nearly 2 miles to Haywood Lock. Not quite as chilly as yesterday, but keeping up a good pace kept me warm. There was space below the lock, several boats looked like they’d been here a while. Up ahead a Stone hire boat was just going into the lock to go up. I went to help as Oleanna was still a bit behind.

The chap asked about a waterpoint just round the bend on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. I explained where the tap was at the junction, straight on just before the bridge, I showed him on Waterway Routes. Another person saying they’d have to update their app! We checked where he was wanting to wind and that information was correct.

I reset the lock for Oleanna, the bottom gates with short beams heavy to move again. It took a while to get one side closed, I walked round to do the other. A very helpful, well meaning man walking the towpath walked up to the gate I’d just closed saying, ‘Would you like me to open this one for you?’ NO!!! was my slightly rude reply, NO thank you. The thought of having to close it again really wasn’t appealing!

**If we were here longer I’d walk round to get a different angle**

There was a bit of a do-ci-do at the junction with a boat having just turned out onto the T&M. Mick swung Oleanna round under the bridge and headed for Tixal Wide. Walking ahead I expected to see quite a few boats. One gap with an angler sat right in the middle. But further along with the best view of the gatehouse there was plenty of room, we’d just have to contend with the really low bank. The sun was just catching the gatehouse rather nicely, I took lots of photos. Maybe this winter I’ll do a painting which could hang above our bed, that will be two paintings of buildings from near the canals, one for each big bedroom.

The washing went out on the whirligig, Tilly disappeared into the friendly cover for quite some time. I had a walk back to the farm shop to see what there might be, maybe a nice joint for Sunday. However, there being very few prices on show put me off buying meat. I selected a few items, gluten free black pudding and oatcake mix, some cheese and a sausage roll for Mick’s lunch tomorrow. Definitely a treat shop at over £20!

Back at Oleanna I checked things out with Frank, today so far had been quiet, but not so after checking his notes! Photos of pieces of set came through from Jamie, I requested a slightly bigger pipe, which was sorted within a few minutes.

Late afternoon it started to rain, the washing had to come inside!

***It was good to start with, but not so now!***

Two potatoes got wrapped in foil and popped in the firebox of the stove, the last of the weekend’s chicken was mixed with carrot and greens for a chunky coleslaw to accompany the baked potatoes. Very nice.

6 miles, 2 locks, 1 left, 5.17 miles walked, 2 new jeans, 1 jumper, 7 odd marks, 12 oatcakes to make, 1 flushing loo, 0 DOB or name, 1 rendezvous arranged, 1 more in the pipeline, 2 visits from Tucker, 3 Frankness members wondering about Charlie Bigham.

https://what3words.com/eventful.socket.grownup

**Apparently someone has taken it on themselves to give the mile posts a spruce up! In the process making it really hard to read them!**

Chestnuts Roasting. 7th October

Leave a Reply

Fradley to Tescos Rugeley

**Guess who forgot to put a blob of something on the cratcch poppers!**

Rain. Not heavy, but rain this morning. The forecast last night had suggested it wouldn’t last long, the Met office app suggested it would stop around 10:15. Well they lied! We however wanted to keep up with our day in hand so couldn’t stay laid in bed. Now where did we put those waterproofs? At Christmas Josh, my nephew gave me some new waterproof trousers, these are far better than previous pairs I’ve owned, maybe I should put a new lightweight coat on my list this year.

**We should have given her a wipe down when she was wet**

We ended up setting off a little before 11am. No volunteers visible on the flight this morning, but that’s fine. Up Junction Lock, we were being followed by a workboat full of puddling clay. The crew member walked up to reset the lock behind us, I thought for a while they’d just nod from the other end of the lock, but at Middle Lock we had a conversation. They were headed to just above Shadehouse Lock to do some work there.

A single hander was coming down, it took a little while for him to bow haul his boat out of the lock, he really didn’t want to climb the ladder, I don’t blame him. Another boat approached from above so I could leave the gates for them and on we went, I opted to walk to Wood End Lock.

The HS2 works are still evident although checking my map I’m not sure the digger in a field was anything to do with the new line as it was really quite close to the 90 degree bend, maybe some new housing, maybe not.

At Wood End Lock the cottage still sits behind fencing, we were amazed that all of it’s windows were intact after so many years of being empty. Someone has added some artwork to the lock bridge.

Once up the lock we were on the long pound, slow going passing moored boats. I hitched a ride and had a catch up chat with Frank back in Scarborough. Today his Frankness visitor was Chris who rang me from the ground floor of Franks house whilst I was talking to Frank on the first floor!

The drizzle continued, not too heavy so it wasn’t unpleasant, but the temperature has most definitely dropped, and I looked forward to the stove being lit this evening, we’ll also be digging out our gloves before cruising tomorrow.

A pause for some lunch and a sit down at a handy length of armco. Tilly thought we should stay here, but we didn’t. Onwards. I hopped off to walk again just before Armtitage Tunnel, one boat heading towards us sounded it’s horn, then the tunnel was clear for Oleanna.

Now sunny, the walk was quite pleasant, a breeze making it still worth wearing a coat though. I spotted some Sweet Chestnuts on the ground, their spiky furry husks giving them away. I rolled the husks under my shoes to see if the nut inside would be worth collecting. Nowhere near as big as you get in shops, but I selected the bigger ones and filled a pocket up.

A few boats were on the move and after about 2 miles we approached Rugeley where we planned to moor for the night. The 2 day mooring was empty, we soon found out that one stretch of it was already occupied by a submarine, or maybe it was just a shopping trolley.

First port of call Morrisons pharmacy to see if the NHS app was correct that they do walk in flu jabs. They do, but only if someone hadn’t booked. On the family chat yesterday there had been mention that there was a nationwide shortage of the vaccine, well, it appears not here in Staffordshire. We booked an appointment for 20 minutes time, just long enough to pick up Micks’ prescription from Boots around the corner.

Both jabbed, £13 for a private one if you have a Morrisons card, we then did a top up shop. A few items were missing so I called into Tescos for those.

This evening the stove has been lit, Tilly has hogged the red blanket in front of it whilst Mick reheated some bolognaise sauce and I worked on panto emails and messages. I popped four chestnuts in the ash pan of the fire for quite a while. When I was young I used to be in charge of roasting chestnuts on our open fire at home. Today I took a look in my Food for Free book to see what they had to say about chestnuts.

Make sure you slit all but one of them. Put them all on the hot ash or by the coals, when the one that hasn’t been slit explodes, the others are ready. ‘The explosion is fairly ferocious, scattering hot shrapnel over the room, so sit well back from the fire and make sure all the other nuts have been slit.’

I didn’t need to have one that exploded, I timed them perfectly for roasting, but sadly they don’t have that much flavour to them. Maybe they were just a little bit too small or early in the season.

7.7 miles, 4 locks, 1 wet morning, 1 wet early afternoon, 1 underwater obstruction, 2 supermarkets, 1 boots, 2 jabs, 2 packets spaghetti, 1 Frank in the green, 1 final check from the printers, 18 chestnuts.

Threads Of Remembrance. 6th October

1 Reply

Alrewas to Fradley

A very misty start this morning in Alrewas, thank you Adam for the photo, I suspect we were still in bed with our morning cuppa when this was taken.

Tilly still wasn’t enamoured with our mooring, so after breakfast she was left in charge whilst we headed out. Mick to the Co-op and me to the National Remembrance Gardens. Crossing the road to get there isn’t quite as scary as I’d remembered it to be. A new Elizabeth Line train halted my walk for a while as it slowly crossed the road.

As I arrived at the gardens, a coach had just pulled up and was offloading its passengers. I asked a guide where the new mosaic was, in the chapel across the square. Gosh that was easy to find, I’d imagined walking half way across the site to find it, not just 100 yards away.

Whilst helping on the community mosaic in Scarborough earlier this year, Gaby Naptali and a few others headed down to help install the Threads of Remembrance mosaic. Several of the group had put together a piece each which joined other contributions and was all swirled together with many more mosaic tiles. What a wonderful piece it is, with so many people’s remembrances. It kept me captivated for quite a while.

Outside I decided to have a walk round. We visited ten years ago, did the land train round the site. Today I wanted to walk, headed towards the river and walked along the bank looking at the memorials there. Then cut in through the trees to the Shot at Dawn memorial. This wasn’t quite how I remembered it. The wood that had originally been used to symbolise the 306 service men who were executed for military offences in WW1 who were pardoned by the UK Government 20 years ago, had started to rot. Now the wood has been replaced by lengths of plastic timber, not quite the same, but it still is a very powerful monument.

Ten years ago the Armed Forces memorial was still being constructed on the hill in the centre of the garden. Today the names of people who have died in service since the end of WW2 fill many of the slabs. A chink in the central wall lets a shaft of light through on the 11th hour of the 11th day or the 11th month. The thing that struck me most about this monument was how much more of it is sat waiting for names to be added. Sadly there will always be combat and there will always be people who die because of it.

Back to the boat for an early lunch. Tilly decided that our mooring was pretty good after all, whilst I had an online production meeting for panto. Chats about things still to source, what scene would be good to have finished for the photo call, lighting queries, props queries, costume catch up, some sound. I have to say I’ve felt a touch detached from it for a while, but gosh, it all kicks off really quite soon!

**Cranked beams always need a bit of thinking about which way to push or pull**

Our cruise plan had us still a little ahead of ourselves today, but we decided to move on and keep ahead even more. We pushed off passing a couple of boats. Bagnall Lock’s cranked beams seemed indubitably heavy today. I hung on them, bumped them and hung some more until eventually they relented before I did.

I opted to walk on, making up for the fish and chips last night. We passed one boat coming down, a light weight cruiser aiming for Barton Turns today. A fill of water took forever at the services, the taps round the corner are much quicker. We disposed of rubbish and yellow water and then just pushed Oleanna across to moor on the other side. Sorry Tilly, no shore leave today, the road is just far to close.

***This is catist! Why are there no photos of cats?!***

1.8 miles, 4 locks, 7 miles walked, 110 brisk minutes, 1 more message about the print, 3 Frankness phone calls, 0.5 pork pie from Coats, 60 plus mosaic artists, 270 elements in one, 9 in the team, 1 new bucket, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 1 bored cat.

https://what3words.com/feel.leafing.juggles

Furthest West. 5th October

2 Replies

Shobnall Fields to Bridge 47, Alrewas

So glad we were only moored here for one night. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice mooring but Tilly and I spent far too long here last year. When I say it’s a nice mooring, it is apart from when the local lads decide to fire fireworks at each other whilst running around in the park! I hope that was a phase last year that has worn off.

As we were making to push off so was the chap on the boat ahead, NB Borderline. We’ve seen the boat about the system, he’s covered it all and bagged the silver propeller locations too. I had a chat with him as I rolled up the covers, he’s from York so there was plenty to chat about.

A boat waved us on, we thought they were coming in to moor where we were, some obscure hand signals were given. We pushed off and headed to the entrance to Shobnall Marina, Oleanna was swung round and then reversed under the narrow bridge. Time for a top up of diesel, £1.33 domestic, 3 bags of coal and a new float switch for the engine bilge pump as the current one keeps sticking on! Whilst we were tucked inside, the boat we thought was going to moor came past us, soon followed by another.

Back out onto the canal we soon passed where we’d moored for a night last year. This had been the furthest west we’d achieved in 2025, today we were continuing onwards, no rumours of Alrewas Lock closing due to low water levels.

At Branston Lock the two boats ahead of us were disappearing into the distance and not that far behind us was NB Borderline, long gone are the days of not seeing another moving boat!

A question had come through from the print company about my portals for panto, the chap I was talking to couldn’t find the right words to describe the query, he forwarded it by email and it immediately made sense. A few minutes to do a visual in reply, now hopfully it was sorted.

At Tattenhill Lock we’d caught up the boat ahead, they were travelling with the boat infront, so three, now four crew to work them up. Were we all aiming for Alrewas? Yes. News had come through this morning that there was plenty of room, so hopefully there’d be enough for three!

**Is the shed a new thing? I don’t remember it**

I hitched a ride to Barton Turn Lock, again helping the two boats ahead. Alongside this lock is an honesty box. Years ago I bought some alpine strawberry plants here which have carried on going and now fill an urn at the house and two troughs. I hope they will survive the rest of the year, they are not guaranteed to be watered now we’re back on the boat. Today there were jams, possibly pickles £3 a jar. Alongside in a box were punnets of tomatoes for £1. A good variety of sizes, they were worth the £1, I boughht some.

We pulled in soon after the lock, giving the boats ahead chance to get away and time for lunch and a sit down for Mick. Next it was time to play the A38 game, both of us stood at the stern of Oleanna waving to lorries as they passed at speed. Sadly the hedge was too high for many of them to see us, not one beep from a horn but a few waved back.

At lunchtime we’d been overtaken by another boat who we met at Wychnor Lock, a single hander who took his time. He was a touch bemused as he’d not been able to find the bins that he thought were shown on his app. I have to say I don’t remember there being bins here and the door he’d been trying I think is someone’s garage.

A message was sent ahead, we’d just ascended the lock. I opted to walk to Alrewas, a stretch I’ve not walked before. Across the raised walkways with their white railings which come in handy when the River Trent is in flood. At the lock the single hander had an extra pair of hands, Adam from NB Kingley Vale. As we worked Oleanna up the lock I of course got a phone call from the set builder, he wanted to talk toilets! A suitable subject with boaters about, but I couldn’t answer his questions until I had my drawings to look at.

**Alrewas Lock, thank you Adam for the photo**

NB KV was moored close to the lock, but we didn’t find a space until we got round near the church. Possibly a better mooring for Tilly, although she didn’t stay out long. It was nice of someone to put out all the flowers, but all the grass is too short and there’s very little friendly cover to pounce in and She said I wasn’t allowed to go digging!

**I just missed both boats in one photo!**

With panto questions answered, a chat with Frank, a spruce up and an early dingding for Tilly, we headed back to find NB Kingley Vale. Here Adam, Adrian and Macc their border terrier greeted us. There was a guided tour round their boat, still under a year old, a glass of wine and food time for Macc, woofers don’t do dingding! A very lovely boat, plenty of head room, possibly an inch higher than Oleanna.

We all then headed to The Crown for some food, a corner table so Macc could have some space of his own. Burgers, fish and chips, beers and wine all followed by puddings and accompanied by plenty of conversation. We’ve met Adam a few times, but before today we’ve only managed to wave to Adrian as they passed on NB Briar Rose at the beginning of lockdown in 2020. This year both boats had been travelling in the same direction, but we were two days behind them. However, Adrian has been referred to the fracture clinic in Burton, their cruising plans had changed, so they’d set a course to head in our direction. It was really lovely to get chance to spend an evening with them, we just hope that Adrian’s appointment comes through quickly.

**See, I said my photos were a bit pants! Mick, Adam and almost Adrian**

7.2 miles, 5 locks, 50 L diesel, 75kg coal, 1 float switch, 2 infront, 2 horses, 1 unimpressed cat, 1 boater talking toilets, 1 pause for lunch, £1 tomatoes, 1 guided tour, 2 burgers, 2 fish and chips, 5 glasses wine, 5 pints, 4 puddings, 1 very pleasant evening.

https://what3words.com/camcorder.inclined.ferried

Three Stamps. 3rd 4th October

1 Reply

Cranfleet Cut to Aston Lock to Weston Cliff Bridge 10 to Shobnall Fields

Saturday

Tilly had an hours shore leave whilst we had breakfast on board, she did a bit of self catering earning this mooring a stamp of approval! Ben was on the phone with an update from Scarborough early on, concerns, plans, can’t find this and that, to chat about. Poor Ben is certainly being kept busy, I know it would have been me had we still been in Scarborough.

**Paddling with Ratcliffe in the back ground**

Time to push off, a right at Trent Junction, but not right right. The river was busy with sailing boats, canoists and paddleboarders. At Sawley Locks we were directed to the right hand lock, a volunteer penning us up. He was relieved that someone was at the bow with a rope, this made for a far easier rise in the lock.

Back onto the River Trent, past the weir and on to where the Derwent meets the Trent and the start of the Trent and Mersey Canal heads off. Today it felt like we were entering the amazon, the amount of pennywort, only a small channel to cruise through and this apparently is after quite a bit of it has been cleared!

Up at the lock was a hire boat rising, I helped them close gates, they asked how far we’d be going, to Aston Lock today, the lady nodded. We shared Derwent Mouth Lock with a small cruiser. The chap with a windlass lifted his ground paddle quite quickly which meant Oleanna’s bow was pushed over towards the cruiser. Not ideal. But both boats rose up, they headed to moor to get themselves some lunch as we carried on.

I walked on ahead, easier to do now we’re back on the canals. I’d half expected the hire boat to be waiting for us to share Shardlow Lock to help save water, but when the lock came into view they were nearly up. Hang on, bottom gates don’t leak that much, there was quite a boil in the water. I tried squinting to see if there was a paddle up, my pace quickened. They were doing a very good job of running water down. Thankfully the pound above is quite long so no real harm done.

Approaching Aston Lock a boat was coming towards us, maybe the hire boat would be waiting for us now. They were, treading water below. I walked up to see if I could lend a hand, another boat rising in the lock. As the levels equalised another boat was pulling in above. A lady with silver hair, could this be a boat we expected to meet with today?

Yes it was NB Cobweb, owned by Vicky and David. Vicky used to work at the SJT in Scarborough front of house, a longtime ago and a few years ago she’d made a comment about the Princess Anne Bridge in Thorne on a facebook group, we reconnected. Recently we’d exchanged massages about repaints as NB Cobweb was requiring a bit of a spruce up. They’d been seeking quotes after one painter fell through, these ranged from £14,000 to £2,000. They’d opted to go with Robert Naghi who quite often uses the polytunnel at Redhill, so today they were heading there. There was time to chat as we worked Cobweb down, hopefully we’ll manage that drink in a Scarborough pub this winter to exchange boating tales.

The hire boat shared the lock with us, as another two boats arrived above. A chap walked down, he seemed to be familiar, but where from? Was he a boat mover? The penny dropped, he works at Redhill and is one of the team who move boats about the yard. He and another two chaps from the marina had been out for a week and were headed back today. It felt like I knew everyone now we were back on the cut, such a small world.

**Squeezing past a breasted up pair also on the move**

On our original plan had been to moor here for the day. We pulled in and let Tilly out, an hour that’s all she gave me! An hour!! As it was such a lovely day we wanted to move on, do a bit more after lunch, an aim of trying to get two days ahead of ourselves would be good to catch up with another boat. I was just about to stick my head out of the side hatch to call Tilly in when she came running along. She’s forgotten that I can tell the time! Bang on a hour, Thank you!!

As I walked on to Weston Lock, I had a long chat with Frank about some of the detective work I’d achieved for him. We just need to find the other paperwork this relates to it in the boxes at his house, not a five minute job! It was good to hear him enthused about things.

**Weston Lock with it’s b**tard heavy gates**

Up at the lock there were masses of young people with scooters, a few mums and dads, plenty to watch us go through the lock. One chap suggested they stay and watch to his son, I suggested they could help with the big gates. The lad came to help, but I suggested Dad’s help would also be needed. This made for the easiest rise at Weston we’ve ever had, thanks to our extra crew.

Just why was the towpath so busy?! Well there was a scarecrow festival going on, three scarecrows here on the canal. Scar Crow (by the little hut), Victoria Plunge (alongside a cake boat) and Bart Boatman (at the next boat, he spoke too!) all very amusing.

We carried on to a gap in the trees with a length of armco. Tilly was given shore leave, and we had a nice little walk along to a bench overlooking the river below. Tilly then amused herself as I got out the new paints. This morning I’d noticed a rub mark and a chip on the grabrail which had gone back to the steel. Keep on top of the paintwork Tom had said, so I got out the 2 pack blacking, mixed the smallest amount in an old jar, guessing the 4 parts paint to 1 of hardner and touched in the two areas. No idea how they had happened or when, but at least they now had some protection. I’ll get round to the red another day when the towpath is on the right side.

The huge courgette went into a bolognaise sauce, padding the mince out into three meals for us, I’ll have to shoehorn one lot into the freezer.

Sunday.

A cooked breakfast on board. Our new poach pods seem to be a bit thin, so the eggs cooked in an odd way, think we’ll have to find some more. I like poached eggs, but like a runny yolk not the white.

The weekly Geraghty zoom followed, subjects included mice (Tilly’s choice), Hamlet, Lisa Nandy, Aran and peanut butter lids. Only one sibling missing today due to them travelling to visit Anne for her birthday.

I walked on ahead. One lady on a passing boat exclaimed at how far I was going to be walking to the lock. Strangely enough, I knew exactly how far it was and I’d still be walking some more after the lock. I paused when I saw the cooling towers of Willington for the first time and stopped for a glance at Swarkstone Pavillion, the subject of a painting I did earlier this year.

**Far busier at locks than on the Trent**

At the lock there was a scout troop having a rest and snacks. I did suggest to one of their leaders that sitting under a lock beam maybe wasn’t the best place for them, especially as I needed to access both sides of the lock. Once Oleanna was in the lock I clocked that a paddle was still just up at the bottom end, the scouts had to move for me to sort that out!

We swapped with a downward boat and I hopped on board to catch a lift up to Stenson. There were two volunteers at Stenson, I went to lend a hand, but ended up chatting instead. They knew their lock and how it works, the opposite way to the vast majority of locks on the network. It was a very gentle ride up. We then pulled in for a break to have lunch.

On our way towards Mercia we had a young lad in a canoe follow in our wake, he was meeting people at the marina, hope they’d told him whereabouts as it is vast! The new buildings that had been going up last year look now to be completed, similar to those around the marina.

I got my knitting out to work on at the stern as we made our way along the long pound towards Burton. We were pushing on a bit further today with a rendezvous in mind tomorrow. I hopped off around bridge 29A and walked the rest of the towpath to Dallow Lock, the first narrow lock. The first narrow lock we’ve done this year in fact. We’d wondered if Stenson would be our last broad lock but then realised we’d have two broad locks to do on the River Avon before reaching our mooring for panto.

A couple walked past and helped with the bottom gate, then a chap and his son asked lots of questions as Oleanna rose up, they also helped with the top gate. There was quite a bit of room at Shobnall Fields, last year Tilly and I spent quite a bit of time moored opposite them whilst Mick was in Derby Hospital after his stroke. Today it was deemed too late for Tilly to have any shore leave, she however didn’t agree with our decision!

A chicken went in the oven to roast. We’re a little bit out of practice with our boat oven, we’ll need to adjust the amount of time we roast carrots and parsnips for, as they turned a little bit hard and bits resembled charcoal. Oh well isn’t carbon meant to be good for you?!

19.5 miles, 8 locks, 1 boat met, 1 boat to catch up, 1 change of plan, 1 rendezvous arranged, 3 boat yard chaps, 3 scarecrows, 2 many messages, 1 pooped Frank, 3 Mrs Tilly stamp of approvals in 1 day!

https://what3words.com/brotherly.received.hobbyists

https://what3words.com/aunts.starch.charm

https://what3words.com/same.harder.same

OAC. 1st, 2nd October

Leave a Reply

Stoke Lock to Sainsburys to Cranfleet Cut

First things first, someone turned eleven today and in so doing made me the youngest crew member on board! Old Age Cat, 11, she’s reached 60 before me! She doesn’t act like an OAC! This time last year we were moored on exactly the same mooring for her birthday. Last year her present was a furry thing we now call the Rat, it’s getting rather bald from all the licking! This year she got a leek, not quite a vegetable as it contains catnip. She also got a serious treat of some salmon which will be saved for a really boring, no shore leave day.

Tilly was allowed some shore leave as I worked on panto for a while, a phone call from Jamie the set builder and a couple of other things required attention. The boat that had been in the lock cut last night came past, NB Falcon, we’d seen them somewhere last year. An electric boat, we waved. Just as we were about to push off my phone rang, it was the social worker in Scarborough calling to confirm Frank’s discharge from the hospital and when his first carer would arrive. In Scarborough the Frankness group were busy, the cleaner even busier! The plan was all coming good.

Time to sus out moorings in Stratford. We’d looked online for a CRT mooring and worked out the cost to be in Bancroft Basin for a month. CRT winter moorings only run for calendar months, so we’d need to book it for November and move there on my first weekend off, we’d also not really plan to use the last week. It worked out at about £300, the nearest water point and bins would be 4 locks back up the canal, not ideal. It’s also quite close to busy roads and I was concerned about Tilly being safe exploring or not having any shore leave for four weeks.

So we then looked at Shakespeare Marina, I’d heard they still had spaces for winter moorers. Mick had sent them an email but heard nothing back, so he called them. Was it possible to have a visitor mooring for a month. Yes. Would it be possible to have a mooring around the edge of the marina, so Tilly could come and go? Yes. Would we also need an Avon Navigation licence whilst we were there? Yes. We totted things up, yes it’s more expensive than a CRT winter mooring, it’s also further out of town. But there is a bus stop close by, Tilly may be able to go out without busy roads, there’s a gate to the towpath. We decided to go for it.

As we came round the last bend towards Holme Lock I spied someone at the downstream panel. I zoomed in on my camera, yes there was someone there, they walked towards the top gates. Ahh, we were too far away to sound our horn and the lock landing is quite a distance from the panels so they were already part way up when I arrived to chat to them.

NB Falcon. I mentioned that we’d come across them last year, possibly somewhere before, and the chap said ‘Ah yes, you are the Panto lady!’ He writes books about cars, well used to until AI came along and now steals his words. We had quite a chat and as their boat came up I went to chat to the lady at the helm, very nice to see them again.

Once the top gates were closed behind them and the paddles dropped I set the lock for us. Holme Lock is quite a monsterous size. It took 32 minutes from pressing the button to start emptying the lock, to the top gates being shut and all paddles closed behind Oleanna. Shame we’d not been able to share it and a good job we’re on a river!

Back upstream, we overtook NB Falcon at Lady Bay Bridge, they were heading for the steps at County Hall for the night, but we were headed for Sainsbury’s. As we pulled up onto the pontoon I could see the lock was being emptied, someone had lifted the paddles for us and stayed to help us up. Thank you!

**Near the big bend and urgent care centre**

I walked on to Castle Lock, worked us up and then I walked on a head to see where we’d be able to moor. On our way down there had been plenty of space by the path to Saisnbury’s, but today there was a distinct lack of room. I called Mick and told him to back up as even though there were gaps, they just weren’t big enough for us.

A few items were purchased to top up on fresh items whilst I worked on straightening out the legs for panto. As I’d found the right tool yesterday to do the job, this proved to be very easy. The files were sent off to the printer. Fingers crossed that this time they are fine.

This evening we sat down to watch the first episode of Celebrity Traitors. Well, was that a mistake or not?! Mick ended up snoozing, so he’ll have to watch it again tomorrow!

2nd October

Mick headed back in Sainsbury’s this morning to pick up some liver and bacon, we still had some M&S mashed potato left over from our pies on Monday, so that was our evening meal sorted.

I had a chat with Frank first thing, as today was the day he was moving back home. A few final preparations were needed, but all was on course for his return.

There was an email from the director of panto making a request. Ah, some of it wouldn’t be possible, but some might. The set builder happened to then call to check a couple of things, so I could ask questions about an alteration. Easy. As we pushed off from our mooring, I walked on ahead chatting to the Director. Caroline comes from Nottingham so knew exactly where we were. I checked over my shoulder at one point and said ‘I seem to have lost my boat!’ I loitered, and Oleanna soon came back into view.

At Beeston we pulled in on the water point to top up the tank and empty the yellow water, Tilly’s pooh box got a refresh too. We then pushed over to the other side, the lock landing to make disposing of our waste easier, the elsan has swapped sides since we were last here.

This is yet another time when we’ve missed out on the Heritage Centre at the lock. Next time hopefully we may have more time, that’s if they are open in the winter. Today we needed to keep moving, our cruising plan has us moving for about three hours a day everyday.

Out onto the river again. No other moving boats in sight. We wondered if there’d be any lock keepers on duty at Cranfleet. Sure enough as we got close I could spy blue t-shirts and life jackets, three Lockies who set the lock for us and then started to work the paddles.

The lock walls have some larger stones that overhang into the chamber. As we rose up, I could see there being a possibility of the gunnel catching under this, by about an inch. I tried pushing the bow out, but the pressure from the water coming in was too great. I called back to Mick to pull Oleanna backwards, the gunnel scraped out from under the lip, taking with it an area of paint! Good job it’s easy paint to touch up, even better that we hadn’t got caught.

We opted to pull in before the end of the cut, the mooring rings however were spaced for really long boats, so a spike had to be used at the stern. Tilly was given three hours shore leave. After an initial attempt to reach the sideways trees was thwarted by a woofer, she made a sprint for it and disappeared for a while. Maybe it wasn’t a good mooring?

News came through that Frank was at home enjoying a cuppa chatting to Chris. An email with some vital information had arrived too whilst we’d been on the move, an extra good thing to happen today. Two missions accomplished so far this week, a cruising plan coming good. Add to that liver and bacon tonight, another pretty good day.

15 miles, 5 locks, 1 Frank back home, 1 car nearly gone, 4 legs straightened, 11, 60 year old, 1 leek, 1 lock missed, 1 bench separate, 1 toilet impossible, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 pot of mash, 1 carer being instructed how to cook pork chops.

https://what3words.com/rocks.bright.slimy

https://what3words.com/horn.mull.reef

South Bound, We Hope! 29th 30th September

Leave a Reply

King’s Marina to Hazelford Lock, River Trent

Tuesday

Our Sainsbury’s delivery arrived and Mick was up by the gates waiting to let the driver in. Shopping stowed. A new gas bottle was needed to bring our supplies up to winter levels, £54.58, ouch, that hurt! You can tell we’ve not been boating for a while. Yellow water emptied, fresh water tank topped up.

I then had a phone call from Social Services in North Yorkshire, Frank had given permission for them to talk to me about arrangements at the house. I talked her through our hoped for plan, the cleaner the main part, other small jobs and some added bonus jobs that hopefully the Frankness group in Scarborough would be able to achieve this week. With everything being co-ordinated through HQ here onboard Oleanna. She suggested a day for Frank to head home, I suggested a day earlier, this would mean he would be able to go to see the new Ayckbourn play before it closes on in Scarborough on Saturday night. The social worker agreed and went off to carry on making arrangements.

We were now ready. Oleanna reversed out from the pontoon, winded and turned right, upstream, and back out onto the river. Mick radioed ahead, would there be a Lockie on duty today, no answer came and soon an amber light came into view, self service time.

I hopped off and went ahead to work the lock, key of power (before you ask Brian, yes, my phone number is on the floats!) in the pedestal, panel open the lady began her warning ‘Please keep clear of the lock gate area’, over and over again. We were soon up and on our way.

Currently we have three different routes in mind with the aim of getting close enough for me to commute to work on panto. Only one of them is currently open and it’s quite a long way round. Fingers crossed that stoppages open up and a more direct route can be followed. Our cruising plans all involve the Trent and Mersey, but once we reach Fradley we’ll need to commit to a route. I added in another variable to the equation, a possible visit to Urban Moorings to make a deposit of our deposits. Do they still accept passing boaters deposits? If they do it will mean our deposit capacity can be reset onboard and avoid having to make a visit to Scarborough in the next couple of months.

There were messages flying around on the Frankness Whatsapp group. Jobs being ticked off the list, a recently recruited member Chris was charged with drilling and motor jobs. It’s a good job we all worked at the theatre and each of us has our own skills we can draw on. Long conversations with Ben, he’d been to see Frank in the hospital and had been given a few more tasks. So much for a week off from work!

Soon we arrived at Hazelford Lock, the moorings empty, we pulled in to our regular spot, tied up, noted w3w location and Tilly was allowed out. The Lockie came to say hello, he’d been strimming and would soon follow with a leaf blower, How very inconsiderate of him! Tomorrow there’d be no Lock Keepers on the river.

We had a late lunch, then I joined an HMRC Webinar to do with expenses whilst renting out property. I really know how to live! More jobs for Frank followed, questions were asked, the answers not firm enough, I’d need to be a detective again.

Wednesday, a very good day.

Hazelford Lock to Stoke Lock

Tilly was given an hours shore leave before we set off. However, the light at the lock had been on red all night and still was. We checked for CRT notices, nothing mentioned about a closure there. We got the boat ready to set off, then went up to have a look, would our key work on the panel even though the light was red?

There were a couple of CRT chaps there, the lock hut open. We chatted to one of them , it might be that the light had been left on by mistake, it might be that there was a problem that they hadn’t been able to see, they were here to do another job, but had called it in. If there was a problem they’d come and let us know, but we should keep an eye open should the light turn amber. We headed back some Frank detective work done to fill the time.

After a while I popped my head out the front, Amber, we were good to go. I helped Mick untie Oleanna before heading up to the lock to set things in motion. With only one downstream paddle in operation it took forever to empty the lock.

What a glorious day, blue skies and on our favourite stretch of the river. More plans were coming together back in Scarborough, logistics of a theatre trip being put into action. Nurses on the ward were made aware of how important this show was to Frank and they were on board should Frank not be discharged in time, so an escape plan was put together for him.

As we approached Gunthorpe Lock I headed to the bow to be able to hop off, it’s far easier this way as the lock landing has strong currents from the weir. But then up at the lock someone waved at us, there was a group of volunteers doing gardening, some of them trained as Lockies, they penned us up.

Time for lunch, so we pulled in on the empty pontoon. The river is SO quiet!

I opted to walk on to Stoke Lock, there is one bend of the river you can miss out by following a bridleway and if I left Mick to push off by himself I might just be able to keep in front of Oleanna.

The last time I was in the car park by the moorings I was climbing into an ambulance after loosing the tip of my little finger, today the sun made it feel better and I strode onwards through the trees, under the road bridge and headed upstream.

As the footpath rejoined the riverbank, I glanced over my shoulder, I could just make out Oleanna rounding the bend I’d missed out, what sort of pace was I achieving? What speed was Oleanna doing on the river? Gradually Oleanna gained on me, Mick cut back the revs, my 3.5 mph average was pretty good, but on the river Oleanna could do more.

I penned Oleanna up the lock, then Mick headed on to see if the low wall mooring was available. One narrowboat was moored in the lock cut, did they not know about the pontoon? Or were all the moorings full? Only one boat on the pontoon and the low wall was free. We pulled in, gave Tilly several hours shore leave. I showed her the trees at the top of the stairs which of course she was interested in, so I left her to it. However, I’d vanished out of sight, so she came back to the boat SHOUTING for me!

During the afternoon, Frank did his best to answer more questions, the Frankness group was busy, would anyone know one person who could save us six weeks of waiting? Possibly, a couple of emails were sent. CRT emails coming in were good. One saying that the South Stratford Canal would be reopening this week. This meant we’d be able to take a more direct route to panto. Fantastic! We just need to decide where to moor now.

The day had been good, well apart from an email I’d really hoped not to recieve about the print for panto. A proof came through for the portals, it wasn’t the correct size. The print wouldn’t match once the portals were put together? Did I have the original artwork? After painting them, my model pieces had become a little bit wonky. So I’d trimmed the height to be correct, but left the sides so there was space for someone with better knowledge to straighten things out. Add into the mix an extra 15cm all the way round to be able to fix the canvas onto existing flats (scenery), maybe this was what had gone wrong. Maybe not all the information had been passed on?

I learnt how to straighten up the legs, did a mockup, and was convinced I’d got the size of things correct. It would take more work tomorrow, but hopefully that would sort it all out. I sent the mock up to the print company, they passed it on. Fingers crossed.

18.4 miles, 4 locks, 2 moorings, 1 giant courgette, 4 boxes wine, 13kg gas, 1 ex carpenter/maintenance added to the team, 2 many messages, 1 panto email, 2 hours to find a new process, 2 and -2, 1 plan to be implemented, 1 back up plan just incase, 2 favourite moorings, 2 pairs of wonky legs straightened, 1 good day, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://what3words.com/broad.quail.lower

Setting The Plan In Action. 27th, 28th September

Leave a Reply

Kings Marina / York / Scarborough

Sunday we dug out Tilly’s magic food bowl and set it ready to open in 8 hours time, topped up her biscuit bowl, then packed bags and popped the cheesecake into a cool bag and set off to walk to Newark Northgate Station.

Our train was delayed, engineering works had overrun so our train was held in London, this made for a slower walk to the station. Stood on the platform we had speeding train after train whizzing through the station, all trying to catch up with themselves. I wonder if the delay repay on such occasions gets handed onto Network Rail?

In York, Mick caught a bus to Fishergate whilst I walked to the London Leckenby’s flat. I chose to walk past Clifford’s Tower and then alongside Castle Mills Lock to see if the works on replacing the gates were complete. At the beginning of June we’d seen new lock gates sitting alongside the lock and a work boat in it. Today the work boat was still there, so were the dams either side of the lock. There was a lot more fencing up around the place and acros spanning the lock. At least the bottom gates looked to have been installed, the top ones still sitting on the bank. At least something this year is taking as long as Oleanna’s repaint!

We were here for a lunch with an old family friend Ian. Ian was one of the younger friends of my parents, he used to work at Rowntree’s and soon after starting he joined the Rowntree Players, the factory’s amateur theatre group, and he got a part in Billy Liar. Ian was a favourite with me, as for a while he worked in the jelly department and at Christmas he’d arrive with a big box (possibly 12 packs) of Rowntree’s blackcurrant jelly, which I used to eat in chunks straight from the box.

It was very lovely to see him, Andrew and Jac have seen him quite recently at various fundraisers he’s been holding to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity. He set up the Janis Connell fund three years ago with the goal of raising £100,000 in memory of his wife which he achieved recently. There was talk of more fundraising. Sponsored walks, sky diving, Jac may just have been signed up to that one!

Some lovely slow cooked lamb, with potatoes and a salad were followed by my cheesecake, quite a bit of wine but more importantly lots of conversation. I don’t think Mick, Josh or I had seen Ian since my Dad’s funeral in 2012, so it was wonderful to catch up with him.

Some of the conversation had been about my best friend Emma and her sister Jane. Jane’s second husband, an actor had played Inspector Goole in the National Theatres production of an Inspector Calls in the West End quite some years ago. This prompted us to nestle down on the sofas to watch the BBC version. It was interesting compared to the stage version with added scenes which put the time line off just a bit. It was still enjoyed by those who managed to keep awake after our lovely meal.

28th September

Everyone was up early. The flat was to be packed up, trains to be caught in differing directions. Josh headed back to Manchester to attend his first lecture of his third year at University. I was next to leave to catch a train to Scarborough, shortly followed by Mick heading to York hospital for a blood test (this saved him going back to Scarborough) but in the end it may have taken far less time as he sat waiting in the blood test queue for an hour and three quarters! This left Andrew and Jac to pack their car and head back to London.

In Scarbrough I had a day planned to help with things for Frank. Tucker an old work colleague picked me up from the station and we headed to Franks house to try to find some documents and to meet a cleaner. James was a very nice chap and knew exactly what was needed at the house. Sadly Tucker and my hunt proved fruitless.

I got a lift to our house to pick up the second toothbrush charger and Brompton bag that we’d forgotten. Anna our lodger had left out the copy of an old program from a Theatre In the Round production in 1957 which has Alan Ayckbourn playing a part and as the Stage Manager. A wonderful piece of theatre history.

I had a chat to various people keeping them up to date over the phone, then walked over to Scarborough Hospital to visit Frank and update him too. There were things he needed to read, more visitors arrived who patiently waited as I chatted to Frank about important things. A catch up with Steve before I left Frank, Geoff and Steve to have a far more interesting conversation. My tasks were done apart from posting a form for Frank which was dropped off at the Post Office on my way back to the station.

**This cat will talk to absolutely anyone!**

A catch up chat with Ben, who is back for a week from touring with The Calendar Girls. Ben is one of the original Frankness group and we had lots to chat about. This would be my last visit to Scarborough for some time so passing on some jobs that needed to be done.

Mick had arrived back at Oleanna earlier in the day, another £10 M&S pie deal had been purchased. This was enjoyed with a very large glass of much needed wine.

0 locks, 0 miles, 5 trains, 14 years too long, 1 lovely lunch, 1 odd time line, 1 sandwich for breakfast, 1 ex Technical Stage Manager, 1 Film and Live Streaming Co-Ordinator, 1 ex Senior Technician currently Sound No 1, 1 ex Master Carpenter, 1 ex Resident Designer, 1 form of ID, 1 cleaner, 1 plan coming together, 2 pies, 1 portion of mash left for another day.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna

Funny Feet Locks. 10th October

Three In A Line, In The Rain. 9th October

One For Each Bedroom. 8th October

Chestnuts Roasting. 7th October

Threads Of Remembrance. 6th October

Furthest West. 5th October

Three Stamps. 3rd 4th October

OAC. 1st, 2nd October

South Bound, We Hope! 29th 30th September

Setting The Plan In Action. 27th, 28th September