Travels in Narrowboat Lily Pad

Back to Debdale

2011-09-27T09:28:00.000Z

Sorry, I didn't take many pics this week

Monday 19^th The morning started bright so I put on my shorts, then it got colder! A kingfisher flew past early on and we were away by 8.40 and down two locks to Fradley Junction where we turned right onto the Coventry & then tied up to use facilities......and the coffee shop! It didn’t open til 10 but we had bought a paper at the junction so we were fine, good coffee & away at 10.45. We set off behind two slow boats, one of which stopped at Streethay Wharf, the other at Hopwas. We cruised steadily all day until reaching Tamworth. Carol wanted to cook a certain dish & had used all the eggs so I made a quick run to Sainsburys before we carried on to moor near Pooley Hall, one of our regular stopping points. Whilst I was shopping Carol was hailed by Mick & Crystal, former Foxton Lock-keepers, as they cruised past. 16 miles & 4 locks.

Tuesday 20^th a cloudy but mild day and we were away before 8.30 and reached Atherton Bottom Lock at 9.30. The locks are subject to restricted use because of water shortages, so we expected a slowish trip up this flight, but as we left the 2^nd lock we met a boat that had started at the top lock that morning & looked as if he would work his way through the flight in just over 2 hours! For us trying to enter the third lock we went aground! Fortunately Lily came free shortly after, the rest of the flight being OK, but slow as we were just behind a working pair with the butty being bow hauled. We met IWA national chairman Clive Henderson about half way up & had a chat, the next boat we met being 1899 boat Enterprise, an ex steamer tug with a lovely 5 cylinder Gardner dating from 1931. A really interesting boat, as was the beautifully restored Joey boat being bow hauled down the locks.

We reached to top in time for lunch & had intended to buy train tickets for next week at the station, except there is no booking office in Atherstone! We carried on to Nuneaton by 3 and stopped near br 21. It was dry whilst we cruised but it poured by 5 & carried on for a long time. Nuneaton station has a booking office & we got our trip to Dundee sorted. 10miles & 11 locks

Wednesday 21^st Setting of around 9 we soon pulled over to fill with fuel @ 88p. It was a fine day with a cool wind that was gusty at times. We had an easy cruise to Rugby with a slight hold up at Hawkesbury. We had difficulty getting a mooring by 4.30 when we arrived, but by bashing down a load of Giant Butterbur we were sorted. We dashed off to the cinema to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which was excellent, and with the Orange Wednesdays offer only cost us £6. 19miles 1lock

Thursday 22^nd and Happy Birthday Hannah (14 today). Another day that started bright & sunny and then clouded over with a cool breeze. After topping up fresh fruit etc in Tesco we were away around 9.30 for a slowish cruise to the Hillmorton Locks, which are also subject to restriction, but we only had a short wait before starting up. We had an awful coffee at the cafe on the flight, it tasted burnt!

Lily at Sutton Stop

There were many boats waiting at the top to descend the flight, and we passed many more approaching it. Our cruise to Braunston was fairly slow, and when we arrived at the bottom lock we had a wait of about 15 minutes until Warwick joined us enabling our cruise to continue, saving water by pairing up through the flight. Warwick used to be one of the Challenger Syndicate boats, the owners of this boat not having lost too much when Challenger went bottoms up. They now manage their syndicate themselves & have relocated to Yelvertoft Marina.

After meeting 4 boats in it we left the Braunston tunnel before 4 & tied up just round Norton Junction at 4.30, not being able to progress further as Watrford Locks are shut at 4 to save water.

14 miles & 9 locks

Friday 23^rd and it started and ended sunny but it clouded over during the day and again the wind was cool. Setting off at 8 we hopped over the fence at Watford Gap services to get a paper and....you guessed it.....coffee. Reaching Watford Locks there was no-one waiting and we entered around 9.20 and volunteer Richard helped us up. He has been working 2 days a week through the cruising season, driving to Watford from Countesthorpe. The lock keepers at Watford really have pushed the boat out to get the locks and surroundings looking tremendous, it was a definite flower competition with Lily.

Flower competition

Watford top lock office

We met nothing in Crick tunnel & tied up at the Wharf to fill with water & to pop over to see Barry at ABNB. Lovely chat, picked some lovely Cox apples and looked across the mooring basin. I was amazed to see Lily Pad tied up in there, the boat we had built in 1992 and sold 10 years later. Freshly painted she looked lovely, and being for sale we were able to look her over. She looked great, our upholstery & curtains still looked fresh & she has clearly been loved since we sold her, it was a real delight to see her again.

A very smart Lily 2 freshly repainted

Two Lilies with us on the water point on the canal

We set off just after a slow boat & we caught up with 2 more. We had a pleasant gentle cruise until we met Hazel & Brian on Willum of Ozney just past br 33 & stopped for the day to have a really good chat after not seeing them since leaving Debdale. 11miles & 7 locks.

Saturday 24^th and today we had to juggle Foxton Locks opening times with watching qualifying for the Singapore GP. As such we tried to set off before 8, but were solidly aground. Try all we might we were stuck, but fortunately Brian was up to watch the rugby from New Zealand & he came to add push & eventually we were free.

A very easy cruise saw us meet one boat close to the end of Husbands Bosworth tunnel and carried on to the top of Foxton by about 12. Very few boats are permitted to use the locks currently, only boats & hire boats with moorings between Foxton & Leicester are permitted to use the locks. The reservoirs supplying the Leicester summit & the locks down to Leicester are effectively empty and drastic measures are in place to preserve the little water there is left though the summit was almost up to weir thanks to back pumping at Watford.

A quick trip down the flight and we were back in Debdale by 1.30. This day Carol managed to tip her seat cushion into the water, whilst my hat was removed by a branch as we made the turn in the marina. Both were recovered by some drastic reverse manoeuvres. Just 12 miles & 10 locks.

Lily at her home moorings

So a really enjoyable cruise, shorter than we had wished. On the Sunday we walked to Foxton to collect papers as we had no car and met John & Jo of Acen who told of their epic cruise from Feb to date, covering over 1000 miles and heaven knows how many locks. It makes our total for the trip at 347 miles and 287 locks sound very lazy, but we loved it so much we are going to repeat much of it next year.

Just a comment on the Foxton restrictions. Only hire boats & boats with moorings between Leicester & Foxton are allowed to use the locks. The flight up from Leicester is woefully short of water, but some people make it up to Foxton, as did John & Jo. These boats are not permitted to go up Foxton, they therefore have to use loads of water to get back down to Leicester and it doesn’t seem to make much sense, especially as water is being run down Foxton each day to keep the Debdale-Harborough pound up.

Away from Sale and starting home

2011-09-19T20:53:00.000Z

Monday 12^th We were intending to set off from Sale today but the arrival of the tail end of Hurricane ?? and the strong winds it brought made us decide to wait, so I went for a walk around Sale to see the two houses where I was in digs whilst at UMIST. It was also a great day for collecting fresh conkers!

A very cold place to spend a year

So on Tuesday 13^th after coffee we set off to see Stuart at Hesford Marine to fill with fuel.

The Bridgewater don't mess around if there is
a sunken boat!

Whilst there I looked at the alternator belts, to find they were in a bad way, but then they were the ones being used when the alternator fell off. It was a day of mixed weather with one heavy shower and sun. We stopped for the night at Stockton Heath, where we stopped on the way north for me to get my ribs checked. Thanks for asking, they’re fine. 13 1/2 miles

Carol happy to be cruising again

What on earth is this meant to be?
I'm sure it is a sculpture, but what?

Wednesday 14^th and it was 10.30 before the coffee bug had been slaked and we were off.

A pair of Springers that looked much loved
& must be 30 years old.

We stopped at Claymore Boats to collect spare alternator belts I had ordered and we the cruised on to Preston Brook tunnel and the start of BW water again. We had a 20 minute wait till our turn to start the traverse, ample time for lunch. Through we had a short wait at Saltersford tunnel & went straight through Barnton tunnel. It was busy around Anderton but we carried on & moored at Billings Green Flash, past Northwich at 6 in a lovely spot on a lovely evening, the weather being pretty good all day. 17miles & 1 lock.

Thursday 15^th and this is the start of hard days. We were up just past 7 with a lovely misty sun flooding over the flash, the sunken wreck and Lily. A kingfisher flew across just before we set off, only our second this year, but setting the scene, but as we cast off the mist became fog, but the day became glorious.

The sunken boat in early morning mist

We stopped in Middlewich for fresh fruit (& coffee!!) and cruised on until 6. We crossed with several boats at locks and there were no hold ups, but it was a tiring day, stopping past the M6 past lock 55 and with Harecastle tunnel within an easy cruise to keep in the opening times. 12 ½ miles & 21 locks.

Friday 16^th Overcast & cool at start with occasional bright bits & rain as we set off at 8.20. Good progress with most locks being paired & many set for us & crossing other boats. Topped up water at Red Bull services before Harecastle tunnel where we had a 15 minute wait before we were second in of a group of four. This long tunnel has a sagging ceiling in places & we took down our satellite dish & took the buckby cans off the roof.

Waiting at Harecastle in the rusty water

Headroom was OK, we didn’t need to take the things off, but better safe than sorry, but ventilation in the tunnel used to be poor, so now giant fans such foul air out after the southern end has doors closed to make the pumping possible. 40 minutes after entering we were through & we carried on through the Stoke locks, commencing our descent, and mooring past bridge 112. Quite a good mooring, but 30-40 years ago there would have been large pottery factories hemming in the canal on both sides, now just waste land and bare level stone. We saw Clim & Brindley (last seen in Liverpool) set high out of the water at Stoke on Trent Boatbuilders where Brindley had her hull grit blasted. We stopped at 4 after a good but tiring day, with it raining again as we moored. 11 ½ miles 19 locks.

Saturday 17^th and rain overnight and heavy rain just before we got up. Shower as we set off at 8 but it soon brightened to a lovely day. Pleasant cruise to Stone where we stopped for fresh salad from the market, Useful Morrisons there, but the shop that had the sub-Post Office within it had recently gone bust...there was also a Costa! Stone was the place where the T&M was started and it opened through Stone 240 years ago.

What a fantastic bike seen in Stone

On our way to Stone this morning we saw 10 kingfishers, they were everywhere, after on 2 in the previous 4 months! The afternoon was a pretty cruise in good weather and we stopped at Weston upon Trent (Staffs there is one in Derbys) and got a lovely mooring. We ate at The Saracen’s Head, a local reporting it served better food than The Woolpack, but we should have stopped earlier at bridge 82 to go to the Holly Bush. Meal was pretty good, Temple Meads beer was excellent, we sat in the conservatory overlooking the surrounding hillside which was stunning. 10 ½ miles 10 locks.

Carol admires a fantastic display next to the Saracens Head

Sunday 18^th and it was lovely at first as I set off at 8.30 to walk to the first lock, by which time it had clouded over & cooled down noticeably. Steady cruise through more pretty country, crossing with boats at all 4 locks. Weather improved during day, but we had a very slow cruise through the narrows at Armitage. We stopped just after the first lock down to Fradley at 4.30. 14miles & 4 locks.

Amazing decor on a wool boat

Many admire our rotary clothes line
but this must take the biscuit, look at the pegs!

Good news this week, boat contents insurance is paying to get my camera repaired. Busy week, much harder than we usually do, but we are anxious to get back to Debdale before there is no water left on the Leicester summit. 79 miles and 55 locks.

In Manchester & broken down again

2011-09-12T18:34:00.000Z

Jenson Button blasts down Deansgate

Castlefields is not the quietest place to stop with railway lines high on viaducts close by alongside the trams but road noise is not too bad. There is a useful little shop under the railway arch and the basin is right by Deansgate Station for rail and the Deansgate tram stop. Also useful nearby is the “Green Bus” stop for the free eco friendly bus that is one line of three that loop around the city. For bus pass holders there are other routes served from stops close by.

Overlooking the arms near the YHA is Manchester’s Roman fort, but these are very much remains with walls built along the lines of walls revealed during excavations, but much better is MOSI, the Museum of Science & Industry that is right by the YHA.

The YHA has very good washing machines (£3 a go) & dryers (£1 a go) & I was told the food they offer is very good & very reasonable. If you need a shower, and why Carol did will come later, for £3.50 you get access to their lovely gym.

A trip by tram from the Deansgate stop takes you to Media City in Salford, the new home for the BBC, it cost us £2.40 return, though we did buy tickets to Salford Quays, reckoning that this would be where we wanted to go, but was the same reasonable cost. Media City is reasonably impressive, but the Outlet Mall is poor.

Lift bridge by the Lowry, incredible glazed
building on other side of MSC

The Lowry Centre certainly is impressive, it looks interesting, and the Lowry Gallery is tremendous. We arrived just as a guide was about to start a guided talk.....except that without s he would have been talking to no-one. We had a really interesting talk, possibly better because it was 2 to 1, but when you go do take one of these free talks. Then there is a really interesting film about Lowry & his life, but best of all is the lovely collection of his works, and it showed he didn’t just paint “matchstalk men”.

Across the Ship Canal is set the Imperial War Museum North in an interesting looking building that I will visit next week, and there are two wonderful bridges across the canal, one a lift bridge, the other a swing bridge, but I doubt they operate very often.

Swing bridge over MSC from Lowry forecourt

We had previously visited the Manchester Art Gallery on Princess St where there were several Lowry’s but a large display by one of his tutours, Adolphe Valette. This gallery also has a large collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and a good general display. To find your way around the city, go to Princess Gardens & visit the Information Centre & pick up a useful map, across the tram lines is the Greater Manchester Transport info office with all the details of buses & trams.

I had a rather disturbing visit to what was UMIST when I was a college & we were deadly rivals to “Owens”, Manchester University, just along Oxford Road from our Whitworth Street centre. UMIST (University of Manchester, Institute of Science & Technology) is no more and all the buildings are labelled University of Manchester now. Worse still, the Civil Engineering Building I inhabited for 3 years is now the Paliser Building, teaching I know not what. Still, a walk along Oxford Road to visit the Whitworth Art Gallery (a long walk) showed just how much building has been done to the University since I left in 1968, with the Metropolitan University intermingled it is an absolutely staggering place........not so the displays at the Whitworth.

During our stay I made several visits to the Museum of Science & Industry and I still have not covered all the galleries. This incredible light bulb is around 150 years old and this replica of one of the first railway engines gives short rides. The MOSI is based in what was the terminus of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway for which the engine speed trials won by Stephenson's Rocket.

I always meant to go to the Whitworth when at uni, as I did when daughter Clare was there too. What a disappointment it was. Neither Carol nor I appreciate modern conceptual art, and quite why a large gallery was given over to large slide projections of 1960’s tower block housing we don’t understand. The Textile displays were of interest and perhaps other displays they put on will be better, but we certainly will not be wandering along to see them!

Otherwise, Manchester has some wonderful buildings that reflect the wealth that the cotton industry brought to the city in Victorian times. As always you have to look to levels above the shop fronts, but do so & you will not be disappointed, though I found it odd to see a building that I knew as The Refuge Assurance building has now become the Palace Hotel.

Tuesday morning & we were up early for Carol to take a train to Leicester to go to a friend’s 70^th birthday lunch. We were running the engine to charge the batteries when suddenly there was a horrible noise at 8am, and the domestic alternator mounting had sheared again! After seeing Carol onto her train I took the alternator off to find one of the two mounting bolts had sheared and the bracket nearest the pulley had broken, just the same as a few weeks before. I put the back deck down & too the tram to Media City & went to the Imperial War Museum.

I had been to the original museum in London & this one is very different, covering many more recent conflicts and with some very atmospheric slide projections around the main display area. Very interesting is the “War Correspondent” displays that is moving around the country and highlighting the dangers these reporters are exposed to. One point made in the displays was that the Falklands Conflict exposed the press to possibly the greatest level of censorship ever. Reports passed through 5 or 6 layers before publication, aggravated by the difficulty in getting reports back from the South Atlantic.

Imperial War Museum North, over the MSC from The Lowry

Over lunch I met my godson, Steve, for a coffee and then he took me to his work base, driving an incredibly complex desk for 5live at the BBC. He is loving his transfer up to Salford from London, but it was interesting when he joined us for supper on Thursday night that he was grateful for our copies of bus and tram maps, surely Greater Manchester should be issuing welcome packs to the 3000+ new people that will be arriving in the next few months. Back to Lily and having completely removed the domestic alternator I was able to run the engine to give us hot water before meeting Carol back from a very enjoyable day, and then to make up our packed lunches for an early start on Wednesday.

Lovely old Victorian decoration at Victoria

We had to be at Victoria Station for 7.20 to catch a train to Blackburn, fortunately the tram aided our journey, but being us we were up and ready well before time. The weather as we climbed to Blackburn was poor, fast drizzle and very poor visibility, just what we didn’t want as our day was on a steam hauled train over the fabulous Settle to Carlisle railway. Pulled by The Sherwood Forester, built by Armstrongs in 1936, our carriage was built in 1962, sadly not a corridor coach, and the train extended to 14 carriages. The train is called The Fellsman & operated on Wednesdays through the summer till the end of September, operating from Lancaster in a long loop to Carlisle & back, and pulled by steam all the way.

Climbing hard

The weather improved, we had sun, lovely scenery and good company on the train and one of the volunteers saw my Lily Pad embroidered sweater and asked about it. His boat was built for his father in the early ‘60s and he will be doing the Ribble Link later this week. More amazing still, it used to be in Debdale at the time we had Lily 1 there!!! All in all a great day out. We didn’t do the First Class deal, & certainly not the Dining Deal, and considered it was a good value day out. We enjoyed stopping in Appleby again as it used to be the nearest town to our first home and I recalled having to collect a package my father sent Red Star to the station in 1969! I heard that the water tower & delivery device (it has a name but I have forgotten it!) are the only working set left in the country, maybe that is on a Network Rail line.

On the way we had filled twice each way, and at the other water stops a road tanker provided the water. For quite a lot of the run to Carlisle there was a steady 1:100 uphill haul and the engine was working hard. All that hard work was fired by one incredibly fit chap in his ‘20s! It was a really good day and we would thoroughly recommend it if you are in the area.

After these two days it was time to sort the alternator. We had joined RCR after the last problem & on Thursday Paul came to see the problem that I had tried to describe to him on Tuesday. Not being able to do anything himself, he put us in contact with Stuart Hamilton at Hesford Marine at Lymm and we arranged to see him around mid-day on Friday. On Thursday night Steve, godson, joined us for a spicy Thai style meal, using the prawns that had thawed through in the switched off freezer. It was good to hear all he had to say and great to spend time with him.

We then used the facilities at the YHA, before setting off at 8 on Friday after topping up & emptying at the Castlefield facilities.

Lily at services, Beetham Tower in background

On our way to Lymm we stopped in Sale to get a few groceries before dashing to meet Stuart. I had expected a lot of head scratching and a bit of whistling between clenched teeth, but no, he came up with what I had thought we should do, & what RCR Paul also recommended, which was to replace the two short pieces of mounting tube with one long one. He duly sorted one out and welded it on and used a really strong bolt, this one a proper “shoulder” bolt rather than the totally threaded one used before. The most amazing thing was that it took him barely an hour to sort it out. A really great chap and an engineer who really knows his stuff, and he said that what he had done is exactly what he did when fixing a mounting for his identical alternator on his boat!

We waved him farewell around 3 saying we’d return on Monday to top up with fuel (& perhaps to check the mounting!!) and headed off to find a winding hole to enable us to return to Sale where we moored up near the rowing club and barely 100 yards from the home of two good friends with whom we were going out to have a curry to celebrate their 42^nd anniversary. I had lived in digs in Sale whilst at UMIST and the world of great coincidences came up again. Our friends had a friend who used to live on the short road where my first year was spent, and then as we turned into the very short cul de sac where I spent my 2^nd & 3^rd years Jane said that they had nearly bought a house on it, one of only about 14 houses, incredible.

It’s a GP weekend so we haven’t moved much, only about 18 miles and no locks, but from Monday we head off back towards Leicester, but with water levels around home I suspect we will not be getting back to Debdale for quite some time.

Into Manchester & first Kingfisher

2011-08-29T08:32:00.000Z

Sunday 21st August

We had a lovely time going to Norfolk, using the train to Narborogh to pick up the car, seeing friends who had just moved house & then down to Salthouse in Norfolk for 2 nights. It was lovely to get to Norfolk again, we haven't been for a couple of years & our friends made us very welcome at their old cottage. We went to Cromer's End of Pier Show on our first night and what a fabulous show it was, no weak spots & a really funny ventriloquist. We will certainly go again, apparently it is the last end of pier show left in the country, support it if you can, you will not be disappointed.

The next morning dawned bright & we were awake at 6.30 with sun streaming into our room, and a good job too as we had said we would like to go to see the seals on Blakeney Point........and with a 9am tide we needed to be out to Morston to get on their boat by 8. It was worth it. Rest of stay was lovely too, & on returning to Leicester we had a lovely evening as we caught up with our family and our mail.

Back at Lily, Saturday was not a good day as it rained again as we thought about setting off so it was Sunday 22nd that we set off. It was after coffee again with Craig & his team at Infusions (excellent coffee, lovely people & the all day breakfast is good too!) that we cast off, filling with water & emptying loo & rubbish at the Wharf first. As we reached the first swing bridge about a mile along another boat caught us up, but Carol couldn't get into the bank after the lock to pick me up as the boat that was on the mooring when we cruised to Liverpool was now sunk & obstructing it fully. As such I walked to the next swing bridge & operated it for both boats before hopping on, the other boat stopping there to water their dog.

The weather was fine & our cruise pleasant but as we got to our first lock, Gathurst, we caught up with the hotel boats Duke & Duchess (last seen at Sawbridgeworth in July 2009), as well as a trip boat from Wigan Pier, it also decided to give us a sharp shower. The other boats ensured that the subsequent locks were against us & at one there were some kids who could easily have been a problem, but we avoided that, future lock users my be less fortunate.

We arrived at the ?secure moorings outside BW's Wigan offices at 4.30, after 10 miles, 5 locks & 3 swingbridges. We moored in front Doug & James on their new in April boat that builders MGM exhibited at the Crick show. Very smart, their blog is narrowboatchance.blogspot.com tells amongst other things of the building of their boat. Our previous Lily Pad was built at the same yard in Thurmaston 19 years earlier.

Monday 23rd was a lovely day, but Doug & James tried to set off at about 10, only to return after 10 minutes as the pound above was all but dry, due to vandals (& probably water leaks?) & BW said it would probably be about 2 before levels were high enough for us to work through the lock. Some water was lifted up from the adjacent river Douglas, but it was running very low so not too much could be used, the rest had to be run down the Wigan flight.

At 3 we were able to make it through & then on down the two nearby locks to get onto the Bridgewater canal level. Having done these 3 locks & about 2 miles the weather was so lovely & the surroundings alongside the beautiful Scotsman Flash were so pretty that we let the others carry on & we tied up to sit on the side, read & enjoy the scenery.

Scotsmans Flash plus my knee to show I was in shorts & was there

Tuesday 24th was another lovely day and we cruised into Leigh, arriving around lunchtime. We stopped for lunch after about 10 miles, & I then thought the mooring was ideal for me to rub down & repaint the gunwales, so that was all for the day. We stayed on Wednesday too whilst I finished the job off & also checked on regs for use using the Bridgewater canal that we were to join in about 50 yards. We have things to go to from Manchester, so we needed to be able to stay there till 8th Sept.

Magnificent 1930's building style in Leigh

Thursday 26th and we were off after coffee on a glorious day, just under the first bridge there were at least a dozen road cones, traffic barriers & a spare loo.

At Bridgewater Boats we filled with water & emptied rubbish & loos, before carrying on to Manchester. On the Bridgewater at most stop plank points they have a crane installed to facilitate installation.

We decided that our stop in Worsley & at the Mining Museum will wait till next year, any idea why this lighthouse is canalside in Worsley? Plus note the rusty water around the area.

This must be one of the best sign posts

Our journey was halted again by the swing aqueduct being closed against us. Half an hour later we were off into Manchester, and as we turned off the main line of the canal & not far from Manchester United's stadium we saw our first kingfisher of the year. How incredible that we should see such a shy bird so close to this major metropolis, but it is terrble to see how badly the kingfisher population is decimated by a hard winter. After this we turned right into the Castlefield moorings and moored up opposite Chance & just in front of friends Maureen & Roger on Ramyshome, who shared our journey into Liverpool.

Friday - Sunday We did a first recce of the city & a friend joined us for supper on Friday night. We watched the fun of the Manchester Pride parade on Saturday which was very fortunate for all the participants as the heavy showers stopped before it started & held off till just after it finished. We were in a quiet spot, opposite the John Rylands Library where the religious anti gay faction had their tannoy working, & therefore all the floats & sirens went to full volume as they went past.

After the show we visited the Hidden Gem that is St Marys, and which was close by, before dropping into St Annes (lovely too) & the Cathedral (not so lovely but wonderful new stained glass & some wonderful photographs on display). Maureen & Roger joined us for games of Rummicub & Bananagrams plus nibbles & drinks. These are 2 great games, look out for them.

A fabulous building near Oxford St, Manchester

Wonderful brickwork on old warehouse in Castlefields

What a fantastic pub on Bridgewater St

A new building in The Potato Wharf?
No, look at the wrinkles, it is the frame covered in a massive
print of how the eventual building will look!

Sunday was GP day, & our walk back from the coffee shop to watch it was enlivened by the wonderful sound of a GP McLaren engine running. Jenson Button is running the car up Deansgate tomorrow (and after a really great performance at Spa today). I went for a brief first visit to the Museum of Science & Industry after the GP whilst Carol gave her back/neck a rest. I reckon I could do with spending a couple of full days there!

So, not too many miles, but many wonderful things have been seen & enjoyed.

Painting over

2011-08-18T16:12:00.000Z

Burscough to Aug 14^th

Not a lot to report, painting is not very enthralling but it hasn’t been without problems. When originally we painted the interior of Lily we were recommended to use an oil based paint & settled for Dulux Satinwood, using Brilliant white for the framing & Magnolia for the panels. After 3 or so years in certain areas the difference in shade between the two colours was difficult to detect, and I repainted the white, but sent a photo of the colour change to Dulux. They said the problem was insufficient UV light & recommended that in future we used emulsion paint.

When I started painting this time I assessed the paint left from previous work & decided I had enough for the white & enough to do the lounge/dinette/galley in Satinwood magnolia. Horror appeared as I blended in a pot of magnolia I had bought some months ago in with the original paint in that it didn’t seem to mix too well......closer investigation after I’d just about finished showed why. The extra pot, whilst still called Satinwood, was not a normal oil based paint but a low odour paint!! It worked, but the finish was not as good. Nor was the finish when I changed to emulsion paint, despite me trying 3 different types of roller. The jury is out on it now, I may end up rubbing it flat & coating it in original Satinwood. The trouble is there is an incredible length of “cutting in” where the frames & panels meet...aaarghh!

During & after the painting we have made trips by train to Southport to see a film, buy paint, have a curry, and it really has some charming old features including the canopied streets, plus it has this fantastic war memorial.

We also went to Rufford Old Hall which is less than 3 miles from Burscough. A lovely 16^th century NT property with a fantastic hammer beam roof in the old timber framed hall, and the brick built wing is thought to be the oldest brick built house in Lancashire. In the hall there is this incredible “moveable” screen, built out of bog oak, it is said to be moveable because it is not attached to any walls, but I reckon it must weigh a couple of tons so it is highly unlikely that it has ever moved. In its early years it hid Shakespeare from the view as he changed costume whilst performing plays in the hall. Well worth a visit but do read the bus timetable correctly, and especially if the weather is as wet as it was when we went, we got soaked waiting for the bus.

We also took the bus to Ormskirk on Saturday, market day. Quite a pleasant place, reasonable market, & they certainly love their butchers in the town. It’s not very big but we saw 5 butchers plus there was a mobile butcher in the market. The church is an interesting building. It seems the spire was built at first, but not in exactly the usual place. Then at the dissolution of the monasteries the tower was built to take the peel of bells from Burscough Priory. With a bus pass it is not an expensive excursion.

We’re away to Norfolk on Monday for a few days to see friends & then when return we are away from here.

Liverpool & painting

2011-07-27T17:10:00.000Z

Monday 3rd July to Monday 24th

I don't propose to spend ages writing about our stay in this city, but will comment on its highlights, and a disaster or two.

Highlights were a lovely visit by Sally & family, the journey from Thurcaston on a Sunday morning only took 2 hours, the weather was great and we introduced the kids to The Cavern, though it is of course a recreation. Sam & I went to see the Beatles Story, he was quite impressed, I wasn't. Hannah surprised Carol by expressing an interest in going to the Museum of Slavery.

I spent about a day at the Maritime Museum, particularly enjoying the "Seized" section about HMRC's activities. I asked at the museum why there should be cast iron columns all around Albert Dock, apart from two granite columns. They didn't know, but quickly found out that this section was built a little after the rest of the dock, I suppose it would have been difficult to get just 2 more cast & installed.

The "Ferry across the Mersey" was great, as was the Uboat on exhibition on the Birkenhead shore, certainly worth a visit.

Liverpool's 3 Graces with the new museum

Jessie Hartley's tower with both Cathedrals behind

U534, showing damage caused by the depth charge that sank it.
The U boat was salvaged as it was thought it might have refused to surrender
after cessation of hostilities because it was carrying treasure.....it wasn't!

The Cathedrals are a must, and Hope Street between the two has some interesting statues & buildings. Carol thought the Anglican one was tremendous & managed to take communion. I thought it was very interesting, and surprising, not seeming to be as large as it is, probably because the floor is unencumbered by columns. Interesting, but I thought the RC Cathedral was fantastic, the light flooding through the stained glass and some of the statues hit the spot for me. What I was a bit upset about, having been a Civil Engineer in the '60's, was how the construction methods & materials used effectively fell apart & the building was very nearly demolished rather than being repaired.

Anglican Cathedral viewed from over Kings Dock

The cavernous interior of the Anglican Cathedral

Archbishops Shepherd & Warlock on Hope Street, Anglican Cathedral behind.

The Archbishops are looking towards the Catholic Cathedral

Lovely old street just off Hope St. It has been used for many films.
Note the chap appearing left & right courtesy of PhotoStitch

Approaching the Catholic Cathedral

The lantern in the Catholic Cathedral

The Walker Gallery has some great stuff, but the museum alongside was not up to much, & hoards of school children ensured it was lively! Just over the was is The Empire, where we saw Legally Blonde, a great show on tour, but the sound system needed adjustments, we stuffed our fingers in our ears & then were able to understand the dialogue.

Walking back from there it started to pour & I reached into my ruck sack to pull out our waterproofs, but the first thing out was the camera, which clattered onto the pavement & the lens elements disassembled! It looks as if an economic repair is not possible.

We sorted out buses to get around from the bus station alongside the dock, including one that took us to Speke Hall. On the way we saw Penny Lane, and the house is lovely, except Carol's back cried stop, so we will have to finish off another time. I have some pics taken on Carol's phone but I can't find the download lead!

We took a guided bus tour with a live guide. It was interesting what he told us about the large, fully detailed, bronze male figure over the front door of the old Lewis's store. It seems that when originally mounted it was set further from the building, but when it rained drips of water fell onto people from a certain part of his anatomy! These guided tours are usually worth taking.

One evening I went to do the Mersey Tunnel Tour at the wonderful Art Deco style ventilation station alongside the Cunard building. There are many many steps to climb & descend, but the 2 1/2 hours flew by.

Just across from the tunnel tour is this building, the White Star Lines building.
It looks very much like the old Scotland Yard building, yes it's by the same architect.

The new Museum of Liverpool opened on 19th, 4 days after we left, but it was far from complete, they were working very hard to complete the first display floor, but it looks interesting, but we were not enticed into Tate Liverpool, even with its Magritte exhibition at £9).

We also caught a film one Wednesday ( 2 for 1 ) and saw the film Senna & were thoroughly glad we managed to see it.

But we ran out of time, & the anodes were fizzing away in the salt water with all the jelly fish around Lily. Lily was polished up whilst there, tipping an Elsan cost £5 (!!!!!) a pump out only £10. Would we go again? Like a shot, barring mishaps we're coming back next year!

Thursday 14th we left the dock at 9.30 with 4 other boats on another lovely day. We had a pretty good trip, except we gathered some stuff on our prop, but not in a way that created loads of splashing, so it wasn't too obvious, except we were well behind the others & didn't have time to stop! We stopped where we spent the night before our trip into the city, & on Friday cruised into Burscough, mooring 150 yards before the Wharf.

From Saturday 16th to date I have been repainting the inside of Lily. It smells pretty strongly of oil paint, but the half from the front deck to the shower room looks so much better. The trouble has been getting the batteries charged, never getting anywhere near full voltage, a fact I mention to Mark of M & D boat services when he brought us 180 litres of fuel @ 84p. Mark the Spark came as a result of this chat, & we decided it would be as well to get the alternator, & particularly its control mechanism, away for checking. On Sunday 23rd I decided to tweak up the belt tension to give as good a charge up as possible before removing the alternator........only to find one of the pivot bolts sheared & the pivot bearing shattered!! Mick the Welder has now been brought in, & we have gone off by train to see the family in Chichester. Hopefully it will be all set when we get back, but we are booked into a B&B for the first two nights so I can paint the bedroom.

Burscough is a really great little place, lots of great people & a good range of facilities, do stop in a try it out if you are passing.

Latest news, welder sourced tubes to make mountings & today the checked over alternator was refitted & ob Saturday, when we have returned from Chichester, it will be tried out.

Into Liverpool

2011-07-03T20:16:00.000Z

Monday 27th June We stopped in Wigan & I went into the BW offices to see about our journey from Aintree into Salthouse Dock. Despite me telling them we lived aboard & would not be receiving mail for a long time, they had posted the paperwork home!! Lovely warm day, but not a great deal to see in Wigan, but found there is a micro brewery behind the Post Office. Decided to run taps to empty water tank as the gauge never seems to deflect & sure enough yet again it has failed, showing full when the pumps ran dry! I'm going to create a stand-pipe arrangement similar to the one I fitted to Lily 2 as it can't go wrong. The water tap outside the BW offices is craftily hidden in a locked yellow box in the centre of a life-buoy.

Wigan Pier

Lovely scenery from Wigan

Tue 28th and we moved through the lock that leaked on Friday night and moored past Wigan Pier to shop at Asda. A lovely warm sunny morning, we then passed the football ground and had a lovely cruise to Burscough. At one lock we were recommended to try The Hop Vine, so I walked along, liked it, & booked a table for 6.30, though I expected that as it was a Tuesday evening there would be no need to book. When we got there the place was heaving, fully booked, well provided with charming young waitresses, and their own brewed beer, plus several other real ales. I tried both of their own & they were excellent, as was our meal. It was far from expensive for what we had & we can only recommend it. We have spoken to other boaters about it & they all agree. Burscough is quite a good spot to stop & BW have just finished reconstructing the Wharf complete with a nice new services block.

Burscough Wharf

The Hop Vine

I have often thought that spikes like this to hold gates
shut or open would be useful

Wed 29th and a bright & breezy day, with the wind really cool. It would have been rude not to have a coffee at the coffee shop offering Illy coffee first but we were not late away for a slow, easy cruise to Halsall. Before we set off I bent the ear of a BW bod about a burnt out boat on Glovers swingbridge mooring. He agreed & had complained too & was told that as a Section 8 notice had been served on it, it could not be moved!!! If it is still there on our return I may well move it to the off-side!

On our cruise this day we had 4 different swing bridge mechanisms, but we tied up after just over 2 hours with a lovely view over fields. I walked into Halsall, but there is not a lot to see & the church is locked, though 2 women walking the towpath said the Saracens on the canal is good.

Interesting "building", what is it for?

Carol's flowers, but the cool weather is
stunting growth, especially tomatoes

Thurs 30th June and weather as yesterday, the wind was really cool. We had another easy cruise to moor at Maghull just past Br 11. We had shared swing bridges with Roger & Maureen on Ramyshome and Klim & Rita on Brindley and they pulled in behind us. As we tied up I had a call from BW to say they had to get to a meeting in Burnley on Friday afternoon & could we be at bridge 9 for 8am!!! ( Interesting that one piece of paper from Wigan said 9am, another 9.30!! ) We said we would & passed the info on to the other 3 boats that were moored close by.

We had a good chat this evening, Roger will soon be the membership secretary for the Residential Boat Owners Association, RBOA, of which we are members & of which Klim & Rita are not yet....cue some barracking!

A serenade whilst cruising He was playing
"If you were the only girl in the World"

Fri 1st July and weather as the last 2 days and at 7 we all set off for br 9, passing through br 10 kindly opened by the lady off Westwood. Whilst waiting for BW Roger on Awesome Wonder went down his weed hatch. It was probably 8.10 before a slight break in traffic let BW swing the bridge & we were off and cruising past the Grand National racecourse. 40 minutes later we were at the next swing bridge where BW allowed the stragglers amongst the school children to cross before we were off and on the Litherland. On this run the debris in the water got worse & lily rolled over a couple of submerged objects. When we arrived the other 5 went down their weed hatches but Lily was clear & all we had to do was tip our Elsan casettes, as did everyone else before we set off for the Sankey locks where BW used a very special windlass to raise the top paddles.

Stanley Locks with Tobacco Warehouse

Here we descended 4 locks, mostly working them ourselves, to emerge in the docks alongside the Tobacco Warehouse, supposedly the largest brick building in the world. We shared locks with Ramyshome & Roger had BW's guide to the route. Everyone had said it was fabulous and we were duly impressed, but for us we also had the new Museum of Liverpool to see close by the Liver building & the Cunard building, and especially good as it was in bright sun light. A couple of locks within the new canal route & we were in the final dock level & on via the Albert Dock & into Salthouse Dock. Supposedly into berth S4, except it was occupied, so S3 is now our home, with Peter & Sue on Sokai close on S1and we had a good chat after tying up around 1pm.

That ended our cruising for the week, just 33miles, 11 locks & 15 swing bridges.

Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd and lovely weather. We explored the waterfront & the other docks as well as parts of the city. Our location is tremendous, so close to the incredible city centre, its museums & shops. It is fairly quiet as Lily is well below road level. We get regularly rocked as people doing the DUKW tour splash into the dock. We have friends joining us on Monday & family coming up next Sunday. Just by the dock is a bus station with a very helpful desk giving out bus train maps and timetables, & there is an information office in Albert Dock. The Maritime museum, alongside, is worthy of many hours inspection & the Museum of Slavery on the top floor is interesting, though we couldn't understand why certain displays were there.

From what we have seen so far, if you haven't been to Liverpool lately, visit it, and if you have a boat, come by boat.

Albert Dock with Cathedral behind

Fantastic bridge, Liver building behind

New Liverpool museum

Salthouse Dock moorings

Anderton to Wigan and OOPS!!!

2011-06-28T07:13:00.000Z

Monday 20th June and a bright lovely start and stayed fine till light shower in the evening.

Eating my breakfast I saw the bows of diesel boat Alton alongside the saloon window at 8.30 & popped my head out. They were filling 2 boats that were moored at our bows and I arranged for them to move along to us, and then 2 or 3 other boats called them over so they had a pretty good start to their day. They were a very pleasant couple and were expanding their business pretty well. 125 litres at 82p, with 80/20 split.

Away at 10 and we cruised through the first 2 very twisty tunnels at Barnton & Saltersford and reached Dutton Stop Lock where I was an idiot. Annoyed at the silly width where I needed to open both gates to let Carol out, but they were too wide to step across, so I pushed the far gate open with the boat hook....it slipped....I started to fall in...decided I could leap to the other gate.....and failed! The water was well over 6 feet deep, but unfortunately I had hit the foot board with my chest and now have a few cracked/broken ribs!! Don't try it. Chap came out of a boat in front & asked if I could do it again as he had missed it, though straight after it had happened I felt foolish & wet but had no pain.

Before the fall above Dutton Lock

Soaking wet

Carol cruised through Preston Brook Tunnel whilst I showered and we arrived at Preston Brook to look for the services. They certainly were not anywhere near where Nicholson showed being about 200yds along the Runcorn arm. That done & with a full water tank we cruised on to Stockton Heath, mooring along a pretty little street. I took note of the house number alongside Lily, asked the street name & whether they knew of a taxi company when a taxi arrived & dropped a lady off at the house I'd noted!!! Warrington Hospital checked me over, said I'd cracked or broken my ribs & told me to use painkillers!!

Tues 21st and I didn't sleep too well. I didn't go to bed but set myself up in a reclining chair & foot stool but moving around hurts!! Walked into Stockton for a paper & coffee & found walking hurts & its hell if I try to cough. Stockton is obviously a fairly well to do suburb of Warrington & off side the garden we moored opposite was beautiful, reminding Carol of her old one. Away at 11.30 for gentle cruise on the wide & deep Bridgewater Canal through lovely Cheshire countryside. We spoke to an old friend/customer who lived nearby & arranged to meet her for supper at The Swan with two Nicks at Little Bollington. Lovely evening with loads to talk about as we hadn't seen each other for 10 years. Lovely pub but food only OK, certainly not up to what Nicholson reckoned.

The Swan with Two Nicks

Wed 22nd and we didn't move today as we visited Dunham Massey a glorious National Trust house & gardens just 1/2 mile from our mooring. It had rained pretty hard much of the night but for our visit it was fine which was good because we had a brilliant guided tour of the gardens. It is a place to be highly recommended, especially if you are NT members.

Thurs 23rd and a wet start with a pretty strong cross wind, but it brightened by lunch. We cruised into Sale where I had stopped in digs for 3 years whilst I was at college. I intended to walk to the houses where I had stayed but my ribs hurt too much, so we stopped & watched Wimbledon & went for our Thursday curry fix. So far this week 25 miles and one tiny but eventful lock. We had hoped to meet up with friends who live in Sale but they were in Derbyshire, shame.

Wrecks near Sale

Friday 24th And after a coffee we were away at 11. I had looked at the map as we passed the Kellogs factory (why not a single sign on it?) and said to Carol how good it would be if the Barton Swing Aqueduct was swung, and it was!! Before that we heard over a tannoy " Nice flowers Lily Pad, well done!" and realised that the CCTV system covering the depot we were passing had active monitoring, but a bit of a shock. We were held up for about 20 mins, but the first boat to arrive had a wait of well over 2 hours as 2 boats went down from Manchester before this last one returned. It was interesting to see how it worked & to compare it with Anderton, I hope the videos worked.

Now that's a bit big for most canals

Swing Aqueduct nearly closed

Lily over the Ship Canal

Whilst waiting I asked about sanitary stations to be horrified to hear that the one we were aiming for at Worsley had been closed by vandalism & how various others were shut. Worsley is lovely and is the reason why the Duke of Bridgewater cut his canal as here is where his coal mines were cut into the hill. There was a very smart new housing development alongside the canal with what looked to be very large houses. My ribs precluded a wander, but we'll do this on our return. We carried on a bit further & stopped at a boatyard to fill & empty & then crossed over the canal to tie up for the night. The chap off the cruiser at Barton was there & he told me he had Weils disease about 6 years ago & it was hell to get cured! Just 8 miles.

Worsley

Saturday 25th and it had been very wet overnight. We had to get through a BW controlled Plank Lane lift bridge between 10.00 & 14.00 according to Nicholson (not so according to later reports) and also wanted to watch GP qualifying at 12.00 so we were away fairly early. We got a good mooring for qualifying, but then couldn't find the paracetamol we had bought to control my pain, so decided to move on to Wigan to get some. We were caught up as we cruised by Sue & Peter on Sokai from Saul Jn, their large Lister & big prop being ideal for water skiing on deep canals & rivers. We shared the two locks up out of the Leigh branch & then Helmhurst Lock on the Liverpool branch & breasted up together close by the BW offices & shared a drink & good chat plus they gave me some pills which I'll return when we meet again in Liverpool. The weather had stayed fine all day, though mostly overcast & it was much milder for our 10 miles & 3 locks.

On the services matter, BW Wigan office on Friday told me the Elsan point at Helmhurst was US & that my nearest would be at the top of the Wigan flight, which as the locks are only 57ft long & Lily is 70ft and it would have been over 2 miles to walk, was not a lot of good. I also noted the other station at Butts Basin looked as if it was in service, I'll check on the way back.

Winding mechanism to open Henhurst Lock

Moored outside BW offices with Sokia abreast

Sunday 26th and a lovely warm day & we stopped in Wigan, saw a few bits in the town plus a not very exciting GP. Very cross now as Nicholson says the Trencherfield Mill 5500hp ( I'm sure I read this somewhere ) engine is steamed each day, we heard it blow its whistle at 11.30 but were busy, and then found it only steams on Sundays, we'll have to try to time our return visit appropriately.

Outside Trencherfield Mill

To the Anderton Lift

2011-06-23T15:29:00.000Z

Mon 13th June A cloudy start & we were away before 10 to the services below the staircase 3 locks in Chester, moving on up through them to shop at Tesco as preparation for visitors next weekend. Away again seeing a boat just pulling away from the next lock as we arrived; we caught them at the next lock & then shared the remaining 3 with Roger & Helen (but I forgot their boat name). Lovely couple from Swindon, he having an old working boat he is restoring as well as the 57' one we shared locks with. I was very envious of his 1923 Riley that competed at Brooklands as well as on hill climbs. We cruised on until 7, tieing up alongside Tattenhall Marina....what a long day, the weather improving all day!

Lily in front, Beeston Castle behind

Tues 14th and a fantastic day, on with the shorts & off with the shirt at last, though it was so sunny it went back on after a while. We stopped at the cafe by the Iron Lock at the recommendation of Angela whom we had met 2 weeks earlier, having a lovely coffee & meeting her again as she was helping out her friend. Arranged a meeting one evening later in the week with her & Mike, sadly scrubbed as he developed a nasty dose of something horrible from Egypt. Don't know what was going on but we crossed about 10 boats in the first hour, we then cruised on easily to turn into the Middlewich Branch & come to a rapid halt just before the first lock as we met Carol & Tony (from Leics IWA) heading towards Chester. Canalside chat about this & that before we cruised on through 2 locks stopping just before br 12 overlooking Church Minshull in a lovely spot though we couldn't get tight in.

Not a tree but a telegraph pole covered in ivy

Wed 15th Cloudy but warm at first, fine drizzle at 12, downpours from 2 till 4 then brighter, sunny as we moored up, only to start drizzling on the washing after it had been pegged out!

We were away at 9.30 and cruised steadily into Middlewich, stopping just past br 28 to have a look at the town, not worth it! Saw 'Gerald' with Roy & dog Thomas tied up for the weekend's Festival, we haven't seen him since Bulls Bridge 2 years ago & before that at Loughborough a couple of years earlier. I used to meet Roy regularly as I was taking late post to the late post box in Leicester & he was still working as a mail delivery driver. Got drenched as we started off after lunch and whilst we worked our way through the last 5 locks on the Trent & Mersey. Shared last lock with Pot of Gold, a charity boat based at Preston Brook. Fantastic charity, all self funded & they just charge £110 per day for up to 12 guests. They have a good fund raiser & around 90 volunteers. We tied up for the night just before br 175.

A wreck in a flash near Anderton

Thurs 16th Brightish start, showers soon, rain followed, we were off at 9.30 for a steady, lock free, cruise to Anderton, using the very good services block just before the lift, though the washer/dryer had died & they couldn't afford a replacement. We went down the lift at 2.15 by which time it was bright. The trip down is so smooth, taking about 30 mins, we had the caisson to ourselves. We then had a gentle cruise up into Northwich, trying for a mooring on the west bank as was recommended to us, but it was full, so we tied up to the wall opposite to the services block. We were a little concerned about the location just to the rear of McDonalds, but we need not have worried as it shut fairly early & quite a few of the pubs nearby were closed. Car drivers in Northwich know that there are no traffic wardens around judging by their respect for the double yellow lines along the river wall!

First view of Anderton Lift

It was Thursday so guess where we ate! Wetherspoons curry night, and a very good guest ale.

Fri 17th The forecast was awful, windy & heavy rain, so we decided to stay put and walked to the Salt Museum, except it is now called the Weaver Museum on the Brown signs, though still called the Salt museum on other signs. It is based in the old workhouse and is very interesting, though can be noisy with school parties. At £2 (concessions) it was an interesting 1 1/2 hours, and we learnt why there were no old buildings in the town as they had all collapsed or fallen on their side due to sudden subsidence caused by brine pumping. It also explained how in the earlier years of the 20th century, buildings were built on a ring beam foundation so that if they were hit by subsidence, then they could be jacked up to level again.

Reaching the bottom of the lift

Weather....a fine day with only a very short period of light drizzle! Forecasters.......!!

Sat 18th and a better forecast today so we were ready for the off upstream to Winsford, just as the heavens opened, and it carried on that way nearly all day. We didn't move & I spent a fair bit of time moving things around from my netbook into the backup drive, except that when I do the simple "backup" operation, not everything gets copied. As such I then have to spend a long time checking what has been copied & what hasn't. Later on I backed other stuff onto DVD & then cleared space on my hard drive, I just don't fancy storing it all on Picasa lest it gets lost. We also got ready for our Sunday guests.

Leaving the boat lift, I was on the bows

Sun 19th and our friends Stephanie & Geoffrey joined us at Anderton. They had been with us exactly a year earlier in Huntingdon by pure coincidence. Weather was very kind, the lunch & tea Carol made was wonderful and we all enjoyed our little cruise back from Anderton to Northwich & then onto the lift. I had paid £5 to secure the last lift up at 5, but I needn't have bothered as we were on our own. We were told that after we had left the caisson, it would be lowered to river level for the night, which necessitates a big pumping job each morning to bring it up to height: I don't understand why they do this as I'm sure they would be able to keep it up at high level fairly easily.

Our mooring against the wall before swing bridge

Our luck was in for as we left the lift a mooring close by became vacant making our guests' walk to the car park at gone 7 very easy. A lovely day & good to catch up with them again.

BW's very grand offices in Northwich

Salt Museum in Northwich

Obeying double yellow lines
with kerb flashes!

Ring beam on post was Council Houses in Northwich

Us at Anderton. The badge I'm wearing
says I'm the boss, I wore it on Fathers Day
Carol wears it now

Chester to Ellesmere Port

2011-06-13T21:00:00.000Z

2 Storey Shops

Chester Street

Modern garages aren't like this!

This Georgian building is incorporated into Tesco's car park!

Sign on building within Chester Cathedral complex!

May 29th to June 9th

We enjoyed two periods in Chester, all we can say is you need to visit it, and as the canal passes within a few yards of the city centre & cathedral there is no reason not to do so. Hopefully the photos will give a flavour but what I can say is that whilst the cathedral is interesting, St Johns is wonderful. It used to be the second cathedral in Chester but has been made smaller. It shows wonderfully preserved Normal arches, the stained glass is pretty good, though not as good as in the cathedral, but it also has this tremendous organ.

St John's in Chester

Magnificent Organ

This organ played at Queen Victoria’s coronation when it was installed in Westminster Abbey. It seems the organ in the Abbey was worn out & not good enough & this organ was ready for despatch to Chester, so it was borrowed! Over the road from the Cheshire Taste cafe, & it is well worth a stop for a sarnie.

Brewery Tap Pub

Not too far from there is The Brewery Tap, run by Spitting Feathers Brewery, & after Carol & I had climbed the steps to get in, we both said WOW! Charles 1^st stopped here before a big battle, it has been rebuilt a few times, but now is back to being a grand hall. The beer was good too & I gather the chief brewer lives on a narrowboat on the Shroppie. Visit it, it was built in 1620 & deserves a visit.

Cloudy tasty beer

The day before we stopped at what was said to be the pub that has been selling beer longest in Chester, can’t recall the name, & I bought this cloudy beer. It was supposed to be cloudy & was most tasty too. If you have mobility problems Dial House shop mobility close by Tesco give a tremendous service.

Broken Brackets

In between our two trips into Chester we had to be grandparents for our family in Chichester which necessitated a train journey from Chester. It went very well, but we needed somewhere to leave Lily plugged in, so we tootled back to Tarporley marina. It was very good & they had a mechanic who was able to weld back together these two broken alternator brackets. He said he has welded many others from Nanni engines! The power supply was great, except I put my payment card in the wrong slot & all power had gone perhaps 36 hours before we returned, ruining fridge contents but freezer was OK, though I of course was a plonker!

Friday 10^th June we set off down the three lock staircase. Incredible building, cut into the rock, just after we passed under Chester’s Bridge of Sighs where prisoners walked across to the church before execution! Note how close the canal was built to the old city walls.

Castle walls on top of lock cutting

Bridge of Sighs.

Deep staircase lock, note cut rock sides

We stopped by the service station by the locks down to the Dee. I read the blog of http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_04/Tour04_11.html about their trip on the river from the canal but couldn’t understand what they referred to regarding the lock over the weir. Perhaps my photo shows how a slightly greater depth of water over the weir is generated, despite the gate only being about 18” tall.

Weir lock gate

As we set off from the services the weather looked foul, but despite thunder and incredibly dark clouds I only got a bit wet and bright, warm sun was on my back as we headed towards Ellesmere Port. We stopped short just past br 139 to keep us short of the M53 & it was a lovely evening. 2 motorbikes used the tarmac towpath and must have been touching 50mph passing us, I’m taking it up with BW, but I doubt they will be able to do much.

A little restoration project

Sat/Sun 11^th/12^th and we dropped into the National Waterways Museum, mooring within the museum within one of the top locks, and only charged £4 for mooring. We wondered if we had done the right thing at 2am when a fire alarm sounded for around half an hour with a false alarm. Saturday was a pleasant day and the evening was lovely & sunny, Liverpool looked fabulous across the estuary, especially as the tide came in.

Another restoration project

The museum really deserves a long visit, especially if you want to look at the archive films. Some of the boats are fantastic, but I really doubt that these will ever float again. Interesting too that the original tidal lock gates at the end of the Shroppie are still there despite not having been used for some 130 years.

Willington to Chester and The return of the Belts

2011-05-28T21:45:00.000Z

Monday 16^th May started overcast, cool & breezy. I’m getting a bit neurotic about our battery charge state. We had all our alternator belt problems last year that seemed to end once we changed the pulleys & got them correctly aligned. Then just before Xmas our CO detector started going off & we noticed smells around the batteries. They were boiling so we fitted 12 new 2volt cells & Carol really appreciated her Xmas present....it certainly was more than I would have spent on her! Now whilst cruising we don’t seem to be getting the batteries up to anything like full charge and this morning we were only showing 48% charge as we started the engine.

Another dirty roof

We wanted to use the facilities but just as we were going to pull forward a broadbeam moved onto the point and was there for over an hour, but eventually we filled up & got away at 11.30. Before we left we went to the rather pleasant deli & coffee shop just near the wharf, but don’t expect much from the Post Office here, I wanted to pick up a car tax reclaim form but they don’t hold things like that. The day warmed up & we had a pleasant cruise into Burton and the fine weather soon dried the washing. The walk to Sainsbury’s in Burton, in fact to any shop of any size, is rather long & it creased Carol.

Tuesday 17^th and a brighter, warmer start, stopping off at Shobnall Boat Servs to buy a can of Off White paint to complete painting of external rear doors. They sell Craftsmaster whilst we have always used Masons, but the colours look very much the same & will blend in well. 34% charge at start.

Steady cruise to Alrewas where we arrived at lunchtime. Another wash load went onto the line drying well in the sun & breeze until I noticed it starting to drizzle! I had set off to get Carol a newspaper but noticed a boat that had stopped just in front of Lily looked exceedingly new & asked the owner how new it was, to be told it was just over 3 weeks! Pete was very proud of Semper Amici and with good reason as he had fitted it out himself on a very tight budget, screwing suppliers hard, but with the most amazing thin being how long it took him. He took delivery of the shell, ballasted but nothing else, though I expect the portholes had been fitted, just before Xmas 2010. He started work at the end of the first week of January and completed her but mid April!! He had a 20+ minute drive to get to the boat from his home and it looked pretty good. I was staggered that he could fit out, including doing the sprayfoam & engine installation, himself with a little help from his son in so little time, especially as he was not a carpenter. Sorry I forgot to take a photo.

Lily Pad dining was on show again tonight with 2 friends joining us for a very pleasant evening.

Wednesday 18^th and before we set off we moved forward to the water point. We were on 48 hour moorings just above Alrewas Lock but the 2 boats behind us and the one in front looked like they would be overstaying this, it really gets me mad!

Overcast at start, we met boats leaving the first 2 locks but it was raining by the time we stopped at Fradley to tip the Elsan. We then pulled forward & went into the pleasant cafe in the BW yard for a coffee, but the toasted sandwiches smelled good so we had those too. Harry Arnold & his wife were in there enjoying lunch, something they do their quite regularly he said, & we had a very pleasant chat. They were interested in our plans to go to Liverpool & they spoke very favourably of it & gave us a recommendation for a reasonably priced Italian restaurant to try whilst there.

Rugeley Mooring

Up the lock to the junction & on we saw we were following a boat, which we very soon caught up. It was a hotel boat set into a 1932 base, Hawkesbury had 4 elderly passengers and was very slow. Near br 58 as we passed a moored boat we went over something which deflected us into the moored boat. It took us & the boat owner much pushing to get us free & he said many boats had run over it during the day....so why didn’t he move his mooring??? He intended to have a poke around & talk to BW.

The rain from 12.30 had petered out by 3 the big yellow thing joined us & it got quite warm. We moored at the edge of Rugely just before Brindley Bank, quite a pleasant spot.

Thursday 19^th it had been cool overnight but it was a bright start and we had a steady cruise till Colwich lock where we caught up 2 waiting boats, & 3 more joined us before we got through. We nearly didn’t get through as I had just cast Carol off to go into the lock when I saw the gates shutting. A big shout opened them again.....two ladies were chatting & not thinking!

The High House, Stafford

Pretty Shop in Stafford

Elsan out at Anglo Welsh, but I object to £1 charge. We had trouble at Tixall Lock getting the bottom gat shut. Something on the cill, we worked with other boaters & tried to shift it with some success & got through but I called BW. The cool day warmed up a bit as we cruised until we stopped & br 99 and caught the bus into Stafford to have a look round. The bus runs frequently until about 6pm & then it seems only hourly. Some interesting buildings, but the church was locked, we’ve been out over 10 days & still not visited one!

Wetherspoons in Stafford

The bus stop was right outside Wetherspoons, set in an old cinema, which was where we wanted to eat for our £4.99 curry & beer! Excellent.

Friday 20^th Bright but cloudy & still this cool breeze, we were away at 9.30 (early for us) and we caught up with at boat at our first lock, & another caught us. Then at 11 ALTERNATOR BELTS BROKE!!! AARRGH. Are last years problems returning? The belts had lasted 268 hours and I had noticed little bits of cord around beforehand. I think I may have overtightened them. I fitted the spares I carry & then worried about where I would find more. I searched the localities we would be passing on-line but with no real success, until one chap rang me back after I had left details with the ?elderly? lady who took the message. He had ordered them & they would be with him at around mid-day on Saturday. We stopped at Penkridge for lunch & I walked into the village to post a parcel. It was the first time I had been into the place & I was quite impressed. We cruised on till 5, mooring above Boggs Lock. On the way we had looked a near stationary traffic on the M6, and from our mooring we could see vehicles moving but the cool breeze blew the sounds away.

Saturday 21^st May and yet again a bright start with a cool wind. Away at 8.45 to pick up belts, we met boats at both locks to Gailey & then had a steady cruise to Br 68 where stopped & I had a longish walk to buy the belts. We then watch qualifying for the Spanish GP before carrying on. I didn’t do a very good job of Autherley, but we got onto the Shroppie and then cruised on to moor by br 15 after Brewood.

Sunday 22^nd and I clocked up another year. It was dull windy & cool. We stopped at Wheaton Aston to get a paper, got a reasonable mooring, saw the Hartley Arms looked OK for a celebration (commiseration) meal and decided to stop as the wind really was no fun & we had a GP to watch. Our second week saw us manage 56 miles and 29 locks, we do work hard!

The moorings we were on were 48 hour moorings, but several boats in front of us had splattered grass cuttings on their sides, the grass there having recently been cut. Now BW don’t cut grass on Saturday, so it was cut on Friday at the latest, and when we set off on Monday there were no boats missing, so that makes it a long 48 hours!!

Lovely weather nr Norbury

Monday 23^rd I’m carrying on as it seems silly to blog twice in 3 days, especially as the family are joining us on Sunday. Before leaving Wheaton Aston we stopped at the garage & bought diesel at 71.9p. They will not accept credit cards.

Wasp

Cold & windy & not a lot of fun but we really do need to move. We stopped for hot soup Carol had made when we reached Norbury, very welcome. Before we re-started I donned a warm hat, scarf, gloves and my winter coat!! It started to rain as we set off, then just past the junction there was a largish branch in the water, we just managed to get past, but I reported it. The rain lasted for a bit over an hour and then things improved a bit, we even saw some sun. We passed Beryl’s old boat Wasp towards Shebdon as well as cruising past the longest linear moorings we have seen, they must have been well over ½ a mile long. We stopped at Goldstone Wharf & I finished painting the outer doors.

Tyrley Lock

Tuesday 24^th and our 42^nd anniversary. I’m not that daft, we set our wedding day 2 days after my birthday so when I get birthday cards I get a good reminder I need to take action! 2 years ago we were all in London in shorts & T shirts, well this morning it was bright & a little less windy but definitely not shorts weather for us. We set off just after a Charles Hardern boat we first met at Gailey & which we have kept passing. They used to moor their boat below Mountsorrel Lock until they sold it last Xmas....and they were missing boating so much they hired this boat!

Woodseaves Cutting

France in Market Drayton

Slow passage through Woodseaves Cutting, very pretty though, and fine weather by the time we got to Tyrely Locks, meeting boat at each lock. Mooring at Market Drayton, we had decided to stop & look round as it sounded interesting in Nichiolson. Some interesting buildings, lots of plaques on walls to read & the church was locked! Carol commented on how empty the place seemed with not many people around. Did some shopping at Morrisons before walking back to boat, it was too far for Carol & she was shattered, but we needed to get back in for a celebratory meal. I rang 5 taxi firms without getting a reply before Rays came up trumps & enabled our evening out to happen.

Market Drayton Wharf

Wednesday 25^th Bright, becoming sunny, less wind & milder!! Water point in MD was horribly slow. Lovely farm shop at top of Adderley Locks. We bought large free range eggs from the charming lady with her lamb, the muffins & pies she had on offer looked excellent, but Carol has made ours. If we had space I’m sure we would have bought some of their own made sausages & burgers.

Audlem Flight

Easily down these locks & then quick sandwich on the move before hitting Audlem Locks. We met boats at most of these locks including a BW inspection launch!! Well it was a 40ft cruiser style nb fitted as a floating office, I meant to take a photo but the batteries were flat. We were delayed a bit as their engineer did his annual inspection in all we saw about 10 BW bods this day checking things out.

We came out of the bottom lock at 15.20 having taken a bit over 2 hours to pass through them, carrying on to the very good SUCS moorings just before Hack Green. Around Audlem many more long term moorers on 48 hour moorings!!

Now I have charging problems. After running the engine for over 6 hours the charge has only gone from 45% to 75%. I noticed a small wire loose off alternator, one connecting to the Adverc so I reconnected it in hope.

Thursday 26^th it was wet overnight and during the morning, the wind is cold but we do need to move. I had wondered if our heat exchanger was working on Wednesday & this morning I found it wasn’t, until I clonked a pump with a spanner! We got wet on our cruise to Nantwich. 4 hours cruise got us from 41% to 70%.

Carol models Spring clothing

Stopped in Nantwich for urgent supplies, Carol had forgotten to buy any chillies & she runs on them. Enjoyed our walk into the town which had a bustle about it & the church was open & interesting. I spoke to Debdale about the Heat Exchanger, we had lunch & set off, but it was very slow as Blue Poppy was going at not much above tickover. They & the Anglo Welsh boat behind them turned right at Barbridge as a boat exited the Middlewich branch. Quite interesting in the strengthening cross wind, but we were then able to carry on till we stopped just past Calverley Wharf where I fitted a spare water pump & sorted out the heat exchanger.

We didn’t go the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Hack Green this time but it is on our must do things for our next trip.

Interesting hovel at Iron Lock

Friday 27^th and after a night of wind and rain we set off in the dry to Bunbury Locks and there we met a charming young couple from Thurmaston on an Anglo Welsh hire boat, I’ll give them a copy of our IWA meeting programme as they live on about 50 yards from The Wheatsheaf where we meet. We actually crossed as they passed from the lower lock & we from the upper lock of the staircase, now we were on the Chester Canal they are wide. The run continued sharing a couple of locks with a couple from Stone, fortunately they stopped after Beeston Stone lock as BW have erected a sign alongside the unusual cast iron Beeston Iron lock to the effect that because of distortion it is not recommended for boats to share this lock. We noted a cafe below this lock but decided it probably only served instant coffee......a lady we met in the evening told us this is far from the case and they also do wonderful home-made baking, we’ll drop in later.

Beeston Iron Lock

Nothing too significant after this except we were horrified at the incredible length of linear off side moorings after bridge 115, it must have extended to about 1 ¼ miles. Though the canal is wide enough the extended slow cruising in the strong cross wind was a real pain, surely BW must work to reduce such moorings. We tried to pull in to tie up for lunch but silt near the banks prevented it. As we entered the outskirts of Chester the sun emerged and with the buildings deflecting the wind it became quite pleasant. We stopped just past the Bridge Inn & walked back to the Focus store on the off-side to get some bedding plants from their closing down sale. After 6 hours cruising we had raised the charge level from 50 to 100%, I suspect I might have had the belts too loose.

Linear moorings

They weren’t too good but enabled Carol to replant her troughs in the evening whilst I walked the 2 miles to the Dee junction to check out moorings near the centre. They looked OK & I returned, somewhat tired having walked faster for longer than I have for a long time. Carol had just about finished & was bushed so I suggested we go to The Bridge to eat, expecting nothing....how wrong we were. The place was humming with family groups, groups of friends and all sorts. We got talking to a charming couple and their son who spoke in exceedingly complimentary terms of the place. My Gammon was fantastic, Carol had an excellent pizza & Mike & Angela said their steaks were incredible. Give it a try if you are passing, & 2 for 1 on Mondays!

A big brood in Chester

Saturday 28^th and a bright start but with very threatening clouds, but they came to nothing. With less wind it was much warmer and after polishing the brasses, ruined by the recent rain, we set off the 2 locks & 1 mile to moor at the closest mooring to Tesco. GP qualifying, shopping for family visit on Sunday & a bit of a wander into Chester filled our day, that & Carol cooking for Sunday.

Cadbury's loading dock

P.C. sign in Market Drayton

So in the 13 days from 16^th to 28^th we have managed 116 miles & 67 locks and have not seen a single kingfisher!

2011 cruise start, will we make it to Liverpool?

2011-05-21T19:13:00.000Z

Start of our 2011 cruise.

It seems very late in year to be setting off, but I see it was May 11^th last year when we unhooked from the mains. Both years departures were delayed by me acting as a Presiding Officer for the elections & then doing the counts. I enjoy it & it brings in a bit of cash.

We couldn’t have set off much earlier though as we went to Orlando with our eldest daughter & family for 2 weeks over Easter. We all returned shattered & sun burnt but happy having had a great time and Sam, age nearly 17, managed over 100 major rides during our stay! Best bit for Carol & I was going to Kennedy Space Centre & being able to see the Shuttle on its launch pad.

Over the winter, Lily took on a different look as I built a “porch” to cover our semi-trad stern. Made of tantalised timber in a readily dismantled form, I made a cover from hooding material. It worked a treat, keeping the boat much warmer, providing useful additional storage space & enabled us to duck out of the rain & snow whilst unlocking the boat. One problem though is that I made it too tall to pass under the footbridge on the trip to Foxton so we stayed put. It is now in storage until next winter.

So the 2011 cruise, and it’s off to Liverpool basically and then hopefully over the Hebden Bridge on the Rochdale before heading south. When you see how far we made in the first week you may think I’m being ambitious.

Monday 9^th May and we set off from Debdale full of fuel, water & food & empty of other things at 2.30pm in bright warm sun, with Carol showing off her tan in a strappy top & shorts. 10 minutes later it’s hammering down with hail! We then had heavy showers, sun & thunder until we tied up at Wistow. First time for a long time there were no long term moorers there, perhaps BW are enforcing better? Countryside is lovely, and why are there so many buttercups in fields now? Some of them were nearly as yellow as fields of rape. Hawthorn hedges in flower & towpath flowers complete a lovely scene.

Tuesday 10^th and after a lovely quiet night we walked over to the Garden Centre to get Carol her coffee fix, before setting off on the bright, breezy & coolish day, though by 3 it was mostly overcast if warmer. We worked steadily through the day, using Kilby’s facilities as we passed. Passed several boats on way to Foxton, including one bloke at Bottom Half Mile Lock with his 45ft nb working single handed & opening both gates each time he went through them, I’m glad we weren’t behind him, he’d probably refuse to share a lock as his boat is too wide!! We finished below Kings lock.

Wednesday 11^th and just as we were setting off John & Nev in Waimatu passed so we shared locks & Sainsburys with them. Nice couple & good to work with people who know what to do. Saw little bit of Pennywort above Soar Lane bridge & more near Birstall, but before I got there it was down the hatch to remove fishing line & a heavy duty polythene sheet. Pleasant surprise how warm water was at Belgrave lock and why, when the pound between Lime Kiln & Belgrave has such foul water should it have such a large population of herons? We stopped for the night at Birstall & prepared for our Orlando trippers to dine with us.

Thursday 12^th and whilst waiting for our visitors the night before a colleague from Leics IWA hailed me & as we chatted he reminded me that today the branch has its Treasure Hunt in Barrow, so to Barrow we go. It was a bright but cool start but we made good progress and stopped alongside Beryl at Mountsorrel to look over her garden have coffee & a good chat. As we entered Barrow I wanted to tip the Elsan but couldn’t get onto the mooring as 2 boat were breasted up there & drinking a beer, & BW have allowed Barrow Boating to let out moorings on the other part of the landing. Cause for a fairly strong letter to BW!

Branch Treasure Hunt was very good with about 50 interesting questions to be answered during an amble of about ¾ mile. Enjoyable chats in The Riverside over pleasant beers, & we came 2^nd!

Friday 13^th and Happy Birthday Clare. Off to Loughborough to shop for guests tonight & Saturday & Sunday!! We arrived at Zouch before the breezy & cool day turned wet. Carol’s sister & husband came for a lovely supper & to exchange holiday tales, they had just been to the Orkneys & had seen a pod of Orcas just a few yards away from the cliff they were sitting on! We went all the way to New Zealand to see whales last year.....

Saturday 14^th and the weather continues its downward path. The wind is strong & very gusty in places, overturning some of Carol’s plant pots, and we had some squally showers. Cruised on to Sawley cut for my cousin & friend to join us for a very tasty 3 bird roast, courtesy of Aldi.

Sunday 15^th wind a bit lower, but quite a lot wetter. I’m a bit concerned at how long it is taking to recharge our batteries, which were fitting in November. They showed only 40% charge this morning, but during our cruise to Willington, taking 6 hours, they only showed 84%. I’ll speak to Debdale tomorrow. Shared some of the locks with Dacha, and it was a good job as we couldn’t close one of Shardlow Lock bottom gates. We worked together with poles & with people of other boats that arrived and eventually shifted whatever it was. We made reasonably good progress but it was cold, Carol wore a winter coat & gloves, I wore a woolly hat and fleece. Doesn’t 7 days make a difference!

Didn’t see a great number of boats moving, but then again on such a day would you go to the marina for a day trip? We entertained an old friend to supper, & without her we probably would not be boating as it was with her on her father’s Broads Cruiser that we first experience leisure boating. Thanks Jenny.

So, one week gone and what have we achieved. My sniffle changed to a few sneezes & now is a chesty cough. I’ve been sleeping in the lounge the last 3 nights so both Carol & I get some sleep. I’ll be doing the same again tonight. We’ve cruised 54 miles & worked through 46 locks & entertained on 4 occasions, with another couple coming to see us on Tuesday!

Sorry about the lack of photos, need to get back into it again.

Back to Foxton just

2010-10-18T09:49:00.000Z

Monday 5th October and of course after our planned day with family at the Black Country Museum was rained off it dawned a lovely day. We went to move across the canal to use the facilities & got a pair of incredibly tough trousers wrapped around the prop, but at least they came off easily, but my how the water is getting cooler!

Away at 10 and shortly afterwards into Factory locks, top lock full, rest empty, & met a boat at bottom lock. Cruising well towards Brum I noticed the splashing noise from the prop was different & thought we were a bit down by the stern. Quick check & 6" of water in the bilge!!! The weed hatch was tight on, but clearly not seated well. The bilge pump worked well, except that with our transverse engine, the bearers run across the bilge, splitting it into 4 sections, & the pump only emptied the very small bit under the stern gland! It took quite a time to bale one of the other sections out, but after refixing the weed hatch I left the rest till later. We were lucky, if the water had risen another 3" it would have started leaking into the boat.

We then had an easy cruise back into Fortress Birmingham where we stopped for a coffee & to get a few little bits. There were some very big men in suits standing around outside a few swish restaurants, with I'd guess the odd Cabinet member inside.

The entry to Gas St Basin was shut off by this barrier, passable after the boat had been thoroughly checked out.

At 2.30 we entered Farmers Bridge flight, just after another boat had set off! Steady progress down this flight, & of course the other boat also went down the Aston flight in front of us. We tied up for the night at Cuckoo Wharf at 6. It was a bit noisy from the nearby factories. 6miles & 27 locks.

Tuesday 5th was supposed to be wet according to forecasts at the weekend but it was a lovely day. At the top of the Curdworth locks the boat that had sunk in mid channel on our upward journey was now tied up alongside the moorings. The lock keeper said they were having to wait for the statutory 28 day notice before they moved it out. Apparently it was a neat little boat till vandals got at it, stole the outboard & fuel tank, trashed it then sank it. Now we will have to pay for its disposal by BW.

All the way down to Fazely we had locks against us, bar for two. Above Curdworth Tunnel we were very surprised to see a water vole swimming across the canal, this being quite near to civilisation.

The famous Drayton Manor Park bridge.

We stopped the night in Fazely, had a goodish Chinese meal, & debated what route we should use to get home. 12miles & 14 locks.

Wed 6th another pleasant day. I contacted BW about flooding on the Trent & Soar after the heavy rain over the weekend. The Soar was OK but the Trent not, but expected to be OK on Thursday and therefore before we would get to it. The only thing was I had become aware of entries in Carol's diary for the following week & whilst we wanted to moor at Zouch to be handy for a wedding reception for our niece on the 15th at Sutton Bonnington, we would have had difficulty in letting her keep her appointments whilst getting Lily home. So it was back to Foxton via the Oxford/Coventry.

We had a steady cruise this day, with an amazing number of boats coming down the Atherstone flight, one of which was Mick & Carol Golds. We worked up them in conjunction with 2 other boats, making good progress. We had a pleasant mooring by bridge 34, stopping at 5 after 11miles & 13 locks.

Thursday 7th and a very misty start, with it not lifting properly until 2, after which it was very pleasant. I had misread Nicholson as to what was where, expecting to arrive at a certain point by 10.30, it was 5.30 when we reached it & tied up in Newbold! It was busy in places but a good cruise covering 21 miles.

Friday 8th and it was supposed to clear to a lovely day, but it stayed misty/overcast all day apart from a few glimpses of the sun. We had a steady cruise through Hillmorton & Braunston.

The repaired embankment by the tunnel, but it still looks as if it is moving! BW have done a good job of improving the towpath up to the tunnel, including drains to let water from springs pass under it.

Going through the tunnel we followed a boat but met none! We cleared Watford locks at 5.30 and tied up a bit later after having put some distance between us & the noise of the M1. 16 miles & 16locks.

Saturday 8th and the weather was like Friday, and with a cool breeze. Carol took little persuading to stay below reading whilst we cruised. We met Pete & Maz from Debdale on Just Two Bees, not have seen them to speak to for many months. Pleasant chat before we tied up about a mile before the Foxton flight after 19 miles.

Sunday 9th and a late start after watching the Japanese GP and a lovely day. We arrived at the top of Foxton at around 12, no boats waiting either end so we went straight down & then tied up in the basin as we were not able to reach home at Debdale as a breech in the canal just North of Foxton was being repaired, due to reopen on the 15th.

The brickwork under the footbridge was in a poor state but was being repaired.

So this is effectively the end of a rather fragmented Summer of cruising, but we have enjoyed basically everything other than our mechanical problems. You will have noted that I have not mentioned alternator belts for some time. This is because the last re-jig seems to have provided us with a drive mechanism that works. We have slowed down the alternator an amount, yet we still get a reasonable rate of charge at tick-over, and we are still using the belts we started out from Debdale with in September, & I see no reason why they should not last for ages. I intend to give the engine battery some TLC during the Winter with regular re-charging in the hope that this one will last more than 2 years. As to the inverter, well it works well, the power is delivered well and we will just have to hope that it lasts longer than the previous one, and that if it does break down that it will be capable of being repaired. When we get back to base I intend to see if the old one is capable of being repaired.

As to the cruising, we loved the Great Ouse and Middle Levels as well as the Nene, but unfortunately for many people unless they are prepared to leave their boat on these rivers, they are too far away to make them accessible from most of the canal network for a fortnight's holiday. For those not constrained by time, do go, but accept that the EA aren't greatly into facilities provision. I intend to spend some time this Winter making a nuisance of myself over the disgusting habit of using sea toilets on the Gt Ouse.

And finally, until we are off again, we went to our IWA branch meeting where National Chairman, Clive Henderson, gave us the latest info on the way forward for the waterways, a very timely meeting, being on the day details of the QUANGO bonfire were given. He believes that, because BW had created their vision for taking the waterways into a form of trust status and out of the Government's ownership, exactly what the Government want, these changes for the waterways fitted in perfectly. We are all going to have to watch carefully what goes on and almost certainly going to have to give help by volunteering, but this is how pleasure boating got kicked off after 1945.

Sorry there are hardly any pics, it was so misty often I didn't bother taking many.

A stay in Birmingham

2010-10-09T20:34:00.000Z

Monday 27th Sept to Friday 1st Oct we were tied up in Cambrian Wharf at the top of Farmers Bridge flight & close to the National Indoor Arena, and also Birmingham's Symphony Hall.

We looked to see if there was anything being performed that we wanted to see, there was but it was a bit pricey, and then from the middle of the week it was taken over, along with the area outside it and The Rep, by the Conservative Party Conference. It was amazing just what they moved in to stop anyone from crashing in with a vehicle. Even if terrorists don't get in to do something dramatic, they have almost won anyway by getting all this precautionary work done. I didn't take a photo of it all lest anyone thought I was taking them for nerfarious purposes!

We didn't waste our time there, we went to see things. The Barber Institute (www.barber.org.uk/ ) at the University is a wonderful art gallery, not a vast number of pictures, but what quality. Just a bit further up the road from the Barber is Winterbourn House (www.winterbourne.org.uk/), except we didn't know about it when we visited the gallery, so we made a separate trip.

Built by a Mr Nettlefold (of GKN) in an Arts & Crafts style the ground floor has only just been restored and is interesting, but the special bit is the lovely garden, so if you go, go on a good day. You could possibly moor up alongside the hydrogen powered boat, but we caught a bus from Corporation Street.

We also went to Aston Hall (www.bmag.org.uk/aston-hall) , alongside Aston Villa's ground. Part of the Birmingham Museums service so shut on Mondays, it is a lovely Jacobean house. Nicely restored but they need to see how the National Trust shows off places, but is worth a look & I reckon it should be possible to access it from a canal near Spaghetti Junction.

As far as I was concerned the best house visit I made was to Soho House (www.bmag.org.uk/soho-house), extended by Matthew Boulton, his "manufactory" was close by, he held meetings of his Lunar Society here. Another museum, but much better than Aston Hall. I have to read a book about the Lunar Society, they were the brains of their age, and met on the nights when there was full moon so they could see their way home.

We did other things too, like an "Orange Wednesday" film, quite good, some shopping and generally having good time. We intended to set off on Friday for the Black Country Museum (www.bclm.co.uk/), I'd bought the tickets on-line with Gift Aid, so they are valid for a year, and a good job. Weather on Friday was terrible, rained all day, so we stayed put!

Saturday 2nd Oct a lovely day, we flled with water at he Cambrian Wharf tap which must be about the slowest one on the system and then filled with fuel and gas at the floating services block outside Sea Life in the centre before a gentle cruise to the museum. Very impressed by some of the buildings on the way, Mo in his blog the other day (http://balmaha.blog.co.uk/) was moaning about new uses for old chimneys, perhaps he would approve of this.

Under this scaffolding canopy is the remains of Matthew Boulton's Soho Foundry, I guess that English Heritage have insufficient funds to repair the building and this protects it, but the trees growing around it will be a threat.

The canal engineers created some fabulous structures, such as this glorious aqueduct,

and then this tremendous bridge.

As well as these lovely bridges.

We moored outside the museum and made a short visit, intending to view the remainder on the Sunday when our family visited, except that on Sunday it poured all day and though the family joined us we ate well and played board games, the visit to the wonderful museum has been delayed.

This was inside the re-constructed chainmaker's house, the lady hostess was a fount of Black Country knowledge.

President & Kildare were at their moorings.

Sorry for late posting, had signal problems.. Ian

Lots of locks

2010-09-28T18:09:00.000Z

Monday 20th September We expected visitors this day for a cruise & lunch but at 8am we had a call, Stephanie had been up all night, ill. Oh dear, we had already unfrozen the meat. Clever Carol, she had only a day or so earlier arranged an evening with my ex-boating cousin, Ros, & David previously of nb Ruth, and had apologised for it being so far in advance. A quick call & they were on for supper, meeting at The Lime Kiln. Worried it might be busy, we set off betimes to get there early. Stopping at Ashby Boats to refuel we arrived at the A5 by 1.30. Noticed nb Peregrine the Penguin there, she used to be owned by Les & Barbara in Debdale. Freshly painted she looked good.

We had a lovely evening, Carol knocked them out with her main course.

Tuesday 21st and now we are off cruising again. A lovely warm day after a misty start, how glad we were not to be queuing on the A5 like all the motorists! Shorts on again and away, we saw three kingfishers on the run down to the junction plus another water vole, that made 3 seen on this trip along the Ashby, fantastic!! We had a steady cruise until we arrived at the top of Atherstone flight at 4 & decided to stop for the day.

I went for a wander into the town, not a lot to see, yes some 18/19thC buildings with modern shop fronts, but nothing remarkable. A large Coop store & an Aldi in the centre. The large derelict mill at the top of the flight was the last "felting" mill in England, I reckon it closed around 1990. It used to make felt hats, perhaps it shut because I stopped wearing a trilby (never did, but father did).

Water at san station at top lock turned off. Lock cottage no longer occupied by a BW employee, he was given early retirement & had many observations to make. After not moving much over the previous week & a half we covered 12 1/2 miles, locks loom!

Wednesday 22nd A lovely start to the day, but it clouded over a bit later. Wind not too bad, but cooling.

Away at 9.15 we met possibly 10 boats on the flight so all locks were for us.

Can anyone tell me what these things are? They clearly are a valve mechanism, I have seen them in many places.
Used facilities just after bottom lock, waiting for a couple of boats from Stourbridge to finish with them. Very good water pressure so not too long there, & we soon caught them up, they were cruising at tickover! We let them move a bit further ahead at Glascote Locks, one paddle was u/s, and passed them at Fazeley when we turned for Birmingham. We carried on in the cooling afternoon before stopping at the Dog & Doublet at 5.

A prettied up little lock shack at the Dog & Doublet.
After so long with no locks, 14 miles & 16 locks today. M42 very noisy here.

Thursday 23rd and it was supposed to be an awful, wet cold day, but it only rained a little overnight and only rained a little later in the day. Off into Birmingham today and uphill all the way and we were away at 8.15 and straight into a lock on the Curdworth flight, lock set for us.

Why do BW spend money on pretty flowers? These little planters were on the Curdworth flight.

We didn't expect to see many boats early on but started crossing boats almost straight away, two boats had hirers from Panama!! I walked/jogged through this flight of 8 locks over around 2 miles. The Minworth flight followed, no boats floating in this flight but one submerged Charnwood cruiser badly placed almost under a rail bridge. Another walk/jog over the mile & 3 locks before stopping at services.

A lock free break allowed lunch on the move in sunshine before the Aston 11 over a mile (less jogging now) and finally the 13 on the Farmers Bridge flight, walking only here!! Crossed with two boats only on these flights. After 35 locks, over 5 miles of walking/jogging in a journey of 11 miles I was a bit tired!!! But Thursday is Wetherspoons Curry night, so I was more than able to make the walk to their pub on Broad Street. The guest ale I had was delightful & so needed. We moored up in Cambrian Wharf, a bit noisy from the Flapper pub alongside.

Friday 24th we went into town, I needed more comfortable shoes as my right foot has become sensitive, probably arthritis in the joint. We dropped in at the museum to look again at the Staffordshire Hoard we saw last year, expecting it to have been beautifully cleaned but were disappointed to see it still needs a good clean, but I expect they can't just drop it into water & scrub it with a brush!!

On Saturday Carol's back was bad so I went off and did a walk around the Jewellery Quarter again, we did it last year but this year I had a map. We intended to go to Aston Hall on Sunday but it was so cold we had a day at home with me fighting with the computer and losing.

The Birmingham assay office.

The Victorians certainly built some attractive factories.

The Jewellery museum is an old factory where the owners were unable to sell it when they closed in the '80's and just locked the doors. It is a place well worth a visit.
So an interesting week, plenty of locks in 2 days, reasonable weather and interesting things to see.

A week of entertaining and a new canal

2010-09-20T16:07:00.001Z

Monday 13th September and it started overcast and none too warm. During morning engine check decided to pinch up the belts on the domestic alternator & found the smaller engine alternator was loose. Lock bolt had broken & the adjustment bracket had sheared! Coventry used to be the centre of our engineering industry, but where is it now, & when tied up in a city centre where do you find and engineering supplier or even a hardware shop?

Good old internet & I found a place about 50 yards from Hawkesbury Jn where they actually make bolts & where they had some of the size needed. I rang Ashby Boats & they said they could weld the bracket, so all will be well soon.

On the way out of Coventry we stopped to reprovision for guests, and gathered a lovely bit of rag on the prop! We cruised on till 6, not having started very early with the problems, stopping by bridge 13 on the Ashby. Slight drizzle during the afternoon but a good mooring.

Tuesday 14th and a dull start & rain during day. Friends coming for lunch & tea so stopped at The Lime Kiln. 5 boats moored on the 48 hr moorings, I noted the numbers as it will be interesting to see if they are still there on our return.

We saw this painting on a boat, I asked the crew why name a boat with a pic of a Lancaster, but it was a hire boat with nothing on it to describe it as such.

Pleasant day & good food & cards before they left us at 5.30 & we cruised on a bit to tie up before bridge 22.

Wednesday 15th and dull with some rain and windy too. We had more guests arriving from Scotland & we arranged to meet them at Sutton Cheney. On way there got alternator bracket welded in Stoke Golding and tied up3/400yds before the wharf, and a good job too as there was nothing nearer. Emma & Karen arrived around 3 & stayed the night, more catering by Carol.

Why do you only ever see one shoe or boot abandoned?

Thursday 16th a day of mixed weather, but above all a cold wind. We took our guests for a bit of a cruise to Shenton embankment where the winding hole was very silted up before returning them to their car before they set off to Oxford. We then cruised on to bridge 51 and rang friends who live nearby in Market Bosworth who came for a drink & a nibble at some shortbread & flapjack Carol had made. On the way we passed Cyril Blackford on Venone who told us they were opening a new bit of the canal on Friday, were we coming. Well we weren't before, but soon did!

I asked the owner of this boat if it was named after the bird or the beer, a few of which I enjoyed in NZ earlier this year. A friend sent her on of the brewery's flags.

Friday 17th and the navigable Ashby is now 100metres longer!

A lovely bright day, mostly sunny but a biting wind, arriving at Snarestone in good time to polish the brasses before the 2.30 opening. We were delighted to see that our IWA National Chairman, Clive Henderson, had been invited & I got a shock when he remembered me from our 2000 Harborough Festival......I must have misbehaved terribly! We both got another shock when off the official boat stepped the County Council Chairman, who used to be married to my cousin.

Anyway, appropriate words were said & then he helped Audrey Boston to swing the bridge across the junction, she having funded it in memory of her late husband, the Reverend Teddy Boston. Tea & bikkies followed along with nattering, with Carol ear bashing some BW types about the failure to cut offside trees & general shallowness of the canal.

When the great & the good had left we moved our boats into the new bit for the night & then had a barbie together. One of the boats there was Storm Petrel, a beautifully constructed Cowburn & Cowpar replica that had been fitted out by a girl I worked with at Blaby D.C. and her other half. He had only used hand tools, no power tools other than a cordless drill and they had done a fantastic job, and almost exactly the opposite of how Lily is. The engine was a lovely 3 cylinder Gardiner and the shell was incredible having been built alongside an original boat so all the "rivets" were in the right place. The shell was actually ordered & made for 2 IWA colleagues, Ian & Sue Caddick, but they moved on to other things allowing Rob & Eleanor to get started.

Saturday 18th and a call from my cousin (ex wife of the LCC chairman ) asking where we were to meet her? Embarrassed to say we had forgotten, but soon fixed for her to meet us at Shakerstone.

We moored alongside the farm there, the weather was warmer and quite pleasant, and in the farm yard was a tractor/tilling combination. Sorry, I should have snapped it, but it was quite the biggest tractor I have ever seen with twinned rear wheels & large powered front wheels & articulated in the middle. The tool it was hitched to was at least 30 feet long with discs and tynes and wheels. I spoke about it to one of the lads on the farm. The tool was converting freshly harvested grain fields into a planted oil seed rape field in one pass! Incredible, and the tractor, when working hard, will use 800 litres of diesel a day!

For some reason loads of sparrows were attracted to the towpath by Lily's bows.
It rained later but we had a pleasant day catching up on things.

Sunday 19th and a reasonable day of weather. We cruised to Sutton Cheney ready to pick up the friends due on Monday, he is not very mobile so we needed a good mooring. On our way there we stopped at Market Bosworth wharf so we could get some provisions. It is a pretty little market town, well worth a wander up the hill to get there. Alongside the wharf is the Battlebridge Line station.

As we hadn't seen anyone for ages(!) we rang two dear friends who lived reasonably close & who are in the throes of moving for the first time since 1976!! They joined us for bangers & mash etc (hell it's Carol cooking so there is always a big etc!) and it was great to catch up with them.

So a week of no locks and not a lot of cruising but a lot of socialising, lovely except that the canal is shallow. On several occasions we went aground just passing out-growing trees from the off-side, and this was with the canal right up to the weir height.

From Debdale to Coventry

2010-09-13T20:55:00.000Z

Since last I blogged we visited Carol's cousin near Forfar (no trains any more so no "4.44 to Forfar" of old music hall ditties) and saw her aunt, her cousin from Oz and others in the family. We took him to see the Falkirk Wheel as this is a truly significant structure, unique in the world.

We use trains to get up there, it works out probably about the same cost as fuel for the car & is much more relaxing.

We brought Carol's Scottish cousin back with us for a few days, taking her into Harborogh where Frank the Plank looked as good as ever and a lady was taking her 80 year old tortoise for a walk near the basin.

Carol's tomatoes were fruiting well.

The water behind our mooring is becoming a real jungle.

Whilst away Debdale were supposed to be sorting out our alternator, but instead when we returned I took it off & then refitted it with new V pulleys plus a new engine pulley to slow it down. I measured the set up for the belts......and got it wrong! With the right length Steve came to check alignment & reckoned the pulleys were about 1mm out longitudinally plus a bit out angularly. I couldn't believe the 1mm would matter but Steve was determined to get it right & spent an hour or so fiddling, welding & grinding before declaring he was satisfied!!!

Tuesday 2nd Sept and at about 3.30 we set off, but only got as far as Bridge 61!! (this is the old pub at the bottom of Foxton Locks) They were doing a new feature of a supper & a beer for £5.50 so we thought we'd support them, hell we've known the family for 20 years. The beer was good, but it was the first time Hannah had made lasgne. On the way down from Debdale we saw Sogno whom we had last seen on the Nene at Irthlingborough. She was in a bit of a mess as a hire boat had forced her into trees, scratching the side a tearing her cratch cover badly. What happened to BW's Hedge Pledge of some years ago?
1 mile

So it was Wednesday 3rd and a very misty start to the day and after I polished the port side we were up Foxton, except we clocked in to go up at 11.15 but had to wait 2 hours before entering the flight, out in under an hour and armed with Bennets ice creams. The mist never fully cleared all day until after 6 by which time we had tied up just past the Welford Arm having met 2 boats in Husbands Bosworth tunnel. Autumn Fruits pulled in behind us, had an interesting chat about insulation & heating and a few other things before polishing the starbord side. Carol had made a lovely chilli which fuelled the polishing. 8 miles & 10 locks.

Thursday 4th was a lovely day no mist some sun & the slightest of showers. Away at 8.15!! we had an easy cruise to Crick by 12, stopping to fill, empty, have lunch & call in to see Barry at ABNB. They had lovely apples & plums on the trees near the office & we left with a good picking.

Meeting 2 boats in Crick tunnel as we came out I noticed the instruments were not showing anything. Had this before, several times & it is the small wire from the engine alternator that breaks, but why. Did a quick fix & I've decided that when I do a proper job I'll form the wire into a coil to let it flex. Had a wait at Watford before entering & met Doug Beard, IWA stalwart. He worked us down the flight so we could chat, and he was excited to hear that Tic Toc was following us down. He had shared locks going down the GU years ago when the widow of the first owner was taking it south, apparently the owner was killed when the engine hatch cover fell down on his head! Also the hire boat we were following was due back at Barton Turn on Saturday, though as they had lost a day with a breakdown they were allowing it to be 9.30 Sunday.......I doubt they got there before Monday, even starting early & cruising till dark. Not much of a holiday for the 3 foster children on board.

Out of Watford we had to stop at Watford Gap M1 services for a coffee & papers before cruising on to Weltonfield for the night. 14 miles & 7 locks.

Friday 10th and it had been a very wet night, neither of us slept well, why? Away for 9 a bit drizzly then dry then near sun, then drizzle and so on all day. Good cruise to Braunston, met 3 in the tunnel, fortunately not in the really twisty bits, I'm sure Lily would get stuck spanning the kink. Getting to the top of the locks, it was good to see how well the repaired embankment looked and also how well the towpath had been restored. Paired up on way down, meeting boats in every pound so it was fairly quick work. Met Andrew on Loose Woman, he used to work for one of our main yarn suppliers in the '90's. Dashed into chandlery by bottom lock to buy polish & a new lay flat hose, the old one developed awful blisters as we filled at Watford whilst Carol was descending & I popped out the shop as she left the lock.

Cruised on steadily before mooring for the night by bridge 68 alongside the golf course, lovely spot.

13 miles & 9 locks

Saturday 11th Rain overnight again & damp start but mostly dry during day with odd showers. Short cruise to Brownsover where we stopped at Tesco, then stayed to watch qualifying for the Italian GP, during which time Idle Woman tied up opposite, followed by two old friends from Countesthorpe, now mooring at Debdale with Puffin Slimline. Good chat over the canal & a promise to meet for a drink back at base.

Our subsequent cruise was somewhat slow as there was a lot of boat movement, but at least it was good weather. We tied up for the night just short of Ansty after 11 miles.

Sunday 12th and good weather all day. Chaos at Hawkesbury, but fortunately not our way, we went straight though before using the services.

Watched GP and popped into the large Tesco near the Ricoh stadium before cruising into Coventry Basin where we moored alongside Budleigh. We shared Buckby/Whilton locks with the boat on our way back from Northampton, but being shared ownership, it was a different crew, sadly the boat now has a rather nasty scratch along the port side. Maybe T cut will sort it.

I noticed that bridge 13 near Ansty was built in 1941. It is only a farm bridge so why was it so important for it to be built in those hectic & straightened times?

Another thing, in the basin there is a statue to Brindley, yet the Coventry Canal Co sacked him after only a year!!

9miles + the stop lock

Hardly took any pics this week. Sorry.

Wellingborough back to Foxton

2010-08-16T21:13:00.000Z

Monday 9th August and it was a glorious day, though a bit breezy. Not wishing to rush things it was 10.30 before we cast off, and rather belatedly decided to push on as Tuesday's forecast was poor. We had been told that the moorings at Cogenhoe were highly recommended & they looked good, though I was a little bit concerned about new posts erected alongside the bank, how easily they could hold "No Mooring" signs!! Perhaps I'm a pessimist, they might be going to hold signs saying "Please moor here"?

During the day we crossed with about 3 boats at locks and met another three between locks, so busy is the Nene with boats cruising!

About 7 of the locks on the Nene require manual labour to spin these large wheels to raise & lower the guillotine gates.

Above Weston Favell lock it was incredibly weedy, the embankments contain flood sluices for the Northampton flood relief scheme and unfortunately the prevailing wind was blowing the weed down to the lock. We decided that Carol should cruise out of the lock and to the flood sluice where I scrambled aboard. The indicated channel turned right after the sluice (why??) and this 200 yard channel was also full of weed, but we got through OK.

Turning out of the flood relief area Rush Mills lock had a top gate paddle (sorry EA, Pointed Door sluice) that would not close fully and this was to aggravate the problems with the very slow paddle mechanism needing 75 turns to open the paddle. Rush Mills & Abington lock above it are the only two locks on the Nene still having these low geared mechanisms.

A new marina was nearing completion alongside Becketts Park, on the town level. It has been sponsored by all sorts of quasi governmental bodies, but fortunately a decent contractor seems to have been employed & it looks good, nearly completed but yet to have any security features installed.

We tied up in Northampton around 5 having covered 12 miles and 13 locks.

Tuesday 10th August and 3 years after I retired! Rain overnight and overcast with drizzle at first. Quick visit for fruit & veg at Morrissons plus a coffee before we were off at 11.30. We crossed with one boat on the Northampton Arm and were concerned at the bottom end that we might never get through. There was a great amount of weed and using revs that would normally have seen us doing over 4mph we could barely keep up with a 2 year old child. It was similarly slow going on the way down yet we didn't seem to be churning up the bottom, very strange.

We saw this crop alongside the arm and also near Oundle. It stands around 5 feet high in clumps. Any ideas as to what it is, we reckon it is a green fuel.

Anyway, all the locks were set for us! Plus we met a granny with 2 grandchildren who were only too keen to push gates open & closed. Carol always keeps a jar of boiled sweets as a reward & these children deserved their reward. The locks of course were so quick to work through compared with those on the Nene, and we were out of the top lock at 3.30. A quick stop at Gayton services, so nice to have places to tip the Elsan, and we then waited for the traffic to rush past before joing the GU.

We decided to aim for Bugbrook, getting there at 5 and stopping about 150m before the bridge....bad choice, railway line very close, it would have been much better to carry on through the next 2 bridges before stopping. Went for a beer in the new pub, which was expensive, though I thought the interior of the pub craftily incorporated old bricks, timbers and designs.

We covered 8 miles and 17 locks and the weather drizzled a bit but it was far better than the forecast led us to expect.

Wednesday 11th and oh what a noisy night! A better day and as we entered Whilton Bottom Jenny & Bob on their new shared ownership boat, Budleigh, from Crick marina hove into view. We enjoyed sharing the flight with them in the lovely weather. We crossed with several boats too, making it even better.

We left them at the top of the flight and carried on to Watford, stopping as usual tied to the railings under the railway bridge to go into Watford Gap M1 services for papers, milk and, you guessed it, coffee! Arriving at Watford locks at 3 we had a 1 1/2 hour wait, being first in the next batch up. Filling with water & chatting whilst waiting we were helped up the locks by a chap who was hoping that by moving us out quickly that he would get down that night(he did).

We intended to stop at Crick but moorings were full so we stopped alongside Cracks Hill, just through the footbridge. The weather was generally good but clouded up during afternoon. Pleasant mooring spot and this lovely sunset.

As to alternator belt the one fitted on 5th still going OK. It gives a slight squeek first off in the morning before settling down. I have tightened it very slightly on 2 occasions so far and noticed this morning that the first bits of "V" were missing. 13 miles & 14 locks.

Thursday 12th and two boats passed us at about 6, waking Carol (I was already awake) who lept out of bed demanding we set of speedily as it was bound to be very bust at Foxton. Unheard of for us, by 6.45 we were under way, I don't ever recall starting so early. As we approached Yelvertoft and with our bows just about under the bridge, a boat on the water point just the other side set off!! I was absolutely flabbergasted at the mentality of the person whom I hesitate to call a boater! Better still, just past the permanently moored boats & just before the next bridge & right on the bend, he stopped & called us through!

Two other boats were about ready to set off as we approached but both did the right thing and waited the minute it took us to pass. Worried about reed growth on the length before the Welford Arm, in at least 2 places clumps about 20 feet long have blocked half the width on the inside of tightish bends. Our luck was in though as we only met boats in reasonably wide sections. We got about an hour of cruising in before the first rain, but then we had several, and sometimes quite sharp showers, through the day.

Husbands Bosworth tunnel was pretty dry and delighted us by giving us 4 boats to pass within it. By 12.15 we were at the top of Foxton and had a longish wait before we were able to descend to moor in the bottom basin. At around 6 there was an almighty clap of thunder that almost immediately followed a very big flash of lightning, and then a deluge. A pleasant chat in Br 61 and with Ian & Fiona on Brass Buckle whom we had moored with in Leicester in ? 2008 or 7 at our festival.

During our cruise I painted our new watering and Buckby cans and Carol decorated them.

16 1/2 miles in the day.

Friday 14th No movement, collected car thanks to Ian Cooper nb May Be, always a supporter of our local events, who gave me a lift. In the evening we had anenjoyable meal with IWA committee friends in the Foxton Locks Inn.

Saturday 13th and 3 years after we first set off on our cruising life. It was the opening day of the Foxton Festival and it rained on and off for much of the day. What surprised me was that there were ant people at the event, but in the marquee where the IWA had its stand there was a reasonable number of people at all times, and a good number when it rained.

Sunday 14th and a glorious day & people thronged to the Festival. The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust had organised the event and we were so pleased that all their efforts were rewarded by the crowds. I spent a lot of time talking (who me??) on the IWA stand, cajoling people to sign an Ashby Canal Association petition, and generally talking about joining the IWA and also ensuring that they go and enjoy the trip through Leicester. Jo & John, whom we met in Peterborough came along & we were able to show them how we had finished off Lily after they had left Debdale for their life aground near Peterborough.

Busy Foxton scenes.

Monday 15th and yes I know I only blog Sunday to Sunday, but after today I'll be signing off until we set off again after Lily's drive belt problem has been resolved, and after the Bank Holiday during which time we will go by train from Narborough to Dundee to see Carol's cousin who we last saw in Sydney in March. Crazy things thrain prices. Leicester to Dundee, via Peterborough, the train passes through and stops at Melton Mowbray. Price from Leicester £155, from Melton £184!!

Anyway we tied up in Debdale at 11, the drive belt fitted on the 5th looks about ruined. I have suggested to Debdale that they should get the rep from Gates belts to look at the damaged belts for his opinion as to what is wrong. He might refuse to come, but they have nothing to lose by asking.

Up the Nene

2010-08-08T18:28:00.000Z

Wednesday August 4th and after slight overnight rain we set off after paying homage to the water point & sanitary station, being away before 10. The weather was not good, not a lot of wind but not warm & with several light showers. Several boats coming downstream & passed a cruiser at Alwalton lock where the gate would not rise sufficiently for him to pass without taking down his canopy & windscreen. He was waiting for the EA, but my guess is he had a long wait.

We had taken Emily & Annabel on the Nene Valley Railway during their stay, here it is crossing the river. I enjoyed the day at the NVR, but I was sad to see how many of their engines had been allowed to decay badly. They certainly did not look in as good condition as those at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough.

I tried to get a pic of the train crossing, only to run out of battery power. Anyhow, this is what it crossed, it is a few yards to the left of the picture.

For us we made good progress tieing up at Fotheringhay at 5 having covered 19 miles & 7 locks in the day. I thought there were EA moorings there but seeing none tied up to posts in the farmers field just as he was walking along to collect his £4 overnight fee. It was a pretty good mooring & at least had posts.

Thursday 5th and after a sunny start early on (6 ish) by the time we got out & about had light cloud & a fair breeze. We walked into Fotheringhay which is a pretty place, the pub looks pretty upmarket, but at 10am was closed, and the church is interesting. It was originally an abbey church & much bigger, but is now a manageable size, but very tall for its footprint. There was a very large display inside about Mary Queen of Scots who was imprisoned there & beheaded there, as well as a lot of info about the ins and outs of the claims to the crown around the time of Elizabeth 1st accession. Well worth a visit.

There is obviously some money around in Fotheringhay, this person flies around.

We saw two weed cutting methods on the way from Peterborough, this was the neatest.

We then set off to show Sam what Oundle looked like and moored just above Alton lock, where we had moored on our way downstream. We managed to moor close to the bank before, but this time our stern was well out & we were on a big tilt. We decided to stop the night after our long cruise of 5 miles & 3 locks, and walked into Oundle & Alton.

On our previous visit I had noticed a metal railing & gate surrounding what looked like a memorial, but it was set in an area full of reeds that looked boggy. This time Sam & I decided to investigate it, picking our way carefully though the stingers that protected it. We were so glad we did, it was just a raised manhole with a pipe coming out of it, I expect designed to let off excess pressure....but why the ornate railings & gate?

I had noticed that our charge rate was only around 10 amps with the batteries only at around 75% full, we should have been charging at around 50 amps, yet I had tightened the belt in the morning. Investigation when engine had cooled, after further tightening still only gave 11 amps so I fitted a new one and suddenly we got 50+ amps. The belt taken off was by Unipart and managed only 2 days, and in fact was difficult to get working at the start, the new one is by Gates and works well even when not very tight. The old belt was obviously slipping all the time, certainly the alternator pulley was very hot. We can't wait to hear what Debdale make of it all when we return shortly.

Friday 6th and by 8.30 we were under way after checking belts etc & we stopped at Oundle Marina. People say it is difficult to access going upstream, in Lily it would have been impossible without the bow thruster as we reversed in, we would have needed to do a 270 degree turn to get in otherwise.

Anyhow, once in, they said the entry was kept tight to allow them to block it off when there are flooding events. We filled with108 litres at 80/20 costing £105 and were able to tip the Elsan, there being no EA tipping points on the river other than Northampton & Peterborough and frankly we can't manage that distance on 2 cassettes.

Away again we pushed on, hindered by me leaving our only EA key at a lock! The weather clouded over & gave us the odd shower and by cruising at for us a fast pace we arrived at Irthlingborough at 5, though we had shared the last 3 locks with a couple who had set off from Fotheringhay that morning! The moorings outside the Rusden & Diamonds football centre were very good, but now were showing the signs of having been made using untreated timber and many of the boards were flaking away.

Many info sheets show there are full facilities here, but not any longer. There is a working water point & a pump out, though people said that this was out of order, & had been for 2 years! The other advertised facilities (showers, toilets, Elsan disposal) were set within the adjacent leisure centre, but the owners shut them when the EA would not pay for them!!!

There were lovely blackberries picked alongside the mooring, & we had picked a load of mirabelles at a lockside some miles before. Sally & family came to pick up Sam, bringing with them a takeaway curry from our favourite restaurant in Leicester, so this evening we were again on our own!

19 miles & 11 locks

Saturday 7th and we were supposed to be entertaining more friends on Sunday but Carol's back said "enough". I rang them & deferred their visit and we stayed put. I walked into Irthlingborough to buy newspapers & see what it had to offer amounting to a tiny Tesco, a butcher a Post Office stores plus a few takeaways, not a lot and it was a fair uphill walk from the moorings.

During the day we were plagued by flies, possibly from the blackberries.

Carol's tomato plant has been very productive.

Her chilli plant is also being very productive, we just noticed one of the chillis is a yellow orange colour. They are pretty hot.

Sunday 8th and a lovely day. After topping up with water we were away by 9.45, drive belt fine, and we raced ahead to Wellingborough. We had intended to shop & then carry on, but lethargy hit us & we stopped after 5 miles & 3 locks. We were alongside the childrens park & play pool & it being a lovely day the place was packed with families having a great time.

We might try to get to Foxton for next weekend's festival. It would be nice to see old friends again, but it does seem a bit of a slog, we'll see how we look in a couple of days. No visitors expected in the next week, other than Sam & Hannah are joining us on Saturday night! It's tiring, but lovely to be wanted.

Finally, I keep getting comments from people in what looks like Chinese. From what I can decipher they are all complimentary, but are in rather peculiar terms. As I have read that people have used comments to blogs to pass on encrypted information I will not publish any comments unless they are in clear English text. Sorry if I'm being a bit neurotic.

Into Peterborough with grandchildren

2010-08-03T19:28:00.000Z

Monday 19th July Bright & warm but still breezy, though less so. Quick check of alternator belt, it was OK and starter shows fully charged after a night on the charger. Short cruise to Littleport, arriving at 12.30 8 miles.

Eldest daughter Sally, husband John plus Sam (16) & Hannah (12) arrived for supper, late as always with Sally & John,though they complained it was the length of the journey at fault. Lovely supper together and a few games of Rummicub before parents left us with the kids on a lovely evening.
The new bar restaurant (The Swan) is due to re-open at the end of July, the new owners have come out of retirement to set up a good quality place to go with 5 chefs & prices to deter the type of customer the old Black Horse attracted before the previous owner ran off to Austria to excape his debts. It will be interesting to hear how it goes.

Tuesday 20th July and a fine day saw us taking the bus into Ely to show the kids the lovely town & cathedral. We had another guided tour & so much better than our first one. Because Carol & I signed a Gift Aid form on our first visit, we get in free now for 12 months, & the kids got in free too! We had a lovely picnic made by Carol after we came out & then visited the Cromwell House museum, which was nearby & interesting.

The Cathedral is littered with "Green Men" carved in various places. They are an old fertility symbol.

Returning to Lily at 5 we set off for Hilgay Bridge & the lovely mooring there for the night.

8 miles.

Wednesday 21st July and a lovely day with less wind. We cruised to Denver to fill & empty and wait for our 2.30 slot. When we arrived we were told we had been told it was 2 (it certainly wasn't the time I was told) and he had already put a boat in the lock. It was at least half an hour before he let it out, & it was wide enough for the two of us, but we were then told we would be last through, arriving at Salters Lode around 4.30. What a difficult turn with no way of judging how fast the tide was flowing in& with there not being a great width more than our 70 feet to turn in. It was far from elegant but we got in, only to be told we should have come earlier when the tide was on the level!!

This sand bar explains why we were driven hard onto the mooring as we cruised upstream to Denver Lock

The EA were lifting one of the gates on the sluice. I was surprised to see that they were made of timber. They are allowed to swing closed as the tide comes in but on at least one gate the steel pintle had broken.

Because we were late we had to wait till 6.30 before it was level again. There is a second lock gate that allows a boat of Lily's length to lock down into the river, but not to lock up!

Now we had a problem. Carol had to catch a train from Peterborough to Leicester to pick up her car on Friday, but when I spoke to the charming young lady at Stanground saying we might not get there in time on Thursday & need to lock through on Friday, she said that would not be possible as the lock would be out of action for an inspection! We set off as fast as we could, but Well Creek is far from deep & the bend at Outwell was very weedy, shallow & awkward in the extreem. The lovely lady at Marmont Priory lock told us to carry on to the lock & knock & she'd let us through, but we didn't arrive till gone 9 & it was getting pretty dark so we made an awkward mooring to the bank.

A long day but only 10 miles & 2 locks

Thursday 22nd July and we were ready to cruise at 8 & by 8.30 Maureen had let us through the lock. Our cruising at first was easy as the water was wide & deep & we made good time. We topped up with fuel @ Fox's in March using 98 litres (they only do 60/40) at £1.01, and leaving at 11.30. I was optimistic we might make Stanground by 3.30 ish on the rate of progress so far and carried on well until we turned into Whittlesea Dyke at Floods Ferry when it got shallower and narrower and it became much harder going. We cruised using far more revs (1700) than we usually use but even so 3.30 only saw us leaving Ashline lock with the Whittlesea bend ahead.

We managed the bend easily, but it was harder than on the way down, and then we had a fairly heavy rain shower with rumbles of thunder. There were storm clouds all around and we expected to be caught by several, but only one did! We carried on reaching Stanground at 4.45 and were through in short order to tie up on the Peterborough moorings at 5.

Our fuel usage was 3 litres per hour since our last fill up.

A hard day saw us covering 21 miles & 3 locks in 8 1/2hours cruising. And what was this lorry mounted missile doing parked up alongside the waterway?

Friday 23rd July to 3rd August we stopped in Peterborough using the car to ferry the young grandchildren to several places, they are still too young to allow us to set off for a day of cruising, maybe next year. We had a grand family party on the Saturday/Sunday as Sally was 40 & The Grain Barge did us proud, especially important as Emily is highly dairy/egg intolerant. We had all 4 of the youngsters "sleeping" on Lily on Saturday night, & surprisingly there was some sleeping done!

On the 3rd Carol returned the car to Narborough & returned with Sam who will be with us till Friday & will help us get through much of the Nene. The weather was generally good, the proximity of the Elsan & water point was invaluable in Peterborough and near to the moorings was a great swimming pool as well as a Lido. We bought a new starter battery, the old one managed just 2 years, we could only keep using it by running a battery charger onto it full time, though I'll take it back to Debdale to get it checked. I was told that as it is a "commercial vehicle" size there is only ever a 2 year warranty on them!

Final thing about Peterborough. The mill over the river has one or more very squeeky conveyor belts. I'm intending to get in touch with them or the city council about it as it goes on all night. It was squeeking in May & still is now, let me know if it does when you pass.

12th to 18th July 2010

2010-07-19T16:10:00.000Z

Monday 12th and a much cooler day, mostly overcast and a bit of rain. We had an easy cruise into Ely. I checked the new alternator belt in the morning and found signs of damage already. I reckon one of the pulleys is wrongly machined and has too sharp edges which cut into the belt. Long conversations with Steve, mechanic at Debdale, who told me that both pulleys had been especially machined for us.

We went for an exploratory walk around the outside of Ely Cathedral including the Kings School buildings. Very interesting, I always assumed that choral scholars had their fees paid, but it seems they only get half paid, and that is only for so long as they are in the choir.

11miles & 1 lock
Tuesday 13th Checked belt fitted new on Sunday and after about 10 hours of gentle running it had no ribs left! More chats to Steve & I decided to fit a new belt with little tension, allowing the belt to slip a bit & get warm to increase its grip, like f1 car tyres, I adjusted the tension to stop excessive slippage. Collected 2 more belts in case but had to wait for delivery after lunch, and these were over £13 each!

Used san station in Ely and set off just as it started to drizzle very fast! Cruised for 1 ½ hours before mooring on EA moorings on river Lark. 5 miles 0 locks.

Wednesday 14th Belt was OK & we were away into Prickwillow, arriving at more EA moorings about ½ hour later. Went to see the Museum of Fen Drainage....it is closed Wednesday to Friday, if we’d got away a bit earlier the day before we could have got in! Looked through windows, lovely large old diesel engines in beautiful condition, we’ll try to get back another time, but not this year, shame.

Carried on to Isleham, mooring with our bows touching the lock mooring, no others really available. Large marina & chalet complex now on lock island, includes Elsan point, but beware they charge £2 & throw! (we didn’t pay, but did use it!)
Walked into Isleham and were pleased to get into the church, but before that we stopped at one of the pubs, Carol enjoyed her coffee & my bitter was lovely and we had a pleasant chat with the locals. The church was lovely with lovely carvings on the roof trusses. Apparently some more were there but Cromwell’s lot objected to the idolatry and discharged their guns at the carvings!

Close by the church was this lovely Norman Priory abandoned in 1254 but still intact thanks to being used for various purposes including as a barn. It was a bit of a walk to get the key but well worth it to get so close to history.

Isleham has various useful shops and 2 pubs doing food plus a garage. On the way back to Lily we did something I had never done before, picked cherries. We saw trees laden with ripe cherries in Huntingdon near our moorings but they were out of reach, these, though smaller, were close to hand. They made a lovely addition to our fruit salad but frankly we should have stopped longer & picked a load. It was another momentous event when Carol picked her first ripe tomatoes from the incredible bush we have growing on the roof.

We also saw loads of kingfishers, including this one that used a drain outlet structure as its perch. The weather was OK. 9 miles.

Thursday 15th and it was WINDY. Quite a bit of rain overnight and wind got plants on the roof rocking. Moved tomato plant & chilli plant below deck and moved other small plants onto rear deck seats. It took a lot of push against the wind to get off our mooring & into the lock. Like all these locks they are fully powered, even the “pointed doors” being powered. Cruised on the twisty & narrowing bit to the end at Judes Ferry, but frankly there was little to recommend it, though we understand the pub/restaurant alongside the winding point is good. Difficult winding through T junction layout & wind & weed.

Wind carried on blowing hard, rain threatened & then poured as we reached the end of the Lark, but the brolly helped to keep me dry. The Lark isn’t up to much, except we reckon Isleham is worth a visit.

Carried on to Littleport, mooring by the Swan, closed till 30th we understand, mooring behind Dutch Barge Moondahl, chatted about their crossing from Boston & up past Kingd Lynn. Pump out out of order and it seemed to have been so for a long time. Littleport is a smallish ?town? with a range of shops a pub & takeaways, and we experienced more heavy squalls as we walked back to Lily. We had a Chinese, not the best!

16 miles & 1 lock twice.

Friday 16th After topping up with water on the opposite side of river we set off to the Little Ouse, stopping at Little Ouse Moorings to top up with fuel at 75p self declared, but CASH ONLY, that was nearly an OOPS! Just had enough. They have a submersible wet dock for doing blackings, an interesting way of doing it.

We had intended to do the Little Ouse later, after going to Downham Market, but we had well over a mile from the fuel pump to a place wide enough to wind, so we carried on to Brandon at the end of the river. Despite it being a really windy day it was a wonderful cruise with lovely sun, the most beautiful river in this complex, very twisty but clear water and lots of birdlife

Saw this peculiar boat on way to Brandon

Brandon is interesting, the lock is quite short so we moored just below it on the EA moorings. Walking into town via the Leisure Centre we walked over the old Saxon village where a large number of remains had been excavated, this being a raised sandy area amidst the fens. There was also a large Roman villa excavated in the ‘30’s and a farmer around then ploughed up a load of Roman silver. The place was the centre of the flint knapping industry and they still make flints for flintlock weapons! Useful shops & pubs, plus it is the centre of the BBC......the Brandon Brewery Company, whose beer I enjoyed at the 5 Miles Pub. I bought a bottle fermented beer from them, but I’m afraid it just doesn’t hit the spot for me like a draught pint does. 20 miles today!!

Saturday 17th Not quite so windy at the start & after getting the papers we were away by 10. The alternator belt has performed well, I have just tightened it slightly each day, but it definitely is lasting better despite cruising a t higher revs than we usually use. Day started with bright sun at times but clouds built up a progressively heavier showers arrived. The first didn’t affect us as after cruising about 4 miles we passé under the road bridge at Hockwold cum Wilton & were hailed. It was David & Liz on Hearsease who were about to set off to the Lakenheath RSPB reserve. They told us they came across a boat te day before brought to a stop by a rope around the prop that was attached to an anchor! They were about to get into the river to cut it free as David & Liz passed.

Pleasant chat whilst the showers passed & we bid them farewell cruising easily through the lovely waters we left the river after 4 hours cruising to cover the 16 miles, turning towards Denver Sluice. By this time the clouds had got black and we had endured the first downpour, but a longer deluge followed on the way along the Gt Ouse, along with very strong wind. I cruised on the lee side, the wrong side of the river, but there was no-one else cruising at the time, though we were passed by one nb that must have been doing the full 7mph permitted, if not more....Lily won’t do that speed!

After the deluge it brightened into a pleasant evening as we passed through the Relief Channel Lock down to Downham Market, tying up to the good pontoon mooring and walked into the town. We had covered 24 miles and 1 lock in 5 ½ hours, very fast for us.
Downham Market is quite interesting, good shops & pubs plus a station. The market was just shutting as we walked in.

Sunday 18th Fine day, windy again but mild and no rain. Decided to stop to watch the Moto GP and did some washing, having filled up with water from the tap on the pontoon. Ran engine to keep charge up, belt still fine, but stopped engine before end of GP. It wouldn’t re-start about an hour later with flat battery! It was a new battery just under 2 years before, not sure if it is at fault or the charging system, though the ammeter looks as if voltage is good. Hooked up battery charger from 240 volt system & rushed into town to try to get jump leads. Found the Tesco store not big but it had jump leads, and just 5 minutes before closing! Moondahl was with us & I’d borrowed a charger from him too, but with jump leads on, we were away.

Funny thing, before we came to the Relief Channel I was worried about whether it was wide enough for us to wind in !!!

Quick cruise to the Relief lock. At this lock you have to use a computer keyboard to clock into the channel, getting a 2 week stay, and on the way back we clocked out. Tipping the Elsans at Denver we carried on up river to Hilgay Bridge to the good EA moorings, the wind dropping as evening approached.

5 miles & 1 lock

A Question:- Why is the single track line through to Kings Lynn electrified when they can’t afford to do any of the East Midlands Main Line? Mad

5th to 12th July In Cambridge

2010-07-12T18:21:00.002Z

Monday 5th and when I went to check the engine first thing the main alternator belt was ruined again so I fitted my spare, there should have been 2 spares but one is hiding. Since we last replaced one at the Pike & Eel we have hardly cruise & have not used high revs at all, there is clearly something dramatically amiss, I'll have to get more spares when in Cambridge & after our planned visit we are going to return to Debdale so they can sort it.

The day started bright & with less wind and occasional cloud, the Old River was shallow in places. We stopped at the old Streatham Pumping Station which is open on the 2nd Sunday in the month & occasionally steams the old Butterly Engine....such a shame that the firm that built this engine, St Pancras Station and even the Falkirk Wheel closed about a year ago, you would have hoped that a company with such a history & that had proved able to adapt to changes in demand would have been able to carry on manufacturing in this country. I suppose if it had been a bank it would have been bailed out!

The EA plan showing facilities on the rivers was proved erroneous again as te Fish & Duck at Popes Corner where the Old River & Cam meet is now no more than a layer of gravel, and there were no facilities available, but that might have been because work was on-going to improve the marina. So we carried on towards Cambridge, calling into Upware Marina, where there were no visitor facilities at all. We tied up outside the 5 Mile Inn alongside the marina where they very kindly let us run a hose to fill up. There is an EA water point alongside the Upware Sluice, but it is downstream & the chamber is about 10 feet shorter than Lily.

I went for a walk down to Wyken Fen to hopefully see some of the rare birds living there, or even to hear a corncrake, but all I saw was a kite, but it was interesting to see the undrained land. On the Ea moorings near the lock I counted only 12 out of 20 boats displaying valid licences!! We ate in the pub off the £6.95 for 2 courses on Monday menu and enjoyed it. We saw this upturned old barge where it is undergoing some re-plating, except I don't think anything has been done for a while, looking at the weeds around it.

I also decided to put additional ventiation into the cupboard holding the inverter so sawed through the steel, foam lining and thick ply liner with a small blade on my Stanley Knife......it took quite a while but is now hiding behind a brass louvre, but it does seem to be keeping down the heat level.

Tuesday 6th started bright & with a good forecast and we enjoyed a lovely slow cruise for the 10 miles & 2 locks into Cambridge. There are visitor moorings for 48 hours at Jesus lock where there is a good sanitary station, but we stopped alongside Jesus Green, opposite rowing club boat houses & where it is supposedly only for boats that pay an annual mooring fee, except that there were few boats there that had paid up, most were tied up alongside walls further downstream where there was nothing to pay! We decided that we would happily pay a fee for overnight stops with the lovely meadow alongside, complete with grazing cows and only about 1/2 a mile from the city centre!

We wandered in drank coffee bought a map, considered what to do & then went to Evensong in Kings College Chapel. What a lovely place, glorious choir and the place was almost full too. When we got back we were able to supervise the finishing line of a rowing race against the clock with over 40 crews rowing over 2000 metres. They were set off in roughly fastest first order at 30 second intervals, but even so there was some overtaking.

Wednesday & Thursday we carried on being tourists & falling in love with the place. If you go do go to the Botanic Gardens and the Scott Polar Institute is interesting too. The gardens had some very interesting areas including an area of created fen and also a dry garden which showed just how much you can grow in a garden without watering. They also had several areas showing the changes in plants over the years, the one for grain crops was interesting as was the walk showing the plants introduced in each 20 year period since around 1500. The other lovely thing was the way that large areas around trees were left to grow with wild flowers and long grass.

We loved Cambridge, lots of green spaces right up to the centre of the city and despite it being outside the University term there were so many cycles that cars went very slowly. We took advantage of a 2 courses for £10 at Loch Fynne restaurant and very good it was, as was our Wetherspoons curry, though yet again some of our favourites had been removed from the menu.

We used the lovely fruit & veg stalls in the 6 day market, had some lovely asparagus too, plus right near the centre there was a reasonably sized Sainsburys, Tesco being a bigger store but further out.

This is Carol's garden at the moment.

Friday and we moved to by Jesus lock as it was a bit nearer to the shops & we had to buy food for visitors over the weekend. I had also been chasing delivery of some more alternator drive belts & got 3 in the end, but a bit of a walk. A good job too as the one we were using managed a great 22 hours running before it was just about shredded! That running was almost all at below 1200rpm as we hardly cruised & used it for charging. I've looked closely at the pulleys & I reckon they have been wrongly machined which is something we can't get sorted without getting back to Debdale.

Anyway after shopping we used the very good sanitary station, for those with a pump out it is only £3, and filled with water, before realising it was 4pm, so we went back to our previous mooring, can't go cruising too late! Each morning rowers were out on the river from around 6 & we often heard oars rubbing along the hull.

Saturday 10th and we put up the parasol & cruised slowly to Waterbeach. This cruise was especially slow as there were umpteen rowers & scullers populating the river. One young lad decided to "spin" just before we arrived, I slowed rapidly & gave him a bit more room & went hard aground on a shoal of gravel! It took at least 20 minutes to get off, even had a chap on the bank offering to wade in & give us a push!!

We moored at Waterbeach, on good moorings and shared them with nb Eleanor from Peterborough & Gemma from Cambridge. Both crews were lovely and we nattered aplenty before our Bbq.

I haven't mentioned the weather, well it has been really hot, reaching 30 degrees, and we were really glad of our Worcester windows where we were able to lift out the whole of our windows to get a good draught.

Sunday 11th and our friends arrived in good time for us to cruise back into Cambridge for lunch, plus recording of the British GP, lots of chat and a really pleasant day before we returned to Waterbeach.

Waterbeach is a quite pleasant place. The pub by the river isn't actually in Waterbeach, if you are thinking of eating there, go on-line & read the reviews. There are 2 pubs on the green in Waterbeach, plus a chinese Take-away and a couple of general shops that seemed to sell all you might need. There are several quite intersting buildings, though the church is nothing special, but what made my walk into the place special was the traction engine that was in steam & being tinkered with at the garage. Lovely smells & they were happy for me to look, but I didn't have my camera!

I was a bit worried lest this buoy had floated into this garden in Waterbeach as the garden must have been over 20 feet above river level.

28th June to July 4th on way to Cambridge

2010-07-06T21:44:00.000Z

Monday 28th June

Another day of incredible weather. After our hard working weekend (!) we set off and cruised under the A1 and winded just before Roxton Lock. Didn’t seem any point in going further as Cardington & Castle Mills locks were shut until 2nd & we had to be elsewhere. Stopped at Anchor for a beer & a coffee, all quiet on riverside of pub and A1 rushing past the other. Not up to much. Tootled into St Neots. 5 miles & 1 lock.

Moored behind The Beez Kneez, Bob Morrison who we had seen in Peterborough, Whittlesea & elsewhere. Had a Bbq, first this year, on the staging. I was worried as to how hot it would get under the coals so stood it on a wet rug, but needn’t have worried, the rug was still soaking wet & cool as we finished cooking.

Tuesday 29th Fine bright & warm & our new inverter to arrive at 6pm & I had to get the other one out & looking pretty. Went to town for coffee & then to see the museum. Quite interesting, especially to see desks I used to sit at till the end of my schools days seen to be exhibition objects!!

New inverter arrived on time & I had it fitted & running within the hour, but it is a bit big for the cupboard! Went to the Priory for their curry & pint at £4.99, but it was not much cop. Bob rates the Pig & Falcon for good beers.

Wed 30th & we had friends Paulene & John with us. Their journey from Harborough was quick & a day’s parking was only £2. Lovely weather again & we cruise downstream to GOBA mooring near Gt Paxton for lunch. A good spot & good food. Cruised back & Paulene & I went for an amble around the town before Carol’s scones made a good nibble before they went home. Lovely to see them & show them this lovely river. 6 miles & 1 lock twice.

Thursday 1st another superb hot day and we used the excellent market in St Neots for more lovely fresh fruit and I also noticed there was a new M&S Meal & wine for £10 deal was on so we got this too. We had to get to Buckden Marina for Friday 8am so Hotpoint could repair our washer/dryer so around 2.30 we set off slowly downstream. After cruising for an hour or so we had a call from the Hotpoint man who was in St Neots & had finished his work for the day.....Hotpoint said they couldn’t possibly come to a mooring it had to be a marina. We speeded up & arranged to see him ½ an hour later.

Carol went to the clubhouse for a coffee whilst he & I set to on the machine, with him switching it on & trying to get it to repeat the flashing lights we had seen, but it just worked perfectly. We plied him with tea & cakes, he acknowledged he had not seen us & I rang Hotpoint to cancel the next day’s booking, saving over £100!!

Best bit about this was whilst I was emptying the loo Carol, started talking to two couples on nbs Heartsease & Kearpawni and we arranged to carry on down river a mile or so to the GOBA moorings for a drink. The moorings were lovely & all 6 of us got on so well that we ended up chatting drinking and eating till gone 10.30, finding we had mutual acquaintances too. What a great way to end the day! Thanks Tim & Wiggy, David & Liz, we look forward to meeting you again. Our drinks session was made more special by a Spitfire giving us an aerobatic display.....such a majestic sight and stirring sound from the engine. All this after a busy cruise of 7 miles & 2 locks!

Friday 2nd we said goodbye to our new friends who were going on up to St Neots whilst we tootled into Huntingdon & stopped. Wimbledon was doing big things, but I went and had a look round Godmanchester which we started on a drizzly evening a week or so before. One or two interesting houses and buildings, but the church was locked & there was not much in the way of shops. Weather was great yet again and we tried out our new washer/inverter combination & it worked fine! 4 miles & 2 locks.

Saturday 3rd and another lovely day. We set off at 12.30 and topped up with fuel at Hartford Marina as well as emptying & watering. Refuelling was awkward as they had a stupidly short hose, but we were able to self declare, I did 20% propulsion, but that might have been generous to HMRC. Fuel here is not cheap at 82p domestic, but the marina in St Ives would only do 60/40.

Continued downstream through 3 locks, sharing some with pretty unruly day boats. Breeze got up during afternoon and there were quite a lot of boats moving, unusual for this river. We tied up at 5 on a bankside mooring near to the Pike & Eel. Lovely spot after 10 miles & 3 locks.

We love to see young sygnets hitching a ride

Sunday 4th dawned bright but with a strong wind & we worried if we’d get off the bank, but it worked out fine, especially as the river was wide enough for us to wind where we had moored. Some people star early, it was barely 7 before the first boats passed us, we were away at 9.30. Next lock was Brownshill Staunch & the river becomes tidal for a mile or so here. Tide was out & the range only seems to be about 2 feet. There was a sanitary station & water point on a pontoon by Earith but we were OK so carried on to see these seals just downstream, they obviously like river fish.

Swans taking off on the tidal bit and Carol keeps trying for pics of Herons. She succeeded here.

Very helpful lock keeper at Hermitage told us the river level was low & offered us a Towpath Talk. The Old West River was lower than when we passed the other way 3 weeks before but compared to canals it was almost oceanic in depth, but there was a lot of weed. A lovely cruise ended with us tying up at the GOBA moorings at Aldreth High Bridge. These GOBA moorings are generally in lovely spots, though some of them were a little short for a boat of Lily’s length. Well worth joining them if you are going to cruise these rivers. 7 miles & 2 locks, but we had to stop for mens finals!

So ended another lovely week, much better because we now have an inverter that is up to the task and didn’t have to pay for the washer to be repaired. Hard cruising too doing 39 miles & 12 locks in the 7 days!

June 21st to 27th St Neots

2010-06-27T16:57:00.000Z

Monday, glorious day, barely any wind & lovely sun most of day. Gentle cruise back to Houghton Lock to view Houghton Mill. It is a National Trust property & we struggle to find places to use our membership at these properties as they tend to shut for the winter just as we return from our cruise & don’t open till we set off!! Problem here is moorings, there are EA moorings below the lock but they are on an island & you can’t get to the village/mill. We decided to visit the pub The Three Jolly Boaters, and this entitled us to use their mooring! Nice pub but food seemed pricey. Interesting village, but how on earth were these houses permitted planning? A small estate, clearly from the ‘60s, that just is not in keeping.

There was another picturesque pub in the village too, and the water mill was well worth a visit. If we had arrived earlier we could have seen some milling, but we bought a large bag of the flour & it made lovely bread. Pleasant tea room alongside plus a large camp site.

Being worn out by this exertion, we stopped the night.

Tuesday 22nd and an even better day, getting quite hot. Returning past Huntingdon we shared Godmanchester lock with a narrowboat reversing back to a mooring but we carried on. Apparently this meadow above Huntingdon Bridge is the largest one in the country at 365 acres.

At Brampton there is an old mill with it’s wheel turning, but it is a replacement & purely decorative addition to what is now a restaurant/hotel. Still it looks good.

Slight problem at Brampton Lock, and narrow bendy navigation channel to it when there is a nice direct route. The locks operate by the electric mechanism lifting the guillotine slightly to fill the lock and setting in motion an interlock timer. The gate will not lift further until the time delay has counted down, but here it wasn’t counting down. I lowered the gate, lifted it again & this time it worked!

We carried on to Buckden Marina to top up with fuel before any budget changes, plus water etc. We were able to self declare our propulsion usage at 10%. We had run a load of washing during our cruise, but the inverter tripped out. The only way to get it to do washing was to turn off the freezer. Clearly it is not big enough though we had been told it would be. Also we started getting flashing lights on the washer. The marina was offering a free night’s mooring, so we took them up on it. Lovely marina, some lovely chalets around it & good club house & gym. We also got free power & with a struggle I managed to get another load of washing done, but that was it as far as the machine was concerned!

So we now have to resolve the inverter problem & the washer problem.

A big day of cruising. 8 miles & 2 locks.

Wednesday 23rd was a day of fabulous weather.

I was alerted by a load of squeaking & much splashing in the water & looked out & thought it was a pair of otters. I photographed & videoed this for a while, but looking at it now & having talked to people at the marina, we are sure it was a pair of very large carp splashing around which they carried on doing for well over 5 minutes. These young swallows found our neighbours tiller to be a good perch

I walked the mile & half into Buckden to see the old Archbishop’s Palace that dated from around 1100 onwards. Buckden was quite a nice village with a couple of pubs & Post Office & shops & the palace quite interesting too. Why on earth would the Bishop of Lincoln have his palace built in Buckden which must be well over 50 miles away? It was used to accommodate Katherine of Aragon for a period when she wasn’t Henry 8th’s favourite wife.

I loved this pub notice board.

Whilst I was doing this Carol used the laundrette at the marina to clear all our washing. Off to the club house for a coffee & discussions with Mike at Debdale about our problems plus also to Aquafax. We then set off to St Neots, sharing St Neots lock with 2 plastic fantastics & an EA workboat......they were pressure washing slime off the walls & steps in the lock. We’ve never seen BW doing this, could it be a waste of money?

We moored up on the pontoon mooring alongside the town council offices, right by the water point which had been disconnected!! 5 1/2 miles & 2 locks.

Thursday 24th a busy day on the phone and more fabulous weather.

Found a useful car spares place on Huntingdon St where I got one spare alternator belt & then they got me another spare for the afternoon. Lovely market in the Market Square. Got some lovely fruit & veg plus Carol got a crab & I had a wild, line caught sea bream....beautiful.

I went into the council offices & moaned at the District Council desk about the hopeless tap they have provided at Huntingdon, before finding that the town council were guilty of cutting off the tap on the pontoon outside after vandals had broken the pipe & caused a big waste of water. This caused the council to find out they were supplying the water free, when they didn’t know they were doing so. They terminated the supply. Can I request that boaters write to St Neots Town Council (Clerk) Council Offices The Priory, St Neots Huntingdonshire PE19 2BH. I am trying to find the name of the Chairman so we can make it political.

After lunch I changed the engine oil, thought I had a spare oil filter, but hadn’t so the car spares place was useful again! Then gave the oven an almighty clean, have you tried Oven Pride? It works well but even with this it was a long & dirty job but I suppose this is a drawback to enjoying Carol’s cooking.

After many calls I decided on what to do with the inverter. It seemed from on-line investigation that our washing machine problems probably came from a 50p capacitor but am I really up to dealing with it?

Friday 25th and another lovely day.

We visited the church in St Neots & it is well, worth a visit, but you need to collect the key from the office over the road from the church. The roof has fabulously carved beams & decorations plus some interesting painting. Found that as our washer was only 2 years old it still has a Hotpoint parts warranty. Great! Call out cost £104!! I couldn’t get them to come to the pontoon mooring, despite giving them a post code, so on Friday we have to go back to Buckden. As to the alternator on Tuesday evening a 4kw inverter/charger is being delivered & the 2.5kw unit is being collected. I managed to get a suitable discount to make us happy to take this option.

So after lunch we set off, stopping after 400m to fill with water & empty the loo at the small marina there. No diesel or petrol any longer. We tootled along through Eaton Socon lock, disturbing the local youths jumping in off the top of the guillotine gate. They were a happy crowd and we were soon on our way and we enjoyed our pleasant gently cruise on this river. After about 4 ½ miles around ½ mile before the A1 crosses the river, tied to the river bank, using a plank to get back on board. Not many moorings here abouts.

Saturday & Sunday both fantastic days & we stayed put with Grand Prix, Moto GP & Wimbledon to watch plus Carol decorating our new watering & Buckby cans & I cleaned the lacquer off the mushrooms & re-polished them plus a few other bits and blogging. Lots of bats flying over the river at dusk.

14th to 20th June

2010-06-21T19:43:00.003Z

Monday 14th

Still moored at Pike & Eel & dawned bright but cool and windy, but I had heavy work to do. I knew the old inverter was heavy, the new one is heavy enough, & I had to get it out of a cupboard that was a fairly tight fit to it. It took the better part of 3 hours of looking & fiddling & trying before I got the old one out. I reckon it weighs about 50 kg & to get it out I had to wedge it up and fiddle. I then read & re-read about wiring in the new one as it has 2 sets of output terminals, but fortunately Keith, the supplier was working on his boat in the marina so I was able to check with him & by 3.30 all was done & inverter power was restored!

I also spoke about the oil leak to Mike @ Debdale, fresh back from Le Mans. He reckons it was solely because the oil had greatly expanded. All I had to do was keep on mopping up the oil! We decided to stop overnight.

Tuesday 15th

Bright morning with clouds & a cold wind & we set off at 9, a kingfisher seeing us off his patch. An early start, but we were tied up by 11 in St Ives, mooring at the town quay. Just 4 miles & 1 funny shaped lock.

Walked around the town, quite pretty & I had a hair cut. Afternoon brightened & warmed up.

I saw this interesting take off of the Red Bull ad.

The old mill shown was where Clive Sinclair created the first pocket calculator, I remember buying one, and having it nicked! The mill is now apartments.

The EA drawing shows water at the wharf, but it failed to work. Drinkers sat on benches talking till fairly late on at night, but no problems.

There is the remains of an old chapel in the centre of the river bridge in St Ives & the 2 left arches in this pic are different as they were re-built after the Civil War as Cromwell blew up the 2 stone arches & replaced them with a timber draw bridge.

Wednesday 16th

Bright sunny morning with less breeze, away at around 11, but we only dawdled slowly to Hemingford Grey which Nicholson said was a pretty place, so we stopped, and stopped the night! About 2 miles & 1 lock was all we managed. Below the lock on the none too generous lock landing stage this pretty launch had been moored with no consideration for other boaters.

We tied up alongside The Old Manor House which, for £7 could be visited & the extensive garden viewed, but £7!! It seems it has been continuously occupied since the 1100's and this makes it the, or one of the, house(s) with the longest continuous occupation in England. The garden looked pretty & at least one coach party visited, but also dropped the people off at the village pub for lunch. We dropped in there too, nice pub, beer & coffee good. Rated best eating venue in Cambridgeshire in 2010 Good Pub Guide but we thought it looked a bit pricey so ate in.

Some lovely little houses in the village with plenty of thatch and a good shop plus a Post Office, with another one of those mobile Post Offices parked outside. Church in lovely location right by river & with a truncated spire after it was knocked off by a hurricane in 1741.

Also ambled to Hemingford Abbots. Shame about mobile home park on the edge, but that apart a gorgeous place.

Pub looked well worth a visit later, all thatch & beams, just along from a wonderful 17C timber barn, thatched, and then the church which was very pretty & in a lovely setting.

Hemingford Abbots church roof had good carvings & the remains of old roof paintings.

It was a bright sunny day but still with a cold wind and the evening was enlivened by lots of children practicing rowing in skiffs for the Hemingford Regatta in July. It was lovely to so many people out enjoying the river in a good village activity.

I don't think the Oxbridge crews have anything to fear from these willing youngsters!!

Thursday 17th

Another lovely day but still with the cold wind. After the lazy cruising yesterday we decided to really push ourselves.... and did 3 1/2 miles & 1 lock before stopping at Huntingdon! We have 2 friends joining us at the weekend & he has very limited mobility & we had been trying to find out a suitable mooring. We though Hemingford would be OK, but the Rotary Club sponsored mooring in Hungerford was ideal.

We went into the town to look around, not a lot to see but did visit the Cromwell Museum. Oliver was born in Huntingdon and his old school house is now the museum & very interesting, but twee so it doesn't take long to see it. Carol's back bad with too much walking on Wed.

Friday 18th

Overcast & rained fairly hard from 3. Ambled into Huntingdon to see farmers market buying meat for Sunday plus some lovely sausages & a couple of venison burgers plus some enormous Orgasmic eggs.

Set off after lunch asking people on boats moored just past A14 whether there was any water nearby & they pointed us to a tap at the Huntingdon Boat Haven where we topped up & I emptied the loo. There are just no EA provided services around. On the town moorings in Huntingdon there is a tap, but it is a push button one, and even then it has a square section so an adaptor will not fit. The other incredible thing is that boats on the river are allowed by the EA to use sea toilets!! (ie their toilet effluent is discharged into the river). We can't believe this, when we were on Carol's cousin's yacht cruising the coastal inlets around Sydney they still had to put their effluent into holding tanks. I shall be writing to the EA about this.

We managed under 2 miles & 1 lock before mooring in heavy rain at Godmanchester. Met a boat at the lock where boaters were from Countesthorpe where we lived in the early 1970s, & shared it with another narrowboat where crew were from Oakham. Stayed fairly unpleasant through late afternoon & evening so I set to to complete the base painting of our new watering can & Buckby can. It takes a very long time to paint the different bands of colour, but my job is done now & now it is up to Carol to decorate them with..........Lily Pads.

Saturday 19th

Another cool windy day. Walked around Godmanchester a bit but too cool & light not good enough for decent pics so returned to Huntingdon & bought provisions needed for our guests plus Carol cooked some cakes & scones and prepped veges.

In 2 days 3 miles & 2 locks!

Sunday 20th

Friends arrived just after 11 as sun was starting to break through. We cruised on through Houghton Lock & moored at Hemingford for lunch (fabulous) before Stephanie & I walked through the 2 pretty villages. The day moved to bright sun by 1 & stayed that way all afternoon until they left at 8 having seen the Gt Ouse looking lovely.

6 miles & 2 locks, meaning that in the week we have done 18 1/2 miles & 7 locks, not even a real day's cruising, but we have loved it!!

7th June to 13th March to St Ives

2010-06-14T16:54:00.013Z

After 11 days away courtesy of the train we returned at 6 on Sunday, relieved to find the freezer still frozen, & Carol's plants on the roof looking pretty good too. Our water bed was cold having been unheated for 11 days so the boiler did its stuff getting it reasonably warm in a couple of hours. On Monday we filled up with fuel at 60/40 split (no options) at a cost of £163, something over £1 a litre! We then moved just over a mile down the Dyke to moor in the centre of March. Useful shops & reasonably large Sainsburys and some interesting buildings. It seems that once March had amongst the largest railway sidings in the world....one wonders why? It is now a quiet railway backwater.

Our aged copy of Nicholsons told us the church of St Wendreda demanded a visit. It was just over a mile from the river & the key can be picked up from the nearby pub, but it wasn't there!! There was a funeral, so we waited in the old graveyard till it was over, and it was worth the wait because the hammerbeam roof was incredible with the beams being decorated with wonderfully carved angels on them...more later.

The moorings in March were 36 hour limit & when we arrived there were at least 2 of the moored boats that I thought had been there a fairly long time, but I was wrong, both of them moved off during the first afternoon. One lady arrived later on in an older ex hire boat with a broken window. She had obtained new glass and fitted it the next morning, and she warned of mooring alongside the park opposite the pump out station in March. 1 mile 0 locks and we were moored alongside a pub (not visited) & an Italian restaurant where the menu looked OK.

Tuesday 8th dawned after heavy overnight rain and some thunder during the day we were off after getting papers & fresh fruit. Our journey through the levels was highlighted by seeing several Kingfishers, including one that we observed hovering much in the way that hummingbirds do.

The channel became narrower & weedy after Pophams Eau. It was wet by the time we reached Marmont Priory Lock which is manned by the family that own the lock house. They do not get paid for doing so, apart from getting their phone bill paid.

After this we cruised slowly into Upwell & moored on the mooring provided by the Wells Creek Trust (the navigation was restored by the Trust in 1975. Saw this on a house along the cut.

Small village a few pubs I think 3 butchers (& the beef we got from the one by the mooring was wonderful!!) plus a general store.

I had never seen a mobile Post Office before, it emptied its till at Upwell.

And so to the church where again there are loads of carved angels on the roof hammer beams. What made this more unusual was the fact that the church still has its wooden galleries that enable you to get up & close to the carving.

A builder was doing some work in the church & he drew our attention to these large "boat hooks" that were fixed to the gallery. They were over 12 ft long & I can't think what they were for, they had metal rings fixed on them at places along their length. Any ideas?

Alongside the church was a large house, Welle Manor House that dates from 1202 and, Nicholson says,is a "rare example of a fortified medieval prebendary manor house." Yes...with a new large conservatory, but mostly engulfed by Victorian extensions.

We liked the village, moored outside the pub, & again I didn't visit but the A1101 was alongside & did a 90 degree turn alongside.

Wednesday 9th away slowly through shallow waters, & beware the bridges are low too. We intended to tie up at Outwell a mile away to see its church roof, but the moorings were occupied by 4 little cruisers, so we cruised on, its something for our return trip. Close by was an old pub (my old Nicholsons shows loads of pubs that are no more) where the house owner has renovated the wonderful plaster sign on the gable end. It reminded me of the brewer whose fare I drank on a summer holiday tour in my old Austin 7, Bullards...a name no more.

We were booked in at Salters Lode lock at 3pm and had 7 miles to cover & 4 1/2 miles to cover it! The weather brightened and we tied up for lunch at Nordelph. Nothing here, the pub is a house, the church was being demolished & this is the stubbiest old windmill I've ever seen!

The old petrol pump stopped at 50 1/2 p a gallon!! Derelict boats abound as the Middle Level Commissioners do not charge a licence fee.

Carried on shallow & slow to Salters Lode Lock where we tied up with 2 others waiting the tide, and it clouded over & started to drizzle slightly. Lock keeper arrived and Lily was locked through first & we tied up below it waiting for Weasel to join us. We then set off upstream with incoming tide behind us and Denver Sluice Lock was open for us BUT there was a small plastic boat on the pontoon mooring below the lock and there was a big swell flowing from the weir driving us onto it! It took full power for several minutes for us to get away from the plastic and into the lock, during which time we shredded another alternator belt!! Locking up with Weasel we then used the services before moving on to the excellent moorings above the lock.
7 miles & 2 locks.

Thursday 10th after a quiet night it was overcast with a cool wind and rain forecast we set off up the Gt Ouse & then took the first left into the river Wissey. A lovely river, banks not too high, deep water, twisty course and we tied up at Hilgay for lunch. We then carried on to just beyond the sugar beet factory where the river widened to a small lake, turning & returning to Hilgay for the night. Good local council provided toilets & Elsan point plus water. Simple church & a great butcher cum general store & newsagent with lovely home made pies (good pork pie) but the worst pub I've been to in years. Real ale was off & the keg John Smiths didn't taste too good either.
About 8 miles & 0 locks....hard work.

Friday 11th Overcast & then fast fine drizzle so washed off 1 side of the boat waiting for it to brighten....but no. We had a gentle easy run back to the Ouse intending to turn next left into Brandon Creek but about an hour after setting off there was a funny noise & a burning smell! It wasn't the alternator belt, I checked, it was the inverter that had gone bang! Rang Debdale, contacted a marina in Ely & got a couple of nights there with mains power. I spoke to Aquafax, & in particular Keith, about repair to be told that our inverter contained coils made by a firm that had gone bust & Mastervolt was unable to get/make spares so we had to replace it! Also we couldn't get the same size of inverter so we have had to downsize a little, 3kw to 2.5kw. Most amazing was the fact that Keith keeps his boat on the river not far from Ely & that he would take our new inverter there for us to meet up over the weekend.

The afternoon brightened up and Ely Marina was very helpful (at £30 a night they should be) and we loved walking up into the "city" which has some lovely buildings & a fabulous cathedral. Every night there is a choral evensong in the Lady Chapel and we went to it on Friday. The sound in that room was incredible and it is a wonderful place. There is even a Wetherspoons next to it!
9 miles 0 locks.

Monday

Saw this post near level crossing by station.

Saturday 12th and a bright day with a cool wind. Re-provisioned at Waitrose (Tesco near Station) and Carol had her hair cut before we went off to take a guided tour of the Cathedral and a gentle wander around the town. We will return. Arranged to meet Keith at the Pike & Eel towards St Ives on Sunday.

Sunday we had to wait till 10.15 to get our £50 key deposit back & we set off at a fast lick. The river was wide & deep and we cruised fast, slowing as we entered the Old River where there is a 4mph limit on the narrower river. It was a lovely cruise and we saw Kingfishers, a Barn Owl and an Egret plus an Oyster Catcher as well as numerous other birds. The weather was good though the wind cool. We reached Hermitage lock, 4th in the queue waiting for 2pm & the start of afternoon working. The river Ouse the other side is slightly tidal the other side & we were told to look for seals but saw none. On we cruised to Brownshill lock which we shared with a smallish plastic boat, all electric with guillotines, but Carol noticed oil on the water near our stern. Once through we tied up on the landing stage & I found that our hydraulic oil had expanded out of the header tank with the extended fast cruising!

We met Keith shortly afterwards and tied up at the Pike & Eel & plugged into the mains & I started mopping up the oil! We had covered 17 miles & 2 locks in under 6 hours.

Not a good week as far as Lily was concerned, but the scenery is lovely.

Peterborough to March

2010-06-05T18:28:00.004Z

May 24th to 29th

Monday 24th & our 41st anniversary. A fine day but cooling. This was our mooring last night with lots of nettles!!

We tootled gently down into Peterborough with just one lock & a few miles. What a lovely river.

We tied up past the services block at a bit past 12. Was passed this funny thing on our way in, we think it is meant to be a work of art, but WHAT IS IT???

We had messages that John & Jo who used to be at Debdale (John having done most of the woodwork on Lily) lived near Peterborough & would like to see us. I called them & we fixed a meeting. During the call Jo asked if we were going to the Key Theatre

that night for the opening of “Dinner Ladies” with a touring cast. Having previously planned nothing for our celebration we poddled along & booked. I had also previously looked at on-line reviews of “The Grain Barge” which is a floating Chinese restaurant on the river that we visited in 1993. They reviews looked OK so we ate there first, and it was excellent, before going to the theatre where we about burst our seams, a wonderful show. We had a fantastic surprise anniversary!

Moorings in Peterborough are quite plentiful, though if the river should rise a mere few inches, the rings will be below the water. Pump outs (we don’t use) are free so after a fairly awkward trip for facilities when you get there it’s great! Unfortunately it looks as if 2 boats have taken up residence there, one does not seem to have any form of motive power whilst the narrowboat had a list of over 3 inches! The town is close by as is the Cathedral.

Useful guide to river is http://noproblem.org.uk/blog/nene/

Tuesday, a much cooler day, we visited the Cathedral, but only after I had obtained our spare alternator belts & changed the ring spanners, during which walk I noticed the greyhound track near the river. We never gamble, but I reckon that on our way back we’ll call by there to experience this.

The Cathedral is lovely, very simple and clean and right in the town. After visiting it we met John & Jo for a lovely chat over a coffee and arranged that we would meet for longer on our return journey. To pass onto the Middle Levels it is necessary to book a passage 24hours before through Stanground Lock, which I duly did, before we wandered off around the town & visited the station to book tickets for the weekend. Carol noticed this muntjac deer trying to get out onto the towpath & tried to help it to no avail, fortunately it then swam to the other side to get out.

Wednesday bright but a cool wind and after using the services we cruised the short distance to Stanground lock, arriving early for our 10.30 booking. The lock used to be under 50 feet long but is now around 80 and I guess is about 12 feet wide. The charming lock keeper (who was born there & is the 4th generation of her family to hold the post) warned us of restricted headroom entering the lock so I moved the flower troughs away from the centre of the roof enabling us to clear the low footbridge. I bought the Middle Levels Yale key from the lock keeper & could have bought the special windlass from her for half the price I paid at Gayton!

Down we passed onto the drainage channel, Kings Dyke, with highish banks alongside. These kept some of the wind off us, wind that brought wafts of smell of brick making from the nearby brickyard, these chimneys and many oojimikoos providing part of the scenery. Oojimikoos you ask? Well when our children were young & were being fractious we warned them that an oojimikoo was watching & they often settled. Later, when they failed to see the thing we were pointing out to them, whilst walking along York Rd in Leicester they insisted on seeing what it was. Carol pointed to a large extractor fan in a factory window and from that day on, for us, fans etc are oojimikoos, and a wind turbine fits this bill! (York Rd in Leicester, a grand city gives its name to a short & narrow lane not far from the Newark Gateway, hardly fitting, and the factory......like so many others in Leicester is now rebuilt as student flats!)

The cut was significantly straight, quite wide, and with lovely wild flowers and flower covered hedges. The sun was bright and we pootled along gently to Whittlesey. At Whittlesey the channel narrowed and had a sharp bend, with cruising notes saying “70ft narrowboats are reported to have successfully negotiated the bend”.

Well Lily is 70ft and she got round pretty easily, in fact I think we could have managed an extra couple of feet, but it might be different the other way! We carried on a short distance further before scrambling a mooring at the Leisure Centre, just before Ashline Lock.

We wandered into the village/town, nothing too much to recommend though we found a good cafe & smallish supermarket plus most other types of shop, though quite a number of shops were empty. The museum had this interesting doorway, a hint to a past use.

The place used to have 52 pubs(!) so many that some just had a letter to define them, not a name. Many have gone, but The George in the market square is currently being refurbished & will re-open at the end of July as a Wetherspoon pub.

We had planned on carrying on to March that day but on our return to Lily there was chaos with 4 or 5 boats trying to get through the lock. There was a boat festival in March the next weekend and they wanted to secure a mooring, so we decided to stay put, & I had some very tasty fish & chips for supper (I get an urgent desire for this dish a few times a year)

Thursday after overnight rain dawned bright but not warm. We cast off just as a boat was coming up Ashline lock, which would have pleased them as the lock has to be left empty & with gates open. The lock is around 12ft wide and only one of the two ground sluices worked and took about 60 turns to raise & lower. Access to the lock surround was through a locked gate (remember to buy a key!!). Once through the dyke was long & straight with a few bends. We liked it, others find it boring.

Our journey was lovely with flowering hedgerows plus the odd pill box.

About 3 hours after setting off we arrived at Fox’s boatyard where we had booked in Lily to stay for the Bank Holiday week whilst we go to see our family. A lovely working boatyard and lots of interesting boats, just near to Lily’s mooring a couple were just starting work old narrowboat. I wish them well, it looks to have been neglected thoroughly for many years.

We managed 5 locks this week & only around 15 miles!

Back in 2 weeks

May 18th to 23rd

2010-05-23T19:12:00.007Z

Tues 18th and it's a lovely start and a great forecast for the week. We cruised down the GU to Gayton. Noted ex working boats Balham & Edgeware moored on way to Gayton and which were once so smart and now look so sad. Replaced empty gas & did loo & water at Gayton and set off towards Northampton (Noton). Mo (nb Balmaha) told us we'd need a bigger windlas for the Ouse so bought one at Gayton. Made steady progress, crossing with one boat, but why are the handrails on the bottom gates so arranged, what is an easy step across on most other narrow canals I didn't feel I wanted to risk on the Noton flight? We stopped for the night just past the M1, not too quiet but not a bad mooring. The water on the flight is beautifully clear and blue/green coloured, but why so much running down the byewashes? Note more good BW mooring policy. Only 6 1/2 miles and 13 locks but we were tired.

More BW mooring

Wed hotter still and we poddle down onto the Nene and tie up on the moorings by the footbridge over the river before wandering into the town for a look see and to see what was on at the cinema (Orange Wednesdays) but none of the films appealed to both of us. A shop at Morrisons almost on the river. Good night. 4 miles & 4 locks.

Well on Thursday I wandered into town first thing to buy a padlock to fit to our fuel filler plus got Carol an anniversary card..more later. We were off through first lock, but it was worked for us by the crew of The St John's trip boat whilst they waited for their passengers, and then we stopped to attend to our levels, our water tank gauge has failed yet again and as such we have to keep topping up, I'll change to a stand pipe indicator shortly. We moseyed along a short way when we were alongside the excellent moorings at the Brittania and it seemed rude not to stop. The "Directors" was excellent, so good I had another!

By now it was warm & it was shirt off time. The next lock was pretty hard work, around 60 turns to wind the top paddles, nearer 80 on the lower ones, but after this the EA had put on much more mdern gearings only needing about 20 turns each way.

This day all the guillotine bottom gates were electrically operated, slow but not tiring. After 9 locks & 8 miles we'd had enough & got a mooring above Barton lock, not the best mooring, but we had seen no better ones.

Friday 21st. I had been getting worried about our slow progress as we had a time to get to March & unless we get a move on we'll not get there. This morning was bright sun from first light, but there was a heavy dew.

Standard thing happened, just as I was casting off a working boat came the other way, followed shortly afterwards by 2 more. We progressed, then as we approached Wellingborough our new poly V alternator belt gave up the ghost, I fitted the spare, but am very worried as to why, especially as we now have no spare. We tied up at the town moorings, Carol went off the the nearbt Tesco. She was so relieved to see it as the 22nd is my birthday & the 24th our anniversary & she had no cards!! I went on-line to get motor spares firms & spend about 3/4 hr ringing around to try to get one, but to no avail. I re-tightened the belt and hoped, and did so again when we stopped for the night. Hell our car had one on it for 16 years & only replaced it because it started squeeking a bit, but then Lily has a mch more powerful charge rate.

After lunch we made steady progress before tieing up after Lower Ringstead lock, pretty hairy mooring but hadn't seen any others. The non electric guillotine gate and take a lot of spinning of the stainless steel wheel to lower & raise the guillotine. An hour or so after mooring up a chap came along with a bag of pellets wanting to know how long we would be stopping. He had rented the bank & had been feeding the fish along it for weeks! We covered 12 miles and 10 locks. I looked on-line for somewhere to stop on Saturday & decided on a pub at Ashton, it reviewed pretty well, but notes I had about cruising the river said it got busy at weekends, so it's an earlier start tomorrow.

May 22nd and its incredibly hot for the time of year, barely a cloud seen & touching 25 degrees. Lovely collection of cards but poor Carol, I had said I'd like some ratchet ring spanners which she asked for in Screwfix (which stocks 2 types) but she had been given a large set of normal spanners, but which I already have! Bless her she tried, and Sam & Hannah got me a new tie, perhaps they are trying to tell me something.

There was a very heavy mist as we cast off but by the time of the first lock the sun was through. Went hard aground as we left Denford lock, a big shelf of gravel had been brought down the side channel and it took us a lot of effort to get off. We decided to top up our water tank at Upper Barnwell lock, except that the pressure was so high that it bst our hose in about 6 places (tried it next day on a more normal tap & it worked OK). We made it to Ashton & turned into the mill stream, but no obvious spots, but some annoying gaps that would have made one, but at the end we got in, or at least got the bows in.

A lovely mooring, and our meal at the Chequered Skipper was excellent. Ashton is a lovely little village, built by a Rothschild in 1900 using tradition methods, and where the World Conker Championships are held. The day had been bright sun all day. 14 miles & 8 locks.

Sunday and it was bright sun all day & we walked into Oundle to get papers & I'd run out of coffee. Quite an intersting place, but we were away at 11.20.

We shared locks many times during the day, not just with boats but also people jumping in!

Carol & I kept our shirts on all day, as well as our hats but I'm sure many of the people we saw by the river will be red raw tonight. Fotheringhey church has an impressive setting, but it looks a it clean cut, we'll be stopping by many of the places we have noted on our way down river. Shame some can't read the notices on some moorings, but moorings are difficult on this river!

We tied up for the night just past Wansford havving passed under the A1. Another wild mooring site where I used the plank to get off & on.

13 miles & 7 locks, stopping at 5. ( Just had a big worry, computer just shut down as I was trying to save this, thought I'd lost it all!!)

All week we have been suffering from "snowstorms" of seeds from grey willows.

2010 cruise May

2010-05-17T14:04:00.005Z

11th to 16th May 2010

Much later than last year we set off after a wonderful winter seeing people & going places, more of that later perhaps.

So at just before lunch we set off with full water & fuel tanks & empty loos, plus a new drive belt to the domestic alternator that should see the end of our problems with this device, plus with two hydraulic pipes replaced to stop the annoying little leaks in our drive system, all should go well. We had to stop at Br 61 (we always do) where we had a long chat with Mary Matts plus another couple Carol recognised. It turned out they were friends of friends to whom we had been introduced over tea to hear about their experiences of living afloat in the early ‘90’s as we were then thinking about it but were far from sure we would take to it. You can guess what they told us!

We eventually left, had a late lunch & popped up Foxton Locks with no-one either way. The weather was fine but cool winds, but not cool enough to stop Carol wanting one of the delicious Bennetts ices from the Top Lock Coffee Stop, and I had to keep her company. All this hard work meant that about a mile further on we tied up just short of Laughton Lodge, one of our favourite spots. The chap on the boat in front came over to ask why, with all 2000 miles we chose to tie up just in front of him, but he was soon appeased with my explanation (or was it my smooth tongue?).

12th to 14th May

It was cold overnight & we had to bring in our bedding plants overnight, Carol wants to plant them out but I can’t get all the troughs on the front deck so they stay in their seed trays. Morning dawned bright but soon clouded over and then started a slight drizzle, but as we exited Husband Bosworth tunnel it had turned to rain, and with the cold wind we got thoroughly chilled, so much so that as soon as we had passed the Welford Arm we stopped, tied up on the Avon embankment and put the boiler on & Carol cooked a lovely meal from a new recipe she had just picked up & couldn’t wait to try out, lovely!

So in 2 days of cruising we have managed 10 locks and about 9 miles, gosh this is hard work. When it warms up I’m sure we will be better but Thursday was bright and cool and yet we only got as far as Crick, all of 10 miles, where we went to the Red Lion to eat.

Yelvertoft marina is nearing completion but I bet they are concerned that they already had a small landslip on the bank down to the basin.

As to the Red Lion be aware if you eat earlyish like us, the pub didn’t open till 6.15 and kitchens until 6.30. I had a weird “bitter” by Cameron brewery that was as pale as a lager shandy......and I have to say I struggled to drink it but I never throw beer away, even lousy American beers. Others have told us they enjoy eating at this pub, certainly it is a lovely & popular place, but we will not chose to eat there again.

We popped into ABNB to have a chat with Barry Watson who used to moor alongside us at Debdale. Good to see him again & interesting to hear that they are selling boats very rapidly at the moment, though only when owners sell at “realistic” prices, though who says what is realistic?

Crick tunnel on Friday was wet as ever & we followed a boat not showing any lights & crossed another, must have been interesting for them with the boat we were following, and went straight down Watford locks.

The lock keeper was bored so had got out his strimmer, though I’m sure there are contractors supposed to do this. Bright day but wind still cold. Dredging below the locks.

As we approached Buckby Top lock 2 boats exited including the smartest working boat I have seen, Scorpio, with a brand new paint job & the hold freshly painted too. So at least the top lock was set for us, but every other one was both against us & with bottom gates open! We saw the culprits as we reached the bottom as the crew of the BW boat Pochard crossed the gates, having tied up, you guessed it, on the lock moorings, despite there being plenty of moorings available. I have notified BW, but I doubt it will do much good.

We stopped at Whilton having managed 14 locks & about 7 miles.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th May

Well we really worked hard on Sat, moving just over 2 miles before stopping short of Weedon on a bright afternoon and watched qualifying for the Monaco GP. The forecaster on Friday night said he was pleased that the weather was now warming up & that he would be moving his bedding plants out, so that was good enough for Carol to get her troughs done.

Whilst she did this I went for a walk around Weedon to sort out somewhere to eat with Sally, John & kids on Sunday lunch. I reckon I walked the better part of 5 miles before deciding on using the Waterway at Stowehill Wharf. During my walk I walked away from the A5 and into Weedon proper and was pleased to find the old Royal Ordinance Depot as mentioned in Nicholson. No wonder I hadn’t been able to see it from the canal as it was hidden by the railway. These are interesting buildings from the early 1800’s, still with water in the canal arm between the buildings, but currently unloved and by the looks of it being used for storage. A sad end for the location that the Royal family would have removed to had Napoleon invaded Britain. Look at this site for interesting info. www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/w/weedon/index.shtml

Sunday saw us tootle along the 2 miles to stop just short of Stowehill and had a lovely meal before we did a short cruise to & fro before a typical Carol Sunday afternoon tea followed by Rummikub session. A lovely day, and warm weather forecast. Fortunately we were able to record the GP and watch it without knowing the result & without interruptions.

So what a busy week. Any problems? Well our water tank gauge has packed up again, I think this is the 5th, though the last one in November was ruined by water leaking from the water pump. We have twin pumps & both failed within short order, still pumped water but leaked, I found they had leaked when I pulled something from our under-floor storage place in the stern to find it wet, so water was all through the boat. I found the source, ordered a new pump plus a repair kit, and found the repair kit didn’t work as well as being quoted as the same price as a complete pump……it went back. I then found that by using a really superb glue I was able to seal the two halves of the pump together, but wonder how long they will last. We now have 2 pumps working & 2 spares!! As to the gauge I’m wondering if to replace it with the sort of sight tube I had on the previous boat & which always worked & didn’t leak!

Our plans for this Summer are down to the Fens. We have been to Peterborough but not onto the Ouse which Mo & Vanessa on nb Balmaha (http://balmaha.blog.co.uk ) reckon is lovely. We are away from Lily for just over a week at the end of the month as our daughter & son-in –law both want us to spend a longer period of time with them. We have just heard we can tie up for this time at Fox Narrowboats wth power so now we can go down the Nene.

Sunday 11th to Sun 25th October Back to Debdale

2009-11-02T14:28:00.006Z

Sunday 11th Still moored in central Birmingham it started cool and damp, ideal for the 15000 runners taking part in the Birmingham half marathon which started & finished near Symphony Hall. I saw many low order runners as I went for the papers, and in early afternoon we saw more as we walked to the Birmingham Back to Backs. These are several old basic houses, built in the early 1800’s around a court, each of them 3 storeys high by one room wide and with very steep spiral stairs. They are back to backs because there is a single brick wall between houses, one facing the road, the other the court. As restored they show a house as in 1820, 1870, 1920 and 1970.

They are National Trust properties and only viewable on a guided tour which was excellent. They are alongside the Hippodrome Theatre and we must have parked our car by them on our trips to see pantomimes there over the years.

Monday 12th was a fine bright day but cool and I set off to the Museum/Town Hall and joined a queue at 8.45 to see the newly discovered Staffordshire Hoard of Saxon gold and garnet treasure found earlier this year. I met a charming couple in the queue and Carol joined us by 9 and we chatted away merrily whilst waiting to get in. It was the penultimate day on display in Birmingham before the treasure is sent to the British Museum for full conservation and documentation and there had been immense queues despite the museum staying open till 11 on two nights. It was interesting, but Carol & others wished they had washed off more of the mud, and only a very small pert of the hoard was displayed. The craftsmanship was brilliant, and the treasure hunter will be over £1m better off!
We had a coffee with our new acquaintances & exchanged email addresses before we returned to Lily for lunch & then off to Sea World which, being none too busy we enjoyed.

Tuesday 13th we did some shopping with Carol looking for an outfit, and failing, before we went to watch “Up”, the new Pixar movie in 3D. It was excellent.

I knew of Boulton & Watt, but not William Murdoch but this freshly re-gilded statue caused me to look in Wikipaedia. It’s worth a look, but briefly he wanted to work with Boulton & Watt so walked down from Glasgow. Boulton was so fascinated by the wooden hat Murdoch was wearing that he gave him & job & he made great improvements to the working efficiency of the Boulton & Watt engines. He also invented gas lighting and was a significant force towards the development of the dyestuffs that were developed from the coal tar by-product. He would have been fabulously wealthy if he wasn’t employed on a contract where his inventions became the company’s.

Wed 14th started bright & warm for the time of year. We cast off at 10.30 & met a new fuel/pump out boat coming through the Worcester Bar and reversed back to tie alongside to get a new gas bottle and add diesel. Note he seems to be alongside Sea Life every day. We stopped at the services at the Mailbox and were off. We came across this work starting half way to the Stratford Canal where they are constructing a new bridge to facilitate work to the railway alongside the canal. An interesting way of using tyres.

Steady cruise meeting perhaps 10 boats and stopping near bridge 15 on the Stratford. 12miles

We passed this boat that seems to be being fitted out. The hull sides are almost as high as Lily’s roof so how will it ever be able to cruise?

Thursday 15th Overnight rain and very damp and misty as we got up, but it wasn’t cold. It got wetter as we cruised towards Kingswood Junction and after 4 locks and 2 lift bridges we’d had enough at 1 and stopped for the day. Having worked the lift bridges with Carol I asked how a single handed boater we met at a lock how he coped……with difficulty as there are no landing areas on the operating side of the bridges. 5 miles & 4 locks

Friday 16th A fine day though not warm and we had a pleasant cruise through the Lapworth flight having a pleasant chat at lock 19 with a waiting boater as we filled with water at the slowest tap imaginable. After filling & emptying we passed through onto the Grand Union and tied up having done 1 ½ miles and 15 locks.

At the bottom of the locks is this old telegraph pole with notches for about 14 cross pieces. Not things of great beauty and part of our canal heritage, but I reckon we are better without them, though my erarly memories of roads is of them lines with these poles.

Saturday 17th Another fine day but we were not cruising much but just did 5 miles to a winding hole and returned to moor at bridge 66. After and early lunch we walked to Baddesley Clinton (NT) and viewed this historic house with a history from the 1400’s. It had several priest holes within it & despite numerous searches, no priests were found. If you visit, catch the talk about the house, and be aware that there is a very good restaurant on site. We only had drinks there but the food looked good and it was busy.

Brazilian GP qualifying finished off the day. 5 miles.

Sunday 18th Cool overnight, we have been using our boiler/heating for the last few days. Away around 9 after filling at the nearby water point we reached Hatton Top Lock about 11.30. Here we met a couple from New Zealand who were ready to go down, but they had a problem with their heater not working. We lent them one of our phones to call Kate Boats and I dipped their fuel tank to find barely 1 inch of fuel there. The handbook with the boat talked of a gas heater but there was none to see, Kates said they would bring fuel and meet us down the flight.

2 boats exited top lock before we entered and another 2 entered as we exited. We had struck up a great rapport with Rowan & Suzanne and shared sandwiches they had made and coffee and biscuits Carol had made. Though we worked well as a team we had a slow trip down having caught up with a very slow boat and also with the fuel stop & work to get their heater working, but the weather was fine and we were enjoying the company. We stopped below bottom lock just after 4 when the GP was about to start. Rowan & Suzanne were behind & we agreed we would try to eat together at The Cape of Good Hope & they walked there to see what time they finished serving as the GP was not likely to finish much before 7. They hurried back to say she wanted to finish at 6 as the cook was going out so we hurried off, recording the race. We were glad we did as it was not just excellent food but brilliant company, they are a couple much like us, and they have come over the last 3 years for a 10-14 day cruise on the canals.

We caught the race later on after they had left after coffee and more nattering and what a great ace it was! 7 ½ miles & 21 locks.

Monday 19th A fine morning & we set off with our friends to return through 2 locks & then to Kate Boats, but not before they had insisted that on our trip to New Zealand we should cancel our hotel booking in Wellington and stay with them! Incredible! After waving goodbye we moved on to tie up outside Tesco to provision for Sally, John, Sam & Hannah joining us on Thursday. A big bill later we set off after 1 in sun, but the day got worse as we cruised through Leamington and on to the Radford locks. After 4 of these locks we tied up just past 4 as it was cool and drizzling. 7 miles & 6 locks

Tuesday 20th Threatening weather but it was only damp. We were away around 10 and cruised to The Cuttle by 12.30, mooring near The Two Locks pub where we had such good meals last year. We shared locks with Harebell, a beautifully painted boat but one suffering from a very iffy gearbox. I was not surprised to hear it was a Hurth, considering on our previous boat we got through 3 gearboxes in just over a year. I insisted that the engine/gearbox supplier (Beta) should change it to a PRM box and never a scrap of bother afterwards. The poor chap on Harebell had bought the boat (used) just over 4 years before, had a gearbox change by Calcutt Boats. After just over a year it failed again, they repaired it & then it lasted just 60 miles, and they refused to do any more work on it!!! He got another engineer to sort it, but after only about a year the trouble was back! I think he was interested to hear our experiences.

After stopping and lunch and letting the engine bay cool I went into the weed hatch. I had been putting it off as the water has cooled, it seemed to clear at times, but then was back rattling the tiller. I found a cycle tyre nicely wrapped around it, but fortunately something had cut through the metal reinforcement & my knife was able to do the trick, though one of the wires embedded itself into my finger. I celebrated by working on our tax returns!!!

We rewarded ourselves with the incredibly excellent Steak & Kidney pie at the Two Boats, plus an enjoyable treacle pud for me. We had an interesting chat with Chris, the landlord. He & Michelle have only been there 3 years and he loves it, finding it a pleasant change from covering 48000 miles a year working as an engineer for car insurers. 2 miles & 5 locks

Thursday 22nd After staying put and completing the returns & Carol cooking hard on Wednesday at lunchtime on Thursday, Sally, John, Sam & Hannah joined us for our last few days.

Weather fine in morning but showers during the afternoon as we worked up locks and onto and round Napton junction. It was a pleasure to have a good team working the locks and we tied up about a mile past the junction in a lovely mooring. 6 miles & 13 locks

Friday 23rd was a glorious day, sunny & little wind. We stopped in Braunston to deal with services & to collect some side strings from Tradline Fenders and we entered Braunstom locks about 12 and almost immediately caught up with a boat with many in its crew & a real novice on tiller so we stopped for lunch below the 3rd lock.

After lunch we collected another pair of slow boats but cleared the locks in good time. We met 2 boats in Braunston tunnel but were very excited about a mile the top side of it to see something swimming in the water. It looked too big for a mink & it looked tan in colour, so we reckon we saw an otter!

We carried on to Watford locks, arriving at about 4 & with me thinking we would have missed the opportunity of clearing the flight that day, but on Fridays, I was told, they are open till 6. The locks were clear & most were set for us & I think it only took us about ½ an hour to work up the 7 locks. We carried on in the still lovely weather to moor opposite Crick Marina at about 6. 13 locks & 11 miles.

Saturday 24th was wet overnight and continued that way with intermittent showers through the morning, but the forecast had been far worse! Carol & the girls stayed below doing arty things whilst John, Sam & I enjoyed dodging rain and wind. It brightened after lunch and we continued until stopping about a mile past Husbands Bosworth tunnel, where we met 2 boats. Summit pound down about 4 inches and very shallow in places with us rubbing over something at bridge 28. 13 ½ miles

Sunday 25th A beautifully sunny day, but with a strong wind. It took much pushing to get Lily off the mud and against the wind as we cast off. Third day with Sam in charge of the tiller.

Approaching Foxton.

Laplander, a steam powered ice boat built around 1830 was moored at bridge 60.

We arrived at Foxton at 12 with flight empty & water being run down to the Kibworth pound. I must have been barely 40 minutes before we were out, we had a large crew & plenty of willing helpers in visitors.

We decided to have Sunday lunch at Foxton Locks Inn (a mistake, the meat was overcooked & dry). We had pudding & coffee on Lily before setting off for Debdale where we arrived at about 3. 6 miles & 10 locks.

6 months and 4 days after setting off we have run the engine 573 hours. I have yet to tot up the miles & locks covered, but it has been a wonderful 6 months, but we had to get home as Carol’s social diary started up on 26th!! We have met some wonderful people, seen some wonderful places and had some unique experiences. Roll on 2010!