Lots of locks

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

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

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

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

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

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.