We are organised at Elton!

Fotheringhay to Elton, River Nene, 2.5 miles 1 lock

OK, not a busy day cruising, but there is other things to do apart from cruising!

Like washing and putting water aboard, oh and getting a million tiny insects that are stuck on the boat off!  I couldn’t believe it this morning, gawd knows where they all came from, but the side of No Problem away from the river bank was absolutely covered in tiny insects.. Tried using the brush, but they just ‘drifted in the wind’ back on to the boat, so ended up sloshing water all over the side. 

But everything about this river is laid back, and even taking time this morning to get water from the tap close to the packet bridge at Fotheringhay was enjoyable..

Time too to enjoy my surroundings, here right by the boat as we waited for the water tank to fill mum and kids looking for some scraps..

Onward then to Warmington, just the one lock there to do today.. A couple of narrowboats came upstream through the lock just as we approached.. handy!  .  But I was surprised when they moored up, that they were well sticking out into the river.  Last year when we moored here we were close to the side.. Maybe the river is down a bit even after a night of rain.. or maybe their draught is deeper than our 21 inches…

An odd view of them moored abreast from inside the lock!  It is normal for the top lock gates on the Nene to overflow like this, tis handy too when going up, because there is no need to open the paddles!..

We have moored just before Elton Lock this evening.  I really do like it here, perhaps this goes down as one of my most favourite villages of all that I have seen on the waterways in this country.. Elton, a village dating back from Saxon times, has a wonderful park and hall, I walked through the park yesterday while walking from Fotheringhay.  The village main street is a wonder, with thatched houses on both sides of a wide road flanked by grass verges and trees.  The gardens are just about all done in cottage style, but this one is a bit different and an absolute delight, with plenty of character to say the least!!…

I enjoyed a British Waterways stoppage alert today..  I get them to send alerts to my email box, well it keeps us informed as to what is going on, but it gave us a smile today when they warned of a lock closure due to “A car abandoned in the canal”  Me thinks that should have been “Dumped in the canal”..

So, “We are organised at Elton”.. yes well Lucy goes to Peterborough tomorrow to have the pin removed that has been holding her hip in one piece since her dreadful accident at Denford.  It has been three weeks since then, hasn’t time flown.. She is getting about just fine now, and we will go by bus from here to the city in the morning.  She is having xrays first to see how things have knitted together, then they should be taking the pin out.. I am confident that everything has gone well with her recovery in the last three weeks.. remains to be seen tomorrow..