Left turn to the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal

Great Haywood to Milford Bridge, Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, 2.5 miles 1 lock

I thought we would never leave Great Haywood!

But here we all are pulling the pins on Sunday.. well I had been watching for a moment to move because we needed water.  There are two water points here at the junction with the Staffs & Worcs Canal, and they were both busy from 9am!

I calculated one boat about to move around lunchtime and timed my run to it almost to perfection, except another narrowboat was coming in the opposite direction and seeing me about to pull in decided to go in speed boat mode to beat me to it!.. Fine, except that now I would have to ‘park’ on the end and have my stern sticking out over the ‘t junction’ of canals!.. The mooring I had come from had already been taken!..

Was no bother really, just I didn’t want to inconvenience others, but it wasn’t long till one boat moved and we could get onto one of the water points.

We had taken diesel onboard the day before from Jubilee..

We cruised past Tixall wide and through Tixall Lock yesterday to spend the evening there, then today we moved just a half mile to Milford Bridge for Tim and Lisa Salt of Staffordshire Canopies to finish fitting… Pics of that and a more detailed blog later..

The girls are really enjoying life on the cut, and are quite happily sharing the chores aboard..

Here they are washing up after lunch today.  We had a bbq this evening with homemade beefburgers and good ‘ol bangers with potatoes in their jackets and beans.. well what else with banger and burgers!..

After tea it was fun time with Lucy.. and me and the girls took a long walk along the towpath, but there was great entertainment to be had.. Lucy was up for a good swim tonight, so here is a series of pics..

Ha, a soaking here for the girls, as Lucy gives them an early bath!

A really great day today.. I am shattered and the girls were almost asleep before they hit the pillow this evening!

No Problem gets dressed and we cruise silently..

Moored Gt Haywood, Trent & Mersey Canal

Tim was back by 9am this morning and ready to put on the back dodger and the cratch cover.. Here the dodger..

And already things are beginning to look different.  As you can see, the buttons are not yet in the fabric nor on the metal work, this he will do in situ as he fits the material snuggly round the stern of No Problem.  The material used is not fabric backed like many seen on narrowboats, in fact Tim will not use the fabric backed stuff.  It tends to stretch over it’s life, and also attracts mildew.  We had the same material on BP and it was absolutely ace, it gave no trouble at all, never shrunk nor stretched and there was never any mildew forming on it… easy to clean too.. I wonder if I have earned my commission from Tim tonight!

Here is the tool he uses for putting on the poppers.  It does it all in one go, makes the hole and puts the popper in at the same time.  Once the dodger was done it was on to the cratch cover, and the same again as it was carefully fitted around the front of No Problem..

That’s a bit more like it, and suddenly the narrowboat felt more cosy with it’s ‘extra room’ at the front.  At last we could have the front doors open even in the worst weather.. it has transformed this boat.. amazing really how it can make that much difference, a cratch cover!

Lunchtime saw the arrival of Jen and Dave of NB Sophie-Jane No2 (If my memory serves me correctly naming the boat!)  It was nice to see you both and glad you enjoy the blog.. thankyou for stopping by you two!

This afternoon we were invited for a cruise aboard Waterway Routes, the unique narrowboat of Paul Balmer and his family.  This boat is unique because it can be cruised on either diesel engine or an electric motor run from a very large bank of sealed batteries that live under beds in cabins.  The boat will run for 15 hours continually just on battery power, but what makes it so good is that while waiting for locks, or in fact, in locks themselves, no power is being used.. power is only used when the prop is engaged!  The diesel engine will charge the batteries, and Paul has a sophisticated charging and power system working for him aboard.

I was offered the tiller, and not arguing about that, I took my opportunity to steer down a line of moored narrowboats.  It made me feel very aloof as I cruised by them with just a slight ‘whirl’ from the electric motor.. heads were turning and I had to try very very hard not to smile or glance a look sideways to see their faces at their total disbelief of this ‘silent’ narrowboat passing them!

Lucy was totally confused.. yes she was invited aboard too.. she couldn’t understand how the boat was moving with no engine!.. Then Paul demonstrated switching from electric power to diesel power.. and within 5 seconds and a couple of clicks, the electric motor stopped the prop and the 45/48 hp diesel engine fired up to take over the running of the prop.. Lucy suddenly jumped up, her brain thinking/realising that at last things were back to normal again!

A wonderfully impressive narrowboat for sure, and not only did I think that, but a couple of guys from Canalboat came over this morning to do a total review for their October issue.. they stayed for a good three hours and of course a test cruise for them too.. I think they were also well impressed with this very unique narrowboat.

So dinner aboard No Problem tonight for both crews, then a walk out late in the evening and yet again the Balmers found another geocache.. Ho hum, great day today!

Waterway Routes meets No Problem at Great Haywood

Moored Gt Haywood, Trent & Mersey Canal

Well the dentist was OK, and once I told the really nice receptionist to lock the door once I was in there, I was happy enough to sit in the dentist’s chair.  A fair bit of work to be done though.  I am not surprised, I am the biggest coward on earth when it comes to the dentist!

Never mind.

So this might be an opportunity to ‘do the ring’.  I haven’t done a ring in ages and looking at the map, the 4 counties ring looks a possibility, but certainly not in a week.. maybe three or even four, with a possible trip along the Llangollen in early October, hoping then to be able to go further south missing the winter stoppages… Mind you there is that long, long tunnel to have to go through.  But if I have managed to go to the dentist, I am sure I can manage that.. easy peasy!

But that is only a thought for us at the moment.  In all the years I have been boating I have never ventured along the Llangollen Canal.. Sounds a good thought though!

Just got back from Stafford when I spied Paul Balmer with his new narrowboat Waterway Routes approaching the junction here in the pouring rain..

And running quickly under the bridge I snapped a very cheery pair.. Pauls family, Andrew and Susan trying to take some sort of cover from the pouring rain, before mooring up in the space behind us!

Grand tours all round then as we were invited for tea and coffee this afternoon followed by a ‘walk through’ of Waterway Routes.. then a ‘walk through’ of No Problem showing the progress we had made with the fit out since we saw them all earlier in the year.

We were totally and utterly spoilt tonight, being invited for dinner and not even being allowed to help wash/dry afterwards.. thank you all very much, we really enjoyed  

Christine and Susan joined me for a walk tonight with Lucy after dinner, and Susan managed to find a geocache, one that I was unable to find the other day.. but at least I took her to the right place!

Tim of Staffordshire Canopies has finished the cratch cover and was going to fit it today, but it was far too dangerous to be balancing around on the bows of a narrowboat in all the wet weather, so if tomorrow is OK he will fit it then.. I can’t wait for that.  At the moment I feel that No Problem is a bit ‘undressed’ on her bows, she certainly is very wet..

A bus ride to Stafford today

Moored Gt Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal

A quiet day for us today, in fact I was twiddling my thumbs so much this morning that I decided to go into Stafford to have a look round.  The bus fare was a bit steep at £4 odd for a return.. blimey I remember paying just £4.50 for a single ticket from Trowbridge to Portsmouth on the train!

A nice town it is too.. I have been before when we were here last, but I don’t remember it that well.. hey so many towns and villages have come and gone since.. and one does tend to forget!

It’s like going into a supermarket… all you landlubbers know exactly which isle everything is on at your local Asda or Tesco and probably moan and groan when they move stuff.. hey they only do that so you look at yet more stuff!

But for me entering all these different stores in different towns and villages there is an art in getting round them and finding what I want in a hurry.  If it’s only a few bits and I am in a hurry (not that often by the way) then I grab a keen looking lad to show me where everything is.. If I am in no hurry then I look above me at the signs.. I wonder how many people who live in bricks and mortar look at the signs on the ceiling in their local supermarket!

Anyway, I saw there was a sign in Stafford “To the Castle”.. I have already missed out on one of the best castles in the area, according to Barry who’s wife Carole painted the roses on the side of No Problem.  “Tamworth’s Castle is out of this world” says he “Better than Warwick Castle it is”.. well I thought I better have a look at what Stafford Castle is like, and beings we are in the area for a while thought I would leave that for another day. 

Anyway the grandchildren are arriving on Saturday, that might be a good day out!

I gotta go to the dentist tomorrow morning in Stafford.. I am not sure, given the choice, whether I would prefer to go through Braunston Tunnel at the height of the holiday season with no headlamp or lights or go to the dentist… I think I would choose the tunnel option! .. but nobody has given me that choice..

Teehee

Woosh the Thames gets faster and higher

Update from the two D’s Derek and Dot of Gypsy Rover, today show some quite amazing pics..

“Nine pm and it’s all on around here. Police are advising boaters to abandon ship but we along with the other boaters are all determined to remain aboard to look after our boats and property.”

Ah, our New Zealand friends are hardened boaters now.. we are watching the updates from Derek.  The pic of Osney Bridge is amazing, do have a look.  Derek reckons it will be days before he is going to be able to get under it and turn to the relative safety of the Oxford Canal which is just opposite where those allotments are.. they are so near yet so far.. hold on you two!!

Staffordshire Canopies get to work at Great Haywood

Moored Great Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal

In complete contrast to the Thames, and in very calm conditions here on the Trent and Mersey Canal Tim arrived just after 9 to start putting on the stays for the stern pram cover.  Once again we have decided to have it as low as possible so that we can get under the majority of the bridges with the canopy up.  This worked really well with NP1, our old boat, in fact, with that particular canopy we managed to get under every bridge on the canal system with the exception of a couple on the middle levels.  I doubt it would have gone under a couple of the bridges on the Caldon though… It also did fine under all the lift bridges on the Oxford Canal with a little care.

As you can see, the sun was shining this morning and the towpath is once again dry.  Mind you we are very lucky here, a man made towpath not the mud bath that is just round the corner towards Tixall Wide.

Once the stays were up it was time to fetch Lisa for the job of paper pattern fitting..

Everything is made in paper first and marked.  It was a bit difficult this morning as although the sun was out it was a bit blowy, not the ideal conditions and once or twice Tim had to start again as the brown paper ripped .  But the two of them are very patient.  Next Tim will take the patterns and on his narrowboat will clear all the floor furnishings and lay out the cloth with the paper pattern and cut it all out.  Here the front cratch cover getting the same paper pattern treatment..

The weather by this time was just thinking about raining again as you can see.  Once the fabric has been cut out then out comes the sewing machine to actually make the covers.  Then it will be a final check before the holes for the twist buttons are marked out and the final adjustments made.

The cratch cover will be fitted on Friday, and the stern canopy some time next week.. Of course by then we will not get any more rain for the rest of the year!!  Ho hum!

Party time at Fradley and Rugely, canal rage at Haywood

Today – Moored Gt Haywood
Weekend – Fradley Junction to Gt Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal, 13 miles 5 locks

We had a great night in the Swan Pub at Fradley Junction on Friday night. We were just about to leave when Bob from Birmingham produced a guitar and started strumming.. a very full pub then all broke into voice with Whiskey in the Jar, Wild Rover and the like.. then somebody asked for Edelweiss… Errrrrr I don’t think so, for sure Bob from Birmingham did not have that one in his repertoire, and I sure was pleased about that as we all burst into song again with a loud rendition of Coming Round the Mountain!

I had a couple too many Stellas that night and felt it in the morning, but a walk along the towpath with Lucy soon cleared my head, and it wasn’t long ‘till we pulled the pins and turned left onto the Trent and Mersey Canal leaving behind the memories of a smashing night in The Swan …

We pushed on through the three locks at Fradley with just a short wait at the first one.. the day as you can see was wet again, but we wanted to get to Gt Haywood to get these canopies done.. Vic did the locking on Saturday..

And we had a steady cruise all the way.. Vic checked ‘Armitage Tunnel’ and sure enough a boat was coming, so I was happy to wait rather than going round the corner and having to back out again as I did last time I was here.. it is a very narrow channel on a bend, the tunnel roof now removed, but room enough for just the one narrowboat to get through the short distance.

We got as far as Rugeley, and I noticed Valerie moored.. “Nah that can’t be Les” I thought.. I didn’t think he was anywhere near this place, the last I heard was that he was on the way to Gloucester.. “But how many other green boats do we know called Valerie” I said to Vic.. so peering in the windows I could see no life… and presuming nobody was around almost went past when I heard an “Oi!!”.. and sure enough out popped Les!

So we spent the night there and caught up with all the gossip and towpath news over a couple of pints aboard No Problem.. so two party nights in a row, I wondered how my head was going to cope with that in the morning!

I need not have worried, felt good and fresh and we said our fond farewells and pulled the pins to make the final bit of the cruise to Haywood…. A boat caught up with me not far along from Rugeley at Brindley Brook where there is an aqueduct.. I thought it was Louis Hamilton for a minute ducking and weaving about behind No Problem.. my guess was right he wanted to pass.  So I pulled over a bit and he steamed alongside and past me.. he sure was in a hurry.  But his haste was short lived as we approached Colwich Lock I could see a lot of boats.  It is not a place where there are moorings so it could only mean one thing.. queue queue..

You can see four boats in front of us, in fact there are more round the corner, and this was a queue of seven boats! .  And there in front of No Problem is the Louis Hamilton of the waterways.  He was none to happy, and while I took the opportunity of going inside to make some homemade potato and celery soup for lunch and do some housework Vic was telling me that he was effing and swearing and moaning about all the boats on the waterways, and how there should be two effin locks here and how different it was 28 effin years ago when he first started boating.. he got in a right state!

On through this one then, and just the one more lock to encounter.. and handily a boat was coming out as I approached.. but I noticed the lock gates shutting.. I was about 20 yards from the lock.. sounded the horn to no avail, and as I drifted into the jaws of the lock expecting the gates to be re-opened I could see the paddles being raised at the other end of the lock.. ah well someone else in a hurry I suppose, so I backed out and tied up on the lock mooring.

“You must be new to boating” says I “You really should look to see if a boat is coming before you shut the gates and refill the lock”.. An older narrowboat with a well worn crew.. I don't think they were new to boating somehow!  Teehee  “The lock was full when we went in” says he.. I thought well that is true at least, it would be full when he went in.. he just forgot – he filled it first! “You got a problem with that” says he.. “Nope” says I “Just thought you needed a bit of tuition thats all”.. to which a got a victory sign round the wrong way..

What is it with Tixall Wide??

I walked Lucy yesterday.. 33 narrowboats moored there.  These people are mad, it was like an Asda Car Park for boats.  If they were to venture to the East of England they would see a ‘Tixall Wide’ round every corner and they could moor there all on their own!

Other bits of good news this evening.. The two D’s are doing OK on the Thames, click here to catch up on how they are faring, and I walked 5 miles today.. legs were a bit sore going up the hilly bits but I am determined to just get going again after all the latest tests from the docs came back as normal..

A knock on the door last night and it was Mick and Jill who have been reading the blog for two years now, calling into Gt Haywood on the off chance we were there.. Nice to meet you both, and we do hope you will pop along again for a cuppa..

No Problem is safe from floods

We have the River Trent to our left spilling into the fields, flowing fast, but some 4 metres below the canal, so excess water from the canal is piling over the culverts into that.. we happen to be in the right place at the right time tonight

Through Rugeley this weekend and.....

I spy!!

We had an unscheduled overnight stop.. It was great to catch up with Les, and of course we had a party time in the evening!

More tomorrow..

The Two D's hang on at Osney Lock on the Thames

My blogmates Derek and Dot of Gypsy Rover are teetering on abandoning ship.. Derek is updating often, and has been on Sky News.  Ho Hum the perils of narrowboating..

Very few narrowboats move at Fradley as the storm rages

Moored Fradley Junction, Coventry Canal

A quiet day today, well it has been in here.. outside the storm rages on and peering out of my back doors you would not believe this was the scene in mid July…

But it is the same everywhere.  As I have been doing stuff on the computer today, I have had my email alerts on from Waterscape, and one after another of warnings of places that are shut.. River Severn is shut as is, believe it or not, the Oxford Canal as well as Braunston Tunnel, the latter they say just as a precaution.. gawd I do hope it doesn’t cave in! . In fact loads of stoppages are coming in.. a couple on the Kennet and Avon canal due to trees down as well.

I know there are a lot of boaters stuck sort of K&A and Thames and have been for quiet some time.  They are all just getting going again and now might be stopped once more.

Ann of NB Moore2Life phoned earlier.. “The water is at the top of the hard edge here, it has gone up 3 inches since we arrived”.. EEK! They are on the Oxford Canal at the moment, and looking to head south towards Cropredy.

Very unusual weather this is.. anyway, here are the pics I promised of the back cabin cupboards having been painted with roses.

And a close up of the one top right….

The white lines round the outside are just glass crayon and are there as a guide for Carol who painted these roses yesterday.  I am just waiting for the paint to really harden before wiping the white lines off.

Lucy is looking at me, and now I feel guilty.. I had better don my wet gear and brave the elements for an hour or so.. she has been really patient today and now she is being a bit insistent as the light fades..

Goodbye Hopwas, hello Fradley Junction

Hopwas to Fazeley Junction then to Fradley Junction, Coventry Canal, 14 miles 0 locks

We were facing south so Carol could do the roses on the other side of No Problem, so we had to go almost to Fazeley Junction to turn back north again.  We found a winding hole, but it was dreadfully silted and I had put the bows in just short of the widest bit, so it was a bit difficult to get round, but hauling on ropes and pushing with poles we were soon on our way in the other direction.

It was a busy morning, not only did Carol finish off the roses inside on the cupboards, (pics tomorrow), but I phoned Tim Salt of Staffordshire Canopies to tell him that we would be at Fradley tomorrow.. but he was in Litchfield, not far away, so he drove over and measured up No Problem for cratch and back pram covers.. he will start making the patterns for those so they are ready for when we arrive at the beginning of next week at Gt Haywood.

I spied Quidditch going through this morning and gave a wave, but I am not sure that No Problem was recognised on this occasion!  Well her name is just a bit of paper in the window at the moment!

A glorious days cruising then, at last some sunshine to enthuse about.  Tons of boats around though , I am not sure that I want to get used to it being so busy, and Vic reminded me that it will get busier as the kids are now on holiday from school!

These bridges north of Hopwas are a delight, they all have these sort of ‘doors’ at the side, and you can see now, there are no numbers on them, just the names of the bridges.  I must find out what the little doors are for, unless someone reading this can enlighten me?

Most of the popular moorings were full along the way.. just so many boats, more than I remember two years ago when we were here last.. this was a nice one though, lovely to see Sweden looking so smart, and carrying coal too when I looked in the hold..

Moored here at the bridge just before Fradley Junction, tis a bit busy up at the junction itself, but quieter here too.. so an early blog post tonight.. we are off to the Swan pub for a bite to eat and an evening out..

A nice paint job done at Hopwas

Moored Hopwas, Coventry Canal

Carol finished painting the roses this morning and we cruised north to find the turning point which in my Nicholson’s Guide was at Huddlesford some 4 miles away, so I was well pleased to find a winding hole to turn between Tamhorn House Bridge and Tamhorn Farm Bridge.  The bridges in this area do not have numbers just names, which is most unusual.  On the way back the rain poured down and I was hoping and praying that the painting that Carol had done earlier had totally dried or it would have dulled.

All was fine when we got back and the sun appeared again and soon dried off the sides of No Problem, so once again Carol got down to work outlining and putting in the base colours..

So here is the finished pattern on the back panel, this is where No Problem’s name will be put in a curve above the roses..

There is no hurry in Carol’s work, and after finished this and the others on this side we all sat and chatted over cups of tea and pieces of cake.. Well the sun this afternoon was warm, and we all took the opportunity to soak some for once.

Time for more roses then, and the back cupboards got their first base coat before tea tonight..

The panels for the doors will be done later for us.  Tomorrow I think we might take off towards the south to try and find somewhere close to wind (turn), but I have a feeling we might have to go right back to Fazeley Junction 3 miles away.. 67ft is a lot of boat to turn and needs a big place!

When we get back Carol will finish the back cupboards, then we will make haste towards Fradley Junction, where hopefully we will arrange to meet Tim Salt of Staffordshire Canopies to talk about the designs for the cratch cover and also the back pram canopy (wigwam for whimps!).

I went into Tamworth this afternoon on the bus, it only took about 10 minutes, a nice town, but it was only when I got back that someone on the towpath told me that I had missed the best bit.. the castle apparently is superb.. “Even better than Warwick Castle” I was told.  I might go have a look next time we are through this place.

We had just finished tea tonight when we had a visitor looking for scraps!..

 I am afraid tea tasted so good tonight there were no scraps for him at all.. but I gave him a bonio instead.. well he was cheeky enough, and he sat there for ages wondering if we were going to leave anything!

Plans for the week on hold as we reach Hopwas and meet the Kirbys

Avecote to Hopwas, Coventry Canal, 6 miles 2 locks

One of those stop start days when the weather dominated our travels.  But a good start this morning as we pulled the pins I decided to walk to Glascote Locks some two miles away with Lucy.  Not gone more than 100 yards when this sight greeted me from the other side of the canal on the Tamworth Golf Course..

I stopped and wondered what the guy was saying to the policeman in the yellow top.. my imagination running wild, and it was a good job there was nobody around as I bust out laughing at the thought of “Errrrrr believe me officer, when I asked the caddy for a driver to fire at the hole, this is not what I had in mind”!!!

Glascote Locks were busy this morning, but we stopped just short because an almighty rain storm came down, and we dived inside for cover and a cuppa while we watched others passing by getting absolutely drenched.. then onward after about half hour, and again I managed to grab the windlass before Vic and disappeared off to the locks leaving him to pull the pins.

The lock cottage here is delightful with its pump outside, and hey look who is watching over the locks to make sure we do it properly…

It’s Rosie and Jim staring out of the window!.. On then to Fazeley Junction, and I can’t remember the last time I was here when it wasn’t raining.. it always rains when I come through this place, and today was no different..

The buildings on the left are being demolished, I wondered what is going up in their place, no doubt it will be housing.. still it will be an improvement on what is there at the moment.  We decided not to moor up this time because of the rain, and just to carry on for a while hoping it would stop.. it did eventually and the sun came out to dry us off again.  The scenery between the junction and Hopwas is very countrified, and it never fails to amaze me how this huge tower was every allowed to be put up in the middle of nowhere…

I suppose Birmingham is over that hill somewhere, but what a dreadful blight on the countryside this is, it can be seen for miles and miles around..

We were cruising through Hopwas when the weather really deteriorated badly and a thunderstorm could be heard to the left of us, so we decided not to get another soaking today and found a mooring just the other side of the village as the rain poured down again.. but fortune was shining down on us even if the sun wasn’t, because just as we moored, around the corner came Barry and Carol Kirby who do narrowboat decorations, roses and castles and the like.. they were also mooring and found a space just up from us… “Don’t leave ‘till I have talked to you” I yelled as we all dived inside our boats to escape a soaking… this was going to be my opportunity to get some painting done on No Problem.

So this evening as the sun came out and the clouds went away Carol did some background work on the roses..

 

The marks above the roses on the back panel are where the name “No Problem” will go eventually.

Waterscape send me emails of stoppages, it is one of the services that you can subscribe to by email, so I am always aware of any stoppages that may be happening around me, but I was most amused today by this one… 

The following advice has been announced:

River Severn

Worcester Bridge to Worcester Cathedral

Date: 11/08/2007 until 11/08/2007

Description:
St Richard's Hospice will be holding a Duck Race involving 500 small ducks,
500 large ducks and 30 fancy dress ducks.

Boaters are asked to follow the instructions of marshals on site

Not mallards nor mandarins and not even Aylesbury ducks, but a plastic variety you see.. but in fancy dress??!! Hahaha!!

This is what goes on…

But these are only small ducks and none are in fancy dress!  To get the ducks to move is the difficult bit, although on the River Severn there will be a flow, but on the Caldon Canal, where this pic was taken back in 2004, there is no flow, so if you look carefully you can see a boat moored tightly under the bridge with its prop running, so pushing the water towards the winning line.  All these ducks had numbers and we could bet on them, winner takes all!.. Unfortunately it wasn’t my duck who won, my duck felt much the same as I do in life.. why hurry?!

We head towards Tamworth with memories of Polesworth

Nr Atherstone to Alvecote, Coventry Canal, 5 miles 2 locks

I quickly pulled the pins this morning and wandered off up the towpath with a windlass leaving No Problem for Vic to steer and put through the only 2 locks of the day.  It is not often I get a chance to do a bit of locking, Vic prefers to do them instead of steering through them!

But with no wind to contend with, his job was easy enough to slowly fit the narrowboat into the 7ft gap of the lock.  Just dropped down the two and a little further to Bradley Green Wharf, where I had arranged for Mr Tesco to visit with some shopping that will do us for a couple of weeks..

In fact it was Mrs Tesco today, and you can see how handy this particular stop was…

Today was a peach of a day, the sunshine was warm as we cruised slowly north.  This narrowboat is still in the field some 400 yards from the canal, by the road.. it sure has got a lot rustier since I photographed it a couple of years go..

 

Which reminds me, I had words with British Waterways this last week, just checking that I have been taken off as the owner of Tara, our old narrowboat, NP1.  “No we do not have you as the owner, we have an unknown owner for Tara” said BW.  I had sent off the form with the new owner’s details on, so I don’t understand why the owner is unknown.  I asked them if they wanted the owners name.  They said not to bother as when it is licenced the next time it will come to light.  I asked them what would happen if Tara overstayed moorings or if something happened to her.. they said that they have ways and means of finding out the owner of a boat.. this seems to me an odd way of keeping their records right.  There are probably a lot of unlicenced boats with ‘unknown owner’ attached to them..

So, going through Polesworth we reminded each other how it was here that we were the subject of ‘bandits’ from the top of one of the bridges.. Not stones though, but crisps and sweets dropped from a group of school kids on their way home!.. But Polesworth was also the place we spent New Years Eve just after we had bought our old No Problem1 from Stoke on Trent back in late December 2002.  A snippet from my log book on that evening said..

“Managed to get coal today from Streethay Boatyard, so at last we can have a fire and get warm.  Had tea and gonna set out to try and find a pub that we can get into without tickets.  Lit fire and wow it is warm in here..”

We had a great time in that pub, they were very welcoming and my log for the next day tells of how we had a couple of bevies after getting back, and having a late start in the morning, pulling the pins at 9am!!  Here is how we knew where the pub was!..

We had not planned where to stop today, but decided to do so mid afternoon just after Alvecote Marina, the home base of CanalTime hire boat fleet.  There were only two boats of theirs moored up, so obviously a busy week for them.  It would have meant a later finish today if we had carried on through Tamworth, and anyway I felt like a stroll across the countryside with Lucy.

I am still having problems with my legs when walking even after a load of tests to try find out why.. they are like storing lactic acid all the time, and going up any sort of incline is really painful, equally in both legs.  Tests are still ongoing though, but I have been taking extra vitamins and some quinine tablets that the doc prescribed last week, so I thought I would give it a go, here a little wooden bridge over the River Anker..

I chose a three and half mile circular walk, and taking it steady, was well pleased with how I felt, although once again the inclines did make my legs sore, for sure not as badly as in the past.. hopefully things will improve..

But I was pleased to be walking, just look at this particular field, it was absolutely covered in these daisies, and the butterflies and dragonflies were in total abundance..

On the way back I passed the Alvecote Marina, this time on foot, and moored up there was Hakuna Matata.. of course that is No Problem too!

Once back I decided to do a bbq this evening.. but just as I put everything on it, down came the rain in no uncertain terms accompanied by claps of thunder!  Out came the brolly to cover the bbq and our tea, while I pulled on a coat.. Ha, there is an art in cooking a bbq in the pouring rain, and it sure did taste yummy too! 

A Poet through Atherstone

Weekend Moored between locks on the Atherstone Flight, Coventry Canal

I have, as promised, updated the Picture Albums..

A lovely poem sent to me this evening by Louise…

At the lock gates & on to Atherstone

 

Wind the windlass

Feel the burn

Water flowing fiercely

With every single turn

 

Push the gates

Watch it flow

Rushing downward

Sparkling and never slow

 

Down she goes

The beautiful boat

Bobbing about

Like cork she’ll float

 

Brightly painted

From stem to stern

No Problem her name

Not difficult to learn

 

The skipper moves her forward

Steering her out

Making her way cautiously

She has no doubt

 

Onto the next lock

And holding pattern

While we walk down

To make it happen

 

Steamboats, workboats

Narrowboats too

Cruising on by slowly

Enjoying the view

 

Dad and the skipper

They call her home

Taking No Problem

Far and wide they roam

 

Lucy the Collie dog

Runs along side

Jumping in and swimming

Sometimes she just likes to ride

 

A peaceful existence

As time seems to stand still

Or crawls at a snails pace

Going up a steep hill

 

No cares in the world

Here they just ignore them

For freedoms the motto

And the cry is No Problem

 

 

 

Louise Cooper-Gamson

© 15/07/07

 

…………………………………………………………………………………..

 

I am feeling rather special to have a poem written about No Problem.. thankyou so much Louise   

 

BTW Lou, Dad said “That poem is ***kin’ brilliant!”  

Louise joins us for a cruise from Rugby to Atherstone

This week – Rugby to Atherstone, Oxford and Coventry Canals, 24 miles 5 locks

The beginning of the week saw me wander off ‘dan saff’ for a couple of days while Vic and his daughter Louise took No Problem in a northerly direction.  It was also a time too to say goodbye to Ann and Chas, NB Moore2Life, our travelling companions for the last two years.  They are heading back to Braunston to meet friends and to attend appointments.  It was the first time that Vic had taken our narrowboat along the canals without me about.. “Which way do I go?” Heh…  “Well see the way the boat is pointed?.. Just keep going straight on!”.. I got a friendly smack for that comment! .  Louise enjoyed a bit of steering.. a big boat to start learning on too..

Lucy also keeping a lookout for the many narrowboats that are on these canals.  In fact I forgot to say that on Saturday of last week I decided to count all the boats that came by.. (sad innit?!) well I was in for most of the day for a change.. I counted, give or take a few, 78 narrowboats past us while we were moored by the golf course at Clifton.  To be honest, I guess that is more boats in one day than we saw in the whole of the summer 6 months last year while we were in East Anglia.  What is scarey is that it is not even the school holidays yet.. Ho hum, I think that starts this weekend!

I returned to No Problem later in the week and met Vic and Louise at Hawkesbury Junction..

Here a nice pic from Louise’s camera of the famous bridge and junction.  We spent the evening in the Greyhound before pulling the pins and moving on northwards the following day..

We sure were lucky with the weather, no rain, or very little rain all the way.  The Atherstone flight of locks is looking wonderful with neatly cut verges and tidy well looked after locks… The lock cottage displays the weather forecast for each of the days of the week, and another sign tells us what to watch out for to give us some idea of the weather for the day.. “If the cows are lying down it will rain” “If there are a lot of insects around in the evening it will rain the next day” “A halo round the moon at night brings rain in the morning”.. Jeeeeeeez all that lot has been happening lately! .  But all the same a lovely area at the top lock..

 

Louise enjoyed locking down through this flight, although we only went down 5 I think, well 4 or 5.  Atherstone train station is right by the canal, and it was handy to stop close by today so Lou could catch her train back ‘dan saff’.  It is great to have the internet aboard, it is easy to organise visits from the family so they can arrive at one place and leave from another.  All the train/bus timetables are available online to be able to work it all out, so on this trip Louise joined us at Rugby and left at Atherstone, so she had a good cruise along the canal…

Here Lou putting some effort in to lift the paddles to drop No Problem down.. There isn’t that much room for the 67ft No Problem to fit in the locks compared with our old narrowboat which was some 12 ft shorter, so I do need to keep an eye on the back end to make sure she doesn’t sit on the cill..

Already this year I have run to shut paddles when a boat got caught on the cill.. that was at Napton while I was filling with water at the bottom lock, I heard some screams from the lock and went charging up there grabbing a windlass as I went, (habit when I hear screaming) .. sure enough he was on the cill.. but very quickly paddles were reversed and the boat was lifted again in the lock with no damage done.  It is all too easy to relax, maybe chatting to friends on the lockside and get caught on the cill.

Louise took some lovely photos while aboard, I really must make an effort and update my pic album.. I will do it this weekend, promise.. but here is one that is very unusual.. tis me inside No Problem doing a bit of ‘work work’ with computer, mobile phone and spreadsheet all in shot phoning daughter Wendie.. ha, just goes to prove I am not totally, entirely retired!

A great week with Louise, I really did enjoy and I know Vic did as well.  We were both sorry to see her leave, we enjoyed her company very much, great fun.. so now we head off to Gt Haywood to see Tim Salt at Staffordshire Canopies about our cratch and pram covers.. but not ‘till Monday, the weather is not good for this weekend.  We didn’t move today as it rained the whole day, but tomorrow we may drop down four locks and stay for the weekend, it really is lovely down there, the grass is neatly cut and it is very peaceful.. been to have a look this evening with Lucy.

A visitor from dan saff at Rugby

Today Moored Rugby
Weekend Clifton to Rugby, Oxford Canal, 1.5 miles 0 locks

A really nice weekend it was too, lovely weather, and it sure did make a change.  Everyone was smiling!

This evening just a quickie blog.  Vic’s daughter Louise is here for a few days, I met her at the station earlier today to introduce her to our world of travel.. ie buses!!

Before leaving Clifton I managed to click a pic of this georgous moorhen and her chicks..

These were an amazing family, as I said on my last blog there was a couple of older chicks, well I spent a lot of Sunday out in the sunshine on the back deck, and I was absolutely taken aback by these moorhens.  The older chicks were part of the same family and would look after the tiny chicks while the parents went out into the fields to find worms for them.  The parents never stopped, up and back, up and back, sometimes taking 15 minutes or more to find a worm.

Being retired is great, but just a day watching from the sunkissed deck at some wildlife going about bringing up their family can be so rewarding and facinating.

I am off dan saff tomorrow for a couple of days, Vic and Louise are taking No Problem north towards Hawkesbury Junction where I will meet them on my return on Wednesday night..

Right now we are off out to the Harvester just by the bridge here just as soon as Eastenders has finished of course.. Heh both of them are at this moment in time glued to the small screen watching Peggy and Pat at each others throats!!

Blue stuff near Rugby at last

Moored Clifton Upon Dunsmore, Oxford Canal

Yep blue stuff above me, and shiny fields!.. At last the sun is out this evening.  That’s a bit better I must say, and as I touch type this blog looking across the canal to the field on the other side I can see rabbits enjoying the late sun, charging around all over the place.  I can also see a moorhen pair with 5 very tiny chicks.. they are in the field too.  Also one moorhen chick on its own.. but older.

There is also a family of ducks.. Mum, dad and 7 small ducks.  Certainly they are this year’s chicks but already they are very nearly as big as their parents.

There is a kestrel or sparrowhawk hovering above, I do hope the baby rabbits are aware.

I very much doubt that the moorhen chicks will all survive around here.  There are a lot of hire boat bases close by, and with the excitement of ‘first hour aboard’, the new holiday makers are forgetting to not slowing down past our boat let alone the speed they are doing along the canal where there are no narrowboats moored.  For sure they are travelling much too fast with a huge wave behind them washing the banks as they go.

These waves do actually drown the moorhen chicks.. They are also at risk from the notorious hidden threat of the pike.

I must take a stroll with Lucy this evening and enjoy this rarity of an hours sun at the end of the day.. we are moored by the golf course, we might find some golf balls between us.  The golfers here are not very good shots and are hooking the ball from the tee about 100 yards along from where we are moored.. we have had three balls bounce off the roof into the canal this afternoon!

The kestrel/sparrowhawk has just flown off to the other side of the distant woods.. the rabbits are safe this time..

No Picnic at Hillmorton, so it's off to Clifton..

Hillmorton to Clifton Upon Dunsmore, Oxford Canal, 1.5 miles 0 locks

It’s chilly again this evening and we have lit the fire.  That is a first for July for sure!

Although there are two waterpoints at Hillmorton, from about 9.30 this morning ‘til past lunchtime there was a steady stream of boats coming past and using the two taps.  We also needed water, but we would have to back up about 60 yards to do that.  We planned to move on up the canal afterwards. 

Very soon after lunch, a gap of passing boats, so we pulled the pins and started to reverse not helped by a side wind.  Of course as soon as I started reversing …. yep a narrowboat heading the same way as us.  I though he would wait a minute till I had gone back the short way, but nope, he was determined to pass me although No Problem was struggling to hold a straight line in the wind.  I suppose hoping that someone would be patient for 5 minutes while I backed up was a bit much to ask!

Before that though.. I spy!!..

Hey, Hey.. It was Debbie and Allan with NB Keeping Up.  We had met very briefly in Banbury earlier, but only shouted a quick hello in passing, so it was nice when Allan stopped mid canal, and we chatted a while.   Poor Debbie was recovering from a broken and dislocated toe after stubbing it in the boat at Thrupp.. *Ouch!* that must have hurt soooooooo much, but as you can see she was cheery once more today.  Nice to have met you both properly this time, and hope to see you again this winter on the GU South

I did take a pic today while I was waiting for water.  This is what £50,000 has bought at Hillmorton (see yesterdays blog).  These, believe it or not, are the picnic tables..

Well the tables are in the middle and the seats round the outside.. Although Ann and Vic look as if they are waiting for a bbq to be served (heh no chance ), I don’t think even Fred Flintstone of Bedrock would be impressed much by these!… This then the whole area that has cost that huge amount, the picnic area is the other side of ‘the mound’ On the mound is chucked old lock gates!..

I liked this bit from the Committee Papers on the planned works..

“There had been some worries that the site might attract some unruly elements but it is believed these have now been addressed through the communications undertaken.”

I wondered what unruly elements would want to visit this place, I mean it would be very difficult to vandalise this lot!..

To me such a waste of money, they could have done a whole lot better.. I wonder too how on earth they could justify £50 grand on such a small area..

Anyway after filling with water we went north a bit to Clifton passing a narrowboat that we had remembered seeing somewhere.. NB Mallard.  “Seen you somewhere before haven’t I?” I asked.. “Hi Sue, Yep The Nene” came back the reply.. Yes of course, I remembered then .. so two blog readers in one day today!

Once on the move it started to rain.. Well it would I suppose.. so settled here this evening.  I just looked up buses in the area, and see there is one from the bridge here to the centre of Rugby tomorrow morning.. that will do, 'tis market day in Rugby tomorrow.. time for a half day away from No Problem to browse round and do a bit of window shopping too!

At Hillmorton, but problems with my blogging program is annoying me

Moored Hillmorton, Oxford Canal

We settled here for a couple of days while I have been trying to shake off a nasty summer cold.. summer? … huh, well it is ‘spose to be summer.   I think everyone is getting fed up with the constant rain.  Certainly Lucy is, everytime I go to go out for a stroll down comes the rain, and the towpaths around here are dreadfully muddy again.

The flowers on the top of No Problem are struggling for sure, although they look OK from a distance, some are rotting at the roots because they are just getting waterlogged.  It would be impossible to take them off the roof and put them inside!

I phone Tim Salt of Staffordshire Canopies yesterday to pencil in a slot for him to make and fit the new cratch cover and pram canopy (wigwam for whimps) on the stern, and we are due to meet up with Tim and Lisa in a couple of weeks time at Great Haywood.

They did an excellent job of putting the canopies on NP1 back in October 2005, Lisa makes the canopies aboard their narrowboat Hundred Akers moored at Great Haywood …

A familiar named narrowboat came by today, but again it was absolutely pouring down at the time, so didn’t rush out with the camera, it was Director’s Cut.  Ian and Nikki Potts sold the boat so John Sinclair tells me.. I do know they have stopped doing their blog.  Having seen that narrowboat for the first time, it sure is nice and the new owners looked happy enough as they passed.

Not only am I having trouble with my program that publishes my blog, but also I am having trouble signing in to my windows messenger (msn).. so to those I normally pop in from time to time to say Hi, I am sorry I can’t!

I will sort it!

Anyway, I wondered what these were…..

I say these, they are on the lockside, or at least in the middle of the paired locks here at Hillmorton.  By paired I mean that there are two locks side by side here, and there are three of those.  They were built in pairs to make passing through this area quicker for the working boats.  I was looking up on google to try and find out what they were when I came across an interesting article..

The work here would include the removal of vegetation and the placement of redundant canalside coping stones to form benches and tables together with the horizontal placement of some original lock gates to create a feature.

Well i didn’t remember seeing any picnic tables.. although I had noticed the scrubland bit had gone, being replaced by what I thought was a mini Stonehenge.. surely not?

So off I went in the semi darkness to investigate this area that £50,000 (no that is not a typo) has been spent on… no way!!!.. no way is that gonna work as picnic tables!  Photos to follow tomorrow for you to decide!

Looking for the link to put on this blog to Directors Cut I happened on Andrew Denny’s Grannybuttons site and saw his first post about Maffi wondering if it was worth doing a blog.. well it is but ..

I think like him sometimes.  Sometimes I think what I write is boring, but then again some days not a lot happens.  I was thinking today well nothing is happening really, I am just miserable with a cold, its raining, and still I have not used any sun tan stuff, nor unpacked the bbq.  I was wishing I was over in East Anglia on those lovely rivers and the space, and no boats rushing by.. then I thought I don’t have anything to write about on my blog.. (humph see all the lines above!)

But Andrew says that each blog should be about one subject or one day, even if there are many blogs in one day.  I think this blog is different to others though.  There are many different subjects on tonights blog from me, and sometimes there are a few days on one blog, but hopefully it is a style that is interesting enough with lots of subjects within it.  I don’t think it would work in any other way.. all I have to do now is hope that it will actually post!

Another Test

Still not getting this right at the moment

Testing Blog

Some problems again with formatting, just checking this out

A busy weekend, party time everywhere

Braunston to Hillmorton, Oxford Canal, 8.5 miles 0 locks

Well we have had a very social weekend. On Friday evening it was catchup time with Mo and Ness of NB Balmaha, and we enjoyed a lovely evening with them aboard their narrowboat. They are off ‘up norf’ to explore the Rivers Trent and Ouse, and all points north to Ripon. We did that trip a few years ago, and I gave Mo a few pointers, but left quite a bit out.. well they need to explore!

After coffee on Saturday they pulled the pins on Braunston and made their way towards the locks and tunnel to take them to the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union..

But unless this rain stops, they might not get too far if the River Soar is still in flood.. the Trent will be wild too! I was pleased that they liked the way we had done the refit of our new No Problem.. I dunno, but I get nervous when people come to visit, not sure that others will like what we have done.. but when I look back now, it has not been that easy logistically to do the fitout ourselves.. still it’s mainly all done now, and Mo and Ness were quite right when they suggested we should have a holiday and hang up the saws, screwdrivers and varnish brushes for a couple of weeks.. that we will do!

A wander around the various chandlery shops on Saturday afternoon before going out to The Plough for dinner.. it was Ann and Chas’s wedding anniversary, and a chance for us to spoil them, not only a present, but also for a thanks to them for all the help they have given us over the last 6 months.

Sunday saw us pulling the pins early.. and make our way out of Braunston heading north this time, passing the turn to Napton and the south ..

Once again we were to socialise, this time at the fabulous Lock Stock Bistro at Hillmorton. John Sinclair phoned to ask where we would be on Sunday, so I invited him for Sunday Lunch at my most favourite eating house on the cut. There is no better place for a roast!

We dropped down the locks to put the pins in on the 14 day moorings.. I like this area very much, and today I explored the new boat services here. There is a new chandlery which sells some very handy items as well as basic groceries such as bread and milk. It has only been open for a few weeks, they could really do with more signs along the towpath as it is tucked away a bit from the main canal.

We passed this bridge on Sunday..

It was in a very bad way indeed, in fact over the weekend while the workmen were away another huge piece had fallen.. I guess all this rain isn’t helping it’s cause. I wasn’t overly happy to go under it to be honest, but I guess the farmer has insisted that it stays up. His cattle need it to cross from the fields to the milking parlour.. but…

And talking of cattle, a pic I took the same day..

I have never seen such a mixture of cattle colours and breeds in one field before, an amazing sight it was.

I hope it stops raining soon.. I am getting a bit bored with it!