Ferry Meadows

Moored Ferry Meadows, River Nene

It’s not Water Meadows at all, its Ferry Meadows near Orton….I was checking today on the updates for my Imray Guide to the River Nene….. Oh dear, why didn’t I notice this at the very top of the page! Now I see it!

“Using the Locks.. The safety chains, fitted early in 2000, can be a hazard to narrow boats held into the side when the lock is emptying, as the lip of the bottom plate may catch where these chains emerge from the lock wall.”

Gawd, how on earth did I miss that when I looked on there before we even got on to the Nene! To be honest, I am angry with myself… I certainly would have been doing things totally differently had my brain taken that onboard!

OK so to today then…. I got up really really, late this morning…. I guess the last two days have been pretty exhausting, well that is my excuse anyway! It sure was warm this morning, but heavy showers dampened what I thought was going to be a sunny day. I need not have worried about that however, as by early lunch time the skies cleared and the sun made it’s appearance to be the warmest day of the year.

We wandered over to the centre of this wonderful complex here by the three massive lakes, and I had some fish and chips! Well I had been craving fish and chips for quite a while. We have not seen a chippy for months you see! It was very busy with people out and about in this parkland only a few miles from the centre of Peterborough.

I managed to persuade Vic to come walking through ‘Bluebell Wood’ after lunch, a lovely walk along the side of the river through,………….. yes you’ve guessed………… woodland full of bluebells! Here some lovely ‘boardwalks’……

Vic was tired today too, so after an hour or so we both went back aboard for a bit of a rest…. but I just knew how wonderful the walks were around here, and tiredness was put to one side, as me and Lucy took a late afternoon stroll round the whole of the bluebell wood…

And here Lucy deep in thought while I sat on one of the benches scattered around this lovely area….

There is a large Nature Reserve here too, with a bird hide overlooking some shallow flood plain…. I have enjoyed popping in there from time to time… not that I am becoming a ‘twitcher’ you see, but I really feel I should be more able to identify the wildlife around me, it’s a sort of errrrrrrrr late life education?!!

So, over the last couple of days I have seen heron, terns, pochards, shoveller ducks, tufted ducks, redshank waders, gadwall, shellduck, grebes, greater crested and little grebe, canada, greylag and white fronted geese etc ….. see I am learning!

I like it here, and hope to stay as long as our water doesn’t run out…. anyway not more than half a mile away is the Peterborough Yachting Club, we can nip there if need be, turn and come back!

The weather forecast this evening said Peterborough would be 25 degrees tomorrow, ha, top temperature in the country they said… well we are just 4 miles from the centre of there, I must put all jobs off tomorrow…. there will be little to do but to enjoy!

Wonderful trip to Water Meadows

Yesterday 29th – Wansford Lock to Water Meadows, River Nene 3 locks 8.5 miles

After a dreadful day, we decided we would travel further than we would have normally yesterday.  I used to say to the kids when they fell off their ponies “Get back on NOW, or you may never want to ride again”  So we did just that after a short walk in the morning, and continued north downstream.

At our first lock Wansford, another crew arrived just as we had set the lock to go down.  I told then what had happened the day before, and they couldn’t have done enough to boost my confidence.  They helped keep NP off the wall, and kept reasurring me that what had happened was unusual.  They were off up the Nene to a rally in Northampton.

It was a good hour before we reached the next lock, the very pretty Water Newton Lock.  Some lovely buildings around the lock..

The building in the background you can see is a mill.  This has been converted into three houses brilliantly.  The water is still going under it though, I suppose if they tried to block that up, then it could cause flooding.  You can also see, that by this time the weather was just beautiful.  A bit of wind, but nothing to cause us any problems.

We were low on water, and hoped to stop at Peterborough Boating Club to pick some up, but there wasn’t a soul around when we arrived, which did surprise me beings it was the Friday of a bank holiday…. oh well… next chance would be at Peterborough Yachting Club.

I said to Vic, we could make do without filling up for a day or so….. and started to look for a place to moor.  I really wanted to moor near Water Meadows, and we had a go at getting into the side near Milton Ferry Bridge, but it was too shallow…. glad it was too because we came upon a bywater that led straight into one of the huge lakes!

Here my backyard today pic for yesterday!

Absolutely wonderful….. another sand and gravel pit given back to nature.  However, the geese were ranting and raving on the little island to the left of us…. what a din, so we decided to move in the evening back up the bywater that lead off from the Nene to the lake and moor there for the evening. 

We were happy to have put a few miles and locks between us after our unfortunate day at Yarwell…. Feeling much better all ready

Yarwell Lock nighmare

Yesterday – Nassington to Wansford Lock, River Nene, 1.75 miles 1 lock

We promised the site manager at the Queens Hotel building site that we would leave when the Tesco delivery arrived, and reluctantly we did just that in high wind. Going back along the bywater was fine, well I knew exactly where the very shallow bits were, and with Vic on pole duty at the bows, it was a piece of doddle to get back out to the River proper.

There was a cruiser (easily crushable little boat) moored close to the lock mooring… I didn’t get in, the wind decided NP would be far better up weir stream.  Once again another ‘jam it in the lock throat’ effort from me…. I hate doing that… it seemed to take ages to try to hold her there, in the end deciding to leave it in forward gear so I could get off and help with ropes.

Trouble was, I had to reverse off the gates for Vic to open them…. fine except the back end wanted to blow down the weir stream!  With a lot of effort though we managed to get into the lock… I flippin’ hate the wind, NP is dreadful in any sort of breeze!

Anyway, a photo I took a few days ago when I walked here with Lucy to see if there was any water… hundreds of caravans on gorgeous pitches on the river bank here, but boaters are a no no “Passing boats, no water, no toilets, no rubbish”  This with the Environment Agency building in the background!

That was just the start of an awful day for us… standing, as I have done for the last 32 or so locks, on the lock side with two centre ropes, one round the a forward bollard one round the stern end bollard, Vic started to let the water out.  It doesn’t seem to matter how slowly you allow the guillotine to rise, the rush of the water out gives the boat a real haul forward… the ropes always hold her just fine.  But panic… NP started to list badly!  I though I was going to have a heart attack! 

I guessed she had caught the quarter inch skirt around the base of the boat on the chains that are hung in the locks!  I loosed the ropes, nope she was still listing more… damn these locks, once that guillotine has been raised, there is no way you can just slam them shut!… 45 degrees, I cried out, I could see my home turning over! Lucy was looking up at me from the back deck, I couldn’t reach the roof with my legs to push NP off the chain, too low in the lock by now… all I was praying for that the lock must have been almost empty…….. thankfully suddenly, she suddenly ‘bounced’ off the wall, and settled squarely in the lock below me…

I felt dizzy, my energy already drained with the fight against the elements not 10 minutes before with the wind… I looked at Vic, he was as white as a sheet, the guillotine was up now, but we were in no hurry to go down the ladder to board on the roof as usual, instead we just looked at each other in silence and gave each other a reassuring cuddle on the lockside… such a shock it gave to our systems.

Leaving the lock, we were both just shattered and in a state of shock I think…. we just wanted to stop and moor up.. confidence totally gone for the day.  We found a place that would do just before Wansford Lock…. I took Lucy for a walk… settled for the evening, then about 8pm a woman appeared…. called me out for a chat.  She wasn’t happy with us mooring there, spose she was the farmer’s wife.  She wanted us to move on… phew no way did I want to do that… “Is your dog savage?”  “No of course not” says I “Well she is growling at my three dogs”  Well Lucy is always nervous with lots of dogs about, she was set upon while minding her own business under a lock gate beam last year by two dogs who just attacked her and ripped half her ear off!

The woman was ranting and raving about how narrowboat people leave stakes in the ground that her husband runs over with his tractor, how bbqs are lit, how crews play rounders in their summer corn… I thought yeah tar the brush… I told her that I understood her feelings, but that we would be gone in the morning… she mumbled something I didn’t hear and turned away…

This was a day I want to try to forget…. I expect I will given time……

Bit of 'Off River Boating' at Nassington!

Elton to Nassington, River Nene, 3 miles 1 lock

It was a bit windy when we set off this morning, but hey, we had only planned on going down the river a short way.  Not only for a change of scenery and some different walking routes to explore, but we need that nice Mr Tesco to come along in his van and fill up the larder a bit.

I knew that would be difficult to arrange, the Tesco delivery I mean, one, there are not too many places to moor, and two, none of the places to possibly moor are near roads!

I spied a bywater on the map, going off to the left into the village of Nassington.  There used to be a pub there you see, closed now, but when it was open it had some moorings… No reason to think that those moorings wouldn’t still be there in some form or other.  Anyway it would be right on the main street in Nassington.  Mr Tesco would surely be able to deliver there!

Gently turned NP into the left turn into the bywater …. going very slowly and looking behind I could see a lot of mud… very shallow indeed.  I wondered if our draught would be shallow enough at 1’ 9”… a couple of bends to negotiate under a weeping willow determined to try to weep to the water, by this time I had to just up the throttle as NP was struggling.  Couldn’t make the second bend because it was difficult to steer in the shallow water, and gently came to a stop with the bows close to the bank on the left.

Reversed back a bit, and the wind, for once in my favour, took the bows round and straight again.  I decided to keep trying, after all, this bywater went straight round and back out onto the Nene with no weirs or anything, it was just a matter of keeping going!

Saw the moorings… they are brand new!  Lovely hard side… but a building site was there, not a pub that had shut!  Vic was at the bow end eyeballing ahead “There is a bridge, no way Sue will we get under that!”  Nah surely not… there were no bridges showing on the map for this bywater, I checked!  But sure enough it came into view for me… No way were we going any further!

Choices…. reverse back or try moor at this building site.  While I was deciding what to do, NP made her own decision in the wind and the bows blew to the right…. OK lets try turn then, I thought, wondering if in fact there was 55ft across this bit… There was… well 56ft I guess… but with the helpful wind and very gentle maneuvering NP was facing ‘back out’.  We successfully moored, so this is my backyard today piccy with the bridge in the background!

We did surprise the building site manager “How did you get up here!”.. “We are rebuilding the Hotel pub here”… “Yes OK you can stay for your delivery tomorrow”…  All I needed to do then was make the order on the internet and arrange for the delivery in the morning.

The only thing I am a bit worried about is once we have our larder full from Tesco tomorrow, I hope that the boat isn’t an inch or two heavier in the water to get back out of here.  Maybe I shouldn’t have ordered that extra sack of spuds!!  

It's been shall we, shan't we!

Sunday to today – Moored Elton, River Nene

The weather forecast that I heard on Sunday for this week was awful, so decided to stay put for a while.  Yesterday was beautiful, very sunny and warm!

I was shocked to see on the six o’clock news all the rain in other areas!  Well the guy who owns the post office/store here in Elton did say “Ah, never listen to the weather forecast for here, it never does what they say”!

So after such a lovely day, we decided to take the advice of the shopkeeper and move on today.  Had a lazy morning…. well not really lazy… I saw a blog on Granny Buttons about reducing bandwidth with a faster page load .  Great stuff!  Just what I needed.  So I spent this morning changing all my bookmarks!  Try reloading this page from this link then —>  Sue’s Blog.  Ha magic!

No nice pics though, but for me it is just great.  The pages load so fast, and there is an option to reload the proper page if one is of interest, and all the pics and images are marked on the pages, just a click away if I want to see them.

Anyway, just after lunch we decided to move, but there was some rather dark clouds heading our way… decided to give it half hour to see if those clouds were going to empty wet stuff… sure enough……. the rest of the afternoon it simply poured down!

Late evening was once again lovely with blue skies and warm sunshine, which prompted me out with Lucy for a couple of hours.  We should be on the move tomorrow.  I have enjoyed it here.  Probably walking around 25 miles since Saturday maybe retracing my steps only a couple of times such is the quality of the walking routes.

Well that is almost half the miles we have covered this month!  It was on 24th March that we first ventured on to the River Nene.. we have travelled just 43 miles and 31 locks since!  Well after all it is Retirement with No Problem!!

Picture Albums Updated

I’ve updated the piccys this evening to include Tony’s visit this week.  March also has the last weeks worth now in there. 

I am over the moon, Pompey did well today, that surely will keep them up in the premiership…. Portsmouth 4 Southampton 1 :D

Quality time on the Nene

Tues 19th to Sat 23rd – Oundle to Elton, River Nene, 9.5 miles 4 locks

Some quality time with son Tony this week.  The last time he visited was at the beginning of last year.  We didn’t do much in the way of travelling as you can see, but spent time walking and talking, oh and of course visiting the local wateringholes!

We spent nearly a whole day at Blueberry Lakes near Perio Mill.  It was a gorgeous day too, not too many fishermen along the banks of the lakes.  I expect they were after the local inhabitant called Hector or was it Boris… can’t remember now, anyway this is a carp that has been caught 4 times in the last two years.  The last time he was caught he weighed in at a massive 55lbs!

Here is the young fella then….

There is a also a pike in this lake behind Tony weighing in at 56lbs!…. Can you imagine those two monsters coming face to face!!

Fotheringhay was passed during this week.  Fotheringhay, the place where Richard III was born, and Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded… I knew I had heard of it somewhere…. probably during my first history lesson at school!

This then from the top of the castle… only a mound now though, but superb views across the Nene valley..

The bus left from Elton at noon today to take Tony to Peterborough to meet his train home.  I was sad to see him go… Mum and son have had a brilliant week together… quality time!

I grabbed a spot of lunch soon after, and took Lucy on a very long walk visiting Nassington before going on to Yarwell Lock some 3 miles downstream from where we are moored.  I wanted to check if there was any water there you see.  There used to be apparently, but now there is a caravan park, and the facilities of rubbish, loos and waterpoint have been closed. I don’t think boaters are made very welcome in the area… pity the caravan site doesn’t recognise the Nene as a waterway for transport… they recognise that they can charge a lot for a caravan on a pitch riverside though!

This was lovely along the Nene Way.  It was shut though, obviously some of the stepping stones have been swept away down this stream… it’s a shame they don’t put one or two back so this unique crossing can re-open.  There is a 400yd detour over a bridge now.

Right then…. Vic says I should put on my glad rags and come out for a beer…. he is right.  It’s funny when my family leave it makes me a bit quiet and sad… Vic knows what cheers me up OK!

Looks nice anyway……. and all I have to hope for now is that this blog will actually post properly and not post twice!

Blogger.com is a waste of time!

Well sorry about that, but you now have two blogs much the same to read…. now that IS a waste of time. 

The blogger software is not letting me edit either of those nor delete one, so I shall waste no more time on trying to!

My Blog is a waste of time...Nah!

An entry in my Guestbook from ashley burnette …………..

“I'm not sure I understand what these web pages are for? it seems a total waste of time but I guess someone might find it to be of some interest.”

This made me scratch my head!  I think I understand what the web pages are for…. they are for me primarily. 

My boat log…. After all I could show it to BW if they want me to prove how long I have been moored. . 

My diary… well it saves me loads of paper and pencils… but  I could just write all this to a file on my computer. 

Nope,  it is ‘live’ out there in the big world wide web…. Now this is where it comes in very handy… My grandchildren have a map of the Inland Waterways, and their Mums read the blog… the grandchildren mark on the map with a gold star where their Grandma is! .  So you see, I am never forgotten by those little ones even though they do not see that much of me…

Then there are others who have found my blog… they must find it interesting to return to read the latest.  I receive a lot of emails, and a lot of entries in the guestbook.  I have gone on from my primary reason for this blog.  I am enjoying writing a few ‘tutorials’ on how I do stuff…. well others wanted to know!

So for me my blog is not a waste of time…. ashley guesses right when saying “I guess someone might find it to be of some interest”!

My Blog is a waste of time...Nah!

An entry in my Guestbook from ashley burnette …………..

“I'm not sure I understand what these web pages are for? it seems a total waste of time but I guess someone might find it to be of some interest.”

This made me scratch my head!  I think I know what the web pages are for…. they are for me primarily. 

My boat log…. After all I could show it to BW if they want me to prove how long I have been moored. . 

My diary… well it saves me loads of paper and pencils… I can quickly look to see where we were say errrrrr last November… handy.  I could just write all this to a file on my computer.  But it is live out there in the big world wide web…. Now this is where it comes in very handy… My grandchildren have a map of the Inland Waterways, and their Mums read the blog… the grandchildren mark on the map with a gold star where their Grandma is! .  So you see, I am never forgotten by those little ones even though they do not see that much of me…

So for me my blog is not a waste of time…. ashley guesses right when saying “I guess someone might find it to be of some interest”!

Odd Weekend, and Oundle..

Today – Wadenhoe to Oundle, River Nene, 4 miles 4 locks
Sat and Sun – Moored Wadenhoe

Friday evening in the Kings Head was great, it’s a really smashing place… wooden floors and stone walls.  Large wooden kitchen tables and chairs all round. Met some nice people too, everyone was very friendly for such a local.

Saturday was a bit of a disastrous day.  We were going to move, but suddenly Vic started to cough some blood, and we decided not to take any chances, and by noon we were some 12 miles away at Kettering Hospital.  He didn’t feel ill or anything, but it was better to get everything checked out.  He has a chest infection that has also got into his blood.  They did an x-ray of his chest, and that was fine, but gave him some antibiotics which should do the trick in a few days time once they have started to work.

Gawd it took ages too.  Well it was Saturday afternoon, the walking wounded were all in from the various sports halls and footie pitches, plus the kids out in the garden enjoying the sunshine falling from swings, trees and the like filling the A&E department all afternoon.  We didn’t leave there until gone 7pm, so 7 hours we were there.  Trying to get a taxi back to Wadenhoe was almost impossible because it was now Saturday night!  We ended up back at the boat just before 9pm!  

So I was exhausted, and decided that I didn’t want to move the following day Sunday, I needed some time just to relax…. It was glorious too on Sunday.  Had Sunday lunch at the pub before taking Lucy across to the other side of Wadenhoe to the west…

Today we continued down the Nene.  Having passed through Wadenhoe lock, another DIY one, we were pleased that Lilford lock, the next in line, was mechanised.  This is in a lovely setting in Lilford Park….

A huge house here. Lilford Hall, set in wonderful parkland on the right going downstream.  It’s unfortunately not open to the public any more.. pity.

The wind got up not long after passing the park.

The entrance to Oundle Marina is almost impossible from upstream let along in this broadside wind.  I tried and tried to turn, but the wind was sweeping NP downstream…. missed it!   So had to try and reverse back to have another go… made it in the end after a lot of pushing and shoving.  Still more trouble as I tried to moor by the diesel pump, same thing I just couldn’t get into the side, couldn’t get the front in, nor the back…. NP actually swung right round in a circle at one point, much to the amusement of the workforce out for a lunch break in one of the paint shop sheds there.  No-one came to help or grab a rope either!! .

Eventually… Diesel was 35 and half pence much to my surprise!  I was expecting anything up to 50p here on the Nene.  But what surprised me even more was that since our last fill at Wyvern Shipping at Linslade, our consumption was just a smidge over 1ltr per engine hour!

We had to keep on the move today through all that wind because I am picking up son Tony tomorrow from Peterborough, catching the bus from here in Oundle to meet him off the train…. can’t wait!

Wadenhoe

Moored Wadenhoe, River Nene

It was shut!  The pub was last night when we went up there, so we are going tonight instead, so just a quick blog from me this evening.

Over breakfast, looked out the window and saw a tree creeper close up running up and down the tree…. well it would be I suppose! .  Anyway I have never seen one before!… Later on in the day I was sitting out on the back deck when I saw two muntjac deer appear on the opposite bank.  Again, never saw them before, they are so small.  Then later, I heard a splash, and would you believe another muntjac swimming across the river!  I did take some pics, but it has been a dark day today, and they didn’t come out well enough with this camera I have.  It’s not the best camera in the world in dark conditions, but it does Ok most of the time.

Vic and I walked through the village today, and up to the church here which is 12th century.  The doors were unlocked too so we wandered around.  A bit of history then.  Here the Post Office, well it was…. closed now like most in the villages in the UK.  Notice over the door it says Postal Telegraph Office..

Famous village Post Office this is… In 1871, this was the first village Post Office in England with a telegraph installed.  This was because George Hunt lived here, in fact I think he owned the whole of Wadenhoe at that time. George Hunt was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Disraeli Government, and needed this telegraph office to keep in touch!

Here the Mill House, thought to have been re-built on the site of the old mill mentioned in the Domesday Book..floor was milled here up to quite recently too..

OK, here endeth the history lesson… but Wadenhoe is one of the nicest, most picturesque villages I have ever seen.  To be honest the River Nene is just getting better and better, and we are in no hurry! .

Here look, while walking today, the views back down the Nene and looking towards Wadenhoe from further downstream..

Ha, it seems I never want to leave a place when we have moored, but the next place is even better.  Sooooo I don’t want to leave this place now!

Happy Birthday Annie!

A little ditty from me

Thankyou for your friendship true,
For being there and being you,
For your heart so good and kind
A truer friend I could not find

Happy Birthday, hope you had nice lunch out!

Moore 2 Life: Government support

Moore 2 Life: Government support Above as written by Chas Moore.. High in any boaters thoughts at the moment, the Conservatives and their 'sell off' antics... Andrew is keeping a good eye out and reporting well at Granny Buttons I didn't read this article yet in Canal Boat... but isn't it ironic that suddenly BW get an increase!!

Only Just at Titchmarsh!

Titchmarsh Farm Bridge to Wadenhow, River Nene, 2.5 miles 1 lock

A very useful comment left by Mark earlier this month….

“I have made up a stick which is the same length as our air draft 6'1". We keep it on our roof and when we get close to a bridge that is suspect, we moor up just before the winding hole and we walk up to the offending bridge.
One of us (usually me) then walks on to the bridge and hangs the stick down from the bridge top on a line until it touches the water. The other person on the towpath can then see whether we are going to make it or not and we return to the boat and either proceed or turn around.
Its not perfect and you have to watch the boat trim if the water tank is low, but its better than getting to within a couple of feet of the bridge and then having to go astern (with boats behind you or in strong winds). “

So here we go then Mark, I made one up.  Good job I did too, we had to take chimney, satellite pole and a load of the flower pots off the roof plus the buckby can!  Just fitted under…..

That stick sure will come in useful.  I have marked the absolute lowest, with tv aerial and with chimney, so in future we will take up Mark’s tip and check any bridges we are not sure of.  It worked!

At Titchmarsh Lock just round the corner we put everything back while at the lock mooring…. the lock there used to be electric, well for one week only!  They used solar panels for the electricity, but after only one week, someone stole the solar panels, so that was that!!

Moored tonight outside the Kings Head pub here in Wadenhoe, and this is where ‘my backyard today’ piccy comes from.  

Now I am in a hurry, off out for a pint…. yep defo a pint tonight!

Hiccup at Islip Lock, but then on to Titchmarsh

Thrapston to Titchmarsh Farm Bridge, River Nene, 2.5 miles 1 lock

We left Thrapston late morning planning on trying to moor somewhere before Titchmarsh.  I wanted to explore the Nature Reserve there.  Yesterday I had walked to the southern end of it from Thrapston, and it looked wonderful.

At Islip lock here we couldn’t get the box open to operate the buttons to raise and lower the guillotine.   The special Nene Key is not very substantial, and we were scared to ‘force the issue’ trying to get it open.  A phone call to the environment agency and within 20 minutes one of their guys turned up and, using his key, turned it and gave it a hell of a yank.  Hey presto done!  We will remember that on the way back.

He saw us through the lock and waved us on our way.. very friendly. Continuing on we came to the start of the Nature Reserve, and I was desperately looking for somewhere to stop.  Too many stinging nettles and the banks were high. This part of the river serves as a flood plain, hence the higher banks.  Then THAT bridge came into view…. EEK!  “We definitely won’t get under that as we are”  I proclaimed!  But an ideal place to stop just 20 yards or so before it… I was delighted!  The views are spectacular across to the lakes from here.

It is going to take Vic quite some effort to tear me away from this place! .   A late lunch then I was off with Lucy. For three hours I walked right round the Nature Reserve, taking time out to look at the wildlife in the birdwatch towers all round the place.  I saw all sorts of wild fowl – grebes, snipe, tufted ducks, pochards, as well as the fantastic sight of a buzzard.   The walk on the far side of the lake is again part of the Nene Way.  Never a dull moment on this long distance route….

Returning I walked via the village of Aldwincle who’s shop still survives although the Post Office has gone.  Spent the rest of the light hours just enjoying the late afternoon sun on the back deck..

Thrapston and EA's Visitor Mooring efforts!

Today – Moored Nine Arches Bridge, Thrapston
Yesterday – Denford to Thrapston, River Nene, 1.5 miles 1 lock

I really loved Denford and was sorry to leave, but we had to move on to collect a Tesco order and an order of coal at Thrapston yesterday.  The moorings here are not finished off properly and are desperately short.  There is room to have put in more landing stage, but they haven’t.  It’s only a small inlet as it is…..

A chap we met at Woodford Riverside Marina said that he and his friends went down there and moored 5 narrowboats before a night out in the local Woolpack Pub!  I think they must have all been 36 footers!

Anyway, on our arrival, my horror……. a man at the waterpoint, not knowing how to fix it!  I had just finished running the washing machine, and we must have been again fairly low on water as we had stayed at Denford for a week!  Here Lucy is making sure he keeps on trying to get it to flow!

It was a good job we arrived anyway…. he had no Nene key to undo the flap, so gawd knows how he was suppose to open it.  In the end two hours later he managed to get it to work!  But the flow of water was only just strong enough to run along our hose to fill the water tank…. eventually taking 5 minutes under 2 hours to do the job of filling it!

Tesco and coal arrived during that time… and we went over the lovely packet bridge to Thrapston town, only about a 5 minute walk, to find the man who fixes mowers and the like.  The chain saw had refused to fire up you see.  Vic thought that maybe a new spark plug might do the trick…. he was right too!

We spent the evening in the Woolpack Pub just across the road from the mooring here.  Nice pub actually.

We were going to move on this morning, but Vic needed to see the doc about a bit of a rash on his back that has been stubborn to go away…. and we had to wait over 2 and half hours to be seen on ‘open surgery’ morning at the local Surgery!  We were unlucky apparently.  Normally there are three docs on duty, but today only the one.

Picking up some lunch from the backers in the town, and to the Post Office for that rod licence we returned back to the boat but I didn’t feel like moving today by this time….

This afternoon I took Lucy walking beside the River in a northerly direction for a couple of miles before returning via the Nene Way… It is suddenly very noticeable that the trees have turned green…. which reminds me. 

Yesterday, sitting on the back deck waiting for Tesco, coal and the man trying to get the water going, I spied 5 house martins excitedly circling around the area here…. so that is 11th April!  Now I think that is very early to see the first house martins.  The earliest I have ever seen them before has been 1st May, and that was down south in Hampshire some years ago.

 

Where there's a will, There's a way!

Some thoughts and updates since writing Sky Satellite TV with No Problem

Looking back today on what I wrote, and picking up on some comments from here and other places, I thought I would just update and also correct something I said …

“Having moored send someone out ready to swing the dish, switch on the Tele and receiver.”  Says I… nope wrong way round!  Swing the dish to the east before switching on the tele and receiver.  If you do it in the order I said originally you may well just catch the wrong satellite if you swing it to east via south!

“Do you loose the signal at all if anyone rocks the boat?” asks Derek Andrews

Nope, and the signal won’t be lost even if the boat moves two or three feet forward and back if a boat passes.  Once that satellite is locked on, it takes an awful lot to shift it out of lock.

Andrew Denny on his site Granny Buttons “I'm strongly tempted to give it a go….. What do you do if you are single-handed?”

Well single-handedness is a knack on a narrowboat, as I am sure Andrew knows. .  But as ever, where there’s a will there’s a way of doing anything!.  So my tips then for single-handedly finding the ‘dot in the sky’… 

• If the TV is close to the front of the boat… most times it is… turn the screen to the window on the side you are standing to line up the aerial, turn aerial bend down and look through the window… repeat as necessary!
• If the window is a tiny porthole…….. aim the screen through the front doors and duck down as above and view through the front deck doors, again repeat as necessary! 
• Rig up a mirror system, or install a periscope through the roof!
• Rig up your webcam pointing at the screen, connect the webcam to the laptop. Take the said Laptop to the roof and sit it by the aerial, and watch the screen!!

I have seen some motorised dishes…. they are very expensive, and if you can afford it, then I suppose that is a way to go, but I bet I can get the satellite quicker by hand than any motorised dish can!

It's in Waterways World

Jim Shead featured ‘Retirement with No Problem’ on his pages in this month’s Waterways World, one of our monthly boating magazines. .  Jim writes an awful lot for this magazine, and also has just about the largest waterways information site on the internet that I am aware of, it’s truly awesome.

Jim also puts all his contributions to Waterways World on his web pages, and No Problem appeared on his clicking.on.canals page this month.  I have been told by blog experts, that it is etiquette when a link is found to you blog, to say ‘Thank You’ … so Jim, Thanks for the mention  

Other blogs that are actually on my list to get mentioned in the same article are Andrew Denny’s excellent blog Granny Buttons, along with my great friends Ann and Chas Moore with their blog about their travels on NB Moore2Life.

I get Waterways World quite rarely now though, preferring Canal Boat every couple of months or so.  I found that the former was getting too crammed with adverts for my liking.  Waterways World’s website is still under construction, the other mag does have a website, but the webmaster there is not too good in keeping it up to date.  Maybe when WW goes live then there will be a little more ‘online competition to keep both on the boil and regularly looked after.

Denford and Thrapston

Sat and Sun (11th and 12th April) – Moored Denford

It sure was cold on Friday night, and although I  had put the plants under the back cover, the frost still managed to get to the strawberry plants, and some of the leaves have turned brown .  I think they will be OK though, there is even a flower already, yum, early strawberry for me maybe! .

I was really craving for some chocolate when I went to bed on Friday, gawd knows why… far too old to be pregnant! .  Anyway that was enough for me to take the walk on Saturday morning back to Ringstead across country and get a nice big bar. .

On Sunday we decided to to have a roast dinner at The Cock Inn, a two minute walk from where we were moored into the village.  Imagine my disappointment when they told me that they could take no more bookings for that day.. oh it smelt so good too, and the pub has a good reputation for food.  But my disappointment couldn’t have gone un-noticed… plus they knew we had been moored in their village all week… they found room for us! .

The roast beef dinner was out of this world, the service was second to none, I can’t remember having such an enjoyable meal to be honest.  If anyone is passing here you just must stop for Sunday lunch.  Be warned though, you MUST phone to book a table, they are full every Sunday.

I left Vic to snooze in the afternoon, while Lucy and me went for a long 6 and half mile hike over the Northamptonshire countryside.  I chose a circular walk taking in a lot of the Nene Way.  The Nene Way doesn’t follow the river all the way along, and tends to dive off ‘visiting’ villages on the way.  Here is Islip.. a very quiet village about a mile from the actual river.

There used to be a shop here and a Post Office, unfortunately both gone now, and the only shop I saw was a hairdressers!  The village pub was quite full although it was mid afternoon… the Nene Way actually goes through its grounds!

My legs were aching when I got back though, and even Lucy laid stretched out in the warm late afternoon sunshine afterwards.  .I have very much enjoyed our weeks stay at Denford, somehow I have felt part of the community there.  Everytime I have walked through the village, people have said hello, and I think to have been recognised as “Oh the boat moored by the lock” in the pub on Sunday made me feel that the community accepted us as part of them for the short while.  I look forward, very much,  to our return in the late Summer

Brrr it's cold...

Moored Farm Bridge Denford, River Nene

Well the promised weather came today with vengeance, rain, snow, sleet and hail off and on today, and very high winds.  Just saw one boat on the move, and he got caught at the bridge here scraping through leaving some blue paint as he went.  They sure must have had a good reason to be on the move today.  Yesterday we saw no boats at all!

I have spent today inside, much to Lucy’s disgust…. but hey it was not fit for human beings out there, and I have enjoyed browsing around the internet and finishing off some projects on my list of ‘must do sometime’.  I am all up to date with emails, oh except one…. Avril I have a lot to write, will reply shortly.

Son Tony is coming up to see us later in the month, so I have just been booking the tickets (and paying for them as Mums do  ) on qjump.  Getting them a couple of weeks early means at least they will be a smidge cheaper.  I have decided that Peterborough is the best place, we certainly won’t be there on the day he is arriving, but there are plenty of villages along the Nene that have bus routes to that town.

The wind did drop tonight, and there was some late sun, so Lucy did get a walk, but not very far, it was freezing out there…. I’ll take her out for a couple of hours tomorrow morning as long as the temperature has risen a bit….

Do the Conservatives have any idea at all?

Waterways News Snippets

From the blog of David Stewart,  Conservative party and intending to stand as a MP-Candidate in the future.

Oh dear….

“Vandalism of property, misuse of the canal network and a very small number of actual waterway users are the real problems on our canals.” 

Oh sorry to be a problem!

“We should be tackling the real problems facing the waterways which are crime and a decline in their use”

Decline???

Hey Mr Stewart, take a look at this!

“Inland waterway boating is already enjoyed by many thousands, with the potential to increase still further”

“There are grave problems facing the canal networks that these individuals have failed to mention at all”.

Such as?

“We should be tackling the real problems facing the waterways which are crime and a decline in their use and that is certainly what the next Conservative government would set about doing.”

Hahahahaha! Yeah and pigs will fly Mr Stewart!

Sky Satellite TV with No Problem

I have been asked by many people how Satellite tele works on a narrowboat, so I have put together some tips..

I would not be without my Sky TV now. Have had it since August 2004, and in all that time I could count on one hand the number of times that the ‘dot in the sky’ (satellite) could not be found through line of sight, due to buildings or trees.

Items needed

All that is needed is a mini dish plus the cable to connect to a sky digital receiver. From there a scart lead will be needed to connect to the TV. A compass is handy but not necessary, and as for a signal finder, don’t bother with one of those, you will never use it, an expense you can do without. You will also need a ‘flag staff’ holder on the top of the boat, and a piece of steel tube to fix in that (with a self tapping screw to hold it tight) about 12” high with brackets and bolts with wing nuts (if they are not supplied with the dish) so you can swing the dish around, and then tighten when in the right place.

What you get

That set up will let you receive FTA (Free to Air) channels without the need of a sky viewing card. Not to be confused with FTV (Free to View) which is a different system using a normal TV aerial for digital pictures. Here, a list of FTA Channels You will notice that there is no Channel Four or Channel 5. To get these you will have to have a sky card, and these cost £20, hopefully a one off lifetime payment to Sky. To obtain one phone 0870 606 1111 and ask for a Freesat Card, pay over the phone and give your home address, or the address where you collect your mail, not a Post Office address though.

An added advantage on getting this card, is that you can update your subscription to one of their packages with films, sports, discovery etc. Sky customer services can be difficult if you do not have a BT landline, but if you just insist that you do not use landline phones anymore, only mobile numbers they will go ahead and let you have a Freestat card, and even let you upgrade to a subscription if you wish. Tell them you have all your own equipment or they will want to come and install theirs for £150!

Equipment

Equipment needed then…. well I have a Pace sky minibox for the receiver. Mine is 12v, and plugs into the 12v system through a car lighter attachment thing. But you can get them with adapters to go in the AC system. Unfortunately they are not made any longer, and the only place to obtain them is from ebay.. I like it very much because it is so small….. But any sky digital receiver will suffice.

Our dish is a kerstan dish (on the left). These come in various colours, are extremely small, and work wonderfully well. However any mini dish will do the job… again you can purchase what you need from ebay for a tenner if you are lucky. Some dishes come with the correct angle set from the vertical…. (25 to 27 degrees upwards from the horizon)… the first time you set up will take a little patience, but once that angle is set you will never have to change it again.

So that’s it then… when it is all set up, call Sky on the number on the paperwork, or the number above, and they will register your Freesat Card. The biggest problem is that Sky program the digibox with the regional programs that are at the address where you had the card sent to!!

This is no problem though for BBC regional…. All the BBC Regional Channels are on the Channel List…. right down the bottom, and you can start a ‘Favourites List’ and add the ones you want. Not so with the regional ITV Channels, and I have written a page explaining how to get those here. Handy for watching regional footy?

Finding the dot in the sky

So, all ready to go then, all you need now is to find the satellite!

The biggest asset us narrowboaters have is good ol’ Nicholsons Guides (A compass is handy, but not necessary). North is always at the top of the page, so when thinking about your mooring, check the book and make sure there are no trees or buildings in the line of SEish. Having moored send someone out ready to swing the dish, switch on the Tele and receiver.

Press ‘Services' on the remote, then select (4) System Set Up, then (6) Signal Test. OK now you need whoever is on aerial duty to point the dish in an easterly direction…. ready to swing it very slowly to the South East ( 28.2 degrees east to be exact). If you start from a Southerly direction you will get the wrong satellite (there are a lot going around!) The Lock Indicator will say ‘not locked’ and the two bits below that will say 00 at this stage. Turn the dish a couple of inches to the South East, wait for a count of 3, then turn again, and continue doing this until…

Lock Indicator – ‘OK’ Network ID – 0002 Transport Stream – 07d4

(Any other ‘Network or Transport Stream’ and you have got the wrong satellite! . In this case, switch the box off, then disconnect from the wall. Wait 30 secs and start all over again. After a few goes at doing this you will become very quick at finding it.

You should also have signal and quality strength. If it’s the right satellite, thats it! Tighten everything up, and press the TV Guide on the remote and sit back and enjoy

Back to home page/most recent blog post

Ringstead and Playful Lambs!

Moored Denford Farm Bridge, River Nene

We are going to need some coal soon just to tide us over ‘till the warmer weather is here to stay. So the moorings downstream at Thrapston will be ideal for our Tesco order to arrive as well as some coal from the local coal merchant.  A quick look on the internet this morning, and I found and then phone a local company happy and intrigued to be delivering bags of coal to a boat on the Nene!  So both are arranged for Monday afternoon.  We will stay here now until then, it is really nice and quite…. a bit noisy it was by that bridge at Thrapston, and the moorings are nothing to write home about.

So bread and fresh milk will be required for us.  I didn’t fancy catch a bus, so I looked at some local maps, once again found on the internet, and saw a nice walk across country, back to the village we had passed a couple of days ago, Ringstead.

Here, the centre of the village near the church, a small supermarket on the left which sells fresh bread too, and on the other side the Post Office.  Unfortunately, the lady who runs that, decided not to open this afternoon for whatever reason, so I couldn’t renew my rod licence which I wanted to do.  Not that I can fish at the moment… ‘tis a closed season on the whole of the River Nene until June, although fishing is allowed on all of the lakes that accompany the River!  Very Unfair!!   There are a couple of pubs in the village too, but I can’t remember if there was anywhere to moor on the River close to the village, I shall have to check on the way back.

Anyway, it was only a 35 minute walk from Denford, and well worth it too.  Wonderful views of the Nene valley from the top of the incline.  …. here we are returning, with Denford in front of us, along with some very black clouds! 

It was a good job I quickened my step on the way back.  I had only been onboard about 5 minutes when the skies opened!

It’s getting cold tonight, and I took all the plants off the roof this evening before taking Lucy for a late walk in a different direction.  The wind had dropped somewhat, and the sun shone as we walked across fields where the skylarks were flying low chirping and chattering at their annoyance of my intrusion.  On the way back through a large field full of sheep, I wondered if the lambs wanted to play!  I could just about see NP from where I was standing, so this qualifies to be ‘my backyard today’ pic…. delightful isn’t it?

Sheltering at Denford

Woodford Old Rail Bridge to Denford Farm Bridge, River Nene, 0.75 miles, 0 locks

Wind and rain greeted us this morning, but we were sheltered by the bank.  We moved early this afternoon as there was a slight break in the weather, the wind dropped so we made the short trip to be nearer the village of Denford, that has a welcoming pub and a bus route to Thrapston.  Well if we do stay around while this weather, and worst to follow later in the week according to the forecast, I may need to take a bus to get supplies. A nice mooring just before Farm Bridge is, of course, ‘my backyard today’

This afternoon the clouds cleared and apart from the wind the sun tempted me out for a long walk with Lucy, firstly going to have a look at the local pub, before taking a walk round Denford’s Trinity Church dating from the 13th century.  A very pretty village built of a mixture of brick and stone.  I liked it a lot.  Walking further, I decided to have a look up at Thrapston to see if the moorings there actually existed because we need a Tesco Home Delivery order soon, just wanted to see if it would be possible there. 

Sure enough, there is a newly built mooring but only room enough really for one narrowboat…. There is access to the main road, so that will do just nicely for a delivery there.  The EA are very tight with the spaces (if any) they are making for visitors to moor on proper moorings with bollards or rings!! 

The wind is once again very high, and the rain is lashing No Problem…. The pub is only about a minute and a half away…. now if there was a break in the weather again for a couple of minutes, I might just go try their guest ale!

Woodford Riverside Marina is a Joke!

I saw it to the left, a tight turn under a rickety old bridge, very narrow, and made moreso by the now strengthening wind.  This was a joke!!  I very carefully steered No Problem down the narrowest of channels between boats round a couple of bends too, only to come to a stop at the end of ….. well nothing!  Yep nothing!

There was nobody about… an almost dilapidated area… no sanitary station, a mobile pump out cart was there, but didn’t look as if it had been operated for months…we couldn’t find water anywhere.  This was just the middle of a field!  There were some boats about… and eventually a chap came out of one of them, very cheery and helpful, pointing us in the direction of a tap!  Great, the hose will reach…. “Oh just tip the loo cassettes into the top of the pumpout cart”….. Sheeeeeeeesh, well OK then… great facilities eh?!

I let the washing machine finish it’s load before finally topping up the water and then the job of reversing back down the channel, twisting and turning as it went emerging in the end out to the Nene again!

“The farmer who owns the land has had a fall out with the owner of this site” said the chap…. “The owner has given us all notice to move out by May, there will be no Marina here after that” he went on.  He said though, that the farmer has said that he is happy for the few boats left to stay.. presumably he will leave the water point in, but the owner is taking everything off the site including the floating dry dock and all equipment all to be gone in a few weeks, so that is one to take off the lists of stops on the Nene!

He also said that the farmer owns one of the large lakes nearby, and is hoping to turn it into a large marina!  Well to be honest, for the number of boats along this stretch of the River, I doubt very much if it would ever be used!

No Problem gets into trouble at Woodford!

Nr Upper Ringstead Lock to Woodford Old Rail Bridge, River Nene, 3 miles, 3 locks It wasn't that windy when we set off, but for sure it was much colder of late. Our first lock of the day was Upper Ringstead Lock, another of the 'diy' type, where we met another boat coming upstream on the way to the Leeds and Liverpool and further afield for the summer. Whenever we do actually meet people, and there are not that many.. very few boats on the move down the Nene, they fill me with so much information of what is ahead, I can't take it all in! But one thing I have taken in is the very low bridge just before Titchmarsh Lock, a farm bridge. Comments such as "Oh you will have to take that lot off your roof" to "You won't get under that with your boat" makes me think that we will have to perhaps stop before hand and drop a tapemeasure down from the bridge to the water and just see whether we are going to make it! er

Willy-Watt Marina is just before the next lock… the Environment Agency say there are visitor moorings there, but there are none, and not even anywhere to be able to just get into the side either… through the lock, mechanical this time, we looked out for the well advertised Woodford Riverside Marina… we need water, and we also need to do the loo cassettes. With no facilities at Willy-Watt, the next Marina is a must for us.

I saw it to the left…. Woodford Riverside Marina.. and here a separate blog will describe the next couple of hours .

We had hoped to stop at the errrrrr ‘visitor moorings??’ in Woodford, but they were non-existent. Supposingly just before the church – nope no chance on getting in there. Just past the church are some very smart private moorings. Plenty of room there, just one narrowboat occupying a large area, but the signs all round it definitely sounded as if it was sacred ground to some rich person, and we passed by.

It was at Woodford Lock that I got into trouble….. the wind by this time had got up a lot, and was very gusty. I should have done it differently, I should have called Vic to hold the front rope on the mooring until I had undone the back and got aboard. I know that, but I thought it would be OK. We had already had difficulty mooring at the pontoon with the wind broadside on. Had to tie the boat up hard to hold her in.

The lock was ready, and I went back to the boat to move in. I took the front rope off and rushed back to undo the rear rope, but by this time the front had already gone 15ft out from the side, as I let the back rope go to jump on, the wind was so high, the back end got away too, so I had to use all my strength to haul her back…. managed to get on, and tried desperately to stop the front from swinging… the weir was on the far side. I wasn’t bothered with that too much as there was not too much stream… but I didn’t want to get stuck on the boom across it, because nobody would be able to get to me to help!

I just managed to shove the front of the boat into the jaws of the lock, and held her there throttling forward while Vic managed to clamber onto the gunnel to grab one of the centre ropes, he couldn’t get the front one!. I left the boat in forward gear and went down the other side and managed to get the front rope and throw it to Vic. At that time another boat had arrived coming upstream and the crew ran to help.

With three people on ropes, we eventually managed to put No Problem safely in the lock.

This narrowboat is a real pain in the wind…. very difficult, blowing all over the place. We found a place to moor very shortly after the disused rail bridge below that lock, here ‘my backyard today’

… deciding that we would not be travelling along this River unless the weather was calm.

Bits and Bobs

I thought I would try and do some sort of guide to the River here, and maybe too of our travels over the Fens.  Nicholson never did update his guide of 1986, and although the Imray Guides to the area are very informative, I have already found a lot of out-dated information.  Perhaps a page on what I see when I pass, including where we have found moorings deep enough… and maybe I might put in some of the walks that I have found too.

It was raining this morning, so I thought I would take a look around and see if there were any new boaters blogs, as this is the time of year when people are thinking of venturing out for the summer… sure enough I came across a couple that have been newly started… I have added them to my boaters blog on the left of the main page.. I am sure that Andrew Denny at Granny Buttons will promote and encourage more posts from these new writers

Maria Jessie

David from Kennilworth writes..

 “The first pieces of steel were laid in December 2004 , and delivery planned for May 2005. Now in March we are well on track and getting very excited that we have only a few weeks to go before we take delivery of our brand new boat.”

There are some excellent pictures of how Maria Jessie is coming along…. the sign writing is excellent too!

boats and cruising

Les Biggs started his blog of his travels just last month… and he isn’t too far away from us either!

 “What i intend to do on my blog is create a diary of events leading up to the launch of the narrowboat "VALERIE". I will include details of selling the house ordering the boat etc. After i begin my adventure i will update on a daily basis as i cruise.”

Les has a few comments dotted about on his blog already………. and one particular comment I saw really did tickle me to send me into fits of giggles this morning….

Comment….

 HAROLD, SHEFFIELD said...

I HOPE SHE DONT SINK LIKE MINE, HAD MINE BUILT OVER 9 MONTHS AND IT BLOODY SUNK AFTER 5 HOURS IN THE WATER.

Ha! talk about encouragement!!

And a little ‘tongue-in-the-cheek’ oddy that I found, that took me quite some time to decipher!  It must be my age…..   This the writing from a 12 year old who lives on a narrowboat somewhere…

my shoebox

“hey i thought since i have never said anything about myself on this i better so to start wiht to everyones suprise im only 12, and yes max i am a hippy not a goth just because you only ever see you at school and i have to be all miserable there i look all bright and velevt n rainbowy when im at home and festivals and stuff so.. right i have gone to big hippy fests since i was mini and yer i used to go on nature walks n stuuf. there is just one thing i have to show you my strpiy trousers yey!!! im the little one at the front (obviously) just looking through the photo albums i realsied what a dedicated father i have most of the stuff in there was like his fishing trips and the brewery at the end of the road being knowed down? ive added an extra picture int here of me on a train wearing my angelica t-shirt(i so wanna find one of them again) but i thought it looked cute so.. there are some really bad picture of me in pink flowery dresses n stuff on my narrowboat but no way is anyne going to see them i live with my mum n dad n my bro n a dog called albert (collie cross jack russell) n my terrapin called pythagoras n millions of fish n i mean millions i really reallt love swimming n stuff n i like my narrowboat cos it so rocks n i cant be arsed to write anymore cos my bro wants to cum onthe computer dont ask y he cant use one fo the other 3? but gtg bye!!! “

Ha!  Well I wonder if you all understood that lot!   This is from a youngster who is using MSN pages.  Interestingly, when clicking back to the main page, I couldn’t find this particular posting…. It seems the writer might live live in a pineapple under the sea!!  But hey it’s a youngster, who am I to know how the youngsters of today live or even think!!

Hope you enjoy…

 

 

 

Tough Lock at Irthingborough and a Mystery!

Sun 3rd and today – Moored Nr Upper Ringstead Lock, River Nene
Sat 2nd – Higham Lock to Nr Ringstead Lock, River Nene, 3 miles 1 lock

We missed where we thought the tip out for the loos was on the way past the Rushden and Diamonds Football Club.  This was due to the very odd angle and fairly difficult swirl of the river as we passed under the multi arched Irthingborough Bridge.  I had to be careful there…. Rivers are odd, just as you think you have lined up a bridge, suddenly the flow of the water through the arches swing the front of the boat making the back smack into the wall when passing through if you are not very careful.  The place we needed to stop was just on the other side of the bridge, and my concentration was on other things!

There are some Environment Agency official moorings a bit further along.. I slowed to ask if there was a tip out, only to be told that it was pump out only!  Ummmmm well seems these loo tip outs are going to be few and far between. 

We do carry four cassettes….. so not critical at the moment!

Anyway enough about loos!!

Just the one lock on Saturday to negotiate….

As you can see, this is a manual lock.  A lot of the locks are actually mechanical in doing the job of putting this huge guillotine gate up and down…. It takes the two of us to shift this huge wheel round…… well over 200 turns on the wheel I guess to firstly drop it, then of course to raise it again!  At the other end, once the gate is dropped, it is 78 turns to open just one paddle! 

There was a bit of water flowing over the back gates, and I wound the paddle about 20 turns, still knacked after turning the big wheel at the front.  We decided to go and have lunch while the lock was filling! 

So that lock took just over 45 minutes to pass through…. You sure don’t need to be in a hurry along this river..  Glad it was only one lock on Saturday, as you can see the sunshine was warm, nice for cruising along, but also nice to relax on the back deck soaking it up doing nothing!

We have settled for a few days close to Upper Ringstead Lock.  We saw a nice spot, and poked the bow of No Problem into the bank hoping it would be deep enough, and yes…. right into the side we managed to moor… here we are then ‘my backyard today’

We have quite some mystery onboard today.  I was stroking Lucy this morning, when I thought “Umm her collar seems a bit tight”, I didn’t have her collars off since last summer I don’t think, and she has long hair of course.  On checking I thought I had left an old flea collar on after a replacement, as there were three collars round her neck.  On close inspection I undid a ‘rogue’ collar!  A leather collar that I have never seen in my life before.  Lucy wears just two you see, her main one, and a flea collar.  Gawd knows how this other collar has got round her neck!

I spoke to Annie on NB Moore2Life this morning, hoping that she had put it round Lucy’s neck for some reason, but “No” was the reply….. Ummmmm a real mystery…. how on earth did she get that round her neck!!!

Strawberry Plants at Wellingborough

Nr Wollaston Lock to Higham Lock, River Nene, 6.5 miles 4 locks

It doesn’t matter where you go in this area there are lakes upon lakes upon lakes where gravel extraction has taken place.  I know I shouldn’t complain…. these lakes, of course, create a walking haven for people like me and Lucy, but gawd knows how much they have taken out of the ground in total.  Still they want more!  There are many places where gravel extraction is taking place as well as the huge lake systems that are left behind.  It really is too much!

Before we left this morning I took Lucy across the fields for a quick walk as she has to say on the boat down this River.  I got to the other side of the field…. and…..

We moved on to just above Wellingborough, where there are excellent moorings on the left after the bridge.  Not far to Tesco from there, and I made a point of nipping into Homebase to see if they had any strawberry plants.  They sure did, I was delighted, and picked a variety that does well in dry weather.  On the top of No Problem it sure can get hot in the summer, so hopefully we will have a good crop this year.

I also took the opportunity to get some more pansies.  I had already planted this years selection in my pots, but they have died.  I think I bought them far too early and far too small, even though they are hardy, I don’t think they could handle the long cold snap that we had earlier last month.  One thing I do like is a nice splash of colour in ‘my garden’!

We were disappointed that there was no place for us to empty the loos, but there was water…. so filled up a very empty tank.  Nowhere to dump our rubbish here either, so I put a few carrier bags full in the many bins that were around the park like area.  Hopefully the Council will be along shortly to empty them!!

It was noisy there, so we moved on into the countryside for the evening, passing Stan and July with NB Sophia who had stopped there for today.  It really is difficult to moor along the Nene… it’s not just trying to get in the side that we have to think about, but at this time of year, the stinging nettles are around 4 to 6 inches high, and are rampant along the banks in places.  Poor Lucy gets her paws stung with this pesky things… and she does just love to lie outside on the banks during the time we are moored.

Finally we decided to stop just short of Higham Lock for the evening, well it was getting late..  Went for a late stroll with Lucy for an hour or so once again over some delightful countryside before settling for the evening.

After tea, Lucy barked…odd that because we are so remote again here, no way would anyone be walking past the boat… I went to investigate just to be sure, and this is what I saw peering into the boat….!   So this is ‘my backyard today’ pic for you…