Having fun 'initially' at Aldermaston!..

Moored Lower Padworth

I have been playing today while we have been moored here.  I have a new PDA

The trouble is being ‘long in the tooth’ I have not kept up with technology.  I remember my first mobile phone, such a brick it was, I used to carry it around in a big box!.. but then there was the nokia brickette.. a good ‘ol phone, dinky in comparison.. then upgrade that to errrrrrr.. a phone with a camera!  Yea Gods!, a camera?  Ah don’t need that, don’t bother to go to the page on instructions.. then next a phone with ‘music’!… Nah.. skip that bit.. now phones come with video apparently.  All I need is a phone that will dial out, receive and one that I can send a text message..

This brings me to my reason for playing today.. I have not kept up with technology.. skipping all those phone instruction book pages, because all I want to do is basic stuff.  Now I got myself a PDA, and I want to use it for GPS so when I go walking in the winter I won’t get lost!

OK so if you don’t know what PDA and GPS mean, then take to google.. I have been using google all day to try and get my head round how to work this thing.. Ah but Paul Balmer has come to the rescue to help me out.. he picked up my email “help”on his way home from work, on the train this evening.. yep on the train!

Of course there is WIFI on trains now, all free..

I think we are becoming a nation of ‘initial users’ … I will get my head round this stuff, long in the tooth or not!  ROFLMAO!!

Taking some time out around Aldermaston

Today – Moored Lower Padworth
Sunday – Theale to close Aldermaston, Kennet & Avon Canal, 2.5 miles 2 locks

The trip down the Thames on Saturday was a bit hairy, but then we knew it would be.. after each lock the lock keeper watched as No Problem went across the wild waters coming from the weirs on the left or right after exiting the locks.  I had to make sure the sweep of water didn’t push me over to the bank, and keep good power on as I continued downstream..

Here you can see the ‘force’ of the water pushing NB Moore2Life over to the bank as they exit one of the locks..

Pangbourne has some fond memories for me, and I enjoyed cruising along the meadow remembering back many years when my folks used to bring me to these banks at the weekends.. I must have only been 5 or 6 years old, but the memories are so vivid.  I enjoyed watching the boats going up and down, and I remember just ordinary wooden cruiser type boats, small ones.. I don’t remember seeing narrowboats though. We used to picnic on the bank just to the left here…

There were a lot of canoes on the river on Saturday.. some dicing with death. They enjoyed going each side of No Problem, then paddling across in front of her bows playing chicken!… “Do that again, and I will report you to your boat club matey!”.. OK so I am a spoil sport, but I don’t want a youngster drowning because I have hit him, my fault or not!.. The feat was not repeated, but looking back the two boats following me were obviously having the same problems!..

Reading is awesome, I have always found it like that.. I never know whether to put a rain hat on as I venture through the town centre.. in the summer there are kids hanging over the bridges with melting ice creams…

actually it’s always nice to see the kids with ice creams on the bridges that criss cross the canal at this point, they just simply love to wave at boats.. and I love waving back!.. I don’t need to worry about getting spat on.. getting stuff thrown at me.. ah gimme a youngster wanting to wave at me anytime on a bridge! ..

And so to The Kennet & Avon Canal.  I sometimes wonder if it isn’t the ‘forgotten’ canal.. well it is out on a limb really.. I suppose it is possible to ‘do a ring’ incorporating the Severn estuary and going under the Severn Road Bridge to the Gloucester Canal.. but as soon as you enter this canal, there are rows and rows of moored boats.. all livaboards.  That’s fine to a point.. but I do wonder if British Waterways turn a blind eye to the mooring code for continuous cruisers..  just so many boats seemed not to have moved for yonks.. not only that but…..

This is Burghfield Lock.. it sure does need some maintenance, look at those bolts sticking out.  You can see the height that the water comes up to in this lock, hey I bet it catches a few boats out!.. then there is the gate beam on this lock…

Been like this for many years apparently.. still it is on the stoppage list for maintenance and repair this winter.. but it may not be done as the government has decided that the British Waterways grant needs to be cut drastically.. I fear maintenance will be a minimum this year..

We decided to move up a bit yesterday.. and now we are taking a couple of days off just to relax..

No rapids on the Kennet & Avon Canal!

Goring to Theale, River Thames and K&A Canal, 21.5 miles 10 locks

We made it to this year’s winter home waterway!!.. and, as we go through Reading town centre, ..

I put away the blue and white Portsmouth scarf… we beat ‘em today at Fratton Park 3–1

Woooosh we're off to Goring on Thames!

Abingdon to Goring, River Thames, 20 miles 6 locks

A phone call today to two of the locks downstream from our mooring of this week, “Amber!” “Amber!” and it was go, go, go!.. We pulled the pins breathing a sigh of relief that the ‘Red’ strong stream had been changed to ‘Amber’ increased stream.. A look back at Abingdon Wier showed that there is still quite a hefty stream of water coming down the river…

It was yesterday, it was important it didn’t rain or we might have had to go back upstream and spend the winter on the Oxford canal, but a beautiful morning it was yesterday, a lovely scene early on the river with the mist rising …

And today was nice too, as we pinged along at over 6 mph, breaking the speed limit!!.. But with excuse, the river is still running fast, and power is needed to keep No Problem in the centre of the river round the sweeping bends. 

It only happens on rivers… well mainly.. Approaching a lock there were two tuppaware cruisers on the lock layby spread out so I couldn’t get No Problem on the mooring.. it was OK, there was no stream or weirs, so I just hung back.  Into the lock they went and I noticed the lock was unmanned as the boat crews were winding wheels.  I tied No Problem to the lock moorings.  Vic went to the lock while I stayed to make some tea.. When I looked out there was Vic madly winding the wheel of the downstream sluices.. oh it’s over 200 turns to get the sluices up or down then another 200 or so to open the gates! .. I made my way over to help.. “Hey how come you are doing all that.. why didn’t those crews stay to help?” “Heh they just said ‘You need to wind the sluices down and shut the gates to get your boat through the lock’ and just went off!”  Said Vic..

Unreal!! They just opened the bottom gates, jumped on their boats and left the lock with the bottom gates open!! 

We had to wait 15 minutes or so for the lock keeper to arrive back from lunch at Benson Lock…

Well it would have taken us more time than that to get through the lock.. they are not automated you see when the Lock keepers are not about.. well one or two of them are now.. anyway it was nice to take a break for a while.. the river looks so tranquil in the picture, but for sure it is half wild in places at the moment!!

Moving quickly downstream,  it wasn’t too long till Goring Lock came into sight, always such a beautiful view on the approach.  The hills are close, and the river feels like it is going through a gorge.. 

A huge job to stop on the visitor moorings after the lock.. oh boy, the water was running fast.. only just managed to stop in the end, but I had post to pick up here!.. The chap on one of the boats moored here came out to help stop NP.. “Two days ago you would have had no chance at all of stopping here” says he..

Early start tomorrow.. we aim to be off the river and on to the narrow peaceful water of the Kennet & Avon Canal by early afternoon.. phew!!

Tapping fingers on table time on the River Thames ..

Moored Abingdon. River Thames

Yep still here .. but I have updated the picture albums today, and now if you have a flick through you will see all the photos of this summer over in East Anglia. 

I am hopeful of moving tomorrow.. not much to write about.. been catching up on stuff that needed doing!

Hire boats are big at Abingdon!!

Moored Abingdon, River Thames

Hey look at this…

WOW, its a hire boat!!

Actually this pic taken this morning shows how the river is flowing.. tis fast, tis still in the red.  No Problem is still moored at Abingdon!  Hire boat people don’t worry about the river being in the red, they just go.. mind you with a boat like that, spose they need not worry.. when it did pull away, there was quite a wash.. ummm plenty of power there!

This is one of Blakes Boats.. very posh it was too..

But upstream from Abingdon was ‘yellow’ (increasing stream) all the way to Oxford, but downstream it is ‘red’ (strong stream) all the way to Reading.  Three of the locks on the Thames are shut until March next year on 1st November… Let’s hope the weather forecast for this area is correct.. we should now get two dry days followed by a day of light rain followed by a dry day.. I think we will make it.. Surely downstream will go ‘yellow’.. well only 40 miles to go to the Kennet and Avon!

Waiting safely at Abingdon

Moored Abingdon, River Thames

Still here we are tonight.  So just a quickie blog to update.  Some boats did travel on the river today, but I am not happy to do so with most of the locks in the ‘red’ strong stream advice.  I am not sure that our insurance will cover us if we make a move anyway.  Hopefully tomorrow we will be on the move, it has been a lovely day today.. am enjoying relaxing to be honest

Abingdon it is then for the weekend

Weekend and today Moored Abingdon, River Thames

Wendie, Dan and grandchildren Niamh and Kiera visited this weekend, oh and the dogs Tilly and Buddy too.. it sure was a full boat this time, but everyone was happy, and spag bog went down well with everyone on Saturday..

Hey look at that youngster tucking in!!

The river was ‘in the red’ this weekend, the Thames is flowing fast beside us here in Abingdon.  Today we have spent relaxing and catching up on mail which Wendie brought up, and a trip to the town to replenish the food stocks.  We are hoping to move tomorrow, but the rain is coming down again quite hard, we will phone the Environment Agency in the morning to see if the river is navigable.. we can’t move while it is in a state of red which means a strong flow.. stay where you are!

Still, it couldn’t be a better place to get stuck, look what I have outside my window…

The Magical Thames is flowing fast..

Today – Kidlington to Abingdon, Oxford Canal and River Thames, 15 miles 10 locks
Yesterday – Moored Kidlington

Had a day off travelling yesterday, and caught up with some bits and pieces of paperwork and generally relaxing.  We have been moving fairly quickly the last few weeks as we need to be past Newbury on the K&A Canal before one of the locks there shuts for winter maintenance.

This morning we made an early start and went through the first lock before tying up again to chop up a huge branch of wood I had spied the evening before while walking Lucy.. With the roof full of lovely beech logs it was on down the canal just a few bridges to meet Jane from the Floating Farm Shop at Kirtlington who had kindly brought me some special baskets full of goodies that I wanted for Christmas pressies.. I did buy one when I was there, and she said to me that she could make me up some more and catch us up on the canal.. she did!

We turned right and went through Dukes Cut Lock and on to the magical River Thames.. it was fast flowing today, well only to be expected, we did have some quite heavy rain last night.. but now we would be spoilt because all the locks would be operated by Lock Keepers.. easy peasy.. The locks on the Thames are always so well kept…

I wonder if they have a competition amongst themselves for the best kept lock!

I did get myself into trouble at the notorious Osney Lock.. a very narrow channel leading to the lock and the well protected weirs.. I didn’t get No Problem onto the lock landing and got taken across to the other side, and fair bumped into the heavy wooden sleepers that protect the weir.  Even had a few books on the floor inside No Problem such was the broadside thud.. It was just past 1pm, and the locks ‘close for lunch’ so plenty of time to recover before the lockie came back to let us through..

Then onwards, in some places we were doing 7 mph, I turned on the gps to see how fast we were travelling, I enjoyed whizzing along, it reminded me of the River Trent which we travelled down a couple of years ago at a much faster speed on the tidal bit.. lots and lots of kingfishers on the trip today, and I got lucky and have one for the album…

Nicely settled this evening at Abingdon.. it’s been a long day today…

A visit to the farm shop before going down the River Cherwell

Kirtlington to Kidlington, Oxford Canal, 5.25 miles 3 locks

We pulled the pins this morning on one of my most favourite of moorings by the huge quarry at Kirtlington….

This place has a mystical feel about it.  The last time we were here was was earlier in the year, when the family visited and we stayed a couple of days.  In the quarry itself there are fossils to be found and there is plenty of information about the old cement works that used to be here, plus it is a Nature Reserve.  Cherwell District Council now have control over the site and surrounding areas, and give boaters the opportunity to moor for 24 hours in this delightful spot. 

Shortly after leaving our overnight mooring we reached the farm shop.  The farm shop (nice article last month) is in fact aboard NB Pan, (So aptly named as Jane is forever stirring one making this and that) and I bought a few bits and bobs, and a few Christmas presents as well.  I ventured into the kitchen to find Jane hard at work making a beetroot chutney.  “I picked them this morning” says she stirring the huge pan full of the most delicious smell.. “I will let it bubble away for a few hours then taste it and see if it needs anything added”….

She will then bottle it all, store it for a good three months and then put it on sale for a price of just over £2 a bottle.  There you go Mark ‘A’ a photo for you as promised.  Onward then to the Cherwell, and yes the river was up a bit, in the amber as we dropped down Bakers Lock and joined the slow running river.  I was surprised it was in the amber, it was a bit high but hardly running.. there are markers at the two locks each end of the river part of the Oxford Canal, green means levels are normal and continue.. amber means it is passable but with care, and red means you cannot navigate the river, it is too dangerous.. Oh this bit of river is lovely though….

And out through Shipton Weir Lock.. two boats at a time through this one..

Before we arrived at Thrupp British Waterways Services, we passed Shipton railway bridge, well the one bridge in the foreground is in use and all that is left of another railway bridge just the other side of it in the picture.  There are uprights each side of the canal, no bridge span anymore.. 

It was at this bridge on Christmas Eve in 1874 that a train derailed right on top of the bridge and nine of the carriages fell into the canal which was frozen at the time.  This killed 34 people.  I always find it quite eerie passing this spot, and imagine how it must have been all those years ago with the train in the canal and the panic of all the people in the frozen water..

This is a book swap, at the services at Thrupp..

while the water is filling we can browse the shelves and swap books from our narrowboat that we have read for other reading!  A few pence in the box going to a childrens charity for the privilege.. lots of information too on the notice boards, and bus timetable.  A warden is needed here, there is an advert for the appointment of a warden to look after all the mooring as well as cutting the grass… says it would suit an active retired couple… is that discrimination these days to say ‘active’?.. Anyway a free mooring is available.. it is a nice mooring too!.. But I do like to travel, so not for us me thinks!

Lots of boats through the first part of Kidlington.. some quite tatty ones at that, but we have gone a little further tonight and have settled just before the next lock.. need a day off, might stay here tomorrow before going down Dukes Cut to join the magical Thames..

Winter has begun as we travel south along the Cherwell Valley

Chisnell Lift Bridge to Kirtlington, Oxford Canal, 8 miles 5 locks

It was a misty morning when I opened the curtains, but the air was still.  I had been woken well before 8am by a narrowboat flying by, then stopping in a heap just before striking the lift bridge behind No Problem..  Someone was in a hurry and to hell with those still in bed. .. Out on the towpath after breakfast the scene was once again tranquil…

I could have had another 40 minutes in bed, because when we got to the first lock, Somerton Deep Lock there was a boat just about to go down.. and Moore2Life was in front of me.. so had to wait for 3 fills of the deep 12ft lock before we could get on our way.  But I wasn’t in a hurry and had a bit of fun with the camera while waiting.. here is Moore2Life exiting the lock

It was coats on today, and it was very noticeable that winter is just round the corner.  The acorns were gently plopping into the canal, the leaves falling from the trees.. colours turning to golden glows.  The smoke from our chimney was lingering low in the still dank air.. yep time I think to put in the antifreeze.

Played I spy today too…

Mike Stevens’ narrowboat Felis Catus III.  Mike has one of the largest waterways sites on the internet with some very interesting articles… He is also running a ‘Save our Waterways’ campaign..

“My other web site, about the campaign against DEFRA's cuts to the budgets of British Waterways and the Environment Agency. Please tell everybody about this site.”

We have settled this evening at one of our favourite spots, the quarry moorings near Kirtlington.  Just as we moored Mark of NB Dusty stopped by and gave out leaflets to us.  The diesel and coal boat has changed hands, and Phil and Tracy have given it up to Mark Boardman who will be plying his trade along the Oxford Canal. 

The Granny Buttons Game at Somerton..

After my effort the other day of getting a ‘picture postcard photo’ I decided to have another go at Somerton Deep Lock and play the Granny Buttons Game..

Up a bit, down a bit, round a bit and….*click* went the camera.  Got it! 

The only difference is the mist.. like they say “If you have seen the mist, then you have missed the scene”.. Andrew Denny didn’t miss the scene back in May this year when he took his picture below..…

 

SNAP!… Oh and Happy Birthday Andrew!

Visitors stop us canalside through Kings Sutton..

Williamscot to Chisnell Lift Bridge (193), Oxford Canal, 11 miles 8 locks

It was lunchtime before we moved out of Banbury, although we had arrived on Sunday night from Williamscot as there were quite a few bits and bobs to do in the nursery rhyme town.

But Saturday saw the first day in ages that I ventured out on a longish walk across the countryside with Lucy. 

I thought she would be ready as she had done a day on the towpath of over 8 miles a few days ago. But it is the stiles that can be a bother if she can’t get ‘through’ them.  I need not have worried, she pinged over the top of most, there were a couple of very high ones which I gave her a helping hand over.. blimey I could have done with a helping hand over them as well!!

There was a lovely box of apples in the village of Williamscot as I was passing with a big sign “Help yourself!”  Yum, there were all sorts of apples, lovely eaters and cookers, so it was apple crumble for tea on Saturday night!

So this morning after collecting post from the Post Office, a call into Morrisons by the wood yard.  They had some meat and potato pies thank goodness, and they went down well for tea tonight.  Paul Balmer phoned, he had been over to Fenny Compton to see how his new narrowboat is looking a couple of weeks into the fit-out there.. and he and his wife Christine met us on the towpath near Kings Sutton Bridge.. we pulled over for a cuppa and a chat!

The River Cherwell was now running close beside us just the other side of the towpath, and it was at normal levels for this time of year, although last week it did flood after all that heavy rain, and here is the effect of that…

This huge area is covered in water and frequented by swans and seagulls.. glad we weren’t here last week, we would never have got under Nell Bridge.  Between Nell Bridge and Aynho Lock the river runs across the canal, and if it is high then the headroom under Nell Bridge can become very low!!.. But not low today as Moore2Life exits the lock and under the bridge..

It was most amazing at this lock.. over that bridge is a very busy main road, and the towpath changes sides, so after working the lock the crew then have to go up to the road and careful cross it over the bridge and down the other side to meet the emerging boat.  Well Lucy must have remembered it, because no sooner had I arrived in the lock than she jumped on board and laid down in her normal position without even being told to get on the boat!!

This evening we have stopped just the other side of the first lift bridge that we need to lift, Chisnell Lift Bridge, the others have all in in the open position...  in fact it was here on our way to the fens early in the year that Lucy saved the day when No Problem got stuck on the far side of the canal from the towpath.. click here to take a look.. There is no wind here tonight..

That classic pic at Cropredy

Moored Williamscot, Oxford Canal

Further to my blog yesterday Paul has sent me the link to HIS classic pic at Cropredy taken by his son Andrew, and it is much more interesting and significant than either Andrew's or mine.  In fact it is when his new boat was put in the water on arrival there from Reeves the shell builder a couple of weeks ago!.. I think my mind is playing tricks on me because I only looked at this pic the other day when going to Paul’s site to see how things were going, I couldn’t have taken it in properly, because I was searching all over for it, but I was looking for a hire boat.. Paul’s usual way of travelling the waterways.. that is, until April next year!

Mike of NB Globetrotter showed a picture of Chris’s boat Serius on his blog last month.. On the way through Reading they were.. Globetrotter was also daubed in the night, but Serius seems to have attracted a rather twisted graffiti writer..

We will be passing through Reading soon, ‘passing through’ being the important bit!!

A new windlass for Vic, and been there - got the photo etc!

Cropredy to Williamscot, Oxford Canal, 1 mile 1 lock

Alexander contacted me a couple of weeks ago.. “I have a windlass you might like to have”…

Alexander had his own boat a few years ago, and ‘invented’ his own way of getting through the Claydon and Cropredy lock flights.  He moored his boat in Cropredy, and was often up and down these two flights.  It’s the paddle gear. you see, that makes the flights difficult, but Alexander overcame that with his ratchet windlass!  All home made it is, and you can just about see it in Vic’s hands in the pic..

We pulled the pins on Cropredy in the early afternoon to travel just a short way into the countryside.  We had planned on going to Banbury for the weekend, but we were warned of a Festival in Banbury this weekend.  I googled it, and sure enough The Banbury Folk Festival!  I suppose I wouldn’t have minded going to that, but Vic was not keen, so a quieter weekend was planned.

Vic couldn’t wait to try ‘his’ new windlass out..(I will get my turn on it!), and once No Problem was in the lock at Cropredy he used it to lift the paddle on the bottom gates… WOW!.. ratchet, ratchet, ratchet!… Magic stuff!!

This windlass works on a ratchet system making it so much easier to turn the stiff lock gear.  Thankyou so much Alexander. . It has a good home, and will be one of Vic’s favourite toys tools for sure.

There were a couple of youngsters watching my antics at the main bridge at Cropredy.. and there was I making a complete fool of myself.. but I had to have it.  After all Paul Balmer told me that Andrew Denny has one, as well as himself.. Although I can’t find the one on Paul’s blog.. In the email from Paul…

“When you get to Cropredy - don't forget to moor in the correct place and climb onto the parapet at the end of the bridge to take the classic picture”

But I couldn’t get on the darn parapet.. I am not as agile as I used to be and I couldn’t just jump up there.  Ann (NB Moore2Life) started trying to shove my bum up the wall and we both ended up in heap laughing till our sides hurt.. weakness then set in and I had to walk away!  I hadn’t been able to moor No Problem in the most ideal place as there was another narrowboat moored just behind her, needed to be back a bit to be perfect.. but I did it!.. I eventually scrambled up the wall and with camera in hand, trying to steady my shaking legs got ‘the classic picture’.. Just like Andrew’s

Dinky toy locks at Napton and Claydon.. but it's not me on the sill!

Napton to Cropredy, Oxford Canal, 15 miles 17 locks

Phew a busy day today for sure!! A good ol’ 9–5 job, well 9.30 to 5.30 actually with a break for lunch!

We pulled the pins this morning from The Folly at Napton on a glorious morning, not a cloud in the sky, and here is my view of Napton Bottom Lock through the gates on the second lock of the day..

From here it was just a steady climb to the top at Marston Doles, and Vic and I worked the locks together.. here Vic making use of the boathook to reach across to pull the far gate closed..

Hey just look at the weather!.. This is such a beautiful flight of locks, I am so pleased we didn’t attempt it yesterday in the rain.  The views across the countryside are as stunning as anywhere in England, and moreso on a day like this…

I am very surprised at the number of boats on the move on the canal, we must have passed 10 or 12 on their way down this flight of eight.  At one lock there was a queue of four boats waiting to go down.  A lot of hire boats too.  This could be due to prices being much lower for hiring at this time of year than in the summer, or maybe the hireboat companies are cutting prices for late deals..

This is one of my most favourite bridges on the whole canal system.  It is a footbridge, and it sags so much in the middle that I have to take a line to the left or right or it would take off the chimney!!…

We pulled into Cowroast Marina at Fenny Compton about lunch time, well not actually into the marina, we moored outside.  The reason was to go over to Steven Goldsbrough’s yard to have a look at Paul Balmer’s narrowboat which has not long arrived there for fit out from Reeves.  It’s looking good Paul!

I got rid of a few more tomatoes today, (I ordered 6 punnets instead of 6 single ones from Tesco!) and on the menu for lunch was tomato soup again!!.. still it is very moorish, and there is some left over for tomorrow too!  I think we will look like tomatoes soon.. Having enjoyed that, we got under way again hoping to make Cropredy this evening.  I have some post to collect from Cropredy, and forgot until this morning that they close at 12.30 on a Friday and don’t open again until Monday morning.. so I have to be there tomorrow..  On then…

This is a lovely part of the canal, Fenny Compton ‘tunnel’.  There is no tunnel now, in fact the tunnel was taken away over 100 years ago, which has left this lovely deep cutting.  It is narrow and crossed by several bridges, the lightest coloured one in the pic was built in 2002 and carries A423 across the canal.

After the huge locks of the River Nene and their guillotine gates these narrow locks are almost dinky toy size, they take such a short time to fill and empty, but here on the last lock of the day we had a reminder of the River Nene, as water was pouring over the top gates just like it does on the river locks..

But although these locks look easy, we had a reminder today not to get complacement when working through them.  NB Lubley Jubley (I think that was it) was in front of us going down the Claydon Flight, and as I arrived at one I saw that a windlass (key that winds up the lock paddles) had flown off and hit the lady working the lock right full in the face.  I quickly tied up No Problem and went to help.  The man had got off his boat to check on his wife.. the other paddle was still open and the lock was emptying quickly.. it was a 70ft boat.. the inevitable happened and it got caught on the sill (The masonry beneath a lock gate, sometimes projecting several feet from the gate) ... I shouted, and ran to drop the paddles to stop any more water going out of the lock, and ran back the other end to let water in to refloat the boat.

The lady will sure have a huge black eye tomorrow she was lucky to get away with that, and the narrowboat may have to come out of the water.. the rudder bar came out of the skeg.. ie he couldn’t steer it.  Vic made some running repairs with a sledgehammer, and it seemed to steer a bit better ..

There is a safety catch on the lock paddle gear which should be engaged when winding up lock paddles.. it is there so that if the windlass slips out of your hand it will hold firm stopping a windlass spinning on the cog and flying off at tremendous speed in any direction hitting whatever parts of humans are in the way.. This lady did not engage the safety catch..

So we kocked the pins in at Cropredy this evening after a very enjoyable day.. very satisfying too, it’s not often we have such a long day with so many locks..

Rain puts us back a day at Napton

Moored Napton, Southern Oxford Canal

It was a very wet day today so we decided to stay at Napton.  Tesco delivered a small order, and we watched out the window while narrowboat upon narrowboat moved up and down the Napton flight of locks.  The steerers had long faces, they were absolutely soaking.  I wondered why they were travelling.. spose they had a reason.

I wandered up to the village shop come post office during a short break in the weather at lunchtime to get some ingredience for a special meal this evening.  Well Tesco had delivered some diced turkey this morning.. I didn’t order it, it just was in one of the bags when I unpacked it.  Our meal tonight was a bit gormet.. it was yummy for sure.  Well it was nice to have ‘a day off’, and I fancied doing some cooking today.  I also made some gingernut biscuits and some shrewsbury biscuits, now the biscuit barrel is full..

Lucy is doing really well, over the weekend she started putting all four feet on the ground at walking pace, such a relief to see her actually using it.  For those not regularly reading this blog, Lucy had a horrendous accident back in May for which she has had two operations on a hip joint.  So now it is a slow pace walk for me keeping her at heal.  I do need not to overdo her though, I guess her pads will get sore as she has not been using that leg for so long. 

Here a view across to the windmill taken yesterday as we arrived at Napton.  There are a variety of animals in this field, always is, and we never know what is going to be in the field each time we arrive.  This time it was full of ponies and brown sheep.  There was one cow.. and Ann of NB Moore2Life took a pic of a deer lying in the field making the most of all the company it had.  I am hoping that it is put on their blog later.

We will go up the flight in the morning, the forecast is good.  It does mean we are a day behind schedule, but we will make that up somewhere no doubt.. heh better that getting a soaking for sure!

That dreadful tunnel catches me out, but it's party time in Braunston

Saturday to Tuesday – Norton Junction to Napton, Grand Union and Oxford Canals, 12 miles 6 locks

Braunston tunnel was just awful for me this time, I wasn’t in the mood to travel through on Saturday, but John Sinclair was going to meet us the other end to help us down the locks having visited us at Norton in the morning.  I was OK until two boats entered the tunnel close together.. I hit the side of the tunnel as the first one’s bow edged towards me which threw me into the passing boat, and with my confidence shattered smacked the other a heavy glancing blow as I went by.  Here is a picture that is impossible for me to take, No Problem exiting the tunnel.. thanks to John for the pic …

Talking to Chas at the top of the locks, he too hit both boats in the tunnel.. now that is unusual for him, he informed me that both boats were taking a bad line towards the centre of the tunnel hence why I glanced them a blow.  It did make me feel a bit better that Moore2Life had done the same as No Problem! 

“Braunston is busy” shouted Les, and I spied him on the towpath half way down the flight.  Last time I had met Les was last year at Priory Marina in Bedford on the River Gt Ouse.. of course since then NB Valerie has been built and Les has been doing a fair bit of travelling.. Here is another nice photo from John’s camera as No Problem and Moore2Life descend the locks to Braunston..

Les was quite right, Braunston was very full, and there was nowhere to moor at all around Butchers Bridge.  I settled No Problem alongside NB Valerie, while Moore2Life stopped at the bottom lock chandlers to pick up some new batteries.  Homemade soup all round then, and the bread tasted good too!

So party night it was on Saturday aboard No Problem.. There were a good few at the party too!…

Les and John facing, with Ann and Les’s mate John on the left, Vic, Charles and of course Lucy on the right.  I was sat where I took the pic from.. see plenty of room aboard No Problem!

A knock on the door on Sunday morning from Jenny and Mike who read the blog from Spain,they are over here on holiday on a hire boat.  They are looking forward to perhaps coming back from Spain to ‘live the dream’ It was nice to meet you both .

Then a stroll along the towpath on Sunday morning catching up with acquaintances, stories and rumours, an amazing place.. tis the ‘hub’ of the canal system is Braunston somehow, “Like the centre of the Universe” thinks Chas.. Anyway then I spied..

Then I noticed a narrowboat by the waterpoint that had a ‘home port’ of Godmanchester on the side.. I started chatting to the owners, and it emerged that they too read the blog, so it was Hi to Vickie and Ian.  Nice to have met you both too!

Jumped on the bus to Daventry on Monday with Chas and Ann, who had to go to the dentist, and on Tuesday morning I popped into Braunston for a pint of milk before saying a fond farewell to Les, I do hope our paths cross again next year, who knows.. and we made our way out of Braunston having missed Angela Jefferies (NB Liberty Belle) by a couple of minutes because of my trip to the village.. Hi Angela and Trevor, sorry to have missed you this time..

I played I spy today and here is the first one…

NB Balmaha, who we had met often travelling back up the Nene this last week or so.. a quick wave to Mo and Ness.. I wonder how long it will be ‘till we see them again.. not too long I hope.. have a good winter you two!! .. The pulling into Wigrams Marina at Napton Junction….

NB Quidditch!  Plenty of bloggers about then around this area at the moment!

Filled up with diesel here, at 52p a litre.  Before being taken out to lunch by John Sinclair.. Thanks John  …  followed by a ‘walk-thru’ of John’s narrowboat moored at the far end of the Marina.. what a lovely boat it is too.. Made in Poland under the brand of Aqualine Manhattan.  Settled tonight near the Folly at the bottom of the Napton Flight of locks.. tranquil here after the razamataz of the last few days..

Busy, busy as we climb to Norton Junction

Whilton Bottom Lock to Norton Junction, Grand Union Canal, 1.25 miles, 7 locks

Bottom to top today of the Whilton/Buckby lock flight.  The weather stated off just fine, but it wasn’t long before those locking were getting very wet indeed.. I was OK… Ah that pram canopy on the back of No Problem is a dream!

On the way up, I popped in to see Richard of Bedazzled.com, I had seen one of his adverts on the side of the canal at the bottom lock.  He showed me the most awesome display of LED lighting for a narrowboat.  I have always been interested in this type of lighting, but always thought that the white light would be too ‘blue’ to be any good.  But things have changed.. the white light really is quite white now.  I suppose the technology has got better.  I saw this type of lighting on Mo and Vanessa’s narrowboat Balmaha, Mo had fitted some strips of LED bulbs under the gunnels in the saloon, and it looked absolutely fantastic.. it is on my wish list now..

So we pulled the pins this morning mid morning to make our way up the locks to Norton Junction some 2 hours away.. Lucy is enjoying locking No Problem through here….

“Ha, here’s me looking at you!” Lucy seems to be saying!   I’ll tell you what though, the bottom gates on this flight are sooooo heavy, in fact there was one gate that was impossible to move, Vic and Ann of NB Moore2Life couldn’t shift it between them!.. There were a lot of boats on this flight today, in fact we passed 10 boats coming in the opposite direction through the 7 locks, but we eventually reached the top with the rain still coming down..

Mr Tesco delivered a home delivery order to us along the towpath here at Norton Junction.  It is handy for his van, he can drive right along beside all the boats moored up, so we really do get a doorstep delivery.  But oh dear, oh dear.. on putting all the goodies away Vic said “A punnet of Tomatoes”… “Err Another punnet of tomatoes”.. then “Opps tomatoes again” .. “Ah three more punnets in this bag”… EEK!

I had done the classic.. I only wanted 6 tomatoes, but had ordered punnets of instead of single ones!!  Now normally I do a quick check of what is in the bags when Mr Tesco delivers, this evening I didn’t.. more interested in chatting to Mr Tesco I was.  He remembered delivering to No Problem when we were moored in Rugby last year..

So this evening I have made a huge pot of homemade soup… yes tomato of course!.. It won’t go to waste, John Sinclair is lending a hand tomorrow to see us down the Braunston Flight, and I expect I can persuade Chas and Ann to have a bowl.. I will make a loaf of bread to go with it in the morning too..  Its the tunnel tomorrow, but an incentive to get through.. I do believe Les of NB Valerie is in Braunston!

Busy day, but we don't move from Whilton Locks

Moored Whilton Bottom Lock, Grand Union Canal

A ‘rest day’ for us today.. but I have had plenty lined up to do .. the family phone contracts are all up, and it is down to me to find the best deals on the internet for their new contracts for next year.  Trouble is they want the latest phones “I gotta have that one Mum!”   There are pink ones and lilac ones, and some phones you need a magnifying glass for to see the bloomin’ keys!!… There is nothing like the good ol’ Nokia 3510i.. Hey it’s a good phone that, I can see the keys, it isn’t complicated and it rings loud enough for me to hear, and long enough for me to get to it!

So today instead of doing narrowboat things I have been having fun finding the best tariffs and phones around.. so all the phones are the same as last year.. 12 months free line rental and a new phone!  You have to send in the bills on time to get a cheque back quarterly, but last year everything worked well and we all had a free phone and free calls for all!

I took the opportunity to also have a look at the new datacard from T Mobile.  I had been speaking to Mo of NB Balmaha, and Mo is on T Mobile for his connection to the internet.. “I pay £20 a month for unlimited data.. well capped at 2GB” Says Mo … WOW now that is pretty good… I pay £52 for unlimited with Orange capped at 1GB.. I also noticed that Mo had some very good reception, 3g in a lot of places that Orange only gave me gprs, so I investigated…..

“Not only is it the first HSDPA-enabled data card to be offered by a major network in the UK, but it's also quad-band and has integrated Wi-Fi. T-Mobile is currently offering the card with a voucher that allows free use of its Wi-Fi hotspots for 12 months.”

Well my contract is up with Orange at the beginning of next month.. so I am going for this one.  What does interest me is the HSDPA, which I have not yet got my head totally around but…. I am learning slowly with the help of reviews like this (click here)

Anyway, it will save me £32 a month, plus I will be able to watch some webcams, listen to some music, listen to Radio Oxford, in particular Paul Miller at 10pm each evening and on Sunday afternoon the Irish music program from 2pm ‘till 4, .. well lots of stuff I have not been able to do since leaving life between bricks and mortar and broadband.

OK, OK, I am sorry to those who come to my blog daily.. I have probably completely gone over the heads of most, but life aboard No Problem is not only about ducks, locks and the odd moan about narrowboats speeding past you know!

Talking of WiFi.. and at last I have got my head round that word, we are moored outside the Whilton Marina and they have WiFi, but I can’t use it because I need a password for it.. but looking on their website there is nothing on there to say that they have WiFi.. Maybe Andrew might be able to throw some light on that?

Entertainment all the way to Whilton!

Bugbrooke to Whilton (Bottom Lock), Grand Union Canal, 7 miles 0 locks

Brrrrrrrrrr there was a nip in the air this morning for sure, although there was not a cloud in the sky.  We had lit the fire last night and was pleased that we did, it was still alight this morning warming us as we got up.  I took Lucy for an early walk along the towpath and clicked the shutter on the camera on what look like the first wintry scene of the year with smoke emerging from the chimney. 

Moored here are No Problem, Moore2Life and Balmaha.  Yes… Mo and Vanessa back with us again, and we had another great evening aboard No Problem last night.

We were going to have a rest day today, but the weather forecast for tomorrow is awful, so decided to move on and have that rest day tomorrow instead.  All three boats had their pins pulled and a convoy of bloggers set off down the cut!!.. We overtook Mo and Vanessa, leaving them to remove something from the prop, but a quick stop at Nether Heyford for some fish bait saw them pass us again!

I am absolutely amazed at the number of boats moored along the towpath… Maybe it is because I have been on the quiet rivers of the East that I have forgotten, but there seems to be so many more. 

Today we saw a lot of different types of boats some without a licence, name or number

 

Some with a licence, name and number…

there were musical ones…

Sunken ones….

And some pretty smart ones too!!….

A right mixture today

Balmaha here moored at the bottom of Whilton Locks.  We have stayed here this evening while Mo and Vanessa have gone up the locks to the top, Norton Junction, hopefully we will see them at the weekend in Braunston.

Mind you it is a bit noisy here with the railway close by on one side and the M1 humming away on the other.  Lucy has enjoyed her day running most of the 7 miles on the towpath.  She is still doing that on three legs after her accident, she seems happy enough about it all, and didn’t ask to come aboard once.  She remembered too her training on the towpath when a bike came along from behind her and the bell was rung.  She immediately laid down just off the main path to allow the cyclist through.. well the guy was so flabagasted at her actions that he nearly fell off into the canal.. recovering from his wobble he slowly rode past her not really believing what he was seeing!

Quietly on to Bugbrooke being careful of course...

Gayton to Bugbrooke, Grand Union Canal, 3.5 miles 0 locks

A short and quiet day today after the effort of yesterday up the Rothersthorpe Flight.. “mind the bridge”, “watch out there’s a boat coming”, careful those trees are overhanging a lot”, “ooops it’s a bit shallow”... Ah we must be back on the canal system!

We pulled the pins late this morning from our overnight mooring above the Rothersthorpe Locks, and called in at Gayton Junction to ‘do the services’… An opportunity to do a bit of recycling as well…

Also popped into the farm across the road to get some of their excellent fresh eggs.. they were selling pickled onions today too, but I have a fresh jar in the larder.. pity.

The right turn onto the Grand Union Canal and a crawl past the first line of boats on both sides of the cut. We didn’t have to slow down much on the rivers when passing boats because rivers are so very deep, and water does not ‘draw’ past No Problem like it does on the shallow canals.  On through the first bridge of the day taking care not to touch the narrow sides as we passed through the bridge hole.  It is surprising how I have got out of the habit of precision steering on the tiller.. much more to be careful of on the canals.. can’t just sit back and point like on the rivers.

Coming up the Rothersthorpe flight yesterday, I was on tiller duty, so had time to notice this and that as I sat on the back of No Problem while Vic and John locked her through.. there was some graffiti about, but this one amazed me..

 

I wondered who the artist was trying to portrait.. I wondered if it might be his mother shouting at him for skipping school.. or maybe the artist was someone older portraiting Mrs Thatcher.. but whatever, I know I shouldn’t admire really, but I was impressed with this bit of artwork.

I enjoyed the short trip to Bugbrooke today, although it had started to rain.  The back canopy was up though and we stayed dry.  There were a lot of boats moored during that 3 mile trip, and lots of boats passed us.  During the summer perhaps the number of boats passing us today in that hour we would maybe have seen in a whole week!  But I did enjoy and thought that it was indeed good to be back as they say.

We have done an itinerary now to get us to Newbury by the first week of November.  It has been a few years since we were on the Kennet and Avon Canal, got to know it well, and I must admit I am really looking forward not only to that canal, but also to our cruise to it.

Bugbrook is nice although there is a railway close by, but to be honest I haven’t really noticed the sound of the trains this evening.  Late this afternoon Chas and Ann came in and announced that Mo and Vanessa of NB Balmaha had moored up just behind us after coming up from Northampton today… Ah Ha!!  Party time!!  

Grand Union welcomes us with a Red Carpet!!

Weston Favell to Gayton, River Nene and Grand Union Northampton Branch, 6.25 miles 20 locks

Saturday saw us through Cogenhoe and past Mo and Vanessa (NB Balmaha), we slowed to a stop for a final chat on the Nene, hoping to meet again this week on the Grand Union Canal somewhere…

And onward while the weather was good to our destination for the rest of the weekend Weston Favell.  This is on the outskirts of Northampton on some pontoons within the wash land area where excess water from the river is stored in huge lakes.  It is very open, there is a ton of wildlife in the area too, there is only a fraction of the wildlife on the canal system to what we have seen on the rivers this summer.. I chose the right day of the weekend to travel.. Sunday we had ugly skies….

This pic is looking towards Northampton about 2 miles in the distance… oh boy it sure did rain too!!

Time then on Sunday to reflect on our summer in the East.. We have enjoyed it very much, although it has been a bit of a ‘hit and miss’ summer, not really sure where we were going most of the time.. Vic had to visit the hospital in Oxford a few times with an ongoing circulation problem in his legs, and Lucy having that dreadful accident in May meaning many many visits to various vets and vet hospitals for operations and care…

Mind you today, bless her, she just couldn’t wait to get back to ‘her towpaths’.. but before we returned back to the world of towpaths there were a couple of locks to do from Weston Favell…

Last year this one was crowded with gongoozlers and I remember really bumping NP on the wall just outside it… mind you it was windy, not so today.. a beautiful morning.. hey this was at 8.30am too.. middle of the night for me.. we had pulled the pins on Weston Favell at 8am.. and I think we probably made Northampton quicker than the traffic on the A45 which I could see was at a crawl as we left our mooring!!

On then to Northampton town lock.. lovely one this…

Then a stop at Morrisons, really handy just before the ‘yellow bridge’ about 200 yards above this lock.  If you can be bothered to walk the trolly back for the pound coin in it, you can actually bring the trolly right to the boat.. I am far too lazy to do that, and prefer to leave the trolly at Morrisons and carry back a two ton rucksack, breaking my back in the process!!.. Ha!!

Teehee… But I knew once I started that engine again then it was goodbye to the wonderful rivers of the east of england… I got fed up last year having to leave this area.. felt much the same this year, but we do need to be further south in the winter.. family want to visit and it’s too much to ask them to journey to the east from the south coast.. sooooooooooo

Back to British Waterways.. through the first lock and…………………………….

Great start!!…. so a wait here while the dredging was going on before continuing under the bridge to pick up a carpet on our prop!! ..

It was a pleasure to catch up with John Sinclair again.. well he caught up with us actually as we were late on our estimated arrival at the bottom of the flight of 13 locks which are close together … John helped us down the flight on my birthday in May, and here he was again to see us back on to the system….

So we are now moored above the top lock.. I suppose it’s OK being back on the canals.. must mean it’s getting near Christmas again.. lots to do though, we need to be in Newbury at the end of the month… ah easy peasy!!