Narrowboat "Ellen"

A Weekend Near the Sea

2012-01-30T07:14:00.001-08:00

Well, we are certainly making the most of having the use of Megan’s car whilst we are over-wintering in the marina!

Last weekend we went to see our friends Jane and Ron who live near Southampton. John went to school with Ron and his twin brother, Gerald, so they have been friends for a very long time!! Jane and Ron’s son, Stephen, is a whizz with computers and, bless his heart, he took ours away with the aim of resolving the problem of the blue screen! So far, so good – we have now joined his mum, dad and fiancé, Becky, in belonging to the official fan club. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Steve.

On the Saturday we went for a lovely (lovely!) walk along the sea wall at Pennington Marshes and saw lots of wintering birds which for me, being a bit of a twitcher, was a real treat. We could see the Isle of Wight ferries coming both in and out of Lymington.

Sorry to bore those of you who are not interested in birds but there were:- redshanks (including a rarer spotted redshank), greenshanks, godwits, little egrets, turnstones, little grebes, widgeon, pochard and teal ….. for starters.

What a lovely little town Lymington is. The street market was in full swing and there are still lots of individual shops managing to survive.

Back at home there were more birds to watch! Ron and Jane only have a small garden but they have masses of different feeders which were constantly occupied by a wide variety of little birds. A nuthatch did eventually join all the goldfinches, greenfinches, sparrows and tits and grace us with his presence!

I was told by a serious-looking twitcher that this is a spotted redshank and that they are quite special.

Not only was I able to bird-watch, I also had a bit of a knitting lesson from Jane coz she’s really good at it. Megan has challenged me to knit her a tunic!!! and again - !!!!

On Saturday evening we were joined by Gerald, Dawn and Stephen. We had such a good time.

On Sunday we went out for lunch to a pub in the heart of the New Forest. What a treat to find a pub which positively welcomes dogs!

Gerald. me, John, Jane and Dawn with Maggie and Maisie. Ron, of course, was taking the photo but he looks just like his brother!

Ron with Jane.

We are now back on the boat and back to ‘normal’.

Megan is, right now, on a plane heading to Alicante.

Ben is snowboarding in France and ………………

My poor brother is down on his luck. Things have caught up with him and his health has taken a turn for the worst. He’s been told that he has a rough ride ahead. I was rather hoping that 2012 would be less upsetting and emotionally stressful than the last two years. There’s always something isn’t there?

A Tale of Two ……………… Marinas

2012-01-26T01:33:00.001-08:00

Crick – small and simple.

Mercia – vast and complex.

Yesterday we went to visit Ian, Alison and Katy ‘Potato’ Dog at Mercia marina where they are currently moored on n/b ‘Nobby’. In terms of marinas Crick and Mercia are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Mercia is huge and overflowing with facilities:-

mooring for about 750 boats
brokerage
a branch of Midland Chandlers on site
two different hire boat companies use the marina as their base
small shop selling all the essentials
tea room/cafe
three luxurious toilet/shower/laundry blocks
security gates
coal delivered to your boat! (You DO have to pay for it though!!)
Pump out and diesel
Allocated fields in which to walk dogs
and …………… a weekly (?) farmers’ market held in the car park

Nearby Willington Village also has a number of useful facilities – Post Office, small supermarket, pub, hairdressers etc. AND – it’s only a 15 minute drive to the beautiful Dove Dale within the Peak District National Park. Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Lichfield are all just a short drive away for major shops, restaurants and banks etc. A very well situated site then and, apparently all this for the same mooring fee as at Crick.

There are some holiday lodges for sale on site – altogether there will be 17 I think and planning permission has been granted for a hotel and 7 other shops. The marina has gained a David Bellamy Environmental Award. This is not like any other marina I have seen – it’s more like a Boating Village – or will be when it’s all finished. All down to personal choice and requirements I guess. Ian and Alison love it there.

Back at ‘little ‘ol Crick’ – walking around the fields and lanes it feels more like March than January :-

I forced him to have a haircut so that the new ‘titfa-tat’ had a chance of fitting!

A ‘Plug’ as in A Mention …….

Ian (Birks) has collated a collection of articles written by himself covering a wide variety of topics pertinent to boating on our inland waterways. The collection is called “Shuffling Along A Ditch” and is available from Amazon to download onto a Kindle. Bargain!

Katy, the 3rd Crew Member of n/b ‘Nobby’

How old is ‘old’?

2012-01-22T07:05:00.001-08:00

Back on Iona last Spring the young lady on the ticket desk of the Abbey gave me an age concession ……… and I hadn’t even asked!! No wonder I’m now even more despondent about my advancing years! (I’ve been in crisis about it for at least the last 18!) The years seem to have crept up on me and mine whilst we have been pre-occupied focussing on other things! I know that many people accept growing older with grace and dignity but, sorry, not me! The only positive thing about it as far as I’m concerned is that our closest friends are either:- already older, as old or nearly as old!!

Yesterday, however, I had a salutary lesson.

As we were walking past Crick Wharf along the tow path we were enthusiastically greeting by a four year old long-haired, sandy-coloured little terrier called …… Sandy! We got talking to Sandy’s owner (like you do) and, after establishing that we too are boaters, topics of conversation included the advantages of bow-thrusters when they are working properly and the disadvantages of chain saws when they are not!

THEN …………… we found out that this single-handed boatman is 84 years young!! Looking at him, I thought he was in the same decade as John! Now it might be, I hear some say, that John is wearing particularly badly ………………. but I don’t think that is really the case. This elderly gentleman is fit and very proud of his full head of hair. Sadly, his wife died a year ago and, rather than sit at home feeling lonely and sorry for himself, he decided to sell up, sell his old boat, get a new one built with everything on it that he always wanted and set off as a liveaboard. TRULY AMAZING! Only 84 years young – fit, positive, determined and courageous. An inspiration to us all.

I still hate the thought of the number of candles to be crammed onto my next birthday cake but ……………….. I will at least now attempt to blow them out with more humility than usual.

Other News

Megan is no longer with us. She is spending the rest of this week with her friend, Lynn, in Reading and flies out to Alicante next Monday.
We are still having intermittent blue screens on the computer. We have had a new drive fitted but …………… it’s still happening! We now strongly suspect dodgy dongle extension leads. (Try saying that when not sober!!) Clearly, finding the solution to this frustrating technical fault will have to be a process of elimination. If we find that it is a dodgy dongle extension lead John says he will definitely dangle the said dodgy dongle in the drink before dumping it to it’s detriment!!

Drink? Who said drink? What time is it?

Domesticity rules OK?

2012-01-15T06:33:00.001-08:00

This week my tiny little galley has been a hive of activity and lots of homemade goodies have graced the cake tins. Every now and then I have this mad impulse to bake cakes but this week I have also ventured into the baking of pizza and ……………………..

BREAD!!

Back in the summer my friend Chris on n/b ‘DuMorvan’ assured me,

“Of course you can bake bread without a bread-making machine – I do it all the time. What you have to do is ………….”

“O.M.G.”, said Megan, “It’s sure to be like a brick!”

“O.M.G.”, said John, “the ducks will sink!”

Well, despite scepticism from the other crew members I thought I would give it a go and see what happened. They took the rise out of me but they couldn’t take the rise out of my bread because this was the (somewhat surprising to us all) result. It must have been all that pummelling!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, they of little faith! It actually tasted good too!

I’ve also been plodding on with the crocheting of new cabin lace for the windows and have completed two sets. It always takes a while to get used to something new but I’m pleased with how they are turning out. I can’t quite decide to keep the dingly-dangly-sparkly-bits or not:-

Without dingle-dangles.

(Yes, the next job for this Mature Domestic Goddess Student must be to clean the windows!!)

With dingle-dangles – every one or every other one or interspersed with something completely different? Can’t decide as yet.

Megan has spent the weekend with her best friend from Uni days – Natalie – who, having met the love of her life when she went out to Malta last year to see Meg, now lives near Buckingham. We are going to collect Megan later tonight and she will spend the rest of the week with us here in Crick.

Sun-set over the marina.

The Wanderer Returns ………… albeit temporarily

2012-01-11T14:12:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday Megan’s best pal, Lynn and George her dog, acted as chauffeurs to bring Megan to us at Crick. Lynn and George stayed until Monday afternoon; Megan is staying until Friday. During a walk on Monday it didn’t take long for George to find the water – all but his head went in and under! He definitely got more than he was expecting when he wandered down the bank! Fortunately it didn’t take too long for him to dry off – the poodle part of his fur maybe.

We ended up in ‘The Red Lion’ for lunch ………….! Even on a Monday it was busy, busy.

We have now seen all the photos of Meg’s travels and Argentina and Brazil are certainly very beautiful countries. The mountains and most of the beaches are just fabulous. What an amazing experience she has had with only a couple of incidents that I was definitely better off not knowing about at the time!

Before she left Lynn told us about a huge Shopping Centre called Fosse Park just off Junction 21 of the M1 so, today, that’s where we have been ……. for hours and hours! It was well worth going because Meg got lots of bargains and nearly everything she wanted. Me? I went along in a supportive role! Now? Shopped out – I definitely don’t need to see another trendy clothes shop for a long, long time! ‘We’, needless to say, does not include John! I guess he has had a very peaceful day …….

“Lovely, Lovely” (sorry but it’s an in-house joke!)

2012-01-03T07:36:00.001-08:00

First of all – HAPPY NEW YEAR to all those we know and, all those we have yet to know!

For the New Year celebrations we went to stay with our lovely, lovely friends Mick and Lynn. It’s not only our Queen who can celebrate a Jubilee in 2012 – it’s the Clayton/Allebone Ruby-Juby – 40 years of dedicated friendship and, at some point during the year, we fully intend to celebrate this momentous occasion in style!

On our arrival on Friday we beheld a vast assortment of lovely, lovely Christmas decorations adorning both inside and out.

I think being the proud grandparents of two lovely, lovely little boys might just have gone to their heads a wee bit because the back garden was akin to Santa’s grotto!

Lovely, lovely coloured lights adorned every fence, hedge, bush, tree and flower pot – it looked truly amazing!

On New Year’s Eve we met up for lunch with Andy, Rhia and young Harry at a lovely, lovely pub local to them. It was really good to see them all. What a lovely, lovely little boy!

Back in Harlow in the evening we watched a lovely, lovely DVD (one I’ve been wanting to see since it’s release), played ‘Who’s in the Bag?’ and a selection of games on Wii, or is it Wii games? – all new to us anyway.

With the emptying of each fresh bottle, laughter increased but memory-skills and thinking skills got regrettably slower and slower – strange that!!!

On New Year’s Day Lynn cooked a huge, lovely, lovely roast dinner for eight. Their other son, Chris, his partner Lisa and their lovely, lovely little boy, Leo came over ……………… and a couple of their friends too. I was also allowed to indulge myself and watch the very last Harry Potter film – yes, I’m another addict! What a brilliant film.

On Monday, in bright sunshine, we went for a lovely, lovely walk around the Fisher’s Green area of the Lee Valley Country Park. It was really nice to re-visit a part of the Lee Navigation that we cruised 18 months ago on our way to to Andy and Rhia’s wedding. What a lot has happened in those 18 months!

LOTS of people were out enjoying the crisp but bright weather.

SO, in summary, the ‘Shouting’ was fab-u-lous. Thank you very much Mr & Mrs Clayton for a lovely, lovely few days.

We are now back on our boat and Megan …………….. is in Reading, ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s All Over Bar the Shouting ……

2011-12-27T10:47:00.001-08:00

Don’t know what it means but it’s the sort of thing my mum would now be saying. Perhaps it’s all about the large amounts of money we have been tempted and succumbed to spend – all over bar the paying for things that have been put on credit card!!

We have had a completely different Christmas from any we have had before. Despite my reservations about not being in Staines, it’s been really nice Ben coming here to us for a change. He seemed happy enough being back on a narrowboat, was very observant and complimentary about anything we have done on board “Ellen” and definitely appreciated being catered for and waited on!! Probably like everybody else, we’ve eaten too much and drunken FAR too much. Do hope that everyone else out there has also had a nice Christmas.

A new ruler for the tool box!!

Do I smoke it, eat it or ……. HIDE it!!

Maisie has enjoyed having someone else to sleep with (! – she gets right down under the covers given half a chance) and play with – fighting with poor old Mr Lion. We gave her a large bone/biscuit thing for Christmas and she didn’t know what to do with it! She just wanted to hide it and then guard it!! Maggie on the other hand got well stuck in!!

On Boxing Day we thought it was a good idea to take Ben to Foxton to show him the locks and the incline plane. THE PLACE WAS HEAVING! Car parks both top and bottom were virtually full, both pubs, both cafes and the shop were all chock-a-block. Investment in the development of this area as a tourist attraction is certainly paying off. We were staggered at just how busy it was. A quiet stroll around Foxton it was not! I’m still hoping to get out on the boat and go there whilst the canals are not frozen – from Crick to Foxton is one of my favourite stretches.

Looking over the Inclined Plane at Foxton Locks.

I like the way this sign has been made to look like a lock beam.

Ben left this afternoon (borrowed my brother’s car rather than come up on his motor bike). Bye Ben – maybe he’ll come again next year.

A Moment of Extravagant Madness!

2011-12-23T10:18:00.001-08:00

Today it has rained …… and rained …………….. and rained ………….. and rained!!

The reservoirs need it really badly so no grumbles. It’s a necessary delivery of what we float on!

But what to do on a day like today? Go to the posh kitchen shop in The Heart of the Shires complex and buy a lovely new set of saucepans of course!! I had NO idea how many different types of saucepan there are! But, yes, a moment of extravagant madness took place. I blame Nigella and all that scrummy Christmas cooking she has been broadcasting on the tele this week.

BUT ….. if you had seen the old ones ……………… !!! UGH!

It’s really quite dangerous having access to a car!

A Year ago Today

2011-12-21T04:41:00.001-08:00

…………… I lost my mum and …………….. I’m still so very, very sad. I’m still on the side of that invisible assault wall where you feel agonising sorrow for what you have lost. On the other side of the wall I’m told you feel intense joy at what you had but ……. how to get over???!!!

Anyway, special memories today of my mum ……………

xxoo

We Salute Them!

2011-12-17T07:03:00.001-08:00

We awoke this morning to find a thin layer of ice all over the surface of the water – for the first time this winter, we are frozen in!

In this month’s “Canal Boat” magazine there are pictures of boats trapped in the ice out on the cut last year. This time last year the cut had already been frozen over for at least a month. The ice was really thick and boaters were trapped for weeks on end. The article in the magazine states that:-

“during severe weather liveaboard boating is not for the faint-hearted and that whilst resourceful boaters take wintry conditions in their stride, others should consider more conventional accommodation”!

Well, we are amongst those ‘others’ – yes, we are faint-hearted and less resourceful and our chosen winter ‘accommodation’ is in the marina with all it’s comfortable facilities close at hand. We know/know of more than a few hardy boaters who choose to stay out on the cut even in the most bitter weather and embrace the challenge. We salute them. When groups of boaters are frozen in close to each other they have the opportunity of getting to know each other well and, on reading their blogs, it is clear to see that there is lots of camaraderie. I envy them that.

I’ve had a letter published! (I rather suspect though that anyone who bothers to write in about something does!) In November’s issue there was a letter which, to my mind, was a blatant attack against continual cruisers – those who have no home mooring. I suspect that it was really attacking boaters who abuse the mooring rules but that’s not how it came across. I don’t consider us to be continual cruisers because we pay to moor up and stay put over the winter but, in defence of those who don’t, I sent in a (somewhat sarcastic!) response.

We seem to be back on track. The ‘incident’ (we had a prang in Meg’s car!! NOT OUR FAULT!) has been sorted, the dentist has given us the all-clear this time round and anything that needed to be delivered to Staines in readiness for Christmas …………….. has been. For the first time in my life I will be spending Christmas Day away from Staines. Ben is coming up here instead. On the plus side there won’t be associated sad memories but on the downside, I won’t be able to catch up with lots of old friends.

Can anyone help? Our computer skills are elementary at best and we keep getting the blue screen! The computer freezes and says that it’s crashed. Can anyone explain to us why this is happening and what we need to do to resolve it. We would be grateful for any advice.

Crochet Cotton I have sourced a little ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ in Rugby so, at last, it’s all systems go again. I need to do about 27 feet of cabin lace altogether. At the speed I go this is going to be a long-term project and a test of discipline and perseverance. John says it will keep me out of trouble!! Stupid comment!!

Megan Today Megan is leaving Florianopolis and travelling 12 hours on a coach/bus to get to a place called Paraty where she will be spending Christmas. She is then going to Rio for the New Year.

I MUST NOT WORRY I MUST NOT WORRY I MUST NOT WORRY!!!!

Welcome to the Cut

2011-12-09T04:23:00.001-08:00

Another new boater has arrived at Crick marina. This is 12 week old Megs – a chocolate Labrador.

I just know that she and her owner, Rob, are going to have a lovely time living together and cruising round the system on their narrowboat “Green Manalishi”.

SIMPLY GORGEOUS!

Everything Comes to those who wait …..

2011-12-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

Well, I’m sure that’s not true in reality but …………… after searching for well over a year, we have finally managed to find someone who could supply us with kits to fit electric motors onto our Brompton bikes. It would have been so easy just to go out and buy new bikes that were already motorised but …………. we like our Bromptons because they fold up really neatly and fit tidily on a shelf in the engine room.

The company (small – existing of only two guys!) is based just outside Marlborough so, needing to go back to Staines for a few days, we went via Marlborough! It was further than we thought! Unfortunately, the solitary guy there was way behind schedule with what he was doing so we left our bikes with him arranging to pick them back up three days later. It’s a sad tale in one way but encouraging in another. This nice chap used to be a really keen cyclist but, several years ago he had a devastating accident that has left him severely disabled. He can now only walk with two sticks and finds it really difficult to use his hands. Being determined not to give up on life and wanting to get back on a bike, he engineered a way to motorise a Brompton. He now markets this. Everything takes him a long, long time and his patience with himself is amazing! I don’t know how it all came about that we ended up having them fitted for us rather than John fitting them – it just happened that way!

Anyway ……………. I now have electric wheels! No more struggling up hills going slower than a snail with arthritis. Now, me with a rucksack full of shopping and Maggie in the basket will exhibit oodles of va-va-voom! I’ve even had a rack fitted on the back so I can carry extra! (John declined this accessory! He says it was the price that was prohibitive. Rubbish! He just wants ME to carry the beers!)

My mum was a keen cyclist all her life. Back in the 20’s and 30’s she belonged to what was probably one of the first type of cycling clubs. She told me how it took her ages to save up enough money to buy what was then akin to a racing bike. She had me riding my first two-wheeler when I was only four years old and, from then on, we cycled all around the local area together. My bikes just got progressively bigger – always Christmas presents and always second-hand and I always loved them.

These newly acquired motors (John wasn’t going to be left out!) are from you, mum. You kept riding your bike well into your 80’s. Now, if you’d had one of these motors ……………….. you would have been down-right dangerous!!!

In Staines we had the soul-destroying task of completely emptying John’s mum’s bungalow. The charity shops didn’t want the larger, more dated items of furniture – display cabinet, dressing table and sideboard so …….. John had to break them up. He made that dressing table for me 37 years ago – I couldn’t watch.

On the plus side we got to spend some time with Ben and I met my ex colleague, Lorraine, for a pub lunch – and a good old gossip!

On the minus side, we were involved in a bit of an incident on the way back to the marina – nothing serious but hassle we could do without.

Yesterday …

2011-11-28T02:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was ………………..

John’s birthday. Yes, another one! I can’t believe we’re SO old! How did all these years creep up on us? On the + side, he is now entitled to a winter fuel allowance!!

Anyway, Rodney came up to the marina for the weekend and I enjoyed two whole days catering-free. On Saturday we had a take-away and on Sunday Rodney took us for lunch to “The Red Lion” in Crick. Lovely old pub, a really good Sunday roast (PROPER crumble and custard for pud!!) AND ….. they happily let dogs in. Cheers, Rodney!

We had just said “see you later” to Rodney and were un-zipping our cratch cover when the phone rang and it was himself.

“DI-SAS-TER”, he says. “I’ve just dropped my keys – house keys and car keys on the same ring – in the water! Have you got a big, strong magnet?”

Fortunately we have so up went John to do a bit of fishing. I thought there was NO chance but luck was on our side and he did in fact manage to retrieve them!

All’s well that ends well! Less wine next time!

Yesterday was …………….

The sixth anniversary of the death of John’s dad, Ernie. How bizarre – losing your dad on your birthday. In the big pattern of things six years is not a great deal of time but in those last six years SUCH a lot has happened in our family……. and quite a bit of it …… sad….

Yesterday was ………………….

The happy christening of young Harry John Clayton, the eldest grandson of our lovely friends Mick and Lynn. The ceremony took place in Sawbridgeworth church where Andy and Rhia were married – THE wedding we went to by boat back in 2010.

Yesterday was ……..

The day Ben got safely back home from his holiday with friend Chi in Thailand. Judging from the photos he had a good time and did manage to do some more diving.

It’s easy to see why he likes Thailand so much. The beaches look amazing, the towns – crazy!

Today ………

We need to organise ourselves for going back to Staines to empty John’s mum’s bungalow completely. Very sad but now, very necessary.

Let the silly season begin…..

2011-11-22T04:04:00.001-08:00

One of the things I look forward to seeing in the winter is the increasing display of pretty outdoor lights that adorn windows, doorframes, bushes and trees in front gardens. With the onset of darkness now at about 4.30 pm, us Brits need to cheer ourselves up with something! And, getting into the Festive Spirit now includes large, illuminated Santas, snowmen, sledges, moving reindeer etc etc. Up goes the electricity bill but, hey, it’s Christmas time! Each to their own!

Boaters are not to be left out! We had intended to wait until December 1st before turning on our contribution to the festivities. In the past I have been known to grumble (I know it’s hard to believe!) about Christmas coming far too early ……….. cards and crackers in the shops in October! Ridiculous!! BUT …… last weekend other boaters here got things going so ……….

Fellow Boaters ………..

And us …………………..

Apparently our lights can be seen from the gate. Jolly good! If necessary, they can help to guide folk safely back from the pub!

You Have to Laugh ……….

2011-11-16T10:45:00.001-08:00

This gate, seen on the North Oxford Canal whilst we were walking the dogs with Lynn, is clearly doing a grand job! The notice tells walkers to make sure they shut the gate! No ‘invisible’ fencing is either side of the posts! You have to laugh!

Whilst in the marina we have met another chap (Brian) from Wakefield and he has the same sort of humour as the Wakefield Three we met on Skye – Den, Wally and ‘Rocket’ Ron. What do they put in Wakefield Water?! Brian moors his boat at Crick and told us that he is thinking of changing the name to “The Olympic Flame”. Why? Is it because he’s a keen, enthusiastic sportsman? A patriot wanting to support in 2012? No, because, he says, his boat never goes out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “B-Boom”, as Basil Brush used to say! You have to laugh!

He also told us that, un-be-known to us, Crick Marina is split into suburbs! There’s “Council Row”, (that’s where we are at the moment), “Snob’s Alley” (that’s where we’ll never be!) and “The Ghetto” (that’s where we were!) You have to laugh!

This is Hookna. (Scottish derivative for ‘half-penny)

She likes to give Maisie a big, wet lick whenever we go by.

Maisie does not protest! You have to laugh!

Yesterday we drove to Shuckburgh laden with cakes to accompany the cup of tea promised by Lynn and Paul. We had a good old chat too! Their boat is looking so smart. They now have three solar panels all neatly and cleverly mounted on the roof of the boat. Paul never stops striving for perfection and the results of his efforts speak for themselves. Praise where praise is due! Regarding solar panels, we haven’t got passed the ‘thinking-about-it stage’.

AND …………….. the Middle-Sized Buckby Can is VERY NEARLY finished!

Megan’s leg, thank goodness, is on the mend. The big blisters have burst but she says that it’s clean and not too painful. I have sent her some special dressing. I’ll be AMAZED if she ever gets it! She is coming home early in January ……………. but not for long. At the end of January she is going to Alicante where she has been offered a teaching job. Europe! Hooray! I know that teaching English as a second language is nothing like teaching in a school but I never, ever thought that a daughter of mine would be talking to me about lesson plans!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have to laugh!

So…………. What’s been occuring?

2011-11-08T03:57:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe that we have been in the marina for nearly two weeks already! Time usually goes ‘Slowly, Oh, so slowly’ in here!

There have been at least two ‘next times’ where the Eberspacher is concerned but, somehow or other, John seems to get it going again. Must be sweet-talk! Our friend, Paul, on n/b ‘Piston Broke’ told us of a chap who is based at Braunston and deals with heating systems on boats so we went over there yesterday and are now in possession of a new motor for it – might be fitted later on today.

So, how did we get to Braunston? We have wheels! Megan is letting us use her car whilst she is away. It is being M.O.T.’d as I write – fingers crossed. Megan sorted out insurance all the way from Brazil – technology today really is ‘magic’! Becky had got all the documents together for us. After all she has been through in the last couple of years it was so good to see her looking really, really well. She now has two little dogs of her own – Dennis, who is a cross between a Westie and a Cavalier and Doris(!), who is a Jack-a-poo! Both gorgeous.

Megan: Yesterday she had a really nasty accident. She spilt a pan of boiling water down her leg – a large area of skin has been burned and is really nasty – we’ve seen a picture! The handle on the pan broke as she picked it up. We were doing our best to offer her some medical advice over the internet! I’m sure it’s going to remain painful for quite some time and take weeks to heal. Internet reception in here is not good and it is really frustrating trying to use Skype – yesterday was the worst experience because we were trying to communicate with Megan who was understandably very upset and it just kept breaking up. So – Paul - the dongle is going on top of a broomstick! (Talking of broomsticks Paul, hope Lynn has got back safely and on time from Kent!) Let’s hope this strategy makes a big improvement. An extension lead and different dongle have been purchased – it’s all so easy to support the world of retail when you have means of independent transport!

Ben: For those of you who know him – he is fine and off to Thailand – Phuket- for a two week holiday on Thursday. Something about another diving course.

We have been getting well carried away because a set of Christmas lights for the boat and new raincoats for the dogs have also been purchased. And, continuing the search for crochet cotton, we came back to the marina via Berkhamstead where I know of a well-stocked craft shop. Cotton has at least been ordered ……… I just hope it actually materializes.

A new Winter experience for us:- we are sharing our pontoon with another liveaboard – Bob. We actually met him briefly on the Ouse last year. He has a lovely Alsation puppy. Maisie is already besotted with her.

Surprise news:- John was reading a canal boat forum the other night and saw that Ian, who operates the coal boat ‘Gosty Hill’, has put the boat up for sale. We only saw him a few weeks ago and he didn’t indicate that that was on the cards. I hope everything is O.K. with him and Alison.

The double-glazing has been put in as the weather is now wet and miserable! New dog coats purchased just at the right time I would say.

John has just returned – the car failed! Now booked in for a service and repairs first thing in the morning. ‘Means of independent transport’ obviously doesn’t come without hitches and £££!!!!

Back to Base

2011-10-28T08:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, whilst moored at Norton Junction, it rained all day! Today, however, we travelled back to Crick in glorious Autumn sunshine.

Going under the M1 which was as busy and noisy as ever, none of the road travellers would even have known we were there!

Coming up the Watford Locks there are displayed photographs (taken last August) of the reservoirs which feed the top section – Welford, Naseby and Saddington – and even back then they were incredibly low.

The lock-keeper explained that, in order to keep this top pound in water at the moment, they are back-pumping all the way from the River Swift near Stoke Bruerne. Due to the fact that Foxton Locks have been closed since the middle of August boat traffic on this section has fallen by 40% this season. No doubt trade for the shop, cafe and pubs at Foxton has been badly affected.

Entering Crick Tunnel

Whilst at Braunston we treated ourselves to this month’s “Canal Boat” magazine. I almost wish we hadn’t! There’s yet another letter gunning for Continuous Cruisers. Of course my reaction is defensive! Even aggressively defensive!! Yes, there definitely are those who break the rules but ……………?

For example, is this boat continually cruising? It might be. It might be just having a jolly good sort out within the 14 permitted mooring days!

So, by and large Crick will be our base for the next few months. On the plus side – I have unlimited amounts of electricity! I will be able to appease my O.C.D. and hoover to my heart’s content. I will be able to use the washing machine without having to ask permission and …………….. if I want to, watch an old black and white film in the middle of the afternoon ………………. whose to stop me?!

On a more serious note, we have lots of sorting out still to do back in Staines. Apparently there is a suggestion that it should be re-named Staines-on-Thames. And why not? Bring it on, I say!

Fixed?

2011-10-22T10:39:00.001-07:00

If only it were that simple but ……….
They do say that two heads are better than one so…………………
Both John and Paul put their thinking caps on to deal with the offending eberspacher. Yet again it was disassembled. The suspected dodgy component was identified and given a thorough clean. Parts re-assembled. “Try it now”. “Wr-wr-wr-scr-ee-ch, squ-ea-l, scr-ea-m, gr-in-d, gr-a-te ………………. “Turn it off. turn it off. No good.”
Now what? Two pairs of eyes. Two pairs of ears. Two ~~brain cells~~ ………… sorry! I mean brains!
Grease the bearings! It’s too clean and dry!!
Now – try again.
Whr-whr-whr-whir-whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Sounding good! Hot radiators. Hot water. Hooray!
The Next Morning………………
Eberspacher set to come on at 7.40am. 7.35am – anticipation mounting. 7.38am – high tension. 7.40am – a buttock clenching moment!
Whirr-irr-irr-irrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Exhale. Great stuff. Showers and hair washes? No problem!
So here endeth today’s episode – we’ll see what happens tomorrow!
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Saturday 22nd October Vast numbers of hire boats have been whizzing past us today moored here at Onley. Half term has clearly arrived! The speediest boats definitely come out of Willow Wren being crewed by either a large groups of young girls (they don’t go too fast!) or a large group of young guys (they do!!) or a large group of mixed gender youngsters (they do too!) We need some means of retaliation! We get the feeling that the owners of Willow Wren are only interested in taking the money and give insufficient guidance (if any) to their hirers.
Strictly’s on …………… I’m off!

Run-of-the-Mill

2011-10-19T03:31:00.001-07:00

Since my last entry we’ve spent some very ordinary days, hence my lack of motivation to report! This is just to pin-point our current location really and to mention a few mundane things:-

Cavalry one day, Navy the next! Completing the last 5 locks on the Atherstone flight I was helped by the crew of the boat following – chaps from the Navy! The Navy apparently owns 3 narrow boats for their staff to use. This time, the operation of those locks was ……… easy-peasy!

Coming through Nuneaton we got a jacket wrapped around the propeller. The Navy chaps picked up a matching jumper on theirs! How DO these sorts of things end up in the canal? It can’t be by accident? The mind boggles!

Wood around the prop and then clothing!

Between Atherstone and Rugby we have made ourselves moor up in some different places. We were finding that we were tending to stick to mooring spots we knew to be OK so, in order to break that predictability ………………

Moored in the Autumn sunshine near Easenhall.

We haven’t moored up where we usually do in Rugby – we’ve gone on a bit further and have moored by the golf course. Yesterday we cycled into Rugby town centre from there – not far but up-hill all the way. Oh, for that electric motor! Coming back though was ………. SIMPLES!!

The Bionic Boiler has packed up …… again! It HAD been behaving itself! I have now lost all patience with it and want it to be jettisoned but John, it seems, has developed an intimate relationship with all it’s components and it’s mood swings and it appears that he is unable to envisage life without it!!

Speaking of not living without things ………………… Those of you who know me well know of my attachment to all things purple. What about these then? My birthday present from my mate, Gill. Fab-u-lous!

With both Gill and Mick in mind, it seems amazing that it’s half-term next week already. How quickly one forgets!!

The cabin lace up at our windows is literally falling apart. Old age, sunlight and washing detergent have all taken their toll. So, I have set myself the challenge of replacing it. Thing is, I can only ‘do’ one self-taught crochet pattern! And, it needs to be made smaller to go up at the windows. I have been in every traditional wool shop/craft shop I have come across between Llangollen and here and it seems that the recommended yarn (Twilleys no 5) is no longer available. I managed to get one ball of something that looks promising in Atherstone so the experiment has begun. For each window length I need to do 14 crocheted patterns so, if I do one pattern a day (MASSIVE concentration required) it should take me …….. 4 months. Yeah, right!! Just as well I no longer have a day job!

It was Meg’s birthday last Saturday and not a soul out there in Brazil knew it! We had a really good internet connection where we were moored so were able to talk to her and see her on Skype. To me it’s like Merlin - just magic.

The paintwork needs a polish. Having read Lynn’s recent blog (n/b Piston Broke) John is out there doing it right now! Keep a space for us guys – we’ll be with you (like it or not) either today or tomorrow.

Well, I did say mundane!

“Grande Cassina”

2011-10-12T14:27:00.001-07:00

That’s Italian for ‘Big Drama’ or so I’m reliably informed.

And, YES! Today we were involved in yet another drama and, YES! Yet again it’s because we got stuck on the bottom.

SO …….. there we were having just gone through the first two (or last two depending on which way you are going) locks on the Atherstone flight. We were expecting the water levels to be low because the operation of the flight has been restricted in terms of usage time for quite a while now. Attempting to enter lock 9, we ground to a halt. Then, to make matters worse, something got stuck between the propeller and the skeg and the engine cut out. We were going nowhere! A broken boat hook and mangled rope later, along came another boat. The owners only picked up their boat, “Adagio”, three days ago! They very kindly towed us backwards and we managed to get in to the side where John could try to remove whatever it was around the prop. Well, somehow or other, after a great deal of whacking with a 4” diameter ash bough and getting extremely wet, hot and bothered, John managed to remove a large piece of wedged timber.

By this time another boater had come down the lock and, on hearing of our dilemma, he pulled up behind us saying that we might need some help during our second attempt should we get stuck again. We got stuck! Phone call to BW in order then! Phone in hand ready to make that call, around the bend comes ………….. the cavalry! Well, a BW chap in a tugboat but as good as. He got on the phone to his mate at the top of the flight and in no time at all water was being sent down. Under his tutelage I learned a new technique for flushing down water!!! A dozen or so surges later we managed to get into the lock. On our way – no more problems …………… until we got to lock 5. There we again met “Adagio” who explained that, as water was being sent down to the long pound below lock 9, …………… nobody could go any further that day! Guilty as charged! We have since been told that someone had left a paddle up on lock 10 overnight so the pound had fallen by nearly 2' They should have done something about it earlier but other boats had been getting through OK!

So, here we are, moored at the bottom of the last 5 locks, under the trees, by the A5 and opposite “The King’s Head”. We’d never been into Atherstone before so this was our chance! What a lovely high street with an assortment of individual shops.

And …………….. the new chimney is in place, looking good and working well.

Never a dull moment!!!!!!

All Systems Go

2011-10-10T15:06:00.001-07:00

Well, that’s the intention anyway!
Now that the last of our visitors have been and gone we aim to move every day and get back to Crick by the beginning of November at the latest.
Last weekend our friends Jane and Ron Cole came to find us near Rugeley on the Trent and Mersey. Our friendship with Jane and Ron goes back to schooldays. This is THE Ron Cole who featured being interviewed by John Craven on Countryfile a few weeks ago. Ron was the chap in the O.S. plane so, a ‘celebrity friend’ no less!!
AND …………… we have another! Our dear friend, Mick, has taught for many years at the now notorious ‘Passmores’ secondary school and appeared in one of the episodes of ‘Educating Essex’. Fancy that!
Do you believe in old wives tales?
If the answer is ‘yes’ you need to start preparing for the winter right now! Replenish wood stocks, procure bags of coal, find those forsaken long-johns, woolly hats and woolly socks because ………….. there are masses of berries on the trees and hedgerows. I’ve never seen so many holly berries on the branches. Another really cold winter ahead?

You can always buy some suitable socks! Enterprising boaters never miss an opportunity!

On our travels today we have seen:- a very late brood of tiny ducklings(!), moorhens feeding on a high bird table (!), a white hen with feathery feet just like a ptarmigan(!) and the beginnings of yet another new marina – this one close to Streethay. A huge hole has been excavated but absolutely nothing else was happening – not a digger in site. What’s the story there then I wonder?

Travelling between Fradley and Fazeley on the Coventry our mission today was to locate the whereabouts of a boater who makes and sells stainless steel chimneys. We moored up at Hopwas and then took the girls for a walk along the tow path and by Sutton Bridge – there he was! Hopefully one of these won’t disintegrate as quickly as the ones we have been using up until now. We’re collecting it tomorrow as we pass.

Tomorrow we will move on to either Alvecote or Polesworth. There are still quite a lot of boats moving around the system - most of them, like us, battling with the windy conditions!

Just in case you were wondering ……..

2011-10-04T14:33:00.001-07:00

After saying ‘Goodbye’ to Anne and John at Market Drayton we got a bit of a move on (in the lovely sunshine) to reach Penkridge for the weekend. (Brilliant Saturday market) Since re-joining the Staffordshire & Worcester we have noticed how busy the canal is especially with private boaters and, amongst them, there seem to be lots of liveaboards – the piles of wood on board gives it away somewhat!

Our friends, Gary and Joan, came to find us at Penkridge over the weekend. We were introduced to the latest member of their family:-

Introducing Bailey ‘Boy’ Mealing – only 4 months old but already displaying the high intelligence of a Boarder Collie and the bowels of a typical Mealing! (f**ts that make your eyes water!!)

Mum was rescued from being shut in a cage most of the time – over in Ireland – and, once over here, promptly produced a litter of pups. Both mum and all the pups have now got good homes. Bailey is gorgeous – he has some tummy problems though which need to be resolved …… for everybody’s sake!

We met a chap with a Pyrenean Mountain dog whom, he said, little children have mistaken for ‘a real live polar bear’! Bless!

We are now at Tixall and have bumped into Sharron and Ken (n/b ‘Janus’) whom we met two years ago at the Evesham River Festival. It has been so good being able to catch up with them and hear all their news. Just as John is ‘Generator Man’, Sharron is ‘Generator Woman’ or will be when ph-ph-Phil finally gets around to ph-ph-phitting it for her!! She ought to have an award for patience.

Talking of patience, we had an e-mail from Sue and Rob (n/b ‘Patience’) whom we haven’t seen for three years. They are back at Great Haywood so we are really looking forward to seeing them tomorrow. Will Murphy-dog remember us …..?

Today some important jobs have been tackled. Our fire would like to report ………

“I’ve had a brand new brush shoved where brand new chimney brushes get shoved, my cling-ons have been knocked off, my glass cleaned, hinges lubricated, bricks replaced and I’ve been promised a new chimney complete with hat when we get onto the Coventry. Lots of wood has been cut up thanks to the borrowing of Ken’s log-sawing-horse so now I’m well ready for the forecasted onset of much colder weather.

We have today met some boaters who have just done the Ribble Link to get to the Lancaster Canal and also went into Liverpool. They were full of positives.

Miscellaneous

2011-09-28T07:43:00.001-07:00

This weather!

Have we all become time travellers and gone back to June or July? That was when we should have had this amazingly beautiful, sunny weather! I recognise just how privileged we are to be able to be out and about on our boat enjoying it.

Dog Owners

If it’s not me and it’s not you ……………… and it’s not them and it’s not us ……………… and it’s not him and it’s not her ……… then, who on earth is it who STILL, in this day and age, walks the tow paths with beloved pooches and does NOT clear up the smelly mess they inevitably leave behind them?

SURELY it’s not dog-owning boaters because, as boaters, we all know how absolutely disgusting it is when we inadvertently tread dog mess into our boats especially when that mess doesn’t even emanate from our own dog!

Well it isn’t me! If I don’t bag and bin it I scoop and scatter it amongst a thick patch of brambles or nettles – somewhere where it can decompose in peace and not end up on the bottom of a human shoe.

So, what can we all do about this selfish behaviour of offenders – whoever they are? It’s one thing walking the tow paths with a litter-picker and bagging bits of rubbish but quite another carrying a shovel and clearing away mess left by anonymous dogs. Actually, the mountainous heaps I see all too often must be left by relatives of Hagrid’s “Fluffy” who are wandering about surreptitiously! Ahh! That must be it! Of course! It’s obvious now! STRAYS!

Public Footpaths

We are back in Staffordshire and, as we have experienced before, we have encountered problems walking some of the lesser-used public rights of way. Too often we have come across un-signed footpaths, a lack of way-markers, stiles over-grown with unfriendly vegetation and in very poor states of repair and, not just unfriendly towards dogs – downright hostile! One can’t help but feel that one is not wanted!

However, on it’s website, Staffordshire County Council has excellent information and guidance about using public rights of way. Any problems can be reported. SO BE IT!

Somehow or other we did manage to get over this – on the other side was a stream with a bit of a plank!

Barbed wire just waiting to be grabbed or tear clothing. This stile was wobbly too.

As my dear old Dad would have said ……..

2011-09-25T10:33:00.001-07:00

Anne and John, our really good friends from Staines, arranged to come and spend this weekend with us. They would have to be really good friends wouldn’t they to be prepared to undertake a three hour drive on a Friday evening?!! Now where, I wonder, would a good place be for them to meet us? How about the lovely Audlem – at the bottom of the flight of locks? Sensible eh? As my dear old dad would have said, “Why have a dog and bark yourself?”!!

On Saturday, after a look around Audlem and a visit to the craft mill, (comfy chair supplied for husband to snooze in whilst wife peruses goods!) we set off up the flight and finally moored up for the night at the bottom of the Adderley locks.

On Sunday we went from Adderley to Market Drayton. By the time we reached the top of the Adderley locks it was raining and, sheltering under a tree by the lock, was a very large PIG!! She belongs to the farm and apparently often wanders off but returns in her own good time. Next week’s sausages on the tow path?!! Perish the thought! There were also two escapee sheep!

Thank you for a lovely weekend you two – see you again at Christmas time!

Before we reached Audlem we spent a night at Hack Green and the sunset was fab-u-lous:-

What a lovely part of the country this is!

Major Diversion

2011-09-19T13:10:00.001-07:00

From Sheffield to Crawley via Chester? Now that’s a major diversion but one, I’m pleased to say, that was taken by our friends Rosa and Richard. Rosa is my best mate from college days – now a very long time ago!

Having taken their daughter, Jessamine, to begin her degree at Sheffield University, they came to find us.

We had got back to Beeston Castle and the Shady Oak pub. Every year since we have been cruising around they have come to find us one way or another and it is always really good to see them.

On Sunday the weather turned out to be better than anticipated so we all climbed up to the ruins of Beeston Castle now in the hands of English Heritage. The views from inside the grounds are certainly panoramic – the brochure boasts that you can see eight different counties from up there. My big bonus was that we had a good sighting of a pair of ravens.

Today, John and I stayed put! We did a new walk for us – one which took us around Beeston Crag and up and around the Peckforton Hills. We had a distant view of Peckforton Castle which is a bit of a charlatan really because it was built by the Victorians to look like a medieval castle. Today it is a hotel and restaurant and you can have afternoon tea either for £14.00 or, for gourmets, £21.00!! (per person) I expect a three course meal for the latter!!

The leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour – Autumn is definitely here.

Peckforton Castle

Entrance In amongst the hills.

On the Tourist Trail

2011-09-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday
The final run down to the Ellesmere Basin can’t be said to be pretty because it goes through an area of both past and present industry – Stanlow Oil Refinery makes its presence known, there’s a timber yard, distribution centres, scrap metal yard, piles of old vehicles, lots and lots of electricity pylons and two motorways ……and that’s just for starters! Interesting though.
For a small fee we organised to go through the three locks, which act as a sort of spread-out-type of staircase, and moor in the lower basin which is definitely in need of some attention but is preferable to mooring at the top. Boaters beware – you need to make sure that the bottom lock is completely empty and the middle one only half full to ensure that you don’t end up with a flood! The paddles of the middle lock are REALLY stiff!

The Waterways Museum is SO well worth a visit. It’s full of things to see, read and hear and is really well presented. All the old photographs are amazing. I find aspects of social history particularly fascinating. In the foreground of the museum site is The Manchester Ship Canal and in the background, The Mersey.

Today:- we have been to Liverpool. Check out:- http://www.visitliverpool.com/ We thought it was about time we took a ferry across the Mersey! We took a 30 minute train ride to Woodside Ferry Terminal and, as we approached the ticket office, saw a sign telling us that there were to be no ferries to Liverpool today! What! Why? Because a Cruise Liner – the Queen Mary – was due to dock in Liverpool. The ferries run regular River Explorer cruises which last for an hour but don’t dock everywhere so we did that and it was covered in the price of our day travel ticket. LOTS of people were lining the banks both sides of the river waiting for the Queen Mary to arrive. After our cruise, during which we had really good views of Liverpool’s waterfront, we joined the crowds and watched the ship come in being heralded by a fountain of water from an awaiting tug. She is enormous! The sun was shining and the Mersey so calm – what a result!

We then got back on the train, went to Liverpool via the tunnel and saw her again berthed by the Royal Liver Building. That whole area is par of a Heritage Site, lovely and was full of tourists all doing much the same as us. We saw where narrow boats can now moor in Salthouse Dock close to Albert Dock. Unfortunately we weren’t able to walk around the Albert Dock area together as dogs were not allowed in. We walked all around the Cavern area and the main shopping area and were glad for the sit down on the return train journey!
What we saw of Liverpool we liked. It was heaving with visitors and people were all so friendly and ready to help with directions and general information. The main areas were very clean and well kept. I think it would be a good place for a city break as there are so many different things on offer to do. Maybe one day we’ll get there in ‘Ellen’.

All in all, what a nice way to mark the passing of another birthday – my **th!

Through Chester

2011-09-14T01:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we set off from Christleton to get through Chester. Between “The Cheshire Cat” at Christleton and Chester city centre there are 5 heavy, double locks. No other boats were going our way so we just had to get on with it on our own! Downstream paddles – 45 turns up (each!) and 45 turns down (each!). Counting? It helps to pass the time!We stopped off at Tesco’s to replenish stocks and then set off again to go down the formidable Northgate Staircase locks. There are three of them and they have been hewn out of solid rock. They are SO deep – lowering the canal by 33 feet and the connecting gates are enormous! Just as we were ready to go into the middle lock another boat arrived at the top. Typical! However, there were 4 chaps on board and they helped me with the gates – just as well because I needed it!

We didn’t moor in the basin at the bottom (we plan to do that on the way back up) but carried on to bridge 130. I had forgotten how nice the 1st part of this section of the canal is. From bridge 130 it’s about 2 miles to a retail outlet called ‘Cheshire Oaks’. Friend, Lynn, says it’s a very good outlet. About half a mile away is Chester Zoo which is meant to be one of the top conservation zoos in the country. Apparently, from here, if the wind is in the right direction, you can hear the monkeys!!

Today we are going to get to the basin at Ellesmere Port and go into the museum. Can’t compete with the excitement going on over the other side of the world! Where Meg is now looks absolutely beautiful and it’s obviously much warmer than it was in Buenis Aires!

Megan at the Iguazu Falls on the boarders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Crossing the boarder.

Not exactly a back-packer!

Next ‘stop’ – Florianopolis….

On the beach near her apartment.

View from her apartment.

Florianopolis

Now here is somewhere I would like to see! …………………. maybe one day!!

Dreadful Wind but, for once, the Skipper had it Under Control!

2011-09-12T13:05:00.001-07:00

We left Beeston this morning having removed vulnerable things from the roof and secured the cratch cover which wanted to behave like a windsock.

The stretch from Beeston to Waverton is very rural and there are some magnificent views of the Peckforton Hills. Very few other boats were on the move! In the vicinity of Golden Hook Farm we passed the longest line of moored boats we have yet to encounter – there were about 150 and 75 wind generators, indicating that this area is frequently windy. Today, they were whizzing!!

We didn’t go far – only 9 lock miles - which, in the windy conditions, was quite far enough!In the afternoon we cycled into Chester to have a good look around the city. We have found that going on our bikes to get a feel of a place is really good because we can cover so much more ground than if we were walking.

The City of Chester If you’ve never been there you’re missing a gem …………….. and we’re not city fans.

Going in along the tow path soon reveals evidence of past industry – some lovely old architecture. We passed a Victorian water tower, a tall chimney previously used to produce lead shot and various old warehouses now restored and used as pubs and clubs. The ornate brickwork is beautiful.

The city itself …………. lovely! There are so many black and white timbered buildings dating back to medieval times. There are exclusive shops by the bucket load as well as all the major chain stores in, I think, two under-cover centres. There are boat trips on the Dee, bus tours around the city and a circular walk to do around the old city walls. There are Roman remains to see at the amphitheatre (where there were animal fights, gladiator fights and public executions!) and the cathedral to visit.

A tourist hot-spot!

Back on The Shroppie

2011-09-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

We have left the Llangollen Canal and I can so understand why it is such a popular canal. It travels through beautiful, rural scenery, lovely little towns and villages and has those special aqueducts which attract visitors in their thousands. No wonder hirers of at least 15 different companies head that way!
We are now intending to go to Ellesmere Port - the end of the Shropshire Union. The canal is wide and the double locks very heavy. We are back into the realm of noisy roads and railways – but not all the time! For the weekend we are mooring up in view of the ruins of Beeston Castle. The views from the top of the castle are fabulous.

Last time we were here we were told that peregrines nest in the crags – well, this time we saw them!

We also saw a special, new steam engine called “Tornado”. It has been built to offer a main line passenger service and has a Tour Programme covering different parts of the country. It just so happened that on 10th September it was running from London to Lichfield, then to Chester and back. Apparently it has cost over 2 million pounds to make. It is involved with fund raising for Help the Heroes.

The weather forecast for the weekend was dreadful – wind and rain and rain and wind – but today has not been as bad as expected so …………… what’s going on?

Maggie has hurt her leg (hopefully not too badly) and Maisie has been tantalising cows.
“Can’t get me …..!!.”

And Megan ……………. is now on her way to Brazil!! She has decided to leave Buenos Aires and go back-packing instead! My emotions can’t keep up and my hair should no longer be blonde – it should be white!! She is travelling with two other girls to some special falls in a place called Puerto Iguazu (still in Argentina but only just) and then she continues on her own to a place in Brazil called Florianopolis.

It must be me!

2011-09-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

I have always been led to believe by other, more experienced boaters that, on the cut, there is a very definite protocol (rules of behaviour for certain occasions), and etiquette (a conventional code of conduct) to which every boater should abide.

LOCKS It has always been my understanding that, at locks, crews help each other! I’ve always done this – I’m up there ‘doing my bit’ especially when I can see that there’s only a single person operating the lock. Somehow or other I don’t seem to be re-paid equally! The following example is, sadly, not uncommon:-

Coming up the Frankton Locks to re-join the Llangollen we were number 9 boat in the queue. Whilst awaiting our turn I must have helped at least 4 boats up and 1 down. Did anyone from boat number 10 come to help me? Did they ‘ek as like! There were at least three adults on board but they just sat on the back deck and watched. So, I went through the procedure really slowly!! They were very nice people – John had been chatting to them – so ………….? Protocol? Etiquette? It must be me!

LIFT BRIDGES There’s quite a few of these on the Llangollen and, until today, I had operated every one not only for ourselves but for others too. Today, at the first lift bridge, I operated it for a single-hander who obviously had no intention of helping out and muttered a barely audible ‘thank you’. Next Lift Bridge – it was being wound up as we approached! ‘Result’, I thought. Surely the young lady on the bank would leave it up for us? Oh yes, she left it up all right! As the back of her boat passed through, she lobbed her windlass onto the back deck and then vaulted (quite dangerously I thought) back on board. Unbelievable! Without any expletives, the Skipper did give the crew of the hire boat (it just had to be didn’t it?) both barrels! The people sitting in the cratch got the first barrel and the driver and the lift bridge operator got the second! This left me, however, to grapple with the dense, over-hanging shrubbery and try to get off at the same spot from which she had got on. Being over-aged, over-weight, with bad hips, dodgy knees and lacking the athletic prowess of Dame Kelly Holmes, I was none too pleased! I thought that if you had raised a bridge to let your own boat through and another boat was either close behind or there was one approaching from the other direction you let them go through too before lowering the bridge? Protocol? Etiquette? It must be me!

PASSING MOORED BOATS All boaters know that they should slow down when passing moored boats but …………… do they? I think you know the answer! Blood pressures rise. Protocol? Etiquette? It must be me!

This attitude of “I’m all right, Jack” ( there are other examples) has no place on the canal system. You never know when you need someone’s help!

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I’d got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!!

Dipstick

2011-09-03T10:18:00.001-07:00

Now I could be referring to that highly technical and essential bit of equipment used by the Skipper on a regular basis to check the level of diesel in our tank. (The Skipper uses a length of aluminium tube, the bottom section of which is marked in inch gradients; each inch represents 37 litres of diesel). However, on this occasion, I’m actually referring to the Skipper himself who has, it seems, not been dipping his stick regularly enough!

This resulted in a dramatic ‘chug’ down the Prees Branch to Whixall Marina. The situation was critical! So critical that I had to hurry ahead to raise the two lift bridges in readiness so that no fuel was wasted in waiting around. Once again on board, it was crucial that I stood at the front of the boat on the left-hand side to encourage the remaining dribbles of diesel to gather together in order to grace the fuel pipe.

YES! We were running on vapour BUT ………….. we didn’t run out!

The Skipper said that he knew we were running low of fuel and we could have got some from Ellesmere Marina as we passed but £1.40 a litre and an enforced 60/40 split? Lessons! Lessons!

Talking of lessons ………….. Megan has achieved her aim and been awarded a Distinction in her TESOL qualification. Her hard work has paid off.

SO ………… we are now moored on the pretty, peaceful Prees Branch and will stay here for the rest of the weekend. We have a lovely mooring spot between the two lift bridges, the fire is alight, we have TV reception, phone reception, a reasonable internet connection, a good walk to do tomorrow and …………………. 6.27 inches on the dipstick!

Dipstick? I rest my case.

Out and About

2011-09-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

On reaching the end of the navigation at Maesbury Marsh we came across our friends Richard & Chris on Du Morvan! We didn’t think we would see them again this year as they have organised a Winter mooring on the Whitchurch Arm and are very soon to go to their house in France.

Yesterday we got out the bikes and set off to see what progress has been made on The Monty since we were here three years ago. The limit of navigation is exactly the same! Volunteers are now actively encouraged by BW and there were lots working to restore the next stretch of canal but it is a slow old process. We cycled some of the towpath and, seeing the bed of the canal so overgrown and blocked by several very low road bridges, makes you realise what a mammoth task still remains in order to connect with the navigable section in Wales.

This is a section leading up to the Vyrnwy Aqueduct.

The canal passes through some stunning scenery.

Today we went to Oswestry and took the easy option. We went on the bus!

The weather today has been beautiful – good old September!

Spontaneity is their Middle Name

2011-08-29T13:18:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we got back to Ellesmere and said ‘goodbye’ to Rodney who set off on the long drive back to Staines. We rang to organise a passage down the Frankton Locks onto the Montgomery Canal for Monday morning and moored Sunday night at the top of the locks.

The Montgomery (affectionately known as ‘The Monty’) is currently only navigable from the English end for seven miles to Maesbury Marsh. Originally it went for 35 miles from Welsh Frankton in England to Newtown in Wales. The canal crosses into Wales at a place called Llanymynech which is about three miles further on from the current terminus. Part of the canal has been restored from the Welsh end – it all just needs to be joined together! Twenty five years ago I was looking forward to the time when I could cruise from Frankton to Welshpool – I’m still looking forward to it! It’s always all about money – if only I could have a large win on the lottery ………………!!!!

The canal is very rural and, as there are special plants, the banks are more river-like and less protected against wash. Moorings are very restricted and so the number of boats allowed onto it at any one time is carefully managed. When it is eventually fully restored (and I can only hope it is within my life time) I’m sure it will be every bit as popular as the Llangollen.

We were just filling up with water at the bottom of the Frankton flight when the phone rang and it was Mick & Lynn. They were travelling back from a visit to Lynn’s mum who lives on the Wirral and, just like that, decided to come and find us! Easy-Peasy – ‘meet us at the Queen’s Head on the A5 just outside of Oswestry’, we suggested! We arrived within minutes of each other. Being Bank Holiday Monday the pub was heaving. Lunch was excellent!

God Bless good friends!

“A Masterpiece of Civil Engineering”

2011-08-25T06:36:00.001-07:00

The Pontcysylite Aqueduct as described on one of the information boards at Trevor Basin.

It is apparently the highest navigable aqueduct ever built and is so special that in 2009 it was placed on the World Heritage List. Crossing the beautiful River Dee it’s 126 feet high, 1,007 feet long and supported on 19 arches. It was officially opened to traffic in November 1805 and cost £47,018 to build. Boats go across single file in an iron trough and railings are only on the towpath side. It’s certainly a very long way down!

Judging by the number of visitors walking past our boat from the car park, it certainly attracts crowds of people. A coach load of Japanese tourists has arrived two days running so we have appeared in lots of photographs! Male passers-by are fascinated by our engine and the ladies like the flowers and painted ware. The trip boat is doing very good business. One little girl thought we were the trip boat – bless her!

The weather forecast has led us to believe that there is some really bad rain on the way but, as yet, the sun has, for most of the time, continued to shine. Typically, just as we got onto the aqueduct it started to rain and the wind began to blow but …….. it didn’t last long.

We have decided not to carry on to Llangollen but to stay here at Trevor for another day. The pub is FAR too accessible for John and Rodney but, for a bit of peace and quiet, it gets them out of my way!

Fun & Games?

2011-08-24T03:48:00.001-07:00

Well, that all depends upon who it is having difficulty! If it’s us it’s definitely not funny – if it’s someone else it’s entertaining! At New Marton Top Lock it was us in trouble! We just couldn’t get fully into the lock! Boats stacked up behind us and boats stacked up in front of us and everyone had a different opinion as to what to do to solve the problem! John kept amazingly calm! Eventually, with three of us standing on the roof to give the front end extra weight, one guy flushing water down from the top paddles (the same guy who, earlier on in the proceedings, told me off for doing exactly that!) and at least eight hunky chaps pulling on ropes we got into the lock and on our way. This has definitely not filled either of us with confidence for the section from Trevor to Llangollen!

As we were approaching The Poacher’s Pocket who should be coming the other way but Dick and Chris on n/b ‘Dunmorvan’. They moored at Penton Hook Marina for a long time and we got to know them through Ben. Having now retired they are footloose and fancy free and are really enjoying exploring the canal system. There is an extra member of the family – a lovely little Jack Russell called Lucy who just loves beer! They moored up and we all went to the pub for liquid sustenance. We spent the next morning chatting over cups of coffee. They let us have a go on their electric bikes ……….. absolutely brilliant and Chris also has a TRULY comfortable saddle called a ‘Fat Bum’! I want one! The saddle that is, I’ve already got the other!!

Having left them we headed over the lovely Chirk Aqueduct – slowly. Croesco. Into Wales. Whenever the channel narrows the boat slows right down because she is drawing so much water beneath her. Another queue of hire boats behind! We moored up just at the entrance to the tunnel thinking it would be a peaceful place to stay, somewhere we could run the generator without upsetting anyone else and get easily to the shops and the lovely river Ceiriog to walk the dogs. How wrong can you be!

Hire Boat Central! We’ve counted at least nine different hire boat companies working this canal and from Chirk onwards it’s full throttle all the way to Llangollen. We watched as three hire boats entered the tunnel with hooters hooting willie-nillie and then, a few minutes later, three hire boats reversing out again! Why? Because SIX boats were coming the other way! How could you not notice six bright headlamps? Whilst these three reversed out of the tunnel at least another three arrived. Utter chaos! Better entertainment than the cinema but, of course, it wasn’t us in trouble! Frantic action continued quite late into the evening and began again early the next morning.

Today we hope to go over ‘The Big One’ and moor in Trevor Basin but that might be far too optimistic. One private boater we met – a liveaboard from Sunbury – assured us that, albeit slowly, we would be able to get up to the end but ……………… I’m not convinced and now, neither is John! Shame he was going the opposite way because he could have given us a tow should we have needed it.

Change Round Day

2011-08-21T02:45:00.001-07:00

So, what’s been going on?

Last Saturday our lovely friend, Gill, and her youngest son, William, were ‘delivered’ to us at Nantwich and have been with us cruising from there to Ellesmere on the Llangollen Canal. We have been so lucky with the weather! The sun has shone at some point every day and we have had very little rain. I’ve had crew!

It’s been really nice for me having my best mate to stay – there have been lots of opportunities for ‘girlie talk’ and, together, we had a really good mooch around the shops in both Whitchurch and Ellesmere.

Poor old Will! He’s been very patient – he just busied himself with crosswords, Terry Pratchet novels and pink biscuits!

There are lots of boats about on the system. I think the hire boats out-number the private boats but only just. As we reached Hurleston Junction who should we find moored up waiting to ‘catch’ us as we passed but our dear friends, Sandra and Ken on n/b ‘Kessandra’. We were so pleased to see them. They have been out on the cut since the beginning of April and are now making their way back to base.

At Wrenbury, as we were making our way to ‘The Cotton Arms’ (nice pub), we saw our ‘neighbours’ Mike, Jan and little dog Chico on n/b ‘Wah Wah Chug’. They too have had a really nice time out cruising and are now making their way back to Crick Marina. If you like old church buildings, the church at Wrenbury is well worth a visit.

We’ve only been on the Llangollen Canal once before but it didn’t take long to remind us how peaceful and beautiful the surrounding countryside is. No wonder it’s so popular!

Yesterday Gill and Will left to go home and Rodney arrived – hence ‘Change Round Day’. Some time ago I promised him a trip over The Pontcysylite Aqueduct. The plan is to cruise to the basin in Llangollen and back to Ellesmere. The last time we went to Llangollen we got well and truly stuck on the narrow section approaching the town so, of course, I’m convinced this is going to happen again! We struggled to get into the Ellesmere Tunnel so …………….. omen? Also, next weekend there is a canal festival being held at Ellesmere so I suspect it will be chaotic there! Let’s hope the weather remains kind to us as, in the words of my Welsh cousin, ‘there’s no place like Wales in the sunshine’!

‘Small Copper’ butterfly seen during a walk on Whixall Moss.

Take it All Back

2011-08-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

That obscure meeting point with Lynne and Paul turned out to be Coole Pilate Leisure Area where The Shropshire Union Canal Cruising Club has provided lots of picnic tables and barbecue stands. I suspect that this is where members of the club meet for an annual gathering - what a lovely mooring site! Needless to say it’s very popular with boaters.

We’ve spent a lovely couple of days with Lynne and Paul. We took the ‘pack’ of dogs for walks and, despite there being no provision for the larger dog at stiles, Crystal was not deterred.

It so frustrates me when we come across situations like this. Why can’t there be a simple dog flap? It’s easy for us to lift over little dogs like Maisie and Maggie but for poor old Crystal (all 7 stone of her!) it’s really difficult. Paul didn’t find it too easy either!

What this says to me is that the farmer doesn’t really want us there at all and is definitely not going to encourage walkers across his fields! They just do enough to abide with the rules and then apparently get some sort of payment.

During the day, John & I cycled back to Audlem along the country lanes and then, in the evening, we had a barbecue together.

How lucky are we?

The sunset was fabulous.

M and M

2011-08-11T13:12:00.001-07:00

As dusk approached on Wednesday, boats were moored bow to stern at the bottom of the Adderley locks just as they were at the top of the Audlem flight. The Madness and Mayhem then that occurred the following morning on the Audlem flight came as no surprise! To start with there were three boats going down to every one going up so – three boats in each pound and water levels dropping. It wasn’t until lock 10 that we were able to go out of one lock and straight into the next. Despite the drizzling rain and the queue’s of boats, however, as far as I’m aware, everyone maintained good spirits.

Audlem is another lovely village on the canal. It has three pubs and a good selection of individual shops. It never fails to amaze me how little places have such big, ornate churches!

Tonight we are moored by the popular canalside pub called “The Shroppie Fly” (For non-boaters – Fly boats were those which worked through the night to deliver their cargoes as quickly as possible.)

Just behind us is The Audlem Mill Canal shop. This old converted mill sells everything crafty and beautiful and lots more. For anyone who enjoys doing cross stitch, this is the shop for you! I have never seen such an enormous selection of sewing kits.

Tomorrow? We have an appointment at some obscure bridge – supposedly not too far away – to plague the occupants of n/b “Piston Broke”.

Aren’t you Glad it’s Summer?

2011-08-08T13:24:00.001-07:00

It’s mid August and today we lit the fire! We felt really cold!

Couple of rants – dedicated to my friend, Mrs Clayton, who says I’m good at it!

Rant 1

August and the School Holidays – this must be the month for the emergence of Bossy, I-know-it-all-and-even-if-you-don’t-want-to-hear-it-I’m-going-to-tell-you women! What’s the betting they’re teachers?

Justification for this observation:-

Yesterday I was told that I absolutely needed to be in the photo I was taking as otherwise I wouldn’t remember where it was so …………… hand the camera over now.
Same female – I made a comment about a campsite and was told in no uncertain terms that my observations were totally wrong and ……. this is what it’s really all about.
Today – I was told that I most certainly would not like Market Drayton and would not want to stay there long as all the decent shops have closed down and the market only sells tut and Morrisons, although it’s an OK shop, it’s a tiresome trek up from the canal.
Then – same lady told the boaters going up the lock in front how they couldn’t possibly reach their destination that day as it was far too far to travel in one day. (It was still only 10am and more fool them for telling her in the first place!)

I actually said very little – even if I had wanted to say more it would have been a losing battle to get a word in edgeways! I’m so glad we’re going North!

Rant 2

The Holiday boaters who want to do 109 miles and 94 locks in 5 days. This is why my slumbers are disturbed at 6.30am and 9.30pm.

Here endeth the rants.

Blast from the Past

2011-08-07T08:19:00.001-07:00

Earlier today – walking back to the boat from a visit to the chandlers at Norbury Junction a beautiful, tanned, slim young lady ran up and flung her arms around me with cries of “Mrs Allebone!” and then, “you haven’t changed a bit”!! (They know just what to say these youngsters!)

Well clearly she had because I didn’t recognise her! Then I saw her mum who was looking equally well and lovely and this lady I could recognise. Penelope Prothero – former neighbour and school governor. And the young beauty? Sarah – last seen by me when she was aged 11. Good grief – how these young girls blossom with just a few years of maturity! ‘They’ (all 10 of them) are on a hire boat collected yesterday from Autherley Junction and are doing the ‘Cheshire Ring’ in a week so 10 hours a day cruising then! Sarah had spotted our boat as they went by so she and her mum got off in an attempt to find me. Brilliant!

We now need to be in Market Drayton by tomorrow so we decided to move up just a bit. We are moored close to a pub called ‘The Anchor’. One of our guide books says that the pub is ‘one of a vanishing breed’ so I think John at least will have to investigate a bit later on!

Just a few latest scenes:-

The Anchor Inn

A boat moored by Bridge 37 for the lovely view!

Interesting double bridge complete with small telegraph pole.

Certainly this part of ‘The Shroppie’ is a mixture of tree lined cuttings and more open embankments.

Now that’s what you call a chimney!

Desirable residence complete with mooring for 2 boats.

Not the best situation for a pump out machine! I do hope they enjoyed their coffee and cake!

Brewood to Norbury

2011-08-06T03:23:00.001-07:00

What a lovely, friendly little place Brewood (according to our guide it’s pronounced Brood) is. There are lots of little individual shops mostly centred around the old market place. It’s all here:- traditional butcher/greengrocer, baker, florist, chemist, sweetshop (!), antique shop, deli, post office, couple of little supermarkets, hairdressers for both men and women (the barber still has the old pole displayed), gift shop and more…….

Couple of pubs, couple of hotels, posh school for girls (boys are allowed from 3-7, then they get sent on their way!), church ……….

Brewood is described as a village but there is so much there! When does a village become a small town? ‘Village’ to me equates an active post office, general store and maybe a couple of other shops.

In the Antique shop we were told that “The Lion” where Mick & Lynn stayed has only just been renovated and re-opened for business.

The locals are all very pleased because it was apparently in a sorry state and becoming an eye-sore in the centre of the market square.

Opposite “The Lion” is an extravagant looking building called “Speedwell Castle” apparently named after a racehorse worth backing! It’s now divided into flats.

More and more I find that I am being ‘picked up’ on my accent. I’ve never before dwelt on the fact that I actually have an accent – a London accent – and, around these parts, London seems to be an interesting topic of conversation. The assistant in the ‘Spar’ still seems to be under the impression that London is paved with gold! I offered to swap places!

Walking the towpath I met an elderly fisherman and, before I knew it, I was hearing all about ‘The Mrs’ and her trip to London to see the ‘horrid’ exhibition of the wedding dress AND how she has bought a souvenir tablet of soap but won’t tell him how much she paid for it and definitely won’t ever use it AND about Windsor AND about the hotel near Heathrow ………………. all because I said, ‘Good morning’ in my Greater London accent!

We saw Simon & Jane at Wheaton Aston lock. They are the lovely young couple from Crick who have bought our old camper van. It both dismays and bewilders me that now the % of younger people we meet is steadily increasing!

Gnosall (pronounced No-Zull) Heath – we should have stopped there by the two nice-looking pubs and good mooring spot.

I, however, had read about the ‘superb views of the Shropshire hills’ near bridge 37. The view was superb but we could get no closer to the bank than 6 feet away. Being deep drafted does cause us problems!

Even where we are now – tucked on the end at Norbury Junction – we are 3 feet out from the bank. We will probably stay here for the weekend as there’s plenty to keep us occupied – a pub, cafe, chandlers and gift shop and good dog-walking opportunities.

We also have chores to do! I might even get the duster out! Might not use it but at least it will look willing!

Lots of boats are on the move. Each time one passes us we rock from side to side and backwards and forwards. John nearly fell over in the shower! Oh, let me brace myself as here comes another one! I did suggest to him that he put on ‘springs’ (a more secure mooring technique!) but he told me to ‘get out there and do it then’ so …………..where did I put the Stugeron?

Organised Chaos

2011-08-04T09:48:00.001-07:00

Boating is a strange old existence! You can cruise around the waterways for years on end and never, or rarely, see again boaters you have previously met. Just by chance, somewhere and at some point every year so far, we have seen Ian and Alison on n/b “Nobby” Here they are this year then on The Shroppie, like us, at Brewood. Sad, sad news from them though – Bandit, their Springer spaniel and ‘love-at-first-sight’ where Maggie was concerned, developed arthritis of the spine and had to be put to sleep. He was only the same age as Maggie. Such a shame. Katy, their other dog, is absolutely gorgeous and I’m glad to report – fit and fine.

The Arrival of The Claytons

DAY 1 Tuesday 2nd August – mid afternoon. Phone call:-

“We’re in Brewood. Where are you?”

“Not there! We’re a couple of miles away.”

John had previously cycled to a place where they could park the car and then walk across the fields to where the boat was moored but they needed to receive directions.

“OK”, says John. “Go over the roundabout and pass “The Admiral Rodney” on your left. Go over two crossroads ………..oh, you’re breaking up. Can you hear me? No? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I’ve lost you!”

5 minutes later:- “Where are you now?”

“Bridge 11. We’ve made it! I can see the canal and a man on a boat with a white hat.”

“Well I can’t because we’re near bridge 7! Oh no, you’re breaking up again. You n..d to go l..t, par. the .ar and then .alk along the ..idle .ath to mee. us. What? Sorry? Can’t hear you.” Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

3 minutes later:- “Right. OK. Can you see the pylons? We should have met up by now!”

EVENTUALLY meet up we did with a mile to walk to the boat. Mick’s bad knee and heavy bags to carry had not been considered AND they still had to book into the hotel! A plan was hatched as follows:-

All to carry on walking to the boat, Mick hobbling and John carrying the bags.
COLD BEERS John and Mick to cycle to retrieve the car and then go to book a reservation at the hotel in Brewood.
John and Mick to cycle 3 miles back to the boat resisting the temptation to call into “The Bridge Inn”. COLD BEERS
Lots of food, lots of drink. lots of sunshine and lots of chat.
Mick and Lynn to cycle back to the hotel at the end of the evening leaving us with all four dogs. NIGHTCAP

The Claytons came for the evening and ……………… were coming back the next day too!

All went to plan …………… well, sort of! Lynn had not ridden a bike for 40 years!!

“Oh,” agree the other three, “It’s easy. You never forget how to ride a bike!”

And, for 2 miles she did really well. The things you do in the name of Friendship!

Then, being confronted with increasing darkness, no lights, a narrowing tow path and a very muddy patch ……………. whoops! A nasty encounter with bramble bushes!

Wounded!

BUT …… They’re bred tough in Liverpool! She was only worried about the bike and rode it all the way back to the boat the following morning but with firm instructions that the boat be moved to the very convenient moorings at Bridge 14 by Brewood.

(By the way, I have confirmation that gel saddles are not all they’re cracked up to be!)

Four dogs on a small boat bed?

Time for one human at least to give up and evacuate!

DAY 2 We all piled in the car and went for a day out to Stourport. We had a pub lunch, a wander around and a ‘nose’ at the new property developments taking place by the basin. All very nice.

DAY 3 The poached eggs for breakfast at the hotel apparently arrived much more speedily AND it was only a 5 minute civilised walk from the hotel to the boat. The rain began to fall and our ‘fair-weather’ friends (anything but!) departed.

A really good time was had by all.

We’ve reached The Shroppie

2011-08-01T11:54:00.001-07:00

We have just moored up on the outskirts of Brewood (between bridges 7 & 8) on the Shroppie and we got the last available space. We’ve only been on the Shroppie once before and we remember mooring being difficult due to there being a hard shelf along much of the bank.
We stayed at Penkridge over the weekend. We mooched around the large outdoor market on Saturday and, in the evening, had that promised take-away. Ray joined us late in the evening having driven from Staines to Bridlington transporting the ‘in her 80’s’ Ethel and spent the night with us on his way back. So …….. we now ‘sort-of’ know what he’s been up to here in England for the last month! He flies back to Cypress tomorrow. It was good to see him.
                    The popular Cross Keys pub at Penkridge

Apparently, this pub used to be very isolated but today there’s a massive housing estate behind it.

Something I really find hard to accept.
Also whilst at Penkridge we took Maisie to the vet for her annual booster jab. Since we’ve been travelling around we have had to use a variety of vets for this purpose. We’ve visited vets in:- Burton-on-Trent, Banbury, Staines, Ramsey, Hillmorton and now, Penkridge. How can it be that for exactly the same thing prices have ranged from £26.00 to £46.00?! Surely there ought to be a standard fee for standard treatments? It hardly encourages ‘responsible pet ownership’! No prizes for guessing where the most expensive vet was but you might be surprised to know where the least expensive was.
John has obviously got fed up with flowers! He’s changed to painting geometric shapes.
‘Posh’ Fender brackets or what!!
Anyway, tomorrow our very good friends, Mick & Lynn (Mick was our Best Man bless ‘im so they are also ‘old’ friends!) are coming to find us and the plan is that we spend the next couple of days together. Time to dust off the BBQ and …………… await the rain!! (It always seems to rain when we have a BBQ together!) Lynn and I just hand the ‘boys’ a big umbrella ……..SIMPLES!

Surprise! Surprise!

2011-07-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

“We” – actually it was John – has just ‘clocked’ today’s date and realized that it’s our wedding anniversary! (It was only ever John’s mum who remembered!)

It’s taken us ages to count up on both sets of fingers and toes – not enough – and find numerous twigs to supplement but ……. it’s 37 years!

BLOOMIN’ ‘ECK CHIEF!

OMG! How have we coped?

Celebration? Posh meal? Delivery of flowers?

Don’t be daft but we do know of a really good Chinese Take-Away in Penkridge. We know how to spoil ourselves!

We knew you’d be impressed, Ken!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxoo

Tixall Time

2011-07-27T09:50:00.001-07:00

It’s easy to see why Tixall Wide is such a popular mooring spot amongst boaters. It is what it says – wide! And, that in itself makes it a special feature on the canal system.

The story goes that the Toff who owned Tixall Hall and the surrounding land at the time of the construction of the canal didn’t want to look out of his windows and see a grubby old canal and ‘dirty boatees’!! So, to placate him, the Engineer in charge, James Brindley, widened the canal to make it look more like a lake. Only the Gatehouse of the Hall still exists.

Just a short walk back along the tow path is the busy area surrounding the junction at Great Haywood. For the visiting boater there’s a canal-side Farm shop, a canal-side cafe and Shugborough Hall where, for a fee, you can visit the mansion, a county museum, part of the working farm, the gardens, the National Trust shop and the cafeteria. Dogs can be taken into the grounds on leads. We’ve never gone in because we are not members of the N.T. and we think £30 for the two of us is expensive but I’m sure it’s all very interesting and constitutes a full day’s entertainment.

Leading to the Hall you cross the Trent by means of a fabulous old packhorse bridge called Essex Bridge. Dogs and children can ‘splish-slosh’ here to their heart’s content. Today, two horses were ridden into the water for a paddle too!

Whist moored at Tixall:-

John has been busy re-doing some of the scumbling in our back cabin.

“President” and it’s butty “Kildare” really did steam by! I suspect they are on their way to the IWA Festival which is being held at Burton next weekend.

The Hotel boats “Oak” and “Ash” moored here overnight too. They always demand attention when they go by.

An opportunist stowaway was looking to get on board!

Tomorrow we will be making our way to Penkridge. Our friend, Ray, is coming to see us on Saturday and we think Penkridge will be a good place for him to meet us.

The Great British Summer!

2011-07-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today we have been treated to what, at times, seems to be an increasing rarity - a perfect British Summer's day!

Perfect for a long walk up on Cannock Chase. We have found the easiest access point to be by bridge 72 at Little Haywood where there are some good moorings.

Lots of opportunities for the dogs to 'splish-splosh' and cool down in the stream which runs through part of The Chase.

So, we now have two shattered dogs and ...................... aching feet!

Lichfield

2011-07-22T10:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we were amongst a convoy of boats approaching Fradley Junction from the Coventry. Whenever we’ve been through Fradley it’s been heaving with boats and really difficult to moor so …………. before we reached the swing bridge, we ‘dived’ into the one available space! ‘Dived’ is a huge exaggeration – it actually took quite a lot of toing, froing and pulling! We took the dogs for a walk around the Nature reserve, had a lovely chat with 86 year old Audrey who was out with her son – (she said they go there often to visit the cafe for coffee and cake!!) and then ended up sitting outside the Swan pub watching the boats…… and having a drink. Well, you have to, don’t you?!

Today we got the bikes out for an airing and cycled into Lichfield which from here is about five miles. Before we could go anywhere, however, a puncture needed to be mended. The inner tube needed replacing and, being a Queen Scout and all that ‘Be-Prepared’ business, he just happened to have one! Bless! Where WOULD I be without him? (Back in the classroom I used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”!!!)

We have never been to Lichfield before – what a gem! It’s a Cathedral City but small and oozes charm. It has a long history. From what I could read on information boards etc it seems that it developed as the religious centre of the Kingdom of Mercia in Saxon times. Actually, in 2009, the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard was in all the papers. The largest hoard of Anglo Saxon gold and silver ever to be found was discovered by a chap with a metal detector in a farmer’s field about 4 miles from Lichfield. An exhibition of these treasures will be in the Cathedral at Lichfield from 30th July. I would really like to see them.

Lichfield was a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War and the cathedral was well-and-truly desecrated by Mr Cromwell and his followers. Thankfully, over the ensuing centuries restoration has taken place and the magnificent bbuilding and it’s ornate masonry is back on show for everyone to admire.

It’s just incredible to me that anyone can create something this realistic out of stone.

This was just one of many, many carved figures – all different.

Every household should have one!

Litchfield just felt like a really nice place ……………

Onward tomorrow – we need to stop at Rugeley to do a bit of shopping for the weekend and then we hope to be able to moor up near Wolseley but, when the canals are as busy as they are at the moment, you just have to settle for what you can get! The sensible thing would be to get going early but ………….!!

On the Coventry

2011-07-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

We passed through Hawkesbury Junction last Monday and have been making our way up the Coventry. Hawkesbury Junction is a notoriously sharp turn and the Greyhound Pub is well situated for all the drinkers to watch and laugh at skippers who ‘mess up’!

As we were going down the Atherstone flight of eleven locks we met a single-handed boatman who has well and truly got it sussed!

He has a clever little remote-control gizmo that enables him to drive his boat backwards and forwards while the boat is in the lock and he is on the bank operating the gates and paddles.

Clever eh?

Aren't we all glad it’s summer?!! The showers keep coming, it’s dull and really quite chilly. Time to gather some fuel I thought. Have yet to persuade him to use some of it though.

Passing Alvecote marina there were still lots of old working boats moored up following their celebratory ‘gathering’ last weekend. It’s special to see so many together in one place. They looked fantastic.

NOW FOR SOMETHING POTENTIALLY CONTENTIOUS ………..

I’m all for the canal environment being used and enjoyed by a diversity of interested parties and, like the civilised, intelligent race we are, we all need to tolerate and respect each other’s interests. It’s really good to see the canals being used not only by boaters but also by fishermen, joggers, dog walkers, ramblers and cyclists. No one group is any more important than another …………… or is it?

Can they really DO this?

Can they really prevent boats going through a section of the canal for 10 hours? If they can then I really hope that someone will think to inform all hire boat companies within a wide radius so that they can pass this information onto their hirers. Hirers and private boat owners alike could find their schedules seriously impeded. Hopefully they don’t actually mean to prevent boat passage, just boats being moored along this section of tow path? That would be fair enough.

AND ….What about the way in which this notice is attached to the lovely LIVE oak tree? It’s been screwed to the trunk of the tree in four places! Speared! The eejit who put this notice up obviously has no respect for nature. Anyone with half a brain knows that damaging the bark of a tree like this can leave it open to infection and disease. At this moment in time I’m feeling very concerned for the fish!

Time to take the dogs for a walk I think!

Yesterday & Today

2011-07-13T08:56:00.001-07:00

MR & MRS RICHARDSON:- PREPARE YOURSELVES TO BE AMAZED!

We were up and out of the marina BEFORE 9a.m.! Now, I know to you two that this is the middle of the morning, but to us it’s still dawn!!

The joys of the canals being busy with boats: Having help from other boaters and the lock keeper, we descended the Watford Flight in record time. I have never seen the flight looking so well kept – someone involved obviously has very green fingers because there are masses of assorted containers of beautiful flowers all over the site. Again, with help at every lock on the Braunston Flight and being able to go straight in every lock as boats came out, we cleared it in 45 minutes! Unheard of!! Today, we have been just as fortunate at Hillmorton.

When we left Willoughby Wharf this morning we had it in mind to put in a few long days to get some miles behind us. We stopped at Hillmorton for lunch and ……….. we’re still here! Hopeless!

A new marina is being established at Barby. When we came by last October work appeared to have stopped and we were told that the developers had run out of money. Well, things are now well back on course. It’s all been dug out and filled with water and, as we came by, a digger was breaking through the bank to make an entrance from the canal. It looked like he was moving the self-same soil he was perched on!!

When you read about the original ideas behind the development and look at some of the plans it all sounds very sophisticated and alluring.

We watched the development of Yelvertoft Marina from start to finish and now, that appears to be almost full of boats and well-established. No doubt by this time next year things will be similar at this site.

Maggie and Maisie have both quickly re-discovered the joys of towpath walking and so have I. Today they were focused on chasing rabbits and I was focused on the numerous and varied butterflies.

According to my reference chart, this lovely butterfly is called a Gatekeeper.

Something else I saw today:- boat livery at it’s most extraordinary.

Both sides of this boat have been painted with scenes of the countryside. The longer you stand and look at it, the more you see – animals, birds, insects, trees, flowers, a water wheel, a bridge, a moored boat to name but a few things.

Each side is different.

Finally for today – an update regarding Megan.

She has arrived safely in Buenos Aires where she has enrolled in a language school in order to have a crash course to learn Spanish. There are only three students in the class (the other two are both female and both in their 30’s) and, apparently, she is the worst! Being bottom of the class for a change will be a useful experience for her! They have all made friends and intend to do lots of things together. I think this involves learning to tango! She says that what she has seen of the city so far, she really likes. Apparently, however, things are not as inexpensive as she was led to believe. She is then going to do another intense course for a month in order to attain a qualification to teach English as a second language. She assures me she’s not interested in teaching children; it’s the businessmen she wants to support!! It remains to be seen what will happen after that! It’s all just so far away and so, well …………..foreign!! xxoo

Crick Fun Weekend

2011-07-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

This weekend the villagers of Crick have banded together to organise all sorts of fun activities in order to raise money for charities. All over the village there have been things to engage and entertain:-

A small circus in the field near the marina.
Story-telling sessions for children.
All sorts of fair-ground type stalls.
A display of birds of prey.
A Fire Engine on display
A Scarecrow Competition
Dog Show
Art Exhibition
Garage sales
Raffles
Local Live bands on the playing fields
Food stalls – cream teas and burgers in the church
Craft stalls
Puppet making sessions
Face painting
An auction of promises at the pub

It has been a bit like you would get at a school fair but the whole village has been involved, not just the school. Thankfully the rain has held off! I have been so impressed to see how residents of roads worked together – for example, all the scarecrows in one road shared the theme of ‘The Yellow Brick Road’ so there was Dorothy, the Tin Man, The Scarecrow etc and ……………. Elton John on his keyboard!!

The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ was our overall favourite – it was complete with smoke and music! What a lot of time and effort must have gone into making it all.

The funniest was the young lady (surely only young ladies wear knickers like those?!) climbing back in the window after a boozy night out – it was called ‘The Curfew’

Tracking down all the activities and scarecrows has opened our eyes to just how big Crick actually is! We have discovered roads and areas we never knew were there.

10/10 for the People of Crick. I hope they have raised a good amount of money for their chosen charities.

We are hoping that our water heater will be back up-and-running tomorrow (yet another part of it has been sent off for repair!) and then we will be on our way.

Back in the Marina

2011-07-04T07:54:00.001-07:00

We have been back in the marina at Crick since last Friday busy sorting things out and doing various jobs.

We have cleaned, emptied and sold our loyal old van.

New plants are festooning the roof and front deck.

The boat has been cleaned inside from one end to the other and …………, on Tuesday we just went to have a look for some new flooring and ………… on Friday, new carpeting was fitted! I have an O.C.D. where carpets are concerned so the chosen colour is undoubtedly madness!!

The boat’s paintwork has been washed and polished on one side (need to turn her around to do the other), windows have been cleaned and all the brass has been brasso’ed!

Oh, and I’ve watched lots of tennis!!

On Saturday Megan and Maisie arrived and are staying for a few days – well, Megan is; Maisie is back with us for as long as she needs to stay. Megan didn’t find whatever it is she’s looking for in Malta, neither was ‘it’ on a cruise ship so now she’s going to explore Buenos Aires! ARGENTINA!!?? And I’m not supposed to have any concerns! The plan is that she is going to learn Spanish and get a qualification for teaching English as a second language. She flies out this Saturday.

Rodney has also arrived and is planning to stay on his own boat in the marina until Friday. No doubt he and John will be seeing quite a bit of the inside of “The Red Lion” over the next few days!!

John and I are looking forward to getting back out on the cut. Judging by the number of cars in the car park here and the number of boats out, it’s going to be busy. We will be heading North up the Coventry Canal towards Fradley.

It's been an education

2011-06-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

CAMPING!

It's eight years since we have experienced campsites and how things have evolved! Camping today isn't just about tents as it was when I was a nipper. Today it also encompasses caravans, campervans and mobile homes - yes, there is a difference, believe me!

What a wide spectrum camping is. At one end you have the humble back-packer, carrying everything with them and sleeping at the end of each day in the tiniest of tents. These back-packers are not just youngsters either. Not my idea of fun but, thankfully, it takes all sorts.

At the other end of the spectrum there is the large, fully-equiped motor home. These are not campervans - they are far too sophisticated! Bedrooms are permanent arrangements, fridges are the same size as in a household kitchen, there are freezers on board, self-seeking satellite dishes for the flat-screen TV/DVD systems, full size showers, microwaves etc, etc. Wow!

And in between?

First, the cyclists - again carrying everything with them balancing paniers wherever a panier will balance! Again, not my idea of fun but it takes all sorts! Mind you - some bikes are definitely more appealling than others! Bed and Breakfast at the end of every day ....................? Much better idea!
** see pictures above

Then there are the good old tents - the REAL campers! Gone are the days when you have to freeze inside, however, What about this idea? A wigwam complete with central fire - excuse the poor picture - it was pouring with rain, blowing a gale and getting dark! Good eh?

Next - the small campervans and caravans. All sorts ...............

Then the larger caravans whose accommodation space is doubled by attaching an awning which come in assorted sizes, colours and fancy windows!

There's never a dull moment on a modern day campsite! We've also noticed how it seems to be an accepted thing amongst the ladies that they go to the shower block in their dressing gowns and PJ's. One took the biscuit though - she took the dog for a walk dressed like this ............... she didn't even remove her rollers!!

On the subject of showers - how things have improved! Must be all to do with rules and regulations. The funniest shower we have ever had was years ago on Harris. Mrs MacDonald had put a notice on an old caravan which had seen much better days that there were showering facilities within but she insisted that only one at a time entered. We thought this was to forbid any 'hanky-panky' but .... no! It was because, despite the six layers of carpet on the floor of the caravan, the wieight of two people would cause the rotten floor to collapse!! The worst experience was in Ireland. The shower was in an old stone building that was barely still upright. HUGE cobwebs were everywhere and, where daylight could be seen, tryphids encroached upon one's body trying to entrap an arm or leg!! Ugh!!

Today, we have even been treated to underfloor heating on some sites! No battling with coins and water temperature and spotlessly clean. What a difference!

Anyway, as I write it's Thursday 23rd June (can't be sure this will publish when I want it to) and where are we now? We are in Wales! Llangollen - and we have had moments of warm sunshine!

Why here? Because The Richardsons (Ken & Sandra) are here in their boat and we wanted to see something of them this year. It was looking less and less likely that we would be able to catch up with them on our own boat so this ensures that we see them. It will be a really nice way to end our 'grand tour'. Back to our boat for Saturday.

South West Scotland

2011-06-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

Had a very nice stop-over at Loch Lomond. Went for a lovely walk over-looking the Loch and the sun was shining!

We had intended to circumnavigate Glasgow but, because the navigator was not paying full attention, we ended up going through at least some of it! As a result, a spontaneous decision was made and we headed west to Dumfries and Galloway. We have never been here before and thought we should! I won't mention the weather!

The area is very agricultural - both crops and livestock. Pastureland is very lush. I've never seen so many cows!! The area actually reminds us of Ireland. We went to the Mull of Galloway - a peninsula on a peninsula - where there is a proper lighthouse:-

Whilst there we saw an idea for our next mode of transport when we no longer have the van:-

Thing is - I don't know where I would put all the weekly shopping from Tesco - I know I mustn't sit on it (the demise of the camera!) so either it will have to go between the legs or behind!! Polite comments only please!!

Having problems with the computer at the moment - can't get phone connection like we used to and now, can't even get on to Live Writer. Don't know why?

Next planned major stop-off point is The Lancaster Canal - we want to 'suss' it out with the view of taking the boat there next year.

Uncharacteristically Quiet!

2011-06-13T14:44:00.001-07:00

We’ve had really poor reception for everything – phone, internet and radio! Something to do with being surrounded by mountains!

So, where are we and what have we been up to?

Dornock, Cromerty and Rosemarkie – all really nice little places on the East coast. The last two are on the southern shore of the Moray Firth famous for it’s dolphins. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dolphins but, to be honest, we didn’t really invest enough time or effort.

Inverness – we went in to purchase a new camera. John has been practising with it ever since and assures me his photographic skills are improving!

Glen Affric – we did a bit of a detour to visit this beautiful glen and I am so glad that we did. We did several different walks through the lovely native woodlands. In the past we have not been impressed walking in pine forests as we have found them to be dark and lifeless. THIS forest, however, is absolutely breath-taking – Derek, you would love it. It’s light, full of bird song and there is such a variety of truly magnificent trees. The dippers in the burn were a bonus! It has done what it said ‘on the tin’! It has left an indelible mark on my memory and ‘fed my soul’. Unfortunately all my cares have not ‘flown off with the eagles’!!

Loch Garten/Cairngorms – we made our way back to this area and spent time watching (and John photographing with ‘our’ new camera) ospreys and red squirrels.

Today we have driven South to the Trossachs and are just north of Callender. We have a walk in mind to do near Loch Lomond first thing tomorrow and then we want to get back on the road with the intention of getting past Glasgow. We are well and truly on our way ‘home’.

Waving the White Flag

2011-06-07T12:44:00.001-07:00

Today is the beginning of week 7 and we are, after 4 of them being somewhat inclement, surrendering to the wind and rain.

We might not always realise it but the weather has such an enormous effect on people’s lives – both work and leisure. It’s so instrumental in how we feel and what we do. At the moment it’s preventing us from walking where we want to walk. There’s no fun being out in the wet and cold especially when you only have an un-heated campervan to come back to! Obviously I was just not meant to go to Handa Island.

We were spoilt with three lovely warm, sunny days in Ullapool – somewhere of which we are very fond. John’s favourite Outdoor shop is there – always a dangerous encounter!

We drove around the Inverpolly Nature Reserve and the views over to the Summer Isles were spectacular.

Having reached Scourie we have decided to go no further North. We have seen amazing scenery and wildlife but think that if we go back over to the East coast it may be a little less wet!!!!!!!!!!!

This is for real – near Achiltibuie. Love it! Stac Pollaidh near Ullapool.

(I am typing this whilst at Dornoch on the East Coast and it’s HAMMERING down outside!!) Our journey South begins tomorrow!

Misfortune number 1:- Whilst walking to a special waterfall at Kirkaig I saw an eagle soaring overhead. To get a better view I laid back on a rock and ………… sat on our little camera! Needless to say between my big b*m and a hard rock, it didn’t fair well! The screen is bu**er*d!!

New camera needed then. I REALLY didn’t do it on purpose!

Misfortune number 2:- The “Wee Scottish Beastie” has awoken from it’s lair. YES! The Menacing Midge is back with vengeance! It’s been so nice without them.

Onwards & Upwards

2011-06-01T05:12:00.001-07:00

Since coming off Skye we have had some sunshine! Not today – today the wind and rain are back but the forecast is good and we are parked up over-looking a fabulous sandy bay where, last night, there were eight Black Throated divers swimming just off shore. These beautiful birds are the rarest of the divers – their plumage is amazing. (copied picture not photograph ………….)

The campsite we are on is not official and has no facilities. The owner charges £2.00 a night and gives this money to support the maintenance of the beach and the local school. We were told about it by a ‘man from the Midlands’ – more about him in a minute.

From Skye to here then:-

Eilean Donan Castle Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve Loch Maree

Red Point

Now – the ‘man from the Midlands’. A sad story.

Don lost his wife 18 months ago – she was only 55. What amazing resilience some people have – he has not given up on going out and about in their motor home and pursuing his passion (and incredible talent) for photography and, for company, he takes his cats …….. all 5 of them!! They are Egyptian Mau and are absolutely beautiful, really friendly and quite happy touring around. Unbelievable!

Don invited us into his motor home to see some of his wildlife pictures – wow! Fabulous. Dangerous though because we are now considering up-grading our little camera.

Don with Draco

His custom built camper is so roomy, so comfortable and so well equipped. We ended up watching a DVD!

If we were starting all over again ……..

Men of Yorkshire

2011-05-29T04:02:00.001-07:00

As if one Yorkshire man in my life is not enough ……………… I’ve met three more just as daft as the first one!

Meet Wakefield’s answer to “Last of the Summer Wine”. Den, Wally and ‘Rocket’ Ron – up for a week on Skye and making the best of the weather like the rest of us. Ron converted a van into a camper and that’s how we got talking. After that we kept bumping into them – lots of fun! They were keen to know all about their fellow countryman from Rotherham!

We have just made it across the Skye Bridge before it was again in danger of being closed to high sided vehicles – the wind is still blowing a hoolie but the sun is shining!!! Haven’t yet decided where to go from here.

Skye Bridge Looking across from Kylerhea Neist Point Lighthouse

The Unseasonable Storm

2011-05-25T03:27:00.001-07:00

It’s official!

Yesterday (Monday May 23rd) pretty much the whole of Scotland took a severe battering from furious wind and rain. Apparently so unlike this time of year!

roads were closed due to fallen trees and unsafe buildings
rail journeys were disrupted
major road bridges were closed
ferries ceased to operate
thousands of homes were without electricity
flood alerts were issued

And ………….. as if this wasn’t enough, flights were cancelled due to a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland going over Scotland!

We felt like giving up/giving in and heading back South. BUT ….. they wouldn’t let us go! The bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles and there were no ferries running!

Just as well because today (Tuesday) has been mostly dry. We followed the footpath up to the base of a column of rock called The Old Man of Stor. It’s 165 feet high and a recognised challenge for climbers. There you go, Nicole, something to do in August!

There are other geological phenomenon on the Trotternish Peninsula.

There’s Kilt Rock – tube-like basalt columns rising from the sea:-

Then, away from the coast, there are some mighty pinnacles known collectively as The Quiraing. There’s the 120 foot Needle, The Prison and a sunken platform called The Table. If we get a reasonable day we would like to do the climb/walk to see these close up:-

Wednesday 25th May – it was meant to be a better day weatherwise. Not so at the moment! We are way off the beaten track as I write this – a place called Glendale on North West Skye. We wanted to go to Neist Point and see the lighthouse – maybe later!! Ever hopeful!

The Misty Isle

2011-05-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday 21st May. We are now on Skye and it has not earned it’s reputation for nothing!!

We are beginning to feel that we need webbed feet and that a Skye Tsunami is near at hand. The pictures of the state of the mountain streams speak for themselves and bear testimony to the amount of rain that has been falling from the sky.

We are currently – or will be tomorrow – on the Skye Clubsite on the North of the Island. Tonight, believe it or not, their 105 pitches are already taken!! Obviously, we should have persevered with getting a campsite of our own 10 years ago when we first thought of it!! We would be rich by now!

Anyway – just a bit (more) silliness:-

We have decided that Weather Forecasters for these Western Isles have an easy job! All they have to do each day is decide on the best adjective to put before the word ‘rain’!! …………………………

Light/heavy/showery/torrential/relentless/intermittent/constant/thundery/frozen/MORE/NO(!) ……………..

And then there's the accompanying wind to contend with:-

Gentle/strong/breezy/gale-force/light/blow-you-off-your-feet .....................

Someone once told me that the weather in Scotland in May was warm and sunny !!!!!!!!! Hey!

Actually today (Sunday) it's been a nice afternoon. We had lunch at the busy Stein Inn (the oldest Inn on the Island) and did a lovely walk to some coral beaches near Dunvegan. We are now sitting in the van in sunshine over-looking Loch Greshornish on the Camping & Caravaning Clubsite. It's a fight to go OUT of the van though because the wind, being so strong, it's a battle to open the door!

Farewell to Mull

2011-05-20T02:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we left Mull so we are now back on the Mainland making our way to Skye. We are, at this moment in time, on a lovely campsite over-looking Loch Sunart at a place called Resipole. We stayed on this site some years ago and – yes – how things change! It has obviously been very successful and the owners have continued to invest in it and improve it well.

Reflections of Mull

There is absolutely no doubt that Mull is a beautiful island – it has a mixture of so many different terrains:-

stunning coastal scenery
sea lochs
fresh water lochs
mountains
moorlands
forests
beaches
Fabulous, accessible wildlife

No wonder it is such a popular tourist destination. Just a few images to share ……………………..

Crossing the river reluctantly at Calgary Bay. Mother Otter and cub. Male and female Sea Eagles.

I know the wild life pictures are fuzzy – they were taken a long way away with our little, humble camera. The thing now is to have fancy, expensive digital cameras with telescopic lenses – we have met lots of people clicking furiously away! One nice chap we met said he will e-mail me some pictures – I am looking forward to receiving those.

Stone Circle dating from 2nd Century BC. Maggie down a sandy rabbit hole! Loch Na Keal

In one way, it’s Mull’s enormous popularity which spoils it a bit – everywhere you go there are other people!! We didn’t have very good weather over there so, like us, visitors were driving around (£1.53 a litre for diesel!) and exploring different places. Most of the roads, being single track and full of pot holes, didn’t make driving easy!! Coach loads of visitors come over for sight-seeing day trips from Oban and we counted at least five different people carrier vehicles doing wildlfe/historical tours every day. There are also plenty of sea trips to choose from – sea eagle trips, trips to the nearby Treshnish Islands, trips to Staffa and Fingal’s Cave and trips to search for whales and dolphins. Apparently, one of the boat companies throws out fish to attract the eagles so that customers can click away with their expensive cameras. I’m not sure how I feel about that – should eagles be encouraged to change their natural behaviour and scrounge for easy meals like seagulls do? Is this maximising resources or clear exploitation?

It would be interesting to know the percentage of accommodation on the island that is involved in some way with tourism – hotels, guest houses, self-catering places etc. My guess is that it is very high.

However you look at it, commercially Mull is a very successful island making the most of it’s best assets.

Mull & Iona

2011-05-15T13:33:00.001-07:00

NOAH! Wasn’t he that guy that built a really good boat when there was lots of rain? 40 days & 40 nights? I DO hope NOT but …. there’s lots of tree trunks lying around should we need them!!

As you might guess we have had lots of rain – varying amounts of the wet stuff every day. However, the waterfalls tumbling down the mountains are at their very best!!

From Glen Coe we came across the Corran Ferry and then drove across The Morvern Peninsula to a place called Lochaline. When we were last here there was a chuck wagon selling not-so-healthy venison burgers and more. Today it is SO up-market!

Megan should appreciate this!!!!!

“Catch-a-Snack”!! at Lochaline.

From Lochaline we got the ferry to Fishnish on the beautiful island of Mull. For so early in the year it is surprisingly busy with tourists. There are really only 3 campsites on the island so pitches are at a premium and, yes, ……..’you pay’(as the Italians say!). Tonight we are right on the edge of the Sound of Mull overlooking the ferry terminal at Craignure. The ferries come in regularly from Oban on the mainland.

Initially we bought a 5-day ‘Saver’ ferry ticket but we have had it up-graded as we want to stay here longer. The wildlife opportunities and the scenery are just too good not to take advantage of.

Tobermory is as appealing as ever AND, even on a Saturday, we were able to park easily in the middle of the town.

Tobermoray as seen from a ‘high’ road.

Iona

Last Friday we went on the passenger ferry to Iona. We have never been before because we were put off by the hoards of people going there. The ferry was still busy with people but what a lovey little island. Actually, it was more reminiscent of somewhere like Coll but much busier and more commercial. For all that, it didn’t feel spoilt. It is a thriving island supporting crofting, farming and a dedicated, resident Christian community. There are several shops, a Primary School, two hotels and numerous B & B’s and holiday cottages. The Abbey, in my opinion, is absolutely lovely. It is small and contained and steeped in history. Thank goodness it was saved from complete dereliction back in the 1930’s.

AND:- not only did we hear the rasping calls of corncrake ………… we saw several!

Other Issues:-

The Van

The Poor Old Girl IS causing us some worries:- the water pump is not working properly AND, with all this rain we have discovered a leak above the sliding door.

Club Sites

I have to say that Camping & Caravaning Club Sites at this time of the year for the over **’s are marvellous. Immaculate facilities and good value.

Wildlife Highlights

Almost too many to mention ……………. but I will!!!!

Corncrake on Iona
On Mull : Golden Eagle. Sea Eagle sitting on nest with two chicks. Dad comes in with dinner. Dad harassed by crows. Great Northern Diver in full breeding plumage. Short Eared Owl displaying the most strange flying behaviour – Every now and then he/she ‘clapped’ his/her wings beneath him/her and fell a few metres in the sky. Don’t know what this was all about and could find no reference to it in any of my books. OTTERS!! Five of them in total – watched for over an hour. + + + If like us you are wildlife enthusiasts you must come to this island at this time of year!!

East to West

2011-05-09T14:26:00.001-07:00

We’ve left the long swathes of sandy beaches of the East coast behind and have made our way over to the West. We’ve swapped sand and dunes for lochs, glens, mountains and forests. On our way across we stopped at Loch Garton and went to the osprey hide which is now so posh! It was Sunday and was heaving with visitors all keen (me included) to see the famous ospreys Odin and Ejay on their nest.

On the way to Aviemore, which was bigger and busier than I remembered, we passed a lovely old bridge at a place called ……… Carrbridge!

During the afternoon we wanted to sit and listen to the Istanbul Grand Prix but reception of any description has been poor. John improved the radio reception – not pretty but it worked!

The scenery around the area of Loch Ruthven is stunning and we saw some amazing birds – Slavonian Grebes and Red Throated Divers – very special.

Forestry is big business but when large areas of forest are felled it looks catastrophic.

We drove along part of the Caledonian Canal. B.W. are busy working up here too. A cruiser wanted to go through a swing bridge – just a wee bit bigger than the swing bridges we’re used to on the southern canals. What a scene that would be – a flotilla of narrow boats cruising from Inverness to Fort William!! Would it be possible? It looked like the sea out there today………..

Anyway, we are currently parked up at the Camping & Caravanning Clubsite at Glencoe. There are more other campervans and caravans here than we have so far seen but it’s still fairly quiet. This is the view from our window tonight -

The weather is not as good as it has been – we’ve been getting quite a bit of the wet stuff but up here things can change about every 20 minutes! At least there are no midges as yet!!

Up the East Coast

2011-05-04T13:12:00.001-07:00

Since crossing the Scottish Border we have steadily made our way up the East Coast stopping off to see a variety of places. I have to confess that most of these have been coastal areas. We intended to stop in Stonehaven but …………. drove in and out again! We by-passed both Aberdeen and Peterhead. Well, we did pull in to look over one of Peterhead’s harbours!

One of the harbours at Peterhead. We somehow missed the main fishing fleet harbour – we were too anxious to keep away from the town centre I think.
There is still a reasonably large fishing industry operating out of Peterhead and Fraserburgh. We are camped up tonight overlooking Fraserburgh Bay. Behind us are lots of industrial fish units eg ‘Youngs’.   We ought to be able to get some really good Fish & Chips here.

                                                 Campsite at Fraserburgh
We’ve not visited this North Eastern part of the Scottish coast before. Both Peterhead and Fraserburgh are working towns and not prettied up for the tourist industry. The beauty of the coastline, however, continues to amaze us. We have been told that there are some lovely villages between here and Nairn.

This is a headland called Rattray Head. We have never seen a lighthouse so close to a beach before. We were the only ones on the beach.
                                                         Maggie wasn’t sure what to make of the waves!

She’s a ‘Happy Camper’ though! She’s discovered that this window is SO good for ‘bunny-spotting’!

So far we’ve been really lucky with the weather – we’ve had eight days of warm sunshine. Apparently this is all going to change tomorrow – rain is on it’s way! AND – like it or not – I need to go shopping for provisions! Gloom and Despondency!

An Eight Year Wait

2011-05-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

Crossing the border and …………………The Forth Road Bridge. (The really impressive bridge is the railway crossing.)

Northumberland

2011-05-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

We discovered the lovely Northumberland coastline some years ago and so wanted to visit this again on our way up to Scotland.

A favourite place:- Bamburgh.

The castle is stunning, the beach is stunning – the whole area is stunning ………… especially in the sunshine!

Left: Approaching the castle from the South.

Right: The castle as seen from our ‘wild’ camping site. We were warned by our friends Gary and Joan that getting onto campsites these days was trickier than in the past ……… over two of the Bank Holiday days we had to resort to ‘wild’ camping as six sites we tried were full up!!

……………………………… Views of the beach ………………………………….

The Farne Islands can clearly be seen one way and Holy Island the other.

Holy Island/Lindisfarne

We set off early to re-visit the island as the one and only time before we have visited it was in February! 8.30 a.m. and we were happily trundling along when, behind us appeared a police car and he put on his flashing blue lights!!!! Apparently our Insurance wasn’t registering on their system. We are obviously a couple of dodgy looking O.A.P’s!!!

Well we did support them but it cost us £4.40 for the privilege! Actually, if you are not members of the National Trust you need a lot of ££££’s in your pocket as you have to pay lots to get in to see both the priory ruins and the castle.

Anyway – some pictures to give you a ‘taste’ of Lindisfarne if you have never been there:-

The castle dates back to the middle of the C16th. It was built to protect the island from the Scots! The Priory dates back to the beginning of Christianity in Britain – sacked by the Vikings!! The up-turned boats – used now as sheds – council tax band??? We didn’t come a cropper on the causeway!!

Eider ducks abound.

Today we have gone over the Scottish border! Over the Forth Road Bridge………. and onwards.

We are now on a camp site near Stonehaven. We plan to stay here for a couple of days as we want to explore the area a bit.

Staithes

2011-04-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

About 20 years ago I saw a lovely calendar picture of a place in Yorkshire called Staithes and I’ve waited all that time to get there. Today, I got there! It was well worth the walk down to the village.

Sandstone cliffs rise over a steep little valley which is crowded with the rooftops of the quirky village houses. Seagulls really love the rooftops! ……………

All the houses are really higgledy-piggledy and are connected by countless alleyways and steps. The village was once a thriving fishing port …………….. now most of the quirky little cottages seemed to be holiday lets – empty holiday lets!! Unlike Whitby, it was eerily empty of people! (When we attempted to park up in Whitby earlier in the day it was heaving!)

It was really lovely but could do with an injection of money to smarten some of the buildings up a bit. Apparently the young James Cook watched passing ships from Staithes’ harbour.

This cottage – three bedrooms - is for sale. It is in the region of £150.000.

Tiny harbour entrance.

Seagulls (as in Herring Gulls!) - have no fear ………… and no respect ………….. for humans or parked vehicles!

We are now on a campsite called “Bunnyland” – NOT a good place to bring Maggie. At least it’s the ‘B’ word and not the ‘R’ word!! The baby goats are simply gorgeous!

Tomorrow we must get a wiggle on and get some miles behind us – heading for Bamburgh in Northumberland. Let’s hope this lovely weather holds out.