Heading north: Day 1

We were awake fairly early, because it was a big day.  Firstly, it was my 55th birthday so there were cards and presents over breakfast (including a harmonica, after I mentioned at the Country2Country festival earlier this month that I fancied learning it!).  Then we set off in the car for Stoke, where we visited Tim Tyler’s workshop to see our new boat, Kingley Vale, in build.

There are lots more pictures over on the Kingley Vale blog.

After spending an hour or so there, we headed to the Middleport Pottery, where we like the cafe.  We sat in the sunshine talking about our options for a base for the next few weeks.  We’d intended to be at Victoria Pit, opposite Braidbar, but a big breach on the Macclesfield Canal probably means it’ll be closed for a while.  We phoned a few marinas in the area of Cheshire we’d find most convenient, but none have spaces at the moment.  We had an early lunch, of Staffordshire oatcakes with a portion of chips.

We then thought about Stoke as a possible base, and as we couldn’t find a phone number for Festival Park Marina, we thought we’d drive down there, as it’s only a few minutes away.  We spoke to a chap there, found they had spaces, and liked the price.  So we have booked in for an initial month from next month, and we’ll see what happens.

Next we made a quick visit to the huge Tesco for some things we forgot yesterday, and then got on the A50 and the M1 back to the boat.  It was a lovely sunny warm afternoon, and only just 3pm, so we had already decided we’d be starting out on the trip that will never end.  We attached some centre lines, did the engine checks, said goodbye to our neighbours, and pulled out of the marina for the final time.  We’ve been here a long time, and it’s been a good base.

We headed north, carrying on for about an hour to a favourite spot at Grafton Regis.  It might be a noisy choice though, as the sheep are making a real racket!

3 miles, 0 locks.

Wending to Wales: Day 1

Adrian came up to the marina from home this afternoon, and I came up from London after an early shift.  We arrived within a few minutes of each other.  I’d also been to get fresh food from Tesco in Wolverton on the way.  We unpacked the cars, got the boat ready, and set off a bit before 5pm.  The turn north out of the marina was a bit tricky because of the stiff breeze.  We plodded along, passing only one moving boat.  There were some quite dramatic cloud formations.

I wanted to get an hour or so under our belts, partly just to provide some hot water.  We carried on to the other side of Bridge 57 at Grafton Regis, opposite the sheep field, mooring up at just after 6pm.

3 miles, 0 locks.

Grafton Regis again

I decided I would stay up here until I go to work on Friday — which meant I needed to do some washing as I was running out of clean clothes.  I’d originally planned to go home on Saturday, so hadn’t brought much with me.  So I got the washing machine going and then set off to Stoke Bruerne.  The forecast suggested it would be ok in the morning but rain in the afternoon, so I was under way but about 9.  There are lots of fields of sheep and lambs round here, and in one the farmers had arrived with a trailer of new arrivals, presumably for, the lambing shed.  They were trying to make sure the ewes and the lambs knew who belonged to who before leaving them to get on with it.

I turned around at Stoke Bruerne bottom lock, I think disappointing a boat ahead who were waiting in the lock.  I reversed onto the service mooring to fill the water tank, as the washing machine had been on.  This also gave me chance to get the washing out, make some tea, and dump rubbish.  As it was still quite early and not yet raining, I decided to go back to Grafton Regis, where some of the nice moorings were available — the ones with the view both sides, one of which I stayed on for a night last week.  I was all secure by about 11.30, so I started to write up yesterday’s boat test.  One of the lambs in the field on the towpath side decided that in spite of having a whole field of grass to eat, he’d prefer the string that’s been used to fix a hole in the fence.

Before long it began to rain on and off.  I had some lunch and continued to write.  In early afternoon I felt I needed a walk, and the rain was only light.  I walked back to Bridge 57 and up the lane, past Grafton Regis church, which sits right on top of the hill.

There are some nice houses up there, with fantastic views across the valley.  The old part of the village is set much further back from the A508 than I’d expected too.  I walked a loop at the top, taking one lane to the main road, going along it for a bit, and then the next lane back.  Back at the boat I finished my boat test and even got the check call done with the builder.  At about 4.30 I lit the fire, having been ok without it all day.  I need to get that washing dry by the morning!

6 miles, 0 locks.  (7 miles, 0 locks)

March visit: Day 1

Amazingly, this is the first visit to the boat since early October, when we finished our autumn cruise.  It must be one of the longest times (outside lockdown) that we haven’t been on board.  I came up this morning at the end of a set of night shifts; in the original plan, Adrian would already have been on board, but he’s attending to some family matters in Dorset at the moment.  I was supposed to be doing a boat test, but that was rained off.

As there were some very cold snaps during the winter, I was a bit nervous about whether there might be some damage to the boat, but all seemed well.  I reassembled the shower and turned the water on, and hoped the water pump would soon stop, once the pipes were refilled.  It did — so there was no repeat of a few years ago when I had to replace the galley taps, which was a relief.  I also got the fire going as it was pretty cold on board, and attended to the loo.  I also filled the water tank, which needed quite a bit.  It was still only about 9.30 when I headed off to Tesco in Wolverton to get food for the next few days.

The rain up to this point had been pretty light, but back at the boat it came on quite heavily, so once the shopping was away I decided to do a few other jobs.  It was when I was cleaning the shower that I found the pump wasn’t working.  I Googled the pump type (a Jabsco Water Puppy) and found how to get the back off.  Unfortunately, to get to it I had to take the whole thing off the wall of the airing cupboard.  Once the back was off, I could see the problem: the impeller was going round fine, but it was completely missing two prongs (or whatever they’re called), and another was half off.

It explained why the pump appeared to be trying, but just didn’t have enough oomph.  Googling some more showed that impellers are sold as spares, so I wondered who might have one.  I phoned Steve Furniss at Weedon, just in case he used the same sort of pump.  He doesn’t, but his wife is the manager of Midland Chandler’s at Braunston so I gave her a ring.  She didn’t have one in stock, but can get one — on Friday.  I’d been wondering whether I would stay up or go home in the event that Adrian couldn’t come up at all, so this made my decision for me: I’d be staying up until Friday.

The rain had stopped, so I decided I’d head out of the marina.  I put my waterproof over-trousers on, in the belief that if I was prepared for rain it probably wouldn’t happen.  In the event, there was a squally shower as I set off which was rather unpleasant.  But I did a great turn out of the marina towards Stoke Bruerne, and then saw a green woodpecker on the towpath, which made it all worthwhile.  The rain soon stopped, and while the conditions weren’t the best, they weren’t unpleasant either.

There are plenty of places to stop along this stretch, but I wanted to give the boat a decent run, not least to generate some hot water (although a shower might be difficult without a pump).  So I continued to Grafton Regis, where there was a decent spot that I’ve used before, just before the main moorings, with views both sides.  There’s a field of sheep with lambs on the towpath side, and a view of the Manor House on the offside.

It won’t be a late night, as I haven’t had any sleep since yesterday.  Tomorrow I will potter along to Stoke Bruerne.

3 miles, 0 locks.

Braunston Rally

A beautiful sunny morning to start, and after breakfast I washed the towpath side of the boat, as there’s clearly been some very dusty rain in the past week.  The other side is even worse, but that will have to wait until I have turned around.  At about 9.30 I set off walking back to the marina to get the car, and drove up to my second cousin Catherine’s house in Norton.  From there we all went in one car to Braunston.  Catherine, Grace, and I all got out there, while Nigel and Matthew carried on to Watford, where there was a classic car rally.  The three of us walked down Dark Lane to the bottom lock, and then down the canal to where all the historic boats were moored up.

We wandered round the marina, where Catherine went to speak to her favourite canal artist, Pete Tuffrey, in the Guild of Artists tent.  Round the other side of the arm was Lamprey, owned by Sarah Edgson from Norton Canes.  A parade of boats was fairly imminent, so she asked us if we’d like a little jaunt on the boat; she was going to head home, so she’d drop us off after the junction.  So once she got the all clear from the organisers (in spite of appearances, there are organisers of the parades), we jumped in the hold and set off.

We got off at the road bridge just beyond the junction, and walked back to the junction bridges to watch the boats which use the triangular junction to turn around.  Quite a few boats were heading off, though, it being past lunchtime on the second day of the event.  We saw Ryan and Southern Cross and Alan and Kath on Sickle.  The stiff breeze across the junction didn’t help many of the boats do their manoeuvres.

We walked back up the canal to the marina, mostly to see the chaos in the narrow sections, where historic boats in each direction are also passing moored boats.  There was a bit of gridlock for a time.  We had very nice bacon rolls from a van in the marina, and found some chairs so we could watch boats coming back into the marina.  Once Nigel and Matthew had joined us we had an ice cream, and did another circuit down to the junction and back, before heading for the car which was parked up in the village.

I drove back from Norton to our marina, dropped off the car, and walked along to the boat.  It was about 4.15 by the time I got back, so I quickly made some tea and got ready to set off.  I just did 2 miles to Grafton Regis.  Much to my surprise, my favourite spot, with views on both the canal and the towpath side was free so I pulled in and tied up.  It’s been a really lovely day, and thoroughly enjoyable.

2 miles, 0 locks.  (3 miles, 0 locks)

March week: Day 5

It was a beautiful sunny morning today.  I walked up the towpath, which while still quite muddy wasn’t as bad as I’d feared it would be, to the marina and my car — and drove to Gayton for a boat test.  The owners of the boat were heading out for a couple of days, so we boated down to Gayton Junction and turned right.  Ryan on the fuel boat, Southern Cross, was there serving customers, and came past us a bit later when we’d stopped.

Andy the photographer and I walked back to the marina and headed off.  I came back via Towcester, where I did some store cupboard shopping for things we’ve noticed we needed over the past few days.  I dropped the shopping off at the boat in Cosgrove, then returned the car to the security of the marina.  Once I’d walked back to the boat I had some lunch and set off.

While the sky behind me was still blue, up ahead was much cloudier, and there was a cold bite to the wind.  The canal is very full; the spill weir near Cosgrove has lots of water going over it, and as I approached my intended mooring at Grafton Regis, the weir their was also flowing well.  As I came in to moor I found that the flow on the canal was quite significant — when normally there’s hardly any.  Once tied up, I walked back to the weir to have a proper look at it.

My mooring has a view of the Manor House at Grafton Regis from the galley window, and the Tove valley on the towpath side.  The River Tove is well up, flooding the fields, and the extra water from the canal is only adding to it.

I suspect the river has put a lot of water into the canal at the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne locks, so turning there tomorrow could be either really easy or really difficult.

4 miles, 0 locks.  (32 miles, 4 locks)

Mercia, Great Haywood, and Grafton Regis.

We left the boat at 8am and walked the mile back to the marina and the car — then drove up to Mercia Marina where I was doing a boat test.  We were lucky with the weather, because it was sunny for the first part of our trip on the boat but then clouded over.  We had lunch at the cafe with the boat owner, whom we’ve known for a long time.  We started sitting outside but moved inside when it began to rain.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and drove the half hour to Great Haywood.  We knew Helen and Andy on the Jam Butty were trading there, and as we were relatively close and haven’t seen them for ages, we decided to drop in on them.  We had a very pleasant hour with tea and cake on the back of the boat, while a steady stream of customers bought jam and chutney.

We drove back to our marina and walked the mile back to the boat.  It was 6pm, which is not a time we normally set off, but we decided to move for a change of scenery.  I was aiming for somewhere around Grafton Regis, and much to my surprise, some of the prime spots opposite the Manor House with the lovely open towpath-side views were free, so I pulled in and moored up.

2 miles, 0 locks.  (3 miles, 0 locks)

August weekend: Day 3

We had a lovely evening last night, sitting out on the towpath with Catherine, Nigel, Grace, and Matthew — with the barbecue going and the wine flowing.  We were treated to a hot air balloon going over, three powered hang glider things, and then as the sun went down, bats and increasing numbers of stars.

This morning was sunny and warm from the off.  We set off around 8.45; Adrian walked the rubbish round to the bin at the service point and I picked him up at the bridge.  Going through the tunnel, I was catching the boat in front, and the one behind was catching me.  When we emerged at the far end, we had at least three boats in front of us, but one moored up and another went over to the water point.  The boat in front of us joined another in the lock, and we waited with the following hire boat alongside.

By the Spice of Bruerne Indian restaurant is now an ice cream van, cleverly called the Ice of Bruerne.

When we dropped down the lock, there was great excitement as a good sized terrapin was spotted.  The volunteer lock keeper says it’s normally up by the tunnel.

We worked well with the crew of the hire boat, who were very experienced boaters, and got down the flight in about average time.  Just below the locks, on a blind bend, we heard a horn warning of an oncoming boat.  It turned out to be a motor with a butty alongside — the butty being Barnes, which until last week belonged to my BBC colleague Mike Embley.  It set off from London last weekend bound for a new home.

When we got through Bridge 57, a popular mooring spot was empty so well pulled in for lunch.  It’s been really sunny and warm, and we couldn’t be bothered to set off again.  We’ve spent the afternoon lounging about, reading, and possible falling asleep a little.  The local ducks have been having a fine old time, splashing about and enjoying themselves.

6 miles, 7 locks.  (29 miles, 14 locks)

Teddesley and Grafton Regis

I drove up to Staffordshire this morning for a boat test.  The promised sunny intervals eventually materialised, and we had some decent blue skies and sunshine.  The star of the show was obviously Sky the dog.

Adrian headed north from work after lunch and we rendezvoused for a car shuffle.  It was 5pm when we got to our marina, and we put some water in the tank while we sorted ourselves out.  About 20 minutes later we we pulling out of our berth and heading towards Stoke Bruerne.

We carried on for about an hour to get a tank of hot water, and moored up in a favourite spot just past Bridge 57.  To repeat a line from a blog from March 2014 when we also stopped here, there’s a field of lambs opposite, so we hope they don’t wake up too early.

3 miles, 0 locks. (But 4 locks today on another boat.)

End of year cruise: Day 2

This morning was much more mild and the ice had melted, so we decided we'd head out of the marina. Before we set off, we put some water in the tank (as we had no idea how much was in there) and I checked and topped up the batteries. We left about 10am, turning left towards Stoke Bruerne; it was misty and rather dank, and a bit chilly.

We went at quite a sedate pace to try to ensure the batteries got a decent charge. Even so, it took only a little more than the usual hour and a half to get to the bottom of Stoke Bruerne locks, where we turned around. We'd decided to retrace our steps a bit, and stop out in the middle of nowhere for New Year's Eve. It also means we'll have less to do tomorrow to return to the marina, as the forecast is for heavy rain all day. We carried on through Bridge 57 and stopped at what's usually a very popular spot, with views on both sides of the boat; up on the hill on the offside is Grafton Regis Manor.

There have been a few boats pass during the afternoon, plus a few towpath dog walkers, but otherwise it's been very quiet. We have ham hocks and South African sparkling wine for this evening -- although I have a suspicion that neither us might still be awake by midnight!

Happy New Year!

6 miles, 0 locks.

Post blacking cruise: Day 2

We slept well but were still awake quite early.  After breakfast, Adrian did some work and I continued writing up yesterday's boat test.  At one point I saw a bird with a long beak walk past on the towpath.  Having taken advice and looked at the bird book, I think it was probably a snipe.  It was gone by the time I got the camera out.

We set off in bright sunshine but a chilly breeze at around 8.30.  At Gayton Junction, a Alvechurch hire boat was turning into the Northampton Arm, a Canal Boat Club boat was coming the other way to do the same, and a private boat was just coming off the water point, so it was all rather busy.

We tied up as Blisworth, both to make a quick visit to the little shop for bread, and because we'd arranged a family visit.  Catherine, Nigel, Grace, and Matthew arrived at 10 for a trip through the tunnel (except for Nigel who took the car over the top and down to the bottom of the locks).  Just before the tunnel there's a rope swing in the trees, and today two lads and their dad were making use of it.

The tunnel passage took under half an hour, and there was plenty of singing and whistling as we went through.  We did the whole thing on our own, with no other boats in either direction.  By the time we emerged, Nigel had arrived at the south portal to get on board.

At the top lock a volunteer lock keeper set the lock for us.  At the third lock a couple of boats had come up, and we paired up with another boat on its way down.  Grace and Matthew did their fair share of pushing gates.

Thanks to boats coming up, and Nigel going ahead to set or help with locks, we made very rapid progress down to the bottom, where we stopped on a water point.  We had no idea how much water we had in the tank, so thought it wise to top up.  It appears we didn't have very much, as it took a while to fill -- which gave us plenty of time for teas, coffees and cookies.

Catherine and co said their goodbyes, and we set off again, continuing to just before Bridge 57 at Grafton Regis.  It's a popular spot, but there was plenty of room today and we've got a nice straight bit of piling to moor to.  We had a late lunch, then I washed the towpath side of the boat which was very dusty from having spent time In the workshop.  Out of the wind it's really quite warm, and the view from the cratch is pretty good.

There have been loads of boats going past this afternoon.  One's just moored behind us, with the people saying they're on their way back from the Milton Keynes Canal Cleanup.  Apparently they pulled an amazing amount of stuff out of the water.

7 miles, 7 locks.  (10 miles, 7 locks)

Birthday weekend - Day 1

After much too long, we're finally back on board.  The last time we were here was December 29 - I think it's the longest time we've gone without visiting.  We've now got a few days on board as it's my birthday on Monday.  We also want to make sure the boat is ready for 'the season'.

I went to pick up Adrian from work, and we combined this with meeting Our friend Nicola and her son Ewan in a cafe nearby.  The last time we saw them was when they joined us for the part of our Big Trip last September, on the Bridgewater Canal which goes past the end of their road.

The journey up to the boat was slower than we would have liked, and we arrived at 4pm.  We unpacked our stuff, parked the car, and within 15 minutes we were pulling away from our berth and turning out of the marina towards Stoke Bruerne.

Adrian went to make tea -- then returned saying we'd forgotten to turn the gas on.  I went and got carefully onto the bow, and turned it on.  (Adrian didn't do it himself because he broke a bone in his shoulder while we weree skiing last month, and is still having to be a bit careful).  At the second attempt at boiling the kettle, still no gas.  We wondered if we'd turned the gas bottles themselves off.  I clambered back out onto the bow, and lifted each bottle to see which one was in use.  It turned out that one was full and one empty.  With the gas situation sorted, tea could be made.

We boated for about an hour, in order to get a tank of hot water and warm everything up.  Adrian out things away and got the fire going while we went along.  We've moored at Grafton Regis, just past Bridge 57.  There's a field of lambs opposite, so we're hoping they don't wake up too early!

3 miles, 0 locks.

July weekend - Day 1

We're spending the weekend on Briar Rose with our friends Brian and Mike.  I picked up Adrian from work, and we arrived at the marina at around 6pm.  Brian And Mike arrived about 45 mins later, and once they were on board we set off straight away.  It was a fantastic sunny evening.

We did about an hour, and moored at Grafton Regis.

3 miles, 0 locks.