Decision made

Having mentioned yesteday how different places look when you see them from the road as opposed to the water, today I've driven past a whole host of canal landmarks: Buckby Wharf, Weedon, and Stoke Bruerne locks for example.  The only one that was convenient to stop by was the mill at Blisworth.

Not far away was a field of sheep, where one of the ewes had given birth just a few moments before.  One of her two lambs seemed very eager to get to its feet; the other looked unimpressed by its entry to the world, in spite of mum's encouragement.

The purpose of all the driving about was to arrange a new mooring for this year.  After a lot of consideration, we have booked a berth at Thrupp Wharf Marina at Cosgrove on the Grand Union.  We're moving purely for a change of scenery.  There's nothing wrong with Brinklow, and we've been very happy here since we bought Briar Rose nearly a year ago.  But we have spent a lot of time in this area: Debdale was based a Stockton Top for the first couple of years we had a share, and before that we'd hired twice from Kate Boats in Warwick.  All that means that we've done the North Oxford and Braunston many many times and could do with a change.

Back at Briar Rose this afternoon, I've washed the floor of the cratch and hoovered through the boat.  It's turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, although it's been very windy - there have been waves on the marina.  I'll need an early night tonight, because I've got a very early shift in London tomorrow morning.

Stoke on Trent

A visit to Stoke on Trent today for a boat test.  It was a lovely sunny day, and not too cold.  Once the test was done, I made a short detour on the way back, to Etruria Junction.  It was lunchtime, and I wondered whether there might be a cafe at the Etruria Industrial Museum; in fact, the museum is closed until next month.  Still, I had a wonder round the junction, at the top of the Stoke locks.

Back at Rugby, I went to Tesco for food and fuel, then called in to Lime Farm Marina for a couple of bags of coal.  I always find it strange going by car to a place that I've previously only visited by boat: in this case, the driveway to the marina was on the opposite side of the road from what I was expecting, and much longer.  The canal seems fairly busy, with a few boats going by.  Back at Briar Rose, the fire was almost out, but didn't take much effort to get it going again.

Another late night arrival

I came up to Briar Rose last night after work.  The 15 miles of 50mph on the M1 was even more frustrating than usual, as a couple of sections were down to one lane.  I got here just before midnight, on a cold, clear night.  The car said it was just a couple of degrees above freezing, and the marina was illuminated by the moon.

First priority was to get the fire going, and I also moved the oil filled radiator into the cabin and put the kettle on to fill a couple of hot water bottles.  I stayed up for about an hour, to make sure the fire was going enough to stay in all night.

By this morning, the fire was still going, and boat was much warmer.  I'll be off further north in a few minutes, for a boat test.

Knot@Work on test

The April edition of Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test of Knot@Work a 67 footer by Milburn Boats.

March weekend - Day 2

It started raining in the early hours, and the towpath was already getting quite muddy by the time we got up.  We had breakfast and were ready to go by 9am, with the rain still falling steadily.  Not that we're complaining; the reservoirs need filling if any of us are to get any decent boating this year.

I walked to set the top lock, and had to fill it.  In fact, we had to fill all three locks before we could use them.  At the bottom lock, Canalbreaks has taken over not just the landing of the lock that's closed, but the other side as well.  That's Briar Rose in the distance, with Adrian sheltering under the bridge.

Once down the locks, Adrian went inside to get warm, while I steered.  It's a familiar plod along through Rugby, and not surprisingly there weren't many boats on the move.  If we'd had the option, we'd have stayed where we were too.  At times the rain was quite heavy, and it was also quite cold.  I was quite relieved to see the entrance to the marina.  For once, there wasn't a stiff wind blowing across the marina; there was just the odd gust which slightly disrupted a decent effort at getting onto our pontoon.  As soon as we'd moored up, I had a hot shower to warm up, then we had lunch and prepared for home.  On the drive back south, the hills on the border between Berkshire and Hampshire were covered in a dusting of snow.

6.5 miles, 3 locks.  (15 miles, 6 locks)

March weekend - Day 1

We came up to the boat yesterday afternoon.  I met Adrian at his work at 3pm, and we had a remarkably good journey, considering it was Friday afternoon.  We were at Brinklow at 5.30pm.  Having this weekend on board was a late decision; we'd been due to go to some friends for dinner, and as their plans for Saturday included driving to Hull, we asked if they'd like to come to the boat for dinner and stay the night.  They arrived at 7pm, and we were soon having a chili I'd made in the morning and brought with us.

This morning was very murkey, and the forecast wasn't very promising (especially for tomorrow).  Brian and Mike left after breakfast, and we prepared Briar Rose for the off.  By the time we got to Newbold, the mist had turned to rain.  There was another shower as we passed through Rugby.  The moorings by the park had only one boat on them; I've never seen them so empty.  At the golf course, we passed Derwent6, and waved at Del.  Below Hillmorton Locks, we passed Oakfield and Piston Broke moored up.

At the locks, there was a boat going up in front of us, so we had to turn the lock.  At the middle lock, we waited for a boat which was just coming down the top, which gave us a chance to look at the work going on at the neighbouring lock.  It's all fenced off and completely empty, so you can see the paddle culverts.

At the top lock, there was another boat coming down, so we could go straight in, and another waiting.  By now the sun was trying to come out, so we had another look at the forecast to see whether it had improved.  Tomorrow is still due to be heavy rain, so we decided to stop above the locks rather than leave outselves a lot to do in the wet tomorrow.  We went along to the winding hole by Bridge 74, where I made a very efficient turn.  Then we came back and moored before Bridge 72, in more or less the same place we used in January.  Since then, the willow trees by the bridge have had a rather drastic haircut.

After lunch, with the sun now fully out in a blue sky with white fluffy clouds, we walked into Hillmorton to see what's there.  Not much is the answer, apart from rather non-descript housing.  We did find a paper shop, though, and came back to the boat a different way.  Since then, I've checked and topped up the batteries, and I've started dinner: lamb shanks which are slow cooking on top of the stove.  There have been a few boats coming past, making the most of a lovely sunny afternoon.

8.5 miles, 3 locks.

Photo finish

One of my photos has been shortlisted in the IWA's calendar competition.  It's in the 'winter' category.  Of the photos I submitted, I'm quite surprised it's this one that's got through, but judges can be very hard to read.  If you'd like to vote for it (or any of its competitors), you can do so here.  Once you've done that, click the link on the left if you want to vote in the other categories too.