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Janet S

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Blog Entries posted by Janet S

  1. Janet S

    DAY 16

    By Janet S,

    Sunday 16th May – Thrupp to Aynho Weir Lock
     
    11.45 -19.30
    14.7 miles, 8 locks
     
    A nice leisurely start for us today. This was a GOOD thing following our mini banter last night! We had to wait until Terry and Hazel came to pick Christine up at the end of her holiday. We were slightly sad to see her go, but were consoled by the delicious croissants that Hazel brought us for breakfast! The day started off overcast and drizzly, but stayed warm and despite a few rain spats it turned out to be a lovely day.
     
    We’d often talked jokingly about borrowing a boat dog, so here was the perfect opportunity, as we asked Bones to accompany us for a while, along with Boots and Molly. Boots owns Bones, and Maffi is owned by Molly.
     

     
    It was good to have Bones on board and she was very good at the locks. I seem to remember her telling us some time ago that she hated locks. She’s obviously changed her mind since we travelled with her and Maffi on the Rochdale Canal and positively leapt on shore with her windlass!
     
    It was nice cruising along and chatting, and especially coming upon the first lock we’ve ever seen on a narrow canal that can fit two boats side by side. Luckily we were on our own in this one, as we wouldn’t have wanted to share it with this bunch, who made a total hash of coming out of the lock!
     

     
    OK, I suppose they did have a bit of an excuse, as they were all severely hungover after their celebrations yesterday. We’d followed them for a while from Kings Lock to Thrupp, when they’d been dressed as pirates – yes, a hen do! As we seemed to hop from the canal onto the River Cherwell and back, it was torture as an angler, not knowing which bits I could fish during the close season, but I needn’t have worried, as there was no way R.J. was going to let me stop to give maggots swimming lessons until we moored up for the night.
     
    We absolutely loved the Oxford – lots of twists and turns round every corner. It’s one of the most beautiful canals we’ve visited, and we’ve cruised on a fair few now!
     
    We topped up with 40 litres of diesel at Lower Heyford (Oxfordshire Narrowboats). We’d been dipping the tank every few days to keep an eye on our fuel consumption (why don’t boats have a fuel guage?) as we didn’t want to run low, but equally we didn’t want to hand the boat back with anything in the tank more than we needed to! We were supplied with a full tank when we took the boat, but on a long trip such as ours, we had to pay for any extra fuel or pumpouts that were required. We’d been using the mop handle as a makeshift dipstick, and R.J. was slightly disappointed to that 40 litres wasn’t as much as we’d hoped!
     
    We also took the opportunity to buy a couple of brass canal plaques to add to our collection as well as some sew on badges and a couple of tea towels as souvenirs. The tea towels are tourist tat really, but occasionally I’ll notice something on one when I’m drying the dishes and it takes me back to our holidays. As we don’t own our own narrowboat, all our plaques (and there are a LOT of them!) are currently on the back of R.J.’s bedroom door. If he was to slam it, the weight would probably pull it off its hinges! The badges are still sitting on my wall unit in my souvenir dish – eventually I’ll get round to sewing them onto something….I do tend to collect a lot of souvenirs...some of them rather strange, but they all bring back some great memories...particularly these…
     

     
    R.J. makes tortoises out of bubbly tops (if I ask him nicely!) They’re always a good reminder of a special meal or a memorable day. I’ve also got dozens of pine cones, feathers, pebbles, pressed flowers and other silly stuff. We also collect seeds and cuttings along the way, which are brought home and planted in our gardens or in planters. They are a fantastic living reminder of some good times.
     
    As we cruised on into the early evening, storm clouds were gathering, so we decided to pull up at the end of the lock landing just below Aynho Weir Lock – a lovely place to moor.
     

     
    We poured ourselves a nice glass of Hobgoblin, then settled on deck whilst R.J. tried to find a signal so that I could update the blog.
     

     
    That’s when disaster struck! The brand new notepad that R.J. had bought for the trip curled up its toes and died, with nothing to show but the ominous blue screen of death! Despite all his footling, nothing would cajole it back into action. Oh well…that’s that then! I sent a couple of text messages to people I know were following it to explain that we’d be offline for a while… the rest, as they say, is history. Although we were gutted at the time, what followed over the next few days just proves what a fabulous community exists on the canal networks….however, you’ll have to wait until the next instalment to read all about it!
     
    Cutting our losses, we decided go take a walk before dinner to explore our surroundings and say hello to the neighbours.
     

     
    It really was a pretty place, and as we walked up past the lock we could see the weir and the River Cherwell crossing over the canal.
     

     

     

     
    We turned through a gap in a hedge, and came across something a little bit mysterious in the field. It was rather spooky in the dwindling light but our eyes soon became accustomed to it as we walked across and spotted something just before us. At first sight we thought we'd come across a small lake, but after testing the surface gently we found that it was actually a raised moss circle.
     
    When I returned in the morning to check it out in daylight, I found that indeed it was a circle of moss, with curved paths through the long grass leading to it on both sides, and a straight path towards it in the middle.
     

     
    Someone had left a small black pouch bag tied with a leather cord just at the side, which certainly wasn't there on the previous evening. Although it had rained overnight and we had some heavy dew, the bag was bone dry, and looked as though it had only been put there a moment or two before....very strange...
     
    We came up with various ideas as to what it could be whilst we had dinner and a nice bottle of wine, but as we found out later, it was nothing more sinister than the local golf course! Oh well, I quite enjoyed our evening of speculation!
     
    It was a short day today, but a very, very nice one.
  2. Janet S

    SCARY!

    By Janet S,

    Despite warnings about the Thames, I wasn't expecting this...
     


     
    I never thought I'd see waves breaking over the bow of a narrowboat, despite some of our epic missions!
     
    Not the best of images - just a quick screenshot from one of the videos I took as we traveled on the tidal Thames from Limehouse to Teddington.
     
    R.J. was with Christine on steering duty - I was at the pointy end trying to document the trip with a camera/tripod and I think it's 50/50 as to who was the most scared.
     
    As we reflected at the end of the day with a cool Guinness, we all agreed that it had been an experience...
     
    If anyone is thinking of doing it, but is a bit daunted....go for it! It was one of the best few hours we've ever had whilst boating! Despite how scary it looks, it really wasn't that bad...honest!
  3. Janet S

    ONLINE AGAIN!

    By Janet S,

    We are currently on the canal bank at Marston Farm Hotel - Curdworth (Minworth flight I think).
     
    As you can tell, we have the laptop back and have finally plucked up the courage to start playing with it again. The BLOG will be updated as soon as we get it typed up onto the new Open Office software that has been kindly loaded on by Mr & Mrs Tawny Owl. The Laptop was delivered back to us by Sue & Richard night before last at Kegworth shallow lock on the River Soar. They have both been extremely helpful, calming my nerves whenever I spoke to them on the phone. I've had the laptop collected, fettled and returned within a week of Bones' SOS and can't thank everyone enough for the assistance. CarlT for collection and Sue & Richard for the technical services.
     
    I can highly reccomend the services of Computer Help Service Ltd, which is the name of Sue & Richard, (Tawny Owl)'s computer business; and their slogan of "Effortless Computing" certainly describes the interaction I have had with their company. I do live quite a way from their usual catchment area, but would be tempted to travel to use them again if needed. It is always nice to know you can talk to someone who understands your predicament and can give a personal service; rather than a call centre that is out in India somewhere.
     
    Finally, I must put a thank you in to Bones, who initiated the SOS. She is a fab friend, who I really enjoy meeting up with on the rare occasions that we do.
     
    R.J.xx (Janet has read this and agrees with everything I have said)!
     
    P.S. Janet would have posted herself, but she is using the last of Bones' maggots - unfortunately they have turned to casters - but are still catching Roach!
  4. Janet S

    DAY 15

    By Janet S,

    Saturday 15th May – Abingdon to Thrupp
     
    09.05 – 16.30
    16.4 miles, 10 locks
     
    Not having set an alarm last night, we slept rather later than we intended, but still got away at more or less the usual time. Breakfast was bacon and mushroom sandwiches on the go, but they always taste better in the fresh air anyway.
     
    Cruising was, as on the previous days, pretty uneventful and painfully boring at times, but there were a few locks to distract us and one or two villages to look at. The locks were beautifully kept, particularly Kings Lock, where we spent rather longer than intended, as one of our crew had a nasty accident coming into the lock.
     
    Our chief chucker-upper misjudged her step as she was upchucking the rope, and stepped daintily backwards into mid-air, which unfortunately wasn’t strong enough to hold her weight, so she tumbled elegantly into the welldeck. Luckily she had the presence of mind to keep hold of the rope…
     
    Joking aside, it really was a nasty fall, and Christine (who has ongoing back problems) was very shaken up and in quite a lot of pain. We got through the lock as speedily as we could, and moored up on the top lock landing, telling Keeping Up what had happened, and advising them to keep on going to make sure they could bagsy us a decent mooring for the planned banter at Thrupp. After a few deep breaths, a couple of strong painkillers and a bit of careful walking up and down, we declared that the crew was almost at full strength again, and breathed a collective sigh of relief that we didn’t need to call out Air Sea Rescue to ferry her to hospital.
     
    Kings Lock was a real delight, with live blue tit TV to watch! I have no idea where the actual nest box was sited, but they have a flat screen monitor built into the wall, where we were able to watch a clutch of about half a dozen baby blue tits being fed by the parents. The building was full of informative boards all about the canal and the surrounding wildlife, and it has been built to be as eco-friendly as possible. It seemed a perfect place to spend a while on what was a fabulously sunny day, although I’d have preferred it to have been under less stressful conditions.
     
    Once we were on our way again, the trauma of the last hour was soon put to one side as we began cruising through some rather pretty and altogether less boring bits. One particular stretch was really lovely, with open grassland on either side, and the river being used by virtually every kind of water craft imaginable. There were dinghy’s, yachts, rowing boats, narrowboats, cruisers and even a punt being ably punted by a rather large pink pig!
     
    Soon, however, we were able to leave behind the delights (???) of the River Thames and we saw the magic signpost that said “Oxford Canal”….waaaahayyyyy! At last we could do some PROPER boating! Unfortunately we encountered a couple of hen parties who didn’t have much of a clue but provided a good few minutes of giggles as we watched their antics with the locks. One boater who was waiting with us whilst the two boatloads of pirates were making their way up the locks commented that they had been two sheets to the wind even as they were picking the boat up, so goodness knows what they were going to be like by the end of the day.
     
    The first locks on the Oxford were a pure pleasure. It was such a relief to be back on the canal. They were particularly easy, with single gates top and bottom, and we were through them in no time. Soon we rounded a bend and saw a familiar looking boat in the distance…could it be? Yes, it was! We had finally caught up with Keeping Up, who had moored beautifully, leaving just enough room for a tiny little green boat to slot in behind. As we cruised towards them I spotted Bones and Milly M – we were there at last!
     
    The mooring was just outside the Jolly Boatman, right by the bridge, and a more idyllic canal scene you couldn’t wish to see. The sun was still high in the sky, the pub looking incredibly welcoming with cascades of flowers from the hanging baskets. What better place to spend an evening after a day’s cruising – and even better, not long after mooring, to hear the shout “JANET!!!!” from along the towpath and see Bones heading towards us! Perfect. Simply perfect. Ah bless, she’d even bought me a pint of maggots! How thoughtful is that? I immediately impaled one of the little beasties and caught a nice perch and a gudgeon in quick succession before going below deck for a quick change ready for dinner.
     
    We were joined for dinner by the crew of a boat I’d been chatting to earlier. There was also Allan and Debbie of course, and Bones and the notorious Maffi. Peter also put in an appearance later in the evening, just in time for a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for tomorrow. Dinner was nice, but unspectacular, but the conversation and wine flowed and we had an altogether splendid evening, brought to a close by drinks on board Keeping Up.
     
    And now, your thought for the day – don’t order the chocolate mousse unless you plan to grout the bathroom…
  5. Janet S

    DAY 12

    By Janet S,

    Wednesday 12th May – Hampton Court Palace to Bovney Lock (Windsor)
     
    09.00 – 17.40
    21.7 miles, 9 locks
     
    We were all up early this morning, long before the alarm went off. It was a fabulous morning too, with blue clear skies and sunshine again, although a layer of frost on the roof showed that the temperature had dropped overnight.
     
    I took myself off for a little wander with my camera, and was surprised to find that much of the grounds of Hampton Court Palace were open, so I was able to wander round Lizzie’s back yard and take a few pics. The formal gardens and the Palace didn’t open to the public until ten, long after we’d be on our way, but it was still very pleasant to stroll round in the peace and quiet, soaking in the sunshine.
     
    The rose garden was immaculately laid out, which made it all the more of a surprise when I turned round a corner through a gate and found a lovely woodland area, full of knee high grass and an abundance of wild flowers. Only the outer edges of the grass had been mown, leaving a beautiful wildlife haven.
     
    I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out, as I never wear a watch on our holidays, so I didn’t have a clue what time it was, so I decided to give up on trying to find the famous maze and headed back to the boat, only to meet up with R.J. and Christine, who had decided to come for a walk round themselves. We had great fun in the walled rose garden, watching a stand-off between a squirrel and a magpie. The magpie won, and I have a rather terrible but funny shot of the victorious bird cackling as the squirrel hung on with one back claw before he fell head first into the wisteria.
     
    Cruising was again uneventful and even though we did nine locks, it was absolutely no effort as the lock-keepers did all the work. All we had to do was to cruise in, throw up bow and stern ropes and let him do the rest. It did have a certain novelty value to start with, but after two or three of these we were wishing we were back on the canal network again. All the locks were beautifully kept, and apart from one rather bored and indifferent looking lock-keeper, the rest were very friendly and chatty.
     
    Christine had been designated Chief Chucker Upper, and it was her job to throw up the bow rope, hopefully for it to land over a bollard so that she could keep the bow into the side of the lock. Although it would have made more sense for me to do it, being taller (ah bless, she’s only four foot nothing and a bit…!) I don’t have a lot of strength for throwing ropes as I had a frozen shoulder a little while back, and although it’s totally recovered now, I just don’t have the strength that I used to. I must say, for a tiddly peep she did very well with her up chucking, and was complimented on a few occasions by the lock-keepers.
     
    Approaching Windsor Castle, we were a bit disappointed to find that we were facing into the sun, which meant that a lot of our photo’s weren’t very well exposed, but we did get several nice shots of horses and carriages and plenty of equestrian goings-on, which we learned was the Royal Windsor Horse Show. A few miles later on, after several twists and turns on the river, we got a very close up and beautifully lit view of the castle, so both myself and Christine were quite happy. R.J. as usual, didn’t take a single picture. I think he’s taken just one since we began this holiday!
     
    We moored for the night on a very nice mooring area at Eton College Rowing Club, where sat in the evening sunshine for a couple of Guinness’s before settling down for a full roast dinner with all the trimmings – roast pork, roast potatoes, various vegetables and R.J.’s famous Yorkshire puddings washed down with a nice bottle of red wine. We don’t exactly skimp on food on our boating holidays!
     
    Although it’s been a very good couple of days, we’ll both be very glad when we get off the Thames and back onto the canal system. Beautiful it may be, and in some stretches it’s absolutely idyllic, but we both came up with the same word to describe it…boring! We rather like the narrow, twisting wooded areas, but we are suffering from severe lock deprivation!
  6. Janet S

    DAY 11

    By Janet S,

    Tuesday 11th May – Limehouse Basin to Hampton Court Palace
     
    09.30 – 15.15
    25.5 miles, 2 locks
     
    There was no danger of any of us having a lie-in this morning, knowing what lay ahead. We were all up, showered and dressed in plenty of time. It was lovely to look out of the windows and across the basin seeing that we had brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies. The weather forecast for today had been less than good, so it was a pleasant surprise.
     
    Alan Fincher turned up at the appointed time, looking a lot more agile than I was expecting, and had no trouble climbing down on to the deck of Keeping Up. The lockkeeper had told us to be ready for twenty past nine for our trip through the lock at half past – we were all ready and buzzing by this time! Rosemary came equipped with two life jackets…however, there are three of us. It was deemed that I was obviously the most expendable crew member, so I was left without one. Still, as has been pointed out to me on several occasions, I have built in buoyancy aids! I’d also taken the precaution of wearing trainers today, in the hope that they would be easily spotted at a distance if I was found floating head down in the Thames.
     
    Upon entering the lock we had to do a bit of backwards and forwards manoeuvring to get the bow and stern ropes in the right place to pass round the risers. We were glad of those as the lockie shouted “You’re going down four meters – enjoy your trip!” As the huge curved lock gates opened onto the Thames and we felt the waves moving the boat up and down, I think we were all feeling chuffed and excited in equal measure.
     
    The lockkeeper told Keeping Up to exit first, and we followed, bobbing up and down like a little green cork in her wake. Apart from a light breeze, there was nothing to cause any large waves so it was gently up and down…until we came across craft coming downstream! A large police launch, followed by two big inflatable boats full of armed police approached us at a furious pace, causing huge waves across the river, R.J. did as usual, and aimed the bows into the wash and we sat back and rode the ripples! I was at the front of the boat at this point, as I was setting the camera and tripod up to take videos of all the landmarks as we passed. We were going up and down and the waves were getting higher and higher. Suddenly our bows headed into a huge wave, which broke all over the bows, soaking me through to the skin and causing me to howl with hysterical laughter! Suddenly I heard R.J. shout down “Are you alright up there?”….I scared the living bejasus out of him!
     
    We’d only been going a short time when the first of those iconic landmarks appeared – Tower Bridge. What a fabulous sight it was in the glorious sunshine. We had intended to crack open a bottle of bubbly as we went underneath, but looking at R.J.’s face, I didn’t think it was quite appropriate, so we saved it for a Buck’s Fizz a little later on. The famous landmarks all appeared in quick succession – Tower Bridge, London Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, Cleopatra’s Needle, the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Battersea Power Station (not necessarily in that particular order!) All the time we were being passed by huge and incredibly fast catamarans, trip boats, pleasure cruisers and working boats. It was absolutely amazing, and well worth all the years of planning and looking forward to it. Definitely a trip not to be missed.
     
    After an hour or so, it was clear to see that R.J. had managed to overcome his initial worries of taking our little boat out onto the tidal Thames, and was thoroughly enjoying himself, evidenced by the huge grin that spread from ear to ear.
     
    Once off the tidal stretch, and through our first manned lock, we stopped to sort out our licence for the next part of the trip, leaving Allan and Debbie to carry on to our planned mooring stop for the night – Hampton Court Palace. The cruising was nice and gentle in the sunshine, although we were a bit disconcerted to be overtaken by a middle aged gentleman in a rowing boat. I was amazed to see how well used the Thames is, with both working boats and pleasure boaters. It was a perfect afternoon, so it seemed like all the rowing clubs were out practicing, being shouted at by their coaches, including one particularly vociferous Australian onboard a small catamaran.
     
    Our moorings at Hampton Court were fabulous – what a lovely place to spend the night. It was just a pity that there was an extra set of railings outside the Palace railings, so I wasn’t able to get a good photograph. Still, I did get some rather nice pictures of the sunset over the bridge, which I’ll download as soon as I get time.
     
    We went on board Keeping Up for a celebratory gin and tonic at the end of the day before heading back to our boat and a nice plate of spaghetti Bolognese and a bottle of Willy Willy…which was very nice, despite the rather off-putting name!
     
    All in all, it’s been a fabulous day and despite our initial worries about doing tidal waters, we’d jump at the chance to do it again, and would recommend the trip to anyone.
  7. Janet S

    DAY 10

    By Janet S,

    Monday 10th May – Ballot Box – Limehouse Basin
     
    08.10 – 16.15
    16.5 miles, 12 locks
     
    Off just about on our scheduled time this morning. The weather looked lovely, with clear blue skies, fluffy clouds and sunshine, but there was a bone-chillingly cold wind which means we were all wearing several layers. I was glad that there wasn’t too long before we were off the Paddington Arm and on to the Regent’s Canal, which was much more interesting and scenic.
     
    It was nice to see Little Venice after having heard about it for so many years, Cruising through Regent’s Park and the zoo was brilliant – whoever thought you’d be able to take a picture of a live hyena from the deck of a narrowboat? After passing a few animals, R.J. spotted a few zoo visitors, and shouted “Look, humans!”, not realising that he could be heard. Still, we’re used to getting strange looks!
     
    Cruising was uneventful and steady, which meant that we reached Limehouse Basin well within our schedule for an early departure with the tide tomorrow morning. Once both boats were safely moored, we heaved a collective sigh of relief, put a pork casserole in the oven and headed off to take a look at the Thames…luckily we chose to view it from the relative safety of a riverside pub, as R.J. looked as though he needed a drink when he saw the river and the huge catamarans ploughing up and down at breakneck speed.
     
    The first pint of stout was absolutely delicious, but the second was foul, so R.J. ended up taking it back to the bar for a replacement. Unfortunately this was no better, so for the first time I can remember, we actually left beer unfinished on the table and headed back to the boat for dinner and a nice bottle of wine before showers and an early night, with the alarm set for seven in the morning.
     
    Nice to see forum member Mary P this evening. She lives nearby, so she’d cycled down to say hello and wish us bon voyage. We didn’t have chance to chat for long as dinner was just ready to be dished up, but it was still nice to see a new forum member. Hopefully another member, Alan Fincher will be joining us tomorrow for the trip on the Thames, and will be travelling with Allan and Debbie. Let’s just hope that he manages to get onto the boat after his accident, as it is rather more than just a little step down onto the deck from the harbour wall!
     
    We aren't due to leave Limehouse until about 9.30, but we want to make sure we check the weedhatch, water filter, oil and water to be absolutely sure that the boat was fit to head out onto tidal waters. We had told the boatyard in advance that we would be doing a little bit of the tidal Thames – we just omitted to tell them exactly which bit!
  8. Janet S

    DAY 7

    By Janet S,

    Friday 7th May – Globe (B111) to Bankmill Bridge
     
    08.00 – 19.00
    16.9 miles, 30 locks
     
    Thanks to our reasonably sober and early night last night, we were up at six, and had managed to neck a fried breakfast before both boats cast off at 8.00 on the dot after Allan had emptied the dogs.
     
    We had another duckling problem at one one the locks (don’t ask me which one – I’ve had two pints of Guinness and the day has sort of blurred round the edges!) Luckily this time they all survived, despite mother duck’s best efforts to drown the majority of them.
     
    Marsworth Locks 37 & 38 were brilliant – both boats cruised together out of one lock, stuck together through the pound and entered the next lock with perfect precision. As Allan commented, we could have used eggs for fenders, it was such a perfect manoeuvre! And yes, I was driving!
     
    Further along we were slightly alarmed to look back and see Keeping Up apparently at a standstill and skewed diagonally across the canal. A quick call on the walkie talkies satisfied our curiosity as we found that Allan and Debbie were rescuing a duckling that had become tethered by some waste fishing line. Unfortunately, if it had swallowed a hook, it was too far down to retrieve, so there was nothing for it other than to cut the line and reunite the little mite with the rest of the brood.
     
    The weather stayed dry and bright until after we passed through Marsworth. I took the opportunity to sit and relax at the pointy end as we cruised through a blissfully quiet and peaceful tree-lined cutting, waiting with camera in hand for the kingfishers which remained conspicuous by their absence! Never mind, I more than made up for it later with the tamest heron I have ever come across. At one point it even landed on the lock gate! I have some great pics, but they’ll have to wait as it’s now dinner time. After eleven hours cruising, all I want to do is to finish this Guinness and then settle down for dinner and a nice bottle of wine.
     
    It’s been a long day, but we’ve made good progress, We’re getting lots of comments when people see that the boat is from Stone…they all wonder what on earth we’re doing this far south. We still love the novelty of being able to say “we’re out for a month…”
     
    Locking today has been pretty good, with usually at least three crew manning the locks. It took a little while to get used to sharing locks with another boat, as usually we are on our own, and we have our own routine which suits us perfectly, but once we found out how Allan and Debbie like to do them, it all seemed to go ok. Their boat is much longer than ours, so it makes sense to plan the locks accordingly. Our tiddly little boat just sits at the side and doesn’t bother anyone.
     
    It’s been a long day, but we’re now safely moored up, the heating is making the boat nice and toasty, R.J. is cooking dinner and the wine is just about at room temperature….
     
    …and just to finish, here’s your thought for the day…”Don’t prick the sausages!!!”
  9. Janet S

    DAY 4

    By Janet S,

    Tuesday 4th May – Hungerfield to Landing Spinney
     
    09.45 – 19.10
    20.7 miles, 16 locks
     
    Another beautiful start to the day today. I was up and wide awake for 7, so decided to have an hour fishing in what looked like a perfect spot, An hour later I decided enough was enough, as I’d lost the feeling in most of my extremities! It was brilliant sunshine, but a biting wind. Besides that, the fish weren’t playing!
     
    After a leisurely breakfast of sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms and egg, we set off rather later than intended, partly due to a small problem of a missing mushroom half, but I’ll explain that later when I write up the cruise diary! Thankfully the chill wind died down and the weather turned into a glorious day more like summer than spring.
     

     

     
    It wasn’t long before we reached Newbold Tunnel, our first of the trip, and it was good to see that they had installed some nice mood lighting just for us! I’d heard about these lights, and up until I saw them I thought they sounded like a waste of time, but they actually look very good, with arches of blue, green and purple lighting up the tunnel arch.
     
    As we approached Braunston, we hit upon the idea of rigging one of my cameras up to make a video. I attached my Samsung compact camera to the radio arial with my gorillapod and it worked perfectly! We got a video of us cruising into Braunston and then another one as we entered Braunston Tunnel. It’s going to be perfect for when we go onto the Thames. We’ll have at least five cameras between us, so hopefully we won’t miss anything!
     

     

     
    We came across a hiker as we came through the last lock before Braunston Tunnel. He was apparently on a charity walk, but seemed woefully unprepared as he didn't know the way to get over the tunnel. We would have offered him a lift, but on such a small boat we were a tad wary of inviting strangers on board during a cruise through a tunnel. I do hope he completed his journey safely. R.J. got our Nicholson's out, and tried to point him in the right direction.
     

     
    We were beginning to tire a bit by the time we reached the bottom of the Buckby flight, but we decided to cruise on past our planned stopping point to reach somewhere a little more distant from the motorway which had accompanied us for the last few miles.
     

     

     
    We don’t mind being near railways, but we’re not fond of road noise. We do quite like the railways though, with that fabulous whoosh they make as they go past.
     
    It was a good decision to carry on, as we eventually moored up at Landing Spinney, in some sublime woodland with fields and a lovely little glade at the side – there was even a rope swing in the wood, which R.J. just couldn’t resist! I have a great video of it, so I’ll stick it on You Tube later.
     
    Dinner was a bit of a surprise – we’d been expecting Spaghetti Bolognese, but when the packed meal was defrosted we discovered it was in fact one of R.J.’s specialities, Moroccan Lamb, so we put the spaghetti back in the cupboard and got out the cous cous. A delicious meal, washed down with a rather nice bottle of Rosemount Shiraz.
     
    Both of us we having trouble keeping our eyes open by this time, so after a quick shower for me, we sat on the stern deck for a final cigarette and a coffee with a dash of whisky before retiring for the night.
     
    Carlsberg don’t make days like this, but if they did????
  10. Janet S

    DAY 3

    By Janet S,

    Monday 3rd May – Bridge 50 (Coventry Canal) to Hungerfield
     
    09.00 – 19.45
    23.3 miles, 12 locks
     
    Sunny start, but a distinctly chilly breeze. It’s been very strange weather today, alternating between blazing sunshine and squally showers. We even had a tremendous shower of large hailstones as we left Atherstone Top Lock, which left the full length of the boat white, making it look rather like Christmas!
     

     
    I loved Atherstone Top Lock - it was like stepping back in time...
     

     

     
    I gave my OCM permission to stay below decks for a while, as it didn’t make sense tor both of us to get wet and cold. My waterproof fishing clothing is more than adequate, so I was warm and dry and I actually quite enjoyed it, in a perverse sort of way.
     
    Reading the cruise log from the last time we were on the Coventry Canal, we realised that there was a canalside tackle shop ahead, so that’s where we were aiming, so I could get myself some maggots and bits and pieces for some fishing in the evenings. Unfortunately, even though we made good time, it was closed by the time we got there. Oh well, never mind, I’ll just have to make do with bread and sweetcorn, and dig up a few juicy lobworms.
     
    I was in charge of steering as we reached Hawkesbury Junction, which wouldn’t have been a problem except that there was what looked like a 90 foot boat coming out of where I wanted to be! It was then that our tiddly little boat really showed what she could do as I stuck round on the inside and performed a near perfect pirouette in the basin to arrive perfectly aligned for the entrance to the lock and the start of the northern end of the Oxford Canal.
     
    We followed the train tracks for a while which was fabulous, watching the Virgin tilting trains whizzing past. I couldn't get a picture of one though!
     

     
    By the tine we reached where we had planned to moor for the night, we found that several other boats had also decided to moor in what was a delightful spot, so we cursed a little and decided to cruise on to find somewhere a bit more secluded.. As we came round a bend we suddenly spotted a very nice area, with a view across to a ploughed field which was beautifully lit by the setting sun, and a view on our side across a small wood and fields.
     

     
    The glow on the water and the trees as we moored up was spectacular...
     

     
    I'm not posting any more photo's at the moment as there just isn't time to get them all uploaded and posted. The only problem with this holiday is that there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things we want to do!
     


     
    Dinner had been simmering away in the oven for rather longer than we’d intended, but our meal of casseroled chicken joints and baked potatoes was none the worse for the extended cooking time, and we settled down to a delicious meal and a bottle of Bin 53, which went down a treat, hence the reason that I didn’t get this written up last night!
  11. Janet S
    Finally I'm packed, ready and raring to go!
     


     
    Now, what have I forgotten?
     
    I hope R.J. doesn't look in on this blog before he sets off to pick me up!
     
    Something's seriously wrong though...we're going boating and the sun's shining...can't be right, surely? No worries, the rain will surely start soon....
     
    Hope to meet up with lots of you on our travels!
  12. Janet S
    R.J.'s mum bought us this rose painted planter for one of our previous trips on Devon, but it's been sitting empty for a number of years...this time I decided to plant it up ready for our trip...
     

     
    I'd wanted parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, but couldn't get thyme anywhere! I did get some coriander, but found that I'd misjudged the size of the planter and it wouldn't fit!
     

     
    ...and the finished article. Should look OK in three weeks do you think?
     

  13. Janet S
    There's now just over three weeks to go until our marathon cruise and I have to admit I'm starting to get a little excited...a LITTLE? I'll be fit to burst before we get to the end of the month!
     
    My normally neat and tidy living room is now full of boxes, bags and stuff....the sofa has piles of "must pack" clothes...the floor has several boxes filled with essentials...and there's still a while to go! And lists? Oh, don't talk to me about lists! I have lists coming out of my ears at the moment!
     
    It really is difficult to plan and pack for a hire boat holiday, particularly a long one...you don't have the luxury of having all you need waiting for you left on board from your last trip....although they are very well equipped, there are none of your basic essentials on board so a bit of forward planning is essential! Well, they do usually provide some basic stuff like washing up liquid and a spare toilet roll, but that ain't going to last for a month!
     
    It's the stuff that you normally take for granted that's a problem...salt/pepper, tea bags, coffee, virtually everything you have in your kitchen cupboard....
     
    We don't want to have to spend too much time shopping en-route, so our plan is to pack as much as we can before we go, so we only have to shop for essentials as and when they're needed.
     
    Whether or not all this "stuff" will fit into the back of a Ford Fiesta on the day is open to serious debate!
     
    Janet
  14. Janet S
    Woooooooo hooooooooo! Clocks go forward tonight...that means it's another hour closer to our epic trip in May! It also means that we're hopefully now looking forward to some better weather, although I see there's a forecast for snow towards the end of next week!
     
    Come on, they can't be serious, can they? We have crocus and daffodils everywhere...please don't let it snow again! Been there, done that...didn't much like it!
     

     
    Some of you may remember our cruise a few years ago when we had rain...and rain...and more rain...two whole weeks of it! We're hoping for slightly better weather this time! A little bit of sun would be good...I have invested in some new fingerless gloves so I don't end up with third degree burns to the back of my hands as I did last time!
     
    I don't think I can stand the anticipation much longer! My living room is piled high with stuff ready for packing and my head is fit to burst with possible plans, definite maybe's and actual plans and timings....and lists! I am beginnning to become an expert on lists! We have several ongoing...things to buy, things to pack, things that we leave behind only to realise that actually we did need them and things that we take that are neither use nor ornament but we couldn't leave behind!
     
    R.J. and Allan (Keeping Up) are in charge of planning...so, if it all goes pear shaped, we know who to blame! We are meeting up with Allan and Debbie at Milton Keynes, and our two boats will be travelling together for several days as we progress down to the Thames and beyond. They have done this trip several times before, so we are in capable hands! Well, I hope we are!
     
    For the past few years this trip has been a bit of a pipe dream, but after a very pleasant weekend spent with Keeping Up last year on the Rochdale Canal, it finally began to gel, and the decision was made that we would travel together for what is for us a trip of a lifetime. It took several fraught weeks of negotiation with management and work colleagues to finally get it agreed that we could each take a month's holiday...! I had to consult my colleagues, my Team Leader, the Contact Centre Manager and finally the Head of Customer Services before approval was finally given for this extended trip.
     
    Luckily, we have planned an alternative route should we encounter any problems on our trip once we leave the Thames. I received the full itinerary a short while ago...no problem, just print it off on the work printer...ooops! Maybe not...it runs to 120 pages!
     
    We have such a lot to see and do...I hope we manage to fit it all in! After ten years as hirers, this is very possibly our last trip, so we really want to fit in as much as we can. We are hoping to say hello to a few fellow CWDF members en-route, so if you see us, please say hello!
     
    A banter with Bones is planned...watch this space for more details!
  15. Janet S

    GROUND RULES

    By Janet S,

    In light of the current plans for our month long cruise in May, I thought it was time to lay down some rules….some of which are set in stone, some of which are amenable to change….the muffin one is non-negotiable!
     
    We are taking the boat for a whole month, but will be accompanied for a short while by a random mother who was invited along in an intoxicated moment of madness. So, we have a boat built for two (at a push!) and a visitor….this could get interesting! What was supposed to be a short visit has turned into about ten days! Luckily, although she’s a bit on the tiddly side, she pulls her weight when it comes to lockwheeling and she’s most certainly a positive asset in the kitchen department! If they left it to me I would be fishing until darkness and it would be beans on toast for supper every night! She’s also as mad as a box of frogs, so anything could happen!
     
    When I say she pulls her weight with lockwheeling - well, she tries, but she is only four foot nothing and a bit and doesn't quite have the "oomph" that's needed for some of the heavier lock gates. Still, she tries, and we leave her to it, purely for the entertainment value! Woe betide anyone who tries to help her!
     

     
    Luckily we all get on very well, so I'm sure we'll cope admirably. This really is a trip of a lifetime for us, and there's no way we could do it without M (Christine), our tiddlypeep. I'm sure there'll be occasions when murder is contemplated, but we all know that we're going to be cramped so we'll make allowances - well, that's the theory! She was with us on our very first narrowboat hire and has visited us for short periods on several others, so it's only fitting that she should be with us on what is likely to be our last.
     
    From Milton Keynes onwards we will be accompanied by Allan and Debbie on Keeping Up.
     

     
    Two boats, five nutters and two mad dogs...surely a recipe for fun? Well, it was the last time, when we intended to join them for just a couple of hours to escort them over Summit and ended up staying overnight, getting rather snibbled in a local hostelry and then coming up with this punning clan for our Grand Cruise!
     
    I just hope we do better than this....
     

     
    And now...the rules.....
     
    R.J. is the designated Captain/Master therefore whatever he says goes, unless of course we have reason to disagree with his decision. If we feel the need to disagree, we will refrain from wielding windlasses in anger and will remonstrate later in a timely and appropriate manner. In the meantime, we will do as he commands and grin and bear it, even if we know that we know better. That way he gets to take the blame and we get to feel slightly superior… We will learn to live with it, adapt and beat him round the head at a later date. Whatever happens, as he’s in charge, he’s to blame….of course he’ll also take all the credit for what is sure to be a most successful trip, but we’ll know different, won’t we?
     
    Rule 1….R.J. is in full charge. We know our place….we will obey without question.
     
    Rule 2…If we get caught for owt, please refer to Rule One. We are only following instructions….
     
    Rule 3…Rule 2 overrrides all other rules.
     
    Rule 4…Cake is not essential to a superlative cruising experience. No, really, it isn’t! If a certain crew member declines cake/biscuits that’s OK. Trust me, she’s been around a while, she knows what she likes….she knows her own mind. If she says she doesn’t want cake, then she means it. (However, she can always be tempted with a Thornton’s Continental truffle….)
     
    Rule 5…Chocolate muffins are verboten….banned!
     
    Rule 6…Crew members may be subjected to pillow assaults at intermittent periods during the hours of darkness. They are permitted to respond in kind with whatever measures they deem suitable and appropriate, within reason.
     
    Rule 7…Snoring is allowed.
     
    Rule 8…Please refer to rule 7.
     
    Rules will be updated shortly….
     
    Janet
  16. Janet S
    Well, this is it....my first attempt at a blog, so please excuse me if I stuff it up, as I surely will!
     
    This year is our most adventurous mission to date, and probably the last one we'll take as hirers. We seem to have done just about everything we can do on boats we can afford within reasonable travelling distance. There's only so many times you can try and do the South Pennine Ring and be disappointed...we've tried several times to complete it in one go, but due to unexpected circumstances, stoppages, floods, pestilence and plague, we never actually managed it.
     
    This is going to be our longest trip (or mission!) to date, as we've managed to secure a great deal on a whole month's hire. It took a lot of wangling to convince our respective employers to allow us to take a whole month off, but we've done it.
     
    Anyway, this years plan...we have once again hired from Canal Cruising Co at Stone. The boat is Rosemary, a tiddly little thing at only 34 foot, but luckily blessed with a wonderful engine and the ability to turn on a sixpence (anyone remember them?) We've hired her twice before, and although small, she's perfect for just the two of us.
     
    Our boat
     
    Our plan, and it's ambitious, even for us, is to take her from Stone, down onto the Thames and thence back via a route yet to be finalised and eventually back to base (hopefully on time!)
     
    There are several possibilities, and several plans in preparation. The first few days are fixed....we'll pick up the boat on Saturday 1st May and then cruise down to Milton Keynes, where we'll meet up with Allan and Debbie on "Keeping Up", who are going to cruise with us for a while. It's a bit of a daunting trip for us, so we are glad that they'll be travelling with us and giving us the benefit of their experience, as they've done the Thames on several occasions. If it all goes pear-shaped, then we'll blame it on Allan, as it was thanks to him, R.J. and a rather beer-fuelled evening last summer that we came up with this punning clan!
     
    At the same time as meeting up with Keeping Up, we'll also be picking up a stray mother who is going to join us for a few days for what we hope is going to be a memorable trip. Three of us crammed into a boat built for two for any length of time is going to be interesting to say the least, but this cruise has such wonderful possibilities that it would have been impossible to leave her behind! No matter....we'll make sure she earns her keep! We will however allow her to accompany us for cucumber sandwiches at Hampton Court Palace before we dump her ashore and leave her to her own devices....
     
    We get to see all the sights of London...many of them we've all seen before, but never from the water....we also have the distinct possibility of meeting up with a few forum members along the way, which will just add to the experience. We are planning to meet up with Bones at some point along the Oxford Canal on our way back...that would just be the icing on the cake...Bones? You do have cake, don't you?
     
    This holiday was booked several months ago, but now we've paid the balance and it's only the month after next before we go, it's all starting to feel very real and I can feel the excitement building....I'll be at a positive crescendo by the time we set off!
     

  17. Janet S

    DAY 18

    By Janet S,

    Tuesday 18th May – Clattercote to Lord's Bridge
     
    09.00 - 20.45
    24.5 miles, 20 locks
     
    We were a bit late in rising, despite setting alarms. Alarms are brilliant, aren’t they? You can just switch them off and carry on with your dreams…doesn’t work well on work days, but work was far from our minds today!
     
    After a rather tasty breakfast of toast and Marmite, with black pudding and mushrooms, we cast off and began our day’s cruising. We had a lovely clear sky and sunshine to start, although it clouded over by noon, but remained warm and most importantly dry for the rest of the day. With the blistering heat of recent days, it was quite a relief to have a bit of respite. Not that we were complaining though! It was a welcome change from our first trip on PSSCB when it conspired to rain every single day for two whole weeks!
     
     
    CONFESSIONS OF A HIRE BOATER - OUR 2006 CRUISE DIARY FOR PSSCB
     
     
    It brought back some great memories reading that again after all this time!
     
     

     
    The cruising was uneventful, but also delightful. I’m sure the photo’s of idyllic canal scenes through bridges are boring the pants off everyone, but it really was like that every single day!
     
    Here's a slightly different photo - taken by R.J. with my beloved Olly (Olympus e520)
     

     
    This kestrel decided to have a break from hovering and perched atop a huge ariel to watch for prey. Considering we were cruising at the time, I think he did really well to capture this. It's a big crop from the original, but it's still better than anything I've managed!
     
    We had an easy trip through the Claydon Flight of locks, and quite a long lock-free section. Well, when I say quite long, it was long for us! There were two and a half pages of our Nicholson’s Guide stretching before us without so much as a lock! Pah! Shouldn’t ought to be allowed! Far too many lock-free miles.
     
    There was one absolute highlight for me, as we were cruising along a stretch of canal with only a narrow channel and bushes on the offside. I’d seen a boat approaching the bridge hole, and judged that they had priority. Well, maybe not, but we weren’t in any hurry and there’s nothing worse than racing for it! We’ve been there, heard and felt the crunch, and we really didn’t like it!
     
    I decided to hang back and give them the benefit of the doubt and waved them on as they seemed to be a little bit undecided. For a while it was stalemate, as it looked as though they had also stopped to let us through! With no signals from them, I thought we were going to be stuck there forever!
     
    Eventually though, they decided to proceed, as I kept PSSCB hovering near the overhanging bushes on the off-side bank and gave frantic hand signals for them to proceed. Just a little bit of forward and reverse was enough to keep her in position, despite the breeze. As they passed, the steerer said to me “Good to see you’re an expert…!! Woo hoo! Someone called me an expert! Unfortunately R.J. wasn’t present to witness this momentous event, as he was busy brushing floors, shaking rugs and generally behaving like a domestic goddess…
     
    The cruising was just great, with plenty of twists and turns for me to do wheelies…yes, a narrowboat can go round a bend on two wheels…well, sort of! You know what I mean…
     
    Upon reaching the Napton flight of locks, we had the opportunity to share with another boat. With us at 34’ and them at 35’, there was plenty of room. There was a Tupperware boat also waiting, but they were very reluctant to share, so we left them to it, and proceeded down the locks in the company of Kay-Tee. They were only travelling a short way before meeting up with friends, so we left them before the bottom lock.
     

     
    Just before the bottom lock, we were hailed by a rather strange fellow, calling “Have you had your computer fixed yet?” Well, he wasn’t exactly strange, but you tend to get that feeling when someone you don’t know is waving at you and calling you by name! It was another forum member, Graham, who had heard about our plight from Bones. His boat is emblazoned with signs for e-cover products, and by the time we’d reached the bottom of the flight, our washing up liquid bottle had been refilled with environmentally friendly stuff at a most reasonable price – a lot cheaper than buying at the usual stores, and most convenient!
     

     
    The cruising remained wonderful throughout the day, culminating at just beyond Braunston. No matter how many times I've seen this view, I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing those lovely white painted iron bridges. It means that the fudge shop is just round the corner! It's become a bit of a tradition to purchase a block of fudge from the shop at the first lock, along with souvenirs and postcards. I did buy a postcard to send to the girls at work, but never got round to sending it! Sorry Ruth! I was thinking of you all, honestly I was!
     

     
    It's a great little shop - always a friendly welcome, and they sell essential groceries as well as a great supply of souvenirs, books, maps and magazines.
     

     
    We were through Braunston Tunnel in just 17 minutes...
     

     
    I tend to crawl through tunnels if I’m steering, but R.J. is much better at it than me, having a lot more confidence. I really don’t like tunnels! I tend to bounce from side to side like a pinball machine…ricocheting off the walls and generally buggering it up. HWMBO however, cruises through at full pelt with not a sideways glance and never touches the side. Sounds rather like the way he drinks his Guinness….
     

     
    It was getting rather late, but the light was still good, the moorings outside the pub were taken, so we took the decision to continue until the light failed, ending up just past Lord’s Bridge for a dinner of pork steaks, new potatoes and one of R.J.’s special salads, washed down with a rather nice bottle of Lindeman Bin 50 Shiraz.
     
    When I say decision, I mean instant decision! If we haven’t got a plan for anywhere specific, it usually involves us looking at each other and saying “now!” as we do our best to get moored up at the place we’ve spotted. We don’t always manage to get exactly where we want, but we’ve never failed to find a delightful spot. It may take us a while, but we get there in the end!
     

     
    Although I haven’t recorded it in the cruise log, I seem to recall that our dinner was followed by several cups of coffee laced with whisky and the promise of a late start on the following morning…I also have some images of a rather svelte crew member wearing nothing more than a very fetching towel and a smile whilst starting the engine…brmmmmm brmmmm!
     
    However, I didn't take that until tomorrow, so you'll have to wait!
     
    R.J. – I am open to flagrant bribery….
  18. Janet S

    DAY 17

    By Janet S,

    Monday 17th May – Aynho Weir Lock to Clattercote
     
    09.30 - 18.00
    12.1 miles, 11 locks
     
    What a fabulous day today. Brilliant sunshine from first light and it stayed scorching hot all day. As usual I was the first to rise, but I didn’t bother with fishing, just sat on deck with a cup of freshly brewed tea and soaked up the atmosphere. Carling don’t make days like this, but they should!
     

     
    R.J. was still dozing after the stress of last night’s PC crash, so I left him to dream whilst I went for a walk to investigate our crop circle. It was totally different from last night, and nowhere near as mysterious as it had looked. I sat on the grass to try and take a few shots of butterflies when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye…it was a deer, completely unaware of my presence. Well, it was unaware until I tried to change lenses on my camera, then it buggered off at great speed, leaving me with only an out of focus snapshot. Oh well, I saw it!
     
    We lingered over a nice breakfast (R.J. does great breakfasts - just don't trust him with the mushrooms!) until we saw another boat approaching, whereupon it was time to start the engine and get ready to cast off for our first time sharing a lock on a narrow canal – an experience, to say the least!
     
    Whilst getting the lock ready, I had the opportunity to chat to the lady from the boat as I admired her canal painted ware on the roof of the boat. Slightly different from the norm, but she’d taught herself and I think the results were pretty good.
     

     
    They also had a rather lovely boat dog – a basset hound! I hadn’t seen one of these dogs for years. What a lovely face and expression! Although this was the first I’d seen in ages, it certainly wasn’t to be the last as we came upon several during our cruise. Must be a favourite dog down South!
     

     
    We went in first and shoogled over to one side. Being only tiny at 34 feet, we could tuck ourself into the side of the lock, allowing plenty of room for the following boat to be positioned in the centre. However, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of forward/reverse and whanging before they got themselves in place, whereupon they asked us to turn off our engine as they didn’t like the fumes. We’ve shared locks many times before, but this was a first! I don’t think the other boat was really happy about sharing the lock, but it was a first for us, and we weren’t going to waste water by going up on our own.
     
    Oh well, no matter…it’s only a shallow lock and we were soon on our way, leaving the other boat to press on ahead.
     

     
    Following our laptop crash last night, I’d sent text messages to Bones and the girls at work who had been following our blog, to explain that we’d be off-line for some time. Little did I know! Bones had immediately initiated a distress call on CWDF, and I was sent several phone numbers with instructions to give them a call in an effort to get the thing fixed.
     
    After speaking to several people, it was arranged that CarlT would pick up the errant machine, and deliver it to Sue and Richard (RWLP/Tawny Owl) who would hopefully do the fettling. This he duly did, meeting us just before Banbury to collect it and hopping on board as we cruised into the side to collect him. He had his youngest son Jack with him, who proved to be rather a handful, but absolutely delightful with it!
     
    I’ve only met Carl once before at Moley’s birthday banter, after which he gave us a lift back to our accommodation, but even so, we had absolutely no qualms about handing the misbehaving PC over to him. Neither of us knew RWLP/Tawny Owl at all, apart from their posts on the forum and I remain amazed at how various forum members did their best to help us. We were waved at several times over the next few days by folk asking “Have you had your PC fixed yet?”…it really was most surreal! We arrived in Banbury to find “H” walking towards us to say hello and ask if it had been fixed – he’d heard about our problem from Bones.
     
    I thought Banbury was amazing – brilliant how the canal is right in the centre of the town with all the major stores canal side. So often the canal seems to skirt round the town centres when it really should be an integral part of the town.
     

     
    It certainly seemed to be a popular spot, with people walking, lunching on benches etc. We saw a few offices nearby – what a great place to work!
     
    The whole day was just fabulous - there was something to see round every bend - it really was a lovely day for cruising!
     

     

     

     
    We carried on towards Cropredy, where I was hoping to meet up with the lady who runs the lockside Spar shop. No particular reason, other than I share my bus journey home from work with her sister. Whilst chatting on the bus (as you do!) she’d asked about our trip, and mentioned that her sister ran the shop by the canal, so I’d promised to drop by and say hello. She’d been in business in my local town before deciding to up sticks and move down to Cropredy for a larger, better store – a good move, in my opinion! I left R.J. filling up the water tank whilst I went to say hello. The shop was well stocked, with friendly staff and I was made most welcome. Luckily she’d been expecting me, otherwise I would have looked a right pillock!
     
    There was a nice touch at the lock…
     

     
    It’s a whiteboard, complete with pens, where people write their comments about their trips. I thought it was a lovely idea, and it’s obviously very well used. A very nice thought by the residents at the canalside house. I hope they get as much pleasure out of reading the comments as we did adding them!
     
    We had help at various points along the way....the kids just love working locks!
     

     
    It looked to be a great place to stay, but it was still early so we carried on until we reached Clattercote before deciding to moor up for the night.
     

     
    We hadn’t any definite plans about mooring, so it was very much an instant decision when we saw a ready made BBQ/bonfire site in a lovely quiet spot with a nice view.
     

     
    A rather earlier finish than normal, but it seemed rude not to...
     
    I did a spot of fishing whilst R.J. took control of the cooking…he knows his place! R.J. even had a go at spinning whilst the barbecue got to temperature, using my spare rod, but didn't catch anything other than the bushes! Still, we both had a great time and lots of laughs.
     

     
    Dinner was a barbecue of sausages, pork strips, salad etc, preceded by several Guinness’s and accompanied by a rather nice bottle of Rose Shiraz…
     
    Once dinner was over, we adjourned to the bank and had great fun piling wood on the barbecue for a great fire and making little boats, setting them on fire and sailing them down the cut…as you do, or if you don’t…you should!
     

     
    We didn’t do many locks or travel very far, but it was a memorable day. Writing this almost two months after the day and looking at the photographs, I'm almost back there....
  19. Janet S
    Since coming back from our holiday at the beginning of June, I've been faithfully typing up the cruise diary and editing photo's to catch up on what was missing after the laptop died mid-way through the cruise.
     
    Whilst it was still a work in progress, it was going well - until disaster struck! My files are now stuck in some sort of computer limbo and I can't access them!
     
    I couldn't decide what to do. Start again and do a full cruise log for the Cruise Diary section, or continue with the blog and fill in the gaps?
     
    I've decided to simply continue with the blog, and add the missing days and the photo's. Once it's all done, I'll try and compile it all into some sort of meaningful order and get it printed out as a lasting reminder of a fabulous trip. I've got myself tied up in knots cutting and pasting from here to there so now I don't know quite where I'm at!
     
    It means the last few entries will be out of sequence, but hey, it's my blog and I can do as I like!
  20. Janet S
    It appears that the whole of May was stolen...at least that's how it feels, as it went so fast! How can you just lose a month like that? I put it down to simple absent-mindedness...I'm rather hoping it's going to turn out to be like one of those moments when you lose your glasses, then find them perched on top of your head. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and find that being home and back at work is just a nasty dream....? Well, maybe not!
     
    So, the final statistics for our grand cruise?
     
    Well, we did 542 miles, to be almost exact! (Stats supplied by R.J. and our GPS!) Locks? I'm not sure, but there were a lot! They really were no effort at all....probably because I let R.J. work most of them whilst I pointed the boat in the right direction...he likes locking, I like steering, so it worked out very nicely.
     
    Ridiculous, isn't it? We could have travelled that in a day by car, but it wouldn't have been nearly so much fun!
     
    Waterways visited?
     
    Trent & Mersey Canal
    Coventry Canal
    Oxford Canal
    Grand Union Canal
    River Thames
    Oxford Canal (again)
    Grand Union – Leicester Section
    Grand Union - River Soar
    River Trent
    Trent & Mersey Canal (again)
    Birmingham & Fazeley Canal
    BCN - Main Line
    Dudley No.2 Canal
    Dudley No.1 Canal
    Stourbridge Canal
    Staffs & Worcs Canal
    Trent & Mersey Canal (again)
     
    Highlights? Far too many to mention! The Thames obviously, as that was the main focus of our trip, but there are so many others that I don't quite know where to start...
     

     
    Barbecues on the bank and wonderful sunsets.
     

     
    Meeting up with friends along the way - impromptu banters, lots of laughs and saying hello to members we hadn't met before.
     
    Being accosted at various points by complete strangers asking if our laptop had been fixed...that was surreal in the extreme and just goes to show that CWDF isn't a virtual community, it's a real one.
     
    Having our washing up liquid bottle refilled whilst going through a lock...that was a first!
     
    Realising that the weird stranger springing out of the bushes at a lock was actually not quite as threatening as he first appeared!
     
    Y.M.C.A. from Keeping Up and the Rebels!
     

     
    Victoria Mole's sponge cake...
     
    Fish rescue!
     
    I'm currrently wading my way through over 2,500 photographs and videos from the trip and will try to publish a full cruise diary soon. I wasn't sure whether to keep the blog going or not, but I think it's run its course now. Thanks to all who have left comments, and all those who followed it.
     
    Many apologies to Ruth and several of my work colleagues, who were most miffed when we stopped updating the blog mid-cruise after the laptop died. We really did intend to continue, and with help from RWLP and Tawny Owl we were soon online again, but then the weather took a turn for the better and we had beautiful evenings to enjoy. Who wants to be stuck in front of a computer on days like that? There was fishing and drinking to be done!
     
    Hopefully this won't be the last time you hear from me about some epic trip! Nothing is planned at the moment, but there's still time.
     
    Watch this space....
  21. Janet S
    Thank goodness this has been a long weekend, as I'd never be ready for w**k if I'd had to go back today! Despite getting back on Saturday afternoon, I'm still unpacking bags and boxes! I have however managed to clean my shoes, but that's my only concession to the nine to five. Tomorrow should be fun, as I've completely forgotten all my passwords for all the computer applications I need to use. I guess it will be some time before I'm on the phones!
     
    I needed a long lie-in, but that didn't happen. Despite staying up until the early hours yesterday in the hope of tiring myself out enough to stay in bed I was still awake at stupid o'clock, wondering why R.J. hadn't started the engine and woken me up with a cup of tea...it really was quite a downer to realise that our holiday was over and the cup of tea was just a fantasy. For the last few days on the boat I was dreaming of a nice soak in a bath and my own bed. Now I had it, I found that it didn't quite live up to my expectations.
     
    I don't know where the last month has gone, but gone it has. When our holiday started it seemed to be endless but suddenly we went from having long days stretching out before us to having to pack and get off the boat whilst the boatyard workers scrambled all over it getting it ready for the next hirers. I appreciate that they have to get the boat ready for the next crew, but really, can't they give us a moment or two to leave with some dignity instead of tripping over pumpout and diesel pipes?
     
    No real complaints though, as the boat performed admirably during our month out, and we certainly got value for money. We got a great deal on the hire for the month. We had a full tank of diesel to start with, and all we had to do was arrange pumpouts and diesel for the extra weeks which stayed well within our budget. It did involve a few interesting moments trying to dip the tank with the boat mop handle, but at least we made sure that we arrived back on time and not running on fumes!
     
    Still, on the plus side, the weather was good today so I was able to take a walk by the river and get some fresh greenery for Tatty, who seems to be quite at home in his super duper new home. From a rather smelly pickled onion jar, he has now migrated to a very large glass jar with a muslin top to give lots of fresh air and he has a constant supply of fresh twigs to keep him happy. Reminds me a bit of our cruise with Bones and Maffi a couple of years ago when we had Breakfast and Lunch...two of the nicest mealworms you could ever wish to meet...
     
    Oh well, back to reality tomorrow. It's been fun!
  22. Janet S
    Yes, you read that right! For the past few weeks I seem to have mislaid them, as they vanished...
     
    I guess standing on deck for up to 12 hours per day isn't good for the circulation, as my ankles swelled and disappeared. R.J. says it's water retention, and all down to my age! No sympathy there then! I've never noticed it before, but then again, we've never cruised for a month before.
     
    I'm still unpacking bags and boxes and the washing machine is working overtime. I'm pleased to say that I wore just about everything that I packed, apart from a couple of heavy sweaters that weren't needed. We did do a bit of washing en-route, as the boat just wasn't big enough for enough socks and undies to last two of us for four weeks - note the inventive use of the tiller arm!
     


     
    You may notice in that picture that our garden has rather grown in size from the herb planter that we started with! Yes, we visited the Thames and the Oxford and took most of it home with us in our very own recyclable plant pots...we gathered a rather nice selection of various plants and herbs along the way, most of which seem to have rooted, so they'll soon be rehomed in our respective gardens as a lasting reminder. We still have plants in our gardens from our very first canal boat trip on Pearl several years ago which are flourishing.
     
    We also acquired a rather nice boat dog en-route....
     


     
    Sadly, Boots belongs to Bones and she wouldn't let us keep him...however, I did bring home a pet!
     
    Meet Tatty, AKA Tattifilarious, our boating caterpillar....
     

     
    ...much less demanding than a boat dog. although it's proving a tad more difficult to house train!
     
    It felt very strange this morning to wake up in my own bed on dry land, particularly as the world is still moving when I stand still for any length of time. It's nice to be home, but I know where I'd rather be....
  23. Janet S

    THE END....

    By Janet S,

    Well, that's the end of another cruise...we're both safely at home in our respective abodes and wondering where the hell we managed to lose a whole month....is it just down to carelessness?
     
    I know that we carefully looked after and nurtured all those days, but they have been totally ungrateful and have now left us high and dry and have vanished without a trace. If I hadn't kept a cruise log, neither of us would have a clue as to where we've been or when...it's all sort of blurred into one...
     
    It's been absolutely fabulous from start to finish. Yes, we've had a few minor blips along the way, but nothing unsurmountable and all have given us some great memories to look back upon. We've cruised with Keeping Up on the tidal Thames, had a mini-banter with Bones and Maffi, another one with Cheshire~Rose, Postcode and our PC saviours, Sue and Richard. and all topped off with a most wonderful and unexpected micro banter with Moley and co....thanks to Victoria Mole for the most excellent cake and to Ade for the hangover!
     
    ...a sudden and unexpected instant decision after chatting to a lovely old gentleman as we were moored in Birmingham City Centre lead us to a slight detour from our route, and a trip down the lovely Dudley #1, #2 and Stourbridge Canals. It only added another couple of miles to our route, but gave us three new canals to do and a treat at the end! It also stopped R.J. from his punning clan of getting us to do the Four Counties Ring in two days!
     
    Cruising through the last few locks, we were accosted by a strange person dashing out from the bushes...after deciding that he wasn't a candidate for bashing with my windlass, I ascertained that it was in fact Moley, the master of perfect timing! He'd just happened to park his car up as he saw a canal (as you do....) and saw our perfectly formed little green boat cruising past. The timing couldn't have been better! Mr and Mrs Mole joined us later that evening for a while at our mooring near Devils's Den, and I think it's safe to say that a good time was enjoyed by all. R.J. tells me that I got totally snibbled that night, but it's all a distant memory now...and it wasn't all my fault!
     
    I really feel rather ungrateful, as Sue and Richard were so good at sorting out our PC problems, but neither of us could face sitting at a PC with the wonderful evenings we've had recently. so the blog has been left on tickover whilst we've been enjoying ourselves.
     
    Once I've sorted through the vast amount of photo's, I'll post a full cruise diary. Hopefully our adventures will encourage more to do the same! We've been very lucky this year, managing to each get a month away from w**k. I can't see it happening again, so I'm glad that we've made the most of it this time.
     
    It's been good...
  24. Janet S

    DAY 14

    By Janet S,

    Friday 14th May – Reading Tesco to Abingdon
     
    09.00 – 18.15
    30.5 miles, 8 locks
     
    We didn’t set an alarm this morning, knowing that the Thames lockkeepers don’t tend to start work until that time, so there was time for me to nip into Tesco for some fresh baked croissants for breakfast and some nice crunchy rolls for lunch.
     
    Setting off at nine, we were on our way in nice sunshine, but with a chilly wind. It wouldn’t have been too bad if it was just blowing in one direction, but it changed all the time. Still, trying to stop the boat skiting all over the river gave me something to concentrate on rather than the long and tedious stretch of water ahead.
     
    Just past one of the locks, we noticed a huge herd of strange looking creatures in several fields. Llamas? Alpacas? Push-me-pull-you’s? Upon asking the lockie, we discovered that they were actually alpacas, and had grown from a small group of half a dozen or so a few years ago. Apparently they produce wool three times faster than sheep, so are a growing and profitable local industry. They looked distinctly wool-less today, having obviously been recently shorn.
     
    I had a bit of difficulty manoeuvring the boat into one lock, as I was fighting the wind and the current from a weir at the same time. It didn’t help that I was also being a tad distracted by a red kite diving down and across the river and a kingfisher that swooped low over the bow of the boat three or four times! Wouldn’t you just know it – I was driving, so I didn’t have my camera to hand. R.J. was down below decks on domestic duties (he knows his place!) so I’ll just have to hope that I get another opportunity for a kingfisher picture later in the trip.
     
    Finally moored up for the night at Abingdon, a delightful little town that almost (I say almost!) changed my opinion of the Thames. It really is a lovely little town, so we went for a walk on what was also a very lovely evening, with the sun setting over the town and giving a wonderful glow to the old buildings.
     
    The walk wasn’t only for sightseeing – horror of horrors, we’d run out of Guinness again! Well, we were down to two cans, so it was absolutely essential that we replenished our supplies quickly. With the hours and hours of this interminable river, it was something to look forward to at the end of the day. There’s nothing quite like relaxing with a can of Guinness and the company of a few maggots while the sun goes down, but as I was reminded yet again by an eagle eyed lockkeeper, it’s close season on the Thames….you don’t say!!!!!
     
    This damn river is just never-ending. Mile after mile of water, trees, straight bits and more bloody water and straight bits. Even the locks don’t break up the boredom much, as they are few and far between and have all been worked for us. So, there are three words to sum up today – boring, boring and bloody BORING! I sat at the pointy end for a while, but found myself drifting off, so went to join R.J. – that wasn’t much better, as I had to give him a swift kick on the shins to wake him up. I suppose I could have let the little dear carry on sleeping, as the river is so long and wide that I’m sure Rosemary could steer herself for half an hour or so without hitting something...
     
    There are undoubtedly some lovely stretches on the Thames, and I’m glad we’ve done it, but we certainly won’t be doing it again in a hurry. We’d love to do the tidal section again, but this time we’d leave the river at Brentford rather than carrying on.
     
    Never mind though, tomorrow we should be back on proper water again, as we head through Oxford and onto the Oxford Canal to meet up with Bones and Maffi. We haven’t seen them since we went for a week’s cruise on the Rochdale a couple of years ago, so I can’t wait! There’ll be locks, lift bridges and things to avoid hitting…woo hoo!!! Bring it on…!!!
  25. Janet S

    DAY 13

    By Janet S,

    Thursday 13th May – Bovney Lock (Windsor) to Reading Tesco
     
    08.15 – 17.30
    27.9 miles, 10 locks
     
    R.J. made one of his famous specials for breakfast today – sausages, bacon and tomatoes in a sort of scrambly eggy omeletty type thing, topped off with cheese melted to a crisp topping under the grill. He really is quite domesticated and excellent at using up leftovers!
     
    It stayed warm and sunny for most of the day, only clouding over towards the end, and the cruising was pretty uneventful. Cruising towards the lock at Marlow was interesting, as Allan and R.J. gave the boats a bit of wellie to overtake another couple – the lockkeeper commented that he’d never seen narrow boat racing before! He also asked me if I realised that it was close season for fishing on the river, as he spotted one of my rods and landing net lying on the roof.
     
    Yes, unfortunately I do know that it’s close season, and very frustrating it is too! We’ve moored up in some very fishy looking spots, and it’s very annoying that I can’t drown a few maggots! Well, I don’t actually have any maggots, and it’s proving increasingly difficult to find any. Once we’re back on the canal network, I’m going to try ambushing a few likely looking anglers and see if I can’t persuade one of them to sell me a few.
     
    We passed Clivedon during the afternoon, a National Trust property, but not much of it was visible from the river. We also went through Henley on Thames, the scene of the famous regattas, where the banks were already filling up with huge marquees and a rather elaborate floating structure which was being erected close to the bank, presumably for either VIP visitors or possibly film and TV crews.
     
    We did pass some lovely and interesting scenery, and some stretches were particularly beautiful, but it still hasn’t changed our minds – it’s still boring! We are still really enjoying the trip, but that doesn’t stop us longing for this weekend when we get onto the Oxford Canal and do some real boating!!
     
    We had quite an early finish today, mooring up outside Tesco in Reading for the night. It doesn’t sound the nicest spot, but it was actually very pleasant, in a lovely tree lined area. The grounds of the store were landscaped with plenty of trees right down to the river, so the store wasn’t visible at all, and apart from a few cyclists and shoppers, the towpath was relatively quiet.
     
    After a rather expensive shopping trip to stock up on essentials, we decided that we’d have our first barbecue of the trip, so R.J. got his pinny on and it wasn’t long before the charcoal was glowing and so were we, after a couple of well-earned cans of Guinness.
     
    We had a visitor whilst our barbecue was cooking – R.J.’s getting quite used to complete strangers walking up or tapping on the door saying “Is Janet on board?” This time it was Steve (forum member JV44) and his partner Alex, who had dropped by to say hello and have a cuppa with us. Steve doesn’t post on CWDF very much, so I know him mainly from Anglers Net, (my favourite fishing forum) and it was nice to finally meet up and have a chat, as well as getting a few fishing tips for RJ. They have a boat on the Kennet and Avon Canal and would have joined us for a section of our cruise, but unfortunately the timings just didn’t work out for us on this occasion. However, we’re still hoping to do the Caen Hill flight eventually, so perhaps we’ll be able to meet up again in the future for a rather longer chat and hopefully a few beers.
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