From mud & slime to sunshine........

Well after a pleasant weekend in Bradford we move above the lock to use the services, visit Mr Sainsbury to stock up and spend the night (with marginally better TV reception) before moving slowly towards Devizes for the scheduled re-opening of the Caen Hill flight the following Saturday. Lots of moored boats contribute to a slow passage. It will be interesting to see what difference BW's new mooring policy will make in the latter part of the year. This western end of the K&A is one of the pilot areas for devising a local policy in conjunction with all interested parties.

“You got a partner for passage up the flight? No; well you have now!” The direct approach from Dave on NB Drift as we pause at Sells Green waiting for the 27th and the passage up to Devizes. Next afternoon we move the mile to Foxhanger wharf to the bottom of the 29 lock flight. More drizzle at the end of the day as we hope the forecast of sunny intervals materialises. As it turned out the weather was reasonable but a delay with a drained pound by Foxhanger Cottage in the bottom seven made for our slowest ever passage up the hill (six hours and a smashed porthole window to boot). At the end of the winter works the pound below the middle sixteen had been drained. With pressure of water released the piling on the canal bank below the lock collapsed; as we edge past it a protruding baulk of timber made contact with a sickening crunch. Held together with selotape another little job to be seen to.

A pleasant weekend in Devizes with Monday spent at the laundrette, stocking up supplies and we head off towards Great Bedwyn which we make by Wednesday,pausing of course at Honey Street and the Barge in for a pint and cheesy chips; a delight himself refuses to forego. Herself on the other hand could not resist a visit to the saw mill for a small bag of logs to see out the remainder of the winter , “I like a wood fire!”. Rain showers persist as does towpath mud and the fire never dies.

Great Bedwyn? Well nice place to stay for a while, good rail service to Paddington and herself is off to satisfy another ambition and join with friends from on a bare boat sailing holiday in Turkey. Himself enjoys some peace and quiet; renews acquaintance with the local ringers and once the rain stops and the mud begins to dry a start on touching up the paintwork. After a while himself decides a five day break is fine but ten is maybe a little long. She is missed. As for herself......sailing????? Fantastic !!! And the Turkish Bath.....awesome “They should install one at the new Bath Spa!”.

So fourteen days later we set off again, ringing at Hungerford. Finest ring of 8 on the K&A according to herself; always a great practice too, ringing everything from Bob doubles to Surprise major and always learning something new. Pauses at Newbury, Woolhampton, Frobney and Reading and we are back on the Thames, this time turning right and new water as we head downstream towards our nation's capital. The weather has improved with the changing of the clocks. Spring really is here, Celandine and Blackthorn in flower,leaves bursting from buds and the surest sign of spring to helself is her first sight of the pale lilac of Ladies Smock. The Kennet as always at this time of year is lively, the wide Thames flows much more gently. Big locks manned by lock keepers to pass us through, magnificent waterside mansions and pastoral vistas, magnificent herself declares.

Now, you will not be surprised to know that this is not necessarily the view of all on board NB Avon Rose. We are not talking here of himself but a certain small hairy canine. For him boating is all about leaping off at locks with his man, indulging in the local olfactory delights and where locks are close together treading the towpath in the wake of the man. Large mechanised with lock-keepers means a dog is confined to the boat and has to wait nervously inside, unable to see much of what is going on. Needless to say, any carelessness on the part of the big people in closing the the back doors is immediately seized upon with a dash for freedom. Something else occurs in some places which we have not encountered before; mooring fees!

Even himself has to admit that the Lower Thames does have its delights. Henley, already preparing for the regatta, is a very pleasant mooring with easy access to the town. Approaching Windsor by river you get the best view of the castle. Pleasant Meadowside mooring at the Brocas (owned by Eton College – overnight mooring £6) and we take the opportunity to go into town to see the changing of the guard and visit the castle. It being Saint Georges tide the town is full of Souts and Scouters at the weekend annual Queen's Scouts parade. Her Majesty is at home but she declines to give us an audience; not that we asked. A refusal would have been too embarrassing.

A pause at Shepperton and a visit from friends We set off to give them a little river trip only to be hailed by a moored narrowboat at Church Square. Busted starter motor. Can we give him a tow back to the River Wey? Breast-up and off we go, its only a mile away. Breast up? Lash the boats side by side and drive as one. Upstream, so glad of the power of the Issuzu 42. Never had to work so hard. Well that's our good deed for the day.

On down the river to moor outside Hampton Court and another day spent visiting the gardens and the palace, facilities much improved since last we came. Cherry and apple blossom magnificent; daffodils coming to an end.And so today finds us sitting above Teddington Lock waiting for the tide. This is the upper limit of the tidal Thames and narrowboats, bound for the junction with the Grand Union Canal at Brentford, travel down just before high tide so as not to have to thrash against the surging currents. Herself passes the time with a bit of painting. Himself obviously by finishing the blog he now realises was started long ago. Must be having too much fun .

Simple......tzcht!

Herself (muttering): “If I had my way we'd be halfway to Bristol now!”
Himself (likewise): “Hmmph....... There be dragons!”

Well, as you can gather from the above, we are finally on the move again, shaking the dust of Bath from our feet. Note dust, not mud! And it appears Herself has not convinced him that navigating down rivers in late winter could be fun.

The weather turned we have had some great sunshine and already the solar panels are earning their keep. A two day break away from the boat leaving domestic batteries at 30% charge and returned to find them fully charged. Wonderful.

And a lovely two day break it was. A train ride to Gloucester to see friends near Ross on Wye. Ringing of course at Monday night practice and the bonus of a trip to Hereford to see the Mappa Mundi and the chained library in the Cathedral. Another tick in Herselfs list of must-sees.

Now our friends have this lovely multi-fuel stove which was burning brightly with some well seasoned logs. Herself, forever observant of such things, notes the beautifully clear clean glass of the fire's doors and enquires how this is achieved. “Well” they say “wet piece of kitchen roll. Dip it in some of the course ash from the fire and rub it over the glass. Cleans it beautifully and keeping the fire drawing well keeps it clean.” Well on the boat keeping the fire drawing well means sauna conditions but himself, with a huge amount of scepticism decides to give it a go and........ easy! Accumulated gunk comes off like magic. No hard scrubbing........ simple; tzch! Chuck out the ceramic hob cleaner and scraper; they worked but not as easily as this.

On our last Sunday in Bath we accompanied the Bath District Ringers to Wells to ring for evensong at the cathedral.(another one not to miss). Heaviest ring of ten in the world I believe, tenor a mighty 56cwt. Front bells, long length of unguided rope and somewhat skittish but an interesting experience. A fond farewell from our ringing friends at the Abbey and after last night dinner, a final stock-up from Tesco Express on Bathwick Hill and we are cruising, retracing our steps eastward. (Perhaps that should be wake). And lo, as we set off, the clouds did gather and the heavens did open and the dampness (and mud) returned. But that's boating! First night at Dundas Aqueduct and now we rest at Bradford on Avon for the weekend. No need to hurry. The Caen Hill flight is closed till the 26th.

The problem with Bradford is that TV and radio signals are awful below the lock and as usual all berths above are taken. A “Freeloader” solar powered re-charger for iPods, mobile phones etc purchased from Oxfam in Bath is set up and put to use. The normal iPod charger does not draw enough current to keep the inverter active so the iPods have been flat for a while. As she wanders around the boat, plugged in and singing along in some strange oriental key, foot tapping and the occasional gyration added in, himself is heard to mutter, “I knew there was a reason I hadn't done this before.”

It's shiny....................!!!

Well the ice did melt at last. Once it gets to four inches thick it is surprising how long it takes to thaw. Some bright spark had heaved two great blocks of concrete onto the ice, presumably in an attempt to break it and those blocks sat there for a week or more after the thaw started before they finally disappeared to the canal bed. Since then we have had alternating periods of cold,sunshine and wet; some snow that did not settle and just one morning last week when we had a thin skin of ice on the canal. During the big freeze our neighbours (the ducks) were very enterprising. There is a section of shallow canal surrounded by weed which they use as a public bath-house-cum-bar for ducks. It never froze because they took turns in swimming around to keep the water moving and ice free. They are very entertaining except when they start a bar brawl in the middle of the night!

Friday 29th January on chilly but sunny morning we gathered at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking to lay my Dad finally to rest. A pleasant spot we will return to later in the year with the family when his headstone has been erected. The tortuous drive through the lanes of the vast cemetery confirmed why the journey had not been possible in the heavy snowfall. It was a weekend on which we had already planned a trip home to attend the Ringers' annual dinner so an extra day's car hire and all was well.

All this ice and snow has meant an inevitable delay in the winter works on the canal. Caen Hill locks to Devizes will not now open until 27th March instead of the 13th. So we will stay in Bath for another fortnight before we start the 2010 cruising season. Preparations for departure are gradually being made; cruising plans formulated. A new tele aerial, as winter gales and constant putting up and down in the crusiing season have had their toll. The new one equally large, rather than a neat good looking job a girl would prefer to grace her boat; although she has come to the view that good reception for her daily dose of "Countdown" is worth the sacrifice of some elegance. Avon Rose is booked in at Bath Narrowboats for a pre-season service and battery check. We're also having the stern gland repacked (the seal that stops water seeping round the edges of the prop shaft where it comes through the hull if you're wondering).

Mooring lines and the centre rope are beginning to fray and to get past their best. Fine for mooring in the winter on still water, but when we start cruising and we start to put real loads on them we don't want the risk of a line parting at a critical moment. So himself decides to do his home work and source some new rope and whipping twine on-line. Fore and aft mooring lines he decides to go for 16mm three strand artificial hemp, similar to the current ones. Our centre line, the one we use when lock working to control the boat, is a braided rope which means it is a smooth line that will run freely round a bollard and won't snag when you use it to slow the forward motion of the boat. So himself finds a nice white, double braid, 16mm,polypropylene mooring line, UV resistant with excellent abrasion resistance. Perfect for the job. But yes dear reader, you have spotted his fatal error; herself had not been consulted. "I can't have that! It's shiny!" Hang the technical guff, breaking strains and all that abrasion stuff. A girl needs to be seen with a rope that looks good. "It'll have to go back!" So what does himself do? Right again dear reader. What he has always done over the years. A polite "Yes dear," and then ignore her.

The bulbs are coming up in Sydney Gardens. In less than three weeks it will be the vernal equinox, the official start of spring,and in four we're into "Summer (Daylight Saving) Time". Our winter hibernation is coming to an end, but the wet and mud persists. Soon it will be time for goodbyes and this year some thought for the question that is starting to raise it's head. "Do we want to spend another winter on the cut?"

Ice, snow and departing friends...

It's been a long time since our last post, not because not much has happened but more because we have been occupied with other things. Through the rain and wet we did make it at last to our winter mooring and on 19th November our cruising year ended, as we moored at the spot we had vacated in January 2009; now having cruised 1,388 miles since our wanderings commenced back in September 2008. We had to move though; it's the trees you see. When a chap has solar panels on his roof and there are clear skies and bright sunshine a chap needs as much as he can get on his panels for some lovely "free" electricity. Trees, not being transparent are therefore something of a damper,so we moved a hundred yards nearer to Sydney tunnel to make the most of the sunshine and himself was nicely surprised by the amount of power we get on a clear winter's day. Chatty Dave down the cut reckons solar is the way to go and is looking to sell his wind turbine (needs a pretty stiff constant breeze to produce appreciable amounts of power he says).

Still lots of boats moored at this end of then cut as you would expect and interesting to see which boats we recognise from last winter. We quickly drop back into the routine of the more static boating life with the once weekly trip to fill the water tank and dispose of the unmentionable. We've also made use of the services of the lads at the boatyard to do one of the modifications we needed to make life easier. We had the leaking radiator in the bathroom removed and then the cassette toilet turned through 90 degrees, and a new hatchway made so that the cassette can be removed in the corridor. Where did it come out before? The bottom of the wardrobe in the bedroom; a real pain and not easy to get at. And now a bathroom with no radiator? No, it had two. One running off the central heating circuit and the other off the hot water heating circuit (calorifier, for the technically minded). Well with an owner fitted-out boat you must expect some eccentricities.

Good to renew our friendship with the Abbey ringers again and settle into regular ringing on Monday evenings and service ringing; although the climb up the tower had not got any easier. And....... they've turned our pub (The Rhummer) into an Italian wine bar/bistro thing!!!!!! So now Monday's after practice it's off to the Coer de Lyon; pints of Bellringer available here as well and still as good as we remember it. A Sunday routine of 9.15 Parish Communion at the Abbey followed by ringing for the 11 o'clock and then the ringers retire to Cafe Nero for coffee and cake; very civilised.

It's then that the wheels started to fall off things a bit. My Dad died on 18th December and the following week we had to have big dog, Micah put to sleep as things had got too much for the old boy and he had become doubly incontinent; not easy to cope with on a boat.
Thirteen is a good age for a lurcher and he'd had a good ten years with us, had enjoyed his boating but was finding it increasingly difficult to get about, wobbly legs, cataracts and hearing not as good as it used to be. We're now a one dog boat.

At 87 my Dad (a Chelsea Pensioner) had had a good innings too. He had recently had surgery to remove malignant tumours from his bladder. Pathology and further scans revealed it to be a rare aggressive malignancy that had spread to bone and resulted in a rapid decline with mercifully a relatively comfortable end.

Christmas was then a little subdued, but enjoyed non-the-less. Then it froze and we had snow and here we've been stuck unable to move for a fortnight. Ice about 3-4 inches thick in the end. We're down to the last inch of water in the water tank. Thank goodness the thaw has arrived.

Nothing stays the same. No matter how much we would like to resist it change is an inevitable part of life. Yet in difficulties there is often blessing, if only we would look for it. Not least the love and support we receive from those around us. I wonder what surprises 2010 has for us. One thing I know for certain, God is good.

It's all downhill from here.....

“Our last uphill lock of the year!” herself observes....... with feeling. The wide locks on the K&A can be hard work, especially at the eastern end where the condition of some leaves a lot to be desired. Working through alone means the boat has to be held to the side to stop it being tossed around by the turbulence of the incoming water. As the steerer that's her job while himself draws paddles and applies his buttocks to gate balance beams. All this heavy manual work takes a lot out of a girl of tender years .So much so that the head nods and the eyes close as we tune into “Countdown” on Channel 4.

Downhill working for the steerer is easier as the boat will sit quietly, untethered as water drains out through the bottom gate paddles. As many of the locks on the K&A have to be left empty with a bottom paddle up (no by-wash to take excess water from above is the reason we presume) there's more for himself to do and passage can be slower. Our trip from Newbury to this summit lock No:55 above Crofton was not without incident, but yet again we are starting our story in middle.

We left Newbury on a reasonably sunny day and head for Kintbury, a place we had never yet rung at. A pleasant mooring above the lock and at the appointed hour we head for the tower where we receive a warm welcome.From Kintbury a short cruise to Hungerford for the weekend and more ringing on the excellent eight at S Laurence. This time renewing acquaintances and staying over for practice night on Wednesday. Himself is again invited to stand a quarter peal of Grandsire Triples for the evening service on the following Sunday (a wrong call before the last course loses the attempt but there was some lovely ringing). Thursday and we plan to take the short hop to Great Bedwyn where we will stay for the weekend, himself taking a one stop train ride back to Hungerford to ring in the quarter. But things don't go quite to plan.

About half way to Bedwyn, we are working through Froxfield Bottom Lock when himself, about to open the top gates notices they are padlocked together. Two of the Boys in Blue appear clutching a notice to put on the gates, “Sorry, there's a stoppage The pound above the flight has been accidentally drained.” They unlock the gates and let us through, but here we have to sit till the pound (almost a mile long) is re-watered. With a water shortage in the feeder lake this takes two days. As we were expecting to fill with water and use the sanitary station at Bedwyn that day things were getting desperate as we finally could move on!

The trouble it appears was a repeating theme around the waterways. Keen holiday boaters underestimating time by going further than they should and in the haste to get back to base failing to properly close lock paddles. The result, water continues to flow through the lock from the pound above and at the end of the night the pound only has half the water it should have. Easily done.

When finally we arrive its Sunday lunch at the Cross Keys and renew acquaintance with landlady Sue (ringer and boater) to go with them to Collingbourn Kingston for Monday's practice. Sadly not enough ringers left in Bedwyn for their own practice so they go elsewhere. Also while we are here we make use of the excellent train service from Bedwyn to Paddington to go and visit my Chelsea Pensioner Dad at The Royal Hospital.

On to Honey Street and a call at Gibson's Boat Services, Avon Rose's first mooring, to fill with diesel. George is pleased to see her again and comments on how good she is looking. It seems he is finally going to retire but banks are still not lending to small businesses so his prospective buyers are finding it impossible to get loans despite what the government says. Honey Street essential too for a visit to the sawmill and the purchase of load of beech logs to fuel our fire for the winter. All stowed on the roof and himself demands a visit to the Barge Inn for refreshment and a basket of cheesy chips. Aaah the pleasures of the boating life. The downs with their white horse above Honey Street are a magnet for walkers, all of which provides year round custom for the Barge. We determine that next time we come through we really must take a walk up.

The weather is wet and damp. Leaves round the prop call for bursts of reverse more often now. Mud on the towpath at Bradford on Avon and we wish small dog could walk on stilts. His undercarriage is too close to the ground and is a magnet for mud. The fire it lit everyday and now in our second winter we have learned to control it better. The problem in a boat is not too cold but too hot. It's very easy to stoke the fire up too much and end up having to open all the doors and windows to cool down. The chimney liner is working a treat; no brown tar runs over the roof and down the cabin side. From Avoncliffe Halt we take the short train ride into Bath for a bit of shopping. Its niceto be back wandering familiar streets. We have to say, a year on, this feels like home.

“Now this is boating!” himself declares as we leave another of the Kennet and Avon's broad locks. After a brief sojourn at Abingdon Avon Rose continued down the Thames. An overnight mooring at Goring was approached with navigation lights blazing as dusk was falling. Evenings are getting chillier, leaves are turning and falling. It is decidedly autumnal; “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” to lovers of Keats. While at Abingdon a new chimney was fitted along with a liner. When a fire is kept in all the time tars from coal and wood condense inside the chimney and run down inside. Because the chimney fits over a collar on the roof this then tends to run onto roof and down the side of the boat making a mess of the paintwork. The solution is to fit a liner which fits inside the collar on the roof so that any tar runs down inside the collar and down the stove pipe. That's the theory anyway. So himself did the business with the liner, sealing the joint between the liner and the top of the chimney with heat resistant sealant to stop tar leaking down between liner and chimney. If it doesn't work its back to plan B, a wheeze imparted to us by another boater. Use old socks filled with absorbent “cat litter” to soak up what trickles onto the roof. The fire has been lit and so far so good!

“I like the Thames!” herself declares; a statement greeted with low mutterings from himself. Sitting comfortably in the cratch, reading or doing Soduko or knitting; gazing out over green water meadows, woodland and sumptuous home counties dwellings with gardens and lawns sweeping down to a river bank lined with skiffs, launches and “plastic” boats. A leisurely wave to passing walkers and weekend boaters. She's in her element. Standing for hours at the tiller cruising down a wide waterway every so often steering into a large lock chamber to hold a mooring rope belayed round a bollard while a cheery lock keeper pressed the buttons to do the business is not himself's idea of boating. Hence the broad grin on his face as the Kennet is reached and he steps onto the towpath, dog at his heels, windlass tucked in his belt to raise paddles, control water and apply his weight to balance beams. “It's all in the buttocks you know!”. The closeness of the surrounding countryside, the constant shifting of course to navigate bends and bridge holes, the sight of a jewelled kingfisher skimming over the water beside the boat, the interludes of physical activity in negotiating locks and swing bridges. “This is boating!”

Between Reading and Newbury the Kennet and Avon Canal is, strictly speaking, the Kennet Navigation. The fast flowing River Kennet having been made navigable in the 1720's by the construction of weirs and locks and the insertion of stretches of artificial canal where the river channel was not suitable for the passage of the wide-beam boats that would ply their trade down to the Thames and London. The waterway was noted for its large turf-sided locks, cheaper to build than a brick or stone lined lock. The bottom of the chamber lined with wooden shuttering and the upper part a sloping turf bank. With a good flow of water down river, even in summer, the greater volume of water they used was not the problem it would have been on an artificial canal. Two of these turf sided locks still exist at Garston Lock and Monkey Marsh Lock. In other places they have had chambers reconstructed with steel piling or brick lined chambers have been created. The result is that locks on this section only have gate paddles on the uphill gates to admit water rather than ground paddles..With ground paddles sluice gates are built into the lock wall above the gates admitting water through and underground culvert into the lock chamber and water enters the lock below the water surface pushing up under the boat. With a gate paddle a jet of water comes through the gate and pours down into the lock chamber until the lock is almost half full and the opening is covered by the ring water. They create much more turbulence and, without care, water can cascade into the front well deck swamp a boat.

At Reading we moor in the loop in the navigation next to the Abbey ruins and Reading gaol (famous as the place Oscar Wilde was incarcerated). “We like Reading,” it had been decided. A two day stay and a chance to replenish our stores. The sun shines. field maple, sycamore and horse chestnut are showing their autumn colours and the need for a quick burst of reverse to clear the prop of a bolus of fallen leaves are sure signs of the turn of the year. Yet this is some of the best weather we have had for some time. Overnight stops at Theale and Woolhampton and here we are in Newbury; another place “we like”. We are in “home” waters

A Year On

Well that's it. We've completed our first year as "Grey Nomads", as a friendly antipodean informed me the other day as we sat on opposing balance beams waiting for the lock to empty. A new tenant in the house signed up for 12 months and preliminary plans made for another season's cruising must mean, year two here we come. Herself, forever with an eye out for a bargain, is feeling very smug, having picked up three carpet offcuts in Stone for a bargain price and has re-carpeted the whole boat ready for the new season.

But once more we are getting ahead of ourselves. When last you heard we were about to face the ordeal of the Wigan flight. Wigan flight? Piece of cake, don't understand what all the fuss is about. Horrendous they may have been once, but to be honest we have had to work harder on the K&A. Paired with another boat and with our nephew to expand our crew we made a good passage as the first boats down that day. The BW lock-keeper was there to see us on our way and send some water down to fill a shallow pound (local lads swimming the previous evening messing with the paddles).

At Wigan our nephew took the train back home, taking Micah with him! Big dog was going on his holidays; herself having decided that to leave our son to cope with the boat and both dogs while we swanned off to Cornwall for our holiday would be too much. Yes we know we're permanently on holiday; but a change is as good as a rest.

On to the Bridgewater Canal and once we are are through to Manchester we are back onto water we cruised when we first bought into Scimitar, our shared ownership boat. That was 12 years ago.

An interesting stop at Worsley, the place where the Duke of Bridgewater built his canal to serve his mines, the start of the canal mania of the 18th century. Picture box scenes hard to reconcile with what at that time must have been a harsh industrial landscape. The works beside the canal now a public park. Only the base of the works chimney left, converted into a monument to the age. Through Preston Brook tunnel and a queue for Dutton Stop lock as we once more join the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Last time we passed this way the Anderton Boat Lift that transports boats from the T&M to the river Weaver below was a rusting hulk awaiting restoration; the visitor centre a converted transport container in the car park. Now this marvel of Victorian engineering is fully restored and operational with a modern visitor centre and museum. Cruising on to the Weaver held no attraction for us and so we travelled down on the trip boat rather than take Avon Rose down just to come straight back up again. Interesting how much housing has sprung up around the canal in the environs of Middlewich since last we were here. Also we had forgotten how pleasant this upper end of the T&M is.

Up "Heartbreak Hill" to the Harecastle tunnel and we have now completed the navigation of the entire length of the Trent and Mersey this year,albeit in two episodes. And are we glad we were not here a week before as we hear tales of 3 hour queues for locks. It seems the stoppage half way up the Shroppie because of a massive leak on an embankment has forced more traffic onto the T&M.

So we arrive at Stone, south of Stoke on Trent and the aforementioned acquisition of carpet, fitted during a pause for a week. We leave the T&M at Fradley Junction for the Coventry Canal and a steady and uneventful cruise to the Oxford canal and a rendezvous at Napton on the Hill with our son where we drive off,courtesy of Enterprise hire cars' for a week in Cornwall. Sun, sand, castles pasties and delightful company; a change is as good as a rest. Also the excuse for the long period since our last post to this blog.

We are now back on the Thames at Abingdon where Ed killing time. We have arranged winter moorings in Bath once more; December through to the end of February. British Waterways' winter maintenance programme has been published and we will have a leisurely cruise through to our temporary winter home, ensuring that we don't get stranded by the scheduled stoppages. But for now, there's boating to do.