Narrowboat Firecrest – Page 7 – Coddiwompling with Narrowboat Firecrest

Spitting distance

After sitting down last December and deciding to purchase a gold licence so we could spend the summer in East Anglia, we are on the final few days of our very protracted and frustrating journey, we set off with spring in the air and a spring in our step.

Only to have it clouded over by the time we reached Gayton Junction. We picked up some fuel from Blisworth Marina, (about 15pl cheaper than nearby marinas ) and off we set up the Northampton arm.

Gayton Junction going onto the Northampton Arm

Only 17 locks down

The first 12 are a flight so easy for Eric and I to work as a team, I set the lock, he cruises in, whilst I walk on to set the next one, by the time he’s let the water out I’m usually back in time to close up as he cruises on. And thankfully there’s only one lift bridge which is usually raised.

And as we were working our way down the flight, my adventurous Sister in Law was in South America ticking off her bucket list visiting the Iguaçu falls in Brazil, Lock 9 did its best to impress….

There’s some interesting art work along the 5 miles between Gayton Junction and Northampton

And the M1 motorway thunders overhead .

And another friend was visiting Chelsea Flower show as we made our way down the flight. Sometimes simple is just as good.

And we made it. Well almost, the heavens opened just as we reached Cotton End in Northampton, which is still on the canal, and under CRTs management and there were rings so we moored up. Our final, lock, Lock 17 is within spitting distance . Once the rain stopped we thought we would take a walk up to the Marina office and talk to the Enviroment Agency about river etiquette, buy ourselves the required access key, and prepare our anchor etc ready for the River Nene after a good nights sleep…..

This is a trip of 165 miles, 1½ furlongs and 137 locks from Macclesfield Visitor Moorings (Pontoons) to Northampton Lock No 17. And had we cruised for 7 hours a day (which admittedly we wouldn’t even contemplate let alone achieve) we could have done it in a fortnight. (Screenshot swiped from AC Canal plan)

A Creative Week in Weedon Bec

Heading south on the Grand Union Canal, below Whilton Marina

We had almost reached our summer destination; East Anglia, albeit a good 2 months later than we’d planned, so what would it matter if we dawdled in Weedon Bec for a week. Theres a lot of opportunity for creativity here, and I had friends close by, so with us bagging a mooring in full sun, ie good solar power, and no need to run the generator..

A misty morning but by 10am the sun was cracking the flags

…Eric took the opportunity to return home, to do some essential house maintenance, leaving me to play. There is a brilliant quilting shop in Weedon called the Bramble Patch. It stocks even more fabric than I have in my stash back home. Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, I bought myself a little pattern, some coordinated fabric to make a summer sunhat. This sewing machine rarely gets used on the boat, and even though it’s the tiniest of models I was debating whether or not it earnt its storage space. Its won a reprieve for now.

Weedon also has a creative hub housed in the Depot. The Depot was built during the Napoleonic war by George III to house the English ordinance, (gunpowder) in a more central location away from the south coast, in case Napoleon invaded.

Looking towards the clock tower at the Depot

Nowadays the historic warehouses, which have seen a variety of military use right up until the 1980s are home to antique warehouses, offices, classic car showrooms and bike showrooms, book stores and cafes.

We might live life in the slow lane, but I’ll always hanker after a sports car,

But my favourite is the Riverknits studio. Home to Becky and Marcus, who have created an artisan yarn brand, which they dye themselves. They regularly hold open days and knit and natters, and the week I was there there they hosted a mini yarn festival with a host of other independant yarnies. I met up with friends and we were in our element.

And yes I bought wool and a book.

Weedon Bec is a great place for a boats to stop. It’s simple and non fussy, but there’s 2 good convenience stores, a revolution outdoor laundrette, a variety of eateries, but sadly no dedicated boating facilities such and water, bins or fuel. But there’s plenty of mooring, and the neighbours are cute

Even Louie the sidecar dog in my header photo has his own website http://louiethesidecardog.com/

Some Perfect Spring Cruising

After my little jaunt away living the highlife, counting puffins Eric had moved Firecrest through Leicester and was waiting for me at Kilby Bridge. The weather was perfect and we were keen to be on our way.

Sometimes there’s no need for lengthy details as we watch the world go by

Sometimes the scenery and tranquility just speaks for itself as others just watch us go by, whilst we disappear into the tunnel

Sometimes quite a lot of people watching us go by, but what do you expect going up Foxton Locks on a sunny Sunday afternoon

Just so long as they evenings are peaceful

But its in the tunnels that you really hope you don’t meet anyone,

Mmmm that looks like 2 boats coming towards us, hope they move over. Crick tunnel is two way

But meeting a lockie on the Watford flight is always welcome.

The Watford flight would be very pleasant if it weren’t for the M1 thundering alongside the canal

And finally, Norton Junction. We’ve arrived at the point where our current Plan xxx route and our original plan A route rejoin, and we thought we’d have been here in March.

Fun Firsts and Firm Favourites

Whilst I was off on my puffin adventure with Amanda, I took advantage of being close to family and friends and ticked off a few “firsts” for me,

Always good to see my favourite daughter and her favourite chicken, (my favourite son wasn’t around for a photo) And to spend a day at one of my favourite places with my bestie,

Before heading to Amanda’s and my favourite furballs

Where she took me to see her favourite team, Posh

Yes Posh had just taken the lead with their 3rd goal of the match

Admittedly Peterborough United isn’t my favourite team, but as Amanda has a season ticket and I’d never been to a real live match before, I did enjoy the experience and I can understand why so many pay good money to stand in the cold for 90 minutes every Saturday. The atmosphere was buzzing and it was exciting to be part of the crowd. Completely off the scale compared to watching a match on the telly.
And whilst I was feeling sporty, Amanda is also a race horse owner. Admittedly only the whisker on his nose, as part of a syndicate, but never the less Lilkian was due to run and she had owners tickets so off we ran to Chelmsford for the race. Another first for me and good fun being wined and dined, and allowed to stand in the paddock to discuss tactics with the trainer and jockey…

but alas Lilkian came home last

Video

And then it was time for me to come home, to my favourite hubby and favourite narrowboat

and look what was waiting for me

Addendum to Iceland part 2, the main event

Today was the day we had been looking forward to for several months.

We were going to land on Skomer Island and go puffin hunting. Clad in our most waterproof clothes we set off on our 15 minute boat trip, determined to enjoy our day.

No sooner had we left the boat when the puffins were hopping up the stone steps with us. Posing for photos.

We were welcomed onto the island by the assistant warden, who told us it was a good day to see puffins because, unlike us, they enjoy a bit of wild weather. Our main instruction was to stick to the paths because most of the birds on the island live in burrows only a few inches under the ground, and whilst they didn’t want any twisted broken ankles, they really didn’t want any squashed puffins. It was roughly 4 miles to walk around the island,

Skomer had been inhabited by farming families up until 1950s. The earliest archeology dates back to the iron age and there was clearly some historical structures still standing.

Nowadays there’s a year round warden and seasonal researchers studying the wildlife. Most people visit the island on a day trip. The puffins are also just visiting, and make their annual visit between April and July. And we were treated to far more than just the puffins, the island was covered in beautiful bluebells and I imagine there will be more flowers and heathers throughout the season

And the scenery was spectacular

But it was the puffins we really wanted to see

There are roughly 40,000 puffins visiting Skomer each year and I think we saw most of them

We were given clear instructions to stick to the paths so we didn’t damage the puffins burrows, the puffins were free to wander, and we really did have to be careful not to tread on them.

It was fascinating to get so close to these comical little birds

It was build a nest day for the puffins so they were hopping around collecting bits of vegetation

We didn’t just see puffins, but guillemots as well,

I wasn’t going to risk getting any closer to check which bird they were

And razor bills, I think

One reason the birds thrive on skomer, is because there are no rats, we left the island very happy even though we felt like drowned rats at times.

some information sites we used for our trip

there is a live webcam for puffin watching on skomer.

some interesting facts about puffins

boat trips to skomer

Welsh wildlife Trust

Addendum to last years trip to Iceland, part one

After the disappointment last June when Amanda (my sister in law) and I had our whale and puffin watching excursion cancelled,

All togged up but our trip was cancelled at the very last minute

we promised ourselves we’d go to see some British puffins this year. And oh boy did we see puffins, we felt like mini David Attenboroughs.

And as we can see this little puffin is busy lining their nest with bracken

We booked ourselves an AirBnB in Milford Haven. Not your usual chocolate box seaside holiday destination, but actually there’s a very nice promenade overlooking the harbour that draws the eye away from the oil and gas refinery. Its all newly built and above the shops and fancy restaurants there’s some rather nice apartments.

The view from our appartment

We were all set for our trip to Skomer Island. We’d booked 2 trips, the first was a sunset cruise around the island. We togged up very well cause although the sun was shining, the wind was also competing for supremacy.

We were amazed by the number of puffins we saw both flying and bobbing around. My camera skills and equipment doesn’t quite make BBC standards for wildlife photography so you’ll just have to believe me that there were not hundreds, but thousands of these comical little birds, entertaining us, crash landing into the sea, cause they arent the most graceful fliers.

And we didn’t just see puffins, but many other seabirds as well, kitiwakes, manx shearwater, gannets, gulls, storm petrel, fulmar, guillemots and razorbills. Or at least according to our very informative guide we saw them all. We also saw a peregrine falcon, a blackbird and a Robin.

Puffins in the water and I think kitiwakes on the cliff

And we saw common grey seals and harbour porpoise

Apparently the week before there were over 200 seals on this beach

It was an exhilarating trip

We got what we wanted, we saw puffins the sunset and Wales

The next morning our beautiful view was somewhat obscured,

But it didn’t dampen our spirits because one of us had a birthday to celebrate

One thing we discovered, that as a tourist, the Pembrokeshire coast is heavily geared towards outdoor attraction (and quite rightly so) we drove over to St David’s and enjoyed the cathedral but the rain was coming down in barrel fulls and even exploring the little streets wasn’t much fun. Outdoor attractions need sunshine, cause despite there being lots of castles in the area, non of them still have a roof.

And of course as soon as we called it quits and trudged home for a nice meal in one of the fancy restaurants,

the sun came out and provided a bit of a sunset

And we went to bed looking forward to the night day tomorrow

Soaring into Leicestershire

So much for my good intentions suggesting we take the Leicestershire route, down the River Soar. I’d checked all the relevant websites and confirmed that the Soar was no longer in flood, but I had forgotten to check that short stretch of the River Trent between Derwent Mouth lock and Sawley marina, and yes you’ve guessed , we were still hovering on red and the flood gates were closed.

Luckily it only held us up by 2 days, and our friend Jo popped in to say hello whilst we were twiddling our thumbs. Jo has recently discovered the joys of drumming and took me to her group that meets in Nottingham.

And I’m happy to agree that it was a great way to spend an evening. But when the sun rose the next morning and CRT gave us the go-ahead we weren’t hanging around, we were off, hurtling through the swirly currents at a heady 6 mph, under the M1,

Where the Derwent River and the Trent cross paths

Throught the Sawley cut, waving to the Erewash canal and turning off before Nottingham’s cranfleet cut.

Make your mind up time, which way shall we go…

And onto the River Soar.

Turning right onto the Soar, cruising up stream, does that look a bit autumnal to you, have we missed summer?

We quite enjoy river cruising, its usually wide and has a sense of greater freedom, although we were glad to be off the strong currents.

We made it through to Loughborough, and who should we meet but Jo and her trusty windlass to help us through a lock.

We were making good progress so didn’t stay long, We wanted to moor up at Birstall,

Words fail me, not my idea of fun at all.

This is where Jo had moored in December, and why we don’t cruise rivers in the winter. But as she says, she had a whale of a time and lived to tell the tale. In the mean time we took advantage of that nice solid edge and the sunshine to do some spring cleaning.

Just in time to welcome another visitor, my friend Carol from back in the day when we were student nurses together

Having had an enjoyable day we got ready to cruise into Leicester but guess what Birstall Lock had problems,

It had been knocked off its hinges and although CRT said it was still operable with care, it took ages to empty and we had to enlist the help of 4 burly young men to help us open the gate to let us in. It didn’t take long to fill and we got through safely but not surprisingly the next day CRT changed its advise and closed it for a week until it was repaired.

But we’d made it to Leicester and within walking distance to the train station cause I was jumping ship for my next adventure

Anchor out, Life jackets on and into the flow and away we go

We weren’t wasting any time, and as soon as I’d got back from an obligatory trip to Coates Butchers we donned our life jackets and set off.

We got swept along the mile between Alrewas and Wychnor where the River Trent and the canal compete for supremacy.

It’s an interesting experience when you’re not used to a flow. But once you’re past the weir it’s time to enjoy the the view of St Leonards Church on the hill.

We weren’t the only ones keen to get going as we met an oncoming boat

I’d like to say the canal carries on peacefully but the A38 becomes the dominant feature as it runs parallel to the canal nearly all the way to Mercia marina.
And I don’t think these swans were bothered by the noise

And the lovely lambs weren’t that bothered either

We stopped off at Shobnall for some of the best value diesel on the cut, just under £1 a litre if you need over 50 l.
Then moored up at Willington enjoyed fish and chips for tea and called it a day.

I don’t believe it

I don’t believe it….. We finally get cruising, and ….. the memo comes through from CTR that there’s been a landslide and trees down ahead of us stopping navigation for at least 2 days. Not only that but the weather is perfect cruising weather.

We were sitting at the Fazeley Junction

Sitting at the junction, waiting to turn onto the Birmingham and Fazeley canal

Our options included staying put until we got the allclear, detouring through Aston and centre of Birmingham, or …. back tracking back to Fradley Junction, and carrying on along the Trent and Mersey then up the River Soar. Rightly or wrongly, we didn’t fancy sitting it out, or facing all the Aston locks with unknown mooring options, so we winded and back tracked.

We’ll do the Fazeley canal another time. As I’d just had another few days off the boat sorting out mum’s affairs, we were desperate to be cruising again, and my reward was seeing our first ducklings of the year.

I had an easy lock free day, and even when we turned right at Fradley the volunteers were ready and willing to help us through,

Then we got to Alrewas, such a pretty place,

Until you see this

It didn’t take us completely by surprise to see the red warning signs but we’d spoken to the lockies and we knew the river levels were falling. Much to the consternation of a holiday boater we went through the lock knowing we could moor up on the other side of the village and await our go ahead.

We walked along the towpath to see what awaited us

Sure enough, CRT came along and removed the padlocks giving us the all clear ride the rapids. Several boats were itching to go through ASAP, but we decided to wait until the morning.

I think those fields would be more suited to water buffalo than our cows

Thought for the day

Speed Boating

Speed boating, or Endurance boating, ….Well it felt like it for us. We rarely cruise for over 3 hours a day, but with so many delays both Eric and I were keen to push on. 5 or 6 hours cruising on a few days.

Back in mid December, a few days before the breach at Scholar’s Green halted our journey south, we treated ourselves to a Gold Licence intending to spend the season cruising the East Anglia waterways. 10 weeks later we finally broke free and sailed through to Kidsgrove.

10 and half weeks later I got the phone call to return home, but now 4 weeks later we’re finally on the move again. We dutifully checked our route maps and CanalPlanAC says 115 miles, 69 locks, 57 hours.. Kidsgrove to Northampton.
But no, there’s been a major landslide at Brinklow and our direct route is blocked until mid June. We’ll have to travel via Birmingham, 125 miles and 128 locks and 68 hours. That’s almost twice as many locks to do. (James if you’re reading this, be warned we’re coming via Hatton.)
But we all love locking, especially when the sun’s shining, and we’ve already done 23.

Approaching one of our 128, somewhere below Stoke

We got very lucky with the Easter Bank Holiday weather, and we had some perfect cruising weather from Stoke. Even the occassional heavy showers ended with a rainbow

No one offered to swim across to find the pot of gold

We were surprised at how quiet the canal was, despite it being the start of the hire season and a 4 day weekend,

Dead quiet, This person obviously spent too long on their mobile

Perhaps the wild swan at Weston had seen everyone off. We’ve cruised this way a couple of times and for the past few years, this territorial swan has chased us off his patch, pecking at the boat. This time we were brave enough to moor overnight in Weston and saw him attack several trespassers.

The much nicer Swan at Fradley was doing a roaring trade and has provided a photo fit for next years self print calender

Leaving the Trent and Mersey at Fradley junction, and joining the Coventry canal

What Eric hauled up from the prop wasn’t quite so pretty,

It could have been worse, only a rope fender this time

And talking of pretty

We had a rained off day, so we caught the bus into Lichfield to have a wander around. The weather didn’t make for good photos, but we did both enjoy our mooch. It’s quite a historic place, in the 7th century, Chad established his Bishopric, and it became the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. Unfortunately the famous 3 spired cathedral was wearing scaffolding so not looking its best.

One of Lichfields other claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, who complied the first English Dictionary

But whilst I might enjoy words, not a lot beats sunrise on your own boat.