STUNNING SHEFFIELD.

 

Cruising the Cut

Well you can get into Sheffield by boat but we went by train. The route to Sheffield is up the Trent from West Stockwith to Keadby lock and the sliding Vazon railway bridge, onto the South Yorkshire navigation, and down Tinsley lock flight (made famous by that fantastic film The Full Monty), and you eventually arrive at Victoria Quay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Full_Monty

We have done this trip once before, but a number of obstacles stood in our way, the lock at Keadby was closed for the week, the sliding railway bridge is only being opened when the temperature is below 16 degrees, and we know how hot the last week has been, there are low water problems on the Tinsley flight, and you have to book these is advance.

So the simple solution was to catch the train from Retford, at £18 return for both of us it was a bargain.

But back to our time at Ranby, the moorings were good, if a little noisy with road noise from the A1. We had arranged with my kids to visit a local micro brewery, The Ticking Clock at Shireoaks. We had intended to moor at Shireoaks and make our own way to the brewery, but as we had decided it wasn’t safe for us to go through the 2 dodgy locks before Worksop, we couldn’t get to Shireoaks. So my daughter Jess and Hubby Stuart agreed to pick us up from the pub. It was a bit of a squash in the car with Lowen in her car seat, but it was only a short journey. We met my son Adam and wife Julie there with Dylan. We didn’t just go for the beer, surprising for us I know, but for dinner as well. My son has a friend who runs a mobile pizza van called Pizzolu, and he was serving at the brewery that day. The pizza were amazing, as was the beer, and the 2 grand kids had a great time. The brewery had a selection of kiddy games, and I think they tried everyone. It was a great afternoon, but very tiring. 2 toddlers have so much energy.

https://www.tickingclockbrewing.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556032576246

Dylan and Lowen

So next day was a gentle cruise and moorings in the middle of nowhere. One thing I must mention about many of the mooring spots on the Chesterfield, they look great, but its so shallow you simply cannot get to the side. Even our spot for the night, which is an official visitor mooring, wasn’t the best, and we had to go half way past the start of the mooring before we could get anywhere near. But we had a much needed peaceful night.

Next day and back to Retford, mooring outside Aldi once again.

What I forgot to mention in the last blog, were the 3 very short aqueducts we crossed as we left and entered Retford. Aqueducts are used to transport the canal over things like rivers, roads and railways. The best known of course is the Pontcysyllte on the Llangollen canal. (and yes I did have to look up how to spell it). The Aqueducts at Retford are only about 50ft long, but come one right after the other.

Wednesday was our day in Sheffield, the railway station in Retford was about a 15min walk from our moorings, the train was on time and we were soon whizzing along through the Nottingham countryside and into South Yorkshire.

At the railway station in Sheffield we were greeted by a fantastic water feature, it really made us feel welcome to the city, and on a hot day it made things feel cooler. We were heading to the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, but it took us some time as there was so much else to see on the way. We used the Millennium gallery escalator to avoid walking up the hill in the heat, called in to look at a John Ruskin exhibition, and then discovered the Winter Gardens, I had seen this name and assumed it was a theatre of some kind, but no it was an actual tropical garden in the centre of the city, what a find. As we continued our walk to the Cathedral we passed through the cities Peace Gardens by the splendid town hall.

Sheffield Railway Station

The Winter Gardens

Our eventual destination the Cathedral did not disappoint either, I don’t think I have ever been in a church with such a mixture of styles, parts date back to the 13C, and then others are as new as 1966.

It was so interesting and we spent a while looking round. It also has connections to one of my favourite historical figures Bess of Hardwick, the founder of Chatsworth house and Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, and the most powerful woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Cathedral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bess_of_Hardwick

After one Cathedral we decided to check the other one out. St Maries Roman Catholic Cathedral.

This didn’t disappoint either, a beautiful building with a stunning interior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_St_Marie,_Sheffield

By this time we were ready for a pint and headed to the Two and Six micropub. The walk took us past the picture of a Steelworker on the side of a building, commissioned by the council in 1980’s, it uses bricks to make a mosaic picture to commemorate the cities steel industry.

We finished the afternoon with a wonderful Vietnamese meal at Pho. A great day out and a city I would recommend visiting anyway you can.

https://www.phocafe.co.uk/locations/sheffield/

Back to the boat and we left Retford next day, it was still slow going on the canal, due to weed and shallowness of the water, but the water is so clear that it gave me the chance to do loads of fish watching. I can’t name the fish I saw, but they varied in size from tiny minnows at less the an inch, up to big daddies at over a foot. I did spot a couple of Zander, these pike like fish are an invasive species introduced into UK waters in the 1800’s.

At the wonderfully named Whitsunday Pie Lock I met a friendly group of Gongoozlers, and had a lovely chat, passing the time whilst waiting for the lock, and they helped out too. Many thanks to them.

We have also seen plenty of beautiful butterflies, including Red Admirals, Peacocks and plenty of Cabbage Whites.

Peacock Butterfly

We stopped at the Boat Inn at Hayton for the night, there are mooring for one boat on the off side by the pub. Of course we had a walk and tried the beer. Run by a friendly Romanian couple the beer was great, Hawkstone Black for a very happy Captain, and a decent lager for me. The food menu was interesting, and they do nightly specials, including on a Thursday night 2 ribeye steaks for £26. The barmaid was very friendly and we had a great chat with her.

https://theboatinnhayton.com/

After another night in the middle of nowhere, we headed back to West Stockwith for the weekend and a pump out, but we didn’t quite make it and decided to stop at Misterton for the night, we needed milk and there is a Coop in the village, and a pub, the Red Hart, of course we gave it a go. It was quiet for a Saturday afternoon, but I think everyone was saving their energy for the footy, England v Norway for a place in the semi finals, which start at 10pm.

We watched it on the boat and we won, YIPPEE!!

Our plans are still fluid, but we have decided not to go through Keadby lock, it is open, but the language of the notification of this suggested they may have to close it again for more repairs, and we don’t want to risk getting stuck oop norf.

So we will be heading south. The Captain had booked us to go out of West Stockwith on Monday, and is taking me out for Sunday lunch at the White Hart. Happy times.

36 miles, 2 canals, 1 river, 13 locks and 1 tunnel 154yrds long and 3 aqueducts I forgot about last time.

NORMAL SERVICE HAS RESUMED.

 

The Chesterfield Canal.

At last.

We had to be up reasonably early on Monday, the Lock Keeper said we would hopefully be going out onto the river at 7.45am, a bit early for us, but we were up and ready in plenty of time.

Of course nothing goes to plan and our departure time was pushed back to 9am. The lock keeper has to wait for there to be enough water to get us over the lock cill, and this took more time than expected.

It was great to be back on the wide river. The trip would take us between 3 and 4hrs depending on how fast the tide was running, and how much the Captain decided to push the engine. We also had to liaise with the lock keeper at West Stockwith, again to ensure there was enough water to allow us to enter the lock and join the Chesterfield canal.

It was agreed that when we reached Gainsborough we would assess the lock situation, as there are pontoons which we could stay on if we had to wait until the next day for the right conditions.

The news was good, and the lock would be ready for us when we got to West Stockwith, this was also good as the pontoons at Gainsborough were full.

Now West Stockwith lock is notoriously difficult to enter without hitting the right hand wall. This is because the tide is still running quite fast, and you have to turn sideways on in the flow which pushed you towards the wall, if you time it just right you leave the flowing water before you hit the wall, allowing you to power into the lock. Its not easy. And we didn’t make and hit the wall with a thud, thing rattled but no damage was done.

West Stockwith Lock

Once up the lock the Lock Keeper directed us to a good mooring, and then imparted some bad news. It came in 2 parts, one we knew about, West Stockwith lock was closing for 5 days from the 6^th of July, which meant we would have to be on the canal for 2 weeks, not a huge problem. The other news however made us change our plans once again. We had intended to go all the way to the end of the canal, but now found out that 2 lock before Worksop, which is about half way, were only open at certain time with assisted passage due to leaking, and may close at any time if the situation deteriorated. If we went past these lock and they closed them then before we returned, we would be stuck on the canal for an unknown amount of time. After discussing it we decided to go as far as Ranby, just taking our time.

We just don’t seem to be able to catch a break this year.

The first night and we headed off to the pub, of course, The White Hart. It has its own brewery The Idle brewery, which is named after the Idle river which runs at the side of the pub. Of course they had a stout on so the Captain was a very happy bunny. We did get chatting to a very friendly local and had a great time.

https://thewhitehartinn.site/

We set off next morning and had 4 double locks and a short tunnel to do, before mooring up at Clayworth. We were joined at the first 2 locks by NB Mithril, he was single handing with 2 very noisy dogs, so I locked both boats through. He was making his way back to his moorings at Retford but stopped at Misterton to go to the butchers there. So we went on alone. The canal is very shallow and weedy so it was slow going. It did give us time to take in the magnificent views of North Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The water was very clear, with plenty of fish of all different sizes. And we watched on aerobatic tern catching fish for his dinner at the back of the boat.

Common Tern

We eventually made it to Clayworth and found a decent mooring spot. Last time we were here we visited the boat club bar which was very cheap, but unfortunately it only opens at weekends, so we headed off to the local pub, The Brewers Arms. A friendly village pub, and of course we got chatting with some of the locals again.

https://brewersarmsclayworth.co.uk/

Our next stop was Retford, and we desperately needed a big shop, luckily there is an Aldi right next to the canal. We only had 1 lock to do, and that had the unusual name of Whitsunday Pie Lock. Legend says it was given this name when a local lady living by the lock, baked a pie on Whitsunday for the navvies working on the canal. A lovely story.

The visitors moorings in Retford are right by Aldi and there is a path right onto the towpath. We did a huge heavy shop and managed to wheel the trolley right to the side of the boat. There is also a Lidl and Asda within 10mins of the canal too.

I checked my blog from our previous visit 8yrs ago, and much to my surprise because neither of us could remember much about the town, it said we loved it and had tried 4 pubs. 1 Wetherspoons and 3 micropubs. We looked forward to exploring the town again. But more important we needed to find a pub to watch the England v Congo DR match. I have already mentioned the Idle brewery, and they have a tap in the town which was showing the match (thanks Facebook) and the tap was opposite Aldi, so off we set and found decent seats. The pub slowly filled up and it was a tense match but we won, eventually.

https://www.facebook.com/Idlevalleytap2017/?locale=en_GB

We spent a second day in Retford, and were very pleased we did, as it was a very very windy day. We tried a couple of the pubs, The Brew Shed and Beer under the Clock which had been called Beer Headz previously.

https://www.facebook.com/BeerUnderTheClock/?locale=en_GB

Beer Under the Clock

Next day and more locks, but now they were single locks, much easier to do. At the first 2 we had an audience, and I explained that the name for people who watch narrowboats is a Gongoozler to a gentleman who found it very funny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongoozler

The canal became very rural after the first 2 locks, again it was very shallow and weedy making it hard going. We had hoped to moor before Ranby for the night, but it was impossible to get to the side, so we just had to keep going. We knew we could moor outside the pub, The Chequers, and a helpful boater told us there were good moorings outside the village hall to. This is were we ended up. The Captain had truly had enough, and I am quite pleased we are not doing to whole length of the canal if this is how it was going to be. We did head to to pub, a friendly gastro pub with excellent reviews for their food, and they had a stout on for the Captain which cheered him up no end.

https://www.thechequersatranby.co.uk/

So we are stopping in Ranby until Monday and meeting up with my kids whilst here, but that’s for next time.

36 miles, 2 canals, 1 river, 13 locks and 1 tunnel 154yrds long

And the engine ran great. YIPPEE !!!!!

WHAT A NIGHTMARE,

 

The Glory Hole Lincoln

And that’s exactly what these last 3 weeks have been and the extreme heat hasn't helped.

I had written a blog about our time in Lincoln and what we did, but due to the stress caused by the engine problem I couldn’t find the energy to post it, so I have decided to tell you about our experience with the engineer.

At the end of the last blog the weekend had come and gone with out hearing anything from the guy. The Captain messaged him on the Saturday asking if there was any update but we heard nothing. What I didn’t mention in the last blog, is that he left us with the belief any parts we required would be on next day delivery, so that shouldn’t hold up the repair.

It turned out this wasn’t the case. On the Monday the Captain gave him until lunchtime before calling him, no answer, but we got a text saying he would call us back. When he did he went through what he had done and the results. He then offered to send us an estimate which we politely declined, so as not to add any further delay, instructing him to just get on and do the work. He said fine, and hopefully when the parts arrive he would be back to fit the engine on Friday.

We heard nothing on Tuesday or Wednesday, but got a message on the Thursday saying he was till waiting for the parts to come from Holland, this was the first we had heard about were the parts were coming from, it did not make us very happy, as you can imagine.

The Captain went to Chorley for his daughters birthday for the weekend, whilst I stayed with the boat. This helped with the toilet situation, which I will come to in a moment.

So we heard nothing over the weekend again.

Monday and things were starting to look more serious, our toilet only lasts 14 days normally and Tuesday was the 14^th day. We still had no idea if the parts had arrived, or when we would be mobile again.

The engineer did message us to ask for the Captains details so he could send us an estimate, but said the parts had still not arrived, and then dropped the bombshell that he would be out of the country from Thursday for 4/5 days. The Captain, completely pissed off at this point, sent a strongly worded message back explaining about the toilet situation, and how ‘unprofessional’ he had been in dealing with us.

He did not like this one bit, and called straight away ranting for a good few minutes before letting the Captain get a word in edgeways. When he calmed down he explained that the parts had to come from Holland, and there had been some sort of hold up, which was out of his control. That was fair enough, the problem lay in his lack of communicating this to us earlier. We would have understood if only he had been upfront with us before this point.

Good news came later, he had spoken with his supplier and the parts were there and he should receive them next day, if they came early enough he would come that day, if not it would definitely be the Wednesday, this was great news, and the toilet would last another couple of days helped by the Captain being away over the weekend. Tuesday came and went, , but we weren’t to worried. Wednesday and the Captain messaged him to find out what time he was coming. He came back, saying he was still waiting for parts which were due late in the afternoon, and if they came earlier enough he would come over then and put our engine back together. Good news he had got his dates mixed up and wasn’t going away until the Friday, so he would definitely do the job on the Thursday. Which he did, he came promptly at 9am and the engine was back up and running by lunchtime.

I cant complain about his engineering skills but his communication with his customers needs a lot of work.

Before I go onto the final part of this saga, as it didn’t finish there, I must talk about how much we rely on our engine. Obviously without it we can’t move, which means we can’t get water, our tank last about 5/6days, we cant empty our toilet using a pump out machine, and we can’’t abide by the mooring rule that you can only stay in 1 place for 14days, maximum.

The problem with water we solved by buying 2x15ltr containers and saving 4x2ltr water bottles. There was a water point with in walking distance of were we were moored, using our trusty granny trolleys we made a number of trip to keep our tank topped up.

The toilet was more of an issue, the Captain, of course came up with a solution, he bought a 12volt macerating pump and fitted it with 2 hoses, one to go into the tank and the other into a 25ltr container we luckily had. We would then take this to an elsan point and empty it like you would a normal cassette. A smelly job which luckily we didn’t have to do (this time).

The mooring situation was solved on line, the Captain applied for an extension explaining the situation and we were grant 2 more weeks.

The only thing we didn’t have to worry about, which some boats do, electricity, many boats run their engines to charge their batteries which then run things like lights, water pumps and anything else that needs power. We have such a great solar and battery system we didn’t have to worry about this at all. All down to the amazing Captain.

Now back to the rest of the saga. The engineer left us with a working engine so we could move, which was great, as the most pressing matter was empting the toilet, the pump out machine at Lincoln was out of order, the next one was at Burton Waters marina, and then there was one at Torksey.

We did stop at the services at Lincoln to fill up with water. The Captain checked the toilet and decided it would last until the next day, so we headed for Saxilby passing Burton Waters on the way.

After about 45mins we realised that all the work that had been done on the engine hadn’t actually solved the problem, and the water was still filling the overflow bottle and we were losing water. We limped to Saxilby and moored up. This day couldn’t get any worse, oh yes it could a notification from CRT came through the pump out machine at Torksey was broken. I don’t think I have heard so many ‘f’ words from the Captain ever but I couldn’t blame him.

We still needed a pump out, so next day the Captain sealed up the outlet pipe on the overflow bottle, so we didn’t loose any water from there, we managed to winded at Saxilby and headed to Burton Waters at a steady pace. We got a pump out and went back to Saxilby. That was one thing off our mind.

The Captain had been giving our engine problem some deep thought and came up with what he thought was a solution, I can’t explain what it was as I don’t really understand what he did, but it worked.

He tinkered with the engine and decided we should cruise down to Torksey using normal revs, and assess the outcome when we got there. The engine ran perfectly, the water in the overflow bottle didn’t come up more than it should, and we lost no water. He was a very very happy bunny and so was I.

We had had a serious conversation earlier in the day about our plans going forward, and I had expressed doubts about staying on the Trent, and going up and onto the Chesterfield canal with an engine we weren’t completely happy with. I didn’t want to be stuck on a rural canal (which the Chesterfield is) with a dodgy engine, and the only way back onto the main system down a tidal river.

I suggested heading back the way we had come, and maybe doing the Trent and Mersey canal and the Caldon canal. This would put us in a more accessible area for things such as boatyards, water and pump out facilities.

After a perfect run from Saxilby to Torksey the decision was made that the engine was ok to do the trip to West Stockworth and onto the Chesterfield canal.

And that’s all folks, we are moored on the visitors moorings at Torksey and going out on to the Trent tomorrow Monday.

A WAITING GAME.

 

What can I say! that’s just what the last few days have been about, waiting for Darren to come out and hopefully tell us what’s wrong.

But for me it’s also been quite a stressful time, as my debit card stopped working, and I didn’t know why.

Lets go back to Friday, we didn’t do a lot, but on Saturday we decided to have a walk round the shops in the afternoon, I picked up some lovely lamb shanks from a great butchers called F Pepperdine and Son, only a short walk from the boat.

https://www.cornhillquarter.co.uk/shop/pepperdine-butchers/

I got some money out of a ATM (good thing I did), we walked round the little market before heading up the hill to the Cardinals Hat. I paid for the first round by tapping my card as you do, but when I gave it to the Captain to pay for another, he came back and said it asked for my pin number, and he doesn’t know it so he paid. Then I tried it at Tesco to buy a bottle of wine and it came up with a very strange message ‘unsupported card not accepted’

Very strange. So the Captain paid again.

I wasn’t too worried at this point, just assumed it was a problem with Tesco’s card machine.

Next day and we decided to climb Steep Hill, and visit the castle and cathedral. Steep Hill as the name suggests is very steep, but we seemed to make it to the top with ease. We did stop off at the Captain favourite shop in Lincoln, J Birkett, an electrical equipment supplier, basically a shop full of old aircraft dials and parts. It was open, which I think is a first for us, so we had to have a mooch round.

https://www.visitlincoln.com/listing/j-birkett/96973101/

What it says on the tin

At the top there was a small flea market going on, but we couldn’t get into the castle as there was some sort of an event going on. We did find the oldest Roman arch which traffic can still drive through called Newport Arch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_Arch

Newport Arch

We walked round the cathedral and were able to see the resident peregrine falcons and their chicks. The RSBP had 2 viewing points set up with scopes that you could look through, and very helpful volunteers to answer your questions. We did managed to see the chicks which were exercising their wings in preparation for fledging. The adults were more elusive.

https://lincolncathedral.com/peregrines/

It was an enjoyable walk round, and to make it better we found an Organ Grinder micro pub belonging to Blue Monkey Brewery. The Captain was very happy to find Cinder Toffee Stout, and Chocolate Coconut Mild on. He had a pint of each. And then we walked back down Steep Hill and straight into the Cardinals Hat.

There was a HSBC on the way back to the boat, so I decided to try my card in the ATM, as this is the bank I am with. But it didn’t even let me put my pin in, just came up with ‘card not recognised unable to proceed’. Now I was worried.

So I was up early next morning and headed straight to the bank. They were so helpful, and soon put my mind at ease, there was nothing wrong with my account, but it appeared for some unknown reason my card had stopped working. So they ordered me a new one Now this is one of the drawbacks of living on a boat, all our important post goes to my sisters address back in Derbyshire, and then we pick it up when we see her. So I don’t know when I will actually get my new card. I will just have to use cash for a while. The lady at the bank did say to keep trying my card, but I am pretty sure its a lost cause.

Monday was a wet day so we did nothing.

Tuesday was busy, we desperately needed to do a big shop, so a plan was formed to head to Lidl on Dixon Street, it was a bus ride away, and a Uber back. But we got everything we needed. The second job of the day was to fill with water, get rid of rubbish and pump out the toilet. Doing all this would mean if Darren had to dismantle the engine, we would be ok for water for a week and 2 weeks for the toilet, which gave us peace of mind.

Darren turned up promptly on Wednesday morning, and after testing the engine he could see there was a problem, but was unsure of exactly what it was, so it was decided it had to come apart and be fixed to be completely sure that the issue was solved.

When he took the head off we could see there was a problem with the head gasket, some parts of it had rusted, which meant it wasn’t sealing completely. This allowed exhaust gases to escape into the water, which over pressurised the system. He took everything away, so now we were without an engine.

Thursday was very wet, which was a shame, as there was a parade celebrating RAF Waddington being given the freedom of the city. We would have loved to go, but it was to wet. The Red Arrows were meant to do a flypast, but this was also cancelled due to the weather.

It did eventually dry up and we took a walk to the pub, it was busy. We had just got our second pint when a family of 3 asked if they could sit with us. We got chatting, they were on their way to see the band OMD at the castle, this is what we had seen being set up on Sunday. We had a lovely time talking to them, we even had a third pint. I don’t know if I could go to one of these concerts as it is standing only, your not allowed to take chairs in, drinks or food. Standing for a couple of hours does not sound fun to me. And after all the rain you couldn’t really sit on the ground either. But I bet OMD were great.

The weather seemed to be picking up over the next few days, which was good news, and as we walked back to the boat, we saw a poster advertising free recitals at St Swithins church the following day, so we decided to give it a try. We went to the organ recital, and it was ok, the compositions maybe not really our style of organ music, but it was interesting to hear the stories behind the music and who composed them.

It did take our minds off the fact we had not heard anything from Darren, even though we had been promised an estimate and update before the weekend.

Saturday was very quiet and we didn’t go anywhere, a day off from the pub as well, strange for us I know.

Sunday and I was going stir crazy. As it was a nice day we decided to tackle Steep Hill again and head to the Museum of Lincolnshire life. After a steady walk up the big hill we found yet another concert at the castle, this time McFly, one of my favourite bands. It was about 2.30pm and people were already queuing, even though the concert didn’t start until 6pm.

We found the museum, which is free to get in, and spent a very happy couple of hours looking round. They had 2 traction engines on display among their collection. For those of you that don,t know, I love traction engines. Silvie was a small tractor unit used to run threshing machines on farms until the 1940’s. John was a large Fowler engine used for ploughing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Lincolnshire_Life

Lincolnshire had many companies producing engines, including Clayton and Shuttleworth, and Ruston and Hornsby. We are actually moored opposite the Clayton and Shuttleworth works at Stamp End.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_%26_Shuttleworth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruston_%26_Hornsby

Sylvie and the Threshing Machine

We called and had a pint in the Organ Grinder, walked down the hill and into the Cardinals Hat, just for one and then home for tea.

WORRYING TIMES

 

Captain in the hot seat

The river Witham is not as wide as the Trent and it is very straight,, which meant I quite enjoyed taking my turn at steering. When not steering I was taking in the beautiful scenery, bird life and insects. There were big dragonflies, little bright blue darters and Banded Demoiselle, with all types of butterfly and bees taking advantage of the flowers on the boat. If the Trent was the home of the little Egret, the Eygptian goose took that title on the Witham. We had Swallows, Sandmartins and common Terns performing acrobatics round the boat. We saw our first Great Crested Grebes on this trip, but the kingfisher remained elusive. But we heard loads more Cuckoo’s

Banded Demoiselle

Now on to the title. When we set off from Boston everything seemed normal, the Captain did his usual checks and topped the water up in the engine. We soon realised that the engine appeared to be over heating, as the header bottle, which normally only contains a little water, was filling up and water was coming out of the overflow pipe. We stopped at Lankridge moorings and the Captain checked the engine, but couldn’t see any obvious problems apart from a badly leaking stern gland. The Captain replaced the seals in the gland, topped the water up and off we went again. The same thing happened and the header bottle filled with water, it was very worrying but we made it to Dog Dyke for the night. The Captain mused over what could be the cause but couldn’t narrow it down, it could be the water pump, the heat exchange, or worse case the head gasket. There was no real way of knowing. Our other problem was we needed to get to Lincoln in a couple of days for a pump out.

To lighten the mood (only slightly) we had both a Spitfire and Hurricane flying over the boat.

Spitfire and Hurricane

After a fitful night we were woken by the Typhoon’s taking off for the days flying.

It was decided we would hop from visitor mooring to visitor mooring, this would ensure the engine didn’t lose to much water, and we could let it cool down and top it up as necessary. Our aim was Bardney for the night, it took longer what with stopping and not putting to much strain on the engine, but we made it. To cheer us up we spotted a Kingfisher just sitting on a branch as we cruised by.

We didn’t go to the pub, it was just to much effort. Our trip from Bardney to Lincoln was a rinse and repeat of the day before. However the Captain decided to see if pressurising the system would help with the water loss. He managed to stop up the overflow pipe with a drill wrapped with a rubber tape. It did seem to work, the header bottle was full, but we weren’t losing water and the engine wasn’t over heating. But we still took it steady. I was so happy to see Lincoln guillotine lock, and we moored in the same place as before, then headed to the pub, The Cardinals Hat of course. The Captain was very happy with a traditional Victorian Mild called Thunder Rat from Ossett brewery.

https://untappd.com/b/ossett-brewery-thunder-rat/6700839

But he wasn’t happy that we had found the underlying problem with the engine, and ordered a kit to try and check to see if the head gasket has gone to rule that out.

On our way back from the pub we stopped at the Guildhall, there had been a talk on and I wondered what it was about, we got talking to the gentleman, Chris, who was overseeing the event, and he told us if we were interested, the next day at 2pm there was a free guided tour of the Guildhall. Sounded fascinating and we decided to give it ago.Before we headed to the tour the toilet still needed pumping out, the pump out machine was the other side of Brayford Pools, so we made the short journey there and back before lunch.

The tour was amazing, Andrew our guide, was great and full of knowledge about Lincoln’s history, as well as the Guildhall itself. It was 2 hours well spent.

https://www.lincolnguildhall.com/

Lincoln Guildhall Treasures

Then off to the pub, yes the Cardinal Hat of course. Mena Dhu a Cornish stout for the Captain today.

https://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/our-beers/mena-dhu

Back at the boat we were lucky to spot the wonderful Red Arrows as they flew above the boat.

RAF Red Arrows

The kit to check the head gasket was due the next day, so it was the day of reckoning.

We picked up the kit and did a bit of shopping. I wasn’t feeling great, (stress and maybe a little to much beer) so we decided to get lunch at the Greek Brothers cafe. It was really tasty and helped with my mood.

https://thegreekbrotherslincoln.com/

The Captain used the kit, and the result was not what we wanted. It definitely looked like there was a problem with the head gasket. So on to Facebook to ask the hive mind for recommendations for a reliable marine mechanic. A couple of names were put forward, and the Captain contacted them both. The first gentleman was in Coalville Leicestershire and couldn’t get to us until the end of June, but suggested it would be easier if we could move the boat back to Trent Lock. We did consider this, however the second gentleman, Darren Crouch, was in Boston, a little closer but was able to get to us the next week.

https://www.dhcrouchmarineltd.uk/

The Captain thought that this would be the best option.

But first he decided to do a little experiment. He filled the water to and measured it exactly, then we took the boat for a 3hr trip using the revs we would usually use on the river, about 1500rpm. The water came up in the header bottle but the engine didn’t overheat and it was a pleasant trip. We moored again in the same place and headed to the pub. He couldn’t check the water level until the next day when the engine had cooled down.

This little experiment didn’t end the way we hoped, and created more questions than answers. The water in the header bottle should have flowed back into the engine as it cooled, but it didn’t Don’t ask me why or the Captain, he couldn’t explain it either, but he didn’t think it was a good thing. The cooling system had remain pressurised which it really shouldn’t have done. But we didn’t lose any water. You couldn’t make this up.

He relayed this information to Darren the engineer in Boston, and organised for him to come out to the boat the following Wednesday.

But it was only Friday so this meant we had a few days to kill.

There are worse places to be stuck to be honest, but we just wanted to be on the move.

32 miles 2 locks 1 River and 1 canal.

MESSING ABOUT ON THE RIVER.

The Boston Stump

And what a lovely way to spend time when the sun is out and the skies are blue.

We joined the river Witham at Lincoln. The lock is unusual, as it is a guillotine lock, this means the top gate rises rather than opening like a door. Luckily this end of the lock is electrically operated, and all I had to do was insert my BW key and press the button. The bottom gates are traditional lock gates, which are operated manually. They were surprisingly easy to open, the beams were huge and looked really heavy.

Guillotine Lock

Soon we were out of the lock and on our way. The river Witham is not as wide as the Trent but is extremely pretty and peaceful. We were heading to Bardney for the night.

The visitors mooring are all pontoons on the river, and usually situated near a village or a pub. Bardney has both. It’s village with a couple of shops, a butchers and a pub, The Old Angel Inn.

We got there around lunchtime and relaxed for the afternoon. The moorings in Lincoln had been very noisy as we had a road either side of us, one of which lead to the main refuse truck depot, so with had bin lorries coming and going at all hours.

It was lovely to sit and just hear the birds and the noise of the water against the side of the boat. We took a walk into Bardney thinking we hadn’t visited before, which turned out to be wrong when I checked back through the blogs. We had been before and visited the church and both pubs, one of which is now closed, so sad, but the angel is still open, and we headed in for a pint. Nothing dark on for the Captain, so he made do with Cruzcampo. The pub has a real community feel about it, so hopefully this will help it survive these terrible time for our hospitality industry.

https://oldangelinnbardney.com/

After a pint we did a little shopping at the Coop.

Next morning I lay in bed relishing in the peace, and heard my first cuckoo for a long long time. There was no road noise at all which made a nice change.

Cuckoo

We left Bardney and headed for Dogdyke. A place we know we have visited before, and loved due to its closeness to RAF Coningsby, the home of the Battle of Britain flight, as well as one of my favourite aircraft the Typhoon, also known as the Eurofighter. These planes make the most amazing noise when they take off and accelerate up into the sky, and I just love to hear them. There is also a pub, The Packet Inn.

We moored up and listened and watched the Typhoons doing their stuff, according to Google the pub was open so we took a walk to it about 4.30pm, only to discover they didn’t open until 6. We decided rather than return to the boat, we would sit on the patio and watch the river as the sun was out. It came as a surprise to the landlady, who spotted our legs, and came out to see what was occurring. Although she didn’t open the pub, she did offer to get us a pint whilst we waited, very kind of her. And there was even Murphys stout on for the Captain. We sat outside and were joined by a couple of fellas and their kids a little later. They were both in the forces and stationed nearby, so had a lot in common with the Captain. When the pub opened we went in and had another pint before heading back for tea.

Eurofighter

I heard my second cuckoo next morning.

Although the weather has been warm, it has also been windy and gusting. This caused a few problems next day. It was the last hop into Boston, and the Captain decided we would top up with fuel at Langrick boatyard, as the price was good at £1.49 a litre. Getting onto their service pontoon wasn’t a problem as the wind was in our favour, but when it came time to set off, we couldn’t get away from it as the wind kept pushing us back on, you wouldn’t think that wind would affect a 16 ton boat so much, but oh boy does it. The Captain used all his skills and tricks and eventually we were off.

The visitor moorings at Boston are not easy to pick out, as it is a mixture of visitor and long term without a discernable boundary. A lady was messing about on her boat so we asked her and she pointed us to the right place.

Our problems with the wind really hit this time, the moorings are what are known as finger pontoon moorings, which meant we had to back onto them leaving the nose of the boat sticking out. The wind blew us this way and that. The Captain got the back end in and I jumped off with a rope, then the wind just took the front end and I just couldn’t pull it back in. Following the Captains instructions, I wound the rope round the first bollard and hung on for dear life, whilst he put full power and used the front edge of the pontoon to pivot on and bring the boat back in line. The engine smoked and eventually we were in.

After another hot day we walked into Boston and a pint in the Wetherspoons, The Moon Under Water. They had Adnams Broadside on for the Captain and he treated me to a curry for tea.

We were staying in Boston for a couple of days, its about a 15min walk into the town centre, and we decided that on the first day we would do a big shop at Lidl, walking there (17min) and a taxi back. We were joined on the pontoons firstly by NB Easy Gill, and then by NB Maudette. Had a chat with both boats Captains and crew. Easy Gill was heading out onto the Wash into the North sea, yes the actual sea, to Kings Lynn and the Mid Levels. An interesting trip and not for the faint hearted, the Captain said we will do it one day, will we indeed????

After a quiet afternoon we took a walk to the nearest pub, it used to be called The Withem Tavern but it is now home to Rancho’s Grill. We were very impressed with everything, it is beautiful inside and out. The beer was great with Murphys stout for the Captain, and the menu looked amazing, as did the food we saw come out.

https://grill-rancho.co.uk/

Our last day in Boston was spent looking round the town, as it was Saturday the market was on and I love a market, unfortunately we left it a bit late in the day, so a lot of the stalls were packing up. Undeterred we wandered round the remaining ones and then found a little gem, The Boston Guildhall museum, free to get in and very interesting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Guildhall

Inside Boston Guildhall

We ended a very enjoyable afternoon with a pint in the Wetherspoons, a Honey porter from Conwy Brewery for the Captain. Then back to Rancho’s. I had thought about eating in here, until we were told there was a 2 hour wait for food. It was very busy.

We left Boston next morning with a plan in place to go round Trentfalls with a convoy organised by a gentleman on Try The Trent facebook page, that is planned for the 11^th June, which gave us plenty of time to get to the meeting place at West Stockwith.

32 Miles, 2 locks and 1 river.

LOVEABLE LINCOLN.

Through the Glory Hole

Where, were we. Oh yes on the pontoons in Newark, did I mention we headed to the pub, no I don’t think I did. Well firstly the Prince Rupert, never disappointed in here. The Captain found a very good pint of Raven stout by White Rose brewery, and Birra Moretti for me. Then the Loose Canon a few doors down, they did have a dark on but I cant remember its name at all. For once we didn’t try Just Beer, a great micropub which the local boaters seem to love, it is now called More Than Just Beer, but I don’t know why.

https://theprincerupert.com/

https://loosecannonnewark.com/

Next day and my son Adam was coming to visit, and we were waiting for Brod and Beth to join us at some point. Of course it all happened at once, Adam turned up and then Brod and Beth. NB Lou Pride was in front of them, but we knew they had a mooring in Kings Marina, which meant we were surprised when they headed for the pontoon. It turned out they were dropping the crew off, and then going on to the marina. Brod tried to turn but all did not go well to start with, and that’s all I am going to say about what happened. He soon had things right and was moored behind us. A chat was in order of course. It was then off to the pub with Adam and an invitation for them to join us later. So off to the Prince Rupert once again, but for once, and because it was quite early in the afternoon, Guinness Zero for us.

Brod and Beth joined us later after Adam had headed off to work. We had a lovely couple of hours with them. We found out, that to get to their moorings,, they were going to have to go via Trent Falls and Goole, as Keady lock and the Vazons railway bridge were out of action. At Trent Falls the river Trent meets the river Ouse, both of which are tidal at this point. Boats need to time it exactly, and join the Ouse when the tide is running at its slowest, and as the tide is just about to turn, so they can travel up the river Ouse to Goole with the incoming tide, and rejoin the Aire and Calder canal trough the lock at Goole. Sounds fun, they have a professional boat mover going with them who has done the trip before.

And maybe we will have to do it, watch this space.

The next day, and it was our first dayof this trip on tidal water. We left Newark after saying our farewells to Brod and Beth and headed to Cromwell lock. The tide would be right for us to join the Trent at about 2pm, and we got to the lock with plenty of time to spare.

The beautiful Trent

We have done this trip to Torksey many time before, but it is still a thrill when you leave the huge Cromwell lock and join the fast flowing river. It takes about 3½ hours to get there depending on how fast the water is flowing, on this occasion it didn’t seem to be going that fast, but we made Torksey in a respectable 3hrs 15mins. The lock keeper was ready for us, and we were soon on the visitors mooring for the night. Torksey lock is a lot older than most locks on the system. The first lock was built in 1672 to connect the Fossdyke canal to the river Trent, the Fossdyke was built by the Romans around AD120.

Then off to the pub, The White Swan. It was in the process of changing hands the last time we were here, and the new owners seem to be settling in nicely, they do food on Friday and Saturday 5pm til 8pm, and on Sunday 2pm til 3pm. They don’t open on a Tuesday.

https://www.facebook.com/whiteswantorkseylock/?locale=en_GB

The menu looked interesting. We got chatting to another boater when we overheard him talking about having his boat blacked, and the cost at over £1500. We are blacking our boat in September and expect to pay around £500. some places don’t half know how to charge. He explained that to get his boat out of the water was about £800. Bloody Hell!!!!!

We set off next day, only a short hop to Saxilby and one of the best chip shops on the system. That was tea sorted. Of course there are a couple of pubs to. The Anglers and the Sun, we had a couple of pints in the Anglers and watched Hull beat Middlesborough and go into the Premiership. Now I don’t really eat battered fish, so when the Captain headed off to the chippy, I went to Bella Pizza for my guilty pleasure, a donar kebab. All I can is say neither of were disappointed with our choice, the Captains fish was enormous, and I had so much meat I had to freeze half for another day.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Smiths-Fish-And-Chips-Saxilby-100047626485073/?locale=en_GB

https://bellapizzasaxilby.com/

Luckily next day was only a short trip into Lincoln. We had decided to stay here for a few days, as we knew the weather was going to be very hot, and not pleasant to cruise in.

The trip had its high points and some low points, the high were spotting our first Reed Bunting, and above us in the sky a beautiful Red Kite, with its distinctive swept back wings and forked tail. The lows were the number of young deer floating dead in the water. It is something we have seen before on the Fossdyke, but it doesn’t make it any easy.

We managed to moor in our favourite spot, through the Glory Hole. This is were we discovered our much missed ginger tom cat Bubbles could climb a tree.

Bubbles

After the heat of the day had abated (but only slightly) we decided to take a walk to the pub, so headed to the waterfront and the King William, we sat inside in the cool. The Sunday lunches looked amazing, but I had our tea all planned out. We then went to find a little micropub called The Tiny Tavern, it was a bit of a walk but well worth it when we got there. A decent stout on from Ashover brewery for the Captain, and a bottle of Staropramen for me. We sat in their little garden at the back, it was very relaxing.

https://www.facebook.com/tinytavernlincoln

Too hot to walk back, so we got an Uber and decided to have a last pint in the Witch and Wardrobe, it was not good. It started with the landlady swearing at a young girl as she served us. And then the pint the Captain had should have been ruby Hobgoblin according to the beer clip, but it definitely wasn’t, but we didn’t feel like challenging this lady. So only one and back to the boat.

We spent a second day in Lincoln, only heading out after the heat had abated a little. Of course we had to go to the best pub in Lincoln, The Cardinals Hat. The Captain had Black Mill stout from Brass Castle brewery, and I had the pubs own lager, which was very good.

https://www.facebook.com/thecardinalshatlincoln/?locale=en_GB

The Cardinals Hat

The next day we said goodbye to Lincoln and hello to the river Witham and onto Boston.

32 miles, 3 manned locks, 1 river and 1 canal.