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.

PUMP OUT PALAVERs

Wait for me Mum

As most of you know we are a pump out boat, for those not in the know, this means our toilet has to be pumped out as the waste is held in a tank under our bathroom sink. Toilets are a favourite subject for most boaters. There are 3 main types, a cassette (porta potty), pump out and a composting toilet. Cassettes are emptied into elsan’s which are dotted along the canals and rivers, supplied by CRT they are free to use. A pump out, requires as the name suggests a pump to remove the waste and these are mainly found in marina’s, although there are CRT ones also dotted a round the system, we pay for this service. With a composting toilet, dry and wet waste are collected in separate compartments within the toilet, and sawdust is used to cover the poo. Wet waste can be poured down the elsan point, but dry waste needs disposing of somewhere. CRT have decreed that this waste must not be placed in the general waste bins, so I am not sure what you do with it.

Anyway moving on from this fascinating subject, and on to our journey.

Our next port of call was Beeston, and on the way there we shared Cranfield lock with NB Old Sam, this boat is notorious in some circles, as a number of years ago it was filmed trying to open a flood gate, which had been padlocked shut due to the state of the river, the owner attached a rope to the gate, and then reversed hard to try to open the gates, not a great idea, and it was lucky that the gates weren’t damaged. It shows that some boaters have no consideration of what damage they may do, and how it would affect other boaters. We did not mention at the time knowing about this.

We moored for the night at Beeston and took a walk to the marina, it has a decent chandlery, cafe and more important a bar. We had a long chat with the guys running the chandlery, and then had to try a pint. There was Theakstons mild on for the Captain and Cruzcampo, and at only £8.45 a round, very reasonable, we did sit outside watching the river, until a sharp rain shower moved us inside. They do food from 5pm and the menu, though basic was very cheap.

https://www.beestonmarina.com/

Now we were on the Nottingham and Beeston canal, which takes boats through Nottingham and rejoins the river at Meadow Lane lock, but first we had some family commitments to fill.

Our journey to the mooring outside Castle Retail park was uneventful, but we were surprised at the number of boats moored, this stretch is usually devoid of boats but not on this occasion as we passed one after another after another.

But there was plenty of room for us just were we wanted to be. After mooring up I sat and was doing the last blog, when there was a lot of reversing and engine noise, and then a horn blared out, so I stood up only to find our friends Keeley and Dean Crowther on NB Mole hovering at the side of us. We had met them a few years ago when we did the Wigan flight together. It was great to catch up. They are now moor their boat at Market Bosworth on the Ashby canal, so hopefully when we get back to Coventry we can get together.

The Mole as it says on the tin

Then just as I had got back to writing Grumbleweed with Emma and Harold turned up and moored behind us so, it would have been rude not to have a chat.

As I have said, staying in Nottingham was about catching up with family, on Sunday my daughter Jess, hubby Stuart and little Lowen came to visit, we had a couple of pints in the Olde Trippe and then a bite to eat back on the boat.

Before they arrived a flotilla came by, there is a group called Fund Britain’s Waterways, and they belonged to it. They are travelling up and down the country highlighting the need for better funding for our rivers and canals, I wish lots of luck in their endeavours.

https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/sites/fund-britains-waterways-overview

Monday and we met up with my sister Diane, unfortunately her hubby Mick, didn’t join her, but again it was nice to catch up.

Tuesday, we headed off and onto the wide River Trent and Gunthorpe.The pontoons at Gunthorpe were almost empty, much to our surprise and relief. We were soon moored up, along with Lou Pride and Polestar. Peggy Sue joined us later. The Captain and Crew off Polestar came for a chat, and a bit of advice. It turned out they had only recent bought the boat and were taking it to their mooring near Sheffield. They were going to be liveabords just like us, and even in the short time they had been onboard they were loving it. We got on well with Brod and Beth, and even the dogs came to say hello. We were only staying the night, and they said they may join us in the lock next day and on to Newark. Of course off to the pub we went, The Unicorn, on the way we were greeted by a group of Guinea fowl, not what you would expected to see in deepest darkest Nottinghamshire.

Guinea Fowl

Now back to the title, the reason we needed to get to Newark was to have the toilet emptied, it was very very full. Before we set off next morning we had another chat with Brod and Beth, they had decided to stay another night as the weather didn’t look great. So off we set with the intention of going into Kings Marina for the pump out. The journey was uneventful, then we took the rash decision to stop at Newark marina for the pump out, as we could see their service mooring was empty. The Captain executed a perfect manoeuvre and we were soon moored up and ready. This is were our problem started, although we had pumped out here before, for some unknown reason the pump nozzle would not seal properly on the outlet on the boat, and we couldn’t build up enough suction for it to pump out. Eventually the Captain gave up and went to pay, even though the toilet was still full. They did only charge us half the £15 fee which I think was fair.

So we still had to go in Kings marina, and it still wasn’t our day. We moored on the service pontoon in Kings about 2.30pm, only to discover on Wednesday they don’t open until 5pm. Bugger. But we had to wait, but not as long as we expected, as about 1 hour later a very very very nice lady turned up, and even though she wasn’t feeling well helped us to do our pump out. So relief all round. In more ways than one.

https://www.aquavista.com/find-a-marina/kings-waterside-marina

Again the pontoons at Newark which we always struggle to get were almost empty, with only 2 other boats in residence. I only got the name of 1 which was Donela 2, and we had a chat with its Captain and crew, it looks like we will be joining them at Cromwell lock to head to Torksey.

The bird life has been plentiful, we have seen so many little egrets, herons and cormorants. Along with the normal, canada and grey lag geese with their goslings, swans with their signets and ducks with their ducklings, sometimes too many to count. Egyptian geese and mandarin ducks made an appearance, and a lone Oyster catcher. In the sky we have had sand martins, black headed gulls, the occasional common tern, and swallows a plenty. And yes we have seen our first kingfisher in all its neon blue and orange glory.

Egyptian Geese

34½ miles, 10 locks (5 normal locks which we did ourselves and 5 huge river locks of which all but one were manned by lock keepers, an easy time for me). 1 river and 1 canal.

LOVELY LEICESTER.

 

Weathervane

Well the weather has definitely put paid to us cruising for a couple of days, its wet, and more importantly its very windy. So we are sat on the pontoons at Trent Lock. How did we get here.

Well we made short work of the 6 remaining locks into Leicester, and met 4 boats coming towards us, which seemed to bode well for finding a mooring at Castle Gardens or Friars Mill in Leicester. Unfortunately the gossip from the boat crews was that there was very little free mooring on either of these sites. but we came up with a plan, if there was no space on Castle Gardens we would go onto Friars Mill, and if we lucked out there we would moor opposite Castle Gardens, (and wait for someone to move) its not ideal as its not a secure mooring.

When we got to Castle Gardens there was a space which was not quite long enough for our 57ft boat, but the boat in front had a 10ft gap at the front of it. We pulled in, there was no one on the boat in front and we took the dangerous decision to move the boat forward, just enough to get our boat in and Black Swan breasted up against us. I called it a dangerous decision as some people don’t like another boater touching their boats, so it could have caused trouble for us. Luckily when the owner returned the Captain had a word with him and he wasn’t bothered, and hadn’t even notice his boat had moved. Phew

Of course we had to head to the pub with Graham and Wendy, first the Blue Boar, a proper real ale pub were the Captain got to have one of his favourite beers, Organic Chocolate Stout by Samuel Smiths brewery, and I had their Taddy Lager.

Happy Captain

https://blue-boar.ourmenu.com/?menu=111663

Then The Corn Market, a large Wetherspoons. The Captain had Darkness by Exeter brewery, a very decent stout, and Graham and Wendy treated us to tea, which was very kind of them.

A quiet day next day, well for the Captain. I spent a busy morning cleaning and cooking before heading out to pick up the Captains prescription from Boots. As it turned out they didn’t have both of the tablets required, but said they would be in next day. We decided to have a pint in the Salmon, a great real ale pub, which I had forgotten was a Black Country Ales pub, even better. The Captain was very happy to find an old favourite on the bar, Byatts All Day Extra Foreign stout as well as their own Pig on the Wall mild.

https://www.blackcountryales.co.uk/pubs/the-salmon

https://untappd.com/b/byatt-s-all-day-foreign-extra-stout/3688800

We also called in the High Cross, another Wetherspoons, which was surprisingly quiet.

We had a quiet night. But next morning when Graham and Wendy came to say goodbye, as they were heading off, they told us there had been a body found in the park right next to us the previous evening, at this time it was being treated as murder, and they had had to be escorted to the moorings by the police when they returned about 9pm, the whole of the park was cordoned off. This meant we were unsure how we were going to keep our planned meet up with Heath and Jennifer later that day.

The Captain spoke to a policeman, and he put our minds at rest, and said someone would escort us through the park when we were ready to go.

Well, when we were ready to go there was no sign of the police, well except for one at the far end sat on a bench watching his phone, so just made our own way out. We discovered the murder had been changed to an unfortunate medical episode.

We met up with our friends and had a wonderful afternoon, ending up in the Red Lion, another Black Country Ales pub, apparently there are 55 of these pubs now.

https://www.blackcountryales.co.uk/pubs

After shopping the next day, there is a Lidl with easy access from the river, we set off to do the 4 locks to Birstall. The first of these is one of my nightmare locks, firstly its difficult to get off the boat as its a high wall with no ladder or steps to aid me. Secondly at one time it was almost impossible to get the lock to equalise, which meant opening the bottom gates was a struggle, and usually took at least 2 people. Well CRT have done some good work on this lock, and even though the gates were still heavy, it was possible for me to open mine without too much trouble, we shared the lock with NB Mai Tai, which helped as they had crew on board. We parted company at the next lock as we stopped to put water in at Memory Lane moorings. Since our last visit they have also added, bins and an elsan here, which is great, but not the promised pumped out machine, bugger. The access gates to get off the moorings have combination locks on them, so you cant use these moorings to access the town.

As I went to set the next lock I was waved back to the boat, as some volunteers offered to lock us through, I never turn down help so stayed on the boat. They had been litter picking and were doing a marvellous job.

The help at the next lock was not so good, as a gongoozler who knew no better, managed to get the pawl off and just let the paddle drop, you should always wind the paddles down so as not to damage the paddle gear. I appreciated the sentiment but not the action.

We moored above the next lock at Birstall, and did it next morning after a quiet night. We were heading to Mountsorrel, there are good mooring and a pub above the locks, and this was our aim for the day. We managed to buddy up with NB Magic, owned by a Dutch couple but I never got their names, but the dog was called Bruce.

The moorings at Mountsorrel were empty much to our surprise, so we said goodbye to Magic and headed to the pub, the Waterside Inn, it was busy. There was nothing dark on for the Captain but he was happy with Guinness zero and I had Cruzcampo. The food menu was good, reasonably priced, and the food we saw (a carvery) looked really nice.

https://www.watersidemountsorrel.co.uk/

We have been lucky on this stretch and have managed to buddy up most days to do the heavy double locks. Monday was no different, and we shared the locks with NB Byefield, again I didnt manage to get their names, but we both moored in Loughborough and we headed to a new Lidl which has opened only 5mins from the moorings just before the bridge.

Of course we went to the pub, first the Tap and Clapper, very cheap at £7.10 for a pint of Murphys stout and a Madri, but it got very noisy, so we headed and found peace in the Organ Grinder, a Blue Monkey brewery pub and they had Guerrilla Chocolate Amaretto Stout on for the Captain, it was lush.

The Organ Grinder

https://bluemonkeybrewery.com/organ-grinder-pubs/loughborough/

https://untappd.com/b/blue-monkey-brewery-guerrilla-chocolate-amaretto/1265127

Yummy

We buddied up again next day, this time with Emma and Harold on NB Grumbleweed. They were heading to Newark but not stopping at Trent Lock, but we will probably catch up with them again at some point. We also met up with Magic and Bruce too, they were heading on to the Trent and Mersey at the junction so I doubt we will see them again.

The pontoons at Trent Lock were again surprisingly quiet with only one other boat on them, so plenty of room for us. We were joined later by a couple of other boats for the night. Of course once again we headed of to the pub, the Steamboat to see Simon. He always has a dark on, and the Captain wasn’t disappointed with Butter my Nuts, a peanut butter stout from Bang the Elephant brewery. We also tried the Trent Lock, a Vintage Inn. Not a lot to write home about, I looked at the food menu and thought it seemed a bit on the pricey side.

https://bangtheelephantbrewingco.com/

https://untappd.com/b/bang-the-elephant-brewing-co-butter-my-nuts/6619016/photos

So today, Wednesday, we are sat listening to the rain, very happy we have nowhere to be. Next port of call Nottingham.

Trent Lock Veiw

24½ miles 29 locks, 1 canal and 2 rivers, the Soar and the Trent.

FABULOUS FOXTON

Foxton Locks

That is the Foxton Locks and Inclined Plane.

But how we got there first.

The day after all the lost dog excitement was the Captains birthday, he had a quiet but enjoyable day, the 4 bottles of rum he received helped. We arranged to go for meal at the Wharf Inn with Anne and John to celebrate. The food was amazing, and the company lovely. (I would highly recommend giving the Wharf Inn a try) And the bonus of a decent stout by a local brewery Partizan for the Captain to quaff.

The Captain haul

https://www.partizanbrewing.co.uk/

We parted company with Anne and John next day, as we were going in opposite directions at the junction of the arm. We were heading for Foxton locks for Saturday, as our friends, Daniel and Kata from Swan Lane wharf, were coming to visit and help with the locks. The weather wasn’t great and it got quite windy. We moored up in the MONW for the night. We had a few boats pass us, and one hire boat which hit us, the lady steering was most apologetic. I think they were struggling with the wind, these things happen and no damage was done.

We moored at the top of the locks next day, it was only a short journey so we had a late start. We did head to the pub, first the Bridge 61, a little micro pub with a bottle of Bullseye Stout by Langton Brewery for the Captain, but the lager was not to my taste, so we decided to give the Foxton Locks Inn a go. We don;t usually bother with this pub, as its not renown for its real ales or dark beers, but the Captain was pleasantly surprised to find they had a decent pint of Murphy’s to offer. We also checked out their food menu, and decided we would eat here after doing the locks with our friends.

https://www.restaurantfoxtonlocks.co.uk/

Friday was a beautiful sunny day, and after a lazy morning we took a walk to Foxton village itself. We believed we hadn’t been here before, but our memory (must be an age thing) was wrong, and we soon recognised the pub The Shoulder of Mutton, we had to make do with lager, but their food menu looked interesting.

https://shoulderofmuttonfoxton.co.uk/

We took a walk up a very steep hill to the church and had a look round. St Andrews dates back to Saxon time, about 850ce, and it is mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1086. Most of the current church dates to the 13c. It is lovely in an understated way and very peaceful.

https://www.foxton-pc.gov.uk/st-andrews-church

It is also next to the second pub in the village, The Black Horse, and of course we had to try a pint. Again nothing for the Captain but the lager was good.

https://thenewblackhorsefoxton.co.uk/menu/

Daniel and Kata turned up right on time next morning, but before we headed down the locks we took them to see the Inclined plane, now derelict it was a masterpiece of engineering when it opened in 1900.

The company who ran the canal decided to build the Plane in response to a demand to use wide beam boats, rather then the traditional narrowboats, wide beams could not use the narrow Foxton locks. The Plane consisted of 2 wide caissons, rather like big bathtubs full of water which balanced each other. A steam driven winch pulled 1 caisson up as the other went down, and they could hold 2 boats. The Plane only lasted 11yrs, and was mothballed in 1911 when the use of boats to transport goods declined. It was dismantled in 1926, and the locks which had been left to nature were reinstated.

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

How It Looked

Our friends were fascinated by it all.

At Foxton locks you have to book in with the lock keepers, as they are staircase locks. On our way back to the boat I spoke to the lockee, and we ended up being 3^rd in the queue. But as usual I got my trusty windlass and went to help out. I gave Daniel a windlass too, and Kata came along to help with the gates. It was very busy with gongoozlers, so lots of questions were asked and help given. There was also some great volunteer lockee’s on too. We were soon down the 10 locks, 2 sets of 5 with a passing pound in the middle, and off to the pub for a late lunch and a few pints. Again the food was good and the company great.

Daniel and Kata and us

After they left we had a quiet afternoon before our next port of call Market Harborough, were we had organised to meet more friends, this time Dave and Sandra Biddle, ex boaters and lovely people. We also needed a pump out and shopping, both available there.

But it was not to be, and this sometimes happens with boating, an unexpected disaster, a tree was down blocking the canal into the town. We had started off down the arm not knowing about the tree, before meeting 4 boats who had to reverse to the winding hole when they found they could not get past the tree. With a heavy heart we had to cancel with Dave and Sandra. We winded and moored back near Foxton village, then headed to the pub to have a discussion about what we were going to do. The nearest pump out was at Debdale marina, not to far, but with the next day being a bank holiday we weren’t sure if they would be open, after that it was Kilby Bridge ,which was 11miles, 12 locks 2 swing bridges and 1 tunnel from our present position.

It turned into a long day next day as Debdale was closed for the holiday, so we had a push on to Kilby Bridge, it took us about 6hrs, which is double the hours we normally do in a day. But needs must.

The first thing we did when we moored up was go to the pub, The Navigation, and had a well earned pint. We got talking to some boaters that were moored with us, Chris and Jana on NB One Day, it made a very pleasant end to a busy day.

We didn’t get up very early next day, and had to wait for another boat to use the pump out machine and put water in. Whilst we were waiting for the water to fill, we were joined by NB Black Swan and got chatting to its Captain Graham and its crew Wendy, they were heading the same way so we agreed to wait for them and do the locks together. It makes it so much easier doing the wide locks with 2 boats, and we soon got into a rhythm. They needed shopping too, so we moored near South Wigston and headed off, them to Tesco and us to Lidl. Our mooring for the night was on the end of a lock landing with them on a short bit of arnco behind us.

It was then a short hop and 6 locks into Leicester next day.

The Leicester Line of the Grand Union is a very rural canal, with stunning views, deep woodland and a myriad of wildlife. We have seen a Tree Creeper, creeping up a telegraph pole, Pheasants and a Green Woodpecker. The usual suspects of Ducks and duckings, Swans and their signets, Moorhens, Canada and Greylag geese. Elegant herons and snow white Little Egrets. Squirrels have sat in the trees and a tiny Muntjac deer was spotted in a field. But we have yet to spot the elusive colourful Kingfisher.

Green Woodpecker in flight

24miles, 29locks, 2 swing bridges (done twice) and 2 tunnels at 2046yrs total.

A HAPPY WAGGY ENDING

 

Our first week out has been pretty uneventful, well that is if you don’t count my black eye and sprained wrist. But I will come to that later, and a lost dog

After a night in the middle of nowhere we set off for Hilmorton locks.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining, but the wind was chilly and gusting, this was to become a problem over the next couple of days.

We hit our first tunnel of the year at Newbold, only a short straight tunnel at 250yrds, the Captain doesn’t like tunnels (that’s putting it mildly) but this one was easy. Then through Rugby. The mooring were busy, so it was lucky we didn’t need to stop for shopping, there is a Tesco by the canal

Hilmorton are a set of 3 side by side locks, this means there are 3 sets of locks in the flight, with 2 single locks side by side. It is said to be the busiest locks on the system, but today it seemed quiet. I asked the resident lock keeper how many boats they had helped, and the number I thought was quite high at 22, but he said on a busy day it can be over 50, now that’s a lot.

https://www.hillmortonlocks.co.uk/

A second night was spent in the MONW

The wind caused serious problems next day, we set off hoping to get to Braunston, and go up 2 of the 6 double locks to moor near the Admiral Nelson, a pub we have passed many times but never been in. but it was not to be, the gusts of wind got stronger and stronger, and the Captain was having problems when passing other boats, both moored and moving. He decided to call it quits about a mile and a half from Braunston.

We decided to go to the pub, not the Admiral Nelson but the Boat House (it was closer), a large Marston’s pub on the side of the canal and a 25 minute walk down the towpath. Now you would have thought that being so close to a major canal junction and attraction (the locks), the towpaths would be good, but uh boy they weren’t. At one point where it seriously narrowed I thought about turning back, but the pull of a pint was to much and we soldiered on. Its was nice when we got there, and to sit outside overlooking the canal with a couple of pints of Madri. Unfortunately there was nothing dark on for the Captain. We only had 2 before heading back to the boat, and this is were disaster struck. As I have already said the towpath was bad, and I was concentrating on all the trip hazards ahead of me when I failed to see the nearest one, and this was my downfall, or should that be fall down. And I went down like a bag of spuds, what made it worse, I couldn’t fall on a grassy bit, oh no, I had to pick a bit of gravel. I landed on my right hand, arm and cheek. My glasses fell of and I was completely winded. The captain following my instructions grabbed my handbag. (I was afraid of it going in the water). After a moment just catching my breath I managed to get up, and luckily found I had not broken anything, including my glasses. My cheek felt sore, but that was about it until the next morning, when I realised that my fall had given me a black eye, and a lovely yellow bruise on my cheek.

Looks worse in real life

Oh well never mind.

But it did not stop our cruise, and off we went next day up the 6 locks at Braunston. These are double locks, but it was quiet and no one joined us, but we did meet a few boats coming down. Just past the locks is Braunston tunnel, not one of the Captains favourites at all, its 2 way working, and 2042yrds long and with more than a few kinks along the way. But fate was with us and we met no one coming towards us, so an uneventful passage.

Our aim for the day was Norton Junction, were we turned left towards Leicester, moored up and headed to the pub. The New Inn at Long Buckby, another favourite pub of ours. But no darks on for the Captain once again, so he had to make do with Fosters.

We had arranged to meet the Captains sister Ann, and hubby Chris there the next day for a meal. We had a lovely time, the company and the food were great

https://www.newinnbuckbywharf.co.uk/

Saturday and more locks, this time the Watford flight, a set of 7 locks, the middle 3 being a staircase. You have to book in with the lock keeper, so this is what I did and then stopped to help the boat coming down. Its always nice to help.

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

Our moorings for the night were at Crick, but there was another tunnel to traverse before we got there. Slightly shorter than Braunston at 1528yrds, but still daunting and our luck didn’t hold out as we met another boat coming towards, us but we passed each other with ease and we were soon moored at Crick, and off to the pub of course. This time the Wheatsheaf, no darks on again, but the Captain was happy with a pint (or 3) of Cruzcampo. There is a Coop across the road from the pub, so I picked a few bits up, as shops are sadly lacking on this stretch of canal.

Crick tunnel

Our plan was to go down the Welford Arm in time for the Captains birthday, and we made it with a day to spare.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/welford-arm-leicester-line

We moored up outside the pub The Wharf Inn, and were soon joined by Anne and John on NB Kallisto. We got chatting and introduced to their deaf dog Meg. But when they went to find their 2^nd dog Flora there was no sign of her. She had jumped ship somewhere between Foxton Locks and Welford. At first they thought it might have been at the one and only lock on the arm, so they walked back to see if they could find her. In the mean time the Captain and I looked round the immediate area and spoke to people. I went in the pub and asked in there but no one had seen Flora. When Anne and John returned they joined us for a pint, there was still no sign of Flora, and this is where the power of Facebook comes into play. I posted it on a couple of the boating sites I am on, another gentleman posted on a local boaters page, and a lovely lady posted on the Welford page. The response was almost instant, a boater moored near Foxton had posted about a dog running free on the towpath near the locks, and people pointed me towards the post. We were able to confirm it was Flora. Anne and John took a taxi back to Foxton Locks, and Todd the boater who had originally seen Flora, turned out to look for her as well. It was a happy waggy ending when Ann and John returned with Flora, none the worse for her adventures.

Flora

So a bit of excitement to end our first weeks cruising.

44miles 17 locks, 3820yrds in tunnels and 2 canals

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN.

Balloons in Marrakesh

Well folks as the title says ‘its that time again’ and we have set off on our summer adventures.

But first I must backtrack to where I left you in August 2025.

We had reached the top of Atherstone locks and were in touching distance of our home in Swan Lane. But first we had a very important favour to do for our good friend Keith and Andrew, they were taking steam boat Hasty to be blacked at Alvecote marina, which was at the bottom of the locks we had just come up.

They sounded their horn as they passed us by, and we headed down to the top lock to meet them windlasses in hand and raring to go.

Our celebration at meeting up with our old friend was short lived, as they told us absolutely terrible news. Canal and River Trust had given all the boats at Swan Lane wharf 6 months notice to quit, as they wanted to sell the wharf to a developer. We had a lease that had years to run, but apparently this wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. As you can imagine we were gobsmacked, my opinion of CRT, which was already poor, hit rock bottom on this news.

However much to our surprise Keith had an ace up his sleeve. It would appear that when we renewed the lease a clause had been added, which some how had passed CRT by, which allowed the person running the wharf first refusal to buy it at going rate. As Keith runs Swan Lane he was that person, and he and Andrew had decided to sell their house and buy the wharf, we were saved, hopefully. At this time CRT had not agreed to the sale, but was considering it, and eventually they agreed. So Keith is now in the process of buying the wharf, and as anyone who has ever bought a house knows, never mind a business, it can be a long drawn out business.

But Swan Lane Wharf is saved. YIPPEE

It was a long day getting Hasty down the locks, but it made the pint at the end of the day even sweeter, and we headed to the Market Tavern and the Angel Ale House, our 2 favourite haunts in Atherstone.

We took a couple of days to get back to Swan Lane, and I vetoed the idea of going up the Ashby, as I find it rather boring with no locks for me to do.

On our return we found we had new moorers, Kata and Daniel a lovely Hungarian couple, Pete Jones, a rather absent minded gentleman who had bought Stuart’s boat Throstle, and Jimmy with Yeti the golden Labrador.

We caught up with our friends Col and Mags, they were in full wedding mode (well Mags was) with their wedding being only a few weeks away.

Of course I had to organise a get together to get to know everyone, and we headed round to the Brickies for a few pints, before going back to the meeting room for food, and more beer of course. A great night was had by all.

Friends old and new

The wedding went without a hitch and everyone had an amazing day.

The happy couple and their best man

I started back at work almost straight away, a shock to the system that’s for sure, and our life on the wharf settled into our normal winter routine. Meaning there was not a lot for me to write about.

Christmas came and went, we had our usual Wharf Christmas meal which was well attended, and between Christmas and New year another wharf social when Kata cooked a lovely Hungarian goulash, and some amazing cakes.

Wharf Christmas Party

As it was a long wet winter, the Captain and I decided to book a holiday to Marrakesh, which happened to coincide with my birthday. Marrakesh is manic, but we loved it, and the weather was great. For my birthday the Captain booked us a hot air balloon ride to see the sunrise over the Atlas mountains. Wow what an experience, as we and 50 other balloons took off just as the sun was rising.

Balloons as far as the eye can see

Now it was getting time to plan our summer cruise, we decided to do the north east this year, starting on the Oxford canal before joining the Leicester line of the Grand Union, then on to the River Soar and then the Trent. We will get to Boston this year, and hope to call in at Doncaster and Sheffield before our trying to get to Ripon on the River Ouse. We have to be in Langley Mill for the 7^th Sept, as we are coming out of the water to be blacked and have a few jobs done on the rudder and skeg. So an interesting cruise planned, and fingers crossed there will be no problems with water or infrastructure this year.

We did do a shake down cruise at Easter just up to Hawkesbury, with Kata and Daniel and Col and Mags, who drove to the Greyhound, and we all had a meal, next day we headed down to Coventry basin for the night. The boat ran perfectly.

Coventry Basin

So back to the present day and we have set off, as usual our first port of call was Hawkesbury, and of course a pint or 2 in the Greyhound. Today the weather has been very kind to us, even if the wind is still a little chilly, it was nice when the sun was out, and we travel about 9 miles. Only 1 lock today, the little stop lock at Hawkesbury, but of course I ended up helping a couple of boats before we came through. We have moored in the middle of nowhere for the night, but the canal has been busy with plenty of boats passing us in both directions.

So now we are all up to date, and I will be posting a blog every week of our journey (or should that read floating pub crawl).

So I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.