LIFE ON SWAN LANE WHARF AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Life on the wharf is quiet so I don’t tend to do my blog during the winter, but I thought I would just write a short update and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I started back at work, as I mentioned at the end of my last instalment. I also started Slimming World, the main reason being my poor knees. I was hopeful that by losing weight they wouldn’t be so painful. Well after losing 2 stone since October I can say its definitely working. My plan is to lose another 1½ stone before we leave in April, so fingers and everything crossed I can do it.

We spent Christmas Day on the boat with our friends Col and Mags, and Pete’s son Gary. I was worried we wouldn’t all fit round our table, but we did and everyone enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner, with crackers and plenty of wine. We also went to the Brickies for a couple of pint and it was great to see Theresa and the gang.

We visited family before Christmas, and met the Captains new granddaughter Olive for the first time. My grandson Dylan has really grown and is a proper chunky monkey now. And we are now waiting for the next one to arrive at the beginning of February, but we have no idea if its a girl or a boy. 

Olive

Dylan

New Year was a quiet affair, I did a tapas buffet for us and Col and Mags, but Col wasn’t well and went home early, Mags stayed longer but we saw the New Year in on our own. We stood on the back of the boat watching all the fireworks going off, and toasted the coming year.

We still haven’t finalised our cruising plans for the summer, but the River Nene and the Mid Levels in the Norfolk/Northamptonshire area is a strong possibility.

The Captain turns 70 this year and a special holiday is also planned, so watch this space.

Here’s hoping 2024 is happy healthy and prosperous for us all.

Us

BACK TO COVENTRY AND HOME

 

Boats in Swan Lane Wharf

Fradley Junction to Swan Lane Wharf 36miles, 13 locks and 1 canal.

Like I mentioned we had saved ourselves for Fazeley chippy, and as usual we weren’t disappointed. We tried a couple of pints first, one in the 3 Tuns and 1 in the Three Horseshoes, nothing very stunning, so we were happy to get our fish and chips and kebab and head back to the boat.

Next night was spent in Polesworth, but no pub tonight, the Captain nipped out to see if he could find a flue brush to clean the chimney before we needed to light a fire, we are holding out as long as we can. But no luck so he had to try at Atherstone.

Atherstone Top Lock

But before Atherstone were the 11 Atherstone locks. These are grouped 2 together big gap, 2 together gap, 2 together small gap, and then 5 all together. We were unsure about were to stop, and the idea was to stop before the final 5 locks as the weather was looking a bit suspect. In my mind I really wanted to do them all in one go, but I didn’t want to get wet either, decisions decisions.

At the first set we met the first of only 2 boats we met all that day, NB Third Time Lucky, I remembered we had met before, and the boats name referred to it being the lady crews third marriage being lucky. What a great name.

After the 6 locks we needed to make the decision, I wanted to keep going, get to the top and moor near the village (ok, yes I wanted to go for a pint), but the Captain wasn’t so sure, but as the weather was staying fine I managed to convince him it would be best to keep going. Luckily for us there were 3 very helpful volunteer lock keepers on, and we made it up the final 5 in less than an hour, and it didn’t rain.

Now, I have often moaned about the lock keepers on these locks, as in the past I have found them anything but helpful as they just hang around at the top, but I can’t praise these 3 fellows enough. They made my life (and the Captains) so much easier.

The moorings in Atherstone are great and the town has an Aldi and Co op and many other shops. A decent Indian restaurant and quite a few pubs.

The Captain managed to find a flue brush in one of the shops, and we headed off to the best pub in town, The Angel Ale House, and it was busy, but we managed to find a table and settled in for a session.

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

As we were getting close to Hawkesbury Junction I arranged to meet Richard, an old work colleague of mine from UTL, at the Greyhound. He had retired a couple of years ago, but we had kept in touch due to a friendly rivalry over our preferred football teams, I support Derby County, (up the Rams) and he support Nottingham Forest (or the Florists as I call them). For those of you not from the East Midlands, this rivalry is legendary and gets very heated, but we take it with a pinch of salt, well, most of the time.

The Telegraph Pole

We moored overnight at the telegraph pole a well known landmark on the Coventry canal, and had a peaceful night before heading for Hawkesbury the next day, quite early to ensure we got decent moorings near the pub, the Greyhound.

The Greyhound is an old pub, and has been Camra pub of the year for the Coventry area on a number of occasions. The landlords of many years have recently left, and I hope the new people don’t make too many changes as its great the way it is, and it always has Theakston mild on for the Captain and the food is very good.

https://www.thegreyhoundlongford.co.uk/

We met up with Richard but unfortunately his wife Jackie couldn’t join us. We did a lot of catching up and had the usual banter around football. It was great to see him.

So now we are back in Swan Lane wharf, and it is full. We have a new moorer Chris, and Col and Mags have returned from their sojourn at Trinity marina. Mark and Fern on NB Gibson Beans have left us for pastures new, but on a sad note we lost Geoff, NB Pinafore in the summer, and PJ, NB Forest Oak passed away more recently. Time waits for no man.

Keith as always is pleased to see us back, and I am sure he has some jobs lined up for the Captain, as well as Steve and Fliss (not a couple) who want help with their electrical set ups.

I have my job back at UTL working for Sky to start with, but that may change.

Since June we have done 404 miles, 178 locks, 20 movable bridges and 3 miles in tunnels. Travelled on too many different waterways to mention. We didn’t get to Ripon but we will one day.

The weather hasn’t been kind, but we have made the most of it, and will now start thinking about were to go next year. The river Nene and the middle levels are an idea, but I will keep you posted.

That’s all for this year folks.

THE STICK

 

The Stick

Trent Lock to Fradley Junction 29miles, 19 locks, 1 river and 1 canal

After a night moored outside the Steam Boat at Trent lock, it was decided to take a steady cruise next day to Shardlow. We left the mighty River Trent just past Sawley Marina, and joined the Trent and Mersey canal at Derwent Mouth. After 4 locks we moored, up but didn’t head for the pub, very strange for us, but we decided to just chill out of for the night. The locks are still double locks until we reach Burton on Trent, but luckily there aren’t too many on this stretch.

The Captain being the clever fellow that he is, spotted on Facebook that Claymills Pumping station was in steam the following weekend, so we decided to take a leisurely cruise and pay it a visit on the Saturday.

Before that however, there was some nasty wet and windy weather heading our way, and the village of Willington seemed the best place to sit it out. Of course Willington has a few pubs, the best of these being the Dragon which is right on the canal. The Captain, again being a clever fellow, also organised to pick up his repeat prescription from the local pharmacy. On our arrival we managed to nab the last spot just before the pub, and took a walk to see what it had to offer. The Captain was a happy bunny, a decent stout on for him and a good selection of lagers for me. There is a small bar area which was very noisy, so we took refuge in one of the little rooms off the main area. After a couple we headed home. The rain came overnight, and most of next day, so we waited for it to abate before setting off to collect his tablets. Willington is a great place to moor, as not only has it the pubs, but also a chippy, Co op and a selection of other shops. Prescription collected and time for another pint in the Dragon, this time it wasn’t so welcoming. The bar area was noisy again, but when we tried to sit elsewhere in the pub we were told all the tables were booked for food, and given a strange look when we said we would prefer to sit somewhere a little quieter than the bar. But the bar it had to be, so we didn’t stay too long.

We arrived on the outskirts of Burton on Trent on Thursday, and found great moorings just before bridge 29. From here it was only a 6 minute walk to the pumping station, and a 10min walk to catch the bus into Burton, which we did on the Friday. There is also a Co op nearby too.

The visit into Burton was okay, I was very sad to see the Royal Oak, a great real ale pub had closed its doors. Burton and South Derbyshire Camra pub of the year 2022, just goes to show how tough the pub trade is having it at the moment. We made do with The Lord Burton, the Wetherspoons as they had Adnams Broadside on for the Captain, so I treated us to tea in there. (Saved me cooking).

After a hearty brunch next day we set off for the short walk to Claymills.

Claymills Pumping Station

https://www.claymills.org.uk/

Built in the 1880’s and opened in 1886, it was used to pump sewerage from Burton to farms in Etwall and Eggington. The main component of the waste was from the many breweries in the town, but some human waste was included. After complaints about the smell, lime was added to the mix to remove it. The station comprised 4 beam engines and 5 boilers to run them.

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

The beam engines stopped pumping completely in 1971 when a new sewerage farm was built by Severn Trent water next door.

Of the 4 beam engines, called unimaginatively A, B, C and D, the original plan had been to restore only C and D, then B was restored, and this day saw a finally restored A being run for the first time in over 50yrs, and the first time that all 4 beam engines had been run together in a very very long time.

Beam Engine

When we arrived the Captain believed there was a guided tour just about to take place, but no one seemed to know who was doing the guiding until Chris (a fountain of knowledge) stepped forward.

He took us to every nook and cranny of the site, full of tit bits of information we couldn’t have got just walking round on our own, and it took over 2 hours.

An absolutely fascinating place and well worth a visit, but exhausting

Only a short hop to Shobnall fields next day through Darrow lock, the first of the narrow locks.

Being closer to the centre of Burton, we walked into town and did some much needed shopping at Lidl, before called for a pint in the lovely micropub The Weighbridge Inn.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Weighbridge-Inn-Burton-100057584283863/

Before leaving Burton the next day we called in at Shobnall marina for fuel and gas. Whilst chatting I asked if our friends Fred and Lisa Webster on NB Chyandour, who moor there, were back yet, they weren’t but were expected at some point. Whilst chatting we found out that Lock 8, Branston lock, had a problem with the top paddles and was taking around an hour to fill, against the usual 10/15mins, but a boater had come up with a fix, the stick. Although not 100% sure what this actually meant. We soon found out when we reached the lock, and I was made the ‘stick lady’.

As we got to the lock we could see a bit of a queue in both directions, so I jumped off to help, as I always do. At the top gate was a man holding a stick, which was jammed in the side of the lock, stopping the gate from closing completely, and it was letting just enough water in to fill the lock in a reasonable time, but not so much so the lock wouldn’t empty, and the bottom gates could be opened when the lock was ready, hope that makes sense.

I remained stick lady until we locked up, them the next person took charge. The things we boaters have to do when lack of maintenance causes these issues. It took CRT until the 10^th October to fix the problem, and we came though on the 25^th September. They were aware of the problem well before this date.

Arewas village next port of call, and there were quite a few boats on the move, but everybody helped each other out were they could. We found great moorings just above the last lock before the village, and took a short stroll to the George and Dragon. There were no darks ales on, but the Captain found a quaffable pint of Directors Bitter by Courage, and we spent a happy couple of hours people watching as the pub was busy.

https://www.georgeanddragonalrewas.co.uk/

The menu looked interesting and the food that came out good, but we were saving ourselves for Fazeley and the amazing Fazeley Fish Bar later that week.

Final leg of this journey to Fradley Junction and at the White Swan we turned left through the little swing bridge and onto the Coventry Canal.

HE HAS ARRIVED. HALLELUJAH!!

Beautiful Dylan

 Langley Mill to Trent Lock 12 miles, 15 locks and 2 canals.

Dylan was due on the 7^th September and arrived on the 7^th, at 1.39pm weighing in at a respectable 7lb 6oz. Mother and baby doing fine. They were in and out on the same day, wonderful.

In the couple of days from our arrival to his birth we kept ourselves busy, when the 3 other boats left the basin we moved across and into the sunshine, much better for keeping our batteries topped up.

We heard that the Cromford Canal Society were working on the bit of the canal just past the end of the boatyard, so we took a walk to see what was occurring. On this stretch there will be 2 new locks which will take the canal up and over a culvert, and then under the A610 towards Ironville. It is the start of trying to connect the two ends of Cromford canal to each other, but they have many obstacles ahead.

https://www.cromfordcanal.org/restoration/

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

The first being the Butterley tunnel, which used to take the canal under Butterley reservoir and into the Butterley iron works. Then it is on towards another, the Bull Bridge Viaduct at Ambergate.

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

Butterley Tunnel

We chattered to the volunteers working there and they were happy to explain what they had done, and were doing. It was really interesting, but I doubt I will see the project completed in my boating lifetime.

It was a lovely day so we headed of to the pub, The Great Northern. The Captain was very happy as they had Gorilla Stout by Blue Monkey brewery on, and we were joined by a couple of the volunteers, so our chat continued, and the same next day.

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

Over these couple of days the news from CRT about water levels got no better, but on the 7^th they said things were looking up, so our plan was to see Dylan, Adam and Julie over the weekend (letting Mum and baby have some quiet time together first) and then head off either Monday or Tuesday. We also had my sisters party to attend on the Saturday.

Things of course didn’t go to plan. The news from CRT next day was that, once again blaming ‘vandalism’, the water had dropped and the canal remained shut.

On the upside Adam invited us to visit Dylan that day and came and picked us up. We had offered to get the bus as far as Clay Cross, which is only a couple of miles from were he lives, but he insisted, so we spent a wonderful afternoon with them. Julie is a great Mum, and Dylan is just perfect. He stayed fast a sleep in my arms the whole of the time we were there. I know I am gushing, and its not really a boaty story, but you will have to forgive me.

So we were stuck in the basin, the weekend came and went, the party was fun, and Sunday was quiet, but the update on Monday didn’t make happy reading, the canal remained closed. Although CRT did say there had been significant improvement of water levels, and were optimistic the canal would open next day. However it was not to be, and the next update said water levels had fallen and for once they didn’t blame vandalism, but said they would be ‘undertaking remedial work’, whatever that meant.

So we were stuck for another day, one good thing, it meant we could catch up with our friends Chris and Sue. They came up to Langley Mill for a few pints, a curry at the Royal Ghurka, and a reet good chin wag.

The food was excellent but the service a little strange, but it didn’t matter, we had a great time.

https://royalgurkhalangleymill.co.uk/

We had hoped the canal would reopen next day and got up early (9am) to do some final bits of shopping, but again the news wasn’t good, so we are stuck for another day.

I know in one of my earlier blogs I was accused of CRT bashing, after I questioned if they knew what they were doing in relation to structural breakdowns, which seem so much more prevalent this year. They seemed to have moved away from pro-active maintenance to reactive. So things are only being repaired when they break, rather than being checked and maintained to ensure the canals stay open. The Captain has a notification app on his phone, which alerts him to stoppages on the canals for what ever reason, and it has been going off continually this summer. And one of the main reason CRT gives when something breaks is ‘Vandalism’. Now I know on some occasions this will be the case, but CRT seem to be using it as their go to excuse, rather than admitting that their lack of maintenance is to blame. I have, in the past, done my best to support CRT, but I am getting to the end of my tether, and I am starting to question if they have their priorities right, as money seems to being spent on everything apart from properly maintaining the canals. As proof of this I have a few examples of what I consider to be a waste of money. Firstly, unnecessary consultations to fix things that aren’t broken, ie the mooring time limits in Birmingham, or the way they calculate how much we pay for our license, the second such consultation for this in a couple of years. 3 CRT employees painting lines in a car park that is hardly used, 2 were waiting for the 3^rd to bring the paint, and then it took all 3 of them to paint half a dozen white lines, and a few yellow lines to identify the parking bays. Finally the number of directors on over £100,000 a year, (12), 2 of whom were appointed this year. CRT is meant to be a charity, so money should be spent more wisely in my opinion.

Rant over.

Right back to our journey. The next day we were hoping for an early update, but of course we didn’t receive anything until mid afternoon, the good news was they were reopening the canal, but only between 9am and 4pm for the next 3 weeks, so this meant it was too late for us to get past the affected lock that day, but the Captain took the decision to get as far as the Gallows in Ilkeston, and continue our journey to Trent Lock the next day. There was plenty of water on both days, and we met a number of boats travelling up the canal who had been stuck for nearly 2 weeks waiting to return to their home moorings in the basin. Everyone was in high spirits and happy to be on the move again.

We got to Trent Lock without any issues, but harping back to my rant, I have been doing this stretch of canal every year for the last 9, and the lack of maintenance on the locks is starting to show badly. Extremely stiff paddles, and heavy gates that simply don’t want to move, due I believe, to the amount of weed in the canal and a build up of silt in the locks, and I will say it again, the lack of pro-active maintenance.

A couple of pints in the Steam Boat of course, and we saw 2 beautiful kingfishers on our way down which helped brighten the day.

Homeward bound now, but that’s for the next instalment.

THE WAITING GAME.

 

The Erewash Canal

Trent Lock to Langley Mill via Shardlow, 18miles, 21 locks, 1 river and 2 canals

For Bank Holiday Monday we decided to head for Shardlow village, there are a couple of good pubs and moorings. We managed to moor outside the Malt Shovel and New Inn on the recently restored moorings.

Of course we headed to the pub, first the Malt Shovel, no darks on so only one in there. Then the New Inn, I don’t think we have ever been disappointed in here and this didn’t change, they had Old Peculiar Chocolate on so one very happy Captain. The food menu is good and we have eaten in here in the past, but just a pint today. As we were finishing our last pint a couple came looking for a table for 4 (it was quite busy). As we were sat at a table for 4 and leaving shortly, we invited them to join us until their son and daughter arrived. We had a lovely chat and it finished the afternoon off on a happy note.

https://www.thenewinnshardlowpub.co.uk/

As most of you know, our reason for heading up the Erewash to Langley Mill is the imminent arrival of my first grandchild. As most of you also know, babies come when they want, and not to suit your plans.

We had an added problem that Hallam Fields lock on the Erewash has been closed on and off for most of the summer due to low water. It was closed when we reached Trent Lock, but reopened after the bank holiday, so we really needed to get past it as quick as possible.

We didn’t make the best start on the Tuesday, as we overlay more than usual. Then we needed to get a pump out at Shardlow Marina, so it was 1pm before we actually started our journey on the Erewash. Then the heavens opened and the rain didn’t stop. It was miserable and slow going, with low water and lots of weed hindering our progress, but we managed to get through the problem lock and moor near the Gallows pub as usual, but it was 8.30pm by this time, so no pub for us.

Next morning seemed brighter, we joined Music Weaver 2 and its crew of 3 in the first lock, then the heavens opened again, I am truly p*****d off with the weather this year.

Luckily the rain stopped, and the sun came out before the next lock and things looked brighter.

There was more water, but the weed still continued to be a problem. The Captain heaved a sigh of relief when we got through the final lock, into the basin and on to the Cromford Canal, but there was even a problem with low water here. They were pumping water up from the pound below the basin to rectify the problem, and this took all afternoon and into the night.

Last lock into Langley Mill basin

We moored by the water point (this is allowed here but not usually the done thing) joining 4 other moored boats. The place the Captain really wanted to be was opposite the water point. The boat there was only staying 1 night, so we intended to move over when they left, but the boat in front beat us to it. This caused a few issues with the solar panels as we were under a tree, but not a lot we could do. So the singing kettle had to come out, always good to have a back up.

Well now we were in the basin until something happens (we may have to overstay the 7 days, but I think we have a good enough excuse, don’t you?)

First thing the Captain did after a day of rest was take the flexible coupling off the prop shaft, it was not in a good way. The round bolt holes were no longer round and look more rugby ball shaped, and the actual body of the coupling was beaten and battered. He ordered a new one to be delivered to Langley Mill boat yard. Dan and Vicky who run the yard are great, and both had popped over to have a chat when we arrived, so it was no problem having it delivered there.

https://langleymillboatyard.co.uk/

The knackered coupling

We did however have another issue, when the seal had gone, water had leaked into the bottom of the engine bay and mixed with some oil there, this meant we couldn’t simply pump the water out, you don’t want oil in the canal. So we needed some containers to pump the oil water mix into, so we can dispose of it responsibly at a later date. The Captain solved this by going to the local car wash, were they had some 25ltr drums which had held cleaning fluid, perfect.

Our first visitors came on Friday, Sandy and John, I was at school with Sandy and we had kept in touch after. John, we had never met, they had only been together a couple of years. We had a lovely afternoon catching up, we went to the pub and I did a buffet for tea. They had never been on a narrowboat before, and unfortunately we weren’t able to take them on the planned cruise due to our engine problems, the lack of water and the weed. But there will be another time I am sure.

I invite my old workmate Chris to come for Sunday lunch, and he readily accepted, but then there was a change of plan, as he had heard the Red Arrows were meant to be performing at Chatsworth on the Sunday at 6pm. So I cooked some of the dinner, he picked us up and took us to his static caravan not far from Chatsworth, where we cooked the rest of dinner between us, sat out on his decking to eat, and then headed to Chatsworth. He hadn’t however got his information quite right, the Sparrows were just doing a fly over rather than a display. We got there just in time to see them shoot by. It was a lovely afternoon.

Now we are playing the waiting game for 2 reasons, the birth of my grandson Dylan, due on the 7^th, and the Erewash canal is shut again due to low water. Vandalism again if CRT is to be believed.

That’s all for now folks

OUR OWN AIRSHOW

 

Torksey to Trent Lock 56 miles, 12 locks, 1 river.

We left Torksey a little later than we thought. This is all down to there being enough water to get over the cill in the lock, and the lockees control when you can go.

Once on the River Trent again we headed off to Cromwell lock for the night. The Captain had been concerned about strange noises coming from the engine, and whilst I took a turn at steering, he had a look down into the engine compartment. Luckily he spotted the problem immediately, the seal on the prop shaft had come loose, unfortunately this allowed water to enter the bilge, not a lot but it still needed sorting. Of course, being the very clever fellow he is, he had a spare, but obviously couldn’t fit it whilst we were cruising.

We got to Cromwell lock without issue, and locked up. We managed to find a spot on the pontoons for the night. This did entail some excellent steering by the Captain, as we had to squeeze into the space on the pontoon down the side of another moored boat. The Captain of the moored boat popped his head out and congratulated him on his great driving.

Next day we headed to Newark where the Captain replaced the seal and hoped that was that.

My phone decided to throw a wobbley and had me living in Chile for a while, I got this phone in June, and never have been 100% happy with it, but this was the strangest thing it had done. It returned to normal eventually.

As a treat after replacing the seal we headed into Newark for a pint (of course). Firstly The Prince Rupert, a decent dark on in here, and then Just Beer, and not disappointed again. We met another boater there who informed us that one of the locks ahead of us might be closing the next day. The Captain checked the stoppage notices on the CRT website but couldn’t find anything, so we decided to wait and see what happened next day.

At the first lock (Newark Town Lock) we found out that Hazelford lock wasn’t closed, but there was no lock keeper on, so we would have to operate the lock ourselves. Not a real problem, I have done this type of lock before. The biggest issue is getting on and off the boat.

At Hazelford, getting off wasn’t an issue and I went up to see what was occurring. There were a lot of boats moored in the lock entrance but no one seemed to be using the lock. Then the noise started, the booming sound that can only belong to the Typhoon, also known as the Eurofighter. I love these aeroplanes, and this one was giving me my own display above the lock.

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

The Typhoon

The lock is huge and seemed to take an age to be ready for the Captain to enter. As I got the Captain into the lock the display finished and I was sad, but I soon cheered up when a Spitfire and Hurricane came into view and started a display all of their own.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/

Spitfire Below, Hurricane on Top

As this finished the lock was ready for me to release the Captain, and try to get back on the good ship Avalon Two. Due to the moored boats the Captain couldn’t get to the side and let me come down one of the ladders. Eventually we came up with a plan. A large working barge was moored at the end and I could get on to that using a ladder, then I had to walk round the big open empty bit in the middle until I reached were the Captain was waiting, and then a big step down on to our boat. I wasn’t happy, but had to put on my big girl pants and bite the bullet and do it. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I wouldn’t like to do it again.

As we set off a biplane started its display, followed by the F35 Lightning, which is the replacement for the Harrier.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/lightning-f35b/

We made it to Gunthorpe but there was no room on the pontoons, so we ended up mooring on the wall. Difficult for me to get off so we had a quiet night in. As we moored the last display of the day was The Red Arrows, or fondly known by us as the Sparrows. What a great finish to the day. The flying display was for the National Air and Space Camp being held at RAF Syerston.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/red-arrows/displays/

The Red Arrows

Next hop to Nottingham. We moored near Curry,s again and caught the bus into the city centre, I needed birthday cards. We had a pint in the Bell again before trying Wonder Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant. We both had the Bun Hue Pho, which is a spicy soup noodle dish with mixed meat and vegetables. It was very spicy but so tasty.

https://www.wonderpho.co.uk/

Next port of call was Trent Lock for the bank holiday weekend, the Steamboat had entertainment on so we decided to stop a few days there. On the way to Trent Lock we discovered that the new seal had also come loose, this made the Captain think there was more to the problem than he first thought. He managed to tap it back into place. We moored on the wall just by the lock and next day the Captain investigated more thoroughly than before, and came to the conclusion that it was a combination of the flexible coupling on the prop shaft, and one of the engine mounts had dropped due to a nut coming loose. He tightened the nut and decided to wait until we got to Langley Mill before removing the coupling to see the state of it.

We headed off to The Steamboat on the cold Sunday afternoon, we very happy with the duo that was on, The Sugar Tree, they performed an eclectic mix of songs from all over the world. Although there were only a boy and girl performing, it turned out that the actual Sugar Tree band has about 5 or 6 members who perform together or separately. It was a great afternoon, if a bit chilly, but the rain held off.

https://www.facebook.com/thesugartree.kaycorominas/

Wildlife, kingfishers have been in short supply this year and the Captain had spotted more than me, and this was the case on this occasion, but I did managed to spot a Great Spotted Woodpecker with its distinctive red white and black plumage. It has really been the year of the Little Egret, and we spotted 5 of these lovely snowy birds sat together on the side of the Trent.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

That’s all for now folk’s

AND REPEAT

A misty morning on the Trent

 Doncaster to Lincoln 59 miles, 5 locks 3 canals and 2 rivers.

We enjoyed visiting Doncaster, its a lovely lively town with a few good pubs and a Cosmos. On Saturday after we had moored up and had a rest we headed into town to find we had missed Doncaster Pride, but there were still plenty of colourful people milling about, and most of the pubs had joined in with gusto. We decided to try The Hallcross, the Captain could see from his real ale finder app, they had York Chocolate stout on by Rudgate brewery. The pub was busy and we decided to sit outside, but it was so windy we only had the one in there, and thought we would try the Red Lion a Wetherspoons, hoping it would be quieter. It was not to be, we managed to find a seat, but the pub was heaving, so just the one in there too. Then it was off to Cosmos, an all you can eat world buffet. We really like Cosmos, and were not disappointed on this visit at all, the choice and quality of the food was excellent.

https://www.hallcrossdoncaster.co.uk/

https://www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/restaurants/doncaster

We stayed put next day and went to the Draughtmans micro pub on platform 3b at Doncaster railway station. It is housed in what was originally a ladies waiting room, with beautiful tiles and even better beer. The Captain was very happy, with Small Black Flowers by Pentrich Brewery and a good pint of ABK lager for me. Then back to the boat for a Sunday roast with all the trimmings.

https://www.thedraughtsmanalehouse.co.uk/

Monday and the rain was back, so just a short hop on our way back to Keadby and the mighty River Trent

On our way to Thorne next day, as we approached one of the few locks on this stretch there seemed to be a queue. I jumped off to see what was occurring. Bramwith lock is unusual, in that it has 3 sets of gates and can be used for short boats, or by opening the middle gates large boats. There were 2 narrowboats waiting, Chrisden and Outlaws Dream, a large sea going boat Amyjay, us and then a small yoghurt pot turned up. The 2 narrowboats had tried to get in the short lock, but found that one of them was too long, so needed to open the middle gates and use the full length of the lock. Well not only did they get in, we all got in, so that’s 5 boats in one lock. That’s the way to do it !!!

We stopped at Thorne on the visitors pontoons for the night and headed for the Canal Tavern once again.

Back to Keadby next day as we had a very early start on Thursday. We met NB Derwent Lass at one of the swing bridges, they seemed to be struggling to understand how the swing bridges worked. The ones on this stretch tend to be manual, but you need to use your BW key to release the locks on the road barriers and bridge locking mechanism, I went along and explained the process. They told me they were heading out of Keadby next day to join the Chesterfield canal at West Stockworth lock. However they stopped at the next bridge for lunch never to be seen again.

Thursday morning came and I groaned when the alarm went off at 5am, but we needed to be up and off. The lock keeper was ready for us at 5.45. We we were joined in the lock by Chrisden and Outlaws Dream once again. Out on to the tidal Trent and we took the lead as we have done this trip a few times now. 28 miles to Torskey, and we kept an eye on the boats behind us to make sure we didn’t lose them. It took us a respectable 4 ½ hours, and we were able to lock up and onto the Fossdyke canal and head for Saxilby. The other 2 boats were staying on the pontoons below the lock and going to Cromwell next morning. We got to Saxilby and moored on the newly refurbished visitors moorings. We had a plan. Saxilby has one of the best fish and chip shops on the system, and a couple of decent pubs, so that was tea sorted. Then surprisingly Chrisden and Outlaws Dream turned up and tried to wind, but the canal wasn’t wide enough at this point, so they moored up in front of us. After a discussion they headed off up the canal until they found somewhere to wind and then they were back, just before we headed to the pub The Anglers. After a couple of pints we headed back calling at the chippy on the way. There was no sign of them when we got back.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047626485073

After a quiet night we headed for Lincoln, and instead of going through the Glory Hole we moored on the visitors moorings near Brayford Pools. Glory Hole is the nickname of High Bridge, the oldest medieval bridge with houses on it in the UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Bridge,_Lincoln

We had arranged to meet our friend Phil Hancox and his new girlfriend Karen at the Cardinals Hat. Phil lives on his boat like us, Karen still has a house, but seems to be taking to the boating like a duck to water. We had a great time and hope to see them again.

The Cardinals Hat is a great real ale pub, and the Captain was very happy with Small Black Flowers stout by Pentrich Brewery (again), and Mena Dhu a Cornish stout from St Austell Brewery.

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

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

For once we actually arrived somewhere when something was going off (we are usually a week early or a week late). It was Lincoln Pride. A very lively, colourful noisy and well attended event. We watched the parade and when it had finished decided to head to the market hall, only to find it was undergoing refurbishment. Shame but we did pick up a lovely piece of pork for our Sunday roast from a local butcher.

https://lincolnpride.co.uk/home

We spent a quiet afternoon, and surprisingly for us didn’t venture out for a pint.

Sunday and it was D Day for the Lionesses, and we were ready to watch them in plenty of time, well the Captain was watching, I was cooking with one eye on the match.

We all know it didn’t finish the way we would have liked, but they did their very best, and you can’t ask for more than that.

After the match we headed back to Torskey. We were booked back out on the Trent next morning. To give the |Captain a break I took over steering for a while, the canal here is straight and wide, just the way I like it. It was sunny and to help the Captain lent me his baseball cap, but a strong gust of wind swept it off my head and in to a watery grave. Oooops. Will have a buy him a new one.

That’s all for now folks