My Dad

One of the reasons I had to dash away from Braunston was to get down to south Wales for my Dad's birthday. He's 92 not out!
You could say he's led an unremarkable life. Apart from his war service he's never lived more than a mile from where he was born,  has been happily married to my Mum (86) for 64 years and they still live in the ex-Council house they moved into after it was built in 1953.
Apart from a spell of unemployment after the factory he worked at closed down in the 1960s he's always held a steady - if unexciting - job.
But I think he's a remarkable man: Having never enjoyed perfect health at any stage of his life, he finds himself at 92 with one working lung, a dodgy heart, severely restricted vision, deafness and a number of other medical problems as well as the usual ailments associated with old age. But does it get him down? Certainly not!  Mentally he's as bright as a button and he maintains an optimistic outlook on life, with his only regret being the vision loss that resulted in him having to give up driving a few years back. He still dresses up smartly to go out, still has a sense of humour and he and mum are obviously still very much in love. 
All of the character traits I am happy with in my own make up - patience, tolerance, being satisfied with what I've got, come from him and those parts of me I don't like quite so much self-evidently don't.
So, "Happy Birthday" Dad. And here's to next year even though it will clash with the show at Braunston!

Another Mad Dash and Missed Opportunities

It wasn't meant to be like this. This year I was going to have plenty of time to take things easy. I was to spend the summer meandering along the cut, calling in at events such as the BCN Challenge and the Braunston Working Boat Rally as the mood took me; returning home for a few days as and when required or when I felt like it. Then we decided to move house. We decided to sell and buy as two separate operations - moving into rented property in between. It certainly made the actual selling and buying much much easier but it's turned the move into a long-drawn out process in which significant events are happening at the most inconvenient times.


I never got to the Marathon Challenge and only got to Braunston by dint of a four day race from Norbury, which may have been enjoyable but certainly wasn't what I'd originally had in mind!  Then, I'd hoped to spend the weekend at Braunston and meet up with some of the other bloggers whose blogs I've been following and who sometimes read this rubbish in return. But it was not to be. I did see Sarah aboard Chertsey (and recognised Bones amongst the cargo) but they were stuck in the middle of the morning boat parade which lasted until late afternoon. Herbie was moored not far away from me, but I didn't see Neil at all and I didn't realise that "Halfie" was aboard Shadow, which is a shared-ownership boat. A few bloggers seem to have made their way to the beer tent on Saturday night, but I couldn't stand the noise that passed for entertainment (I don't actually need entertainment to entice me to drink beer!). Then on the Sunday, when half the boating blogosphere seems to have been there I had to leave on another marathon dash back to Norbury. Getting away soon after 8.30 I headed up the Oxford Canal to Hillmorton,where I took a short break to allow the two boats in front and one behind to all get out of the way, before making my way down the three locks there. I stopped at Newbold for lunch and to top-up the suncream (some medication I'm on makes me extremely sensitive to sunlight and also means no shorts or tee-shirts for me even in a heatwave). I was at Hawkesbury Junction by 5.45 where I put the kettle on whilst in the queue for the stop lock and made the tea while I was in it. After a perfect rounding of the 180 degree turn onto the Coventry Canal I was complimented by a spectator saying "You've obviously done that before!" (Although it's easy in a mere 50 footer) and then it was off towards Nuneaton, which didn't look as bad as I had remembered, making a good three-and-a half miles an hour all the way except for a stretch just beyonl Marston Junction where I came up behind a very slow boat whose steerer never checked behind and who obviously had no idea I was there until someone on the bow looked back and saw me. Even then all she did was move over slightly and I was left to assume that she wanted me to pass. My cheery wave and "Thank You" was ignored, but perhaps she was just too embarrassed at not having noticed me or perhaps she couldn't actually steer and converse at the same time?


I had to slow down myself shortly afterwards when the setting sun was shining directly in my face and I suddenly realised that I couldn't actually see the front of the boat let alone have any idea whether there were any other boats, either oncoming or tied up, or even whether the canal went straight on  or not!
Eventually, I tied up at Hartshill at 8.40pm just over 12 hours after leaving Braunston, 27 miles and 4 locks away. Sorry for the lack of photos to illustrate this post: I just didn't have time to take any!

Six Boats in the Basin

Over the years I've watched the slow progress of the restoration of the Droitwich canals from the window of the Hereford to Birmingham train as it crosses the Barge Canal just outside Droitwich Spa station and then runs parallel to it through Vines Park. In the last twelve months or so the most obvious sign of work in progress has been the arrival of pontoons in Netherwich Basin, for permanent and visitor moorings.

When this photo was taken almost twelve months ago work had only just started. But the Droitwich Barge Canal,  which links the town to the River Severn, opened on 20 June and the Junction Canal, which completes the through route to the Worcester & Birmingham, re-opens this weekend and I was pleased to see, as I passed through on the train today, no fewer than six narrowboats in the basin. Ironically, I'm due to take the Birmingham train from Hereford for probably the last time on Friday - the day of the opening ceremony -  as we are just about to move house and home to Lancaster, but I'm pleased to have seen the canals open before I leave.

More Photos from Braunston

Don't they look great when they're loaded?

Historic boat - historic bike.

Star of the show: radio-controlled model narrowboat "Eagle" complete with smoke and  engine noises!

Total Gridlock

This was the main line of the Grand Union Canal outside Braunston marina this lunchtime. Some say 110, others 120 but the consensus is that over 100 historic working boats are gathered at Braunston this weekend. The first of today's parades, when boats run en-mass from the marina to the triangular junction at Braunston Turn and back started at 11.00 but boats were still making their way back to their moorings at 16.15 - over two hours after the second parade should have started.

Things were not exactly helped when steamer President, hauling its butty Kildare, ran aground almost opposite the marina entrance.

After a considerable delay, Callisto was dispatched to rescue them. The first attempt at a snatch resulted only in a broken rope - which snapped with a crack that could be heard across the marina; but a second, gentler attempt was more successful. 
Later, the Narrowboat Trust's Nuneaton, also hailing a butty  - Brighton - got stemmed up on the way back from the turn and after all the crew's efforts to refloat her had come to naught, also had to be rescued by another boat.

How much these incidents contributed to the delays is unclear - and it could just be that at over a hundred boats the event has outgrown it's site. It was all good fun for us spectators, but I felt sorry for the crews of the pleasure boats held up, sometimes for hours, and even some of the working boat owners appeared to be getting fed up - and some were seen to be leaving early.

The Boats Arrive

The Historic Working Boat Gathering takes place this weekend and if you are a working boat fan then Braunston is the only place to be!
Boats have been arriving throughout the day. Highlight of the morning was a convoy of eight or nine - pairs and single motors - coming in down the Oxford Canal and passing Starcross on her mooring. All I had to do was stand in the hatches and watch them go by. I was so entranced that I completely forgot to make a note of their names or take any photos, but I did recognise David Ray from Norbury Wharf steering one of the pairs.
Later I did manage to get these shots of newly-restored Greenock approaching Braunston,

and this distant view of former steamer, Monarch just about to pass Starcross' mooring.

By mid-afternoon boats were four-deep on the mooring outside the marina.

and even as I write this at 8pm more boats are still arriving.

Worcester to Braunston

Nick's Canal Planner suggests that from the River Severn at Worcester to the Grand Union at Braunston - via Banbury - should take about 75 hours. With a day to spare and a free pass, I thought I'd see if I could get back to Starcross any quicker by bus!
Via Banbury isn't the most direct or the quickest way even by bus (that would be via Leamington Spa and Rugby) but it was a super ride. Out of the Severn valley at Worcester and then following the Avon through Pershore and Evesham as far as Stratford-upon-Avon, where there was time for lunch on a bench overlooking Bancroft basin.

Bancroft Basin, Stratford Canal

I'd forgotten how pleasant and interesting these towns could be and was sorry that the timetables only allowed a stop of 30 minutes or so at each, although if I'd been driving all I would have seen of them would have been their bypasses.

From Stratford we left the waterways and climbed up to the edge of the Cotswolds at, naturally, "Edge Hill" before dropping down through a series of implausibly pretty villages - each far too affluent to provide many bus passengers - and arriving in Banbury, where the bus drops you right beside the famous cross.

Banbury Cross with its cock horses. No sign of the fair lady!

At Banbury I joined the lengthy route to Rugby via Daventry, which as I hadn't read the timetable fully (not that there was one on display at the terminus) surprised me by taking me over the Oxford Canal at Cropredy, before eventully depositing me at Braunston church from where I could walk along the field path to the canal.

All the buses were modern, clean, comfortable, well-driven and on time! I was also glad to see that at least one of the bus industry's traditional jokes is still alive and kicking: The Evesham to Stratford bus has a tight timetable that requires some spirited driving with a double-decker along hilly and winding roads. At Stratford a female passenger approached the driver as she got off and said "That was a scary run!". "Scary", said the driver, who was obviously waiting for the opportunity, "Scary, You should have been sat where I was missus!"

And Another Thing (about Glasson Dock)

Possibly the most interesting thing about Glasson Dock is that it is still a working commercial port. Despite being situated several miles up the narrow, twisting and tidal River Lune and despite the proximity of much bigger ports such as Heysham it still handles regular seagoing commercial traffic.

Ships don't actually enter the old dock any more but are unloaded (I think it's all inbound trade) on the river quay - a most unexpected sight in these days of mega-docks and container ships.

Commercial shipping at Glasson Dock

The port of Glasson was originally developed to replace that at Lancaster, four miles further upstream, but even with a direct canal link and an available disused wharf in the city centre it is, sadly, too much to hope that goods will ever be taken to the city by water again.

The Lock, the Dock and the Swing Bridge

As well as having a propensity to fail at inconvenient moments, the sea-lock at Glasson Dock is notable for one other thing: it's one of only a very few canal locks that are spanned by a bridge.

The bridge is fairly substantial: the road it carries is a bus route and road traffic is controlled by traffic lights. (Those are the bottom gates of the lock by the way).
There's another of these bridge/lock combinations on the soon to be re-opened Droitwich Junction Canal, where it joins the River Salwarp, although this is only a footbridge.

There's a third, much grander affair on the New Junction Canal at Sykehouse lock, where the bridge and lock mechanisms are controlled by the same automated  programme and where I once set the very lengthy operating procedure irrevocably in motion seconds before a vehicle appeared wishing to cross.


Can anyone think of any other examples?

Dock Lock Shock and a few Floating Vessels

That's how the Lancashire Evening Post reported the failure of the sea-lock at the end of the Glasson branch of the Lancaster Canal that has marooned several sea-going yachts both in the marina waiting to get OUT and outside it trying to get IN.

The faulty lock at Glasson Dock

Yacht shippers with holidays booked and trips planned to places like the Scottish islands were not amused but Waterscape now reports that "temporary fix" has been found.

Guardianista!

Hey, After reading it for 40 years I've had a letter published in "The Guardian" - the proper Guardian that is, not the online version. You probably won't have seen it as it was "only" in the Money section yesterday (18 June). It concerned my favourite topic - transport fares and how to get a bargain without actually breaking the law. The letter was in response to an article in last week's Money section that you can read here. 
I wasn't responding to the main thrust of the article - that someone had been threatened with prosecution for using his wife's Oyster Card that, due to her circumstances, allowed her discounted travel to which he wasn't entitled, but to the fact that ANY Oystercard that includes a travelcard cannot be transferred between users.


This doesn't seem to make sense as only one person can use the card at a time and a "travelcard" is merely a bulk advance purchase of travel - the equivalent of buying a tankful of petrol for your car rather than putting in just enough at a time for each journey you make. In many parts of the country bus companies explicity allow - and even encourage - transferable use so why should London be any different?


The Guardian doesn't seem to publish Letters to its Money section-as opposed to mere "comments" - on its website so I can't link to it from here but my argument was that if Transport for London was in charge of petrol retailing it would, presumably, require all cars to be fitted with a separate petrol tank for each user and would carry out spot checks to ensure drivers weren't using petrol that someone else had paid for - and I think that's a fair analogy. 


Back to boats next time!

Droitwich Barge Canal Open

New moorings under construction in Droitwich earlier this year.

The Droitwich Barge Canal, linking the River Severn to the town, re-opens on Monday (20 June). Dear old "Waterscape" announced the re-opening as a "stoppage" on the Staffs & Worcester Canal as well as a "Stoppage" on the Worcester & Birmingham, neither of which have any connection with the new stretch. Despite the Barge Canal having it's own page on the stoppages section of the website it's not mentioned there at all!
There's no word on the Junction Canal, that completes the through link to the Worcester & Birmingham, but with the official opening of both routes set for 1st July it can't be far behind.

Where the Grass is Greener

The Braunston to Rugby bus diverts off the main road to serve Onley and Rye Hill prisons. At the bus stop which serves both establishments a young man got on. It's wrong to be judgemental,but I don't think he wanted to buy a return ticket.
After the bus left the prison grounds and rejoined the main road he looked around him and said: "Cor, Its all fields round here, all fields and farms!"  


 None of the other passengers had commented on the scenery, but I suppose it depends on what you're comparing it with!

Journey's End

With only eight miles and three locks between me and Braunston, today was always going to be a doddle. I had a lie in and even found time to polish the brasses before setting off at 10.00. At Calcutt locks I teamed up with a local boat that had just come out of the marina and so had an easy passage, hardly having to get off the boat. As usual, the other crew were very helpful towards a single-hander.
The stretch of the Oxford / Grand Union canal between Napton Junction and Braunston is one of my favourites on the whole system. That's probably because of the memories of my first canal trips in the 1970s, where a combination of a shallow cut and inexperience with a 70-footer had us aground more than once on the Shuckborough bends. But I also find the gently-rolling Warwickshire countryside, the lack of high hedges and consequent views and wide-open skies particularly appealing. I tried hard to find a photo-opportunity to convey this feeling, but this is the best I could manage.

Approaching Braunston from Napton Junction

By early afternoon I was tying up in Braunston on a 14-day mooring at which I can legally stay until the Historic Working Boat Rally and which is about two miles nearer the action than I managed last year!

Stockton Locks

Finally I'm able to slow down a bit and today's run was the short hop from Long Itchington up to the Boat Inn at the top of the Stockton Brook flight.
For the first time I had no one to share with, but that didn't matter as it gave me the chance to hone my broad-lock, single-handed skills!

Stockton Brook Locks - and no one else in sight.

My way of working is this: Open one gate, preferably on the right hand side to eliminate any danger of a rope fouling the roof vent for the water-heater. Take boat in slowly and give a touch of reverse before stepping off with the centre-rope and running up the steps to bring it to a halt using a strapping post. Close gate and open one top paddle gently and in stages to minimise turbulence. When lock is nearly full make sure boat is loosely but securely tied up and go ahead to set the next lock. Take boat out, stopping in the mouth of the lock to close the top gate - and repeat until done. This way of working avoids any use of lock ladders, minimises the number of times you cross the lock and is still reasonably quick.

Starcross in one lock whilst I go on to set the next.

I did get some help when I passed a downhill boat, although as they left both bottom gates open it was a mixed blessing and the eight locks from the Blue Lias to the Boat Inn took just two hours - an average of 15 minutes a lock - which I was quite pleased with given most of them were "against" me.

I have fond memories of the Boat Inn at the top of the locks from a time in my hire-boating days when an unscheduled stoppage somewhere down the locks meant we had to spend a couple of hours drinking some of the best-kept beer (Draught Bass) that I've had before or since; but it's glory days are behind it and like so many rural pubs it's mainly a food pub now, so I contented myself with a single pint before returning to the boat for the rest of the evening.

The Bascote Shuffle

A timeshare boat was approaching just as I left my mooring at the Cape, heading for the locks. The crew tured out to have had some experience and it was a pleasure to share the two locks with them before I stopped for breakfast outside Tesco in Warwick. I did need a few bits and pieces of shopping but decided that the chances of the a) finding what I wanted and b) choosing between the ninety-eight varieties of everything meant that it would be quicker to go on to Leamington and use the Co-Op there.
The timeshare boat had also stopped and again came along just as I was setting off. This meant we could share the nine locks from Radford up to Bascote top. I was going to stop at Fosse wharf to empty my cassette but the chance of sharing locks with a competent crew was too good to pass up.
The top lock at Bascote is a staircase and as our two boats approached the bottom a single hire-boat appeared at the top. This gave me a chance to show off and do something I'd always wanted to do since reading about it years ago. It is, of course, perfectly possible for two uphill boats to cross a downhill boat in a staircase but it didn't seem to have occurred to the other crews. I was having some trouble explaining how it was done but  enjoyed seeing realisation dawn on their faces as we completed the manoeuvre!

Doing the Bascote Shuffle

The Marathon Continues

Despite yesterday's efforts we still had some way to go to reach our target of getting down the Hatton flight before Bernard had to go home, so it was another early start at 06.50. We quickly came upon our first obstacle at Bridge 26, which is a manual liftbridge.

Lift bridge 26 on the northern Stratford Canal

No problem with a crew of two, but when I came through here on my own shortly after buying Starcross I made a complete pig's ear of things and succeeded only in damaging the cratch when I came into contact with the bridge deck. I've treated such bridges with the greatest of respect ever since!  Then came the flight of 19 of the Lapworth locks, taking us 2h 40mins, before turing onto the Grand Union at Kingswood Junction. Bernard had once had an excrutiating passage of Hatton, stuck behind a know-all boater who, in fact, knew very little, so he was very keen to press on. We arrived at the top of the flight at 11.50 and were joined by Namur from Shaprness and her knowledgeable crew for an almost trouble-free descent in 2h 45mins. 

Waiting for the accident report to be filled in on the Hatton flight.

There was one brief hold up about half-way down. It was reported that a lady had fallen off her boat and that BW were in attendance. We were asked to wait whilst the "accident report form" was completed! I can't say I've ever come across this before but apparently she was OK after all. Sorry to say that much hilarity was occasioned to bystanders and boat crews when it was revealed that the boat from which she had fallen was "Double Fracture" This is a blogging boat and the lady in question was presumably Marlene, but don't seem to have blogged about this yet.

Bernard and I shared the work between us: he did the lock-work and I steered - but that was his choice!

He was still keen to push on when we got to the bottom, but I'd had enough (steering is tiring too, you know) and we called it a day at the Cape of Good Hope at 15.00, having covered another 10 miles and 40 locks in just over eight hours. By early evening I was sufficiently recovered to take a walk into Warwick. I set off, but a bus came along just as I got to the stop, so I used my new bus pass instead!

My Own Marathon Challenge

I wasn't able to participate in this year's BCN Marathon Challenge, where contestants try and cover as much of the more obscure parts of the BCN as they can in 24 hours plus a six-hour break, but today has been almost as exhausting!
Of course, we survived the night at "unsuitable" Autherley Junction with the only incident of note being Bernard finding a £5 note on the towpath in the morning. I hope it was dropped by the angler who came past with his fishing trolly bumping along the towpath at 03.30!
We'd agreed an early start and let go at 05:45 starting the climb up the Wolverhampton 21 ten minutes later. Below the third lock we passed the very surprised crew of local boat "Solstice Bell" who were up and about; but still tied up and without their engine running they couldn't really complain when we took the lock. We did agree not to re-set the anti-vandal locks to save them a bit of time and I did raise a few bottom paddles for them until I realised they were catching us up. The ascent took 2h 54m, which isn't my fastest time, but we did have a couple of low pounds to contend with. Then it was straight on to Tipton along a very weedy Main Line that required three weedhatch visits. Between Wolverhampton and Birmingham I'm usually tempted to use the Old Main Line or some of the loops such as Soho or Icknield Port and I realised that I hadn't just blasted straight along the New Main Line for ages, so that's what we did.

Bromford Junction: The New Main Line continues to the right

We stopped briefly in Birmingham in the early afternoon and then carried on through the Worcester Bar and on to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. Crossing the new aqueduct at Selly Oak we soon arrived at Kings Norton Junction - a very deceptive junction for boaters turning left onto the Stratford Canal. 

Kings Norton Junction: The Stratford Canal goes off immediately after the bridge

Bernard hadn't been this way before and was almost caught out, but made a splendid recovery, taking Starcross round in fine style despite my telling him at one stage that he'd never make it.

Although we'd now been on the go for almost twelve hours, there was no thought of stopping. Bernard can only be with me for one more day and we aim to get down the Hatton flight on the Grand Union before I'm left to carry on single-handed. In fact, we covered a further ten miles eventually stopping at Hockley Heath at 20.50 having covered 31 miles and 24 locks in a 15 hour day.

Work in Progress

I arrived at Norbury Junction to find work on the moorings progressing, with Steve on his mini-digger having reached exactly as far as Starcross.

It had been an unremarkable journey except for the fact that for the first time I was able to use my new bus pass to travel to the boat, saving me all of £2.50 (not even the price of a pint!).
Given the proximity of the "work in progress" I was happy to get away and move off down to the wharf for 88 lites of diesel and a copy of Waterways World (if you buy only diesel on a debit card, Norbury Wharf charge you an extra quid!). Then it was down to Gnosall to meet Bernard, my crew for the next few days, off  the Stafford bus and then, after a quick trip to the shop for supplies, off again heading south.
Our goal is Braunston, where the annual historic working boat gathering takes place at the end of the month and as Bernard is only available for three days we mean to cover as much ground as possible in that time. It was three o' clock by the time we got away from Gnosall and as we wanted to go as far as possible, stopping at Wheaton Aston or Brewood was not an option. However, there wasn't time to go up the Wolverhampton locks, so that left Autherley Junction -" not recommended for mooring" by British Waterways and  the last time I stopped there I was immediately warned by a local not to stay the night!
Well, I happen to think that the dangers of stopping at "unsuitable" places are usually overstated - so Autherley Junction it is - to see whether we survive, tune in tomorrow!

Bomb Alley  Autherley Junction

It'll be Lovely When it's Finished

I've spent most of last week in our new house in Lancaster - knocking out fireplaces, stripping walls (and finding damp!) buying new furniture - our old stuff is too big or too knackered-  and seeing various men about woodburners, electrics (bad news, that one) and kitchens! I did, however, manage a couple of days on the way up north at Norbury to visit a rather neglected Starcross.
And what did I find? - Well, Simon at Norbury Wharf Ltd has been promising improvements to our moorings for some time now and he's finally got round to it. The current arrangements leave a lot to be desired:

The towpath is narrow and uneven and the trolley we used for carrying heavy stuff to and from the boat was wrecked in weeks and all there is no tie-up to are some bits of old angle-iron loosely embedded in the path, so  I was glad to see that work had begun.
Of course, as with any renovation (such as a house in Lancaster, for example) there is pain to go through before the pleasure. It didn't help that the two days before my visit had been unusually wet for this year and what greeted me was rather more reminiscent of the Somme in 1916 than the next photo, that was taken after then path had had chance to dry out a little, suggests.

Norbury Wharf's blog has been keeping us up to date with progress, but the promised photos have yet to arrive, so I hope David and Simon won't mind me posting this. There will have been progress since it was taken and I'm sure it "will all be lovely when its finished!"

Going Continuously Cruising

Another local boater has told me he's giving up his mooring and going what he calls "continuously cruising". Well, it makes sense: He and his partner both have jobs near the canal and don't live too far away so moving the boat from time to time won't be a problem. Permanent moorings are expensive, so why pay for one when you can use  all those nice, free visitor moorings instead!