BACK TO THE START

Welford Lock

We have not noticed much in the way of Canal traffic on our move along the Grand Union Canal -Leicester Section. In fact I wonder, in Canal time if boat congestion ever happens? Thoughtlessness, yes, in the shape of 2 privately owned Narrowboats moored on the Grand Union on the towpath side of a ‘winding’ hole. Am I the pot calling the kettle black in a small world? Yes but no but..because we were considerate with our encroaching mooring on the Winding Hole, the night before, at the end of the  Welford Arm. We knew there would be no traffic that night and we had cruised off at ‘sparrowfart with the plan of being the first, and as it happened the only boat waiting at the Welford Lock.

Welford Arm meets Grand Union. Turn left!

We moved slowly at ‘tic’ speed most of the way from Welford to Crick, where we spent the night. I wanted to have my birthday in more social surroundings and we were headed Braunston bound to moor up for a while which would, also, give us close access to our Caravan which has the remainder of our life’s laundry. That’s another story.

Navigator luxury

Crick is known, by Canal boaters, for its annual Boat Show and Waterways Festival held every May Spring Bank Holiday weekend. We bought tickets to visit this Boat Show while we were dreaming of having a boat built for us. We drove to Crick, that year, and it was dreadfully wet without even going in the water. Not really our cup of tea but a good visual informational recce to check out engines, boat paraphernalia and to source out suppliers as well as identify other solutions which wouldn’t empty the Bank in our vision of a future DB. I know some boats are eye candy and flavour of the month but I believe that with time, patience and the skills of my husband we have come up with the bespoke winner for us in DolcieBlue.

Crick Canal side, for visitor mooring, is a cyber hole for internet access and with our, almost, daily need for internet connection we were ready to move on almost as soon as we tied our ropes. Awaking, next day, to the early morning bird song I got up and made a pot of tea. While it was brewing I walked Della for her morning constitutional along the straight towpath. Della is a joy throughout the day, always more than ready for action and we are rewarded with her zest for the small things in life. Once her business was completed she hot pawed it back to DB then ran back to me then back to DB and so it continued in rapidly decreasing lengths. Doggy breakfast for her and the final check on the Boat headlamp for us, in the form of the mobile halogen torch temporarily in place for the two tunnels on our route that day.

Crick Tunnel approach

Engine running and mooring ropes coiled up we were off the short distance to pass through the 1528yd leaky Crick Tunnel. The tunnel is wide enough for 2 Narrowboats to pass. It is likely boats will make light contact. It feels good to meet the light at the end of the tunnel.

Under 2 miles from the Tunnel portal the Watford Locks appear. There we were met by C&RT Volunteer John who facilitated our happy descent of the 7 Watford Locks of which 4 locks make up a staircase. John worked with us and had confidence that we could manage without being overbearing with his help. He reiterated the painted paddle workings that applied at the Foxton Locks “Red before White”. I told him the colour combination was a different story with Wine and it goes like “Red after White, you’re all right. White after Red, you’re dead.”

We were out of there and on to Norton Junction, the Mainline Grand Union Canal, 2 miles away, where we turned to starboard. I suppose what happened at Norton Junction was a case of 2 boats meeting at a T intersection. Should have been straightforward but the ‘ancient mariner’ heading in our path was not clear about his intentions and he throttled back which meant we had to and so did the boat coming up behind who indicated he planned to turn to Port. There was little in the way of indicative arm movement or acknowledgement from the ‘ancient mariner’ which would have clearly stopped any guesswork. Ancient Mariner finally pointed his finger desiring to turn into the Grand Union Leicester Section, we needed to turn into his path on the Mainline and boat behind us needed to turn the other direction onto the Mainline. We all needed a helpful little gendarme on a parapet to wave a gloved hand. And dreams are free!

Braunston Tunnel approach

Could all this hot air be responsible for the wild wind blowing into our path? Well the wind was a blowing when I was behind the wheel and while I could avoid the bridge arches I’m sure a cabin height branch scratched 53ft along the side of DB. Not the end of the world. I handed the wheel back to Chris as we approached the 2042yds of Braunston Tunnel. Again, we hoped that we would not meet oncoming traffic but the it was constant with Narrowboats heading the other way. We collected some tunnel wall mostly dust and crumbs and etched a few more marks on to DB. Oh well we got to the Braunston Lock Flight and went through the locks unpaired. Remember we are back to the widebeam canal and the locks can hold 2 Narrowboats. The Canal had a boats heading in our direction so, in that way, the locks were mostly getting set in our favour. I helped a woman who was steering her Narrowboat and travelling alone with her 2 Amazon Parrots (caged) with prime viewing on the Bow. We were waiting for her to move up the Lock so I said I’ll open the gates if she wants to get back on her boat. She did, full of thanks. I had a few minutes to chat with the parrots. The chatty one started it with “Hello” in parrot squawk vernacular. “Hello” I replied. “Hello” it replied. “Bon Dia” I said, testing its Brazilian Portuguese. Parrot was speechless then “Hello”. End of small talk and time to open the Lock gates.

We arrived at the mooring for the last Lock and there were 2 boats breasted (that is tied together) in the Lock and works going on to try and fish out the mooring rope, on one of the boats, that had got wrapped around its prop. Probably not the best place to linger but it was under the supervision of a C&RT Volunteer. We breathed and paced and soon indicated we wanted to get down the Lock and find moorings. Word had it that Braunston was the site of a Boat Festival and moorings were going to be restricted.

There were signs up advising of mooring restrictions but we were OK for a night or two. Rest came easy and we were happy back from where we had started in April.

I’M GLAD I’M NOT A KHARDASHIAN

Turning off the Grand Union into the Market Harborough Arm

We were at Market Harborough with 6 days to spare before our friends from Malibu arrived. Their itinerary meant we needed to ‘ang at ‘Arborough. Last year the mooring time limits, at Market Harborough, were flexible with the C&RT Enforcement Officer. This year we didn’t see any sign of the Enforcement Officer and we stayed put in ‘our’ ideal mooring for more than 48 hrs hoping to be able to see him. The moorings were never full to capacity.

Nb Tupelo, the Ice-cream Boat moored up behind us, almost a year to the day when we first met, and we were mutually overjoyed to meet each other again. They report ‘Sarah’s Hokey Pokey’ Icecream has been a big success and has had positive comments from all including visiting ‘Kiwi’ customers. The day Nb Tupelo winded at Union Wharf cruised past us, they shouted out for our attention and put 2 pottles of their Lemon Curd Icecream into a fishing net they held out for me to reach in and grab. How kind!

Nb Sundowner, a time share boat, moored up near us and I had an albeit brief speed chat with the woman on board. I cannot remember her name but we are both from New Zealand. We both trained as Occupational Therapists (OTs) within a few years of each other. She worked at Christchurch Public Hospital and was OT on the Orthopaedic Ward prior to moving to England in September 1984. I worked at Christchurch Public Hospital as OT on the Orthopaedic Ward from September 1984 until I moved to England in February 1985. We had never met before until, by chance, now. That, to me, is a small world.

Della is such a sociable dog and sees almost anybody and everybody human as a petting machine. She does socialise with dogs and likes larger dogs and Miniature Schnauzers. Della is always keen to go out for a walk whether it is a short or long walk. If she has had enough walking she’ll plant her legs until we turn around or change direction. The Waste Disposal Area (aka Rubbish) at Union Wharf Moorings is a walk past a Cafe/Restaurant and people may be seated outdoors. So we are on the rubbish run and Della walks up to people, at a table, on the terrace for Afternoon Tea. A woman asked me what Della’s name is. I told her and she said her name was Della, as well. It’s not a name often heard. I explained we formed Della’s name from the Portuguese word Cadela, which means ‘female dog’. Yeah right we couldn’t go round calling her ‘Bitch’. 

As Della and I moved to continue our walk I asked the human Della if she would like to come for a walk as well. We both laughed and Della-dog and I continued our walk.

Almost ready to move from 'Arborough

The Malibu connections, four ‘old’ friends of ours, turned up as planned and were at DB, on time early morning on the 15^th June, ready to cruise DB to Welford which included The Foxton Locks, 2 staircase flights of five locks each. It is not common to have more than 2 Locks forming a staircase. 

At the Foxton Locks there is a Passing Bay between the 2 Flights. A staircase Lock means that the emptying Lock will fill the Lock below and raise the boat in it to its level and the gates will open allowing the boat to move between Locks. Adjacent to each Lock is a water pound and the working of the Lock paddles has some influence on the pound and the Lock. All I remember is ‘Red’ paddle before ‘White’ paddle. The Foxton Locks are a popular gongoozler ‘hang-out’. There were at least 3 C&RT Volunteers to assist with safe boat passage on the day we were there. We were the only boat in the pound at the bottom of the Locks and, as there was no Lock Keeper or Volunteers at ‘ground level’ I needed to climb to the top of the Flight to get the OK to get  started up to the Passing Bay. There was one boat beginning its Lock descent as we began ours. We now had a Volunteer to assist our progress and we were at the Passing Bay in record time. The Boat coming down must have been making a meal of it and had completed 2 Locks when we tied up at halfway.

A last year at Foxton Locks photo. 

And so began the LONG wait. I’m sure the Chief Chap, which is the one in charge, lost count of the boats coming down. After what seemed like a lot of boats coming down and still there was another one entering the top staircase, I went to the ‘Head Poncho’ to see if we should set up our mooring for the night. I know I was getting snarky and he responded

“You were lucky I let you come up to the midway point. If I had known how long your boat is I would have kept you at the bottom. It’s six boats going down then six boats going up.”

I thought, size doesn’t matter, and was tempted to say “How many is six?”

We offered a couple of gongoozlers the opportunity to experience the feeling of a Lock on the rise and they waited, on board, until we got the all clear, from above, to move up the last staircase. They couldn't thank us enough, very cool.

Yes we got to the top of the Foxton Flight and still had enough of the day left to get to Welford, at the end of the Welford Arm off the Grand Union Canal. Alan, our cheerful Lock Volunteer had found out the Welford Lock would be open between 1500 – 1700hrs. Thanks Alan. The beam on one of the Lock Gates had broken when some ‘Walkers’ had posed for a group photo standing on the Gates.

We throttled up on the Grand Union as time was not on our side, now. We passed through the 1166yd Husband’s Bosworth Tunnel which brought squeals of joy from our friends as they looked for all creatures’ great and small stalactites.

One friend asked “Is there a Wife’s Tunnel?”

Mates

Soon we turned to the Welford Arm and through the Lock just before 1700hrs. The end of the Arm was nearly full and there was no mooring room for our size. We could have squashed in if Boaters were more thoughtful and adjusted their moorings when boats leave meaning there is no gap between boats. We winded and had to moor with our ‘Nose’ pointing a little into the Winding bank.

Matey, in front of us, fitting out his boat on a prime 48hr mooring site said “It’s a winding area.”

I said “Yes, I know.”

He said “It’s a Winding area.”

I said “Yes I know, there are no other moorings and the Lock is closed now so I don’t think anyone will be winding this evening.”

He said “It’s a Winding area.”

I wanted to say “And how long is your 48hrs.”

I kept my mouth shut.

Cheeky Mooring

That evening we had a fabulous meal at The Wharf Inn, close to our mooring, a fitting end to another memorable day. 

Who needs reality TV? 

Our reality

GREETINGS

Heard on a Radio interview.

Interviewer gushing, “I'm thrilled to be able to meet you.”

Interviewee replies “It’s almost as good meeting you.”

I think ‘Who do you think you are? And why did I get sucked in to listening to this!’

I tried out the Interviewee response on an unsuspecting boater who replied “Madam I am but a humble oaf in the beauty of your radiance.” Now that is class to warm your heart.

Back to boating in Leicestershire. Having floated this water trail, last year, there is a knowing about it. Cruising familiar waters and passing by beautiful flowering fields of buttercups and the rise of the wheat crop past 'knee high to a grasshopper'. An overnight stop close to Newton Harcourt was a must. We found our mooring spot from last year and happily tied up DB overlooking the yellow medieval fields across the Canal.

Della and I walked across the fields to the Wistow Rural Centre. Signs on the fields clearly indicated there was no dog poo fairy and pick up after your dog. It was OK for sheep, of course. I picked up after Della and Della tried to pick up after the sheep. I growled at Della to drop the contents of her mouth. I informed her she would never be a sheep and ‘Hay’ she would never find a sheep’s diet would satisfy her. We walked on to the Rural Centre thinking there would be a ‘Doogy-doo’ Bin. Well there was no bin at the Inn and the cafe staff reluctantly agreed to let me put my doggy bag in the big bin. They voiced their annoyance that there is no Dog Litter Bin on or around the Rural Centre. 

I wrote to the ‘Wistow Centre’ and received a message back to say the Farmer and the local Council would not put in dog litter bins and we were lucky we could walk our dog over the medieval fields. A ‘Local’, I met on my walk, said she now understood why dog litterbags were attached to the fence near the rural centre.

Next day was a beautiful day for cruising DB and we passed lots of suitable moorings to remember for our next cruise in this area. We passed the first BBQ of the season and the smell of grilling sausages followed us.  

We saw Nb Matilda last year at Calcutt Locks

Close to the Foxton Locks is Debdale Wharf, a Marina that has ‘Dry Standing’, and we are planning to have DB out of water for the 5 month long winter season in England while we repeat the ‘winter sun’ in Spain. Makes sense to leave DB on dry land and in a secure location. At this stage Debdale Wharf could be the answer.

 

Sun setting near Debdale Wharf

CRUISING LEICESTER (part 2)

Swan-Fest

Winds calmer and skies bluer, cruising through downtown Leicester is a ‘Do-er’ in a day. Canopies down we headed into Birstall Lock where a cyclist stopped and offered to close the Lock Gate after we had gone through. That is thoughtful.

At the next Lock, Belgrave Lock, I was about to close the Lock gate when I saw another boat appear, in our direction, so I kept the gate open for them and we teamed up to share that and the following 2 Locks. 3 extra pairs of hands make for light work in a Lock. In my brief risk assessment of the Lock, I had noted that there was a transparent floating obstruction blocking one of our exit gates at the Lock. No big deal but inappropriate that a bobbing armchair should be floating in a river. We can exit through one gate but 2 gates are easier when there are 2 boats using the Lock. Being on the side of, sometimes misunderstood, good manners I warned an approaching Narrowboat there was an obstruction. Michelin Man gave a huff and puff giving me the impression he would be removing it.  Yeah right  how important is your back, I thought? ‘Elf and Safety would be best put into effect in this instance. I phoned C&RT to report the 'floater'. The operator put my call through to the 'no answer' telephone and, in what felt like a minute, my call was returned to the operator who told me my phone line was noisy and it was difficult to hear me. I told her I was on a boat, engines are noisy and she better get used to it in her line of work. Blah blah. I never did get a call back about the obstruction.

Close to Limekiln Lock we scraped over something crunchy and lost power in the Bow thruster and the other boat just lost steerage but managed to get into the Lock. They limped out of the Lock and moored up for further investigation. We moved on as the Bow thruster was not essential and, later, when we stopped for lunch Chris found a holey blue plastic bag where no plastic bag should be. At the last Lock near Frog Island, I was bordering on closing the gates when Chris saw our ‘partner’ boat appearing from behind. We waited for them. The source of their steerage problem was an abandoned soggy jumper wrapped around the ‘prop’.

Rasp/Straw berry jam in a 20 minute Lock Free moment

The day was not yet over but we said farewell to our Lock partners and stopped, briefly, at Castle Gardens so Della could have a walk before we cruised along the ‘Mile Straight’ followed by 12 Locks before we called it a day! The feel became rural and it is easy to question if we were on the River Soar or the Grand Union Canal. At Kings Lock the paddles need a BW key to be able to release a ‘locking’ mechanism to wind up the paddles. Some of the Locks were missing gate / ground paddles. Luckily a Lock can still fill on one open sluice. We witnessed no challenging behaviour, canal / river side in Leicester and have no fear about cruising through again.

This day’s cruise must have taken us at least 10 hours. Sensibly Chris spotted out a good mooring site near Double Rail Lock. A beautiful countryside mooring with rural walks, and the neighbours, NB Dormouse, were a delight and give meaning to ‘Ships that pass in the night’.

NB Dormouse pushoff

Two days later we moved to Kilby Bridge. I had a struggle with the ground paddle at Double Rail Lock when my windlass was rejected under pressure by a ground paddle. I don’t know if it was under pressure but I couldn’t bleeding wind it and I fell, still clutching the windlass, landing flat on my tummy and knees. “Ouch!” I raised my arm thinking a thumb’s up would be seen on DB as surely my sudden disappearance would have been noticed! No I had not been missed! My jeans had a bloody rip at knee level but my moment was short lived and I got on with the job. Plaster not plastered came later.

Ribbon patch, from Ecuador, hides ripped jeans

Kilby Bridge is a stopover must. The Navigation Pub at Kilby Bridge is fantastic, the locals are friendly and the food looks excellent. Just like we thought last year, we shall return.

Add caption

THE GREEN BELT OF LEICESTER (1)

This month is quickly getting away from me. It is a way to remind me I have good fortune in that the days of my life have no sign of tedium or boredom and I can appreciate the beauty of the countryside and friendliness of the people in England. It’s not the distance that needs to be counted. I really enjoy my home on Nb DolcieBlue and our mobile life has the continuity of feeling always at home in our floating ‘4 walls’.

The cruise through the green belt of Leicester City was as enjoyable as doing it last year. The weather, yes the weather forecast, was on yellow alert for gale force winds.

There was a damp feel in the air and it was almost not raining when we moored up outside the pub at Anchor Bridge. How convenient to get the mooring so I could take my half together (slightly broken) dodgy shopping trolley and get filled up with provisions at Aldi, a nearby supermarket a good mile walk away. I thought I would try to sniff out a shortcut.

I remember, some years ago in London, I overheard a couple of schoolboys on their way home saying

“That way is a shortcut but this way is quicker....”

So back to the here and now, I saw a way into an urbanisation and thought where there is a way in there must be a way out on the other side. I approached a Postman for direction confirmation.

“Ah.....Hmm...” he uttered as he processed the direction possibility “Oh yes, go along there, turn Right, down there to the end of there, and turn Left...”

“Thanks. Have a good day.” I said, and walked along ‘there’ and turned Right thinking I could always ask someone else. Well I needed to ask someone else, not long after, but there was no one else to ask as I walked along. There is not much foot traffic these days.

Me and my trolley moved on until I was a few yards further along the road I had turned off in the hope of a shortcut. Der......

 I did find Aldi, eventually, and filled my trolley and trundled back to DB following the reverse of the route I should have taken initially.

Groceries onboard, we moved DB to moorings the other side of Anchor Bridge where we had good paved towpath moorings with mooring rings beside the outskirts of the extensive Watermead Country Park. Chris wanted to do some carpentry work to frame the bathroom door, and install a folding ‘plank’ seat to sit on for those long occasions at the wheel. This environment was ideal for him to get his band saw out onto level ground and put in use.

This plank is not for walking

I was motivated or stupid to sweep the towpath clear of leaf & twig debris directly beside DB. Looks of disbelief that a broom could actually have a purpose resulted in the usual comments coming my way.

“When you’ve finished will you come and sweep my yard?”

It was a short lived feeling of satisfaction as the following day I woke to the sound of the strong wind shaking the branches with dead wood, twigs and leaves littering DB and the towpath. The bird life had attempted to make their presence known with ‘gifts’ dropped from above but the wind must have worked in our favour as minimal poop that hit the boat landed on the solar panel and gunwhale.

As the day progressed the wind appeared to be blowing itself out and the clouds were parting to reveal patches of blue sky. I walked Della to Thurmaston Lock checking out the height of bridges, as one does when the stern canopy and wheel house canopy are in situ with the hope they could remain in place if we moved DB up river. I got talking with a woman walking her lovely rescue dog on my way back to DB. In conversation she told me that Birstall Lock (the Lock after Thurmaston) had good moorings and a pub that is dog friendly.

Birstall Mooring

Chris agreed to move up river / canal to Birstall Lock. We left the canopies up, untied the ropes and motored off. Soon the darned wind got blowing again and was a right pain when Chris took DB out of Thurmaston Lock. DB got blown to the far bank of the river and Chris made a long winded attempt to get DB back to me waiting on the towpath near the Lock. DB was close but not close enough for me to step on to the stern. I yelled out to him to motor on and I would walk on to a calmer place, if it existed! He was not best pleased as he had almost got DB within reach of me but I did not feel safe stepping out to DB in the gusty wind conditions.

I clutched my windlass, mouthed expletives and paced my way along more beautiful walking tracks in Watermead Country Park. The river became hidden and the towpath was non-existent, for a while.  I could see DB through the trees and all I could do was continue walking until I came back to the riverbank and the fine moorings at Birstall.  DB arrived and all eventually returned to calm in our world.

The day ended at a 'dog haven' Pub. The non alcoholic beer for dogs was sold out!

And so ended another day.

 

Does my boat look big wearing its canopy?

.

HELP ETIQUETTE

Slowly and certainly we are Market Harborough bound. The weather still rules and I won’t go on about it. Suffice to say it has watered our roof garden more often than I have. A few days ago we left the ‘fright path’ with canopies down and ticked up to Zouch (without an ‘e’) and I wonder if it is pronouced ‘ouch’ with a z? I forgot to ask. A good circular walk for Della and the last work out for a few days for her. She was not well with the D & V’s (as it is known in Hospital talk) and we hoped the gremlins would work their way out of her system pronto. Della is a thoughtful dog and she was able to wake us through the night when nature called. We moved on to Barrow-upon-Soar and her condition needed medical attention. Chris did the Bus Pass slog back to Willington to collect the car. A four hour trip, and I sourced a Vet to see Della later in the day.

I couldn’t leave Della alone to get a word of mouth recommendation for a Vet so I googled some local Vetinary Clinics and made a decision through their feedback. Appointment made for mid afternoon when I was sure that Chris would be back with our car. To cut a long story shorter, Della was given the 3 anti ‘mix’ jab to dry her up, stop the ‘chucking’ and kill the gremlin. Miraculously the next day she was better but had a repeat jab and a short course of antibiotics. Fingers crossed and touch wood she is over it and I am in no rush to be proactive with her teeth again.

To put a bit of brightness in our day, Hawaii Tony popped in for a 24 hour visit. He is a regular once a year visitor who has experienced our life on Avalon Mist and DolcieBlue. Tony was instructive in my Lock operation Badge back in 2011 when I had my first introduction to Canal life on the heap of steel fondly known as Nb Avalon Mist. He was the third party in our crew including the Captain on the day we left Devises and went down 22 Locks which included the 16 Caen Hill Lock Flight. I remember being anxious about the Lock chambers,

I was sure that I’d not be able to remember the Lock operation and it would be easy to lose footing and fall in. As to the descriptive words like windlass, paddles, gates, lock set blah blah I was learning a new language. I could hold the rope and be helpful with that. Anyway that day has long gone and I am a natural with Locks now.

Or so I believed that I would not be overcome with a quirky Lock, I may not look like I have a 6 pack toned abdomen, beefy biceps, and maintain the looks of a spring chicken but I’m not dressed as mutton. We moved on from Barrow and enjoyed the slow pace of cruising the river and the pretty rural scenery. Day trippers shared some locks with us and we decided to moor up DB with a view to spending a few days in the Leicestershire countryside before we cruise through Leicester City. The towpath was grassy and I walked some metres beyond the Lock, ahead, to check out if there were better mooring spots. I found the towpath was paved. Hard standing! Yes as long as our internet signal remained good then a clean mooring had an appeal with the forecast for rainy weather.

We agreed to move on a few metres. The Lock was in our favour so I opened the gates and DB entered. All good and gates closed I wound up one of the ground paddles and walked over the gates to open the other ground paddle. I noticed the Lock was a leaky lock as water was exiting the back gates as quickly as it was flowing in. I couldn’t get the 2^nd ground paddle to wind up, without busting a gut, so I carefully wound the gate paddle taking care opening it.  I noticed Mr Helpful, on foot, carrying a Windlass and almost running across the Gates. He didn’t say anything to me and just wound up the ground paddle with macho gusto. I said “Thank you” and walked the gates to the other side with him following close behind. He was hovering and watching as I got my windlass in position to wind up the paddle. I really disliked having his beady eyes taking over my territory and I told him I was well experienced with Locks. It was an unhappy ending.

When I reflect on this event, I have learnt that being helpful should not involve taking over an activity. It could look like an extra pair of hands would be useful but talk to the Lock ‘operator’ first.  

To assume makes an ass out of u and me. This was not an emergency.

ROUND THE BEND

Dentist done and dusted, we thought, now it’s onwards and upwards so to speak. It was 12 miles up the Trent & Mersey Canal to get to the River Soar. A repeat of last year’s intrepid journey, maybe. We have to be at Market Harborough mid June and then who knows. It felt comfortable almost exciting to be cruising the quiet Trent & Mersey from Stenson. Volunteers, familiar Mercia Marina faces, were keen to work Stenson Lock and told me to get back on board thank you very much. Bye and we were chugging along voluntarily paired with another Narrowboat. They were in no rush and we shared the Locks until Shardlow.

At Swarkestone Lock (10’11”) I asked a fit gongoozler to help me close a gate as no amount of my strength could budge it. At Weston Lock (10’11”) I was helped by a young woman while her father was moored at the Water Point. They had just come through the Lock and she was keen to pass the time of day helping us. We had to wind the paddle, on one gate, with two pairs of hands on the windlass. I noticed her Dad waving out to get her attention indicating they were ready to move on.

“Do you want to go back to your boat? I appreciate your assistance with the Lock but you don’t need to stay.” I said.

“No, I’ll stay and help you open the Lock gates.” She said.

Her Dad waves his arms again.

“I don’t understand why he does that.” she sighs. “He always says how peaceful and slow the way of life is on the Canal. I don’t understand why he is always in a rush to move on.”

“He might want to see what is around the bend. Maybe he doesn’t realise it drives you around the bend!” I said.

With that, the gates open she walked purposefully back to her Dad and boat.

Aston Lock is an 8’1” deep lock before Shardlow and the Lock was in our favour. The man and boy waiting to come up the Lock on their boat offered to work the Lock for us so I got back on board, thanking them of course. DB and our ‘team’ boat went down as we should until both boats started listing in to each other as the Lock was almost empty. We should still be floating and not touched the bottom of the Lock. We were not caught on the ‘Sill’. It was spooky. We all yelled up to the guys at the Lock gates “Drop the Paddles!!! DROP THE PADDLES!!!” They had no idea what we were saying and began opening the gates. We sensed an urgency to get the boats floating level. Me and the chap from the other boat in the Lock clambered onto the roof and climbed the Lock Ladder. I raced to the opening Gates, telling the guys “Shut the Gates and drop the paddles!” I raced to the other gates and wound up the Ground Paddle and the Gate Paddle with care. Thankfully our boats, in the Lock returned to a level position. We have no idea what caused the problem. As chance would have it the Canals & Rivers Trust (C&RT) appeared on the scene as we were fixing our problem. Maybe they knew about it, maybe they didn’t but they surely did now!

This was definitely a learning experience for me and made me aware of the need of taking responsibility when the boat is in the Lock. All well and good letting others do the labouring but my heart doesn’t need a repeat of that stress. Serious Lady Lock-n-Lol.

One more Lock incident, that day, before I put this Blog to bed was the event of the holiday makers who had picked up their Canal Boat and had had no physical instruction on Lock operation. They had watched the video but reported in their excitement they hadn’t watched it. As the Lock was in their favour, I didn’t turn a blind eye as they appeared around the bend. To say there approach to the Lock wasn’t erratic would be far from the truth. Four people got off the boat, having a laugh, and no sign of any windlasses. They walked to the Lock.

“Have you got your Windlass?” I called out.

“Ha Ha Der Ha ha.” Greeted me.

"Wait until your boat gets into the Lock. Have youse worked a Lock before?” I said.

“Ha Ha Nah Ha ha.”

“OK I’ll give you some instruction. We Boat people are nice people but look and learn. You need to take the Lock operation seriously.”

“Ha Ha Thanks.”

“Right the Bloke on the Tiller is The Captain and he is in command.”

“Ha Ha.”

“You, his partner, are the Admiral and you kids, well...”

“Ha Ha.”

They were willing to Lock and learn. A happy crew and their boat left the Lock.

Fox at Kegworth Deep Lock

We managed to get to our planned destination along the River Soar and moor up after Kegworth Deep Lock. A pretty spot we had found, last year. The air waves quickly reminded us that were on the flight path to nearby East Midlands Airport.