Social distancing? Social gathering, more like

After breakfast and a nip into Tesco for the paper we reversed back to the waterpoint on the offside. Topping up took only a few minutes as the pressure was excellent. That's the one at Brownsover.

We continued on our journey, stopping just past the M45 bridge for lunch. Stephen and Gwyneth came past on Chyandour; we would pass their locked up boat in Braunston later.

I wanted to watch the F1 qualifying highlights so we tied up just below the Admiral Nelson pub. The outside tables were heaving, with no distancing in evidence.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn't get any TV signal, so we continued up the rest of the Braunston locks and tried again at the top. Still nothing. So we went through the tunnel … no joy here either. By this time the programme was well under way. Eventually we tied up for the night just before Norton Junction. I'm beginning to think there might be a dodgy connection in the cable somewhere, or perhaps water has got in to the external aerial causing corrosion damage. Tomorrow we only have to get to Crick (to keep to schedule) so there should be plenty of time for investigation. Grands prix are the only thing the TV is used for, that's why the reception problem has only just surfaced.

After tea we walked to the junction and back; I took one or two sunset pics.

This is the view from the boat.

Narrowboat steering from the bow; bleeding the skin tank

It was the wing mirrors which caught my attention.

As Sarah came up Watford Top Lock I asked the owner about them - and was surprised to find out the reason. Pete has modified the boat to be capable of being controlled from the bow; the rear view mirrors must help in keeping the boat straight.

The added controls are not hydraulic but electric. Pete being an engineer has installed a joystick on an arm which can swing to either side of the well deck area; this controls the rudder. (As I understand it, the swinging arm is merely to position the control to wherever the steerer is sitting.) What is especially interesting about his mod is that he has tried to mimic the dynamic feedback which tiller steering gives. In other words, to move the tiller a little in either direction requires a small amount of finger pressure on the joystick; to move it a lot needs more pressure, just as it would "in real life".

You can see the swinging arm in the next photo.

Pete explained that his method is better than hydraulics for another reason: you have the full range of rudder movement available, whereas a hydraulic system is limited to a lesser amount of arc.

Another feature of Sarah is the moulded canopies for bow and stern which Pete has designed.

A notice in the boat gives more details ...

I wish there had been more time to talk to Pete and Jill, but they were on their way back to Crick and we were on our way down the locks. One thing Pete did say was that you get interesting looks from people noticing that there is no-one at the tiller. On the Trent a cruiser raced up to tell Pete in the bow that his steerer had fallen overboard!

Today we have stayed at Braunston. After church we repaired to the Admiral Nelson for an admirable Sunday lunch of roast beef. Very tasty and, in my case, washed down with an equally tasty pint of ale, Everard's Old Original.

After lunch I went to see what bargains I could nab from Wharf House Chandlers closing down sale; I came away with a couple of air filters, a fuel filter element and a replacement drain plug for the CAV fuel filter. I fitted the air filter, checked there was no water in the CAV filter - there wasn't - and replaced the drain plug. I also did something which I should have attempted years ago but lacked the courage: I loosened off the skin tank bleed valve and bled off a huge amount of air. Perhaps this was why we overheated on the tidal New Bedford River last summer! I must have put four litres of water/antifreeze into the header tank to replace the air. To loosen the bleed plug I had to whack the spanner with a piece of wood, but when it started to turn it was easy. I just hope it stays leakproof now I have retightened it.

The weather seems to be gradually improving here, with some rain in the morning but staying more or less dry since then. Yesterday's sharp downpour looked like this from the boat.

Tomorrow the plan is to get to Napton, where Ally, Ben, Josiah and Micah will meet us for lunch.

One species of small furry animal*

Hello again! We've been in a signal desert, or so it seems, for days. Now we have a connection of sorts I shall try to upload a post and provide an update on where we are, where we've been and what we've been doing.

We are now in Braunston ... but I shall rewind to last Sunday. We drove back to North Kilworth on the Leicester Line and unloaded from the car to the boat. Jan spotted something small moving in the grass on the towpath. Can you see it?

Here it is. It was no more than an inch and a half long, plus the tail of a similar length.

The question is ... what is it?

I wondered if it was injured as it didn't scarper, just hung around for me to use my camera at will.

With our things back on board we set off for Foxton. We tied up immediately above the locks ready for a swift descent when the locks opened the next morning.

The locks had been desecrated by CRT. At the top lock nasty blue banners were wrapped round both bottom balance beams and the top balance beam - obscuring the lock number - with the exhortation to Save Water.

As a guide as to how to achieve this, written below was Close the gates, Lower the paddles. Well, dur!

We encountered the same official vandalism today at Watford Locks. I suppose we have to be grateful that they didn't suggest sharing the narrow locks. I really, really hope this blue rash isn't spreading all over the system.

So, where was I? Ah yes, Foxton. On Monday we had to wait for four boats to come up the flight before being allowed down; then we carried on in the rain to Market Harborough, one of our favourite towns. We stayed there for our 48 hour allowance, returning to Foxton on Wednesday. It rained.

On Thursday we were in the first batch of boats up the locks and continued - in the rain - to North Kilworth where we stopped for tea. Then I did a spot of car/bike shuffling, driving to Pailton and cycling the 11 miles back. To get away from the road we moved on to Welford Junction where we tied up for the night.

This brings us to yesterday: Welford Junction to Crick. In the rain. (Well, I suppose it wasn't raining all the time.) And today: Crick to Braunston. And ... it didn't rain much - hooray! Yes, I know the reservoirs need it, but it does get a bit tiresome when it rains during the day.

We tied up just below the Admiral Nelson. Jan walked in to Braunston to buy some milk and saw Sarah with Chertsey. When she told me I nipped along to say hello, and was invited in to Chertsey's luxurious hold and plied with ale. Thanks Sarah and Jim, good to see you both.

I have taken few photos recently. I don't like getting my camera wet.

*no cave, no pict

BCF Spring Conference; The Boathouse review

Today the Boaters' Christian Fellowship held a Spring Conference in All Saints' Church, Braunston.

46 members of the BCF and one guest listened to fellow member Rev Stephen Gardner share his thoughts on how, as Christians, we could respond to the difficult questions people ask us as we travel the waterways. And, no, these aren't the questions on pumpout v cassette or gas v gas-free. The sort of difficult questions people sometimes ask BCFers can be more along the lines of "Is my mother with Aunty Betty in heaven?" or "Why does God allow suffering?"

Stephen was difficult to photograph as he was constantly on the move as he guided us enthusiastically through his topic.

Afterwards 13 of us went to the Boathouse pub for a meal.

As I wrote yesterday, the Boathouse has changed, no longer offering "two for one" deals. The food was generally good: I had an excellent gammon steak with very good chips. Roasted tomatoes on the vine formed part of the garnish. Jan had the lasagne with vegetables instead of ciabatta, but she wasn't hugely impressed with the veg. The others on the table all seemed to enjoy their food. The service was good in that we didn't have to wait too long for the food to arrive, nor for puddings for those who ordered them. Overall I would say that it is an improvement on the pub's previous incarnation, even though it was a bit more expensive. The Hobgoblin was rather too cold, though (and pulled through the inevitable sparkler).

Braunston Boathouse pub has changed

We tied up in Braunston opposite the Boathouse pub at about 1100 this morning having watered and winded.

The Boathouse has changed! No more "Two for One" deals. It's still a Marstons outfit, but the menu is much reduced. We shall be eating there tomorrow evening, so I shall be able to report on the quality of the food. It's standard pub grub now, with no specials board. The prices are perhaps a little higher than usual for this sort of thing - but I might be out of touch.

We walked up to the church for a recce for tomorrow, then called in at the butcher's for a gammon joint and walked to the canal by the bottom lock. We were on our way to accept the offer of afternoon tea on Faithful; on the way we passed Melaleuca. If you're still there on Sunday we'll call in and say hello.

Dutch Courage tied up in front of us this afternoon; in the evening Richard and Elizabeth came for drinks and a chat.

Tomorrow is the BCF Spring Conference in the church, so we'll be busy.

Jubilee on the telly

Relaxing in our sitting room at home Jan got a message out of the blue from an old college friend.  "I've just seen you on TV", she said.  Scrabbling for the TV listings we realised it must have been Songs of Praise on BBC1, which had just finished.

We remembered we had encountered a cameraman filming a couple and their boat at Braunston around the time of the historic boat rally in June. The couple - independently of the Boaters' Christian Fellowship - were talking to people they met on the towpath and looking for opportunities to share their faith in Jesus.

Here's a screenshot from the programme featuring us in front of Jubilee talking to one half of the couple.

It was a look ahead to next week's programme featuring the couple and their boat, My Diadem.

Nick Wolfe (Aldgate) didn't escape my lens; I don't know if he will appear in the film.

My Diadem was filmed going up Lock 2 ...

… including footage taken with the camera resting on the balance beam as the gate was closed.

It will be interesting to see if there's any more of us when the programme goes out next Sunday. That's Songs of Praise, BBC1, 21st October at 2.55pm.

Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally 2018

How did I get so far behind with my blog posts? It's been far too long and much has happened. The trouble is, I'm beginning to forget what we've done - and the blog is for recording just that. Perhaps this post will be the start of another spurt of online activity.

We had contrived to be in Braunston over the weekend of 23rd and 24th June to coincide with the Historic Narrowboat Rally.

The parades, as always, were pretty chaotic.

It was good to meet many friends at the event. Sarah and Jim were there with Chertsey; Jim entertained the neighbours with some 78s.

There was much washing and polishing before the event got under way.

Well-known boaters Prunella Scales and Timothy West did some readings at a service on the Sunday morning. The service commemorated Braunston people killed in the first world war and in subsequent wars.

I had the privilege of steering Kew on most of one of the parades.

And now an update on where we are: Northampton. We have started our foray onto new waters, that is, the Nene, the Middle Levels and the Great Ouse. We're heading to St. Neots for the IWA Festival at the end of August.

CRT boss praises Waterways Chaplains

At a service in Braunston Church yesterday Richard Parry, Chief Executive of the Canal and River Trust, spoke to praise the work of the Waterways Chaplains.

Mr Parry acknowledged the fact that there are some who live on the waterways and who are in difficult circumstances. The Waterways Chaplains, he said, do a great job in helping them.

The service was held at the end of a training day for the Waterways Chaplaincy.

Many waterways chaplains are also members of the Boaters' Christian Fellowship; Jan and I went to the service. Richard Parry may not be flavour of the month for many boaters perturbed by the rebranding of CRT, but he does seem to make a huge effort to get to as many boating-related events as possible.

Braunston to Crick; Crick to Welford Junction

Another fine boating day we've had today. Mostly sunny, not much wind. But a quick summary of yesterday first: we set off from Butcher's Bridge shortly after 0800 and had an uneventful passage up the locks and through Braunston Tunnel. Indigo Dream had departed in the other direction half an hour earlier, steered by Graham.

At Norton Junction we turned left onto the Leicester Section. We stopped to chat to Angela and David of Norfolk Belle at Welton Hythe Marina with their daughter Sarah. At the bottom of Watford Locks we had to wait 1.5 hours so we had lunch, then I helped lock a boat down the flight.

We tied up at Crick at about 1600 just beating the rain. Hazel from Charis came for a chat in the evening.

Today we went to St. Margaret's Church for their (quite noisy) family service with baptism, after which Hazel gave me a lift to Rugby so I could get the car. I drove back to Crick via Aldi.

We had a salad lunch on board, then we set off northwards. The weather, as I've mentioned, was pretty perfect.

We stopped at the moorings just before Welford Junction at 1630. I erected the TV aerial and tested the reception, which was good. The only thing we use the television for is my watching of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which I did from 1800 to 2000, then I derigged the aerial and put it all away again (until two weeks' time). I must get a cover for the TV, for the 99.4% of the time it is unwatched. I could prop a picture up against it, I suppose ...

This was our view from our mooring at Welford Junction.

I've just had an idea! That would make a good photo for the TV. Just need to print it nice and big ...

Tomorrow we plan to get to Market Harborough.

Sea Otter shows how aluminium burns

As we left the Braunston Historic Boat Show we saw the dreadful end result of a fire on a Sea Otter boat, just along the north Oxford Canal.
It's made of aluminium, which is good for not rusting, but which actually burns in a hot fire.

This fire, which I was told had taken place only two days previously, had evidently been very hot indeed ...

... burning the roof completely off and singeing the trees above.

In places the side of the hull has been destroyed almost down to the water line, threatening the boat's imminent sinking.

Braunston Historic Boat Show 2017

We took a break from working on the house in Brum to drive down to Milton Keynes to visit Ally, Ben and Josiah yesterday. We had a lovely time during which Ben tested my eyes.

This morning we drove up to Braunston to catch some of this years Historic Boat Show, seeing among others Sarah and Jim (Chertsey), David, Mary and Richard (Kew), Terry and Chris (Grace), David (Trimstone), Stephen and Gwyneth (Chyandour) and Alan (Tranquility).

We saw only part of the last parade, which seemed less chaotic than in the past. Perhaps fewer boats were taking part, although there seemed to be plenty there ...

... tying up six abreast at the entrance to the marina.

I wonder if Jules Cook would like this one of her.

Kew, prominent as ever, is in the centre of this photo.

I was able to admire Chertsey's freshly blacked hull.

Next: how aluminium burns.

"Welcome to Braunston" ... as you leave

When we were in Braunston recently I was surprised to see a banner on Butcher's Bridge welcoming visitors to the village.

What's wrong with that, I hear you ask? Well, to read the banner you will have already passed Braunston Turn, the Boathouse pub, the A45 bridge which gives access to the church and the village, an Elsan point, the Stop House with water point and rubbish skips, Braunston Marina and most of the visitor moorings.

Just saying.

Fly eating duck

Perhaps that should be "fly-eating duck". Or ducks. While we were tied up on the Oxford Canal just north of Braunston Turn we witnessed a spectacle we hadn't seen before.

A canal full of ducklings rushing about in the water and leaping to catch flies in their beaks.

It was difficult to press the shutter at exactly the right time - this is a fortunate snap.

Can you see the black specks to the right of the duckling below? Those are the flies.

Oh, here's another one I caught in the act.

The ducklings - and some bigger ducks - were zooming about making a lot of splashing noise.

The target fly is clearly visible in the photo below!

All right, that's enough jumping ducks.

This morning I cycled up the track leading away from the Admiral Nelson, past the farm and the house which does event marquees to the A45, then into Daventry. This was to get some supplies from Aldi. I usually get hot while cycling; today I didn't, despite wearing a jumper and a fleece. It's that cold June wind.

Back on board we set off down the remaining two locks of the Braunston flight and stopped at the Stop House for water. As it was Friday the Stop House was open, so I went in to tell CRT about the leaky top gates at Lock 2. I showed the person behind the desk my photo from yesterday.

I called in at Midland Chandlers to say that I would not be needing the new batteries after all; then we stopped at the first available mooring on the North Oxford Canal for lunch. This is where we saw those leaping ducks.

Where have all the boats come from? This is one busy canal! Perhaps things will calm down a bit when half-term is over. We came to Hillmorton Locks and stopped above them. The sign just said "mooring" (symbolically) with an arrow; it was only after tying up that we noticed another bollard in front which indicated that these are for long-term permit-holders only. Oops. By the time we'd had tea and been for a walk the moorings were full - of visiting boats like us.

Walking down the locks we saw the work being done to Lock 4 or 5: repairs to the lock wall.

The coping stones had been numbered so they could be put back in the right place.

Chris, Bradley and Jason have left their mark (and rubbish).

Before I go, one more photo. Sheep and crows at Braunston.