Pebble prayers for Ukraine at St Margaret's Church, Crick

First thing this morning was the drippy Crick Tunnel, then we tied up so we could walk in to the village. The church was open; inside, on the altar, people had placed pebbles indicating that they had prayed or would pray for Ukraine.

When we got back to the boat after a walk round Crick we had lunch, then set off again on the winding route through the Northamptonshire countryside. The oilseed rape crops were smelling very strongly.

We stopped a couple of miles short of North Kilworth so that we could do the last bit tomorrow morning to ensure we had a full tank of hot water. I'm hoping we'll be able to connect a shoreline when we're in the air for blacking, as at Debdale Wharf, but just in case ... 

After tea we went for another walk, this time crossing into Leicestershire and taking the direct route from Bridge 40 to North Kilworth, then by the road to South Kilworth, then across the golf course back to the bridge and back to the boat. This pheasant was the most colourful bird we encountered.

And Jubilee looked nicely tucked into the side of the canal as dusk began to fall.

After 31 years my boots are broken in at last

I bought my Armond walking boots in a shop called Kyffin in Bangor, Gwynedd, in 1989. I was on attachment to the BBC there at the time, and wanted something sturdy and reliable so I could do some serious walking in Snowdonia.

As well as the boots the box they came in has somehow lasted down the years. But not the receipt. I seem to remember they cost in the region of £100 which, with inflation, would be £250 today. (I think you'd struggle to spend that much on a pair of walking boots, though.)

But they have been uncomfortable - until this week, that is. My left ankle bone always rubbed and felt bruised. On our latest lockdown walks I have persisted with the boots as they keep my feet warm and dry in all conditions - and a couple of days ago I realised they didn't hurt anymore. Hooray! After 31 years they are broken in at last.

I searched online for the shop where I bought the boots, but Kyffin in Bangor now appears to be a vegetarian restaurant. And before you comment, yes, I know they need some more dubbin!

Frosty dew

Yesterday's fog was replaced by today's sun, which was doing its best to thaw the frost.

As we walked along a lane I spotted water droplets on a prickly bit of hedge catching the sun.

I liked the figure silhouetted in the light at the end of this tree tunnel.

(There are actually two figures but it's difficult to tell.)

More frosty leaves: this is a thistle.

Foggy dew

It was foggy in Norfolk today. Our walk took us along a tree-lined footpath; drops of water falling on our heads the whole time.

Yesterday, in a different field - and in sunshine - we encountered a flock of twittering birds in a tree.

Unfortunately for the camera they were all looking the wrong way. We think they might be fieldfares.

Moonshot

I took some pics of the full moon yesterday towards the end of an afternoon walk. There were several birds taking off from the trees and flying in front of the moon - I managed to press the button at about the right time here.

From Market Drayton we walked to Almington, then Peatswood and back, about four miles in all.

I liked the pattern of stalks in the snow. Maize?

So ... as from midnight tonight Shropshire goes up to Tier 3 - and is surrounded by Tier 4 areas. It won't make much difference to us as we've been avoiding restaurants and most shops.

Blacking delay and mushroom maintenance

Today started with a disappointment. We were told that our blacking wouldn't start until Monday, a delay of four days, as the crane's motor had had to have new brushes fitted. We therefore continued down the Leicester Section for a bit, stopping between Saddington and Smeeton Westerby.

After lunch we had a very enjoyable walk , finding the footpath that goes under Smeeton Aqueduct. This was built, as far as I could tell, as a cattle creep.

In the field just the other side is this boundary marker: GJC standing for Grand Junction Canal unless I am mistaken.

A feeder from Saddington Reservoir helps to keep this long pound topped up. This control paddle is near the reservoir end.

We looked round the pleasant village of Saddington, then took the quick route back to the boat along the road. While Jan was cooking tea I removed a mushroom vent to have a go at addressing the rust which was causing it to leak. The base of the vent was secured by four brass screws, three of which came out easily enough, but one sheared off and will need to be drilled out. Slight problem: I forgot my drills. A trip to Screwfix in Market Harborough is called for. Meanwhile I have scraped, wire brushed and Fertan-ed ready for painting. I'm not sure what to use as a sealant - ideas anyone?

Sheringham level crossing sees action

In a short break from boating, we drove to one of our favourite north Norfolk spots yesterday: Sheringham. It so happened that our visit coincided with a fairly rare transit of the recently restored level crossing linking the Network Rail station (and line to Cromer) and the North Norfolk Railway heritage line.

Once a month a lunch dining train leaves from Sheringham (heritage) Station, crosses to Sheringham (main line) Station and on to Cromer, stopping there an hour before returning to the heritage line.

A small army of volunteers puts up temporary barriers across the road ...

... a man holds up a green flag ...

... and a beautiful diesel loco pulls the train across.

At this point we walked down to the beach to eat our sandwiches. I returned to see the train come back, this time steam-hauled.

Did the locomotive pull tube trains when the electricity was down? It was in gorgeous condition.

This excitement over, we walked up the road to Upper Sheringham, a hamlet built of flint.

From here we walked into Sheringham Park ... but I am boring myself as well as you, so I'll stop.

Wyming Brook walk, Sheffield

A couple of weeks ago, on 28th March, we drove up to Sheffield to visit Andrew. He took us to Wyming Brook, a tributary of the River Rivelin to the west of the city.

Andrew led us on an excellent walk through the trees, down to the Rivelin Dams reservoir and back up along the brook itself.

As we set off from the car park the sunlight was filtering through the trees. Andrew also filtered through the trees.

What looked at first glance like dandelion is actually, I believe, coltsfoot.

When we climbed up by the brook it had started to rain, but the trees sheltered us to some extent and we didn't get too wet. The rain didn't last long.

It was a delightful walk. Andrew appreciates having countryside such as this on his doorstep.

On to today, and what amazing summer-like weather we've been enjoying! As we walked in shirtsleeve order to church this evening for a Palm Sunday service of music and readings the aroma of a barbecue wafted tantalisingly over us. I think we'll be down with a bump tomorrow as temperatures ten degrees lower are forecast.

Sheffield's grass circles

14th November 2016, the southern outskirts of Sheffield. On a walk with Andrew and his dog, Caspar. We climb a grassy slope ... and come across this.

I don't think we're in crop circle territory here, but what are these strange discolourations? At intervals there were short narrow strips of earth with a line spray-painted along them.

I can only think that this area has been marked out for tree planting, the circles indicating where the trees should go.

I didn't get a shot of Andrew, Jan and Caspar from the front, so this will have to do.

Some of the walk was very muddy. This photo doesn't really show how bad it was.

My shoes weighed three times normal until I could scrape most of the squidgy mud off.

In the evening we went to the Flaming Grill pub in Ridgeway where Andrew did his best to get through this ...

... a quadruple cheeseburger. He almost managed it.

Coming next on this blog: Lady Alida, Katrin and Lynn. Find out who they are tomorrow - and no, they are not former girlfriends. Oh yes, Lydia Eva too.

National Grid helicopter

Jan and I went for another local walk yesterday. As we left the house we could hear a helicopter nearby. The noise stayed fairly constant, indicating that it was probably hovering. Air Ambulance? Police? We walked towards the sound and saw that the helicopter was neither ambulance yellow nor police blue. It was this, a National Grid machine.

It seemed to be gradually working its way along a run of transmission lines. Was it surveying the lines themselves? Or the pylons?

Or was it surveying the land for a new set of power lines to connect to a new offshore windfarm? These transmission lines have only very recently been upgraded (five years ago), as I wrote about here.

November poppy

We went for a walk near home this afternoon and came across poppies in a field of crops.

I thought they were an early summer flower, but November is an appropriate month.

We enjoyed the autumn leaves.

Plenty of holly berries for the birds.

And a few rose hips.

The photo makes it look frosty/misty, but it wasn't. It drizzled a bit this morning but our walk was dry and still on the mild side.

Canal to Waterloo

Another late posting, this, as the signal here is terrible. I did a few boat jobs this morning, including draining water out of the agglomerator- hardly any came out - and checking the gearbox oil. For this latter job I managed to get a spanner from a junk shop/tea room in Ellesmere for 50p. The filler/dipstick nut was just too big for my 17mm spanner and just too small for the 19mm one, and 18mm spanners don't seem to exist. Anyway the old rusty spanner is marked 3/4 (Whitworth?) and fits perfectly.

I also cleaned the engine drip tray again. There was - again - an amount of golden oil and some water. The oil looked new, but the levels in the engine and gearbox hadn't gone down. I don't know where it can possibly be coming from.

We left Ellesmere Basin after lunch and made our way to Whixall Junction where we turned right onto the Prees Branch. This is the first lift bridge, Allman's.

The second lift bridge was broken and partially dismantled - I'll try to get a shot of it on our return. We were soon on a narrow and apparently little used section.

But before long we emerged into Whixall Marina.

We tied up on the piling at the edge of the marina and went for a walk along the remains of the Prees Branch.

It was a surprise to find Bridge 4 with new-looking numbers each side. Here a bund separates the unnavigable but watered canal from a purely wildlife "pond" the other side.

In another surprise (I hadn't looked at the map) we found we'd arrived at Waterloo.

Goats in the churchyard

When the morning's rain had died down enough we set off for Frankton Junction, about a mile away. After lunch we were admitted to the locks and quickly descended the staircase pair and the other two, then turned into the Weston Branch to the services. I was surprised that the boats below the locks weren't allowed up before a couple of boats went down. All the locks were empty - with a bottom paddle raised - before today's locking operations started.

The hoop in the wall in the above photo would have prevented tow ropes snagging.

We walked to Hordley to see if we could find any further remains of the Weston Branch. The OS map indicates a footpath along the line of the canal, but it seems to have disappeared. To the west of the road the old canal is discernible in the trees - just - but to the east it's a mere slight unevenness in the farmland.

At Hordley Church we were surprised to see two goats in the churchyard. They don't seem to have done much in the way of lawn mowing.

On our walk I saw these multicoloured flowers. Anyone know what they are?

As David hadn't been on the Montgomery Canal before, and as he is departing in the morning, we pressed on to Queen's Head where we had tea on board and walked to West Felton.