Author: Mary

Rain, rain and more rain.  It’s just what we need to fill the reservoirs and get the canals moving again. I sort of wished it hadn’t coincided with two days of many locks travelling out of Chester. At times,  the rain came down in torrents,  usually when I was in a lock chamber.  We met a delightful young man at church yesterday morning who thought his 4yr old would love a trip on a narrowboat.  Gainfully he,  his wife and daughter managed to help us through two locks.  His wife on the stern with her daughter on her lap,  braving the weather.  He with a windlass in hand,  assisting R. I didn’t blame him for calling it a day after the second lock.  After all, they also had to walk back into Chester. The little girl was incredibly stoic.  On the plus side,  all the locks were in our favour so we didn’t have to hang around waiting for them to empty before we could enter.  That’s a skill in itself,  hovering outside a lock chamber,  keeping the boat steady,  whilst the lock chamber empties the water into your path and maybe there is an overspill on one side of the towpath that is also directing a flow of water into the canal,  moving the boat where you don’t want it to go!

Chester was well worth a visit and our journey to the city was all in the dry. Some of the locks proved to be very tricky.  We had been warned.  One in particular,  the Iron lock, required extra pairs of hands to open it.  We arrived at it the evening before we planned to go through it and we met a boat travelling in the opposite direction. Low water levels in the pound had made it extremely difficult and they heard their boat scraping the bottom of the canal.  All this made us a bit nervous,  until we met the local owner of the boatyard beyond the lock.  He assured us that by the following morning, the water level would be up and he was right.  However,  opening the gate was still an issue,  even teeming up with another boat.  When we arrived in Chester we wanted to go into the basin – at present that’s as far as anyone can travel because there is a canal breach en route to Ellesmere Port,  that is still under repair. Slightly daunted by the incredibly deep staircase lock, comprising of three lock chambers, we were relieved to find a lockie on duty.  He wasn’t there when we wanted to get out though, three days later! We enjoyed a walking tour of Chester,  taking in the almost complete city wall and admiring the impressive roman amphitheatre. Apparently Chester is one of the top ten European cities to visit! We attended sung evensong at the cathedral and walked up the tower,  with it’s many ante rooms,  where the monks used to hang out.  The bell chamber became so unsafe that Chester has its own separate 1960s bell tower,  close to the cathedral itself.  A bit like marmite,  you either love it or hate it! We took advantage of the cinema and saw a film called I Swear. Based on a true story,  it highlights the plight of those living with tourettes and is one of the best films I have seen recently.  So much so that when I was on an incredibly slow and delayed train back from London on Saturday afternoon, so overcrowded that it was standing room only,  I got chatting to a lady beside me (funny how packed trains,  especially slow ones,  get you talking!). I was telling her about I Swear when the man behind her joined the conversation to tell us that he had tourettes and had just seen the film. I then had a great conversation with him all about living with tourettes and the challenges he faces. I’d only knowingly come across one other person with tourettes, a gentleman in Farnham, years ago,  who used to hang out in the town centre,  mainly in the local supermarket,  because I think the staff were kind to him. 

En route to Chester, we had moored near Bunbury on the Saturday night and then walked to the nearest church on sunday morning.  It was a still, misty morning, eerily pale, reminding me that winter is much harder work than summer on the canals.  Although with fewer boats on the move,  it can be much more peaceful. I was sorely tempted to pick the sloes, as there were overhanging branches laden with them, but then I’d have to store them and keep them frozen until we returned home,  so regretfully I let them be. I was given a gin kit a while ago – you add your own botanicals to customize it.  I decided mine didn’t taste so nice,  so the gin is currently redundant. What could be better than the addition of  sloes and sugar,  to turn it into sloe gin, just ready for Christmas! Passing an old water mill,  we saw it was open to the public on Sunday afternoons.  We wandered around the village to pass the time after the service ended,  enjoying an expensive cup of coffee in the local twee coffee shop. We then went to Bubury Mill and had an excellent tour.  It is run by volunteers and well worth a visit if ever you find yourself in the area on a Sunday between April and October.  Today, we had another really expensive cup of coffee in The Shady pub! So many people had mentioned it, even a lady on the train I was travelling on at the weekend,  that when we found ourselves passing by this morning, we moored up and went inside. Over £8 for a flat white and a single espresso. I even asked if there was an error with the bill! However if we’d stopped for lunch,  we could have had a three course meal for £15, which seems much better value,  especially as the food comes well recommended. Bizarre pricing!

Autumn is truly upon us,  with the leaves adorned in wonderful orange and yellow hues,  many of which already litter  the towpaths. The much needed wet weather will soon turn the towpaths to mud so, in anticipation,  I replaced my leaky short boots yesterday with a lovely pair of blue and white stripy wellies (just like ‘Where’s Wally’!)  that were immediately put to good use. R gets very exercised by all my different, necessary, footwear, ‘littering’ the boat – slippers,  trainers, clogs,  smart shoes in case we go anywhere nice and now wellies.  I really don’t know what he’s complaining about!

Our route options are gradually minimising as the winter cruising gets ever closer and the nights draw in.  Come the beginning of November,  various canals will be closed for winter stoppages – necessary to carry out maintenance, such as lock and paddle repairs. A few canals are still closed because of low water levels,  although hopefully enough rain will fall to reverse this.  However,  I have been studying our options closely as we’d like to keep cruising over the winter months as much as we can.  Unlike the previous two winters when we found permanent winter moorings. This idea will be weather dependent, so we’ll see how we go. We have a back up plan at the ready!

#Cheshire #narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement #boaterschristianfellowship #narrowboattlc #cathedral #Chester

What I love about going somewhere new is that we just don’t know what is around the corner.  Sometimes, that’s not such a good thing. Today however,  as 1330hrs approached and my stomach started protesting,  we came across an eclectic cafe and cheese shop, selling all sorts of things from Marmalade gin, to ladies summer hats and handbags, kindling wood and charcoal! (The gin sample was particularly good). As I write this in the comfort of the cafe, l have just polished off some carrot soup and the most delicious homemade cheese scone – all the more welcome now that the days are turning autumnal and slightly colder. Where we moored last night, we had poor signal,  which resulted in me leaving the cosy (well, it wasn’t that warm!) boat at 8am to join a prayer zoom call.  Fortunately, I have a fleecy oversized hoodie that is like wearing a blanket! A couple of hours later,  we moored up at a marina with a highly recommended cafe and the wifi enabled me to join a live stream of a funeral, close to our old home town. It was an incredibly moving service, sensitively conducted by the vicar,  who brought alive the chosen bible passage and then,  instead of a eulogy,  spoke a prayer of thanksgiving, listing all the gifts and interests of the lady who had died,  including the things she loved the most and her character traits.  It was dignified and simple,  with the Christian message of forgiveness and hope at its centre. Rarely, it seems to me, does God get much of a mention, with funerals centered on the personality and good works of the person who has died, without any mention of their creator!

But back to boating! We rejoined the boat in the middle of September,  where it had been moored at the Wolverhampton boat club.  Our journey from London was slightly hampered by lugging a new radiator for the boat (had I realised how heavy it was I may have discouraged R from buying it from our local Screwfix!) but needs must! When we arrived at Market Drayton our good friend J agreed to help R replace the leaky radiator.  In reality, J did the job whilst R watched and handed him the relevant tools (many of which J had to find in his own toolkit!). I’m struck again by the kindness of the boating community.

Market Drayton was followed by a steep descent of many locks which we found a bit tiring, ending up once again at Nantwich for an overnight stay and the welcome use of the local marina laundrette.  I still get a thrill from washing and drying absolutely everything that is in need of cleaning! In addition I often meet really interesting people, mainly boaters,  with a tale to tell.  The previous Saturday at Market Drayton (which had been celebrating the annual Ginger & Spice festival – fun fact: MD is home of the gingerbread man!) had been relatively warm,  and I sat outside on the boat stern with my sign encouraging people to stop and chat.  A lovely couple,  who were walking to the Tyrley locks,  chatted extensively,  mainly because they too were boaters.  However,  as I was still on the stern when they returned from their walk,  we chatted further and this time a deeper story emerged of the health difficulties they are presently facing.  It reminded me of why we feel led to giving people listening time and what a difference a little bit of kindness can make. Even though this lady had an, abnormally, high blood pressure,  she could not get past the receptionists,  to speak to,  or see a doctor!

We were then on the receiving end of kindness! Mooring up on the Middlewich arm, knowing we had to leave the boat yet again,  I was not happy just mooring on the towpath side. I spied a couple of boats moored opposite adjacent to a farmer’s field and said to R that that would be an ideal mooring. We went for a walk to see what we thought of the area and passing under the next bridge,  came across a row of moored boats opposite us. Two men were chatting, so I asked them how safe this part of the canal is, mentioning that I’d really like to moor up on their side of the canal.  It just so happened one of the men was  farmer P himself! Not only did he say we could moor up,  he led me to the exact spot I had mentioned to R as being an ideal mooring! Intrigued by our Canal Ministry sign,  we had a lively discussion,  especially as his wife wanted to baptise their baby,  but he wasn’t too sure.  Then, when he told me how much the weeks mooring fee would be, he suddenly reduced it by £10, saying he wanted me to put it towards our Canal Ministry work! After a week away,  we returned to the boat minus any milk.  The irony of being moored next to a dairy farm and only having UHT! However P suggested I bring a jug to him the next morning which he filled with delicious unpasteurised milk – a treat I haven’t enjoyed since childhood.  Infact,  there was something very quaint about crossing a field to collect the freshest of milk.  Another boater told us to go easy and only use it in our tea and coffee, as it can cause a tummy upset.   I’m not a fan of milk, having had too many sour small bottles at infant school (that ages me) but I did try a little on its own and it was absolutely delicious!

We’ve known we had to change the fuel filter but neither R or I relished the idea – the last time oil kept spraying from the changed filter until we managed to successfully fit it, after many attempts. We’ve also noticed a slight coolant leak.  Farmer P told us to get hold of MB who lives on site as he knows lots about engines.  Sure enough, MB helped us with the coolant leak (which is so slight at the moment it’s too difficult to pinpoint) and with changing the oil filter. All for two jam donuts!  We told him we wanted to turn the boat around and had spied a slightly wider section of canal.  He advised against it as his friend with a 40ft boat had had to be pulled off the mud by Farmer P’s tractor.  I thought that might be a bit embarrassing! So instead,  we went further along the cut,  down two locks into Middlewich.  Walked 20mins to Lidl,  stocked up on supplies (including the donuts),  then returned up the two locks,  arriving back where we had started after about three hours.  Such is the boating life. 

Last time we were on the boat, my back was aching  but on our return home, the ache disappeared.  As I am wondering if it is to do with the mattress (the home bed is firmer) which is topped with a thick soft topper, the first thing we did on returning to the boat was to swop the mattress and topper.  Now the topper is under the mattress.  No mean feat on a narrowboat but it seems to have done the trick.  Slightly bizarre though!

I just want to give a shout out to the lovely AS, aunt to my son in law.  Hearing we were in the vicinity, but car-less, and needing to get to a wedding 30 mins taxi ride from the boat,  she became our chauffeur for three days,  including dropping us off at the railway station so that we could get back to dry land and even taking us to visit some other relatives of mine in the locality. Kindness such as that,  makes our lives so much easier,  especially when really we have no idea where we are!!

#Cheshire #narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement #boaterschristianfellowship

One of the aspects of a broken foot is only requiring one shoe. One of the challenges,  when constantly on the move,  is finding the discarded shoe once your foot is healed. I broke my foot whilst wearing winter trainers and then the summer arrived.  By the time I required my trainers again I had no recollection of where I left the temporarily unnecessary shoe.  I still can’t find it after a thorough search of both home and boat. I did have the sense to see if it is the right of left shoe that is missing and it transpires it’s the one I continued to wear so it could be anywhere!

We returned to the boat for ten days from mid August, with it’s newly painted bottom,  which extended to the rubbing strip, running along the sides of the boat.  How smart it looked,  for about half a dozen locks! And we had rather alot of locks to do. However hard I tried to avoid any contact with the lock chamber,  it was just impossible to maintain! A thing of beauty lasts but a short while but in the heart forever! Reminds me of when we had the parquet floors of our family home sanded and within a fortnight one area was totally pock marked by a pair of stilleto heels! It’s taught me to hold on to perfection lightly.

I had a bit of bother with my left knee after my ankle repair,  probably because I walked with my body out of kilter. It swelled up and I dragged it around for a week our two,  walking at a snails pace and elevating it as much as you can on a narrowboat,  where standing at the helm is a routine occurrence.  R did his best to help but he already had the locks to battle so I didn’t want to overly exhaust him.

Returning briefly to London we helped to crew another boat from Paddington to St Pancras, resulting in me sitting at an odd angle, so on return to our boat my back seized up and I was barely able to manouvere myself to the bathroom!! A back spasm when trying to pee is not for the faint hearted!! What an old crock – a reminder that I must put weights and regular stretching on my ‘to do’ list!

Having seen so much of the network closed down this summer due to low water levels,  we were delighted to travel in the rain much of our journey from Chirk to Market Drayton. The rain came in sudden heavy downpours, but at least the air was warm and we dried off very quickly! Blue skies are wonderful, but you can have too much of a good thing and it has been heart breaking hearing of boat yards struggling to survive and holiday boat companies having no punters. Tooleys of Banbury have lost 80% of their business over the summer because they are a dry dock,  and no one has been able to reach them as both the locks above and below the boat yard had to close due to lack of water. I think they are one of the oldest boatyards on the network and it is incredibly sad. I also heard of a fleet of hire boats being taken out of the water and driven to another part of the network where there was sufficient water to enable the boats to be used.

The general lack of water also makes one feel guilty at just travelling around the network for pleasure so we have used our boat far less than planned.  These past two weekends when we have had to leave the boat,  instead of returning and using it mid week,  we just left it for ten days. Mind you,  the weather pattern isn’t just affecting the rivers and canals.  A freak localised thunderstorm in Munich a week ago led to the plane we were on being diverted because ‘we may run out of fuel if we join the other dozen planes circling Munich airport, hoping to land’! We arrived at an airport 3hrs coach journey to Munich, at midnight, with one rep trying to find coaches at that hour of night to transport 140 people back to Munich! On our return to London on the Sunday evening our plane was delayed and by the time we landed all the trains into London had stopped, and there was a tube strike! How happy am I to be back on the boat!

I’ve worked out how to find the more economical train fares, but you have to keep your wits about you because sometimes the journey is not as straight forward as it could be, with a couple of train changes that elongate the time spent travelling. We had two changes to get to Shrewsbury followed by a bus to get to the boat.  The first train was delayed by 20 minutes, which means we missed our ongoing connection.  The upside was I have just got a refund from the train company. I also managed to get an online food delivery direct to the boat, which was  very welcome, although it can be difficult gauging how much fresh food we will actually need.  Whenever we leave the boat we turn off all the batteries so the contents of the fridge/freezer have to be disposed of. Since I don’t like waste, we usually have a large bag of food, in addition to our washing etc,  that needs to come with us.  That’s OK if we are going home but not so easy if we are going straight to an airport, which very occasionally happens. There is therefore a certain amount of stress involved in actually putting the online order together.

We are due  to give a presentation this week about the work of the Canal Ministries to a church situated close to the canal. We attended a service there earlier in the summer and they asked us to come and tell them more. We’d like to partner with local churches who see the needs of those living on the canal network and are keen to support them.  Obviously  as we continually cruise, we are not able to offer long term support to someone who may be needing help,  but we feel the church communities are in a position to do this.

We went to Burnley in August as part of a week long Canal Ministries Mission, offering boat rides to families and making connections with some of the local churches.  Sadly we were unable to go by our own boat due to the low water levels affecting many of the canals, but we were warmly received and had fun on someone else’s boat. One of the local bishops came and chatted to the crowd,  standing on top of the narrowboat, precariously balanced. Burnley was an eye opener.  So much poverty and yet so much community spirit – their wealth was in love and support of one another.  In the covid pandemic,  Burnley made the headlines as being one of the most hard hit areas due to lock down, job losses and a higher than average mortality rate.  Two of the local Christian leaders came to the attention of the BBC because of the outreach work they were involved with and were interviewed.  As a result aid poured in from around the UK and both Father Alex and Pastor Nick have written  books describing Burnley through the pandemic and beyond. I think they are well worth a read. My grandfather was a priest in the Birmingham slums and only having lived in the south myself,  I have felt a nudge to go north to see what life is like further up the country.  There are differences and perhaps it is good to imagine walking in someone else’s shoes.  One of the ladies I met told me that although she has very few possessions she has a wealth of friends and family and wouldn’t change that for anything.  For someone who loves having shoes to match an outfit and any excuse to buy a new party frock, I was quite chastened.  I have come away from Burnley challenged as to what  more I should be doing to address the inequality that is so prevalent in our society.

So here we are,  back on the boat, after a very long day of travel for us.  Having assessed tomorrow’s forecast,   we decided to travel as far as possible today.  Some good friends, having travelled from the opposite direction, happen to be moored almost next to us, so we shall enjoy a chinwag and no doubt a tipple before batting down the hatches in preparation for tomorrow’s downpours.  Just hoping enough rain will fall to get the low water levels up and the canal system fully reopened.  It was this time a year ago when we had a month’s rainfall in 24hrs in Oxford and we ended up tied to a tree for ten weeks, unable to move the boat on the Thames because it was too hazardous. Boaters really are at the mercy of the weather and all plans have to be held lightly.

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement #boaterschristianfellowship #nature

A good use of time to write an update whilst sitting in the minor injury unit at Oswestry. More knee saga – how old injuries come back to bite you as you age! Not particularly painful but swollen and immobile, which isn’t easy when you want to jump on and off the boat. Nor very practical to sit with one leg up trying to steer the boat.  R already has his work cut out operating the locks so the least I can do is stand at the helm.  Except I can’t. And yesterday,  unlike us,  we decided to do a long cruise along the Montgomery canal,  so we were moving the boat for over 6 hours. The Montgomery is an idyllic off shoot from the Llangollen canal, a short distance from the Ellesmere wharf. There is a staircase lock (one lock gate is shared between two locks) followed by two more locks and you have to book a passage to go through them.  A maximum of  12 boats can go up and 12 boats go down daily.  Deciding that two nights would suffice, I then realised that to get to the wharf at the far end would take longer than anticipated.  I had been following our Pearson ‘bible’ last edited in 2016. Since then, the Montgomery canal society has funded lengthening the navigable section a further mile or so.  There is then an unnavigable section before 12 further navigable miles.  I’m not sure who gets on those! Probably canoeists.  The Society is appealing for £50,000 to continue its restoration.  In my mathematical equation I didn’t take into account that the further we go the further we have to come back. I had spied a good pub called The Navigation that I wanted us to moor at,  but only after going the full length of the canal. Hence the day got longer! It was worth it.  What a great pub. 

We sat on a sofa in a room that was akin to a family sitting room and listened to three musicians playing celtic music for over two hours.  The pub wasn’t overfull, a mixture of boaters, holidaymakers and locals. The atmosphere was so relaxing and restorative after rather a long day.  The beauty of the Montgomery was a mix of amazing fauna along the canal edges,  the Welsh hills in the distance and so few boats.  After the Picadilly Circus around the aqueduct and the queues of boats travelling along the cut, it was a joy to have a canal almost to ourselves! I’m not sure how we would have passed a boat in many sections of the Montgomery – a lot of it was single file only with a lot of overgrowth either side of the canal edge.  It is acknowledged to be an area of outstanding beauty and R was fortunate to see a flash of blue as a kingfisher darted by!

Wow,  the aqueduct – that was quite an experience. Not nearly as scary as I thought it would be with just a thin edge between the side of the boat and a 127ft drop. It was a beautiful day and  we didn’t have to queue to get across.  I think I annoyed some canoeists waiting to come across from the opposite direction because we travelled so slowly to savour every moment.  In fairness, I didn’t realise they were waiting to cross.  I thought they were just enjoying paddling around the basin on the far side! My romantic  notions were somewhat flattened by M who was with us.  He put the idea in my head that if a section of the edge fell away,  we’d go with it.  Thus on our return, we cruised at a greater speed! We had travelled on to the basin in Llangollen,  a further hour and a half and moored up for two days on a pontoon with both water and electricity.  What a treat.  That’s when my knee started to swell so although I walked a mile to the Horseshoe falls to see the source of the water for the canal (I think it’s fed by the River Dee, but these details are a bit beyond my pay grade!), the following day I didn’t join the others in a stunning hill walk that they climbed from the town centre.  Llangollen is a very touristic place,  full of quaint coffee and nicnac shops.  It does have a small interesting museum and a steam train,  where apparently you can buy a ticket that includes a sumptuous cream tea for £90pp.  We returned to Chirk, cruising over another impressive aqueduct and through a dark tunnel,  where  our friends  reunited themselves with their car and zoomed away. 

Meanwhile we meandered back towards Ellesmere,  stopping just short of the Montgomery canal. Although busy with traffic along the Llangollen canal,  there is plenty of mooring space.  Interestingly, just about everywhere is restricted to 48hrs mooring only,  so they must anticipate many more boats and want to keep them moving along.

Next week our boat is going to have is bottom blacked – recommended to be done about every three years.  Some people do it themselves but it’s quite a mucky and intensive few days work so I’m happy to hand the job to someone who knows what they are doing! Then we have choices as to where we travel next although I know better than to make a fixed plan! Now the Macclesfield canal has reopened we may wend our way towards it.  We do know that our time of owning a boat is drawing to a close,  but not, I hope, our involvement with the canals. Twice I have heard the words ‘sell the boat’ and then when I asked for a further sign (because I really don’t feel ready to let go of my lovely Naomhog!) the throttle cable broke and now my knee is playing up! Everything is for a season and we’ve had some amazing experiences,  meeting lovely people along the way.  We also realise owning a boat is a bit like looking after a pet. When you leave it,  you want it to be safe and well looked after.  Our idea of being on our boat March to November just hasn’t worked out for so many different reasons.  The freedom and peace of being on the Cut is often replaced with complicated logistical manouvers to get us to where we need to be.  We are the epitome of bag people,  returning to land laden with all the food from the fridge,  as all the electrics get turned off when we leave the boat, and a load of washing,  unless we have been fortunate enough to find a laundrette or a good friend in the vicinity! Alongside the sadness, there runs excitement as to what is next.  And who knows,  it may take quite some time to sell the boat – my advertising to date is a couple of post-it notes in the boat windows.  Not exactly singing it out!

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement

Is there a more comforting sound than,  when miles from home,  you hear the sound of a traditional peel of church bells? We had moored up on Saturday  on the Llangollen canal and,  looking for a church to attend,  realised we had to travel a further half hour,  followed by a 20 minute uphill walk.  St Martin’s church at St Martin’s Moor appeared to be the nearest Anglican place of worship so early on Sunday morning we set off,  in the rain,  to join the congregation at 0930. Many canal boats were already on the move.  This is a popular canal,  although I have been told it is quiet for this time of year.  The escalating  price of hiring a boat may have something to do with that,  but having now owned our boat for 3 and a half years,  I realise how expensive they are to maintain! More of that later! Suffice to say,  we were given a warm welcome at church,  sung some very familiar hymns and appreciated both the peace and the beauty of the church building.  Decent coffee and delicious homemade cake added to our morning.  One or two mentioned to us they weren’t fans of the vicar’s other nearby church as it was a bit ‘happy clappy’ but as that too is a similar distance from the canal,  albeit further along,  we shall endeavour to visit it whilst we are in the vicinity.  I’m not adverse to some modern songs and a relaxed informal style of worship.  When miles from home,  in an area where you know no one,  to be able to find instant community,  is a real blessing. As was being told about Stan’s, the most amazing country supermarket selling everything from chandeliers to champagne,  car tyres to carrots!

We’ve had a chequered two months as far as boat life goes.  It became obvious it was far easier to cope with a broken foot on dry land.  Arriving on a boat somewhere at the end of the day and then having to walk a distance to find food was not easy and as for enjoying walking around the vicinity and taking in our surroundings – it was all a bit impractical, so we returned home.  Having said that,  we then found ourselves travelling by train,  car and ferry to various destinations to attend numerous family celebrations. At least I could rest my foot as necessary – I just couldn’t dance the night away with my usual vigour!

Returning to the boat,  post friends of ours borrowing it for a fortnight,  was delightful.  The weather was fantastic (although we’re praying for more rain as so many canals are closing temporarily due to lack of water) and the boat handed back to us spic and span,  with some welcome alcoholic  refreshment secreted in the fridge! However, I did rather wonder where we’d left our clothes – G and S had picked the boat up from Market Drayton and then proceeded to do the four counties ring.  We suggested to them they leave the boat in a marina just shy of Market Drayton so that they avoided the 16 locks into the town and we avoided the 16 locks out of the town.  A perfect solution,  especially as we didn’t return to the boat until a few days after they left it.  We made quick progress towards Middlewich as a good friend had invited us to her birthday lunch and collecting us by car from there was not too far for them to kindly pick us up.  Market Drayton was the distant past until I realised that is where we’d left all our clothes!! Having been moored alongside a friend’s house, we emptied the boat of our clothing to make space for G and S. Only I forgot this fact when negotiating the boat pick up point.  Post party weekend we retraced our boat cruise,  deciding that Nantwich was a good place to moor up and then take a taxi to MD and back.  Imagine our delight when we found ourselves moored next to some good Canal Ministry friends.  Not only did we have a sociable evening together but M had his car nearby and obliged us by offering a taxi service.  Part of his recompense included a trip to ‘the office’ aka Weatherspoons, where we indulged in brunch and copious cups of coffee – the free refill system means you leave Weatherspoons far more wired than when you arrive!

The friend’s who had the birthday party also had a young German couple staying with them,  so we offered to give them a ride along the canal the day we left Middlewich. J dropped them with us, collected our dirty washing and when he returned later,  a bag of freshly laundered clothing accompanied him.  What a treat – simple pleasures of boat life, because at that stage we had very few clothes to change into!!

Turning the boat at Nantwich we headed towards the Llangollen canal,  which mercifully has relatively few locks! After the initial four locks, close together, you  travel along,  passing a marina and then a further two locks.  It was on exiting the second of these locks that i discovered i had no revs when I turned the boat throttle – the boat engine didn’t engage at all!! My immediate thought was that the throttle cable had broken and this thought was backed up by R after he lifted the engine floor and peered into the recess.  We even had a spare cable on the boat, but we weren’t quite brave enough to change it ourselves.  I rung the marina who gave me the number of a boat engineer called Eric, but I had no idea of his credentials and we have heard enough horror stories of cowboy engineers. However I rang him and left a message on his answerphone.   It just so happened that the previous lock to the one we had exited, had a broken paddle.  Although we got through (it had taken four people to force the gate shut) very shortly after,  the CRT arrived and temporarily closed the lock to do an emergency repair.  This meant a few boats were unable to move and some of the boaters walked along the towpath.  One of these stopped to chat and hearing of our dilemma,  said his boat was usually moored at the nearby marina and he had the name of a very reliable engineer – Eric! Relieved to know he was reputable, I tried his numbed again and this time he picked up and was able to come straight to us.  Within an hour we were on our way,  very thankful for the assistance we had received.

Our week travelling along the Llangollen has been tranquil, albeit a little wet at times,  but we are so grateful to see rain and at least the showers are warm! Although the locals think the canal is quiet and it isn’t as busy as I thought it might be,  we are still passing more boats than we have seen on any other canal. Not only that, but we are also in a queue of  boats and having, at times, to go at a snails pace – tickover even when not passing moored boats (it is polite then to slow right down. If you don’t,  not only do you risk pulling a boat’s mooring pins out,  but the boat itself can bang heavily against the canal side). I realised today that there are lots of hire boats on the cut and handover day seems to be Saturday,  so there many novice boaters who are trying to negotiate very tight passages through the many bridges along the canal – some of them are in 60 – 70ft boat’s, so I don’t blame them for being cautious.  I just have to learn patience!! Thankfully tonight we are where we planned to be! Friends of ours are arriving to join us travelling over the Pontcysylite aqueduct in Wales – one of the wonders of the whole canal network.  It’s why this stretch of the canal is so busy.  I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it as on one side of the aqueduct there is a sheer drop and it is very very high up! Shortly meeting our friends in their hotel,  where they’ve said we can have a proper shower,  we are currently in the midst of heavy rain and thunder. A natural shower will probably assault us when we try leaving the boat.  The rain has that steady feel of not letting up anytime soon!

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement

I’ve been getting used to life on a boat with a clumpy boot on my right foot. At least it can come off overnight and I seem to be very fortunate that the fracture is not causing too much pain. I have to take care getting on and off the boat and jumping up and down off my stool, (essential to seeing where I am headed) as I don’t want to do further bone  damage or end up in the canal –  balance could be an issue!

R got the train home on Monday for an appointment whilst my friend F arrived at the same station to join me for a  few days.  We’ve had quite an adventure.  There has only been one lock so far, and we approached it after about three hours of travelling in the late afternoon.  As we entered the lock the yellow oil warning light lit up, so I  cut the engine and on exiting the lock I decided to walk the boat out  rather than turn on the ignition.  Mooring up on the bollards, we walked along the towpath to find a garage to buy some oil.  In doing so, we passed a familiar looking boat and, finding out friends aboard,  we stopped for a drink or two and decided to sort the oil issue out the next morning.

Refreshed, first thing the next day,  I removed the floorboard covering the engine bay and was surprised to see  water on the floor,  as although it had rained overnight, it had not been prolonged.  Using my handy grabber,  with kitchen towel attached,  I realised the liquid was infact oil and extracting the dip stick found, unsurprisingly, the oil level below minimum.  I had checked the oil level two days previously, so this was unusual.  I clomped along the towpath to the garage (this time of day our friends boat offered coffee from a pucker coffee machine!), eventually purchasing 5l of oil, having rifled through paperwork to find the correct oil for our particular engine.  Perturbed by the sudden decrease of oil, it dawned on me that further oil poured into the engine would probably just leak out so I needed an engineer – I couldn’t risk setting off along the cut and breaking down.  Who to call? I remembered friends of my sister’s lived nearby and as well as being members of the Boaters Christian Fellowship they are also Waterways Chaplains, so I hunted down their number and gave them a call.  Unbeknownst to me, they were cruising a different part of the cut, enjoying a coffee break in the middle of a flight of locks.  Hearing their mobile phone ringing and  not recognising my number, they nearly ignored it,  due to receiving so many scam calls. Something prompted them to pick up and I was able to explain my dilemma.  They suggested I contact a lady called J,  a permanent moorer in the village as she would know of local boat engineers. Naming her boat, I was moored directly opposite it and she was standing on the towpath! After a brief resume, she said she’d ring Steve,  in her opinion the best engineer around.  He said he could get to me in half an hour.  Pouring in the oil until it registered on the dipstick (all 5l),  we then turned on the engine and a fountain of oil immediately spurted out. It transpired that the wrong size oil filter had been fitted to the engine which meant as we were travelling along the metal rings on a nearby piece of piping, were tapping against the oil filter until it suddenly sprung a leak.  Steve told me that if this had happened whilst I was cruising along,  it would have been unlikely that I would have immediately noticed the oil light or stopped the engine so quickly. Within a very short space of time irreparable damage to the engine would have been caused resulting in the need to purchase a new one.  Fortunately as the leak occurred at the lock, enough oil remained in the engine for it not to seize up and I had had the sense not to try to move.

I still had the problem of almost 10l of oil over the floor of my engine bay.  Although we carry nappies for minor spills (just on the boat!),  they couldn’t cope with this quantity of oil and until cleaned up I couldn’t turn on my bilge pump because the oil would contaminate the canal water.  J called to me to move my boat across to hers and she then proceeded to pump out all the oil into a ‘dirty vax’, followed by cleaning and rinsing the floor.  I could not believe her kindness, to which she replied (she had also seen my Canal Ministry sign on the side of my boat) “any friend of the waterways chaplains is a friend to me”. It transpires that recently the local chaplains had been really supportive and she wanted to repay their kindness to her! I was the incredibly fortunate beneficiary.

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement

Thursday,  May 15th

The problem with doing nothing is that it is so hard to motivate oneself to do something! I can testify to this since late yesterday morning when I failed to see the edge of the pavement and turned my foot over, resulting in a painful bruise and inability to weight bear! This in addition to the stiff back and slightly swollen knees that have been bothering me as I cooked for 22, the crew of a film shoot one of our daughter’s was involved with last week.  I also turned 64 recently and I can’t help think all these aches and pains are a sign of what’s to come.  Yet inside I still feel  I’m a youngster, although my body is a reminding me I’m not!!

My foot injury occurred about a 20 minute walk from the boat and as it didn’t feel too bad I continued with my mission to walk around the Market Drayton indoor and outdoor markets,  to pop into all the charity shops to spy a bargain and then to enjoy my free sweet birthday treat from one of the coffee shop chains. All the while, the swelling gradually worsened, until I hobbled back to the boat like a tortoise! We still had to move the boat through five locks which R couldn’t easily manage alone as between two of the pounds you need to set the further lock so that the boat can go straight into it to prevent any boat damage due to shallow rocks on both sides of the canal. The spillovers as you approach the lock gates at this particular flight of locks are notorious for pushing boats off course, so all in all,  some slightly tricky manoeuvring involved.  I managed to stand on my stool (without it I am too short to see over the end of our boat!),  weight bearing on my left leg, so that my right foot had no stress and I could just reach the throttle to alter the boat speed.  Somehow we got through all five locks unscathed although I felt sorry for R who had to race ahead to get the lock gates open so that I didn’t have to wait around too long in the pounds. When the boat is hovering rather than moving it can be tricky to keep a straight course!

Once the locks were behind us all we had to do was cruise.  I managed to sit on our stern bench, with my leg up,  holding onto the tiller and steering by looking along the towpath side of the boat. Fortunately no boats were coming in the opposite direction and once R had made us a cup of tea he took over,  which I think was far the safest option! By the time we moored up I really couldn’t weight bear at all so a walking stick and a broom handle sufficed as impromptu crutches. I prepared supper on one leg and finally sat on the sofa with my foot raised for the remainder of the evening.  It certainly helped as today the swelling is down and as long as I walk on my big toe, I can get around the boat! What it reminds me is how important it is we stay physically fit – if that goes awry it is much harder to maintain this lifestyle.

As I write R, who is having to work doubly hard, doing just about everything,  is steering the boat whilst I laze about on our bed writing this blog.  I’ve never experienced the boat moving from a prone position and it is really rather relaxing.  It’s a beautiful sunny day and out of the porthole windows I can just see trees, burgeoning with blossom and a clear blue sky.  Even the hum of the engine sounds comforting as we meander along at 3mph.

Such a contrast to last week when we left the boat to assist our daughter’s film venture.  She was producing a short film where we go on holiday,  so I knew the kitchen.  The challenge being, I’m out of practice for catering for large crowds.  Her remit was daily bacon butties, a home baked treat at 11am and 4pm, a hot two course meal in the day and something easily digestible for supper since they wouldn’t be ‘wrapping’ until at least 8pm, with a sweet treat to finish! In addition a snack table available 24/7 with plenty of fruit and crudités.  My extensive shopping list was so long Tesco’s told me I’d teach my limit of 200 items! I had no idea they even had a limit.  Suffice to say,  it was great fun.  The cast were lovely and very appreciative of home cooked meals.  Amazingly, there wasn’t one gluten free among them,  but 7 veggies,  3 nut allergies,  an allergy to milk and eggs and one to spicy food. Kept me on my toes making sure I gave the right food to the right people and a challenge to avoid cross contamination in a domestic kitchen.  Everyone survived,  a huge relief! Apparently good food makes for a happy crew,  as does amazing weather by the seaside.  There were plenty of dips in the sea – people joke our stretch of water is especially warm due to the close proximity of a nuclear power station – I hope that’s not really the case.  For the month of May though,  the weather was exceptional.

We are returning from whence we came, namely the outskirts of Northampton,  so that R can get a train home for a medical appointment and I can pick up my alternative crew,  one of my most long standing friends,  who I’ve known since birth.  We will turn back,  along this same stretch of canal, as the game plan is eventually to go to Wales and with the Bridgwater and Macclesfield canals currently closed,  our options in this part of the network are relatively few.

The Shroppie is certainly beautiful,  aided by glorious weather and a surprising amount of quintessentially arched low bridges.  The non towpath side of the canal is often lined with residential narrowboats that rarely move and as you have to slow as you pass them,  travel is even slower than usual.  The traffic on the canal is busier than we are used to with many hire boats alongside the continuous cruisers.

We went to the Calvacade in London, basically the narrowboat alternative to a landbased carnival, with food,  music and retail popups around Little Venice. Our friends decked their boat out in hundreds of lights,  adorned us with fairy wings and halos and we then joined the floodlit evening procession of boats.  It was a unique experience.  It never fails to amaze me how much effort people put into calvacades and carnivals and how many people come out to cheer them on.  I’ve tried it once,  I got a bit cold and I don’t think I need to do it again, although the hot water bottle and glass of port offered to me was most welcome at the end of the evening!

Saturday evening…..

It was great,  when we moored up on Wednesday we were next to friends we’d made a few weeks earlier.  We’d also spotted an all electric boat with St Pancras written on the side.  Suffice to say,  as they are members of the same cruising club as us,  we all ended up at The Anchor, a pub literally next to our boat,  so I was able to hobble in.  A really basic,  old fashioned establishment,  that has been in the same family for three generations.  No carpets,  no juke box,  no TV, no football.  It was great.  And the landlady made a cracking cup of tea just before we left for bed!

We found ourselves at Norbury Junction just as our gas cylinder ran out.  A manned pump out (obviously most expensive pump out to date because we normally do self serve) was a great bonus for R as I wasn’t really up to helping him, but I was a trifle dismayed at the combined cost of both items.  Delighted to see that diesel has gone down in price, not that we needed any.  Mooring up next to the water tap,  I had a cheeky shower on the boat (there were two taps no other boat was waiting) luxuriating in the knowledge I didn’t have to be abstemious for once with the water,  because R filled out tank as I showered. He used the CRT shower that happens to be a CRT perk at NJ. We’ve used it before and found that the male one is  far hotter than the female shower,  which oscillates between hot and cold.  R even suggested he stand guard and I use the male one but I declined.

As I can’t walk to the shops R went off to find dinner and came back with four delicious fishcakes, which seemed rather expensive at nearly £30. On further investigation I found R had also purchased beer,  cigars and a packet of biscuits! His shopping requirements are quite different to mine!

As I write now, I am sitting in Northampton hospital A&E department and think it could be a long night.  I left R at the pub next to the boat with his intention to get an Indian takeaway.  My foot is not a lot better and the prudent action is to get it looked at. Armed with snacks,  my phone,  my knitting and a Kindle, I’m all prepared for a long wait. It’s slightly unnerving not really knowing where I am or quite how I will get back to the boat, but taxi’s are a wonderful invention and at least my driver knew where to drop me. Apparently the Google destination for A&E was outdated so I was going to the old one until the driver cottoned on and took me to the new one.  A blessing as I really would have struggled to walk between the two.

And so I wait…..

0130 and back on the boat. Minor injuries are not triaged at Northampton A&E but no one told me this,  as I watched numerous people being called before me.  Eventually I returned to the reception,  thinking I’d been forgotten and with the system explained,  I had three people ahead of me and it’s 2030. Time to find a bathroom and then pick up a coffee and a wrap from the hospital cafe.  I couldn’t believe how good the wrap turned out to be and the freshly made cappuccino,  all for under a fiver! Time ticked on – I had hours to eat my wrap.  And have two half  hour conversations with friends,  watch a bit of TV , contemplate the universe, return to the reception for an update.  Action kicked in about 2330, when a delightful doctor called me through,  examined my foot,  walked me to the xray department and told me he’d be back,  apologising for a further delay whilst he stitched someone up! I can’t fault the care. It was a bit of a pain it took so long,  but I had nowhere else I needed to be. I knew R was happy at the pub and I was impressed by how calmly and efficiently the A&E department was run,  considering the constant stream of injured and sick people. Even though the NHS is broken in many places it is also amazing the care they give.

I hope you were all as blessed by the weather on Easter Sunday as we were. After a really uplifting service at St Mary’s Market Drayton, we enjoyed a stroll through the Shropshire countryside with our friends before preparing a roat pork feast. Having offered them lamb, I felt remorseful that by the time I went food shopping on Saturday afternoon,  there was not a morsel of lamb in sight! I slightly redeemed myself by managing to produce almost perfect crackling – a first for me! I remember years ago having my brother and family for Christmas dinner and they arrived ready to roast their own potatoes,  such is my reputation for anything I deem unhealthy! I did surprise them by having factored roasted potatoes and parsnips into the Christmas repas! We missed spending Easter with our children,  but I was gratified to know 3 of them were together and the elder sister had even encouraged her younger brother to go to church en famille. Not through a mum nag!

One of my biggest joys has been the newly restored shower (at least one reader of this blog will be very pleased to hear that!) which was a palaver but in my opinion,  well worth all the effort.  In the three years we have had the boat the only way to have a hot,  but not too hot shower, was to time the temperature of the water post travelling.  Too soon and it was scalding hot.  Too late and you risked a lukewarm offering.  Not pleasant on a cold day.  So I became more feral until the shower stopped producing any hot water at all! A trip into Shrewsbury found us at two different shower suppliers and two plumbing establishments until we were armed with a thermostatic shower replacement and the necessary adaptors as we could not find like for like.  Without a car, it was quite an expedition,  hindered by an extremely cold wind and inadequate clothing.  Still,  I felt we had achieved our mission and happily handed the new unit to the plumber to install little knowing what a complicated task he had ahead of him.  Five hours later……BUT we now have a fully operational shower with mixer taps that do their job and I am forever indebted to C for his patience,  kindness and hard work.

R and I have learnt a new boating term – ‘The Office’ from our Canal Ministry friends.  It is the place where admin gets done,  free WiFi, copious free refills of any hot drink (£1.19 for Lavazza coffee) along with mega all day breakfasts. Aka Weatherspoons or ‘Spoons’! Now,  before becoming a boater, I admit I was very sniffy about Weatherspoons, probably had never even darkened their doors.  But whenever we get together with the CM team,  if there’s an Office, that’s where you will find us! It’s extremely good value for money,  it’s warm and it’s welcoming.  It honestly makes you wonder why so many of us spend about £4 on a cup of coffee in mediocre coffeeshops.  So yesterday,  armed with my mobile phone, I settled myself into a comfy corner and accomplished my mission of passing both my Level 2 food hygiene  and Allergen certificates.  Both good to have before I cook for 30 people for 4 days,  catering for our daughter’s film crew as they produce a short film in May. One challenge is buying sufficient food,  but not too much,  as there’s a strict-ish budget and incorporating the special diets,  mindful of the allergies that seem so much more prevalent in today’s modern world.

We’ve offered day trips along the canal to give people a taste of what it’s like to be on the cut. There’s a good stretch of canal without a lock in sight and a winding hole so that we can change direction but it’s a bit more tricky when we get back to where we started. This morning R managed to turn us around just using the ropes and the breeze.  I was slightly alarmed as I was inside the boat,  not knowing what he was doing, but equally impressed that he could turn the boat on his own without using the engine! We’ve seen some impressive historic boats en route home from a festival in Ellesmere, which many attended.

One of the lovely aspects of this nomadic lifestyle is not knowing who you will meet along the way and it’s often friends of friends,  when someone we know realises they have a friend or family member close to where we are moored.  We spent a delightful afternoon,  with a couple we are connected to by family  and he turned out to be a horticulturist like my brother.  He even remembered meeting him over 40 years ago at a Scottish reeling party.  We went to  Woollerton Old Hall (Monty Don featured it on one of his programs) and K was able to fill me in on all the plant names. My brother will be impressed – he knows I’ve only ever looked around a handful of gardens in my life and can barely distinguish a flower from a weed.  I must say,  now that we don’t have a garden,  I do appreciate someone else’s! So much so that yesterday afternoon found me voluntarily weeding another friend’s garden path.  It was most satisfying! In return she cooked dinner.  R was treated to meat and two veg,  a lot more appetising than another onepot meal from his wife!!

Off to Shrewsbury on the bus, as last week we only managed utilitarian shopping.  We’ve heard it’s well worth a visit as the town scape, made of local stone,  is very attractive.

Overlooking the train station we got to see the Tornedo, a steam train built in 2000 and used by Jeremy Clarkson on TopGear to race against a car and a motorbike to Scotland.  I don’t think it won!!

You’ve probably gathered we haven’t moved very far in the last week, but it’s been a great opportunity to be sociable and get ahead with some boat chores. I even bought some potted plants at the local market yesterday to replenish my boat trugs and get a little garden going on the roof.  I’m limited to the bow end of the boat – it’s incredibly frustrating trying to manoeuvre the mid rope, disentangling oneself from all the paraphernalia on the roof. It took me a while to admit R was right – our first season of boatlife I had flowers everywhere I could find a space, but it proved to be impractical and annoying!

As an aside,  I have literally just received this from a friend, so I thought I’d share it:

Definition of “hospital” by Pope Francis
Pope Francis always surprises with his reflections:

“The walls of hospitals have heard more honest prayers than churches…
They have seen far more sincere kisses than those in airports…
It is in the hospital where you see a homophobe being saved by a gay doctor.
The ‘posh’ doctor saving the life of a beggar…
In intensive care, you see a Jewish person caring for a racist…
A police officer and a prisoner in the same room receiving the same care…
A wealthy patient in line for a liver transplant, ready to receive the organ of a poor donor…
It’s in these moments—when the hospital touches the wounds of people—that universes intersect with divine purpose, and in this communion of destinies, we realize that alone, we are nothing.
People’s absolute truths, most of the time, only appear at the moment of pain or the real threat of a definitive loss.
The hospital is a place where human beings remove their masks and reveal themselves in their true essence.

This life will pass quickly.
Don’t fight with people.
Don’t criticize your body too much.
Don’t complain too much.

Make sure to hug your loved ones.
Don’t worry too much about keeping the house spotless.

Keep the dogs closer.
Don’t save the good dishes.
Use the new silverware.

Why not call now?
Why not forgive now?

You’re waiting for so many things: Christmas, Friday, next year, when you have money, when love arrives, when everything is perfect…
Listen—perfection doesn’t exist.
Human beings can’t achieve it because we simply weren’t made to be fulfilled here.
This is a place for learning.
So make the most of this life trial—and do it now.

Respect yourself. Respect others.
Love more, forgive more, hug more, live more intensely!
And leave the rest in the hands of the Creator.”

Pope Francis

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement

Thursday 10th April

Supported the local pub last night,  choosing a vegetarian lasagne.  Didn’t expect a heap of chips (laden with salt which were delicious and of course I couldn’t waste them!) to accompany it. The lasagne was fairly stodgy and I felt the after effects this morning.  Think I’ll do the cooking tonight.  It’s just we had had rather a long day by the time we moored up.  Cannot believe how busy this canal is compared to others we’ve experienced of late.  All the bridge widths are just a few inches wider than our boat so I have to really concentrate when passing through.  And they come thick and fast at times. Up ahead, coming towards us,   a boat was approaching the same bridge as us, closely followed by another boat. As I pulled to the side to let them through,  I could not believe a third boat was following close behind them! Our equivalent of Picadilly Circus! And this morning,  boats seem to be appearing frequently from both directions,  often travelling faster than tickover, with the result that mooring pins of moored boats can be dislodged. Fortnately we are on mooring rings – in the laundrette this morning I met a guy,  J,  who was telling me he looks after a friends boat in the week,  but they move and moor together at weekends (J is over 80 and he didn’t look a day over 70. He’s been on his boat for 28years.  He used to work for BT but at 50, when computers came in,  he was considered too old to retrain so they made him redundant and he retired). Recently, first his friend’s boat and then his,  were found straggling across the canal because the mooring pins had been dislodged by the wash from passing speedy boats.  I was so relieved when we moored up and a banner on the side of the towpath indicated a nearby laundrette.  Google had drawn a blank of such provision and I was fretting over our increasing mound of dirty clothes. We are feral enough with the shower inoperable at the moment.  By 0830 I was in the laundrette (passing a barbers,  coincidentally run by the wife of the man who owns the laundrette – I’ve booked R in for midday to spruce him up in advance of our Hot cross bun mission this weekend!) and J was already there using the extra large machine which I wanted for getting our duvet washed.  I settled down to wait patiently and was rewarded with not only helpful hints from J (he was adding soda crystals to his wash – apparently that helps sterilise the machine as you don’t know what has been in it previously.  It had never even occurred to me to worry about that!), but also amusing anecdotes. He told me about a continuous cruiser who makes his living from collecting used tyres.  He earns enough to drive a £210,000 porsche, and doesn’t seem concerned about leaving it alongside the towpath! You meet all types….

I love coincidences,  which I like to call God-instances. Our younger daughter sent us a pic yesterday of her and one of our lodgers who lived with us many years ago when studying journalism at the art college.  Only a couple of days ago R and I had been speaking of him and saying how we’d love to catch up with him again when we are next in London. He recognised our daughter – they both happen to work for the Bible Society. How small a world is that!

As I sit here in the peace of this beautiful village,  with only the occasional car disturbing the mood,  I am conscious of the prolific birdsong. Hence why I didn’t use the word silence.  It is anything but! It’s like a symphony because so many different birds are calling to one another.  Sadly, I can’t identify any of them and R isn’t here to tell me because he’s having his hair cut! I could of course use my Merlin app  (well worth downloading if you are into identifying bird song).  I’ve loved travelling along the Shropshire Union canal because it is so pretty with all the blossom bursting forth along the towpath. It looks idyllic although J said it had been closed recently due to fallen trees blocking the canal in stormy weather. The CRT have many demands on their time and resources,  so  it took weeks to clear. I’m hoping we’ll be OK as there’s not a breath of wind at the moment.  But it’s a reminder that we can only say we plan to get to a destination,  not that we will! A bit like life as we all think we have far more control than we actually do!

I’ve been feeding my sourdough starter and yesterday decided I really should move onto making some actual bread with it.  I googled cooking bread without an oven (we do have one but it’s full of baking pans and anyway I’m too thrifty to use the gas unless I have more than one thing to bake) and have just made my first loaf in a lidded saucepan. Admittedly, it’s a bit flat, but it looks like bread,  tastes like bread and at least it’s not ultraprocessed – trying to keep ultra processed foods to minimum is quite a challenge,  especially when R goes shopping!!

I’m really enjoying reconnecting with people via the blog,  so thank you when you respond.  Not only does it reassure me someone is out there, but it encourages me to keep writing,  which may or may not be a good thing! As we venture further from our comfort zone,  life becomes a bit more of a challenge for the everyday practicalities.  We’ve been assured there’s a CRT shower facility not far from here, so I’m hoping that’s the case.  Otherwise, I need to chase our friends along the cut who promised us a shower in return for a bag of hazelnuts.  S was extolling the deliciousness of the Aldi hazelnut chocolate bar which is more hazelnut than chocolate.  I suggested she made her own, so gave her some nuts.  She sent me a picture of what she had made and was going to save some for me, but she got carried away and now there’s none left!!

Post shower: well, there was a shower which ran cold for five minutes and then,  once it became hot,  it was either scalding or freezing,  with about 10 seconds of acceptable heat within the two extremes. It did,  therefore,  require patience and time to accomplish both hair and body wash,  but it was worth it.  For a short period of time, both Richard and I and all our clothing and bedlinen will be refreshingly clean! This is not the time for one of us to fall into the canal!!

There’s a wonderful chandlery here where I purchased a teapot that one can boil up the water directly on the gas cooker before adding the tea. In addition,  I was very tempted to buy a red and white polka dot kettle, but sense prevailed.  Its capacity is 3.5l and we rarely need that much hot water for just the two of us. (useful though for strip washing!)

Trundling along the canal we had a boat behind us that was getting ever closer,  so we pulled over to let it pass. It was a day boat hire and I remarked as they passed that they were travelling faster than us, so it was best they go ahead.  At which point they slowed down! It gave us time to admire the cutting that Thomas Telford had such trouble with.  The Shroppie was the last canal he designed before his death and was incredibly ambitious because it required so many deep cuttings and high embankments to cut through the Shropshire hillside.  This stretch slipped time and time again,  requiring the bank to be rebuilt on numerous occasions.  The problem was eventually solved by another engineer after Thomas’s death in 1834.

Monday 14th April

Not sure I want to see another Hot Cross bun! We’ve been moored up in Market Drayton over the weekend,  specifically to help with a Boaters Christian Fellowship outreach, which entailed chatting to people on the towpath, offering free hot cross buns and a couple of quizzes for children.  It’s been a very sociable time.  The forecast had been for rain, but it has held off,  although the temperature has definitely dropped. I’ve decided God must have a sense of humour – the boat moored next to ours is a pagan boat, trading crystals,  wizards, white witches and  fairies.  There was space for a boat between us, but for some reason the pagan boat moved up to be even closer! The lady told me how many people she meets who find this world a terrible place,  without hope. She talked to me about Pandora’s box being opened and all the evil spirits flying away and all that remained was hope but it seems she has little to hope for,  as she has no belief in anything after this life. Meanwhile, we’d just been to a church service where the vicar talked about hope in eternal life through Jesus’s death and resurrection.  Apparently recent statistics show that increasingly 18-24 yr olds are turning to spiritual answers for their sense of meaning.  Frankly,  looking at the state of the world,  the lack of integrity in many of our leaders and the growing injustices and increased suffering,  is it any wonder? Where else can they find hope in a world that appears chaotic,  scary and lacking any long term stability. It seems to me that it has been ever thus – in times of crisis, people turn to something bigger than themselves.

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement

We are blessed with the weather! Today we have almost completed the Wolverhampton flight,  which comprises 21 single locks.  Starting off early from the Black Country museum in Dudley (should be on everyone’s UK bucket list!) we gently cruised lock-less for two hours until we reached the top of the Wolverhampton flight.  We saw a few run down factories and a lot of rubbish in the canals.  There were also some nesting birds on the canal including a swan that someone on the towpath told us to look out for.

For some reason I keep thinking I’m going up the flight, but R assures me we are on the top of the plateau not the bottom! We find a local Sainsbury to stock up on fresh food (looking ahead on the map, there don’t seem to be very many supermarkets around.  And certainly no laundrettes,  which could become an issue!) and contemplate whether to do the lock flight today or tomorrow.  I walk partway down the flight,  depressed to see that none of the locks are set in our favour,  so we are going to have to fill them before we then empty them.  Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow when our energy levels have been restored…. but upon returning to Naomhog I  meet up with another boat following in our wake,  with 3 or 4 people on board.  I suggest they go ahead of us and cheekily ask if they mind opening the top paddles once they are through the lock,  so that as we arrive behind them,  the lock is almost full of water.  They readily agree,  so decision is made.  We set off about fifteen minutes later and whistle through 17 locks, thankful for the kindness of strangers.  We have stopped shy of the final 4 locks as we found a beautiful mooring spot next to a large park. We did have to walk the towpath with a windlass to shut the paddles of the remaining locks that have been prepared for us. We will start afresh tomorrow,  with a couple of random locals accompanying us,  although I’m not sure for how long, as they will have to get themselves home and they may not have thought about the logistics.

I was at about lock 10 when a guy started chatting me up (his words, not mine – I told him I thought I was a bit old to be chatted up but he didn’t bat an eyelid when I said I was 63 and he admitted to being 44!) He’s never been on a narrowboat and wanted to come aboard today.  As all we were doing was a flight of locks I suggested it might be a bit boring,  but he could join us tomorrow.  Could he bring his wife? he asked. Of course,  I said. So who knows if they will appear,  but I have a sense of deja vu,  as I did this once before and got unknowingly high on someone else’s spliff! That wasn’t far from here.  There’s something about the midlanders that mean they are not shy of coming forward!

We had a lovely time going through Birmingham on our boat,  enhanced by good weather and fortified by R’s aunt,  who had us to stay in her house,  walking distance from where we moored the boat.  A big bed, a bath, a washing machine and plenty of victuals – what was not to like.  Birmingham is such an interesting city to go around,  especially if you are accompanied by locals who know the history!

Last week we met up with friends who live near Kidderminster- they’ve known R longer than I have.  And they have a VW camper van called Beryl, so they are almost as eccentric.  It’s great when we get together because we all feel 21 again and act accordingly.  They wanted to take us to a local pub, The Bathams Delph at Brierley Hill, where the beer is  amazing (it’s a micro brewery and has been in the same family for four generations) and the pub is renowned for its homemade faggots and mushy peas. The last time they’d been, they had got into trouble for sitting at a local’s table, so we were a bit uncertain as to the reception we would receive.  Nothing but kindness – when we asked for food we were told it was cold only as the faggots were due to be made the following morning,  ready for lunch time.  Expressing our disappointment,  the landlord said that he had 3 portions left over in the fridge and we were welcome to them.  He didn’t want any payment.  He was just glad to oblige! And I have to say they were delicious and my opinion of mushy peas has been reframed!

Our journey has been punctuated with a return to London for Mothering Sunday (a treat to be cooked for by daughter C) and this last weekend a whistlestop trip to Belfast to attend a thanksgiving service of one of R’s many cousins.  Quite a palaver mooring the boat somewhere ‘safe’, near a train station that connects to an airport.  Then hiring a car, finding a bnb, only having a small hold bag because Easyjet charge so much for a larger one! Having put R down as the named driver of the hire car I was told that included another surcharge because he wasn’t the originator of the booking.  The Hertz girl took pity on me and said we could have an automatic car at no extra charge.  It was also hybrid.  So as we started off R said ‘look, the petrol isn’t full’. We returned to Hertz to complain and it was gently pointed out to us that indeed the petrol was full – we were looking at the battery gauge!! Neither of us had noticed and felt right twits.  We had time to stop for a coffee so pulled into a garden centre which happened to sell shoes.  I was so grateful because the only suitable footwear I had on the boat was a pair of boots which I  discovered  were split along the seam.  A bit of super glue the day before sort of helped, but I happily bought a new pair of shoes and disposed of the boots.  En route to the airport we had a message that bright colours were welcomed,  by which time all we had packed were dark sombre clothes! The service itself was both poignant and sad,  interspersed with some very funny anecdotes, so laughter and tears were mingled together.  As the sun shone all weekend  we were also able to appreciate the beauty of the emerald isle. Thankfully I managed to return the hired car in the same condition that we received it – always a bonus!

Sitting here,  fortified by a glass of sherry in memory of my mum (a day late, but I missed out yesterday owing to the fact I had to drive the hire car!) I am struck by the peace and silence.  Plenty of twittering birds and afew chattering voices as people are out for their late afternoon stroll, but only the occasional hum of a car in the car distance.  We are moored up next to a large woodland park and it feels like we are in the middle of nowhere.  No doubt R will get a fire started soon in the woodburner because as the sun goes down, there will be a real chill in the air.  I need some warmth for my sourdough starter,  which I’m managing to keep alive but have yet to make an actual load of bread! Instead of throwing away the daily portion of  discarded starter (sour dough officinados will know what I’m talking about!) I  have been indulging in a sour dough crumpet so nothing is going to waste!

Home feels quite far away as we venture into the upper reaches of Shropshire,  where buses are more prevalent than trains and food shops and other necessities seem few and far between.  We have little knowledge of this area of England and are excited to explore it but also a little nervous that we may run short of vittals.  Definitely feeling out of our comfort zone, but then that’s what adventure is all about!

Our forward plans have had to change. We were hoping to go north by way of Manchester,  but now both the Bridgewater canal and the Macclesfield canal have breeches, so the only route north is on the river Trent. I’ve had enough of rivers for the time being!  Who knows where we may end up.  For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, (maybe you missed my previous blog!)  a breech is a little like someone letting the bath water out of the bath – you end up with an empty pound.  In fairness, the breech is actually the side of the canal collapsing but the result is the same.

PS 8th APRIL: As we were finishing the Wolverhampton locks we actually got stuck in one – R just could not fully open the gate for me to navigate through.  I had to get the boat pole out and fish around to see what the blockage was.  I had visions of us being there for hours,  which just reminded me how little control we actually have of our journey timings! Fortunately there were a couple of CRT men at one of the previous locks we’d been through so I went and got the calvery and we were released!

#narrowboating #canalministeries #taylorsaboardanarrowboat #thecut #boaterschristianfellowship #nature #Christiansconnectonthecut #canals  #stpancrascruisingclub #waterways #standrewschurchfarnham #kxc #boating #livingaboard #retirement