Author: Mary

1030am Sent son G a photo of the TV in our hotel room last night, to update him as to where we are (reading blog is too much effort!) and he responded with the TV in the hotel he and M happened to be staying! He also reminded me that exactly a year ago to the day we picked up WindRose for our first canal trip and with G and M aboard, we went from Braunston to the Folly Inn at Napton and had an outside supper (covid rules) and enjoyed standing around a massive firepit in the pub garden. How strange that exactly a year later R and I returned to the Folly not remembering the date. What a difference a year has made for that pub and how imaginatively they have transformed the garden to enable business to go on as normally as possible. Well worth a visit if you find yourself in the vicinity.

Back to today, in my semi wakeful state I heard the pitter patter of water and felt rather depressed at the thought of a rainy day ahead. Fortunately when I drew back the curtains a blue sky greeted me and the pitter patter was the shower next door! A message from A on mobile saying they have found another fault with the engine, something to do with a faulty injector. How I wish I understood engines but really this is all double dutch to me. Suffice to say J is confident he can get us on the boat today – whatever else, we need to visit DD to get some clean underwear! I am also worried about the health of my water and milk kefir. Both cultures I have been nurturing for the last month and encouraging all family members to indulge in a daily healthy dose! R may be relieved to find they have gone squiffy but I shall be gutted (or is that un-gutted?)! They are among our possessions on DD as I didn’t think I could carry them around with us. We have been travelling light!

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I am not a fan of taking pictures of food but decided I needed to be reminded of my very indulgent breakfast today. First surprise was that the teapot actually contained very strong coffee (ordered by R, thinking I would prefer it to tea) and then we were handed a menu, all things egg. Decided waffles, fruit and yoghurt was manageable only to be told the dairy delivery had not arrived so no yoghurt available – would I prefer ice-cream? Even I think ice cream for breakfast is maybe a little too much so compromised on a little double cream!

So here we are waiting. Room vacated, sitting in the pub lounge, perfectly content, reflecting on our walk yesterday and the interesting people we met. Memories of our last trip assail me and I realise how much, once home, I have missed the long walks, reflecting on nature and taking the time to converse with others, from whom we can learn so much. Somehow I just can’t do this in my normal life. ‘Stuff’ gets in the way, from sorting belongings to ever increasing ‘to do’ lists. I was asked recently why I liked the boating life, with all its physical discomforts and associated hassles. For me it is the relative simplicity. You just have to sort out the problems right in front of you and then continue on. With fewer strands to weave and less baggage to carry, somehow I feel I have clearer headspace. Hard to describe especially as those who know me well realise I have a house full of possessions – a lot of them not mine, I would like to add! Even so, one of my challenges ahead is to declutter my life so that I can spend more time on the things that I feel really matter. God and spirituality, people, love, creativity.

2330hrs. Quite a day but still no movement. Patience is a virtue. At least we are now settled on the boat – it just can’t move! However we were literally blessed by the arrival of Ro, my step brother. He came in his white van and put himself at our disposal. Just as well because a misunderstanding led to there being nothing useful on the boat, such as bedding, mop and bucket, floor mats etc. Al had thought we wanted to bring everything – I had assumed we had agreed it would be kitted out like WindRose, where all basics were provided but you chose whether or not you brought your own crockery and kitchenware. So off we went to the Asda superstore followed by the mega Sainsbury’s in Rugby. Arriving back at the boat, no sign of the fuel injectors but J set us up with some power and I set about unpacking. It’s a daunting task as you look at a car load of stuff and wonder where it is all going to fit. How to store it logically so you can remember where you have put it and how to make best accessibility for the things you need the most. As a newly refurbished boat, although looking beautiful, it was somewhat lacking in hooks and not quite enough kitchen cupboards. Necessity is the mother of invention so after considerable thought, tomorrow we are off to scour the shops for shelving and various items that can make best use of space available! In addition to all else that happened today, when R and Al were moving our belongings from pub garden to the boat, the car boot was left open and one box fell out – how was it possible that that was the one box-load of glasses and mugs. Suffice to say we will be charity bric-a-brac surfing tomorrow!

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Meanwhile R got to grips with the heating. The stove looks tiny so can only take coal – alas no more wood foraging for us. It also doesn’t give out nearly so much heat so there’s no danger of me stripping off as I found myself doing on WindRose! Those of you who were so concerned that we were warm enough on the boat and I kept reassuring you we were toasty warm every afternoon/evening. Am not so sure I will be giving you the same story now!

Midday: The Holly Bush Inn in Priors Marston is worth a visit, just because the landlord is such a nice man and could not be more accommodating. My main bugbear was only having a small cup and saucer for my tea so he went off and immediately produced mugs! He has only been managing the pub for under three months so he is still feeling his way and trying to turn the pub around and get more of a community focus. In the time he has been there he has run four charity events, at no profit to himself and has organised a Christmas fair with all local crafts people. He allows the villagers free use of his car park for school drop offs and when people need to collect their Chinese takeaway – it’s the only restaurant in the village and it operates out of the pub kitchen. Due to covid and all the risks involved for the hospitality sector, it makes more sense for the pub not to employ a chef and waiting staff.

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1730hrs: So the saga deepens! It became obvious late morning that we were still not going to get on the boat today so another night at a hotel was in order but I really wanted to move on from the Holly Bush as I didn’t fancy another Chinese. However it proved far more difficult to find anywhere else nearby (remember with no car we have to rely on taxi’s and don’t want to travel miles!) so I formed a new plan. We agreed with the landlord we would stay a further night and then we set off on a 4 mile walk to the Folly Inn at Napton on the Hill where we planned to have a mega sized late lunch. That way we could just have a sandwich for supper.

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However when we arrived they were not serving food until 6pm. That would mean us walking back along country lanes in the dark. So we visited the local deli and bought two frozen upmarket meals that could be easily microwaved (having ascertained earlier the pub has a microwave we could use). The four mile walk back was slightly more strenuous uphill, but it was a beautiful afternoon and we had fortified ourselves with a pork pie and two halves of cider at a local cidery that we just happened to pass en route. Thoughts of a hot bath and the GBBO kept our spirits up, even if the prospect of a ready meal was not so appealing! However panic ensued as we walked through the pub door. We were met by an extremely agitated landlord who realised that a glitch in the online booking system meant our room was now double booked and we no longer had a bed for the night!! He had been phoning around other hotels trying to find us something but to no avail. Secretly relieved I might be in for a more exciting dinner, I happily started googling BnB’s near Daventry and before long secured a room for the night with the only downside being the thirty pound taxi fare. Looking on the bright side, my lovely step brother R, who is arriving tomorrow to help us with the locks (we live in hope!) can easily pick us up from this new location as it is directly en route for him from his home further north.

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Better late than never! At last, as I write this, we are en route to Day Dream a month later than anticipated. Car is packed to the gunwales, with just enough space to pop P, our youngest in the back. We’re picking him up at the M40 motorway services so that he can help us unload and then borrow the car for the next two months, so not a bad deal!

It hasn’t been a wasted month. As well as our speed journey from Banbury to Reading, which gave us more confidence to tackle rivers whilst cruising, we were also able to spend some time with our eldest daughter before she departed for an extended trip to Jamaica. We’ve had the joy of getting to know our future daughter in law better as both she and G have been living at home and we even managed to arrange a small engagement tea party with a few local friends who have known G since he was a toddler. We had the firepit lit but needn’t have worried as the weather for October was surprisingly mild and we were able to spill out into the garden. All slightly rushed as I had forgotten I had agreed to lead evensong at church at 1830 – one way to bring a gathering to an abrupt end! I went walking for a couple of days with a cousin whilst R went and worked hard at the family seaside house during ‘maintenance week’. Think I got the better deal although he did have the fun of a visit to the cinema with his siblings to see the latest James Bond – he was so tired he slept through most of it, only waking up when there were loud bangs and car chases!! The month taught us a lot about living in the moment, not knowing how long we had at home before the boat would be ready. All to do with the delivery date of a new engine, so quite vital really! We still had no confirmation by the end of last week so I had reconciled myself to a further delay. Then a phonecall on Monday evening telling us we could go on the boat the next day! Of course, I then said I couldn’t be ready with less than 24hrs notice, although our hall has been full of boating paraphenalia for the last month. So 2pm today is kick off and I have no idea what’s missing from my packing because I can’t remember what I packed over a month ago but at least I know there’s a full bottle of whisky and a wonderful Welsh gin!

Just heard that the boat isn’t quite ready! Potentially a problem, with our car going back south today. Obviously there are still a few hiccups along the way! A, the broker, rang me half an hour ago to break the news and we are about to arrive! Two hours later and we are sitting,in the warm sun, with all our possessions on a pub table, having said goodbye to both P and the car. I’ve made friends with the pub, so worst case scenario is that all our possessions can stay overnight in their function room whilst we go off and find a local BnB for the night. Still hopeful that the boat will be fit to go. Apparently the engine has been completely rebuilt but when they started it there were some issues. Compounded by J, the ‘chief engineer’ having to go off mid morning to the doctor to sort his bad back.

The very good news is that my patient step brother is all ready to join us either tomorrow or Friday to help with the impending dozen or so locks which are up ahead. The first one is within sight so our ideal plan is to moor the boat here overnight and then retire to the pub!

Well, a few hours later and we are in a very nice pub called The Holly Bush Inn, courtesy of A, because there is a problem with the engine and tomorrow it needs more testing before we can set off. The upside is we were able to drop our belongings on the boat and it looks great. All newly fitted out including a brand new showerroom and kitchen. The downside is we are without wheels and have been dropped at a pub in the middle of the boonies! The only choice of food is a Chinese so if we are still homeless tomorrow night I think we may need to swop pubs just to have a change of cuisine. We were told it was round the corner from the boat – a twenty minute car journey later….

So now we are snuggled down for the night, 60 channels on the TV and a bath – we thought we wouldn’t have one of those for eight weeks! Who knows how much further on we will be tomorrow but no point in getting stressed – it’s all part of the boating life.

I can hardly believe it’s five months since my last narrowboat blog entry! We had hoped to be back on the water mid September but things seldom work out the way we expect and as I write we still don’t have an exact starting date for our new adventure. However an unexpected event last week has prompted an entry.

We were all set to go aboard Wharram Percy for 3 months, starting at Rickmansworth, heading down the GUC and onto the tidal Thames before entering the Kennet & Avon. Our hallway gives testament to our preparedness – everything for the boat is neatly stacked and waiting to be shipped aboard. Then a phonecall from Alex, the broker, changed our plans and we now await the boat ‘Daydream’ which won’t go anywhere until a new engine is fitted!

Alex, knowing this, then rang to ask a favour – a boat, Cal d’Or, was in the process of being moved from the Midlands to Reading in a week but the couple moving the boat had an accident and had had to leave the boat near Banbury. Could we finish moving it? This would entail us traveling on the river Thames, a first for us, and we had a lot of ground to cover in the remaining five days. Slightly complicated also by commitments we had at the weekend at our home. So basically we had about 22 hrs of travel (with extra time needed for diesel and water fillups) in 4 days. Our average hours per day are usually 4 but 6 hours are doable so we agreed. Infact the boat was moored 8hrs canal travel before Banbury. That meant there was quite a bit more time pressure than originally thought and I had to let Alex know it was highly unlikely that we would get the boat all the way to Reading in the time scale allowed. Knowing this he asked us just to do what we could.

So life in the slow lane sped up, and was complicated by getting our car in the right place to be able to go home on the Saturday for 24hrs. Sadly one of the weekend commitments got cancelled at the last minute due to Covid but the silver lining was that it gave us extra travelling time on the boat! We still went home for the night, returning on the Sunday with children in tow to help us with the locks through Oxford and then they drove our car back home.

Monday morning saw us hit the Thames early, before even the lock keeper arrived to operate the motorised pushbutton lock gates. Luckily R figured out what to do but it was a bit unnerving. The rain was lashing down and everything looked a bit scary and big! The water on the river flows much faster than on the canal and the river is a lot wider in most places. However eventually the rain stopped, the sun came out and we made very good progress. It was beautiful and serene with hardly any other traffic on the river. Our only concern was that the lack of lock keepers on the first three locks meant we had been unable to obtain a licence to travel along the Thames and we could incur a £1000 fine. Trying to get the licence over the telephone proved futile because we had no paperwork on the boat – unhelpfully when the other crew left the boat they took it with them for safe keeping! Thankfully at lock number four we met a delightful lock keeper who not only issued a licence but also told us of the best places to moor on our way into Reading – apparently once you get into Reading proper there are a lot of undesirable places to stop so it was strongly suggested that we didn’t! Suffice to say, by starting our journey every day at 8am and traveling without stopping for 8/9 hours we managed to get the boat to its final destination by Tuesday lunchtime, with a great sense of achievement. Only one or two mishaps – seeing a rowing four out on the river, I thought a picture would be fun to send to our daughter who used to be part of a rowing four. By the time I got my phone out to take the picture I had managed to head the boat in the direction of the river bank and R had quite a job to stop us getting stuck in the muddy bank, overhung with weeping willows! Then, when we were mooring up R misjudged the slope of the bank and slipped, falling quite heavily on his thigh which has left him with rather a painful bruise. There was also a challenging lock on the Kennet & Avon canal. The flow of water into the incredibly deep chamber was extremely forceful and it was only as I was attending to the lock gates I saw a sign saying that we were contending with river current and should not proceed when the current was strong. A reminder that the weather can definitely interfere with ones progress! It was a relief to arrive at The Cunning Man pub, our final destination and to enjoy one of their squash and mushroom rolls – their veggie take on a sausage roll! Coincidentally we had visited this pub two weeks earlier when viewing a secondhand narrowboat for sale, little realising we would be back so soon. The food was just as tasty as we remembered!

Needless to say the boat was in need of a clean and Alex offered to pay me £15/hour to do this. I managed two hours but by then was too tired to do anymore. At the best of times cleaning is not my strong point! However the boat didn’t look too bad by the time we left for a taxi and train ride home. Quite an adventure and to be honest a very helpful exercise for us. We now have a much greater understanding of how to handle the Thames, places to moor up and where to access the facilities. Water taps and fuel are not nearly so prolific as on the GUC. Travelling at speed when under time pressure is not relaxing and is a good reminder of why I prefer to take my time on the waterways and go slowly! We literally do want to escape the rat race and our time back home has reinforced this as we have felt our stress levels rising.

Now it is just a waiting game for our next boat. Our car has enough petrol to get us to the boat which we can then leave at the boatyard if fuel is still an issue but whichever way we turn there are a fair few locks to contend with! R’s been resting at home to regain his strength in anticipation! Meanwhile I hot footed it to Edinburgh to a small engagement celebration for our son who has just got engaged. So much for my talk of taking life slowly! However there are some things you just don’t want to miss, such as the joy of a newly engaged couple. It was worth the long train journey to be part of that joy and to see their look of surprise when I walked into the room! The train journey back gave me time to re-engage with this blog and I really hope it won’t be too long before there is something else, boat related, to write about!

My last narrowboat blog, hopefully not forever, but until we return and have something to write about! In an ideal world that will be beginning of September. So, if you have enjoyed journeying with us, as long as you have signed up to receive notifications, I imagine you will be alerted once I resume the blog.

It’s amazing how long it takes to properly clean a narrowboat! R set too with the vacuum cleaner which needed careful attention to make the suction strong enough to work. The cooker took longer than anticipated. Luckily I had done the fridge/freezer yesterday but with cleaning, the more you do the more you see and I realised how much dust had accumulated from the stove being lit daily. Cobwebs too! Anyway by one o’clock we were ready to leave the boat and amazingly every last item fitted in the car although there wasn’t much space for me and R to breathe! We had to come off the motorway at the first services so that I could be relieved of the final bag of rubbish sitting on my lap aside my rucksack of ‘important stuff’ and a freezer bag full of food. I am not looking forward to the sort out at the other end. However much I tried to pack logically, towards the end I was just pleased to jumble things together where there was an iota of space!

I was awake early, probably my mind wondering how we would fit the remaining bags in the car! The subject of ‘grace’ was still on my mind so I decided to write about it then and there and afterwards managed a couple more hours of sleep. Once up and about we had a lot to do if we wanted to be ahead of the wind and rain forecast mid morning. After the last crumpet in the packet and R finishing the loaf as toast so we could also throw the jam pot, R walked to the car, arms full of rubbish and then drove to Willoughby Bridge. Meanwhile I steered the boat towards the marina situated before the bridge. We needed to return the boat full of diesel and the boater yesterday had said this marina offered the best price. The downside was that in a wind it was tricky to enter and leave the marina, hence our desire to get there early. R met me on the towpath, having walked towards me after parking the car and so was on board as we arrived, with the wind just coming up. It was as tricky as we had been told but there was a very helpful lady who assisted us and we managed not to do any damage to surrounding boats or get the boat caught by the wind in an impossible situation. The final mooring was twenty minutes further on and so it was with a heavy heart we pulled over. Just then the phone rang and my friend, M, from home was just letting me know she had left a pint of milk and loaf of bread on our doorstep. That was such a kind and welcome phone call!

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So here we are trundling down the M1, happy to go at 60mph because it feels much faster. Once home I fear there will be no time or energy to write much more today so I think this is as good a time as any to say au revoir, until we meet again I hope on our next narrowboat adventure. So many boaters could not believe that we were going just as the weather improves and how mad were we to do this over the winter. I can only disagree and say what perfect timing infact it was. Yes, we have had to manage lockdown, but that gave us time to stay still. We didn’t have the joy of the pubs, but I got used to cooking one pot meals and as long as the cook was provided with a drink she was happy! We have cut our teeth on the canals with hardly any other boats to contend with. I realised, especially in this last couple of days when so many more boats were out and about, that actually I am not afeared of oncoming boats anymore! We have enjoyed all the encounters we have had with people and I am convinced this way of life is beneficial for mental health so there is much that we can do to offer support, with the boat as the vehicle. Oh, and the weather. Yes, at times very damp and chilly but we had the right clothes to keep us dry and warm. So no, I don’t think the timing was wrong. I’m ready to come home, but watch this space because the bug has caught hold and I may be preoccupied with a new hobby – boat design!!

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A daunting day ahead, packing up the boat after six and a half months. Wondering if everything will fit in the car and what to do if it doesn’t!

It was a glorious morning, not too chilly as we set off from our mooring at 9am. The blue sky and sun ensured we saw the leafy canal at its best. There is nothing nicer than meandering through the countryside, not a building, car, train in sight. Just the reflection on the still calm water of trees and bushes with blossom adding colour and variety. Happening upon a rustic hump backed bridge or a field full of cows or sheep. Walkers along the towpath, often with a dog at heel, a cheery smile and a passing of the time of day. Time taking on a very different tempo to time at home. When I first named my blog narrowboattlc, the tlc was a nod to ‘tender loving care’ but I thought of ‘tea, love, chat’ as another variant. Now at the end of this trip I realise what I really want ‘tlc’ to mean: ‘time to listen and chat’, with the emphasis on the time. It has been such a luxury to spend probably 80% of this adventure not tied to specific timings. Obviously when we had to attend medical appointments or Zoom calls that were at set times we had to abide by our watches, but for the most part our day has been our own to do what we want when we want. That is a luxury not to be taken for granted and if I take home one thing from this trip, I hope it will be to give myself enough time to ‘smell the roses’ as I think the saying goes! A decade ago when I first mentioned the narrowboat idea to R it was because I wanted to slow down time. I’m not really sure that is possible, especially as we get older. Today as I was packing up I came across a file of my jottings relating to various studies I had attended over the past couple of years. I thought being on the boat would be an ideal time to revisit them and make some sense out of them. I realised that I hadn’t looked at them once. I haven’t found the time! Time has, even with very little to do, gone in a flash. I haven’t even managed to write more than this blog or read as much as I thought I would. Days have just disappeared. Even when we were locked down at Berkhamsted and then Leighton Buzzard, we still were never bored or without things to do. There’s been a lot of walking, a lot of tending to our basic necessities, a lot of Zoom communication! Nearly every evening R and I have watched something together. We could have chosen to read books but that is quite solitary whereas huddled over a mobile phone has bought us closer together! Tonight was an exception to the rule – R did continue with a book as I watched the last episode of ‘Line of Duty’ (not a series he has seen at all) so as not to see a spoiler alert tomorrow! To be honest we were both fairly tired. I had spent a good few hours packing up our things whilst R then carried them to the car and packed them in as tightly as possible. Then we walked towards the next set of locks wondering whether to move the boat tonight or tomorrow. Our mind was made up by a chance conversation we had with a boater who remarked how windy tomorrow is likely to be. So returning quickly back to the boat R moved the car along the canal whilst I moved the boat. R met me on the towpath and we proceeded to do the last three locks of our trip (well R did all the hard work – I just steered!) before mooring up for the night.

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We had time for a long Zoom with our friends T and M who have been in lockdown in Ireland for over a year so will be great to see them in the flesh again one day. Meanwhile we have enjoyed some good Zoom conversations over recent months and last night was no exception. I mentioned that I would really like to turn this blog into hardcopy – an old fashioned book that we can flick through and relive memories as my memory forgets details fairly rapidly! T said she had planned to do that for me as a birthday present but inadvertently I had spoilt her surprise! She’s much more able and creative than me so I jumped at the chance to ask her to help me. I’d like to add more pictures, like the ones we have of people we have seen. Being aware of anonymity has prevented me from publishing too many faces as I don’t know who wants to be seen on a blog, but in a personal keepsake I’m hoping that’s OK. T is willing and able to help which will spur me on. I am so digitally incompetent that I have yet to turn our daughter’s wedding photo’s into hardcopy. Another job I thought I’d get done on the boat …..

Edging ever closer to the end of our trip, we made our way towards Brinkley, the same mooring we enjoyed when my step brother joined us around the firepit. Today it was the turn of R’s uncle and aunt, who before you think are a little elderly to be sitting around a firepit on May day, they are infact the same age as R. One of those family things where there is over 20 years between the oldest and youngest sibling, same parents! Aunt E was the first member of R’s family I ever met as she was living in Birmingham when R was in Coventry. Many a good Sunday lunch we enjoyed with E, S and their growing family. Just T and W when we started visiting but soon joined by P, J and C, all boys. I have never seen so many pairs of shoes in a downstairs cloakroom as I did each time we visited them over the years, gradually all getting bigger and bigger! I often think how blessed our children are to have been born into such an extended family. My dad’s sister died in infancy and my mum was an only child of older parents (maybe not by today’s standards!) so I have no first cousins. I think our children have 25! A couple of years ago we did a family trip to Croatia, all relatives of R – there were 173 of us! We were encouraged to put on an event so I arranged a drinks party for all the ‘married-ins’, which of course all the blood relatives wanted to join, but weren’t allowed! As a result of Croatia, our son G is now working for E and S’s youngest son, C, in America.

We had about two hours traveling time this morning but the first thing we did was fill the water tank and make us of the Elsan, both of which were close to where we moored last night. There were so many more boats on the canal. I really had to keep my wits about me. We just avoided coming a cropper on one corner with a boat advancing. Luckily they were very skilled and not fazed by ploughing through some weeds. R meanwhile pushed off the boat at the bow end with a pole so we managed to get around the other moored boats without any bumps! Had a lengthy telephone conversation with daughter, C and her husband, Ra, as they were on their way out of London to visit his sister. Funnily enough as we were reflecting over the past six months and whether I have achieved anything (where has the time gone!) Ra mentioned my writing and I said I felt God keeps prompting me to write on the subject of ‘grace’, which I have not yet done. Just as I said this we were passing a narrowboat and it was actually called ‘Grace’! My reluctance comes from not really understanding myself what ‘grace’ is. I am currently reading a book called ‘Vanishing Grace’, so named because the author, Philip Yancy, believes it is a word that needs more prominence. I asked Ra what his definition of God’s grace would be and he said ‘being given what you do not deserve’. And ‘mercy’ is not getting what you do deserve. I think I shall have to reflect further!

Arriving at our mooring the kind man in the boat next to where we couldn’t quite fit in, immediately offered to pull his boat along to make space for us. Sounds sensible but not everyone is so obliging! It was also a relief to moor up because there were two boats behind us and I wanted to make space for them to pass. Loads of hot water resulted in bath, hair wash and clean clothes as I set too, to do another stint of hand washing. There’s no laundrette nearby and as the sun is shining intermittently I think the clothes should dry OK. I draw the line at R’s trousers which are just a bit too cumbersome. As one pair ripped yesterday and got binned, I hope he has enough to last the next couple of days. No falling in the canal allowed!

We spoke to the couple in the boat next door. It was 40ft long and they had designed it themselves with the help of a boat builder. The man who is retired is obviously very clever with his hands because all the fittings inside have been crafted by him. It was even laid out the way I imagine a boat should be, with the cabin bed at the front so you can look out of the bow end with your morning tea! I don’t think R was as enthusiastic as me to hear all the details but it has whetted appetite further to look into owning our own boat, maybe even fitting out a Hull to our specification!