Author: Mary

Mothering Sunday – did you know the origins of it came from ‘mother church’. It was an opportunity for those in service to return home to their local church once a year. Nothing to do with mothers per se. An American lady thought it would be good to celebrate motherhood so instigated a ‘mothers day’ and in Britain the two are interlinked. Personally I prefer Mothering Sunday as it’s far more inclusive of all those who have a mothering role. Of course for many it is a very bittersweet or painful day – a stark reminder of the grief associated with mothering. Grief is the price we pay for love. For me, this was the first year I have never had to buy a Mothering Sunday card and I realise for many many people it is the same for them too. My mother always insisted on a Mothering Sunday card, not Mother’s Day and I fear I shall be the same! Our children have been let off the hook this year because we have no address! However, first thing in the morning I did have a WhatsApp message from my girls. Later in the day, once P had awoken, I had a WhatsApp from him and then in the early evening I had a call from G in America. So although it was an unusual Mothering Sunday for me, it certainly was not without it’s charm.

R and I decided to go for a walk along the Towpath but arriving at the first Bridge and looking at the map, we saw that we could go up a hill to the village of Gayton and then walk through fields on public footpaths, returning to the towpath further along. This we did rejoining the canal at Bugbrooke, a place that we want to visit tomorrow. We did not realise the extent of our walk until we arrived back at the boat nearly 3 hours later. A narrowboat had been approaching in our direction as we crossed the bridge at the beginning of the walk and as we were nearing home we met him coming the other way. He remembered us and was quite impressed by how long we had been walking so I realise we must have covered quite a few miles. At least I had a small packet of oatcakes in my pocket, but no water to refresh us. Oatcakes on their own can be a little dry! Drinking copious amounts of water on this trip has not been appealing if we want to keep the Elsan cassettes from filling up too fast!

A restorative cup of tea once we had arrived back of the boat and then the heavens opened so we were glad of our timing. The sherry R had poured me at lunch was a little big so I still had half of that to finish. I took a picture of me drinking my sherry to send to my friend, A, who earlier in the day had sent me a picture of him drinking his sherry. Both of us using this as a way to toast our mothers. We plan doing this together in our gardens once restrictions are lifted.

As it was Sunday we joined in the evening Songs of Praise, this week all the songs having been chosen by the young people from our church. It was fun to hear songs such as ‘Shine Jesus shine’ and ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands’. ‘Shine Jesus shine’, R reminded me, is one of the hymns I have chosen for my funeral. Originally I did not want to be cremated but R says if I have that hymn I have to be because of the line ‘blaze spirit blaze set our hearts on fire’! The songs of praise brought home to me the generalized anxiety that our young people are feeling. This is nothing new in the young but I think it is now exaggerated and more wide spread and those of us in the older generation perhaps can think of ways we can help them through. My friend, F, thinks we should build a community of ‘aunties and uncles’ so that when we hear of a young person struggling with anxiety or other mental health issues, a few of us offer to help them and the burden is then not just on one person. We all have different gifts and experiences of life that can work well together to help ease the passage into adulthood.

We had been recommended to watch a film on prime video (Can you ever forgive me?)but when we saw that it was going to cost us £9.99 we decided to wait until the film is available for free and instead watch another episode of Endeavour. It was one of the early ones, a fairly chilling episode, but very clever. As it was interspersed with telephone calls from my children and my sister it took a while to get through it.

Our friend, C, from the CRT has sent us through her blog of her epic journey in 2004 from Cambridge to Stortford on a narrowboat that is solar powered and thus cannot travel very fast and has many idiosyncrasies. I have read some of it but got a bit lost in the technical jargon. Meanwhile R has managed to enjoy it more because he is more switched on than me!. The description of her going through the Blisworth tunnel without a headlamp on the boat is very funny and I could tell from the chuckles coming from the other end of the boat that R had reached that part of this well written blog. If you are interested in canal boat adventures it is well worth a read. Meanwhile I decided to write about ‘invisibility’. It meant that we did not go to bed as early as we should have done but for me this did have an advantage – I slept through the night, even if some of my sleep was restless and did not have to get out of bed in the chill wee hours.

First hot cross bun of the season for breakfast. Delicious with just butter and served in bed by my lovely R. He meanwhile had his customary boiled egg because it is Saturday and it gives meaning to his week. I stayed in bed writing my blog. Meanwhile R went and sawed some wood lightly drawing blood in the process so my first task of the day was a bit of firstaid.

We realised it was a very blowy day, rainy at times and that we would have some difficulty with the 6 locks ahead of us. As the weather was not set to get any better we decided to just get on with it and donning our waterproofs and warm hats we set about the task. All the pounds were very shallow which did not help us and R had to go ahead to the lock above to let in water each time, to keep the pound deep enough to get the boat through. On one occasion the wind kept blowing the bottom gates of a chamber open before R had time to reach the paddles at the top gate to open them and let the flow of water in. Even with me reversing the boat to try and secure the gates shut they continued to loll open. Presently a passerby assisted us and we were able to continue. What seemed helpful was for R to prepare the next lock up, opening the lower gates, whilst I left the previous chamber going full steam ahead, keeping the boat on course and then slowing down at the last minute to steer the boat safely into the lock. We only came a cropper between locks 2 and 1. A passerby had told us it was extremely shallow so R had let some water into the pound. In doing so he noticed a blue plastic bag, just out of his reach. He suggested he jump on the back of the boat as I exit the lock. In order to do this I needed to wait whilst he shut the gate behind me and reverse the boat to enable R to jump on board. The force of the wind swung the boat round to such an extent that we could not then get it off the left side of the canal and moving forward just landed us in the reeds. Eventually our only option was for me to totally reverse the boat back into the lock and then go forward as previously with a bit of power on my side! We just had to take a chance on the blue plastic bag wrapping itself around our propellor – not nearly so big an impediment as the groundsheet scenario!

An amazing sense of achievement as we exited the top lock. Even then I had to motor on around the corner before we could moor up for some lunch because the prevailing wind could have forced us sideways into the turning circle involving the exhausted R bodily pulling the boat out, all 12 tons of it! Once revived by some lunch (now slightly complicated by R having chipped a bit of tooth off due to my crunchy vegetables!) we set off again to the water point and Elsan. It’s been a while since I emptied a cassette so I thought I’d give R a break. Had forgotten what an unpleasant job it is and why we say roll on pubs reopening so that the toilet facilities on the boat are not the only ones we can avail ourselves of. Infact many of the town toilets we have come across have been locked, although not all, which makes one wonder what the criteria is for keeping lous open or closed! Same at petrol stations and in supermarkets – each to their own I think!

It’s rather nice being back on the main GUC with boats moored up and a few more passing by. However turning onto it from the arm, after making use of the facilities involved a near miss with a boat moored, I think, in rather a hazardous position. With the wind blowing, thus not so much control of our direction, its a tall order to leave the canal edge and turn the boat at a right angle without bumping into this boat which has parked itself in the firing line! Its hard to explain but let me tell you, you would understand if you saw it and would be thinking the same uncharitable thoughts as me! At least when our bow bumped him it was gentle and slow and to be fair the owner was very nice. He even helped push off the stern when I was almost parallel to him and so R and I continued up the canal, passing moored boats on either side so I needed to keep a straight course. Under a bridge and round a corner we encountered a couple of young fishermen untangling their rods from the over hanging trees beside the towpath. We moored a bit further along just before reaching the boat of a man we spoke to on one of our previous walks who said this was a lovely spot for the evening sun. R enjoyed watching the spectacular sunset along with a beer and cheroot as dusk arrived and his lentern fast is suspended for 24hrs. My dad always said there were 40 days in lent but 46 from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday so Sundays didn’t count. R has expanded this to mean sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday! I meanwhile was grappling with the household accounts.

Had a very lovely Zoom with friends in Ireland and then cobbled together a quick supper of Jamie Oliver ravioli and homemade tomato sauce with crumbled cheese. Toptip- if you freeze cheddar it naturally crumbles when defrosted thus saving the need to grate. Perfect for cheese toppings or sauce. A two hour Endeavour episode followed, which we enjoyed, but that was enough for one night, so we took ourselves off to bed.

So wonderful how I keep learning new lessons every day! Today’s was about reading Google information correctly. Having gathered a large bag of washing we walked towards the town centre, where I googled the three laundrettes I knew were equidistant of the boat and opted for ‘Bubbles’ as we had used them previously in another town. What I hadn’t realised, until we had nearly reached them, was that they didn’t open until midday! I missed the small print, that was actually clearly stated on the Google page. Irritating, but luckily R took the extra half mile walk in good grace and we arrived at another laundrette which was absolutely fine, although slightly annoying that all their machines were small so I had to run two loads, having only brought with me washing liquid for one load. Not all laundrettes have detergent. Luckily this one did but I didn’t have 40p. Went outside to find R but he’d disappeared. Transpires there was an Aldi around the corner and he went off to buy a snack! He also bought a card for his mum for Mothering Sunday but not seeing the specific cards he bought a more generic one which told her she was fabulous. I think that will make her smile. I am wondering how I will feel on Sunday, with no mother to now send a card too and knowing I will get no cards from our children for the simple reason we have no fixed address! My mum was always insistent on having a ‘Mothering Sunday’ card rather than ‘Mother’s day’ and I find myself adhering to the same sentiment. Mother’s day I see as American hype whereas the true meaning of Mothering Sunday is so much more than that. And Mothering Sunday is certainly not gender specific. Anyone can be applauded for motherly attributes and we should recognise and thank those who over the years have acted in a motherly way towards us. I was touched to learn that one of my daughters has sent a card to her granny and let me know she was sad she couldn’t send a card to me. I think most of us are just grateful to be thought about!

Back to the washing saga, sorry for the diversion! Luckily a lady in the laundrette had change for the detergent so once my two loads were on, I set about looking for R, who soon reappeared and we then hung around for half an hour, grateful it wasn’t raining or cold. A further half hour wait for the tumble drying, but this time I utilised in a quick shop at Aldi for fruit and veg. I also remembered the lovely bottle of their champagne we had enjoyed on our anniversary and decided to buy another for a Mothering Sunday treat. Back to the laundrette and then off to the boat laden with shopping and clean clothes, which is always a treat. I just love knowing that everything on the boat is clean!

However we made a detour at Morrisons for the recommended wine, the amazing pumpernickel rolls and the wonky veg. We then were rather wonky ourselves with alot to carry, but we did it and then treated ourselves not only to a cup of coffee but I had a piece of toast topped with the delicious honey my friend F gave me, collected from her own hives. It fortified me before the tricky manoeuvre of turning the boat around in a fairly strong wind. R was amazing – I am always in awe of his ability to work out just what we need to do. He helped by standing on the towpath and pulling on the bow rope and at times I did wonder if he would end up in the water, but luckily nothing went amiss and we were soon headed in the right direction. Then followed a very windy journey along the canal where I really had to concentrate and use quite a bit of energy to keep the boat from veering off course.

Of the 16 locks, we got to number 6, where the pound is long enough to moor in, with a good solid edge. R did the first few and after a lunch break I gave him a rest and said I would do the remaining 6. How happy I was to see a car coming along the towpath being driven by our new CRT friend, C. She assisted me with all the lock gates which speeded up my progress. Although single locks are smaller obviously than double and thus fill up and empty more quickly, the actual gates are more time consuming if there are only two of you aboard. This is because in a double lock you can enter and leave by one door and if you are skilled, the second door remains closed. In a single lock there are still two doors to open at the bottom of the chamber so the first door is opened and then you have to walk all the way around the chamber, which is 70ft long, crossing the single gate at the far end, to open the second door. Once the boat is through you have to shut that door, walk back around the chamber and shut the other door. Only then, once you have ensued the paddles are down, can you return to the top gate to open the paddles. There’s a lot of walking too and fro, eliminated with an extra pair of willing hands!

C also took away our rubbish, including the tarpaulin that had been wrapped around our tiller. She could not have been more helpful and I just want to applaud the CRT because so often boaters give them a bad press. From those I have met, they are helpful and considerate and are doing their best in a job that is pretty thankless. C was saying that earlier in the week she had cleared a lot of debris from around locks 14 and 15 of the alm and thought her job was done. Returning a couple of days later she found even more debris had collected, more so than before, so she had to start all over again. Asking if she liked the job, she just beamed and said how great it was to be able to work outside even when the weather was rough. One of her repair jobs over the winter was to apply clay into the canal sides to waterproof them and then press on stones. Sounded mucky and hardwork to me, but she loved it! It’s so refreshing when you meet someone who really loves the job they do. It is perhaps what we all should be aspiring towards, whether it is paid or unpaid work. Doing that which energizes and inspires us is a gift indeed.

Once safely moored, knowing we only have 6 of the flight locks to finish tomorrow, we enjoyed a piping hot bath and then I settled into my Friday afternoon Zoom call. Two of my friends have relatively recently added to their families by the arrival of a puppy. It’s so lovely to see them on screen – no doubt that puppies look adorable even if they are rather hard work to house train!

Every so often I buy a whole chicken to roast and then we have the added luxury of homemade chicken stock, bones gently simmered on the log stove. Tonight was one of those occasions although my brother will be disappointed, though not surprised to learn, that instead of crispy roast potatoes, we had them baked as far healthier. I still remember the occasion he and his family came for Christmas armed with their own roast potatoes because they were convinced I wouldn’t produce any! Oh they of little faith! However any other time of the year they would be quite correct. Roast potatoes are not my thing, even though I love eating them. Roast dinners are my least favourite meal to cook as I can’t be doing with all the timing. However I love eating them prepared by someone else!! Top of the list would be my mother in law. Still to this day do her grandchildren exclaim that she makes the best gravy.

Having been warned strong winds were coming I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised that we had rather a disturbed night’s sleep. Moored in down town Northampton the first disturbance was a man running down the towpath shortly after midnight shouting a very rude word repeatedly. Then the wind got up and throughout the night there were various clangings and rattlings. I honestly thought we’d have no chimney left by morning! R was up at 0730, having slept little, checking outside the boat. Surprisingly all the noise had come from a loose chimney sleeve liner on our roof. Everything else was thankfully intact.

Windy days are very unsettling. We certainly didn’t want to move the boat and any idea we might have had for going through lock 17 on to the River Nene, just for the fun of it, was scotched by the red alert sign that forbade us to do so. I am surprised by the narrowboats that are moored on the river as I wouldn’t have thought that a good place to be over the winter months.

We decided to explore the town centre and visit some notable architecture. 78 Dernegate was designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh. We were looking for some grand house. Infact only the front door was indicative of his style but we imagine the inside of the house is usually open to the public.

Next we visited the large market square, empty of stalls bar two large fruit and veg traders and a butcher’s van. We had read that St Peter’s Church was the oldest Norman Church in the country and there was another imposing church called All Saints, that Charles II had donated a tun of oak to, after the great fire of Northampton in the 17th century. Northampton boasts some fine architecture but today it looked rather sad, devoid of open shops and people. It is known for its shoe industry and a very large Carlsburg brewery.

With only a couple of weeks left of our trip R has decided we need to use up some excess coal so he lit the stove earlier than usual and we had a very warm boat. However he retired to the other end of the boat for a rest and I got so engrossed in a telephone call with a friend that I forgot all about tending to the stove and it went out! I was not very popular when R emerged sometime later, fixing me with a hard stare, reminiscent of Paddington Bear’s great aunt Lucy! I’ve gotten used to a few of those over the recent months!

Returning to the boat we passed a Lidl and Aldi side by side not far from the canal which R decided would please me but actually when we top up on groceries tomorrow I’m going to Morrisons for three reasons. One, they do an amazing pumpernickel roll in their inhouse bakery. Two, a friend has recommended an excellent well priced red wine and three, they do a box of wonky veg for £3 which appeals to me. I think we are far too concerned with how things look and thus waste good food just because it looks imperfect. Busy day tomorrow because first thing, before food shopping, we need to do the laundry and the nearest one is a 30 minute walk from the boat. We’ll have to wait around whilst it’s washed and dried and return it to the boat before going back for our groceries as we can’t carry everything at once. So many things are like a military manoeuvre and you have to think ahead. With the nearest water tap and Elsan being inside the marina which is on the river, access denied us at present, we have no choice but to return back along the 17 locks to avail ourselves of facilities.

At the recommendation of my brother we started watching Endeavour, all about young Inspector Morse. There seem to be enough whodunnits to keep us going for the foreseeable future. For light relief we have been encouraged to watch a few more episodes of Schitts Creek which seems to amuse family and friends.

Pitter patter, pitter patter, the rain was certainly coming down when we awoke. It made me realise that although we have had bad weather on our trip, the totally rainy days have been few and far between. However today we had earmarked to visit a village nearby, so whatever the weather we donned our full waterproofs and set off. R without his favourite rainhat – earlier in the morning, whilst I was taking too long to get ready, he went to the nearby lock to get rid of the weeds around the doors and his hat fell into the canal. Although rescued, it is rather damp and smelly and in need of drying out!

The village is Kislingbury, about 2 miles from here. Yesterday I just happened to Whatsapp a friend, L to ask how she was and in return, she asked where we were. Imagine our surprise when it turned out to be next to the village her sister had lived in and where L had got married in the local church, followed by a reception in her sister’s garden. We took a trip down memory lane for L, taking a few pictures of the village and enjoying our walk. It went through Upton Park, taking in Kislingbury lakes, so was very picturesque. It would have been stunning on a beautiful day but we were still able to appreciate the upkeep of the park, the numerous sheep with their lambs and the varied architecture of the village. Thatched cottages constructed with the local attractive yellow stone.

Arriving back at the boat (a shorter home route when we realised one of the signs to Kislingbury in the park had been turned around!) we had a quick lunch and then set off towards Northampton, taking in the final two locks. The rain and wind were in such contrast to yesterday’s fine weather but we have been warned that tomorrow more rain is forecast with stronger winds so we wanted to move to a more secure mooring. By the time we arrived at the end of our journey the rain had stopped and once moored up, R started sawing some of the many bits of wood scavenged on our trip down the Arm. I did some Joe Wicks, cooked supper and then we attended our Lent group discussion before finishing ‘A Mother’s Son’. Rather a chilling story and the extent a mother might go to cover up for her son. Two tales of Modern Love finished the evening. All the Modern Love stories are based on a column from the New York Times.

The decision to go down the Northampton Arm meant a 20 minute journey in the opposite direction to the way we were facing in order to turn the boat around. We took the opportunity to top up the water tank and make use of the Elsan situated at the turning point. The turning of the boat went remarkably smoothly and before long we were ahead of our overnight mooring, in sight of the first lock in a flight of 17 in total. The initial 13 are close together, with the final 4 being slightly further apart as you approach Northampton Town centre. The weather was lovely and warm, with the sun on my back as I steered the boat along. Meanwhile R did all the hard work of operating the locks. The joy of single locks after the double ones we are accustomed too, is that they seem so much more easy to handle and the chamber fills with water much more quickly. However looks can be deceptive and one or two of the gates were very stiff to move. Greeting us at the first lock was the lovely CRT lady we met yesterday. She, C, was busy gardening and tidying up the canal. Very kindly she gave R a hand with the first couple of locks and then we met her again a bit further along the route and R had more help which meant we made steady progress. C has a boat that is powered exclusively by solar power which is great for the environment but does not always assist in day to day home comforts, when the weather is overcast for days on end. Nor will the boat be able to move if not enough energy is produced but as the entire narrowboat roof is covered in panels I think she is generally OK. However if the boat doesn’t move in very sunny weather, excess energy is produced setting off alarms, that can be alarming for boaters close by! All adds to the narrowboat adventure, but sounds a bit complicated to me!

The stretch of canal we navigated was very scenic and peaceful. No other boats, just walkers on the towpath with a lot of dogs! Many more dogs around than children, even before schools reopened. We found a large enough pound to moor the boat for a spot of lunch and then continued onwards, although I thought the boat was chugging a bit. Arriving in lock 13 I needed to reverse the boat so as not to hit the lock doors and there was a terrible sound from the engine which was obviously finding it hard to turn the propellor. Pond gloves to the ready, R lay full length along the stern and opened the propellor hatch. It makes me go all funny having to put my hand into the unknown but R straightaway put his hand into the murky depths and indeed found the problem – a tarpaulin of considerable size had wrapped its way around the propellor shaft. No wonder the poor boat was struggling. A lot of pulling and heaving and the tarpaulin released itself into R’s hand. It is now snug on top of the boat under a heavy bit of wood awaiting the bin. We don’t want it falling into the canal again! All manner of strange things get wrapped around propellor because people use the canal like a skip. We have been fortunate not to have had too many incidents of this kind as it’s not a pleasant job to deal with and sometimes can be really tricky to sort.

Lock 14 was interesting. Once it had emptied the water was cascading through the top lock doors to such an extent I wondered if we would ever get out of the chamber. The lower lock doors were very difficult to open and the danger is that the upper pound of water gets seriously depleted . However I reported the problem the CRT and they emailed me a reply within 12 hours to say they would sort the issue. Will be most impressed if they do.

We moored up alongside an uneven edge so we can only get on and off the boat at the bow. We feel secure enough but quite isolated. An evening of bridge followed by a murder mystery from about 2010, which R liked the look of because it only had two episodes! ‘A Mother’s Son’ – coincidentally it features the same detective as in ‘Unforgotten’ and the writer is Chris Lang.

We walked down the Northampton arm past 17 locks, of which one was just in the process of being recommissioned. There were alot of CRT vehicles and personnel about including one lady who was removing weeds and debris from around many of the lock gates. We kept bumping into her on our journey both ways and eventually realised she was able to move about the arm so quickly because she had a car! She was very chatty and knowledgeable as part of her job is to control the depth of water in the canal. She was telling us how organic this is and how the depth can be altered by such things as lock gates being repaired because not so much water is drained away through leakage. She said the lock repair was now complete and that we could navigate the arm. It does look rather fun and the locks, all single size, are not nearly so cumbersome as the double width locks on the main GUC. There’s lots of paintings on the inside of the bridges as well as some graffiti.

Arriving at Northampton we found a Morrisons so topped up on fresh fruit and veg and bought some food for lunch. Halfway back to the boat we found a bench on the towpath and enjoyed a picnic of bread and hummus. I then did my Joe Wicks in the open air, to the surprise of quite a few walkers coming along the towpath.

Arriving back at the boat I sat on the bow feeling a little tired – think we had just walked about 10 miles. Revived by a cup of tea we then played online bridge with some friends before a quick supper as R had to attend a Zoom church meeting. Two episodes of Death in Paradise finished the day nicely!