Crick Show - day 2

The rain started last night, and has carried on almost non stop all day.  The amount of rain which has fallen is illustrated by the state of the towpath.  The show site is also very soggy.

Andy the photographer and I were on site at 8.30 this morning - perhaps a little too early as many of the people we needed weren't ready.  However, we managed to get the final boat visits wrapped up by just after 10.  I returned to the boat to continue writing, and it was so cold and wet that I got the chimney back out of storage and lit the fire.  The good news is that all twenty mini-reviews are pretty much written - they just need checking, and a few tweaks once the results of the Favourite Boat vote are announced on Tuesday.

This afternoon, I met up with my cousin, Jonathan, who now lives on a narrowboat on the Great Ouse.  He came to look at Briar Rose, and we wandered round the show.  The big screen in the food court was showing the Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant, and there were a few people braving the rain to watch it.

We worked out that it's ten years since Jon and I last saw each other, so we adjourned to the beer tent to catch up on family news.  It was really great to see him -- and his likeness to my uncle is uncanny!

It's been exceptionally quiet at the show today; I can't remember seeing so few people on the site.  Many of the stands started closing up at 4, a couple of hours before the official end of the show.  However, the forecast for tomorrow is much better.

Crick Show - day 1

It's been a busy day.  I was on the show site by 8.30, and after meeting Andy, the photographer, and Nick, the editor, we set off looking at boats.  We managed to get a few done before the gates opened and the paying public arrived.  In total, we're up to sixteen boats looked at for the mini reviews, so just another four to do tomorrow.  This afternoon, some of the Canal Boat crew came back to Briar Rose for tea.  It was our first chance to sit down, and it was good to have a relax and a chat.

The publication date for the July issue of the magazine has been brought forward especially for the Crick show.  It contains my boat test of Donald No 9, and a feature about a wide beam boat that's being exported to America.

A head start

The towpath moorings have been filling up during the day, although the boat which is due to be outside Briar Rose hasn't arrived yet.

I've spent most of the day over at the show site, catching up with people and looking at boats.  I've even managed to write six of the mini reviews.  Andy the photographer can go round those boats tomorrow.  Some boats are far from finished: at least one builder has major woodwork going on, and it looks as though they'll be working well into the night.  Most have just had cleaning and dressing to do, and there's been a good atmosphere across the site

Tomorrow, the show opens its doors to the paying public.

Crick-bound - day 2

Last night there was a dramatic thunder storm accompanied by extremely heavy rain.  This morning was grey and drizzly to start, and we set off at 8.  Neil and Kath's friends Rick and Marilyn, who live in Long Buckby, were due to come and help us up the Buckby flight, and we spotted them walking along the tow path well before the locks.  For the locks, Kath took the tiller so I could have a go at swinging a windlass.

The bottom lock was against us, but there was no-one in sight coming down.  We took our time getting the lock ready for us and no other boats were approaching along the straight, so we set off on our own.  We also had to turn the second lock, but then started meeting boats coming down.  In fact, we met a boat at every lock after that, so didn't have to turn any more.  We got into a decent rhythm, and made good progress up the flight.

At the top, we were in need of tea and coffee, so we stopped on the water point so I could ensure I started the Crick weekend with a full tank.  It didn't take long, so we pulled the boat forward onto the next moorings which were completely empty.

Refreshed with tea and cake (Rick had brought one of this famous seed cakes to add to our collection) we set off again and turned right at Norton Junction.  The section from the junction to the locks always seems longer than it should.  When we got to the locks, and were third in the queue - the boat immediately in front was the Wharf House show boat.  Neil went to see the lock keeper who told us to go up the first two locks (which are individual ones) and wait below the staircase.  Three boats were to come down, so we moored up and had a very convivial lunch.

Once the three boats had passed us we entered the staircase locks, which have been decorated for the jubilee.  By then the rain had arrived.

We seem to have timed things very well.  A hire boat which arrived at the top was told they'd have to wait until tomorrow, and we were told that a queue of nine boats had built up at the bottom, including two Steve Hudson show boats.

Crick Tunnel was fairly dry inside, then close to the marina we were greeted from the tow path by people pointing us towards our mooring.  The space looked too short to me, but we got in with as much as half an inch to spare at each end.  Actually, there's not that much space, because Briar Rose's bow fender overlaps with the stern fender of the boat in front.

Neil and Kath have been invaluable help and great company, and I'm very grateful to them for giving up their time to make the trip.  It was also great to meet Rick and Marilyn, who are also very entertaining.

Tomorrow I'll hope to get into the show site, and may even be able to start looking at boats.  I've got twenty mini boat reviews to do, so any head start will be a help.

12 miles, 14 locks.  (27 miles, 21 locks)

Crick-bound - day 1

I set off in the car at 8 this morning, bound for Crick, to pick up my guest crew - Kath and Neil from Herbie.  I arrived a bit early, so wandered along the tow path to identify my booked mooring for the show.  We arrived back at Thrupp Wharf shortly after 9.30, and set off in blazing sunshine before 10.  At Stoke Bruerne locks, we paired with a waiting Napton hire boat, and flew up the flight.  Neil and Kath worked the locks with the crew of the hire boat and a couple of volunteer lock keepers.  All the locks were in our favour.

At the top lock, a boat was coming down, so we could go straight into that one too.

We stopped above the locks for lunch.  I've never seen Stoke Bruerne so empty: between the locks and the tunnel there were only a couple of boats.

After lunch, we headed through the tunnel, completing it in half an hour.  It was cool but not cold inside, but it was very wet, with massive amounts of water coming down from the roof.  It was still sunny at the other end, but soon we saw a black cloud approaching.  Just after Gayton Junction, we passed a boat with a garden in a little boat behind.

Before long the rain started, and while it didn't last too long, at times it was absolutely torrential.  We moored for the night at Bridge 28, Standingham Bridge, at about 5.15pm, with the sun out again.

15 miles, 7 locks.

Crick prep day

I was awake quite early, in spite of being tired.  I think the night shifts followed by an early shift mean that my body clock is a bit confused.  Anyway, it was sunny so I got up as I had a list of jobs to do before setting off for Crick tomorrow.  Just after 8 I was on the roof trying to wash off the accumulated dust and the blossom which had joined it overnight.  Then I washed the towpath side of the boat and cleaned the windows.

At about 9, I set off towards the lock, bound for Tesco at Wolverton.  It would have been quicker to take the boat back to the marina and go by car, but the boat option seemed like more fun.  Cosgrove Lock was empty, so I checked to see whether anything was approaching the come up -- you can see for the best part of a mile from here.  There was nothing coming, so I filled the lock and took the boat in.  I think this is the first lock I've done single-handed, and while it's a wide one it's also fairly shallow.  As I emptied the lock, I was surprised to see a boat approaching.  It turned out to be Mick the fender man and his wife, Hazel, who moor along here, coming to get water.  Mick realised I was on my own, so kindly came and closed the gate after I left.  I noticed as I passed their mooring that their little dog was home alone, sitting serenely in its bed, just waiting.

There were no boats at Wolverton, so I picked my spot and moored up.  On one side of the canal is a beautiful old railway shed, converted to apartments and offices.  On the other is a new block of flats.  I always think it's slightly ironic that if you live in the better building, you get the worse view, but if you live in the worse building, you get a better view.

Either side of the bridge over the canal are sculptures of figures.  One is made of bands of metal and is carrying cyclists; the other is made from railway tracks and carries a train.

I made the two minute walk to Tesco and did a big shop.  Back at the boat, I made a batch of pastry and left it to rest in the fridge while I set off again.  The sun had come out again, and the temperature was rising.  I went to the winding hole at New Bradwell to turn around.  On the way back, I got to the bridge by The Galleon pub, which is at a strange angle and is completely impossible to see whether anything is coming.  I gave a blast of the horn, and was surprised to hear a blast in return.  It meant I was able to stop while an ex-OwnerShips boat came through.  It was the first moving boat I'd passed.

I moored up on the Cosgrove moorings just beyond the Iron Trunk aqueduct.  I rolled out my pastry and lined a flan tin, which I put in the freezer to chill while I had lunch.  Later I put the pastry in the oven, and while that cooked I made some cake batter; when the pastry came out, the cake went in; while that cooked, I made the filling for my flan, which went in when the cake came out.

In between all of this, I got the Brasso out and had a go at the mushroom vents and the portholes.  Also, having heard the distictive thump of an old engine, I poped outside to say hello to Alan Fincher, one of the stalwarts of the Canal World Forum, as he passed on his boat, Sickle.

I could quite happily have stayed here, but I need to be back at the marina for access to the car tomorrow, as I'll be going to pick up my crew for the trip to Crick.  But I decided to leave it late; I had dinner, and set off  at 7 on another beautiful evening, once Cabin Pressure had finished (one of Radio 4's 6.30 comedies that's actually funny).

The lock was against me, so I had to empty it.  Then I drove the boat in very slowly, and got off with the centre line at the tail of the lock.  When it came to opening the paddles, I took things very slowly.  Like most Grand Union locks, though, opening the ground paddle on the same side as the boat keeps the boat to the side.  Then I opened the gate paddle on the oppsite side, which has the same effect.  I bow hauled the boat out of the lock, because I thought that would be less trouble.  Back at the marina I did a perfect spin to reverse onto the pontoon, and was all moored up by 8.

Tomorrow, the journey to Crick begins.

6 miles, 2 locks.  (7 miles, 2 locks)

Mostly (but not entirely) working

The alarm went off at 5am, and there was a fantastic view from the front of the boat, with mist on the water and the sun appearing over the hedge.

45 minutes later I was driving out of the marina heading for work.  I arrived back just before 7.30 this evening, with the sun shining, the air still, and the temperature still at 25C.  In short, it was too nice an evening to waste, so I changed into shorts, prepared the boat, and pulled off the pontoon and out of the marina.  I had an audience of the people in the garden and on the balcony of The Navigation Inn next door.

The water was so still there were some lovely reflections.

As I came through Cosgrove Bridge I was amazed to see two boats coming towards me, both Willow Wren hire boats from Rugby.  I slotted into a Briar Rose sized mooring above the lock.  Then another Willow Wren came past, and few minutes later two Union Canal Carriers hire boats from Braunston.

The church bell ringers have been practising since I got here.  This is the view from the side hatch.

1 mile, 0 locks.