First leg to the Peaks.

27^th June 2018

Well, we left Yelvertoft on the 6^th of June on the way eventually, to go to the Peak District. Turning left out of the marina and at a steady 2000 rpm from the old BMC engine we traversed a well cruised length of canal, the Leicester Arm. At those revs the engine is comfortable, the boat running at 3 mph using the sat nav on our phone as a speedometer we can see all that is going on about us.

We thought that going over same canals we would get bored, but you would be surprised how much the scenery changes in a few weeks. The lambs were growing up, the hay is higher, the corn is swaying in the wind. Why in our youth didn’t we appreciate the beauty all around us??

I believe it was Oscar Wilde who said that youth is wasted on the young..how true it is ….although it has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw as well I believe.

Passing the next marina down the canal….Crick... there were a few boats moored on the opposite bank. When you leave a mooring its good practise too, as in a car, look before you pull out. Some clown didn’t as we drew close to him...straight out, not looking, I didn’t have to take avoiding action as I was going a bit slower, however did drop the revs a bit.

As he went past he looked a bit sheepish, I think he realised what he’d done.

The ironic part was the name of his vessel….Narrow Miss…….It was …

The first tunnel we meet is the Crick tunnel. As we approached the same, I remembered to remove my glasses because of the brilliant darkening tint. When you go into the dark entrance with tinted specs you can’t see a thing until your eyes adjust.

There was a boat on her way out so we approached very slowly. Jake and Carly below decks for safety reasons. I was as close to the right hand side as I could be too give her plenty of room, when suddenly there was an almighty bang. I thought for a minute she had hit us, but there wasn’t a shudder down the boat you normally get with a collision.

We looked back and the other boat by this time was stretched right across the canal her nose buried into the bank. I think she must have hit some thing under the water line as she came out of the tunnel, luckily there was a boat behind us so she had some help. There are some sad people who think its good to drop rubbish into the canals of this country. Safes, push bikes, motor bikes, all sorts of metal work. Supermarket trolleys. Etc.

They can do a lot of expensive damage…. feral kids who believe they can do what they want and get away with it. So sad.

The rest of the trip to Lime Farm marina was totally uneventful. Watching the wild life in the evenings. Found out moorhens like corn flakes, also they put their chick’s first was so cute watching them feed the young ...Jenny was a bit miffed as I shared her breakfast with our feathered neighbours.

Not in a rush we had a night at the top of the Hillmorton flight then on the Sunday we had a wander down to the cafe for a naughty iced bun and a lovely cup of coffee.

We had passed here many times but never stopped. Had an overnight at Newbold, a couple of beers in the Barley Mow and my usual hug with the lovely landlady Kelly and a good hand shake from Simon her husband.

On the Tuesday we arrived at Lime Farm Marina, ready for John to do the couple of jobs Jenny had asked him to do.

We are just about getting used to the different time zones on the canals.

We have had so far GMT.. you all know that one. BST when the clocks change ...and there is canal time, which can vary depending which canal you are on and any other circumstances which may alter it.

The one we are just getting used too is Brady time..

We were booked into the marina for the jobs on Tuesday and we are totaly ignored by everybody, to quote Steve one of the guys ...didn’t know you were coming.

Eventually, when its time to go home John turns up, just as I'm cooking evening meal, to do one of the jobs. Similar the next day they are all busy and we are fitted in at the end of the day..reason one day they are off to drive E type Jags and the Saturday he’s off to get a new pickup. Joking apart he’s done us a good job and reasonable price so we are all ready to go. John and his lovely wife Sarah have a good attitude to life I believe they work to live NOT live to work. So glad we have found them. Saved us a load of money with their honesty, and their work is good. Also I get a lovely hug when we leave as well...Sarah that is . . not John, I’m glad to say.

Peak district here we come…...planned a stop over at Hawksbury Junction on the Saturday and a meet with my daughter on the Sunday. Sadly she had to cancel due to other family commitments so we pulled our pins and moved on to Marston Junction.

After we stopped for the night just sat down opened a beer the phone rang.

Hi Bob ‘where are you’ the voice asked …..on the boat I said ….It was our friends from Yelvertoft and they had just moored at Hawksbury thinking we were there.

Next morning they caught us up for coffee and a chat. We decided to carry on and have an overnight at Atherstone. There is a lovely local pub in the High street, so we had a good natter until dinner time. They are early starters, so Jenny waved them off out of the window as they slid past.. Me ?? I was fast asleep still. Well that takes us up too the 20^th of June. Jenny has just gone to Tesco for supplies. Watch this place for the tails of the old age travellers.

Bye bye for now.. XX

…..okay, he forgot or purposely left it out, I call him goldfish brain, he-he, made me laugh...cruising along in open countryside a farmer was watering his field, the hose swung over the canal, I managed to get inside but Bob was left outside….as per picture...

and lastly a short film of the canal we have passed through.

June 2018, our life update....

June Blog

Where is this year going to!! June already and we haven’t started cruising yet !!

As I write we are still in Yelvertoft marina...We are both getting Marina crazy we need to get out and on our way to the Peak district.

Jenny as always has put the time to good use, re-painting the engine room while the weather has been dry and warm. A good coat of anti rust then a top coat has made it look really good. Not bad for an old one (boat that is not Jenny !!)

Me ? What have it been up to?? I’ve been my usual lazy self just pottering about doing little jobs and the daily chores as required. Bog empting, rubbish dumping, cooking and washing up. This helps Jenny ., well that's my excuse.

I have been experiencing extreme toothache, and a few wobbly teeth for a few months.

I finally plucked up courage to find a dentist. I have a fear of these people going back to a very bad experience with the school practitioner in Northampton. Having woken up while two teeth were being pulled out when I was about 7 years old. The pain and blood I’ll never forget.

Ploughing through a list on the internet we found a local dentist who is taking new NHS patients, well I say local, its at Daventry about 10 miles away.

Other dentists are not doing NHS just private, so was lucky to find one. Full check up revealed 5 teeth beyond repair, rotten and gums missing. X-ray and full ‘invasive clean’ was recommended. Spread out over a month…. each Monday morning for a few weeks . They pulled 1 tooth on the first examination, then all 4 in one hit the next week ..ouch !!..

I looked like a blooming hamster with a pouch full of nuts. Swollen face and so sore.

Then the fitting and making of dentures is now under way !!!...Dohhh. So the stay here at Yelvertoft has had to be extended.

The weather over the last month has been a bit changeable, on the whole it has been quite warm, but also with heavy atmosphere. We had a terrific thunder storm one night, I was ‘stirred’ by a very bright flash, followed by a roll of thunder. Carly and Jake were very frightened according to Jenny ...me, I turned over and went back to sleep. The storm went on for 2 hours, lightning, thunder, torrential rain, I missed it.

It was a shame really because I love to watch lighting. Reminds me of the free light shows we used to watch when we lived in Gorleston, looking out of our lounge window straight out to sea. The only thing I miss about the apartment !!

Living an outside lifestyle has always been a big part of our life so we decided to have a BBQ as we hadn’t had one for months.

Invited next door (Gregg and Jane) and a couple we have pal’d up with (Gail and Chris) who live over the other side of the marina also Jim and Jan from the local chapel came as well. It was a lovely night, warm and still. We had a good laugh and I managed to remember how to BBQ without burning it !! Chris bough his guitar over and I dug mine out and we murdered a few old songs. Murdered being the operative word, for some reason the old Eko didn’t want to stay in tune. Think it might require a re string. Mind you it getting on for 50 years old. One sold for over £250.00 on E bay a few months ago.

As readers of my blogs know we had to come back to the marina to celebrate a special day, the owners of the boat next door on our pontoon were getting married. Gregg and his partner Jane, after a horrible divorce decided to try again and were married at Cathorpe Manor a lovely old Georgian house a few miles up the road from here.

I actually splashed out on a new silk shirt. . hand made in Thialand. Sadly it arrived two weeks after the wedding, but it does look good and fits well.

We were a bit apprehensive about attending the wedding because we didn’t know anybody except the bride and groom, however as soon as we walked in and were introduced to some of the family it was really good, felt at home and the day was beautiful.

Jane walked down the aisle with her son and sang a love song to Gregg it was so romantic.

Our neighbours are, to say the least, very accident prone or to put it in their words. . clumsy. Just after we moved onto the pontoon we invited them to dinner, they both like hot chilli concarni and that is my signature dish (well one of).

The room on a narrow boat is very limited so one has to be careful. The first thing Jane did was, when trying to sit down, she managed to knock some of the decorations off the shelf by the table, talk about looking embarrassed. We laughed as it wasn’t a problem. THEN….Gregg sat down there was an almighty crack.. the chair promptly collapsed, the main hinge had given way and was completely useless. What an introduction to a new friendship.

There weren’t any wedding speeches apart from Gregg to say thank you to all the wedding guests and for the gifts etc. During the talk he mentioned the incident at ours and the mishaps and about being accident prone. He then made a comment that he hoped the mansion would still be standing in the morning as they were staying the night. To which everyone laughed.

Next morning as we sat on the boat having breakfast a TXT came in ...From Gregg at the Manor house. . the pair of them had just left their room on way to breakfast, as he closed the fire door on the corridor there was an almighty crash behind them and when they looked back, about 10ft of coving had fell off the ceiling and blocked the passage way. , we couldn’t stop laughing. It could only happen to them.

Sadly they have just sold their boat and are buying a lovely house in Wales. Haven’t known them long but its been fun having them as part of our lives for the last couple of years. The boat will be moving to its new mooring next week.

Well enough waffle for this blog. . Jenny has just made me a beef sandwich using up the rest of the Sunday joint. With luck should get my new gnashers tomorrow morning and then we should be away for this years cruise. That is if we can find the canals that are still open. .The Middlewich section is closed due to the canal collapsing into the valley. The locks at Marple are closed due to the lock walls collapsing I wish CRT would get on and do the repairs and maintenance that the old system needs…. otherwise we can’t live our dream.. Bye for now.

Over to the editor for editing, sorry no photos as not been anywhere yet….