Stoke Breurne and Blisworth

Amongst the more interesting boats that passed recently were these two.

 No idea of where they were going but it certainly made a change from the usual traffic. Perhaps with the French flags they had crossed the channel entered the Thames and then onto the Grand Union.

 Up through the Stoke Breurne flight of locks and a vintage motor bike club had gathered outside the canal museum.

 BSA and Rudge Whitworth were two others makes present.

 Settled in at Blisworth for a few days and patched up some bad bits on the roof.

 Following this prep it has had a base coat of paint. It will be having a new anti slip surface before the top coat is added. The boat painting has started properly now with one complete side having been sanded. More in another blog post.









The Royal Oak pub at Blisworth
is there to assist you in your
 healthy eating lifestyle.

This pipe carries Kerosene across the Northampton arm at Gayton. The patch you can see is where some bright spark, although perhaps it was lucky the spark was absent, tried to tap into the supply. Not sure of the use they had for the fuel, perhaps they thought it was something different, but it caused a canal stoppage and the evacuation of the nearby marina. LINK  The air was full of the smell even a week later.

Another day draws to an end and as happens often across the canal system we can sit out on the bow and watch the Bats feeding on the flying insects.

After a Lengthy Interruption...We Return to Our Regularly Unscheduled Life

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination." ~Carl Rogers, American Psychologist and founder of the Humanistic (or client-centered) approach to Psychology

   

   At last we are moving once more with a pace determined by our needs and desires rather than the tyranny of the NHS. We are back to casting off after four or five days moored up somewhere--most likely on our own--out in the countryside. It's been an idyllic week or so, with weather warm enough throughout the night to leave the wood stove cold. Come along with us as we move to our favorite pace of life: the slow cruise of a narrow boat on an British canal, on a drowsy late spring day. 
**To all of our readers, Les has issued a general health warning. "When Jaq starts blogging she gets carried away. There are so many pictures on this post, it might be classified as a film; based on this I have categorized it as a U certificate (suitable for viewing by all ages)" or G for General audiences as we say in the States!

We fetched up on a lovely slice of English countryside for five days of bliss. Les put out our new bistro set and settled in with the HUDL tablet and paper for an afternoon read while I washed a load of bed linens and fixed dinner.

Al Fresco dining at its best! Smoked Salmon rolls and crudités with homemade Ranch dip.

Cheers mate!

Venus winks at us as the sun goes down on a perfect day!

    Sometimes one comes across a nugget of good information for boaters simply by being in the right place at the right time. We were in need of topping up our monthly Tesco grocery shopping which is usually ordered online and delivered to the boat. We decided to walk into the nearby village of Yardley Gobion and catch a bus to Milton Keynes instead to visit the outdoor market.

    As we approached the village bus stop a clutch of locals were waiting with personal trolleys and grocery bags in hand. Les chatted several folks up and we discovered that Tesco offers free bus services across the country! We were amazed to watch a large gold bus pull up within two minutes. Since it was free, and headed for the large Mirway Tesco near the roundabout on the outskirts of Northampton we decided to go there instead of Milton Keynes.

Country Lion offers free service to Tesco from Yardley Gobion every Thursday at 11:09 a.m.

   What service! This bus was clean with high, soft seats and air conditioning. It took us to the Mirway Tesco which we had traveled to last year by regular bus from Blisworth for an expensive cost to me of £4.90 return for a ride which took only seven minutes each way.  Today we had two hours and twenty minutes to shop before the bus returned for us. Trolleys and grocery bags were stored in the suitcase storage area under the bus and off we went! Brilliant! 
   A chat with the bus driver informed us that Tesco has been providing this service for over twenty years but doesn't advertise it--one has to live in a village or know the locals to get the low down on this fabulous free service. To find out if there is a free Tesco bus anywhere near where you are moored just do an Internet search for free Tesco bus.
   After putting our groceries away we decided it was time to move on...

Looking back through the bridge near Yardley Gobion where we were moored.

This charming shed and sign appear just after passing through Bridge 61 near Kingfisher Marina.

A hybrid dutch Tjalk and narrow boat...

A lovely verdant late spring day which reminds me of a child's water color picture with blobs of white clouds and green rounds of trees in the distance.

Short stemmed wheat waves green in the lazy breeze....

...and sheep speckled meadows.

Shadow and light create a timeless painting of an English spring day.

The short 15th century tower of Grafton Regis church appears at the end of a field. We've gone back in time to an era when Henry VII might be nearby on a visit...

...and country footpaths wander up from the towpath to whatever wonders exist beyond the canal bridge.

The water road spools out before and behind as NB Valerie cruises in the beauty of the day...

...and my favorite boater and Best Beloved relaxes back into the roll of captain!

We pass two wide beams. Used to be, the wide boats stayed on the lower Grand Union (GU) near Uxbridge. As London creeps northward with its housing issues, wide beams are also moving ever northwards.

The shadow dappled cut barely ripples as we pass...

...and a  lone fisherman bent over his rod, enjoys the solitude of flowers and bees on a beautiful afternoon. 

Framed landscape moments like this always draw my eye; they are a liminal entrance to anther place and time. Who knows, it could be 1050, 1168, 1270, 1340, of 1580 once one steps through the shadowed fence into the sparkling sunlit world beyond!

Ewes lie in the cool shade with their lambs...

...while we cruise onward enjoying the lush beauty assaulting our senses.

The next bridge waits around the bend...

...and we finally reach the service point at the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne Flight. After filling with H2O and dumping our rubbish, we moored up for forty eight hours to await a delivery of diesel from Jules Fuels which is based in Stoke Bruerne. Jules' and Richard's boats are moored up awaiting a delivery of diesel from their supplier. 

Jules Fuels' working boats at rest; moored up at the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne lock flight. NBV is moored on the left just around the curve.

   In the meantime we decided to walk up the flight and poke about in the village of Stoke Bruerne. A Canal & River Trust (CRT) sponsored Family Fun event is scheduled to take place the next weekend with working boats accorded special mooring rights at the top of the lock. Les and I prefer to skip large crowd events. He's already attended most of these shindigs along the waterways throughout the years and says he could take it or leave it; I don't care for noise, dogs, or the general melee of crowds. 

Les was shocked to see the formerly free Canal Museum car park now charges.

   Given that all moorings have now been changed to 48 hours except the 7 day moorings in the large pound of the flight where a decent phone and Internet signal are not to be found, there is very little of interest to tempt us to stay; meanwhile we decide to leave the towpath and walk through the village. This was a great idea as Les spotted a man on a ladder thatching a roof!

Good eyes Les! See the bloke in the yellow shirt on a ladder to the left of the roof with the solar panels?

Wandering through the maze of narrow English lanes we finally found the house with the thatching.

A master thatcher at work on a beautiful roof.

The master thatcher cuts through layers of bundled dried wheat straw with a knife, making an even ridge line.

     The bloke was kind enough to stop and chat with us for a few minutes. Roofs are thatched with three different materials: combed wheat reed, Longstraw, and water reed.  Combed wheat and longstraw last about 25 years and cost upwards of £14.00 per square foot; water reed is the best materials lasting 70-100 years and costing £11.00 a square foot. Thatch offers brilliant insulation and is a natural material and environmentally sound. Not only that but it is certainly beautiful. 

   We were told many master thatchers will work animal figures into the ridge lines as a signature at the behest of the home owner. It is said that in bygone days those animals were a secret signal amongst roofers. It let another thatcher know if the owner was good for payment or not! It was also thought that a straw animal on the roof kept witches away! This witch thinks they are adorable but I certainly won't be climbing any roofs or hopping on my broomstick any time soon to see them up close.

As we walked away, I wondered what the round bump was coming out of the side of this house?

It's a bread oven built into the  back of the large kitchen fireplace! Oooh!!! I want one!

    Back aboard NB Valerie, another morning dawns pleasant and bright. We set the alarm for 7:30 so we would be sure to catch Jules and Richard as they began their run down to Hemel Hempstead. I always bake something if I know when we will meet up with Jules' Fuels. They both do a hard day's work from early morning to about 6 p.m., summer and winter. We so appreciate the opportunity to support boaters who live and work on the cut and whose prices are much better than most marinas can offer. So this morning I handed up a half loaf of freshly baked cinnamon bread for their tea. As soon as we were finished filling up, it was time to be off up the lock flight. 
   We shared the locks with a very nice bloke who works for Whilton Marina. He was moving a boat named Sand Dancer, which he picked up in Gifford Park. We have seen it cruising back and forth throughout Milton Keynes for the last year. I wonder why its owner sold it?
   Half way up the flight a lovely group of volunteers showed up to lock us through. They were traveling with Mikron Theatre whose boat Tyseley was coming done the lock in front of us. What a treat! We saw them perform last summer at Bulbourne.

Mikron Theatre's boat Tysley heading into the lock we just came out of; I love their red framed sliding glass door on the bow.

   Soon enough we reached the last lock on the flight. I pulled over and waited in front of the pub at the bottom of the lock. A boat came out heading down and its crew soon walked past with grim countenances saying, "You've got an audience of school children up there along with CRT volunteer lock keepers all watching your every move. If you make a mistake the volunteers will soon take you to task about it, pointing out everything you've done wrong." Of course it doesn't help that the approach to the lock is swathed in netting and signs due to ongoing repairs of the canal bridge just before the lock.
   The lock gates opened, Sand Dancer went in first and I followed. Sure enough school kids, and mums with toddlers in strollers were gathered all around the top. There were two volunteer lock keepers and one--a very portly, bossy man--had taken control of the lock, the gates, and the school children. We just ignored him and let him get on with it. As the top gates swung open he walked over and ordered me to tell my partner to get on and he and the school children would close the gates. I replied, "We are going out last as we are stopping here for water." He ignored my statement and repeated his demand again. Les came over and heard the volunteer telling me what to do. He said, "Thanks mate but we are stopping here for water," and walked off. Oh, well since a man told him what was what, said volunteer agreed it was perfectly sensible then!

   After filling with H2O we cruised on through Blisworth tunnel and kept going until we found another quiet spot in the country to fetch up for a few days of sanding, filling and more sanding of the roof and the starboard side of the boat in preparation for painting.

The top lock of the Stoke Bruerne Flight is swathed in scaffolding and netting as the bridge is in repair.

The week just before a canal festival event is strange timing for such a repair. Good luck getting off your boat to do the lock!

   At last--another good day of cruising under our belts, moored up in a lovely spot for a few days work on the boat, and relaxing evenings with a good meal, a fun game, and my favorite companion.

Les snaps my picture as we work on a game of Bananagram outside in the lovely warmth of the evening sun.

Gateway to the countryside

Soloman`s Bridge Cosgrove is not your usual canal bridge. It is built using limestone and is one of only two fancy bridges, Grove is the second, along the Grand Union canal.
Beyond this bridge the landscape changes to fields as far as the eye can see. The built up area of Milton Keynes is behind us so here might be a good place to take a look back at things that escaped the blog.

In 1764 John Biggin purchased the manor house, Cosgrove village and all the land thereabouts. In 1788 he died and his son George inherited the estate and so it was George who sold land to the Grand Junction Canal Co. If you look at the map of 1880 the Yellow shows the route from the manor house to the village and beyond. The bridge is circled Red.  So his Lordship saw his chance to sell the land to the canal company, get a fancy bridge built that could be seen from his house and have his private driveway avoiding the village.
On the map near the bottom the Yellow crosses the canal. This was the main street of the village. Today it  is just a tunnel under the canal (picture right). I wonder in the absence of any information available did his lordship allowed the canal company to cut the village in half with just a tunnel for villagers to use, can`t see him allowing riff-raff to use his bridge.

 I did like the water sports on Willen lake.

 Boater Alan introduced himself saying "because of your blog Les I`m on a boat". Hope it all continues well for you Alan.

 This is Gullivers Land theme park alongside the canal at bridge 81b. I took a picture......

 because it reminded me of the New York hotel in Las Vegas although the roller coaster was bigger in Vegas.

 A lot of wood throughout Milton Keynes and Stanton Low was ideal to cut it up.

The ice cream man cycles past my wood chippings.

The electric buses were superb in MK.  They are on a 5 year trial and are a pleasure to travel on with less noise and the same speed as the diesel versions.
 Inductive charging at each end of the 15 mile route means they can run without having to return to the bus depot.

This new shell was moored behind us at Fenny. It has no engine and was seen by a friend heading south being poled along. I wonder what it`s future is. Will it be for commercial use or fitted out for a liveaboard with front covers. Perhaps along the lines that Jo and Keith have created in Hadar.

Picture from Hadar blog.

Moving at Last!!

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." ~Albert Camus

  (The music video, left, is NB Valerie's new theme song. Feel free to play it while you read.)
 Les went off to the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) yesterday from Wolverton, while I stayed behind, moored up across from the Galleon Pub with the rain lashing down and high wind gusts buffeting the boat. He returned at 6:20 p.m. and hugged me tightly. 

   The post-procedure follow-up appointment began with Les being informed that he had been booked into the wrong clinic; he should have been booked into some clinic in another part of the RFH. Les had the presence of mind to ask if he could still be seen by someone at this clinic since he had walked two miles to the Wolverton Rail Station, taken a train and a bus all the way into London to get there. 

   "Oh yes, I can do that for you," was the reply. Bloody brilliant...so he shook Les' hand and Les said, "Right well I feel fine. Seven days after I had this procedure done I felt fine and I just want to get the next lung done and move on. Can you schedule me for the procedure?"

   " Yeah we'll get it all sorted out." Really???? Les has every confidence that will occur; myself not so much. 

   "Could you please schedule it as soon as possible because they will cancel it the first time." The doctor looked at Les with questions marks in his eyes. "They will; every single surgery I've had scheduled for this cancer from the very first one to remove the tumor and create the stoma up to this last one, has been canceled at least once and re-scheduled due to a lack of beds and other issues having nothing to do with me." The doctor shrugged his shoulders as if to say,'Oh sorry mate, but you know how it is these days with the NHS.'

   "So if you could then schedule this next procedure as soon as possible I'd appreciate it."

The doctor nodded his head in the affirmative, shook Les' hand and Les left. All that waiting around, too-ing and fro-ing for damned weeks to wait for this bloody appointment and no one even examined Les! No one listened to his lungs, his heart, checked his weight, his B.P.--nothing!! And they call this practicing medicine. We call it a total waste of time.

   This morning we rose early, having read today's weather report before bed last night. Continued blustery winds with drizzle to ease off mid-morning and then pick up again mid -afternoon with wind gusts to 48 MPH. We needed water and we were free to move it and so we did!

   Into Cosgrove lock we went, watching a plastic cruiser who had just exited it, fight for purchase against the wind, which kept pushing the cruiser back toward the towpath. Finally he broke free and made for the 48 hour mooring above the Service block. 

   While I tidied up and hung the wash, Les was jubilant. He said he feels like the bad medical sh** is behind him now and we can cruise when and where we want, moor up out in the countryside as is our want and get back to enjoying our lives again. Les grabbed me in a bear hug and tickled me. A tickle fight ensued. I am extremely ticklish. Les is ticklish to the Nth degree to the power of ten when ten is a huge big number! Giggles and belly laughs rolled out the boat windows...

   After washing two loads of laundry, doing dishes, emptying the rubbish, bringing in coal, wood and kindling, and finishing filling up the water tank, off we set. We were finally FINALLY cruising on canal we hadn't seen in a year, moving, and feeling free.

   We cruised for almost an hour in the drizzle--caring not about the weather--big, happy grins cracking our faces. The countryside is lush now with late spring blossoms festooning thousands of miles of Hawthorn hedges like nature's bunting announcing that summer is just around the corner. Of course in the misty rain and high winds, a lot of those blossoms are single petals in the millions, floating on the canal and papering the roofs of boats; confetti after the parade has passed.

  We continued on with hot cups of herb tea in our hand, looking for just the right spot--some place with Armco metal shuttering to moor up with chains which provide the kind of fast-hold one wants in high winds; a section of towpath with no tall trees anywhere nearby to fall on us, and a bridge nearby to break the force of the wind if it changed directions and came at us down the canal instead of across it. We found it! A quiet place with eight foot high shrubs on one side and fields of Rape growing across the offside. A perfect place for a second honeymoon! Woot!!!