Boston

And so the short trip to Boston on Tuesday.  Boston parish Church, locally known as `The Stump` comes into view during the last straight run in.
Nicholson's said there were good moorings here but I had looked on google maps and couldn't see where.  However when we became nearer, lo and behold..............................

.....................lovely new looking empty moorings so we put ourselves on the far end alongside.    We had just sorted ourselves out and Geoff was going for a wander when BW came along and said we could not moor there because the moorings were not yet commissioned...........we were directed a little further along to this.................

There was nothing basically wrong with the position but we couldn't even get half of Petroc alongside a very suspect looking jetty.  The BW man did apologise and said we couldn't use the new moorings because of Health & Safety!!  We lay happily enough there but would not like to have had a strong wind.  We had planned to spend a couple of nights there but were told that the first night was free and then it was £7 a night. I was moved to ask him how they could charge £7 for such a mooring but he just shrugged.......The weekly charge is £34.    I said we would only be staying the one night and he said most people did the same......they can't want visitors.....

Still apart from the rickety jetty is was not a bad mooring and about 10 min walk into town.

This is what the inside of the Boston Stump looks like.

I had yet another dental appointment in the afternoon in a surgery a 10 min bus ride away.   I was convinced I would come back minus the offending tooth but it was not to be, persevere a bit more, maybe it will settle down.........One man and his dog were waiting for me on my return!

Wednesday morning we visited the town again as it was market day, not the best market we have been to, I was ripped off with blueberries at one stall.  £1.30 for a punnet and later I saw the same size punnet for 60p!!

After shopping and yet another visit to Waterstones for Geoff to buy books we returned to Petroc.

We set off for the moorings at Anton's Gowt just two miles up stream which had been empty when we passed yesterday.  Guess what.......they were not empty now, so we carried on another couple of miles to Langrick Bridge which were deserted.

Up and Down the Witham

Anne & Keith duly arrived in time for late lunch and luckily made it to the boat in between showers.

We had the option of continuing to Boston or returning up river to  Bardney.  We were about equidistant from these two sani-stations and with 4 of us on board for the weekend it was a necessity!!

We opted for the return to Bardney, so Saturday we went through the lock up to the sani station but then turned again and went back 1/2 a mile to the moorings at Bardney Bridge.  They were empty when we arrived although they filled up over the weekend.  There is room for 3 narrowboats there and it is very pleasant and a short walk up to the village.  Keith had walked the whole distance as he always does when they join us.  Partly because he enjoys walking but also because he gets motion sick...........we did suggest he tried the short run back from the lock to the moorings at Bardney and steered the boat, but he declined the offer, obviously deciding to err on the side of caution.  He seems to be OK when we are moored.

The weather was kind to us for the weekend as you can see

On Sunday Geoff and I went to the Parish Church of St Lawrence where they had a service for their Patronal Festival.  It was quite a large church and very light and had wonderful paintings in the Chancel.  They were apparently done in 1920 but renovated (at vast expense) in 2000

Later we all walked up to The Nags Head where we had a good Sunday Roast.  En route we passed this building

                                   

I might pass on the Offal!

                                      

Another indication of the railway that used to be

The Water Rail Way along the track of the disused railway which runs from Lincoln to Boston is proving very useful for Keith and his walking!  It has been tarmacked and seems popular with walkers and cyclists.

We set off early on Monday, well earlier than of late......8.15 in fact.   The destination was Kirkstead Bridge which is the mooring if you want to explore Woodhall Spa.  It is well worth a visit, a delightful town which must have been very popular in its heyday when people came to take the waters.  A wonderful delicatessen/bakery and many shops.  Supermarkets were catered for by Budgens which was not huge but quite well stocked.  The town is well over a mile from the moorings but well worth the trip.  However this morning I had a free ride as Anne & Keith had left their car there.  

They departed after coffee as we had decided to carry on to be close to Boston.  I have been suffering with toothache for a while and have finally given in and decided that enough is enough.  I have managed to get an emergency appointment for Tuesday afternoon in a practice just outside Boston.

We had a pleasant run down, not a lot to see as usual on this waterway, but it has a charm all of its own and is a very restful waterway to travel on.  There is plenty of wild life but not a lot of habitation.

We have joined one other boat on the moorings at Langrick Bridge which leaves us just a couple of miles to go to Boston tomorrow morning.

Tattershall Bridge

The promised heavy rain showers arrived in the afternoon but in between it was OK.   We had a good visit with Denis & Carole who brought their 11 week old puppy Daisy with them.

Barney was not overly impressed and resisted all her advances to play!

The only interruptions to the afternoon were the occasional thundershower and extremely low aircraft from nearby Coningsby.  This continued well into the evening, it was obviously night flying night!  We have discovered that this mooring in very close to the end of the runway and just off the centre line!  On the way down yesterday Geoff saw the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane flying together......I missed them as I was down below attending to domestic duties just as I normally am when he spots the Kingfishers!!

However the forecast for today is for heavy rain and lots of wind so we shall stay here awaiting the arrival of this weekend's guests Anne & Keith.

Not where we intended to end up.

Today the plan was to travel the 3.5 miles to Kirkstead Bridge which is just a mile away from Woodhall Spa.   We are expecting visitors this afternoon and then again tomorrow for the weekend and it seemed a convenient place to be.   However the best laid plans........
Emma set off to run the 3.5 miles and took Barney with her which was a big mistake.   He did not like being separated from the boat and even when she put him on the lead he was not co-operative.
When we reached Kikstead Bridge the moorings were full with boats breasted up.    We breasted up alongside another narrowboat temporarily whilst we considered out plan of action.  In front were two small plastic boats and a River Canal Rescue engineer arrived for one of them   Apparently they would be departing if the problem was fixed...no guarantee.  Breasted up was not an option as we could not get Barney on the boat.
So Geoff and Emma departed in her car with which she had been reunited, to see what the score was at the next moorings at Tattershall Bridge.   They came back with a favourable report so we set off for another 3.5 miles.
When half way there Emma rang to say 2 narrowboats were approaching the moorings which would have been s**s law and made Geoffrey very unhappy so I didn't tell him!!  Luckily they passed the moorings by and we have moored successfully.
Our problems were not over as soon after lunch our toilet decided to play up, so much more unhappiness for Geoffrey!   However we think it is mended, fingers crossed.   We shall try it for the rest of the day and hope we do not have to put our weekend visitors off..............
After a lovely morning the rain has now caught up with us before our afternoon visitors arrive........

Southrey

Good pontoon moorings above Bardsey Lock beyond a line of permanent moorings.  A sani station here with a good hot shower which Emma availed herself of just before we left about 11, after a delightful morning sitting in the sun.  This is a very gentle pleasant waterway, if devoid of features along some stretches.  It makes us feel very relaxed after the Chesterfield.  However I am glad to read from their blog that NB Epiphany are enjoying the Chesterfield.   There were parts that we enjoyed, especially the top end, but sadly for us the shallowness, narrowness and weed did not counteract the good parts sufficiently.

As we had been warned we have now encountered some weed on this waterway, but the river is wide and deeper and it is possible to steer round most of it and so far (fingers crossed) we have not had a problem.

Weed at the sides of the water

We had a stop at Bardsey Bridge for Emma and I (and of course Barney)to walk the 1/2 mile into the village for a few groceries and then just a few more miles down river to Southrey.  Our book gave moorings on the north side but in fact they were on both sides and only one small boat there.  We opted for the north bank.

It has been quite a windy day but for once the wind was behind us.

A short walk up Ferry Lane brings you to the tiny church of St John the Divine, part of the Bardsey Group of churches and built just over 100 years ago.

The moorings themselves are by the old Southram Station as the old sign proclaims.

The track of the old railway, now known as the `Water Rail Way` has been paved over and runs from Lincoln to Boston.

The habitation here consists of a cluster of bungalows, the Church and a pub with a tiny shop attached where you have to ring the bell if you want access and didn't appear to stock very much.   The pub was basic but with a friendly landlord.  30 years ago there was a ferry here and the slipway is still visible.   

Lincoln By land and by Water

A good weekend with friends John and Rosi and from Sunday, daughter Emma.
We have visited Lincoln by bus, car and water.    By far my favourite way to visit any city is by water.
We ate on board on Sat and Sunday morning Geoff visited the local church at Saxilby whilst I waited in for Emma's arrival.  Strangely Geoff reported that the people at church were not as friendly as we usually find when we visit all the different churches.  John and Rosi collected us and after some lunch we drove into Lincoln.  John kindly dropped Rosi and I at the top of the hill close to the Cathedral and he and Geoff parked the car and did the harder walk back up the hill to meet us.
We then gently meandered around the Cathedral and were luck enough to hear the choir practicing which which made the tour round very enjoyable.

Difficult to obtain an outside view of the front as you cannot get far enough away

There are wonderful carvings depicting the stations of the cross and below are three of them

But this has to be the certificate of the century!!

After visiting the Cathedral we descended to the town and the waterfront which is very attractive with restaurants and cafe's BUT there are not any moorings within Brayford basin for visiting boats.  Such an opportunity missed.  There are moorings just before reaching the basin with space for a couple of narrow boats but the chances of finding an empty space are not good.
However it is possible to moor through the glory hole but probably not overnight and not for too long if you have a dog on board.  There are railings all along and although there are a couple of gates (Use BW key) we couldn't get the one close to where we moored to open .  Read further to see what we did!
Back to Sunday.....Emma drove us into Lincoln (no buses on Sunday) and we all had a good meal in Prezzo on the waterfront.  It may be a chain but the food and service were good and it was very comfortable.
By Monday we were alone on the Saxilby moorings

John and Rosi came out after breakfast and  Rosi and I departed for a mooch around Lincoln, leaving John & Geoff  to move Petroc to the Pyewipe Inn moorings and Emma to move her car up there and go for her training run.

John had his first taste of a trip on Petroc and I am told coped admirably although he did want to pass the two boats he met on the wrong side.......luckily Geoff realised his intentions in time!!

Later in the afternoon John collected Emma from Woodall Spa where she has positioned her car ready for her departure on Friday and we all had an excellent meal in the Pyewipe Inn.   At first we thought it was going to be a disaster as the first two wines we chose from their list of 6 house wines, were not available.............then the fish John had eventually decided upon was not exactly as shown on the menu and we thought he might just be going to throw his toys out of the cot.........however it became much better, we had a excellent waitress in Nicola and a very good meal and may well have to stop on the way back.
Sad goodbye to John and Rosi after dinner as they are leaving their hotel before we reach Lincoln.
Tuesday was a relatively gentle start (Emma still in bed!) we stopped at the sani station just outside Lincoln and by then the sun was out and it was a lovely ride through the pool and beyond.....everywhere looks so much better from the water.

At the far end of the pool you enter the narrow stretch through the centre of all the shops

and then the `Glory Hole`

Looking back at the `Glory Hole`

We moored along the wall right in the heart of the city

BUT  to get out of the mooring you need to go through one of the gates in the railing and we were unable to get our key to open the gate SO........................

Very undignified

When I returned I had to climb back again and then discovered that someone had managed to open the gate in my absence!

We then set off again and discovered that there are places to moor the other side, but the railings go most of the way along and none of the places looked very inviting.

We went through Stamp end Lock, the first of only 2 locks on this stretch.   The top gate is an unusual guillotine gate.   A boat was coming up and as you have to insert a key to operate the guillotine gate, we had to enter the lock and he to leave the lock so that he could lower the gate as you cannot extract the key until the gate is down again.   Luckily he wasn't in a rush!

Gate nearly down

Onward then to our destination of the moorings above Bardsey Lock, the second of the only 2 locks.

Very straight run and not many features but the sun was shining, the canal was wide and although there is a little weed it is nothing to write home about....so far...we have heard that there is more weed after the lock...we shall see.......

Looking back after leaving Lincoln the Cathedral stands out for miles

These are pontoon mooring so we have to walk Barney a short way to reach grass but they are very congenial..........we have just heard from John and Rosi that they are back in Cornwall and that they drove through some very heavy rain en route so hope it is not coming this way.    We were so lucky yesterday as rain was forecast but did not materialise and we had a glorious day, and then the rain came in the night.

Saxilby

We have stayed put today as this is a pleasant mooring.   Our visitors, John and Rosi arrived at lunchtime and have now departed to check into their hotel in Lincoln for 3 nights.

Geoff went into Lincoln this morning on the bus (15 min) and reported that the mooring in Lincoln was not good.  There is only space for about 3 visiting boats and it was full.   The rest is taken up with permanent boats.

 So we have decided to stay here until Monday.  We will use Emma's car to go into Lincoln tomorrow(no buses on Sunday!) to meet John and Rosi and we have booked to go to the Pyewipe pub for dinner on Monday evening and we can moor outside.  It comes highly recommended so hope it lives up to expectations as the pubs in Saxilby are nothing to write home about.

Another Navigation

This is not a canal it is a navigation.......the Fossdyke navigation to be exact.

How lovely to be off the river and into the calm waters of whatever it is!!!!

We spent the first night on the visitor moorings at Torksey.    They are quite extensive but also reasonably full.
However there was room for us, although one of the other boats who came up with us but had stopped at the watering point had to breast up.

The mooring was congenial enough but as we had anticipated there are high banks either side.  Opposite us peeking over the top were the roofs of what I took to be a holiday camp.   Row upon row of brown huts.  Later when Geoff went on an explore he discovered that it was in fact a retirement village.   It looked more like Stalag Luft 3 to me!!

We decided on a late start as I had some work to to (I am not quite retired....), however after coffee we decided to make a move and check out Saxilby.   We have visitors coming this weekend and we wanted to check out the local hostelries.   We have Rosi & John Lillis coming tomorrow for 3 nights, not staying on board but residing in the Holiday Inn in Lincoln.  We also have daughter Emma coming on Sunday until Friday.

It was only 5 miles to Saxilby.   They may have been slightly lacking in interest miles (although Geoff spotted a kingfisher) BUT THEY WERE WEED FREE MILES.   We also felt we were back on a more normal waterway and did not have the feeling that we were struggling uphill all the time as we had on the Chesterfield.

Reasonable moorings and plenty of space.   There are a few narrowboats about and more plastic boats.  It could not be described as busy but it is certainly busier than the Chesterfield.

Have been very slack with photos today but will rectify that tomorrow.

S*** Law definitely kicked in as the promised forecast of much wind and rain did not materialise.......we could have had an evening with Epiphany..........

Tidal Trent again

Sue the lock keeper had told us 2.30 was the time we would go out, however we needed fuel and the pump is on the end of the lock so she said to come up about 1 and fill up.  We duly did this but then had to back out of the lock as two other boats were going down and as they were going as far as Cromwell Lock they had to go first.   However, every cloud has a silver lining, they went down and Epiphany came up, so we were able to see them albeit briefly. 

We shared the lock with a little plastic job

River Trent, here we come

My thanks to Fi on Epiphany for the 4 photos above.   The trip was uneventful and not overly interesting.  But there is a lot of adrenalin in evidence on Petroc when we are on a tidal stretch.   We eventually emerged from the lock about 2.45 and reached Torksey about 5.15

The only happening of note was that Geoff lost one of our cups overboard!!!   When he rounded one of the many bends into a windy stretch, it blew away and he almost lost the Trent chart that it was supposed to be holding down..........

We have become used to not seeing many boats whilst on the Chesterfield so we were greatly surprised when we turned into the Torksey cut to see the pontoons were full.   Some were waiting to go up and some were moored.   We breasted up to a Dutch barge who was having to wait until Saturday to go up as there was not enough water over the cill in the lock for them as we are right on neap tides.

The wait was not too long and soon we were in the lock in company with 3 others.

We emerged after a slow ride up and went past lots of permanent moorings with plastic jobs on, and found there was space on the visitor moorings in a reasonably congenial spot.

Forefast tonight gives it as not as bad tomorrow as we had anticipated.....S***s law

Back to West Stockwith after 3 1/2 weeks

Wednesday was our final stretch of this canal, slow going but the weed did not seem quite so bad.  
Just four locks today although a couple were very hard work......or so Geoff tells me!
We moored back on the linear moorings at West Stockwith.   We had reconsidered our plans and decided that we could spend an extra day here and meet up with Epiphany and were looking forward to it.  However when we say the forecast for the Friday it did not fill us with confidence, there was a nasty low approaching and talk of strong winds and lots of rain, so reluctantly we chickened out and decided we must depart on Thursday.

On the Move again

I arrived back at Petroc last evening after my weekend away.   We stocked up from nearby Asda planning an early start on Tuesday.  However we then decided we wanted some things from the butcher and I needed to pay a cheque into the bank so it was 1015 before we managed to cut ourselves loose.

We passed the church at Hayton where Geoff had an abortive visit a couple of weeks ago.  A phone call to the rector had informed us that the service was at 9.15 but after Geoff braving the rain to reach it, there was no sign of life....

The going was slow in places due to the narrowness and shallowness but the weed did not seem as bad as on the way up.   We stopped at Worksop & Retford Boat Club for the sani station and Geoff had a look down the weed hatch.......lots of weed and half a vest was his haul!

The reason for the slight improvement was no doubt due to this weed cutter which we caught up with just before Drakenholes.

                                          

                                              

It needs to remove a whole lot more to have any great effect.

Later when we were moored and I was sitting outside, a gentleman on a very small wheeled bicycle stopped to chat.......I had his potted life history!  He told me that he had worked on the canal for 15 years some time ago (he was 81) and they used to try and clear the weed by hand.

                                                     

Typical of this stretch, very narrow

We only met one boat, a small cruiser and Geoff edged very gingerly past him

Luckily there was room for us to moor at Drakenholes, so we do not have very far to go tomorrow to West Stockwith.   We are booked to go down the Trent to Torksey on Thursday.   Sadly we will just miss Epiphany who are due to come down from Keadby also on Thursday.  The tide times are such that we will have to leave before they reach West Stockwith.  We would like to have delayed a day but we have visitors booked into a hotel in Lincoln for the weekend and we want to be sure of reaching there.

Another tidal trip but at least this one does not have such a difficult approach to the lock as Selby and West Stockwith.

Drakenholes Tunnel, even I managed this one!

Moored at Drakenholes

Gill's weekend away

 Geoff has not moved.  Before my departure on Thursday we moved Petroc up a little to a slightly nicer spot just above the lock and since Geoff has not had any trouble there he has stayed put....so far.

Meanwhile I have been gadding about town......Emma, Boe and I had a good day out on Friday.  We took the Fast clipper boat down the Thames to Greenwich and we wandered up to the Royal Observatory which is fascinating.   Wandered is perhaps the wrong word as the hill to reach the top is incredibly steep and I don't do hills very well......so they took it in turns to push me from behind!   By the time we reached the top we all had to have a sit down to recover.....

      

                                        

However the view was worth it

Whilst there we watched a show in the planetarium called `The Violent Universe` which had some awesome photography but now Boe, the worrier, is bothered about the meteorite that might hit the earth!

On the trip back up the river we saw a narrowboat turning into Limehouse Lock. 

 It brought back memories of our trip down the Thames a couple of years ago, although we came out of Limehouse and went up river.
Watching the narrowboat and viewing the entrance to Limehouse it looked a lot wider than our recent river entrances into Selby and West Stockwith have been.    In fact it looked a dooddle...BUT   I was sitting in a big boat with powerful engines and not on a narrowboat.  The tidal Thames is a piece of cake for these big boats.  Once down in the lower reaches of the river they certainly put on the speed and for each stop they seem to grind to a halt effortlessly and one of the crew throws a rope with great accuracy onto a bollard which helps to stop the boat.   We did see them miss on the first attempt a couple of times but they always managed it second time.  A very slick operation.

Dinner was a Turkish restaurant with Wally, Marie and Maggie and the girls and Saturday I came out in my grandmother guise to Goring Heath and Giles and family.

My weekend excitement was not over however.  Whilst Finley was having his afternoon nap Giles took me down to the sailing club at Goring.  This is a small friendly club they have joined and I think he wanted to show off his prowess in a dingy......he was threatened with murder if he put me in the water!!   It is many years since I ventured into a dingy.....I prefer a sailing boat that has a loo and somewhere to put a gin and tonic!
In the event he as the only one to fall in and that was before we even set off.  (Sadly I didn't have the camera!)  He was trying to be too gung-ho getting into the dingy!   The trip was then quite enjoyable but dingy sailing has never been my thing and my faith in Giles abilities to get me back safely had diminished after his falling in.  My fears were unfounded and all I ended up with was a wet bottom which is a bit inevitable.  We managed to weave ourselves in and out of all the passing boats, this included one or two narrowboats on their way down.   I hope that we shall be back here with Petroc next year.  I have asked the skipper and planner for a completely tide free year.    Having said that, if we want to do the Thames we would at least have to do the tidal stretch from Teddington to Brentford, but after the tidal Ouse I think that would be a doddle.........

Whilst I have been having all this excitement I gather that Geoff's only hiccup was when he thought he had lost the boat keys....luckily he eventually found them in some long grass beside the towpath.