Retirement with No Problem

It didn’t start well, and it didn’t end well at Offord Cluny

sue — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:25:05 +0000

Great Barford to Offord Cluny, River Great Ouse, 13 miles 4 locks

Well I say that, but not exactly right as we said farewell for now to Brian and Diana as they head up river and us down..

You can also see the recycling bin on the green to the right (edit: left even, it’s one of those blogs!) ..

In to Great Barford lock and all was going well until we started to exit. I had tossed the stern rope on to the roof while I climbed down the ladder to board NP after I had opened the offside gate, Vic had done the nearside and I pushed the boat over to pick him up.. “Can you do the ropes please” It is something we have always done when exiting a lock, Vic will tidy the ropes.. but as he lifted the rope from the top of NP it went loose and the prop ate it!

On the way out of the lock we were, quickly engine in neutral, then and I had to lasso a bollard high up with the other stern rope (good shot!) to stop us going out or we would have been swept down the river with no power as the weir is right alongside. With us both hanging on to the rope we managed to stop, but not before I trod on the puppy.. Gawd!

Forty minutes later we managed, I say we, I mean Vic managed to free the rope using a very sharp special knife that we keep just for something like this.. Gosh that prop was hungry for rope chucking it tightly round the shaft as well!

Luckily no boat needed to use the lock, well they would have had to wait.. so lucky for them really..

Hooray, away we went fair travelling down the river with the stream, I was feeling totally stupid. It is the third time I have caught my stern rope on the prop, but on both occasions before it was very minor.. I suppose it isn’t too bad for nearly 12 years of continuously cruising, but in my book it should never, never happen!..

Eaton Socon Lock is another of the wider locks on the river as you can see, it takes a good while to fill and empty this one, but it was for us today, when we arrived the guillotine was up

I suppose there is always some glad when things go a bit wrong, and the glad today was that we arrived at St Neots some 45 minutes later than planned.. “OK, its lunchtime, let’s go out for lunch?” And that we did at the The Bridge House sitting out on the terrace overlooking the river. We had a bit of luck there, as we went out on the terrace there was just one table free riverside, it was really busy!

Very nice indeed, and after a bit of top up shopping in the town we were onward to St Neots Lock. New guillotine gate going in here. As we passed here upstream the guys said it would be closed next week sometime, but that will be Tuesday to Thursday, with thanks to Derek who left a comment to tell me. Good job I have someone looking after me! Thanks Derek!

Our favourite mooring at Paxton was taken this time, oh well… But we have plan B mooring a bit further along which we pulled into late afternoon. Bit disappointed at not getting our mooring, but we have been lucky many times before. It was OK when we moored, but the river has dropped somewhat since we got here and the high easterly wind is blowing us into the silt giving us a definite lean tonight.. I hate that!

Walking Penny and Meg this evening, on the way back I stopped to try and spot a cuckoo in the tree above me, I looked and looked and couldn’t see it.. I could well hear it though.. When I continued my walk young Penny was nowhere to be seen. I searched and searched, called and called.. check the banks, checked the river, nothing.

I decided to go back to NP and get Vic to come and help me find her, maybe she had gone back to the baby rabbit (probably already dead) she found and wouldn’t let go of.. I know, don’t ask..

When I got back to the boat, who was on the gangplank looking at Meg and me saying something like “You took your time, it’s tea time isn’t it?”

Phewwww!

1 comment

Socialising at Great Barford

sue — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:06:46 +0000

Barford Old Mill to Great Barford, River Great Ouse, 0.75 miles 0 locks

Vic has made our wood burner look brand new.. The glass needed replacing after a crack appeared and the spring/summer black paint went on.. gosh it looks smashing again, I wonder if we will need to use it this side of next autumn!

We left our bywater island mooring early afternoon and with the flow on tickover arrived very quickly at Great Barford.. The bridge was a bit tricky with the flow, but a bit of throttle half way through the bridge arch just aboout stopped NP from hitting the side. Major stop after that and a wind (turn) to face upstream to moor in the only available mooring just downstream from the bridge itself.

Just a quickie tonight as we have enjoyed an evening with regular blog readers Mark and Angie and also bloggers Brian and Diana who arrived on the visitor moorings not long after a cruiser left giving them the only mooring space available here. I thought they had passed us on the main river this morning as Vic said a boat had gone upstream waving like fury, but was really pleased to see Hanser arrive late afternoon.

I have been reading Brian’s blog for as long as I can remember and is one particular blogger I had yet to meet after all that time. Oh and they are the first people that I know to see the pup Penny, loved her they did too!

I didn’t take any pictures today.. well such a short trip, but I did take a quickie on the camera phone..

Crash status Penny!

Edit, Added late:

Oh look at those empty glasses, it must be the end of the evening..

Thanks for the pic Mark, and thank you both for a great evening! Looking forward to seeing you again soon

3 comments

Danish Camp doesn’t change

sue — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:48:24 +0000

Moored Barford Old Mill, River Great Ouse

Nope, we couldn’t tear ourselves away from here today.. Well it is one of the quietest moorings on the river with no real footpath past NP. Absolutely ideal for the young puppy Penny, where she enjoyed mooching around the woodland on the island..

We took a walk to Danish Camp at Whittington, Penny did really well not wanting to be carried either there or on the way back.. a bit far for a puppy, but she insisted on the 2.5 mile return trip.

I like the Danish Camp, it is so laid back.. Nothing changes over the years, except today there were only 2 people in front of me in the queue for ordering lunch.. I remember one visit when there were so many people in front that it took 20 minutes to get to the counter. Still just the one guy taking the orders!

Sitting out on the lawns overlooking the river was very relaxing and gave the pup time for a crash out snooze and recovery! You certainly don’t need to be in any hurry if you go there.. Our lunch arriving some half hour after my order! But we knew that!

Oh for those coming behind me, if you just want drinks then there is a terrace bar just to the left as you go through the gate, it is marked, and is much quicker than waiting in line.

I have been trying to master my camera away from ‘auto mode’, and took this shot late this evening. It is nice to see the damselflies on the wing at last and we saw twice as many butterflies as we did yesterday.. Soon it will be the pesky midges. Shhhhh they ain’t here yet!

Just under a mile away, Great Barford, and to the left of the photo you can see the farm that over the years has been the hub of the potato industry in this area, but alas, the fields here now are laid to grass, just like the fields on the other side of the river are full of oil seed rape.

We won’t venture further up river turning back tomorrow to meet up with a favourite blog reader.. Now who was buying who the drinks?

Might also bump into Brian and Diana sometime as well.. ’Bout time too, we always just keep missing each other..

5 comments

What a difference a day makes and we find somewhere to chill

sue — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:37:32 +0000

Great Barford to Barford Mill, River Great Ouse, 0.75 miles 0 locks

Well I couldn’t have said it better than Ali and John..

“..Woke up this morning to a rather strange meteorological phenomenon. There was this orange globe set low in the east and the sky is a strange blue colour. Will have to do a google search to see what it is. Making the temperature rise though!…”

Love it! That did make me laugh when I saw that this morning.. Brilliant!

The Anchor at Great Barford where we had a pint last night. Not a great pub atmosphere in there for me, more like an eating house. I do like to sit on a bar stool when I go to the pub, and I guess it is not dog friendly as food is served throughout. Still we had a lovely evening.

I love these village signs, I have quite a few now.. Us bloggers should have a bit of a competition to see how many we can photograph? Any takers on that?

We filled with water before going on upstream through the lovely pack bridge with it’s many arches..

A very quiet road bridge this as the traffic is controlled by traffic lights, a single carriageway bridge. We just trickled upstream lapping up the glorious weather.. oh thank goodness it has arrived, it sure does put a smile on your face, out of winter at last!

We didn’t go far as you can see, and backed into the very quiet moorings on what my family call “R Island”. We have had some fun there in the past when they have visited. I remember one time we were all sat out and one of the chairs toppled over, but I can’t for the life of me remember what happened, I have a feeling that someone got wet! Wendie fill me in on that?

This is a little further round the corner to where we are moored, but the family will recognise this view.

So no sooner than the engine was switched off the chairs and table came out along with a cuppa, and there we sat for a couple of hours just doing absolutely nothing soaking up the silence and warmth.

Young Penny has been in the river again.. It was her choice, and I tell you what, she is a smashing swimmer, going like the clappers, she enjoyed so much that she returned twice more to have a little swim round! That is that sorted then!

Walking with the girls this afternoon the oil seed rape stretches as far as the eye can see. A complete change from the broad beans and potatoes that have always been grown here in the past.. sign of the times?

Of course a BBQ tonight, and I stayed out until well gone 8pm, it was just so lovely..

2 comments

Plan B, I wasn’t surprised we ended up at Great Barford

sue — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:36:31 +0000

Paxton to Great Barford, River Great Ouse, 11.5 miles 4 locks

So it ended up a longer day than we had planned setting off from our lovely mooring at Paxton early this morning. We had to meet Mr Tesco at St Neots as well of getting a couple of other bits and pieces from the town. We were lucky that St Neots lock was for us..

See the yellow pipe across? Well I got in there and looked back and there were workmen on the bridge amongst the scaffolding.. Should I be in there at all? I doubted it, but.. “Yes you are OK as long as you keep to the front of the pipes”.. Phew!

A new guillotine is being put in.. “I don’t really know why, there is nothing wrong with the one that is there, just it is a bit old” says he.

On through then and it wasn’t too long ’till we landed on the visitor moorings at the Priory Centre. Ho hum water tap doesn’t work.. humph, I might have read that somewhere. Mr T arrived.. “I have delivered to you before, in fact twice.. once you had another boat with you”.. Ah ha, what a good memory, that would be 2009 and 2010! Good memory.

After a weekend on some lovely grass, this came as a bit of a shock to the young Penny.. Not seen anything like this before, off the boat on to some wooden stuff! “What’s all this about” comes to mind!

All the locks were in our favour today, very nice. But we had only seen two boats on the river all day and they were both going downstream, lucky us..

I was looking for a particular boat as we cruised on from St Neots, and yes there it was..

It all started off in 2009 with a neat lawn, oh do have a look, the pic is half way down that blog..

It had been so chilly so far out on the river today that I had my gloves on, but suddenly it warmed, the wind dropped and I could see the sun as a circle behind the clouds, would it?

Nah, it would not break the clouds.. Ah well pack the bacini away for a while.. Eaton Socon Lock..

What a fantastic name.. Hey I nearly got the front fender stuck on a jutty out bit on the guillotine gate here today.. sheeesh! I wanted to keep the bow forward enough in the throat to stop being swept across to the other side on the right and stuck, I had to do a major reverse back to clear the front fender, phew.. You can see what I mean..

Close now to where we wanted to moor at the Anchor Hotel at Roxton remembering the last time when Granddaghters Jessica and Molly were aboard where we enjoyed the lawns.. but alas, “No Mooring”.. Darn it!

The pub/hotel has gone into private occupation not wanting boats, so onward, and suddenly the flow was really strong, it was quite hard going..

Goodness me, 4 feet high, and this is recent, can you imagine that lot. So I stop complaining about slow going!

Plan B then, and Great Barford it was, and once again the lock was kind to us so it didn’t take too long to grab a mooring. Grab a mooring? Sorry, tick over to whatever mooring we wanted.. the place was empty!

Chill out time for the girls, and for us too.. Ah hem that is why your blog is a tad late tonight, couple of pints at the local is the cause!

3 comments

And another one.. last, I promise, for May!

sue — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:04:19 +0000

Happy Birthday to my eldest Grandchild

14 year old Kiera!

Hope you have a wonderful day! xxxx.

4 comments

Oh dear, poor Niamh and Penny has a lifesaver!

sue — Sun, 20 May 2012 12:48:50 +0000

Moored Paxton, River Great Ouse

News came through last night that granddaughter Niamh (pronounced Neeve for those not in the know) had fallen from a swing and had awkwardly broken an arm. An overnight stay at the hospital resulted as an operation was needed this morning to put the bone back together again properly.. “But I want to go home grandma”.. I think I did a good job of persuading her how exciting it was to stay in the hospital for the night, I hoped she settled after that..

A picture from Wendie’s phone this morning after the sucessful resetting “Niamh said she had never tasted a better bit of toast!” This was the first time I knew it was her right arm, pity.. But I suppose if you are going to take a tumble then you will put your right arm out if you are right handed eh?

School work should be interesting for her for a while. No doubt she will get frustrated at having to learn to write with her left hand, lets hope the teachers give her a lot of slack for a bit.

There was a comment on yesterdays blog from a John who got a bit upset about Penny falling in the river! Is OK now John, I have done something about it..

She now has her very own life ring which I will keep on top of No Problem just in case!

Golly, it is freezing over here in East Anglia, the easterly wind is so chilly. I guess the rest of you are having a lovely sunny warm day. Next week is going to warm up so they say.. Hooray!

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The changing face of the places you know.. Time moves on

sue — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:52:53 +0000

Moored Paxton, River Great Ouse

Penny’s Vet insurance was sorted this morning. It took ages to go through each of the companies to find one that fits her needs for the future. So many T&Cs to check through, so many exclusions for this and that, it is a minefield I’ll tell you!

Still that is done, and it ended up the same company as Lucy was insured with. Over the years Tesco has provided fantastic cover for Lucy, I have never been questioned about claims, and I have never had a claim refused from them, and when she died they were so very passionate on the phone.. I am glad Mr T came up on top this morning!

So off on my 7 miler after lunch. No sunshine today but the wind was light and the sky just a mid grey colour all over, no chance of rain. It was a walk I had done before in 2006, and there were places to revisit..

I recall that I was shocked to see this in the middle of some lovely countryside, but as I passed today it was all a bit different!..

The only thing that is the same is the sky!

Oh yeah, we had a visit from a fox last night, just after midnight. He was obviously using the path alongside NP and saw the boat or smelt the girls, but he started shouting, you know they way they do. This went on for nearly half an hour before he wandered off.. Luckily Meg was just doing some muffled gruffs, and little Penny didn’t freak out..

Talking of which, the little one fell into the river this morning.. she was soon rescued, and she so enjoyed a good rub down with the towel I guess she might decide to do it again!

12 comments

Lucky, lucky, we got our mooring at Paxton

sue — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:32:58 +0000

Godmanchester to Paxton, River Great Ouse, 5.5 miles 2 locks

It is just about our favourite mooring on the Great Ouse, not an official one, but one we found the first year we ventured this way.. The family will well remember four years ago when they were all here with us.

Once again ideal for the pup Penny until she has had all her jabs. The girls have been able to enjoy being outside, and at last Meg has started to accept her little friend after day four. I must admit a couple of days ago I was in tears at one point as Meg seemed so unhappy that we had introduced Penny, she kept snapping at her and moving away as soon as the little pup came anywhere near.

To Penny’s credit, she has tried and tried and put up with the moody Meg, she too hoping to be accepted.. Play time today on the bank..

A good rough and tumble followed, but you can see by the look on Meg’s face she seems a lot happier!

But that was the end of the day. Back at the beginning and goodbye to Godmanchester Lock.

And the mystery of the fencing round the mooring is out.. A comment from Derek..

Hi Sue.
I think the fence is there for a reason.
From the EA.
“Godmanchester 48-hour Mooring – The EA mooring alongside the lock is closed until further notice due to bank slippage. The town council moorings alongside the park are available as normal.”

Toot as you go by Buckden.

To be honest I didn’t notice the bank slippage, a couple of bricks are a bit loose but that’s all, but thanks Derek, and no toot for you on the way past this time as I only read the comment after we had moored at Paxton!

On our way early morning around Portholme Meadow, and here you get some idea just how large it is. It also stretches a good 400 metres to the left as well!

I was hoping to stop at Brampton on the way back for a meal in the converted mill which is now a pub and restaurant, but as we have not joined GOBA this year it is not easy to find a mooring as they have command of the fields by the pub.

.. But I might have found a place to squeeze in, like I do!

Brampton Lock is the difficult one for me on this river if the lock is against and I can’t go straight in. The river is diverted around a very narrow channel and the lock landing is at 90 degrees once round the corner. Not only that but it is short!

There was a cruiser in the lock you see, but it was when the cruiser came out that I had my first on these waters this year.. ”You are a narrowboat, I am not even looking or giving a cheery wave” Snotty moo on the front as she came out and by on the cruiser.. I bet she is a sod to live with!

One more lock today and that was Offord Lock which I always remember since I got stuck on the cill back in 2006, but I was OK today and pleased to see that the rubbish bins are still on the lock side there.

So that was us today, just another mile or so to go and how pleased we were to be on this mooring for the weekend. I know we are OK here because I had already checked this out with the people at Paxton Nature Reserve on a previous occasion when we stayed a week.

A really lovely place to walk around, so many paths. Meg really did enjoy her walk this evening, and I bet she will enjoy tomorrow, we are off on a 7 miler.. Haven’t done one of those for a while, hope Sir is willing to be masseur tomorrow night!

4 comments

And so to Godmanchester where I find the floods

sue — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:02:05 +0000

St Ives to Godmanchester, River Great Ouse, 6.5 miles 3 locks

Lovely trip today, the wind was light for a change and coming from behind, hooray! In fact at one point Sir was down to shirt sleeves, that’s a bit more like it.

Hemmingford Grey passes on the southern bank. My son-in-law will remember that when he dropped the grandchildren here to spend a few days with us in 2008 he left his sunglasses behind.. Thanks Phil, they really suit me!

Only a handful of boats on the river today, just the way I like it, but of course plenty of new life around every corner.

How may? I think there are 22 of them. I guess these two adults have been hired to take everyone’s littlens out, there is no way there would be that many eggs in a nest! These canada geese are notorious for looking after all the youngsters together.

All Saints church at Hartford always attracts people to the riverside, but it is not possible to moor there to visit the village as it is far too shallow. The red you can see in the left of the photo is the post man with his bike taking a rest by the river!

We moored on the old lock wall at Godmanchester lock which is adjacent to the lock itself. It made me laugh because this is suppose to be an Environment Agency mooring, but there is a wooden three barred fence all the way along the mooring with no access to the actual mooring itself! We have to climb through the fence.

I wanted to be here rather than the moorings a little further along the bywater in the park so that I could let little Penny have a good run around as it is a no go area for the general public and their dogs. Penny has only just had her first vaccination so is still vulnerable to disease.

A long walk for Meg this afternoon included the Portholme Meadow said to be the biggest water meadow in the UK. It stretches as far as the eye can see across to Huntingdon some mile and a half away.. trouble is it is a water meadow, and with just 300 yards to go back to NP I found the water!..

Now then, it is not often you get to see my legs, but the water came almost up to my knees! Had I have turned back to find another route it would have been one of over 2 miles!

Didn’t take too long for me to dry out, but those boots are going to take quite a while!

By the way, the fish and chips were scrumptious!

6 comments