A grand weekend

 March 24th

It was a brilliant weekend. 10 boats turned up, most above lock but some below. That sunken cruiser on the lock landing caused a few problems, it would be lovely if CRT could pull their finger out and get it removed. 7 months lying on the bottom is quite long enough, thank you very much! Anyway, Friday's boaters game night was a huge success, a fair amount of beer went on that evening! 

Saturday, the numbers swelled. 4 live bands kept us entertained to almost midnight. The Pie, Peas, Gravy and Mint sauce arrived mid-evening, supplied by Mrs B's catering company, stopping the music for a short while, Shirley, and I was kept busy dishing them out. This, we hope, could once more become an annual event, it was pre Covid, six years ago, when the last Pie and Pea took place. Everyone at the 'DO' agreed we should do it more often.

 

Two tubs at the back full of mushy peas and gravy. 

 Most of us went to bed slightly tipsy, it was a good job the boats were nearby!

 

Sunday morning boaters left to start their cruising season, unfortunately we were not amongst them. It was back to Langley Mill for us. We did have locking buddies, Canada Dave and wife Mel (yes, you guessed correct, both are Canadians). They joined ECP&DA about a year ago and have been regulars at our work parties on a Friday. One job he helped with was the post repair on the lock gate at Sandiacre. A good quick solution to a job that CRT couldn't carry out immediately. 

Leaving for Langley

The whole trip back up took about 5 hours and that's good going considering all the locks were against, several times the boat hook had to come out to remove debris and branches from behind the gates and tackling the awful leaking Greens Lock.

At said Greens Lock Ian and Mel struggled to get the bottom gate open, Ian lost his footing and felt his knee go ...what a B....and just when he thought it was getting better! Back to a hobbling gait again. Of course going up we didn't have the same problems with being pinned to the wall, just the getting through the top gates, both of which could only be opened a fraction. Dave went out first, managing not to scrap the side of his lovely new and shiny boat because Ian lent hard against the gate to give him more room.

l

That's all the gap we had

We did just about remember to warn Dave of that sunken boat after Gallows Inn, unfortunately he still somehow managed to hit it, which brought it up to the surface making it easier for us to see and avoid. 

Jim (Dire Straits) had Langley Bridge Lock open and waiting. He gave us the low down on Jenns eye operation to fix the displaced retina and very relieved that all went well. She is now confined to lying on her back for the next 10 days, only allowed 20 minutes in every hour to be able to sit up, eat and go to the toilet. 

So that's it for the foreseeable future. Next outing will be in the motorhome in May and that is a European holiday driving to Pompeii.

And seen on route

 

A rant and a positive note to finish

 Wednesday, March 19th

It had been planned for weeks, head down the canal with locking buddies Jenn and Jim on boat Dire Straits to Sandiacre. The Pie and Pea weekend was happening, long awaited because since Covid, no one had taken on the responsibilities of organising such an event. But chairman's wife Shirley stepped up to the mark and took over the job...thank you, Shirley. Anyway, as good as the planning process was, Jenn could not have foreseen what would happen to her while away visiting friends in Harrogate. Unfortunately, she woke one morning with only partial sight in one eye. Turned out she had a displaced retina, and a phone call to the doctors instructed her to see the eye clinic in A&E ASAP. Long story short, she will require an operation to fix it, which is to go ahead this Friday. That, of course, meant we had lost our locking partner. Two more boats were due to leave the Mill today, but they had already arranged to 'buddy' up, so we were on our own! 

9.15am and we entered Langley Bridge Lock. Yesterday we had the foresight to come off of our mooring at the swing bridge, wind, and tie up outside the facilities. All that remained this morning was to fill with water and empty the loo. 

I would like to say the journey down went without a hitch, but when is it for us ever free of incident! All went well until our arrival at Greens lock. Those that read this blog will remember the awful job we had in this lock back in August 2024(Click here)

Ian then had reported the problem of silt behind the top gates and an open ground paddle making the lock almost non-operational, and surely, 7 months later one would expect something to have been done, but no... Anyway, for those that have no idea what I am talking about, it's about top gates not opening, being pinned to the side because the amount of water flowing through the open paddle and being unable to move the bottom gates because water could not be equalised.

So on arrival, I again had to squeeze through the middle of the lock because of the build up of silt behind the gates, it was definitely a 'breath in' moment as neither of the gates would open fully.

I usually try to keep FS towpath side but as soon as Ian lifted the bottom paddles and the water started draining, the force of water from the open ground paddle took hold of FS, and not gently either! Nothing could be done but go with the flow, and plates rattled as we hit the opposite side!

It is the ground sluice which is open not the gate sluices, although they leak also

Down we went, but again trying to exit the lock was impossible. Ian couldn't open the gate! I was hard against the side unable to move and the only way we could get the gate open was for me to climb up the ladder and add my weight to the gate! Easier said than done, especially with my bulk! Squeezing along the side of FS to the ladder would have had any onlookers in stitches. It must have been an ungainly sight! Somehow I got one foot on the bottom rung and found out, nearly to my cost, just how slippery it was. But to get out of the lock there was no choice but to climb that ladder, and climb it I did! Then, between us straining for all our worth, we got that gate open. Somehow, I had to get back down to FS.  I tried but chickened out and 'my man that can' came to my aid by saying he would do the honourable thing and climb down instead.

You can see the amount of effort he put in to try and shift the gate

 

And so it happened that at Gallows Inn lock, two CRT guys were busy greasing paddles. I bet they wished themselves further when I started ranting on about how bad Greens lock was and why hadn't something been done about it. I'm afraid to say I let them have it with all guns blazing, and all credit to them for taking it on the chin. What I will say is these two were equally unhappy about the situation. They had tried to sort out that paddle by poking a long pole down the shaft to try to get it to close, but to no avail. A stoppage will have to be organised and sympathised, saying it was up to the engineers within the organisation to decide when it will be done. Unfortunately, their hands are tied.  On our departure he mentioned that the boaters survey this year had brought up how dissatisfied boaters were with CRT and in light of their comments, all repairs to any failing locks were to be carried out within two weeks. Well, if that is true, how wonderful would that be!

The Erewash has many sunken plastic boats, could this become the cruiser's graveyard? One was almost in the middle of the channel, we had been warned by a chap walking his dog and thank goodness he did because, what with the sun in our eyes and the boat fully submerged apart from one fender above water, we would have run into it.

Can you see it?

The others were either burnt out or had been deliberately sunk by brain-dead youths! And very surprised to see the boat by the M1 bridge, which we had been assured had been removed, to be still there! 

 

And of course the one by Sandiacre lock is still there. Nearly a year now!

After 5 hours, we made it to Sandiacre. We now await the next two boats to arrive later and hopefully a few more tomorrow.

I must just finish on a positive note, this post sounds like the Erewash is a horrible canal to cruise. Well it isn't. In fact, it is a delightful canal, rural, interesting and filled with plenty of wildlife. If CRT pulled their fingers out and rectify the problems, this would be a 'must do' waterway. Please don't be put off cruising this canal, try it for yourselves. At Sandiacre, the lock cottage is open to view from 2pm on the third Sunday of every month and then instead of winding there, continue to the top to meet us up at Langley Mill where you can see a pump house, toll house and do a walk to see part of the Cromford canal that is being restored. 

 

How can I say so much about not a lot!

Monday 17th March

So what have I been doing these last few months. The honest answer is not a lot. I stopped myself from going stir-crazy by purchasing some Paint by Number kits, first a cottage scene and next a turtle, which eased the boredom somewhat. Also, many an hour was spent watching films on Amazon Prime and I binged watched Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Downton Abbey and Father Brown. How sad am I???

  As for Ian, he has kept busy by getting the motorhome ready for our European tour in May, (more of that later) completely re-siliconing the shower, sink and toilet surrounds, polishing both sides of FS and with the weather improving earlier in February, taking the windows out, removing the rust surrounding the windows, treating with fertan, undercoating and finally replacing said windows with only the top coat of green to apply. (Temperatures have to rise sufficiently for that.)

Mid-February contractors to the Environment Agency arrived on their workboat. This email message arrived in my in box. 

Maltby Land Surveys Ltd on behalf of the Environment Agency will be surveying the full 18km length of the Erewash Canal starting from Trent Lock on Monday 17th February, finishing at Langley Mill Lock on Friday 21st March.

During this time contractors will enter the canal using a small inflatable craft.  Bankstaff will ensure that the towpath and navigation remain unrestricted.

Passing craft are asked to navigate the works location with caution and in single file.  Towpath visitors should be aware of this increased activity.

Being the nosey cow I am, I sent Ian out to have a chat. He returned a shade bemused when told the plumbing of the depths had revealed no problems at all. In other words, there was no issue with boats grounding or scraping the bottom. Well, they obviously hadn't taken boats drafts into consideration, and I do wonder what they think is sufficient! We often scrap the bottom, FS's draft is 2' 5" and the historic boats moored at Langley are even deeper! Anyway, Ian said as much, but I very much doubt any dredging will happen any time soon!    

                           

Watching the procedure was much better than watching TV, especially when the measuring pole slipped from the chap in the inflatable and disappeared into the depths. It took several attempts with a grabber, until eventually he successfully found what he was looking for.

 

With our European holiday coming up in May, the motorhome had to be in tip-top condition for the trip. This meant many a visit to a garage to check tyres, have its service, look at the timing belt, and make sure we are compliant with the emission laws. Then the MOT was due and all these tasks happened over several weeks. So I had to face my fear and get behind the wheel of our car to fetch Ian from the garage and follow him back to the storage yard. It was traumatic! He happened to book a time slot during the school run. OMG....talk about hair-raising! So glad to come out of that trip unscathed. Still, it did make it easier on the other driving occasions when the roads were quieter. I stupidly said that I may have a go driving the motorhome abroad seeing as the traffic is light and roads wider there, but then I remembered which side of the road Europeans drive on. Hmm...maybe I was a tad too hasty! Anyway, the motorhome sailed through its service and MOT. Tyres had an advisory on the rear, not because of the tread, but because they are 10 years old. The emissions have been checked and deemed okay and the timing belt was put on the back burner as to change it would mean the whole front of the vehicle would have to be removed. The mechanics at the garage said it would see us through another couple of years. Fingers crossed they are not just fobbing us off!

 

Today we left Langley Mill with FS for a jaunt down the Erewash. As my ramblings in this post is starting to be a bit like War and Peace, I will hold you all in suspense and continue with that tomorrow.

 

 

Just a few dramas at Christmas

 Another Christmas has come and gone, I'm convinced the older one gets, the quicker the years go by! And this December was not without its dramas, the main one being what storm Darragh did to our bungalow! 

We happened to be at Milton Keynes, Toffee was the main reason for going, she was coming to stay with us until January 4th. It was as we were leaving on the Monday morning to come home that our tenant phoned with the news of a tree having fallen on our roof. It happened on the Saturday, questioned why we hadn't been told until the Monday! The tree had damaged tiles, there was a hole in the roof, and it had rained during those two days! Anyway, first stop on our way home was to see the damage, it looked bad but could have been much worse. The fallen tree was dead, one of two Maples planted many years ago along the disused but watered Derby and Sandiacre canal. Consequently, the branches were brittle and broke easily. Had it been still alive, unyielding branches would have caused extensive damage. As we arrived, the owner of that bit of canal turned up with a ladder and chainsaw. Not wanting to get the insurance company involved, he, with help from his son, removed the tree, mended the roof and all at his cost. As to why we weren't told? A bang had been heard, our tenant didn't venture out to see what it was, and it was only when the owner of the tree turned up to tell her that she informed us. 

Forward then to Christmas, it was spent with Christine, Kev, his mum and dad and the grandkids. A slight worry on arrival, how would the new puppy take to Toffee? Anyway greetings over the puppy River was introduced to Toffee. Then the unexpected happened. Instead of the puppy being fearful of Toffee, Toffee was fearful of the puppy! It was laughable, Toffee trying to hide, the puppy being barked and growled at but did she back down? No. We had to keep them apart for a while but it all came good in the end though, although Toffee was never really happy with River being to near.

On the other hand, Toffee loves Christmas. To her any present is fair game, and they all belong to her!

Once presents had all been opened, Christine made us a wonderful Christmas dinner, the King's speech was watched and then the games came out. We ate too much, drank too much and had a fabulous time, well that's what Christmas is all about.

Our return to the boat was also not without incident. Went to fill the kettle and the water pump wouldn't switch off. At first a problem with the water pump was the initial thought but when what water we did manage to get out of the tap turned a slight colour of pale brown, we realised we were out of water. It was much to dark for us to water up, it would mean a walk to the Great Northern Basin, attach the hose to another by the feeder, come back to the boat and join the end with our hose which was lying under the swing bridge by FS, go back to turn on the tap and wait 30 minutes until the tank was full. So the evening was spent drinking beer and wine instead...such a hard life! But that wasn't the end of our woos. 2 am and the CO alarm goes off, freaking the dog out and frightening me nearly to death! Turns out, our batteries were venting gas! We had allowed the batteries to get under 50 percent charge, had forgotten to make sure the switch was on to shore line when we left and leaving the TV on standby as well as the twinkly lights attached to the outside of FS, drained the batteries! The act of switching over to shore line had for some reason made the batteries vent! 

So now we await NYE and the inevitable firework displays at midnight. Toffee will freak out again, hyperventilating. panting and shaking. Oh, what joys are yet to come!

It's Christmassssss

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating with family and friends. We raise our glass to each and every one and send best wishes from us both. Xxx
 

Farewell to an old friend but hello to a new family member

So.... the stove...crikey, has it really been 6 weeks since that was done? In those six weeks, a new addition to the family has arrived and the first snow of winter (or is it still autumn?) gave a good 4 inches, causing havoc to those vehicles trying to get over the swing bridge from Langley Mill Boatyard. Anyway, I could leave this post at that, but you know me! War and Peace has always been my way, so here goes. Sept 29th, the work started in earnest. Ian's first priority was to remove the flue pipe, not an easy job as it turned out. The silicon was removed and by rights, a sharp twist and the pipe would come free. He dug out all the fireproof foam from around the top, I have no idea what it was called, and with that gone the rest should have been a doddle. Anyway, twisting did no good, so out came a blooming great wrench borrowed from the ECP&DA workshop. That didn't help either, so Ian's motto is 'if all else fails, hit it with a hammer'! Hooray...that knocked what was left of the fire cement from around the flue pipe and another try with the wrench and away it came. 

 

 

Considering the stove was bought new eleven years ago, we were amazed at how much the pipe had deteriorated. No wonder we had a problem with the Carbon Monoxide alarm going off.!

 With a blooming great hole in the cabin top, it was easy for Ian to check the collar. Hmm, that was pretty dire too. His deduction...both the flue pipe and collar would have to be replaced. 

New collar bottom right

It was fortuitous of him then, to purchase the 4-inch flue pipe and a new collar from Midland Chandlers when we moored close to Mercia Marina on our way back to Langley Mill. He struggled to carry both on the walk back to the boat!
 

With the stove out of the way, it was a good oppertunity to replace the tiles to the starboard side behind the stove. Two years it's taken him, I had them stacked in my fishing locker, and made good ballast too! 

Before

After

 Friday work party got in the way of progress somewhat but with one of our members a welder, Ian utilised his skill to make the pipe fit. It took most of the afternoon but by the time the pub beckoned, the stove was back in place and all that was left was to apply fire cement and spray the insulating expanding foam around the top and the job was done.

After it had been trimmed.

Saturday was testing day.  A smoke bomb was placed, lit, and door shut. Then we waited with fingers crossed.

 

Aaarrghhh!!!! That was NOT what we expected! It took the best part of that day to seal all the leaks, nearly all the smoke bombs used but finally, not a sign of smoke was seen. The stove was lit and we kept an eye on the new CO detector. It has a number indicator to show what the level of carbon monoxide readings are. To date it has shown zero..... yeah.....

 

October was a busy month for birthdays. We ended up at our son Colins in Milton Keynes. Grandson Oscar's birthday was on the 3rd, Ian on the 12th and  Colin on the 16th. For years we have always cobimed the three birthdays culminating in a party. The get together happened to fall on Ian's birthday, and preparations for the party was in full swing.

I decided to take Toffee for a walk but on my return, I was in for a shock. A phone call came whilst I was out, my best friend Pat had died.

We had known each other for 53 years, she had been my chief bridesmaid at our wedding. Her husband Keith had been Ian's oldest friend where they both met at college and it was through Keith that I met Pat. Keith died 10 years ago and unfortunately, Pat took it very badly. Slowly Pat developed dementia, forgetting her children but never Ian or myself. So much had happened together in our lifetime that reverting back to our many holidays and get togethers meant we were never forgotten. I was so very glad we went to see her the day before her death, Pat held out her arms and we hugged tightly. Little did we know that was to be our last meeting.

Keith and Pat on our other boat Merlin

Pat was one in a million. Really good friends only come once in a lifetime and Keith and Pat were ours. We miss her terribly but if there is a heaven then Pat will finally be reunited with the husband she adored.

Ian can always find things to do and has kept busy with all things mechanically on the boat, but for me not quite so much. I decided watching telly all day was soul destroying so I purchased three more paintings by numbers. That should keep me busy for a while. 

 The first snow of autumn arrived one cold night in the middle of November. Was I glad of a lovely roaring fire!

   We also had the best news ever when our daughter Christine phoned with the news there was to be another addition to the family. Not another baby Burchnall, nop, a wonderful 8-week-old black labrador puppy called River

A lovely positive ending to what had been a very sad time in our lives.