A very scary moment and there goes the aerial!

I suppose it was foretold. The coming of the second great storm. Both of us were very cynical about the prediction as too many times in the past the weather forecast had been wrong  (especially about the first big storm of the Autumn ) so watching the BBC news and being told of the gale force winds in Scotland spreading down towards Nottingham, and the possible flooding round the East coast because of very high tides, we really didn't believe that we would get anything other then a gentle breeze here in the Midlands.  So this morning, with the occasional  twig dropping on the roof because the wind had picked up a little, I took Jade for her usual walk.  If I'd known then what I know now I wouldn't have made the big mistake of walking along a lane toward the Nottingham canal. The trees lined the length and started swaying alarmingly. It was then, when I was about half way along, that an almighty gust of wind grabbed hold of the boughs causing leaves, twigs and small branches to came crashing down all around me. Talk about frightened. Jade stopped dead and really didn't want to go on any further but I knew of a gap in the hedge several yards away that would take me onto scrub land away from the trees. I upped and legged it as fast as I could pulling Jade along with me. I made it without mishap, thank goodness, and then, hearing a loud crack, turned and watched as a large branch came down just a few feet in front of where Jade had stopped dead. Makes you wonder if Jade had sensed something and was trying to warn me! I wish I'd taken a photo but I was to scared to go back in case more branches fell. Needless to say I abandoned the idea of walking along the Nottingham Canal, made my way out of the scrub land by Anchor bridge, over the Erewash canal and high tailed it back to the boat. No sooner was I on board and telling my tale to Ian then we heard another loud crash and rushing to the back of the boat noticed that our aerial was lying in the water! Ian managed to fish it out by grabbing hold of the aerial cable. Thank goodness for the cable 'cause it saved it from a watery grave! So the question was what to do with it. We couldn't mount it back on the roof as by now the breeze had increased to a gale. Nothing for it but try to attach it to a scaffold pole which held a security light and find a long cable to reach the center of the roof.. 

Normally the aerial is held in place with the top box. But with the box removed we relied on the sun shade base to keep it in place. Bungees attached to our roof mushrooms and hand rail should have done the job.. Obviously not a good idea at all.

It's to be mounted on the scaffold pole to the right of the picture.

Apologies for the white blob. Must have had a mucky lens! Hopefully the aerial will now stay in one place!

Within hours the wind had strengthened so much that with every gust our roof was being bombarded with debris and talk about rocking and rolling. Seems like this time the BBC weather forecasters had got it right after all!

The willow showing how strong the gusts were. Photo taken from Anchor Bridge

Normal water flow cascading over the lock gate and.....

with the wind getting underneath

Our mooring is surrounded on two sides with trees. Good job the leaves have gone because the strong gusts could easily have brought one or two of them down right on top of us.

And finally:-

And finally 2

And finally 1

Wollaton Hall hosts Beagles galore

Wasn't the weather great yesterday. So many jobs needed doing on the boat but staying inside seemed such a waste of a good day. Ian was about to take our top boxes off the roof so he could make wooden covers to hold the new solar panels and had already started to empty them of their contents. I needed to sort out our wardrobe as more and more clothes had been purchased throughout the year and packed in so tight that this meant it was increasingly difficult to take anything out let alone put  anything back. But with the weather so glorious I said to Ian 'lets go enjoy the fresh air, take the Woofit and go explore Wollaton Hall'.

For Ian this was his first visit whereas I had already had a small taste of what the place had to offer on my camera course last month. This time, though, our time was our own and for three hours we walked around the grounds and Hall. There was so much to see and do that we really need another trip to fully enjoy the splendor of the place.

On our return to the car I did a double take when strolling towards me was a mass of Beagles. The pictures below show only a small number but I was told that over 100 Beagles and their owners had already gone ahead and were doing a charity walk to raise money for Beagle Welfare.

We both had a fabulous time yesterday but today it was back to the grindstone with me getting stuck in to deal with the overcrowding in the wardrobe and Ian starting on the design of the top box cover.

 So my 'And finally' tonight is the wildlife around the park.

It's the time of the rut and these some of the antler points where adorned with foliage.

the Ulverston canal

Quite a few of the Gadabouts had never even heard of this canal. It was Sheila's idea because Ron, a member and good friend of the canal society, had told her of his daughter's guest house which actually overlooked the River Leven and the lock. So with us only about an hours drive away from Ulverston in Cumbria we all bundled onto the coach to go see for ourselves. After being made very welcome with tea and coffee at Helen's quest house (Ron's daughter) some of us decided to walk along its length.

View from Ron's daughter Helens window. Our Skills coach below having skilfully managed the tight turn of the roundabout

Helen in blue

River Leven which leads out to the Irish Sea

First a bit of information........... The Ulverston Canal is claimed to be the shortest, deepest and widest in the UK. It is entirely straight and on a single level.The canal was completed in 1796, in order to provide the town of Ulverston, one and a half miles from the coast at Morecambe Bay, with a port. At 15 feet (4.6 m) deep and 66 feet (20 m) wide, it was intended to take very large ships. This canal was once the starting-point for steamers to Liverpool, passenger ships to Scotland and London, and cargoes of local slates that made their way to coastal towns around Britain.

Lock into the canal from the River Leven channel

Some of the Gadabouts before starting the walk

The old railway bridge crossing the canal

The terminus at Canal Head and Carol phoning Sheila to see where the coach had got to.

After about a mile's walk we came to where the canal abruptly stopped. We had been informed that the coach would pick us all up at Canal Head (at the end) but not a sign of it was to be seen. Thankfully Carol had the bright idea to phone Shelia who had stayed with the coach and was told it was parked at Booths carpark a 5 minute walk away.

No thats not our coach behind the Gadabouts but a local bus. At this moment we were wondering what to do next.

Having once again been reunited with the Skills coach we made the hour journey back to the hotel in time for dinner at 6pm.

And finally:- Photos of the wild life along the canal