Looks like the inspection team had turned up for a swim!

10am on the dot Michael, Roland and Norman turned up to repair the leak. Armed with pickaxe, lump hammer, sand and cement and loads of enthusiam for the job ahead they set to with gusto. The enthusiam soon waned as it begame clear the job would be anything but simple. First, to turn off the stopcock and get drain the mini pond by the manhole.

Stopcock under the hedge

 Ian came up with the idea of using our old diesel siphon pump to get rid of the water.

 It was at this point we had the visit by the management!!!  This pair waddled in bold as brass on a mission to find the pond. Shame the men were in the way to stop their progress.

Hmmm, nice bit of soil

Now what have we here!

What a mess.

Okay so where is the pond.

 With Ian siphoning the water away the pipe was soon revealed. Turns out it was a lead pipe after all. A 3/4 inch split was found, obviously from a burst pipe. Groans of dismay came from the men but then another bright idea, Why not split the pipe and insert a brass stopcock. No need to replace the pipe after all. So Ian and John Baylis headed off the plumbers merchant and returned with the tap. This left Michael, Roland and Norman to make the hole bigger and deeper.

 

 Next came the splitting of the pipe, cutting out the piece which had the hole in and joining the two bits together with the stopcock. Sounds simple but because the pipe had swollen due to the ice, the brass fittings refused to go on. Taking it in turns, Michael and Roland, with Norman holding the pipe steady, filed and sanded both ends for well over an hour before finally both nuts went on.

 We all cheered when the tap was finally in place. Ian raced to turn on the stopcock under the hedge and our euphoria turned to dismay as a steady drip appeared from one of the joints! Three times the water was turned off and the joints remade and three times the bl**dy thing kept dripping, all from different areas. On the forth attempt we all held our breath and prayed that this time the joints would be dry. It was with a sigh of relief that there was no sign of seepage. By now the time was 4pm. 8 hours had been spent on what should have been a reatively quick job. Michael decided to call a halt. He had enough cement mixed to line the bottom and place the bricks and decided what was left to do could wait for another day.

Me on my soapbox again

C&RT contractors (VINCI) turned up very early this morning to assess, and what we assumed,   repair the leak. As we were on our way to Cambridge to a Sit and Sleep factory to see about a tailor made sofa bed, we personally didn't hear what passed between Margaret and the contractor but she soon told us on our return. One of the VINCI chaps was aimlessly walking round the outside of the cottage looking for the leak. Margaret collared him and took him through the gate into the yard to show where it was. He took one look, shook his head and said he had to contact head office and explain it was on the cottage property not on the outside. Now C&RT own the property and ECP&DA lease it from them but those in head office declared that the society was responsible for the repair. Apparently all those years ago, when the society saved the cottage from being pulled down, the contract with BW stated that they had to maintain the interior and grounds and keep it in good repair.  I have included a paragraph of an article submitted by John Baylis after the cottage was awarded a Waterways Renaissance Award in 2013 which may explain why the society had to do the work. To see the complete article please click here

Part of the cottage and stable probably dates back to the building of the Erewash Canal in 1779, with the addition of a second cottage and toll office sometime after the Derby Canal opened in 1795. The cottage became part of the British Waterways portfolio in1948 and was due for demolition in 1968 after BW had built a replacement bungalow to the rear. (Now our property) As the other two Erewash Canal lock cottages at White House and Stenson’s locks had recently been demolished the infant ECP&DA was concerned that the last original cottage on the Erewash Canal should not suffer the same fate. The Associations representations to the local authority opposing the Demolition Order was heard and Order was not granted. The BW response was “if you want it keeping, you look after it” and the Association has leased the cottage since then.  

Michael Golds work party organiser for the lock cottage has rallied the troupes to come in tomorrow and start the work. One major worry is that the ruptured pipe is made of lead. If that turns out to be the case then it is quite possible that outside help will have to be employed at considerable cost to ECP&DA. Now.... this is my thoughts and mine alone and not those of any member of the society but I feel C&RT should be the ones to do the repairs. After all, to make the society pay if it does turn out to be lead piping, especially as it is their property, is just wrong. ECP&DA do enough repairs to help C&RT as is, as well as canal cleanups etc!! (one of which starts is scheduled for Friday)

Okay so I have come off my soap box and will now explain our trip to Cambridge. Since our beloved  Judy & Jade departed the space where the beds had been seem so empty. Yes it's nice to have a bit more room but every time I look over to that corner all I visualise is the Woofits looking up at me. We had contemplated reinstating the dinette and it was while while looking at possibilities on line that we came across the company Sit & Sleep. Liking the look of their sofa's and armed with all relevant measurements we took the 2.5 hour trip down to West Wratting. On route, and very surprisingly, a pair of Kites were circling overhead near Wellingborough on the A14. It's about 25 miles from Cambridge so further north then I expected them to be having only seen them along the Thames corridor.

Photo taken last year along the Thames.

 Anyway I digress.

Richard the designer met us and discussed what could and could not be done. More positives than negative thank goodness as it looks like they can shave a bit off the frame, so the bed will fit under the gunwale. We went home to have a chat 'cause it certainly ain't cheap' but I'm pretty sure we will go ahead and order it.

This futon mattress is filled with superior woolen and polyester fibers and is a dream to sit and lie on. We tested it at the store.

Storage box underneath on casters for bedding and pillows can be slid down the back

Will fit across the boat  if some of the frame front and back is shaved off. It was remarkably easy to lay flat.

Room for pillows or bedding slid down the back. The frame actually is at an angle so fitting it under the gunwhale is not a problem.

Not easy to see in this photo but the frame is angled.

 

The light blue was lovely, but to keep to the colour of our chairs we have decided on the dark blue.

On tomorrow's post, I hope to report on the progress of the leak. A lot depends on the weather, but the barometer is set to fair, so looks promising.

Eek... There goes Ian! Disappearing through the hedge!!

Wasn't planned, Ian going head first into the hedge, but a problem that had been brewing at the lock cottage for quite a while came to the forefront over the weekend. Water had been heard running under the floor by the out buildings and was assumed to be a burst pipe. C&RT had been informed and instead of coming to sort it our themselves, asked if the society would dig up the concrete and find the leak. Dennis (ECP&DA member) being a retired builder said he would chisel out the concrete and see if the leak could be found. Sure enough, as soon as he lifted the first peice of concrete, water was present. The pipe, though, remained hidden and with water filling the hole, trying to find it was almost impossible. Margaret tried in vain to bale out the ever filling hole and the only alternative was to turn off the main stop cock. This we knew to be on the canal bridge and fed all the properties in our area. Not a popular move, to turn the water off to all our neighbours!

Margaret fighting a losing battle!

Then Ian had a brain wave. Somewhere from the depths he remembered there was a stop cock on our property. Whether it would turn the water off just for the bungalow we had no idea so only one thing for it, find the stop cock, turn it off and see what happened. He had an inkling it was under the thick Laural hedge surrounding the front of the property and that was the first place to try. Finding a bit that was less dense at the bottom he felt around under the hedge and with a stroke of luck he came across the steel plate straight away. It lifted easily so in went his hand to turn off the tap only to discover it was deeper then anticipated and even with his whole arm down the tube it was almost beyond reach. He did manage to touch it with one finger but the only way to get to turn the tap off was dive into the hedge right up to his waist.

Having succeeded and turned the water off to our bungalow we had a sudden shout from Dennis. Water had stopped flowing from under the concrete! So now at least we know its only the bungalow that would be without water. C&RT was informed and urgent was mentioned a few times. Fully expecting C&RT to make haste to assess the situation, not one body has appeared to date. As we couldn't leave our tenant without water the tap was turned on again, and with water gushing in once more from under the concrete, the hole was covered and all we can do is hope they arrive tomorrow.

Well would you believe it we get an award, and whats that on the lock side?

A few more late arrivals yesterday meant the final tally of boats for the weekend was 19. Still way down on the usual amount but that certainly didn't reflect on the amount of people who turned up for the Pie and Pea that evening. Goodness knows where all the cars had parked. Certainly not by the cottage. Only room for a three! Space also had to be left for the bands vehicle so our collection of bollards fished out of the canal and placed at the entrance did the trick. The band arrived on time and very good they were too. By 9pm we called a halt for supper. We dished out 72 pies, peas, gravy and mint sauce and it all went like clockwork. I did my ladling duties on the mushy peas, worrying on every scoop dished out that we wouldn't have enough, but the three huge catering tins was ample and only a scrapping was left after the final pie was served. The Chilly Dogs then continued playing until 11pm and most folk left not long after that.

Some of the pies in the hot cupboard

What a lovely surprise today. The usual few, including both of us, started the big cleanup at the cottage. On the third Sunday of every month (apart from August) the doors are flung open so people can see what 19 century living in a lock cottage was all about therefore the place had to have all remnants of last nights festivities removed. Before the doors were flung open our chairman showed us a certificate. On it AWCC had awarded a highly commended for the Outlook Magazine. Seeing as we are the editors of the Outlook, we were dead chuffed and even more so when he told us this was the ECP&DA's first ever achievement award for the magazine. Had to pose for a photo which of course will be appearing in the next publication of the magazine.
 

Oh and the badger seen at the lock side. A charity walk towards Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire was the reason for this chap dressing up as a Badger. It is the 10th anniversary of Sir David Attenborough opening the reserve.

Couple of photo's to finish. First the wood collected over the last two years and stored in the wood shed at the bungalow and the 8 legged interlopers we had to evict.

Think I'll make myself scarce

The Rugby's on. Time for me to make myself scarce and leave Ian to watch the game. All 7 hours of it! So an early blog today.

Had a nice sunset last night. We were on our way to the cottage for fish and chips and took a quick photo with my small Samsung. Carole, Dennis and Margaret drove up to the chip shop with an order for 12 portions of fish, 1 chicken and ham pie, tub of curry and enough chips to feed the 5000! Apparently the shop was packed and you can imagine the disgruntled people waiting in the queue behind us! I was tasked with not burning the mushy peas (which I nearly did after chatting away to Micheal) but remember to give them a stir just in time.

Dinner over, washing up done!

Then it was back to the boat to get the games. Unanimous decision to play Mexican train and by changing players every couple of games, those that wanted to play all had a go.

So this morning was clear up day in the cottage. Fires were lit, hot cupboard set up ready for the pies to arrive this afternoon, carpets hoovered, tables wiped and chairs set in rows so we can watch the entertainment tonight. The Chilly Dogs will be playing a mixture of blues and country songs and having listened to this band at our last rally I expect a very good evening.

A few more boats turned up, one arriving in the dark but there doesn't seem to be as many as previous years. Maybe the cold weather has put them off! Still we may get some more later this afternoon, only time will tell.

Ian seems very happy and urging Italy on. They are only only a point behind. Oh.... slight amendment Wales has just scored 2 tries and converted both. Not sure why he's routing for Italy but it's something to do with goal difference. It's all beyond me so I think I'll go back to my book and leave him to it.

Sun's gone green!

Gosh we were lucky. Woke to wall to wall sunshine here in the east midlands and the perfect conditions to see the eclipse. Shame I never had the presence of mind to get proper glasses but I had heard that so long as you have polarised sunglasses, water to reflect the image and calm conditions, it was still possible to see the event. Sure enough they were not wrong. Unfortunately a very slight breeze rippled the water and made taking a good shot impossible but, with the camera hand held and sunglasses placed over the lens, I at least had something to show. Not as good as the bloggers that have already posted some superb photos but still quite pleased with the result. One shot was taken through the welding mask ( thank you Derek) which, when I put on the computer, was quite a unique shot.

Camera focused on my reflection in the welding mask's dark glass. Eclipse (green) was then reflected back onto the camera lens.

Reflection in the water

Blasted ducks disturbed the water. Eerie light (almost like dusk) when the partial eclipse was at it's height.

Still in that eerie light. Water movement made the sun look normal

I recorded the Stargazer live on the BBC at 9am so the next few photos are me cheating and taking photos from the program.

From the Faroe Island

 It's games night tonight so with a hive of activity going on in the cottage to get everything set up, I came along with tea and cakes and called a halt. As I predicted yesterday both the Walnut cake and Banana cake went down a treat and with some having seconds, there was only just enough left for Ian and me to have with our lunch.