Red Nose Day - Do something funny for money!

Last week I put my change in the Sainsbury's collecting bin every time I

shopped. Today I found I still had a tenner in my purse so thought I'd

donate that too. No more collections in Sainsbury's, so as I was going to the

bank it could get paid in there. I finished my routine banking and then

asked to donate, like they said on the telly. The teller said they had no

Comic Relief slips, and hadn't actually had any at all this year.

Right.......

On to Oxfam. They still have a window full of noserabilia so it's a good

bet, like they said on the telly.

I approached elderly till lady and asked to make a donation to Comic Relief.

'Oh no dear, we only support Red Nose Day.'

'It's the same thing, Red Nose Day is a Comic Relief fundraising event,'

says I.

'It's finished now' she told me.

'I'm sure that they will accept donations now, and you still have their

merchandising on sale.'

'We don't have a donations form for Red Nose day, so you can't give to just

that charity, it will be for Oxfam or DEC. Or you can buy something, but

it's out of date now anyway,' was the reply.

A browsing customer with a huge and silly grin on his face came over to help

me out. His suggestion was a good one, buy a Red Nose and just forget to

take it home. The manageress also turned up at this point and agreed that

was the best plan.

Right, I decided I would buy a nose, and the manageress said I could pay

whatever I liked for it, that'll be a tenner then.

The till lady asked me to choose which nose I'd like and scanned it.

'That's a pound' says she.

I gave her the £10 and said I wanted no change. She asked if the £9 was a

donation to Oxfam. I said 'no, it's for Comic Relief'. She looked confused,

the browsing man's grin got larger and the manageress started to look

harassed and I heard a titter from behind the shelves.

The till lady then told us that if I paid £10 for 1 nose the till would be

wrong at the end of the day, so the manageress suggested I buy 10 noses and

not take them home. Good idea, that's what I'll do. Till lady explained to

manageress that that wasn't a good solution as I didn't want 1 nose let

alone 10, and by time the next Red Nose day came around there would be

different noses anyway so it would have been a waste of money.

Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh!

Manageress and I assured till lady that it would be fine, just scan the nose

another 9 times. Till lady asked me if I'd like to choose a selection rather

than just have the one design. I am losing the will to be charitable by now,

but for pragmatism's sake agreed and gave her 1 of each to scan. Phew.

At that point the manageress decided that the poor till lady's dignity might

just have to be sacrificed and gently moved her away from the till. Mistake!

As she moved aside the wrong button was activated and my bill went from £10

to £1,000. Till lady nearly had the vapours, browsing man was now promoted

to laughing man. He asked where I was going to keep 1000 red noses.

I asked the manageress if Oxfam deliver. Till lady looked at me as if I'd

asked a very silly question. Manageress just smiled serenely and said 'only

in exceptional circumstances'.

It was agreed that since they could not deliver and I couldn't carry 1000

noses home she'd cancel the transaction and we'd just go with the original

10.

I finally got to hand over my £10. I got my receipt, and as I left the shop

I heard a little, elderly voice say' she's forgotten to take her noses' and

some stifled guffawing from laughing man and customer behind shelf.

Sometimes the urge to punch old ladies is very strong. But hey, I did

something funny for money and made at least 3 people laugh. If you didn't

donate yet, do it for me. PLEASE.

Brenda.

One fine day (how wrong can one be?)

The weather forecast was promising and so it was decided it was time to turn Jannock round. This was to achieve two objectives:-

1. Get her facing North so I can do a pumpout.

2. Test the recently fitted replacement gearbox before heading of for the summer.

We arrived at the mooring, fitted the replacement gas bottles and were ready to set off just as another southbound boat appeared through the bridge heading for lock 59. We agreed to share with them and partnered them down to Winkwell bottom lock where we winded for the return journey back to the mooring. The run south was good with the gearbox performing as expected although Brenda says the morse control is stiffer that it was previously. That'll be the extra 90 degree bend in the gear cable due the the new location of the actuating lever. On our return through Winkwell swingbridge it amused me to watch two cars, one either end of the open bridgehole, each determined that they would be the first to cross once it closed.  The car on the pub side finally had to concede defeat, and back off, as two more cars arrived down the hill and queued before the first car on the other side. Ho hum, it doesn't take much to amuse me.

By this time the drizzle that had started during our run south was now turning into a proper rain session and so we were we drownded by the time we arrived back at the mooring and both required a complete clothes change to get dry.

I am pleased to report that the replacement gearbox is a success, performing correctly during Brenda's turn at Winkwell and with no evidence of any leaking oil on our return.

I'll wait for another day to complete the pumpout, lubricate the gear cable and sort out the starboard side paintwork.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Another year recorded.

My January chore is done, I've copied all of the logbook trip information onto new pages on the Jannock website and uploaded them onto the server. As usual I would appreciate notification of any mistakes or broken links that I may have missed.

Here's looking forward to this year's cruising into which I have pencilled in the Wey and the Nene in order to get the most out of my Gold licence that has just arrived.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

A Merry Christmas from the Jannock's

Brenda and I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and happy new year so she's created a snowdome card and loaded it onto the Jannock web server - visit http://www.jannock.org.uk/xmas2010.jpg and all will be revealed.

We stayed on the boat last Saturday night so that we could attend the Bourne End Christmas dinner and I could have a drink. The secondary double glazing definitely makes a difference to the warmth within the boat compared to last years non-DG event. Whilst we were there I took the opportunity to refit the gear selector cable to the other end of the arm within the morse lever so she now goes backwards and forwards correctly in response to moving the lever. I then drained the water system and finished winterising the boat ready for this weeks predicted cold spell.

Now it's time to start updating the website again  with the info recorded in the logbook and on the blog  during the 2010 cruise.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Houston - we have a connection!

What is the biggest difference between a PRM 160 gearbox and a Newage Delta 20 gearbox?

The answer is almost four inches. Having installed the replacement gearbox last week I could finally install the missing link today - a nice shiny (expensive) lump of turned steel which connects the Aquadrive to the gearbox.

Here it is installed and working.

I have since discovered yet another difference! I now have to dismantle the Morse lever as it now works in reverse i.e. the propeller moves the boat backwards when the Morse control is shifted into the forwards position. Luckily this should just require the gearbox cable moving to the other end of the arm inside.

Whilst we had a reasonably warm weekend I took the opportunity to empty the hot water tanks as a further cold spell is forecast for the next week and I don't want it to freeze up. I'll complete the winterisation next Sunday after we've attended the Bourne End Christmas dinner on Saturday night.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

What's happening now.

Once we had returned to Bourne End I set about investigating the knocking noise coming from the transmission system that we have been experiencing at low revs. It appears to be from the PRM gearbox so I decided to remove it to investigate. I had checked the Aquadrive CVJ and fitted a new drive plate last winter so I was pretty sure it was the gearbox causing the noises. Once I had disconnected the Aquadrive from the back of the box it became apparent that there was a lot of play in the gearbox output shaft bearing. With the box removed the driveplate appeared fine (only fitted last winter) so I lugged the heavy gearbox home and set about finding out what the cost for repair/replacement was going to be.   Gulp  -  Refurbishment approx £800, replacement approx £1300

The following Thursday evening, whilst doing my routine searches on Ebay, I came across a picture of what appeared to be Jannock's engine bay. Lo and behold - someone was selling a complete Kubota engine and PRM gearbox from another ex Black Prince boat because the engine smoked a bit and they had purchased an new Isuzu unit to replace it. I managed to win the auction (well within budget) and with assistance from my mate Don the complete unit was recovered from Newbury back to home. The gearbox fitted to this unit was a Delta 20 which is a lot smaller than the 160 that I had just removed from Jannock but Ken, the previous owner assured me that the gearbox was fine, just the engine had problems.  I have fitted it onto Jannock's engine and am now awaiting the 4" bobbin that I need to fill the extra gap between the shorter gearbox and the prop shaft which I have sourced from TW Marine and should be here next week.

In the meantime I have done the figures for the 2010 cruising season:-

Total mileage 518.     Total Locks  507.    Total hours 277   Fuel used  348 Litres

that works out at 3.7 lock-miles per hour and 1.25 litres per hour.

More news about the gearbox and a test run soon - Watch this space.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

The Ultimate training day

There was a frost on the ground when we arrived at Marsworth for the run back to Bourne End and our home mooring. Today we had our neighbours, Mick and Gill, as crew. They have hired a boat for a week next April and wanted a refresher course as it has been 10 years since they last went on a canal holiday. You can't beat 9 miles and 20 locks, up and down, on the southern Grand Union as a refresher! As we were casting off we arranged with a passing boat to share the Marsworth flight with them but then had another boat pass before we were moving and so had to wait for the pair of them to ascend the bottom lock before we could start the flight. When Brenda arrived at the lock with Jannock she said that we had a partner who was busy winding in the entrance of the Aylesbury arm and would be with us in a short while. He was solo crewed and so Mick and I worked both boats up the Marsworth flight of seven locks. Once through the flight our partner was mooring at Bulbourne for a lunch appointment in the GJA so we continued alone.

After the summit, we then paired with another boat that had been watering up as we arrived at Cowroast lock. This couple had moved afloat in May 2010 in a new boat that the skipper has fitted out himself. His partner appeared glum and despite about 5 months of boating was still unsure about how locks worked. We shared all the way until 'the Boat' public house in Berko where they decided to tie up, without warning, after I had prepared Ravens Lane lock for two craft  :0(    We continued on alone which meant single gate working which is a lot quicker if you are not mob handed. At the 'Riser' we met Debbi and Simon who, having returned from their allotment, were on their way for an early afternoon pint.

Finally arrived back at Bourne End at 4 pm and then went and fetched the car from Marsworth in time for an evening meal before closing up and heading home.

Gill has written " Started our journey at Marsworth taking Jannock home for the winter. Weather cold but very sunny, a lovely day not that I did much work, I was kept busy making coffee and tea and watching everybody else work.  Mick helped Graham with the locks for a little while and handled the steering. Needs some more practice, I'm sure it will all come back to us. Graham's just got back from collecting the car and Brenda's getting dinner ready." in the log book.

I will do a calculation of this years lock/mile tally and publish on another posting.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Well Done Milton Keynes IWA

Saturday 16th October

Fruit of the day - Damsons

After a grey week our journey started in glorious autumn sunshine. We recalled the weather forecaster saying "you will be unlucky to catch a shower!" We didn't , we caught two downpours instead. This picture, taken on my phone,  shows us approaching Grove lock immediately after the second one.

As we cleared Soulbury we were warned by a southbound boater of canoeists and a canal clearance day ahead, forecasting slow going. We saw none of the former and the latter only delayed us whilst they extricated their work flat off of an underwater obstacle (the 2nd motorcycle frame they had removed that morning) that had entrapped it. Gold stars to the Milton Keynes branch of the IWA and Wyverne shipping who sponsored the event.

The first and second teams we met are pictured below:-

 

We caught the third team up at Linslade lock where we shared with one of their craft. They were en-route to the Tesco mooring to retrieve trolleys using a grappling hook.

At Slapton Lock cottage there was a bowl of Damsons with a notice asking for donations to charity for them. I took a bagfull and placed all my change in the box. We picked up a lock sharer at Horton lock, a northbound boat that had winded at Slapton windy hole, who we shared with until they reached their home mooring at Vicarage farm. We knew there was a hire boat following them so we waited at Seabrook bottom lock for them to catch up and I usefully spent the time collecting many more Damsons from the multiple trees located on the offside of the lock. The Wyvern boat, Daffodil, then shared with us until we cleared lock 38 when we moored up and they continued. As I cycled through Pitstone bridge I saw the widebeam trip boat approaching so I stopped and warned Brenda of it's prescence. I still remember the incident she had with this one a few years ago due to the overhanging willow branches but this time the trees have been nicely trimmed back and my timely warning allowed her to hold back to let it reach it's mooring at the yard.

Onward and Southward

Saturday 9th October

A late-ish start due to Brenda still recovering from various lurgs and inoculations during the past week found us setting off from Banbury Road bridge at 11 am with a grey overcast sky and occasional drizzle. Not at all what was forecast by our Met office friends. Into Blisworth tunnel at 12:15 and we met three northbound boats within. The middle one of the three had a 'searchlight' like headlight aimed straight ahead along the tunnel. As we approached each other I found that I could not see a thing ahead and the beam was painful to look at so I stopped and waited for him to pass whilst I kept my eyes averted from ahead.Once the lamp had passed me by I made comment to the steerer that he ought to aim his searchlight up towards the roof and not straight ahead. We passed down through Stoke Bruerne solo as there was no one behind us in the tunnel and no boats about to set off from the moorings to go down. Below the flight there is a BW notice that reads " Slow down passed moored boats" - shame they didn't check the spelling before manufacturing the sign. We pulled over near Grafton Regis to harvest some of the abundant Elderberries there - we fancy making some Elderberry whisky this year ;^)  On to Cosgrove through greyer and colder weather finally mooring up below the lock just three boats away from nb Wyrd with Trevor aboard. A mini-GiG was in order and a very pleasant evening was spent before we finally gave in at just after midnight.

Sunday 10th October (10-10-10 a very auspicious day if you are Chinese)

I got up and set off in the cold grey gloom just before 9am whilst Brenda languished abed under a warm cosy duvet. Just after midday the sun came out, as we made our way down through Milton Keynes, and the blue skies warmed us body & soul. This was supposed to be what was forecast for yesterday so we've missed out. After Bletchley we were trying to decide on our final mooring place when we were joined in Stoke Hammond lock by a boat crewed by thirty-something liveaboards with a penchant for pirate-noir decor. Whilst locking up, Brenda asked the steerer if they were going up Soulbury locks. His reply was " we don't go that far, we usually moor in Milton Keynes but feel we need a few days out of the city".  I walked ahead and measured a suitable gap between the last moored boat and the first fishing peg so Brenda eased Jannock in with very little disturbance to his swim. As the other boat passed us and the fishing match she called back to the steerer from the bows with " Oh no, an effin fishing match - this would have been effin perfect for us" They moved on a few yards and she called again "we'll just moor up here, these blokes look friendly, they effin won't mind". Luckily he didn't feel the need to ruin 2 or 3 blokes days fishing with less than an hour to go until the end of the match. They carried on up the cut with just her swearing being carried on the balmy breeze. Are live-aboards necessarily boaters?  Discuss.

Note to Brian and Ian :- the bloke fishing next to Jannock caught 4 lb 1oz of fish and he was no-where near the top of the leader board. There are fish in the G.U.

2010 Soddit Cruise #2

Friday 24th Sept.

We travelled to Jannock via the Southam chippie for our supper - excellent. We then loaded our stuff onto the boat, opened the beer and the playing of Soddit commenced. Four games were completed before bedtime accompanied by the sound of rain on the roof of the boat.

Saturday 25th Sept.

A traditional Soddit breckie of bacon sarnies, tea and OJ was followed immediately by the arrival of a diesel boat Towcester. As Jannock was getting low I purchased 170 litres at a cost of £175.00p declaring 60-40.  We then set off towards Calcutt where we were 4th in the queue for the bottom lock. We shared through that one but our partner went to join the now single boat waiting in the next lock as their previous partner had moored up. Once into the middle lock we waited to see if one of the boats now coming through the bottom lock would join us but they waved us on ahead so we continued up the flight solo. We then joined a long procession heading for Braunston. There were frequent stops when someone ahead had to wait for an oncoming boat through a bridgehole and we had varying reports of twenty to fifty boats ahead of us in the procession from oncoming crews. We stopped for lunch prepared by Ian and more non-contact fishing just after bridge 99 and watched many more boats pass us. On then to Braunston and a right jam-ole (excuse the pun). Once through the junction, with a quick glance left to see Allsorts moored up,  there was a long queue of boats all the way to the marina entrance where a boat was winding. We started moving and then a boat at the water point pulled out in front of us and then winded in the marina entrance as well. Past that and we had to hang around while another boat did a 98 point turn opposite UCC. All this time there had been a Willow Wren hire boat just behind us but when we finally got to the bottom lock they were nowhere to be seen. We waited for a while but the boat waiting to come down persuaded us to continue without them. As we were departing from the lock we were admonished for not waiting for them by a woman off of the 3rd boat in the queue that now existed for the lock. It would appear that she was intent on sharing with her friend so would be putting the hireboat through solo ahead of them. We agreed to wait at the second lock and then shared the rest of the flight with a crew of novice Danes. They were a much better crew by the time we left the top lock. Into Braunston tunnel with Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and the 633 Sqn theme issuing from Jannock's stereo. After a rousing passage through a remarkably dry tunnel we moored at Welton wharf for the night and were complimented for our choice of music by the Danes as they passed. I prepared a chicken dinner with fresh veg from Brian's garden and then we settled in for 5 games of Soddit before giving up for the evening just after midnight.

Sunday 26th Sept.

I was up and out on the Di Blasi by 6am to do a car shuffle to our destination. On my arrival back at the boat the other two were still asleep so I put the kettle on and made tea. Brian thought that I had just got up to go and move the car - Ha! After breakfast we moved down to Buckby top lock which we passed through solo and then joined another boat, that had been in front of us, for the remaining 6 locks. Between locks 11 and 12 I was asked by a fella on the towpath whether he and the girl he was with could experience going down a lock on a boat as she'd never done one before. I let them onto the front welldeck once I was in the next lock and they descended down with us to the bottom lock where they got off. The whole bottom lock area was swarming with a well mixed collection of  foreigners (possibly students) of which the couple I had given a lift to were part. I felt sorry for our lock partner as, typical of performing to an audience, he completely messed up his entrance to the lock. Once we were through the bottom lock we found the same fella winding an ABC hireboat in Wilton marina entrance. It turned out that they had hired two boats for a daytrip for all these studenty types and didn't have time to pass through any locks. Meanwhile the weather remained dry, grey and cloudy but we were sure it would start raining soon. We stopped before Stowehill bridge for lunch and then moved forward onto the water point to fill up once we'd finished eating. As soon as we started off again the rain started too. Light drizzle at first getting heavier and colder in the biting northerly wind. Brian retired inside to keep warm and help finish up the beer whilst Ian and I braved it out on the back deck. After the glorious weather we had yesterday this was a disappointing end to the weekend. On arrival at our destination we soon decamped into the car and headed home. Another wonderful weekend proving that fishing is a non-contact sport aimed purely at teaching maggots to swim. The final Soddit score - Ian won 5 games, Brian and I both won 2 each. I think in future I'll ban this futile fishing lark and try to get more games of Soddit played.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Cutweb Rally 2010

On Friday I had a day off work - motorbike 8000 mile service in the morning followed by a run down the Stockton flight to attend the Cutweb Rally held at the Blue Lias Inn. Whilst wandering around Abingdon waiting for my bike to be serviced I noticed No Problem heading Northbound up the Thames so I followed them up to Abingdon lock and introduced myself to Sue whilst they were locking up. I then disgraced myself by calling Vic, Chas - Oooooooooooooooops. Sorry Vic.

We arrived at Jannock just after 2pm and set off down the Stockton flight sharing with another boat which makes a change. Brian and Diana (Harnser) and Nigel from Enseabee came up from the Blue Lias to assist us down the flight. The couple on the other boat were very impressed by our 'staff' As we neared the bottom we learnt that due to low levels of water we had been allocated the 'buffer zone' mooring - i.e. immediately outside the pub an the first mooring after the bridge. The evening was spent in the function making new friends and renewing acquaintances over a few pints.

Saturday started with me having to run the engine a bit for battery charging due to the short trip on Friday. I was interested to find out that the Blue Lias now do electric hook-up for moorers at £3.50p per night. Not cheap but welcomed by some of the Cutweb boats as it meant no engines needed for the duration. Saturday afternoon was filled with Cap'n Beeky's Boules competition which I helped out refereeing when I wasn't playing. Teams were drawn from a hat and I partnered Sarah-May (aka Baddie the Pirate) but we were knocked out in the semi-finals. After tea and cake (in the rain) the evening entertainment was supplied by the Original Backroom Boys who were absolutely brilliant. They did a 2 hour set with an hour break in the middle for food and were then followed by the Cutweb Mega-raffle.

Sunday morning was the Charity auction followed by a roast lunch. Immediately after that several members decided to head off up the Stockton flight so Brenda and I went along to help them up the locks. Brenda appeared back with a large collection of plums that she'd harvested off of a tree that overhung one of the old narrow locks that are now used as by-washes. She had already gathered a large bowl of blackberries from around the fishing lake so she stewed up loads of nice fresh fruit before teatime. Sunday evening entertainment was provided by John and Margaret from nb Ernest (not that one, the other one) who ran a quiz.

Monday morning we were due to set off up the locks at 8:30 sharing with Enseabee as I had promised to run Ann (Enseabee's crew) to Rugby station to catch her train to London. I moved the car up to the wharf at 7:30 and then set a couple of locks whilst I was walking back down the flight. We set off a little early and winded at the arm before entering the bottom lock at 8:15. We breasted Jannock up to Enseabee so that Brenda, Ann and I could work the locks with only Nigel on the boats. We did the flight in about 40 minutes, catching up the boats ahead, as Brian and Diana came to help as well.

A great rally so thanks to Angela, Brian, Andrew and all the other Cutweb members who helped to make the weekend a good one. Shame about the teatime rain on Saturday. Pictures to follow.

Graham

http://jannock.blogspot.com (the website is broken)

Winding in Piccadilly circus

We left Hillmorton at 10:30 and set off for Braunston - our mission was to do a self-pumpout and then wind to continue on towards the Blue Lias for next weekends Cutweb rally. We entered Braunston from the north, passing Mike and Krystina moored near the junction and went on to the sani-station. Another boat had just pulled into the sani-stn moorings so we obtained permission to hang offside of a moored boat and await their departure. I was disappointed to see they were only taking on water, there were two empty water points down near the stop house which they could have used for that - never mind, we patiently waited, and had our lunch, whilst they took 45 minutes to fill with water. They finally finished and moved off allowing us to complete a water fill and a self pumpout in 15 minutes max. They must have got an awfully large tank to take that long (although Brenda is convinced they didn't have the tap turned on for the first 20 minutes due to the lack of leakage at their hose connector). On leaving the sani-stn we moved down to the marina entrance and started a protracted winding manoeuvre - delayed several times by passing boats. I finally got Jannock heading North again and we set off for the junction and the route to Napton. The sunken boat and accompanying rescue craft on the Oxford is certainly a navigation hazard, there were 3 boats either way waiting to pass it as we approached. Then onto Lower Shuckburgh where we followed a Viking Afloat boat through the two sharp bends under the A425 narrowly missing on-coming craft by choosing to hit the bank instead. At Wigrams we turned under the bridge onto the Grand Union and proceeded down the Calcut three changing partners after the first. Then onto a 14 day mooring so that I could collect the car from Hillmorton before we headed home.  Not a sunny as forecast but not uncomfortable - although Brenda was wearing a jumper and coat to try and keep the cold wind out.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Anybody lost a pair of glasses?

Sunday 5th September

Question of the day :- Who has left a pair of glasses on Jannock. Brenda believes they are ladies glasses but I'm not certain. Any claimants?

The weather forecast for the weekend was fine, some patchy cloud and top temperature 22 degrees. Yesterday disappointed. Today started grey and declined to a half hearted cold drizzle just as we approached Rugby - henceforth to be known as Mayhem Corner.  There were two instances of boats winding with no regard for or warning to anyone close behind them, a couple of boats continuing to enter bridge-oles they could not possibly exit due to oncoming boats refusing to slow down or give way, a newbie hirer whose response to other boats nearing him was to pull over and put off crew with ropes to hold their boat until the others had passed. Hillmorton locks had more boats in the vicinity than we've seen all summer it seemed - and the turns can be tight at the best of times. Good humour just clung on by it's finger nails. The 14 day moorings above Hillmorton were choc-a-block so we had to continue past in the rain and find a mooring further on. We had wanted to eat at the Bistro but by the time we'd finally got sorted it was too late for the long walk back as last food orders are at 2 pm. Bah Humbug!  Omelette du jour sounds a bit like Bistro food even when Brenda cooks it on board. (Egg and leftovers anybody?) Then it finally stopped raining. During the trip back to Hartshill I got smothered in mud passing by some very dirty road works near DIRFT so my shoes and the Di Blasi have now changed colour to a rather fetching Grey. Whilst I was fetching the car Brenda befriended some Napton narrowboat hirers who were studying the locks at Hillmorton trying to pluck up the courage to go down them. She explained how everything worked and so we hope they managed today because it had taken them 2 days to get here from Napton and they'll have to turn round soon.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Not as warm as forecast!

Questions of the day :-

1. Has anyone lost a Fiat/Lancia 15" spacesaver spare wheel? - if so contact Jannock

2. Should a large dead dog be treated as an island for navigational purposes?

On a more cheerful note.

We meandered down the Coventry, passing and photographing the new bankside 'Rigdenhouse'  at Bedworth, until an elegant two boat manoeuvre took us around Hawksbury turn into the North Oxford. The steerer of the other boat, coming through the lock,  told Brenda that he was heading to Coventry (and she has witnesses) so that information was relayed to me at Jannock's tiller. Having set Jannock up accordingly, imagine my surprise when he appeared put of the turn heading North towards Nuneaton! Never mind, with a massed crowd of on-lookers sat outside the Greyhound, we both completed simultaneous turns without hitting each other or the bank. It's not often that happens - usually complex manoeuvres are only completed successfully in the absence of an audience. 

We reinforced earlier traits by pulling over on the offside, just past Hopsford Aqueduct, to be alongside a free blackberry dispenser. Soon after that the canal got awfully busy. Blackberry rage? No chance! The first boat past enquired if we were aground and needing help. The second boat past and also asked if we had a problem. They then briefed the hire boat who passed next and they had a helpful list of other picking locations to try as they passed. In less than 15 minutes we'd completely filled Brenda's tupperware container. Blackberry envy more like!

We arrived at Brinklow just as the Angels, Simon and Jeanette aboard nb Clara, also moored up and so an official mini-GiG occurred aboard Jannock until midnight.

Incidentally - as we entered Hawksbury lock we passed a boat (Ian from Warwick IWA?)which had leapfrogged with the Manchester crew last weekend. He enquired whether they had left the boat clean and tidy for us. Oh ye of little faith.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

The Greater Manchester crew.

Saturday 28th August:

Crew: Simon, Ellie, Ralf and Elin.

Aston Lock to Handsacre

Having car-shuffled the night before, and returned at 1am (after getting lost in the dark round Lichfield and Tamworth) Simon and Ralf weren't popular in the morning. Especially when Simon had the crew awake at 8.15 ready for a full day's cruising.

Locks were few and far between, and the miles passed as the crew marvelled at their luck with the weather. We did pass Mike and Krystina Wooding on Draco who were towing a butty northwards.  Sunshine was occasionally interrupted by the odd spit of rain from a passing cloud, but the weather held...just. Ellie and Elin had their first canal boat driving experience, with Elin's Swedish sailing experience proving useful with figuring out the steering. Ellie, however, took a little longer to get used to the reverse nature of rudder steering.

Jannock took on water at Great Haywood junction while the girls ventured to the farm-store over the bridge, returning with delicious raspberries. As we moved off, the heavens opened, so a unanimous vote decided to stop for lunch while the rain passed. A delicious quiche and a number of cinnamon rolls later, we moved on, only to find ourselves held up at each and every lock by a slow boat in front. Frustrated, Simon decided, while waiting for Colwich lock, to hover the boat on the wrong-side of the cut while the crew raided the blackberries from the bushes next to the railway - thus untouched by countless walkers beforehand.

We passed the Boaters Christian Fellowship at Taft. Although we didn't stop, Ralf thought it very admirable that the BCF had allocated part of the bank as a "Swan area", although didn't understand how the swans would read the sign to know it was intended for them!

Rugely passed without incident and finally the crew moored in Handsacre, resisting the temptation of the Fish and Chip smell that drifted down the cut. Instead, Simon was making prawn thai curry, but forgot the thai curry spices and the coconut milk (later found in the car) so had to adapt the plans using a jar of Indian Tikka sauce in the cupboard (sorry Mum!).

In the evening, after a few drinks, Ralf (being German, and a huge Uno fan - ask him about his homemade 'Speed Uno'!) discovered Oh-No-99. The rest of the evening passed amid tears of frustration as we (a) kept losing games and (b) slowly lost the ability to count reliably. Elin was judged to be convincingly the most unlucky, managing to play half the time with at least two '99' cards in her hands...

Sunday 29th August

Crew: Simon, Ellie and Ralf.

Sadly, Elin had to return to Manchester, and a few hours were spent in the rain trying to organise her journey back home. Thus, cruising only commenced at 11.30, and so the remaining crew rushed to make good progress, hampered a number of times by heavy showers. Thankfully, full waterproofs were donned and the weather passed by the time we were most of the way down the flight to Fradley Junction. Strong winds meant that Simon crashed into everything possible while trying to navigate the turn onto the Coventry canal.

Frustrated by his less-than-elegant turn and the weather, he suggested that the crew take a break for a visit to the Swan to soak up the history. Sadly, the pub was rammed full of people eating Sunday lunch, but a quiet corner was found in the tardis-like basement. Suddenly, the sun was out again, so we moved outside to the tables around the back, finished our drinks and went back to the boat to make the most of the conditions.

Sadly, the wind picked up leading to several hair-raising 'drive round the corner sideways only to find a boat in a bridgehole immediately in front of you' moments which necessitated drastic action, generally resulting in a cruise under low branches, the crew jumping into the cabin and the driver's hair left full of twigs. Some of the weeping-willows on the Coventry canal need a serious trim! Two miles from Fradley junction, Ellie said "Ah, I've left my expensive coat in the pub..." Thankfully, the Nicholson's guide came to the rescue with the Swan's phone number, so arrangement were made to collect it on Monday.

North of Hopwas, Simon was appalled to see two hire boats moored up in the wood on the off-side, right next to the signs written in big red letters saying "DANGER - LIVE FIRING RANGE. KEEP OUT!" as the children ran off into the woods. Thankfully, the boats must have noticed my critical stares and decided to move on. Ralf and Ellie were pleased to see a traditional working boat and butty also moored in the wood (in a somewhat safer place, thank goodness) before we came into Hopwas. As we passed the visitor mooring, we were told "this is the last mooring for miles" but we continued, to find a 48 hr mooring in the middle of the village. Conveniently, this was about 50m from the Tame Otter pub, which was selected for dinner, drinks, and the venue for teaching Ralf and Ellie how to play Soddit. We then decided to see whether the Red Lion (on the other side of the cut) was worth a look, but the thumping music, "Two meals for £5" offers and the drunken people playing Wii bowling on a big screen put us off. We retired to Jannock for some more drinks and another game of Soddit.

Monday 30th August

Crew: Simon, Ellie and Ralf.

Monday heralded a beautiful sunny day, without a cloud in the sky: in fact the largest object available to obscure the sun was actually the moon! We left Hopwas fairly early, hoping to reach Atherstone before it got too late, but as soon as we reached Tamworth bottom lock, found ourselves in a queue. After proceeding through the Tamworth locks, Ellie and Ralf proceeded to perfect their driving skills as we headed back into the countryside, dodging low hanging trees, and boats steaming towards bridge-holes with ease. Finally, we arrived at the final challenge: Atherstone flight. We were due to do a pumpout before hitting the flight, but the sanny station at Grendon, below Atherstone flight, didn't cater for self-pump systems. Never mind - it can be done at the top of the flight...

Since we were now running behind schedule, it was agreed that we should attack the flight while snacking at regular intervals, and then eat an early dinner before heading home. By this time, the lock crew was a well oiled machine, and we kept having to wait for the boat ahead of us to leave the lock in front. After about 2 hours, the 11 locks were completed, and Simon went to find the sanny station across the way from the top lock. However, according to the resident of the lock-keeper's cottage, this station also is unsuitable for self-pumpout, as the connection to the main sewer system has been removed. He said that the official reason for this was because careless use kept leaving it blocked, but he strongly suspected that it was simply a ploy to force self-pumping crews to spend money at boatyards to have the deed done... If that's true, that's practically criminal!

Eventually, the tired (and slightly sunburnt) crew made it to Hartshill. Simon and Ralf had - lost on the car shuffle late on Friday night - parked Simon's car in the wrong place, and so Simon wandered a further half a mile down the cut to the Anchor pub to collect it. After cleaning, tidying and packing up, it was time to leave. Just as Simon was locking up, he found the suncream...

Thank you for a pleasant weekend. We hope to see Jannock again soon!

 

Edited by Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Shugborough Hall

Sunday 22nd August

We have tried many times to visit Shugborough when passing by on the T&M but have failed for numerous reasons including it being closed or the Trent flooding the grounds. This time we decided to moor up on Saturday, lock up and take the car to visit it instead.

We arrived just before 11am and immediately visited the craft exhibits situated in the old stables between the entrance and the main house. We left here a little poorer due to the purchase of a couple of very nice turned Birch goblets which we'd watched one of being made whilst chatting to the lathe operator and his wife. We also explored the walled gardens.

We then decided we needed some sustenance before hitting the main house so we visited the restaurant and had a wonderful cooked meal. In future I would consider stopping here and wandering in from the boat just to eat an excellent meal as you would not need to pay the full admission fee to do so and the food was that good. I had game casserole whilst Brenda had a chicken breast cooked in a tarragon sauce. Both meals came with two types of potato, broccoli and parsnips. Excellent!

The estate was quite interesting being split into three sections, the main house, the servants quarters and the farm.

Brenda fell in love with the chandelier (pictured left) in the main room. We finished the visit with an ice cream and then set off for home at about 3:30.

I would recommend this visit to any passing boater even though the ticket pre-booking system is not practical, we had a great day out even at the full 'on the day' price!

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

A short penultimate day

A short run to a suitable 14 day mooring for our penultimate day on this trip. I hoped an early start would allow me to fetch the car from Stafford before it started raining - WRONG - I got a good drenching during the last two miles on the Di Blasi to Stafford Boat Club. We breakfasted on Staffordshire Oatcakes with 3 varieties of home made preserves  before passing down through Meaford flight meeting only one northbound boat at the bottom lock. Good to see the top lock gate paddle ratchet has been mended since I reported it to the BW guy at Etruria last Monday. We continued down through Stone locks and then stopped to visit Aston Marina for a look see. They have a very good butchers stocking unusual meats like goat and venison as well as a deli and a selection of wines and local beers for sale in their farm shop. The prices in the shop were not of a Lidl standard but the selection of stock was high quality including upmarket ready meals available in frozen or chilled form. I got a couple of frozen croisants and chocolatines for tomorrows breakfast from their self service section. Laundrette facilities are also available to passing boaters with £3 giving you a wash and dry. We didn't check out the Bistro menu as MegaPixie has promised me a tinned Fray Bentos steak and ale pie (eat your heart out Beeky!) for dinner tonight but the establishment was very busy. We then moored up and I got the car ready for tomorrow's visit to Shugborough on the way home. Simon will be using Jannock next weekend so say hello if you see them.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

'F'ingberry Jam

We started the day trying to pre-book tickets to visit Shugborough on Sunday. The saving was attractive however you have to collect booked tickets from Stafford theatre and the box office doesn't open on a Sunday. Useless then if you are unable to get into Stafford, no deal if you can only make Sunday, canal visitors forget it, you'll have to pay full price.

This morning we 'caused' blackberry rage! Having spotted an abundance of the blighters on the off-side we pulled over, only to find we were being followed by two other boats. There was plenty of room so we waved them by whilst hanging onto a substantial tree. As they passed us another boat arrived heading the other way. I signaled that he should stop for the overtakers. As they passed us they asked if we were OK, could they help? We explained we were harvesting blackberries and then reversed a bit after they had passed to allow the other boat a bit more room. As he came past his comments were frankly unprintable, suggesting we make up our effing minds  and why let effing boats overtake there (on a wide straight stretch?) Our explanation that when we pulled over we didn't realise there were boats behind us caused more expletives. He passed us with plenty of room and more profanities. We can only hope he has the good fortune  to meet inexperienced boaters in excessively long boats on tight and shallow bends during his trip on the Caldon ;^)

If the owner of the rather smart jacket that I had to clear off our prop after passing through Ivy House lift bridge would like to contact us I'll tell him which skip it resides in at Etruria.

On arrival at Planet lock we discovered that Cap'n expletive had caused some nasty paintwork damage to the first of the overtaking boats when they passed each other. We also had difficulty working all three boats through due to an obstruction behind the towpath lower gate and so I notified the lengths man at Etruria when we stopped for water. We saw that the Bywater hotel boats had winded at Etruria and we pointed back up the Caldon so there is hope for a spectacular meeting with Cap'n expletive as well as the boat they damaged yesterday.

We stopped for the evening at Oldroad bridge near the Wedgewood factory. I managed to polish the whole of Jannock's starboard side and Brenda made four pounds of blackberry jam before the rain set in.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

We beat the rain again ;^)

Yet another very peaceful night, is it our overnight mooring choice or Jannock's new(ish) double glazing having this effect? We breakfasted whilst watching squirrels in the trees opposite gathering food whilst dangling precariously over the river. We then set off up the Churnet by 10 am, passing through Cheddleton and Denford before finally stopping at Park Lane Sani. Stn. where I used the wonderful shower facilities. Whilst we were moored there another boater was busy taking note of all of the BW telephone numbers he could find on the notice board. It would appear that he has been struck by the butty Karmataka, of the Bywater Hotel boat pair, and had suffered serious damage. He was most miffed that they had not stopped or shown any concern at all despite their guests bracing themselves for the impact. I gave him our 2009 copy of the Waterways World annual which contained all their contact details. Above Stockton Brook locks we happened across a BW volunteer work party busy clearing undergrowth from the bankside and tarting up the lock with fresh white paint. They had a tug and lighter which was blocking the bridge-hole on our arrival. They moved out and beckoned us forward without realising that another BW work-boat was ascending the top lock and we would have no-where to go if we'd moved forward. Brenda finally got Jannock through and into the lock once the other work-boat had come out through the bridge. We continued on to stop for the night at Milton and had moored up and moved inside just before it started raining hard and two hours later it is still doing so.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

What? The Black Lion is shut!

Wednesday 18th August

Last night's mooring near Denford aqueduct was so quiet that we had a lazy start this morning. Round to the junction and then a very tight turn into the three Hazelhurst locks and back to Denford again. We continued on through Cheddleton locks and then stopped just after Basford bridge to go in search of a post-box. Mission accomplished we returned to Jannock and had lunch during a very heavy rainstorm. After lunch we continued on to Consall Forge where it rained again as we arrived. We filled the water tank and then winded and moored up for the night. The Black Lion has a sign on the door saying they will be closed all day Wednesday due to a planned power outage by their REC for some tree trimming work up the hillside. Luckily I have it on good authority that they will be opening in the evening so I'll still get my dinner ;^)

All afternoon during our run down from Cheddleton and our stay here there has been a DMU and a steam hauled train passing back and forth on the Churnet Valley Railway.

The Black Lion opened at 6:30 in the evening but were not serving their usual menu. They were only doing filled baps and baguettes so we ordered and added chips and onion rings to bulk it out into a main meal. We need not have bothered with the extras for when the hot beef baguette arrived it was about 15" long and really loaded which made it a lot to eat. We both had great difficulty in finishing our meals and felt totally bloated in the end. Brenda tried the 7% rum matured cider whilst I stuck to Celtic Gold bitter although I did finish the evening with a pint of Dartmoor IPA. We definitely recommend this establishment now it is in new hands.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk