Angry Passes By........

Set the alarm for early as Saturday morning. The reason being the All Blacks were playing Aussie in Sydney at 11.05am UK time and we wanted to get a few miles under the belt before we stopped..
So by 10.30am we had reached the top lock of the Glascote locks,2, passing through Tamworth.
Pulled over and had excellent internet signal so live streaming the game wasn't a problem.
The problem was the AB's played bad and the 12 all draw was better than they deserved..

At half time it was.....

Snack time for me....

We then moved forward to the lock landing waiting for a NB coming up....

A NB enters the lock as we wait..... Leonie chats with the lady from the NB who's dog bark  bark barked at the entering NB. So Leonie told it to "Shut Up"..
The owner then told it to "Shut Up".. which it did..
When she told me and I said "why"?.. Leonie said "wouldn't you tell a naughty child to Behave itself"?...plus "it got on my Bloody nerves"...

A short time later we passed over a small aqueduct, Tame Aqueduct, and the person steering the approaching NB started waving his arm to suggest I move over to my right, starboard side.
The rules are to pass Port to Port and I'm already only 2 foot from the Armco rail on the canal side and in my lane is a row of moored boats. So if all goes to plan I continue forward until he passes then I swerve to the left and miss the moored boats. No, this tosser  has left no room for me to move over. I look at his RH side and he's got about 12 feet until the soft foliage starts and plenty of deep water so I make suggestions that he move over. He then looks to his starboard side and decides Oh Yeah I should have looked and moves over to barely give me enough room. As we passed I told him he had a nice shirt on, I liked his hat, the set of binoculars in front of him were no good to a blind person, he basically shouldn't have a license to steer and stick this finger when the sun don't shine...

Bloody Useless All Blacks....

We moved on and passed through the village of Hopwas....

Standing tall....

The Litchfield Transmitting tower.... 1001 feet tall....

Then through ......

A cutting containing the Hays Wood... a scenic stretch...

Past this fella....

He makes and sells Stainless chimney flues... very well made too... He was sound asleep in his chair with his wares on display.... A lesser man would have helped himself.. The thought never crossed my mind...

Approaching Fradley Junction there's a small...

Swing bridge to open & close... Leonie was itching for some exercise so this was a starter...

The well known.....

The Swan pub... 200 yrs, aparrently with a Vaulted cellar room... never seen it...

Parked in the car park....

A couple of Classics... Triumph Vitesse... 1962 -  1971 with  a six cylinder engine... and a  E Type Jag.....

A short distance pass the junction is the first of...

 

Two locks... more exercise.. Entering Middle lock....

And lock number two....

Trying .. that's right trying to exit Shade House lock.. The gate would open not much more and we thought something was in the canal blocking it. The two of us tried pushing the beam, like really hard, but no it jammed. Two men, one pushing a woman in a wheel chair, came by and saw our troubles. The dude pushing said he could chuck the woman in to see if anything was down there.
She wasn't happy bout that so we set about a process of elimination. I got the pole off the roof and had a fish around, nothing, so then we tried again, no good, so we discussed the mechanics of the worn gate hinge and the physics of water and logic says the bloody thing should open.
We need to give it more Welly said one so my thoughts were to charge it with the boat but no, a Real effort by everyone was required  excluding the wheel chair woman, she could prey maybe. With that we lined up on the beam and give it Shit and low and behold it opened far enough..
The Power of Prayer I say...

We thanked them and moved on. It was getting on in time about 6.30pm and we needed to be parking up.
It was then as we exited a narrow bridge hole and another line of moored boats were in my vision that I saw the unmistakable Flapping arm of Angry No, 2...well two arms actually, a his and hers..

Now I'm not the best NB steerer on the network but one thing I have worked out is that in tight situations and especially if the wind is blowing one needs some power on to have control.
The boat is doing like 100 RPM over tickover, in non NBers terms it means if you were walking home from the pub pissed, talking braille to yourself and  thinking of an excuse to tell the missus why those two Aces cost you your pay packet, then I wouldn't be going fast enough to pass you.
Anyway we get closer and they both yell out slow down your going too fast...
We draw equal with them and I say, I'm not going any faster than you mate.
And then I say something like, Have a nice day..
Well the woman goes off like a screaming Banshee... Me and Leonie look at each other like Stunned Mullets... and then start laughing at her.
Unbelievable... The only thing we could put it down to was that she must have been drinking......
OHH.. she was a Ginng.....eerrr.....

We moored up shortly after... and slept with one eye open.... 21 miles and 5 locks.....

Today the sun was breaking through but the wind was still blowing adding a bit of a chill factor...

Don't know that it was too cold but...

This fella seemed froze to the spot....

Passed a nice allotment and the...

Happiest guy on the system works here....

Approaching Rugeley there's a...

Tight cutting under a bridge.. followed a NB through who bounced off the walls all the way...
And it wasn't a hire boat...

Turn a corner and the ......




Cooling stacks from the power station are in view......

It's the second power station to be built on the site this one commissioned in 1972. Coal fired the plant uses 1.6 million tonnes of coal a year which produces 240,000 tons of ash..

In 2009 it was converted to operate with Flue - Gas Desulfurization which removes the Sulferdioxide content from the flue gases... Environmentally friendly for the next 25 yrs....

So you see...

There's nothing to worry about residents of Rugeley......

Only two locks to go for the day...

 

Under the bridge to enter Colwich Lock...

And suddenly around the corner was a "Tribute" to none other than Compulsive blog reader from NZ....

That's right "Come On Down"...

Tammy... Hope you like the Blue....

Last lock done for the day...

Exiting the Haywood Lock at Haywood Junction...

Moored up...... Leonie went and picked some Strawberries. Hoped for Raspberries but they finished a week ago.....

Anyway Leonie...

Made meringue, cream to go with strawbs, and ice cream with caramel sauce....
Bloody Good Missus Ehhhh??....

Up To Date.......

Just moving north, each day doing as many miles as we feel up to or the weather allows.
Had an 11.00am start one morning due to the rain and have moored up early to dodge pending downpours...
We're passing in the opposite direction, ten times more NB,s than we saw on the Grand Union canal, no more cutting corners and it pays to approach blind bends slowly...

Very rural on the Oxford and chuck in...

Cuttings with plenty of overhanging greenery....

Dogs are a dime a dozen on the tow path. Usually the medium to small ankle biter types.

But this mutt....

Was a Monster... looked over 3 foot tall.... probably weighed over 70kg and you'd need to feed it a Broncosauras to satisfy it's hunger. You wouldn't want to forget to feed him and fall asleep in your favourite chair with an arm dangling over the arm.....

Stopped for a water fill and...

These fellas were chilling out catching some sun......

 There are a lot of untidy properties to view from the canal. Some properties are littered with absolute crap, nothing worth as much as a penny and one has to wonder Why??...

Then there's the odd section that has junk on it that is worth something like..

This VW Kombi van....

And this...

 VW beetle.... or what's left of it...

But wait there's more....

A VW  Ute.. very collectable.....

And a couple of...

Well the rear one is a Porsche... not sure on the other but bound to be VW related....

Made it to the Hawkesbury Junction where the Coventry canal joins in and time to reminisce...

11 odd years ago Leonie and her mum, Pam, and a friend Merlene  hired a NB from the Ashby canal and went to Braunston and return and this was...

The first ever lock Leonie & co,  stuffed up....

Once through the lock there's a tight RH turn under the bridge.

And there is always an audience to judge your skill level...

Seated out side The Greyhound pub.....

Made the turn.. Perfectly... and looking back...

The lock is around the LH rear corner... now on the Coventry with the canal to the RH side going down to Coventry basin and city.....

Talking about piles of crap and worthless rubbish....

A bride & groom.. policeman... mannequin... aviary... caged ducks, geese etc... all intermingled with junk everywhere...

Plus..

Stacked boats... Morry 1000... golf cart... crap everywhere..is there a logic behind the hoarding??..

 

Passed Marston junction where the...

Ashby canal starts...22 miles no locks... no exit....

The British Waterways yard at Hartshill...

Is a good looking 1800's building.... contains original carpenters workshop and a forge....

At Atherstone we expected a queue awaiting the lock flight. But no there was only a couple of NB,s already started on the decent. The boat in front was a single hander so we helped by shutting some of the bottom gates as he exited. You've got to wait for the lock to refill so times not an issue.

Looking back from the 5th lock.. 6 to go....

The sun had reappeared and taking off a layer of clothes was the order.
The NBer in front pulled over for lunch so we passed and finished the remaining locks then moored up.... He soon caught and passed us...

And guess what??..

He reads this blog.... I reckon if I could publish it in Braille his dog could read it too and my readers numbers would be getting Whoa... right up there......

Painting ... Racing... and Single......

It took us four days to travel from Milton Keynes to Yardley Gobion a distance we would normally do in a day but we were killing time. The plan was to be at the nearest point to Silverstone racetrack to get picked up Saturday morning and spend the weekend watching Spencer race the MR2.
The weather was still hot but the odd shower threatened...

That didn't stop us doing some...

Maintenance on the boat.... Painting was the order with Leonie doing the sides and front deck....

While I.....

Done the coloured stuff......

While moored at Yardley Gobian we noticed a couple of cyclists having some troubles so we walked along the towpath to them to be told...
We left London on Wednesday, now Friday, to cycle to Nottingham via roads and towpaths, haven't had a puncture until the last mile and we've had three.
There was a problem trying to inflate the tube he'd just repaired so we took it back out and I gave it the water test in the canal, all good, so back in the tyre try again. Still going flat.
After several minutes of frustration we / I discovered it was his method of application whilst transferring air from the hand pump to the tube.. That sorted the tube stayed inflated the tyre became a usable part of the wheel and everyone was happy. They'd used there spare tubes and a patch or two so I handed over a couple of patches in case they had another bad mile.....

Ready to....




Move on.. The lady was from NZ, Auckland,  and has been living in London 20 years....

John picked Leonie and me up early Saturday morning....

First job at the racetrack after qualifying was....

Get the barbecue going and feed the troops.... Some how, probably my cooking reputation preceded me, I ended up in charge of Michelin Star food presentation both days......The consumers were amazed at how many different ways one can cook a Pork & Leek Sausage... underdone, spewing out, charcoal... etc.....

Whilst some slave over a hot plate....

Others don't care... John making sure the beer was okay to drink by me later... Karen, Spences "Better Half" and son Ryan showing ball skills....

Saturdays racing was in the Nippon Challenge class. Way too fast cars but you get a Qualifying and two races to learn the track which costs less to enter than paying for practice on the Friday.
Sunday it started raining about 6.30 am and "Big Bertha" the cyclone sent it down at times very heavy. Racing continued but it wasn't until 4.30pm that it fined up enough for a dry race, the last, and the results were good.

Silverstone is not a spectator friendly track and it's difficult to get good racing photos....
I guess up in the largest stands would be better but every stand entrance way was padlocked viewing from the terraces was the only option..

 

Spencer in Race Mode in the MR2...

Chasing a Hyundai around Copse corner.....

Spencer bought a spare MR2 for parts but it's good enough to race...

So good mate Steve does the steering...  NY Cab colours.....

 

Here Steve....




Out brakes and goes Under a Hyundai entering Copse... the cars are doing about 95 - 110 mph here....


Then after....

 A Hard Days Work.. Steve's loaded the car for home....

Back at the NB by 6.30pm Sunday it was earlyish to bed, we slept at Silverstone in a 9 seater van that converts to a camper with a pop roof, Spencer had just traded it on behalf, to catch up on some shut eye.....
Next morning we set off, the winds blowing strong and a NB has just moored about 3 feet in front of us, I cast off hurriedly to avoid the close by boat and turn the boat at the nearby winding hole. Proud of the manner I achieved all that in the wind and single handed the fact that I'd left the Armco chains that we tie our ropes too still on the Armco escaped me... Well at least until 5.30pm that day when I went to use them to moor up.
Pissed with my stupidity I eased the pain by reckoning that if Leonie had of been "on deck helping" in the morning the chain thing wouldn't have happened.... Hey that's my story and I'm sticking to it....
Sixteen quid fixed the problem.

Moving on we passed under yet another bridge this time with some...

Mosaics to lighten it up.....

Then on to Stoke Bruene....





Plenty of onlookers and note the tall poplar tree bending in that wind....

If one doesn't  want to....

See out the windows.. or do any outside maintenance then decorate with Ivy....

Around a bend and my Eagle vision spotted something 500 odd yards away on the side of a hill...
Zoomed the FZ200 in and....

Deer it was.......

The temperature had dropped about 10 degrees on the days before.
Didn't matter.....

 

To this Dude doing some painting.... wonder what he wears on a Hot day??...

Into the .......

 

Blisworth Tunnel where we met and passed 3 NB,s... without touching.... 3057yds long.....

At the Buckby flight of 7 locks nearing Norton junction we teamed up with NB Silver to share lock duties...
Margaret and Lyall  were very efficient and Margaret was an extremely good operator steering the NB...

After the flight we were going to moor up but Lyall said they were going to do the next flight into Braunston, 6 locks, so we carried on...

Approaching the Braunston tunnel... 2042yds....

NB silver leads the way...

The engine in NB Silver...

An "Old School" Gardiner... although rebuilt to new standards.....

We got to the third lock and there was a problem.... Some "Dick" had left some paddles or gates open and the next pound, reservoir between locks, was dry, like a moored boat had no water around it..
This required going back up and opening paddles and gates to let water flow down via the locks to refill the drained pound...
It put an extra hour on the job but worked. In fact things sort of flooded down stream.

When we were in a lower lock awaiting to leave through the bottom gates....

Excess water from upstream was still pouring over the top gates... Freaky if it caught the rear of the NB.....
By the time we done the last lock it had evened itself out again....
We moored up a late 8pm and went to the pub with Margaret & Lyall for drinks and tucker.....

Noticed NB Yarwood moored in Braunston and next morning...

We had the pleasure to meet and talk to Lesley who was out taking Floyd & Fletcher walking....

Then it was time to say...

 

Addios to Lyall & Margaret....

Turned Right....

Onto the Oxford canal.... Grand Union behind to the Left & Right....

Passed this....

Motor Home project....

And another bridge with the......

Familiar Fault Lines...... they wouldn't fall down... would they??...


And then after 3 months and probably 500 double locks it was...

The Hilmorten "Single" locks.... like we'd died and gone to Heaven......  so easy.......

Manchester is getting closer.....