Well, we are moving fast now to get to Gayton, Sob Sob. ( I will be fine once we get started down The Nene).  Monday nights mooring was lovely, at the top of Norton Junction. A real nice country mooring on rings( Mick likes these, as he doesn't have to hammer the stakes into the ground).
A good start off in the rain, and we picked up a hire boat of 3 New Zealanders. The ladies got some lessons in locking from me, and we all had a jolly good time going down the  Buckby Flight. These locks are deep, and the gates heavy.  They were on a meha trip of Europe, and were really enjoying their narrowboat experience.

Saw Jenny( Weedon Boats), the lady who used to own the hire fleet, of which Trundle( then Ragweed) used to belong.  She was on another boat going in the opposite direction, and called out that " She's looking good!".   who? Moi?   No, our dear old Trundle. These boats are very distintive in  their design. and we love her. !

So tonights mooring is at Gayton, ready to do The Rothersthorpe Flight of 17 leaky old single locks down to Northampton, where we leave the Grand Union Canal, for this year and join The Nene.

Next stop Northampton, Morrisons for a pie, and Argos for a parasol. !!!!!

Sunday.  After a quick stop n shop at Tesco in Rugby, we are n ow at Hillmorton.  Just been for lunch in the excellent Badseys Bistro.. Feel a bit sleepy, but Finno needs a walk.

Tomorrow, it will  be through Brauntston, and onto towards Norton Junction and down to Gayton, for tuesday.  We are a bit overdue on our licence.This was because of the floods on The Trent.

Well,I didn’t get my meal at The Swan( mucky duck), warpaint on and reasonable clean tshirt and trousers, but about 100 bikers and their shiny steeds beat us to it.  We had a walk up to the pub anyway, just to admire the bikes.  There were some monster machines, and worth a great deal of money.  So back to Trundle for……….beans on toast.

Thursday night stopped at Polesworth,  not very inspiring,.  Friday we did the slow old Atherstone flight of locks in 2.5 hrs.  not bad, seeing as they are a slow fill, and we were going up them.  We were also following 2 old folks, but we got along fine, and then loads of boats started coming down, which made it a lot easier for us. 

However getting to Atherstone was not without incident.

We saw a bit of canal rage .

For some reason known only to himself, a NB decided to stop at the bridge to let Trundle through.  Trundle was quite some way back( I was walking Finlay on the towpath), so the  NB should have kept on coming.  But he didn’t, and he started bellowing to Mick “ COME ON ! COME ON!”.  Now , it’s a wee bit noisy at the back standing over the engine, so Mick would  never have heard him anyway, and was idling the engine waiting.

 Another NB was coming up too fast behind The Bellower, who had now picked up some muck in his prop, and it had cut out.  Mick came through the bridgehole, Finlay and I got on, pretty smartly, and left the 2 blokes facing off to each other, as the 2^nd boat had almost run into the  back of the 1^st.  Loads of angry glares etc.  hey ho.

So a quick wine top up from Atherston.  Bit of a run down town. And spotted a nice country mooring for this evening.

 Trundle's big sister ( Riverweed).

 Our silver wedding rose from Chris and Mike in Yorkshire. 

  Now, is this a "sheepheap", or a "snuggle" of sheep.  Its so hot, is this their way of keeping cool????

The Trent and Mersey is a nice canal, if a bit noisy.  East midlands airport, a rail line, and the A38. !

 So , we were on our way to Burton on Trent, and the mooring at Shobnalls Fields, great mooring WITH TREES. Most important at the moment, as we dive for cover. 

This old chap on a pretty new and fancy boat,weeving about in front of us, comes along to Mick at the lock  and starts giving out about, if we don’t like him going slow, we shouldn’t be on the canals,Hey, Buster, just a minute, we have not said a word. Look at the name of our boat, that’s what we do.weirdo.

 Anyway, then him and Mick were chewing the cudd, and it seemed that he was quite opinionated and wasn;t interested in anyones else views .  I so wish Mick hadn’t mentioned what HE himself thinks of the Olympic Games. !   oh boy, that really started the old timer off.  I intervened and said, hang on there, each to their own, and requested that Mick just get on the boat and lets get on. Old coffin dodger shuffled off to sort his boat and guests out, and I meandered up to the lock, keeping well back.  Then he shouts over to me, that he didn’t mean to bite my husbands head off, to which I replied, that I wasn’t the slightest bit interested, and should we all go about out duties at the lock???  I then got the info that he was very patriotic, thought the games and what they would do for London, marvellous, that he was married to a pacifist who had no interest in the past, lived for the moment, and didn’t worry about the future. !  I really was not interested.  Thank god, he and his loud wife carried on past Shobnall. !

What happened next made up for that silly old fool, anyway.  Cos  THE Oldest Swinger in Town turned up. ! He arrived on his boat with wife and 2 guestes. After mooring up, he shot off into the boat and proceeded to de-bag himself(  well I had sunglasses on, and I could see straight into his boat, He should have put a curtain up, or something). He exited the boat wearing the tightest red BUDGIE SMUGGLERS, I have ever seen !!!!

He did a bit of strutting, with shoulders back and gut pulled in tight, even when he bent  down, he did some sort of ballet type move, holding his tum in and pointing his back leg. !!!

Towel out on the grass, a quick look around to see if he had any admirers?  Sorry, matey, only me, and it quite put me off my tea and biccy. ! and then threw himself down, and assumed a starfish position in the sun.  He left his guests to their own devices,and his Mrs never left the boat.  Unless you can call a hand that kept appearing and dispensing grub and drinks as an appearance ?

Gave me some giggles anyway. Boy, oh boy, those trunks. Heee heee.  Small budgie !  oh stop it, matron.

Alrewas- such a pretty,  little village, and has a great butcher.

Moored Fradley Junction, and a meal at the Mucky Duck is promised.

What a lovely day in more ways than one.

We are off The Trent and onto the pretty Trent and Mersey canal.

Great mooring, Finlay has had a good run and sniff.  I have cleaned the windows, and Mick is fishing with his new reel. Will he still be unlucky catching a fishy ?

A few minutes ago, a NB passed us and the bloke was playing the bag-pipes at the front.  It was rather nice, although his lady at the back wasn;t grinning.

Met a nice couple on NB Fairies Wear Boots. I love that name. Apparently its an Ozzie Osbourne number.  John is a rocker, but not especially Ozzie, however they were looking for an unusual name for their Liveaboard boat ,and his lady Sam, is an artist.And  painted on the side is a Rock-chick fairy wearing biker boots.  Its great.

Oooh it feels so good to be on the canals.

 What we have been waiting for.

 Todays mooring. cor. !

 Bye Bye Trent, see you again, BUT in reverse and without so much water, maybe.

The river level gauge is still in the red but getting towards the amber( proceed along river with caution), so we  may be off tomorrow.  OOhhh  I do hope so.  Having said that Beeston is not a bad place to be. There is the Attenborough Nature Reserve, and loads of walks.

 However, as happens when the sun is hot, there was a right numpty complete with beer can wading into the flood waters NEAR to the weir.  he nearly lost his balance a couple of times, then his mates had a go, and a small toddler in their group dipped his feet in the water !  They had obviously rented a faulty brain cell for the day.  !   its beyond me. !

Going " QUACKERS"  on The Trent.  Nottingham for the foreseeable future. !!!!!

so, Ok. the weather is getting better, BUT, The Trent twixt Beeston and Trent and Mersey canal, is still "in flood".

I, err I mean we , have made an executive decision to go back to Nottingham for a few days.I will take Mick and his,I mean our wallett shopping. !!!!  and as Summer begins at the week-end, I need a new summer dress, yes even on a narrowboat. !
John and Jan, hope you enjoy The Chesterfield as much as we did.  and when you get to the beautiful lock flight after Shireoaks Marina, do look out for The Bearded Wonder.!  He's a very helpful chap. Not especially talkative, but was involved in getting The Chessie " up and running".

Tuesday midday, no rain yet, Gauge nearly into the amber, and as long as there is no more heavy rain, we could be off tomorrow.  but with care.

We have been on this bleddy waterway for 3 weeks. !  Next year, canals only.    :)

Went out yesterday with 2 Micks and a Dick. We had some beer and food, then wandered back to the boats for a “towpath tipple”.

Richard has an amazing camera. While we were shopping, he showed us that we had had a visitor to our boat, and low and behold, sitting on our back deck was a little indian girl.  He was then able to manoeuvre the photo to even show me her face, as she had her back to him when he Its now Monday, and we are stopped at Beeston, due to the R. Soar being in strong took the pic.  Its all a bit “james bond” for me.

I also fell out with a local.  Walking along Tinkers Leen( the name of our mooring),2 lady cyclists came up behind us. We  moved to the inside, and I mentioned that a bell could be a good idea. “  I have one”,  “ so why don’t you use it, then we can move out of your way”.  Her answer ? “ I can get by without you having to move”.  Oh yeah???? So that would be me on the inside, Finlay on his LEAD in the middle and Mick on the outside.  Don’t think so. She was a bit annoyed that I had mentioned bells, methinks.

This morning, walking back to Trundle, I heard a faint tinkle from behind and moved over to the inside( remember, it’s the clyclist that’s going in the drink, not me), and there was a screech of brakes.! At least, he smiled, but he thought I was going to move towards the canal.  Ha. !!!

So Nottingham moorings are great and everyone is nice. There are no numpties.We enjoyed it a lot.  Beeston is not the most inspiring of places, but the walking is better for Finlay, and its nice to be away from the noise of Nottingham.  BUT, I hope that we are not here for tooooooooooo long. Having just spoken to a young beardy boater, who says that the gauge is only just in the red, we could be off tomorrow, as long as it doesn’t rain.

The weatherforecast for today is……………………..HEAVY RAIN. ! doh !

 Ladybay Bridge-Nottingham

 Nottingham/Beeston canal.

 The lovely mooring by Tinkers Leen

 2 Micks, a Dick and a Dog.

 Happy Days.  Mick on the outside has just become a grandad for the 1st time.

Made good if slow headway along the Trent. At the approach to each lock, there is a big pull from the weirs, but the lock keepers along here are great. They get everything ready for you, so that you don’t have to bob about outside.  A real nice bunch, they all ask if you are ok, they phone the lock ahead to let them know you are coming, even as slow as us.  We eventually get there. We have decided that we may invest in a VHF radio and all that entails.

Nottingham and a Meet-up with Richard on NB Firefly and his mate Mick on NB Pennine  Dream. We met Richard last year at Pollington. And the 3 of us went off to The Chesterfield Canal.  A great bloke, and we enjoy his company.  He also has a devilish sence of humour. …… and he’s a yorkshireman, aye up, sitheee

It also doesn’t look like we will be moving until next Monday/Tuesday, due to the levels on the R.Soar, rising.  We need to do a bit of this to get to Shardlow.  Heyho.

So against the current we arrived in Nottingham, from Gunthorpe.It took us 6 hours. Normally, this would take about 3.5 hrs.  At one point going under a viaduct, we were hardly moving. !!!! Cost a lot in fuel also, 2.3 litres to the hour, normally 1.2. !

So tonight( Sunday), it’s a beer-up with Richard, and then tomorrow his mate returns to his boat after visiting his first grandchild. So I guess it will be a Wetherspoon visit again.

This enjoyment of beer really must stop………………..sometime.

 Big weirs

 but the Trent is beautiful

 It took us ages to get under this rail bridge, the pull against us was immense.

 Holme Pierrepoint Lock, the last "biggy" of the Trent

We had a lovely couple of days at Rog and Bridgets, and were deposited back at Trundle on Thursday.
Dave on Anastasia, came along with his sack wheels, to load a gas bottle, that was a real help.
Most boaters are a real friendly bunch and always ready to help.  We spent quite a time at the pontoon, but it couldn;t have been with a nicer bunch.

 We left almost immediately, and it was slow going, pulling away from Cromwell Weir.  It took us 2 hours from Cromwell to Newark.  !!!!  we were doing about 2 mph, now thats slow.ia
Of course, Anastasia soon left us behind. !!!!

One night in Newark, sampled a beer at the Micro brewery, but we want to push on now, and get to the Trent and Mersey.

The narrowboat, that left the Cromwell, when he was advised not to, by the lockies, has received a warning.   Not sure how this works, but he got into difficulty approaching Newark, and nearly tipped his boat over.  When Mick asked him what sort of trip he had experienced, he replied that it was all right. !!!

 The Pontoon Posse( I forgot to take my specs off, Doh. !)

 Anastasia, leaving us trundlin'behind.

 Still plenty of water, but at least we can move.

  Newark Lock. !

 The pontoon rose to just short of the top mark.

 Our Silver Wedding Rose, a gift from Chris and Mike.

So now on the move to either Hazelford lock or Gunthorpe.  This is the most beautiful stretch of the NON-TIDAL Trent.  and its sort of mizzling ( fine rain).

Chums Roger and Bridget are coming to collect us tomorrow, to take us back to their house for a bit of TLC, will be back on thursday, I wonder if we will be on the move by then.????  don't think so. !

The other boaters here, are giving us friendly flak, saying are we deserting them etc.? !!!

Well , we had  a Tesco drop. and I will get more shopping, if anyone needs.

Thank you both for your concern.  Its awesome, but we are all safely secured to the floating pontoons, which rise with the water level.  Jan, the walking here is great for dogs.  no problem getting off.  As we have all said, if we are going to be stranded anywhere, what better place. All facilities( well not pump out.!)  but there are loos, showers, etc.


Lockie says that the water level has peaked, so as long as it doesn't heave down in the Derbyshire Peaks, we may be able to move about wednesday.

A narrowboat did leave today, as they said they HAD to get to Kings Lock, as she was working tomorrow, but they had a real struggle up the rive, and then they will have to contend with a the run off further around.  However, a cruiser here has left his VHF radio on( I think we may invest in one), and said that if he hears they are in trouble, he will try and get to them.  Sterling Bloke,

Struggling to do an ASDA drop at the moment. its making me say GRHHHHH  quite a lot,.

 entrance to Cromwell Lock. the weir has disappeared

........ and the river trent is still rising. !!!!

We are now on the pontoon for quite a few days, methinks.

The Trent is in flood,the water is rushing by, Cromwell Weir has disappeared due to the high water, and they have closed all Flood Locks around this area.

A few of us are making  a foray to the petrol station for basics.  I want my Telegraph. !!!!
But I reckon we will be ordering a supermarket "drop", next week.

Its both awesome and frightening.

 Big Sand barges

 

 Arni is 12 mths old. and he has just nicked Micks fishing bread. !!!

 Can I come in, please?  You will have to lift me up, as I have very short ,fat hairy legs.

 This was before the rain hit.