To Straford-Upon-Avon, and beyond.

Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins; as portrayed in 'The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus', by Christopher Marlowe (more about this below) ... and I must confess to having been slothful about this (B)log. Mea culpa ... no excuses.

Our journey up the few remaining locks of the Hatton Flight were without incident, and soon we were on the Stratford On Avon Canal, with 13 miles and 32 locks between us and an evening at the theatre. A public omnibus from Warwick to Stratford-Upon-Avon will complete the journey in less than 25 minutes. A fast trip by narrowboat would take about a day and a half!!! We dawdled, and took almost three days.

A unique feature of this waterway is to be seen on the - still standing, and very charming - lock-keepers' cottages. Once the canal had been constructed - nearly 200 years ago - the arched supports; used when building the proliferation of bridges; were recycled to become the roof structures of the aforesaid cottages, viz:

and

On the way we stopped in at Wootton Wawen - no, I haven't developed a lithp - and a lovely old (17th. century) pub: The Bull's Head.

The ales were more than'acceptable' and here are some images of that establishment:

These were just outside ... 

Kudos for whomever identifies their purpose???

There was also a lovely old (13th. century) church; (many such abound in the English countryside) with sadly weathered gargoyles.

Anyway ... when, eventually, we arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon; we moored in the handy, purpose-built, canal boat basin, only a hundred and 50 yards from the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. On the Monday evening we availed ourselves of this proximity and purchased tickets for Marlowe's: Doctor Faustus; which was being staged in the lovely, bijou, Swan Theatre ... at the rear of the main playhouse.

We sat in the two seats seen on the extreme bottom right of the above image.

I have always been intrigued by Christopher Marlowe because of his personal history. Apart from having been suspected of being the actual writer of of some of Shakespeare's works (they were contemporaries), he was reputed to be an agent of Sir Francis Walsingham: Elizabeth's spymaster; and died in a knife-fight in a pub in Deptford. The staging of the play was arresting, almost anarchic, and riveting ... then we strolled home for a glass of wine! We love this boating life! More soon. Tom.

Start the Spring cruise.

Monday, March 14th. 2016

This is the Hatton Flight ... 21 locks, in all; from our 'winter home' to the top; but actually, only 18 to our present (temporary) resting place in Knowle Hall Dry Dock. We needed to do some essential maintenance, so this funky little facility is convenient and cheap ... perfect!

We should be un-docking tomorrow (Tuesday), and then proceeding - via the last 3 locks, Stratford-upon-Avon and Tewksbury - to Gloucester. It is there that; on the First of April, I'll be presenting the 'Ship Of Fools' concert; to raise funds in aid of the second annual Gloucester Shanty Festival. I won't be able to be there myself (over Spring Bank Holiday weekend) but - somehow or other - I've been designated the festival's 'PATRON' ... so I'd better do something to assist.

So ... this start to our 2016 cruising - about 2 months - will take us up to our departure for California; and the WEDDING OF THE CENTURY!!! Watch this space ...

Signing off for the rest of the year.

Hello folks.



It's nearly November and we've brought Moonstone into the Saltisford Arm for the winter.

From now until March we'll only be floating out on an occasional (very) short trip; for the delectation of various visiting friends ... from as far as British Columbia and South Australia!

Since last May we have cruised: 844 miles of canals and rivers plus 37 miles of the North Sea; negotiated 573 locks (and over ten miles of tunnels!); visited castles and cathedrals, pubs and restaurants; met countless good-natured people; seen widely differing panoramas and vistas; and explored a great deal of our own country which we've never before encountered ... all from a point of view rarely experienced by visitors and tourists.

Now; before we hunker down for the non-cruising season; I'm adding the final episode - for this year - of Watery Peregrinations. For those of you who want to catch up from the earlier reports, just click on the appropriate month in the 'Blog Archive' at the r/h top of each page, or click on 'Older Posts' down at the bottom of each page.

Thanks to those of you who've written with comments or queries. Lyn and I will be back 'on the cut' in March; and I'll send a heads-up before we cast off!

Remember ... sometimes the light at the at the end of the tunnel ... 

is, actually, something coming the other way!

Good wishes to all of you. Tom.

Back to ‘narrow’ locks!

Apropos of nothing: we observed this in the cafe at Foxton Locks ... 

 ... and that's too good for them!

For the past couple of years; and for most of this Watery Peregrinations expedition; we’ve been experiencing ‘wide’ locks. ‘Wide’; in this instance; means locks about 14’ or wider, though – for the most part – still around 72’ in length. As Moonstone has a beam of barely 7’, wide locks are handy for two boats to share a lock, and imperative for a ‘wide-beam’ boat (i.e. wider than 7 feet). However; when there is just a single narrowboat negotiating a wide lock, the inconveniences become apparent. Rather than being encompassed, snugly, by the wall of the lock just inches on either side; the turbulence of the moving water requires that a line be secured on the shore – and attended to – whilst the boat rises and falls and attempts to drift sideways in the lock chamber. Additionally; the lock-gates (doors) are much larger on wide locks, hence much heavier for us to manoeuvre.

Nearly all of the locks in the southern part (England, South of Birmingham) of the canal and river system are of the wide variety and are – at least by your narrator and his travelling companion - not so well favoured as the narrow variety. On the way down the Northampton Flight; between the Grand Union Canal (Main Line) and the River Nene; all 17 locks were ‘narrow’; though the locks on the Great Ouse system where; in some cases; enormous. Likewise; all the locks on the Foss Dyke Navigation, The River Trent and its tributaries and, latterly, the Grand Union Canal; have been wide locks. We were surprised, and delighted, to arrive at Foxton to find that the flight was comprised of narrow locks.

Foxton was a famous (infamous?) ‘choke point’ on the system, in the 19th. and early 20th. century; by reason of the 10 locks being a mere 7’ 4” wide and arranged as a ‘staircase’ (immediately out of one chamber and into the next; with no passing facility.) This arrangement was hugely inconvenient, and inefficient; so much so, that the canal company devised a scheme to use (then) cutting-edge technology to by-pass the flight. This entailed the construction of a steam-driven contraption called the Foxton Inclined Plane to haul boats up the hill. The technology was, sadly, TOO 'cutting-edge' and did not live up to expectations. Consequently; it operated for a mere 12 years. Now that barely a skeleton of the original remains, this video of a model representation is the best illustration of its workings. Of course; there is an active society to re-install a full-size, working replica!!!

The horses which towed the canal-boats are memorialized in bronze

There are 3 tunnels on this stretch of the canal ... here's a shot of one ... 

There have been three tunnels over the past two days of travelling; totalling over two miles!

Ta-ta for now.

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ...

 ... to quote from: Ode to Autumn; by John Keats.

We're still enjoying fabulous autumnal weather -broken by just one day of rain (This is Britain, after all!); with foggy mornings giving way to sunny afternoons; or still, quiet mornings, with waters like mirrors.

I realise that you've seen plenty of castles in these reports ... but mooring right below the walls of this one, in Newark was quite special.

We're through Leicester (pronounced: lester); a singularly unprepossessing conurbation;

and our next objective is the famous Foxton Locks complex. More about that next time.

Hope you are all well and happy ... we are!

To Lincoln ... and beyond!

In my (childish) mind, Lincoln is inextricably linked to Robin Hood (The Merry Men wore 'Lincoln Green', y'know); and thence to Nottingham. Coincidentally; that's the route we've just taken. We're moored in Nottingham, but most of this edition relates to our exploration of the lovely old city of Lincoln. The images in the previous edition of this (b)Log were all taken by Tony O'Neill; I, having managed by dint of unbelievable prestidigitation. to erase all the photos I had taken on my own camera!!!  (Read: 'finger stupidity'.)

You may note that - unusually, for a Brit - I rarely comment on the weather. However ... the past week has been glorious ... most un-English weather. Quietly misty mornings, morphing into cloudless skys and mere mild zephyrs of breezes. I'll stop now and go for a lie-down. Canals, rivers, and all waterways, seem irresistibly attractive to our arachnid friends; a condition with which Lyn (a life-long arachnophobe) has been learning to come to terms. Proof of her acclimatization is that her finger was pressing the shutter for this first picture - taken on a beautiful, dew-laden morning ... 

Lincoln is a fabulous exemplar of Middle ages England and its architecture. Viz ...

LINCOLN CASTLE

... AND OPPOSITE ... THE ENTRANCE TO THE CATHEDRAL

N.B. the 'cloudless sky', about which I waxed lyrical.

THE METICULOUSNESS OF THE MEDIEVAL MASONS IS BREATHTAKING

As a long-time fan of Ken Follett's: PILLARS OF THE EARTH; I was enthralled with this opportunity. (8-part TV mini-series is highly recommended.) However; my admiration for the engineering splendour of flying buttresses was crushed when I learned that

 these were solely cosmetic!

However; my appreciation of the era was salvaged by our perambulations around the this photogenic remnant of a bygone age ... still a living part of a modern city.

And so ... onward up the Fossdyke navigation - only one thousand, eight hundred years old - towards the mighty (by British Standards) River Trent, Newark, and Nottingham ... next time.

Now ... where was I?

Apologies for the hiatus in the story of the voyage. Since last I posted, Lyn and I have been over to a festival in Holland, and the wonderful (thanks for the gig, Dick!) Bromyard Folk Festival.

During those times Moonstone was parked - sorry: moored - in marinas; awaiting her true calling of floating her lazy owners hither and yon. I say 'lazy', because the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire (and lately, Lincolnshire) are famously flat; thusly requiring few locks; the operation of which - whilst on actual canals - keeps us fit and trim.

Anyway ... in the spirit of an adventure even more intrepid (a ship upon which I served, at one time!) than venturing through The Pool of London, I had been suggesting to Lyn that; rather than retrace our course (boringly) back through the fens to Peterborough and Northampton, and thence to the Grand Union Canal; we might contemplate taking our boat out to sea, heading from Kings Lynn; across The Wash; over to Boston, in Lincolnshire. Upon consulting our underwriters, Lyn was devastated to learn that we were, indeed, insured for such a major passage across tidal waters. Consequently; the tides being at last in our favour; last Friday dawned bright and clear and we presented ourselves at Denver Sluice, (mostly) prepared for the transit to high-tide on the River Great Ouse.

DENVER SLUICE ... and not a Rocky Mountain to be seen!

Soon the tide turned and, following our pilot: Daryl Hill (aboard the incredibly ugly narrowboat: IRENE); we avoided the numerous mud-banks, over the 16 miles to Kings Lynn; and sometimes achieved almost 7mph., assisted by the ebbing tide. During the approximately 30 mile crossing, we passed sandbanks covered with basking seals, whilst being escorted by several dolphins, and hailing a large, anchored, merchantman. The crossing was relatively smooth, 'though the breeze bestirred itself during the final couple of hours of our six-hour crossing to the the River Withey; but all members of the crew managed to maintain their 'sea-legs' ... even your chronically sea-sick author!

Crew member: Tony O'Neill, having lost the canal, but not the plot! Note the view behind ...

... and ahead!

That's IRENE, fine on the port bow ... I told you she was ugly!

As the light begins to fade ... 

... we proceed up The Withey; looking for ... 

... Boston Stump, through the encroaching gloom.

Boston Stump is better appreciated by the light of a setting sun.

So; we survived yet another hazardous transit in our reliable 'maid of all work'. Though not designed for such deep-ocean (sort of) duties, Moonstone has, once again, borne us to safe haven. Now ... onward to Lincoln! More anon.