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Clarence Dock, Leeds.
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More students..........equals much less sleep.
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Creeping through the back door of Leeds on Friday.
Approaching the city from this direction is not as nice as from the other end, a bit more industrial as opposed to the posh high rise apartment blocks.
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After having been taken around by our son Drew in his friends car this morning (a car is a very handy thing you know), we are sitting here with extra ropes and fenders out due to the wind howling around the basin.
The fire was alight last night and the winter quilt broken out from its summer storage compartment................it had been in there all of four days!
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Wedding anniversary tomorrow, Oysters and Champagne are chilling in the fridge, mind you, you could probably just leave them outside in this weather.
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This time last year we were sweltering along the Pennines where we had stopped for a couple of days to enjoy it all. Pictures here what a difference a year makes!
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Until next time...........................................
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Whitley Lock To Castleford, 2 Locks And One Flood Lock. Then onto Leeds, 5 Locks And One More Flood Lock.

Break out the gloves..............again!

As it turns out this snap I took the other day is a bit of history repeating itself.

The Humber Pride started transporting oil products along the canal again in April this year after a gap of ten years. There is talk of it saving thirteen lorry loads in each trip, Is this just history or the future?

Thursday was a bit of a grueller as we headed to Castleford.

T shirts to start, coat and gloves to finish as it was so cold. To give you some idea of this stupid weather, I couldn't even wear my silly canal hat to keep the rain off my head as it was too windy.

There is a saying that goes along the lines of, "Ne'er cast a clout till may is out". "Clout" in this instance is an item of clothing.

These old sayings seem to have a real bearing on things, even nowadays.

Passing this uplifting declaration,

you are faced with rows of disused coal barges rusting away. The Humber Pride is back in action, why not this lot?
















Friday, and we are following the river Aire towards Leeds.
Quite how that car got there is a puzzle. I can only assume that it must have been washed down the river when it was in flood.

Four hours later and we are passing through the lock under the famous Armoury.












The Armoury in all its canalside glory.
Being a bit of a pedant as to people flying the flag upside down, I think that they have got one wrong on their poles outside. I am going to have to have a walk over there later and see.

Sad or what?

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Until next time.........................

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Whitley Lock.




Large...ish ships abound.









This picture gives some idea of scale.








Off he goes, powering away to give himself some steerage speed.
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We have tucked ourselves away here to have a bit of an internal decoration, brushes and paint pots litter the boat at the moment.
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There is a real up side to painting the inside of Ubique. She is clad in wood from the roof to the gunwale level so really there is not that much left to paint. What there is though has really suffered from the winter condensation and it is going to be very grateful for its nice new coat.
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Until next time.............................
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Thorne To New Junction, Then Onto Whitley Lock. 4 Locks.

It ain't half hot mum........ and one of "Those" people!

Our neighbour at Thorne turned out to be one of those people who must let everyone in earshot know what they are doing and what they have done. There is one on every campsite we have visited but they are thankfully rare on the canals.
This one would not leave us alone, every time we went outside he was there. Yak, yak, yak, trying to eat breakfast, yak. Trying to do the crossword, yak. Trying to paint, yak.

It culminated with him finding an excuse to run his chainsaw on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday was a mad dogs and Englishmen type of day, it was so hot the Tarmac was melting on the roads yet this twit found the need to run his chainsaw for half an hour to use up the petrol in the tank which was getting............. smelly!!
He then ran his generator from seven until nine in the evening because he thought he might have a problem with the batteries.
The most annoying thing though was we could not move away from him as there was no other mooring to go to unless we went miles away, it was far to hot for that so we just had to stick it out.

Onward.

Monday, and Thorne Lock had an interesting set up. This is the exit with the top gates open, that is the only way you can get the swing bridge to work as they are connected electronically, no open gates, no open bridge.

A quick turn onto the New Junction Canal found this guillotine gated aqueduct.

Let them eat cake, I just love Garlic, Berets are a fashion statement, bring on the onion sellers..... just don't let that gate go.

Half way across and there is a definite bow in the cassion allowing the water to cascade over the edge to the river below.
The New Junction was five and a half miles of arrow straightness interspersed by lift and swing bridges. I must admit I was nearly asleep by the time we reached the end.
It was like a long sea passage without the benefit of an Auto Pilot.









Tuesday and we are on the Aire & Calder Navigation, no let up from the "vanishing point" style of boating along here either.

A lock, a lock, my kingdom for a lock.

Theres one!... that's handy, lets get pushing some buttons.

Those huge walkways encroaching into the lock are a feature along here. They do make locking up interesting as you try desperately not to get the stern stuck under the things.

Hows this for being absolutely ridiculous...........

We are sitting here talking about lighting the fire as we have just been outside to watch one of the big boys go through and it is really, unbelievably cold out there.

What can you say???

Until next time............................

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Thorne.



From winter coats and thermal gloves to frying eggs.






We are hanging around here for a couple of days to repair the damage that was done to the paintwork when it rained all over it the last time I got the brush out.


Three days or so ago I was wearing my winter coat with gloves, yesterday you could have fried an egg on the roof...... and I'm not joking either.

Ooooo we have had a bit of luck in stopping here.
Wandering up to the local Somerfield we noticed that there were so many offers on the throat oil as to be silly, we found out that the store is closing down for a refit and everything must go!

Well................what can you do? The entire cider shelf was in the trolley in seconds.
Thirty pound bottles of Champagne for six pounds, very handy with our anniversary fast approaching. Three litre brand name wine boxes for a tenner.......... Ubique has a bit of a list at the moment!






A great place for sunsets as well.












Until next time................................





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Keadby To Thorne. Lots Of Swing Bridges.

Onto the Stainforth & Keadby canal, and we lose Crunchie.........for a while.

After the may days along the Trent what a relief it is to get back on the northern canals.

The water is so clear up here you can watch the Pike hunting as you go by, and we only saw two other boats over the course of the whole day........this is much more like it and a million miles away from the chaos that is Braunston.

Our first bridge of the day was this skewed railway crossing. This bridge is manned twenty four hours a day seven days a week. All you have to do is toot your horn and wait for instructions. These came in the form of the signalman hanging out of the window and waving for us to stop.

Five minutes later and the grandly named Trans Pennine Express - with its two coaches - came trundling across....... This was always going to be a good day.

The bridge itself is a masterpiece of design, the track slews across the canal at about forty five degrees and disappears into the bank. This is it on its way back out.

Nearly across here. The moving bits that carry the bridge slide away at ninety degrees to the canal. Can you imagine the math used to work that lot out?

D was in her element along here, more or less every bridge was a "stop the traffic bridge".
There is something quite satisfying about working these bridges though, maybe it has something to do with being able to control the flow of the cars - in a power mad sort of way - .

There is always danger to be looked out for on the waterways, especially if you are in a fifty five foot high narrowboat. We are fifty five foot long and stand about five feet out of the water. Therefore, unless we were winched up by the bow to become vertical there was no way we were going to connect with those 132,000 volts....... We were cautious as the sign demanded, but we deemed it safe to pass, it was.......result!








The rail line follows the canal all the way along here and the train drivers, to a person, gave us a toot on their horn and a good old wave as they passed us by.

This lift bridge operated so quickly it caught me out as I was still on the side when it was nearly open. This must be due to the road it carries being very busy indeed and a swift turnaround is required.

This one on the other hand was so slow we didn't think we were going to get through. It wasn't working properly at all. D got it open just enough to squeeze Ubique through, with a bit of grease on the sides, and we were at our moorings for the night.

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There was no letting Crunchie off this evening after the fuss we had with her this morning. We let her out for a morning run as she has only had pontoons to get on for a while now, and she promptly shot over into the brush and got herself completely lost.

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An hour and a half later of calling , Crunchie, Crunchie, Crunchie, we were rewarded with a plaintive miaow from deep within the scrub. Lots of fuss later and we had grabbed her.

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I'm not sure she has quite recovered from that as yet because the doors are open now due to the heat and she is staying put.

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Until next time............................

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Cromwell Lock To Keadby Lock. 2 Locks Two Days.






Never again.........unless we get more control of our destiny!!









Leaving to drop through Cromwell lock on Monday morning, the sun was out the sky was blue and there was even an hot air balloon over head. T shirts and life jackets were all that was needed.
Half way through the trip I was in my fleece with my winter coat over the top and Thinsulate gloves on. The wind had got up!

The boat on the left of this picture had only been owned for three days by the man on the tiller and he was trying to get to South Witham.
Could he follow us down as he didn't know where he was going? was the question.
Neither do we was the answer, but follow us he did.







Once through the lock we were out on the tidal river, and yes that is a wall of water, the largest weir on the Trent.

From here on in we had three and a half hours to get to Torksey. It was about two hours in to the trip when I started to doubt the passage times given to us by the lock keeper.

You have to trust these people to put you right but to cut a long story short they were at least four hours out on the whole trip. That might not seem to be too much but when you consider that you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to get into Keadby Lock at a certain time as if you miss it there is no other option.

By no other option, I really do mean NO other option. There is no plan B or C, Its plan A or nothing.

The first leg of the trip started to go wrong when the following boat ran aground in the middle of the channel on a falling tide. We had to make a very dodgy turn to try and get back to help him. Thankfully he came away easily and we were off again.

The time errors started to creep in as we were supposed to carry the ebb tide all the way to Torskey but ended up fighting against a strong spring flood tide for over an hour while we dodged the ships that were following the flood tide up the river.

We made the mooring cut at Torksey with a sense of euphoria and a very warm Ubique.

Our following friend commented that he thought this life was supposed to be relaxing and that was one of the most stressful things he has ever done.

D is here masterfully pointing out just how high the water levels can reach around here








Blot or what?
The Trent valley is full of power stations, this one is connected to London...... of all places.



Determined not to get caught out by bad advice again, I really questioned the lock keeper at Torksey who told me that the lock keeper at Cromwell is always doing that, sending boats out with no time to make the trip.
He then told us that the next leg would take us four and a half hours and to leave at midday tomorrow.
Twenty seven miles in a narrowboat, punching the tide for at least two hours how is this going to happen?
Don't worry you will make it...... no problem!!!!

We set off at half eleven but after three hours we still had seventeen miles to go!

Phoning the lock keeper at Keadby we were expected to have covered those ten miles in an hour and we were now behind schedule. In reality that would have meant Ubique running at ten miles an hour into a strong spring tide.

She might make that flat out downhill with the wind behind her............ at a push.

All confidence in the clowns that they have for lock keepers along here evaporated at that moment and the shouting down the phone began.

Q: Are we going to make it then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Q: What is the latest time we can enter the lock then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Q: What do we do if we don't make it then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Click!



We went for it, if only to get hold of the twit on the end of the phone.

We were soon playing with the big boys around here.











This is our entrance to Keadby lock, it is under the bows of that ship. What you also need to know is that there is a five mile an hour tide sweeping us down past it.

A narrowboat broadside in the tideway is something else, more power Scotty.
Still no opening though.
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There it is.........even more power Scotty







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We shot into the lock where we listed over at about twenty degrees as we ran up onto the build up of silt that is actually inside the lock. This left us with our stern inches inside the lock gates and hard aground.
Another minute and you wouldn't have made that says the lockie/water idiot from the safety of his eerie.
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Complaints are flying to BW about this nonsense, It probably wont make a blind bit of difference as you are the master of your vessel.
That said, you are normally bound to do what the lock keepers tell you to do.
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That wont be me the next time though.
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Until next time..........................










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Newark To Cromwell Tidal Lock. 1 Lock.
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Here we are then.......poised for the assault.
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This is the scene from the bow this afternoon.
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We had a short cruise down to here from Newark where we are tied to a floating pontoon again.
Crunchie is getting the right hump about this, no nice banks of grass to play on just hard old pontoons.
She goes out, has a look then comes back in and positively throws herself onto the floor with a big thump and sulks.
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Ubique is being got ready for this part of the trip as best we can. Nice new oil in the engine and gearbox, water trap drained, filters changed and the stern tube greaser packed with grease.
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We are booked in to leave on the first leg of the journey at seven thirty tomorrow morning. Three to four hours should see us at a place called Torksey where we will over night and pick up our instructions for the following days trip.
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Until then...........................
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Gunthorpe To Newark. 3 Locks.

A glide along the river with Cygnets at the end.

The River Trent has been a bit of an eye opener for us so far, wide open spaces, banks that seem to be miles away and us getting along quite a bit faster than normal.

That is until we were passed - as if we were standing still - by this canoeist. He certainly was going for it and was soon well out of sight.

The first lock of the day and the lock keeper (They are all manned along here) was doing his licence check, he took a very long look, a very very long look, then shouts down
Ubique? Ubique from Ripon?
Thats us says I, and yes that's where she came from, we have owned her for a year now.
I didn't think I had seen her last year and that would explain it.
A long chat later and we were on our way.

To take a step back......... for that lock keeper to recognise this boat amongst all the thousands of craft that must pass through these locks in a year he must have known the previous owner quite well.
That said, we are heading into what is uncharted territory for us, we are going to be thrown down a very tidal part of the river, with only one way out, Keadby. Miss that and we will be swept to the Humber.

Again lots of uncertainties for us, but it seems Ubique has done it all before.








The second lock of the day was showing the red light as we approached.
A short wait was upon us until it opened up and disgorged boat,








after boat,








after boat.
Five of these cruisers came forth from this lock, all apparently heading to the pubs and ice cream bistros of where we had just left.
This lock keeper observed that that is one very expensive way to go get an ice cream.

I liked him immediately.










We are not members so we couldn't ski off the back. I think I might write in and complain!










Dropping through the last lock we were in Newark, passing under what is left of their castle.
Even that looks solid though, a message of......don't even think about trying to get in here still lingers.









Moored for the day and we were visited by our first Cygnets of the season. A chance for one hasty, out of focus rubbishy snap before they were out of range.
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Until next time.................................










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Barrow On Soar To Gunthorpe.





A digest of the last week.







I am trying to catch up today as I have got so far behind recently. All I have been doing after a days cruising is fall into bed.

We left Barrow on Sunday chugging off into a glorious day,

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arriving at the Loughborough basin in the afternoon. That reflection in the water is a huge block of student accommodation. Also the soppy design of the pontoon here means you can only get one boat alongside. There is no way in the world you can squeeze into that gap.

We should have turned around there and then!!! a wonderful thing is hindsight.

Students are an extremely noisy breed especially on their way to and from the local pubs and clubs.

They seem to have a total inability to talk at a normal level once out on the street, everything must be yelled, shouted, hollered and even sung to each other.

They come back home in waves up until about half one in the morning, then you get a break until the hardcore screamers come out of the clubs at three. These are the ones who try to let your boat go but are so drunk they cant function properly. They can scarper though when you put the light on them.

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Leaving the basin as soon as I could stay out of bed for more than ten minutes at a time we headed of to a little place called Zouch where we managed an unbroken nights sleep. The lights were green meaning the river is open, if red, a long wait is possible.

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Zouch was in the wake come Thursday morning and we were heading for Nottingham.

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You are not going to Nottingham? asked a man sunning himself on a bench at this lock.

That's the plan, says I.

Watch where you moor around there then, vandals everywhere.

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Inwardly rolling my eyes I am thinking not another piece of good advice. If we listened to half of this advice we would not move the boat again for fear of trouble.

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This lock speaks volumes about what the place is like, it has windlasses welded to the paddles meaning that any passer by can operate the lock with ease.

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Most areas approaching cities have anti vandal mechanisms fitted to the lock gear which have to be opened with special keys.

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Its now Friday and we are moored up behind a gigantic "Gin Palace" at Gunthorpe lock.

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The boat is enormous, they have to climb down a ladder just to get off the thing.

Having just had their afternoon drinkies session on one of the rear decks, they lowered the tender from its davits and took it for a blast up and down the waterway.

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It sure is a different world here on the rivers!!

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Until next time...............................

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