Monthly Archives: August 2019

The Grand Tour

Day 112 – Lapworth-it

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A very short journey for us this morning, through the final 6 locks of the Lapworth flight and onto the Grand Union, but it’s all of a 15 minute walk from where we started to where we finished!

We filled up with water, and got rid of some rubbish. We know boaters tend to like their booze, but the number of bottles at the bins was still quite impressive!

The barrel-roofed cottages are a common theme on the Stratford canal – the builders knew how to do bridge arches, so used the same skills do make the roofs too.

We initially moored up on the arm linking the Stratford and Grand Union canals, but then reversed up around the bend of the Grand Union to get away from the train line and a yapping dog, onto a much quieter mooring.

Donald and Beth met up with us in the afternoon to take Eira back home. We miss her already, and Sarah’s said a couple of times she’s looked around expecting to see her there but she isn’t! Donald and Beth very kindly brought us some goodies, including some lovely cheese presented on a beautiful Walnut board – hand made by Donald from a tree at Beth’s school.

I tucked into some Toblerone for smoko, which I’d been saving for a rainy day. Well it rained for a brief while, that counts doesn’t it? We also opened a little gift from Barry and Rosemary, which we’ll save for a nice meal out somewhere.

In the evening Richard and Jane from nb Casual Water came up to meet us. Jane had baked us a scrummy looking fruitcake; the no-longer-secret ingredient is crushed pineapple; we’ll tell you how it is tomorrow! We then had a great meal at The Boot Inn – the fourth time we’ve been there now I think, and every time it’s not disappointed.

A shout out to Richard who came up with today’s title, we were struggling a bit!

The Grand Tour

Day 111 – Winter Is Coming

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Leg cramps in the night, a mozzie bite on by bum (and yes I was wearing PJs) and a blocked ear despite what feels like enough oil drops in my ear to fry my own fish and chips! I was not on full form this morning, and certainly not looking forward to the 13 locks ahead of us.

A breezy morning, a fellow boater felt it cold enough to put the fire on, and we passed fields full of (dare I say the word) Christmas trees.

I offered Toby the chance to operate the first locks, they were quite far spaced out, so I could go slowly if any of them needed filling – and it keeps Toby off my back about steering. Toby has mastered the trick of pushing the open gate with one leg, I think I need a bit more practice.

13 locks done in super fast time, and we were moored by 12.30. Lunch of freshly baked sourdough bread (it’s a tough life) and cheese. Toby painted a coat of primer on the newly filled guttering.

We agreed that Oliver needed a bit of a clean, so we washed, rinsed, and dried the roof and one side. We noticed some light scratches on the side, probably from branches sticking out at bridge holes (and probably me steering), we can’t blame Romy or Peter for those ones! The scratches polished out nicely, and Oliver looks like a shiny new penny. Our reward – a smooze ice pop for me, and the rest of the chocolate fudge Ben and Jerrys tub of ice cream for Toby – yum!

The Grand Tour

Day 110 – Apple Bobbing In The Canal!?

What were all these apples doing in the canal today? We couldn’t see any nearby apple trees, so I think they must be leftovers from a massive apple bobbing competition. Or perhaps it solves the mystery of where Tim and Sam’s apples went to after they were stolen from the stern of their boat overnight. Who knows?

I’m getting ahead of myself though. After meeting Tim and Sam on nb Plan B at the Dudley BCLM moorings, we saw their boat again in Birmingham. We texted to say hello, and they invited us round for bacon sarnies in the morning – delicious! We’re headed separate ways today, so said our farewells but hope we’ll meet again somewhere sooner or later.

We turned right at Old Turn Junction, and under the newly named Black Sabbath Bridge. The local water taxi was waiting to depart, but kindly waited for us to go past first.

Sarah waved hello to “The Mailbox” as went by – ex Royal Mail offices now converted to shops and apartments. It’s changed a bit since back then!

I nearly shed a tear for the poor little teddy left behind, outside the new uni student flats 🙁

We had hoped to moor opposite Bourneville, but had been forewarned that the moorings were filled with “gypsy boaters”, and indeed there were. Four boats there that didn’t look to have any intention of honouring the 48hr stay signs, so we pressed on.

Fortified by some crumble for lunch (me, not Sarah!), we turned on to the Stratford canal at King’s Norton junction and through the disused guillotine lock.

The general advice is not to moor between the junction and the lift bridge at Shirley; we went a little further and moored up in the same spot as the last time we came this way, just after bridge 14 past Dickens Heath. Funnily enough nb “Autumn Years” is here too; they were moored just behind us in Birmingham, so we said hello again!

The Grand Tour

Day 109 – Up The Junction

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We had nine junctions to contend with today, usually we’re lucky if we get one! The weather forecast wasn’t looking great, so we cast off nice and early (well 8am, that’s early for Toby!). We were following Fred from nb Chyandour’s suggested route to Birmingham and it worked a treat.

Three locks, I steered and Toby operated the locks, he’s still in training though and forgot the handcuff key – thank goodness we’ve still got the fishing net on a pole to hand things over.

The canals were lovely and wide with so much greenery, and we had it all to ourselves in the main. We’re so pleased we made the decision to come this way, quite a few boaters we’ve passed on our travels have tried to put us off, I’m glad we stuck to the plan. It’s not often you come across a fork on the canal network, we stayed right.

We went under the M5, the bridge is quite impressive. Some of the graffiti we saw along the canal banks was quite a work of art.

On the wide sections of the canal on the New Line into Birmingham, there were islands in the middle with narrow channels either side, these were once the home of toll houses, and now long since disappeared.

Birmingham high rises seems to appear out of nowhere. We made the last or our turns at Oozells Loop and took the advice of Neil and Chris on nb Comfortably Numb, and moored at their favorite mooring off the main line. It’s a great little spot, we were lucky to get in, Toby got off to see if there was space, a boat turned in from the other direction so I pushed on the throttle and kept to the right making my intentions clear that I was having that space! The other boat carried on past us, so it all worked out.

We went for a walk in between the showers up as far as Gas Street basin, if you’re hungry, you’re not short of places to eat.

It’s fair to say we both got the munchies, so with a spoon each, we tucked in to some crumble and watched the first episode of Bake Off.

The Grand Tour

Day 108 – The Hanging Gardens of Dudley

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This morning we said farewell to Tim and Sam on nb Plan B, who we’d had a drink with, out on the canal side yesterday evening. They surprised us by giving us a handful of cooking apples; they had a massive carrier bag full of them from another boater they’d met.

I took Eira out for a short walk in the morning and found some blackberries. Sarah couldn’t resist making me a crumble from the later 🙂

I also took the chance to explore the entrance to Dudley tunnel, which Sarah had been around earlier. They have guided tours, which we booked onto for the afternoon. You can also arrange to have your own boat towed through by a tug, but we’re not going that way…not this time anyway!

Before we went on any jaunts, we needed to do an oil change, so we made the most of the cooler weather in the morning to get that done. It all went slickly, naturally!

The tour was very interesting. Sarah and I went on separate trips, so we had one of us on the boat to look after Eira. We had tried leaving her on her own, but she wasn’t having any of it and would have disturbed the neighbourhood for miles around with her barking if we’d both left her, she wouldn’t settle for some reason.

There are big open spaces in places, where the roof has been mined out. There are also some large enclosed caverns, one of which they use for putting on concerts, pantos and the like. The area in the photo below is jokingly known as the Hanging Gardens of Dudley.

The network of tunnels goes on for miles, including a lower level, but most of it is closed off now as it’s unsafe or flooded. In fact, a portion of the trip is through a much more modern tunnel adding in 1989 to allow for a round trip, avoiding a now unsafe part of the network.

In the old days boats were “legged” through the tunnel by men lying sideways across the boat with their legs ou the side, pushing with their feet along the tunnel wall. I got to have a go, but sadly no photo as Sarah wasn’t there with me. When they weren’t legging the boats along, they would pole them by sticking their boat hook in the ceiling and pushing on it, or pushing on a boat pole off the bottom. The bricks were all hand made and different sizes and colours, and took a bit of a beating from all the boat hooks being stuck into them.

In the afternoon we did a pumpout – a boat moved on last night, so we moved to the other side of the basin so we were in prime position. It’s a great little mooring spot, with a grass area for Eira and the toilet block and water tap all close to hand – and all secure and locked up after the museum closes at 5pm.

The Grand Tour

Day 107 – A Blinder Of A Day As Temperatures Peak

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A misty and chilly morning at 7.30 when we cast off, we had doubts as to whether it would warm up as predicted. We retraced out steps, turning left at the junction and back on new territory. In three hours, we only saw one moored boat and a handful of runners and dog walkers.

We turned at the junction towards the Black Country Living Museum and had everything crossed that there would be a mooring, yey, we got one! You can see how close we are to the museum, it worked out perfectly. A number of the scenes from Peaky Blinders are filmed here, our timing couldn’t have been better with the latest series airing this weekend.

With it being the hottest bank holiday on record, it was certainly busy.

We saw steel being shaped at The Foundry….

….and chain links being made. So good were the chains from Birmingham, they were asked to make the anchor and chain for the Titanic.

We’d heard the fish and chips cooked in beef dripping at Hobbs and Sons were legendary, so we got in line and queued (along with everyone else!) for 40 mins, and boy they were worth the wait, absolutely delicious.

There was a street of shops including a tobacconist (I overheard some interesting conversations with parents and little ones as to why they don’t exist anymore – or maybe they do, we just call them vape shops now), a dispensary, a sweet shop (rhubarb and custard sweets duly purchased) and a bakery.

The Grand Tour

Day 106 – The Wolverhampton 21

We were up at 6:30 this morning, and off by 7am, so we could hit the Wolverhampton flight before the day got too hot – with the forecast set to rise to 30C and full sun later, even I can get out of bed early!

One little stop lock to warm us up, a right turn at Autherley Junction and then left at Aldersley junction, and then we were onto new territory for us.

We started with lock no. 21, and soon met a cyclist coming down who told us that one or two pounds up around lock 9 had been emptied overnight by some jokers. Shortly after we saw the CRT man working his way up the locks – we understand they check every day because empty pounds are such a common occurrence.

The good news for us was that every lock after the first was set in our favour, and by the time we got up to lock 9 any issues had been resolved, though one pound was rather low.

We passed two boats coming down, and saw another three up at the top near the services, where we pulled in for water just to keep things topped up. The water was incredibly clear, with lots of weed growing on the bottom. It feels like not many boats come through this way, which is a shame as we quite enjoyed it.

Taking advice from Fred on nb Chyandour, we turned off our route at Horseley Fields Junction and turned left up the Wyreley and Essington as far as Wednesfield. Here we found a lovely mooring on bollards by the retail park, with some trees offering shade. Sarah turned us around and we moored up for the rest of the day.

Sarah went to Sainsbury’s for supplies, whilst I left the boat but stayed near to check Eira was ok. After some initial whining, she calmed down once she saw I was still around, and then when I moved out of sight again later she was fine. We’ve not left her alone on the boat before, so it was good to know she seemed ok.

The three of us then chilled out in the shade, a glass of pimms for me (cheers Barry!) and a cup of tea for Sarah. I followed the cricket on the phone, and was delighted when England just squeaked out a win, to bring the Ashes level at 1-1.

We’ve only seen one other boat on the Wyreley and Essington all day, and that was moored up. No need to worry about anyone going past too fast!

A quick update on the bread from yesterday. It could have done with a bit more time in the basket to prove at room temperature, but as we had the locks coming up it went in as it was. The bread is tipped out of the basket, and slashed across the top to give room for expansion. It then gets 20 minutes in the oven (most people would say 30 mins, but Sarah likes a thinner crust). The first 10 mins I have a tray with some water in the bottom of the oven to add steam, and then take it out and turn the loaf around for the last 10 mins.

The Grand Tour

Day 105 – Migraine Misery

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We start with a photo from yesterday evening and a lovey sunset. It was early to bed as we had a heavy locking day ahead of us. Toby woke in the night to a migraine, so we agreed it’s best if we stay put for the day so Toby can recover, and not be in full sun all day.

A walk into Bilbrook to buy a paper, and a Costa fluffy coffee for Toby (all part of the recovery plan!). Toby decided to build up the filler, so once it’s painted, the whole surface will be smooth. It’s surprisingly malleable but soon goes off and hardens.

We’re both guilty of getting the munchies when we stay put for the day. You can’t eat anything in secret with Eira being around! She’s partial to a cheese straw and licking the yoghurt pot clean, although her tongue isn’t long enough to clean her face, and required a bit of human assistance.

The rest of the day was sat out in the shade reading the paper.

Toby started another sourdough loaf – I’ll let him explain it all… we know one or two of our readers are interested in making their own, so hope it might prove informative.

Toby here… so… there are a million different ways to make sourdough and everyone has their own take on it. This is just mine and what works for me. Being on the boat things have to be a bit flexible with time and temperature. It’s very warm at the moment, ideal temperatures for the yeast which is great. Key – T=Time from starting.

  • Starter mix T-0
  • Starter mix, T+6hr
  • Starter mix, T+6hr
  • Dough mix after adding salt, T+6.5hr
  • Boule of dough mix, T+6.5hr
  • T+7.5hr pre-shaping
  • T+7.5hr, boule of dough
  • T+8.5hr, boule of dough

The starter mix is 40g white bread flour, 40g warm water, and 20g of the mother (which is the same 50-50 ratio of flour and water). This is just left in a pot with a loose lid on, until it’s at least doubled in height in the pot and has lots of air bubbles in it. It should float if you put a blob of it in water. Today I left it for 6 hours before making the main dough mix.

The dough is made with the starter above, 300g bread flour (I’m using a malted mix from Shipton Mill) and 200g of warm water. Technically you want the final mix at 28C, for which you can use the formula: (Final dough temp x 2) - flour temp = water temp or you just say hand warm and approximate it.

Thoroughly mix everything together, and then leave for 20-30 minutes in a covered bowl. This lets the flour absorb some water before you start trying to work it. Then add 7g salt, with a splash of water and work it in so it’s well mixed. Shape the dough into a boule (google it!) – the aim here is to stretch and add tension to the dough.

Leave to prove in a warm environment (we use an airing cupboard at home). After 45 minutes, reshape it into a tighter boule as it will have spread out and flattened. Repeat twice more after 45 minutes each time, and then leave for a final hour. Each time the dough should be looking smoother, and holding it’s shape a bit better.

After that, the dough then goes into a banneton, covered up and put in the fridge overnight. Alternatively leave it in a warm place for about 2 hours. We’ll show this and the following stages tomorrow.

The Grand Tour

Day 104 – Return of the Sarah

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I spent the morning repairing the end of the guttering at the stern of the boat, which captures all the rain and sends it down a run-off to the side. The port side never really drains though as the boat has a slight lean to the right – almost all the heavy stuff is on the right, and there’s not enough ballast to compensate it.

The net result is a very rusty and corroded end to the guttering, to the point now that water overflows into the engine bay. You can see the port side on the left (after removing the flaking rusty bits), compared to the starboard side on the right.

I used a dremel with a wire wool brush to remove most of the surface rust, and then cleaned it up and painted over with some vactan to help neutralize and seal any remaining patches of rust. I then built the end back up using some epoxy putty. It’s not something I’ve used before, but looks promising so far.

A bit of filing down the rough edges and a few licks of paint and hopefully it’ll soon look like new again, assuming the putty holds strong.

Jobs done for now, I was closely watching Sarah’s progress on the train back, and exchanging messages on WhatsApp. The 12 minutes to make the change at Birmingham New Street slowly decreased down to 5 minutes as the train was delayed. Luckily she made it in time – good job too as the next train to Bilbrook after that was 2 hours later due to a cancellation.

That’s the end of train journeys home for this trip, hooray! Happily reunited on Oliver we caught up with each other’s news.

Sarah’s lost 1st 4lb since the start of the holiday, and now weighs less than I do – the only downside is her trousers are a bit loose around the waist now and require a safety pin to hold them up!

Tomorrow we tackle the Wolverhampton 21 flight of locks – looks like it’s going to be a scorcher of a day. Hopefully it won’t be as much of a melter as Hatton was in 2015.

The Grand Tour

Day 103 – Bilbrook Blackberry Pie

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Today was Sarah’s last trip back to hospital before we return home. For once the trains ran on time, and it was a smooth journey – only one change, at Wolverhampton once more, and the train to Oxford leaves from the same platform as the Bilbrook train arrives on, so that’s handy!

No, Sarah didn’t take Eira with her – she’s just holding the lead so I can take the photo!

Bilbrook’s a nice little place, lots of handy shops, and some lovely signs. Eira had a good run around the park on the way back from the train station.

I went foraging for blackberries with Eira in the afternoon. She seems to quite like them too, but is happy to let me do the picking.

There was an apple tree too, but the apples were well out of reach – so I got some down with the boat hook! Sadly they were more suitable for cider than anything else, but we had a couple of apples from Donald and Beth, so I used those with the blackberries:

Ok I confess it was shop-bought pastry, but very yummy all the same, it went down great with some custard. If anyone’s in the area I’ve got some left over!