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From: Rosalie B. (no email)
Date: Sun Aug 04 2002 - 11:11:03 EDT
Bob and I just came back from a trip by air to England. Primary goal of
the trip was to see our daughter and grandson that we haven't seen for 2
years because they are over there on a job exchange. But Bob would rather
have saved the money and stayed home and rebuilt the front porch which is
rotting away even as we speak.
Consequently when I planned our trip, I tried to include as much maritime
stuff as possible. In addition to the narrowboat trip, this included
several boat trips on the Thames in London, and a visit to Greenwich - got
on a bus to the Tower station (rode on the top all the way there), and then
got the Docklands Light Rail out to Greenwich. We walked around the Gypsy
Moth which Sir Francis C. did a solo circumnavigation in (and wrote a book
about it which Bob has read). It had a windlass about halfway back on the
deck instead of right on the bow. We couldn't go aboard.
We walked around the outside of the Cutty Sark, but Bob didn't think it
was worth the admission fee of £3.50 to go on board. Then we took a
shuttle bus (£1.50 each) up to the observatory, and walked along the prime
meridian and looked at the exhibits there. Most of the observations of the
Royal Astronomer were made from a shed at the bottom of the garden, because
the observatory wasn't really built in the right place. Then we bused back
to the National Maritime Museum, where we had lunch and walked around
looking at the exhibits.
At about 2, we left because I wanted to take a boat down to the Thames
Barrier (which is to keep the Thames from flooding - it did it last in the
early 50's and killed a whole bunch of people). But none of the boat
ticket people would admit that it could be reached by boat, and I didn't
want to try the bus, so I gave up and bought a boat ticket back to
Westminster pier (reduced price- $12.40 even with a surcharge for using a
credit card because we are OAP - i.e Old Age Pensioners) Bob didn't want to
sit outside as it was cold and windy and looked like rain, and he hadn't
brought his coat. He had it Saturday and didn't need it. So we sat inside
and had a nice ride back to the city.
After we got to our daughter's place, we drove up to Llangolen in Wales to
see the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, which takes the canal boats from one side of
the hill to the other 126 feet above the river Dee. It is an iron trough
1007 feet long 11ft 10" wide and 5'3" deep, and was built in 1805. We
couldn't get to the town of Trevor on the other side because the car bridge
was being worked on, but we walked along the far towpath (first crossing a
bridge as a narrow boat was going through). We walked across the aqueduct,
Matthew actually was invited to hop on one of the boats and he rode part of
the way. We didn't have enough time booked on the narrow boat to get to
this aqueduct on the boat. The next day we went to the National Waterways
Museum in Gloucester. There are lots of interactive stuff to do.
Friday - July 26: Both Dave and Debbie went in to work. Debbie came home
about 10 and we packed food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. When Dave got
home we had lunch and loaded the boys in the USA car, and Debbie and I went
in her UK car (Rover), to Dunhampstead where the boat hire place was. We
parked in the last two places (free), and had the boat tour including
important lock information (don't leave the paddle winder in the lock
mechanism - it will jump out and doesn't float), boat running information
(check the sump every day, don't let the rudder catch on the lock sill or
the sill will damage the rudder - £££), stove running information (hold the
stove knob on for 30 seconds), and toilet running information (normal head
operation except that it was a fresh water flush directly into the holding
tank - Bob says they were SeaLand toilets).
Then we loaded the stuff we had brought. We brought towels, although
overseas visitors have them provided. We weren't sure, since we were
coming from Debbie's if we counted as overseas.
We decided to go down to Worcester and come back instead of going to
Birmingham because the route to Birmingham included among other things the
Tardebigge Locks - 30 locks in a row, and we didn't want to expend that
much effort. Plus, Birmingham isn't exactly a prime tourist destination.
But there were no tunnels on the route, and I wanted to do at least one
tunnel, so we went up toward Hanbury Wharf first, and went through the
Dunhampstead Tunnel (236 yards long), through Shernal Green, and turned
around at the Droitwich Junction where there is a defunct canal. The canals
are too narrow to turn except at junctions or turning points.
We could have had dinner at the Eagle and Sun pub, but it is apparently so
popular that we'd have to have reservations and besides it was too early
for dinner and too late for lunch. The boats used to be towed by horses,
but there was no towpath through the tunnels, so the horses were led around
and the men 'legged' the boat through the tunnel - lay on their backs and
walked the boat through with their legs on the sides or top of the tunnel.
Bob steered, and turned us around (the boat is 43 feet long, not quite 7
feet wide, and doesn't steer well in reverse) without any apparent
problems. It was like our boat, except half as wide and with no mast. The
boat steers by a long tiller and the helmsman stands on a little deck on
the back with no railing, and not enough room for another person. When you
reach into the cabin to change the engine setting (3 cyl. diesel), you have
to be careful not to honk the horn which is in there.
Then we went back down through the tunnel again, past the hire office, past
Oddingley with its ancient half-timbered manor house and tiny church (with
several murders to its credit) to the free public moorings in Tibberton -
distance of perhaps 7 miles in all.
We moored below the bridge and went up to eat dinner there at The Bridge
pub (we actually had a choice of two pubs) outside overlooking the canal.
I had rib eye, new potatoes, salad and raspberry rhapsody, Dave our SIL had
lemon sole, chips and veggies and blackberry pie and ice cream, Matthew had
sausage and chips which seems to be his favorite meal, Debbie had spinach
and ricotta lasagna and veggies and Bob had cottage pie, new potatoes and
salad, and both Debbie and Bob had knights in white satin for desert, which
turned out to be chocolate fudge cake with white cream icing. We drank
variously tea, Guinness, coke and sprite. Then we had a peaceful night.
We had a small boat, and after the entrance at the stern, the next thing
after you go down two steep steps was a fixed double which was so narrow
that Bob and I had trouble both lying flat without overlapping. Also one
side was against the bulkhead. Then there was a galley (gas stove with
igniter built in, and an oven, sink and under the counter refrigerator),
and a small table and 2 seats opposite. This table and seats make into a
single bunk. Then the head and shower area - shower and sink on one side
and toilet on the other. THe shower has to be manually pumped out. You
can pull the doors shut across the boat to make the bathroom private or you
can just use the head and people can still walk through. Then a couple of
long benches, which make into a larger than king-sized double or two
singles, and a place to put a larger table that we could all sit at in the
middle. Then the doors to the small bow area where 2 people could sit.
July 27 - Dave got up and ran up to the tunnel and back, then he got a
local paper and a national paper in Tibberton and showered. We were off
before 9. Right after Tibberton, the locks start. There were 14 of them
between Tibberton and the Severn River in Worcester. First were the
Offerton Locks (6). We were following another boat which also had first
time hirers. Another boat following us was more experienced.
Since we were all going in the same direction, that meant the first boat
wound open the top paddles, and after the lock filled opened the gates, Bob
(or later Dave) steered into the lock, and then the crew closed the top
paddles and gates. Opened the bottom paddles, and after the lock emptied,
opened the gates, and exited the lock, closing the gates and paddles
behind. Then we had to repeat the same procedure at each lock unless we
met a boat coming up, in which case they would fill the lock and leave the
top gates open. It was easier with two people to work the locks. WInding
the paddles down required some muscle.
At one point, the people ahead didn't shut one of the bottom paddles all
the way so the lock wouldn't fill. The lady in the boat behind us pointed
that out. After we got done with those locks, Dave started steering the
boat and Bob and Debbie worked the locks. We passed under a railroad
bridge, and intended to go into the Viking boat basin to get water, but
decided to go all the way down into Worcester almost to the Severn River
locks (the last 2 on the canal) and get water and turn around in the Diglis
basin ready to come back.
Bob took over running the boat in Worcester, and as we approached the
Sidbury Lock which was the last one we were going to do in that direction,
we saw a lady and a little girl in US type colonial costume feeding the
ducks in front of the lock. We came in to let Debbie and Dave and Matthew
off, and apparently one of the ducks got between the boat and the brick
side of the canal and was killed. The lady had a fit. But as the boat
yard manager said - you can't maneuver an 18 ton boat that precisely, and
also you can't see from the steering position exactly what is in front of
you because there's a big blind spot caused by the cabin.
It left a bad taste in everyone's mouths because we all felt that the lady
who was feeding the ducks had caused the problem and she was very officious
and said she would report it to the RSPCA and there would be a big fine,
and some guy (presumably her boss) wanted us to stop for us to talk to him
in the middle of locking down, or under the bridge which was next to the
lock which we couldn't do of course, and then came down and told us it was
a protected duck (!!!) and endangered etc. They asked for the boat number,
which was written in LARGE numbers on the side of the boat, along with the
hire companies phone number which he ostentatiously wrote down.
So we continued down and got water (it carries 140 gallons), and tied up
below the lock instead of above the lock where we would have been closer to
town as we had intended. The total distance was less than 6 miles. We got
off the boat and went into town and ate a late lunch at Charlie's Cafe
(Matthew had sausage and chips, I had quiche and salad, Dave had steak and
ale pie, Bob had a tuna sandwich and Debbie had a cheese potato and salad).
We didn't want to eat at the King's Arms with a view of the canal at that
point.
It was too bad that we didn't walk up into the cathedral first to eat
because they were having a food fair. We toured the cathedral (King John
is buried there) and Dave and Debbie and Matthew went up into the tower.
We got to hear the jazz ensemble rehearsing for the 1600 performance while
they were doing that, and also the bells were rung.
Bob and I walked to the Royal Worcester factory, and I bought a plate for
my mom. Dave and Debbie took Matthew to get some soccer spikes for camp
this week, and then they went to the Royal Worcester factory too.
Dave wanted to go to mass either Sun morning or Sat evening, so Debbie and
I had researched all the Catholic churchs in Worcester. (The Cathedral is
COE of course.) St. George's was not too far away which had 6 pm mass, so
they walked up to it, and Bob and I napped a bit on the boat, and then met
them at bridge #3 (we were moored right opposite the Royal Worcester
factory at bridge #2, but there was no access from the canal to bridge #2)
and then had dinner at Ye Old Talbot. (The food fair was over at 5:30 pm).
I had the lamp chop special, Debbie had the lamb joint which was more fat
and had bones, and Bob and Dave had steak and ale pie, which neither one of
them thought was as good as previous ones they had. Matthew had a
hamburger and chips for a change. Debbie and Matthew shared a chocolate
torte, Bob had lemon Brule (which was excellent), and I had a blackberry
pie for dessert. Dave had another Guinness.
I have finally gotten resigned to the fact that lemonade means Sprite here,
and hot tea is too hot for me to drink right away if I am thirsty, so this
time I ordered pineapple juice and got about half a glass of it. So I
ordered tap water in addition.
July 28 - Sunday - We had breakfast on the boat again, and Dave jogged up
as far as the railroad bridge, came back and showered. Debbie and Dave had
been awakened in the early hours by a mother swan chasing her adolescent
cygnets down the canal. She did the same about 7 in the morning.
Apparently the lower gates of lock #3 were open a little bit, and the
cygnets were sticking their heads between the lock gates and trying to get
into the lock, and she didn't want them doing that.
I thought we should get a jump start on everyone and leave early. We could
see the lock #3 was in the down position, so all we would have to do is
open the doors - we wouldn't have to empty the lock first. And in fact all
but one lock all the way back all we had to do was open the doors and drive
in and then fill the lock and drive out.
However at the first lock, we had a slight problem in that the engine was
running (and was putting out a LOT of black smoke - it was a diesel so it
always put out some, but this was more than usual), but the transmission
wasn't engaging so the boat wasn't going forward. Bob managed to keep the
rudder off the gates, and then when we got to the top of the lock, I handed
Dave and Debbie a line and they pulled us out of the lock. We tied up and
Bob opened up the little prop box (being sure to turn off the engine and
remove the key as instructed for safety) to see if it was fouled, but
didn't find anything. And when he started the engine again, everything
appeared to be fine. Then we ran aground in the middle of the canal and
had to back off (using the punting pole) and try again.
A little later at lock 5 or 6, a piece of wood got stuck in the lock gate,
and kept it from opening all the way, so when we tried to drive into the
lock, we got wedged in and couldn't go forward any more. Bob had me come
back to run the engine, and he and Debbie and Dave pushed the boat
backwards using the boat hook and pole as I revved up the engine in reverse
until we got unstuck. Then they shut the gate the piece of wood dropped
out and the gate could open again.
We stopped about 10 am after lock #8 (bridge 15) where there was a Leisure
Center with a playground, and let Matthew off to go play. We had morning
tea with scones and clotted cream and jam. We hadn't been able to get a
morning paper, or we would have read it then.
This time when we went through the 6 Offerton Locks, Debbie drove and Dave
and Bob worked the locks. We stopped at Tibberton again and had lunch on
the boat, and took naps. Then we proceeded to Dunhampstead so that Matthew
and Dave could drive back to the house so Matthew could go to soccer camp
and Dave could go to work in the morning. We tried to fill up with water,
but the sign said there was a charge, so we just moored in the hire company
basin, and unloaded stuff.
Bob and Debbie and I went to the Firs Inn pub for dinner. It was a little
early for dinner, but we weren't sure if they would be serving Sunday
dinner. They had a lunch board which said 2 course lunch was £7.95, but
they said it was too late for lunch. We decided to eat inside. It was too
hot to eat outside because there was no shade. The dinners started at
about £10.95. Then they changed their minds and said we could have lunch
after all. I had roast beef with yorkshire pudding, Bob had turkey and
dressing and Debbie had pork and dressing. I had Bristol crème Brule for
dessert, Bob had chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and Debbie just had
chocolate ice cream.
After we got back to the boat another couple with two teen age boys came in
and moored next to us. They had the boat for a week and had done the whole
ring up through Birmingham. They said it was nice except for the
Wolverhampton part when some boys made rude remarks like they were going to
break in a steal stuff off the boat (the TV) and asking them for a ride
etc.
Monday July 29 - We had breakfast, debriefed the hire boat people re: the
engine not turning the prop, and the dead duck. I bought some postcards
and a boat model for Matthew to make. Then we drove home via Tewkesbury
and through Cheltenham instead of going around the outside
When we got back we didn't have any problems (except the very hot weather)
except that the dinghy didn't drain and broke one of the boards in the
bottom, so Bob will have to repair that. The engine started right up and
ran fine.
grandma Rosalie
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