Dog Blog: Lynx’s Diary

Monday 27th June

Aunty Sarah and me houndie friends...

Well, me houndie friends, I has had a perfick weekend wif sum hadventures an’ LOTS of restin’, wot woz nice. I is allowed to charge around now, but I’s decided not to – is too hot. Mummy Sue bin doin’ sighin’ – “how could be such a drama queen when you couldn’t charge around and now that you can, you don’t want to!”. You know, me friends, hu-mums is a bit dim sumtimes – is a hooge diff’rence ‘tween not bein’ allowed to charge round and not choosin‘ to charge round – ev’ryone knows that – d’oh!

On Wednesday me an’ Lou went to see Aunty Pat an’ her friends wot looked after us before we gots proper mummies – we loves Auntie Pat coz we gets lots of fuss an’ bits of ham san’wiches – she makes the best ham san’wiches. Mummy Sue gave Aunty Pat lots an’ lots of jam – good, I duzn’t like jam. Mummy Sue sez they will sell the jam to get muney to look after the uvver houndies wot duzn’t have hu-mums yet. I’s had a snigger at Aunty Pat’s racing dogs – they is just puppies and duzn’t know about sofas and stuff yet – “give it a few years” I sez “then you’s be retired like me wif all luxury beds an’ wotnot” – “woof off grandad” they sed – huh, the yoof of today…..

On Friday three of me houndie friends cum round – there woz Aunty Sarah an’ Henry an’ Archie an’ Monty. We hasn’t met Monty before – he’s a bit of a scaredy boy like Ty so he fitted straight into our pack. Monty is brindle, like wot Lou is, and he’s old, like wot Lou…uh, sorry Lou. The rest of us is black – Aunty Sarah wonts to take all our collars off then wouldn’t know wot black dog woz wot. Mummy Sue sez she’d always know me an Ty coz we is her speshal boys.

Aunty Sarah woz givin her boys a big treet – a run round my field. But, fing is, we’re retired so we duzn’t do runnin’ to order no more and anyway, we’s too bizzy doin’s sniffin’ and weein’. We dun a bit of runnin’, but mainly we’s followed each uvver round the field, nose to bum,  “like elephants in a circus” sez mummy Sue – blah blah blah – she duz talk sum nonsense – us, like helephants – maybe she woz talkin’ about Lou wot is a big puddi…uh, sorry Lou…

Wen we dun all our wee’s we all cum inside for piggy lugs, an’ chewies an’ hot chikkin an’ pizza and ice cream – I duzn’t know wether we woz s’posed to have them last fings but Henry hinsisted. Then we’s all had a long sleep – there woz greyhounds all over the floor – ‘cept for Henry – he is one bizzy hound. Ty woz very brave – he luves Henry an’ Archie coz they is young dogs like him and they dun rummagin’. Me an’ Lou and Monty took it easy.

Aunty Sarah sed “Lynx is very quiet”

Aunty Sarah tryin' to get us to run...

“Ooh” ses mummy Sue “I’ll check him out – come on Lynx” she sez “just lookin’! – Aaargh. She dun proddin’ and pokin’ an’ found a sore bit in me back – OOWWW. Woz ok tho’ coz I gots strawberry flavoured tablets wrapped in beef slices ‘n cream cheese  an’ I is all better now.

On Saturday we wents to the boat – it woz a long long trip in the car but we got to stop at the service station – there woz long grass for sniffin’, pafs for rummagin’, trees for weein’ an’, would you believe it, short grass covered wif rabbit poo – they’s thought of ev’rything a houndie coulds need. Ty woz a bit of a scaredy wuss boy but me an’ Lou had’s a luvverly time wand’rin’ round. Just think – all the dogs wot come there will know we’s bin there – we is famus!

We’s got to the boat and me an’ Lou woz just settlin’ down to sum lookin’ wen daddy Richard took us off for a rummage – fair enuff; then we’s settled down to sum more lookin’ an’ they’s stopped the boat – wot? They’s just dun one hour’s croosin’ so we’s hardly got to see anyfink apart from sum birds an’ sum sheep. Where we stopped was hinteresin’ tho’ coz we could’s look into all the people’s gardens wot are by the canal, but there wozn’t any cats. I liked the look of one garden – I’s dun starin’ an’ starin’ – mummy Sue sed “I’s watchin’ you Lynxie boy” – huh, she’s no fun at all!

We wents down the pub – we hads out favrit sheepskins. Mummy Sue ordered a mixed grill, wot woz hooge, so we hads leftover steak, an’ bacon’ an black puddin’ an’ white puddin’ an’ we had sum proper sosidjes just for us. A lady at the next table sed I woz “gorgeous” and give me a big fuss then she give me leftover batter from her fish – batter? No fanks – it’s the bestest fish or nuffink!

Mummy Sue is reeely cross coz the camera focused on the flowers instead of Ty - stoopid camera!

We woz all a bits tired wen we got to the boat so we wents to sleep until Ty had the dire rear. Mummy Sue sez I is the loyalest hound ever coz if Ty needs a walk I’s always goes wif them, even in the middle of the night. I likes walking in the dark – there is lots of little critters – but mummy Sue wurries that we’s goin’ to walk right into the canal – d’oh, we is sighthounds you know, we knows were the canal is!

On Sunday I woz ready to sum more lookin’ but they never moved the boat – they dun polishin’ an’ paintin’ instead. Well, it woz like a holeeday – once I knew they woz doin’ a proper job I’s just relaxed on the long grass – woz all comfy and sumtimes I woz in the sun and sumtimes I woz in the shade, an sumtimes I woz half in the sun an’ half in the shade. Then I’s moved to anuvver bit of grass. I’s got lots of fuss from people wot woz walking by an’ mummy Sue sed I was the bestest boy coz big dogs an’ little dogs kept coming up to sniff me an I’s just hignored them. We’s enjoyed our holeeday – Lou woz on her sofa and Ty woz hidin’ under the sofa an’ I woz outside. Wen I woz hungy I caught mummy Sue’s eye and she brought me sum weetabix crushed up proper in cold milk – very refreshin’. She wozn’t so good wif me drinks order – the water woz a bit warm and she’d forgotten the nice little umbrella an’ a cocktail wabbit on a stick – I’s refused to drink it – this is meant to be a luxury resort.

Cor, it wasn’t half hot, which I qwite likes, but mummy Sue she sed “come in Lynx” so’s I had to go inside, but she arranged our beds just so, then she turned the fan on so we woz in a nice cool breeze – hmmmmm.

We’s had a luvverly day an’ we all slept all the way home, and all night, and all day Monday – well, bein’ on holeeday is ever such hard work….

Me holeeday snaps…

Duz I look good in lavender?

Havin' a little rummage....

Here we comes (1) - that's Archie Lou an' Monty....

Here we comes (2) - wheee....

Here we comes (3) - the oldies dun good but Archie's pullin' away....

Here we comes (4) - Henry's comin' up from behind...

Here we comes (5) - we's back on track - see Ty comin' in from the side?

Here we comes (6) - we luves to run, a little bit....

Watch out Henry - Lou's comin' to get you...

Archie an' Henry is fine hounds...

Chargin' around is luvverly if you's can have a nice rest in the soft grass...

Ooh, is that me refreshments.....?

Me old mate Monty have a little rummage...

Me an' Lou doin' lookin'...

Fields full o' corn is not half as int'restin' as fields full of sheeps....

Mummy Sue sez I is very cute - oh course!

On the beach - well, the towpaf - this holeeday resort is ok!

Jus' chillin' - I likes this boatin' lark....

Us all chillin' in front of the fan - Ty woz sort of under the sofa but mummy Sue made sure the breeze woz gettin' to him ...

The Odyssey 2011: Day 19

Fazeley Mill Marina to Hopwas

Oh yes, an epic cruise – a whole hour and a half – that’s four miles and no locks!!!!

Saturday 25th June

View over Fazeley Mill Marina - we liked it here...

We had a busy Friday, with a whirl of social activities – Sarah and three hounds came for lunch (Lynx will tell you all about that!), then we went to a friend’s golden anniversary party then we went out for a meal with cousin Denise and husband Wyn – they were up in London for Denise’s big birthday treat – a visit to Wimbledon combined with a long weekend exploring the city. We ate at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant in London – phew, we’re still reeling at the price – it was good food and charming service but not THAT good. Wyn and Denise are good company though, so we consoled ourselves in the classy (NOT!) Bavarian beer cellar opposite where Richard could wonder how the Fraulein’s underwear worked then drowned our sorrows in a pub close to Old Street tube station. It was a late night, all the more so as the poor dogs hadn’t been left alone for long (they had been let out between out afternoon and evening engagements – honest!), but they’re not used to us being out that late – they probably thought they’d been abandoned!

Anyway, we were a little weary on Saturday morning and slow to get going – we didn’t leave Surrey ’til late morning and the motorways were busy. Given Ty’s experience in the car last week we were a bit concerned when an overpowering smell spread through the car. We hastily turned into the Oxford services on the M40 – we parked in a quiet-ish corner and took the hounds for a walk. There is an extensive dog-walking area here as the services are surrounded by overgrown embankments – perfect – though no off-lead areas, even for Lou and Lynx. Ty was fine – no accidents in the car and he wasn’t too terrified of the services (by Ty standards). The hounds seemed quite settled, and the weather cool, so we got coffee and lunch here before moving on.

We got to the boat late afternoon – the folk at Fazeley Mill Marina are really very friendly, it is a very nice place to moor  – they’d moved the boat nearer to the entrance – mainly because the person whose berth we were occupying had come back; but it was a move in our favour with two curious hounds and one scaredy wuss boy to get on board via a narrow pontoon!. We needed to move the car out of the marina car park – I found a useful free parking on the main road – turn right out of the marina entrance and there are bays just outside the church. While I was sorting the car out, Richard filled our tank with water and got ready for cruising. It’s only a short walk from the marina so I was soon back and we were off – well almost – we had a brief stop at the marina office to hand in our gate key and collect the £5 deposit.

Imposing mill building (and 7-day moorings) at Fazeley Junction...

Note: the car was safe at the parking space but the overhanging trees anointed it with sticky resin!

We were impressed with the stretch leading to the junction – once again, we had no memory of it, even with the great mill building casting its shadow over the surroundings at Fazeley Junction itself. In passing we noticed that there are decent 7-day moorings on the towpath outside the mill – there was plenty of space there too.

We turned left at Fazeley  junction – heading for Fradley Junction – a trip that we’ve done twice before but in the other direction. We weren’t bored though – the canal is inexplicably altered when seen from a different  perspective so it all seemed fresh and new to us.

The short stretch from Fazeley Junction to Hopwas seemed to get lovelier with each passing mile (it’s only 3 miles). There seemed to be ample dog walking on and adjacent to the towpath on the right. To the left, the extensive modern housing developments surrounding the junction were replaced by fields of crops – golden cornfields and dark green seas of potato plants tipped with white flowers – yum, they’ll be ready for picking soon!

There were also ample mooring spots – many occupied, but with plenty of space for passing visitors. We passed by nb Tailwind and associated workshop ‘butty’ – they make chimneys. We need a new chimney for one of our wood burners at home – this water-based business seemed like the ideal solution. Unfortunately we didn’t have the dimensions with us but at least we know that we can get a chimney made – I don’t think it’s a common trade!

Richard got off and took the hounds for a bobble up to Dunstall Farm Bridge – Ty is afraid of the engine noise so we turned the engine off as we approached the first bridge – this encouraged him to venture on deck and onto the towpath; we did the same to get him back on board – it seemed to work so there’s a technique to remember. The hounds enjoyed their bobble – they don’t rummage as actively without our old boy Blue, who was a champion rummager!

We’d considered and rejected many plans along the way – moor overnight in Fradley, beyond Fradley, before Fradley – our only vague desire was to moor somewhere quiet so that Ty could relax overnight. In the end we

Golden cornfields....

decided to moor at Hopwas – the fact that the village has two canalside pubs may have been a factor!.There were many quiet moorings on the outskirts just beyond Balls Bridge. The spot we chose is fine 14-day towpath mooring a short walk from the pubs and quiet enough for Ty to settle. There were two other bloggers moored at the same spot – nb Piston Broke and nb Gypsy Rover – now owned by an Australian couple – having been passed the mantle by New Zealanders Dot and Derek. I went and had a chat with Ray from Gypsy Rover – he’s a genial fellow, enraptured by the British canals, and looking forward to being joined by his wife and dog – both currently in Australia tying up a few loose ends. Sadly I didn’t chat with the crew of Piston Broke – I’ve hailed Paul in passing some time ago and he seemed a little ‘distant’ so I was shy to try again. It was a shame as I had brief but entertaining chat with the lady of the boat the following day.

Note: There were several mooring spots available on this stretch, though there are moorings directly outside the Tame Otter pub as well.

We’d moored up by 5.30pm so we set to work polishing the side of the boat that we’d missed last week, well all year in fact. The paint was looking particularly tired but I have to say that she looked fantastic when we were done. Satisfied, we set off to the pub – neither pub is dog -friendly but both have gardens which allow dogs. We went on a scouting mission, without the hounds, and plumped for the nearest – the Tame Otter – it’s part of the ‘Vintage Inn’ chain with reasonably priced gastro-pub type food. The pub had a notably good selection of beers on tap. It was threatening to rain so we found a spot outside under a huge garden umbrella and Richard went back for the hounds. I’d suggested just bringing Lou and Lynx, but Ty insisted on coming too! We laid out their beds and we all got comfortably settled for the evening. I did build a little barricade of chairs around Lou – there were six young children running wild around the garden and as Lou sometimes has severe pain in her back the best way to avoid an accident was to make sure that they couldn’t touch her in passing. The kids were noisy – the only respite being when their ice-cream arrived at the table – I was delighted when they sat down to eat but couldn’t help but think “oh no, don’t give them fuel!”.

The gunwhales - before (note the shiny cabin above!)

Of course, the hounds were impeccably behaved – even Ty lay down eventually and seemed quite calm – I haven’t given him any valium this weekend, though I had some with me just in case, and he wasn’t too much of a jelly boy. The pub filled up a little as the evening wore on – Lynx enjoyed a huge fuss from the woman at the next table, who instantly fell in love with him. The woman was so dog-friendly that even Ty went up to her for a fuss – that’s extreme courage for him!

I’d taken the Nicholson’s guide to the pub so that we could discuss Sunday’s strategy and we came to a surprising conclusion – let’s stay here and come back to the boat next week! Well, that probably makes it the shortest odyssey  weekend EVER!

Knowing that we weren’t cruising in the morning, we sat back and relaxed, enjoying a few cool lagers. Unfortunately Ty got spooked by some noise or other in the car park and turned into jelly boy so we went back to boat and had an early night.

Sunday 26th June

Our mooring spot was totally silent overnight – I should know – I had to walk the towpath twice with Ty, who had the dire rear again – probably stress related. I also had to get up at 4am but at least I didn’t have to go outside – it was just Lou, who needed a fuss!

Nonetheless we got up early (by Indigo Dream standards) – it was already hot on board – especially with the heating going to warm up the water for our showers! But we had a mission – to paint the gunwhales on one side before the temperature climbed to the forecast 30 degrees! Richard put a top coat of sealant on the polished side of the boat while I made the coffee then we were ready for work. Richard sanded down the existing paint and got me a jar of paint, thinned to the appropriate consistency with owatrol oil. To be honest, the metal was already too hot when we started painting – by the time we got to the end the sides of the boat were too hot to touch in sunlight so the umbrella came out! Nonetheless we carried on – it’s a rough job but “gwell clwt na thwll”** as they say in Wales! When we’d finished, the gunwhales were shiny blue and matched the gleaming sides that we’d polished – we were so pleased that we’d taken the time to do it. Now we just need to find a suitable bit of towpath so that we can do the other side.

The gunwhales - after! I can't recommend a close-up but doesn't she look fine? The rubbing strake will be blacked later...

While we toiled, the hounds seemed happy to relax – Ty in his nest under the sofa, Lou in her nest on the sofa and Lynx, predictably, moved between shady patches of soft grass on the towpath. I had a wry thought – we’d colonised the towpath with our bits ‘n pieces and leaving our dog loose on the side so we were turning into proper water gypsies; but with out efforts to polish and paint the boat we were definitely in the shiny boat brigade – hard to put people into boxes sometimes!

The canal here really is Clapham Junction on the water – there was an endless procession of boats going past – we haven’t seen any canal this busy all year, apart from the planned gatherings at Walsall and Pelsall of course. There was sort of ‘sods law’ thing going on – the boats almost invariably came in pairs, approaching the bend from opposite directions. Watching the various dodging manoeuvres was entertainment in itself – especially when the boats involved seemed to think that the correct way to approach a bend in the canal was on the wrong side! It was all very good natured though and there weren’t any collisions. The towpath was also busy with walkers and cyclists – many of the walkers stopped to admire Lynx and to offer welcome words of encouragement – one family passed the boat several times – pre and post polishing then pre and post painting so they were able to offer an objective view of the improvement in Indigo Dream’s appearance!

We’d finished our DIY by midday and Richard cycled back to get the car – I admired his stamina – the heat was overwhelming. In the meantime I had a little rest in the shade with Lynx – a lady from the boat moored behind us had given me their sunday paper (I’m cursing because I didn’t write the boat’s name down and they were really nice people). After I’d cooled down a little I got on with packing the boat – we were determined to get home early today. Richard was back by 1.30pm-ish, we had lunch then set off. I think Ty appreciated a quiet morning on the boat with no engine running, though he wasn’t anywhere near as relaxed as the other two. When we decamped, Ty didn’t want to leave the boat!

We had a slow trip back – we got snarled in the usual congestion around London but we got home before 6pm – just in time for some more domestic duties!

We have a grand plan now – we are heading for the Chesterfield Canal, and maybe a bit further, but first we’re having Indigo Dream’s bottom blacked – she’s booked into Sawley Marina a week Monday. We’ll cruise her there next weekend then stay on to see her pulled out of the water – we haven’t seen her bottom for over 5 years! We’ve got two chaps from Colorado coming across to do  the blacking – they’re the same company as applied the original Zinga and 2-pack blacking almost 6 years ago when Indigo Dream was being built.

It’s made a nice change to have a less intense weekend of cruising – it was especially appreciated by Ty, who was much calmer this weekend. But we’re a weary distance from home now, so once the bottom’s blacked, we’re planning to take a couple of whole weeks off to cruise the ‘northern reaches’ of this year’s odyssey. We’re so far from home now that weekend-ing may soon become a chore rather than a pleasure so time to take some time off…..

**”Better a patch than a hole”

Photoblog:

The view back to the marina entrance...

View up to Fazeley Junction...

View across Fazeley Junction....

The turn towards Atherstone....

Alas not Adam and Adrian's Briar Rose - we'd missed them by a couple of days - maybe we'll bump into them on our way back south in August...

New developments at Fazeley Junction...

Smart BW facilities at Fazeley Junction - there's a lot to see around here! (shame about the bad subsidence, that poor building really has a bit of lean)

Close-up of the little 'doors' in the bridges hereabouts - one of our readers told us that these niches are used for storing stop planks...

On a day like today why go abroad - look at that scenery.....

Meadowsweet.....

More lovely countryside...

Our mooring spot on the outskirts of Hopwas...

Dog Blog: Lynx’s Diary

Wednesday 22nd June

Me soopervisin' fillin' the water tank - water is very important - 'scept wen it's used for b-a-t-h-s...

Aunty Sarah sed I’s couldn’t write a diary if me foot bein’ in a bandij, so I’s taken sum time off to recover from me terrible injuries. I wozn’t hallowed to charge around, wot woz hawful, and don’ even get me started on the whole bandij fing – I’s made a big fuss Saturday before last so mummy Sue took it off an’ I’s got my foot back, but then, THEN, mummy Sue’s made me wear a little sock – pink wif red hearts, then pink wif purple stripes and, I’s so ‘shamed, pink wif brown spots -oh no, me style, me street cred…..

As you knows, Ty is a big wuss jelly boy and I’s had a poorly foot, so Lou got a whole weekend on the boat wif daddy Richard – the boat wonned third prize in the marafon – the one I soopervised. Wozn’t fair reelly, Lou went up an’ got my prize an’ she gots lots of fuss an’ she met my biggest fans while I woz stuck at home wif a stoopid pink sock on me foot! Lucky for me that mummy Sue is so soppy and complet’ly under the control of me amazin’ hypno powers – she got Blondie the vet to leave the bandij off me foot and she sed “poor poor Lynx, maybe you’s can sunbathe in the garden nice an’ quiet” – so I laid down nice an’ quiet then sneeked in a quick charge wen she wozn’t looking – I’s is brilliant….

We’s all bin a bit pafetic this week coz Lou had sum of her fur shaved off – is ok tho’ coz she’s got pretty brindle skin wot is qwite hunoosual. She’s dun greyhound death screams in the vet, even before the boss vet man came near – so he gave some tranquility pills an she hads a scan of her insides – her insides is perfick! Mummy Sue wanted a picture of her insides, but I reckons Lou’s outside is nicer……

Coz we’s bin so pafetic mummy Sue’s cooked us chikkin and liver cake – she sez the liver cake is for dog training classes – wot, sorry, didn’t hear that, mummy Sue.

Lou doin' lock soopervisin'...

She give me that look and sed “wot you need Lynx is a bit of dog training to improve your hearing”

“groooan arooow grooph” sez I……

Hur hur hur – I gots me own back – I’s just bin to dog trainin’ an mummy Sue got told off big time coz I just dun wot I duz best – sleepin’! I’s a hexpert at hu-mum humiliation – she sez I’s still gotta go next week tho’….

Now, I duzn’t like me houndie friends to suffer so here’s a bit of hadvice – free an’ gratis’. If your hu-mum sez “I’s just lookin'” then hide – they is  never “just lookin'” they’s wantin’ to do stuff….. Like, I’s had anuvver tiny cut on me foot this week wot woz nuffink, but mummy Sue spotted it – “Just looking” she sez and I pulled me paw back quick, but she dun lookin’, then got the hantiseptic, and the scissors to trim me fur, then the tweezers – erk – tweezers?! She picked and picked ’til she got a grass seed out of me foot – “just lookin'” –  humph. She cort Lou too – mummy Sue woz strokin’ Lou’s ears all luvverly then she sez “just lookin'” an’ the next minit the cotton wool and ear cleaner comes out. Now Ty’s a bit fick, but he’s genius at scapering wen mummy Sue sez “just lookin’…”

Og allright then, sumtimes I sneeks in a little kip - is hexhaustin' being on lookout all the time...

Woz a lot better this weekend coz we’s back on the boat – I likes the boat coz I gets to sunbathe on deck an’ I gets to rummage wif Lou. Lou is teechin’ me how to do boatin’ like a proper greyhound so now I has a little rummage then a long lie down, then a little rummage then a long lie down – we can’t sleep tho’ – we mights miss sumfink! O course, I’s such a perfick hound that I always comes when I is called – Lou sez “no, no, no, no – if you is comfy then you just waits – they’s too soppy to leave you behind forevva so just chill out”. Is a dilemma – coz they always gets Lou back heventooally, but mummy Sue duz give me nice ear rubs when I’s bin a good boy – hmmmm.

Ty duzn’t do rummaging – he duz big wuss jelly boy fings like looking wurried and walking round mummy Sue ’til his lead is curled like ten times round her knees. Sumtimes he duz random runnin’ off  – is a BIG commotion but he’s a wuss boy not a greyhound so he duzn’t unnerstand stuff like wot me an’ Lou do.

We’s had such a bizzy weekend – we’s dun runnin’ after daddy Richard on the bike – woz hard work but we woz goin’ downhill; then me an’ Lou dun lots of soopervisin’ at the locks – Lou dun soopervisin our boat then she just lay at the lock and soopervised a diff’rent boat. She woz so long soopervisin’ the other boat that daddy Richard had to cycle back to get her – “come on Lynx” he sez “let’s go back up the hill to find Lou”

“I’ll just stop here” I sez – I is not stoopid – run after a bike, wot, like a labrador, uphill – no fanks!

Mummy Sue sez I is cute when I's asleep...

Lou's keepin' an eye on fings while I has a little rest....

Anvva one of Lou - she woz helpin' me lots wif lookin' on Sunday...

”]

Wot shall we do next - get back on the boat, rummage or lie down....

We'll lie down for a bit...

Lou havin' a little stretch....

And anuuvver one - Lou is a soopermodel...

"Lou-ooooo, come here Lou" - " no, I don't think so, I'm perfectly fine here thanks....."

Here comes the girl....

I duzn't do runnin' uphill...

But we likes runnin' downhill...

Us in a lock - now, houndie friends, do you fink that 3 cushions between two hound is enuff - I duzn't.....

Lou givin' mummy Sue sum directions - hu-mums would never manage wifout us....

Now I's helpin' wif the directions too - is responsible job...

Lou doin' finking....

She's one clever hound coz she can do finkin' an' lookin' all at the same time!

Doin' locks - Lou style....

Doin' a bit of soopervisin'...

Peoples is amazed how good we are at soopervisin'....

Mummy Sue sez this is a perfick mooring for houndies - why? - I duzn't see any cats or skwirrels or wabbits....

"Why don't you pose nicely?" sez mummy Sue - "Huh I IS posing - I's not showin' you me bum...."

The Odyssey 2011: Day 18

Sunday 19th June

Star City to Fazeley Junction

The river Tame - flowing forgotten under the motorways...

The mooring was very quiet overnight – there hadn’t even been any noise from the towpath opposite. We’ve previously sought reassurance from other boaters who’ve moored here, but now we’ve found out for ourselves – the Star City mooring is a good spot for an overnight stay. It’s only 24-hour but I’m not sure you’d want to stay here longer unless you have kids on board – they’d find plenty of entertainment in Star City.

We were the only boat on the mooring, continuing the feeling that the BCN was our private waterway. Hence we were a bit surprised when a boat cruised past the mooring at 8.30am – they must have had an early start – the nearest ‘safe’ mooring is over an hour’s cruise away. The sound of movement on the water motivated us to shift and we got away around 9.30am.

So we were leaving Birmingham at last, and not without a few pangs – I’ve always maintained that the BCN is a canal of the mind – if you can come here with an open and positive mind then you’ll find plenty to delight the senses; but if you set your mind to the negative then you won’t see past the urban front to what lies beneath. Literally beneath – once again I marveled at the turn under the motorway – the first impression is that it’s totally barren – yet there’s the river Tame “just rollin’ along” and there were bright patches of colour from the wildflowers wherever the light penetrated the web of roads. There was also the melodic sound of birdsong, echoing resonantly under the distant rush of the traffic above.

Now, we’ve had one trip along the Birmingham and Fazeley canal in our share boat Dragonfly, many years ago, but we’ve never cruised it in this direction and not in Indigo Dream, so it really felt like new territory. Funnily enough, we have vivid memories of visiting Cuckoo Wharf on Dragonfly, but we have no memories of the canal leading to the junction – this is where the blog come in so useful!

Erdington Hall bridge - feels like a tunnel as the canal travels beneath an enormous factory - there are still doors on the offside linking building to canal - firmly locked now!

The first stretch through Minworth is admittedly  less scenic than some parts of the BCN – I think that many boaters come into Birmingham via this route and it’s a shame because this approach doesn’t reflect the nature of the rest of the navigation. However the towpath is in good repair and the surrounding industry is an interesting mix of old and modern.

The Minworth locks seemed to mark the boundary between city and rural navigations – Minworth bottom very markedly so, with the M6 crossing on a monumentally large and ugly bridge above and a traditional red brick footbridge below. It seemed to encapsulate all the contrasts inherent in the canals hereabouts. Funnily enough, Lou and Lynx were able to get off for a rummage at the locks – the canal is often flanked by various motorways but access to them is limited. Ty, of course, could not be trusted off lead, though he did have the odd bobble.

It was a lovely day – breezy with a mix of sunshine and cloud, though we had none of yesterday’s sharp showers. Both the weather and the scenery got better and better as the day went by. I’m amazed that I don’t remember it from our previous trip on Dragonfly. The Curdworth flight is great, with towpaths and locks that seem to have been rebuilt/restored/maintained over the last 10 years. We wondered whether the new landscaping at Curdworth top was part of a deal with the builders of the M6 toll – if so then it was worth it!

We had two dramas today – both on the Curdworth flight. It was lunchtime and in the distance there was that archetypal english sunday pursuit – yep, a huge car boot sale just winding down. As we descended the flight, there was a sudden billow of black smoke at the site, followed by the bright orange flare of flames – instead of organising a bucket chain, the remaining cars scarpered, leaving whatever it was to burn. It all looked very dramatic and I was amazed that there was no sign of the fire brigade – a forensic examination of our photos revealed that it was a rubbish skip on fire – was it an accident or is this how they dispose of their rubbish every time?

The view from the towpath at Fisher's Mill Bridge....

The other drama was with Ty – he seemed a little more settled today and the Curdworth locks are very rural, so where the towpath was well-fenced we could let him have a rummage – mainly on-lead. We got lulled into a false sense of security and we let him off at one lock – so far so good, he was calm and when he got spooked by a boat coming up the next lock he just ran back on board and hid in his bed. But then he came out again – all was well until I think he got scared of the two crew members walking up from the lock – Ty trotted back towards the boat – I didn’t grab him because he seemed to be heading back to his bed. Uh, unfortunately he carried on in a straight line, completely deaf to our calls (though his recall is pretty perfect when he’s not panicking). I was afraid he’d go right back to the previous road bridge (which we had thought was a safe distance away until we saw a greyhound heading for it at a steady but determined pace!) but he turned off the towpath into the adjacent field. Richard went after him and after some time he managed to catch Ty and bring him back – sadly this involved Richard quite literally dragging himself through a hedge backwards – Ty was fine but Richard was a little ragged around the edges!

We so enjoyed the Curdworth flight – the further down we went the more we enjoyed it as the scenery seemed to whirl around us, with new perspectives at each lock. As we moved out of Birmingham we started to encounter more boats – moored and moving, but the canal was hardly busy.

It’s amazing how far down you have to go get away from Birmingham – I’ve always known that the city is on a plateau but it’s not until you do the locks that you realise just how high it is. When I look back along the locks (be it here or at Stratford) I’m always surprised that Birmingham doesn’t stand out from the landscape like an urban Mount Fuji – now that would be a sight!

Once we got down the flight we decided to stop for a late lunch just beyond Fisher’s Mill Bridge. What a magnificent spot – the towpath is lush with wildflowers and I was very sad that we had to move on and couldn’t stay here a night or two. Not only is the towpath itself very attractive, but there are acres of lakes and meadows adjacent to the canal which seem to be criss-crossed by footpaths – great spot for the hounds. Predictably, our hounds were exhausted after rummaging down the flight and weren’t in the least bit interested in this fine spot we’d chosen for them!

The famous Fazeley folly....

After lunch we reluctantly moved on towards Fazeley junction – we needed to leave the boat for a week and were wondering where to moor when we decided to ring ahead to Fazeley Mill Marina. We checked their opening hours and availability of services and made arrangements to pop in for a pump-out and diesel.We weren’t desperate for a pump-out but we wanted to clean out the tank before giving our new (to us) toilet solution “biomagic” a good try – we’d used it last weekend but weren’t sure if we’d got the dosage right as we were adding it to a half full tank. We didn’t seem to have added enough because the tank was still a bit whiffy this weekend. So now we’ll start from scratch – with these organic types it’s hard to know whether the different solutions that we’ve used interact to cancel each other out. With the tank as clean as it gets (the boatyard obligingly rinsed the tank very thoroughly), Biomagic can hopefully get to work uninterrupted – we’ll let you know how we get on. We haven’t forgotten the ‘brewer’s yeast’ suggested by Bruce – it’ll be the next option if this doesn’t work.

The man in charge of the boatyard was helpfulness personified and we found out that, for the first time ever, they’ve decided to keep a short-term mooring space – £6.50 per night with shore power available for a little extra. So we became their first short-term moorer and Richard deftly reversed Indigo Dream into her temporary home. It’s a friendly marina – the denizens waved and said hello and we had an extended chat with our neighbour on nb Metal Molly – a 32′ boat which she is doing up as a project to sell; though she’s already falling in love with the little craft and wondering whether she’ll have the heart to sell her!

Richard got a cab back to car in Pelsall and I washed the boat and started the somewhat arduous task of giving her a coat of polish – the paint on the bow was looking particularly tired. She’s a long boat so I didn’t get the job done before Richard returned so he helped me to finish. Despite the somewhat battered gunwhales I have to say that Indigo Dream looked fantastic after being polished – she gleamed in the last of the afternoon’s sunshine and we could see our reflections in the paintwork – nice to know that the paintwork is still in good enough condition to take a shine. If you spot us on our travels then you must only look at out left hand side, don’t look at the unpolished, dusty, dirty right hand side.

Having been caught out in traffic jams so often recently, we decided to get a chinese takeaway and eat before we left – good decision. On his way back, Richard was ambushed by some of the marina moorers who wished to advise him that there is a local tax on takeaways, particularly if you have pancake rolls. He was lucky, he forgot to order pancake rolls. We left the marina around 7pm and there was relatively little traffic on the road so we had a good trip home.

We’d been very worried about Ty’s mental state over the weekend and were afraid that there might be long-term trauma, but we needn’t have worried – the second his paws touched the “green green grass of home” he transformed into “Ty the brave” and trotted around happy and confident – we were so relieved…

Photoblog:

Looking back towards the Star City moorings...

Fearsome defences here - it is a rough area but we had a quiet night on the nearby moorings...

Typically industrial landscape through Minworth - remember canals were built for industry!!!

This factory looks old but also looks as if it's in use - wonder what happens there. If I ruled the world, canalside industries would have signs to tell nosey boaters what their business was!

Fishing competition in Minworth...

I wondered what Tyburn House was - it looks so gothic, but it's a pub, built in 1930 in a tudor style. The Tybrun area was believed to named after London's notorious Tyburn - apparently Birmingham's Tyburn was a lawless place, famous for it's highwaymen!

Is this an old pit wheel, now used for decoration? Hard to believe that coal was the big industry hereabouts...

View down to Minworth top lock...

The frontier - the view up from Minworth bottom lock....

The frontier - view down to Minworth bottom lock..

Lou was unusually active today and kept a lookout from the deck for most of the day...

There are little windows in quite a few of the bridges around here - you'd think there was a room behind but there are no doors! The locals we asked about them were, sadly, too cheerfully inebriated to give a sensible answer 🙂

Broad Bulk Bridge - those are the first boats moored on the towpath that we've seen since leaving Pelsall...

View from Curdworth Top Lock - it's all so immaculate here - the gate are dated 2001 - I wonder whether there was a big improvement programme here at that time...

Curdworth Top lock - immaculate!

I wonder where this arm used to go to? It's totally built over now....

Approaching the second Curdworth lock - we were surrounded by fields of oilseed rape - now covered with tiny grey green 'pods' ...

View down the main Curdworth flight...

Lou found a comfy lockside bed and stayed there - her ears show that she could hear us calling but she wasn't going anywhere - two locks further down and Richard had to cycle back to get her!

Fire Fire! Photo 1 - watch how the position of the 'car boot' van changes in the sequence....

Fire Fire! Photo 2 - things are getting a bit hot....

Fire Fire! Photo 3 - oops, bit out of control - just as well it's rained recently....

Fire Fire! Photos 4 - all burnt out - well, that's one way to get rid of the rubbish 🙂

What a lovely flight - and so beautifully maintained...

English landscape....

Useful pub - especially if you've just run/cycled between locks - see Richard, Lynx and Lou on the towpath...

Curdworth bottom lock with its picturesque swing bridge (left open)....

Poppies at Curdworth bottom lock...

The rare sight of moored boats - the front boat hailed us from their side hatch and offered us Sunday dinner - the lady of the boat told Richard that her yorkshire puddings were marvellous - oooh errr missus!!!

Idyllic mooring spot just past Fisher's Mill Bridge - the bank is very even so no plank needed....

Two swallows - so why doesn't it feel more like summer? 🙂

The Odyssey 2011: Day 17

Pelsall to Star City

Friday 17th June

Leaving Pelsall - the Curly Wyrley is well worth a visit...

Richard got out of work early so that we could drive up to the boat in the afternoon, hopefully missing the worst of the M25. We got the car packed and got as far as our local filling station when we started to debate the wisdom of the trip – we’d just heard an adverse traffic report on the radio. We couldn’t face going home and unpacking so we carried on and got snarled up in a monstrous queue – after 1.5 hours on the motorway we’d travelled around 15 miles – the only trouble was, we couldn’t turn back because there was a 3-hour delay on the other carriageway so it was actually faster for us to drive the remaining 130-odd miles to Birmingham rather than the 20-odd miles home!

On we toiled – stopping for a reviving coffee at the Oxford services – at least the M40 was in better condition than the M25. This may have been a mistake because Ty got frightened – even staying in the car (we thought a walk near so many cars would be too much for him). But the caffeine did us good – Richard was driving so as the rain abated and the traffic improved, he put his foot down – even so we arrived 5 minutes too late. As we pulled into the pub car park there was a suspiciously organic explosive noise – we hastened to get the dogs out – too late – Ty had had a small but dramatic bout of the dire rear – in the boot – euuww! Richard bundled the dogs off and I cleaned the car – luckily there wasn’t too much damage – the worst of it was on Ty’s duvet – which, after a quick sloosh in the canal, was condemned! Richard was downhearted – Ty was a jelly boy bag of nerves – we haven’t seen him so bad since we first got him. It’s a shame because it set the tone for the weekend – once Ty is in a state it’s very hard to get him out of it (short of taking him home, which wasn’t an option).

When we left the house just after 4pm we’d joked that our only deadline was to get to the Fingerpost pub by 8.45pm in time for the last food orders -as it happened we only just made it! We had a good meal at the pub and a few beers made the world a better place – it’s a comfortable pub with fine food and pleasant service. The boat had been perfectly safe and unmolested on the moorings – even though they were now deserted – only Indigo Dream and one other boat (that had moved in that afternoon) were left to show that this is a working navigation.

Lynx relaxing at the Brownhills Services ...

Despite the therapeutic effect of the beer, we were still a little frazzled when we got back on board (thankfully no more dire rear!) – we were too tired to do anything useful, but not sleepy enough for bed. I was wandering around aimlessly, picking up books, jobs, laptop and then putting them down again, when a sharp rap at the galley window gave my heart a kick start! It was Captain Ahab with daughter Susie – they were in the area and had popped in on the off chance that we were still moored here. I can’t tell you what a delightful hour we had over coffee – Susie quickly grabbed a small slice of sofa next to Lou and proved to be a competent hound-fusser – she can call again! Captain A is always interesting company with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the canals. The BCN marathon challenge results were chewed over, again, together with some strategies for next time – this will be a hot topic for the next several months! We compared summer cruising plans and there is a chance that we will meet up again later in the year – though that may be on the Trent, with our boats being swept along too fast for other than a hurried greeting!

We’re so glad that they called – it completely turned the evening around and when they left we were contented enough to have a good night’s sleep.

Saturday 18th May

What a mooring! It was a silent and peaceful as any we’ve had, with the bonus of fantastic dog-walking all around – I could imagine having a weekend here (well Richard did!) just to rest and relax. We were up early (by our standards) and I took the hounds for a long walk – Ty had to be on the lead but he wasn’t quite the nervous wreck of the previous night. There is a good circular walk here – cross over the canal at Pelsall Junction then cross over the arm and follow a meandering path along the rough heath until you get to the next canal bridge – cross over and walk back along the canal. The heathland is part of Pelsall nature reserve and apparently deer are a common sight – luckily the greyhounds didn’t spot any!

The towpaths are rich with wildflowers at the moment - I guess that the plants are making the best of the rain after the dry spring...

We set off at 10am-ish along a deserted canal – we didn’t see another boat on the move until we got to Rushall Junction in the late afternoon. We dragged our heels a little bit – we were sad to be leaving Birmingham and the friends that we’ve made here. Still, we had the rest of the Curly Wyrley to enjoy, the Daw End branch, the Rushall Canal – a real treat, especially as we could take it a little slower than on the challenge and take time for photos!

We stopped off at the excellent services at Brownhills – the service block is well-fenced and once we’d checked that the gate was secure we could even let Ty off for a rummage. We got rid of the stricken car duvet here and filled the tank with water. The entrance to the Tesco store is just behind the services so I wandered off to top up our supplies while Richard sorted the boat out. Unfortunately there isn’t a pump-out here but we weren’t desperate so not a problem. When I got back from Tesco a family had inhabited the picnic tables at the service point – I think they were waiting for someone – Lynx and Lou were suitably tarty and got their fair share of fuss! Ty was back on board – he spent his moment of freedom trying to get into the facilities block – I think he hoped to find his home duvet there!

With the boat stocked up, we moved along to the accompaniment of hot sun and cold showers – the canal was ours to appreciate and we did! The Daw End branch is great – surprisingly rural with great views across the surrounding landscape – we’re so high here. We passed the boatyard at Daw End and enquired about pump-outs – they do have a facility here but you have to use their card – standard BW cards don’t work. Unfortunately the office is closed at weekends so we carried on. A little further on there’s an aqueduct over the railway and the scenery to the right become even more lush as the canal passed the Park Lime Pits country park/nature reserve – it’s a lovely spot with a useful canalside car park.

We soon got to the top of the Rushall flight (no pump-out here either but there is a water point) – time for the dogs to have another bobble. Lynx soon found his way onto the adjacent golf course, followed by Lou – they both enjoyed a good rummage. I followed with Ty on the lead – I bundled the other two back onto the towpath (there were golfers about and a racing greyhound on the green might have put them off their stroke). Ty seemed reasonably relaxed so I did a quick risk assessment and let him off for a run down towards Richard at the second lock – so far so good, though Ty seemed to be walking/running a bit awkwardly – time to review the dose of valium that we’re giving him (at weekends only when on the boat). Ty ran back to me and I got him back on the lead – no problem, until I wanted to get him back on the boat – no way! We had to manhandle him on board, but he wasn’t happy and managed to wriggle back past us and jumped over the deck doors – he ran along the towpath looking for a car to leap into (there’s a boat club car park here). Luckily a cyclist came down the path at this point and Ty turned back towards Richard and was caught.

nb Widdershins - the only other boat on the move...

Ty was locked on board for the rest of the flight, though it wasn’t such a hardship – the lower locks in the flight are criss-crossed by roads so all the dogs were confined indoors – Lynx was not impressed!

There was plenty of water in the flight until we got to the pound between locks 5 and 6 which was, essentially, empty – we couldn’t see any reason for it but Richard sluiced enough water down so that I could inch the boat into the next lock. The ducks seemed to be enjoying the exposed mud in the low pound – maybe they’d let the water out 🙂

As we cruised along the stretch between Rushall bottom lock and the junction I got a sudden view across to the Tame Valley Canal and its attendant motorways – we were still at an awesome height, despite having descended 65′ via 9 locks.

As we approached Rushall Junction we met nb Widdershins – the only boat of the day – we exchanged cheerful greetings and took photos of them – another boat was such a novel sight!

There were some cheerful fishermen at the junction – a bit awkwardly placed so I came out too straight for the right turn and did an unintended winding manoeuvre with the bow pinned to the far bank – oops!

So now we were on the Tame Valley canal – not my favourite bit of the BCN, but at least this stretch is a bit more interesting with its deep cuttings and high bridges. There is also an incongruous shore base here, complete with a model cannon – “training ship leopard” – home to the local branch of the sea cadets.

View from the Rushall Canal looking over to the various viaducts and aqueducts carrying transport across the Team Valley..

We reached Perry Barr top lock in the late afternoon – we’d planned a long day’s cruise so we pressed on down the locks. We had an incident-free passage – there a path on both sides so we were able to let the hounds out for a rummage on the less busy “offside” – we daren’t let Ty off the lead here! There were a few walkers around – one couple had moved into the area some months previously and regularly walked along the canal – we were the first boat they had ever seen – what a shame.

Well, when I say ‘incident-free’ we did have a duck drama – as the boat was going down one of the locks a woman, her dog and a quacking duck came charging up to the lock. We hadn’t realised but there were seven tiny ducklings in the lock with us, no idea how we missed them as we do try to stay alert for stowaways in locks. I looked down the length of the boat and there were two duckling paddling down between the boat and the lock wall – I tried to push the boat away so that they wouldn’t get squished, but I hadn’t realised that there were five ducklings proceeding down between the lock and the boat on the other side. I had a net out, hoping that they would come close enough for me to catch, but they stayed at an inaccessible point throughout. Richard closed one paddle completely, half dropped the other and we waited for the lock to gently empty but I daren’t move the boat – Richard opened the bottom gates and the ducklings finally got the message and swam out of the lock to rejoin their mum in the pound. All seven ducklings survived their encounter in the lock – we were amazed!

It was quite late by the time we got to Spaghetti junction – a barren mass of concrete and brick with new transport routes build over old until the original river and canal feel as if they’re lost to the world.

We had a bit of bother here – a group for eight asian lads saw us coming and went up to the footbridge over the canal – the youngest was perhaps eight, the oldest in their mid-teens. They waved and were a bit cheeky and we thought we’d get away without any bother but then as we’d almost passed, a still lit cigarette butt came wafting down onto the boat roof. As we pulled away, they got ready with the stones, though we were out of range by now. Richard got the camera out and took a photos of the boys – one pursued us a short way down the towpath, but as Richard took many photos of him, he just gave us an expletive-laden finger and wandered back to his gang. It could have been a lot worse – the canal is narrow here as the mighty pillars supporting the motorway encroach on the navigation – we would have been very close to the towpath if they’d decided to pursue us. But then again, as I mused in the pub later, if they were criminal masterminds capable of working these things out then they wouldn’t be chucking stones at boats – they’d be international bankers :-). Do not be put off, this could and does happen anywhere, we were not in danger!

The incident took a bit of gloss off the day, but couldn’t dent our fascination for this stretch – it’s quite unique to cruise unregarded under the multiple layers of motorways and to look down at the river Tame – flowing cowed but undefeated beneath us.

Secure moorings at Star City...

By now it was gone 6pm and we wondered how far to go. Cruising ’til dark would take us to the centre of the alleged bandit territory of Minworth so we decided to stop at Star City. Getting there was it’s own entertainment – we’d decided to reverse from the junction to the moorings – simple on paper but considerably complicated by the sleeping bag that got wrapped around the prop along the way. We stopped off in the convenient narrows to wrestle the sleeping bag from the prop and the people from the adjacent cottage came out to offer their help. They were charming, but really there’s only room for one person down the weed hatch. The cottage was protected by a fearsome amount of razor wire – apparently they get angry locals banging on the door thinking that it’s a BW property – the locals get very agitated when they can’t get through the gates further down the canal (if I understand it rightly). They warned us that the area was very rough but reassured us that the Star City moorings, now tantalisingly close, were safe.

With the prop free of encumberances, Richard brought her neatly into the mooring – we were very impressed – the pontoon looks brand new, with good access to the shore. The mooring place is securely gated and the fence encloses a good area of mown grass and a few trees – just enough to entertain three tired hounds. We set off to the Star City complex – there’s a wide range of eateries and entertainment opportunities here – we were tired and settled for the Old Orleans restaurant – pricey but just what we fancied.

We felt very secure at the mooring and it was surprisingly quiet – there was a bit of traffic noise – inevitable with the huge car park on one side and spaghetti junction on the other – but that soon died down and we had a peaceful night’s sleep…..

Photoblog:

There's a mixture of old and new bridges on the BCN...

This iron trough would look mighty fine with a lick of paint...

looking back towards Brownills with Tesco on the right...

These platforms were spaced our regularly along the canal - you'd think they were for fishing apart from the tidy picnic sets and benches on them!

Looking up the Anglesey branch - we'll get up there one day...

Look at that view - it would be even better in early spring/late autumn when the surrounding trees are bare...

Brawn's bridge - named for John Brawn - the engineer who mainly constructed the Wyrley and Essington canal...

The boathouse pub by Daw End bridge - we liked the 'lock gates' feature in the garden - it looked like a tidy pub but the Manor Arms a little further on has a better write-up in the guides....

View back to the aqueduct over the railway and the path to the adjacent lime pits nature reserve..

Waterlilies on the Rushall Canal...

Picturesque cottage at Rushall lock 3

Vintage plane - it looked as if it was coming in to land - I wonder where....

Rosebay willowherb - a weed of the wastelands - a colourful replacement for the old canalside industries...

Boat wash....

Looking across to the BT Tower in the centre of Birmingham - it's a long climb down the valley and back up again to get there....

Perry Barr top lock...

The lock cottage is for sale - a reasonable £335k - mind you the adjacent canal services have been closed due to vandalism 0 hmmmm...

Historic structure at Perry Barr top lock...

mum and ducklings after their narrow escape....

Richard removing a bit of tree from the approach to Perry Barr lock 3...

View up the main flight at Perry Barr...

The old grid house at the bottom of the Perry Barr flight - we both thought that this building had deteriorated since we last passed this way - or is that our memoeries failing...

Charming - luckily the missile was small and his aim atrocious - this photo (and a couple of others) are going off to the local police. Hopefully they will tell his mother who no doubt will have a lot to say about being dumb ....

Approaching the monumental spaghetti junction...

More bridges and columns emerge as you get deeper into the tangle of spaghetti junction..

It's very barren under spaghetti junction yet wildlife always finds a way - this heron was fishing right underneath the whole pile of motorways...

Boat Blog: Pelsall Festival (a weekend away with my other woman)

We are not really festival people, it is not that we deliberately shun them but it is hard to programme a full summer of cruising weekend at a time and take into account festivals. We often manage to be in the right place but not at the right time, there is a real need to convert Indigo Dream into a Police Box or do a Capt Ahab and fit a nitrous oxide cylinder

Ok, swing left here

The Pelsall Festival was almost in the right place and almost at the right time, we thought that the BCN Society need some support for the excellent work they do, we wondered who would venture to the northern reaches of the BCN? After all fantastic as the Curly Wurly may be, it is obviously bandit territory and the waters are full of sharks which are known to regularly eat small children. Sue could not go – once in a while she needs to sing so that she does not lose her welsh accent and last Saturday was the day that her choir was singing and Sue was getting her accent back – that left me all by myself. Well not quite, who could be my travelling companion? Lynx and Ty fell by the wayside as prospective drinking companions as Lynx is still grounded and Jelly Boy finds crowds still a bit scary. So the plan became that I would go up with the other woman, Lou, who is a bit of a babe magnet herself. The initial plan of going up on Friday night and having a quick constitutional in the excellent Finger Post (looks cr%p from the canal but is a great pub) fell by the wayside as I was simply too knackered by Friday – I think the BCN Challenge was such a big event that everything afterwards seems a bit of an anti-climax and I am having to work that bit harder to make up!

So Saturday off we went in the newly fixed car (thank you A&A), the journey was a delight as motorways were empty and naturally driving at no more than the speed limit, 160 miles seemed to flash by amazingly quickly. My satnav took me up the M6 Toll to my initial horror but I have to say it was nice having my own personal motorway and the turn off is just round the corner from Pelsall. I parked up one street down from the pub and walked through the trees towards the festival site and what a sight. The pub was heaving, live music outside and loads of boats. The festival site itself is actually west of the junction so you need to walk a bit to see it and then it is great, there are even more boats! No one owned up to having lost any small children to sharks though I see that the Jameisons sent one of their dogs out on shark patrol and yes some of the narrowboaters did look a bit like bandits. The festival was exceedingly social, within minutes of arriving I was drinking coffee with the crew of nb Topaz who are avid followers of Lynx’s diary. Soon after I caught up with the crew of Felonious Mongoose. It was great to meet new people such as the Jameisons especially as we have always admired their artwork. But best of all there were 124 boats with booked in places and more round the corner, it was a fantastic sight. It must have been a hell of a shock for the fishermen no doubt, hardly ever see any boats here then they come in threes, no fours, no fives, no bleedin’ hundreds.

Boats, boats and more boats in every direction at the junction. I can't describe what a wonderful sight it is to see so many boats on the Curly Wurly.

The BCN Society deserve a mention, well actually they deserve a standing ovation. They are so organised, they do so much to put these events on. They have vans, generators, beer tents even their own burger van manned by volunteers who do a great shark butty burger on the morning after. Morning after what? Well there is this beer tent and they have a selection of dodgy beers and well it would be rude not to sample and then it really is a civic duty to help lighten their load on the next day when packing up. The evening event was  just a very social do – Lou and I met Clive Henderson – we have moored at the bottom of his garden a few times so we feel that we know him already. Obviously it was great as thanks to our sterling crew of Andy, Graham and Sarah we managed to get third place in the BCN Marathon Challenge by a tiny whisker – Tawny Owl was hot on our tail just 6 points below so they must have picked up a load more questions then we did.  I had a long chat with the winning crew of Muskrat, they are serious boaters and put serious thought into winning the challenge. Ivor from Atlas & Malus seemed seriously disgruntled not to win, never mind I am sure we can beat both next time, oh sorry was that the wrong thing to say?

Burger with thing to everything for me please, just a plain one for the other woman please

Half the crew of nb Topaz minus their greyhound who had done a Lynx

Boat Blog: Returning favours….

Sunday 5th June

We left Indigo Dream in Pelsall and headed off early for a big adventure – crewing for nb Matilda Rose and nb Henry H up the Stockton/Calcutt flights.

Lynx’s foot was still bleeding so it looked as if I’d have to drop Richard off to crew while I drove the hounds home – I was worried that Lynx wouldn’t be able to walk up the flight and it seemed such an imposition to put him on board nb Matilda Rose, especially as it meant that Daisy the cat would need to be securely locked away! I needn’t have worried – Jill was the perfect hound hostess, having laid two thick sheepskins on the dinette couch ready to receive the invalid!

The A Team - Sarah steering Henry H and Graham on the helm of Matilda Rose... (note how everybody moored up and hung onto their boats in terror)

We met nb Matilda Rose one lock up from the Blue Lias pub – not without some drama – Richard walked ahead while I got the hounds organised. I got Ty out of the car boot but when I opened the back door to get his harness he jumped onto the back seat and wouldn’t shift. There followed a farcical wrestling match while I tried to dog-handle an unwilling 5-stone hound out of the car. But I got lucky – normally the mulch of dust and mud on the back seat would have given him an unassailable grip on the back seat – but the car had been polished the day before so I was able to slide him out! Ty is not one to give in easily so I had to quickly catch him before he slithered nose-first onto the ground! It all took so long that Richard had rung me to find out whether I had, after all, driven back to Surrey, and Jill walked down the flight to see if she could help!

Jill and I walked up the flight – Muttley, the younger of their two tibetan terriers, happily rummaged with Lou and Lynx – no dramas from Lou – she was far too busy sniffing and weeing! Lynx hobbled along, making the best of the sympathy potential of a bandaged foot. When we got to the boat I took him on board and stayed on to keep him settled. In the meantime Jill walked Ty, Lou, Baxter and Muttley up the flight. Lou stopped for a lie-down at each lock, but she seemed very happy to bobble along with the rest of the pack. We shared locks with a hire boat whose ground crew seemed to consist entirely of children – they were quite efficient though and did as they were told, so we got up the flight in surprisingly good time.

At top lock, Richard walked back to get the car and shuffle it to our end point while Jill and the extended pack piled on board. Nb Matilda Rose is open and airy but with a really cosy feel – Lou joined Lynx on the dinette – the table makes a very useful chin rest! Muttley mainly sat on my lap (it took him a while to pluck up enough courage to lie next to Lou on the dinette!) – the terriers are soft, cuddly and a perfect size for  laps. Ty paced about, though he didn’t seem distressed – he was getting loads of fuss and cuddles from Jill, and Muttley, sitting on my lap, seemed quite happy to let Ty rest his head there too.

We cruised along in perfect harmony – it was great to get a chance to get to know Jill a little better and to talk boats, toilets and dogs! It was rather indulgent – Graham was on the helm, Richard on the locks and I was sitting indoors with very good coffee being made for me – I had a job to do, of course, being Muttley’s cushion was a serious business and I was nominally supervising the dogs, though they were all getting on so well it was really a matter of just making sure that they didn’t fall off their unfamiliar beds in their sleep!

A little way beyond top lock we met nb Henry H – Sarah was taking him down to turn around – we’d meet up again at the foot of the Calcutt Locks. We also passed nb Sanity Again moored up on the towpath – alas we didn’t see Bruce or Sheila, but we were able to admire their clean boat and shiny new blacking. Amazing how people hide from the combination of Henry H, Matilda Rose and an Indigo Dream ground crew.

We were reunited at Calcutt Bottom Lock – ah, you can’t keep a good crew down – Graham, Sarah and us – reunited after our marathon efforts last weekend. It was all change for the canine crew though – Sarah had only brought Miffy along this time!

The two crews moved smoothly up Calcutt locks, along to Napton junction and then along the canal towards Braunston. Henry H is booked into marina in mid-June ready for his makeover, so we all moored up by Bridge 102, where Richard had parked the car.

Hound hospitality on nb Matilda Rose - thanks for sharing your beds Muttley and Baxter! Ooh and thanks to Jill and Graham for the human hospitality - it was great!

Once we’d moored up we had the merriest time – Jill cooked us lunch, Graham had baked us a cake, and some fresh bread, and we settled down to relive our marathon experience and generally talk boats and hounds. All the dogs were flat out, apart from Ty, who couldn’t resist moving between Jill and Sarah to see who could give him the more expert fuss!

We had a wonderful afternoon but when the cake was eaten we realised that we had to move – we had a long drive home. We said goodbye with extreme reluctance and piled into my car for the trip back to Sarah’s car – the hounds were so relieved to see the car that Ty, Lynx AND Lou piled into the boot – interesting! We managed to close the boot and with remarkably little drama they all lay down! Miffy stretched out next to Sarah on the back seat for the short journey back to Sarah’s car. This was the most reluctant goodbye of all but it’s just as well – if Sarah and her hounds lived next door I’d never get anything done!

We redistributed the hounds into their normal configuration – Lou and Lynx on the back seat and Ty in the boot. We had a weary drive home – queues and delays the whole way back. Unfortunately our favourite dog-friendly services at Junction 10 of the M40 are being refurbished and the fields are not accessible at the moment. Not that is matters – Ty wouldn’t appreciate motorway services under any circumstances!

We got home late and weary but a chinese takeaway revived us enough to appreciate the wonder of our boating lives – the fresh air, the varied and interesting landscapes and, most importantly, the good people that we’ve met and the even better friends that we’ve made along the way…

The Odyssey 2011: Day 16

We are a week behind – yet again – sorry!

Monday 30th May

The morning after…..

Leaving Walsall Basin....

On the Monday after the marathon we woke full of half-hearted intentions involving moving the boat, the car but firstly ourselves. The many boats that had moored overnight had mainly disappeared by the time we emerged – at 7.30am! I was impressed, it was seriously persisting with rain – a perfect day for sitting indoors drinking coffee and reliving the previous 48 hours!

After discussing and rejecting many plans we went for the simplest – move the boat from Walsall Town Arm into the basin proper and leave her there for the week. Richard had talked to some of the remaining boaters and found that a few, including the BCNS vintage work boats Atlas and Malus, were also mooring in the basin for a week. This made us feel more secure. We moved into the basin against an adverse wind (aren’t they all!?), Richard got a cab back to the bottom of the Wolverhampton flight, where he’d left the car, and I packed up. It was all very efficient and by lunchtime we were on the road, heading for home along the spray-laden motorways. We hoped that the torrential rain had reached our parched garden, but as we approached London there was line in the sky – sodden rain filled clouds on one side and a sun-kissed veil on the other – the garden was left gasping for a drink! I was glad to get home – I was working in Belfast on Tuesday so it was turning out to be a rather busy week!

Saturday 4th June

Walsall Town Basin to Pelsall Junction

Last Sunday we expressed regret that we hadn’t encouraged our guests to shower – not that they were smelly (!) – but it is a refreshing thing for tired minds and bodies; by Monday morning we were delighted that they hadn’t, because our taps started to stutter. With no water point at the basin, our decision to come back on the Saturday was entirely driven by our boat’s water supply (or lack thereof)!

However we were to have one of those days that made the relentless efficiency of last week’s challenge seem like a distant dream!

View up to Birchills Bottom lock...

We were slow to get going on Saturday morning, and, after a crawling drive, arrived at the boat around midday – we were relieved to see that she was absolutely fine – no sign of damage or molestation of any sort. The nearby path was strewn with broken glass but we carefully picked our way around it with the hounds – not carefully enough as it transpired…..

The weather in Birmingham was unseasonably wet and windy, unlike the heatwave we’d left behind in Surrey- I had to rush to put on extra layers and my waterproof boots. Richard had spotted a car valet place near to the town basin and treated my car to a thorough valet inside and out – this meant that the car was in a secure place while we moved the boat – good plan. He then took the dogs for a bobble before we decamped to Costa for lunch. So far so good-ish….

After filling up with Costa coffee, we got back to boat in good but slightly soggy spirits – I walked through the boat to open the front doors, all oblivious, then as I walked back I noticed a 3-inch puddle of thick red blood on the floor, then I noticed more blood splashed across the sofa sheepskins – the ones that I’d just washed and put back clean an hour previously (not that it matters!). A hurried inspection revealed a nasty cut on Lynx’s foot – I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding – even with all the first aid available on board. So we found a vet that was open and got Lynx an appointment. Of course, the car was unavailable, so poor Lynx had to walk a mile to the vet, though the cut wasn’t bothering him half as much as the bandage and protective boot he was wearing! The vet was running behind so we had almost an hour wait, with Lynx getting increasingly anxious – uncharacteristic for him. We were relieved to see a very pleasant vet – he knew our local Surrey surgery very well, having once applied for a job there (and turned it down for complicated personal reasons!) – he’d also been to college with Lynx’s home vet – small world! Anyway, he did a thorough investigation of Lynx’s foot and we were relieved when he decided not to stitch the wound, instead he applied a big pressure bandage, administered a painkilling injection and an antibiotic – the latter stings, so Lynx decided to give Walsall his best greyhound death screams…..

View down from Birchills Bottom Lock - actually, the area looks pretty good in these photos - you really have to be in the mood for Birmingham!

(Vets were at 58, Lichfield St, Walsall , WS4 2BX Tel: 01922 622280, this could be the start of a guide to Vets to be read alongside the guide to moorings)

By the time we got back to the boat, Lynx was thoroughly fed up and we were a little stressed – we HAD to move today and it was almost 4pm by the time we set off from the basin. The unhandy wind gusted up, making it difficult to get off our mooring and it made for some interesting passages through the narrows. As I took the helm I thought the prop felt a bit sticky; as I turned toward the Birchills flight and dropped Richard off onto the towpath I remarked that the prop had picked up some debris but it could wait until after I’d gone up the lock. How wrong I was – as I came in to moor the prop stopped dead and the brisk wind blew me off the moorings towards the shallow offside. Frantic shouting brought Richard back from the lock and with some effort I finally got a rope to shore so he could pull me in. There followed something of a pantomime – Richard went down the weed hatch – I went to set the lock – shutting the top gate and fishing a panel of plywood out of the top paddle sluice – then I had to I walk back to the boat – I’d forgotten the anti-vandal key – when I got there Richard was pulling a classy (NOT!)  red chiffon scarf with gold tinsel edging from the prop –  I walked back to set the lock then I walked back down to the boat – I’d picked up the wrong anti-vandal key –  Richard was still pulling out metres of red chiffon scarf, a jean skirt, some underwear, some rope and plastic and a bit of net and fishing line (in fact almost as much in one hit as we picked up on the whole BCN challenge – I walked back up and finally set the lock – as I opened the gates, Richard finally finished unwinding the scarf from the prop!!

By now I was NOT well disposed towards the Birchills flight – it seemed dismal and rubbish-strewn. That’s a shame because this was the last frontier – the only flight of locks on the BCN that we hadn’t travelled (not counting the three up to the southern portal of the Dudley Tunnel – currently closed). Unfortunately at this stage I was weary and worried – about Lynx’s foot, about our ambitious plans for Sunday, about taking the boat up the flight so late in the day. Here’s the spoiler – it turned out that there was nothing to worry about, but I didn’t know that then!

I wasn’t in the mood, but Richard thought that the flight was “really nice with good gates, properly greased mechanisms, nice towpath and interesting views – a delight to work up”.  I will agree with him that Walsall Town Basin is well worth a visit – cheap beer in Wharf Inn, decent Weatherspons nearby (head for the Bus Station) and a convenient town centre with a mix of modern and historical features.

We met some lads hanging around the middle lock – I’d seen them from a distance and was worried – but they were fine and very curious about the boat – they hadn’t seen one on the flight before!

We reached top lock and its water point just after 5.30pm – just enough time for Richard to cycle back to recover the car. He set off, leaving me to dispose of our marathon rubbish and fill the water tank. The water pressure was very low so there was plenty of time for Richard to get the car and meet me back at the lock, but he was back in a surprisingly short time – ah, he’d forgotten his wallet and hadn’t realised until he reached the valet place – he’d had to cycle back uphill to the boat then cycle back down again! I settled down to some more tank watching – anxiously awaiting trouble – but there was none – it was very quiet at top lock and with a nearby pub, social club and residential moorings there were plenty of refuges around if there had been any bother. It was funny but Ty felt relaxed enough here to have a very long wee….

View down the Birchills locks - the new build and old canalside conversions work well together - I like to see old canalside building being used...

I did have a very wry thought – Lynx was lying on deck on one the bloodsoaked sheepskins – I did wonder whether the sight of it would scare any local lowlife – ” see, that’s what happened to the last trespasser!” 😉

Richard soon came back with a car that I didn’t recognise as my own – it was gleaming inside and out – a huge achievement as my car has been used as a dog-mobile since I bought it and, through lack of use, has been known to grow a flourishing ecosystem of moss and algae on the window seals! If you’re tempted, the valet place is immediately south of the basin on the corner of Navigation Street and Marsh Street, they did a fantastic job and their charges are exceedingly reasonable. Shame they don’t valet boats really!

We waited and waited for the water tank to fill – in the end we gave up – there was enough for a couple of days. Richard gave the boat a wash and we parted again – Richard was taking the car to the Finger Post pub in Pelsall – he’d cycle back to meet me, and I’d take Indigo Dream along the lock-free stretch. Our timing was perfect – as we got the boat ready to go, some more youths turned up at the lock and started the inevitable questions – “is that your boat” (yes) “can we have a lift?” (No!) but they were amiable enough and not at all threatening.

As I set off I noticed that there are 48-hour moorings here – I would doubt the ones on the towpath side, but there is one space on the offside (on the same side as the services) – it is gated and secured with a BW padlock – useful.

I set off along the Walsall Canal – another unexplored stretch – luckily I hadn’t gone far before I got a phonecall from Richard – I’d got the car keys – it really was one of those days! He walked up to meet me, keys were exchanged and on I went. The Walsall Canal was quiet and flanked by reeds, yellow irisis and waterlilies – you could easily forget where you were!

I soon reached the junction with the Wyrley and Essington and turned towards Pelsall. Now I was on very familiar ground, but I had a fancy that the canal was sliding back into sleepy dereliction after all the activity last weekend. There seemed to be more trash on the water and the vegetation had started to creep across the surface again. Well, almost, I knew that nb Atlas and butty Malus had come this way earlier in the day – the channel that they’d cleared through the turbid surface made a great path for me.

The bywashes below the locks are a bit fierce...

There were a few people out and about on the towpath – mainly cheerful dog walkers and fishermen, all very surprised to see the boat (bet they got a shock on over the next few days as 124 boats made their way to Pelsall!!); there were a few lovers walking hand-in-hand and a few teenagers walking ‘hand down girlfriend’s jumper’ – all very innocent. There were a few hard-eyed youths around but they didn’t offer any impertinence – some even relented enough to ask questions about the dogs (Lou usefully stood guard over the injured Lynx, who was being extremely pathetic on deck). Despite my imagination populating the towpath with every manner of desperado, I had no bother at all – I mused that boats are such an infrequent sight along here that the local troublemakers hadn’t thought to get equipped for mischief!

By now it was getting cold on deck – although it was dry, and the unheated cabin was very warm, the wind just cut through the helm and chilled me to the bone. When I checked the Nicholson’s I realised that I was only 2 miles from my destination – had I missed Richard cycling back? I gave him a ring – he’d been distracted by the kind offer of tea from the crew of Atlas and Malus, moored at Pelsall Junction. The canal was so quiet that it would have been daft for him to cycle to meet me, so I told him to have another cuppa while I cruised on to met him. I actually had a very good trip – the canal seemed deeper than last weekend and I got some decent mile-eating revs going (while staying within the speed limit of course…).

I met Richard just beyond Pelsall Junction and we moored up by the pub – it was a bit shallow but we were able to get within 6 inches of the bank so no need for a plank (essential with our accident-prone hounds). It’s a good spot – the canal is flanked by generous parkland – perfect for dog-walking, though the road was too close for us to let scaredy boy Ty off the lead.

I’d moored up just after 8.30pm and we dashed off to the Fingerpost pub before last food orders at 8.45pm. We had a great pub meal here – very generous portions! A little later we were joined by the crew of Malus and Atlas who regaled us with tales of their very interesting cruising life, both on the BCNS boats and their own nb Tiger Cub. We had a great evening, especially as we’ve had an unofficial heads up on the BCN Challenge results and spent some time comparing our strategies and plotting for the next challenge.

The influence of good food, good company and a few beers put us into a better frame of mind and we went back to the boat rather less stressed than we’d left it…..

Photoblog:

Circular bywash reminiscent of those on the Shroppie...

What a great vista....

No problem.....

Leaving Birchills Top Lock - see that mooring on the right - that's secured by a padlocked gate - handy!

Fishley Lane Bridge on the Wyrley and Essington - it has the look of a turnover bridge but the towpath doesn't cross over here - quite a monumental design for a footbridge...

This photo is very blurred but these are 'early purple orchids' growing on the Wyrley and Essington Canal - how unexpected is that.... (The Jameisons have photos of another one of their blog http://nbfreespirit.blogspot.com/)

Dog Blog: Lynx’s Diary

Saturday 4th June

I’s a poor hard-dun by houndie but at least I’s gotta home wif duvets – remember you’s can still sponsor the marathon so that all the houndies in kennels can be spoiled rotten have a hard time in new homes – http://www.mycharitypage.com/IndigoDream

POOR ME!!!!!

Mummy Sue wents away on Tuesday – I duzn’t like it when she goes away, but it woz hokay coz I woz still tired after the weekend so I’s dun restin’ wif Lou and Ty. Oh course, I didn’t let mummy Sue know I woz hokay, so when she came home on Wednesday I’s pretended I didn’t know her – huh, she can’t go leavin’ her best boy and ‘specting favours. She sez “poor poor Lynxie” and feds us all sum chikkin so I sed “oooh mummy Sue, is YOU” an’ we woz all happy. We’s happy too becoz daddy Richard’s been takin’ us runnin’ in the hevenin’s – even Ty dun runnin’ but no-one’s as fast as ME!

We’s gone to the boat this weekend – we’s got to the boat an’ I wents for a walk wif daddy Richard, then they wents out for lunch and left us on the sofa – honest, how could they not see I woz despiritely injured! When they came back mummy Sue went “eeeeeeek, what’s this blood all over the place….”

Uh oh, the paw police are on our case…..

Mummy Sue found a cut on my paw – I’s haccidentally trod on sum glass on the paf. I woz tryin’ to keep me paw to meself but she hinsited on washin’ me paw, in COLD water, then she puts a big bandij on, then she holds me paw reelly tight, but it woz still bleedin’ all over the place…..

“VET” she sez….

Wot? They have vets up here? I thought I woz safe coz I’s left all the vets at home, I didn’t fink they had vets here. Mummy Sue put a bandij and a boot on me foot and we’s had to walk to the vet right thru the town- oh no, a silly boot, hope none of me babes saw me…

Auntie Jill made me a speshal bed on her boat Matilda Rose....

I duzn’t like the vet – it wozn’t me luvverly Blondie and the vet man wanted to knows all about me so he checked my belly – I sez “owwww”; then he’s stuck his cold stethi- thing on me bald chest, then he tells mummy Sue that I’s got a heart murmer so she gives the vet her best “the foot’s enough stress for now, don’t tell me any more” look, but he still stuck a thermometer up me bum. Me foot still hadn’t stopped bleedin’ so the vet put some funny purple stuff on it – oh no, a purple foot, is gettin worse by the minit.  It woz all too much, even for a sooper-hero like me, so I’s dun a jelly boy and shooked all over ’til a nice vet nurse give me a big cuddle. Then the vet gave me a hinjection wot stung like a wasp – I’s had to do a spesha ly loud death scream  – I’s learnt that from Lou. The vet put a hoooge bandij on me foot, then mummy Sue put a boot over the bandij an’ I had to walks all the way back thru town again – I’s will NEVER be able to show me face round here agen!

When Is’ got back to the boat, mummy Sue took my boot off and I’s decided that the bandij is not me foot – I duzn’t want anyfink to do wif it – is not my foot.

“Is not my foot” I sez “take it off”

“It IS your foot” sez mummy Sue “it’s just hidden behind the bandage”

“Is NOT my foot” I sez

“Yes it is” she sez

“Is not MY foot” I sez

“You silly hound, it is your foot”

“IS NOT MY FOOT” I sez

We's ever so grateful for our comfy sheepies Auntie Jill...

Huh, mummy Sue is not takin’ me seriously – I’s woz forced to curl up small on my sheepskin and I’s dun huffin’ an’ puffin’ – every now and then I’s grumbled “is not my foot” but mummy Sue ignored me…..

I may have overdone me grumblin’ coz after I dun sulkin’ bein’ ever so ill on deck for hours and hours, mummy Sue sed maybe I needed to go back to the vet. But I’s used my hypno powers to get daddy Richard to take mummy Sue to the pub instead. I’s then used me amazin’ powers to get her to bring me back sum steak leftovers – ummmmm, a nice joocy steak, just what I needs to replace all the bloods I’s lost…..

Sunday 5th June

“Good morning Lynx” sez mummy Sue at 7.30am “how’s your foot”

” ‘snot my foot” I sez

She sed if I woz that ill maybe she shoulds take me home – Miffy and me woz never meant to be….

“Oooooh Miffy?” I sez

“Yes, Miffy” she sez “She’s coming out speshally by herself so you can gets to know her better wifout any competition”

“Well, if Miffy’s comin’ then maybe, mummy Sue, you coulds just take this bandij off so’s I could check whether I’s got me foot back”…..

“hokay” she sed

Mummy Sue, we needs more chin rests on our boat...

“uh, how big is that scissors mummy Sue” I sez “maybe we should just leave the bandij on”….

I’s hid me foot quick, not that it is MY foot, but I hids it anyway then she’s dun a BIG cheat – she gots daddy Richard to hold me leg and she cut the bandij off – ooh look, it’s me foot, it’s back…

I’s still got to wear me silly boot tho’ – humph!

We’s got in the car to meet up wif our frends but wen we got there Ty got out of the car boot but then, quick as flash he jumps in on the back seat -Ty duzn’t like new places, but we sed “oooh smell that, we woz here a few weeks ago, we knows this place” but he wozn’t havin’ none of it. Mummy Sue pulled him an’ he pulled back, she shoved him an’ he shoved back. But hu-mums is devious – she tooked all the blankies and sheepies from underneaf him then she slid him out of the car – daddy Richard had polished the back seat – it woz so shiny that Ty’s bum slid right off an’ he almost fell out onto his nose!

Before we mets Miffy we’s had to take a trip on a diff’rent boat wif me pen pals Baxter and Muttley wot have given good hadvice on how to misbehave in dog trainin’. My foot woz ever so sore, so I’s dun maximum limpin’ and I’s got lots of sympafy – Auntie Jill made me a speshall bed on their sofa wif a nice thick sheepskin – I’s dun sleepin’ all mornin’ then I’s dun cuddles wif Lou coz there woz two sheepskins – Auntie Jill is luvverly but she locked Daisy the cat away – I woz a bit sad coz I luves cats, in a speshal way….

Me an’ Lou woz on Muttley’s sofa reelly and there woz just enuff room for him to get up next to Lou, but, well, you knows Lou; Muttley’s dun lookin’ at Lou an finks “maybe not yet”; then he goes and has a cuddle with mummy Sue, then he dun lookin’ at the sofa and finks “maybe not yet” an’ has anuvver cuddle wif Aunty Sue, then after an hour he decides to jump up – well, Lou gives him a look, an’ not one of her nice ones eifer! So he turned his back and curled up reelly small so she’s couldn’t see him any more and we woz all happy.

Lou givin' Muttles her best "look" - you knows the one - but it's Muttley's bed - "huh, it's mine now" sez Lou....

Coz I dun sleepin’ I woz all fresh when Miffy came – I runs up and sez “hello babe, you’s luvverly” – smooth eh? We’s dun a bit of rummagin’ and weeing but mainly she dun hignorin’ me – I duzn’t fink we haz a ‘speshal relationship” – I finks we’s “just good friends” – s’ok, as long as she still lets me sniff her luvverly bottom….

We's all bestest friends reelly tho'...

v

Wen we’s got back to Auntie Sarah’s car, I’s said goodbye to luvverly Miffy an’ got in the back seat proper wif Lou – we’s dun sleepin’ all the way home and all the time after we gots home – mummy Sue sez I’s got to see Blondie the vet tomorrow so I’s needin’ my rest….

Monday 6th June

OH NOOOO – Blondie the vet is stranded in an hairport somewhere – I’s havin’ to see the top man – OOOOH NOOOOO – he makes Lou do big death screams – mummy Sue – NOOOOOO……

“Oh stop making a fuss” sez mummy Sue

“hmmmmmph” I sez

I’s had to have stitches in me foot, ‘cept it’s not my foot, the vet swapped it for a blue one wen I woz asleep – AAAARRRHHHH – THAT’S NOT MY FOOT!!!

Mummy Sue sez “it’s only a sky blue bandage – you look cute AND you’ll get lots of sympathy…”

Oh, okay then…..

Mummy Sue cooked me sum chikkin coz I woz bein’ a bit pafetic – I’s still a bit wobbly – “mummy Sue, are you SURE this is my foot???”

Huh, I sees Ty bein’ all manly and charging round the garden so I follows – urk – I’s been pulled up – mummy Sue’s got me lead – wot for?! She sez I’s only allowed out for wees and watnot – no walkin’, no chargin’ around an’ no rummaging – for TEN DAYS!!!! Awwwww, GIVE ME MY FOOT BACK……

Mummy Sue sez I can sunbathe in the garden if I promises not to charge around - me, charge around, oh course not, mummy Sue

Uh, well, see, that's not really me chargin' around, I woz qwite slow, honest, I mean I wouldn't charge around when you told me not to......

Lou an' Ty on the lookout...

Wot is they lookin' at???

Me good friend Muttley wot gave me his bed coz I is so poorly sick...

Uh oh, is not wot it looks like - i's just checking that me bandij is secure, honest...

Did I mention - POOR ME!!!

Luvverly Miffy havin' a piece of cake - see the boat woz all nice an' cozy wif hounds and humans all over the place...

Lou an' Baxter getting comfy - they is qwite senior so they's grabbed the best bits of the sofa...

Luvverly luvverly Miffy - just me good friend...

BCN Marathon Challenge 2011: Photoblog 3

Sat 7.29pm: The aptly named 'chimney bridge' - huge piers carrying a slender footbridge high above the canal...

Sat 7.49pm: It was getting a bit dark so this is a poor photo. They obviously had fun cutting through here and then they built a series of little red brick piers supporting the redstone cliffs...

Sat 9.21pm: Graham doing a sterling job of clearing an obstruction behind the last lock gate of the day.....

Sun 4.20am: Setting off from Cuckoo Wharf - shhhhh - Wand'ring Bark is still asleep..... Graham gave them a flash, Richard took a photo.

Sun 4.46am: Approaching the bottom of the Aston flight...

Sun 5,06am: Graham is such a cheerful soul in the morning....

Sun 5.33am: Leaving the top of the Aston flight...

Sun 5.38am: Approaching the Farmer's Bridge flight and the centre of Birmingham...

Sun 5.44am: Modern Birmingham has just been built over this ancient lock flight - brilliant!

Sun 5.47am: 'Tunnel' and lock under Snow Hill Station....

Sun 5.51am: There's a canal under here!

Sun 5.48am: Proof that the hounds did stay awake for part of the day!

Sun 5.56am: In the shadow of the BT Tower - the lock is right underneath the adjacent tower block...

Sun 5.57am: Impressive view from the lock....

Sun 6.00am: Under the tower....

Sun 6.09am: What a great lock flight this is....

Sun 6.22am: That's not painted on - it's a stick on - I'm amazed it hasn't been nicked!

Sun 6.34am: View down the Farmer's Bridge flight - almost at the top now...

Sun 6.47am: Shhhhh - that's Graham's boat Matilda Rose - better not wake the missus!

Sun 7.34am: The Smethwick Locks - our next flight - only 3 locks in this one though 🙂

Sun 7.35am: Henry and Archie are raring to go - mainly because Lynx is off rummaging ahead of them....

Sun 7.47am: That 'bridge' is an aqueduct carrying the engine arm branch off the old main line canal over the new main line canal!

Sun 7.51am: The magnificent pump house at the top of the Smethwick Locks...

Sun 7.52am: The hounds need a nap....

Sun 8.12am: The huge pillars are holding up the M5 motorway; we're on the old main line canal and that's the new main line canal below, oh, and the green bank is the railway line!

Sun 8.16am: Canal under the M5 motorway....

Sun 8.30am: View up the Oldbury Locks...

Sun 8.56am: Titford pumping house....

Sun 9am: Looking up to Titford pools - the high point of the BCN

Sun 9.13am: Birmingham as you might imagine it - wonder what will go up on this plot....

Sun 9.14am: There's plenty of greenery around though....

Sun 9.16am: Plenty to see on the Oldbury Arm - I wonder if the canal once went right into this building - looks likely....

Sun 9.17am: This old building is very interesting - wonder what business it once housed?

Sun 10.03am: Which way next?

sun 10.07am: Interesting brickwork... you could think its time for an eye test

Sun 11am: View down the Ryders Green lock flight - we had gone down another short flight at Spon Lane before getting to this point. The crew was knackered but excited - these are the last locks of our marathon...

Sun 11.29am: Amy from nb Lucky Duck (or nb Yeoford) on the challenge - with the locks behind us we've now got time to chat!

Sun 12.09pm: Not far to go now - the Walsall Canal...

Sun 12.10pm: The Walsall Canal is much improved since 2009 but it does feel derelict in places - I don't think that traffic sign in the middle of the canal was meant to direct boats!

Sun 12.17pm: Heron - so that means there's fish in the Walsall Canal - all good stuff....

Sun 12.36pm: Wildlife in Walsall - canals really are green corridors...

Sun 12.49pm: The Book barge - another interesting business on the water...

Sun 12.52pm: Modern canalside industry...

Sun 12.54pm: More traditional canalside industry - I love these remnants of old walls and buildings - nice when they're put to use now....

Sun 1.09pm: Great view from the James Bridge aqueduct on the Walsall Canal...

Sun 1.39pm: We're on the finishing line with nb Guelrose coming in behind us....

The morning after - Mon 7.20am: nb The cat who walks by himself setting out from Walsall Town Arm...

The morning after - Mon 7.20am: nb Wand'ring Bark making tracks out of Walsall as well on the start of their hunt for a mattress....

The morning after - 7.20am: No need to kick our boat Captain Ahab, I swear I didn't spike your coffee yesterday 🙂

The morning after - 9.25am: Lynx can finally relax now that we've stopped moving - job well done Lynx!