And so to Beale Park....

I have now safely arrived at Beale Park which will be my 'home' for the next 3 weeks.

Up early this morning and had my shopping done by 8 a.m.! Then it was time for a Tesco 'big breakfast', 8 items and an orange juice for £4. I definitely will not be needing lunch today!

As I left Tesco's mooring nb SANITY AGAIN, with Sheila and Bruce pulled in and took over my spot. Then it was up to Better Boating for a bit more diesel at 80/20 split. Caversham Lock was my first ever river lock to be cruised solo - I had previously managed narrow and wide locks solo, but never a river lock. All went well and I was on my way up to Mapledurham, here I had to hover above the lock, with the wind blowing, waiting for the jetty to clear so I could get in to take on water, pump out the loo and dump the rubbish. Whoever designed the location of these facilities is obviously not a boater - they are far too close to the lock and create many problems!

Whitchurch Lock came and went, and then the approach to Beale Park - so many boats here already and lots of 'old' faces to meet again. Then it was time for coffee with Sandy (nb JACARANDA) and blue Sheila, (n.b. FAIR'FA) with her new name RACQUET!! She and Sandy's other right hand helper (sorry - I forgot your name!! from nb BRIAR ROSE - I know your husband is GEOFF - I even know your car!!!) are now to be known as UNHINGED and RACQUET!!

A walk round the site - it is surprising how much equipment has already arrived. TARDIS was there (our trailer that stores so much equipment hence it's name) and the tea tent was already erected and the Carpenters workshop marquee was in the process of being erected.

Then it was back to the boat to set up my 'office'. Our real office does not arrive until Monday and until we get electricity in it we cannot start to use it... Tomorrow morning at 0900 hrs is the Elf'n'safety lecture then we start for real.......

See you soon

Business as usual

I have now taken up residence on GUELROSE again. The children have now left after their week aboard (children!!! they are in their thirties!)

As is usual, I now cannot find anything in the cupboards as it has all been moved to different places. Tomorrow it is restocking in Tesco's at Reading before cruising solo up to Beale Park and starting work on Saturday.

Fuller reports re the site building will follow in due course......

A short day... and handover

A leisurely start to the day today, cruising from Beale Park to Tesco's at Reading.

Saw yet another Kingfisher today on the outskirts of Reading. We also noticed that they have already started building the site for the Reading Music Festival, but, to give them their due the Festival does open a few days before ours.....

Once at Tesco's it was time for a handover of the boat to our son, his family and friends. GUELROSE is now in his 'capable hands'. I shall be returning to the boat next Thursday so there will be no blog update until Friday 13th!! when I arrive on site at Beale Park and the work starts in earnest.

And so we reach Beale Park

After leaving Abingdon we were subjected to a very heavy shower of rain that lasted for the best part of an hour, then the sun came out and I dried out. A little while later the black clouds appeared again so I donned the full waterproof gear, and, guess what, we had a few spots of rain and that was it!

After six hours cruising (I got the GPS out and checked my speed downstream - wow - 4.5 mph!!) we got to Beale Park and checked out some of the moorings and we were able to get into them okay. However, since my last visit to plan the moorings, some of the trees, bushes and vegetation have grown a bit. Never mind, we will be able to sort it hopefully.

Tomorrow it is on to Reading and hand over the boat for a week to our son Jon.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY... The river is a real source of wildlife, we have seen numerous varieties of the usual ducks, coots and moorhens, plus quite a few Crested Grebe, an Egret, and today we were delighted to see three different Kingfishers, at Abingdon, Benson and Beale Park.

Service with a smile.....

It's our own fault, but, we really wanted to go up the Thames for a while, and, as we have to be in Reading on Thursday, today had to be quite a long day....

We stopped below Eynsham to dump the rubbish and empty the porta loos and then continued on down the Thames. The weather was reasonable, sunny spells and in the afternoon a couple of short showers. We passed some more National boats, ARACHNE, our boss ON REFLECTION, and Rex Wright on AMY EM.

We also had our first experience on operating a Thames Lock using the new system, opinions are currently reserved!!

A quick stop above Abingdon Lock to top up the water tank, and then below to moor up. Some chance!!! Apparently if you do not get here before lunchtime you have no chance!! BUT, every cloud has a silver lining and there is always a knight in shining armour just around the corner.

On the offside are some moorings which say private, but, they are not any more. Also. the charming man who runs the outboard motor repair centre leases some of the moorings, and, he will let you moor there for free if you ask. I needed some gas and some blue for the loo, which he sells, so the deal was done. An added bonus was the recreation ground nearby with plenty of doggie bins so the dogs were happy as well.

Just sitting here now listening to the church bells ringing......

Tomorrow we will moor at Beale Park, if we cannot find a mooring there then I have real problems over the Bank Holiday weekend!!

The Upper Thames.....

You can tell that the Bank Holiday Weekend and the National Waterways Festival is getting closer, yesterday we passed SANITY AGAIN, today it was FLORRIE KENDAL and FAIR FA.

Unfortunately we were only able to go up the river as far as Shifford Lock where we topped up the water, then winded and started back downstream. We have to be in Reading by Thursday afternoon as our son is having the boat for a week. If any of you are on the Kennet and Avon Canal from 5th to 12th August watch out for GUELROSE - the person in charge will not be me although you may be excused when you see what you think is a much younger version of me!!

Another lovely days cruising, some of the bends up this section of river are great fun in a 70 footer!! Another field mooring in the middle of nowhere, beautiful evening sunshine and a magnificent sunset. What more can one ask for.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY..... If you remove the narrowboats from the Upper Thames there will hardly be anything else left - I know a lot of cruisers cannot get past Osney Bridge but even so they are so sparse up here.....

Tragedy et al.....

My birthday was on Friday, I went to sign on to the internet to get all the hundreds of good wishes from my fellow facebook fans, but, the computer battery was almost dead and when I plugged in the charger it did not work!!

It was like having my arms and legs cut off - no computer - no Internet access - nothing!!!

Luckily, there is a happy ending to this story. I had a surprise visit from my 2 children, their spouses and my four grandchildren who insisted on taking me out for a meal. They all went home that night leaving the eldest granddaughter with us, but took my computer with them. My daughter returned next day to pick up the granddaughter and brought with her a replacement charger. JOY!!

So here I am, back on the Internet. We stayed at Thrupp from Friday morning until Sunday morning, intending to leave reasonably early. But, saying goodbye to Chrissie and Richard of DIGITALIS took time, then MAFFI turned up and had a chat, so, all in all, we left later than anticipated.

We eventually got onto the Thames, did a self pump out at Eynsham, (£8 is really good value these days) and, taking the lock keepers advice went past the pay moorings where we saw SANITY AGAIN, and moored up in a field which is apparently free....

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY... It is really peaceful here, if they could only get rid of the planes at Oxford airfield it would be even quieter.

Wednesday 28th/Thursday 29th July.....

Wednesday 28th, not much to report, cruised a couple of miles and worked one lock.

Went to Sovereign Wharf for diesel, and, I know it has been published elsewhere time and time again, but, diesel is 70 pence per litre, you can declare what you want, BUT, it is only cash or cheque (no plastic) and they are only open Monday to Thursday, 1000 to 1600 hrs.

The evening was spent with a friend we had made at a previous National. There are so many eating establishments in Banbury to choose from for its 46000 population, but, the TOP WOK chinese buffet was our choice and it was fantastic.

Thursday, left early, so did every one else. Got to Nell Bridge Lock and found a queue, one boat had been in the lock for over an hour as the bottom gate would not shut..... suffice to say common sense prevailed and a good old fashioned 'flushing' of the lock solved the problem, however it did delay us for 2 hours.

We carried on and on, eventually we moored up, after 9 and a half hours cruising, but had only covered 14 miles and 10 locks, a journey that should not have taken us much more than 6 hours.

Tomorrow will be a short day.... it is my 60th birthday and Thrupp is our destination...

The best laid plans...

Today was supposed to be a short day. It started badly and did not get much better. As soon as I cast off the 'shower' started. After about 2 hours the rain stopped, and we reached Claydon Locks, and guess what? You guessed right, there was a queue of boats waiting for the lock. And that was how the day continued, queuing at most of the locks.

Our original intention was to stop at Cropredy, but, with probably 2 miles solid of moored boats there was nowhere for us. On and on we went, until we eventually decided enough was enough and dug the mooring pins out of the locker and moored up not far short of the M40 motorway near Banbury. Someone had moored here before us and had already trimmed the bank leaving a perfect soace for a 70 footer.

Our planned 'short' day turned out to be 8 hours cruising (including a 30 minute service stop). Tomorrow we are going out with a 'new' friend we met at the Autherley National. He now lives in Banbury and that is where we are meeting him. Banbury is now 2 miles and 1 lock away from us, theoretically that is an hours cruising, but, on this canal, who knows?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.... why do BW manage to build service stations in the most awkward places imaginable. Take Cropredy for example, now, if my 70 footer was articulated it would fit into the service area perfectly. However, to reach the water point with my hose means the **** end of the boat is sticking out into the canal blocking other boats. Never mind, the water flow was good and I wasn't there too long!

Queuing at Napton.....

Moved onto the South Oxford Canal today, reached Napton Locks and found 4 boats already waiting to go up the locks. Whilst we waited we filled up with water, emptied the loo, dumped the rubbish and Jenny went to the little shop next to the Folly Pub to get a newspaper.

The couple in the little shop are really friendly and stock all the basics you could need whilst boating. There is another shop in the village but it is a bit of a walk away, that shop is also a post office and has been for sale for nearly 4 years. The Folly shop is much more convenient, the lady in the shop says she is going to write a book about all the peculiar items they get asked for, she also says that a few boaters obviously get a surprise when they get back to their boats.... the couple keep their own milk (for tea and coffee etc.) and their own spread for their sarnies right at the back of the fridge, but the customers still pick up the half used containers and buy them!!

Anyway, back to cruising, it took us 3 and a half hours to work the Napton flight, (including waiting time) there were that many boats about.

Now we are moored in the middle of nowhere between Marston Doles and Fenny Compton at we call 'our aerial mooring'. From here you can see for miles and miles......

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Our 'normal' cruising day is about 4 hours, so, when we get a delay like we did today, we still have plenty of time. Today, however, we met a hireboat intent on completing the Thames ring in 2 weeks... Why do people still try to do this... I know the boat costs a lot of money to hire and you want to get your moneys worth but surely, you don't get a chance to see anything apart from the canal and river, what about all the lovely villages and walks.....

Day 4

I really must think of a more original heading in the future.....

Short day today and a short blog to go with it. Left Hillmorton, worked the delightful Hillmorton Locks and and on through Braunston, mooring early afternoon a little bit short of Napton Junction

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Why do I cruise on Sundays! You would have thought I would have learned my lesson by now. Between Hillmorton and Braunston was one long procession of private boats out for the day and hireboats leaving their bases in the Napton/Calcutt area. Monday tomorrow and normality will return.

Day 3......

A leisurely start today..... it was about time I cleaned the brass so that is what I did. We set off about 11 and stopped at Rose Narrowboats for water. The yard was a hive of activity as engineers and cleaners prepared the hirefleet for its next batch of 'owners'.

Whilst there I purchased a new seal for the porta potti (£9.93!!!!!).... I really must fit it before we get to Beale Park otherwise Elaine and her crew on the Lavendar Boat might well be wearing..... well, it does not not bear thinking about!!

After shopping at Tesco's in Rugby (the walk to the store seems to be getting longer or am I getting older) we set off again.

Then it was on to Hillmorton to moor for the night, where we saw a procession of Viking Afloat and Rose Narrowboats as the new crews find their feet...

By the time I set sail tomorrow they will be long gone.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: What is to stop me going to the supermarket garage with my plastic 5 gallon containers, buying white diesel at £1.15, putting it in my tank and then when I get to a boatyard just adding red diesel at domestic rate?? Will it work, will my engine like white diesel? The fact that I would only save about 9p a litre on propulsion probably makes it not worth the effort, but, is itg legal?

The cruise continues

Day 2 of our cruise, and, it was rather remiss of me to forget that yesterday was a very important day.....!

n.b. GUELROSE came of age yesterday so......


HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY GUELROSE, and here's to the next 21 years (hopefully)

Very little to report today, except that it did not rain. Atherstone Locks were completed with very little trouble and also very little traffic. Is it summer? If so, where have all the boats gone?

2 boats passed us before we cast off and only 2 more boats passed as we climbed the rest of the flight.

Reaching Hawkesbury we found it as congested as ever so continued through the stop lock and onto the Oxford Canal. We eventually moored up on the embankment past Ansty next to the railway, the view is great, and the trains do not really bother us.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: We have now covered about 30 miles of canal. In that time we have seen at least 20 'continuous moorers' (I know as we came this way 6 weeks ago and the same boats are in the same place) Is it time for BW to change their licensing and mooring policies? The average towpath mooring is probably about £1000 (based on what I pay for a garden mooring,) multiply that by 20 boats equals £20000, and, multiply that by the mileage of canals in this country (is it 3000 miles? ) divided by my 30 miles makes 100 times £20000 which equals some £2 million that BW should be getting but isn't. Or have I got it wrong some where??

Continuous cruisers are not the problem (when circumstances are right I shall be one) but continuous moorer are another story.......

GUELROSE is moving.....!

n.b. GUELROSE slipped her moorings at 1130 a.m. and within 5 minutes it has started raining. GUELROSE is now heading for Beale Park on the River Thames. I have spent the winter months since October 2009 planning and drawing moorings for some 500 boats that are attending the National Festival at Beale Park over August Bank Holiday weekend. The moment of truth is drawing nearer - will my plans work or will it be a disaster. Only time will tell but I sincerely hope it is the former rather than the latter!!

Anyway, back to cruising and having to get used to the slow speeds of internet access via a dongle after having the pleasure of wireleess broadband all over the winter months....

Reaching Glascote Locks we joined the back of the obligatory queue for these locks, but, why does this happen? I don't think it was helped by someone getting impatient and working down the lock against the flow to end up with 2 boats in the same pound between the two locks... when will they ever learn that this does not work! During the hour or so I was waiting we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning. It really was quite a show! Once through the 2 locks (it only took 1 hour 35 minutes) the sun came out and shone for the rest of the day.

We are now moored just above the first 2 locks of the Atherstone flight, good tv picture for the wife and a reasonable signal for the T mobile internet connection.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:- when will people learn the right way to moor up a boat, putting the mooring lines at 90 degrees to the boat just does not work.

Another thought maybe tomorrow - I have lots of them I want to air.

Look carefully - what can you see??

A slight distraction from the main purpose of my blog, but, I could not resist this picture taken today at the bottom of my garden in Hopwas.

Now, down to the main purpose of the blog, GUELROSE will be on the move again next week!!! After having not moved since October last year!!! we shall be setting sail on Wednesday next week to take a trip up the Ashby Canal and back. This will be followed by another cruise in July when we will be taking 2 weeks to take the boat down to the Thames in readiness for the IWA National Festival at Beale Park over the Bank Holiday weekend. (I shall be at Beale Park for 3 weeks as I am the new Waterspace Manager - this has entailed learning a lot of new computer programs including Microsoft Access and Turbocad - just the thing to pass away those long dark cold winter nights!!)

In between us taking the boat down to the Thames and going to Beale Park my son will be cruising the boat on the Thames and Kennet and Avon Canal for a week - times have changed, a few years ago it would have been him and a few mates and several dozen crates of lager - now it's the wife, two children and friends also with children!

Hopefully, dongle permitting (if I can remember where I put it) I will be posting a few updates of our travels. You get so used to the speed of wireless broadband that waiting for the dongle to connect is like watching paint dry. Now, also, where did I put that extension lead which means I will be able to locate the dongle on the highest point of the boat..... Ummmmmm?

Speak to you soon