Lincoln to Woodhall Spa

Its been that long since I did the last blog and put these pics onto the site I am struggling to remember what happened. Still here goes.

We left Lincoln and headed down stream for Washingborough.  As you can see the weather was superb. The actual mooring isdead ahead and only 4km from Lincoln so its hardly long enough to warm up the engine.

Just before arriving at Washingborough the church at Greetwell can be seen on ther opposite bank.  To my mind this must have looked just like thousands of others churchs before the massive rebuilding that took place throughout the country in the 19th century.

The evening view from the bows.  I turned the boat on mooring so facing upstream.  The cathederal stands out on top of the scarp.  Its hard to believe that it is surrounded by houses.

Heading down stream again and another lovely day. The trouble with the canal and river as far as Bardney is the lack of bends and interesting views. Keep an eye out for the sculptures.

Well there are a couple here.  My favourites.  The artist has really captured the look of a cow and its made out of scrap metal some of which you can identify if you get close.

Out of Bardney lock and it all seems quite clear of weed but there are horror stories going about concerning the amount of weed further down stream.

The Lockkeepers house has been sold but is going to be let for holidays if you want a quiet time by a canal.

Very windy.  The wind coming through the bridge almost csught me out.  The boat veered off to the left and and the bridge support got rather close.

Every so often bits of weed turn up.  In the distance is the mooring at Southerey and its from this point the weed gets thicker.

and thicker it gets.

Another piece of sculpture to ponder on.

Woodhall Spa mooring and the thats it for today. 

The weed is coming down stream with the wind. When the wind changes direction the weed piles upin different places.

Off for a wander about Kirkstead and walk into Woodhall Spa to the shop.  Station waiting for the late arrival of a train.

Nice sign on the entrance to the town.  Sadly the Gypsy caravan that was in a front garden the last time I was here has gone.

Walked up to the remains of the Priory nd in the field can be seen the old fish ponds.

Not much left now of the Priory. 

The church is still closed which is a pity. I would love to have a look inside.

There are extensive earthworks in the fields around the remains.  Timeteam would have a field day here.

The little lane leading up to the Priory is a delight and if I had any gin

I would pick a load of sloes that are along the hedge to make a winter warmer :-)

and its back to the canal with the pub on the left for those that have worked up a thirst on the walk.

Thorne down to Keadby less the bit for wind

 During the last few days at Thorne BW work boat went past. Spotted it later bit further down towards Keadby and it arrived today at Vasons Bridge.

 Before we undertook the arduous journey down to Keadby, (well it was hard to get ones backside into gear so to speak) I topped up with a gas bottle, some derv a length of rope and a new battery.  The new batteries work a treat and even without the engine running have managed an hour or so telly in the evening. Just a bit of wind so as there is more coming it might be best to get the trip over and done with.

 

 While doing the business a snake was spotted in the water.  Having not put a pic of one on the blog I thought this an opportunity not to be missed. You can just see its tail while it is hiding in the tyre/fender at the mooring.

A quick poke with a pointed stick (not really I just moved the tyre slightly) and it decided to move on. Its between three and four foot long.

 My first canal serpent :-)

Two of us are heading off to Keadby and the wind is increasing.

 Can't remember what this one is called but its an exBW workboat thats being converted on the canal side at Bluewater Marina.

 The conversion is giving it a nice shaped bow.

Mumble mumble discontent DRM.  I hate going sideways down the canal due to the wind.  The other boat turned around at the first bridge.  It is a bit on the flat side round here with nothing to slow the wind down. Can't say I entirely blame him.  Several goes needed to get off the moorings as I go down towards Keadby.

Fed up at one spot so stopped to make a cup of tea and get some apples for a tart.

 Every bridge seems to have a bit of open ground off to one side and the mooring is always on the leeward side to boot.

There are still a number of cygnets (13) on the run up to Keadby.

 Thank goodness for the view.

 Vasons Bridge and I am stuck.  The wind is so strong that I can't get the bows to stay out long enough to start the boat moving. Ah well at least its a quiet place to moor up.

It doesn't seem to be so bad really.

 

 Still can't get it to behave and after 3/4 hour work manage to get the boat to the other side with the hope of jumping at the bridge hole when its open but in the end can't be bothered.

 

  Following morning its even worse.

 Waves getting higher.

 Some of these are well over 2ft high and the crest of some are on the gunnel.

 Couple of boats have come up from Keadby.  Its quite calm there but the moment you come through the bridge hole the wind takes over.

Still bad and tonight its started raining.  If it rains hard enough it should flat out the waves and I won't get seasick. :-)

I'm back

After several weeks away from the boat (hiding from Christmas) I am now back.

At the end of December I was in Barton on Humber being kept in line by Abz while Mummy was in hospital giving birth to her little sister.  The big sister image fits well on Abz who loves every minute of her time with Izzy. Karyn wont be getting a look in if Abz has her way! :-)

Isabelle Amy was born by CS on December 31st at 1005 and weighed in at 8lb 1/2oz. She looked and still does look gorgeous. She had slight jaundice but not enough to be kept in so they were both back home on Saturday when I returned to the boat and the snow.

Abigail Jenna is in the middle of these.  Nice looking (must be getting on for vintage) wagon was delivering log this morning.  Happily I have coal on board.  In the next few weeks when the ice is thawing I will be off to Ferrybridge to pick up some more and then possibly try for Wigan via Bingley.  There might be a stop in Leeds for a few days.

The snow is lying on top of the ice.  You can just see the solar panel on the boat.  I went down and cleared the snow off it.  Not a job taken lightly with the snow on the gunnels :-) I am not linked to the power supply at the moment so need to run the engine occasionally.

The snow is still falling but inboard with the fire well and truly lit I am in shirt sleeves it gets so warm.  Mind you first thing in the morning would be enough to put people off boating in winter with ice on the inside of the windows.

I did mention that there was not much room for error mooring up.  I only have one fender down and that had to be kicked into place.  At least the boat doesnt move a lot even if the ice wasnt there.

Winter draws on as they say

The valley at Aberdar looks quite flat from a distance but the road going up the mountain as we went to Treorci was steep and very winding.

On a clear day the view is of the Brecon Beacons miles away in the distance.

The town of Aberdar is typically Welsh is style and the tallest thing you can see is the church which dominates the area.

Over the mountain via Maerdy and towards Treorci is another country to locals.  As with places in England there tends to be a natural inclination to move in a certain direction along the roads.  England the key is the local market towns.  Here in Wales the route taken is up and down the valley.  I have been told that you can distinguish the valley that people come from by their accent they are that isolated from the neighbouring valley.

Virtually all the high points seen in this pic are over 1000 feet. 

On the way back is a view that gets one rock hammer hand itching.  Plenty of hard rock geology here and right on the surface.

In the distance can be seen the Brecon Beacons all covered with snow.

The valleys are much greener these days with the coke works down the valley having shut down and the last of the pits closing recently.