Lightness and Darkness

A few days ago I was musing in the twilight between sleep and awake and later wrote it up, thinking I might use it to fill the blog for a non-moving day. In the end I did not get around to it but this morning my attention was drawn by one of the dreaded algorithms (which think they know my psyche better than I do!) to this Guardian article "The night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We're forgetting what darkness feels like".

So here is my musing:

I first awoke this morning just after five, needing to go to the bathroom. It struck me just how much ambient light there was. Like almost every marina we have stayed at, short and long term, there are plenty of outdoor lights that illuminate every part of the marina. No doubt the reason is a belief that this adds to the security of boats and people at times when there is no member of staff on duty. But it is a non-trivial cost, in terms of the electricity supply that ends up as part of mooring fees, as well as environmental. We tend to forget, or at least turn our forgettery towards, the impact of artificial light on the environment.

If you live in a marina, or more likely one of our dense urban areas, you will perhaps take night time lighting for granted, a necessary component of modern living. Only occasionally does a local highway authority consciously decide to reduce or eliminate night time street lights. We are today unsurprised by satellite images of the planet earth that show the night time light emission. We draw the obvious conclusion that such displays are a good surrogate for population statistics - the more light, the denser the population.

On the other hand, when we moor in a rural location, and if we are lucky, we will experience night time 'as it was made' with only the occasional unclouded full moon to disturb the sense of isolation. At the same time, our appreciation of night time sounds may also be enhanced (unless, like me, you miss this without hearing aids!) Growing up in mid twentieth century England I suspect that I, like almost everyone doing so in towns and cities, will have unconsciously divided the day in to night and day, with one part being when everything happened and the other where the whole world went to sleep. Only later did the twenty four hour society eat away at such preconceptions, even if they still lurk in the deep recesses of the psyche only to emerge when they ought not.

Standing in the bow of a boat on a rural mooring usually brings to our attention that nights are not simply silent, but sometimes different. We soon notice the sound of traffic on a trunk road that is at least two miles away. On the other hand, if we are lucky we also hear natural sounds that mean that we are never in complete silence - or total darkness.

If a random sample of urban dwellers was asked why we have night time outdoor lighting, whether street lamps, industrial floodlighting or whatever, I suspect that the great majority will look quizzical and just shrug their shoulders at what is an assumed fact of life. It is obvious that the world is a better, safer, more productive place with such lighting - and light pollution. Astronomers - whether amateur or professional - will be all too aware that even the smallest light pollution diminishes our ability to observe phenomena such as the Milky Way with any clarity, let alone more distant worlds.

I wondered whether there has been much objective research to estimate what value such lighting really delivers. Does it actually return a positive benefit on the cost? Are the lights turned on just because there is an in-built assumption - if a marina does not provide it do its customers complain or feel under cared for?

Is it perhaps that we have collectively acquired a fear of darkness? Is it related to a sense of isolation, lack of contact with humans or even the world itself? Would a conscious experience of darkness make a positive contribution to our well being? Or does a fear of isolation generate a craving for otherwise unneeded illumination?

Car Shuffle Part Two

There is unlikely to be more information about the next opening of the Northampton Arm before the scheduled review on 6th October. However, there have been suggestions from those close to CaRT that it will not be until the end of October. In any event, opening windows are usually signified at least 10 days ahead so the earliest seems to be mid to late October.

We had planned a short stopover at Northampton Marina if there was an earlier date, just to give us a day or so the build up energy levels for the flight ahead! But that now seems not such a good idea. What is good is the welcome and support that we have had here at White Mills and so our plan now is as follows:

The second part of the car shuffle - collecting the car from Oundle and bringing to White Mills will be done on Tuesday (today) - see below.

We will drive to Rugby and back on Saturday for the WWC meeting and stay over on board for Saturday night.

As Mike's medical appointment is early Monday morning, we will drive home on Sunday but carry in the car all perishables and the usual items for a longer stay at home. We do not expect to come back to the boat until we have a firm date for a transit of the Northampton Arm. On that basis we have paid for a month here at White Mills - at least we can load stuff into the car much more readily than at Northampton.

When we were at Oundle Cruising Club one of the committee members (the Vice Commodore no less) who lives in the town offered to pick us up from the X4 bus stop should that be of help when collecting the car. When planning the public transport part of the shuffle journey it proved difficult to get a taxi from Oundle out to the marina. It may only be a mile but at the moment that is at the outer end of what Mike is able to do. So, Christine decided to ring the Oundle contact and yes, she would delighted to help. So Mike booked a taxi from this marina to the bus stop in Earls Barton. In the end, finding the bus stop and checking the departure times proved much easier than it might have been so there was plenty of time to wait and chat to other passengers, mostly going into Wellingborough for shopping.

The bus arrived as expected and kept almost to time through to Corby. By this stage, Mike was in urgent need of a loo break. Of course, even though he only had to go across the road, the bus had left by the time Mike returned. It is an hourly service from here to Oundle so at least there was time for a coffee. The lift at Oundle was warned of the delay.

The second leg of the bus journey was on time and stayed that way,So, just about two hours after leaving Earls Barton, Mike was on the pavement at Victoria Yard bus stop in Oundle. Very soon after, the lift arrived and Mike was whisked to the Cruising Club. They also kindly opened up so that Mike could use the loo if he wanted before setting off in his car. 

The journey back to White Mills took about 40 minutes and was straight forward - at least following the sat nav made it so, it was a bit of a cross country route. So, from boat back to boat was about 4 and a quarter hours all told.

Meanwhile, Christine had been pretty busy with phone calls, chats with neighbours and cleaning inside the boat.

White Mills Marina

Today's Navigation : River Nene

With a few days until we need to collect the car from Oundle we opted to book into While Mills Marina for a couple of nights at £21 each (including electricity and other services). The first fixed date in Saturday when we want to be in Rugby for one of the twice yearly gatherings of the Waterways Chaplains and Friends. After that, Mike has a medical appointment early Monday morning back in Devizes so we will have to travel back down on Sunday and will return to the boat on Tuesday. We will then be at the promised review date for the Northampton Arm

Another complicating factor in our planning is the lack of vehicle access to Northampton Marina (where we have booked in for the weekend) Car parking is an issue but we have found that JustPark are able to offer spaces in the nearby Morrisons car park.

So today we left our departure until just after 10 with under two miles and two locks to go. Our overnight moorings had been very peaceful. FOTRN moorings vary considerably both in access and the number of boats they can accommodate. Unlike our last visit year 8 years ago, we had no problem with access and were able to moor right alongside the bank. Another boat did arrive after we did but the mooring is so long it is hardly possible to spot them in the distance!

Half way to the first lock we spotted this somewhat unusual structure. The inlet seemed unusually long for what it was doing and vehicle access seems to be across the field from Earls Barton Lock. As often happens, when something odd appears, a little exploration can yield something interesting. In this case, the OS map from around  1900 shows that there were once some very tight bends on the river here and also on the mill stream that emerges just downstream. At that time, the mill stream joined the river via this inlet which was later bypassed. We are, however, still no wiser about what the buildings are used for!

Earls Barton Lock is, like several in this locality, quite shallow, normally under 2m rise or fall. We entered, tied up and opened the top gate paddle and thought that this was going to be a quick passage. (Always a dangerous assumption!) The level in the lock soon rose to within a small distance of the level above but then rose no further. The level difference was sufficient to make it impossible to open the gate. So we had to walk around and open the other one after which a passing walker was easily able to fulfil his offer to open the gate for us.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at White Mills Lock. The river and road had been closed for an extended period over the winter as the road briodge was being rebuilt. Unfortunately we could not find a spot to take a photo that showed the newness - wherever we looked was obscured by extensive vegetation. The road surface itself was almost gleaming in its freshness! 

This time the lock also fulfilled its promise and was very well behaved.

Immediately after the lock came the entrance to White Mills Marina. It is quite a tight entrance - not sure how wide beams cope when arriving from downstream (as we were). It seems better set up for boats coming the other way. But we managed with only the slightest of touches of the wash walls.

We made our way to the far side to the service point and marina office. We were not only expected but also warmly welcomed, not just by the staff but also other boaters. There is a  rather popular cafe here as well so we had a good audience for our manoeuvre to reverse back onto the service wharf. The wind was light but a somewhat shallow area meant that we had to take our time. Fortunately we did not disgrace ourselves.

Once we had filled with diesel and then paid our dues at the office we were directed to our visitor mooring - just a couple of pontoons away. It still meant having to come out from where were were and then back in to the correct slot. The shallowness did make this a little trickier. As with other marinas we have stayed at recently, this one has pontoons that seem to be better sized for shorter river cruisers than lenger narrow boats. The pontoon was also frighteningly wobbly (so said Mike who had to use it to tie up!) We also heard that there are others temporarily in the marina also very keen to get back up the Northampton Arm.

1.8 Miles - 2 Locks

Great Doddington

Today's Navigation : River Nene

We made a little more progress today than yesterday - not difficult! The weather again was just right for cruising, quite warm at times, plenty of sunshine and limited breezes.

Before leaving we made further trips to rubbish and elsan, just to make sure that we had maximum capacity. We are uncertain about the next few days. We know that we need to do the second part of the car shuffle by Friday at the latest, preferably on Thursday, although we are still not clear what we  can do about the car once we have collected it from Oundle.

We left around 10. The boat in front of us looks like a 'project' boat. There was a largely bare interior, no sign of anyone around and plenty needing to be done if it is to be habitable again. Enforcement of overstaying does not seem to be a priority here. We think that the moorings are courtesy of the local council whilst the water, pumpout and elsan are EA.

Just beyond the Mills and the busy road bridges is this slightly unusual stream inflow. We looked at the old OS maps from around 1900 and discovered that before the new A45 concrete bridge was built, there was little at this point except that a short straightening cut bypassed part of the original river course. This is the downstream end.

The present Upper Wellingborough Lock is located on the new cut. The 1900 map makes no mention of a lock at this point but on the old river there was a significant corn mill and race which presumably provided some degree of water control. Like the Lower Wellingborough Lock, this also has vee doors at both ends. This meant that we came through a bit quicker than when there is a guillotine gate.

As soon as we were back into open countryside we could see this large facility. This is HMP Five Wells. It was built in 2020 in just 45 weeks, comprising nine main blocks. It is operated by G4S and is Cat C, specifically aiming at rehabilitation and uses an extensive range of community interactions and retraining opportunities for prisoners before release. It has space for 1769 male prisoners but the speed at which it was announced, built and opened led to extensive operational difficulties. However, an unannounced inspection in May this year reported, "Five Wells has come some way since its turbulent early period" although there is still plenty to be done to achieve and acceptable regime. Alongside there is a very large solar farm which provides much of the energy to run the prison.

The landscape around the river is largely flat but there are few high embankments so the navigation feels much more part of the overall environment.

Wollaston Lock took us back to the guillotine lock style of lock. The time taken to open or close this gate is noticeably longer than with the vee doors. Partly because the physical drive mechanism is substantial and unsurprisingly slow, but also because the self-operation status has delays built in for safety reasons. Rather a lot of detritus had collected above the lock and Mike had to move some out of the way in order to open one of the upper gates, including a watermelon and a sheep carcass! (At least he did not have to move the latter)

Before the next lock there is the Manor Farm FOTRN mooring. Our plan, however was to go though Doddington Lock and moor at Hardwater Mill mooring. 

We came through Doddington Lock without any real difficulty - but again were conscious that working uphill is much more work than downhill, not least the need to secure the boat to a bollard before starting to fill the chamber. But as it has a powered guillotine we shall not complain!

A short arm runs parallel to the lock section and at the end is a former mill. A mill on this site was first recorded in the Domesday Book! The present building dates from mid 18C and has not milled since 1946. Part of the building now operates as a self catering holiday let (see)

Our blog from 8 years ago describes how we found the mooring to be rather tricky, needing the use of a gangplank. Perhaps we were luckier in this time choosing a better piece of the bank but we were able to come right alongside - our boat pole proved useful in ensuring that we stepped off onto firm ground as the grass was rather long! It is a quiet place to stop - and also has a mobile signal.

3.0 Miles - 3 Locks

Wellingborough

Today's Navigation : River Nene

Today was supposed to be a fairly short 3 lock cruise to the last FOTRN rural mooring before Northampton. However, it turned out to be even shorter!

We were a little slow in getting away - the other boat that shared the mooring overnight left quite early, but they do have a tight schedule to get back to Cambridge where they moor permanently.

After a short but very twisty section we arrived at Lower Wellingborough Lock. Alongside is a rather wide weir - the standard fall is only 0.8m, It also looks somewhat overgrown but presumably does what is asked of it!

This another lock with vee doors at both ends. This also means that we do not have to close up and empty after passage through - there is even a notice to tell us that.

It was only 10:30 when we arrived that Wellingborough Embankment. Three other boats were already tied up here but enough room for us.  We started at the service point which we were keen to find - water and elsan were semi-urgent. Fortunately, unlike Peterborough, these are still in working order but rubbish has to go in general waste bins.

After completing these tasks we pulled back to the start of the moorings as we needed to walk across to Tesco for a good food top-up. By the time we had completed that, returned to the boat and stowed away, it was well after 1.30. 

The main downside with this as an overnight stopover are the mills on the opposite side which have rather noisy air conditioning round the clock. However, we eventually felt that at this end it is not as bad as where we moored on the way down and agreed to put off going further until tomorrow! At least we have a better mobile internet signal than last night,

Apart from just chilling out, we did do some exploration of arrangements for October and the winter. It is still difficult, as CaRT are not yet committing to what will happen with the Northampton Arm in this time. Advice from the marinas, who obviously keep in close contact with CaRT, does seem to say that Cropredy will be a no-go for some time yet - water levels in the three relevant reservoirs are not recovering well - but that everyone expects that there will be at least one more assisted passage of the Northampton Arm. 

Meanwhile we have booked for the winter at Brinklow - they have been exceedingly helpful during these uncertainties, as they were last year - and also for a week at Northampton Marina for the period when we need to go to a meeting in Rugby and then a quick two night dash back home. Hopefully by then there may be more clarity over the Arm. We even made some enquiries about moving our boat by road, as one of the members at Oundle Cruising Club have had to do: it is expensive, but not totally out of the question if we would otherwise end up paying for two marinas!

And people keep saying that life on the water must be so relaxing! If only . . .

1.3 Miles - 1 Lock

Chester House

Today's Navigation : River Nene

Today's plan was for a slightly easier day with a quiet rural mooring for the afternoon. Our somewhat unorthodox mooring angle was no problem overnight. The stern felt further from the bank than it looks. The work barge from yesterday passed us and gave Christine a cheery wave.

What appeared to be a recently fallen willow tree almost blocked our path but as we knew that the work barge had preceded us we were content to try our luck. There was not a lot of spare room.

Before we set off we noticed that the river flow seemed to be a bit faster than we had been used to. Shortly after setting off we passed the exit flow from Stanwick Lakes: it looks from then OS map that an older route for the River Nene flows through Stanwick Lakes and there was a strong outflow this morning. Of course, we do not know whether this is normal or some short term water management is in progress but certainly after passing by we could easily see that the river was back to the more familiar languid condition.

Rock UK Frontier Centre is an extensive outdoor adventure facility. Two workers were high up on an hydraulic platform doing some maintenance to the climbing and abseiling feature. Despite their distance from us they waved to us even before we managed to wave to them!

The first lock was Irthlingborough with an unusually large 2.4m rise and fall. The problem, however, was that the bottom gate leaked quite badly and we eventually had to give in and open both top paddles before we could get it to make a level.

The extensive Irthlingborough Mooring was entirely empty - as it was when we came down. We were surprised that the work barge crew had been so keen to avoid using this mooring for fear of vandalism as the moorings seem to be well protected by a high security fence and locked gate.

A series of warning signs make sure that boaters approach the next bridge with great care. The bridge dates from the 14C and had various widening projects before the nearby 1930's concrete bridge became the route for the busy A6. 

Although the old bridge has 10 arches, only one is available for navigation (the third from the left in the photo) From the downstream side boats have to take a sharp left turn in order to line up with the narrow arch. Today the river was quite benign but in feistier conditions it much be more than care that is needed in order to avoid hitting the stonework.

From upstream it is much easier as the arch is in line with the river and it is after passing underneath that the sharp manoeuvre is needed.

Now here is something different: a lock (Higham Ferrers) with vee (pointing/mitre) doors at both ends. This was perhaps the easiest of today's locks! 

There are a few other double pointed locks on the river but Ditchford is unique with its radial bottom gate. Despite this feature, operation is just the same as with the straight guillotine gates.

A double railway viaduct carries the main electrified line from St Pancras, through Bedford (once known locally as the Bedpan Line!) and northwards to Derby, Sheffield and Leeds. The two viaducts were built at different times (1857 and 1883) and they are at slightly different heights. It is said that the newer crossing (far side in photo) was at a lesser incline, easier for freight trains.

Very shortly after we arrived at our hoped-for overnight mooring, Chester House. We knew that it was only just large enough for two narrowboats and we were a bit concerned when we realised that there was already one moored there. They very kindly made a slight adjustment to their mooring lines so that we had plenty of room to tie up.

Miles - 3 Locks

Stanwick Lake

Today's Navigation : River Nene

Today was scheduled to be a heavy day with at least two 'wheel' operated manual locks, There is nowhere to more between them so they have to be done on the same day. In the end it was somewhat heavier than planned!

When we awoke, a group of cattle were taking advantage of their bathing beach on the opposite bank but later, when we set  off, they had retired to the other side of the field to agree - or not - the weather forecast for the day. Mostly they agreed with the Met Office that it would be clear sky and getting quite hot mid afternoon. The cattle were replaced by a group of swans.

We did not get around to including a picture of Islip Mill Mooring yesterday, so here it is, just as we were leaving,

It was only a short distance to the first lock which thankfully was mechanised. However, we did have to manoeuvre a large floating log out of the way in order to open the top gates properly.

Islip is part of the small town of Thrapston with a splendid old road bridge (others for the narrow arch of modern traffic are now available). The bridge is today aligned awkwardly for river traffic especially upstream where a blind sharp bend immediately precedes the narrow arch,

A rather faded sign on the downstream side of the bridge directs navigators to make a sharp right turn after the bridge for a visitor mooring and access to the town. We tired to get in there on the way down but discovered that the mooring is closed awaiting repairs - no indication of how long that might take. Today, access is also blocked by a fallen treen that is newly arrived. Nothing seems to have  been done to clear it so no doubt it will remain as an excuse for not repairing the mooring!

A part of the former Midland Railway's Kettering and Huntingdon Branch crosses on a splendid multi-arched viaduct. We previously saw this line near Godmanchester where it links up with other routes.

And so to Denford lock, one of today's manual lock. As the photo shows, the bottom gate was down and the top gates wide open, quite contrary to the requirements of the navigation (which serves as an important water management resource) /

We were not sure what to do, especially after encountering a notice on one of the earlier manual locks to leave the guillotine closed. In the end we opted leave the lock as it was when we arrived. Any temptation to go back and open the bottom gate was overwhelmed by the experience of opening once on arrival!!

The same experience was had at the next lock, Woodford, Its guillotine is also manually operated. In case you missed it in an earlier post, it takes about 100 turns up and down. With both of these, they were frustratingly easy in the middle part of the exercise but tardy to get going and definitely tough for the last 20 or so turns.

A picturesque view of Woodford Church through the riverside vegetation.

A fuller picture a little later.

At Lower Ringstead lock we were caught up by a large work boat and pusher tug that was being taken by team of three contractors up to near Northampton to  begin a routine check of the lock structures and to do maintenance such as replenishing the greaser of the lifting mechanisms. One of the team remarked (disapprovingly!) about the fact that we had not left the two manual locks as they should have been. We explained why and they did hint that the 'miscreant' boat had been noted further on so we might find the same experience at the last manual lock, next to come.

We now committed to completing the third and final 'wheel' lock so passed on our earlier plan of stopping at the fairly new Clive's Retreat FOTRN mooring.

The contractors crew had said that we could stay a while on the lower lock landing but (hoping that they might catch us up before we had done all the hard work and they could lend a hand) we opted to crack on and have lunch at the upper landing. Again, the lock had been left incorrectly. But after having been put right earlier we did not think it appropriate to leave the lock 'as found' this time. So we tied to the upper landing whilst we turned the wheel for one last time.

Of course, just as we finished raising the gate the barge appeared under the bridge just before the lock! Furthermore they revealed that they needed to leave their boats on the upper landing as this is regarded as the last 'safe' place for some distance - they seem to have had bad vandalism experience in Irthlingborough in years past. So we had to move on - as we planned to do as soon as lunch was over but now just a bit sooner. Mike had quite a good chat with them about how maintenance work is changing in EA, following the CaRT experience a year or two behind. That is, some of the permanent EA staff feel their noses put out of joint and their long experience undervalued. Some works let out to contract go better than others.

We unmoored and continued to Stanwick Lakes FOTRN Mooring. We have used this spot in the past but we found that most of the bank is in need of dredging and we had to be content with the bow close in and the stern well away from the bank. Quite safe however. Alas, during the evening we were swamped by a huge swarm of midges/thunder flies/whatever. Fortunately they were more intent on attacking the lights inside the boat than eating us.

The news on the winter mooring front improved when Christine had a call from Brinklow - one of the longer serving members of staff who was able to say that, if we could decide in the next week, they expect to be able to accommodate us as several other boats have just left. We now need CaRT to come good on letting us through the Northampton Arm in sufficient time. 

7.0 Miles - 5 Locks