Good News Day

After the disappointment of yesterday's review of the Northampton Arm, we continued in making revised appointments and diary plans.

So it was more than a surprise that Mike received a phone call just after 2 pm from his contact at CaRT Customer Services. She wanted to let us know as soon as possible, and before the news was formally announced, that CaRT have had second thoughts (no doubt after an ear bashing from some quarters!) and that there would be a further two day window for 'essential' travel on Tuesday 21 Oct and the following day.

From the official notice that came out shortly afterwards, it seems that someone has now thought to look at the previous two day window in September and assess what  impact it had on the Grand Union to which it is attached. It seems that perhaps assumptions had been made that were not fully supported by the facts!

As our experience back in early July (see) showed, locks 3 and 4 have a real problem that means that, almost everyday, staff have to begin their shift by running water down the upper part of the flight to ensure sufficient depth in these early pounds for boats of even moderate draft to get over top cills! Pity that repairs to these gates do not yet seem to have made it sufficiently far up the priority list to be included in this winter's programme. On the other hand, traffic levels are modest - a case of 'if you do not use it, you will lose it' perhaps?

The notice does not indicate a night time closure on the Tuesday night which is perhaps a surprise as that is when much of the water loss occurs. We will be interested to see how many staff and/or volunteers are deployed to assist boats through. We did also hear from another boater at White Mills who came down in the previous opening that the weed situation was pretty dire. It is generally an issue but with no traffic for most of the summer, the weeds have had no competition. So we expect several visits to the weed hatch at least in the lower, longer, pounds.

In any event there was much rejoicing in this household at the news even though, when the euphoria wore off, we began to realise just how much we now have to organise to get to the Rothersthorpe flight by the first open date. At White Mills we are two or three days and eight locks away from Northampton, but not as onerous as some stretches. There are several guillotine gates yet to pass thorough but, in practice, as long as they are mechanised - they are - then they do not take much different total effort in comparison with locks which have pointed gates at both ends.

Bad News Day

We returned home on Sunday as Mike had a medical appointment 8.45 on Monday that has been in the pipeline for about a year and was not to be missed! Knowing that it was generally expected that the Northampton Arm would only have a possible transit towards the end of October, we made arrangements for our boat to remain at White Mills for a month.

We have found White Mills to be very supportive - as indeed have the other two marinas (Cropredy and Brinklow) where our planned winter moorings have successively been thwarted by the continuing effects of the ongoing drought.

It was with the expectation that we would be back within two weeks that we left the boat ready for a quick getaway, once we had a date. Winterising could wait until we arrived at our destination (currently set as Brinklow) We also had crew assistance lined up! And the anchor and lifebuoy remain deployed . . .

Everyone involved knew that CaRT had planned a review of several inter-related closed or restricted waterways on 6th October and, on schedule, there was a series of announcements today. After seeing that several canals that had either been closed or under significant restriction had decisions to re-open, at last partially, there was a sense of positive expectation.

Alas! Not only was the decision to leave the Northampton Arm, together with the Leicester Branch, Foxton and Watford flights completely closed (it was already known that the southern Oxford was unlikely to re-open this boating season) but also the notice gave no subsequent review date. Once the end of October is reached then the Winter Stoppage Programme starts to kick in and through routes often become impossible.

Right now we feel in limbo! Unable to come completely to terms with not being able to get Alchemy back onto the canal network, we also have to face the reality that the odds on this being possible are rapidly in decline!

There will obviously be some admin consequences. How far do we extend our White Mills arrangement? Like almost all marinas the monthly cost is a function of the length of the contract. If you book too little then the overall cost increases but if you book too long then some of the period will be wasted. Come the turn of the year we will also have to sort out licences. At the moment we have  a Gold Licence, along with an Anglian Pass. We did not have any expectation of needing other than a CaRT licence in 2027. If we do not transit the Northampton Arm in October (almost now a certainty) then there will be a period in 2027 when we are on EA waters!

Still, we have all the maps and data to hand to plan what we do next year, consistent with our ever changing health status. Not yet quite ready to give in, even if the boat is more of a moving holiday cottage than a rapid transit system. For once, the choices are more to do with climate change than health change!

Olney - Cowper and Newton

Today we decided to go out on a visit - the museum in Olney dedicated to William Cowper and John Newton is about 20 minutes by car from the marina. It opens at 11 so there was no mad rush to getaway early!

Much of the car parking in Olney is free and not time limited  but it was also market day (only a small number of stalls are taken these days). As a result we struggled to find a space (it may be free but it was not free!) but in the end we struck lucky to find a short term space (1 hour) almost next to the museum.

Orchard Side is a substantial building on one side of the market place - it may at one time have been two dwellings later combined into one. This is where William Cowper, famous poet of the 18C, lived much of his later life and wrote most of his best known works.

John Newton, famous as a reformed slave trader, parish priest and high profile slave trade abolitionist. His first main parish was here in Olney. He and William collaborated in writing hymns - at the time churches were just beginning to sing hymns - effectively musical settings of poems of a religious nature. Before this, only psalms and other words from scripture (such a While shepherds watched their flocks by night) were allowed to be sung by the congregation. The result was the collection of Olney Hymns, some of which remain popular today. Of course, the most well known is Amazing Grace, sung originally to a different tune from that which everyone now knows.

In this blog we are not going to attempt a meaningful biography of either of these writers and campaigners but focus on items in the museum that caught our eyes. (There is plenty of useful detail on line)

We began our visit in the walled gardens. The Trust that runs the museum does a tremendous job of keeping the space close to how it would have been when Cowper lived here.

Of course, like for all gardeners this summer, it has been a tough task but plenty of plants are showing signs of perking up again and there are some splashes of colour, even at the start of October.

A couple of Strawberry Trees (something we had not come across before) carry bright berries for much of the season.

The most famous item in the gardens is the Garden House where William Cowper spent many hours most days sitting, reading and writing. He had several periods of severe mental ill health and he must have found considerable benefit from the peaceful stetting.

At the suggestion of one of the volunteers, we bought hot pork rolls from a shop nearby and took them back to the gardens to eat! Afterwards we tackled the main museum.

During one difficult period a lady friend cheered him up by telling the amusing story of John Gilpin. Soon William had turned this into what became a very popular poem which sold well (initially under a pseudonym) along with illustrations. The idea caught on and attracted several well known cartoonists to publish their own versions including by one in the 20C by Ronald Searle.

John Newton is well known for his role in the slave trade. He was taken to sea from an early age by his father and became First Mate and then Captain of a slave ship, making at least three voyages to buy slaves from Sierra leone and taking them to Antigua. On one almost disastrous occasion in which his ship all but foundered, he had an almost immediate conversion to Evangelical Christianity, His espousal of the abolitionist cause was much more gradual and he continued to invest in the trade for some time. He eventually took on the challenge of campaigning very publicly for the abolition of the trade on which he had been raised, together with the prominent MP, William Wilberforce, eventually succeeding just before he died.

In the museum there is a model that shows how cramped conditions were, and an inscription of the floor marks out the space allocated to each slave.

In the time that Cowper and Newton lived in Olney its population was about 2000, with 1500 employed in the lace trade. Lace making was not a tradition in the area before this but brought here by several migrations from the continent where it was longer established.

Children were taught how to make lace from the age of 5, either by their mothers or in special lace schools. Conditions were harsh from the outset and wages some of the lowest.

Lace makers had to hire tools and templates from the lace traders who also often paid in kind rather than cash. They were usually tied to a single trader which further reduced their ability to demand better pay. Whilst Newton was campaigning on the slave trade, Cowper did much to highlight the plight of lace workers.

After leaving the museum - the volunteers had all been most friendly and helpful - we walked to the nearby parish church where John Newton was Curate (parish priest) for 16 years. He then moved to be Rector at a church in London where he died and was initially buried along with his wife. 

Their remains were later re-interred here in Olney churchyard with a very distinctive granite tomb - that is in one corner of the churchyard but obviously different from some distance! Google gives the reason for this move as "their remains were exhumed in late 1892 and early 1893 due to the closure of London crypts under the Burial Acts and sanitary concerns." A lot more detail can be found here.

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