I managed to get myself and Amy out of bed in time to get to town to catch the 1005 Fastcat service from Hull to Scunthorpe. It was a small'ish coach style bus and had quite a few folk aboard. Amazingly they are every 30 minutes through most of the day and at £5-90 seemed good value. It was over the Humber Bridge and to the town of Barton over on the opposite bank and was the home of the creator of the marine Chronometer John Harrison and so solved the 'Longitude' problem.
From there we set off past South Ferriby where I had a good view of the alignment of the channel round the Whittons mud banks. The channel is now down to the south, just to the north of Reed's Island. The large boat shaped buoys/floats are not too far apart so should be quite easily followed from a narrow boat. We went over South Ferriby Sluice and I didn't spy a pontoon or mooring in the river so it wouldn't make it much of a stopover unless you actually penned up into the River Ancholme. We then went to the villages of Winteringham and Winterton before heading to Scunthorpe. The trip was about 1hr 20 mins and about 25 mins of that was on the north bank getting to the bridge. The bus I was going to catch has due to go about 25 mins later. I knew it didn't go all the way to Lincoln but terminated at Kirton in Lindsey but on the timetable it stated that there was a guaranteed connection to continue to Lincoln. When I got on the bus the driver told me that this wasn't so. So rather than risk it I waited for the next one, and hour later, that was right through. I had a walk round Scunthorpe shopping centre and found that it had been opened by Queen Elizabeth. There didn't seem to be many shops empty and there was plenty of foot fall too. The route of the bus was called the Cliff side run as it seemed to run down the west side of the Lincolnshire Wolds. After Kirton we went down a list of villages, Grayingham, Blyborough, Hewswell, Harpswell, Glentworth, Ingham and Scampton before descending in to Licoln itself. There were some very good views right across the Trent valley.
Helen was waiting for me having been to get a bit od shopping and we were only about 5 minutes late. The journey was again about 1hr 20 mins and cost £5-90. On both services the main users were pensioners and students, and not too many who actually paid cash. If ever a government took away the pensioners bus passes the bus system would grind to a halt!
After dropping off the stuff and having a cup of tea we went back into town to see if we could find some cable I need to fit the Smartguage I have bought. We discussed what to do over the next few days and the plan was now to get going as soon as we got back and head for Saxilby. I called the Lock keeper at Torksey and found out the tide times. We then thought that as the weather is supposed to be good on Friday we would pen out on to the Trent at about 1400 tomorrow and head down to Cromwell. We would then see whether to continue down to Newark that day so we could take advantage of Newark facilities for shopping on Saturday.
There was no luck with wire in the places close by so we headed back and were on our way about 1630. It was just after 1800 when we got to Saxilby and found the last mooring there. I was thinking that we would have to continue on to Torkesy tonight.
As soon as we were tied up Macy the cat had a walk around. It is the first time she has been outside the boat for about five or six days as we were moored right by a road. She enjoyed the sniff about, and the fact that none of the boats moored nearby had dogs loose outside which frequently happens. I went on the hunt for 21 flower heads of Elder for the cordial, and also picked up a carrier bag full of pine cones as they make good firelighters and give a lovely smell whilst burning too.
From there we set off past South Ferriby where I had a good view of the alignment of the channel round the Whittons mud banks. The channel is now down to the south, just to the north of Reed's Island. The large boat shaped buoys/floats are not too far apart so should be quite easily followed from a narrow boat. We went over South Ferriby Sluice and I didn't spy a pontoon or mooring in the river so it wouldn't make it much of a stopover unless you actually penned up into the River Ancholme. We then went to the villages of Winteringham and Winterton before heading to Scunthorpe. The trip was about 1hr 20 mins and about 25 mins of that was on the north bank getting to the bridge. The bus I was going to catch has due to go about 25 mins later. I knew it didn't go all the way to Lincoln but terminated at Kirton in Lindsey but on the timetable it stated that there was a guaranteed connection to continue to Lincoln. When I got on the bus the driver told me that this wasn't so. So rather than risk it I waited for the next one, and hour later, that was right through. I had a walk round Scunthorpe shopping centre and found that it had been opened by Queen Elizabeth. There didn't seem to be many shops empty and there was plenty of foot fall too. The route of the bus was called the Cliff side run as it seemed to run down the west side of the Lincolnshire Wolds. After Kirton we went down a list of villages, Grayingham, Blyborough, Hewswell, Harpswell, Glentworth, Ingham and Scampton before descending in to Licoln itself. There were some very good views right across the Trent valley.
Helen was waiting for me having been to get a bit od shopping and we were only about 5 minutes late. The journey was again about 1hr 20 mins and cost £5-90. On both services the main users were pensioners and students, and not too many who actually paid cash. If ever a government took away the pensioners bus passes the bus system would grind to a halt!
After dropping off the stuff and having a cup of tea we went back into town to see if we could find some cable I need to fit the Smartguage I have bought. We discussed what to do over the next few days and the plan was now to get going as soon as we got back and head for Saxilby. I called the Lock keeper at Torksey and found out the tide times. We then thought that as the weather is supposed to be good on Friday we would pen out on to the Trent at about 1400 tomorrow and head down to Cromwell. We would then see whether to continue down to Newark that day so we could take advantage of Newark facilities for shopping on Saturday.
There was no luck with wire in the places close by so we headed back and were on our way about 1630. It was just after 1800 when we got to Saxilby and found the last mooring there. I was thinking that we would have to continue on to Torkesy tonight.
As soon as we were tied up Macy the cat had a walk around. It is the first time she has been outside the boat for about five or six days as we were moored right by a road. She enjoyed the sniff about, and the fact that none of the boats moored nearby had dogs loose outside which frequently happens. I went on the hunt for 21 flower heads of Elder for the cordial, and also picked up a carrier bag full of pine cones as they make good firelighters and give a lovely smell whilst burning too.
Macy having a good wander about the moorings.
After tea I set to making the cordial. Sugar, lemons, citric acid and the flowers all mixed up until the sugar is all dissolved. We then have to give it a could mix twice a day for about five days and then strain and bottle. The smell of the flowers was great, so hopefully the cordial will be too. I am thinking the next batch I will add something else like raspberry or ginger just for a change.
1 comment:
I hadn't thought of using pine cones as fire lighters, good tip!
Ann x
Post a Comment