More of London.

On Sunday we were were well rested and met up early'ish with our daughter and her boy friend. We walked the short distance to Columbia Road Market. No.1 daughter had raved about this place and Helen wanted to see it for her self. It is held on Sundays and is largely a flower market. The plants and flowers are very reasonably priced and there is a wide variety. The street is narrow and with stalls on both sides it makes for a good busy atmosphere.

There is a flower of every hue.

On and around Columbia Road are permanent shops too. These cater for every taste of interior decorating, fashion, crafts and every other sort of business making the market worth a look even if you don't like flowers.

There are also plenty of places to eat and drink and the shabby chic has a great toe hold in this area. The silver box on the left looks like it is selling ice cream but is in fact selling oysters!

After a couple of hours at the market we went for a walk and ended up along the Regent's Canal. I must say that it wasn't a pleasant experience due to the number of bikes that were going up and down. I can't say that they were zooming about as the tow path was so full, but it was the fact that they that they assumed by ringing their bells they expected you to get out the way. What made it doubly galling was that the road running parallel to the canal was deserted and the bikes would have made much better progress there anyway!

From the canal we cut inland and came across the Wenlock pub that was a little gem. It was just off Shepardess Walk which was a route that the sheep were brought in to the city for market.

I loved the symmetry of the back of this terrace. I wonder how many of the chimneys are connected to anything now. It makes you think about how much better the environment is now that these are all pumping out smoke at this time of year.

As the pub didn't do food we went in search of fodder. On the walk we came across a bloke feeding squirrels chestnuts. He was very knowledgeable about them and knew them all by sight. Helen was delighted.

By the time we had had a good Sunday lunch in a Weatherspoon's it was time for us to catch a bus into the West End. The girls wanted to look round Regent's Street and Oxford Street. We then realised that the lights were to be switched on on Oxford Street that night so we gravitated that way and waited for sometime. Nobody seemed to know when they would be going on but Kylie Minogue was to officiate. I think that she was fashionably late as we had to leave before they came on as we had tickets to the Comedy Store. Students and nurses get a good discount so it can be a good evening. It is just between Leicester Square and  Piccadilly Circus. Sunday is the the Comedy Store Players day for their brand of improvisation where they get suggestions from the audience and weave stories etc round them. Josie Lawerence, Paul Merton, Neal Mullarkey, Lee Simpson, Andy Smart and Richard Vranch were extremely funny and was a good night. They obviously work together so much that they know all the tricks of keeping the continuity going. After a hot chocolate and a tube trip back to the hotel we were saying goodbye to Amy and Joe as they had work in the morning.

London Calling.

We have been booked to go down to London for a while now. We have a great direct service from Hull Trains that is very cheap and only three hours. It is our wedding anniversary and our daughter now lives in London so we had a dual reason to visit the 'smoke'.

 We stayed at the Holiday In Express on Old Street which we found very good and close to our daughter. From our room it seems that the old warehouse opposite is owned by Russell Brand! There were no  lights on though during our stay.

On Friday evening we walked down to the Barbican Centre as we had been booked into the cinema there to see 'Spectre' the latest James Bond film. It was all a Bond film is supposed to be, lots of action and chases, a little bit of love etc etc. I must confess to not being Bond films biggest fan but a very enjoyable night. For me the star was the Barbican itself. It is a concrete maze but has a feeling of quiet and privacy with many dark and subdued areas. It took many years to build and the theatre etc was built in a dug out hollow to fit it all in the buildings that had been placed around the site. Most of the internal concrete surfaces had been hand tooled to get rid of the smooth look of concrete and this worked very well giving texture and differences to various surfaces. I had never been before but now I want to see what it is like during the daylight. When we walked in there were people queuing for tickets to see Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch. When we came out those queuing were joined by theatre goes at the entrance mobbing Cumberbatch as he left. Helen and daughter joined the throng to be rewarded with a close up of the actor that made their night!

The next day we went for a walk, as you do. Close to where we were staying is the Eagle pub that features in 'Up and down the City Road, in and out the Eagle. That's the way the money goes. Pop goes the weasel.' Apparently a weasel as in 'weasel and stoat' means coat and after spending their money they used to pawn them.

The eagle above the Eagle pub that was the nursery rhyme on the building too.

St Luke's Church on Old Street has a very unusual obelisk tower that was designed by Hawkesmoor. He was a contemporary of Wren's and contributed to many of the later's buildings. The building is now used by the London Symphony Orchestra and there are concerts etc regularly.

On our way to the Guildhall we realised that we were near to Postman's Park which has the street Little Britain running next to it.

There are some lovely buildings down Little Britain. I'm not sure it in anyway prompted the comedy radio and television shows though.

Postman's Park is one of the largest parks actually in the City of London. It contains the loggia that house the 'Everyday Hero's Memorial. This is a series of tablets to the self sacrifice of the general public. There are some poignant stories of lives saved and lost and make grim reading. The latest is from 2007. The tile work is also interesting as it changes over the years but it  always high class.

The reason we were heading to the Guildhall was to see the Hedon Mace on display. We live in Hedon which was an important town in the 13th 14th and 15th Centuries but is now a dormitory town for Hull. Our Mace is the oldest civic mace in the country and as it derives from a military weapon mace that was more than likely used at the Battle of Agincourt it was displayed with the stunning Crystal Mace that was give by Henry V to the City of London for bank rolling his war. When the Guild of Mace Bearers process the Hedon Mace Bearer leads as it is the oldest Civic Mace.

The Hedon Town Mace is the Silver Gilt one with the crown at the back! The iron lower end was actually the weapon piece that you used to use. Originally it was used as a weapon to protect the dignitaries but then became a symbol of power that preceded them. It says that it is likely that Henry V came to Hull on his Progress through England following his marriage to Catherine in 1420. He had renewed a charter for Hedon in 1415 , the year of the Battle of Agincourt and on their Progress had left his Queen in York to visit the shrines of St. John in Bridlington and Beverley. As he was to rejoin Catherine at Lincoln it is thought that he crossed the Humber to the Lincolnshire side from Hedon, which was a port, and this is when the mace was presented to the town.

Beneath the Guild Hall are the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre that you can visit. There is lots more to do at the Guild Hall and as we hadn't been before we will definitely return.

We walked through to Piccadilly and called in to St James Church just off to the south of the road. There is a great craft market in the courtyard which mainly hides the outdoor pulpit that is a very rare thing. Inside the carvings etc are lovely above the altar carvings are by Grinling Gibbons. The northern isle of the church was given over to the homeless and it was nice to see that they were fast asleep on the pews snoring their heads off. It seemed a good use of a normally empty church.

Just over the road from the backdoor of St James's is the Red Lion pub. It is one of the finest examples of a Victorian pub still with us with great examples of the deeply etched glass and mirrors. We had a pint and a lunch to fortify us before carrying on our discoveries.

I always make a point of looking up when out and about in towns and cities as at ground level each year brings changes. Above there is less alterations and you can still some gems. I loved these chimney pots that all looked different and would be worth a few bob these days no doubt.

On Marlborough Road is this beautiful bronze monument to Queen Alexandra ( 1844 1925) who had to put up with a lot from Edward VII who was a bit of a playboy. The Bronze was by Sir Alfred Gilbert who created Eros in Piccadilly Circus.

We headed down the Mall and turned off at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial statues. The bronze plaques below are very intricate and tell the story of the war time London and their frequent visits to their people.

We spent the early evening in Trafalger Square with many others watching the Rugby Union World Cup Final where New Zealand were the worthy winners of a good game.

After the match we wandered some more to find something to eat and ended up passing Covent Garden where we were drawn to the decorations in the Apple Market and the other covered areas.

We then wended our way back to the hotel foot sore but well pleased with our day and the new sights that we had  seen in London.

Fuel Costs for 2015

Gas.......................................   50-04
Electricity.............................  24-54
Coal......................................  20-00
Diesel................................... 730-36
  TOTAL.............................. 824-94           TOTAL 2014 1156-66

We only used  two 13kg bottles of gas this year and the one in use is quite full too. I'm not sure why we haven't used as much as last year as the weather hasn't been as  warm although we only use the gas for cooking. Helen has done a fair bit of baking this year and despite cruising a month less on the boat, over a cooler month, I don't reckon that we would use a full bottle in that time. The average of the 2 bottles is £25-02 and last year it was £24-73 so not much more of an increase there.

Our electricity consumption has been lower this year, although I haven't been able to add in the charge up until Christmas in these figures as they are metered. Last year the total was £61-75. Where we have taken moorings during our cruise and the electricity use has not been included in the fee we have only spent £4-54! At Dewsbury before we set of the electricity was by card and we spent £20. It will depend on how cold the run up to Christmas is as we have heaters rigged to come on when the temperature inside the boat drops below 2 deg.C.

We have only bought a bag of coal this year as we still had a little left from last year. I have tried to use more logs as they are now well seasoned. However we haven't had that many fires this year at the start or end of the season. I think if we had been cruising until the end of October we would have needed a couple more bags which would have made us a bit above last years total.

We have used 964.79 ltrs of diesel this year at a cost of  £730-36. An average per litre of 75.7p
Last year we used 1062.6 ltrs at a cost of £985-79. An average of 92.8p per litre.
Obviuosly the diesel price has dropped significantly which has definitely made boating cheaper this year.
The highest price paid 2015 has been 90p/lt and 2014 was 100p/lt. The lowest this year was 55p/lt and last year 76p/lt. (all at domestic tax tariffs)

We only have one tank for fuel and the engine and our Hurricane heater come of it. Our Hurricane ran for 95 hours this year, That is about 31 mins a day which is just enought to heat up the water for showers in the morning. The makers reckon on 0.84 ltrs/hr so that is 80 ltrs.

For propulsion that means that we used 884.79 ltrs of diesel during the 560.5 hours the engine was running. An average per hour of 1.58 ltrs per hour. That compares with 1.38 ltrs per hour last year. This could be explained by the fact that I have had a slightly bent propeller blade for most of the year and that we were on a lot of rivers and the Severn Estuary so we the revs would have been higher. Also the hull is in it's second year following black and is definitely weedy thus making the engine less efficient pushing the boat through the water. I am actually quite please at the average per hour.

This was us leaving Keadby Lock out onto the Trent on a misty day for our trip down to Torksey. The first of our 'major' rivers of the year.

We left Stourport on the Severn and back off it to explore the Droitwich canals before heading down to Worcester and out on to the Severn again. This is Worcester Cathedral as we left Diglis Lock. We stopped over at Twekesbury before completing the trip into Gloucester. 

This is us heading out on to the Severn Estuary just at the other breakwater of Sharpness Dock. We were flat out at this time with the engine racing to punch against the tide and to get round the breakwater. I wondered how long we would have to keep it up as I kept a wary eye on the temperature of the engine. We were soon able to ease back as we got out of the main flow and then the tide changed.

After a lay over in Portishead  we headed into the River Avon. I had to stem the tide a little before Avonmouth to ensure we made the right time at Bristol but otherwise it was a great run in glorious weather under the M5 motorway and the Avon Gorge bridges. The start of the rock cut valley is above Pill and this beacon is close to Sea Mills on the other bank.

Mooring Costs 2015.

Mooring costs for NB Holderness in 2015 were as follows:-

3 months at Savile Town Wharf, Dewsbury......................  533-28
8 nights at Goole................................................................    54-48
4 nights at Barton, Trent and Mersey................................     38-00
2 nights at Tewkesbury (Avon Licence)...........................     20-00
Portishead locks and 1 day lay over...................................    22-00
8 nights at Newbury...........................................................  102-00
4 nights at Kings Orchard..................................................    40-00
3 months at Kings Orchard................................................  714-79
                                TOTAL for 2015                                1524-55
                                TOTAL for 2014                                1298-48

The main increase in our mooring fees for this year are the fact that we are paying for an extra month as we moored up for the winter a month earlier this year for various reasons. Plus the marina we are in now is in the Midlands and not the North! Also there was no security at Savile Town Wharf as it was all open to the public and the facilities were much more rudimentary. We decided to stay in the central area rather than get back up North as this gave us more time stooging along rather than rushing and we are expecting to be heading south next year so again would give us more time to do everything slowly. We had the same number of nights on paid for moorings this year as last, 27, and we paid a bit over £10 extra this year.

I have included the Avon Licence as a mooring fee as all we did was moor on the visitor moorings. There are moorings close to the lock on the river which we did consider using. Asking at the lock it seems that there is supposed to be a fee charged there by the private owner. However it is the Avon Lock Keeper who is supposed to collect it and it depends on how busy they are. We judge that we would be safer off the river (marginal really as it is a bit of a by water), and the Avon Trust may as well have the all the fee rather than a percentage for collecting it.

At Portishead there was a charge for accessing the lock in and out and a lay over on a pontoon for about six hours. I placed the Bristol fees in the fixed costs as we had to travel along the waterway there. However we were lucky in being able to have a reduced fee when we paid on the way out to the Kennet and Avon.

Savile Town Wharf was nice and handy for us in Hull, only about an hour and a half maximum. It is also handy for the shops as there are large chains a short walk from the basin, plus the very good market and  some nice pubs too.

We stayed at the end of the Aire and Calder at Goole whilst I went to work at our local beer festival. This photo is looking west along the Aire and Calder Canal and taken from South Dock Bridge. I regularly used to bring ships into here to moor at Timms silos. I even piloted Lore Prahm several times. The construction on the left is the one and only hydraulic tower for lifting the Tom Pudding compartment boats up and tipping them into sea going vessel. There were five of these lifts in Goole at one time.

William Hammond was the Aire and Calder Engineer and came up with this method of transporting coal from Stanley Ferry and Doncaster to Goole for export. Each compartment carried 30 tons of coal. At first they were to be 6 compartments long but soon realised that they could actually fit 7 in the locks so settled on that. They were designed to use a pusher tug and a 'jebus' bow shape at the front (as can be seen in the photo). They were to steer round the corners by pulling and slacking hydraulically on wires run down each side of the compartments. They found however that they could tow more than 7, rather than push and up to 38 have been towed. Each compartment could be filled at a different site and assembled in a train. between Castleford and Goole there are no locks so bigger trains could be towed. The last Tom Pudding trip was in April 1986 after starting in 1865! At the beginning it took 8 to 12 hours to get from Castleford and 3 hours to discharge. To move the same amount of coal by train could take weeks as there was such huge delays on the train tracks. There are only four or five 'Tom Puddings' left and one jebus.

We then headed down the Trent and Helen ended up in Barton Marina on the Trent and Mersey as I had to go home again. It was interesting to see that we  didn't have sun all the cruise this year! Mind you she did enjoy looking round the shops about the Marina and we did go to the cinema there when I got back.

We passed through Birmingham and down the Severn where we stopped over at the Lovely town of Tewkesbury and here we are on the visitor moorings on the Avon.

We had a marvelous trip down the Severn Estuary from Sharpness. You leave a little before high water but we didn't have the speed or power to get into Bristol, via the Avon, in one tide. We could have anchored off between Portishead and Avonmouth over low water but chose to go up into Portishead Haven. It is like a South of France Marina and well worth the money to break the jouirnel, even for a short while.

We had to both go home from Newbury so we hired a car and took Macy cat with us too. Newbury was quite a nice place to linger too, with a pretty walk into town and plenty to see when we got there. This is the Kennet and Avon heading through the centre of the town.

King's Orchard Marina is nice and remote and doesn't offer all the shopping opportunities and high numbers of boats of some other marinas in the area but it must be doing something right as there wasn't a berth free. It is close to Lichfield and actually takes a little less than 2 hours to home for us. It is dual carriage way or motorway all the way home, bar about 5 miles!

Fixed Costs for 2015

CRT Licence....................................  856-70
Insurance..........................................  232-64
RCR Bronze.....................................  126-00
Insurance for Severn transit.............    30-00
Severn Pilotage................................   190-00
Bristol licence..................................     29-75
Thames licence for 2 days...............     39-00
Total                                                £1504-09       2014 Total   £1157-57

Our licence was £23 more this year and the insurance was £34 more but we had made a claim the previous year. However the main increase was for the insurance and pilotage for our trip out on to the Severn Estuary from Sharpness to Bristol. However I had already made a study of the costs of transiting the  Kennet and Avon one way from Bristol rather than a there and back trip from Reading. My conclusion was that there is nothing in it as although you have the extra  costs of insurance and pilotage, plus a lay over in Portishead (see mooring costs later) the extra fuel used in doing the length of the canal again almost comes to the same. That obviously depends on your engine, the cost of the fuel etc etc. However just for the experience of such a fantastic day it was well worth any extra money anyway.

We certainly wouldn't have been in a position to take this photo of the Balmoral under the Avon Gorge Bridge if we hadn't come via the Severn. It was certainly one of the highlights of this years cruise.

Our short cruise on the Thames to get to Oxford and back on to the canal system certainly has whetted out appetite for having a good poke about on the Thames etc next year.

On a Thames lock cottage wall.

All down hill?

Well that is it now. I have hit 60 and it is all down hill now. Or is it? Other than the body not being quite as able to do as much in a short space of time these days all seems okay, touch wood. And actually now the kids and the work is behind there is more time to do things so I can take my time. Helen sorted a nice day out for us. A trip to Cropton near Pickering at the foot of the North York Moors. The journey over was lovely as you have to pass over the Yorkshire Wolds and through the Vale of Ryedale. When we arrived we had a bite to eat at the New Inn and then had a guided tour of the Great Yorkshire Brewery that is built in the quarry behind the pub. 

The New Inn, brewery tap of the Great Yorkshire Brewery, formally Cropton Brewery until 2010.

Heygate Road into Rosedale Abbey.

After a few more beers we had a substantial meal before retiring to our room. I was most partial to the Yorkshire Pale and the Chocolate Orange beers. The next day we drove up the road to Rosedale Abbey. The rain had stopped but our walk was very clarty. In fact we cut it short as Helen managed to fall dwon a hole right up to her knee, twice! Once she had cleaned up we went off to Pickering for a walkabout and a cup of coffee and a slice of cake before setting off home. We popped into the church as despite coming here numerous times over the years we had never been inside. It is a beautiful church and the highlights are the wall murals on both sides of the nave. ( I had also learned earlier in the week that the ecclesiastical word nave comes from the word naval as the roofs looked a bit like an upturned boat. The paintings are medieval and had been lost sine the Reformation until the late 19th Century.

They are a little blood thirsty with a beheading lower left and the body full of arrows to the right.

Murals were painted in most churches until the Reformation as they were away to pass a story/message over to those who could not read scripture, and I think they would brighten the place up. I recognise George and the Dragon and St Christopher in the lower photograph.

Once we got home Helen set to getting a roast dinner ready for us and No.1 son and Sam. We had a nice evening and a good chat. I also got more presents of chocolate and a lovely scarf to go with my book of pub walks. I wish I was sixty every day, well probably for a week or so.

Short summary of 2015 cruising.

The pace is not really letting up at home, but it must at some stage, mustn't it? I thought I would take a moment to take stock of this years truncated time out on the canals hoping that it may just settle me down a little.

We set off from Savile Town Basin in Dewsbury on 1st April. We were lucky to get to see the Mikron Theatre compnay performance of Rising Agent in the Leggers pub by the basin and very good it was too, and was a good start to the year aboard.

Figure of three Locks on the Calder and Hebble Canal. We are 58'8'' plus fenders and so far we haven't had to do anything other than be a little careful in the locks of the Calder and Hebble. However I understand that they are a little shorter going from Cooper Bridge Junction with the Huddersfield Broad to the west, especially Salterhebble Locks but we haven't been that way yet on 'Holderness'. We don't have an proper hand spike for use on the locks here but have found that a hickory handle for a sledge hammer works just as well. Actually we have found that as there is such a mix of lock gear on the canal we have done there has been no need for one as there has been always a paddle that doesn't require it to open.

We have actually traveled along 37 waterways this year. That compares with 38 last year.

Dewsbury Arm, Calder and Hebble.

Calder and Hebble

Aire and Calder

New Junction Canal

Stainforth and Keadby canal

River Trent

Nottingham Canal

Beeston Cut

Trent and Mersey Canal

Coventry Canal

Birmingham and Fazeley canal

BCN Main Line

BCN Old Line

Netherton Branch Canal, BCN

Dudley No.1 Canal, BCN

Dudley No.2 Canal, BCN

Stourbridge Canal

Staffordshire and Worcseter Canal

River Severn

Droitwich Barge Canal

Droitwich Narrow Canal

Worcester and Birmingham Canal

River Avon, Worcestershire one

Gloucester and Shrtapness Canal

River Avon, Bristol and Somerset one

Kennet and Avon Canal

River Thames

Oxford Canal

Grand Union Canal

Titford Canal, BCN

Gower Branch Canal, BCN

Wednesbury Old  Canal, BCN

Walsall Canal, BCN

Wyrley and Essington Canal, BCN

Digbeth Branch Canal, BCN

Saltly Cut, Grand Union

Ashby Canal.

The two Severn Crossings on our trip from Sharpness to Portishead.

If were to count the Severn Estuary as another waterway then we would be equal with last year at 38.

From start to finish we used 974.9 ltrs of diesel, that compares with 1062.6 ltrs last year for a months more cruising.

Our engine hours this year were 560.5 hrs  and last year 686.5 hrs. in all that time we had the Hurricane on for 95 hours. This is mainly for heating the water in the morning for a shower. I can't remember having the Hurricane on to heat the boat for more than a couple of hours all the time 

aboard.

Thornes Lock on the Aire and Calder near to Wakefield. In April it was still cool enough to have the stove lit for most of the day as can be seen by the smoke from the chimney.

As best as I can work out we have traveled 752 miles this year where as we put in many more last year at 1027 miles.

This year we have completed 524 locks where as last year it was a very large 764 locks. maybe that accounts for why I am a couple of pounds heavier this year!

This is the lock into Portishead where sat over a low water before heading into the Avon and through to Bristol. It was a fantastic day on the Severn and it was like arriving in another world as we ascend the locks as when the gates opened we thought we had arrived at a Mediterranean marina.