I Can See The Sea. 25th August

Carnforth to Hest Bank South Bridge 117

It took a while for us to do our chores this morning, which included a visit to Tescos. Blackbird went on ahead. Just as we were about to push off a hire boat was trying to do the same a short distance back so we waited as they struggled to get off the side. With hind sight we should have gone first as their progress was very very slow, Oleanna didn’t come out of tick over for a mile and a half where they pulled in.

Lumps and bumps under the water slowed our progress off and on, but by now the views of Morecambe Bay were with us, so taking our time didn’t matter. I hoped off at the bridge before the swing bridge, equipped with keys to unlock it. However  the bridge is just held in place by one big hook. The twists and turns brought the sea close to the canal before it moved slightly away. through the next bridge we could see Blackbird moored up nice and close to the side. With space in front we pulled in, well as far as we could! We could get in, but the list we were on would mean that the shower wouldn’t drain terribly well. So we tried a couple more times, ending up with quite a gap, but at least we were level. That was until the next boat passed, the effect pushing us up onto the side again.

This afternoon we’ve all been for an explore. All! I was left behind!! We followed a footpath through the wood behind our mooring, crossed a road and then took a snicket which passed over the railway line to the beach.Our mooring is far closer than our house in Scarborough is to the beach. But then there is sand in Scarborough, here it was rocky with the odd patch of sand.

A hazy view across the water to where the train had taken us a few days ago, Grange-over-Sands and Ulverston. Max enjoyed himself in the waves as we walked picking up shells as we went. Looking out to sea Morecambe sat on the horizon as a yacht disappeared round the headland.

There is a sign that marks the Public Right Of Way Across the sands which ends at Kents Bank. We don’t fancy doing this walk even with a guide to keep us safe.

Walking back we waited for a train to pass so that we could cross the tracks. The barriers were down for a long time and yet only four cars had been held up, at most swing bridges I score a greater number. Just by the level crossing is the old Station House. Hest Bank had a station from 1846 to 1969. During the thirties it became remarkable as it was the only one between Preston and Carlisle that had electric lighting.

This evening we will try out The Hest Bank Inn where, according to our Nicholsons guide, there used to hang a guiding light in one of the windows to guide people across the sands. We won’t be lighting our guiding light in the cratch whilst we’re here just in case.

0 locks, 3.61 miles, 1 swing bridge, 0 held up, 1 late start, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow tank, 1 fridge full, 1 slow boat to Bolton, 2 groundings, 2 boobs covered, 1 pirate raft, 1 off level mooring, 12 shells, 1 soggy doggy, 3 needed trains, 1 level crossing, 4 held up,  grade 3, 1 skin head, 2 hours on the dot.

Conquering The North. 24th August

Tewitfield to Limit of Navigation to Carnforth Services

This morning Oleanna and Blackbird conquered the north.

We both winded and then reversed in to use the services at the end of navigation at Tewitfield. This is the furthest north in the country that you can get your boat on the canal network. If the locks up to Kendal ever get restored then there will be another 14 miles of canal heading further north.  Both boats celebrated by topping up their water tanks and disposing of some rubbish. This now means that we have to conquer the south, west and east most points of the canal network. West is Llangollen, South is Godalming and East is Brandon Lock on The Little Ouse.

Our night at Tewitfield had been a noisy one, the motorway never sleeps. So a plan of getting a bus into Kendal will now happen from somewhere further south. With visitors due today we set off first and retraced our way back to Carnforth. A load of washing had been done before setting off to make use of a sunny day and a Dorset Apple Cake was popped in the oven, having visitors gave me an excuse to bake.

Meeting an oncoming boat at the permanent moorings in Borwick wasn’t so good. There was only just enough space for us to pass, that was after we’d found the limitation of how far we could get over to the side! Then further on the shallow water caught Mick out, it seemed like we were mid channel, but the shallow water extended right over and we bumped and grazed over into deeper water.

Back in Carnforth we tried pulling in before the services. Oleanna came into the side, but on a list, so we moved up and took the mooring that Blackbird had had yesterday morning. Washing hung out and a quick tidy up. The doors were opened and Tilly could come and go for the remainder of the day.

Our first visitors were Sue (Mick’s cousin) and Sefton, who live near Lancaster. We hadn’t seen them for about six years, so it was nice to spend a couple of hours catching up on their side of the family, drinking tea and eating warm apple cake. It’s been a while since we showed people around Oleanna, so we weren’t quite as word perfect as we’d been in London. Thank you Sue for the courgettes and the tomato and basil sauce, they will go down very well.

Later in the afternoon we were joined by Becky who lives even closer only a mile and a half away. I know Becky from my Scarborough days, she was a favourite actor at the SJT. One Christmas she rented my house that was on the digs list and I had the pleasure of designing a full blown squirrel costume for her to wear in the original production of Improbable Fiction. She now spends much of her time arranging flowers that she has grown herself. Today had been her first funeral flowers and on Saturday she has her first wedding bouquets. A lovely jam jar of flowers arrived with her, which will sit on our table until Tilly has disposed of them. Well such things are always outside where nobody notices me batting them.

A lovely day catching up.

0 locks, 3.88 miles, 1 wind, 1 reverse, 2 boats at the north pole, 2 full tanks, 2 near groundings, 1 appley lemony cake, 2 slices each! 1 cousin, 2 courgettes, 1 jar sauce, 1 actor/florist, 1 jar of flowers, 6 hours of doors open, 9 year old temper tantrum, 1 lovely day.

A Bit Of Coal Dust. 23rd August

Carnforth Services to Tewitfield.

You can’t come to Carnforth without spending a bit of time at the station here. Yesterday we’d got a train, but today we came back to look round the Heritage Centre.

Carnforth Station was used as the location for Brief Encounter which starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in 1945. Written by Noel Coward and directed by David Lean. As it was filmed in the war they couldn’t film it in the south or London due to the blackout. Carnforth was chosen because it needed to have a main line passing through and there be some distance between the refreshment room and the Churley platform, so that a degree of urgency could be shown as the characters ran for their trains. It also needed to have little or no traffic whilst filming was in progress between 10pm and 8am. The station itself only appears in the film for ten minutes but it suited the bill.

The express train that hurtles through the station at the beginning of the film proved hard to film. As the trains approached the station the drivers were confronted with a blaze of light ahead and they instinctively slowed down to walking pace. A message had to be sent down the line to all the drivers that all was well and they were requested to speed up as they reached the station.

The Heritage Centre has history on Carnforth and it’s iron works which swelled the population of the town in the 1860’s and 70’s. The railway played a big part and it had some of the last steam locomotives that ran until 1968. There are films that you can watch about the restoration of the station buildings which had been left to decay greatly and took three years to bring them back into use.

Then there is a hole section about David Lean and his films along with a nine seat cinema which shows Brief Encounter 1500 times a year!

After we’d had a good look round surrounded by a coach trip we deserved a cuppa in the refreshment rooms. Here they make their own bread for the day and have cakes and scones for sale. Little is now original in the rooms, but the general atmosphere of a 1940’s station tea room has been captured, just hope no-one ever tries to light the MDF stove!

This afternoon we decided to move on and head to Tewitfield the end of navigation. We slowly wound our way round until we met the M6. Here both boats reached the most northerly section of canal in England that is connected to the network, we were now north of Ripon. The M6 was built after the canal had fallen into disrepair, one bridge over the canal, but when they both reach Tewitfield the canal is blocked several times. A chap I talked to in Garstang had worked on the build of the M6, he suggested that if the motorway had been built 3ft higher at one point then reopening the canal up to Keswick would be easier.

Getting in to the side proved hard, we’d hoped to be able to stop short away from the motorway, but no space showed itself. So we ended up pulling in just before the marina in Tewitfield, just short of the furthest north it is possible to go. Both boats needed gang planks and our stern is out quite a distance.

A walk up along the side of the M6 brings you to the first of eight locks that rose the canal up to Kendal. These have been out of use since 1942 although they look in better nick than most lock chambers we pass through. The gates at both ends are missing and I suspect the ground paddle gear could do with replacing. We walked up to the last lock, when they are restored this lock will be moved to the other side of the M6, making the canal low enough to pass underneath.

Tilly has been very busy since we returned to the boat and has walked past us a couple of times, but refuses to come in. Hopefully she’ll be home before bedtime as we’d like to close the doors as it’s a bit chilly now.

0 locks, 3.88 miles, 1 photographer, 5 screenings a day at least, 4 cups of tea, 0 free sandwiches today, 3 litres wine, 2 boats moving, 2 gang planks, 8 disused locks, 1 noisy flight with good views, M6, sorry did you not hear me, M6! 1 very wet day in Scarborough, 1 awol cat.

1 hour! thought she said 5, 10pm dirty stop out!

You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But A Pencil Must Be Lead. 22nd August

Carnforth

All four of us headed down to Carnforth Station this morning leaving Tilly and Max in charge of our boats. A chap sat in a car by the front doors of the station and asked if we were there for trains or the visitor centre. Work is being done on the station and he was the happy face (in a car) to assist us. We wanted the trains and were pointed in the right direction.

The station serves both trains north to south and west to east. Our train was heading for Barrow in Furness and consisted of Mark 2 rolling stock hauled by a Class 37 Locomotive. Mick has had to inform me of these numbers as boys are better at such things than girls. We were heading to Ulverston in on a time warp train for the day.

The train journey was a treat with views right across Morecombe Bay, the largest intertidal area in the UK. Sandbanks, mudflats and channels are flanked by saltmarshes with the Lake District and Bowland Fells in the distance. Our train passed over the Kent and Lever viaducts crossing the out going tide stopping briefly at small stations as we went. At Kents Bank is the finishing point for guided cross bay walks. None of us fancied such a walk as the sands are dangerous and have taken many lives so we were glad to just look on from the comfort of our carriage.

Ulverston is a pretty market town in the south of the Lake District. Bunting hung across the cobbled streets.

One of it’s claims to fame is that Stan Laurel was born here in 1890 in his grand parents house. The World Famous Laurel and Hardy Museum inhabits the Roxy Cinema a 1930’s deco building. The ground floor has been taken over by what started as one mans collection, Bill Cubin once mayor of Ulverston. Originally kept in a room in his house the collection was so popular it ended up being opened to the public in 1983.  When Bill died in 1997 the museum was continued by his daughter and now his grandson. In April 2009 it moved into the Roxy which still shows films.

The museum suffers a touch from the hoarding of an enthusiast, so much stuff and information, not necessarily laid out in a viewer friendly manner. All the information is there, you just don’t come across it in the right order. We still enjoyed our visit looking at the masses of memorabilia, the bed that Laurel may have been born in, costumes, numerous letters and photographs that fill the walls. I had no idea that they had made quite so many films. They won an Oscar for ‘The Music Box’ in the Best Live-Action Short category in 1931-32, that is the one where they struggle to move a  piano up a large flight of steps. In the centre of the museum is a small cinema that shows Laurel and Hardy films all day. The chortles of laughter were continuous and came from both young and old.

Bridget had arranged to meet with an old friend Hilary at Gillams Tea Rooms. Inside was pretty full so we wiped down chairs in the garden and partook of soup and toasties. Mine was the best gluten free toastie I’ve ever had, mainly because it’s the only one I‘ve ever had, but it was so good I wished I’d had another.

By now the grey skies had turned blue and our return journey on the train over the incoming tide felt different. It was certainly quicker on a Transpennine Express train heading to Manchester Airport.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 amazing journey, 2 comic legends, 106 films, 1180 participants in a custard pie fight,  1 very yummy toastie, 0 post restante in Lancaster! 1 boring day, 5 woofers put in their place, 4 lamb chops mysteron style for tea.

A Mouse In The Hand. 21st August

Penny Street Bridge to Carnforth Services

Time to move on, Tilly was very pleased as when the engine was started up she started to do rapid laps of Oleanna in excitement. A quick shop at Sainsburys and we were ready to push off shortly after Blackbird took the lead.

The approach to the Lune Aqueduct is surrounded by trees, so no chance of seeing the structure before rounding the bend to cross it, we’ll have to try to stop somewhere on our way back and walk to have a proper look from a different angle. A work boat had pulled out in between our two boats and seemed to be hovering at the start to the aqueduct. Lots of chaps wearing high vis were on the towpath and one on the off side. He busied himself and then (after doing a rapid risk assessment) launched himself onto the work boat and then to the towpath. They were in the process of pumping resin into parts of the structure. Large cowpats of foamy resin sat along the side of the canal trough looking like expanding foam had been used to fill large holes.

Views up and down stream were just possible as we followed the work boat across. Designed by John Rennie and completed in 1797, it consists of five stone arches that support the stone trough. 660ft long and 60ft high. When built it went over budget by more than 2.5 times which is one of the reasons the Lancaster Canal was never joined to the main network with a Ribbel Aqueduct.

Our aim for the day was Hest Bank where the sea comes very close to the canal. Both boats were in need of water, but it seems that the metal boxes along the moorings are no longer water points. Old chaps stood on the towpath said that they’d not worked for years! Even if they had worked the long line of moorings was filled with more git gaps than boats, which would have made it impossible for us to pull in anyway. A quick decision was made to continue on to Carnforth another few miles on where there would be water. We will return with full water tanks as Hest Bank definitely needs exploring.

The views out across Morecombe Bay were tantalisingly glimpsed as we passed houses to the west. On the east side of the canal, houses were banked up high to make the most of the view. Even though it was a grey day the views were great. This would be where you’d want a permanent mooring on the Lancaster, well apart from the lack of fresh water! The views kept coming so much so that a swing bridge crept up on Blackbird and surprised them. Following behind we thought Max had needed a call of nature and had jumped from the roof to the towpath, so Bridget had been dropped off to be with him. Then Storm seemed to be having difficulty steering, having to push the bow out a couple of times. We hadn’t spotted the bridge either!

On we pootled the extra miles and arrived at Carnforth, pulling up onto the water point, filling one tank as we emptied another and disposed of our rubbish. Once done we reversed back to the moorings to help fill a gap and vacate the services for Blackbird. The first gap was too close to the petrol station so we carried on backwards, with the occasional second of bow thruster. But behind the moorings it was too shallow, neither the bow nor stern would get anywhere close enough. So we tried back on the moorings, but a ledge or something submerged here stopped us from getting in too. A hire boat pulled off in front, so we tried pulling Oleanna into their space, but no luck there we were obviously  that little bit too deep. One second of bow thruster too much and the fuse blew again! In the end, frustrated, we managed to fit in just behind Blackbird with our stern sitting out.

With pram hood raised we could now leave a chink in the back doors just big enough for our second mate to observe what was happening on the towpath whilst inside we stayed dry as the rain started. So they changed the outside to here! What use is a boring wall and a bench. I had to stand my ground several times to protect the towpath from passing woofers. But soon I ventured a bit further on where there were trees and sideways trees to keep me occupied. Before the rain got going Mick tried out a drain unblockery type thing he’d bought in Lancaster. This easily passed through the mesh on the bow thruster tube and easily passed all the way through to the other side. Oh for a weed hatch in the bow so that we could see what is going on.

Tilly pleased to be outside again decided to bring a new found friend home to play. Luckily for it it was a bit in shock when she dropped it on the floor. With a second to react I managed to pick it up before it found a handy hiding place behind the sofa. With it popped out of the hatch, we closed the doors keeping Tilly inside whilst it hopefully made it’s way to freedom again.

This evening we sampled the beer at The Canal Turn pub. One pint was enough for us as it didn’t taste too good and the open  mic night needed an amount of retuning. So we retired back to Blackbird for a couple of bottles of wine to round the evening off.

0 locks, 7.92 miles, 0.2 miles reversed, 6812 cans of expanding foam, 9 boats, 11 git gaps, 3 metal boxes, 0 water, 1 fantastic view, 1 swing bridge, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow tank, 5 attempts to moor, 1 cosy mooring with Blackbird, 1 friend, 1 game of hide and seek foiled, 1 mouse rescue, 4 pints not worth drinking, 2 bottles, 1 red, 1 white.