Boats in the night and Time stood still

It must be change over day!  At 1.15am we were awoken by the sound of a passing boat.  Upon looking out the window I saw an old ‘springer’ heading towards Warwick.  The steerer was all wrapped up because it was rather cold and wet.  I guess there was enough light from the street lighting adjacent to the canal because he didn’t have his boat headlight on. Going back to sleep proved rather difficult for both of us and consequentially we were yawning for much of today.

Jan actually woke me at 7.30am but on looking at my watch it was 11.58.  It’s been 11.58 ever since.  My watch was purchased in Banbury back in 2007 so it’s probably not surprising that it has finally stopped.  It’s solar powered but then I realised there had to be a rechargeable battery inside otherwise it would stop during the night.  I will probably try dismantling the watch to see if there is a battery and whether it can be replaced.  No point in buying a new watch if it only needs a £1 battery. The problem will be my eyesight.

We noticed an unusual building behind Aldi.  On first glance I thought it was a mosque, but the domes are the wrong shape.  Next I thought it might be Eastern Orthodox.  But the ribs on their domes tend to have a spiral effect.  So it has to be a Sikh Temple……. and I’m right because it is the Gurdwara Sahib Leamington and Warwick.  Construction started in 2008 and was completed in 2009 with money raised by the local community.

We didn’t have a camera with us so I used the phone camera.

This is the temple that was in the news last year when there was a protest outside over a mixed marriage ceremony that was being conducted inside.

Valentines Day

Guys, sometimes it pays to avoid adverse consequences by ignoring potential trouble. 

I suspect a former colleague is still attempting to remove an egg whisk and cork screw from somewhere very delicate!

 

Leaving Warwick

It was time to leave Warwick, although I did notice one other building before we departed.

Obviously some type of legal connection.  And then I noticed the name of the street.

The day started cold but by midday we didn’t have the stove running.  The first part of the cruise was very short because we needed to stop above the Cape Top Lock and add some water to our half full water tank.  Whilst waiting we took the opportunity to do some exterior boat cleaning.  Jan worked Waiouru down the two locks which means we must now be in the bottom pound.  From here on all the locks will be up until we reach Hillmorton.

I don’t remember the new housing development between the locks when we came this way last September.It’s amusing to think 60 years ago no one would want to live next to a stinking, dirty ditch and now it’s a prime location! 

We arrived at the Tesco moorings to find only one moored boat, and that left within 15 minutes of our arrival.  There was a large CRT presence with a working party cutting back the towpath vegetation.

Jan did a big shop and then I went for the last of the heavy items.  It will be another short hop to Lidl and Aldi tomorrow.

Humble pie

I had to eat a large slice of humble pie today when UPS delivered the replacement laptop battery to Keith & Jo (nb Hadar) just after 9am.  I was able to trace the delivery on the UPS website and it was in Gateshead early Sunday morning.  By Sunday afternoon it was in Preston and then in Tamworth when I looked at 8am this morning.  The delivery was much faster than I’d anticipated and I’m also very grateful to Keith & Jo for allowing me to use their address. 

The battery installation instructions stated the battery would only be 30% charged due to international regulations on the transport of Li-on batteries.  The battery contains a miniature circuit board which is supposed to “learn” when it’s fully charged.

I laid a hand towel on the galley bench and set out the tools I would need to replace the battery.

I needed a small cross tip screwdriver and a plastic card.  Don’t use a credit/debit card because it might be damaged during the process.

The new battery rated at 44 Watt hours.

The first step is to remove all the screws from the base.  Then use the plastic card to”pop” the clips holding the base to the body.

It’s then a case of removing the old battery and replacing it with the new one before reassembling the laptop.

The laptop has to be placed on charge until the battery is full.  It will need to go through at least three full cycles before the memory recognises it’s true state of charge. 

Today wasn’t all about the laptop.  We went into the Saltisford Arm for a replacement calor gas bottle and a pump-out.  It’s a month since we last pumped out at Hawne Basin and the tank gauge was on quarter full.   At this time of year we think it’s a good idea to have a large reserve in the tank just in case we get frozen in.  On the move again tomorrow!

The Radio and the Battery

I know….. I’ve kept you in suspense for 24 hours waiting to find out about the radio I set out to buy at Aldi.  After walking up and down the aisles three times I came to the conclusion all the stock had been sold.  Well it had to happen at some stage.  Then as I approached the checkout I noticed six of them stacked in the last basket.  So Jan didn’t miss out after all.

Once back on Waiouru I started doing some work using the laptop.  Usually the battery starts to go flat after a couple of hours but to my surprise it seemed to be holding up remarkably well.  After an hour the battery symbol at the bottom of the screen was still showing 94% charged.  And then the laptop just died!  Pushing the ON button wouldn’t restart it.  Eventually I turned on the inverter and plugged it into the 240V charger.  The laptop then started but the symbol at the bottom of the screen stated “No battery found”. 

I’m not about to spend £400-600 on a new laptop so the obvious solution was to buy a replacement battery.  Of course the battery is inside the laptop which means it will need to yet again be pulled apart.  The thing I hate about buying computer components via the internet is you often don’t know where the supplier is located.  Every website I visited didn’t state where they were based.  Some stated they had a UK warehouse and many of them stated 2-4 days to deliver.  I’ve been caught before, ordering from the internet with the supplier stating they had a UK warehouse and leaving the impression they are a UK company.  Eventually I discovered they were in Thailand and didn’t even have the part in stock.  However I need the battery and placed an order.  Within an hour I received an email accepting my order and providing a transaction number, along with advice the battery would be delivered on Monday.  Thirty minutes later I received another email.  This time from UPS advising they would be delivering my package and I would be able to track its progress once they received it.  It’s all very positive….. but I don’t trust them.  I suspect I’m receiving emails from an automatic computer system.  I’ll start believing the replacement battery is on its way when UPS send me an email advising they have it.

Today we walked into Warwick with the intention of having lunch at the local “spoons”.  It was  rather cold today and we were both therefore rather pleased to eventually reach the warmth of the pub.  Only to discover it was packed and every table occupied.  There were people standing around waiting for tables.  Even the locals appeared puzzled with the situation.  We decided to leave and wander around the market returning later after the crowd had thinned. An hour later the “spoons” was still full.  However we managed to grab the sole vacant table for two by the front door.  It soon became obvious why the table was vacant.  Every time someone entered or left a cold blast of winter air would wash over us!.  At least it forced us to eat quickly!   Actually we’re getting tired of “spoons” microwaved food and have decided to vary our eating venues in the hope of a little more variety.

Now tucked up inside the warm saloon with the fire going.     

The Radio

Jan noted Aldi were selling a retro radio that she rather liked.  The nearest Aldi is in Leamington Spa and I decided it might be an interesting walk.  I could have used the towpath but it’s currently very muddy in places and we’re also very familiar with the route.  An alternative was to walk south through Warwick and then turn east.  This would taken me away from the canal and perhaps see something different.

We’ve visited Warwick Castle on two previous occasions but this is the first time I’ve been able to view it from the SE.  I neglected to take a camera so the photos in this post were taken using the phone.

These were taken from the middle of the bridge over the River Avon.  If my memory hasn’t failed, there is a castle hydro power station on the river at the base of the castle.  I think it was first built as a mill and then converted.

At the eastern corner of the castle is one of the old town gates.

 

A brief search revealed this is East Gate with St Peter’s Chapel on top.  The gate was reconstructed in the early 15th century and the chapel had to be rebuilt in the late 18th century.

Opposite was a narrow lane with some interesting looking houses.

Walking up the hill into the town centre I noticed what appeared at first glance to be a covered pedestrian walkway through a building, and then I realised it was the entrance.

My next thought was that a some point the road had been widened up to the building.  Now I suspect part of the building was demolished during the widening.

Further up the hill is the Punch Bowl pub.  Nothing particularly interesting about it until you read the writing to the right of the entrance.

I hadn’t heard of the ‘famous’ Warwick tunnels.  Upon reading the Punch Bowl website <here> it appears the current owners also can’t find the tunnels!

Welcome Visitors

We had some visitors on board today Keith & Jo (nb Hadar) who are moored in the nearby Saltisford Arm.

A lovely couple whose company we really enjoy.

Strenuous Day

It took us almost five hours to come down the Hatton Flight.  Every lock was against us and many of the offside gates would swing open after Waiouru entered or left the lock.  Poor Jan was forever going back to re-close gates.

An Australian mosquito resting in the side pond!

Halfway down

We’ve moored just before Budbrooke Junction and will likely be here a few days.  In the afternoon I made a quick trip to the local Sainsbury’s for a few essentials.   

A lovely day to cruise

What a lovely winters day. not cold and the sun put in an appearance.  Jan looked out and took a photo of our nearest neighbour.

With no local supermarket Jan had decided to bake some bread.  She improvised finding a warm spot to allow the dough to rise.

 

It worked perfectly and we had freshly baked bread for lunch.

The ropes were withdrawn just after 10am and almost immediately we passed Kingswood Junction where we were last September.  Only that time we turned at the Junction to go down the Stratford Canal.

There was a brief stop at Tom O’ Wood to top up the water.  This canal side house caught our eye as we departed.

Jan had a couple of long spells at the tiller.  Ade, there will be no photos of her at the helm as I’m under strict instructions not to take any.  And yes… she is doing better than you!

It was very wet inside Shrewley Tunnel which probably isn’t surprising given all the recent rain.  There’s no towpath through the tunnel so the horses were walked over the top.  The towpath tunnel goes up into the village rather than running parallel to the canal.

Someone has a sense of humour!

The cruise was slightly longer than planned with us eventually ending the cruise on the 48 hour moorings above the Hatton Flight.  The mooring is in a cutting and there is a thermal layer at the top of the cutting which became very apparent when I noticed the smoke from the boat moored behind.

Down the flight tomorrow……..

Gate Cemetery

Back to some cold weather this morning with ice on the Houdini’s and a frost on the ground.  There was a mist on the water as dawn broke.

We slipped the rings around 10am and headed south towards Knowle Locks.  A short distance from the mooring we came upon a canal side piece of land CRT had converted into a gate cemetery.

Nothing mysterious about the storage and recycling of old lock gates.  It was the other items on the site we found puzzling.

Fridges, freezers and old tyres.  None of which looked like they had been recovered from the canal?

We stopped at the top of Knowle Locks (5) to top up the water tank and dump our rubbish.  The water pressure here is rather poor and two boats at the bottom locks almost made it to the top before Waiouru’s tank was full.

The day took a turn for the worse when we picked up something around the prop exiting the top lock.  With little propulsion or steerage it took some time to get Waiouru into the 2nd lock chamber.  One of us would need to strip down to a T-shirt and thrust their arms into the icy water.  There being no volunteers, I did the deed finding the prop encased in a heavy yellow plastic empty coal bag.  I couldn’t pull it free and had to revert to using the bread knife.  Hands were shaking and teeth chattering by the time it had been removed.  I took it back to the CRT rubbish bins by the top lock and couldn’t help noticing a number of the boats moored above the locks had yellow plastic bags of coal on their roofs.  

The rest of the flight went rather well with some winding and gate pushing going a long way to warming me up.

It will now be double locks all the way to Wigram’s Turn.

Moored below the locks for winter was a boat we’ve previously seen on a number of occasions.

Someone had also been busy laying down the hedge adjacent to the moorings.

We’ve not seen this done in NZ or Australia.  One assumes it thickens and strengthens the hedge whilst also avoiding the need to remove and dispose of the cuttings.

Jan took over steering for awhile, which enabled me to warm up by drinking the hot chocolate she had made. 

We decided to continue cruising until 2.30pm and moor before the forecast 3pm rain.  Towards the end of the cruise Jan noticed an attractive canal side house.

Fortunately we reached Kingswood Junction at 2.30pm finding plenty of vacant moorings.  Thirty minutes later it started to rain.   

The Boat Inn and Benwood Mill

It’s been a few weeks since we have had a Sunday roast lunch consequentially we were looking forward to our Boat Inn lunch.  Whilst the route was very short it required us to cross the busy Hampton Lane twice.  Fortunately there was appropriate signage to warn drivers of our presence.

They even got our silhouettes right!

The meal was OK, however we both commented it was one of those meals where our stomachs had room for a dessert.

In the afternoon we went for a local walk starting off heading south down the towpath.  Off to the right across the fields was a large farmhouse.  More on that later  Further along the towpath I noticed what I first thought was a bridge and then realised it was a three storey house.  As we got closer I noticed the narrow overhanging portion on the top floor.  This suggested the building might be interesting and we diverted away from the towpath for a closer look.

When you see this type of structure you start thinking the protruding extension was designed to lift heavy loads directly to the upper part of the building.  This particular building is located adjacent to the River Blythe.  The road crosses the river via a ford immediately beyond the dwelling. 

By now my mind was screaming “mill” and “where’s the water wheel?”.  Well it’s on the end.

It’s 400 year old, Grade II listed Henwood Mill.

Re-tracing our steps we arrived back at the canal where Jan promptly exclaimed “That’s pretty!” I didn’t see it but then I don’t have an eye for scenery.

The route back involved passing that rather large farmhouse mentioned earlier.  Only it wasn’t one farmhouse.  What appeared to be the groundsman’s gatehouse was being extended and renovated and the other original buildings had also been extended to create a group of private residencies on an enclosed estate.

Judging by the value of the cars entering and leaving I suspect the property prices are well out of our range.