06/18/2006

Penny's entry - Well, we've finally reached Northampton in one piece. We are in Caffe Nero in the centre of the town. Brian, who works here, has assured us that we will not be chucked out on the dot of six, but that when they do close, we will be able to continue working on-line outside the cafe.
This is a surreal experience for me as I haven't been to Northampton for 41 years! I took Sarah to see the building that used to be my senior school and instantly felt 14 years old again! It's no longer a school and is now owned by English Heritage. We walked around the back so that I could see the grounds where my sister and I used hang around with our friends. It has nearly all been built upon. An elderly lady came out of one of these new houses to ask if we were lost and, once I had explained, she took us through to the communal gardens at the back. From there I was able to see the rooms where I had had Latin and English lessons, the Headmistress's Office and the spot where my sister had been photographed with my best friend. Do you remember Chris?
Tomorrow we will go up through the Rothersthorpe flight to Gayton - 17 locks I think! After the tales of children running all over the boats at the next few locks - jumping on the roof, sending 'runners' through the boat to steal what they can - we decided to wait 'til they were all safely at school! However, boats coming down stream today have said they had no trouble at all. Our shortened day has given us time to make our last update before next Wednesday or Thursday, and to catch up on the messages left for us on Smartgive. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch - you can't imagine how much you have helped.
Okay - the last two days' news plus a few odds and ends we missed out before. The locks are HARD! We have been through about 5 types and several of them have been faulty which resulted in desperate calls to the Environment Agency. At one lock we were stuck inside for an hour, despite the willing help of a passer-by. We escaped when 10 people had gathered to help push! Further down river, in the vicinity of Fotheringhay, we went past Thomas the Tank engine at Stibbington - yes, the real one! Much excitement! On our 6th night we had various problems with oil. Chris Stevens (see photo), the harbour master at Oundle, very kindly donated a funnel, oil and his expertise. He then offered us a proper shower and a drink. How could we refuse! Consequently we moored up for the night and caught up with our schedule the next day. Thank you for a brief but much needed respite, Chris. We decided to have the oil changed (every 50 hours of cruising) and so went to Bill Hawes (see photo) at the Willy Watt Marina. A true gentleman, he changed our oil, showed us how to do it for the next time, donated a spanner, and gave us a tour of the mill where his family has lived for 147 years. One of his ancestors used to grow his own grain, mill it, bake the bread and sell the bread down the lane. We very much enjoyed meeting Bill and learning the history of the place. We then caught up with Peter and his daughter Talicia Greenwood (see photos), with whom we had been going through locks further down river. They were very kind and twice kept a mooring for us - the first time was in the dark at 10.45pm when we all decided we would not go through the lock in front of us until the morning! Peter is moving his new boat to Uxbridge and today went on ahead to go right throught the flight to Gayton. Good luck, Peter in your new life!
We have had some extraordinary experiences - a few unpleasant, mostly wonderful and some hilarious! Sarah had the classic accident when getting back on board yesterday. She leaned over to get on board, the boat moved and she was left stranded with feet on land, body over the river, and hands on the boat!! Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to get a photograph - just the aftermath - only one wet foot and leg! Back in touch next week! Bye!