Bartimaeus

I returned to spend a week on the boat this time in sunnier weather than usual. The week prior to my arrival had seen a scorcher of a heatwave, but as always the weather was colder when I visited. This time that was a relief as it was still plenty warm, without melting anyone.

The first full day of my visit was one full of locking. Bartimaeus was moored by a flight of locks and we set about going up and down, partly just to do so and partly because there was an opportunity to get ice cream halfway up, and a pub that came recommended at the top. I always enjoy locking so I was happy working the various locks. Along the way we encountered some of the locals. A mallard allowed me to get very close and get some photos. A family of swans gave me no option but to get close by sitting right by the paddle I needed to turn. The adult swans hissed at me for getting close to their young, but left it at that.

Soon after, we stopped for lunch, and ice cream before we continued the rest of the way up, eventually reaching the top, where we turned – and unusually reversed up the canal just to get to the end of this section. On the way, I admired the sheer number of fish visible in the water, and at the top was entertained to see a caterpillar had attached itself to Clare’s shirt and was moving in the very classic inching along motion I had rarely seen outside cartoons.

The end of that first full day was a meal at a local pub – the Beehive. Thankfully devoid of any actual bees. I’m always of the opinion that a narrowboating trip is incomplete without a pub meal, so I was happy with it, though the serving method did put me in mind of a certain song. After our meal, we passed wildflowers and cut through a field of horses to return to the boat.

Day two saw us retracing our steps from day one. With nowhere else to go but back, we descended the locks, greeting the same animals – and ice cream vendors – along the way, and ending the day in roughly the same spot we’d started the first.

Day three brought us some troubles as we ran into a very shallow segment of canal. As we reached the bottom of a lock, Shane was unable to drive out until we opened the upper paddles to wash Barti out of the lock. The water level was extremely low, and it was very slow going, with running aground a constant fear. It was getting later in the day, but the low water level meant getting close to the sides of the canal to moor was no easy task, and Shane was concerned that if we moored in this section and the water level lowered, we would be grounded in the morning.

Slowly, we pressed on, encountering a ranger for that section of the canal, who gave us some warnings about the low level and where there might be debris. Pushing onward we eventually reached the lock, and a scout ahead revealed that the next segment was back to a normal depth, so we entered the lock (with fingers crossed that Barti would make it over the cill) and progressed forward to find a good mooring point.

Day four was much smoother cruising as we set about trying to get close to the Trent so we could be there when the tides permitted us to pass through a tidal section. The day was punctuated by a few more locks and a variety of wildlife encounters. We saw donkeys, sheep, horses, pigs and a hare in canalside fields; a kingfisher, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and some kestrels in the air; and a cormorant, sticking just its head above the water.

Day five we pushed on to the Trent. We waited at the lock for another boat – Blue Moon – that would be joining us on our trip on the Trent. Getting out of the lock and the change of scenery was instantly apparent as the water now flowed, and was far wider than the canal. We put life jackets on (a requirement on tidal sections) and got a guide to the Trent ready to ensure we knew anything important. There are various parts of the Trent where boaters need to take special things into consideration, but for us it was mainly keeping to the outside of bends, where the water is deeper. And avoiding floating “islands” of twigs and rubbish.

Seemingly remembering the tradition of foul weather when I visit, the sky gave us an unforecasted downpour. Thankfully, coats and waterproof trousers were close to hand, though awkward to put on while already in a life jacket. Further down we saw a huge flock of birds, getting closer revealed they were pigeons that had been spooked by a train crossing the railway bridge they were nesting on. Soon enough we reached the lock that would take us from the Trent back to the canal, and together with Blue Moon we went through the lock and moored up on the far side.

Our next steps will be to pass a sliding railway bridge, which won’t move until 10 pm tonight, and then get me to a railway station so I can visit Edinburgh tomorrow.