Bartimaeus

We have been enjoying the Caldon, full of interesting things to see. We were now approaching an area where the couple at the museum had recommended a pub, The Black Lion (other Lions were available!) and Hetty's tearoom right at the end of the Canal.

We had moored overnight by a cluster of boats that had been there some time. We were also right beside a railway. 

Shane had operated the two locks the day before and I got off to do one. It had a particularly bright open area by it.

When I operated it the gate didn't want to open fully so it was a tight squeeze to get in. It wasn't the only one like that here. Even with me pushing the other end I couldn't get it fully open.

I had to walk round by a sturdy bridge with gates. Perhaps these cows sometimes walk over it and they don't want them wandering down to the lock. The gate of the field is right opposite the bridge. They were all ploutering in the mud.

As we passed another house it had a well kept lawn. The animals there were not making a mess of it. Shane saw a sheep and lamb, also static but they were occluded by the wall.

I was making progress with the knitting. I had chosen a second colour which contrasted well but didn't last long. I could either make it lots shorter or do some very long sections of another colour. I was on the middle bit and had chosen a silk that might be softer on my neck as the next contrast, but they were in fact very similar in colour combination. It was hard to see the zigzags but it did feel very soft in my hands.

Then along came another lock so I put down the knitting and drove. This time it was on to a river section. We have had some rain, but I didn't expect it to be an issue. Shane worked the lock and the guage showed it to be green but unusually there was no amber. There was no "fast flowing but fine if you are experienced"  level. 

When we got to the river it felt just like the canal with no more detectable flow than we had seen in the morning when leaves were clearly moving past us on the water.

We stopped and got water. The water pressure was exceptional and the lack of anything to tie to while filling up was also exceptional. It was right beside a mooring by the Black Lion. I was confused having checked the menu earlier in the day, when they had plenty customers sitting outside with a closed sign at the open door. They had just not flipped the sign and were indeed serving till 8pm. We went there for dinner. I was again confused that the menu looked different. It was pie night though and I had fancied a pie so all was good.

We were again right beside the train track. We crossed the track to get back to the boat. From our mooring we saw the odd diesel engine pass and in the morning we saw a digger on a bogie go past. You got a warning to look as it still tooted like a train. When we set off in the morning we had to go so close to a station that the platform was hanging over the water and the canal was very narrow. 

We didn't experience a train passing at this point. The line was very close indeed. The sign saying limited clearance is meant for people working on the track to tell them there isn't space to avoid a train there. It could also be viewed as advice to the boater! It was very tight. We didn't have to duck though going through and had emerged unscathed.

The railway line was still very close. No trains were coming as there was a very slow moving machine working on the tracks, even slower than us. As we carried on next to the line I saw pheasants on the tracks. One started to leave through railings.

The other one flew off when we passed, flying high, for a pheasant.

I worked the next lock beside some houses. We had moved away from the railway line a little by then. This was the lock that had a guage for seeing if you fitted through the Frogston tunnel. We must be getting close to the end of the canal. By the lock there had been a sign describing the height and width restrictions and further warning that boats longer than 65 feet that didn't fit should turn there and not go through the lock, as the winding hole by the tunnel was too short. We were okay to tackle the lock.

As I went down to hear Shane's verdict on the gauge, I saw another sign which was not for boaters, telling them what they should do and reminding us that we were near another recommended place at the end of the canal: Hetty's tearoom.

Shane told me he had brushed through the gauge on both sides which meant the paint would be scraped off at the very least. We did already have a full tank of water at the front so we couldn't make it any lower. A canoe would fit through easily.

We headed on anyway. We had to pass the winding hole but it was easy enough for Shane to reverse. A man passing us urged us to just go. We said it was too low. He said some boats "stuck the fat ladies at the front" to go through. I wasn't think I would make enough difference and even if the side I sat at lowered then the other side would go up, so that wouldn't help at all. We took photos for the Silver Propeller site beside the tunnel entrance, but didn't go in.

In stead we reversed and moored up and took a walk back over the tunnel to Hetty's for lunch. I thought Shane had ordered a "roast of the day" dinner which was a surprise. I was just having soup. It turned out to be a sandwich but it did come with a Yorkshire pudding and a jug of gravy. We ended up with another couple joining our table and had a grand chat with them. I was surprised to hear them say they had met at an archaeological dig in North Uist. They couldn't remember what the name of the place but I was able to provide them with a place name they recognised.

They were heading on a walk but we stayed a little longer as Shane wanted to try the scones. It turned out they served three scones as a portion so I had to help him out. We had a walk after, ourselves. We explored the Limekilns and followed the sign trail that told of them and all the old tracks of different transport types they had tried over the years to bring the lime to the kilns down a very steep slope.

We went to the new lock gate taking you to the wharf that is the end of the line for this canal. The lock still isn't passable but it looks ready to go. The canal used to go further but fell into disuse and hasn't all been brought back to life. The mile sign shows where it used to go.

We saw a visitor's centre but when I opened the door a surprised woman, in a room with lots of willow baskets, said "hello!". It hasn't been a visitor's centre for a while apparently. Now it was her workshop. We had seen everything there was to see then, so we made our way back to the boat before more rain came.