Bartimaeus

Having met up with Jude in York, we were looking forward to seeing her again. She has recently moved to Yorkshire and as her new abode was on the River Ure we had promised her a visit. We had been delayed a day by the wind and rising waters and Jude had investigated the mooring options near her. We had been given advice on shops, eateries and mooring from various local boaters in Linton. We were now on our way to Boroughbridge.  We got a lovely day for it. The kingfishers were dazzling  in the sunshine.

Jude met us at the services. We realised that the signs saying you can only moor for an hour beside the water and little  pump out shed were visible clearly from the water and not the path, so in fact the spot she thought was suitable was a bit short for us….perhaps because this is officially a 57 foot canal. The marina had no moorings big enough either. The other side opposite the services was empty and had plenty room, and just as well as a second boat, quite a bit smaller arrived just as we were tying up and moored behind us.

Jude had made lunch (and very good it was too) and we had a grand view from her top floor. She has been gradually trying to find the right space for things, and showed us a photo of the huge amount of boxes that there had been at first. She had done a lot of unpacking but she definitely felt it was a work in progress. Some boxes and bags were still to be dealt with  and she felt the kitchen cupboard space was not big enough for her items. It was a lovely open living space with loads of light and felt so much bigger than the inside of Bartimaeus!

We had a walk around Boroughbridge, along the river and into the square. I noted the presence of a post office (becoming a rare commodity) and heard it was a prizewinning card shop! A market town is incomplete without a centrepiece and this seemed to be a pump or drinking fountain. It had a wheel rather like the Linton lock.

A sharp shower had us sheltering under the trees. We headed back to Jude’s. She had made plum jam and had set out 4 large jars for us. She was concerned we would not find space and I assured her I could find space for them. They are such a lovely colour! While cooking our chilli she got out a bottle of a traditional Yorkshire sauce, Henderson’s relish. The bottle is like worcestershire sauce, but it certainly smells  different and it is vegetarian, unlike worcestershire sauce. Seeing my interest in it and that I liked to try local delicacies she said I could keep it as she was sure she had a second bottle. They have all been safely stowed. The relish has been adding a certain ‘strong and northern’ je ne sais quoi to my next couple of dinners, very tasty.

Jude had mentioned the numbering system in the building was confusing. The converted brewery has one or two storey apartments with 2 doors into the corridor on separate floors and each one had a name as well as a number and the sequence was not obvious. Shane worked out the numbering system for the doors on the way out but to make things more confusing the wall of little post boxes were not in numerical order, but arranged alphabetically,  so the numbered boxes looked randomly ordered.

In the morning, I popped to the shops and found milk. There are two good looking bakers, plenty of cafes and a few restaurants and the nattily named Ali’s Barber caught my eye. Jude was coming to join us for a cruise so I wanted some extras for lunch and some afters too, so I  got some tasty local specialities from the bakery: curd tart, rhubarb and custard slice and bakewell slice.

We had a sunny ride along the River Ure and a good view of a kingfisher. Then we were met by locks. The shaft on the hydraulic paddle lifters were not the right size for one of the windlasses we had, The square is just too small. I did the winding and Jude was official photographer. She marvelled at how long the boat was seen from above. We are used to it, but it was particularly pertinent today in a canal that was specified for 57 foot boats when we are a 58½ foot boat (the half seemed more important than usual today). It fitted easily in the first one. Jude was taking excellent photos while I worked the lock. She did also help me push but she didn’t get a picture of that.

This lock also had a feature I hadn’t noticed before, on the bottom gates only. The arm giving extra leverage was extendable, sliding back inside a metal box on the gate to let you walk round. Fully extended the gate is easier to shift but only just misses the fence.

At the next lock, a woman was painting the gate but luckily the other gate was dry so we could operate it without getting daubed. It was only as I operated the other end that I noticed a little shed , in fact I really only noticed it because there were paint pots out on the grass and if the door had been closed and with nothing outside it I would probably not have noticed it at all. The woman was taking a lunch break and I commented on the camouflage. She said it was an unsightly little brick box before and the first thing she did was arrange for the plants to cover it. Other plants, like rose bushes had also been transplanted from her garden. 

We opted for lunch ourselves at the next one. I had had a conversation about the decreasing lock sizes with the lock keeper. Shane wanted to crack on so Jude would catch her bus so he got the next one ready and I found myself at the helm in stead. This one was still okay. The next was the shortest and not far away so Shane and Jude went ahead. There were wide boats moored near it and I was nervous about being near the lock as the water rushed out and the by flow rushed sideways so I stayed back until the gate began to open and slithered in. It needed a sideways movement to shut the gate behind us and we were in. The fender snagged a little on the gate paddle at one point but all went well and Shane managed the winding easily too.

At Ripon we moored up and Jude could get home, though the bus was very late. I went to buy pyjamas for Bryn when she had gone, which I remembered doing in Ripon 12 years ago, I can’t remember whether that time the pyjamas were for Bryn or Nye. I found the same shop. We had only been in Ripon then to change buses and I had used the time between buses to make a speedy purchase. This time I nipped in just as it was about to close. I will be parcelling those up soon. 

The square in Ripon had a noisy bell ringing. Shane and I couldn’t work out what it was for. I tried to work out if it was to do with traffic and a pedestrian crossing as it had a flashing green light at the top as it rang. There was a bell at the top and a little box below. It was also beside some phone boxes and the ringing was just like an old fashioned phone. Eventually we hit on it. There was a taxi rank and customers rang thre for a taxi. The drivers could tell by the flashing light that a customer was calling. If there was a taxi there, the phone was answered.

It wasn’t the only taxi tradition to be maintained. Another box was preserved that was gifted to cabmen as a shelter and a place for a hot drink, in the days when cabs were drawn by horses and the driver sat outside. They had no telephone then but lots of windows ensured they could keep a look out for customers while waiting on a cold or wet day.

Meanwhile Jude was going to Edinburgh and being a taxi herself, bringing a friend back with her. Plus she had agreed to do us a favour and provide us with a delivery service. She was going to pick up post from our house. Shane had ordered items when expecting an appointment there, which was then cancelled. She didn’t realise how many parcels it would be. Her little car is a bit like a mini post van and now she says stacked with post parcels and boxes it looks even more like it!