Bartimaeus

Our mooring last night was our most urban for some time.  Despite this, as it was starting to get dark I was pleasantly surprised to see an unmistakable sight across the canal.  Perched on the roof of the narrowboat opposite us was a kingfisher.

It flew across to the roof of our boat before heading off on a tour of the other boats in the basin nearby.  We watched as it returned to the canopy of the boat opposite before flying off under the bridge.  The lady in the boat opposite was obviously enjoying the sight too, and came to her hatch.  We stepped out for a pleasant chat, mostly about which birds we might see here, and further down the canal.

She told us to expect a heron on our roof in the morning, and more kingfishers in the cuttings.  She advised us that if we made sure we had all our phones, cameras etc charged and at the ready there would be no sightings.

We set off this morning without seeing the heron, but we did get a friendly goodbye from our bird-watching neighbour.  It was only a short distance to the bottom of the Tyrley Locks.  The lock landing is long, but much of it was muddy and wet.  Clare hopped off once we'd reached the dry section and went ahead to set the first lock.

Before the lock was ready, a man had appeared talking to Clare about the locks. With no engine on, I could hear him advising that we wait in this lock until he had opened the gates for us at the next one.  When I drove in he started telling me the same thing.  I told him that I had already heard him because I wasn't standing on a diesel engine.

He regularly walks his dog along this stretch, but brings a windlass so he can help (and advise) boaters.  Having helped Clare get me and Bartimaeus rising in the lock he went ahead to set the next one.

There is a very strong flow running across the canal just before these lock gates.  His advice was to use plenty of power so it was ready when you are inevitably pushed to the side.  I knew from my own experience that this was exactly the right thing to do.  As I approached he encouraged me to steer towards the brick wall "... and believe!"

With less than a boat length to go, the bow was thrown sideways and lined up perfectly - I then had to heave on the tiller to fight the current pushing the stern the same way.  I slid in to the lock without touching the sides.  We had another chat with our helper, who was clearly pleased that I had done as he suggested, and bemoaned the folk he met who thought they knew better.

Another boat was waiting to come down in the next pound.  A Canal and River Trust volunteer and another man joined us at this lock.  Our helper greeted them and then headed off with his dog.  Our new helpers were asking each other why the other boater had come out of the lock above - they had advised him to wait in it until we were ready to leave our lock.

Once the lock was full, I had a straight run to the other lock.  When I was in, I looked back to see the other boater stuck on the weir above the lock behind us. He was still trying to get himself in to the lock as we were rising in ours.  It pays to listen to good advice.

The remaining locks were straightforward.  As we were rising in the top lock, a couple on the bridge above asked us about our facilities on board (starting with "do we have a hot shower") and were surprised at the other mod-cons we listed.

There was a recycling facility, so I emptied our bins as we reached the top of the lock.  A boater coming the other way was also emptying his bins, but said he wasn't going to use the lock just yet so Clare should close it.  He was abruptly called away by his family - it turned out that one of his dogs was having an epileptic fit.

We were pleased to head off in to the relative calm.  The next section was the first of two narrow cuttings we went through today.  Over winter there had been landslides blocking both the canal and towpath.  The canal is now navigable, though narrow, and the towpath just about passable - but not easy in places.

We obviously had charged our phones too well, as there were no kingfisher sightings today.  We did see plenty of ducklings of various sizes, often panicking when the boat separated them from their mother.  We had several sightings of baby moorhens.  The little black balls of fluff with a red beak follow their parent in to the undergrowth at the side of the water and become almost invisible to the eye, and completely hidden from the camera.

We saw a large number of herons, often flying off just as we approached.  One landed in a tree high above us on an embankment.  They look strangely precarious up there.  Two herons seemed to be telling us their names.

As we moored up just before Norbury Junction I noticed that we had only one windlass out.  In all the excitement at the top lock, it seems the fancy windlass had been put down - my usual advice is only put it down when pushing a gate, and then rest it on the gate.  This has been our longest drive for a while - it would be ten miles each way to go back to look for it, and it seems unlikely it will be just sitting there.  We hope it is found by someone who appreciates it.  I've ordered a replacement which we will pick up in Edinburgh next month.

We walked along to the Junction Inn and had a drink in their sunny garden, before retreating inside for dinner.  At the side of the canal one family of ducklings had formed themselves in to a rug.