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Sorry for the delay in updating the Blog, but here is the latest. We finally arrived at Stone on the Thursday Evening, and the fist problem was to find a mooring, it just happened that the Boater Christian Association had decided to hold a Christian weekend and every single mooring was taken, except one, and on the advise of a local guy watching us come through the bottom lock, we grabbed it, much to the annoyance of the boat in front that had missed the space.
The following day, our repaired hob arrived and was fitted and all seemed well, so as we had a few days spare, we decided to visit the Caldon Canal, which runs from Stoke on Trent to either Leek or Froghall, unfortunately, we misjudged the travel time and were only able to do about 7 miles of the Caldon, but it so impressed us that we have put it down as one of the Must Do’s for next year.
After passing back through Stone we made for the Great Haywood Marina where we had arranged to meet the previous owners of Xilion Rose (Derek and Elaine) who moor their new boat “Misty” in the same Marina. After swapping tales of their and our travels, we were invited to their house for dinner, which we gratefully accepted and had a marvellous evening with them. The following day we left Xilion in the Marina and travelled home to Thame for a “Ladies Night Ball” and a family gathering, arranged by our son Steven and after catching up with all the local gossip, returned to Great Haywood via Stafford, picking up an old friend “PJ” who is visiting from Spain and doing the rounds. PJ stayed with us for a couple of days while we left Great Haywood and made for Rugeley, where PJ said his goodbye’s and disappeared to visit the next person on his list (his sister I think). We continued on the Trent and Mersey through to the Trent Lock which is just below Shardlow where we branched right on to the river Soar and the Leicester Canal. I must say that the Soar is special with parts of it very wide, while other areas are very narrow, all perfect, until you reach Leicester, which we found to be depressing with all the disused and demolished buildings bordering the canal. Once past Leicester, the canal again becomes a joy to use, until you reach the dreaded “Foxton Flight” two sets of five Staircase Locks, where you need to “Book In” before you can proceed, we arrived at 9.00 am and did not start up the locks until 11.00 am. Still, it was a good experience, but surely a place to avoid during the rush of summer hire boats. We have decided to moor Xilion Rose in the Crick Marina for a few days as we have booked to take our Classic Car to the Isle of Wight with the Thame Classic Car Club, with plans to return to Xilion on the 14th.
Cheers
Annie and Malcolm
 The Caldon Chimneys  A frightning site, the Foxton Flight
 Annie in "Full Flight" on the Foxton Locks
After the great couple of day’s in Birmingham, we left via the Birmingham Main Line Canal, very straight and boring (so we thought), well……. About an hour out of Gas Street all hell broke loose, the engine suddenly, and without warning, went to maximum rev’s and made so much white smoke that we could not see the canal bank. I put Xilion in to neutral and yelled at Annie to grab a rope and go down the side of the boat so that she could get ashore and pull the boat in. Good Plan ! except she could not see the bank, and it was not until we hit it that she knew where it was. The next problem was to stop the engine, turning off the ignition did not stop it, so I went in to the engine compartment and turned the fuel off, took out the air filter and stuffed a towel in to the air intake. That finally stopped the b***** thing.
R.C.R. (canal version of the AA) came out and after draining 3 litres of oil out of the engine, every thing seemed OK, with the engineer claiming that the last service engineer had overfilled the engine. Off we went and guess what, after an hour, the same thing happened again. I contacted R.C.R. and they contacted the engine manufacturer, who said they would call out on the following Friday. In the mean time, we waved down a passing boat and cadged a tow to Caggy’s Boat Yard, Tipton. This was not a great looking place, but the people there were 1st class.
The engine people came out on the Friday as promised, and found the problem (a Hydraulic Bow Thrusters Pump leaking hydraulic fluid in to the engine oil). As this pump was not supplied by Barrus (the engine manufacturer), it was not covered by Warranty, but all credit to Barrus, they removed the faulty pump, fitted a blanking plate, changed the engine oil and oil filters and did not charge a penny. Great service which you do not often see nowday’s. Xilion Rose now does not have Bow Thrusters, but I will see how we get on without them and then decide whether or not to replace the pump.
We left Caggy’s Boatyard on the Tuesday morning, aiming for Stone on the Trent and Mersey Canal by Friday to collect our diesel hob from the repairers (it looks like the Llangollen Canal will have to wait till next year). On the way to Stone, we were passed by “The President” a 100 year old, Steam Powered Barge, towing a 90 year old Butty Barge called “Kildare”. Please follow the link to get the details of these fabulious historical barges.
Annie and Malcolm
 Caggy's Boat Yard looking from Xilion Rose
 The President Steam Barge under power
After our short stay in Stratford, we set off for Birmingham and the Gas Street Basin via the Stratford upon Avon Canal with it’s 54 locks in 25.5 miles. Most of the old bridges that cross the canal are “V” bridges i.e There is a large V in the railings, and the two halves of the bridge do not quite meet, this meant that when the horse drawn barges came to the bridge, the tow rope was slotted in to the V and the rope passed through the gap without having to disconnect or interrupt the tow.
For most of our journey along this canal on the Saturday, we were chased by a group of fierce looking Pirates, who turned out to be RAF PT Instructors on a Stag Weekend, their plan was to get as near to Birmingham on the Saturday evening, and then grab taxi’s to go into Birmingham Centre, then return to the boat, turn it around on the Sunday morning and go back towards Stratford from where the boat was hired. They were noisy and cheerful as they passed us at about 5 pm on the Saturday, saying that they would continue until about 8 pm, and then taxi the rest of the way in to Birmingham for the real party night. The following day, we set off at about 10 am, and from the opposite direction, met the “Hung-over pirates, going slowly and trying not to make any sudden movements.
Around midday on the Sunday, we came across a great bit of parking, as you can see from the photo below, I hope the driver managed to get out without any major injuries.
About an hour after we passed the Parked Car, we heard a loud cracking and snapping sound which seemed to come from the bank of the canal, when we looked back towards the noise, we were totally surprised to see a great big tree fall across the canal, about 25 yards behind us. When we stopped shaking, we phoned British Waterway’s who said they would send a man to check it out, they also said that the most probable cause was that the bank had been eroded by holiday makers going so fast that they caused a “Breaking Wave” which washed away the banks and exposed the tree root’s, then just a puff of wind from the wrong direction and down comes the tree. We finally arrived at Gas Street and were lucky to get a great mooring just below the Sealife Centre (a definite Must See if you get the chance), right in the middle of the action, the sunshine had bought out a large number of people who seemed intent on enjoying themselves. With so many things to see and do in and around the Basin, we decided to stay a couple of days before pushing on northwards towards the Llangollen Canal.
Malcolm and Annie
 One of the old "V" bridges on the Stratford Canal
 Pirates on the way to a Party
 A neat bit of parking ?
 Captain Annie in Control ....
Having left Gloucester Docks shortly after the tide turned we had to keep a keen look-out for large bit’s of flotsam that had been carried up river by the Severn Bore and were now coming back down the river with the tide, however, we managed to miss all the big bit’s and arrived at Tewkesbury, here we were “locked” on to the River Avon. After spending one night in Tewkesbury we made our way to Pershore, just in time for the last day of the Annual “Plum Festival”, where all things “Plum” were sold (Plum Pickle, Plum Chutney, Plum Pie and of course Plum Wine). Pershore was also the location of Malcolm’s introduction to river fishing where he caught not one, but three massive fish (see below the picture of the largest one !!). After Pershore we moved up river to Evesham. On a sad note, we have been struggling with the crew dog “Daisy” as she is suffering from boat motion sickness, which is not doing her any good at all, so after consulting with four separate experts, we made the very difficult decision to let her go back to Dog’s Trust where they have promised to find her a home on dry land and for those who know Annie, you can understand that there were tears at bedtime. We would just like to add special thanks to Jean from an organisation called Animals at Home who actually took Daisy back to Dog’s Trust in one of their Animal Ambulances.
On a brighter note, while we were in Evesham, we picked up Selina, Chris and India who were joining us for the bank holiday weekend, which turned out to be a quick trip up river to Stratford upon Avon, where we moored overnight opposite the Stratford Basin. The following day, we all visited the Butterfly Farm which India found absolutely amazing. After the Farm, we were able to return to Evesham, where we said goodbye to the family. Tuesday saw us make a late start on our return trip to Stratford, against the wind and with the threat of heavy rain, and as the Avon is prone to flooding, we decided to stop early and moor safely against some high piles, luckily the heavy rains did not materialise and so on Wednesday, we continued on to Stratford where we were able to moor in the actual basin where we spent a relaxing evening planning the route to our next port of call.
Malcolm and Annie
 Size is not everthing !
 Stratford Butterfly Farm
 Xilion Rose in the Stratford Basin
After the excitement of the Bristol Chanel, we decided to spend a few days checking out the Sharpness / Gloucester Canal, we moored just outside Sharpness and spent the rest of the day exploring the one mile of beached barges, over 100 of these old barges were purposely beached around 60 / 70 years ago in an effort to stop the erosion of the banks that separate the Canal from the Severn River. The following day we made our way to Saul Junction, this is the location of Cotswold Canal Trust, the organisation that is funding the restoration of the Thames and Severn Canal, which will connect the Thames at Lechlade to Saul Junction, giving a direct link from the Severn Estuary to London.
After a couple of day’s at Saul Junction we made our way to Gloucester Dock’s and found a mooring right in the middle of the “action”. While we were waiting for India (our Grand daughter) who was to spend 3 days with us, we had a knock on the side of the boat, and out of the blue, a couple of old friends, Peter and Anita, asked to come aboard. It appears that they were just spending a quite weekend in Gloucester, and as Peter follows the blog, had asked Anita to “keep her eye out” for Xilion Rose, they were both very surprised to bump in to us.
With India arriving and on board, we made our way back down the canal to the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust and found a beautiful mooring within 100 yds of the Patch Swing Bridge, the nearest point on the Canal to the Wildfowl Trust. The following day was spent at the Trust Centre watching the Otters, Beavers and countless different breeds of Ducks and Swans, we even paid a visit to the “Toad and Frog House” where India was able to hold an Australian Tree Frog, mind you, she did baulk at holding a black and yellow Salamander, thinking that it was poisonous. After Slimbridge, we said goodbye to India, and then Hello to Steven (our Son) and made our way to the Rea Swing Bridge, the closest point to Stone bench, one of the best places to view the Severn Bore. We were a little disappointed, the Bore at this time of year is supposed to be at it’s highest, but due to weather conditions, it only produced about a 3 foot wave, still impressive but not like the photos that appear on the bore web site.
With Steven departing, we made our way back to the Gloucester Dock, with the intention of going through the Dock Lock and making our way to Tewkesbury and the River Avon, but this plan was scuppered when we arrived at the lock, only to be told that one lock gate was broken and not due to be repaired until Tuesday at the earliest. Apparently the Bore was so large on the Sunday Night that an uprooted tree was wedged under the lock gate.
Annie and Malcolm
 !00 old barges on the banks of the Severn
 Xilion Rose in Gloucester Docks
After a tremendous weekend in Bristol Floating Harbour celebrating Malcolm’s 66th birthday with visiting friends and family, we prepared ourselves for the crossing to the Sharpness and Gloucester Canal. This journey is in two parts, the first part is to leave Bristol at two and half hours before high tide and go down the River Avon to Avonmouth and then a dash along the coast to Portishead Marina lock, there to moor overnight and get ready for the main part of the Journey, the 24 miles from Portishead to Sharpness.
Monday dawned as a cloudy and windy day, and it was no big surprise to find that the Pilot said “not today”, but he expected that the weather would be OK to do the Portishead section on the following day. Tuesday arrived with a bit of a wind blowing, but we were given the OK from our Pilot to make the trip to Portishead, unfortunately, by this time, Judith had to dash back home to Guildford due to a family crisis, however, as Rob was going to stay and look after their N/B “Pyrford Explorer”, he decided to join Xilion Rose just for the trip to Portishead and then Bus back to Bristol.
At 9.30.am Tuesday, we, together with Martin on his N/B “Doinmein” and John and Sandy on “D’accord” arrived at the Bristol Lock, in readiness for the mid tide. At 10.00 am we were released and made our way down the Avon, passing under the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge and then the massive M5 Motorway Bridge. We arrived at Avonmouth and then made the 1 ½ mile crossing to Portishead which was much rougher than we expected.
We again said goodbye to Rob and settled down to ready the boat for the crossing the following day. After a fretful night with the wind howling around Portishead Marina we fully expected that Bill (our Pilot) would tell us that it was to rough for the crossing, BUT, as the wind was from the west, he said we would go (Gulp!). He had arranged that we would be in the first lock out of the Marina at 7.45am where he (plus another Pilot for Martin and John) would meet us at 8.00 am, with Bill at the helm, off we went. Well, for the first 20 minutes, if Annie could have abandoned ship she would have, this part of the crossing was very rough, but we were assured by Bill that as soon as we were close to the sand banks and rock’s, it would smooth out and everything would be OK, which proved to be the case, so we settled down to enjoy the experience. After passing under the two Seven Bridges I checked my GPS hand held unit and found that we were travelling at 14.8 mph, we were going with an 11 mph tide and just cruising at 3.8 mph as far as Xilion Rose was concerned, we finally arrived at Sharpness on schedule, where we said goodbye to Bill, and were eventually locked on to the Sharpness Canal.
Malcolm and Annie
 Xilion Rose at Sea (Well, the Bristol Channel)
 Bill (our Pilot) at the helm leaving Portishead Lock
The next instalment at last (and sorry for the delay). We finally managed to reach Hungerford after B.W. repaired the Lock Gates (much earlier than they thought) and met up with Selina and Chris who insisted that they take me to see the latest Harry Potter release (in my opinion, it was not as good as the previous Harry Potter film’s), They also dropped off India for a couple of days.
As we prepared to leave Hungerford, we met up with Rob and Judith in their 30ft Sea Otter boat called “Pyrford Explorer” who were going our way, so we both agreed to pair up and share the task of operating the locks. Together we pushed on to Wootton Rivers where Daisy the Crew Dog decided to do a runner, and disappeared into the fields alongside of the tow path, after about an hour, and with the help of a local farmer, she was finally located digging in a patch of brambles, trying to catch the Rabbits that lived there. The following day, we set of for Honey Street, via the Croften Pumping Station, which still uses the oldest steam driven Beam Engine in the UK to keep the top reach of the K & A fed with water. We eventually arrived at Honey Street, where we absolutely had to visit the “Barge Inn” the self proclaimed “International Crop Circle Centre” of Europe (and maybe the world). The pub landlord is currently trying to raise the cash to purchase the Barge Inn and keep it “as is” instead of being taken over by one of the big multi-nationals and spoiling the rough charm that it currently has.
On the following day (Monday) we set off for Devizes with plans to moor just before the dreaded ”16 lock flight” but because of the rain, we stopped at the top lock, thinking that an extra 6 normal locks would not be a problem when it stopped raining as had been forecast for the following day. Well Tuesday dawned and guess what, it was b****** raining again, but not to be deterred, off we set. 32 locks later we finally found somewhere (Seend Cleeve) to moor and called it a day, it had not stopped raining until we had moored up, and then, of course, it stopped! Still one of our friends (Barbara) came and picked us up and treated us to a beautiful home cooked meal.
The next stop was Bradford-on-Avon where we were able to top-up our stores and generally relax, next stop was to be Bath, where we expected to spend a couple of day’s and to purchase yet another pair of two-way radio’s as one of our previous hand held units had decided to go for a swim. Getting in to the planned mooring at Bath was interesting to say the least, you come out of the bottom lock, needing to turn very sharp right, across a very fast flowing section of the Avon, Xilion Rose needed all the power available to make the turn and even then it was very close, however, we made the turn and then watched Rob in the Pyrford Explorer make the turn as if there was nothing unusual about crossing fast flowing waters.
Friday dawned with a promise of fine weather, so at 9.30, we both decided to go for Bristol Floating Dock, a good seven hours away, the journey was very exciting, with various locks located very close to weirs, and the resulting currents making it difficult to moor at the lock mooring points, however, after having to back-out of a couple of interesting mooring points, we arrived in the Bristol Docks at around 4.30. just on schedule. The Floating Docks at Bristol have to be seen to be believed, the place is “Buzzing” with bars and restaurants all over the place and both large and small boats going back and forth all the time. We expect to spend a couple of days here (as we are expecting a few visitors on Sunday), prior to speaking to the Avonmouth Pilot re the weather and conditions to go up the Bristol Channel to join the Sharpness / Gloucester Canal. If the conditions are right we will make the journey to Sharpness on Monday.
Annie and Malcolm
 Xilion Rose entering the Bristol Floating Docks  Rob and Judith on Pyrford Explorer leaving Bath
After spending a week at Reading Marine while they fitted a Radiator, manufactured a new Chimney for the Bubble Strove and did various other minor modifications to Xilion Rose, we left Aldermaston Wharf and headed towards Newbury (again). On the way we had to pass through “Monkey Marsh Lock”, one of only two Turf Locks to be found on the UK Canal network. On arriving at Newbury, we found that the mooring we had intended to use was taken up by about 50 Narrow Boats, decorated in a Pirates Theme, It turns out that it was the weekend of the Newbury Canal Festival, and the boats were moored up to 5 deep alongside Victoria Park, the site of the actual Festival. Undeterred, we carried on through Newbury and found a perfect mooring just the other side of the Town Centre lock. Our Grand Daughter arrived on the Sunday, and entered in to the sprit of the Festival by dressing up as a “Pirate Princess”.
On the Monday Morning, we set off for Devizes and the infamous Caen Flight with a total of 29 locks, 16 of which are of the “Staircase” type, But, and there is always a “but”, we had only been cruising for about 3 hours when we were informed that one of the lock gates at Hungerford had failed, and the lock would be closed to through traffic until Thursday, this meant that we had to moor-up for at least 3 days, and possibly up to 4 days. No problem if you have enough water, and there are facilities to empty the toilet cassette’s, luckily we were able to find a great mooring at Kintbury Lock, with all the required services easily at hand.
At 7.30.am on the Tuesday, One of the crew members (Annie) together with the crew dog (Daisy) were dispatched to find out if all the horror tales we had heard were actually true, after walking the 4 miles to Hungerford and checking out the lock gate, they returned with confirmation that things were as bad as we had been told, in addition, there are loads of boats marooned either side of the Hungerford lock, and it looks like we will not be able to clear the Hungerford area until Friday, therefore we will probably arrive at the Caen Flight on the Sunday or Monday
We will update the blog as soon as we are motoring again.
 The Pirates of the Newbury Canal FestivalMonkey Marsh Lock, One of only Two Turf Locks in the UK
 The Damaged Lock Hinge at HungerfordAfter the repair, add at least one day for the Concrete to set
 Monkey Marsh Lock, One of only Two Turf Locks in the UK
 The Lock Hinge will take three days to repair
First of all we must apologise for the delay in updating the blog, this was due to the lack Internet Access. Well, we managed to sneak out of the Thames and Kennet Marina at about 8.15 am on the Sunday morning, without waking our neighbours, the reason the early exit was not to avoid the mooring fees, but to get onto the K & A and through the first lock (Blake’s Lock) without having to pay for a one day Thames License (£35.00) for using the Thames for just 100 yards (The distance from the Marina exit to the entrance to the K & A). The problem is that the Lock Keeper at Blake’s Lock could make the charge, but as he only starts work at 9.00 am, we intended to go through before this time, unfortunately, this particular Lock Keeper is very conscientious, and started work early, but Annie offered to assist with the lock, and kept him looking the other way as we snook through.
With Shirley and her Dad on board as guests, we soon came to the Reading Oracle, a very modern shopping centre with the canal running through it. This part of the canal is very narrow and it would not be possible for two wide beam boats to pass each other, therefore they have installed a set of traffic lights that ensure this does not happen, although it would not cause a problem if two narrow boats met.
After Reading, the canal becomes more scenic and open with reeds and trees covering both banks. We stopped for the night at Aldermaston Wharf, where we had arranged for Reading Marine to give us a quote for a few minor modifications to Xilion Rose on the following Monday. After accepting the quote, we now have a full week to wait for a free slot for the work to be done, so we decided to go on to Newbury where we met up with Neil, an old friend, and his Mum, Dorothy. The following day, the heavens opened, so we battened down the hatches and spent another day in Newbury. The rain finally stopped around 7.00 pm, so we took Daisy for a walk along the towpath to a park area on the outskirts on Newbury, where there are some Tennis Courts, with fencing all around, this was perfect for Daisy as it was still to soon to let her off the lead, but with a totally secure Tennis Court available, we decided to “let her run”, and boy, did she run, back and forth between Annie and Me until she had totally spent all of her pent-up energy.
Saturday dawned with bright sunshine and only a light wind, we therefore decided that, together with a couple of “Aussies” (Tom and Margaret) and their boat “Kookaburra Dreaming, to make our way back to Aldermaston (using engine power, and not Horses as per the notice below) in readiness for the work to start on Xilion Rose on the Monday.
 The Trafic Lights at the entry to the Oracle Centre, Reading
 A photo of Annie and Malcolm (just to show he's OK)
 Just in case the engine fails, horses can be used.
 Margaret and Tom at the "Blunt End" of Kookaburra Dreaming
Wow, that was a wake up call !!! I’m sorry if I scared anyone, but I’m now fully OK again, and looking forward to getting on with the 5 year plan.
We are currently “resting” in the Thames and Kennet Marina at Caversham, and will be here until the 11th July as I am not allowed to drive a car or boat for 1 month due to Insurance problems.
I was not allowed to move Xilion Rose from Hurley Lock to the Thames and Kennet Marina so I had to employ the services of a relief crew, please see the photo’s of the only two “Semi Skilled” Narrow Boat pilots that were available, seriously though, all my thanks to Steven and Chris (Son and Son-in-Law) for jumping in at such short notice, even though they kept on at me to “relax” as they “aimed” Xilion Rose at the 5 Thames Locks from Hurley to Caversham.
While we are resting, we have decided to increase the crew count, and as I am supposed to have a life-style change (i.e. more exercise and less food), we have made the decision to get a young canine crew member so that I will be forced to take “it” for walk’s etc. Enter “Daisy” a 6 month old, Border Collie Cross. Daisy was found wandering in the Welsh country side and was rescued by the “Dogs Trust” a charity that re-homes waif and stray dogs. Daisy is currently coming to terms with living on a Narrow Boat, but I’m sure that she does not yet understand that she has landed squarely on her feet, and that in future she will have a life that most dog’s could only dream about.
We will update the blog again as soon as we get on to the K & A. Cheers for now, and thanks again for all the good wish’s Annie and I received over the last few weeks.
Annie and Malcolm.
 Relief Crew Member Steven, Not Rushing About !!
 Relief Crew Member Chris, In Complete Control ???
 The Relief Crew Mooring Xilion Rose at the Marina.
 The Latest Crew Member, Daisy (with fluffy ears)
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