Nether Heyford

Monday 10th November.

Fred Tarry’s Coal Yard, Nether Heyford.

Oh my goodness what a night we had. It had to have been one of the worst night’s weather we have experienced since living onboard Hadar. The winds were gale force and the rain was lashing down for most of the night, giving us both a disturbed night’s sleep. Thankfully when the alarm clock went off at 6.30am, the wind had dropped and the rain was holding off. We needed to be up early, so that I could walk Paddy, then we had to undo the sheeting and drop the side sheet ready for our delivery of coal from the coal yard. 7.30am the yard opened and Richard came and greeted us. Richard was telling us that he had not had a coal boat loading from his yard for sometime, so was pleased to be able to supply us. For us it makes sense to use Tarry’s as it is right on the canal. We prepared for the first pallet of House Coal to be delivered to the boat, with each pallet holding a tonne of coal, we would be unloading 5 ½ tonne, that’s 240 bags of coal on to Hadar. I climbed down in to the hold, so that Keith could pass the coal bags to me, where upon I stacked them in neat stacks. We have chosen to take on 2 tonne of House Coal, 2 tonne of Taybrite and 1 ½ tonne of Cosycoke. Cosycoke is a new coal and is a mix of Maxibrite and Newflame. It performs like Taybrite, but has less ash and is cheaper. We also have ½ a tonne of Excel left from our last pick up which has sold well. This time we also decided to take on Kindling, because we have been asked a lot for it. We started loading at 7.45am, taking a couple of 5 minute breaks, we were finished by 9.15am, just as the rain began to fall all over again.
Whilst Keith sorted the sheeting out, I went and did the painful task of paying for the coal. As many of you must be aware by now, fuel prices have gone through the roof of late and this also applies to coal. We have found that any profit we made since last year has all been cancelled out, because of the coal prices. Our profit was swallowed up by the price of this load we have just taken on, and therefore we could not take on the 8 tonne we had hoped to collect. There was not even enough left to pay for a pint of beer. But that is how these things go; everyone is in the same boat (so to speak). Having spent some time chatting to Richard about the diesel situation and how he sees coal and diesel prices going, we then left the coal yard and moored up on the other side of the canal, just past the yard. It carried on throwing it down with rain, so we did not bother going any further. I relit the saloon fire as it has turned cold again and felt very damp due to all the rain. We would be in for another stormy night.

Tuesday 11th November.

Nether Heyford.

This weather really is getting beyond a joke; last night was yet another very wet and windy affair. And even when we woke up this morning it was still blowing a hooley. I got up and made us both a cup of tea, which we enjoyed in bed. Marmite saw it as a good chance to climb in under the covers and lay between us. Goodness knows how she manages to breath under the duvet. The overnight rain had stopped which was a blessing, so having drunk our tea, we were up, dressed and Paddy was looking for his morning walk. With the wind still blowing I wrapped up warm in my North Face jacket and hat, before opening the back cabin doors to the world. Whilst walking Paddy I spotted a fox on the other side of the canal, he was not at all bothered by seeing us and went abut his business. What a wonderful sight to greet such a depressing morning. Back onboard Hadar, we had breakfast as did Marmite and Paddy. Keith and I then wrapped up against the weather and took a walk in to Neither Heyford which can be reached from bridge 32 where we are moored. It is only a short walk into the village. One of the first things to greet you as you walk in to the village is the large village green.Nether Heyford is a pretty little village, with houses of a variety of styles and ages. It also has a church, which looks very much like Weedon Church, so it had us wondering if it was built by the same person.In the centre of the village there is a One Stop shop for provisions, newsagents, butchers, a hairdressers and two pubs The Forester’s Arms and The Olde Sun. It was well worth a stroll around. It also has the Bliss Charity Primary School, which was built from money donated in the will of William Bliss, who had been born and brough up in Nether Heyford. Having walked around the village, we made our way back to the boat for a nice hot coffee and lunch. We shall see what the rest of the day will bring.

Weedon to Nether Heyford.

Saturday 8th November.

Weedon Mooring.

With a wet and windy night having blown over, it was a bright sunny morning. With the wind blowing hard last night, the leaves on the trees took a battering, many of them now lying abandoned on the grass. Which in itself can provide problems when walking, because you know not what lurks under the fallen leaves, just waiting for you to step on them. Yes I refer to the dog poop issue all over again. This time of the year is a nightmare, when walking because of dog owners who allow their dogs to foul the towpaths or pavements. Instead of enjoying the countryside views, you have to constantly stare at where you are placing your feet. Otherwise you end up back onboard your boat with more than you bargained for. There is absolutely nothing worse than having dog pop on your shoes and clothes, so I am asking once more for dog owners to PLEASE clean up after your dog. Luckily Paddy’s morning stroll did not include me picking up someone else’s dog mess. Paddy enjoyed rummaging through a wooded area before he jumped back onboard Hadar for his breakfast. Today we were staying put at Weedon, so it meant we could get a few jobs done, which would include housework (boat), no different to cleaning your house. I still have to sweep and wash the floors, shake out the mats, and do any tidying up. Keith set about putting up some hooks for me and tidying the wiring under the TV shelf. It looked a little like spaghetti junction, but he soon had it tamed and looking more organised. I stewed the apples we picked up whilst descending the Buckby Locks, a neighbour next to Anchor cottage, had put out a bucket of cooking apples, which were fallers, with a sign saying “ Please feel free to help yourself to these cooking apples”, which I did. Now they are going to make a nice Apple Crumble, with custard on top for Keith. I am not one for custard. After lunch Mike on Jubilee came past, as he delivered to his regular customers on his way back to Stoke Bruerne. We told him we would meet up with him in a few days. His reply was “We will have to have a drink together”, now that sounds like a good plan. We took a walk back down into Weedon to the One Stop Shop, to pick up some custard for the crumble. With the light so good, I got the camera out and took some photographs of the church.

I was lucky enough to capture the Virgin Train passing the church. It is amazing to see as the train is almost as high up as the church roof.The church was flying the Union Jack proudly ready for its Remembrance Day service. I hope you have remembered to by your poppy. As the evening drew in, the wind and the rain reappeared with a vengeance. The forecast was for 28 mph winds, so it was a time to batten down the hatches. Because Hadar was getting blown around so much, Keith threw our 56lb weight overboard, to stop Hadar banging against the concrete bank. It certainly worked.

Sunday 9th November.

Weedon to Nether Heyford, 2.3 miles.

When we awoke, it was still blowing a hooley, which did not bode well for the morning short jaunt to Fred Tarry's coal yard. At 9am the church bells began to peel, to annouce the Sunday morning service. Adults and children were lined up outside of the church for the Remembrance Day Parade, with their flags and poppy wreaths, it was a moment for reflection.

Having done all the usual morning things, we set off at 9.45am. Our first port of call was to see Elaine and David on N.B Patience, who have a mooring at High-house Wharf. Whilst we did the short trip to meet up with them, I stayed on the bow, which was very breezy. We cruised past Stowehill Wharf, which was all quiet. as we past by the moored boats at High-house wharf, David and Elaine were looking out for us, ready to grab ropes as we pulled alongside to breast up with them. We first met Elaine and David on the BCN Explorer Cruise back in August, and became good friends. We were welcomed onboard their boat where we sat drinking coffee, chatting about our adventures since we last met and passing on any news we had heard. We said our goodbyes at 12.15pm and set off for the 10 minute jaunt to Fred Tarry's coal yard, where we had arranged a mooring overnight. So as I type this we are moored outside of the yard, ready to take on coal in the morning. The wind and rain are once more upon us, so we are glad we do not have to go any further today. Another week has past and we are now another week closer to the New Year. I do not mention Christmas, as no one can afford to have a Christmas this year, with the so called Credit Crunch, what ever the heck that is ha ha ha. Have a lovely weekend and we will see you next week.

Time to make a move.

With the jobs all done on Hadar, we paid the bills, unplugged from the electric, which was a luxury, as it meant I could get all the washing and drying done in one go. I filled the water tank and Keith did a few jobs to prepare Hadar for the off from the boatyard. We had lunch and then fired up Hadar's engine to make the long journey to our mooring for the next few days. It took us all of 5 minutes to reach ha ha ha. We are now moored opposite Roger Fuller's boatyard for a few days. It was not long before we were having conversations with the public walking past the boat, whilst we were sat on the roof. I was knitting and Keith was continuing to make our rag rug. One of our visitors was a lovely gentleman, who I said I would give him a mention on the diary. So here goes, Eric it was lovely to meet you and thank you for reading our diary. We wish you lots of luck with finding your boat, and who knows we may meet up on the cut somewhere, when you are afloat. I absolutely love chatting to people who are passing by. I know that working boat people tend to get a bad name for being miserable buggers, who never chat to people, but not on this working boat. I will happily pass the time of day with anyone. I always say ' It costs nothing to be polite'.
So now that Roger has helped us with our boat jobs and Tina has supplied us with hadar's paint, we are all set for the adventures ahead. But first we are staying in Stone for the Food and Drinks Festival on the 3rd, 4th and 5th October. We are then heading for the Grand Union Canal down to our Coal Supplier Fred Tarry's to take on some more coal, as the hold is looking a little empty at the moment. Now that the weather is getting a little chilly, we are beginning to sell coal once more. At present we only have 2 ton on board, so Hadar is sitting high in the water. We are looking forward to taking on some different types of coal this time. So watch this space for pictures of the event.
It is now time to sort out tonights dinner, so I will say good evening and hope to see you over the weekend. Stay safe and enjoy what is supposed to be a good weekend weather wise.