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sandinz · 6 years

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You guessed it! We’ve become way behind here once again …

The weather’s been amazing these past few weeks, so unsurprisingly sitting indoors writing blog posts hasn’t featured at the top of our ‘to action’ lists. We’ve also been enjoying hosting our first two sets of Kiwi visitors of 2018 on board, and sharing laughter and experiences with them along the wonders of the waterways.

We know many people are anticipating seeing images of our return journey on the Lancaster Canal, back to Tarleton via the Ribble Link on Sunday 17th June; it’s even more special as we had brand new friends on board!

Sandra returns from a week in Menorca

After a life-changing few weeks, Sandra returned to Areandare from Malpas (via Menorca!) to Carnforth. It felt quite surreal to visit the Canal Turn pub with Barry and find herself subject of conversations about how lovely the Lancaster Canal and living on a narrowboat must be, when she was yet to experience anything about the waterway. It was most discombobulating and took a few days to adjust and begin to appreciate our inaugural journey in this long anticipated place. …

Barry captured the journey magnificently as usual, and captioned the images well. Enjoy …

Carnforth Station is a very handy railway junction giving access to both North/South travel as well as East/West and boasts the longest unsupported single piece concrete roof in Britain.

Carnforth Railway Station was the setting for the 1945 David Lean film ‘Brief Encounters’, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, and contains a museum to Sir David Lean CBE as well as a museum containing a history of the station and its restoration.

Barry’s NZ friend Keith’s father, Douglas Twiddy, from Borehamwood/Elstree, worked with David Lean on three of the above films. Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Ryan’s Daughter, amongst many other films he was involved with such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi and Labyrinth.

Keith emigrated to Gisborne in 1973, and Barry and he met through playing badminton. They subsequently then ‘flatted’ together for a number of years. In 1976, Keith, Barry and friends John and Vicki, visited the UK stayed for a while with Doug and Ena at Borehamwood. It was during an excursion with John and Vicki when Barry first spotted the Norfolk Broads and the canals at Northampton (hence the waterway connection).

Keith’s mum and dad visited Gisborne in 1980 for Keith and Cheryl’s wedding, and while there scouted the area for filming locations as ‘Production Supervisor’ for the 1984 film The Bounty starring Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence Olivier, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson etc. It also starred Neil Morrisey, owner of The Plume of Feathers pub at Barlaston near Stoke on Trent (another waterway connection).

The film company converted the old brick facade of the waterfront Freezing Works in Gisborne to look like the Docks at Bristol (yet another waterway connection!). Barry recalls they had a full-sized replica of the ship moored in the harbour basin, with huge wooden chutes that sent torrents of water over the deck for the storm scenes.

Barry remembers being invited aboard ‘The Bounty‘ after the pub late one night, with his mate Lee, and forcing Mel Gibson to wait to disembark as they boarded, and then ended up later climbing the rigging and singing silly sailor songs (no recognisable connection to the waterways).

The famous clock used in the film, though the film used a cardboard cutout face over it to keep filming continuity.

… then it was back onto the return journey

Our travels took us past many gorgeous back garden settings, one swing bridge, and just occasional teasing glimpses of Morecambe Bay in the distance.

A marvellous time of year watching cygnets maturing

The permanent moorings at Hest Bank where we stopped for a visit to the beach!

Where has all the water gone?

You do feel like you’ve got all the time in the world to explore the mud flats. However …

There are dangers aplenty!

We read the heartbreaking story of the 21 Chinese illegal immigrants who drowned needlessly and helplessly in 2004. It’s become known as the ‘Morecombe Bay Cockling Disaster‘. A shocking indictment on how humans are able to knowingly abuse their fellow-man at times …

We crossed the Hest Bank railway and seemed to wait forever for this engine to come down the long straight for Barry to get a photo, then realised it was carrying nuclear waste and decided waste and haste don’t mix!

A short stop at the Lune Aqueduct for Barry to get some photographs for a future greeting card.

The Lune Aqueduct is one of John Rennie’s master-piece-aqueducts, completed in 1797, at a total cost of £48,320 – only £30,000 over budget – not too bad! We saw no leaking now after the repairs of 2011-2012, or even any signs of much wear and tear. It looks in pretty good nick!

These fun-loving kids, enjoying themselves swimming and taking in the sun, felt they needed to be an added foreground feature of the aqueduct.

At 664ft long, 20ft wide and 61ft high it’s an impressive structure – Sandra can just be spotted driving Areandare slowly along the structure

Looking back we’re rather incredulous as to how we fitted so much in during this journey. Sandra returned to Areandare on Tuesday 5th June, we cruised to Lancaster on Wednesday 6th (and visited the above places en route), then had dinner at the Water Witch pub there with a previous midwifery colleague of Sandra’s who lives nearby (sadly neither Sascha or Sandra took a photo, they were far too busy catching up!), then on Thursday 7th June Sandra jumped on a train heading to her mum’s for a weekend of sorting with her sisters. Barry followed the next day, and we both travelled back to Lancaster on Sunday 10th.

Phew!

Onto the Glasson Branch

Leaving Lancaster on Monday 11th June, we headed south and turned right to the Glasson Branch. Barry had been eagerly anticipating this detour. We’re so thankful we chose to take this route – especially as it’s currently un-navigable due to water shortages …

Then it was down the Glasson Branch to the docks. Just under three miles and six locks.

A picturesque run down through the lush countryside

Looking back up the canal with The Pennines in the background

The docks are an extensive area of water with a sea going marina and this lock down to the harbour basin

There’s quite a stark contrast between the dock moorings and the adjacent tidal estuary.

The massive Heysham Nuclear Power Plant across the Lune Estuary from Glasson Dock

Also looking across the estuary to the little fishing village of Sunderland.

The ferry that runs from Heysham to Douglas on the Isle of Mann

Late light on the yacht moorings opposite us.

A bit of a ‘do-er upper’ resting on the moorings!

As you can see, the incoming tide is far quicker than watching paint dry!

What a difference a bit of water makes!

Our mooring in the docks

Barry just can’t help adding a couple more images of the marina – he was very impressed by it!

Next day we awoke to a fishing boat waiting to get through the lock and into the harbour, then through the sea lock onto the estuary. Barry delayed his breakfast and took his camera out for an early morning jaunt.

Two CRT workers were there to lock the boat through. They used to have to be on duty here whenever the tides were right, even if nobody was wanting to go through, but now boaters have to ring and book passage. It makes perfect sense to Barry, but apparently not to some boaters who expect service on demand!

It’s quite an effort and rather complex to work the lock, as it also has a swing bridge across with a very busy road over. It’s serious work winding the paddles, then the gates, and synchronising the timing to cross the harbour and exit the sea lock before the tide gets too low.

Boats moored in the semi tidal harbour.

The sea lock apparently doesn’t hold all the water out, and it lowers with the tide …

… so the moored boats get left stranded aground for a time while the two levels equalise.

Then of course any traffic can shoot out of the entrance.

Christ Church near the docks

We had a number of walks around the Docks and Estuary during our stay, and took the opportunity to visit the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse too. A few fellow boaters had recommended it. Sandra enjoyed Morecambe Bay Whitebait (memories of childhood), we both relished Morecambe Bay prawns, and over the course of the following days ate like a King and Queen with smoked mallard breasts (yes, we know, not in the best taste really, and wouldn’t bother again as though tasty there’s not a lot of meat on them!), smoked pheasant breasts (read it carefully!), smoked Lancashire cheese, smoked butter, smoked bacon, sausages, and venison smoked sausage. We’d expected to taste black and white pudding, but didn’t realise it hadn’t been put in the bag and it was too late by then to go back. So that experience will have to wait until another day …

Back to Savick Brook

Most people reading be aware the journey across the Ribble Link needs to be booked by license holders through CRT (using their log-in details) , well in advance, and there’s limited availability during the season. Our return trip was planned for Sunday 17th June, so after a couple of days at Glasson we needed to resume our travelling.

Time to head back up the canal to the main line. We’ll be back!

Now back on The Lancaster Canal, Abraham keeps an eye on passing boats.

Don’t be too A’Lama’ed!

Hitching a ride

Back now at the top lock and basin at Savick Brook, the beginning of the Ribble Link.

Just the touch of a nervous smile.

It’s a very twisty, narrow, and shallow navigation down the Savick Brook link. It’s just under three miles, and involves nine locks, including the sea lock, and a triple staircase lock at the top that you have to reverse into. It’s a fascinating and slightly formidable journey!

Gareth and Michaela had offered to travel from York to crew with Barry on the outgoing trip, just after Andy had been in touch. So we suggested they may want to come along for the ride on the return. They were very keen to – so much so they even brought a delicious spread for lunch too! What a bonus.

The following first group of photos isn’t up to Barry’s standard, they’re Sandra’s poor efforts … you’ll easily notice the difference when Barry’s recommence!

In the first lock …

Micheala and Gareth seeming delighted to be back on board a narrowboat

A little shallow at times

And out onto tidal waters …

Gareth driving like a pro

Happy boys at the tiller

Approaching the lock at Tarleton

Looks here as though Gareth had to do all the work! Driving AND locking? Surely not with four crew on board …

Once on the holding moorings, it’s a case of waiting for the all clear from the CRT lockies to head off. This time we were the first to go.

Once through the sea lock, it’s a short run out to open water, up the estuary, and onto the River Douglas.

Gareth was quite happy to take us all the way over, which gave the captain a bit of a break and time to put his feet up (just joking).

We were lucky enough to time the tide so it was exactly the same level as the canal, which meant we could pass straight through the lock. The following boat managed as well, but only after having to put the power on.

We didn’t realise until afterwards it was narrowboat Seyella (fellow boating bloggers ‘Seyella’s Journey) with passengers Doug and James, who blog on NB Chance, aboard.

Such a fantastic experience – we absolutely LOVED the Lancaster and hope one day to return with more time and knowledge. It was wonderful to share some of the journey with Andy and his son Matt, and Jim and Hilary and her mum, and finally Gareth and Michaela who we thank profusely for providing lunch and for being so inspiringly impetuous ….

Where are we now in real time?

We’re currently in the Northwich area, awaiting news on a lock closure at Malkin Bank as to our upcoming travels. We’ve heard there’s some challenges at Middlewich due to low levels of water. And we’re expecting our next kiwi guests, Rod and Tracey, to arrive on Sunday – we’re just not exactly sure yet the location of that meet-up!

Carnforth to Tarleton and many memories in between … You guessed it! We've become way behind here once again ... The weather's been amazing these past few weeks, so unsurprisingly sitting indoors writing blog posts hasn't featured at the top of our 'to action' lists.

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juniorformulamotorsport · 5 years

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Friday, 12th July 2019 – Porto, Day 2

Friday morning saw Lynne creak into action rather late, but in good time for our first activity of the day. I’d already been out to try and purchase some yogurt for her because she insists it’s needed to kick start her digestion. I’d found a lot of lovely buildings, but despite Google Maps insisting there was a supermarket at the destination it had sent me to, there really wasn’t. I’d given up and returned to the Intercontinental where the staff in the restaurant let me have a yogurt for free (we were on a room only booking so breakfast was meant to be €25 per person which was part of the reason I’d gone out to hunt for fermented dairy products – we didn’t actually want breakfast proper because of our plans for the day).

We had always intended to skip breakfast because we were booked on a food tour of Porto, starting at 10:00 and lasting around 3.5 hours. Our experience of food tours so far (in Helsinki and Krakow) had taught us that it’s best to arrive hungry for this sort of endeavour. This one, the Vintage Food Tour, with the lovely and very knowledgeable Maria from Taste Porto would prove to be no exception. First, however, we’d ordered a pair of Porto cards, including the Andante card that gives you access to Porto’s public transport network. The cost was €33 each for four days so it wasn’t exactly expensive even if we didn’t use it in all the places it was valid (which wouldn’t be possible in 4 days unless you rushed in and out of everywhere and I’d rather not do that, unlike some people).

First we walked up to the cathedral where, after a couple of false starts, we finally located the Tourist Information office, and were soon in possession of the cards as well as a very useful city map.

From there we walked back down the hill to get to our rendezvous point. We met over by the Mercado do Bolhão (which apparently means big bubble because it’s on the site of a small creek that’s now underground, and that used to produce lots of bubbles). The neoclassic building that’s on the site now was built in 1914 and provides the main market in town. It’s currently undergoing a full refurbishment, and most of the traders have been moved to a massive all nearby for the duration while the art deco building is restored to its former glory. It had apparently fallen into a bit of a state of disrepair, but a massive grant from the EU coupled with local money means it will stage a come back. When it does I’d like to see it because I’m sure it will be glorious once again. It’s been classified as a Property of Patrimonial Interest since 2006, and a Monument of Public Interest since 2013. They started the work in 2018 and it’s supposed to be complete in 2020. The traders are apparently looking forward to returning because they’ll be back in the open in the courtyard area after 2 years inside. Work does seem to be progressing nicely, at least from the outside…

After the 8 of us on the tour had introduced ourselves to each other Maria walked us to the first destination on the tour, the Mercearia do Bolhão, an utterly wonderful old-style grocery shop selling food and drink, but also with a small household cleaning section. There’s a bakery section as well but that’s been moved to a second building a handful of doors down.

Inside we were presented with a selection of local goodies, including a lovely selection of cheese, crackers, quince paste and a local sausage. We nibbled our way through these (Maria told us she’d be disappointed if we didn’t eat everything and explained that the locals have very big appetites). The cheese was especially good, made with milk from cows, goats and sheep. It was soft, creamy and had a slightly pungent finish where you could clearly detect the goat’s milk flavour. The crackers were slightly sweet with a good crunch, and the quince paste was grainier than the sort I’m used to, but went perfectly with the cheese. Apparently having both together is known as Romeo and Juliet!

From here we walked towards the famous Porto café, the Majestic Café, which is a terrific looking place complete with smartly-uniformed waiters. It’s also a complete tourist trap, and charges around €5 a coffee. The locals don’t go there, and as this was a tour to show us where the locals do go, Maria walked us along to the second café owned by the same people, the Guarany Café, close to our hotel on the Avenida dos Aliados. Here coffee costs around €1, and breakfast is €15 instead of €30. We sat down and had a coffee each, a very strong but smooth blend, preferred by the locals. The café itself is also lovely, but has the advantage of not being rammed with tourists. Apparently there are a number of regulars including a local poet in his 90s know who comes in every morning for a coffee and to read the newspapers. Apparently the original owners made their money in Brazil and then returned in the 1930s to open this café. Its website also provides a good example of something we would continue to experience all the time we were in Porto, with translations into English having quite obviously never been anywhere near a native English speaker before being committed to print/the internet. It was enough to make my inner editor weep!

Fortified by coffee, our next stop was at the magnificent São Bento station, where we had a brief run through the history of Porto and of Portugal and an opportunity to admire the 20,000 tiles that make up the decoration of the main hall. The station is the main starting point for train journeys through the Douro valley, and it is also the terminus of a number of local lines. Like our hotel, it too was once a convent, with the last nun only dying a number of years after the first train service ran! The tiles date from 1905–1916, and depict scenes from Portugal’s history, including the entry into Porto of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster to celebrate their wedding. There are also scenes of local life, including a cattle fair and a pilgrim camp (Porto is on one of the many routes to Santiago de Compostela and thus sees a lot of pilgrims walking the path even now – we saw quite a few walkers with the pilgrim sign of a scallop shell hanging from their rucksacks), along with scenes showing vineyards, the grape harvest, wine shipment down the Douro and work in a watermill. As Maria pointed out, all the work seems to be being done by the women.

From the station we headed up the hill back towards the cathedral where we stopped off at a shop selling canned fish. This was not the madly touristic version either, but rather somewhere very civilised that is run by the associated of tinned fish producers with intent to promote their products. There was a table waiting for us in Loja das Conservas (other branches are available, including in Macau, which I wish I’d known sooner), with a bottle of wine, crackers and two different types of tinned fish to try, one the obvious sardines, the other needlefish. Both were very tasty indeed, once I’d recovered from trying a drop or two of the chilli sauce known as “the bastard” and my tongue stopped throbbing! In addition to hundreds of different types of fish in tins, with all sorts of sauces, they also sell some purely fun things including these dangly sardines, and I’d really recommend a visit. We were all given a 5% discount voucher to use in the shop, and Lynne and I decided we’d come back later and collect some supplies. The vinho verde served alongside the fish was also very good.

From here we went to Ö Tascö, a very modern looking restaurant in what we were now beginning to realise was the standard Porto building with a very narrow facade at the front but that go back for forever, very much like Belgian buildings. I asked if it was for the same reason (the wider the building the more tax you paid) and was told that yes, that was indeed the case. Here we were offered more wine along with some petischos, salt cod fritters and some Alheira sausages, apparently also known as Jewish sausages. These are sausages made of meat (veal, duck, chicken quail or rabbit) and bread, usually along with alho (garlic) which is where the name comes from. Apparently they were invented by the Jews of Portugal in 1497 when they were given a choice between being expelled from the country or converting to Christianity. The conversos who secretly retained their beliefs avoided eating pork but where at risk because they didn’t have sausages (containing pork) hanging up in their smokehouses and so, to avoid the Inquisition noticing, they started making sausages from other meats. They are tasty, with a texture that’s very mushy, and are very filling. The cod fritters were a model of lightness in comparison!

After a second glass of wine the conversation was very animated, and we all seemed to be getting on very well. We were in even better form by the time we reached Taxca, a pub rather than a restaurant, where we drank an espadal wine, a sparkling, light rose, kept in a cask and served from a pump and produced in the vinho verde region. With it we had a typical snack, a hefty serving of presunto ham in a bread roll. Maria reckoned this was the sort of place she and her friends would come to at the start of a night out to get things off to a good start. The hams are hanging up above the bar, and the menu is a pair of metal plaques with the words cut out of them, fastened to the wall. Presumably it doesn’t change very often!

Now we were full of food we were ready for the final stage of the tour. Stopping off at a bakery for some sweet treats, we headed on to a port and wine shop, Touriga (named after one of the many grapes used to make port), where we would have a short session on port, and a tasting of three different ports along with the treats. We had the good fortune to try a 10-year old white, a 2013 late bottled vintage, and a 10-year old tawny.

The went perfectly with the sweets, a tiny almond tart, and a sticky brigadeiro (a Brazilian ball of chocolate and condensed milk and butter formed into a ball and coated in chocolate sprinkles). And half an hour later we realised that a) we were going to have to buy some port and b) we weren’t going to make it to our scheduled tasting at Graham’s port house by 14:15 because it was 14:15 and we’d gone way over the scheduled time. We didn’t care; we’d been having fun. We cared even less when Maria called Graham’s and rescheduled it for us for the following day. She apologised for the overrun, but we’d really enjoyed it and really, really wouldn’t have wanted to rush off.

Before we left the shop we ordered a case of the wines we’d tried (6 of the white, 6 of the tawny) and arranged to have them shipped home for a very reasonable extra €37. The American on the tour were disappointed to find they’d have to pay €173 to ship 12 bottles and instead planned to bury them in their suitcases. I do hope it all survives the trip back to Michigan. Ours arrived 6 days later, safely packed, and with a lovely note thanking us for supporting small wine producers. I suggest the pleasure will be all ours! We’d had a fabulous food tour, and I could see why the Guardian ranked Taste Porto’s tours as among the best anywhere.

It was now around 3pm. We dropped some things off at the hotel, and then decided it was too stick to do anything productive so we’d join a bus tour to take a look at the Atlantic coast. It was a hop on hop off tour but we couldn’t raise the energy to hop off so we stayed put on the top level, letting the breeze cool us off, and watching the world go by. I do have to say that I’ve been on better tours with the same company. The commentary was almost inaudible even with the volume turned up full blast, and had clearly been read by someone with only a passing familiarity with English. It was, however, also considerably cheaper than in most European countries at €15 for 2 days. And we got to sit down for an hour or so, which was by now very welcome!

At the end of the tour we hopped off and went and peered into the MacDonalds, to see if we’d been told the truth. We most certainly had!

I’m pretty sure there are no MacDonalds anywhere else that are quite so spectacular on the inside…

Or the outside! We didn’t need any prompting not to stay though. Maria had recommended a gelateria close by, and as it was a sticky day we figured what the hell, we’d have one and then go back to the hotel to get cleaned up before dinner. The 1927 Gelateria Portuense is brilliant. It’s a tiny place, tucked away down a sidestreet, and it serves the most fabulous gelato. By the time we got there, they’d started to run out of several flavours, but they still had the pistachio left, enough for a single portion, so Lynne had that and I had the mango, and we swapped spoonfuls. It was definitely among the best ice cream or gelato I’ve ever eaten. They also do a tasting selecton where you can have 6 small tubs of different flavours for €7 which seemed like a bargain for that quality level.

Now decidedly sticky as well as sweaty we retreated back to the hotel for a pre-dinner shower and a drink before going out for dinner (we had a bottle of the white port from the tour to hand and intended to enjoy it).

Travel 2019 – Porto, Day 2 Friday, 12th July 2019 - Porto, Day 2 Friday morning saw Lynne creak into action rather late, but in good time for our first activity of the day.

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