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We are heading into Lancaster to pick up Deb so she can come on the narrowboat so I thought I'd do some blogging and get you all up to date.
17 May - We got up in the morning and had a lovely breakfast at Beamish Hall. Mark had the full English of course and I had a continental. We packed up and headed to the Beamish Bird of Prey park. It was fantasic. We were only in for a few minutes and we got to hold a little owl. There was all sort of raptors in there and we walked around and checked them all out. Then about 11am we sat in the lawn area for the show. It was great.. there was only 4 of us to see the show so he did it very imformally. He got the birds to fly over our heads which made for some great videos (I hope.. lol)
Sorry we got interrupted while Jules was doing the first part of this blog entry. A gust of wind had pushed the boat accross the canal and we were wedged in and blocking the canal so we needed to try and right ourselves.
A very nice young man and his daughter stopped and offered help so while trying to get the rope from the middle of the roof my foot slipped and I ended up in the canal fully clothed and a bit panicky. Everything is ok so please don't worry. I had just been on the phone to the boat owner to get some help so I had the phone on me....bye bye phone...lol
Now it's Monday 23rd so I am completing the current entry.
After Beamish Hall we travelled back to Hull where we went to Julia's brother Steve and Tracey's for dinner (Spag Bog) after a really great night we went home to our new hotel The Kingstown.
18 May - Our anniversary. a trip out to Aunty Joyces. Lunch at their local with Barbara and Uncle Tony. Back to Hull for Dinner with Cousin Deb and Naj. After a great dinner back to theirs for coffee and then we all went and watched Barbara and Lisa play darts sorry you lost ladies
19 May - My Birthday - quiet morning Afternoon with Lisa and Barbara then out to The Millhouse in Skidby near Cottingham....another delicious
dinner.
20 May - Final goodbye to Barbara and Charlie then travelled to Lancaster. We were going to stay at a place out of Lancaster called Slyne Lodge...a lovely old converted stables with very large rooms but no hot water in the showers....So about 7 pm we travelled into Lancaster and stayed at The Holiday Inn...
21 May - Now we have done the Family thing it's time to start the Holiday...lol... We were due to pick up the narrow boat at 2pm but the lovely boat owner Neil said it would be ready about 10.15 So we arrived at 9.45 of course while I waited with the car Jules and Mark and Neil unloaded our luggage (I am sure we keep getting more and more) Then came the instructions and a little bit of training we started off towards Carnforth. What a great way to travel, slow but wow don't you see the countryside. We got a great call at 9pm when Deb rang and said she would be coming up by train.
22 May - Really a day I would like to forget but since it happened I will tell all in detail.
After the
first ordinary breakfast (2 bits of toast and coffee) we set off to find a turning point after a good hour we found the perfect spot I did a great job with my first turn so the confidence was rising. The weather then took a turn for the worst and the wind and rain started..We travelled down the canal for about 2 hours and we realised we wouldn't get to Lancaster before Deb's train arrived so we were going to stop at a jetty behind the Royal Hotel at Burton-Le-Sands but when I slowed right down to coast into the jetty a great gust of wind pushed the boat (1ft under water 7ft above the water and 60ft long so it has plenty of sail area...lol) across the canal and jammed in the mud on both sides. After some frantic work with the motor back and forth we were really stuck. Now as i mentioned before this bloke stopped and said he would give us a hand with pulling it from the front but we needed more rope on the front so I had to climb the side of the boat about 3 inches wide and crab walk to the
middle, while unhooking the rope my foot slipped and ooops straight in wallet phone and all but I kept hold of the rope. So now it's getting very close to Deb's arrival and I have no dry really warm clothes so the easiest option was a Taxi to pick up Deb and then some shopping (new jumpers and runners) Finally back on board and we set sail again to Carnforth. Where the plan was to travel up to Tewitfield and back to Lancaster to drop Deb off..
May 23 - The best laid plans went astray when the weather turned very nasty and it wasn't feasible to move the boat. So we jumped on the train and went to Lancaster.
First a visit to the Lancaster Priory. Another magnificent church. Then we went to the Castle where it is still a working courthouse and jail without prisoners (Last prisoner left in March this year) So we couldnt take pictures but we had an excellent guide and saw the biggest collection of Heraldic Shields going back to the first High Sheriff of Lancaster in 1109. Very interesting to see and hear about all the reasons for the designs. Then we
had lunch in a quaint little building and went back to the boat so Jules could teach Deb to crochet and an LLD for me...lol Now we are settled we should be doing the blog more often.
Bye for now
Love
Mark and Jules
PS We are still learning videos and how to uplaod and play them so watch this space for random scenes...lol
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Sounds like you are enjoying your travels
I liked the photos of the owl-- very nice.