It has been an interesting weekend on Shell Bell. On Saturday morning we were waiting for the lock keeper to open the lock for us when two boats suddenly appeared with what looked like very unsavoury characters on board!!! Our first instincts would turn out to be right!!! So the lockie decided that two boats […]
What a differance a day makes, the rain had gone and the sun was shining. We queued for about an hour to start our descent down Foxton locks. These staircase locks have two paddles per lock one red,one white and you open the red first followed by the white this allows water to be used […]
The early sunshine was not to last as we left Welford junction around 10:15.W e travelled for just under a mile and pulled in to North Kilworth wharf boat yard to top up with water and diesel, empty the toilet tank and dump our rubbish. All went smoothly and we were finished in about half […]
Today started just like any other in fact it was nice the sun was shinning as we had our morning cuppa, Sheila went off to have a shower. Within a few minutes there was a cry for help from the shower cubical: the water pump that takes the waste water away was not working. This […]
This morning was cloudy when we set off from Norton Junction. After only a few minutes we were turning up the Leicester section of the Grand Union canal.Steady progress was made and we soon found ourselves at the back of the Watford Gap services on the M1 .Strange to pass this service station by the […]
Well it does seem quiet on board after having our guests for the last few days and very nice it was to have them all on board. Today we carried on our way back albeit slowly to Mercia. We must complete on our our house move soon. We need to be near our moorings so we […]
After saying farewell to Cliff and Chris yesterday we left our moorings at Stoke Bruene and went back through the Blisworth tunnel and moored the other side at Blisworth. Today we have new guests, John, Alison and their son Steven are on board for the day. After a very nice day spent cruising up the […]
We have had a busy few days on Shell Bell. On Thursday we met Chris and Cliff at the pub and after a drink transferred to the boat for tea, drinks and a chat, Chris asked about the crayfish trap so this was baited and dropped into the canal.We chatted on late into the night as […]
We have turned back and have started the trip back north. Today was a real challenge with really strong winds blowing Shell Bell all over the place. Stopping to fill with water after our only lock of the day the captain found it difficult to get shell bell of the mooring,but Sheila grabbed the boat’s […]
We set off for Milton Keynes today in sunny but windy weather. Only one lock today just before Solomons bridge in Cosgrove and we went through with the family we locked up with yesterday. Then we said goodbye to them as they were turning round to head home. Next stop was the outskirts of […]