Pop in to Prickwillow

I left home at 7.00am in order to get to Prickwillow by about 11.30am. This was the second year the village had organised a ploughing match coupled with a number of other attractions including running  various engines in the Prickwillow Pump House Museum, a beer tent, a band, trade stands, refreshments, etc. I got the boat ready at Lazy Otter and left at 8.30am in a light mist.

 

The sun looked like it would eventually break through but I was not sure when. The river was very quiet; after all it was early on a Sunday morning. I had estimated a 3 hour journey. After about two hours, I stopped just short of the River Lark junction to have a coffee and warm up a bit – the sun was still struggling to break through. I reached Prickwillow at 11.15am and moored at the road bridge.

I had a sandwich and a coffee and then went over to the museum entrance and paid my £5 entrance fee. I found Mick next to Charlie, his vintage lorry. Is that a small bungalow in the back of his lorry?

I got the low-down on what was going on. Apparently, in just a few minutes the volunteers in the museum were going to run the engines so I trundled over to the pump house to watch. The group of boiler-suited men spent a good few minutes oiling and greasing various spigots and sprockets and the big engine was fired up. I stood and watched and listened for about five minutes. I could hear some men behind me making some informed comments about the various rocker arms and connecting rods so gave up my ringside position for them to get a better view. I can only stand so much excitement on a Sunday!

 

 

The rest of the event was packed with old vehicles like tractors, traction engines, motorbikes and cars. I'm glad I didn't have to polish all this paintwork and brass...

The heavy horses and vintage tractors were in the nearby field ploughing in straight lines. These two were just having a well-earned rest...

 

 

This mechanical rig was still focussed on ploughing in a straight line and a jolly good job he was doing IMHO...

Flocks of people were drinking their beers while watching and listening to local band, Eel Pie. It's nice to go to an event where you're not pushed around by security guards and stewards. Obviously none were needed here...

 

All in all, it was a very nice show and by 3.00pm the sun appeared. At this point, I decided to take advantage of the better weather and head back to Ely, and I was glad I did because the river was looking lovely – sunshine, hardly any wind, and only a couple of other boats breaking the smooth surface of the water. Skylark travelled well, her engine purring along and her bow and stern making only gentle waves. Perfect.

I found a good place to moor at 5.00pm near the Cutter Inn in Ely and settled down for the evening. I lit the fire, opened a bottle of cider to accompany my slap-up sandwich and watched Laurence of Arabia as the sun went down.

I woke at 8am after a good night’s sleep – this boating lark is really tiring! I had breakfast and, as I didn’t need to be home until mid afternoon, decided to have a walk down the riverside and into the town. At least the weather was fine – cool and no sun but none of the forecasted mist either.

The rain they predicted held off too and I returned to home feeling relaxed and refreshed after a couple of very pleasant days on the boat. How long can this good weather keep up?

The Ouse at 10am this morning...

Shutting down, at the end of the trip, was done is good time - oiling the stern drive, tidying the engine room and saloon,  checking the level of the fuel, stowing ropes, shutting off the gas, packing away my stuff, etc.

I had attached a clear bottle to the new overflow pipe from the calorifier pressure valve and this had worked well. There was about 1.5lt of clear water in the bottle and none in the bilge - it was so much easier to empty that bottle than mop out the bilge. I added a short length of rope to the bottle to help haul it out of the bilge rather than lean in - the last thing I want is to over-stretch and fall in!

Everything had worked well and it was an added pleasure not to have any outstanding problems to sort out. I hope this continues but, being a realist, I have to be prepared for something to go ping, plop or fizz. It wouldn't be boating without something to look forward to!