A beautiful Viking era sword with a copper inlaid hilt,

OaL: 36 in/91.5 cm

Blade Width: 2.4 in/6 cm

Blade Thickness: 0.3 in/7.5 mm

Guard Width: 4.6 cm/11.8 cm

Weight: 2.7 lbs/1214 g

The ice-breaking video – not for the squeamish!

For those of you not ‘friends’ with me on Facebook, I’ve discovered we can publish videos here on the blog which is rather exciting! Here’s Barry filming himself with his iPhone 4s, as he pushes through the ice from Bardney Lock on Sunday morning … https://videopress.com/embed/eUZ2vzsT?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0 And in case anyone’s wondering, yes, we’ve lost some blacking from our bottom…

We’d been informed by a passer-by before moving on, that the river was clear of ice to Lincoln from the lock – it most definitely was NOT! Maybe it’s difficult to see clearly from the walkway …

We totally acknowledge that generally narrowboaters aren’t keen on travelling through frozen water, as it has the undesired outcome of scraping the layer of blacking off the steel hull. I guess like most things in life, it’s a case of weighing up the options and making a decision based on perceived risks and benefits. We decided it was time for a concerted attempt to get closer to essential services if at all possible, once there was a ‘weather-window’ (it rained yesterday morning and the temperature rose a little).

We broke through a number of patches of ice during the approximate 14km trip from Bardney to Lincoln, as well as thick fog for the majority of the time, disturbing some hardy of wildlife as we went. The swans and mallards seemed most content waddling around on the frozen water, seemingly unperturbed by the cold.

Barry chats to the Environment Agency representative

Lots of dead fish below the lock still

Areandare preparing herself for the battle ahead …

Here we go!

Took a few pushes forward to make any headway

Lots of broken ice, and more dead fish 😦

Looks like an ice skating rink!

Slowly forging ahead

Incredibly thick ice …

Almost through

Made it!

A number of patches along the way to negotiate

Swans took flight as we approached – not used to boats moving around here!

Stamp End Lock in Lincoln, a guillotine gate at the top

Duck prints on the pontoon …

This one went in circles

Safely back in Lincoln

We arrived in Lincoln mid-afternoon, mooring outside the Witch and Wardrobe pub. Not the quietest of places it has to be said (maybe it’s the ghost of the former brothel employee and her lover cavorting around on the first floor?), especially when we’ve got rather accustomed to the silence and solitude on the route from Boston. I have to admit it was a truly magical time cosied up in our narrowboat home, despite the inconvenience and frustrations. We felt fortunate to witness Mother Nature (even if the extremes may be caused in some way by Global Warming) looking so stunningly beautiful.

The Empowerment Sculpture by the Waterside Shopping Centre. “It takes the form of two aluminium-and-steel human figures reaching to each other across the water. The design is intended to echo the shape of turbine blades, in recognition of Lincoln’s industrial heritage.” It’s not looking as amazing as it did when Barry took a picture in 2009 – it’s one of his Greeting Card range

Our loose journey plans are being moved around somewhat in the light of unexpected events, and I cancelled the hire car booked from Sheffield on Thursday; re-booking to one from Lincoln! I’ll travel to mum’s from here, and return the car on Monday, when I’ll catch a train to wherever Barry is by then.

Sadly (??) it seems I’m not destined to return to the Tidal Trent, nor experience the thrill (!) of negotiating Keadby Lock once again. At least it’s looking highly unlikely. Barry will leave Lincoln once I’ve gone, and travel to Saxilby I suspect, then on to Torksey Lock. Hopefully he’ll have a companion journeying with him. It’s all in the planning stages at the moment. And naturally weather and tide dependant.

Before then we’ll be exploring Lincoln – and begrudgingly paying to visit the Cathedral and Castle, seeing as we missed out on the Stump and Windmill last week!

The most fabulous news is that Barry’s ‘new’ (second-hand from E-Bay) camera arrived safely at the other Barry’s today, and he kindly brought it to the boat this morning. So Barry’s already been playing with his new toy, and I’m hopeful the next post will contain images of this fine city from his new lens …

Foiled again by The Beast

The luck of the draw definitely isn’t on our side at the moment! Although Tattershall Castle would normally be open on weekdays now from 11 to 5pm, today it’s highly unlikely anyone there would be braving the elements. We most certainly weren’t keen on venturing far … However, there has been some unexpected consolation for our recent missed opportunities. Our Tattershall Bridge mooring brought…

A medieval sword linked to the Magna Carta is causing a bit of a mystery for historians at the British Library.

Researchers are appealing for help to deceiver the inscription on the sword which was found in the River Witham in July 1825.

According to a blog by curator Julian Harrison the sword was presented to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the registrar to the Bishop of Lincoln.

Mr Harrison says in his blog: "An intriguing feature of this sword is an as yet indecipherable inscription, found along one of its edges and inlaid in gold wire.

"It has been speculated that this is a religious invocation, since the language is unknown."

The inscription seems to read +NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+

Walking – River Witham

I could not get out yesterday, when it was sunny because of work and today it is overcast!

I took my usual route out of Branston, through Washingborough and out onto the Sustrans path along the River Witham. It was definitely not a spring day walk, it was overcast with a cold wind, which was a good test for my new coat, a drab olive M65 jacket but when I stopped I wish I had not taken the liner…