I'm still posting on Shobnall Fields Forever, but something's come up that I need to write about here. For quite some time now, I've been in communication with Tom Jones, a Kiwi recently working in Australia who commissioned Ben Harp Narrowboat Builders to build a liveaboard boat for his wife Jan and himself to cruise in the UK.
He got in touch just after he'd signed the contract, so it was too late to warn him of the problems others have had with this company. He was already aware of the difficulties that the owners of Trudy Ann had had, and which they've blogged about, and had appointed a good surveyor, so all I could do was cross my fingers and hope.
It didn't work.
In fact, it's gone about as wrong as it could be, as Tom's latest post tells. This is much, much worse than anything anyone's had before from this builder, and hopefully will be the end of the line for them.
I'm working on a permanent page about buying a boat, and will get back to it after we leave the Festival site. Meantime, if you are thinking about buying a boat directly from Ben Harp, don't. Second hand Harps, on the other hand, have usually been lovingly reconstructed by their owners, and may well be fine. Just get them to tell you about the remedial work they've had done.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Handover post
Handover your post!
No, that's not what I meant, though Elanor has just brought us some. This is a quick post to say that we've arrived at Shobnall Fields, after some interesting encounters at the marina. As last year, I'll be posting to the Shobnall Fields Forever blog first thing each morning, with photos and stories of the set up of the IWA Waterways Festival.
See you over there!
(Norwyn: thanks for your question about the route to Morrisons from Branston – I will reply, as soon as I work out how to describe it!)
No, that's not what I meant, though Elanor has just brought us some. This is a quick post to say that we've arrived at Shobnall Fields, after some interesting encounters at the marina. As last year, I'll be posting to the Shobnall Fields Forever blog first thing each morning, with photos and stories of the set up of the IWA Waterways Festival.
See you over there!
(Norwyn: thanks for your question about the route to Morrisons from Branston – I will reply, as soon as I work out how to describe it!)
Labels:
Shobnall
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
A tail of two fishermen
With a very low water tank to refill, we set off in very good time this morning, just after seven. There was a fisherman just between the water point and the bridge. He's one of the Alrewas regulars, and a solemn looking bloke, but made no complaint when I picked up the centre line as Sanity Again came through the bridge hole and lifted it over his head and kit to start pulling her onto the mooring.
Sheila apologised for disturbing him, but he was fine about it.
It was a different story as Sheila slotted Sanity Again through Tatenhill bridge. For those who don't know this area, this bridge is one of the narrowest on the system, towpathless and a scant seven foot wide. It's a real challenge to get through without touching the sides. She did it perfectly, but a fisherman on the offside just the other side accused her of speeding and threatened to report her.
It would be an achievement to get through there at anything more than a crawl, and the cut hereabouts is so shallow, 3 mph is the best you can expect to do anyway. In point of fact, the Garmin was showing 2.2 mph. Sheila said afterwards, she almost hopes he does ring BW; they deserve a good laugh occasionally.
We made it to Branston by coffee time, and have spent the rest of the day doing our usual pottering about type stuff, taking advantage of a last chance to shop at Morrisons and the like.
Tomorrow, we'll go on down to Shobnall; the toilet tank is nearly full, so we'll get a pump out there and then find a space to tie on the towpath until the workers' moorings are ready for us.
One more blog here, then I'll go over to Shobnall Fields Forever.
Sheila apologised for disturbing him, but he was fine about it.
It was a different story as Sheila slotted Sanity Again through Tatenhill bridge. For those who don't know this area, this bridge is one of the narrowest on the system, towpathless and a scant seven foot wide. It's a real challenge to get through without touching the sides. She did it perfectly, but a fisherman on the offside just the other side accused her of speeding and threatened to report her.
It would be an achievement to get through there at anything more than a crawl, and the cut hereabouts is so shallow, 3 mph is the best you can expect to do anyway. In point of fact, the Garmin was showing 2.2 mph. Sheila said afterwards, she almost hopes he does ring BW; they deserve a good laugh occasionally.
We made it to Branston by coffee time, and have spent the rest of the day doing our usual pottering about type stuff, taking advantage of a last chance to shop at Morrisons and the like.
Tomorrow, we'll go on down to Shobnall; the toilet tank is nearly full, so we'll get a pump out there and then find a space to tie on the towpath until the workers' moorings are ready for us.
One more blog here, then I'll go over to Shobnall Fields Forever.
Labels:
Branston
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
On our own again
After a very pleasant weekend, so ably chronicled by Sally, we're in sole possession of the boat again. Elanor and Sally had a very successful session at obedience last night, I'm pleased to say, and came back to the boat to sleep.
Sally was too modest to mention it, but they've been promoted to the top class, and this was their first occasion at the higher level. For a dog who was very nervy and underconfident (as rescue dogs so often are) Sally has come on by leaps and bounds (sometimes literally) in the last year.
Earlier in the evening, we'd had the pleasure of a visit from Tony and Pat Thorne, occasional blog readers, who are having a boat built by Graham Edgson at Norton Canes, and plan to have it fitted out by Sandhills Narrowboats.
Tony was particularly interested in the Hurricane heater, and I was able to show him how it had been installed in Sanity Again and to sing its praises.
Since Elanor and Sally left just after breakfast, we've had a pretty quiet day on the boat. First, we swept the floor, and disposed of a largish quantity of dog which had remained behind. We changed the bed, for similar reasons, then settled down to catch up with reading, and to go on working on the Festival Newsletter.
Thursday's edition is well on; it will mainly be filled with the timetables of all the events and attractions over the weekend. Later editions, of course, will have some topical stuff, as well as any updates to the timetables.
We plan to head on down towards Shobnall tomorrow, stopping at Branston overnight to do some stocking up. One advantage of this year's location is that we're within easy reach of Elanor's house, so we can get Ocado to deliver there and she'll bring the stuff down to us.
As I did last year, once we arrive at the Festival site, I'll stop posting on this blog and go over to posting on the dedicated Festival blog, Shobnall Fields Forever, delivering an account of setting up the largest volunteer run show in the UK.
Sally was too modest to mention it, but they've been promoted to the top class, and this was their first occasion at the higher level. For a dog who was very nervy and underconfident (as rescue dogs so often are) Sally has come on by leaps and bounds (sometimes literally) in the last year.
Earlier in the evening, we'd had the pleasure of a visit from Tony and Pat Thorne, occasional blog readers, who are having a boat built by Graham Edgson at Norton Canes, and plan to have it fitted out by Sandhills Narrowboats.
Tony was particularly interested in the Hurricane heater, and I was able to show him how it had been installed in Sanity Again and to sing its praises.
Since Elanor and Sally left just after breakfast, we've had a pretty quiet day on the boat. First, we swept the floor, and disposed of a largish quantity of dog which had remained behind. We changed the bed, for similar reasons, then settled down to catch up with reading, and to go on working on the Festival Newsletter.
Thursday's edition is well on; it will mainly be filled with the timetables of all the events and attractions over the weekend. Later editions, of course, will have some topical stuff, as well as any updates to the timetables.
We plan to head on down towards Shobnall tomorrow, stopping at Branston overnight to do some stocking up. One advantage of this year's location is that we're within easy reach of Elanor's house, so we can get Ocado to deliver there and she'll bring the stuff down to us.
As I did last year, once we arrive at the Festival site, I'll stop posting on this blog and go over to posting on the dedicated Festival blog, Shobnall Fields Forever, delivering an account of setting up the largest volunteer run show in the UK.
Labels:
Alrewas
Monday, 11 July 2011
Dog to dog blog: last one for a bit
This is definitely my last blog post for a while – after this, Grandpa can do his own. The whole boating business is, like, hard work, frankly, and I've not been getting anything like my usual 18 hours kip.
Today we went back down the locks, and I was expected to help with all of them, I mean, how fair is that? And it was just sooo hot. After we'd passed the junction, I went on strike, and Mummy put me back on board. She said she had to come in to to supervise me, so I don't think I was the only knackered one.
Anyway, we're back at Alrewas, tied right next to Mum's car, so's we can go to obedience tonight. More work, but at least it should have cooled down by then.
I've spent a lot of the rest of the time indoors as well, playing hunting the thing, which is always good for a laugh. I pretend to be very worried by any chance gleam of light on the walls or floor, usually off the tags on my collar, and hunt them around the place, growling from time to time.
Well, it makes life go with a swing when the humans are doing their boring computer stuff.
They are having pork pie and salad tonight, but Grandpa came back from the butchers with just three of the pies, so guess who's not getting one.
Lynx, thanks for the offer, but I tried the hypno-stare once.
Thing is, your Mummy is a farmer-cyst, I think, so maybe she's not up on non-farmer-college-ical approaches. Don't know what it's got to do with farmers, but there you go, something to do with the hot chickens, I suppose.
Grandpa is or was a psychologist, and used to do hypnosis type stuff for a living. I tried the hypno-stare, and all that happened was, I woke up 30 minutes later and everyone had finished eating.
It's just so unfair. And hot.
Yours in a grumpy mood
Sally
Today we went back down the locks, and I was expected to help with all of them, I mean, how fair is that? And it was just sooo hot. After we'd passed the junction, I went on strike, and Mummy put me back on board. She said she had to come in to to supervise me, so I don't think I was the only knackered one.
Anyway, we're back at Alrewas, tied right next to Mum's car, so's we can go to obedience tonight. More work, but at least it should have cooled down by then.
I've spent a lot of the rest of the time indoors as well, playing hunting the thing, which is always good for a laugh. I pretend to be very worried by any chance gleam of light on the walls or floor, usually off the tags on my collar, and hunt them around the place, growling from time to time.
Well, it makes life go with a swing when the humans are doing their boring computer stuff.
They are having pork pie and salad tonight, but Grandpa came back from the butchers with just three of the pies, so guess who's not getting one.
Lynx, thanks for the offer, but I tried the hypno-stare once.
Thing is, your Mummy is a farmer-cyst, I think, so maybe she's not up on non-farmer-college-ical approaches. Don't know what it's got to do with farmers, but there you go, something to do with the hot chickens, I suppose.
Grandpa is or was a psychologist, and used to do hypnosis type stuff for a living. I tried the hypno-stare, and all that happened was, I woke up 30 minutes later and everyone had finished eating.
It's just so unfair. And hot.
Yours in a grumpy mood
Sally
Labels:
Sally
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Dog to dog blog: and back we go
Hi Guys
It's a case of go one way, then go back the other. I hope the humans know what they're doing. Not a lot happened overnight, and I got through the boat at the usual time in the morning to snuggle with G&G. Had a bit of extra kip with them, but was disturbed by lurking ducks. I thought about standing up on the bed and sticking my head out of the Houdini hatch over it, but the fly screen would've ended up draped over my bonce, and I thought that wouldn't look too good.
Here's a picture I had taken this afternoon to show how to do it properly:
Mum got a lie in, and the rest of us took the boat back through Rugeley to where we moored the night before. All the way through the town, Granddad tried to train me to ignore the ducks. I went along with it for a bit, as he was being pretty generous with the treats.
Unfortunately, Mum surfaced eventually, and she's much stingier. By that time, I was a bit bored with the whole thing, and just ignored a lot of the ducks anyway. It is good fun occasionally, though. You wait while the duck swims past, and then let rip with the "I'm going to tear your head off" woof. The stupid thing panics and splashes away at speed.
Ha, ha, ha.
Mum and Granddad and me had a good walk after we'd tied up, almost all the way to the next lock. Good rummaging, but not many bunnies, boo. Lots of walkers, though, some of them pretty impressed with yours truly, so by no means a wasted effort.
I'm pretty knackered now, so I've been kipping for the rest of the day. The humans keep jumping off the boat to talk to people they know, and I get hauled along to be introduced. No food in it so far, so pretty much a waste of time and effort, but you gotta humour the humans, I guess.
Lots of licks to you all, and a special hi to Shona; good to hear from you, babe.
Your friend
Sally.
It's a case of go one way, then go back the other. I hope the humans know what they're doing. Not a lot happened overnight, and I got through the boat at the usual time in the morning to snuggle with G&G. Had a bit of extra kip with them, but was disturbed by lurking ducks. I thought about standing up on the bed and sticking my head out of the Houdini hatch over it, but the fly screen would've ended up draped over my bonce, and I thought that wouldn't look too good.
Here's a picture I had taken this afternoon to show how to do it properly:
 |
| I see no ducks... |
Mum got a lie in, and the rest of us took the boat back through Rugeley to where we moored the night before. All the way through the town, Granddad tried to train me to ignore the ducks. I went along with it for a bit, as he was being pretty generous with the treats.
Unfortunately, Mum surfaced eventually, and she's much stingier. By that time, I was a bit bored with the whole thing, and just ignored a lot of the ducks anyway. It is good fun occasionally, though. You wait while the duck swims past, and then let rip with the "I'm going to tear your head off" woof. The stupid thing panics and splashes away at speed.
Ha, ha, ha.
Mum and Granddad and me had a good walk after we'd tied up, almost all the way to the next lock. Good rummaging, but not many bunnies, boo. Lots of walkers, though, some of them pretty impressed with yours truly, so by no means a wasted effort.
I'm pretty knackered now, so I've been kipping for the rest of the day. The humans keep jumping off the boat to talk to people they know, and I get hauled along to be introduced. No food in it so far, so pretty much a waste of time and effort, but you gotta humour the humans, I guess.
Lots of licks to you all, and a special hi to Shona; good to hear from you, babe.
Your friend
Sally.
Labels:
Sally
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Dog to dog blog: Into Rugeley
Hi guys
Well, I got to admit, Rugeley was more exciting than I expected. For one thing, when we set off, Mum and Granny stayed on the tow path with me and we walked the first bit. I even got off the lead for a lot, and had a brilliant run around and rummage.
Next, we got back on board for a while, and I did Olympic looking, keeping a sharp eye out for ducks. Ducks are very sinister, and will quack at you as soon as look at you, so I perform the vital function of barking at them before they can quack.
After going through some narrow and windy bits, we had to stop while Grandpa did something called "going down the weedhatch". The three of us girls got off, and when he set off again, we stayed off and walked through a sort of tunnel place, brilliant echoes.
Then loads of ducks started showing up, and I worked really hard all the way through to a stopping place, Here, mum and I guarded the boat, whilst G&G went shopping yet again. Off we went again, and came to where Grandpa could turn the boat round.
This took a while; Grandpa said it was because the winding hole was very shallow, whatever that means; I think he was just embarrassed. Anyway, some boats going each way had to wait while we finished. One of them, who came charging through as soon as he could, was rude about how long we'd taken. I wanted to rip his mechanical fixings off, but Mummy wouldn't let me.
Swizz.
We've now stopped for the day without going back into Rugeley, a bit before the aqueduct and the Bloody Steps. There were some kids barbecuing under the bypass bridge, so I gave them a good looking at, and they've all gone away now. Another swizz, really; they had sausages, and I didn't get one.
Heigh ho, dry food again tonight, I suppose. It's really mean. Mum had hot chicken the other night, and I didn't get any. Lynx, you gotta tell me how you do it.
Lots of licks,
Your friend
Sally.
Well, I got to admit, Rugeley was more exciting than I expected. For one thing, when we set off, Mum and Granny stayed on the tow path with me and we walked the first bit. I even got off the lead for a lot, and had a brilliant run around and rummage.
Next, we got back on board for a while, and I did Olympic looking, keeping a sharp eye out for ducks. Ducks are very sinister, and will quack at you as soon as look at you, so I perform the vital function of barking at them before they can quack.
After going through some narrow and windy bits, we had to stop while Grandpa did something called "going down the weedhatch". The three of us girls got off, and when he set off again, we stayed off and walked through a sort of tunnel place, brilliant echoes.
Then loads of ducks started showing up, and I worked really hard all the way through to a stopping place, Here, mum and I guarded the boat, whilst G&G went shopping yet again. Off we went again, and came to where Grandpa could turn the boat round.
This took a while; Grandpa said it was because the winding hole was very shallow, whatever that means; I think he was just embarrassed. Anyway, some boats going each way had to wait while we finished. One of them, who came charging through as soon as he could, was rude about how long we'd taken. I wanted to rip his mechanical fixings off, but Mummy wouldn't let me.
Swizz.
We've now stopped for the day without going back into Rugeley, a bit before the aqueduct and the Bloody Steps. There were some kids barbecuing under the bypass bridge, so I gave them a good looking at, and they've all gone away now. Another swizz, really; they had sausages, and I didn't get one.
Heigh ho, dry food again tonight, I suppose. It's really mean. Mum had hot chicken the other night, and I didn't get any. Lynx, you gotta tell me how you do it.
Lots of licks,
Your friend
Sally.
Labels:
Sally
Friday, 8 July 2011
Dog to dog blog: poor service
Hi guys
It's good news and bad news today, if you include last night. Last night was great; we did agility using the large jumps, much better for me, as I got some decent exercise going over them. Some of the others couldn't cope very well, and showed a tendency to run under them.
Ha! It's supposed to be agility, not a limbo contest, Jamie (Jamie is a spaniel I quite fancy, I think). I had a good romp around with the others, too, so basically a well wicked evening. Then it was back to Granny and Grandpa's for the night. I felt knackered, so got my head down quite early, once the humans had finished boozing and yacking, and went through to see G & G in bed in the morning. Had a good old snuggle with them, and then it all went downhill.
We had a load of locks to do, and would you believe they let it rain? I do not like rain, it goes down my ears something chronic and makes me grumpy. Still, got some of the old admiring glances from the other boats, and it did finally begin to dry up enough to be enjoyable. I got a bit of looking in:
but before that, Mum started training me in gate pushing:
It's good news and bad news today, if you include last night. Last night was great; we did agility using the large jumps, much better for me, as I got some decent exercise going over them. Some of the others couldn't cope very well, and showed a tendency to run under them.
Ha! It's supposed to be agility, not a limbo contest, Jamie (Jamie is a spaniel I quite fancy, I think). I had a good romp around with the others, too, so basically a well wicked evening. Then it was back to Granny and Grandpa's for the night. I felt knackered, so got my head down quite early, once the humans had finished boozing and yacking, and went through to see G & G in bed in the morning. Had a good old snuggle with them, and then it all went downhill.
We had a load of locks to do, and would you believe they let it rain? I do not like rain, it goes down my ears something chronic and makes me grumpy. Still, got some of the old admiring glances from the other boats, and it did finally begin to dry up enough to be enjoyable. I got a bit of looking in:
 |
| Me doing looking |
 |
| First steps in gate pushing |
We've stopped for the afternoon and night somewhere called KB, don't know why, there's nothing much here for me that I can see, and the weather keeps weeing down. I've had one walk along the towpath, but that's about it. The humans spent all their time on the computers.
That's just so boring.
No locks tomorrow, seemingly, but a chance to see Rugeley. Sounds exciting, not, but at least I've got all the pack together.
No locks tomorrow, seemingly, but a chance to see Rugeley. Sounds exciting, not, but at least I've got all the pack together.
Labels:
Sally
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Dog to dog blog: I need a holiday
Hi Guys
Life has been soooo busy lately, I've persuaded Mummy that we need a break. So we've come to spend a few days with Granny and Grandpa on their boat. Haven't decided where we're going yet, mind you; we're at Alrewas tonight, so that we can go to agility as usual. I wouldn't want to miss that, all those mates of mine (they wish).
Last weekend, we did another demo. It was really very hot, but Mum looked after me well, with my own water supply. I was able to chat up a lot of folk in the crowd. The actual show was for labradoodles (big hairy mutts, but OK once in a while). I got a fifth for longest tail, and the same for best rescue dog; I should be able to do better than that with a bit of practice.
I did a couple of circuits of the agility course, first time with my lead in my mouth, always gets a laugh. Second time I did it on my ownio, with Mum panting alongside. Again, I worked it for laughs a bit, running round some of the fences and then jumping them backwards because Mum hadn't caught up.
Big hand from the crowd.
Afterwards, Mum let me chill out in the car whilst she went a had a rest herself, and a drink with one of the other handlers.
This afternoon, we went shopping; Granny and Grandpa seem to do a lot of that, if you read their blog. Don't know why, I manage on a big tin of dried food and some rawhide chews.
I'll keep you posted as to how it goes; should be some decent chances to try this Olympic looking Lynxy boy is so keen on...
Lotta licks
Your friend
Sally
Life has been soooo busy lately, I've persuaded Mummy that we need a break. So we've come to spend a few days with Granny and Grandpa on their boat. Haven't decided where we're going yet, mind you; we're at Alrewas tonight, so that we can go to agility as usual. I wouldn't want to miss that, all those mates of mine (they wish).
Last weekend, we did another demo. It was really very hot, but Mum looked after me well, with my own water supply. I was able to chat up a lot of folk in the crowd. The actual show was for labradoodles (big hairy mutts, but OK once in a while). I got a fifth for longest tail, and the same for best rescue dog; I should be able to do better than that with a bit of practice.
I did a couple of circuits of the agility course, first time with my lead in my mouth, always gets a laugh. Second time I did it on my ownio, with Mum panting alongside. Again, I worked it for laughs a bit, running round some of the fences and then jumping them backwards because Mum hadn't caught up.
Big hand from the crowd.
Afterwards, Mum let me chill out in the car whilst she went a had a rest herself, and a drink with one of the other handlers.
This afternoon, we went shopping; Granny and Grandpa seem to do a lot of that, if you read their blog. Don't know why, I manage on a big tin of dried food and some rawhide chews.
I'll keep you posted as to how it goes; should be some decent chances to try this Olympic looking Lynxy boy is so keen on...
Lotta licks
Your friend
Sally
Labels:
Sally
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
An extra bit of boating
After all this loafing around, we realised that, if we were going to be in Alrewas for tomorrow (Thursday) lunchtime as planned, we'd need to do some serious boating today. This was because Woodend Lock is stopped tomorrow morning, just for the morning, to clear the blocked ground paddle that's been slowing everything up.
The prospect of a longer trip was not, of itself, unwelcome. Thanks to the strong sun on Sunday and our large solar panel, we'd actually not needed to run the engine at all for the three days we were tied at Tixall, so giving the battery bank a good charging was a good idea.
Sheila did her boating before breakfast bit, and I took over as we were wending our way through Rugeley. In fact, we got to the shopping mooring a bit early, but that just gave us time to have a cup of coffee and to check the email before Morrisons opened at eight. We had a quick canter round, stocking up on all the essentials that were running low, then Sheila steered again whilst I put stuff away.
Then I went on the bow with the radio to do lookout through the narrow and windy bits through Armitage and Handsacre. The radios once again performed well. We'd realised the need for new ones when the old ones wouldn't reach from one end of Armitage Tunnel to the other, but no problem with these.
The weather slowly improved – I had got a good wetting steering through Rugeley – and by the time we reached Woodend it was positively sunny. We'd expected to find a queue above the lock, but it was deserted. Several boats arrived as we were locking down, and there's been steady traffic for the rest of the day.
Approaching Shade House, we were prepared to stop at the top if there was room, but otherwise to lock down and hope to tie outside the BW yard. Once again the radios showed their worth. There were two possible spaces, so I stood on the bow and gave a call when it was just coming up to the stern of the boat in front. For the first space, this showed that there wasn't room, but for the second, the stern had just cleared the boat behind when I called.
Sheila then gave a virtuoso demo of reversing into a space just long enough; I reckon we've got a foot spare at either end. We'd not long had lunch when Keith and Susie on Etherow and Pilgrim came past (they have a 30 foot boat each). We didn't speak to them then as they were having a "discussion" about where to moor, but later on Susie came back up the flight and we had a long natter.
More work has been done on the newsletter, and later on we took a walk down the flight to see how things were on the visitor moorings. Surprisingly, there were still several spaces at half four, though I suspect they will have filled up by now.
The prospect of a longer trip was not, of itself, unwelcome. Thanks to the strong sun on Sunday and our large solar panel, we'd actually not needed to run the engine at all for the three days we were tied at Tixall, so giving the battery bank a good charging was a good idea.
Sheila did her boating before breakfast bit, and I took over as we were wending our way through Rugeley. In fact, we got to the shopping mooring a bit early, but that just gave us time to have a cup of coffee and to check the email before Morrisons opened at eight. We had a quick canter round, stocking up on all the essentials that were running low, then Sheila steered again whilst I put stuff away.
Then I went on the bow with the radio to do lookout through the narrow and windy bits through Armitage and Handsacre. The radios once again performed well. We'd realised the need for new ones when the old ones wouldn't reach from one end of Armitage Tunnel to the other, but no problem with these.
The weather slowly improved – I had got a good wetting steering through Rugeley – and by the time we reached Woodend it was positively sunny. We'd expected to find a queue above the lock, but it was deserted. Several boats arrived as we were locking down, and there's been steady traffic for the rest of the day.
Approaching Shade House, we were prepared to stop at the top if there was room, but otherwise to lock down and hope to tie outside the BW yard. Once again the radios showed their worth. There were two possible spaces, so I stood on the bow and gave a call when it was just coming up to the stern of the boat in front. For the first space, this showed that there wasn't room, but for the second, the stern had just cleared the boat behind when I called.
Sheila then gave a virtuoso demo of reversing into a space just long enough; I reckon we've got a foot spare at either end. We'd not long had lunch when Keith and Susie on Etherow and Pilgrim came past (they have a 30 foot boat each). We didn't speak to them then as they were having a "discussion" about where to moor, but later on Susie came back up the flight and we had a long natter.
More work has been done on the newsletter, and later on we took a walk down the flight to see how things were on the visitor moorings. Surprisingly, there were still several spaces at half four, though I suspect they will have filled up by now.
Labels:
Fradley
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Heading back to Alrewas
It's been another day when it all came together, yippee. We made an early start from Tixall, and I managed to wind Sanity Again off the towpath and round to go the other way in one move, no going astern at all. She really is a very well behaved boat. We'd wanted to get away in good time so as to have a chance of a space on the water point, and were only just early enough.
I went under the towpath bridge (incidentally, is that arch a parabola or a hyperbola?), turned right and reversed up on to the wharf. Peggy O'Neill I and II were just finishing and pulled out, so we were able to pull right back out of the way. Good pressure here, so although the tank was down to a quarter full, we didn't take an impossible time to get around 600 litres in there. Nonetheless, other boats kept turning up as we did so.
By eight we were working down Haywood Lock, and chugged merrily on to Colwich on a bright sunny morning. Braidbar 91, Dalliance, was just coming up, so Sheila had a chat with Ken as they worked the lock.
By the time we were down, another two boats were waiting to come up. On we went, running a washload as we did so, and arrived at Bridge 69 to find the towpath deserted.
We've settled here for the afternoon and evening, as the weather has deteriorated. A fair bit of computing's got done, and similar indoor activities. It's still quite hot; I suspect we'll have some serious rain overnight.
One discovery: a website called Living on a boat, full of useful stuff on that topic. It's not related to any of the organizations, it's just a broad based resource, as far as I can see.
I went under the towpath bridge (incidentally, is that arch a parabola or a hyperbola?), turned right and reversed up on to the wharf. Peggy O'Neill I and II were just finishing and pulled out, so we were able to pull right back out of the way. Good pressure here, so although the tank was down to a quarter full, we didn't take an impossible time to get around 600 litres in there. Nonetheless, other boats kept turning up as we did so.
By eight we were working down Haywood Lock, and chugged merrily on to Colwich on a bright sunny morning. Braidbar 91, Dalliance, was just coming up, so Sheila had a chat with Ken as they worked the lock.
By the time we were down, another two boats were waiting to come up. On we went, running a washload as we did so, and arrived at Bridge 69 to find the towpath deserted.
We've settled here for the afternoon and evening, as the weather has deteriorated. A fair bit of computing's got done, and similar indoor activities. It's still quite hot; I suspect we'll have some serious rain overnight.
One discovery: a website called Living on a boat, full of useful stuff on that topic. It's not related to any of the organizations, it's just a broad based resource, as far as I can see.
Labels:
Bridge 69
Monday, 4 July 2011
Another lazy day at Tixall
It's been really good to have these couple of days doing not very much here at Tixall Wide, even if it leaves me short of things to blog about. We'll be frantic enough for the second half of the month, rigging the IWA Waterways Festival, so it makes sense just to, I was going to say chill, but that's not appropriate in this heat, to kick back and loaf for a bit.
We had a report from Elanor yesterday about Sally's performance at the latest agility demo. This was a Labradoodle Trust fun day and dog show, at which Capable Canines were doing a demo. By the sound of things, this went better as far as Sally was concerned than last time; she still gets a bit excited but was less inclined to abandon the ring to go and visit the rest of the show.
Elanor also entered her for some of the show classes, and took a fifth for longest tail, and another for best rescue dog. Here are some photos I took the other day of her:
Today, we made a lazy start, then ambled round to the village for a paper and for some new potatoes - it's going to be salad again tonight.
Typically, it looks like the weather is going to break tomorrow, just as we're setting off back to Alrewas.
Heigh ho, can't have everything, I guess.
We had a report from Elanor yesterday about Sally's performance at the latest agility demo. This was a Labradoodle Trust fun day and dog show, at which Capable Canines were doing a demo. By the sound of things, this went better as far as Sally was concerned than last time; she still gets a bit excited but was less inclined to abandon the ring to go and visit the rest of the show.
Elanor also entered her for some of the show classes, and took a fifth for longest tail, and another for best rescue dog. Here are some photos I took the other day of her:
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| Alertdog |
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| Intellidog |
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| Trackerdog |
Today, we made a lazy start, then ambled round to the village for a paper and for some new potatoes - it's going to be salad again tonight.
Typically, it looks like the weather is going to break tomorrow, just as we're setting off back to Alrewas.
Heigh ho, can't have everything, I guess.
Labels:
Tixall Wide
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Quiet Sunday
As expected, it was a merry night last night, though we were comparatively abstemious in the matter of alcohol. Bill and Eileen are always good company, and it was eleven o'clock before they tore themselves away.
With no particular plan in mind, we took our time getting up this morning, though the weather was very tempting, being wall to wall sunshine. We ambled into Great Haywood to get a paper, but were frustrated in this. Neither of the shops had a copy of the Independent on Sunday, though it was still only around nine o'clock.
No matter, the walk had been very pleasant, and it made sure we'd got our two miles in for the day.
For the rest, we've been loafing on the boat, reading and dozing in the sunshine and chatting to passers-by on the towpath.
I have taken some time to tweak the design of the blog pages. Thank you to all those who have commented, especially Davidss, whose comments had a professional ring to them. I've increased the saturation of all the text colours, and changed a couple of the ones used for hyperlinks. I've also increased the size of the body text from 14 to 16 point, since a couple of you said that you found the text a bit small.
Hopefully this has improved readability, but do feel free to comment further folks.
We plan to stay put tomorrow, then head back towards Alrewas, arriving on Thursday to meet up with Elanor and Sally. I'll see if I can get Sally to do a couple of posts over next weekend, but I'm told that she's feeling very weary after a busy day yesterday at an agility demo.
With no particular plan in mind, we took our time getting up this morning, though the weather was very tempting, being wall to wall sunshine. We ambled into Great Haywood to get a paper, but were frustrated in this. Neither of the shops had a copy of the Independent on Sunday, though it was still only around nine o'clock.
No matter, the walk had been very pleasant, and it made sure we'd got our two miles in for the day.
For the rest, we've been loafing on the boat, reading and dozing in the sunshine and chatting to passers-by on the towpath.
I have taken some time to tweak the design of the blog pages. Thank you to all those who have commented, especially Davidss, whose comments had a professional ring to them. I've increased the saturation of all the text colours, and changed a couple of the ones used for hyperlinks. I've also increased the size of the body text from 14 to 16 point, since a couple of you said that you found the text a bit small.
Hopefully this has improved readability, but do feel free to comment further folks.
We plan to stay put tomorrow, then head back towards Alrewas, arriving on Thursday to meet up with Elanor and Sally. I'll see if I can get Sally to do a couple of posts over next weekend, but I'm told that she's feeling very weary after a busy day yesterday at an agility demo.
Labels:
Tixall Wide
Saturday, 2 July 2011
At Tixall for a few days
Wanting to be at Tixall this weekend gave us a bit of a conundrum with regard to start time. With Colwich and Haywood locks to negotiate, we wanted to be there good and early, but knowing that the Wide will be very popular this weekend, arriving there before ten would probably be a bad idea.
In the end, we made a very early start, and so had no problems with the locks. there wasn't any usable space above Haywood, but as we headed round onto the Wide, we were passed by two boats coming away, and sure enough, there was a nice large space.
Also here is New Dawn, Braidbar 45, with her crew of Bill and Eileen, aka Jack and Vera (sorry, Braidbar Owners' Group in-joke). After we''d tied and waited whilst the washing machine finished doing its thing, we went back and had a couple of cups of coffee with them, not returning to Sanity Again until it was time for lunch.
This afternoon has passed quietly, though I did go and do my Good Samaritan act with a woman who couldn't get her locking diesel cap to open. She's recently widowed,but is continuing to cruise the family narrowboat, in company with a friend, also widowed.
Good luck to them, say I.
Bill and Eileen are coming round for a drink tonight, so a merry evening is in store, hopefully.
Two family members have expressed approval of the new design for this blog, but Mike preferred the old one, which he feels was easier to read. I'd be interested to hear other opinions, especially if there's a way in which I can improve readability by altering the various font and background colours.
Labels:
Tixall Wide
Friday, 1 July 2011
Familiar boating
It's quite pleasant, after the dramas of Hatton, the Stratford and the BCN, just to plod along waterways we know so well. With a fair bit to do (by our standards) we made a decently early start, ie before half seven, and I steered the long level pound through Handsacre, Armitage and past Hawkesyard Priory into Rugeley.
Sheila kept a bright lookout on the bow through the various twiddly bits, and the radios continued to show their worth, especially at Armitage Tunnel. Meantime, I gave myself over to philosophical speculation, narrowboating style. This included pondering deep questions such as why does the landlord of The Crown at Handsacre advertise "Fresh Cobs daily: selection of fillings"?
Would anyone buy an unfilled cob to eat with their pint? Or does anywhere sell cobs with just the one filling? ("Sorry, it's cheese today - if you wanted ham, you should have been here yesterday.")
Why does Hawkesyard Priory disfigure itself with tatty banners over the magnificent archway? Today's was promoting the use of the place for weddings. I mean, fair enough, they have to make it pay its way, but surely they would do better with more tasteful adverts rather than something that looks like it was nicked from a cheap pub?
And finally, (this one from Sheila): why, whenever we see Waterlily, are they either going in the opposite direction, or else the crew is nowhere to be seen? My explanation is that Nev is carefully avoiding us so as to be able to drink in peace ;).
After a good shop, we came on to Bridge 69 for the rest of the day, where we've frankly been loafing. The sun has finally come out and warmed the place up, so Sheila is crashed on the bow, and I'm in here typing away before getting a shower and then joining her.
It's pork steaks with garlic marinade tonight, fresh from the Rugeley butcher. Hum - possibly another reason for Nev to avoid us, all that garlic we eat...
Quick afterthought: I've added another permanent page, this one warning about the Staffs and Worcs con man.
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| Hawkesyard Priory |
Would anyone buy an unfilled cob to eat with their pint? Or does anywhere sell cobs with just the one filling? ("Sorry, it's cheese today - if you wanted ham, you should have been here yesterday.")
Why does Hawkesyard Priory disfigure itself with tatty banners over the magnificent archway? Today's was promoting the use of the place for weddings. I mean, fair enough, they have to make it pay its way, but surely they would do better with more tasteful adverts rather than something that looks like it was nicked from a cheap pub?
And finally, (this one from Sheila): why, whenever we see Waterlily, are they either going in the opposite direction, or else the crew is nowhere to be seen? My explanation is that Nev is carefully avoiding us so as to be able to drink in peace ;).
After a good shop, we came on to Bridge 69 for the rest of the day, where we've frankly been loafing. The sun has finally come out and warmed the place up, so Sheila is crashed on the bow, and I'm in here typing away before getting a shower and then joining her.
It's pork steaks with garlic marinade tonight, fresh from the Rugeley butcher. Hum - possibly another reason for Nev to avoid us, all that garlic we eat...
Quick afterthought: I've added another permanent page, this one warning about the Staffs and Worcs con man.
Labels:
Rugeley
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