Wash day at Cowley Peachy!

25th Feb and today – Moored Cowley Peachy, Grand Union Canal

Well it works!  It’s all plumbed in! Washday on No Problem was no problem in the end. .  A Candy cold fill washing machine squeezed into the bathroom cupboard.  You can’t buy a hot and cold fill one these days, they have stopped making them, gawd knows why though.  But I had a plan!.   Hot and Cold pipes tee’d off the one fill with variable water-flow taps, so I could have hot, warm or cold as I wish.  Today it did its job for the first time, and my main worry of the inverter and sterling management system was unfounded, it all behaved perfectly!  I am over the moon.

It’s a nice mooring here, quiet as you can see.  To the left is the entrance from the Slough Arm to the BW Packet Boat Marina, but there haven’t been many boats out of there so far this weekend… tis a bit on the cold side I suppose.  But no snow as you see!

The walks around here are really nice… not far is ‘Little Britain’ an area of Lakes and Rivers.  Plenty of wild life too.  Not only did I see a couple more of those paraqueets here, but also a Pochard, a colourful winter visiting duck in one of the lakes.  Lucy enjoyed the River Colne yesterday, but today enjoyed disturbing a few hares across open heathland on the opposite side of the canal to Little Britain.  I got totally lost wandering around the heath this afternoon…. never nice in the pouring rain!

So now the washing machine is finally in place and working, we are finishing the kitchen today.  The doors have been cut and Vic has just finished putting the trim round them now, time for a cuppa me thinks… ah not only a washing machine today, but cupboard doors too!

The Conservatives could close canals!

Waterways News Snippets

•  Canals at risk in Tory sell off plan

In the Guardian this morning. 

Today the Torys are saying that they “would use the proceeds of the sell-off to repay national debt. A spokesman said this would cut debt repayments by some £20m annually” 

The other day the Torys were saying “So we will uses the sale of these assets (5.1 billion) to pay for voluntary redundancies in the civil service” February 9th

Remains to be seen if they get power this time which course they take!!

This is awful news… According to Robin Evans, chief executive of  BWB the property that the Torys want to sell off produce £25M of annual income for the waterways.. I agree with him that the Government are highly unlikely to compensate by way of higher grants.  They have already cut grants in the last two years.

Our licence fees will certainly increase, on top of that is the threat of the concession we get on our red diesel being withdrawn.. This will seriously effect our enjoyment of our retirement here on the waterways.

 

Flash Mapping to come on Waterscape

Not a waterways news snippet item yet, but hey look at this then, the first showing of  the first generation of the dynamic PDF maps .  Richard Fairhurst of Waterscape is doing this “for work and fun” he says.  Well I am envious.  I would love to work on something like this.  Very often I use these type of maps for looking for walks near to where we moor, very useful for that, but here we have the start of something extremely useful for the boater. 

Looking further into it earlier this week, I saw that I could actually add information to maps, I think that is how it goes, although I have not dug too deeply as yet, I did see this site, Geowiki,  in Richard’s links on his blog Systeme D .   It would be great to be able to add supermarkets, laundrettes… (not that I would need one so often now we have the washing machine actually plumbed in today!  ) and all sort of other items of interest to boaters.

I shall be watching this closely with interest, and have put  Systeme D into the boaters blog links on the left 

 

From the Guestbook...

I really must thank you all for your wonderful comments in the Guest Book.  I have left the Guest Book as is, and not been tempted to reply there… just for Guests you see.  But I do reply to any comments left on the blog… to leave one, just click the link at the bottom of any blog..

So to pick up on a couple of bits from the Book…

Pat and Mike Fisher, we will be back through Harefield again soon, but I wondered where exactly your website can be found?  I tried putting “ Pat & Michael's Boating Website” into google, and different variations of that to no avail.

Patricia Bycroft, have you started your blog yet on your boat build?

Simon Fowles,

Talking about a blog a few days ago“ I laughed when i read your comments on the boats on Benbow way, You must be looking through rose tinted Glasses, there is one in particular that is listing at 15 degrees. It has been unlicensed and has paid no mooring permit for years, as it has no safety cert.
A fine example of BW's ability to manage the waterways indeed.

As for the showers at the Packet boat Marina, you were lucky to get any Hot water at all, the whole block should be called 'Frustration'
It promises so much but fails to deliver, MMmmmm.... “

Well Simon, I suppose more of tongue in cheek than rose tinted glasses! . BW’s ability to manage the mooring rules is a common gripe… just I get fed up griping about it!

As far as their management of the showers at Packet Boat Marina… perfect surely?  I mean they run like clockwork, have tremendous energy saving, and they get us boaters clean with a great saving of water, and a minimum amount of financial outlay!!

Alan Ure, Hi, and glad you are still enjoying the blog……. Alan is a regular reader who has been reading the blog for a long time.

Tony Blades, You will enjoy this slower way of life for sure... 

So many to mention … but thanks to all of you that have taken the trouble to comment there

 

Cowley Peachy in the sleet and wind

Willowbridge Marina to Cowley Peachy Junction, Grand Union Canal, 6 miles 0 locks

It wasn’t too bad this morning, no snow, just some sleet, so we decided to leave the paraqueets and make our way in a northerly direction again.

Stopped at Tescos at Bulls Bridge around lunch time to pick up some bread and milk before mooring for the evening just inside the Slough Arm at Cowley.  We were both pleased to shut the doors on a really horrid day weather wise.

Back to work on the washing machine again tomorrow getting it plumbed in, then there is the galley cupboard to finish off.. then the bathroom cupboard to build… Umm maybe we will be here a while

Paraqueets near Willowbridge Marina

Moored Close Willowbridge Marina, Paddington Arm, Grand Union Canal

Brrrrr it has been dreadfully cold here today.  Some snow showers but nothing laying as yet.  The forecast is for more snow over night and tomorrow.  As I write I notice the moon has disappeared.  Is that weather about to give us a white start to the morning I wonder.

The paraqueets in this area are very noisy!  There are a few trees here, like a small copse, and there are about 12 or so paraqueets screeching around.  They have made holes in the trees, and it is funny to see them fairly close up, poking their heads out of these holes.  Apparently they can take over woodpecker holes…. interesting then that I saw a woodpecker also in the same copse while watching the noisy paraqueets. 

What else I saw amazing was the fact that there is also a large flock of ravens here too.  They seem to cope with the smaller green birds, ignoring them really.  Not so for Lucy… she is getting swooped on all along the towpaths here in London!

There is a very interesting article about these ring necked paraqueets here with quite a few pics as well.

As long as it isn’t snowing tomorrow we shall be leaving the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal for this year.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I have enjoyed the ‘London scene’ very much.  Little Venice and the short part of the Regent’s Canal was delightful, and Paddington Basin was awesome with those tall buildings surrounding such a quiet area.  I hope we will return again next year, when I hope to persuade Vic to venture up the River Lee and Stort, maybe returning via Limehouse Lock out to the Thames and under Tower Bridge, another on my list of  ‘want to do’.

A Pub at Foxton Again

Waterways News Snippits

•  Foxton Locks Pub To Re-Open At The End Of May

British Waterways say the new pub at Foxton is due to open in May in time for the summer season.  They have even chosen the landlord!

They are starting at the end of February to refurbish the building… they will have to get on with it then, the last time I saw the area in September last year, it was in a right state.

So much work has been done by the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust it is nice to see BW actually doing something with the area at the bottom of the locks.  I admired the work that had been done with the Inclined Plane behind the pub in the pic here, they really have done an awful lot of work trying to restore the plane to its former working glory.

Picture Albums Updated

I have updated the picture albums with 55 pics!

This includes the end of January and all of February and our trip around Little Venice and the Regent’s Canal

 

The Delights of the Regent's Canal

Paddington Basin to Cumberland Basin – Turn – Cumberland Basin to Yeading, Regent’s Canal and Paddington Arm, GU Canal, 14 miles 0 locks

Leaving a rather cold Paddington this morning I was really looking forward to the short trip running through Regent’s Park to Camden Town, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I had forgotten about the short 272yd tunnel… and was in it!  I suddenly felt just awful.  I hadn’t prepared myself, my mouth dried and I felt very light headed.. but it was short, I pushed the throttle forward and came out of the the other end like a cork out of a bottle.. phew

The houses beside the Regent’s Canal are magnificent, so were the long graceful line of flats on the opposite side.  There are plenty of Pics which I will put into the album tomorrow.  Passing the London Zoo, the site of so many pictures I have so often seen in books and magazines, the aviary.  Funnily enough there seemed to be more birds clinging to the outside of the netting than on the inside!!

 Winding (turning) at Cumberland Basin, the sun came out and we had another opportunity to enjoy the surroundings.  One of the bridges we passed through was quite interesting.  The bridge is officially called Macclesfield Bridge, but it is now known as Blow Up Bridge, in fact in the Nicholson Guide to the Waterways it is actually marked as Blow Up Bridge.  It was named after the Earl of Macclesfield, the first chairman of the Regent’s Canal Company. 

However, in 1874 a boat carrying benzol and gunpowder blew up directly under the bridge, the crew were never found, sadly blown up with the cargo.  The bridge was re-built using the ten original supporting columns, but they were erected the wrong way round.  Today we saw the leading column with grooves worn by tow ropes on both sides of the column!

Through Little Venice again, still in the sunshine, before continuing on back down the Paddington Arm towards Bulls Bridge.  The weather changed with heavy snow showers falling from time to time… Vic and I smiled together, intrepid sailors we felt!

Moored in a delightful spot on the non-towpath side, a lovely grassy area, in the early afternoon.  Lucy had been on the towpath all day……. she was tired for sure.  In fact since she came in this evening she has slept heavily.

I heard some high pitched birds, and when I went to investigate the nearby trees I saw around 10 or 12 paraquets…  more of them tomorrow

 

Paddington Basin

Alperton to Paddington Basin, Grand Union Canal, 6.5 miles 0 locks

So this is London, where it’s cheaper to get half cut than to chill out on coffee. 

Enjoyable trip today, the sun shone a bit, but there was some snow about too, yes even in London a bit of snow! Little Venice was all I had hoped for, although there was no space to moor today and it was very quiet, not many people around.  It was very cold you see.

Here in the Paddington Basin this evening it is snowing quite heavily.  An amazing place with high rise glass buildings all around.  Mooring is on pontoons which surround the basin,  These wooden walkways have blue and white lights along the edge, it really is quite nice.

Coming through from Alperton this morning we passed over the North Circular Road.  I had no idea there was an aqueduct over that road until today.  The number of times I have used it over the years too.  Anyway it has what I can only describe as an island in the middle of it… you can go one side or the other.  I have no idea why it is there though. But I was glad it was there because it gave us both the best laugh of the day….

“Watch out Sue, there is a bloomin’ great barge coming”  “Oh my….a barge along here?”  “Yes and it’s coming right down the centre, you better get over more”… I looked, and I looked again… I saw some birds on the ‘barge’… Teehee    Well I suppose that island on the aqueduct did look like a barge…

I am surprised how quiet it is here tonight not a sound.  Tomorrow we are going to have a quick look at the Regent Canal and the zoo before turning back before Camden.  This turn back is significant… we will be on our way north again heading for Northampton, the River Nene and the Middle Levels….

Ho Hum.... No need to swing those bridges!!

Hey this is the way to travel without having to open lift and swing bridges…. many thanks to you Ron for posting this on OurShip Forum

Here is the link, enjoy

Nicholsons Guide to the Broads & Fens

Sadly this is one waterway guide that was never reprinted and updated after 1986.  I like Nicholson Guides, and wanted the River Ouse and Nene plus the Middle Level Guide one. 

So I looked on Fetchbook, and hey presto found one!

Not new of course, but a second hand one described as “Not even opened”. 

The great thing about Fetchbook is that you can compare prices from loads of different outlets all over the world.  I would very much doubt that a book could be found anywhere else at a cheaper price.  Once you have found your book, go to the bottom and fill in the bit about country of delivery then refresh.  It then compares all the prices including postage.

In the case of the book I bought, there were just two available, one was from Amazon here in the UK, and the other from an internet store in USA.  It worked out cheaper to buy the book from the USA!

Anyway the book arrived after about 5 days, and true to it’s description it is brand new, and definitely not been flicked through at all!

OK so it is dated 1986, but I have another plan…. I have found updates for it here.

Hot Water down the Paddington Arm

Bulls Bridge to Alperton, Paddington Branch, Grand Union Canal, 6 miles 0 locks

It was a quiet mooring outside Tesco at Bulls Bridge. A 24 hour Tesco that wasn’t quite as it closed early on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Backed up a little this morning to make the turn into the Paddington Arm, only to completely misjudge and smacked the boat head on just about where that bollard is on the right of the bridge in the pic below, not making the turn properly. A few dislodged bits from the cupboard in the galley with no doors on was the only damage done thank goodness.

Again I was very surprised by the amount of ‘green’ on this canal through what looked like urban housing on the map. A clean canal with very little rubbish around. It was nice to see more regeneration by way of modern housing taking the canal as an asset for a selling point. Good to see that at last this country seems to be realizing that the inland waterways are a useful place to jog, bike, fish and generally enjoy, as well as living with a watery outlook.

Caught up with Chas and Ann on Moore 2 Life at lunch time and chatted about the problem with us having no hot water. Vic had completely checked there were no air locks, we were at our wits end trying to think what had happened here… Talking with Chas round the table, going through everything we had done Chas suddenly put his head in his hands “I know what it is, I know what you have done!! Gimme a bit of paper and a pen!”

Here you go then…… The two stop taps are there because the washing machine has only a cold fill. I wanted to be able to fill it with hot or cold or a combination of both, so fitted a tap to hot and cold pipes. That is fine UNLESS you leave BOTH taps open. A diagram might help explain.

So then a hot tap was opened…. yes the hot water was coming from the calorifier, but also cold water was getting into the hot pipes via the pipe through to the washing machine with both the stop taps open!! DOH!!! Switched one of the stop taps off, and hey presto lovely lovely hot water emerged!

Off to Paddington Basin tomorrow, am looking forward to seeing Little Venice, a place I have always wanted to visit ever since I became interested in the canals in the 70’s. Just hope it’s a nice day to take some pics. Snow is forecast…. doesn’t normally snow in London though!

Floating Caravans near Packet Boat Marina

Cowley to Bulls Bridge, Grand Union Canal, 5 miles 1 lock

Left Cowley this morning in glorious sunshine and made our way down to Packet Boat Marina to do a load of washing that had been piling up.  I can’t use the new washing machine yet as it isn’t totally plumbed in, so decided to do all the washing including the linen today, hoping of course, that it would be the last time for a long time that I would be in need of a laundrette.

Down through the line of boats stretching from Cowley to Packet Boat Bridge was the most amazing collection of floating things I have ever seen!  Some wonderfully inventive and zanny ideas for living your life afloat. Garden sheds adapted on floating bits of steel.  Caravans put on pontoons or pans.  Other pre-fabricated sheds put on pontoons…

By the time I got to Packet Boat Bridge I was in fits of giggles.  What amazed me was how many different types of floating homes were amassed in such a short space of canal.  Don’t get me wrong, these people are probably very happy with their choice of roof over their head, and good luck to them, it is amazing how much initiative people have to either have a home like that or a holiday home that they can change whenever they want!  Maybe next time I go by, the guy with the garden shed will have a caravan!  They were all delightful to my eye, each one having it’s own character.  There were also some lovely pre-fab types with verandas dotted in among the floating caravans etc, and also a couple of dutch barges… such a variety!

I loved the facilities at the Packet Boat Marina, a BW one.  Mooring right outside, it was just a short walk to their Laundrette, and although it was a tad on the expensive side, I did have a lot to do, and was grateful to pop back to the boat from time to time for a refreshing cuppa.  I also had a well need shower…. (no hot water yet!  ) but was very disappointed in the way they delivered water!!   OK so it was free… but pushing the button, hand under, yes nice a warm stand under and within 10 seconds it started to go cold and then switch itself off!!  Push the button again.. wait.. hot!  Quick.. 10 seconds cold then switch off… Sooo annoying!   I would have rather used a BW card with credits on it to have had a decent shower.  Lovely facilities BW, but no that is not the way to deliver water in a shower!

Leaving at around 4.15pm travelled down to Bulls Bridge and are using Tesco’s 24 hour mooring here before travelling up the Paddington Arm tomorrow to meet up with Chas and Ann on Moore 2 Life who have gone on ahead.

I was surprised at that short trip to the junction.  Lots of industry on the right, but parkland and well kept towpath on the left.  Very few boats moored between the Slough Arm and Bulls Bridge too.  Was a very pleasant evening trip that. 

Precious days on the Grand Union

15th Feb – Turned North, Uxbridge to Copper Mill Lock, Grand Union Canal, 4 miles, 4 locks
16th – Copper Mill to Batchworth, 3 miles 3 locks
17th – Turned South, Batchworth to Cowley 9 miles 7 locks
Today – Moored Cowley, Grand Union Canal

Always so wonderful when the family visit

Flat out we were last Tuesday getting NP shipshape and sawdust free.  It felt like that program on the tele, errrrrrr…. Ground Force, yes that’s the one… I knew they would arrive early-ish, and when I got a text to say they had just left…. phew.  One and a half hours left.  Time to stop and get a cuppa!

I was just rinsing out the squeegy canalside when I looked up to see Wends coming down the towpath….. “They’re here Vic”…. “Gawd tell them to gimme 5 mins” says Vic doing the final touch up in the galley!!

Ah but a brilliant three days we all had together.  A late cruise on Tuesday to the newly named Coy Carp at Copper Mill Lock for an evening meal with the kids……. don’t kids just really enjoy going out.  A cruise then on Wednesday down to Tesco at Batchworth to pick up some milk and odd bits…. AND would you believe, yet another visit to THAT wood yard… well actually I sent Vic, I just couldn’t face it again.  The waste in the bathroom is only just clearing the washing machine which is under it.  I mean only just too, the washing machine is about a quarter inch too high, we decided that we would have to use a smaller copper ‘T’ instead of the normal bulky quick fit plastic one we had.. that will give us the quarter inch.. anyway we used the services at Batchworth, backed up and turned at the winding hole (turning place wide enough to turn a 70ft narrowboat specially made in a canal).Wends, Lucy and I (or should it be ‘me’, I can never understand the Queen’s English sometimes) walked over to the Lakes late in the evening.  It was nice to have her to myself for a half hour or so

I’ll put some of the pics up as I type..

Early start on Thursday to get them all back to Uxbridge for their return home.  I hate the last day really and was hoping that NP’s new engine might think about playing up!   No chance..

There are sometimes moments that can never be forgotten while travelling the canal system… not only the above pic, but there was a classic on this particular round trip cruise.  A hire boat joined us at one lock… a hire boat in February is quite unusual.  Lovely couple obviously just decided to spend some time together doing something they had never done before!

 Vic and Danny (son in law) had gone to the lock to help a couple of lone boaters through who were travelling in the opposite direction… once the boats had exited I took NP in first followed by a very, very careful helmsman on the hire boat.  Perfect, he did it just perfectly… nice and slow, couldn’t have been better… The boys shut the gates and went to the front of the lock, one each side and lifted the paddles to fill the lock.  Nice conversation, you know how it goes.. “Do you live on your boat?” “Are you enjoying your holiday”, the usual stuff to pass the time of a lock filling.  Then it came….. “Do a lot of these locks have men working them?” “Well yes I always get the men to work them” “Oh, only I noticed that this is the only one that has men working them” I was confused…. “Err how do you mean?” “Men working the locks for you?  Are there men at other locks too?” “Ahhhhhh  actually those ‘men’ are my husband and son-in-law!”   At which point he very quickly dispatched his lady friend to help!!

One above of Wends enjoying just relaxing… Always horrid to say goodbye… but it was going to happen on Thursday.  We left as we always do when our visitors leave.  We don’t like to be in the place we have said goodbye, and moved on to Cowley for the night.

This morning we were going to move on, but we needed the services just ahead of us for the loos and for water.  Everytime we went to move another boat pulled in there… it sure was busy this morning.  So we decided to stay and try and fix our biggest problem.  We have no hot water at the moment… in fact we have had no hot water since we did the plumbing.  Gawd knows what we have done.  We really do feel that there is an airlock somewhere.. Its odd, the pipes in and out of the calorifier are hot… feeling the tank it feels hot, but there is no hot water coming out of the taps.   Post coming up I think on the newsgroup or Canal forum.  Neither Vic nor I know enough about it to fiddle!

Tomorrows plan is to get to the Laundrette at Packet Boat, then maybe travel on to Bulls Bridge and turn left into London, calling in somewhere to get some advice on the hot water problem 

 

Uxbridge memories for me

13th and today – Moored Uxbridge, Grand Union Canal

I was here in 1976.  Stationed here at RAF Uxbridge with my ex hubby Bob.  It is the home of the Queen’s Colour Squadron.  You must have seen them, those clever RAF guys who march perfectly with a marching band, or with no music at all.  I remember them practising outside my lounge window. 

Wendie was only 2 years old, I remember…. My biggest memory is when she and her three year old friend Clare from the flat above were playing in our fenced garden.. Safe it was…. so I thought!

A knock at the door “Sue, Wendie is at the top of the slide in the play park!”  Eek!!  The slide in the play park was one of the highest slides I have ever seen, well they all were in those days, all slides in play parks were very, very high.  Not so these days though.. Anyway.. Panicking, I shouted to my friend from upstairs that Wendie and Clare had ‘escaped’ and were in the play park.

Now seeing your two year old on the top of a very high slide is quite a shock… had to think quick I did.. make decisions.  “Hello darling, are you OK all the way up there?”  Stupid question!  So should I go up the steps (if I could get up them, I was a bit overweight in those days!), or should I tempt her down the slide hoping that she wouldn’t bang her head on the way down, catching her before she catapulted off the end?

She waved at me… jeeeez don’t DO that, don’t let gooooooooo!… Too late, she was off, and down she came.  I got there just in time to catch her at the bottom.  Phew!  I sat on the end of the slide trying to get my heart rate down, and before I knew it she ran off towards the steps again quite happy to have another go at that!

She didn’t get another go at that! …. But Wendie, to his day, has never changed from her adventurous outlook to life.

I had a good spell here posted in Uxbridge, in fact it introduced me to the wonderful inland waterways.  It was here that I fell in love with that way of life.  I used to walk the towpaths here nearly 30 years ago now, and I remember the working boats going through the locks at Cowley and here at Uxbridge Lock.  I also remember the boats pulled by horses through this stretch.  It was the following year that we hired our first narrowboat for a holiday…. Wendie in a lobster pot playpen on the back deck of the cruiser in the pouring rain..the River Soar in full flood, waking to find the narrowboat hung on its ropes…ah but maybe that is for reminiscing later…

So…. in more recent times

The fit out has gone OKish… the washing machine is in after a lot of persuasion, just,  and the galley is finished except for the cupboard which is up but without doors yet.  Hey,  we are livable for now!

 Wendie, Dan and the grandchildren are arriving tomorrow, so it’s all stop and tools away ready for a very enjoyable two or three days spent together.  Well the water is on, sink tap and waste works, galley taps and waste work,  loo works and the cooker works… what else could anyone ask for?

 

Windy trip to Uxbridge

Today - Batchworth to Uxbridge, Grand Union Canal, 7 miles 7 locks
11th Feb - Moored Batchworth, Grand Union Canal

Guess what?  I had to go back to the wood yard AGAIN yesterday!  I decided that I would make the doors for the galley cupboards as we had enough wood over from the sheet of 8ft x 4ft ply that the kind man cut up for me a few days ago.  Trouble was the only bit of trim I had to make them look something like doors was about a foot short of what I needed …. so yet another piece of trim required .. sheeesh.

Still, had to pop into Tesco to get some bits in case we didn’t come all the way to Uxbridge today, and the wood yard is only just a little way away from there..

Vic ripped out the cupboard in the bathroom and we managed to shove the washing machine in the space out the way, bit cramped using the loo though as it is not completely in the place it will live … or maybe I have put a bit of weight on round my rear end!!

Windy start this morning then, but I was really very very pleased to be on the move today.  I had got a bit fed up with the refit not going to our time scale, what with Wendie and the family arriving next week, I think I was panicking a bit really.. so today with lots of wind in my hair I was happy with the break, and leaving our mooring I turned back and said a big goodbye to that bloomin’ wood yard!

Super trip down to Uxbridge, eying up places along the way that would be suitable to return to when Wendie comes next week.  We are taking them for a return cruise for a couple of days and thought the area somewhere between Denham and Batchworth would be perfect.  Some nature reserve walks for the young grandchildren, lot of boats, a few locks, and of course a few nice pubs as well.

At Denham Deep Lock saw the pair Aldgate and Angel looking smart and tidy… also saw Lupin a little earlier tied to the towpath.  Last time we saw that boat was when we were in the Rugby area last year watching the boats passing on the re-enactment of the Jam ‘ole Run. 

Thought we would pop out tonight and check out the Swan and Bottle here in Uxbridge, just to see if it is a candidate as a watering hole for our visitors next week….. Well thats my excuse for a pint… err two half pints!

Better go pull on my best jeans then, it does look a tad posh!

Archimedes and Ara stop by

Moored Batchworth, Grand Union Canal

Woke to a dank day today, dark and drizzly. No sooner was the radio on than the news of Charles and Camilla came through. I suppose it will be one of those “What were you doing at the time you heard that” moments.

Well at the time I heard that I was stripping down the trim that we put round the kitchen galley cupboard, it looked awful. So another trip in the rain the half mile or so to the wood yard.

Yes I was cross… it is taking far too long to do this bit, if only we had the proper tools we could do a proper job. So I am a bit fed up today unlike Charles and Camilla no doubt.

Mid morning Annie from Moore 2 Life came running to say the coal boats were just about to pass……… dropped everything, hammer, nails, drills, spanners etc etc yelling at Ann to get them to stop….. “Boots, boots, where are my boots?”… You wouldn’t believe this place at the moment, while we are working away here there is just everything everywhere, can’t find anything in a hurry!

First meeting for us of the two boats Archimedes and Ara that travel this part of the Grand Union Canal. Barney Richardson and wife Jane now running the business after they bought it as a going concern from Alan and Trish Akhurst in October 2004. Barney and Jane had a daughter too of just 3 months old sound asleep while we offloaded coal and diesel to NP. The two boats looked good, and Barney was telling me how much he was enjoying his newly acquired business. I did have a moan about the diesel price though… at 41p ltr it was the most expensive diesel I have ever put on NP, the first time I have ever paid 40p or over… still time marches on, and I suppose should be grateful for the low prices especially with the threat of having to pay three times that amount in a few years time when Government hammer us hard.

All was not doom and gloom in the galley though. By late this afternoon the horrid trim had been replaced with some much better stuff, and now it looks fine. It will be down to me tomorrow just to sand down, round some edges off and spend some time on google looking for some cupboard doors. Might have to get them made, can’t find any custom made ones the size we want.

I am hoping Vic will pull out that cupboard in the bathroom tomorrow, I need to get the washing machine out the way. Wendie and the family are visiting early next week, and at the moment the washing machine is living in the bedroom… Youngest Granddaughter Niamh sleeps in the very spot it is taking up!

A pic from yesterday… a very desolate lake just as the sun was going down. And talking of yesterday I mentioned water foul…. ha! It is such a pity that spell checkers don’t question correct words but different meanings! The fowl were actually very clean and definitely un foul like. (Thanks Ron for the comments on the last blog pointing out my fowl foul error!)

Tories conciliatory on Whitehall spending cuts

Waterways News Snippits

• Conservative efficiency plans will not lead to compulsory redundancies in the civil service, George Osborne has said.

“We’ve set aside a very considerable amount of assets," Osborne said.

"James identified, for example, the non-canal properties of the British Waterways Board. So we will use the sale of these assets - £5.9 billion in total - to pay for voluntary redundancies.

"We’ve worked out that this provides for an average redundancy package of £68,000 and that will mean that of the 235,000 total civil service posts we will remove …………….. “

£5.9 billion!

I just hate to read stuff like this I really do.  I feel that nothing is being put back into the Inland Waterways..  such as BW Marinas desperately needed to take care of the hundreds and hundreds of boats just moored up along the canals for a start… canal projects, links etc etc…. £5.9 billion!!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

 

A Slow Boat through Ricky

8th and today – Moored Batchworth, Rickmansworth, Grand Union Canal

A wonderful weekend just gone.  It’s always so nice to see the youngsters, and of course my four grandchildren.  It hasn’t been long since Christmas so the two younger grandchildren remembered Grandma this time without the usual frown and thought “I do know her, but let me think, let me think… where have I seen HER before”… You can see what is going through their minds!

They are growing up so fast now, and I think from now on, they will remember their Grandma

It took all of yesterday to recover from the party mood.. well it was good, and I didn’t get to my bed until 4am on Sunday morning after the party night.  Just a few hours sleep, and up early again on Monday morning to drive back.  Yesterday I took all day to recover!

Galley wise, the refit is going OK, but it’s got a bit slow now.  Fitting the the top cupboard is taking time.. lots of curves and cut-outs.  Still we are nearly finished, and hope to do so tomorrow before starting on the refit of the bathroom! 

Took everything out of the bathroom cupboard today in readiness, only to find that the washing machine was not going to fit in that cupboard by just one inch, so we are going to have to take the whole thing out and build a new cupboard.

That was OK except it meant I had to walk half a mile back to the wood yard to get a 8ft x 4ft piece of board!  I managed to chat up one of the guys there (like one does if you are a female wanting something!  ), and he very kindly cut it into three pieces for me, which I then strapped onto the trolly and set off back, much to the amusement of drivers who had to wait for me to cross the pedestrian crossing on my way back before reaching the towpath!

 We once again are moored in a delightful area with lakes and plenty of walks for me and Lucy.  It is very quite here, although Rickmansworth is less than a mile away, the only sound to be heard is from the huge amount of water foul that visit the lakes.  This area is also very popular with boats.. Most have mooring permits, not a bad place to take up a residential mooring.

Party Time Ashore

Today – Cassiobury Park to Batchworth, Grand Union Canal, 3 miles 4 locks
5th & 6th Feb – Moored Cassiobury Park, Grand Union Canal

Young Wendie (eldest) reached the delicate age of 30 this weekend, and it was party time on the South Coast!

Only got back at lunch time today, and this afternoon let the ropes go to get to the rubbish bins at a very noisy Batchworth Lock…. It’s late tonight… more tomorrow

Still at Cassiobury Park

It was difficult winding (turning the boat around) at the bottom of Cassio Bridge Lock… we had turned because we still want to finish the galley (hey I did it!) here in the beautiful surroundings of Cassiobury Park before moving on.  But we we needed water and we also needed that nice Mr Tesco to bring his van to the boat with goodies to fill the larder.

“I have never delivered to a boat before” He said…. well he had two deliveries to do as Chas and Ann also needed a larder top up. We winded the boat again above Iron Bridge Lock and settled down once again facing South to complete the fit out of the galley.

Working within the confinements of a narrowboat is really quite hard.  I suppose it’s OK when a boat is new and being fitted out.. nothing in the way, but when a narrowboat is your home there is just so much stuff in the way.  We have really worked well together, Vic doing all the hard work of putting it all together and me tidying and organising his tools around him… a bit like an operating theatre.. “Screw driver”… hands Vic screw driver “Drill”… puts screw driver down, passes Vic drill… “Hacksaw”….. etc etc, oh yes and of course “Cup of tea”… umm dump everything for that!

Taking a breather from sawing and banging it has been extremely pleasant to grab my walking stick and explore the area.  In the time that we have been here, I have found a new walk on every occasion such is the splendour of the area.  Woodpeckers, jays, owls and other birds and wildlife has delighted me.  There is the West Herts Golf Course here too, I think it is called that off the top of my head, and footpaths criss cross the fairways.  Lucy has loved the fairways… maybe it is the cut of the grass, I don’t know, but she has enjoyed running flat out over them.

Richard left a comment from a blog a couple of days ago “Waterscape Miss the News?” and pointed out that BW does report the news on two of their sites, the corporate news mainly displayed on British Waterways and the leisure news on Waterscape.  I’ll reflect that later in my links list.

Reading there today, I see BW are going to put in more padlocked lock gate paddles to stop vandals from emptying locks… I am pleased about that… I do hope they put in the type we found on the Aylesbury Canal, they were very quick and easy to do, unlike those on the Leeds and Liverpool which took a bit more effort to unlock and lock.

The washing machine will be here on Monday…. It just might have to sit and wait to be connected up.. The top cupboards for the galley are holding us up… I don’t have any doors for them yet.. Still there is a B & Q in Watford…

Possible overstay at Cassiobury Park!

Moored Cassiobury Park, Watford, Grand Union Canal

A lovely group of ladies passed to day on their regular morning walk.  “We often see you here” …. oooops had I missed some time somewhere,  is there another No Problem who moors in this same spot I wondered.  “I don’t think we have been here that long have we?” I tentatively asked…

Mind you it seems ages since we moored here in the Park, but looking at the log, it has only been since Saturday.  The ladies do their regular walking on a Monday and Wednesday they tell me, well that means they have seen us twice.  They did remark on how clean the boat was, especially the windows… I had to admit I had not cleaned the boat for a couple of months, telling them how lucky they all were to live in such healthy place that has clean rain for clean windows!

My poor aching back and my tired legs tonight.  I need some therapy for sure, think I will pour myself a large B&C.

The kitchen galley ‘ground floor’ is finished, all to do tomorrow is to fit back the trims, and check once again for any gas leaks having connected it all up again this afternoon.  Vic has a wonderful way to check for leaks, I didn’t know myself, so even after 14 years or so of marriage I am still learning from ‘my man’

“Put some water in that washing up liquid, we can check for gas leaks”… I gave him a look, and started to fill the bottle wondering what washing up liquid might do to leaking gas.. “OK done that”  He then poured a bit on to each joint that he had renewed, and stood back… nothing happened.  He then poured some on to old joints that he didn’t need to change.. then I saw it.  Bubbles! Just a few but I could see soapy bubbles!  Oh! Clever Stuff indeed!  A quick tighten of that joint and bubbles no more… probably just loosened itself he said as we had been moving stuff around.

So everything has found a home in the galley for now.  Cupboards to build yet over the new hob.  Not only am I gaining two thirds more workspace, but two thirds more storage as well!

What else… Oh yes, got to go get some water tomorrow from above Cassio Bridge Lock, pick up a Tesco Order and try turn the boat below that lock.  I say “try”.  The turning point is at an acute angle and almost directly after the lock exit.  On the side that my bow will probably end up there are overgrown bushes and rubbish….. Oh well just have to hope for the best!

That B&C was very nice, think I will go get another  

Galley! I must call it a galley..

Jan 30th, 31st and 1st Feb – Moored Cassiobury Park Watford, Grand Union Canal

I know, I know.  I MUST call it a galley and not a kitchen.

For all those informing me that aboard on water it is a galley and not a kitchen, I have written out 20 lines of the above on a bit of paper!

Well the kitchen galley is looking good, untidy at the moment but good.  It is coming together just as we had hoped.  The last couple of days we have had to use water out of a container, and still we have no gas after 3 days.  Ahh but that is where the wood burner comes into it’s own. 

Well for those who’s mobile phone number is on my phone, I ‘Pinched Punched’ and got the lot of you at midnight… Now normally Ron will try hard to beat me to it, but his excuse this month was that he was suffering a cold… Annie forgot, although she remembered during the day, and James, hey James where were you?  James always tries to beat me to it.  Andrew Denny of Granny Buttons has only had his mobile number in my phone for a couple of months.. I just might have to be very quick on the 1st of March to catch Andrew first next time

Here is a pic especially for Wends…. Hey Wends, the old man still has his ‘builders bum’!!

‘Bout all for now, it’s getting late, and I am off to Gamezone for a game of cards with the Yanks