Meeting people day.. oh and more logs at Tixall

Deptmore Lock to Tixall Lock, Staffs & Worcs Canal, 4.5 miles 1 lock

It was one of those days where I stopped and chatted to lots of people.. or they stopped and chatted to me.  Maybe I was glowing after losing a stone.. ha, but more like it was yet another sunny day and everyone was feeling good!

Fiona of NB Epiphany left a comment the other day about the old lock cottage at Deptmore Lock, and she asked me if it was boarded up.. well today I met the lady who lives there.  Vic had noticed her reading a book when he put his nose against the window thinking the place was abandoned when we came past the other day..

She was just off shopping! ..

Her only mode of transport.. there are no roads to this cottage.. and here she is with her bags and a stool for sitting on as she drives the launch to Radford Bank a mile or so along the Canal…

I had heard that this cottage was once for sale, and I thought she was a new owner, but says she “I have been here for over 40 years”.. She did look well, and to her travelling by this mode to the town was just her way of life.. now that is remote for you.  I suppose she has somewhere to pick up the post… I suppose there are lots of things to organise if you only have this mode of transport…. or is there?  Well we don’t have a car either do we and have to go everywhere by boat.. ho hum.. much the same!

Tim was working hard today onboard his boat fixing up a canopy…

No, it isn’t a new version of a sun roof opening with shade..  This is Tim Salt of Staffordshire Canopies, and here you have a sneak preview of a new design of canopy for trad narrowboats.  This is a prototype he was finalising as we passed.  As I write this I just phoned Tim to check that it was OK to put this pic on the blog. 

He told me on the phone that it comes in two colours, or a mix of the two.. mmm that is interesting.  One great thing about this canopy, I believe, is that Tim does not have to come out to a narrowboat to measure to be able to make one..

Tim and Lisa make the canopies on their boat Hundred Akers.  They have made all the canopies back and front for No Problem.  Nothing is ever too much trouble for Tim, and he will travel far to get things just right.. I’ll put his phone number here, not because I am on commission, but because they are really good at their job and because I fully recommend them to anyone wanting a canopy done.. 07761 432 092..

We stopped just past Tim’s at Milford Wharf to fill up with water and while that was doing we had lunch before pulling the pins and moving down to where we cut some fantastic logs last time we passed.. I expected all the wood to have gone, but hey hey, nobody had taken any.. so we got a bit more!…

It’s that man again with logs!!..

Good lot there eh?

I like them like that, huge great rounds, one chopped up will last a whole day in the woodburner..

Put the pins in a bit further along and took Lucy and Meg for a stroll along the towpath towards Tixall Wide.. “Ah you must be Sue and these must be ‘the girls’”.. Blog reader Paul?  I didn’t ask a name, but his narrowboat Esta Mona is really nice.  We had a short chat and I walked on. 

But not far, when I came across the Challenger shareboat Vulcan, and stopped to chat to the couple who were currently aboard about the situation with the management of these shareboats having gone into liquidation.. “With this particular boat we have all been in contact with one another and although it gave us an awful shock when we first heard about the receiver being called in, we are now discussing whether to manage the boat between the twelve of us that share her or to find another company to do the management”

I was pleased that the situation is sorting itself or seemingly so with all the owners..  Lucy demanded I went a bit further after keeping her waiting on her walk by chatting, and I arrived back at No Problem with the light fading fast…