No Problem Blog is taking a holiday

Well with the photos now all up-to-date in their albums I am taking a seasonal break from the Blogger.

I would think the next blog post from me will be early in the New Year with all the Christmas news and no doubt we will have news on our movements for the three months running up to spring.

All that remains then is for Vic and I to wish all who read this blog a Very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to follow.

Take care you all, and have fun whatever you are doing in the festive season. 

 

A Marine Band VHF Radio for us!

Last year on the Rivers Trent and Ouse we were really impressed with boats managing to contact the lock keepers by radio. The locks would be all ready for them to go in, while we had to moor in the bollards and wait to be seen!

I did, in the end, realise that if I phoned them on the mobile, then No Problem would get this preferential treatment too!

However, quite a few of the phone numbers in the book were incorrect. Either that or the lockie wouldn't answer the phone as he was probably busy. We decided that if we could find a radio at a reasonably cheap price then we would buy ourselves one. I couldn't justify hundreds of pounds just for a radio that would only be used so rarely on the waterways.

Not really knowing what it was I wanted, I was too unsure to buy on ebay, also they weren't that 'cheap'... and would be second hand, and I couldn't send it back if I didn't want it etc etc!

So I found one... a good price, but I still didn't know if it was what we needed, well I have no idea!! I asked on the newsgroups, and the replies there confirmed that the one I had in mind would do the job. Here it is then, just a simple hand held, small and will do the trick from half a mile before a manned lock or bridge.

Our New Radio

So for £47 including VAT and delivery, No Problem will have it easy next year!!

By the way, smashing online chandlery that is.... JG Technologies Ltd and a price promise with a difference.. "We will gladly match any lower advertised price, on any item, from any dealer that has stock.. We also give you a free gift with your order for letting us know" Hey WOW!

Question from the Guestbook

From Gillian

Are there any older archives than July 2004? Or does anything older than 6 months get dropped? By July 2004 you're obviously very settled and comfortable aboard No Problem - it would be interesting to read about how things were when you first started out (or were you too busy to be writing in those days?)

Simple answer to that Gillian, no there are no older archives in blog form.  I only really discovered blogger's potential in June.  I had known about blogs before that, but never really thought about actually doing one.  I am planning on writing more about No Problem and more on our purchase, plus a 'monthly' account of pre-July. 

A week snowed in this winter should see quite a lot more content on the blog.  I do spend an awful lot of time outside even during the winter, and during the dark hours in the evening not only do I try to do a blog, but I also have other 'internet activities' that I am involved in.  I do a bit of script writing and am involved in looking after other websites with updates and rescripting.

There are some photos in the earlier albums since July, which I suppose tell some sort of story, which reminds me, I still have to get November and Decembers albums up to date which hopefully I will this afternoon.  A day off walking for me today, I managed to overstrain a couple of muscles yesterday pulling No Problem back from the far side of the canal after she broke from her temp mooring while I was browsing in a chandlery!!

Waterways Developments

My eldest alien Wendie left a comment on the blogger at the beginning of December that I missed at the time. The comment I think was in response to this on the blog

Sue:

Not content with this mornings hike, set off again along the towpath to have a look at the Marina at Peartree Bridge. Didn't like it! The pub come hotel there was yet another 'family eating house'

Wends:

Although the developments might be a little 'harsh' for the long-term boats like you mum, don't you think that these types of developments like the 'family pubs' help to bring in much needed revenue for the waterways as a whole? Although no direct funding is made to BW by these developments, the developers themselves are regulated to 'put back' something to the local area when any new development is done....therefore the canals should benefit?

Yes I think you do have a point there Wends, as in most development these days, large concerns are putting something back into the community. I could go on about large businesses such as supermarket giants building in green belt where individuals cannot, but I won't because your question was about waterway projects.

There was an interesting letter to British Waterways recently about the old Toll Office at Little Venice on the Regent Canal. Little Venice is quite an important landmark on our waterway system for those not in the know. A search in google will give you some history and information on the place. BW own the building, and are planning on renting it out for a non waterway activity. Here are the letters...

Del Brenner, spokesman for canal campaign group Regent's Network wrote to BW chief executive Robin Evans:

"We would like to know why there is no consultation about the toll house, which is a public asset. As we all own the canals and British Waterways manages them on our behalf, then we think that the public should have some say in the future use of the building."

In response Mr Evans wrote:

"Mark Bensted (BW boss) and his team are more than capable of considering the various options for the toll house and deciding on the optimum use. It is their responsibility to manage the BW estate and derive best value from it. It is not an issue that requires consultation; indeed your assertion that 'the people should decide' would be an absolute derogation from BW's duty."

So Wends, yes I agree, put some money back in.... but are BW putting back themselves? Another huge example is 'Wood Wharf' owned by BW at Canary Wharf....

Look at the amount of money involved here for BW.... tens of millions!

"British Waterways wants to transform Wood Wharf into Europe's newest and most vibrant business district nssp; The master plan for the site envisages 5 million sq ft of development, equivalent to five Canary Wharf towers. The current plans for the site include 3.6 million sq ft of commercial space, including shops and restaurants; about 1,500 homes, a hotel and serviced apartments, and a new canal link and basin."

Ah! "and a new canal link and basin" well a ikkly bit back then Bet they charge a fortune for moorings in that basin!!

OK, so new type pubs replacing the 'countryside style" pubs I don't like. But when it comes to putting money back in, well I am not entirely sure that it is actually happening.

Oh and by the way, "BW has a property portfolio worth more than £400 million."!!

Walking near Woburn and the Muntjac Deer

10th Dec - Moored
11th Dec - Cruising Milton Keynes/Leighton Buzzard, Grand Union Canal, 6 miles 4 locks

The last couple of days I have been doing a lot of walking.  One of my walks yesterday was part of the Greensand Ridge walk, absolutely superb through ancient woodland.  I was amazed how many trees were down, obviously due to the hurricane in the 80's and still not cleared after all these years.  Some wonderful views from the scarpland too.

The signpost for this long distance walk has an odd looking deer on it, and I was asked what type of deer it was.  Well google came up trumps with the answer to that.  The symbol for the walk is the silhouette of a Muntjac Deer which roam wild in the woods of the North Chiltern hills.

The smallest British deer, barely the size of an Alsatian dog. Although established and fairly common in many parts of C and S England, all these animals are descendants of escapees from Woburn Park in Bedfordshire. Favours areas of dense undergrowth through which it can move with surprising ease and silence. Coat is reddish brown. If only part of animal is seen, for example flanks, could be mistaken for fox. Male has small antlers and long canines projecting as tusks; tusks of female are shorter. Generally silent but utters sharp bark if alarmed. Fond of ornamental shrub, tea-leaved willow.

It's late tonight, I do have a lot to write about but I will leave it 'till tomorrow now, been watching too much tv this evening!

 

 

Bye Leighton Buzzard.....

9th Dec - Cruising Milton Keynes/Leighton Buzzard, Grand Union Canal, 2 miles 1 lock

We will be back no doubt.  Busy day today.... This morning as the sun broke through the clouds Vic decided to chomp up all the wood collected yesterday into manageable bits, which I put on the roof as neatly as I could.  Some of the very large chunk that was on the back deck is now inside on the log stack.  Wow that was a HUGE piece, for sure will last us well over a week. 

Pulled into the visitor moorings at Linslade, and promptly smacked into something  underwater, it could only be one thing outside Tesco, and using the large boat hook Vic fished the inevitable Tesco trolly out of the canal.  I wish they would bar the way to the canal with bollards or do as most supermarkets do now and have them so you put a pound in the slot for the trolly, payable back when you take it to the proper trolly park.

Had a look over at Homebase while we were there.  The rucksack come trolly has a broken strap, it is actually rivotted on, but Vic thinks he can use a couple of small bolts and a bit of wood to repair it!  Remains to be seen that does

Nipped into Tesco to pick up a couple of large bottles of Baileys, they are under a tenner at the moment, a price I couldn't resist.  Well it's Christmas soon, I will enjoy a tipple or two of that!

Late afternoon we cruised for a while leaving Moore2Life as Chas and Anne's post had not arrived today.  They decided to stay put hoping to catch us up tomorrow all being well.  There is a pub near here, so we are going to pop out for a pint or two this evening..... errr well I will have a pint in two glasses on the bar tonight because "It's more in keeping with girlies"!! ... (I wouldn't want people to think I am a lesbian!!  )

Vic's telling me to hurry...... gotta go ..  

In the Leighton Buzzard area

8th Dec - Cruising Leighton Buzzard/Milton Keynes, Grand Union Canal, 1.5 miles 1 lock

OK so it was the washing!

Was pleased to see the services after about 10 days since the last service area.  Had about a third of a tank of water left, so it took a while to fill this time.  Rubbish off, phew that had built up a bit too.  AND on our last loo cassette out of the four we have on board.  Now you see why I was pleased to see the services!

Deciding to move out of the town area of Linslade, had a call on the radio from Moore2Life in front of us that there was a tree down on the towpath round the next bend, so slowed to take a look.  A huge tree too, and the boaters have obviously been chopping it up and cleaning it off the banks.  There is more than enough for everyone there, and we take a few branches for the roof, and one bloomin' great bit that we couldn't get onto the roof, so we bunged it on the back..... now this is where a cruiser stern comes in very, very handy!

No doubt Vic will chop this one up to last us a good week on the stove.  We will use about 3 tons of wood during a winter, this saves so much on coal.  The stove is kept in during the day with wood, and in the evenings when we want a bit more heat we mix this with small piece coal.  A shovel just before bed keeps the fire burning 'till morning.  There is nothing nicer than to wake up to a lovely warm boat when it's chilly outside. 

An unusual photo to finish with tonight.  It's not often a heron will stay put on the side of the canal when a boat passes, they tend to fly off in front of you to land a bit further up, and when getting to the end of their territory will swing back over the countryside to land once again behind the boat.  This fella seemed quite at home with the ducks too!

Well actually, it wasn't ONLY washing today, I did manage to get the rod over for about half an hour this evening, but I think the heron had all the fish........ still maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

Washing on my mind near Linslade

6th Dec - Moored Nr Milton Keynes, Grand Union Canal
7th Dec - Cruising between Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard, Grand Union Canal, 6.5 miles 4 locks

Just come in from a smashing night out in one of the canal side pubs along here. Lucy was waiting for her normal doggy bag, and I was reluctant to leave much for her tonight so good was the meal. She got a good bag though!

Yesterday spent a very relaxing day moored not too far out of Milton Keynes. I would like to do a laundrette wash sometime soon, and walked to Willowbridge Marina to have a look at their washing facilities there. Well with one machine definately broken and pulled into the middle of the errrrrrr portacabin, yes the wash room was in a portacabin. Another machine stood with pipes all over the place and water everywhere, obviously that was out of use. The only machine that looked as if it might possibly work was so scruffy looking I decided I wouldn't chance the £4.00 needed to try and make it work. There were no dryers at all.....

So a visit I think sometime to either Linslade or Milton Keynes's Soapy Sues, or was it Sue's Suds, which ever Sue's place sounds very good!

Today we moved a bit, stretching No Problems legs, giving me time enough to bake a fruit cake in the bread maker on the way. Anyway would give the batteries a good charge with a longish run. I was most amazed by the sight of a cruiser style narrow boat on it's winter hard standing with a huge 'paddle steamer type' paddle on the back. Unfortunately the batteries ran out in the camera (as they do when there is a good pic to be had), and by the time I had chucked the tiller to Vic, ran inside and put in new batteries, the shot had gone.

Stoke Hammond Lock here has a double arched bridge as you can see. There used to be two locks, the one we are about to enter is a double lock capable of taking two boats side by side, the other lock that used to be beyond the left hand arch was a single lock. This not only saved water if a single boat approached, but made life quicker for the working boats up and down this canal.

Solbury Three Locks were delightful, they reminded me of the locks up on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. A beautifully rural setting albeit by the main road, and a handy pub to complete the scene. Today was very murky, I was surprised the pics came out at all. You can see the other locks ahead of us in the distance.

After moorning this evening, I managed to trade with a fisherman who had his rod dangling not far from the boat. I did well! I traded a cuppa and a piece of the still warm home made cake with a pint or so of live bait. It is very difficult to find angling shops along the canal, I have found this type of 'trading' works very well!

So I have a choice for tomorrow, fishing or washing..... wonder what I will choose?

First the good news, then the bad!!

Waterways News Snippits

• Ken Livingstone backs one million tonne recycling facility

And there are plans to take some of the waste away by barge, great news.  Maybe this might just be the start of getting some of the lorries off the road?

"will make the most of canal and rail access to reduce the amount of road haulage required"

At the moment there are quite a few 'working' narrowboats on the system carrying coal and diesel for us boaters.  We do try to use them when we can of course, but I do wish they would carry anthrcite on board. Our stove really does do well on the small stuff, and it is very rare that we can buy it from the working boats.

"The development of the site will include the construction of three new buildings, covered storage bays, a railway platform and a canal barge loading bay over a two-phase schedule."

This looks all good news until you come to almost the bottom of the article......

"The phase two element would also require a government grant, which would only be provided if alternative transportation facilities to road were to be provided."

This unbelievable statement has left me speechless!!

Stay over 14 days but pay £25 a day

Waterways News Snippits

• Boat owners made to tow the line

But now, according to the posters along the tow-path, boat-owners are told to keep moving to the next "locality" - and they will be fined £25 for every day they stay in one place beyond the two-week limit.

I wonder who is going to collect this money. Once again this is an impossible situation that British Waterways cannot deal with. I know when we were in the Bathampton and Bath area during January and February of this year we saw for ourselves the problems there. It was very difficult for us to moor. It seemed the whole of the towpath away from the 48 hr moorings were crammed pack full boats, some were unlicensed and some just left there unoccupied. I doubt the £25 fine will be paid. Anyway, what will BW do if the fines go unpaid? I can't see them taking a crane and lorry transporter along the towpath to haul the boats out of the water somehow.

Eugene Baston from BW says the reason is simple: "If we had a bigger canal network, perhaps there would be more room for everyone, but we've only got 2,000 miles of water and that means there's limited space. And the number of boats is increasing every year."

Limited space?? There is plenty of space on the system!

But some dwellers are incensed by new regulations. They claim that having to move their vessels every fortnight will make boat-owning so difficult that many people will be forced back onto dry land.

Well the regulations aren't exactly new. I can't see how moving a boat makes owning one so difficult.... unless of course they work in the area, in which case they should really have a residential mooring.... BW do you provide residential moorings in the Bath area??

"They're putting holiday-makers before the permanent residents," says Sam. (a boat owner)

"They just want to get us to buy permanent moorings, but that would cost me £2,000 a year - and there's no way I can afford it."

Sam and her fellow moorers claim a centuries-old tradition of people living on waterways, but now 'rules' have been put in place to follow. Lets face it, it's much easier now that BW have lifted the 'must travel a set number of lock miles every 14 days' to the much easier 'must move to a new neighbourhood every 14 days'.

The situation has led British Waterways to clamp down. In the past it admits that it has been quite relaxed about the regulations.

Of course BW has been quite relaxed. That is because it has not been able to do anything about it.... I wonder why they think they can now?

Xmas puds done and Colin visits

Lots of activity in the galley today.  It will definately be nice to have a bit more working space next year, although I have got used to working in a 24 inch square work top!  Next year I am promised three times that amount, I won't know myself!

Well the Xmas puds are steaming away on the stove, and are beginning to smell georgous.  Hopefully I will resist eating them before the special day.  Vic kept out of the way and checked the bank of batteries, just topping needed where necessary.  He popped in to do a final stir and add his wish for the year to come, wonder what it was?

Had just sat down with a cuppa after finishing, when Colin came by. "Yes I think it is about 5 years Sue" says he.  I have never met Colin in 'real life' before.  5 years of chatting on the internet all the way back to the days of 'Screaming Net', one of the very first cheap dial up ISPs.  I remember sometimes having to dial over 100 times to get a connection to Screaming Net..... Not like nowadays for sure.

Colin invited us to meet up with his son who was playing football for a Milton Keynes Youth Team, New City Saints, at an away game not too far away.  Lucy was invited too, and we all piled into Colin's car for the unexpected trip.  The team won 6-1, so a good day for The Saints today. 

Lucy enjoyed herself too.  After a whisper in the ear from me that running after footballs today was definately not on the cards, she sat down by the touchline and actually looked as if she was enjoying the game too!

After the game we all set off again in the car, and were in for yet another surprise!  "Here is the bridge where the Great Train Robbery took place" said Colin.... WOW!  Colin had taken a detour on our return trip to show us where it all took place.  Saw the embankment where the robbers passed all the bags down forming a chain to do so, it was amazing to be just right there!

A pic of Bridego Bridge taken quite some time ago.  Today the road is wider, and there is much more traffic now.  But the bridge looked the same today as it does in this pic.  If someone had told me when I woke up this morning that today I would be watching a football match and would travel under the Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery I would turned over in disbelief and gone back to sleep!

Great day Colin, thanks, and hope to see you again soon. 

 

 

A Trip to Bletchley

4th Dec - Moored near Milton Keynes

I really do have to do these Christmas Puds tomorrow.  I would have done them earlier, but had no basins at all to cook them in.  Everywhere I went they either had none or they were the wrong size.  I did contemplate buying a couple of 'on the shelf' puds, eat the contents, then use the basin bit to put the real puds in....  But that would have defeated the object!

The bus left at 10.14am for the trip to Bletchley, and at 10.14am was about 50yds short of the bus stop when the bus came round the corner.  Unfortunately it was a jobs-worth driver, and how ever much he was flagged down to stop, he just threw his arms up in the air and flew past.... I did think of a couple of fingers in an upward direction, but as I was in 'foreign' country decided I better behave!

Next bus wasn't too long coming though, and soon I was marching up through the High Street looking for bin liners (like one does when visiting a market!  )

Wandered around these indoor shops in a shop thingy, and looking up an aisle saw this most amazing sight.  Pink is the colour that is 'in' at the moment so everyone keeps telling me.  This pic shows that perhaps that is quite true!

Found some nice pudding basins in Wilkinsons, well that is not surprising, I think that shop sells just about everything!  It wasn't too busy either, there is one thing I hate and that is queues a the checkouts.  Next Saturday I guess you will hardly be able to walk round the place for people.

I am watching Billy Connolly on the tele at the moment while I am blogging this.  He is just sooooooo funny!   Anyway, this afternoon found the most amazing place after going through a housing estate.  This is a nature reserve, which is the remnants of working pits of old.  Didn't really have much time to look around as it was getting a bit late, but Lucy enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear water. 

Well after the puds are done tomorrow, I am hoping to return here to have a walk round this lovely lake, and have a look at the rest of the area.  A friend of mine from the internet who I have never met lives quite near, and we have been in contact tonight via email.  Hopefully we will meet during the next week.  I have known Colin for quite a few years, maybe five, I can't remember now, at least I know what he looks like..... or maybe he showed me pics of himself from many many years ago!!!

Looking forward to it ... :)

 

Licence decisions and blocked footpaths

3rd Dec - Cruising between Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard, Grand Union Canal, 1 mile 0 locks

The young lady from the Anglian Region Environmental Agency was full of information when I phoned.  "April 05-March 06, er that will be £497.52" *GULP!* "Yes a visitors licence for use for 28 consecutive days, now that's £125.00 as long as you have a BW normal licence" *GULP!* again!

So decision made, we will have the 'Gold' Licence next year.  I am absolutely certain we will be spending more than 28 days exploring the Rivers and Middle Levels in the Anglian region next year.  Anyway I would like to go to Cambridge.... I might even have a punt!  Well that sounds much more English than taking a trip on a gondola down the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal!

Just moved on a little way today so Chas and Ann on NB Moore 2 Life could pick up a Tesco order at a handy bridge.  After lunch went out walking.  It was very difficult one.  I chose a cross country route and set off only to meet gate after gate padlocked.  At this particular gate (see the chain and padlock), There was just nowhere for Lucy to scramble through to the next field.  All the hedges had stock proof wire through them, and the gates were hung low as you can see, The so she couldn't scramble through.

The white disc on the post by the gate is a wayfarer arrow pointing the way forward.  Luckily Lucy is very agile, and was able to leap over this gate, but me being not quite so agile, decided better of that and climbed over it!

I thought that I would make a point of reporting this particular path.  It was very obvious that people were not using it, at times the grass was long underfoot, for sure there had not been many people passing.  I went to the Ramblers Association web site for advice, and found some interesting things about blocked footpaths and what constitutes actual blocking, and had to smile... "a heap of manure dumped on a path is an obstruction"  Well I never!

Anyway, I might come by this place again, and it was a very pleasant walk, or would have been without all the obstructions.  Going on through some ploughed land my boots felt twice the weight with the amount of soil deposited on them.  Came back a bit tired today.

Just been relaxing a bit this evening.  Tomorrow I might just spend some time on the back deck with the rod dangling.  Apparently there are some nice fish in the canal here.

 

I really must visit Birmingham!

Waterways News Snippits

• Gondola takes to the city canals

Good grief this looks good!!

"drink champagne and get a lovely kiss at the end of it."

Oooo that will do me!

 

 

Onward through Fenny Stratford

2nd Dec - Cruising south from Milton Keynes, Grand Union Canal, 4 miles 1 lock

Leaving our mooring of the last couple of days, I must say that I have really enjoyed the journey through Milton Keynes.  The people who live here are certainly are very lucky to have all this open space available to them.

Set off late this morning to pick up post at Fenny Stratford.  There was no room at all on the moorings above the lock, so went on a little further to another bridge which I was quite pleased about as it was actually closer to the Post Office.

It was quite late by this time, definately underestimated the time it would take to get to Fenny Stratford from MK, and thought we might stay there the night.  It was noisy and busy towpath side, some boats running loud generators, so decided to move on in the murk of the day to a quieter place to settle for the evening.

Boat Licence renewal time for us this month.  I really must make an effort and find out how much the licence will be for the Nene next year before deciding on whether to take out the normal canals and river licence or the 'gold' licence which covers rivers managed by the Environment Agency.  I see in one of the guide books that there is no licence needed at all for the Middle Levels. "No licence fees or tolls are presently levied by the Middle Level Commissioners on pleasure boats"

The extra cost for us this year for a Gold Licence will be about £130.  Earlier in the year when we HAD to use the River Thames to get from Kennet and Avon to Oxford Canal it cost us about £60 for a licence to travel on the Thames for just two days!  We will be spending a lot of the summer in the Fens, still instead of typing all this and contemplating while typing, I really ought to just go find out!!

Talking about the Kennet and Avon, I looked at the BBC News site this evening to see if there was any more news on the tragedy at Pewsey, (link here) and my thoughts of last night came true, when it was reported that the man and boy were actually father and son.

Look how the bank has given way.  Picture is from the BBC News site by the way.  The towpaths in general on that canal leave a lot to be desired, although there have been a number of improvements over the last few years, still this canal is one of the worst in the country, not only on the towpath issue, but on the heavy gates of the locks, some almost impossible to do on your own.  The swing bridges can be impossible to open.  I remember times when Vic and I have not been able to swing a bridge together, and have had to wait for help from others to shift them.

I am going to research this red diesel issue.  I might even draw up some forms or other and get boaters to sign their disapproval of the proposals.  So if you see me wandering along the towpath with pen and paper in hand, be ready to sign!!

No plans for tomorrow at the moment.  I have some pics to add to the November Album, and of course, as it is now December, I need to set up yet another one for the new month.  Might do that tomorrow then.

 

Oh please, no fuel price increase!!

Waterways News Snippits

• Boaters see red over plans to tax fuel

"One of the problems is that people feel that this all about something for 'toffs'"

TOFFS??!  Rubbish!!  Our budget on No Problem would seriously be effective if the EU decide that us Brits must drop our subsidised 'red' diesel. We are paying anything from 35p to 45p a litre at the moment, shopping around to fill our tank with around 100-120 ltrs per fill up. If Britain lost this concession our fuel bill would triple, and the cost of our 100 ltrs would go from £35 to something nearer £100.  A huge rise for us.

"hundreds of owners would move their vessels abroad if the "subsidy" is scrapped"

No chance on being able to do that for us of course.  I remember going over the channel on 'booze cruises', now coastal boat owners may go over the channel and get their fuel in France where it will be much cheaper again because it is subsidised by their Government.

"a tempting tax target for the Chancellor and EU authorities"

But of course, but while the Chancellor has lost a lot of customers of other items to the French government, he has US trapped in the Inland Waterways, giving us no chance of buying from anywhere else in the EU!!

"Three organisations, the Royal Yachting Association, the British Marine Industry Federation and the Inland Waterways Association, have joined forces and launched a campaign to persuade the Government to fight any change"

Come on then, tell us how, when and where, we will fight for this!

Too many dying in our Canals

Waterways News Snippits

• Two Die after Tractor Falls into Canal

• First-date tragedy of canal car victims 

Oh dear.  Pewsey, Kennet and Avon Canal, and a place I know well.  The practice of cutting towpath hedges from a tractor along any towpath must be dangerous at this time of year when the towpaths can be so soft underfoot.  I know this is the only time of the year that they can cut them, but there must be another way other than using tractors?  This is an early report from a Scottish Newspaper that I have seen, no doubt there will be updates tomorrow from local papers.

The second link is a later report to one I saw earlier this weekend, first reports said the car hit a tree, the back seat passengers were thrown out at that point and then the car then plunged into the Bridgewater Canal.  First reports said the passengers were 16.  How wrong those first reports were.  This report I think is perhaps correct.  What a waste of young life.

There is no doubt that the still waters of our beautiful canals must never, never be underestimated by anyone.

Willen Lakes, Milton Keynes

1st Dec - Moored Milton Keynes

Wonderful, woke up to the sunshine this morning, thats better!

Long, long walk planned for this morning over to Willen Lakes to the east of Milton Keynes, but only a shortish walk from where we moored last night.  I was initially disappointed on reaching the lakes, all wide tarmac walkways and buildings offering food, ice cream and some bars I saw, along with other buildings that I presume were selling 'tourist' things.  Being the time of year, they were all closed.  Still hoping that the commercialism would disappear, continued along one of the walkways into the open, and leaving the buildings behind, began to enjoy the area.

There is no doubt, this is a beautiful area, the only problem is the constant 'drone' of the many roads that even criss cross these lovely lakes.  Plus the motorway is not too far away, still it's just a matter of blocking it out!

Lucy enjoyed the water, and I sent her in swimming where there was no wild fowl or birds.  She came out a lot cleaner than when she went in for sure.  I had almost forgotten that she had a white tip to her tail what with all the mud around on the towpath at the moment!  I have to say I enjoyed it, well I did, but I was expecting something better I suppose. However the highlight of the walk was meeting a chap hiding in one of the bird hides.  Well he would be hiding I suppose!  I started to chat to him about the birds that visit, and he handed me his binoculars to look at some snipe on the far side of one of the lakes.  I have never seen snipe before in real life.

On returning I caught Vic with his head in the engine bay.  "Tightening the fan belts"  "I lost a spanner in the bilge" "No I didn't change into my working jeans" "No I don't have any oil on these jeans".......... Ooops, a quick exit from that area to make some lunch!

Not content with this mornings hike, set off again along the towpath to have a look at the Marina at Peartree Bridge.  Didn't like it!  The pub come hotel there was yet another 'family eating house' and the marina didn't look at all attractive, right on the main road, it didn't look very secure to me. 

I think we will move off tomorrow.  Milton Keynes is very nice, but I could do with getting away from all this buzz of traffic, I am never keen on constant road noise, although I know I will have to put up with quite a bit of that if I want to see the rest of the Grand Union Canal to London