Stormy weekend ahead on the Shroppie

Moored Knighton, Shropshire Union Canal

My collie bitches are real ‘girlies’, and although keen this evening to nip out onto the towpath for a late night sniff, they stuck their noses out of the covers and felt the rain and it was about turn!

But they were persuaded to go do what collies do before retiring to bed, but super fast.. can’t blame them, ‘tis blowing a gale and pouring with rain right now.  I am cosy, I love to hear the wind and rain outside, and the pitter patter of the rain on the roof will make me sleep well tonight.  You don’t hear that in a house you know.

I did a bit of damage to my back when we did the logs the other day, so I have been taking it easy today, although there was a break in the weather early afternoon for me to take the dogs out.  I really do love it here, the tracks through the nearby estate are mud free, and there are plenty of them with lots of circular walks available…

I think they are content, they are both snoring now.. I think I will go and enjoy the pitter patter and do much the same as the canines.. enjoy your weekend whatever you might be doing..

Snippets from a remote mooring near Knighton..

Updates..

I have updated the picture albums, there are some nice ones of November, I have also added a google search box in the left hand column, where you can search either the web or you can search the whole of the No Problem Blog since I first started it in July 2004.

I first started this blog just so I could let the family know where we were to save the constant phone calls “Are you OK Mum, where are you?”.. I thought a blog would let them see where we were and what we were up to along with some pics.

Well since then I have gained a load of friends through ‘blogging’.  I realised it was getting quite popular and decided in March 2005 to have a stat counter.  I just looked at that tonight and see that there have been over 200,000 people who looked at the blog since then. Amazing!

I enjoy writing the blog, it isn’t everyday that is exciting, and I do think sometimes my posts are boring.. but not according to the family apparently.  My blog is maybe different to others, more of a diary of what goes on when living aboard a narrowboat, not quite a log book either, but hopefully a balance between the two.

So thanks to all of you who have made comments on blog, and indeed those that have read the blog over the years.  And thanks too to those who have taken the trouble to leave an entry in my Guest Book .. I don’t reply in my Guest Book, but do on the comments.

Anyway, enjoy the pics in the albums, there are 4 years worth of them.. I must count them one day, but I know there were nearly 160 in the October 07 album alone!

Before and After as we return to Knighton

Old Lea to Knighton, Shropshire Union Canal, 2.5 miles 0 locks

Today we collected wood on the roof…

Then chopped it all up..

Stored it away in the cratch and on the roof.. I hate the roof of NP untidy..

Oh except for one bit which got stolen by the ‘oh so innocent one’

Grubb Street Cutting is colourful on the cut

Gnosall to Old Lee, Shropshire Union Canal, 5 miles 0 locks

If there is one thing I just hate about this boat is its length when we moor.  At 67 feet, it is a long way from the stern to the bows, and I have to walk there if possible you see.  I like to put the pins in at the stern and tie up, then walk to the bows to help Vic do the same.  But so many times on that journey I walk in a load of dog poo.  Why or why do people just take their dogs out along footpaths to let them poo all over the place not caring one bit about it.  After all it is not their back garden so why should they worry..

This last couple of weeks I have stood in so much of the stuff when mooring I lost count.. but it hasn’t all been bad today. We pulled the pins this morning from Gnosall, and I let Vic take NP on to Norbury where we planned to put water onboard, while I took Shank’s Pony with Lucy and Meg.  But just before we left a narrowboat passed that I think John and Fiona of NB Epiphany might know about.. hope this pic brings back some memories you two!..

Walking the towpath gave me an opportunity to take some late Autumn pics …

The above just after we left Gnosall, and this one as we reached the Norbury embankment….

You can see how the gate, on the far side there, can be swung over to shut off the canal if there was a breach along the embankment, stopping the water from escaping through that gap and out of the breach.. and it does happen… the most famous this year on the Mon and Brec in Wales.

We stopped at Norbury for water and had lunch too before setting off again towards Shebdon.

This canal is full of embankments and cuttings, and here the next pic as we reach Grubb Street cutting..

The colours of the cut are still very vibrant, although it was very noticeable today that the leaves are giving up.  In the breeze they are falling like huge snowflakes onto the towpaths and into the canal.. ha … some of them are the wrong type of leaves for narrowboats too, and they jam up the spaces around the prop, making the boat move slower and slower.  But a sharp change from forward to reverse gear usually chucks off most of them..

High bridges too are a feature around where we are at the moment, I am still in awe at the work that was carried out to actually build this canal.. with no machinery all this lot cut out..

This is called Double Culvert Bridge.. But I fear this weekend we will say goodbye to these lovely Autumn colours, storms are brewing I hear.  Tomorrow we will be topping up our roof with some wood that we spotted when we were going the other way, probably then taking a couple of days off cruising finding a nice quiet, remote mooring to enjoy.

Vic is in more need he says..

He is quite right, he is much more needy than me.  I must admit it is true! ….

Awwww he has such cold feet now!

Shhhhhh don't disturb Gnosall.. and they found the dog..

Moored Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal

So the morning was spent on the internet purchasing presents for Christmas, all delivered free too!  Surely this is the best way to buy Christmas pressies.  There has just been an article on South Today (Yes we do watch that wherever we are in the country!) about thieves stealing presents from cars in city centre car parks, no need for me to worry about that!  I don’t do carry, you see, and I use the internet whenever I can. 

However there is an art to getting it delivered to a wharf or wherever… find a bridge, find a farm and find the name of the lane.. then you have a post code!  Address would be No Problem moored on canal by bridge, followed by the name of the road and post code.. oh and a telephone number somewhere on the order so they can get in touch if they get lost! 

Look how quiet it is on the Shroppie!

Not one boat moored up on these 48hr moorings.  We are moored on the other stretch of moorings which used to be 5 day moorings, not any more, they too are 48hr now.  In fact we were the only boat moored at Gnosall today!

OK, so I have already sent my family my Christmas wish list.. I am hoping, family dear, that you have not all purchased moi a present yet!  Reasons?

Ahem….

Well it wasn’t a mouse that chewed off the back of my slippers (size 7 ).  She loves me really… and once I had found them she did a wonderful job of doing a creep dance on her bellie while coming towards me to say sorry!.. “Meg you have your own toys to chew!”

Stocked up at the butchers today, and if you are passing Gnosall do use the butchers just a short way down the road from the Boat Inn.  The meat is excellent, I rate it as one of the best butchers I have visited on the system.  There is a bakery too a little further down on the left which sells fresh bread daily, and they slice it for you if you wish.

A wonderful story with a happy ending too during this month at Gnosall.. An alsation dog went missing after being scared off by fireworks.. we saw the posters going up, and realised that we had actually seen this dog the day before at Cowley, about a mile or so to the south.. we wondered where the owner was when we saw it, but by the time we had gone to investigate the dog had disappeared.  We informed the owner of our sighting, and a big search was started at Cowley to no avail.

I noticed the signs had gone today, and I asked a local if the dog had been found.. “Yes, found last week”  Apparently the dog was really hungry and turned up at a bbq which was being held in a large barn after a local shoot, but nobody could catch it, and it kept running away. 

The owner was called to the bbq, and when the dog came back again to see if it could get some food, it recognised it’s owner and came bounding over.  It was well fed at the bbq, and the owner held a thankyou party at the pub in nearby Church Eaton for everyone who was involved in finding her dog.. apparently most of the villagers were there!

Christmas music in Stafford

Cowley to Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal, 1.5 miles 0 locks

Spent the weekend at Cowley, we like the mooring there, ‘tis quiet, and there are plenty of walks for the two dogs. 

Did a bit more of the woodstaining and varnishing as well, so wasn’t totally lazy all weekend, oh and found a couple of geocaches that had been planted recently around this area.

I went into Stafford this morning, it was very busy and all the shops had Christmas music on.  Vic wanted a pair of thick gloves, like gardening gloves for doing the logging, but Wilkinsons had done away with their gardening department and replaced that with all Christmas decorations and stuff.

I had a ‘live’ look around at the bits and pieces I had picked out as Christmas presents for the grandchildren.  It’s great that I can order it all on the internet, probably find some discounts to pay less for it, and have it delivered ‘dan saff ready for me to wrap up when I arrive there for Christmas.  Yep, for sure what I had chosen looked nice ‘live’!

I was sorry to read on Granny that Mike of NB Phoenixx had died.  I met him at Fradley in October 2005, and was invited aboard for a coffee.  He lived alone at that time, and I remember he had just cleared up after accidently letting off one of his fire extinguishers the previous day.. White stuff everywhere apparently.  I remember he had an awesome sound system on his narrowboat, and I pulled down a guitar off his wall and strummed a while, smashing guy.... Ah well.. sad.

That program about the queen has just started, I think I will switch this comp off and watch that… those corgies, surely they can’t be the original ones?  Ha, we never hear when one dies do we?

 

Winter wheat is in around Cowley, changing the scene

Moored Cowley, Shropshire Union Canal

What a glorious day!

And a lazy one to boot.  I wandered over to the Post Office in Gnosall this morning and collected the mail which included cards and pressies for Vic.. I then returned via one of the very many footpaths in this area.

It is amazing how the land has changed, and very noticeable when just trickling along up and down the same stretch.  Instead of walking through high sweetcorn plants, fields and pasture land were now newly sowed fields of winter wheat.  I was the first to cross them, and I felt guilty to do so!  The farmer had not left a marked track across the fields, although I had a rough idea of which way to cross having done it before in the other direction…

But after having got back..

This while munching a piece of chocolate fudge!.. I got a bit too, but that was all I was allowed!

This afternoon I sorted the rest of the post from ‘dan saff’, most of which went into the shredder or bin… sheeeeesh so much junk shoved into envelopes.  Just a credit card statement in one, but the envelope contained 5 leaflets trying to get me to purchase something or other.. they even sent a stamped address envelope for a hopeful reply..

Oh yes,…. you must have a look at this if you have a fast internet connection.  It was sent to me by friend John Elcome, just the funniest bit of film I have seen in ages.. clever dog though!! Click here to view video 

Edit:  Dave Elcome not John!

Happy Birthday.........

 Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and best friend Vic xxxxxxxxx

 

British Waterways Customer Services Standards

More cuts by Defra, I first saw on Andrew’s Grannybuttons site, the BBC running the story last week..

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is facing budget cuts of between £130m and £270m.

 

The prospective cutbacks come as the department faces bills for a series of countryside disasters such as bird flu, foot-and-mouth and bluetongue.

It is understood to be considering cuts across the board, for agencies such as the Environment Agency and British Waterways and various farming projects.

I am surprised to see such a long list of ‘to dos’ from BW in the new Customer Service Standards.  To be quite honest, I can’t see all this stuff happening.  Plus a lot of it, quite frankly, does not need to be done..

26. Locks are fitted with ladders. Two in wide locks -ideally at opposite third points.  One in narrow locks – idealy at the centre point.  The ladders have top hoops and are kept clean.

27. Narrow locks have three mooring points on the same side as the ladder.  Wide locks have three mooring points on either side.

For goodness sake, why on earth do we need three mooring points in a narrow lock? Boats never get tied up in narrow locks.. the engine is sufficient, if there were mooring points there may well be more accidents with boats being ‘hung up’ etc   I wonder how much that will cost.. There are very few locks with even one mooring point at the moment.

As far as ladders are concerned, just about all the ladders I have used on this canal are loose and dirty, I wonder if BW are going to have the resources to keep mending them let alone keep them clean!

33 Lock walkways and balance beams used as walkways have non slip services..

Oh my!  No wonder our licence fees are going up and up over the next three years, what is in this document must be the real reason!

Here it is in pdf, size is 36kb British Waterways Customer Services Standards 2008/9 Also now on the NABO site with a report on their recent AGM.

Deary me, I could pull this document to pieces, no doubt a lot will, and now I AM CROSS AGAIN!

Heh thats two nights in a row!

Vic cruises and I walk back to Cowley

Little Onn to Wheaton Aston and back to Cowley, Shropshire Union Canal, 6 miles 0 locks

Well I have calmed down now.. but what an awful result that was last night, the cost I see is running up to about 2 billion pounds!!.. Heh, just 22 men kicking a footie about!

Pulled the pins this morning to pick up diesel at 51.9p from Turners at Bridge 19 I think it is.  Just 4p cheaper than Norbury, so you might think it is not worth going for.  Well maybe not, but No Problem’s engine has to be run a couple of hours each day to provide the electricity for the washing machine and the computer and tele to mention a few bits, let along the phone chargers, battery chargers.. oh and the fridge and lights.  May as well cruise along the canal for a couple of hours, same as sitting still really.

Moored for lunch at Wheaton Aston, then winded (turned) No Problem and made our way north again.

I walked with the dogs along the towpath while Vic took NP.  I don’t normally enjoy walking the towpaths, I suppose I see them day in day out, I like going across country, but the towpaths in this area, and actually on most of this canal is in good shape, so made for pleasant walking..

I love this bridge, its called Turnover Bridge, and as you see it is a turnover bridge!!  It takes the footpath from one side of the canal to the other.  The horses would go up the towpath on the right, over the bridge and then continue along the towpath on the other side going under the bridge.  It meant that the ropes on the horses didn’t have to be taken off the towed boat.

In fact, this is quite a unique turnover bridge, it also has a roadway on it, and that is separated from the footpath by a stone wall..

Thoroughly enjoyed my three mile walk..

I see Chas of Moore2Life has a new pram cover.. what an interesting design it is..

This was made for them by Tim and Lisa Salt of Staffordshire Canopies, the same people who made our covers.  I gotta give it to them, they sure do a good job, and this innovative design Tim calls “a folding ‘biminy’ cover”.  The front screen has a zip on each side so that it can be lifted up if the raindrops become too heavy on it. I love it.

What a load of rubbish..

England 2 Croatia 3

Gosh, I am so angry.. nobody better phone me up in the next half hour.. how much are these players paid? 

All quiet as we cruise to Little Onn

Gnosall to Little Onn, Shropshire Union Canal, 3 miles 0 locks

We were planning on going to Wheaton Aston today, but Mr Tesco arrived at the later end of my two hour slot, and we didn’t leave Gnosall ‘till just gone 12.  I do like to try to put the pins in at or just after lunch so that I can go out walking before the light is gone.

Just a short trip today then to Little Onn, another of our favourite rural and remote moorings that we just love, and after lunch I picked out a walk for the afternoon..

This is a cutting close to where we are moored, you can see how quiet it is at the moment, hardly any boats on the move at all, certainly a change from the very busy summer this year that we experienced.  On the left of the bridge you can see the iron work which is etched with the marks of the ropes of horse drawn boats before the age of the motor engine. 

The towpaths must have been in a terrible state in those days with the horses up and down them all the time.  Of course each horse had to have someone walking beside it.. I just don’t know how they did it!

A good lesson for the pup today, as we crossed a field full of sheep, the first time I have done that with her, having introduced her to sheep from the safety of a ‘next field’ situation to let her learn to leave them be, but she did well today, as we got into the field they all took off and ran.. for a split second she was on her way, but a shout from me, and she stopped dead in her tracks and came back.. phew..

Here now in complete control as she copies Lucy’s attitude to sheep..

Just an hour to go before England play Croatia.. I have bagged the tele until 10pm… Vic didn’t even bother to argue about it!

Meg is awarded her red scarf at Gnosall

Moored Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal

The little pup at 4 months old has grown up a bit.  And below, now 5 and a half months old she has become a real super pup. 

Today she was awarded her red canal-dog scarf from yours truly.. Here she is showing it off for you all..

So for the pup to have reached this all important stage in her boat life she had to pass the following tests..

1. Not jump up at people she meets and make them all muddy
2. Come to call
3. Stay at heel when told to do so
4. Leave other dogs be, unless they want to play! (If the later is the case, then 1,2 and 3 go out the window!)
5. Sit nicely in front of me to have her lead put on, and be patient enough for me to do that.  (The catch on the lead is really small and fiddley takes me ages to hook it to the collar!)
6. No pulling on lead
7. No chasing Pheasants especially in Norbury where there is a fussy farmer about loose dogs
8. Not to bark at cattle or sheep even if they have escaped their field and are wandering along the footpath.
9. Not to chase cattle or sheep when exploring fields alongside towpaths (not yet met horses )
10. To get on boat when told to do so, stay there and not jump off just as the boat is pulling away from a mooring.
11. And last but not least not to chase push bikes when they pass on the towpath or chase farm vehicles across fields arriving back looking like a brown collie!

Number 11 was the toughest to overcome, and today was the first time she did not chase a push bike after me telling her to leave it be!

Here she is with her pal Lucy on the towpath.  Lucy just loves her to bits surprisingly.. she doesn’t take any messing from Meg though, but she sure does give a lot.. well only stuff she wants her to have!

Errrrrrrrrr excuse me girls, sorry to disturb you, but this is a photo shoot for tonights blog? …

Ah that’s more like it..

Yummy chocolate and badger stories on the way to Gnosall

Knighton to Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal, 7 miles 0 locks

I wasn’t looking forward to pulling the pins this morning, the weather looked horrid, and as always seems to happen to us, the wind was going to be in our faces from the south west.  On our way to Knighton it was in the north!

I thought I would give Vic some practice on the tiller with the back canopy up, so grabbed my walking stick much to Lucy and Meg’s delight, and set off along the towpath.  I stopped every now and then to collect some wood, and Vic came close to help put it on the roof.. in fact we had quiet a lot by the time we got to the Cadbury Wharf.  The smell of chocolate today was sooooo yummy from the factory.. ‘Tis chocolate powder.  I rushed by to be upwind of it!

Happy to walk the Shebdon Embankment, I stopped to chat to the contractors who are putting in the huge pilings on the offside at the moment.. they were telling me that the piling bit should be finished by the end of November, but they still had quite a bit to do.  Some of the pilings were 12 meters tall which they could not knock further into the ground.. probably hit stone.  That is why a lot of them are sticking a long way out.  Other pilings are only 6 meters, they seem to have gone in just fine.  They were saying that the 6 meter ones were put in so that badgers could tunnel under… hey my brain sort of refused to compute that.. think they were having me about!

I caught up with No Problem again, but had no desire to board until the line of mile and quarter boats was passed, and it wasn’t until The Anchor at Old Lea that we all clambered on.

I am sorry there are no photos today.. I did click away with the camera, but failed to realise that I had not replaced the SD Card after taking the photos off it last night… doh!

The bread I had made before pulling the pins this morning had just finished baking, and we cruised to Norbury Junction to moor for a lunch of tomato soup which I made yesterday, and very tasty tomato and parmesan bread.

Onward then to fill up with diesel.. but under the bridge I saw “Diesel 54.9p Ltr”…. Oh No!! Up by 5p since we went the other way just a few days ago.  So we didn’t bother this time.. Will phone Turners at Wheaton Aston tomorrow to see how much theirs is.

We stopped short of Gnosall to saw up the wood we collected today.. enough for a week or so, well pleased with that, then moored at Gnosall just after 4pm, a bit late, but gave me half hour to take Lucy and Meg along the Way for the Millenium footpath before the light faded. 

Snow at Knighton

Moored Knighton, Shropshire Union Canal

And our snow is bigger than Andy’s snow..

I let the dogs girls out just now, and this is what I was greeted with.. and you can see it is laying on the towpath as well.. but we are warm here inside No Problem, still not had to put the radiators on, just the woodburner doing it’s job warming the whole boat.

It’s been a bit of a relaxing day today.  I took ‘them’ for a walk this morning for half hour or so then the rain arrived and I knew it was a stay where you are day.. so made soup for lunch and some bread, this afternoon lighting the oven for gingernuts, current biscuits and scones, and of course on a day like today there was a hearty stew on the woodburner for the evening meal. 

But I was pestered to death late afternoon and had to don full waterproof gear to take ‘them’ out again… sheeeeesh!

My internet connection has been a bit iffy tonight, T-Mobile probably can’t ‘do’ snow conditions!

We are spose to be moving tomorrow, I do hope it clears up… mind you we do have that wonderful wigwam for whimps..

Bones went too fast..

Just read the latest blog from John on Epiphany pointing out that hitsunlimited.com have either not paid their bill or cannot cope with Bones’ rise to fame!..

I have to agree with John, it is all Bones’ fault, but Maffi hasn’t helped the situation keeping on beating her up the stats table on that site.  But Bones went too fast I feel to number 40 It may well be that she has broken it as John says.

Well at least Maffi and Bones won’t be at each other’s throats chasing each other up and down stat ladders, and talking of ladders, I notice Maffi had a blog tonight about the NABO AGM and the intention of BW to put more ladders in locks.. whatever next!

Quiet day for us, we been staining wood and the like, and I have been finishing off my Christmas wish list…

No Problem donating to Children In Need

It’s that time of year again..

Well what a great night on the tele last night, so much entertainment, and all for Children In Need. 19 million raised so far, a record.

Thanks to all of the people who left a message in the shoutbox that I put in the left hand column, in all 77 people left a shout out of 573 who actually viewed the page!

So that is 77 x 5p = £3.85.. which seems a bit miserable of me for all my trouble of putting up the shoutbox (not there anymore), so what I have decided to do is double that to 10p making £7.70.

Vic has seen all my hard work and was impressed enough with you all coming to the site that he has dug deep and made the total up to £20.  So that goes off to Children in Need today.

Oakley, the restoration

Another interesting blog I found while browsing this evening.. I am also enjoying the BBC Children in Need while doing so.. great it is.

Anyway, I think this is a wonderful blog, tis of the working narrowboat Oakley, and the restoration project associated with it.

Steve bought Oakley from a farmer..

Oakley was found in a farmyard at Welford in Northamptonshire, she has been out of the water for roughly three years. As you can see from the photos below, the hull is in pretty bad shape. Bottom and footings have to be redone, new cabin will have to be fabricated. The engine, a Lister HA2 is in good condition, but does need a good clean and a coat of paint. In 1963 British Waterways shortened the boat to 60' and replaced the original steel back cabin and engine room with a couple of horrible cabins bow and stern, the rear one housing the engine.

It looks like there is going to be some good pics and plenty of information.  Steve works for Roger Fuller of Stone, so in between working.. Last week Steve wrote..

This week I have managed to get the big dents out of the hull side using a hydraulic ram and a fabricated claw to hook over the excisting angle. Once these dents were pushed out I welded plates to the inside to hold the shape. I then pulled in and braced the sides to a width of 6' 10". Having done this and been happy with the straightness i tacked a strip of 45mm by 8mm down the length of the boat on both sides, this is to build the height of the hull sides upto 4' 9" . On the inside edge of this i have tacked 110mm by 10mm flat, these steel gunwhales will replace the original wooden gunwhales.

It’s a good job there are some pics.. hey hey, way over my head Steve!!

I am gonna follow this one, I guess a lot of others will too.  

Children in Need at 11.40pm has 14 million.. brilliant!!

Children In Need Night on No Problem

Ooops I see that this post has gone half way down the page since I did my blog tonight, so I will ‘bump’ it back up again!

It’s that time of year again..

We usually do something for Children In Need, and as we are moored this year in a very remote place there is not much we can do on the land.  So today from No Problem we are going to donate 5p for everyone who visits the blog today and leaves a message in the shoutbox on the left hand side.  Hopefully we will get a lot of visitors, so please pass the news on to others via forums or your own blogs and get your friends to add a shout today!

I will let you know tomorrow how many we get.. duplicate IP’s won’t count though, so just one shout per person please.

 Edit – Many thanks to all those who ‘shouted’. The shoutbox has now been taken off the website – Here is the result of of the donation

Pickles no.2 comes to life

A New Blogger on the block.. Pickles No.2 

I love it..

Pete is a bowyer – I guess that means he makes bows.. you know those wooden ones that Robin Hood used to use.. well he just has got a 70ft narrowboat sailaway.. a narrowboat with just the steel and probably the lining and engine… Pete will have to do the rest.  A conversation he had with presumably with his other half..

"You work with wood." "Yes dear." "Well you could fit it out." "Fit what out." "A sailaway narrowboat." "I'm a bowyer. It's on a different scale. There are no plumbing, electrical or heating problems with English longbows." "Yes, but you could learn. It's still mainly working with wood." "If you say so dear."

So Pete has given himself just 30 days to do that..

The aim is to fit out a sailaway 70' narrowboat in thirty days then move aboard. Living afloat whilst still working. Should be quite easy really.

Just the two posts so far, but I wonder if Pete will have time to blog!!

Quiet times around Knighton and footpaths are hard to find

Moored Knighton, Shropshire Union Canal

Blimey that doctor from Holby City can’t half sing!.. WOW

We are enjoying watching BBC1 tonight, the atmosphere in the studio is fantastic, and it is amazing what some people will do to raise money for Children in Need.

Mind you the shoutbox is doing well here, as of 8.45pm there have been 55 shouts.. there have been many more hits than that though looking at my stats.  I am wondering if some are reading this on one the many RSS feed-readers available.  Can you actually see the left hand column?  If not, you lot can’t shout.  So here is a link for you directly to the shoutbox so you can leave a message.

Right then, that link for the feed-readers.. click ——> Gimme a shout you guys!

I am totally amazed by the messages, and I have to thank you all very much for your kind comments, totally unexpected.  I just thought I would get “Hi” or “5p” or something like that.. but lots of lovely messages.. thanks

Here is our mooring this evening..

You can hear a pin drop here, it is absolutely idyllic.  This morning apart from setting up the shoutbox for the day, I did some much needed bookwork while Vic put the knobs and catches on the new dinette cupboard doors. But with the dogs keeping on pestering me, I relented and took them out, finding a lovely circular walk through the nearby woodland and alongside the Knighton Reservoir.

But once again we were faced with no signage or waymarkers on the paths, here we all have different ideas on which way to go.. I had the map though!!..

Hey the map says straight on you guys, and up over that hill!!

Not many boats past us today, it seems to have gone very quiet on the cut.. much to my liking of course.  We have also found a way to stop the constant banging against the concrete ledges which lurk below the waterline on the embankments to make them extra strong.  I really could do with a couple of mini wheels or large wheelbarrow wheels to keep No Problem away from the concrete edge.  In fact the garage at Gnosall promised to try get me a couple.

In the meantime I noticed the other day that one of my fenders’ ropes had worked a bit loose and had slipped the fender into the water slightly.. it didn't float!  Why on earth I didn't think of that before I don’t know.. so anyway now I have all four thick fenders tied to No Problem on long lines, and they have sunk to below the hidden concrete shelf.. no more banging!! Hooray!!

Oh the pic of the reservoir, nearly forgot this one..

Bit late in the day this, the sun was just going down.

I see the lady that the police were searching for at Foxton has turned up.. Balmaha reports today that they found a newspaper with a report, and here it is in the Leicester Gazette.

Mo of Balmaha comments..

“A costly exercise I shouldn’t be surprised and a waste of thousands of man-hours but at least we have a living person and not a dead body to contend with.”

Yep, got to agree with that, and a family not grieving too

No Problem with Children In Need

It’s that time of year again..

We usually do something for Children In Need, and as we are moored this year in a very remote place there is not much we can do on the land.  So today from No Problem we are going to donate 5p for everyone who visits the blog today and leaves a message in the shoutbox on the left hand side.  Hopefully we will get a lot of visitors, so please pass the news on to others via forums or your own blogs and get your friends to add a shout today!

I will let you know tomorrow how many we get.. duplicate IP’s won’t count though, so just one shout per person please.

 Edit – Many thanks to all those who ‘shouted’. The shoutbox has now been taken off the website – Here is the result of of the donation

Fog lights on near Grubb Street

Norbury Junction to Knighton, 5 miles 0 locks

Brrrrrrrr cold this morning when I poked my head out, no wind at all, there was ice around me.. the cut (canal) was ice free though, but the water hoses were frozen.

Mick of Norbury Wharf Ltd finished off the last bit of the re-designed dinette, it’s just the seat ends that needed altering.. we had the ends as the doors literally and they kept coming open everytime the cushions pushed up against them.. we tried many types of catches, none would work properly, so now we have a solid piece of wood in the ends, with the cupboard door cut out. 

A grand job done too.. this boatyard is perhaps the best boatyard I have come across.  Their attention to detail is important to them, and the work they have done for us this year has been excellent, and very fair pricing too.The dinette is much better now, but no way could we have done that with the tools we have.  Pics later when we have put the knobs on and varnished it.

Somebody knows the boat nearest the camera!!.. Teehee   This will make one of my blog readers very happy, because this boat had just been brought to the wharf, it is very shortly going to have an engine dropped into it, probably tomorrow as the newly painted engine bay was not quite dry today.  See Lucy and Meg getting some TLC while they explore other people’s boats.. a right pair of boat dogs they are!

Filled with water once the hoses had thawed and made our way northwards from Norbury Junction.  We had got some wood near Knighton when we passed last time, and we knew there was plenty more there when we left.. good stuff that was, it burned well.  So onward then through that very odd ‘High Bridge’..

The late morning was gorgeous with some warm sunshine, but we had not gone far when it was on with the headlamp as the fog descended when we crossed the embankments..

At one point it seemed really thick, and even at 3mph it was very difficult to see if anything was coming, and I was really pleased that most of the people we passed had their headlamp on, I saw that well before actually seeing the outline of the narrowboat.

There is a stretch from Bridge 42 for one and a quarter miles which has moored boats the whole way along the offside.. I bet the farmer makes an absolute fortune.. anyway it is such slow going.. it took me just over 40 minutes to do that bit.  I can understand why boats are going past moored boats faster these days.. blimey, if out on a narrowboat holiday wanting to do one of these rings, the hirers must be under real pressure to go faster.. I blame the boatyards a lot for telling people they can ‘do the ring cruising 10 hours a day’  Well that is OK as long as you go 3mph all day!

The major Shebdon Embankment work is doing well, they have done about 80% of the pilings now on the non-towpath side, and today with the fog, it was carefully does it as we pass the massive raft with the machinery on..

If you look carefully you can see the height of the pilings that they are putting in, look at the guy on the bank with the white hat, he is standing right by one of the browny coloured pilings about 20–25ft high.

When we arrived at Knighton at the place where we got the wood last time.. Aghast!  All gone, someone had got there before us!

So we winded (turned) just north of Bridge 48, but spied some other wood on the offside which we grabbed on the way back to our mooring this evening.  I like it here, tis very very quiet, nice change after our last two nights in the boatyard.

Balmaha in the thick of it at Foxton

Waterways news snippets

I always dread it.. finding what I don’t want to find, but it came oh so very close for Mo and Ness of Balmaha today..

Incident at Foxton Locks

Wigwam for dry whimps working well to Norbury

Gnosall to Norbury Junction, Shroppie, 2 miles 0 locks

I was in Stafford this morning, then pulled the pins at Gnosall just after lunch to make a move for Norbury Junction where Simon and his team at Norbury Wharf Boatyard are going to do a slight re-design on our dinette that we do not have the tools for.

Logs have been burning well on No Problem, and I am over the moon with our choice of wood burner, the morso which I bought off the internet from Ely Marina.  We have the top one, the airwash one.  In fact we have not used any coal for the last 5 days, and that includes night time.

But with cut logs running low we decided we better stop and cut the rest of the wood in case we get held up at the boatyard.  We were lucky, just as we finished the heavens opened and we dived under our pram canopy on the stern and cruised onwards towards Norbury.  One narrowboat passed us on Norbury embankment and the crew were absolutely soaking wet.. too wet to even give a wave, while Vic and I sipped warm tea like a pair of cosy whimps!

Once moored, took the dogs for an hour or so this evening, but unfortunately no canopy over my head this time and I got a right soaking.. I don’t mind the rain though, as long as I am dressed for the part!

I have a couple of train tickets that I won’t be using.  I purchased return tickets which were cheaper than buying a single that I needed.. silly innit?  But it has been pointed out to me that train tickets are non-transferable, so nobody else can have them.. They will end up in the bin! Such a waste.

I gonna have fun this evening trying to get the dogs off No Problem for their late night walkies.. we were told to ‘back into the wharf’ when we arrived, well not literally!  But we are alongside all the hire boats here with only the stern on the wharf.. that bloomin’ wigwam for whimps is in the way now! 

Post edited at 7pm on 15^th Nov 2007 taking out the offer of the spare tickets.

Lazy days at Gnosall, and it's Christmas Wish time..

Moored Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal

Lazy days, and time to think about Christmas for me.  I have started my 2007 Christmas wish list, and hopefully I might get one or two things that I want this year.  It’s choccy marzipan that is my favourite Christmas pressie, but I never get any, well I didn’t do for the last two years.. Trouble is that everyone knows its my favourite, and so they don’t buy me any thinking someone else has!

While looking I have come across some extraordinary items such as a £36,000 corkscrew.. no that is not a mistype.  This corkscrew, from a Company in Belgium, is a bit different – unfortunately I can’t put a picture of it on my blog because their copyright terms and conditions do not allow me to, but I can link to the site.  It is made from aviation titanium, and has a 15 carat gold pull ring on it.. oh and it comes in a nice engraved wooden box with a gold hinges!

And how about this then from Amazon, a super duper torch.. well best call it a flash lamp I think.  It has a range of 900 metres, has a re-chargeable battery which is the same size as my computer battery!.. Oh, and will run for 120 hours before needing a recharge!  It is handy around the towpaths too, as it is waterproof even in water down to 2 metres, so dropping that in the canal won’t be a disaster.  But I wouldn’t let this little beauty anywhere near the canal with a price tag of about £212.00!

But have no fear family dear, my wish list will not contain those two items .. the list will be with you this week.. please, please someone pick the choccy marzipan from Thorntons as my pressie!

Lunch at The Navigation Inn yesterday, very nice too.. in fact they do three sizes, small, medium and large so you can be as greedy as you like.. Oh I had a medium by the way.. and yesterday afternoon Vic spent snoozing and I spent doing what I love doing..

This pic along the Way for the Millenium is from my phone.. not a bad pic this from a phone.. in fact this one is one of my all time favourites of Lucy.

Mon and Brec shock, our friends will suffer..

News from South Wales..

I was horrified to get this email from Waterscape informing me that the Mon & Brec Canal may well be shut for the whole of next season between Talybont and Llanover because of the breach recently at Gilwern..

Photo from The Mon and Brec Canal Trust – Click here for more photos

“Following the major breach on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal at Gilwern on 16th October, British Waterways is continuing a series of meetings with boating operators, private boaters and other local stakeholders to discuss options for reopening the waterway and the impact of its closure.

The seriousness of the breach and the location where it occurred has led British Waterways to carry out a detailed geotechnical survey of a 16-mile stretch of the canal, from Llanover to Talybont (bridges 84 to 141). Initial assessments indicate that significant works may be required to secure the canal infrastructure and that there is therefore every likelihood that the affected stretch of canal will not be available for cruising next year.

Julie Sharman, general manager for Wales & Border Counties, explains; "Our top priority is to secure the future and safety of this canal, which is arguably one of the most
beautiful and popular cruising waterways in Britain. We are increasingly of the view that the best option for the canal is to carry out a major programme of renovation across the central 16 mile length. Our investigation over the next six weeks will give us a much clearer picture as to how we might best achieve this."

"Although a closure next year may be the best way to secure the long term future of the canal, we know it will have a huge impact on boating businesses, individual boaters and the local community. That is why we have already started meetings with those involved with a view to minimising that impact."

The canal and associated waterside businesses from Talybont to Brecon and Llanover to Cwmbran remain unaffected by the works. The towpath remains open to the public.”

I immediately thought of Phil and Sue Ware of Country Craft Narrowboats.  We hired from them for around about 4 years before retiring, I absolutely adore the Mon & Brec.  Phil and Sue are such a lovely couple, I hate to think what it is going to do to their business.  I hope they will be able to survive without any hireboats leaving their lovely location.  I wonder if BW will give them compensation, and I wonder too how much it is going to cost to do all that work.

But I am not totally surprised at this major closure to be honest, the canal keeps on breaching, and I can’t remember how many times it has breached at Gilwern, quite a few I have heard of over the recent years.

Sad, very sad.

A break in the weather at Cowley, Annie visits and I have a right rant

Cowley to Gnosall, Shroppie, A mile or so

I was able get out yesterday afternoon in the end after the heavy rain earlier in the day.  I sneaked out between the two weather fronts, and had a dry walk.. mind you it might have been dry, but it sure was a difficult one.. but it wasn’t all difficult, here walking along a track beside some newly sown winter corn..

The high winds during the morning stripping those trees on the left of their leaves. This was easy going, but, as is typical of walking the countryside near the Shroppie canal, things soon became not so easy!.. Here a rickety old ‘bridge’ which I had to negotiate..

To get to it I had to scramble down a bank.. Meg is being very careful coming back to see where I had got to, you can spot Lucy waiting for me .. it was very slippy too!.. But having negotiated that safely, next was another steep bank to face this!..

Err yes that is the err stile!  Now this was a challenge.. it was bent towards me up that bank.  I took a deep breath and teetered on the brink of balance, finally hauling myself over more in desperation than anything else, well it was a long way to go back the way I had come!

But having got over it, I was then faced with that huge field with no waymarkers giving me any idea at all as to which way to go!  Ah but then I had my trusty PDA with gprs and an ordnance survey map of the area on it.. the pointer showed me which way to go across the field following the line of the footpath.. without it I would have gone miles out of my way!

Annie of NB Moore2Life visited today after a two hour trip across country combining buses and trains from Ansty on the Oxford Canal.  She was here to meet Meg, and to pick up a new computer for Chas that he had ordered to be delivered to daughter Wendie’s house. Wendie visited last weekend and fetched it with her.. It is the only way to get big stuff aboard sometimes.  For sure the package for Chas was far too big for Royal Mail to deliver.

It was nice to see Ann again after parting our ways a few weeks ago as Moore2Life needs to be further south for her Xmas mooring before the BW Winter Stoppages cut them off.

We are staying in Gnosall ‘till Tuesday afternoon, and after picking up a few groceries from Mr Tesco at the bridge by The Boat, we moved to the 5 day moorings at the other end of Gnosall.  Well they WERE 5 day moorings, and Waterscape’s boaters guide for the Shropshire Union Canal (pdf file 220kb) SAY they are where we are..

3 Gnosall: Maximum 5day. Total 440 metres.

4 Gnosall: Maximum 48hr. Total 545 metres.

NOW there are boards up saying 48hr moorings.  On the big sign which says Gnosall Visitor Moorings the mention of 5 days has been painted over in black.. I wonder why on earth BW has done that!  It is out of the way here, not in the main part of Gnosall.. hey down the other end by the pubs there is 545m of moorings at 48 hours.. work that out.. errrrr average boat size ish 58ft (16.75m)?  OK so how many boats in 545m.. That’s 32 boats!

Now then, add that to the 440m that are NOW 48hr moorings and that allows 58 boats to moor here for 48 hours.. I am having trouble typing now, because the tears are coming down my face with laughter!

I know it is busy on this canal but that is ridiculous.. they obviously don’t like boats or people visiting in Gnosall.. “Move along, move along”.. Anyway I had planned this stop I am staying on the 5 day moorings because I had planned to do that.. I had no idea that the moorings for this area had been changed.. I am also wondering if BW can do that, just change moorings and put up different signs without any notice.. I will email and ask them why they needed more 48hr moorings, their reply should be very interesting!

Rant over.. anyway, the walks are good round here especially along the The Way for the Millennium, a long distance path from Newport to Stafford which follows the route of the disused railway.

New Llangollen Canal DVDs available

From Paul Balmer on his narrowboat Waterway Routes..

I was lucky enough to be asked to do a proof read/watch on this DVD, so I have seen a draft copy, and it is excellent.  I was sent the draft to look at, and only just got my comments back to Paul in time, as I didn’t want to see it before I have cruised it.  The cost of the single DVD of the Llangollen Canal is £13.80 including postage, or the 2 DVD set is £20.75.  It can be ordered online by clicking on this link.

Inside the box there is a beautiful map, and a 10 page leaflet with the history of the canal along with the route notes to help navigate and to point out places of interest, such as Wrenbury to Marbury. Of Wrenbury the notes say..

“For a fortnight, centred on the first full weekend on July each year, the village hosts Scarecrow Trail, where over 100 scarecrows can be seen around the village… “

An extremely well produced product that anybody thinking of cruising this canal should think about looking at.. I simply loved it!

Meg v Cows and Market Day in Penkridge

Wheaton Aston to Cowley, Shroppie, 5 miles 1 lock

Yesterday I invited Jeff and Mags from Narrowboat Seyella for coffee, and they moored close during the morning on their way to Brewood. Coffee lingered on and on.. both on No Problem and on Seyella ‘till Jeff decided to put the pins in for the evening.

Their dog Meg and our Meg never stopped all day rolling around and playing on the wide towpath beside the boats, and during the late afternoon I suggested to Jeff we took them all for a walk.

As this is one of my favourite moorings I was able to show Jeff an hour long circular walk across some delightful farmland and woodland.  My Meg behaved herself well in a field with a handful of cows in.. calm cows for once, obviously well used to humans walking across their space.  They didn’t come towards us, and I was able to give Meg some off lead heal work.  She was tempted for sure to ‘go chase’, but by persuading her to “Leave” she was well rewarded for staying to heal with plenty of “good girls” and pats as we reached the gate on the far side.  Lucy was happy too, it meant that the air didn’t get full of lots of “Naughty Girl” which she really knows is not aimed at her, but she likes to play the poor old thing sometimes!

A fond farewell this morning then to Jeff and Mags, we hope to see them again in the Spring on the Southern Oxford maybe.. Anyway, enjoyed your company very much you two, thanks

We pulled the pins and cruised through the lock at Wheaton Aston to moor at one of the many water points.  I left the canopy up at the back today.. the first time I have actually steered No Problem with it up.  I want to get used to it, there is a big difference steering this boat than their was to NP1.. 12ft of difference!  It’s just a matter of getting my confidence in aiming correctly for bridges and locks.. I don’t want to be forever hanging my head out the sides, I want to get a feel of the narrowboat so I know instinctively how to put her through the gaps.. Hit nothing today!!

Popped into Penkridge to get some fresh veg and milk.. It was market day today… WOW what a huge market, and if anyone is able to, do go, it is out of this world.  Not only a market but there is an auction house as well, and some guy was auctioning eggs and chickens I think.. but I had told Vic I would be back for lunch, so didn’t really have any time to have a really good look around.. next time we are both going!

Cruised on to Cowley where we have put the pins in for a couple of days.. I like it here too!

You have probably noticed that we are moving north again.. I know, I know… I did say we would be going south, but we want to get Simon and his team at Norbury Boatyard to change the design of the dinette slightly.. we don’t have the tools to do what we want done!

Family traditions, it's halloween at Norbury Junction and I SPY too..

Wheaton Aston to Brewood then to Norbury and back to Brewood again, then north once more to Wheaton Aston, so really back where we started!.. Didn’t count the miles, 2 locks!

Had a hectic weekend! 

Daughter Wendie and hubby Danny along with grandchildren Kiera and Niamh.. oh and their two huge labradors Tilly and Buddy all shared No Problem!

The grandchildren slept in the bunkroom, us in our bedroom and Wends and Dan the dinette, leaving the rest of the salon as a K9 Kennel!..

In fact it was a K9 Kennel for the whole weekend, but we all managed, and the dogs were as good as gold, everyone stepped over everybody else and it all worked well. 

I phoned Countrywide Cruisers at Brewood and asked them if we could park their car in their carpark, and they were really nice.. “Yes that’s no problem” (heh!) “There is plenty of room and we charge £2 a day” Great stuff.

So we ‘set sail’ to Brewood and winded (turned) there ready to pile the family aboard, mooring that evening at one of our favourite moorings.. Same as the pic on the last blog.

From there then to Norbury Junction.. a nice quiet village to spend the 3^rd of November at.. hopefully no fireworks, but knowing there would be a good meal at The Junction.  But before that, there had to be the pumpkin!  Ah now, the pumpkin… This has become a family tradition in Wendie's family that they do the pumpkin thing with us.. so here Wendie and Danny are expertly cutting out eyes and noses etc..

Ha, Dan certainly looks like he is getting well stuck in there!.. but the finished article with the relevant ‘scarey bits’ from the grandchildren…

Niamh on the left had a happy face pumpkin while Kiera, on the right, decided to have a three eyed pumpkin who looked a bit like I felt on Sunday morning after a rather boozey night and an early dog/grandchildren start! ..

But it wasn’t long ‘till I put a cooked breakfast on everyone’s plates on Sunday morning, and then took to the towpath with the four dogs when Vic pulled the pins at Norbury to head back to Brewood, with a quick diversion into Gnosall to the shop for more sausages!  The youngsters just simply love sausages and I had, by this time, run out!.. then on down the towpath again, through the tunnel, along Cowley cutting then I SPY!!

It’s Geoff and Mags’ lovely narrowboat Seyella, and I met their their young bouncy dog Meg too.. I gave them a bit of a fright as I knocked the window and said hello, I stopped and chatted for a while.  Geoff and Mags had put an entry in the Guestbook last week telling me that they were behind me.. but I read their blog, so I already knew, and had been on the lookout all week.  Actually I passed them the day before going the other way to Norbury, but all was very quiet and I didn’t knock the door!  Geoff is now at Wheaton Aston and he knocked the window this evening as he walked Meg, so more chatting.. I like their blog.

Here Niamh actually managed to shut the lock gate on her own at Wheaton Aston..

Ah toooooo much to write about tonight.. and I am shattered.  Had a lovely weekend, but I will leave you with this delightful pic that I have of Kiera and the new pup Meg.. talk about TLC and lapping it up.. awwwww.

The black can turns green at Wheaton Aston

Little Onn to Wheaton Aston, Shroppie, 3 miles 1 lock

Pulling the pins this morning I decided to walk a few bridges with the dogs.. well it is such a beautiful area just to the south of Little Onn. A wooded cutting, and the dogs loved all the leaves on the towpath, charging up and down, skidding everywhere.. a great game they were having.

Stopped at Turners at bridge 19 for diesel, and was disappointed that it was 48.9p a litre.  It was definitely cheaper at Market Drayton’s Victoria Wharf when we passed.  Turners is usually the cheapest on this canal too!  Still I suppose I should not complain, prices are much higher elsewhere like 60p a litre at the Anglo Welsh hire base at Trevor on the Llangollen Canal when we passed.  If you remember they charged me £9 for a bag of 20kg of coal!

Vic wanted some unleaded petrol for the chainsaw while he was there.. very handy stop because the ‘garage’ is right by the canal, their diesel pump is on the road, but there is a very very long pipe to reach the narrowboats below in the cutting moored by the bridge.

Anyway when he asked for petrol the guy said he couldn’t serve him with that.. “Your 5 litre can says DIESEL and it is black.. I can’t put petrol in that!” “But we have only every had petrol in it”.. “Still can’t”.  Seems it is against Health and Safety for garages to put petrol into black diesel cans!  I bought that black can because it was cheaper than the green petrol ones on sale!

Wasn’t long before the guy ripped off the ‘Diesel’ label and replaced it with a ‘Petrol’ label.  ‘Spose really he should have painted the can green too!!.. but with that done, he then served Vic with his petrol!

I took the opportunity to catch a bus to Penkridge from the bridge at Wheaton Aston for some fresh meat and veg, but the lady driver was none too pleased with me.. I knew she wouldn’t be.. I only had a tenner you see.. all my change had gone.  I hate change in my purse, and at every opportunity I rid myself of it if I can, I must remember to keep a fivers worth for cross bus drivers in future!

I like Penkridge it has a brilliant co-op with realistic prices, a brilliant baker, a brilliant greengrocer and a brilliant butcher, and all within eyesight of one another, as well as a chemist.  It isn’t far to Penkridge, about 15–20 mins on the bus along the narrowest country lanes at breaknet speed!  Certainly is an adrenaline flowing ride!

Vic filled No Problem’s water tank from one of the four water stand pipes while I was away, and got rid of the rubbish.. a big rubbish area here, pity they can’t put in a recycling bin.

Moved to another of my favourite moorings along this canal, look at all the space for the dogs here in this very rural area..