Dav and Pen

Nice film. I was on the work party when that was filmed, didn’t realize at the time as there were often reporters about and odd film crews. good to see old Jack James at Stoke Bruerne and the pub in those days. Willow wren loading wheat for Wellingborough and the Lime juice barrels on the quay. Lot of history in that film even if it was meant to be a spoof.

Years ago BWB had a programme of reservoir checks that resulted in the lowering of the retained levels. I know that the 2 Daventry reservoirs where lowered as at the time we were worried about the reduction in supply and were assured that the back pumping from the sewerage works at Buckby would make up for the shortages. What we got was lots of foam in the locks.

Good company but not the worlds greatest boatman.

Been in the loft and found the first edition of Harry Arnold Narrowboat magazine 1984. Photo not attributed but likely Hugh McKnight.

I used the Teamac anti slip deck paint on the side decks of our barge. Difficult to get the sand evenly applied and after a year it was so dirty I disked it all off. For the last many years I have used a Matt deck paint from a company called paints for trade who also do what they call barge enamel in any color you like. Good stuff and good service.

We took our 50ft NB to Ireland and spent 2 years there. It was trucked from Calcutt to Salins on the grand canal and we wintered in Shannonharbour. Went north to Lough Erne one year and the next down the Barrow to Graignemanagh where we had great time. The big lakes can be scary in a narrowboat and it is necessary to watch the weather especially the wind strength but it’s a great country and the waterways and the Shannon lovely. As for the pubs enough said.

Had a ride out yesterday and had lunch at the Olde Swan Radcot. Does anybody here moor there or know of problems if moored there. We are thinking of buying a cruiser and have always liked this part of the Thames/isis.

As a small aside when we where forced to use road diesel instead of red in Belgium in 2007 many barge owners found that their engines ran better and smoked less (lots of them had Daf’s).

Having been boating in France for many years I’m afraid the frogs don’t pay lip service to the white diesel issue they enforce it with big fines if found with red in propulsion tanks.

Had a walk round Boddington yesterday very low but fishermen happy as lots of bigs un’s giving themselves up..

I brought and kept the barge in Belgium and they still had red diesel until 2007. and the Dutch cruisers used to fill up to the brim on the way home as in every other country red was banned for propulsion but they didn’t worry if you had a receipt from Belgium. After white was enforced red is allowed for heating, generator, passenger and commercial boats. Diesel stoves are very common so it is necessary to have 2 separate tanks and the custom officers in France would check to see if it was possible for fuel in the red tank to be used in the engine. Big fines if it was found. For a little while all boats over 20m in France could use a fuel called gnr gas oil non routier which was priced a little bit approved red gas oil. This had a higher percentage of bio fuel and a useful life of 6 months max, but after a couple of years they changed the rules. A lot of the fuel companies only did red or heating oil so getting a tanker to deliver white could be difficult and even buying 1000 liters was more expensive than supermarkets so many people have a stock of 20litre drums and a good sack barrow. i think it will be very difficult for the fuel boats to be competitive when road fuel is enforced which will be a great shame as the sale of fuel must be an important part of their income

I know the regulations changed but I thought the Rhine was still restricted to 15m with an icc.

Germany only recognizes the ICC up to 15m. Any boat needs to be registered and usually Brits use the ssr. You also need a vhf operators license and a ships radio license and depending on length of ship a fixed vhf set and if over 20m 2 radios and now a class A AIS. The continentals love papers and numbers painted on boats. If a boat was exempt vat in the U.K. you should have an invoice showing vat paid at the zero rate.

Liked the way they left gates open and paddles up, obviously the practice at the time as the top paddles had also been left up. Pity no sound.

When those of us who brought the GUCC motors and Buttys from bwb in the 60’ and 70’s we thought we would probably be the last idiots to take on these boats and keep them going but as is apparent there have been plenty of people who have followed us and the current custodians are doing a better job than most of us managed back then. I’m sure others will be along.

Never saw one loaded

Letter in torygraph today by lady who was walking t and m towpath and knocked over by cyclist. Broke elbow and injured knees and hands. She required surgery and is still recovering. She says that it was once delightful to walk along the towpath but sadly it has become to perilous. im afraid in many places the towpath is not wide enough for for walkers and cyclists to exist together especially with the general attitude that walkers are the problem. Cycle paths are certainly needed but just letting towpaths become them is just asking for trouble.

One of the old boatmen I knew always referred to a visit to the bucket in the engine hole as “going to see Sidney” didn’t realize the engine was a Siddeley.

I have just spent a few days in the Hebden bridge area (without boat) and walked my dog along the towpath every morning. Some of the bridge approaches are at very sharp angles from both sides and it is not possible to see if any cyclist is coming until you meet them. Mostly the cyclists are on big mountain style bikes without any audible warning, or none they use, and somehow they expect you to let them through the bridge hole because they are bigger than you, hard luck in my case being a grumpy old man. Most of the locals take the same approach and are fed up with being expected to jump in the stinging nettles to let the hooligans by so stand their ground. Not all the cyclists were this bad though and some slowed right down and said thank you.

The dreaded gipsy lane bridge a favourite dumping place by the local inhabitants. The jaguar got stuck on a safe which had been taken from the local co-op and I got stuck on a The remains of a big fridge. We always approached that bridge very slowly. did this planning application go through?

Use a gas fridge it will save a lot of electricity over the course of a year.

This feeling is a common one by anybody who has been on the canals for a long time. when I first started in 1964 with a 19ft plywood cruiser there was very little them and us and nearly everyone was boating because of their love of boats and or the canals themselves. Many of us got involved in the restoration movement believing we were helping to preserve the past for the future and not realizing quite how it would turn out. There were very few “shiny “ steel narrow boats about and still a few working boats on the Grand Union who all seemed happy to see us. Over the years we finished up with 2 ex working boats that we used to carry coal and camping boating so they could earn their keep and occasionally we ran into unhappy boaters who didn’t understand why we needed to moor in certain places or because we held our course at bridgeholes. These boats were simple things with 12 volt systems and gas or coal stoves and I can never remember running an engine when stationary. the canals were in a poor state but there were still some area engineers and staff with experience and they kept things going. After every trip we would sent a report about rubbish in bridges, shallow places, broken gear etc and sometimes we got a result apart from one gentleman in the West Midlands who we called Mr No. Things really started to change in the 80’s with the arrival of the time share boats with the gold anodised windows who seemed to have no knowledge of the past or how the system had come about. Money was starting to come onto the canals and boats were being built with gold plated taps in the bathroom and being fitted with washing machines and dishwashers but not big enough water tanks so there are always boats hogging water points. There were a few people with Honda generators who ran them on the bank but generally in reasonable hours. In 1990 we had a 50 footer built on part of a station boat hull and went to the Northern waterways and deep joy it was wonderful but as we were still working it was difficult so came back to the shroppie and realized how busy it was becoming with rows of moored boats everywhere so we took her to Ireland for a couple of years which was great especially the pubs and the singing. The canals were very quiet and although the Shannon was busy with hirer's in peak summer there was plenty of room. The first mate however was frightened on the big lakes so we brought it back and then the shear number of boats and the queuing for locks really got to us so we sold up and went over the water and brought an old dutch barge in Belgium which we cruised around in for 18 years enjoying both the busy commercial waterways and the quiet Burgundy canals. No engine running there as lots of places have power available either free or couple of euros a night. we are now approaching 80 and I was finding the maintenance work hard and madam not walking to well so regrettably have sold our last boat and are now ashore and for myself it’s very hard but I know it’s sensible. It’s ok to sit outside the Nelson with a pint watching the antics in the lock though. I remember an old boatman leaning on the bottom lock bridge telling me on Saturday afternoon watching the boats it better than the tele and he’s right. Dont let the others get you down try and find some nice places to stop and enjoy the things that have kept you on the canals for 30 years.

Why do this in the fens, why not wait until in the destination. Can’t see a door in the porta loo so fails certification.

Good job we weren’t relying on you to bring 22 kids then. you could have had a boat for free in the winter if you fancied bagging 20 tones of coal and selling it.

Actually the beds came from the Prison service. I have just come across an old brochure and see we charged £150 a week on 1975.