NB Alnwick

Trying to cut expenditure inevitably results in a miserable existence - the only way to be happy is to work harder and increase one’s income!

In Cropredy (pronounced ‘Cropperdy’ by boaters) ‘Hell Hole’ is the narrow path leading down towards the canal from the church!

This who he is: https://hoang.co.uk/uy/

We are probably not alone in that we spend almost as much time planning our canal journeys as we do actually boating. During the last twenty years or so, this planning stage has become so much easier with the benefit of the Internet! The introduction of Google Maps, especially the satellite images, made it possible to identify features such as locks, bridges, places to moor, pubs, shops and places to access a car or public transport - especially when combined with Google's Street View. Unfortunately, Street View was initially limited to those roads that could be accessed by one of Googles camara cars and this meant that much of the canal and river network could only be viewed from road bridges or other locations where they could be viewed from a road - usually over a hedge, fence or wall. This is changing, thanks to a gentleman by the name of Uy Hoang! Uy Hoang has dedicated his spare time to cycling or walking along our canal and river network to produce many thousands of 360 degree images that are of immense value to people like us. He is a true hero of Google mapping! We have struggled to learn who this particular hero is but here are a couple YouTube videos that help:

This is far from an unusual matter - many years ago when working 'in the trade' a flat above one of our pubs was let to a difficult tennant by our estates department - that tennant then complained to the local authority and their environmental health officer warned us that unless we took steps to prevent the alleged nuisance we would be prosecuted. The alleged nuisance included: The sound of people talking, Loud laughter, The sound of a bell whenever a cash register was used, That particular pub didn't have music, a juke box, or any coin operated amusement machines. In our opinion it was well run and fairly quiet so we let them take us to court - the various court cases stretched out for more than twelve months until we raised it to a higher court where the complaint was eventually dismissed but the cost of defending the case was immense and more than a individual pub owner operator could likely afford. That was in the 1980s, complainers have a lot more in their favour these days . . .

Water levels measured on the Cherwell above Banbury are dropping fast - if we do not see more rain overnight, things will be much better tomorrow!

Cropredy Marina was not adversely affected. No water was coming over the lock gate at Cropredy and the marina staff are very good at checking our boats.

Or engine room crew . . .

Currently river water is flowing into the canal . . .

The water level below Cropredy Lock is dropping but there is still a large volume of water entering the canal from the river.

In the wake of Storm Bert we have heavy flooding in many areas. Here at Cropredy, below Cropredy Lock, the water is covering the towing path, the canoe club and wharf area and is already between 15 and 20 Centimetres deep. It is still rising.

Agreed but they could not have been placed there without a significant level of involvement from British Waterways. Cherwell District Council is the local authority and British Waterways were responsible for managing the property.

And the sculptor was Michael Fairfax MRSS who was comissioned by British Waterways and Powys County Council in the 1990s to produce something at Brecon - so it is more than likely that these 'Bridge Sculptures' were also comissioned by BW and the local authority.

At the end of the day it is just about numbers (£)! When we ran a tied estate of almost 8,000 pubs - the first consideration was selling our beer - also (with some reciprocal arrangements) selling the beers of our trade partners. That ethos was destroyed by the laws that were introduced in the 1990s to force breweries to give up their tied estates. It hasn’t ended well!

When one considers the amount of work involved to make something like that. For more than a 100 years those oil cans were cut by hand, hand pressed on a fly-press, dip tinned and soldered up - all by hand. Worth every penny! Quite a lot were copper plated and clearly a few were silver plated but the vast majority were sold in bare metal with the only protection being their overall coating of lead solder. Many of those still around will be at least 80 years old!

A silver oil can! That might be a touch over the top - even for a superior Kelvin!

We did our best to clean our old Kayes oil can up but it will never be the same - it’s useful days are over so that too will be for sale on eBay!

If the only mark of success is to get the highest 'return on capital employed', then converting a pub into a 'desirable residence' ticks the box!

This is a strange time of year to be closing a pub. Nevertheless, examination of the filed accounts for a great many pubs around the country is very revealing. Tennants appear to be able to run up huge debts - presumably unpaid rents or possibly high interest loans - and then disappear. This isn't the way businesses ought to be managed. The pub business gets more like the 'Wild West' every year . . .

We are referring here to the squirty cans (rather than basic pourers) that are an essential part of vintage engine management - especially ours! Some time ago, our ancient oil can (made by Braime Pressings Ltd. of Leeds) fell from its former shelf and was destroyed when it became jammed under the moving flywheel. As far as we know, Braime's no longer make oil cans and their main competitor, Joseph Kaye and Sons, is no longer in business. These traditional oil cans are now regarded as collectible especially among the heritage steam railway and vehicle communities. For this reason, they can be quite expensive when purchased from outlets specialising in vintage tools and equipment. We have experimented with cheap oil cans purchased online (most likely made in the far east) and our experience with these has not been good - one leaked at the soldered seam and another had a solid brass nipple in the end of the spout that made it impossible to deliver oil! Fortunately, it is still possible to buy decent oil cans of the Wesco type - although the original maker (A. E. Westwood) was absorbed by SJG International of Alcester (a firm specialising in engineering gaskets), proper Wesco oil cans continue to be made in Birmingham by Smith Francis Tools Ltd. They are produced in a range of sizes and are available from many reputable engineering tool suppliers as well as eBay and Amazon

When we planned our schedule from the centre of Birmingham to Penkridge, using Canalplan, this was the information provided for the first night's stop. The below is copied verbatim but we have changed the relevant sentence to bold text - based entirely on this information we laboured down the Wolverhampton 21 to moor opposite Oxley Marine after dark but from what we observed and have been told since, the visitor moorings at Wolverhampton top lock are safe and satisfactory: First full day of trip On the Birmingham Canal Navigations (Main Line), at Wolverhampton Top Lock No 1 (to avoid stopping in a flight of locks). This is 14 miles, 3 furlongs and 3 locks of narrow canals and will take 6 hours 12 minutes. Today's journey involves 5 small aqueducts or underbridges and 3 tunnels. You will pass through Galton Tunnel (122 yards long), through Factory Locks (rise of 20 feet), through Coseley Tunnel (360 yards long) [see navigational note 4 below] and through Wolverhampton Tunnel (109 yards long). Mooring here is impossible (it may be physically impossible, forbidden, or allowed only for specific short-term purposes). The nearest known good moorings are Ladywood Wharf (13 miles, 2¾ furlongs and 3 locks earlier) and Oxley Marine (2 miles, 1¼ furlongs and 21 locks further on).

Something that surprised us on our recent cruise through Birmingham and Wolverhampton was the wide choice of interesting places to moor. So many of them appeared to be a lot safer than some country locations. Added to this, Canalplan ac told us that mooring in Wolverhampton was “impossible” but the official visitor moorings at the top of the 21 locks appeared to be just fine. So enjoy your cruise and take in all the marvels that the Black Country has to offer - especially the museum at Tipton.

In practice we always found that carrying the 5 Litre petrol can was the least of our troubles - we also had to carry fresh water, beer, wine and groceries to our boat in winter. And, what about carrying the waste away?

We wish you well in becoming the new owner of this boat - you will gain considerable satisfaction from ownership as well as from the improvements and tweaks that you will make. Our best advice is don't try to do everything at once - take the boat out a few times and enjoy it. While you are out cruising, make a list of the jobs you need to do and prioritise them. Then keep revising the list as you become more familiar with your boat. That way, you will never be overwhelmed by the amount of work you need to do and you will find the whole experience enjoyable.