Tim and Pru New series

[Laurie Booth]

 

Actually their own boat is rather refreshing, because whilst certainly not scruffy, it can't exactly be called shiny either.

 

When we met them, someone had been digging around at rust spots on the cabin in a not very professional way, and then dabbing primer in, but got no further. It certainly looked like a DIY job, which I found rather pleasing, as quite clearly they would have no trouble finding the funds for a full professional repaint, should they choose to.

 

There was also an open bag of tools on a back bunk, with spanners tipped all over the bed, so I think they had been doing some mechanical DIY as well.

 

To me the only thing that separated them from us following behind in an also not so shiny boat with loose tools about the place was the fact it was obvious that the wine being sipped at the tiller was a considerably better quality than anything we have on board!

 

As I have said before, I love this couple because they clearly are real boaters, and remain canal mad into their 80s.

I've never met any actors with any money.

[FadeToScarlet]

Was it just me who was really, really, really annoyed by what sounded like a slipping alternator belt in the latest one? And they didn't show the canal museum's Bantam, either

I would probably suggest it's due to age, maybe his reaction times and eye sight is not as sharp as he thinks it is. Also a current is another possibility

Not always the case, there's a couple of octogenarian steerers I would have trouble keeping up with, even up locks!

[dor]

Was it just me who was really, really, really annoyed by what sounded like a slipping alternator belt in the latest one? And they didn't show the canal museum's Bantam, either

Cruising Mike, on 23 Mar 2015 - 11:34 AM, said:

I would probably suggest it's due to age, maybe his reaction times and eye sight is not as sharp as he thinks it is. Also a current is another possibility

 

Not always the case, there's a couple of octogenarian steerers I would have trouble keeping up with, even up locks!

 

That may well be so, but I was disappointed in the way he shrugged it off with a smile, and in the first program came out with the "boating is a contact sport" line. He really should know better.

[Barry]

Given the wry smile he had on his face as he said it, I thought he was being apologetically ironic

[Peter X]

There are many ways to define London, and a purist could argue that it's really just the Square Mile enclosed by the Roman wall, very little of which remains, but generally the definition I'd use is the current postal area. I grew up in Anerley SE20, a few miles out from the South Circular but just inside London, went to school in then lived in Beckenham, Kent and later moved to Croydon, Surrey, only a few miles away. My bit feels very urban (the roughest bit of a very posh county), and the centre of Croydon certainly does, but it is in the suburbs.

 

The M25 encloses much more than London, there's miles of genuine countryside within it, including actual fields.

If you wanted to include most of the continuous built up area, you'd choose Greater London (the GLA boroughs) but even that contains some proper countryside, especially in the outer parts of Bromley.

[Dyertribe]

Yes, all of them. The Paddington mooring is either the old CRT 'Jena' boat mooring, or where one of the restaurant boats is kept. Canal museum mooring is bookable, Three Mills is a place where CRT sometimes put up reserved signs for boat trips ( think SPCC book it)

Anyone wanting to visit, If you book moorings, its not that stressy, to visit London, you could do a night at the new bookable spot in LV, then move to Canal museum and there is always room at Limehouse. Or just say you are visiting on London Boaters facebook page, ask for help with moorings, boaters will invite you to raft up with them and give you a good welcome.

Thanks for that info, we have often said it would be great to visit London via the canals, mixing a canal holiday with visiting the city, hey we're from Swansea, we need a metropolis fix sometimes!

[Debby]

 

Actually, I reckon that they are two people from the world of drama who have been deeply in love with each other for a very large number of years. I don't think there is any acting involved in the obvious affection between the pair of them, and it is refreshing to see people from this background in a very long term and loving relationship, when the tendency always seems to be the distinct opposite.

 

In the previous series seeing Tim describe the changes in the person he loves due to her onset of dementia was particularly moving to me, but then my mum developed the condition, and I find it a positive thing that they are prepared to talk openly about it, rather than carrying on the taboo that people don't really need t hear that such conditions change people's lives for ever.

 

When I described the programme as twee and luvvie, I was talking about the programme, not their relationship. To me they seem like any married couple - he bumbles around, she watches with a long suffering look on her face. Surely that's normal?

 

Both of us have friends, family and work colleagues who are dealing in one way or another with dementia/Alzheimer's. It is all discussed openly, none of us feel there are taboos. There certainly were in the 60s and 70s. My brother, three years younger than me, was severely mentally handicapped, as it was known in those days. The only options were to keep him at home or to put him in a "hospital". No days out, holidays, trips into town, what was the point as he wouldn't appreciate or understand it... These days I see people with conditions as bad as my brother's, or worse, in town with their carers, going on trips to the seaside etc - leading as "normal" a life as possible. That makes me very happy. Sadly my brother died when he was 31.

 

However, none of this is relevant. My post was about the fact that we, as non boaters, enjoy Barging About Britain more than Tim and Pru's Canal Journeys. As I said, most people on this forum will disagree with that and our feelings that canal boating is boring. And now, on this lovely sunny but frosty morning I shall get ready for my daily walk along the towpath to work, where I can look out at an old mill and hear boats going past. Almost makes my job bearable.

[Phil Ambrose]

I've never met any actors with any money.

Yes, they are a bit like poor farmers.

Phil

[Alan de Enfield]

 

As I said, most people on this forum will disagree with that and our feelings that canal boating is boring. And now, on this lovely sunny but frosty morning I shall get ready for my daily walk along the towpath to work, where I can look out at an old mill and hear boats going past. Almost makes my job bearable.

 

Are you a C&RT EO by any chance ?

[Jerra]

Yes, they are a bit like poor farmers.

Phil

I sincerely hope you are being cynical there Phil. I have lived in the countryside and had connections to farming all my life. The only time a farmer ceases to be poor is when he ceases to be a farmer. Otherwise all his cash and generally a lot of the bank managers as well is tied up in buildings equipment stock etc.

 

So probably rich on paper but being able to have a lot of cash to spend certainly not round here.

[mrsmelly]

Yes, they are a bit like poor farmers.

Phil

 

Yeah and Ive never seen a farmer on a push bike!!

 

Tim

[KevMc]

 

Yeah and Ive never seen a farmer on a push bike!!

 

Tim

 

I saw plenty - including my late father-in-law - while I lived in Ireland.

[churchward]

I sincerely hope you are being cynical there Phil. I have lived in the countryside and had connections to farming all my life. The only time a farmer ceases to be poor is when he ceases to be a farmer. Otherwise all his cash and generally a lot of the bank managers as well is tied up in buildings equipment stock etc.

 

So probably rich on paper but being able to have a lot of cash to spend certainly not round here.

I think it depends on the kind of farming some are more lucrative and efficient than others. Not much fun if you are a dairy farmer just now and haven't diversified for example. Also where the land is only good enough for sheep farming such as in mountain/high areas it can be a lot of very hard work for little return.

[colmac]

Personally I miss John Sergants dressing gown. Why did the Black Prince boat they were on have a wodge of masking tape under the Black Prince logo on the stern ?

[Paul C]

Yes, they are a bit like poor farmers.

Phil

 

Yeah feel free to dismiss farmers (and therefore farming). Best of luck sourcing your next meal - Quorn and water?

[cuthound]

Personally I miss John Sergants dressing gown. Why did the Black Prince boat they were on have a wodge of masking tape under the Black Prince logo on the stern ?

Possibly to cover up the phone number, so that C4 couldn't be accused of free advertising?

Yeah feel free to dismiss farmers (and therefore farming). Best of luck sourcing your next meal - Quorn and water?

This song sums it up.

 

http://www.last.fm/music/Ry+Cooder/_/Taxes+on+the+Farmer+Feeds+Us+All

 

Edited to add a missing space.

Edited March 25, 2015 by cuthound

[nipper]

 

I saw plenty - including my late father-in-law - while I lived in Ireland.

Yes, Mine used to go down to the pub on the Donkey!

 

Try doing that in Surrey!

 

Anyway, the series is fine and always has a laugh somewhere.

 

It also wetted my appetite to have a cruise down to London again, we did it once, in a share boat, but as usual, were limited for time. This time we have as long as we want, so the maps are out!

 

I will be, of coarse, consulting the forum for some mooring sites nearer the time.

 

Nipper

[alan_fincher]

What modern-ish Black Prince boats make use of a reconditioned taxi engine ? I though that sounded a bit fanciful!

[OldGoat]

What modern-ish Black Prince boats make use of a reconditioned taxi engine ? I though that sounded a bit fanciful!

 

I thought that as well - but kept schtum, the same with the squeaky water pump (?). However it was an elderly boat.

As with old Alvechurch boats, they end up in unusual locations. The paint was very faded....

 

Q. Would 'you' hire out one of your better boats - with T&P's visual history of hitting things and bad turns??

[alan_fincher]

I thought that as well - but kept schtum, the same with the squeaky water pump (?).

I also smiled at Tim's assertion that because a lock is at the downhill end of lots of other locks that the gates will need to work harder to hold back the pressure of all that water uphill of it!

 

(Not quite how he said it, but tat was the gist of it).

 

Despite all these little "oddities", I still love it though!

Edited March 25, 2015 by alan_fincher

[churchward]

I also smiled at Tim's assertion that because a lock is at the downhill end of lots of other locks that the gates will need to work harder to hold back the pressure of all that water uphill of it!

 

(Not quite how he said it, but tat was the gist of it).

 

Despite all these little "oddities", I still love it though!

I smiled at that too.

 

I just enjoy it as an idiosyncrasy and in any case we can all be caught making odd comments off the cuff from time to time or get words muddled. So I just see it as him being spontaneous rather than scripted and shows him human as much as anything.

[keble]

 

When I described the programme as twee and luvvie, I was talking about the programme, not their relationship. To me they seem like any married couple - he bumbles around, she watches with a long suffering look on her face. Surely that's normal?

 

Both of us have friends, family and work colleagues who are dealing in one way or another with dementia/Alzheimer's. It is all discussed openly, none of us feel there are taboos. There certainly were in the 60s and 70s. My brother, three years younger than me, was severely mentally handicapped, as it was known in those days. The only options were to keep him at home or to put him in a "hospital". No days out, holidays, trips into town, what was the point as he wouldn't appreciate or understand it... These days I see people with conditions as bad as my brother's, or worse, in town with their carers, going on trips to the seaside etc - leading as "normal" a life as possible. That makes me very happy. Sadly my brother died when he was 31.

 

However, none of this is relevant. My post was about the fact that we, as non boaters, enjoy Barging About Britain more than Tim and Pru's Canal Journeys. As I said, most people on this forum will disagree with that and our feelings that canal boating is boring. And now, on this lovely sunny but frosty morning I shall get ready for my daily walk along the towpath to work, where I can look out at an old mill and hear boats going past. Almost makes my job bearable.

I for one agree!

Twee twee twee. Tim is a disaster, far too full of himself.

 

How about pairing up Pru and John Sargent? Both are cheerful souls

[dor]

Personally I miss John Sergants dressing gown. Why did the Black Prince boat they were on have a wodge of masking tape under the Black Prince logo on the stern ?

I think it covered the phone number. I've noticed in a couple of things lately that where a commercial van is used by someone in a documentary (e.g. the one on pest controllers last night) they (BBC) seem happy to let the name bee seen, but not the contact number. I don't know if this is part of the Beeb's "no advertising" rules or to help stop nuisance calls, as it would be easy to google the name of the company.

[billh]

I think it covered the phone number. I've noticed in a couple of things lately that where a commercial van is used by someone in a documentary (e.g. the one on pest controllers last night) they (BBC) seem happy to let the name bee seen, but not the contact number. I don't know if this is part of the Beeb's "no advertising" rules or to help stop nuisance calls, as it would be easy to google the name of the company.

Surely any call to a pest control company would be a "nuisance"? Also, that company should be well able to deal with it.

[alan_fincher]

I for one agree!

Twee twee twee. Tim is a disaster, far too full of himself.

 

How about pairing up Pru and John Sargent? Both are cheerful souls

 

How about Jeremy Clarkson and Prunella Scales?

 

I hear Clarkson may be looking for work.