Attempting to seal a leak; controllable coal

We didn't move far today, just from the marina to Wolverton via the services at Cosgrove. Travel time: one hour. Before leaving the marina I had a go at sealing round the oval thing which the chimney pushes onto. We've had an intermittent leak of drips of water finding their way between the tongue and groove ceiling lining in the vicinity of the stove. The only place I can think of where the water is getting in is around where the oval thing joins the roof. The paint has cracked in one or two places. While we've been on board since Christmas it hasn't happened - even in heavy downpours - probably because we've been keeping the boat nice and warm.

This part of the flue system never gets hot as it is attached to the roof, so I used a builder's mastic. First I cleaned the area with white spirit, then I applied the mastic. Half way through smoothing it down it began to rain quite hard! Oh well. We'll see what happens.

Controllable coal? Yes, on this outing we've been burning mostly coal, and finding that it gives an excellent even heat. The fire stays in overnight, keeping the boat at a comfortable temperature. We lit it on Friday and allowed it to go out only on Monday, when we were away from the boat during the day. The coal in question is Stoveglow. It's worked superbly in the Morso Squirrel: every lump burning completely, leaving no part-burned remnants as I've encountered in the past.

Advantages of coal over logs: easy to keep going for long periods; even heat; takes less space

Advantages of logs over coal: "free" fuel if you cut/chop it yourself; produces a lot of heat quickly (but needs constant feeding); smoke smells better

*********************

This is my last post of 2013, my most prolific blogging year so far. I'm not sure I will keep it up at the rate of one per day - we'll see.

Thank you for reading my variable quality efforts. With the sound of fireworks exploding above Milton Keynes, I wish you a Happy New Year.

Windy weather, and painting more than just walls and ceilings

On a visit to Milton Keynes we know we cannot escape parental decorating duties at Ally and Ben's house. Today was the day we were asked if we would help with painting. Had I known I was going to be painting - and what was going to happen to me - I would have brought from home some old trainers and old clothes.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Last night we were tied up under a tree which had recently shed a branch, the branch which I spent a few happy hours cutting up. In the night, as the wind got up, I began to regret our position. The saucepans dangling from their hooks knocked against the side of the boat; and the solar panels rattled on the roof in the stronger gusts. Towards morning it started to rain: neither of us got much sleep! When we got up I was relieved to discover that nothing major had come down from the tree, and the solar panels were still on the roof.

As we were wondering how easy or hard it would be to move the boat in the strong wind a boat, Wagtail, came past. So it could be done. Good. The wind was mostly towards us, with enough from the side to make getting away in the normal way impossible. I was rather pleased with how well my strategy to overcome this worked: I pushed the bow out and then, before the wind had blown it back again, pushed the stern out. Hopping on board I put it into astern and reversed until the back end was about 3/4 the way towards the offside. The wind, meanwhile, had caught the bow and was pinning it to the nearside bank. Then I powered forward with the tiller positioned such that the back end headed for the nearside. This was enough to encourage the front end away from the bank - and we were under way.

In a few minutes we were at the entrance to Thrupp Wharf Marina, and the wind was blowing just as strongly. Approaching the marina from the north requires a 315 degree turn. My usual practice for winding or making a tight turn is to make the boat come to an almost complete stopn in the middle of the canal when the centre of the boat is level with the nearest "corner", then power the back end round such that the front swings to where it should go. The wind in this case meant that I had to keep the power on, which made judging the exact moment to make the turn difficult. We got in OK, though, and onto our pontoon.

After a quick coffee we jumped in the car and drove the four miles to the house. I was on painting duty, as I have mentioned. With a roller I put what I very much hope are the final coats on the kitchen ceiling and the front bedroom walls. I also applied a mist coat to the bathroom ceiling, a job made interesting by the lack of floorboards in most of the room! What I didn't bargain for was magnolia fingertips and paint all over my trouser legs. And on my shoes - I don't suppose emulsion will come off leather too readily. Hmm.

Apologies again for the lack of photos. Ben says he will have a look at the old laptop to see if he can breathe life back into it.

Another excellent day aboard, a Pink Floyd boat and a bit of towpath clearing

We awoke to find thick frost on the boat, but, thankfully, no ice in the cut. There was some thin ice in one or two pounds later, but nothing to write home about.

At 10.00 we walked down to Kathryn's cottage where we had a guided tour of her fascinating abode. As we were just about to have coffee there was a ring on the doorbell: Adam and Adrian had, not entirely unexpectedly, come as well. Thanks Kathryn, it was good to chat.

We set off down the Stoke Bruerne locks with Briar Rose, but I didn't spend much time with our boats as I was helping a boat (Division Bell) going down in front of us. The couple on board had just bought it from Whilton Marina; these were their first ever locks. I hope I was able to instil in them a few lock operating tips - they were grateful for my assistance and advice.

At the bottom we stopped for lunch. I just got our invitation to Adam and Adrian in before they returned it, but we ended up as their guests anyway. I can report that Adrian's ham was delicious; and so were Adam's mince pies.

The sun was low and ahead of us for the next bit of cruising, but there were enough bends for that not to be a problem. Just before Bridge 63 we stopped to tidy up a large branch which had fallen half on the towpath and half in the canal. I spent a good three hours sawing it up and pulling it out of the water. It got dark half-way through the operation, so the head torch came in very useful. I was certainly ready for tea when I'd done all I could: we now have a replenished log supply in the well deck. For pictures see my post of a few days ago (or a year ago) - it will look remarkably similar. Even the location was about the same.

So we're here for the night, and the wind has started getting up. Tomorrow we'll either go on three miles to Wolverton or, if the weather is too grotty, we'll swing in to the marina which is just half a mile away.

Top Thirty, 2013 week 53

Here is the UK Waterways Site Ranking (top thirty-six places) as it stood at 2020 on Sunday 29th December 2013. This is taken, with permission, from Tony Blews's UK Waterways Ranking Site.



1 Canal World Discussion Forums (=)

2 CanalPlanAC (=)

3 Pennine Waterways (=)

4 Living on a Narrowboat (+1)

5 Jim Shead's Waterways Information (-1)

6 UKCanals Network (+1)

7 Retirement with No Problem (-1)

8 nb Epiphany (+1)

9 Water Explorer (-1)

10 Waterway Routes (+2)

11 Narrowboat Briar Rose (+10)

12 boats and cruising (-2)

13 boatrent (+9)

14 Towpath Treks (+10)

15 boatshare (+4)

16 Captain Ahab's Watery Tales (-1)

17 Narrowboat Chance (+1)

18 Halfie (-5)

19 NB The Manly Ferry (-5)

20 Seyella's Journey (+3)

21 BCBM Ltd (+1)

22 Eileen Inlanding (+5)

23 Canal Shop Company (-12)

24 nb Waiouru (-4)

25 Narrowboat Dreaming .... Parisien Star (-8)

26 Boats and Canals Forum (=)

27 Herbie (+6)

28 Narrow Boat Albert (-)

29 Contented Souls (-4)

30 Marpessa2 (+3)

31 The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife (-)

32 Baddie the Pirate (-4)

33 NB Percy (-1)

34 Rock n Roll (-)

35 Milburn Boats Ltd (-)

36 Google Earth Canal Maps (-)


The figures in parentheses denote the number of places moved since the previous chart;
(-) denotes new entry or re-entry into the chart;
(=) denotes no change.

There are 111 entries, down from 112 last week.

"Are you John?", the lady said as she came to help with the lock

We decided to go north, to Stoke Bruerne. I particularly wanted to try out the Spice of Bruerne. Well, with the Christmas festivities taking centre stage, we haven't had a curry for ages, and others have mentioned eating there.

It's been a perfect day for boating. The sun has shone; the wind has not blown; and the rain hasn't, er, rained. We were in no rush to get away from the marina but, when I saw Briar Rose leave at about 9.30, I thought we'd better get a move on. We still had things to get from the car - and breakfast to eat - and it wasn't until 11.30 that we eventually reversed out from our berth and onto the canal.

We stopped at Baxter's boatyard at Yardley Gobion for a top-up of diesel and a bag of coal (Stoveglow, £9.25); and we paused at Stoke Bruerne Bottom Lock to empty the Elsan and have a light lunch. We were just getting ready to make a start on the flight when a boat popped out of the bottom lock. Yippee! We went straight in, and had an easy time of it as there were boats coming down at almost every lock.

At the top lock hordes of gongoozlers appeared from nowhere and stood round the lock as Jubilee, with Jan on the tiller, ascended. It was here that the title of this post comes into play. As I was just about to push the boat over to the side where my bike was, a woman suddenly materialised by the gate and asked me if I was John. I confessed that I was, indeed, often called by that name, and she introduced herself as Katherine Kathryn from Leo no. 2, the boat - and boater - made famous by THAT photograph by Neil of Herbie. You know the one: where Leo no. 2 seems to be in the process of transforming into a submarine on the River Thames. Anyway, she helped with the gates while I put my bike back on board (I'd been using it for lockwheeling). Lovely to meet you, Katherine Kathryn, and thanks for the invitation to coffee tomorrow.

Ally and Ben are on their way to join us for the curry, so I'll post this now and let you know how it was tomorrow.

Updated to correct spelling

On board again

We got to Milton Keynes at about midday having spent three days with my brother and his family in London. The journey across town was traffic-free, and the M1 started OK, but had ground to a halt by Junction 11. So we diverted via Dunstable and the A5 - surprisingly traffic-free once more.

We got some provisions from Tesco in Wolverton and bumped into Adrian of Briar Rose there. Having discovered that he was going to be on his own until Adam arrived in the late evening, we suggested that he came over to Jubilee for drinks in the early evening. Unfortunately, when I knocked on his window later on, his cold had worsened and he had to decline our invitation.

Before that, though, we had a family gathering on board. (Daughter) Ally and Ben came over; and so did (son) Andrew and Bekka. We enjoyed a splendid meal, cooked by Jan, before opening our Christmas presents to each other.

The stove was going a treat and we all had a good time. It's difficult for me to supply pictures as the "old" computer, the one which I usually use for blogging when away, has died. I should have asked Andrew to have a look - he's good with that sort of thing. (I'm writing this on Jan's much newer laptop, on which I have not yet installed a photo resizing programme.)

We're planning to take the boat out for a couple of days before returning to help Ally and Ben with the house. We might go to Stoke Bruerne, or we might go the other way towards Leighton Buzzard. (My preference is to go north - I like locks; and I would really like to try the Indian restaurant at SB which others have written encouragingly about. But we'll decide in the morning.)

Mild but not bitter

We were treated to lunch today by Jan's parents. We went to the Horse and Groom in Chelmsford where I managed to get through a very tasty mixed grill. Accompanying the meal I sampled the mild ale on offer. Unfortunately I didn't make a mental note of the brewer, but it was every bit as tasty as the food.

The weather has been mild too, although the wind and rain have meant that it hasn't been too pleasant outside.

***********************

Here's a photo from January when I came across a group of volunteers from the Buckingham Canal Society assessing the thickness of the clay lining of a dry section of the Buckingham and Old Stratford Canal.

I joined the Society, but have not yet participated in any of their events. Well, Norwich is 100+ miles away!

Just in case I don't get time to blog tomorrow (Christmas Eve) I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

This time a year ago

Well, all right, just under a year ago. Jan and I had borrowed our boat back from Ally and Ben and gone for a trip up to Stoke Bruerne and back. On the way we'd spotted a tree down across the towpath. As it was still there when we returned we stopped for me to tidy it up.

I think Ally told me that they had stored the logs in a friend's garage. If they haven't used them by now, they'll be ripe for burning!

We're planning to spend a few days on board after Christmas: we may well repeat the SB trip.

Top Thirty, 2013 week 52

Here is the UK Waterways Site Ranking (top thirty-six places) as it stood at 1220 on Sunday 22nd December 2013. This is taken, with permission, from Tony Blews's UK Waterways Ranking Site.

I'm sure I speak for us all when I wish Tony a speedy recovery from his illness. Get well soon, and Happy Christmas from all who subscribe to your UK Waterways Ranking Site.


1 Canal World Discussion Forums (=)

2 CanalPlanAC (=)

3 Pennine Waterways (=)

4 Jim Shead's Waterways Information (+1)

5 Living on a Narrowboat (-1)

6 Retirement with No Problem (+1)

7 UKCanals Network (+1)

8 Water Explorer (+3)

9 nb Epiphany (=)

10 boats and cruising (+2)

11 Canal Shop Company (-1)

12 Waterway Routes (+1)

13 Halfie (+3)

14 NB The Manly Ferry (+1)

15 Captain Ahab's Watery Tales (+5)

16 BCBM Ltd (+2)

17 Narrowboat Dreaming .... Parisien Star (+2)

18 Narrowboat Chance (-4)

19 boatshare (-2)

20 nb Waiouru (+6)

21 Narrowboat Briar Rose (+8)

22 boatrent (=)

23 Seyella's Journey (+4)

24 Towpath Treks (=)

25 Contented Souls (-2)

26 Boats and Canals Forum (+5)

27 Eileen Inlanding (+1)

28 Baddie the Pirate (-3)

29 Narrowboat Starcross (-)

30 Marpessa2 (+3)

31 freespirit (+1)

32 NB Percy (-)

33 Herbie (-3)

34 Tony Clayton's Canal Photographs (-)

35 Like Ducks 2 Water (-)

36 Skippy's Random Ramblings (-15)


The figures in parentheses denote the number of places moved since the previous chart;
(-) denotes new entry or re-entry into the chart;
(=) denotes no change.

There are 112 entries, down from 114 last week.

A look round Great Northern Basin

7th April 3013

At the top of the Erewash Canal is Great Northern Basin, where what remains of the Nottingham Canal and the Cromford Canal come together. Here are the Great Northern pub ...

... a Nottingham Canal toll house ...

... plenty of boats ...

... including Petrel, a 1914 Josher (according to the National Historic Ships Register).

Trying to get a bit of perspective at the far end of the basin, where the currently unrestored Cromford Canal continues, I walked to the end of a jetty.

A wire fence blocked access.

Poking my camera through the fence I was able to photograph the state of play as it was back in April.

Won't it be good when the canal is restored all the way to Cromford, with all the interest of Arkwrights mills and the connection with the Cromford and High Peak Railway?

Trains over the Trent

Canals and railways often go together. It's hardly surprising, as they both like flattish ground, with as few obstacles as possible. In the Long Eaton area of the River Trent and the Erewash Canal there are many intersections of the two modes of transport.

These are Sawley Locks, with a freight train crossing behind.

This is the same line, having curved to the north and east, viewed from the Erewash on the outskirts of Long Eaton.

And here is the same train, crossing the canal on its way to the bridge in the top photo.

All photos from our April 2013 cruise.

Narrowboat Taw on the Trent and Mersey

The last two posts have been on boats we came across on our Easter Cruise in April this year; here is one more.

Taw is a converted "river class" boat which was tied up on the Hunts Lock moorings on the T&M at Fradley.

The original blue fibreglass hold covers have been replaced by a steel cabin.

The round mooring bollard and the near-vertical stem post are features common to this class of boat.

Ethel on the Coventry

Here's another boat seen on the Coventry Canal in April, rather longer than yesterday's offering.

This is Ethel, sans rudder, at Streethay Wharf. Isn't the signwriting on the stern flashes wonderful?

The cabin paintwork has suffered; unfortunately it looks as though the timbers underneath are deteriorating.

The Historic Narrow Boat Club gives the following details: Ethel was built as a butty with an iron hull by Yarwoods in 1930.

Short and narrow

Near Huddlesford Junction on the Coventry Canal in April was this diminutive narrowboat.

Winding holes? Who needs them?

Tame Aqueduct: what is the tunnel nearby?

As Fergus steered us over the Tame Aqueduct approaching Fazeley on the Coventry Canal in April I took a photo.

Here is a closer view of Fergus.

But to the right in the original photo is an opening in the wing wall of the aqueduct.

I cannot work out what this is for. Maps.google.com sheds no light, neither does the OS map. It is obviously possible to get to the entrance as there is a youth sitting by it. Perhaps I shall investigate the next time I pass that way.

Project boat

Tied up in the Polesworth area on the Coventry Canal when we passed that way in April was this rather sad specimen of a narrowboat.

Along with the paintwork and some of the woodwork seems to have disappeared the licence number, so I can't tell what this boat is.

Does anyone know?

Judging from the tide marks on the front and rear cabins this has been sunk for a while, and recently refloated. Perhaps, these eight months later, work has already been started on its restoration.

Top Thirty, 2013 week 51

Here is the UK Waterways Site Ranking (top thirty-six places) as it stood at 1250 on Sunday 15th December 2013. This is taken, with permission, from Tony Blews's UK Waterways Ranking Site.


1 Canal World Discussion Forums (=)

2 CanalPlanAC (=)

3 Pennine Waterways (=)

4 Living on a Narrowboat (=)

5 Jim Shead's Waterways Information (=)

6 Foxglove Narrowboat (-)

7 Retirement with No Problem (-1)

8 UKCanals Network (-1)

9 nb Epiphany (=)

10 Canal Shop Company (-2)

11 Water Explorer (-1)

12 boats and cruising (+3)

13 Waterway Routes (-1)

14 Narrowboat Chance (-3)

15 NB The Manly Ferry (-1)

16 Halfie (+2)

17 boatshare (-4)

18 BCBM Ltd (-1)

19 Narrowboat Dreaming .... Parisien Star (+8)

20 Captain Ahab's Watery Tales (+1)

21 Skippy's Random Ramblings (+7)

22 boatrent (-3)

23 Contented Souls (+1)

24 Towpath Treks (-1)

25 Baddie the Pirate (=)

26 nb Waiouru (-10)

27 Seyella's Journey (-5)

28 Eileen Inlanding (-2)

29 Narrowboat Briar Rose (=)

30 Herbie (+1)

31 Boats and Canals Forum (-1)

32 freespirit (+1)

33 Marpessa2 (-)

34 Milburn Boats Ltd (+1)

35 Narrow Boat Albert (-)

36 UK Waterways Ranking Site (-)


The figures in parentheses denote the number of places moved since the previous chart;
(-) denotes new entry or re-entry into the chart;
(=) denotes no change.

There are 114 entries, up from 111 last week.

Christmas walk and meal; and another Lizard

Yes, I know it's not yet Christmas, but our walking group, the Humbleyard Hoofers, made its last excursion of 2013, ending with a Christmas lunch in a local pub.

Sandra led our walk, in brilliant sunshine.

This is where we went: The Lizard.

No, not the one in Cornwall. This is on the edge of Wymondham (pronounced "Wind-um", the "wind" as in that which blows (and as in what you do when turning a boat round)) in Norfolk.

I took a few pictures as we skirted a ploughed field ...

... before stopping for coffee.

April was in festive mood.

Towards the end of our not-very-long walk (we didn't want to be late for lunch) a self-timed group photo opportunity presented itself.

I just had time to scamper back up the steps as the camera counted down from ten.

And then it was lunchtime - hooray!

Thank you, Sandra, for organising the walk, and thank you, Jan, for organising the lunch. Both were most enjoyable.

Wood cuts

Above Mountsorrel on the Soar Navigation is this interesting scene (at least, it was when I photographed it back in April).

A wooden building appears to have been constructed around part of a narrowboat.

There's a nice pile of logs, too. I wouldn't mind some of those for our fire here at home as my woodpile is running low...

CRT "Notices" update; Shroppie featured on Radio 4

Have the people at the Canal and River Trust been reading my blog? Or is it coincidence that their "notice alerts" now indicate in the subject box whether they relate to a stoppage or a restriction?

This is better. As CRT itself admits, it has been having a few problems with the alert system - this was in one recent alert:

Update on 11/12/2013:
Due to technical issues with the new stoppage page, some teething problems have occurred. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

**************

There was a half-hour Open Country programme on Radio 4 this afternoon centred on the northern Shroppie. It included a fair bit on the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port.

This is from the website:

Felicity Evans travels along the backwaters of the Shropshire Union Canal meeting people who've adopted a new area as their own.
Starting out near Beeston she joins Wirral Autistic Society who have adopted a 2 mile stretch of the canal, which they've used regularly, to maintain its upkeep. She sets to work and finds out how it's changed how they feel about the area.
Along the way she helps monitor the hedgerows which were introduced when the canals were created to stop stock entering the waterways. Now many sections are in poor condition but they need to be improved to help a rare moth which has adopted it as its own.
Travelling on to Ellesmere Port and the National Waterways Museum [she] finds out who still use the canals and how a new generation are learning the traditional skills to rebuild and restore heritage boats.

The programme is repeated this Saturday, 14th Dec 2013, at 0607 (FM only) or is available for a week on the iPlayer.

Photo above: Shadow ascending the Bunbury Staircase in July 2010

nb Birdswood at Langley Mill

Back in April this year we cruised on Shadow up the Erewash Canal to Langley Mill. While we were looking round Great Northern Basin we saw nb Birdswood coming up the top lock.

I wrote about it at the time here, but I've only just got round to posting the photos.

Froghall Wharf is, of course, on the Caldon Canal, but Birdswood was coming to the basin to have some work done before being taken (by road) to Cromford to be used as the trip boat there.

The plaque in the above photo reads: "Great Northern Basin built by William Jessop 1796 restored by ECP&DA [Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association] 1971 - 73 with financial and other aid generously given by local councils organisations and individuals and by waterway enthusiasts from near and far afield. Opened May 26th 1973"

By the look of the hoses running down the rudder it has some sort of hydraulic propulsion system.

I expect it's all been done now and is merrily plying its trade on the Cromford Canal.

By the way, did anyone else note the significance of ten past nine this morning?

09:10 11/12/13.

Stoppages turn into "notices"

If, like me, you have signed up for CRT's e-mails informing of restrictions or stoppages to the waterways, you will have noticed that they no longer come from "Editor, Waterscape.com", but from "Notices, Canal & River Trust".

The subject heading is now merely "Notice, xyz Canal", not the more informative "Stoppage, xyz Canal" or "Restriction, xyz Canal".

Bizarrely the text of the message is headed "Notice Alert".

The actual information is the same potentially very useful stuff.

Cosgrove services, anglers and some bones

Here are three photos from yesterday morning's brief excursion to Cosgrove. First, Jubilee by the services block.

The centre lines are currently being used to tie down the solar panels, so I was slightly apprehensive about coming in to tie up. In the end the boat drifted nicely in, and the wind held it there while I fastened the bow and stern ropes.

On my way back to the marina I passed the ten or so fishermen.

And here's one for Bones.

He kept his back to me as I passed. Charming.

That bridge again, and topping up the heating header tank

Sorry - I couldn't resist sharing another photo of the red iron bridge over the Soar in Leicester.

I think it looks even better end-on.

I reversed Jubilee out of the marina this morning, winded in the marina entrance, and cruised down to the facilities block at Cosgrove. There was a small-scale fishing match opposite the boats with the noisy wind turbines, and no other boats on the move except when I set off from the facilities. The wind was pinning me to the bank, and I had to abort one attempt to get clear when a boat came from behind. Its passing actually helped me get clear, then I winded immediately above Cosgrove Lock. Getting back to the pontoon at the marina is really easy as it's directly in line with the (angled) marina entrance. And we moor bow first.

It was excellent to be boating again, even if it was no more than an hour's worth.

Then I poured water into the central heating header tank, one beer bottle at a time. The beer bottle was the ideal pourer as there is very little space between the filler and the roof of the cupboard it's in. After four pints (OK, slightly less) the water was almost up to the minimum mark so I switched on the Webasto. Hooray - it all worked fine. It's a mystery where all that water went, though. There was nothing obvious in the bilge.

I thought I had left a couple of bottles of antifreeze in that cupboard, but they weren't there. I'll have to top up the antifreeze next time.

Top Thirty, 2013 week 50

Here is the UK Waterways Site Ranking (top thirty-six places) as it stood at 2250 on Sunday 8th December 2013. This is taken, with permission, from Tony Blews's UK Waterways Ranking Site.


1 Canal World Discussion Forums (=)

2 CanalPlanAC (=)

3 Pennine Waterways (=)

4 Living on a Narrowboat (+1)

5 Jim Shead's Waterways Information (-1)

6 Retirement with No Problem (=)

7 UKCanals Network (=)

8 Canal Shop Company (+3)

9 nb Epiphany (+1)

10 Water Explorer (-2)

11 Narrowboat Chance (+11)

12 Waterway Routes (=)

13 boatshare (+3)

14 NB The Manly Ferry (+15)

15 boats and cruising (-1)

16 nb Waiouru (-7)

17 BCBM Ltd (-2)

18 Halfie (-5)

19 boatrent (-2)

20 Narrowboat Harnser (+15)

21 Captain Ahab's Watery Tales (-1)

22 Seyella's Journey (+1)

23 Towpath Treks (-5)

24 Contented Souls (+4)

25 Baddie the Pirate (=)

26 Eileen Inlanding (=)

27 Narrowboat Dreaming .... Parisien Star (-3)

28 Skippy's Random Ramblings (+3)

29 Narrowboat Briar Rose (-2)

30 Boats and Canals Forum (-9)

31 Herbie (-12)

32 Rock n Roll (-)

33 freespirit (-)

34 nb Amy Jo (-)

35 Milburn Boats Ltd (-3)

36 The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife (-6)


The figures in parentheses denote the number of places moved since the previous chart;
(-) denotes new entry or re-entry into the chart;
(=) denotes no change.

There are 111 entries, up from 109 last week.

What a lot of bollards!

Well done to Bill S. who correctly identified the splendid bridge as one over the River Soar where it branches off from the Leicester Section of the GU in Leicester. Credit is due too to KevinTOO who came very close.

Just north of the bridge seems to be rather a surfeit of bollards.

Why?

"Yesterday's" bridge is immediately beyond the line of bollards. You can't really see the bridge itself, but you can see where the towpath rises over it.

******************

I have been a busy boy over at Ally and Ben's house in Wolverton. Over the two days so far I've painted two and a half ceilings and three walls; I've removed a large quantity of gripper rod; and I've made three trips to the tip with a very heavily laden Volvo 240. (I missed seeing it pass the 180,000 miles mark on the drive to MK - I'll have to watch out for the 180081 moment.)

Tomorrow morning I might just take Jubilee out for a quick spin down to the service block and back. It won't take long. Then more work on the house before driving home.