When will it stop?

On board Jubilee opposite Frank Lyons boatyard on the north Stratford, waiting for the rain to stop. Well, there's no point just getting wet for the sake of it, is there? (We got wet enough last weekend!)

Stove is lit (in June!) and Jan's cooking up some nice smells which are bound to turn into tasty food. I have a pint on the go, and am just about to check the (domestic) battery voltage and start the engine to recharge.

Rain coming in waves: really heavy followed by steady.

Off to do checks...

Narrowboats on the Thames Pageant part two

Here's the next batch of photos of the Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant from my position between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and London Bridge (don't worry, there aren't many more).


Below: President steams under the rail bridge...


... and with some bunting in shot


Gort nearest the camera (below)


In the background below is a reminder of one of the companies responsible for a large amount of trade on the canals - Pickfords.


Not sure that this Pickfords Wharf would have seen many narrowboats, though.

Thames Pageant - narrowboat photos from a spectator

Here are some of my photographs of narrowboats passing my position on the north bank of the Thames between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and London Bridge.

I'm sorry they're not very good: I had left the camera in its slowest speed setting and there wasn't enough light. Consequently the shutter speed was so slow that there was a lot of camera shake. Also it was chucking it down with rain and I was trying not to let the camera get too wet (I fear I might have done as the zoom control seems now to be intermittent).

Here is the first batch, in the order in which I took them.


The narrowboats emerge from under Cannon Street Rail Bridge.


Doris Katia with Andrew Phasey of the St Pancras Cruising Club is nearest the camera.


Now Lotus is nearest the camera.


Our first sight of Indigo Dream. And on our side!


There's no mistaking Sue in her greyhound suit at the bow.


A shot of the crew at the back.

I'm gutted that these pictures have turned out so badly. By this stage we had an excellent viewing position right by the wall. We called out to Richard and Sue and Neil and Kath, but, even though they were fairly close to us, there was just too much noise going on for them to distinguish our voices from the crowd.

There are more to come, so, if you were in the pageant, watch this space!

Back on board Jubilee

We drove back to Jubilee today after a couple of nights in London getting cold, wet and hungry. Oh - and seeing the Queen leading the way for dozens of narrowboats on the Thames in her own Jubilee celebrations. 30 hours later my shoes have only now dried out (probably. I'll find out when I take them off in a few moments).

Before I went I put up the bunting on the boat so it now looks the part.

Tomorrow we'll be painting the new ceiling at the house down the road here in Brum, and we're hoping to start a half-term cruise. No route planned yet - we'll see how the painting goes. There are four walls to do too!

Photos will come later, including those of the Thames Pageant for what they're worth.

Top Thirty, 2012 Week 22

Here is the UK Waterways Site Ranking (top thirty places) as it stood at 2310 on Monday 4th June 2012. This is taken, with permission, from Tony Blews's UK Waterways Ranking Site.


1 Canal World Discussion Forums (=)

2 Pennine Waterways (=)

3 CanalPlanAC (=)

4 Jim Shead's Waterways Information (=)

5 Retirement with No Problem (=)

6 UKCanals Network (=)

7 Waterway Routes (+2)

8 Water Explorer (+1)

9 Granny Buttons (-1)

10 Towpath Treks (=)

11 boatshare (+2)

12 nb Epiphany (-1)

13 Jannock Website (-1)

14 Canal Shop Company (=)

15 nb Waiouru (+3)

16 Takey Tezey (-1)

17 Trafalgar Marine Services (-1)

18 Herbie (-)

19 Narrowboat Briar Rose (+9)

20 Captain Ahab's Watery Tales (-3)

21 Narrowboat Bones (-2)

22 Nb. Yarwood (-1)

23 Google Earth Canal Maps (+1)

24 Milburn Boats Ltd (-)

25 Halfie (-2)

26 nb Lucky Duck (+4)

27 ExOwnerships (-7)

28 Derwent6 (-1)

29 Stratford River Festival 2012 (-)

30 boats and cruising (-5)


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 158 entries, the same number as last week.

Thames Pageant from a spectator's point of view

We're recovering in David's house in Blackheath from the rigours of watching the amazing Thames Pageant.

Photos will follow (but mine are rubbish, I'm afraid).

We cycled from Blackheath to Lower Thames Street on the north bank of the Thames. Our position was opposite the Golden Hind, between Southwark Bridge and London Bridge. We got there at about noon, found a raised area from where we had a reasonably good view of the river, and waited.

And waited.

At this stage it wasn't raining, but we did get cold. We were sitting on a concrete bench which seemed to suck out all our body heat. David went off to find a source of insulation and returned with some discarded newspaper. I found some cardboard. It really made a big difference!

A cheer went up when a police launch zoomed past at one point, but the flotilla proper didn't come through until about 4.00 pm. The rowers were spectacular in their colourful parade, but we were all looking forward to the Queen's royal barge. We were not disappointed.

When her boat arrived Her Majesty was immediately visible standing under a canopy in the centre of the vessel. More cheers and much waving of flags from the crowds. The Queen faced our way for much of the time on her way through, waving and smiling as she always does.

Hundreds of other fascinating boats followed as the rain started to fall. The Sea Cadets made an impact in their impressive blue uniforms.

These following boats didn't hold the crowd's fascination, and the numbers by the wall thinned. We moved to the front - and then the narrowboats came, along with the heavy rain.

Andrew Phasey in Doris Katia was one of the first, but we were looking out for Indigo Dream. Steamer President was sandwiched between other narrowboats, so we didn't get a good view. Then, on our side of the river and clearly visible, came Indigo Dream.

"Oh look, it's a Womble!" said someone as Sue, wearing her greyhound costume, came into view. We waved like mad. Richard was steering, and Neil and Kath of Herbie were, we think, at the front with Sue. Jan called out to them, but I don't know if they heard or saw us.

By this stage we were all cold and mostly wet through, so we decided to cycle back to Blackheath. My shorts, which I kept on, are still damp!

Now I'm going to read Indigo Dream's and Herbie's accounts of the day.

Off to see the Thames Pageant

In a few moments we'll be cycling from David's house in Blackheath to the banks of the Thames to watch the Thames Pageant. We're prepared with waterproofs and sandwiches. Indigo Dream, we'll be looking out for you!

Birmingham Ladywood

Birmingham Ladywood is one of those constituency names which sticks in the memory (not much else does, these days). Current MP is Shabana Mahmood (Labour); a former MP is Clare Short. The names of the wards comprising the constituency all evoke canal places: Aston, Nechells, Soho and Ladywood. Well, the first three I was familiar with, from the Aston Locks, Nechells Stop Lock and Soho Loop. But Ladywood? Where's that?


Right by the Birmingham Main Line, that's where. St. Vincent Street, where we were moored the other day, is in Ladywood, as is (I believe) the NIA, one of the unmissable buildings as you pass along the main line. In a central reservation there's a striking statue of 19th century stuntman Blondin. He crossed Edgbaston Reservoir on a tightrope. (Until I get home I can't zoom in to him, so you'll have to put up with the whole photo).


Ally remarked today that I hadn't mentioned in these digital pages that she has just finished working at the Deaf Cultural Centre in Ladywood (photo above). So I'm mentioning it now. She has landed a job as a Communication Support Worker (assisting deaf people) in Milton Keynes, starting in September. Handily, it's about a mile from MK Marina.

She collected her Olympic tickets from the post office today.


The building in Moseley proudly displays the Queen's insignia and the date: 1958.



(edited to correct details about Ally's job)