A note to the universe

It's almost the end of the year and I'm not sleeping.
I've got a head full of ideas and I'm not sure how to go forward.
I'm just one person and, although I know I can set the ball rolling, I have no idea how I'm going to make a living doing what I want to do - or how I will manage to do everything - like keep the web site going etc.
This is my request to the universe ...
Help me to find someone to work with.
Help me to find a way to make enough money to continue with the project once it has started - and the energy to keep going.
Help me to find a way of making music accessible and possible for anyone.

I know you're out there - and I know these things are more than just possible - it has to happen.

It will happen.

For our troops

Just this morning I received a copy of an album made especially to support our troops.
I'm proud to say that I'm included on the album and, of course, I would be very happy to help to sell copies.
More info to follow when I get it.
L x

Sooooo Sorry

Sorry to leave you hanging - we did get onto the Thames and had a great time - we're now back in New Mills and just about recovered.
I'm having a new website made by a very good company and so don't want to do lots of work on a blog when it might all have to change - I promise I will bring everything up to date very soon though.
L

Brentford

We are moored up at Brentford.
No one has got back to us about going out onto the Thames, so we can't get out tonight.
Will give a shout when we're out ... you should hear it!

Almost in London

So sorry to have been so lax. We have been on the move since leaving Cropredy. We made our way back up the Oxford and onto the Grand Union. Several people suggested that this was the best way of doing the Thames but after we turned around we had people telling us we should have done it the other way. We'll try it the other way next time and let you know.

I've taken lots of photographs and made lots of notes but the locks on the Grand Union are big and heavy and I have now done more than 70 of them down the last few days. Every muscle is screaming and I'm way too tired to get onto the computer and write. The internet connection hasn't been great and - to make things much worse - the letter B has packed up on my best keyboard and I am having to use a straight one at the moment, which I am finding very hard indeed - once you get used to the curved one it's almost impossible to go back to a normal one.

Anyway - I just want you to know that we are now only a couple of days away from getting onto The Thames. Sadly we will not be going via the Houses of Parliament as we were too late to book to go through with other boats and I do not yet have my VHF license ... but maybe next year.
It's still exciting to have come this far and I'm looking forward to going through the Royal Botanical Gardens just for starters.

I'll catch up soon - sooner if I can find a PC World and buy a new keyboard!!

I'm working on it!

I am writing - it's just hard to get a good connection that will hold while the photos go in.

This is a bit more - I'll come back and finish it ... and put in the photos ... just as soon as I can.

19th July - continued from previous entry.

Once through the main locks we headed for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. We just wanted to go to Tixal Wide to moor up for the night. Rumour has it that when the canal was in the planning stages, the ‘Lord of the Manor’ granted permission for the canal to go through his land – on condition that it would widen out in front of his residence, thus providing him with a better view. His wish was granted and, although the manor is long gone, the canal and its ‘wide’ have survived and it has become a popular place to moor for the night.
We turned into the canal and almost immediately we saw water lilies in great abundance, there were mayflies dancing across the surface water and the evening sun cast its soft golden light over the perfect scene. There were many boats; people sat drinking wine, reading books or just shooting the breeze. We passed a man who was fishing just as he pulled a sizeable crayfish up on the end of his line. It was an evening for feeling good about things. Sadly we were not able to moor up, there simply wasn’t room, so Tony turned a slow arc in the ‘wide’ and we headed out again. It was a shame – but at least we had made the effort and we also took a little of the atmosphere with us. We had to go through one lock before we found a place to moor and then we put a couple of chairs out onto the tow-path and had a beer; it had been a very pleasant day.

Tuesday 20th July

Tony’s knee, which had been aching yesterday, was swollen and painful. We found the nearest chemist and I went to get some advice from the chemist. They recommended a cold compress, painkillers and resting the leg. We stopped for a little while, wrapped a pack of frozen peas in a towel (where would we be without frozen peas in these situations?) and put them on his knee as he waited for the painkillers to do their work. He could hardly stand up – let alone steer the boat so I got my first long stint on the tiller. I do enjoy steering the boat, but I still panic in tight situations.
I had to ask him for help a few times, once when we went through a very narrow channel, and a couple of times when people were coming at me as I was passing moored boats (I’m terrified of hitting someone else’s boat) ... but for the most part it was OK. I did take a bridge too wide at one point and hit the bank with the back end. Harvey, thinking we were stopping, simply jumped off. Luckily I was able to coax him back on before the boat came too far away from the bank – otherwise I’m not sure what I would have done.

We eventually stopped for the night near Streethay wharf ... smack opposite a small airfield. I was just making a cup of tea when a small plane suddenly started to taxi into position, and then took off over the top of us. I took a bit of film to prove it – but I’m not sure how to get it on here .... I’m working on it.
No other photos today – I had too many other things to think about.

Wed 21st July

Tony’s knee much better – must have been the peas!
This turned out to be a steady day with lots of locks. Progress was slow because the traffic was quite heavy in both directions. The sun was riding high in a cloudless sky; it was hot and by about 1pm we were worn out, so we stopped for a couple of hours to let it cool down a little. When we set off again it seemed that everything was back in sinc as boats were coming out of the locks just as we were ready to go in. We were through in no time, but it took a while to find a nice place to moor up for the night. The middle of nowhere is always a favourite spot and we did eventually find a little haven. It was only 9:30 when I took Harvey out for a final stroll – I think he thought we’d gone mad but sore and weary bodies need sleep, stupid to resist really.

Thur 22nd of July

An 8:30 start... late!
We were not in a rush so I spent a bit of time cleaning up the boat. Harvey is losing hair as fast as I can sweep it up and it’s easy to get very untidy on a boat when you’re on the move. I walked back down the towpath to get the number of a chap who makes chimneys and we got set off around noon. We got as far as Nuneaton when a chap, coming too fast through a bridge, pushed us into the side. We stopped for half an hour and I went to the post office to post a few cards off.
Set off again in search of somewhere nice to stop for the night before we go into Coventry tomorrow. On the other side of Nuneaton three kids, with nothing better to do, decided to try and urinate on Tony from a footbridge. Luckily Tony had worked out what they were up to and got himself under the hatch in time. Not a pleasant experience, and it’s hard to understand this kind of mentality, but no real harm was done. It did unsettle me though and, even though we moored up well away from any houses, for the first time I didn’t feel totally safe. Harvey seemed to pick up on it and he growled at anything that moved for the rest of the evening.

Actually Harvey is starting to get quite protective about the boat – he doesn’t like it to be out of sight if we’re walking along the towpath and if Tony and I are doing something outside the boat, like mooring up, he always sits close to the stern and lets us know if someone is coming. It has surprised me because he’s as new to all this as I am.

Friday 23rd July

Today we went into Coventry basin, almost in the centre of Coventry. We passed through the industrial area to get in and I found it depressing. The local council had made a real effort to clean up the towpath, there were statues and lovely wrought iron work everywhere, but everything was covered in graffiti; except the swans and you had to wonder how they had managed to stay white in such an environment.
We needed to do some shopping and noticed from the map that there was a Tesco on the way. It was signposted from the towpath so we moored up and I left Tony with the boat, and Harvey, and set off to go shopping. I passed a small estate which was surrounded by a high metal fence with security locked gates, and of course security cameras everywhere. It almost looked like a prison, but it was designed to keep the potential ‘inmates’ out. I didn’t hang around; I got back as soon as I could to find some rather dubious looking characters loitering on the tow-path. Tony said they had been walking back and forth so we were glad to untie and get out of there. Finally we came into the basin itself and there stood a huge statue of James Brindley doomed to forever study the huge ledger on the table before him.


As soon as we were in close enough, Harvey jumped off the boat and ran over to James, giving him ‘What for’ barking and growling. It’s a shame I wasn’t fast enough to find the camera and film him as it certainly had me laughing.

The basin itself was really well maintained and interesting. We wandered around for a while, looking at the buildings and reading all the various bits of information dotted around the place. There were only about 5 boats moored up and I wondered what it must have been like when it was in full swing.
Not far from the basin was the Transport Museum, housing the land-speed record breakers Thrust 1 and 2, and all other types of vehicles back to the penny-farthing. Ice cream vans, buses, motorbikes, Jags, Rollers, the first Fords ... it was really quite an education, and quite frightening that some of the cars now classed as museum pieces have gone past in my lifetime. I was just starting to feel old when we spotted a photo of the minis in ‘The Italian Job’. I had no idea that part of the mini chase scene had been shot in the Coventry sewers ....but I didn’t feel so bad about my ignorance as it seems that ‘Not a lot of people know that’.
I’m a bit worried about Harvey who is off his food. He left his breakfast, totally shunned all dried food and would only eat a little bit of the tinned stuff. I know he needs to lose a little weight – but this is not a good way of doing it.
The internet was working quite well so I used the evening to catch up on a few emails. To say we were so close to the centre it was surprisingly quiet.

Sat 24th July

We got up early and went back to the Transport Museum as Tony wanted to have a photo taken with ‘Thrust 2’. This time we went on the simulator, it was too late yesterday, to see the film taken from inside the vehicle as it broke the land-speed record. I thought it was great and my knees were well wobbly afterwards! We walked down for another look at the beast that still holds that record. Tony stepped into the ring briefly to get this photo. A smile would have been nice – but hey – here’s the proof that he was there.
A bit of shopping and it was time to set off. We meandered our way back and, having now done the whole of the Coventry canal, we headed for the Oxford canal. We’re slowing down now that we are so close to Cropredy – we don’t want to get there too early, but we did need to get somewhere near before we started to take it easy.

Sun 25th July to 28th

We spent the next three days moving towards Braunston – very slowly.
We bumped into some friends from Skipton but they had to moor up a little further down the canal so I took Harvey for a walk and popped down for a natter and a cup of tea – that’s when they told me about some new books that show you what’s around the canal – shops, vets, docs, etc. etc. I think they are called Canal Mate .. I’ll be looking them up as I’m sure it’s a good idea to get them. Finding Docs and Vets is easy enough when you have internet but shops are a different ball game, I’m sure they must be very useful.
We had an evening meal at the Barley Mow in Brinklow - that was really nice, they were helpful and friendly, the food was good, the beer well kept and they were not expensive either; a perfect place to take a breather.
Harvey still wasn’t eating (although he didn’t refuse his Sunday pig’s ear) so we located a vet in Rugby and I took him for a check up. He suffered the indignity of a thermometer up his bottom with reasonably good grace and it turned out that he did have a temperature. He has been drinking canal water when he gets the chance (I’ve tried to stop him but he’s sneaky) and it seems that there are lots of bugs in the water at the moment and so he was given a course of antibiotics and the vet said to put him on chicken and rice for a couple of days. His ears perked up at that, chicken is his favourite so here’s one dog that will enjoy being poorly. One last kiss for the vet (from Harvey not me) and off we went £50 poorer! Back at the boat we decided to move along a little before stopping for the night and in our haste to move I left one of my favourite cups on the bank ... grrr.

Wed 28th July

We came through Hillmorton locks – they are ‘double’ in that there are two single locks side by side. It was nice that they were still all in use as it meant for a quicker passage through – exactly what they were meant for in the first place of course. The only problem was that there was not much space for the windlass and at one point mine spat back and hit my hand – big bruise, big bottom lip – but I didn’t cry!
Finally we pulled into Braunston but couldn’t get onto the water point before turning onto the Oxford. Our cassettes were both in need of a clean and it meant a considerable walk to sort that one out..... must buy another cassette.
The dongle internet was so slow it was untrue and Tony wanted to bid on something on Ebay so, having been told that they had free Wifi, we went across to the pub. Tony sat outside with the laptop and Harvey as I went in to get the drinks. He had given me £10, I got a pint and a half of the local ale and came back with £4.20 change. Tony’s face was a picture ... “How much?”. It perhaps wouldn’t have been so bad but it was all in vain, I couldn’t get onto the Wifi anyway, the battery on the laptop was running low and then it started to rain so we had to go back to the boat anyway.
That’s when we spotted the other boat – the one that towed the butty ‘The Star’ that we had seen earlier..
I’ll slot the story in as soon as I can get Tony to dictate it.
We decided to stay here another day as I needed to get to the post office and we needed a few provisions.

Thur 29th July

I walked into the village with Harvey. It is an old village and has a very pretty church, a windmill, and some lovely features on some of the old cottages. I got everything we needed and then I walked back via the chandlers. I was delighted to find a small ‘Tippy’ for the ashes from the fire. I struggled last year without one as the one from the cottage was way too big to keep on the boat. This one fits neatly behind the stove and will be invaluable. I also noticed that they sold paint. I have decided to paint the bottom part of the boat black instead of green – it’s easier to maintain and looks better too. I didn’t buy any as I wasn’t sure exactly what to get – or how much – I needed some advice first.
The weather has been really good to us and we have been able to sit out on the chairs – this evening was no exception and so we sat shooting the breeze. Harvey, much improved sat at our feet. I was having trouble getting the tablets down him no matter how much I ground them down, so I knew he was on the mend.

Fri 30th July

Up – not too early and I wanted to go and get the paint before we set off. Harvey had had his walk and breakfast, oil and water had been checked and so we were ready for off, I was just about to go over to the Chandler’s on my own when Tony piped up
“I’d better come with you or you’ll come back with a cabbage!”
It’s great to know he has so much confidence in me!!
We got the paint and set off. Made our way through Napton locks but didn’t realise we’d finished them so Harvey and I walked miles looking for the next one before realising we were wasting our time. We found a nice spot to moor up ... and that was it for the day.



Saturday 31st of July to the 15th of August

The Oxford canal was dug to follow the contours of the land. That later changed and some parts were shortened but today’s journey still took us around lots of impossible bends through about 4 miles of system back to a point 1000 yards or so from where we set off. Not that we minded or anything, it just seemed strange when the canal were built for working boats. We then passed through a narrow channel that was once a tunnel, not an easy bit. We stopped at Fenny Marina for diesel and a couple of other bits and pieces and on through the lock into Cropredy. Two weeks to go and the place is already full of boats. We went on through and found a place to moor up – but then realised that we were too close to a wasps nest – not good! We moved on a little further and manage to get the very last mooring on the metal shutters. It’s a nice spot, but quite a way from the water point, a problem to be solved as our water tank will not last 2 weeks ... no way. The loo also needs emptying and of course we have to get rid of any rubbish too .... all these facilities are in the same spot. We’ll solve it.
Once moored up I called Neil and Caroline as they live in Twyford, which is not so far away. To my surprise and delight they said they would come over in a couple of hours so we went out for a meal which was more than we had expected to do. What a lovely way to start our stay in Cropredy, especially as they brought us some beer – and we spent time sitting on the towpath playing guitars and having fun before we went out to eat.
Day one over, we had two weeks to wait and I thought it would drag – but it went really fast!
We had to walk to the water point each day to fill up our water containers as we daren’t move the boat in case someone came along and took the mooring. That process took the best part of an hour. We got most of our provisions at the local Spar shop and I made good use of the post office to catch up with ‘no computer’ people I haven’t been in touch with for a while Actually I’m glad that some have held out – writing letters by hand is therapeutic.
A couple of days in, we met the chap with the boat in front of ours. He lives in Banbury and takes refuge on his boat as often as he can. He remembered Tony because Tony did some work on a friend’s boat in Cropredy a couple of years ago. His name is Chris and it would be hard to find anyone kinder. He offered to take us to Tesco and he also helped with our water situation by bringing us some huge containers, already full of water.
Neil and Caroline very kindly offered to accept post for me so I was able to get a trolley, a new cassette for the loo, some books, a water pump and, most important of all, a whirly gig (no cuddly toy I’m afraid). I managed to find a small airer on Amazon so it should easily attach to the swan’s neck (tiller) and I will be able to dry my washing outside ... heaven. Neil and Caroline called back to see us a couple of times and also took us to Tesco. People are so kind!
I had a walk into Banbury one day – that was nice – I don’t often get the chance to get into town shops so it was good to replace the rucksack that gave up the ghost and get a few other bits and pieces.
A boat pulled in behind us and we met Ian, another nice person; where do they all come from?? We moved our boat up a little so that he could get the front part of his boat on the shuttering. He wasn’t staying, just leaving his boat in situ so that he and his two lovely kids could come back for the festival.
Other visitors were Pam and Colin from Brook St (my home for 10 years before I bought the boat); they were going past and so decided to call in – I really do appreciate it when people do that. It was lovely to see them too and catch up on the news from ‘back home’.
Mark and Dominic came for dinner one evening and I just about managed to rescue the Lasagne from certain death.
Tony saw a generator advertised in the shop window at the Spar shop so I bought it – I’m sure it will come in more than handy. A few days before the festival Tony woke up with a really bad back; he had an accident a few years ago and so, every now and then, it gives him hell. Luckily it cleared up the day before the festival started – that was a relief.
A week before the festival things started to arrive in the fields, toilets and showers for the campers and, in the main field, a massive stage, lights, the sound tower, road surfaces, fences; it just kept on arriving! It was fascinating to watch; and quite an education too.
Suddenly it was Thursday the 12th, the field opposite the boat filled up with tents in the space of 40 minutes. Talk about well organised!
At around 2 pm we ventured into the village. I don’t know what the locals think as their quiet village is transformed. Rivers of people flow down the streets, in and out of the pubs, and on to the festival ground, but everyone is good-natured and there is no trouble – great huh?
After two weeks of really nice weather it started to rain. It seemed so unfair, but it seems that ‘festival goers’ are immune to it now, so up went the brollies and spirits stayed high. The music began to play and it was a great festival.

We have been in Cropredy for a whole week – but I haven’t been able to bring the Blog up to date as the internet connection with Vodafone was really slow; mostly stop. I bought myself a new pay as you go dongle from the 3 network and it was brilliant ... until Windows 7 downloaded an update of some description – then it died on the lap top. ... says ‘No network’. It works great on the main computer, which is still XP, but the main computer is too thirsty on electricity so I can only use it briefly each day. ..... the joys of boating!! If anyone has any bright ideas – I’m listening.

Anyway – I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do this another way – so here goes.

Back in New Mills, a whole lifetime ago, that’s 4 weeks ago, it seemed like everything was going really slow, then suddenly we were preparing to be off.
Tony’s boat had been sandblasted and the first coat of primer was on.
We had sanded it all down and Tony had started to paint it, but it was obviously going to be too long a job and so Keith (who has already made a nice job of painting one boat at the marina) agreed to get it as far as a holding coat so that we could set off. Tony will do the rest when we get back.



Left Wet blasted, dry blasted the following day.

Right First coat of primer is on

It had already had its 2nd coat of primer by the 15th of July – so we decided to set off on e the 16th. I was all ready by then, I’d done all the washing and ironing, making the most of the fact that I was still plugged in to the national grid as regards electricity, the boat was clean, Harvey was shampooed and brushed, I had even cleaned the windows (you know how I love doing that!).

Tony moved himself on board and we went to bed early expecting an early start, but it wasn’t to be. The wind got up in the night and so we spent a good deal of time sorting out the tarp over the boat – the last thing we needed was for it to blow away!! By the time we had finished it was still too windy to set off. Strong winds are a nightmare on the canal – they can have you pinned to the bank and unable to move – so there is little point in casting off in the first place! but at least we were prepared.

SAT the 17th of July

By 7am the next morning, the wind had died down and the sun was shining so we had a last cuppa with Sheila and Norman, cast off and headed for the winding hole to turn around. We went back past the marina a few minutes later and waved goodbye to Colin and anyone else who was around ... see you in three months or so .....at least that’s the plan.

Did I mention that I have also bought another little boat? A 24ft Springer, which I will have to sort out when I get back – so there’s plenty to do this winter. I didn’t take any pictures of her as she really does need quite a bit of TLC before she starts to look pretty again! More about that later...
We were off, boating, sailing, whatever you want to call it – we were gone and I was moving again – I’m always happy when I’m on the move. There must be some gypsy blood in me somewhere!
First stop Bollington – but we passed the beautiful Clarence Mill on the way. It’s such a shame to see so many derelict mills – and so nice when one has been restored and used again. This is a wonderful example of how it can be done.



We stopped in Bollington for diesel and chatted to ‘Old Joe’ as he filled us up. Joe wasn’t around last time we came through – we were served by Martin that time – with his ready smile and wicked Irish humour. They make a good team! I popped into Bollington to get a few supplies, found the Spar shop, gathered up milk, eggs and a couple of other bits and took them to the counter. I know only one person in this area, Rosemary, a Magna Carta fan from many moons ago, so imagine my surprise when I put my basket on the counter and there was Rosemary, large as life. I don’t know who was most surprised. We had a brief chat and I had to go, maybe I’ll get to call in again on the way back.

It was a lovely day, it drizzled a little now and then but nothing to worry us. Harvey was as happy as a sand-boy, standing on the back deck watching the world go by. Tony spotted a Kingfisher, I think I must have been making tea at the time. Tony was chatting and pointing things out all the time.

We passed what Tony thinks was the first ‘Hovis’ mill ... sadly it no longer said Hovis on it anywhere. We also passed quite a few of these...




This is a snake bridge – designed so that when the tow path changed sides, the horse pulling the boat could also change sides without having to be untied. Notice the shape inside the bridge too – the sides were curved to make sure the horses could pass through easily. All these things I would never have really noticed.
On we went until we got to the bottom of Bosley locks. That was enough for one day so we pulled in and had dinner. Not a bad day at all. We had made good time and were certainly ready for a good night’s kip.

SUN 18th July

Up at 6:30am – I know you find it hard to believe, and sometimes I do wonder how I’ve managed to change so much. It certainly confuses Harvey who opens one eye and then quickly closes it again, hoping that I haven’t noticed and won’t take him for a walk just yet. Then he realises that the bed must be vacant and makes his way to the front of the boat in the hope of grabbing a few luxury zeds. Sometimes he’s lucky but on this morning the bed was already made and he was chucked onto the towpath for a short walk before we got under way.
We knew we would be going through Harecastle tunnel today. It’s 1.75 miles (2.8 Km) long, one of the longest in Britain, so I thought it would be a good idea to test the headlamp. It didn’t work. I couldn’t believe it! Further investigation led us to the fact that it had been turned off on the control panel, but I have no idea how or why as I only ever turn off the water pump ... but anyway, the problem was solved.
We stopped at Heritage boat yard where we filled up with diesel and I bought a spare headlamp – I need one for the new boat anyway so it seems a good idea to have a spare on board. Harvey and I had a walk before the stop lock at Hall Green and then we made our way onto the Trent and Mersey.



Harvey hates locks – and he also hates tunnels. This one takes a good 45 minutes to get through and we arrived in time to go straight in – that was lucky. I had set up the CD player and intended to keep Harvey in the cabin with music playing but he was having none of it ... he wanted to be with us on the back. In the end Tony very kindly steered us safely all the way through, whilst the boat behind us banged into the side several times.

Looking behind - there's not much to see except the lights of the following boat

I sat down on the back deck with Harvey’s left ear pressed up against me and my hands over his right ear. That helped but he hated every minute of it. By the time we got out he was panting like mad and his heart rate was way too high.
About a mile further on Tony spotted a lake and suggested we stop and let Harvey have a swim. That did the trick – a good swim and he forgot all about the nasty tunnel.

Harvey relaxing after his swim


We were thinking of stopping by then – but decided to go on a little further to the junction with the Caldon as they had facilities there and we could water up and empty the rubbish and the loo ... it’s always a good feeling when that’s done.
We were, by that time, in the area known as ‘The Potteries’ ... where all your finest Wedgewood comes from. We passed many kilns – some were used for burning the bone and flint used to make ‘fine bone china’ – this picture is of one of the large kilns which will have been used for actually firing the china. I still hate seeing the broken frames of these old buildings. It’s progress I guess, and there will be many who hated the very sight of these places, but still it seems a shame that they should be allowed to crumble away like this.



All the way down we were spotting damsel flies. I was surprised at the size of them as I have only really seen them this big out in the Middle East. I have much to learn.
Finally we stopped at the junction and moored up at the top of the locks. Tony went for a shower – it’s great when you find a BW one as you can have a proper shower – don’t have to turn it off when you wash and turn it back on to rinse – it’s a real luxury to just be able to stand under it – small pleasures! I took Harvey for a stroll; we had something to eat and then turned in.

MON 19th July

I got up at 6:30 and went for my shower ... only to find that someone was in there already ... yah boo hiss, had a shower on the boat instead. Went and set the locks and off we went.
It was all fairly uneventful until we got to Stone ... then we found ourselves in a queue for the locks. It’s no good being in a rush on the canals – you just have to go with the flow and so we did one lock an hour and drank an awful lot of tea. It was all very friendly – except for one chap who seemed to be the most miserable chap on the planet for the day. I felt sorry for his poor wife who was catching all the flack.... I wasn’t sorry to see the back of him that’s for sure! Locks are hard work and so it’s best to tackle them with a cheerful attitude ... a long face can make the whole process seem to take forever; poor woman, I hope he was just having an off day.
If you ever wondered how much a lock gate might weigh – wonder no more, this little beauty is 2000Kg, but of course wood ‘floats’ in water so these are not half as bad as the iron gates that you come across from time to time.



At the side of one of the locks is The Star Inn. There were several pints lined up on the lock gate and there were several lads a little ‘left of centre’ having fun with the boaters. Behind them, spotted a little too late, was a beer garden where people were enjoying pints of falling over water and fine pub cuisine. Harvey had clocked this long before I did so, when I turned around to make sure he was OK, he was nowhere in sight. There was a lot of laughter and people were pointing under the table, that’s when I spotted the little monkey, hoovering up anything he could find as fast as possible – so much for having him on a diet! I dragged him out, but the damage was done, and I was the wicked witch for not letting him play ... can’t win!

Just before the last lock Tony spotted a butty (a boat with no engine, meant to be towed) .... This one was called 'The Star'.



There's quite a story behind this but I'll tell you more later as we have also now seen the boat that towed it.








Once through the main locks we headed for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. We just wanted to go to Tixal Wide to moor up for the night
TBC

I'm still here

Hi
Sorry this is all taking an age.... we 'slammed' it down from New Mills in case there were any water problems, which there weren't, but the internet connections have been less than perfect and I'm hoping that I can get this bit of an explanation to load before I lose the signal again!!

We have been into Coventry and are now on the Oxford canal.Met up with some friends tonight nice surprise.
I have taken lots of pics and made notes so will bring this up to date as soon as the connection is good enough,
Harvey is doing great - he's a real boat dog now, jumping on and off the boat at the right times (always handy) and he uses the gang-plank like a pro.
Promise I'll get back with more details soon.

We're on our way

We've set off ... yesterday in fact ... but I'm so tired I'm in no fit state to write anything!!

I'm making notes and taking photographs so I will write it all up in full ... just not tonight.

We are presently moored at the junction of the Leek canal with the Trent and Mersey. I'm not sure if we're in Stoke on Trent or Newcastle Under Lyme. In fact we seem to be between the two.
Tomorrow we continue along the Trent and Mersey, starting with 5 locks - hoping to be away by 6am ... I'll let you know how it goes.

Harvey is loving it!! I was worried because he has been rather 'off it' of late, but he is a new animal and I'm so thrilled that he's enjoying it.

More soon
L x

Soon... very soon

We should have been gone by now but the deal was that Tony's boat would be sandblasted and painted before we left. It took some time to organise getting it sandblasted, then the first chap that came wasn't doing a good job so we had to get someone else, but it has now been done and the first coat is on.
Tony decided to ask someone else to finish the painting so that we could get on our way so it looks like we'll be off very soon. We're aiming for Wednesday but I think that might be a bit too ambitious .... we'll see.
I'll post some pics of the boat soon.

Ready at last

Finally, after what seems like forever, the web site is ready, the CDs have been made and are now available for sale, the leaflets are here, cards have been printed and we're almost ready to set off on our trip, first to Cropredy and then on to London.

I just have a few letters to write and then I'm going to stop for a week and do some work on the boat. I need to sort out some paint work and the front deck is a mess - needs to be re-done completely.

It will be nice to do some physical work for a change.

Once I've done all that it will be time to start making phone calls to get started.

Watch this space!!

Having fun

It isn’t all work..



Wherever I go I seem to meet lovely people and New Mills Marina is no exception.

Norman and Sheila had their privacy invaded somewhat as I squeezed my boat between their boat and the jetty, but they were lovely about it and we get on well.
Hopefully I won’t be outstaying my welcome as I’ll be off to London soon.

I met up with Colin again; along with his daughter Georgia – now Harvey’s ‘best friend’ (see left).



It was great to see Tracey again too and everyone was very welcoming.

I had lots to do, what with the recordings and setting up the web site so I wasn’t twiddling my thumbs, but it was nice to get to know everyone and when it came to the first bank holiday I was delighted to find that we were going to take the boats out to ‘Buggy Basin’ for a couple of days. BBQ stuff was thrown in, tents, chairs … anything and everything … then off we went. It only took about an hour to get there but it didn’t matter – it was a fun. The BBQ was set up, and then a gazebo with mesh sides.

We lashed a couple of blankets around it as it was a chilly wind. Copious amounts of tea first – and then the alcohol started to appear – and disappear.

Norman asked if I’d be playing guitar and intimated that he might sing and ‘play the comb’ if I knew ‘The trail of the Lonesome pine’ … I had no idea – but I made a point of finding it on You Tube and learning it. I had already done the CD recording by then and Andy, keyboard player from Tangent, came with his much better half Sally, and together we got the song together.

We played a few other songs and then came Norman’s moment. I handed out song sheets to everyone and off we went. Norman didn’t let us down – he was a hit. Everyone was having fun …and choking because, by that time, we had brought the fire inside to try and keep warm but the smoke was a bit of a problem in such a confined space. Somewhere there is a very funny photo of the tent with smoke pouring out of it – I’m still trying to get hold of a copy.

We didn’t care about the smoke, we were having a good time and nothing was going to spoil it.
Andy played a couple of his own songs – I did the same but then tried to play as many as I could think of that everyone would know. It was a hoot. I didn’t look at my watch all evening, and I have no idea what time we went to bed, but we were all full of burgers and we all smelt like burnt sausages!!

The following morning, after I’d managed to get the coughing under control, I wandered over to Norman and told him that we’d had an offer from EMI – a £10,000 advance for the song.; Norman didn’t miss a beat – he said that would be fine but he wanted some better quality toilet paper for the comb; it seems the stuff I had provided had made his lips sore!

Bacon baps for breakfast and then more cups of tea. A shopping trip to top up the depleted stocks and the whole thing started again. It was a great way to spend bank holiday weekend. … even going home was fun. All in a line; shouting derogatory comments at each other.

It had been a lovely weekend…. Roll on the next one!!


The Acoustic festival of Britain

Next came the gig – I had been in touch with The Acoustic Festival of Britain and they had very kindly allowed me a spot. Jonathan and Andy had agreed to do it with me and so we had rehearsed the day before and then off we went. We were well early and decided to have breakfast before going in. We were on at 1pm and the stage would not be free for a sound check until 12noon so we enjoyed our bacon and eggs and then went around to the festival. We arrived at 11.50 … to be told that the times had changed and we were on at 12 noon.

I love to have time to get ready and relax before a performance, so this was not the greatest news, but we got down to the tent, sound-checked in record time and simply started.

I felt very out of balance but it seems we gave a good account of ourselves and we managed to attract quite a few people in so it wasn’t a lost cause.

The gig was filmed and I'm hoping that Andy will help me get some bits on You Tube ..... I'll let you know if and when.

After the set I had a quick chat with Kate Rusby … I wanted to see if she could help me to contact Mike Harding because he would be the one person who could really help me to get this project off the ground. I hate to be disturbed as I’m getting ready to go on stage and I assume that Kate is probably the same and so, I tried to explain everything in 3 seconds flat and probably left her confused.

She did tell me to get in touch with her Dad though – and I did get a contact address for Mike Harding so thank you Kate – and sorry for the burble.

Slowly but surely I’m getting things together and now it’s time to start getting that CD out to radio stations and see if I can get something going.

Wish me luck

Making the CD

I’ve been working on this whole concept now for almost two years and it has changed considerably over that time.

My first idea was to have a band on board and take them down to London, playing gigs along the way but, as soon as I started living on the boat, I realised that that was going to be a no-no. .. not enough space.

So, a major re-think later, the plan is to try to open venues and arrange events for acoustic musicians. It all sounds like great fun, but it’s not possible to live on fresh air, and so I had to find some way of earning money at the same time.

There are a couple of other ideas, that might come into play as this project goes forward, but the most obvious thing to do is to sell music at these events. To that end I have put together a CD of my own material, some from my time with Magna Carta and 4 new tracks recorded since I left the band.

To have a CD, you need a record company and so Mama Don’t Records was born.

Future CDs will feature the best musicians and writers that I come across as I work but there had to be a starting point and I don’t apologise for using my own material as I need to lift my own profile and let people know that I’m doing this as a musician, for musicians.

THE FIRST CD is called ‘Moving On’

It came about as follows;-

Jonathan Barrett played with Magna Carta several years ago. After he left the band we stayed in touch and, when I left Magna Carta, we started working on songs together.
By that time I had already decided to buy a narrow boat to run some kind of music project, so the house was sold and almost the whole of last summer was devoted to getting the boat right. There had to be space for everything I would need on board and so the interior design was quite crucial.

Eventually the boat was ready but I knew nothing about getting from A to B, I’d had a few lessons but not enough to feel confident enough to set out alone.

Through a series of happy accidents a friend recommended Tony who came and helped me to get my boat to Barnoldswick. We got on well and so I asked if he would be prepared to come with me on a trip to London and back. He said yes and so, in April, we set off from Barnoldswick and came to the Peak District (see previous post).

By that time Jonathan had started working with a band called Tangent, they rehearsed every week in New Mills, just down the road from where I am now moored…coincidence? I don’t think so.

I was chatting to Jonathan at one point and mentioned that I would dearly love to record some new tracks to put on an album and he suggested that I meet the guys from Tangent with a view to using the drummer’s home studio set up.

I jumped at the chance and on the 21st of April met Michael Gilbourne, great drums and percussion (he also teaches drums) and Andy Tillison, an excellent keyboard player and singer who also writes the material for Tangent.

We managed to record three tracks in one day – that’s pretty difficult to do when 3 out of 4 are not familiar with the songs. With more time, we could probably have had a more polished result, but I felt the recordings had a charm for being slightly reticent and was happy with what we had achieved.

A couple of years before I had recorded a song called ‘Africa Theme’ in Holland at the new recording studio in the Eekhoornnest Bungalow Park. We always stayed there when we were on tour and they had offered to let me try it out. I had left the song there hoping that Matt Barnhoorn, Magna Carta’s mandolin and violin player, would put harmony vocals on it. Sadly he never managed it and so it has stayed a one voice a cappella performance (I’m sure at some stage we’ll put that right).

I wasn’t sure if the recording would still be there but Piers de Jong found it and sent it over – so I then had four new songs.

It had to be mastered before it could go into production and so I got in touch with Digital Audio in Skipton. They had done a few CDs for us and the quality could not be faulted and so I felt confident of a good result.

The art work can be a massive headache. I had no idea what I wanted – other than it had to be fun, so I asked Walter Goyen if he could help me. I don’t know where he finds his patience but he said yes and came up with a great idea. We put the lyrics in and I had the idea of a booklet that could be reversed and become a hand-out so that the CD and the project could advertise each other. Emails – so many emails, poor Walter was flooded with them, but eventually it all started to come together.

A trip to Skipton sorted out the mastering but ‘Only Road Home’ wasn’t sitting properly. I had chosen the very first version that was ever recorded, as that was the one that had the impact on my Mum. I will never forget her sitting there, listening to the song. She had tears in her eyes and that was when I knew she understood why I lived for my music.

I asked Chris if we had any other versions that might fit the CD better and he found one that slotted in perfectly. He offered to sort it out and even went to Digital Audio to master it for me, which was very nice of him….but then he’s good at that sort of thing and I hope he enjoyed the process.

When everything was almost ready I received a list of ‘got to do this lot first’ … blimey it was quite a list and I thought I’d never get there but, eventually, all was in order and the CD was in production.

Two days ago it all paid off and the CDs arrived. For the first time I had in my hands a CD that was all mine. I don’t think it has sunk in yet.

Now I’m working on the web site to get a shop set up to sell them – I can’t live on fresh air and there’s still a long way to go….

From Barnoldswick to New Mills

I'd had trouble trying to get the boat builder to sort out my calorifier (hot water tank), it was leaking rather badly but they didn't seem to be able to find the time to come and sort it out for me. In the end I asked them to provide me with a new one so that I could have it fitted by someone else. The calorifier was delivered, then the engineer turned up to look at it and said it was going to be a long job and he wouldn't be able to do it before I wanted to leave on the 11th of April.

There was no way I could wait any longer, Tony had arrived and was ready to go, so I took the decision to risk setting off and hoped that the leak wouldn't get any worse on the trip.

On the evening of Saturday the 10th Pete and Bev joined us for dinner, as did Neil (we owed him for helping with the new satellite dish). We had a splendid Chinese meal and a fair amount of 'falling over water' and then said our farewells. It was a great way to say goodbye to Barnoldswick.

On Sunday we filled up with water, checked the engine, put away everything that might fall over, waved goodbye and set off for pastures new.

It was a beautiful day and, apart from running over the top of a few bedsteads, old bicycles and TVs it was fairly plain sailing until, just on the other side of Burnley, we came to a Gannow tunnel. We hadn't remembered that it was there - and we certainly weren't prepared, as I was again off the boat walking along with Harvey.
Tony wasn't able to easily pull in and pick us up so I shouted
"No problem, I'll walk over the top and see you on the other side"

I walked up to the road and realised that this was not going to be a simple task. I could see signs for the motorway, a massive roundabout, a railway track, a series of pedestrian tunnels to get underneath all the various roads that didn't lead to Rome - but no sign or mention of how to get back to the canal. I wandered in what I thought was the right direction until I met a very pleasant young man who said 'yes he could show me the way' but it was back the other way. We walked back under all the roads and then he sent me off down a long road with the instruction that I would find the canal behind The Gannow Wharf pub.

By this time I had been wandering around for quite some time and, although I had tried to call Tony, it wasn't ringing through. Suddenly I got a call from him asking where I was - he'd got through the tunnel in about 5 minutes and I was nowhere to be seen! In fact, by then, quite a bit further down the canal.

Eventually the boat came into view ....
"What happened?" said Tony "all you had to do was walk over the top!"
No answer to that is there?

It was time to moor up and, as we were already through Burnley, we stayed at the back of the pub. I made up my bed before dinner and Harvey took his chance and established that, when given the chance, he preffered the bed to the sofa.


On the Monday we were up bright and early. Tony had mentioned that he wanted to pop in and see his friend Steve who was somewhere on the next stretch. I took Harvey for a bit of a leg stretch, got some bread and milk at a local store and off we went.

We were meant to be checking the map to see exactly where we would find Steve when, going past a line of moored boats, Tony suddenly spotted him getting out of his boat.
We shouted to him and pulled over then tied up to his boat and spent a very pleasant couple of hours drinking tea, and chatting. Steve is working on his own boat and I have to say he's making a lovely job of it. The wide beam boats are like floating bungalows and this 'Humber Keel' was a beauty. I was almost envious - but then remembered that my boat was narrow so that I could go anywhere. We discovered that Steve also had his own chickens so when we set off again we had some very special fresh eggs. Thanks Steve - they were yummy.

Harvey didn't have his harness as Chris had forgotten to bring it back the last time he dropped Harvey off. I like Harvey to wear it when we're on the move, just in case he goes in, then at least I would be able to drag him out without strangling him! We arranged to meet Chris further along the way, somewhere near Church. I was on the bank, walking with Harvey when Chris phoned to say he was almost there. Harvey took advantage of the distraction and jumped in the canal for a swim when I wasn't looking (little monkey).

Chris walked with us for a little while but we didn't have time to stop as we needed to get through Blackburn before mooring up for the night.

Blackburn is another place where the canal is full of debris. It can be quite frightening when your boat lifts out of the water as you go over yet another shopping trolley. It's such a shame that it is abused in this way as the canal takes you through a different age and past some fascinating industrial architecture, like the imposing Imperial Mill in Blackburn...

http://www.princes-regeneration.org/bestpractice/impermill.htm

We just about made it through to the other side of Blackburn before it was too dark to continue.
It was still quite early for there to be a lot of boats and you can feel quite vulnerable moored up on your own but everyone was really friendly and we had no problem here.

Tuesday morning we set off at about 7:30am. We were not sure what time they closed the Wigan locks for the night and we were hoping to get through if possible.
It was a long haul from Blackburn to Wigan but it was not an unpleasant trip. We did a shopping stop when we spotted a Lidl not far from a bridge. They sell excellent bratwurst - which we spent the rest of the day looking forward to (we were not disappointed!).

We kept seeing Swans nesting at the side of the canal - but each time we were past before I could get a picture - but we also spotted lots of little ducklings and I did manage to get a shot of these guys.

Cute huh?

We thought the locks closed around 4:30 and the closer it got to that time, the more we were considering mooring up, but suddenly the canal came to an abrupt end, or rather an abrupt right turn, and we realised that we had actually arrived.
The lock keeper helped me with the first lock and then we met a lovely guy who used to work the Wigan flight on the work boats. He told us that back then each lock had its own key, that they each opened with three turns if the windlass and that they could get through the whole flight in 2 hours. It's certainly not like that now.

We realised there was someone ahead of us because all the locks were set against us. I wandered down a couple of locks to see how far ahead they were but, given the time, it would have been unfair to ask them to wait for us to catch up so we battled on intending to 'draw breath' half way through and then decide if we should go on.

At the halfway mark we found that the other boat, The Brighton Belle, had moored up and seemed to be in trouble. It turned out that they had hit the rudder in a lock and were waiting for someone to come out to help them.

Tony said we would wait to see if any extra help was needed and so we had a cup of tea (yes another!) and waited.

When the engineer arrived he said that the dry dock at the bottom of the locks was free in the morning and asked if we could help to get the other boat there.

Adventure!

We tied the two boats together and the engineers took charge of the boats. There were now three of us to wind the locks . easy peasy!! I was setting up ahead whilst the other couple were getting the boats in and out again. We were through in record time and after waving them a quick farewell we set off to find somewhere to moor for the night.



Just around the corner was a piece of heaven ... Scotman's Flash on one side Pearson's Flash on the other. A wildlife sanctuary, who could ask for more?




It wasn't easy to get the boat right in so we used the plank - not Harvey's favourite means of getting on and off the boat - but he managed.

We were shattered so we got an early night... after we'd eaten the bratwurst of course.


Wednesday morning we got up early .. to yet another beautiful day. We were tired but determined to get through Manchester locks before the day was through.

The trip to Manchester was fairly uneventful until we hit the Bridgewater canal. No signpost,
nothing to indicate that we were almost at the junction, no help at all. We almost went the wrong way but somehow managed to hang a left at the right time and headed into Manchester.


We went over the ship canal on the swing bridge - The bridge is operated from this tower.


We sailed on into Manchester and came into the basin where we were totally confused as to which way to go. The maps were not too helpful but eventually we worked out where we should be and I set off with my windlass to prepare the first lock.

What a mess! The water was flooding over the top of the gate at the front - and pouring out again at the back.

I managed to open the paddles to let the water out but it was coming in so fast that opening the gates was impossible on my own. Thankfully there are some lovely people around and I had quite a bit of help all the way through to the last one before we flopped into Ducie Street Junction. It was getting late, we wanted to look for Piccadilly Village but were not sure how far it was so we moored up behind another couple who had been there for a couple of nights with no problems and then we locked up and went for a walk.

We found that we could easily have made it to Piccadilly village - it was literally around the next corner - but we had a walk around and then went back for a nice meal and some well deserved rest.

Thursday was our earliest start of the whole trip. We had chosen to come this way because it was the shortest and easiest route but not the best area to be boating through.... Tony was telling tales of Beswick and Portland Basin where people have their windows put through and the like, so I was anxious to get through it all as fast as possible.

First we had to pass through Piccadilly village to get onto the Ashton canal.
It was pretty and clean and seemed strangely out of place.









We then started the long climb up to the lower peak forest canal. I soon found out that the narrow locks are so much easier than the double ones on the Leeds/Liverpool. Quick to fill and empty as they are only half the size - and not as heavy when it comes to opening and shutting the gates either.

As we moved into Beswick I began to see what Tony meant. It looked forsaken and, when we stopped for a cup of tea after a run of locks, Tony's phone was stolen from the roof.

That delayed us for a while as I thought that whoever stole it might have thrown the SIM card out and it was worth looking for as it had all his telephone numbers stored on it. No luck - it was gone and all we could do was have the number cancelled until he could get another phone.

There might be a lot of 'toe-rags' in the area but everyone we met that day was smiley and helpful. There were three kids who seemed to be a bit edgy, but once we got chatting they were nice enough. I read somewhere that every time you talk to someone you should talk to the highest part of them - something like that - and I do find that it tends to work. We all like to be shown respect.

On we went, got stuck a couple of times because the water was low, had a fight with a particularly stiff swing bridge and had a bit of help from a bunch of guys doing community service, until finally we came to Portland Basin and turned onto the Lower Peak Forest Canal

Looking back at Portland basin after turning onto the Lower Peak Forest canal

The Peak Forest Canal is reputedly one of the most beautiful canals in the UK and I can't disagree with that. We had beautiful sunshine and the scenery was truly breathtaking. It was a little difficult getting used to how narrow the canal was - and there was one point where it was impossible to avoid the overhanging trees but it seemed a million miles from what we had left behind and we were on the home straight.
We had hoped to get up Marple flight before we stopped but it wasn't going to happen, the lost phone and the fact that we had been stuck several times had delayed us too much so we stopped at the bottom of the flight.
Sadly I didn't take any photographs, which was a bit silly because it was a very picturesque spot. Harvey enjoyed his walk as we were surrounded by a wood.
We didn't have very far to go to finish our trip and so there was no rush to set off the following morning so we had a nice meal and watched a film before turning in.

There was another boat waiting to go up the flight so we thought we'd give them a chance to get ahead of us too, even though it meant that all the locks would probably be set against us.

Friday morning we rose to the sound of birds singing in the trees. The other boat had already set off so, after a cup of tea, I took Harvey and we went to set the first three locks. Strangely I found that the 2nd and 4th locks were set in our favour. The boat that had gone ahead had very kindly reset every other lock to make life easier for us. I wish I could remember the name of the boat, I thought I would remember because it had an unusual spelling but I thought wrong!!

Having checked out the first 4 locks I turned around and realised that Harvey had gone walk-about. He doesn't usually do that in unfamiliar surroundings, but it seems the woods and the scent of bunnies and/or pheasant had got the better of him. After searching for 30 minutes I was starting to get really worried. Tony came out and joined the search but Harvey was nowhere in sight. I passed several people walking dogs and no-one had seen him.
I remembered that my phone number was on his collar so I went back to the boat again for my mobile and, sure enough, someone had called ..... Harvey had been wandering around trying to find his way back (but going in the wrong direction) when someone had taken pity on him. We were reunited and, although I know I should have been cross with him, I was so relieved I just gave him a huge hug, told him he was a bad boy (I think He knew that anyway) and off we went.

I love doing locks - watching the boat rise or fall with the water. So simple and effective ... how do people think of these things?

We stopped half way for a cuppa and then met another boat coming down so the rest of the locks were all set in our favour. Going through Marple we gathered quite a crowd. I was winding the locks and got chatting to everyone - it was great. Then Tony said that he would do the last two and I could take the boat through because the next to tha last lock was the 2nd deepest in England and he thought I might like to be in it. With everyone watching we changed places and I steered out of the lock we were in, into the 2nd deepest..... I managed it with just a slight bump into the side, I was pleased with that because to have carved it up with everyone watching would not have been funny. Once the gates were shut I took this photo it's a long way up to the top of that gate!

Once through this lock there was just one more and we were then on the Upper Peak Forest canal. I turned around and took a shot back down the locks - pretty isn't it?


Two hours later we were mooring up between Alan on my starboard side and Norman and Sheila on my port side. Everyone was really helpful with getting us in. It was a tight fit but we made it and it was time for a Derbyshire brew.

Don't Panic

Don't worry - I haven't fallen off the end of the universe or anything - I've just been really busy.
At the moment I'm in a marina in New Mills Derbyshire - the trip here was great - but very tiring, and I've been asleep ever since. That's a lie of course.

We got here on Friday the 16th of April and the following week I recorded 3 tracks here with some great people. Since then I have been working on putting an album together to sell in order to fund the project.

I have some free time tomorrow - I hope - and so I shall write up the trip here and the saga of trying to put out an album of your own material. It's a series of hoops that you jump through until you're just about ready to give up.... but I'm not known for giving up ... I'll bring this up to date tomorrow.

Love to all
L x

We're on the way

Last night we had a Chinese meal with Pete and Bev, and Neil - who is moored a few boats down the marina.
It was a lovely evening and a nice way to say goodbye.
This morning was bright - but not too bright, in fact it was perfect boating weather.
We filled up with water,had more than one cup of tea, unhooked and set off.

The weather forecast is good so let's hope that it's right.

I steered us through Foulridge tunnel - much better than last time, although I'm still not keen on tunnels.

We got stuck once because Harvey was in need of a 'little walk' - we pulled in to get him off and got the back end well and truly stuck - just as I did the other day getting back on my mooring!! The experience had taught me something tho' so we were not stuck for long. I admit that the bow thrusters came into play, but I make no apologies. I paid for them - I'll use them!!

We're now moored up and watching 'Planet Earth' on DVD - almost ready to get some sleep.

Catch you later
L x

The first Mama Don't event

As I was saying..
I talked Alan and Penny into letting me do an evening. At first I thought of doing it solo - then I realised that this would be a great chance to try out an acoustic evening. If I could arrange venues then I could help a lot more musicians.

I got in touch with everyone I could, musicians and friends alike, the local paper was a great help too, but I could not do too much in the way of advertising as the cellar bar is only small and too much audience can be worse than not enough!

Rehearsals were a must and it was good to spend a bit of time on Bernulf with Heather, Elaine and Sarah May. Pete came along to my boat a couple of times and we worked through a few numbers. All very enjoyable.

I heard from Elrieke and Poldy in Holland who said that they would be coming over - that was great news. Everything seemed to be falling into place - I was just nervous about how many would turn up.

In the event it was just right - I could not have wished for more!!

The write-up for the evening will be on the web site when I get all the photos sorted out.... it was a great evening.

With the gig over it was time to say goodbye to everyone and set off for Skipton to re- black the bottom of my boat.

Tony had said he would help and he turned up on the Monday evening - we set off on the Tuesday and took two days to do the trip - it would only have been 15 minutes on the bus!! Pete came along on the 2nd day and, apart from the engine cutting out in a lock, caused by water in the diesel, it was a pleasant journey.

We had a day in Skipton on Thursday and then set off the following day to the dry dock. It was really windy and the boat was going all over the place. It was also really cold and we struggled to get down to the winding hole and back.
When we eventually reached the dry dock we were fighting the wind again. I could see that it was shallow under the bridge, and I had my wellies on, so I stepped off the boat to help pull her in. Of course the bit I was standing on was the only shallow bit so I ended up with my wellies full of water. Tony thought that I had fallen in (again) but when I explained what had happened he laughed his head off and said - "That's worse".

Once in the shed they lifted the boat out of the water until it was level with the floor of the dry dock. That meant having to have a ladder to get on and off. Harvey was not impressed. In fact he was so stressed out with it that I had to ask Chris to have him. Luckily that was possible and Harvey was more than relieved to leave us to it.

The blacking part was OK - Jonathan came and gave us a hand on the 2nd day. I kept missing bits - and Jonathan plastered it on - I don't think Tony was terribly impressed with either of us but there will be another chance to do a better job in two years time.

We took the boat back out when she was finished and moored up at the back of Herriots. Tony went home the following day and I spent my first night alone on the tow path - it was a great feeling. I cleaned the boat up and then sat in the bows on a sunny evening with a beer in my hand. It felt as if the world belonged to me.

I was still waiting for my boat builders to come and fix some problems so after a few days in Skipton, realising that they would be able to do a better job if they had mains power,I decided to go back to my moorings.

They were due to come on the Wed/Thur or Friday, and snow had been forecast for early in the week so I asked Chris Davey if he could help me. He said yes and turned up on Sunday morning. Again it was really windy and I was grateful to have him there because I wasn't used to steering under windy conditions.

Harvey and I walked the tow path, opening swing bridges and then operating the locks until we reached Bank Newton. By then the wind had dropped and so Chris asked if I wanted to change places so that I could go into the lock on my own for the first time.

It had to be done sooner or later - so I said yes. He gave me some helpful hints and it all went well - apart from getting it a bit wrong when I had to pass another boat .. but we won't talk about that.

We carried on until we got to where Chris' boat is moored (Chris Simpson that is), Chris was on deck and Harvey spotted him. Poor Harvey, he ran inside the boat to get a present for Chris and was most disconcerted when we simply sailed past.

Having decided that we couldn't make it all the way back to my moorings we stopped after the next bridge and Chris was able to come and see Harvey, which seemed to do the trick.

Helen came to pick up her husband (thanks for lending him to me Helen) and once again it was just Harvey and me.

We went for a little walk and then settled down for the evening.

Monday morning it was spitting a little but the wind had died down. It was cold and I had also woken up later than intended ... something to do with the hour we'd lost on Saturday night I guess. Harvey had a little walk, I checked the oil and water, undid the mooring pins, and off we went. My first time doing it on my own.

At one point I almost hit a boat who was moored a little too close to a bridge on a 90 degree bend - but apart from that it was a lovely trip.

My biggest fear was being able to moor up but I didn't have a problem.

Sarah May and Heather came to wind the final set of locks for me. At one point I was blown around a bit but it was OK - I was very glad that I had done it the day before or I think I would have been very nervous indeed.

Back at the mooring Sarah May came out to help. I'm glad she did because I grounded myself and it was a struggle to get the boat in. By that time it was throwing it down and I was frozen. Once we were tied up and plugged back in it was just so nice to get into a hot shower, light the fire and sit down with a brew. Harvey was also out for the count, after all the walking he had done the previous day, so we curled up on the couch together - and had a snooze for a couple of hours....heaven.

The boat builder called on Tuesday to say that the joiner was ill and they couldn't do Wednesday. We re-scheduled for Friday. That was yesterday and they didn't turn up,
Not only that but they didn't bother to call either until I left a voicemail to tell them I was not amused.

At least I have had time to work on the web-site this week.
My eyes are square - but it's almost finished.

Next step is to have some albums made up. I haven't recorded anything new yet, but I need something to sell to keep the project going, so I'm going to make a compilation of tracks recorded with Magna Carta. I know that all the Magna fans will have them already - but they will be new to anyone else and I have to generate some income until I'm ready to record my own stuff ... which will probably be in autumn.

Everyone has been asking if I will still be singing - the answer is yes.

Now it's time to have another brew and get ready to go out this evening. Harvey is with Chris so I can have a night out without having to leave him alone on the boat - I hate doing that.

Back soon
Lx

Spring is in the air

Sorry it has been so long; it has been a bit of a crazy time.

First came the final gig with Magna Carta at The Theatre Carre in Amsterdam on the 5th of May 2009; a week later I moved out of the cottage into a bedsit (thank you Andrew and Angela for putting a roof over my head).

I used the time there to get rid of all the things that would not fit on the boat (that was quite a bit of stuff I can tell you) and get together the things I would need for my new project.

In August my boat was supposedly ready. By that time, everything I owned fit into a small transit van - and even then I knew that more would have to go!

Chris and Heather helped me to load up and off we went.
When we arrived the boat wasn't ready and so everything went into Paul's garage (thank you for coming to our rescue). Chris left and Heather and I made ourselves as comfortable as possible for the first night aboard.

Having never had anything to do with narrow boats in my life; I was suddenly living on one!

I had long since decided that the boat was going to be a big part of my new project - but I soon realised that there was no way that I could have three young musicians permanently on board, someone would have been thrown in the canal within a week. I was going to have to rethink the whole thing.

As the boat wasn't ready I had to stay in the marina for several weeks, in the end I simply had to leave so, even though there were still a few problems there was no choice, I had to find someone to help me to get from Northwich to Lancashire.


Chris Davey and Ivan Sangster had both given their time to help me to get used to the boat - but there was no way I could go it alone!! I was introduced to Derek by a mutual friend and he came along for the first couple of days.

Sadly the headlamp, which had supposedly been fixed twice, failed in the second tunnel. Bang, scrape, panicking dog, scrambling for torch, more banging and scraping .... by the time we emerged we looked like a battle ship after 14 years of active service. My brand new cover on the cratch was a mess and the paintwork was scratched .... she was no longer a shiny new boat!! In a way it was a relief because it meant I didn't have to worry about the first scratch any more - I now had lots to choose from!

We were almost at the Wigan flight when Derek went home and Tony joined us to do the rest of the trip. We met Heather (another Heather) that evening, she gets around single-handed and told me that it wasn't so difficult once you got used to it. It was so good to hear that as I was starting to think that perhaps I had done the wrong thing.

Heather, who reminds me of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland, and will probably never speak to me again if she reads this, said she would give us a hand. Neville said he would come along too and between us I thought we did a pretty good job. We teamed up with a boat full of strapping lads who hit their first Guinness at about 10:30am and spun themselves into most of the locks thereafter.

Harvey was having none of it - he had decided that he hated locks and so walked along with me the whole time. He got into a good rhythm ... laying down on a comfortable patch of warm grass in the sun as we got the boat through a lock and then ambling along to the next one. There's no rush ... not when you're the most handsome Labrador in the whole world.

There was much fun aboard as we twice lost all the hot water ... first time because we thought we had a leak, second time because we didn't investigate the sound of running water and later found that the hot water tap had been running for some time. All we seemed to eat was chips and curry and I can't remember the last time I laughed so much.

Ben joined us for a day - he was a total natural as regards steering the boat - why can't I do that?
His Mum and Dad came to pick him up that evening - along with a very pregnant, and glowing, Naomi. Harvey went crazy when he saw Sheila - he so loves her, and the love is not misplaced.

[Naomi has now had a lovely bouncing baby boy, Alfie, he's a great little character]

Jet was coming over for a week and I had got the dates wrong so poor Pete and Bev came to the rescue again - they collected Jet and brought her along the day after, by which time we had made it to the moorings in Lancashire.

Tony stayed an extra day so that Jet could go out on the boat, and it was sad to say goodbye to him ... but great when I found that he had enjoyed himself too and we became firm friends ... so much so that he's going to be coming along to help me to put this project together.

A week with Jet on the boat - getting used to the new surroundings. We had a lot of fun despite the fact that it was rather chaotic; then she was gone and I had to get ready to go to Holland myself.

I was missing all my Dutch friends and so made up a list and contacted everyone to see if we could get together.... It wasn't possible to see everyone but I hope to be able to do it again maybe later this year.

It was a great time, catching up with wonderful people, doing my first solo gig and taking in a S.L.Y. presentation before going with Matt, to meet 'The Eeks' to see Fleetwood Mac ... what a night that was!

Every day I managed to see someone - sometimes I saw two lots of people in one day but it was a really happy time. I'm so lucky to have so many great friends and I do appreciate it, even though it's impossible to stay in constant touch!

My final night was spent in The Cantina at the Eekhoornnest where we had a wonderful jam session - it was so special, everyone was on top form and I think we could have gone on forever if life hadn't got in the way! It couldn't have ended on a higher note!

Back home it was starting to get cold, very cold.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this project - how was I going to be able to do anything meaningful if I couldn't have musicians on board?

There were other musicians on the marina; we got together and played a little. I went to the music night at the pub across the canal. They all played so well that they frightened me to death! Then I went to the Victoria Cafe with Joan (she owns East End in Skipton ... more about that later) and we bumped into a friend of hers who said I should go to Rainhall Drinks Company as they had music in the cellar bar there.

I don't know why but it felt right. I got in touch with Alan and Penny and convinced them to let me put an evening together. To be fair I conned them a bit because by that time I had a seed of an idea and I wanted to see if I could do it.

To be continued......