After about half a mile on the fast amount of water that is the river Trent we enter the Trent&Mersey Canal. The Trent&Mersey goes all the way to Preston Brook. Heaps of days of cruising… but only 93 miles. Kind of around the corner? We pass a famous place on the Cut: Shardlow, with its … Read More →
It’s quarter to ten in the morning. They did the daily checks. My engine is warmed up (not that the engine got any cold, last night). Fenders are on the roof. Off we go. To tick off another canal: the Erewash Canal. It’s even a new canal for me! I’m quite happy to start off … Read More →
No water? No narrowboats? History? Literature? Cooking? What happened to this weblog? Don’t worry, WE have lots of water. And we still cruise on WRT. The title just sums up the last week. Probably due to the fact that there was no boats coming down the locks because of the fallen tree, there is hardly … Read More →
…not away. Well, the first half an hour, yes. I manage to get my crew ready early, so after a 9:15 hrs start we do a lock and three bridges. Then just before lock 32, it all comes to a stop. Lawrance wants me to squeeze WRT through (and rip the cratch cover, scratch the … Read More →
About half a mile from where we are moored is a green field, You can’t discern it from here, but it’s maize. Ever been in a maize field? Except for doing things only satellites and God can see? Things that neither God or the farmer would approve off? (Or your parents, that is…) Well, here … Read More →
A staggering 211 locks we did, after my last post on this blog. And 308 miles. In 38 cruising days. Yes, you guessed right. All the posts after the 14th of May and today are… written today (no phone signal so no hotspot – too hot – too many locks – too many friends – … Read More →
When you travel (and live) on a narrowboat you always encounter gongoozlers. Gongoozlers? And that are? Well, a gongoozler is a person who idly watches activity on the canals of the UK. Gongoozlers flock locks, gather at canalside pubs, and are always full of questions. “Are you on holiday?” (There is a Dutch flag on … Read More →
Just as we set off from Braunston, I get an email from Annemarie. They are on their boat, for a couple of days. In case we’re in the vicinity… Their boat, Dubbel Dutch (see Dubbel dutch) is in Crick Marina, our next stop. How convenient. After sharing the Braunston locks with an experienced hire boat … Read More →
A stop at Hawkesbury Junction, and a game of golf at Ansty sees us in Braunston. We need some supplies from Midland Chandlers, and after that it’s time to go for a drink in the Boathouse. Just across the canal I spot a boat I’ve seen before. They are friends of our friends Pat and … Read More →
We leave Birmingham via the Farmers Bridge Locks. It’s a horrible part of the cut. Lots of debris in the canal, old ruined building alongside (and over) the canal, everything covered in graffiti. One of the next set of locks, lock 4 of the Aston Locks, is closed as off today, so we have to … Read More →