Living Aboard a Houseboat
Mildred has come to rest above the Union canal bank. She is not a canal boat, she is a former Schuylkill river houseboat, creatively made as a way of, if not keeping up with the turn of the 19th century Joneses, at least joining them.
Before all the days of holiday homes and Villas in the sun, the traditional get away from it all retreat was a home on the river.
What’s happening on the canal blogs 21 July 2009
Zulu Warrior at Middlewich
But despite the thunderstorms, flooding and general doom and gloom we braved the M6 and sat in the car until the rain stopped in Middlewich for long enough to load up Zulu with provisions and hit the road. Mental note not to try shopping at Waitrose when hungry resulting in £108 bill for only 4 carrier bags full of stuff!
Plenty of rain follow their progress here.
Meanwile NB Indigo dream is at Droitwich tackling a flight of staircase locks.
Friday 17th July
Our overnight moorings in Tewkesbury were quiet and peaceful and the river hadn’t come up at all overnight so we were safe and secure. It had even stopped raining, though the clouds promised torrents to come, so we set off relatively early to try and outrun the weather.
The Crew of NB CAXTON are busy planting herbs.
Narrowboat Caxton
Monday, 20 July 2009
Give me Erbs
Today I have planted up the first of my herb pots.. Though tempted to festoon Caxton with a display of flowers I thought that culinary herbs might be rather more useful.
What’s Happening on the Canal Blogs-12 July 2009
Kingston Upon Thames
“No shorts after 7pm”. And that was that. Barred from entering a pub for the first time in my life.
Horse Drawn Canal Boat on Rochdale Canal
Horse Drawn Canal Boat
People living in Calderdale, Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester will have the chance to see history come to life at the festival. And as part of this year’s celebrations, a horse-drawn boat will travel from Guidebridge, on the Ashton Canal, along the length of the Rochdale Canal.
Towing Maria, Britain’s oldest surviving wooden narrowboat built in 1854, the horse will stop off at various points along the route so visitors to the canal and festival can see how boats used to travel along the waterways.
The festival, which will be launched with an open day in Littleborough on Saturday, July 11, will include a bumper week of
free activities for all the family
What’s Happening on the Canal Blogs July 9 2009
Gypsy Rover at Manchester
There are lovely moorings at Castlefield close to the centre of Manchester. In our opinion the best moorings are at Grocers Warehouse on the Bridgewater Canal but there are also moorings for about a dozen boats alongside the YHA.
African Queen Visits Connecticut
Found this video of the African Queen, the steam launch that starred in the film of the same name.
Apparently she is still afloat and doing the tourist rounds.
Steamboat President at Batchworth Lock
Steamboat President
President comes as part of her 100th birthday cruise and visitors will get the chance to see her in action on the Grand Union Canal at Chess Lock.
This event runs from 9.30am to 6.30pm. For more information contact Batchworth Lock Canal Centre on 01923 778382
Llangollen Canal Aqueduct declared World Heritage Site
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal has just been declared a World Heritage Site, It joins such other notables as the Taj Mahal,
See the full story in The Mail Online,
What’s Happening on the Canal Blogs 25 June 2009
Ashby
The weekend was rather disrupted by little cars going round in circles at high speed. After a bad nights sleep I woke late on Saturday and so only did a couple of hours before mooring at Market Bosworth to watch the qualifying session. Moved on afterwards to moor for the night near to Dadlington. By the time I woke on Sunday there wasn’t really enough time to justify moving, so stayed put to watch the GP. I’m fairly pleased with the result as it hopefully shows that there will be more competition, but am disappointed that they still haven’t managed to work out how to introduce some overtaking on the track. I was in a nice spot and do tend to avoid weekend boating anyway. Despite the good weather it was still very quiet on the Ashby.
