The link between energy and beer

By iangbell, Posted on July 22, 2017

Shortly after starting out this morning, we passed Neil Morrissey’s Plume of Feathers pub in Barlaston. We may be sampling it on the way back.

Today we were aiming for a favourite spot at Tixall Wide. This meant getting through 13 locks and Stone. But first we had to get to the Meaford flight. This section of the canal is basically very rural, except for those stretches where the railway is right on top of the canal. This area wasn’t always so green and rural. The Meaford Power Station used to be right next to the canal, taking coal from the railway. It was generating power as recently as 1990, but was demolished and gone by 1996.

We reached the top of the Meaford Flight and started down. Finally we started to meet some other boats, one going down in front of others and swapping over with a stream of boats coming up. The Meaford flight begins the decent through Stone, the locks coming regularly through the town. Before the next to last lock, we passed an old warehouse for Joules Stone Ales. What is the link between the unit of energy and beer? Turns out it is a family link. There are two arms of the Joule family, both involved in brewing, and the other, one based in Salford, included James Prescott Joule, the physicist who the standard unit of energy is named after.The Stone arm of the family ran a popular brewery, but it was eventually bought by Bass, and it fell out of favour and became a dormant brand. More recently, Molson Coors, who now own the brand have begun to revive it, to capitalise on the popularity of craft beer.

The canal in Stone is very busy. Boats line both sides above the next to last lock, sometimes making it quite tricky to navigate. This is especially true when the hire base has all its boats in to turn round, like today.

Today was also the first day for Pippa to experience riding on the boat roof. Whilst Sammy was the first “roof-dog”, Heather says Pippa is the right size to be one. I think she will need a few more days to get used to it. From that vantage point she can see every menacing dog (that means all of them) and practise barking at them furiously. I think she will settle down eventually, but I’m not convinced it will work with both dogs up there!

Flying solo – Napton flight

By iangbell, Posted on May 16, 2016

Where yesterday was more of a gentle introduction, today was more of a baptism by fire.

It was another bright, clear morning, this time experienced at 5:30am because I left the curtains open. The dew was really heavy. I should have worn better footwear for this morning’s leg stretching walk with Sam. Only went for 20 minutes but when I got back I could have been paddling.

You will find that I will occasionally throw something in when it occurs to me. And that’s just happened. It occurs to me that I should mention that if you are expecting a meticulous log of times, locks and distances, you are going to be sorely disappointed. What you very quickly realise, when you get into boating on canals, is that it’s about slowing down to learn that it’s not about times and distances, but savouring what is happening now

Despite saying that, I was on a bit of a mission today. And that was to tackle my first flight of locks flying solo. But we had to get there first. The first order of business is to get Sam installed on the roof. She does not enjoy sitting on the rear deck. Perhaps it’s the lack of space, or the vibrations from the engine, or that fact that she once fell off the back. So instead of keeping her shut inside the boat, Heather suggested I try her on the roof, tethered to stop her jumping off. She does seem to enjoy it, eventually. First problem, she cannot jump up, so has to suffer the indignity of being picked up. The second problems was that, whilst the non slip coating on the roof works well for human feet, it was more like ice for doggy paws. Hence the array of rubber mats, and only the human has problems with the rubbery smell.

So when she’s first up there, she’s very unsure if she likes it.

Then she settles down and gets more confident.

And she gets really into her new hobby – sheep watching.

World's Smallest Marina — World’s Smallest Marina

So, with the dog settled. There’s time to admire the world’s smallest narrowboat lake. Some people will go extreme lengths to avoid paying CRT mooring fees.

Arriving at Marston Doles, the top of the Napton flight, I was met by Gordon, a CRT volunteer lock keeper, who helped me down most of the flight (thanks Gordon). Something occurred to me in the second lock down. I should perhaps show you what our boat Heron looks like.

Look more closely - paint needs fixing — Look more closely – paint needs fixing

And then we were in the bottom lock. It’s surprising what some help and some engaging conversation can do to make the time fly by.

Then it was time for some refreshment at the Folly Inn before a short cruise to another favourite mooring spot on the way to Braunston.

Tomorrow is likely to be a shorter day, although there is the distraction of Midland Chandlers at Braunston that could seriously lengthen my day.

First solo day

By iangbell, Posted on May 16, 2016

Today was the first full day on my own. So I took it steady. First a walk after breakfast, to stretch the legs, and wait for Heather who was dropping off some stuff I forgot, on her way past.

It was a gorgeous spring morning to be walking along a canal in the middle of England. Early enough that there weren’t many boats moving, but late enough that the sun was up in a blue sky peppered with fluffy white clouds. And then a woodpecker starts tapping away in the woods next to the towpath. Then it was back to the boat to move it closer to the car park at the Wharf Inn. Heather arrived just as I did – perfect timing.

Just a short chug to our favourite mooring spot in the “wiggles”, a part of the Oxford Canal which has no locks and follows the contours, meaning some extravagant “wiggles”. There are times when a part of the canal that is 30 minute cruising time away is only 5 minutes walk across a field.

So this is where we are tonight. After a little lunch – I took Sam out for a longer walk through some classic rolling English countryside. With fields of rape all around.

I am beginning to learn some of the challenges of single-handed boating and they are not always exclusively boating related. Tonight’s challenge, cooking for one. The actual cooking part isn’t the problem, it’s the quantities. At least it was the veg that I massively over estimated. I think I blew past my “5-a-day”. With dinner over, and the washing up done … and there’s something else you learn when single-handed, you have to cook AND wash-up! (I feel a list coming on for a future post) So after that, I completely lost track of time playing with WordPress. Sam had to remind me that she does occasionally need to go outside to answer the call of nature. She does that by nudging my hand, and then walking away a few steps, then she looks back to see if I’m following. I got the message, eventually.