Kinver Boat School

If only he’d spent £350 on a Helmsman’s course, he could have saved himself 18 months of trial and error, paint and scrapes!!

… “It also took him more than 18 months to "get to grips" with steering the boat.
"It takes weeks and weeks of bumping into things, scraping along the side of things, before you can work out the best way to steer it."
Ken spent £75,000 on his boat and a further £20,000 on unforeseen maintenance.”…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yzd45jl50o?xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5BBBC+England%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_link_origin=BBC_Leeds&at_medium=social&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_type=web_link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_campaign_type=owned&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_format=link&at_link_id=92FEA0F8-9155-11F1-ADEB-E5B167A4877A&app-referrer=deep-link

My helmsman’s courses are likely less than 1% of your budget and 100% recommended. Book now for September https://form.jotform.com/252964166302356

The homeowners selling up for a life on Yorkshire's waterways Growing numbers of people are swapping mortgages for moorings amid the cost of living crisis.

I had a wonderful couple of weeks on the Peak Forest canal, with visits from friends and family, trips out, sunsets, views and BBQs.

I have now turned back onto the Macclesfield canal and will spend a few weeks meandering back to the Staffs and Worcestershire ready to start Helmsman’s courses up in September.

Here’s the form to book your RYA Helmsman’s course for September/October https://form.jotform.com/252964166302356
Or contact me to discuss options.

In today’s episode of
What Have We BBQed on the Towpath?…
Any guesses?

The Macclesfield canal has proven to be as beautiful as everyone says, and some. And what a gorgeous conclusion in Marple. Having turned onto the Peak Forest, this lovely town is just a short walk away, with stunning hilly views a plenty!! Planning some rain dances right now!!!

Huge thanks to Malone Electrical Solar Services for their brilliant install yesterday. Just look at those fabulous panels. I am now addicted to looking at the app to see how much juicy, free electricity I’ve got!!

Tom and Gareth were brilliant from start to finish, ensuring I understood the options and chose a set up to meet my needs. Installation day went very smoothly and they worked their socks off, despite the warm weather. A wonderfully tidy and efficient job. I am so grateful and wholeheartedly recommend them.

If you’re buying a boat and it feels off in some way, please remember to do your due diligence and listen to your gut. I’ve seen some posts about a narrowboat Hobbit which has apparently been used to get deposits from more than one person with no prospect of a sale.

If you do decide to purchase from an individual rather than a broker, you can still ask a broker to handle the money exchange and perhaps other aspects of the sale. I’m aware of at least one broker (Nationwide Sales) that offer this service. Don’t be put off but do be careful.

Huge thank you to the CRT VLockies on Bosley flight, who did an amazing job with the boats on the Bosley flight this morning in all that heat. Steve was nothing short of brilliant helping me up the whole flight 🤩

I’ve left some business cards at the top services with info on my Helmsman’s courses. Next availability is 10th of September. It’s starting to book up so get your course booked early if you can.

https://form.jotform.com/252964166302356

Is it Scarecastle?

My verdict after my first trip through Harecastle tunnel is no, not at all. I will admit to having butterflies after hearing many horror stories about this particular tunnel, but the reality was actually fine.

The tunnel used to have a tow path, now long gone, but it means there’s plenty of width compared with many tunnels I’ve been through. Although the height gets lower in the middle sections, I’m not tall enough to have been worried by that.

The CRT staff gave a useful briefing before going through, and after testing tunnel lights etc, we were invited to set off with a few minutes between each boat. We had been told the left hand wall (going north) is smooth (apart from two stop plank locations) while the right hand side is more jagged where the old path has been removed. I decided to just watch down my left hand side, aided by a good work light positioned against my centre window. I got into my line and maintained it, going about 1200 revs. It made the journey quite smooth and dare I say, enjoyable.

Emerging at the north end of the tunnel, the landscape was immediately transformed. Soon after turning onto the Macclesfield Canal, I felt I had crossed from the midlands to the beautiful, hilly north. As such, there is a flight of 12 locks ahead - If anyone wants to practice wielding a windlass this Thursday, there’s plenty of locks to practice on!!!

I spotted some wonderful examples of Stone Mason’s marks in the locks through Stoke yesterday. Creating carefully crafted dressed stones was a highly skilled job that was paid in piece work. Each mason had their unique mark to ensure their output was correctly counted and remunerated.

Have you spotted any more of these marks around the network? What would your mark be? Mine would be an eye because I love drawing them.

This message has just absolutely made my day!!!!! 🧡