COMMENTS

Just going through my E Mail box tidying it up and decided to do a quick blog.

Recently had an E Mail asking about the comment system on the blog asking why the comment the chap made took a while to appear. I shall make this clear by showing, but not in full, below a
sample of some rubbish that is circling in cyberspace attaching itself to sites.



Nice looking lady eh! well her and her less dressed friends arrived via a comment to the blog. Let me explain the workings of your comments to the blog, as you comment the content is held up by Blogger for me to read and ok the content before i hit the publish button also the comment is E mailed to me as below.
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[BOATS AND CRUISING `VALERIE`] New comment on CRUISING WITH NATURE.‏

From:	123 123 (noreply-comment@blogger.com)
Sent:	19 November 2009 14:38:09
To:	lesbiggs1948@msn.com

123 123 has left a new comment on your post "CRUISING WITH NATURE:

Great article as for me. It would be great to read a bit more about this topic.
BTW look at the design I've made myself Russian Escort

Publish this comment.

Reject this comment.

Moderate comments for this blog.

Posted by 123 123 to BOATS AND CRUISING VALERIEat Thu Nov 19, 02:38:00 PM

_________________________________________________________________

In reproducing the above e mail i have deleted and re- typed all the underlined words as they provide links, Russian Escort being the naughty one.
So you can see that without some moderation system in place all sorts of trash would be published and i for one don`t want any youngsters especially my g`children to click the links to see..............well you know the content.

Hope that clears things up for you James.

CRUISING WITH NATURE

As i`ve been taking it easy of late my journey`s have been short but my last move was from Berkhamstead down to Hemel Hempstead a distance of just 5 miles but with 12 locks and a swing bridge to do it became a long day. It was a dry bright day and with stops for a tea breaks and lunch it was most enjoyable.
The trip became a nature watch with time at each lock to watch the many different birds going about their daily hunt for food etc except that is the 2 joggers who were just out for exercise but still came into my nature watching day.

The changing colours of the trees

Mr Heron watches me as i glide by

The little Robin eyeing me up as i fill a lock

Best of all a Kingfisher poses in a tree as i pass by. Now as most boaters will tell you the Kingfisher usually takes off as you approach but this little fella was not in the least bothered and did in fact remain in the tree just changing branches a couple of times even as i reversed back to grab a few pics. Altogether i managed 7 pictures and witnessed him dive into the water coming back to the same branch with a small fish all within 12` of me. A real cool dude!

At another lock some movement caught my eye and Mr Rat lined up for a picture.

AYLESBURY ARM without the boat

During my enforced stay at Marsworth i passed some time walking along part of the Aylesbury Arm. The arm is just over 6 miles long with 16 locks that drop the canal 95` to Aylesbury almost into the town centre.
Built in 1815 it`s cargoes included grain, timber and coal amongst others but as with transport on all the UK canals the coming of the railways slowly but surely took away canal trade.

The Aylesbury arm leaves the Gd. Union main line at Marsworth, far left of the picture below, passing the old works that once produced concrete pilings for the canals. This now derelict sitenow displays notices of planning application for 14 dwellings. The buildings centre to right of picture are part of the BW maintenance yard that includes boaters facilities of water,rubbish and elsan and i hope this site is not part of the development. The picture below taken from the opposite direction shows the BW yard alongside the canal with the boaters services in the foreground and the start of the Aylesbury arm behind the building on the far left.

Standing on the first bridge of the arm the staircase locks, unique on the southern Gd. Union, lead you down past the cement works hidden on the left behind the trees. The difference for those that don`t know and i`m now bearing in mind readers from abroad is these two locks have 3 sets of gates. The section of water you see in the picture is duplicated above the gates seen in the distance and these gates not only form the exit from the first section of water seen but also are the entrance to the second section of water. So you have 2 chambers of water gates each end and gates in the middle, 3 gates 2 chambers against a normal lock of 2 gates 1 chamber. Hope that`s clear but if you`re confused look at the second picture below forget the chambers-gates and look at what lies ahead at the start of the Aylesbury arm.
Six miles of lovely countryside passing the village of Wilstone visible if you look hard but not much else in the way of civilisation.

The arm ends at the basin run by the Aylesbury Canal Society since 1971 who have a lease granted by BW until 2018 although the current landlords are Aylesbury council who have plans for a huge canal side development. They are currently in negotiations with the society to re-locate to a site at Circus Fields to the east of town where another housing project is planned.

On the right can be seen building work already under way with a new theatre building in place and plans for housing and a supermarket etc.......Gas St. Basin comes to mind. Oh well they can`t build over every inch of the waterways so there will always be plenty of isolated quiet places to moor.

ON THE MOVE at last

Yipeee i`m on the move after 31 days. It would have been yesterday but i awoke to a miserable misty damp morning and decided another day won`t do any harm.

The first leg of the journey would be the 6 Marsworth locks that would take me to Bulbourne and the summit level of the Gd. Union Canal where i topped up the water tank as i was not sure how far i would venture as my back might decide to complain but i`m glad to report my brain informs me no complaints were received.

On through Tring Cutting, pics below, with the trees dropping their leaves all around with no wind or sound of any kind it was like cruising through a magic forest with no other boats on the move i could just relax and soak up the scene. Times like this makes me wonder why some boaters moor up for winter spending 2 maybe 3 months in one place and paying rent to BW, the canals this time of year take on a new look and by moving every few days or so to me is a pleasure but then each to their own i suppose and what we all get with this boating life is freedom.

One good thing about my new location is the good Internet signal that means i can download to the blog some pictures of the Halloween w`end spent with some of the g`children.
Lena May celebrated her birthday on the 31st so had some strangely dressed guests to her party as well as brothers and sisters pictured below.

Sister Nicole

The birthday girl

Kiernan & Keira

I noticed on the journey 2 stoppages posted at a lock that are not mentioned on the stoppage list here but are on the online regularly updated list here.
They are Cow Roast lock Jan 6th-22nd and Ironbridge lock(77) 16-20 Nov. This might help someone on the move here on the Gd Union who has already made plans based on old info.

Well just leaves me to say goodnight but before i do, hello to Jaqueline Almdale in the USA thanks for your e mail in response to my asking for overseas readers to make themselves known.

THOUGHTS of FREEDOM

Been moored here at Marsworth for 25 days and as my back is much much better the urge to once again be free to cruise is getting stronger. Although the mooring here is 14 days max the BW guys who rescued me said they would make sure those that needed to know would be informed and for me not to worry about overstaying and just give the back time to heal. One of them has even stopped by to ask how i was and also to take away my rubbish.

Friday last with the inboard water tank near empty i decided to go down through one lock to take on water and empty the toilet cassettes and return to the same mooring. Apart from the need to get water it would also give me an idea how i felt doing a lock, glad to report all went well and i can`t explain how good it felt cruising the boat just a few hundred yards turning and reversing onto the water point.
Perhaps in the next couple of days l`ll make a move very slowly away from here to pastures new with a different view through the windows.

The Aylesbury arm was my original destination but that will have to be a future cruise although
l have walked along part of it and visited the end by bus so perhaps i might do a blog on the arm even if it might be cheating not having cruised it......yet.

Two of the g`children(Jordan & Jack) paid a very short visit and we visited the Natural History Museum in Tring. The museum houses on 3 floors the vast collection of Lionel Walter Rothschild and was gifted to the nation in 1937 by the Rothschild family.

Jack and Jordan joined the other half-term visitors armed with clip boards and questionnaires printed for all ages on a tour of the museum seeking the answers the reward on the way out being a stamp on the bottom of the sheet. With free entry i wasn`t at all surprised by the large number of children running around and sprawled across the floor filling in the answers so if you as adults want to visit avoid the school breaks.

Regular readers of the blog will be aware of Mike Perham the youngest person to sail solo round the world and this Thursday(5th Nov) the Cutting Edge programme on C4 is about Mike`s voyage.

Quite a long time ago i added on the right of the page the NeoCounter that has so far recorded 16,879 visits from 74 countries. I wonder how many of those visits were accidental with people using search engines for say a boat cruise holiday or whatever. Also did any of them across the world carry on following the blog? Come on readers if you are following the blog from outside the UK let me know. From e mails i get i do know of some but there must be lots of people who read but never comment or make contact so if you are one.....let me know.

The other 2 stat counters on the blog are Top 100 boat sites and UK waterway sites showing my positions as 78 and 40 respectively. I have been higher in the past but hey it`s not a competition, well not for me anyway, so why do we bloggers put them on our sites. Are we a competitive bunch having entered want to be top dog, the winner or the best. If you think it through none of these can be right as we all provide links to other blogs (fellow competitors) be a bit like Tesco encouraging people to go to Asda never to return. Ok i hear the question.....well for a long time i had none of the stat counters on the blog and as more appeared on other blogs i did wonder how i would fare in the tables plus they cost nowt to run and........all right yes i did hope to be higher than others i suppose. But why! It`s not like the football league where the top teams have played better to gain top positions, top viewed blogs are of a style that more people like to read similarly perhaps more love stories are read than crime the authors are both good just that more readers like a particular style.
Oh heck it`s all getting complicated so hello to all my readers however many just glad you enjoy my wittering.

Just reading back this post so far and it`s not my usual style but things have been a tad unusual of late and i just felt i needed to do a blog and have been at a loss what to write.
Dug out some figures that might be of interest, over the last 12 months i have used;

967 litres of diesel £1.15 propulsion & £0.72 rebated (12 months ago)
£1.11 -- & £0.64 -- (October)

5 bottles of gas (5th still in use) Last one cost £21- 80

4 engine oil changes about £20 each

2 G`box oil changes about £8 each (ATF fluid)

I do not keep any other records so no idea of number of locks or miles travelled other than it`s one hell of a lot but those locks and miles have taken me to many beautiful and interesting places and i don`t regret a single lock/mile or litre of fuel that has given me this wonderful life.

Just leave you with these 2 evening shots the first shows Jack & Jordan up on the reservoir.
Thanks again to you all.

FEELING BETTER

Well i`m glad to say the back is mending and i have moved back on board Nb Valerie. Still some pain so the orders of the family is to stay put and no cruising for a while.

I must say a big thankyou to all of you for your good wishes not just on the blog but also the people that E mailed.

Today i managed a bus ride into Aylesbury just for a change of scenery and noticed a stoppage just near to the canal basin which together with the big notice here by the entrance to the arm stating it will be closed off fully from the 2nd November means the cruise to Aylesbury is off for this year.

Thanks again.

ON SICK LEAVE

Friday was a day of 1st`s.
1st ride in an ambulance
1st day off the boat through bad health

It all started on Thursday when i lifted my generator back on board after the Boat Safety test, not a problem no pain so carried on with life as normal. Couple of hours later set off to go through a few locks and the pain in my back started and the last lock paddle was wound on my hands and knees.

Fast forward to Friday AM and i couldn`t stand up without holding onto something and dragging my feet along. Moving through the boat i missed a hand hold namely the back of a chair and crashed to the floor. My head hit the top step at the front door, shoulder landed on the second step and the rest of me just stopped dead. The pain in my back was un - believable and i couldn`t move at all and i don`t mind admitting i was real scared. All i could do was push the front doors open and attract the attention of a passer by who got help from 2 BW men working on a lock just behind the boat.

The BW men were stars and in no time at all they had an ambulance and paramedic car very near to the towpath after opening up some gates and meeting the vehicles at the road.
25 mins later after a lot of painkilling gas and checking my spine they all collectively had me sitting up and 15 mins later half carried and dragged me up a grassy slope into the ambulance.

The hospital doc determined i had badly ripped a muscle at the base of the spine made worse by the fall and said i wouldn`t be allowed to leave until the painkillers they gave me and a bit of massaging enabled me to stand on my own 2 feet so the next 6 hours were spent in A&E.

So folks a big thank you to BW ( i`ll be searching them out when back on the boat) and the medical help both canal side & at the Hospital.

At the moment i am taking it easy land side at one of the boy`s houses hobbling around slowly.

UPDATE...still blogging

Thought it time to update the blog although not to much has happened lately and i haven`t travelled any great distances. So sitting here on a wet afternoon having just fired up the stove with a couple of logs I`ll update you.

Normally i would be down south early November to be near family for Christmas but for personal reasons the journey south has been earlier this year and the intention was to go into London and up on the rivers Lee & Stort coming back late November. But the life of a continuous cruiser is the ability to change plans as and when you want.

Two years ago, click the link pictures much the same as this blacking Nov 12th 2007 Nb Valerie was hauled out of the murky depths of the Grand Union so that i could black her hull and so the time has come to lavish some TLC on her again in the hope that she would carry on giving the pleasure i have enjoyed in the past years. My chosen location for the blacking is once again Cow Roast as i find the open ended shed ideal with no worry of the rain stopping the painting and plenty of air flow to speed the drying between coats. Pressure washer and electric hook up and all boaters services make for an ideal location plus i can still get a Sky signal, yes Andy/Tina it is possible with dish re-location.

So with several w`end slots available i continued south with the Lee/Stort in mind stopping off here and there for a few days reaching Watford(Cassio Brg) where a week passed with visits to family and a cruise to Rickmansworth with 2 of the grandchildren who were allowed to bring mum & dad along brought me back to Cassio and that is where the plans changed. A boat turned up with a lady, yes ok i can hear you all but it`s not like that at all, who with the help of family and friends had managed to get her newly purchased boat through London to be near her home and was making her way to Cow roast to have some work done on the boat. It turned out the people selling the boat had failed to show the workings of the equipment on board and she was in need of some help. I managed to sort a few things out including cutting off the padlock after she left the keys on board one night, done that myself, and so i decided to travel back to Cow Roast with her and her daughter as they hadn`t actually operated any locks themselves and having booked my w`end slot for blacking Nb Valerie set off.
Lucy and daughter Phoebe thanks for the meals and i hope we stay friends and meet up again sometime.

So sitting here alone again the boat having just gone back in the water after applying 3 coats of blacking my thoughts are a trip along the Aylesbury arm which will be virgin waters for me.
While i was here i decided to get a Boat Safety Certificate test, bit like an MOT on cars. The certificate lasts 4 years and this would be my 1st test as the boat was covered for the 1st 4 yrs by a Recreational Craft Directive- Certificate of conformity issued by the builder. The test was done yesterday and covers things like ventilation, electrical wiring, fuel lines and most important in my opinion the gas system to name just a few. The cost was £130 but remember it lasts 4yrs and i don`t know the cost of MOT`s but i imagine 4 MOT`s equates about the same. Anyway i am glad to say Nb Valerie passed with flying colours.

Other bloggers heading south are Del & Al on Derwent6 who came aboard for a couple of coffees and a long chat having not seen each other for a few months. Thanks for the help with the little electrical problem guys.
The following day gave me time to chat with Ian from NB Nobby over tea who i last saw over a year ago, it`s so nice to meet up with people every now and again and exchange travel stories.

Still raining so a couple more almost free logs - just a little petrol for the chainsaw now and then- go on the fire and i`m warm and cosy with just a memory of those big winter gas bills in the house.
Now i`ve up- dated you all i will leave you with a few pics of things along the way and all being well the next blog will be along the Aylesbury Arm.

Just 16 feet long!

Solar powered hot water.

Just one of the huge Carp in the canal.

Kingfisher gives a rare pose.

The Herons are always up for a picture.

Lucy posing.

Here come the girls.

Up up and away in my beautiful balloon.

My Boat Safety Certificate

TO COW ROAST

"Some things never change" so the saying goes but at Soulbury the old Three Locks pub has most certainly undergone some change albeit purely cosmetic with the main structure remaining. It has been taken under the wing of the GU group who have covered the old side ponds with decking to create an outside seating area complete with small bar and renamed it "The Grand Union at the Three Locks"
Click the link above and see some more pictures, personally i just could not bring myself to enter for a pint amongst the shall we say posh surroundings. Gone is the pool table and basic tables and chairs. Sadly a pub that once we boaters would feel comfortable entering in boating attire has become another plastic pub.Below looking down the Soulbury three.

Moving south through Leighton Buzzard and leaving Grove Lock another marina takes shape on the offside. Looking at the layout of the pontoons it would appear to open straight out onto the
canal as there would be no other way to enter the moorings. Looks like another winter stoppage on the way when they open it up.


At Marsworth the reservoir canal side next to the car park was the lowest i have ever seen it. To the left the other reservoir was full as was the 3rd one over behind the tree`s to the right.
I spent a week moored here as some Friends paid a visit and also it was convenient for a w`end visit to one of the sons. Probably would have stayed longer but my water tank was getting a bit
low so the decision was made for me to move up through the flight of locks to Bulbourne where i met George and Carol on Rock n roll at the water point. Just remembered to grab the camera as they turned to head back south.

At cow Roast a new addition since my last visit are a bank of recycling bins and as can be seen they are either well used or not emptied very often but a call to BW resulted in the local council
arriving the following day to clear the bins.


Just for a change instead of a sun set view a full moon picture.
Don`t know what the future holds regarding the blog as travelling over old ground makes it difficult to find blog material and i certainly don`t want the blog to read like a police alibi accounting for my every hour. At one stage i did think of ending my blog but decided to carry on with blogs appearing less frequently than in the past hoping that those of you who enjoy it will click in now and again checking for up dates.
Listed on the right are 20+ other boating blogs so why not try a few of them to get your blog fix and pop back to mine anytime.

STOKE BRUERNE Heading South

After leaving the Blisworth tunnel celebrations the 7 locks at Stoke Bruerne have to be negotiated and each one holds up to 56,000 galls of water.

In the 1790s the Grand Jct. Canal Co. created this route between the midlands and London and in doing so cut 40miles off the original journey via the Oxford canal and the R. Thames. This shorter route came into use following completion of Blisworth Tunnel in 1805.

The locks were duplicated in 1835 to speed up traffic even more during a time that canal companies were competing for business.


After the second lock down the flight the remains of the old brick works arm can be seen with
just a brick wall and some vegetation growing in the almost dry canal bed to give any clue as to the location.
The brick works operated between the 1840s and 1920 and boats would leave the main line to load in the arm with bricks and capping's for use on the canal as well as shipments for buildings along the way.


Now i`m just guessing but this model being proudly steered along the lock pound could be a
Destroyer or perhaps a Minesweeper, if dad was alive his WWII navy experience would have
supplied the answer but if there are any old sea dogs out there please correct my guesswork.


Moving south and another marina takes shape at Thrupp Wharf next to bridge 64. Opening on
the 1st oct it will have 60 moorings at a cost of £2300 for a 60` boat.

As can be seen in the plan above the entrance is in the winding hole next to the Navigation pub.





Below is Campbell Park moorings in Milton Keynes with room for 4/5 boats on the non towpath side next to the neat and tidy pond or is it a lake? When does a pond get big enough for lake status?.
Anyway not having visited MK from this area, have always bussed in, i made the 20 mins stroll into the centre for a look around and i can report it`s the same as last visit......boring.

Welcome Home

Congratulations Mike


Mike Perham sails solo around the world

BLISWORTH ANNIVERSARY

Last w`end Saturday to be exact was the 25th Anniversary of the re-opening of Blisworth Tunnel. The tunnel opened for boat traffic in 1805 and for 5 yrs previous to this a horse railway transported goods over Blisworth hill having been un-loaded from boats one side of the tunnel to be loaded once again on the other
.
In the late 1970s the bottom of the tunnel showed signs of lifting and in 1979 the tunnel was closed until it briefly re-opened in the summer of 1980 with BW crewing boats through. By late 1980 early 1981 such was the movement of the tunnel bed the walls were found to be lacking support and the tunnel was closed.

£4.3 million pounds was the cost of removing the centre section of the 3km tunnell and lining it with pre cast concrete rings.

The tunnel re-opened to boats on 22 August 1984 hence the 25th Anniversary celebrations.
Some pictures can be found HERE and don`t forget to click part 2 at the bottom of the page.

A lot of activities took place on the Saturday both in Stoke Bruerne and Blisworth programme
but for me the highlights were a talk and slide show by 2 of the tunnel engineers from Mowlem who were on the lining team. Following the talk i sat in the Museum and watched the archive news reports and other film clips made during the repair.
Out on the canal Tunnel trips were very popular with the public with the majority just going a short distance into the tunnel whilst a full length trip could be made with the option of a return journey by vintage bus. The 2 trip boats providing the trips were `Charlie` & `Indian Chief`.


Along the towpath leading to the tunnel several boats were selling their wares.
Above NB Tia selling Environmentally Responsible Products
The Fudge boat above and the Cheese boat below both handing out samples and hopefully making sales.

NB Sculptor built 1935 it`s wooden bottom now needing urgent repair was used in WWII as a fire boat in London but spent most of it`s life carrying cargo between London and Birmingham.
All day Saturday a steady stream of people got to see the living quarters of a working boat family and what you see in the pic is it, about 8 feet long.

Above the Milton Keynes Play Association boat` Funion Bargee` was on hand to keep the kids amused both on board and on shore. Below the only usual fitting is the galley at the rear the rest is just a play area.

If anyone missed the w`end celebrations the next event is "Village at war" Oct. 3-4th follow link to the left of the page.