Going cuckoo in the sun

It has been perfect weather for messing about in boats, but if you don’t have a boat as I haven’t this week being off house sitting, walking the canal towpaths is almost the next best thing. Boatdog, swans, ducks, Canada geese, moorhens and one of the largest grass snakes I have ever seen (must beContinue reading “Going cuckoo in the sun”

discover.narrow.boat

As boaters, like all the emergency services as well as those who need their help, we have a lot to thank musicians who got lost when trying to find far flung venues or gigs. If you’ve ever got lost while following a postcode or trying to find an address, then you will know the shortcomings.Continue reading “discover.narrow.boat”

Offering thanks to ‘The Schemer’

We are only here moored this week in Derbyshire because 260 years ago an Act of Parliament brought into reality the vision of a self-taught engineer united with the foresight of two wealthy businessmen. Without James Brindley, politician and industrialist Lord Gower and Josiah Wedgwood a famous potter, the Grant Trunk Canal now known asContinue reading “Offering thanks to ‘The Schemer’”

It is just FAB in action

FAB aka Fading Affect Bias has been enacted on board nb Preaux in just a few days. Within hours of the flood warnings for navigation being lifted and the repairs to a lock ahead being complete, the sun came out and off we went. By the time we had navigated through Barrow Deep Lock,  underContinue reading “It is just FAB in action”

Living in yesterday today

Guess what – we are still moored on the River Soar, and because we are back in flood again it seems we might be waiting a little longer! John Flower, a renowned landscape and architectural artist of the 18th and 19th centuries was known as ‘the Leicester artist’, and he knew the Soar intimately. HeContinue reading “Living in yesterday today”

Live your dream

Many of us start a new year with a reflective look back at the old, but for us circumstances have resulted in a rather further look back than usual. With a new grandchild very imminent we are back in the area where we started our narrowboat living journey over 5 years ago, and that hasContinue reading “Live your dream”

What to do when the only certainty is uncertainty

2025 has been been a dramatic year living afloat on the inland waterways. It started on New Year’s Day with a large breach of the Bridgewater canal at Little Bollington in Cheshire, a breach which is still being repaired. It ends with a dramatic breach on the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch. Luckily neither of theseContinue reading “What to do when the only certainty is uncertainty”

Coming, going and an invitation for you

It’s been looking a lot like Christmas this week. The on/off flood situation continues and water remains an issue both around and in the boat.  And Christmas is edging nearer. Last weekend saw our annual four generational family meal, which the boating community made easier. The river was rising as Boatdog (in a coat toContinue reading “Coming, going and an invitation for you”