Blackbird singing...

Remembering Haditha

2012-01-24T08:40:00.004Z

So, after seven years, a single U.S marine has been tried for the murder of 24 unarmed iraqis in three houses in Haditha, 2005. They were mostly women and children, one old man in a wheelchair. I wrote a post about it in 2006 I think (in the old blog) and included this beautiful image, 'Haditha', by Emily Johns, an artist whose work I love.

And what sentence did the marine receive? Three months. I could cry for the shame of it.

Voting

2012-01-18T20:53:00.006Z

Blimey, never thought I'd be encouraging anyone to vote but I read Tony's blog about the IWA possibly monopolising the 4 available seats on the Council of the new Canal and River Trust. I agree that that wouldn't be properly representative of the diversity of boaters in the UK. When voicing his concerns among the London Boaters, Tony found himself nominated as a candidate, which doesn't surprise me in the least!

It's quite clear from first meeting Tony, what a warm, genuine and caring person he is and his dynamic, intelligent input in the London Boaters group has earnt the respect of many fellow boaters. He worked tirelessly to win rights and concessions for that group and could use this experience and his ideas in other areas. I'm fortunate to also know him as a friend and although I know he is far too modest to be happy about me shouting his virtues from the treetops, I've seen his selfless and personal commitment to those facing hardship and injustice.

Anyway, I've taken the liberty of re-posting his obligatory election address here.

"I am a 51-year-old CC liveaboard and have been an active member of London Boaters for the past year or so.

London Boaters is becoming a pioneer of community-based provision of services and facilities for boaters (e.g. moorings, boaters' credit union). I believe that this could serve as a template for use in other areas, and fits in well with the local partnership model embodied in the CaRT structure.

There is a view that the canal network is a scarce commodity with competition for resources between leisure and residential users. Our research showed this not to be the case, and that a vibrant residential community actually encourages leisure users to make better use of the canals. I will work to promote the use of the waterways to maximise the benefit for all users.

I am independent of all organisations representing boaters.

Any questions, please leave a comment, or email me at election at floatinguniverse dot org dot uk.

Tony"

Possible light for a boat?

2012-01-16T16:25:00.004Z

I came across this you-tube clip about making light from plastic bottles. I wondered if this could be tried on a narrowboat, in place of a mushroom vent? Obviously, adequate ventilation would need to be ensured for stove safety.
It's HERE.

Happy new year

2012-01-13T15:44:00.001Z

from Blackbird x

plans

2011-12-30T21:43:00.002Z

It was good to have a bit of boat time in a quiet spot, albeit for a short spell before Christmas and a trip over to Wales to see family. Then it was back to move Blackbird along a bit. No ice down this neck of the country. It feels so mild this winter! The cabbages are coming along nicely and I like looking at them on the roof, until I saw a boat with brussel sprouts on their roof and now I have sprout envy!
I've been thinking about where to explore next. I think I'd like to wander along the Kennet and Avon. I've been along the Bristol and Bath bit in a friend's boat but it will be a bit of an adventure to go out on the Thames at Brentford and approach it from this end.

Boat blues

2011-12-07T14:47:00.000Z

I'm having boat blues. It's not because I'm on my boat and feeling down, but because I've been off it too long. It's been a mix of staying in a house, staying at my live-in work and being in France and I say a mix because that's been a roller-coaster of happy and stressful emotions. Now all I long for is to be alone on my lovely boat, moving on, being outside, being peaceful. I want to hear birds, see fields and woods and water. There's something very therapeutic about living on a narrowboat. It's a small, safe place and just the right size to enjoy organising and keeping tidy.
As sson as I'm home again, I'm going to pull up those pins and move away to an empty space and go walking. I'll come back cold and tired and make a fire in the stove and start some soup cooking on top, maybe play my accordian, read by candle-light.

November

2011-11-10T08:11:00.009Z

Boating is great. Boating in November is particularly great. The kids are back at school (poor loves), the Shinies are tucked away in marinas, the ice hasn't crept in yet and I have the canals to my selfish self - ah, bliss!
And it's warm! I wouldn't be human if I didn't enjoy the surprising warmth and the not-having-to-chop-wood-every-day-yet side of climate chaos, but it is all a bit worrying. Here's some out of focus blackberries and their flowers!

Of course, these early signs of global warming are nowt compared to the climate havoc already suffered in other countries but it's still sad to see flowers that will never fruit, eggs that can't be hatched, new buds that will soon be frost blasted. And here I am, burning diesel and moaning about the consequences - in fact, the families and Shinies are kinder to the environment than I am. Hey ho.

The empty canals meant I could take my time and dawdle at locks and admire the autumn colours.

A cyclist passed me with his little dog running alongside. He later came back past me, this time with the dog having a piggy-back in an ingenious bag on the cyclist's back! As they rode over a bridge I was passing under, they kindly stopped to let me take this photo. Sorry it's not clearer but the evening light was going and I had to focus on not widening the bridge.
When the man stopped, his dog looked down at the boat then leaned forwards to lick the back of his human's neck as though to say "ok, it's a boat, now get pedalling".

Moles and holes

2011-10-20T18:03:00.003+01:00

I have new front doors and needed to make a ventilation hole in the wood so I can light my stove safely. I used an old-fashioned hand-drill to make lots of holes so it looks like it was done with a machine-gun! You can see the one area I was able to reach with the coping saw. It was wobbly and hard work but also fun and satisfying to get it done. Once the section was taken out, I put a proper brass ventilation grill over both sides so you'd never guess the incompetent job underneath - unless you blog about it of course!

My second job of the day was to plant up some kale and cabbage plants but I needed soil for the planters and all is stony on this stretch of towpath. But overhearing some walkers talking about the 'eyesore' molehills on the playing field, I headed over there with my wheelbarrow and found the best soil for planters. It's topsoil, all finely sifted through mole claws! I hope gardeners will recognise how useful moles can be and stop treating them like pests.

Tasers

2011-10-20T17:49:00.002+01:00

So, two protestors were tasered at close quarters at Dale Farm. Police fired from the other side of a fence so were not in fear of their lives, the only justification for using these guns. I knew there had been some deaths in relation to tasers but hadn't realised how lethal they are. Since 2001, there have been 507 deaths in the U.S, while in the U.K, there were 3 deaths within 8 days in August this year. Usingpotentially lethal tasers to simply facilitate an eviction looks like police state tactics to me.

paraffin stove

2011-09-30T01:05:00.000+01:00

Finally got around to posting photos of my little paraffin burner, bought at a car-boot sale for £8.
Sarah from nb Chertsey blogged in August about one she has. After careful examination, I see mine is called Beatrice too!

In the dark it looks like the furnace of Hell

Light & shade

2011-09-24T14:24:00.000+01:00

Sad things: the death of friend and wonderful Calais activist, Marie-Noelle Gues.
Photographer, journalist, teacher, mother.
Here's a Youtube clip of what she was fighting for.

And of course, it's the sadnesses that highlight the joys of normal day-to-day living.
Here's a few of the lovely things that have happened recently:
Towersey folk festival - I loved it! Some great music, camping, morris dancing, a spectacular lantern procession, Indian circus, surreal hand-bell ringing, copious amounts of cider and falafel.
I failed to take any photos except of these fine flag performers. It doesn't sound anything special but the slow swoosh and crack of the material was absolutely mesmerising.

A birthday treat (one of many :-) - a river trip from Richmond to Westminster and back.
Fantastic weather, had a silly grin on my face thoughout.

Another treat - a puppet show on the Puppet Barge at Richmond! (This photo is from their website). Two of my favourite things, puppets and boats, brought together in one lovely package.

A surprise cake by the river! Sunshine, cider, my love - it was perfect. Of course I had to get mucky didn't I :-)

Went scrumping again in the disused orchard I came across last year and made lots of chutney. I like chutney, jam and cordial days, followed closely by scrubbing-fruit-stains-off-every-surface days :-)

We went to see Beirut at Brixton Academy. Just fantastic. (Photo is from their website)

And then there was this morning...

We Travellers

2011-09-07T22:10:00.002+01:00

Dale Farm has been in the news a lot recently, so most people will know it’s a traveller site in Essex, where an eviction is looming. Some of the reporting about the site has been misleading, such as the plans to ‘return the site to greenbelt’. Travellers set up home there ten years ago, on a disused scrapyard, not the lush green fields ‘greenbelt’ suggests. The travellers own the land they are living on. They also own a couple of proper ‘greenbelt’ fields next door, where they graze their horses.
Another piece of misinformation is that the 90 families living there have been offered other places to live. They haven’t. The old people there say they can’t bear to be constantly moving on with the endless police hassle they’ve faced all their lives but found a refuge from, by getting together to buy the land.
They are a people in transition. Many of the men and women aged around 60+ grew up in horse-drawn vehicles, moving where there was seasonal work, horse fairs, good grazing etc. Most of this site’s owners came from Ireland to find work. Now all the common land is owned by someone, everywhere is fenced round. It’s a battle to even keep some footpaths across land open! Wherever the travellers stopped, they received abuse and harassment by people in houses, the police called every time, they got moved on constantly. Some residents don’t read or write because they couldn’t go to school. In a documentary recently, I found it really moving to hear how one grandmother had been taught to read by the children as they were now able to go to school by staying in one place.
The seasonal work is now on the continent for many of the young men of the community. They can do this when they know their womenfolk are living together not needing to constantly move on. Three generations live in community in a way we all used to do. The grandparents are closely involved in the upbringing of the grandchildren, with aunts, uncles and cousins close by.
Many of the residents at Dale Farm are Catholic, with statues of Mary in carefully tended shrines on each plot. The immaculately kept caravans put my boat to shame. The children ‘play out’ all day in the school holidays, older ones looking after and bossing around the younger ones, climbing, digging, building rubble dens etc without much adult interference, but clean themselves up sharpish when they go home! If you need anything, you will instantly be offered it by 5 people at once! It’s very hard to say no, thank you! I mention all this because it seems so reminiscent of village life, say one or two hundred years ago.
I don’t mean to romanticise a pretty tough way of life but I hate that they are to be cleared away like rubbish. I hate that their way of life is seen as invalid because it isn’t the same as that of most house-dwellers. What’s so great about buying a house you have to spend all your life working to pay for, filling it with stuff you’ll throw away in a year or two. What’s so wonderful about living alienated from your family and not ever speaking to your neighbours. This isn’t just about gypsy/Roma/ travellers. After all, those of us who live aboard are also living outside accepted norms too. Some of us travel around alone, others group together in communities and try to live much like the caravan travellers. Some people make use of empty buildings, squatting them for a while, injecting crumbling buildings with new life, often creating community social spaces.
The intolerance of difference isn’t anything new but the current drive to iron out society so that we are all part of the same shoddy system is worrying I think. Squatting was popular after the war when returning soldiers had no-where to live when their homes had been bombed. People made use of what they could find and that was accepted. Now the government is trying to make it illegal, at a time when buying a home is impossible for so many. The money spent on evicting people who it will cost lots of money rehousing, seems a mad expense.
Government money is propping up the eviction of Dale Farm. An estimated 18 million pounds has been earmarked for the eviction, including £6million from the Home Office. What a stupid waste of money. What a pointless uprooting of a settled and close community. What a worrying example of State-financed intolerance and racial prejudice. It's something happening more and more in other European countries with France and Italy recently clearing gypsy camps, forcibly fingerprinting gyspies. A few weeks ago, a site was cleared in Paris, the residents made to board a train, adults and children seperated and under police escort, taken out of the city. The parallels with the trnsportation of jews and gypsies under the Vichy government have rightly caused an outcry. We do things more subtly over here. We crush dissent and difference through long drawn-out legal battles and with various 'consultations' and justifications, but the result is the same.
Don’t wait for them to come for the boaters. If you can, support the Dale Farm travellers in their fight to resist the eviction. There’s a march (details here: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/demo/) or just to find out more about it, here’s the website: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/

My kitchen window

2011-08-22T19:39:00.003+01:00

I've been off my boat a fair bit recently and coming home is always such a pleasure. Even after five years, I still get a surge of happiness stepping down into the boat, seeing the colours, the wood, the inside shape of a boat. Another pleasure is standing at the kitchen window which makes doing boring things like washing up, much more fun :-)
I have my faithful Tyrannosaurus Rex, guarding the basil, while papier mache birds I once made for christmas tree decorations but which turned out to be far too beaky and fierce-looking for that, battle it out over the parsley and mint. There are also two mushrooms turned from apple wood, which Simon bought me at a green fair. I guess the chances of seeing a caterpillar sitting smoking a hookah on there one day are small, with so many predators..

I'm making elderberry cordial at the moment. It's very easy and makes a great hot drink in winter (add boiling water) or can be taken neat by the spoonful in case of sore throats and coughs. Gather ripe elderberries, strip them off the tree with a fork and it does the least damage, I think. Put in a big pan and add half their volume of water. Simmer and stir for 20 minutes, cool and squeeze out the juice through muslin or a jelly bag. For every 500ml of juice, add 250g muscovado sugar, a stick of cinnamon, some cloves and slices of lemon. Simmer for 20 minutes, strain off and pour into sterilised bottles. A lovely taste of summer in the winter months.

New pot

2011-07-19T19:30:00.003+01:00

Look - I have a new pot! Well, an old one but new to me :-) This one is enamel on steel and so much lighter than my cast-iron enamel saucepans and frying pan.
I love old enameled cookware, even though it's impractical in some ways. The handle gets burning hot, the cast-iron ones are very heavy to lift and things don't stay hot in the steel ones for long BUT they're so pretty and the shapes are sometimes funny and the colours bizarre. They never seem to stack with other things so have to have their own personal space in the cupboard - completely impractical on a boat - lovely!

No justice

2011-07-11T19:56:00.002+01:00

This won't make any headlines and most people will neither know nor care about it, but today saw a shameful landmark in the justice system. The Immigration Advisory Service has closed all its offices today and gone into administration, leaving around 24,000 cases (that's people) in limbo with no legal representation. People whose claim for asylum is due to be heard will have no voice, no way of putting their cases, no access to one of the most basic of human rights - the right to ask for asylum. If they were due to be represented at all, it's because their case-workers saw they each had real grounds for seeking asylum.
You can't claim asylum from outside the country. You can't enter the country without a visa. You won't get granted a visa if you come from any country that is a) very poor b) war-torn c) has famine/drought d) is in any conflict with the UK. Only the wealthy or the influential get in that way. So much for Britain having a fine reputation for granting asylum to those in need. So people risk everything to find ways into the country and then ask for asylum. They can then be treated as 'illegal' and then have to struggle endlessly against a culture of disbelief where they are treated like the worst sort of criminals. Their one hope has been to get legal advice, translators to be able to tell their story, to have their moment in court to counter the disbelief, the hatred from tabloid newspapers, the on-going racist stories about asylum scroungers etc. There's no longer legal aid for asylum cases so law-firms won't take them on. And now the Immigration Advisory Service has been forced into administration, most people will be deported, regardless of their background or story, which will never be heard.
Michael Howard wrote in 2003 "Britain has a proud tradition of providing a safe haven for those fleeing persecution." I'd laugh if it wasn't such a bloody great lie. I was reading accounts of the prejudice and media hysteria whipped up in 1939 about jewish immigrants seeking asylum in the UK. The hostility they faced has been airbrushed out over time, to present a rosy collective memory of Our Generous Hospitality.

Gimp My Ride

2011-06-27T17:36:00.004+01:00

I used Gimp to do a quick view of how my boat may look if I have the cabin cut back. (The water reflects its shape today.)

And then I might paint it a blue-grey colour, sometrhing like this:

I could paint some blackbirds in flight along the cabin sides too.

I've been doodling on bits of paper to work out how the inside layout would alter but that will have to be another post, another day.
Wow it's hot today! I had a lovely, lesiurely boat trip from Rickmansworth to Watford and was glad there weren't queues of boats behind me as it was too hot to rush through the locks. My washing dried very quickly :-)

Bats!

2011-06-23T21:42:00.002+01:00

This entry is born of the frustration of not being able to comment directly on Rose of Arden's blog and say how brilliant their post about bats is! Have a look HERE.
I find bats fascinating and didn't know ordinary people could get bat detectors (although Mags and Mike may be extraordinary, I don't know!). They've put links to hear the different sounds bats make. I never know what kind of bats are zooming around my head late at night but I like the fact that they live so secretly from humans. I also like them because they remind me of hot summer nights in France. We walked back to the boat, late on the evening of the solstice and had them swooping overhead - lovely,
Here's my own little bat, imaginatively named "Batty".
>

Banardos

2011-06-17T22:13:00.003+01:00

Banardos does some fantastic work to protect children in the UK. I worked for them in a very humble position myself, years ago. Which is why I’m particularly upset to see their involvement in running the newly opening detention centre for families and children at Pease Pottage. They will be working in conjunction with G4S (Group 4 security) who are currently facing possible corporate manslaughter charges after the death of Jimmy Mubenga during a forced removal on a flight to Angola. In 2010 alone, there were 700 complaints made against G4S, including assault and racism.
The last government announced the closure of the Yarl’s Wood detention centre (mainly women and children), saying it was inhumane and investigations showed that even short spells in detention prisons were deeply traumatic for children. Incidences of weight-loss, depression, bed-wetting, traumatised behaviour, nightmares and self-harming were common. Kids taken from school, from their homes in front of neighbours and friends, very often from the only homes they've known, to be bundled off to a prison without time to pack toys, clothes, say goodbyes.. The Children's Commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green said in his report that detention was harmful to children and should be stopped. After the 'End Child Detention Now' campaign, started by ordinary people and backed by more famous people with a bit of clout, the last government finally agreed to shut down Yarl's Wood in May this year.
But now we have a new government and with it, a re-branded imprisonment of children. The name is now 'Pre-departure Accommodation Centre' but it's the same disgraceful locking up of kids. There was an initial reistance among a few mp's but the involvement of Banardos has given it the veneer of care and compassion needed to get it through the planning process.
As one protestor says, 'Barnardo's endorsement has given this sham a fig leaf of legitimacy with the councillors who granted it planning permission expressing that they are reassured by Barnardo’s involvement.'
In fact, the former chief executive of Banardos, Martin Narey, slammed the imprisonment of asylum-seeking families as “unnecessary” and “shameful”. Out with the old and in with the new, it seems. If all decent children's charities refused to get involved in this shameful set-up, the centre couldn't open.

If anyone cares about this and doesn't want to see Banardos sully its fine reputation, they can send an e-mail messga eon their feedback form here.

“I am so scared of the Home Office. It is hard times for me and my mum. She would rather kill herself than go back." A child who was in detention.

I have peas!

2011-06-10T08:54:00.000+01:00

Happiness is small round green things in pods.

Downsizing

2011-06-08T03:46:00.005+01:00

I know this may be a bit unusual but I've been thinking for some time about shortening my boat. Well, what I really mean is shortening the cabin length, to give me a bigger hold. The boat is 52ft long and has a very small cratch area of about 3 or 4ft long floor space. I don't particularly want a bigger boat but I long for more outside space. I guess there's all the countryside and towpath to be had, but I want to lug it all with me. And sit out in it. And grow veg and small trees in it. And make things that I can't make indoors.
I'm wondering if it would be cheaper to get Blackbird altered rather than sell up and buy something a bit different and I'll have to start by getting some quotes from boatyards. I think I'd prefer to keep my boat as I'm very attached to it.
So, it would mean losing my large sitting-room so you'd come straight into the kitchen area from the front entry. Then the room that is currently a spare bedroom/work space would become my sofa area. So I'd probably make the kitchen/new sitting-room an open plan space, partly divided, with the stove moved up to this area.
I'd lose a lot of bookshelf storage but gain maybe another 13 ft of hold. Would it be worth it? I'll have to measure up properly, do some proper sketches, get the boatyards to come up with some figures and decide if it is!

Two birds

2011-05-26T10:20:00.004+01:00

I'm on the outskirts of London and very much enjoying being able to dip into city life when I want and retreat to quiet countryside. How lucky to be able to do that.
On Tuesday, two birds caught my eye, reminding me of the way I'm living at the moment.
This female Mandarin duck flew up onto the bow as I was sitting out with my morning coffee....

Later in the day, I came across this giant Heron in Hackney:

I was reading that the Mandarin is originally a native of western Russia, China and Japan but has settled here successfully and that the Heron, which used to nest in elm trees, just adapted when so many elms died and moved to oaks instead. Survival so often seems to be about adapting, migrating, moving on.

Duplication/duplicity

2011-05-15T22:50:00.001+01:00

I was looking at the Granny Buttons blog and noticed a site called 'Blackbird' listed in the sidebar. I wondered if it was a broken link to the old blog I'd started a few years ago and deleted when I got fed up with it. The link took me to an unfamilar page in salmon pink and blue, entitled 'Carrieblackbird'. It looked so much like a personally chosen site, I assumed it was another Carrie with a boat called Blackbird - what a coincidence! The writing was from 2008 so I didn't immediately recognise my own words.
There are no recent postings and I vaguely began to remember Mr Denny writing something about having a copy of my postings, even though I'd chosen to delete them. Quote: "Carrie, please note that a blog is permanent even if you delete it. On my computer I've still got all 60 posts you made since I first discovered you on 10th November." I remember thinking at the time 'so what!'
I may be wrong, but it does look as though he, or someone else has made a blog, selected the format and colour scheme and filled it with my past blog entries as though I had made it.
If this is the case, I'm very annoyed. I chose to delete my own writings. At least my link to the Granny Buttons blog actually leads to his site and not some stoopid pink concoction, masquerading as his choice.

ADDITION: I've since spoken to Andrew Denny and it's clearly not some dastardly deed of his but that of some spammer in Russia. Aplogies Andrew.
свиньи!

lovely May

2011-05-15T01:37:00.003+01:00

I've had some happy days on my boat recently, moored up in a little private paradise of trees, waist-high nettles and brambles ;-) Lovely. The fine weather made it especially gorgeous with everything leafy and green. (My internet connection's too slow to let me upload a photo, I'll try and remember to do it later.)
Reading Lucky Duck's blog I was led to Belle's blog where a boater is experimenting with foraging and cooking from the hedgerows. There, I was amazed by the recipe for Dandelion marmalade which I must have a go at making. I've made a dandelion oil before, for salads and also a dandelion remedy for aching muscles (thouh I've never been sure whether it wasn't just the rubbing in that helped ;-)and once tried some flower heads in a salad (more pretty than tasty!)but reckon the marmalade will be good.
It's a good time to be making stuff when everything is young-leaved and fresh-tasting. I missed out on finding any St George's mushrooms this year (not enough rain maybe?) but am determined to be a little more adventurous with mushrooms this autumn. Apart from the giant puffball I found along the Shropshire union canal one year and a couple of field mushrooms, I haven't dared try anything, even though I have a couple of good books to guide me. When I lived in France, everyone went Cep gathering and you could take anything you weren't sure of to the pharmacy to get it identified!
I've hardly done any hedgerow foraging myself yet this year. Instead, I've been lucky enough to have been given fruit and also taken advantage of throwaway supermarket gluts to make:
Rhubarb and ginger jam
Date and rhubarb chutney
Chilli tomato chutney
Fig and caramelised onion jam
Pickled peppers
Pickled garlic mushrooms

As for my little rooftop garden, apart from plenty of perpetual spinach (which is very easy to grow and comes again all summer, some peas that may or may not produce enough for a meal ;-), and some reluctant-to-flower strawberries, I haven't made the big effort I intended to this spring. Never mind, I AM glad I got around to planting some flowers because it's great to see the bees busy foraging, although as Simon commented, it may cause some confusion back at the hive, when the dance of map instructions leads them to a recently vacated mooring!

(Yes! - Got a better signal to post my photo)

Roses & castles

2011-05-14T06:44:00.004+01:00

There's loads of stuff written about the 'roses and castles' painting of narrowboats for anyone interested in the tradition. I recently found an old copy of 'The Water Gipsies' by A.P Herbert, written in 1930, which gives a romantic account of the decoration of a working boat and butty. He mentions 3 designs: roses, castles and hearts, saying that they represented beauty, worldly honour and love, rsepectively.
He suggested that the castles on different boats often bore some ressemblance to actual castles or stately homes in England, which doesn't seem to be the case today, judging from the ones I've seen, which tend to look more like the castle that little fairy flies up from at the start of Disney films!

On Canal Junction Tony Lewery explains that there was a much richer variety of designs than just the 'roses and castles' to which we've reduced canal art - "There certainly are roses of a sort in profusion, but there are also daisy-cum-marigold shaped flowers, dahlia/ chrysanthemums, pansy/primroses and other strange floral >hybrids invented by the brush of the painter working at speed. Castles or big country houses predominate in the picture panels, but there are also churches, cottages, lighthouses and portraits of dogs, horses and the sailor's head from Players cigarette advertisements"
As well as having similarities with folk art across Europe and beyond, I think much of the style and content is inspired by what people with little money or literacy had to hand - playing cards, printed cloth, cheap Victorian patterns on things like these tea-trays.

It's funny that some people who are quite vocal about preserving the 'tradition of roses and castles' may actually be strangling that tradition by reducing it to an extremely narrow set of 'rules' whereby the castles all look the same and there is a set list of ingredients to make up the whole. Courses teaching this may be helping stultify this art form that I reckon was once much more quirky, fresh, individual and inventive.
We can see this happening in another art form - graffiti. There's wonderful self-expression, often influenced by popular culture, comics, TV, (the playing cards and tea-trays of the past) but when you try to confine it, teach it, preserve it, it gets reduced to a set style with boring results.

I do like seeing traditional canal art on boats and it's wonderful to preserve it but if we really want to keep canal art alive, we should maybe try to include our own intersts and influences as our boater predecessors did. I like seeing how some boaters have portraits of their dogs or canal wildlife on their doors and others go mad and paint their whole boats with wonderfully imaginative designs. A couple I met a year ago are a good example. He had painted a lovely card for his partner and she liked it so much, they painted the whole of their boat with that design! It even has some flowers and hearts too I think, that should keep the purists happy :-)

London Boaters

2011-05-07T11:27:00.001+01:00

During the Little Venice weekend, we wandered over to the Regents canal to take part in a London Boaters towpath event. The main aim was to draw attention to BW proposals to clear the River Lee of what it sees as undesirable boaters, though anyone attending the weekend event, would immediately see that these boaters are it's greatest human asset.

We arrived too late to see the forming of the word 'Home' with boats - must have been a funny palava to watch! Here's a photo by Sasha Andrews, posted on the London Boaters website:

They are also on Facebook.

What we did get to see was a fine circus act on the roof of a big boat (why didn't I take my camera?! doh!), including a mime act, a beautifully poetic trapeze performance on ropes accompanied by singing and lovely live music - the accordian playing was a bonus for me ;-) General friendliness, welcoming chat, a sense of inclusion, the table with tea and cakes, the child uni-cyclist, the warmth of the sunshine, smiling passers-by, an open-hearted community.
After 5 years of travelling around various canals and meeting all kinds of people, I know that this warm sense of solidarity and sharing is usually only found among boating communities that stick together. It doesn't mean you have to live in each other's pockets but are there for mutual support and sharing good things. We boaters that travel singly and over a wider stretch of the country can look in vain for such neighbourliness. The best we achieve is a friendly politeness towards other boaters, and an eager anticipation of meeting up briefly with friends afloat.

Another important aspect of the London Boater community is that of environmental awareness. They are a part of LILO (Low Impact Life On board) and encourage sustainable living afloat through example. BW claims to be implementing a rigorous policy of environmental care of the waterways, which is just incompatible with forcing boats to continually travel - this is something they are simply refusing to recognise. In other words, they are ticking the 'environmental awareness' box they are forced to do by law, while not really giving a damn about the consequences of their policies. For all my efforts to live a low-impact life, I burn diesel every time I travel and my carbon footprint must be huge in comparison to those of boating communities who move over a smaller area.

Finally, I'm thinking about the Jericho boaters. That wonderful little haven in Oxford that had its heart ripped out when the community was broken up and the boatyard cleared. I used that emotive term 'ripped out', because that's what it was like - people clinging in tears to their boats as they were craned out the water. And for what? That place is a dreary, soul-less blot on the landscape now, high-fenced and barb-wired.

I've been sorry to read how some boat bloggers are not content to simply disagree with the London Boaters stance, but seek to actively stir up opposition. I suspect such people would never themselves be useful members of any such community and make few friends and many enemies in their own chosen lifestyles. I leave them to their lonely misanthropy and urge on the London Boaters with a great cheer!

Little Venice cavalcade

2011-05-04T21:25:00.000+01:00

our iranian friends

2011-04-27T08:27:00.007+01:00

There are six iranian men on day 21 of a hunger-strike in London. They were arrested, detained and tortured in Iran, for taking part in anti-regime protests. There are photos in the Iranian press proving their links to opposition groups - the very people this government is encouraging to fight for freedom in Iran. One man has deep slash scars on his back from torture. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Their case was dealt with in the usual arbitrary way by the Home Office (you really wouldn't believe just how arbitrary, dismissive and hastliy cases are 'dealt with' until you talk to human rights and immigration lawyers!) with vital supporting evidence not even translated in court.
In a final bid to appeal against the Home Office decision to deport them, they have sewn their mouths closed and are refusing food. (More info..)

The online petition is here: PETITION

The BBC has just put a video report on their website: Iran asylum seekers

Down & out

2011-04-21T07:04:00.002+01:00

Gawd! I swear I will write something uplifting soon, but I just have to let off more steam first! It seems, from reading a few bloater blogs, that BW have been pretty busy recently, clamping down on unlicenced boats and removing them from the waterways. The jubilation of some boaters over this just baffles me! Maybe I'm being dim but I don't get it.
One person talked about hoping BW could sell a little boat (a fairly valueless one by the look of it) to recoup some money - as though that means we would all get lower licence fees as a result! As I pointed out, all that would happen is that the guy whose boat was siezed will probably now need to be housed in B&B accomodation (social housing being so scarce) at huge expense to tax-payers. Housing benefit and homeless accomodation apparently costs us £12 billion/year. Or he will be sleeping rough.
Another boat blogger actually helped BW impound a 'dosser boat' as they called it (from the delightful comfort of their new shiny boat). The guy living on the impounded boat was, apparently, drunk.
I've met a number of alcoholics living on boats. Some cling on to something resembling a stable life while they have their boat homes. Somewhere to live privately, a small pride of ownership, of being 'A Boater'. Take that away and you have a vulnerable drunk sleeping in a doorway and with all pride gone.
A couple of posts back, I was banging on about the hidden homeless and see how this can be the direct result of our witch-hunt of the 'dosser boater'.
Why should we do BW's work for them? We play into their hands when they try to get us to inform on unlicenced boats or overstayers. (That's how you get a country to support oppressive regimes - set the people on each other, drive out anyone dissenting.)
We could be a powerful, self-regulating community if only we acted in solidarity with each other. Solidarity and inclusivity. A strong inclusive community could support those not coping well with life (that can come to all of us at some point), help them move about enough to not be a nuisance to other boaters (fuck BW rules, I'm talking about our own co-existence here), offer support and advice on organising money for licnce and repairs, help out with maintenance etc.
It's when you treat someone like a pariah that I think they become isolated and stop caring what anyone thinks of them.
Too many people have come onto the canals from a life of priviledge and then spend all their time moaning about and waging war on those without the advantages of the opportunities that education and a loving family brings.
Personally, I would hate to see the day come when there are only identikit shiny tubes on the waterways owned by wealthy retired people. I love seeing families afloat, non-white boaters, young couples, craft of all strange and ingenious fabrication and interesting people with vastly different life-stories.

Sometimes I think this is why I have a blog - so I don't endlessly rant in the street :-)
I'm really looking forwards to the Little Venice cavalcade at the weekend. All the boats together looking lovely and festive. Good company, hopefully cider and sunshine!

Vik

2011-04-17T20:46:00.003+01:00

Just wanted to mark the death of a very special man, 'Vik' - Vittorio Arrigoni, who was murdered in Gaza on Thursday. He was the partner of my friend who, like Vik, has given so much of her life over to supporting the Palestinian people. Everyone says what a beautiful, selfless person he was.
Indymedia link

'Proper boaters'

2011-04-11T11:46:00.003+01:00

Whenever I hear complaint about people afloat who aren't 'proper boaters', I get mad! Canal boaters come in all forms, have all kinds of craft, have all different reasons for being there, moor up along towpaths or in marinas and have different ways of moving about or staying put. Get over it! We all shuffle along a man-made ditch - we are none of us 'proper boaters', if that phrase means anything at all.
It's just a way of excluding people, making yourself seem more important than them, pulling some weird sort of rank, or belittling the efforts of those new to the waterways.
One of the most interesting boaters I've met has been afloat for nearly forty years (a fact you only learn after a few days acquaintance) and is quiet, gentle, tolerant and helpful. To my mind, he puts those boastful self-publicists to shame.

Hidden homeless

2011-04-08T23:21:00.002+01:00

It's difficult to find out how many people in the UK are homeless and that's one useful piece of information the census won't reveal of course. The government statistics estimate about 99,500 households were newly homeless in 2007 but the trouble is that only 'official' homeless people are counted in government statistics, i.e those who make a declaration and are eligable to apply for accommodation.
The charity 'Crisis' talks about an estimated 400,000 'hidden homeless' who haven't been allocated housing. It's probably pretty well known now that many of these are youngsters who feel unable to stay on in abusive households, people who come out of institutions, hospitals, foster homes, casualties of relationship breakdowns, home repossessions, mental health problems, drug and alcohol dependencies, etc. And there are also people who simply choose to live in freedom outside without the traps and trappings of modern life.
Why am I talking about this now? It's because I was out walking the other afternoon and came across no less than six separate shelters (some tents, others made from palettes, branches and tarps). Each discretely tucked away among trees and bushes. It made me realise that there must be thousands of people living like this all across the country. For people who aren't there by choice, I feel very sad. But I'm also glad that those looking to live differently can still build themselves a shelter and survive.

Out with the Herbies

2011-04-04T07:22:00.007+01:00

We've had a couple of fun days out with Kath and Neil from nb Herbie. First we accompanied Herbie down the Hanwell flight with nb Tortoise breasted up for the locks. It must be a bit tricky driving something like a widebeam but from one side only but Neil did a fine job bringing them into locks, not helped by a frequently fouled prop - there was loads of rubbish floating in the canal!

A few days later, Simon and I went along for the ride when Herbie braved the Thames. I was a bit anxious about it but the river was calm, wide and wonderfully interesting. The sun made it all the more enjoyable. We were spoilt with two types of vegan cake: Kath's famous banana cake (which I have never quite managed to copy to the same high standard) and Marilyn's yummy fuity cake with just a hint of rum.
After a good vegan lunch at Kingston I'm afraid I forgot my manners and, in the style of Oliver Twist, asked rather pointedly for more of Kath and Marilyn's cake!
I may not be asked back :-)

Some you win, some you lose

2011-03-15T11:48:00.005Z

My bike got nicked :-( It was a folding bike and had done me proud for my 5 years afloat. That'll teach me to use only D-locks in future, as even thick bendy wire locks get cut through like licorice by boltcroppers.
But as I was trudging home again, I spotted some pine legs protruding from the canal. My first thought was of firewood, but when I pulled, up came a kicthen sheving unit! It was half-covered with a bin-bag so I guess it had been put out for rubbish and someone had chucked it in the canal. It had castors and a tiled worktop which unfortunately didn't fit the space I had mentally allocated it, but I hacked it about a bit and am very happy with my find!

The tiled top has become a useful part of my workdesk so I can splash paint and water about as much as I usually do, but with less guilt :-)

I'm moored in a busy industrial area at the moment with a lot of towpath walkers. There was a knock on the boat at 4 this morning and I was very slow to get up and look. I could see a man sitting a few yards away but not looking anxious to contact me in particular and he'd only tried knocking once. I went through that thought process of wondering if he needed anything, was homeless, or was checking out if my boat was empty before breaking in.. I dressed and stuck my head out to ask what he wanted and he said there'd been a car broken into in the nearby car-park and was it mine cos he knew who'd done it. "I've knocked at all the other boats too" he said. Bet they were equally pleased! But I was shamed because he'd been motivated by a kind impulse and not the needy or negative ones I'd assumed.

From the library

2011-02-28T14:30:00.004Z

I usually join the library wherever I stay for a few days, and was recently chatting to another boating friend about our large collection of library cards from around the country! As well as computer use, you can take out a book from one library and return it to a 'sister' library further along the canal.
I'm writing this in Paddington library because I don't have much laptop power (forgot to charge up on solar and now it's raining) and I also want to print out some pages. Today, I've brought my own laptop along to plug in and use in warmth, light and comfort. What else do I use the library for? Reading the paper, reading expensive canal magazines that won't get binned after one read, checking out the local events I could go along to or getting info about doctor's surgeries, bus timetables. I have, on rare occasions, borrowed CDs or DVDs and often bought second-hand library books.
Looking around me, I see mums and dads with kids just starting to read or looking at the pictures while parents grab a chance to choose books or check e-mails in peace. No need to keep a watch-out for traffic here. A free place to take the children when school or nursery is shut. I was in here last week and they were running free health-checks in one corner of the library, offering blood-pressure checks, etc and dietary advice. I've seen story-book readings for groups of pre-school kids in some libraries, computer classes for retired people in others, coffee-shops in a couple.
I've listened in to a computer lesson given to an excluded pupil by a teacher or key-worker.
Today, I see older people, having a sit down with the paper, one frail lady with her shopping looks like she's just come in to sit down because there's no-where else you can sit out of the rain, without spending money.
There are students here, I think, judging from the books and files open around their computers. People at the study tables, writing furiously in what may be the only quiet place they have. There's a man with the jobs paper open, pen and notebook beside him. There are people reading the arabic newspapers, others talking very quietly in a language I don't understand.
I remember blogging a while ago about trying to get back from Rugby to my boat on a bus-free day. I found the library open and was able to photocopy part of an ordnance survey map that helped me find my way home across footpaths and disused railway.

I think of all this, knowing that the government aims to close one fifth of the libraries in the country. I found this site that shows a map of the libraries under threat of closure. I see from one comment underneath that 9 out of the 11 libraries on the Isle of Wight are to close!
There have been protests that get very little media coverage, perhaps because they tend to be quiet protests like read-ins and because the people most affected by the closures are disenfranchised and feel powerless. Many library users are tired single parents, retired people, people with disabilities whose day-centres have closed, job-seekers, asylum-seekers, homeless people and travellers like myself. I don't suppose the wealthy have much use for libraries as they order books online and don't need the social, free aspect of a library. If it's raining outside, you can sit in the car or a cafe/restaurant or go to the cinema etc.

My daughter, studying part-time for an MA, has the use of the Bodleian library in Oxford. That elitist establishment will never close. The one she passed in a run-down, impoverished street in Deptford recently, had already shut.

Toy story

2011-02-17T15:15:00.000Z

I've brought Blackbird into London, exchanging tall trees for high buildings. It's exciting exploring! One of my first outings was to the Museum of Childhood (pic from their website) where I particularly wanted to look out for puppets and early mechanical toys, being slightly dotty about carved painted wood. I also love simple tin forms, cardboard figures etc - things that aren't plastic I guess.
It reminds me that there is a lovely museum of childhood to be found in Edinburgh too - smaller and in a higgledy-piggledy warren of rooms over 2 or 3 floors. This museum is in a big open building and the noise can be deafening!

Here are some things that caught my eye..
The most basic design for a moving toy, I love its simplicity.

Isn't this great. You press down on the tail and the little bellows make it chirp. There's also plenty of nostalgia here - spot the Snoopy toy behind?

These puppets are called Pebble puppets as they have a pebble inside for weight, perhaps it's so the limbs can move freely from the weighted main body.

These little 'spirit boats' or putt-putt boats sent me scurrying to find out how they're made. I'd seen some at a fair once and always thought I'd love to try to make one. Here's an interesting site showing different options.

The candles are lit, the heat turns the windmill at the top, which in turn, rotates the tiers below.

Not a great photo, sorry, but this toy has a figure that dances on the end of a wire. It's a sand-driven device, whereby you turn the box upside down, sand goes to fill the 'shute' at the top and as can be seen in the photo below, it turns a wheel, that flicks the wire. Ingenious and no batteries needed ;-)

There's also a wonderful display of doll's houses I never had (oh the world of the miniature!). There are the toys and games my brothers and I played together, like the 'Merit' chemistry set that filled us with excited awe and which I'm now amazed we were let loose with. And there are the toys that my own children played with when small, which bring floods of happy memories as well as memories of hoovering up vital pieces of lego, puzzle and dolly's shoe. Oh well!
Probably a combination of seeing all the toys, chatting about childrens' books with the Herbies, some cider and a discussion about Flash Gordon & Ming the Merciless, but last night I dreamed of flying in a silver tin spaceship with red stars.

what lies beneath..

2011-02-03T09:02:00.006Z

I had a lovely few days away, visiting friends of Simon and exploring part of the Grantham canal. Simon's blogged about that, and he had a camera, so I won't! But what struck me most was the quiet emptiness of the canal, almost entirely boatless and, in the long stretch away from houses and people, free of rubbish. I like the bustle of boaty places and canalside communities, but the crap that comes with large concentrations of people is an awful blight. I don't think it has to be this way. People can live together without wrecking the environment, if we stop buying plastic and packaging everything.
I shouldn't rant so much, I know, but I'm on the Slough arm at the moment and saddened by the amount of dumped rubbish that's in and around the canal. I had a quick clear-up just around my boat and filled a (plastic) bin-bag easily.
Just off the towpath, a nest of colourful wires:

The lakes where anglers hang out (you can maybe spot the tent just over the fence), and useful dumping ditch behind them:

Oh well, there was probably nothing good on anyway...

In the canal itself, there's a fascinating underworld of tyres and containers. It's quite beautiful in it's way! And doesn't this motorbike look romantic in its murky home, although I don't think it would have done my boat's hull any good if I'd tried to moor here.

It's a shame because there's nowt wrong with the canal itself (though i know the summer reeds are a big problem). There are lots of trees and undergrowth and walks around lakes. It needs a lot of people to care enough and give time to cleaning it up, putting pressure on the anglers, getting bins built, etc. The problem is that most of us, including me, are either just passing through or feel no connection or 'ownership' of the canal.

GM food + fuel

2011-01-24T12:19:00.005Z

In preparation for the release of a pro-GM report out on Feb 9th, the government and media have been softening us up with pro-GM rhetoric: How can we feed the world?
The fact that we, as a country, have never fed ‘the world’ and will never need to, is ignored in the rush to pave the way for full-scale adoption of GM farming in Europe. I just heard a news report telling me how we had to urgently adopt intensive farming and 'explore' GM possibilities, but then a spokesperson from the World Food Programme said the world currently produces double the food requirement for the world population (waste, lack of distribution and inequality of consumption to blame)and the only reason he thinks the government is trying to panic us, is to push the case for GM within Europe.
The Environment minister is Caroline Spellman – she was a director of a biotech lobbying group owned in part by her husband. No conflict of interest there then!

On Saturday, I went to an info day on GM, with talks and film by scientists, farmers and environmental campaigners who have been working in countries where GM farming is widespread. The big message they wanted to bring was that GM isn't working. Its failure is increasingly ackknowledged in the USA and that is why GM companies such as Monsanto are desperate to break into the European market, before we cotton on to that fact.

Food: We managed to get GM food off our shelves back in the late '90's, through camapigning and direct action. Instead, it's coming in through the back door. What most people don't realise is that almost all the animals that provide UK meat, poultry and dairy products, have been fed GM soya and maize. The UK imports over 1 million tonnes of GM soya feed/year and most of this comes from rainforest-cleared land in south America. That's 30 million tonnes into Europe/year. There's currently no legislation on labelling so we're not told we are consuming GM products.

Fuel: All petrol now contains agrofuel, mostly biodiesel made from GM crops. Again, it isn't labelled. It makes up 3.5% now, but while pretending to combat climate change, Eu law says this needs to rise to 10% by 2020. (Its reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is questionable.)

GM trees: Fast-growing, low lignin trees (floppy trees that can be broken down easer) are the next big thing. See GM treewatch The big sell-off of frorestry commission land means we will have little control over this and carbon credits will encourage the take-up. GM micro-organisms to break down the trees to create bio-fuel are the next focus although how you contain micro-organisms, I don't know.

Carbon credits: Because GM crops are sold as 'no-till' crops (not needing the land turned over cos the herbicides kill everything anyway), GM companies get tax breaks, carbon credits and subsidies, claiming their crops are carbon sinks!

What's wrong with it? Mono-culture, the growing of a single crop (mostly soya) over huge areas is damaging to the land, insects, other plants and people. The main crop, by the main pharmaceutical company, Monsanto, is 'Round-up Ready soya' which has been genetically modified to be resistant to Round-up herbicide. The idea is that you can then spray thousands of acres of crops and the only thing that will live is the soya. Trouble is, it hasn't worked out like that and now US farmers are saying at first one weed became resistant to it and they had to spray for that, now around 30 weeds are surviving the herbicide. Secondary pests are now becoming a big problem, needing more and more chemicals to combat them. Meanwhile, something in the genetically altered seed is messing with the brains of bees (I know - weird to think of bees' brains!) A beekeeper expert said the bee loses the ability to map an area and can't get back to the hive and transmit the information about food. The loss of bio-diversity is also devastating to other insects and the birds that live off them.
Farmers agreeing to go GM are tied into the system, forced to buy the herbicides Monsanto foists on them, not allowed to keep back seed for the following year, thereby ensuring they must buy new seed each year, which has since risen in price.
Because the GM seed is patented, they aggressively sue any neighbouring landowner whose crop gets cross-pollinated by wind-borne GM pollen. The neighbour is driven out of business and Monsanto gets to expand their empire still further. One farmer showed us a film he had made, interviewing GM farmers in the US. They all said it had been a big mistake. Suicides among small-scale farmers is widespread in India and South America, where people get deeply in debt when crops fail yet they are tied into buying in the new seed and herbicide. Ironically, the method of suicide used is often to drink the herbicide.

Of course, there will be no market for GM in Europe, unless we create it. If we refuse to buy GM food and kick up a fuss about existing GM livestock feed and fuel, we can stay free of the stuff. The website 'GM Freeze' gives help on writing to your MP on this issue.
Find out much more and in better-explained detail on the 'Stop GM' site.

Swans

2011-01-19T14:44:00.002Z

This morning, two swans started fighting outside my boat. I'm a hands-off person when it comes to wildlife, thinking we humans do so much damage when we interfere, but it was a really upsetting sight to see these beautiful birds trying to kill each other. I admit I did try to distract them with food and clapping hands, but they were oblivious to everything else. There's the constant beating of wings on the other's body while biting the neck, then the stronger one tries to drown the other by holding its head under water with beak and wing. It went on for about 40 minutes until they drifted out of sight around a bend in the canal, one being held under for longer and longer periods and flapping more feebly.
I told myself that perhaps they have to fight to the death to avoid the huge energy drain from frequent battles. Perhaps a single death can establish the male's dominance for it's lifetime, ensuring that famous monogamy and protective parenting among swans. There will be a good evolutionary reason for these deaths (unlike so many perpetrated by humans), but it's still very hard to witness.

Tony's boat

2011-01-06T15:18:00.002Z

My mate Tony has been burgled. He's been fitting out his boat home himself.
I mention it here because Tony has only recently started blogging and many boaters won't yet know his site. (Not that me posting it here will widen the readership much but hey ;-) It's here.
If anyone is offered an inverter, which is a "Sinergex 2kw pure sinewave model, still boxed" please let him know.
So sorry Tony.

Short hop

2011-01-03T17:52:00.004Z

The short hop to Rickmansworth from Cassiobury park turned out to be more like a long stride! The ice had all gone either side of Iron Bridge lock and I'd seen a boat go past the day before so I thought it would be all clear to go for water and on to Rickmansworth. In fact, I was so cocky, I didn't bother setting off 'til the afternoon. There were plenty of walkers at the first lock bridge and the sight of a boat coming into the lock drew many more from the woods nearby. It was as though they had been waiting for a boat to appear, to leap out from behind trees. People were all friendly and waved and took photos but I did feel a bit nervous with what must have been 25/30 people clustered around, WATCHING!
Then I came round the bend and into the ice.. It was much thicker than where I'd been and had frozen over again since that boat had gone through, so I don't think I was too popular with the boaters moored either side at Croxley Green, crunching ice up against them. Luckily, Alan and Frances weren't on their boat nb Lazydays at that moment, to see me taking the blacking off their boat -oops!- but I was happy to see them arriving just as I was filling up with water. Lucky me, they were coming down through the next lock too so I could share the lock and watch Frances doing all the work. Alan had an excellent excuse with a foot injury; I was just being lazy. Not only did Frances break ice and work the lock but she also walked ahead and worked me through the next two locks, a good trek apart! One pound was so shallow, a boat had got stuck across the canal. Once he was free, neither of us could have gotten near the side to set the lock. Thanks Frances!
I ran out of light before quite reaching the spot I was heading for, but that doesn't matter, it's all part of the fun. It's good to be bumbling along again :-)

Whales and squirrels

2010-12-29T16:41:00.005Z

I had a really good Christmas and hope anyone reading this was as lucky as me.
In the run-up, things were all a bit snowed under, with wood cutting and de-icing inside the boat windows and lugging shopping a long way to the boat. I'm alongside woodland so made various concoctions for birds, having had a read in my bird book what they might like: cooked rice, sunflower seeds, peanuts, soaked raisins, left-over porridge and just about every suspect 'nearly empty' pasket from the back of my cupboards. It made good balls of food to lodge in tree stumps, then I got to watch the magpies, blackbirds and robins all afternoon instead of wrapping presents. Then this cheeky little fella trundled along, scoffing everything it could grab from the birds.

Anyway, after that, I went and spent a wonderful few days in London, seeing friends and my dearest loved-ones. Aahhh... the warmth, the comfort :-D
Never far from water-related themes, I was happy to see this decorated topiary whale, one of two in the same street!

Back on the boat now, I seem to have a pipe problem :-( A leaking shower-head, even though the water-pump is turned off. Oh well, always something to sort out on a boat!

Red sky, shepherd's pie.

2010-12-20T13:15:00.004Z

Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning! Though in this case, it was the start of a lovely day of boating, crisp sunshine on the snow, beautiful dark trees against the white.
The following evening I managed to get lost in a blizzard, making my way back through Cassiobury park to the canal from Watford. It sounds ridiculous, but it's such a big park and the paths led off in different directions, all looking the same. It felt a bit of an adventure getting back to the boat at last!

I liked this little fellow, standing guard on one narrowboat. But best of all was this fine snowman. I could hear the children on board the boat nearby and wondered if the family would be spending Christmas day afloat. I bet that's a fine memory to tell their own children one day.

I loved Kath and Neil's (nb Herbie) musical Christmas card. Do have a look/listen if you haven't already done so.

Happy christmas, fellow boaters and landlubbers alike xx

International Animal Rights Day

2010-12-14T09:36:00.005Z

That was the 10th December, when people group together to remember or campaign for, the millions of non-human animals who suffer at our hands. From abused 'pets', farmed animals and wild creatures hunted for sport, to those held for vivisection in laboratories across the world.
The Oxford campaign, SPEAK, continues its fight to protect the animals being tortured in the Oxford University primate lab. Its website explains the bad science behind animal testing.

An article from The Guardian:
Writing for Animal Aid, the UK's largest animal rights group, Marius Maxwell, a neurosurgeon at a specialist spine centre in the US, said the minority of Oxford animal researchers were "tirelessly promoting their claimed achievements before the media".
He said: "Many of my Oxford colleagues in world-class scientific laboratories, and in the humanities, are privately aghast at the ability of a small group of media-savvy vivisectionists to hold the debate hostage and thereby besmirch the international reputation of their university."

The fact that no-one is allowed to see what goes on in these places, shows that the practices are unacceptable to decent, right-minded human beings. Cameras are being resisted in abbatoirs, all access is denied to the public in battery farms etc. Only thanks to undercover activists has the truth come out, but this too is suppressed by mainsteam media. I include these couple of images, knowing full well I have selected the least offensive and disturbing:

As I write this, I'm thinking too of all the courageous people who are currently serving long jail sentences for trying to protect sentient creatures from this cruelty. Away from their families, as Christmas approaches, they have my respect, support and solidarity.

Slow locking!

2010-12-06T13:19:00.004Z

It took me over two hours to get through two close-together locks this morning! I needed water and knowing things are going to get cold again, thought I'd better try and move today. The first hour was spent breaking up the couple of hundred yards of ice up to the first lock, losing splintering bits of my long boat pole in the process. I managed to get one gate open but got wedged in as the boat was forced to take the lock at an angle. Had to free up the second gate in the end. The same for coming out the lock, having to open both gates because of the quantity of ice behind each open gate. Hard work, but fun too!
Then it was on to the water point which was frozen. It was next to the BW office at Apsley so I went to ask if anyone minded me defrosting the pipes with boiling water. I called upstairs where I eventually made myself heard over the male shouting and laughter going on up there. Calling "Hi, anyone there?" (stupid question, I know), I wasn't too happy to hear some bloke shout down "No, but we've ordered a stripper". So I just set to, to have a go at the tap myself but two BW guys then appeared and at first just looked and said 'yeah, it's frozen, sorry'. I insisted a bit and then they went and boiled water for me (which I was happy to do myself) and defrosted the tap - wonderful! I was grateful, although my licence does cover the use of water points and some basic assistance with keeping them functioning would seem to be a reasonable expectation if BW people happen to be on the spot.
They went back inside and I could see several guys watching me breaking the ice with my boat pole to be able to get through the next lock (no mooring places available where I was). Embarrassingly, it took me ages, when I just wanted to make a dignified exit. I see the sexism wasn't consistent enough to actually offer help to the 'little lady'! Or maybe I just frightened the hell out of them with my big boat pole and vigorous smashing of ice - ha!
Aaaanyway, I'm still in the same town but in an ice-free stretch, with lovely hot-water for my shower. Mmmmm...

Christmas lights

2010-12-03T23:06:00.004Z

Inspired by Jo and Keith on nb Hadar, I put up my meagre christmas decorations. It doesn't amount to much (birds 'n lights!) but it cheers up the boat on a cold December evening.

I'm stuck above a lock whose gates are wedged firmly shut with ice and the locals must be sick of the sight of me by now, so it'll give them something pretty to look at :-)

Fire & ice

2010-11-26T10:03:00.005Z

The first icing on the canal cake for me this winter, though I expect they've already had plenty up at New Mills, where I moored last winter. The sun's up now and everything looks frosty lovely. The swans gathering around the boat for scraps, sounded like they'd brought armoured reinforcements as they crunched their way towards me.
I've cut up plenty of that salvaged wood though I'd urge anyone thinking of buying a 'value' bow-saw to opt for the pricier version if they can! I have a good 'Stanley' bow-saw but often can't find the 21" blades for it. I made a disastrous attempt to sharpen the old blade, the slightly off-set teeth (to avoid getting the blade wedged in the wood) got flattened and it's very hard work with it now. So, I tried and failed to find a new blade and ended up buying a B&Q value bow-saw for about £7, with 24" blades that can be found everywhere. Trouble is the handgrip is designed to give you blisters, even when you wear gloves!
When I collected the wood, I forgot to say I was warned against some pieces because the builders said it was tanninised and would give off toxic fumes. I took their advice, although I don't know if it going into landfill is much better as the toxins will surely leach into rivers/water supplies eventually. That reminds me, Tony from nb Universe wrote an interesting post on burning pallets. I suppose a lot depends on just how desperate you get when the ice sets in.
I'm moored at Apsley now and Simon and I went for a cup of tea and a chat with Frances and Alan from nb Lazydays Always good to meet friendly interesting folk on the cut. Warms you up like a glowing stove :-)

Berko & Hemel

2010-11-19T00:04:00.002Z

Sounds like a firm of solicitors but that's what I heard boaters refer to Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead and I see there is actually a cafe called 'Berko's' there. Plenty of big locks with heavy gates, a manageable electric swing bridge at Winkwell (i usually dread them) and a very old, cosy pub on the canal called the Three Horseshoes. Found a big pile of sawdust for my compost loo, the owner happy for me to take two barrowfuls away. Full of wood, diesel, gas, water and sawdust, I feel ready to face the winter now ;-)

Take as much as you want...

2010-11-11T11:02:00.003Z

..said the nice guys at the building site. ;-)

Days out, days in.

2010-11-09T18:25:00.010Z

Today was a blustery day with leaves gusting around everywhere. If I'd stayed inside, I'd have battened down the hatches, lit the stove and done quiet, hibernating things. But there are going to be stoppages soon so I needed to get off the Ayelesbury arm (too tempting to stay hidden among the rushes for months on end!) and I ended up doing 19 locks today, before the light went. I just got to the Wendover arm before it got a bit too dodgy to be walking over lock gates without being able to see where the gate ended and the water began.
There were so many leaves in the locks that I had a job getting the boat to move forwards out the locks! They bubble up around the boat like leaf soup.

I liked this plaque at the foot of a young oak tree on the marsworth flight.

Yesterday, in contrast, I came back from days out in Brighton and London to snuggle under duvets, with my hot water-bottles and my latest find - a big old kettle, on the stove.

I'm so pleased with it. And only £3 at a car-boot sale. It was originally £5 and I managed to haggle. I never haggle! But I don't feel bad because I bought it from someone who looked like they had plenty of money. Ok, I recognise that I have some guilty feelings to think about here: I always get annoyed when I hear about people holidaying in India or Namibia or somewhere and boasting about beating some poor bugger down on a sale, when it's a matter of peanuts for the buyer.
When I offered £3 to the seller of the kettle, she said "yes ok, you look like someone who will use it" I suppose this means I didn't look like someone with a posh cottage (ie three labourers homes knocked through) who would stick it on a dresser to look olde worlde. She was right, I think it will be in very regular use!

Leaving Aylesbury

2010-10-30T20:17:00.003+01:00

I've left Aylesbury basin after 2 weeks of having town and station right on my doorstep. No problems apart from mysteriously finding a large stone in my fireplace that I can only think can have come down the chimney!
It was only when I left the basin yesterday that I had my first encounter with bridge-kids. I saw two teenies, one of which lowered himself down onto the parapet as though to jump on my boat roof as I approached. So I stopped the boat and hovered, thinking they'd just get bored, counting on them having the well-publicised short attention span an' all. They stuck it out for 5 minutes (I'll give them that), before nipping into someone's back garden to collect stones. I was furious and if I could have got into the side and tied up, I'd have gone hareing up the towpath to give em an ear-bashing. I mostly feared for my solar panels! Luckily, for us all, they chucked their stones (very badly, rubbish aim, not even close!) and took off.
It made me think about the cop I'd been moaning about in my last post - would I have summoned him to my rescue? NO! Unless it's an physical attack on someone else, I honestly wouldn't bother.. I realise this attitude does make solo boating feel more precarious. A refusal to recognise the State as responsible for me and my safety means I have to accept the responsibility for keeping safe, defending myself etc. Solo boating can be a vulnerable way of living, even without crime - accidents do happen, don't they. But I guess we just hope bad things won't happen. And after all, that's the first bad bridge encounter I've had in 4 1/2 years ;-)

Now I'm out in the sticks again and have seen plenty of basin folk going past on their boats, heading out of town. Coincidence? Well, it's half-term, Halloween and I can hear a lot of fireworks going off in the direction of Aylesbury!

Happiness is...

2010-10-20T14:26:00.006+01:00

..a wheelbarrow full of logs :-)
I think the last time I posted a photo of my lovely wheelbarrow was when I mentioned trying to wheel my dog about, but that he kept jumping out. He didn't seem to mind much cos he'd jump back in again! Now of course, I don't have my dear Milou companion anymore. But there's something very uplifting and cheering about chopping logs with an axe! Especially on such a crisp sunshiney day.

A big willow branch had come down by a lock and BW had cut it into sections.
I managed a barrow and a half of logs before a cloud came along in the form of a copper. Even though I was off the towpath, on the other side of a lock where the only access was across the lock gates and in a large clearing with no passers-by, he just had to cross those gates to come and interrogate me. Did I have permission, what was my name, where was I from? I knew I didn't have to tell him a thing unless he was going to arrest me for summat, so I didn't and just cleared off, my winter fuel gathering session over for the day. I wonder if other liveabords get any hassle while foraging?
Yesterday was a day of sun and heavy rain - that's usually when I go out without my coat ;-) I saw these cormorants in spooky pose on a dead tree.

Further up, I had seen this bridge being carefully repaired with new brickwork when I came through with Blackbird. I was thinking at the time what a skill that was to follow the curve of old bridges like that, so I was upset when I saw what I thought was vandalism, with all the new brickwork pushed down and onto the towpath. Most of the ones on the towpath were broken.

(isn't the light in this photo great! Got a soaking shortly after :-)
But I was wrong. I talked to a BW guy who explained the bridge had heritage status and the new bricks didn't match properly but that they had found some old ones that would look better. I guess this must be the ones he meant here, in a BW workboat nearby.
I'm not sure whether to be exasperated by the waste and lack of forward planning or be happy at the efforts made to preserve the character of our old bridges. As I'm trying to err on the side of positivity, I'll go with being happy :-D

Aylesbury

2010-10-14T10:48:00.009+01:00

I had several goes at mooring up here, but couldn't get my boat in as it was so shallow and muddy. The next day, I walked back along this bit of towpath and found a willow had come crashing down on the same spot!

Much more welcome was the discovery of a huge overgrown and neglected orchard at Cheddington. I've never seen so many apples, the branches bowed down with them all. All different kinds too! I asked at the nearby church and was told that the orchard had been bought by a retired man who, finding the supermarkets weren't interested (don't know if it was the need for perfection or if the costs of harvesting made it non-viable), was letting it all go wild. Such a shame, although I guess it's a wonderful source of food for insects and birds.
The person I spoke to told me how the womenfolk of the village used to be employed in apple-picking there each year but now they just went in and collected what they wanted for themselves. I brought a few home myself to wrap in newspaper and see if I can keep some over winter.

I'm on the very peaceful Aylesbury arm now, enjoying the narrow locks and rural setting. There was a long section of reedy narrowness I enjoyed very much - quite exciting moving through that rustling corridor.

Now however, the grim reaper has been up and down, cutting them back, which I suppose is more practical but less fun.

Blackbird out in the sticks. Very little in the way of passing traffic here :-)

One exciting thing: at last I have a toaster! It's brilliant!

Freedom of movement

2010-10-02T18:06:00.000+01:00

I’m back on board Blackbird after some gallivanting and it is lovely to be in my dear home. I’m so privileged to have a home and to be free to wander to and from it, travelling abroad where and when I want to. But as with most privileges, we often don’t value what we have and, more importantly, don’t realise that the majority of the world’s inhabitants don’t have that basic freedom of movement.
Since the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp in Calais in 2002, migrating people are still living a precarious life, camping in the squats and sand-dunes along the French coast. Every day, they are harassed and often beaten by the police, neither allowed to stay there, nor allowed to cross the border. It’s the UK Border Agency that pay for this policing.
This harsh policing is reflected along the European borders, that don’t hamper our own movement, but keep ‘Them’ out. We know who ‘They’ are – people from the other side of an invisible and arbitrary line, drawn on the world by a bunch of so-called leaders I certainly didn’t vote for. Turns out that the line stops where the predominantly non-white populations begin.
Money and commodities flow freely of course. Cheap migrant labour can visit for a short while only. Meanwhile, we ‘explore’ and exploit the world freely, taking from it what we want. We use the equivalent of slavery to get our stuff as cheaply as possible from poor countries and when those people unionise at huge personal risk (death squads and ‘disappearances’), we drop them in favour of an even cheaper supply. Our ‘needs’ cause wars over oil, minerals, drugs, cheap food. Yet when someone tries to escape their situation for a better life, they are hunted down, imprisoned and sent back. Instead of fighting for equality across the world, we pursue a policy of greater acquisition and increasing exclusion. Our wealth increases and the walls get higher.

I know this is just another rant against the racist and unjust border controls that are surreptitiously tightening all the time, excluding more and more people. But I don’t know if people think much about the individuals concerned. When we remember those who died in the second world war, for example, I don’t think of the vast numbers (around 60 million I believe) but of the individuals and their own stories of suffering and that of their families. What it might have been like for that single person buried now in this little churchyard. There are about 60 million refugees and displaced people in the world today, who would rather be peacefully at home, like me. And every single one of them has a personal story of a family, loves, hopes and fears.
I think of them, individually, and take some small comfort in knowing that sooner or later, all walls must fall.

Carnaby for sale!

2010-09-05T00:31:00.004+01:00

Looks like BW are selling their old workboat Carnaby by auction. Says it's a 1937 motor works boat. Looked it up on the GUCC site and it's listed as: CARNABY; No 134, Large Woolwich motor boat, built 1937, Regd at Coventry No 542, Owned by BW as a maintenance boat (2000) and based at Marsworth. Shortened tug format. Looks like it was once a lot bigger!
I wonder if it would be too mad to try and buy it.

Lucky me

2010-09-04T08:52:00.002+01:00

A couple of days ago, I went to see my two kids (both in their 20's) in Oxford. My daughter's been there a few years now but my son's only just arrived after working abroad. By chance, his new job is in Oxford! As we parted at the end of the day, I looked back at them walking together up the street, chatting and laughing, good friends that they are. My heart nearly burst with love.

Adventures in miniature

2010-08-29T17:33:00.005+01:00

I've had some lovely days out and about over the last couple of weeks, even though the boat has barely moved. In leighton Buzzard, Simon and I went on the steam train which was good fun. I liked the way a man had to run out with a flag whenever we crossed over roads. Not all the car drivers felt like waving back at a bunch of idiots, leaning out of miniature carriages eating ice-lollies - ha! The little engine is beautiful (pic from Wikipedia)

We went to play pool in the Wheatsheaf pub in town where there's a gorgeous wreck of a piano, guarded over by a seargeant-major-type bust who kept his upper lip stiff, even when Simon was playing. I see the website shows the carving too.
I went for a little camping break, just me, my bike and a tent. It felt really good cycling along the towpath, not having to worry about cars and going too slowly to worry anyone else. First day, I went as far as Stoke Bruerne, stopping for lunch at Camphill cafe - a vegetarian cafe advertised on the canal at Milton Keynes. The plain sign doesn't do it justice as it's a great little place, with theatre and cottage garden adjoined and very popular locally, judging by the numbers turning up for lunch! After that, I stopped for coffee at narrowboat Hadar where the ever-hospitable Jo and Keith kept me in cosseted comfort while the rain lashed down outside. It was interesting to see how tactful and accommodating they have been towards other coal traders and respectful of other's 'pitches', not at all how most businesses are run on a cut-throat mentality.
After that, I pressed on to Blisworth tunnel and pitched my tent before heading to the Boat Inn where I'd read the local Morris side came on Wednesays. I wasn't disappointed - they turned up for a drink and I wheedled my way into going along to their practice session, which involved walking from the pub with our pints to the village hall. They are the Rose and Castle morris group and a friendly bunch I hope to meet again. In fact I see they are performing at the Bromyard Folk Festival on Sept 10th - 12th which looks tempting.
The next day, I cycled on up to Crick, passing the dreamboat Carnaby and getting quite lost above the tunnel (no signs!). Then I was into beautiful Northamptonshire rolling countryside where my breaks failed. Hey-ho! Another two nights camping in fields and, even though I did manage to get new break-blocks, I took the easy way out by getting a train home to the boat.
I've been making blackberry jam and elderberry cordial and got chatting to Mike and Jenny on historic narrowboat 'Ajax' who have explained where I can find lots of plums. Hmmm... sounds like I need to plan another little bike adventure :-)

on fishing

2010-08-24T13:28:00.002+01:00

I consider fishing to be a cruel torture of sentient creatures but recognise that there are some situations whereby humans need to eat fish to survive. So I was happy to come across a piece of graffiti that expressed my own feelings on the subject...

Lusting after boats

2010-08-17T14:15:00.007+01:00

Here's a couple of pics of Carnaby, a work boat I would like to have as my next boat home - sigh.

And here's what I'd like to do with all that hold...

pie

2010-08-17T14:07:00.003+01:00

Simon made us this fine pie with apples from his own garden. With vegan custard too, which I don't think I've ever had before.
Beautiful to look at and delicious to eat :-)

Horseradish

2010-07-22T20:50:00.003+01:00

It was a real pleasure to finally get to meet Ali and Richard, whose blog Smudgers is such a lovely read. Their littl'uns are great fun and Eleanor makes very good pizza!
Back at Braunston, I saw Tony from nb Universe again, which was very nice, especially as he brought me freshly foraged horseradish. It packs quite a punch and there's a lot of it, so I will try to find lots of ways of preserving it and using it in food. Thanks too Tony, for posting a picture of that delightful BW boat I'd spotted at Norton Junction. Now I'm back there, I went to take a few photos myself. You never know, BW may want to get rid at some point!
Well, the sky is an incredible yellow grey, the rain coming down in silvery sheets - quite spectacular. Unfortunately, I dismantled a section of my rainwater harvesting system and it's all running happily into the canal instead of my tank. Never mind, I expect there's plenty more where that came from ;-)

Haiku

2010-07-13T14:19:00.006+01:00

I'm having a wander over to Warwick at the moment, having stopped up in Braunston for a couple of days, where I got to meet up with Tony from nb Universe. A really nice encounter which I hope we can repeat on our various travels. That's the lovely thing about boating - you can go off exploring and see people you like further along the water road.
I'd been away last weekend, arriving back at Rugby by train on Sunday, but then found no bus service to Braunston and my boat. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day, so I went to the library and photocopied a bit of the ordnance survey map (apparently you are allowed to photocopy only one A4 page of an OS map, but my hand slipped and I pressed A3 instead, which fortunately covered the whole area I needed ;-) I found a disused railway to follow. To begin with, it was a public footpath and easy to walk, but then that part ended and thick brambles and face-high nettles followed. I was too stubborn to turn back so threaded my way through at a snail's pace. Took ages but it felt like being an explorer and I emerged, not too stung and scratched at this bridge over a motorway where someone had written a poem..

'A branch shorn of leaves. A raven perching on it. This autumn evening'

Back on the towpath, I couldn't believe this bridge was still in the same state since I last saw it - must have been in 2007?

Before leaving Braunston, I managed to gather plenty of lime blossom - the last I think, before the flowers turn to fuits. It smells wonderful drying on the boat!

Now I'm at Long Itchington on the GU Warwick section or whatever it's called, having shared plenty of locks with the same pleasant couple on nb Silkwood. Always useful to share the work with people who work well as a team and are nice to chat to. I couldn't resist pausing to take a photo of this boat I really liked the look of,

though I'm kicking myself for not having a camera to hand at Norton junction for a seriously gorgeous old work boat moored there. I'll be sure to get a good photo when I next go past!

Tunnels & staircases

2010-07-05T20:16:00.008+01:00

The Foxton locks were so much easier than I'd anticipated! All those arrow shapes on the map look a bit daunting but I didn't realise they are narrow locks and the friendly lock-keeper tells you what to do (red paddles first, followed by white) and they are easy. I was also able to cut the engine and just pull the boat into each lock, which was a peaceful ascent. I did the same coming down the Watford staircase locks today and it makes me feel just a tiny bit less guilty about my diesel burning :-(

The weather was still gorgeous and with roses draping themselves over anything that stood still, it all looked like a picture postcard. I saw this mangle - just the thing for my clothes washing, though I'd need a butty to fit it in.

Loads of people at the pub on the Foxton junction and spilling out of the tea-shop. I did the tourist thing and looked in at the canal museum and bought a lolly before heading out into an emptier and more beautiful landscape at the foot of the Laughton hills. Lovely.
One thing that did make me angry though, was passing a canalside residence (I'd say a house except that several families could have lived there), complete with smart new stables, garages, huge 4X4, horse-boxes, etc and seeing a sign on a tree saying 'No mooring in front of the property'. Well, I gave my opinion as loud as I could but think I just scared the horses..
I got tempted to explore the Welford arm - it just looked so green and secluded and it is! I think it's only a couple of miles, with one little lock at the end but I'd recommend a visit. Welford has a 'pocket garden' conservation area, turning a roadside bit of land into something special. I loved this carved fox :-)

This boat name and location made me smile.

Then on to Crick, its amazing thatched houses, scarecrow celebration (shame I will miss it - if I stood still, I might have won a prize) and scary tunnel. I'm getting better at these as it's my third over the last couple of weeks and I have the Braunston one coming up, but I must admit, my heart is in my throat every time I plunge into that dark dome!

Wanderings

2010-07-02T10:45:00.004+01:00

Just some photos of things I saw over the last couple of weeks..

The fields of wheat look great right now, slowly turning golden. I saw lots of rabbits snuffling away in there as I walked past. Later, foxes too! Foxton is certainly well-named ;-)

A moment later, this boat was almost engulfed in curious cattle, licking the cabin sides.

I watched house martins swooping in to feed their young at a lock-cottage (was out boating with the Herbies) but not one bird would come near when I had a camera in my hand of course! I think their nests are just amazing, like cob houses.

Braunston boat festival - very hot, lots of people, socialising and some great boats.

My own personal boat lust... all that hold, that basic chunky simplicity, yum.

Smeeton Westbury - a village worth wandering across the fields for. At its centre is a big dip, filled with the loveliest allotments although the scarecrow is armed and dangerous.

Beautiful gift

2010-07-01T18:34:00.005+01:00

I've been meaning to put up a picture of this wonderful gift I was given a few weeks ago. I love it completely! I can almost play a couple of tunes now.... with both hands!!!
What I also like is being out in the countryside where no-one can hear me practise- ha!
Thank you, my love x

Leicester

2010-06-22T07:32:00.007+01:00

Having a lovely cruise along the Leicester section at the moment. I like the way the river Soar meanders in and out with the Grand Union so that one minute you have canal and through the next lock, you have wide river and scary weirs. I love the wiggly bits of the Soar - I had to keep my wits about me to make sure I didn't wander up one of the many little branches off the main flow that don't appear on the map!
In some fine company, I got to explore Leicester for a couple of days, highlights being a folk festival, a quirky bar and delcious curry. I think I like Leicester very much. We came across this wonderful building designed by 'Tanky'!
There are 16 heads along the front and at first, I thought they were all different people but the plaque tells us that they are all Tanky - Leicester's first private detective, in various disguises, which seem to mainly comprise of changing his hat and re-arranging his beard :-)

I didn't get any good pictures of the other faces but it's up from the station if you're in the city and want to take a look.

Aren't the days wonderfully long and the nights woefully short! I woke at 4.15am and it was so light I couldn't go back to sleep. My brain tells me to get up and do stuff! I took this photo at 4.30am:

Erewashed onto the Soar

2010-06-10T07:11:00.003+01:00

I'm on new waters here. The Erewash canal was an interesting adventure up the 12 miles of cul-de-sac canal to the west of Nottingham. There are 15 locks so you're kept busy and they are very hard work - or at least I found them hard work! The locksides are kept very tidy but the paddles are the most difficult I've come across and I'm afraid to say that most of the locks had at least one paddle that didn't work or whose anti-vandal lock wouldn't open (it recognised a vandal when it saw one!). After the first mile, there's no-where to moor except at lock moorings but there are so few boats (I maybe met 3 boats on the move in the whole there-and-back trip), it doesn't seem to matter. There are proper moorings up at the very end.
I met several BW workers along the way, clearing branches etc and what friendly, helpful guys they were. One pair stayed on after they'd finished work to help me through one awkward lock. I'd like to rant wholesale against BW, but then I meet such nice BW employees!
At the top of the Erewash is Langley Mill boatyard and, if you need anything, Pete is the lovely one to talk to. There's a sleepy basin of boats where you can leave yours at a reasonable price, as well as a busy boatyard where it looks like you can do your own boat blacking or Pete will do it for you. A boater told me his welding is excellent. I think I took photos up there but can't find my camera at the moment (hey, I do live in a narrow tube of 52 ft you know!).
Now I'm on the river Soar. It was funny emerging from the bottom of the quiet canal and getting whooshed out into the wide river Trent and across to the Soar. The Ratcliffe power-station cooling towers are amazing and beautiful - if only they weren't such terrible polluters! The river is lushious and green and winds around, overhung by trees dropping blossom, where cows stand in the shade, belly deep in the water. I guess that could be any river, it's just the first one I've been on in my boat so it's special :-)

Preston Brook to Shardlow - in 5 years!

2010-04-13T13:22:00.004+01:00

Back in 2005, before I bought my boat, I went to the IWA festival at Preston Brook. My daughter came too and we have funny memories of arriving late at night in the dark, having forgotten a torch and trying to put up our tiny tent and inflate a big double mattress, with the stopper dropped somewhere in the grass... When it was finally done, we were weak with laughter, shushing each other to not wake people up. I folded the mattress over to get it in the tent and when it opened out it was too big, curling up at the sides and bringing the tent roof down a couple of inches above our noses. More giggling late into the night.. The next day (after we'd moved the tent from the 'lane' area we'd pitched it by mistake!) lots of excitement vistiting new boats and seeing all the possibilities of life afloat. We had lots of wild plans and of all the lovely things we saw, we knew our boat would be more beautiful than any of them! And of course, it is ;-)
Since then, I've been on parts of the Trent & Mersey canal a few times, heading to the Macclesfield or the Staff & Worcs canal or down towards the Oxford Union and seen these Preston Brook/Shardlow signposts. Always, Shardlow was many miles off. So it's funny to finally be able to take this photo!
A couple of villages back, I walked from the canal to the river Trent where there used to be a ferry wharf and place where goods were transferred from river to canal or maybe from canal to river? Anyway, on the other side of the river was a big sort-of manor house where a wedding party was gathered. If a strange woman and dog are in the background of your wedding photos, I'm sorry!

I include this rather dull photo to remind me of what it felt like to be crossing the mouth of the river Derwent - scary! But the water level was low so I needn't have worried at all. Nevertheless, now I'm at Sawley cut and preparing to go on the river Trent to Nottingham, I must admit to having bought myself a life-jacket. I do feel a bit daft putting it on but am a rubbish swimmer and travel alone so I'd rather feel daft than scared. I'm also thinking it'll be useful when I come down the river Soar later. I considered buying one for my dog but the designs were really bulky with squarish blocks that I don't think my dog would be comfortable with and which might actually cause him to catch on back doors etc and fall in! I'll see if there are other designs out there and meanwhile, he'll have to take his chances.

Chunky monkey & the big lock

2010-04-07T20:31:00.003+01:00

It's fun being on a whole new canal - in this case, the Trent & Mersey between Fradley junction and Nottingham. It's a time of other 'firsts' too. I met a wide-beam for the first time since starting my life afloat. That seems strange after four years of cruising where I've always been on narrow-lock canals but here I'm flirting with the river Trent, on and off ;-) Seeing the widebeam, I was transported back to my first ever trip on a narrowboat with a lovely friend and teaching colleague, Cat, who called widebeams 'chunky monkeys'. She's got a lot to answer for, bless her! That first trip was all it took for me to be hooked.
The other first is doing a wide lock by myself. I haven't done it yet, just went to have a look at it ;-) I think it'll be ok although I forsee a small problem coming out of the lock... I'll be locking down and will need to bow-haul out as I can't get my dog back on otherwise. There's a bridge at the foot of the lock so I'll drop the rope on the roof as usual, only I'm worried cos it's much wider a space to be able to retrieve the boat out the other side. I need to remind myself that like everything else that has ever worried me about boating, IT'LL BE OK!

Memory block

2010-03-25T17:52:00.003Z

On radio 4 this morning, I heard an interview with a couple of academics discussing work done at Oxford University. AC Grayling and A Sandberg were talking about the possibility of blocking or erasing painful memories. I cannot believe the utter pointlessness of this exercise. We are born, good and bad things happen to us, we die.
We can seek help in learning to live with traumatic events if necessary, but they make us who we are, even if that isn't a little ray of sunshine every day. If this was a couple of guys just chatting about possibilities, I wouldn't mind, but this involves experimenting on living animals of course, giving them severe pain, mucking about with their brains and trying out drugs so that some bloody pharmaceutical company can cash in on some miracle cure for the blues. I think of all the animals, including the poor primates imprisoned at the Oxford torture lab, awaiting their fate. Meanwhile the SPEAK campaign goes on to free them and I wish them every success.
But what also shocked me was the final comment from one of the two interviewees when asked something along the lines of "Do you think in the future, we'll look back on this time and be surprised that we ever endured painful memories?"
The reply: "oh yes, in 200 years time there will be 7ft healthy blonds who will be amazed at how we used to be" Gives some insight into his vision of an 'improved' society.

Stone & bone

2010-03-24T16:48:00.008Z

Survived the Harecastle tunnel, having dismantled my rainwater-harvesting roof and taken in planters, plant pots, spare fenders and other bits of rubbish I usually keep up there. I'd remembered a very low tunnel roof the last time I'd come through, but that had been after some very heavy rainfall and this time was much easier. I could have left most of the stuff up there! But it did force me to finally tidy things up a bit and that's good.
On through Stoke-on-Trent and the fascinating industrial buildings that line the canal.

I love the bottle kilns you can spot among the factories and read that there are still 47 of them standing in the area. I know it's easy to have a romanticised view of the landscape and a picture I found on this site reminded me of how it was 'back in the day' : http://www.thepotteries.org/did_you/003.htm

All this pottery industry around - there's bound to be a few mistakes!

Looks like one hell of a Greek wedding celebration!
It's been fun doing locks again after such a long break from them (having had the mooring on the Peak Forest canal for 9 months). The Stoke locks were great though I did struggle a bit with the top lock at Meaford where part of the bridge below it has collapsed onto the steps. There's a road immediately at the foot of the lock so, if you have an awkward dog that won't stay on the boat without you, you have to drop your boat in the lock, bow-haul it out as far as you can, drop the rope onto the roof and hare it across the road, down the lane to the nearest opening in the hedge, then back up the towpath to retrieve your boat as it emerges from the bridge hole. Oh fun and games! :-)
Now I'm at Stone, where there's a shop selling Dunoon china made in Staffordshire. It specialises in 'fine bone china' and I must admit, I hadn't really understood that bone china is still made from bone ash. Something for us vegans to think about when buying our cups! I immediately checked mine and was relieved to find they are stoneware.
Something lovely at Stone is the seat at the bottom of the flight of four locks.

It was made by artist Phillip Hardacre, working with local schoolchildren. (I looked him up and he's done other collaborations which sound amazing, including a memorial grand piano for a much-loved music teacher, though I couldn't find a picture unfortunately). On this seat, there are tiles and ceramic plaques showing aspects of Stone like its shoe-making past, the ale industry, the canal, current organisations and retailers as well as signature pieces by the children themselves. I think it's lovely.

Sycamore

2010-03-12T10:41:00.003Z

There's a big sycamore cull going on near me. I find it so depressing to see beautiful, healthy trees being cut down - makes me cry. Here's the rationale, on a sign pinned to a recently severed trunk:

It says the sycamore isn't native but it IS native to central Europe and with our changing climate, it obviously thrives here. I've read that it may have been brought over by the Romans and that seems pretty established to me. The sign also says the sycamore doesn't support much wildlife, yet I know it supports many aphid varieties that in turn allow birds to thrive. Dormice also eat the aphids and we know how endangered a species they are. What bloody interferers we are, messing up the environment, then looking for fixes when it all goes pear-shaped.

Apparently the council (if they're still the ones in power in a few months time, and will they have the funds available, and will people allow the money to be spent on tree-planting when their day-centres are being closed down?) will replant with 'native' species like oak. That's great, but an oak will take 30 years to get established and begin to host all the wildlife it has the potential for. Meanwhile, can we really afford to lose the carbon-dioxide absorbence of any tree? We should be planting up areas that are not suited to growing veg and cereals but which are currently grazed by the grossly inflated numbers of sheep and cows bred for meat.
It feels like we've got our priorities all wrong. I was thinking 'this is just sick' when I saw the trees falling and into my head came the name of a boat, passed on the Shropshire Union, called 'Sycnamore'!

My own private hideaway

2010-03-10T13:51:00.005Z

Ok, it's not mine, it's not private and I'm not hiding, but it IS a lovely little secluded wharf off the main Macclesfield canal!

Simon (nb Tortoise) came to help move the boat down through Bosley locks which had just opened after stoppages, though I really just used that as an excuse to get him to come and work that damn electric swing bridge for me (by the Royal Oak) that is such a pain to solo boaters ;-) Thanks Simon!
I do like Bosley locks, all arranged at a perfect distance from each other - not too far to walk between, room to tie up, great views, interesting sde pounds, plenty of fallen wood along the way to gather up. At the bottom of the flight, it's very peaceful. You can see The Cloud when it's not too cloudy! We met up with some friendly boaters I'd already met on the Peak Forest canal and shared some cider, wine and Bombay Mix - a very nice combination indeed.

When the stoppages ae over at Red Bull junction, I'll be on my way again, but for now, me and the furry one are enjoying all the woodland walks we can explore. Bliss!

narrowboat dream

2010-02-25T03:40:00.003Z

I had such a vivid dream. My boat had been whirled through the air and lowered into a wide, sunny clearing in an oak wood. I notice I had carefully prepared the site with tyres rafted together to cushion the boat from the ground. The boat sat with its right side south-facing and my kitchen window on that side had stretched to double its size. Through the trees, I could see fields and hills. The climb into and out of the boat was too steep for my dog, so I had (very cleverly, in dream-land!) built up a gently sloping bank around the stern, like a spiral up to the back doors. The engine had disappeared and the back cabin had become a workshop with a raised canopy. Traveller's joy, ivy and honeysuckle grew up over the hull, hidng much of the boat and keeping it cool.
I sat painting, listening to birds - it was beautiful. Then, wandering outside, saw I wasn't completely alone but that the small wood was part of a farm. Some people lived in the farmhouse, some people lived in outbuildings, others in yurts and earth shelters. There were tall rows of tomatoes and sweetcorn growing and fruit trees and raspberry bushes and the big event that day was making raspberry jam - many jars of it to last all winter. Children took it in turns to stir the lovely bubbling syrup. It smelt so good!

I can see where all this came from ;-) The water level where I'm currently moored has dropped a little and I was thinking last night that I might be aground. I've long been thinking about boating communities, about not being able to afford canalside land but wanting a shared, sustainable community life. Out on a walk, I saw a piece of farm machinery, almost completely disguised by overgrown creeping plants. And I've been lamenting that the last of my summer jam has been scoffed!

Caught green-handed!

2010-02-07T07:24:00.004Z

BW have been busy cutting back overhanging trees in Macclesfield so there is plenty of wood lining the towpath. One particularly tempting pile of branches lay outside a collapsed garden wall, so I fired up the wheelbarrow (oh pride and joy) and taking a little saw, set off to collect it. I was cutting the branches into smaller sections to fit in the barrow when I noticed a quick but stealthy movement in the garden beside the towpath. A man was coming towards me, quite fast. At the same time, I saw a woman heading down the towpath itself, with the same sense of purpose. I froze, mid-saw, feeling guilty as hell. It was the perfect pincer movement! The woman saw the wood and slowed down, a smile appearing; the man however did not and emerged from the gap in the broken wall in an unnerving way!
'We thought you were stealing our stones' explained the woman. They were going to have the wall repaired and needed all the old stonework lying around (which I'd barely even noticed). They turned out to be perfectly nice people, even passing a couple of cut branches over to me from their garden. They were even glad I was tidying up after BW ;-) They left me cutting up branches but I couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched after that and didn't hang around.
It was funny and daft, I know, though I did wonder what might have happened if they hadn't been nice people and if the Tories were in power with their promise to review the law to prevent householders being prosecuted when defending their property!

A fine book

2010-02-03T13:07:00.002Z

Just over a year ago, I wrote about Sharyn, a friend who was in Gaza during the month of Israeli air strikes. She was doing aid work, accompanying ambulances, helping patch up people, protect others by her 'foreign' status. A truly amazing woman. She kept a blog throughout ( http://talestotell.wordpress.com/ ) which has been made into a book! It's called 'Gaza: Beneath the bombs' and is definitely worth getting hold of.
You can see it here.
I was so afraid she might not come out alive from that terrible time and every blog posting, when she could get to any electricity that is, was a huge relief to all who know her. We didn't need to wait for an enquiry to know that white phosphorus was being uesd in one of the most densely populated places in the world. Sharyn witnessed its effects first hand and gave a voice to its silent victims.

dredging & edging

2010-01-30T23:18:00.000Z

The other day, I read a boat blog that said they had spotted that rare sight - BW doing some dredging! I can't find which blog it was now, doh. Anyway, they are very busy along the stretch between Bollington and Macclesfield and I've been fascinated to watch how they are securing the canal edging. There's an orderliness about the process that I like:

First knocking in these great poles, attaching a sort of permeable plastic sheet (a dredgerman told me the name but I didn't hear right so looked it up afterwards - think it's called geomembrane), securing the outer row to an inner post and later, I guess, filling in-between with dredged mud. All very clever, I think!

wheelbarrow joy

2010-01-23T23:43:00.000Z

You can keep your flash cars - I have a beautiful new wheelbarrow! It replaces the rusty, falling-apart trolley whose wheels always locked perpendicular to the direction I needed to travel. Today, I moored up by a small field with a pile of wood in it. The cafe nearby said yes, it belonged to them and yes, I could help myself :-)
Other things I have so far transported in my wheelbarrow: a bag of coal when I was iced-in and got desperate, a big bag of dog-fud, my dog (though he jumped out again after a couple of wobbly meters. He clearly doesn't trust my barrow wheeling skills yet.)

No fanfare..

2010-01-22T18:49:00.000Z

.. just a quiet leavetaking of New Mills. Thought I'd post a winter view of the fields by my mooring - the same view that I posted last June, when the fields were full of beautiful buttercups.

It was a good place to moor, with some wonderful walks and views. I'll miss walking along the river with my dog dipping in and out the water, retreiving sticks and stones. Some lovely memories...
Getting iced-in made me restless though and now, the ice finally melted from the canal, I'm ready to go exploring some more. Actually, the ice hasn't gone entirely, as I've found over the last couple of days. You round a bend in the canal and meet large patches that could be a thin skin of ice or an inch-thick. It's hard to tell until you're in the middle of it and are watching great sheets of ice piling either side and hearing the ominous crunching sound of your blacking being removed from the hull!

Warmed

2010-01-03T21:01:00.000Z

Back on the boat after a really wonderful few days visting family and friends. When I got back, the boat looked lovely in white but there was a lot of snow in the stove (damn - kept meaning to get a new hat for the chimney) and the little wood I had left was wet. It was a bit of a shock after the comforts of a house and I was very reluctant to even take my coat off! I turned the sofa into a bed (goes into a double) and closed off the rest of the boat to try to keep the warmth in but mostly seemed to be burning fire-lighters rather than wood! Today, I gave in and bought some coal from a hardware shop (Roy and his family run a shop in New Mills that sells pretty much everything you need and are friendly and helpful in suggesting other places on the rare occasion they've run out of something). So tonight, I'm as cosy as anything and happy to be eating lentil and sausage stew cooked on the stove and thinking over the last few days ... mmmmm.
My plans for this year probably include giving up the mooring in the spring and exploring a bit further north. I'd like to visit Hebden Bridge boat buddies, although the thought of getting me and my roof tat through 'the highest, longest, deepest canal tunnel in Britain', terrifies me. Sounds like I should defiitely give it a go then!

Blackbird in the snow

2009-12-22T12:36:00.001Z

... and my dog pretending that yellow streak across the snowman had nothing to do with him at all.

Merry Christmas, boaters and landlubbers alike x

Lydia

2009-12-10T22:01:00.000Z

Lydia, who wrote the play I went to see last week, has been taken away to a detention centre this morning. She's due to be deported before Christmas (she's being separated from her husband). Wish I could put all our shitty politicians on a boat and send em off somewhere, but I can't think of any country that quite deserves them.

A play

2009-12-03T22:21:00.001Z

I don't go to see many plays but I like live performances of most kinds and tonight's was great. It was performed by a group of Manchester-based women asylum-seekers and written by Lydia, who is currently threatend by deportation. Her case is here..
Their group is called WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together)and they got together to try and combat the stressful isolation and humiliation of being an asylum-seeker in this country. Although from different countries, they have a shared understanding of what it is like to have left family and homeland behind out of fear and persecution and what it's like to face daily harrassment and mistrust as a result of fleeing their countries. Most have to travel to 'sign in' each week at Dallas Court - some have been doing this for 7 years! They never know if they will come out of that building by the front door or whether they will be removed by the back gate, and onto a plane. It's hard to imagine living with that kind of uncertainty.
They are not allowed to work and live off vouchers worth £35 a week. Anyway, to see this feisty, cheerful and mutually supportive group creating something lovely on stage, was wonderful. The singing was beautiful. The theatre was packed. I had a good night :-)

My stove

2009-11-29T09:43:00.000Z

It's turned pretty cold and I was enjoying the warmth from my stove this morning when I noticed just how much I depend on it.

There's my coat drying out from yesterday's downpour and my gloves hanging to the right after handling wet ropes. There are my muddy boots crisping up nicely on the step.
My endlessly congealing salt is drying out - yet again! Does everyone else afloat suffer from wet salt?! I'm doing my breakfast toast on the top, yum. And a towel from washing my hair is drying out under the window. Needless to say, my wet hair is also steaming away, this side of the camera :-)
Of course, I know that all that moisture is rising up and making its way to my bedroom at the far end of the boat and also creeping into the cupboard, awaiting the salt that lives there in-between stove lightings!

John Craxton

2009-11-27T16:47:00.000Z

It wasn't until I heard 'Last Word' on the radio that I knew John Craxton had died. I loved his work. This is called 'Dreamer in a landscape' (1942)

Lights

2009-11-20T17:35:00.000Z

I don't much like the small strip lighting I have on the boat, preferring candlelight. Now I've also bought a paraffin lamp and really like its warm glow and the fact that it generates heat too. Not as lovely as Sarah's lamp on Warrior but still useful :-)
I was looking at burning a more environmentally-friendly oil than paraffin and saw a website called Judy of the woods where it shows you how to make a veg-oil lamp. You can burn used cooking oil or olive oil, so I had a go with the second, just to see if it worked. Well, I think I need a proper wick rather than string as it's more like a match than a lamp! My next question is, could I burn olive oil in my new paraffin lamp.

I'm enjoying being on the move. The wind has been a bit of a challenge but the rain has been very considerate and held off until I moored up for lunch, then it stopped and the sun re-emerged just as I finished my coffee.

Letting loose

2009-11-16T11:55:00.003Z

It's fun being on the move again - just a trip down the Macclesfield canal for a couple of weeks but feels good to be travelling.

I came across this loose boat this morning...

It's the third boat I've found wandering in the last couple of months and each time, I suspect it may be other boaters letting them loose. The reason I think that is because the mooring pins are carefully laid on the bow and stern deck and the centre rope, held by a chain, was unclipped and that placed on the roof. Also, each time, the boats have been moored in fairly inconvenient places - where the canal is narrow and shallow (in today's case) or perched on the end of permanent moorings.

Trouble is, if you have a problem with where a boat is moored, I guess there's nothing stopping you from moving it along but just letting it loose gives other boaters a hard time. Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to go past a loose boat without at least trying to get it back to the bank. After all, the returning owner won't be able to access it at all.

Lovely sunshine yesterday, wild, wet and windy today. The nice thing about boating is that you never quite know what you're going to get next!

Ashby canal & UK Coal

2009-11-02T09:10:00.000Z

This photo is a couple of years old, when I was on the Ashby canal. Back then I remember reading about hopes of restoring/extending the canal up to Measham but as usual, money was the problem.

Now I see that UK Coal is planning on developing an open cast mine near the village of Measham. One of the sweeteners? Extension of the canal! There is strong local opposition as can be seen on their protest website even though it seems that people do generally want the canal to reach their village. Much as I'd like to be able to continue a little further along that pleasant stretch of water, knowing I'd be heading towards the envionmental nightmare of an open cast mine would put me right off. Good luck to the people of Measham in their fight.

Evacuation

2009-10-19T19:34:00.000+01:00

I was getting the train from Stockport today and met up with a primary school group, not in uniform but all looking somehow old-fashioned and sweet. Boys in short trousers and flat caps; girls with plaited hair and cardigans. Then I noticed they all carried brown paper parcels marked 'Gas Mask'. They'd been on a visit to the Stockport air-raid shelters. I'd never heard of them before but the kids told me about a huge maze of underground tunnels and hard hats and bunk beds. They were learning about wartime Britain - what a great way of bringing that to life!
What made me laugh though was the eager description (it obviously left the deepest impression) of a sixteen-seater toilet. Seems most suitable for an evacuation ;-)

Bugsworth basin & Bunty

2009-10-13T09:36:00.000+01:00

I took the boat to the end of the canal for a couple of nights at Bugsworth basin and practically had the place to myself. Only a couple of other boats that looked to be shared boats were there for a while. I was wondering that there weren't any local liveabords as it's a lovely green spot, away from the road and surrounded with trees but I guess the rather aggressive red sign threatening a £10 a night overstay charge on the 48hr limit was a bit off-putting.
As anyone who's been there knows, it's a warren of canal arms where boats loaded up with limestone and has been lovingly restored. There's also a 3D model of the way the basin used to look, along with old buildings, now long gone. Funnily enough, it only has a couple of little boat models in the whole basin, whereas I think the place was heaving with them at one time. Thing is, like some other canal restoration projects, I get the feeling that it's been restored more for the benefit of walkers/historians rather than boaters. It's maintained within an inch of its life! The very short grass was being shorn again while I was there; there are dog-bins every few yards and I didn't feel I could even chop wood alongside my boat for fear of getting messy splinters on the ground. I thought I was being paranoid until I came to fill up with water again before leaving. My hosepipe isn't very long so I had to start the tap running and dash onto the boat, holding it into the water tank and once it was full, dashed back out with it to stop the tap. Of course I left a watery trail behind me and an officious-looking character said "oh dear, you have made a mess"!
I did laugh though when some anarchic geese flew in and pooed the towpath up in 5 minutes. Childish, I know ;-)

Speaking of childish things, last week I came across a 'Bunty' magazine from 1972. I pounced on it, as I was 9 back then and remember reading Bunty sometimes and wanted to see if I recalled any of the characters, etc. I was horrified to see what sexist rubbish I was exposed to! It was all about 'straightening out' tom-boys, knowing how to behave in a ladylike way, cleaning a home. One story, involves a husband wanting to buy a new fridge. He says he'll dump the old one in the countryside and the wife gently reprimands him for being a 'litter-bug'. We later see it piled into a landfill. Ah - the dawning of environmental awareness in the world of Bunty!
A few pages later and my spirits rise as I see a quiz page where a girl is walking out in the countryside, with things that need identifying. Is this where I found my interest in nature perhaps? No! The quiz is titled 'Dangers in the countryside' and explains how a simple walk can result in disaster. You have to identify all the bad things that can happen, like an insect bite or nettle sting. It even had 'storm cloud' listed! It's a wonder girls ever ventured outside of their well-ordered homes.
Luckily, it doesn't look as though any of it has rubbed off on me ;-)

Leave it in the ground!

2009-10-09T18:45:00.000+01:00

There's a community near Lanark in Scotland that has been opposing plans for an opencast mine at Mainshill Wood for the last few years. With four other mines in the area, I read that it's one of the heaviest mined areas in Europe and also happens to have the highest rates of cancer in Scotland.

In solidarity with the local people, anti-coal protesters have been camping on the proposed site since the summer. (http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=415)

As well as the wonderful wildlife here that will be wiped out: deer, badgers, rabbits, bats, owls, pheasants, and some stoat-like creatures I couldn't identify (!), there's also a large lake at the bottom of the site. When you read up on opencast mining pollution and how sulphur in coal gets exposed to the air and rainwater, leaching a toxic mix into waterways, it seems unbelievable that the plans could even get permission.

Another sad thing is to look at the horizon. The hills rise and fall gently in the distance, until you suddenly see a flat table-top where a mine has been made and there's nothing but grey, stepped rubble. More lovely hills, then the next dead space

But what is lovely to see here, is the great relationship between local people and those camping in the tree-houses, tents and tunnels. As many local people are elderly or have children, they are only too glad to support people willing to sleep rough in the woods! They bring donated food, warm clothes, tarpaulins, tools for building defences against the excavators. They also fill water containers since Scottish Water closed off the mains pipe across the land.

At the moment, efforts are being made to stop or at least slow the tree-felling there as once this is completed, the way is open to the bulldozers and then mining can begin. (Didn't have my camera, so here's a sketch of the site being cleared)

People (that i think are amazingly brave!) are prepared to stay high up in the trees and down in tunnels to stop this going ahead. It's all about costing the company enough money to mean it's no longer economically viable as a project.

It's easy to get despondent about facing up to powerful corporations (in this case, Scottish Coal) but when you see how E-ON has backed down from expanding Kingsnorth power station, that's a real inspiration to environmental protesters to keep up the pressure. Sure, E-ON claim it's the recession that has put their plans on hold, but the huge and expensive disruption to their operations over the last couple of years must have taken their toll. They haven't been able to attend a single trade fair without actions taking place, a sustained campaign of protests and, thanks to Climate Camp, a raised awareness of their environmentally damaging plans. I had my doubts about the effectiveness of the coming Climate Swoop at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, but now I'm pretty damn sure this may have helped their decision to drop Kingsnorth - for the time being at least.

I hope the people of Mainshill take heart from this and see that ordinary people can take on giant corporations - and win!

Narrowboat cafes

2009-09-28T20:28:00.001+01:00

I was thinking about how it might be fun to run a little cafe, a sort-of pot luck place with one set meal. Then I was day-dreaming about having that on a narrowboat and was remembering the couple of boats I've come across that are floating cafes - one popular place at Braunston called Gongoozler's Rest and another somewhere up the Oxford canal, above Great Heywood i think it was. I didn't try the first because it was all non-vegan fry-ups, but the second was lovely, moored next to a little orchard and garden with the fruit from the trees piled in glass bowls on the deck.. wish I could remember the name. Anyway, I was thinking about this when along came 'Dr Bradley's Linctus' - a boat belonging to Colin, a much-appreciated ally from Canal World Forum ;-) It was great to meet him in person and see inside the boat he is fitting out to be ......a cafe!!
One end is also to be a bookshop - how perfect is that!

My new feller

2009-09-21T16:51:00.001+01:00

I'm pleased with my new axe. Splits logs in one swoooop! (Probably splits feet too, so I'd better watch out.)

The woman in the shop insisted I have a plastic bag over the axe head as "it's an offensive weapon and you might meet a policeman". Ha - that didn't save Harry Stanley, carrying a chair leg in a plastic bag.

Now all I need is a tree stump or something to chop logs on. I seem to come across them all the time until the day I actually want one!

Damn pump!

2009-09-14T14:45:00.001+01:00

Grrr.. been trying to fix my pump all morning. For months there's been a long delay between turning on the tap and the water pump kicking in. I just slowly got used to it so it took my daughter coming to stay to make me realise it's not normal to wait two minutes for water from a tap! Remembering I have a boat guest next weekend, I was determined to sort it out.

I found a pressure switch thing at the end that needed an allen key size I didn't have (of course), but eventually dug out a mini-screwdriver that seemed to have done the trick. Just when it appeared to be working properly and I put everything away in the cupboard above the pump, the water delay started again. Twice. So now I've got it sort-of working fine, with coats and boots from the cupboard strewn around just in case it all goes wrong again!

Hanging onto summer

2009-08-30T16:23:00.000+01:00

I made some jam today. Blackberry, damson and apple. I was thinking that it's a way of trying to keep something of the Summer as the season changes (too quickly!). So, I put a few of my photos here to remember where I went and things I did and people I met, even if they aren't in the pictures. They're just for me - the jam, I'm willing to share if anyone's passing!

Falling out

2009-08-13T09:13:00.000+01:00

It's a good idea to try and stay friendly with people on the canals as you see them again and again on your travels! But I'm afraid I've had a falling out with a boat moored not far away, which is annoying.
I was standing looking out of the side hatch as a little lad came slowly past in his small canoe. A narrowboat then came shooting by us both, pinning him to the side of my boat! I shouted to them to slow down and pointed out the little canoe sandwiched there but they just sped on, shouting back insults and one showing me his bum (ok, why DO men do this?!). Another bloke on board shouted "Slapper!" which cheered me up instantly as I'm sadly lacking in the slapper gene ;-) Although having said this, I realise I had automatically given the arse a rating of 2/10 (white, saggy & distinctly unappealing) and mentally compared it unfavourably with more lovely ones, so maybe they do have a point!

Field

2009-08-09T21:39:00.000+01:00

Once you lie down in a place like this, you just want to drift off into flowery sleep.
Hmmmmm....

Boy in 'the jungle'

2009-07-23T11:24:00.000+01:00

K. is a small 14 yr old Afghan boy, living in the bleak scrub around Calais. He's been there a couple of months, having spent many more months travelling through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France, to wash up here, at this final border to his hopes of a new life. Along the way, he's taught himself enough English to communicate well.

He looks smaller than a 14 yr old, yet also a lot older. He's made friends with other unaccompanied children - a 13 yr old and another lad of 15 and they laugh and muck about with each other like any other kids would. Another boy emerges who can't be more than 10 but who comes to solemnly shake your hand like an old man.

K is wearing trainers donated by a local charity group. Like many there, his shoes don't fit, so he wears them with the heels folded down at the back but still spends ages arranging the laces in neat lines to look cool. His hands are covered with cuts and bruises, one thumb and palm distended from another failed attempt to throw himself onto a passing lorry heading to the UK. This is his life now.

He talks about the differences he has noticed between his own country and the cultures he has come across on his journey. He says his ideas have changed about women since travelling and seeing how different their roles are outside Afghanistan. Other freedoms have been noted and stored away as goals for his own life. This bright, sensitive lad longs to go to school.

Some dates and chocolate are passed round and hungry as they are, everyone at first politely refuses, then after encouragement, takes just one piece. As the night grows colder, he shuffles off, returning with a blanket for you, not himself. Someone else offers tea. An 18 yr old offers up their own sleeping place in the jungle, safe from where drunken locals sometimes come to attack them. K tells me that one thing he is proud of in Afghanistan is their hospitality. He says that if someone comes to the poorest house in the village, they will be welcomed and given the best food. Even your enemy cannot be turned away if in need.

He stays up all night, afraid of the rumoured raid on the encampment. At one point, he raises his head to sniff the air. "Smells of police" he says. It sounds like a joke until you sniff too and smell the CS gas. But this time, they haven't come for him and he relaxes and begins to sing quietly, joined by his young friends. They sing in Pashtu, a gentle undulating tune. Later, someone produces a walkman and shares one ear-piece with K and the two boys begin a beautiful, slow dance on the ends of their wires - eyes closed, humming, the graceful movements of hands and feet. You have to look away.

Dragonfly

2009-07-15T17:50:00.001+01:00

I saw this dragonfly slowly opening its wings and stay motioness all afternoon, waiting for them to dry in the sunshine...

..because it had just emerged from this first nymphal skin, below. (looked that bit up in my book!).

You can see where it burst out of the back!

'lost people'

2009-07-07T11:48:00.000+01:00

Adie, a lovely guy I met through climate camp has been deported back to the UK from an Israeli jail. He was on another Free Gaza boat mission and got detained in an immigration prison. One comment he made has stuck in my head. He said, on seeing the terrible way immigrants were kept, sometimes for years on end “It was like dipping your toe in an enormous pool of lost people”.
A link to this: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/07/433971.html

Immigration prisons. Since when did migration become a crime? People, birds, animals, fish migrate and always have done. When you call it a prison, you criminalise everyone trapped inside and that makes it 'ok' to lock em up. Or you call it a Detention centre, that disgusting euphemism, as though the men, women and children in places like Yarlswood are not really being mistreated, humiliated and traumatised, only 'detained'. There are around 2000 children being 'detained' in the UK. And here's an interesting link to a report on the way they live:
http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2008/09/child_prisoners

Well dressed

2009-06-28T09:17:00.001+01:00

Off on a wander, I found a marquee where people were preparing for a well-dressing. Before I knew it, I was pressing dried camomile and parsley into a foam base! It's painstaking work. The woman doing the parsley was going quietly mad - I had the impression that anyone mentioning parsley sauce in the future, will be instantly punched ;-)

The picture represents the Goyt valley with its reservoir and the celebration is in praise of water. It's all made of seeds, petals, flowers, stones, wood, leaves and it was like making miniature pictures in the garden when you're a child (only this was serious stuff ! ;-)

There's an interesting gender divide whereby the women make the picture, the men carry it out and assemble it. Bits drop off and the women blame the men. It's a tradition!

Anyway, I went along again today for the little ceremony where school children sang beautifully, the local band played and the vicar tried to lay church claim to this pagan custom.

I thought the final result looked great. I've been invited to help make it next year. That must mean I'm local now!