strange landscape

There's a spot along the Slough arm I love to moor at if I'm passing this way. It's at what must have been an old wharf, on the non-towpath side, nestling among bramble bushes, ash and elder trees and the few remains of some crumbling building. Once moored up, the only way to the towpath is across a couple of acres of strangely churned up ground, all little hills and valleys and through a small wood to a bridge.
The last time I stopped by, it was all green and lovely. There's a river running along one side.


Now of course, it's winter and bare but other, bigger changes have come. The land has been raked over and all the tufty trees pulled up as though preparing it to be flattened and built on or something
.
Survivors are these strange spiky teasel-like plants.



What's exposed is something we caught glimpses of before - that the land was once a huge rubbish dump, from pre-plastic days. The place is stuffed with old glass bottles; some are milk, lemonade, beer bottles, others are old medecine, scent and poison bottles.


There is also masses of broken china, earthenware dishes, storage jugs and teapots. And my favourite - rusting metal pots, pans and kettles

Whatever's coming for this patch of land, it probably doesn't bode well for the wildlife.
I was lucky enough to see a lovely muntjac deer snuffling among branches, just near the boat. I also saw rabbits and heard foxes and owls at night. There are badger sets in the bankside and squirrels leaping about in the woods. I suppose the kind of rubbish dumped here many years ago, wasn't so much the kind that leached chemicals and plastics into the land and rivers?
I imagine animals already have a precarious existence between the nearby motorway and local industries which seem to include a quarry, rubbish tip and incinerator. Everywhere, our wild creatures are being squeezed out. Wish I could buy the land and just leave it alone but then I'd be wanting to do that everywhere.
After all the grey winter pics, thought I'd include a cheery, colourful one to remind me that spring is almost here! Thanks to a dear boaty friend for her gift of daffodils :-)

Remembering Haditha

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

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?

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

from Blackbird x

plans

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

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.