A bit of local history

The weather has finally changed for the better. Although we still have had some rain, we are now getting cold, crisp bright days. The mornings in particular are icy underfoot, so extra care has to be taken on the jetties.

We have been trying to keep the fire in overnight. We have a slight dilemma here, because coke throws out a lot of heat and warms the boat up effectively, but it burns itself out very quickly. Large lumps of coal in the form of Ovoids are much slower to burn and usually will last the night, if we bank the fire up. This means that we can rescue it in the morning, without having to relight it. However, they do not provide the same intense heat as Coke, which we now need with the very cold weather. Wood is great for bringing the fire on, but as a source of heat it is not enough at the moment.

So it was an icy start this morning. I dont think the kingfisher will be fishing off the perch we put up for him!

There was a thin layer of ice on the canal

The cold mornings have woken me up earlier and so I have been rising early and taking the opportunity to get up to the University where my piano is and doing a few hours of practice, without being disturbed. I have a concert coming up, so am spending several hours a day practising and rehearsing.

The roads tend to be icy early in the day, so I'm reluctant to cycle at this time of year. It takes about 30 minutes to walk the two miles and it is a lovely and interesting walk, so I thought I would share it here.


I walk down the lane past the old mill cottages.

They were built in 1676

It wasn't far for the mill workers to walk the short distance to work

The old mill is now disused and is a listed building. Quite right too as it is the oldest surviving mill in England. It was a silk mill and was in operation from 1739 until 1971.

The church just in front on the Mill. A big church for such a small village

The Graveyard with the hills of Bowland in the background

So sad, so young.

I have only found two casualties of WW1 from the village so far

The River Condor which runs through the village

When I returned from my mornings practice I walked to the end of the jetty to check our mooring ropes and I startled the kingfisher which flew across the jetty and off under the bridge. It had been fishing off our perch, so now that I know that it likes it, I shall sit by the window in the comfort of our bedroom and be ready with the camera! As a friend of ours said the other day, our boats double up as a warm and cosy 'hide'. Perfect for nature watching.

I shall leave you with a picture of a beautiful sunset we had two evenings ago.

Al :)

Gales and missed opportunities

Typically, the weather improved just as we were flying out to Madeira for our holiday. We had a few days of crisp cold bright weather before we left, but as soon as we returned, the weather reverted to wet and windy conditions and it hasn't changed since! I am currently sitting on a rocking boat with storm Henry beginning to build up around me! Apparently the wind will increase as the day goes on and will reach 60 miles per hour by this evening.

Madeira was wonderful. The weather was warm and sunny, the hotel was first class and the people were so hospitable, as we find all over the world. We explored most of the island, especially the hills and mountains. Here is a picture of Phil at the summit of their highest mountain Pico do Arieiro. At 1818 metres it is the highest we have ever climbed.

Before we went away I had set up the Otter camera on the video setting, but when I came back there was only one video and it was too dark to see anything. All that could be seen was some movement and splashing under a jetty by the end boat, but it was inconclusive. I have reset it on picture mode now and have put it on the bow of the boat next door.

 This will hopefully serve a dual purpose of capturing the otter and the Kingfisher. I brought back a stick from our allotment yesterday and have tied it to the front of the boat to encourage the kingfisher to perch on it.





















NEWS FLASH!

As I was sitting writing this I heard a splash just under the boat where I am sitting. I looked out of the window and there was the otter! It was so close I could have touched it, its head was out of the water and it was eating a fish. I was mesmorised! Too late to reach for the camera. I watched it for about 30 seconds and then ran to get the camera, but it was too late, it had disappeared. I rushed off the boat and could see it splashing under the jetty two boats down, but it was not fully in sight. Lesson learnt ..... always have the camera to hand! The kingfisher also flew off a boat as I was making my way to the laundry block this morning, so two sightings in one day. I told a fellow boater I bumped into and she said that it often fishes off the end boat where I saw it. I told her about the stick we had set up and she said it would perhaps be too rough there for it and it would prefer fishing in the quieter empty berth by the end boat. This made perfect sense, so I am going to move it from its current position to that jetty. One day I WILL get pictures!!! I am feeling extremely frustrated at the moment!

We are now completely out of wood, both wood stores are empty.

However, it is the time of year when trees are being pruned and felled and I always keep my ears open for the sound of a chain saw.  I intend to have a few long walks down the tow path over the next few weeks in the hope that The Canal and River Trust will have been out, tidying up trees adjacent to the towpath. Of course any wood that I collect now will not be burnt until next year as it will need to season. I will simply fill the wood stores and leave it for a year.

I am beginning to get a small collection together and we will need to spend an afternoon chopping it up.

We will still need wood for burning now though, but this is easily obtained after a high tide on the Esturary. We collect wood washed up on the bank and this is always seasoned by the sea. I love foraging for wood and it really does save us a lot of money. We recently calculated our fuels costs for the past year and the total was about £600 for the whole year. This covers coal, gas for cooking and diesel for our central heating and propulsion when we take trips out. It also includes electricty for lighting and appliances.

However, although wood burners are wonderful and cosy and are a cheap source of heating they do have occasional downsides. Because the wind has been gale force, it has blown down our chimney on several occasions, pushing smoke through the vents and into the boat. At its worst it completely fills the boat with smoke and I have to open all hatches and doors and put the fire out.

I will leave you with some pictures of the sun setting over our boat the other evening when the weather was a bit calmer.

I am now even more determined not to miss any more opportunities to capture the wild life on camera. Watch this space!

Al :)

Rain, Rain Go Away.....

....... and DON'T come back another day!!

I'm sure that old nursery rhyme was composed when rain was probably a fairly regular occurance, but only in small doses. We have now had rain every single day since I arrived back in the UK. Most days it has rained continously without a break and it has on occasion been of a velocity that I am more used to seeing in places like India and Malaysia during the monsoon season.

Apart from the people who have been affected by the floods, the impact on us is minimal except that we find it hard to find opportunities for getting out and chopping wood for the fire. However, it is just so depressing to go through the day surrounded by dark, grey, wet weather.

I did manage to get out for a short walk last week and all the fields were flooded:

At least the canal is full

We have booked a holiday in sunnier climes next week, so hopefully will be able to get some sun and much needed vitamin D!

The inclement weather has also prevented me from getting out to stake out the Otter and Kingfisher properly, but the wildlife camera is now operational again and we have heard the Otter swimming under the boats on several occasions in the early hours of the morning. I'm just hoping that it will pop up in front of the camera one night! As for the Kingfisher, it is often seen fishing off the front of our boats. I caught some pictures of the heron one day sitting on our front button, so I'm thinking it may be worth setting up the camera at the front of the boat to try and capture the Kingfisher.

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We had an interesting experience of synchronocity yesterday. When the caretaker is not here, we look after requests for fuel from passing boaters. A continuous cruiser dropped by to buy some coal. We know most of the people who live on their boats on the canal, but we hadn't seen him before. It turns out that he is a student in his final year at the University. While I was on the other side of the world, I used my days off to explore and on one occasion I had taken the ferry over to one of the many small Pacific Islands and cycled around it. It turns out that his parents live on that island and I had probably cycled past their house!

On that note I will leave you. More when I return from my holiday....

Al :)

Storms and floods

I arrived back from the antipodes just before Christmas to unprecedented bad weather. Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank had already wreaked terrible damage on homes near to us. One village was completely cut off for several days, after the river which flowed through it burst its banks and flooded all access roads. Our village was without power for two days and the city centre was inaccessible. There was some shortage food because the Supermarkets near us were either closed, due to being flooded, or because they had run out of food and supplies couldn't get through.

We felt so sorry for those people who have temporarily lost their homes. We realise how lucky we are, since living on a boat is probably the best place to be at the moment. As the canal has risen all we have had to do is to slacken the mooring ropes, to prevent the boat from tilting. We were also not really affected by the loss of electricity, as we lived off our batteries for a few days and recharged them by running the engine.

However, not all boat owners were unscathed by the situation. We are reasonably safe in the Marina because we are moored to solid jetties, but those on the towpath were not so fortunate, as the force of the water pulled out their mooring pins and when the water went down, this was the scene in a number of places along the canal network:

I feel so sorry for this boat owner whose boat was completely submerged

I was also shocked to see pictures of our city centre. Here is a street that I often drive down, completely submerged.

I was saddened to go into town last weekend in the aftermath of the floods to see so many shops near to the river, shut due to flood damage.

I just hope that 2016 is a better year weather wise and that these devastating scenes do not reappear next Christmas.

On to more positive matters now. The Otter is a regular visiter around the boats, usually early evening and in the early hours of the morning. I have had to take the wild life camera down, due to rising water levels threatening to swamp it and high winds which could have damaged it. However, I have a new tactic. I was talking to a fisherman who was fishing on the canal side when I went for a walk the other day and he told me where the Otter's Holt is. I am planning to take a chair down and sit opposite it for as many hours as are neccessary, in the hope of getting a picture. I plan to do that over the next few days, so watch this space.

We have some Goosander who are feeding on the canal and I did manage to get some pictures of them, but because they are wild ducks, they never let me near enough to get a decent picture before taking flight. I have also seen a Kingfisher fishing regularly up by our locks, but again I can never get close enough. I plan to go and sit quietly up there one day to see if I can catch a picture. I have decided that that really is the only way to do it.

While I was overseas I managed to get a few serendipitous pictures of some lovely birds which I thought I would share. Here they are:

White Throated Kingfisher

Bell Bird

Red Billed Gull

Kereru

Tui

Variable Oyster Catcher

I now have a break from work, until I get my schedule for the coming year (if I get any work!). I am self employed so rely on being invited to undertake work by the company I am contracted to, but there are no guarantees.

Until I get any work I will at least have the time to post more frequently.

It just leaves me to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Al :)

Autumn Fruits

I am finally back posting again, after a long work stint overseas and a busy summer.

I had meant to post as soon as I arrived back in the UK in July, but have spent the summer mulling over whether to continue with this Blog.

I have found myself repeating myself and started to wonder how useful the Blog is to prospective boaters. I had thought that I had run out of relevant information to offer, but actually I dont think that is the case. In addition I have had some postive comments from readers, who like my photos of our area and the canal.

I realise that it can be disruptive with me going away to work for at least 4 months of the year, but I still seem to get a regular flow of readers, so I'm going to press on for now.

A brief update on the Marina front finds us in a much better postion with our Council Tax, which has now been amalgamated into our Marina fees. We have had a refund of our monthly payments from the Council and have been de-listed as individual residences. As far as we know, we should now be paying a composite fee with the other residents, but as yet the terms and conditions of this have not been worked out. Negotiations are going on between the valuation office nationally and our marina provider who have a number of sites across the UK. So far, it appears that in return for a composite rate, we will be required to move berths several times a year, to demonstrate that we are not a static residency. I will keep this updated, as it potentially affects 'liveaboards' across the entire country in the future.

On a lighter note, we have had a wonderful summer. Our marina is now full and everybody, residents and leisure boaters alike, is absolutely lovely. We have a great cross section of like minded and decent people and so it is a very happy place to live! Everyone looks out for each other, while at the same time respecting privacy. It is a perfect combination!

We have spent some time cruising up and down the canal and have had one or two nights of peaceful bliss, spent out moored up on the towpath in the middle of nowhere.


Here are some pictures of our favourite mooring spot:

The plank was needed as it was shallow here

Autum colours reflect on the canal

Sunset over the fields

Sunset reflecting on the water

 And some pictures of the canal while we were on the move:

I have also had some lovely walks along the canal recently, I love the open countryside where we live:

The spire of an old country church which is attached to one of the many old stately homes around here.

View along the canal from under one of the many bridges

Resident cat on a moored boat

Apart from that, our allotment has been very productive this year so I have spent some time pickling cabbage and beetroot. The autumn fruits have been late, but I have made Sloe Gin, Plum Brandy and Blackcurrant Rum. The blackberries are not ready yet, but I hope to pick some before I go away and make Blackberry Whisky.

I was walking down the jetty the other day when I noticed these:

I realised that we have a very healthy hop bush growing here. Quite how they got here I don't know, but I harvested enough to make quite a few pints of beer!

Unfortunately, I won't have time to wait for the fermentation process, so I made a couple of hop pillows instead. These are reputed to assist with insomnia, but as I don't have any trouble sleeping, I can't vouch for it!

The marina is looking lovely with the autumn colours and here are some pictures of the scenes I will miss while I am away:

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I travel overseas next week and Phil and I had our usual trip up to the Lake District before I go. Haweswater is our favourite lake and the weather was kind to us, despite a forecast of rain:

Our favourite Tarn halfway up the fell side

The beck tumbles down the hillside. The Reservoir at the bottom is very low in water though.

I shall be back just before Christmas and will then decide whether to continue to post on a regular basis again, or to finish blogging.

Al :)