Long horse bridge

The bridge looks fantastic, although, covered in horse poo!
The only problems appear to be a flooded track between the shardlow car park (wilne lane) and the bridge - poor drainage and track ripped up by vehicles (farmer?) and the poor signage/litter (fly tippers?).
The car park is still free, larger and has been resurfaced and would be a good starting point for walkers/cyclists with the added bonus of the two pubs nearby.  It is now possible to walk/cycle to sawley/nottingham and beyond from shardlow.

Long horse Bridge open at last

The much delayed new Long horse bridge is open at last - will pop down at the weekend to have a look and will post some pictures - this is how it used to look

Richmond on Thames

Worked in Richmond last week and had a couple of walks down the Thames path at lunchtimes.
The tide was out on both occasions and I noticed all the beached houseboats, restaurant boat and a couple of narrowboats (including a small Springer like mine).
The Richmond lock and weir was closed for maintemance, including the footbridge overhead (the weir gates are used to maintain the level of the river above Richmond to allow navigation and the gates are lowered at high tide to allow navigation without using the lock (charged at £5 a go).

A very pleasant spot for a stroll or to eat your lunch.

Green slime on the erewash - Azolla Weed

The Erewash canal is suffering from thick green slime at the moment - Azolla Weed - no sun getting through to the canal and must be a danger to the fish and other wildlife. Probably due to the lack of boat activity on this underused canal. Will have to travel up it again next year - hopefully it can keep going until the derby canal is restored to form a cruising ring

Lock on waterpoint at findern

BW today sent letters to moorers at Findern to let the Nadee restaurant use the waterpoint used for boaters. The Nadee insist that they only want the water to water their spice garden (and not provide water for their massive marquee and its regular events!).
The boaters have been protecting the supply via the use of a padlock - the restaurant having installed a high pressure pipe and fittings (a bit over the top for a bit of watering).
I don't feel that this is a good use of the impoverished, soon to be underfunded charity, with very limited resources and my fellow boaters feel that when the bills roll in the water supply will soon be cut off - due to the likely abuse of this facility.
update:
Apparently the water supply is not metered, however, as the country is facing a severe water shortage (which will close many canals next summer) it is unlikely that this situation will continue. Expect the price of a water supply to rocket as it has been doing for electric and gas as demand exceeds supply.

water in engine bay

I noted recently that water has been getting in the engine bay due to poorly fitted deck signs. The holes drilled for the brass signs were not sealed and the screws not secured via bolts. As the boat safety is 4 yrs away I have removed the signs and filled the holes - hopefully the engine bay should now be dry - the deck drains naturally down the hatch channels.



I am going to leave the required repairs until next year now -soft engine mount, stern gland repacking and alternator low output problems to be sorted - expensive time at the moment with house repairs and daughter at uni.



Radio and tv now removed from boat for winter - will move upholstery soon and drain off water. Also need to put antifreeze in engine - pure water at the moment due to the previously reported leaking radiator cap problem - now sorted.

Ongoing maintenance

Stern gland needs repacking badly - water pissing in even at engine idle, presumably due to vibration - one of the engine mounts is soft.

Battery charging issue is a bit disturbing - alternator output poor and unable to isolate starter battery without killing feed to leisure.

Engine is also smoky and takes a few turns to start which won't help the battery issue. Got to decide if I need to spend money on it or look for a cheap recon unit.

Might have to wait until next year now - too many jobs to do at home and at work.

Also need to clean the engine bay - everytime I go in I come out like I am a member of the black and White minstrels

Thoughts on winterisation

Plans so far:
drain off water and leave taps on
Remove all upholstery/soft furnishings
remove all electronic items - tv, radios, etc

shardlow 10/9/11

Off to shardlow soon - hope to get thru stenson lock in less than an hour this time - what a bottle neck it has become.

derby county fan onboard so our challenge for this evening is to find a pub showing the game at 5.15

The malt shovel has italian sky - not sure if they show championship games and the bell at sawley have full sky but would mean extending the cruise.

hope we manage to secure a mooring - the last two trips we have squeezed in next to the new inn just before the bridge

Well that was an eventful weekend.
A leisurely cruise to shardlow ended up quite expensive and painful for some of us.

On the way down a boater got his ropes caught when filling Weston lock - nearly sinking his new boat! We should have known it was going to be a challenging weekend!

We got our favourite mooring outside the new inn.

First problem - no derby match in the malt shovel - requiring a taxi to sawley - bell inn - they had two games on derby and manscum.

Derby were robbed by a dodgy penalty and good performance by the cov keeper - the Manchester muppets were happy with their easy win - shame Rooney doesn't play like that for England!

After another taxi ride back to shardlow on of the lads turned his ankle so was limping for the rest of the weekend.

As my iPhone was nearly empty I left it on charge overnight and as the bilge was leaking badly we had to use the pump - too lazy to grease the stern gland.

After a very nice fill English in the morning - my excessive power use came back to haunt me - flat batteries!

Must look at the wiring as the leisure battery appears to drain the starter as well!

After half an hour trying to get jump leads with no success - someone had a flat starter pack!

I bit the bullet and bought a new battery from the marina - £35 more than most suppliers! Ouch!

After fitting the new battery I checked the alternator - only kicking out 12.4 volts - may be a problem there!

Journey home looked an easy one - canal very quiet and weather surprisingly good.

As we were leaving shardlow lock - we were leaving the gates open for a hire boat, Allan jumped on the boat but lost his footing - ending up hanging off the rail with his legs in the water - unable to pull himself up. The tiller was left to a crew member who didn't know how to steer and suggested we go towards the unguarded weir!

In the end I managed to pull Allan back on the boat and we avoided the weir - the canal time hire boat crew were watching in horror!

The rest of the journey was uneventful and the weather very good all weekend - only rained when we were inside.

Final result:

Allan - bruised chest, thigh and swollen knee
Peter - twisted and swollen ankle
David - empty wallet - minus £115 for battery

Chertsey 20/08/11

Looked out of my window at lunchtime and saw chertsey going by - a blog I have followed for a couple of years - looks pretty much restored now with excellent paint job - nice when restoration is sympathetic

Sunken boat in weston on trent lock (T & M) 17/8/11

hope no significant damage done - cleared by BW 18/8/11

Guy Martin to co present world sheepdog trials 15-18/9/11

Guy will be co-presenting the 2011 World Sheep Dog Trials on More4 this year. More telly news soon!!








2011 World Sheep Dog Trials Press Release



MORE4 GOES HIGH-TECH WITH THE WORLD SHEEP DOG TRIALS







More4 has announced it will exclusively broadcast the World Sheep Dog Trials, the countryside event that sees handlers and hounds from around the world compete for the title of world champion.







Anna Miralis, editor, documentaries, said: “We are delighted to be broadcasting the World Sheep Dog Trials on More4, bringing new audiences and a fresh perspective to a traditional British countryside activity. The World Sheep Dog Trials builds on the success More4 has had with a diverse range of content, including Crufts, which drew large audiences earlier this year.”







Live event and sport specialists North One Television will produce the coverage for the World Sheep Dog Trials and will give it a 21st century makeover with high-tech production techniques including High Definition, super slo-mo, fence and pen cameras and dog and sheep telemetry.







More4 will broadcast nine hours of coverage throughout the event, which runs from 15-18 September and takes place on the Lowther Estate near Penrith, in the Lake District. More4 will broadcast a two-hour programme at 7pm on each day of the event, plus an event highlights show.







The fourth annual World Sheep Dog Trials will see a total of 23 nations and 240 handlers and their dogs competing for the ultimate prize – a gold shepherd’s whistle and the much-coveted title of world champion.







The shows will be presented by countryside adventure girl Ellie Harrison and motorcycle racer and British heritage fan Guy Martin, with commentary from one of the nation’s best-loved commentators, Barry Davies.







North One CEO Neil Duncanson said: “This is a truly unique event and we aim to capture all the action, all the personalities and all the great colour from behind the scenes. At this level, the relationship between the handlers and the dogs is almost telepathic. We’re hoping it will appeal to a very broad audience.”







Tim Longton, English president of the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS), which runs the World Sheep Dog Trials, said: “To secure such high profile exposure through North One Television and More4 is a major coup. It will provide a massive boost both to the event – a highlight of the 2011 northern calendar – and the world of sheep dog trailing in general.’







Countries taking part this year include all the home nations, debuts from Brazil and Japan, along with the USA, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroes, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Guy Martin Blog 16/8/11

A fair bit to mention since the last blog I reckon. The southern 100 race was where it all started, as always, the best meeting of the year, the weather was kind to us. I managed to get a win, but only the one, really enjoyed it though but it was a bit of a rushing match from then on. Get on the ferry, then straight to the airport to go to Austria for the Saltzkamergut trophy. Me and gunster went over for it, he was there for a bit of moral support and he’s well trained at being a top drinking partner. So, two years worth of training paid off and I finished the race, which was the goal, and was the only Brit to finish, so we had a well deserved fag and pint after, back home Sunday morn, back to work for the week then went down hill racing in Scotland.








I was riding the trickest down-hill bike in the world which orange bikes have given me. I’ll get some pics up of her, she is a 322 proto type, the trickest bike known to man. Thanks a million to Michael and the lads at orange bikes for sorting us out, and for the lads at hope for putting me in their team. It was a mega weekend, except for a good few crashes which the last one knocked me out four hours into the race … bugger. Oh well, a few beers soon softend the blow, good laugh though, I’ve still got a lot to learn.







I must have been suffering as I had a day off work on the Monday – not good, especially as I was racing at Armoy road race in ireland that next weekend. I was far from fit and l let myself down and probably let the lads in the team down more, so sorry about that.







Oh, I never mentioned, while at Armoy I met the real Guy Martin, the prize winning sheep, unbeaten this year, what a boy, can sheep be hung like a donkey? This lad was. Right from there it was a back to work for the week then to the Ulster Grand Prix. As always, a top top meeting, but as usual the weather wasn’t the cleverest. Managed to win the last super bike race though. I was a happy camper, ta for all the support – much appreciated. I still get a bit shy of all the attention, ta though.







Oh ta to Mat for putting us up for a few days at the Ulster. He reminded me what a top film Back to the Future is. I don’t reckon we’ll be on hover boards in 2015 though do you? How clever is it though, does any one know of any interesting facts worth knowing about the 3 films? I reckon a Delorean would be a tool and a half dont you?

Ulster GP: Martin wins second Superbike race13/08/2011

Ulster GP: Martin wins second Superbike race13/08/2011

Martin took the last Superbike race win in style



By Phil Wain at the Ulster GP

Image by Graham Norton



Relentless Suzuki's Guy Martin rounded off his Ulster GP campaign in winning style on Saturday when he took a start to finish victory in the second Superbike race held in patchy, inclement conditions. The race was delayed to allow the track to dry after another brief rain shower but although 80% of the track had dried out, it remained wet from Cochranstown to Budore and meant caution was needed throughout.



However, Martin seized control on the opening lap despite some ‘clenching’ moments and led the field round at the end of lap one although Bruce Anstey, again starting in the second wave, was only 0.013s adrift. It was a Honda benefit after that with Keith Amor, Gary Johnson, Cameron Donald and William Dunlop in hot pursuit although John McGuinness didn’t start until everyone had left the grid, problems in the first race only fixed in time for him to rejoin long after the race had started.



On lap 2, Martin began to press on ahead, extending his lead to 1.6s but Anstey was unable to repeat his first race heroics and dropped back to sixth on time as Johnson moved up to second, Amor running slightly wide at the hairpin. Dunlop was also loving forward, overtaking team-mate Donald.



By lap 4, Martin’s lead was over three seconds and although Dunlop moved up to second and reduced the lead by one second, bringing it down to 2.6s, Martin immediately responded and the gap was back up to 3.6s as they swept into their final lap. Donald was still in touch with Dunlop and Amor but Johnson, meanwhile, had dropped off the pace significantly and was now down in 6th. McGuinness, although a long way back on the road, had worked his way up inside the top 20.



On the last lap, Martin had the race in the bag and was able to come home a commanding three seconds to the good for his 7th UGP win with Amor sealing second after Dunlop and Donald got tangled up with backmarkers as they exited the hairpin for the final time. Anstey took fifth with Johnson in sixth and Michael Dunlop a lonely seventh. Conor Cummins, Adrian Archibald and Australian David Johnson were the remaining top ten finishers whilst Dan Kneen put in an impressive ride, coming from the third wave to take 11th. McGuinness crossed the line on the back wheel in 17th.



1 Guy Martin (Suzuki)

2 Keith Amor (Honda) +2.944s

3 William Dunlop (Honda) +3.062s

4 Cameron Donald (Honda) +3.343s

5 Bruce Anstey (Honda) +4.100s

6 Gary Johnson (Honda) +21.897s

7 Michael Dunlop (Kawasaki) +28.610s

8 Conor Cummins (Kawasaki) +36.628s

9 Adrian Archibald (Kawasaki) +39.877s

10 David Johnson (Kawasaki) +46.355s



Fastest lap: William Dunlop (130.50mph)

Noses in the trough

from Narrowboat world 13.8.11 allan richards

http://www.narrowboatworld.com/index.php/news-flash/3489-where-our-money-goes

IWA festival 31/7/11

Wonderful weather, well laid out site with excellent facilities --- but.....

Very poor attendance, little to attract the non boater fraternity, very expensive food, drink, exhibitor stall prices - I remember when shows were loss leaders/promo budget for firms.

I bet most of the punters on site were IWA members probably getting in free or with heavy discounts.

Very few activities promoting the wider usage of canals/accessibility

My conclusion from visiting the festival is an elitist Jolly, which is a great shame, because you can see the effort that has been made by the armies of volunteers at the site and very professional layout and facilities.

IWA needs to look at itself - it has created a monster and lost its soul - the network is dying and it needs to re focus on revenue raising and promotion for all users

I bet the festival lost a packet this year

IWA Festival Burton on trent 29 - 31 July 2011

Biked past the moored boats yesterday to check out the possibility of getting a mooring tomorrow for a planned visit - looks like it will have to be about a mile away near the Football ground.

Saw the famous boat President
- Timothy West and Prunella Scales were standing next to the boat on the towpath.

Some enterprising locals had converted their back gardens into stalls for charity, etc

The bunting was out in force.

Derby canal news 5/7/11

Canal restoration scheme wins backing of planning experts
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Derby Telegraph
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A CANAL for Derby has been recommended for the go-ahead by city council planning officers.
Plans for the restoration of the 12-and-a-half-mile Derby and Sandiacre Canal have been developed by the waterway's trust over four years.
​
Rob Hartley projects director for Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust at the site off Hopwell Road in Draycott where new plans have been made to restore the canal and land around it
Council officers have now recommended its planning board give permission for its new route and alignment which is largely the same as when it shut in the 1960s.
It would run from Sandiacre to Swarkestone through Pride Park.
Officers from South Derbyshire District Council and Erewash Borough Council have also recommended the green light ahead of planning board meetings later this month.
Chris Madge, chairman of Derby and Sandiacre Canal Society – the heritage arm of the trust – says that, if planning permission is granted, the canal could be fully restored in between 10 and 15 years.
He said: "It only took three years for men with pick axes to build it in the first place.
"It is a very straightforward project in terms of engineering – there are few technical challenges on the route, no tunnels for example.
"The largest challenge we face is going under the railway line at Pride Park.
"We believe a major part of the development will be complete within 10 years."
Mr Madge says restoring the canal – which has not seen a boat since 1962 – is still set to cost about £45m.
He says about £5m is set to come from developers who want the canal to form part of their housing schemes, including developments in Spondon where the first part of the refurbishment would be likely to take place.
The trust also hopes to get about £7m from selling the spoil dug up from the line of the old canal.
And it plans to make a bid for Heritage Lottery funds "in due course".
Mr Madge cited this month's reopening of the Droitwich Canal as proof that waterways could be brought back into use.
The work cost £12m and was completed using £4.6m of Heritage Lottery cash, as well as money from local councils, the Inland Waterways Association, and Emda. Labour costs were reduced through the use of volunteers.
Mr Madge said: "We are convinced we can raise the money we need for this over a 10-year period.
"The challenge is getting through the first stage because once building work gets going it's easier to find funding."
A Heritage Lottery spokesman said the organisation had, in the last 17 years, awarded £91.4m to more than 215 river and canal projects.
He said: "We invest in every part of our diverse heritage."
The city council's final decision on the Derby and Sandiacre Canal will be made by its planning control committee on Thursday.

the narrowboat formerly known as pearl

just had a quick look at the boat register and noted that my old narrowboat Pearl is now called Lizzie

Ongoing boat issues

Took the boat out to Branston Bridge 34 for Sat/Sun 18/19 June 2011. Boat ran ok, but, obviously lacks power due to the small two cyclinder 600cc engine and its age/hours - 22 yrs.

Checked the water cap again and noted there was still a leak around the heat exchanger - the fitting appears to be distorted - a temporary solution was to straighten the fitting with a pair of pliers and added a bit of rubber to the cap - the leak is more of a sweat now - still annaoyed that this was not picked up on the service - looking at the engine calcification/loss of paint - this leak has been around for years.

At the weekend I noted that the kitchen window was leaking badly - water ingress into the wood lining. The problem appears to be a small gap in the window, which has obviously worstened as the retaining screws have rotted away. I filled the gap with filler and added some primer to seal.

Must buy some green matt paint to touch up a few areas on the boat.

The rotten window screw problem has prompted me to replace all the window screws on the boat - not a quick job as there are 131 over the 7 windows. On inspection a lot of the screws have rotted away requiring a pair of pliers to remove the old ones. I have gone for a slightly larger size to make a better fit (they have been in for 22 years!). The new screws should last well as they are zinc coated - couldn't afford stainless in that quantity!

Also noted that the rubbing strips have split away from the hull in several areas - problem hidden by the new blacking when I bought it and they have obviously opened up as we have clouted the towpath and lock walls - will monitor the situation - probably due to the very thin rubbing strips used.

No further problems noted at this stage - the batteries appear to hold a good charge - although we don't used the lights and tv much and I have a small solar trickle charger. The winter will be the time to test them! I must buy a charger to run off the hook up power - I have a good generator on standby (and a bad one - machine mart saw me coming).

Boat licence and mooring permit

Boat licence and revised mooring permit arrived on Monday 13/6/11.

The longest I have had to wait for licencing since owning a boat - application and cheque went in on 26/4/11 (licence expiry was 30/4/11).

Given the well publicised financial problems of BW, I can't understand why it takes them over 6 weeks to cash a cheque!

T T races

Guy Martin at the Bungalow, IOM superbike TT 4/6/11

Guy Martin unlucky in first race. Had to retire on last lap when lying second.

A good week for guy in the end - three third places and one second to go with the dnf.

The Suzuki appears to be a reliable machine but not as quick as the Honda engine use by John McPint who won both superbike races.

Hope Guy gets his first win next year - a very popular rider with a very strong marketing team behind him (one pint tea mugs £18! - by 'eck)

Guy's take on the two week IOM TT - blogged 12/7/11

The TT, eh? I suppose I can’t complain about it, eh? I won the stationary show which was the main objective for the two weeks. Talking of stationary engines, as much as I love my early 1990s stuff, you’re only playing at it until you own a Rolls Royce Merlin 26 litre V12 engine. So, I’m knuckling down with the overtime to get my hands on one. Trouble is, they use about 4 gallons a minute so it’ll only be started on special occasions!








Talking of special occasions, this coming week should hopefully be a bit special. Got the Southern 100 motorbike race followed by the Saltzammergut Cup mountain bike race on Saturday. The Southern 100 is my favourite motorbike race of the year and the mountain bike race is the toughest one day race going – so this coming week won’t be easy.







Oh, I never mentioned about the competition winner from last time. Ta very much for all the replies – loads of good ‘uns! It wasn’t an easy choice but the one about the American soldier and the SAS bloke stood at the urinal had to take it. Good work. I’ll go through ‘em again and find out who wrote it.







A fair bit has been going on really. I’ve got a big restoration job on at work – a 1996 143 500 Scania. I’ll get some pictures stuck up but she will be a concourse winner when she’s done. I was at Goodwood last weekend with the future Mrs Martin, if that’s what we’ll call her? Loads of interesting stuff there as usual – and I reckon I’ve seen my new car. I’ll let you know. Oh, and I know I said that I wouldn’t do any more TV stuff but I’ve had a job put to me that I couldn’t turn down. It’ll fit in with work, so it was a no brainer – so that’s another one I’ll keep you posted on (World sheepdog trials in September).







Right – competition time. The question is – if Johnny Vegas sold his wedding photos to VIZ for £1.00, who should I sell Mr and Mrs Martin’s to?

IOM TT

Off to the TT for the weekend

Good luck to Guy Martin (of nb Reckless fame) - second fastest in practice behind Bruce Anstey - hope he manages to navigate the Superbike better than the Narrowboat!

Evening cloud

Just about sorted boat now. Just waiting for new licence and replacement permit - are bw on a go slow at the moment? Got a slight list to starboard - as with pearl all the heavy fittings are on one side of the boat - kitchen, cooker, fridge, diesel tank. There are a lot of rocks under the front seat on the port side - perhaps not heavy enough. Another minor problem was a leaking mushroom vent - not sealed at the base - made a mess of the roof lining - but easily sorted with filler and paint. Ready for next trip - will take it easy as still not confident about the engine - 21 yrs young - will probably do alrewas or fradley in early June.

Boat sold

Evening lady sold - just waiting for cheque to clear. A bit of a drawn out process and a lot of time wasters/fender kickers. Poor bloke that bought it broke down after we signed the invoice. Felt really bad, but, the same thing happened to me when I sold pearl last year - prop came loose just before hand over and it cost me £280 to put right - oh the joys of boat ownership!