Part 2 of the cruise

We reluctantly left the beautiful mooring by bridge 7 and travelled on through the increasingly remote and beautiful countryside of Staffordshire and Shropshire. A brief stop for water at Wheaton Aston gave Mary her first testing moment as she momentarily lost control of her steering and only missed a moored boat by a cigarette paper (as we used to say in a more free speaking era).

Bonny had by this time well and truly found her sea legs, so to speak. She took her position on the roof right at the bow, rather like a hood ornament. She hardly slept during the day - there were just too many intriguing smells wafting past and occasionally the maddeningly exciting sight of a squirrel leaping from tree to tree, just out of reach, above her head.

So we drifted on at 3 mph, lockless now, at until mid afternoon when we reached Norton Junction, via the Shelmore Embankment. In the Nicholson Guide this is described as 'The Mighty Shelmore Embankment'. Mary and I were just a little cynical about how mighty an embankment can be, imagining some sort of largish ditch by the side of the canal. However we were put in our place as the land fell away on one side and then the other, revealing views reaching to The Wrekin (a large hill near the Welsh Border) on one side and woods on the other that seemed to sink into the ground so that we were level with the treetops. Mighty indeed! Norton Junction proved to be an ideal mooring spot as it was not only very attractive but had a shop, tea room and pub! So tea and ice creams followed by a pub supper was the order for the rest of the day.

The last day of Mary's cruise came all too soon as we left Norton Junction (I had already decided to stop here again on my return journey) for Market Drayton where she had left her car. This leg of the journey really raised our pulses as we entered the innocuous sounding 'Woodseaves Cutting'. This was an amazing engineering feat in the 18th century, where 'navvies' (navigators) cut straight through the middle of a hill for a mile and a half using only hand tools and animals. Obviously they didn't want to do any more than absolutely necessary, so they only cut enough room for one narrowboat - just! The cliff sides of the cutting towered above our heads and we brushed vegetation on both sides of the boat. As we penetrated further the trees met above us and so it felt like navigating a giant green tunnel. We rather expected to see Amazonian creatures swimming below and perhaps Tarzan swinging above! What really brought the sweat to the brow was the possibility of meeting another boat, as there were only occasional passing places dug out of the cliff. However the flow of the universe was merciful on this occasion and we passed unimpeded, both of us as high as kites when we reached the end of the cutting unscathed.

From there it was a straight forward run into Market Drayton via the impossibly picturesque Tyrley flight of locks. Finding a mooring in town was remarkable easy but it was a little harder to say goodbye to my sturdy crew as I walked with Mary through town to her car. It is amazing how fast everybody seems to travel when not on the cut. Even the pedestrians seemed to be moving at top speed and as for the cars, well, I was very pleased to retreat back to paradise after a pit stop at Netto's for essential supplies.

I then had a decision to make. So far the journey had felt like quite hard work as we were working to Mary's timetable and so had to reach first Penkridge and then Market Drayton by certain times. I had passed several places that I would have liked to stop and explore had we had the time. I also found cruising with no locks actually more tiring as I found standing in one place, hanging onto the tiller for hours on end quite a strain. Whereas if there are regular locks, one has a chance to stretch one's legs and use different muscles. So I decided that, rather than continuing on and struggling down the Adderley and Audlem flight of locks - 20 locks in all - only then to turn round and climb them again, I would instead turn at Market Drayton and amble back.

Pictures and Part 3 to follow...

pics of cruise story so far

This is our first mooring near Kings Bromley marina. very isolated with lots of Rhodedendrons.Second pic of King's Bromley mooring - I love being the only boat in sight when I moor, but this was the only time it happened on the whole trip.

This is Tixall wide looking towards the Gatehouse of Shugborough Hall.

This is my first mate with my best mate! You can work out which is which. I think Mary is looking very relaxed considering she hasn't that much experience at steering a narrowboat.

This the point we turned off the Staffs and Worcester and entered the Shropshire Union - very exciting!

More pics after part two! By the way, if you click on the pics they get bigger!

The Great Cruise Part 1

Sorry for the long pause between posts. We have been off on our cruise up the Shropshire Union Canal and then when we reurned, Bonny finally got spayed and is now recovering.

I will be posting photos of our cruise but they will have to wait as I am not on my own computer at present.

We left in the rain on Monday 7th June from our home mooring at Fradley. The first day was only as far as King's Bromley, where we moored among the Rhodedendrons overnight before going into the marina to pump out, diesal and water. There is something immensely satisfying about taking on the liquid you need and getting rid of that which you don't! Tuesday was the only day when it rained without ceasing. So I dripped my way from Kings Bromley to Great Haywood where we moored at Tixall Wide on the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. This is a beautiful spot where the canal widens into a lake - made in the distant past by the occupants of Shugborough Hall in order to improve their view!

The next day we faced our first challenge - deep locks. The first one was 10'2" and as we approached from the bottom, the gates looked like the very entrance to hell! It's funny how quickly we adjust to things though as, on our return leg, having done many of these locks, I looked at this one and wondered what all the fuss was about - it wasn't that big! It was a hard cruising day this day as I needed to reach Penkridge in order to pick up my friend Mary that evening and there were a fair few locks and miles between Tixall and Penkridge.

By the way, I have learnt a really helpful way of knowing how long a stretch of canal should take to cruise single handed. I count the number of miles and add that to the number of locks and then divide by three and that gives me the number of hours it should take. So, for example, if there are five locks and ten miles between two points, then 5 + 10 = 15 / 3 = 5 hours. It turned out to be remarkably accurate.

Mary had her own journey to make to reach the boat which included dropping her car in Market Drayton and then being on a bus that broke down, followed by another bus that got caught in a mega traffic jam, so she was relieved to finally reach Penkridge and join me in the pub for a late supper!

The next day I set off with human crew! Just as well, as I wanted to get all the way through to Wolverhampton and turn onto the Shropshire Union Canal before stopping for the day, as I much prefer to moor in the countryside than in town. Mary and Bonny did really well as we cruised non stop for six and a half hours, finally stopping between bridges 7 and 8 on the Shroppie. This is a wonderful mooring. A voluntary group - The Shropshire Union Canal Society - go around installing mooring rings in lovely rural locations on this canal, unheard of on our stretch of the Trent and Mersey. So we had a secure mooring in lovely countryside, with fantastic walks for Bonny through ancient woodland and farmland.

To be continued...

simple life and smiling

I watched the second episode of the programme I was talking about in my last post. Two things from it: The vicar took to the road with no money and begged outside shops for food and knocked on people's door for a bed for the night. I felt hugely uncomfortable watching this and realised that I have too much pride to beg and that my ego is still in control of most of my responses.
The second gem was that he had noticed that most people seemed to be afraid of being approached by a stranger; in fact fear and suspicion seems to be society's default position. Peter said "In a world of frightened people, always be the first to smile". I am aware that I generally wait for people to smile at me first before I make contact with them. If I do smile first and they don't respond, then I feel really irritated. On reflection I realise that a fear of rejection is at the base of this, driven by my ego. So, for the last few days I have been grinning like a maniac at everyone I pass. Most people have responded, if a little nervously. I have also noticed that, when they blank me, I am no longer irritated. I think it is because I have decided to do this and having done what I set out to do, I am satisfied and so their response is less important. I wonder if more people smiled or greeted each other, would we become less afraid of strangers?

On another subject entirely, I took Bonny to be spayed on Monday morning. I had spent a sleepless night worrying about it, had starved her for the operation and had got up very early on my day off to get to the vet on time. I bade her a fond goodbye and left her there, only to have the vet phone within 10 minutes telling me to return. It transpired that Bonny was in the midst of a phantom pregnancy and so couldn't be spayed! She is producing milk and everything. I knew my dog was clever, but I didn't realise that she would find a way to wriggle out of her operation! So, anybody want to buy a phantom Cairn pup? They don't take up any room and eat very little!
I have to take Bonny back on Friday for a check up and then, if she is over it, she will be spayed next week. If not, then I will have to wait till after our cruise and possibly until after her next season. Oh the joys of dog owning!

The simple life

Thank you to all of you who have been getting in touch. I didn't realise how many invisible 'followers' of this blog existed and I feel very affirmed!

I watched the first episode of a new series on BBC2 last week called 'How to live a simple life', presented by a lovely, though barking mad vicar called Peter Owen Jones. If you didn't see it, I would recommend a look. The first episode explored our dependence on 'things' and money to give us status, self esteem etc. He had a go at living with no money at all. Next week he's taking to the road a la St Francis of Assisi and I assume will be begging.

The reason I mention it is that it rang bells for me as it touches on this new life I am creating. I too was fairly dependant on 'things' and money. My things mostly had to go when I downsized from a 3 bed house to a 50 foot narrowboat and sorting out what had to go was a painful but cathartic experience. In fact, I described it to people as similar to the feeling you get, having been constipated for a while, having your first really good dump!!

However my ego only really got involved when I started running out of money. Friends and relatives generously gave me gifts of money and I felt, although very grateful, also like a charity case or beggar. I hated receiving - I much prefer to be the one giving. That sounds very virtuous (better to give than to receive) but virtue had little to do with it. It was more about pride and control. If I am the giver then I have the control - I choose what to give and who to and I can feel superior over the poor person / cause I am giving to. That makes me then feel proud of myself. But here I was, feeling like the underdog and I really struggled. It made me recognise that having money meant much more to me than merely keeping the wolf from the door. It meant I was in control of my life. It meant I was worth something and it meant I was secure.

Coming out of the other end of that experience, I realise that I had swallowed the lies peddled to us by the 'consumer society' ('because you are worth it!') I am not what I buy. Security is a myth - money won't stop me getting sick, dying of a stress related illness or getting run over by a bus. It won't buy me status or self esteem because the genius of this retail world is that it keeps us dissatisfied - as soon as we buy what we really thought we needed, something else is then held up as the goal. The real goal, I believe, is to keep us working longer and harder than ever (good for the economy - as if the economy is more importan than the quality of people's lives), then they encourage us to spend all our hard earned money on stuff we don't need and that won't bring lasting happiness and if we can't afford the latest thing, then we are encouraged to go into debt, which will then drive us to work even harder and longer in order to keep ahead in the financial race. The mythical reward held out for all this effort is a prosperous retirement - a sort of secular Heaven. But this is also a perversion of the truth - more and more people aren't reaching retirement in any sort of health to enjoy it because of the stress filled, work obsessed lives they live. If we do manage to reaching the finish line in one piece we find a) they have moved the line (I now won't get my state pension until I am 67 - 7 years later than I was originally promised) or b) our pension fund has shrunk through no fault of our own and an old age of poverty beckons.

So I am trying to reject all those glittering promises and not so subtle threats and instead to live a life free of slavery. Yes, I am working, but I am only working enough in order to live simply. Of course, if you love your work; if your heart leaps with excitement at the prospect of Monday morning; if work fulfils you, then there is no need to slow down - but most of us are not in that happy place. When working I try to consciously look for what is good and joyful in it - sometimes just a smile from a customer or seeing the sun shine through the willow tree will do it. Then, when I receive my pay, I live to a budget. It sounds boring, but I find it helps me resist the blandishments of the advertising industry - if it's not budgeted for, then I can't buy it. Of course my budget includes the important things like having a drink with mates or having enough diesal to go for a cruise etc. I don't listen to or watch adverts and I only go to the shops if I have a list - it stops impulse buying. It all sounds a bit dull, but it's not. Instead of relying on shopping / money to make me happy, I have freed up lots of time by only working 4 days a week for things that really bring me joy - walking with Bonny, meeting strangers and having time for a chat, sitting and watching the birds and the bees.

I could go on, but I've already gone on so much that those who encouraged me to continue with this blog might now be regretting it! I guess what I am saying is that I have discovered rather late in life that it doesn't cost much to live a content, peaceful and joyful life - but it takes a lot of self discipline, ego killing and truth seeking to find that life!

OK

Thanks to some lovely feedback both on this comments page and via email, I have decided to continue to write this blog. I do enjoy posting photos and perhaps if I widen my writing subjects a bit, I will recapture the buzz of writing it! Also I look forward to writing about my cruise in June when I will be exploring the Shropshire Union Canal by way of the Trent and Mersey and the Staffordshire and Worcester canals.

Meanwhile I saw my first ducklings and first bluebells of the season today - late due to the dreadful winter. here they are:

I am looking forward to May 6th - no, not because of the election - liars all - but because it is Bonny's first birthday. I can't believe she has grown up - it seems only weeks ago that I was posting my first photos of this little scrap of a pup! I am not looking forward to 17th May as, reluctantly, I will be taking her to the vet to be spayed. I agonised over the decision, but it is the only sensible course of action. I shall worry until I have her home safely again!

to continue or not?

Bonny and I went out for a 4 day cruise last week and tied up on the first day between Fradley and Kings Bromley. This is the mooring and as you can see, spring has finally sprung! When we returned the field to the right of our mooring had changed colours from a rather dull brown to this rape seed glory!The title of this entry relates to whether I should continue to write this blog. I haven't written for a while because I have been too busy living to remember it! I also find I bore myself a little bit with it sometimes. I also don't know whether it is worth it to anybody else as I receive very little feedback (except from Lynda and my unknown Chinese friend!) I suppose I have lost sight of the reason for doing it. To begin with I started writing a blog to advertise my new 'Narrow Way' venture, but that went the way of all flesh. Then I was writing it as a sort of diary as I struggled through the mooring saga. It also helped me feel less alone whilst I was homeless! Additionally I found it an easier way of updating people who were interested, rather than writing to all individually (the lazy way of keeping in touch!).
But now I am settled at my lovely mooring. I am working for 4 days a week which means I am finally solvent financially and I suspect life is going to be quite calm for a while. (I know - how's that for tempting fate!?) I'm not sure I'll have much to write about. Although in June Bonny and I are going on our first proper cruise up the Shropshire Union canal and possibly completing the 'Four Counties Ring', so it would be good to write about our experiences - possibly.
Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts about whether I should continue to write or not, please let me know!