Atiller the pun

A turning point for Wand'ring Bark

March 2011

I had a new carpentry experience last week, but before I go into that a bit of background is necessary.

Whilst there is much I love about Wand'ring Bark, I don't love her tiller. It's like Belle and my feet, I know she loves me dearly but she is less than fascinated by my feet - odd, but true.

When Wand'ring Barks builders made her tiller they must have resorted to the ministry of crap design. I can well imagine them casting round the yard for something that will "do the job" and alighting on a scaffold pole. The said steel pole was bent into shape and a lump of wood was hammered onto the end of the overlong tiller arm, but this arm was so long it swept any passengers into the cut, which wasn't very popular. This arrangement lasted one whole day before I took a hacksaw to it and removed about a foot, hammering the wooden handle on the new end.

Over the years the handle has rotted and about two years ago I spent a week's holiday picking the soft bits out with a key. The next year I filled it with plastic wood  but after a year this came loose again and I spent most of 2010 with it held on place with Duck Tape.

My failure to replace it wasn't due to a lack of effort. I looked in every chandlers I came across, but no one had anything which would fit.

Then, a week ago, I was working in my front garden and a neighbour walked by and we engaged in conversation. Suddenly I remembered him telling me he was keen on carpentry, and that he had a lathe. So I asked if he could help me resolve my tiller problem. He was delighted, found out a suitable hardwood off cut, and we agreed on an evening when I would go round and he would show me how to do it.

Now, I havn't used a lathe since I was at school but I was very keen to give it a go. After a few clonks and bumps I got the hang of it and managed to fashion a handle which fits snugly in the tiller, and was comfortable in my hand.

If may not be a professional job but it is functional and most importantly it is my work. 

So, I may still covet all those of you out there with your shiny brass tillers, but I do have a home made handle and somehow I think I am going to get rather attached to it. Its good to get a handle on ones dreams.

A Blistering success

Blist Hill Tub Boat Canal

March 2011

First up, its not really called the Blist Hill Tub Boat Canal, its just happens that the last remaining section of this waterway is preserved in the Blist Hill Museum Complex.

Tub Boat Canal at Blist Hill Museum

I have always looked a bit askance at Tub Boat canals, thinking that as they were never connected to the main system, and not navigable by "proper" narrowboats they were in some way second rate waterways, and of no real interest. Now, all that changed last year as I explored the Shrewsbury canal, which was originally built as a tub boat canal and then enlarged to full narrowboat dimensions when the link from Newport to Norbury Junction on the Shroppie was constructed. 

Tub Boat canal including The Gospel Train

Whilst the through route to Shrewsbury was upgraded, a whole network of tub boat canals operated for over a hundred years from Newport (Trench Inclined Plane) to Ironbridge, moving coal and minerals over the area now covered by Telford's sprawl. 

Wharf crane at Blist Hill

The boats may have been unpowered tubs, but they formed a vital element if the prosperity of the region. The tubbs were nearly full width (6ft 6") and with a depth of about four feet the horse drawn trains of tubs were incredibly effective.

Tub Boat at Blist Hill Museum

The big difference with these canals was their need to traverse hilly terrain with very limited water supplies. The answer was the development of the inclined plane, but more of that another time.

The Boat that Guy Built - episode 3

The Boat that Guy Built

Episode 3

16th March 2011

Written as I watch.

The vibes from the boating community are not positive about Reckless Eric / Guy.

I think the problem lies in the title. A good programme should do what is says on the tin, and this one doesn't. Guy isn't really building a boat. In fact he has a part finished sail away and he is using its unfinished elements to showcase engineering solutions from the industrial revolution. Interesting in their own way, but with little to do with the task of building canal boats.

Perhaps the bit that grates any more is the devil may care approached Guy has to boating and health and safety in general. I heard the collective intake of breath during the closing credits of episode 2 when he hauled himself onto a bridge and jumped down onto the roof on the far side. I am sure we have all done similar things, but they are really dangerous and those of us that have survived to be older and wiser wouldn't want to see others trying this for themselves. 

So, episode three - here goes.


So, Its all about cotton this week. Time to build a bed on Reckless, so maybe we will finally get a bit of real boat building. We live in hope. First up its the task of making sheets and Guy's knowledge on the subject? "the thick end of not a lot". Where does he go? - where else other than Richard Arkwright's mill at the end of the Cromford Canal, one of my favourite disconnected sections. Sadly the opportunity to look at this fascinating waterway was completely overlooked which is a huge shame. But what a fascinating behind the scenes tour of the world of Richard Arkwright, even a glimpse at a listed pig sty's and a private jail.


Where does cotton  come from? Not from the back of sheep as proposed by the hapless Guy - oops, schoolboy blunder there! But watching a 200 year old machine make 10ft of cloth in an hour is impressive, with the flying shuttle zipping back and forth at 60 mph. The loom is so rickety its a wonder it can produce such a good end result.


Then its a search for a new mattress and a visit to the Hypnos factory, where we are walked through the history of mattress making. Straw to Horse Tail in the 1500's, then Lambs Wool and on to the open spring mattress in the 1800's before the final refinement of the pocket spring mattress, invented by an Englishman. I like the tufting process - now I know what goes into putting my mattress together. 


Back to the boat and we find Mave hard at work building walls, doors and of course, the base of a bed. Is this really the Boat that Guy built? I'm thinking the credit should really go to Mave.


If you have a bed you also need to be woken up, so an alarm clock is needed. Its off to Derby Cathedral for a swift lesson in pendulum clocks and steeple jacking, progressing to the the story of the Chronometer where £20,000 was offered for a solution to time keeping at sea. John Harrison (another Lincolnshire man) found the solution using a balance wheel. Those early clocks didn't come cheap - they cost 1/2 the price of the boat itself. As for the alarm, a ships bell was fitted to the roof of Reckless - an odd arrangement is you are trying to wake an occupant. But its even more troublesome if they plan to take Reckless through the low Harecastle Tunnel, or even the lower Froghall bore.


So has this episode won over the boating community? By eck chief! I don't think so....

The King's Speech

The King's Speech

March 2011

We have been wanting to see this film for months, since it was released way back before Belle's accident. But with Belle's eyesight not returning to its normal self as fast as we had hoped, the trip to the cinema was much delayed.

In the meantime Colin Firth was nominated for and duly received his Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the tongue tied King George VI. Such is the success of the film that it is still showing regularly at our local Showcase, which was good news for us.

This is a truly great film, one which unusually portrays the Royal Family in a very human and positive light. The background to the story is well known - George V dies and Edward assumes the crown, only to fall for Mrs Simpson and then abdicates. This thrusts George unexpectedly onto the throne on the eve of World War Two. But king George has a problem - a major speech impediment which renders him tongue tied when speaking publicly - which is a major problem in his line of work.

His wife (the perennially lovely Helen Bonham-Carter) finds an unorthodox speech therapist and so the story continues. The tale covers the unsteady blooming of their friendship, an unusual partnership of equals in  world where kings and commoners don't usually meet.

The film drags you in , the audience willing him on over every faltering syllable culminating in the powerful delivery of The Kings Speech at the outbreak of war. The crowds cheered, the radio technicians cheered, his family cheered and so did we inside our hearts. Its a heart warming tale of triumph over adversity, a human king facing his fears and leading a frightened nation into war.

Well worth a watch and Colin Firth is a worthy winner of his Oscar. 

A consensus of opinion

Census 2011

March 2011

The Census aint what it used to be.

Back in the time of Christ the whole family had to pack its bags and return to the village where the head of the household was born, a journey which could take weeks. Not so any more.

Today I received the latest Census papers which include a 32 page paper booklet for completion. I sat down with a heavy heart resigned to an evening of form filling, only to realise that things have moved on since I last completed one.

The internet has happened! The Census has an optional internet delivery channel. All you have to do is type in your households unique number and away you go. 

Whilst this is a Government system you shouldn't hold that against it - it works really well. Whereas the paper version is long and cumbersome, having to cover all the possible bases, the internet version is "intelligent" and automatically deletes all irrelevant questions leaving you to fill in only what matters.

I rattled through the process in less time than it has taken to write this post - about 10 mins. Amazing.

The one thing that did make me stop and think was the question "is there another address where you reside for more than 30 days per year" (I paraphrase slightly). The true answer is yes - aboard Wand'ring Bark but of course, that is a very peripatetic reside. If it was a holiday cottage I would have had to give its address but I couldn't very well say "anywhere on the 4,000 miles on navigable waterways" so I said no - which I think was the right answer.

I guess the location issue presents a problem to you continuous cruisers out there? 

Well, if the internet had been around 2000 years ago Joseph and Mary wouldn't have gone to Bethlehem, Jesus wouldn't have been born in a stable, Herod wouldn't have killed all those babies and the Shepherds and Wise Men would have remained in obscurity. 

Its a thought.....