Granny Buttons

The Enthusiast is contagious

When I was a lovesick teenager, my mother (the original 'Granny Buttons') drove me crazy with her constant repetition of Ralph Waldo Emerson's quotation, "All mankind loves a lover".  I used to think it was a way of saying "You can't help going 'aahhh' when you see two lovebirds together".  But nowadays I see it's not.  It's simply another way of saying 'enthusiasm is contagious'. 

And so it is. Very contagious.  Every time I walk around one of the waterways festivals and speak to all the canal restoration societies, I get enthusiastic about restoring more of the derelict canals.

I've only just come across The Enthusiast, a magazine devoted to giving space to people with personal passions.  Its slogan is another of Emerson's sayings:

"What is a man good for without enthusiasm?"

The BBC gave The Enthusiast airspace this week.  I look forward to reading more about it.  It's only four times a year, and you can subscribe via PayPal.  I suppose I'll have to subscribe, just to see if they've written about the charm of canal boating; or if I need to write the article myself.  But I can't give you the link, because the website is too clever by half, and doesn't give a direct link.  Sorry! 

Moore2Life and Watermouse

Chas on his Moore2Life blog has just done a lovely little post about Watermouse.   Waterways artist Margery travels the canals on Watermouse, painting roses & castles and stitching crochet - canalware it's called, or sometimes 'canalia'.  She paints, stitches and paints during the winter and paints, stitches and sells during the summer.  An idyllic sort of retirement, some would say.  Chas says she's just painted his buckby can:

It is now the same colour as our boat. Margery spent several days covering it with roses and daises. Even the name of our boat is now painted on it.  All the daisies have a little red mark on them where the fairies have kissed them.

This is exactly the sort of post I enjoy seeing on a cruising log, and far more readable than the average 'trip report'.   

I met Margery briefly last year, when she was moored at Hopwas and I visited the pub for the afternoon.  Her boat was a fascinating trove of trinketry, packed with colourful canalware, and she seemed to be ceaselessly painting and crocheting.  I was going to get her to paint something for Granny Buttons, but by the time I'd got my own boat there Watermouse had moved on, and I'd lost touch for a while. 

She's not the only one who leads this lifestyle, of course.   There are quite a few of them - Jerry Barks on Maelstrom, for one - and every hobbyist must envy such a lifestyle.  It's not a route to riches - possibly not even self-supporting - but it does at least provide your beer money when you are tied up outside pubs.

Stunning photo of Steve Goodlad at Alchemy Boatyard

Virtual Stoa has posted about the new Castlemill development - or old Alchemy Boatyard, or whatever it's now called.

What caught me by surprise was the stunning photo of Steve Goodlad, former tenant of the boatyard, who's taken BW's shilling to move to another site.  I think this is a fantastic, arresting news photo, a real piece of photojournalism.  Well done, whoever took it! 

The bonus is the picture of St Barnabas Church (and tower) in the background.  This is a wonderful church, fondly remembered by John Betjeman.  As a student in Oxford in the 1920s he recalled its splendid Byzantine exterior and delightful high-church interior, decorated by Sir John Ninian Comper, and its resonant ring of tubular bells that he wrote about in his poem Myfanwy at Oxford, a paean to one of his early infatuations:

Tubular bells of tall St. Barnabas,
Single clatter above St. Paul,
Chasuble, acolyte, incense-offering,
Spectacled faces held in thrall.
There in the nimbus and Comper tracery
Gold Myfanwy blesses us all.

If there's a good reason to moor up your boat at this point for a restless night, it's to hear the hourly chime of St Barnabas' clock and remember, each hour, the unrequited loves (like Myfanwy) you had as a student.  Close your blasted narrowboat's window if you don't want to hear this sweet sound. I adore being moored in central Oxford.

What will be the result of any development?  I'm not in a position to judge, but I only ask that the view and the sound of St Barnabas not be obstructed from the canal.  I don't suppose Bellway or British Waterways would know, since they have a living to earn.

But I stand to be corrected.  Philip Pullman has an opinion.

Billy Boxer's Boat Blog

Tony, of the narrowboat 'Lady', has just started a blog in response to the BW proposals to increase the cost of a continuous cruising licence. 

This attempt was prompted by British waterways proposal to increase the charges for continuous cruising, which decided me to summarise our log, in an attempt to establish whether our usage is so much greater than those with a permanent mooring. We have (with a minor exception, when Polly was frustrated by engine problems) been assiduous with our recording and can say where we were at any given time since 29th October 2001.

I take my hat off to Tony (BillyBoxer).  This is the most succinct cruising log I've ever seen.  Would that we could all be as distilled as him.  It would make our 'trip reports' (snore) rather more readable!  What a shame it ends in August 2003.  I presume that's a mistake, and he's NOT been moored up at one place!  I also guess he hasn't mastered the technology yet. 

He hasn't left an email address, so I can't contact him.  And neither can you.  Until you go public on the web, don't expect anyone (grannies and buttons included) to verify you.

Link:  Billy Boxer's Boat Blog.

At the IWA Festival, etc

Over the long holiday weekend, I spent only Sunday at the IWA Festival, the other days working on PR jobs.  I've got a lot to report on, but will try to catch up later this week.  Granny's at Middlewich (cruising log to be completed later).

Incidentally, I note that a Google search for 'IWA Festival 2005' pops up a hit for the Nigerian 'Iwa-ji Festival' as the second or third result.  The Iwa-ji festival celebrates the arrival of the yam harvest for the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria.

During the festival we thank God for the arrival of the new harvest of yams and perform traditional rites to declare the new yam fit for general consumption.  It presents the right conditions for all and sundry, family and friends to come together and demonstrate their commitment and solidarity to the local community.   

The Igbos celebrate the new yam festival in a variety of ways and in some communities the festivities last the whole day and in many places it may stretch up to one week or even more. Iwa-ji is therefore an important event in the calendar of Igbo people all over the world.

There is a lot to eat and drink and attendance at the festival is from all over the United Kingdom and overseas.

Substitute 'ale' for 'yam', and 'IWA boater' for 'Igbo', and the search results are almost interchangeable!

Canaltimers get compliment shock horror!

Graham on Jannock remarks favourably today on Canaltime boaters:

The 'newby' Canaltime boaters that we showed the ropes to yesterday, presented us with a large lump of birthday cake at Willington. It has been quite noticeable along this stretch of cut that it is the Canaltime boats that consistently slow down to pass moored boats, whereas many private ones don't!

What to do if your car goes into a canal: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has some useful tips (and some pretty obvious, to be frank) on What to do if your car goes into a canal.

I must say, the American press is full of reports of cars crashing into canals. It's half a world away from the English 'Cut', but I guess the lessons are the same here.  Except remember your steering wheel will probably be the opposite side.  Perhaps that's why the problem is so bad in the US - the steering wheels are on the wrong side!

Anderton to Middlewich

From Anderton to Middlewich.  Four hours, five locks, ten miles. 11am to 4pm including a stop for lunch.

After two days on official Anderton visitor moorings by the Anderton Lift, and two further days on pins near the sanitary station, I set off towards the Coventry Canal on Bank Holiday Monday.   It's a pleasant & short day's cruise to Middlewich, through Kings Lock, to the visitor moorings above. Ten miles or so, five locks.  Then back to Anderton by bus (37A from Middlewich to Northwich, 1A from Northwich to Barnton, walk up the hill to Anderton to fetch my car. 

The old flashes (Billinge, Croxton) on the way to Middlewich are always irresistibly photogenic, complete with their abandoned boats which remind me of the 18th Century 'sham ruins' erected by vain landowners.  If I had a flash on my property, I too would be tempted to sink an old boat or two, just to add to the view.   And every time I come this way I can't resist taking a bunch of photos, in order to stitch into a panorama when I return home.  Nope, never got around to making those panoramas.

The IWA National Waterways Festival 2005, Preston Brook

Always my habit to mismanage my time and turn up late for these festivals.  I did it at Little Venice in May, I did it at Saul in July, and now I've done it at Preston Brook this weekend.   Because of work commitments I can't get my boat there, so I've not booked it in.  Granny is currently at Anderton, but I'll probably be moving on a bit tonight, and perhaps some more tomorrow, and I'll visit the show on Sunday and Monday.

The IWA Festival is always well-organised, but there's not much about it on the web, and no 'read further' links to exhibitors, not like Saul Junction's comprehensive listing.  (There is a list of exhibitors, but it's a raw pdf with no information about them, nor any links or email addresses.

The main page of the exhibtion is here, but it's dated June 9th, so I don't know how much has been organised since then. 

There's a list of craft workshops organised over the weekend - including one by knotmaker Ben Selfe of Lyra.

Here's what's on at the Festival Theatre.  Perhaps the most interesting thing of general interest is the special Flower Festival at the nearby Daresbury Church.  Daresbury was the childhood home of Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll).  So the 'Flower Ladies of Daresbury Church are decorating it:

... with a waterways theme, linked to the Alice in Wonderland story, with the church porch going to be a fantastic "down the rabbit hole" experience. Waterway artefacts to add to the flower displays have been borrowed from Dave Walker, a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, and include a rope crown, fenders, baskets and a Turks Head cross.

Just as well I'm not involved with the Festival, though, or they'd never get it off the ground at all.  The only thing I think I could ever arrange for them would be a rainy day!  Come to think of it, I probably have.

Cut Life - the Linkblog

I've started a waterways linkblog.  I've provisionally titled it 'Cut Life', but I'm open to persuading calling it something else.  Charles Lyne suggested 'NBlog', which is neat and clever, except I think that name's already used by software, and I'm keen to avoid the pigeonholing of the 'narrowboat' aspect. Indeed, I hope it'll also be a gathering-point for angling, walking and cycling news, wherever it relates directly to the canals. Even industry and waterside development.  Considering the canal were built for industry and development in the first place, especially for industry and development!

What's a 'linkblog'?  The word is familiar on the web now, but surprisingly I can't find a succinct definition.  Let me try: 

A linkblog provides basic links to news and new websites, without any comment or opinion.  It has no original content of its own; it simply harvests and republishes existing links and excerpts.

I've designed the new linkblog to be a community effort - eventually I hope other people will join in to be editors, each with their own specialist interest, which is why each post concludes with the name of the contributor.  Each type of canal interest will also have its own category, so if you only want to see references to 'angling', for instance, you can filter other ones out.

Here's the initial link:  http://www.grannybuttons.com/cutlife/   Expect it to change in design and location as I fumble towards improvement.  And the connection with Granny Buttons will disappear, don't worry. 

Barbridge to Anderton

Cap'n Richard and Bos'n Emily took Granny from Barbridge to Anderton today.

He sent me another project boat pic, this one from Billinge Flash.  Actually, I know this one - I posted a pic myself from here last year, or was it the year before? 

Yes, it was the year before.  Actually, I've just done a panorame of this section. When I've stitched it together, it'll look fab!

Northwich BW blogger is strange and beautiful

There's a growing number of boaters blogging (hello, Tafelberg! Yes, I am reading you!).  But we blogging boaters are the poachers.  Right now I'm interested in finding the gamekeepers.  Or at least the gamekeepers' assistants. 

One of those assistants is 'The World is Strange and Beautiful', the nom-de-blog of a young lady who's had a series of temp jobs, but this week she says she is working in one of the BW offices in the north-west.  Call me Sherlock, but I'd guess it was the Anderton Lift office at Northwich.

She seems to be enjoying it.  She's got a sparky sense of humour, and if she can precis better she'll be a fantastic blogger.  If her boss discovers what she's doing, she'll either be dooced or recruited to a permanent job (and told to stick to comments about the waterways).  I recommend the latter, because she's a human voice within BW.  Some quotes:

This Autumn, I bring to you the admin behind canal boats!!! (And also, How To Organise Rowing Races; What To Do If You Drive Your Lorry Into an Aqueduct; and Why Spilling Oil in Rivers is a Very Bad Thing).

Oh, and to the Dutch man who swore at a lock keeper on the River Weaver last weekend, you've caused me tons of paperwork through offending a fellow boater, please keep your insults to yourself, or at least say them in Dutch such that no one understands. It's only the same as when I say "I do apologise" on the phone, and then I put it down and say "not really!!!"

And then I told the friendly man who called me to tell me that the aqueduct was damaged, since a Lorry had run into it, that perhaps he would be best off checking that the man in the Lorry was alright. And perhaps if not, he would want to call an ambulance. And maybe the fire brigade, to stop the "stuff" that was leaking out of the Lorry from leaking. And then maybe the police as a precaution too.  However, you couldn't blame him, if you'd seen a major incident, 0800 CANALS would have been the first number you'd have dialled too. Surely.

... Anyway, have never seen how MEAN these people can be in terms of demanding clean-up operations at last minute, nor witnessed anything like the sullenness this provokes in otherwise genial employees of British Waterways. I do love not caring though.

Weed dredger man: Sulky sulky sulk.

Me: Cup of tea then?

What's so special is that this temp job of hers is described in a post titled:  A job I don't hate!  This girl is in a temp job that requires an ability to communicate, and she has a rare talent for it, and she doesn't hate her temp job at BW Northwich, and she's surprised to find that she doesn't hate it.  An intelligent BW area manager will try to keep this girl and train her.  (He'll also tell her to call me for advice on how to make her blog sharper and more useful to the waterways user :)

She's a keen cross-country runner, she says in her blog, and what better hobby for a BW employee who's asked to patrol a towpath now and then?   I like her 105 facts.

Anglers vs. Boaters at the Anchor, High Offley

Anglers vs. Boaters.  We never stop our silent fight.  It doesn't often surface above our private feelings, but it's there a lot.

I've long wanted to stop at The Anchor Inn at High Offley on the Shropshire Union Canal, and on Saturday 20th August, I did.  However, circumstances overtook my plans.

As I was approaching, I saw a boat and an empty mooring space beyond.  But as I pulled up, an angler grew visible around the edge of the moored boat, with all the furniture (keepnet etc) of his trade, and my heart sank. 

He was right in front of a 'no fishing' sign, and I tried to be polite.  Uh-oh, politeness never works.  I mean, it works to the other person, but it never works inside yourself.   I mean, it doesn't calm you down; it burns you up inside.  No matter what the other person does, you still feel angered.

The fisherman at the Anchor was very polite and pleasant and moved his keepnet when I told him I wanted to moor, and I wasn't angry with him, but with the principle that he wasn't supposed to fish there. 

I went inside for a pint, and came out to Mr Angler asking me politely 'are you going to be long'?  Once I pompously pointed out the 'no fishing' sign', the angler mildly said he'd paid a permit to the Anchor's landlady. 

Then the big, shark-headed baldie, who'd been overhearing in the beer garden, pounced.  He and came down to tell me the fishermen had a right to fish there, and that the local pub had fishing rights, which overrode mooring rights.  Then a grouchy woman appeared above and folded her arms fiercely.  I cast off in fear and anger, Mr shark-head pretended to be about to chase me, and then laughed when I flicked a v-sign to him.  He won, I lost.

Christine reckoned I lost good and hard.  I was upset and wound up, and it was my own fault.  Not because I was in the wrong (I'd tried to moor up at a sign that said 'no fishing', after all) but possibly because the angler was in the right as well. 

And I lost because my inner anger knocked on to spoil the rest of my day. 

The next day, I read in the Sunday Times about anger management, and they quoted BAAM, the British Association of Anger Management.   And I thought, 'I need that!'

But, hey, it's a great, characterful little pub inside; it's one where there's no real bar as such; the lady takes your glass downstairs to the cellar to fill it from the barrel direct.  Try it sometime. But don't stop unless there's a free mooring space.  It's not worth the knot inside your stomach to argue the toss with the anglers, polite though they are. 

They work for you (dot com)

TheyWorkForYou.com is what I'd call an interrogation website - a site that allows you to question people remotely.  In this case its our Members of Parliament.  Although more relevantly, it's government ministers whom we need to question, through our local MPs.  TheyWorkForYou.com allows you to check who is asking whom what the hell the government is doing.

The Granny Buttons angle is that this is an ideal way of checking what waterways & canal questions are being asking in Parliament.  And a bunch of other things.

I can get this site to email me whenever my local MP speaks in Parliament, whenever he votes, whenever he speaks, whenever he appears.  And not just email. I can get an RSS feed too.  (If you don't know what that is, please don't worry your pretty little head about it.  RSS won't be mainstream for another year, until the next version of Windows is launched.)

For example, when were 'canals' last mentioned in Parliamentary questions? 

Well, on July 21st Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South) asked "what percentage of the length of rivers in England and Wales was accessible to the public in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004" 

Slightly less recently but more relevantly, the splendidly Viking-haired Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield (and a large section of the Lichfield & Hatherton canal restoration), asked the Deputy Prime Minister "if he will meet the directors of Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust Limited to discuss the route that the restored canal will take with respect to Planning Policy Guidance 13, and its progress to date."  Good for him! 

Theyworkforyou.com tells me that, on16th June, he was working for us.  Indeed, a week later, he was still working for us.