Granny Buttons

DCUK - The Great British Duck Race

A few days ago I wrote of 'getting all your ducks in a row'. What a coincidence.  Today, along comes:  The Great British Duck Race:

On Sunday Sept 2nd we aim to send 165,000 rubber ducks down a 1km stretch of the River Thames near Hampton Court Palace, and in doing so set a new world record and raise over £500,000 for UK charities.

The world record will presumably be the number of wild yellow plastic ducks lost down river and being washed up on continental beaches for years to come.

You can sponsor a wide range of charities, but since you are reading this on Granny Buttons, the recommended one is The Waterways Trust.  However, the website allows you to recommend a charity of your own choice, although curiously I can't find a charity specifically for ducks.  The most appropriate is perhaps the WWT at Slimbridge, near the Glos & Sharpness Canal, but it's not on the nomination list.

In learning about the GBDR (not to be confused with the GUCR, which is just as madcap but more serious for humans) it's the first time I've heard of duck racing.  So I did my homework, and I'm surprised to find it's actually quite common around the world. 

And not just as a charity fund-raiser, where the GAME Group (slogan: "we put the fun into fundraising") claims to have originated it - but as a business.  Witness, for example, the Charnwood Catalogue, which sells rubber ducks in packs of a hundred a time.  Why can't people just give all their money to charity, instead of dressing up their entertainment in charity's clothes?

However, if you want to get some practice in, you might like to try the warm-up event on 30th July - The Great London Duck Race.  Only 30,000 in that, at Battersea.

As it happens I was getting in some practice of my own on Sunday near Atherstone, getting ducks to chase each other for bread (below).  A tip: bet on the greedier ducks; they always win.  It was for my own entertainment, but at least I was interacting with wildlife at the same time.  Now, how about the various waterways charities doing duck races for real?

Soppy story on hotelboat pair Taurus & Snipe

Corinne, of hotelboat pair Snipe & Taurus, writes on their blog that she and partner/operator Neil got engaged a few days ago:

Apparently, it was supposed to be a birthday surprise (my birthday is next week), but once he had the ring (which he chose, and secretly pinched one of my other rings so that he could get it sized) he couldn't wait anymore...   For all you un-romantic types, I should stop reading here if I were you, it could get a bit soppy!

I suppose it is a bit soppy, but I'm a softy and enjoyed reading it.  He popped the question at Nantwich, outside the beautiful, historic St Mary's Church, before dinner at Oscar's Restaurant. 

The lady at Oscar's told me she remembers it well, including the "beautiful" ring, and that they all made a special fuss of the couple.

If you watch TV, you might remember Oscar's was one of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares from a year or so back, although that was under a previous management. 

However, that episode still lingers around the restaurant like uncollected rubbish,  and I can't find much on the web about the new Oscar's.  They should start a blog, just like Taurus & Snipe, so that they too can tell warming stories about what's happening to them.  Like the night this month that a happy, charming couple came in for dinner to celebrate their engagement and everyone admired the ring. 

This is the second of Granny's posts this year to come out of Nantwich.  Debbie Crombie's new novel Water Like A Stone features the town extensively, and key scenes are set in the churchyard and local pubs, although I can't remember if it mentions Oscar's. 

Headline panic attacks BW's nuclear option

A lot of ink on paper last week about the waterways.  You probably read all about it: 

Thursday: Government considers 1£bn sale of waterways - The Times
Friday:  Canals could be privatised - The Daily Telegraph
Saturday:  Grant squeeze threatens to cut Britain's canal keeper adrift - The Guardian
Sunday:  Are our canals too precious to be sold off by the Government? - Sunday Express

Not to mention:  IWA slams BW sell-off threat - IWA press release, and BW to be privatised? - Granny Buttons)

Me, I think it's a media panic attack.  The headline writers go berserk, because that's their trade.  Just because the P-word was on the list, it was as if P is the ONLY option, which it clearly isn't.  (Actually the Guardian's article was the most balanced and well-researched of all the stories.)

As I see it, BW simply want to clear the air about the future of the waterways, and are setting this review in motion where they are exploring all the options, from the dithering status quo, through to the 'nuclear option'.   

BW had to include privatisation because if they didn't, it would continue to be the elephant in the room.  One senior BW source claims 'it's being ruled so that it can be ruled out'.  Until they meet the issue head-on, goes the thinking, privatisation will continue to be the ghost at the feast of waterways revival.  Sounds sensible to me.  And I wouldn't be surprised to hear that BW engineered this whole media kerfuffle to catch the Government on the defensive.

Oxford Canal Basin - update from Foxcan

On my recent post about the possible development of the Oxford Canal basin, Foxcan PR officer Hugh Jaeger adds a long comment, pointing out errors I've made, and adding lots of background info.

Wow, it's the longest (and possibly most informative) comment anyone's ever added to one of my posts!

Canaltimer in Washington Post

Master & Commander, the slim version - Washington Post

Chuck & Debbie Ikins of Virginia, USA, spent a week on Canaltime boat Olya last November, taking it from Sawley Marina.  They had such a terrific time that they immediately took a second Canaltime boat - Red Waters - from Alvecote Marina. 

Chuck originally wrote up the story of his fortnight with one of the UK canal magazines in mind, but the editor wasn't receptive.  No matter, the Washington Post's Travel section yesterday gave him a platform in their Your Vacation in Lights feature:

... in which we invite Travel section readers to share the dish about their recent trips. It's a big, confusing travel world out there, and you can help your fellow travelers navigate it.

This section is a Q&A format that helps budding travel writers - it's a sort of 'game of Consequences' (see here for other examples). 

Canal Boat magazine (and other canal boat magazines) could usefully copy this format, inviting hirers to contribute their experiences.   I don't think they should copy the Washington Post's copyright restrictions though:

'Entries ... become property of The Post, which may edit, publish, distribute or republish them in any form.'

Rainy Sunday - Atherstone to Bulkington

Atherstone Lock 7, Baddesley Basin, May 27th 2007

A busy day in which I attended the Barry Hawkins Open Day at Baddesley Basin and met Sarah Hales of Warrior.  The photo above is what I was taking when she photographed me for her blog, the photo below is when I photographed her.  She's acutely shy of being photographed.  Can't think why - I think she's very photogenic. 

Then from 4pm - 8pm cruised from Atherstone Top Lock to the visitor moorings at Bulkington (Bulking Road Bridge).

Christine and I went to the Corner House pub, and found they have a pub quiz every Sunday night, starting 9pm.   We entered, and won!  The prize:  A gallon of beer, in eight little vouchers!   I'm on the Ashby canal for the next couple of weeks, so this could come in handy. 

Ducks not in a row at Stourport book launch

New book charts Stourport's canal heritage - Kidderminster Shuttle

They launched a new book at Stourport on Monday.  Bigwigs from English Heritage and BW were there to promote Stourport-on-Severn, Pioneer Town of the Canal Age, an 80-page book about the town's history.

"Available price £7.99 from all good UK bookshops", says the press release. 

Maybe, but obviously I don't know any good bookshops, because none of them had it in stock.  I went online to Amazon and Waterstones, and they don't have it either at time of writing.  It's supposedly published by English Heritage, but their website draws a blank today too.

You've gone to all this trouble to publish a book to tie in with a PR launch on a development project, and I can't buy the book in the week after launch. 

'Available from all good bookshops should mean 'here it is, will there be anything else?', not 'I can try to order it for you if you like'.  Publishers really need to get all their ducks in a row. Anyway, it's allegedly ISBN 9781905624362, if it ever turns up.

Saturday at Crick and the GUCR

GUCR competitor Scott Hamer takes refreshment on the Hatton flight.

Phew, I'm very much out of the habit of reporting on my cruising.  So here's a catchup for Saturday:

Last week I left Streethay Wharf and reached the top of the Atherstone flight, where I left Granny for a few days.  I rejoined her on Friday midnight, then four scant hours later I drove to Birmingham to catch the start of the 2007 GUCR.  It was an amazing experience seeing 75 starters, and I think it's the first time in a couple of years that I was up before 6am!   I ran with them to the bottom of the Farmers Bridge lock flight, photographing them as they ran past me, then drove to Hatton to picture them all over again.   Wow, some wonderful photo opportunities. 

Then I drove to Northampton to collect Christine, and we spent the afternoon at the Crick Boat Show. It's always best to attend these boat shows on the first day, because there'll inevitably be less mud on site.  Today it was dry - rain is forecast for tomorrow and Sunday - so that's doubly true this year.

Crick was as I expected it.  I could write a lot more about it in a separate post, had I the time.  But the high spot was the very last moment.  We viewed  Senior Moment, the show boat from Cauldon, and I was impressed by the owner, who was so, so very proud of his boat and a true 'customer evangelist'.   

Dinner at  the Kings Head, Atherstone, below Lock 5.  Staff very friendly; when I mentioned I was a boater and asked if I could leave my car outside for a day or two, they said I was welcome to leave it in their car park and they'd keep an eye on it.

Hereford homes development gets support of H&GCT

New city homes will have canalside setting - Hereford Times

Praise be!  A canalside homes development that's actually got the support of the local canal restoration society!  I think this is the first bit of waterside development news I've come across for the H&G Canal:

Restoring part of the old Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal - where it cut through the site - is proposed, with a footbridge walkway link to the new sports fields at nearby Aylestone Park.

The restored section will be transferred to Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust along with the adjacent Aylestone Tunnel, which once took the waterway a quarter of a mile under Aylestone Hill and is still in good condition.

David Penny, commercial director of the Canal Trust, said: "These proposals represent a huge step forward in the restoration of the canal within Hereford.

"Not only does it see a very difficult section (a completely infilled cutting) restored as part of the adjoining development, but the developers have also worked closely with us to secure an extremely high quality of prestigious development on the site, which makes the most out of the canalside setting.  We welcome these proposals and are always pleased to work with developers from the outset, as we have on this site.

... A plan will be put up for public view at St Barnabas Church Hall, Venns Lane, Hereford on June 1.

An astute (or wealthy and very long-sighted) developer would now be stalking the route, wondering where to put the first marina, and looking to work with the Trust 'from the outset'.  I wonder if developers ever approach canal societies and say "I'm looking for a good place for a canalside development; can you suggest one?"

The lost ball of Smethwick Locks

Smethwick Top Lock, 3:30pm Jan 13th 2007.

So there I was, taking a picture of the top lock at dusk, and a couple of kids were throwing stones at the chimney of the old toll house.  The chimney cowl looked damaged, although it probably wasn't them, but I seethed inside at their vandalism.   

Being the interfering type, I went over and gently chided them.  It's stood there 100 years or more, doing you no harm.  Don't damage it, there's good boys.   

Please mister, our ball's up there, we're trying to get it down. 

I moved around the building, and sure enough, their football had got lodged in the armpit of the chimney and they were simply trying to dislodge it and get it back.

I went back down to Granny (nestling in the old toll narrows on the main line, 20 feet below), and fetched my shaft, and managed to punt the ball out from behind the chimney.  They picked it up with a barely muttered 'thanks', and were gone.  But I was glad to have helped, and perhaps they'll remember a kind boater the next time they see a boat. They seemed nice kids really.

No, the kids shouldn't have thrown the stones, but I can understand their frustration, and in this case their vandalism was directed, not mindless.  They just wanted their ball back.  Who can blame them?  A hundred years ago, the lock-keeper would have had a keb nearby to help them.   Where's a keb now, when you need one?  Let alone a lock-keeper. 

What's a keb, you ask?  I'll define that when I can get one to photograph pulling kids' balls off.  Either off the roof if the ball's stuck, or off the kids themselves if there's no football and the vandalism is mindless.  But then again, the vandalism's probably mindless because there's no football.

Say hello to daddy

Little girl greets her ultra-running father at Birdingbury Wharf, GUCR, May 31st 2006.

Daddy had run over 30 miles by the time he reached Birdingbury, and still had over 100 to go.  You should have seen his face light up when his daughter met him there (and presumably at other spots on his way down the Grand Union).   The runners really do enjoy these brief, encouraging welcomes.

Amington manicure

Canal-backed garden, near Amington, Coventry Canal, 19th May 2006.

I don't think I've ever seen such a sharply manicured canalside garden before.  It beats last week's garden near Leicester by a good furlong, even if it's only got one shed.  You'd probably need to wipe your feet before you step onto the garden path.  You can see this garden on this Live Maps aerial view, which also shows a swimming pool in the garden on the right.  Golly, no privacy these days.  This photo is more surprising in hi-resolution. As with past GrannyB pics, it'll be available on Flickr shortly.

Getting your mail while living afloat

Good article in this month's Living on Boats newsletter about how to get your postal mail when you are living on a boat.  One of a growing series of useful articles by Martin Chinery. 

Actually it's got an April date, but it only seems to have gone up this week.

Buss under bridge

Buss underneath bridge at Birdingbury, GUCR, May 2006.

I love it when I examine old photos and see something in the background that I never spotted first time round.

You might remember that last year I instinctively snapped a flash of red at Banbury and only later noticed a little boy jumping in anger after losing his balloon in the canal.

Today, when I was running through photos of last year's GUCR race, I noticed a contestant and his support kissing under the bridge during a waypoint stop. 

Do I notice these moments when I click the shutter, or is it luck?  I'm not sure.  I think that with practice and intuition you can sense them coming, but it's still hit and miss. 

I like the way the kiss is given extra intimacy by the presence of the men on the bridge, who wouldn't know (couldn't imagine) what was going on beneath them.  And also by the way the couple are sheltering from the rain, lending even more to the moment.