YnysMon

Brilliant news Ian...apart from the shingles. Still hopefully there will have more of a chance of that clearing up now you aren’t so stressed about the cancer. Sounds like you are continuing to have good care. Thank God for the NHS. I was watching an American news channel earlier and a hospital in Chicago has announced they’ll be closing due to funding problems even as the number of hospital places is getting critical due to the explosion of Covid cases over there. How mad is that!

We walked from Polkey’s Mill past Berney Arms in November. Whoever has taken it on seemed very industrious. Lots of clearing of the overgrowth going on and general tidying up.

We’ll be out on Moonlight Shadow the first week of February (hopefully...depending on how things go post Christmas gatherings). We’ll be staying ‘down south’ though due to tides.

I’m loving this thread Ian. Great to read about your experiences, and then the icing on the cake are the recipes. Thanks!

Whew Timbo to the rescue! I was about to complain that this thread was just getting too much (from both sides of the pond, if you take my meaning). I love vlogs showing anyone can approach every subject. Loved the recent ‘Narrowboat Experience’ vlogs of how to install solar. When I started out ‘big’ school I was so looking forward to science classes. Very enthused the first few years, but when I got through to the start of ‘O’ level classes (that shows my age) I struggled, partly because the very few (4-5) girls who had opted for physics and chemistry classes were relegated to the back of the classroom. There’s not much worse than being relegated to the back of the class, even from the start. The teacher that I found less than helpful for chemistry was the ‘best qualified’ teacher in the school, in that he had a Doctorate. Maybe he could communicate to the brightest pupils, but I had a problem understanding him, and he wasn’t really interested if you couldn’t keep up. Maybe I should add that I’ve done some Open University courses in various Science subjects since then and have enjoyed and passed them, so I can only conclude that the teaching was to fault.

That’s good news. We’ve not stopped overnight yet at Hardley Cross, but it’s a great daytime stopover for walks.

I received a marketing email from NBD this evening. https://www.broads.co.uk/cottage-holidays/cottage-listings/ Interesting that some of the properties in Horning that were previously advertised through Ferry Marina are now advertised through NBD. Seems that Len Funnell’s ‘cottage’ portfolio wasn’t sold off with the Marina.

The think there are some very unjustified comments here about the BA and tolls. I read several of the papers submitted to the latest Navigation Committees and it was very clear from those that there were difficult decisions to be made, and that the recommendation to increase tolls was not made lightly. Statistics showed that toll income would be down (including a forecast reduction in number of hire boats). The BA need to continue their planned dredging and other maintenance work and they were under pressure (from this forum as much as elsewhere) to take action address safety concerns following a number of fatalities during this season.

Hope you manage to get your Christmas break on MS Neil. We had taken the curtains from both of MS’ loos home with us as they were spotted with mildew. That washed out successfully, so a few days ago we posted the curtains to BCBM’s Norfolk agent in anticipation that at least some of our syndicate members will be able to use their post lockdown allocations.

My son’s generation seem to be calling him BoJo.

Maybe they had several boats of the same class?

I do admire what you are doing to look after your friend’s Mum. That’s just about the best example of love and friendship. Love and friendship would normally be why we want to bring Dad down to MK, but everything is so topsy turvy at present.

We are in a dilemma. We had been planning to bring my father-in-law down here for Christmas and then try to persuade him to stay with us longer term. However, we were thinking maybe we should allow a gap between picking my son up from Uni next week (Government advice is for Uni students to travel home between 3rd and 9th December) and then going to pick up Dad a week before Christmas. Government advice is not to travel to family for Christmas until 23rd though. Well, that makes things a bit awkward as both Graham and I are supposed to be working until Christmas Eve. Obviously, we don’t want him using public transport. However, we have started to wonder if it’s right to bring Dad down here for Christmas, given both Graham and son Harry are working outside the home right up to Christmas. The number of cases per certain number of population in Milton Keynes is over 10 times that of Anglesey, so we would be transporting him from a very low risk area to a tier 2. Graham is starting to think it would be better to wait until Dad has had a Covid jab (we are assuming he would be high on the priority list, being in his 80’s), and then bring him down to live with us. Its so difficult to know what to do.

Yes, that’s probably the case. I wouldn’t like being on a GRP in a lock with a steel narrow boat. However, there were several comments in the video on how easy it was to pull these little boats out onto a trailer and take them onto other waterways, especially as they were designed for a waterway not connected to the rest of the system. So, for that waterway, and occasional use on others, they are probably ideal.

I wasn’t sure whether to post this here or elsewhere. Anyhow, I found this YouTube offering from Cruising the Cut a fascinating glimpse into a unique style of boat.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Ian. I’ve never had it, but know from my Mam that it’s very painful. Helen

Griff, you’re a star! Wish you lived near our neighbourhood.

Ooh! Got any videos of Snowdonia? I’m from North Wales (just in case you hadn’t guessed from my forum name).

We moved into the first house that we bought the day before Christmas Eve (not a good idea). It was a new build and British Gas had visited earlier in the day to connect the gas. Only they didn’t, because they had detected a leak. By that time all trades on site had gone home for their fortnight’s Christmas break. Christmas Eve Graham went out to buy an extra electric heater and electric blanket. Thank goodness we had an electric cooker, otherwise Christmas dinner wouldn’t have happened. A day or two after Christmas it snowed heavily and it got so cold that it took about a fortnight for the snow to melt. As you will imagine, it was a memorable Christmas! We were fighting over who could have the nice warm dog on their lap. Thermals were a necessity. When the plumber came to visit a fortnight later he found that the chippy had thoughtfully secured the skirting board that ran underneath the living room gas fire to the gas pipe. You couldn’t make it up, could you?

Loved it! I think you made a very entertaining video. Thanks for posting it.

Turning the boat on her ropes is Graham’s favourite manoeuvre. Much easier.

Glad to hear Dylan is settling down again. Must be so stressful! Gracie and Arlo sound delightful, as ever. I love hearing about their antics. Don't talk about Christmas presents. I have a horrible feeling I should already have got myself sorted on that front, but still don’t have a clue what to get for any more of my family. I enjoy Christmas. It’s just the bit leading up to it...

Yes, I think it’s a bit thoughtless to leave them taking up mooring space. The double canoes can be a bit heavy, but it’s perfectly doable to drag them out onto the bank.

Oops, yes, sorry...sssh. I was a bit slow on the uptake earlier!

Did you mean things are very quiet in parts of Derbyshire? Like where a certain Firefighter lives?