Vlog 184: Grassed Off
By mid-July it was time for the final gentle amble up the last bit of the north Coventry canal to Fradley Junction. The main thing of note was how thick the overgrowth was not only on the offside but the towpath side as well – and quite a lot of weeds growing up within the canal itself. I’ve been told this whole area is earmarked for a good cut back by CRT’s volunteer team and you can see it really does neeed it!
Lichfield Restoration: https://www.lhcrt.org.uk/
Start point: https://goo.gl/maps/HX9TnmdTgHKaAoJ86
Whittington: https://goo.gl/maps/KgUvzbJFEwVR1BRn7
End point: https://goo.gl/maps/tVDGVxhh46Dsm1xq5
Your question re what kind of engines make that slow rhythmic beat reminds me of single cylinder diesels that were commonly used on farms here in Canada. They have huge torque at low RPM.
There are some antique ones that would run on coal oil and all that was need to start them was to manually spin the heavy flywheel and away they went. They would drive threshing machines, conveyors or anything where torque and small horsepower would do the job.
I am a self made canal nut, Did a cruise on a wide beam hotel boat in the fall of 2017. Have done 2 since – Pewsey to Bristol, Stoke Bruerne to Kingston – paying big money to do a lot of work. Doing Pewsey to Windsor next spring and 2021 will hopefully work out to be either the 4 counties or Warwickshire Ring on a hire boat. Love it.
David – we have just recently discovered your fantastic vlogs, you are a tremendous ambassador for the UK canal boating life. Hopefully the CRT & vendors will contract for your talent!
Q’s: 1) I noticed you adhere to the 48 hour mooring limit. Who would enforce this? Have you seen it enforced? If weather was really inclement would it still be enforced?
2) In #176 you slipped in “the wife” referring to londonboatgirl. Care to elaborate? She is conspicuously absent in the vlogs generally.
& finally 3) can you mention one or two for hire companies that are located on canals you particularly liked that also were not too crowded with narrow boats? We would be interested in cruising when we next visit.
Thanks.
Hi. The mooring limit is usually 14 days unless otherwise specified; in popular spots it can be 7, 48 hours or even a day. The CRT have towpath rangers who enforce it. The reference to Lorna was my little jest. I can’t recommend specific companies – please see my FAQ (Questions) page on this website.
Stunningly beautiful scenery so I can”t wait for the slow-tv episode to follow.
Thanks a bunch, David!
A most enjoyable video David. I’m curious . . . at 2:25 and 8:40 , we see boats with very long Cratch Covers. Were these boats formerly used as Live Aboard Working Boats? What advantage/disadvantages would there be to buying a boat with such a long Cratch covered area? It would seem to me you would be sacrificing a lot of controlled environment living space. Thanks for this one David.
Not necessarily used as working boats but at least modelled on them (some people buy new replicas because they like the traditional look). Yes, you lose space inside but you gain “authenticity”.
Thanks David !