Hello once more and welcome to the seventh newsletter which is again also available in audio form via Acast and now even on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

May is shaping up to be boat festival month with multiple events that all look good to attend, details below. If you spot me at an event, do say hi!

Also, I have some exciting news (well, I think so) which I have put at the end of this newsletter so do read through to the bottom!

Cheers
David

News from the canal world.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
The impending cut by the government to the Canal & River Trust's annual grant has been well documented and pressure is now growing within the waterways community against the change.

The Inland Waterways Association has been very vocal about this, naturally, and some months ago they launched a dedicated campaigning group called Fund Britain's Waterways. Members include individuals, marinas, and other waterways companies.

The group has announced a weekend of action from 4th - 6th May as well as numerous other dates where events will be held to highlight the impending grant cut and the effects that this will have.

A highlight of the campaigning will be on Wednesday May 8th when a convoy of boats will float past Parliament on the River Thames, with MPs encouraged to view the demo and engage with campaigners.

Full info can be found at https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/sites/fund-britains-waterways-overview/fund-britains-waterways-future-activities

BRIDGING THE GAP
About a year ago I went to the Montgomery canal in Wales in part to see a new one-mile stretch being reopened after restoration but also to see what further hurdles lay ahead for the project. One of those was construction of a new road bridge so that the canal could pass underneath without obstruction.

I'm delighted to say that the new bridge is now complete which paves the way for the Friends of the Montgomery canal to dig out and re-water a further section.


As the site used to look...

As it looks now!

Keep up to date at https://themontgomerycanal.org.uk/friends/

CONTINUOUS FLOATING
Any canal boat registered as a "continuous cruiser", that is to say one without a permanent home mooring, occasionally has to justify its movement to the Canal & River Trust so that they know it really is "bona fide" cruising the canals rather than just floating around one particular area. This is due to the law which governs the canals and which was created so that stretches of canal don't get congested with boats that just sit there never moving.

There are various ways to keep track of your movements of course but a new phone app has been launched which aims to make it easier.

Called "Float", it's been written by a boater and is available on the Apple appstore and Android's Google Play Store.

The gist of it is a map upon which you can mark pins for where you've moored, thereby keeping track of your movements, which can be exported from the app as a file to send to the CRT if they demand evidence.

What am I up to?
This month is all about shows and events because there are loads of them!

That's partly because the weather should be getting better by now and party because there are two UK bank holidays in May (for overseas readers, these are one-day public holidays which originated in 1871, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z48djhv and it's a time when festivals, fairs and other events are hosted across the long weekend)

Although I won't be going to every one of these (I won't be at Crick or the Cavalcade), I hope to be attending Electrika and the Trailboat Festival.

Your calendar is as follows:

Electrika, Fri 3 & Sat 4 May at Brinklow marina. This new event is all about showcasing canalboats using electric propulsion and leisure systems with boat owners and industry experts on hand to discuss the latest technology. See https://electrika.uk/

IWA Cavalcade, Sat 4th - Mon 6th May at Little Venice in London. A regular and hugely colourful and well-attended event, this is a rally of canal boats with prizes for various categories, stalls and stands on shore and lots of fun for the family. See https://waterways.org.uk/support/ways-to-get-involved/events/iwa-canalway-cavalcade-2024

IWA Trailboat Festival, Sat 18 & Sun 19th May. Returning after an absence of some years, this festival showcases tiny boats which can be pulled out of the water on a trailer and towed to different waterways. These include small narrowboats such as aluminium Sea Otters as well as the adorable fibreglass Wilderness Beavers. See https://waterways.org.uk/about-us/news/iwa-announces-2024-trailboat-festival

Crick Boat Show, Fri 24th - Mon 27th May. The granddaddy of inland waterways shows, it's held every year on the late May bank holiday at Crick in Northamptonshire. Displays include many brand new narrowboats as well as lots of exhibitor stalls showing off accessories. The Friday is a limited-admission trade and preview day but anyone can go along to the others. Top tip: bring your own food and drink, the stalls there are absurdly expensive. See https://www.crickboatshow.com/

Don't miss the latest videos on my YouTube channel! They include a tour of a luxurious Dutch barge (strictly speaking a replica) which is up for sale; fifteen minutes of me ripping carpet out of my cabin cruiser and muttering a lot; and a wonderful celebration day of the steepest lock flight in the country being 250 years old.

If you enjoy the videos, I have a tip jar at https://www.ko-fi.com/davidjohns.

Or, join the crew at https://www.patreon.com/CruisingTheCut for perks including early access to the videos before they go 'live' on YouTube, opportunities to help with videos such as choosing thumbnail images and titles, plus priority messaging for any queries. Top-tier members also get the option of a monthly personal video message :-)

Into the dusty archive...

Each month, I pick out a video from my own archive, and suggest why it might be worth a (re)watch. Having mentioned the Montgomery canal restoration above, my archive suggestion this time around is of course the video I made a year ago when the bridge project was just beginning.

Click here to watch: https://cruisingthecut.co.uk/2023/06/16/vlog-300-the-full-monty/

And yes, I will go back in the fullness of time to see how they're getting along!

My YouTube top pick of the month
I was delighted to receive an email from John Porter with a link to an absolutely glorious film he made in 1974 (shot on 8mm film no less!) when he hired four narrowboats from PlanetFleet Cruisers and took a group of teenagers on holiday from the schools that he and his brother were teaching at. It's a lovely look at how the canals (and fashions!) were 50 years ago. I thoroughly recommend settling down with a cuppa to give this a watch.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SNwIRK5ewY

A social recommendation

I still enjoy "social media" despite the terrible reputation it has. If you use the tools it offers to filter out the shrieking fury, there's plenty still to enjoy.

This month, an Instagram feed called Passport and Pixels. Award-winning travel blogger Bella Falk gets jetted off around the world, lucky woman, to write about and photograph all kinds of glamorous locations and she really knows how to take a good snap.

Hers is not the selfie-obsessed "me, me, me" type of travelogue but one that's focused on the places, people, and wildlife she encounters.

Have a look at https://www.instagram.com/passportandpixels/

Meanwhile, you can connect with me on social media by clicking on the buttons below:-

Final Thoughts
Have I kept the best 'til last? Possibly! After many, many months, I have finally uploaded and made available my "ebook" containing pretty much everything I know about canals and canalboats.

It's a 161-page pdf document which covers a bit of canal history, types of boats, types of boaters, things you need to know about owning or operating a boat and all kinds of information about living aboard too.

It's stuffed with pictures, has a comprehensive index and a glossary of terms as well.

You can buy your copy for £4.99 (GBP) from my shop at https://ko-fi.com/s/8eb8683664 using credit card or PayPal.

NOTE You do not have to join Kofi.com to buy it just continue as a guest.

I really hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Cheerio!
David