Our first anniversary.

Hi,

Well,as the title says,it has now been one whole year since we set off on our little adventure on the canal network of the UK.It was a year ago last Saturday,to be precise, that Kingfisher Narrowboats handed Lisa and I the keys to our new narrowboat,Chyandour.Since then I can only say that we have had an absolutely fabulous time,in fact,our first year has been like one long holiday.We’ve met some lovely people, who we know will remain friends for life,and with whom we’ve had some really great times,the weather,over the last year,has been better than we would normally expect for the UK,and Chyandour has performed faultlessly.It really has been a wonderful year.Have Lisa and I had any harsh words? Yes,a few,but nothing that has made us regret our decision to embark on this journey,in fact we are looking forward to the next twelve months.

Over the last twelve months we’ve used over 700 litres of diesel cruising a little under 800 miles through 480 locks.To keep warm we have burnt 1,375 kgs of coal,and quite a bit of wood,on our solid fuel stove,and for cooking,we have used five 13 kg bottles of Propane.I’m not going into detailed statistics as to what we have done and used,I can only say that we are more than happy with how things have gone for us.

 

Lisa filling our water tank at the waterpoint at Limekilns near Hinckley.A couple of goats that took Lisa’s eye in the field next to the waterpoint.

We left the mooring at Bramcote Road Bridge last Tuesday and made our way to Hinckley where we went into town to get a few bits and pieces and then stayed the night before moving on the next day.We are still cruising on the Ashby Canal because our Granddaughter hasn’t  arrived yet,she was due at the weekend but you know what girls can be like when it comes to being on time.Over the weekend we stopped in Shackerstone because,as well as the expected new arrival,I had my 65th Birthday to celebrate.The Rising Sun in Shackerstone is ideal because as well as doing very nice food,they serve Pedigree Bitter,my favourite,and it’s but a short stagger from there back to the canal.We’re now moored at the end of the navigation just past Snarestone in the company of friends,Peter and Jeanne,on their boat Castellan.They walked into the restaurant at the Rising Sun as we were having a celebration lunch yesterday.

 

Pete on Castellan.I’m just pulling away from the towpath with Castellan in tow.To avoid travelling a long way on the Ashby Canal to Wind,i.e. turn,we decided to tow Pete’s boat back a couple of hundred yards to the winding hole behind him.Reversing narrowboats is not the easiest task,especially on shallow canals like the Ashby,so we opted for the simple life and I gave him a tow.As you can see from the right hand pic’ it was lashing down with rain and,what you can’t see,blowing a gale too,neither of which help when reversing.

Sorry this weeks blog is a bit sparse,be gentle ‘cos I’m now a pensioner and anyway,we are going over old ground at the moment,I’ll try harder next week.Since last Monday we have done 0 Locks and 18 Miles,giving us a grand total of 480 Locks and 796 Miles in a year.Please take care everyone.