Canals, hats and Atherstone The Coventry Canal, winds its way from the centre of Coventry to Fradley Junction, where it meets the Trent and Mersey Canal. Along the way it passes through the small Warwickshire town of Atherstone. Atherstone is well known for its 300 year role in the manufacture and sale of hats. When […]
Mild winter The first part of winter 2018-2019 has been unseasonably mild in Northamptonshire. The canal and marina have hardly frozen, unlike the winter of 2017-18 when it was frozen hard early in December. I have been out both walking and on Pea Green. Monte the Cat and I headed out of the marina on […]
The mythical Ashby It seems that Autumn has arrived in the last few days. There is still a bit of summer to come as I share the rest of Pea Green’s adventures. My plan to head up the Ashby Canal looked in jeopardy after Monte’s swim and a weekend of trading. I decided to check […]
Canal journey ahead After the Rugby bus incident, I was keen to continue my canal journey towards the Ashby, and away from the construction work close to bridge 66. This would include navigating a tunnel, swing-bridge and a lock. My first day out of Rugby I didn’t go very far, mooring close to the ‘All […]
Bus challenge looming From Braunston Pea Green’s summer narrowboat journey continued to Rugby. All new territory for me, though I am sure Pea Green has been to these spots before. Little did I realise that the challenge ahead was more to do with buses than boats. Leaving Braunston On yet another hot and sunny morning, […]
The trip continues With Monte back onboard Pea Green has continued her summer adventures, heading for Braunston and a marvellous sunny weekend of trading. Along the way I have met some lovely people, including a customer from Norfolk Island in the South Pacific who bought a teapot! (I am going to claim teapot visitation rights…..) […]
Leaving Welford After a week on the boat at Welford, Monte the Cat and I set out on our summer expedition. My plan was to make for the Ashby Canal as friends have told me it is quite lovely. Plus it isn’t that far (in narrowboat terms) from Welford. So, come Sunday evening after hanging […]
Mini Engine I must admit it’s only been in recent weeks that I have learnt how small my boat’s engine is. Even at ‘top speed’ I am sure my boat doesn’t reach the 4MPH canal speed limit, I have seen one-legged rabbits overtaking my boat on the towpath. A recent chat with another boater on […]
Blobs in the right places – starting to paint It’s almost a year since I first attempted to put the blobs in the right places and paint something that resembled the traditional painted roses found on the old working canal boats. It was a miserable time as I had just failed the written upgrade of […]
Backs, trading and painting Oh, my goodness lovely followers, the past couple of weeks seem to have been eaten up with a trapped nerve in my back, trading, painting and a day learning more about how to paint from Julie Tonkin, a senior journeyman with the now folded Waterways Guild. More about that next time. […]