Category: Video

Old Linslade to Stoke Hammond

I’m going to stick to moving every two weeks. I know on the Oxford most people make it 3, if they move at all. Most of the boaters I’ve talked to here tend to at least SAY they move every two weeks. There are people who just stay as long as they want, for whatever reason, but I’ve never been one of those. I used to drag it out a bit in the winter and when the weather was cold, simply because it was more convenient, and safer to stay put.

The weather isn’t that bad, and I don’t mind moving around.

The new place I’m in is called Stoke Hammond. It’s over the border from Bedfordshire. I’m now in Buckinghamshire! How exciting!

Mobile signal is slightly more consistent with 5G speeds. The village has a convience store, a post office, (in one shop), and a pub and church.

There’s a nice walk up a hill to a nearby village which commands view over the Vale of Aylesbury, which is where I am now, if you want to call it that.

This is what's know as the Vale of Aylesbury
This is what’s know as the Vale of Aylesbury

It’s called Brickhill. As you can see it’s got nice views.

Towpath and upkeep

Of the waterways.

Went to empty my waste and do some recycling as I went through the locks.

Overfilled bins
Is this all from boaters…. I don’t know….

I get the suspiscion that punters pull up in the pub car park, which adjoins, and dump their rubbish in these bins.

I know they used to do this at Long Buckby, on the Grand Union further up.

Pretty sure all this waste isn’t coming from boaters….

Continue reading “Old Linslade to Stoke Hammond”

‘That Lot’ David Bowie tribute Video

Name the performers and songs in ‘That lot’s David Bowie tribute video

Social media Guru’s that lot, have produced this for the Brit Awards tonight.

The song is titled ‘Let’s Dance’ and the video speaks for itself.

Lady Gaga

Let’s see if you can name the performers in the video, 1 – 78.

I’ve done most of them, feel free to fill in the gaps.->

  1. David Bowie
  2. Destiny’s Child
  3. Pharell Williams
  4. Taylor Swift
  5. Christopher Walken
  6. Rhianna
  7. Lady Gaga
  8. ?
  9. ?
  10. JLS?
  11. The Police
  12. ?
  13. Bros
  14. ?
  15. Sean Paul
  16. Kate Bush
  17. Beck
  18. Risk Astley
  19. Adam Ant
  20. Salt and Peppa
  21. New Order
  22. Shakira
  23. Queen
  24. MC Hammer
  25. One Direction
  26. Frankie Goes to Hollywood
  27. Sugar Babes
  28. The Boss
  29. Erasure
  30. ?
  31. Kalise
  32. ?
  33. The Prodigy
  34. Justin Timberlake
  35. Brittany Spears
  36. The Spice Girls
  37. Alanis Morrisette
  38. ?
  39. The Bangles
  40. ?
  41. Michael Jackson
  42. REM
  43. Liberty X
  44. Kaiser Chiefs
  45. Robbie Williams
  46. Florence
  47. Wham
  48. George Michael
  49. Kylie Minogue
  50. Alicia Keys
  51. Tom Jones
  52. Maddona
  53. The Beatles
  54. Take That
  55. ?
  56. Dexy’s Midnight Runners
  57. Kattie Perry
  58. ?
  59. Eurythmics
  60. Simon and Garfunkel
  61. ?
  62. Justin Beiber
  63. Busted
  64. ?
  65. Pink
  66. ?
  67. Terrance Trent Derby
  68. Ellie Goulding
  69. Prince
  70. ?
  71. Betty Boo
  72. ?
  73. Destiny’s Child
  74. ?
  75. The Housemartins
  76. Nelly Furtado
  77. David Bowie

Allen’s Lock to Enslow

For CRT continuous cruising rules, this is as far as I need to go, which is approximately 26 miles from my starting location which was Varney’s Lock, just above Cropredy.

Seeing as the canal and river trust are breathing down my neck about my movements, I’ve kept them all logged on this little map.

The red ‘P’s denote the movement requirement for a 12 month period by the powers that be.

Seeing as I’m down this way, I’m going to take a little trip along the Thames in the coming weeks…

I made a video this time of my journey down which worked out around 7 miles and took me between three and four hours on the boat.

Click below to have a look…

Continue reading “Allen’s Lock to Enslow”

Back at the Pig Place

‘Where the dear and the antelope play’…

Or just pigs.

We have some buffalo in the field opposite.

So it could be, ‘where the pigs and the buffalo play’.

Aynho Wharf

Had to go to Aynho Wharf. For water.

Turned around.

Came back up again. Took about 2.5 hours from where I was before.

The water takes forever to fill up at Aynho because of the low pressure.

Solar and the cost of living

Able to do all my cooking on solar now the sun’s out.

That means I only use the gas now for:

  • Washing
  • Showers
  • Washing up

Made a 13kg calor last for 4 months last time.

Gas. A gas bottle is £40 now for 13kg. When I started boating in 2016, it was £28.

Equates to around £10 per month for gas.

Electric is free.

Diesel. I bought £75 in January. Might have to get some more in July to get me up to Calcutt boats, in Napton. That’s £12.50 per month.

So.

All in all, £22.50 currently in monthly overheads on the boat.

Narrowboat Ropes

Had a slight bit of wear and tear on my front and rear ropes.

As you can see, the rear rope is frayed and the braiding is coming undone.

I’ve tried to strap it up with some handlebar tape.

It’s really starting to become a hazard, especially in locks, where it can become entangled in things such as the rail bar, or not fly through the air properly because part of the rope become entangled on your hand as you try to throw it.

A danger.

Frayed mooring rope
Frayed mooring rope

For this reason, I had to take a trip up to the Chandlers.

Continue reading “Back at the Pig Place”