Friday 19 October 2018

I'll not miss this bit....

Fradley is lovely and I'd recommend it to anyone apart from one significant thing for the Hunts moorers.

The walk and lock gate balancing act.

I can't imaging how much 'stuff' I have tentatively balanced in many precarious ways across the top gate at Hunts on my way from or to the car from the moorings. The best I think was a double mattress. The new one was easier as it was wrapped up but flippin heavy. The old one even though I roped it up was even heavier. I carried the new one on my head !! Wood, coal, gas, food, poo, you name it and I think it has been carried across - often unloaded from the barrow one side and reloaded the other.

As part of my departure planning yesterday, 11th October saw me tackling the 'shed' My plastic shed that has housed my mainly gardening bits for the last 4 years. I took the wood out of the 'wood store' earlier in the week and the wood store is on the mooring free to collect for my other moorers there if they want it - if not it'll get broken up and burnt back here at the cottage.

I am really glad we have a forecabin. I positioned the coal and chimney in an accessible place then crammed in most of the contents of the shed. Some bits will come back to the cottage and some went with the shed to Shebdon.

Empty...
















..... The Tardis awaits
 All in apart from a lawn mower. The shed got a wash to clean it up as I did not want a mouldy shed in the back of the car....  


Another job done, one step closer and lots of steps done making about five trips to and from the car.


Then it was lock up and away to Shebdon after confirming with my new landlords it was ok to start moving in - 5 minutes later a very nice yes of course you can. Excellent communications.

My very own parking space, no locks to cross and no parking to find.  Quite refreshing. 


It did not take long to get the shed back up... with two heavy slabs inside and a lawnmower it hopefully will withstand storm Callum (my lads name). The red boat is camping on my mooring while they have some slabs laid on theirs... should be gone well before I arrive. 


After getting the shed up and chatting with my old neighbour Mandy from NB Don't Panic I checked the internet. I will only get about 4mb/s on 3 but EE gives about 10mb/s I will be getting rid of one of them in the New Year as we now have fast internet (well 20mb/s) at the cottage - just in time for the latest Call of Duty and the clocks going back  !!

As it was so nice we then took a brief explore up the canal to Shebdon embankment  - deserted, just how I like it  !!



3 comments:

Ian said...

When I've cruised past Percy, I always wondered what was in the front - a bed or storage etc.
I have just discovered that some tugs do have a bed beneath their long, low front deck.
Will you also miss this? Opening the bottom lock gate on your mooring side when carrying stuff? One of your neighbours did that for me in the wind last Friday when I approached, crab-like, from Alrewas!
It was very much appreciated.
Ian.

Mrs. Jaqueline Biggs said...

When I was first researching narrow boat and canals back in 2009 I came across a description of working boats with "potters sheds" on the bow where they used to hide the kids from the school authorities! I always wondered what one of those boats looked like and reading your post I have just twigged that the old boats in the article were built like Percy. Mystery solved albeit nine years later!

Love Jaq xxx

Nev Wells said...

Ian, there are two small beds in there, not much more than bench seats but kids or small adults could sleep on them. It really is a big store with various bits of cruising and living stuff is kept. I have on many occasions opened up the gates... especially when moored up on the lock landing watering up.

Jaq, I met an old boater at Colwich lock a couple of years back who said he lived in a forecabin like the one on Percy when he lived on the working boats with his parents. He said mine was not authentic as it did not have a pot belly stove in it as theirs did !!