I've not posted anything for weeks, except an account of my visit to the Bingley 5 Rise 250th a few days ago. In fact, I've not been doing much, and not feeling too  well. It's been coming and going, so I never know what I'll be like tomorrow. As far as I can see it's a form of Long Covid. I've had this problem on and off since having Covid early on in the outbreak. Some days my whole body aches, Other times I don't have so much pain but my legs feel weak and walking any distance seems daunting, then it lifts and I'm full of beans for a day or two.

I feel rather like I'm letting people down. Indeed, today I've done virtually nothing and that may have delayed other peoples work. I woke up this morning with every joint from my ankles to my neck hurting and decided to go back to bed. The pain wore off about dinner time, but, by then I was in a psychological malaise. Stirring myself seemed an impossible effort. I've just, after much procrastination, made the supreme effort of logging in and starting a blog post.

Strangely enough, a couple of days ago, two of our more senior volunteers were complaining that young people don't want to work. If you go on the market you see them hanging about doing nothing. Now, I've no time for the bone idle, but I do know that many of the people who habitually colonise Ashton market have substance abuse or mental health issues and no-one would want to employ them until these are resolved. Most people who are able to are working, often for little actual gain because of the ridiculously high rents.

The government bemoans the fact that, since covid, a huge number of people haven't returned to work and are 'on the sick'. This could be because they actually are poorly! It seems to me that Long Covid is a greatly misunderstood and maligned condition, rather like it's close cousin, M.E. Virtually everyone who I've asked who has had Covid seems to have kept some residual effects, often tiredness and lack of stamina, sometimes, but not always, including respiratory problems. In most cases this doesn't stop people working, but in many cases it does.

People say it's my age. Yes, I can expect some physical decline as I get older. When I get brain fog, another symptom, people sometimes hint that I have dementia, and yet my brain is bright as a button at other times. Age related decline. mentally and physically, is a continuum, not up and down.

I generally work more than 40 hours a week as a volunteer for the WCBS, and yet I know I couldn't do a normal job. When I'm feeling good I get a lot done and work long hours. When I'm feeling knackered I do the minimum then go home and rest. I'm in charge of my time.

Despite, or perhaps because of, me taking a back seat, things are looking up. One example is "Forget me Not". I've been feeling ashamed of her condition for years and yet unable to do much about it. Recently a new volunteer called Tony has taken on the task of sorting her out. He's turfed all the useful but chaotic items out of the engine 'ole, cleaned up, tidied up, repaired the engine 'ole bulkhead, broken floor, battery box headlight etc etc. Perhaps, by the time we start operating again, she won't look so down at heel.

The Bingley 5 Rise is the highest set of staircase locks in the country. They're on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and, together with the 3 rise, lift the waterway from Bingley town centre up on to the hillside. They're made to accommodate Leeds & Liverpool Shortboats, which are 14' wide but only 60' long. The staircase is now 250 years old and the Canal & River Trust organised an event to celebrate this.

They emailed us a while ago to ask if we would like to bring a boat. That would be a nice trip, but all our boats are 70' long. Unfortunately the only surviving wooden shortboat is "George" at Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. Instead I was invited to participate in the heritage workshops that they were to hold. I said fine, I'll happily give a talk about wooden boats. In fact I let myself in for doing 2 talks.

With a couple of weeks to go before the bicentenary and a half event  I learned that there would be no electricity for my projector. The organiser offered to copy and laminate all my pictures instead.

It's been a while since I posted anything, or even took any photos. I've been busy, but mostly getting on with sorting stuff out, which never show spectacular progress and isn't really very interesting.

"Hazel" and "Forget me Not" are lying fallow for a while as we get on with some much needed work on them. At the moment Nessie is working on improvements to "Hazel"s bathroom. Aaron visited today so we put him to work cleaning brass, which he's very good at.

On Saturday 21st I went to Braunston for the National Community Boats Association AGM. With half an hour to spare before the meeting I stopped to have a quick look at Pete Boyce's yard. Nearest the road were BCN tug "Christopher James" and Josher motor "Clent". Pete spotted me taking photos and invited me in for a coffee. Unfortunately I couldn't stop long. Last time I saw "Clent" she had seams you could get your fingers through because she'd dried out. The pessimists said she'd never float again. Now she's nearly finished and Pete is confident she'll be afloat later this year.

On Friday 20th January I traveled to Rugby, starting my Journey at Guide Bridge. Here's a few photos from my wait on the platform.

A Hadfield service enters the station.

A trans Pennine unit curves away towards Stalybridge.

Another trans Pennine service bound for Picadilly.

On Friday  me and Aaron took "Forget me Not" for a trip to build the bonfire. We took with us dry wood and boxes of paper to get it started. The idea was to ignite it Friday night. Unfortunately, as we went up towards Jet Amber to wind, the gearbox started slipping, To adjust it I needed a particular Allen key, which I keep in a particular place. It wasn't there. After much searching I went to fetch the van which has some Allen Keys in it, but excluding the necessary size. I went to the shop and managed to find one.

By the time we got back to the basin it was 8pm.

I re-arranged things for Saturday night and rang round to see who would like to join us. With such short notice it was just me and Helen who enjoyed the blaze.

The next thing is to plant a tree in the ashes.

It seems the gods are against me with regard to my plan to use the foliage from the boatyard to make a bonfire to celebrate something, anything. First of all the plan for a Samhain fire was stymied by "Forget me Not"s breakdown. OK, I thought, lets have a Solstice fire. We had a tornado at the solstice! OK then, January 1st to celebrate the New Year ( I thought people would already have plans for New Year's Eve). I was recovering from a hospital visit and actually slept through the New Year fireworks.

"Forget me Not"  was still loaded with brash for the fire. It has to come off. I've re-set the date for the fire to January 12th. Nothing much to celebrate except my dad's 109th birthday. It seemed a good idea to get the load off ready so on Sunday me, Aaron, Helen and Ozzy set off up the Peak Forest. We towed "Hazel" along so that Helen could get a bit more practice at butty steering.

Dukinfield lift bridge is always a challenge to get a deep drafted boat through. It's a favourite fly tipping spot, and, inevitably some of the rubbish ends up in the bridgehole. It's always bad, but we've always managed to get through it. until now.

As usual, I wound the power on as we approached the bridge, expecting to bounce and grind a way through. In fact the stern end of the motor boat leaped several inches upwards and abruptly stopped. The butty came hurtling onwards and jammed between motor and copings with a crunch. 

Various people were waiting to cross the raised bridge so I was glad that we were able to extract the boats before tempers got strained. After dropping the bridge to let people cross, we raised it and had another go. The boat stuck again. Dusk was gathering so we pulled the boats back and tied them for the night.

Next morning I rang CRT. They asked if the boat was deep drafted (with an unspoken implication that that made it our own fault). I pointed out that 2'9" was less than the metre depth that should be available on this canal. Kim came along to help and we had a go at clearing the bridgehole using a grappling iron and a keb. Unfortunately the blockage seemed to be of stone or concrete and we couldn't get it out.

I drove "Forget me Not" at the blockage and, as she entered the narrows, Kim and Aaron each grabbed a line and pulled hard. Again the stern leaped out of the water, but she kept going  and I was able to tie her on the other side while we went back to bowhaul "Hazel" through.

Soon we were at the bonfire site, an area of rough ground infested with himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed. I checked on trees that we've planted there in previous years, then we unloaded the brash, ready to form into a bonfire. We then had a relativel uneventful trip to Hyde to wind. On the way back we got through the bridge by the usual method of taking a run at it and hoping for the best.

The stereotypical idea of German history is that they were evil aggressors during the Great War, then suddenly became really liberated during the 1920s, only to turn into strutting Nazis in 1933 and then magically transform themselves into democratic workoholics post 1945. Of course, it's not as simple as that. In 1933 the National Socialist Party was disappointed to only get nearly 44% of the vote. After all, they'd done enough voter intimidation and that meant that 56% of the electorate were brave enough and disliked them enough to vote against them. The assumption is that those who enthusiastically supported the Nazis were all fairly nasty people. I thought this for a long time, until I saw a documentary about it. A lot of really nice people, including what would nowadays be regarded as hippies, thought the Nazis would sort out the many obvious problems of the country and wouldn't be too bad really.

When I was in the sixth form I was able to vote for the first time. The voting age had just been lowered to 18. I remember asking a particular girl how she intended to vote, and was shocked when she said Conservative. Her reasoning was that they had promised to allow private radio stations to be set up, which would mean that she would have a huge choice of pop music stations to listen to day and night. Labour had closed down the pirate stations (which actually peddled subtle right wing propaganda between the records) and substituted Auntie Beeb's Radio 1. This was the only thing that interested her.

Nazism is now creeping back in by a strange route. It's called libertarianism. That sounds good, I mean, we're all into liberty aren't we!  It's a bit like anarchism really, no laws, do your own thing man. Real hippie values, except for one big difference. Anarchism, in all it's many forms, tends to assume a level playing field. Everyone equal, no rich, no poor, resources shared. Libertarianism does not change the power structure. There are rich, there are poor. There are no gun controls. Anyone can say what they like  (eg, Libertarian Elon Musk has removed moderation from Twitter) so if you want to defame an entire race or class or gender just go ahead, it's a free country innit. If someone wants to intimidate you out of your home with bigger guns or more wealth, well, they're free to do that. If there's a deadly disease going round but you don't believe in it then no-one will make you stay at home, wear a mask or, God forbid, get vaccinated. Ah, there we go. All those nice people who are into aromatherapy and herbs and are (quite rightly) suspicious of big pharma.

The problem is, if you go down the libertarian route, you quickly find yourself in a very illiberal world. Donald Trump is a libertarian, but his appointees to the American Supreme Court have all but removed a woman's right to choose in the USA. It's a creeping journey towards Gilead.

My friend is a lovely woman. I've known her for years and, though we've never been really close, counted her as a friend. She runs a little cafe where I sometimes go for a butty at dinner time. She's qualified as a spiritual healer and used to be part of a group that were doing healing in return for a donation every week. It shocked me to discover that she is now selling copies of "The Light" in her cafe.

Here's what Wikipedia says about "The Light"-         

The Light is a self-published, monthly British far-right and conspiracy theory newspaper founded by Darren Nesbitt (frequently under the pseudonym Darren Smith) on 27 September 2020,^[1] which claims the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax. The paper has a sister publication, named The Irish Light, which was launched in Ireland by Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters.^[2]

The paper has been criticised for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and death threats.^[12][13] It regularly prints articles written by conspiracy theorist Vernon Coleman,^[1] and according to a review from Harvard Kennedy School "includes content that is aimed at prompting participation and activism amongst adherents of conspiracy theories, rather than simply presenting information".^[10][14] The paper has called for executions of journalists, politicians and doctors, leading it to being described as containing 'extremist propaganda'.^[15][16]

Although the company behind the paper was dissolved on 15 February 2021,^[17] the BBC reported in June 2023 that at least 100,000 copies of The Light were being printed each month and that the publication had more than 18,000 followers on the social media site Telegram.^[18][19]

Claims

The print publication regularly makes conspiratorial claims surrounding Bill Gates and world leaders, promotes climate change denial and claims vaccines are weaponized mind control devices.^[1][20]

It has called for modern-day Nuremberg trials for journalists, politicians and doctors and repeatedly referenced conspiracy theories concerning Agenda 21 and the Great Reset. It regularly criticised the COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom by comparing vaccination efforts to Nazi extermination camps.^[1][11][21] The paper was also found to have spread false claims concerning vaccines, COVID-19 and COVID-19 death figures.^{[22][23][24][25]}

In September 2022, The Light shared an article written by far-right conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson claiming that Lyudmyla Denisova, the former Ombudsman for Human Rights in Ukraine, had admitted to lying about the Russian military committing rape crimes in Ukraine. The disinformation analysis group Logically found that Denisova had only accepted her use of inappropriate language in describing the rape crimes, but had not admitted to lying about said crimes.^[26]

In November 2022, The Irish Light ran a headline with the phrase 'Died Suddenly' connected to marketing efforts around the release of an independent anti-vaccine film of the same name. In this issue, the paper used the images of 42 deceased individuals, claiming they had died due to being vaccinated. Upon investigation, none of the deaths were found to be due to vaccines but were caused by drowning, long-term illness, car accidents, meningitis and other events. The misuse of the names and images of the deceased individuals being used to promote anti-vaccine conspiracy theories caused severe distress among family members of the bereaved and an increase in online abuse.^{[27][28][29][30]}

Far-right links

The paper has printed articles by Holocaust denier John Hamer and recommended books by white supremacist Eustace Mullins,^[11] and has featured an article by pseudonymous blogger Lasha Darkmoon which said that people should be able to question the Holocaust.^[11][18] It also defended radio host Graham Hart, who was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment after making anti-semitic remarks on his radio show in which he characterized Jewish people as "filth" and "rats" who "deserve to be wiped out".^[18][31][32] The paper also regularly references the far-right Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, which has similar roots in antisemitism, and has promoted the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle on its Telegram channel.^[11]

The paper has also been criticised by the anti-racist group Hope not Hate for its support of the far-right by interviewing anti-Islam party politician Anne Marie Waters, printing articles co-authored by the English Democrats chair Robin Tilbrook and Heritage Party leader David Kurten, and promoting material by Mark Collett, the leader of the fascist group Patriotic Alternative.^[11] According to its founder, he is in communication with the editor of the German far-right conspiracy theory publication Demokratischer Widerstand (Democratic Resistance), which has stated that it is a "partner" newspaper of The Light. Demokratischer Widerstand has been linked to the Reichsbürger movement, the group behind the 2022 failed coup attempt in Germany.^[18]

Distribution and Criticism

The paper is purchased via private Facebook groups and Twitter contacts and then distributed by volunteers who are instructed to airdrop copies through letterboxes or abandon the paper in public spaces.^{[33][34][35][36][37]} Local leaders in towns across the country have accused the publication of "inflaming division and harassment with false and misleading claims about vaccines, the financial system and climate change".^[18] Its distributers have also been criticised for deliberately targeting teenagers and children.^[47]

After copies of the paper were distributed in Stroud, residents protested against the paper, stating: "...we are alarmed by The Light's use of the pandemic to push support for antisemitism, Holocaust denial and racist hate speech - as well as for denial of climate change, NHS-bashing, and other reactionary views."^[4][7]

Everything seems to be being difficult at the moment. The revised bonfire date is January 1st, but the way things are going I don't know if we'll manage it. "Hazel" has been alongside a wall in Dukinfield over Christmas. This is where we take her to charge her batteries thanks to our friends Dixon & Smith, Motor Engineers. Though they go home at a decent time, they share the yard with another garage, run by a workoholic, so we can usually get in quite late in the evening. Surprisingly. they didn't work Christmas Eve, so we were locked out over Christmas.

Yesterday, 28th December, they were open, so we could complete the charging cycle. My plan was to do that, which would only take an hour or so, move "Hazel" back to the basin then take "Forget me Not" to the bonfire site and unload her cargo of brash. I rang Aaron and he agreed to help.

I'd woken up in the morning to hear radio reports of a tornado in Tameside the previous night. Social media pinpointed it to Stalybridge. with reports of damage on Knowl St. First job was to visit the boatyard to assess the situation.

It turned out to be not too bad. The whirlwind had redistributed various items and ripped one of the roofing tarpaulins on the outdoor workshop, but nothing that can't be fairly easily fixed.

When we got back to "Hazel" I had a nasty surprise. Because it was already well charged I hadn't put the solar battery on charge. Unfortunately I'd forgotten to switch off the fridge and, with hardly any sunlight, this had totally flattened it over the festive season. With all the rain and no power for the pumps I found that the back cabin was flooded. Once power came down the wires again I discovered that there was a problem with the pumps anyway.

Aaron went home and I set to work trying to trace the problem, kneeling in wet water most of the time. After a break to eat my butties and have a brew I noticed some discomfort in my lower body.

In 2019 I had treatment, including radiotherapy, for prostate cancer. Apparently about 5% of those who have radiotherapy in this area develop side effects, such as a stricture (blockage) in the plumbing, meaning that they can't pee the normal way. I was one of the lucky 5% and about 2 years ago I was fitted with a suprapubic catheter. That's a plastic tube that comes from my bladder out through my belly and down to a bag on my leg. It's really screwed up my career as a porn star, but it's better than the alternative, a slow and agonising death through retention leading to kidney failure.

I had a look and realised that there was no tube protuding from my belly. I thought it had broken off at the skin.

I quickly locked up, went back to the basin to stop "Forget me Not"s engine which was charging her batteries, and drove to the shop to collect Emuna. Collecting things from the house for a possible hospital incarceration, we got a taxi to Tameside General.     The taxi driver said he was glad he was retiring soon as robots were going to take all the jobs. I helpfully suggested that they might do away with pensions! He knew who to blame for the world's ills, not the desperate refugees but the super rich who hoard their money in tax havens.

A&E Waiting time 4 hours. Emuna got a taxi back home as I'd forgotten my spare catheter. I've been to Tameside before for less serious problems and they never have the right size in stock.

By now the pain was getting bad. We've all experienced the feeling of urgently needing to go. It's hard to concentrate on anything except finding a place where you can empty your distended bladder. I had that but with no way out for the liquid that my kidneys were continuing to deliver  unabated. My bladder stretched until it was fit to burst. I couldn't sit still but had to walk about.

Luckily the triage nurse recognised the seriousness of my predicament and put me to the front of the queue. Emuna arrived just before I was called in.

The nurse who did the initial inspection told me that the catheter had not broken but had come out. This shouldn't happen as there's a balloon inside to hold it in place. It must have deflated. A standard catheter change should be done in no more than 20 minutes, before the portal closes (sounds like a line from Dr Who!) I'd now been catheterless for over 2 hours.

A doctor came, had a look, and told me that they couldn't deal with it at Tameside and he'd get me blue lighted to Stepping Hill in Stockport. Fairly soon he came back to tell us that there was no ambulance available ( What a surprise ) so Emuna called a taxi. The nurse came back to give me a squirt of morphine in my mouth. It took the edge off the pain for the journey but soon wore off.

"Stepping Hill and step on it" I told the driver. It was rush hour and I was cursing every red light and tardy driver that got in our way. Eventually we got there and handed the letter that we'd been given to reception at A&E. They said go to the Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU). Where's that? We asked. They looked at each other. "I think it's down the glass corridor" said one. "Go to the main entrance and it's signposted from there" said another. The main entrance is pretty well blocked off by building work but I knew a way to it via a nearer entrance.  From previous visits I also knew where the glass corridor was.

We reached the main entrance, Emuna fretting that I might be taking the wrong route. We looked for signs directing us to the SAU. There were signs for just about every department, but not a mention of SAU. We asked a nurse. Blank looks. We went down the glass corridor. We asked another person in uniform. More blank looks. A porter pulled a patient on a bed out of a lift. We asked him. "Take the lift to the second floor, turn right and it's first on the right".

We stumbled into the ward to be met by a very nice tall sister who, realising how much pain I was in, offered me some paracetamol. My mouth was dry by now but I was determined not to drink anything. I was starting to get a bit of lower back pain which made me concerned that it might already have backed up to my kidneys. There was only one place it could go and that was already full. As the sister went to get some water I swallowed the pills dry. Emuna drank the water.

The doctor had been waiting for me but it seemed an age before we were shown into a treatment room and a young bearded South Asian man appeared. It was now about 4 hours since the catheter came out. The young doctor soon realised that he needed back up, so he summoned a more experienced doctor, who also looked very young to me (but so do police officers). She directed him in the procedure. I had feared I would have to have surgery as the portal must be firmly closed by now. In fact he carefully inserted a very small size catheter, then took it out and put in a slightly larger one, and so on until he got to the proper size.

OH, THE RELIEF!!!!!

They brought us each a cup of coffee and we sat for a while. I suddenly felt wonderful. As we left I skipped out of the door shouting wayhey out, with Emuna following saying "Stop It"!

Emuna's poorly knees had now had enough and she could only walk slowly along the long hospital corridors. We called at the main entrance reception to ask for a local taxi number. There was nobody there. We carried on to another exit where we met a really helpful Afro-Caribbean nurse who was just coming into work. Rather than just give us a number, she rang the taxi firm for us and negotiated with them. Soon we were being whisked back home at a much greater speed than the outward journey.

Back home Emuna made a simple meal. Tiredness was creeping up on me so I went to bed and slept like young log. Emuna struggled to sleep and spent most of the night watching films on her laptop.

This morning Emuna wanted to go to the shop to tidy up what she'd left in the middle of (and make sure no-one sold her wheelchair). I drove her to the shop and then carried on down to the boats. I disconnected the charger from "Hazel"s now fully charged battery, but I was starting to feel uncomfortable in the general area that had received attention. I rang Aaron and he agreed to move the boat back to the basin for me.

My idea was to spend the day doing office work, but, in reality I read for a bit then wrote this. Emuna spent the afternoon snoozing in her reclining chair. I'm still pretty uncomfortable and hoping I don't get an infection. The bilge pumps can wait. I'll be back at work when I feel OK again.

Heroine of the night, my wonderful wife Emuna who stuck with me all the way through despite her knackered knees.

Sadly, because of excessive winds caused by Storm Pia we had to postpone our planned Solstice bonfire. It looks like it will happen on January 1st instead, to welcome 2024. Here are a few pictures of "Forget me Not" and "Hazel" returning down the locks from Stalybridge to Ashton with a load of brash for burning.

At Knowl St Heritage Boatyard there's a big pile of brash that is the result of our efforts to control the over boisterous foliage in the boatyard. The intention was to take this to a spot up the Peak Forest and have a bonfire to celebrate Samhain. Unfortunately a breakdown on "Forget me Not" scuppered that plan, so it was postponed until the Winter Solstice, December 21st.

The brash has to be transported, so it needs to go on "Forget me Not"s deck. The first part of the job is to take "Forget me Not" up the 7 locks to the boatyard. It made sense to take "Hazel" too so that volunteers could gain some experience working a pair through locks, and enjoy the trip too.

I was a bit concerned when I started getting last minute cancellations. It seems that nasty viruses are doing the rounds at the moment. I needn't have worried, by, well, a bit after the start time of 10 am, we had a good team together. Helen, Ozzy, Aaron, Marcus, Andrea, James, Kim and Kath were our crew. Of these, the only experienced boaters were Aaron, Kim and Kath. Kath and Kim elected to go ahead setting locks, so I took the motor and Aaron looked after the butty and help the trainee steerer, initially James.

We immediately picked up something on the blade and struggled to get past the moored boats. I stopped and tugged at what felt like clothing with the cabin shaft. I don't know what it was as it came free and drifted away.

With the blade turning freely we were soon through the Asda tunnel and on to lock1W. With Aaron's help our team quickly picked up the techniques. As I waited for the butty to work up the lock I tied the motor in the entrance to Whitelands 'tunnel' and had another poke at the blade with the shaft, successfully removing some plastic bags and fabric. I then removed some floating tree loppings that were threatening to jam the gates. We encountered many more of these as we worked our way up.

Kath and Kim had gone way ahead of us. We got through the 'tunnel' (opened out over a century ago but still a long narrows that can be difficult if the water is low or there's rubbish in it). This time it was easy going.

After lock 2 there's only a short pound to lock 3 so the motor goes ahead, leaving the butty to be bowhauled the short distance. Unusually, a rather dishevelled looking steel boat was tied in this short pound. As we took water out of the pound to work the lock it began to list alarmingly. With two lockfulls taken I began to wonder if all the roof clutter would stay in place. Luckily it did, but getting the line over for bowhauling was tricky.

Lock 3 had a bottom gate that wouldn't stay open. I had to push it with "Forget me Not"s bows and worried that it might stick and jam the boat. It didn't and I later discovered that there was something  spongy behind the gate that oozed oil when compressed. I was pleased to see water pouring over the weir and a tight top gate. For years there have been bad leaks in that top gate, causing low water levels in the long and often rubbish filled pound above (see my post 'Secrets of the Peak Forest).

The long pound was unusually easy to navigate. The only difficulty was a pile of stone ( I think) on the bottom at the approach to lock 4. The motor dragged herself over this but the butty caught her up and they nearly jammed in the narrows.

Locks 4 to 6 have short pounds so the butty is bowhauled through again. Number 6 is very slow filling as the locking mechanism doesn't unlock on one paddle, so only the other one can be used.  I was expecting the bowhauler to arrive ahead of the butty and pass the line up to me to do the Indian Rope Trick of swinging it under the lock tail bridge. Instead, "Hazel" arrived at quite a speed being legged under Melbourne St bridge by Aaron.

After waiting an age for the lock to fill the pair attempted to set off. I'd recently made up a new towing line from some rope that appeared to be pretty sturdy. I decided to give it a try. I suppose I gave it quite a snatch setting off from number 4, but nothing extreme. The line exploded. It wasn't as strong as it looked! I backed up the motor and tried again with the old towing line. All went well until the entrance to Tesco. The motor stuck fast on what I imagine was a shopping trolley. I tried all the usual tricks but she wouldn't come free. Crowds of gongoozlers gathered on each side. Eventually I rang Aaron, who was expecting us at lock 7, to ask him to send down a flush of water. This, and assistance pulling on the back end line from a particularly strong gongoozler, got the boat free.

We bounced over a few more shopping trolleys, then something impeded the motor in the tail of lock 7 and we managed to get the 2 boats wedged. This was soon dealt with and we started to work up our final lock of the day.

As the motor rose in the lock a lady with small child in a pushchair stopped to watch. The little boy was fascinated and the pair stayed to watch the whole procedure. Perhaps in 15 years time he'll join us.

A pile of tree offcuts lay to one side of the lock, all waiting to be thrown in and cause havoc down the locks.

The usual procedure is to wind in the winding hole immediately above the lock and reverse up to the boatyard. The boats fit in better facing West. On this occasion Kim is planning to fit new engine 'ole doors so he wants the relevant side facing the bank. We went forwards the 100 yards or so to the boatyard. There seems to have been some silting since we last had boats there as we stemmed up on the approach the were unable to get "Forget me Not"s stern end close to the bank. Kim is going to have to learn to walk on water!

When we rejuvenated Hazel we ended up with a lot of semi decayed wood. This we kept, with the idea of turning it all into saleable craft items. I gave a lot of fragments of Hazel's old bottom to people to paint, but got very few back. Some had lovely castle designs painted on them  by the late Anne Riley and Maxine Bailey. Sadly, Anne is no longer with us and Maxine has eye problems so isn't painting any more.

A lot of the wood has been cut down to handy sized chunks with one face sanded ready for painting. What hasn't yet been processed is stored on top of the containers at Knowl St. These containers are now leaking badly. They are going to be covered by some curtainside lorry sheets kindly donated by Tautliners of Newcastle under Lyne. Over the last few weeks I've been gradually shifting the wood to make way for this. i didn't do it when Dave was there as he worried that I'd come through the roof of his workshop.

Today was a lovely cold sunny wintry day, This mornings Hazel trip was cancelled at the last minute so I headed over to Stalybridge to complete the woodshifting job. It's now done and we have to devise  a way of getting those heavy PVC sheets up on to the roof.

I'm determined that these pieces of historic but semi decayed wood will eventually be turned into things of beauty. Any budding upcyclers out there who would like to help please get in touch.

I'm hoping that we'll be able to get "Southam" up and running again before too long. I've just come across some pictures of her when she was active

This is on a recycling trip at Fairfield Junction. After doing our collecting we'd have a brew and our butties. Not sure who took the photo. On the roof there's me and Ryan Hinds, In the fore end are Steve Monaghan and Shanaz Begum.

Here she is in 2010 at the Northwich River Festival in Northwich, breasted up to "Black Abbot of Mersey" (formerly "Iris Abbot").

Towing "Forget me Not" and "Lilith" on a recycling trip, and laying a smoke screen whilst passing under Hanover St bridge, Guide Bridge. We couldn't put a chimney on or she wouldn't get under Lumb Lane.

On a summer evening recycling trip. That's Nick Lowther on the left of the fore end and Martin Lowe 2nd from right. Kevin Hatton steering. Not sure who the other two are.

Setting out from Portland Basin on an evening recycling trip. Kevin Hatton steering.

Towing into Hill St bridge, Droylsden, on a Sunday recycling trip. Elsa Williams steering.

Tying above the Anderton Lift on the return trip from Northwich River Festival 2010.

Heading downriver past Anderton during parade of boats, 2010. I was conflicted about those St Georges flags as they are so often used as a symbol of right wing ideas. They were purchased and fitted by one of our crew.  I'm English, why should I be worried about flying my national flag I thought. Later I found out that the person who fitted them worships Farage and doesn't like South Asian people. It really pisses me off that Nazis co-opt symbols like this. Taken from another boat but I can't remember who by. Please jog my memory if you know.

The view back from "Southam" on a recycling trip.

Another recycling trip passing Ashton Packet Boat Co. Keith Williams and Steve Morris in fore end. Elsa Williams steering.

A summer evening recycling trip.

Entering a wide Trent & Mersey lock below Burton on Trent en route to Lincoln with "Lilith" to collect timber for rebuilding "Hazel". May 2011.

Another one of "Southam" setting out from Portland Basin on an evening recycling trip.

On dock in 2019. Further work delayed by nasty little virus.

I'm disgusted with my government. I suppose that is not unusual, but aiding and abetting genocide, ie, the Israeli attack on Gaza, goes way beyond the pale.

Let's first deal with a few assumptions that people may make. Am I anti semitic? Of course I'll answer no, but then, so would many obvious anti semites. By chance, my son was technically Jewish, though, unfortunately, he didn't live long enough to decide whether or not he wanted to follow the Jewish traditions. His mother was a great supporter of the Palestinian cause, but for her father, Israel could do no wrong. I am not a holocaust denier, some of my sons relatives were murdered in that event, nor do I go along with conspiracy theories of secret societies, dominated by Jews, plotting to take over the world.

Am I anti Israeli? Well, no, not as such. While I question the long term wisdom of setting up Israel in 1948, if I were around at the time I would probably have supported the idea. Israel is a fact and it has millions of citizens and it is simply not realistic to wish for it to disappear. However, everyone needs to understand that each time Israel has expanded it has been by violence. The pattern has generally been that it has been attacked by it's neighbours who were pissed off about their land being stolen, only for the Israeli forces to win and take more land, which pisses off the neighbours even more. Some people would take that to be anti-semitic, but I would just like to see an Israel living peacefully with its neighbours and using its vast wealth to help them rather than kill them. Of course, it takes two to tango, and it's hard to make friends with someone whose home you've stolen at gunpoint.

Do I support Hamas? No, of course not. They are basically genocidal religious maniacs who would rejoice at the annihilation of all Jews. The fact that they are in power in Gaza is the inevitable result of the hard line attitude of successive Israeli governments. The extremists on both sides feed on each other to grow stronger. That's the big problem. As well as right wing deeply dishonest populists, the Israeli government now also contains genocidal religious maniacs who believe the complete lands of Judea and Samaria to be rightfully theirs by order of God and who would rejoice at the annihilation of all Palestinians.

Back in 1915 there was a little remembered genocide. It's little remembered partly because at the time the world's focus was on the thousands upon thousands of combatants who were dying daily in the Great War. But, the amnesia is also partly because the Turkish perpetrators to this day refuse to acknowledge their guilt. I understand it's quite dangerous to talk about it in Turkey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide#Legacy

 When the plans for the 'Final Solution' were put to Hitler he apparently asked the rhetorical question "Who now remembers the Armenian Christians?". And so the Holocaust went ahead.

When I saw the news this morning that the Israeli "Defence" Force had told the occupants of Northern Gaza to move South, an impossibility, it reminds me so much of the Turkish events of 1915. Of course, when the Israelis invade, any 'collateral damage' of women, children, disabled, sick and injured will be their own fault for not heeding this impossible order. Any able bodied men killed will be labelled as Hamas 'terrorists' armed or not. Israel can wash its hands of the genocide.

Instead of supporting Israel, sending warships to the area etc, our governments, and all decent governments in the world, should be condemning the Israeli government, perhaps even sending a peacekeeping force to protect the Gazans.

One more thing. It is said that the Hamas attack on Israel was the result of a huge failure of intelligence on the part of Mossad. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I find that very hard to believe. However, in the Israeli government there is a leader who is facing corruption charges and many hard liners who would love an excuse for a 'Final Solution'. Probably many in Mossad feel the same way, I don't know.

When my Jewish ex and her dad argued with each other about Middle Eastern politics I kept my head down. They loved each other undoubtedly, but they pulled no punches. I remember once, when Israeli forces had made an incursion into Palestinian lands she shouted at him, "What do you call this, the final solution. I cringed, it wasn't. Not then.

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Kim and his son Joe joined me for a days labour at Knowl St boatyard today. Joe and Kim's main job was cutting back the buddleia bushes that have gone rampant along the Eastern edge of the yard. They've been feeding the local butterflies all summer, but now they have to go. 

 I had to leave early because of a hospital appointment but I was able to start the job of putting new tarpaulins over the containers. The first part of this task is moving "Hazel"s old planks that are stored there pending being cut up and painted as saleable craft items.

The tarpaulins were donated by Tautliners UK and they will cover up the leaks in the container roofs.

Those containers have given us good service, but they're coming to the end of their days now. We could replace them with newer containers, but that would just be a temporary fix. Temporary fixes have a bad habit of becoming permanent. We really need to get on with developing the boatyard and constructing permanent workshops.

It was such a simple straightforward idea. Our boats hadn’t been far from home since before the pandemic, and we did used to so enjoy going to festivals. Why not go to some this year?

The plan was to attend the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival and the Lymm Historic Transport day, working in a trip on the Weaver for a couple who have been long term supporters, an anniversary present from their daughters, a visit to “Hazel”s birthplace in Runcorn and a trip for “Hazel” sponsors.

Normally our route would be to go the pretty way, via the Macclesfield Canal. An Airbnb booking the weekend before the Middlewich festival meant that there wasn’t time to go by this route, especially as there were lock restrictions because of water shortages.

We set off with “Forget me Not” and “Hazel” on 13th June, a blazing hot day.

Aaron manfully bowhauled “Hazel” down the 18 narrow locks of the Ashton canal and we worked part way down the Rochdale 9 to tie opposite the entrance to the former Manchester & Salford Junction Canal (now merely a permanently padlocked stub).

Next day we worked down the last few wide locks of the Rochdale and along the Bridgewater Canal as far as Lymm,

where the crew enjoyed a drink in the Spreadeagle, of which my great grandfather was once the landlord.

The last time we took "Forget me Not" and "Hazel" away from home waters and didn't get a problem with either water shortage or lock failures was 2017. Now funding is being cut for the waterways (so that billionaires  don't have to pay too much tax).

It would have been OK if "Forget me Not" hadn't broken down at Runcorn. We could have got home easily. Unfortunately, while the boats lay at the Sprinch in the care of the Bridgewater Motor Boat Club a heelpost failed at lock 87 of the Rochdale canal. OK, I thought, we'll have to go the long way round via Macclesfield, only to discover that there was another heelpost failure at lock 57 of the Trent & Mersey canal.

We decided that it looked like the longer route would be open first so, once we got the engine running again, me and Aaron started the boats moving, reaching Broken Cross near Northwich on the first day. We had to go back to Ashton to do the Thursday shop deliveries but returned on Friday ready for a saturday move on to Middlewich helped by Sam Kennion. We had a good crew on Sunday with Alistair, Chris Gladwin, Paul and Kate Sillitoe and, of course, Aaron.  

It was an excellent journey up the Cheshire locks as far as Malkins Bank to tie outside Pam and Malcolm's boatyard. The boats are just a few locks short of the broken lock and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will re-open at the end of the week.

By Friday 9th June "Hazel" has to be ready. She won't be. But her state of unreadiness won't be too bad. Charlie and Danny have been visiting as often as possible. Charlie has been painting, Danny fitting the new windows. Gradually I've been pottering about doing little jobs.

Iain fitted "Forget me Not"s gearbox and I adjusted it. It seemed to be working OK so Aaron and me took her for a test trip up to Jet Amber and back, On our way we stopped by the Great Central bridge to put some old carpet round one of our oak trees to help to conserve water and discourage encroaching Japanese Knotweed.

Back at the basin we breasted "Forget me Not" up to "Lilith" and I moved the pair out of the way while Aaron made a meal of winding "Hazel".

With "Hazel" the other way round Aaron got to work painting the cabinside. At least it would have a top coat on it. As luck would have it a new volunteer called Alison showed up, having come all the way from New Zealand in order to paint "Hazel". She got stuck in and by dusk the second side was beginning to look like someone loved it.

The next few days will have to be spent removing tools and unused materials, cleaning, putting up curtains etc. We set off for Middlewich in a week. Unfinished jobs will have to wait until we get back. It's been a longer job than anticipated, not helped by the fact that I've only been firing on 3 cylinders most of the time. I'm hoping we've turned the corner now and the boats will start to be on the up again. There's a lot to do and more volunteers always needed.

The sun has been shining so Charlie is able to get on with external painting.Her big frustration now is not rain or wind blown dust, but flies that keep sticking themselves to her paint. Danny has got one of the fine new double glazed windows in. The solar panels are all connected up and generating lots of power.

Yesterday we had a visit from Starsky and Hutch! Martin Hutchinson and his dog Starsky are travelling the world on a recumbent bicycle trying to raise awareness about environmental issues.They stayed overnight at Portland Basin and made a video for You tube. They intend to finish their journey in Australia in 2030. Not sure that Starsky mill manage another 7 years trotting alongside the bike though!

"Hazel" is now back in Ashton but work carries on. A visit from the surveyor threw up various new problems, not least that the woodstove needs repairing/replacing. Its a bit touch and go whether we'll make it to Middlewich for the Folk & Boat Festival. It's not been helped by me being ill, side effects from radiation therapy. Today I hoped to get the new windows fitted, but it was raining. Instead, Danny worked on rebuilding the cupboard where the calorifier used to be, whilst Charlie started repainting the inside.

At the front of the Heritage Boatyard we made a nice garden. During the difficult years through covid etc, when we had hardly any volunteers, it got rather unruly. Over the last year or two working parties have tamed the foliage and got some nice flowers growing. It could do with a volunteer to visit weekly to deal with weeds and remove the litter so kindly donated by passers by. Any offers?

 With the cabinside repaired it was time to finish the roof. It narrows towards the front so it was possible to use one of the roof panels lengthwise instead of across, which saved waste. One of the offcuts finished the job off.

With that done I changed jobs and went up to Stalybridge for a day to finish re-assembling "Forget me Not"s gearbox. Another day was spent fitting it but at the end of the day I tried rotating the engine via the shaft and gearbox. This worked in forward but didn't seem to work in reverse. Dismayed, I took the box off again, thinking I'd missed something and would have to take it all to bits again. We could do with a volunteer chief engineer as mechanics is not really my forte.

I tried turning the gears from the input end, and it worked in both directions. I decided the only thing to do would be to put the box back on, put  oil in the engine, start it and see what happens. The down side of this is that, if the gearbox does need to come off again  I have to drain the oil out of the engine again. The Albin is unusual in that the engine and gearbox share the same oil rather than having separate sumps..

I had been feeling tired, achey and had a sore throat for all of the day. I'd had some sort of lurgi for a few days but it seemed to have reached its zenith. After my frustrating day I went home to Em, who had also been feeling poorly, and did a convincing impression of Eeyore on my arrival. Em did not appreciate this.

My plan had been to get "Forget me Not" running and use her to carry all the clutter that had built up on the bank as well as tow "Hazel" back to Portland Basin. This wasn't going to happen now, but I was very aware of the down sides of being under the bridge. Not only did I have to organise boat sitters to keep her safe, but charging her batteries from a generator is a long, noisy, expensive and carbon hungry process. Just to complicate things, Elizabeth, her weekend boatsitter, had needed to let the fire go out because the central heating was making disturbing noises.

After a good long sleep I woke up on Monday morning full of beans. The lurgi had departed in the night. I was expecting a visit from Danny to do some finishing off work. I'd also had a message from Chris Gladwin to say that she would be visiting and would bring a friend.

I decided to start clearing the clutter anyway and enlisted Aaron to help with this. When Chris and her friend, Dave, arrived they quickly set to work with Aaron carrying stuff up the slope and shoving it into the trailer. I was amazed at how much they managed to jam in. More immediately useful stuff went into "Hazel" and in next to no time the area was cleared.

Kim arrived in a timely manner after spending the day working with Dave to replace the old pedestrian gate at Knowl St boatyard. He gave me the keys to the new lock, which I absent mindedly put somewhere. He offered to tow "Hazel" to Ashton, thus robbing Aaron of his excuse to show off his equine strength by bowhauling the trip.

Soon we were bowling along the canal with Dave having his first go at butty steering, which he did very well. Chris, Dave and I walked back along the towpath to collect vehicles. On the way I showed off the various trees that we've planted over the years.

The trailer was jam full of useful wood, firewood, tarpaulins, recyclables and rubbish. In the morning I drove this to the boatyard to unload. It will be sorted out at some future date.

When I got there I realised that I hadn't got the key to the new lock. In fact, I had no recollection of where I had put it. We've made unauthorised access to the boatyard pretty difficult, but I managed to climb in. Luckily I have a key for the vehicle gates, but these have to be unlocked from the inside.

Trailer emptied, I headed back to Ashton, where Aaron and Nessie were preparing to move "Hazel" to the Marina, for a pump out, then to Dixon & Smith (Motor Engineers) for battery charging. As the batteries charged me and Nessie worked on re-fitting lights etc that had been taken off to allow the work to be done.

It's just over a week now since we winded (that's canalspeak for turned round) "Hazel" so that we could work on the left hand side (port to sealubbers). We all have our different languages. The main job has been replacing the front section of cabin side and the two forward windows. We've invested in new double glazed windows as that end of the boat has sometimes felt cold, in spite of the woodstove. The windows are on order and should be ready soon. The old ones won't be wasted. They'll probably go into "Southam" when we finally get her cabin sorted out.

Danny and Charlie didn't come for a week as Danny had back trouble, but they came today. Charlie started on the huge task of sorting out the paintwork while Danny finished the job of renewing the castle panels on the back cabin doors. Sadly the lovely panels that Maxine painted had to be removed as the wood was rotting. Oddly, they were made of elm. A strange and not very long lasting choice of wood. I didn't have much to do with fitting out the back cabin, leaving it to Martin, who, other than this, did a very good job.

Nessie has been busy cleaning and fitting solar panels, on the days that he's not running the shop.

I've stayed in the back cabin on odd nights when no-one else wants to boatsit. It's a bit chilly in the mornings still so, with the aid of a nightlog of compressed bark I'm doing my best to keep the range burning all night. Each evening I'm lulled to sleep by the song of a blackbird. Each morning I'm woken by a wonderful dawn chorus. This is in spite of being tied under a concrete bridge next to a busy motorway junction.

This week Charlie and Danny have been coming to work on "Hazel" most days. Charlie is getting frustrated by the amount of dust that blows around messing up her painting. One side is nearly done so we've now winded the boat to concentrate on the other side. Should be returning to Portland Basin soon. Then there won't be so much dust around but we'll have to dodge the rain, though a lot of the work will be inside.

We have windows again rather than holes in the cabin side. The new roof covering is going on. The back cabin is getting repainted and a new step fitted. Thank you all the volunteers who have been helping.

And thank you Tameside Council for these new roof coverings, formerly display boards around Ashton market. Better than landfilling them eh!

Last night I stayed aboard "Hazel". I like to stay in her back cabin. This is the space, about 8' X 6'6" X 5' where the family who worked the boat carrying salt or coal used to live. Small, yes, but wonderfully well designed as a tiny home. I've shared a back cabin with a partner, though I'm not sure I'd like to have kids in one. Anyway, for me to spend the night guarding the boat it's perfect. The range keeps it nice and snug and I enjoy lying in bed listening to the radio. If you fill the firebox up and add in a bark log or coffee log last thing at night the range will still be alight in the morning. I usually fill a flask from the kettle last thing so that I'm sure of a cup of coffee in bed in the morning.

With her tatty hull seen to on dock, we tied Hazel under the motorway link road bridge to carry out some cabin repairs. A new top layer is going on the roof to keep the water out. Sections of cabin sides are being renewed with extra insulation.The back cabin is getting a new step and a repaint.  Lots of new volunteers are helping to get her back into shape ready for a busy summer. Here's some photos-

  The weather was kind to us during the docking so we were able to get the necessary jobs done in good time. That makes a change. So often the end of a docking involves a desperate rush to finish jobs so that the boat will actually float by the deadline. The last few days just involved adding a few extra coats of tar and clearing up the clutter around the boat.

The day of the launch came, and it all went smoothly. Aaron, strong as an ox,  took the role of horse again to bowhaul us up to Portland Basin

Iain steered while Vicki filmed.

Hazel's docking has gone well so far. We've had lots of new volunteers and dry, largely sunny weather. Luke was here over the weekend and Iain and Vicki came on Sunday and Monday. Kim and Aaron have been helping pretty much every day. All the new plating is done, one side is tarred.

All that is left to do is odd jobs like filling a few bolt holes, tarring the other side, tidying up a bit of shoeing etc.

She goes back into the water on Sunday   - then we start on the cabin! No rest for the wicked. I must have been very bad!

A week on dock and we've done lots, with help from Kim, Nessie, Luke, Vicki, Iain and of course the faithful Aaron. I've mostly been minding the chalico stove mixing heady brews of pitch, tar and horse manure. The stove has been sitting unused in a corner of the Heritage Boatyard for the last few years and when we moved it it nearly fell apart because of corrosion. I bodged it up with clay to stop it drawing too much cold air but it will need to be repaired properly after this docking.

We've renewed the shoeing (sacrificial metal edging which protects the ends of the bottoms) and fitted plating to the bow where it was getting a lot of hammer entering locks etc. We've also plated part of the side to protect a plank that had a few splits, repitched seams, done a bit of caulking etc. Tomorrow we start tarring the sides.