Ashton Boatman

Recently we ran a trip for Works4u college students. /https://works4u.org.uk/ They asked for a 4 hour trip, so the idea was to go to Hyde and back, normally about 3 hours, then see how much time was left, probably enough for a trip through the Asda tunnel and back. The lift bridge in Dukinfield had some fresh rubbish in it and we were stuck there for over an hour, so it was just a trip to Hyde.

Our guests seemed to enjoy it, especially seeing us struggle to get through the bridgehole.

Here's a picture of the boats near Well Bridge. Aaron is steering the motor, Nessie on the butty and Helen being a figurehead.

"Lilith" is our oldest boat, originally Lloyds & Lloyds number 9, built in 1901 for working around their Coombeswood ironworks at Halesowen. She was given the name of the mythical goddess, demoness, original woman by an ex girlfriend. I rebuilt her between 1974 and 1983 and she's given many years of service, latterly on recycling trips which finished with the pandemic in 2020. To be honest, she was getting pretty rough by then. The stern end, restored in pine in the 1970s, was in need of rebuilding again.

It would have been nice to get on with this, but lack of volunteers post covid, and me being poorly, meant that we were only just getting the basics done.

Things are looking up now. Lilith is still just used to store firewood, but I think a major renovation is getting closer.

Our boats and our boatyard have got into a mess. The reason for this has been a combination of illness on my part, covid, and lack of volunteers after covid. Virtually all charities and voluntary groups are suffering from a lack of volunteers. Some have shut down because of it. Anyway, things are looking up. More volunteers are coming forward, longstanding problems with the boats are being addressed and messy corners full of random stuff are being cleared out.

Section by section Nessie and Aaron are clearing out Forget me Not's hold. This latest section was full of aluminium cans, drums full of brake disks for ballast and pitch for pitching seams. They were also tracking down a leak. The old shutts are coming up, as they're pretty rotten, and replaced, for the time being, with cut down pallets. Amazingly, nearly everything in there has a use, even if its only as scrap metal.

Thanks to Helen Kanes for the photos.

It was a really enjoyable return trip. Easy going and good company. We tied for the night on the Rochdale in central Manchester. Some of us sampled the delights of a wonderful, ornate, unspoiled Victorian pub called Peveril of the Peak. Up the Ashton locks we were mob handed, which made for easy going. The towpath was closed at lock 3 so Hazel  had to be shafted through that pound.

We're still looking for a wildlife friendly volunteer to take charge of gardening at the Heritage Boatyard, Stalybridge. By 'take charge' I mean that, within agreed guidelines, they make the decisions and they turn up to do the work as needed. If I have to show them every job and make all the decisions and arrange when they're coming etc I might as well do the job myself, which I'd love to if I had the time.

Anyway, there's a big rose bush that had got too big for its boots and was blocking the sight lines for vehicles pulling out from the yard. Something had to be done. I had an old oil lamp, so I rubbed it and a genie appeared, called Aaron. My first wish was for the Rose to diminish.

Equipped with various implements of Destruction, Aaron set to work. Soon the rose was down to a managable size again. Every boatyard needs an Aaron.

A photographer called John Tickner asked to be tipped off when there would be an opportunity to photograph boats in an urban environment, so we let him know that Forget me Not and Hazel would be working down the locks to Manchester, We set of as planned at about midday on 19th June and he followed us down to Lock 4, near the Etihad, where we spent the night. Next day we worked the rest of the Ashton locks and down the Rochdale 9 to Castlefields, where he left us as he wasn't interested in the more straightforward Rochdale canal. Here are some of his photos.

Tony Ellams has been visiting frequently and getting on with jobs on Forget me Not . He wanted to connect up the headlights properly, but didn't fancy entering the mess that was the hold. Nessie and Aaron were unleashed to sort things out, so, the temporary deckboards are being lifted, repaired and painted. The old shutts are being replaced, for now, with pallets. All the recyclables are being recycled and heavy things are being put back as ballast. The headlights now work from a switch in the 'atches and work on tidying up/sorting out continues.

We have to get Knowl St boatyard sorted out and ready for the next boat, which will probably be Lilith. One of the things is that we've landed ourselves with a lot of trailers. One is the one that we bought for doing deliveries from the shop with the Land Rover. We don't need that any more but it needs some repairs before we sell it. We bought a second one for use with the Land Rover. It's a big one for carrying timber and other big and heavy things. It's first job was to deliver a little boat to the Yorkshire Ouse. We've used it for a couple of other jobs, but it obviously needed some repairs, This was delayed by lockdowns and by the post covid volunteer shortage, but now Dave and Kim are busy getting it sorted. It's almost ready to go now, but I have to find some materials to put a floor in it.

There's a former trailer tent, with its tent bits missing. This was donated loaded with all kinds of things that have now mostly been sold. The trailer would also have been sold but its blocked in by the others. 

Right by the gate there;s a very nice little trailer that was built up by Dave and Kim from an axle donated on a recycling trip. This was intended for use with the Land Rover but was hardly used, largely because of the lack of volunteer drivers. As soon as the weather dries up enough for us to put a coat of paint on it we'll put it on Ebay.

We took "Hazel" out of service after Christmas to do some improvements. It was slow going to start with because of shortage of volunteers and me being a bit poorly. Nevertheless, Nessie got to work renewing the damaged floor in the kitchen. Danny renewed some of the cabinside in the back bedroom where it had been leaking. We refitted the stove that has a back boiler and I spent ages doing extra plumbing around it to get extra heat into the central heating (all the radiators actually get hot now).

Helen Sherry came up from Leicester to paint and signwrite the back cabin sides. I resealed the leaky window in the forward cabin.

Meanwhile new volunteer Tony Ellams has taken on sorting out the mess that was "Forget me Not". The engine 'ole is no longer repugnant and the rotting bulkheads have been repaired. Tony has sorted out the electrics so that we now have a reliable starter and alternator circuit and soon we'll have a proper headlight. I'm just starting to clear out the pigsty of a back cabin.

We've a new volunteer just started who wants to learn painting, he's been sorting out our paint stock, and throwing out lots of useless tins of paint.

At the shop we have several new volunteers too, so I no longer have to do the deliveries. I might even start having a regular day off soon.

In the last couple of weeks we've been painting inside and out. There will still be jobs unfinished by the time we set out for Lymm next week, but we're getting there. Things are definitely picking up after the last few years of getting by with a skeleton crew.

"Forget me Not" back cabin bulkhead stripped down.

New kitchen floor

Stove middle pipe being modified.

"Forget me Not" cabin bulkhead under repair.

New floor by stove. New stainless steel stove base on right.

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.