This is our third visit to the National Trust property at Shugborough. The last time the National Trust had thoroughly buggered it up by filling the public rooms with packing cases, and closing what was formerly the Earl of Lichfield’s private apartment because of a wonky stair rail. The bad news is that the packing cases are still there. The good news is that the staircase had been reinforced. The bad news is that is the only picture I can…
It’s really nice going through a flight of locks with a crew on board. No futzing around with a boathook trying to open or close the far lock gate, just have one person on each side of the lock, and sometimes you can even send someone on ahead to set the next lock. We whizzed up the five locks at Fradley Junction in minutes – well, over an hour actually, but that’s pretty fast for five locks. I even had…
Day 2 back on Wharram Percy and I’m noticing things that weren’t there last year, or possibly yesterday. The shower pump goes “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” until it runs out of water, like the head of Orpheus floating down the river Hebrus. Also, one of the walls in the dining room/guest bedroom has a series of knotmarks in the wood that make a little repeating mural of small nervous dogs barking “No, YOU shut up!” at each other. The Trent &…
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was…
This is the oldest working generator in Britain. It generates up to 400v DC, which is enough to give you a nasty shock. It is still used to run the lights at Claymills Pumping Station on days when they are steaming. Check out the control panel. Those T logos on the fuse boxes are for Tesla – the original, not the tribute band. The generator is driven by this steam engine. The steam comes from a completely different building. This…
The canals system has many memories of the days when canals were used for commerce rather than pleasure. This crane is one of them. There were no electric motors to make lifting easier in those days. If you wanted to get something heavy off the boat and onto the wharf you had to crank it off by hand. We stopped at a chandlery today, in a huge marina. It was a little walk from the towpath, through some parkland, with…
This morning we said goodbye to the Grand Union Canal and the River Soar. The Soar joins the River Trent and the Erewash Canal in a waterway junction so complicated you needs signs to navigate it. We turned upstream on the Trent. Compared with the Soar and then Nene it is a huge expanse of river, but one lock later there is another useful sign. The Trent and Mersey Canal. We have nothing but canals from now on. No more…
The Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal has been spending more time mingling with the River Soar since Leicester. Rivers are different to navigate. They meander, so it which slows things down, and makes steering more difficult. The land on both sides is owned by people who don’t want you to moor there. The water is cleaner, but there are currents and weirs to watch out for. They are prone to flooding, so there are fewer houses and villages…