We now have our own fleet of battle swans, sitting on the tiller. The tiller (that’s the bit you steer with) is attached to the rudder post by a metal pin, often with a brass ornament on top. There are a number of businesses run from canal boats, and one of them sells tiller pins, as well as rope-work fenders and rugs. I’d seen the boat, Hakuna Matata, on the Oxford Canal, and again on the Grand Union in Warwick,…
Who’s been sleeping in my bed? Warwick Castle was a fortification from 914 onwards and a family home up until 1978. They were a very rich family. Several nondescript members of the nobility stayed in this guest room, but far more importantly… Just down the corridor is this room. Aleister Crowley used to hold seances here. The oak paneling was originally in Kenilworth Castle where it was commissioned by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (remember him, the guy who founded…
Our Internet connection consists of a pay-as-you-go SIM chip in my phone with tethered WiFi from that. I’ve worked out what the little letters next to the signal strength indicator mean: H: slow as Hell E: takes for Ever LTE: Less Than Expected 4G: For God’s sake this is slow We are out in the country at the moment, so have zero bars of H. That and the fact that it was cold this morning mean fewer pictures today. The…