New Website For Nb Epiphany

My 'umble apologies Mr Web Master! Yesterday I said our new look website was soon going to be "up"

It is! Follow this link

Alternatively if you have our old page bookmarked it will redirect you! Our Home page has a new look and a new link to our Family Tree. We are in the process of updating the gallery and adding more to the website.

Please do have a look - see if you are related! Also please do let us know if you encounter any blips as Mr Web Master will be pleased to tweak things if he can;-)

You can leave a message on the Blog or via the contact us button on the old home page. Yes, we need one on the new home page!

Weekend Reunion

A busy weekend for the crew of Epiphany!

Friday we caught up on all the jobs - cleaning the floor (It is so easy without carpets, just a sweep and a mop!), washing and paperwork. John is working hard on our new look website and believe it or not it will be "up" soon! We have been promising it for ages I know, but he is almost there. It may also mean a new look to the Blog...... eventually.

Saturday promised a sunny day and we had an outing planned. A get together of 3 Brunel University Alumni. In other words 2 of John's friends and their better halves and us. Last time we were all together was 1999 at The Black Horse pub by the Kennet and Avon canal. We were on a hire boat with the other John and his wife Carolyn - our friends from Oxfordshire and met with Neil and Nella for a meal.

We all met at Westonbirt Arboretum for lunch and a wander around.



The "boys" couldn't believe they were at Uni 35 years ago!

Westonbirt was well worth a visit although it is in between Camellias

and Rhododendrons

There were some lovely trees, some very ancient ones and some with real character

The sun shone and we had a great time.

We finished off the day with a meal at the Tunnel House, Coates.

This pub is by the Thames and Severn canal Sapperton tunnel portal. The food was good but they were pretty chaotic and we spent ages waiting for our bill. It was very tempting to just leave as we were not sure if they would have noticed, but eventually we pinned someone down.

Sunday we recovered! I scrubbed the outside of the cratch cover where we had had an argument with some trees - I think I got the green off! So now it is the week again and work routine!

London, Wide Beams And Bloggers

Yesterday John had a trip on his second favourite mode of transport - a train. He would prefer a steam one but they are strangely rare nowadays on the main line from Penzance to Cornwall. He had an appointment in "The Smoke". Needless to say First Great Western lived up to their nickname as Last Great Western and the train was late arriving at Pewsey!

As some of our readers may know or have realised canals have a strange (!?) magnetism for us so inevitably he walked 4 miles to The Regents Canal! We have cruised this many moons ago when we hired from Southall, doing the Paddington Arm also - on a "fat" boat - our first and last holiday on a wide beam.

John visited the London Canal Museum at Battlebridge Basin.

Then he found St Pancreas Cruising Club.

The local rubbish collector.

This is a lovely view along the Regents canal.

A working pair - Archimedes and Ara.

Pretty good photos taken with his mobile phone!

This morning early we spotted nb Mr David passing us in the rain, but only caught a view of his stern on camera!


Oh and today what did I do. I had the pleasure of a cruise on a wide beam! We took some of our elderly clients on one of The Bruce Trust's boats, called Hannah, for a trip from Great Bedwyn to below Oak Hill lock (4 locks). Moored for lunch and then back up to Bedwyn. The sun shone in the afternoon and guess what I was persuaded to do!



Not a very flattering photo methinks!

All Cannings To Honey Street

3.15 miles, 1 hour 1 minute, 3.08 lm/hr

Finally a dry day! Also believe it or not some sunshine! Painting weather? You bet!

So we set off after lunch to our painting spot and John put the undercoat on both sides of the hull. Epiphany no longer has a red rash and from a distance looks much better. A closer view reveals that she needs a top coat - 2 actually as is John's practice.

The sun shone all afternoon and it was warm too. However there was still a bit of a wind as John found out when he winded in a well named winding hole! The boatmen of the past made use of the wind to turn - hence the name winding hole. Nowadays we are spoilt with engines and many of us have not learnt the skill of true winding, but there is definitely a right and a wrong way to turn if there is a blow!

So I dropped him off at All Cannings to pick up the car and continued on solo towards Honey Street. I passed a family of ducks and although I was passing a boat coming the other way I managed to count at least 15 ducklings! No photo though as I couldn't grab the camera in time - so you will have to take my word for it. John saw these few on his way down


.

Guess who was waiting on the towpath at Stanton Bridge (124)?



I suppose this is proof that he trusted me enough to leave me to cruise on my own!

John jumped on and we did the remaining few yards to Honey Street, mooring up just before The Barge Inn.



Opposite us on a hill a little way away is a White Horse.



It was a bit misty when I took this photo of the horse at Alton Barnes.

So tomorrow it is work for me and John will cruise back to Pewsey sometime during the day.

Kennet And Avon Canal Cruising Dimensions

We decided to move for the weekend in the hope that there might be some painting weather one day to put some undercoat on the red oxide that Epiphany wears like a rash!

Off I went to work and John moved! He arrived at All Cannings at lunch time. As I was in transit between Devizes and Marlborough for work, I shopped and dropped it off at lunch time as the boat was moored at a convenient spot!

The wind by then was north easterly and too windy to paint so the boat is still at All Cannings, moving around in the wind! It is quite exposed here. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

We have just been passed by a stupidly wide widebeam boat! We have seen him around! He really has no room for mistakes in his helmsmanship. He was trying to steer with his bow thrusters in a gale! Now I have never used bow thrusters and actually never want to, but the very name gives their use away I would of thought. They thrust the bow, leaving the stern to swing and be forgotten.

Anyway this boat was crabbing down the canal and guess what? Yes, his stern hit our bow. We now have a section of the red oxide on the rubbing strake that needs doing again!

We watched him continue to do the same with the boats behind us - saying sorry as he went. I must admit he heard me being a bit vocal in reaction and did say sorry to us too. Hey ho - he has some nice red oxide on his yellow paint as a souvenir from us! The joys of a contact sport.

In case you were wondering the maximum beam on the Kennet and Avon is 13 foot 2 inches (Nicholson) as this is the narrowest stretch from Bristol to Reading. It is also the stretch with the lowest maximum length of 70 foot. These dimensions are disputed in other sources e.g The K & A Trust , Canal Junction and Waterways Guides, so it is no wonder wide boats can have problems!

Gallinula Chloropus - What?

Can anyone read Latin? We have some aquatic neighbours! A little family spotted today on the off side.

I am assuming that this is the mother bird as there is no difference in plumage between male and female.

Sorry about that sexist comment!

We think there are about 6 chicks who are always calling shrilly for their Mum!



Adult moorhens often look black but are actually olive brown on their backs and blue grey underneath. They have white markings with a red bill with a yellow tip and distinctive red shield. Juveniles are brown with a greenish bill and shield. They nest precariously along the canal, right by the waterline on clumps of reeds.

It took me a while to remember the difference between moorhens and coots. My solution - there is an "r" for red in moorhen!

Unfortunately many of the chicks do not survive into adulthood so Mum (and Dad, wherever he is!) may end up with only one chick to look after.

After a lovely sunny day it is now absolutely pouring with rain but I have a cosy evening ahead of me. It is "my evening" as John is out line dancing.

Why You Should Have One Too

Read this and then get one!

We were abruptly woken this morning at 6.15 am by a screeching sound. I was a little disorientated for a minute and thought it was my alarm going off too early and then realised it was too loud.

We then both suddenly woke up properly as we realised it was the carbon monoxide alarm. John rushed to check the Morso, I rushed to see if I could turn the noise off - thinking about the other boats hearing it and their occupants being rudely woken. The noise continued and we both then threw open portholes to let in fresh air.

It was only a few seconds but it seemed like hours - particularly as it started again just as we settled back into bed.

We think that probably the stove was burning badly as John had had trouble with it the previous evening. Anyway if it had not gone off we could have been dead. A salutary lesson.

So if you haven't got one get one - they are quite cheap from DIY stores, ours is a "Kidde". I am not kidde-ing (!), you don't need an expensive pretty alarm if your life is at stake!

Whilst you are there if you haven't already get two or three smoke alarms depending on the size of your boat. There are also some cheap ones around recommended for boats. We have 2 made by "Fireangel" and we know they work too!

Today, as follow up to this incident, John re-cemented the joins of the stove and flu and cleaned the CO alarm as recommended in the instructions.

PS I went to work with a headache - possibly the CO effect together with the loud alarm and have been really out of sorts all day.

Saturday Excursion In Wiltshire

This morning our friends from Bath Narrowboats passed us on nb Angels Payment at the start of their long cruise. We saluted them from our stern deck and wished them well!



We thought about a short cruise today, overnighting somewhere and then back. Then as the weather began to change and look unsettled we changed our minds.

We decided to go for a drive and walk instead. One day last week I found myself on Pewsey Downs, visiting a volunteer. I was very near the Pewsey White Horse so I took John up there today to explore.

We could see rain to the west from the top of the Downs but decided to cross the road, go over the stile and walk to the top of the horse.


This is one of 8 visible in the county.


Of course just as we got there it began to spit! By the time we left we were in a full blown hail storm - boy do those hail stones hurt the face!

We finally got back to the car wet and very cold. After drying off a bit we went for a drive which ended up at Crofton pumping station for a cup of tea and delicious warm lardy cake - a specialty of Wiltshire.

Then as we drove along by the canal on our way home who should be exiting the lock (58, Crofton flight) at the bridge (101) we were about to go over but our friends on Angels Payment! They had made good time - I hope they didn't think we were stalking them!

Towpath Talk - April Fool?

I picked up the April copy of Towpath Talk today. As usual it has some interesting articles. I see they are trying to be inclusive of all the users of inland waterways - a couple of articles on fishing, pictures of cyclists and of fishermen too! A very worthy aim that BW, SOW and others also aspire to.

However has anyone spotted the "deliberate mistakes"? Or maybe they are meant to be an April fool?

There are 4 photos of fishermen fishing in the canals, one is repeated on the contents summary. Only problem is - in all the photos they are breaking the Waterways Code! (page 2) Pictures usually speak louder than words I am told - see if you can find them.

Ironically 2 of these photos are within the BW special 4 page spread. Now who, I wonder, created the Waterways Code?

I think we all need to promote good practice and consideration. We all know how very annoying when this is disregarded by others. I hope this "mistake" will be rectified in the next edition of Towpath Talk.

P.S When read it makes great paper for starting fires!

The Sun Setting On The "Righteous"!

Hardly righteous, just a little bit good - sometimes!

A couple of evening shots of Pewsey Bridge taken last night at sunset.

19.48

19.50

I sat in my car on Devizes Wharf having my lunch today, watching the boats go by. For two pins I would have driven back to the boat and just set off to wherever and not come back.

Then I remembered a small thing such as my responsibility to my employer and the need for a little money to see us through!

This "protestant work ethic" can be a curse! But now you see where the righteousness might belong, if pushed.

Wiltshire News

- 3 degrees at 7 am, 12.6 degrees at 6.30 pm! What a beautiful day. The Wiltshire countryside is stunning in this weather. We have the bow doors wide open, cratch cover up and the sun is blazing in.

Everybody drives through Wiltshire on their way to somewhere, no one ever stops - or so they say locally. Well it is worth stopping for the scenery, history, historical sights, walks and of course the Kennet and Avon Canal. The people, communities and pubs are very welcoming.

The hire boats are here! Reading Marine, Anglo Welsh, Alvechurch and White Horse Boats are all in evidence! However don't let that put you off. We found the canal less busy than we expected last summer.

There is a new Blog for you to follow if interested - some more boaters from God's Wonderful Country of Cornwall! Nb Petroc was a show boat for Darren Aldridge at last year's Crick. They will be traveling the system this summer so look out for them!

Return To Pewsey

5.84miles, 2hrs 11mins, 2.67lmph

All Cannings is a quiet mooring - most of the time. Early evening there were some racing bikers disturbing the peace, fortunately not for too long! The village although very visible from the canal is a good 5 - 10 minutes walk away. So the general feeling is of mooring in beautiful countryside.

At about 6 am it blew a houlie - so much so that I locked our stern bathroom door which was banging as it is missing a catch. That is now fixed as it was one of the jobs John had scheduled for today!

At 7 am this was the view out of our cratch window - and it was 0 degrees outside, brrr.



Looking at other blogs it seems we have got off lightly as there is much more snow "oop North"

However the sun shone and we spent the morning pottering on the boat. Noon was F1 time so we had lunch over the prelims and after the disastrous start for Lewis Hamilton I went to make a coffee sponge and just listened! It just was not his day. Still lots more of the season to come.

After the race we set off back to Pewsey. We were well wrapped up as it was very cold with a biting wind. But the sun still shone. Once we were moored up, the satellite set up it started to snow again, through the sunshine! It is now 6 degrees and there is a beautiful clear blue sky

Now I am sitting with my feet up as it is John's turn to cook. His specialty, vegetable curry. Just the the smell of the chick peas cooking is making me hungry!

Pewsey To All Cannings, Epiphany Turns Red

7.1 miles, 2 hrs 38 mins, 2.7 lm/hr

A very early start! John got going at 7.30 as we had a bit of a way to go to our "painting spot". The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. Our first encounter on this route is with Pewsey Boat Club moorings on the off side after Pewsey Bridge.




There were a few people around by the time we arrived at Lady's Bridge (120).


The bridge is quite ornate - a sop to the landowner Lady Susana Wroughton for taking the canal through her land.

As we reached All Cannings who should we spy but Nb Ten Bob Note. This photo shows the reason for the name!


I forgot to put a link to his blog yesterday so here it is! There is also quite a bit of very interesting reading on the other sections of their site!

We carried on and it was not long before we arrived at our destination! The sun was still shining but it clouded over a bit for a while and by now there was a cold wind. However John soldiered on. He put gloss on our stern cream band and then sanded down first the starboard side and put on red oxide.



He then winded at the nearby winding hole and did the same with the port side.



Now we have to wait for a few fine days in succession to put the under coats and top coats on.

We then returned to All Cannings to moor, next to Ten Bob Note. Ernie and Rhonda and 2 dogs, Archie and Mabel stopped for a chat and it was great to meet them.

Tomorrow they say will be very cold and wet - we shall see. It has hailed once this evening and now it is raining!

Bits And Bobs!

A good day today! This morning we had a trip into Pewsey (by car, although it is a 10 minute walk) for some post and cash then back to Epiphany for lunch.

Who should pass us but Ernie on Nb Ten Bob Note - a fellow blogger. He has been on the Kennet and Avon for a bit and we were looking out for him. We didn't wave as he was past us before we realised but got a quick photo!

Sorry Ernie, but we will keep a look out again!

This afternoon we went into Devizes for various jobs. Recycling at the dump, Focus for a few bits and pieces, Auto Factors by Coate Bridge (136) for oil and filters and finally down to The Three Magpies at Sells Green for drinks with the Bath Narrowboats guys and "other halves"! A really good 3 hours catching up as we haven't seen some of them for a while.

We got back to water up and hope to have an early start to go to the best place to paint the boat further towards Devizes! I won't give any clue to its location as if too many boats arrive at the same time it is not a convenient mooring. However those "in the know" use it on and off, trying not to annoy other boaters! The mooring is just at the right height to get to the rubbing strakes and paintwork below the gunnels!

Spring Evenings - Taste Of Things To Come?

Yes, well, life has been busy so no blogging this week! When I got home all I wanted to do was chill and not look at a computer screen any more! So only turned the laptop on for emails and to check TV listings!

These sunny evenings it has been so lovely to come home, have the swan doors open and watch the bunnies cavorting on the bank opposite. There are some baby ones

but if they stay in the fields all we can see are their ears chasing around!


I need to stand on the roof to get some decent photos and as I haven't done that for years I am not about to try - me poor ole knees won't let me do it anyway!

Talking wildlife, I forgot to mention that on our recent 10 day cruise I spotted 2 water voles. So it is true they are coming back to the canals. One sighting was by a veritable luxury apartment for water voles. It was above the waterline and had many entrances. As the Kennet and Avon canal was parallel with the River Kennet at the time I would think that they would also have the luxury of choice of front doors and view. A penthouse for water voles! Maybe the other was a poor relation as he/she only had one entrance and definitely no river!

So my weekend is here, no real plans. Probably a drink with friends tomorrow and maybe a cruise down to a convenient place for John to do some touching up on the paintwork. The weather is due to change on Sunday so we must try to make the most of the next few days.