Art – Narrowboat Firecrest

Tewkesbury to Gloucester

As we’d reached the last day of our 14 night ANT licence, we only had one night in Tewkesbury. Of course I made straight for the Abbey to enjoy one of my favourite sculptures in the country. It’s called Touching Souls and depicts 4 children sitting in a circle with their feet touching. Their soles and their souls reaching out. It was created as a copy its Romanian artist Mico Kauffman, who sculpted the original for the United Methodist Church in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
The entire high street and town centre is interesting to walk down, with a merry mix of independent shops in olde world buildings which encourage you to look beyond the modern day window displays. And even after we first stopped here in 2017, I still rate the Gloucester Old Spot sausage, from Halfords butchers the best, and we’ve done a lot of research. I also like this gate to the garden of the Tudor House Hotel on the high street.

Where antiquity walks hand in hand with time and still retains its dignity, there is peace.

Whilst I was out exploring (and buying sausage for tea) Eric was prepping the boat ready for our trip down the big River Severn

We didn’t think our mud weights would cut it if we got into trouble on the Severn

We left the Avon at its confluence with the River Severn,

and as the river is now subject to a tidal flow, from now on all the locks are manned. Not only is the river big, but so are the locks.

Albert is a proper sea worthy barge, who was planning to continue onto the Severn Estuary

The scale of our surroundings certainly reminded us what a small cog we are in the grand scheme of things

You could build a marina inside Upper Lode Lock

We say this over and over again, we love the variety of waterways that we can cruise on, from some rather grotty backwaters of neglected canals, to picturesque rivers like the Avon and onto super highways like the Severn.

Poor Firecrest, we usually travel about 2.8 miles an hour today we reached 6, and could have gone faster

Going with the flow helped our journey time down to Gloucester. We made the 13 miles to Gloucester dock in about 4 hours.

A nice manageable sized lock to see us into the Historic Gloucester dock

Now, where shall we moor….

An exciting day

Glad we don’t meet these big boys on the canals

Spitting distance

After sitting down last December and deciding to purchase a gold licence so we could spend the summer in East Anglia, we are on the final few days of our very protracted and frustrating journey, we set off with spring in the air and a spring in our step.

Only to have it clouded over by the time we reached Gayton Junction. We picked up some fuel from Blisworth Marina, (about 15pl cheaper than nearby marinas ) and off we set up the Northampton arm.

Gayton Junction going onto the Northampton Arm

Only 17 locks down

The first 12 are a flight so easy for Eric and I to work as a team, I set the lock, he cruises in, whilst I walk on to set the next one, by the time he’s let the water out I’m usually back in time to close up as he cruises on. And thankfully there’s only one lift bridge which is usually raised.

And as we were working our way down the flight, my adventurous Sister in Law was in South America ticking off her bucket list visiting the Iguaçu falls in Brazil, Lock 9 did its best to impress….

There’s some interesting art work along the 5 miles between Gayton Junction and Northampton

And the M1 motorway thunders overhead .

And another friend was visiting Chelsea Flower show as we made our way down the flight. Sometimes simple is just as good.

And we made it. Well almost, the heavens opened just as we reached Cotton End in Northampton, which is still on the canal, and under CRTs management and there were rings so we moored up. Our final, lock, Lock 17 is within spitting distance . Once the rain stopped we thought we would take a walk up to the Marina office and talk to the Enviroment Agency about river etiquette, buy ourselves the required access key, and prepare our anchor etc ready for the River Nene after a good nights sleep…..

This is a trip of 165 miles, 1½ furlongs and 137 locks from Macclesfield Visitor Moorings (Pontoons) to Northampton Lock No 17. And had we cruised for 7 hours a day (which admittedly we wouldn’t even contemplate let alone achieve) we could have done it in a fortnight. (Screenshot swiped from AC Canal plan)

Some Perfect Spring Cruising

After my little jaunt away living the highlife, counting puffins Eric had moved Firecrest through Leicester and was waiting for me at Kilby Bridge. The weather was perfect and we were keen to be on our way.

Sometimes there’s no need for lengthy details as we watch the world go by

Sometimes the scenery and tranquility just speaks for itself as others just watch us go by, whilst we disappear into the tunnel

Sometimes quite a lot of people watching us go by, but what do you expect going up Foxton Locks on a sunny Sunday afternoon

Just so long as they evenings are peaceful

But its in the tunnels that you really hope you don’t meet anyone,

Mmmm that looks like 2 boats coming towards us, hope they move over. Crick tunnel is two way

But meeting a lockie on the Watford flight is always welcome.

The Watford flight would be very pleasant if it weren’t for the M1 thundering alongside the canal

And finally, Norton Junction. We’ve arrived at the point where our current Plan xxx route and our original plan A route rejoin, and we thought we’d have been here in March.

Stourbridge Glass Museum

We have a special affinity for all things glass in our family, as our daughter is a lampworker- that is someone who works with glass heated by an oil lamp, (or for the past few centuries a gas torch, but the name stuck.) As opposed to glass blowing which is heated till molton in a furnace. She specialises in glass beads which she makes into knitting accessories. So when we realised we were cruising right through the traditional heart of the English glass industry it would have been a pity not to visit the museum.

Set over 2 floors there was a collection of historic glass dating from Roman times following the transformation of utility functional pieces through to the highly decorated cut glass crystal. And if I’m honest that section didn’t excite me, but upstairs I was overwhelmed by the modern colourful art glass. Which begs the question, museum or gallery?

Very hard to do justice to the glass on a phone camera

Either way, in our dreams, if we weren’t already living it, we would live in some fabulous architect designed house, with huge windows letting the light shine onto our white walls setting off beautifully displayed pieces of art, like the glass we were looking at today. And of course because this is fantasy land, it would never need cleaning, although I’m sure this piece that made us chuckle, wouldn’t mind the flick of a feather duster

The contemporary glass really did cover a huge range of styles and techniques

Although I was particularly impressed by this artist who included her love of knitting into her glass

Emmy had been featured on the BBC Make it At Market show earlier this year and consequently had sold out of these quirky little bowls otherwise I’d have been tempted to buy one. However there is an artist in residence who regularly gives demonstrations. Although he wasn’t demonstrating when we visited, we spent quite a while chatting to Alistair. Glass production is one of those industries that seem to have slipped through the support network dealing with fuel price rises. His gas bill has risen from around £4000 to over £70000 in the past 18 months and he is currently installing solar panels and replacing his gas kiln with an electric one.

Alistair at work (photo from museum website)

It wasn’t a difficult decision to decide to buy some of his glass, the difficult it was choosing just one piece

Next to the museum is the Red Cone museum,

Its undergoing some renovation work right now so we could only look through the open doors, the furnaces are in the centre with coal fires underneath and the cone shaped chimney to draw the flame and gain the searing 1000° temperature needed.

We got our timings wrong so didn’t get a chance to do the full walking tour of all the glass in Stourbridge, but I’m sure we will make the effort to do so next time. But until then I’m sure Heather will give me an impromptu lesson in her studio.

Just an assortment from Flameknits, our very own artist in residence

Where only the brave go, or the intrepid….

We do like the mooring at the Bumblehole, but curiosity got the better of us, wondering what we’d find down the Hawne Arm.

We had been warned that the Gosty Tunnel was low and the water shallow, but the rewards would be cheap diesel at Hawne basin…. Paul and his crew from Waterways Routes, were moored next to us, and encouraged us to give it a go

A lot of effort has been put into encouraging people to make the most of the canals around here, and local artist Luke Perry has a series of 31 sculptures that represent the people and heritage of the Dudley 2, This graffiti artist is telling us that this was the Tollmans office, where he would set the toll fee using a notched freeboard stick to calculate the weight of the boat.

Sadly there’s a lot of derelict neglect to be seen around here, despite some gems, the sculpture we liked the most is the elephant, who was found frolicking in the canal in the 1900s. I wonder how CRT would have handled that one…

For a backwater only 2 miles long there was plenty to make us smile,

And the geese don’t mind building their nests amongst the rubble

Then the entrance to the notoriously low Gosty Tunnel

Which isn’t all that long, and didn’t seem that low…..

At first…

But there was a nice friendly fella distracting us from the warning white paint

Or perhaps not so friendly

And yes we really did have to duck

But we followed the light at the end of the tunnel and made it out, without becoming victim to the rocky sides or count dracula. We were treated to some impressive old brickwork. This stretch of the canal had been vital to the former Stewarts and Lloyd’s steel works.

No wonder Tolkein got inspiration for Lord of the Rings from here

Hawne Basin had been the rail interchange for transhipment of S&Ls huge steel tubes, and is now the end of navigation. The original line had gone a further 5 miles to Selly Oak cutting out the centre of Birmingham

We picked up fuel for less than £/l wishing we had had an emptier tank. The reception was welcoming, and the community spirit obvious, I am sure they would have found us space for an overnight stay if we had asked. But we’d decided to make the return trip to Bumblehole the same day. Eric had promised me a black country speciality for tea, battered chips. Yes they really were that orange, and yes there was a huge piece of fish under them. Another good reason to plan a return trip this way.

Artists at Work

It was time to move on from central Milton Keynes, so we took our time visiting some of the places we had been in 2017/18. Our first stop was for lunch at the Camphill cafe, just 5 minutes off the towpath. It’s always a pleasure to support ventures like this, where people with learning disabilities are supported and valued. Not only does the cafe serve great lunches, but there are several well run workshops on the site. Of course I was fascinated by the weaving shed and treated myself to a bag made from the fabric they had made. We also bought some very tasty bread and a jar of their honey.

It seems like MK likes to encourage its artists, and we took some time walking the Gyosei Art trail.

Just some of the art along the towpath from the gyosei trail

Whilst we were feeling so creative, we had the opportunity to meet up with a friend of mine who lives close enough to join us on board for a knit and natter

And I proudly showed off my latest completed project, This Icelandic sweater is a gift for someone else, but you can bet I’ll be making something similar for me and Eric.

We moored in almost the same place as we had experienced our first real winter on the canal, in March 2018 when “The Beast from the East” stopped us in our tracks

Hoping we’ve had had our quota of being frozen in already this year, and i suspect Jules feels the same.

The Paddington Arm

Our journey continued up the Grand Union main line just another 2 miles until we reached Bulls Bridge Junction, conveniently site of a huge Tesco, close enough to wheel a loaded trolley back to the boat. So I took advantage and stocked up on the heavier store cupboard necessities (eg, bottles of wine and cans of beer), whilst Eric filled up Firecrest with water.

It could have been such a pretty bridge if the graffiti vandals hadn’t wanted to make their mark.

But we were pleasantly surprised by how nice the canal is along here.

Yes there’s a lot of residential mooring off side, but also long rural stretches, which we hadn’t expected already being within the boundarys of greater London (the first section of the GU roughly follows the southern and western edges of Ealing) and the first section of the paddington arm, skirts south of Northolt.

And we found ourselves a peaceful overnight home in Paradise Fields, at Horsenden

We were within walking distance of the Brompton folding bike factory, but they were still following covid distancing guidelines, so weren’t running their usual tours. Just as well as we had a long day ahead of us so needed a prompt start to the day. We had been warned by many that “London would be double moored for mile after mile after mile, but we were pleased to find that we continued seeing places to moor for a few more miles. Although the duckweed and rubbish was becoming an annoying feature.

The debris thrown in along the canal is hard to ignor, but the Stowe Youth Club has created a fabulous mural

And it was only when we looked closer we realised it was made up of rubbish pulled from the canal

We are always heartened to see the enterprising art works along the canal,

But our views were about to change dramatically as we passed through Little Venice and the blue bridge marking the start of the paddington basin

Training in Chester

We made good use of our stay in Chester, so much to see and do, all within easy walking distance. The Cathedral was playing host to a model railway display which proved a big draw, not so much the layout of the track but how the circuitry behind the scenes enabled the movement of the trains around it. The track was built by the music producer Pete Waterman, and he was on hand to chat very knowledgably about the set up.

Whilst Eric was chatting to Pete and the engineers I wandered around the beautiful building and came across a scale model of the Cathedral being built out of Lego

For a fundraising pound I could purchase a brick and add it to the structure. My dad would have been proud of me, for he was a builder and back in the 70’s our family spent a couple of years abroad whilst he built a church. He’ll be looking down from heaven laughing cause I’ve now helped build a cathedral.

I’m not sure the 12th century stone masons would appreciate my efforts as much as I appreciate theirs. I took full advantage of being moored 5 minutes walk from such a magnificent building, and the choristers were just back from their summer break. Like many people, we haven’t been able to worship inside a church for so long, that it was a very emotional moment when the bells rang out on the Sunday morning and we were able to attend the service. Ironically the last time we were in a church was in February 2020 when we went to Liverpool cathedral. The Cathedral isn’t the only place in Chester to offer spiritual sanctuary. The StoryHouse is a theatre, library and creative communal. Well worth a visit if you’d had your fill of old buildings.

Chester is the end of the line on Mersey rail system so I hopped across the water and met up with my Aunty, we had lunch in the John Lewis restaurant where I could just about look onto the waterfront where we spent 8 months last year.

Looking over the Liverpool link canal and the Mersey

On the way to the station I came across a full size gable end mural celebrating Chester’s Brook street heritage. In the 1980s regeneration replaced demolition for these simple streets that belonged to the working classes, and ten years ago this mural was commissioned to celebrate this vibrant community. Its worth leaving the grandeur of the city centre to stand and stare, and if you’re lucky to chat to someone who knows the stories.

Chester train station has good connections so I also took advantage of being able to get up to the Lake District to see Mum, it was the Westmoreland County show week and the weather was good so we had a lovely few days together.

The train journey back to firecrest was amusing, I felt very underdressed in my comfortable shoes and snug fleece, I thought there must be a business conference going on, but then I realised the women were all in heels and hats. Of course it was race day. It wasn’t the trains going round a circular track but the horses. Part of me would love to go, but if I started drinking champagne at 11am, I’d be asleep before the first race.

Hanging around

As I’ve already said, there’s just so much to see in Liverpool, 8 months isn’t nearly long enough. I took full advantage of my daily outdoor exercise to explore. So here are a few of the people I met hanging around, watching the world go by . Obviously there’s the 4 lads from Liverpool strutting their stuff on the Pierhead. And if you’ve got the Beatles, you’ve also got to have “our Cilla” on Matthews Street.

where there’s always someone hanging around keeping the buskers in tune.

There are Beatles monuments everywhere, And several more representing their individual achievements The John Lennon Peace Monument which was part of a global peace campaign shows a world wrapped up in music and peace doves, just imagine….

Not all the sculptures are so modern with these wooden gargoyles keeping an eye on us in Dale Street

This is what happens if you hang around pubs too much

But I can give these guys a miss, the Lambananas. 125 of them appeared since 2008. As part of the European City of Culture, the 5m high original Superlambanana ( which has now been removed) was created to represent both the import and export of Sheep and bananas through Liverpool Docks and to highlight genetic manipulation. A lot of the 125 were sold off but there are 8 still scattered around the Pierhead

The Pierhead is quite a walk through history, remembering the rock stars

The workers, including the horses that hauled the cargo around the docks

The regal,

And the innovative, this sculpture celebrates liverpudlian Jeremiah Horrock’s, astronomical discoveries, he was the first person to calculate the transit of Venus accurately, not bad for the early 17th century

The departing, commemorates emigrants leaving to start new lives in America, (I wonder if we will be worthy of a monument, narrowboaters finally allowed to leave liverpool)

The departed, Liverpool bares the pain of loosing many at sea, this particular monument remembers the engine room crew of the Titanic, many came from Liverpool.

The hero’s. Captain Frank Walker, who was the most successful anti submarine warfare commander serving in both WW1 and WWII

And the fallen, although these three monuments aren’t objects of beauty, they mark a communal place of rememberance , they hold plaques honouring the servicemen and women from various countries and services connected with Liverpool, who lost their lives at sea in times of conflict

The Tate Modern North has it’s home in the Royal Albert Dock, and there are installations outside as well as in. The art works certainly fall into the sculpture rather than monument category and I shall leave to ponder their significance.

This one grew on me, especially with a winter sunset to light it up

Although I think the buildings themselves are testaments to an era gone but not forgotten as the Royal Albert Dock is a grade 1 listed heritage site,

and there are strategically placed artifacts and abandoned industrial and maritime debris scattered around to marvel at.

I was a little saddened not to see any figurative monument directly outside the maritime museum, (which houses the museum of slavery,) remembering the transatlantic slave trade, that clouded Liverpool’s 18th century. But across the Strand is a magnificent horse sculpture called The Great Escape, the horse made out of rope, which unravels in a bid for freedom, it is meant to represent man’s effort to free himself from slavery. It’s a bit off the beaten track, (unless you’re walking to the Tesco express for icecream)

The monuments in the city centre continued to be thought provoking though for many reasons
Eleanor Rigby sits all alone on Stanley Street

Whilst one of Lewis’ stands proud over his department store. (which is sadly now closed, along side George Henry Lee’s and TJHughes about to follow suit-for those of you who remember the big old stores)

Liverpool is a mighty and grand city which liked to erect monuments to the great and the good of the victorian era. Although they are the ones I tend to hurry past without recognition, I’ve had the time to read up more about these people and the service they gave to our country.

Many just followed questionable orders out of loyalty and obligation, while others sacrificed much and build a city of extremes. Extreme poverty and wealth success and destruction, nothing can be taken at face value, there is always more than one side to the story. But throughout I get an immense sense of humanity.

As the Bombed out Church, St Luke’s, is preserved to remind us. The sculpture reminds us of the British and German soldiers, who were allowed to stop fighting on Christmas day so they could play football during WW1

As does one of the most beloved liverpudlian of all.

And you can’t beat a bit of well meaning graffiti

Even if there’s always a Liver bird watching over you

This replica stands over the canal in the Museum of Liverpool

But we knew it was coming to a end and it was time to pack up our suitcases and move on

A Tall Story

Sheffield is known for its creativity and in the 60s the University built the iconic Arts Tower, which is still the tallest academic building in the UK. I’d have loved to have gone to the top to look down but we joined the students in Weston gardens looking up.

It seems like Sheffield has a love of tall art, we came across this wall mural called “The Snog” by Pete McKee

And even more impressive was the “Steelworker” by Paul Waplington. It uses 18 different types of brick 30000 in total and 5 different mortars.

Sheffield is rightly proud of its Steel industry although sadly it’s on its last legs now. Regardless of my political leanings I feel quite strongly about this, as I expect these sheffield women of steel would also.

But they do have some funny ideas of what we like to see in our public art. This is known as the spiders web bridge, crossing the River Don under one of the Wicker Arches

It’s actually a very clever suspension bridge that takes it’s inspiration from nature and the cables are attached to the sides of the old brick archway

I made if safely across in both directions so I could go and explore some more.