209. A day in the life of a fuel boat on the UK canals
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- čas přidán 21. 02. 2020
- #narrowboat #narrowboats #canal #canals #liveaboard #cruisingthecut
A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of spending a day aboard the fuel boat and butty of "Jules Fuels" on the Grand Union canal. The day started - early! - with loading of supplies and then off we went to deliver to customers south of Milton Keynes.
Jules Fuels' website: julesfuels.co.uk/
Other fuel boats are available, see the list at www.lock13.co.uk/
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Theme music: "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Alena, from the CZcams music library
Thank you for making such an well produced, accurate depiction of the job. You've really captured what it's all about! It's so impressive to see it reach over a million views and such an interest from all over the world! We're still continually recognized as 'the fuel boat from cruising the cut'!
Cheers Andrew. I knew it would be a popular video but I had no inkling it would take off as it has - my most popular video by far. Also, thank you for chipping in with answers to some of the comments, really appreciated.
It's a really lovely presentation of the life they have, and the heritage they are preserving by doing it this way. It deserves every single view!
Quite a video.. The one thing I noticed is the sign of "om".. sign by hindu religion.
Fantastic video!
@@CruisingTheCut Just found your channel and subscribed - Can I make suggestion - for those of us in the US - can you point out on a map where you are occasionally - I do like to find places where you are on google maps. If there is a photo sphere or a blue walk like - I like to take a virtual walk around where you are at. I just find it fascinating
I had no idea a lifestyle like this even existed. It's fascinating
Here in the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands there are people living on old cargo ships. Although there is more than plenty of modern-life stuff on board, they still need to get diesel fuel, wood for the heater, and LPG for the furnace. Especially getting the LPG is a bit tricky.. but it works! It's a nice and fun lifestyle!
Right? I found this guy a few years ago and I absolutely love the idea of living on the canals! I’m in the US though so it’s a pipe dream really.
Sebastian Thor people live on a space station.... what’s your point
I live just opposite one of this canals in London , regents canal , yup there are around 15 residential old boats just outside , yup , but when live near theme it just become normal , we don’t event notice theme , it just like any other house near by 😊😊😊,
@@mcgoo721 ummm.. you can live on a narrow boat in the US too if you want 👍👍😁😁
All they need is music like ice cream trucks have so boats know they are in the area and can hail them down to get supplies
Ha! It so makes me chuckle to see our lives shown on my screen. I’ve been on the cut for 20 years and I’ll probably be here till my end. Im lying in bed freezing right now but i wouldnt swap it for anything. 🥳
As an American who has not yet had the pleasure of seeing the UK in person, this seems like a perfect life. The canals are so beautiful and calming. You, sir, have a new subscriber. Thank you for these videos!
Wow This blew me away. Back in the early to mid 70's I worked on narrowboat Towcester. Back then she was owned by Tam and Di Murrell based at Bulls Bridge in Hayes. Back then she was teamed up with the butty Bude and we were carrying barrels of lime juice pulp from Brentord dock to Boxmoor near Hemel Hempstead on the Grand Union. I remember that we did 2 trips a week delivering around 100 tons. It took around 12.5 hours to go up loaded and then around 10 hours back down empty to Brentord. Loading and unlading at each end took around 2.5 hours as I remember it. I worked with Tam and his son Jason. I beleive I am correct that Tam and Di live in France but I dont know about Jason. Thank you for tha amazing trip down memory lane.
THANKS FOR SHARING THIS INFORMATION. I've read the classic working narrowboat books (the best known ones, anyway.) Glad to collect your recollections!
Wow! What a great tale. Thank you for commenting :-)
@@jamesellsworth9673 Thanks James. It still feels like yesterday
Fascinating. Call me strange but I liked the sound of their engine chug chugging. The drone shots are outstanding, what a pretty picture. Thanks David, well done.
Not strange at all!
Nothing strange, I’m sure 99% of narrow boaters wish they had it. The main issue with it is it can be annoying to maintain as well as annoying little things such as hand cranks like this
That is the best boat motor sound there is. I think there are a few single cylinder boats still running.
Simon Phillips
2 weeks ago
Richard and Jules have now indeed retired and their run has been taken over by Nick and Mary, so the answer is yes the beautiful working boats continue to serve us boaters regularly
For the Americans watching and wondering what in the world Jules meant by "driving an artic", she meant an articulated truck. What we call a semi. Took me awhile to google that one.....
nice! I forgot that I didn't understand what she said, and then you answered a question I didn't even know I was asking. You rock:}
It blew me away how trusting people are across the 'pond.' The wife and I went to Ireland a few years back and stopped at a remote cafe. They only accepted cash and we only had cards. The owner said to no worry about it and to just stop at the next town up and leave them cash at the post office to pick up!
Latin America is the same what you describe is called fiar in spanish.
Hill country in the US is the same way. When I say hill country I mean Ouachitas mountains, Ozarks, Appalachia.
You kidding me? My experience in the UK was everything is designed as if everyone is a criminal, and people are very weary. Yes I only visited cities.
Speaking as a Brit, I'm a bit out of touch so I can't give specifics, but I can still say it very much depends where you go. In very general terms, the folk in quiet villages are likely to be nicer, but it will vary. If the village is a tourist trap there's a chance they'll be sharper, but not always. In towns, it honestly may depend on the neighborhood, and you can't really go by how the neighborhood looks. Speaking of neighborhoods, did you notice where the video said the people "along this stretch of the canal" pay reliably? That implies some boaters don't, and perhaps wouldn't be trusted so much.
This does not happen in cities anywhere only out in the country sides
One of your nicest. I think you really liked them. You truly captured an emotion, a reason, an essence and a sense of heritage and purpose. An object lesson in good broadcast journalism.
Hear! Hear! very well put.
In Dutch we call this a "parlevinker". Where I come from (Breukelen Provincie Utrecht NL) there was also a parlevinker selling oil, shoes,, boots, brushes etc to other cargoships passing by through the Amsterdamrijnkanaal. I am familiar with the sound of the engine. You could hear this sound day and night. Nowadays there are no parlevinkers anymore. In Beneden Leeuwen there was a waterboot /waterboat.
I just love the sound of the Lister engine. That will never be repeated in the history books. Just to old fashion for a many young minds. VF
"like the enterprise undocking the saucer section" neeeerd (i kid i'm a huge nerd too)
I'm glad someone liked that ;-)
We are out here on the rim.
Great video, David. I enjoy seeing the "nuts & bolts" of life on the canal and would encourage you to do more 'informational' videos of this ilk.
Cheers, I do them when I can!
I’ve watched many of your videos (quietly in the background) and this is by far the best, no flamboyance or fanfare. Just an honest person reporting about honest people going about their daily lives on the cut, well done it was a pleasure to watch.
I actually forgot I was watching a youtube video and thought it was a BBC program, so well made, and so interesting, thank you...
This is one of the best vlogs you have done. Beautifully filmed, and what an admirable pair of good people!
Great repotage episode again! This is truly what puts your channel a notch above the other canal/narrowboat channels, David; Your background in regional news TV. You have a flair for production that does shine through on your regular vlogs, but on repotage pieces like this, you're downright untouchable. This would have been a great piece on the BBC, that's how good it is. Thumbs up duly given!
I agree. Noone could gave said it better! Thanks for saying my thoughts!!
used to get my winter fuel twice a year when I had Excalibur 6668 at Wolvercote (Oxford Canal). I lived in it from 1993 - 1998 I miss the life, but had to leave due to health issues. Glad I helped to rebuild Woolhampton Lock (Kennet and Avon) as I got the chance to use it three time
My Dad was a diesel fitter who built the Lister engines you hear and see in this film. I live next to the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes where this excellent film was made. Whenever I hear the sound of a Lister I think of my Dad. He would have been proud that his work was still performing as well as when he finished it. Thanks for such an evocative film. I am always pleased to see the Jules Fuel boats when cycling and walking alongside the canal to remind me of a time when the canals were full of narrow boats such as these playing a vital part in transporting goods to the nation. Their contribution to the war effort was as vital as those at the front and, yes, they too had casualties.
The sound reminds me a bit of the old single cylinder stationary gas engines a mainstay of farms here in the US in the time between only steam power ,and gas/fuel tractors and electricity .. the little ones ,there were some monster big versions made ..
@@richardsolberg4047 What did they typically run?
@@richardsolberg4047 They existed in the UK also (pump water, milking machine, etc.) There's people who still collect/renovate them. At vintage vehicle events there's often groups of men turn up with their well polished little machines which still run. Can't really see the attraction of something that just sits there and goes 'phttt' every 5 seconds.
@@nevillemason6791
As long as both the engines and the men keep going "Futt"....
that's all we can ask....
that additive he put in the diesel is Good Customer Service.
Thank You David. This was a little jewel of a video! For me this was one of your best. Leave it to you to come up with a different angle on narrowboating.I think you covered all the aspects of what a fuel boat is all about. Stem to stern as it were. Such hardworking, genuinely nice people. Everything is big business nowadays. It was nostalgic to see a small family operation still going. Thank you again David.
I love the dialogue. Relaxing and interesting. I also think the old boats are super cool and I'm glad Ms. Jules kept them moving.
I had no intentions of watching this, yet couldn't turn it off - absolutely beautiful. Credit to everybody involved.
Such a different world from ours! Interesting look into an alternative live/work style. Thanks for the great story.
I truly hope one day you’ll be able to pop over here and have a go, my boat is always ready for you! C’mon, you can’t let the RV Geeks have all the fun 😂
Beautifully done, David! It brought tears to my eyes several times, especially the starting of the vintage engine, the brief scene where Jules and her partner are sharing a smile and conversation at the back of the boats. They so clearly like one another and work smoothly, with pride and care, having done this work for years. I'm so impressed with how detailed you filmed and captured a way of life that means so much to so many on the canals too. Lastly, the drone footage was marvelously important for giving a wholely rounded view of the piece. Kudos to you, Sir. Very well done!
I agree. The attention to detail in this video is wonderful and the drone shots give a perspective as to the boat handling skills that are necessary. Well done.
'Tranquility' is what comes to mind when watching this calming glimpse into how an old (but still functional) bit of British infrastructure is used.
Notice how Carefully the Additive and the Fuel are Poured into the Buddy, Over the waterway just Brilliant
The drone shots really give the video a professional look, and look amazing.
I'm in Canada, and it just boggles my mind, that people would thumb down an honest, informative video about life in another part of the world.
Love the sound of the old diesel engine ticking over, something peaceful about that. Thankyou for this, Bob New Zealand.
That has been the best 22 minutes of my week. may they thrive in these troubled times. Fantastic.
This may be the most British thing I’ve seen on CZcams
No: the tea has not been consumed. 😆
Why did the dude say cheerios ?
@@gaming0rhino It's a common British farewell. There's no S. When I was little, I was really puzzled by the cereal brand. 😉
just brilliant this is what a vlog should be , one of your best episodes shows true life on the cut , bloody well done
Can't even describe how ... therapeutic? ... this was to watch. Really enjoyed seeing this side of life!
I never searched for this, I never asked for it, It's not even something I would think of watching. It just popped up after another video, but man I am so glad it did. What a fascinating video. Very informative and entertaining. I guess this is another subject I will be watching, googling and reading on now :)
Thank you, plenty more on this channel 😀
This is youtube at its best: informational, entertaining, relaxing and well produced.
If you also happen to like boats, history, and their combination - and are also interested in these canals from afar, this kind of video - and really this video in particular - is one of the best things you can come across on this medium!
This could have been on an episode of TLC or something!
I, worked for many years with a Phoenix Firefighter with the same last name, his name was Ken Pfalzgraf.
I watched the full thing before I realised you actually live and travel on a canal boat yourself and this is your blog
I genuinely thought this had to be a documentary by Channel 4, it's all incredibly professional, and you're an amazing narrator
Thank you :-)
If I’m not mistaken that’s not far off from what his career was back on dry land
@@MrSheckstr Yup. Regional news for ITV. Down in Kent, if memory serves.
Richard is very strong and sure footed! I'm envious of both their skills.
your narration is so good, i thought this was a documentary that had previously aired on discovery channel or something like that! subbed!
Thank you
This is an exceptionally beautiful film and a wonderful story. Well done indeed. A lot of hard work, good editing and skilled flying involved!
Watching from rural northern Nevada in the US. 22 minutes on the internet well spent. This was a window into a world and a way of life that I did not even know existed. Thankyou so much for the job well done on this video.
Thanks for watching!
This narrator is absolutely excellent. Such vivid descriptions and then just out of no where refences. The dude literally makes a detaching the saucer Star Trek reference.
Thank you 😀👍
Loving the hand cranked diesel engine.
Another epic David Johns production. A wonderful film and piece of social history.
So much a huge Bravo is required. ..ace!!!
Two other thoughts however fought for space in my mind as I watched this.
First my brain was nurdled by trying to calculate how many crew the BBC would allocate to film this and the scale of the production cost including transport, accommodation and "beer fund"..and yet you did it all singld handed and powered only by cheese sandwiches!
Brilliant.
The second thought comes from a quote by the famous director Ron Howard, when filming Appollo 13..
NASA management warned him that history would judge his film as a true record of, "How it was done".
So David, as you film in Ron Howard's wake, I applaud you in making this contemporary record of real life. History will trust your record, no doubt well into the next century.
The burden of the creative director must weigh heavy!😊
A true epic of the Tube. This is why you are King Canal Tuber.
Beautiful craft..lovely cinematography ..excellent editing..stylish modern commentary...like a lion ready to pounce on a gazelle...yeah!
Ta...just great.
Thank you :-)
@@CruisingTheCut I am loving it! BZ !
The drones really add to the videos. What an interesting & informing & entertaining video - thoroughly enjoyed it.
I always told my friends and family that I was born in the wrong decade, seeing as how I love the cars of the 60's. After watching your videos, I am beginning to think I was also born in the wrong country. Your boats and canals are so intriguing to me. Working a job like this would be amazing.
I eagerly await your sequels "Boatraker," "For Your Mooring Only," and "Cruise Another Day."
And The Man With The Golden Gunwale?
What a great episode !
A life on the river is life lived at nature's pace. What a life.
I hope this tradition continues
David, I just love when you do videos like this. Life on the canals, we here in New England have no idea what that would be like. I wish more people would keep those types of traditions alive. Well done my friend, have a great weekend.
I stumbled on this video about 2weeks ago. Now I'm hooked!! I've been watching every night for hours now I'm on episode 208. You do an amazing job and just want to thankyou. I'm from u s a and never knew these boats or the canals existed. I'm 49 and now have told my wife instead of buying an RV to live in in a few years we are coming over and buying a narrow boat!!! Thankyou again.
I’m fascinated with this being your most viewed video.
I kind of understand.
I’m just so glad that you have captured this business on video.
This is one of those videos that people will show in 50 - 100 years to show the continuing working history of canals in the UK.
It’s just a great video all around. Fascinating, well researched and with brilliant narration.
It’s narration that can make or break a video. The camera work could be the best you’ve ever seen, but If the narration is all over the place , it’s painful to watch. You sir have it ALL worked out.
Simply wonderful.
Thank you 😊
This is a great system that works well because of the trust that the people have of each other.
What a team. Great. The way they steer their boats is just art. Beautifully filmed.
I dont know why I am watching this but definitely better than netflix.
Thank you
You can always watch this on Amazon Prime!
Beautiful story and a very loving couple. The scene here is so peaceful and natural. The life here seems unspoilt. Hope this loving couple will have a long way to go. All the best to them and peace be with them.
The sound of those old engines, it's just the bees knees.
David! You have outdone yourself what a lovely insight to people making a living along the canals. With cinematic shots to accompany the wel edited story. Thank you, Jules and Richard, for letting David document this unique lifestyle! Cheers from Holland
This is the most British thing I've ever seen, thank you CZcams.
I had typed that exact comment up till i saw yours mate.
My last trip to the UK, we saw several rivers and canals, lotta narrow boats, interesting concept to travel and live. I'm in... Almost like traveling in a motorhome. Great job Jules is doing... Cheers...
Thanks for the video, I would say everytime I feel a tad stressed with life I will be replying this video, it was an absolute bloody joy watching this 👍💥
😀😀
There is so much peace and romance in this kind of lifestyle.
Wonderful.These vlogs should be prescribed on the NHS to lower high blood pressure.so relaxing.
As an American, i love classic British culture. grew up watching top gear and i genuinely do like the quaintness of river boating and the classic countryside feel to alot of things over there. i still find it hard to wrap my mind around just how many people are on those islands. loved the video though, gave me that classic top gear feeling of the old top gear with Tiff Needell, Clarkson and Vicki. pleasant and relaxing to watch. 👍
I've watched this a few times since it first uploaded and it never gets old. Welldone everyone.
The fact that the YT algorithm has seen fit offer up such a fascinating vid and channel in times like this is a tender mercy
Good Afternoon David. I have been watching your channel since you started it and I have to say that of all of the piece videos you have done, this is the best one yet. I really enjoyed watching it and learned also. What a win win. Thank you and safe travels.
I agree. This is a terrific one, and I bet it brought back memories of your ITV days. You really have a talent for short-form video.
Though I doubt that I will develop a prolonged interest in narrowboating I must say that I much appreciate the work that must have gone in presenting this tradition in such a polished way. From the clean audio of the narration and ambient sounds, to the clear visuals and lovely drone views it's been a pleasure to enjoy this look at a totally different lifestyle.
Thank you
I hope their business will continue to be successful . They seem to be an amazing couple.
Now onsold to another couple....
@JohnSmith-yv6eq it's still jules fuels, still run by Jules and Richard, although they've passed their regular run onto Nick and Mary. Jules fuels runs three sets of boats along the whole of the grand junction. Jules and Richard are still out regularly boating through, helping out when there are stoppages or covering for a while.
Beautifully done! A simple but pleasing story, delightfully filmed and you got the subjects to tell their own story. The aerial shots were icing on the cake. Never before have dirty bags of coal been so interesting...
Really one of your best. Thank you for opening up a whole new world for me.
I wholeheartedly agree. Good length that keeps the pace moving, but enough commentary to bring the uninitiated along for the ride.
What a life. As someone that lives in America, and grew up partially on the Mighty Mississippi, which is about as wide as that canal is long (exaggeration, just a bit), I love this calm, small boat life I get to see in your videos.
There are approx 4,700 miles of canals in the UK.
CZcams just suggested that I could watch this video yet again and I thought.... why not!! 🙂
😀
Awesome video. I can imagine this film being used 100 years in the future to teach kids about life on the canals. This channel is so relaxing.
Peter Dunlop I fully agree! David did such a superb job with this video.
The CZcams algorithm: Giving you exactly what you didn’t know you wanted
Just happened to me yesterday. My Mom & I are really enjoying his channel.😊
Couldn't agree more, an excellent suprise on a cold windy day👍
What an interesting video, and very satisfying to watch. Love the old school boats and the simple ways of doing things. I Think one of my favorite parts of watching these narrow boat videos is the slow and unrushed way of life. In a world that is becoming faster and faster paced, it is refreshing to see these people living a slow and unhurried way of life. I so wish I could do this.
Watching this makes me incredibly jealous of the lives these people get to live. Looks so peaceful and free.
Beautiful, beautiful video! You have an amazing talent for detail and DEDICATION for capturing the details and feel! everything is top notch, from camera work to narration! can't even explain how much i enjoy it! many thanks and greetings from a Croat in Netherlands!
Love the drone footage! Great story.
Used to rely on this lovely and timely annual delivery to my wee boat at Bulls Bridge. WARM!
I live in Australia but was originally born in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). Living on a narrow boat has been a dream of mine for some time. I hope to, after retirement, move back to Europe and buy myself a narrow boat to live on. Such an appealing life style to me.
Thank you for showing us a different way of life.
Fascinating and well made vlog. SUBSCRIBED!
Both my wife of 30+ years and I have lived almost our entire lives within a few miles of New York State's Erie Canal. The past 25 years, less than a mile.
We looked at buying a canal-side home that had been an inn, including a "muleskinners'' lodge. Mule stables on the ground floor with bunk rooms above.
A shallow "wide waters" is nearby where boats would winter over when the canal is drained.
Many stories of canal folks being a rowdy lot.
My mother-in-laws' grandfather was the canal lock master in Macedon who loaded her aboard a stranger's packet boat for transport to the Lockport locks, where her father worked and retrieved her. About 90 miles. My wife still has relatives in both the Macedon and Lockport regions.
The Erie Canal, with the Great Lakes, provides vessel traffic from the interior of the US, even the Gulf of Mexico, to NY City harbor and beyond. The Erie Canal opened up the US interior for expansion, it made NY the "Empire State" and NYC the metropolis it is. There is still some commercial traffic and large structures moved on the canal.
Canal boats are available for day trips and long term rentals. Locks and lift bridges are manned.
Happy boating folks.
Sorta dirty side note: Our newest elementary school is named "Canal View". On opening day some wiseguy had covered the letter C with a black plastic bag.
I often find it fascinating how people earn their living, and that was one incredible story and so well told. Many thanks for bringing this to us.
David, it is also very gratifying to see people making a living on the Canals, working yes however they are living the life they enjoy on their boat. Tahks ever so much for bring this to light for all of us to see and enjoy
“Like the Enterprise detaching the saucer section.” Have I told you lately Cruising The Cut how much I love you...
Is it wrong that I want to see David channeling his inner Patrick Stewart while sitting in his chair on some of these vids?
"Tea! Not Earl Grey! Hot! And a scone..."
Fantastic video, big thumbs up 👍 Great insight to how those of us that live on the canal get our supplies, and that boats do indeed still work.
We are indebted to the service the fuel boats provide up and down the canal system. Life for us would be difficult without them.
Beautiful example of things that are built to last. I loved looking at not only the boats but the canal itself. Both things that were built long ago to last to as close to forever as possible. Much nicer than todays planned obsolescence based garbage. Compared to that these bits of history should be preserved as functional art if nothing else.
The lifestyle is very appealing in its quiet simplicity. Today life has become so noisy and complex with its so-called improvements that, knowing these lifestyles still exist is not only heart warming but relaxing, and smile inducing to peek in on. Thanks for your video. Cheers!
Watched this a few times and never gets old as i love the old comedy movie THE BARGEE 1964 with a great British cast to boot.
Really enjoyed this one, it may be one of your best !
This was a delightful watch. The overwhelming focus these days are on narrowboats used for leisure/residence so it's great to see them used as work boats like in 'the old days.' Thanks for sharing!
I know absolutely zero about these boats. Well, I know nothing about any boat but I really enjoy watching the uploads 🤘🤘
A fascinating film and just draws the viewer in. So impressive to see the skill, dedication and quiet dignity of the people providing this vital service day in, day out.
Thanks David, I really enjoy all your videos but this especially. A good insight into a working boaters life and nice to see the customers having a word too.
Thank you David another excellent video and one of your best, if I may say so.
I want, no need, a Jule's Fuels t-shirt or some other sort of merch!
Well I didn't know this was a thing but I sure did enjoy watching it.