189. Tight squeezes and a sheep drama, on the Trent & Mersey canal
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2019
- #narrowboat #narrowboats #canal #canals #liveaboard #cruisingthecut
In this episode, I set off from Handsacre and squeeze through the tiny narrow section just after the town where it's only just wide enough for one boat and you can't see if anyone's coming the other way...
Then I went through Rugeley, which was very busy and moored near Weston, waking up to an emergency involving a sheep. Yes, really.
Start location: goo.gl/maps/6RiwQKCA4EZnc3vBA
Sheep field mooring: goo.gl/maps/SdWpR4Mpsyrw9tnv6
End location: goo.gl/maps/pTfTvk2tYycidBzb8
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Theme music: "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Alena, from the CZcams music library
"A swarm of little birds." It's amazing what can draw your interest when life slows down to a few miles per hour. I'm envious.
I don't know how you'll take this mate but I feel it is a compliment. I gave been struggling to fight depression for a long, long time now. I spend prolonged periods of time feeling paralysed, without the energy to do anything. I have watched so many of your films, find watching them allows me to focus on something rather than becoming anxious about matters and your narration is pleasant to the ear. Thank you for producing and uploading them!
It is very much a compliment and thank you. I'm truly pleased the videos bring you some cheer, especially given what a heavy weight depression can be. I hope you can continue to find other sources of pleasure, however momentary and whether on CZcams or elsewhere to help you as well.
CruisingTheCut Thank you so much for your kind words. After feeling stalled for a long time, I now sense that I can make progress with this and am optimistic that a breakthrough will come soon. I am struggling with my sleep pattern and energy levels but there is a social/ support group tonight (Tuesday) which I hope and look forward to attending.
I have yet to watch all of your films. Some years ago, I lived in Huddersfield and often walked from the town centre to Marsden along the Huddersfield narrow canal. The scenery was spectacular with the Pennine hills lining the route and some beautiful Victorian industrial architecture. I agreed with you when you once said words to the effect that many canal side industrial buildings are not pleasing on the eye but the dark, satanic mills of the Colne valley are something else.
Have you ever cruised this canal? Perhaps you have made a film while doing so or have plans to?
I haven't done that one yet but I will be going along the Macclesfield canal this year, which is as close as I'll get for the moment to the Huddersfield.
"This... is... not... entirely... helpful..." You, sir, have a talent for understatement! LOL
I see a new upload, I click like, living the simple life.
Bridge 72 A is one of the most beautiful bridges over any canal that I have seen.
This fanatic of Cruising the cut we want more videos 😁👍🛳 greetings from Argentina.
Somos dos !
Delightfully dry dialogue with a whisper of nuance, most enjoyable.
Thats exactly why we all like him. Only a few vlogs left and I've seen them all.
Reminds of of those British kid shows, like SHAUN THE SHEEP.. the narrator, my kids used to watch those shows on Netflix.
Given the election trauma we are experiencing here in the states, the sheep drama brought a smile to my face. Nice diversion! Thank you
So, we did not get a glimpse of those large and beautiful mansions, nor even a bit of video of the swimming sheep. Yet you managed to make everyone happy with the views on this trip anyway. Only Sir David Johns could pull that off with such masterful dialogue and precision piloting ! 😎👍
I think you have the right idea about cruising out of the high season, much more relaxed and less crowded.
I spouse that poor animal felt a little sheepish 🐑🐑😕 shart rabbit (🐰) on. Keep up the good work and good times
Nice cruise today!!
On you next trip up the Trent & Mersey Canal you maybe interested in a few local details near to Shugborough and Great Haywood. At Great Haywood there is a pack horse bridge spanning the River Trent, which at this location passes alongside the Trent & Mersey. The bridge was built by the Earl of Essex to enable Queen Elizabeth I to pass safely over the River Trent. The bridge is locally known as the Essex Bridge. The Essex Bridge is situated at a point where the Rivers Trent and Sow meet. A culvert additionally meets here. LORD OF THE RINGS author JRR Tolkein undertook training at nearby Brocton whilst serving with the British Army during service with the Lancashire Fusilers in World War 1. It is believed that the Essex Bridge was the inspiration for a bridge in one of his Middle Earth books. It is also worth noting that with the Earl of Essex also owning land locally, there is a strong connection with Mary, Queen of Scots, as she was detained at a couple of nearby locations.
In the field with the narrow boat there was a Showman's trailer, these would be custom made for fair and circus people. A coach building company in the Forest of Dean called Nash & Morgan if I remember correctly, the customer would supply the chassis usually made up of second hand truck axles and a new frame. They were really well made with fitted kitchens, leaded windows, soled fuel stove etc.
They built a builder trailer for me and it was so well made, I sold it for more than I paid 3 years later.
This has to be the best way to see your fair country. Slow but steady pace, enjoying ever second. And that tiny narrowboat, what a looker!
Beautiful England! We don't know what we're missing. Thank you for showing us.
Hello David,
In the last two weeks, I have watched every single video you have produced since you have bought your narrow boat. I can say you have single handedly made me realize that owning my own narrow boat has all but been decided. I live in Canada and recently obtained my British citizenship but have been struggling to find a way to actually move to Britain without having to buy a property full stop with cash due to bank lending issues with not being a resident of the UK. Narrow boats seem to be the answer. Seeing your vlogs has opened my eyes to my predicament. I appreciate your humour and in depth commentaries on everything from boat lay outs to battery functionality. I never thought such mundane topics could be so interesting. Anyway, thank you for posting your blogs, they have truly inspired me to live out my dreams of living in the UK.
cheers
Mark
Good luck with your search!
How fun, and a bit scary too. That narrow stretch was as you said.... very narrow. You have really got to have your act together to put that long of a boat thru the tight bridge. Very impressed with your navigation skills. Here in the states, we have a few canals but nothing even close to your network. I really enjoyed this one, must be from the nail-biting, teeth grinding, harrowing maneuvers you undertook. Thank You again, From Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Too funny. I do exactly the same when looking for a mooring. Then I curse myself when I realise that I should have stopped at the original mooring. That said, at just 24ft I can easily turn my boat around on the canal and go back.
I'm so excited I have discovered you lovely narrow boaters...I especially like your videos.
A very relaxing trip, seen on a Sunday morning when the TV was wall-to-wall Brexit. Yet another example of why David's offerings are head, shoulders and other body parts above all of the others.
Cheers!
Ta dahhh! We just finished binge-watching all of your vlogs. Thanks for the such a *great* ride and cheers from Canada, eh.
Just before the turn at Great Haywood I spotted the rather smart looking Autarky in your video.Two years ago I was astonished to be told by its owner that although its cabin top is relatively new, its hull dates from September 1899. He also told me that it sports a single cylinder engine of which over 10,000 were made but now: “no one can find one.” I replied: “Someone must have been very good at hiding them…
Stephen
Wonderful as always.
Thanks for numbering your vlogs! It makes it easy to keep track of them in order.
I wonder why people down vote these videos. Shame really as they are very easy watching.
Because some people are just that way....
There is 29000 views and 17 downvotes. So I would guess that the majority of those are mistakes. Cuz I don't think the type of person that would downvote this video would even bother watching it in the first place.
I've often wondered that as well, they are very well edited, a nice easy relaxing look at canal life.
It's obvious what the channel is about, no need for a down vote.
This is super cool, me and my buddies took a trip to London last year and a river cruise from around the zoo (forget which area, camden sees to ring a bell but idk) to i believe little italy, was included with the london pass. We had the whole boat to ourselves, as we got on from the zoo area, and we passed probably 60+ of these type of boats/homes. The wife of the guy driving the boat offered to give the four of us the regular tour experience as if we were coming from little italy (they only do the regular tour going from little italy to the zoo area) but my unclutured friends respectfully declined lol. The lifestyle of the people who lived on the boats we passed really intrigued me even as a 22 yo.
Your videos are very relaxing. After my day made me angry, your video made me smile and just relax and let go of all of anger....
Riding with you is peaceful and beautiful scenery 👍👍👍👍. It’s always nice to see other boats and houses along the canal.
Enjoy all your vlogs but now that I've watched them all I find it frustrating to have to wait until new ones are posted! You do a great job and we appreciate your work.
Grateful for the sheep rescue. The wallpaper on my tablet is a meadow of sheep safely grazing. Looking forward to your passenger being picked up....wondering who. The Trent looked so lovely, thank you for something to look forward to on CZcams.
David, Boat Captain, and sheep rescuer. Thank you for taking us along on another journey.
Thank you, David, for another lovely time spent imagining that I was enjoying myself in a country on the other side of the world.
I did enjoy the interactions to save the sheep. I would have done exactly the same as you, get other people involved that can do much better than I could.
I also appreciated the extended boating 'family' where the other boat that had crew was happy to assist you in that very tight narrow section.
Thank you for a beautiful trip on the canal. Now, back to my wife...
Oh dear! The weather certainly is changing...I needed to get my quilt to cuddle up in on the bow this time for part of the journey! Yikes! I'll have to get the winter coat out soon! Nooooo! (While in real life, here in North Carolina, usa, it's just getting really hot, altho today was a mild 83 F, the last few wks have been high 80s & next week 90s! No blankies needed here!)
Beautiful photography. You keep reminding me why green is my favorite color.
It was a cumberland " Wetty" or water sheep, these animals were known for their swimming abilities due to the heavy rain conditions in Cumbria, during heavy rain many sheep were washed away from the flooded fields and drowned due to the animals very thick coat absorbing huge amounts of water and weighing it down, the government set up a training program to teach the beasts how to swim and develop strong arm muscles, however it was found that inflatable leg bands caused the sheep to "dip" face down in the water and almost perish, rubber rings were tried also but the sheep found them edible and would often chew at them when in the water, again many almost perished, research showed the sheep bleated in order to warn others not to bump into them. These are now a very rare and highly sort after breed. I imagine many must remember the stories about Elena who attempted to swim the channel but was sadly hit by a fishing boat just off Whitstable.
Hello, thank you very much for the wonderful journey, very interesting. Can’t wait for part 2!!!!
The one thing, among many, that sticks out; is the video is never interrupted by your phone ringing. A little thing, but it is nice.
Another lovely jaunt through the English countryside! I've been plotting pins on my Goggle earth as I follow your journeys:)
Paused, clicked like. Makes tea. Bliss.
Some of the things you see along those canals are fascinating.
Always lovely. I though in that tunnel you could have just stuck out your hands one at a time and got a free nail filing on the walls as you passed. Also I was glad that the morning sheep drama turned out fine. Not too BAAAAAAd at all :-)
I sat sipping my instant coffee and enjoyed you cruise.the scenery the images everything made for a wondetful blissful sunday morning,thsnk you.
Fair enough, I just assumed you’d enjoy the ducks 😉
Thank you David for creating a little heaven on earth
As usual, a delight David. Love the alternate canal-side accommodation! Stay well. We need you.
John, Ontario, Canada
Only just caught up with this one - what a delight! Everything splendid, the photography, scenery and of course the incomparable voice of David! xx
Lovely country views. My wife and I always enjoy your vlogs.
As a Yank living in Ohio, I find it very fascinating how people still use canals in Europe. Where I live, I'm about 15 minutes away from a town called Canal Fulton where they have a restored section of the Ohio Erie Canal and a concrete, mule-drawn canal boat named the St. Helena III for canal tours as well as the St. Helena II on permanent display. The tour takes you about a mile or so down the towpath to the permanently closed Lock 4. Passed that, the only memorized parts of the canal locally is Lock 3 park in downtown Akron where the Civic Theater was built and suspended on top of. The lock is still there but the gates are gone and water continuously flows through.
That poor sheep! Poor silly sheep. Good thing you were there to call it in and hopefully they get a fence up to prevent any further ungulate trauma
When I saw in the title that you had had a sheep emergency, I wondered to myself "Wool he do the right thing?". Loved the scenery, it was so relaxing to watch and your narration made it more relaxing.
Thanks for letting me enjoy the Trent and Mersey from the comfort of my chair.
I'm surprised Orvis doesn't sell some sort of "sheep net" to scoop them out of the canal. Enjoy the weekend David.
Your production quality is phenomenal
Thank you!
Glad to see you are moving again really enjoy the blog 👍🏻
lovely seeing the canals near where i live... all be it a few miles away in that 👉🏻 way! im in stafford, uk! hopefully will be in stone soon though 😊
those sheep look like a bit of baaaahbq! lol
well done on your progress! 😊
This channel reminds me of Rick Steves Europe. I just found this channel and I'm excited about all the videos I have to watch.
You seem to the best time on the canals, all these little adventures happening.
this whole channel is the most british thing that ever britished! love it!
I love watching these videos. I should really try to watch them in numerical order !
My first look at C the C but it won't be my last. Very enjoyable, thanks for sharing, looking forward to the next one.
Thanks for tuning in
When I found the channel I went back to the first episode and worked my way forward over several weeks until I caught up. Most enjoyable,.
The adventure with the sheep was a close shave! Good to see that you are also a good sheppard and that the other boater did not ‘ram’ the poor animal...
sorry about the puns... that was a sheep shot. 😁
Baa!
Cracking video of your travels. Look forward to your Autumn and winter travels.
Well a good one again and you are having some fun keep it up nigel
"I always love a narrowboat with a face." Nice comment- but from what I've seen, even without a "face", every narrowboat seems to have loads of character!
Also, sheep drama is just baaaaad. ;)
A Welshman and a sheep, I'm sure there's a joke in there but for the life on me I cannot think of one 😉
Give your Litter-Pester a good thrust and you are through that narrow part in no time!
;-)
Thx for taking us with you!
:-D
lister petter
Lovely area for cruising round Shugborough, thanks David.
The canal etiquette is one of the things its seems you rely on for a smooth running boat system.......could never happen here in Russia would be a case of ramming speed and see where that gets ya!
As always, great job David!
So good to see your dilithium crystals are working well.
*happy sigh* I just can't get enough of your beautiful videos. Ooh, I like the camera placement on the gate of the lock (whee, a different kind of ride!) and was surprised to see how quickly the boat rose while in there. Poor sheep :( So glad you were there to help by calling people! What an awful feeling it must have been for you guys until it was safely back on land. Funny thing - September is what I call Spider Season here in California - shuddering.
one of the nice things about this channel is the guy is one of those retro dudes who, instead of providing us with footage of a struggling animal in distress, has no footage whatsoever ever because he was busy trying to do something about it. I want THIS guy to be the one driving by my car-wreck or what-have-you.
Thank you, though the other chap really did the rescue. I contributed what I could!
Gorgeous xxx what more can I say!
Keep your vlogs going it's so relaxing watching your trips
Loved this video!! Rugeley is where my brother lives and I've often driven past that whole section of canal from Handsacre. Have shared it with him so he can enjoy the view of his locality from a different perspective. :)
I have often wondered about the livestock on the banks of the canals...I just hope I don't have dreams/nightmares about animals falling into canals tonight....perhaps I should have watched this one tomorrow morning...….. Another excellent vlog, lovely scenery...thank you.
I love the canals and I love the vlog, had holidays on them most years for the last ~30 years, but haven't this year (family) so watched most of your vlogs over the last 2 weeks - almost as if I was on them. Lovely.
Another great narrow boating adventure!
Thank you for the wonderful video. I still go back and watch your earlier videos religiously. Very comforting to me.
Appreciate it
It is always a pleasure to watch your cruising. It brings back great memories of the author Terry Darlington when I hear that someone is visiting Stone , he lived in Stone and wrote the most amusing canal cruising books of him with his narrowdog, and his local pub being the one right alongside the town lock.
Glad you enjoy the videos
Hello. I enjoy your series of videos immensely. Edutainment in spades! As a single-hander myself, I would like to see the occasional clip of tight-looking bends from the helm. As you know, with 50 feet or so of cabin between you and the obscured bow, and concerned that another boat might come the other way, bends look much tighter than on the map, but, often, when you look back you find it was not so tight after all. That section through Handsacre (believe local pronunciation is like Hanserker) would be a good example. Anyway, keep up the good work. Oh, and you did the right thing in trying to find someone to help the sheep; as a single-hander you cannot afford the risk of falling into cold water and not having the strength or coordination to get out again without help. Andy, Nb Whiskey Mac.
Generally if the bend is tight then I’m busy steering round it so can’t film a shot from the helm hence using the bow camera footage
Thanks David, I enjoyed that very much.
I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Thanks David for another entertaining episode.😃👌👏👏👏👏
I do enjoy your vlogs they are so pleasant and peaceful to watch. 👍
Grand video as usual. I always get a laugh when you use "warp drive" in a narrowboat sentence. Star trek meets narrowboat, "beam me up Scotty, I'm on my narrowboat and I have 30 years to spare"
😂
Thanks for another great video. I do love your comentaries, they are very relaxing with the lovely scenery.
Yet another top notch video! Love your commentary!
Recently did a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest and there are locks on the Main canal with a rise of 25m (82ft). It felt like sailing in the Grand Canyon.
HarryP457 That’d be hard to do for a solo narrowboater!
Sounds like the Danube
Great vlog Dave, Thanks. 9ld stomping grounds Great. Hayward etc.
Thank You for the ride along !!
Thanks for the time you spend on these. I really look forward to them.
Very good watch David...thanks for sharing
David As Always a pleasure as we continue our personally guided tour (cruse)
Thank you for posting!
Shaun (the sheep) thanks you for helping with his rescue...hee hee. I like your idea of warp drive. Another lovely cruise, thanks!
I think you have the right idea about cruising the canal system in almost every season! We get more VLOGs that way!
Great vlog episode, David. Really enjoyed it, thanks so much.
Happily followed you for ages... And I still love how you take us with you on your journey 😊
Always a good day to see you've posted a new Vid. Thank you.